CONCLUSION. 301 
effect its object, and a goodness which makes life 
in all its forms a blessing, are the characters which 
in this, as well as in every other department of na- 
ture, are conspicuous and undeniable. It is not ab- 
solute perfection indeed which in this search we 
discover. We are ourselves imperfect, and the 
world around us is imperfect; but it is a relative 
perfection which suits everything to its present 
condition, and which leaves nothing for a man to 
feel in contemplating it but a mingled sentiment 
of mysterious awe, profound admiration, and over- 
flowing gratitude. 
In bringing this volume to a close, let us collect 
the proofs which belong to this division of nature: 
into one point of view, by a rapid glance over the 
road that has been travelled. 
In considering the external form of a bird, the 
first thing that strikes the philosophical inquirer is. 
the wisdom with which Providence has adapted it 
to the element in which it is destined to move. In 
its smooth pointed bill, and gradually enlarging head 
and neck, he perceives an instrument admirably cal-. 
culated to penetrate the yielding air. The rounded, 
prowlike shape of its breast, too, is adapted with. 
mathematical exactness to the same useful purpose ; 
while its flexible tail is made with surprising skill to. 
perform the part of a rudder ; and its wings equally 
poised, and furnished with quills and feathers mod- 
elled by numerous wonderful contrivances, at once 
for lightness, for strength, and for tenacity, and al- 
together exhibiting a machine of the most per- 
fect kind for aerial navigation. The very varieties 
in the nature of this machinery, adapted as they 
are to the faculties and instincts of each species, 
impress the mind with a deep sense of the minute- 
and skilful care of a beneficent Creator, and give a 
peculiar interest to the investigation. 
When we proceed from the external form to the 
consideration of the tig structure of birds, as 
c 
