covered that oxen eat of two hundred and seventy-seven kinds of grasses, and that they reject two hundred and eighteen; goats eat four hundred and forty-nine, and reject one hundred and twenty-six kinds; sheep feed upon three hundred and eighty-seven, and there are one hundred and forty-one kinds of grass that they will not touch; the horse, out of four hundred and seventy-four kinds of grass, rejects two hundred and twelve; swine are contented with seventy-two vegetables, and there are one hundred and seventy-two they will not eat. Other animals are compelled to seek their food with labour and toil, to grub up the earth, to gather it together when it is scattered, or to find it in a foreign element: some seek it in the darkness of the night; others labour to provide a winter store; and others, again, make use of cunning and address in order to entrap their prey. Earth, air, and water abound with living creatures and food for their support.

This variety in the food of animals is truly admirable, and discovers the fatherly care of the Almighty for all his creatures. And we, my

dear Readers, how much reason have not we to celebrate the praises and glory of our heavenly Father!

JULY 31.

VARIETY IN THE STATURE OF MANKIND.

THE height of the human form varies considerably, generally from five to six feet. The inhabitants of the North Pole are less than five feet; but the shortest men are found in the inte

rior of the island of Madagascar; they are barely four feet high: yet these people derive their origin from nations of an ordinary stature, and the principal cause of their degeneracy must be considered the ungenial nature of their climate. The cold is there so excessive during the greater part of the year that the vegetables and animals are alike diminutive: why should not the climate have the same influence upon man?

There are, on the contrary, nations resembling the description of the giants of old: the Patagonians, who inhabit the coast of Magellan, are eight and nine feet high. And why should there not be people of larger dimensions than the Europeans? History and the monuments of antiquity confirm the possibility; even in our own country persons have exhibited themselves, of a very superior stature, yet well made and of good proportions, enjoying health, and capable of performing those labours which require skill as well as strength.

O thou great and adorable Being! thy wisdom is preeminent in all thy works. All that thou hast produced in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms are alike perfect in weight, number, and measure; they all bear the stamp of thy image, the dwarf as well as the giant, the blade of grass as well as the oak, and the crawling worm as well as the stately elephant.

DPAWN BY R. WFSTALL RA. ENGRAVED BY JOHN PYE, PUBLISHED BY JOHN SHARPF DUKE STREET, PICCADILLY:

NOV 1 1823.

AUGUST.

1. Meditation on the works of God.-2. Love of gardens.3. Sirius, the dogstar.-4. Sleep.-5. Divisibility of bodies.-6. Construction of the limbs of insects.-7. Senses of man compared with those of other animals.-8. Thunder.-9. Meadows.-10. Injuries arising from animals.11. Diversity of colours.-12. Habitations of the beaver. -13. Nutrition of the human body.-14. Different aspects of nature.-15. Damages occasioned by rain.-16. Care of animals for their young.-17. Extraordinary rains.18. Sensibility of plants.-19. Fear arising from storms. -20. Summer the image of death.-21. Heat of the weather.-22. Variety of plants.-23. Animal kingdom. -24. Division of the earth.-25. Properties of light.26. Structure of birds.-27. The heavens.-28. Wheat. -29. Shells.-30. The government of God.-31. Harvest Hymn.

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