of the great chain of animal nature, claim our attention, and are worthy of our observation. They supply various birds with food, and afford a very useful example of industry, whilst their parental affection for their little ones is highly worthy of imitation. Thus we still find that every work of God is excellent and worthy of our admiration, however insignificant or injurious, upon a superficial examination, they may appear. "The supreme Creator, by whom all things exist, has created nothing without design, nothing that has not its particular use and destination. The trees have not a leaf, the fields a single blade of glass, nor the flowers a stamen, that is useless.' JULY X. HAIL is nothing more than drops of rain, which, being congealed in the air, fall in a spherical, oblong, or angular form. Should it seem strange that vapours freeze in the atmosphere during the warmest season of the year, we must consider that even at the time of the greatest heat, the upper region of the atmosphere is very cold. If this were not the case, how could the highest mountains remain covered with snow during the summer? In the hottest regions of America it is so cold on the top of very high mountains that there is a danger of being frozen, if any one is so adventurous as to climb their lofty summits; and we should have snow in the middle of summer, if it did not melt during its fall before it arrived at the ground. When the particles of snow unite, the drops being to congeal; and as during their descent they pass suddenly through warmer regions of air, before the increase of temperature has had time to operate, they are completely frozen. It might on the contrary be supposed, that the cold would diminish in proportion as they pass through warmer air; but what takes place in winter, when cold water which has been exposed to the open air is brought into a warm room? It freezes and becomes ice, which would not have been the case if it had been taken into a cold room And this is exactly the case with hail; when cold bodies suddenly pass int a warm medium, their cold augments to such a degree that they are converted into ice. Saline particles diffused through the atmosphere contribute to this effect: hence we must not be surprised that storms are not always accompanied with hail; for to produce it, a quantity of saline vapours is necessary to occasion the drops of water to freeze more instantaneously. Though hail is most frequent in summer, it falls also in the other seasons; for as saline exhalations exist in every season of the year, there may be hail in winter, spring, or autumn, as well as in summer. The size and form of hail are not always alike: hail-stones are sometimes round, at others concave and half-spherical, and often conical and angular; their usual size is that of small shot, though sometimes they are much larger. This difference in their figure and bulk may depend upon accidental causes, such as winds, especially those which are boisterous and a particle of hail may meet in its fall with substances with which it unites, and thus its volume become increased; and sometimes several small particles unite and form one large hail-stone. When the hail is of a very large size, it often causes immense damage to the harvest, fruits, vines, and buildings. But this by no means entitles us to consider it as a curse or a judgment of God; for if the violence of this meteor sometimes lays waste our fields and breaks our windows, the ravages it occasions are nothing in comparison of the advantages which it produces. It cools the air during the fervent summer heats, and when it dissolves fertilizes the earth: hence we have no reason to fear its falling from the clouds, but should rather consider its beneficial consequences, and glorify that heavenly Being who, in the midst of hail and of storms, still worketh our good, and provideth for our felicity. JULY XI. The Utility of Storms. We ought always to consider the phenomena of nature in such a light as to impress upon our minds the wisdom and goodness of God; and this duty is the more indispensable, because it is often neglected by inattentive, ignorant, and ungrateful people. It is true that God sometimes makes use of natural phenomena to punish the sins of man; but these particular instances do not disprove that he always proposes and has in view the general welfare of all; and of this, nature furnishes us with abundant examples and incontestible proofs. In this day's reflection we will confine our attention to a single phenomenon, which is particularly suited to convince us of the above proposition, and upon which our ideas ought to be very clear. Are not the greater part of mankind accustomed from early infancy to pronounce the words thunder and lightning with terror? Such is our injustice, that we only think of the extremely rare cases in which storms are fatal to a very small part of the universe; whilst we shut our eyes to the great advantages which result from them to the totality of mankind. We are not able to enumerate all the benefits we derive from storms; but the few that we are acquainted with will suffice to fill our hearts with gratitude for our heavenly benefactor. Let us present to our minds the idea of an atmosphere charged with noxious and pestilential vapours, which become more and more dense by the continual evaporation from earthly substances, of which many are putrescent and poisonous: this air we are under the necessity of breathing; the preservation or the destruction of our existence depends upon it; and thus the salubrity or insalubrity of the air dispenses life or death. Most of us have experienced a state of great oppression and languor during the stifling heat of summer; when our respiration is difficult, and we labour under great uneasiness and anxiety. Must it not then be considered ر as a great blessing of God, and deserving of our warmest gratitude, that a salutary storm arises and purifies the air of its noxious properties; kindles the sulphureous particles, and thus prevents their dangerous effects; cools the air, and by restoring its elasticity facilitates respiration. Without an occasional storm the impure exhalations would be more and more increased and prejudicial; animals would perish by thousands, and an universal plague would desolate the earth. Which then is the most rational, to rejoice or repine at the presence of storms? To murmur at the slight damage they sometimes occasion, or to bless the Almighty for the precious advantages they procure to the world? Besides, not only men and animals derive much benefit from the atmosphere being purified from its noxious vapours, but it is also highly advantageous to vegetables. Experience The saline teaches us that the rain which falls during a thunder-storm is productive of the greatest fertility to the earth. and sulphureous particles which fill the atmosphere during a storm are drawn down by the rain, and become an excellent source of nourishment to plants; to say nothing of the immense multitude of little worms, seeds, and insects, which are forced into the earth by the rain, and which by the assistance of a microscope may be easily discovered in the drops of water. Reflections like these may perhaps tend to moderate the excessive fear some people have of thunder, a fear which denotes the little confidence they place in God. Instead of suffering a storm to possess our minds with terrific and fearful ideas, let us rather accustom ourselves to consider it as an object of grandeur and sublimity; instead of regarding the accidents caused by thunder, let us only observe the necessity and great utility of storms; and, instead of praying the Almighty to withhold the tempest, let us beseech him to suffer it from time to time to descend upon the earth, or let us rather entirely rely upon the mercy and goodness of Him who rules over the universe in wisdom, and knows what is best for us Every time the storm shall lower, and the thunder peal, let us say from our hearts, in the fulness of our confidence: Almighty God! it is thou who commandest the elements, and directest the lightning; we are in thy hands; thou alone canst save; thou alone canst destroy. At thy word the storm shall desolate our fields, or make them fruitful. Thou alone art great, and thy power is inexpressible: but we are thy weak and helpless children, and thou art to us a father of mercy and of love: and when thy voice is heard in thunder, and thy countenance seen in the winged lightning, it is still for our good. Blessed for ever be thy holy name; let all the ends of the earth raise one universal Hallelujah, the music of which shall be heard in heaven! JULY XII. Of the Earth, and its primitive Constitution. THE earth is so constituted, as to be fit for the production and growth of herbs, plants, and trees. It is sufficiently compact for vegetables to grow in it, so firm that the wind does not blow them down; and yet it is so light and moveable that plants may put forth their roots in it, and attract humidity and nutritive juices. When even the surface of the earth is dry and parched, its lightness facilitates the rising of the juices in the capillary vessels to provide plants with their necessary support. Besides this, the earth is full of different kinds of juices, which tend to promote the growth of plants: and that every species of vegetables may flourish, we find there are different sorts of earth, which answer different purposes such as potters' earth, argillaceous, calcareous, &c. Some are used to make bricks, others to construct buildings, and form earthenware and porcelain, and some are used to dye colours, and for medicine.* The inequalities on the earth's surface are of great utility: many plants and animals inhabit the mountains; and The different earths at present known are ten: barytes, strontian, lime, magnesia, alumnia, yttria, glucina, zirconia, agustina, and silica.-.-E. |