INTRODUCTION. O 



infinities — the infinitely great and the infinitely little — both 

 of which are incompreliensible to him/ Of these two extremes 

 it is perhaps the most useful to recall the attention frequently 

 to the latter. The changes that occur in nature on a great 

 scale can scarcely fail to occupy occasionally the thoughts 

 of even the busiest and least reflecting, but the infinitely 

 little, and whatever approaches to it, is less obtrusive. Yet 

 not less than the great orbs revolving in the immensity 

 of space, do objects almost mocking human sense by their 

 minuteness, furnish a fund for scientific investigation. In 

 order to demonstrate those truths wliich form the basis of 

 natural religion, Paley preferred the structure of the human 

 body to a survey of the universe, and Boyle considered the 

 eye of a fly as being a better proof of design than the sun 

 himself, thongh the life and soul of our planet, because we 

 have better means of becoming acquainted with the minuter 

 objects compared, than with the greater, ^¥llerever the 

 adaptation of parts to the attainment of an end can be 

 traced, the proof of design is complete ; and he wdio could 

 examine the nutrition, the growth, the regular conformation, 

 the provision made for the continuance of the species of 

 even the minutest moss, without perceiving in them proofs 

 of intelligence, power, and goodness, would probably receive 



