. in g CO QQ f' r B- o <****', ADVERTISEMENT. IT has long been the opinion of the editor of this volume, that the noblest employment of the mind of man is the contemplating the works of his Creator ; these living testimonies of the being and attributes of God have also ever ap- peared to him infinitely superior to the best arguments that the understanding of man has been able to advance. To lead, especially, the youthful mind, to this happy turn of observation, has been his object in the arrangement of these pages; and he trusts that the familiar and comprehensive delineations of Nature, which he has endea- voured to give, will be found not only calcu- lated for the improvement and extension of knowledge, but shew to the reader, that in every object in nature there are ample traces of the wisdom, power, and bounty of the Cre- ator, and convince him, that even the vilest weed and the meanest insect offer incontestable evidences of their Maker, IV. ADVERTISEMENT. Such being the object of the editor in ar- ranging this work, he leaves it to a liberal and enlightened public to appreciate his labours, and by their patronage give circulation to what he conceives may be beneficial in forming the mind to piety and just views of things. CHELSEA, October, 1820. CONTENTS. Air, weight of, - 163 elasticity and resistance of, 164 how cleansed, - 170 Alternate succession of day and night, benefits . resulting therefrom, - 18? Animals, their construction and properties, - 38 diversity of bulk, taste and habit of, 40 . prodigious numbers of, . ib. instincts of, - 47 provision for keeping their numbers within due limits, ib. of the graminivorous kind, 4y of the weasel kind, - 50 varieties of, - - 56 divisions into classes, orders, &c. ib. Animal Flowers, - 125 Atmosphere, - 158, extent of, - - 164 -its use, 165 great thoroughfare to the feathery creation, . - - 170 phenomena of, - - X72 Atmospheric phenomena, meteors, &c. uses of, 178 Beavers, their wonderful foresight, &c. - 52 Birds, their structure, appetites, &c. 63 amazing strength of their wings, 65 A2 Vi. CONTENTS. * Birds, admirable structure of their nests, peculiarities as to food, make, Sec, " migration of, various situations oi their nests, - Bismuth, Camels,* Celestial appearances, - - Chick in the egg, description of, Clay, its importance and usefulness, Coal, Chalk, Cinnabar, &c. Cod fish, incalculable number of, Comets, their number, motion, &e. purposes for which created, Connecting links in nature, Copper and Tin, Corn, construction and vegetation of, Crustaceous tribe, instinctive sagacity of, Design of this work, Dew. nature of, and benefits derived from, Dog, affectionate tenderness of, Shepherd's and Newfoundland, Earth, form or shape of, structure of the, -- spherity of the, surface of, its inequalities, &c. verdant colour of the, two -fold motion of the, - Earth worm, ... Electric fluid and its effects, CONTENTS. VII, Electricity? a most powerful agent in nature, . 180 Emu, its great swiftness, 64 Fall ot the leaf, observations on, 270 Fishes, - 140 structure of, 142 . immense number of, - 145 construction of, 147 instincts of, - 150 sagacity of, in depositing their spawn, 131 migration of, - 152 uses of, 153 how they contribute to the comforts of man, 155 Fixed stars, their beauty and number, 209 why so called, - 212 their distance from the earth, 214 their uses, 215 Flowers, their exquisite structure, - 28 their variety and fragrance. - 29 purposes for which they were designed, 35 Fogs, Mists, Clouds, and Rain, salutary effects of, 181 Fruit, reflections on, 260 Frost and Snow, uses of, in the economy of nature, 182 Goats, their remarkable agility, &c. 50 Harvest moon described, - 191 Herbs, use and importance of, 32 Herrings, Cod fish, Mackerel &e. prolific powers of, 146 their immense numbers, - 155 observations on the natural history of, 261 Insects, most numerous of nature's productions, 81 beauty and symmetry of some, - 8 Vlll. CONTENTS. Insects, peculiarities in this order of beings, - 84 their strength and agility, - 87 their wonderful transformations, ib. their surprising instinct, - 89 their uses, 90 Instincts of the Monkey, the Cat, and the Hare, 52 the Lion, Bear, Porcupine, Horse &c. 53 Iron, its usefulness and importance, 8 Jewels and Gems, - 10 Kraken, its immense size, - 141 Lama of South America, - 50 Land Crab, its instinctive qualities, - 134 Lead, 8 Limpet, how protected, 128 Loadstone* its importance, - 118 Lobster, justly styled wondrous, - 127 young, its instinctive habits, 133 Man, intellectual pre-eminence of, - 3 Marble, Alabaster, Flint, &c. - 10 Metals, their nature and importance, 8. Meteors, fiery, the use of, - 180 Meteors, watery, - 176 Mineral kingdom, treasures of the, 7 Mineral Salts, 9 Mineral and medicinal Waters, 20 Milky way described, 211 Moon, her phases, &c. - - 189 eclipses of, - 190 her salutary influences enumerated, - 193 CONTENTS. IX. Mother-of-pearl, mode of fishing for, 138 Motion, the soul of the universe, - 173 Mountains and Vallies, 16 their use, 18 Muscle, Cockle, Periwinkle, Nautilus, &c. 129 Natural objects, classification of, 1 Natural appearances in January, - 221 February, - 224 March, 232 April, 235 . May, - - 240 June, 244 July, - - 249 *,_ August, - 54 September, - 257 , October, - 265 November, 268 December, 272 Northern and southern lights, how formed, 179 Ocean, its magnificence, - 98 murmur of the, its use, - 112 usefulness of the luminous appearances of, ib. the uses of, ' - 115 the great vehicle of commerce, 116 benefits derived from this wonderful fluid, 118 Oran Outang, or wild Man of the Woods, - 50 Ostrich, Emu, and Cassowary, remarkable size of, 63 its swiftness, - 64 Pilchards, vast shoals of, - 155 Planets, their magnitudes and motions, - 199 Plains, wide and extended, their uses, - 21 X. CONTENTS. Plants, sexual system of, 27 - sleep of, ib. Quadrupeds, their conformation, - 48 -- their remarkable instincts, 51 -- their uses, 53 Quicksilver, its uses, &c. - 8 Rainbow, beauty of, - - 177 Religion, a sense of, the peculiar characteristic of man, 4 Reptiles, their structure, &c. - 91 -- their motion, - -92 - their use, - 97 substances and sulphureous bodies', * 9 Sea, its vast extent and bounds, 99 a source of fertility to the land, 103 a purifier and restorer of nature, - - 104 -- currents of the, 105 contains the greatest quantity of salt in the torrid zone, - - ib. - saltness of, how beneficial, 109 colour of, deception relative thereto, - 1 14 - vegetable productions found at the bottom of, 119 - vegetables, the use of, - 123 Sea-horse of the northern ocean, 50 Sea-tortoise, its instinctive sagacity, - - 132 Seasons, changes of the, and vicissitudes of day and night, how produced, - 183, 185 --- beneficial effects in the changes of the, 186 Serpents, some peculiarities relative to, 93 -- their poison, &c. 94 i -- : - wonderful sagacity of, 96 CONTENTS. XL Shell-fish, - 127 their uses, 137 Shrubs, - ^ - 31 Silver, Copper, Tin, &c. - 8 Solar System, - 198 Soldier crab, peculiarities of, 133 Spring, influence of, on man, ... 238 reflections on, 237 Springs and rivers, - 18 Stones and fossils, - 10 Sun, the, - 193 the great fountain of light and heat, - 194 the fountain of cheerfulness, - 196 its magnitude and motion, 198 Tellina, Scallop, Razor shell-fish, &c. peculiari- ties relative thereto, - - 136 Thunder storms, their nature and influence, 252 Tides, where greatest, - - 105 flux and reflux of, 107 Vegetables, variety of, 23 their use and importance, - 24 structure of, - ib. sub-marine, striking peculiarities in, 122 Vegetable kingdom, properties and peculiarities of, 27 Volatiles, their use, - 75 Waterspouts, of two kinds, - 109 description of one in the atlantic ocean, - - - 111 Whales, their immense size, - 140 fidelity of to each other, - 155 Whirlpools, - 107 Xll. CONTENTS. Wind, description of, 172 influence of on the ocean, - - 106 Winter in the polar regions, 226 sowing time, - - 267 - ' beginning of, . - - 271 advantages of, - - - 257 Wonders of the north, - 229 THE CHAPTER I. INTROD VCTION. EVERY page of the volume of Nature is fraught with instruction. Not only do the canopy of the heavens, and the luminous orbs which bedeck the glowing hemisphere on a clear frosty evening, de- clare the glory of the Supreme, but the whole of created existences, however insignificant, simple, or minute they may appear, plainly evince to the con- templative mind the wisdom and power of the Crea- tor; and shew that All Nature is a glass reflecting God, As by the Sea reflected is the Sun, Too glorious to be gaz'd on in his sphere. Natural objects, for the purpose of classification, have been in general arranged under the three grand divisions of animal, vegetable, and mineral, each of which will admit of many lesser subdivisions, 2 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. about which we mean not here to treat. One ob- servation, however, upon a general view of the whole, as it cannot fail in time to present itself to every person who engages in this study, may here be introduced: it is, that however easy it may seem, at the first glance, to discriminate the three classes of objects from each other, yet every class of natural objects will be found to approach so nearly in the extreme of other classes, that it is a matter of diffi- culty to say with precision where the one ends, and the other begins. The whole are so closely con- nected, like the links of a chain, that there is no possibility of finding a disjunction in any part. Among animated beings, bats are the connecting link between beasts and birds: the numerous class of amphibia conjoin beasts and fishes; and lizards unite them with reptiles The humming-bird ap- proaches the nature of insects, and the flying-fish that of birds The polypus, the sea anemony, and the sea pen, though of animal origin, have more the habits of vegetables than of animals; while the fly-trap, the sensitive plant, and some other vegeta- ble productions, by their spontaneous movements, or extreme sensibility, seem to participate more of animal origin. Corals and corallines, from the dif- ferent forms they assume, may be more easily mis- taken for mineral or vegetable than animal produc- tions, to which class they are now referred, by the unanimous decision of naturalists. The trufle, though a vegetable, assumes rather the appearance of a mineral; and there is reason to believe that the BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. anomalous substance called peat is actually a vegetable rather than an earthy or mineral sub- stance, as it has been often supposed. Nor is it with regard to corporeal forms only, and peculiarities of organization, that this disjointed con- nection subsists between the different objects which inhabit the globe: the same concatenation is observ- ed to take place respecting mind, beginning with man, who forms the highest link of the chain, and descending from him by an almost imperceptible dimunition of mental powers, through an innumera- ble series of existences, till it ends at last in mere animation alone, with a seeming privation of all mental perception whatever. It is indeed true, that though, in regard to intellect, some of the higher order of animals appear, in certain points of vievv^ to approximate to the lowest of the human species, yet there can be no doubt that man is much farther exalted above them all, than any one of these excels the next below it; so that if there be any break in the chain at all, it is here that the rupture takes place. For though many of the higher orders of animals possess a kind of memory, and the faculty of reasoning in a certain degree; though u the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib," yet, unless it be in recollecting their dependence on others for food, and a few circumstances of a similar nature, tending chiefly to the preservation of ex- istence, the intellectual powers of even the highest order of animals are extremely circumscribed Man alone can reason from consequences to remote causes, 4 BOOK OF NATURE LAID and can from the creature trace an idea of the Creator. A sense of religion, then, is the charac- teristic peculiarity which decisively marks a separa- tion between man and all other animals. In the view we are about to take of Nature, then, it shall be our chief aim, while we expatiate on the wonderful variety it presents in each department, to endeavour to establish and strengthen this pre-emi- nent characteristic of our species, and counteract that tendency to infidelity which has of late, by the labours of the wicked and designing, been rendered too prevalent. Indeed the contemplation of the works of Nature invariably leads to a consideration of the attributes of the Creator. The subject is so replete with digni- fied feelings, that w r e cannot help being surprised that atheism should ever have had a teacher or a convert. These infatuated men attempt to make every thing subservient to their leasonings, and they are unwilling to acknowledge that a superior mind can have created the wonders around them. Their favourite arguments against the intervention of Pro- vidence lie in a reference to physical and moral evils; such as pestilence, tempests, volcanoes, and death. They have no pleasure in contemplating the beneficent part of the works of Nature ; show them a flower, and they will point out the worm which consumes its bosom. It is by dwelling on scenes of waste that they seek to make us converts to their doctrine of annihilation; it is by making us bend under the pressure of the evils of life, that they BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 5 expect to bring us to renounce the hope of eternity. To minds thus perverted, all that excites sorrow among mankind affords a ground of triumph; even when living in the country, they shut their eyes to the plentiful harvest that waves around them, to the beautiful sky over their heads, and to the benefkent effects of the orb of day. Let us not lend an ear to those gloomy reasoners, who, while they are ad- mitted to the enjoyment of so many blessings, refuse to trace them to their Divine Author Their theories are contradicted by the concurrent voice of every people; the most uncivilized nations are im- pressed with a belief of *he existence of a Creator, and are accustomed to contemplate him in his works Hardly had our world risen out of chaos, hardly had our ancestors been admitted to the en- joyment of light and life, when their thoughts were directed with gratitude to the throne of their Maker. Their mode of worship was in the beginning as simple as the nature that surrounded them; but the first application of their progress in art and science was to give dignity and splendour to their adoration. Temples were constructed with magnificence, and assembled tribes repeated there the hallowed verses taught to them by their fathers. That man does not receive instruction from the creatures of God is not their fault, but his own. Their language is not dull and languid, but loud and incessant; while he, alas! remains deaf to the re- iterated cries o f> nature; and although 4< day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth B 2 6 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. knowledge," he continues to post on in his career, without once reflecting on the importance of Na- ture's universal call to Stand still, and consider the wonderous works of God. The task, therefore, be ours, in this work, to di- rect the attention of our fellow-travellers in the journey of life to this universal call of Nature, and by pointing out a few striking passages in the stu- pendous volume of the Creator's works, endeavour, while we instruct, to excite their adoration, love, and gratitude to HIM who gave them being, and has so abundantly provided for all their wants. But where, in the midst of the multiplicity of na- ture's works shall we begin? From what spot of this prospect shall we set out? Struck with the vastness of our task, we stand, as it were, in the Temple of the Universe, insensible to every thing but our own insignificance; we know not scarcely how to commence our labours, so prolific of instruc- tion, and so attractive is every page of this vast volume; for when we look around us, every object, whether in the form of things animate or inani- mate, existing in the heavens or on the earth, in the waters or in the air, conspire with one accord to arrest our attention, and to point out the almighty power of the Supreme, his consummate wisdom, and the infinitude of his goodness to the children of men. As the traveller, however, in setting out on a voyage of discovery takes his departure from his na- tive land, and should, at least, before visiting regions BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 7 more remote, first make himself a little acquainted with those nigh home, we shall, previous to extend- ing our researches to more distant bounds, first in- dulge ourselves with a cursory glance at the lowest compartment of the vast edifice, by taking a view of the internal structure of our globe, and see what commodities there present themselves for our use and accommodation. CHAP. II. THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH. Thus in thy world material, MIGHTY MIND, Not only that which solaces and shines, The rough, the gloomy, challenges our praise ! The treasures of the mineral kingdom, being more concealed, are not so alluring to the senses and are of course, to most men, less interesting than animals or vegetables; but they present themselves to the reflecting mind under innumerable points of view that are interesting, chiefly as affording the ma- terials on which nature, by her slow but certain operations, is continually producing changes that tend to augment the multiplication of plants, for the preservation and the accommodation of animals; while man, in the mean while, is endowed with fa- culties which enable him to avail himself of the qualities they possess for his own purposes. O BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. When we penetrate the dark and subterraneous magazine of Nature, v\e find veins fraught with the richest Metals; from hence conies that which gives value to the monarch's crown, and weight to his sceptre ; which, formed into coins, gives energ} and life to traffic, rewards the toils of labour, and puts it in the power of the affluent to warm the bosom oi ad- versity, and make the widow and the orphan sing for joy, or, beaten out into an inconceivable thin- ness, is made to cover with a transcendant lustre some of the coarest of nature's productions, and ren- der them ornamental in the palace of the great. Here also is laid up the pale brightness of the Silver, which, formed into a variety of domestic uten- sils, sets off with peculiar lustre the choicest dainties of the rich man's table; and here is found the pon- derous Lead, from which the cool and clean cistern is formed, as well as those convenient and safe aqueducts, by which the useful element of water is conveyed into the very hearts of our dwellings. Here too are stores of Copper and Tin, by which sundry utensils, formed of the former metal, are rendered more safe and fit for use: and here do we find in profuse abundance Mines, whose contents, although they may not be reckoned of equal value, have been found to b^ more beneficial in their ser- vices to man, th:in any of those already mentioned. Iron furnishes the mechanic, the artist, and the la- bourer with their most useful implements and tools; by Iron the firmer is enabled to tear up the most stubborn soil; Iron secures our dwellings from the BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. <) midnight thief, and confines, by its massy bars, the disturber of our peace to his gloomy cell ; by means of Iron, the vessel tossed with tempest is firmly at- tached to a place of safety, or prevented from being broken up by the raging elements, when overtaken by a storm in the midst of the watery waste. In these dark vaults are also found that subtle, insinuating metal, Quicksilver, which so much re- sembles a fluid ; the uses of which in philosophy and medicine, are so well known, as well as its im- portance in various arts and sciences. From hence, also, are extracted a multitude of Mineral Salts and Saline Substances, together with a variety of Sulphureous bodies. The astringent Alum, the green Borax, the volatile Nitre, the blue Vitrol of Hungary and Cyprus, the green of Ger- many and Italy, the shining Bismuth, the glittering Antimony, the brown-coloured Cinnabar, the white Chalk, have all an origin in these dark apartments ; as also that truly invaluable black inflammatory sub- stance Coal, which ministers to our comfort in the room, presents its services in the kitchen, assists the chemist and philosopher in their experiments, ren- ders the work of the artist more easy, transforms the coarest materials into transparency itself, by which means the light of day is admitted into our dwellings, while the cold inclemency of the weather, is excluded the astronomer is enabled to extend his researches to worlds before invisible to mortal eye the naturalist to observe the minutiae of crea- tion and the feeble ejes 01 old age furnished with 10 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEX. new and invigorating powers. From hence also is derived that wonderful mineral, whose magnetic quality guides the mariner, with unerring precision, beyond the pillars of Hercules, and enables him to find his solitary way across the pathless deep. Here also in these dark recesses are conveniently laid up, a variety of strata of Stones, and beds of Fossils ; and hence derive their origin a number of valuable Jewels and transparent Gems, as well as the firm and compact Marble, the Alabaster, the Porphyry, and the hard pellucid Flint. Here are to be found those quarries of Stones, from which are constructed secure and comfortable dwellings for man and beast by which the arms of the pier are strengthened to repel the surges of the sea the rampart is raised above the basis nature had formed our property secured from the depre- dations of intruders the arched bridge thrown across the broad and rapid stream, and the stupen- dous aqueduct carried over the deep-sunk glen. Here too are deposited a variety of curious Fossils and extraneous substances, which bafle the wisdom of the wise, and puzzle the reasoning of the natur- alist to account for : and here are those vast layers or strata of earth, in all their variety, whose nature and uses are more apparent where the vegetable kingdom derives its support and nutriment, the trees of the forest spread their wide extended roots, and the tender herb and flower of the field takes hold of the dust ; where the pliable worm forces itself quietly along, the mole finds its darksome way, the foxes BOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. it have holes, and the coneys burrow themselves. Here is that tough tenacious species of earth, which administers its services to man in such a variety of shapes, and acts as a substitute for other commo- dities in situations where nature has denied them. Are some in want of stones for building? Clay, by undergoing a process, becomes firm and hard, to withstand the most rigid blasts of winter. Are there no Slate quarries in the neighbourhood ? Clay, in the shape of Tiles, forms an excellent substitute. Are we in want of Lead for pipes to convey our water from a distance? Clay comes seasonably to our aid. In short, by this mean looking, dirty, and despised substance, we are abundantly supplied with a great variety of utensils and vessels, neat in their structure, cleanly in the use, and though cheap in the purchase, extremely valuable in point of utility. Here are also, commodiously lodged, a va- riety of other useful earths, which it would encroach too much on our limits to attempt to enumerate. These, with an innumerable variety of other useful and valuable materials, of which those we have mentioned may be considered as only a specimen, are safely locked up by PROVIDENCE in this great storehouse of Nature, and the key given to Indus- try to take out and apply as necessity may require, or circumstances direct; and in the disposition of which we may be at a loss what most to admire, the bounty of the Creator, in thus so largely making provision for our numerous wants, or his ivisdom in placing them at such convenient distances below the 12 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. earth's surface, as neither to obstruct by their bulk the operations going on upon it, or to be beyond the reach of moderate labour, when the necessities of man call aloud for their use. How inconvenient would it have been, and what small space left for cultivation, had these useful layers of Stone and Lime, Coal and Clay, been promiscuously scattered about in our fields and vine- yards, or plied up in uncouth, naked, and deformed masses, without the slightest depth of soil for a co- vering; and how inaccessible to human labour and ingenuity, or to what an expence of loss of time must man have been put in coming at them, had they been sunk miles instead of feet into the bowels of the earth ? Reflecting upon these things, we have good reason to exclaim, In goodness, as well as " in wisdom hast Thou made them all!" CHAP. III. THE FORM OF THE EAETtt. " O Nature! all-sufficient, over all! Enrich me with the knowledge of thy works ! '' On returning from our subterraneous excursion, our attention is naturally directed to the shape or form of that stupendous fabrick, which contains so many convenient apartments, and is enriched by so many valuable materials; and were we to trust to ap- pearances as they present themselves to our limited BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 13 powers of vision, we might be led to conclude (as was the opinion of some of the ancients,) that the earth is a wide extended flat, bounded by the hori- zon. This belief, however, is now completely explod- ed, and the figure of the earth demonstrated to be globular, by the voyage of a number of circumnavi- gators, from the days of the famous Magellan down to those of our illustrious countryman, Captain Cook. By these voyagers it has been fully ascertained, that a vessel leaving Europe in a certain direction, may return to the point from whence she set out, without altering her course farther than is necessary to avoid intervening obstacles, or give her, what the sailors call sea room. The spherity of the earth is also apparent from the circumstance, that two ships at sea, sailing in con- trary directions till they lose sight of each other, first do so bv the disappearance of the hulls and lower rigging, and afterwards of the higher sails and top- masts. The roundness, from North to South, is evident from the sinking of northern stars to the horizon, till they actually disappear to those who travel far southward ; and from East to West by the difference of sun rise in proportion as we go east- ward or westward. The form of ihe earth being therefore proved by arguments the most incontrovertible, to be that of a globe or sphere, permit us here to pause and ac- knowledge (he wisdom and goodness of the Creator, as manifested in that particular form. This wisdom c 14 BOOK. OF NATURE LAID OPEN. and goodness is highly apparent, when we consider that this is the most capacious, compact, and dura- ble of all figures, the most convenient for a body in motion, for the equal distribution of light and heat, for the proper disposal of land and water, as well as for the beneficial influence of the winds. The earth, which is the habitation of so many Creatures, must be sufficiently capacious not only to oontain them, but what is necessary for their preser- vation ; and being, as it were, the basis of this sub- lunary creation, it must be so firmly and compactly girt together, as to be beyond the reach of accident to destroy any of its parts, till the fiat shall have gone forth, that Time shall be no more. Had it been of an Angular form, the points of the angles behoved to have been considerably weak- ened by their distance from the centre of gravity, and consequently would have been in continual danger of being loosened, or flying off, by the ra- pidity of the earth's diurnal motion round its axis; or, had it been possible for them to have remained, what resistance must these angles have occasioned in the performance of that motion! What a conti- nual state of perturbation and tempest in the air must they have caused! How incommodious to the dif- fusion of light and heat, and for the wise and useful distribution of the waters ! TIic Surface of the Earth. In casting our eyes abroad over the face of the eftrth, we observe, it covered with two great bodies BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEH. I of Land and Water ; but as it is to the appendages and productions of the former we mean first to di- rect our thoughts, we will leave the consideration of Nature's mighty Reservoir, and the wonders of the- Ocean, to an after occasion, and will proceed to consider the magnificent scene which the dry land presents. The first thing that here strikes the imagination is that wonderful diversity every where observable and those numerous inequalities so conspicuous on its surface. On one part, we behold the gently rising hillock, scarcely perceptible amidst the surrounding level; in another, the tremendous precipice, yawn- ing horribly over the mountain's brow ! Here a deep-sunk glen, imbosomed among rocks, recedes from the eye, and screens the little rivulet that glides along its bottom ; there, the lofty summits of the Andes and the Alps, with cloud capt tops wrapt in garments of perpetual snow, bid defiance to vegeta- tion or smile above the blast in sunshine, while the reverberating sound of distant thunder proclaims the raging of the storm below. In one place we behold the pleasantly sheltered meadow, decked in all its luxuriance of herbage, and in a another a wide naked waste, or sea-like fen, losing itself in the distant prospect. Here, broad and rapid rivers separate nations at variance ; there the purling stream, partly fordable, and partly sur- mounted by the convenient bridge, unites and con- nects those who enjoy the mild blessings of peace. Here a vast tract of uncultivated heath stretche* 1$ BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. across the districts of the mountains, while lakes of considerable magnitude lave their basis, and cover by their limpid waves the interjacent vallies. We have just been considering the earth as a glo- bular body But how, it may be asked, are we to reconcile this with those unequal appearances ob- servable on its surface ? To this we answer, that the elevation of the highest mountain bears no more proportion to the diameter of this wonderful struc- ture, than the inequalities on the rind of an orange does to its bulk ; and although these may render it, comparatively speaking, a little uneven, they do nothing to subtract from the beauty of its appear- ance, or the general roundness of its figure. Deformities, indeed, they cannot be called ; for if the human mind delights in variety, these inequa- lities present us with a variety the most pleasing and picturesque ; and if the contemplative philosopher Is captivated by the multiplicity of nature's produc- tions, these furnish food for the most keen researcher into the wonders of creation. But a gratification of taste for the sublime and beautiful were not the only objects the Creator had in view in this diversity of the earth's surface. Mountains and Vallies. These have other great and important uses. Is Health the greatest of all earthly blessings? to one class of valetudinarians the mountain breeze is be- neficial, while to another the genial warmth of the BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 17 well sheltered valley produces the most salutary ef- fects. Does the east wind rage with fury, or cold, with its freezing particles, visit us from the north the deep-sunk bosom of the valley, or the lee-side of the mountain, defend us from the fury of the tem- pest, and shelter us from the raging storm. By this happy diversity of towering mountain and sinking dale, we have a variety of soil in a small compass, and are furnished with the productions of different climates almost at our doors. These serve also for the harbour and lodgment of a variety of animals that would have been ill accomodated in the open plain. They are also convenient not only for the generating of metals and minerals, but for digging them out with infinitely less trouble and ex- pense than if they had been situate at considerable distances below a level surface ; and mountains are the birth place of many valuable Mines and pre- cious Stones-. In the burning regions of the torrid zone, ridges of mountains, running from East to West, arrest with their towering heads the vapours in their flight, and, condensed into rain, force back the fugitives in cooling and refreshing showers. In places where earthquakes prevail, mountains are converted into funnels, for the purpose of vomit- ing forth these volcanic eruptions of liquid fire, which, but for such vents, might have shaken king- doms from their foundations, and swallowed up provinces in one mighty gulph. c 2 18 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEK. But the most general use to which Providence seems to 'have applied mountains and vallies, and consequently, without doubt, the most important one for which they were designed, is the elevation of Springs, and convenient distribution of Waters, agreeably to the language of the Royal Psalmist: " They go up by the mountains, they go down by the vallies, unto the place which thou hast appointed for them," And this use alone would have atibrded us abundant motives of gratitude and thankfulness, although there had been no other, that from moun- tains and vallies we are supplied with these inesti- mable blessings. Springs and Rivers. Water is not only one of those necessary elements of which our very means of existence are composed, but it administers to our wants and conveniences on a- variety of occasions, and in many different shapes. With water our choicest bread is mixed, and it makes part of the composition of our favourite be- verage, By water the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air, quench their thirst ; and by means of it the lofty cedar of Lebanon derives its nutri- triment, as well as the tender herb that creepeth against the wall. By this necessary and useful fluid we are assisted in many a tedious and laborious operation: Formed into canals it helps the deep- laden barge forward in its progress ; confined into dams it sets the ponderous mill-wheel in motion ; or BOOK OF MATURE LAID OPEN. 19 evaporated into steam, it puts in play the massy arms of the huge engine. But how does it come to pass that water is ren- dered thus serviceable? It is partly owing to the wise manner in which the great Creator distributes it from his treasures, by causing Springs to take their rise in elevated situations, and partly from the general law impressed upon fluids to regain their level, that water is impelled forward in its course, and made to surmount so many obstacles in its pro- gress to the sea, while its suitable consistency fits it for being easily turned aside, and diverted into such other channels as the necessities of man may re- quire. If, as might have been expected, Springs had been confined in general to the lower situations of the earth, extensive tracts must have been left un- watered, while plains in their immediate neighbour- hood would have been deprived of their fertility by inundation, or rendered pestilential by stagnant wa- ters pent up without the means of escape. Had water been deprived of that admirable property of rising to its level, how liable would it have been to be obstructed in its progress by every insignificant hillock, or trifling rise of the ground ; and, with re- spect to its consistency, besides being rendered inca- pable of being converted to so many useful purposes, had it been thinner, how would it have answered the purpose of supporting so many burdens, or keep- ing \vithinits bounds; had it been thicker, how would it have been adapted for quenching thirst, or ascend- ing the minute tubes of the vegetable tribe? SO BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. But by this wise and beneficial arrangement, Ri- vers being elevated at their head, in situations at a distance and remote from the sea, are necessitated to pass over a large tract of country, before they lose themselves in the main, and following the course of those numerous sunken beds made for them in the vallies, they are at once confined within their proper limits, and made to wind in many a length- ened turn, to the more copious diffusion of their benefits, than would have otherwise been the case ; while their pliable nature renders them easily turned aside as they glide along, to water those fields re- moved at a small distance from their bunk?, or for other purposes to which the ingenuity of man may make them subservient. Mineral and Medicinal Waters, Are also amply provided by nature, and dispense their salutary virtues in a variety of situations. These are not so numerous as the other, but are sufficiently so for the purposes to which they are adapted ; for all men, and every living creature, need food, but we have reason to be thankful that all need not the aid of medicine. Many there are, however, who stand in need of their beneficial in- fluences, and many an invalid have they been the means of restoring to renovated powers, and the blessings of health. Like the pool of Bethesda, they may be said to be of a healing nature ; but blessed be the adorable Physician who has opened up these BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 21 fountains, that they have been found to be for the healing of multitudes who resort thither, and not for him alone who is fortunate enough to be first plunged ipto the troubled stream. Widz and extended Plains Also cover a considerable portion of the face of our globe, and these are not without their uses. Did nothing but huge mountainous districts, intercepted by deep vallies, present themselves, what room would be left for tillage ? What incredible labour and fatigue in travelling ! What insurmountable barriers to the purposes of trade and commerce! But these facilitate the operations of agriculture, and cause the stubborn glebe to be broken up with ease. Carriages with immense burdens glide alona: ori the level of a rail -way ; the traveller on horseback, en- veloped in darkness, pursues his journey without danger of stumbling ; the loaded waggon is wheeled anwards without interruption; and the swift post flies with astonishing celerity on the wings of busi- ness. The last thing we shall touch upon in the general appearance of the surface of the dry land is the Verdant Colour of the Earth ', For whatever diversity of hue there may be in na- tural objects when viewed separately, there car-* be no doubt but this is the most general and prevailing BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. colour; and as nature does nothing in vain, the cir- cumstance certainly ought not to be overlooked. In this the wisdom and goodness of our Creator will appear by attending to the following considera- tions: Had the robe of nature assumed a more light or brilliant cast, and the generality of objects ap- peared of a white, yelloiv, orange, or red com- plexion, it would have been too much for the strength of our nerves, and instead of being refreshed and delighted, we would have been blinded and over* powered with the dazzling splendour. Had she put on a more sombre aspect, and been clothed with a violet, purple, or blue mantle, the prospect must have been sad, dismal, and gloomy, and instead of imparting to the animal spirits the exhilarating draught to keep them in full play, would have suffered them to subside into dejection and despondency. To prevent these two extremes, nature is clothed with a verdant mantle, being that proper combination of light and shade, that neither dazzles nor darkens the prospect, which rather re- freshes than fatigues the eye, strengthens and invi- gorates instead of weakening the powers of vision, and creates in the soul that increasing delight and lengthened rapture, which the poet had in view when he wrote the following lines : " Gay green ! Thou smiling Nature's universal robe ; United light and shade ! where the sight dwells With growing streng h, and ever new delight]." BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEIST. 23 CHAP. IV. VEGETABLES. < Your contemplation further yet pursue ; The wondrous world of Vegetables view ! See varied Trees their various fruits produce, Some for delightful taste, and some for use. See Sprouting Plants enrich the plain and wood, For physic some, and some design'd for food. See Fragrant Flowers, with different colour's dy'd, On smiling meads unfold their gaudy pride ! FROM the verdant colour of creation the transi- tion is natural to a consideration of the objects by which it is occasioned. These are the numerous vegetable tribes which cover and adorn the surface of our globe in all that variety of Trees, Shrubs, and Herbs which we behold. Here Trees, like stately turrets, raise their lofty heads; there, the more pliant and humble thick set Shrubs unite their foliage; while the herbaceous tribe in mingled profusion cling more closely to the earth, and cover the fields with their verdure. Man cannot contemplate the vegetable creation without recalling the idea of beauty, sweetness, and a thou- sand charms thai captivate the senses. The perfume of the rose, the brilliancy of the lily, the sweetness of the violet, and the stately magnificence of the forest, successively catch his attention and delight him. 24 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. The, Structure, of Vegetables) In all their varied forms, is truly wonderful. How excellently adapted are the roots for taking hold of their parent earth, as well as for drawing nourishment for the support of the plant, and imbib- ing moisture from the neighbouring soil ! How com- modiously are the various tubes and fibres which compose the trunk or stalk arranged, for the motion of the sap upwards to aH the extremities of the leaves and branches ! How nicely are the .'eaves formed for the important services they are made to yield in the economy of vegetation ! See how they serve to concoct and prepare the sap ; how they prevent by their s"hade the moisture at the root from being too speedily evaporated ; how they embrace and defend the flower in the bud, and carefully con- ceal the fruit before it arrives at maturity ; and by catching the undulations of the gentle breeze, how they convey that motion to the trunk and branches, which (for ought we know,,) may be as essentially necessary to the vegetable life as exercise is to ani- mal health. What an excellent clothing does the bark afford, not only for protecting the stem and branches from external injury, but from the hurtful extremes of heat and cold? What evident marks of wisdom and design do the Flowers evince in their beautiful and delicate construction ! how nicely are they formed for the protection and nourishment of the first and tender rudiments of the fruit ! and when it has attained more firmness and solidity, how BOOK. OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 25 readily do they relinquish their charge, and drop off in decay when no longer necessary ! How won- derfully does the fruit, in some classes, envelope and protect the seed till it has arrived at maturity ; and, lastly, what a passing strange piece of orga- nized mechanism is the seed itself, and, being ne- cessary for the reproduction of its species, what a remarkable provision is made for its preservation and succession ! What but the wisdom of a Deity could have devised that those seeds w r hich are most exposed to the ravages of the inhabitants of the forest, should not only be doubly, but some of them trebly enclosed ! that those most in request as arti- cles of food, should be so hardy and abundantly prolific ; and that seeds in general, which are the sport of so many casualties, and exposed to injury from such a variety of accidents, are possessed of a principle of lasting vitality, which makes it indeed no easy matter to deprive them of their fructifying power. Plants are also multiplied and propagated by a variety of ways, which strengthen the provision for their succession. Nor is the finger of Providence less visible in the means of diffusing or spreading abroad vegetables, than in the provision made for keeping up their suc- cession. The earth may be said to be full of the goodness of the Lord ; but how comes it to pass, that in parts untrod by man, and on the tops of ru- inous buildings, so many varied specimens of the vegetable creation are to be found ? Is it not from the manner in which Nature's great husbandman D 26 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. scatters his seeds about ? While the seeds of some plants are made sufficiently heavy to fall down and take up their abode nigh the place of their nativity ; and others, after having been swallowed by quadru- peds, are deposited in the neighbouring soil ; some are carried by the fowls of the air to places more re- mote, or, being furnished with a soft plumage, are borne on the winds of heaven to the situations allot- ted for them. To prevent some from pitching too near, they are wrapt up in elastic cases, which burst- ing when fully ripe, the prisoners fly abroad in all directions : to prevent others from straying too far, they are furnished with a kind of grappling hooks that arrest them in their flight, and attach them to the spot most congenial to their growth. In the construction of plants we observe a consi- derable difference in the consistence of the three classes. Compared with the shrubby race, how hard, firm, and tenacious is the trunk of the majestic Oak; and, compared with the herbaceous tribe, how woody, tough, and elastic is the hawthorn twig; but for this, how could the mighty monarch of the wood have been able to withstand the fury of the tempest; and, while the more humble and lowly shrubs stand not in need of such firmness of texture, their pliability and elastic toughness, together with the prickly coat of mail by which they are envelop- ed, render them less susceptible of injury in their exposed situation. Softness, united with a still greater degree of flex- ibility, are the distinguishing characteristics of the BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 27 herbaceous order; and how wisely has this been or- dered for the various purposes for which they were created ; with the firmness of trees, to what a prickly stubble must Nature's soft and downy carpet have given way ? with the tenacity of shrubs, how would it have answered as food for our cattle ? There are, besides, a number of other properties and peculiarities in the vegetable kingdom, in which the wonderful working of Divinity shines pre-emi* nent. How strange, for instance, that if a seed is sown in a reversed position, the young root turns of itself downwards, while the stern refuses to sink deeper in the soil, and bends itself round to shoot up through the surface of the earth. How surprising, that when the roots of a tree or plant meet with a stone or other interruption in their progress under- ground, they change their direction and avoid it. How amazing, that the numerous shoots which branch out from the root in quest of moisture, pursue as it were by instinct the tract that leads to it ; will turn from a barren to a more fertile soil ; and, that plants shut up in a darksome room, bend or creep to any aperture through which the rays of light may be admitted. In these respects the vegetable tribes may be said to possess something analogous to animal life ; but here the resemblance does not drop how surprising the phenomenon of what is called the sleep of plants, and the sexual system of Linnaeus, founded on the discovery that there exists in the vegetable, as well as in the animal kingdom, a distinction of sexes ! 28 BOOK OP KATURE LAID OPEN. What amazing variety of size, of shape, and hue, do we discover among this multitudinous order of things ! What different properties do some possess from others ! and what a near approach do a few make to that superior order immediately above them, in the scale of existence ! The Sensitive plant, when slightly touched, evinces something like the timidity of our harmless animals ; the Hedysa- rum Gyrans, or moving plant of the East, exhibits an incessant and spontaneous movement of its leaves during the day, in warm and clear weather ; but in the night season, and in the absence of light and heat, its motions cease, and it remains, as it were, in a state of quiescence ; and the American Venus 9 Flytrap, like an animal of prey, seems to lie in wait to catch the unwary insect. These are wonderful properties of the vegetable creation, but these are necessary in the infinitude of the works of creation, as links to connect it with the order of animals, and preserve unbroken the most minute gradations in Nature's universal chain ! Flowers are undoubtedly among the most exqui- site pieces of nature's workmanship. What beautiful tints do they display ! what lively colours do they unfold ! what variegated beauties do they discover ! and what delightful perfumes do they emit! In view of these well might the poet exclaim : " Who can paint Like Nature? Can imagination boast Amid its gay creation, hues like hers? Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. And lose them in each other, as appears In every bud that blows ?" But we have no less to admire in the general con- trivance and delicate structure of their several parts, and beautiful harmony of the whole, than in the lay- ing on of the colours by which they are embellished. The diversity of shape, and ?A>rm, and complexion, in those of different kinds, is not more remarkable than that no two are to he found exactly alike, even of the same species, and growing on the same stalk or knot. Nor should the aromatic fragrarrce which those beautiful sons and daughters of nature Send forth, more excite our gratitude, than that well ordered succession, by which the pleasures we receive from these transitory visitants, are lengthened out and protracted all the year round. Before winter with his cloudy front has taken his departure, the early Snow drop boldly steps forth in his pure white robe, the Crocus next, with an air of timidity peeps out, and, as if afraid to venture, keeps close to die earth ; then comes the Violet with her varied beauties, accompanied by the sparkling Polyanthus, and splendid Auricula; afterwards groves of Tulips display their rich and gaudy attire, followed by the Anemone in her spreading robe. Now the" Ranuncules expands the richness of his foliage, the Sun-Flower shoots forth his golden rays, and the beautiful Carnation with a numerous train bring up the rear, and close the procession. 30 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. The Use of Vegetables. Trees. Those stupendous specimens of creating art spread not their wide extended roots, nor lift their lofty heads in vain. Beneath their cooling shades, our flocks and herd's find a c(.mfortable asylum from the scorching rays of the summer sun; the wild stragglers of the forest have a place of re- fuge among their woods and thickets; whilst the feathery songsters of the grove build their little dwellings in security, and sing among their branch- es ; " as for the stork, the fir trees are her house." But in what a variety of respects, besides afford- ing the inhabitants of warm climates an agreeable shelter from the mid day heat, do they yield their services, or are made subservient to the use of man. Some, as the bread fruit tree of the Pacific Ocean, the cabbage tree of East Florida, the tea tree of China, the sugarmaple tree of America, the coffee tree and sugar cane in the West Indies, and the nu- merous luxurious fruit bearing trees scattered over the face of the globe, contribute to our wants in form of food. The fountain tree on one of the Canary Islands, is said by voyagers to furnish the inhabitants with a supply of water ; while the paper-mulberry tree of the Southern ocean, and the cotton shrub of America, provide us with materials for clothing. The candle-berry myrtle presents the inhabitants of Nankeen with a substitute for animal tallow. The salt tree of Chili yields a daily supply of fine salt Thf cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and pimento, furnish BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. i us ,with a supply of spices. The Jesuit's bark, manna, senna, and others, produce a variety of sim- ple but useful medicines. Some trees yield a preci- ous balsam for the healing of nations; son e a quan- tity of turpentine and rosin, and others give out their quota of valuable oils and gums. Nor are trees serviceable only in a natural state : by the assistance of art, some are converted into houses to protect man from the inclemency of the weather, or are moulded into a variety of forms for the purposes of building, and domestic comfort; others raise the huge fabric of the floating cattle or bulky merchantman, by which the articles of indus- try and commerce are transported, and a communi- cation kept up with the remotest regions, Our limits do not permit us to enlarge upon these specimens, or point out the various uses to which a number of other woods in general use may be ap- plied ; but the reader's own thoughts may suggest these, as they are sufficiently obvious : and mean time we will proceed to the order of Shrubs. As much that has been already said respecting the utility of trees, may be applied in common to this order, we will confine ourselves to the three particulars in- which they may be said to differ most from the former ; the first is their stature, the second their greater pliability, and the third the prickly armour by which many of them are covered. Some shrubs, as the gooseberry, the rasp, and the current bushes, so common in our gardens, gratify the palate, and temper the blood during the summer 32 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. months with agreeable and cooling fruit; others, as the rose, delight and please the eye by the beauty of their flowers ; or regale the olfactory nerves with the fragrance of their perfumes, as the sweet scented briar: but how could these several ends have been accomplished, if, by a more exalted exposure, the fruit bearing bushes had placed their treasures be- yond our reach every rose, with its back turned to us. had been " born to blush unseen," and each aro- matic shrub, removed far above the sense of smel- ling, had literally been left " To waste its sweetness in the desart air." With regard to that considerable share of pliant elasticity possessed by some of them, how easily does this admit the branches .to be turned aside, and to resume their former position, in gathering of the fruit or flowers, and how serviceable does this pro- perty enable us to make some of them in the form of hoops, baskets, or wicker work of any descrip- tion ; while the sharp-pointed prickles by which they are armed, serve not only as weapons of defence for themselves, but furnish us with cheap and secure fences against the inroads of straggling cattle, and the unwelcome intrusion of the unprincipled vagrant. Herbs in an especial manner may be said to> constitute the food of man and beast, as well as to yield their assistance in an infinity of ways; and behold, in what profusion they spring forth; in what numerous bands they appear ! Yonder, a field of golden-eared wheat presents to the view a most BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. S3 prolific crop of what forms the chief part of the sfeaff of life. Here a few acres of long bearded barley ripen to provide us with our favourite beverage. On the right hand stand the tall growing and slen- der oats and flowering potatoes, to revive and keep alive the hopes of the poor; while on the left the heavy laden bean, and low -creeping pea, in length- ened files vegetate to furnish provender for our horses; or the globular turnip increases its swelling bulk to lay up for our herds a supply of food when the softer herbage of the tietd is locked up by the congealing powers of winter. But what a spontaneous crop of luxuriant herbage do our meadows present in the appointed season, and in what a profusion of wholesome pasture do the numerous flocks of sheep and cattle roam! Whether they frequent the solitary holm, beside the still waters, or range the pathless steep, still they are followed by the goodness of the Lord : myriads of grassy tufts spring up on every side, and they are satisfied out of the treasures of Providence. But the herbaceous productions of the field are not universally calculated for the purposes of food. In some places numerous groups of tall, thin, flexi- ble plants make their appearance, whose filmy coats being properly manufactured, are converted into the most costly and delicate raiment; while others of a coarser texture furnish the mariner with wings to his vessel, cordage to tighten his masts, or the pon- derous cable to stay his bark in the midst of the fluctuating element. 34 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. But here their services do not end; for when worn out in one shape, they assume a new form, and not only furnish the material from which is formed the wrapper of the manufacturer, and the package of the merchant, but that invaluable article upon which we write upon which we are able to hold converse with friends at a distance and by means of ichich, man transmits his thoughts to man, and generations unborn are enabled to hold converse with past ages! By means of these pliant productions we are also supplied with a variety of seeds and oils, of much request in common life ; and wherever disease is known? there, we have reason to believe, medicinal herbs spring up as antidotes ; some communicating their healing virtues by the root, some by the leaves, and others by the flowers or seeds. A number of these, and many others of the greatest utility in me- dicine, come forth in various parts of the globe without the aid of art, and are found growing wild among the herbs of the field but these are not the effects of chance. They were originally planted by the hands of Omnipotence, at the suggestion of Divine benevolence, prompted by Omniscience. It was the Lord who created medicines out of the earth; He foresaw the distresses of his creatures, and in pity to their calamities, not only commission- ed the balm to spring up in Gilead for the healing of the eastern tribes, but has spread abroad that boundless variety of medicinal plants, which are to be found in every climate, suited to the diseases of BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 35 those particular spots, where Providence, all-wise, hath fixed the lot of their inhabitants. What a beautiful variety of nutritious esculents, and exquisitely formed flowers do our gardens pre- sent ! Here the Parsley with her frizzled locks, the Celery with her outstretched arms, the Asparagus with his towering stem, the Artichoke with his tur- gid top, the Cauliflower with her milky dome, the Cabbage with her swelling form, a variety of greens with their curled leaves, and long files of peas and beans, await in silence their master's call to do ho- mage at his table ; and here too is deposited, among a number of valuable and useful roots, that excellent farinaceous substitute for bread, the wholesome po- tatoe. Flowers. But for what purpose do .these charm- ing flowers come forth r Is it merely to please our eyes with their brilliant colours, and regale the sense of smelling with their odoriferous perfumes, that they unfold their fascinating beauties and emit their pleasing fragrance ? Or is it to attract those nume- rous insects which swarm among them, and riot amid their liquid sweets? That flowers were designed for both these pur- poses is apparent from the sensations we experience when we have leisure to visit those delightful spots, and the assiduous eagerness which the busy bee evinces in roaming from flower to flower, to extract their balmy juices* But there is another, and that a most important use to which the flowery race may 36 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. be made subservient : In reason's ear they become preachers. The upright philosopher of the land of Uz, and that devout admirer of the works of Nature, Israel's king David, both took occasion to compare the un- certain ten ut ot human life, to the frail and perish- able state of a flower. The prophet Isaiah repre* sents the transient glory of the crown of pride as being like to one of these fading beauties; and our Saviour has demonstrated that an important lesson may be learned against a too anxious care, and pride in dress, by a right consideration of these gay visitants: " Consider the lilies how they grow ; they toil not, they spin not , and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." It must, therefore, add much to the value of these short lived monitors, in the estimation of the wise, and make their peaceful abodes be sought after with the greater avidity by those who take pleasure in the works of God, that they are thus capable of afford- ing matter for serious reflection and moral improve- ment. Mr. Addison seems to have been sensible of this, when he breaks out into the following declamation, in praise of the pleasures of such a retirement: " You must know, Sir," says he, in one of his papers in the spectator, " that I look upon the pleasure which we take in a garden, as one of the most inno- cent delights of human life. A garden was the ha- bitation of our first parents before the fall It is BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 37 naturally apt to fill the mind with calmness and tranquility, and to lay all its turbulent passions at rest. It gives us a great insight into the contrivance and wisdom of Providence, and suggests innumera- ble subjects for meditation. We cannot but think the very complacency and satisfaction which a man takes in these works of Nature, to be a laudable, if not a virtuous habit of mind." But let not the poor complain, or those who have no garden to retire to, no beautifully adorned en- closure, where, secluded from society, they may give themselves up to reflection. Still the fields are open to them, and what, in the words of an eminent na- turalist, is the earth, but " an immense garden, laid out and planted by the hand of the Deity ? the lofty mountains and waving forests are its terraces and groves; fertile fields and flowery meadows form its beautiful parterres." We cannot, we are persuaded, conclude this head of our subject better than with the following quota- tion from the author of The Seasons : *' Soft roll your incense herbs, and fruits, and flowers, In mingled clouds to HIM, whose sun exalts, Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints." oS BOOK. OF NATURE LAID OPEN. CHAP. II. ANIMALS. Fountain of elegance, unseen thyself, What limit owns thy beauty, when thy works Seem '.o possess, to faculties like mine, Perfection infinite ! the merest speck Of animated matter, to the eye That studiously surveys the wise design, Is a full volume of abundant art. IN ascending from the Vegetable to the Animal kingdom, we cannot help our attention being for- cibly engaged by the singular construction, and amazing properties of those little wonders found at the bottom of ditches, and adhering to the underside of the broad leaves of Aquatic Plants, known by the name of Freshwater Polypuses. See that little thing in form of a funnel or bell, adhering by the lower extremity to some extraneous substance at the bottom of the water ! Observe how it shoots out its slender arms from the margin of its wide mouth, and casts them around, occasioning a vortex in the fluid! See how those insects, after being drawn into that vortex, are caught hold of by its arms, and conveyed to the mouth with a celerity that is astonishing ; but for these signs of life and animation would you not have taken what you first saw to be a flower? Now observe how it shoots out from its sides something in form of buds; return in a few days, and, what do you behold? these buds converted into perfect Polypuses, but still ad- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 39 hering to the parent. See how, by a sudden Jirkj they separate, and immediately fix on other situa- tions; cut one of these in two, the upper ^art shoots out a tail, and the under produces a head; cut one in three, and the upper and under do the same, while the middle division produces both a head and a tail ; cut one down lengthways to the middle, and you have a monster with two heads; divide these, again and again, as often as you please, and you have a Hydra with many heads, in short cut the Polypus into ten, or ten hundred parts, the effect will be the same, and you will have as many Poly- puses. If the Sensitive Plant, the Hedysarum Gyrans, and Venus' Fly-Trap, may be considered as so many links at which the vegetable creation ends, these living plants, if we may use the expression, and animal flowers, which are found adhering to the rocks on the sea shore, may, as well as the Oys- ter, and other shell -fish (which form the connection betwixt the animal and the mineral kingdom,) be reckoned among those at which the mysterious "and multitudinous order of beings begins, which is con- tinued in such an infinitude of shapes and sizes, shades and differences, and possessed with such a number gf dissimilar appetites and instincts, from the lowest gradation amongst the number of these imperfectly formed animals, till it arrives at that most complete piece of Nature's workmanship that cape-stone of the inferior creation, or link whick unites it with superior intelligences Man. 40 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. The number of animated creatures is prodigious indeed! The whole creation teems as it were with existence! The dry-land sends forth its multitudes; the air hath its swarms; the sea its numerous shoals: and the very depositories of corruption produce their myriads ! Indeed in the class of Insects alone there are a greater number of species than there are kinds of Plants on the surface of the earth. In a little rain water, after standing some days, Mr. Lewenhoeck discovered innumerable animalcules, many thou- sands of times less than a grain of sand, and in proportion to a mite as a bee is to a horse! Having examined the melt of a cod, he concluded that it contained more living animalcules than there were people living in the world; and by a method he made use of in order to ascertain the comparative size with the thickness or breadth of a hair of his head, it was found that 216,000 of these minute creatures are but epual to a globe whose diameter is the breath of a hair. How amazing the wonders of Omnipotence! Yet notwithstanding these immense numbers, this amazing diversity of form and bulk, of taste and habit, all are conveniently and comfortably lodged ; all are fed to their hearts' content, at the same common table, and in such a manner as qpt a frag- ment can be lost. How wonderful is it to observe how well adapted are the various appetites of his Creatures, to fulfil the will of the Great Creator, that not a fragment may be lost. Some animals ol the carniverous kind have an unquenchable thirst for BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 41 blood warm from the animal; others are satisfied with the flesh newly killed: a third are not pleased with it till it is in a state of putridity : ot those of another description, some live upon fruits and roots; otliers can partake of bark and leaves ; a third put up with the soft herbage of the meadow ; and a fourth. are content with the very refuse of our fields and gardens: while each pursues that particular path chalked out for him by Nature, without re- pining or envying the lot of his neighbour. The unwieldly Whale in the Greenland seas, the* numerous herds of Elephants which graze the ex- tensive regions betwixt the river Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope ; and the gigantic Ostrich of the sandy borders of Egypt and Palestine, roam as much at large as the winged insect that flits from flower to flower, or the invisible Animalcule \\hich swims in the liquid drop. The polar Bear of the Arctic Circle, wrapt in his shaggy covering, the Ermine of Siberia in his furry mantle, and the Wa- ter-Fowl with her thick-set oily feathers, no doubt feel as comfortable as the Barbary Cow, almost naked, the rhinoceros, sheltered from the tropical heats by his coat of mail, or the monstrous Hippo- potamus (the Behemoth of Job,) when he retires to cool himself at the bottom of the African rivers. Those abhorred insects which feed upon ordure, or still more loathsome, that riot in putrefaction, we have reason to believe feed as deliciously as the Racoon on his West-Indian sweets, or pampered Lap-dog from the hand of its mistress. And if the E 2 42 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, we have no reason to suppose but the former feel as happy when they have formed their habitations at a convenient distance from the hen-ioosi, and the latter, when from their lofty situations they can behold the fowler at a distance, as the frocks and herds which graze our fields, or the domestic fowls which partake of our care and bounty. By this wise and happy arrangement, the harmony of the universe is preserved, and the prodigious multitude of Earth's numerous tenants enabled to exist with- out 'disorder or confusion. But if we attend to the internal- structure of these wonderfully complicated and intricately woven ma- chines, called Animals, we will still find more rea- son to admire and adore that Great Supreme, whose omnipotent fiat brought them all into existence No wonder that Galen, at the sight of a human skeleton, should relinquish his former atheistical thoughts; and, that the Psalmist, on the contemplation of his material structure, should exclaim, " I am fearfully and wonderfully made ;" but the greater surprise is, that so many skeletons of animals and animated wonders can be beheld with so much indifference by that creature to whom God has given reflection for the wisest of purposes ; for to what purpose can the thoughts of man be better applied than to the contemplation of the Deity through the medium of his works ! " What variety of springs, what forces, and what mechanical motion (says Button,) are % enclosed in BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 43 this small part of matter which composes the body of an animal ! What properties, what harmony, and what correspondence between the various parts ! How many combinations, arrangements, causes, ef- fects and principles, conspire to complete one end; and another writer observes: u In the single ounce of matter which composes the body of a Sparrow, we see all the instruments necessary for eating, for digestion, for respiration, for seeing, ior hearing, for smelling, for walking, for flying, for the performance of ever) animal function, and of every motion. All the parts of the complicated machine are perfectly appropriated, completely adapted to their respective uses ; and all disposed with the most exact organi- zation." All this is very true, but would not the wonder have been still more augmented, had the specimens been taken from among those little curi- osities of the Western hemisphere, called Humming- birds ; with the addition that its beak is pointed like a needle, its claws not thicker than a common pin ; that its nest is about half an inch deep, its egg about the size of a small pea ; and that nevertheless this diminutive bird is adorned with a plumage of the richest hues, and covered with a down that makes it resemble a velvet flower? Upon its head is a black tuft of incomparable beauty; the breast is of a rose colour, its belly white as milk, the b: ck, wings,. and tail are grey, with a border resembling silver, and as if streaked with gold of the brightest hue! But indeed the structure of the smaller in- sect, or minutest animal in the creation of God carries 44 BOOR OF NATURE LAID OPEN. along with it the most indisputable evidence of its Original; namely, that it is beyond the possibility of art to imitate, or the utmost stretch of human in- genuity to comprehend. Motion is one distinguishing characteristic of the animal from th'* vegetable kingdom of 'Nature: and this peculiarity will bo found to be absolutely neces- sary ; for if the food or nutriment 01 animals is not brought to them as to plants, by means of roots or other conductors, they must needs go in search of it; and how wisely are they furnished with instru- ments for the purpose, some in the form of liir.bs, some of wings, some of fins, and some of the reptile tribe are enabled to move by the disposition of the muscles and fibres of their bodies ; but what would this power of motion and means of performing it have signified, had these creatures been left to grope in the dark, without ability to distinguish the good from the bad : To shun their poison, and to choose their food." Might they not as well have remained to perish en the spot which gave them birth, as to have strayed only to get their frames shattered by every interven- ing obstacle: or the vital spark extinguished by mistaking the beautiful plant for the wholesome herb. To remedy such evils, how r ever, Nature, or rather the God of Nature, has not only .provided them with senses, but has taken the utmost precaution to guard from external injury these wonderful pieces of exquisite skill, as well as that seat of all sensa- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 45 tion, from whence the ramifications of the nerves take their rise. To mention only one or two of the most obvious, for instance; what a curious and wonderful piece of mechanism is the human Eye, so admirably con- trived with its various coats, muscles, vessels, hu- mours, nerves, and retina, for the purposes of vision ! How excellent its situation for the use it was de- signed ! and how safely guarded by tie projecting eye brows and watchful eye lashes, ev^ppn the alert, from external injury ! The Eur, too, is a most wonderful structure, contrived by its .ridges and hollow's to gather and concentrate sounds till they strike on the transparent membrane that forms the surface of the drum, although deeply lodged that it may also be preserved from outward accident These are strange pieces of mechanism indeed! and is it not natural to conclude, " He that planted the ear shall he not hear f he that formed the eye shall he not see ?" If the brain, which is the seat of sensation and the fountain of the animal spirits, is environed round with such a hard, thick, and tough substance as the skull, the heart and lungs are wisely placed in the centre of the body, and encompassed by a double fence of bones or ribs, muscles, and skin. Without breathing, to put the wheel in motion at the cistern, no animal could exist, and how admira- bly situated and guarded also, as we have observed, are the organs of respiration, and that mysterious movement, " that faints not, neither is weary/' but 46 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEW. by night and by day, asleep or awake, in motion or at rest, beats in unremitting pulsations, with greater, regularity than a watch, in the breast ot some ani- mals for sixty, in some seventy, and in others up- wards of one hundred years. We might also notice the admirable structure and wise disposition ot the other parts in the animal economy, but this would be inconsistent with our present limits and design ; we must, however, observe on the whole, that each will be fou^J| most conveniently situated for its re- spective uses, and formed in the wisest manner for its various purposes; that while nothing is wanting to render the structure complete, there is nothing su- perfluous or made in vain. The feelers of the Butterfly are no less essential to her well being than the proboscis of the Elephant; and the leg of the Fly can no more say to its wing, than the eye of the human body to its hand, " I have no need of thee." But if the riglit consideration of the structure of animals as well as the wise provision made for their lodgment and subsistence, is convincing to the most sceptical, that all are the doings of a Being infinite in power, and fearful in working ; and inspire the religious philosopher with such sentiments as David expressed when contemplating the formation of the human frame ; must we not also adopt such lan- guage as he made use of on another occasion, and say v when reflecting on the manner in which these creatures are reproduced, and the wonders of that procreative power by which a continued succession is kept up ; Thine eyes saw them when they icere BOOK OP NATURE LAID PEN. 4? made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lower places of the earth. Whether they come into the world in the shape of animals completely toi med, or through the medium of eggs, still the business of generation must remain a mystery, arid be reckoned amongst the number of the dark things of the Creator. The provision for keeping the number of living creatures within due limits, is no less remarkable than that for bringing them into being. The most formidable monsters are thinly scattered, or confined to particular spots. The destructive Tiger> for /in- stance, is not very common, and the greatest ren- dezvous of this blood-thirsty animal is said to be a sort of insulated situation, the Sunderbunds or Woody -Islands, at the mouth of the Ganges in India. Long lived animals are observed to have few young at a time ; while those of the greatest utility or such as are used for animal food, abound in every climate, and the short in duration are uncommonly prolific ! The instinct displayed by many of the irrational creation for the preservation of their young, is also truly astonishing,, and in some instances has been referred to as examples of the strongest proofs of af- fection. " How often," says our Saviour, " would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen ga- thereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not !" but there are some of this order who stand not long in need of parental protection and instruc- tion ; for the newly-calved Hippopotamus on the death of his dam, will, at the sight of danger, betake himself to a place of safety in his natural element,, 48 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. the bottorr of the river. This n.ight bring us to speak more fully of those particular instincts by which animals are distinguished ; but as we shall have occasion to notice a few of these in considering some peculiarities in the difterent orders as we go along, we will here drop the general survey, and proceed to that of Quadrupeds. OF this order it may be remarked in general, that they derive their name from the number of their legs ; and this naturally occasions in those that make use of them for the purpose of walking, the prone posture by which they are distinguished ; but this posture, far from incommoding them, is, by the wise conformation of the other parts, rendered the most commodious possible for their habits and manner of living. Quadrupeds are, for the most part, furnish- ed with tails, and these are highly useful in the absence of arms, for sweeping off vermin and trou- blesome animals. Having no hands to lift their food to their mouths, the necks of this order are in general proportioned to the length of their fore legs; their legs are made to bend in such a direction as with the greatest ease to facilitate their motion for- wards ; they have, for the most part 7 a covering of hair or wool ; and, that the weight of the head might not become too heavy in the act of feeding, each of these animals is furnished with a strong tendinous insensible ligament, braced from the head BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 49 to the middle of the back, which both enables them to support their burden with ease, and to recover their head at pleasure. In the particular construction of the various spe- cies of Quadrupeds, with their several dispositions and appetites, there are several things very remark- able ; but we will only mention a few of them, in which the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, in adapting them so wonderfully to their different si- tuations, habits, and manners of living, are very conspicuous. Animals of the graminivorous kinds, such as the Horse, the Ox, and the Sheep, are furnished with masticating organs, adapted to the soft herbage they eat ; being of harmless dispositions, they are only armed with defensive weapons, and for mutual safety associate together in herds Those whose natures are fierce and savage, and whose cruel dispositions, like those of the Tiger and Hyena, cannot be satisfied but at the expense of blood, come forth solitary and alone ; but they are armed with fearful claws and horrid tusks, and monstrous jaw^s, wonderfully fitted for the seizure and destruction of Hieir victims. The Camel doomed to traverse the parched and .burning deserts of Arabia, where continued drought and ^erility reign, has not only a foot admirably fitted for his element, and endowed with a remark- able abstinence, but carries along with him a natu- ral reservoir which he fills with water at every well. F 50 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. The Lama of South America (the only original beast of burden it produces,) is remarkably sure footed, and climbs and descends with the greatest safety the craggy rocks it has to encounter among the rugged steeps and narrow paths of the Andes, though encumbered with its load. Goats range the craggy steep, and delight to crop the uncultivated heath from the mountain's brow ; and behold how admirably their hollow hoofs are formed for taking hold of the rock, and with what surprising agility they bound from cliff to cliff! Animals of the Weasel kind, that live chiefly in holes, and feed upon vermin, are not only furnished with furs to preserve them from the damp, but have long, slender, flexible bodies, well adapted for their various windings. The Sea-horse of the Northern Ocean, whose element is sometimes in the water, and sometimes on the ice, is not only web-footed, to assist in swimming, but has two monstrous tusks, bending down from the upper jaw, which, together with his claws, enable him to scramble up the icy beach at pleasure. In short, the Mole is moulded in the best possible manner for his subterraneous habitation the Squirrel for his aerial flights the Kangaroo for his tremendous leaps-^and the Bat, which unites the Quadruped with the Volatile race, is shaped in the most convenient manner for his predatory excursions. But if this remarkable accommodation of the parts and appetites of quadrupeds to their habits and pursuits, is apt to excite our surprise, what must BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 51 we think of those still more surprising and remark- able instincts by which many of them are distin- guished. In their internal formation some of this order are so strikingly analogous to the human body, that it is said, some skill in physiology is ne- cessary to be able to notice the difference ; and in the external appearance of the Orang-outang, or Wild -man of the Woods, there is certainly no little resemblance. So much, indeed, does the external appearance of this creature resemble the human, that " the Negroes imagine them to be a foreign nation, come to inhabit their country, and that they do not speak for fear of being compelled to work." They are also the only animals that imitate man in the use of weapons otherwise than what are na- tural ; frequently attacking their enemies with sticks and stones. That they possess an eminent share of natural sagacity in the absence of reason, is evident from the manner in which they make sheds for shel- ter, and go to sleep in trees for security, as well as from their descending from the mountains, when they no longer find fruits, to the sea shore in search of shell-fish. In the passage of one of these ani- mals from Angola to England, it made many friends on board, and seemed to despise the monkies of a lower species, by avoiding that part of the ship where they were confined. Buffon describes one of these animals which he saw, as sitting down at table, unfolding his napkin, wiping his lips, making use of a fork or spoon, pouring' out his drink into a glass, touching glasses with the person who drank 52 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. with him, giving his hand to shew the company to the door who came to see him, and walk about as gravely as if he formed one of the society. " All these," he observes, " I have seen, without any other instigation than the signs or command of his master, and often of his own accord." He also mentions, that his dep'ortment was grave, his movements re- gular, and his disposition gentle, very different from other apes. Francis Pryard relates, that in the province of Sierra Leone there is a species so strong limbed, and so industrious, that when properly trained and fed, they work like servants. But to proceed ; what wonderful prudence, fore- sight, and industry, does the republic of Beavers display, as in a state of social compact, with an over- seer at their head, each exerting his powers and con- tributing his exertions fn raising the mole, and form- ing with care the fortified settlement ! What sa- gacity does the Elephant discover, as he discharges the water from his mighty trunk, in order to cool himself in the midst of the burning plains of Caf- fraria ! Who knows not the affectionate tenderness of the Dog, the mischievous cunning of the Monkey, the inflexible perseverance of the Cat, in watching her prey, and the subtle artifices of the Hare, in elud- ing her pursuers ? The Lion, at whose tremendous roar creation flies, as if knowing the terror which his fearless form in- spires, has recourse to cunning, and watches his prey in ambush, in the neighbourhood of those BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 53 springs and waters to which they must necessarily come to quench their thirst. The Bear, in autumn, betakes himself to his winter quarters, nor ventures abroad till spring has again renewed the face of the earth. The Chamois Goat, when closely pursued in his mountainous retreat, will suddenly rebound on the huntsman, and precipitate him over the rock. The Hedge-hog in winter wraps himself up in his mossy seat. The Porcupine when almost overtaken in the pursuit, on a sudden rolls himself up, and presents to his antagonist, instead of a delicious morsel, a ball of prickles : and the Armadillo, ac- tuated by the same unerring impulse, joins his ex- tremities beneath his shelly covering, and rolls over the precipice unhurt, to the confusion of his ene- my. But this is not all ; Horses in a state of na- ture are not only said to keep a centinel on the look- out, but, when attacked, join heads together and fight with their heels. Oxen in a similar state join tails together, and fight with their horns. Swine get together in impenetrable herds to resist an at- tack, and what is observable in all, they place the young in the middle, and keep them safe in the day of battle ! These are some of the wonders of instinct ; and can we behold them without admiration ! The Uses of Quadrupeds Are so various, that we must content ourselves with only naming a few of them. Of what great 54- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. utility for the purposes of agriculture, travelling, industry, and commerce, is that docile and tractable animal the Horse ! In what a variety of ways do those of the Ox and Sheep kind administer to our wants ! and. happily for the world, these creatures are most extensively diffused, from the polar circle to the equator. Goats, in many of the mountainous parts of Eu- rope, constitute the wealth of the inhabitants : they lie upon their skins, convert their milk into cheese and butter, and feed upon their flesh. The Rein- deer, to the inhabitants of the icy regions, supply the place of the horse, the cow, the sheep, and the goat. The Camel is to the Arabian what the Rein- deer is to the Laplander. The flesh of the Elk is palatable and nutritious, and of his skin the Indians make snow-shoes and canoes. The Elephant, in warm countries, is useful as a beast of burden, and draws as much as six horses. What an unwearied pattern of unremitting exer- Xion arid fidelity is that invaluable animal the shep- herd's Dog ! What humane and excellent life pre- servers, the Newfoundland species ! and what sa- gacious guides and safe conductors are that useful breed, trained in the Alpine solitudes, to carry pro- visions to the bewildered traveller, and lead his steps to the hospitable convent ! To what a number of depredators would our sub- stance be exposed, were it not for that convenient and agile, but often ill-fated domestic animal, the Cat ; which, in consequence of an ill-founded pre- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 55 judice excited against her for those very habits and propensities which render her valuable, and were implanted in her nature for the fTest of purposes, often becomes the victim of unfeeling boys, and of- ten, too often, alas ! is made the sport of more un- feeling barbarians, who deserve not the name of men. The Ichneumon is to the Egyptians, in se- veral respects, what the Cat is to us ; but far from thinking of hanging her up in a barrel, and amusing themselves with her sufferings, that more grateful people have worshipped the Ichneumon as an ema- nation of the Deity ! Cannot our more sober- minded countrymen adopt a conduct between the two extremes, and at least treat the purring race with kindness? Animals of the Weasel kind fur- nish us with a number of rich and valuable furs ; the Civet, the Genet, and the Musk, with a supply of perfumes ; the tusks of the Elephant, arid the Seahorse with ivory ; the beautiful skin of the Tiger decorates the seats of justice of the mandarins of the East ; the flesh of the White Bear is eaten by the Greenlancler, that of the Leopard is much re- lished by the African ; and the Lion, even the Lion, the living tomb of so many creatures, is frequently eaten by the Negroes at the last ! We have reason to be thankful that in our happy country we are abundantly supplied with food of a more harmless nature, and much easier to be ob- tained than those formidable monsters of the desert, and that when taking a solitary ramble through our peaceful fields, we have no occasion to adopt #6 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. the following sentiments of the poet, so feelingly expressed : " What if the Lion in his rage I meet? Oft in the dust I view his printed feet; By hunger rous'd, he scours the groaning plain, Gaunt Wolves and sullen Tigers in his train ; Before them Death with .shrieks directs their way, Fills the wild yell, and leads them to their prey." CHAP. VI. ON THE VARIETIES OF ANIMALS. To all has Nature given a bound precise Of being and perfection ; and promulg'd To every varying rank, her varying laws ; Urging to this, from that restraining firm." IN the science of natural history, philosophers have found it expedient to arrange objects first un- der a few grand divisions, and then to divide, and afterwards subdivide these in the following manner. The most general divisions are called Classes ; each class is again divided into several lesser parts, which are called Orders; each order contains a certain number of Genera ; each genus consists of several Species; and each species contains certain Varieties, which is the smallest subdivision that they have taken notice of. It is this lowest link of their chain of classification which will form the subject of the present chapter. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 57 It is unnecessary for us to enter deeper into this system of classification than merely to point out the distinguishing circumstance that they have laid hold on to mark the boundaries between what they call a species and a variety; and this will be the easiest done by choosing a familiar example for illustra- tion. The horse and the ass are both of the same genus of quadrupeds; and they resemble each other so much, that they might well be mistaken for be- ings of the same species ; but although it be found that it is possible to make them procreate, yet it is also known that the mule, which is produced from this intermixture, is not capable of continuing its kind, which circumstance induces naturalists to rank them as a different species. When animals procreate to- gether, and produce an offspring that is capable of continuing their kind, however different they may be in their appearance and other particulars, they are accounted as only varieties of the same species; nor is there any criterion that we know of, for dis- tinguishing a variety of any particular kind of ani- mal from a distinct species of the same genus, but that of producing a fertile or an unfertile progeny. In this particular, we believe, all naturalists are agreed. That there are many varieties of most species of animals is well known ; and as many of these va- rieties, especially among domesticated animals, rea- dily intercopulate with each other, and produce a mixed race, participating of the qualities of both parents, it necessarily must happen, that in cases 58 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. where they are suffered to mix together, the de- scendants of an animal of one of these varieties is very different from that of the parent race. This fact having been remarked, has given rise to an opi- nion, that there has been originally but one pair of animals of each species, and that all the varieties we now discover of the same species, have been pro- duced by accidental circumstances only, such as a variation of climate, of food, or of some other ex- traneous peculiarity ; and that, of course, one va- riety may. be transmuted into another without any intermixture of blood, purely by a change of cir- cumstances only. This doctrine being once ad- mitted, the inferences which necessarily result from it, have proved highly detrimental to the practice of individuals in their attempts to improve the breed of domestic animals ; as it tends, in as far as that doctrine is believed, to turn the attention of men from fixed and certain principles, which admit of no variation, to others that are vague and erroneous, which tend only to puzzle and confound the mind, and leave it in perpetual darkness and uncertainty. The boldest asserter of the doctrine, that all the varieties of every species of animal are derived from one common stock, is the celebrated Buffon, who, instead of searching for proofs to support his hypo- thesis, contents himself with mere assertions, uttered with as much confidence as if the matter had been before proved beyond a possibility of doubt; and he takes as the subject for his illustration the dog kind, though the varieties of this species are more BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 59 distinctly njarked than those of perhaps any other animal with which we are intimately acquainted. He says, that the shepherd^s dog (a variety of the canine species, by the bye, which cannot be so dis- tinctly recognized as many other kinds,) ^s the ori- ginal stock from which the greyhound, the spaniel, the pointer, the harrier, the bull -dog, the lap-dog, the mastiff, the terrier, and every other variety, are all directly produced ; and he even goes so far as to specify the means that are necessary to be adopted for producing these changes. It is painful to dwell upon the accidental failings of a man of genius ; for which reason we decline following him in his ex- cursive career, and exposing the absurdities into which he has fallen in pursuing.it. We have only to regret, that a man of such distinguished talents should have so far overlooked facts that were easily within his reach, as to have so positively dogmatised upon this subject in direct contradiction to them ; for the multitude, who think not at all, follow the authority of one who is, on many accounts, so re- spectable, without the smallest degree of hesitation. In consequence of this great authority, the hypo- thesis above stated has been tacitly, at least, assent- ed to by the literary world in general, for some time past, though it will not require great exertions to "bring such evidence, as we hope will prove satis- factory to every reader, to shew that the fact is di- rectly the reverse of what this learned philosopher has stated it to be. 60 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. If it were true, that a change of climate affected an animal to such a degree as this hypothesis sup- poses, it would be impossible that any person exist- ing should not have had opportunities of observing very striking instances of that kind. But, instead of this, the most direct proofs of the contrary must have fallen within the observation of every man in the kingdom, in respect to the very animal that he has selected for illustration. The dog is a favoured domestic ; he attaches himself to his master, and follows him wherever he goes. He is thus carried through all the climates of the globe, under the im- mediate controul and inspection of man; and no instance hath ever been known in which an indivi- dual dog has ever Jhus experienced any material change in his external form, far less in his internal qualities. If a smooth-haired Spanish pointer, for instance, be carried to the torrid or the frozen zone, from Kamtschatka through the whole extent of Asia and Europe into America, he is the same smooth-haired dog every where ; and his master recognizes him for the same creature at the first glance : but if the pile of its hair and external ap- pearance be not altered, far less is the animal changed in its other qualities : it still scents the game in the way peculiar to that kind of dog ; it does not, like the greyhound, pursue it by the eye ;* it does not, like the hound, burst forth in sonorous howling when it feels the scent strong : this variety of the dog kind steals upon its prey with extreme caution and circumspection. These qualities it pos- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 61 sessed at its birth, and these qualities it retains till its dying hour, in spite of any change of climate or kind of food it may be made to experience. The same thing may be said of every other kind of dog. The English bull dog. displayed the same uncon- querable obstinacy on the arena of ancient Rome > as he does at this day in the island which gave him birth: and the Newfoundland dog of the present day is equally gentle, equally attached to his mas- ter, and alike firm in his defence in every part of Europe as in America. In sho'rt, the universal ex- perience of mankind incontrovertibly proves, that the same individual dog continues the same in re- gard to all its essential characteristics in every re- gion of this globe, and under every different system of management. He may be rendered fatter or leaner, diseased or sound, and these variations of management will produce a temporary change in his appearance ; but no evidence was ever known of a dog of one kind being converted into one of another sort. The terrier continues to ferret out the lesser animals with silent assiduity ; the lap dog to bark at every thing that moves ; the pointer re- tains his quick sense of smelling; the greyhound searches, for his prey by the eye in every region alike ; so that there is no reason to doubt that every kind of dog, considered individually, retains the same faculties unchanged throughout the whole course of its life, to whatever changes of food or climate it may be subjected. Gr 62 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. But if the individual itself remain unchanged under every possible variation, how are we to con- ceive that a change in this respect can affect the progeny ? Can any one believe that if a greyhound bitch, while with young, were allowed to bring forth her litter in one place (in Britain suppose, the place of her nativity,) she would produce true grey- hounds, but if she were carried to Norway, the lit- ter would turn out to be mastiffs; in Turkey long- haired pointers ; and in other countries hounds, terriers, and all the other varieties of dogs? At the bare mention of such a position the mind revolts from it, as from a self-evident absurdity : but if the litter were not brought forth in these states in dif- ferent climates, the puppies must be changed in- stantaneously after they come into the world ; for, as we have seen, they are not changed by it at any other period of their life, it must be now that the change is effected, (like tadpoles into frogs,) or never. But who has ever heard of such a meta- morphoses ? We all know that no such thing takes place. Yet this, and more, must have happened were there the smallest foundation for this hypo- thesis These changes must have happened not once only, but often ; not casually, but invariably; of course it would have been utterly impossible to propagate a greyhound in one country, or a beagle in the other; in short, every country would have had its own particular variety of dogs, and none other. But this we know is contradicted by the clearest facts, and the universal experience of man- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 63 kind ; and it must appear to be not a little surpris- ing to those who reflect upon it, that an hypothesis which is, under every point of view, so absurd, should ever have obtained currency for one moment among men who had their eyes open, and were not deprived of the power of reasoning. CHAP. VII. BIRDS. { < But who the various nations can declare, That plough with busy wing the peopled air ? These cleave the crumbling bark for insect food ; Those dip the crooked beak in kindred blood ; Some haunt the rushy moor, the lonely woods ; Some bathe their silver plumage in the floods." THE Ostrich, the Emu, and the Cassowary, are not only remarkable, by reason of their superiority of size, but seem to claim our first attention among the feathery tribes, on account of their constituting some of those apparent links, by which the winged tribe is united to the order of Quadrupeds, For although these animals resemble birds in the outline, and in several parts of their conformation, they certainly cannot be classed among the more perfect orders of the species, in as much as they do not make use of their wings for the purpose of flying ; and as to in- ternal formation, the Ostrich is said to have as great a resemblance to the tour-footed as to the volatile order. 64 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. The structure of these creatures, as well as their appetites, is 'however well adapted for the situations in which they are severally placed, and they appear to know well how to supply the defect of some of their members by the use which they make of others. Of all animals that move on their legs, the Os- trich is by far the swiftest ; and although the Ara- bians train their fleetest horses for the chase, it is not likely they would be successful in the pursuit of this animal, were it not for his circling manner of running. Nor is this surprising, when we consider that this lofty mass of light materials is not only carried forward by his long springing legs, but is impelled along by his wings, which he keeps in con- stant motion, and apparently serve the purpose of oars. The Emu, or Ostrich of the new continent, is also a remarkably swift runner, but its manner of assist- ing its legs is somewhat different from the former ; besides making use of something behind, like a heel, to push it forward, this animal uses a kind of action peculiar to itself, first lifting up one wing and keep- ing it elevated for some time in form of a sail, then letting it drop and elevating the other ; by this means it moves along with such rapidity, that even the Greyhound can seldom overtake it. The fa- vourite climate of the Cassowary seems to begin where that of the Ostrich terminates, in the old world ; and although its wings are so very small^ that being covered with the hair on the back they are scarcely perceptible, it kicks up behind with the BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. ' 65 one leg, and then making a bound forward with the other, proceeds with such amazing speed, that the swiftest racer would be unable to maintain the pur- suit ! In the structure of Birds of the more perfect order, a few things demand our most serious attention : The whole body is 'shaped in the most convenient manner for making their way through the air ; be- ing, as Mr. Ray observes, constructed very near Sir Isaac Newton's form of least resistance. According to Bar, in his continuation of Buffon, " It is neither extremely massive nor equally substantial in all its parts ; but, being designed to rise in the air, is capa- ble of expanding a large surface without solidity. The body is sharp before, to pierce and make its way through that element; it then gradually in- creases in, bulk, till it has acquired its just dimen- sions, and falls off in an expansive tail." The motion of this order being two-fold, walking and flying, they are provided with legs at once wonderfully contrived to walk with, and raise them like a spring for their flight ; wings to buoy them up and waft them along ; and a tail to keep them steady in the air, assist them in their evolutions, and to direct their course. Although their feathery covering is admirably constructed for lightness and buoyancy, their wings are furnished with a strength that is amazing ; so that the flap of a Swan's wing has been known to break a man's leg: and a similar blow from an Ea- gle has produced instant death ; and by these they G 2 66 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. are enabled to impel themselves forward with a ra- pidity that exceeds the fleetest quadruped. To fit them the better for their flight, the feathers are dis- posed in the most perfect order, lying one way; and that they may glide more smoothly along, they are furnished with a gland situated on the rump, from which they occasionally press out oil with the bill, and anoint the feathers. In water-fowl this oil is so plentiful, that by it their plumage is rendered com- pletely water-proof. The beak, or bill of birds, is a curiout piece of art, formed of a hard horny substance, constructed in the most commodious manner for piercing the air. Their ears stand not out from their head to retard their flight, while their eyes are placed in such situations as to take in nearly a hemisphere on either side. Birds have no teeth to chew their food ; but those of the granivorous kind are provided with two- sto- machs ; in one of which the victuals are softened and macerated before they enter the other to be com- pletely digested. Being often employed in travers- ing the upper regions, where they behoved to be much incommoded did they bring forth their young in the manner of quadrupeds, their manner of gene- rating is wisely made to differ, and their offspring are produced by means of eggs In the speedy growth of yeung birds, by which they acquire a degree of strength and size to be able so soon to pro- vide for themselves, we have also an instanced the tender care of Providence. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 67 What power unseen inspires these little creatures with " the passion of the groves," at the most fit season for forming their alliances wben^ the 'genial temper of the weather covers the trees with leaves, the fields with grass, and produces such swarms of insects for the support of their future progeny ! And how comes it to pass, that no sooner is the connubial league formed than those little warblers (a pattern to new-married couples in humble life, who have no- thing 'but their own industry to depend on,) imme- diately set about building their nests, and making preparations for their tender offspring ! In the building of their nests, what art and inge- nuity are displayed ! Whether they are constructed from the collected portions of clay and mortar, or from the more light materials of moss and straw, these little creatures contrive to mould them into the most convenient forms, and to give them a durabi- lity proportionate to their wants. " It wins my admiration, To view the structure of that little work, A bird's nest ; mark it well within, without, No tool had he that wrought, no knife to cut, No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert, No glue to join ! his little beak was all ! And yet how neatly finish'd." Nor is the wonder less, that birds of the same kind, however widely separated, should all follow the same order of architecture in the construction 68 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPES. of their habitations ; that each should make choice of the situation most suitable to its kind. " Some to the rude protection of the thorn Commit their feeble offspring ; the cleft tree Offers its kind concealment to a few ; Their food its insects, and its moss their nest. But most in woodland solitudes delight." And that all should agree in laying as many eggs as to be sufficient to keep up their species, yet no more than they can conveniently hatch and bring up. In the incubation with what patience do these creatures set on their eggs when necessary, till the young are ready to be hatched, and then how officious in assisting the little prisoners to escape ! With what inimitable care do they afterwards watch over and provide for the brood until it is capable of doing for itself ; and with what scrupulous exactness, during this period, do they distribute to each his al- lotted portion of food. " What is this Mighty Breath, ye sages say, That in a powerful language, felt, not heard, Instructs the fowls of heaven ? What but GOD, Inspiring GOD ! who, boundless Spirit all, And unremitting energy pervades, Adjusts, sustains, and agitates the whole." These observations are applicable to the feathery tribe in general ; but if we turn to the peculiarities of a few of the different species, we shall observe that the wisdom and the goodness of the Deity are BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN, 69 no less conspicuous. The Ostrich, formed to tra- verse the burning sands of Africa, is long legged, light, and amazingly agile. Denied the natural re- servoir of the Camel, it is endowed with such an abstinence from water, that the Arabs assert that it never drinks ! and as it may roam many hundreds of miles in quest of vegetation, it seems to have an appetite for almost every kind of food. So that there is no desert, however barren, but what pos- sesses sufficiency to supply these creatures with pro- visions, for they eat almost any thing. Glass, stones, irODj &c. have been found in their stomachs ; and it is affirmed, that in one was found a piece of stone that weighed upwards of a pound. The Condor of America, is said to be the largest bird endowed with flight; and being of the rapa- cious kind, is armed with a beak so strong as to pierce the hide of an ox. The Eagle, the most noble of rapacious volatiles, has a tasje too nice for carrion ; and in order that he may secure his living prey, and bear it in safety to his nest in the inaccessible cliff. Nature has en- dowed him with the faculty of vision in an eminent degree, prodigious claws, amazing strength, and a profusion of feathers down to his very toes. The Vulture delights in carrion and putridity ; and this excellent anatomist may at once be distin- guished from the Eagle by the nakedness of his neck and head, as well as that acute sense of smelling, by which, according to Herodotus, he can smeli a dead carcase at the distance of fifteen thousand paces. 70 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. How admirably formed are the eyes of the birds of night for seeing better when the sun is below than above the horizon. Those of the poultry kind are not furnished with hooked bills and formidable ta- lons, or wings calculated for long flights ; and while the solitary Eagle or Hawk pay us a transient visit, unaccompanied and alone, these surround our dwell- ings in numerous flocks. Those of the Grouse kind, who feed on moor-berries and the tops of heath plants, have their habitations assigned them in the most bar- ren and uncultivated tracts where their favouritefood abounds The hooked bill of the Parrot is well contrived to assist him in climbing. Ducks, Geese, and many others, have long broad bills to enable them to grope for their food in water and mud ; on the contrary, a thick, short, and sharp edged bill, is as necessary to those who have occasion to husk and flay the grain they swallow. The Wood-peck- er's bill is sufficiently strong to dig holes ; that of the Swallow is slender and sharp pointed, and he is also furnished with a very wide mouth, to enable him to catch the winged insect in its flight; and the ease with which Sea pies raise their favourite food from the rocks, by means of their long, narrow, and compressed bills, is astonishing. Even Limpets, which adhere so firmly to the rocks, as not to be ea- sily separated by a knife, these birds find no diffi- culty to raise with the instrument Nature has pro- vided them with for the purpose. The long legs and necks of birds of the Crane kind, together with their sharp pointed bills, are BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 71 wonderfully adapted for the purpose of wading and picking up their food from the bottom of the shal- lows; and the webbed feet, oily feathers, and broad bills of those of the Swan kind, are equally so, to enable them to swim along, and lay hold of their prey in the watery element. The Pelican of the wilderness is a most dexterous fisher, and nature has provided him with a prodigi- ous pouch, of a singular construction, under his bill, which, although scarcely perceptible when empty, enables him when full to bear ashore as many fish at a time as would suffice sixty men for dinner The Albatross, the most formidable of the Gull kind, preys not only on fish, but water fowl of an inferior size; and his bill terminates in a crooked point, by which he is enabled to lay hold of them on the wing. The Penguin seldom leaves the water ; and while others of the feathery . race only skim its surface, pursues his prey to the greatest depth, and he ap- proaches the finny tribe in his formation as well as in his disposition and ha-bits. Indeed, these animals may be justly reckoned one of the connecting links between the volatile and finny tribes, as not only their fin-like wings and broad webbed feet, but their body being covered more warmly all over with fea- thers than any other bird whatever, and the parti- cular construction of their lungs, all tend to shew that water is their principal element How wonderful the migration of birds ! or that surprising instinct by which " the stork in the hea- vens knoweth her appointed times/' " and the crane 72 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. and the swallow observe the time of their coming." When Storks take their departure for Europe, it is said they all assemble on a particular day, decamp during the night, and leave not a single one of their company behind. Now what power unseen com- mands them to this general assembly, directs them in their course, orders them to halt as occasion re- quires, and then to renew their flight till they ar- rive at the exact point of their destination ? Who bids the Stork, Columbus-like, explore Heavens not his own, and worlds unknown before? Who calls the council, states the certain day? Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way ?" " Where do the Cranes, or winding Swallows go, Fearful of gathering winds and falling snow ? If into rocks or hollow creeks they creep, In temporary death confined to sleep ; Or, conscious of the coming evil, fly To milder regions and a southern sky r" Birds in the torrid zone, where their nests, other- wise situated, would be exposed to the assaults of the snake when he twines up the trunk, or the de- predations of the ape, suspend them at the point of a bough, or the extreme branches of the trees; and some, as the Taylor-bird, not content with that pre- caution, attach their nests to the side of a leaf. The expertness of this little .bird, at the profession from whence it derives its name, is admirable. When it has picked up a dead leaf, it sews it to the side of a living one, its slender bill being its needle, and its BOOK OF NATURE LAID GPEN. 73 thread some fine fibres; the lining is composed of feathers, gossamer, and down The Eagle con- structs her habitation among inaccessible rocks, where it is shielded by projecting craigs; and the Flamingo builds her nest in the middle of an ex- tensive morass, beyond the reach of danger. *' From man retir'd, amid the lonely marsh, Flamingoes build and tend their curious nest." What sagacity does the Vulture display as he sits silent and unseen in the American forest, watching the operations of the monstrous Crocodile, while she deposits her eggs in the sand on the banks of the river! The little Butcher-bird, that attacks crea- tures four times bigger than himself, seizes its vie- tims by the throat, and strangles them in an instant; and, as if conscious of its inability otherwise to sepa- rate the food it has so secured, contrives to spit it on a neighbouring thorn, and then pulls it pieces with its bill The solitary Owl takes up its station in the corner of a barn at the approach of night, and with inflexible perseverance watches its prey. The Magpie is noted for its singular cunning Bus- sards are said to keep a sentinel on the look-out to apprize them of danger. The Partridge acts with the greatest subtlety, in order to decoy away a dog or other animal when he approaches her nest ; and the affection of the Hen for her tender brood is such, that for their protection she will attack the hog or the mastiff, and even not hesitate to fly at the ftrs H 74 BOOK OF tfATURE LAID OPEN. What animal evinces more courage than the Cock, as he struts in sovereignty on his favourite dunghill ? The facility with which Parrots are taug t to speak, and retain and repeat a number of words is truly surprising Cormorants in China are trained for the purposes of fishing; and Hawks, in other coun- tries for fowling; and the Carrier Pigeon performs his lengthened embassy with unerring precision, and with astonishing celerity Thevenot says, they commonly travel from Aleppo to Alexandria in Sy- ria in six hours, which is a distance of eighty-eight miles The letters are generally fastened under their wings In order to ascertain with some de- gree of accuracy the speed of these curious birds, a gentleman, some years ago, sent a carrier pigeon from London to a friend at Bury St Edmunds, desiring it to be thrown up at a particular time two days after its arrival ; this was attended to, and the pigeon returned to the Bull Inn, Bishopsgate-street, two hours and a half afterwards, having in that time tra- velled seventy two miles Even the stupid Ostrich, as it may be called in other respects, is not so desti- tute of natural affection and instinctive cunning as some are apt to imagine; for if she more frequently leaves her eggs than other birds, it is only in those hot climates where there is no necessity for constant incubation ; and if she thrusts her head in the sand, when every chance of escape is at an end, it is no less certain that she contrives to prolong the chace and distance her pursuer, by occasionally lowering BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 75 one of her wings, aud disappointing him with a mouthful of feathers. The Uses of Volatilcs. The uses of the poultry kind, especially of such as are domesticated, are too obvious to be enumerated; it may, however, be remarked, that the common Hen, if well supplied with food and water, is said to lay sometimes two hundred eggs in a year; and the fecundity of the Pigeon in its domestic state is so great, that from a single pair, near fifteen thou- sand may be produced in four years. The flesh of the .Grouse kind is esteemed for its delicacy; the Peacock, in some countries, is consi- dered as a luxury; and although it is in a great mea- sure for his singular plumage that man has been tempted to follow the Ostrich in his desert retreat, some of the African tribes are very fond of his flesh, and even the Romans appear to have considered it a dainty; for it is recorded of Heliogabalus, that he had the brains of six hundred of these animals, at a feast, served up in one dish! He should immediately after partaking of that dish, have buried his head in the sand, and been ashamed to resume the erect form of man, whose character he had disgraced. There are, besides, many parts of this animal which are supposed to be very salutary for medicinal purposes, and their strength and swiftness seem to render them very fit for the purposes of travelling or carrying bur- dens; fop Moore relates, that at Joar in Africa, he 76 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN* met a man travelling on an Ostrich; and Mr. Adam; son informs us, that when he was at the factory of Po- dore there were two young Ostriches, the strongest of which was much fleeter than the best English race-horse he ever saw, although he at that time carried two negroes on his back. If in the feathery tribe some appear to be formed to please us with the beauty of their plumage, as the Goldfinch, the Bullfinch, and the Humming bird ; others, as the Thrush, the Blackbird, and the Ca- nary, delight us with the melody of their song The L*ark soars aloft and salutes the new-born day with his cheerful notes. The Nightingale soothes, the weary labourer as he returns from his daily toil, by his fascinating strains. The little Robin, in return for the protection our fences have afforded him, ex- erts himself to render the hedges vocal, in soft and tender melody; and the Sparrow endeavours to amuse us with her chirpings. The Swallow, also, as if sensible of the undisturb- ed possession she has been allowed to take of our premises, during the time of her necessities, catches upon the wing a multitude of flies, gnats, and bee- tles, and frees us from a number of troublesome ver- min before she bids us farewell. Birds of the Rook and Pie kind, although a noisy and chattering tribe, may be of infinitely more use than we have the sense to discover, by the destruction of grubs, worms, and eggs of vermin; and the common carrion crow may be no less necessary in our climate, than the Egyp- tian Vulture and the Ossifrage of Syria. The Vul- BOOK OF STATURE LAID OPEN. 77 ture, indeed, is common in many parts of Europe, and abounds in America, Asia, and Africa. In Egypt and other warm countries, he is of singular use. Numerous flocks of them are always hovering in the neighbourhood of Grand Cairo; and for the services the inhabitants experience, by these ani- mals devouring the carrion and filth of that great city, which, in such a sultry climate, would other- wise soon putrify and corrupt the air, they are not permitted to be destroyed. The Ossifrage of the. woods of Syria and Egypt feeds on the dead car- cases of fowls and reptiles. This brings us to say a few words on the use of rapacious fowls^, which may be also applied to wild beasts in general. Better perhaps it may appear to the imperfect reasoning of short sighted mortals, that the business of mutual destruction had been avoided in the eco- nomy of nature, and instead of that circuit of prey and devastation which we observe, all animals had been formed to live on vegetable food, and suffered to die a natural death. But, independent of the dif- ficulty that occurs as to how such a number of crea- tures could be fed from the same source, we do not consider the state of suffering to which many of them must necessarily have been exposed, if they had been left to perish by protracted famine, after the decay of their bodily powers rendered them unfit to go in quest of food. Compared with this, is it not a far more happy dispensation that animals are formed for the destruction of each other ? and that (to fol- low -the course of one circle by way of specimen,) H2 78 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. tvhile the tree-louse lives on plants, the musca aphi- divora lives upon the tree-louse; the hornet lives upon the musca aphidivora ; the dragon fly on the hornet; the spider on the dragon-fly; the small birds on the spider; and the hawk on the small birds. Deprived of reason, the innocent lamb licks the hand raised for its destruction ; and the sufferings which animals feel upon the speedy extinction of the vital spark, must be momentary indeed, in com- parison of the pangs they must have undergone, if they had been left to expire by old age. Indeed, according to this plan, old age would be impossi- ble ; for what would the world soon become were Its numerous tenants so cut off, and the putrid car- cases to lie unburied ? the circumambient air, now the source of life and vitality, must then in a short lime be rendered pestilential, and bearing upon its wings the noxious vapours, deal death and deso- lation with increasing malignity to every climate, until the beautiful theatre of life and activity became one great charnel-house, and the animating flame be for ever extinguished in the awful silence of eternal night. Instead, therefore, of finding fault with the mer- ciful dispensations of our all wise Creator, and re- pining that lions and tigers, bears and wolves, ea- gles and vultures, serpents and crocodiles, and vo- racious monsters of the deep of every description exist, let us rather rejoice that wherever the carcase is exposed on the field, there will the vultures be gathered together ; and that, where the lion and BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 79 Serpent may die in their sequestered retreats, innu- merable vermin, attracted by the scent, will soon find them out, and leave not a vestige of putrifaction behind. Before we conclude with the tribe of volatiles, we will just remark, that these are not the only uses for which this order of beings seem to have been created. From the feathery creai'on we may also learn les- sons of wisdom on the most interesting and impor- tant subjects. What an example of conjugal con- stancy and fidelity do we discover in the turtledove! What a pattern of filial affection in the young stork! What a lesson for presumptuous pride have we in the answer of Solon to the monarch of Lydia ! When seated on his magnificent throne, and sur- rounded by all the appendages of external pomp and pageantry, Croesus asked the Greek philoso- pher, if he had ever seen so magnificent a specta- cle : " After having seen the plumage of the Phea- sant, he could not be astonished at the sight of any other finery," was the cool reply ! And what com- fort may we derive, under the vexatious losses and crosses of life, from the argument drawn by our Divine Teacher against sinking under despondency or anxiety : u Behold the fowls of the air ; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: yet our heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not better than they ?> " Behold, and look away your low despair; See the light tenants of the barren air ; 80 BOOK OF NATURE LAID To them nor stores, nor granaries belong; Nought but the woodland and the pleasing songr Yet, your kind heavenly Father bends his eye On the least wing that flits along the sky/* CHAP. VIII. INSECTS. " Where greatness is to Nature's works deny* OPftN. 83 But tliis is not all, the very circumstances adduced as marks of imperfection in the insect tribes, viz. their being enabled to live for some time after being deprived of those organs necessary to life in the higher ranks, and their amazing numbers, ought ra- ther to be considered as arguments to the contrary. The former is no doubt essentially necessary to the preservation of a species exposed to so many ca- sualties, as those in particular who live on blood, and cannot, therefore, partake of a meal, without giv- ing their enemies notice of their presence ; and the latter, to prevent the extinction of a short-lived race, which come into existence at a time when there are so many open mouths ready to devour them. Without these two characteristic distinctions of the insect tribes, although they may be deemed imper- fections by the more imperfect powers of short sight- ed mortals, it is probable that long ere now some of those exquisite pieces of Nature's workmanship must have disappeared from the creation, and for want of those connecting links, the whole beautiful fabric of the universe must have fallen to decay ; for, trifling as some of those minute or imperceptible objects may appear, the language of philosophy is: - " Each crawling insect holds a rank Important in the plan of HIM who frarn'd This scale of heings ; holds a rank, which lont, Would break the chain, and leave a gap That Nature's self would rue." Instead, therefore, of having the presumption to stigmatize, in the most remote degree, this particular 84 BOOK OP NATURE LAIS OPEN. order of the creatures of the Almighty, as affording evidences of imperfection, let us rather, from similar considerations, adopt the words of the more judi- cious Swammerdam ; t( After an attentive examina- tion," says he, a of the nature and anatomy of the smallest as well as the largest animals, I cannot help allowing the least an equal, or perhaps a superior degree of dignity. If, while we dissect with care the largest Miimals, we are filled with wonder at the elegant disposition of their parts, to what a height is our astonishment raised, when we discover all these parts arranged in the least in the same regular man- ner" And sum up the dispute in the words of ano- ther naturalist : " Of this dispute it is only neces- sary to observe, that the wisdom of the Creator is so conspicuous in all his works, and such surpris- ing art is discovered in the mechanism of the body of every creature, that it is very difficult, if not im- possible, to say where it is most, and where it is least to be observed." It is impossible, in the compass of this book, to do any thing like justice to a subject which can never be sufficiently investigated. We will, however, con- sistent with our general plan, notice a few facts and striking peculiarities in this mysterious and numer- ous order of beings, by which it is most distinguish- ed from the others, and in which it will be suffi- ciently evident that insects are also the children of the same common parent, whose wisdom and good- ness are so conspicuous in his other works: BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 85 In the head of an insect no organization of the brain is said to be discovered, but the want of this is abundantly made up by that medullary thread which communicates the vital principle to the other parts of thejr bodies, and endows them with that tenacity of life, which, as has been already observed, is so use- ful to the species. Neither are they apparently fur- nished with the usual organs of smelling and hearing, but whether the olfactory nerves communicate with the feelers, and the auricular organs are situated in the antenna?, as Mr. Barbutt supposes, or not, there can be no doubt from the readiness of Wasps, Flies, &c. to betake themselves to their wings and fly to dainties at a distance; and the alertness oi Bees in sallying out to the relief of a brother in distress, when he alarms them by his noise outside the hive, that insects are not deficient in the senses of hearing, wherever the organs may be situated. The manner of respiration is different in insects from other ani- mals ; they breathe through pores placed in the sides of their bodies, and this also fits them for that re- markable peculiarity of living in separate parts. In the composition of insects no bones are made use of, but this defect is supplied in some by a membraneous or muscular skin, and in others by a crustaceous or horny covering Their eyes are fixed, and they have no eyebrows, but, to prevent them from injury the latter want is supplied by the external tunic of their eyes being hard and transparent, and to remedy the former, some insects have four, some six, others. %ht, while the number of lenses in some of those who i 86 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. have only two is amazing indeed. Flies, wasps, &c. have the outward coat of their eye made of curious lattice-work. Pagett is said to have discovered no fewer than 17,325 lenses in the cornea of a butterfly ! The eyes of insects are admirably adapted for see- ing minute objects nigh at hand, but from the small- ness and convexity of their lenses, it is apparent that they can neither see far, nor take in the larger ob- jects, and to remedy any inconvenience that might arise from this, may have been the principal reason why Nature has furnished them with those project- ing horns or feelers with which they seem to grope as they advance. Insects are also distinguished by the number of their legs and wings; of the latter most insects have four, while no other species of animals have more than two; and although the greater part have six legs, others, as Mites and Spi- ders, have eight, and some ten, fourteen, sixteen, and even a great many more. The palpi are those little instruments fixed to the mouth of some insects, which seem to be intended to serve the purpose of arms, for they employ them to bring food to their mouths, and to keep it steady when eating. Some insects are furnished with stings for defence, or to assist them in procuring their food, others with a tube for injecting: their eggs into the most convenient si- tuations for hatching. The females of some w inged insects, for instance, insert their eggs under the sur- face of leaves, and the worms w r hen hatched, give rise to those tubercles or galls with which the leaves of the ash, the fir, and other trees sometimes abound ; BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 87 the eggs of the Cynips, inserted into the leaves of the oak, produce the caterpillars, which give rise to the galls used in the composition of ink. The greater part of winged insects have a proboscis or trunk, which although not so large, is as wonderfully con- trived as that of the Elephant, and serves the pur- poses of a mouth, a nose, and a windpipe! The proboscis is a machine of a very complicated nature ; and that of a butterfly, when not in quest of food, is rolled up in form of a watch spring. The degree of strength and agility which many of the insect tribes possess is amazing. A ilea will draw a chain one hundred times heavier than itself; and the velocity of a mite, in proportion to its size, is said to outstrip that of a race-horse ! With regard to sex, there is one thing very remarkable in this order, viz. that the Bees, the Wasps, and Ants fur- nish an example of a species that belong to neither sex, and so are called neuters ; these however, are not without their uses ; and the affection they evince for the helpless little creatures left to their care, might serve as a lesson to those who are intrusted with the tender charge of infants not their own. The last thing we shall mention in this general survey of the insect tribes, is the wonderful transfor- mations many of them undergo in the different stages of an egg, a grub or worm, a cry sails, till they arrive at their most perfect or fly state. " Observe the insect race, ordain 'd to keep The lazy sabbath of a half year's sleep. Entomb'd beneath the filmy web they lie, And wait the influence of a kinder sk v . BOOK OF KATURE LAID OPEN. When vernal sunbeams pierce the dark retreat The heaving tomb distends with vital heat ; The full-formed brood, impatient of their cell, Start from their trance, and burst their silken shell." In each change not only their form and structure, but their very nature and appetite undergo a com- plete revolution. Take for example, yonder But- terfly? which in gaudy attire, and with a sprightly air, roves and flutters in quest of its balmy juices from flower to flower: how wonderful the change from that dead and inanimate state in which its beauties lately lay concealed, or from the grovelling reptile which on the cabbage-leaf partook voracious- ly of its coarser fare, nor evinced any relish for other dainties. If any; thing were wanting to prove the wise dis- position of the parts and appetites of animals to their various situations and habits, here we have it in the instance of the Butterfly, whose structure and taste both undergo an alteration when its sphere of action and propensities become different. In regard to some peculiarities of a few of the dif- ferent species of insects, we will briefly observe, that in the mouth of the Gnat we have an admirable specimen of the instrument necessary for such a blood thirsty animal ; the nails or crotchets of the Horse-fly, as well as its tenacity of life, evince that it is apt to be disturbed in its banquets ; whoever attentively considers the form of a Louse, .need not be told that it is a blood-sucker The legs of the Locust and of the Grasshopper at once shew their BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 89 propensity to leaping. The Bee, in danger of being robbed of its precious stores, is armed with its .well known weapon. -The female Wasp is larger and stronger than the male, to enable her to survive the rigour of winter ; and the strong hairy legs of the Ant are no less well contrived to assist her in the inde- fatigable labours of the hill, than the two claws with which they are armed are for the purpose of climbing. How surprising the instinct by which those little creatures are taught uniformly to deposit their eggs on such animal or vegetable substances, as furnish a proper and plentiful supply of food for the worms or caterpillars, as soon as they are hatched. That those who pass into the Chrysalis or inactive state, select the most proper situations and modes of con- cealment; and that others, whose only metamor- phosis consists in the addition of wings, surround themselves while undergoing the change by an en- velope of spume or froth, proceeding from their bo- dy ; as the Cuckoo spit, or Froth worm. " The Locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them in bands;" while the solitary Spider, having no wings to go to pursuit of her prey, weaveth to herself a web, and watches with patience the en- tanglement of a fly. Our space will not permit us to dwell on the geometrical precision and mathema- tical exactness, with which Bees form their combs ; the wonderful ingenuity and contrivance of the Wasp's nest, or the order and regularity observed in the construction of the Ant hill, as well as the prudence and foresight which the whole of these I 2 90 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. evince in their labours and pursuits ; these, and the singular but convenient attitude which the Water-fly assumes in swimming on his back, to enable him the better to lay hold of his food, the under side of plants which grow on the water, we can only men- tion, and must proceed to consider a few of the Uses of Insects. From the number of animals in the different ele- ments and regions of existence, which prey upon insects, there can be no doubt but the principal ob- ject the Creator had in view in the formation of these, was for the subsistence of many of the larger orders of creatures; but the following specimens serve to shew that some of these also contribute in no small degree, in their respective spheres, to the service of man. By the labours and exertions of the Bee, we are provided with stores of honey and wax; the seemingly contemptible little Silk-worm presents us, in its passage from the Caterpillar in the sleeping state, with materials for constituting our most costly raiment From the Cantharies come the Spanish Flies, so useful in blisters; the Kermes is also va- luable for medicinal purposes; and the Cochineal furnishes us with a rich and beautiful dye. The wonders accomplished by the united exertions of the Bees, the Wasps, and the Ants, shew what can be done by brethren dwelling together in unity. The watchfulness of the Spider, after she has woven her web, demonstrates the necessity of not folding our BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 91 hands for slumber just at the time we have comple- ted our preparations for activity; and to the Ant, the sluggard is sent to learn a lesson of prudence and foresight. " These emmets, how little they are in our eyes ! We tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies Without our regard or concern : Yet, as wise as we are, if we went to their school, There's many a sluggard, and many a fool, A lesson of wisdom might learn.'* CHAP IX. REPTILES. ' Lo ! the green Serpent, from his dark abode, Which even imagination fears to tread ; At noon forth issuing, gathers up his train In orbs immense." . " Thro' subterraneous cells, Where scorching sunbeams scarce can find a way, Earth animated heaves. The flowery leaf Wants not its soft inhabitants." IN the order of Reptiles, we have a new display of the wonders of creating art. These creatures are also endowed with the power of motion, but how differently do they move from any of the orders we have already considered Deprived of the usual ap- paratus of legs or wings, the ponderous Serpent is- sues from his concealment, and moves majestically along by means of his scales and strong muscular 92 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. powers ; and the slender Worm draws and pushes himself forward by his rings and contortions. The wisdom in these contrivances must be immediately apparent, when we consider that some of the former have their habitations assigned them in the most im- penetrable thickets, where an elevated stature would expose them to many inconveniences. Some take up their abode in the swampv banks of great rivers, or among the reeds in morasses, where the weight of their body, supported by legs, must have sunk them deeper in the mire ; others wind their way among heaps of rubbish or crumbling ruins, where projecting appendages, of any description, would have been apt to retard their progress ; and the naked and defenceless bodies of the latter are admirably adapted to those subterraneous passages which they form to themselves unseen in the bowels of the earth. Snails, also, are a species of Reptiles; but, being encumbered in their movements with their shelly appendage, they are furnished with an instrument peculiar to themselves, in that long, broad surface, by which they pull themselves along ; and by which* assisted by the glutinous substance they emit from their bodies, they aiv enabled to adhere, in any po- sition, to the smoothest of surfaces. The motion of Caterpillars in their vermicular state is curiously performed, by means of a number of little legs, the foremost of which are differently constructed from the hindmost, but all are formed in the v most suitable manner for assisting in their progress on the leaves of plants. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 1) Being- deprived of those instruments of motion possessed by other animals, to carry them speedily forward in pursuit of their prey, Serpents are neces- sitated to have recourse to the resources of artifice* and to lie in wait for it ; and, to enable them to do this to the best possible advantage, Nature has not only endowed them with the power of intwining themselves in ambush around the trunks and among the branches of trees, by the slender make and flexi- bility of their bodies, but, by a very particular and singular construction of the back-bone in Serpents, they are enabled to coil themse'ves up in a very small compass. In the generality of animals, the joints in the back-bone do not exceed thirty or forty ; but in the serpent kind they amount to one hundred and forty five from the head to the vent, and twenty- five more from that to the tail. If Serpents are not furnished with the claws of the Tiger to lay hold of their prey, the strong hooked bill and talons of the Eagle to pull it to pieces, and the tusks of the Boat- to devour it, several of this species are furnished with a poisonous sting for instantaneously inflicting the mortal wound, others are soon enabled to extinguish the vital spark by means of the convulsive energy of their enormous twistings ; while the general con- formation of the jaws, the width of the mouth, and yielding texture of the bodies of Serpents are such, as to enable them to swallow prodigious mouthfuls, and animals more bulky than themselves. A Ser- pent in the island of Java was observed at one time to destroy and devour a Buffalo; after having bro- 94 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. ken the bones by its voluminous twistings, it was seen to lick the body all over, which covered it with its mucus, and make it slip more glibly down its throat. But the assistance which some of these creatures receive from their poison in the seizing of their prey, is not the o?.!y benefit they derive from it; it is also their most sure and effectual defence ; and from the dread and horror which such an instrument as the sting of .a Serpent inspires, (although only found in the possession of a few,) it serves, as it were, for a safeguard to the whole species. Mankind, indeed, cannot tr-erd with too cautious steps the paths frequented by these creatures ; for although none of the most venomous kinds will at- tack man, except on the defensive, yet, without the power of discriminating, when accidently trod upon, they will make the intruder feel the power of their vengeance. What a merciful provision, therefore, has Providence made, for the safety of the American, in the tail of the Rattle-snake, than which there is not one of the serpent tribe more to be dreaded: yet the rattle in his tail, on the smallest motion, must give notice of his approach, or warn the trareller of the impending danger that lies concealed in his haunts. It is a melancholy truth, that the direful effects of the Serpent's poison is not confined to the wounds they themselves inflict, but, as a celebrated naturalist observes, by men more mischievous even than Serpents, who prepare their veuom to destroy each other; with this the savages poison their arrows, BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 95 and prepare their revengeful poisons. The ancients were known to preserve it for the purposes of sui- cide, and among barbarians the venom of snakes is used as a philter to this day. How much more ho- nourable for human nature when the ingenuity of man is exerted for the preservation of his species* and as Vipers are the only animals of a venomous kind, from whose bite the inhabitants of Great Bri- tain have any thing to fear, the discovery of Wil- liam Oliver, the Viper-catcher at Bath, that the ap- plication of Olive Oil was an effectual cure for the bite of one of these animals, may not be improperly mentioned here, to the honour of that person, who submitted to some dangerous experiments in corro- boration of the truth of this discovery. Nor is the care of Providence less observable in the provision made for the security and preservation of the more harmless kinds of reptiles, than for those of a dangerous and venomous description. The naked and tender body of the Earth worm is no doubt pretty securely lodged in the subterraneous vaults it forms for itself in the earth, and the Ser- pent, in the absence of defensive weapons, enjoys no little security in the dread its very form inspires; but slill the former is exposed to many an injury in his lowly situation, and the latter may oft wait long for the approach of his victims ; but the feeble worm, when cut in several parts by the gardener's spade, evinces a remarkable tenacity of the vital powers ; and the voracious Liboya, which can swallow at a raeal an animal three times as thick as itself, at other 96 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. times, when no food presents itself, exhibits an ab- stemiousness that is astonishing. Indeed, a single meal with many of the Snake kind seems to be the adventure of a season ; and is an oceurrence for which they have been lor weeks, nay, sometimes for months, in patient expectation. Vipers are often kept in boxes for six or eight months, without any food whatever ; and there are small Serpents sent over to Europe from Grand Cairo that live for se- veral years without eating. The insti.nctive sagacity of an animal, said at first to be more subtile than any beast of the field, and whose wisdom was pointed out by the Saviour of men as being necessary to be united with the harm- lessness of the dove, in the dispositions of his disci- ples, must naturally be expected to be very remark- able, and it certainly is so, whether manifested in the wonderful docility which some of these creatures assume in a state of captivity the dancing serpent, for instance, carried about by jugglers and strollers in the East Indies, will raise their heads and part of their bodies at the sound of music, moving them in such a manner as to keep time with the instru- ment, while their tails continue in a coil at the bot- tom of the basket: the convenient places in which they lie in wait fq^ the approach of their- prey the commodious attitude in which those of the venomous kind put themselves for darting at their victims; or the subtle artifices to which these of the more harm- less kind have recourse in eluding an enemy. Ser- pents the most venomous will suddenly spring up BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 97 on their tail, at the approach of a larger animal, erect their head, and inflict the deadly wound in a mo- ment; while some of those who are less so, when closely pursued, or excited by rage or fear, will emit a most horrible foetor, in order, as it were, to force the enemy to retire from the pursuit. The Black Snake of Virginia lays its eggs in dung- hills or hotbeds, where, aided by the heat of the sun, they are hatched and brought to maturity. The blind worms betake themselves, at the approach of winter, to those secret recesses, where, in a state of torpidity, they are sometimes found in vast numbers twisted to- gether; and the common earth-worm, when warned of danger from the mole, by the moving of the earth, darts upwards to the surface, and is out of his reach in an instant. Uses of Reptiles. In a former part we noticed the indispensable ne- cessity of animals of prey, and the bad consequences that must have inevitably ensued had the whole of earth's various tenants been left to die a natural death, and their carcases been left to rot unhuried Amongst animals of this descripflR we may un- doubtedly reckon the race of Serpents; and whether we consider the fitness of their bodies for entering the dens, and caves, and holes of the earth, or their voracious appetites for such sort of food in common with reptiles of an inferior order, we must certainly allow that they are wonderfully adapted for the pur- it 98 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN, pose. This, then, may be one reason, and a very sufficient one too, for the formation of Serpents, that besides helping to rid the earth of a vast number of the smaller obnoxious vermin, they find their way with the greatest ease into the most secret recesses of putrefaction, and destroy those noisome carcases in a short period, to which the other large animals of similar tastes could not, by the peculiar structure of their bodies, have had access. The use of the Leech is also too well known to need description. CHAP. X. THE OCEAN. ... .. ... And thou, majestic main ! A secret world of wonders in thyself ! Sound His stupendous praise, whose greater voice Or bids you roar, or bids your roaring fall." WHAT a grand and magnificent spectacle does the Ocean present ! Whether we view it when wrought up by fearful agkation into all the horrors of the tem- pest, when the blackness of darkness rides trium- phant on the storm, and its foaming billows mix with the clouds, or gaze upon it, with a calm delight, as it gently advances or recedes in soft and hollow' mur- murs upon the sandy beach, when not a breeze is observed to breathe on its undulating bosom, and every wind is hushed, it is impossible to conceive BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 99 any thing better calculated to excite in us lofty and sublime conceptions of the Creator. " May not the sea/' in the words of a modern au- thor, " be styled the temple of contemplation? View- ed in all its stages, it exalts and improves the mind- Its level expanse,, when a calm prevails, communi- cates a similar tranquillity to the reflecting breast; and when its billows lift their devouring heads, they sug- gest ideas the most sublime, meditations the most solemn. The very nature of the prospect, boundless and unbroken, presents a sensible argument for eter- nity of duration and infinity of space, more forcible than the subtilest reasoning of metaphysics." The ocean, rolling its surges from clime to clime, is, undoubtedly, the most august object under the whole heavens. A spectacle of magnificence and grandeur which fills the mind, and engrosses the utmost stretch of imagination. What an immense and mighty assemblage of wa- tery particles rcmst be contained in the great deep, and what a prodigious extent of the earth's surface doth it cover ! Some natural philosophers, indeed, have carried their ideas on this subject so far as to assert, that if the bed of the sea were empty, all the rivers of the world flowing into it, with a continu- ance of their present stores, would take at least eight hundred years to fill it again to its present height. If, then, in a single drop of water, as much only as will adhere to the point of a needle,- a philosopher has computed no less than thirteen thousand globules, what an inconceivable number must there be in the 100 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. unfathomable depths, and immeasurable extent ot the ocean ! where the eye is lost in wandering over the liquid expanse, and which, if we look upon a map of the world, we shall find to cover a consi- derably larger portion of the surface of the globe than even the dry land itself. Wonderful as the sea is in itself, and beneficial as it is to the sons of men, all its wonders and all its benefits reflect glory to Him who formed it, and poured it abroad. When we place ourselves upon the shore, and from thence behold that immense body of water, stretching away on all sides, as far as the eye can reach ; and when we consider how large a portion of the globe is co- vered in like manner, what a noble idea are we en. abled to form of that Being, who taketh up the sea in his hand, and in whose sight the ocean is no more than a drop ; who covered the earth with the deep as with a garment, and assigned it bounds which it cannot pass ! And it is truly astonishing by what simple, yet potent means, this great and important end is accomplished ; for it is neither by adaman- tine rocks nor tremendous precipices, nor shelving banks of well cemented sand, that the unruly cle- ment is confined within due limits, although these all no doubt tend their aid in repelling the lashings of its surges, and occasional attempts to encroach on the land ; but by a barrier, simple, yet more ef- fectual than all these, the word of the great Jeho- vah's strength; who has impressed upon this ele- ment that law of gravitation, by which the waters of the mountains are made to go down into the val- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 101 lies; and has. said to the fluctuating and unstable mass, " Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther ' and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." There are, however, some shores on which the sea has made temporary depredations ; where it has over- flowed, and after remaining, perhaps, some ages, has again retired of its own accord, or been driven back by the industry of man ; but we have an in- stance of one of a very considerable and lasting na- ture, which happened in the reign of Henry I. in which the sea overflowed the estates of Ikirl God- win, in Kent, and formed that celebrated bank now called the Godwin Sands. In the reign of Augus- tus, the Isle of Wight also made a part of Britain, so that the English crossed over to it at low water with cartloads of tin; and in the bay of Baise, near Naples, there are remains of houses and streets still visible below the present level of the sea. These, however, may have been occasioned by some earth- quake, or other internal convulsion of the earth, in which case such tracts would no doubt have sunk, although they had been situated more inland; or if these facts must really be 'considered as evidences-of the encroachment of the sea upon the land, as the advocates for that theory insist, we must bring in the testimony of the Norway fishermen to balance them, who affirm, that the sea upon that coast has become much shallower in many places than it had been ; that rocks, formerly covered with water, were now several feet above the surface of the sea. and that loaded vessels used formerly to ride where pin- K2 102 BOOK. OF MATURE LAID OPEK, naces and barks could now with difficulty swim; as nothing is more'certain from the absolute necessity that a proper equilibrium in the disposition .of the waters of the ocean be kept up, that if the sea is suffered to gain upon the land in one direction, it must recede from it in another, and vice versa. Indeed, so far from there being the smallest dan- ger that the world of waters may escape from its present situation, and return again to cover the earth, it might rather be expected, from its known pro- perties and penetrating quality, that it would find its way downward, so as to leave its banks dry by receding from our shores, or, by mixing with the in- ternal composition of the globe, saturate its stores with the exuberance of its moisture. Whether the former of these is chiefly prevented by that other law impressed upon fluids, by which they have a natural tendency to regain their level, and thejatter, by that stiff, tenacious coat of clay, which covers such a considerable portion of the bottom of this uni- versal canal, we will not take upon us to say : one thing is certain, that, as no increase is observed on the waters of the ocean, notwithstanding, as the wise man observes, all the rivers flow into it; so neither is there any sensible diminution of that extent of sur- face so essentially necessary in the business of evapo- ration, which is continually going on from this great natural reservoir. The water, of which the clouds are formed, and which descends in rain or snow, is evaporated from the sea; and it has been found, by calculation, that, in a summer day, there may be BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 103 raised, in vapours from the Mediterranean alone, no less than five thousand two hundred and eighty mil- lions of tuns of water. The air and sun are the mighty engines which work, without intermission, to raise the water from this inexhaustible cistern. The clouds, as uoqueducts, convey the genial stores along the atmosphere, and distribute them in sea- sonable and regular proportions through all the re- gions of the globe. A superficial observer may be apt to imagine, that if the watery element had been less copiously dif- fused, and more confined to a deeper bed, a greater part of the earth might have been converted into dry land, and, consequently, made habitable to a larger portion of the human species ; but such do not con- sider, that the clouds, which drop down fatness, de- rive th^ir fertilizing quality from the vapours exhaled from the ocean, and that to abridge the liquid ex- panse of its extent, would' be only depriving those aerial water-bearers of part of their genial stores, so indispensably necessary to render that portion of the dry land we already possess productive. How amazing that water, without which we can scarcely perform any business, or enjoy any comfort, should be thus brought to stream by our doors, and enter our houses, from the remotest regions from the far ofr' and unfrequented paths of the great deep ; that this boundless mass of fluid salt, so intolerably nau- seous to the taste, should be the original source of those sweet and pleasing showers that descend to water and refresh the earth. 104 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. The all-wise Creator foresaw this, and, in mercy to the inhabitants of the dry parts of this earthly ball, diffused his watery treasures over such a consider- able portion of its surface ; carefully balancing the Atlantic with the Pacific, and the Northern with the Southern ocean ; and if the old Continent can boast of its Mediterranean, Caspian, Baltic, Black, White, and Red seas, the New World is deeply indebted by the gulf of Mexico, and North America has ob- tained the appellation of the Country of lakes. But the ocean, as well as being the source of fer- tility, by the exhalations drawn up from its surface by the sun, is also the great receptacle of filth, and mighty purifier and restorer of nature. Almost all the rivers, indeed, run into the sea; but it is not mere- ly to empty their liquid stores, and to keep up the circulation in the huge machine of the universe ; they convey also, as they go along to this capacious re- ceiver, the refuse of nations, and deposit in the bo- som of the great abyss thp accumulated fillh of our towns anr! cities. How, then, it may be asked, are the waters of this mighty basin preserved from being contaminated? And. instead of continuing the sa- lubrious element of vitality to so many living crea- tures, how comes it to pass that the sea is not con- verted into a source of corruption, a fountain of pu- tridity, disease, and death ? The two great efficient causes, which produce these happy results, are, that incessant -motion by which the ocean is kept in perpetual agitation, even in its most tranquil state, and the saltness of its wa- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 105' tcrs; and that these might operate with the greatest possible effect where most necessary, it is wisely so ordered that both prevail most as we approach those warm regions, where the intense heat would be fol- lowed by most pernicious consequences on a stand- ing pool, or stagnant fresh-water lakes, and are less perceptible in climates more remote from the equator- The principal currents of the ocean are those ob- served in the Atlantic ocean, near Guinea, extending from Cape Yerd to the Bay of Fernandos. These currents are so rapid, that vessels run as far in two days with them, as require six or seven weeks to return. Near Sumatra there are rapid currents, as also between Java and Magellan, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Island of Madagascar; especially between Natal and the Cape on the coast of Africa; there are violent currents in the sea adjacent to the Maldivian Islands. One of the greatest tides w r e know of, is that a^ the mouth of the river Indus, where the water rise 8 thirty feet in height .; it is no wonder, therefore, that Alexander's soldiers, who had been accustomed to behold the scarcely perceptible risings of the Medi- terranean, 'should have viewed this striking pheno- menon with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. The tides are also remarkably high on the coasts of Malay, in the Straits of Sunda, in the Red Sea, and along the coasts of China and Japan. The sea contains the greatest quantity of salt in the torrid zone, where, otherwise, from the excessive 106 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. heat, it would be in clanger of putrefaction ; as we advance northward, this quantity diminishes, till, at the Pole, it nearly vanishes altogether. It may also be remarked, that the Caspian and other inland seas, that have no effluent rivers to put them in motion, and circulate their contents, are salt; while the lakes of Ontario and Erie, through which the river St. Lawrence passes, in North America, are fresh-water lakes. We have already Had occasion to remark the bad effects that must have inevitably ensued, had the putrid carcases of land-animals been left to rot in the air unburied; but what must this mighty recep- tacle of carrion and putrefaction have long ere now become, but for the correcting and renovating power imparted to it by its saltness and motion. And it ought here to be remarked, that, from what- ever cause the saline nature of the ocean may pro- ceed, its saltness is as inherent in its composition as the heat is in the sun; while, to preserve and keep up the perpetual agitation of its fluid particles, its motion is not dependant on any one single cause. The most perceptible agitation in this world of water that strikes our senses, is that occasioned by tl e influence of the wind, when the raging billows heave their tumultuous throes, and threaten destruc- tion to the affrighted mariner; yet this motion, even in the most violent storms, is said to be confined only to its surface That occasioned by the cur- rents, however must descend to the bottom, and be particularly strong among those narrow and deep BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 107 inequalities most apt to produce them. The bottom of th^sea, like the surface of the earth, is overspread with mountains, intersected with inequalities. In all mountainous places currents will be violent ; in all places where the bottom of the sea is level, they will be almost imperceptible. Whirlpools appear to be no other than the eddies of the water formed by the action of two or more opposite currents. The Euripus, nigh the Grecian coast, and famous for the death of Aristotle, alter- nately absorbs and rejects the water seven times in twenty-four hours The Charybdis, near the straits of Sicily, rejects and absorbs the water thrice in twenty-four hours ; and the greatest known whirlpool in the world, that in the Norway sea, which is affirm- ed to be upwards of twenty leagues in circumference, is said to absorb, for six hours, whales, ships, and every thing that comes hear it, and afterwards returns them in the same quantity of time as it drew them in. But that which gives to the sea its unremitting and universal impulse, which suffers it not to rest for a single moment over all its wide extended bounds, but keeps it in perpetual agitation, and makes it, a it were, remain vigorous, and acquire health by exer- cise, from one extremity of the earth to the other, is that wonderful and truly surprising phenomenon of nature, the flux and reflux of the tides. This wonderful phenomenon, so inconceivable to the ancients, is accounted for by the moderns, on the principle of gravitation, and has been demonstrated to be under the influence of the moon; but from 108 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. whatever secondary cause it may proceed, there can be no doubt as to the tact, that the waters of tte sea ebb and flow alternately twice in the course of some- thing less than twenty-five hours, with the greatest regularity. This is surprising indeed; but it is no less so, that they should adhere so invariably to the limits of their operation ; that even when the waves lift up their heads in the most ungovernable fury, and toss about in their most frantic ravings, they still con- fine themselves to the space allotted for them by Pro- vidence, and pay the most implicit bmission to that unerring law which regulates their movements. When the tide begins to flow, it signifies not that the proudest earthly potentate be in the way. Ca- nute may erect his throne on the beach, and com- mand the sea to approach no farther ; but it will be only to proclaim his own impotence ; for, regardless of the mandate, the waters will press on, and, if the monarch persists, will sweep him from the face of the earth. When the ebb has commenced, it is equally vain to think of retarding the reflux ; the roll- ing surges must return to the bosom of the ocean, from whence they came. The bed of the ocean, gradually deepening as it recedes from our shores, till it loses itself in the dark unfathomed caves of the deep, renders it not only more commodious for the purposes of navigation, and safe for the inhabitants who dwell on its bor- ders, but it is of singular service in removing, to a distance from our shores, those numerous deposits of noxious matter which are daily poured into it, BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 109 while undergoing the process of purification amongst the sandy particles at the bottom. There the most offensive impurities having subsided into the mud, may be said to be buried in the depths of the sea ; but not to remain, for even there a species of worms await their farther decomposition, and the last stage of corruption is made to assume a new form. The saltness of the sea, besides the important part it bears in the renovating power of the watery ele- ment by its saline quality, is also -of use in lending its aid to preserve that motion, the beneficial efficacy of which has just been demonstrated ; for the salt- ness of the sea renders its waters less apt to freeze, and in those countries where, in the absence of heat, it is not so necessary otherwise, tends not a little to retard the progress of congelation. This serves only to render the water of the ocean heavier, and con- sequently of a proper consistency for supporting those numerous burdens which float on its surface. Among the wonders of the great deep, we may justly reckon those awful phenomena, termed Wa- ter-spouts ; yet these no doubt have their uses. They are of two kinds; one of which is no other than a thick compressed cloud, reduced to a small space by contrary winds, which, blowing at fhe same time from many corners, give it a cylindric form, and cause the water to fall by its own weight. The quantity of water is so great, and the fall so sudden and precipitate, that if, unfortunately, one of these spouts break on a vessel, it shatters it to pieces, and sinks it in an instant. It is asserted, and possibly L i 110 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. with foundation, that these spouts may be broken and destroyed by the commotion which the firing of cannon excite in the air. The other kind of water spout is called a typhon, and does not descend from the clouds, but rises up from the sea with great violence. " These Water- spouts," Thevenot observes, " are also very danger- ous, for if they fall on a vessel they entangle in the sails so much that sometimes they raise it up, and afterwards let it fall with such violence as to sink it; or, at least, if they do not lift the vessel up, they tear all the sails, or let the water they contain fall on it, which often sinks it to the bottom." But, whatever mischief may be occasioned by Water- spouts, or however terrifying their appearance, we have abun- dant reason to believe, from their being the produc- tions of so wise and good a God, that the partial evil they may at times occasion, is nothing in comparison with the good they promote. As the burning torrent, issuing from the top of Etna or Vesuvius, alarms the surrounding inhabitants, and sometimes carries ir- remediable devastation among their dwellings, yet is absolutely necessary to prevent greater evils, so the terrific Water spout may act as the most simple and efficacious medium of restoring that equilibrium among the elements, which, if longer prevented, might not only occasion convulsions sufficient to swallow up whole navies, but be attended with the most direful effects upon the dry land. But were it for no other purpose than to add to the grandeur of such a scene as is about to be described, and awa- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. Ill ken feelings similar to those experienced by the au- thor of the following sublime sketch, taken in the midst of the Atlantic ocean, these wonderful produc- tions of the varying power of nature may be said not to have been created in vain. te One evening,'' observes this writer, (" it was a profound calm,) we were in the delicious seas which bathe the shores of Virginia; every sail was furled; I was engaged upon the deck, when I heard the bell that summoned the crew to prayers; I hastened to mingle my supplications with those of the compa- nions of my voyage. The officers, with the passen- gers, were on the quarter ; the chaplain, with a book in his hand, stood at a little distance before them; the seamen were scattered at random over the poop ; we were all standing, our faces towards the prow of the ship, which was turned to the west. The globe of the sun, whose lustre even then our eyes could scarcely endure, ready to plunge beneath the waves, was dis- covered through the rigging in the midst of a bound- less space. From the motion of the stern, it appeared as if the radiant orb every moment changed its ho- rizon. A few clouds wandered confusedly in the east, where the moon was slowly rising; the rest of the sky was serene; and towards the north a Wa- ter-spout, forming a glorious triangle with the lumi- naries of day and night, glistening with all the co- lours of the prism, rose out of the sea like a column of crystal, supporting the vaults of heaven. " He who had not recognised in this spectacle the beauty of the Deity, had been greatly to be pitied. H2 BOOK OP MATURE LAlD OPEJJ. Religious tears involuntarily flowed from my eyes. The consciousness of our insignificance, excited by the spectacle of infinity ; our songs resounding to a distance over the silent waves, the night approach- ing with its dangers; our vessel itself a wonder among so many wonders ; a religious crew, penetrated with admiration and with awe; a priest, august in suppli- cating the Almighty God, inclined over the abyss, with one hand staying the sun at the portal of the west, with the other raising the moon in the eastern hemisphere, and lending, through immensity, an at- tentive ear to the feeble voice of his creatures; this is a picture which baffles description, and which the whole art of man is scarcely sufficient to embrace." No person who has walked along the sea shore but must have observed that incessant noise, that continued murmur, which, even when the greatest calm prevails, salutes his ear, and the beautiful white edging by which the floating mantle is fringed at its extremities. This soft and placid murmur, and these graceful white curls, are occasioned by the motion of the waves on the extended beach ; and, trivial as they may appear, serve as perpetual monitors to warn the passenger where the line of boundary com- mences, which separates the land from the water; and as the rushing noise of the rapid river, and the tremendous roar of the dreadful cataract, serve to point out the path of danger to the bewildered tra- veller, particularly under the cloud of night, these, as well as the luminous appearance of the sea, and the noise of the breakers on the rocks, in regions BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 113 more remote from the habitations of men, may ajso be of use to the mariner in the midnight gloom, by enabling him to steer clear of impending dangers. The luminous appearance of the surface of the ocean, during the obscurity of the night, has been remarked by navigators, and is a curious phenomenon, which has long exercised the sagacity of philosphcrs; but, without enquiring into the cause of this singular phos- phoric property of the waters, by which they are il- luminated, and rendered more visible among break- ers, or where the greatest agitation prevails, we must allow that it, as well as the noise which they make in a state of turbulence, has been wisely imparted to the waves of the deep ; for, in the words of that elegant writer already quoted, " How many vessels would perish amid the darkness, were it not for those miraculous beacons, kindled by Providence upon the rocks!" We have already had occasion to notice that law of nature by which fluids, when put out of order, have an uniform tendency to regain their level ; and it is to this law that we must ascribe the facility with which the track of a ship, in the midst of the sea, is closed up. But for this, what a rugged and mis- shapen mass must the surface of the ocean long ago have appeared ! It is, however, wisely ordered other- wise ; and while the plough of the husbandman leaves the deepened furrows open in the stubborn glebe, those occasioned by the humblest bark or lightest skiff in the watery element, as soon as she passed, are quickly swallowed up. L 2 Hi BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPES. To a spectator on land, the sea appears to be higher than the spot on which he stands ; this, how- ever, is by no means the case, as is demonstrated by the same experiment by which the globular form of the earth is proved ; namely, the sinking of the hull of a ship in the horizon, as she recedes from our view, before the sails and higher parts disappear. This illusion is occasioned by that refraction in the atmosphere, or property of vision, by which objects are made to rise in the landscape in proportion to their distance from us, by which means our horizon is increased and objects longer kept in view, which otherwise must have been extremely limited, and our prospects of short duration. We labour also under a deception in regard to the colour of the sea; for although when viewed from a precipice its waters afford a muddy greenish hue, arising from the depth and position of the eye ; when beheld from a shelving beach it assumes the colour of the sky ; although it is dark and black in the deep abyss, white and foaming in a storm, cloud- ed with the most beautiful colours when the rays of the setting sun shine upon it, or puts on the appear- ance of a beautiful green, when beheld from a boat in a sun-shine day, over a sandy bottom ; yet there can be no doubt but the sea-water is of itself trans- parent and colourless, and that the various appear- ances it puts on must be entirely owipg to accidental causes : and, indeed, how could it be otherwise, but that the medium of vision to so many living crea- tures should have remained in such a transparent BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 115 and untingcd state, as to enable them to distinguish each other, and the numerous inanimate objects which are to be found in it, by their colour. The bottom of the sea being supposed to resemble the surface of the dry land, these inequalities in its depth which occasion the mariner to be so much on the alert, may easily be accounted for But if these are the causes of the deceitful shallows and danger- ous rocks, it must not be forgotten, that to these also we owe the deep unfathomable gulfs over which the vessel glides in safety, and those numerous islands which adorn and diversify the surface of the ocean. T/ic Uses of the Ocean. Adoring own The hand Almighty, who its charmell'd bed Immeasurable sunk, and pour'd abroad, Fenc'd with eternal mounds, the fluid sphere With every wind to waft large commerce on^ Join pole to pole, consociate sever'd worlds, And link in bonds of intercourse and love Earth's universal family." The Ocean, as we have already observed, is the great reservoir of nature, the mighty source of eva- poration, which supplies the earth with fertility, by causing the clouds to drop down fatness " It is," in the words of an elegant admirer of Nature's works, " the capacious cistern of the universe, which admits as into a receptacle, and distributes as a re- servoir, whatever waters the whole globe. There is 116 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. not'a fountain that gushes in the unfrequented desert, nor a rivulet that Hows in the remotest continent, nor a cloud that swims in the highest regions of the fir- mament, but is fed by this all-replenishing source. r Thus, in the great, as well as in the lesser world, a continual circulation is kept up. The waters of the clouds ascend from the sea in vapours; they descend to the earth in showers, and return again to the deep in rivers, after having watered and fertilized the earth. The ocean, instead of being a bar of sepa- ration, is the great bond of union among the nations; for look at a map, and behold with admiration how wisely the sea, which the ancients looked upon as an impassable gulf, is disposed and distributed for connecting the remotest realms, and facilitating the intercourse of one nation with another. '* By means of this element we travel farther than birds of the strongest pinion fly, and discover tracts which the vulture's eye has never seen. We make a visit to nations that lie drowned in midnight slumbers when every industrious person on this part of the globe is bestirring himself in all the hurry of business. We cultivate an acquaintance with the sun burnt Negro and shivering Icelander. We cross the flaming line, we penetrate almost to the pole, and wing our way even round the globe."' The ocean is the great vehicle of commerce, and, instead of limiting the industry of man, enlarges his sphere, and excites him to action. There go the ships which transport the produce of nations from clime to clime, and enable one people to supply their BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 117 wants from the abundance of another. And here permit us to observe that the arts of ship building and navigation have, indeed, been of incalculable benefit to mankind. How astonishing, that such an enor- mous and heavy mass as a large ship should be so constructed as to be made to swim in water, with all her crew, stores, and appendages ! Yet such masses are not only made to swim, but are constructed in such a manner as to move at the lightest breeze, and be guided in their course by a very small helm. These considerations alone might excite our surprise, even if the vessel did no more than coast it along, without- losing sight of land ; but, by the sister art of navi- gation, she is carried into the immense depths of the ocean, and made to find her way through pathless tracts, and across a distance of some thousand miles extent ; and this by night and by day, foul weather and fair; as well when the sky is overcast as when it is clear, without the smallest danger of mistaking her port, or missing her desired haven. Through this element are imported, at a small expense, the productions and rarities of almost every country ; and while the workmanship of our artisans, and the produce of our manufacturers are widely diffused among the nations, our tables are furnished from the remotest corners of the globe. We are clothed during summer with the fleeces of the south, and are kept warm in the cold season of winter by the furry mantles of the north. The riches of both Indies are wafted to our shores; and our heavy laden, merchantmen find their way to the remotest regions. 118 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. And in this place we cannot pass without noticing how different our modern voyages from those un- dertaken by the ancients, who, even in the mildest climates, and in seas the least tempestuous, ventured only from their harbours in the summer months! and for this we are indebted to the Loadstone. It is the faithful and unerring guide which now con- ducts the pilot with so much certainty in the un- bounded ocean, and enables the merchant to trans- port his goods at such a trifling expence, that a ship of six hundred tons burden, and navigated by between thirty and forty men, can be made to tran- sport as many goods at a time, as would require upwards of twelve hundred horses and a propor- tionate number of men to manage them! What a difference in point of saving, were it no more than the victuals and provender made use of by such a number of men and horses ! By the invention of navigation, and the discovery of the magnet, we are enabled to correspond with the most uncultivated barbarian in the isles of the sea, and hold converse, as it were, with those who dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth. By means of these, savages the most distant may be humanized and instructed in the knowledge of the arts and sci- ences, and a way opened up for the more universal spread of the gospel. In short, it is impossible to enumerate the benefits to be derived from the wonderous fluid. As the medium of traffic, and the great depot of so many finny treasures, it gives employment to thousands. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN, 119 It surrounds nations with the most secure barrier of defence; its salubrious breezes refresh and cool the air. Used as a bath, it invigorates and strengthens the invalid; taken internally as a medicine, its qua- lities are of the most potent nature ; and although it serves as a sink for corruption and all manner of filthinc^s, such are its purifying and renovating pow- ers, that it not only remains clean, wholesome, and uncontaminated itself, but furnishes us with a large proportion of an useful ingredient to preserve our food from putrefaction! The bottom of the sea also abounds with a variety of vegetable productions, while its waters are stock- ed with creatures innumerable, both small and great; a consideration of these, however, we must defer for succeeding chapters, and will conclude the present in the words of Bishop Home : " The last use I shall mention which we are to make of the sea, is, that which the Holy Spirit himself hath so frequently made of it in the Scriptures, viz. to con- sider it as an emblem of the world, and of what is passing therein. Under a smiling, deceitful surface, both conceal dangerous rocks and quicksands, on which the unskilful mariner will strike and be lost. Both abound with creatures pursuing and devouring one another; the small and the weak becoming a prey to the great and powerful ; while in both there is a grand destroyer, a leviathan, taking his pastime,, and seeking the perdition of all. " In the voyage of life we may set out with a still sea and fair sky; but ere long, cares and sorrows. 120 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. the storms of affliction, shall overtake us. At God's word, either to punish us or to prove us, from some quarter or another, whence perhaps we least ex- pected it, the wind ariseth and lifteth up the waves. We are carried sometimes up to heaven with hope, sometimes down to the deep with despair." CHAP. XL SEA PLANTS. c( With wonder mark the moving wilderness of waves, Magnificently dreadful ! Where at large Leviathan, (with each inferior name Of sea horn kinds, ten thousand, thousand tribes,) Finds endless range for pasture and for sport." THE bottom of the sea, as we have observed, abounds with a variety of vegetable productions. Before turning our attention more immediately to the animated inhabitants of the great abyss, we shall, therefore, take a cursory glance at these sub-marine gardens, woods, and meadows ; and the first thing that strikes our attention, is the remarkable differ- ence in the conformation of Sea and Land Ve- getables; for although they agree in possessing t>he concomitant parts of roots, stalks, and branches, yet it must be immediately observed, that instead of being hard and brittle like the latter, the largest and strongest of the former are furnished with an extra- ordinary degree of tenacity, yet evince a power of BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 121 flexible elasticity that is astonishing; so much so, that bend them into any form, or twist them into an hundred shapes, while they adhere in their native freshness, to the rocks, still they recover their na- tural shape and position without danger of breaking. The roots of sea plants are not constructed for pe- netrating deep into the soil, but they are wonderful- ly fitted for taking firm hold of the rocks or stones upon which they vegetate, and, instead of being dis- turbed by the tossings of the tempest, these seem ra- ther to acquire vigour by the severity of the weather. The long and broad leaves of these plants are ex- cellently formed for imbibing moisture from the sur- rounding element; their horizontal position, extreme pliability, and oval shaped branches, fit them admi- rably for the peculiar situations in which they are placed, while the clammy, glutinous moisture, with which they are covered, no doubt serves (besides other important purposes,) to prevent them from being injured by the continual action of the w r ater ; so that, in the words of an admirable writer, whom we have already more than once quoted, " we see from this, and numberless other instances, what a diversity there is in the operations of the great Creator's hand. Yet every operation is an improvement, and each new pattern has a peculiar fitness of its own. The herbs and trees (he also adds) which flourish on the dry land, are maintained by the juices that permeate the soil, and fluctuate in the air. For this purpose they are furnished with leaves to collect the one, and with roots to attract the other; whereas the sea plants, M 122 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. finding sufficient nourishment in the circumambient waters, have no occasion to detach a party of roots into the ground, and forage the earth for sustenance. Instead, therefore, of penetrating, they are but just tacked to the bottom, and adhere to some solid sub- stance, only with such a degree of tenacity as may secure them from being tossed to and fro by the random agitation of the waves." There are two striking peculiarities in sub-marine vegetables, which deserve our notice. Several of them are furnished with a number of appendages in the form of globes or bladders; and, instead of an uniformity of colour, these are found to be diversi- fied with a dissimilarity of tints The former, how- ever, from emitting a loud noise when broken, we have reason to conclude may possibly serve the pur- pose of air-vessels to the plants, and we need not go far to have the mystery solved, why they are made to differ so much in colour trom each other. Let us attend to the operations of yonder angler, and behold with what eagerness the unsuspecting fish, guided by the eye, rushes on the deceitiul bait ; if we can, therefore, for a moment harbour the sup- position that it is by the eye the finny tribes are, in a great degree, directed in their movements, and knowing, as we do, that some of them delight in ve- getable food, we must see at once the propriety of such a variety in the colour of the carpet that covers the bed of the, ocean, and the wisdom in the contri- vance of its different hues. Without dwelling on the several uses of the vegetable productions of the great BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 123 deep, we will briefly observe, that, besides serving as articles of food to so many of the watery regions, particularly to those of the Shell kind, which abound chiefly among them, these afford, among their intri- cate and perplexing labyrinths, a safe retreat for the weak from the strong; a commodious lodgement for a variety of shell fish, and convenient recesses for numbers of the finny tribes to betake themselves to, for the purpose of depositing their spawn ; and to those who make usa of their leaves on the occasion, these plants seem to be admirably adapted to the glary matter which covers their substance, not only preventing the eggs from being easily washed off be- fore they are hatched, but affording, in all likelihood, an immediate supply of nutricious food for the young, before they are fitted for any thing more gross ; and this may be the reason, as well as the safety which their concealment insures, why so many of the weak and smaller fry are found among them. These few specimens may serve to show in what respects sea vegetables may be of use in the econo- my of nature ; and we will just notice two or three of the many instances in which they may be said more directly to contribute to the service of man. The utility of the Sponge, (an article which takes its rise from those rocky beds,) in several of our most useful arts and manufactures, is well known. The sea weed, made into kelp, forms a principal ingre- dient in the composition of soap and glass; and is found o> our rocks and shores in great abundance. After being spread out and dried in the summer 124 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEff, months, it is raked together and burnt in those hol- lows which we observe on the beach. The ashes form what is called kelp, which is used in the com- position of soap and glass, as well as in the alum works. Soap is an article too well known for its cleansing quality to need description; and without the aid of glass, to what miseries and inconveniences must we be exposed, without taking into consider- ation the darkness that must still have hung over our mental horizon, had it not been for the invigora- ting powers of those magical instruments that have brought a new creation to our notice! But of all the uses to which sea vegetables can be, applied, there is not one so valuable as that to which they may be converted, when in a state of putrescence, in the form of manure, for promoting the interests of agri- culture and vegetation upon land. How surprising that these pliant productions of the bed of the ocean, w r hen worn out, or in a state of decay, should possess the amazing qualities of ren- dering more fertile our fields and meadows, of caus- ing the barren tracts to bring forth, and of renovating the exhausted powers of the cultivated districts ! On this strange circuit of reproduction, w r e cannot say, " out of the eater cometh forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness ;" but we have abun- dant reason to remark, that out of death came forth life, that out of putrefaction came forth vitality ! BOOK. OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 125 Animal Flowers. Half removed from the objects we have just been considering, we observe, on our way to those of a higher order, a number of curious productions in the form of fleshy excrescences among the rocks and stones; some with their heads drawn close together, and others spread out at top in all the luxuriance of a full blown flower. These, on account of their firm adherence to a particular spot, and apparent want of sensibility, might be taken for vegetables ; but, up- on minute examination, they will be found to con- stitute part of that superior class, or uniting link be- tween the vegetable and animal creation, that we had occasion to mention in a preceding chapter upon Quadrupeds, under the appellation of Animal Flow- ers. Let us attend to the operations of one of them, and we shall soon discover, that what at first wore the appearance of a still, inanimate, full-blown flower, has something of a living and active principle in it. Touch its diverging rays or filaments, and see how they contract ; but in this you may say it does no more than the sensitive plant ; make, however, an- other experiment, and put a shell-fish on its orifice, behold how it extends itself to receive it, with what efforts it sucks it in, and how the under part of the body swells as it forces the food into the stomach. It is not, however, capable of digesting the shelly sub- stance, and see with what artifice it disgorges it, af- ter having stript it of its contents. These are cer- tainly not the properties of mere vegetables. But M2 126 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. what is that other one about ? It has put forth in array all its little fleshy horns or feelers ; with some of them it has laid hold of an insect, which it is in the act of conveying to its mouth ; it soon is made to disappear in the aperture, and the dilating of the under extremity, or stalk of the flower, plainly evin- ces its progress downwards ; these are certainly the functions of animal life, and from these and such like actions, what at first might appear as nothing more than vegetables, have justly been denominated Ani- mal Flowers -, while, from their being capable of propagation by cuttings, and of being muitiplied by divisions, they may, with equal propriety, be desig- nated Salt-water, or Sea Polypuses, and be reckoned among the wonders of the Almighty in the deep. That these substances resemble polypuses, by the singular property of being multiplied and grafted by slips, experience has put beyond a doubt The reproductive power of the Barbadoes animal flower is prodigious. Many people coming to see these strange creatures, and occasioning some inconve- nience to a person, through whose grounds they were obliged to pass, he resolved to destroy the objects of their curiosity ; and that he might do so effectually, caused all the holes, out of which they appeared, to be carefully bored and drilled with an iron instru- ment, so that we cannot suppose but their bodies must have been entirely crushed to a pulp ; never- theless they appeared again, in a few days, from the same places. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 12 CHAP. XII. SHELL-FISH. 11 In shelly armour wrapt, the lobster seeks Safe shelter in some bay, or winding creek ; To rocky chasms the dusky natives cleave, Tenacious hold, nor will the dwelling leave.** IF the wonderful productions we have just been contemplating, may be considered as pail of the con- necting link between the vegetable and animal king- doms, the lowest gradation of this species may be accounted that which unites the animal to the fossil class ; but what a prodigious variety of these exist, from the humble oyster, which vegetates in its shell, to the ponderous Tortoise that grazes the aquatic meadow, or the wondrous Lobster, that shoots with rapidity across the gulf The Lobster, indeed, may be well styled won- drous. According to Sturm, it is one of the most extraordinary creatures that exists. " An animal, (observes this writer,) whose skin is a shell, and which it casts off every year, to clothe itself with new armour ; an animal, whose flesh is in its tail and legs, and whose hair is in the inside of its breast ; whose stomach is in its head; and which is changed every year for a new one, and which new one be- gins by consuming the old. An animal which carries its eggs within its body, till they become fruitful, and then carries them outwardly under its tail ; an animal which can throw off its legs when they 128 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPE&. become troublesome, and can replace them with others ; and lastly, an animal whose eyes are placed in moveable horns. So singular a creature will long remain a mystery in the human mind. It affords new subject, however, to acknowledge and adore the power and wisdom of the Creator. The distinguishing appendage of this class, and that from which they derive their name, is the hard crustaceous covering in which their bodies are en- veloped ; and how admirably fitted are they by this natural bulwark for that particular station in which Providence has placed them : for how could such soft and tender bodies have been otherwise defended and protected from injury among the many rugged and uneven masses where their habitations are as- signed, and how could they escape from their nu- merous enemies, had they not the power of with- drawing and shutting themselves up on the approach of danger, within their shelly covering? But be- sides this, there are several things remarkable in each individual species of this order, which demon- strates the whole to be fitted in the best possible manner for their various situations, habits and pro- pensities, and to be the workmanship of the same Being whose wisdom and goodness are so conspi- cuously displayed in his other works. The Limpet, stationed as a sentinel on the top of the rock, and oft exposed to the mid-day's heat when the tide is, out, as well as to the continual tossings and agitations of its waves when it is covered, is safely lodged in a little cone, impervious to the most BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 129 penetrating rays of the sun, and so firmly cemented to the rock by means of the broad muscular surface he presents, that neither storm nortempest can prevail to loosen his grasp, or make him relinquish his firm hold. The Muscle is not provided by nature with such a strong and firm sheet-anchor, but she is taught to supply the defect by a rt, and to spin to herself cables, by which she can be moored in security to her favourite spot. The Periwinkle does not at- tach itself so firmly as either of these, nor has she the means or the power to do so ; but her stony ha- bitation is almost proof against accident, and she can roll about in safety, hermetically sealed up tfnder her scaly covering The Cockle burrows deep in the sand or mud, and its edges are notched, in order to enable it to clasp more firmly together. The Nautilus, which can exist either as a diver or swim- mer, and lives sometimes at the bottom, and some- times on the surface of the ocean, has a power of contracting and drawing itself into its shell when it has occasion to descend to the bottom, and of un- folding and expanding its oars and sails, when it has an inclination to sport on the surface. The Cutler, or Razor fish, never creeps, but penetrates perpendicularly into the sand; and how nicely is its long and slender shell formed for this purpose ! The Crab is provided with, claws and -feet for scrambling about, but amongst such rugged preci- pices, and with so many enemies to encounter, it must often be at the expence of a limb; and, lo ! it is endowed with the singular property of shaking off 130 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. and reproducing a new one at pleasure. Nature has given this singular power to these creatures, for the preservation of their lives, in their frequent quar- rels. In these, one crab lays hold of the claw of another^ and crushes it so that it would bleed to death, had it not the power of giving up the limb in the strange manner described by naturalists. If one of the outer joints of a small leg be bruised, and the creature be laid on its back, it shews uneasiness at first, by moving it about, afterwards it holds it quite still, in a direct and natural position, without touch- ing any part of the body, or of the other legs with it Then, on a sudden, with a gentle ccack, the wound- ed part of the leg drops off; the effect will be the same with the great leg, only it is thrown off with greater violence. Having got clear of the injured part, a mu :us now overspreads the wound, which presently stops the bleeding ; and a small leg is by degrees produced, which gradually attains the size of the former. Lobsters have also the power of re- producing an injured leg ; and this accounts for their being so often found with limbs of unequal size : the small leg must be a new one, which has not attained its full growth The Lobster is admi- rably formed for either running or swimming, and can bound with such a spring to her hole in the rock when frightened, that she enters it with velocity through an opening barely sufficient, to appearance,' for her body to pass. And the Pholas, though not furnished with an instrument apparently calculated for boring and scooping out stones, is endowed with BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 131 such a fund of patient perseverance, that it is ena- bled to penetrate into these callous substances by the application of a fleshy member, resembling a tongue. With this soft and yielding instrument, the indefati- gable and persevering Pholas, perforates marble and the hardest stones ; and when small and naked, it has effected an entrance, it then enjoys a life of se- curity and ease, existing upon sea water, that enters at the aperture, and increasing its habitation as it in- creases in size. The Instinctive Sagacity of the crustaceous tribe also claims our attention We have already re- marked, that the little Nautilus is furnished with an apparatus for either diving or swimming. But who taught the Nautilus to sail ? and yet, without the instinctive knowledge how to make use of them, of what use would be either her sails or oars ? these, however, are not given her in vain, for she evinces a knowledge in the art of navigation, which is sup- posed to have been copied by some of the early ma- riners, and the example she affords has been held out by the poet as still deserving imitation : Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." The natural sagacity of the Nautilus, in the use of his instruments of motion, is thus beautifully deli- neated by the descriptive pen of Hervey; " The dexterous inhabitant (whose shell forms a natural boat,) unfurls a membrane to the wind, which serves him instead of a sail. He extends also a couple of arms, with which, as with two slender oars, he rows BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. himself along. When he is disposed to dive, he strikes sail ; and, without any apprehension of being drowned, sinks to the bottom. When the weather is calm, and he has an inclination to see the world, or take his pleasure, he mounts to the surface, and self-taught in the art of navigation, performs his voyage without either chart or compass ; is himself the vessel, the rigging, and the pilot." When the sea is calm, numbers of these animals are said to be seen sailing on the surface; but at the approach of a storm, they fold in their legs, and swallowing as much water as will enable them to sink, they plunge to the bottom, where they no doubt remain in a place of security during the raging of the tempest, and when they wish to rise, they void this water, and so decreasing their specific gravity, quickly ascend to the top, where, by means of their tails, answering the purpose of helms, they can steer themselves in any direction. Sea Tortoises, without any teacher but nature, are instinctively taught to lay their eggs on the sea shore, and cover them with sand ; and no sooner are the young hatched and fitted for their journey, than they leave the place of their nativity, and run towards that element which Providence has destin- ed for their abode ; so that the poet may well say : " Reason progressive, instinct is complete; Swift instinct leaps, slow reason feeblv climbs. Brutes soon their zenith reach ; their little all Flows in at once; in ages they no mo; e Could know, or do, or covet, or enjoy." BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 133 When the young Lobsters leave the parent, they betake themselves to hiding places in the smallest cliffs in the rocks; but no sooner do they find them- selves incrusted with a firm shell, than they sally out in quest of plunder. When the time of moult- ing, or changing the shell draws near, this animal again betakes itself Co a retired situation, where it remains in security during its defenceless state; and after losing the shell, (which both crabs and lobsters do annually,) and before a new one is formed, the animal is in a very naked and defenceless state, ex- posed to the dog fish, and a multitude of other de- predators. In this situation they do not, however, long continue; for the new covering is formed, and completely hardened, in little more than forty eight hours; and no sooner does it find itself covered with its new suit of armour, than it appears again on the stage, lively and active as before. The common Crabs herd together in distinct tribes, and keep their separate haunts. The Soldier Crab is not provided by nature with a shell attached to his body, but she has inspired him with instinctive sagacity to take up his abode in the first empty one he can lay hold of, suitable to his purpose, and to change it for another when it grows incommodious. When it has overgrown, or otherwise has occasion to change the shell, the little soldier is seen busily parading ihe shore, but still dragging its old habitation along, un- willing to part with one, until it has found another still more convenient for its purpose It is ^-en stopping at one shell, turning it, then going on to N 134 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. another, looking at it a while, then slipping its tail from the old habitation to try on the new. This is sometimes found to be more inconvenient, in which case it quickly returns to its old shell, and goes in quest of another more roomy and commo- dious. But it is not till after many trials and fre- quent combats, that the soldier sometimes finds him- self completely equipped; for there are frequent contests betwixt two of this species, for some well- looking and commodious shell ; and it is from this circumstance, perhaps, the soldier-crab derives its name. When two of them meet with the same ob- ject, each strives to take possession; they strike with their claws, and bite each other till the weakest is obliged to yield. It is then that the victor takes pos- session, and parades in his new conquest, backwards and forwards upon the strand, before his envious antagonist. The Land Crabs of the \Vest Indies (which also may be reckoned among the natives of the deep,) are represented as living in a kind of or- derly society, and regularly once a year marching down from the mountains to the sea, in order to de- posit their spawn ; and after the little creatures are hatched under the sand, they also are observed as regularly quitting the shore in crowds, and slowly travelling up towards the mountains These creatures commence their expedition in the months of April and May. At that time the whole ground is covered with this numerous band of adven- turers. The sea is the place of their destination, and to that they direct their march. No geometrician BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 135 could send them by a shorter course. They never turn aside to the right or to the left, if they can pos- sibly avoid it, whatever obstacles intervene. If they meet with a house, they will attempt to scale the walls, in order to keep their ranks ; and if the coun- try be intersected by rivers, they wind along the course of the stream. They arc commonly divided into three battalions, of which the first consists of the strongest and boldest males, that, like pioneers, march forward to clear the route, and face the great- est dangers. They are often obliged to halt for want of rain. The main body is composed of females, which never leave the mountains till the rain is set in, and then descend in regular order, in columns of fifty paces broad, and three miles deep ; and so close that they almost cover the ground. Three or four days after this, the rear guard follows, a straggling and undisciplined tribe, consisting of males and fe- males ; but neither so robust nor so numerous as the former. The night is their chief time of proceeding; but if it rains by day, they do not fail to profit by the occasion When they are terrified, they march back in a disorderly manner, holding up their nip- pers, with which they sometimes tear off a piece of the flesh of an assailant, and leave the weapon where they inflicted the wound. They even try to intimi- date their enemies, by clattering their nippers toge- ther, which, considering their number, must have a powerful effect. When they have arrived at the shore, which sometimes takes three months, they prepare to cast their spawn, by eagerly going to the 136 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. edge of the water, and letting it wash several times over their bodies. At the expiration of some days, spent on the land, after this washing, they again seek the shore; and shaking off the spawn into the wa- ter, leave it there- The sea, to a great distance, is black with the eggs, and shoals of hungry fish at- tend, and devour a considerable quantity of them ; those that escape are hatched under the sand; and soon after, millions at a time of these little crabs are seen quitting the sfiore, and making their way slowly to the mountains. When the Tellina has occasion to move, she puts herself into a certain position, which occasions her to spring out, with considerable force, to a distance. When the Scallop finds herself deserted by the tide, it jerks itself forward by opening and shutting its shell in a singular manner. When the Razor shell- fish finds itself deceived by the fisherman, when he decoys it from its subterraneous habitation by a sprinkling of salt, and has time to retreat, no such attempt will succeed a second time. When part of the legs of the Sea Hedge-hog are at work, carry- ing him forward, the horns that are nearest in that direction are busily employed in making soundings or feeling the way. The Muscle, when she has commenced spinning her cable, will make a trial of a thread, by drawing it out strongly towards her, before she proceeds to stretch out a second ; and these cords, which she spins with so much art, are, in re- ality, as serviceable to them as cables are to a ship. There are frequently a hundred and fifty of these BOOK al, we w r ould conclude in the words of Goldsmith, that " to believe all that has been said of those animals would be too credulous, and to reject the possibility of their existence, would be a presumption unbecoming mankind." In the internal conformation of its parts, and in a few of the external ones of the Whale, there is such 142 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. a similarity to those of quadrupeds, that Linneeus has placed it in the same class ; to which its claim, and that of the other cetaceous fishes, seem, indeed, little inferior to that of the Seal, where the last gradation, in that order of animals, may be said to end. In its instinctive tenderness, the Whale is, indeed, entitled to our admiration ; but, as we shall have oc- casion to speak more fully on that subject by and by, we will, for.the present, proceed to the consider- ation of the general Structure of Fishes. In attending to these, we will soon observe that, if the body of a bird is shaped in the most convenient manner for making its way through the air, a no less extraordinary degree of divine wisdom is evident in the conformation of the finny inhabitants of the deep to that element in which they exist. To make these creatures buoyant and flexible, yet firm to oppose Jthe strongest currents, the great Creator has consti- tuted them of very different materials, and of a dif- ferent construction from other animals. To enable them to traverse with ease and swiftness the watery regions, the greater part of them have the same ex- ternal form, sharp at each end, and swelling in the middle. To preserve them from being hurt by the action and temperature of the surrounding fluid, as well as to enable them to glide more smoothly through it, many of these are covered with a coat of scales, others with a fat oily substance, and the whole BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 143 with a slimy glutinous matter, supposed to be se- creted from the pores of their bodies. A protube- rant eye would have been inconvenient, and easily injured by moving in such a dense medium ; but, to prevent this, the eyes of fishes are sunk in their heads, and the cornea made flat, while the defect of vision, that must have inevitably ensued in consequence, had they been formed like those of other animals, is pro- vided against by the spherical form of the crystalline humour. As their progression is performed in a different way from that of any of the tribes we have already noticed, they are provided with instruments peculiar to themselves, and are enabled to poise their bodies, and push swiftly along by means of their fins and tail Not being provided with hands or feet to lay hold of their prey, or with talons or bills to tear it to pieces, Nature has provided them with mouths capable of great extension, when they have occasion to seize on their victims, yet so formed, that when shut up close, they terminate in a point, in which an opening is scarcely distinguishable. What a tre- mendous chasm, for instance, does the mouth of a Shark present when extended to receive a human carcase, of which this voracious monster has given instances of being extremely fond, and yet, when closed, it appears but a continuation of that long snout with which this fish, (reckoned among the swiftest of swimmers) like an arrow pierces the watery element. In the absence of necks, which would make the head too apt to be turned aside when making their way against a stream, the whole bodies of fish are 144 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. so formed as to be easily turned with a slight stroke of the tail ; for, when a fish desires to turn, a blow from the tail sends it about in an instant; and when it strikes both ways, the motion is progressive, and en- ables it to dart forward with an astonishing velocity. One distinguishing appendage peculiar to the fin- ny tribe, and which is found in the bodies of all spi- nous or bony fish, is the air bladder, by means of which they can make themselves more or less buoy- ant, and rise or fall in (he water at pleasure. " This," as Dr. Paley observes, " affords a plain and direct instance, not only of contrivance, but strictly of that contrivance which we denominate mechanical It is a philosophical apparatus in the body of an ani- mal. The principle of the contrivance is clear; the application is also clear " The rising and sinking of a fish in the water, so far as is independent of the strokes of the fins and tail, can only be regulated by the specific gravity of the body. When the bladder, contained in the body of the fish, is contracted, which it probably possesses a muscular power of doing, the bulk of the fish is contracted along with it ; where- by, since the absolute weight remains the same, the specific gravity, which is the sinking force, is in- creased, and the fish descends ; on the contrary, when, in consequence of the relaxation of the mus- cles, the elasticity of the inclosed, and now com- pressed air, restores the dimensions of the bladder, the fish becomes proportionally lighter, and rises in the water. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN, 145 If the attributes of the Deity are so conspicuously displayed in the general structure and conformation of fishes, they are no less so in the infinity of their number and sizes; in the provision made for at once keeping up the number of this most numerous of all classes, and preventing the sea from being overstock- ed ; and in that peculiarity of form and structure, so essentially necessary in the different species. In this mighty reservoir it may emphatically, inr deed, be said, " there are creatures innumerable, both small and great." Linnaeus, however, reckons upwards of four hundred species ; but it is extremely probable, that numbers are concealed in the vast ex- tent and profundity of the ocean, which have never yet been exposed to human observation. But who can count the numbers in each species ? For who can attempt to calculate the numbers in those pro- digious shoals that tinge the sea with their colour, without taking into consideration " those scaly herds, and that minuter fry, which grace the sea weed, or stray through the coral grove?" and what a diversity and variety of sizes do they assume, from the massy whale that sports at large in the Greenland seas, to those minute creatures which enter our creeks, and take up their abode in our harbours! Yet, notwithstanding the prodigious numbers of some of these animals, and the stupendous size of others, as we observed before, they are all conve- niently lodged and fed ; which is the more surprising, if we take into consideration the amazing fecundity of some, and the longevity of others of these erea- o 146 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. tures. It is asserted of the Herring, that if suffered to multiply unmolested, and its offspring to remain undiminished during the space of twenty years, it would shew a progeny many times greater in bulk than the whole earth! that a single Codfish will produce at a birth, if they escape depredation, a num- ber equal to that of the inhabitants of England! The Flounder is said to produce above a million at a time, and a JVlackarel not less than five hundred thousand; and, in regard to the longevity of fishes, several are said to live upwards of an hundred years. How, then, it may be asked, are those myriads of subjects of the watery kingdom kept within due li- mits? How comes it to pass, that the mighty basin is not overstocked? And how are its numerous te- nants provided with food? This must be principal- ly owing to the prevalence of the predatory system among fishes ; for, numerous as are the draughts ta- ken from the bosom of the ocean for the service of man, they can bear no proportion to the number that are left behind. But the sea, like the land, abounds not with a profusion of vegetables, so as to be suffi- cient for the support of all, nor even the greater part of its inhabitants, many of which are known to be of the most greedy and voracious natures It was absolutely necessary, therefore, that they should de- vour one another, and the experience of ages has proved, that great as the increase of these creatures is, and has been, it has never as yet been more than enough; that the balance has hitherto been pretty equally kept up, and that while the astonishing pro- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 147 lific powers of the finny tribes have been found suffi- cient for keeping up a constant supply, and making up for every waste, yet there will always be found a requisite number of hungry mouths to devour the overplus. A single Pike has been known to devour one hundred Roaches in three days. Whatever is possessed of life, seems the most desirable food of fish. Some of the smallest feed upon worms and spawn; others, wh^e mouths are large, seek larger prey, it matters not of what kind, or whether it is or is not of their own species. Those with the largest mouths pursue almost every thing that has life ; and often meeting each other in fierce opposition, the fish with the largest swallow comes off victorious by de- vouring its antagonist. In regard to the particular construction of fishes, we will briefly remark, that the Whale has often oc- casion to ascend to the surface of the water for the fmrpose of breathing, and it has a tail peculiarly con- structed to enable it to do so. His coat of blubber may be absolutely necessary to make his body equi- ponderate in the water, and to keep his blood warm; while in the absence of offensive weapons he is pos- sessed of extraordinary agility, and by a stroke of his tail can deal destruction to his pursuer. The strength of this fish lies chiefly in the tail. A boat has been cut down, from the top to the bottom, by means of this formidable instrument, though the gun- nel on the top was of tough wood. Another has had the stern-post, three inches thick, cut off smooth, 148 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEX. without so much as shattering the boat, or drawing the nails of the boards. The Cod, the Haddock, the Whiting, and others, whose principal element is in the middle region of the ocean, have an air-bladder to raise and depress them at pleasure; while the Scate, the Thornback, and others, that grovel mostly at the bottom, are des- titute of this wonderful instrument. The Nar-whale, being a harmless and peaceable animal, may proba- bly make use of the horn, which rises from its brow, for the purpose of breaking the ice, or disengaging the plants, on which it feeds, from the bottom of the sea. The Sword fish will not fail to attack even the Whale himself; and with what a fearful and danger- ous weapon is he armed for the purpose! Of all the inhabitants of the deep, the Shark is the fiercest and most voracious, and in celerity of movement sur- passes most, if not all, of the finny race ; but, to coun- terbalance powers, and an appetite for destruction, that might thin the ocean, there is a strange singu- larity in the projecting of his upper over his under jaw, so that he is obliged to turn in order to take hold of his prey, and while he is doing so his victim often makes its escape. Crabs, Lobsters, Whilks, Mus- cles, and other shell fish, are the food of the Wolf- fish; and for the purpose of effecting the destruction of such well-defended prey, this animal is provided with teeth remarkable for their strength. The Fly- ing-fish has many enemies in both elements, but it is provided with instruments by which it can betake itself either to the water or the air, as occasion may BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 149 require. In the tropical climates these fishes, when hotly pursued, are seen springing by hundreds out of the water, and sometimes throw themselves on board of ships in order to escape their various assailants. The predaceous fishes that swim in the ocean, and all the birds of prey that range its surface, seem to be combined against it. It is no wonder, therefore, that the beneficent Author of nature has endowed a fish, exposed to so many enemies, with a twofold power to esca'pe. The structure of the Sucking-fish enables it to at- tach itself fkmly to the bodies of animals; that of the Ammodytes, or Sand-eel, particularly the head, is most excellently formed for piercing into the sand. The flatness of the Scate and Flounder enables them to cover themselves up in the sand or mud, when they lie in wait for their prey; and the Turbot is said to be provided with a skin or membrane, which he draws over his eyes when he has occasion to stick fast at the bottom in stormy weather. The Globe- fish is beset with prickles like a hedge-hog, and bids defiance to all birds of prey. The Torpedo benumbs on a sudden, and renders impotent whatever fish it assaults: it is said also to strike the fisherman's arm, when he attempts to lay hold of it, with a temporary deadness. " The instant," says Kempfer, " I touched it with my hand, I felt a terrible numbness in my arm, and as far up as my shoulder. Even if one treads upon it with a shoe on, it affects not only the leg, but the whole thigh upwards." The Tor- porific Eel imparts a sensation similar to that which 150 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPE*. is experienced from electricity. The Cuttle-fish is furnished with a liquid magazine of an inky colour, to darken the waters when pursued by an enemy. The Galley-fish is protected by the caustic quality of the substance with which its legs are smeared. The abhorrent appearance of the Sea Orb is suffi- cient to disgust men from handling it, and more so fco deter them from partaking of its poisonous quality by way of food. And it is not improbable but the hideous form of the Sea-devil, and other monsters of the deep, may have been stamped upon them by na- rore (which does nothing in vain,) for similar purposes. The Instincts of Fishes. Fishes, it is said, appear inferior to beasts and birds In acuteness of sensation and instinctive sagacity ; but how is this reconcileable with that tenderness, care, and solicitude, (which nothing can exceed,) which the common Whale evinces for her young ? She- suckles and nurses them with the greatest affection, takes them with her wherever she goes ; when pur- sued she carries them on her back, and supports them with her fins ; when wounded she will not relinquish her charge, and when obliged to plunge, in midst of her agonies, will clasp them more closely, and sink with them to the bottom. Mr Waller, in his beau- tiful poem of" The Summer Islands," relates a sto- ry, in which the maternal tenderness of the Whale is most affectingly displayed. A whale and her cub had got into an arm of the sea, where, by the defec- BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 151 fion of the tide, they were entirely enclosed. The people on shore beheld their situation, and drove down upon them in boats, with such weapons as could be hastily collected. The animals were soon severely wounded, and the sea tinged with their blood. After several attempts to escape, the old one forced over the shallow into the depths of the ocean; but, though in safety herself, she could not bear the danger that awaited her young one; she therefore rushed in once more where the smaller animal was confined, and, as she could not carry it off, seemed resolved to share its danger. The tide, however, coming in, both were enabled to escape from their enemies, after sustaining a number of wounds. The fidelity of whales to each other is also said to exceed even what we observe in birds ; and Gold- smith relates an instance, in which a female whale being wounded while her attached partner was re- clining by her side, on beholding the object of his ten- derness fulling a victim to the harpooners, he stretch- ed himself on her body, and participated in her fate. It is curious to remark what sagacity the finny tribes display in seeking out the most proper places for depositing their spawn. The Salmon on her journey up the river, will suffer no obstacle that she can possibly surmount to oppose her progress to the place of her destination ; and in order to attain it, will spring over cataracts several feet high. In going upwards she will keep at the bottom where the current is weakest, and when she returns, will avail herself of its strength at the top, by swimming near its surface ! BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. The migration of different kinds of fishes is truly astonishing; and it is pleasing to remark, that it is when fat and in season for eating, that they are taught so instinctively to throng our bays and creeks, while they disperse to the remotest quarters of the globe when lean and emaciated. " Who," in the words of the celebrated Hervey, " Who bids these creatures evacuate the shores, and disperse them- selves into all quarters, when they become worthless and unfit for our service? Who rallies and recalls the undisciplined vagrants, as soon as they are im- proved into desirable food ? Who appoints the very scene of our ambush to be the places of their ren- dezvous, so that they come like volunteers into our nets? Surely the furlough is signed, the summons issued, and the point of re-union settled by a Provi- dence, ever indulgent to mankind, ever studious to treat us with dainties, and load us with benefits." Not only do the Herrings, the poor man's feast, visit our shores at stated periods, and solicit us by their numbers to partake of the bounties of Providence, but the Pilchard, the Mackerel, the Lamprey, the Tun- ny, and the Salmon, are regular in their migrations. At the time the Land Crabs of the West Indies arrive upon the coast to deposit their eggs, numerous fishes of different kinds punctually attend, as if time- ly advised of the exact period when they might expect their annual supply, and greedily devour many of the eggs before they are hatched. Fishes, in order to be fed, have been taught to assemble at the side of a pond by the sound of a bell. Dr. George Serger asserts, that having taken a walk with some BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 153 friends in the fine gardens of the Archbishop of Saltzburg, the gardener conducted them to a very clear piece of water, in which no fish were at first to be seen, but that the man had no sooner rung a little bell, than a multitude of trout came together from all parts of the pond, to take what he had brought them, and disappeared as soon as they had eaten it up. The Lamprey makes holes in the gravelly bottom of the river previous to depositing her ova. The Sea- Dog, in a storm, is said to conceal her young under her belly. A curious circumstance has been observed relative to the young Sharks, that when pursued, they will, on the appearance of danger, take refuge in the belly of the mother. It is asserted by Pliny, that the Fishing- Frog hides itself in muddy water, and makes use of a singular artifice to secure her prey. The Ink Fish seems to be well informed of the use she ought to make of her natural bottle, and when pursued, discharges its contents in the way of her foe. The aborescent Star fish, like the Spider, spreads out her net in order to entangle her unwary victim. And the little Thresher, in order to get the better of his formidable antagonist, tumbles neck over heels, and falls down with astonishing force on the back of the Whale, while his ally, the Sword- fish, wounds him from underneath. TJic Uses of Fishes. Although it has been said, that to preserve their own existence, and to continue it to their posterity, 154 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. fills up the whole circle of their pursuits, and that a ceaseless desire of food seems to be their ruling im- pulse, yet we are not to consider Fishes as insulated creatures, unconnected with the general concerns and affairs of the world ; as merely formed for the propagation of their kind, and to " pursue and be pur- sued, each other's prey." No; these also act an impor- tant and most essential part in the great theatre of the universe; and woe be to the inhabitants of the earth, did multitudes of fishes not abound in its waters. We have already had occasion to notice the neces- sity of a speedy decomposition of the parts of putres- cent bodies on land? and notwithstanding the saline quality of its waters and perpetual agitation which prevents them for a time, the bad effects of such ac- cumulated loads of filth and nastiness, as are conti- nually pouring into the sea, must soon be apparent, were it not for those numerous herds of fishes, which in every quarter glide with rapidity through the li- quid expanse, and catch and devour almost every thing of a digestible nature that comes in the way. For this purpose, that amazing fecundity may have been bestowed upon them, and for this purpose, those voracious appetites given, that, however re- mote the situation, or disgusting the substance, that enters the watery element, it might quickly meet an eye eager to catch it, and a living tomb to swallow and strip it of its noxious qualities. As an article of food the finny tribes are greatly to be prized, and it is matter of thankfulness, that the benefits they impart are most extensively diffus- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 155 eel; for while our lakes, and rivers, and streams, abound with these living treasures, the ocean con- veys them in myriads to the ends of the earth, and presents the bounties of an indulgent parent to his numerous children, however scattered among the isles of the sea ; and if the Turbo t has been styled for its exquisite relish the Pheasant of the waters, the Sturgeon, even in pickle, has been denominated a luxury, and while the Salmon is held in much es- teem by the great, the poor have reason to praise the Almighty for an abundant supply ot cheap, whole- some, and nutritious food, in those prodigious shoals of Herrings and Pilchards which visit our coasts. When the great colony of Herrings set out on their migrating journey from the Polar seas, it is composed of such numbers, that it all the horses in the world were loaded with them, they could not carry the thousandth part ; and when the main body approaches the coast, it is generally divided into distinct colums of five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth ! Vast shoals of Pilchards (a small species of Her- ring) appear about the middle of July, off the coast of Cornwall ; and Mr. Pennant was assured by Dr. Borlase, that on the fifth ot October, 1767, there was at one time enclosed and caught in St. Anne's Bay, no less than 7000 hogsheads of Pilchards, each hogshead containing 3500 fishes ! Nor have we less reason to be thankful for the in- calculable number of Cod, and other white fish, which are drawn from the ocean ; and for those in- 156 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. exhaustible stoics of cartilaginous flat fish, which furnish the labourer with his cheap repast. In 1806, fiVe hundred and severity-seven ships, carrying about 64,667 tons, arid navigated by 4,336 men, were em- ployed bv the British Government, to export the produce of the fisheries on the banks of Newfound- land, where the principle cod fisheries are. The vessels used in the fishery, are from 100 to 150 tons burden, and catch from thirty to forty thousand fish each; 10,000 persons being employed about this fishery, in catching, salting, and drying the fish, which are sent to all parts of Europe and the West- Indies. These fisheries are said to bring in to the proprietors a revenue of several millions yearly; and they will probably remain in an iriexhausted and in- exhaustible source of treasure, when the richest mines are wrought out. Happy ordination of infi- nite goodness and unerring wisdom, that while the monstrous and unwholesome tribes are thinly scat- tered or hid from our sight in the great abyss, the wholesome and nutritious kinds abound in such num- bers, and are brought, as it were, to our very doors ! Even the great Greenland Whale, which abounds in such numbers in the northern ocean, is said to furnish the inhabitants of those countries, which border on his haunts, with a delicious luxury in the article of food. The Porpoise was a royal dish oven so late as the reign of Henry VIII. and the negroes are said to be fond of the flesh of the voracious Shark. The Whale is well known on account of its im- portance in furnishing such a supply of oil and BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 15.7 whalebone. Every Whale yields, on an average, from sixty to one hundred barrels of oil; which, with the whalebone, a substance taken from the upper jaw of%e animal, must render these creatures very valuable in a commercial point of view. From the Cacholet we derive that valuable commodity spermaceti; and ambergris, the sweetest of perfumes, is also frequently found in this animal. The skin of the Shark is converted into shagreen. From a spe- cies of the Sturgeon, we are supplied with isinglass. From the Beluga-fish we derive that delicious com- position called caviare, and also the Beluga stone; The hide of the Huso is so tough and strong, that it is employed for ropes in carts and other wheel car- nages. As some of the volatile race seem to be formed to please us with the beauty of their plumage, and de- light us with the melody of their song, so a few of the finny tribe are so exquisitely formed and beauti- fully embellished, that they appear more calculated for our pleasure and pastime, than for any intrinsic value in another point of view. We do not here merely allude to the little gold and silver natives of China and Japan, which are trained and domesti- cated to sport in our ponds, and amuse us with gam- bols in our gardens, but to the Dorado and Gilt head, which glide in the ocean, and the beautiful Drago- net, which shines resplendent in the deep. These, also, on some interesting occasions, may contribute their mites towards the comforts of man. Gazing on these from the side of the vessel that conveys him 158 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. far from his native home, the solitary exile may be made, for a while, to forget his private woes ; and the sporting of these may serve to beguile the tedi- ous moments that mark the slow progress of the lone- some passenger, returning from captivity to the circle of his friends, or to the agitated bosom of her he loves. Thus, if we have had reason to admire the wis- dom, the power and the goodness of the great Crea- tor, as they are manifested in some of the inanimated pages of the BOOK OP NATURE, and to contemplate, as we have gone along, with sentiments of admira- tion and gratitude, the benefits we derive from the internal structure and outward form of the earth from the numerous appendages and vegetable pro- ductions by which the dry land is covered and from the wonderful phenomena and beneficial properties of the ocean ; we have no less cause to be filled with admiration at the bright display of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, as they shine conspicuous in the inhabitants of the great deep. CHAP XIV. THE ATMOSPHERE. - i " To HIM, ye vocal gales Blow soft, whose spirit in your freshness breathes !'* We view his kind, his life-preserving care, In all the wondcous properties of air." FROM the earth let us ascend into the regions of the air, and take a view of that invisible fluid that BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 159 surrounds our globe as with a garment/ gravitates to its surface, enters into its pores, revolves with it in its diurnal motion, and circles along with it in its annual course. The Air is one of the most heterogeneous mix- hires imaginable. " In it," says Goldsmith, " all the bodies of the earth are continually sending up a part of their substance by evaporation A thousand sub- stances that escape all our senses we know to be there; the powerful emanations of the loadstone, the effluvia of electricity, the rays of light, and the in- sinuations of fire." Such are the various substances through which we move, and which we are conti- nually taking in at every pore, and returning again with imperceptible discharge. Yet, notwithstanding the multitude of discordant particles of which the at- mosphere is composed, it is made wonderfully ta harmonize in point of utility ; and is wisely contrived, admirably framed, and excellently constituted, for the various purposes it was intended to perform, in the world of nature and of art. That the air is a fluid is obvious, from its possess- ing so many properties in common with other fluids; yet, in one respect, it is wisely made to differ from all others, being incapable of freezing by the greatest degree of cold. Was it not for this singular quality of the atmosphere, what dreadful effects must have been the consequence. Life and animation must long ago have ceased, before the frigid blasts of the north, and when winter first shook his hoary locks,- the great pulse of nature must have stood still, 160 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. Another wonderful property of the air is its invi- sibility; for, although it can be heard in the howling of the tempest, and felt in the pressure of the gale, and notwithstanding the number of bodies that con- tinually mix with its substance, it is still too fine to be seen by the sharpest eye. Every object around us is visible, except the air; and happy it is for us that it is so ; for, had it been otherwise, farewell to all the delightful prospects that charm the eye; farewell to all the bright beauties of creation. Nature must have put on a sombre aspect, and, instead of those delightful regions of light and cheerfulness in which we are placed, our habitations would have been surrounded by the doleful shades of a dusky covering, and environed with a mantle of darkness and despair. But, although the atmosphere is of itself invisible to the sight, it is the happy medium of light and heat. The air is found to moderate the rays of light, to dis- sipate their violence, and to spread an uniform lus- tre over every object. Were the beams of the sun to dart directly upon us, without passing through this protecting medium, they would either burn us up at once, or blind us with their effulgence; but, by go- ing through the air, they are reflected, refracted, and turned from their course a thousand different ways, and thus are more evenly diffused over the face of nature. But this is not all ; for, by means of the air, the beams of the sun are not only rendered tolerable, and the rays of light more copiously diffused through- out creation, but the advantages of heat and light are BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 161 lengthened and prolonged. By the reflective pro- perty of this iluid, which must always be in propor- tion to its density, the heat of the sun, although duly attempered, must be more sensibly and uniformly felt nigh the surface of the earth, than in the higher re- gions of the atmosphere; while, to its refractive qua- lity, we arc beholden for the twilight, or that surpris- ing phenomena of nature, by which we enjoy the real presence of the sun when he is actually below the horizon. For the better understanding of this, let any person put a shilling into a basin, and then retire until he can just observe its outer edge visible over the inner edge of the vessel; in that position let some person fill up the basin with water, the whole shilling, by being seen through a denser medium, will instantly become visible to the person who could only before observe its outer edge. Were it not for the reflective quality of the air, by which, indeed, the light is parted^ we would behold the sun in his splendour, and observe a brightness in that part of the heavens in which he happened to be, but, on turning round, how cheerless would be the prospect! there darkness visible would reign in the heavens, although the stars and planets would glimmer at noon day; and were it not for the refrac- tive property of this fluid, by which the oblique rays of the great luminary are broken off from a straight course, and turned towards the earth, the transition from the horrors of night to the light of day must have been instantaneous, and, instead of those bene- ficial harbingers, by which the outgoings of the mofcfc- p 2 162 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN, ing and evening are made to rejoice, and the long and dismal nights of the polar regions stript of their horrors, the optic nerves would have been overpow- ered by the sun rising in all its glory, and the mo- ment he sunk beneath the horizon, the bewildered traveller left to grope in the dark. Although the air cannot be frozen, or perceived by the eye, for the wise reasons already noticed, yet it is capable of being condensed and rarified to an astonishing degree: so much so, that the air in a house may be compressed so as to be made to enter a cavity not larger than the eye of a needle, and the contents of a nut-shell so expanded as to fill a sphere of unknown dimensions. If an empty bladder, with its neck tied close, is laid before the fire, the heat will so rarify the small quantity of inclosed air, as to make it extend the bladder to its full dimensions, and if not then timously removed, will at last break it with the report of a gun. Sir Isaac Newton thinks the air capable of diffusing itself into above a million of times more space than it before possessed. By these remarkable properties of the air, together with its weight and elasticity, it is admirably fitted for some of its most essential uses, and, perhaps, none more so than for the business of animal respiration; for, in this act, so necessary for the prolongation of life, the air, by its weight and condensing power, is forced and compressed into the lungs, while, by its elastic and expanding property, it is thrown out again in the act of breathing. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEtf. 168 Perhaps some of our readers may be surprised at the bare mention of the weight of a substance, which has been proverbially compared to a trifle for its lightness, and they may wonder still more when we speak of its elasticity, when they have been taught to consider it an unresisting medium; but what will such think when we boldly assert, that we are lite- rally plunged into a sea of air, and of such gravity and pressure, as to be equal, on the body of a man of moderate size, to the weight of 20,000 Ibs? "< Tre- mendous consideration," says the reflective Hervcy, " should the ceiling of a room, or the roof of a house, fall upon us with half that force, what destructive effects must ensue! Such a force would infallibly drive the breath from our lungs, or break every bone in our bodies; yet so admirably has the divine wis- dom contrived this aerial fluid, and so nicely coun- terpoised its dreadful power, that we receive not the slightest hurt; we suffer no manner of inconvenience; we even enjoy the load. Instead of being as a moun- tain on our loins % it is like wings to our feet, or like sinews to our limbs. Is not this common ordination of Providence, thus considered, something like the miracle of the burning bush, whose tender and com- bustible substance, though in the midst of flames, was neither consumed nor injured r" But how are we to account for this miraculous pre- servation? It is owing to the elasticity or spring of the internal air within all bodies, which, although small in proportion, is wisely made to balance, resist, 164 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. and equiponderate that which is without, notwith- standing the height of its column. The elasticity and resistance of the air, perhaps, cannot be demonstrated by a more simple experi- ment than by pressing with the hand on a bladder with which it is confined; and the weight and pres- sure of the atmosphere may be explained vv ithout the aid of the air-pump, or other philosophical instrument, merely by taking a common saucer, filled with wa- ter, and turning down a teacup into it, with a piece of flaming paper inside. As the fire destroys the in- ternal air in the cup, a sort of vacuum will take place, and the pressure of the outward air on the water in the saucer will make it disappear and fill up. Although, in casting our eyes upwards, we do not observe any boundary to the vast expanse, we are not to consider that the atmosphere is unlimited. On the contrary, we are taught, by the most rational cal- culation, that if it extends much beyond forty -five or fifty miles, it becomes so exceedingly -rare, as to be unfit for the purposes for which the lower regions are so well adapted. The atmosphere, at the height of fifty miles, is said to be so rare, that it has no sen- sible effect on the rays of light At the height of forty-five miles it loses the power of refraction ; at forty -one miles it is supposed to be rarified to that degree as to occupy three thousand times the space it does here; and Dr. Gregory observes, that it is generally agreed that there are no clouds at the height of four or five miles. BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 165 It is seldom, indeed, sufficiently dense at the height of two miles to be able to bear up the clouds ; so that, to whatever perfection our modern aeronauts may bring the art of balloon-navigation, there is not the smallest probability of their being able to escape from the earth to another planet. The atmosphere has its limits as well as the ocean; and not only are those massy bodies that are made to move in the lower- parts of this great outwork of our globe confined by laws, firm as chains of adamant, but the thinnest va- pour, the minutest atom, the most subtile effluvia that ascends the higher regions, and gain, as it were, the outskirts of creation, are checked in their career by the powerful mandate or the Creator, and forced to return and execute his orders. Happy, indeed, for the world, is this ordination; for, if the philosophic axiom be true that things must continue as at the beginning, with respect to the quan- tity of matter contained in the universe, and that, if it were possible that a single atom could be lost, the harmony of creation would be destroyed, what dire- ful consequences must ensue, were the daring spirits of adventurous men not confined by unalterable laws, and the imperceptible atoms which float in the at- mosphere not laid under restraint by that command which says to the troubled waves of the ocean, " Hi- therto shalt thou come, and no farther." The Uses of the Atmosphere. We have already mentioned several of the uses of this invaluable and all-pervading fluid^ in point 166 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. ing out some of its most remarkable peculiarities ; and all we have now to do is, to notice a few, and but a very few more, of the man} 7 unspeakable bless- ings and advantages derived from this necessary ap- pendage, which the bountiful Benefactor of the hu- man race has attached to our globe. The air, in a peculiar manner, may be said to con- stitute the very essence of which life is made. When the Lord created man of the dust of the ground, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, when man became a living soul ; and the experience of all ages amply testifies, that when men cease to breathe, which is performed by means of the air, they cease to live. Many days, it has been observed, we might live, or even whole months, without the light of the sun, or the glimmering of a star; whereas, if we are deprived only for a few minutes of this aerial sup- port, we sicken, we faint, we die. How thankful, then, ought we to be, that of this indispensable ne- cessary of life no person can deprive us. The trea- sures of the earth, the verdure of the fields, and even the refreshments of the stream, often contribute to the luxuries of the great, while the less fortunate can only behold them as humble spectators ; but, in the words of an eminent naturalist, " the air no limi- tations can bound, nor any landmarks restrain. In this benign element, all mankind can boast an equal possession; and for this we have all equal obligations to Heaven." It is equally beneficial to all the branches of the animal creation; for, although some creatures dwell BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 16? in the very bowels of the earth, or swim in the im- measurable depths of the sea, yet it has been demon- strated by experiment, that no sooner are they total- ly deprived of air than they cease to live. By the same air, also, that preserves animal life, flame is fed and cherished. We all know the utility of fire, and the many inconveniences to which we would be exposed, were we deprived of that necessary ele- ment ; but without air, in vain would the faggots be piled in a heap, in vain would we apply the lighted torch. Every attempt to set the hearth in a blaze, in order to render our habitations more comfortable during the chilling damps of winter, and every effort to dispel the midnight gloom by the cheering can- dle, would prove abortive. Take but away the sur- rounding air, life expires, and the lighted taper goes o'ut in darkness; for even an ordinary candle is said to consume about a gallon of air in a minute. Plants are also dependent on the air for support and nourishment, and they cannot possibly exist without it. They are continually imbibing fresh nu- triment from the atmosphere It is this wondrous fluid that helps to transfuse vegetable vigour into the trunk of the mighty oak, and gives a blooming gaiety to the spreading rose. And how wisely is its consistence calculated for answering these important purposes! It is neither too thick nor too thin ; too gross nor too attenuated. It rushes with ease into our lungs, in order to inflate them in the act of respiration ; it forces its way into the most minute tubes of the vegetable tribes. In 168 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. fact, as Mr. Derham observes, it is a subtile and pe- netrating matter, " fit to pervade other bodies, to penetrate into the inmost recesses of nature; to ex- cite, animate, and spiritualize ; and, in short, to be the very soul of this lower world " But what is very remarkable, this wonderful fluid, so necessary for the existence of bodies, is also made use of as a most powerful agent in the hand of Pro- vidence for their destruction. It is a chaos contain- ing all kinds of menstrua, and consequently possess- ing powers for dissolving all bodies, by which means many things, which would prove nuisances to the world, are put out of the way, and reduced to their first principles The air, as well as being the medium of light and vision, is also the great vehicle of sound, serving to convey to the ear, by its undulating motion, all that diversity of noise and modulation of tone, necessary to warn us of impending danger, or attract our at- tention and regard. " As I walk across the streets of London," observes Mr. Hervey, "with my eye en- gaged on other objects, a dray, perhaps, with all its load, is driving down directly upon me; or, as I ride along the road, musing and unapprehensive, a chariot and six is whirling on with a rapid career, at the heels of my horse. The air, like a vigilant friend In pain for my welfare, immediately takes the alarm ; and while the danger is at a considerable dis- tance, despatches a courier to advertise me of the approaching mischief. The air wafts to our senses all the modulations of music, and the more agreeable OF NATURE LAID OPEN. entertainments of refined conversation. When Cle- ora tunes her song, or the nightingale imitates her enchanting voice ; when wisdom takes its seat on Mitio's tongue, and flows in perspicuous periods and instructive truths amidst the chosen circle of his acquaintance ; when benevolence, associated with persuasion, dw r ell on Nicander's lips, and plead the cause of injured innocence or oppressed virtue;- when goodness, leagued with happiness, accompany Eusebius into the pulpit, and reclaim the libertine from the slavery of his vices; disengage the infidel from the fascination of his prejudices ; and so affec- tionately, so pathetically, iftvite the whole audience to partake the unequalled joys of pure religion in all these cases the air distributes every musical vari- ation with the utmost exactness, and delivers the speaker's message with the most punctual fidelity " The air is also made highly subservient to the sense of smelling. " It undertakes (says the same author) to convey to our nostrils the extremely subtile effluvia which transpire from odoriferous bodies. Those de- tached particles are so imperceptibly small that they would elude the most careful hand, or escape the nicest eye; but this trusty depository receives and escorts the invisible vagrants without losing so much as a single atom, entertaining us, by this means, with the delightful sensations which arise from the fra- grance of flowers ; and admonishing us, by the trans- mission of offensive smells, to withdraw from an un- wholesome situation, or beware of pernicious food. 7 ' 170 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. Thus does the air administer to the senses of see- ing and smelling. Happy, however, ought we to account ourselves, that, so often charged with noi- some effluvia and noxious vapours, it does not ren- der these susceptible to the taste; and although it certainly is a body corporeal, and may at times be felt, yet, its resistance in ordinary cases, when it is unagitated and unconfined, is so undistinguishable as to occasion no inconvenience. The region of the atmosphere is the great thorough- fare to the feathery creation ; it is, if we may so speak, the king's highway for the fowls of heaven, where they perform their lengthened journeys with expe- dition and safety, and range and expatiate beyond the reach of danger. It is by this element, also, that the inhabitant of the waters is enabled to work his little philosophical engine with effect; for, without the aid of this subtile fluid, the empty vesicle would have remained a piece of useless lumber We cannot as yet say, there go the balloons, as if the atmosphere, like the sea, had become the esta- blished medium of commerce and travelling; but the art has already attained to such a degree of perfec- tion, as render it not improbable that a voyage in the air will be regarded one day, by the generality of mankind, with less awe than was evinced by those who first witnessed the adventurous navigator push his bark out of sight of land, beyond the pillars of Hercules As all the rivers run into the sea, and deposit their contents in its capacious bosom, so do all the exha- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 171 Kiiions that arise from terrestrial bodies ascend into the atmosphere. To this capacious alembic take their flight, not only the aqueous vapours that pro- ceed from the sea, the rivers, and moist places of the earth, but the steam or smoke of things melted or burnt; the perspiring fumes of whatever enjoys life; and the effluvia they emit when deprived of it, and in a state of putrescence. How then, it may be asked, is this heterogeneous mass preserved from corruption, and purified from its offensive qualities ? For, if by respiration, flame, and putrefaction, air is rendered unfit for the support of animal life, there can be no doubt, as Dr. Paley observes, by the con- stant operation of these corrupting principles, the whole atmosphere, if there were no restoring causes, would come at length to be deprived of its necessary degree of purity. Among these causes the Doctor mentions vegeta- tion, and agitation with water, both of which have been proved by experiment to have the effect of at- mospherical restoratives; for a sprig of mint, corked up with a small portion of foul air, placed in the light, renders it again capable of supporting life and flame ; and the foulest air, shaken in a bottle with water, for a sufficient length of time, recovers a great de- gree of its purity. Here we see the salutary effects of storms and tempests the yesty waves, which confound the heaven and the sea, are doing the very thing, but upon a larger scale, which was done in the bottle. And, in as far as the lower regions are concerned, these, on account of their wide extension, 172 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. must be attended with most beneficial consequences; but as the sea, for its purity, is not dependent on any one cause, so the atmosphere, besides these external restoratives, will be found to contain, in its own bo- som, a correcting principle, which developes itself by its salutary operations, as we shall soon have oc- casion to notice, in speaking of some of the most remarkable of the phenomena of the atmosphere. CHAP. XV. PHENOMENA OF THE ATMOSPHERE; " Of what important use to human kind, To what great ends subservient is the wind? Where'er the aerial, active vapour flies, It drives the clouds, and ventilates the skies ; Sweeps from the earth infection's noxious train, And swells to wholesome rage the sluggish main!" The Wind. SOMETIMES there is a profound calm ; every wind is hushed; not a zephyr breathes over the face of creation, and not a breeze disturbs the glassy ex- panse of the lake; but the appearance is deceitful and short lived ; all on a sudden the wind is heard rustling among the branches it gathers strength as it proceeds, and grow r s up into the majesty of a storm. Now the raging tempest spends its fury; houses are BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 173 swept from their foundations ; navies are rent from their anchors ; trees are torn up by the roots. This we call wind ; and whether its effects appear in the fury of the gale, the violence of the hurricane, the impetuosity of the whirlwind, the dryness of the har- mattan, the deleteriousness of the sirocco, or the mor- tifying influence of the samiel, it becomes us not to repine at the dispensations of the Almighty, or ac- count those the most deplorable evils, which are wise- ly sent us for the best of purposes. We have already noticed the bad effects that would accrue, were il not for the agitation of the ocean ; but more dreadful would be the consequences, Did neither air nor ocean feel the wind. Motion is the soul of the universe; it is as necessary in the air as in the ocean, and both are no less indis- pensable than the motion of the sap of plants, and the circulation of the blood in animals. It is, however, happily so ordered, that where pu- trefaction in a state of quiescence would soon prevail, wholesome breezes and salutary gales alternately spring up, to sweep destruction from the aerial fluid, and where heat is felt to an alarming degree, the atmosphere extends its airy wings to fan a fainting world. " This principle, as Dr. Gregory observes, we find realized on a great scale in what are called the trade winds, which blow constantly from east to west, near the equator. The sun rises in the east 174 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. and sets in the west, consequently the air will be heated gradually from east to west, and the wind will blow in that direction." The same cause, this author remarks, will explain " the land and sea breezes in the tropical climates;" and the monsoons, though the theory of them be more complicated, origi- nate in the same cause And as it is not only necessary that there be a con- tinual agitation kept up in the ocean, by means of the tides and currents, but, in order to prevent its wa- ters from being contaminated by those numerous loads of filth which are, from all quarters, poured into it, it is also requisite that it be furnished with some- thing of a correcting nature, which it has in its salt- ness. So in the atmosphere, besides the perpetual motion kept up in it by means of the winds, and the beneficial consequences proceeding from vegetation and the agitation of the waters, there must be also some correcting quality, especially prevalent in the upper regions, where a number of the most noxious particles, and a considerable quantity of vitiated ef- fluvia, must ascend? perhaps beyond the reach of the other purifying agents. This, it is probable, is the chief cause of the electric fluid, which, although it is found to pervade the whole mass of creation, is sup- posed to be much more copious in the upper than in the lower parts of the atmosphere. In the lower regions of the firmament, indeed, the tremendous noise of the thunder is heard, and the vivid lightnings are seen to flash ; but these only hap- pen on extraordinary occasions, or where their pre- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 175 sence is absolutely necessary to restore the equilibri- um of the lower tracts, in the same manner as the tempest is sometimes sent to agitate, in an uncommon degree, the surface of the ocean; but far more fre- quent, we may suppose, is the busy working of the lightning in the higher regions of the air, although it may be concealed by the density of its lower extre- mities at times from our view. The glancing of the wild fire, as the vulgar style it, and the playful skip, ping of the aurora borealis, give us sufficient inti- mation, that, in the silent hours of rest and repose, the great Supreme faints not, neither is weary, but is busily employed in the unceasing operations of his providence, when our senses are locked in mid- night slumbers, and refreshing sleep stretches her balmy wings over a fatigued world. Besides these, which may be called the principal, there are also a number of other fiery meteors. Fire- balls, in all the glare of terrific magnificence, are sometimes seen to rush across the hemisphere Fall- ing stars are observed to shoot with astonishing ra- pidity. The Ignis-fatuus, Will with-the- wisp, or Jack-with-a lanthorn, as it is called, glides along by the sides of hedges or ditches in moist situations, and sometimes takes up his abode among the graves of the dead, or is seen in the neighbourhood of dung- hills; but these, as well as the fiery Dragon, the skip- ping Goat, the Dart and the Lamp, with every other appearance that the unsubstantial and airy form may assume, may all be accounted for on the principles of electricity. JT6 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. Watery Meteors. In the regions of the air, a variety of watery me- teors are formed. Here are fogs, the creation of those collections of vapours which chiefly rise from fenny, moist places. These become more visible as the light of day decreaseth, and, uniting with those that rise from the waters, so as to fill the air with their humid particles, are called mists. Sometimes, especially in the summer months, our morning walks sparkle with pellucid drops, and transparent globules hang pendant from every leaf, in the form of pearly dew. In the atmosphere, the balancings of the clouds are preserved, till these swimming lakes are commis- sioned to discharge their contents, not in deluging torrents, confined to particular spots, but in refresh- ing showers, widely spread abroad in the form of drops of rain. Here, too, that wonderful phenome- non snow takes its rise, which is said to be composed of such vapours as are frozen while the particles are small ; and hail, which is rain frozen, as hoar frost is said to be of the dew. Water-spouts may be rec- koned among the number of watery meteors; but, having already been noticed in a preceding chapter, (chap x.) we shall pass them over, and proceed to the consideration of a few of the most remarkable Celestial Appearances. The wonderful and beautiful colours which we ob- serve in the clouds, is owing to their particular situ- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 177 ation to the sun, and the dift'erent modifications under which they reflect his light. The various appear- ances and fantastic figures they assume, probably proceed from their loose and voluble texture, revolv- ing into any form by the force or activity of the winds, or by the electricity contained in their substance. But, of all the celestial appearances we can behold, what can be compared to the beauty of the rainbow? What a majestic and stupendous arch does this won- derful phenomenon present to our view, and how beautifully is it tinged in regular order, by all the primogenml colours in nature ! Yet, this gorgeous arch is instantaneously erected, and at no expense : the commission is sent forth, and it springs into existence, merely by the operation of the sunbeams on the watery particles that float in the atmosphere The rainbow, it must be observed, is always seen in an opposite direction from the sun, and that it is occasioned by the reflection and refrac- tion of his rays, at a certain angle or distance from the eye of the spectator, must be evident to every person who has tried the experiment of the silly boy in the fable, and gone in pursuit of the treasures at the end of it. Sometimes, too, we have lunar rainbows; but these shine with inferior lustre ; and what more can we expect from the reflected light of a body, such as the moon that shines itself by reflection? Halos are supposed to be occasioned by the refraction of the light of the sun or moon on. the frozen particles that surround them in frosty weather; and what are called 178 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. parhelia, or mock-suns, and paraselenes, or mock- moons, are only representations by the reflection of the face of the true sun or moon from some of the clouds, which are placed at a convenient distance to produce the effect. The Uses of Atmospheric Phenomena, Meteors, fyc. Without entering upon the vast utility of the winds in the world of art, with the many purposes to which they are made subservient arid applied, in navigation, agriculture, manufactures, trade and commerce; or recapitulating what we have already said respecting their vast import in the preserving the equilibrium and salubrity of the atmosphere, we w r ill briefly ob- serve, that the wind may be said to act the important part of Nature's great husbandman, by scattering abroad the productive principles of a multitude of plants ; and, instead of that imaginary water bearer which the ancients traced out among the stars, the eye of modern philosophy has discovered, in the ope- rations of the wind, a real Aquarius in the heavens, bearing about his precious treasures, and dispensing them where most wanted. Electricity is, indeed, a most powerful agent in nature, and we are probably but acquainted, as yet, with a small proportion of its wonderful effects ; but, from what we do know, we have reason to conclude that the benefits to be derived from this all pervading principle are numerous as the appearance it puts on ; BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 179 are infinite as its extent. Since the phenomena pro- duced by this fluid have been observed with atten- tion, the true cause of thunder and lightning seems to be ascertained. As the motion of light is almost instantaneous, and that of sound is at the rate of a league in forty pulsations, the distance of thunder may be easily ascertained; for, if we can count thir- teen pulsations between the flash and the sound, the thunder will be about a mile off. A means, how- ever, has been invented, by which houses, ships, and other buildings, may be secured from its ravages, and places of the greatest safety, in thunder storms, pointed out; but what are the evils experienced from thunder storms, when put in competition with the ad- vantages to be derived from them? What would the atmosphere, it may be observed, become, but for the winds? But, notwithstanding the blessings de- rived from those wholesome ventilations, what would become of the atmosphere itself, were it not for the loud-roaring thunder, the forked lightning, and all the other varieties of electrical phenomena, which purge the air of those noxious substances that are con- tinually mixing with it, and purify, by fire, the upper regions, where so many light, inflammatory sub- stances, are arrested .in their course? There appears to be a continual circulation going on in the atmosphere, by which the inflammable air, generated between the tropics, is made to ascend, by its lightness, to the upper regions, where, by the mo- tion of the earth, it is urged to the poles ; hence, the inflammatory exhalations continually arriving and 180 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. taking fire as they approach, are made to form those beautiful appearances called northern and southern lights, which, although they are oft invisible by the thickness of the weather, at other times amuse the inhabitants, even of our climate, in clear frosty wea- ther; and these merry dancers, as the vulgar call them, are no doubt of infinite service to the people of the polar regions, by imparting a lengthened, if not uninterrupted supply of that light and cheerful- ness, of which they would otherwise be deprived during their protracted winter. Were it not for the beneficial operations of the electric spark, which is always ready at the com- mand of its Maker, to kindle these combustible ma- terials before they become sufficiently accumulated to involve the whole in one universal conflagration, the world, it is probable, would long ere now have been destroyed by fire. There is no occasion (ac- cording to the opinions of some theorists) for calling in the aid of a comet to complete this work of de- struction. The Almighty has only to suspend the operations of his fiery meteors, and the elements will soon become sufficiently inflammatory to catch fire by a single spark; so that, in fact, those terrific mo- nitors of the gazing crowd, instead of being certain indications that an incensed Deity is about to inflict the effects of his hot displeasure on a guilty world, according to the language of philosophy and the whispers of religion, are rather convincing tokens that " His mercy is not yet clean gone, that the Lord has not forgotten to be gracious." BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 181 The use of fogs and mists on the tender herbs, in the absence of rain, is well known to the grazier and agriculturist; and so sensible was the good man of the land of Uz, of the importance of what some may reckon among the inferior kinds of watery meteors, (although it is the surest and most universal which the wise Ruler of the world makes use of to render the earth fruitful) that, when he asks the question, " Has the rain a father?' he does not forget to add, " Who has forgotten the drops of the dew?" From the clouds proceed not only those fertilizing showers that drop down fatness, and the windy cur- rents that, to a surprising degree, agitate the air in warm climates, but, by intervening between the earth and the scorching rays of the sun, they serve as screens to protect from injury the grass and tender herbs, and also act the part of conducting mediums, by which the electric fluid is conveyed not only from the atmosphere to the earth, and from the earth to the atmosphere, but from one end of the heavens to the other. Of all the blessings poured out of the treasures of Providence, there is none, perhaps, of which man is more sensible than that of rain. What an alteration on the face of the earth does a seasonable shower produce ! No wonder that the Psalmist, when con- templating such a scene, breaks out in such language as this: " Thou visitest the earth and waterest it: thou makest it soft with showers : thou blessest the sprinkling thereof: the little hills rejoice on every side: the pastures are clothed with flocks: the val- R 182 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. lies also are covered over with corn ; they shout for joy, they also sing." Nay, the very manner in which this blessing is made to descend, claims at once our admiration and gratitude; for, in general, the rain descends in gentle showers, but, in the case of thun- der, there is an exception, when it pours down with impetuosity and in torrents ; but let it be remarked, that here it acts the part of a life-preserver ; for, when once wet, our clothes become excellent conductors to carry off the electric fluid to the earth. Even frost and snow have their uses. Hail is known to cool the air in summer; and experience has demonstrated, that " nature could not give a bet- ter covering than snow to secure the corn, the plants and trees, from the effects of cold in winter; and if a frost succeeds after a ploughed field has been well watered by the autumnal rains, the particles of the earth dilute and separate, and the spring then com- pletes the making the earth light, moveable, and fit to receive the kindly influence of the sun and fine weather." Water-spouts at sea seem to proceed from the same cause as whirlwinds upon land, and if these serve the purpose of carrying up the superabundance of the jelectric fluid from the earth to the atmosphere, as is with good reason supposed, their utility, in the economy of nature, must be apparent. With regard to those illusory appearances that \ve behold in the heavens, do they not teach us in a language plain, evident, and forcible, how easily we may be deceived by our senses, and of the conse- BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 183 quent importance of placing our actions under the guidance of that reason which distinguishes man from the brute creation, and was kindly given him as a lamp to his feet, and a light to his path ? 5 Tis Reason our Great Master holds so dear ; 'Tis Reason's injured rights His wrath resents ; 'Tis Reasons's voice obey'd His glorious crown ; To give lost Reason life, He poured his own. CHAP. XVI. fyJANGES OF THE SEASONS, AND VICISSITUDES OF DAY AND NIGHT. ' These, as they change, Almighty Father these Are but the varied God. The rolling year Isfullof7%ee!" THE Earth, surrounded by the Atmosphere, re- mains not at rest ; for, as we observed in a preced- ing chapter, the latter is made to revolve with the former in its diurnal motion, and to circle with it in its annual course. Before proceeding farther in our researches, we will therefore, turn our attention for a few minutes to this two-fold motion of the earth, which although it would not, but for external objects, be perceptible t