336 WORMS AND ZOOPHYTES, 



though fome kinds feem to be nearly general, yet we find in alnnoft every 

 "piece of water fome peculiar to itfelf j if we eftimate the number of fuch 

 pieces of water, and the kinds appropriate to them in our own coutitry, in 

 Europe, on the globe ; if we remark, that in warm climates Nature feems 

 to fport in donation of life, that the tropics prompt and haften generation 

 after generation (therefore we muft advance on the conception we may 

 have formed of oUr own fertility), as well in kinds as in fucceflion — 

 when we have fo done, we (hall fall infinitely below the truth j no efti- 

 mate we can poffibly form will in any proportion approach the real fa6t* 

 There exift creatures infinitely more abundant than we imagine, of kinds 

 infinitely morediverfified than we imagine, of dimenfions infinitely fmaller 

 than we imagine, much as are vaunted the excurfive powers of human 

 imagination — what then fhall we fay to thofe whofe habitation is the mighty 

 deep; who are fhrouded from our infpe6tion amid the obfcurity of the 

 profound abyfs ? Their exiftence we cannot doubt, fince we occafionally 

 difcover fome of their fellows, and are not ignorant of others that inhabit 

 the verges of the receptacle of waters. 



What know we of the works of Almighty Power? Infinitely the ma- 

 jority is hid from us j very limited is our knowledge of what we feem 

 to know ; their gr&fler properties only, or merely their exiftences, are dif- 

 cerncd by our natural fcnfes, and little more by all the afiiftance of art and 

 reafon. Indeed our fenfes are extremely confined j but we glory that our ra- 

 tional powers have greatly augmented their abilities, have directed and 

 afiifted their refearches, have demonftrated, that what feems utterly in- 

 credible may be fad, that what feems contrary to appearances may be 

 juft, that feemingly well grounded principles muft often be admitted with 

 Jiefitation, or be qualified by numerous exceptions, and that thofe who 

 Jtnow moft are but bcft inftrufted how much remains unknown. 



We have furveyed animals whofe bulk is enormous, whofe ftrength is 

 prodigious, whofe voracity is tremendous : fhall we contraft them to thofe 

 whofe fmallnefs cfcapes our fight ? How utterly diflimilar their dimen- 

 fions, and their powers ! At that we tremble, at this we fmile; to afi^ault 

 one we conjoin hoftile forces — number and union overcomes m.ight; on 

 the others we trample without regard, and crufti myriad after myriad with- 

 out reflcftion : thofe require vaft fpaces to afibrd maintenance ; thefe are 

 crowded into one mafs : thofe reign tyrants of the deep or the foreft ; thefe 

 feek flielter in the moft minute crevices. Yet, if we compare fuch diftant 

 ranks, we find, that while the enormous cachalot fupports itfelf by devour- 

 ing thoufands of its prey, fo do thefe minute animacula, ever adive, ever 



4 vigilant. 



