assures us, that the heart does not often receive very deep impressions from abstract views, and is not easily awakened and animated by the speculations of the closet. It is our wisdom to make use of the various means, which Providence has bestowed on us, for counteracting this unhappy propensity to separate speculation from practice; and among these there is none so effectual as frequent and fervent prayer. An apostle exhorts us to 'pray without ceasing;' by which he doubtless means, not that we should be constantly on our knees, but that we should cultivate a continual sense of the presence of our heavenly Father in the ordinary affairs of life, and begin, carry on, and end every thing, by casting ourselves on His protection and blessing. By this prayerful spirit, we shall learn to see God in every thing. If we walk abroad, whether in the full blaze of day, or when, through the curtain of night, we behold the hosts of heaven shining in their brightness, we shall turn our thoughts to that Eternal Being who clothed the earth in beauty, and 'ever busy, wheels the rolling spheres.' If we retire to the bosom of our families, and in the kind attentions and soothing endearments of domestic life, feel our hearts overflowing with a tender delight, we shall not fail to remember from whose hand we derived the blessing, and to whose paternal care we are indebted for its continuance. If, in the duties of active life, we find our labours of love crowned with success, and our bosom expand with the glow of gratified benevolence, we shall not forget that it is the hand of our unseen Father which has directed and blessed our efforts; and a Father's smile which cheers and elevates our soul. And when the rod of affliction is upon us,-when the loss of worldly possessions oppresses our spirits, or a more cruel calamity has visited us, in the death of some beloved relative or friend; or when we ourselves are stretched upon our death-bed, with our weeping family around us, even then the consolations of religion will lend their balm; and casting our care on Him who careth for us, and finding refuge in the

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ADAPTATION OF ORGANIZED EXISTENCES, ETC. Rock of Ages, we shall learn to bless the hand which inflicts the wound.

THIRD WEEK-MONDAY.

ADAPTATION OF ORGANIZED EXISTENCES TO THE TROPICAL

REGIONS.

ALMOST every country has its winter, as well as the other seasons of the year, differing materially, however, in different parts, and influenced not merely by its position in respect of latitude, but by various other circumstances which affect the climate generally,—such as elevation above the level of the sea, the neighbourhood of mountains, of forests, or of the ocean, the prevalence of periodical or constant winds, and other tropical causes. Now, the observation which applies to climate, taken on the average, applies with equal truth to this uninviting season, namely, that there is, even during its rigours, a remarkable adaptation of the weather to the condition of animal and vegetable life; and, on the other hand, of animal and vegetable life to the weather. The temperature is admirably modified, and the various meteorological changes are wisely regulated, so as to correspond with the other seasons, and to be suited to the kind of organized existences which are to be found within the range of these natural operations; or, what comes to the same thing, these organized existences have been so framed, as to correspond in their nature and habits with the qualities of the weather.

In tropical climates, there can scarcely be said to be any winter, in the sense in which that word is understood, with reference to the other divisions of the earth; yet, even here, there is a period which possesses some of its distinctive characteristics. Under the equator, indeed, and in the adjoining regions, there may be said to be, in respect of temperature, two winters in the year, the one, when the sun visits the tropic of Capricorn; and the other, when he looks

down on our temperate climes with the smiles of summer, from the tropic of Cancer. Within the vast zone, bounded by the tropics, the climate is peculiar, not only on account of the extreme heat, but on account of the trade-winds, the monsoons, and periodical droughts by which it is distinguished. These phenomena, which are very various in their periods and extent, being much affected by the particular circumstances of their geographical position, wonderfully harmonize during the various seasons of the year, so as to render them, in each region, speaking generally, conducive to the salubrity of the climate; and the plants and animals which exist in these regions, are, at the same time, with surprising nicety, adapted to their respective peculiarities. This, would our space admit, might be interestingly exemplified by a detail of particulars; but, at present, I must be content to state, in general, that there are contrivances and adaptations which secure both plants and animals from the hurtful effects of the changes of temperature, of moisture, of violent and incessant rain, and of the direct rays of the sun,-so striking and obvious, as to challenge attention from the most careless observer. In this fervid climate, the soil requires no lengthened rest to recruit its powers; nor do its vegetable products need to sleep for months in the bud or in the root. Under a long drought, indeed, they languish and decay; and this may, in fact, be considered as their period of winter, although it does not correspond with ours as regards the season of the year, or various other particulars; but no sooner does the equinoctial monsoon or the solstitial rain pour its refreshing streams on the surface of the parched earth, than all nature revives. Mr. Elphinstone, in his account of Cabul, after graphically describing the appearances at the commencement of the monsoon in India, consisting of an incessant pouring of rain, amidst constant peals of thunder, and the most vivid flashes of lightning, attended with violent blasts of wind, proceeds to say: This lasts for some days, after which the sky clears, and discovers the face of nature changed as by enchantment. Before the storm,

the fields were parched up; and, except in the beds of the rivers, scarce a blade of vegetation was to be seen; the clearness of the sky was not interrupted by a single cloud, but the atmosphere was loaded with dust, which was sufficient to render distant objects dim as in a mist, and to make the sun appear dull and discoloured till he attained a considerable elevation; a parching wind blew like a blast from a furnace, and heated wood, iron, and every solid material, even in the shade; and immediately before the monsoon, this wind had been succeeded by still more sultry calms. But when the first violence of the storm is over, the whole earth is covered with a sudden but luxuriant verdure; the rivers are full and tranquil; the air is pure and delicious; the sky is varied, and embellished with clouds.'

This change, from what may be termed a tropical winter, though arising from an excess of heat instead of cold, to all the beauty and luxuriance of spring, proves, without any detail, that a constitution has been given to tropical plants, adapted to their situation and circumstances, and sufficiently marks the peculiar wisdom of the arrangement as regards the vegetable kingdom. Let it be remarked, too, that the monsoon takes place precisely at the very time when, but for this change, the heat would have become excessive and intolerable. It occurs at the period when the sun is approaching his zenith in that parallel, and would have darted his vertical rays on the earth with unmitigated fierceness, were not a providential hand to interpose a veil of clouds, and cause them to pour forth their refreshing stores. This change is not the less admirable, that it is produced by the operation of known and uniform laws; and, assuredly, the wise adjustment and balancing of the great mechanical powers of nature is no unequivocal proof of Divine agency.

On turning to the animal productions within the tropics, we discover similar marks of beneficent design in the adapta tion of their natures to the circumstances of the climate. M. Lacordaire,* as quoted by Mr. Kirby, gives a striking ac

* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 20 Juin, 1830, p. 193.

count of the state of animated nature in Brazil.

The great rains begin to fall in that country about the middle of September, when all nature seems to awake from its periodical repose; vegetation resumes a more lively tint; the greater part of plants renew their leaves; and the insects begin to appear. In October the rains are rather more frequent, and with them the insects; but it is not till towards the middle of November, when the rainy season is definitely set in, that all the families seem suddenly to develop themselves; and this general impulse, which all nature seems to receive, continues augmenting till the middle of January, when it attains its acme. The forests present then an aspect of movement and life, of which our woods in Europe can give no idea. During part of the day we hear a vast and uninterrupted hum, in which the deafening cry of the treehopper prevails, and you cannot take a step, or touch a leaf, without putting insects to flight. At eleven in the forenoon, the heat has become almost insupportable, and all animated nature becomes torpid; the noise diminishes; the insects and other animals disappear, and are seen no more till the evening. Then, when the atmosphere is again cool, to the morning species succeed others, whose office it is to embellish the nights of the torrid zone. I am speaking of the glow-worms and fire-flies; whilst the former, issuing by myriads from their retreats, overspread the plants and shrubs,—the latter, crossing each other in all directions, weave in the air, as it were, a luminous web, the light of which they diminish or augment at pleasure. This brilliant illumination only ceases when the night gives place to the day."

These observations as to the effects of climate within the tropics, harmonizing as they do with what occurs in other regions of the earth, tend to show what surprising attention has been paid by the great Creator, in the adaptation of organized existences, both vegetable and animal and more especially the latter, with its instincts and habits, to their geographical position, and what skill has been employed in dif

* Kirby's Bridgewater Treatise, vol. ii. pp. 250, 251.