1C INTRODUCTION. 



by the destruction of some other kind ; and the same 

 power which confers the means of continuing the dif- 

 ferent races, prepares for such the means by which it 

 is to be destroyed. Hence, if we are to look upon 

 creation with eyes of wisdom, we must look upon it 

 as a whole, and as the harmony with which all the 

 parts are balanced. If we find any race or tribe that 

 has a great number of enemies, we invariably find that 

 that tribe is prolific in proportion to the number of its 

 destroyers ; so much so, that it would increase to its 

 own destruction, from the want of the proper kind 

 and quantity of food. 



This holds in every region of the world, and among 

 vegetables as well as among animals. In countries 

 where the influence and operations of man have had 

 but little effect, we can trace the most beautiful adapt- 

 ation in the structure and habits to the nature of the 

 country. If that is a plain of great extent, and 

 affording pasturage at all times, the larger quadrupeds 

 are usually some of the ox or buffalo tribe, as we 

 find in the plains of India and the Savannahs of 

 North America. Those animals, from their unwieldy 

 gait and their great weight, are not adapted for 

 leaping or for taking long journeys in quest of food. 

 If the plains be subject to seasonal parching, we 

 find the race different; and lighter animals that can 

 migrate in quest of food, and bound across ravines, 

 or from rock to rock upon the mountains, are the 

 most abundant, as may be observed in the Llanos 

 of South America, and the plains of Southern Africa. 

 If the land be inclined to permanent sterility, or if it 

 be stony, alternating with swamps and marshes, either 



