THE HISTORY, HABITS, AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. IN CHAPTER I. Creation of Animals. no part of creation are the POWER, WISDOM, and GOODNESS, of its beneficent and almighty Author more signally conspicuous than in the various animals that inhabit and enliven our globe. The infinite diversity of their forms and organs; the nice adaptation of these to their several functions; the beauty and elegance of a large number of them; the singularity of others; the variety of their motions; their geographical distribution; but, above all, their preeminent utility to mankind, in every state and stage of life, render them objects of the deepest interest both to rich and poor, high and low, wise and unlearned, so that arguments in proof of these primary attributes of the Godhead, drawn from the habits, instincts, and other adjuncts of the animal creation, are likely to meet with more universal attention, to be more generally comprehended, to make a deeper and more lasting impression upon the mind, to direct the heart more fervently and devotedly to the maker and giver of the seinteresting beings, thau those which are drawn from more abstruse sources, though really more elevated and sublime. The history of the animal kingdom naturally commences with the creation of animals, and the great events preparatory to it, for when the ALMIGHTY CREATOR, in his wisdom, and by the word of his power, had first brought into being, and afterwards set in order, the heavens and the earth; had caused the latter to bring forth grass, and herb, and tree, and then had placed his sun in the former, that by constant irradiations of light and heat from that central fountain, the life, and motion, which the FIRST MOVER had begun by the incubation of his Spirit, and which now manifested itself in the vegetable kingdom, might be maintained till it had run its destined course. When all things were thus prepared, his next care was to people and enliven the earth with a different and higher class of beings, in whom to organization, and life, and growth, and reproductive powers,-might be added sensation and voluntary motion. Unpeopled by ani 1 1 See Appendix, note 1. mals, the verdant earth in all its primitive and untarnished beauty, though inlaid with flowers exhibiting, in endless variety, every mixture and shade of colour that can glad the sight; though fanned by gales breathing Sabean odours, to gratify the scent; though tempting the appetite by delicious fruits of every flavour, still would be a scene without the breath of life. No motions would be seen but of the passing clouds, of the fluctuating waters, and the waving boughs; no voice heard but of the elements. Was a single pair placed in this paradise, though at first it would seem that there was gratification for every sense, and joy would possess the heart, and admiration fill the soul with pleasure; yet after the novelty of the spectacle had ceased, and the effect of its first impression was obliterated, a void would soon be felt, something more would seem wanting to animate the otherwise lovely scene; a longing would arise in the mind for some beings, varying in form and magnitude, furnished with organs that would enable them to traverse and enliven the lower regions of the atmosphere, others that might course over the earth's surface, and others that could win their easy way through its waters, so that all, by their numbers, and the variety of their motions, might exhibit a striking and interesting contrast to the fixed and unconscious vitality of the vegetable kingdom. But it was not the will of the beneficent Creator to leave such a blank and blot in his creation; before he created man in his own image, and enthroned him king of the new-made world, he decreed that his dominion also should be an image of his own, over innumerable creatures of every form and grade, each in its place entrusted with a peculiar office and function, and furnished with organs adapted to its work, contributing to its own and the general welfare; so that all should operate, "though each in different sort and manner,” to accomplish the great plan of an All-wise Providence. What was the precise order of creation in the animal kingdom is no where clearly revealed in Holy Scripture; and we can only conjecture, since the most perfect animal, and he who alone belonged to the spiritual and invisible world by his soul, as well as by his body to the visible, was created the last, that the progress was from those that were at the foot of the scale to those that were at the summit. We are told, indeed, in general terms, that on the fifth day, at the divine bidding, the waters, hitherto barren and untenanted, produced abundantly "the moving creature that hath life," and fowl to traverse the firmament. In an instant, in obedience to that quickening word, by the operation of Almighty Power, and under the guidance of infinite Wisdom and Goodness, the boundless ocean with all its tri |