alive and vigorous though it had no food all the time, nor any more air than it could find in so small a box, whose cover shut very close. A few days before, a friend had sent me three or four cockroaches. These I had put under a large glass; I put my beetle among them, and fed them with green ginger, which they ate greedily; but he would never taste it, for the five weeks they lived there. The cockroaches would avoid the beetle, and seemed frightened at his approach; but he usually stalked, along, not at all regarding whether they came in his way or not. During two years and a half that I have kept him, he has neither ate nor drank.

'How, then, has he been kept alive? Is it by the air? There are particles in this, which supply a growth to some species of plants, as sempervivum, orpine, and house-leek. May not the same or like particles supply nourishment to some species of animals? In the amazing plan of Nature, the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, are not separated from each other by wide distances; indeed, their boundaries differ from each other by such minute and insensible degrees, that we cannot find out certainly where the one begins, or the other ends. As the air, therefore, nourishes some plants, so it may nourish some animals; otherwise, a link would seem to be wanting in the mighty chain of beings. It is certain, camelions ånd snakes can live many months without any visible sustenance, and probably not merely by their slow digestion, but rather by means of particles contained in the air, as the beetle did; yet, doubtless, in its natural state, it used more substantial food. So the plants above named thrive best with a little earth, although they flourish a long time, and send forth branches and flowers, when they are suspended in the air. Even in the exhausted receiver, after it had been there half an hour, it seemed perfectly unconcerned, walking about as briskly as ever; but, on the admission of the air, it seemed to be in a surprise for a minute.'

It is impossible not to view with wonder and admiration, the various ways in which animal life is sustained, sometimes

even under circumstances which, arguing from ordinary analogies, would seem to insure its destruction. I have already alluded to the power possessed by some insects' eggs to resist extreme cold; and, before passing to the hybernation of higher species, I shall conclude this paper by remarking, that there are some very minute kinds of animalcules, the germs of which seem capable of resisting the extremes both of heat and cold. If the paste of flour, which has been boiled ever so long in the making, be allowed to become sour, and then be mixed with water, the mixture, when a microscope of sufficient magnifying power is applied to it, will appear to be composed almost entirely of little eels, very handsomely formed, and moving about with great activity. Allow the same mixture of paste and water to become solid by drought or by freezing, and let it be again moistened or thawed, and it will be as completely peopled as ever with its microscopic inhabitants. Now, as it would be quite unphilosophical to admit the principle of equivocal generation, we are bound to conclude, that the germs of these living creatures were lodged in the mixture before it was subjected to the process of boiling, and were only developed by the subsequent fermentation; so that it would appear, in this case, that the principle of life, in whatever form it may exist, is indestructible by very great alternations of heat and cold; and, indeed, we are not warranted to affix boundaries to this power, or to conclude, from the experiments which have yet been made, that any length of time, however extended, or any degree of heat or cold, however great, would be sufficient to destroy the vitality of these germs.

The wonders, indeed, which an examination of the incalculably numerous and amazingly diversified classes of invertebrated animals discloses, grow upon us in every direction as we proceed; and the pious exclamation of the Psalmist recurs to us perpetually,' O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all.'

EIGHTH WEEK-SUNDAY.

GREATNESS OF GOD EVEN IN THE SMALLEST THINGS.

THE following reflections of Mr. Sturm, the well known popular German writer, are so appropriate, as a sequel to our observations in the course of the preceding week, as well as to the previous notices respecting the wonders of the microscope, that I think it would not be easy to direct my readers to a more suitable subject of consideration on this sacred day.

He who delights to contemplate the works of God, will not only discover his hand in those immense globes which compose the system of the universe, but also in the little worlds of insects, plants, and metals. He will search for, and adore the wisdom of God, as well in the spider's web, as in the power of gravitation, which attracts the earth towards the These researches are at present the easier, as microscopes have discovered to us new scenes and new worlds, in which we behold, in miniature, whatever may excite our admiration. They who have not the opportunity of using such instruments will read at least with pleasure, the following remarks on microscopic objects.

sun.

Let us, in the first place, observe the inanimate world. Behold those mosses and little plants which God has produ-. ced in such abundance. Of what extremely small particles and fine threads are these plants composed! What a variety in their forms and shapes! Who can enumerate all their genera and all their species? Think on the innumerable multitude of small particles of which every body is composed, and which may be detached from it! If a hexagon, of an inch square, contain a hundred millions of visible parts, who can calculate all the particles which compose a mountain? If millions of globules of water may be suspended from the point of a needle, how many must there be in a spring, in a well, in a river, in the sea? If, from a lighted candle, there issue in a second more particles of light than there are grains

of sand in the whole earth, how many igneous particles must there issue from a large fire in an hour!* If one grain of sand contain more than a thousand millions of particles of air, how many must there be in the human body! If men can divide one grain of copper into millions of parts, without ariving at the first elements of matter-if odoriferous bodies can exhale a sufficiency of odorous particles, so as to be perceived at a great distance, without any sensible diminution of weight, it would require an eternity for the human mind to calculate the number of particles which exist in those bodies.

If we pass next to the animal kingdom, the scene will be incalculably extended. In summer, the air swarms with living creatures. Each drop of water is a little world full of inhabitants. Every leaf is a colony of insects; and every grain of sand is the habitation of a multitude of animated beings. Every species of plant, seed, and flower, nourishes millions of creatures. Every person has seen those innumerable swarms of flies, gnats, and other insects, which gather together in a small space. What prodigious hosts must there be of them, that live, sport, and multiply their kind over the whole earth, and in the immense extent of the atmosphere! How many millions of still smaller insects and worms are there which crawl on the earth, or in the entrails of animals, the number of which are only known to God! With what splendour does the power of God manifest itself to the mind, when we reflect on the multitude of parts of which these creatures are composed, of whose very existence most men are ignorant! Were we not, at any time, able to prove it by experiment, could we imagine there were animals a million of times less than a grain of sand, with organs of nutrition, motion, &c. There are shell-fish so small, that, even viewed through a microscope, they appear scarcely so large as a grain of barley; and yet they are real animals, with durable dwelling-places, the foldings and recesses of which, form so

* This remark proceeds, of course, on the old theory of the emanation of light and heat. But, on the undulatory theory, the wonder is not les sened.-H. D.

many different apartments. How exceedingly small is a mite; nevertheless, this almost imperceptible point, seen through a microscope, is a hairy animal, perfect in all its members, of a regular figure, full of life and sensibility, and provided with every necessary organ. Although this animal is scarcely visible to us, yet it has a multitude of still smaller parts; and, what is yet more admirable, the glasses which show us so many faults and imperfections in the most finished works of man, can observe nothing but regularity and perfection in these microscopic objects! How inconceivably thin and tender are the threads of a spider! It has been calculated, that it would take 36,000 of them to make the thickness of a thread of common sewing silk. Each of the six papillæ from which the spider draws that glutinous liquor of which it forms its web, is composed of a thousand insensible pores, which give passage to so many threads; so that, however fine the spider's thread may appear, it is composed of six thousand smaller ones!

You are struck with astonishment: but, suppose we had microscopes which could magnify some thousands of times more than those glasses do, through which a mite appears no larger than a grain of barley, what wonders should we then see! And, even then, should we reach the limits of creation in these inconceivably small productions? Certainly not: and it would be presumption and extravagance to believe it. Each creature has a kind of affinity; and the more we contemplate the works of God, the more the wonders of his power shall be multiplied in our sight.

Our imagination is confounded in the two extremes of nature, the great and the small; and we know not whether we should admire the Divine power more in those enormous masses which roll over our heads, or in those microscopic objects which are invisible to the naked eyes. Should not the contemplation of the works of God be our most pleasing oc cupation? The trouble of study would be amply compensa. ted by the pure and innocent pleasure which it would afford. It would, at least, awaken in us an ardent desire to arrive in