MOLLTJSCA. 37 



imagine the consequences of their being situated 

 amid such perils. 



Child. Yes. The shells must frequently be 

 Sroken, and the poor animals perish. 



Teacher. Your first conclusion is true. The 

 shells are often broken or injured ; but God 

 always makes a suitable provision for the cir- 

 cumstances under which he places his creatures. 

 Recollect that the same Almighty Being who 

 rules the tempests, directs also the movements 

 of the minutest animals, he knows every effect 

 of the former upon the latter, for he sees all the 

 workings of his mighty plan. I am sure that 

 you must know from Scripture that such is the 

 case. 



Child. Yes ; without Him not a sparrow 

 falleth to the ground. 



Teacher. This providential care is very evi- 

 dent in the history of the mollusca. We find 

 that the construction of the shell varies accord- 

 ing to the situation in which it is placed. Some 

 shells which are taken from the rapid rivers of 

 America, are fitted by their great hardness and 

 thickness to contend with the most boisterous 

 elements ; others on the contrary, by their very 

 lightness, seem constructed to float on the sur- 

 face of the sea, and offering no resistance are 

 carried along gently by its waves. Some of the 

 mollusca, by adding to the weight of their little 

 bark, are enabled to descend and seek a shelter 

 in the deep of the ocean ; some, you have learned, 

 anchor themselves to rocks and thus bid defi- 

 ance to dangers. But in spite of all these, and 

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