44 THE MICROSCOPE. 



were placed, like the beads of a necklace, side 

 by side in contact with each other. One drop 

 of water would contain a thousand millions 

 of them, though each was separated from its 

 neighbour by a space as large as its own dia- 

 meter. Thus, that globule of water would con- 

 tain as many Monads as the great globe has of 

 human beings on its wide surface in our own 

 day ! 



It is still contended that the Monad must 

 be classed with animals. If so regarded, the 

 " Twilight Monad" may supply a standard for 

 comparing the size of different objects. If the 

 Rorqual (whale), the largest animal, is one 

 hundred feet in length, and the Monad 12 Q 00 th 

 of an inch, then the common house-fly may 

 be considered as occupying the middle place in 

 creation. 1 But in that least, as certainly as in 

 that largest, of organized material creatures, we 

 have full proof of the presence and perfections 

 of the Creator. " Are we struck with admira- 

 tion," Coleridge asks, in one of his pregnant 

 sentences, " at beholding the cope of heaven 

 imaged in a dew-drop ? The least of the ani- 



1 Gosse's Life, p. 10. 



