DAYS AND NIGHTS. 



Now when we reflect on the correspondence between these 

 intervals and the indispensable wants of all organised creatures, 

 can we for a moment doubt that the earth was made to turn 

 upon its axis in that particular time rather than any other, 

 because it was more conducive than otherwise to the well-being 

 of the countless myriads of species, the production of the Divine 



hand, for whose enjoyment the earth was made ? Had the time 

 of rotation been materially less than it is, our periods of activity 

 and labour would be too short to prepare us for the return of 

 darkness, and had the time, of rotation been greater, we should 

 have needed rest before the return of the natural epoch designed 

 for it. As it is, the natural vicissitudes are nicely adapted to 

 our wants; and yet our organisation is in no way connected 

 physically with the rotation of the earth, by any relation of the 

 nature of cause and effect, and to suppose such an adaptation 

 fortuitous, would be an outrage upon all principles of probability. 

 This mutual fitness is, then, another of the many proofs which 

 offer themselves that the earth as a dwelling, and man as a 

 dweller, have been expressly designed each for the other. 



17. Many examples may be given of this correspondence between 

 the time of rotation of the earth upon its axis and the periodical 

 functions of the organised world. Linnaeus proposed the use of 

 what he termed a floral clock, which was to consist of plants 

 which opened and closed their blossoms at particular hours of 

 the day. Thus, the day-lily opens at five in the morning, the 

 common dandelion at six, the hawk-weed at seven, the marigold 

 at nine, and so on ; the closing of the blossoms marking 



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