THE SENSES. 207 



on,e-twelfth of an inch ; yet is this change of image distinctly per- 

 ceived throughout its whole progress, for it is only by means of that 

 perception that the motion of the coach itself is made sensible to the 

 eye." How minute must be the object of man as represented in 

 the retina of a humming bird 7 



THE EYE. 



o, represents the eyeball. G, the crystalline lens, where the rays of light, 1 1 1, from A, the 

 arrow, meet like a sun-glass and diverge, or are refracted and thrown on the retina B, 

 which represents the object absolutely perfect, though extremely small, e, the optic nerVe, 

 conveys it to the brain, and gives it a knowledge of the above object. Ill, rays of light from 

 an arrow, which pass through C, the crystalline lens, by which they are concentrated the same 

 as in a sun-glass, in front, and refracted by the concavity of it on the back, and thrown on 

 the retina B, which ought to be a little further back. Here the object is formed. The other 

 letters represent the different muscles of the eye. 



After what has already been said of the proofs of design furnished 

 by other parts of the body, it is almost unnecessary, in that point of 

 view, to direct attention to this admirable organ. Its mechanism is 

 so clear that no man can mistake its objects. A celebrated philoso- 

 pher held (and with good reason) that an examination of the eye was 

 a cure for atheism ; and he might have added, that it not only proves, 

 beyond all doubt, the existence of a great first cause, but also, 

 perhaps, more than any other organ, that our Creator's design is to 

 mingle pleasure with our existence. If only what was necessary 

 had been done, it has been well remarked, that nothing but the tame, 

 dull outlines of objects might have been made sensible to us. But 

 color, endless in its shades, ever variegated in its tints, has been 

 spread over the face of nature with what purpose, it may be asked, 

 if not to convey to us delight, and to prove that He who made us, 



