EYES OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS. 87 



solar system, and a rational speculator into the nature 

 and laws of that universe, of which the solar system 

 forms a part. Thus, while in the study of nature we 

 find every thing to admire, we find nothing to envy ; 

 and the more that we trace the power and wisdom of 

 God in his works, the more apparent becomes the 

 great goodness which he has manifested toward us. 

 This is one of the most important lessons that we 

 derive from the study of nature ; and we derive it from 

 that study alone. It teaches us gratitude to our Maker, 

 and contentment with our condition ; for the greatest 

 distinctions in the social distribution and arrangement 

 of men, are nothing when compared with those dis- 

 tinctions with which our Maker has endowed us above 

 the other productions of creation. 



And yet an eye is a most curious instrument. In a 

 merely mechanical point of view, and without any 

 reference to the power that it has of conveying to the 

 sensation of animals the presence and qualities of ob- 

 jects, it embraces the principles of many sciences; and, 

 in so far as the resemblance can be traced, it is a beau- 

 tiful instance of the universality of the laws of nature. 

 The different parts of the eye have so complete a 

 resemblance to those optical contrivances by which we 

 aid it, in the observation of distant or minute objects, or 

 renovate its powers when they have begun to decay, that 

 the careful study of the eye itself might have led to the 

 construction of telescopes, microscopes, and spectacles. 



In the eyes of different animals there are remarkable 

 differences, according to the nature and habits of the 

 animal, the medium in which it lives, or the time at 

 which it finds its food. The eyes of the more perfect 



