54 THE MICROSCOPE. 



No glass can reach ; ,from Infinite to Thee, 

 From Thee to nothing ! " 



" How wonderful are thy works, Lord ; sought out of all 

 them that have pleasure therein." 



7. The marvel of marvels regarding the Koti- 

 fera still remains to be told ; their tenacity of life. 

 They may be taken out of water, kept dry as 

 dust, and retained in this condition for almost any 

 length of time ; yet, when exposed to the influ- 

 ence of moisture and heat, they may be restored 

 again to all their former animation ! Fontana, 

 an Italian naturalist, kept some Eotifera in 

 dried sand for two years and a half ; but, after 

 an application of rain-water for two hours, most 

 of them appeared to return to life and motion. 1 

 Spallanzani, after keeping the creatures for four 

 years in a torpid state, repeated these experi- 

 ments with the same success. He further tried 

 the power of revival after apparent death, by 

 alternately drying and moistening the same 

 individuals. At each trial some failed to re- 

 cover ; some recovered many times ; one of 

 them actually revived fifteen times, but died 

 on the sixteenth trial. 2 Individuals of one 



1 Paterson's Zoology, p. 8. 



2 Owen's Comp. Anat., vol. i. p. 39. 



