146 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
contained, and the attempt to compare the mil¬ 
lions of animated creatures which it revealed 
with the sum-total of all the life of the sea.. 
In attempting the computation, hundreds of 
leagues of the ocean’s surface were found tinged 
with various shades by the billions on billions 
of living things which swarmed in every square 
foot of its waters. The monsters of the deep 
grow fat and spread out their vast proportions 
while fed by these creatures, which fill the vast 
expanse of the ocean to repletion, and all over 
its broad surface flash in living flames in every 
billow that breaks in storm or curls from the 
prow of the dashing bark. Before the attempt 
to compute the sum of life that fills the ocean 
was fairly begun numbers failed, and the pain¬ 
ful sense of the infinite came back. Since that 
time, when pacing the ocean-strand, the mind 
has been compelled to individualize, in order to 
escape the painful sense of the incomprehensi¬ 
ble. On one occasion the timely appearance 
of a shoal of porpoises was hailed as a relief 
to the overstrained thoughts, for they could be 
counted, and in the effort to fix their number 
the mind found a resting-place. 
“ It is no small consolation to one who finds 
