TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 217 



" Moreover one finds other things besides animals 

 in pools of water. Here, for instance, is something 

 else." 



There was then displayed to the eyes of the as- 

 tonished pupil a whole collection of beings that can 

 scarcely be defined, of regular and geometric forms : 

 discs piled one on the other ; cubes, sometimes united 

 end to end, sometimes soldered by one of their angles; 

 spindles, fans, wheels what more shall I say ! " 



" Well, this is really too extraordinary ! Animal, 

 vegetable, or mineral, I cannot for the life of me say 

 which I suppose them to be. Is it possible that it is 

 an assemblage of the three kingdoms, bound together 

 in one volume ? " 



" These," said Leon, " are diatoms. They have 

 treated them as algse, not being able to do anything 

 better ; but the truth is that in the case of these 

 curious productions, the words vegetable and animal 

 have no longer their peculiar meaning. 



"These beings with their silicious skeletons, which 

 are apparently nearly indestructible, increase them- 

 selves by segmentation and division. They are met 

 with everywhere in the water, in the air ; in fresh- 

 water, and in the ocean. Sometimes these infinitely 

 small atoms, massed in millions and billions, even alter 

 the colour of the sea : hence the names, Eed Sea, 

 Yellow Sea, Vermilion Bay. Be sure to recollect 

 that the largest of these diatoms measures only some 



