Milton has represented Adam in Paradise, when arriving at the full perfection of all his senses, as astonished at the glorious appearances of nature,-the heaven, the air, the earth,-together with his own bodily frame,-and led by the contemplation of these to ask whence this wonderful scene arose. "Oh, then what soul was his, when on the tops Of the high mountains he beheld the sun Rise up and bathe the world in light;—he look’d— And ocean liquid mass, beneath him lay In gladness and deep joy. The clouds were touch'd, Thought was not ;-in enjoyment it expired. Strange that these wonders have not uniformly the effect of leading man to the contemplation of the Great Cause of all! To the naturalist who walks abroad, looking through nature up to nature's God, what sources of devout gratification and instruction do such scenes supply! In nature, from the broad majestic oak To the green blade that twinkles in the sun, "The works of the Lord are great, honourable, and glorious, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein."* • Psalm cxi. 2, 3. 'The book of nature, as well as that of revelation," says Bishop Watson, "elevates our conceptions and incites our piety; they mutually illustrate each other; they have an equal claim to our regard, for they are both written by the finger of the one eternal and incomprehensible God; to whom be glory for ever. J CHAPTER XIV. ZOOLOGY.-Animals peculiar to America. Their diversity. Number. Indigenous and foreign. Wild and domestic. Insects. Fish. Reptiles. Birds. The whole animal system of America is equally distinguished with its forms of vegetable life, by variety and profusion. The zoology of America, indeed, is very peculiar and diversified, differing, as much as its flora and arboreta, in many important respects from that of the Old World. But though like the other continents America is distinguished by zoological peculiarities of its own, determined, perhaps, more or less by its geological aspect, it is yet marked by many of the features that also belong to other parts of the world. Many families of animals are so extensively distributed as to be almost equally characteristic of the most opposite regions. Of about one thousand three hundred and fifty mammals that have been described and classified, America possesses about five hundred and forty. But, with few exceptions, the new hemisphere, on its discovery, was found remarkably deficient of useful animals. Neither the horse, ox, sheep, hog, nor even the domestic fowls (excepting the turkey, which was originally wild), were seen by Columbus or his contemporaneous discoverers. All the domestic animals have been introduced by European settlers; and some of these have increased to such a degree that they form herds in a wild state, swarming the prairies and other uncultivated tracts. The most remarkable animals within the boundary of the States are the opossum and the beaver, the racoon, the glutton, and the sloth; the wapeti, or American elk, whose antlers are sometimes seven feet in length; the prong-horned antelope, the ocelot, the lynx, the bison, and the musk ox; with the black, brown, and grisly bear. The last-named of these (ursus ferox) is the most powerful and dangerous wild animal of America, possessing amazing muscular power and extreme tenacity of life. Specimens have been killed and measured which have been found equal to the largest size of the Polar bear, though ! there is much variety in the dimensions of the different individuals. They abound in the Rocky Mountains, and places east of them to six degrees. They secrete themselves in caves, where during winter they remain torpid. They subsist principally on the succulent or edible roots of the wild pine. These animals are of such gigantic size that some of them have been found to weigh 800 lbs.; while the skin of one that was killed by a hunter is said to have measured eight and a half feet in length. The average may be taken at about 500 lbs. weight. The claws, which they have the power of moving independently, cut like a chisel when the animal strikes with them. The tail is so small as to be scarcely visible. Such is its strength, that it has been known to drag easily, and to a considerable distance, the carcase of a bison weighing 1000 lbs. These bears do not hug their victims, but strike them with their terrific paws. When one of these animals sees an object he stands erect upon his hind legs, and generally gazes at it for some minutes. He then, whether it be man or beast, goes straight on towards it regardless of numbers, and will seize it in the midst of an armed batallion. The following incident in relation to one of the least ferocious of these species of animals, as well as illustrative of life in the backwoods, may not prove uninteresting: rr "A farmer in one of the backwood settlements being engaged, together with one or two assistants, in clearing some additional land on the outskirts of his farm, felled among others a large hollow tree. While standing at the stump of the tree, when his companions proceeded to cut off the branches, he cast a glance into the cavity, and discovered something that had the appearance of a living animal, though from the obscurity of the hollow he could not distinguish the genus to which it belonged, but supposed it to be a racoon, an animal often found in similar situations. He immediately divested himself of some of his clothing, and crawled into the tree with the intention of satisfying his curiosity, and of making a prize of the intruder whoever he might be. He had not advanced far when his progress was obstructed by the animal which disputed his right to enter; and the pressure at length became so great that the farmer was forced to a hasty retreat, which he was not long in effecting; although almost simultaneously with his own exit he perceived a bear of unusually large dimensions forcing his after him in great wrath. The sudden and unexpected appear way ! P ance of so formidable an antagonist disconcerted the farmer The black bear, the black and grey wolf, the elk, the moose, |