14 



Fish, and their strange metamorphoses, are familiar to his investiga- 

 tions ; and even the iare Cuttle Fish, wiih his shell-less body, is iio 

 stranger to his observations. But, above all, he learns the secret 

 haunts and natural abiding-places of the much-loved objects of his 

 pursuits. He verily hears the song of the Sea-weed. 



SOXG OF THE SEA-WEED. 



Now I have taken my course to the shore, 



Where yellow sand covers the crystal and amber ; 



Serenely I dwell with the rosy-mouthed shell, 

 Where limpets are thick and the tiny crabs clamber. 



A young child is roving, and soon he espies 

 My rich carling threads as they mount in the spray ; 



He steps mid the green stones, and eagerly cries, 

 " Oh ! that beautiful Sea-weed, I'll bear it away." 



All earnestly gazing, he stretches to reach, 



But a swift-spreading wave has rolled over the beach ; 



It hath carried me back from the sun-lighted strand, 

 And the young child beholds me far, far from the land. 



He runs through the ebb-surf, but vain the endeavor — 

 I am gone, my fair boy, I am gone, and forever ; 



Thou wilt covet full many bright things, but take heed 

 They elude not your grasp, like the pretty Sea-weed. 



Eliza. Cook. 



In his course of studies, the Algologist has displayed before his 

 eyes the very link which unites the vegetable and the animal king- 

 doms ; as also the link which joins that of the vegetable and min- 

 eral' world. In the first instance, that link is contained in the 

 Diatomacea ; in the second, Corallinece. In making this statement, 

 I have been asked to show this link ; to place my finger upon it. 

 I cannot do so; but does it, therefore, not exist? Not at all. I 

 have read somewhere a similar demand answered by the following 

 proposition : — Twilight contains the link which divides day from 

 nig Jit. Twilight contains the link which unites light and dark- 

 ness. Please to lay your finger upon that very link. It cannot be 

 done. Does, therefore, that link not exist in twilight? Neither 

 can I place my finger upon the link which unites the animal and 

 the vegetable kingdoms. But, still, it there exists. The Infusorial 

 animal is contained in Diatomacese : so, too, is the Alga contained 

 in Diatomaceae. Still I cannot show the exact link any more than 

 it can be shown to me the exact link which unites light and dark- 



