28 THE NEW SCIENCE AND ENGLISH LITERATURE 



sense of man's insignificance; but the human body received its at 

 tention. The course of the blood was traced completely when the 

 microscope discovered the capillaries. The structure of the eye, 

 of the skin, of the bones, was investigated, and the function of the 

 lungs in respiration. Some conception was gained of the existence 

 of ether, of oxygen, of the wonderful power of magnetism and 

 electricity. There was a crude effort to apply the force of steam 

 to mechanical uses. Some notion of past races was secured from 

 their remains, though sought largely through curiosity. And final 

 ly, through the system of correspondence established by the Royal 

 Society, a feeling of unity of interest drew the nations of Europe 

 nearer together. "It was not till now that the notion of 'Europe, 

 as for intellectual purposes, one great confederation', could be said 

 to glimmer before the modern mind'*. 112 



112 Elton, Oliver, The Augustan Ages, p. 420. 



