70 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
into two or more fragments. The rending, 
however, has not destroyed the exquisite struc¬ 
ture : far otherwise; it has only added new 
brilliants to the collection of watery gems. 
“ These marvels of vegetable beauty possess 
not only the faculty of multiplying by subdivis¬ 
ion, but the reverse one of conjugation. They 
not only break in pieces, but unite their frag¬ 
ments, and in either case a new gem has birth. 
“ The varieties of vegetable beauties already 
named may be called the fixed jewelry of the 
pond; but wonderful as they may be, they are 
quite eclipsed by another class which may often 
be seen rolling and flashing across the field 
of vision, as with a microscope we are scanning 
with enraptured gaze the tiny brilliants of a 
water-drop. The thrill of delight experienced 
when the eye first beheld the exquisite Volvox 
globator will never be forgotten, nor when it 
traced the more gorgeously colored Eiido- 
rina moving in graceful evolutions through its 
watery home. Startled by the first sight of 
such marvels of beauty where their presence 
had never been suspected, the eye follows the 
mazy dance of gems with exquisite delight as 
they flash back the rays of light in all the daz- 
