Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em.
And so proceed ad infinitum."
[335] Perhaps 1,600,000,000 years, if Boltwood's recent computations based on radium disintegration stand the test. This would mean, according to MacCurdy's estimate, 60,000,000 years since life first appeared on the earth.
[336] De Morgan wrote better than he knew, for this work, the Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste, begun at Leipsic in 1818, is still (1913) unfinished. Section I, A-G, consists of 99 parts in 56 volumes; Section II, H-N, consists of 43 volumes and is not yet completed; and Section III, O-Z, consists of 25 volumes thus far, with most of the work still to be done. Johann Samuel Ersch (1766-1828), the founder, was head librarian at Halle. Johann Gottfried Gruber (1774-1851), his associate, was professor of philosophy at the same university.
[337] William Howitt (1792-1879) was a poet, a spiritualist, and a miscellaneous writer. He and his wife became spiritualists about 1850. He wrote numerous popular works on travel, nature and history.
[338] See Vol. II, page 55, note [108].
[339] As will be inferred from the text, C. D. was Mrs. De Morgan, and A. B. was De Morgan.
[340] Jean Meslier (1678-1733), curé of Estrepigny, in Champagne, was a skeptic, but preached only strict orthodoxy to his people. It was only in his manuscript, Mon Testament, that was published after his death, and that caused a great sensation in France, that his antagonism to Christianity became known.
[341] Baron Zach relates that a friend of his, in a writing intended for publication, said Un esprit doit se frotter contre un autre. The censors struck it out. The Austrian police have a keen eye for consequences.—A. De M.