OF THE SEASONS; ILLUSTRATING THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD IN THE PHENOMENA OF THE YEAR. BY THE REV. HENRY DUNCAN, D. D. RUTHWELL. SPRING. "Lo! The winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers ap- EDINBURGH : WILLIAM OLIPHANT AND SON; WILLIAM COLLINS, GLASGOW; W. CURRY & CO. DUBLIN MDCCCXXXVII. 27 LIBRARY "I come! I come! Ye have called me long,- Mrs HEMANS. W. OLIPHANT, JUN. AND CO. PRINTERS, 23, SOUTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH. ADVERTISEMENT. THE present Volume is the second of a series, the object of which is to demonstrate the existence and the attributes of God, in the various phenomena of the revolving year. Each volume contains an argument complete in itself, and peculiar to the season of which it treats. The present exhibits proofs of the Divine agency in the reproductive powers and processes of created things, with reference to the qualities of the atmosphere, the diffusion of light and heat, the deposition and distribution of moisture, the properties of the soil, the nature of the living principle, the development of seeds and plants, the animal structure and instincts, &c. &c. A similar arrangement is adopted in this Volume as in that on “Winter,” the argument commencing with the consideration of the arrangements and adaptations of inorganic matter, and thence proceeding from the low est to the highest of organized existences, through the various genera of plants and animals. The latter part of the Volume is devoted to an exemplification of those adaptations and properties in the soil, and in vegetable substances, which give rise to, and reward the labours, of the agriculturist, and which thus lay the foundation of civilized society, and afford a stimulus to progressive improvement in the arts and sciences. The subject possesses greater unity than that of the preceding volume, and is, at the same time, in its nature, more copious, as well as more interesting. RUTHWELL MANSE, |