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common senses of mankind unpcrccivcd, of very minute living^ 

 beings, which have been called, for the last seventy years, Infusokia. 

 In the ordinary piu'suits of life, this mysterious and infinite kingdom 

 of living creatui'ca is piis&ed by without our knowledge of, or in- 

 terest in, its wonders. But, to the quiet observer, how astonishing 

 do these become, when he brings to his aid those optical contrivances 

 by which his faculty of vision is so much strengthened. In every 

 drop of stagnant water, we are generally, if not always, able to 

 perceive, by means of the microscope, moving bodies, of from 

 l-1150th to 1-25, 000th of an inch in diameter; and which often 

 live packed together so closely, that the space between each indivi- 

 dual scarcely equals that of their diameter." 



The wisdom and goodness of providence have endowed these 

 living creatures with all that can be needed for their happy exist- 

 ence. A reference to the drawings, generally, will afford some idea 

 of their beautiful and varied forms. "What, for instance, can be 

 more admirable in structure than the Infusoria of the family 

 Vohocina ? (Sec Plate 1- figs. 34 to 57.) In what class of animals 

 are its members so curiously and so sj-mmetrically associated toge- 

 ther ? In the Volvocina, innumerable beings are colonized within a 

 simple, delicate, crystal-like shell, whose form, sometimes spherical, 

 at others quadrangular, presents us with examples of perfect sym- 

 metry and proportion. Who can behold these hollow living globes, 

 revolving and disporting themselves in their native element, with as 

 much liberty and pleasure as the mightiest monster of the deep : — 

 and, to carry our views a step further, to speak in detail of series 

 of globes, one within another, alike inhabited, and their occupants 

 alike participating in the same enjoyment — who can behold such 

 evidences of creative wisdom., and not exclaim with the Psalmist, 

 " How wonderful arc thy works, Lord, sought out of all them that 

 \\dcwc pleasure therein /" 



Again, take an example fi'om the most minute of li\dng beings to 

 which our knowledge at present extends, such as the Manas crepu- 

 seulum (sec Part III-), and compute the number which could occupy 

 the bulk of a single grain of mustard seed, the diameter of which 

 does not exceed the tenth of an inch : it is hardly conceivable that 

 within that narrow space eight millions of active lining creatures can 



