The Life of the Fly 



they want to see. Besides, supposing the mi- 

 crobe to be found, If that were possible, the 

 question would be changed, not solved. For 

 the problem of the collapse of the structure 

 through the fact of a prick there would be sub- 

 stituted another no less obscure : how does the 

 said microbe bring about that collapse? In 

 what way does It go to work? Where lies Its 

 power? 



Then what explanation shall I give of the 

 facts which I have just set forth ? Why, none, 

 absolutely none, seeing that I do not know of 

 any. As I am unable to do better, I will con- 

 fine myself to a pair of comparisons or Images, 

 which may serve as a brief resting-place for 

 the mind on the dark billows of the unknown. 



All of us, as children, have amused our- 

 selves with the game of "card friars." A 

 number of cards, as many as possible, are bent 

 lengthwise Into a semlcyllnder. They are 

 placed on a table, one behind the other, In a 

 winding row, the spaces In which are suitably 

 disposed. The performance pleases the eye by 

 Its curved lines and Its regular arrangement. 

 It possesses order, which Is a condition of all 

 animated matter. You give a little tap to the 

 first card. It falls and overturns the second, 

 which, in the same wny, topsyturvies the third; 

 378 



