158 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 



far from his native home, the solitary exile may be 

 made, for a while, to forget his private woes ; and 

 the sporting of these may serve to beguile the tedi- 

 ous moments that mark the slow progress of the lone- 

 some passenger, returning from captivity to the circle 

 of his friends, or to the agitated bosom of her he loves. 

 Thus, if we have had reason to admire the wis- 

 dom, the power and the goodness of the great Crea- 

 tor, as they are manifested in some of the inanimated 

 pages of the BOOK OP NATURE, and to contemplate, 

 as we have gone along, with sentiments of admira- 

 tion and gratitude, the benefits we derive from the 

 internal structure and outward form of the earth 

 from the numerous appendages and vegetable pro- 

 ductions by which the dry land is covered and from 

 the wonderful phenomena and beneficial properties 

 of the ocean ; we have no less cause to be filled with 

 admiration at the bright display of the wisdom and 

 goodness of the Creator, as they shine conspicuous 

 in the inhabitants of the great deep. 



CHAP XIV. 



THE ATMOSPHERE. 



- i " To HIM, ye vocal gales 



Blow soft, whose spirit in your freshness breathes !'* 



We view his kind, his life-preserving care, 



In all the wondcous properties of air." 



FROM the earth let us ascend into the regions of 

 the air, and take a view of that invisible fluid that 



