56 HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. 



hast thou made them all ; the earth is full of thy riches ; so 

 is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping 

 innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the 

 ships; there is that leviathan whom thou hast made to 

 play therein. These wait all upon thee, that thou mayest 

 give them their meat in due season. That thou givest 

 them they gather; thou opeuest thy hand and they are 

 filled with good." It is the remembrance of this goodness 

 and of the happiness imparted to creatures that cannot be 

 numbered for multitude, which gives an additional charm 

 to the study of Zoophytology. If one frond is the habita- 

 tion of a million of happy creatures, how great must be the 

 amount of happiness which God is giving every moment 

 to the utterly uncountable myriads of his creatures that in- 

 habit the deep. 



By studying the nature and habits, and contemplating 

 the happiness of these little denizens of the deep, we see 

 the kind hand of God where our forefathers never thought 

 of looking for it, and where it is probable we should never 

 have seen it had it not been for the invention of the micro- 

 scope. And this reminds us of the striking passage in 

 which the lamented Dr. Chalmers compares the microscope 

 and the telescope. "The one," said he, "led me to see a 



