Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1851-03-29
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.


of animacues, each swimming with as much
! freedom as whale upon the ocean. Their
minuteness is extraordinary, some OF them
not being more than 100000 part oil an inch
i'll length that is, an insect one inch in length
would bear the same proportion 10 one OF
them, as a giant one hundred thousand feet
i'll height, would bear to Il man of five feet
Yet, dimiuutive as they are, most OF them
have mouths, many stCmachs and Of these
last some possess between forty and hfty.--
The variety of their shapes is truly amazing,
one is long, slender thread, another is ii
serpent some are round, some are oval, others
triangular; one is a thin fiat plate, another
net work Of seeming seeds one is shaped
like funnel, another like Il bell some have
long aud scarcely perceptibe tails others in
the place OF these, have two thick appenda-
ges like horns Some change their dmen-
siOns at pleasure; at times they extend to
immoderate length, then contract 10 almost
nothing. Many are opaque, while others are
so transparent as to be scarcely discernable
from the fluid they inhabit. Singular, TOO,
and various are their motions; some swim
with the velocity of an arrow others more
slowly and with apparent difficulty; some
seem 10 exist III perpetual rest, Others revolve
with increditable velocity on their centres
unduations, leaps, oscillations, successive
whrls, in short all conceivable modes Ot pro-
gresson are practsed by them. These an
imacue8 have been found in the blood Of
frog aud the salmon, and in the fluids con-
tanned in the eyes Of the fish, in the waters
flowing in the mines at the depth of FIVE
hundred feet below the surface the earth,
and in those Of spring upon the summit Of Mt.
Sinai. Some small fragments of ice Found
upon the ocean, upon being melted, were dis
covered to contain fifty different varieties OF
microscopic shell fish. The minutes spe-
cimen5 Of shell fish have diameter which
does not exceed the 1876, ,000lh part of an inch;
and yet in certain localities, they form sub
tetrancous stratum many falhoms in depth
1t is said, moreover. that, although many OF
these are parasites living upon larger animals,
they are themselves inhabited by others
Nor are microscopic insects confined 10 the
waters; many varieties have been found in
the cavities OF common grain OF sand each
leaf is colony of insects grazing on II like
CXen in field the white sugar upon rasins
aud figs offered home for millions, and each
tooth is a world busy with life.
Pho srrGona oF onr hpliaS 10 co-praI tn
scales, like those of fish, one hundred and
fifty of which can be covered with single
grain Of sand. One Of these scales covers
five hundred pores, yet through an opening
so minute the sweat exudes like water
through a sieve How wonderfully small
must be the PARTICLES of that fluid, which can
! fud an outlet through openings 10000 OF
which can be hidden by one grain of sand !!
The finest and smooihest needle, when eX-
amined by powerful microscope, looks like
a rou9h bar of iron; but the sting Of IA bee,
viewed through glass which magnihes a
tiue needle point 10 the breadth of Il quarter
Of an ich, exhibits every where the most
| beautiful polish, without tho least bIemish or
inequality, and ends in point too fine to be
visible. The finest and most delicate lines
made by the engraYer, are found to be rough
and ragged on their edges; but not single
appearance of this is discernahle upon the
dots and lines with which nature has adorned
the bodies OF the insect races. How do the
most finished productions of man fade before
the projections Of uatures's handiwork!
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