CHAPTER IL. 
THE MICROSCOPE :—-HAS THE INSECT A PHYSIOGNOMY ? 
ARMED with that sixth sense which man has achieved 
for himself, I can move forward, at pleasure, in any 
direction. It is in my power to track out, to reach, 
to compute the spheres, and gravitate with them in 
their vast orbits. But I feel much more strongly 
attracted towards the other abyss—that of the in- 
finitely little. In its atoms I discover an intensity of 
energy which charms and astounds me. And I my- 
self, what am I but an atom? Neither Jupiter nor 
Sirius, those enormous globes at so great a distance 
from, and possessing so little sympathy with me, will teach me 
the secret of terrestrial life. But these, on the contrary, surround 
and press upon me, injure me or lend me their assistance. If they 
