immeasurable quantity of vegetable matter which, during the same period, has arisen spontaneously from the ground, and been upheld, in spite of gravity, by the power of Life. From vital dynamics, as seen in vegetables, turn to animals; and first to the force exerted by the involuntary or vital organs. Take, for example, the human heart which contracts with a force of six pounds to the square inch, or sixty pounds for the whole interior surface of the organ. These contractions are repeated four thousand times in an hour, or nearly one hundred thousand times in a day. Multiply one hundred thousand by sixty, and you get a force of 6 000 000 lbs. representing the mechanical power exerted by each of these palpitating hearts of ours in every twenty-four hours. Or in other words, if all these separate contractile efforts of the heart, in one day, could be concentrated into a single mechanical effort it would be sufficient to lift from the earth a mass of rock weighing 6 000 000 lbs. If this, the heart work of one individual, be multiplied by the number of people on the earth, then we get an aggregate of six thousand billions of pounds to represent the diurnal heart work of the human family. And the heart, remember, is but one of many organs in man, and man is but one of more than a million of separate species of animals. Besides, to the involuntary and unintermitted motions in animals you must add their voluntary and intermitted motions. Busy insects, ever on the wing during their waking hours, fishes, ever in quest of prey or rioting in sport or 9 escaping from hungry pursuers, birds, reptiles, quadrupeds all seeking food, shelter, and enjoyment,―man ever active, never satisfied-man that goeth to his work and to his labor until the evening,-here is an aggregate of dynamic power put forth by Life, between every rising and setting sun, which may well lead our adoring thoughts to Him in whom all organized creatures live. and move and have their being. In conclusion look at the mechanical power put forth by the extinct life of vegetables. Look at that great instrument of modern civilization-the steam engineevery where at work, and every where working wonders. It is in the mill and in the factory-on the highway and at sea, at the bottom of deep mines and on the heights of lofty mountains. It excavates the ore, it helps to purify and prepare it for use, it bears the metal to the artizan, it beats it, rolls it, presses it, draws it. It spins yarn: it weaves cloth: it prints books: it flies with these and all other fabrics over the land and over the sea. It goes on its way, with the velocity of a bird, transporting letters, persons and property; bringing distant places near; bridging over half the ocean, and in one word achieving changes as rapid as they are great and unexampled. Now what is the moving power here? what gives to this instrument its amazing value and efficiency? Did it ever occur to you that it is the power of LIFE? 18 THE SWISS ALP. FROM THE GERMAN. Yester eve thy peaks were dark But the morn beheld them silver'd |