the fish called Acarambitamba, is fubject to the fame difeafe. Wormius himself had one of the stones. The regularity obfervable in the different members of infects, gave me an opportunity, in the last chapter, of remarking the infinite power, the wif dom, and the liberty of the Creator. The subject treated of in the present, is a no lefs fruitful fource of reflection. Man, accustomed to fee the fame objects every day, beholds them without regard; the moft ftriking proofs of the unlimited power and wifdom of the Deity, make no impreffion on his mind, when they become familiar to it. To draw him from his lethargy, he must be roufed by fome appearance extraordinary, fingular or important. All Nature teems with inftances of the power, the wif dom, the goodness of God, which bear alfo a character of novelty; it is neceffary, only to develope them, and to prefent them to the understanding. The fingular qualities of many animals, and of diverfe infects in particular, are of this number. It would appear, that the divine wisdom has endowed them with thefe perfections, folely with the view of exciting our attention, and of elevating our minds to the contemplation of the wonders of Nature, The duty of a true Christian is to conform to those invitations, and to acknowledge, in thofe fingular productions, the power and wifdom of a divine Author. Let us fix our attention, in the first place, on the wonderful and almoft infinite minutenefs of many infects. Because they do not approach to the size of an elephant or a whale, or fome other animal of great bulk, are they lefs the production of a divine hand? I own that thefe large animals are Colof fufes, and deferve a marked attention; but infects, thofe minute inhabitants of the world, bear still morę admirable admirable marks of power and wifdom. Is there not more art difcoverable in the ftructure of the teeth of a Dermestes than in that of the tufks of a boar? Is there not more beauty in the wings of fome butterflies, than in thofe of the peacock? How does the little excell the great, when we compare the head of a grafshopper with that of a horfe, the trunk of a flea, with the probofcis of an elephant! Whoever fhall reflect seriously on all this, will find that the powerful hand of the Creator is in every thing worthy of the highest admiration; that it is no lefs confpicuous, to fay no more, in the ftructure of a mite than in the formation of a Behemoth. We admire the skill of a workman who can execute a piece of mechanism so minute as to be hardly difcernible by the eye, and with juftice. It is more difficult to make a chain fo fmall hat a flea may be bound by it, than one fit to drag along a waggon; there is more dexterity required in mould. ing the figure of a small fly than in carving the image of an elephant. Let us therefore admire with deep humiliation the wifdom of God which is grand in great things, but which is no lefs fo in fmall. How great is the difference between his works and those of the most skilful artifts! We have already had occafion to make the remark Can they give to the mafterpieces of their hands thofe internal organs by which the works of nature execute all their motions? Can they polifh the external furface of their production fo as to make them any way comparable to thofe of the Creator? However polifhed theirs may be, in comparifon with his they will always appear rough and rugged. Let us likewife compare the fmallness of the things most artificially constructed by human hands, with those small machines endowed with life and motion Let us compare them with the bodies of the fe minute animals of which Leeuenhoeck difcovered many millions in a single . drop drop of water; and his difcovery we cannot difcredit, for many learned men after him have made the fame experiments. Robert Hook, and many others affure us, that in one drop of water, of the size of a grain of millet, there have been discovered sometimes ten, fometimes thirty, and fometimes five and forty thoufand of thefe animalculæ. Do these owe their existence to chance? It would be ridiculous, to fuppofe it; for chance cannot beftow a regular figure, nor arrange members in just proportion, nor confer the faculty of propagation. Shall it be faid that they have been formed by other creatures? But have these that infinite power which is neceffary for creation? Let it be our dutyto acknowledge that no caufe for their ex iftence can be affigned but God alone. He who hath given the Sun its light to fhine by day; he who hath commanded the Moon and Stars to enlighten the night, is the fame who hath bestowed on certain infects, for certain purposes, the faculty of appearing luminous in the dark. The fame Creator who hath given to man the power of speech, to quadrupeds and birds their different voices, has given to infects the power of producing certain founds. He who hath given to mufk its flavour, and to the animal we mentioned above, the power of diffeminating its offenfive effluvia, is alfo the cause of the different fmells which exhale from the bodies of infects. In fhort, the fame hand that hath impreffed upon minerals, on fifhes and on plants, the quality of yielding different colours for dying, is the fame who hath beflowed the fame qualities on different infects. And as we see that there is not one of thofe particular qualities but what is bestowed for some purpose, and a certain end, we cannot but acknowledge that the whole is directed by a wife being, who has formed one plan and pur fued one defign, and who hath executed the whole with perfect precifion. CHAP. IV. OF THE BEAUTY OF MOST INSECTS. NATURE furnishes every thing which can contribute to the gratification of our fenfes. There are creatures which it gives us pleasure to touch; we are delighted with the voices of others; there are fome which exhale the most agreeable perfumes, the tafte of fome pleafes our palate, and the beauty of many charms the eye. Infects, otherwife fo defpifed, are well fitted to minifter to our gratification in this last respect. I have had occafion, in fome of the former Chapters, to treat of that particular beauty which confifts in the juft proportion and judicious adaptation of their feveral members. Not to fall into useless repetitions, I fhall confine myself here to the beauty of their colours, to the fkill with which they are arranged, to the delicacy of each particular tint, and in general, to the admirable difpofition of the whole. The brilliancy of thofe colours is particularly remarkable on their bodies and wings. It is true that we often find but one colour on the bodies of infects, but in fome it is fo beautiful and shining that it furpaffes the finest varnish. Each part of the body has its particular colour, but all equally beautiful. I mean, for example, a certain fly, whofe back is like polished polished steel inclining a little to green, and its abdomen is red like polifhed copper. The body of moft caterpillars prefents a compound of different colours often mingled with fo much art that the most fkilful workman could not imitate them in his moft gaudy stuffs of filk, and convinces us that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Some have the body marked with dots or points of different colours, or with spots larger than the points, of unequal bignefs, and of irregular fhape; or laftly, with points and spots at the fame time, variously but beautifully difpofed. The bodies of other caterpillars are adorned with lines, and bands of dif ferent colours, and of different figures: fome are longitudinal, others tranfverfe; fometimes continuous, at other times interrupted, as if they had been cut in different places. There are likewife fome that have lines longitudinal and tranfverfe at the fame time. In fome caterpillars the spots take the figure of lozenges and rhomboids; in others that of bands, a little broader than the lines, which are either longitudinal or tranfverfe. There is often an agreeable intermixture of all thefe marks at the fame time. Some are adorned with lines and points, others with points and bands, and a third with points, lines, and bands, all at once. The little tubercles of the fize of a grain of millet, or of poppy feed, which are feen on the body of many caterpillars, are no fmall ornament to them. These small elevations are fo fmooth and fo polished, that when we look at the animal poffeffed of them, we would think it ftudded with jewels. The refemblance is the more striking, as these tubercles are of different colours. Some have the whitenefs of the diamond, others the redness of the ruby: fome are |