152 THE MICROSCOPE AND ITS LESSONS. 



shows us the object, with our first eye-piece, two hundred 

 and forty diameters larger than it appears to our unas- 

 sisted vision. Now, if we apply our highest eye-piece, this 

 will increase our magnifying power, superficially, to near 

 upon a million times, and now we can penetrate into, 

 not only the concealed mystery of this midrib, but the 

 minutest of branches. And there, in this "common 

 object for the microscope," what do we behold? The 

 most exquisite chain of cells and forms of beauty that 

 our minds can conceive ; and exactly as our backbone is 

 divided into partitions with a great central canal pro- 

 tected on every side that the pulpy mass of nervous 

 matter may not be injured, so here, in this tiny leaf, is 

 the same evidence of anticipation of a want, which none 

 but the all-wise Creator could supply. Verily the 

 Supreme Being would appear to have exhibited more of 

 His magnificent wisdom in the smallest of His works 

 than in the largest ! 



And then, following up the analogy of the skeleton 

 of a leaf with that of a man its method of breathing, and 

 working, and sleeping let us pause to think of the 

 number of times men are compared to trees in the Bible 

 upwards of three hundred, it is said the text at the 

 head of this chapter being typical of them all. You m iy 

 be familiar with the words of Isaiah, "As the days of a 

 tree are the days of My people " (ch. Ixv. 22), and with 

 those of Moses, " And the tree of the field is man's life " 

 (Deut. xx. 19) such words as these remind us of the 

 relation of animals to vegetables, and assure us that He 

 who made and cares for the humblest of His plants will 

 not forsake His children, just as a good father will care 

 less for his pictures than for his offspring. And we are 

 also reminded of the wonderful words of love of the great 

 Teacher, " If God so clothed the grass, . . . will He not 



