378 
WILD LEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
the destruction of its victim. These are among the 
changes that prove the rule of superior force 
throughout every portion of the earth ; and in every 
drop of water that is sufficiently impure to have 
generated animalcules. In that one drop, the 
microscope will show the monsters of the tiny 
ocean, invisible to the naked eye, but the strong are 
devouring the weak, as the rotifera swallow down 
the helpless victims in unresisting shoals. There 
is in the ferocious instincts of the microscopic 
insect the same fury of attack as in the 
cruel shark, although unseen by’ the unaided 
human eye. The spider emulates the fisher¬ 
man in the construction of its net, both guided 
by natural laws, reason, instinct, and desire, to 
catch and kill something that will enable it to 
subsist. 
The lover of nature will never tire of studying 
her ways. When young, he will wonder and admire ; 
when old he will reflect, but still admire. In all his 
studies he will discover one great ruling power of 
individual self, whether among the brute creation 
or the vegetable world. Of the civilised world 
I say nothing. 
In his wanderings as a naturalist he will 
remember, that should he endeavour to study in 
their secluded haunts the wild beasts and their 
ways, the law of force will be always present; it 
will accordingly be wise to secure the force before-" 
hand upon his side, and no more trusty companion 
and dependable agent can be found than a double- 
