Page:The fairy tales of science.djvu/87

Rh and being an atom of a philosophical turn of mind, I often speculated upon the motives that induced those short-lived atomic structures called men to hasten each other’s dissolution. When I speak of these scenes as fearful, I make use of a human expression, for I need scarcely say that death can have no terrors for an undying atom.

“I was detached from the metallic mass by the agency of heat, and two friendly atoms again conveyed me into the atmosphere. My next transition was into the juice of a grape, where I remained in peaceful retirement, until man induced me to become a constituent of a bright and sparkling liquid, which he confined in strong glass bottles. How long I remained a prisoner I cannot say, but as soon as my bottle was opened I made my escape in a bubble of gas. After a short flight through the air, I passed into a blade of grass, and thence into the huge frame of an ox.

“The next change in my condition was brought about by human agency, and I became a constituent of a volatile and colourless liquid, which was such a terrible poison that a few drops of it would suffice to kill the largest animal. Now, it so happened that a foolish man swallowed a small quantity of this liquid. He grasped the little phial which contained the poison with a trembling hand, he raised it to his lips, and in another moment I found myself in his lifeless body. A simple atom can