38 THE WALKS ABROAD OF 



at Bilin, in Germany, they have discovered a bank of 

 tripoli more than forty feet thick and extending over 

 a considerable distance. Well, this tripoli is almost 

 entirely made up of diatoms. Ehrenberg, the micro- 

 scopist, has succeeded in measuring them, and calcu- 

 lates their number to be about forty millions in a 

 cubic inch. 



" That is something striking, is it not, my friends ? 

 Does it not almost make you dizzy, and affect your 

 imagination with a sort of awe the sentiment, in fact, 

 expressed in this profound saying of Michelet : ' In 

 fathoming so profoundly the depths of life I expected 

 to meet with physical necessities, but what I do find 

 is justice, immortality, hope ! ' ' 



"While speaking, the countenance of the doctor was 

 gradually transfigured ; his eyes beaming, his head 

 slightly thrown back with the effort of thought, he 

 was standing leaning on the table, not like a scientific 

 man making an investigation, but rather a poet in- 

 spired. 



Justice, hope, immortality ! These, then, are the 

 supreme lessons of nature. This sayant, who had so 

 often contemplated the implacable working of death, 

 still spoke of immortality ; this aged man still spoke 

 of hope ! The two youths listened meditating, deeply 

 affected by his tremulous voice. 



A complete silence Drevailed. Leon was the first to 

 break it. 



