INTRODUCTION. 57 



system in every star ; the other leads me to see a world in 

 every atom. The one taught me that this mighty globe, 

 with the whole burden of its people and of its creatures, is 

 but a grain of sand on the high field of immensity. The 

 other teaches me that every grain of sand may harbour 

 within it the tribes and families of a busy population. 

 The one told me of the insignificance of the world I tread 

 upon. The others redeems it from all insignificance ; for 

 it tells me that in the leaves of every forest, and in the 

 flowers of every garden, and in the waters of every rivulet, 

 there are worlds teeming with life, and numberless as are 

 the glories of the firmament." 



We read with wonder of upwards a hundred thousand 

 human beings congregated in one Crystal Palace, and yet 

 we think not that in a single drop of water taken from a 

 pond, we may have, could our eyes behold them, a still 

 greater number of God's living creatures, freely disporting 

 as in a crystal palace, finding also their aquatic habitation 

 stored with all that is necessary for the support of their 

 happy lives. And so prolific are these little creatures, that 

 Ehrenberg, the highest authority in such matters, calculates 

 that in a few days a single individual may increase to a 

 million, and that in a few days more the increase may be 



