110 THE MICROSCOPE. 



6. Results still more important, even the 

 honourable name, and the very existence of in- 

 dividuals, have been found to depend upon the 

 testimony of the Microscope ; and the Lawyer 

 at the bar, and the Judge on the bench, have 

 found its evidence all-powerful in deciding the 

 most solemn questions. It is to be remembered 

 that, as seen under the Microscope, the hairs 

 and blood-globules (or red corpuscles of blood) 

 of different kinds of animals are very dissimilar. 

 The smallest blood-globule is that of the Java 

 musk deer, being (on an average) 12 ^ 25 th of an 

 inch ; the largest is that of the Proteus, an 

 animal of the Batrachian family, being -^rth of 

 an inch. The average dimension of the blood- 

 globule of a sheep, is Woirth of a dog, ^T^-d 

 of a mouse, ^rrth and of a man, ^roth of 

 an inch. Differences in the form and colour, 

 as well as in the size, of blood-globules, assist in 

 the determination of the species to which they 

 belong. There is an equally striking dissimi- 

 larity between the hairs of different kinds of 

 animals ; and not only does the hair of one 

 species differ from that of another, but in the 

 same species the form of the hair differs in dif- 



