354 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



colonies of bacteria on the seeds were quite suf- 

 ficient to infect the whole mass. Under less 

 favorable conditions, artificial inoculation is of 

 great advantage. 



Wonderful are the secrets of nature. The 

 infinitely small things seem to work for us and 

 the infinitely large ones appear suited to our 

 use ; and yet, perhaps, this is all " seeming " and 

 " appearing." We may ourselves be simply more 

 advanced bacteria, working blindly toward the 

 solution of an infinite problem in which we are 

 concerned only as means to an end. 



" Why should the spirit of mortal be proud," 

 until it has settled its relative position with both 

 Sirius and the micro-organisms, or has estimated 

 its stature by view-points from the bacterial 

 world and from the constellation of Lyra. Until 

 we have been able to compare opinions from 

 these extremes, if indeed they be extremes, we 

 cannot expect to make a correct estimate of our 

 value in the economy of the universe. I fancy 

 that we are apt to take ourselves too seriously, 

 and that we will sometime marvel at the shadow 

 which we did not cast. 



