CRYSTALLINE VASES AND THEIR INHABITANTS. 43 



All through nature one finds examples of this 

 kind, where one branch or rivulet of the great stream 

 of life culminates at a point of perfection beyond 

 which it cannot go : such is the Stephanoceros eich- 

 hornii. We take this creature out of its native 



FIG. 7. S 



ditch or pond, where it is found attached to a 

 branch of a water-plant say, on one of the spiked 

 leaves of the hornwort (from which it depends in 

 graceful beauty) and placing it in a small glass 

 trough under the microscope, with a paraboloid or 

 dark-ground illumination, proceed to examine it 

 in detail. If we have a fine specimen it is im- 

 possible not to stop to admire the elegance and 



