was converted into elements, and the starry spheres began to move through the heavens ?* JANUARY XIII. Discoveries which have been made by the Microscope. THE wonders of nature are displayed in the minutest as well as in the largest objects; whether we consider the structure of the mite, or that of the towering elephant, we shall find her alike excellent; she has formed them both with the same degree of propriety of construction. It is our senses which are not sufficiently acute to perceive the organization of very small bodies, which often escape our observation, unless we have recourse to foreign assistance. The microscope has opened to us a new world of insects and vegetables; it has shown us, that objects, invisible to the naked eye, exist, having figure, extension, and different parts: some examples of which we shall produce, that we may have more causes to admire and praise the wisdom of God. Every grain of sand, when examined by the naked eye appears round, but with the help of a glass we observe each grain differ from the other, both in size and in figure: some of them are perfectly round, others square, some conical, and the major part of an irregular form. What is still more astonishing, by microscopes, which magnify objects millions of times more than their natural size, we can discover, in the grains of sand, a new animal world; for within their cavities dwell various insects. In cheese are found innumerable animalculæ, called mites, which to the naked eye appear as points, whilst seen through a microscope they are found to be insects of a very singular form and structure; they have not only a mouth, eyes, and feet, but their transparent body is covered with long hairs, sharp, and formed like needles.† In the vegetable kingdom * As the above account differs from the original more than even a liberal translation will authorize, it is right to state, that considerable errors were found, and had been continued by the preceding translators; to correct which in the present edition, the works of Newton, of Ferguson, and of Euler, have been consulted.--E. The view of a frog through a solar microscope is strikingly beauti we are presented with a thick forest of trees and plants bearing leaves, branches, flowers, and fruits; the rudiments of all which beautiful objects were once hidden beneath the mold: little as we should have expected to find these in such a bed, as little should we have supposed the dust upon the wings of a butterfly to be minute feathers, or the bloom of a peach to be a collection of insects, had not the microscope furnished us with this intelligence. Thus we see the power of God is great in those things which ignorance makes us regard as minute; for however small the minutest animalcule appears to us, we have reason to believe there are objects which appear to it as small as it does to us. By the view which we have just been taking, we shall also find the subjects of nature to be much more numerous than we had imagined. Though we are acquainted with many thousand species of plants and insects, how many more are there yet hidden from our researches ! If we could explore the vast abyss of the sea, or search the bottom of rivers, penetrate within the numerous forests, at present the haunt of savages and reptiles, what additions. should we not make to our present limited collection, and find new causes to admire the wonderful works of God! JANUARY XIV. Advantages of Night. WHEN the sun hath withdrawn his friendly light from us, and darkness has obscured the face of nature, we are doubtless deprived of some pleasures. Nevertheless we have no cause to complain of this arrangement. As the mixture of pleasure and pain, the alternation of good and evil, are wisely ordered; so also we must acknowledge the wisdom ful; from the transparency of its skin, the blood is seen to circulate in the vessels in a manner indescribably wonderful and brilliant. The physiologist is likewise indebted to the microscope for his more intimate knowledge of the red particles of the blood; but, owing to a difference of glasses, or some imperfection in the optic nerve, there is yet a dispute whether they are perfectly globular, or circular as to circunference with a plane superficies, in the manner of a flat shilling.E. and goodness of God in the remarkable variation which is observed in our climate; and we must allow that the seeming inconveniences of the winter nights are compensated by a thousand advantages. Without an occasional privation of sunshine, should we be so well convinced of its great comfort and utility? Let each returning night recall to our minds the goodness of God, who, for the benefit of mankind, has diffused light and beauty over the face of the earth; let us reflect upon our miserable condition, if each succeeding morn did not ensure the continuance of light. Is not darkness itself, at certain intervals, pleasing, by inviting us to repose and tranquillity under the sweet influence of sleep? How many labourers consume their days and exhaust their strength in toiling for our services, whose work is often attended with disagreeable and painful sensations; to these night is welcome, and they hail the approaching evening with joy, when, free from the unrelenting frowns of a hard master, or the cries of their feeble and helpless children, they may sink down to rest, and enjoy a sweet oblivion of their cares. When night has spread her sable mantle over the earth, all the little bubbles which so agitated man during the day cease to disturb him; all his emotions of envy, of jealousy, of pride, and of malignity, yield to the drowsy influence; all his sorrows, his doubts, and his perplexities, for a time, are suspended stretched on his couch, he only wishes for sleep; his eyelids once safely sealed, the monarch, encanopied with purple, is no more than the beggar nestling in his straw. What then do we not owe to the Supreme Being who thus has provided for the good of his creatures; who has appointed a time when the weary shall rest, and the oppressed shall be relieved; when millions of human beings, condemned by necessity to drag on a wretched existence, employed in hard tasks and painful toils, or who groan beneath the yoke of slavery, have their allotted hour of ease and freedom: which their cares and their sorrows may sink into soft repose; when the weary traveller shall lie down, and the exhausted |