blished the laws of the universe, and proposed to Thyself the most sublime ends: in the contemplation of Thee I am lost in sublimity, and prostrate myself before the throne of Thy glory, unable to behold Thy refulgence!

MAY XX.

Fecundity of Plants.

THE magnificence of the terrestrial part of creation is never more conspicuous than when observed in the astonishing fertility of plants. A single plant produces millions of others. One tobacco plant produces forty thousand three hundred and twenty grains of seed; and if from this we calculate the produce of four years, we shall find that there may be produced two millions six hundred and forty-two thousand nine hundred and eight billions, two hundred and ninety-three thousand three hundred and sixty-five millions, seven hundred and sixty thousand grains of seed. An elm of twelve years growth often has upwards of one hundred thousand grains of seed; and what a prodigious number must spring from these in the course of a few years! Suppose it has not more than one hundred thousand buds, and that the shoot of each year eontains only five, there would be every year five hundred thousand plants which may be considered as new. If we add what is produced by the extension of the root by grafts, &c. we shall be astonished how the earth finds means to support the numerous family of plants.

We must also recollect the innumerable multitude of animals that receive their nourishment from the vegetable kingdom; they annually make so great a consumption of plants, that if nature had not endowed vegetables with very extraordinary prolific powers, we should soon have reason to be apprehensive of their total destruction. Sometimes indeed the very animals that devour them are instrumental in their propagation: birds, for instance, in eating the fruit, often swallow the kernels, which they afterward deposit in the earth without any injury; and whilst pecking certain fruits, they often scatter the seeds to a considerable distance; and this dispersion is requisite,

that one species of plant may not occupy a whole field. For this purpose also, certain seeds are furnished with a sort of wings that they may be more readily dispersed by the wind.

Plants are much more prolific than animals; of which we shall be fully convinced by comparing them together. Plants annually produce many new ones, and sometimes continue to do so for centuries; whilst the largest animals, as the elephant, the mare, &c. only produce one, or at most two, yearly; and are often entirely barren. Small quadrupeds, as the dog, the cat, the rat, &c. though much more fruitful, by no means equal the fecundity of trees. Fish and insects approach nearer to it; the tench deposits about ten thousand eggs, the carp twenty thousand, and the cod a million. But if we compare this fecundity with that of the wild rose, of the mustard-tree, and the fern, we shall find that these and many other plants multiply much more than fish or insects; besides, they are propagated by many different ways, whilst most animals are confined to one mode of multiplying their species. A tree may produce as many new trees as it has branches and leaves.

From these considerations we may learn how wisely God has regulated the continuation of the vegetable and anin al species. If the multiplication of vegetables were less considerable many animals must perish for want; our fields, meadows, and gardens would be entirely desert, or enlivened with a very few plants scattered up and down; and had the Creator thought fit that the animals which live upon vegetables should become more numerous than the plants, the vegetable kingdom would be exhausted, and many species of animals would perish. But from the wise. relations subsisting between the two kingdoms, the inhabitants of each multiply in a just proportion, and no species is destroyed. Thus, pleasure and abundance every where surround us. For man, the Creator has given to vegetables their fecundity; and for his nourishment, pleasure, and health, such a multitude of plants are produced, that their number cannot be expressed; and thus affords an image of the immensity and omnipotence of God, who through all the kingdoms of nature opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living creature.

MAY XXI.

Description of the Beauties of Spring.

NOTHING is more worthy of admiration than the revoJations effected throughout all nature by the influence of the spring. As autumn declines, every valley, every mea dow, and every grove, presents us with an image of death: and in winter nature is entirely divested of beauty; every animal is sorrowful, the inhabitants of the groves hide themselves and are silent; the earth becomes desert, and all nature seems to suffer a state of torpor and insensibi lity. However, at this very time she is working in secret, though we are ignorant of the happy principle which is preparing her renovation. Life returns to animate afresh the benumbed body, and every thing prepares for a similar restoration. In trees alone, what a multitude of changes take place. At first the sap, which during the winter had entirely abandoned the trunk and branches, slowly rises in the small vessels by means which we cannot discover: it soon penetrates the buds, which disclose a thousand wonders; the leaves with their beautiful green; the branches which are to shoot between the unfolded leaves, with new buds attached to them, and full of invisible leaves; the multitude of flowers, with the sweet exhalations which scent the air; in these blossoms fruit, and in those fruits the seeds of an infinite number of other trees.

The brightness of the sun rejoices the soul, and the activity of nature in the plants which surround us is highly pleasing. Every field delights with its beauties and pleases with its grateful fragrance, and every bird pours forth its varied melody. How cheerful are the notes of the linnet as it flutters from branch to branch, as if to attract our regard! The lark joyfully soars aloft, and hails the day and the coming spring with her melodious strains. The cattle express the vigour and joy which animate them; and the fish in the rivers, which during winter were torpid and lay at the bottom of the water, now rise to the surface, and express their vivacity by a thousand playful sallies. How is it possible that we can so often see all these ob

without experiencing the most profoud admiration

and reverence for the infinite Being whose power is so glo. riously manifested? Never should we breathe the pure air of spring without such feelings being awakened; let us mever contemplate a tree in leaf, a field waving with corn, a flowery mead, a majestic forest, or beautiful garden, without reflecting that it is God who has given us the shade of the trees, and the beauty and fragrance of the flowers; that it is He who clothes the woods and the meadows with the verdure which delights and refreshes; and that He, by whose will and power we exist, has given to every creature life, and all the happiness they enjoy. As nature feels the influence of spring, so the true Christian feels ecstatic bliss, when after having hidden his face for a while, his God approaches and breathes into his soul the happy testimony of his grace and salvation.

MAY XXII.

Language of Animals.

MAN may be considered as the only animal which enjoys the gift of speech; and in this his superiority over other animals is most especially manifested. By means of speech he extends his empire over all nature, and raises himself towards his Divine Author, whom he contemplates, obeys, and adores. By the faculty of speech he is enabled to make known his wants to others, and to render them subservient to his interest. All animals, except man, are deprived of this faculty, because they are destitute of that reason by which we are enabled to acquire languages, and to know the use of speech. But as animals possess the power of expressing their wants and feelings by natural signs, and certain sounds or cries, we must allow them a sort of language, though very inferior, formed entirely from the diversity of the tones which they utter.

To form a just idea of this, no very laborious researches or profound investigations are necessary; it will be suffi eient to observe the animals which daily come under our notice, and with which we live in familiar intercourse. Let as examine the hen and her chickens; when she has foun

MAY XV.

Zoophites.

ZOOPHITES may be considered as insects partaking both of the nature of an animal and a plant. By their externsl configuration, their remaining in one place, and their producing themselves by buds and seeds, they very much resemble plants; like which they also may be propagated by grafts and slips. Their animal nature is only known by their sensibility and voluntary motion. The greater part of zoophites put forth a kind of root in the sea and waters where they live; some of them grow in stony calcareous substances, and others are covered by a shell, which resembles horn, whilst many are soft and fleshy. They all possess in common the power of self-producing new zoophites; and whilst the young ones are attached to the parent stalk, they form but one animal; but as soon as they are separated from the stem, they have a proper existence by themselves.

Zoophites also multiply themselves in a way very similar to that of plants. They form a species of germ containing a young zoophite, which grows for some time on the stalk, and, at length falling off, becomes a complete animal. They do not appear to possess either brain, heart, veins, or arteries; but their whole body from the beginning to the extremity, forms a hollow tube, which may be regarded as one continued stomach or intestinal canal. By the discovery of this humble class of beings in the creation, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the the volume of natural bistory has increased, and our ideas of the gradation of beings extended. The links between animal and vegetable nature are extremely imperceptible, and difficult to define. The only distinguishing characteristie is supposed to be, that plants have neither sensation nor motion, whilst every species of animal both feels and moves; but the shades between these are so finely drawn, as in many instances to be impenetrable to the researches of the curious, who often assert for truth, discoveries which are only within the probability of conjecture.