CRYSTALLINE VASES AND THEIR INHABITANTS. 45 



does not burst ; the little life within does not break 

 its way out. It is literally an unfolding. It is as 

 a flower unfolds : one by one, its several parts come 

 into view, spread out and take up their functions. 

 Now the cilia move, the creature rolls over, its eyes 

 brighten, it elongates, its head appears crowned with 

 cilia, it straightens out its entire body. The Steph- 

 anoceros is bom, or hatched. What before appeared 

 as the egg-covering is now seen to be the external 

 skin of the animal, within which its embryonic life 

 lay folded up, and in which it is now developed 

 and protected. The exquisitely delicate organism 

 thus developed is still further protected and pro- 

 vided for, until strong enough to care for itself, by 

 the casing in which it now finds itself. This dwell- 

 ing is of transparent jelly, secreted and formed in 

 ring-like folds. When young and in good condition 

 it is more transparent than the finest glass ; gradu- 

 ally it hardens, and is strengthened by those folds 

 which act as stays and foundations for the super- 

 structure as tier after tier is formed. Sometimes 

 the base is extraordinarily strong ; and the whole 

 structure resembles a fine crystal vase, the upper 

 portion being transparent and the lower slightly 



