INTRODUCTION. 1 



to overflow with gratitude to Him, who has so 

 graciously conferred upon us so many blessings, 

 and, amongst them, the capability of deriving pure 

 and innocent pleasure from the investigation of 

 his works ? Is not a mite as great a wonder as 

 an elephant? — a tuft of moss as that of an oak- 

 tree ? — and the process employed in forming the 

 feather of a wi*en, does it not display as much 

 power and wisdom as the formation of an eagle ? 

 We cannot look at the plumage of a bird, and re- 

 flect on the wonderful arrangement of parts ne- 

 cessary for the production of the feathers, without 

 being lost in astonishment I Feathers seem to us to 

 have both secreting vessels for their nourishment, 

 and vessels for secreting the matter which gives the 

 feathers their colour*, and, when the feathers are 

 completed, the colouring vessels lie inactive till 

 the next moulting. But these vessels may be 

 brought partially into action, to renew feathers that 

 have been lost by accident, or to renew the tail of 

 a bird that has been pulled for the pip ; it being 

 considered sometimes beneficial, during that dis- 

 ease, to draw the feathers from a bird's tail. Fea- 

 thers we conceive to be coloured much in the same 

 manner as flowers. Each colour has a set of ves- 

 sels peculiar to itself, and totally independent of 



