ty, industry, and attention he may devote to it, he will not be able to produce a work that does not abound with the imperfections incident to the works of men. It is true we cannot become perfectly acquainted with all the art which Divine Wisdom has displayed in the structure of this beautiful organ; but the little that we do know suf fices to convince us of the admirable intelligence, goodness, and power of the Creator.

In the first place, the disposition of the exterior parts of the eye is excellent. How admirably it is defended! Placed in durable orbits of bone, at a certain depth in the skull, the globe of the eye cannot easily suffer any injury. The over-arching eyebrows contribute much to its beauty and preservation; and the eyelids more immediately shelter it from the glare of light, and other things which might be prejudicial; inserted in these are the eye-lashes, which also much contribute to the above effect, and also prevent snall particles of dust and other substances strik ing against the eye.*

The internal structure is still more admirable. The globe of the eye is composed of tunics, humours, muscles, and vessels: the first coat is called the cornea, or exterior membrane, which is transparent anteriorly, and opake posteriorly; next the choroid, which is extremely vascular; then the uvea, with the iris, which being of various colours, gives the appearance of different coloured eyes, and being perforated, with the power of contraction and dilatation, forms the pupil; and, lastly, the retina, which is a fine expansion of the optic nerve, and upon it the impressions of objects are male. The humours are, first, the aqueous, lying in the fore part of the globe, immediately under the cornea; it is thin, liquid, and transparent: secondly, the crystalline, which lies next to the aqueous, behind the uvea, opposite to the pupil; it is the least of the humours, of greater so

*Besides these, amongst the external parts are enumerated the lachrymal gland, which secretes the tears; the lachrymal caruncle, a small fieshy substance at the inner angle of the eye; the puncta lachrymalia, two small openings on the nasal extremity of each eye-lash; the lacrymal duct, formed by the union of the duets leading from the puncta lachrymalia, and conveying the tears into the nose; the lachrymal sac, a dilatation of the lachrymnal canal.-E.

lidity, and on both sides convex: the third is the vitreous, resembling the white of an egg; it fills all the hind part of the cavity of the globe, and gives the spherical figure to the eye. The muscles of the eye are six, and by the excellence of their arrangement it is enabled to move in all directions. Vision is performed by the rays of light falling on the pellucid and convex cornea of the eye by the density and convexity of which they are united into a focus, which passes the aqueous humour and pupil of the eye to be more condensed by the crystalline lens. The rays of light thus concentrated penetrate the vitreous humour, and stimulate the retina, upon which the images of objects, painted in an inverse direction, are represented to the mind through the medium of the optic nerves.

Thus we have abundant cause to thank the God of mercy who has so exquisitely formed the eye, and to acknowledge the wisdom, power, and admirable skill displayed in its structure and wonderful organization. May we never for. get the benefits we have received, nor the blessings we enjoy, but ever look up to the Author of our being with gratitude! When we see the various woes and miseries which afflict many of our fellow-creatures, let not our eyes refuse the tear of sympathy, nor our hearts be shut against compassion. May tears of joy flow from every eye, when we receive the renewed proofs of God's goodness and love; and let us rejoice when we are enabled to sooth the anguish of our afflicted brethren, or wipe the tear from the poor and the disconsolate. Thus shall we fulfil the design of our Maker, and enjoy the approbation of our God.

FEBRUARY VI.

The Fog.

AMONGST the numerous phenomena which we see in winter, the fog or mist, particularly merits our attention. It is formed of exhalations, which occupy the lower region of the atmosphere; they arise from the earth, and are condensed by the greater coldness of the surrounding air. During the continuance of a mist, a grey mantle is

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spread over the face of nature; every object is imperfectly seen and enveloped in obscurity; the eye often in vain attempts to pierce the thick curtain; all is confused and indistinet; the rising sun slowly disperses these vapours, which at length are gradually dissipated; his power is confessed, obscurity vanishes before his rays, the surrounding objects are restored to our view, and the heavens resume their wonted light and beauty. The mist is, however, still seen on the earth, but it is close to the ground, or hangs on the roofs of houses; and the horizon, so long veiled from sight, now opens upon us. As the face of the earth, before the sunbeams upon it, is overspread with fog, dew, and vapours, so once were the blessed regions of science and of knowledge enveloped in the thick mist of ignorance and of superstition; whole countries were obscured,kingdoms obumbrated, and darkness ruled with a leaden tre the grovelling race that licked and grew fat beneath her chains; whilst error, prejudice, and sloth, so clouded their faculties and benumbed their feelings, that light was not sought for, nor wisdom esteemed; human reason was no more, and innocence had retired. At length the moment arrived when, the measure of their iniquity being filled, the triumph of darkness, of ignorance, and of superstition was to cease. The sun once more dawned, and flashed such a steady blaze of light from the horizon, that the gloom, which for centuries had buried man in obscurity, and rendered torpid all his powers, at once fled, overpowered by the fervency of the beams which penetrated her secret recesses, and exposed to the face of day the hor rors of her naked deformity. But, because in this day of light and of truth we are much superior to those dark ages in every thing that can dignify and bless human nature, let us not think our work completed, and that we have no more to do. Though emerging from Gothic gloom and Vandalic darkness, the light shines with greater brilliancy and power, we are still young in knowledge, and very ignorant of the true and pure tenets of religion, which still labours to throw off the shackles of ceremony and the yoke of superstition, with which the ignorance, the presumption, and the audacity of man has obscured her simplicity and sullied her purity. The blessed period is probably hastening, when an enlightened race of men shall

look back upon our generation with as much compassion as we now feel for the victims of oppression and monkish superstition, in what we are pleased to call the dark ages.

FEBRUARY VII.

Of the Tides.

THE greatest part of the surface of the earth is covered with water, which is called sea, and is very distinct from lakes and rivers. These contain more or less water as the season is dry or humid, whilst the vast body of the ocean ever preserves its bulk unaffected by such contingencies. Twice in the day it ebbs and flows according to certain rules; when at its greatest height on any shore it begins to decrease, which lasts about six hours, and is called the ebb. At the end of six hours it begins again to flow, and continues to increase six hours longer, when it gains its greatest elevation; it then again retires, and rises again in the same space of time; so that in twenty-four hours the sea has twice ebbed and twice flowed.

The regular and alternate motion of the sea is called its flux and reflux, or ebbing and flowing, and constitutes the tides. When it rises and flows towards the coast it is called flux, when it retires from the shore reflux. These tides are chiefly influenced by the moon, and in some degree by the sun, and are greatest during the new and the full moon, and least in the quarters. When both the luminaries are in the equator, and the moon at her least distance from the earth, the tide rises the highest. The greatest tides do not happen till after the autumnal equinox, and return a little before the vernal. Their motion is more remarkable in the ocean than in small seas, and would continue for a great length of time though the sun and moon were to be annihilated. There is some little variation in the flux and reflux, which causes the tide of the succeeding day to be rather later than that of the preceding one; and they do not return at the same hour till the expiration of thirty days, the period of a lunation.

Thus we find the tides are affected by the changes of the

moon, and influenced by its power of attraction; the su also contributes to their production, and the combined action of these two luminaries furnish a complete solution of all the phenomena presented to us by the flux and reflux of the sea., The advantages arising from the tides are great; by their means, the streams of rivers being checked in their course to the sea, the bed of the river becomes deeper, and ships of the largest burden are enabled to sail up their channel with safety; vessels approaching bays wait for this increase of water, and then enter in security: aided too, by the tides, they sail up rivers against their natural course, and carry the means of plenty and abundance into the interior of countries. Another great advantage in the tides is, that by their means the waters of the ocean continually roll to and fro, and are thus preserved fresh and free from putridity and stagnation; for though frequently agitated by winds, and often perturbed by a storm, the waves would soon recover from such partial interruption, and regain a state of calm, were it not for the continued flux and reflux of the tides. From this ebbing and flowing of the sea we may call to mind the fluctuation of life, which increases to a certain height and then declines. Every thing in this state of probation is fluctuating and of uncertain tenure; no joy, no pleasure is permanent; the gayest moments of happiness, the hours of mirth and of festivity, suddenly depart; and man, in the dispondency of his heart, feels the misery of his existence, and sighs for a state of purity and of happiness, where the troubles, the eares, and the sorrows which here affliet and render comfortless his being, can never intrude to disturb his felicity, or molest his repose. Let us then, by the integrity of our conduct, the propriety of our actious, and the humanity of our hearts, merit the reward of a hope-inspiring certainty of obtaining such a happy abode, to cheer us on our way through this dreary pilgrimage: and when anxious and ready to faint, to gladden our souls with some bright gleams of the heavenly regions, where bliss, and ecstacy, and perfect felicity, for ever dwell.