A full exposition of the argument of design does not belong to this Treatise. In these introductory observations, we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to a statement of the argument, as deducible from a simple instance of the adaptation of means to an end, among the objects of nature: we shall then enquire into the validity of the argument of design; and shall show the conclusions to which that argument leads.

The instance of adaptation of means to an end which we select among the objects of nature; and the argument which may be deduced from that instance of adaptation, are the following:

Animals in cold climates have been provided with a covering of fur. Men in such climates cover themselves with that fur. In both cases, whatever may have been the end, or intention; no one can deny that the effect, at least, is precisely the same: the animal and the man are alike protected from the cold. Now, since the animal did not clothe itself, but must have been clothed by another; it follows, that whoever clothed the animal, apparently knew what the man knows, and reasoned like the man; that is to say, the clother of the animal knew that the climate in which the animal is placed, is a cold climate; and that a covering of fur, is one of the best means of warding off the cold: he therefore clothed his creature in this very appropriate material.