whalebone. Every Whale yields, on an average, from sixty to one hundred barrels of oil; which, with the whalebone, a substance taken from the upper jaw of the animal, must render these creatures very valuable in a commercial point of view. From the Cacholet we derive that valuable commodity spermaceti; and ambergris, the sweetest of perfumes, is also frequently found in this animal. The skin of the Shark is converted into shagreen. From a species of the Sturgeon, we are supplied with isinglass. From the Beluga-fish we derive that delicious composition called caviare, and also the Beluga stone. The hide of the Huso is so tough and strong, that it is employed for ropes in carts and other wheel carriages.

As some of the volatile race seem to be formed to please us with the beauty of their plumage, and delight us with the melody of their song, so a few of the finny tribe are so exquisitely formed and beautifully embellished, that they appear more calculated for our pleasure and pastime, than for any intrinsic value in another point of view. We do not here merely allude to the little gold and silver natives of China and Japan, which are trained and domesticated to sport in our ponds, and amuse us with gambols in our gardens, but to the Dorado and Gilt-head, which glide in the ocean, and the beautiful Dragonet, which shines resplendent in the deep. These, also, on some interesting occasions, may contribute their mites towards the comforts of man. Gazing on these from the side of the vessel that conveys him

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far from his native home, the solitary exile may be made, for a while, to forget his private woes; and the sporting of these may serve to beguile the tedious moments that mark the slow progress of the lonesome passenger, returning from captivity to the circle of his friends, or to the agitated bosom of her he loves.

Thus, if we have had reason to admire the wisdom, the power and the goodness of the great Creator, as they are manifested in some of the inanimated pages of the BOOK OF NATURE, and to contemplate, as we have gone along, with sentiments of admiration and gratitude, the benefits we derive from the internal structure and outward form of the earthfrom the numerous appendages and vegetable productions by which the dry land is covered-and from the wonderful phenomena and beneficial properties of the ocean; we have no less cause to be filled with admiration at the bright display of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, as they shine conspicuous in the inhabitants of the great deep.

CHAP. XIV.

THE ATMOSPHERE.

"TO HIM, ye vocal gales

Blow soft, whose spirit in your freshness breathes !"
"We view his kind, his life-preserving care,

In all the wondrous properties of air.”

FROM the earth let us ascend into the regions of the air, and take a view of that invisible fluid that

surrounds our globe as with a garment, gravitates to its surface, enters into its pores, revolves with it in its diurnal motion, and circles along with it in its annual

course.

The Air is one of the most heterogeneous mixtures imaginable. "In it," says Goldsmith, "all the bodies of the earth are continually sending up a part of their substance by evaporation A thousand sub

stances that escape all our senses we know to be there; the powerful emanations of the loadstone, the effluvia of electricity, the rays of light, and the insinuations of fire.” Such are the various substances through which we move, and which we are continually taking in at every pore, and returning again with imperceptible discharge. Yet, notwithstanding the multitude of discordant particles of which the atmosphere is composed, it is made wonderfully to harmonize in point of utility; and is wisely contrived, admirably framed, and excellently constituted, for the various purposes it was intended to perform, in the world of nature and of art.

That the air is a fluid is obvious, from its possessing so many properties in common with other fluids; yet, in one respect, it is wisely made to differ from all others, being incapable of freezing by the greatest degree of cold. Was it not for this singular quality·· of the atmosphere, what dreadful effects must have been the consequence. Life and animation must long ago have ceased, before the frigid blasts of the north, and when winter first shook his hoary locks, the great pulse of nature must have stood still.

Another wonderful property of the air is its invisibility; for, although it can be heard in the howling of the tempest, and felt in the pressure of the gale, and notwithstanding the number of bodies that continually mix with its substance, it is still too fine to be seen by the sharpest eye.

Every object around us is visible, except the air; and happy it is for us that it is so; for, had it been otherwise, farewell to all the delightful prospects that charm the eye; farewell to all the bright beauties of creation. Nature must have put on a sombre aspect, and, instead of those delightful regions of light and cheerfulness in which we are placed, our habitations would have been surrounded by the doleful shades of a dusky covering, and environed with a mantle of darkness and despair.

But, although the atmosphere is of itself invisible to the sight, it is the happy medium of light and heat. The air is found to moderate the rays of light, to dissipate their violence, and to spread an uniform lustre over every object. Were the beams of the sun to dart directly upon us, without passing through this protecting medium, they would either burn us up at once, or blind us with their effulgence; but, by going through the air, they are reflected, refracted, and turned from their course a thousand different ways, and thus are more evenly diffused over the face of nature. But this is not all; for, by means of the air, the beams of the sun are not only rendered tolerable, and the rays of light more copiously diffused throughout creation, but the advantages of heat and light are

lengthened and prolonged. By the reflective property of this fluid, which must always be in proportion to its density, the heat of the sun, although duly attempered, must be more sensibly and uniformly felt nigh the surface of the earth, than in the higher regions of the atmosphere; while, to its refractive quality, we are beholden for the twilight, or that surprising phenomena of nature, by which we enjoy the real presence of the sun when he is actually below the horizon. For the better understanding of this, let any person put a shilling into a basin, and then retire until he can just observe its outer edge visible over the inner edge of the vessel; in that position let some person fill up the basin with water, the whole shilling, by being seen through a denser medium, will instantly become visible to the person who could only before observe its outer edge.

Were it not for the reflective quality of the air, by which, indeed, the light is parted, we would behold the sun in his splendour, and observe a brightness in that part of the heavens in which he happened to be, but, on turning round, how cheerless would be the prospect! there darkness visible would reign in the heavens, although the stars and planets would glimmer at noon day; and were it not for the refractive property of this fluid, by which the oblique rays of the great luminary are broken off from a straight course, and turned towards the earth, the transition from the horrors of night to the light of day must have been instantaneous, and, instead of those beneficial harbingers, by which the outgoings of the morn