332 



Marvels of the Universe 



I 



9 

 



> 



experiment will give the reader a good idea of " bac- 

 terial " size. If you take an ordinary pin. and lightly 

 prick a piece of paper, the hole you have made will be 

 of sufficient area to accommodate three hundred and 

 thirty-three comparatively large Bacteria in a colunui 

 of single file end to end, and notwithstanding, there 

 will be plenty of room to spare between the ends of the 



tw column and the sides of the circle. If, however, you 



™ prefer to use a comparatively small Bacillus for the 



experiment j?ou may make a hole half as large as the 



small pin-prick and j-ou may still place three hundred 



^^ jf^ and thirty-three of the chosen organisms in a similar 



column as in the last example without any fear of 

 crushing. Those interested in comparative sizes ma\' 

 work out endless examples giving most amusing 

 results. 



There are in existence even smaller organisms, 

 organisms which are not to be seen with the most 

 powerful lenses, although we may ha\-e absolute proof 

 that they are present. These minute bodies are able to pass through porcelain filters and ai"e 

 members of the ultra-microscopic kingdom. 



An3'-one with an average amount of intelligence perusing a daily paper will have noticed that 

 an occasional case of plague causes much uneasiness. It is not surprising, when one considers the 

 rapidity with which plague spread in former years, that the occurrence of a single case should be 

 a matter of general interest. To-dav, with scientific sanitary methods, an isolated case has little 

 or no chance of producing an epidemic, as it would have been likely to do a few years ago. 



[Z(l/ J. £. Knbjlil. 



BUBONIC PLAGUE. 



The Kitasato Bacillus shown above is so 

 small that many thousands of them could be 

 picked up on the point of a fine needle. 



THE NIGHT-FLOWERING CACTUS 



rhr.lo h„-\ [ir. ,-i.r,77,- AV 



A \IGHT-FLOWERI\G CACTUS. 



This is Macdonald's Cereus, a native of Honduras, which creeps along the 

 ground. Its pure white fragrant flowers are fourteen inches across. 



To those who believe that 

 all beauty in Nature exists 

 for the gratification of man's 

 esthetic sense, the night-fiower- 

 ing species of Cactus present 

 a difficult}-, for the flowers do 

 not begin to open until late 

 in the evening, and by the 

 morning they have collapsed 

 into limp rags devoid of beauty. 

 In the meantime the night- 

 moths, for whom alone their 

 beautj' and fragrance have been 

 evolved, have visited them and 

 pollinated them. 



The group of Cacti to which 

 the magnificent night flowers 

 belong are distinguished b\' 

 the name of Cereus, which 

 means pliant, and has reference 



