208 THE LOG OF THE SUN 



it to the nearest field, and pluck a daisy close to 

 the head. How interesting the comparison be- 

 comes, now that the knowledge of its meaning is 

 plain. Anything which grows fast upon a single 

 immovable stem tends to grow equally in all direc- 

 tions. We need not stop here, for we may include 

 sea anemones and corals, those most marvellously 

 coloured flowers of the sea, which grow upon a 

 short, thick stalk and send out their tentacles 

 equally in all directions. And many of the jelly- 

 fish which throb along close beneath the surface 

 swells were in their youth each a section of a pile 

 of saucer-like individuals, which were fastened 

 by a single stalk to some shell or piece of coral. 

 We will remember that it was suggested that 

 the theoretical daisy would soon alter its shape 

 after it entered upon active life. This is plainly 

 seen in the starfish, although at first glance the 

 creature seems as radially symmetrical as a 

 wheel. But at one side of the body, between two 

 of the arms, is a tiny perforated plate, serving 

 to strain the water which enters the body, and 

 thus the circular tendency is broken, and a begin- 

 ning made toward right and left handedness. In 

 certain sea-urchins, which are really starfishes 

 with the gaps between the arms filled up, the body 

 is elongated, and thus the head and tail conditions 

 of all animals higher in the sca'e of life are rep- 

 resented. 



