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。 tosomething on the scale of bed mites； the weave of the tightest human fabric looks like ship’srigging。 indeed； if your pillow is six years old—which is apparently about the average age fora pillow—it has been estimated that one…tenth of its weight will be made up of “sloughedskin； living mites； dead mites and mite dung；” to quote the man who did the measuring； dr。
john maunder of the british medical entomology center。 （but at least they areyour mites。
think of what you snuggle up with each time you climb into a motel bed。）3these mites havebeen with us since time immemorial； but they weren’t discovered until 1965。
if creatures as intimately associated with us as bed mites escaped our notice until the age ofcolor television； it’s hardly surprising that most of the rest of the small…scale world is barelyknown to us。 go out into a woods—any woods at all—bend down and scoop up a handful ofsoil； and you will be holding up to 10 billion bacteria； most of them unknown to science。 yoursample will also contain perhaps a million plump yeasts； some 200；000 hairy little fungiknown as molds； perhaps 10；000 protozoans （of which the most familiar is the amoeba）； andassorted rotifers； flatworms； roundworms； and other microscopic creatures known collectivelyas cryptozoa。 a large portion of these will also be unknown。
the most prehensive handbook of microorganisms； bergey’s manual of systematicbacteriology； lists about 4；000 types of bacteria。 in the 1980s； a pair of norwegian scientists；jostein goks？yr and vigdis torsvik； collected a gram of random soil from a beech forest neartheir lab in bergen and carefully analyzed its bacterial content。 they found that this singlesmall sample contained between 4；000 and 5；000 separate bacterial species； more than in thewhole of bergey’s manual。 they then traveled to a coastal location a few miles away；scooped up another gram of earth； and found that it contained 4；000 to 5；000 other species。 asedward o。 wilson observes： “if over 9；000 microbial types exist in two pinches of substratefrom two localities in norway； how many more await discovery in other； radically differenthabitats？” well； according to one estimate； it could be as high as 400 million。
3we are actually getting worse at some matters of hygiene。 dr。 maunder believes that the move toward low…temperature washing machine detergents has encouraged bugs to proliferate。 as he puts it： 〃if you wash lousyclothing at low temperatures； all you get is cleaner lice。〃 we don’t look in the right places。 in the diversity of life； wilson describes how onebotanist spent a few days tramping around ten hectares of jungle in borneo and discovered athousand new species of flowering plant—more than are found in the whole of northamerica。 the plants weren’t hard to find。 it’s just that no one had looked there before。 koenmaes of the kenyan national museum told me that he went to one cloud forest； asmountaintop forests are known in kenya； and in a half hour “of not particularly dedicatedlooking” found four new species of millipedes； three representing new genera； and one newspecies of tree。 “big tree；” he added； and shaped his arms as if about to dance with a verylarge partner。 cloud forests are found on the tops of plateaus and have sometimes beenisolated for millions of years。 “they provide the ideal climate for biology and they havehardly been studied；” he said。
overall； tropical rain forests cover only about 6 percent of earth’s surface； but harbor morethan half of its animal life and about two…thirds of its flowering plants； and most of this liferemains unknown to us because too few researchers spend time in them。 not incidentally；much of this could be quite valuable。 at least 99 percent of flowering plants have never beentested for their medicinal properties。 because they can’t flee from predators； plants have hadto contrive chemical defenses； and so are particularly enriched in intriguing pounds。 evennow nearly a quarter of all prescribed medicines are derived from just forty plants； withanother 16 percent ing from animals or microbes； so there is a serious risk with everyhectare of forest felled of losing medically vital possibilities。 using a method calledbinatorial chemistry； chemists can generate forty thousand pounds at a time in labs；but these products are random and not unmonly useless； whereas any natural moleculewill have already passed what the economist calls “the ultimate screening programme： overthree and a half billion years of evolution。”
looking for the unknown isn’t simply a matter of traveling to remote or distant places；however。 in his book life： an unauthorised biography； richard fortey notes how oneancient bacterium was found on the wall of a country pub “where men had urinated forgenerations”—a discovery that would seem to involve rare amounts of luckand devotion andpossibly some other quality not specified。
there aren’t enough specialists。the stock of things to be found； examined； and recordedvery much outruns the supply of scientists available to do it。 take the hardy and little…knownorganisms known as bdelloid rotifers。 these are microscopic animals that can survive almostanything。 when conditions are tough； they curl up into a pact shape； switch off theirmetabolism； and wait for better times。 in this state； you can drop them into boiling water orfreeze them almost to absolute zero—that is the level where even atoms give up—and； whenthis torment has finished and they are returned to a more pleasing environment； they willuncurl and move on as if nothing has happened。 so far； about 500 species have been identified（though other sources say 360）； but nobody has any idea； even remotely； how many there maybe altogether。 for years almost all that was known about them was thanks to the work of adevoted amateur； a london clerical worker named david bryce who studied them in his sparetime。 they can be found all over the world； but you could have all the bdelloid rotifer expertsin the world to dinner and not have to borrow plates from the neighbors。
even something as important and ubiquitous as fungi—and fungi are both—attractsparatively little notice。 fungi are everywhere and e in