By means of this sense, beasts find all that is necessary for the preservation of their life; birds and reptiles their food; and many animals are warned by it of the approach of their enemies. The hearing conveys to animals the fluttering and vibrations of the air. The construction of the ear is not the same in all beasts. Some, like the lizard, have two drums. Some are deprived of several parts which most other animals have. It is thought, that neither birds nor fish have that part which is called the snail, or shell, and that insects and worms are absolutely deaf. The eyes are the organs of sight. Except the cuttle fish, the hadge-hog, and perhaps a few others, all reptiles are without eyes. Almost all insects, on the contrary, have more than two. Most of them have them in profusion, generally collected into two orbits. The spider and scorpion have eight eyes. In one fly there has been reckoned 16,000 eyes, in a scarab 6362, and even 34,650 in a butterfly. The number and position of those eyes make the insects amends, for not being able to move or turn them. The fish have none of the watery humour; but their chrystalline is almost entirely round. All the organs of the senses are evidently disposed, in a manner conformable to the make of animals, and their several wants. As the eyes of most insects are immoveable, nature, to supply the defect, has given them horns, by means of which they discern dangers, which would escape their sight. The eyes of fish are disposed with equal wisdom. A full projecting eye would not suit them, for which reason their cornea is quite flat; but, to remedy this defect, the Creator has given them a crystalline perfectly spherical whereas, in animals that live in the air, it is lenticular, and consequently flatter. Although the the form of all eyes is round, there is a visible difference in this roundness. The situation even in the head is infinitely varied, according to the different designs and wants of animals. In man, who sees little but what is before him, the eye is placed on the fore part of the head, but so contrived, that he can receive the impression of nearly the whole semi-circle of objects before him. In birds, on the contrary, the eye is placed in such a manner, that it admits almost the whole circle of the objects around it: From thence, they are better able to get their food, and to shun the dangers to which they are exposed. The human ear has the form best adapted to the upright posture. In the birds, it is more proper for flight without projecting, that it might not interfere with their progressive motion; but close and covered, in order to leave them a free passage through the air. What wisdom! what economy! what admirable art, in the arrangement, and the whole disposition of the senses of animals! But perhaps we only know the smallest part of this wonderful mechanism; and, undoubtedly, most of our observations, in this respect, deserve less the name of discoveries than that of probable conjectures. If we could have a more perfect knowledge of the interior construction and use of the senses of animals, we should have still more reason to admire the wisdom of God. Let us, at least, employ the little we know of it, in praising and glorifying our common Creator. The more imperfect our knowledge of animals is, the more we ought to abstain from looking upon them with indifference and contempt. Let us rather consider them as a mirror of the divine power and wisdom. For even the animals afford us incontestible proofs that the Lord, who has made them, as well as us, is great in counsel, and abundant in means. པ་་ར MAY XIV. ORDER IN THE SUCCESSION OF FLOWERS. EACH plant appears on the earth in the order prescribed it. The Creator has exactly fixed the time in which one is to unfold its leaves, another to blossom, and a third to wither and fade. We have seen, some weeks past, the white winter blossom, or early violet, spring up. A long time before the trees ventured to open their leaves, and when the earth was still covered with snow, it dared to peep out; and was the first of all the plants, and the only one, which delighted the eye of the florist. Next appeared the saffron blossom, though timidly, because it was too weak to bear impetuous winds. With it appeared the sweet violet, the auricula so admired for its brilJiant colours, and the variety of its species. All these plants, and some others which appeared on mountains, were the vanguard of the army of flowers; and their arrival, so agreeable in itself, had, besides, the merit of proclaiming the coming of a multitude of other flowers. We now see in reality, the other children of nature appear, not all at once, but in a regular succession. Each month displays the ornaments peculiar to it. The tulip begins to unfold its leaves and its blossoms. Soon the beautiful anemone will form its dome, and grow up round and full. The ranunculus will display all the magnificence of its leaves, and will charm our eyes with the most beautiful mix ture ture of colours. And to crown the lovely assemblage of flowers, the rose will open and bloom with all the beauties which distinguish it. The carnation will shew itself with the elegance which makes it so superior to its companions. Let us pause here, and reflect on the wise and beneficent designs evident in this succession of flowers. If they were all to blow at the same time, there would sometimes be a great superfluity of them, and, at other times, a total want. We should scarce have time to observe half their beauties, and we should too soon be deprived of them. But now, that each sort of flower has its appointed time and place, we may, in this pleasing cession, examine them, enjoy their charms at leisure, and acquire a fuller knowledge of them. This beneficent and wise attention of Providence procures one more very great advantage. It not only presents to us each flower in all its beauty, but it makes up for the frailty of all those lovely productions of nature: For though there are always some flowers fading, there are continually fresh ones coming to adorn our gardens, and to afford us uninterrupted pleasure. What goodness in our Creator, thus to favour mankind with a constant train of benefits? What goodness, not only to multiply his blessings, but to render them continual and lasting! He literally leads us through paths of flowers. Wherever we go, they spring up under our feet, that the sight and enjoyment of them may enliven and soften the pilgrimage through life. The same order, in which plants and flowers succeed each other, is also seen in the human species. From the beginning of the world, the generations of men have succeeded one another on this great theatre, in the order, time, and place allotted them by the Creator. In the mo B 5 ment. ment tl at some are born, others are returning to dust. While one is preparing to be useful to the world, another, who has already acted his part, is going off the stage. Who knows when his turn will come? Let us ever be prepared to resign our place with the tranquillity of a good conscience. MAY XV. THE ZOOPHITES. THE zoophites, or animal plants, are nothing but insects; though by their outward form, their immobility, and their manner of propagating by buds and seeds, they are very like real plants. These animals, as well as plants, can be multiplied by slips, and by ingrafting. Their animal nature only shews itself by the sensibility and voluntary motion observed in them. Most of the zoophites hold by a sort of root to the sea, or the waters they live in. Some inhabit stony and chalky places; others are surrounded with a shell, more like horn; and lastly, some are entirely soft and fleshy. They have this all in common, that, without any preceding connection, new zoophites spring out of the surface of their bodies. While these young animals are fastened to the stalk, they form together one single animal. They are nourished by it, and nourish it by turns. But as soon as they are loosened from the stock, they' have their separate existence. The zoophites also. multiply in another way, which much resembles the generation of plants. There forms a sort of bud which contains a young animal, which grows some time with the stalk, but at last falls off, and |
