The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1869-06-19


81 laid aside the specimen, and for weeks
4 did not venture TO use tho microscope
again. Was il really true that I bad
seen e sehtient being, whore expected
70 see only tie lower >ordsrs og animal
life; Sof had I fallen victim to my
enthusiasm in the prosecutions of dis.
coveries in the microscopic world? Had
my mind become d5fsiihgedy kept my
terrible secret TO myself, for I could not
bear the thought Of being laughed at
about matter that had srch sensations
in my mind. AT last determined to
make further examination Of The speoi-
meu of lichcn. Itrrmained as had at
first examined it. The microscope was
adjusted over it. / lo"kcd again, with
what interest may we'll be imagined, and
there lay the man that had seen before,
but living no louger He had died,
probably Of exhaustion, aud there he
lay clinging with death grip to the
lichen boughs, whittier he had doubtless
ventured iu search Of game,
Further examination convinced me of
the truth of the hypothesis. / discovered
several animalculfo> recently slain. AS
well as could be made out by the magni-
tying power of my microscope, the legs
of the animaiculc ,sere tied together as
visible boys tie squirrels aud partridges.
The microscopic man evidently wore
clothes, but of what material or how
formed it Was impossible to determine.
Convinced beyond doubt by what he
had seen, Of the existence of race of
microscopic human beings, and some
what familiarized with the idea that so
revolted him ut first, Mr.. a, continued
his researches with the greatest zeal.
The examination Of several more spec
linens Of the lichen, and the soil Gil
which it grew, revealed few more indi-
viduals like that mentioned above. Mr..
A. was careful not to treat them so
roughly rs he did the FIRST one discovered,
for the thought of having inadvertently
killed fellow creature has greatly dis
turbed him.
After long and careful search of the
lichcns and the space occupied by them,
Mr.. A. had the qualification of making
his great aud crowning discovery, the
capitul city of the microscopic nation.
This he carefully removed with the
foundations on which it stood and trans
ferred it to flower pot in his back yard.
1t was there that!ge had the pleasure
of beholding the woSderful aud minute
creation.
The portion of the City so far examined
contains 4 population of probably three
millions, or numbeE about equal to that
of London. -
1t is impossible with the microscope in
Mr.. AS, possession to tell Of what mate
rial the houses arc bniit-whethcr they
are of earth, or wood, or.both combined.
The streets appear under the micros-
cope to be about quarter of an inch in
width, and thronged with people hurry
ing to and fro, whether in the pursuit of
commerce or on account of the late shocks
their city experienced during its transfer
from the root Of the tree to the flower
pot, cannot, of course, be asccrtaincd.
But they werc-mcn and women mag
nified to the size of pismires, and display
ing all the signs of tumultuous human
life
While We were watching the ever
changing crowd VIC saw one person rush
out of house and another one pursue
him.
The pursucr was soon joined by the
crowd in the street, and after an exciting
chase of about the twentieth part of an
inch, measured by the naked eye, the
thief, for such the first mentioned indi-
vidaal must have been, surrendered him. .
self, evidently exhausted by his long
race.
He was taken away by persons seem
ing to have authority What the stolen
property was that he held in his hand to
the last, the microscope was not power
tul enough to determine. During the
pursuit of the thief the people showed
every symptom of excitement common
with the larger species Of human beings
They clappod their hands, thrust their
neighbors rudely aside, and showed by
their gesticulations the deepest interest