^he [P^faturalists' Companion. 
VoL. 1. BROCKPORT, K. Y., nK<’EV[BER, 1885. No. 6- 
MIC110S( '()FJ (' LIFE. 
I'Ro.M tii)i:n<;s from nati kk. 
We admire tlie mviids of ereatiires 
tluit inhabit the depths of the oeean, 
from the monstrous whale to the small-1 
I'st spec imen of the finny tribe. Their 
ehequered existenee and efforts ; tlieir 
fio'hting, striving and disiiorting; their 
various and wonderful tcnstruetion; 
the mode and manner of their sulisist- 
<‘nee, all fills us with wonder, and w^e 
are awe-insi)ired vdiile eontemi)lating 
the infinite and manifold ea})aeity witli 
ation, how mueh more do ive find our- 
I selves eari*ied a5vav bv that feeling 
I while looking through a mieroseope, 
I 'whieh reveals in a single drop of water 
i seores of organisms whieh are so small 
I as to hadly be eoneeived by the mind. 
The Diatom is regarded by some nat- 
uralists as a plant, allied to the algm, 
by others they are eonsidered as ani¬ 
mals, but it is not here that we shall 
discuss the question. This class se¬ 
crets a siliceous covering or shell,which 
encloses the softer parts or sarcode. 
They may be found in nearly all local¬ 
ities where there is a body of water, 
(father a small lump of mud from 
the bottom of a ])ond, wash it 
in test tubes with clear water 
and clean M'ith acids, and by 
])atient work, you will have 
countless numbers of these sub¬ 
jects in the sediment, inquis- 
able to the naked eye, but un¬ 
der a })owerful glass they a])- 
|)ear in curios and beautiful 
forms. Some are attached to 
floating or fixed objects, others 
are free. Desmids are also con¬ 
sidered as belonging to the veg- 
etalde kingdom,but they^ secrete 
no siliceous matter. 
Let us look into a dro]) of 
clean water. It lies before us, 
clear and transparent, with no 
sign of life which we can detect, 
our breath is strong enough to 
agitate it and a few rays of the 
sun are sufficient to convert it 
into vapor. But placed between two 
squares of glass,beneath a microscope, 
and, lo! what a variety of life sudden¬ 
ly presents itself; we can scarcely trust 
our senses. The little drop has expand- 
(‘d into a la I’ge ])lain; wond(*rful sha])es 
DIATOMS. 
which the Creating Powei- has stored 
the depths of the waters. But if the 
size, the power and the variety of the ! 
d(‘niz(‘ns of tln^ (Uh']) excite our admii-- 
