370 Tlie General Subject, 



Devotion to Nature. — The Headland of Tarbet, which seemed " so 

 threatening overnight, now most desirably cuts us off from every connec- 

 tion with the low land. Nature, always lovely in detail, was now sublime 

 in her tout ensemble. Every thing about us proclaimed a power which 

 penetrated to the very centre of our being. Nature was here every thing, 

 man nothing, except as he was filled with the grandeur and wonders of 

 nature. The curtain of the world seemed withdrawn ; and, without any 

 formality of worship, our hearts paid a grateful homage to the Great 

 Architect who had prepared such a magnificent spectacle." {Letters from 

 the Highlands^ by W., in Scotsman^ April 16.) 



Classification. — First thoughts on most subjects are often right, because 

 they are the impulse of natural feeling ; succeeding thoughts are exercises 

 of reason, and are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. For a while man 

 is best pleased with his own systems, because he understands them best ; 

 afterwards he begins to discover something of the system of nature, and 

 ultimately he returns to his first feelings, and endeavours to cultivate them. 

 Thus, in the study of botany and zoology, the early authors arranged plants 

 and animals according to their more obvious appearances and resemblances ; 

 afterwards they had recourse to particular parts of individuals, as the flowers, 

 leaves, &c., of plants, and the teeth, feet, &c., of animals. After a great 

 number of such artificial systems have been tried, modern botanists and 

 zoologists have adopted what is called the natural system, or classification 

 according to the aggregate of resemblances, which is nothing more than a 

 return to the manner of looking at objects, and classing them, adopted 

 instinctively by every human being. — C. N. 



The Study of Natural History. — There are few studies better calculated 

 to expand the mind, and gratify our natural thirst of knowledge. The gra- 

 dation and inter-approxiraation of animal forms, amid whose countless vari- 

 ations a relation to a given standard can be traced, to one common and 

 original type; the intimate relation between organised beings and the 

 local circumstances by which they are surrounded ; the structure of pecu- 

 liar organs which necessitate a modification of all the others, and fix irre- 

 versibly the habits and mode of existence of the animal; the varieties 

 produced by accidental causes, and the grand and permanent distinctions, 

 whose preservation has been guarded by jealous nature with impassable 

 barriers ; the proportionate developement of the intellectual principle 

 following the varieties of organisation ; and, in fine, the astonishing re- 

 sults of that mysterious cause, which our ignorance has termed instinct : 

 all these are surely subjects of the highest interest, and constitute the essen- 

 tial province and peculiar charm of zoology. The writers who unfold them 

 are deserving of the gratitude and admiration of mankind, as much as those 

 who employ themselves in disguising and degrading the science, by a caco- 

 phonous nomenclature, and a parade of barbarous Latinity which fools think 

 learning, are entitled to reprobation and contempt. There are many such 

 in France, and some among ourselves, great men in their little circles ; they 

 do well to make the most of this ; for they may rest assured, that however 

 highly they may rank in their own estimation, or in that of their coteries, 

 the world neither knows nor cares any thing about them. {Athenceum, 

 April 8. p. 341.) 



Spontaneous Organisation of Matter. — We have before (p. 65.) stated 

 the opinion of M. Bory on this subject. M. Dutrochet has endeavoured to 

 show that the green- matter floating about in stagnant waters, as well as the 

 microscopical animalcula found in water in the summer season, is nothing 

 more than gelatinous matter, altogether inanimate, but influenced by electri- 

 cal currents. With respect to the green matter, J. Rennie, in the Verulam, 

 says, " we are certain of the fact, that the green matter which forms on 

 stagnant water is precisely the same with that which forms on walls of 

 stone, brick, or cement ; and that it is not related to Byssi and Confervas 



