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mirably ingenious contrivances by which every 

 difficulty is obviated, and nature is moulded to 

 the will of its Almighty Author. How many ob- 

 stacles were to be overcome before a heavy body 

 like that of the eagle, to an account of whose 

 noble faculties I shall devote the next chapter, 

 could be rendered buoyant in the air, and made 

 capable of tracking its adventurous course from 

 Alp to Alp, so high above the earth as to be lost 

 to human gaze ! How many conditions were 

 necessary to give safety and enjoyment to the 

 very smallest of the winged tribes, even after the 

 first obstacles were overcome ! Yet how won- 

 derfully simple and efficacious the means by 

 which the whole has been accomplished ! That 

 man is indeed to be pitied, who can turn even a 

 transient glance on such a subject, without being 

 lost in astonishment and adoration. 



