1^2 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



themfelves, in mountains of fnow, on the inacccf- 

 fible fummits of the Andes, to cool, by their efFu- 

 fions, the Continent of South-America, and, by 

 their icy Atmofphere, the vaft expanfe of the Pa- 

 cific Ocean. In a word, mighty rivers flowed over 

 regions where the rain never defcends, and the 

 Nile watered the plains of Egypt. 



Then GOD faid : " Let the Earth bring forth 

 " grafs, the herb yielding feed, and the fruit-tree 

 " yielding fruit after his kind, whofe feed is in itfelf 

 " upon the Earth." At the voice of the All-Mighty, 

 the vegetables appeared with organs perfectly fit- 

 ted to collect the bleffings of Heaven. The elm 

 arofe on the mountains which ikirt the Tanaïs, 

 clothed with leaves in form of a tongue ; the 

 tufted box flarted from the brow of the Alps ; and 

 the prickly caper-tree from the rocks of Africa, 

 with leaves hollowed into fpoons. The pines on 

 the fandy Norwegian hills attracted the vapours 

 which were floating in the air, with their Aim fo- 

 liage, difpofed like a Painter's pencil ; the ver- 

 bafcum difplayed it's broad leaves on the parched 

 fand, and the fern prefented, on the hill, it's fan- 

 like foliage to the rainy and horizontal winds. A 

 multitude of other plants, from the bofom of the 

 rocks, from flrata of flint, nay, even from marble 

 incrustations, drunk in the waters of Heaven by 

 cornets, by fandals, and by cruets. From the cedar 



of 



