THE PLEASURES OF A NATURALIST 



they do not hear the thunder or feel the earth- 

 quake. 



The insects are much more sensitive to heat and 

 cold than we are, and for reasons. The number 

 of waves in the ether that gives us the sensation of 

 heat is three or four million millions a second. The 

 number of tremors required to produce red light is 

 estimated at four hundred and seventy-four milHon 

 millions a second, and for the production of violet 

 light, six hundred and ninety-nine million millions 

 a second. No doubt the insects react to all these 

 different degrees of vibration. Those marvelous 

 instruments called antennae seem to put them in 

 touch with a world of which we are quite oblivious. 



To how many things our lives have been compared ! 

 — to a voyage, with its storms and adverse currents 

 and safe haven at last; to a day with its morning, 

 noon, and night; to the seasons with their spring, 

 summer, autumn, and winter; to a game, a school, 

 a battle. 



In one of his addresses to workingmen Huxley 

 compared life to a game of chess. We must learn 

 the names and the values and the moves of each 

 piece, and all the rules of the game if we hope 

 to play it successfully. The chessboard is the 

 world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, 

 the rules of the game are what we call the laws of 



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