OCTOBER XIV.

Variety of Trees.

THE great diversity which is seen in all the productions of the vegetable kingdom may also be observed amongst trees. Some, as the oak, are remarkable for their strength and duration; others, as the elm and fir, are tall and slender; and others, as the thorn and box-tree, never attain any great height. Some are knotty, with a rough bark; while others are smooth and fine, as the maple, the poplar, and the birch. Some are used to adorn the apartments of the rich, whilst others are employed in common and necessary purposes. Some are so delicate, that the least wind overturns them; and others unmoved resist the violence of the northern blast. Some of them grow to an extraordinary height and thickness, and each year, for more than a century, has contributed to their size; others acquire their full growth in a very: few years. Pliny admired those great trees out of whose bark they constructed boats capable of containing thirty people: what, then, would he have said of those trees of Congo, which, when hollowed, form boats which will hold two hundred persons? or of those trees which, according to the accounts of travellers, are eleven feet in diameter, and upon which they can carry from 40 to 50,000lbs. weight? There is one of this kind in Malabar, which is said to be fifty feet in circumference. Such is the cocoa-tree: it is a species of palm, and the leaves of some of them are so large that they will cover twenty people. The tallipot, a tree which grows in the island of Ceylon, and in height resembles the mast of a ship, is also remarkable for its leaves, which are so large, that it is said one of them alone will shelter twenty men from the rain: they are so pliant when dry, that they may be folded up like fans, In which state they are extremely

than a man's arm. There are still

ht, and not thicker

be son mount which are said to be

Lebanon twenty-three ancient cedars, ante-diluvian. A naturalist who has seen them asserts, that ten men could not embrace one of those cedars; they must

consequently be from thirty to thirty-six feet in circumfer ence. The gum-trees in the American islands are generally twenty-six feet in circumference; from which we may conjecture, that the cedars of Lebanon are not so old as is reported, though it is well known that many trees attain a very great age. There are apple-trees a thousand years old.

This great diversity of trees may remind us of the varieties which we find amongst men, as to their occupations in life, their talents, modes of thinking, and the services they perform. As there is no well-formed tree in the forest that is not of some use to its owner, so there is no person in society who may not be useful in the profession which he follows. One man resembles the oak in his firmness and unbending constancy; another compensates this want of strength by complaisance and address; he is all things to all men, flexible as the willow, bowing to every breath. The man of integrity will only comply with what is just and innocent; but he who regards with indifference laws human and divine, will always coincide with that party which is the strongest, without troubling himself which side is in the right.

sun.

However different trees are from each other, they all belong to the Governor of the universe, are nourished by the same earth, refreshed by the rains, and cheered by the same Would to heaven that all men, whatever diversity there is among them, would unite to acknowledge that they are all alike the creatures of God, equally the subjects of his power, and the objects of his parental solicitude; that they owe to him all their nourishment and preservation, and to him are indebted for those faculties which distinguish them above all the creatures of the earth. The cedar rising majestically upon mount Lebanon, and the bramble creeping at its feet, are alike nourished by the juices of the earth and the rains of heaven. The Divine protection is also as necessary to the rich as to the poor. Men, in the most elevated and exalted ranks of society, ought always to remember that it is to God they owe all their grandeur, that they only enjoy it through his permission, and that one moment may see them over

turned from their lofty seats, and mingling with their native dust. Such thoughts as these would tend to repress these emotions of pride which are too apt to possess their hearts, and would inspire them with that submission and obedience, which is due to the Author and Conservator of their being.

OCTOBER XV.

Temperature in different Climates of the Earth.

AT first view it would appear that the temperature of countries depends upon their relative position to the sun, since his rays fall upon the places in the same degree of latitude in a similar manner. But experience teaches us that cold, heat, and all variations of temperature, depend upon many other circumstances. The seasons may be very different in places under the same parallel, and they are sometimes alike in very different climates. As then accidental causes may make the heat very different in the same latitude, and since it is not always such as from the distance of the sun we might expect, it is difficult to determine precisely the seasons and temperature of every country.

The vicinage of the sea renders the climate milder, of which England and the coasts of Norway are undoubted proofs. The sea may sometimes be frozen near the shore, when the influx of fresh water is great; but this does not take place at any great distance from land, both on account of the quantity of salt contained in the sea, and its continual agitation. Thus, the sea never being cooled down to the freezing point during the winter, the adjacent countries enjoy a milder temperature. The more a place is elevated above the surface of the sea, the greater is its degree of cold. The air is not only more rare, and colder, but the greatest part of the heat caused by the reflection of the sun's rays by the earth does not fall upon high hills, but remains in the plains, and in these the heat is always the greatest. Quito is almost under the line, but from its great elevation, the heat is very moderate; such countries have generally a light and serene air, and a pretty equal temperature.

High mountains attract the clouds; hence it happens, that rain and storms are more frequent in mountainous countries than in other places; and it has been observed, that it seldom rains in the deserts of Arabia. Countries which abound in extensive forests are generally cold; the ice melts there more slowly during the winter, because the shade of the trees impedes the action of the sun's rays. The ice cools the superior portion of the air, and thus retards the thaw.

In warm climates also the heat is rendered more temperate by the days there not being very long, and the sun not continuing a great while above the horizon. In colder countries the days in summer are very long, which occasions the heat to be greater. The serenity of the sky, the clear light of the moon, and the continuance of twilight, render long nights very supportable. In the torrid zone the seasons are not distinguished so much by summer and winter as by dry, moist, or rainy weather: for when it ought to be summer, or when the sun rises to its greatest height above the horizon, and his rays fall in the most direct manner possible, the rains set in, and continue for a longer or a shorter time. In these countries, the most pleasant season is that in which the sun is at his least elevation. In the countries beyond, the weather is more uncertain than in those within the tropics. In spring and autumn the winds are most prevalent. In winter the earth is frozen more or less deep, though seldom in our climate beyond three feet; in more northerly climates it freezes much deeper, and only thaws a few feet during the summer.

In all these arrangements the operation of admirable wisdom and goodness is manifest. In thus regulating the seasons and the temperature of different countries, the Creator has rendered every part of the earth fit to be inhabited by living creatures. The inhabitants of the most remote regions enjoy as much felicity as is consistent with their nature: every country has advantages and disadvantages, which so nearly balance each other, that it is difficult to determine which country deserves the preference; and there is no one

place on the surface of the globe where the bounty of God is not manifested. From our climate to the most distant zones his goodness is every where displayed. All the inhabitants of the universe experience his paternal love. None of his creatures are forgotten. All that breathe derive from him life, nourishment, joy, and happiness.

OCTOBER XVI.

Atmosphere of the Earth.

THE air with which the earth is surrounded is not so pure and subtile as the ether, being impregnated with a multitude of particles and exhalations which are continually detached from the earth and the waters. The air thus blended forms the atmosphere. Its inferior region, or that which is next the earth, is compressed by the superior stratum of air, and is consequently more dense. The proof of this is ascertained by those people who ascend high mountains: their respiration becomes more painful and difficult in proportion to their ascent. It is impossible to determine the exact height of the atmosphere, because we cannot ascend very high, in the air; neither can it be inferred with certainty, from the duration of twilight, how far the mass of air extends. Granting that the morning twilight begins and that of the evening terminates when the sun is eighteen degrees below the horizon, and that the latter twilight is produced by the rays which strike upon the earth and are reflected by the most elevated parts of the atmosphere, many difficulties will yet remain to be explained. However this may be, the atmosphere is divided into three regions. The lower region extends from the earth to that place where the air is no longer heated by the rays reflected from the earth. This region is the warmest. The middle region begins where the preceding one terminates, and reaches to the summit of the highest mountains, or even to the most elevated clouds, and is the place where rain, hail, and snow are formed. This region is much colder than the lower one, for it is only