188 PLANTS, 



" The food afforded by the soil in each climate," 

 says a late philosophical author, " is admirably adapt- 

 ed to the maintenance of the organic constitution in 

 health, and to the supply of the muscular energy 

 requisite for the particular wants of the situation. 

 In the Arctic Regions no farinaceous Jood ripens ; 

 but on putting the question to Dr. Richardson, how 

 he accustomed to the bread and vegetables of the 

 temperarate regions, was able to endure the pure 

 animal diet, which formed his only support on his ex- 

 pedition to the shores of the Polar Sea, along with 

 Capt. Franklin, he replied, that the effects of the 

 extreme dry cold to which they were exposed, living, 

 as they did, constantly in the open air, was to pro- 

 duce a desire for the most stimulating food, they 

 could obtain ; that bread in such a climate was not 

 only not desired, but comparatively impotent as an 

 article of diet ; that pure animal food, and the fatter 

 the better, was the only sustenance that maintained the 

 tone of the corporeal system, but that when it was 

 abundant, (and the quantity required was much grea- 

 ter than in milder latitudes), delightful vigor and 

 buoyancy of mind and body were enjoyed, that ren- 

 dered life highly agreeable.' 7 Here, therefore, we 

 see an admirable adaptation of the food to the cli- 

 mate ; that while vegetable productions are few in 

 these cold regions, the oily animal substances are 

 remarkably abundan. 



T. Do we discover any remarkable appearance 

 of design in the structure of plants ? 



