Picture of Organised Nature* 



345 



the 30° and 40° N. L. from the meridian, or centre of the 

 picture {a a) ; and Mount Etna, a small part of which is above 

 the summit of the snow line, is shown in 37° N. L. {Jig. 103. k), 

 with a part of the Mediterranean Sea at its base {fig, 103. /). To 

 preserve a sort of harmony in the appearance of the picture, 

 a line {eaaf) is drawn to represent the boundary of organic 



life in the depths of the ocean. " Whether in the sea there 

 be depths where no creature is able to live, or whether a 

 boundary be assigned to organic life within those depths, can- 

 not be ascertained. It, however, clearly appears from the 

 observations made by Biot, and other naturalists, that fishes, 

 according to their different dispositions, live in different depths 

 of the ocean." Curved lines parallel to this line of depth are 

 drawn, to correspond with the parallels on the Iand> which 

 are drawn to coincide with the snow line ; but it is evident 

 they must be almost entirely imaginary. 



As the equator appears to be the centre of organic vigour, 

 from which the vivifying principle of heat extends to all parts 

 of the organic world, so lines are drawn from an imaginary 

 point im) representing the equator, and on these lines the 

 natural orders of plants and animals are marked ; the lines 

 being thickened ( x ) where the order is supposed to be most 

 abundant. These lines being supposed movable, like the 

 radii of a circle, are intended to point out by the space they 

 would traverse in their imaginary motion, the district withii\ 



Vol. II. — No. 9. 



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