THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 151 
the glories of their ancestors undimmed. The 
bottom of the ocean is everywhere populous, 
in depths and shallows, with forms of exquisite 
structure and adornment. Turning to the wave- 
swept surface of the ocean, an equal array of 
life and beauty attests the richness and skill of 
Jehovah’s works. 
“ Major S. R. J. Owen, while dredging the 
surface of mid-ocean in different localities, often 
found his nets clogged by minute silicious shells 
of rich patterns and colors, which have been 
designated as Polycystina, a family of exquisite 
beauty. Add to this picture of the animated 
waves the fact already referred to, that hun¬ 
dreds of leagues of the sea are so filled with 
tiny creatures that the waters are tinged with 
red or green. But this exhibition of creative 
power will not be complete without noticing 
the phosphorescent corruscations of the un¬ 
countable billions of Noctiluca which people all 
the realm of the sea. They are nearly color¬ 
less, and so minute that when undisturbed the 
little ocean-illuminator is unnoticed, holding his 
living flame in reserve, but at the stroke of an 
oar or the dash of a vessel’s prow the flash 
of every tiny torch sets the ocean in a glow. 
