354 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
colonies of bacteria on the seeds were quite suf. 
ficient to infect the whole mass. Under less 
favorable conditions, artificial inoculation is of 
great advantage. 
Wonderful are the secrets of nature. The 
infinitely small things seem to work for us and 
the infinitely large ones appear suited to our 
use; and yet, perhaps, this is all “seeming” and 
“appearing.” We may ourselves be simply more 
advanced bacteria, working blindly toward the 
solution of an infinite problem in which we are 
concerned only as means to an end. 
« Why should the spirit of mortal be proud,” — 
until it has settled its relative position with both 
Sirius and the micro-organisms, or has estimated 
its stature by view-points from the bacterial 
world and from the constellation of Lyra. Until 
we have been able to compare opinions from 
these extremes, if indeed they be extremes, we 
cannot expect to make a correct estimate of our 
value in the economy of the universe. I fancy 
that we are apt to take ourselves too seriously, 
and that we will sometime marvel at the shadow 
which we did not cast. 
a, en a 
