INTRODUCTION, &c.

PART I.-OF QUADRUPEDS IN GENERAL, AND THEIR WAY OF LIVING.

When we turn our eyes to that variety of beings endued with life, which share with us the globe we inhabit, we shall find that Quadrupeds demand the foremost place. The similitude between the structure of their bodies and our own; those instincts which they seem to enjoy in a superior degree to the other classes that live in air or water; their constant services to man, or the unceasing enmity they bear him, all render them the foremost objects of his curiosity, the most interesting part of animated nature.

In the first ages of the world it is probable, that all living creatures were nearer an equality than at present. Man, while yet savage himself, was but ill-qualified to civilize the forest. While yet naked, unarmed, and without shelter, every wild beast was a formidable rival, and the destruction of such was the first employment of heroes. But when he began to multiply, and arts to accumulate, he soon cleared the plains of its brute inhabitants; he soon established an empire over all the orders of animated nature: a part was taken under his protection and care, while the rest found a precarious refuge in the burning desert of the howling wilderness.

The most obvious and simple division therefore of Quadrupeds, is into the domestic and savage: by domestic I mean, such as man has taken into friendship, or reduced to obedience; by the savage, those who still preserve their natural independence and ferocity; who either oppose force by force, or find safety in swiftness or cunning.

The savage animal preserves at once his liberty and instinct, but man seems to have changed the very nature of

domestic animals by cultivation and care. A domestic animal is a slave, which has few other desires, but those which man is willing to grant it. Humble, patient, resigned, and attentive, it fills up the duties assigned; ready for labour, and content with subsistence.

But not only its native liberty, its very figure is changed by the arts and industry of man: what an immense variety in the ordinary race of dogs, or horses; what a difference between the large English mastiff and the small Spanish lap-dog; yet the whole has been effected by the nature of the climate and food, seconded by the industry of man, in continuing the species without mixture.

As in external figure they bear evident marks of human cultivation, so is there also some difference in the internal structure of their bodies. The stomach of the domestic animal is not usually so large: for such receiving food at certain and expected intervals, and that but by little at a time, this intestine seems to contract to its contents, and fits the animal for the life it is obliged to lead.

Thus we, in some measure, see nature under a continual constraint, in those creatures we have taught to live about us; but it is otherwise when we come to examine the savage tenants of the forest or the wilderness; there every species preserves its characteristic form, and is strongly imprest with the instincts and appetites of nature. The more remote from the tyranny of mankind, the greater seems their sagacity: the beavers, in those distant solitudes where men have rarely past, exert all the arts of architects and citizens; they build neater habitations than even the rational inhabitants of those countries can shew, and obey a more regular discipline than ever man could boast; but as soon as man intrudes upon their society, their spirit of industry and wisdom ceases; they no longer exert their social arts, but become patient and dull, as if to fit them for a state of servitude.

But not only their industry but their courage also is represt by the vicinity of man. The lion of the deserts of Nubia, that has been only taught to measure his strength with weaker animals, and accustomed to conquer, is possessed of amazing courage; instead of avoiding man, as other animals are found to do, he attacks whole caravans crossing the desert, and, when overpowered, retires still facing the enemy. But the lion of Morocco, which is a more populous country, seems to acknowledge a superiority, and is even scared away by the cries of women and children.

Wherever man approaches, the savage beasts retire; and it is thought, not without some share of reason, that many species of animals had once birth, which are now totally extinct. The elk, for instance, which we are certain was once a native of Europe, is now no longer, except in Canada. Those monstrous bones of the mammoth, as the Siberians call an animal which must have been at least four times as big as the elephant, which are dug up in that country, and which by no means belong to the whale, as has been falsely imagined, may serve to convince us, that there were once animals existing which have been totally extirpated. The histories of Aristotle and Pliny serve to confirm us in this opinion; for in them we find descriptions which have not their archetypes in the present state of nature.

It is in the forest therefore, and remote from man, that we must expect to find those varieties, instincts, and amazing instances of courage and cunning, which quadrupeds exert in a very high degree. Their various methods of procuring subsistence may well attract our admiration; and their peculiar conformation for the life in which they find greatest pleasure, is not less surprising. The rapacious animal is in every respect formed for war; yet the various kinds make their incursions in very different ways. The lion and tiger pursue their prey by the view alone, and for this pur

pose they have a most piercing sight. Others hunt by scent, while some lie in wait and seize whatever comes near them, or they are able to overpower.

The teeth of carnivorous animals differ in every respect from those which feed upon vegetables. In the latter, they seem entirely designed for gathering and comminuting their simple food; but in the rapacious kinds, for holding and tearing their prey. In the one, the teeth serve as grindstones, in the other, as weapons of offence. In both, however, the surfaces of the grinding teeth are unequal, with cavities and risings, which fit each other when the jaws are brought into contact. These inequalities serve the better to grind and comminute their food, but they grow smoother with age; which is the reason why old animals take a longer time to chew their food than those in the vigour of life.

The legs and feet of quadrupeds are admirably suited to the motion and exercises of each animal. In some they are made for strength only, and to support a vast unwieldy body, as in the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the sea-horse, whose feet in some measure resemble pillars. Deer, hares, and other creatures that are remarkable for swiftness, have theirs slender, yet nervous. The feet of some serve for swimming, as the otter and beaver; the toes of these animals are joined together with membranes like those of geese and ducks, which is a sufficient demonstration that they are designed to live in water as well as on land: though the toes of the fore-feet of the beaver are not thus united, because they use them as hands. The feet of some are made for walking and digging, of which the mole is a remarkable instance; and others for walking and flying, as the bat. The legs of some are weak, and of others stiff and strong, that they may traverse the ice with less danger. The common goat, whose natural habitation is on the rocks and mountains, has legs of this kind, and the hoof is hollow under

neath, with sharp edges, so that when become domestic, it will walk as securely on the top of a house, as on level ground. Many are shod with rough and hard hoofs, of which some are whole, and others are cloven; some again have only a callous skin, and these are composed of toes which supply the place of hands, as in all of the monkey kind. Many have only short nails, for their more ready and safe running or walking; while others have sharp and strong talons, as the lion, and most ravenous beasts, to destroy their prey.

The heads of quadrupeds also differ greatly from each other; for in some they are square and large, suitable to their slow motion, food, and abode; in others, slender and sharp, the better to fit them for turning up the earth, of which a hog is an instance. Some quadrupeds have long necks, and not very strong, serving chiefly to carry their mouths to the ground, in order to feed; in others they are shorter, brawney, and strong, as in moles and hogs, thereby the better to turn up its surface; while in general the quadrupeds that feed upon grass are enabled to hold down their heads, by a strong tendonous ligament, that runs from the head to the middle of their back; by the help of which the head, though heavy, may be held down a long while, without any labour, pain, or uneasiness to the muscles of the neck.

The stomach is generally proportioned to the quality of the animal's food: those who live upon flesh and such nourishing substances, have it small and glandular, affording such juices as are best adapted to digest and macerate its contents. On the contrary, ruminating animals, or such as chew the cud, who feed entirely upon vegetables, have four stomachs, all which serve as so many laboratories to prepare and turn their simple food into proper nutriment. In Africa, however, where the plants afford greater nourishment than