56 HIDDEN BEAUTIES OF NATURE 



and were it not for the microscope and Professor 

 Loven of Christiana, its true nature would have 

 remained in obscurity for a greater length of time. 



The euplectella is such a favourite with naturalists 

 that they have called it by the complimentary name 

 'Venus's flower basket.' A small portion of the 

 brown, leathery, shrivelled-up flesh, or sarcode, which 

 was found attached to the skeleton, was examined 

 under the microscope, and it was discovered to 

 contain a vast quantity of spicules resembling tri- 

 dents, spears, anchors, harpoons, etc., all consisting 

 of flint, and entirely too small to be detected with 

 unassisted eyesight. Thus the microscope, which 

 discriminates so unerringly between the works of 

 Nature and those of art, did not hesitate to pro- 

 nounce the verdict entirely in favour of Nature. 

 Man could not make such wonderful spicules, so 

 the naturalist concluded that these formed a kind 

 of chain armour which kept the living sarcode 

 together, and that the creature, however unlike 

 the sponge of commerce, must belong to the great 

 family of sponges. Thus the hidden beauties of 

 Nature, as regards this creature, would never have 

 been seen but for the microscope. 



The late Lady Brassey brought home a large 

 quantity of these lovely objects from the Eastern 

 Archipelago. The naturalists on board the Challen- 

 ger dredged specimens up from the Atlantic and 

 other ocean floors. The naturalists on board the 

 Blake added several new specimens to those already 



