66 THE MICROSCOPE. 



der !' The villagers and the monks of a neigh- 

 bouring convent assemble at the noise they suc- 

 ceed in partly effacing the stains ; but a little later 

 in the day, the other inhabitants of the house, 

 sitting down in terror to eat their meal under 

 the projecting eaves, suddenly discover blood 

 bubbling up in a pond, blood flowing from the 

 loft, blood covering all the walls of the house, 

 blood, blood, everywhere blood! The bailiff 

 of Schenkeuberg, and the pastor of Dalheim 

 arrive, inquire into the matter, and imme- 

 diately report it to the lords of Berne and to 

 Zwingle." 



By the help of the Microscope, we may safely 

 conclude that the bloody omen, which three 

 hundred years ago caused such consternation in 

 the canton of Berne, and which doubtless im- 

 mediately formed the topic of solemn delibera- 

 tion in the council-chamber of the Lords of 

 Berne, and in the circle of the Hero of the Swiss 

 Reformation, was nothing more than an extraor- 

 dinary descent of microscopic coloured plants or 

 vegetables, which, as we have seen from Murray's 

 Handbook, is often witnessed at this day in the 

 higher regions of the Alps. Thus science, truly 



