G2 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



and it is only in beds of comparatively recent formation that complex 

 organization exists. Vegetables first snow themselves, and even 

 among these the simplest forms have priority. Animals afterwards 

 appear, which, as we have seen, belong to the least perfect classes. 

 The combinations of life, at first simple, have become more and more 

 complex, until the creation of man, who may be considered the 

 masterpiece of organization. 



If we expose a certain quantity of pure water to the light" and air 

 in the spring, we should soon see it producing shades of a yellowish or 

 greenish colour. These spots, examined through the microscope, 

 reveal thousands of vegetable agglomerates. Presently thousands of 

 animalcules appear, which swim about among the floating masses, 

 nourishing themselves with its substance. Other animalcules then 

 appear, which, in their turn, pursue and devour the first. 



In short, life transforms inanimate into organized matter. Vege- 

 tables appear first, then come herbivorous animals, and then come the 

 carnivorous. Life maintains life. The death of one gives food and 

 development to others, for all are bound up together all assist at the 

 metamorphoses continually occurring in the organic as in the mineral 

 world, the result being general and profound harmony harmony 

 always worthy of admiration. The Creator alone is unchangeable, 

 omnipotent, and permanent ; all else is transition. 



The inhabitants of the water are much more numerous than those 

 of the solid earth. " Upon a surface less varied than we find on 

 continents," says Humboldt, " the sea contains in its bosom an 

 exuberance of life of which no other portion of the globe could give us 

 any idea. It expands in the north as in the south ; in the east as in 

 the west. The seas, above all, abound with it ; in the bosom of the 

 deep, creatures corresponding and harmonizing with each other sport 

 and play. Among these especially the naturalist finds instruction, 

 and the philosopher subjects for meditation. The changes they 

 undergo only impress upon our minds more and more a sentiment of 

 thankfulness to the Author of the universe." 



Yes, the ocean in its profoundest depths its plains and its moun- 

 tains, its valleys, its precipices, even in its ruins is animated and 

 embellished by innumerable organized beings. These are at first 

 plants, solitary or social, erect or drooping, spreading into prairies, 



