246 SPRING. 



doubt that, ere now, the philosophy of the one would 

 have been as perfect and satisfactory as that of, the 

 other ; and pleasing as the others are, and great as are 

 the benefits they have conferred upon society, even upon 

 those who are ignorant of the source of those benefits, 

 there is no doubt nay, there is an absolute certainty, 

 that a sound and wholesome philosophy of animal 

 and vegetable life and economy, would bring more ad- 

 vantage to the arts, and promote, in a much greater 

 degree, the happiness of man. 



One advantage is very apparent : they are the pro- 

 ductions of soil, season, and climate ; and, therefore, 

 they are a complete and perpetual register of the 

 nature, state, and changes of these. If the daily ap- 

 pearances of the whole natural productions of a dis- 

 trict, with all the states of the atmosphere, were con- 

 tinuously noted down for a sufficient length of time, 

 simply as they all appeared, and without any fancy or 

 theory, a foundation would be laid upon which it would 

 not be difficult to erect a most valuable system of phi- 

 losophy. The length of time that might be necessary 

 for that purpose can be determined only by the experi- 

 ment itself, and, probably, it would not be very easily 

 determinable : but, in so far as. the action of the celes- 

 tial bodies, and that is the grand action, is concerned, 

 probably the period, (between eighteen or nineteen 

 years,) that the moon requires to return nearly to the 

 same position, might be found to be also a cycle of 

 seasonal phenomena, in as far as the influence of the 

 sun and moon extends ; and if even that element were 

 ascertained, the difficulty would be narrowed to the 

 influence of the local causes. 



