VARIETY IN THE SYSTEM OF NATURE. 



E\en the external aspect of nature, as it ap 

 pears to a superficial observer, presents a scene 

 of variety. The ranges of mountains with sum 

 mits of different heights and shapes, the hills 

 and plains, the glens and dells, the waving 

 curves which appear on the face of every land 

 scape, the dark hues of the forests, the verdure 

 of the fields, the towering cliffs, the rugged pre 

 cipices, the rills, the rivers, the cataracts, the 

 lakes and seas ; the gulphs, the bays and penin 

 sulas ; the numerous islands of every form and 

 size which diversify the surface of the ocean, 

 and the thousands of shades of colouring which 

 appear on every part of sublunary nature, pre 

 sent a scene of diversified beauty and sublimity 

 to the eye of every beholder. And if we lift 

 our eyes to the regions of the firmament, we 

 likewise behold a scene of sublimity and gran 

 deur mingled &quot;with variety. The sun himself 

 appears diversified with spots of various shapes 

 and sizes, some a hundred, some a thousand, 

 and some ten thousand miles in diameter indi 

 cating operations and changes of amazing ex 

 tent and almost every new revolution on his 

 axis presents us with new and varied clusters. 

 Every planet in the solar system differs from 



another in its size, in its spheroidal shape, in its 

 diurnal rotation, in the aspect of its surface, in 

 the constitution of its atmosphere, in the num 

 ber of moons with which it is surrounded, in the 

 nature of its seasons, in its distance from the 

 sun, in the eccentricity of its orbit, in the period 

 of its annual revolution, and in the proportion 

 it receives of light and heat. Every comet, too, 

 differs from another in its form and magnitude, 

 in the extent of its nucleus and tail, in the period 

 of its revolution, in the swiftness of its motion, 

 and in the figure of the curve it describes around 

 the sun ; and &quot; one star differeth from another 

 star in glory.&quot; But could we transport ourselves 

 to the surfaces of these distant, orbs, and survey 

 every part of their constitution and arrange 

 ments, we should, doubtless, behold beauties 

 and varieties of divine workmanship far more 

 numerous, and surpassing every thing that, ap 

 pears in our sublunary system. We have every 

 reason to believe, from the infinite nature of the 

 Divinity, and from what we actually behold, 

 that the mechanism and arrangements of every 

 world in the universe are all different from each 

 other ; and we find that this is actually the case, 

 in so far as our observations extend. The 



fn a trembling or vibratory manner. Sometimes the 

 wheels seem to be entire circles, with teeth like 

 those of the balance-wheel of a watch : but their 

 figure varies according to the degree of their pro 

 trusion, and seems to depend upon the will of the 

 animal itself; a, is the head and heels ; b, is the heart, 

 where its systole and diastole are plainly visible, and 

 the alternate motions of contraction arid dilatation 

 are performed with great strength and vigour in 

 about the same time as the pulsation of a man s ar 

 tery. This animal assumes various shapes, one of 

 which is represented at fig. 5, and becomes occasion 

 ally a case for all the other parts of the body. 



Fig. 6, represents an insect with net-like arms. It 

 Is found in cascades where the water runs very 

 swift. Its body appears curiously turned as on a 

 lathe, and at the tail are three sharp spines, by 

 which it raises itself and stands upright in the water ; 

 but the most curious apparatus Is about its head, 

 where it is furnished with two instruments, like 

 fans or nets, which serve to provide its food. These 

 it frequently spreads out and draws in again, and, 

 when drawn up, they are folded together with the 

 utmost nicety and exactness. When this creature 

 does not employ its nets, it thrusts out a pair of sharp 

 horns, and puts on a different appearance, as in fig. 



7, where it is shown magnified about 400 times. Fig. 



8, is the representation of an animalcula found in 

 the infusion of tlie bark of an oak. Its body is com 

 posed of several ringlets, that enter one into another, 

 as the animal contracts itself. At a b, are two lips 

 lurmshed with moveable hairs ; it pushes out of its 

 mouth a snout composed of several pieces sheathed 

 m each other, as at e. A kind of horn, d, is some 

 times protruded from the breast, composed of furbe 

 lows, which slide into one another like .e drawers 

 ;.f a pocket telescope. Fig. 9, is another animalcula, 



tound m the same infusion, called a tortoise, with an 

 umbilical tail. It stretches out and contracts itself 

 very easily, sometimes assuming a round figure, 

 which it retains only for a moment, then opens its 

 mouth to a surprising width, forming nearly the cir 

 cumference of a circle. Its motion is very surprising 

 and singular. Fig. 10, is an animalcula, called great 

 moittii, which is found in several infusions Its 

 mouth takes up half the length of its body ; its inside 

 is filled with darkish spots, and its hinder part ter- 

 minatol with a singular tail. Fig. n, represents the 



jA-oteits, so named on account of its assuming a great 

 number of different shapes. Its most common shape 

 bears a resemblance to that of a swan, and it 

 swims to and fro with great vivacity. When it is 

 alarmed, it suddenly draws in its long neck, trans 

 forming itself into the shape represented at m, and, 

 at other times it puts forth a new head and neck 

 with a kind of wheel machinery, as at n. Fig. 12, 

 exhibits a species of animalcula shaped like bells 

 with long tails, by which they fasten themselves to 

 the roots of duck weed, in which they were found. 

 They dwell in colonies, from ten to fift,p-n in num 

 ber. Fig. 13, is the globe animal, which appears ex- 

 actly globular, having no appearance of either head, 

 tail or fins. It. moves in all directions, forwards or 

 backwards, up or down, either rolling over and over 

 like a bowl, spinning horizontally like a top, or glid 

 ing along smoothly without turning itself at all. 

 When it pleases, it can turn round, as it were upon 

 an axis very nimbly without removing out of its 

 place. It is transparent, except where the circular 

 black spots are shown ; it sometimes appears as if 

 dotted with points, and beset with short moveable 

 hairs or bristles, which are probably the instruments 

 by which its motions are performed. Fig. 14, shows 

 a species of animalculae called soles, found in infu 

 sions of straw and the ears of wheat ; o, is the- 

 mouth, which is sometimes extended to a great 

 width, p, is the tail. Fig. 15, represents an anima. 

 found in an infusion of citron flowers. Its head is 

 very short, and adorned with two horns like those 

 of a deer; its body appears to be covered with 

 scales, and its tail long, and swift in motion. Fig. 

 16, represents the eels which are found in paste and 

 stale vinegar. The most remarkable property of 

 these animals is, that they are viviparous. If one 

 of them is cut through near the middle, several ova! 

 bodies of different sizes issue forth, which are young 

 anguillai, each coiled up in its proper membrane. 

 An hundred and upwards of the young ones have 

 been seen to issue from the body of one single eel, 

 which accounts for their prodigious increase. 



It may not be improper to remark, that no en 

 graving can give an adequate idea of the objects 

 referred to above, and, therefore, whoever wishes 

 to inspect nature in all her minute beautiea and 

 varieties, must have recourse to the microscop* 

 itself. 



