MICROSCOPIC VEGETABLES. ?>7 



habits, much resemblance to animals. These 

 plants have the property of withdrawing silex 

 from the water in which they exist, and thus 

 their bodies, or at least their coverings, are in- 

 destructible. Here, again, we are called to 

 admire the wondrous operations of the Framer 

 of the universe, and to observe how by the most 

 minute agencies He accomplishes his mightiest 

 plans. If man would obtain one small dwelling 

 to shelter himself from the icy cold, or to shade 

 himself from the burning heat, what a mighty 

 preparation of means ! what an array of mate- 

 rials ! what trenches and foundations ! what 

 scaffolding and heaps of rubbish ! what a crowd 

 of operatives of all classes ! But by the small 

 drops of heaven's dew, or rays of heaven's light 

 by the almost invisible particles of earth's 

 frost, or the minute polypes of ocean's water, or 

 by the countless agents of worlds of Desmidice 

 and Diatomacece, the Great Master Builder rears 

 and upholds the fabric of the material universe. 

 Thus these Microscopic plants had their part in 

 past ages in building up the walls of the world ; 

 and still day by day, unseen by the naked eye, 

 unknown to the millions of earth, they are in- 



