ESSAY IX. 439 tainly make a very various appearance to the eye, according to their shapes and sizes; and perhaps also, in different positions of light and shade might afford glimpses of as different colouring, as the verdure of distinct plants. Suppose yet further, these rising fibres, or threads of wax to be condensed and hardened by the cool air of the night, and continue in their proper forms; and the next day the softer wax should be forcedup again, not only through these cloths, but also through the interstices, of these hardened threads or fibres : Here would be some plaindif- ference of the next mould in which the growing parts of this plant would be cast, in order to give it some further different shapes. Suppose the branches and leaves to be formed this way; and when these are condensed and hardened at night, then fur- ther efforts of straining the wax upward, might go on to repre- sent in a rude manner some gross idea of vegetation. But it is easier for the sons of open to stand and wonder, and adore God the Creator, than to imitate, or even to describe his admirable works. In the best of their descriptions and their imitations of this divine artifice, they dobut chatter like Hottentots, and paint like Goths and Vandals. SECT. IV. -Of the Nourishment and Growth of Animals. LET us proceed in the next place to survey new wonders. All the animals of the creation, as well as the plants, have their original nourishment from these simple materials, earth and water. For all the animal beings Which do not live upon other animals, or the produce of them, take some of the vegeta- bles for their food : And thus the brutes of prey are originally indebted to the plants and herbs, i. e. to the earth for their sup- port, and their drink is the watery element. That all flesh is grass, is true in the literal, as well as the metaphorical sense. Does the lion eat the flesh of the lamb? Doth the Iamb suck the milk of the ewe? But the ewe is nourished by the grass of the field. Does the kite devòur the chicken, and the chicken the little caterpillars or insects of the spring ? But these insects are ever feeding on the tender plants, and the green products of the ground. The earth moistened with water, is the common nurse of all. Even the fishes of the sea are nourished with some green, vegetables that spring up there, or by preying on lesser fishes which feed on these vegetables. But let us give our meditations a loose on this entertaining subject, and we shall find numerous instances of wonder in this scene of divine con- trivance. 1. What very different animals are nourished by the same vegetable food! The self-same herbage or fruits of the earth by the divine laws of nature and providence, are converted into animated bodies of very distinct kinds. Could you imagine that
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