4 FIRST STEPS IN GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



"1 never see any of that green slime," said 

 Mary, "except in very wet places." 



'And for a good reason," replied her father. 

 " All the plants of this lowest race are inhabitants 

 of the water, both fresh and salt ; and when a 

 path becomes soaked with rain, as this is, and the 

 water settles for some time on the surface, then do 

 these minute plants spring up, giving a greenish 

 tinge to the ground." 



" And what is the name of these water plants ?" 

 asked Henry. 



" The great tribe to which they belong is that 

 of the ALG^E." 



" Algae," said Mary, " is the word which mamma 

 wrote in our book of dried sea-weed, and I thought 

 it meant sea-plants." 



" So it does ; but it also includes their fresh- 

 water relations, of which very many families are 

 of this slimy character, and inhabit still waters 

 and oozy places in the northern parts of the 

 world." 



Henry took up a bit of the damp earth that 

 was covered with this green substance, and he 

 found that it fell to pieces very easily, and that 

 there were no roots to the tiny plants to bind it 



