LIFE'S SIMPLEST CHILDR1 15 
well, especially those which come close up to the 
shore. The small fry of the fish, the shrimp and the 
sand-hopper, the large jelly-fish, and the tiny trans- 
parent jelly-bells (see 3',Fig. 2 2),only to be seen bythe 
keenest eye, as we dip out the water carefully in a 
glass. Surely these minute jelly-bells with their in- 
visible hanging threads must be some of the sim; 
and lowest forms of life. Not so, they are n 
very high up in the world compared with the f< 1 
we are seeking. 
If, indeed, we come out late some autumn even:- 
when, after the sun has set and the sky is dark, the 
sea in some sheltered bay appears all covered with 
a sheet of light, we may see some of the be. 
of the lowest order of life with the naked eye ; 
when we dip the liquid fire out in a glass vessel and 
examine it, we find in it hundreds and thousands 
tiny bags of slime giving out the bright S] 
light, and these little Noctilucx, or night-glows (2, 
Fig. 3), are, as we shall presently sec, some of Life's 
simplest children, although not by any means the 
most simple of the order. 
No ; to begin at the very beginning and find the 
first known attempts at a living being, we must 
search long and carefully, not merely with 
own eyes, but with the microscope. Then 
perhaps be fortunate enough to discover 
drously small creature like that on the 
which Professor Haeckel took out ^\ I 
waters ^i the Mediterranean, near N 
The largest specimen to be found V 
than the smallest pin's head, yet w' 
the microscope, this tiny 
