Unr] AND SYMBOLS. 375 



The Energy of Unobtrusive Life. 



Considered with reference to mass, the vegetable far exceeds 

 the animal world on the face of the globe. The animal kingdom 

 wants mass, and the motions of individuals withdraw them 

 frequently from our sight, and we do not think of the energy 

 which we do not see. Now the vegetable world works upon 

 our imagination by the mere force of quantity. In the animal 

 kingdom it is precisely that life that we are wont to designate 

 as the smallest in point of room, which by its subdivision and 

 rapid increase presents in reality the most remarkable relations 

 in respect of mass. The smallest of the infusoria, the monadse 

 only attain a diameter of i-3oooth of a line, yet do these silicious- 

 shelled organisms, in moist countries, compose, by their accumu- 

 lation, subterraneous strata several fathoms in thickness. In the 

 same way there are tremendous forces at work in society, which 

 the majority of mankind pass unheeded, because they are so 

 occupied with gazing at the mere mass of accomplished facts 

 which lies on the surface of observation. Underneath all this 

 display and quantity of accomplished things, there are innumer- 

 able individual influences in a state of energy and multiplication; 

 and at the very basis of national life, yet unobtrusively, they so 

 work as to affect the strata of society, altering the position of 

 primeval landmarks, shaking old foundations, and changing the 

 position of ancient institutions. K. 



Unrestrained Appetite Snares its Possessor. 



The man who will not restrain his strongest appetite will find 

 that it will lead him into a ruinous snare. Observe the eagle. 

 When gorged with food, the eagle dislikes the exertion of flying, 

 and generally runs forward a few paces before taking to flight. 

 The Scotch shepherds have discovered this propensity, and 

 have invented a very ingenious trap, which is made so as to 

 take advantage of this habit. A circular enclosure is built of 

 stone, about four feet in height, without any roof, and with a 

 small door on one of its sides. A dead sheep is then thrown 

 into the centre of the enclosure, and a noose adjusted round the 

 door. The eagle soon discerns the sheep, and after making a 



