BOOK I 



THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 



Our imagination, says Bonnet, one of the most zealous 

 expounders of natural history, is equally confounded by 

 what is infinitely great as by what is infinitely small. 



In fact, the phenomena of creation astound us, whether 

 we raise our eyes to investigate the mechanism of the 

 heavens, or bend them downwards to examine the tiniest 

 creatures of this lower realm. 



Immensity is everywhere. It stands revealed in the 

 azure dome of heaven, where glows a perfect dust of stars, 

 and in the living atom too minute to display to us the mar- 

 vels of its organization. 



" Whoever," says an illustrious orator, "contemplates this 

 spectacle with the eye of imagination, feels the littleness 

 of man compared to the greatness of the universe." But 

 although it is true that, in presence of the immensity of 

 space and the eternal duration of time, a feeling of humil- 

 ity overpowers us ; although each step that man takes in 

 his path, and every wrinkle that furrows his brow, reveals 

 his utter feebleness ; yet the mind within, that divine ema- 

 nation, supports him on his journey by showing him both 

 his power and his lofty origin. 



