1. Grotesque, goblins, gambols, contortions, agitation, acquaint, petition, artificial, quivered, aurora, musician, palpitating. 2. Were these real shadows? What do they represent in men's lives? Can you imagine a thought-shadow? What did the Shadows aim to do? How? Has any bad deed ever cast a shadow that you have seen?

PART I.

1. I wonder whether it ever occurs to most people to consider how brimful our world is of life, and what a different place it would be if no living thing had ever been upon it?

2. From the time we are born till we die, there is scarcely a waking moment of our lives in which

our eyes do not rest either upon some living thing, or upon things which have once been alive. Even in our rooms, the wood of our furniture could never have been without the action of life; the paper on our walls, the carpet on our floors, the clothes on our back, the cloth upon our table, are all made of material which life has produced for us; nay, the very marble of our mantels is the work of once living animals, and is composed of their broken shells.

3. The air we breathe is full of invisible germs of life; nor need we leave the town and go into the country in search of other living beings than man. There is scarcely a street or an alley where, if it be neglected for a time, some blade of grass or struggling weed does not make its appearance, pushing its way through chinks in the pavement or the mortar in the wall; no spot from which we may not see some insect creeping, or flying, or spinning its web, so long as the hand of man does not destroy it.

4. And when we go into the quiet country, leaving man and his works behind, how actively we find life employed! Covering every inch of the ground with tiny plants, rearing tall trees in the forest, filling the stagnant pools full of eager, restless beings; anywhere, everywhere, life is at work.

5. Look at the little water beetles skimming on the surface of the shady wayside pool, watch the snails feeding on the muddy bank, notice the newts putting their heads above water to take breath, and then remember that, besides these and innumerable other animals visible to the naked eye, the fairy shrimp, and the water flea, and other minute creatures are probaby darting across the pond or floating lazily near its surface; while the very scum which is blown in ridges towards one corner of the pool is made up of microscopic animals and plants.

6. Then, as we pass over plain and valley and mountain, we find creeping things innumerable, both small and great; some hidden in the moss or the thick grass, rolled up in the leaves, boring into the stems and trunks of trees, eating their way underground or even into the strongest rock; while others, such as the lion, the tiger, and the elephant, roaming over Africa and India, rule a world of their own where man counts for very little.

7. Even in our own thickly peopled country, rabbits increase by thousands in their burrows and come out to frolic in the dusk of evening when all is still. The field mice, land and water rats, squirrels, weasels, and badgers have their houses. above and below ground, while countless insects swarm everywhere, testifying to the abundance of

life. Not content, moreover, with filling the water and covering the land, this same silent power peoples the atmosphere, where bats, butterflies, bees, and winged insects of all forms, shapes, and colors, fight their way through the ocean of air; while birds, large and small, sail among its invisible waves.

8. And when, by and by, we reach the sea, we find there masses of tangled seaweed, the plants of the salt water, while all along the shores myriads of living creatures are left by the receding tide. In the rocky pools we find active life busily at work. Thousands of acorn shells, many of them scarcely larger than the head of a good-sized pin, cover the rocks and wave their delicate fringes in search of food. Small crabs scramble along, or swim across the pools; sand skippers dart through the water, feeding on the delicate green seaweed, which in turn is covered with minute shells not visible to the naked eye, yet each containing a living being.

9. Wherever we go, living creatures are to be found, and even if we sail away over the deep, silent ocean and seek what is in its depths, there again we find abundance of life, from the large fish and other monsters which glide noiselessly along, lords of the ocean, down to the jelly masses floating on the surface, and the banks of rocky coral built in the midst of the dashing waves.

10. No matter whether there is room for more living forms or not, still they are launched into the world. The little seed, which will be stifled by other plants before it can put forth its leaves, nevertheless thrusts its tiny root into the ground and tries to send up a feeble shoot. Thousands and millions of insects are born into the world every moment which can never live, because there is not food enough for all.

11. Huxley says, "If there were only one single plant in the whole world to-day, and it produced fifty seeds in a year, and could multiply unchecked, its descendants would cover the whole globe in nine years." But, since other plants prevent it from spreading, thousands and thousands of its seeds and young plants must be formed only to perish. 12. "In the same way," says Wallace, "one pair of birds having four young ones each year would, if all their children and descendants lived, and had uniform families of four, produce two thousand millions in fifteen years." But, since there is not room enough for them, all but a very few must die.

13. What can be the use of this terrible overcrowding in our little world? Why does this irresistible living breath go on so madly, urging one little being after another into existence? Would it not be better if only enough were born to have plenty of room, and to live comfortably?