INTRODUCTION. ky 
that might seem to us the feeblest, work out the most 
astonishing results. Great advantage would redound to us 
from this study of Natural History, were we more diligently 
to cultivate the habit of seeing the goodness and wisdom 
and power of God in the works of his hands. It 1s not 
enough that we admire beauty and exquisite workmanship, 
and astonishing results: we should seek habitually to behold 
not only the wisdom and power of God in these beautiful 
works, but the great kindness of our Heavenly Father in 
evidently caring so much for the happiness of the various 
creatures he has formed. 
Williams, in his ‘ Missionary Enterprises,’ when about 
to give an account of some of the coral reefs and islands of 
the South Seas, says:—‘The great object for which all 
knowledge should be sought, and for which it ought to be 
employed, is to illustrate the wisdom or goodness of the 
great and beneficent Creator. And if we come to the study 
of natural phenomena with minds unchilled by scepticism 
or infidelity, we shall be led to sublime religious contempla- 
tions; and whether we examine the little coral insect of the 
ocean, or gaze upon the gigantic beast of the forest ; whether 
we study the little glow-worm which twinkles upon the 
bank, or the celestial luminaries performing their appointed 
