The Sun.
London, England, 1832-03-15 00:00:00

BIRDS' EGGS.

An egg is one of the most surprising productions
in the world. Suppose an egg were put into the
hand of a person who had never known or heard
of such a thing, and the question were put to h:m
to what good purposes could it be applied ? He
would, of course, ascertain what were its contents ;
and what would he find them to be ? A glairy, co-
lourless liquid, surrounding another liquid of an
orange or yellow colour. You might let him make
thousands of conjectures; but could it ever enter
into his mind that such a substance would produce
a sparrow, a thrush, a swan, or an eagle ? But
give him a hint on the subject; give him an egg,
and let him know that it will bring forth a dove.
After this advance in a knowledge of the thing, put
him in possession of another egg. He may see, of
course, that its colour and size are different from the
one that produced the dove ; but the contents are
exactly similar, so far, at least, as human perception
can ascertain ; and what would then be his conjec-
ture? Could his imagination ever conjure up,
even in the brightest moments of inspired genius,
the idea of a peacock ? Yet the peacock, in all its
glory of dazzling colours, is the product of a little
glairy fluid contained in a capsule of chalk, and in
nowise different, so far as we can perceive, from
a barn-door fowl. Has not the hand of Divinity
here written, almost without a metaphor, in letter,
of gold, the wonders of its creative power? Look
at a single feather of the peacock; consider that its

shining metallic barbs, its superlatively beautiful
eye, and all the wonders it exhibits of iri-
descent, rich, and changeable hues, according
to the angle in which it lies to the light ;
that its form, its flexibility, its strength, its
lightness, and all its wonders (for in the eve of in-
telligence every part of it
ailtil(l7o7.orindoenrs)idheard,
whe-
ther,thehorigin in
inloaolkititnlge mottlicislaugeeh; an object, we should be
content with thinking no more about it than, simply,
that it is a peacock's feather. Yet this is too much
the practice; above us arid below, on the right side
arid on the lett, in every element, in every situation,
the works of Almighty Power are present, arid all
abounding in instruction of the highest kind ; and
that they make not the impressions that they should
do upon us, is chiefly owing to the extraordinary
anomaly, that natural history forms no necessary
part of the education of young or old. But, if a
single feather be so wonderful a production, what
are we to think of the entire bird ? Those who are
unacquainted with the animal economy have little
idea of the mysterious operations which are con-
stantly in action in a being possessed of life. Thg
circulation of the blood, the processes of respiration,
digestion, ehyllilication, absorption, nutrition ; the
contraction of muscles to perform motion ; the dis-
tribution of nerves for conveying sensation ; the
organs of the senses, the brain, and all its inscrut-
able connection with intelligence, instinct, and per-
ception ; these, and many other things in the animal
economy, are so wonderful, that, could they be at-
tend to, they must excite astonishment in the
coldest bosoms, and yet all these are the produce of
an egg.—Drynintoitti Letters too Young Naturalict.