12 THE PLEASURES OF SOLITUDE AND GARDENING 



yellow leaf; " from the rich luxuriance of summer to the desolating 

 blasts of -winter, all conspire to raise in the human mind habits of 

 reflection on the innumerable objects by which we are surrounded, 

 and prompt us to explore the contents of the mighty volume of nature 

 spread out at our feet. And here we need have no fears of ever ex- 

 hausting our subjecs, since, of plants alone,upwards of eighty thousand 

 different varieties have been ascertained to exist. Here then is a wide 

 field for our energies, from the filices on the mountain's side, the 

 obscure mosses on the old gray stone, or the beautiful crimson and 

 purplish heath on the towering hill, to the choicest productions of the 

 modern florist; from the beautiful shrub ornamenting the pleasure 

 ground, to the stately magnificence of the elm or the oak, the lordly 

 monarchs of the forest. Who can think of the extent of this field for 

 our research without wondering at the mighty and omniscient power 

 of that Being by whom so vast and varied a scene was called into 

 harmonious existence ? 



The science of Entomology, also, seldom fails to inform me of the 

 subjects to which the attention of the botanist is naturally directed. 

 The curious structure and uses of the various parts of insects are less 

 understood than those of either quadrupeds or birds ; not so much, 

 perhaps, from the minuteness of their several parts, as from the re- 

 moteness of their manner and modes of living from those of the larger 

 animals. Their wonderful metamorphoses are truly astonishing ; 

 and it is no wonder that their number and variety have, hitherto, 

 been found more than sufficient to baffle the exertions of the most in- 

 defatigable investigator. All his researches, however, will tend to 

 confirm the opinion that the curious organization of some, to fit them 

 for their situations, and for perpetuating their species, and the pecu- 

 liar contrivances of others for their special convenience and defence, 

 even from the proboscis of the sagacious elephant down to the shell 

 on the back of the snail, the sting of the bee, or the hard protecting 

 shield which covers the tender gauze wings of the beetle, are plain in- 

 dications of the benevolent designs of the great Designer, who created, 

 provided for, and perpetuates the whole. 



I have great pleasure in here giving a quotation from the pen of a 

 writer whose opinions seem so nearly to coincide with my own. 

 " There is no study which seems so worthy of engaging the attention 

 of a rational creature like man, as that of natural history. It is a 



