76 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



capacities without objects ; powers without em- 

 ployment. The web-foot determines, you say, the 

 duck to swim ; but what would that avail if there 

 were no water to swim in. The strong hooked 

 bill and sharp talons of one species of bird deter- 

 mine it to prey upon animals ; the soft straight bill 

 and weak claws of another species determine it to 

 pick up seeds: but neither determination could take 

 effect in providing for the sustenance of the birds, 

 if animal bodies and vegetable seeds did not lie 

 within their reach. The peculiar conformation of 

 the bill and tongue and claws of the woodpecker 

 determines that bird to search for his food amongst 

 the insects lodged behind the bark or in the wood 

 of decayed trees; but what would this profit him 

 if there were no trees, no decayed trees, no in- 

 sects lodged under their bark, or in their trunk ? 

 The proboscis with which the bee is furnished de- 

 termines him to seek for honey : but what would 

 that signify if flowers supplied none ? Faculties 

 thrown down upon animals at random, and with- 

 out reference to the objects amidst which they are 

 placed, would not produce to them the services and 

 benefits which we see : and if there be that refer- 

 ence, then there is intention. 



Lastly ; the solution fails entirely when applied 

 to plants. The parts of plants answer their uses 

 \vithout any concurrence from the will or choice of 

 the plant. 



VI. Others have chosen to refer everything to 

 a i^rinciple of order in nature. A principle of 



