640 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL. 



Till just as that living Plato, whom foreigners nickname 

 Plateau, 1 



Drops oil in his whisky-and-water (for foreigners sweeten 

 it so), 



Each drop keeps apart from the other, enclosed in a flexible 

 skin, 



Till touched by the gentle emotion evolved by the prick of 

 a pin: 



Thus in atoms a simple collision excites a sensational thrill, 



Evolved through all sorts of emotion, as sense, understanding, 

 and will; 



(For by laying their heads all together, the atoms, as coun- 

 cillors do, 



May combine to express an opinion to every one of them 

 new). 



There is nobody here, I should say, has felt true indignation 

 at all, 



Till an indignation meeting is held in the Ulster Hall ; 



Then gathers the wave of emotion, then noble feelings arise, 



Till you all pass a resolution which takes every man by 

 surprise. 



Thus the pure elementary atom, the unit of mass and of 

 thought, 



By force of mere juxtaposition to life and sensation is 

 brought ; 



So, down through untold generations, transmission of struc- 

 tureless germs 



Enables our race to inherit the thoughts of beasts, fishes, 

 and worms. 



We honour our fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grand- 

 mothers too ; 



But how shall we .honour the vista of ancestors now in our 

 view? 



First, then, let us honour the atom, so lively, so wise, and 

 so small; 



The atomists next let us praise, Epicurus, Lucretius, and all ; 



1 Statique Exptfrimentale et The'orique des Liquides soumis aux seules 

 Forces MoUculaires. Par J. Plateau, Professeur a 1'Universite de Gaud. 



