66 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



the cardiiig-macliine, sheaves of uiithreshed corn th(i thresh- 

 ing-machine ; and when he casts his eye to the other end 

 of the apparatus, he sees the material issuing from it in a 

 new state, and what is more, in a state manifestly adapted 

 to future uses — the grain in meal fit for the making of bread, 

 the wool in rovings ready for spinning into threads, the sheaf 

 in corn dressed for the mill. Is it necessary that this man, 

 in order to be convinced that design, that intention, that con- 

 trivance has been employed about the machine, should be 

 allowed to pull it to pieces — should be enabled to examine 

 the parts separately, explore their action upon one another, 

 or their operation, whether simultaneous or successive, upon 

 the material which is presented to them ? He may long to 

 do this to gratify his curiosity ; he may desire to do it to im- 

 prove his theoretic knowledge ; or he may have a more sub- 

 stantial reason for requesting it, if he happen, instead of a 

 common visitor, to be a millwright by profession, or a per- 

 son sometimes called in to repair such-like machines when 

 out of order ; but for the purpose of ascertaining the exist- 

 ence of counsel and design in the formation of the machine, 

 he wants no such intromission or privity. What he sees is 

 sufficient. The effect upon the material, the change pro- 

 duced in it, the utility of that change for future applications, 

 abundantly testify, be the concealed part of the machine or 

 of its construction what it will, the hand and agency of a 

 contriver. 



If any confirmation were wanting to the evidence which 

 the animal secretions afford of design, it may be derived, as 

 has been already hinted, from their variety, and from their 

 appropriation to their place and use. They all come from 

 the same blood ; they are all drawn off by glands ; yet the 

 produce is very different, and the difference exactly adapted 

 to the work which is to be done, or the end to be answered. 

 No account can be given of this, without resorting to ap- 

 pointment. Why, for instance, is the saliva, which is dif- 

 fused over the seat of taste, insipid^ wliile so many otliers of 



