Language of Animals.

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others, and to render them subservient to his interest: All animals, except man, are deprived of this fa culty, because they are destitute of that reason by which we are enabled to acquire languages, and to know the use of speech. But as animals possess the

power of expressing their wants and feelings by natural signs, and certain sounds or cries, we must allow them a sort of language, though very inferior, formed entirely from the diversity of the tones which they

utter.

To form a just idea of this, no very laborious researches or profound investigations are necessary; it will be sufficient to observe the animals which daily come under our notice, and with which we live in familiar intercourse. Let us examine the hen and her chickens; when she has found any thing, she calls and invites them to partake of it; they understand her call and instantly come. If they lose sight of her, plaintive cries express their distress, and the desire they have for her guardian presence. Observe the different cries of the cock when a stranger or a dog advances, or when some bird of prey hovers near; or when he calls to answer his hens. Hear the la. mentable cries of the turkey, and see the young brood instantly hide themselves; the mother anxiously looks upward, and what has she discovered? a black point that we can scarcely distinguish; and this is a bird of prey, which could not escape the vigilance and piercing eyes of the mother carefully watching for her flock. The enemy disappears, aud the hen utters an exulting cry; her anxiety ceases, and the young ones again joyfully assemble round their mother.

The cries of the dog are very various, copious, and expressive: who can witness without emotion the joy which this faithful animal expresses at the return of his master? He leaps, dances, runs about him with eagerness; now stops and eyes him with most earnest Vol. I. T

regard, full of tenderness and affection: approaches, licks, and caresses him repeatedly; then again renews his frolicsome gambols, disappears, returns, assumes a variety of sportful attitudes, barks, and declares his joy by a thousand playful gestures. How different are these joyful sounds from those which he utters at night upon the approach of a thief! If we follow a hound or a pointer, how different will be their cries and their motions, according to what they wish to express, and how significant are the movements of their ears and tails.

This may afford us another opportunity of admiring the wisdom of the Supreme Being, who has thus manifested to all creatures his tender cares, by giving them power to express by sounds their feelings and their wants. From their peculiar organization it is impossible for them to utter the language of man; but though destitute of that qualification, they are, through the mercy of God, enabled to communicate their sensations to one another, and even to man himself. They possess the faculty of producing and varying a certain number of sounds; and the structure of their organs is such, that each species has peculiar tones by which it conveys its meaning, with as much perfection as their nature and the end for which they are created requires.

How superior then is man to other animals by his powers of speech! Their language consists in the ut terance of imperfect sounds; they are incapable of combining and comparing ideas, and their knowledge of external objects is very limited. Whilst man pos

sesses faculties which enable him to ascend from particulars to general notions, and to separate the object from the qualities which distinguish it; and having obtained this knowledge, he is enabled through his powers of speech to convey it to other individuals. Let us then pour forth the tribute of our praise to the

Magnitude of Creatures upon the Earth. 275

Almighty for the superiority of our nature, and the great faculties he has bestowed upon us; never forgetting that the most grateful incense which ascends to Heaven is the prayers of the afflicted for those that comfort them; and the blessings of the ignorant who have been rescued from the bondage of darkness, and restored to the cheerful precincts of day, by the su perior intelligence of a fellow-being who has devoted his days to the cultivation of his mind and the improvement of his heart.

MAY XXIII.

Number and Magnitude of Creatures upon the Earth.

THE works of the Lord are vast and numerous;' we should have acknowledged this if we had only known those which the earth contains; for how immense is this globe, the abode of so many nations dif fering from each other! and how many solitudes and deserts are still uninhabited by man! What is still more striking is, that the solid earth does not occupy near so much space as the water; and if the earth it. self is an example of the greatness of the works of God, how much more so is that diversity of creatures which it contains!

We find innumerable species of stones, minerals, and metals, concealed in the bosom of the earth; whilst an astonishing variety of trees, plants, herbs, and fruits, adorn its surface. Notwithstanding all the care which has been taken to observe and classify their different species, the work is still far from being completed. Let us next consider the extreme diversity of living creatures which offers itself to our attention! How great the disproportion between the eagle and the fly, the whale and the gudgeon, the elephant and the

mouse and yet the interval which separates them is filled up with living creatures. The various species of animals approach each other so nearly that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them; and yet these are so multiplied, that from the fly to the elephant they form one vast chain, all the links of which are connected. On the seas, lakes, and rivers, upon the surface of the earth and within its bosom, there is scarcely any space that is not occupied by some living creature.

But however great may appear the number of creatures which come under our observation, it is not to be compared with those which are so small as to elude our perception. With the microscope almost incre dible discoveries have been made, of which all who choose may convince themselves. By its means we are presented with a new world, which was before entirely unknown to us: we there see living creatures whose extreme minuteness the imagination can scarcely embody, some of them not equalling in size the millionth part of a grain of sand. And it is not only their number and diversity, but their beauty and delicacy of structure, which excites our astonishment. What nearly escapes the naked eye, when viewed through a microscope has an inconceivable fineness and beauty. Brilliant particles which art cannot imitate glitter in a grain of sand, and particularly in some insects; for example, in the head and eyes of a small fly; and we observe in the structure of the most insignificant of beings the utmost symmetry and most admirable order: in short, we find millions of creatures so small that the eye cannot distinguish them without a glass, which have, notwithstanding, an organization as perfect in their species, and are as proper to fulfil the design of their creation, as the larger animals with which the earth is peopled.

Considerations like these are well calculated to