FINAL CAUSES. 11 



of spontaneous action, impelled by passions and 

 desires, and endowed with capacities of enjoy- 

 ment and of suffering. Can there be a more 

 gratifying spectacle than to see an animal in the 

 full vigour of health, and the free exercise of its 

 powers, disporting in its native element, revelling 

 in the bliss of existence, and testifying by its 

 incessant gambols the exuberance of its joy ? 



We cannot take even a cursory survey of the 

 host of living beings profusely spread over every 

 portion of the globe without a feeling of pro- 

 found astonishment at the inconceivable variety 

 of forms and constructions to which animation 

 has been imparted by creative power. What 

 can be more calculated to excite our wonder 

 than the diversity exhibited among insects, all 

 of which, amidst endless modifications of shape, 

 still preserve their conformity to one general 

 plan of construction ? The number of distinct 

 species of insects already known and described 

 cannot be estimated at less than 100,000 ; and 

 every day is adding to the catalogue.* Of the 

 comparatively large animals which live on land, 

 how splendid is the field of observation that lies 

 open to the naturalist ! What variety is conspi- 

 cuous in the tribes of Quadrupeds and of Reptiles ; 



* Four-fifths of the insects at present known have been dis- 

 covered vi^ithin the last ninety years: for in 1743, Ray estimated 

 the total number of species at 20,000 only. See his work on 

 " The wisdom of God as manifested in the Creation," p. 24. 



