THE SUN ANIMALCULE. 105 



cold and silvery brightness rather than with the 

 warm and golden rays of the sun. But of course 

 these fanciful resemblances for which we are 



FIG. 18. Aetinophrys sol. 



indebted to the quaint imaginations of the earlier 

 observers have no real meaning in the nature 

 of things, although, as in this case, they give a 



FIG. 19. Actinosphterium eicJiornii. 



popular idea of the object, and thus serve a useful 

 purpose. And, viewed in this light, the Sun Ani- 

 malcule has other resemblances than that of its 

 globular form and shining rays to the sun ; for, like 



