preservation. The autumnal months, which separate the winter from the summer, warn them to quit their abodes, and repair to warmer climates, or to seek out places where they may pass quietly and in safety the rough season.

It would be equally fatal to our fields and our gardens, if they were to be suddenly deprived of the summer heat: all plants, and particularly exotics, would inevitably perish; and the spring could no more yield us flowers, nor the summer fruits.

It is, therefore, but just that we should acknowledge in this arrangement the wisdom and the goodness of God; and not regard it as a matter of little consequence, that from the last days of summer, to the commencement of winter, the heat as gradually diminishes as the cold increases. These insensible revolutions were necessary, that we and all other creatures might be able to subsist, and that the earth might continue to open to us her rich stores. Let the presumptuous man, who so often dares to blame the laws of nature, only displace one single wheel in the vast machine of the creation, and he will soon have occasion to feel the injury he has done, and learn to his sorrow, that though he might disorganize the arrangements of nature, he could never amend them. Let us, then, receive it as a truth, that nothing is made without just reason; and no revolution happens without a sufficient preparation. All material events gradually succeed each other; all are preserved in the most regular order; and all take place exactly at the appointed time: order is the great law with which God rules the universe; and hence it is that all his works are so beautiful, invariable, and perfect.

If it was our constant occupation to study this beauty and perfection in the works of God, and to acknowledge in every season of the year the traces of his Divine power and goodness, we should hear no more of those foolish complaints by which we dishonour our Creator; but we should ever find order, wisdom, and goodness, even in those productions where we only expected to discover disorder and imperfection; and we should say from the fullest conviction, All the paths of the Lord are truth and mercy; all his conduct towards his creatures love and kindness; and may we ever revere his covenant, and cherish his precepts.'

NOVEMBER XXIV.

Snow.

DURING winter, we frequently see the ground covered with snow. Every body observes it fall, but very few peo ple give themselves the trouble to inquire into its nature and uses. Such is too generally the case with those objects which daily come under our notice, and from which we derive very considerable advantages. Often, indeed, the very things most deserving of our attention are those which we chiefly neglect. Let us henceforth be more rational, and begin by devoting some moments to the consideration of snow.

It is formed by very subtile vapours, which being congealed in the atmosphere, fall down in flakes more or less thick. In our climates these flakes are pretty large; but we are informed, that in Lapland they are sometimes so small as to resemble a fine dry powder. This is doubtless caused by the extreme cold which prevails there; and it is also remarked, that in our own country the flakes are greater in proportion as the cold is less severe, and they become less when it freezes strongly. The little flakes generally resemble hexagonal stars; sometimes, however, they have eight angles, and at others ten, and some of them have an irregular shape. The best way of observing them is to receive the snow upon white paper: hitherto, little has been said of the cause of these different figures. The whiteness of snow may be thus accounted for: it is extremely light and thin, consequently full of pores, and these contain air: it is farther composed of parts more or less thick and compact; and such a substance does not admit the sun's rays to pass, neither does it absorb them; on the contrary, it reflects them very powerfully, and this gives it that white appearance which we see in it.

Snow, as it falls, is twenty-four times lighter than water, which may be proved by melting twenty-four measures of snow, and they will be found to produce but one of water. Snow evaporates considerably, and the greatest degree of cold does not obstruct this evaporation. It has been doubted whether snow ever falls at sea; but those who have navi

gated the northern seas in winter affirm that they have there seen much snow. It is well known that high mountains are never entirely without snow; and though a small portion of it is sometimes melted, new flakes soon replace it. The air being much warmer in the plains than it is on the mountains, it may rain on the one, while it snows on the other.

Snow has several uses. As the cold of winter is much more destructive to the vegetable than to the animal king dom, plants would perish if they were not preserved by some covering. God has then designed that the rain, which, during the summer, descended to refresh and reanimate the plants, should fall in winter like soft wool, to cover and protect them from the injuries they must otherwise have sustained from the frost and the winds. When the snow melts, it becomes a fruitful moisture to the earth, and at the same time washes away from the winter seeds and plants every thing that might prevent or injure their growth; and any superabundance of melted snow that then remains, goes to supply the rivers and springs that suffered during the winter.

These reflections may suffice to convince us of the goodness of God manifested in the meteor of which we have just treated; and let us raise our hearts in joy and gratitude to that beneficent God, who even from clouds and snow pours down blessings and abundance upon the earth.

NOVEMBER XXV.

Sleep of Animals during the Winter.

NATURE being deprived of so many creatures, which in summer rendered her lively and cheerful, now appears gloomy and dead, Most of the animals which have disappeared are buried during the winter in a profound sleep. This is the case with caterpillars, May-bugs, ants, flies, spiders, snails, frogs, lizards, and serpents. It is an erroneous supposition that ants lay up a store of provision for the winter; the least cold benumbs them, and they continue in a state of torpescence till the return of spring: of what use, then, would be magazines, since nature has prevented

the necessity of their having food in the winter, and it is not very probable that they should lay up stores for other animals. That which they so carefully collect during the summer does not serve them for their subsistence; they make use of it in the construction of their habitations.

There are many birds which, when food begins to grow scanty, conceal themselves in the earth, or in caverns, where they sleep during the winter. It is certain, that at the beginning of winter the swallows which dwell near the sea-shore, and banks of rivers, hide themselves in the earth, and the wall-swallows in the hollows of trees, or in old buildings; and the house, or common swallows, seek the bottom of lakes and ponds, where they attach themselves in pairs, and clinging to reeds, remain there, seemingly without life or motion, till the return of warm weather re-animates them.

There are also some quadrupeds which, at the close of summer, bury themselves in the earth. Of these, the most remarkable is the marmot, or mountain-rat, which generally lives on the Alps. Though it delights in the highest mountains, in the regions of ice and snow, it is yet more subject than any other animal to the benumbing influence of cold. Hence it is, that the marmots retire about the end of September, or the beginning of October, into their subterranean abodes, where they continue till the month of April. Much art and precaution is observed in the arrangement of their winter habitation. It is a kind of gallery, the two wings of which have each a particular opening, and both terminate in a place where there is no outlet; and here they dwell. It is lined with hay and moss. These animals do not lay up provisions for the winter, because they do not require any. Before entering into their winter-quarters, each of them very carefully prepares for itself a bed with hay and moss; and then, after having exactly closed both the entrances into their retreat, consign themselves to sleep; and as long as they remain in this state they do not eat any thing. At the beginning of winter they are so fat, that some of them weigh nearly twenty pounds; but they gradually become thinner, and towards spring are very lean. When they are discovered in their retreats, they are found rolled up like a ball enveloped with hay; and during their torpid state they may be

carried away without their awakening, and even be killed without their appearing to feel.

Bears eat prodigiously at the beginning of winter: they are naturally fat, and at that time are still more so; and it is by this exuberance of fat that they are enabled to endure their long abstinence during their repose in winter. Badgers prepare themselves for their winter's repose in the same manner, before they enter their retreat.

The instinct of these, and other animals, thus teaches them how to live so long a time without nourishment. From the first winter, and before experience have informed them, they foresee and prepare for their long sleep. In their quiet retreat they neither experience want, hunger, nor cold, and they know no other season than summer. Thus the wisdom and goodness of God has provided for the wants of all his creatures, and this he effects by a thousand different means which human intelligence cannot conceive; and from all this we may safely conclude, that as he watches over and preserves every one of his works, he will also condescend to guard us from danger, and preserve us from all evils.

NOVEMBER XXVI.

Use of Storms.

DURING this stormy season of the year, perhaps some discontented people may regard winds and tempests, which are now so frequent, as the disorders and scourges of nature; they do not consider the advantages which result from them, nor that without them we should be a thousand times more unhappy than we really are. Storms are the best means of purifying the atmosphere. To be convinced of this, we have only to pay attention to the weather which prevails in this season. How many thick and unwholesome fogs, rainy, dark, and cloudy days, are we subject to! Storms are chiefly instrumental in dispersing these noxious vapours, and by thus driving them from us are very beneficial. The universe is governed by the same laws as man, whom we may compare to a little world. Our health in a great measure consists in the agitation and mixture of our. different humours, which otherwise would grow corrupt.