fering from one another, but each possessing charms sufficient to engage our attention. There we see innumerable flowers diffusing their sweetness to the air, that softly kisses their blushing leaves; and here various creatures sporting wild, free from care. We look up, and a clear blue sky presents itself; beneath, the fresh verdure smiles: our ear is ravished with the tuneful notes of the winged songsters; their various and simple melody wraps our soul in joy, and sweet sensations fill our bosoms. The soft murmur ing of the distant brook, and the silver waves of a clear smooth stream gently gliding beneath the overhanging willows, lull our souls to ease, and nought but love and pleasure dwells in our unruffled breast.

Thirsty and fatigued, the modest strawberry offers us sweet refreshment; the gardens and fields fill our granaries with their fruits, and supply us with the most agreeable sustenance. The smell is gratified with the fragrance that every-where perfumes the air; and thousands of charming objects delight our senses, and call forth our sensibility. Numerous flccks and herds feed upon the bountiful profusion of nature, and furnish us with milk and nourishing aliment. Abundant showers fall to refresh the earth, and open to us new sources of blessings; smiling groves and tufted trees kindly shelter us from the sun's fervid beams; and every thing around us increases our pleasures and adds to our felicity. If the senses derive gratification from these luxuriant scenes, the mind is not less delighted. It discovers beauty, harmony, variety; and in every object traces the all-creating hand, the spring of life, and source of all good. Yes, admirable Being! we see thee in every creature: if we contemplate the Heavens, the Sun, the Moon, and each Star inform us that thou hast made them; all that we perceive through the medium of our senses leads us to thee, and thus our sensations become dignified and exalted, whilst our thoughts soar upward, and are lost in thy infinitude.

JUNE XXIV.

Sketch of the internal Parts of the Human Body.

THE more difficult it is to acquire a proper knowledge of the internal parts of the human body, the more necessary it is to profit by the labours of skilful anatomists. With the view of facilitating the knowledge of those parts, I shall here present the reader with a short description of them. The structure of the heart, the great spring of life and motion, first merits our attention. This viscus, situated in the chest, is composed of muscular fibres, curiously interwoven; two cavities, called ventricles, separated from each other by a partition, form the interior of this organ. Contiguous to the heart, within the chest, are the lungs, which alternately open and shut, when they receive or expel the air, something after the manner of a pair of bellows; they nearly fill the whole cavity of the chest, which is lined with a very fine membrane called the pleura.

The abdomen is separated from the chest by a muscle called diaphragm, and contains several viscera, the most important of which is the stomach, a membranous bag, which receives and digests the food. To the right of the stomach is the liver, which secretes bile from the blood, a part of which is received into a little bag attached to the liver, and called the gall-bladder; it is conveyed from thence into the intestines, and stimulates them to action. On the opposite side, and near the stomach, is situated the spleen, a spongy viscus of an oval figure, the use of which is not rightly understood. Beneath the

liver on one side and the spleen on the other are the kidneys, which secrete from the blood an aqueous fluid, afterwards conveyed to the bladder by two excretory ducts called ureters. In the lower parts of the abdomen are situated the intestines, a long mem

branous tube divided into small and large. In the small part, the alimentary matter which has passed through the stomach is converted into chyle, and the portion that remains unfit for nourishment is expelled by the lower and larger division of the tube. The intestines are connected with the mesentery, a membranous duplicature, which contains numerous fine vessels, called the lacteals, as they contain the chyle or milky fluid separated from the food. There are also numerous glands in this organ, called mesenteric glands; the lacteals enter these, and from thence proceed to the thoracic duct, or the tube which conveys the chyle into the blood. The whole internal surface of the abdomen is lined with a membrane called peritoneum, which covers all the viscera; and a fatty production of which, called omentum, lies on the superior surface of the intestines.

These are the principal viscera in the abdomen and chest; but there are several others connected with them. At the beginning of the neck is the oesophagus and the trachea. The oesophagus is the tube through which the food passes from the mouth into the stomach, and the trachea is the tube through which the air passes into the lungs; a small valve at its superior orifice, whilst it admits the passage of air, prevents that of any other fluid or substance, which, by its irritation in the lungs and air-vessels, would be the occasion of fatal consequences. There is a valve also placed in that orifice of the stomach which enters the intestines; it opens to suffer the food to pass, but prevents its returning.

Within the cranium or skull is situated the brain, enveloped in a very fine membrane full of bloodvessels, and called pia mater; a second membrane, much thicker and stronger, adheres to the internal surface of the cranium; and between these is a third membrane, so very delicate and transparent, as to be scarcely perceptible. Besides these parts, each of which has a determinate place, there are others which

are dispersed over the whole body, such as bones, arteries, veins, lymphatic vessels, muscles, and nerves. The bones are united together by joints, and serve to support the body, to render it capable of motion, and to preserve and protect the softer parts. Veins and arteries circulate the life-sustaining blood throughout the body. The nerves, of which ten principal pair are enumerated, are small white cords; they proceed from the brain, are distributed to every part of the body, and are the organs of sensation and motion. The whole body is full of pores, so small as to be imperceptible to the naked eye; and through these is continually exuding a subtle matter called the insensible perspiration. No less wisdom is manifested in the fluid than in the solid parts of the body. The blood, chyle, lymph, bile, marrow, and the different kinds of viscous and glutinous humours secreted by various glands; their different properties, their destination, effects, and the manner in which they are separated and prepared; their circulation and renovation; all bespeak the most astonishing art and the profoundest wisdom.

Let us now recapitulate all the excellencies of our structure. The bones, by their solidity and their joints, form the foundation of this beautiful superstructure; the ligaments are tendinous cords, which unite different parts together; the muscles are fleshy substances, which perform their functions like elastic springs; the nerves, which extend to the most distant parts of the body, communicate the power of sensation, and enable the different organs to perform their functions; whilst the arteries, and veins, like inexhaustible rivulets, pour the life-streams to every part. The centre of circulation is the heart, from and to which all the blood proceeds; and respiration is performed by means of the lungs. The stomach and intestines are the organs where the food undergoes those changes which are necessary for the support of life. The brain is the common centre from which

the nerves proceed to communicate sensation to the body, and enable the senses to receive the impressions which they convey to the soul.

Adorable Creator! how wonderfully hast thou formed us! Though the heavens, which so magnificently display thy glory, were not to exist, though I was the only being upon the face of the earth, the admirable structure. of my body alone would suffice to assure me of the immensity of thy power, and convince me of thy immeasurable wisdom! Let us then, as often as we meditate upon this wonderful organisation of our bodies, praise Him who has so formed us, and offer up our thanksgiving for his manifest goodness.

JUNE XXV.

Electricity.

FROM the numerous experiments which have been made upon the subject of electricity, no one can doubt the existence of a matter which, from its singular effects, has excited the attention of Europe for more than half a century. It appears that this fluid is equally diffused through all bodies, but is so extremely subtle that we cannot perceive it, and we only know it to be present from the effects it produces; when put in motion it rushes from one part to another to restore the interrupted equilibrium. It is necessary to distinguish two kinds of electric bodies; those in which the electric fluid may be excited by means of friction, and those which receive their electric power by communication with the former. The principal substances which compose the first class are glass, pitch, resin, sealing-wax, hair, silks, and air; to the second class belong water, metals, &c. Bodies of the first kind may be made capable of preserving the