KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



357 



one species to another, by accidental causes, be 

 increased? The opinion of M. de Lamark 

 might at least be adopted by some sects of phi- 

 losophers, one class of whom suppose that the 

 soul herself directs the formation of the body, 

 which serves her for an investment ; while ano- 

 ther maintains, that the species either ameliorate 

 or degenerate without cessation, in such a man- 

 ner that man might descend to the rank of the 

 monkey,or the monkeyraise himself to that of man. 



The reader will now be convinced, that there 

 cannot exist any necessity or natural occasion, 

 without there existing an active organ, an impulse 

 from within. Without certain vital forces in the 

 interior, there could be neither hunger nor thirst; 

 nor necessity for respiration, nor of the union of 

 the sexes. Thus the exterior necessities always 

 suppose an interior force. 



From this we may form an opinion of the 

 vague and obscure language of some naturalists: 

 " The sensibility, more or less cultivated by the 

 necessities and by circumstances, produces the 

 different degrees of intelligence, whether in the 

 species or iu individuals. What we regarded in 

 them as the natural sagacity of instinct, fre- 

 quently is only a development of that love of 

 self which is a necessary consequence of sensi- 

 bility: it is not to instinct, it is to the faculty of 

 perception and its effects, that the means belong, 

 which animals employ to satisfy the wants of 

 their natural appetite. It appears certain that 

 if cold and other external agents did not cause 

 the rabbit to suffer, more than the hare is affected 

 by them, this animal, which now digs its burrow, 

 would hardly be induced to take the trouble." 



The same George Leroy, otherwise an excel- 

 lent observer, wished to derive the cunning and 

 in general the inventions and ingenious actions 

 of animals, from a strong sense of want. 



The rabbits which we keep in our stables, are. 

 certainly not incommoded by the cold ; yet we 

 cannot prevent them from digging their burrows. 

 And why does not the hare, when pursued by 

 the hounds, feel the urgent necessity of seeking 

 an asylum under ground? How happens it, 

 that such different external circumstances produce 

 absolutely the same instincts, the same inventions, 

 the same ingenious actions in all individuals of 

 the same species; while the same circumstances 

 engender opposite instincts, and very different in- 

 ventions and ingenious actions in other species? 

 Why _ attribute to external circumstances the 

 qualities of animals, when it is confessed, that 

 the man of the greatest genius could add nothing 

 to their sagacity when it is aroused and exercised 

 by difficulties. 



Who does not see, that in all discussions on 

 the natural wants, men have constantly confirmed 

 the false notion that external objects create the 

 instincts, propensities, faculties, with this other 

 true notion, that external circumstances can 

 arouse the faculties inherent in the animal, call 

 them forth, and give them activity? 



Petty Annoyances. — There are minor mis- 

 eries in life much more difficult to be borne 

 with patience than heavy trials — not being of 

 a nature to call forth that resignation with 

 which we must arm ourselves to support the 

 misfortunes we know to be inevitable. 



POPULAR SCIENCE. 



THE SUN. 



Great source of day ! best image here below 

 Of thy Creator ! ever pouring wide, 

 From world to world, the vital ocean round, 

 On Nature write, with every beam, his praise ! 



From the earliest periods op time, to 



the present moment, the sun has been an object 

 of daily observation by all nations. He appears 

 to rise in the eastern part of the heavens, and to 

 set in the western — to be the cause of day by his 

 presence, and of night by his absence. He is the 

 central body of the solar system, and his lustre 

 so far exceeds that of all the other planetary 

 bodies, that they disappear in his presence. 



No stars besides, their radiance can display 

 In Phoebus' presence, the dread lord of day ; 

 Ev'n Cynthia's self, tbo' regent of the night, 

 Is quite obscured by his emergent light. 



To this central luminary of our system, man 

 is indebted for the most valuable benefits, and 

 the most durable blessings he can enjoy. So 

 glorious a body is, therefore, naturally classed as 

 one of the most wonderful works of the Creator. 

 His unrivalled splendor, his stupendous mag- 

 nitude, his central situation, and the influence he 

 exerts upon surrounding worlds, — claim, for so 

 resplendent and glorious an object, every possible 

 regard and admiration. We are not, then, sur- 

 prised to find, among heathen nations especially, 

 that the sun became an object of religious 

 adoration; for it is no uncommon thing to find 

 even now that many worship " the creature in- 

 stead of the Creator." 



In order to form some idea of the vast size and 

 distance of this glorious body, astronomers have 

 determined, with great accuracy, that his mean 

 distance from the earth is 23,984 times the radius 

 of our earth, or 95,000,000 of miles. This mag- 

 nificent body is found to subtend an angle, 

 measured with the greatest accuracy, by an 

 instrument constructed for the purpose, called a 

 heliometre, of 32' 3", which is found by a simple 

 trigonometrical calculation to give his real 

 diameter of 882,000 miles. The circumference, 

 then, of this stupendous orb is about 2,770,800 

 miles! If we make this glorious body the 

 standard of comparison for other heavenly bodies, 

 we shall find that in linear magnitude he exceeds 

 our globe, in the ratio of lllj to 1; hence his 

 bulk will be to that of the earth as 1,384,472 

 to 1. 



Let the human mind attempt to grasp the idea 

 of this stupendous globe, — this luminous orb of 

 2,770,800 miles in circumference, revolving on its 

 axis, at the velocity of 4,000 miles an hour, the 

 entire portion of his surface pouring forth torrents 

 of luminous particles, — not directed towards our 

 earth alone, but towards every portion of sur- 

 rounding space, and it must sink in its feeble 

 imagery, and seek its refuge in humble adoration 

 of the Creator! But that we may have still 

 further conceptions of this celestial orb, we find 

 it to consist of more than two billions of square 

 miles of surface! Let us try to conceive one 

 continued blaze of more than two billions- of square 

 miles in extent, whirled round at the rate of 4,000 

 miles an hour, in an eastward direction. We 



