402 THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



wliich side the balance of the account lies. But a 

 mere enumeration of the oceanic imposts would be 

 tedious, while a history of our gains, of the various 

 means by which man compels the ocean to pay him 

 tribute in return, would be too large a subject for 

 the scope of this little book. 



Let us rather turn from a subject so full of painful 

 memories to contemplate man in contrast with the 

 grandeur of creation. The thin pellicle of the 

 earth's crust, which we laboriously scratch here and 

 there in the accomplishment of our great designs, 

 hardly counts for anything in the harmony of the 

 universe, even as a whole ; its modifications by our 

 labours are of small account indeed, whether re- 

 garded for their grandeur or their durability. If 

 the intelligence of man has placed him at the head 

 of the creation, the feeble influence that he can 

 exercise over Nature ought to humble his pride. 

 All that he can accomplish by physical labour is 

 almost imperceptible by the side of the work effected 

 by the microscopic infusoriae; man, the giant, is 

 dwarfed in results by the almost invisible atom ! 



LONDON : PBINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFOBD STRBBT 

 AND CHAKING CBOSS. 



