Can the Body be more compleatly poifed for the Motion it is to have in every Creature, than it already actually is. From the largest Elephant, to the maileft Mite, we find the Body artfully balanced (14. The Head not too heavy, nor too fight for the reft of the Body, nor the rest of the Body for it (15). The Vifcera not let loofe, or fo placed, as to fwag, over-balance, or over-fet the Body; but well-braced, and diftributed to maintain the equipoife of the Body. The motive Parts alfo are admirably well fixed in refpect to the Center of Gravity; placed in the very Point, fittest to fupport and convey the Body. Every Leg beareth his true fhare 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 Stand erect, to Stoop,

(14) Siquis unquam alius Opifex, aqualitatis & proportionis magnam habuit providentiam, certè Natura babuit in animalium corporibus conformandis; unde Hippocrates eam re&iffime juftam nominat. Galen. de Uf. Part. 1. 2. c. 16.

(15) The Make of the Bodies of fome Water-Fowls, 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 Morehen, and fome other kinds, feeming to be too heavy for the reft of their Body. But inftead of being an Argument againft, it is a notable Inftance of, the divine Art and Providence, these things being nice Accommodations to their way of Life. Of fuch as have long Necks, fee Book VII. Chap. 3. Note 9.

And as for fuch whofe hinder Parts feem to over-balance their foremoft 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 9.

·(16) See

Stoop, to Sit, and indeed to move any way, only with the help of fo fmall a Stay as the Feet (16): 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

HAV

Animals.

Aving dispatched 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 stocked with proper Inhabitants: The watery Element (unfit, one would think, for Refpiration and Life) abounding with Creatures fitted for it : its Bowels abundantly stored, 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 ufelefs in the World; but the Surface every where abundantly stored.

But that which is moft confiderable in this Matter, 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 Use and Services they perform therein. If all the

(16) See Book V. Chap. 2. Note 8.
M 4

Ani

Book IV. Animals of our Globe had been made by Chance, or placed by Chance, or without the divine Providence, their Organs would have been otherwife than they are, and their Place and Refidence confused and jumbled. Their Organs (for inftance) of Refpiration, of Vision,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 confused, inconvenient, and disorderly Commixture. One Animal would have wanted Food, another Habitation, and most of them Safety. They would have all flocked to one, or a few Places, taken up their Reft in the Temperate Zones only,and coveted one Food, the easiest to be come at, and moft fpecious in fhew; and fo would have poifoned, ftarved, 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 (†), the Airy Inha

(†) Eft etiam admiratio nonnulla in beftiis aquatilibus iis, que gignuntur in terra veluti Crocodili, fluviatilefque Teftudines, quadamque Serpentes vrte extra aquam, fimul ac primùm niti offunt, aquam perfequuntur. Quin etiam Anatum ova Gal

Inhabitants, and thofe on the Dry-land Surface, and the Subterraneous under it, they all Live and Act with Pleasure, 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 increafe, there would not be fufficient Room, Food, and other Ne ceffaries for all the living Creatures, without ano ther grand Act of the divine Wifdom and Providence, which is the Balancing the Number of Individuals of each Species of Creatures, in that place ap pointed thereto; Of which in the next Chapter.

CHAP. X.

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

HE whole Surface of our Globe can afford

TRoom and Support only to fuch a number of

all forts 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 must starve, or devour che another. The keeping therefore the Balance even, is manifeftly a Work of the Divine Wifdom and Providence. To which end,the great Author of Life hath

linis fape fupponimus [Pulli] deinde eas [matres] relin quunt effugiunt, cùm primum aquam, quafi naturalem domum, videre potuerunt. Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1. 2. c 48.

Book IV. hath determined the Life of all Creatures to fuch a Length, and their Increase to fuch a Number, proportional to their Ufe in the World. The Life of fome Creatures is long, and their Increase but Imall, and by that means they do not over-ftock the World. And the fame Benefit is effected, where the Increase is great, by the Brevity of fuch Creatures Lives, by their great Use, and the frequent Occafions there are of them for Food to Man, or other Animals. It is a very remarkable Act of the Divine Providence, that useful Creatures are produced in great plenty (1), and others in lefs. The prodigious and frequent Increase of Infects, both in and out of the Waters, may exemplify the one: and 'tis obfervable in the other, that Creatures lefs ufeful, or by their voracity pernicious, have commonly fewer Young, or do feldomer bring forth. Of which many Inftances might be given in the voracious Beafts and Birds. But there is one fo peculiar an Animal, as if made for a particular Inftance in our prefent cafe, and that is the Cuntur of Peru (2): a Fowl of that Magnitude, Strength and Appetite, as to feize not only on the Sheep, and leffer Cattel, but even the larger Beafts, yea, the very Children too. Now thefe, as they are the moft pernicious of Birds, fo

are

(1) Benigna circa boc Natura, innocua & efculenta animalia fœcunda generavit. Plin, Nat. Hift. 1. 8. c. 55.

191

(2) Captain J. Strong gave me this Account, together with Quill-Feather of the [Cuntur or Condore of Peru.] On the Coast of Chili, they met with this Bird in about 33° S. Lai. not far from Mocha, an land in the South-Sea, they fhot it fitting on a Cliff, by the Sea-fide; that it was 16 Feet from Wing to Wing extended: that the Spanish Inhabitants told them they were afraid of thefe Birds, left they should prey upon their Children. And the Feather he gave me (faith the Do&tor) is a Feet, 4 Inches long; the Quill-part 5 Inches feng, and 1 Inch about in the largest Part. It weighed z dr. 11 1⁄2 gr. and is of a dark browy Colour. Dr. Sloane in Phil. Tranf No, 208.

2

To