ANIMALCULES. 



life, and you will find that you have not exhaust- 

 ed nature in the descending scale. Perfect as 

 our optical instruments now are, we need not 

 be long in convincing ourselves that there are 

 animals around us, so small, that in all probabi- 

 lity, perseverance will fail in enabling us accu- 

 rately to detect their forms, much less fully to 

 understand their organization/' 



These few pages are almost entirely confined 

 to the description of animalcules* found in water : 

 and as all, or very nearly all, are invisible to the 

 naked eye, no subject can be more interesting 

 than that of these wonderful atoms, which, we 



The word animalcule signifies little animal : Infusoria is a term 

 more generally used to designate these little creatures, as they abound in 

 all infusions of animal and vegetable matter. 



