93 



PART II. 



ON THE GENERAL NATURE AND ADVANTAGES OF 

 THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. WHAT NATURAL HISTORY 



IS, — IN A GENERAL SENSE, AND AS NOW RESTRICTED. 



DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT. REFLECTIONS ON 



NATURE AND ART. DISTINCTIONS, AND OBJECT OF 



THE STUDY. 



(41.) Could we suppose man had never known 

 evil, — that he had continued, as at first created, a 

 terrestrial, yet an immaculate being, alike a stranger 

 to the bad passions and the inordinate desires that 

 now agitate him, — what pursuits, may we suppose, 

 would occupy his time? or upon what subjects would 

 he exercise those powers of reason by which he is 

 united to the spiritual world ? The answer is obvious. 

 The works of God, as manifested in all visible nature, 

 would be his only study. Surrounded by innumerable 

 objects attractive by their beauty, wonderful by their 

 construction, or interesting by their economy, his 

 days would be spent in surveying the material world ; 

 — his heart enlarged, and his reason exercised, in 



