39° 
Plant  Textures. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
September,  19 17. 
Turn  now  to  the  ultra  microscope.  Perfect  transparency  of 
solution  by  means  of  other  light  and  methods  here  becomes  as  dark- 
ness. Focus  the  instrument  in  its  highest  power,  in  the  bright  illu- 
mination of  the  arc  light  on  a  film  of  distilled  water.  Absolute  dark- 
ness prevails.  Use  next  a  film  of  this  transparent  juice  of  the  lily 
of  the  field.  Behold,  a  multitude  of  tiny,  dancing  points  of  light, 
each  twinkling  and  revolving  as  though  circling,  planet-like,-  in  an 
orbit  of  its  own.  Let  us  consider  some  phases  of  what  now  lies 
before  us. 
Stars  of  the  Infinitely  Little.6 — So  thin  is  the  layer  of  juice  in 
which  these  starry  points  appear,  a  mere  film  between  two  glass 
planes,  that  but  for  it  they  would  rest  upon  each  other.  Yet  so  deep 
is  it  to  the  eye  of  the  ultra  microscope  as  to  be  in  comparison  a 
swirl  of  currents  and  eddies,  much  like  a  whirlpool  in  a  lake.  In 
this  spin  the  tiny,  glittering,  diamond-bright  points,  possessed  of 
motion  of  their  own — an  ever  constant,  twinkling  whirl.  They  move 
where  flows  the  current,  which  to  them  is  a  maelstrom.  Ever  active 
are  they  in  their  orbits,  but,  unlike  bacteria,  they  have  not  power  to 
resist  the  ocean  in  which  they  float.  Comparable  are  they  with  the 
"star  dust"  of  space.  As  in  the  "  immeasureable  great"  the  stars 
of  heaven  become  brighter  as  the  power  of  the  telescope  increases, 
so  these  tiny  points,  in  the  "  infinitely  little,"  twinkle  more  brightly 
as  the  power  of  the  microscope  increases.  So  very  minute  are  they 
that  to  focus  those  on  the  surface  of  the  film  is  to  lose  those  beneath. 
To  bring  to  view  those  beneath  the  surface  is  to  pass  successively 
myriads  that  lie  in  the  film's  depths.  So  numerous  are  they  that 
although  the  field  is  but  a  pin-section  magnified  to  the  size  of  a  dime, 
these  sparkling,  gyrating  points  are  seemingly  as  numerous  as  before 
the  telescope  are  the  stars  in  the  heavens. 
Perpetual  Motion.- — Comes  now  the  greatest  marvel  of  it  all. 
Never  do  these  microscopic  entities,  in  their  natural  setting,  lose 
their  motion.  Preserve  a  portion  of  the  juice  and  turn  to  it  from 
time  to  time.  Still  do  they  whirl,  twinkle,  move  on  their  axes. 
Death  seems  not  to  be  their  part.  Almost  might  one  accept  that  the 
molecule  of  life  activity  has  here  been  revealed.  The  life  spirit  in- 
herent in  the  minuteness  of  dead  matter  has  seemingly  been  dis- 
closed. 
6  No  claim  is  made  to  the  discovery  of  the  "  Brownian  Movements,"  now 
so  familiar  to  those  concerned  in  physical  chemistry.  Our  aim  here  is  but 
to  adapt  these,  as  a  link,  to  this  story  of  the  lily  of  the  field. 
