RAINS AXD RIVERS. 125 



precipitation takes place, and in which we find neither plant nor 

 animal to fit the land for man's use. 



303. Adaptations. — In contemplating the system of terrestrial 

 ADAPTATioN-s-their adaptations, these researches teach one to regard the 

 limity''' ""^ ^"^ ' mountain ranges and the great deserts of the earth 

 as the astronomer does the counterpoises to his telescope — though 

 they be mere dead Vv^eights, they are, nevertheless, necessary to 

 make the balance complete, the adjustment of his machine perfect. 

 These counterpoises give ease to the motions, stability to the 

 performance, and accuracy to the workings of the instrument. 

 They are '^ compensations y Whenever I turn to contemplate the 

 works of natm-e, I am struck with the admirable system of 

 compensation, with the beauty and nicety with which every depart- 

 ment is adjusted, adapted, and regulated according to the others ; 

 things and principles are meted out in directions apparently the 

 most opposite, but in proportions so exactly balanced that results 

 the most harmonious are produced. It is by the action of opposite 

 and compensating forces that the earth is kept in its orbit, and the 

 stars are held suspended in the azure vault of heaven ; and these 

 forces are so exquisitely adjusted, that, at the end of a thousand 

 years, the earth, the sun, and moon, and every star in the firma- 

 ment, is found to come and tmnkle in its proper place at the 

 proper moment. Nay, philosophy teaches us that when the little 

 snowdrop, which in our garden walks we see raising its head at 

 "the singing of birds," to remind us that " the venter is passed 

 and gone," was created, the whole mass of the earth, from pole to 

 pole, and from circumference to centre, must have been taken into 

 account and weighed, in order that the proper degree of strength 

 might be given to its tiny fibres. Botanists tell us that the consti- 

 tution of this plant is such as to require that, at a certain stage of 

 its growth, the stalk should bend, and the flower should bow its 

 head, that an operation may take place which is necessary in order 

 that the herb should produce seed after its kind : and that, after 

 this fecundation, its vegetable health requires that it should lift its 

 head again and stand erect. Now, if the mass of the earth had 

 been greater or less, the force of gravity would have been difierent ; 

 in that case, the strength of fibre in the snowdrop, as it is, v^^ould 

 have been too much or too little ; the plant could not bov/ or raise 

 its head at the right time, fecimdation could not take place, and its 

 family would have become extinct with the fii'st individual that 

 was planted, because its *' seed " would not have been " in itself," 



