1 70 INFUSOIUA. 



upon " the years to be eaten by the locust, the 

 canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and tlie 

 palmer worm," which are " His great army," 

 who rules over all things. 



When alluding to the vihrio tritici, or eel of 

 the wheat, it has been more than once stated 

 that it belongs, properly speaking, to the class 

 of animalculae called infusorial, because they 

 constantly appear in infusions of certain sub- 

 stances. The possessor of a tolerable micro- 

 scope may soon convince himself of the truth 

 of this assertion. Let him take a small glass 

 vessel, a tumbler if he please, and place in it 

 a little hay, and then fill it nearly full of rain 

 water. When it has stood a few days exposed 

 to the air, a slimy sort of matter will be seen 

 floating on the surface ; take a little of this 

 off with a pointed feather, and put it on a 

 slip of glass : use a quarter of an inch achro- 

 matic. A sight perfectly astonishing will now 

 present itself: the little drop of water will 

 appear a perfect mass of active life. Sour 

 paste vdll also be found teeming with vibriones, 

 or little eels of extreme activity. The author 

 obtained the most active and curious eels he 

 ever met with from an infusion of ripe straw- 

 berries in rain water ; they darted about with 



