The Bird in the Egg 



4^^ 3 



and the presence of water in the other, will slowly take 

 on the semblance of living creatures; the one eventuall}- 

 to sw^m forth, live the life of a fish for a time, (hen to 

 leap upon the land and croak among the reeds. The 

 other yolk would have evolved into a downy, yellow chick. 

 We cannot hope to solve the mystery of life, but there 

 is a fascination in seeing how near its beginnings we can 

 approach. 



Fig. 364.— Egg of Hen, opened to show a 3-day embryo in position on the yolk. 



(Shghtiy enlarged.) 



If we have ever watched under the microscope the stranire 

 little creatures which live in the mud at the bottom of 

 ponds, we will have realized the wondci-ful possibilities of a 

 single drop of living matter,— a single cell— from the 

 amoeba with its ever-changing shape to the swift 1\- moving 

 slipper Paramecium and the beautiful animal \-ases,— the 



