cant animal, in the protection of its offspring, and 
the manifold devices by which vegetable fructifica- 
tion is preserved from the opposing operations of 
the elements, must, each in their turn, offer matter 
of admiration. How much to be lamented is it, 
that these perpetual indications of divine wisdom 
so rarely arouse human apathy. The force of these 
considerations is peculiarly pressed on our notice, 
at the present moment, by the following incident. 
At a friend’s house, we have just witnessed the 
parental attentions of a chaffinch, which has built 
its nest beneath the shelter of a rose tree, on the sill 
of the dining-room window. The bird, now sitting, 
evinces no alarm from persons within the room. 
In this situation her every action is open to scrutiny; 
and we can conceive the pleasure many of our read- 
ers would have in watching her apparent wisdom 
and purpose in the protection of her eggs and nest. 
In the lowest grade of life — in the vegetable king- 
dom, irritability, influenced by a direct stimulus, 
effects the required protection. Expansion and 
contraction of vegetable appendages are the princi- 
pal operations. To the superior grade of creation — 
to man, is given reason, the faculty of the soul, to 
guide his purposes of self-preservation. To the in- 
termediate class — to inferior animals, instinct is 
given, as in the brooding chaffinch which we have 
mentioned. When her little castle is assailed by 
rude storms, she ruffles her feathers, sits high, 
spreads partially her imbricate wings, and forms an 
architectural roof of plumage, that bids defiance to 
the watery element. Who can define the limits of 
reason and instinct! 
Sweet’s FI. Gard. 244. 
