22 INTRODUCTION. 



and all their ways so replete with matter for reflec- 

 tion and astonishment, we cannot but trace the 

 finger of their Great Creator : we cannot but con- 

 sider all we see as aifording the clearest indications 

 of His over-ruling Providence. It speaks to the 

 existence of some mighty Power, whose secret in- 

 fluence upholds order and harmony, amid what would 

 otherwise be a chaos of confusion and turmoil, from 

 the conflicting interests of so many different agents. 

 View the animal world in one light, and it would 

 seem to be a world of rapine and bloodshed. We 

 find different tribes waging a perpetual war against 

 each other, the weaker daily falling a prey to the 

 stronger, until we might suppose that these last 

 would be left alone upon the earth. Yet it is re- 

 markable, that, notwithstanding this constant strug- 

 gle for the mastery, or what is more frequent, this 

 necessity of yielding to the attacks of a superior foe, 

 the relative numbers of each species of animal seem 

 on the whole to remain nearly the same. Certain 

 species may have disappeared from the face of the 

 earth, or from particular districts, through the agency 

 and interference of man, or from the operation of 

 other causes; but this is not ordinarily the effect 

 produced by one species preying upon another. It 

 is further remarkable, that, though many animals are 

 thus in perpetual jeopardy of their lives from the 

 number of their enemies, they yet seem in the en- 

 joyment of as much happiness, as if all were security 

 and peace. Who can witness the gambols of a hare, 

 proverbially one of the most defenceless and perse- 

 cuted of creatures, without being struck with this 



