vency of our piety exalt the goodness of God, and teach the infidel how great and worthy of admiration is that Deity which he professes to despise; and let the peaceful calm and purity of our minds teach the vicious man the beauty of holiness, and the mild and merciful nature of that God before whom he trembles. Let us act towards our fellow-creatures as God does to us, and be to them what the sun is to the whole universe. As he daily diffuses his benign influence over the earth; as he shines upon the ungrateful as upon the righteous; and as he gilds the bosom of the valley as well as the lofty summit of the mountain ; so let our lives be useful, beneficent, and consolatory to our fellow-creatures! May each returning day renew the charitable emotions of our heart, and may we do all the good in our power, and endeavour so to live and to act, that our lives shall be a blessing to mankind!

APRIL V.

Curious Structure of the Ear.

ALTHOUGH the ear is less beautiful than the eye, its conformation is as well adapted to its design, and it is equally admirable and worthy of the Creator. The position of the ear bespeaks much wisdom; for it is placed in the most convenient part of the body, near to the brain, the common seat of all the senses. The exterior form of the ear merits considerable attention; its substance is between the flexible softness of flesh and the firmness of bone, which prevents the inconvenience that would have arisen had it been either entirely muscular or wholly formed of solid bone. It is therefore cartilaginous, possessing firmness, folds, and smoothness, so adapted as to reflect sound; for the chief use of the external part is to

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collect the vibrations of the air, and transmit them to the orifice of the ear.

The internal structure of this organ is still more remarkable. Within the cavity of the ear is an opening, called the meatus auditorius, or auditory canal, the entrance to which is defended by small hairs, which prevent insects and small particles of extra, neous matter penetrating into it; for which purpose there is also secreted a bitter ceruminous matter, called ear-wax. The auditory canal is terminated obliquely by a membrane, generally known by the name of drum, which instrument it in some degree resembles; for within the cavity of the auditory canal is a kind of bony ring, over which the membrana tympani is stretched. In contact with this membrane, on the inner side, is a small bone, called malleus, or the hammer, against which it strikes when agitated by the vibrations of sound. Connected with these are two small muscles: one, by stretching the membrane, adapts it to be more easily acted upon by soft and low sounds; the other, by relaxing, prepares it for those which are very loud. Besides the malleus, there are some other very small and remarkable bones, called incus or the anvil, os orbiculare or orbicular bone, and the stapes or stirrup: their use is to assist in conveying the sounds received upon the membrana tympani. Behind the cavity of the drum is an opening, called the Eustachian tube, which begins at the back part of the mouth with an orifice, which diminishes in size as the tube passes towards the ear, where it becomes bony; by this means sounds may be conveyed to the ear through the mouth, and it facilitates the vibrations of the membrane by the admission of air. We may next observe the cochlea, which somewhat resembles the shell of a snail, whence its name; its cavity winds in a spiral direction, and is divided into two by a thin spiral lamina: and lastly is the auditory nerve, which terminates in the brain.

The faculty of hearing is worthy of the utmost admiration and attention: by putting in motion a very small portion of air, without even being conscious of its moving, we have the power of communicating to each other our thoughts, desires, and conceptions. But to render the action of air in the propagation of sound more intelligible, we must recollect that the air is not a solid but a fluid body. Throw a stone into a smooth stream of water, and there will take place undulations, which will be extended more or less according to the degree of force with which the stone was impelled. Conceive then that when a word is uttered in the air, a similar effect takes place in that element as is produced by the stone in the water. During the action of speaking, the air is expelled from the mouth with more or less force; this communicates an undulatory motion to the external air which it meets; and these undulations of the air entering the cavity of the ear, the external parts of which are peculiarly adapted to receive them, strike upon the tympanum or drum, by which means it is shaken, and receives a trembling motion: the vibration is communicated to the malleus, the bone immediately in contact with the membrane, and from it to the other bones; the last of which, the stapes or stirrup, adhering to the fenestra ovalis, or oval orifice, causes it to vibrate; the trembling of which is communicated to a portion of water contained in the cavity called the vestibulum, and in the semicircular canals, causing a gentle tremor in the nervous expansion contained therein, which is transmitted to the brain and the mind is thus informed of the presence of sound, and feels a sensation proportioned to the force or to the weakness of the impression that is made.

What great cause we have to rejoice in possessing the faculty of hearing; for without it our state would be most wretched and deplorable; in some respects more sorrowful than the loss of sight: had we been

born deaf, we could not have acquired knowledge sufficient to enable us to pursue any art or science! Let us never behold those who have the misfortune to be deaf without endeavouring better to estimate the gift of which they are deprived and which we enjoy, or without praising the goodness of God, which has granted it to us; and the best way we can testify our gratitude is to make a proper use of this important blessing.

APRIL VI.

The Milky Way.

If we observe the heavens during a clear night we discover a pale irregular light, and a number of stars, whose mingled rays form the luminous tract which is called the Milky Way, These stars are at too great a distance to be perceived by the naked eye; and amongst those which are visible with a telescope, there are spaces apparently filled with others in immense numbers, though not distinctly perceptible through a telescope. Though the number already discovered is prodigious, if we could make our observations from another side of the globe, nearer to the antarctic pole, we should be able to make still more discoveries, and see a number of stars which have never appeared upon our hemisphere; and yet we should not even then be able to discover the half, or the thousandth part, of those radiant bodies which shine in the immense firmament of heaven.

All the stars which we perceive in the milky way appear no more than so many luminous points, though each one may be much larger than the whole, terraqueous globe. If we use instruments of the utmost power, they never appear larger than when seen by the naked eye. Were an inhabitant of this earth to

ascend into the air one hundred and sixty millions of miles, the fixed stars would still appear no larger than luminous specks. Incredible as this assertion may appear, it is not a chimerical idea, but a fact which is effectively proved; for about the 10th of December we are more than one hundred and sixty millions of miles nearer the northern part of the heavens than we are on the 10th of June; and yet we never perceive any increase of magnitude in the stars.

The milky way, though little compared with the rest of the heavens, is amply sufficient to manifest the grandeur of the Supreme Being; and each one of the stars we there discover displays the wisdom and goodness of the Almighty. And what are these stars in comparison of the immense number of worlds revolving in the firmament of heaven? Reason herself is confounded in the contemplation, and lost in admiration; we can only wonder and adore.

Often then as we behold the starry sky, let us raise our souls to thee, O adorable Creator! and confess with shame how seldom we have thought of thee; how little we have reverenced thy grandeur or praised thy majesty! Pardon our insensibility, and forgive our ingratitude, O God! Loose these souls bound by earthly ties, and raise them to thyself, O Creator of heaven and earth! Suffer us to humble ourselves at thy feet, deeply convinced of our littleness and unworthiness! Then may we be comforted in our contrition with the glorious hope, that our redeemed souls will hereafter soar beyond the region of the stars in endless felicity!