There is nothing that more conspicuously displays the perfection of the works of Mother Nature than a comparison of them with the finest works of art. The contrast between the one and the other is exceedingly striking, and humbling to the pride of man. His best performances, when examined by the microscope, appear coarse and shapeless; but the more closely and clearly we are enabled to inspect these works, the apparent is a supreme excellence. This, be exemplified by a few illustrations.

The point of an exceedingly small needle, highly sharp, when viewed with a high magnifying microscope, appears neither round nor flat, but full of holes and scratches, and looks as if it had been hammered on an anvil. In comparison, the sting of a bee or of a gnat, the proboscis of a butterfly of flea, appear, when examined by the microscope, to be formed with utmost surprising beauty, and with exact regularity. The sting of a bee shows a polish with the least flaw, blemish, or inequality, and thickness to a point too fine to be discerned. Compare this with any leaf in the forest, or grass of the field, under the same magnifying power, and most striking contrast will be perceived.

The small dot or point which is generally the mark of a full stop or period, when greatly magnified appears to be rough, jagged, and uneven all around its edges, and very far from being truly round. The smoothest and most exquisitely-engraved lines and points, when examined by the microscope, seem like so many furrows and holes, or like daubing on a mat made with a blunt extinguished brand. On submitting to the microscope the edge of a very keen razor, it appears as broad as the back of a thick knife, rough, full or notches, and furrows, sharper in some places than others. Compare these works of human art with the operations of a puny insect, directed by instinct, or the works of Mother Nature, and the contrast appears most striking and admirable.