Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1851-02-07
From Arthur's Gazette.
Microscopic wonders.

A drop OF stagnaEt water, upon being
examined by powerful microscope.
will be found inhabited by thousands up
on thousands of, anim1lcules, each swim
ming with as much freedom as a whale
in the ocean. Their minuteness is ex-
traordinary, some being not more than
l-20,O00th part of an inch in length;
that is, an insect one inch in length,
would bear the same proportion to one
OF them, as giant one hundred thousand
feet in height, would bear 10 a man of
five feet. Yet, diminu,ive as they are,
most of them have mouths, many stom-
aches; and, Of these last some possess
between forty and fifty. The variety of
their shapes is truly amazing; one is a
long, slender thread, another serpent;
some are round, some oval, others trian-
gular; one thin, flat plate, another a
network of seeming seeds: one is shaped
like funnel, another like bell; some
have long and scarcely preceptible tails,
others, in the place of these, have two
thick appendages like horns. Some
change their dimensions at pleasure; al
times they are extended to immoderate
length, then contract to almost nothing.
Many are Opaque, while others are SO
transparent as to be scarcely discernib,e
ftom the fluid they inhabit. Singular,
too, and various are their motions; soms
swim with the velocity of an arrow,
others more slowly and with apparent
difficulty: some seem to exist in perpetu-
al rest, others will revolve with incredi-
bic velocity or their centres; undula,ions,
leaps, oscillations, successive whrls, in
short, all conceivable modes of progress
sions are pracliscd by them. These an
imalcules have been found in the blood
of the frog and the salmon, and in the
fluids contained in the eyes Of fish; in
the waters of streams flowing in mines
at The depth of five hundred feet below
the surface of the earth, and in those of
springs upon the summit Of Mount Sinai.
Some small fragments Of ice found in
the ocean, upon being melted, We're dis
covered TO contain fifty different varieties
of microscopic sheilish. The mnntest
specimens of shell-ish have a diameter
which does not exceed l-30,OOOth part
OF an inch; and yet, they contain local.,
ties, they form a suoterranean strata
many lalhoms in depth. 1t is said,
moreover. that, although many of these
are parasites, living upon larger animals,
they are themselves inhabited bv Others!
Nor are microscopic insects confined to
the waters; many varieties have been
found in the cavities of common grain
of sand; each leaf is a colony of insects
grazing on il like oxen in field; the
white sugar upon raisns and figs affords
home for millions, and each tooth is a
world busy with life. g.
The surface of our bodies is covered
with scales, like those of a fish, one
hundred and fifty Of which can be COW
cred with grain of sand. One of these
scales cover five hundred pores, vet
through openings so minute the sweat
exudes like water through sieve.-
How wonderfully small must be the
particles of that fluid, which can find an
outlet through openings, 5000 Of which
can be hidden by one grain Of sand!-
The finest and smoothest needle, when
examined by a powerful microscope,
looks like rough bar of iron; but the
sting of bee, viewed through glass
which magniies fine needle point to
the breadth of an incn, exhibits every
where the most beautiful polish, without
the least blemsh or inequality, and ends
in point too fine to be visible. The
threads of fine lawn seem coarser than
the yarn with which ropes are made for
anchors; but the web Of a silk-worm. or
OF spider. appears as perfect and as
smooth as when viewed by the naked
eye. The finest and most delicate lines
made by the engraver, are found to be
rough and ragged on their edges; but not
single appearance OF this is discerni-
BILE upon the dots and lines with which
nature has ornamented the bodies of the
insect races. How do the most finished
productions Of man fade before the per-
iections Of natures handiwork.
A new Iuterpretati0n N Of the Con-