The Tiffin tribune. [volume] (Tiffin, Ohio) 1848-1859, 1856-11-14
The Plurality Of mites.
AN AFTER DINNER DREAM.

ding having been disposed Of, 1 had sat
for some time idly playing with the
cheese, some loose dry 1rumbly bits Of
which were lying about my plate fell
asleep and had dream.
1 dream that in some strange unex.
planned manner (whon was ever anything
explained in dreams ? my eyes became
all at once endowed with microscopic
power, and happening to light upon
crumb Of cheese, beheld goodly colony
Of mites. l watched their movements.
As looked, they seemed to increase in
size, until could distinctly single out
individuals from the mass. l saw them
striving and struggling with each other,
some Of the weaker getting most cruelty
trampled under foot by others who march
over them / saw them toiling with dilf-
Guilty up the Gaseous mountains, or rest
ing quietly in the deep shady valleys, in
to which the inequalities on Che surface Of
the cheese were manguiied. saw some
of the largest plumper-looking mites
boarding up heaps Of the rich matter that
formed at once the food and dwelling
place and saw other leaner ones who,
dig as deeply as they would into It's sub
stance, never seemed able to get enough
10 eat.
Then, as l looked, / thought heard a
sound, like voices in the distant. and, by
degrees, my ears partaking Of the super
natural powers already enjoyed by my
eyes, / caught their accents, and found
| that L could understand the language OF
the mites. Us .. -..n f...r- .
What a brave world is this Of oursl'
cried an old fat mite whom was watch.
lirg (he spoke louder than the others, and
so his was the 6rst word that l caught.
"How bountiful nature has been in pla-
cling us upon it. Here we have all we
want--our food provided for us, and to
be had simply for the picking up. Had
we been cast upon the dreary void that
separates US from the nearest world "a
this, we must have died from hunger
Look over wonder: what now appears tc
you tiny spot in the distance, once form.
cd portion Of this world Of ours. Now
tits millions Of our longest measures from
u.s."
On hearing this, could not Cor the
life Of me, retain from laughing, asleep
though / was. The distant object that
he pointed out was one Of the crumbs oil
cheese that l had scattered with my knife
some time befoe the dreary void that
intervened was about two inches Of the
plate which chancedto be uncovered.
| listened again. The old mite was
discoursing learnedly about the atoms
that made up the universe. "Look where
we WILL" he said, " we find on every
side, far, immeasurably far from us, small
speoks TO all appearance, but supposed tC
be in reality worlds like our own. 1t has
been said, indeed, that they possess in
habitants like ours but that we canuo
know. ConVulsions do occur sometime,
that bring two worlds together, bu
when this happens, those residing neal
the spot where the phenomenon occurs
seldom survive the shock. Whole nations
have been sometimes known TO perish il
the collision some being crushed Il
death, and others thrown far from an,
habitable spot by the conclusion.
Then came a mite, apparently mucI
older than he who had already spoken
and declared he knew of his own know
WledRe, that the worlds around must, /
great extent, resemble this. Long, loni
ago, he recollected that the whole formed
one enormous mass, vast beyond al con
ception that by degrees, with fearful
shocks, the worlds they saw in the ia
distance were, one by one, detached anC
few off into space. He was too younj
when these disruptions happened, to know
much about it; but he pondered on i
, since, and felt convinced that all existing
matter, their own world, and the thou
sands that they saw around them, ono
formed one mighty whole - f.
A derisive shout of laughter followe,
this assertion The thing was too pre-
. posterous TO be believed The younge
mites, especially, were boisterous in thei
inoreduiity! They were not going TO b
taken in by tales like that---they knew
D better. Their was no other world beside
their own. The bit of cheese that the!
dwelt on, was the only bitof cheese tina
ever was, or would or could be habitable
See what a size it was. No mite ooul,
walk around in life time. If what the
had been told was true, how insigniGoan
? would this great world of ours become
! compared 10 the enormous whole. How
. utterly insignificant the individual mite
No, no, there was no other habitabl
cheese. E.ll IllI.
The old mite shook his head, and spok
not. For my own part ! felt half tempt
7 ed 10 convince the skepties Of their elro
Z by scraPing all the crumbs together !.
: my plate, and thus, once more unitin
y their scattered universe. Bat ha
heard of the disasters that ensued when
, ever these convulsions, rs they Gale
: them, did occur and, having by thi
4 time conceived an interest in the tiny dii
putants, l spared them and continue
J listening. r'-.s .ry.l g5ft.I ..i aegl.
p /" Come, now" exclaimed one Of th
incredulous young mites, with an air
7, one about to put poser, ''if you hav
! told Us true, and everything we see areup
% US is cheese like this We live IN II thel
u really exists as much cheese as woul
make thousand Of our worlds Wh
may not there DO evena thousand time
} as much az that again Why may thei