36 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



creatures. The invisible mower, the feeble plant- 

 louse, comes, and man is filled with fear; for the 

 good things of the earth are in great peril. 



4 'Man, so powerful, can do nothing against these 

 little creatures, invincible in their multitude." 



Uncle Paul finished the story of the ants and their 

 cows. Several times since, Emile, Jules, and Claire 

 have talked of the prodigious families of the plant- 

 louse and the cod, but rather lost themselves in the 

 millions and thousand millions. Their uncle was 

 right: his stories interested them much more than 

 Mother Ambroisine's tales. 



