30 THE GARDEN OF EARTH 



the level of Flowering Plants. It will be like climbing 

 a long ladder. Only, instead of a ladder standing by 

 itself, we must picture in our minds a ladder surrounded 

 on all sides by enormous numbers of vegetable growths. 

 As we mount, step by step, we shall see one kind following 

 another; beginning with the smaller and simpler sorts, 

 and going on with those that are larger, less simple in 

 make, more complex and finished. 



At the very bottom we find ourselves in the midst 

 of swarms upon swarms of those tiny vegetable-specks, 

 spoken of earlier; specks so minute as to be invisible 

 except under a microscope. Among them a great 

 number of varieties are known; but in them all we find 

 no trace of root or stem, of leaf or flower. In very many 

 cases each one is a mere tiny cell of living jelly; and 

 when they increase in numbers, it is done by the cell 

 dividing into two — ^the halves going off in different 

 directions as a couple of plantlets. 



A whole book might be written about these specks 

 of vegetable life alone; their number is so great. 

 Only two or three kinds can be named here. 



Sometimes on snow-clad mountains a curious sight is 

 seen in the shape of a patch of red snow. That snow is 

 not in itself red ; for the colour is lent to it by multitudes 

 of minute plantlets; millions and millions of them 

 mixed with the snow ; each one far too small to be seen 

 by the naked eye. And even their red tint is borrowed 

 from something else that is present; it is not actually 

 their own. 



You may have heard of the famous little Diatom- 

 plants — exceedingly small, but important because of 

 their multitudinous numbers. Mere specks of life, 



