82 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
not only by their abundance, but by their ex¬ 
quisite moulding and pencilling. Go search the 
profoundest depths of the sea, the foundations 
of the everlasting hills, or the rocks and dust 
of Egyptian tombs and pyramids, and every¬ 
where the remains of diatomacean life are found 
still ‘beautiful in death.’ The insignificant life, 
the merest clot of jelly, has passed away, but 
the silicious casket where it once tabernacled 
remains as perfect and gem-like as when the 
vitality was first dashed out. 
“ Should one first pursue the study of fossil 
diatoms, he would be greatly astonished to find 
that there is an unbroken descent from such 
hoary ages. Every pond, river, lake, and ocean 
is peopled with an equal infinitude of diatoms 
bearing the unchanged lineaments of their extinct 
ancestors. If we should hang the exact portraits 
of the ancients of the race and those of their 
latest descendants in the same gallery, the most 
curious inspection could hardly designate the 
place which each should occupy in the grand 
genealogy of the family. The study of these 
ancient and minute organisms gives no sanc¬ 
tion to the development hypothesis. Called 
the ‘ first-born of life,’ they have come down 
