The sense of taste varies greatly in different animals; in granivorous birds, in reptiles and fishes generally, we cannot suppose that the impressions made on the gustatory nerves are at all delicate; they swallow their food entire at a single gulp, and their tongue is covered with a thick or a horny cuticle. Among birds, the carnivorous tribes, the parrots, and the swans, and true ducks, possess the sense of taste in considerable perfection. Among reptiles, tortoises and vegetable-feeding lizards, as the iguana, are, as it would seem, superior to the others; and among fishes, it is probable that those which feed on marine or aquatic vegetables, are endowed with a higher degree of taste than those which prey upon other fishes, which they engulph at once. It cannot be denied that many insects, as bees, wasps, butterflies, the house-fly, and various others, enjoy a keen sense of taste, and relish the sweets which prove so attractive to them. Among the mollusca, some, at least, are endowed with the sense of taste in no low degree; the snail and the slug are examples in point, as the gardener can readily testify. What information do we gain by the sense of taste? The eye and the ear conduce to our mental improvement, to our store of knowledge, to our appreciation of the sublime and beautiful. Eloquence, music, poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, scenery--the glory of the sun, and the moon, and the stars--these appeal to our mind through the organs of sight and hearing; but the sense of taste administers rather to our animal than to our intellectual being, and, doubtless, the pleasures of taste contribute greatly to the enjoyments of our existence. Taste, then, belongs to us less as spiritual, intellectual, immortal beings, than as corporeal, mortal beings; nevertheless, it is part of our nature, implanted in us by an all-wise God, in order that we should relish the provisions for sustaining life, which he has so bountifully provided. To pretend that we are indifferent to the pleasure or the disgust resulting from taste is an untruth--nay, it is to say that God's gifts to us are not worth our consideration. Our Lord and Saviour was one of a party at a marriage feast, and when the wine was exhausted, he turned water into wine, which was superior to that previously passed round. "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory."[19] But while, with a healthy appetite we relish our food, giving thanks to God for his bounty, let us not be epicures or gluttons; let our moderation be seen; let us use, not abuse, the gifts of our heavenly Father. [19] John ii. 11.