industrious men plying their labors in cultivated field and watered meadow. And, to crown the whole, may we not hope that idolatry and superstition will take alarm at the increasing light, and depart; that the huge temples of the horrid Juggernaut will give place to the churches of the living God; and that his bloody worship will be succeeded by the deep-breathed prayers, the tender affections, and the ennobling hopes and aspirations of the servants of the Prince of Peace. What Christian does not pray for so happy a consummation? What statesman would not think himself honored in promoting it?

Another family, that of the palm tribes, is very peculiar and important among the trees of the tropical and adjoining regions, productions of this class being justly ranked among the most magnificent and elegant, as well as useful, of the vegetable world. There are numerous varieties, among which the sago-palm of Asia furnishes the greatest quantity of nutritious matter; and, indeed, next to the banana, it is the most prolific in food of any plant, a single tree sometimes furnishing, in its fifteenth year, not less than six hundred pounds of sago. It is not, however, my intention to prosecute, at present, the inviting subject of tropical fruits; but the peculiar properties and habits of the date-palm require some notice.

This singular tree cannot properly be said to belong either to the tropical or the temperate regions, its natural locality being regulated by other circumstances than climate, while a very considerable degree of heat is necessary for the developement and ripening of its fruit.

The date

is, in the vegetable world, what the camel is, in the animal; and, being a native of the same regions, it seems indeed intended as its companion and coadjutor, in rendering fit for the habitation of man, a very peculiar portion of the globe, which would otherwise be forlorn and desolate. That region constitutes the extensive district which lies between the confines of the Persian Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean, stretching to the extent of nearly four thousand miles, and possessing, from some peculiarity of cosmical circumstances, which is not very clearly under

stood, the disadvantage of want of moisture in the atmosphere, which causes great aridity in the soil, and renders it unfruitful. The consequence of this state of things. is, the existence of the great Sahara, or desert of Africa, and the wide-spread wilds of Arabia. For what purposes Divine Wisdom has formed so extensive a region of desolation, or whether it may yet be reserved for the industry and ingenuity of man, to render it habitable by means of Artesian wells, and other resources of art, it may be difficult to conjecture; but what I have at present to remark is, that we have here compensations and contrivances to mitigate the evil and contract its extent, analogous to the character of the Divine dispensations, where other apparent defects occur. The chief of these are to be found in the peculiar properties of the camel and the date-tree; the latter being intended to supply human beings in these otherwise barren regions, with substantial and agreeable nourishment, the former to furnish them with a most useful servant, admirably adapted to the wants of the locality.

Of the camel I have spoken, in the volume on Winter, when adverting to the adaptation of organized existences to the peculiarities of climate; the date-tree serves equally to illustrate the same providential provision. Of the district we are now considering, there are particular spots and lines of great fertility, especially along the shores, and on the banks and deltas of the rivers; of which latter description, Egypt is a wellknown instance. Wherever there is humidity, indeed, from any cause, throughout the whole extent of this region, there Nature exhibits in great vigor her prolific powers; but along the verge of the desert, and in the smaller oases which here and there relieve the dreariness of the wilderness, the date-palm is the only vegetable on which man can subsist. more lowly plants on that soil are chiefly of a saline description, such as euphorbias, salsolas, and cactuses, which retain their own humidity in consequence of their smooth and close rinds, without much aid from external moisture; but their juices are in general too acrid, or too much impregnated with soda, for being used as human food.

The

Over these, the date-palm raises its trunk, and spreads its leaves, and is the sole vegetable monarch of the thirsty land. "It is so abundant, and so unmixed with any thing else that can be considered as a tree in the country between the States of Barbary and the Desert, that this region is designated as the land of dates; and upon the last plain, as the Desert is approached, the only objects that break the dull outline of the landscape, are, the datepalm and the tent of the Arab. The same tree accompanies the margin of the Desert, in all its sinuosities; in Tripoli, in Barca, along the valley of the Nile, in the north of Arabia, and in the southeast of Turkey."*

There is hardly any part of the date-tree which is not serviceable to man, either as a necessary or a luxury, resembling in this respect the cocoa-nut tree, described in a previous volume. When the fruit is completely ripened, it will, by strong pressure, yield a delicious syrup, which serves for preserving this and other fruits. The stalks of the bunches, as well as the kernels, are softened by boiling, and in that condition are used for feeding cattle. The conical tuft, in the centre of the crown, called the cabbage, formed of the future leaves, in their undeveloped state, is an agreeable esculent, resembling the chestnut in flavor; the fibrous parts of the tree, as well as the strings, or stalks, that bear the fruit, are made into ropes, baskets, mats, and various other articles of domestic use. The cordage of the ships that navigate the Red Sea, is manufactured from the inner fibrous bark of the trunk. The trunk itself, is converted into supports for the huts and tents of the natives, while the pith or medullary substance is partly farinaceous, and may be used as food, resembling the sago extracted from other species of palm.

It is worthy of remark, that a variety of this tribe is found in a similar locality as to soil and climate, on the coast of Coromandel, in the peninsula of Hindostan.

* Vegetable Substances, p. 350.

+ 'Spring,' Paper on the Dissemination of Plants.

This is a great leafy bush, the trunk of which is not more than a foot and a half or two feet high, entirely covered by the drooping leaves. The pulp of its fruit is sweet and mealy, and the farinaceous matter contained in the trunk is abundant, but, on account of its bitterness, not very palatable. It is, however, gladly resorted to in seasons of scarcity, and has often saved the inhabitants from all the horrors of famine.

How curious are the arrangements of Providence; and how improving to the mind to trace their endless varieties. There are many things, indeed, as we have frequently had occasion to observe, the reasons of which seem to be beyond the powers of human research; but even in these, or connected with them, the inquirer finds compensations and adjustments, which clearly indicate Designing Intelligence; and, while they irresistibly impress us with the conviction that the hand of God is there also, fill us with an assured confidence that, even in what appears to our limited view deformity or defect, there is a hidden wisdom which will be developed in the course of ages, or, at all events, will burst on our admiring view, when we no longer see as "through a glass darkly."

FOURTH WEEK-TUESDAY.

TREES USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES THAN FOOD.

We have seen what a vast variety of vegetable productions have been destined to be used as human food, adapted to all soils and climates, and capable of great increase and amelioration by culture. In this, we have had occasion to recognise and adore the paternal care of an all-bountiful Creator. But it is not with a view to subsistence, and the gratification of taste alone, with the concomitant stimulus given to the exercise of the bodily powers and mental faculties, that a Father-God has bestowed the vegetable stores with which we are so pro

fusely surrounded. These, indeed, are gifts of primary importance. But there are other provisions of no mean value, to which the productions of the vegetable kingdom have been made subservient. In the volume on Spring, I have adverted to various plants, used as articles of manufacture; but I have hitherto only incidentally taken notice of the uses, either in this or other respects, to which trees are applicable. These seem now to require some attention.

The first thing, after food and clothing, to which man naturally looks, is a comfortable habitation, and for this he is mainly indebted to the trees of the forest. Even in his rudest state, it is among these that he seeks shelter, and as he gradually emerges to a higher grade, it is to the timber which they yield that he is indebted for his most useful materials, in constructing the lofty palace as well as the lowly cot. His implements of domestic life, and his instruments of husbandry, are, from the earliest to the latest period of human improvement, essentially indebted to the admirably adapted material afforded by trees. For the machinery used in commerce and the arts, timber is equally essential; and, above all, it is to timber that we owe the power of sailing, by which the dispersion of human beings over the surface of the habitable globe has been effected, and that intercourse has been kept up which has contributed so largely to the advancement of commerce, and the arts and comforts of civilized life.

It would be a curious subject of speculation to inquire what would be the character and condition of man, had it pleased Providence to withhold from him the advantages derived from trees, merely regarding them as affording the useful article of timber. Into this speculation, however, I shall not at present enter, further than to observe, that, as it is, doubtless, by the possession of a material applicable to so many important, and indeed necessary purposes, that man has been enabled to carry into effect almost all his plans of utility, of convenience, or of luxury, as far as they have depended on the use of physical instruments; so, without it, talent and genius would have been most materially stinted in their means