should be devoured by other caterpillars; though still others should destroy the substance of our corn before the harvest; in short, though man and the larger animals should be starved by the inferior tribes, Nature would not be less abundant nor less alive; she never protects one at the expence of another, but especially supports the whole. As to individuals she is regardless of number; she considers them only as successive images of the same impression; as passing shadows of which the species is the substance. In earth, air, and water, then, there exists a certain quantity of organic matter which cannot be destroyed, but which is constantly assimilated in a certain number of moulds, that are perpetually undergoing destruction and renewal: these moulds, or rather individuals, tho' varying in number in every species, are nevertheless always the same, that is, proportioned to the quantity of living matter; and this appears to be absolutely the case, for if there were any redundance of this matter, or if it were not at all times fully occupied by the individuals of the species which exist, it would, most assuredly, form itself into new species, for being alive it would not remain without action; and once uniting with brute matter is sufficient to form organized bodies; and it is by this constant combination, and invariable proportion, that Nature preserves her form and consistence. The laws of Nature, both with respect to the number of species and of their support and equilibrium, being fixed and constant, she would invariably have the same appearance, and be in all climes absolutely the same, if her complexion did not so completely vary in almost every individual form. The figure of each species is an impression, in which the principal characters are so strongly engraven as never to be effaced; but the accessory parts and shades are so greatly varied that no two individuals have a perfect resemblance to each other; and in all species there are a number of varieties. The human species, which has such superior pretensions, varies from white to black, from small to great, &c. The Laplander, the Patagonian, the Hottentot, the European, the American, and the Negro, though the offspring of the same parents, have by no means the resemblance of brothers.