34 FINAL CAUSES. 



the whole range of the organized creation, with a 

 view to the discovery of final causes, and ob- 

 taining adequate ideas of the power, the wisdom, 

 and the goodness of God. 



CHAPTER II. 

 The Functions of Life. 



THE intentions of the Deity in the creation of 

 the animal kingdom, as far as we are competent 

 to discern or comprehend them, are referable to 

 the following classes of objects. The first relates 

 to the individual welfare of the animal, em- 

 bracing the whole sphere of its sensitive exis- 

 tence, and the means of maintaining the vitality 

 upon which that existence is dependent. The 

 second comprises the provisions that have been 

 made for repairing the chasms resulting, in 

 the present circumstances of the globe, from the 

 continual destruction of life, by ensuring the mul- 

 tiplication of the species, and the continuity of 

 the race to which each animal belongs. The 

 third includes all those arrangements which 

 have been resorted to in order to accommodate 

 the system to the consequences that follow from 

 an indefinite increase in the numbers of each 

 species. The fourth class relates to that syste- 



