CHAP. I - Creation of Animals

Summary

In no part of creation are the power, wisdom, and goodness, of its beneficent and almighty Author more signally conspicuous than in the various animals that inhabit and enliven our globe. The infinite diversity of their forms and organs; the nice adaptation of these to their several functions; the beauty and elegance of a large number of them; the singularity of others; the variety of their motions; their geographical distribution; but, above all, their preeminent utility to mankind, in every state and stage of life, render them objects of the deepest interest both to rich and poor, high and low, wise and unlearned, so that arguments in proof of these primary attributes of the Godhead, drawn from the habits, instincts, and other adjuncts of the animal creation, are likely to meet with more universal attention, to be more generally comprehended, to make a deeper and more lasting impression upon the mind, to direct the heart more fervently and devotedly to the maker and giver of these interesting beings, than those which are drawn from more abstruse sources, though really more elevated and sublime.