8 ON THE STUDY OP NATURE. 



are upwards of tzto thousand muscles, all of which 

 can be brought into action with as much facility, at 

 the will of that insect, and perform their several of- 

 fices with as much accuracy, promptitude, and pre- 

 cision, as the mqst perfect animal; and all this Is 

 done by that insect, with equal consciousness of the 

 manner how, as the similar voluntary actions of Man 

 himself are effected !* It would be no easy matter 

 to make some men believe that the minute Epheme- 

 ra Fly, whose life is but for the continuance of a few 

 hours, is, in all its parts, for the functions it has to 

 perform, as complete as the stately Elephant that 

 treads the forests of India for a century. Littlt do they 

 suppose that even in its appearance, under the great- 

 est magnifying powers, it is as elegant in every re- 

 spect, and as beautifully finished, as any of the larger 

 animals ! Unlike the paltry productions of Man, 

 all the minute parts of these works of God appear in 

 greater perfection, and afford to us a greater decree 

 of admiration, the more minutely and more accurate- 

 ly they are examined. M. de Lisle sj^w, with a mi- 

 croscope, a very small insect, that, in one second of 

 time advanced three inches, tCxV\noJivehi(rulredand 

 forty steps; and many of the discoveries of Leuw- 

 enhoek were even still more wonderful than this. 

 Thus we evidently discern that all the operations of 

 God are full of beauty and perfection, and that he 

 is as much to be adored in the insect Creation as in 

 that of the Elephant or Lion. 



If, from the contemplation of microscopic objects, 

 we turn our attention to the stupendous system of 



* Acderson's Recieations in i^pjiculture. 



