The Wonder of the World 11 



practically infinite ocean; for leagues and leagues 

 beyond there is always more sea. There is room 

 for wonder. 



Manifoldness. Another primary impression of 

 Nature is that of manifoldness. Star differs from 

 star in glory. Every mountain has its individ- 

 uality. There are over eighty different kinds of 

 elements. The number of different minerals is 

 legion. "All flesh is not the same flesh, but there 

 is one flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, an- 

 other of fishes, and another of birds." From one 

 small island (Great Britain) we have a record of 

 over four hundred different kinds of birds, each 

 a very distinctive personality. In the Challenger 

 Report on Radiolarians, Haeckel deals with about 

 five thousand different species, all of fascinating 

 beauty. A single year's volume of the Zoologi- 

 cal Record may register more new species than 

 were included in the whole of Linne's "Sys- 

 tema Naturae." Whether we gather shells on 

 the shore or collect snow crystals; whether we 

 study birds or brambles, hydroids or hawkweeds, 

 we get the -same impression of an overflowing 

 form-fountain, of prodigal multiplicity, of endless 

 resources. 



Intricacy. An allied impression, unknown to the 

 ancients, is that of intricacy. The telescope re- 

 veals a hundred million heavenly bodies; the micro- 

 scope reveals another unseen world of the infinitely 



