182 PLEASURES DERIVED FROM THE SENSES. 



titude at the idea ; and though it is a task far beyond 

 my powers to point out the individual instances that 

 are daily before our eyes, yet I cannot resist mention- 

 ing a few of those sources of enjoyment that are be- 

 stowed upon ourselves, and which every person, who 

 is in the full possession of his senses, is capable of ap- 

 preciating. 



The pleasures of sight delight us from our earliest 

 years ; and the whole visible world seems formed to 

 gratify the eye. What beautiful effects are produced 

 by the combination of the seven primary coloiu-s, dis- 

 played in the various tribes of animals and vegetables 

 that surround us on all sides ! From these seven 

 colours proceed innumerable tints and shades of exqui- 

 site beauty and infinite variety. For our gratifica- 

 tion in this particular is consulted, not only by the 

 different hues of green with which nature distinguishes 

 the classes of trees and plants, but likewise by the 

 variety of hues displayed on the same individual plant : 

 the leaves are of one colour, whilst the stem or the 

 empalement is of another. In a similar manner, the 

 parts of the same animal are variously coloured. 

 Birds and insects excel in this respect ; especially the 

 latter. The wings of a butterfly, or the corselet of a 

 rase-fly, may probably exhibit the assemblage of 

 twenty colours, blended with the skill of an inimitable 

 artist. 



