The morning call., 1893-08-06
IN THE FOREST OF LILLIPUT.
A Study of Minute Life.

tragedy should out of very pity lean down
from its height and put ont OF their misery
each and all of the would-be nippers who
got hurt in the squeezA of the pork-market
at Chicago this week? The slug may not
love and enjoy life quite so much as do
we, but he probably loves and enjoys it TO
the full extent of his capacity. and
what more can pc asked o.
a Sas s ivns b faea'd frem d total exinc
ton, let us be wise and merciful and leave
him to live another day. See. he is resum.
ing his way of devouripg the leaf; he Will
do very well as he is. Do YOU know what
saved his life? If you were to take the
fellow up and examine him closely you
might see, just where the bird nIpped MN,
a thin coating of she'll beneath the flesh.
You could find it if you were cruel enough
10 thrust pin into bis flesh near the tan,
but better take my word for it that 1t Is
there, and not put him to unnecessary
pain.
Or, better still, 1 can give you Grant
Aliens word for it. not only that the slug
has a shell. but that it so protects the
rreatCre's vital organs that this particular
one has not. in all probability. suffered
very seriously by his adventure with the
bird.
For the slug. he tells US. is by descent a
snail. There are, in reality, very few dlf-
fereDces between the races, except In the
presence or absence of house. There Is
a very complete set OF gradatlons In TINS
between the perfect slug and the perfect
snail. Onr common white snail has very
perfect she'll, into which he may retire at
his pleasure He has made it from the
lime and chalk formations of the soil, and
he needs it to preserve him from predatory
birds such as our slug nearly fell victim
to. Up in the mountains. where limestone
will find that the snails have horny shells,
and down here by the waterside. in moist
and buggy places. where mineral matter is
rare aud the soil is only the decayed veget-
able mold, our snail has found no chalk
or silica to build him a house: he has be-
come slug and what calcareous sub
stance he could extract from the earth he
has utilized in making this thin plate OF
armor that lies over his heart and other
vital organs. under his shiny, soft flesh.
Biff! What is that?
Something came with gentle force
against your hand; some light, delicate
BODY. but with sharp, pricking point.
There is another. sharp little arrow that
strikes the earth, point downward and
stands upright. You pull 1t out and
see that it is one OF the sharp
seed from the alferia. Do you
know that peculiar habit OF this plant?
1t doss not stand alone in possessing il,
this trick Of projecting its carples through
the air until they fall and bury themselves
in mother earth, there to nestle and grow
until spring comes, when the new plant
springs up to mantle the earth. 1t seems
hard to realiZr that there Is so much force
in delicate blossom. but nature Is all
force. There is power in a growing root
let of grass TO force ont of plumb the sup
ports of yonder bridge. did but accident
some day set it in operation.
Life in Lilliput is always intel esting, al
ways worthy of study. but the greater life,
after all, sooner or later absorbs the atten-
ton. Over and above and around the little
forest is the great one. The tall redwoois
reach out their giant arms and point to-
ward heaven; the mountains smile down
upon Us as we look up toward them and
fill us with a calm, sweet sense of benedic-
ton. They, too, have h their adventures
with stern nature, and their great sides are
scanned and riven and torn with the storms
of ages gone blythe upheavals of ancient
bouts with construc i've force. but they
smile on bravely, and as far as The eve can
reach they lift up their rugged, SCARED
heads to the sky and away to the level of
the plain.
They spread and span like the catholic man who
God of knowIe ledge. peace out of infinite pain,
Sight out of blindness and purity out of a s,ain.
There is comfort in the everlasting hills =;
there is blessing and benedciion in the
mighty trees; there is strength and heal
ing here by the edge OF this mountain
stream that has forced its way down the
canyon. for IN them all is the same etern /
force that is in the minute grasses at our
feet, the slug on the leaf, the bird in The
air, the wlggling tadpoles there in the
shallow pool, squlrnng ascidians that yet
share the universal life and transforming
power with us. who proudly pose as the
highest beings in the creative SC lie. That
we are this is readily apparent, "and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be"
PENELOPE POWELSON.