THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER, 
251 
vital wonders; everything there is perfectly 
adapted in essence and quality to the purpose 
intended. Surrounding these essential elements 
there is the delicate membrane which makes the 
porous shell impervious to all damp from with¬ 
out or an equally fatal leakage from within. In 
the centre of this marvellous storehouse hangs 
the living germ of the future bird, and all around 
is the exactly-measured provision for feeding 
the growing chick until the time of hatching, 
when every particle is consumed; the dead 
matter has entirely disappeared, and the per¬ 
fect living bird fills the place made vacant by 
its consumption. Surely no blind chance has 
been working at random here, but infinite and 
far-seeing skill. 
“ The wisest philosopher, with the egg in his 
hand to examine and analyze, is entirely unable 
to compose a second egg; nay, indeed, he is 
confounded when he attempts to search out 
the mysteries of the one he is holding. It may 
seem somewhat extravagant, but certainly with 
some show of justification for the assertion, 
when Michelet, the enthusiastic writer on the 
bird, exclaims : ‘ Speak not to me of suns, of 
elementary chemistry, of globes. The marvel 
