WITH THE PUCERONS. 218 
knew it had nothing to hope for by re- 
maining there, quitted it fora fifth, from 
whom it obtained its expected supply. 
It now returned, perfectly contented, to 
its nest.* A small number of such re- 
* The more we contemplate the works of nature, 
and observe the means she employs in her ordinary 
operations, the more will our admiration be excited. 
Who, for one moment, could suppose, that, as in 
the instance before us, what is used as food by one 
animal, should, on its passage through the body, 
become the food of another, and thus discharge a 
double office! Who could suppose that excremen- 
titious matter, of whatever kind, after supporting 
myriads of living beings, should, on undergoing 
decomposition, and being separated into its primary 
elements, enter into those several combinatious, 
that diffuse a charming variety around us! How 
wise is this provision! how admirable this contri- 
vance! Were it otherwise, we should be perpetually 
breathing an atmosphere, charged with noisome 
effluvia, and living in the very charnel-house of 
destruction. In the hands of nature nothing is 
lost ; all is life and activity: even the death of one 
being, is but a commencement of the existence of 
another. Vapours raised from the sea, and floating 
in the upper regions of the air, collect into clouds ; 
these, on a reduction of temperature, yield their 
contents to the thirsty earth: the waters, after ful- 
filling their appointed office, pass from the moun- 
tains by a thousand rills, into the plains; here, by 
