Everything Is Perfect In Heaven
One Day In Heaven soon
They will all be there for you
All will be a gentle flock
So you can pet each one too.
Adam Named The Animals
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Genesis 1:24-28
“And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Genesis 2:23
Animal Trades
THE TRADES OF ANIMALS.
YOUNG readers, do you know that many animals, birds, beasts, and even insects are good mechanics, skilled in business and building operations? This is true; and what they do is done systematically, with neatness and dispatch. Nor do they idle, lounge about, or stop to play, till the work is done, and well done.
Of all the lower animals, the dog is most remarkable for sagacity and faithfulness. In some countries he acts as a shepherd, often filling the place of several men. Some dogs serve as watchmen, some are hunters, and others are messengers, delivering with fidelity whatever is intrusted to them. The Newfoundland dog, and the dogs of St. Bernard, belong to the Life-Saving Society, as could be testified by hundreds of human beings whom they have saved from a watery grave or a no less terrible death among the mountain snows.
The otter and the heron are fishermen, though they use neither line nor net. The otter we seldom see, for he works his traps mostly under water; but the heron may be often seen standing with his long, thin legs in the shallow part of the stream, suddenly plunging his long bill below the surface, and bringing up a fish.
Ants are day-laborers, and very industrious in their calling; they always seem in earnest at their work. Catch them asleep in the day-time if you can! They set us an example of industry.
The swallow is a fly-catcher; and the number that he daily catches would astonish you. You often see him in his vocation, skimming along the surface of the brook or pond.
The beaver is a wood-cutter, a builder, and a mason ; a very good workman at all these trades. He fells the small trees with his teeth; and after he has built his house he plasters it skillfully with his tail-trowel.
The wasp is a paper-maker. His paper is waterproof, and made of materials that no other paper-maker would use. Look at the curious paper dwellings of wasps and hornets not patented, are they?
Singing birds are amateur musicians, and excel all others in harmony. Hardly can we decide which of them most excels the lark, the robin, the thrush, or the nightingale.
The firefly and the glow-worm are lamplighters.
The bee is a professor of geometry; for he constructs his cell so scientifically that the least possible amount of material is formed into the largest spaces with the least waste of room. Not all the mathematicians of Cambridge could improve the construction of his cells. Nor can the best hermetical sealers among us preserve pro- visions so well.
The caterpillar is a silk-spinner, far excelling any other in his line of business;
indeed, we do not know an art that would supply any silk worth the name without him.
The mole tunnels like a skillful engineer. The nautilus is a navigator, hoisting or taking in sail as he goes, or casting anchor at pleasure.
Young friends, is not this wonderful, marvelously wonderful? Who endowed these animals with wisdom? God? Yes; God. Who of us could make cells and honey and wax, like the bee, silk like the silk-worm, or music like singing-birds?
The goodness and glory of God are seen in all his works. " Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! "
Animal Protection
PROTECTIVE COLOR OF ANIMALS.
AMONG caterpillars, protective coloring is the most general and conspicuous. An immense number of these creatures are green corresponding with the tints of the leaves on which they feed, or brown when they rest on bark and twigs.
Every one knows, however, that there are a number of very brightly colored caterpillars, and it may be asked how these are protected, or why the others need protection if these can do without it. Bright colored caterpillars, such as the Jacobeae and the hairy and spiny ones, feed freely by day, fearless of observation, while the green and brown hide, seeking their food at night. Repeated observations have shown that birds, and even frogs, lizards, and spiders greedily eat the less showy ones, universally rejecting the gaudy; so the conclusion may be drawn that, in the latter case, the little creatures need no protection, being unfit for the food of other animals.
In the same way, the beautiful "calico-bug," or "lady-bird," differs from other beetles, in having no means of defense and seeking none, presumably for a similar reason. The rainbow tints of many moths and butterflies may properly be imputed to a like cause.
But there are other modes of protection besides a nauseous taste, which render concealment unnecessary. Many insects are armed with stings, or shells, or spines, so as to be practically uneatable, we all know how gay are the colors of wasps, and bees, and hornets. Sometimes, as we have intimated, brilliant hues themselves form the best protection. An excellent example of this is afforded by the caterpillar of the emperormoth. The green body adorned with pink spots is, in most situations, conspicuous; but it feeds on heather, and its color then so completely harmonizes with the young, green shoots and small, pink flowers, that it is with difficulty detected.
Among reptiles protective tints are very apparent. Lizards and snakes, in temperate climates, are all more or less brown or olive-tinged. This is the case, also, with nocturnal snakes of all latitudes. In the tropics alone, reptiles are often of a vivid green, exactly corresponding with the vegetation among which they dwell.
Many fishes, also, present examples of protective coloring. Such as rest on the bottom of the ocean, like the flounder and skate, are invariably of the color of the bottom, and often singularly speckled, so as to resemble sand or gravel. Such as swim near the surface of the water are almost always dark-bluish or greenish above and white beneath, colors which evidently tend to their concealment from enemies in the air above them or in the water below. The gaily tinted fishes from warm seas are many of them well concealed when surrounded by the brilliant sea-weeds, corals, sea- anemones, and other marine animals, which make the sea-bottom sometimes resemble a fantastic flower garden.
Larger animals also give striking examples of the theory of protection by colors, their tints corresponding to their habits, needs, and the countries in which they live. Canon Tristram, who has traveled much in the Sahara, thus describes the characteristics of its animal life: "In the desert, where neither trees, brushwood, nor even undulations of the surface, afford the slightest protection against its foes, a modification of color which shall assimilate an animal to that of the surrounding country is absolutely necessary. Hence, without exception, the upper plumage of every bird, whether lark, chat, sylvian, or sand-grouse, and also the fur of all the smaller mammals, and the skin of all the snakes and lizards, is of one uniform sand color." In the arctic regions, with a few exceptions, these gray and brownish tints give place to pure white. All the bears of the globe are brown or black, except the polar bear, which is white. The polar hare, the snow-bunting, the snow-owl, and the jer-falcon are also white or nearly so; while the arctic fox, the ermine, and the Alpine hare change to white in the winter. The Highland ptarmigan is a fine example of protective coloring.
This bird's summer plumage so exactly harmonizes with the lichen-covered stones among which it delights to sit, that a person may walk through a flock without seeing a single bird ; and when it changes to white in winter, it is equally protected amid the snow which covers the mountains.
How marvelous! When we study the works of the Creator, we are lost in wonder and admiration!
Arthur's Home Magazine.