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cond, which is always concentric with the first. It throws out the sand, as with a shovel, from the successive furrows or circles, by means of its square flat head and one of its fore legs. It proceeds in this manner till it has completed its funnel, which it does with surprising promptitude and address. At the bottom of this artful snare it lies concealed and immoveable. When an ant happens to make too near an approach to the margin of the funnel, the sides of which are very steep, the fine sand gives way, and the unwary animal tumbles down to the bottom. The formica-leo instantly kills the ant, buries it under the sand, and sucks out its vitals. It afterward pushes out the empty skin, repairs the disorder introduced into its snare, and again lies in ambush for fresh prey. When arrived at its full growth, the formica-leo gives up the business of an ensnaring hunter. He deserts his former habitation, and crawls about for some time on the surface of the earth. He at last retires under the ground, spins a round silken pod, and is soon transformed into 2 fly.

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Give me, ye powers, the wondrous scenes to show
Concealed in darkness, in the depths below.

ON the surface of our globe, we have contemplated the Divine Power and Goodness, in innume

rable instances, in, which beauty and usefulness are equally apparent. Let us now penetrate into its interior regions, and explore the wonders of creative power in those dark recesses.

The philosopher has extended his ideal researches to the very centre of the Earth; but actual inquiries have proceeded, hitherto, but a very little depth below its surface; and, even in these inquiries, the spirit of enterprize has been excited more by motives of avarice than of curiosity. The deepest mine, which is that of Cotteberg in Hungary', extends only to the depth of 3000 feet: but what proportion does this bear to the depth of the globe, down to its centre, which is about 4000 miles? Whatever, therefore, has been said of the Earth, to a greater depth, is mere fiction or conjecture. We may suppose it, with Buffon, to be a globe of glass; with Whiston, a sphere of heated iron; with Burnet, a great mass of waters; and, with Kircher, one dreadful volcano; but we must ever, at the same time, confess, that those are suppositions, which can never be ascertained by any human being.

Upon examining the Earth, where it has been opened to any depth, the first things that occur are the different layers or beds of which it is composed. All these lie horizontally over each other, like the leaves of a book, and each of them is composed of materials that increase in weight in proportion as they lie deeper. This is, in general, the disposition of the different materials, where the Earth seems to have been unmolested; but this order is frequently inverted, either from its original formation, or from accidental causes; so that the strata, though nearly parallel, are found much diversified and broken, as to their inclination.

The first layer, most commonly found at the sur

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face, is that light coat of blackish mould, which is called, by some, garden earth. With this the Earth is universally invested, unless it be washed away by rains, or removed by some other external violence. This seems to have been formed from animal and vegetable bodies decaying, and thus turning into its substance. It serves also as a storehouse, whence the animal and vegetable natures are renewed; and thus are all the vital blessings continued in unceasing circulation. This earth, however, is not to be supposed entirely pure, but is mixed with much stony and gravelly matter, from the layers that lie immediately beneath it. It generally happens, that the soil is fertile, in proportion to the quantity which this putrefied mould bears to the gravelly mixture; and as the former predominates, so far is the vege tation upon it more luxuriant. It is this external covering that supplies man with all the true riches he enjoys. He may bring up gold or precious stones from greater depths; but they are merely the toys of a capricious being, upon which he has placed an imaginary value, and for which he often exchanges the more substantial blessings of life. It is this earth (says Pliny) which, like a kind mother, receives us at our birth, and sustains us when born. It is this alone, of all the elements around us, that is never found an enemy to man. The body of waters may deluge him with rain, oppress him with hail, and drown him with inundations. The air rushes in storms, prepares the tempest, or lights up the volcano; but the earth, gentle and indulgent, ever subservient to the wants of man, spreads his walks with flowers, and his table with plenty; returns with interest every good committed to her care; and if she produce the poison, she suppliesalso the antidote. Though constantly teased, more to supply the wants of man than his necessities, yet, even to the last, she continues her kind indulgence,

and, when life is over, piously covers his remains in her bosom "",

This external and prolific layer is in a state of continual change. Vegetables, which are naturally fixed and rooted to the same place, receive their adventitious nourishment from the surrounding air and water: animals which remove from place to place, are supported by these, or by each other. Both, however, having enjoyed, for a time, a life adapted to their nature, return to the earth those spoils which they had borrowed for a very short space, yet still to be quickened again into existence. But the deposits they make are of very dissimilar kinds, and the earth is differently enriched by their continuance. Those countries that have, for a long time, supported men and other animals, have been observed to become more barren every day; while, on the contrary, those desolate places, in which vegetables only are abundantly produced, are known to be possessed of amazing fertility.In regions which are uninhabited (says Buffon) where the forests are not cut down, and animals do not feed upon the plants, the bed of vegetable earth is constantly increasing. In all woods, and even in those often cut, there is a layer of earth of six or eight inches thick, formed by leaves, branches, and bark, that fall and rot upon the ground. I have frequently observed on a Roman way, which crosses Burgundy, for a long extent, that there is a bed of black earth, of more than a foot thick, gathered over the stony pave-. ment, on which several trees, of a very considerable size, are supported. This I have found to be nothing but the earth formed by the decayed leaves and branches, which have been converted by time into a black soil. Now as vegetables draw much more of their nourishment from the air and water

'Hist. Nat. lib. ii. cap. 63.

than they do from the earth, it must follow, that, in rotting upon the ground, they give much more to the soil than they have taken from it. Hence, therefore, in woods kept a long time without cutting, the soil below increases to a considerable depth; and such we actually find in those American wilds where the forests have been undisturbed for ages. But it is otherwise where men and other animals have long subsisted; for, as they make a considerable consumption of wood and plants, both for firing and other uses, they take more from the earth than they return to it. It follows, therefore, that the bed of vegetable earth, in an inhabited country, must be always diminishing, and must, at length, resemble the soil of Arabia Petræa, and other oriental countries, which, having been long inhabited, are now become plains of salt and sand; the fixed salt always remaining, while the other volatile parts have flown away'.'

If, from this external surface, we descend deeper, and view the Earth cut perpendicularly downward, either in the banks of great rivers, or steepy seashores; or, going still deeper, if we observe it in quarries or mines, we shall find its layers regularly disposed in their proper order. We must not expect, however, to find them of the same kind or thickness in every place, as they differ in different soils and situations. Sometimes, marle is seen to be over sand, and sometimes, under it. The most common disposition is, that under the first earth is found gravel or sand, then clay or marle, then chalk or coal, marbles, ores, sands, gravels; and thus an alternation of these substances, each growing more dense as it sinks deeper. The clay, for instance, found at the depth of one hundred feet, is commonly more heavy than that found near the surface.

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