Book IV. but their vermicular or finuous Motion (performed with no less Art, and as curiously provided for as the Legs or Wings of other Creatures: This, I fay,) is fufficient for their Conveyance.

Man and Beafts, whofe Occafions require a large Room, have accordingly a fwifter Motion, with proper Engines for that Service; answerable to their Range for Food, their Occupation of Bufinefs, or their want of Armature, and to fecure them against Harms (1).

But for the winged Creatures (Birds and Infects,) as they are to traverse large Tracts of Land and Water, for their Food, for their commodious Habitation, or Breeding their Young, to find Places of Retreat and Security from Mischiefs; fo they have accordingly the Faculty of flying in the Air; and that fwiftly or flowly, a long or fhort a Time, according to their Occafions and Way of Life. And accordingly their Wings, and whole Body, are curioufly prepared for fuch a Motion; as I intend to Thew in a proper Place (m).

Another remarkable Thing in the motive Faculty of all Creatures, is the neat, geometrical Performance of it. The most accurate Mathematician, the moft skilful in mechanick Motions, can't prescribe a nicer Motion (than what they perform) to the Legs and Wings of thofe that walk or fly (n),

(1) As I fhall hereafter fhew, that the indulgent Creator hath abundantly provided for the Safety of Animals by their Cloathing, Habitations, Sagacity and Inftruments of Defence; fo there appears to be a Contemperament of their Motion with thefe Provifions. They that are well armed and guarded, have commonly a flower Motion; whereas they that are deftitute thereof, are fwifter. So alfo timid helpless Animals are commonly fwift; thus Deer and Hares: But Animals endowed with Courage, Craft, Arms. commonly have a flower Motion.

(m) See Book VII. Chap. 1.

(*) See Book VII. Chap. 1. the end.

or

or to the Bodies of those that creep (a). Neither can the Body be more compleatly poifed for the Motion it is to have in every Creature, than it already actually is. From the largeft Elephant, to the fmalleft Mite, we find the Body artfully balanced (p). The Head not too heavy, nor too light for the reft of the Body, nor the rest of the Body for it (q). The Vifcera are not let loofe, or fo placed, as to fwag, over-balance, or over-fet the Body; but well-braced, and distributed to maintain the æquipoife of the Body. The motive Parts also are admirably well fixed in respect to the Center of Gravity; placed in the very Point, fittest to fupport and convey the Body. Every Leg beareth his true Share of the Body's Weight. And the Wings fo nicely are fet to the Center of Gravity, as even in that fluid Medium, the Air, the Body is as truly balanced, as we could have balanced it with the niceft Scales.

But among all Creatures, none more elegant than the fizing the Body of Man, the gauging his Body fo nicely, as to be able to ftand erect, to

(0) See Book IX, Chap. 1. Note (c.)

(p) Siquis unquam alius Opifex, aqualitatis & proportionis magnam habuit providentiam, certè Natura habuit in animalium corporibus conformandis; unde Hippocrates eam rectiffimè juftam nominat. Galen. de Uf. Part. 1.2. c. 16.

(9) The Make of the Bodies of fome Water-Fowl, feems to contradict what I here fay, the Heads and long Necks of fome, as of Swans, Ducks and Geefe; and the hinder Parts of others, as of the Doucker and More-hen, and fome other Kinds, feeming to be too heavy for the rest of their Body. But instead of being an Argument against, it is a notable Inftance of, the divine Art and Providence, thefe Things being nice Accommodations to their way of Life. Of fuch as have long Necks, fee Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (i).

And as for fuch whofe hinder Parts feem to over-balance their foremost Parts, whereby they fly with their Bodies in a manner erect, this alfo is an excellent Accommodation to their way of Life, which is Diving rather than Flying. Vid. Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (k).

ftoop, to fit, and indeed to move any way, only with the Help of fo fmall a Stay as the Feet (r): whofe Mechanifm of Bones, Tendons and Muscles to this purpose, is very curious and admirable.

CHA P. IX.

Of the Place allotted to the feveral Tribes of Animals.

Aving difpatched the Motion of Animals, let us in the next Place confider the Place which the infinitely wife Creator hath appointed them to move and act, and perform the Offices of the Creation in. And here we find every Particular well ordered. All Parts of our Terraqueous Globe fit for an Animal to live and act in, are fufficiently ftocked with proper Inhabitants: The watery Element (unfit, one would think, for Respiration and Life) abounding with Creatures fitted for it; its Bowels abundantly ftored, and its Surface well befpread. The Earth alfo is plentifully stocked in all its Parts, where Animals can be of any Ufe; not probably the deepest Bowels thereof indeed, being Parts in all likelihood unfit for Habitation and Action, and where a living Creature would be useless in the World; but the Surface every where abundant ly ftored.

But that which is most confiderable in this Mat ter, and plainly fheweth the divine Management in the Cafe, is, that thofe Creatures are manifeftly defigned for the Place in which they are, and the Ufe and Services they perform therein. If all the

) See Book Y. Chap. 2. Note (b).

Animals of our Globe had been made by Chance, or placed by Chance, or without the divine Providence, their Organs would have been otherwise than they are, and their Place and Refidence confused and jumbled. Their Organs (for Inftance) of Respiration, of Vifion, and of Motion, would have fitted any Medium, or have needed none; their Stomachs would have ferved any Food, and their Blood, and Covering of their Bodies been made for any Clime, or only one Clime. Confequently all the Animal World would have been in a confufed, inconvenient, and diforderly Commixture. One Animal would have wanted Food, another Habitation, and moft of them Safety. They would have all flocked to one, or a few Places, taken up their Reft in the Temperate Zones only, and covered one Food, the eafieft to be come at, and most fpecious in fhew; and fo would have poisoned, starved, or greatly incommoded one another. But as the Matter is now ordered, the Globe is equally befpread, fo that no Place wanteth proper Inhabitants, nor any Creature is deftitute of a proper Place, and all Things neceffary to its Life, Health, and Pleasure. As the Surface of the Terraqueous Globe is covered with different Soils, with Hills and Vales, with Seas, Rivers, Lakes and Ponds, with divers Trees and Plants, in the feveral Places; fo all these have their Animal Inhabitants, whofe Organs of Life and Action are manifeftly adapted to fuch and fuch Places and Things; whofe Food and Phyfick, and every other Convenience of Life, is to be met with in that very Place appointed it. The watery, the amphibious (a), the airy Inhabitants, and

(a) Eft etiam admiratio nonnulla in beftiis aquatilibus iis, qua gignuntur in terrâ: veluti Crocodili, fluviatilefque Tefludines, quadamque Serpentes orta extra aquam, fimul ac primùm niti poffunt, aquam perfequuntur. Quin etiam Anatum

and thofe on the dry Land Surface, and the Subterraneous under it, they all live and act with Pleafure, they are gay, and flourish in their proper Element and allotted Place, they want neither for Food, Cloathing, or Retreat, which would dwindle and die, deftroy, or poifon one another, if all coveted the fame Element, Place, or Food.

Nay, and as the Matter is admirably well ordered, yet confidering the World's increase, there would not be fufficient Room, Food, and other Neceffaries for all the living Creatures, without another grand Act of the divine Wisdom and Providence, which is the Balancing the Number of Individuals of each Species of Creatures, in that Place appointed thereto: Of which in the next Chapter,

С НА Р. Х.

Of the Balance of Animals, or the due Proportion in which the World is stocked with them.

TH

HE whole Surface of our Globe can afford Room and Support only to fuch a Number of all Sorts of Creatures. And if by their doubling, trebling, or any other Multiplication of their Kind, they fhould encrease to double or treble that Number, they muft ftarve, or devour one another. The keeping therefore the Balance even, is mani feftly a Work of the divine Wisdom and Providence. To which end, the great Author of Life

ova Gallinis fape fupponimus [Pulli] deinde eas [matres] relinquunt effugiunt, cùm primùm aquam, quafi natu alem domum, videre potuerunt. Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1.2. c. 48.

hath