6 DROPS OF WATER. 



or from the vast ocean itself, and place it under 

 your microscope : you will find therein countless 

 living beings, moving in all directions with con- 

 siderable swiftness, apparently gifted with saga- 

 city, for they readily elude each other in the 

 active dance they keep up, and, since they never 

 come into rude contact, obviously exercise volition 

 and sensation in guiding their movements. In- 

 crease the power of your glasses, and you will 

 soon perceive, inhabiting the same drop, other 

 animals, compared to which, the former were 

 elephantine in their dimensions, equally vivacious 

 and equally gifted. Exhaust the art of the 

 optician, strain your eye to the utmost, until the 

 aching sense refuses to perceive the little qui- 

 vering movement that indicates the presence of 



