THE 



CHAPTER I. 

 INTROD VCTION. 



EVERY page of the volume of Nature is fraught 

 with instruction. Not only do the canopy of the 

 heavens, and the luminous orbs which bedeck the 

 glowing hemisphere on a clear frosty evening, de- 

 clare the glory of the Supreme, but the whole of 

 created existences, however insignificant, simple, or 

 minute they may appear, plainly evince to the con- 

 templative mind the wisdom and power of the Crea- 

 tor; and shew that 



All Nature is a glass reflecting God, 



As by the Sea reflected is the Sun, 



Too glorious to be gaz'd on in his sphere. 



Natural objects, for the purpose of classification, 

 have been in general arranged under the three 

 grand divisions of animal, vegetable, and mineral, 

 each of which will admit of many lesser subdivisions, 



