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magnetically polar ; and secondly, in virtue of the struc- 

 ture impressed upon it by the magnetic strain of its 

 molecules, the liquid twists a ray of light in a fashion 

 perfectly determinate both as to quantity and direction. 

 It would be immensely interesting to both you and me 

 if one here present, who has brought his brilliant imag- 

 ination to bear upon this subject, could make us see as 

 he sees the entangled molecular processes involved in 

 the rotation of the plane of polarization by magnetic 

 force. While dealing with this question he lived in a 

 world of matter and of motion to which the microscope 

 has no passport, and in which it can offer no aid. The 

 cases in which similar conditions hold are simply num- 

 berless. Have the diamond, the amethyst, and the 

 countless other crystals formed in the laboratories of 

 nature and of man, no structure ? Assuredly they have, 

 but what can the microscope make of it? Nothing. It 

 cannot be too distinctly borne in mind that between the 

 microscopic limit and the true molecular limit there is 

 room for infinite permutations and combinations. It is 

 in this region that the poles of the atoms are arranged, 

 that tendency is given to their powers, so that when 

 these poles and powers have free action and proper 

 stimulus in a suitable environment, they determine first 

 the germ and afterwards the complete organism. This 

 first marshaling of the atoms on which all subsequent 

 action depends baffles a keener power than that of the 

 microscope. Through pure excess of complexity, and 

 long before observation can have any voice in the mat- 

 ter, the most highly trained intellect, the most refined 

 and disciplined imagination, retires in bewilderment 

 from the contemplation of the problem. We are struck 

 dumb by an astonishment which no microscope can re- 



