

FUR AND FEATHERS. 169 



more especially those that steal upon their prey un- 

 awares, and you will find the point so exquisitely 

 fine that it is absolutely next to nothing. Painters 

 are aware of that property, and so make their finest 

 pencils of the hair of the sable,which admits of be- 

 ing made into a little brush that will hold a charge 

 of colour, and yet all the points of the hairs united 

 together make one point, as fine as that of the finest 

 needle indeed far finer. The same quality may 

 be observed, in greater perfection, if possible, in the 

 fur of the bat, or the fringes of the owl's feathers ; 

 and the little feathers upon the night moths are the 

 most wonderful of any. 



Creatures that are furnished in that manner act in 

 concert with the air, as it were, while they are mov- 

 ing through it ; and thus, though the bat be the most 

 fluttering thing that flies, and the owls and the 

 moths be generally far more clumsy than the day- 

 hawks and the butterflies, yet they make their way 

 through the air with much less noise. Many plants 

 too have their yielding borders ; and the wind mur- 

 murs in the groves when their leaves are on, and 

 does not howl as it does among the leafless sprays 

 in the winter ; and it never roars on fertile plains as 

 it does among naked rocks. 



But the air is not merely the pathway of nature, it 

 is the carrier, and it is as sensitive in its own mo- 

 tions as it is yielding to those of every thing else. 

 The least alteration of temperature, or pressure, 

 instantly puts the air into motion. If any thing ad- 

 vances, the air moves off before it to make room ; 

 and if any thing recedes, the air follows at the same 

 time to support it. If any thing is heated above the 

 average, the air ascends with the excess of heat ; 

 and if any thing is cooled, the air condenses and closes 

 in upon it, not only as a protection against greater 

 cold, but to impart positive heat. No matter how 

 great or how small the object is, or how long or how 

 short the distance, the air is sensible to the very 

 P 



