328 
SUCCESSIVE DESTRUCTION OF LIFE. 
6 July, 
stroys this, himself ; the vulture waits till it has been destroyed by 
others, or till vitality has departed through other causes. If we look 
around at the animal creation, from the huge whale to the most minute 
object that moves, we everywhere behold examples of one species 
maintaining its existence by the destruction of others upon which it 
feeds ; and of those which have been formed to require vegetable 
aliment, becoming themselves the food of others which have been 
created carnivorous ; these latter, perhaps, never preying naturally 
on species of their own class. The beasts and birds of prey, together 
with vultures, are, in their turn, the food of innumerable maggots the 
larvae of beetles * of various species, which., like the vultures, have 
the faculty of discovering a carcass as soon as putrefaction com- 
mences ; and are then seen in the air, approaching from the leeward 
in swarms, guided only by their sense of smell. 
This picture of a succession of destruction among the animal crea- 
tion, though natural and immutable, is not an agreeable one ; and the 
Power which made things so, has implanted in the human mind a 
sentiment which, if not stifled, causes this prospect, however inte- 
resting and instructive, to appear unpleasing ; and, from the view of 
rapacity and death, warfare and bloodshed, even though the result 
of natural laws, we gladly turn towards that part of animated 
nature where more peaceful scenes present themselves : from the 
tiger to the lamb, from the hawk to the dove, we turn with pleasure. 
Or, if more tranquil thoughts delight us, we change to the con- 
templation of the beauties and perfection of inanimate objects ; to 
the verdant foliage of the spreading trees which clothe the mountain- 
foot, or to the lively hues of the fragrant flowers which adorn the 
valleys. 
Thus we see, throughout the whole system of nature, all things 
connected together, and necessary to each other's existence ; useful in 
life, and useful in death : each animated object submitting to its 
* These beetles were of the genera, Necrobia, ThanatopMlus, Silpha, and Dermestes. 
But on other occasions, when they were also attracted by smell, they consisted of various 
species of Copris, Oiithophagus, Ateuchus, Sisyphus, Gymnopleurus, and Onitis: and it was 
amusing to see them in great numbers, one after another thus coming up from leeward. 
