142 THE MICROSCOPE. 



their minuteness. They were, in fact, distinctly appreciable by the 

 naked eye, measuring from ^th to ^th of an inch in diameter." With 



fig. 94. Noctiluca miliaris. 



a power of about 200 diameters they are seen of various forms and 

 stages of growth, as represented in fig. 94. 



" Awaked before the rushing prow, 

 The mimic fires of ocean glow, 



Those lightnings of the wave ; 

 Wild sparkles crest the broken tides, 

 And, flashing round the vessel's sides, 



With elfish lustre lave ; 

 While far behind their livid light 

 To the dark billows of the night 



A gloomy splendour gave." 



SCOTT. 



MONADIC M MONADS. 



Monads. These are amongst the smallest atoms of matter possess- 

 ing the mysterious principle of life, discernible by the extraordinary 

 magnifying power of the microscope. Minute, however, as they are, 

 no one can say but that they derive their sustenance by preying on 

 animals even less than themselves, as larger ones of the same species 

 do upon them. 



A drop of water only a tenth of an inch in diameter may glitter 

 like a diamond from its translucency, and yet under the microscope be 

 seen to hold 500 millions of these animated beings; an amount about 

 equal to the human race now existing on the surface of our globe. 

 Vainly does man, with all the subtlety of his mind, endeavour to con- 

 ceive an object the twenty-four thousandth of an inch in length ; yet 

 this is the size of the monad : some have been discovered twice this 

 length, but still they are inconceivably small when attempted to be de- 

 fined by comparison. If each be allowed three times its bulk to move 

 about in, a cubic inch of water will then contain 800,000 millions of 

 these organised beings. Nay, some philosophers say this family of 



