NATURAL HISTORY, 



&c. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE earth and the waters display the energy of the creative fiat 

 they teem with life. To whatever part of Nature's domain we direct 

 our attention, a countless throng of living beings bursts upon our view, 

 and overwhelms us with astonishment. Not only are the woods, hills, 

 and plains peopled by the larger tribes of earth and air, but every 

 leaf has its colony, every drop of water its busy multitude. . Varying in 

 size, in form, in structure, and in habits, all, from the gigantic Elephant 

 to the microscopic animalcule, play their assigned parts, and conduce, 

 each in its station, to the order and harmony of nature. Amidst this 

 profusion of life, a due balance of power and number is maintained, by 

 the influence of species upon species. They are destined to act and 

 re-act upon each other, and a law of destruction and renovation is per- 

 petually in operation, by which the proportions of animal existence are 

 preserved in their just equilibrium. Multitudes are doomed to become 

 the prey of others whole races seem created , as though for slaughter ; 

 but, great as is the loss, the increase is equivalent, in order to the pre- 

 servation of the species. Yet, as regards individuals, the instinctive 

 means of attack on the one hand, and of self-preservation on the other, 

 are such, as to equalize their respective chances. Speed, caution, watch- 

 fulness, inaccessible retreats, the nature of their clothing, and even 

 its colour, alike protect the timid and the defenceless ; while the bolder 

 oppose force to force. Those that are most obnoxious to destruction 

 are the most prolific ; their numbers are rapidly recruited : while such 

 as are secure in their bulk, strength, and prowess, only increase in a ratio 

 sufficient to replenish the losses occasioned by accident, or by natural 

 dissolution. Insects, for example, are the common prey of birds and 

 beasts, reptiles and fishes, and, often, of each other ; yet who has ever 

 known their numbers perceptibly thinned ? at all events, it is unquestion- 

 able that the myriads destroyed are replaced by other myriads. How 



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