318 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



the case. The fullness or distension which she 

 might feel in a particular part of the body, from 

 the growth and solidity of the egg within her, 

 could not possibly inform her that she w^as about 

 to produce something which, when produced, was 

 to be preserved and taken care of. Prior to ex- 

 perience there was nothing to lead to this infer- 

 ence, or to this suspicion. The analogy was all 

 against it ; for, in every other instance, what is- 

 sued from the body w^as cast out and rejected. 



But, secondly, let us suppose the egg to be pro- 

 duced into day ; how should birds know that their 

 eggs contain their young ? There is nothing 

 either in the aspect or in the internal composition 

 of an egg wiiich could lead even the most daring 

 imagination to conjecture that it was hereafter to 

 turn out from under its shell a living perfect bird. 

 The form of the egg bears not the rudiments of a 

 resemblance to that of the bird. Inspecting its 

 contents, we find still less reason, if possible, to 

 look for the result which actually takes place. If 

 we should go so far as, from the appearance of 

 order and distinction in the disposition of the li- 

 quid substances which we noticed in the eggj to 

 guess that it might be designed for the abode and 

 nutriment of an animal, (which would be a very 

 bold hypothesis,) we should expect a tadpole dab- 

 bling in the slime, much more than a dry, winged, 

 feathered creature, a compound of parts and pro- 

 perties impossible to be used in a state of confine- 

 ment in the egg, and bearing no conceivable rela- 



