LUTHER BURBANK 



up a portion of matter as big as our plum-bud 

 (which we may assume to have the bulk of about 

 a cubic centimeter) is represented by the figures 

 68 followed by twenty-four ciphers 68 "octil- 

 lions", if the figures must be read. 



So the number of atoms that are aggregated in 

 the tiny plum-bud is vastly greater than the total 

 number of people that have lived on the earth 

 since the human race was evolved. 



To attempt to give tangibility to the idea of the 

 smallness of the atom, we may borrow an estimate 

 made by the late Lord Kelvin. It may be computed 

 that if the tiny plum-bud were imagined to be 

 enlarged in size until it became as big as the earth, 

 each component atom being increased in the same 

 proportion, its entire structure would then be made 

 up of units (magnified atoms) of about the size of 

 footballs. 



If we then reflect, further, that according to the 

 definite analyses of other physicists, with Sir J. J. 

 Thomson of Cambridge at their head, each atom is 

 itself a complex structure the very simplest atom, 

 that of hydrogen, being composed of at least 1,700 

 particles called electrons which are in reality the 

 unit particles of electricity we shall gain a still 

 more, enlightening view of the complexity of our 

 plum-bud microcosm. 



It has been estimated by a French physicist, 



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