2 THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 
poetry and imagination. But I thoroughly believe 
myself, and hope to prove to you, that science is full 
of beautiful pictures, of real poetry, and of wonder- 
working fairies; and what is more, I promise you 
they shall be true fairies, whom you will love just 
as much when you are old and greyheaded as when 
you are young; for you will be able to call them 
up wherever you wander by land or by sea, through 
meadow or through wood, through water or through 
air; and though they themselves will always remain 
invisible, yet you will see their wonderful power at 
work everywhere around you. 
Let us first see for a moment what kind of tales 
science has to tell, and how far they are equal to the 
old fairy tales we all know so well. Who does not 
remember the tale of the Sleeping Beauty in the 
Wood, and how under the spell of the angry fairy 
the maiden pricked herself with the spindle and slept 
a hundred years? How the horses in the stall, the 
dogs in the court-yard, the doves on the roof, the cook 
who was boxing the scullery boy's ears in the kitchen, 
and the king and queen with all their courtiers in the 
hall remained spell-bound, while a thick hedge grew 
up all round the castle and all within was still as 
death. But when the hundred years had passed the 
valiant prince came, the thorny hedge opened before 
him bearing beautiful flowers ; and he, entering the 
castle, reached the room where the princess lay, and 
with one sweet kiss raised her and all around her to 
life again. 
Can science bring any tale to match this? 
Tell me, is there anything in this world more busy 
