Selected Cautionary Verses

*'The Microbe*' The Microbe is so very small\\ You cannot make him out at all\\ But many sanguine people hope\\ To see him through a microscope.\\ His jointed tongue that lies beneath\\ A hundred curious rows of teeth;\\ His seven tufted tails with lots\\ Of lovely pink and purple spots,\\ On each of which a pattern stands,\\ Composed of forty separate bands;\\ His eyebrows of a tender green;\\ All these have never yet been seen --\\ But Scientists, who ought to know,\\ Assure us that they must be so...\\ Oh! let us never, never doubt\\ What nobody is sure about!