144 THE SEVEN FOLLIES OF SCIENCE 



one side of a quarter of a dollar. If the blank spaces at 

 the heads of the chapters and the synopses of contents 

 were left out, it would easily go on one side. 



The second specimen, which I have of Mr. Webb's writ- 

 ing, is a copy of the Lord's Prayer written on a scale of 

 eight Bibles to the square inch. According to a statement 

 kindly sent me by the superintendent of the United States 

 Mint at Philadelphia, the diameter of the last issued gold 

 dollar, and also of the silver half-dime, is six-tenths of an 

 inch. This gives .28274- of a square inch as the area of 

 the surface of one side, and, therefore, the whole Bible 

 might be written more than two and a quarter times on one 

 side of either the gold dollar or the silver half dime. 



Such numerical and space relations are far beyond the 

 power of any ordinary mind to grasp. With the aid of a 

 microscope we can see the object and compare with other 

 magnifications the rate at which it is enlarged, and a per- 

 son of even the most ordinary education can follow the 

 calculation and understand why the statements are true, 

 but the final result, like the duration of eternity or the 

 immensity of space, conveys no definite idea to our minds. 



But at the same time we must carefully distinguish 

 between our want of power to grasp these ideas and our 

 inability to form a conception of some inconceivable sub- 

 ject, such as a fourth dimension or the mode of action of a 

 new sense. 



Wonderful as these achievements are, there is another 

 branch of the microscopic art which, from the practical 

 applications that have been made of it, is even more inter- 

 esting. This is the art of microphotography. 



About the middle of the last century Mr. J. B. Dancer, 

 of Manchester, England, produced certain minute photo- 



