d
wanting here. The natural life, not less than the eternal, is the gift
of God. But life in either case is the beginning of growth and not the
end of grace. To pause where we should begin, to retrograde where we
should advance, to seek a mechanical security that we may cover inertia
and find a wholesale salvation in which there is no personal
sanctification--this is Parasitism.

PARASITISM.

"And so I live, you see,
Go through the world, try, prove, reject,
Prefer, still struggling to effect
My warfare; happy that I can
Be crossed and thwarted as a man,
Not left in God's contempt apart,
With ghastly smooth life, dead at heart,
Tame in earth's paddock as her prize.
... ... ... ... ...
Thank God, no paradise stands barred
To entry, and I find it hard
To be a Christian, as I said."--_Browning._

"Work out your own salvation."--_Paul._

"Be no longer a chaos, but a World, or even Worldkin. Produce!
Produce! Were it but the pitifullest infinitesimal fraction of a
Product, produce it, in God's name!"--_Carlyle._

From a study of the habits and organization of the family of
Hermit-crabs we have already gained some insight into the nature and
effects of parasitism. But the Hermit-crab, be it remembered, is in no
real sense a parasite. And before we can apply the general principle
further we must address ourselves briefly to the examination of a true
case of parasitism.

We have not far to seek. Within the body of the Hermit-crab a minute
organism may frequently be discovered resembling, when magnified, a
miniature kidney-bean. A bunch of root-like processes hangs from one
side, and the extremities of these are seen to ramify in delicate films
through the living tissues of the crab. This simple organism is known to
the naturalist as a Sacculina; and though a full-grown animal, it
consists of no more parts than those just named. Not a trace of
structure is to be detected within this rude and all but inanimate
frame; it possesses neither legs, nor eyes, nor mouth, nor throat, nor
stomach, nor any other organs, external or internal. This Sacculina is a
typical parasite. By means of its twining and theftuous roots it imbibes
automatically its nourishment ready-prepared from the body of the crab.
It boards indeed entirely at the expense of its host, who supplies it
liberall