Page:The fairy tales of science.djvu/80

56 “We now began to lead a new kind of life. The atoms of the ocean were not fixed, like those of the rock. They glided over each other with perfect ease, and were continually in motion. As a matter of course, these atoms communicated their motion, to us. It would be impossible for five little molecules to stand still while myriads were pushing them. We performed some wonderful voyages during the ages that we spent among the oceanic atoms. Sometimes we passed from the Equator to the Poles; but our usual course was from west to east, in which direction a mighty stream of atoms constantly flowed round the globe.

“A strange mishap forced us to relinquish our roving habits. In traversing a chain, of rocks we were sucked into the stomach of a tiny plant-like animal, whose frame was built tip of numberless atoms, most of them members of the carbon family. A place was found for us in this living organism beside certain atomic groups, each composed of five individuals exactly like ourselves.

“In course of time the vital force which had aggregated the various molecules into such a wondrous system ceased to act; in other words, the animal died. The atoms which formed the soft portions of the body now began to change their position, and in a very short time they were all carried away by the wandering atoms of the ocean. As for me, I was