10 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 



in the sand a number of little orange-colored 

 globules, each about as large as a pea. These 

 were not much in themselves, but great in their 

 possibilities. In the waters above them little 

 suckers and chubs and prickly sculpins strained 

 their mouths to draw these globules from the 

 sand, and vicious-looking crawfishes picked them 

 up with their blundering hands and examined 

 them with their telescopic eyes. But one, at 

 least, of the globules escaped their curiosity, else 

 this story would not be worth telling. The sun 

 shone down on it through the clear water, and the 

 ripples of the Cowlitz said over it their incanta- 

 tions, and in it at last awoke a living being. It 

 was a fish, — a curious little fellow, not half an inch 

 long, with great, staring eyes, which made almost 

 half his length, and with a body so transparent 

 that he could not cast a shadow. He was a little 

 salmon, a very little salmon ; but the water was 

 good, and there were flies and worms and little 

 living creatures in abundance for him to eat, and 

 he soon became a larger salmon. Then there were 

 many more little salmon with him, some larger 

 and some smaller, and they all had a merry time. 

 Those who had been born soonest and had grown 

 largest used to chase the others around and bite 

 off their tails, or, still better, take them by the 

 heads and swallow them whole ; for, said they, 

 '' even young salmon are good eating." " Heads 

 I win, tails you lose," was their motto. Thus, 

 what was once two small salmon became united 

 into a single larger one, and the process of ** ad- 

 dition, division, and silence " still went on. 



