358 ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. 



The study of nature and a habit of observation refines our feel- 

 ings. It is a source of interesting amusement and excitement, 

 prevents idle or vicious propensities, and exalts the mind to a love 

 of virtue, and a more intimate knowledge of the goodness of the 

 great Creator. 



It has always been a source of regret to me that 

 I have been unable to combine with my observa- 

 tions of the works of nature, such anatomical or 

 physiological hints connected with them, as might 

 prove useful in the elucidation of many facts, of 

 which we are still ignorant. In the present day, 

 the most novel and useful task, perhaps, that an 

 observer could undertake, would be to explore the 

 relations between the habits of animals and their 

 internal structure, with an especial view to the 

 state of their organs, as compared with the wants, 

 attachments, enjoyments, and mode of life pursued 

 by the animals. In birds, for instance, such con- 

 siderations would lead to an explanation of their 

 pairing, migrations, and habitations. It is proba- 

 ble, also, that such an enquiry might not only 

 illustrate the mutual dependence of different 

 classes of the animal scale, but even shew us the 

 way to the uses of certain parts, which, to our 

 limited knowledge, appear at present either nuga- 

 tory or hurtful. 



