tate themselves in cataracts, and increase by the union of different streams. Thus God preserves in the kingdom of nature that continual circulation which contributes to the fertility of the earth, the salubrity of our dwellings, and the evacuation of water, where too great abundance would be prejudicial to us.

NOVEMBER XV.

Hair of the Head.

If we examine the curious structure and various uses of the hair which covers and adorns our heads, we shall find it well worthy of our attention, and discover in it evident proofs of the wisdom and power of God.

Each hair appears to the naked eye an oblong slender filament, with a bulb at the extremity thicker and more transparent than the rest of the hair. The filament forms the body of the hair, and the bulb the root. The large hairs have their roots, and even part of the filament, enclosed in a small membraneous vessel, or capsule. The size of this sheath is proportionate to the size of the root, being always rather larger, that the root may not be too much confined, and that some space may remain between it and the capsule. The root or bulb has two parts; the one external, the other internal. The external is a pellicle composed of small laminæ; the internal is a glutinous fluid, in which some fibres are united; it is the marrow of the root. From the external part of the bulb proceed five, and sometimes, though rarely, six small white threads, very delicate and transparent, and often twice as long as the root. Besides these threads, small knots are seen rising in different places; they are viscous, and easily dissolved by heat. From the interior part of the bulb proceeds the body of the hair, composed of three parts; the external sheath, the interior tubes, and the marrow.

When the hair has arrived at the pore of the skin through which it is to pass, it is strongly enveloped by the pellicle of the root, which forms here a very small tube. The hair

then pushes the cuticle before it, and makes of it an external sheath, which defends it at the time when it is still very soft. The rest of the covering of the hair is a peculiar substance, and particularly transparent at the point. In a young hair this sheath is very soft; but in time becomes so hard and elastic, that it springs back with some noise when it is cut. It preserves the hair a long time. Immediately beneath the sheath are several small fibres which extend themselves along the hair from the root to the extremity. These are united amongst themselves, and with the sheath which is common to them, by several elastic threads; and these bundles of fibres form together a tube filled with two substances, the one fluid, the other solid; and these constitute the marrow of the hair.

An attentive observer of the works of God must acknowledge, that his wisdom is displayed in the structure of a hair, as well as in the other parts of the human body. Thus, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, there is nothing in man that does not denote the perfection of his Creator. Even those parts which appear the least considerable, those which might be the easiest dispensed with, become important, if we consider them in their relation with the other members of the body, or if we examine their wonderful structure and destination. This particularly is the case with the hair. Yet there are many people who do not think it is worthy of their attention, and who do not imagine that any traces of the wisdom and goodness of God can be discovered in its formation. But, independent of the genera principle, that there is no part of our body which is not useful, or without design, it is very easy to assure ourselves of the wise ends for which hair has been given to us. In the first place, it contributes very much to the beauty of the countenance; and perhaps this is its least use. It preserves the head from the effects of cold and wet, and promotes an insensible evacuation of superfluous humours from the body. Besides these, it may be useful in many other ways; and though we may not be acquainted with them all, we know

enough to find great cause to admire and adore the wisdom, power, and goodness of our heavenly Creator in this as well as in every other part of our structure.

NOVEMBER XVI.

System of the World.

FROM the consideration of the earth, which hitherto has principally occupied our attention, let us elevate our thoughts to those innumerable worlds, compared with which this globe, which we and so many creatures inhabit, is but a point and a speck in the vast system of the universe. Let us examine, meditate, and adore.

In a preceding reflection we described the solar system, the revolution of the earth, and the course of the planets. To meditate upon the heavenly bodies, investigate their motion, order, and arrangement; to observe their magnificence, number, harmony, and beauty, fills the mind with the most sublime ideas of the Creator. We feel our own littleness, and bow, with awful reverence and devout humiliation, before that ineffable Being, whose throne is the starry heavens, and who, though surrounded by myriads of angels and cherubims, deigns, through the glory of numerous suns, to look down with compassion upon the sufferings of human nature, and cheer the heart of man with Divine consolation. Glory be to God the Father, and the Son, for ever and ever!*

NOVEMBER XVII.

Lobsters.

LOBSTERS would be very deserving of our attention, even if they were of no use to us as an article of food. The females. of these crustaceous animals, a little before this period of the year, undergo a great change. They cast off their old

The translator has ventured to differ from the original very materially in the above reflection, which too nearly resembles one already written to be repeated, and must have escaped the author's attention.

coverings, and acquire new ones: in thus changing their covering, they at the same time increase in size; and this manner of growing is peculiar to all crustaceous animals, which augment in bulk every time they throw off their old shells; and the operation is very painful. At the time of their change, their stomach is also renewed; for both it and the intestines are then detached from the body: they gradually dissipate, and it would appear that the animal, during that change, fed upon the parts which before were subservient to digestion. The small white and round stones, which are improperly called crab's eyes, begin to form when the stomach is destroyed, and are afterward enveloped in the new one, where they continually diminish in size, till at length they entirely disappear. There is reason to believe that the animal makes use of them as a remedy against the disease of its stomach, or that perhaps they are the receptacle which supplies the matter which they use to repair the loss of their shells.

Except at the time when they cast their shells, these animals keep at the bottom of the water, at a little distance from the shore. In winter they prefer the bottom of deep water, but in summer approach nearer the shore, if the want of food does not oblige them to plunge deeper in the sea. To enable them more easily to seize their prey, nature has given them several arms and legs. Some of their claws at times are as large as the head and trunk taken together. They also possess the singular property of producing their claws and horns, when they have been broken; they can even get rid of them when they are troublesome. They can perform this operation in any posture; but it is more easily effected when they lie on their backs, and the shell is broken, and the flesh bruised with strong pincers at the third or fourth joint of the claw. Immediately after the wound, the animal bleeds; the pain causes a general shaking of the limb, and soon afterward the wounded part detaches itself suddenly from the body. When the claw has been broken, a gelatinous substance oozes out, and staunches the blood;

and if this was taken away, the animal would bleed to death. This gelatinous matter envelopes the rudiments of the new limb, which at first appears only like an excrescence, or small cone; and gradually becoming longer, takes the form of a limb, thus replacing the old one.

The manner in which these animals are propagated is very singular. The male carries the prolific matter in a very long thread. What chiefly distinguishes it is a double hook under the tail, which is not observable in the female. These animals are impregnated about autumn; and if at that time a female lobster is opened, the evidences of impregnation are perceived by the presence of several red clots. These gradually disappear and under the tail, where the female has several little fibres, small round eggs are seen, resembling hemp-seed. The first eggs are visible in December, and soon amount to more than a hundred. As the warmth of the air increases, they grow larger, and before Midsummer small live lobsters are found amongst the eggs, of the size of an ant, and which remaining attached to the fibres, under the mother's tail, are fostered there till all the eggs are hatched. They then detach themselves from these fibres, and clinging to those of the roots of trees and herbs, which grow in the water near the shore, they there remain enveloped, till they are sufficiently large and strong to abandon themselves to the

waves.

The lobster may justly be regarded as one of the most extraordinary creatures that exists on the earth. An animal, whose skin is a stone, which it casts off every year, and receives a new covering; an animal, whose flesh is in its tail and feet, and its hair within its breast; whose stomach is in its head, and is yearly renewed, whilst the first function of the new stomach is to digest the old one; an animal, that carries its eggs in the interior of the body while they are unimpregnated, but when that operation has taken place carries them externally under its tail; an animal, with two stones in its stomach, which are there engendered, and receive their growth, and upon which it feeds till they are consumed; an