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        THE   ^rv'
PHILOSOPHY   *T
$ it I'01
NATURAL  HISTORY,

                     BY    "*4

            WILLIAM SMELLIE,
                      MMMt
       Member of the Antiquarian and Royal Soeieties of Edinburgh.
WITH AN
INTRODUCTION
VARIOUS ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS,
INTENDED TO ADAPT IT
TO THE PRESENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE.
          BY JOHN WARE, M. D.

Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and of the American Academy of
               Arts and Sciences.
            BOSTON:

PUBLISHED BY CUMMINGS, HILLIARD b CO

       University Press—Hilliavd Sc Metcalf. 
/  n o


 III*
  c.l
                   DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT :
                                                           District Clerk's Office.
    BE it remembered,  that on the seventh day of January, A. D.  1824, and in the forty-
eighth  year of the Independence of the United  States of America,  Cummings,  Hilliurd
& Co. of the said district have deposited  in this  office  the  title of a book, the right whereof
they claim  as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:

    The Philosophy of Natural History, by William Smcllie, Member of the Antiquarian and
Royal Societies of Edinburgh.  With an Introduction and various Additions and Alterations,
intended to adapt it to the present State of Knowledge.   By John Ware, M. D. Fellow of the
Massachusetts Medical Society, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

  In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An  act  for the
encouragement of learning,  by securing the copies  of  maps, charts, and books, to the
authors and proprietors of such copies  during  the times therein mentioned;" and also to
an act, entitled " An act supplementary to an act, entitled ' An act  for the  encouragement
of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and  proprietors
of such copies, (luring  the tim^s therein mentioned,' and  extending the benefits thereof to
the arts ot  designing,  engraving,  and etching historical and other prints."
                                           mum  iv  taaa-tc   5 Clerk of the District
                                           JOHN  W. DAMS,  J of Massachusetts. 
EXTRACT
FROM THE PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL AVORtf.
   About fifteen years ago, in  a conversation with the  late
worthy, respectable, and ingenious Lord Kames, upontthe too
general neglect of natural knowledge, his Lordship suggested
the idea of composing a book on the Philosophy of Natu-
ral History.   In a work of this  kind, he proposed that the
productions of Nature, which to us are almost infinite, should,
instead of being  treated of  individually, be arranged  under
general heads ;  that,  in each of these  divisions, the  known
facts,  as well as reasonings, should  be collected and method-
ised in the form of regular discourses; that as few technical
terms as possible should be employed ; and that all the useful
and amusing views arising from the different subjects should
be exhibited in such a manner as to convey both pleasure and
information.
   This task his Lordship was pleased to think me not altogeth-
er unqualified to attempt.  The  idea  struck  me.  I thought
that a work of  this  kind, if executed  even  with moderate
abilities, might excite  a taste for examining the various objects
which every where solicit our attention.  A habit of observa-
tion refines our feelings.   It is a source of interesting amuse-
ment,  prevents  idle  or vicious  propensities, and exalts the
mind  to a love of virtue and of  rational entertainment.  I
likewise reflected, that men of learning often  betray an igno-
rance  on the most common subjects of Natural History, which
it is painful to remark. 
IV
   1 have been occasionally employed, since the period which
I have mentioned, in collecting and digesting materials from
the most authentic sources.   These  materials I have inter-
spersed with such observations, reflections, and reasonings, as
occurred  to  me  from considering the multifarious subjects of
which I have  ventured  to treat.   I knew that a deliberate
perusal of  the  numerous writers  from Aristotle  downwards,
would require a considerable  portion of time.   But the avo-
cations of business, and the translating of  a work so volumi-
nous as the Natural History of the Count de Buffon, ren-
dered my progress much slower than I  wished.   I now, how-
ever, with much diffidence, submit my labours to public opin-
ion.
   With regard to the manner of writing, it is perhaps impos-
sible for  a North  Briton, in a  work of any  extent, to avoid
what are  called Scotticisms.  But I have endeavoured  to  be
every where  perspicuous, and to shun every sentiment or ex-
pression  which might have a tendency to  injure the feelings
of individuals.
   Indulgent readers, though they must perceive errors and
imperfections, will naturally make some allowance for the va-
riety of  research, and  the labour of condensing so much
matter into so small a compass.   He is a bad  author, it has
been said, who affords neither an aphorism nor a motto.
   Upon the whole, the general  design of  this publication is,
to convey to the  minds of  youth, and of such as  may have
paid little attention to the study of Nature, a species of knowl-
edge  which  it is  not  difficult  to  acquire.  This knowledge
will be a perpetual and inexhaustible source of many  pleas-
ures ; it will  afford innocent and virtuous amusement, and
will occupy agreeably the leisure or vacant hours of life. 
ADVERTISEMENT RESPECTING THIS EDITION.
    In preparing  this edition  of Smellie's  Philosophy  of
Natural History, I have  endeavoured to avail myself of such
modern  discoveries and improvements  in  Physiology and
Natural History as are connected with the subjects of which
the book treats.  It will be observed that instead of the two first
chapters of the original work, I have substituted an Introduc-
tion, containing some very general views of animal and veg-
etable life, and a brief sketch of the structure and classification
of the whole animal  kingdom.   That  something  of  this kind
was rendered necessary on account of the great  light thrown
upon  these subjects by the  progress recently made in Com-
parative  Anatomy, cannot be doubted;  and  it  was found
easier to compose  these chapters entirely anew,  than  to
incorporate the requisite  additions with  them as they orig-
inally stood.
    With regard  to the remainder of the work, although a
good  deal has been added or rewritten, yet it has upon the
whole been made  considerably shorter,  by  the  omission  of
many passages, which did not seem of sufficient importance  to
be retained ; and also by the omission of  many passages and
a few chapters  which touch  upon subjects interesting only
to the scientific reader, and which were deemed unnecessary
in an  edition intended for general use.
    Some apology may perhaps be required for the freedom
with which these  alterations have been made in a  standard
work  of so great merit.  On this subject it can only be said, 
VI
that there was no other  method by which it could be adapted
to the use of young persons learning the elements of Natural
History.   Many of the views contained in the original edition
have been since proved unfounded, and these it was necessary
to correct.   In many parts of  it are details of great  length,
and often irrelevant to the subject, which it  was thought prop-
er to abridge  or  exclude;  and I  trust   that,  upon  a fair
comparison of it with this edition, I shall appear to have taken
no greater liberties than were necessary to fit it  for the purpose
for which  it  is principally  intended—the  instruction  of the
young.
    The whole Introduction, as was observed above, has been
prepared by the editor, with the exception  of a few passages,
distinguished by inverted commas, which are retained from the
original work.  In the body of the book, those passages which
have been added, or which have been entirely remodelled or
rewritten, are  distinguished by single inverted  commas ;
quotations  from other authors being marked  in the usual
way by double inverted  commas.
  Boston, Jan. i824.                             J. W. 
3*?s
CONTENTS.
                INTRODUCTION.

Chapter I.  Of the Nature of Living Bodies and the
              Distinction between Animals and Veg-
              etables     -
Chapter II. General Remarks on the Structure  of
              Vegetables     -
Chapter III. Of the Structure of Animals
 1-12

12-15
15-86
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL HISTORY.
Chapter I.     Of Respiration      -    -         -     87-102
Chapter II.    Of the Motions of Animals   -    -      102-111
Chapter III.   Of Instinct.....111-119
Chapter IV.   Of the Senses   -                     120-137
Chapter V.    Of Infancy    -     -    -    -    -    138-145
Chapter VI.   Of the Growth and Food of Animals     145-158
Chapter VII.   Of the Transformation of Animals   -    158-172
Chapter VIII.  Of the Habitations of Animals     -      173-215
Chapter IX.   Of the Hostilities of Animals  -    -    215-233
Chapter X.    Of the Artifices of Animals  -    -      233-243
Chapter XI.   Of the Society of Animals     -    -    244-257
Chapter XL*  Of the Docility of Animals   -    -      257-276
  * This and  the preceding Chapter having both been inadvertently num-
bered XI, the subsequent Chapters continue the series from this number
as well in the body of the work as in  the  Analytical Table of Contents. 
Chapter XII.   Of the Covering, Migration, and Tor-
                  pidity of Animals     -     -    -    276-300
Chapter XIII.   Of the Longevity and Dissolution of
                  Organized Bodies   -     -     -      300-314
Chapter XIV.   Of the Progressive Scale or Chain of
                  Beings in the Universe     -    -    314-319

Analytical Table of Contents    ....      321-329
Explanation of Scientific  Terms    -                    331-336
   N. B.  The following are such errata as have been observed, affecting
the sense of the passages where they occur.

   Page 15, last line but one in the note, for reviving read renewing.
        49, sixth line from the top,      "  stag     "   hog.
       162, seventeenth line from the top "  of two   "   or two.
On pages 87 and 88 the double inverted commas should be single. 
NATURAL  HISTORY.
INTRODUCTION.
                      CHAPTER I!
 OF THE NATURE OF LIVING BODIES, AND THE DISTINCTION
           BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES.

  The most superficial observers are in the habit of remarking
certain great and  striking differences in  the nature, structure,
and qualities of the objects around them.  They perceive at
once, that  a stone is something very different from  a plant,
and a plant something very different from an animal, although
they do not task themselves to determine exactly in what this
difference consists.   It is  natural  as  well as convenient, for
mankind to class things together according to their most obvious
characteristics, and in this way we have come into the use of a
certain arrangement of natural bodies,  not  founded  upon  a
knowledge of their intimate  nature  and  essential qualities,
but upon those  which produce the  most lively  impression
on  our  senses  after only  a slight examination.   Thus have
been established the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms,
which include under them all the objects of the material world.
  It is  obvious  that this  arrangement  is founded upon an
examination of those objects only,  which are most within our
immediate observation, and with whose qualities and  proper-
ties  we  have  been most familiar.   We see  that  rocks  and
mountains are immoveably fixed to the same spot and remain
always of the same size ; that the earth does not change its
surface except by the operation of  violent and unusual causes.
Plants, on the contrary, are undergoing constantand spontaneous
changes ; some are dying and decaying, others sprouting up
from the earth, coming forth, as it  were, from a new creation,
giving birth to* a new set of individuals like themselves, and
sinking in their turn to decay.  Further still, we see animals,
not only coming into existence,  living,  growing, and  giving 
mature of living bodies.
origin  to other animals, but exercising various other offices,
—feeling,  moving, uttering  sounds,  suffering and  enjoying,
establishing a  thousand connexions  with  things  and beings
about them, which contribute to the support or happiness of
their existence.   In this way we have come to the division of
created things into the three classes above mentioned.  It is
sufficient and convenient for the popular purposes to which it
has been usually applied, but it is evident, if we but examine
it, that it is not strictly and scientifically correct.
   A more accurate and philosophical division of natural objects
is into such as are possessed of life and such as are. not posses-
sed of life.  This throws animals and vegetables into one class,
and all mineral substances into the other ; for there is a much
more close and intimate relation  between the two former, than
ihere is between either of them  and the latter.   They  have
many circumstances of analogy with one another in respect to
their  structure and functions, in which they  do not at  all
resemble any  object  or operation  of the  mineral kingdom.
These two classes then include all  the  various  bodies which
compose the world around us, and those belonging  to  each
are distinguished, as possessing certain general properties and
being governed by certain general laws, common, in a greater
or less degree, to all of the same class.
   In the first place, living bodies are distinguished from other
substances  in  the  mode  of their  origin ;  they  are  always
produced by other preceding individuals similar to themselves;
they are always the offspring of parents.  This is an obvious
and complete distinction.  No mineral substance, no substance
not possessed of life, is ever brought into existence in this way.
It is true that new bodies in the  mineral world are sometimes
formed  by the accidental  aggregation of particles, or by the
spontaneous combinations which are occasionally the result of
chemical laws, but this is something clearly very different
from  the  mode of ppoduction which takes plaee  in  living
bodies.   One stone does not  produce another  like itself, a
crystal does not produce  a  crystal,  nor one grain of  sand
another.  There  is nothing  like the relation of  parent and
offspring.
   In the second place, living  bodies differ as to the mode of
their existence, in so much as they  are dependant  upon other
things beside themselves for the continuance of that existence.
The matter of which they are  composed, is constantly chan"--
hig.   This matter is in fact only common matter endowed for 
TJATTTRE OF LIYING BODIES.
3
a certain period with  the  powers of life, in consequence of
being  united  to living systems.   By  the  various  internal
operations constantly going on, part of this matter is expended,
is sent out of the system; this loss must be  repaired by the
addition of new matter.  Hence the necessity of nourishment
to the suppoit of life ;  hence the necessity of a regular supply,
to every thing living, of a certain quantity of food adapted in
kind to the nature of the individual.   This food is  operated
upon  by the organs of the animal  or  vegetable, is assimilated
to it, and its properties are  modified  until it becomes  fit to
make  a component part of it. This is nutrition,  an  essential
process of living bodies, by which they are enabled to increase in
size and strength, to modify the structure of their different parts,
and to maintain them in a fit state for performing the offices
for which they are designed.  Minerals, on the contrary, have
no  such dependance ;  they are sufficient for themselves ; the
matter  of which they  consist is always  the same ;  they
contain within themselves everything which is essential to their
existence, and have, of course, no necessity for nutrition or
growth.   It is  true that these substances sometimes increase
in  size, as happens with regard  to  stalactites, the deposition
of  crystals, and the formation of alluvia.  But  there is this
marked difference between  all such instances of growth, and
that of  animals or vegetables ;  that, in  the  former  case,
it amounts  to the mere juxtaposition  of similar  particles,
unchanged in  their nature;  whilst in the latter the  particles
are changed in their nature  and subjected to  the operation of
entirely  new  laws.  In the  former ease the growth  depends
upon  a principle operating from without; in  the latter upon a
principle  operating from within.
  But, in the third place, though dependant upon other substances
in this way for the  means of continuing their existence, living
bodies possess in another point of view a kind of independence
upon  all other matter.   They are  removUfby the possession
of  the powers of life, in a certain  degree out of the  influence
of physical and chemical laws; they contain within themselves
a  principle by  which they are enabled  directly to resist the
operation of  those  laws, which would otherwise ensure their
speedy destruction.  They  depend  upon  the things around
them  for the materials  of their support, but the power of alter-
ina the nature of those materials  and appropriating  them to
their  own use  is peculiar  to themselves.   The functions of
living systems are not  only  performed without the assistance 
4
NVTLRE OF LIVING BODIES.
of the  physical powers of matter, but often  in direct op-
position to them;  and the substances  which are introduced
into them, lose thcirchemical relations,and are combined accord-
ing to new laws, and for new purposes.
  This  power olinsulation, possessed by living systems, is in
no instance more strikingly evinced, than in the possession
by animals of a certain degree of vital heat, which they preserve
under all circumstances, short of those which impair or destroy
the texture of  their parts.  Thii degree of heat—which in
man is  about  98°  of Fahrenheit's thermometer—continues
nearly the same, even when we are exposed to the most in-
tense cold, and is but little elevated when we are subjected to a
heat above  that of boiling water.   In  many  countries, in
which the degree of cold is for many months in the year very
much below the freezing point of mercury, men not only exist,
but enjoy  all the comforts of  life.  In some high latitudes,
Europeans have been exposed  to temperatures as low as -50°
or even -GO0 of Fahrenheit's thermometer, that is, to a cold
15CP below  the natural standard of animal heat,  and  have
escaped every ill consequence.  Very lately the whole of two
ships' crews wintered in about  75° of north latitude in perfect
safety, where the temperature of the air was, for  many weeks
together, almost constantly below -30°, and where  they became
so accustomed  to  severe cold, that the atmosphere, when at
zero, felt mild and  comfortable.  On the other hand, in many
countries men exist without difficulty under a high degree of
heat.  Jn Sicily, during certain winds, the thermometer has been
observed  at  112°, in South America by  Humboldt at 115°,
in Africa at  125°.   But, for a limited period, much  higher
degrees  of artificial  heat have been  borne -without  injury.
Individuals have exposed themselves voluntarily to the air of
ovens at  temperatures  from  2G0° to  315U  of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, without any  very  great  inconvenience,  while
water was boilfng and meat baking  in  the same  atmosphere*
These facts show a power of resisting the operation of external
causes which is possessed by no substances exceptsuch as are en-
dowed with life, and is, probably, possessed in some degree by
all that are. For, although vegetables and the lower orders of an-
imals are notcapable of residing to the same extent the influence
of heat and cold, yet they  all show in some measure the existence
of the same power.   And in the most imperfect species, where
there is  no other evidence, this power is evinced  bv the fact 
NATURE OF LIVING BODIES.                5
that the individual freezes with greater difficulty before  than
after death, other  circumstances being equal.*
   Another illustration of  the  same principle is derived  from
the change which takes place in the body after death.  With
this change we are all familiar.   No sooner has it taken place,
than the heat and moisture of the external air commence the
work of destruction.   The  skin is discoloured, it becomes
green  and livid,  the  eyes sink in their  sockets, the  flesh
becomes soft and putrid, it falls from the bones and is converted
partly into foetid exhalations, and turns  partly into dust.  Even
the bones finally yield and lose their form and consistency.  Now
why should this happen more readily after than before death ?
The composition  of the body is  the same, and it is  exposed
to the same moisture and heat.   It  happens  because the life
has  departed which gave to the body a power of resisting the
operation of these causes.
   This suggests to us,  in  the fourth place, another distinction
of living substances, viz. that they all terminate their existence
in death.  By this event, the materials which entered into their
composition are deprived of the bond which held them together
and gave to them  their peculiar form, viz. the principle of life.
They therefore separate,  and  retain  only those   properties
which they possessed before becoming parts of a living system.
Dust returns to dust, earth to  earth.   It  is  true that some of
the parts of living bodies,  both animals  and vegetables, do not,
very readily, undergo the process of decay.  The bones, teeth,
shells, and horns of animals ; the trunks, branches, and roots of
trees retain for an almost indefinite length of time, under certain
circumstances, their shape and substance.  'This circumstance,
  * In quadrupeds and birds the animal heat is generally greater than that of
the surrounding atmosphere, whilst in other animals of, the inferior classes,
it is seldom very different from that of the objects around thofi.  The former
are called warm-blooded and the latter Gold-blood^.  In @ie  former, the
temperature is capable of but slight variation, from'lxternal causes ; in the
latter its range is pretty extensive, and it varies a grifat''dumber of degrees.
The temperature of a man plunged into cold salt water at 44°, has  been known
to sink to 83°, and, when exposed to a heated  atmosphere, to rise to 100°;
in other animals similar varieties have been observed. But the  temperature
of the viper, a cold-blooded animal, when exposed to a heat of 108°, rises to
92°, and when exposed to a cold of 10° sinks to about the freezing point of
water, showing at once an extensive range of temperature within  which the
functions can go on, and at the same time a decided  power of resistance
against any further alteration.
  Eggs possess an analogous power. A new  laid egg and one which has
been frozen and thawed, being exposed  in a freezing mixture together, the
former will be some minutes longer in freezing than the latter.  This has been
ascertained by experiment.  The same is true of the lower orders of animals
pnd vegetables. 
6    DISTINCTION BETWEEN A\1MU.C AND VEGETABLE

however, is owing not to their continuing to possess life  itself,
but to the particular nature and composition of the texture ol
which they are composed.  Nothing like this takes  place  in
other substances : they can be destroyed only by the action of
some mechanical agent which  separates their  parts, or by that
of some chemical one, which  alters their combinations.
   These are  circumstances of distinction common to all  living
bodies,  whether animal or vegetable.   But another subject of
inquiry is, how are these to be distinguished from each other?
Although it may seem very easy to distinguish an animal from a
vegetable;  yet  the true  principle of distinction eludes inves-
tigation.  Many philosophers have attempted to define wherein
it consists, but have failed in the attempt.  There is generally
little practical difficulty in determining whether any particular
substance belong to the animal or vegetable kingdom, and yet
so nearly do the lower species of animals  resemble plants
in the functions they perform, that it is almost impossible  to
point out what constitutes the real difference between them.
   Some writers,among whom is the celebrated  Buffon, have be-
lieved that there is in fact no exact boundary  between the an-
imal and vegetable kingdojns,  that they run into each other at
their extremities, and form so regular a gradation from the one to
the other, thatno precise dividinglinecanbe drawn between them.
But although there is this apparent confusion at the boundaries
of the two kingdoms, yet, generally speaking, animals are distin-
guished from plants by their composition, their structure, their
mode of life,  &c.  And although with respect to each particular
circumstance there may  be particular exceptions, yet taking
the whole together we get a good general idea of an animal as
distinguished from a plant.  Thus the power of  locomotion,
or of motion from place to  place,  has  been considered  as
peculiar to animals, and in a general way it is so;  yet there are
many exceptions.  Oysters, the  sea anemone, corals and cor-
allines, now known to be of an animal nature, " can hardly be
said to enjoy  the power of local motion.  Many species remain
fixed to the rocks on which they were produced, and have no
motion  but that of extending  and contracting their  bodies."
And, on the other hand, some species of plants are not fixed
by roots to one and the  same spot,  but float about in the sea,
receiving nourishment from its waters.
   The power of moving some part of themselves by an internal
principle has  also been believed peculiar to animals.   It  is not
so.  Many plants are possessed of the  faculty  not only of 
      DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS  AND VEGETABLES.    7

 motion of this kind, but of moving as if with some definite pur-
 pose.  " The sensitive plant possesses it in an eminent degree.
 The  slightest  touch makes its  leaves suddenly shrink, and
 together with the branch bend down towards the earth.   But
 the moving plant, or  Hedysarum  gyrans, furnishes the  most
 astonishing example  of vegetable motion.   It is a native of the
 East  Indies.  Its movements are not excited by the contact
 of  external bodies,  but solely by  the  influence of  the  sun's
 rays*.  Its motions are  confined  to the  leaves, which are
 supported  by long flexible foot-stalks.   When the sun shines,
 the leaves move  briskly  in  every direction.  Their general
 motion, however, is upward  and downward.  But  they not
 unfrequently  turn almost  round; and then, their foot-stalks
 are evidently twisted.   These motions go  on incessantly, as
 long as the heat of the sun continues.   But they cease during
 the night, and  when the weather is cold  and cloudy.   The
 Dionaea muscipula, or Venus' flytrap, a plant of Carolina, affords
 another  instance of rapid  vegetable  motion.  Its leaves are
jointed, and furnished with two rows of strong prickles.  Their
 surfaces  are covered with a number of minute glands, whicb
 s.ecrete a sweet liquor, and allure the approach of flies.  When-
 these parts are touched by the legs of a fly, the two lobes of the
 leaf instantly rise up, the rows of prickles lock themselves fast
 together, and squeeze the unwary animal to death.   If a straw
 or a pin  be  introduced between the lobes, the same motions
 are excited."
  The common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is another instance
 to the same effect.   When its flower is fully expanded, if the
inside of one of the  filaments of its stamens be just touched
by a pin or a straw it contracts instantly and throws its anther
 forward with some force against the stigma.
  " When  a seed is sown in  a reversed position, the young
root turns  downward to enter the earth, and  the stem bends
upward into the air.   Confine  a young stem to an  inclined
position, and its extremity will soon assume its former perpen-
dicular direction".   The roots of a tree growing on dry or
barren ground in the neighbourhood of that which is moist or
fertile, become larger, longer,  and more full, in that direction,
than  in  any othery as if extending  themselves  to obtain  the
nourishment which can there be afforded  them.  If  we twist
the  branch of a tree so that the under surface of the  leaves
  * Sir J. E.  Smith asserts that light is not necessary, but that only a warm
still atmosphere is required to produce this phenomenon in perfection 
   8    DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VKGLI ABLE*.

   shall come uppermost, they gradually turn upon their foot-stalk
   till  the proper side is exposed to the rays of the sun.  This
   they will do repeatedly until they have become injured by the
   exertion, and if the leaf be confined, so that  it cannot resume
   its natural position, its stalk will become twisted by the effort
   to accomplish it. The sunflower, the leaves of the mallow
   and some other plants  turn generally their faces towards the sun.
   The tendrils of plants, on the other hand, move always towards
   the shade,  in whatever direction it may be.   In a greenhouse,
   if exposed  to the morning light, they direct themselves towards
   the west, at noon  to the  north, and at night to the east.   They
   are also attracted by opaque bodies.
     Instances of a similar  nature are afforded  by the.sleep of
   plants, as it has been denominated.   The leaves ofVnany plants
   are folded together during  the night, and droop as if dying.
   In some instances they  are so arranged, when in this state, as
   to serve  as a protecting cover to  the  flowers or young fruit,
   from the noxious effects of the dew upon them,.. The flowers
   of other plants follow the same law and close at the approach
   of night, for the apparent object of shelter and  protection.
   The modes in which this is done in different cases are exceed-
   ing various, but  the  simple mention of the  fact is  sufficient
   for the purpose of illustrating  this  internal power of motion.
     Yet, although  we  cannot distinctly  point out in what this
   kind of vegetable motion differs from the  motions performed
   by  animals, there is no  difficulty in perceiving that they are
 ,  entirely different.  Although  we see  in the  vegetable world
* . many instances,  where plants  exhibit  phenomena which seem
   almost to imply the possession of volition, of sensation, and of
   thought, yet  upon  examination  of each  of  these'instan-
   ces, we find ourselves  in no danger of  confounding  the
   plants, in which  they exist, with the animal kingdom.   The
   general aspect, the form, the structure, and the relation of the
   various parts are entirely different;  and it is in their general
   character  that these two classes  of  created  things  differ
   from one another, and not in the possession of any one distinct
   discriminating principle.   Let us look for one moment at the
   circumstances in which vegetables and animals are distinguished
   by the possession of different  organs, a different structure,
   and a difference in the principles which actuate them.
      1. With respect to their mode of taking and digesting food.
   In animals this is done by an  act of their own, by the exercise
   of volition.  They in some sense exercise choice and  make 
      DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES.    0

 efforts to get that which is adapted to their purposes.   This is
 obvious enough with regard to the larger and more perfect an-
 imals ;  but even in the most imperfect kinds, as in the polypes,
 we  find that they are capable of sending  out  their arms or
 feelers  in search  of food, which when offered  to their grasp,
 they seize and convey into the organ appropriated for digestion.
 It is true that the  roots and other parts of plants, as has been
 already remarked, show a sort of intelligence and discrimination
 in  the  course which they take  in  search of moist or fertile
 ground, and in avoiding orseeking light or shade, which is analo-
 gous to the low degree of power manifested in the  feelers of the
 polypes ;  yet the analogy is but slight, and does not imply the
 existence of spontaneous and voluntary motion.  Animals are
 affected by the sensation of hunger, and are induced  by it to
 make immediate  and  voluntary  exertions  for its  relief.
 Vegetables are not  so  affected, and  the efforts which they
 make to obtain nutriment are slow, and accomplished  as much
 by the gradual operation of  external circumstances,  as by an
 internal and voluntary power.
   2.  Digestion is performed  in animals  by  means of  a
 stomach and an intestinal canal.  The food is taken  into the
 body and  is  there  operated  upon by organs, which are  dif-
 ferent in different  species, according to the nature of  the sub-
 stances on which  they subsist.  The  principal of these is  a
 stomach.   In plants,  on  the contrary, nourishment is absorbed
 directly from the  earth  by  the roots,  or from the air by  the
 leaves; there  is no  intermediate organ  where  a change is
 wrought in its nature before it is introduced into the circulation ;
 and, although such a change is gradually wrought, by which it
 is adapted to the purposes of the particular plant into which it
 is taken, yet it is not effected, as in animals, by means of their
 internal surface.   For  although it has  been  said, that  the
 polypes^ when turned  inside out, continue to perform the func-
 tion of digestion without interruption as under ordinary  circum-
 stances, yet even in this case it is still the internal  surface
 which digests, that which was formerly external, exchanging
 functions as well as situations with that which was within.
  3.  Animals differ widely from vegetables also in the nature
of their food.  They are  not capable, like plants, of being
nourished  by the  common elements of nature,  but  require
substances which  have been already organized,  which have
already formed a  part either of some  plant or animal.  The
polype cannot subsist upon the water in  which  it floats; it 
 10  DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES.

 cannot thrust its feelers into the soil and draw up nourishment
 from it  like the roots of vegetables; no  animal can  do  it.
 They  must  have  recourse to either animal  or vegetable
 substances which are adapted to their wants  and are thrown
 in their  way.   The earthworm, it is true, swallows earth for
 its nutriment, but only that earth  which is  full  of organized
 matter in a state of decay, and it is only that matter which is
 digested, whilst the bare earth is evacuated without alteration.
   4. Animals differ from vegetables in the time of taking their
 nourishment.  The roots of the latter are constantly exposed to
 the contact of the substances from which they derive their sup-
 port, they are always buried in the earth which contains and from
 which  they absorb their food.  Their leaves, also, are always
 spread to the air from  which they  receive one portion of their
 support.   It is not so with animals ;  their supplies of food are
 only occasional.  They are stimulated by appetite, at certain
 definite periods, to seek for the means of gratifying it; after
 obtaining which they are  engaged by other occupations, and
 are liberated from this care, until an additional supply be-
 comes  necessary, and they are excited to obtain  it by a fresh
 appetite.
   5. Animals differ again  from plants in  being  possessed of
the powers of feeling  and  voluntary motion.  It is true that
very remarkable  phenomena are exhibited  by  individuals of
the vegetable kingdom, which seem  to imply the possession
of these  powers by them.    But examination shows that there
is  a clear distinction between these instances and  those  which
are afforded by animals.  There is no resemblance  between
the contraction of the  leaves of the sensitive  plant or the
vibratory motions of the Hedysarum gyrans, and the extension
 of the  feelers of the polype or the contraction of the shell of
 the oyster.  The former motions seem to  proceed from  the
 actual contact of some  substance upon the moving part, or the
 stimulus  of light and heat;  the latter, from the spontaneous and
 voluntary efforts  of the  animal  itself.    These  differences
 would  be made more  obvious  by a  knowledge  of the his-
 tory of the lower  classes  of animals.    But it may  be  at
 present observed,  that however  remarkable these instances
 of vegetable motions are, and although they seem as if they
 might be the result of knowledge, volition, and sensation, they
 are yet entirely different in  nature from the knowledge, voli-
 tion, and sensation  manifested  by animals, and  do not give
 cause for confounding these two  classes  of beings together. 
     DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES.   11

  6. The structure and form of vegetables afford  also marks
of distinction.   These  are  sufficiently  familiar without any
particular explanation.  It  is true that there are some marine
productions, such as the sponges,  corals, &c. having the shape
and in some  measure the appearance of plants, which are yet
without doubt of animal origin.   But of these it  is to be re-
marked, that they are not animals themselves, but the residence
of animals; they are substances  produced by the labour of
myriads of little  polypes, who pile  them up in order to serve for
a covering and protection to themselves ; and, although when
thus produced they have the external shape of vegetables, the
creatures themselves, which have produced them, do not bear
the smallest resemblance to plants.
  7. The chemical composition of vegetables also differs from
that of animals.  The elements essential to vegetables are three
in number, oxygen,  carbon,  and  hydrogen ;  and from these
three  principally  are  formed  all   the  different  substances
which we meet among plants.  But, besides these three, animals
require also the  presence of azote or nitrogen, which is neces-
sary to their composition;  and  from  this,  combined  with
the others  in different proportions,  are formed  all the parts
absolutely essential to animal existence.   There are, it is true,
many other elements which are found in  some parts of plants
or animals, but these are all which are absolutely essential to
the composition  of  vegetable or animal  substance.  Thus in
the bark of some plants, beside the three elements necessary
to its formation,  there will be found a portion of silex or flint;
and in the  bones of animals, in addition to the four essential
elements, lime is  deposited in large quantities.  So that, although
there must  always be  present at least these  necessary and
specified elements in the com position of vegetables and animals,
there is no limit, no principle which precludes the  admission
of others.
  In consequence of this difference in chemical composition,
and perhaps of the mode in which the elements are combined,
other differences of a particular character  may be detected be-
tween substances of a vegetable and those of an  animal origin  ;
differences which serve in cases of doubt to assist us in deciding to
which class any particular substance belongs.  Thus, inhuming,
substances of animal origin always exhale a very peculiar odour,
that of burnt wool,  feathers, sponge, &c. an odour easily re-
cognised and not readily forgotten.   This will always serve to
determine whether any particular substance which we examine
is derived from the  vegetable or animal kingdom. 
12             STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES.

  Physiologists have frequently busied themselves in endeav-
ouring to discover what it i?, which distinguishes precisely the
two living kingdoms from each other.  They have endeavoured
in vain, because they have expected to find this distinction in
one single principle  which would admit  of a  short, plain,
and specific  definition.   Such  a principle can be  only ideal.
It does not exist even with regard to the mineral  and living
classes of substances.  It would not be  difficult to confound
the  boundaries of living and dead matter, in the same way as
those of vegetable and animal matter.  The distinction must be
sought in the general structure, the general mode of existence,
and the purposes of existence in the two.  And in a few words
we may say, that animals differ from plants in being furnished
with internal organs for the purpose of  digesting food, instead
of absorbing it by  roots from the earth ; in being furnished
with organs  which render them capable of moving from place
to place, or at least of moving one part of their bodies on some
other part; in having powers of sensation, perception, and  voli-
tion, by which they acquire a knowledge of the existence and
qualities of  other bodies  besides themselves, and form some
sort of relation or connexion with them ;  and in being obviously
intended, by  the  possession of these  organs and  powers, to
be conscious of and to enjoy existence.
                      CHAPTER II.

  GENERAL REMARKS ON THE STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES.

  In considering plants and animals with a view to the descrip-
tion of their structure and organs, there is one remarkable cir-
cumstance worthy of attention at first, viz. that—while the animal
kingdom exhibits a great variety between different classes in
respect to the perfection, completeness, and complexity of their
structure, and the number of their functions; so that a regular
series is formed, ascending from the lowest and most imperfect
worm possessed of no faculties but those of feeling and moving,
up to quadrupeds with  all their wonderful and  varied  powers
—the vegetable kingdom on the  contrary exhibits but  little of
this sort of variety.  Plants are nearly all alike with regard to
the organs they possess and the functions they perform.   On
the one hand, the polype and the elephant, do not differ from 
STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES.
13
each other more in size, than they do in the number and com-
plexity of their organs, and the extent and perfection of their
powers and functions.  Whilst, on the other hand, the humblest
moss is  scarcely less perfect, less complicated, or possessed of
less extensive powers, than the most lofty tree.  Vegetables vary
in their form, their size, their fruit, and many other particulars;
but we  cannot say of one, that it is of a higher order  in  the
scale of creation than another, as we can of animals.   There
is no series  beginning  at an  individual of low and obscure
powers, and ending in one of powers numerous and elevated.
   The structure of plants  is exceedingly simple and  nearly
alike  in all the different classes, so far as they  have been
examined.  The important parts, which serve to  provide for
their nourishment and  growth,  are the root, the stem, and the
leaves.  These are all formed of a variety of vessels and tubes,
in which the sap and other fluids circulate.   The sap is in the
first place taken into the  roots, probably by means of the long
fibrous filaments which are usually extended in every direction,
and conveyed into what  are called the  central vessels.   These
are so called from their being arranged, in annual shoots and her-
baceous plants, around the pith or centre of the stem.   They
are constructed of fibres which are wound spirally around them
and are thence sometimes  called the  spiral  vessels.  This
arrangement probably contributes to the motion of the fluids they
contain.  By these vessels the sap is carried up the stem  and
distributed to the different branches, and thence to the leaves,
flowers, or fruit. In the leaves it circulates and is there exposed
to the influence of light,heat, and air; and is no doubt perfected
and elaborated by the processes which it undergoes.  Returning
from the leaves, it descends in a different set of vessels situated
in  the  bark, and in its descent contributes to the growth  and
nourishment of the plant by depositing new layers of vegetable
matter between the bark and the stem.
   This is the course of the circulation in annual plants, where
there is an entirely new growth every year from the root. But in
trees and  shrubs where the same trunk or stem continues from
year to year, the arrangement,  though  essentially the same, is
a little varied.  The central vessels are not situated  directly
around the pith, but in the external layer of wood  called  the
alburnum, which is always the  growth of the preceding year,
and performs this office  only for one season, being afterwards
surrounded  and enclosed by a new  layer of the same kind.
Hence  the trunks of trees are formed by layers of wood, which 
14
STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLE-.
have been yearly deposited around the centre, and have succes-
sively afforded a passage for the sap,  by means of the central
or spiral vessels, to ascend into the branches and leaves.  From
the leaves the sap descends through the vessels of the internal
layer of the bark, as in  the  former case,  and in its descent
gradually contributes to the formation of the alburnum for the
next year.  That part of the bark, also, which has thus once
served the  purposes of  circulation, like the  alburnum, is af-
terwards thrown aside, and its place is supplied by a new layer
formed  on its inside between it and the alburnum.  Hence
the large  quantity  of  thick  and  dead bark which is  often
accumulated upon  the outside of  the trunk and branches of
old trees.
   This is a slight sketch of some of the most important points
in the vegetable  circulation.  It appears  from this, that the
principal seat of the growth and  nutrition of plants is in the
bark and alburnum, and that all the new matter yearly added,
is deposited on the outside of the latter and the  inside of the
former—that  the growth of one year is only subservient to the
circulation  of the next, and is ever afterwards of use merely in
giving strength and stability to the trunk  in order to support
the increasing size and  weight of  the branches,  leaves,  &ic.
The wisdom  and beauty of  this provision, by  which that
portion of the plant, which has become useless for every other
purpose, is thus made to answer a very important end, are suffi-
ciently obvious; and it is rendered necessary by the circum-
stance that plants do not like animals arrive  at a definite size
and there cease,  but go on growing to an indefinite extent, and
consequently require corresponding  increase of strength in
those parts which are to support them.
   But besides this  circulation,  which is the most  important
and interesting part of the vegetable economy,  and is also
the best understood, the fluids of plants are no doubt subjected
in different parts to a variety of operations, and undergo many
changes.   There   are  many  other  vessels  besides  those
already mentioned, whose office is not perfectly known, but
which contribute probably in some way to the  elaboration of
the different  principles found in  plants, such as gum, resin,
sugar, he. or are subservient to the performance of their func-
tions.  The  difficulty  of accurately  examining  the minute
structure and organization of vegetables is very great, and  it is
probable that we shall always remain  ignorant of many highly
important parts of their  physiology. 
          GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS.         13

  It appeals from this account, that those parts of plants, which
perforin the functions necessary to their nutrition and growth,
are strictly annual.  So that all  plants are either annual, that
is, wholly renewed every year, or at least have the circulat-
ing vessels, and all  the organs taking  an active part in their
economy, annually renewed, viz. the alburnum, the  bark, the
leaves, the flower, &c.   This circumstance affords another
very  obvious general distinction between the vegetable and
animal kingdoms ;  in  the latter,  nothing of the kind is to be
observed ; there is in  no case such  a renewal of any  of  the
organs of  which  an animal is  composed,—any  at least of
those concerned in performing important functions.   It is true
tbat some of the subordinate parts, such as the hair, the  cu-
ticle or scarf skin, the nails, teeth, feathers, &c. are  occasion-
ally and sometimes annually renewed in certain kinds  of an-
imals.  But there is no change in any of the principal organs ;
the circulating  system, the  lungs, the  stomach, &c.  always
remain the same.*
  The plan of this work does not  admit a more full account
of  the structure, functions, and  classification of  the  vegetable
world; and we proceed therefore to an examination of the
nnimal kingdom.
                      CHAPTER III.

             OF THE STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS.

                        SECTION I.

             General Classification of Animals.

  In order to treat clearly of the animal kingdom, it is neces-
sary to consider it according to some method of arrangement,
by which those animals that  most resemble one another are
connected together for the convenience of description.  This
arrangement is  founded upon  their form and structure, and
separates them into various divisions and subdivisions accord-
  * It may here be observed, that in vegetables there is none of that absorp-
tion of the different parts which takes place in animals.  The matter of which
they are composed, being once deposited, is never taken up again ; whilst in
animals there is a constant process going on, by which the old matter is taken
away and new deposited, and the organs thus renewed.  Perhaps this end in
intended to be answered yi vegetables by the annual reviving of their circu
lating system. 
1G
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS.
ing to their degree of similarity, and the points in which their
structures correspond.   Such a system of arrangement is called
a Classification of the Animal Kingdom ;  and,  as an accurate
acquaintance with the principles on which it is founded, is of
great assistance to the student of natural   history, I shall pro-
ceed to present a general view of that which is  most common-
ly received at the present day.*
  In surveying the long  series of  animals, from  the lowest
and most insignificant worm,  up to man, the lord of the crea-
ation, and  examining the  structure  of their bodies, and  the
mode in which they are enabled to carry on the functions of
life, we observe certain lines of distinction among them, which
afford  ground  for arranging them,  in the first place,  in two
grand divisions.  Those of the first grand  division are possess-
ed of an internal skeleton, a system  of bones covered  by  the
flesh, which serves to give form, support, and strength to their
whole fabric, and  to assist  in containing  the various internal
organs,  whose actions serve  to keep up  the life and vigor of
the system.  Those of the second, are not  possessed of any
such skeleton,  but consist of  a collection of organs more  or
less distinct, without any solid basis, and are  generally of a
soft yielding texture, though occasionally covered and protect-
ed externally by  a shell or other hard covering.  We observe
farther, that, in animals of the first  kind, the blood is always
red ; in those of the second  kind, it  is, with a few exceptions,
white.
   In those of the first kind, there is always a bony  case called
the cranium or skull, which contains  the brain ; and a number
of bones called vertebras, connected  together, so as  to form a
long column, usually called the spine, the back-bone, or  the
vertebral column.   This column contains a canal   extending
its whole length, which receives the spinal nerve or  marrow, as
it passes out of the skull, and conveys it along the trunk, to be
from thence distributed to the various parts of the body.   It
is as it  were the  main  pillar or common support of all  the
rest of  the skeleton ;  and hence the animals  possessed of  it
are called vertebral animals, as this forms the most striking
characteristic  which is  common to them all.
  * This system is principally derived from Cuvier.  Its general outlines are
1 believe, almost universally admitted as the most accurate and philosophical
of any yet proposed.  In its details, it has not yet perhaps been so generally
received; but I have nevertheless ventured  to follow it  principally in this
work, since there can be little question of its superiority,  or that it will ulti
mutely supersede those of all other naturalists. 
          GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS.        17

  In animals of  the second kind, there is no skeleton, and of
course no vertebral column.   The brain and  nervous system
are not therefore protected  by any  bony covering.  These
organs do not resemble the corresponding ones of the verte-
bral animals, but are less distinct and apparently less impor-
tant.   They have not many common points of resemblance,
but as they  none of them possess a  back-bone or  a skele-
ton, they  are denominated from this  circumstance  inverte-
bral animals, i. e. without vertebras.
  The two first grand divisions of the animal kingdom, then,
are 1. vertebral, such as  man,  quadrupeds, birds, fishes,
he. having a skeleton and red blood ; and, 2.  invertebral,
such as worms, insects, shell-fish, &c. having no skeleton and
white blood.
  But in examining the first division, we find farther differen-
ces. Man, quadrupeds, whales, and birds, have all a tempera-
ture above that of the air or  water in which they reside.
Their flesh is warm, and as this warmth is supposed to depend
upon the temperature of the blood, we call them warm-blooded.
On the other  hand, frogs, toads, lizards, serpents, and fishes,
have  all  a temperature varying  but  little from that of the air
or water in which  they live.  They  impart  to us, when we
touch them, the  sensation of cold.  Hence we  call them cold-
blooded.  Here  then is afforded ground for a subdivision of
the vertebral animals into the warm-blooded and the cold-
blooded.
   Again, the warm-blooded animals  are  capable of  being
divided  into  two classes.    A part of them produce their
young alive, nourish them during infancy  by their own milk,
from organs called their mammas or breasts, and are hence call-
ed  mammalia or mammiferous animals. This class includes man,
quadrupeds, whales, porpoises, he.  Another part produce their
young by means of eggs, which they hatch by the heat of their
bodies, and support by food which  they provide for them as
soon  as they come out of the egg.  This class  includes  birds.
   The cold-blooded vertebral animals also form two classes.
The first contains those which breathe only pure air, and can-
not exist without it,  as tortoises, frogs, serpents, &c.  These are
called reptiles.  The second contains those which breathe by
gills or branchiae, through the medium of the water.  This class
includes all the true fishes; for the cetaceous animals, mentioned
above, are not, strictly speaking, to be numbered among fishes.
   The invertebral animals are not  capable of so satisfactory
                3 
18        general classification OF ANIMALS.

and  accurate an  arrangement.   Their structure is not yet
sufficiently understood ;  but they may  be divided  into five
classes, according  to such  circumstances of  resemblance
as the  present  state  of  knowledge  with  regard  to  them
admits. These classes are  1. Insects.  2. Crustacea, as the lob-
ster, crab, and craw-fish.   3. Mollusca, as the oyster, the snail,
the cuttle-fish or squid, the clam, and the quahog.  4. Vermes
or worms, as the  earthworm, the leech.  5. Zoophytes, as the
star-fish, the  sea-urchin, the sea-anemone,  the  sun-fish, the
polypes, the sponges, and the animalcules.   These classes will
all be more particularly described hereafter.
  The  whole animal  world then is arranged  in two  grand
divisions, and nine distinct classes, as in  the following  table.
                  I.  Vertebral Animals.
       1.  Mammalia, )Warm_blooded
       2.  Birds,      5

       4*  F'shel65' } Cold-blooded-
                 II. Invertebral Animals.
       5.  Insects.
       6.  Crustacea.
       7.  Mollusca.
       8.  Vermes or Worms.
       9.  Zoophytes.
  After these greater divisions  into classes, there are several
smaller divisions, of which  it will be useful to give some account.
  Classes are subdivided into a greater or less number of or-
ders ; and these are distinguished by some important, clear, and
remarkable peculiarities of conformation and structure, which
are common to all the animals included under each of them.
Thus, in the class Mammalia, the order Quadrumana includes
those animals which have hands upon all four of their extrem-
ities, such as monkeys and apes; the order Ruminantia, those
which  ruminate or chew the cud; the order Carnivora, those
adapted to feed  principally on  animal  food.   In the  other
classes, the divisions  are of a similar kind.
  Orders are subdivided  into genera.   These comprehend
animals which have a general  external resemblance to each
other, a kind of family likeness.  Thus  the genus Felis in-
cludes all  those of the cat  kind ; and these  animals, although
differing one from another very much in size and colour, have
yet a very close resemblance  in  their general  form, figure,
character, and habits of life.  The genus Canis includes those 
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS.         19
of the dog kind ; the wolf, the fox, the jackal, and the domestic
dog, of which the same  remark may be made.  Thus too the
horse, the ass, and the zebra, are all of the same genus Equus,
on account of their obvious general similarity.
  Again, genera are made up of species. Each distinct kind
of animal constitutes a species, and they are known from one
another by their size, colour, form, and various other circumstan-
ces of external appearance. There are then as many species as
there are sorts of animals.  Thus the cat is one species, the tiger
is another, and the lion, leopard, jaguar, and catamount, are also
separate species ; but taken together with others, they consti-
tute, the  genus Felis.  Thus too the genus Canis contains the
dog, the wolf, the jackal, and  the fox, which are all  so many
distinct species.  The genus Sciurus contains the  grey,  red,
striped, and  several  other kinds  of  squirrels.   In  treating
of any particular animal, naturalists are accustomed  to desig-
nate it  by a name derived from its genus and species.  This
najne is composed of two words;  the first being the name of its
genus ; and the second being either altogether arbitrary, or else
expressing some circumstance  relating  to the colour, size, or
residence of the animal, which serves in a degree to distin-
guish  it  from others.   The first is  called its generic,  the
second its trivial or specific name, and they correspond very
closely to the names of human individuals ;  the generic terms
answering to  the sirname which designates the family to which
any one belongs, and the trivial to the  christian name which
designates the particular individual.
   To give  an example ; the  different  species of the genus
Felis, above mentioned, are distinguished one from another in
the following  manner.  The lion is called Felis leo ;  the tiger,
Felis tigris ;  the leopard, Felis  leopardus ; the jaguar, Felis
onca; the lynx, Felis lynx ; the serval, Felis serval, he.  In
the genus Canis, the dog  is  called  Canis  domesticus; the
 wolf, Canis  lupus ; the  black wolf, Canis lycaon ; the fox, Ca-
 nis vulpes, he.   In this way, each animal  is capable of being
 clearly and accurately designated, by a name which  is not so
 liable to mistake and confusion  as its  common  one, which
 is  sometimes applied  to several different species.    This
 is called the scientific or sytematic name.
   Each kind of animal, then,  constitutes a distinct species ;
 a number of species taken together form a genus ; those gen-
 era which have important  and well defined points of resem-
 blance in structure  and conformation, common  to all, are 
20
CLASS 1.   MAMMALIA.
placed together in an order ; whilst upon a similar principle,
but more extensive in  its application, these orders are mar-
shalled into separate classes.
                       SECTION II.

                   Class I.  Mammalia.

  The Mammalia are placed at the head of the animal king-
dom.   It  is to this class that man,  considered as an object of
natural history, properly belongs ;  and  beside  him, the  an-
imals  of this class are distinguished for a more perfect bodily
structure, for more varied  faculties, more delicate sensations,
a more elevated intelligence, and greater capability of improve-
ment  by imitation  and education,  than  those of  any Other.
Man  is arranged with  them,  because he  nearly  resembles
them  in structure and organs, though raised in reality  far above
them  by the possession of intellectual and moral powers almost
infinitely superior.
  There is a very considerable similarity  in the anatomical
conformation of  all the animals of this  class.  The greater
part of them are intended for motions confined to the surface
of the earth ; but a few are  capable of mounting into the air, as
the bats; and others are  adapted for a life confined to the water,
as the whales.  But notwithstanding these.differences in their
mode of life, their  principal organs are  nearly similar in the
general plan  of  their construction.  We shall  begin there-
fore by a description of them as they exist in man, and after-
wards point out such  important modifications as exist in oth-
er animals  which differ from him.
  The human body is divided  into the head, trunk,  and ex-
tremities.
  The head includes the cranium, or skull, and the face.  The
skull  is a large bony cavity, composed of several wide and thin
bones united together by sutures.  It contains the brain, and
gives  origin to the spinal  marrow, which passes out of  it at
a hole situated in its lower part, and goes to the back-bone.
The  face   is formed of  the upper and lower jaws, and of the
organs of seeing, smelling, and tasting.  The bones which form
the basis of these organs, are very  numerous  and difficult to 
structure of man.
21
describe;  they are united by sutures, and, when taken together,
give the  general  shape and  constitute the  features of the
countenance.
  The head is placed upon the top of  the back-bone or ver-
tebral column, and is capable of a number of motions upon it.
The back-bone is the main support of  the trunk of the body,
and  is composed  of twenty-four distinct vertebras, placed one
above another, so as to form a kind of pillar or column.  The
body of each vertebra consists of a solid cylindrical  piece of
bone, and this is united firmly to those  contiguous to it, above
and below, by strong and elastic cartilage.  The  body of the
vertebra is solid, but behind it and on each side are projections
of bone, called processes, whicb are arched over and connect-
ed together in such a manner, as to form a canal from one end
of the spine to the  other.  This  canal contains the  spinal
nerve  or  marrow,  and  between  each  vertebra are  holes
through which branches  are sent out to the different parts of
the body.
  Seven  of the  vertebras belong  to the neck, twelve to the
back, and five to the loins.   They are  called  respectively the
cervical, dorsal, and lumbar vertebras.  They increase in size
from above, downwards, so that the lumbar vertebras are much
larger, thicker, and stronger than those  of the  back and neck.
To the dorsal vertebras are  affixed  twelve ribs  on  each
side, which arch over forwards, and are joined to the sternum
or breast-bone by means of cartilage or gristle.   In this way
they form the cavity of the  thorax or chest, which  contains
the heart and  lungs.  This cavity  is terminated below  by a
muscular membrane, called  the diaphragm  or midriff, which
extends from the  edges of the  lower ribs, and stretches across
to the back-bone, so as to form a complete curtain or division
between the chest, and the abdomen which lies below it.  This
is another important cavity, usually called the belly, containing
the stomach, liver, spleen, caul, alimentary or intestinal canal,
kidneys, &c.   It  is formed below by  four bones  attached to
the lower  end of  the back, which spread out and  constitute a
sort of basin, called  the  pelvis.  This  serves as a solid basis
to support all the heavy organs contained  in  the abdomen,
which  is  protected  before and at  its sides only by skin, fat,
and  muscles, and has no bones except  below  and  behind.
  The limbs ofanan and other animals are called  their extremi-
ties. The arm^or upper extremity, is composed of the shoulder,
which  has two bones, the collar-bone and shoulder-blade, by 
'22                 CLASS i.   MAMMALIA.

which it is connected with the trunk; the arm, which has only one
bone, long and firm,extending to the elbow; the fore arm, which
has two long bones parallel to each other, extending from the
elbow to the wrist; the wrist, having eight small and irregular
bones ;  and the hand, on which  there are four  fingers, each
with four bones, and the thumb with three.  These bones are
united together, so as to form  moveable joints of various de-
grees of flexibility and power, by means  of firm  substances
called ligaments.   The surfaces which move upon one another,
are  covered by a  smooth  polished substance that renders all
their  motions  easy and  free from impediment.
  The lower extremities are constructed in a similar manner.
The thigh-bone, the largest and strongest  bone  in the body,
is connected above with one of the bones  of the pelvis, by*
means of a large round head, which is received into a socket
of corresponding size, and thus forms the hip-joint.   Its lower
end contributes to form the knee-joint together with the knee-
pan  and one of the two bones of  the  leg.  These last are
parallel to each other, and extend  from the knee  to the an-
kle.   The ankle   is composed, like the wrist, of a number of
small bones, of which there  are seven, one of them project-
ing  behind  to form the heel.  The toes have the same num-
ber of bones as the fingers and thumbs, but are shorter and less
capable  of free and extensive motions.
  These different bones are covered by muscles, fat, and skin,
which constitute  the principal  soft parts of the  body.   The
muscles are  fibrous organs, attached to the bones  generally by
tendons,  whose contractions put the bones in  motion  and
thus originate all  the movements of which  we  are capable.
They act  in fact  like cords attached to levers,  and operate
according to strict mechanical principles.
  The organs by  whose operation the  digestion  of food, the
circulation of the  blood, and the other important functions are
performed, are contained in the three cavities of the cranium,
the  thorax, and the abdomen, which have been  already cur-
sorily described.   We proceed to a consideration of these
several functions,  beginning with that of digestion.
  The food is in  the first  place taken into the mouth, mixed
with the saliva, and ground into a kind of paste, by the action
of the jaws  and teeth.   It is then  swallowed through a  long
muscular canal, the oesophagus  or gullet, which passes through
the  thorax  behind the  heart and  lungs near the back-bone
and is conveyed, through its upper or cardiac orifice, into the 
structure of man.                 23
       stomach.  This is an irregularly shaped muscular bag or sack,
       situated in the  upper part of the abdomen, at the spot usually
       called the pit of the stomach.  It is capable of great distention
       or contraction,  according  to the quantity which is  put into it.
       In the stomach, the food is acted on by a peculiar fluid, called
       the gastric juice.   It has no powerful sensible qualities, and is
       nearly tasteless  and destitute of odour; but its operation upon
       the substances  exposed to its influence, is very decided and
       powerful.   They  are  gradually  reduced, of whatever kind
       they may be, to one homogeneous mass, of  a grayish  colour
       and a consistence  like  that  of thick  cream, called' chyme.
       This operation  being completed, the chyme  passes out of the
       stomach,by itsloweror pyloric orifice, situated towards the right
       side, into the intestines, which form a long canal,  and, taken
       together, are many times longer than the body.
         In the  intestines, the chyme  is subjected  to the action of
       the bile and  pancreatic juice.  The bile or gall  is a brown-
F*     coloured, viscid, and very  bitter fluid prepared  by the liver,
       a large organ on the right  side just beneath the ribs, and col-
       lected into the  gall-bladder, where a part of it is reserved for
       use.  The  pancreatic juice resembles very nearly the saliva
       in colour and appearance, and  is prepared by  the pancreas,
       an organ situated just below the stomach.  The effect of  the
       mixture of  these two fluids with the chyme, is to separate it
       into two parts.   One of  &ese is a thin, milky fluid,  called
       chyle;  the remainder consists of those  portions of the food
       which are not fit  for the nourishment of the system, but are
       rejected and thrown out of it as useless.   The chyle is grad-
       ually absorbed  by  capillary vessels, called the lacteals, which
       open into the intestines through  nearly  their whole  course,
       and convey  it into a vessel called  the thoracic duct.   This
       duct ascends from the abdomen along the back into the thorax,
       and there empties its contents into the left subclavian vein, or
       the vein coming from the left arm, where the chyle  is immedi-
       ately mingled with  the mass of blood and enters with it into the
       circulation.   The chyle is the same, from whatever substance
       it is prepared, when the digestion  is perfect.   Some kinds of
       food, however, are  capable of furnishing a larger proportion of
       it than others; this is the case with animal food, of which it
       takes a smaller quantity to supply the system with nourish-
       ment, than of  vegetable.   Animal substances are also more
       easy of  digestion;  and  hence, it  is observed,  in  those  ani-
       mals which  subsist  on  vegetables, the  digestive  organs  are 
'24                 CLASS I.   MAMMALIA.
more various,  extensive,  and  complicated,  than  in  those
which are carnivorous, as the  changes to be produced in the
nature of the aliment are greater.
  The chyle, being mixed with the blood, becomes a part of
it, although it is not known where or how its change from the
white to the red  colour  is effected.   It  is then  circulated
throughout the body, by the heart, the  arteries, and the veins.
The heart is a  hollow muscular organ, the  main spring of the
circulation ;  the arteries are long  cylindrical canals or pipes,
carrying the blood from the heart to the different parts of the
body;  the  veins are vessels of a similar form and structure,
bringing the  blood back  to the heart after it has  gone the
round of the  circulation.
  The heart in  man is a double organ, that is, it consists of two
complete and distinct organs,  united together into one mass,
but performing their functions  without interference or connex-
ion.  These  two  parts are called the right and  left sides of
the heart;  and each has two  distinct cavities, called auricles
and  ventricles.    The  right side  of the  heart receives the
blood from the body at large,  and  sends it to the lungs; the
left receives it from the lungs,  and sends it to the body.   The
heart is of a  conical shape, and is situated in  the thorax, just
within  the sternum, a  little inclining  to the left  side.   It is
however placed with the apex, or point of the cone, extending
downwards and to the left, so that  it  touches the ribs  at the
spot where its beating  is  usually felt,  and  hence  has usually
been supposed  to  lie entirely on the left side.   The  main
body of the heart  is composed of the  two ventricles, which
are strong  muscular cavities,  the left  far more so  than the
right;  the auricles are  situated around the base of the organ,
seeming rather  to be loose appendages than constituent parts
of it.
   We shall begin with the course of the blood at the point where
it receives  its  new supply  from the chyle.   The subclavian
vein, after uniting  with the vein from the other arm, and the
veins coming down from the head  and  neck,  conveys  its
blood immediately to the right  auricle, where it  meets with
that brought from  the lower  parts of the  body.    The  two
trunks which bring the  venous blood  in this way to the heart,
are called the descending and  ascending  venas cavas.  They
pour their blood into the  right auricle, which  contracts and
expels it, through an opening  for that  purpose, into  the right
ventricle.  This opening is guarded by valves, which prevent 
structure of man.
25
the  flowing  back  of the  blood, by  completely  closing  the
passage.  When the ventricle has become distended, it con-
tracts in its turn, and  the blood, being prevented by the valves
from returning  to the auricle, is  thrown forward into the pul-
monary artery, which carries it to the  lungs.  This passage is
also guarded by valves.
   At the time of its passage through the right side of the heart,
the' blood is of a dark bluish red or purple colour, approaching
almost  to black.  It  is generally called black blood, and is
neither fit  for circulation  in the vessels, nor for  the nourish-
ment of the different parts.   In this  state it is  sent to  the
lungs.   These  fill  up all that part of  the cavity of the  chest
which  is not occupied by the heart, which they surround almost
upon all sides.   They consist principally  of  a  collection of
blood  and air vessels, and are constantly  supplied  with  air,
drawn  in through  the windpipe, and distributed to every part
of them.  The blood is circulated throughout their substance,
by the branches of the pulmonary artery, and is, in its course,
exposed to the influence of the air.  By this means, its colour
is changed to a bright crimson or vermilion, and  it becomes
again fit for the  purposes of life.
  Ij^ is  now brought  back to the left side of the heart, by  the
pulmonary veins, and passes through the left auricle and ven-
tricle, in a manner  almost precisely similar to that which  has
been already  described  with  regard  to the right  side.  The
left ventricle, from  its superior size and strength,  gives to  the
blood  a more powerful impulse, than that  which  it  receives
from the right, and this is the more necessary, because it has
a much  wider and  more extensive course to traverse.   From
the left ventricle, it is thrown  into the  aorta, the great arte-
ry which supplies the whole  body with blood.   This  arte-
ry ascends from the heart for a short distance, arches  over,
sends branches to the head and arms, and  then descends be-
hind the heart, and distributes  them to the  other parts of the
system.
  The branches thus disseminated throughout the body, are
subdivided again and again to an almost inconceivable degree
of minuteness, and finally terminate in a system of vessels, call-
ed capillary vessels.  These pervade every part, and the blood,
after passing  through them, enters into another set of vessels,
the veins, which,  as it proceeds, gradually collect together
and  enlarge  in  size, till  they terminate, as has been  before
remarked, in two large trunks at the right auricle of the heart.
              4 
20
l I.ASS 1.   MAMMALIA.
In the capillary vessels, it undergoes a change in its qualities,
precisely the opposite to that which takes place in the lungs.
It becomes, from a bright red  colour, of  the same dark  red
which it was described to possess upon passing  through  the
right side of the heart, in its passage to the lungs.  The cause
of this change is not understood ; but it is presumed to proceed
from the office which the blood performs in the nutrition of the
body  during its circulation, and  by which some of its elements
are  abstracted from it, and combined with the texture of the
organs.
  The brain  in man  is  the grand centre of sensation and
perception.  It  is the  instrument through which  the  mind
maintains its connexion with the body ; and this connexion is
extended  from the brain to other parts by means of  nerves.
The  brain is a  large organ, of  a peculiar texture, occupying
the  whole  of the cavity of the cranium, and  consisting of
several distinct parts.   Several  pairs of nerves proceed  from
it through different apertures in the skull,  and are distributed
to the parts about the head, to convey to them the  pow-
ers  of sensation and  motion.   But  beside  these, there  is
another large single nerve passing down into the canal  formed
by the vertebras, already described,  and supplying the grater
part of the  body and limbs.
  Through the  nerves, impressions are transmitted from all
parts of the body to the brain, and, on the other hand, all  the
acts of the will  produce an effect upon the different  organs
by their means.   The nerves are necessary to the exercise of
the senses,  (which in man are five ;  seeing, hearing, smelling,
tasting, and feeling;) for, if the nerve going to  the organ of
either of these senses be injured, the  mind no longer receives
any impression  from them, as  happens in the disease of the
eye, called gutta serena.  And  if the nerve  going  to any of
the  limbs  be  destroyed or obstructed, both sensation  and
powerof motion in that limb are either destroyed or suspended.
This  happens when  a limb, from  long continued pressure
upon  it, is  said to be asleep; as, in sitting  a long  time in one
particular position, the nerve going to one of the legs is press-
ed upon, and,  the connexion with the brain being thus inter-
rupted, the consequence is a loss of feeling and motion, whicii
is sometimes so  great  as to cause the person affected  to fall
down  on attempting to walk.
  The senses, taken all together, are more perfect in man than
m any other animal.  Yet in each of them, individually, he is 
DIVISION INTO ORDERS.
27
 probably excelled by some particular species.  Thus, in sight
 he is exceeded  by the vulture and the eagle, in hearing by
 the greater number of rapacious quadrupeds, in  smell  by the
 dog,  in  taste by  a great many animals, and  in  nicety and
 delicacy of touch and feeling, by most insects.
   The skeleton and the internal organs of other animals, of the
 class Mammalia, exhibit fewer  differences from those of man,
 than their external appearance would lead us to imagine. They
 are generally of such a nature, as to adapt the animal for  the
 particular kind of life which  he is intended to lead, the mo-
 tions which  it is  necessary for him to perform, and the food
 upon which  he  is  to  support  himself.   Thus the  limbs of
 monkeys are calculated for climbing, those of most others for
 walking on all fours; the fore legs  of some animals are adapt-
 ed for free and extensive motions  and  furnished with  claws,
 that they may seize and secure living  prey, as in the tiger
 and the  lion; those of others  are limited  and confined  in this
 particular, and terminated by  hoofs, as the deer and the horse,
 being intended to feed upon vegetable substances alone.
   It is upon the consideration of differences of this kind, that
 the division of the animals of this class into orders is founded.
 The structure of an animal is always found to correspond to its
 character, mode of life, and food; and those, therefore, which have
 a similar structure, resemble one another to the same extent in
 other particulars.  From the formation of  the anterior extrem-
 ities of an  animal, we may judge of the degree of address of
 which he is capable, and of the kind of motions he is able to
 perform; and, from  the structure  of his teeth, what is the
 nature of his food.   Thus, the fore  feet  of animals  may  be
 either  enveloped  in  hoofs, like those of the horse  and  the
 ox; or armed with claws, like those of the lion ;  or furnished
 with slender  nails, like those  of man and  the ape ;  and the
 perfection of the sense of touch will  be in proportion  to the
 delicacy of these organs respectively.  Thus too, there  are
 three   kinds  of teeth,  the incisory  or  cutting  teeth;  the
 canine or dog teeth; and the  molar  or grinding teeth ;  but
 all animals have not each of these kinds of teeth, nor are they
 of the same shape and  formation in all  animals.  The molar
 teeth, for instance, in the carnivorous animals, are sharp and
and cutting,  fit only  for the  chewing of  flesh ;  and  in  the
herbivorous,  they  are broad, with surfaces adapted  for grind-
ing grain or  the  fibres of vegetables,  which  require  more
mastication  than   flesh,  before  they  are   capable  of  being
 digested. 
2^                 TLAss I. MAMMALIA.

  It is principally from a regard to these parts, that naturalists
have proceeded  in the arrangement of the Mammalia.  The
orders thus formed are nine in number, as follows :—
   1. The Bimana or  two-handed  animals.   Man  is  the only
example of this  order.   He has hands  upon  his  superior
extremities alone.  He has nails of a thin and delicate texture,
which give to his thumb and fingers a wonderful delicacy ol
touch.
   2.  The  Quadrumana or four-handed  animals, comprising
apes,  monkeys, and baboons.  They have hands  upon all
four of their extremities, but less perfect than those of man.
   3.  The  Carnivora  or  carnivorous  animals.   These have
no hands, but their feet are furnished  with claws.   This  is a
very extensive order,  and embraces a great variety of animals.
   These three orders have all the three kinds of teeth, which
differ however, in shape and strength, according to the habits
and food of the different species.
    1.  The  Hodentia or gnawers ;  so called from the  structure
of their fore teeth, which are particularly adapted  for  gnawing.
They have no  canine teeth ; and their claws are similar to
those  of the carnivora.   This  order contains rats,  squirrels,
rabbits, Sec.
    5. The Edentata or toothless animals; so called because they
tire deficient always in the incisive teeth, and sometimes have
 no teeth   at all.   Their  toes are terminated  by  large and
 crooked  nails, which  obstruct both their sensations and  mo-
 tions.  The sloth'and armadillo are in this order.
    6. The Ruminantia or ruminating animals,  are those which
 chew the cud.   They  are cloven-looted, and have  moreover
 no incisive teeth in the upper jaw.  Among these are the ox,
 camel, lama, stag, and antelope.
    7.  The Pachydermata or thick-skinned  animals. This order
 includes a considerable variety of other animals with hoofs,
 but which do  not ruminate ; as the horse, the wild  boar, the
 hog, the  tapir, and the elephant.
    8.  The Cetacea, or animals of the whalek'md, distinguished
 by having no posterior extremities, and  their anterior so  con-
 structed  as to  answer  the purpose of fins.  In this  order are
 whales, porpoises, and dolphins.
    9. To these may be added the Marsupial animals, which  do
  not come strictly under either of these orders, and  are distin-
  guished from all others, by the possession, in the female, of a
  bag or pouch (marsupium) on the outside of the  abdomen, for 
                 ORDER I. BIMANA. MAN.               29

the purpose of holding  their young after birth.   Such are the
kanguroo and opossum.
  We  proceed to give some further account of these  diffe-
rent orders of the Mammalia.
  I. Bimana.  Some  writers  have affected  to  believe that
man was originally intended to be a quadruped ; and that he has
learned only from long  experience the mode of walking erect
and of applying  his hands to the purposes for which he now
employs them.   They  have represented him as only a more
perfect kind of ape ; and have  been fond of collecting stories
of  wild men who have been found living  like  beasts in the
midst of forests, destitute of speech and the arts of life ; and
of races of apes and monkeys who can walk erect, and  imitate
the manners, gestures, and mode of life of men ; thus endeav-
ouring to  prove  a near connexion and relationship between
man and these animals.
   It is undoubtedly the case, that  man, in his external form,
resembles this order of animals much  more nearly  than any
other; but he is yet by no means  more nearly allied to them
in this respect, than  they  are to some others, which are yet
always considered of a distinct kind.   The fact is, that since
the animal kingdom forms a series of individuals rising,  by a
regular gradation, from a very humble and imperfect  structure,
up to  a very perfect  one, there will  necessarily  be certain
points of  resemblance  between those  which stand  nearest to
each  other in this  series.   Hence the tribe of apes, which
stand nearest to man, resemble him more than any other ani-
mal does, but not so much  as many  other animals resemble
them.   There is a  greater difference between man and those
species which are next below him, than there is between any
other two species, which rank next to each other, in the whole
animal  kingdom.   So  that there is, in truth,  no more reason
for saying that man is only an improved  and educated  ape,
than there is for saying that a bee is only an improved and
educated  fly,  a  cow an improved sheep, or a horse  a  per-
fected ass.
   Man is distinguished from all other  animals of  the  class
Mammalia, by  his  erect attitude, and  his  power of walking
upon two legs.   This is  naturally the case with  no other
animal.   Some are capable of being  taught to walk upon
their hind legs ;  but they never do  it with ease or from choice.
The ape  and monkey  have, it  is true, hands very  like those
of the human species, which they  are capable of using  with 
 30        CLAPS I.  MAMMALIA.   ORDER I.  11IMANA.

 great address and effect; but then they  have not feet or legs
 which  enable them to walk upright; their  feet are, in fact,
 formed  like  hands, having a  palm, and  a distinct thumb,
 opposed to the four fingers, and arc thus able to grasp objects.
 The foot of man is very different.  It has nothing which does
 the  office of a thumb, and the sole does not perform that of a
 palm.  It is  flat, inflexible, and  fit  only for the purpose of
 walking.   Apes, on the contrary, are adapted  for climbing;
 and  hence the peculiarity of  their  structure, which  enables
 them to grasp  the small branches of trees  with  their feet  as
 well as their hands.   Strictly speaking, then, these tribes are
 principally  distinguished from man by having four hands in-
 stead of two; and hence man is called a  two-handed or  bima-
 nous animal;  and apes, monkeys, and baboons, four-handed
 or quadrumanous animals.   This alone would  be a sufficient
 distinction; but there are many others founded upon a varie-
 ty of considerations, derived  from the  general  structure  of
 man.  His  head is larger  and his  face smaller in propor-
 tion  to his size, than that of the monkey.   His eyes, his ears,
 in short, all his senses are adapted to the erect position.  He
 is  incapable of going  upon all fours  with any  facility, his
 lower  extremities being so  long, as to render the posture  of
 his head painful and even dangerous.
  The structure of man, and  his faculties of mind, give him
 great advantages over  other animals in point of adroitness,
 skill, and address.   His erect  position gives him the free use
 of his hands, which, though they have a general  similarity  to
 those of the monkey, are yet far more delicately and perfect-
 ly constructed.  The thumb  is larger;  the  fingers, all except
 the ring-finger, have distinct motions ;  the  nails  present ex-
cellent  points  of support, so  as to admit of the  handling of
 very small  bodies ;  and the arms have  unincumbered  and
various  motions in  every direction.   Still  he is  inferior, in
 point of strength, to most animals of his size; he is slow in
running, is  without  natural means of  defence, and has no
natural  covering.  So that man, who, in the social state,  is
the lord of this lower  world, the conqueror of  the  rest of
creation, is, by nature and when alone, the weakest, the  most
helpless, and the most defenceless of all animals.
  There are several  distinct races of mankind inhabiting dif-
ferent portions of the  earth, which differ one from another
more or less in form, in features, in complexion, and in char-
acter.  The cause of these varieties has never been satisfac- 
                 NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN.              31

 torily pointed out.  They have been attributed to climate, to
 situation, to manner of life, he. but none of these circumstan-
 ces appear sufficient to produce them, and we therefore still
 remain in ignorance on  the subject.   These distinct  races
 may be considered as five  in number.   1. The  Caucasian.
 2.  The Mongolian or Tartar.  3. The American.   4. The
 Negro or African.   5.  The  Malay.
    1. The  Caucasian.   The  individuals of this  variety  are
 distinguished  by the  beautiful oval form  of  their heads; a
 large  and  full forehead;  regular  and  distinct  features  of
 the face,  which  is small and  narrow in  proportion to  the
 cranium ;   a  white skin,  varying  from a  light rosy tint to
 a deep  brown ; and hair and  eyes of various  colours.  This
 race is called  Caucasian,  because  its  origin  is  referred
 by tradition  to the group of mountains  lying between  the
 Black  and Caspian seas, among which Caucasus has been
 celebrated.   From thence  if has  spread  itself over a con-
 siderable  part  of  the  known world.   The  inhabitants  of
 of Caucasus itself, the Georgians and Circassians, are to this
 day considered as the most beautiful specimens of the human
 form.    In  the ancient  world,  the  most  celebrated  nations
 belonged to  this race.   The Assyrians, the   Chaldeans, the
 Phenicians, the  Jews, probably  the Egyptians, the Persians,
 the Scythians, the Parthians, the Greeks,  the Romans, &c.
 were all of Caucasian origin.  In modern times, nearly all the
 nations that inhabit the western  part of Asia,  nearly  all  the
 nations  of  Europe, and  the descendants  of  Europeans  in
 America and other parts of the  world, are of  the same race.
   They have been always distinguished  for superior intellec-
 tual and moral qualities.   With  a few exceptions, they have
 always  maintained  a decided ascendency  in  arms over the
 people of the other races, and have acquired a superiority over
 them in all the elegancies, refinements, and luxuries of life.
 They have  been for ages the depositaries of literature, philos-
 ophy, science,  and  the  arts; and  have  carried the human
 character to the highest  degree of excellence it has ever
 reached.  All that  is beautiful and enchanting  in  poetry and
 the  fine arts, all  that is  sublime and awful in religion, have
 belonged to them.
  2. The Mongolian race  is principally found  in the eastern
 parts of Asia.   It is distinguished  by a low stature* by project-
 ing cheek bones ; a depressed and retreating forehead; fea-
tures not strongly marked ; eyes narrow and oblique; a nose 
o2        CLASS I.  MAMMALIA.   ORDER I. BIMANA.

somewhat broad and flat;  thick  lips; black,  strait hair ; thin
beard;  and an  olive complexion.   In  this division are  to
be arranged the inhabitants of the great empires of China and
Japan ;  the hordes of Calmucks, of Mongols, he. ;  the ancient
Huns; the Finnish tribes .of northern Europe, as the Laplan-
ders; the Kamtschadales ;• the Esquimaux indians inhabiting
the northern parts of America;  and a  great number of  other
nations and tribes of less note.
  The individuals  of this race are inferior in moral and  intel-
lectual qualities to  those of the preceding.  They  have  made
but slight  progress in civilization or literature, and have gen-
erally remained in  a semi-barbarous state.  Occasionally they
have manifested  great vigour and energy in. military exploits;
and three  times have carried  the terror of their arms over the
greater  part of Asia, and  even into  Europe, under Attila,
Zenghis Khan, and  Tamerlane.  Their conquests have gen-
erally, however, been of short duration, as they have not the
qualities suited to  retain and govern the empires they  gain.
  3. The  African, or  Negro, is remarkable for his narrow
and depressed forehead; his flat and  broad  nose; his thick
lips ;  his  projecting jaws;  black, crisped, and curled  hair  or
wool; black skin and eyes; and some  other differences  in
bodily shape, which it is not necessary  to enumerate.  These
characteristics are confined to Africans, and their descendants
in different parts- of the world.   The individuals belonging
to this race have seldom been distinguished  for their mental
faculties or moral endowments.   They have always remained
in a barbarous state, and are with difficulty induced  to  adopt
the customs and habits of civilized  life.
  4. The  American race  resembles,  in  many  respects, the
Mongolian ; but differs from it  in  having more distinct and
strongly marked features, and a skin of a copper tint.  All
the native inhabitants of the new world, with the exception of
the Esquimaux, come  into  this  division.   In  general  they
have  made small  advances in civilization and  the arts and
prefer the wandering life of hunters to  the comforts of settled
habitations.  In the empires of Mexico and Peru  was exhib-
ited the highest  pitch of refinement, to which they have ever
arrived.
   5.  In  the division called  the  Malay, are  included  nations
differing one from another very much, in form, features, and
character, and too  imperfectly known to admit of being clearly
described.  Some of them, as the inhabitants of New Holland. 
NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN.
33
Van Diemen's Land, he. resemble very  nearly the African
race; whilst others, as the inhabitants of Malacca, Sumatra,
he. and also those of the islands in the Pacific ocean, approach
sometimes the Caucasian and sometimes the Mongolian.
   But, notwithstanding all these differences in man, he main-
tains every where a decided rank, far above that of any other
animal.   He is the only  one which has the power of commu-
nicating  its thoughts and feelings by  articulate speech;  the
only one  which  can  properly be said  to avail itself  of  the
advantages of society ; and the only one that, strictly speaking,
educates its young.  It is in consequence of these advantages,
particularly that derived from  association, that  he has been
enabled, under all circumstances, to  acquire  and preserve a
dominion over other animals, either by subjecting them to his
use, or at  least making himself  the object of their fear.  It is
in consequence of these advantages, also, that  he has been
enabled to protect himself against the severity of climates,  and
thus spread his species  over every part of  the earth.  Natu-
rally tender and  defenceless, he could only exist  in the most
equable and temperate  climates ; but, aided  by the inven-
tions and discoveries  of  social life, he is enabled to brave the
cold of the polar circle, as well as the overpowering  heat of
the regions on the equator.
   Man is only partially  governed by instinct.   All his  knowl-
 edge is the result of education  and  experience.   He knows
 nothing but what he has discovered himself, or what has been
 taught  him by others.  By means  of language and  writing,
 the discoveries and improvements of one generation are trans-
 mitted  to the next, and thus are the ground of an almost  in-
 definite  progress towards  perfection.    All  other animals,
 being principally governed  by  instinct, are stationary; they
 neither advance  nor recede in  their manners  or habits ; by
 being associated one  with another, they do not improve ; and,
 although  capable of being educated  by man,  they do not ed-
 ucate one  another.   The first  swarm of bees that existed,
 probably constructed as perfect  a honey-comb as is done now;
 they do not improve upon the plan which instinct has  pointed
 out to them ; it is a plan which  they did not in the first place
 contrive, and cannot amend.  But, if we  compare the rude
 and  ill  constructed  habitations  of  , savage nations with  the
 splendid  and luxurious  edifices of  civilized life, we instantly
 perceive  the influence which language, society, and education
 have had upon the human race.   We are sensible of the great
                 5 
 34       CLASS I. MAMMALIA.  ORDER I.  BIMANA.

 difference between that skill, which  is the result of instinct,
 and that which is acquired  by a being  capable of  reasoning
 and speaking.
   Being thus susceptible of constant progress in improvement,
 man  is  found, under  different circumstances,  in  different
 stages of this  progress.   In  his primitive  state, he supports
 himself  upon the  flesh of animals, which he destroys in the
 chase, or upon the wild fruits of the  forest.   He has not
 therefore lime  to devote to  the cultivation of the  arts,  or to
 the education of  his children ; he learns nothing but how to
 construct his hut and his canoe ; he clothes himself with the
 skins of  wild beasts;  and  he  observes  the  natural objects
 around him  so far only as he can make them subservient to
 his purposes.  When  he comes into the  possession of the
 domestic animals,  the cow, the horse, the sheep, he. he  finds
 that he can derive an easier  and less  precarious  subsistence
 from their milk and flesh, than from the products of the chase.
 He rears, therefore, numerous  herds of these  animals, and
 being only occupied in finding them pasturage and shelter, is
 comparatively at  leisure to apply himself to some of the arts
 of civilized  life.   He manufactures clothing from their skins
 and wool, of various degrees of delicacy and  elegance.   He
 builds himself  more commodious habitations; and  from the
 different  degrees of industry and skill, with which  different
 individuals apply  themselves to these occupations, arises an
 inequality of  conditions.   Some  become rich,  and others
 comparatively poor.  The rich acquire a disposition to indulge
 in the comforts and luxuries of life, and this is found  to be
 inconsistent with  the wandering and unsettled  life which  they
 lead as  mere  shepherds.   Hence  they  are  induced to fix
 themselves permanently upon  particular tracts of  country,
 which  come  to be  considered  as their property ;  and  thus
 they  gradually  devote  themselves  to  the cultivation of the
 soil.  This enables a given portion of land to support a much
 greater number of people, than  when  it was  devoted to the
 feeding of herds;  and hence, as agriculture becomes estab-
 lished, the population of a country regularly increases.   So-
 ciety also becomes settled and permanent.   Every individual
 is able to produce more by his own labour, than is sufficient for
his own  support, and  some  therefore devote themselves to
 other occupations, the results of which they exchange  with
 the labourer for his surplus.   Nations also exchange  with one
 another their superfluities.  Thus  commerce  is established ; 
ORDER II.  OJJADRUMANA.
35
and the arts and elegancies of life are one by  one brought to
light,  as the growing wealth of individuals and nations  creates
a demand for them.
  II.  The Quadrumana,  as  has been  before  observed, ap-
proach more nearly  to man, both  in their  internal  structure
and  external  form,  than  any other animal.    They differ
however in the size and shape of the head, which is propor-
tionably  smaller, narrower, and  less elevated ;  in the  confor-
mation of the face  which has a flat, depressed  nose, and very
prominent jaws and teeth ; in the length of the fore-arm ;  and
in the construction of the lower extremities,  which are not
calculated for the erect posture, and are  furnished with hands,
instead of feet like those of men.  Their structure  fits them
evidently for  climbing, and their usual  places of habitation
are trees, on the fruits of which  they feed.  They maintain
the erect  position  with difficulty ;  it is a  constrained  one,
since  it  obliges  them to straiten  the joints of the hip more
than is easy or natural, and to rest their weight  upon the outer
edges of their feet  or  hind hands.   Generally, then,  they
employ all four of their limbs in  walking or running, but their
motions, when upon the ground, are very various and  irregular.
  They  form  a numerous  tribe, and  comprehend a great
variety of species, known  under the names of apes, monkeys,
baboons,  he.   These names are generally employed  with
little discrimination, but they are intended to point  out some
general differences of form.   Thus the apes are destitute of a
tail;  the monkeys have one of about the length of their bodies;
and the baboons a very short one. Beside these, which are con-
fined to the old continent, are the sapajous, which include those
belonging to the new world.   These have all long tails, which
are in many  instances of  so much strength, as to answer in
some  measure the  purpose of a fifth limb, enabling the animal
to grasp  with  it the branches of trees  or other objects, to
assist in climbing.   These are called prehensile tails.
  The orang-outang and chimpanze are the most celebrated
of this order, for their similarity in face and form to the human
race; whilst many other  species, by their elongated snout,
depressed forehead, and  other  particulars, approach more
nearly to other quadrupeds.
  The Orang-outang, or wild man of the woods, which is the
meaning of the name in the Malay language, is found only in
some  eastern climates, and has seldom been seen in Europe;
although many other animals have been exhibited under that 
3G
CLASS I.   MAMM \LIA.
name.   He  is a native  of  Malacca  and Cochin China, but
is principally found in the great inland of Borneo in the East
Indies.  Ho is from three to  four feet in  height; his body
covered with a thick, red  hair; his  forehead  high and full;
and  his face of a bluish  colour.  He  is mild and docile,  is
easily tamed, and becomes  attached  to  those about him.  He
i?  able, in  consequence  of his bodily  form  and organs,  to
imitate very accurately a great variety of human actions ; but
is, on the whole, not more  remarkable  for sagacity and intel-
ligence than the dog.
  The Chimpanze is a larger  animal, and has  been said  by
travellers to equal or exceed the size of man.   This, how-
ever, is not well authenticated.  His body  is  covered with
black or brown hairs.   He  can be  taught to walk, to sit,
and to eat like merl.  He is a native of Congo  and  Guinea,
lives with his fellows in troops, and, by means of clubs and
stones, repels the attacks of man and other animals.   It has
been said, that he constructs for himself a hut with the  foliage
and branches of trees; but he probably does little more than
provide, in this  way, a very rude shelter for himself against
rain  and storms.
  The  Pongo is probably the largest of the animals of this
order, and is a formidable and ferocious creature.  He inhab-
its the  island of Borneo,  and is, from  the structure of his
posterior limbs, as well  able to  support himself in the erect
posture, as either the orang-outang or chimpanze.  His history
has  been  confounded  with that of those animals,  and  his
character  and  many  of his  habits  have been  attributed  to
them.   But he  is in fact very different in some important
particulars; as the shape of his head approaches that  of quad-
rupeds, and his muzzle or snout is very long and  projecting.
   One of the  most remarkable species  among  the baboons, is
the great gray baboon (Simia  hamadryas)  inhabiting  Arabia
and  some parts of Africa.   He is more  than five feet in height,
and  is very ferocious.  His head and  shoulders arc covered
with a long growth of gray hair, which  has  the appearance
a large full-bottomed  periwig,  and, combined with the gravity
of his  countenance, gives him  a singular and grotesque ap-
pearance.   He is called  by the French  naturalists, Papion a
perruque.
   A few of the American monkeys, or  Sapajous, are furnished
with a pouch  or bladder connected with the wind-pipe, which
gives to the their voice an enormous volume and a tremendous 
ORDER III.  CARNIVORA.

tone.    They  are  called  from this  circumstance Howler
monkeys.
  Some  of the smaller and  more inoffensive species of the
Quadrumana are playful, peaceable, and amusing little animals;
but in general  they are a noisy, chattering, mischievous race,
whose distorted resemblance to the human  face  and  figure
only renders them more hideous and disgusting.
  III. Carnivora.   This order includes a great number and a
great variety of animals.  They are furnished with the  three
kinds of teeth, but these differ  more or less in  shape from
those of man and  the monkeys, so as to be adapted for the
mastication of  animal food, upon which  they  subsist, either
in part or altogether.   They  are subdivided into several tribes
or families, accordingly as they are more or less carnivorous.
In some of these tribes, the molares are very sharp and cutting,
and thus indicate that  the animal  feeds entirely upon flesh;
in others, they are broader, being adapted partly for the mas-
tication of  vegetable  food ;  and, in  others, they  are  armed
with a number of points or cones, which are fitted  for a diet
consisting principally  of insects.   Their fore legs are capable
of pretty free and extensive  motions, and  are furnished with
nails or claws,  but no thumb;  whence they are far inferior in
point of address to the apes.  They are remarkable for pos-
sessing the sense of smell to  a high degree of perfection.
Their organs of digestion are in general less complicated and
extensive than those of other animals.  The stomach is smaller,
and the intestines shorter, animal  food requiring  less change
than vegetable in order to convert it into chyle.
   1. The first tribe or family, is that of the Bats. These have
some  points  of affinity with the  Quadrumana, and  were
arranged by Linnasus with man and the monkeys.  They are
sufficiently  distinguished, however, by their  wings.  These
are formed  of a thin fold of  skin, which extends between the
two limbs of the same  side, and is likewise stretched  across
the claws of the fore feet, which are very  long  and slender,
and serve  to keep  the membrane extended like the sticks of
an  umbrella.   By means of this apparatus, many of them are
enabled to fly with a  force and rapidity equal to that of birds;
but, in others,  it answers only the purpose of  a parachute to
break their fall from lofty places, or to enable them to per-
form great leaps in their passage from tree to tree.  They are
principally  nocturnal animals,  seeking  their  prey (which
consists  of insects, small quadrupeds or  birds, ancl flesh of 
38
CLASS I.  MAMMALIA.
any kind) in the twilight, and retiring  during the day to dark
and hidden recesses, where they remain suspended by  their
claws, till the return of night.
  Their eyes are extremely small and apparently of little use ;
but the cavities of their ears are extensive.   They possess the
singular faculty of  directing their flight with  great accuracy
and  precision,  without the assistance  of the sense of sight,
and  even after their eyes have been destroyed.  It has been
found that, after the complete removal of  the eyeball, bats
are able  to fly  about  in a room  without touching the walls,
apparently with  as much ease and security  as before.   What
is still more remarkable when several  willow rods are placed
six inches distant from each other, so as  to form a sort of
grating, the  bats, after the destruction  of their eyes, are able
to pass backward  and  forward  through  the spaces without
ever coming  in contact with  the rods.  It is difficult  to give
any  satisfactory account  of  this phenomenon, and  yet the
experiments, from which the knowledge of it has been derived,
are very well authenticated and have been frequently repeated.
It  has  been  attributed to  the  great extent  and  uncommon
delicacy  of the  membrane constituting the wings, and of that
lining the ear, which have been supposed to render the animal
capable of judging, from the impressions made upon it by the
air, of  the relative distances and positions  of external objects.
  Bats  retire upon  the approach  of cold  weather in the
autumn,  and  pass the winter in  a dormant stale.    They
frequently suspend  themselves together in large clusters, that
by  their warmth they  may reciprocally assist  each  other in
resisting  the  effects of the  cold.   During  this period, the
powers of life seem  to be almost extinct, the temperature of
the  animal is much  lowered,  and he  becomes lean  and
exhausted; so  that he awakens  in the spring in a state  of
great weakness and emaciation, although  in the  autumn he
may have been very fat.
  Beside the common bat, with the appearance of which all
are familiar,  there are  many  others, differing  a good deal  in
size and  disposition, which inhabit  other countries.  Among
them is  the Vampyre bat, which  is from five inches to a foot
in length, and has  membranous wings extending from four to
six feet.   It  inhabits Africa and Asia, but  is found  most
abundantly in the East Indian islands.  It is very  gregarious,   $
and is  found  in  immense flocks.   Five hundred  have been
counted  hanging on a  single4rt»«   It does not confine itself 
                  ORDER III. CARNIVORA.                39

to animal food, but subsists also upon fruits and vegetables,
and is the cause of great injury to the produce of the countries
it inhabits.  It has been supposed to suck the blood of persons
lying asleep, by  making  an orifice  in some  exposed  vein,
which  it  does so easily as not to awaken  the sleeper, to the
soundness of  whose  slumbers it contributes by fanning him
gently  with its  wings.  Hence this animal has received the
name Vampyre, and it is thought to have given origin to the
ancient fable of the Harpies.  It is said to be excellent food.
  The Spectre bat is a species very similar in its habits to the
one  just  described.  It is  a  smaller  animal, not  exceeding
seven inches  in the length of its  body, and two feet  in the
extent of  the  membrane of its wings.   It  is an inhabitant of
South  America and  New  Holland, and exists in immense
numbers.   It  has the same propensity for drawing  blood as
the Vampyre, and is said to cause great injury and destruction
among cattle  by this  means.  In New Holland, twenty  thou-
sand have been computed to be seen within the compass of a
mile.  It  is of  a mild disposition, and is  easily  tamed and
domesticated.
  2. The  second tribe of this order includes a number of small
animals, which  feed  principally upon  insects, and are called
insectivorous.  Many  of them pass  the  winter in  a state of
lethargy, and  during summer they lead a secluded, nocturnal,
or subterranean life.  Their limbs are short, and their motions
very feeble.   Among the most worthy  of  notice are the
hedge-hog, the tenrec, the shrew-mouse, and the mole.
  The Hedge-hog is remarkable for being covered  with short,
strong spines instead of hairs, and for the faculty of drawing
its head and feet in such  a manner under its belly, as to give
itself the appearance of a ball covered with  sharp bristles.   In
this way  it resists the attacks made upon  it, using no  other
method of defence; and no violence will induce it to alter its
form or position.  It  is a harmless  and inoffensive  animal,
and  suffers injuries  of  all  kinds  with great  patience and for-
bearance.   It  is about nine or ten  inches  in length, inhabits
holes and decayed trees, into which  it retreats in order  to
pass the  winter.   Its skin was used  by the ancients  for a
clothes-brush, and  has been  sometimes  employed for the
purpose of dressing hemp.
  The Moles  are peculiarly adapted, by the structure of their
nose and  feet, for burrowing  in  the  earth.  This operation
they perform with great facility  and  rapidity.   So expert are 
40
CLASS I.
MAMMALIA.
they,  that, if put upon the grass where the earth is soft, they
force their way  into it almost immediately ; and  even upon
a hard gravelly road, they can cover themselves in the  course
of a few minutes.  They feed principally upon the earth-worm,
and  prefer  the soil in which  it is to be  found  in greatest
abundance for their residence.  They construct habitations of
a peculiar form, to be hereafter described, in which they rear
their  young, and  lead a social and  domestic  life.   They
sometimes  increase  in number to  such  an extent, as to be a
serious annoyance to the  husbandman.
   3  The third tribe of this order possess the characteristics of
carnivorous  animals in the highest  degree.  They are endow-
ed not only  with an appetite for animal  food and a structure
adapted  for its  mastication and digestion, but  with strength
and courage  for seizing and  retaining it.  They are not  all,
however, purely  carnivorous nor  equally  ferocious.   Some
are slow and indolent in their  motions and clumsy  in their
forms, passing the winter  in cold climates in a state of lethargy,
and being capable of subsisting in  a great measure upon veg-
etable  food.   Such are the bear, glutton, and badger.   There
are others,   as the weasle, the ermine, the  ferret, the polecat,
$-c. mean in size and appearance, and  of a long and lean body
with very short  legs, enabling  them  to creep  through very
narrow apertures.    They are small and  feeble,  but  still
extremely cruel.   Others again, as the dog, the wolf, the  fox,
and the jackal, are possessed of  a  good deal of strength, but
do not exhibit a proportionate degree  of courage and ferocity.
But the lion, tiger, panther, he. are at  once the most powerful,
the  most bloody,  and  the most ferocious of the  animal
kingdom.   Their fore paws  are  endowed  with prodigious
muscular power, and  are armed with sharp and piercing nails,
which  in a state of  rest are drawn  in  and concealed from
sight.   They are the terror of the  forest, feed only upon flesh
and  blood,  and  sometimes,  when driven  by  hunger, attack
even man himself.
   The dog, so well known to all  mankind, presents  a great
variety of  shape, size, and  colour, according to  the different
breeds produced by  the different  situations in which  he has
been placed.  No animal is so  completely under the  control
 of mankind.  Every individual of the species gives  himself
 up wholly  to his master, obeys  his voice,  acquires his habits,
 defends his property, and, even  in spite  of caprice and ill us-
 age, remains faithful  till  death.  This connexion, this attach- 
ORDER III. CARNIVORA.                41
ment, does  not proceed so  much from necessity, as from a
true sentiment of friendship.  The dog is the only animal
which has accompanied man to every  part of the earth, and
forms his most useful ally, particularly  in the early  stages of
society,  in  bringing  into subjection  the inhabitants of  the
forest.  It has been  supposed by some,  that the  dog was
orginally the same with the wolf, and by others, that he  is the
jackal  in a domestic state.   But  the origin of his connexion
with man, is  too remote and  obscure to  allow this question to
be determined.
  The animals of the cat kind are all of a fierce and bloody
disposition, and some remarkable for the majesty and elegance
of their form, or the beauty of their skin.   The lion and  the
tiger are the  two most celebrated species.
  The Lion  is a native of Asia and Africa, particularly of the
latter; and  is found sometimes of the length of eight or nine
feet, exclusively of the tail.   His appearance is majestic and
dignified;  and, although entirely carnivorous,  he  is  not
remarkable for cruelty or  the unnecessary destruction of life,
but has been often noted for striking  traits of generosity and
magnanimity.  His muscular strength is immense ;  a single
stroke of  his paw is sufficient to  destroy  some of the larger
animals on which  he preys;  a sweep of his  tail will  knock
down a man ; and  he is able to carry  off an ox, or even a
buffalo, when lightened of  its entrails, with  apparent  ease.
In  populous countries where he is accustomed to the  sight,
and  acquainted with  the  power of man, he is comparatively
timid, and will sometimes even fly before women or children;
but  in those  where  he is  undisturbed in his  dominion of
the forest, he defies man as well as all  other animals, and
has been known singly to attack a whole caravan.   The lion,
when taken young, is capable of being tamed; and, in a state
of confinement, has lived to the age of seventy years.
  The Royal Tiger is an inhabitant  of the warmer parts of
Asia and the Indian islands.   He attains to-nearly the size of
the lion, and  is of equal strength,  but  far  more bloody and
cruel.  He is the scourge of  the  countries which he infests,
and  has sometimes almost depopulated whole villages.   Such
is  his vigor and the rapidity of all his motions, that he has
been  known, when lurking around an army  on the  march, to
spring from a thicket upon a soldier, tear him  from his horse
and  convey  him  into  the   forest without being  molested.
When  he has seized a large animal, if  uninterrupted, he
                (5 
42
(LASS I.  MAMMALIA.
plunges his head into the midst of the carcass, and sucks the
blood.   He is not  so easily or completely tamed as the lion ;
but,  if  taken  young, is susceptible  of a certain  degree  of
domestication.
  4. A fourth tribe of the Carnivora comprehends the amphibious
animals, as the Seal and the Morse.   They  differ from other
quadrupeds  very widely  in their external appearance, whilst
their internal structure is very  nearly the same.   Their limbs
are composed of a similar number of bones, arranged in the
same way, but so short and so  enveloped by their skin, as  to
be of but little use for walking.  But as the  intervals between
the toes are filled up with skin, they  form excellent  oars;  so
that these animals  move with great rapidity  and  address
in the  water, although  they  can only crawl awkwardly upon
land.  They feed  principally  upon fish ; and the structure  of
their teeth is manifestly that of carnivorous animals.  They
live  almost entirely in the sea, and come upon shore only for
the purpose of reposing in the sun and suckling  their young.
They   breathe,  however,  like  other Mammalia;  and  hence
cannot constantly  remain under water, but are obliged  to
return  occasionally  to the surface  for air.   Still they are
able to live a long time  without breathing, and  it  has been
asserted that there is some peculiar conformation  about their
heart,  which renders this possible.   But no such peculiarity
is found to exist.
   The Seals are mild and inoffensive, except when provoked.
They  are  easily tamed, and  become attached  to those who
feed them.  Their  head resembles a good deal  that of the
dog.  They live together  in  large herds or families, and  are
valuable as objects of trade on account of their skins and oil;
    IV. Rodeniia,   the Gnawers, are  distinguished by  the
 possession of two  large incisive teeth in  the centre of each
jaw, and by the  absence of  the canine teeth.  There is a
 wide space between the incisors and the molares, which last are
 broad and evidently calculated for the mastication of vegetable
 food.   This arrangement of  their teeth remarkably  qualifies
 them  for gnawing, and enables them to penetrate very solid
 substances;  and frequently they feed upon woody fibres and
 the bark of roots and trees.  There is an additional circumstance
 in the structure  of their incisive  teeth, which  wonderfully
 adapts them to the use for which they are intended.   They  are
 furnished with enamel only   upon their front surface, so that
 the back part, being merely  bone, is by gnawing worn away 
ORDER IV. RODENTIA.
43
faster than that in front, and of course the front edge is kept
sharp  and  fit for cutting.    To  remedy  the great  loss  of
substance which necessarily  takes place, there is  a provision
by which a constant growth takes  place from  the root;  so
that,  if one of these teeth  is lost by  accident,  that  which
corresponds to it  in the  opposite jaw, being  no longer worn
away by use, increases  to a  very great  length.   Their feet
are furnished  with toes and nails,  and their hind legs are
stronger and  longer than  their  fore legs, so that frequently
they  leap  better than they run.  Of this order, among others,
are the beaver, the  squirrel, the  dormouse, the  marmot, the
hamster, the  mouse and  rat, the jerboa, the various species
of hare and rabbit, and  the porcupine.
   The Beavers  (Castor fiber) have been long celebrated for
the value of their skin  as an article of commerce, and for the
wonderful sagacity and  forethought  which  they exhibit in the
construction of their dwellings.   Their cutting teeth are very
strong and  sharp, and  they are able, with  them, to fell  lofty
trees.*  They are possessed of a large, long,  and broad tail,
almost oval in its shape, and covered with scales.   It has been
supposed that they used this as a  kind of trowel, to lay on the
mud  and clay of  which their dikes are partly built.  But  it
has also been sometimes asserted that the tail was only of use as
an instrument for swimming.   They are aquatic animals, and
construct   themselves   habitations   upon  waters  which  are
sufficiently deep  never to be frozen to  the bottom, preferring
running streams  upon  which  the  trees they  cut,  can  float
down to whatever spot they have  chosen.   Here they  build
a dam for  the purpose  of preserving the  water  always  of a
convenient depth, and  construct  their  huts or  cabins.    Of
their skill, sagacity, and intelligence, a more particular account
will be given  hereafter.   But, although so wonderful in these
respects when united in a society, they  are, for the most part,
helpless  and  timorous  animals  when  living  separately;  a

  * In felling a tree, several beavers are engaged at once around its trunk, and
they gnaw it  carefully in such a part of the circumference, as will cause it
to fall in a direction convenient for their purposes.  An observer of them
relates, that he  witnessed three beavers  occupied in cutting down a tree;
that, after a certain period, one of them left the two others, and went to a
considerable  distance, where he quietly watched  their operations ; and that,
when the trunk was nearly  divided, so that the weight of the branches was
sufficient to  bring  down the  tree,  and the inclination was  obvious on
looking at its summit, he gave a smart stroke- with his tail upon the water, as
a signal to his companions, who immediately ran off with great expedition
to escape the impending danger.—Long's Expedition. 
44
CLASS 1.  MAMMALIA.
beaver, although pretty large and  strong, and armed with
powerful teeth, if he meets a man alone Upon the shore, sets
himself down  upon  his haunches and cries  like  a child.
  The Jerboa (Dipus sagitta) is a little animal of about the size
of a rat, with a tail  ten inches long, and legs of very unequal
size, the hind  legs being six inches, whilst the fore legs  are
but one inch in length.   It cannot of course use  them all at
once without great difficulty, and moves principally by leaps,
which are sometimes of  five or six  feet in  extent, or  by a
hopping motion on its two hind legs, which resembles that of
birds,  Its fore legs it employs only as hands for the purpose
of holding its food.   It  has  been asserted that  the ancient
coney, mentioned in the Old Testament,  was  the jerboa,
which  inhabits Palestine to this day.
  There is an American species of Dipus, called the Canadian
Jerboa, which does not exceed  two and a half or three inches
in length.  It has the same general characteristics as the animal
before  mentioned, and even exceeds it in the length of its
leaps, which extend, if we may credit the accounts given of
them, to  the  enormous  distance  of three or  four yards, or
nearly  fifty times the length of its body.
  The Hamster (Mus cricetus) is  an animal larger and thicker
than the  Jerboa, and nearly allied to the  common rat.    It
is  distinguished by  cheek  pouches, which  are   capable  of
containing a very large quantity of food.   When empty, they
are so contracted as  not to appear externally visible, but when
filled, they  are stretched to  an  enormous extent,  and  are
capable of containing a  gill  of grain.  A hamster has been
caught and dissected, that had stored in its pouches a quantity
of beans, which, when taken out and laid in a heap, appeared
to be thrice the  bulk  of its whole  body.    The Canada rat
(Mus bursarius) is  almost equally remarkable for  the size
of these receptacles.
  Of the Alpine Marmot (Arctomys marmotta)  some account
will  be given  hereafter.  There is another species, however,
which  deserves a short notice.  This  is the Louisiana Mar-
mot (Arctomys ludoviciana)  usually  known by  the name
of the  prairie dog, from  a slight resemblance of its cry to the
barking of  a  small dog.  It is a  sprightly and  interesting
little  animal,  inhabiting the  country  around  the Missouri
and  Arkansas  rivers, and is  found in villages from a  few
acres to several miles in extent,  which are called  by the
hunters,  prairie dog  villages.    It lives  in  burrows,  the 
ORDER V.  EDENTATA.
45
  entrance to which is  in the summit  or side of a small mound
  of earth, somewhat elevated, but rarely to the height of eighteen
  inches.  This mound, particularly  around  the  entrance,  is
  trodden down like  a pathway.   They  delight,  in  pleasant
  weather, to sport about the entrance of their burrows, and five
  or six individuals may be seen sitting on  a single mound.
  When  alarmed, if the object of  terror be near at hand, they
  retreat immediately into their holes; but if at a distance, they
  remain for some  time  barking and flourishing their tails, or
  sitting erect to reconnoitre.
     The Porcupine is  covered with hard  and sharp  spines,
  which afford it a natural protection against the attacks of other
  animals   In  this respect it resembles the  hedge-hog, and,
% were external  appearance alone regarded, would be arranged
  with it; but both  its structure and its habits of life are  differ-
  ent, and it is obviously  intended for subsisting upon vegetable
  food.
     V.   Edentata,  Toothless  animals, so  called  from  the
  absence of the incisive,   and sometimes also of the  canine
  and grinding teeth.   Their toes are terminated by very large,
  thick, and  strong claws, which approach in some'degree to the
  nature of  hoofs.   All the animals of  this order  are likewise
  remarkable for a great   degree  of  torpor,  listlessness  and
  indisposition to motion ;   but some more than others.   The
  sloth,  the  ant-eater, and  armadillo, are among them ; and of
  each of these  there are several species.
     The Three-toed Sloth  (Bradypus tridactylus) is an animal
  whose very aspect is  painful  and  disgusting from its excessive
  ugliness and deformity.  The expression of  its countenance
  and its whole attitude, indeed, convey to the beholder the
  impression, that its very existence is a  burden.  It is of about
  the size of a cat.  Its fore legs are much longer than its hind
  ones, and  it drags the  latter after its  body, as  if weary of
  carrying them.  It  creeps, in fact, almost with its belly upon
  the ground, and cannot advance more than fifty or sixty paces
  in a day.   It  climbs  trees, and feeds   upon their leaves and
  smaller branches ; but such is its indolence, that, after having
  despoiled  one tree  of its foliage, it  endures the pangs  of
  hunger a long time, before it removes to another, and usually
  consumes a day or two in ascending or descending.  Sometimes
  indeed it has been known to  suffer itself to fall to the ground,
  rather than undergo the labour of coming down by the trunk.
     The Armadilloes are  principally  remarkable  for  their 
4G
CI..\?<S I.   MAMMALIA.
crustaccous shell  or covering, which invests  them like a suit
of armour.   This coat of  mail is composed of several pieces,
and  marked  by  hands,  the  number of  which  serves  to
distinguish the different species from each other.
  The  Ant-eaters are  totally   destitute of  teeth,  but  are
furnished with a long slender tongue.  This they thrust  into
the habitations of ants and termites, and draw it back covered
with these  animals, which adhere  to it  by the thick, viscid
saliva, with which it is covered.
  The animals of this order are principally found in the warm
parts of the American continent.
  VI. Ruminantia.  This order is one of  the  most  distinct
and well marked among  the Mammalia.  They have generally
eight  incisive teeth in the lower jaw ;  but, except the camel,
they have none in the upper ;  their place being occupied by
a firm callous projection.  They are commonly also destitute
of the canine teeth.  The grinders are always adapted for the
mastication of vegetable food.   They have  neither toes nor
nails, but, instead of them, each  of their feet  is terminated by
a double hoof, which has the  appearance of a single one cut
into two.  Hence they  are called  cloven-footed.   Their fore
feet  being  thus  deprived  of the  instruments of feeling, are
only capable of  being  used, like the hind ones, for walking ;
and consequently they  are not  possessed of  that freedom of
motion in the shoulder-joint, which  is observed in the animals
previously  described.   Examples  of this order are found  in
the camel,  lama, antelope, musk,  deer, ox, sheep,  and  goat.
   The most distinguished attribute of the ruminating animals,
and  that which  gives to  them  their  name, is  the power of
bringing their  food up into their mouths, after it has been once
swallowed, for the purpose of masticating  it a second  time.
This power depends  upon the structure of their stomachs, of
which there are  four.   Of these  the three first are so situated
that the aliments  may  be made to enter  either of them  at
pleasure, as the oesophagus terminates at a point where  they
all communicate together.
   These animals usually feed upon grass and herbage ; which
substances,  after  being  slightly  chewed,  are carried into  the
first stomach, called the paunch ;  there  they  undergo but
little change,  and  are gradually  transferred to the second
stomach, a  small, globular cavity, called  the bonnet  or king's
hood, whose internal membrane is arranged in cells of  an
appearance  like  those of  honey-comb.  Having received the 
ORDER IV. RUMINANTIA.
47
food, this  stomach  divides it into little rolls or pellets, which
are successively carried up  into the  mouth,  where  they
undergo a thorough mastication, and are then again swallowed
and deposited in the third stomach.  This, called manyplies,
tripe, or feck, is distinguished by the numerous longitudinal
folds of its internal membrane.   It effects some farther change
upon the alimentary  mass.  In the fourth  stomach, however,
into which it next passes, the principal work of digestion goes
on.  This answers  to the single stomach  of other  animals;
into it the gastric juice is poured, and here  the function is
finally completed.    During rumination, the  animal remains
in a  state of repose, almost of sleep;  and  this  operation
continues until  the  whole of the  food previously swallowed
has been subjected to it.
   The ruminating  animals have  been more valuable to man,
than  any  others.    They  are  mild,  docile, and   easily
domesticated.    Their   flesh   furnishes  us  with  a   large
proportion of our animal food; indeed  there are few  other
quadrupeds that man  is in the  habit of eating.  Several of
them, as the camel, lama, ox, and rein-deer, are used as beasts
of draught and burden.  They require, comparatively, little
care, attention,  or  protection,  and  are generally  contented
with the  cheapest  and coarsest  food.  The milk, fat, hair,
wool, skins, horns, and feet  of one  species or another, are
 made use of, for nourishment,  for  clothing,  or for various
 manufactures.
   The Camel and  Dromedary are singularly valuable  in the
countries where they are reared.  Without them, in fact, the
 great deserts of Arabia and of Africa would be totally impassa-
 ble.  Their structure is every way adapted for the life which
 they lead.  Their feet are very  large, and divided, on their
 upper part, into two lobes, having each a hoof; but underneath
 are covered with  an extremely strong,  tough, and   pliable
 skin, which  unites  the two  together, and, by  yielding in all
 directions, enables  these animals to  travel with  peculiar ease
 and security over  dry, stony, and sandy regions.  They are
 capable also of passing several days without a supply of water;
 this  power  is  probably owing  to a  number of  large and
 extensive cells  in  the paunch, which they fill with water and
 retain for a considerable length of time, forcing it up into the
 mouth whenever occasion requires.  It has  been  supposed
 that the camel  had a fifth stomach for this purpose, but  it was
 probably  the  enlargement of  the  paunch, which gave rise to 
43
CLASS I.
MAMMALIA.
 the opinion.  The Arabian camel, of which the dromedary is
 a variety, has one large bunch  of fat upon his back, while
 the  Bactrian  camel  has two.   The  dromedary   is active
 and  swift, and  better adapted for rapid  journies ;  the camel
 more slow and deliberate, and calculated  for the transporta-
 tion of baggage and merchandise.
   The Lama has been called  the camel of the new world.
 It resembles  the  camel  in many  particulars,  but  is much
 smaller, being of about  the size  of the stag.   It is also called
 the Guanaco, and was  the only  labouring  domestic animal
 possessed by the aboriginal inhabitants of America.
   The American Bison,  or Buffalo, as  it  is often,  but
 improperly called, is  an animal  very similar to the  domestic
 ox.   It inhabits the pastures and plains of  the western parts
 of the United States in almost incredible numbers. Thousands
 are seen at  once feeding in immense herds.  In those parts
 of the country which they frequent, travellers report that their
 paths leading  to and  from springs and pools of water, are as
 common and as well beaten, as the roads of a populous district.
 They  are  gradually  retiring  before  the settlements  of  the
 civilized inhabitants, and will probably in time become nearly
 exterminated.
   The Camelopard,  or Giraffe, is  the  most  lofty of all
 quadrupeds.   It is remarkable for the great length of its fore
 legs, shoulders, and neck, which raise its head to an elevation
 of seventeen or eighteen feet, whilst, at its tail, it  does  not
 exceed half that  height.  Its colour  is white, spotted with
 brown.  It is a mild, gentle, and somewhat timid animal, and
 is very fleet and graceful in its motions.  It feeds principally
 upon  the  foliage of trees,  and  inhabits only  the  centre of
Africa.
  All the ruminating order, except the camel, lama, and  the
 musks, have horns.  In  animals of the deer kind,  they  are,
 with some exceptions, confined  to the males.  They are of a
 hard,  solid, bony  substance, generally large and branching,
 and are periodically cast off and renewed.  In the sheep  the
 goat,  the  ox,  and the  antelope, they  are  permanent,   are
 hollow, and increase yearly in size; whilst in the  camelopard
they  are short, conical, and always  covered  by the skin of
the forehead, which extends over them, and by a quantity of
thick  bristly hairs.
  VII. Pachydermata.  This order embraces all  the animals
with hoofs, which  do not ruminate.   They present a greater 
ORDER VII. PACHYDERMATA.
49
variety than the ruminating animals, and  are called  Pachy-
dermata, because they are commonly possessed of a thick and
tough  skin.   They have generally incisive teeth in both jaws,
and often canine  teeth or  tusks  of  very great size.   01
this order are the  elephant, the  hippopotamus, the tapir, the
stag, the horse, the ass, &.c.
   The Elephant has, properly  speaking, five  hoofs on each
foot, but  they  are  so much  enveloped by thick and callous
skin, as to be scarcely observable.  It  is destitute of  incisive
teeth  in either jaw ; and, in place of the canine teeth in the
upper, is  furnished with two large tusks, which sometimes
attain to an  enormous size.  These, which furnish the ivory
of  commerce,  are used by the  animal  for  tearing off  the
branches of trees, upon which it feeds, and sometimes as in-
struments of attack and  defence.   From the shortness of its
neck, and the clumsiness of its head  and jaws, the elephant
is incapable of taking up its food or drink from the ground
with  the mouth,  like other animals.   This  difficulty  is
obviated by its trunk or proboscis.   This is a long and flexible
organ, composed of an almost infinite number of little muscles,
which contract  and extend  it  at the  animal's pleasure, and
move it  in every possible  direction.   It is in  fact a prolon-
gation of the  nostrils, and is endowed with  the  senses of
smelling and feeling to a great degree of perfection.   There
is at its extremity a cavity  of a cuplike form, into which open
two canals  that  run  through its  whole  length, and serve
for the transmission of air and for drawing up  water.   At  the
upper edge of this cavity or cup, is a small, fleshy appendage,
somewhat resembling a finger  in shape, which by being
opposed to the surface of the cup, as the  fingers are opposed
to the palm of the hand, enables  the animal to make use of its
trunk  as an organ of touch.   It is nearly equal in this respect
to the hand of  the apes.   From its length and flexibility it is
capable of being bent double, and its extremity inserted within
the jaws which  are below, at its base; and in  this way the
animal's food, being taken up by  the trunk, is conveyed into
the mouth ;  whilst its drink, being  first sucked  up into the
cavities  of  the  trunk,  is  injected with  considerable force
through the apertures of the nostrils into the throat.
  There are two species of elephant;  the Indian or Asiatic,
which  inhabits the southern parts of Asia and the Indian isles;
and the African, found in Africa, from the river Senegal to
the Cape of Good Hope. 
50
CLASS I.
MAMMALIA.
   The Great  Mammoth, an animal  whose  bones only have
been discovered,  the species  itself  having become  extinct,
resembled the elephant  in many respects.  It has been ascer-
tained  from the  remains which have  been found, that this
animal possessed  a trunk, tusks, and  feet, similar to those of
the elephant, and was of an equal size, but still more heavy
and unwieldy. Its  remains have been  discovered in  great
abundance in North  America, but rarely  in any  other part of
the world.   The  bones  of a smaller  species have been found
on the eastern continent.
   The  Hippopotamus,  or River Horse, inhabits  principally
the rivers o  the  south  of Africa, but  was formerly  known
upon  the southern  extremities of the Nile.   It  is sometimes
found ten or twelve feet in length, and six or seven in height.
It  has two very large tusks in the under jaw, which are partly
concealed by  its  projecting snout and lips.  These tusks are
used by dentists for  the  manufacture  of  artificial teeth.   It is
a  heavy, stupid,  and ferocious  animal;  its body is thick,
massy, and clumsy ; and  its legs  are so short  that its belly
almost  drags upon  the  ground.   It  subsists  upon  roots and
other  vegetable substances, and  frequently  creates great  de-
vastation upon the fields of millet, corn, rice, sugar-cane, &c.
It  walks with great  ease at the bottom  of the water, though
obliged  occasionally to  rise to  the  surface for  breath.   An
attack upon it while in  the water  is dangerous, since when
wounded it becomes exceedingly furious, and often  tears to
pieces the boat of its aggressors.
   Of the Rhinoceros there  are  several  species.  The one-
horned rhinoceros is somewhat larger than the hippopotamus,
and is equally  stupid and ferocious.  It has one  large and
solid horn, three feet in length, projecting from its snout.   It
frequents moist and marshy grounds, and  feeds upon herbs,
roots, and branches  of  trees.   The  other species have two
horns, and are generally similar in form and habits of life.
   The Tapir  is  the largest quadruped  of  South  America;
it is of about the  size of an ass, and inhabits marshes and low
grounds.  Its nose terminates in  a short  and moveable trunk,
which bears a  distant resemblance to that of the elephant.   It
subsists  entirely upon vegetables, and is of a gentle and timid
disposition.
   Frorn the Wild Boar is derived the domestic Hog  and  all
its varieties.    The  wild animal  is  extremely violent and
ferocious, and is  armed with much larger and stronger tusks 
ORDER VII. PACHYDERMATA.
51
than the domestic.  All the numerous varieties of form, size,
and colour, which are observed among hogs, are to be attrib-
uted to the various circumstances to which they are exposed
in their domestic state.
   Under this order are included the Solipeda or single-hoofed
animals, in which the whole foot is enveloped in a single hoof.
Of these, the most celebrated  is the  horse, one of the most
beautiful and  noble  of all quadrupeds.   These  animals are
distinguished, beside the  formation of  their hoofs, by  the
possession of six incisive teeth in each jaw ; and, in the male,
of two small  canine  teeth in the upper, and sometimes in the
under jaw, which are wanting in the female.   Between these
and the double teeth or grinders, there is a vacant space, just
corresponding to the angle of the lips, where the bit of the bri-
dle is placed, by which man is enabled to guide and restrain
them.   Beside  the horse, which is by far the most valuable
and highly  prized of all the  domestic  animals, this family
embraces the ass, the zebra, the dziggetai, a species between
the horse and the ass  in  size, of a light bay  colour, inhabit-
ing the central deserts of Asia, and the Couagga, an  inhabitant
of Africa, resembling  in  shape the  horse, but, in stripes of
dark and white colours, the zebra.
   All  these  animals are found  naturally  in  the  wild state,
except the horse.   They  are  gregarious animals, live  in
immense  herds, and  subsist  entirely upon vegetable food.
Even the horse,  in Tartary and  America, is found free from
the  dominion  of man, collected into troops or companies,
each of which is led and defended  by an aged male.   But in
all such cases it  has been proved that the wild animals are
the  descendants  of individuals who have  been set at liber-
ty by  their masters, or who have escaped from them.  Dif-
ferent breeds  of  horses  differ  very much, as  is  well known,
in their colour, size, speed, shape,  strength, and many other
qualities which render them more orless valuable.  These dif-
ferences depend very much upon the care which is taken in
rearing the young.   The  most  beautiful,  if suffered to become
wild, begin soon to deteriorate, and  give birth  to  a progeny
destitute  of elegance and symmetry.  The horse in the wild
state has a large and clumsy head, rough and frizzled hair,
and an awkward and disagreeable  form; so different  indeed
is he from the domestic animal, that we can  hardly recognise
him as being of  the same species with  the noble and grace*
ful creature that we  are accustomed to behold. 
5C
CLASS I.  MAMMALIA.
   VIII.  Cetacea.   The whales  are usually confounded with
 the class  of fishes, which  they  resemble in many particulars
 of external appearance, as  well  as  in  the circumstance of
 residing always in the water.  In point of structure,  however,
 they clearly belong to the class Mammalia, since they breathe
 air,  by means of lungs, are warm-blooded,  produce  their
 young alive, and nourish them with their own milk.   Instead
 of fore feet, they are  furnished with fins  or oars, which, how-
 ever, are supported by bones similar to  those of the fore feet
 of quadrupeds.   They have no  hind feet, but their  body
 terminates in a thick  tail, which supports a fin or oar.  This
 fin is horizontal, whilst that of fishes is vertical.
   A few of the Cetacea are herbivorous, and are consequent-
 ly obliged  frequently  to leave the water and crawl  upon the
 shore in search of their food.  Such  are the  manati, usually
 called the sea-ox and  sea-cow, and  the dugong.   They have
 upon their fins the rudiments of claws,  which are of service to
 them in their motions upon the land, and with which they are
 even  able  to carry their young.  The mammas, from which
 they nurse their young, are upon the chest like those of the
 human species; and they have, around the face,a growth of hair
 which  resembles  in a slight degree that of man.  Hence, the
 appearance they present when the upper  part of their bodies
 is elevated above  the water,  bears some resemblance to that
 of mankind, and they  have consequently been called sea-apes.
 It is probable that  these animals,  being  seen by the credulous,
 the ignorant, the timid, or the superstitious, gave rise to the
 ancient fables of the tritons and syrens, and, in modern times,
 to the various  unfounded stories of mermen and  mermaids.
   The remainder of the cetaceous animals,  such as the whale,
 porpoise, grampus, narwhale, and dolphin, are distinguished by
a peculiar construction, which has acquired  for them the com-
 mon name of blowers, and which  is rendered  necessary by
 their mode of taking  thefr  prey.  In  taking  into their very
 large  mouths a great number of fishes,  mollusca, medusas, he.
at once, they would swallow at the same  time large quantities
of water, were there not some provision  for getting rid of  it.
To effect this, the  water is passed up through^ the roof of the
mouth, into a cavity situated near the external orifice of the nos-
trils, from whence it is ejected, with considerable force, through
a small aperture, called the blow-hole, on the upper part of the
head.  In some of the whales, as in the great liulasna, beside
this arrangement, the mouth  is furnished  wi'h rows of whale- 
ORDER IX.  MARSUPIALIA.
53
bone on each side, extended  in  the form of thin plates, and
terminating at their edges in fibres or a  sort of fringe, which
serve the  purpose of a sieve  or strainer, to retain the large
shoals of little animals that are taken in with the water, whilst
at the same time the water passes through and escapes.
   The  Balasna  mysticetus,  or Great Greenland Whale, is an
enormous animal, which attains to a length varying from sixty
to seventy or eighty feet, and  is nearly of as many in  circum-
ference.  Its jaws are capable of being stretched twenty feet
apart, and  its plates of whalebone are sometimes  twelve feet
in length.  It is covered, under the skin, by a layer of fat,
which is ofyen several feet thick, and yields, according to the
different sizes of the animal, from twelve to twenty tons of oil.
It used- formerly to frequent the Atlantic coasts of Europe and
America, but to  such an extent has the pursuit of it been car- /
ried, that it has gradually been driven into the recesses of the
northern seas.
   There are other  whales equal in length to  this, but less
valuable on  account of their smaller  circumference, their
comparative leanness, and the  difficulty of taking them.
   The  Spermaceti Whales are without the whalebone, and are
remarkable for the disproportionate  size of their heads.  This
size is owing to  the existence of certain cartilaginous  cavities
upon  their  upper part, in  which is  contained  the  peculiar
substance known by the name of spermaceti.  These cavities
are entirely distinct  from that containing  the brain, which is
very small.  They have little fat in other parts of their bodies,
and it is on account of  the spermaceti only  that they  are
a valuable object of  fishery.  The  odorous  substance called
ambergris,  appears to be a concretion formed in  the intestines
of these whiles, particularly when  they  are the subjects  of
certain diseases.
   IX. Marsupialia. The Marsupial Animals have usually been
distributed among those orders of the class Mammalia, to which
they bear, in some particulars, the closest resemblance.  Thus
the Kanguroo has  been enumerated among the  Rodentia,
because it  resembles them in its teeth, and in the  length and
strength of its hind legs.   The Opossum  has been ranked
among  the Carnivora, and  the Ornithorhynchus among  the
Edentata for a similar reason. But so peculiar and remarkable
is the structure of these animals, and so singular their mode
of nourishing their young, that it  will be far more intelligible
and  interesting  to  the  student  of natural  history, to have 
51
CLASS I.   MAMMALIA.
them  placed  together, and described as belonging to a single
order.
  The  most  remarkable  circumstance with regard  to  the
Marsupial animals, is the premature  birth  of  their young,
and the exceedingly  unformed and imperfect state  in which
they are brought  into the world.   They are  incapable of
motion, and scarcely exhibit  even the  rudiments of limbs or
other external organs.  Their mouth is simply a round orifice
without distinction of parts; but by means of it, they  attach
themselves to the nipples of the  mother, and there  remain
immoveably fixed, deriving their nourishment from them, and
gradually  improving  in shape, and increasing in. size, until
they are as completely formed as other animals  are at the
time of their  birth.  So small in  proportion are the  young
when first born, that the Kanguroo, which when full grown is
as large as a sheep and weighs one hundred and fifty pounds,
is at its  birth no more  than an inch in length,  and  weighs
only twenty-one grains.
  Generally,  the  female is furnished  with  a duplicature of
the skin of the abdomen, which  forms a kind of bag, covering
the nipples, in  which it places  its young and preserves them
during the period of helplessness.   Frequently, indeed, even
after they have acquired  strength  to leave  this  pouch, they
retreat  into it upon  the approach of danger.  Sometimes, in
place of the pouch, there  is simply a fold of the  skin.  The
pouch  is supported by means of two bones attached  to those
of the  pelvis,  from which  proceed  muscles that open or con-
tract its mouth like the opening of a purse.   These bones are
found  also in the male, and in those species which Jiave  not
the complete  pouch ; and  are always  an  indication  mat  the
animal belongs  to this order.
  The Opossum is as large as a cat, and covered with a thick
fur of a dingy cast.  It hunts after birds and their eggs, and
is destructive to poultry.  It is  found  in many parts of  the
United States.   When pursued and overtaken, it  feigns itself
dead, and  will  give no signs of life  during the presence of
its assailant, although tortured to a great degree.   Its young,
which  are sometimes six or seven in number, are exceedingly
minute; and, although blind and without  limbs, find their
way by a sort of instinct  to the nipples, and adhere to them
till they have attained the size of a mouse, which is  not until
the fiftieth day, when  also they first open their eyes.  They
continue  to return into the pouch, until they reach   the size
of a rat. 
                 ORDER IX. MARSUPIALIA.               55

   The Phalangers  are  found  in  the  Moluccas  and  New
Holland.  Their tails are long, covered with scales, and pre-
hensile.  They  live upon trees, and subsist upon insects and
fruit.   When any one approaches  them, they suspend them-
selves by the tail, until they fall, through mere fatigue, to the
ground.  The Phalanger volans, or Great Flying Opossum, is
of about the size of a common  cat, and  resembles in many
respects the flying  squirrel.  Like that animal, it is provided
with the power of extending the loose skin of its sides when
it stretches out  its  legs, so as  in some measure to buoy itself
in the  air, whilst leaping  from one tree to another.   It can
leap in this way to the distance of a hundred yards.
   The Merian Opossum  is  remarkable for  its method  of
carrying its young.   It conveys them  on  its back, where they
fix themselves by twisting their tails closely about that of their
parent, and clinging with their claws to its fur.
  The Kanguroo is the largest animal of this order, and the
largest quadruped which has been discovered in New Holland.
It is sometimes six feet in height, and is distinguished  by the
great disproportion in length between  its  fore and hind legs ;
the former being only one foot and  a half long, but the latter
three feet and a half.   In consequence of this, they cannot walk
upon all fours without difficulty, but  leap with  great  power,
and  to  a prodigious  distance, sometimes twenty feet, and to
the height of nine feet.  They sit upon their hind legs whilst at
rest, seldom using the fore legs except for supporting themselves
when stooping to drink, for conveying food to the mouth, and
for  digging  in  the  earth.   But although  disproportionately
long, as has just been observed, when  full grown, the hind
legs of  the Kanguroo at  birth are not so large or so strong as
the fore legs, which  are  more necessary, in order  to  favour
the motions of the little animal while in the pouch.
  The Ornithorhynchus has not the pouch, like  the opossum
and  kanguroo, but has the marsupial  bones, and is therefore
to be enumerated under this order.  It is a most singular and
anomalous animal, and approaches in some particulars  to a
resemblance to birds.  Its mouth is very much like the bill of
the duck ;  it has a bone resembling the fourchette or wishing-
bone of birds;  it has no nipples for nursing its  young, and a
doubt still exists if it be not oviparous.   This is the belief of
the inhabitants of New Holland, who  assert that it  lays two
eggs; and the dissection of the  animal has led to the  opinion
that the eggs, if not laid, are hatched within the body of the 
56
CLASS II. BIRDS.
parent, by its own heat, but just before the birth of the offspring.
The male has, upon each of its hind feet, a  spur, perforated
by a small canal, through which, it is said, it can eject  a poi-
sonous fluid when it inflicts a wound.  It is an aquatic animal,
inhabiting the rivers and marshes of New Holland.  Its feet
are webbed to adapt it for swimming.
                       SECTION in.

                    Class II.   Birds.

  Birds  being  intended for flight, nature has  adapted the
structure of their  organs  to this  purpose.   Their anterior
extremities, being  designed  to support them  in the air, serve
none of those purposes to  which they are applied  in quadru-
peds ;  and they therefore invariably stand and walk upon two
feet only.  The neck is always long, and capable of a great
variety and extent of motion ;  and the mouth, being furnished
with a  hard, horny beak,  is  without teeth.    The breast-
bone is very large and strong,  in order  to support the pow-
erful action of the wings, and  has in front  a  large  projec-
tion, in shape like a keel,  that serves for the  attachment of
the strong  muscles which  put the wings  in motion.  The
wings are composed of nearly  the same number and kind of
bones, as  the anterior  extremities of quadrupeds, and  are
covered with long and wide feathers or quills, so arranged as
to be capable of acting upon the air, raising the  animal from
the ground, and conveying it about from place to place.  The
tail is also  furnished with  feathers that may  be  stretched  out
in the  form of a fan, and serve  to balance and  direct the flight.
The feet are furnished generally with four claws, but sometimes
with only three.   The  bones  of the leg and  thigh resemble
very nearly those of quadrupeds.
   The heart of birds is  constructed, like  that  of  the Mamma-
lia, with four cavities, two auricles and two ventricles.  They
have of  course a double circulation, one through  the lungs,
and the other through the body.   Their lungs, however,  are
arranged differently.  They are fixed against  the back and
sides of the body, and covered by a membrane which, being 
STRUCTURE OF BIRDS.
57
perforated  by many small openings, permits  the air to enter
into  them, and likewise to pass into several cavities situated
in the chest and belly.   It even extends  into  the interior of
the bones,  and, by  thus pervading various parts of the body,
not only exercises very extensively  its  peculiar influence on
the blood,  but  also renders the whole body lighter and better
adapted for flight.
   The organs of  digestion  also are somewhat varied.  As
birds cannot chew their food, a provision  is made to supply
this defect by means of the structure of their internal organs.
The food  is carried first into the crop, which  appears to be
merely an enlargement of the oesophagus  or  gullet,  at  the
bottom of  the neck, where it is softened by a  liquor poured
out  from the internal  surface of this cavity.   It  is then car-
ried into a membranous sack, called the ventriculus succentu-
riatus, where it is further macerated and soaked ; and from
thence  into the gizzard, which is  composed of two very
strong  and  firm  muscles united by radiated tendons,  and
lined on its inside by a rough cartilaginous membrane.   In
this organ  the food is  powerfully acted upon, and is tritura-
ted and ground up into a substance resembling that prepared
by the  teeth and stomach of the Mammalia.
   This structure,  however, is not fully carried out in all birds.
 It exists in its most complete state in those  which are granivo-
 rous, or which live upon fruits, seeds, he.;  but in  the carnivo-
 rous birds, or those which feed upon flesh or fish, the dilatation
 of the oesophagus or gullet, constituting the crop, is very small
 or altogether wanting; and  the gizzard  is a thin and weak
 organ,  hardly  to be  distinguished from the^ second or mem-
 branous stomach.  This is a difference corresponding  to that
 which  has  been   described as existing  in the  Mammalia;
 among which those feeding upon vegetable food are provided
 with powerful  and extensive organs  of  digestion, whilst  in
 those living upon animal food they are comparatively weak,
 and limited in extent.
   The sight of  birds  is very perfect.    They  possess  the
 power of  seeing objects distinctly, when very  remote.  Birds
 of prey are particularly remarkable  for the very great distance
 at which they perceive their prey, and the accuracy with
 which they direct their flight towards  it.   Besides the upper
 and under eyelids, birds have a third, which is semitransparent,
 and serves the purpose of protecting the eye from the  contact
 of external  bodies, or from too powerful  light, whilst at  the
               8 
58
CLASS II.  BIRDS.
ORDER I. ACCIPITRES.
 same time it does not prevent  them from distinguishing the
 objects around them.  This membrane is situated at the  inner
 angle  of the  eye, and is  drawn  over the  globe of it, like a
 curtain, at will.  It  is by  means of this  protection, that the
 eagle is enabled to look steadily at the sun.
   The senses of hearing and smelling are also possessed in
 considerable perfection by birds; the former more particularly
 by the nocturnal, and  the latter by  those feeding  principally
 upon carrion, the scent of  which  they are thus  able to trace,
 to an immense distance.   Their tongue being chiefly of bone
 or cartilage, they have little delicacy of taste ;  and the sense
 of touch, judging from the structure  of their claws and beak,
 which would be the organs for its exercise, must be exceed-
 ingly imperfect.
    Most birds  construct nests, and some of  them with much
 care, labour, and ingenuity.  In these they deposit their eggs,
 and hatch ithem by the heat of their own bodies.  Some few
 lay  them upon the sand, and leave them to be hatched by
 the heat of the  sun.  Their care and affection for their young
 are well  known, and,  in providing  for and protecting them,
 they exhibit many indications of sagacity or of feeling.  They
 are capable  of  some slight  improvements by  education and
 imitation, but  are, on  the  whole, in this respect decidedly
 inferior to quadrupeds. The class of birds is  divided, accord-
 ing to their structure and habits of life, into six orders.
  I. Accipitres, or Birds of Prey.  These correspond, in many
respects, with  the  carnivorous  animals  among quadrupeds.
They are distinguished  by their  strong,  hooked beaks,  and
their crooked ancj powerful talons, by means of which  they
are enabled  to prey upon other birds, and even upon some of
the smaller quadrupeds and reptiles. They are divided into the
 diurnal and the nocturnal.  The diurnal  include the  vultures,
eagles, falcons,  hawks, buzzards, and kites.   The vultures are
heavy  and ferocious birds, feeding  principally upon carrion.
They are so voracious, and fill themselves to such  an extent
that they become quite stupid  and  inactive, and during  diges-
tion a  fetid  humour distils  from their nostrils.   The eagles,
falcons, he. prefer living animals for their food, and never prey
upon carrion, unless driven to  it  by hunger.   The number of
their species is very great, and they are observed to vary con-
siderably in  their plumage, according to  their age and other
circumstances.   The females are generally a third part larger
than the males,  and are likewise superior  in  beauty of shape 
ORDER II. PASSERES.
59
 and plumage.  Hence  the  latter  are  often called  tercels or
 thirds, from their inferiority in size.
   These birds are generally fierce and  difficult  to  tame, but
 in former days, the hawk  and the falcon were educated with
 great care, and trained so as to be  employed as assistants in
 hunting.
   The nocturnal  birds of prey include only the different spe-
 cies of owl.   They  are destitute  of the dignity and beauty
 which distinguish  the diurnal.  They have very large heads,
 which are sometimes surmounted with feathers that give them
 the appearance of being horned.  Their eyes are very large,
 and, unlike those of most other birds, are directed  forwards,
 and surrounded  by a  rim  or circle of projecting  feathers.
 Their structure is calculated to admit so much light, that the
 full rays of  the sun  dazzle  and  blind  them ;  and  they are
 capable of seeing only  in the twilight or evening.   The owls
 are awkward and clumsy in  their motions, and thejj  wings are
 too short and weak  for long flights.  They  prey upon mice
 and other small quadrupeds, upon birds, and insects.
   II. Passeres, or Sparrows,  form the most  extensive  and
 numerous order, embracing  a  very great variety of species,
 which differ so  much  among themselves,  as  to be hardly
 capable of an  intelligible description,  common  to  them all.
 To this order belong those species which are most celebrated
 for the sweetness and harmony of their  notes; and in general
 the organ of voice is in them larger and better formed, than
 in any others.  Among them are some that  have a  sharp,
 pointed beak, and feed  upon insects, such as the blackbird,
 the robin, the nightingale, and the linnet;  and others with a
 short, flat beak, and  wide mouth, which enable them to catch
 and  swallow insects, while  upon  the wing.  These migrate
 during the winter; among them being  the swallow, the mar-
 tin, and the  salangane, (Hirundo esculenta,) a species whose
 nests, made  of a  gelatinous substance, probably  the spawn of
 fishes, have been  celebrated  for their nutritious and restorative
 qualities.  Some  of this order have a  strong, conical beak,
 feed  upon seeds, and  devour great quantities  of cultivated
 grain ; as the lark, the  titmouse, the yellowhammer;  and
 some are larger birds, as the  crow and the magpie, which feed
 also in part  upon  grain, but  are fond of flesh, and will some-
 times take and destroy mice and other small animals.
   The Birds of  Paradise and the Humming Birds are also
of this order.  The  birds of paradise  have been celebrated 
uo
CLASS II. BIRDS.   ORDER III.  SCANSORES.
for  the splendor of  their plumage,  and  the profusion  of
long feathers with which  different  parts of their  bodies are
adorned.  It was formerly  believed that they  were destitute
of feet, and  never alighted upon the earth, but were always
supported in the air  by their long plumage.   This mistake
was caused by the mode of preparing them for sale, adopted
by  the  natives  of the  countries they  inhabit, who always
deprived them of their feet and wings.
  The  Humming Birds are the smallest of the class of birds,
and at the same  time among the most beautiful.  Their necks
are clothed with small scale-like feathers of a  peculiar struc-
ture, and a brilliancy  almost equal to that of precious stones.
They have a long and slender beak, and  a long tongue divided
into two filaments, with which they suck the nectar of flowers.
They  feed  also upon  insects.   Their  wings are exceedingly
powerful in proportion to the size of their bodies, and they fly,
comparatively, more  rapidly  than any other birds.  They
have the faculty of balancing themselves,  by means of  their
wings,  as easily as  some insects,  and are thus  enabled to
remain stationary in the air, whilst they  thrust their beaks into
flowers, to possess  themselves  of the  contents.  The rapid
motion of their wings occasions the buzzing or humming noise
with which  their flight is accompanied.  The smallest species
of humming bird is found  in South America and some of the
West-Indian islands.   It does not exceed an  inch and a quarter
from  the extremity of its beak to that of its tail.
   111.  bcansores, or  Climbers.   This order includes  those
birds that have the external toe upon each  side turned back-
ward, which  enables  them to  grasp  substances more firmly
with their  claws, and affords them a more sure support,  than
 other birds.   This structure adapts them for climbing, as they
 can cling with considerable force to the rough bark and  bran-
 ches of trees.   Hence all birds with this form of the feet, are
 of this order, although, strictly speaking, all  of them do not
 climb, whilst some,  belonging to other  orders, and  without
 this provision, do.
    The birds of this  order generally build  their  nests in the
 holes of decayed trees. Their food consists of insects, fruits, or
 seeds.  Among them are the woodpecker, the   cuckoo, the
 toucan, the parrot, he.
    The Woodpeckers  are strongly characterized  by  a  long,
 straight, angular beak, narrowed into a wedge  at its extremity,
 and thus fitted for piercing and splitting open the bark of trees; 
ORDER TV.  GALLINACEiE.
61
and by a long and slender tongue, covered towards its tip with
spines or bristles which  are  turned backwards, and coated
with a thick, viscid secretion.  They run in every  direction
around  the trunks and  branches of trees, striking them with
their beaks, and thrusting their tongues into the holes and clefts
they  find  in the bark, for the purpose of drawing out worms
and the larvas of insects, which constitute their  food.
  The  Toucan is  principally remarkable for the enormous
size of its  beak, which is almost  as large and as long as its
whole body.  It is of a light,  cellular structure, and furnished
with a long tongue, strait, and armed on each side with barbs
like a feather.   The toucans live in small flocks in the warm
parts of  America.  When they  have seized their food, they
throw it  into the air and catch it  in  their beaks, in  order to
swallow  it  with more ease, as  they are incapable of  masticat-
ing it.
  IV. Gallinacece, the  Gallinaceous birds.  Of this order are
the peacock, the turkey, the common fowls, the pheasant, the
partridge, the quail, the pigeon, he.  Among them are nearly
all those birds which have been domesticated,  and are raised
in poultry-yards.   Their  wings  are  short and weak, and of
course they are not constructed for long  continued flight; but
they are capable of running with considerable rapidity.  They
have a large crop and a very powerful gizzard, their food con-
sisting principally of hard grain.   Their  flesh in  general
furnishes excellent food.   The males are  distinguished by a
stately gait, and frequently by a tail  ornamented  with long
feathers.   They do not  live  in  pairs;  their eggs  are very
numerous,  and are laid in nests built of chaff or straw upon
the ground.   Their young are generally able to  run  about as
soon as hatched.
   The Pigeons form in some particulars an exception to the
general characteristics of the gallinaceous birds, and  approach
to  a resemblance  to the Passeres.    They  fly very well,
live in pairs, build their  nests upon trees or in the  clefts of
rocks, and produce seldom more than two eggs at once. They
nourish  their young  by  bringing up from  the crop  the food
partly digested, with which they feed  them.  The  most re-
markable  species  among them is the crowned pigeon of the
Molucca islands, which is equal in size to a turkey.   Its voice
 is exceedingly loud and harsh, and is said to have frightened
sailors who landed on the islands it inhabits, by its resemblance
to the yells of the savage natives. 
62         CLVSS II. BIRDS.   ORDERS V. AND VI.

    V. Grallft,  the  Waders,  otherwise called  Shore  birds.
They are distinguished  by their  very  long  and naked  legs,
which permit them to wade to a  considerable depth  in the
water without wetting their  feathers.  The length  of  their
neck and beak corresponds to that of their legs, and they are
consequently  able to search  in the sand and mud at the bot-
tom of the water for their food, which consists of fishes, rep-
tiles, and worms.  All birds  with  this structure of the legs
are ranked among  the Grallas, although some of them arc not,
properly speaking, waders in  their  habits.   To this  order
belong  the  ostrich, cassowary,  flamingo, heron,  spoonbill,
plover,  rail, woodcock, oxeye, yellowleg,  &.c.  The greater
part of them are possessed of strong  wings and  fly well, but
the ostrich  and cassowary,  as is  well known,  are striking
exceptions.   They  are  almost incapable  of flight,  but run
with  immense rapidity.   The  ostrich inhabits the  sandy
deserts of Africa, attains  to a  height varying from six to eight
feet, and  is at once  the most lofty of birds, and  the  swiftest
of all animals.   When  chased, it annoys  its pursuers  by
throwing up gravel and stones behind it with its feet.
   VI. Anseres, the Web-footed  birds.  Their  toes are con-
nected together by a web or membrane, which  fits  them for
being used  as oars.   Indeed  the  whole  structure of these
birds is  such as to  adapt  them for swimming.   Their legs are
situated far back upon their  bodies, their feathers are thick,
smooth, and oily, and their skin beneath covered by a layer
of close down, which effectually protects them  from the con-
tact of the water.   Their necks are of  considerable length, a
provision which  enables them,  while swimming  upon  the
surface of the water, to plunge their heads down to the bottom
in search of food.   Most of them are capable of a lofty and
long continued flight, as the pelican, petrel, cormorant, albatross,
gull, wild goose and  duck ; whilst  others, from the shortness
of their  wings, can scarcely raise themselves into the air, but
are principally confined  to the surface of the water, as the
sea-diver,  guillemot,  penguin,  awk,  domestic  goose and
duck, &ic. 
STRUCTURE OF REPTILES.
63
                         SECTION IV.

                    Class III.   Reptiles.

   The class of reptiles, including  the various kinds of  tortoi-
 ses, lizards, serpents, and frogs, have cold  blood, and a circu-
 lation and respiration less perfect  than those of the  preceding
 classes, which have warm blood.   In  reptiles, only a part of
 the blood received from the body  by the heart, is sent to the
 lungs to  be subjected  to the influence of the air; whilst  the
 remainder, having been mixed with a portion which has under-
 gone the  change that takes place in respiration, is returned again
 into the circulation.   The greater part of the animals of this
 class have two auricles to the heart, but only one ventricle; into
 the left  auricle, the  red blood from the lungs is poured, and
 into  the  right, the black blood from  the  body.   From  the
 auricles,  the two kinds of blood are immediately  transferred
 to  the ventricle, where  they  are  mixed together; and  this
 mingled  mass is,  by  the  contraction of  the  ventricle,  sent
 through two distinct vessels, in part to the lungs  and  in part to
 the body.
   The vessels of reptiles,  then, are not  filled  with  pure red
 blood,  like  those of the Mammalia and  Birds, but with an
 imperfect fluid, not so well adapted to give them a high degree
 of  life and  vigor.   Hence, as the animal  heat is  always in
 proportion to the quantity of respiration, they are cold-blooded.
 Their lungs are not so large ; their  circulation  is slower;
 they  consume less air, and are capable of  living  for a long-
 er  time  without it.   They  are,  in general,  sluggish  and
 indolent in their habits of life, obtuse in their sensations,  and
 slow  in  their  digestion.   In  cold  countries, they  pass  the
 greater part of the  winter in a  dormant state.   Their brain is
 small, and their nervous system imperfect  and  of less influ-
 ence  than in the  preceding classes.   They  produce their
 young by means of eggs, but  take no pains themselves to
 hatch  them.   They  have less  intelligence, fewer  faculties,
 and less instinct, than either quadrupeds or  birds.   They are
 arranged in four orders, viz.
   I.   Chelonia,  the Tortoises,  are distinguished   by  the
 peculiar structure of their ribs, sternum, and vertebras.  These
are so  arranged as  to  form a  complete covering,  consisting
of an upper and  under shell, joined at their sides  into one> 
64
ORDER 11. SAUR1A.
which permits only their head, tail, and four extremities to be
extended  without it.   The  upper shell  is  formed  by the
extension  and enlargement of the ribs  and part of  the  back-
bone ; and the lower shell, by an  alteration  in the form of
the sternum.   Their other bones  are not essentially diffe-
rent from those of other vertebral  animals.   Thus a part of
their skeleton is in fact on the outside of their bodies.   They
have no teeth, but  their jaws are armed with a tough, horny
substance  which  supplies their  place.   Their stomach is
simple and strong, their  intestines are  long; and  they  are
capable of going a great  length of time  without food.  All
the various species of  the  turtle and  tortoise belong to this
order.
    II. Sauria, the Lizards.   This  order includes a  very
considerable  variety, and is  composed of the crocodile, the
alligator, the  cameleon, the  true  lizards, and  the dragons.
The  greater part of them have four feet, but a few are pos-
sessed of  only  two.  They  have  nails  and  teeth, and their
skin  is covered with scales.
  The Crocodile is the most celebrated  animal of this order.
It is from  twenty  to thirty feet in  length, including the tail;
and is covered with a coat of scales, which  on   the back
form  an armour proof against a bullet, and have an appear-
ance like that of carved work.  It deposits its eggs in the sand,
where the greater  part of them  are destroyed  by   birds and
an animal called the ichneumon.  Their eggs resemble a good
deal those of the domestic goose, and are of  about the same
size ; the  young, when first hatched, are of course exceedingly
small in proportion to the parent  animal.  They are  at  first
mild  and innocent, and may be handled  with impunity; but
the full grown animal is both subtle and formidable.   It lies
in wait, covered from view  amidst  long grass, rushes, or pro-
jecting banks of rivers,  until some  other animal comes within
its  reach,  which it seizes and swallows, and  then  retires to
some secret recess to digest.
   The Dragons are remarkable for the possession of a sort of
wings, produced  by the  extension of the six first  false ribs,
which support a  fold  of the skin.    These  serve  like  a
parachute, to uphold these  animals in leaping  to the ground
from any  height, or in springing  from branch to branch on the
trees they inhabit; but are not  sufficiently large or powerful
to  enable them to raise themselves  from  the earth.
   To the Cameleon  has been attributed the singular faculty 
ORDER III.  OPHIDIA.
65
of changing the colour of their skin, according to the colour
of the substance on which they are placed, and of subsisting
upon  air.   This belief has arisen from the extraordinary size
of their lungs, which  they are capable of distending with air
to such an  enormous extent, as to fill nearly their whole body
and render their skin somewhat transparent.   Hence  they
were  said  to feed  upon  air.   In this state of distension and
semitransparency, the  skin becomes easily affected by every
change  in  the  circulation ;  and consequently a  change  of
colour is produced by the varying wants and  passions of the
animal,  which influence  both  the quantity of respiration and
the tint  of the blood.
   A few animals of the lizard kind  are remarkable  for their
very short  legs, and long slender bodies, giving them the ap-
pearance of serpents with feet, for which they have sometimes
been  mistaken.
   111. Ophidia.   The serpents  are  distinguished by  their
long  and  slender  bodies without limbs, and  by the great
extensibility of their jaws, mouth,  and throat, which enables
them  often to swallow animals of greater diameter than them-
selves.  They  are  always provided  with teeth,  which are
sharp  and  bent backward.
   They are  divided, as  is  well  known, into the  venomous
and those  that are not venomous.   The number of the latter
kind is the greatest, and includes the largest animals.  Among
them  are   the great  Boa constrictor, the Aboma,  and the
Anacondo, which  sometimes  attain  the  length of thirty  or
forty  feet, and inhabit marshy and fenny places in the tropical
parts  of America.   They attach themselves by the tail to the
branches of aquatic trees, leaving their bodies swinging in the
air, in order to seize upon animals approaching them, which they
generally swallow whole.  The Ular Sawa, or the great Python,
is another serpent of the  same kind and size, and inhabits the
ancient continent.   The  smaller  and less celebrated  species
are very numerous, and are distributed over every  part of the
earth.
   The venomous serpents are generally armed with fangs for
the specific purpose of infusing  poison into  the wounds they
inflict.  These fangs are  situated  in the upper jaw, and per-
forated  by  a small canal,  which, opening  on their extremities,
gives  passage to  a  fluid, secreted  by a gland  under the eye.
When the tooth pierces the  flesh of any animal, a portion of
this fluid is injected  into the opening, and  produces effects 
66
CLASS IV. FISHES.
 more or less dangerous, according to the virulence of the poi-
 son and the kind of animal wounded. When broken or injured,
 these fangs are renewed, and when not employed, are hidden
 from sight  by a fold or  projection of  the  gum.   The largest
 and most celebrated  of these  animals, is  the  rattle-snake of
 America.   It is so called  from a peculiar instrument at  the
 end of its tail, denominated its rattle, which produces a slight
 rustling sound when  it is  shaken, and  is  intended to  give
 warning of the animal's anger.   This and the other venomous
 serpents are not  malignant or ferocious  in their dispositions,
 and seldom make use of their poison unless provoked.
   IV.  Batrachia.  The reptiles of this order  have only one
 auricle  to the heart, into which the veins from the lungs and
 from the body  both enter.  In it  are included  the toad, frog,
 salamander,  and animals  of these several kinds.    They
 are  principally remarkable for a transformation  which takes
 place in their offspring after  leaving  the  egg.   When  first
 hatched, they  are  strictly  an  aquatic animal and  capable
 of breathing and living only under water.   They are furnished
 with gills like a fish ; and have no legs, but are provided with
 a tail, which serves them as an instrument of locomotion.   In
 this state they are seen by  thousands, of a dark  colour, with
 round  bodies, swimming about in brooks  and small ponds;
 and are known by the  familiar  name of Tadpoles.  After a
 certain period, their form and structure are altered ; their feet
 and legs grow and project  from beneath the skin; their  tail,
their gills, and the covering of their head, fall off; they begin
to respire by means of lungs;  and  become at  once animals
capable of  breathing only  in the air.  This transformation is
not,  however, in all  cases, complete.   In  two  genera,  the
Proteus and  the Siren, besides lungs,  the  gills are retained
through life, and  they  are thus possessed of two distinct  sets
of organs of respiration.
                        SECTION V.

                    Class IV.  Fishes.

  Fishes being destined  to inhabit only the water are provi-
ded with organs and  a structure adapted to the element  in
which  they reside; and, since they  cannot  breathe pure air, 
STRUCTURE OF FISHES.
67
of  course some modification in the organs of respiration and
circulation would  be particularly required  to enable them to
perform those  functions.   The heart, in them,  has only one
auricle and one ventricle.   The blood, coming from the body,
is received  into the auricle, and transmitted  by means of the
ventricle to the gills, which perform the same office as lungs.
These are  situated upon each side of the neck, and consist of
semicircular arches of bone or cartilage, to which are attached
membranes, divided  into  little  fibrils or  fringes, to which the
blood is distributed, in very small  vessels, after it comes from
the heart.   Over the gills  a constant current of water is  passed
by, the action of the mouth of ihe animal, which, by means of
the air that it contains, exerts an influence over the blood circu-
lating  in them, and  produces  the  same changes in  it, as are
produced in the lungs of other animals by the air they breathe.
From the gills, the  blood  does not return to the heart, but is
collected into one large artery  which passes down along the
spine, and  is distributed  to  the different parts  of the body,
whence it is again returned to the heart by  the veins.
   The  whole  structure of fishes  is as clearly designed  to
attain  the end  of motion  in the water, as  the  structure of
birds is intended for motion in the  air.  They are  destitute
of  limbs, and  their motions  are effected by means of their
fins and tail, which act upon the water  like oars, either "pro-
pelling the animal forward or moving it upward,  downward,
or to either side.
   Fishes are covered with a thick, strong  skin, and most of
them with scales, which are arranged one over another in an
imbricated   form like  slate or  tiles on  the  roof of a  house.
Their bodies are also invested with a covering of thin slime or
mucus, which defends them from the immediate contact of the
water.   Their forms vary  exceedingly, and are much more nu-
merous than those of the animals heretofore described.  They
vary also in size. Some are armed with  strong, sharp spines ;
some with a sword or saw  ; and most of them with teeth. The
latter however are not intended for the purpose of chewing, but
merely for that  of seizing  and  retaining  prey, which is swal-
lowed  whole.   A  few are  possessed of a  very remarkable
species of defence,  which consists in  the power of inflicting
upon whatever  living creature comes in  contact with  them,
a powerful   electrical  shock. These shocks  are so powerful,
that, in  South  America, horses  driven into  the pools  which
some fishes of  this kind inhabit, have sometimes been stunned
and even killed. 
68
CLASS V.  INSECTS.
   Fishes have but  a small brain.  They  have the senses of
seeing, hearing, smelling,  and  tasting.   That  of  touch they
probably  possess  but  imperfectly,  as  they  have  no organ
which seems intended  for its exercise except the  snout and
mouth, and, in some species, a sort of feelers, growing around
the mouth.  Their skeleton is constructed of bones, generally
softer and less earthy than those of other animals, and indeed
in some they are entirely cartilaginous.   Their stomach  and
intestines are formed upon the same general plan with those of
other vertebral animals, and digestion  is carried on in  the
same general way.  They feed principally upon other fisbes,
upon worms, and shellfish.    They  are long-liv»cL<ittain.lo
their full growth slowly, and exhibit  but few signs''Of intelli-
gence or remarkable instinct.
   Their constant residence in the water prevents that accurate
knowledge of their  character and habits of life, which  would
afford materials for a more copious detail.   They are divided
into orders  and genera, according to  certain differences in
the formation, structure, and situation  of  their mouth,  gills,
gill-covering, fins, he.   But an  account of them  here would
be of little use or interest.
                       SECTION VI.

                     Class V.  Insects.

  The animals of this class, although less complicated and per-
lect in their internal structure, than those of some of the follow-
ing classes, are yet remarkable for a greater variety of powers,
and a more wonderful display of instinct and intelligence, than
any other of the invertebral animals;  and  they are, therefore,
placed first among them in this description.
  Insects are destitute of  a heart, but instead of it they have
a vessel  or reservoir situated along the back, extending from'
one end  of their bodies to the other, and filled  with a transpar-
ent, viscous fluid.  This vessel undergoes an irregular contrac-
tion, which is supposed  to be analogous to the contractions of
a heart.   No branches have been discovered  goin°- off from
it, and yet it  is highly probable that this reservoir contains the
blood or nutritious fluid of the  animal,  which is  slowly con- 
                  STRUCTURE OF INSECTS.               6§

veyed, by absorption, to the various organs.  Insects have no
particular organ for respiration, but their bodies ate penetrated
in every direction by tubes, called tracheas, which convey the
air  to  every part.   These tubes communicate externally by
openings  called  stigmata.    The  blood therefore undergoes
the changes wrought  upon  it by  air, throughout  its whole
circulation.   Instead of a brain and nervous system, they are
furnished with  two knotted cords running the  length of  their
bodies, which perform the same functions. They possess the
senses  of seeing, tasting, smelling, and feeling; but organs of
hearing, if they exist, have not yet been discovered.
  Being destitute of any internal  skeleton, insects are provi-
ded with  a  hard external  covering, which  serves to support
their motions  and protect  their organs.  The nature of this
covering differs in different species ; in some it forms a com-
plete shell or case of a horny or shell-like substance ;  and in
others  it consists merely  in a tough,  muscular coat,  divided
into rings which surround the body.
  The  greater part of  insects  are  winged, but some are not
so.   Those which  are  not winged,  continue,  during  their
whole  existence,  of the same  form and structure as at  birth.
Those  which are winged undergo  certain metamorphoses, or
changes of  form, which will be hereafter  described.   They
all have six  legs, with the exception of  the millepedes, which
have always more; and  the number increases also with  their
age.
  The bodies of insects are divided into head, trunk, and abdo-
men.   The  head is attached to the trunk by a joint or articu-
lation,  which  is moveable in every direction.  It is destitute
of a brain ; but  is furnished with a mouth, eyes, and two
antennas or  feelers.  These are a kind of filaments composed
of joints, varying  very much in  form and length, probably
designed as  the organs of the sense of touch, or of sensations
still more delicate and of a nature totally unknown to us.
  The mouth of  insects  varies  much  in  its construction
according to the nature of their food.  Some of them subsist
only upon the juices of  animal and vegetable substances, and
have their lips arranged in the form of a tube or sucker ; some
of them are  armed  with a sort of lancet, with which they are
enabled to pierce the skin of animals;  some with a  kind  of
beak;  and  others  with a trunk or  proboscis, which in the
butterflies is capable of being rolled up in a spiral form.   The
insects which  subsist upon solid substances, are provided with 
70
CLASS V.  INSECTS.
jaws, which generally act  laterally instead of vertically, and
serve  to  masticate their food.    Beside these parts,  many
species are furnished  with palpi, organs somewhat resembling
the  antennas in structure  and  appearance, but  whose  office
is to bring the food to the mouth  and  hold  it  while  the
insect eats.
   To  the trunk  are joined the legs, and the  wings  when
present.  It is divided, in those  that  have only  six legs, into
three segments or  divisions, to each of which one pair of legs
is attached.   The  legs are  composed of four  parts, called  the
haunch, thigh, leg  or shank, and foot;  which resemble con-
siderably the corresponding parts in the limbs of quadrupeds.
They vary in different  insects  according  to their habits and
modes of  life.   Thus, in the  grasshopper, the hind  pair  are
very long  and strong ; in the aquatic insects, they are flattened
in order to  answer the  purpose of oars.  The wings  differ
much  in  kind and arrangement, as well as in number.  Most
of the winged  insects have four, but some only two.   They
are  generally thin,  dry, membranaceous, and semitransparent.
In the butterfly,  the membrane forming the wing is concealed
by a  covering of small scales, which  appear  to be merely a
loose powder, but are  in fact fixed  by small pedicles or stalks
to the membrane itself.  They give to those insects their beauty
and variety of colour.  The insects with one pair of wings have
underneath them two cylindrical projections  terminating in a
knob, which seem as  if they were the rudiments of a second
pair.   These  have been.called balancers or  poisers,  from
being supposed  to aid   them in preserving  an  equilibrium
during their flight.   Between them and  the wings themselves
are  found small membranous  scales,  one upon  each  side,
against which the balancer strikes  with great rapidity whilst
the  iusect  is in motion, and causes  that buzzing which is then
observed.   In the various  kinds of beetle  and other  similar
insects, the upper  pair of  wings is of a coriaceous or bony
texture, and serves merely the purpose of a case under which
the other pair  is folded  up and protected.   In  others, as in
the  grasshopper, the locust, he. the upper pair is  less hard,
and has rather the consistence and texture of vellum.
  The abdomen forms the hinder part of the bodies of insects;
it contains the organs of digestion, and is the part from which
the  eggs of the insect are  produced.  It  is divided into a
number of rings or segments;  In some, it is furnished with
a kind of  perforator or auger, with which various  substances 
STRUCTURE OF INSECTS.              71
 are bored in  order to admit their eggs.   In many  it is  ter-
 minated by  a sting, as in the wasp and bee, and in others by a
 forceps, a  bristle, or a kind of claw.   They display much
 instinctive intelligence in the deposition of their eggs, placing
 them in situations best adapted  to the nourishment and pres-
 ervation of their young when hatched, and in some cases even
 providing food  for  their immediate wants  when they  first
 come into life.
   The  greater part  of insects, as has just  been remarked,
 after leaving the egg, undergo certain changes of structure and
 form, before arriving at  their perfect state.   These changes
 are called  their  metamorphoses.   They differ  in  number
 in different  kinds of insects.
   To take the Butterfly tribe for an example.  From the egg
 of this insect is hatched an animal differing entirely from its
 parent.   Its body  is long, and cylindrical, and divided  into a
 great many  rings.   It is provided with a large number of very
 short legs, with jaws, and with several small eyes. It is familiarly
 known to us by the  name of caterpillar.  It lives  in this state
 a considerable time, subsisting  upon such food as is adapted
 to its nature.  At  length  it  casts off its skin, and appears in
 another form without limbs.  It ceases  to feed  or to move.
 It seems to be totally without life.  This is called the chrysalis.
 After a while, by examining it closely, the imperfect shape of
 the butterfly may  be distinguished through  its surface;  and
 finally  the envelope is broken, and  the animal escapes.  Its
 wings are at first short, weak, and moist, but they  soon unfold
 to a greater size, and become strong ; and the insect is  in a
 state to  fly.   It has now six long legs, a spiral trunk, two an-
 tennas, and eyes differing entirely from those of the caterpillar.
 In  short,  it  is an  animal totally different;  and yet these
 wonderful  changes are only  the successive unfolding of parts
 contained one within another  in the original embryo.
   In the first state, the  animal is called  the larva;  in  the
 second, the  nympha or chrysalis; and  the third is called  the
perfect state.
   A considerable proportion of the insect  tribes pass through
 these three  stages of existence.   But many only undergo
 what is called a demi-metamorphosis.  Their larva resembles
 the perfect insect,  except that it  is without wings.  And the
 only change they experience, is, that in the nymph state they
 have the stumps or rudiments of wings, which finally, on cast-
 ing their  skin, are changed  into  complete ones.  Such are 
CLASS V. INSECTS.
grasshoppers and many kinds of bugs.   Insects w ithout wings
undergo none of these alterations.
  A more  detailed account of the phenomena attending the
metamorphoses of Insects will be found  in a subsequent part
of this volume.*
  There  are few vegetable  substances which escape  the
depredations of  insects, and sometimes their ravages produce
very serious evils.  Some good as well as evil, however, may
be attributed to  their agency.   Many  of them feed upon
putrid animal  or vegetable  matters,  whose effluvia  might
otherwise become dangerous  or fatal.   Others are made use
of in medicine,  in the arts, and sometimes  even as food for
man.  They serve as nourishment for many species  of ani-
mals.  Beasts, birds,  reptiles, and fishes, equally make them
their prey ;  and  thus prevent their  multiplication to such an
extent as to prove a permanent evil to mankind.
  It only  remains to give some  general account of the orders
under which insects  have been  arranged, and the principles
upon which philosophers have proceeded in making the dis-
tribution  of them.
  The divisions  of Linnasus are founded  upon the presence
or absence of wings, their number, their texture, their arrange-
ment, and the nature of their surface; and upon the existence
or absence of a sting.   He forms seven orders.f
  I. Coleoptera.  The upper pair of wings in the Coleopterous
insects consists of a crustaceous  or horny substance.   These
cover and defend the  other pair, which are of a more soft and
flexible texture, and  are  folded beneath them.   This is the
most numerous and best known kind of insects;  and many of
them are very remarkable for the singularity of their forms
and the beauty of their colours.   It includes the various insects
known under the names of beetles, winged bugs, he.   They
all undergo a complete metamorphosis.
  II. The Hemiptera  have  likewise  four  wings;  but the
upper pair is not of so hard a texture as those of the Coleop-
tera.   They are  more like fine vellum, and, at their extremi-
ties, terminate with a membranous edge which resembles the

  * See chapter on the Transformation  of Animals.
  fThis account of  the classification of Insects, is taken principally from
Smeltie, who follows Linnaeus, because,  to the general reader, it affords, upon
the whole, a clearer view of the subject, than could be presented in  the same
compass by following the later and more strictly anatomical methods of
other natmahsts. 
ORDERS OF INSECTS.
73
 substance of the under pair.  They  cover the body horizon-
 tally, and do not meet in a strait line or ridge, as they do in the
 beetles.   Insects of this order undergo only a demi-metamor-
 phosis.  Among them are found the grasshopper, the cricket,
 the locust,  the cock-roach, and many kinds of bugs.
   III. The order Lepidoptera  contains the various kinds of
 butterfly, sphinx, and moth.   Those  of the first kind fly in
 the day-time; those of the two other kinds only in  the night.
 They all have four wings, the structure  and  appearance of
 which have been alluded to.   Among  them are some of the
 most  beautiful and splendid of insects, and they form some of
 the richest ornaments of the cabinet of the naturalist.  They
 all pass through a complete series of metamorphoses; and their
 larvas, known under the name  of worms or caterpillars,  spin
 webs  for their covering while in the chrysalis state.   It is from
 the web, thus prepared  by the  silkworm for  its  residence
 during this dormant state of existence,  that the silk of com-
 merce is prepared.
   IV. JYeuroptera.   This  is another  order with four wings.
 They are  membranaceous, naked, and so interspersed with
 delicate  veins, that  they  have the appearance  of a beautiful
 network.   The tail of the Neuroptera has no sting, but  that
 of the male is frequently furnished with  a kind of forceps or
 pincers.   Of this order  are the various  species of  Dragon-
 fly, large and  well known insects that frequent lakes  and
 pools of stagnant water, in which the female deposits her eggs;
 the Ephemera, insects which  pass two  or three years in the
states of larva and chrysalis, but whose  existence as winged
and perfect  insects  is limited to a single day ;  and the Ant-
lion and  the Termites, the former celebrated as the  destroyer
of the common ant,  and  the latter for the ravages they  make,
 in the state of larva, in some tropical countries.   The Neurop-
tera do  not all pass through  a complete metamorphosis, a
part of them undergoing only a partial change of form,
   V.  The   Hymenopiera  have four  naked membranaceous
wings, but they have not that delicate, netted structure, which
belongs to the  last  order.  The  bodies of the  females  are
terminated   by a borer or perforator,  or by a sting.  These
insects all undergo a complete  metamorphosis ; but there are,
in the domestic economy  and  mode of propagation of some
of the species, circumstances  which excite our admiration
and astonishment.   The  ant, wasp, and  bee, belong to this
order.  They live in societies, greater or less in extent and
               10 
74
CLASS V. INSECTS.
number • and  prepare habitations and nourishment for them-
selves  and  their offspring, with a forethought  and provident
care excelled only  by those of man himself.   In some of the
tribes of insects of  this  kind, there is, beside  the  males and
females, a third sort called neuters, as among the ants and
bees.  Sometimes  the  neuter, and sometimes the female, is
without wings, and  sometimes without  a sting,  A more par-
ticular account of these insects will  be given hereafter.   Be-
sides the abovementioned, there is found  in this order a  vari-
ety of singular animals ;  and, among others, the ichneumon-fly
and  the  saw-fly, which  by means  of their instruments  for
boring, in some constructed in the form of a saw, insert  their
eggs in the wood, leaves, and fruit of  plants, or in the eggs,
larvas, or nymphas of other insects.
  VI. TheDiptera  have  only two wings, but beneath them are
the balancers or poisers,  which have been already  mentioned.
Their mouths  are frequently armed with lancets and suckers,
by means of which they   pierce the skin of animals and  feed
upon their blood.   To this order  belong some of the  most
troublesome and annoying of  the whole animal creation, viz.
the various species  of gnat and gadfly, the musqueto, the com-
mon housefly, the horsefly, he.  They attack  both men and
other animals, and are found in almost every part of the globe.
Their larvas are deposited in the  skins and intestines of brute
animals, sometimes  even in those of men, in putrid meat, in
cheese, in manure,  in water, in mud, he.   They pass through
a complete metamorphosis.
  VII. Aptera.  In this order is included a great variety of
insects that are destitute  of wings.  It is true  that in the pre-
ceding orders  are arranged many sorts of insects, which are
destitute of wings ;  but they are so arranged, because, in  their
general structure and  habits of life, they  resemble the other
members of the order.    The Aptera,  however, have no such
resemblance, and are therefore placed by themselves.  Some
naturalists divide  them into  several  orders,  according to
their natural connexions with one another; but  this is not
necessary here.   Among  them  are found  the  millepedes,
whose body  is divided  into  a great number  of rings,  each
of  which serves  for the attachment  of one  or  more'  pairs
of legs;  the louse, of which  there  are  many kinds which
infest the bodies of men, inferior animals, and plants;  the
puceron, fyc.  Some of these  animals cover  the surface of
plants so completely, as  to produce  the appearance of a dis- 
ORDERS OF INSECTS.
75
eased change of structure.   The flea also belongs to this order,
and  is the only one that  undergoes  any metamorphosis.  It
passes through  the three stages.   Its  power  of leaping to a
great distance is well known.
  The family of the Arachnides or Spiders, is not always ar
ranged among  Insects, and, strictly speaking, their  structure
is different in some important particulars.   We  shall, how-
ever, give some account of them in connexion with  the Ap-
tera, among which they were included by Linnasus.  This
family comprehends,  beside the  common  spiders,  the scor-
pion, the tarantula, the crab-scorpion, the  various species of
mites, and the  animal which has been supposed to cause the
Psora or itch, by insinuating itself beneath the skin.
  They are distinguished from all other insects by the absence
of the antennas.  A part of them breathe like insects by means
of tracheas distributed throughout their bodies; while in the
rest, the  tracheas open  into pulmonary  sacks, which  answer
the purpose of  lungs.  In  the latter, there  is found  a  well
organized heart and a vascular circulation, which are absent in
the former.  They have generally eight legs, and are furnished
with six or eight eyes, which enable  them to perceive objects
in several different directions at once.  They are nourished
generally  by living prey, and are provided with means for
securing and destroying it.  The Spider effects this by means
of the web  that it spins, in the  construction of which much
ingenuity  is often  manifested.  The  threads of which  it is
composed, are produced from six little fleshy bunches, situat-
ed at the lower extremity of their bodies, which are perforat-
ed with an  immense  number of  little holes.  By  means of
their webs, many species of spiders, particularly when young,
are  able to  transport themselves to  a considerable  distance
through the air.  In order to effect  this, they  ascend some
eminence, and  throw out a  number of webs.   These  are
raised up and carried along by the wind, and the animal, being
buoyed up by them, is conveyed sometimes  to a great height.
In order to alight, they  have only to disengage  themselves
from  a part  of  their web, and  suffer themselves  to  descend
gradually to the ground.  It is probable that they  have re-
course to  this expedient, in part at  least, for the purpose of
catching insects  for food.   In autumn,  the air is  often full of
the cobwebs which have been made use of for this singular
mode of conveyance ; and those who have ascended eminen-
ces for the purpose of observing this phenomenon, have fre- 
70
CLASS VI. CRUSTACEA.
quently seen spiders floating  by in the air, supported  in  the
manner just now described.
  Many branches  of this family are exceedingly  cruel and
ferocious, not  sparing even their own species.  The  bite of
many of them is  poisonous, particularly  that of the tarantula
and the scorpion.   They undergo no metamorphosis, but shed
their skins several  times.  A few  receive an  additional pair
of legs at some time after birth.
                        SECTION VII.
                  Class VI.   Crustacea.
  The  Crustaceous animals have been  sometimes  included
in the  class of Insects, to  which they  have  indeed  many
strong  points  of  resemblance.    They  deserve,  however, a
separate consideration, both on account of their size  and im-
portance,  and of some anatomical  differences of  structure
which will be pointed out.  Among the most familiar exam-
ples of  this class are  the lobster,  crab, crawfish, and what is
usually  called  the horse-shoe.
  They have  articulated limbs, antennas, and jaws, similarly
formed  to those of insects.   But they  breathe by means of
branchiae or gills, and have  a regular  double circulation ; in
which particulars  they differ from insects.  The blood which
has passed through the gills is collected into one large vessel,
that distributes it  to the whole body.  On its return  from the
vessels  of the body, it is collected into another vessel situated
near the back and performing in  some measure the office of a
ventricle,  and is again sent  to the gills.   Their nervous sys-
tem and the degree of sensation they enjoy, are not essentially
different from those of insects.
  They are covered by a pretty  thick, firm  shell, which en-
velops  them  completely.   This serves for a  shelter and
protection to their soft parts, and also  answers  to  them the
same purpose, as an  instrument  of  motion, that the internal
system  of bones does to the vertebral animals.  As  this shell
is incapable of growth, it is occasionally  changed, to  make
room for the constant  increase  in size of the animal.   It is
thrown  off, and their bodies  remain for a time entirely naked,
and exposed in  a soft and defenceless state.    In  this case
the animal generally retires to some place of concealment and
security, and remains till the shell is restored.   This is done 
STRUCTURE OF THE CRUSTACEA.
77
by the deposition of calcareous matter on the external mem-
brane of the skin, which consequently becomes hard and firm,
and finally takes the place of the old shell.
  The  Crustacea have  always  as  many as six  claws,  and
frequently more.   The two anterior ones are often  prolonged,
enlarged,  and armed with teeth, so as in some measure to act
in assisting the jaws.  Their antennas, as those of insects, are
probably intended to  serve  as very delicate organs of touch.
They possess the sense  of smelling, but  naturalists have  not
been able  to satisfy themselves in what organ it resides.  The
organ of hearing has been discovered.  Their  eyes  are not
placed loosely  in a socket, but are  fixed and  immovable;
and, to remedy the inconvenience  which would result from
this arrangement, they are, in some  species, situated upon the
end of a pedicle or stalk  which is capable of motion in every
direction.
  The stomach of  some of the Crustacea presents a very  sin-
gular  and remarkable  structure.    It is exemplified  partic-
ularly  in  the  the crab,  lobster, crawfish, and others  of the
same kind; and  is found in no other  animals  of any class.
Near  the  lower  end of the stomach,  where  it begins  to
grow narrow, are situated a number of teeth, or  substances  of
a bony  nature  resembling teeth, generally five in number.
They are  placed  upon the opposite sides of the organ,  and,
being moved by muscles belonging to them, they grind up
thoroughly the food  past between them, which then goes out
at the orifice into the intestines.
  The animals of this class  reside  for the most part in the
water.  A few are found upon land.   The  former  do not
immediately die on being taken out of their natural element,
but can live for some time in  the  air.   They  are generally
carnivorous.  Many of them  furnish very delicious articles  of
food,  although their flesh is ordinarily heavy and  difficult  of
digestion.



                      SECTION VIII.

                  Class  Vll.  Mollusca.

  This is a large and extensive class,  embracing a  great vari-
ety of animals, whose structure, residence, and habits,  are but
obscurely and  imperfectly known.   Among them are  the 
78
CLASS VII. MOLLUSCA.
cuttle-fish, squid, oyster,  clam, muscle, snail, and,  in  short,
nearly all the testaceous animals, or shellfish, as they are usually
called, although they have no resemblance to fishes, and do not
all inhabit  the water.   As it  respects  their internal  structure
and  organization, they are undoubtedly superior  to the two
classes last described ;  but in regard to intelligence and instinct,
they are upon the whole inferior, and  are not subjects of  so
much interest.
  The Mollusca are destitute of bones and of articulated limbs.
Their bodies are  generally of a soft  texture, and  frequently,
at first sight, appear to  be little else  than a  simple mucous
mass, without parts and almost without organization.  Their
muscles are fixed into the skin, which is naked, very sensible,
and constantly  moistened by a fluid  furnished  by  its pores.
The contractions of  these  muscles produce certain obscure
and  indistinct  motions of their whole bodies, by  means  of
which they are enabled to swim and crawl, or even seize those
objects which are adapted to  their nourishment.  But as  no
part  is supported by  any solid foundation like  the bones of «
vertebral animals, their motions are generally slow, awkward,^
and limited.
  Their bodies are generally covered  by a fold or  reflection
of the skin, which  envelops  them completely, and  is called
their mantle.  In some species, the two  folds of the mantle
are united at their edges, so as to  form a complete bag, in
which  the body of the animal  is contained,  opening only at
one end by a sort of canal or snout; and  in some, it extends
in two opposite directions, so as to answer the purpose of fins
or oars.  Sometimes  there  is only this simple membranous
covering ;  but more frequently there is a hard external shell,
which  serves as a retreat, into which the animal may with-
draw itself, and which  it can carry about upon its back in all  its
changes of place.   These shells differ  exceedingly  in shape,
colour, and texture,  in different species ; and  among  them are
found  some whose form, polish, and splendid tints  place
them among the most  beautiful objects in nature.
  The Mollusca have no brain nor  spinal  marrow.  Their
nervous system consists merely of a number of nervous masses
distributed  in different  parts of their bodies, from which are
sent out a great many  small branches that  mutually unite with
each other.   The  principal of these, which is  sometimes
called the brain, is situated around the oesophagus, and envel-
ops it  like a collar.   In a  few  species it is contained in a 
STRUCTURE OF THE MOLLUSCA.
79
cartilaginous case.  Their respiration is  not uniform.  It is
generally carried on by organs  resembling the gills of fishes,
which are acted  upon  either by fresh  or salt water;  but, in
some cases, air  is respired directly  from  the  atmosphere.
The circulation  is always  double ; that  is to say, there is a
passage of the blood  through the respiratory organs,  distinct
from that  through  the rest of the body.   This circulation is
carried on by either one or more hearts.   When there is only
one, it is situated so as to  receive the blood from the gills, and
circulate it  through the  body.    When  there  are  two, the
second is situated so as to circulate through the gills, the blood
coming from  the body.   In some  species  there are three
hearts, and  in this  case, as there  are two sets of gills, a dis-
tinct heart is devoted to each.   The blood in the Molluscr. is
thin, of a bluish  white, and always cold.
  The organs of digestion vary very  much.   Sometimes there
are organs for mastication, and sometimes not.  Some  species
have  only a single  stomach, and others have  several;  the
structure of this organ, in some species, very much  resem-
bling that of the gizzard of birds.  In some  species there are
four stomachs, which  bear a great   analogy to  those of the
ruminating  animals, and  have  been supposed  to answer a
similar purpose.   In the intestines there is as great a variety.
  This class is divided into several  orders, according to the
general  form and structure of the species composing it.  A
few of the most important particulars that distinguish them will
be pointed out.
  In the first order, containing the cuttle-fish, squid, nautilus,
&c. the body consists of a sack  formed by the mantle, envel-
oping all the parts except  the head, which projects from it and
is provided  with  a number of fleshy  arms  or  feet, tapering
towards their end, frequently of great length and of great
power.  These  arms are capable of being  moved in every
direction, and are furnished with a large number of suckers in
the form of  cups, by which the  animal can attach itself  very
closely  to  whatever  object  it  embraces.   They serve for
swimming, for creeping, and  for seizing prey.  In all  its mo-
tions, the head goes last, so that  the animal in a manner push-
es itself backward  in whatever  direction it wishes to move.
Between the arms is placed the mouth, which is furnished with
two strong  jaws of a horny texture, and in shape  resembling
the beak of a parrot.
  These animals have the power of ejecting  a peculiar liquid 
80
CLASS Vfl  MOLLUSCA.
of a black colour when in any danger, for the purpose of dis-
colouring the water of the sea around them, and thus conceal-
ing themselves from their enemies.  The cavity  containing
this liquid is situated in the abdomen, and is sometimes found
in the very substance of the liver.   It has been  supposed, that
the celebrated paint called Indian ink, is made by the Chinese
from the inky fluid of some animal of this kind, (Sepia rugosa.)
   Their eyes are large and perfect.  They have an ear; but
no  organ for smelling has  been  discovered,   although  they
probably possess that sense.   Their nature is fierce and cruel.
They are exceedingly voracious, and devour  great numbers
of fishes, and other aquatic animals.
   Some of the animals of this order grow occasionally  to an
immense  size.   This  is more particularly the case with the
eight-armed  cuttle-fish,  (Sepia  octopodia.)     In  the Indian
seas, it  is said to attain to such a magnitude, that its arms are
nine fathoms  in length, and  the other parts of  its body  large
in  proportion.   The  natives hold it  in great dread,  fear-
ing that it will  lay hold of their boats, and drag them under
water.  They keep themselves provided with hatchets, to cut
off its arms, should any danger arise from this cause.*
   In  another order,  which includes the snail and the greater
part of cockles, the foot or  instrument of motion, is placed
under the belly of the animal, and consists  of a fleshy  plate
or disk, protected underneath  by a  layer of a horny or calcare-
ous substance, which, when the animal  retreats into its  shell,
serves  to close up its opening.   Their mantle is  fixed upon
the back, and covers more or less of the body, the head also
being partly  enveloped  by  it.  The  mouth has  generally a
few tentacula or feelers  beneath  it, but they  are sometimes
wanting.   The  eyes are very small, sometimes fixed to the
head and sometimes situated  upon the end of the  tentacula;
    * An account of an enormous animal, which was probably of this kind,
is found in the works of Pliny, who cites it from a writer named Trebius.
This animal  made its appearance on the coast of Carteia, and was  in the
habit, during the night, of robbing of their contents certain reservoirs of salt-
fish, which were situated near the seaside.  Its depredations were not pre-
vented by a row of stakes which were so planted as to intercept communica-
tion with the sea.  It was found that the  animal made use of a tree which
grew near the stakes, to assist it in climbing over them ; and it was finally
attacked, while in the reservoir, by a number of dogs and men  It made
powerful resistance, and lashed the dogs smartly with its arms, but  was final-
ly killed, its body was as big as a hogshead; its arms, called its  beards,
were as  big as a man could clasp, and thirty feet long; and its cups or suck-
ers held  four gallons each. It weighed 7UU pounds. The Kraken  is suppos-
ed to be  an animal of the same kind.                            r' 
STRUCTURE OF THE MOLLUSCA.
81
 but they are  also sometimes wanting.  These animals are
 almost always  furnished  with shells, which serve them as a
 residence.
   The Mollusca of another order, including the oyster, the
 clam, the quahog, the muscle, and  in  short, all the bivalve
 shellfish, have  no apparent head, but only a mouth surrounded
 by four  tentacula, and situated beneath the folds of their man-
 tle.  The mantle is generally composed of two folds which
 inclose the body between them, as a book is contained within
 its covers.  Sometimes the edges of  the two folds are united
 together and form a complete sack.   In the clam, this  sack
 terminates in  a long, double,  fleshy tube, which is usually
 called the head of the animal, but in fact serves a totally dif-
 ferent purpose  ; one of the tubes  being for the entrance of the
 water which  supplies  the gills in respiration,  and the other
 serving  as the termination of the intestinal canal;  and the
 mouth of the animal  being situated at  that part of the body
 which corresponds to the other extremity of the shell.
   The Giant Clam (Chama gigas) is the largest of the Mollus-
 ca with a testaceous covering.  Its shell is  more  than  three
 feet long, and  its body forms a meal  for a  hundred  persons.
 It is found in   the Indian seas and  in  different parts of the
 Pacific ocean.
   Many of the animals of  this kind are furnished with an
 organ denominated their foot, consisting  of a fleshy  mass
 attached  to  their body,  whose  motions are produced like
 those of the  tongue  of  quadrupeds.   This foot often  gives
 rise  to  a  number of filaments  or threads,  by  which the
 animal is capable of attaching itself  to rocks or other marine
 substances;  thus, as it were, being moored or anchored, and
 secured from the influence of the waves.  The two valves of
 their shell are  held  together  by strong muscles  which  pass
 from one to the other; and when these are relaxed, the shells
 open mechanically, by means of an  elastic  substance placed
 in the hinge of  the joint which connects  them.
   There are several  other orders of the Mollusca, but the
characteristics by which they are distinguished, are too obscure
or minute to be here described.
             11 
i LASS IX. VT.RMES OR WORMS.
                       SECTION IX.

             Class VIII.   Vermes or Worms.

   The term Vermes or Worms has been used with great vague-
ness in natural history, and employed to  designate animals to
which the name was not appropriate.  It is now, however, more
restricted in its  application, and is  made  to  include only a
small class of animals, which have some circumstances in com-
mon w ith each of the three classes last described, but still not
exactly resembling any.   They are sometimes called, by way
of distinction, Harms with  red blood, as  they  are the only
invertebral animals which  have red  blood ;  and sometimes
Annelides, from the structure of their body, which is of a cy-
lindrical, elongated shape, divided into a great number of rings.
  Their  nervous system resembles  that of the  Insects and
Crustacea.   Their  organs  of  sense  consist merely  in some
fleshy tentacula, which  surround the mouth and answer the
purpose  of feeling  and touching.   In some  species, certain
black points appear around  the head, which have been sup-
posed to  be  eyes,  but this  is doubtful.   Their  blood is
nearly of the colour of that of the vertebral animals, but  not of
so bright and deep a red.  It circulates in a double system of
vessels, but there is no distinct, fleshy heart to give it motion.
They breathe by means of branchiae, which are sometimes with-
in and sometimes without their bodies. They have no limbs, but
on each of the rings, of which  their bodies are composed, are
little bristly projections which answer in some sort the purpose
of feet.   Their mouths  are sometimes armed  with jaws, and
sometimes consist in a mere tube or sucker.
  Their  bodies  are soft and compressible.  All, except  the
earthworm, inhabit the water.   Many  of them bury themselves
in the sand ; others form themselves a sort of tube or habitation
of sand, bits of  dirt, gravel, or other materials;  and others
iwude from their surfaces a  calcareous matter, which produ-
ces a shell around them.
  Among the animals belonging  to  this  class are the  earth-
worm, the leech, and the hairworm.
  The appearance  of Earthworms is familiar to all.   They
attain sometimes to  the  length  of a foot, and  have as  many
as an hundred and  twenty  rings, each of which is furnished
with the  little bristles  or  spines  above mentioned.   They 
STRUCTURE OF WORMS.
o.:s
emit  through certain pores a  slimy fluid,  which lubricates
their bodies and thus gives them an easier passage through
the earth,  which  they  traverse in  every direction.  They
feed upon roots, woody  fibres, and the remains of animal and
vegetable matter.  They swallow  earth  also in considerable
quantity, but this  is probably on account of the  animal or
vegetable matter  in a state of  decomposition, which  it may
contain.  When cut through the middle, each portion becomes
a distinct individual.   And in some worms nearly resembling
the earthworm, but residing in  the water, the power of repro-
duction is nearly equal to that of the polypes.
   The Leech has three jaws or rather lancets, with which it
pierces the skin of animals, in order to suck their blood.   Its
tail is furnished with a shallow cup or disk, by which it is able
to fix  itself  firmly to different objects, while  obtaining its
nourishment  in  this manner;  and  by  means  of the same
organ, it moves from  place  to place.    There  are  several
species of the leech, of which the medicinal  leech (Hiru-
do medicinalis) is the most valuable, from the  use  made of
it in local blood-letting.    The horseleech  (Hirudo  sangui-
suga) has the same power of drawing blood, but the wounds
which it  makes are sometimes  poisoned,  and followed by bad
effects.
   The body  of the Gordius or Hair-worm, is  long,  shaped
like a thread  or hair, nearly smooth and round.   It is a vulgar
notion that the  hair of the human head  or of a horse's tail,
if thrown into the water, acquires  life and is converted into a
worm.  A species of the hair-worm, in Africa and  the Indies
is extremely  noxious.  It is of a pale, yellowish colour,  and
is frequently  met with among the grass, especially when cov-
ered with dew.  It often insinuates itself into the naked  feet
or limbs  of children and unwary persons, where it  produces
an inflammation that is sometimes fatal.  Great care and atten-
tion are required in extracting  it;  for if it be broken during
the operation, the part which  remains in the flesh, continues
alive and is quite as troublesome as the whole. 
34
CLASS IX.
ZOOPHYTES.
                       SECTION X.

                  Class IX.  Zoophytes.

   The class  of Zoophytes is the last  division of  the animal
kingdom, and the lowest in the scale of the animated creation.
It  includes an immense number of individuals but obscurely
and  imperfectly  known,  and  which have  but few points of
resemblance and connexion with one another.  In general they
have no nervous system, no complete vascular circulation, no
distinct apparatus for respiration, and no sense but that of feeling
and perhaps that of tasting.   This is not true, however, without
exception ; for in some instances, traces of a nervous system,
of a circulation, and of respiratory organs, may be detected, as
is  particularly the case in the Echinodermata, the first order of
Zoophytes.   They are covered  with  a well organized  skin,
and often with a sort  of shell  with points or  spines.  They
have an internal  cavity in which are lodged several distinct
intestines, and vessels which  maintain an imperfect circula-
tion.  There are  also distinct  organs for  respiration,  and
many filaments which probably perform imperfectly the func-
tions of a nervous system.   To this order belong the sea-ur-
chin, the common star-fish, the sea-egg,  he.   They are  the
most perfect of Zoophytes in their structure, and are endowed
with a curious set of organs for the purpose of motion.  Their
shells are  pierced  with  a  large number of holes, regularly
arranged, through  which  project the feet  of the animal, or
rather the instruments  answering the purpose of feet.  These
are little  hollow  cylinders composed of a  membranous sub-
stance, and ending in a kind of knob, which is also  hollow.
They are filled  with   a liquid, which  is furnished  to  them
by reservoirs situated   within the body.  The animal at will
can either lengthen these  cylinders and distend their extrem-
ities by forcing this liquid  into them, or exhaust it, and  thus
shorten and contract them.  When it  is exhausted,  the knob
or disk is drawn into a cuplike form, and thus may be firmly
fixed to whatever object  it is applied, like a cupping glass ;
and when the liquid is again thrown into it, it is again loosened.
By  this  arrangement, which enables  it to fix and loosen,
and  at the same  time  to lengthen and  shorten these organs of
motion, the animal is enabled to move itself from place to
place.   Some of the  animals of this order  are composed of 
STRUCTURE OF ZOOPHYTES.
85
 several branches united^l|ether in one common centre like
 the spokes of a wheel, and hence they  are called starfish, or
 more commonly  fivefingers.   Their  mouth  is in  the centre
 where the  several branches meet.  Others  are globular, and
 others oblong, like the sea-urchin and sea-egg.
    The Intestinal Worms belongalso to the class of Zoophytes.
 Those which inhabit  the bowels of children are well known.
 But there is scarce any animal which is not  infested by one
 or more  kinds  of them.   They can exist only within the
 bodjes.of the animals to which they belong, and  it is sel-
 dom, that the same species  infests njpre than  one  kind of
 animal.  They  have  no visible organs  of respiration or cir-
H:ulation, and those of digestion are very imperfect and indis-
 tinct.  They are not confined to the  intestines, but  are found
 in other ^anals  and passages of the body, and even in the
 substancm of parts, as in the liver, brain, and eye.   The diffi-
 culty of accounting for jheir existence in these parts, has giv-
 en rise to the opinion of  some  naturalists, that they  are spon-
 taneously engendered; but it is known with regard to many
 of them, that they produce eggs, and a living  offspring ; and
 it is contrary to all the analogy of  nature to ascribe, in these
 obscure  cases,  to chance anci, the spontaneous operations of
 matter, the production W effects, which, in all other  instances,
 are the result of a perfect and wonderful adaptation  of organs
 to the end in view.      •
    The Sea-nettles, or Sea-anemones, are still  less  perfect.
 Their bodies are circular, and  in their  centre is the  mouth
 which leads to several rude and imperfect cavities in the sub-
 stance of the animal,  answering the purposes of stomach and
 intestines.   They are generally found attached by  their base
 to some  rock or marine substance ; but  this attachment is
 voluntary, for they  can at will  disengage themselves.   Gen-
 erally, however, they  perform  no other  motion  than that of
 opening and closing their mouths, and extending  the tentacula
 with  which they are surrounded.    With these they grasp
 animals coming within their reach, such as small fish, mollus-
 ca, worms, he.    These they  swallow, and after having digest-
 ed their flesh, throw out their bones, shells, and  other refuse
 matter by the same opening, which  is their only 6ne.
    The Medusas do not differ much from these, except that they
 are merely of a gelatinous, slimy consistence, and  are never
 found fixed  by  their base.  They are  common, and  are  often
 seen in immense shoals.  Que species  of them  is vulgarly
 known by the name of sunfisii. '                 ' 
8fj                CLASS IX. JK>OPH¥TES.                 j

  The Polypes haji a hollow, cymKrncal', or conical body,
with one extremitJFcJpen which  serves for their  mouth, and
is surrounded by a  number 6f tentecula.  The simple cavity
thus formed, constitutes1 thdr onty organ, and performs all the
functions of which they are callable.  They  seize their prey
and convey it to their mouths Will the tentacula, and, as their
bodies are gelatinous  anft seBitransparent; the operation of
digestion may  be seen going^B witHin.   Many of the poly-.
pes have been celebrated ton account of the fact, that when one
is divided  into several pieces, each piece becomes a distinct
animal, perfect  in all jfs  parts.   The immense beds of coraj
and the  different kinds  of ^PBhge, are nothing but thejfabita-
tions of  infinite numbers^ these little animals, and are pra-^
duced by their labour.  -                                   ^
  The  Animalcules are animals  still more  mind#J'iand are
scarcely  discernible except by  the  assistance of J« micros-
cope.  Thousands  of -them are in  this  way brotipit to our
view, of various  shapes, sizes, and  appearances..   Most of
them offer to the view merely a gelatinous mass, capable of an.^
imperfect sort of motion.   Some, however, present appearan-/
ces of a structm'efHvirfch might give them a claim to a higher
rank in the scale of beings- di&not  their minuteness prevent
a proper examination.  These  animals are» principally found
in some animal and vegMable fluidjfcand  infusions, and henc^ J
have sometimes receivdrthe name^lif Infusoria.*          *  " >
 £
4
  This completes  a view  of the whole animal  kingdom*,
■beginning with man, the most perfect member of it, ana dei^
cending to those obscure  and minute  creatures which, are
scarcely visible except with  the assistance of the microsc^J*
It will be observed that one common plan pervades the whole;
that the same general objects are had in  view, in the structure^ 4
of every class, and that there is a general anakogy in  the meth-
ods employed for effecting these objects, although  there is a
great variety in the details ;  and that there is a grand  simplicity
in the design, though a great diversity in  the means.   In short,
not only in the structure of each individual animal,  but in the
wonderful manner in which that structure is varied  to corres-
pond to the nature, habits, and want*of the different classes, we
may'perceive the wisdom, the power, and the benevolence of
that great Creator,  who has  devised  anjd formed,  and who
continues  to  uphold  the myriads of animated beings with
which the jarth is filled. 

                   OP
       .1.


NATURAL  HISTORY.
                          .  CHAPTER  I.

                           OF RESPIRATION.

         " By the air is meant that common elastic fluid which envel-
       ops the whole: earth, and  extends  to a  certain  distance from
       its surface.  ;lt constitutes wftat is called the atmosphere.  By
       its weight, itsxompressibility, and its  pressure in all directions,
       it insinuates itself  into every  vacuity; and its presence is
I A   absolutely necessary to the existence of every  vegetable and
V»\  animal.   In  order,  however, to understand the  manner  in
'^f"» which it contributes to the support of living things, it  is ne-
    T cessary to give some account of its composition.
         " Although the air, as  we breathe it, seems to be a simple
   v *^ and homogeneous fluid, yet it is in fact composed of two dis-
       tinct constituent or elementary parts, upon  the mixture  or
      ^combination of which, its adaptation to the preservation  of
       life depends; contaiping,  besides, some other ingredients  of
       minor .MRfiortance.   These main elements are two permanent-
       ly elastnPiiuds or gases, called  oxygen, and nitrogen or azote.
       Atmospheric air contains about twenty-three parts, by weight,
       of the  former, and  seventy-seven of  the  latter, out of one
       hundred; or, since oxygen is  the heaviest of the two gases,
       twenty-one, by .measure, of oxygen, and seventy-nine of azote.
       It is upon the|Bxygen of the air, that its fitness for supporting
       animal life depends ; for, when an animal is confined in a small
       quantity of air till this is exhausted, it dies from suffocation,
       although the azote remains unaltered. 
 88                    RESPIRATION.

   " No animal can exist in an active state without air, but dif-
 ferent classes of animals differ very much as to the manner in
 which the function of respiration is performed.  The influence
 which the  air exerts, is always upon  the circulating  fluid or
 blood.   It  produces some  change in  it,  or imparts  some
 principle to it, which  renders it fit to be  distributed  to the
 body for its  nourishment.    In all the  animals,  which  have
 red  blood, viz. the Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, and  Fishes,
 this  change consists, so far as can  be  observed,  in  impart-
 ing  to the dark red  or  venous blood, which  is sent  to the
 lungs by the heart, a bright red or vermilion colour.   In this
 state, it is returned to the heart, and thence distributed through-
 oufclhe body by the arteries.
   "  In the Mammalia, the  air is  alternately drawn  into the
 lungs and expelled from them, by  the action of the  diaphragm
 and  muscles  of  the ribs.   This is called the inspiration and
 expiration  of the air, and  is constantly  going on in order to
 produce the  requisite change upon the  blood, which is contin-
 ually passing through  the lungs.  In the greater part  of the
 animals of this class,  if this process be stopped  but for a few
 moments, death  is the inevitable consequence;  but in some
 species it may be suspended for a longer period.   This is the
 case with the seal and the whale.  Even  men may  acquire
 by habit  the power of existing a considerable time without
 breathing, as  is  the  case  with the  fishermen  who  dive for
pearls ;* but many  of the stories which  have been  related
with  regard  to  this subject, are probably destitute of  foun-
 dation.
   "  There are many other kinds of air or gas, which may be
taken into  the lungs, beside the atmospheric;  but no  other,
which will  support life.  Even pure oxygen  itself,  and  some
gases which  contain oxygen, although  they will support life J"
longer than any  other kinds of air, will yet finally prove fatal.
 It is only when oxygen is  combined with azote in the propor-
tion  above mentioned, that  it is  adequate  to  the  continual
support of life.f  The quantity of air ordinarily contained  in

   * " The pearl-fishers have been said to remain half an hour or more under
water.  The accounts, however, which state so extraordinary a fact as this
must  be looked  upon with some doubt. It seems  impossible, from what we
know on the subject, that any human being could exist and remain capable
ot action under water, more than a few minutes.
   t " Water destroys the life of animals merely by preventing the admission
of air; it does not itself enter the lungs, or at most only a very small quan-
tity.  There are some gases which operate in the same way.  The windpipe 
RESPIRATION.
8&
the lungs of a common-sized man, immediately after an inspi-
ration,  has been calculated to be  about two hundred  and
eighty cubic inches, and about forty inches are drawn in and
thrown out at  each  inspiration  and  expiration;  so that the
whole mass of air is not changed at  every breath,  but a large
proportion remains constantly present, and distends the lungs.
   ' If the air which has been respired be examined, a change
will be found to have  taken place in its composition.  A part
of its oxygen has disappeared, and in  its place is found about
the same bulk  of carbonic acid or fixed air.   There is also
a considerable   quantity  of watery  vapour.   This  change is
undoubtedly connected  with the effect produced  upon the
colour of the blood  in respiration ;  and  many have endeav-
oured to give  some   account of  the mode  in which it  takes
place.  But it is a process which we shall  probably never be
able fully to understand.   A similar change is produced upon
the air respired by all animals of whatever  class.
   ' Respiration has been supposed  to be the  cause of animal
heat.   Various opinions have been advanced to account for the
manner in which it maintains the temperature of our bodies.
None  of  them, however, seems perfectly satisfactory.   It
appears undoubtedly  to  have some  very close  connexion
with  respifation, and  dependance upon it; for the  degree*of
heat  in animals is generally  proportioned to the  vigour and
quantity of respiration.   The temperature of birds is higher
than  that of man, and they consume a greater quantity of air.
Reptiles  and  fishes  have  cold  blood,  and  the  amount  of
respiration in them is  comparatively small.   The same remark
is true of all   cold-blooded animals.   But we are not yet
acquainted with the  exact nature of  the connexion between
respiration and animal heat.*

is spasmodically closed against them, and they do not enter the lungs ; such
are carbonic acid gas, ammoniacal gas, chlorine or oxymuriatic gas, <yc. when
unmixed. Other gases are inspired with sufficient ease, but produce death eith-
er merely for the want of oxygen, as hydrogen and pure azote;  or, in a certain
sense, by poisoning the blood or destroying its vital properties, as carburetted
and sulphuretted hydrogen, and carbonic oxide.  Oxygen alone, as has been
remarked above, and nitrous oxide, which  contains a greater proportion of
it than atmospheric air, are capable of supporting life for a considerable peri-
od but finally prove fatal.   The latter is celebrated for its intoxicating and
exhilirating effects, when respired.
    * ' Animal heat has been supposed to arise from a chemical action taking
place  in the lungs at the time of the change of venous blood into arterial,
in the same way that heat is produced by many other chemical operations ;
but if this were true, the lungs ought to be hotter than any other part of the
body, which is not the case. It has been als» supposed to arise from a great -
                  12 
90
BESP1RATION.
    'Respiration commences  immediately  after birth, and at
 (he same time  a change  is produced  in  the course  of the
 circulation.   Before birth, only  a very  small proportion  of
 the blood  is carried through  the lungs; but  after birth  and
 through life, the whole of it.   The  connexion between the
 action of the  lungs and that  of the heart, is very close and
 important.  The functions they perform are mutually depen-
 dent, and  neither  can  go on  alone.  If the circulation cease
 by the  cessation of the action of the heart, respiration is im-
 mediately  interrupted.   If, on the  other  hand, respiration be
 impeded, the heart does not stop at once ; but as the dark, ve-
 nous blood is no longer changed in its properties, as usual, in the
 lungs, it is returned to the heart in  the same state, and is then
 sent throughout the body;  and  being totally  unfit for the
 purposes of life, destroys it, by cutting  short the action of all
 the organs.   The effect of its contact upon  the  brain, is an
 immediate suspension of life ; ancl, if the cause be long contin-
 ued, it is never restored.   But in many cases of this kind, as in
 persons  apparently drowned, circulation and  respiration may
 be  renewed, if  they have not been too long  interrupted, by
 blowing air  into the lungs, and  by the application of warmth
 and stimulating substances to the body.
   ' Beside  these  uses of the function of respiration,  it  is
 made subservient to a number of other  important  purposes.
 All animals  furnished with lungs, express  their wants, their
 affections and aversions, their pleasures and pains,  either by
words, or by  sounds  peculiar  to  each species.  These  are
produced by  different changes  in the  windpipe  or  canal
through which the air is drawn  into the lungs.  The inferior
animals are  by  this means enabled  to maintain some sort of
communication  with  others of the same species, and. can, to
 a certain extent, convey information and express their affec-
tions and wants.   But  how far they are  intelligible  one to
 another, it  is  impossible to  ascertain.'    On man   alone
 nature has bestowed the faculty of  speaking, or of expressing
his various  feelings and  ideas, by a regular, extensive, and
 established combination of articulate sounds. To have extend-

er capacity for caloric  in the arterial, than in the venous blood, in conse-
quence of which, heat would be developed when the change from the former
to the latter takes place in the capillary vessels of the body.  This is more
probable, but still hardly satisfactory.   Neither of these hypotheses accounts
for the independent temperature of eggs, which resist coK longas they
retain their life ; nor for the power in men of resisting very high degrees of
heat, with hardly any increase of the temperature of their bodies. 
RESPIRATION.
91
ed this faculty to  the brute creation, would not, it is probable,
have been of any use to them ;  for, though some animals can
be  taught to articulate, yet none of them seem to have any
idea of the proper meaning of the words they utter.  Speech
is performed  by a very various and complicated machinery.
In speaking, the tongue, the lips, the jaws, the whole palate, the
nose, the throat, together with the muscles, bones, he. of which
these organs are composed, are  all  employed.  This combi-
nation of organs we are taught to use when so young, that we
are hardly conscious of the laborious task, and  far less of the
manner by which  we pronounce different letters and words.
The mode of pronouncing letters and words, however, may be
learned by attentively observing the different organs employed
by the speaker.  By  this means we are enabled  to  correct
the various defects of speech, and even to teach the dumb to
speak;  for dumbness is seldom the effect of imperfection in
the organs of  speech, but generally  arises  from  a  want of
hearing; and it is impossible for deaf men to  imitate sounds'
which they never heard, except they  be taught  to use their
organs by vision and by touching.
   When about  to  laugh, we make a  very full  inspiration,
which is  succeeded by  frequent,  interrupted, and sonorous
expirations.  When the titillation is great, whether  it arises
from the mind or  body, these  convulsive  expirations some-
times interrupt the breathing  to such a degree  as to endanger
suffocation.   Moderate laughing, on  the contrary, produces
health ; by agitating the whole  body, it  quickens the circula-
tion of the blood, gives  an inexpressible  cheerfulness to the
countenance, and  banishes every  kind  of  anxiety from the
mind.
   In weeping, we employ nearly the  same  organs as in
laughing.   It  commences  with a deep inspiration,  which is
succeeded by short, broken, sonorous, and disagreeable  expi-
rations.  The countenance has a dismal aspect, and  tears are
poured out.  Weeping originates from grief, or other painful sen-
sations either of body or mind.  When full vent  is  given to
tears, grief is greatly alleviated.  Both laughing and  weeping
have been reckoned peculiar to man.   But this notion seems
not to be well founded.  Though the other animals express not
their pleasures or pains in the  same manner as we do, yet all
of them exhibit their pleasant or painful feelings by symptoms
or cries, which are perfectly understood by the individuals of
each species, and, in many instances, by man.   \ dog,  when 
)2
til.MlRATION.
hurt, complains in the bitterest terms; and, when he is afraid
or perhaps melancholy, he expresses the situation of his mind
by the most deplorable howlings.   A bird, when sick, ceases
to sing, droops  the wing, abstains from food, assumes a lurid
aspect,  utters  melancholy,  weak  cries, and exhibits every
mark of depressed spirits.   By  this means, animals intimate
the assistance they require, or soften those who maltreat them.
Their plaintive  cries are sometimes so  affecting as to disarm
their enemies, or to procure the aid of  their equals.  On the
other hand, when animals are pleased or caressed, they dis-
cover, by their  countenance, by their voice, by their move-
ments, unequivocal symptoms of cheerfulness and alacrity of
mind.   Thus  the expression of pleasure and  pain by brute
animals, though  not uttered  in the precise manner with those
of the human species, are perfectly analogous, and answer the
same intentions  of nature.
   By  respiration and  the instruments  employed  in the per-
formance of it, the young of animals are enabled to extract milk
from the  breasts of  the mother.  By respiration, odours are
conveyed to the  nose ;  and coughing, sneezing, yawning, sigh-
ing, singing, and many  other functions of the animal economy,
are at least partly accomplished.
   ' The Respiration of Birds  is  carried on by an arrange-
ment of the lungs, very different from that of the Mammalia.
They are enabled to transmit air to almost every part of their
bodies, by means of membranous sacks  or bags, which receive
it from the lungs through  certain orifices or passages on the
surface of these organs.  The  lungs  themselves are firmly
attached  to the  ribs, and are almost incapable of dilatation or
contraction, but  the air passes through them into the sacks by
the action of the abdominal muscles.  In this way it is diffus-
ed not only throughout the thorax and abdomen, but extends
even  to the cavities of many of the bones, which are distin-
guished from the others by their lightness, their white colour,
and the  absence of any bloody matter or marrow in their
cavities.
   ' This provision answers  probably several important  pur;
poses.  It renders birds lighter in proportion  to their bulk,
than animals whose bones  are  filled with marrow  or  other
solid substances, and thus gives them some advantage in flight;
and generally in birds of the longest  and  highest flight, as
eagles, this extension or diffusion of air is carried farther than
in others.   But  a more important object of  it probably is, to 
"RESPIRATION.
93
contribute to the muscular strength of these  animals, by pro-
ducing  a  very extensive operation  upon the blood.   The
motions of birds in flight, require a much greater expenditure
of power,  than  those of walking or running in other animals.
This  power depends upon the  circulation of  the red, arterial
blood  in the muscles which exert it,  and in order to increase
the proportion of this in the system, the influence of the air is
carried over the whole  system, instead  of  being confined to
the lungs alone.  It has  been found that birds  consume, in
proportion to their size, more air than  quadrupeds; and this
arises from its  extensive influence upon the  blood.  Thus,
two sparrows were found by Lavoisier to require as much for
their  existence as a Guineapig, an  animal  many times as
large.   Another use ascribed  to this  arrangement by Mr
Hunter, is that of acting in  some degree, as a reservoir of air,
to prevent the  necessity of frequent respiration, which may
be supposed inconvenient to birds while moving rapidly on
the wing.
   ' The voice of birds is more remarkable and beautiful than
that of  any other animal except man ; and  on account of the
large quantity of air which they have at command, it is very
much more powerful. But the sounds uttered by man and quad-
rupeds are produced by the assistance of the mouth, at the top
of the windpipe ; whilst in birds the  organ of voice is situated
at the spot where it divides into two parts  to go to the lungs
on each side, that is to say, at the bottom of the throat.   The
variations of note are produced by a little  membrane in the
tube of the  windpipe, which is made to vibrate by the air;
and by means of a number of little muscles which either tight-
en or relax it, it is made to give  the various notes.   Hence, in
singing, birds seldom close or make any motions with their beaks.
That the voice is produced at this place, has been proved by cut-
ting off the neck of some birds, which still retained the power
of uttering their notes.   The other parts  of  the windpipe are
not, however, without their use.  Some changes of tone are
produced  by shortening or lengthening it, and others by con-
tracting or enlarg^ig its  upper opening into the mouth.   The
instrument of  voice, in  fact, resembles in many respects  a
musical instrument, and the excellence and  beauty  of the
notes of birds, depend very  much upon  imitation and  educa-
tion.   The  nightingale  if secluded  in a cage when  young,
never sings so perfectly  as in the wild state; unless exposed
in a place, where it can hear the sons of those which are at 
94
llE&PIRATION
liberty.   Many birds arc capable of imitating a great variety
of sounds, and some have been taught to sing very accurately
tunes of  human composition, merely  by playing them upon
some instrument in their hearing.
   ' The  lungs of Reptiles  do not consist, like  those of the
Mammalia  and  Birds, of a solid  organ  penetrated  in every
direction by the air tubes, but of a number of bags of a mem-
branous  texture, into which the air is conveyed    In some,
this is effected  by the motion of  the ribs and  muscles of the
abdomen, as  in serpents and lizards.  In others, as in frogs
and  tortoises, the air  is swallowed.   Respiration in these
animals is not performed so regularly  and constantly as in the
higher  classes.   Only a comparatively small  proportion of the
blood is  subjected to the influence of the air, at  once; ancl
they can  subsist for a very  considerable time without breath-
ing, though its suspension at length destroys them.   Tortoises
have been  known to live more than a month with their jaws
tied closely together, and their nostrils filled with sealing wax.
A  toad lived for five  days in ajar containing about a hundred
cubic inches of air.  In forty  inches, another toad  lived  for
twenty four hours, and  a frog  for fifty nine.   This is many
times longer than a warm-blooded animal could  exist under
the same circumstances.
    ' The temperature  of  the  bodies  of Reptiles  is gen-
erally that  of the air  and water in  which they  are  found.
Still they  have  the  power  of  resisting,  during  life, both
very high  and  very  low  temperatures ; and  as their heat
is  seldom, under any  circumstances, raised  to a  degree near
to that of our  bodies, they are  designated as cold-blooded
animals.   This circumstance proceeds,  probably,  in  some
way from the limited quantity of  their respiration ;  and with
the same cause is connected their slow and feeble motions,
their tendency to the dormant state, and in general their low
degree of vital  power.
   ' The  Respiration of  Fishes is  carried on  by means of gills
or branchiae, to which the air is applied through  the medium
of the water.   Every  portion  of  water Contains a certain
quantity  of air combined or mixed in some  way  with  it, and
by this means is made capable of supporting respiration.   A
current  of  water is  constantly  passed over the  gills by  the
action of the mouth, and produces the requisite change upon the
blood circulating through them.  This change is of the same
kind with that taking place in the warm-blooded  animals.  It 
RESPIRATION.
95
arises from the  influence of the  oxygen  in  the atmospheric
air;  and if the  water be examined, after fishes have respired
it, the air it contains will be found to have undergone  a simi-
lar change of composition with that breathed by quadrupeds
and birds.'
  When a  free  communication with  the external air is pre-
vented  by ice,  or by  artifice, fishes immediately  discover
symptoms of uneasiness, and soon perish.   iElian informs  us,
that, in  winter, when the river Ister was  frozen, the fishers
dug holes in the ice ; that great numbers of fishes resorted to
these holes; and that their eagerness was so  .great, that they
allowed  themselves to be seized  by  the hands of the fisher-
men.  Rondeletius made many experiments on  this subject..
If, says  he, fishes are put into a narrow-mouthed  vessel  filled
with water, and a communication with the air be preserved,
the  animals  live, and swim about, not  for days  and months
only, but for  several years.   If the mouth of  the vessel, how-
ever, be closely  shut, either with  the hand, or any other cov-
ering, that  the passage of the air is excluded, the fishes sud-
denly die.   Immediately  after the  mouth of the vessel is
closed, the creatures rush  tumultuously, one  above another,
to the top, contending which of tHem shall soonest receive  the
benefit of the air.   In the shallow parts of rivers, when frozen,
many fishes are found  dead.  But, when parts of a river  are
deep or rapid, the fishes fly from the  ice,  and by this means
avoid destruction.
  These, and similar experiments, have been repeated by  Mr
Willoughby, and many other modern  authors  ; and they have
uniformly been  attended with the same event.   A carp, in a
large vessel full of water, was placed in the receiver of an air-
pump.   In proportion as the tir  was  exhausted  by working
the pump, the surface of the animal's body was covered with
a pumber of bubbles.   The carp soon breathed  quicker, and
with more  difficulty.  A little after, it rose to the  surface in
quest of air.   The bubbles on its surface next disappeared ;
the belly, which before  was greatly swollen, suddenly collaps-
ed ; and the  animal sunk to the  bottom, and expired in con-
vulsions.
   ' Air is distributed  in  the  bodies of Insects by a great
number of tubes or canals called  trachea, which convey it to
every part.  These communicate with the  external air  by
means of openings called  stigmata, which furnish a constant
supply.   That  these organs are destined  for  the  transmission 
9t>
KESFIUATIO:..
of air, has been proved  by repeated experiments; for when
stopped up  by the application of oil, or other unctuous sub-
stances, the animals soon  lose  their  existence.   In some
insects they protrude  externally to some  distance from tiie
body, and have  the appearance of one,  two, or three tails;
and in others they arise from the back and sides.'
  In contemplating  the  parts of animals,  when the  uses  of
these parts are not apparent, wc  are apt to deceive ourselves
by rashly supposing them to answer purposes for which they
were never  intended by nature.   Impressed with this  idea,
M.  de Reaumur was not satisfied with the notion of Godart
and others, that the long tails of certain worms were intended
to keep them steady in their motions, and prevent them from
rolling.  Reaumur observed, that these worms or grubs could
lengthen or shorten  their tails at pleasure, but that they were
always longer  than  the  animal's body.  Because  these tails
have some  resemblance to  that of a rat, he distinguishes the
animals by  the name of rat-tailed worms.   These worms are
aquatic, and never appear on dry ground till they are about
to undergo  their first  transformation.  Reaumur, in  order  to
observe their  economy more closely, collected a number  of
rat-tailed worms, and put  them into a glass vessel filled two
inches high with  water.   At  first they  were considerably
agitated,  each  seemingly   searching  for a proper  place  of
repose.  Some of them swam  across, others attached them-
selves to the sides, and others rested at  the bottom  of the
vessel.  In  a  quarter of an hour they  were almost  entirely
tranquil, and Reaumur soon discovered the real use of their
long tails.   Upon examining  the vessel, he found that each
of the animals, in whatever situation they were placed, extend-
ed its tail exactly to the surface ; that, like other aquatic in-
sects, the respiration of air was necessary  to their existence ;
and that the tail, which is tubular, and open at the extremity, was
the organ by which this operation was performed.  In this ex-
periment, the distance from the bottom to the surface was two in-
ches and, of course, the tails were of equal length.  To discover
how far the animals  could extend  their  tails, he gradually
augmented  the height of the water, and  the tails uniformly
rose  to the  surface, till  it  was between  five and  six inches
high.  When  the water was raised higher,  the animals imme-
diately quitted their station  at the bottom, and either  mounted
higher in the water, or fixed  upon the sides of the vessel  in
situations vfhich rendered  it convenient for them to reach the 
RESPIRATION.
97
surface with  the  points of their  tails.  These tails consist of
two tubes,  both of which are capable of extension and con-
traction.   The first tube is always  visible ;  but the second,
which is the proper organ  of respiration, is exserted only
when the water is raised to a certain height.   Through this
tube the  air is conveyed  into two large  tracheas or  windpipes
within the body of  the animal, and maintains the principle of
life.  When  the  tails are below the surface, they occasionally
emit small bubbles of air, which are  visible to the naked eye ;
and  immediately are extended to the surface for fresh sup-
plies.  These worms pass the first  and longest part of their
lives under water ; when near the time of their transformation,
they  leave the  water, go under the ground, and  are  there
transformed  into chrysalids ;  and, lastly, from this state they
are transformed into flies, and spend the remainder of their
existence in the air.
  Another species of aquatic worms merit  attention.  They
frequent  marshes, ditches, and stagnating waters.  Their gen-
eral colour is a greenish brown. Their bodies consist of eleven
rings ; and their skin is not crustaceous, but  rather resembles
parchment.   Though these animals, before their transforma-
tion  into flies, live in water,  air is necessary  to support their
principle of life; and the apparatus with  which  Nature has
furnished them for that important purpose deserves our notice.
The  last ring or termination  of their bodies, is open,  and
serves as a conductor of air.   From this last ring  proceeds a
number of hairs, which,  when examined by the microscope,
are found to be real  feathers with regular  vanes.   In partic-
ular situations, they  bend  the last ring  in such a  manner as
to reach  the surface of the water or mud  in which they are
placed.  These feathers  prevent  the  water from entering into
the tube, or  organ  of respiration ;  and,  when the  animal
raises the termination of   its body to the surface, in  order to
receive air, it erects  and spreads the  feathers, and  by  this
means exposes the end of the tube to the atmosphere.  When
cautiously cut open, two  large vessels,  or tracheas,  appear on
each side, and occupy almost one half of the body.  Both
of these  windpipes  terminate in the open tube, or  last ring.
Though  these worms are  furnished with organs of respiration,
and actually respire  air, yet  M. de Reaumur discovered that
some of them could live  more than twenty-four hours without
respiration.
  So anxious is Nature  to provide animals,  in every state of
              13 
98
RESPIIIATION.
their existence, with air, that, after the transformation of many
insects  into chrysalids, she  creates  instruments for that pur-
pose, which  did  not exist previous to their  transformation.
The  rat-tailed worms,  formerly  mentioned, soon  after they
are transformed into chrysalids, instead of a soft, pliable skin,
are  covered with a  hard, crustaceous  substance,  seemingly
impervious to the air ; and the tail, which was the windpipe
of the animal  in its first state,  gradually  vanishes.  In a  few
hours, however,  four hollow horns shoot out, two from the
fore, and two from the hind part of  what was the head of the
animal.  These horns, which  are hard  and  tubular,  are dis-
covered to be real wrindpipes, destined for the introduction of
air  into the  chrysalis, a state  in which  the  animals have the
appearance  of being almost totally dead, and, of course, would
seem to have little use for respiration. It  is likewise discovered
that  these horns, which  pierced the hard exterior covering,
terminate  in as many tracheas in the body of the animal.  This
fact  affords  a strong example of the necessity of air  for sus-
taining the principle of life, even in its lowest condition.   Af-
ter these animals pass from the chrysalis state to that  of flies,
they are deprived both of  their tails and horns.  But  Nature,
in this last stage  of  their existence, has  not left them  without
proper resources  for the  introduction of air into their bodies.
Instead of protuberant  tracheas in the form of tails or horns,
they  now, like other flies, receive air by means  of stigmata,
or holes, variously  disposed  over  different parts of the  body.
  The nymphs of the  libella, or dragon-fly, respire water by
an  aperture at the termination  of their  bodies.  These
nymphs sometimes  throw  out  the water, at certain intervals,
with such  force, that the stream is perceptible at the distance
of two or three inches  from their bodies.  When  kept some
time out of the water, the desire or necessity  of respiration is
augmented ;  and, accordingly, when replaced  in  it,  inspira-
tions  and  expirations  are  repeated  with  unusual  force and
frequency.   If you hold one of these nymphs  in your  hand,
and apply  drops  of  water  to the  posterior end of its  body, it
instantly, by an  apparatus similar to the piston of a pump,
sucks it in, and the  dimensions of its body  are visibly  aug-
mented.   This water is again quickly thrown out by the same
instrument.   But, though this insect respires water, air seems
to be not  the less necessary  to its existence ; for,  like  other
insects, the  whole interior  part of  its body is amply provided
with large and convoluted tracheas;  and, externally, there are
several stigmata destined for the introduction of air 
RESPIRATION.
99
   The worms, or nymphs, of the ephemeron flies merit atten-
tion.  They have  received  the  denomination of ephemeron,
because very few of them survive the day  in which  they are
transformed info flies.   Many of them live  not one hour after
their transformation.  When  in the  worm  and nymph states,
they generally live in holes near the surface of  the water; and
under these two forms, continue to grow till they are mature
for passing into the last and shortest period of  their existence.
Swammerdam  informs  us, that some of them  remain three
years under water, others two, and others one only.
   On each side of  their bodies, there are six or  seven protu-
berances,  which have the appearance of so  many oars.  With
these instruments  the animals  describe  arches  in the water,
first on one side, and  then  on  the  other, with astonishing
rapidity.   This circumstance  led  Clutius, and   some other:
authors, to think that these protuberances were fins or instru-
ments  of  motion,   and that  the  animals were  fishes.  But
Reaumur  remarked that they moved these  fins with the same
rapidity when the animals  were at rest^as when they  were
in motion  ; and  that, instead of fins, whjen examined by the
microscope, he discovered them to be gills  through which the
creatures respire.  Each gill consists of a short trunk, and
two large  branches or tubes,  which give  off on all sides a
number of smaller ramifications, and are perfectly similar to
the tracheas of other insects.  At the origin of every gill, two
tracheas penetrate the trunk, and  are dispersed  through the
body of the animal.
   ' The  Crustacea, the Mollusca, and  Worms, all respire by
means of  gills, which, although they differ in some measure
from those of  fishes, are formed  upon  the same plan.  In a
few instances they respire air by itself, but  in general through
the medium of water alone.   In some animals  of these classes
the gills are situated  upon the outside  of their bodies, but
commonly within.   Zoophytes have no distinct organs for
respiration; yet the air seems, in  some way  or other, abso-
lutely necessary for their existence also, and  probably pene-
trates their bodies,  and acts  upon their  blood, by means
entirely unknown.   These animals are all cold-blooded.
   ' This chapter will be concluded by  a  few miscellaneous
remarks, relating to the respiration of  different animals and
appearances connected with it.'
   Land-snails, at the approach  of winter, bury themselves in
the earth,  or retire into holes of rocks, or of old buildings, 
100
RESPIRATION.
where they remain in a torpid state during the severity of the
season.   For protection and  warmth,  these  animals, when,
they  go  into their winter habitations, form, by  means of a
slime that issues from every  pore of  their bodies, a membra-
nous cover, which  stops up the mouths  of their shells,  lint
this pellicle or cover, though apparently pretty hard and solid,
is so thin  and  porous as not entirely  to  exclude the entrance
of air, without which  the principle of life could not  be con-
tinued.   Accordingly, when by accident the pellicle  is made
too thick, and  prevents a communication with the  external
air, the animal, to remedy  the  evil, makes a small aperture in
its cover.  In this state snails remain six or seven months, with-
out food or motion, till the genial warmth of the spring  breaks
their slumber, and calls  forth their active  powers.   Hence il
would appear, that air  is more immediately necessary  to the
preservation of animal life than food itself;  for, in numberless
instances, animals can  live, not  for  days or weeks, but for
months, without  supplies of nourishment.  None of them,
however, are capable of existing nearly so long without  having
some communication with the air.
  With regard  to snails that live in  fresh  waters, or  in  the
ocean, the species of which are  numerous, their  manner oi
respiring  is singular.  All of them have  an aperture  on the
right side of the neck, through which  they  respire.  They are
frequently observed to  straiten  the  orifice of this aperture,
to  stretch it out  in the form  of an oblong tube ; and,  in this
state, they rise to the surface, in order  to expel the  former
air, and take in a new supply.
  But, though  air seems to be an indispensable principle of
animal life, yet many animals can live longer without the use
of this element, or at least with smaller  quantities of  it, than
others.  Those animals  which lie torpid  during the winter,
as the hedge-hog, the  dormouse, the  marmot, &c. though
perhaps not entirely deprived of all communication with the air,
exist,  with  only  an occasional  and  interrupted respiration,
till the heat of the spring restores their wonted  powers  of life,
when a lull respiration  becomes again  equally  necessary as
before their torpor commenced.   The toad, like all  the frog
kind, is  torpid  in winter.   At  the  approach  of winter  it
retires to the  hollow root of a tree, to the cleft of a rock, and
sometimes to the bottom of a ditch, or pond, where it remains
for months in a state  of seeming  insensibility.   In  this last
situation  it can have very  little communication with  the air. 
RESPIRATION.
101
But still  the principle  of  life  is  continued, and the  animal
revives in the spring.   What is more wonderful, toads  have
been found, in a hundred places on the globe, inclosed in the
heart of  solid rocks, and  in the bodies of trees, where  they
must probably have existed for centuries, without any appar-
ent access either to nourishment or to air;  and yet  they  were
alive and vigorous.
   These facts are supported  by authorities so numerous and
so respectable, that it is unnecessary to quote them.  Many
abortive  attempts have been  made to account for an animal's
growing and living very  long  in the situations above  described,
without the possibility of receiving nourishment or  air ; espe-
cially as, like all other animals, when put into an  exhausted
receiver, it  is soon destroyed.  No satisfactory  explanation,
however, has ever been offered; and solitary exceptions like
these do not invalidate the general principle, that the respira-
tion of air, in a greater or less degree, is constantly necessary
to the existence of every living thing.
   ' The  presence of air is  as necessary to the life  of Plants,
as to that of animals.   They have a respiration carried on by
means of their leaves, which consumes in the same way the
oxygen of the atmosphere, and exhales, instead of it, carbonic
acid.'
   When placed in an  exhausted receiver, the air contained
in every part of their substance is soon  extracted ; and, in
proportion as this air is  likewise pumped out by the machine,
the flowers and  leaves  show evident symptoms  of debility  ;
they become flaccid, pendulous, and assume a sickly appear-
ance ; and, if retained  in  that situation a certain length of
time, their  vegetating powers are irrecoverably extinguished.
   Upon  the whole, as the air we continually breathe is liable
to be impregnated with exhalations  from every substance to
which it jias access, the great  importance of attention  to its
purity, is an obvious reflection.  In building  towns  or houses,
the situation, with  regard to  air,  is a capital object.   The
vicinity  of  marshes, of  stagnating waters, of  manufactures of
tallow, oil, sal-ammoniac, the smelting or corroding of metals
of every kind, and  many other operations  which contaminate
the air,  should be either avoided or removed, as they are the
pests of  our senses,  and the  poisoners of our  constitutions.
Even in northern  climates, houses surrounded with trees, or
in the  neighbourhood  of luxuriant  vegetables, are  always
damp, and infested with* insects ; and  hence the ambient air 
102
MOTIONS OF ANIMALS.
is replete with the seeds of disease.  Precautions of this kind
are still more necessary in hot climates.  Air absorbs a great-
er or less proportion of the particles of  bodies, according to
its degree of heat.  In  Madrid, however, in Constantinople,
and  in  many other cities  of  warm regions, the houses  arc
crowded together, the streets are narrow, and covered with
filth of every kind.  We cannot, therefore, be surprised, that
human  beings existing in  such  situations should  be so fre-
quently infected with pestilential diseases.
                     CHAPTER II.

               OF THE MOTIONS OF ANIMALS.

   ( The motions performed  by animals are of two kinds, vol-
untary and involuntary.  The first are  performed at the will
of the animal,  are under the direction of its intelligence and
judgment, and  are suggested by its desires, wants,  passions,
and  affections.   Such are the movements  of  its limbs, and
organs  of sense  and voice, by which  it moves about  from
place to place, and maintains a communication with its fellow-
beings.  The second, or involuntary  motions, are placed to-
tally out  of  the control of its will.  It has no influence over
their  performance, and  is  not even conscious that  they are
performed.   Of this kind are the motions  of  the  heart, the
stomach, he.
   ' The voluntary motions are  performed by the instrumen-
tality of  bones, articulations, muscles,  and tendons.   The
bones are connected  together  by the  articulations  or joints,
which are so constituted as  to  admit  of the moving of one
upon the other, like a hinge, as in  the knee ; or like a ball
and socket, as  in  the hip  and  shoulder.  The  muscles are
fleshy bodies of various lengths and sizes, formed of fibres, and
terminated by tendons.  These  last are white and very strong
cords, usually called sinews,  by  which the muscles are attach-
ed to the bones.   The muscles  have the power of shortening
or contracting  themselves ; and  in consequence  of a diminu-
tion of their length, the bones  to which they are fixed are
moved upon  their articulations in different  directions, accord- 
MOTIONS OP ANIMALS.
103
ing to the situation of the muscle.  And  by the combined
operations of a great many muscles, all the various motions of
the bodies of  animals are  performed.   Thus in mastication,
the under jaw is, by the contraction of  one set of muscles,
drawn upwards with great force, so that the lower teeth are
made to crush and grind the food against the upper;  this
contraction  continues but for a  moment, the muscles are re-
laxed, and  by another  set of them, the  jaw  is drawn down-
ward.  Ti.is motion is repeated as long as we continue eating.
This motion is more simple than that of most of  our limbs,
but they  are all performed upon the same general principle of
muscular action.'
   ' The muscles compose a great part of the bodies  of  most
animals.   They constitute the greater part of the meat which
is served up to us as food.  In quadrupeds and some parts of
birds, this  is red ;  in fishes and  most of the lower orders of
animals,  it  is  white.   It may be  distinguished  from other
parts by  its fibrous or stringy texture, which is more or less
distinct according to the size, strength, and  moving powers of
the animal  to which it belongs, and  in some is scarcely  to be
observed at all.  The contraction of muscles and  the conse-
quent motions  of  the different organs,'  depend upon  some
unknown influence  derived to them  from the brain and nerves.
Hence the brain and nerves  are the sources of every motion,
as well as  of every sensation.   With regard to the causes
which determine the actions of animals, these must be refer-
red  to  sensation,  and the consequent  exertions of  intellect.
The first impression an object  makes upon our senses stimu-
lates us either to approach or retire from  it, according as it
excites affection  or aversion.   But man,  and many  other
animals,  have the power  of resisting these original motives to
action, and  of remaining at rest, without  either  retiring or
approaching.  " If a man," says the Count de Buffon, " were
deprived of sight, he would make no movement to gratify his
eyes.    The same  thing  would  happen, if he were  depriv-
 ed of any  of the  other  senses; and,  if deprived of every
 sense, he would  remain  perpetually at rest,  and no object
would excite him to move, though, by natural conformation,
 he were fully capable of  motion."   Natural wants, as that Of
taking  nourishment, necessarily excite desire  or  appetite.
 But, if a man be  deprived of sensation, want cannot  exist,
because all its sources are  annihilated.  An animal  without
 some  sensation  is no animal, but  a dead mass  of matter. 
104
MOTIONS OF ANIMALS.
Sensation  is the only stimulus to animal  motion ; the aptness
of the parts produces the effect, which varies according to the
structure and destination of these  parts.   The sense of want
creates  desire.   Whenever  an animal  perceives an  object
fitted to supply  its wants, desire is the necessary consequence,
and action or motion instantly succeeds.
   ' With regard to motions of the  second kind, or involuntary
motions, they are also performed  by organs that  commonly
p.  ssess  muscular fibres, but they are not connected with bones.
The heart is a hollow  muscle,  which  contracts  in  eve re-
direction upon  the  blood, and  consequently  throws  it  with
gteat  force  into the arteries.   The stomach is also a  hollow
muscle, which  acts upon its contents by contraction;  and the
same is true of  most of the internal organs where motion is
produced.   By motions  of this  kind,  the  most  important
functions of the system are performed;  as the circulation of
the blood ; the  digestion of food;  the  peristaltic  motion of
the intestines ;  the  absorption of  the chyle;  its transmission
from the abdomen  into  the subclavian vein, he.   Yet none
of these operations has any  dependence  upon  our  will or
inclinations.'  Together with the action  of the lungs  in res-
piration, they have received the  denomination  of  vital and
involuntary motions, because most of them go on without any
conscious  exertions of the intellectual principle.   If  such a
variety of nice  and complicated movements had  been left to
the determination  and  direction  of our  minds, they must
necessarily have  occupied too much of  our  attention ; and
many of them would infallibly have been neglected during sleep,
when consciousness often is almost totally suspended.   But
Nature in  her operations is always  wise.  She has given to
man. and  other animals, the direction of no movements but
what  are  easily performed, contribute to  pleasure and  health,
and enable them to acquire food corresponding to the structure
of their bodies  and  the elements in which they  live.
   It would be foreign to the design of this work, and ill suited
to those to whom chiefly  it is intended to  be useful, to enter
into the rationale of animal motion ; to mention the number,
insertion,  and direction of the  muscles  employed  in moving
the different parts of animated bodies; or to account  for the
modes by which animals walk, leap,  fly, swim,  creep, he.
Such discussions  would not  only require  a volume, but a
thorough acquaintance with all the depths of  anatomical and
mathematical knowledge.  What follows, therefore, will coi 
MOTIONS OF ANIMALS.
105
sist of some desultory  observations ; and  the subject will be
concluded by  enumerating a  few examples  of movements
peculiar to certain animals.
   ' Every class of animals has  in general its limited sphere of
motion, from  which the  individuals belonging to it  seldom
depart.   Thus quadrupeds are constructed so as to move with
the greatest facility upon the earth, birds in the air, and  fishes
in the water ; yet there are exceptions with regard to all these
classes.   The  bat  is furnished  with  wings, and can traverse
the air with as  much  facility  as  many birds ; the ostrich,
though  furnished with wings, is confined to the earth, and can
only walk or  run ; whilst the flying-fish has fins so  large,
that it is capable of raising itself out of the water, and main-
taining  a flight for some time in the air.
   * The limbs of animals are always adapted to the particular
kind of motions which their mode of life requires.  Thus in
monkeys  and  apes, which  subsist principally upon the fruit
of trees, and in facfrmake them for the most  part  their place
of residence, in order to avoid  the destruction to which  they
are constantly  exposed from  beasts  of prey, the limbs are
particularly  adapted for climbing.  Upon plain ground they
seem to go with ease neither upon four  legs nor two.   In the
kanguroos, the hind legs are so  long in proportion to those
before,  that  they are scarce able to go on all fours, but  move
from place to  place principally by means of  immense leaps,
which  the great strength of their hind legs enables them to
make with  facility.  In the woodpecker, parrot, he.  whose
food obliges them to climb along the trunks and  branches of
trees in  search of it, the  toes  are  particularly adapted for
climbing; and  in the waders who go into very deep  water in
quest of their  prey, the legs  are of  very great length and
nearly destitute of feathers.  Examples of this kind might be
multiplied to a great extent.'
   The  motions of animals are proportioned  to their weight
and structure.   A flea can  leap some hundred times its own
length.  Were  an elephant, a camel, or a horse, to leap in the
same proportion, their weight  would crush them to atoms.
The same remark is applicable to spiders, worms, and other
insects.   The softness of  their texture, and  the comparative
smallness  of their  specific gravity, enable them to fall  with
impunity  from heights  that would prove fatal to larger and
heavier  animals.
   The different movements to which animals are stimulated
              14 
106
MOTIONS OF ANIMALS.
by the desire of food, by the appetite for frolic and exercise,
by their hostilities, and  by other exciting causes, give anima-
tion and vivacity to the  whole scene of nature.  A silent and
motionless prospect,  however beautiful and  variegated, soon
ceases to please, and at  last becomes insupportable.  Motion,
says Mr Harris, is  the object or cause of all sensation.   In
music we hear it;  in savours we taste it;  in  odours we smell
it;  in touch we feel it;  in light we see  it.
  Animals,  furnished with destructive weapons, or endowed
with uncommon strength,  courage, or  ingenuity, are propor-
tionally slower  in  their movements than  the weaker kinds.
The same remark  is applicable to those  species whose food
is always at hand.   Worms, caterpillars,  and  many  other
insects, in order to  procure nourishment, are under no neces-
sity of taking an extensive range.   But the motions of birds
and  fishes are  extremely  rapid ; because, in quest of food,
they are  obliged to pass through large,  tracts, and they have
also many enemies to avoid.             •
  Timid animals,  as  the hare, the  rabbit, the guineapig, fac.
are  almost perpetually  in  motion.   Even when perfectly un-
disturbed, they are restless, and betray  a continual anxiety of
danger.  They  run about, stop short, erect their ears, and
listen.   The guineapig frequently raises itself on its hind legs,
and snuffs all around to  catch the scent  of food when hungry,
or to increase its circle of hearing when afraid.
  The movements of many  animals are so extremely slow,
that some of them, particularly  those of the shell tribes, are
generally supposed to be-  destitute of the  power of  moving.
It is a common notion, that both the fresh and salt water muscles
have not the locomotive  faculty.  But this is a vulgar error. It is
almost unnecessary to mention, that  the exterior part of muscles
consists of two shells hinged  together, which  the animals can
open or  shut at  pleasure.  Every person must likewise have
observed, in the structure of  the animal  itself, a fleshy  protu-
berance  of a much  redder  colour, and  denser consistence,
than the  other parts of the  body.  This muscular protube-
rance which consists  of two lobes, has  been denominated a
trunk or tongue : but it is an instrument  by which  the crea-
ture is enabled to perform a progressive, though a very slow
motion;  and, therefore, in describing its manner of  moving,
I shall call these two lobes the animal's  tentacula or feet.
  When inclined  to  remove from  its  present  situation,  the
river muscle opens its  shell, thrusts out  its tentacula, and, 
MOTIONS OP ANIMALS.
, 107
while lying  on its side  in a horizontal position, digs  a small
furrow in  the sand.  Into this furrow, by the operation of the
same tentacula, the animal makes the shell fall,  and   thus
brings it  into  a vertical position.   We have now got our
muscle  on  end ; but how  is he to proceed ?  He stretches
forward his  tentacula, by which he  throws back  the  sand,
lengthens  the furrow, and this fulcrum enables him to proceed
on his journey.
  With regard  to  marine  muscles, their progressive motion
is performed in the same  manner, and  by the same instru-
ments.  When not in  motion,  they  are firmly  attached  to
rocks or small  stones, by  many  threads of about  two inches
in length, which serve  the purpose of a cable.  Without this
provision  of nature, these animals must  become the  sport of
the waves, and the species  would soon be annihilated.   But
how  does the creature spin  these threads ?   A cylindrical
canal extends from the origin to the extremity of the tentacula.
In this canal, an extremely glutinous substance is secreted,
which the  animal, by  the  operation of certain muscles, has
the  power of forcing out, and  of attaching,  in  the  form  of
strong threads, to stones or  other solid  bodies.  More than a
hdhdred and fifty of these cables are often employed in moor-
ing a single muscle.  The substance of the threads  is  exceed-
ingly viscous, indigestible in the human stomach, and  is prob-
ably  the  cause of  those fatal  consequences which sometimes
happen to inattentive  eaters.  In Scotland, these threads are
called the beards of muscles, and should be carefully pulled
off before the animals are thrown into the stomach.
   Other bivalved shellfish, the species of which are numerous
perform a progressive or retrograde motion, by an instrument
that has no small resemblance to a leg and foot. But the animals
can, at pleasure, make  this leg  assume almost every  kind of
form, according as  their exigencies may require.  By this leg
they are not only enabled to creep, to sink into the mud, or disen-
gage themselves from it, but to perform a motion, which no man
could suppose shellfish were  capable of performing.  When
the tellina, or limpin, is about to make a spring, it puts the
shell on  the point  or summit, as if  with a view to diminish
friction.  It then stretches out the leg as far as possible, makes
it embrace a portion of the shell, and by a sudden  movement
similar to that of a spring  let loose,  it strikes the  earth with
its leg, and actually leaps to a considerable distance.
   The spout-fish  has  a bivalved shell, which resembles the 
105
MOTIONS OV  ANIMALS.
handle of a razor.  This animal  is incapable of progressive
motion on the surface ;  but it digs a hole or cell in the sand,
sometimes two  feet in depth,  in which  it  can  ascend  and
descend at pleasure.  The instrument  or leg by which it per-
forms all its movements is situated at the centre.   This leg is
fleshy, cylindrical,  and  pretty  long.  When necessary,  the
animal can make the  termination of the leg assume the form
of a ball.  The spout-fish, when  lying on the surface of the
sand, and about to sink  into it, extends its leg from  the inferi-
or end of the shell, and  makes the extremity of it take on the
form of a shovel, sharp  on  each  side, and  terminating in a
point.  With  this instrument the  animal cuts  a hole in the
sand.  After the hole is made, it advances the leg still farther
into the sand,  makes it  assume the form of a hook, and with
this hook, as a fulcrum,  it obliges the shell to descend into the
hole.  In this  manner the animal operates till the shell totally
disappears.  When it chooses to regain the surface, it puts the
termination of the leg into the shape of a ball, and makes an
effort to  extend  the  whole  leg ;  but the ball  prevents any
farther descent, and the  muscular effort necessarily pushes the
shell upward till it reaches the surface  or top of the hole.   It
is amazing with what dexterity and quickness these  seemingly
awkward motions are performed.
  It is remarkable that the  spout-fish, though it  lives in  salt
water, abhors salt.  When a little salt is thrown into the hole,
the animal instantly quits its habitation.   But it is still more
remarkable, that, if you seize the animal with your  hand, and
afterwards  allow it to retire  into  its cell, you may strew as
much salt upon it as you please, but the fish  will never again
make its appearance.  If you do not  handle the animal, by
applying salt, you may make it come to the  surface  as often
as you incline ; and fishermen  often make use of this strata-
gem.  This behaviour indicates more sentiment and recollec-
tion than one would naturally expect for a spout-fish.
  The scallop, another well known bivalved shellfish, has the
power of progressive motion upon land, and likewise of swim-
ming on the surface of the water.   When this animal happens
to be deserted by the tide, it opens its shell to the full extent,
then shuts it with  a sudden jerk,  by which  it often rises five
or six inches from  the  ground.   In this  manner it  tumbles
forward till it regains  the  water.   When the sea  is  calm,
troops, or little fleets of scallops are often observed  swimming
on the surface.  They raise one  valve of their shell above the 
MOTIOl^S OF ANIMALS.
109
 surface, which becomes a kind of sail, while the other remains
 under the water, and  answers the  purpose of an anchor, by
 steadying the animal, and preventing its being overset.  When
 an enemy approaches, they instantly shut their shells, plunge
 to the bottom, and the whole  fleet  disappears.   By  what
 means they are enabled  to regain the surface, we are still
 ignorant.
   Like many  other bivalved  shellfish, the  oyster  has  the
 power of  squirting  out  water with  a considerable force.   By
 thus  suddenly and  forcibly ejecting  a  quantity  of  water, the
 animal  repulses such enemies as endeavour to  insinuate into
 its shell while  open.  By  the  same operation, if  not firmly
 attached  to  rocks,  to  stones, or to  one  another, the oyster
 retreats backwards, or starts to a side  in a lateral  direction.
 Any person may amuse  himself with the squirting and motions
 of oysters, by putting them in a plate situated in a  horizontal
 position, and which contains as much sea-water as is sufficient
 to cover them.   The oyster has been represented  by many
 authors, as an  animal  destitute  not only of  motion,  but  of
 every species of sensation.   The Abbe Dicquemare, however,
 has shown, that it can  perform movements perfectly  corres-
 ponding to its wants, to the dangers it apprehends,  and to the
 enemies by which  it is attacked.   Instead of being destitute
 of all sensation, oysters are capable of deriving knowledge
 from  experience.    When  removed from  situations which
 are constantly covered  with ihe sea, devoid  of experience,
 they open their shells, lose their water, and die in a few days.
 But even  when taken from  similar  situations,  and laid down
 in places  from which the sea occasionally  retires, they feel
 the effects of the sun's  rays, or of the cold  air, or  perhaps
 apprehend the attacks of enemies, and accordingly  learn to
 keep  their shells close till the tide  returns.  Conduct of this
 kind plainly  indicates both sensation  and a  degree  of intelli-
 gence.
  The progressive   motion  of the  sea-urchin, or  sea-egg, a
 well  known multivalved shellfish, merits our attention.  This
 animal, of which there are several  species, is round, oval, or
shaped like a bias-bowl.  The surface of the  shell  is divided
 into  beautiful  triangular  compartments,  and covered  with
 numberless  prickles; from  which  last circumstance  it has
received   the  appellation  of sea-urchin, or  sea-hedge-hog.
These triangles are  separated by regular belts, and perforated
by a great number of holes.   Each hole gives lodgment to a 
110
MOTIONS OF AtfJMALS.
fleshy  horn* similar to those of the snail, and  susceptible of
the same  movements.   Like  the  snail, the sea-urchin uses
its horns when in motion ;  but their  principal use is to fix
the animal to rocks, stones, or the  bottom of the ocean.  By
means  of the horns  and prickles, which proceed from almost
ever point  of the shell,  the  sea-urchin  is  enabled to walk
either on its back or on its belly.   The limbs it  most gener-
ally employs ate those which surround  the  mouth.   But,
when  it chooses, it can  move forward by  turning on  itself
like the wheel of a coach.  Thus the sea-urchin furnishes an
example of an animal employing many thousand  limbs in its
various movements.  The reader may try  to conceive the
number of muscles, of fibres, and  of other  apparatus, which
are requisite to the  progressive motion of this little  animal.
   The motion of that species of medusa, or sea-nettle, which
attaches itself to rocks, and to the larger shellfish, is extreme-
ly slow.   The  sea-nettles assume such a variety of figures,
that it  is  impossible to describe them under any  determinate
shape.   In general, their bodies have a resemblance to a trun-
cated cone.  The base of the cone is applied  to  the rock or
other substance to which they adhere.  With regard to colour,
some  of  them are red,  some greenish,  some whitish, and
others  are  brown.   When the  mouth, which is  very large,
is expanded, its margin is surrounded with a great number of
fleshy  filaments, or horns, similar to those of the snail.   These
horns are  disposed  in three rows around the mouth, and give
the animal  the  appearance of a flower.   Through each of
these horns the sea-nettle squirts water, like so manyjets-d'eau.
What  is peculiar in the structure of these creatures, the whole
interior part of their body, or cone, is one cavity, or stomach.
When   searching for food, they extend  their filaments, and
entangle any small animals they encounter.  When they meet
with their prey, they instantly swallow it, and shut their mouths
close like a purse.   Though  the animal should not exceed an
inch or an inch  and a half in diameter, as it is all mouth and
stomach  it swallows large whelks and muscles.   These shell-
animals sometimes remain many days in the stomach before
they are ejected.   Their  nutritious parts are at last, however,
extracted;  but  how does the sea-nettle get  quit of the shellP
The creature has no other aperture in its body but the mouth,
and this mouth  is  the instrument  by which it  both receives

           * £ee Introduction, p. 84. 
INSTINCT.                     Ill
nourishment, and  discharges the  excrement, or unprofitable
part of its food.   When the shell is not too large, the sea-net-
de has the power of turning its inside  out, and by this strange
manoeuvre the shell is thrown out of the body, and the animal
resumes  its former state.   But,  when the shell presents itself
in a wrong  position, the animal cannot discharge it in the
usual manner;  but, what is extremely singular, near the base
of the cone, the body of  the creature splits,  as  if a  large
wound had  been  made with a  knife, and through this gash
the shell  of the muscle, or other  shell, is ejected.
  With regard to the progressive motion  of the sea-nettle, it
is as slow as the hour-hand of a clock.  The whole external
part of its body is furnished with numerous muscles.  These
muscles are  tubular, and filled with a fluid, which makes  them
project in the  form of prickles.  By the instrumentality of
these  muscles, the animal is enabled to perform the very slow
motion just now mentioned.  But  this is not  the only means
by  which the  sea-nettle  is capable  of moving.   When  it
pleases, it can  loosen  the  base  of the cone by which  it  is
attached  to  the  rock, reverse its body, and employ the fila-
ments round  its mouth as so many limbs.   Still, however, its
movements are very slow.
                     CHAPTER HI.

                      OF INSTINCT.

   ' Animals exhibit, in many cases, an  appearance of skill,
forethought, sagacity, and  judgment, which seems  to indicate
a high degree of the reasoning faculty, or else an intuitive or
instinctive  knowledge  which  directs them in  their actions.
Philosophers have been at  a  loss  to  determine, whether in
these instances the sagacity of brutes  is to be attributed to
a power of judging and reasoning similar to that of man, or to
a mere instinct.  Some have contended that all the actions of
animals,  of whatever  kind, are  founded  upon experience,
observation, and reasoning; whilst  others maintain that they 
112
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE.
are  produced  by an  innate  and  original  principle, which
directs and governs the animal without any voluntary exercise
of judgment on its own part.
   'The probability is, that the truth lies between  these two
opinions.   Some of  the operations performed  by the higher
orders of animals, can only  be accounted for  upon the sup-
position, that they are  possessed of the same  intellectual
powers with  mankind, though to  a much  less extent; whilst,
on the other hand, many  of them can only be the result of a
blind and undiscriminating  instinct.  The  wonderful instances
of sagacity, memory, and other intellectual operations exhibit-
ed by dogs, elephants, horses, he. some of which will be re-
lated in the course of this  work, can only be the result of the
former ; whilst the prudence and anticipation of remote con-
sequences  so often exhibited  by  animals, particularly  those
of the class of insects, can only proceed  from  the latter.
   ' But with all their powers of mind, such as they are, and
all their curious and astonishing instincts, there is an immense
distance between man and other animals, with respect to the ca-
pacity for improvement.   The latter are not capable of making
progressive advancement from one generation to  another,
and  cannot transmit  nor  communicate  the  results of their
experience for the benefit of others.   Hence, although  in
some rare instances, brutes exhibit a sagacity and shrewdness
which seem to equal that which a man would evince in  simi-
lar circumstances, yet they do not  impart the  same qualities
to others  or to their offspring.    Man, who owes more  to
reason, owes  less to instinct than any  other animal; though
he is not entirely destitute of it.   His knowledge is, for the
most  part,  the  result of  his own experience and observation,
or of that  of others which has been communicated  to him,
and his  actions are guided  by  the knowledge thus acquired.
The infant is consequently more  helpless and  imbecile than
the young of other animals, and is long in acquiring the same
comparative degree of dexterity and cunning.
   ' In animals  possessed of both  intellect and instinct in a
considerable  degree, they  modify and assist the operation of
each other, and often give  to these animals the  appearance of
much higher exertions of  thought than  they  can really  lay
claim to.   Thus  the  instinct  of  the beaver  in building  his
habitation, is  in some measure guided and  modified by  his
experience and observation.  He accomodates  their structure
to the peculiar  situation of the place he  has fixed upon, and 
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE.
113
 the  circumstances of the surrounding country, and this has
 induced some to believe that the whole process on the part of
 this animal belongs to the understanding.  But  it is more
 probable that instinct  is  the main  guide, whilst  reason aids
 and modifies its operation.  The want of this aiding and mod-
 ifying influence of the rational principle, is shown in many
 remarkable instances among  the lower orders of animals,
 which possess it only to a small extent.  Thus the  instinct of
 the honey-bees  prompts  them to preserve their queen on all
 occasions  from injury or  from  escape ; but, under some cir-
 cumstances, it leads them to measures  for effecting  this pur-
 pose, which are so violent as to destroy her.   The  instinct of
 the flesh-fly induces it to  deposit its eggs in putrid  meat, but
 deceived by the  smell of a particular plant, which exactly
 resembles that of carrion, they hover around it and deposit them
 on its leaves, where they  can never come to perfection.  Ex-
 perience and observation, had  these insects been  capable of
 them, would have  directed  them to avoid these destructive
 consequences.
   ' The difference between an animal governed almost  wholly
 by instinct, and  one principally under the direction  of reason,
 can be in no way more strikingly illustrated, than by compar-
 ing the habitations of man with those of lower animals.   The
 dwellings  of  man differ in all ages  and   countries.   In
 his savage  state, they are  less perfect than the nests of birds,
 the huts  of the  beaver, or the cells of bees ; in the  cultivated
 stages of society, they are, it  is  unnecessary to  say,  almost
 infinitely more perfect.  His are  always varying, while theirs
 are always  the same, and  improve by experience and obser-
 vation only in some points of secondary importance.  They
 do not invent;  they only modify the suggestions of instinct,
from absolute necessity.   The first society of bees construct-
 ed their cells as  perfectly  as is  now  done;  they  have never
 improved;  but the first man had no shelter but such  as the
 foliage of a tree could afford  him.
   1 In considering  the facts which are known with  regard to
 instinct, they may be  arranged under  two  heads ;  the first
exhibiting examples of pure instinct; and the second, of such
instincts as can accommodate themselves to peculiar circum-
stances and situations, or such as are improvable by experi-
ence and observation.'
              15 
114
DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT.
                   1. Of pure Instincts.

  By pure instincts are meant those, which, independent of
all instruction and experience, instantaneously produce certain
actions when particular objects are presented  to animals, or
when they are influenced  by peculiar feelings.   Of  this class
the following are examples.
  In  the  human species, the instinct of  sucking is exerted
immediately after birth.  This instinct is  not excited  by any
smell peculiar  to the  mother, to milk, or to any other sub-
stance ; for infants suck indiscriminately every  thing brought
into contact with their mouths. The  desire of sucking, there-
fore, is innate, and coeval with the appetite for air.
  When  caterpillars are shaken off a tree in every  direction,
all of them  instantly  turn toward the  trunk,  and  climb up,
though they have never formerly  been on  the  surface of the
ground.
  Young  birds  open their mouths upon hearing  any  kind of
noise, as well as that of their mother's voice.   They have no
apprehensions of harm ; neither  do they  offer to  use their
wings till  they acquire more  strength and experience.  The
lion's cub is not ferocious till he feels force and  activity for
destruction.
  Insects invariably  deposit their  eggs  in situations most
favourable for  hatching  and  affording  nourishment to their
future progeny.   Butterflies, and other  insects, whose off-
spring feed upon vegetables, uniformly fix their eggs upon
such  plants as  are most agreeable to  the  palate and constitu-
tion  of  their young.  Water insects never  deposit  their eggs
on dry ground.   Butterflies which  have been  transformed in
the house, exhibit marks of the  greatest  uneasiness  because
they  cannot find a proper nidus for  their eggs ; and, when
every other resource  fails, they  paste  the eggs on the panes
of the window.
   Some species of animals look not to future wants.  Others,
as  the  bee and the  beaver, are  endowed with  an instinct
which has the  appearance of foresight.  They  construct mag-
azines, and fill them with provisions.
   The common bees attend the  female, or  queen, do her
 many little services, and even feed her with honey  from their
 trunks.   When deprived  of the female, all their labours cease,
 till a new one is obtained, whom they treat with  much res- 
DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT.          115
pect, and renew their usual  operations.  They make cells of
three different  dimensions, for  holding  workers, drones, and
females ; and  the  queen-bee, in  depositing her eggs, distin-
guishes the three different kinds,  and never puts a royal or a
drone  egg into the  cells destined for the reception of the
working  bees.   What is equally singular, the number of these
cells is proportioned  to that of the different bees to be produc-
ed.  One royal cell  weighs as much as one hundred of the
common  kind.  When  there  are several  females  in  a hive,
the bees  work  little till  they have destroyed all the females
but one.   If more than a single female were allowed to remain
in a hive, a greater number of eggs would be laid than the
working  bees are able to make cells for receiving.
   The wood-piercing bee, which is one of the solitary species,
gnaws  with amazing  rapidity and perseverance, a large hole
in old timber.   After laying her eggs in the cells, she deposits
such a quantity of glutinous matter  as  nourishes the worms
produced from these eggs till the  time of their transformation
into flies.  She then pastes up the mouth  of  the  hole, and
leaves  her future offspring  to the  provision she has made for
them.
   The bees of that species which build cylindrical nests with
rose leaves, exhibit  a very peculiar instinct.  They  first dig
a cylindrical hole in the earth.   When that operation is fin-
ished,  they  go in quest of rose-bushes; and, after selecting
leaves  proper  for their purpose, they  cut oblong, curved, and
even round  pieces, exactly suited to form the different  parts
of the cylinder.
   The solitary wasp digs holes in the sand.   In  each  hole
she deposits an egg.  But how is the worm, after it is hatched,
to be  nourished ?  Here the  instinct  of  the  mother  merits
attention.   Though  she feeds not  upon  flesh herself, and
certainly knows not that an animal is to proceed from the egg,
and far less that this animal must be  nourished with  other
animals,  she collects ten or twelve small green  worms, which
she piles one  above  another, rolls them up in a circular form,
and fixes them in the hole in such manner that they cannot
move.    When the wasp-worm is  hatched, it  is amply  stored
with the food  nature  has destined for its support.  The  green
worms are devoured in  succession;  and  the number deposi-
ted is exactly  proportioned to  the  time necessary  for the
growth and  transformation of the wasp-worm into a fly, when
it issues  from  the hole, and is capable of procuring its own
nourishment.. 
110
DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT.
   There arc many other instances of ichneumon wasps and
 flies, which,  though they  feed  not themselves  upon worms,
 lay up provisions of these animals for the nourishment of their
 young; and each  kind is adapted  to the constitution of the
 worm that is to proceed from their eggs.
   Birds of the same species, unless when restrained by pecul-
 i.ir circumstances,  uniformly  build their nests  of the same
 materials, and in  the same form and  situation,  though  they
 inhabit  very  different  climates.   When  removed  by neces-
 sity  from  their eggs, they hasten  back to  them  with anxi-
 ety.    They turn "and  shift their eggs, which has the effect
 of heating  them  equally.  Ducks and geese cover  up their
 eggs  till "they return to the  lest.    A  hen sits with  equal
 ardour upon eggs of a different species, or even upon artificial
eggs.
   The spider, the dermestes, and many  insects  of the beetle
kind, exhibit an instinct of a very uncommon nature.  When
put in terror by a touch of the finger,  the spider  runs off with
 iieat swiftness ;  but, if he finds that whatever  direction he
takes, he is opposed by another  finger, he then seems to des-
pair  of  being  able  to  escape, contracts  his limbs and body,
lies perfectly motionless, and  counterfeits every symptom of
death.   In this situation I have pierced spiders with pins, and
torn  them to pieces, without  their discovering  the smallest
mark of pain.  This simulation of death has been ascribed to
a  strong convulsion, or  stupor,  occasioned by  terror.  But
this solution of the phenomenon  is erroneous.  I have repeat-
edly tried the experiment, and  uniformly found, that, if  the
object of terror  be removed, in a few  seconds the  animal
runs off with great rapidity.  Some  beetles, when counterfeit-
ing death, suffer  themselves to be gradually roasted without
moving  a single joint.
2. Of instincts which  can accommodate  themselves to pecul-
  iar circumstances and situations, or such as are improvable
  by experience and observation.
  ' Almost all the instincts of the higher kinds of animals, are
included under this  division.  There are few of them which
are not capable of being  improved by education  and experi-
ence, and this is particularly the  case with those of man.'
  The ostrich has been accused  of unnaturalness, because she
 "nves her  eggs to be hatched by the heat  of  the sun.  In 
             DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT.          117

Senegal, where the heat is great, she neglects her eggs during
the day, but  sits upon them in the night.   At the Cape  of
Good Hope, however, where the  degree of  heat  is less, the
ostrich, like other birds, sits upon her eggs both day and night.
  Rabbits dig holes in the ground for  warmth and protection.
But, after continuing long in a domestic state, that resource
being unnecessary, they seldom employ  this  art.
  Bees, when they have not room enough for their operations,
augment the depth of their honey-cells.  The female bee, when
the cells are  not sufficiently  numerous  to receive her eggs,
lays two or three in  each cell.  But, a  few days after, when
the cells are increased, the working bees remove all the super-
numerary eggs, and  deposit them  in the newly constructed
cells.   ~
  When a wasp,  in attempting  to  transport a  dead com-
panion from the nest, finds the load too heavy, he  cuts off its
head,  and carries it out in two portions.
  In countries infested with monkeys, many birds, which, in
other  climates,  build  in bushes and clefts of trees, suspend
their nests upon  slender twigs, and,  by this ingenious device,
elude  the rapacity of their enemies.
  The  nymphs of water-moths, commonly  called cod-bait,
cover themselves, by  means of gluten, with  pieces of wood,
straw, small shells, or gravel.  It is necessary that they should
always be nearly in equilibrium with the water in which they
live.   To accomplish this purpose, when their habitations are
too heavy, they add a piece of wood ;  when  too light, a bit of
gravel.
  A cat was  known  to frequent a closet, the door of which
was fastened  by a  common iron latch.  A window was  situ-
ated near the  door.  When the door was shut, she gave her-
self no uneasiness.   As  soon as she was tired of her confine-
ment, she mounted on the sole of the window, and with her
paw dexterously lifted the latch and came out.  This practice
she continued for years.             •
  ' These are but a few examples of instinct; many others more
curious and interesting will be found  in  the different chapters
of this work, which  treat of other  subjects connected  with
the character and history of animals.'

  The notion that animals are machines, is perhaps too absurd
to merit refutation.   Though no animal is endowed with men-
tal powers equal to those of man, yet there is not a faculty of 
HQ          DIFFERENT KINDS OF INtSTINCT.

the human mind, but evident marks of  its existence arc to be
found  in  particular  animals.  Senses, memory, imagination,
the principle  of  imitation,  curiosity,  cunning,  ingenuity,
devotion, or respect for superiors, gratitude, are all discovera-
ble in  the brute creation.   Neither  is art  denied  to them.
They build in various styles ; they dig ; they wage war ;  they
extract peculiar substances from water, from plants, from the
earth ;  they modulate their voices so as to communicate  their
wants,  their sentiments, their pleasures and pains, their appre-
hensions of danger, and their prospects of future good.  Every
species has its own language.   They ask and give assistance
to each other.   They speak  of their  necessities ;  and this
branch of their language  is more or less extended, in propor-
tion to the number of their  wants.  Gestures and inarticulate
sounds are  the signs of  their thoughts.  It  is necessary that
the same sentiments should produce the same sounds and the
same   movements;  and, consequently,  each  individual of a
species must have the same organization.  Birds and quad-
rupeds, accordingly, are incapable  of holding discourse to
each other, or commmunicating the ideas and  feelings they
possess in common.  The language of gesture prepares for that
of articulation ;  and some animals are capable  of  acquiring a
knowledge of  articulate  sounds.   They first judge of our
thoughts by  our gestures;  and  afterwards acquire the habit
of connecting these thoughts with the  language in which we
express them.   It is in this manner that the elephant and the
dog learn to obey  the commands of their  masters.
   Infants  are exactly in  the same   condition with brutes.
They  understand some of our gestures and  words long before
they can articulate.  They  discover  their wants by  gestures
and inarticulate sounds, the meaning of which the nurse learns
by experience.   Different  infants  have different  modes ot
expressing their wants.   This is the reason why nurses  know
the intentions of infants,  though they are perfectly unintelligi-
ble to  strangers.   When'an  infant, accordingly, is transferred
from one  nurse to another, the former instructs the latter in
the gestures and inarticulate language  of the child.
   The idea of a machine implies a select combination of the
common  properties of matter.   The regularity of its move-
ments is a proof that they are totally distinct  from animal or
spontaneous motion.  A machine has  nothing analogous to
sensation, which is the lowest characteristic of an animal. An
animated machine, therefore, is an absurd abuse of terms.  1' 
DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT.          119
confounds  what nature  has distinguished in the most unam-
biguous manner.
  Brutes, like men, learn to see objects in their  proper posi-
tion, to judge of distances and heights, and of hurtful, pleasurable,
or indifferent bodies.  Withoutsome portion of reason, therefore,
they could never acquire the faculty of making a proper use of
their senses.   A dog, though  pressed  with  hunger, will  not
seize a piece of  meat in  the presence of his master, unless it
be given to him ; but, with  his eyes, his movements, and his
voice, he makes the most humble and expressive petition.   If
this balancing of motives be not reasoning, by what other name
can it be called ?
  Animals, recently  after birth, know not how to avoid dan-
ger.   Neither can they make a proper use of  their members.
But experience soon teaches them what is pleasant and what
is painful, what objects  are hurtful and what  salutary.  A
young cat, or  a dog, which has had no experience  of leaping
from a height, will, without hesitation,  precipitate itself from
the top of  a high wall.   But, after perceiving  that certain
heights  are hurtful, and  others inoffensive, the animal  learns
to make the distinction, and never afterwards can be prevailed
upon to leap  from a height which it knows will be  productive
of pain.
  Young  animals examine every object they meet  with.  In
this  investigation  they  employ all their organs.   The  first
periods of their life are dedicated to study.   When they   run
about, and make frolicksome gambols, it is Nature  sporting with
them for their instruction.   In this manner they improve their
faculties and  organs, and acquire an intimate knowledge of the
objects  which surround  the/n.   Men  who, from  peculiar
circumstances, have been prevented from mingling with com-
panions, and  engaging  in the different amusements and exer-
cises of youth, are always awkward in their movements, can-
not use their organs with ease or dexterity, and often continue
during life, ignorant of the most common objects. 
120
REUSES.
CHAPTER IV.
                     OF THE SENSES.

  No animal of  which we have any knowledge is endowerJ
with more  than the five external  senses  of smelling, tasting,
hearing, touch, and seeing;  and no  animal, however imper-
fect, is destitute of the whole.  Without  organs of sensation,
in a smaller or greater number, animal or intellectual existence
is to us an  inconceivable idea.
  Our observations on the different  instruments of sensation
will proceed in the following order, namely, of the senses of
smelling, of tasting, of hearing, of touch, and of seeing.   In
general, it may be remarked, that all sensation is  conveyed
to the mind by an unknown  influence of the nerves.   If the
optic, olfactory, or any nerve distributed over an  organ of
sensation, be cut, or rendered  paralytic, the animal  instantly
loses that particular sense.   This is a fact universally  estab-
lished by experiment.   But that the nerves, which are nearly
similar in every  part  of  the body,  should, when distributed
over  the eye, the ear, the  tongue, the  nose, convey to the
mind feelings so  different, is the most mysterious part of this
subject.
                      Of Smelling.

  In man, and many other animals, the organ by  which the
sense of smelling is conveyed to the mind,  has received the
general appellation of nose  or nostrils.   The more immediate
instrument of this sensation  is a soft, vascular, porous mem-
brane, and is known by the name of the pituitary membrane, ox
Schneiderian membrane.  This membrane is totally covered
with infinite ramifications  and convolutions of the  olfactory
nerves.   These  nerves are almost naked, and exposed to the
action of the air which passes  through the nose in  performing
the function of respiration.   But Nature, ever attentive to the
ease  and  convenience  of  her creatures, has  furnished the
nostrils with a  number of glands, or  small  arteries, which
secrete a thick, insipid mucus.  By this mucus, the olfactory 
SMELLING.
121
nerves are defended from the  action of the air, and  from the
painful stimuli of acrid odours.
  The odours perceived  by smelling  are extremely varfous.
Some of them convey to us the most delightful and refreshing
sensations, and  others  are  painful, noxious,  and disgusting.
The effluvia of  odoriferous bodies float in the  atmosphere,
and act  upon the olfactory  nerves of different animals, and
sometimes of different individuals of the same species, in such
a manner as  to produce very different sensations.  What is
pleasant  to  the nostrils of one animal  is highly  offensive to
those of  another.   Brute animals select  their food chiefly
by employing the  sense  of smelling, and  it seldom  deceives
them.  They easily distinguish noxious from salutary  food;
and they carefully avoid the one, and  use  the other  for nour-
ishment.   The same thing happens with regard  to the drink
of animals.   A cow, when it can be obtained, always repairs
to the clearest and  freshest stream ; but a  horse, from  some
instinctive impulse, uniformly  raises the mud with his feet,
and renders the water impure, before he drinks.
  In the selection of food, men are greatly assisted, even in
the most luxurious  state of society, byr the  sense  of  smelling.
By smelling we often reject food as noxious, and  will not risk
the other test of tasting.   Victuals which have a putrid  smell,
as equally offensive to our nostrils as hurtful  to our constitu-
tions, we avoid with abhorrence; but we are allured  to eat
substances which  have  a grateful  and savoury odour.   The
more  frequent and more  acute  discernment of brutes  in the
exercise  of this sense, is entirely owing to  their freedom, and
to their using natural productions alone.  But  men in society,
by the arts of cookery, by the unnatural assemblage  of twenty
ingredients in one dish, blunt, corrupt, and deceive both their
senses of smelling and  tasting.  Were we  in the  same natural
condition as the brutes,  our sense of smelling would enable us
to  distinguish, with equal certainty,  noxious from  salutary
food.   Brutes,  as well as  men,  prefer  particular  foods to
others.  This may be considered as a species of luxury; but
it should likewise be considered,  that all the  articles they
use  are  either animal  or vegetable substances in  a natural
state, neither converted  into  a thousand forms and  qualities
by the operation of fire and  water, nor having  their  savour
exalted  by  stimulating  condiments.   Domestic  animals are
nearly in the same condition with luxurious men.   A pamper- 
122
SENSES.
 ed dog snuffs  and  rejects  many kinds of  food, which, in a
 natural state, he would devour with eagerness.
   It is not unworthy of remark, that, in all animals, the organs
 of smelling and of tasting are uniformly situated  very near
 each other.   Here the intention of Nature  is evident.  The
 vicinity of  these  two senses  forms  a double  guard in the
 selection of food.   Were they placed in distant parts of the
 body,  they could not so  readily give mutual  aid.
   The air  we  breathe  is  perpetually impregnated with an
 infinity of different  particles  which  stimulate the olfactory
 nerves, and give rise to the sensation of smell.  When our
 senses are not vitiated by unnatural habits, they are not only
 faithful monitors of danger,  but convey to us the most exquis-
 ite pleasures.   Even the sense of smelling is always productive
 either  of  pleasure or pain.   The fragrance of a rose, and of
 many other flowers, is not only pleasant, but gives a refresh-
 ing and delightful  stimulus  to  the whole system, and may  be
 considered  as  a species of wholesome nourishment; while
 the odours proceeding from hemlock, and from many other
 noxious vegetable, animal, and mineral substances, are highly
 offensive to our nostrils.   Hence we  are naturally  compelled
 to embrace the one class of sensations and to avoid the other.
   Some animals, as the dog, the fox,  the raven, he. are en-
 dowed with a most exquisite sense of smelling.  A dog scents
 various kinds  of game at considerable distances;  and, if the
 fact were not confirmed  by daily experience, it could hardly
 gain credit, that he  can  trace  the odour of  his master's foot
 through all the  winding  streets of a  populous city.  U we
judge from our own feelings, this extreme sensibility in the
 nose of a dog is to us perfectly incomprehensible.
   ' In  animals which do not  breathe air,  the  odoriferous
 particles are conveyed to the  organ of smelling  through the
 medium of water.   In  fishes, the nostrils  do not form a
 tube or canal, as in animals  which  breathe air, but  con-
 sist of a simple cavity on each side of the nose,  into which
 the water, impregnated with odours, flows, and communicates
 the sensation of smell.
   ' In the invertebral animals, no distinct organ for this sense
 has ever been discovered, and yet they almost all appear to
 possess it in no inconsiderable degree.   Some insects, as was
 mentioned in  the last chapter, are  induced  by the odour of
 certain  fetid plants, to  deposit their  eggs  upon  the leaves,
 believing  them to be putrid flesh;  they must, therefore be 
TASTING.
123
possessed of the sense of smelling, for in no other way  could
they be deceived.  A probable conjecture with regard  to the
organ by which it is exercised, is that which refers it  to the
air tubes or tracheas, by which  they respire.  In the mollusca,
it is not improbable that the whole surface of the skin,  which
resembles  in its structure *he  pituitary  membrane  of other
animals, is the  seat of this sense  ; and the same may be true
of worms and zoophytes.'
                        Of Tasting.

   The tongue and palate are the great  instruments  of this
 sensation.   With  much wisdom and propriety, the organ of
 taste is situated in such a manner as enables it to be a  guardi-
 an to the alimentary canal, and to assist the organ of smell
 in distinguishing salutary from noxious food.   The  tongue is
 perpetually  moistened  with  saliva, a liquor which,  though
 insipid  itself,  is  one great cause  of all  tastes.   The saliva
 of animals  is  a  very  powerful solvent.   Every substance
 applied  to  the tongue  is partially dissolved  by the saliva
 before the sensation of  taste  is excited.   When the tongue is
 rendered dry, or coated by  disease, or  any  other  cause, the
 sense of taste is either vitiated or totally annihilated.
   ' When we  exercise  this sense,  the substance which we
 wish to taste  is pressed by the tongue against the roof of the
 mouth, and  the different  parts of the mouth are contracted
 closely around the tongue and the sapid body.   The  more
 complete and perfect  the contact which thus takes place, the
 more perfect  is the act of tasting.  The internal surface of
 the mouth is very  little  capable of perceiving or distinguishing
 tastes,  unless this pressure takes place.  In fact, if the mouth
 be held open and  a substance of even a pretty powerful taste
 be applied  to the tongue, the impression  it gives  is  very
 indistinct and  indefinite, and  becomes  perceptible only by
 closing the jaws and bringing  the tongue up into contact with
 the roof of the mouth.   Hence arises the pleasure we feel in
 the act of chewing and swallowing.  The motion of the jaw, and
 the action of the teeth  and tongue, mix the food with saliva,
 thus putting it into a fit state for producing  the sensation  of
taste, and, at  the same  time, convey  it between the  tongue
and the  roof of the mouth ; whilst, in swallowing, almost the
whole internal surface of the mouth contracts upon and comes 
121
SENSES.
 in contact with the morsel, raising  the pleasure of taste to the
 highest degree.'
   In some men the sense of taste is so blunt, that they cannot
 distinguish, with any degree of accuracy, the different species
 of  that sensation.   In others, whether  from  nature or  from
 habit, this sense is  so acute, that they can perceive the nicest
 distinctions in the savour of solids and of liquids.
   Though the sense of taste varies in some  individuals, yet,
 like figurative taste, the standard of agreeable and disagreeable,
 of  pleasant and  painful, is  almost universally diffused  over
 mankind and the brute creation.   Every horse, and every ox,
 when in a  natural  state, eats  or rejects  the same species of
 food.  But men in society, as well as domestic  animals, are
 induced  by  habit, by necessity, or by imitation, to acquire  a
 taste for many dishes, and  combinations of substances, which,
 before the natural discriminating sense is perverted, would be
 rejected with disgust.
   Some individuals of the human species have an aversion
 to particular kinds  of food, which are generally agreeable.
 This aversion may  be either original  or acquired.  I knew
 a child, who, from  the moment he was weaned, could never
 be induced to take milk of any kind. These original aversions
 must be ascribed  to some peculiar modification in the struc-
 ture of the organ, or in the disposition of its nerves.  But, in
 general, disgust  at  particular  foods is produced  by surfeits,
 which injure the stomach, and  create, in  that exquisitely  irri-
 table viscus, an insuperable antipathy to receive nourishment
 which formerly gave it so much uneasiness to digest.
  Brute animals, especially those which  feed upon herbage,
 and  are not  liable  to be corrupted by example or necessity,
 distinguish tastes with wonderful accuracy.   By the applica-
 tion  of the tongue, they  instantly  perceive whether any plant
 is salutary or noxious.  To enable them, amidst a thousand
 plants, to  make this discrimination, their nervous papillae, and
 their tongues, are proportionally  much larger than those of
 man. « This  sense indeed seems  particularly  intended as a
 guard to the digestive organs,  and subservient  to them ; and
 this  more especially in other  animals, than  in  man, who  is
 accustomed to depend  upon his judgment  and  experience,
 rather than his taste, in the selection of articles of food.   Still
 that  which is salutary for the stomach, is generally pleasant to
the taste.  It is probable that all animals possess the sense of
taste, to enable them to make choice of and  enjoy their food 
HEARING.
125
and that, in all of them, the sense resides in those organs
which are employed in receiving and swallowing it.'
                       Of Hearing.

  The sensation of hearing is conveyed to the mind by undu-
lations of air striking the ear,  an  organ of a  very delicate
and  complex  structure.   In quadrupeds,  the external  ears
are large, and  provided with muscles by which they can erect
and move them from side to side, in order to catch the undu-
lations produced in the air  by the  vibrations of sonorous
bodies, or to distinguish with greater accuracy7 the species of
sound, and  the nature and situation of the animal or object
from which  it  proceeds.   Though the human ears, like those
of quadrupeds, are furnished with muscles, evidently intended
for  similar movements, yet, 1  know not for what reasons,
there is not one man in a million who has the power of mov-
ing  his ears.   When we listen  to a feeble sound, we are con-
scious of an exertion;  but that exertion,  and  the  motions
produced by  it,  are confined  to  the  internal  parts of the
organ.
  The canals  or passages to the internal parts of the ear are
cylindrical, somewhat contorted, and become gradually smaller
till they reach the membrane, which covers what is called the
drum of  the ear.   This membrane, which is extremely sensi-
ble  when acted upon by undulations of air, however excited,
conveys,  by means of a complex apparatus of bones, nerves,
he. the sensation of sound to  the brain or sentient principle;
  Infants hear bluntly, because the  bones of their ears are
soft and cartilaginous; and, of course, the tremulations excited
in them by  the motions of the  air, are  comparatively  weak.
Young children, accordingly, are extremely  fond  of  npise.
It rouses  their attention, and  conveys to them the agreeable
sensation of sound;  but  feeble sounds are not perceived,
which gives infants, like deaf persons, the appearance of inat-
tention, or rather of stupidity.
  '  That air is the medium by which all sounds are propagat-
ed,  has been  established  by repeated experiments.    The
sound  of a bell suspended in  the  receiver  of an air-pump,
gradually diminishes  as  the  air is exhausted, till  it almost
entirely ceases to  be heard.  On  the other  hand,  when the
quantity of air  is increased by a condenser, the intensity of the 
126
SENSES.
sound is proportionally' augmented.   It  has also been proved
that sounds actually produced, cannot be transmitted through
a vacuum, or a space deprived of air.
   ' The undulations of the air by which  sounds are produced,
have been illustrated by comparing  them to the little circular
waves or  undulations  which are  produced  when a stone is
thrown into stagnant  water.   Similar  motions  are probably
produced  in the  air by the  vibrations of sonorous  bodies.
The celerity with  which sounds, or undulations of air, move,
has  been  computed.  All  sounds, whether acute or  grave,
strong or  weak, move at  the average rate of  1142 feel in a
second of time.   Hence,  whenever  lightning, or the  fire of
artillery is seen, its distance may be ascertained  by determin-
ing the interval which elapses  before the thunder, or  the re-
port is heard.*
   ' The force or intensity of sound is augmented by reflection
from  surrounding  bodies.   It  is  from  this  cause that  the
human voice, or any other noise, is  always weaker and less
distinctly  heard in the open air, than in a house.  A musket
discharged  upon a wide and extensive plain, sounds but little
louder than the burning of a squib, whilst among  buildings or
hills, where there  are  a thousand  reverberations, its report is
very loud.'
   The modifications of sound are not less various than those
of tastes or odours.  The ear is capable of distinguishing some
hundred tones  in  sound, and  probably as many degrees of
strength  in the same tones    By  combining  these,  many
thousand  simple  sounds,  which differ  either in tone  or in
strength, are perceived and distinguished  by the ear.  A violin,
a flute, a French-horn, may each of them give the same tone;
but the ear easily  makes  the  distinction.    The  immense
variety of sensations, arising from the  organs of smelling, of
tastilg, and of  hearing, enables animals to judge concerning
the nature  and situation of external  objects.   By  habit  we
learn to know  the  bodies  from which particular species of
sounds  proceed.   Previous to all experience, we could  not
distinguish whether a sound came from  the right or the left,
from above  or below, from a greater  or  a smaller distance, or
whether it was the sound of a coach, of a drum, of a bell, or
of an animal.
   * «lt has been lately ascertained that the velocity of sound is considerably
affected by different states of the atmosphere and of the weather, and by tbe
wind.  The  lowest rate of  its velocity is 1099, the highest 1164 feet per 
HEARING.
127
  Hearing enables us to perceive all the agreeable sensations
conveyed to our minds by the melody and harmony of sounds..
This, to  man at  least, is a  great source of  pleasure and of
innocent  amusement.   But some men  are almost  totally
destitute of the faculty of distinguishing  musical  sounds, and
of perceiving those delightful and diversified  feelings excited
by  the various combinations of musical tones.    Most  men
derive pleasure from  particular  species  of  music.   But a
musical ear,  in a restricted  sense, is by  no means a general
qualification.  An ear for music, however, though  not to be
acquired by  study, when the faculty itself is wanting, may be
highly improved by habit and culture.   Buffon, after examin-
ing a number of persons who had no ear for music, says, that
every one of them heard worse in one ear than in the other;
and ascribes  their inability of distinguishing musical express-
ion to that defect.  But a musical ear seems to have no  depen-
dence on  acuteness or bluntness of hearing,  whether  in one
or in both ears.   There  are  many  examples  of  people who
may be said to be half deaf, and yet are both fond of music
and skilful practitioners.  An ear  for music,  like a genius for
painting or  poetry, is a gift  of Nature, and is born with  the
possessor.
   Beside  the innumerable  pleasures we  derive  from musie
and agreeable sounds, the extension and  improvement  of arti-
ficial language must be considered as objects of the greatest
importance to the human race.   Without the sense of hearing,
mankind  would  forever have remained  mute.   I mention
artificial,  or improved language,  because, from a  thousand
observations which every person must have made, it is perfect-
ly apparent, that, if destitute of a  natural language,  neither
man nor the brute creation  could  possibly have existed and
continued  their species.  As brutes, without information  or
experience, are capable of communicating to each other, by
particular sounds and gestures, their pleasures and pains,  their
wants and desires, it would be the highest absurdity  to sup-
pose that the great Creator should  have denied  to man, the
noblest animal that inhabits  this globe, the same indispensable
privilege.  Without a basis  there can be no fabric.  Without
a natural, no artificial  language could possibly have existed.
This point  is clearly  demonstrated, in a few words, by that
most ingenious, candid, and profound philosopher, Dr Thomas
Reid, formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy  in the University 
129
SENSES.
of Glasgow.  " It mankind," says Dr Reid, " had not a natural
language, they could never  have invented  an artificial one by
their reason and  ingenuity.  For all  artificial  language sup-
poses some compact or agreement  to affix a certain  meaning
to certain signs ;  therefore, there must be  compacts or agree-
ments before the  use  of artificial signs ; but there can be no
compact or agreement  without signs, nor without language ;
and  therefore there must be  a natural  language before any
artificial language can be invented."*
                        Of Touch.

  The  sensations of  smelling, tasting, hearing, and  seeing,
are conveyed  to  us by  partial organs, which are all confined
to the head.   But the sense of touching, or of  feeling, is not
only common  to these organs, but extends over almost every
part of the body, whether external or internal.  Though every
sensation may be comprehended  under the general appellation
of feeling, yet what is called the sense of touch is properly
restricted  to the different sensations excited by bodies applied
to the skin, and particularly to the tips of the fingers.
   With regard to sensation  in general, it is worthy  of remark,
that the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, the tongue, and palate, the
palms of the hands, especially towards the points of the fingers,
are more  amply supplied with nerves than any  other external
parts of the body.  The terminations of the  nerves  on the
surface of the skin are soft and pulpy, and form minute protu-
berances resembling  the  nap of frieze-cloth, though  greatly
inferior in magnitude.  These  protuberances  have received
the denomination of nervous papilla.   They might be called
animal feelers ;  for they are obviously the  immediate instru-
ments of sensation.  If an object be presented  to  the eye, or
any other organ of  sensation,  certain  feelings are excited,
which are either agreeable or disagreeable, according to the
real or imaginary qualities which we consider as belonging to
that object.   The feelings  thus excited  instantly  produce a
change in the sensitive organs by which they are occasioned.
If the object  be possessed of disagreeable qualities, aversion
 is the necessary  consequence.   But, if beauty and utility are
 perceived in the  object, pleasant emotions spring up  in the

    *Dr Reid's Inquiry into the Human Mind, on the Principles of Common
 Sense.  S. 
TOUCH.
129
mind, which naturally induce a similar tone or disposition in
the organs suited for the enjoyment of these qualities.
  When examining  or enjoying  any object,  it is natural to
inquire, what are the changes produced in the nervous papillae
or organs of sensation ?  If  an object possessed of agreeable
feelings  is perceived, the nervous papillae instantly extend
themselves,  and, from  a  state of  flaccidity, become compara-
tively rigid.   This extension of the papillae is not conjectural;
it is founded on anatomical observation, and, in  some cases,
may be seen and felt by persons of acute and discerning sen-
sations.  When a man  in the dark inclines to examine  any
substance, in order  to discover  its figure, or  other qualities,
he  perceives a kind of rigidity at  the tips of his fingers.   If
the fingers are kept long in this state, the rigidity of the ner-
vous papillae will give him a kind of pain  or anxiety, which it
is impossible to describe.  The cause of  this pain is an over-
distension of the papillae.   If a small insect creeps on a man's
hand,  when  the  papillae are flaccid, its movements are not
perceived ; but, if he happens to direct his eye to the animal,
he immediately extends his papillae, and feels distinctly all its
motions.  If a4><>dy be  present, which, in the common state
of the nerves, has scarcely any sensible odour, by extending
the papillae of the nostrils, an agreeable, disagreeable, or indif-
ferent smell will be perceived.   When two persons are whis-
pering, and  we wish  to know  what is  said, we stretch the
papillae, and  other organs of hearing, which are exceedingly-
complex.  If a sound  is too  low for making an impression on
the papillae  in their natural state  of relaxation, we are apt to
over-stretch the organ, which produces a painful or irksome
feeling.   When we examine  a mite,  or any very minute
object, by the naked eye, a  pain  is  propagated  over every
part of that  organ.   Several  causes may  concur in producing
this pain, such  as the dilating of  the  pupil, and the adjusting
the crystalline lens ; but the  chief cause must  be  ascribed to
the preternatural  intumescence and extension of the papillae
of  the retina, the  substance  of  which  is a mere congeries of
nervous terminations.  This  circumstance confirms a former
remark,  that the  immediate organs  of sensation are more
copiously supplied  with  nervous papillae  than  those  parts
whose uses  require not such  exquisite sensibility;  for a dis-
tinction  in this respect is  observable even among the sensi-
tive organs  themselves.   They are furnished  with nerves
exactly proportioned  to  the subtility  of the  objects whose
                17 
130
SENSES.
impressions they  are fitted to receive.  The eye possesses by
far the greatest number.   The particles of light are so minute,
that  had  not  this wise provision been observed  in the con-
struction of the eye, it could  never have been able to distin-
guish objects with such accuracy as at present it is capable of
performing.  When an insipid  body, or a body which  con-
veys  but  a feeble sensation of taste, is applied to the tongue,
we are conscious  of an effort which that organ makes in order
to discover the  quality   of  the  body thus  applied.    This
effort is nothing  but the stretching of the nervous  papillae,
that they may enlarge the field of contact with the body under
examination.
  The  pleasure  or pain produced by  the  sense of touch,
depends chiefly on the friction, or number of impulses, made
upon  the  papillae.  Embrace any  agreeable body  with  your
hand, and  allow  it to remain perfectly at rest, and you will
find  the pleasure not half so exquisite as when the hand is
gently moved  backward  and forward upon the surface.  Ap-
ply the  hand to a piece of velvet, and  it  is merely agreeable;
rub the  hand repeatedly on  the surface of the cloth, and. the
pleasant feeling will be augmented  in  propor,ty?n to the num-
ber of impulses on the papillae.   When  a man  is pinched
with  hunger, the   sight or  idea of palatable food raises the
whole papillae of his tongue and stomach.   From this circum-
stance he  is highly regaled  by eating.   But if  he eats the
same  species of  food when  his  stomach is less keen, the
pleasure in the one case is not to be compared with what is
felt in the other.   The cause is obvious ; his  desire was not
so urgent; the object, of course, was less alluring ;  and there-
fore he was more remiss  in erecting  his papillae, or in putting
them  in a tone suited to such eminent gratification.
  The same observations are applicable to  disagreeable or
painful objects  of contact.   If the hand  is laid upon a  gritty
stone, or  a  piece of rusty  iron, the feeling  is disagreeable;
but if it is frequently rubbed upon the  surface of these bodies,
the feeling becomes insufferably irksome.
  It is  by the sense of touch, that men and  other  animals
are enabled to perceive and determine many qualities of ex-
ternal bodies.   By this sense we acquire the ideas of hardness
and softness, of roughness and smoothness, of heat and  cold,
of pressure and weight, of figure and of distance.   The sense
of touch is more uniform, and liable to fewer deceptions, than
those  of smelling, tasting, hearing,  and  seeing; because, in 
SEEING.
131
examining the qualities of objects, the bodies themselves must
be brought into actual  contact  with the  organ, without the
intervention of any  medium, the variations of which might
mislead the judgment.
  ' The accuracy of this sense is much improved by habit;
and in some cases where the senses of sight or hearing have
been injured, this has acquired so great a degree of sensibility,
as in a certain measure to  supply their loss.  Thus blind men
are sometimes able to distinguish the qualities of objects with
a wonderful  degree of exactness, by means of  the  sense of
touch ; and  the power they  frequently possess of determining
when they  approach a wall, has been attributed  in  part  to
their perception of the effects produced upon the skin by the
air, either on account of  a change in the degree of  its resis-
tance or from some  other alteration  in it with which  we are
unacquainted.'
                        Of Seeing.

   Of all the senses, that of seeing is unquestionably the noblest,
the most refined, and  the most extensive.  The ear informs
us of the existence of objects at comparatively'small  distances;
and its information is often  imperfect and fallacious.   But the
organ of sight, which is most admirably constructed, not only
enables us  to perceive  thousands of objects  at one glance,
together with their various  figures,  colours,  and  apparent
positions, but, even when unassisted, to form ideas of the sun
and planets, and  of many of the fixed stars; and thus connects
us  with  bodies  so remote, that  imagination  is lost  when it
attempts to form  a conception of  their immense magnitude
and distances.  This natural  field  of vision,  however  great,
has been vastly extended by the  invention of optical  instru-
ments.  When  aided  by the  telescope,  the  eye penetrates
into regions of space, and perceives stars innumerable, which,
without the assistance of art, would to us have no existence.
Our ideas of the beauty,  magnitude, and remoteness  or vicin-
ity of external objects, are  chiefly derived from this delicate
and acute instrument of sensation.
   ' The  globe of  the eye is  contained  within two coats, the
cornea and  the sclerotica.  The cornea is that circular trans-
parent membrane which covers a  part of the anterior portion
of the eye;  and  through whose central part  is seen  the pupil. 
132
iT.NSES.
It gives a passage to the rays of light, and presents the appear-
ance of a dark  circle, when contrasted with the white erf the
eye.  The remaining external covering of the organ is formed
by the sclerotic coat.   This, where it is visible,  is of a bluish
white colour, and  is called the white of the eye.   These two
coats together form a globe or ball, within which are  con-
tained  the  immediate instruments of vision, consisting of the
iris, the humours of the eye, and the retina.   The iris is that
coloured circle which surrounds the pupil  within the cornea,
and gives  the peculiar colour to the eye.   It is an extremely
sensible membrane, placed as a sort of  guard to the delicate
organs within, to  protect  them from  any  sudden changes of
light.   When the  light  is  strong,  the fibres of the iris dilate
towards the  centre, and  the  pupil  consequently  becomes
smaller, so that fewer rays  are admitted.   When the light is
weak, the  pupil becomes larger, and admits  a  larger num-
ber of rays.
  •Thehumoursof theeyeare three in number,the aqueous, the
crystalline, and the vitreous.  The crystalline humour isa double
convex lens, situated a little way behind the iris.   The space
which intervenes between this lens and the cornea is filled up
by the aqueous  humour.   This is nearly of the consistence
of water, and surrounds the  iris entirely, permitting  its  light
and delicate fibres  to float freely in  it.  The vitreous  humour
occupies the remaining back part of the eye.  It is contained in
a great number of  thin, membranaceous, and transparent cells,
which, when punctured, pour out a fluid of the consistence of
the white of an egg.  The rays of light, in passing  through
the humours, are  refracted, become concentrated, and  pro-
duce an image upon the retina.  This is a  membrane formed
by the optic nerve, which enters from the brain, is spread out
on the inner surface of the back part of the eye,  and receives
the impressions  made by the rays of light, after they have
been concentrated  by the humours.   This impression is trans-
mitted to  the brain, and  is  the immediate cause of vision.1
  By this curious  apparatus, all the phenomena of vision are
conveyed to the mind.   But before we enter upon the manner
in which the different parts of the eye concur in transmitting
the rays of light and the images of objects to the retina, it will
be necessary to give some general ideas concerning the nature
of light, which is the universal medium of vision.
  Light is supposed to consist  of innumerable particles of
matter,  which proceed  in direct  lines from  every  part of 
SEEING.
133
luminous bodies, and  constitute rays.  The motion of light,
though not instantaneous, is inconceivably swift.  It has been
discovered by philosophers, that rays of light coming from the
sun reach  this earth in eight  minutes.   Now the distance of
the earth from the sun is  so immense,  that, supposing a cannon
ball  to move at  the rate of five hundred feet  in a second, it
could not come from the sun to the earth in less than twenty-
five  years.  At  this rate, the velocity of light will  be above
ten million times greater  than that of a cannon ball.
   The rays of light, though they proceed in direct lines from
luminous bodies, are refracted, or bent  out  of their course,
in passing  through  different mediums, as  the  air,  glass,  and
every transparent substance ; but, when they fall upon opaque
bodies, they are reflected.   Rays proceeding from any object
and passing through a convex glass, or lens, are refracted  and
collected into a point, or small  space, at a certain  distance
from the glass, which is called the focus of that lens.
   The different humours of the eye,  and the crystalline lens,
are all denser than  air or  water ; of course, their  power of
refracting the rays  of light is  likewise greater.   The  rays
proceeding from every point of an object,  enter  the pupil;
and  the  refraction of the  different  parts of the eye, which
act as a lens, necessarily  makes  them cross  each  other in
their passage  to the retina.   After  crossing, they diverge till
they are stopped  by the retina, where they form an inverted
picture.  The upper part   of the object is painted on  the
lower part  of the retina, and the right side upon the left, he.
The celebrated Kepler first discovered, that distinct, but in-
verted, pictures of every  object we behold are  painted on the
retina by the rays of light proceeding  from visible objects.
This discovery naturally  led  Kepler, as well as many other
philosophers  since  his time, to  inquire how we  should  see
objects erect from inverted images on the retina.
   Many ingenious theories  have been invented, in order to ex-
plain this seemingly difficult question.   To give even a cursory
view of them would not only be tedious, but in a great meas-
ure  useless.   We  shall therefore only remark,  that their
authors have uniformly assumed  the principle, without proving
it, that  because the pictures are  inverted on the retina, the
mind ought also to  perceive them in  the same  position.   But
this does by no means follow, and we can only resolve it  into
this, that animals  see objects in  their real  position, although
their images  are inverted,  by a law of  nature.   It is certain, 
134
SENSE*.
that, unless distinct images are painted on the retina, objects
cannot be clearly perceived.   If, from too little light, remote-
ness, or any  other cause, a picture is indistinctly painted on
the retina, an obscure or indistinct  idea  of the object  is con-
veyed  to the mind.  The picture  on the retina, therefore,
is so far  the cause  of vision,  that,  unless  this  picture  be
clear and well  defined, our ideas of the figure, colour, and
other qualities of any  object  presented  to the eye, will  be
obscure and  imperfect.  The  retina of  the  eye  resembles a
canvass on which objects are painted. The  colours of these
pictures are bright  or obscure, in proportion to the  distances
of the objects  represented.  When  objects  are very remote,
their pictures on the retina are so faint, that  they are entirely
obliterated by the vigorous and lively impressions of nearer
objects, with which we arc every way  surrounded.   On the
other hand, when near objects emit a feeble  light  only, com-
pared with that which proceeds from a remote object, as, for
example, when  we view luminous  bodies in the night, then
very distant  objects  make  distinct pictures on the retina, and
become  perfectly visible.  Hence a man, by placing himself
in a dark situation, and  Looking through a long tube, without
the intervention  of  a glass, may  make  a kind of telescope,
which will have a considerable effect even during the day.  For
the same  reason, a man at the bottom of  a  deep pit can see
the stars at noon.
   Another question with  regard to vision  has been  much
agitated by philosophers.   Because a separate image of every
object is painted on the retina of each eye, it was concluded,
that we naturally see all  objects double; that we learn  to
correct this error of vision  by the sense of touching ; and that
if the sense of seeing were not  constantly rectified by that  of
touching, we should  be perpetually  deceived  as to  the posi-
tion, number, and situation of objects.  The  Count de Buffon
mentions the real fact, though he ascribes it to a wrong cause.
" When  two images," says he, " fall on corresponding  parts
of the retinae, or those parts which are always affected at the
same  time, objects appear single, because we are accustomed
to judge of them  in this manner.   But  when the images of
objects fall upon parts of  the  retinae which  are  not usually
affected at  the same time,  they  then  appear  double, because
we have  not acquired  the habit of rectifying this  unusual
sensation.  Mr Cheselden, in  his anatomy,  relates  the  case
of a man who had  been affected with a strabismus, or squint- 
SEEING.
135
 ing, in consequence of a blow on the  head.   This man saw
 every object double for along time :  but he gradually learned
 to correct this error of vision, with  regard to objects which
 were familiar to him ; and, at last,  he saw every  object single
 as formerly, though the squinting was never removed.   This
 is a proof  still more  direct, that  we  really  see all  objects
 double, and that  it is by habit  alone we learn  lo conceive
 them to be single."*
•  Jn this, and other passages, the Count de Buffon has point-
 ed out  the  genuine  cause  (or  ultimate  fact)  why we see
 objects single with two  eyes.    He tells us, that,  though
 a distinct image  is painted  on  each  retina, whenever  these
 images are painted on corresponding  points of the retinae, an
 object is  perceived to be single.   It is equally true, that,  when
 one eye is distorted by the finger, or any other cause, in such
 a manner that the images are painted on points  of the retinas
 which do not correspond, the object is perceived to be double.
 •bjects which are much nearer,  or much more  remote, than
 that  to which both eyes are directed, appear double.  If a
 candle  is  placed at the distance  of ten feet, and a man  holds
 his finger at arm's length  between  his eyes and the candle,
 when he  looks at  the  candle, he sees his finger double, and
 when he  looks at his finger, he sees  the candle double.  " In
 this phenomenon," Dr Reid properly remarks, " it  is evident
 to  those  who understand optics, that the  pictures of objects
 which are seen double, do not fall  upon points of the retinae
 which are similarly situated, but that  the pictures of objects
 seen singly  do fall upon  points  similarly situated.   Whence
 we infer, that as the points of the  two retinas, which are sim-
 ilarly situated with regard  to the  centres, do correspond, so
 those which are dissimilarly situated do not correspond.  It is
 to be observed, that although, in such cases as are mentioned
 in  the  last  phenomenon,  we have  been accustomed from
 infancy to see objects double which  we know to be single ;
 yet custom  and  experience of the unity of the object  never
 take away this appearance of duplicity."f
   The sense of seeing, without the aid of experience,-con-
 veys no  idea of distance.   If not assisted by  the sense of
 touching, all objects would  seem  to be  in contact with  the
 eye itself.   Objects appear larger or smaller according as they
 approach or recede  from the eye, or according to the  angle

   » Buffon, vol. 3, p. 7 Trans. S.
    t Dr Reid's Inquiry, &c. p. 287. S. 
lob
SENSES*
thev subtend.   A fly, when very  near the eye, seems  to be
larger than a horse or an ox  at  a distance.   Children  can
have no idea of  the  relative  magnitude  of  objects, because
they have no notion  of the different  distances at which they
are seen.   It is only  after measuring space by extending the
hand, or by transporting their  bodies from one place to anoth-
er, that children acquire just ideas concerning the real distan-
ces and magnitudes  of  objects.   Their  ideas of magnitude
result entirely from  the angle formed by the extreme rays
reflected from the superior  and  inferior  parts of the object:
hence every near object must appear to be  large, and  every
distant one small.  But after having, by touch, acquired ideas
of distances, the judgment concerning magnitude begins to be
rectified.   If we judge solely by the eye, and have not ac-
quired  the  habit o! considering the same objects to be equally
large, though seen at different distances, the nearest of two
men, though  of equal  size, would seem  to  be many  times
larger than the  farthest.  But we know  that the  last man is
equally large with the first; and,  therefore, we judge him to
be of the same dimensions.  Any  distance ceases to be famil-
iar to us, when  the interval is vertical, instead of being  hori-
zontal ; because  all  the  experiments by  which we usually
rectify  the  errors of vision, with regard to distances, are  made
horizontally.   We have not the habit of  judging concerning
the magnitude of objects which  are much elevated  above or
sunk below us.   This  is the reason that, when viewing men
from the top of  a tower, or when looking up to a  globe or
a cock on the top of a steeple, we think  these objects  much
smaller than when  seen at  equal distances  in a horizontal
direction.   During the night, on account of the darkness, we
have no proper idea of  distance, and, of course, judge of the
magnitude  of objects solely  by the largeness of the angle or
image formed in the  eyre, which necessarily produces a varie-
ty of deceptions.  When travelling in the night, we are  liable
to mistake  a bush that is near  us for a tree at a distance, or a
distant tree for a bush which is at hand.   When benighted in
a part of the country  with which  we are unacquainted, and,
of course, unable to judge of the distance and  figure of objects,
we are every moment  liable to all the deceptions of vision.
This is the origin of  that dread which  some  men feel in the
dark, and of those ghosts and  horrible figures which so  many
people positively  assert  they have seen  in the night.   Such
figures  are  commonly said  to exist in imagination  only ;  but 
SEEING.
137
they often have a real  existence in the eye;  for, when we
have no other mode of  recognising  unknown objects but by
the angle they form in the eye, their  magnitude is uniformly
augmented in  proportion  to their vicinity.  If an object, at
the distance of twenty  or thirty paces, appears to be only a
few  feet high, its height, when viewed within two  or three
feet of the eye, will  seem to  be many  fathoms.   Objects
in this situation must excite terror and astonishment in the
spectator, till  he approaches and recognises  them by actual
feeling ;  for, the moment a man examines an object properly,
the gigantic figure it assumed  in the eye  instantly vanishes,
and its apparent magnitude is reduced to its real dimensions.
But if, instead  of approaching an object of  this kind, the
spectator flies from it, he  retains the idea which the  image of
it formed in his eye, and  he may  affirm with  truth, that  he
beheld an object terrible  in  its  aspect, and enormous in its
size.   Hence the notion of spectres, and of horrible figures, is
founded  in nature, and depends not solely  on imagination.
   When we  have no idea of the  distance of objects  by  a
previous knowledge of  the space between them and  the eye,
we try to judge of  their magnitudes  by recognising their
figures.  But, when  their figures are not distinguishable, we
perceive those which are most brilliant in colour to be nearest
and those that are  most  obscure to  be at the greatest dis-
tance.  From this mode of judging  many deceptions originate.
When a  number of objects are placed in a right line,  as lamps
in a long street, we cannot judge of their proximity or remote-
ness  but by  the different quantities of light they transmit to
the eye.  Of course, if the lamps  nearest the  eye happen to
be more obscure than those  which are more remote, the first
will appear to be last, and the last first.
18 
136
INFANCY.
CHAPTER V.
                      OF INFANCY.

  By the term Infancy, is meant that portion  of life which
commences at birth, and  terminates at that period when ani-
mals  have acquired the  power  of self-preservation, without
any assistance from their parents.  This period varies greatly
in different animals.  Of course, when different species are
mentioned, the term infancy must  have very different limita-
tions with regard to time.
  The  state  of infancy,  in  the human  species,  continues
longer than in any other animal.   Infants, immediately after
birth, are indeed extremely helpless,  and  require every assis-
tance and attention from  the mother.   Most  writers, however,
on this  subject, seem to  have exaggerated not only the imbe-
cility, but the miseries of the infant state.
   Though infants  remain longer in a state of  imbecility than
the  young of  other animals, they  are  by no means  more
helpless.  The  instant after birth,  they are capable of sucking
whatever  is  presented to their mouths.   When in the same
condition, the young of the  opossum, of hares, rabbits, rats,
mice, he. can  do  no  more.   They can neither  move nor
support their bodies.   Besides, many quadrupeds are destitute
of the sense  of  seeing for several  days after birth.  But  the
faculty of vision is enjoyed  by infants the moment after they
come into the world.  This  faculty, in a few hours, becomes
 a great source of pleasure and amusement to  them ; but it is
 denied, for some days, to many other species of animals.  The
 young  of most birds are equally weak and helpless as human
 infants.  If  infants really suffer more pain and  misery  than
 other animals  in  the same  state,  Nature seems not  to merit
 that severity of censure which she has  sometimes  received.
 Men in society, like domestic animals, by luxury, by artificial
 modes of living, by unnatural and  vicious habits, debilitate
 their bodies, and  transmit to their  progeny the seeds of weak-
 ness and  uisease,  the effects of  which are not  felt by those
 who live  more agreeably to the general economy  and inten- 
INFANCY.
139
tions of Nature.  The children of savages, for the same rea-
son, whether in the hunting or shepherd  state, are more ro-
bust,  more  healthy, and liable to fewer  diseases, than those
produced by  men  in  the more enlightened  and  refined
stages of  society.   Even under the  same governments,
and  in the  same  state of civilization, a similar gradation
of imbecility and disease  is to be observed.   The children
of men of rank and fortune are,  in general,  more puny, de-
bilitated, and  diseased, than those of the peasant or  artifi-
cer.   Still, however, children, in their progress from  birth to
maturity, have  innumerable  sources of  pleasure, which alle-
viate, if they  do not fully compensate, the  pain  which  must
unavoidably be endured, whether in a more  natural or more
artificial state of  mankind.  If luxury and civilization debili-
tate  the constitutions of children, they give rise to many real
enjoyments which  are totally  unknown  to the savage.   His
wants are fewer ;  but his gratifications are more  than propor-
tionally diminished.
   From what  causes or  circumstances  particular modes in
the management of infants originate, it is difficult to determine.
But it  is certain  that savages, and the ruder  nations, in their
treatment  of infants, often discover  more  discernment and
propriety of conduct, than are to be found in  the  most polish-
ed stages of society.   The  negroes, the savages of Canada,
of Virginia, of Brasil, and  the natives of almost  the whole of
South  America,  lay their infants naked into hammocks, or
hanging beds of  cotton, or into cradles lined  with fur.  The
Peruvians  leave the arms of their infants  perfectly  loose  in a
kind of swathing-bag.  When  a little older, they are put, up
to the middle, in a hole dug out of the earth, and lined with
linen or cotton.  By this  contrivance, their  arms and  head
are perfectly free, and  they can bend  their bodies, and move
their arms and head, without  the smallest  danger of falling,
or of receiving any  injury.   To entice them to walk, when-
ever they are able to step, the breast is presented to them at a
little distance.   The children of negroes, when  very  young,
cling round, with their knees and legs, one of their mothers
haunches, and grasp the  breast with their   hands.   In this
position they adhere so firmly, that  they support themselves
without any assistance, and continue to suck  without danger
of falling, though the mother moves forward, or  works at her
usual labour.  These children, at the end of the second month,
begin to creep on their hands and  knees ; and, in this situa- 
140
INFANCY.
 tion, they  acquire, by  habit, the faculty of moving with sur-
 prising quickness.
   Many savages are remarkably attentive to the cleanliness of
 their children.  Though  they cannot  afford to change their
 furs so frequently as we do our linen, this  defect they supply
 by other  substances  of no  value.   The savages  of North
 America put wood-dust, obtained from decayed  trees, into the
 bottom of the cradle, and renew it as often as it is necessary.
 Upon this  powder  the children  are laid  and  covered  with
 skins.  This powder is very soft  and  quickly  absorbs mois-
 ture  of every  kind.   The  children in Virginia are  placed
 naked  upon a  board  covered with  cotton.  This practice is,
 likewise, almost general in the eastern  parts of Europe, and
 particularly in Turkey.
   Many northern nations plunge  their infants, immediately
 after birth, into cold water, without their receiving any injury.
 The  Laplanders  expose their new-born infants on  the snow
 till they are almost dead with cold, and then throw them  into
 a warm bath.   During the  first year, this seemingly harsh
 treatment is repeated three times every  day.   After that peri-
 od, the children are bathed in cold water  thrice every week.
 It is a general opinion in northern  regions, that cold bathing
 renders men more healthy and robust; and hence they inure
 their children, from their very birth, to this habit.
   With regard to the food of infants, it should consist,  for the
 first few months, of the mother's  milk  alone.   A child  may
 be injured by allowing it,  during that period, any other nour-
 ishment.   In Holland, in  Italy, in  Turkey, and over  the
 whole Levant, children, during the  first year, are not permit-
 ted to taste any other  food.  The  Canadian savages  nurse
 their  children four or five years, and sometimes  six or seven.
 In cases of necessity, the milk of quadrupeds may supply that
 of the mother.   But,  in such cases, it is best the child should
 draw it from  the animal; for the  degree  of  heat  is  always
 uniform and proper, and the milk, by the action of the mus-
 cles, is mixed with the saliva, which is a great promoter of
 digestion.   Several robust  peasants have been known to have
 had no other nurses than ewes.   After  two or  three months,
 children may be gradually accustomed to food somewhat more
 solid  than milk.  Before the teeth shoot  through  the gums,
 infants  are  incapable of  mastication.  During that period,
therefore,  it is obvious,  that Nature intended they should  be
nourished  solely by soft substances.  But after  they are fur- 
INFANCY.
141
 nished with teeth, it is equally obvious that they should occa-
 sionally be allowed food of a more solid texture.
   The lives of children, during the first three  or four years,
 are extremely precarious.  After that  period, their existence
 becomes gradually more certain.  According to Simpson's
 tables of the degress of mortality in London at  different ages,
 it appears, that, of a certain number of infants brought forth
 at  the same time, more than  a fourth part died the first year,
 more  than  a third in two years, and at least one half  at  the
 end of the third  year.   But the mortality of children is not
 nearly so great in every  place ; for, by a  number of experi-
 ments made in France, it has beenfehown, that  one half of
 the children born at the same time are  not extinct in less than
 seven or eight years.
   To treat of  the diseases of children, or  to enter  minutely
 into the causes which contribute  to  the  great  mortality of
 mankind in early infancy, is no part of our plan.  In general,
 these  causes are to be referred  to unnatural practices in the
 management of children, introduced by superstition, by igno-
 rance, and  by foolish  notions arising  from over-refinement,
 from  prejudice,  and  from hypothetical systems, while  the
 economy and analogy of Nature, in the conduct and situation
 of the inferior animals, are almost totally neglected.  An infant
 is no sooner brought into the world, than it is crammed with
 physic.  Nature's medicine for cleansing the bowels of infants,
 is the  milk of the mother.  But nurses absurdly imagine that
 drugs  will  answer this purpose  much   better.   All other ani-
 mals that give suck,  nurse their own  offspring ;  but  we  too
 frequently  delegate this tender and endearing office to strange
 women, whose constitutions,  habits of life, and  mental  dis-
 positions, are often totally different from those of  the genuine
 parent.  Infants,  recently after birth,  frequently  suffer from
 giving them, instead of the mother's milk, wine-whey, water-
 gruel,  and  similar unnatural  kinds of  nourishment.   In  this
 period  of  their existence, however,  very little food,  but a
 great deal of rest, is necessary for promoting their health, and
 securing their  ease and  tranquillity;   for infants, when not
 teased  by  officious cares, sleep almost  continually during
 several weeks  after birth.  Young animals are naturally fond
 of being in the open air ; but our infants, particularly in large
towns, are  almost perpetually shut up  in  warm  apartments,
 which  both relaxes their  bodies and enervates their minds.
The great  agility, strength, and -fine proportions  of  savages, 
142
INFANCY.
are results of a hardy education, of living  much  in the open
air, and of  an unrestrained use of all their organs the moment
after thev come into ihe world.
  In  young  animals, as well  as in infants, there is a gradual
progress, both in bodily  and  mental powers,  from birth  to
maturity.   These  powers  are  unfolded sooner or later,  ac-
cording to the nature and exigencies  of  particular  species.
This progress, in man, is very  slow.   Man acquires not  his
full stature  and strength of body till  several  years after the
age of puberty ;  and, with regard to his mind, his  judgment
and other faculties cannot  be said  to be perfectly ripe before
his thirtieth year.     4
   In  early infancy, though  the impressions received from
new objects must be siiong, the memory appears to be weak.
Many causes may  concur  in  producing this  effect.   In this
period of our existence, almost every  object is  new, and, of
course, engrosses  the whole  attention.  Hence the  idea of
any  particular object is obliterated by  the quick  succession
and novelty of others, joined to the force with which they act
upon  the mind.   Haller ascribes this want of  recollection to
a weakness of memory ; but it seems rather to proceed from
a confusion which  necessarily  results  from the  number and
strong impressions of new objects.  The  memory  ripens not
so much by a gradual  increase in the strength of that faculty,
as by a diminution, in the number and  novelty of the objects
which solicit  attention.   In a few years children are enabled
to express all  their wants  and  desires.   The number of new
objects daily  diminishes, and  the impressions  made by those
with  which  they  are  familiar,  become  comparatively small
and uninteresting.   Hence  their  habits of attention and
the ardour  of their minds begin  to relax.  Instead of a general
and undistinguished gratification of their senses, this is  the
period when  it is  necessary  to stimulate children,  by various
artifices, to apply  their minds steadily  to the examination of
particular objects, and to  the acquisition of  new  ideas from
more complicated and refined sources  of  information.  The
great basis of education is a habit of attention.   When  this
important  point  is  gained, the minds  of children  may  be
moulded into any  form.   But  that restlessness  and  appetite
for motion, which  Nature, for the wisest purposes,  has  im-
planted in  the constitution of all young  animals, should not be
too  severely  checked   Health and  vigour of  body are the
surest foundation* of strength and improvement of  mind.
   The duration of infancy, from  man  to the  insect tribc=. 
INFANCY.
143
seems, in general, to be  proportioned, not  to the extent of
life, but  to  the  sagacity  or  mental powers of the  different
classes  of animated  beings.  The  elephant  requires thirty
years, and the rhinoceros twenty, before they come to perfect
maturity.  But these years  mark not  the period of infancy;
for the animals, in a much shorter time, are capable of  pro-
curing their own  food,  and are  totally independent of any
aid from their parents.   The same  remark is  applicable to
the camel, the horse, the larger apes, &c.  Their ages of
puberty  are four, two and a half, and  three  years.  But in
these  quadrupeds, the terminations of infancy  are much more
early.   The smaller quadrupeds, as hares, rats, mice, he. are
mature at the end of the first  year after birth ;  and the guinea-
pig and  rabbit  require  only five  or  six  months.    There
is  a gradation of mental powers, though not without excep-
tions, from the larger to the more minute quadrupeds ; for the
dog and  fox, whose sagacity  is very  great, come to maturity
in  one year, and  their state  of  infancy is  short.   But of all
animals,  the  infancy  and helpless  condition of man are the
most prolonged ;  and the superiority and ductility of his mind
will not  be questioned.
   The infant state of birds is very short.  Most of the feath-
ered tribes arrive at perfection in less than  six  months; and
their sagacity is comparatively limited.
   Fishes receive no aid from their parents.   They no sooner
escape from the eggs of their mother, than they  are in a  con-
dition to procure nourishment, and to provide, in some meas-
ure, for their own safety.  Of the sagacity of fishes, owing to
the element in which they live, we have very little knowledge.
But their general character is stupidity, joined to a voracious
and indiscriminating  appetite for food.  In opposition to an
almost general law of Nature, which subsists  among  other
animals, fishes  devour, without  distinction,  every smaller or
weaker animal, whether it belongs to a different  species, or to
their own.  In animals of a much  higher  order, voracity of
appetite  is seldom accompanied with ingenuity or elegance of
taste.  When the principal attention of an  animal is engrossed
with any sensual appetite, it is a fair conclusion that the men-
tal powers are weak, because they are  chiefly  employed upon
the grossest of all objects.   If this observation be just, fishes
must be  ranked among the most stupid animals of equal mag-
nitude and activity
   The infant state  of insects  is a  various and  complicated 
141
INFANCY.
subject.  After they  escape from  the egg, they undergo so
many changes, and assume such a variety of forms, that it is
difficult to determine the period of their existence, which cor-
responds to the condition of infancy in the larger animals.  Dif-
ferent kinds remain a longeror shortertimein the formof worms
and chrysalids, and then of caterpillars, or grubs, before they
are changed into flics.   When young, like other  animals, they
are small and feeble ; but even in their most helpless condition,
with a very few exceptions, Nature is their only nurse.   They
require no aid from  their parents, who, in general, are totally
unacquainted  with their progeny.  But, as formerly observed
when treating of  instinct, the mothers  uniformly deposit their
eggs in situations which afford both protection  and nourish-
ment to their young.   The parent  fly, according  to  the
species,  invariably, unless  restrained  by necessity, deposits
her eggs upon particular plants, in the bodies of other animals,
in the  earth, or in water.    Whenever, therefore, an  insect
receives existence in  its primary form, all its wants are sup-
plied.   Though the mother, after  the worms  issue from the
eggs, takes no  charge of her  offspring, and frequently  does
not exist at the time they come forth, yet, by an unerring and
pure  instinct, she uniformly  places  them in situations where
the young find proper nourishment, and every  thing necessary
to their feeble condition.
   To this general law, by which  insects are  governed, there
are several exceptions.  Bees, and some other  flies, not only
construct nests for their young, but  actually  feed, and most ^
anxiously protect them.
   From what has been said concerning the infancy of animals,
one  general  remark merits attention.   Nature has  uniformly,
though by various modes,  provided  for the nourishment and
preservation of all animated beings while they are in an infan-
tine state.   Though the human species continues long in that
state, the attachment and solicitude of both parents, instead of
abating, in  proportion  to  the time and  labour bestowed on
their  progeny, constantly augment, and  commonly  remain
during life.   The reciprocal affection  of  parents and children
is one of the  greatest  sources of human happiness.   If the
love of  children were  not  strong, and if it  did not increase
with time, the labour, the  constant attention,  the anxiety and
 fatigue of mothers would  be insufferable.  But here Nature,
whose wisdom is  always conspicuous, makes affection brave
 every difficulty,  and  sooth  every  pain.  If a child be sickly. 
GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
145
 and require uncommon care, the exertions of the mother are
 wonderfully supported;  pity unites with love ; and these two
 passions  become so strong, that  hardships and  fatigue of
 every kind, are suffered with cheerfulness and alacrity.
   With  regard to the inferior  tribes of animals, Nature has
 not  been  less  provident.   To quadrupeds  and birds,  she
 has  given a strong and marked affection for their offspring as
 long as parental care is necessary.  But whenever the voting
 begin to be in a condition to protect and  provide for ffiem-
 selves, the attachment of the  parents gradually subsides;  they
 become  regardless of their  offspring,  at  last banish them
 with blows, from  their  presence, and, after that period, seem
 to have  no knowledge of the  objects which so lately  en-
 grossed  all the attention of their minds, and  occupied all
 the industry and labour of their bodies.   Here  the  dignity
and  superiority of man appears in a conspicuous light.   In-
stead of losing the knowledge of his offspring after they arrive
at maturity, his  affection  expands, and  embraces grandchild-
ren,  and great grandchildren, with equal warmth, as  if they
had immediately originated from himself.
                      CHAPTER VI.

           OF THE GROWTH AND  FOOD OF ANIMALS.

   It is a law of nature, that all organized  bodies, whether
 animal or vegetable, require food, in  order  to  expand  and
 strengthen their parts when young, and to preserve health and
 vigour  after they have arrived  at  maturity.   The food of
 animals is digested  in the  stomach  and intestines ; by  this
 process, it is converted into chyle, and absorbed by  the lacteal
 vessels, *in the manner already described.  But how this chyle
 or nutritious matter, after  mingling with  the general mass of
 blood, contributes to  the  growth and  repairs  the waste of
 animal  bodies, is a  mystery  which  probably never will be
 fully unfolded by human sagacity.
  ' Various theories have been invented by different philoso-
phers, with a  view to  the  explanation  of this mysterv,  but
              10 
14G
liROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMAL.?.
they have either proved  to be entirely without foundation on
facts, or to be totally inadequate to account for the  phenome-
na  observed.    Our knowledge concerning the  nature  of
nutrition  and growth, is extremely limited, and must continue
to be so.   We know that, in the animal kingdom, nutrition is
performed  by  means of the blood, which is forcibly  propelled
through every part of the body by the action  of the heart and
arteries ; and that vegetables,  in a similar  manner, are nour-
ished^ by the ascension and distribution of the  sap.   But of
the application of the nutritive particles to the various parts of
organized bodies, and  of the  manner in which they  expand
the organs, or repair their continual  waste and  loss of sub-
stance, we must content ourselves with remaining  in perpetual
ignorance.   It is however the opinion  of the most  rational
and well informed  physiologists, that the nutritious particles
of food  are conveyed by the  arteries, and applied by their
extremities to the various parts of animal bodies which require
to be repaired or expanded.'
  In general, the food of animals,  and  particularly  of the
human species, consists of animal  and vegetable substances,
combined  with  water,  or  other  fluids.    The  Gentoo and
some other southern nations,  live  entirely  upon  vegetable
diet.  From the accounls we have of the different  regions of
the earth, it appears, that the natives of warm climates, where
the cultivation of plants is practised, employ a greater propor-
tion of vegetable food  than in the more northern  countries.
The inhabitants of Lapland have little or  no dependence on
the fruits of the earth.   They neither sow nor reap.  They
still remain, and,  from  the nature of  their climate, must for-
ever remain  in  the  shepherd  state.   Their  comparative
riches  consist entirely of the number of rein-deer  possessed
by  individuals.    Their principal  nourishment is  derived
from the  flesh  and  milk  of  these  animals.    In autumn,
however,  they catch  great  multitudes of  fowls,  most   of
them of  the  game  kind.  With these,  while fresh, they not
only supply their present wants, but  dry and preserve them
through the winter.    They  likewise kill hares,  and other
animals,  which  abound  in  the woods  and  mountains; but
the flesh of the bear  is  their greatest  delicacy.  In their lakes
and rivers, they  have  inexhaustible  stores of fish, which, in
summer and autumn, they dry in the sun, or  in stoves, and in
winter  preserve by the  frost.   The  Laplanders drink water,
or animal oils; but never taste bread or salt.   They live in 
GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
147
 a pure air, and  have sufficient exercise.  Their constitutions
 are attempered  to the coldness of the climate;  and they are
 remarkable for  vigour  and longevity.   The gout, the stone,
 the rheumatism, and many other  diseases which torture the
 luxurious  in  milder climes,  are  totally unknown  to them.
 With the few gifts which Nature has bestowed  on thein, they
 remain satisfied, and live happily  among their mountains and
 their storms.  If southern  nations afford examples of  people
 who feed  nearly on vegetables alone,  the Laplanders  furnish
 one of the opposite extreme;  for they are almost entirely
 carnivorous.
   To Norway,  Sweden, Germany,  Britain, and  the United
 States, the same observation is applicable.  In these countries
 animal food is much more  used  than  in France, Spain, Italy,
 Barbary, and the other southern regions of the globe.  Many
 reasons may be assigned for  these differences  in the food of
 nations.   The natural productions of the earth depend  entire-
 ly on the climate.   In  warm climates, the  vegetables which
 grow spontaneously are both more luxuriant and  more various.
 Their fruits,  in number and richness, far  exceed  those  of
 colder regions.   From this circumstance, the natives must be
 stimulated to use a  proportionally  greater quantity of vegeta*
 ble food ; and we learn from history, and from travellers, that
 this is actually the case.  In cold countries, on  the contrary,
 vegetables are  not  only fewer, but more rigid, and contain
 less nourishment.   The  inhabitants, accordingly, are  obliged
 to live principally  on animal substances.  If we examine the
 mode of feeding in  different nations, it will be found, that  in
 proportion as men approach or recede from the poles, a great-
 er or  less  quantity  of animal and vegetable  substances are
 used in their diet.  Custom, laws, and religious  rites, it must
 be allowed, produce considerable  differences  in the  articles
 of food, among particular nations, which have no dependence
 on  climate, or  the  natural productions of the earth.  But
 when men  are  not fettered  or   prejudiced  by extraneous
 circumstances, or political institutions, the nature of their
 food is invariably determined by  the  climates  they inhabit.
 The variety of food, in any country, is likewise  greatly influ-
 enced  by culture and by imitation.  Commerce occasionally
 furnishes new species  of food,  particularly of  the vegetable
kind.   In Scotland,  till  about the beginning of  this century,
 the common people  lived almost entirely upon grain.  Since
 that period, the  culture and use of the potato, of many species 
14b
GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
of coleworts, and of fruits, have been introduced, and univer-
sally diffused through the nation.
   Whether man was originally  intended  by  Nature to live
solely upon animal or vegetable food, is a question which has
been much agitated both by the ancients and the moderns. Ma-
ny facts and circumstances concur in establishing the opinion,
that man  was designed  to  be  nourished  neither by animals
nor vegetables solely, but by a  mixture of both.   Agriculture
is an art the invention of which  must  depend on a number of
fortuitous   circumstances.   It requires a  long succession  of
ages before savage nations learn  this art.   They  depend
entirely for their  subsistence   upon   hunting wild  animals,
fishing, and such fruits as their country happens spontaneously
to produce.  This  has uniformly  been the manner  of  living
among all  the savage nations of which we  have any proper
knowledge; and seems to be a clear proof, that  animal  food
is by  no means  repugnant to the nature of man.   Besides,
the surface of the earth,  even in the most luxuriant  climates,
and though assisted by culture, is  not capable of producing
vegetable  food  in  sufficient quantity  to support  the human
race, after  any region of it has become so populous as Britain,
France, and many other nations.  The  general practice of
mankind,  when  not restrained by prejudice or superstition, of
feeding promiscuously on animal and vegetable substances, is
a strong indication, that  man is, partly at  least, a carnivorous
animal.  The Gentoos, though  their chief diet be vegetables,
afford no proper argument against this reasoning.  They are
obliged, by their religion, to abstain from the flesh of  animals;
and they are allowed to use milk, which is a very  nourishing
animal food.  Notwithstanding  this indulgence, the Gentoos
in general  are a meagre,  sickly, and feeble  race.   In  hot
climates, however, a very great  proportion of vegetable diet
may be used without any bad consequences.
   Other  arguments, tending to the  same  conclusion,  are
derived, not  from the customs   or practices of particular na-
tions, but from the structure of the human  body.   All animals
which feed upon vegetables alone, as formerly  remarked, have
stomachs and  intestines proportionally larger  than those that
live solely on animal substances.  Man, like the carnivorous
tribes, is furnished  with  cutting and  canine  teeth,  and, like
the graminivorous, with   a  double row  of grinders.   The
dimensions of his stomach and intestines likewise hold a  mean
proportion  between these two tribes of animals, which  differ 
GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
149
 so essentially  in their characters and  manners.  From these
 and  similar arguments, I  have no hesitation to conclude, that
 a promiscuous use  of animal and vegetable substances is no
 deviation from the original nature or destination of mankind,
 whatever country they may inhabit.
   With regard to the different proportions of animal and veg-
 etable food which are most accommodated  to the health and
 vigour of mankind, no general rule can  be given  that could
 be applicable to  different climates, and to  the different consti-
 tutions of  individuals.    Animal food, it  is  certain,  gives
 vigour to the body, and may  be used  more liberally by the
 active and  laborious than by  those  who  lead  a studious and
 sedentary life.  A  great  proportion of vegetable  food, and
 particularly of bread, is considered by  the most eminent phy-
 sicians, as best adapted for men who are fond of science and
 literature ; for, full meals of animal food load the stomach, and
 seldom fail to produce dulness, yawning, indolence, and many
 diseases which often prove fatal.
   ' Man is directed in the selection of his food, partly by acci-
 dent, and partly  by experience  and the aid of his senses.
 That which  is pleasant to his palate, is generally salutary to
 his  stomach ;  and  by a constant observation of the  effects
 produced by different kinds of food,  he  acquires a consider-
 able facility  in determining what  is proper.'  Other animals
 select their  food instinctively ;  and their choice  is chiefly
 determined by the sense of smelling.  The spaniel hunts his
 prey by the scent;  but the greyhound depends principally
 upon  the use of his eye.   When the  greyhound  loses sight
 of a hare, he instantly gives up the chace, and looks keenly
 around him,  but  never  applies his nose, in order to discover
 the track.  Some rapacious  animals, as wolves and  ravens,
 discover  carrion  at distances,  which,  if  we were  to judge
 from our own sense of smelling, would appear to be altogether
 incredible.   Others,  as eagles, hawks, gulls, he. surprise us
 no less by the acuteness of their sight.   They perceive, from
 great heights in the  air, mice, small  birds, and  minute fishes
 in the water.
  One great cause of the diffusion of animals over every part
 of the globe, is to be derived  from the diversity of  appetites
 for  particular species of food, implanted by  nature in  the
 different tribes.   Some fishes  are only to be found in certain
 latitudes.  Some animals  inhabit the frigid, others  the torrid
zone ;  some frequent  deserts, mountains, woods, lakes, and 
150
GROWTn AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
 meadows.   In their choice of situation, they are uniformly de-
 termined  to occupy such  places as  furnish them with food
 accommodated to their natures.  Monkeys, the elephant, and
 rhinoceros, fix  on the  torrid zone,  because  they  feed  on
 vegetables which flourish there during the whole year.   The
 rein-deer inhabit the cold regions of the north, because these
 countries produce the greatest quantity of the lichen, a species
 of moss,  which  is their beloved food.   The  pelican  makes
 choice of dry and desert places to lay her eggs.   When her
 young are  hatched, she  is obliged to bring water to them
 from  great distances.   To enable her to  perform this necessa-
 ry office, nature  has provided  her with a  large sack,  which
 extends from the tip of the upper mandible of  her  bill  to the
 throat, and  holds as much water as will  supply her brood for
 several days.  This water she  pours into the nest to cool her
 young,  to  allay  their  thirst,  and  to  teach  them to  swim.
 Lions, tigers, and  other rapacious  animals, resort to these
 nests, drink the water, and  are said not to injure the young.
 The goat  ascends the  rocky  precipice, to crop the leaves of
 shrubs and other favorite plants.   The sloth and the squirrel
 feed upon the leaves and the fruit of trees, and  are, therefore,
 furnished  with  feet  which  enable them to climb.  Water-
 fowls live upon fishes,  insects,  and the eggs of  fishes.   Their
 bill,  neck,  wings, legs, and   whole  structure,  are  nicely
fitted for enabling them to  catch the food adapted to their
 natures.   Their feeding  upon  the eggs of fishes, accounts for
 that variety of fishes which are often found in lakes and pools
 on the tops of hills, and on high grounds remote from the sea
 and  from  rivers.  The  bat  and the  goat-sucker  fly  about
 during the  night, when the whole air is filled with  moths and
 other nocturnal insects.  The bear, who acquires a  prodigious
 quantity of  fat during  the summer, retires  to  his  den, when
 provisions fail him, in winter,   rov some months, he receives
 his sole nourishment  from the absorption  of  the  fat  which
 had been previously  accumulated in  the cellular membrane.
  A glutton, brought from Siberia to Dresden, eat every day
 says M. Klein, thirty pounds of flesh without being satisfied.
 This fact  indicates an amazing digestive power  in so small
 a quadruped ; for the story of his squeezing  his  sides  be-
 tween two  trees, in order to make him disgorge,  is a mere
 fable. 
               GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.          151

  Siberia, Kamtschatka, and the polar regions are supposed
to be  the  abodes of  misery and desolation.   They are, it
must  be allowed, infested  with numerous tribes  of  bears,
foxes, gluttons, and other rapacious  animals.  But it should
be considered,  that these voracious animals supply the natives
with both food and clothing.  To elude the attacks of feroci-
ty, and to  acquire possession of the skins and carcasses of
such creatures, the  industry arixf dexterity of savage nations
are excited.  The furs are  demanded  by foreigners.  The
inhabitants  by  this means  learn commerce and  the  arts
of life ; and in  the progress of  time, bears and wild  beasts
become  the  instruments  of polishing  a   barbarous people.
Thus the most substantial good often proceeds from apparent
misfortune.
  There is hardly a  plant  that is not rejected as  food  by
some animals, and ardently  desired  by  others.   The horse
yields  the  common water-hemlock to the  goat,  and the cow
the long-leafed  water-hemlock  to  the sheep.   The goat,
again,  leaves   the  aconite,  or  bane-berries, to the  horse,
he.   Plants which afford  proper nourishment  to some  ani-
mals, are by others avoided, because they  would not only be
hurtful, but  even poisonous.  Hence no  plant  is absolutely
deleterious to  animal  life.   Poison  is only a relative term.
The euphorbia,  or  spurge, so  noxious  to man, is  greedily
devoured by some of the insect  tribes.
  It is a remark of the ingenious Reaumur, that such insects
as feed upon dead carcasses, and whose  fecundity is great,
never attack live animals.  The flesh-fly deposits her eggs in
the bodies of dead  animals, where  her progeny receive  that
nourishment which  is best suited to their  constitution.   But
this fly never  attempts  to  lay  her eggs in the flesh of sound
and living animals.   If Nature had determined her to observe
the opposite conduct, men, quadrupeds, and birds would have
been dreadfully afflicted  by the ravages of this  single insect.
Lest it might be imagined that  the  flesh-fly  selected dead,
instead of live  animals, because, in  depositing  her eggs, she
was unable to pierce the skin of the latter, M.  de Reaumur
made the following experiment, which removed  every doubt
that might arise on  the subject.   He carefully pulled  off all
the feathers from the thigh of a young pigeon, and applied to
it a thin  slice of beef, in which  there were hundreds of mag-
gots.   The portion of beef was not sufficient to maintain them
above a few hours.   He fixed it  to the thigh by a bit of gauze; 
 152           I.RUWTH AND FOOD OF ANIM\L£>.

 and he prevented the pigeon from moving, by tying its wings
 and le<rs.   The maggots soon shewed that their present situa-
 tion was disagreeable to  them   Most  of them retired  from
 under the slice of beef; and the few that remained perished in a
 short time  Theirdeath was probably occasioned by the degree
 of heat in the pigeon's body being greater than their constitution
 could  bear.   Upon  the  samA pigeon M. de  Reaumur per-
 formed another experiment.   He took off  the  skin from  its
 thigh,  laid bare the flesh, and  applied  immediately another
 slice of beef full of maggots.  The animals discovered evident
 marks  of uneasiness ; and all of  them that remained  on the
 flesh of the pigeon were deprived of life, as in the former
 experiment, in less than  an hour.  Thus the degree of heat
 that is necessary to such worms as inhabit  the interior parts
 of animals, is  destructive to those species  which  nature has
 destined to feed upon the flesh of dead animals.  Hence the
 worms sometimes  found in ulcerous sores, must belong to a
 different species from those upon which the above experiments
 were made.
  The growth of some  worms, which  feed  upon  animal  or
 vegetable  substances, is  extremely rapid   Rcdi  remarked,
 that these creatures, th#day after they escaped from the egg,
 had acquired at least double their former size.   At this period
 he  weighed them, and found that each  worm  weighed seven
 grains; but that, on the day preceding, it required from twen-
 ty-five to thirty of them  lo weigh a single grain.   Hence, in
 about the space of twenty-four  hours, each of these worms
 had become from one hundred and  fifty-five to two hundred
 and ten times heavier than formerly.  This rapidity of growth
 is remarkable in those maggots which are produced from the
eggs of the  common flesh-fly.
  Before we dismiss this subject, a few observations on that
power  inherent in all animal  bodies, of dissolving, and con-
verting  into chyle, the  nutritive  substances thrown into  the
stomach, merit attention.
  In order  to  explain  the process of digestion, some physi-
cians and philosophers have had recourse to mechanical force,
and others to chemical action.  The supporters of mechanical
force maintained,  that the stomachs of all animals comminut-
ed,  or broke down into small portions, every species of food,
and prepared  it for being converted into chyle.  The chemical
philosophers, on the contrary, supported  the opinion, that the
food was dissolved by a  fermentation induced by the saliva 
GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
153
and gastric juices.  The disputes which naturally  arose from
these seemingly opposite theories, stimulated the inquiries of
the ingenious, and  produced  several  curious and  important
discoveries.
   'Many physiologists have exerted their industry upon this
subject, but it would require more  space than  the design of
this work will allow, to give even an abridged account of all
their labours.   Therefore, only some of the most curious and
important results will be  presented.
   'Spallanzani, who made a great number of original obser-
vations and experiments  upon  digestion, directed his attention
to this function, as taking place in animals with three different
kinds of stomach   1. Those  with strong muscular stomachs
or gizzards,  as hens, turkeys, ducks,  geese,  pigeons, he.
2. Those with stomachs of an intermediate structure, as crows,
herons, he.  3. Those with membranous stomachs,  as man,
the mammalia,  many birds, particularly  the  accipitrine, rep-
tiles, and fishes.
   'I.  In  his experiments upon  birds with  strong gizzards,
Spallanzani forced  down their throats small glass and  metal
balls and tubes, filled with grain, and  perforated with  many
holes in  order  to give free admittance  to  the  gastric juice.
The grain was in its entire state.  At the end of different peri-
ods varying from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the animals
were killed and the balls examined.   No change had taken
place in the grain.   There was no diminution of size, and no
marks of dissolution were to be seen.   In all his experiments,
which were  numerous, the event was  uniformly the  same.
Suspecting that, although  the gastric juice might  be unable
to dissolve grains in their entire state, it might act as a solvent
upon them when sufficiently masticated or bruised, he repeat-
ed his experiments, filling his  balls with bruised grain.  In all
his numerous trials  upon this  plan, he invariably  found, that
the  grain was  more or  less  dissolved in proportion to  the
time the balls were allowed to remain in the stomach.
   'When tin tubes  full of grain were thrust into the stomachs
of turkeys, and allowed to continue there  a considerable time,
they were found to  be broken, crushed, ancl distorted in such
a manner as to evince the existence of a  most powerful com-
minuting force.'   " Having found," says  Spallanzani, " that
the tin tubes which  1 used for common fowls were incapable of
              20 
154
GROWTH  AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
resisting the stomach of turkeys, and not happening at that time
to be provided with any tin plate of greater thickness, 1 tried
to strengthen  them, by soldering  to  the ends two  circular
plates of the same  metal, perforated only  with a few holes for
the admission of the gastric fluid.  But this contrivance was
ineffectual; for after the tubes had been  twenty  hours in the
stomach of a turkey, the circular  plates  were driven  in, and
some of the tubes were broken, some compressed, apd some
distorted, in the most irregular manner."
   'These smooth substances, although so violently acted upon,
could not  injure the stomach, and Spallanzani was therefore
induced to  try the effect of sharp bodies.  He found  that the
stomach of a cock in twenty-four hours broke off  the angles
of a piece of rough, jagged glass, without  laceration or wound.
A leaden ball into  which twelve strong tin needles were firmly
fixed, with their  points projecting about a  quarter of an inch
from the surface, was then covered with a  case of paper and
forced  down the throat of a turkey.  The  animal discovered
no symptoms  of uneasiness, and at  the  end of a day  and a
half, when  the stomach  was  examined, the  points  of the
twelve needles were broken off close to the surface  of the
ball, except two or three, which  projected a little.  Two of
these points were discovered  among the food, the other ten
had probably passed out of the body.
   ' In another experiment still  more cruel  than this, twelve
small lancets were fixed  in  a similar manner, into a leaden
ball, and forced  down  the throat  of a turkey cock.   After
eight  hours the stomach was opened, but  nothing appeared
except the  naked ball, the  lancets having been  broken to
pieces.  The  stomach  itself was  found  perfectly  sound and
uninjured in both these experiments.
   ' It is common  in the gizzards of many birds, to find small
stones, which have been supposed  to assist  in breaking down
grain and other hard substances into small  fragments, to pre-
pare the way for their digestion.  Spallanzani has endeavour-
ed to prove that  the muscular action of the  gizzard is equally
powerful without  the stones.  In a number  of  pigeons which
he had fed from the egg himself, so as to prevent them from
obtaining stones, he found  that tin tubes, glass globules, and
fragments of broken glass, were acted upon in the same way
as in ordinary  circumstances; and  this happened also without
any laceration  of the stomach.  It is the opinion, however, of
the best physiologists,  notwithstanding  these  experiments, 
GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
155
that stones are extremely useful in the comminution of grain,
and  other  substances  which  constitute  the  food  of fowls,
though not absolutely essential.
  '2. In stomachs of an intermediate kind, such  as those of
crows, ravens, &c. the power and action of their coats upon sub-
stances contained within them, were found to be greatly inferior
to those of the strong muscular  stomachs.  But little alteration
was  produced upon the tubes  of tin, but when made of lead,
they were evidently compressed and flattened.  When unbro-
ken  grains and seeds were enclosed in perforated  tubes and
thrust into their  stomachs, no change whatever was produced,
no solution  appeared to have taken  place.  But  when the
same substances were  bruised into a coarse flour, so as to
get  rid  of their husks, a very sensible  diminution of their
bulk took place, and on being several times introduced, they
were finally entirely  dissolved. Wheat and beans, when ea-
ten voluntarily by the crow, offered similar phenomena.  Be-
fore swallowing, the animal  set them  under  its feet,  and
broke them in pieces by repeated  strokes of its beak ; and
then they  were very  well  digested.  But when  the  same
seeds were swallowed  entire, they were generally vomited
up, or voided  unaltered.  Similar  experiments were  made
with French  beans, pease,  nut kernels,  bread,  apples, and
different kinds of flesh and fish ;  and corresponding results
were obtained.'
   3. Spallanzani finished his  experiments on  digestion  with
those animals which have thin membranous stomachs, as man,
quadrupeds, fishes, reptiles, and  some  birds.  In  these, the
coats of the stomach seemed  to have little or no mechanical
action upon their contents ; the gastric juice being  fully suffi-
cient to break down the food,  and reduce it to a pulp.
   With regard to man, Dr Stevens, in an Inaugural Disserta-
tation  concerning digestion, published at  Edinburgh in the
year 1777, made several experiments  upon a German, who
gained a miserable livelihood by swallowing stones  for the
amusement of the people.  He began this strange practice at
the-age of seven, and had  at that time continued it  about
twenty  years.   He  swallowed six or eight  stones at a time,
some of them as large as a pigeon's egg, and passed them in the
natural  way.  Dr Stevens thought this poor man would be an
excellent subject  for ascertaining the solvent  power of the
gastric juice in the human stomach.  The Doctor, according-
ly, made use of him for this purpose.  He made the German 
15G
GROWTH  \M> FOOD OF ANIMALS.
swallow a hollow silver sphere, divided into two cavities by <\
partition, and perforated with a great number of holes, capable
of admitting an ordinary needle.   Into one of these cavities
he put four scruples and a half of raw beef, and into the other
five  scruples of  raw bleak.   In twenty-one hours*the sphere
was voided, when the beef had lost  a  scruple and a half,
and  the fish  two scruples.   A few days  afterwards,  the Ger-
man swallowed  the  same  sphere,  which contained, in  one
cavity, four scruples  and four grains of raw, and, in the other,
four scruples and  eight grains of boiled beef.  The sphere
was returned in forty-three hours ;  the raw flesh had lost one
scruple and  two grains, and the boiled one scruple  and  six-
teen grains.   Suspecting  that, if these substances  were  di-
vided,  the solvent would have a  freer access to them, and
more  of  them would  he  dissolved,  Dr  Stevens  procured
another sphere, with holes large enough to receive a crow's
quill.  He inclosed  some beef in it  a little  masticated.   In
thirty-eight hours after it was  swallowed, it was voided quite
empty.   Perceiving  how readily the chewed meat  was dis-
solved, he tried whether it  would dissolve equally soon with-
out being chewed.  With  this  view, he put  a scruple  and
eight grains of pork into one cavity, and the same quantity of
cheese into the other.  The sphere was retained in the Ger-
man's stomach and intestines forty-three hours ; at the end of
which  time, not the smallest quantity of either pork or cheese
was to  be found in the sphere.   He next  swallowed the same
sphere, which contained, in one partition, some roasted turkey,
and some boiled salt  herring  in the other.   The sphere was
voided in forty-six hours; but  no part of the turkey or her-
ring appeared ;  for  both  had been  completely dissolved.
Having discovered that animal substances, though  inclosed
in tubes, were easily dissolved  by the gastric juice, the Doc-
tor tried  whether it  would  produce  the  same  effect upon
vegetables.  He, therefore, inclosed an equal quantity of raw
parsnip and potato in a sphere.  After continuing forty-eight
hours in the, alimentary  canal, not a vestige of  either remain-
ed.  Pieces of apple  and  turnip, both raw and boiled, were
dissolved in thirty-six hours.
   It is a comfortable  circumstance  that  no animal,  perhaps,
except those  vyorms which  are generated  in the human intes-
tines, can resist the  dissolving power of  the gastric juice.
Dr Stevens inclosed  live leeches, and  earth-worms,  in diffe-
rent spheres, and  made the German  swallow  them.   When 
GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
157
the spheres were discharged, the animals were not only de-
prived of  life, but  completely dissolved, by the operation of
this powerful menstruum.  Hence, if any live reptile should
chance to be swallowed, we have no reason to apprehend any
danger from such an accident.
   The German left Edinburgh before the Doctor  had  an
opportunity  of  making a farther progress in his experiments.
He therefore had  recourse to dogs and ruminating animals.
In the course of his trials upon the solvent power in the gastric
fluid of dogs, he found that it was capable of dissolving hard
bones, and even balls of ivory;  but that, in  equal  times, very
little impression was made upon potatoes, parsnips, and other
vegetable  substances.   On  the contrary, in the ruminating
animals, as  the sheep, the ox, he. he discovered that their
gastric juice  speedily dissolved vegetables, but  made no im-
pression on  beef, mutton, and other animal bodies.    From
these  last experiments, it appears, that  the  different tribes of
animals are not less distinguished by their external figure, and
by  their manners,  than  by the  quality  and powers of their
gastric juices.   Dogs  are unable  to  digest vegetables, and
sheep  and oxen  cannot digest animal substances.   As the
gastric juice of the human stomach is  capable of dissolving,
nearly with   equal  ease, both  animals  and vegetables, this
circumstance affords a strong, and almost an irresistible proof,
that Nature   originally intended man  to feed promiscuously
upon both.
  Live animals, as  long as the vital principle remains in them,
are not  affected  by the solvent powers   of  the stomach.
" Hence it is,"  Mr Hunter remarks, " that we find animals of
various kinds living in the stomach, or even hatched and bred
there ; but the  moment that any of these lose the living prin-
ciple, they become  subject  to  the digestive powers  of  the
stomach.  V it were possible, for example,  for  a man's hand
to be introduced into the  stomach of a living animal, and kept
there  for some considerable time,  it would  be found,  that the
dissolvent powers of the stomach could have no effect upon  it;
but if the same hand were separated  from the  body, and in-
troduced into the same stomach, we should  then find, that the
stomach would immediately act upon it.  Indeed, if this were
not the case, we should find that the  stomach itself ought  to
have been made of indigestible materials ;   for, if the  living
principle  was not  capable of preserving  animal substances
from undergoing that process, the stomach itself would   be 
15b
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
digested.  But we find,  on the contrary,  that  the  stomach
which at one  insiant, that is, while  possessed of the living
principle, was  capable of resisting the digestive powers which
it contained, the  next moment, viz. when  deprived of the
living principle, is itself capable of being digestetl, either by
the digestive  powers of other stomachs, or by the remains of
that power which it had of digesting other things."
   When bodies are opened  some  time after death, a consid-
erable aperture is  frequently found at the greatest extremity
of the stomach.   " In  these cases,"  says  Mr Hunter, " the
contents of the stomach are  generally  found loose in the cavi-
ty of the abdomen, about  the spleen and  diaphiagm.  In
many subjects, this  digestive  power  extends much farther
than through  the stomach.  I  have often found, that, after it
had dissolved the stomach at the usual place, the contents ofthe
stomach had come into contact with the spleen and diaphragm,
had partly dissolved  the adjacent side of the spleen, and had
dissolved the stomach  quite through; so that  the contents of
the stomach were found in the cavity  of  the thorax, and had
even affected the lungs in a small degree."
                    CHAPTER VII.

          OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.

  The transformation  of caterpillars, and of different kinds
of worms, into winged  insects, has long excited the attention,
as well as the admiration of mankind.   But the truth  is, that
every animal, without exception,  undergoes changes in struc-
ture, mode of existence, and external appearances.   Mankind
from their embryo state, to their final dissolution, assume many
different  forms.   At birth, the form, symmetry, and organs of
the animal are  by no means complete.   The head continues
for some time to  be disproportionally  large; the  hands and
feet are not properly shaped; the legs are crooked ; the hair
on the head is short and scanty ;  no teeth as yet appear • and
there is not a vestige of a beard.   In a kw months, how'ever, 
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
159
the symmetry of all the parts is evidently improved, and the
teeth begin to shoot.  The growth of the whole body, as well
as the strength and beauty of its form, gradually  advances to
perfection till the sixth or seventh year, when another change
takes place.   At this period, the first  set of teeth are  shed,
and are replaced by new ones.   From boyhood to youth, the
size of the  body, and  of its different members, increases.
During  youth, several important changes are produced in the
system.  The beard  now  makes  its  appearance; and the
dimensions  of the  body, in  most individuals,  are suddenly
augmented.   From  this period, to  the age  of twenty-five or
thirty, the muscles swell, their interstices  are filled with fat,
the parts bear a proper  proportion  to each other, and man
may now be considered as a perfect animal.  In this state of
bodily   perfection  and vigour,  he generally remains till  he
reaches his fiftieth year.  Then a new but  a gradual change
begins to appear.  From the fiftieth year to  the age of seven-
ty or eighty, the powers of the body decline in their, strength
and activity.  The muscles lose their spring and  their force.
The vigour of manhood  is no longer  felt, and  the withered
decrepitude of old age is succeeded by death, its unavoidable
consequence.
   The  mind of  man undergoes changes as well as his body.
The taste, the appetites, and the dispositions are  in perpetual
fluctuation.   How different is the taste of a  child  from that of
a man !  Fond of gewgaws and  of trifling  amusements, child-
ren frolic away their time without much thought or reflection.
When advancing towards youth, their dispositions and desires
suffer, a gradual  mutation.  The faculties  are unfolded,  and a
sense of propriety  begins  to be  perceived.  They  despise
their  former  occupations  and  amusements;  and  different
species of  objects solicit and obtain  their  attention.   Their
powers of  reflection  are now considerably  augmented; and
both sexes  acquire a modesty  and a shyness with regard to
each other.  This  awkward, but natural  bashfulness, by the
intercourse  of society, soon vanishes.  From this period to
the age of twenty-five or thirty, men's minds assume a bold,
enterprising, and active tone.  They  engage  in  the business
of life, look forward  to  futurity,  and have  a  desire of
marrying and of establishing families.   All the social appetites
are in vigour; solid and manly friendships  are formed  ; and
man goes on for some time to enjoy every kind of happiness
which   his nature is capable of  affording.  At fifty or sixty, 
160
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIM VLS.
the mental powers, in general, like  those of  the body, begin
to decline, till feeble and tremulous old age arrives, and death
closes the mutable scene of human life.
   With regard to quadrupeds,  both before and  after birth,
they undergo similar, and many  of them greater, changes of
form than those of the human species.  Their mental powers,
likewise, their dispositions and manners, as well as the objects
of their attention, vary  according to  the different  stages of
their existence.  Many of them come into the world  blind,
and continue for some time  before they  receive the sense of
seeing.   How many changes are exhibited  in  the dog  from
birth till he becomes a perfect animal, till all  his  members
are completely formed, and  all  his instincts are unfolded and
improved by  experience and  education.    The deer kind
acquire not their  magnificent and beautiful horns before  the
age of puberty ;  and  even  these are  annually  cast off and
renewed.    Similar  changes  take  place  in  quadrupeds of
every  denomination ;  with  examples of which every  man's
experience and recollection will  readily  supply him;  and,
therefore, it is unnecessary to be more particular.
   Neither are birds, in  their progress from birth  to maturity,
exempted from changes.  Like quadrupeds, many birds  are
blind lor some time after they are hatched.   In  this condition,
how different  are their form and  appearances  from those of
the perfect animals !  At first, they  are covered with a kind of
down instead of feathers.  Even  after the feathers shoot, they
are often of a colour different from  that which they acquire
when full grown.   The beautifully  variegated  colours of  the
peacock's tail appear not till  he arrives at his third year. Birds
that have crests  or wattles, live a  considerable time before
they acquire these ornaments  or marks of  distinction.   All
birds annually moult, or cast their feathers, in the same man-
ner as quadrupeds shed their hair ; the  new pushing out the
old.
   Frogs, toads, and some other reptiles  undergo great chan-
ges in their form and structure.   When  it first escapes from
the egg, a  frog appears in  the form of  a tadpole, an animal
with a large, roundish head, and a compressed  or flat tail, but
totally destitute of  feet and  legs.   In  this state  it  remains a
considerable time, when the two fore feet  begin to shoot,  and
have an exact resemblance to the  buds of trees.  As their
growth advances, the toes and legs are distinguishable.   The
same process  goes on with the hind legs, only they are some- 
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
161
 what later in making their appearance.   During the  growth
 of the legs, the blood being drawn into different channels, the
 tail suffers a gradual mortification, till at last it totally vanishes
 and the tadpole  is metamorphosed  into a quadruped.  Tad-
 poles never  come out of the water; but after their transfor-
 mation into frogs, they  become amphibious, and occasionally
 frequent both land and  water.
   ' In the  species of  frog called Rana paradoxa, or the para-
 doxical  frog, the animal  in its  tadpole state grows to  its
 full  size,  before  the change takes place.   Having  in  al-
 most all respects the  appearance of a fish, it has  been  sup-
 posed by the vulgar to  be a frog turned into a fish,  and hence
 has been called the frog-fish.   In time, however, it undergoes
 the  usual  changes, and becomes a true frog.   It  inhabits
 Surinam.  In a  species of toad, also found in Surinam, the
 whole process of  metamorphosis, from  the egg  to the perfect
 state, is carried on upon the  back of the parent animal.  The
 egg is deposited under  the skin, and as the successive changes
 take place, the sack in which  it is  contained, is enlarged to
 accommodate its increasing size.'
   Serpents cast their skins annually.  The beauty  and lustre
 of their colours are then highly augmented.  Before casting,
 the old skins have a tarnished and withered appearance.  The
 old skins, like the first set of teeth in children, are  forced off
 by the growth of the new.
   The crustaceous  tribes, as lobsters, crabs, &,c. beside the
 different appearanrfes they  assume while  growing to  perfec-
 tion, cast their shells"'every year.   When  this change is about
 to happen, they retire into  the crevices  of rocks, or  'shelter
 themselves below  detached stones, with a view to conceal and
 defend their  bodies from the  rapacious attacks of other fishes.
 After the shells are cast, the  animals  are exceedingly weak
 and  defenceless.  Instead of  their natural defence of hard
 shells and strong  claws, they  are covered  only with a thin
 membrane or skin.  In this state they become an easy prey
 to almost every fish that swims.   The skin, however, gradu-
 ally thickens and grows harder, till  it acquires the  usual de-
gree of firmness.   By  this time  the animals have  resumed
their former strength and activity ; they come out from their
retirements, and go about in quest of food.
   We come now  to give some account of the transformations
of Insects, which are both various and wonderful.  All winged
insects,  without exception,  and many of  those which are
                  21 
162
TRANSFORMATION OF ANI>I\LS.
 destitute of wins:?, must  pass through  several changes before
 the animals arrive at  the  perfection of their natures.   The
 appearance, the structure,  and the  organs of a caterpillar,  of
 a chrysalis, and of a  fly,  arc so  different, that, to a  person
 unacquainted  with their transformations, an  identical  animal
 would be considered as three distinct species.   Without the
 aid of experience, who could believe that a  butterfly, adorn-
 ed  with four  beautiful wings,  furnished  with a  long  spiral
 proboscis  or  tongue,  instead   of  a  mouth,  and with  six
 legs,  should  have proceeded  from  a  disgusting,  hairy cat-
 erpillar,  provided with j;iws and  teeth, and  fourteen  feet ?
 Without experience, who  could imagine  that  a long, white,
 smooth, soft worm, hid under the earth, should be transform-
 ed into a black, crustaceous beetle, having wings covered with
 horny elytra, or cases ?
  Upon this branch of the subject, we shall, first, give an ex-
 ample of two  of the most common  transformations  of insects;
 and, secondly,  describe some of the  more  uncommon kinds.
 Beside their final  metamorphosis into flies, caterpillars under-
 go several  intermediate changes.    All  caterpillars cast  or
 change their  skins oftener or more seldom,  according  to the
 species.  Malpighius informs us, that the  silkworm, previous
 to its chrysalis state,  casts its skin four  times.   The first skin
 is cast on the  10th, 11th, or  12th day, according to the  nature
 of the season ; the second in five or six days after; the third
 in five or six days more ; and  the  fourth  and  last in  six  or
 seven days after the third.   This changing of skin  is riot only
 common to all caterpillars, but  to every  insect  whatever.
 Not one of them arrives at  perfection without casting  its skin
 at least once or twice.  The skin, after it is cast, preserves  so
 entirely the figure of the  caterpillar in its  head,  teeth, legs,
 colour, hair, &tc. that it is often  mistaken for the animal  itself.
A day or two  before this change happens,  caterpillars take no
food;  they lose   their  former  activity, attach themselves  to
 a particular place,  and bend their bodies in various directions,
 till at last  they escape from the old skin, and  leave it behind
 them.  When about  to pass into the chrysalis state, which is
 a state of imbecility, caterpillars select the most proper places
 and  modes of concealing  themselves  from their enemies.
 Some, as  the  silkworm, and many  others, spin silken  webs
 round their bodies,  which  completely disgui-c the  animal
 form.  Others leave the plants upon which they formerly fed,
 and  hide themselves  in little cells which  they  make  in the 
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.          163
earth.   The rat-tailed worm  abandons  the  water upon  the
approach of its metamorphosis, retires under  the earth, where
it is changed into a chrysalis, and, after a certain time, bursts
from its seemingly inanimate condition, and appears  in  the
form of  a winged insect.  Thus the  same animals pass  the
first and longest period of their existence in the water, anoth-
er under the earth, and  the third and  last in the air.  Some
caterpillars, when about to change into the  chrysalis  state,
cover their  bodies with a  mixture of  earth  and of silk, and
conceal  themselves  in  the loose soil.   Others incrust them-
selves with a silky or glutinous matter, which they  push  out
from their mouths, without spinning  it into threads.  Others
retire into the holes of walls or of decayed trees.   Others sus-
pend themselves  to the twigs of trees, or to other elevated
bodies,  with their  heads undermost.   Some attach themselves
to walls, with their heads higher than their bodies, but in vari-
ous  inclinations;  and others choose a horizontal  position.
Some fix themselves by a gluten, and spin a rope round their
middle  to  prevent them  from falling.  Those  which feed
upon trees  attach themselves to the branches, instead of the
leaves, which are less durable, and subject tea greater variety
of accidents.   The colours of the caterpillars give no idea  of
those of the future flies.
   In general, the  figure  of chrysalids approaches to that of
a cone,  especially in their posterior part.  When under this
form, the insect seems to have neither legs nor  wings.   It is
incapable either of walking or of crawling.  It takes no nourish-
ment, because it has no organs suited to that purpose; yet, in
some species, life  is continued for several months before their
last metamorphosis takes  place.  In  a word, it seems  to be
a lifeless mass.   But  upon a more attentive observation, it is
found to possess the power of  bending upwards  and  down-
wards the posterior part of its body.   The skin, or exterior
covering of  those  which  do not spin  webs, seems to be of a
cartilaginous  nature.  It is commonly smooth  and shining.
In some species, however,  the skin of  the  chrysalis is  more
or  less  covered  with hair, and  other rugosities    Though
chrysalids differ both in figure and colour, their  appearances
are by no means so  various  as those of the  caterpillars from
which they are produced.  The colour of  some chrysalids is
that of  pure  gold, from which circumstance the whole have
received their denomination.  For the same  reason  they  are
called aurelia in Latin.   Some are brown, others green; and,
indeed,  they  are to be found of almost every colour and shade. 
164
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
   The life of winged insects consists of three principal periods,
which present very different scenes to the student of nature.
In the first  period, the  insect  appears  under  the form  of a
worm, caterpillar, or larva.  Its body is long and cylindrical,
and  consists of  a  succession  of  rings, which  are  generally
membranous,  and  incased  within  each other.   By  the aid
of its rings,  or of crotchets, or of several pairs of legs, it crawls
about  in  quest of food ;  and  its  movements are, in some
species, remarkably quick.   Its bead is armed with teeth, or
pincers, by  which it eats the leaves of plants or other kinds of
food.  Its blood moves from the tail toward  the head    It
respires either by stigmata or small  apertures placed  on each
side of its body, or by one  or several tubes situated on its  pos-
terior part, which have the resemblance of so many tails.  In the
second period, the  insect appears under the form of a nymph,
or a chrysalis.  While  in this  state, insects in  general  are
totally inactive, and seem not to possess any  powers of life.
Sunk into a kind of deep  sleep, they  are lilile  affected  by
external objects.   They can make  no use  of their eyes, their
mouth, or any of their members; for they are  all imprisoned
by coverings  more or  less strong.   No  cares  occupy  their
attention.    Deprived  of the  faculty  of  motion, they  remain
fixed in those  situations  which they have  chosen for their
temporary abode, or where chance  has placed  them, till their
final metamorphosis into flies.   Some ol them, however, are
capable of changing place ; but  their movements are slow and
p  inful.   Their blood circulates, but in a  contrary  direction
from what takes place in the caterpillar state ;  for it proceeds
from the head  toward  the tail.  Respiration continues to go
on, but the  organs are differently situated.   In the caterpillar,
the principal organs of respiration were placed at the posterior
part of the body;  but now these same organs are  to be found
at  the anterior part of  the animal.   In  the third period, the
insect  has acquired that perfect organization  which  corres-
ponds to the rank it is to bold in the scale of animation.   The
bonds of the nymph,  or of the chrysalis, are now burst asun-
der, and   the insect commences a   new mode of existence.
All its members, formerly soft, inactive, and  folded  up in an
envelope,  are expanded, strengthened, and exposed  to obs< r-
vation.  Under the form of a worm or caterpillar, it crawled;
under that of  a nymph  or  chrysalis, its power of motion was
almost annihilated ; under  the last  form, it is furnished  with
six springy legs, and two or four wings, with which it  is ena- 
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
165
bled to fly through the air.   Instead of teeth or pincers, with
which it divided a gross aliment, it has now a trunk, by which
it extracts  the  refined juices  of the most  delicate flowers.
Instead  of  a few smooth  eyes which it possessed  in the
worm and caterpillar state, the new insect is furnished with both
smooth and  convex  eyes,  to  the  number of several thous-
ands.
  The internal parts of the insect have likewise  undergone
as many changes  as the external.  The texture, the  propor-
tions, and the number of the viscera, are greatly altered. Some
have acquired an additional degree of consistence ; others, on
the contrary, are  rendered  finer and more  delicate.   Some
receive  a  new  form, and  others are entirely  annihilated.
Lastly, some organs  in the perfect insect, which seemed for-
merly  to  have  no   existence,  are  unfolded,  and   become
visible.
  We shall now give some  examples of transformations which
deviate from the common mode.
  Some  insects  hold a  middle rank between  those which
preserve their original figure during  life, and those that  suffer
transformations.  Their existence is  divided  into two periods
only.  They walk  in the first, and fly in  the second.   Thus
their only metamorphosis consists of the  addition  of wings,
the  growth and expansion of which  are  performed  without
any considerable alteration  in the figure of their bodies.
   There  is not  a law established  among organized  bodies
which seems  to  be  so universal, as that all  of them  grow or
augment in size,  after birth, till they  arrive at maturity.  If a
hen were  to bring forth an  egg as large as her own  body, and
if this egg, when hatched, were to produce a bird of equal
dimensions with either of the parents, it would be considered
as a miracle.   But  the  spider-fly, so denominated from  its
figure, affords  an example of  a  similar prodigy.  This fly
actually lays an egg, from which a new fly is hatched that is
as large and as perfect as its mother.   This egg is roundish,
is at first white, and afterwards assumes a shining black colour.
Upon a more accurate examination,  however, this production
is found to be  an egg only i* appearance.   When  the en-
velope is removed, instejad of a gelatinous substance,  the new
insect, furnished with all its  members, is  discovered.  But
this discovery  does  not render the  fact  the less wonderful.
All  winged insects  undergo  their  different transformations
after being  expelled  from the bodies of their  mothers, and 
166
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
receive great augmentations of size before their metamorpho-
sis into the nymph or chrysalis >tate, after which their growth
stops.  Bin  the  >pider-fly affords an  instance of  an insect
transformed within its mother, and which grows no more  after
it escapes from its envelope.
  The worm, fiom which the tipula or crane-fly is  produced,
is perfectly smooth.   Immediately before  its first transforma-
tion  it retires under  ground.  After this  metamorphosis, the
suriace of the nymph is furnished with a number of spines.
By means of these spines, the  nymph,  when  about to  be
transformed into a fly, raises itself in its hole till  the chest of
the insect is above ground.  The  fly then bursts  its prison,
mounts into the air, and leaves  its former covering behind  in
the earth.
  Aidiiy  species of flies  deposit  their eggs in the leaves and
diffe.eni  puis of plants.   Soon after the  egg is inserted
into the leaf, a small tubercle begins to appear, which gradu-
ally int reases in  magnitude  till the animal  is  hatched, and
has pi.-sdd through, its different  transformations.  These tu-
beich-3 are known by the name of galls, and  are very  diffe-
rent ii their  orm, texture, colour, and size.  Galls of every
kind,  however, derive their origin  from  the perforators  of
insects, which  generally  belong  to the class  of flies.   The
female fly, by means of this instrument,  makes  incisions  in
the 1 aves or br inches of a tree, and in each incision lays an
egg.  Tnis  egg  is at first  extremely minute ;  but it  soon
acquires  a considerable  bulk, and the  gall  has  arrived  at its
full s.ze  before the worm  is hatched.  It  is a singular and
almost inexplicable fact, that the  eggs of gall-flies should con-
tinue  to  grow after  being  separated  from the  body  of the
mother.    But  that  their eggs  do augment  in  size ;  that
worms proceed  from them'; that these worms are nourished
and live  a teitain time imprisoned in the galls ;  that they are
there  transformed into nymphs  or chrysalids ;  and, lastly, that
they are metamorphosed into winged  insects, which, by gnawing
an aperture through  the  gall, take their flight in the air; are
known and  incontestible  facts, of the  truth of which  every
man may easily  satisfy himself?  Examine  the common oak-
galL,  or  tiiose of any other tree*; if a^ny  of  them  happen to
have no  aperture, cut them gently open, and  you are certain
to find an egg, a worm, a chrysalis, or a  fly : but  in such as
are periorated by a cylindrical* hole, not  a vestige  of an ani-
mal is discoverable.   The galls which make an ingredient in 
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
167
the composition of  ink, are thick, and their texture is very
strong and compact.  That the small animals they contain
should be able to  pierce through such a rigid  substance is
truly wonderful.
   In the general  order of  nature  among  oviparous animals,
each egg  includes one embryo  only.  A singular species of
eggs, however, discoverd by the  celebrated Mr Folks, late
president  of the Royal Society  of London, must be excepted.
He found great numbers of them in the mud of small rivulets.
In size they  equalled  the head  of an ordinary pin.   They
were of a brown  colour,  and  their surface was crustaceous,
through which, by employing the microscope, several  living
worms were  distinctly  perceptible.  By dexterously breaking
the shell, he dislodged them ; and he found with surprise, that
eight or nine worms  were contained in, and proceeded  from,
the same egg.  They were all vvell formed, and moved about
with great agility.  Each of them was inclosed in an individual
membranous covering,  which was extremely thin and trans-
parent.  It  were to be wished that the transformations of
these extraordinary animals had been,traced.
   Some  caterpillars, when about to transform, make a belt
pass round their bodies. This  belt is composed of an assem-
blage of silken threads spun by  themselves, the ends of which
they  paste  to the twigs of bushes," or other places   where
they  choose to attach  their  bodies.    They  likewise fix
their hind leg?  in a tuft of silk.  After  transformation, the
chrysalids..femain  fixed in the same manner  as before their
metamorphosis.  The  belt  is loose, and  allows the chrysalis
to perform its slow and  feeble movements.
  The whole moth kind, as well as the silkworm, immediately
before their transformation  into  the chrysalis state, cover their
bodies with a cod or clue  of silk, though the  nature  of the
silk, and  their mode of spinning,  are very different.   The
cods  of the  silkworm   are composed of  pure silk.   Their
figure is generally oval,  which necessarily  results from that of
the animal's  body  upon which  they  are  moulded.    When
spinning, they twist their bodies into the form of an S.   The
cod  is produced by  numberless circumvolutions and zigzags
of.the same thread.   The^silk is spun by  an  instrument situa-
ted near  the mouth  of the insect.  The silky matter, before
it is  manufactured  by the spinning instrument, appears  under
the form of a_gum almost liquid, which  is contained in  two
large reservoirs contorted like the intestines of larger animals, 
16S
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
 and which terminate at the extremity by  two parallel and
 slender  conduits.   Each conduit furnishes matter for one
 thread.  The spinning instrument, as is evident when viewed
 by the microscope,  unites the two  threads  into one.   Thus
 a thread of silk, which  has the appearance of  being^hide, is
 in  reality  double, and  spun with  great dexterity. '"•■JSflW
 writers, who delight in the marvellous, ascribe foresight to'the
 silkworm  in spinning  its cod.   The  silkworm,  it  must be
 acknowledged, acts as  if it foresaw the  approaching event.
 But the truth is, that, when  the animal has acquired  its full
 growth, its reservoirs of silk ar£ completely  filled.   It then
 seems to be stUfcgly, stimulatecr to  evacuate this  glutinous
 matter.  Its different movements and attitudes,  while discharg-
 ing  the  silk, produce those  ovtl  bundles which clothe and
 ornament  vast  numbers of the  human  species.
   Another species of oaterpillar'construcls its cod in  the form
 of a boat with the keeftjppermost; but it consists not entirely
 of pure silk-  The animal, with  its teeth, detaches small tri-
 angular pieces of bark from a bush or a^ tree.  These pieces of
 bark  it pastes Opon its  body  by means of  a  glutinous or
 silky  substance, and  they constitute a principal part of its
 cod.
  Another species works also  in  wood, though  not with as
 much  art  as the  former.*  Its cod is  composed entirely of
 small irregular  fragments of dried wood.   These fragments
 the animal has the address to unite together, and to form of
 them a kind of box which covers and defends its whole bdtiy.
 It accomplishes this purpose by moistening, for some moments,
 the pieces  of wood  in its mouth,-and   then attaches  them to
 each other by'a glutinous substance.   Of  this mixture die
 caterpillar forms  a cod, the solidity of  which is nearly equal
 to that of wood.
  The most^solitary of all insects are those which live  in the
 internal parts of fruits.   Many of  them undergo their  meta-
 morphosis in  the  fruit itself, which affords them both  nourish-
 ment and a safe retreat.   They* dig cavities in the fruit, which
some of them  either  line with silk, or spin  cods.   Others
leave the fruit, and retire to be transformed in the earth.
  The metamorphosis of insects has been regarded as a sud-
 den  operation, because they often burst their shell  or silky
covering quickly, and  immediately appear furnished  with
wings.  But, by more attentive  observation, it has been dis-
covered that the  transformation  of caterpillars  is a gradual 
              TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.             169

process from the moment  the  animals are  hatched till  they
arrive at a state of perfection.   Why, it may be  asked, do
caterpillars so frequently cast their skins?   The  new  skin
and other organs were lodged  under the  old  ones, as in so
many tubes or cases, and the animal retires from these cases,
because they  have become too strait.   The reality of these
encasements has been demonstrated by a simple experiment.
When about to moult or  cast its skin, if the foremost legs of
a caterpillar are cut off, the animal  comes out  of the old skin
deprived of these legs   From this  fact, Reaumur conjectured
that the chrysalis might be thus encased,  and concealed under
the last  skin of the caterpillar.   He discovered that the chry-
salis, or rather the butterjfly  itself,  was inclosed in the body
of the caterpillar.    The  proboscis, the antennas, the limbs,
and  the wings of  the fly are so nicely folded up, that  they
occupy a small space only  under  the two first  rings of the
caterpillar.   In the first  six limbs  of the  caterpillar are  en-
cased the six limbs  of the butterfly.  Even the eggs of the
butterfly have been discovered  in  the caterpillar long  before
its transformation.
  From  these facts, it  appears that  the transformation  of
insects is only the throwing off of external and  temporary cov-
erings, and not an alteration of the  original form.   They  live
and receive nourishment in envelopes till they acquire such a
degree of perfection  as enables them to support the situation
to which they are  ultimately destined  by nature.
  Transformations are not peculiar to animals.  All organiz-
ed bodies pass through successive changes.   Plants,  of course,
are not  exempted  from  mutation.  What an amazing  differ-
ence between an acorn and a stately oak ?  The seed contains
within it the rudiments of the parts of the  future plant.   These
parts require only  time and other circumstances necessary to
vegetation, for their  complete evolution.   Beside the general
changes  arising  from growth,  plants undergo a number of
metamorphoses from other causes.  In northern climates, if
we except a few evergreens, trees,  during winter, are entirely
stripped  of their  leaves   Instead  of  the  pleasant emotions
excited  by  the  variety of  figures,  movements, colours, and
fragrance of the leaves, flowers,  and fruit, during the  spring
and summer, nothing is exhibited in winter but the bare steins
and branches   In this state, the trees of the forest have a lugu-
brious appearance, and remind us of deatii and of  skeletons.
Very different are  the emotions we feel  in the spring, when
              22 
170           TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.

the buds begin  to burst, and the leaves to expand.   "W hen
summer approaches, another beautiful change takes place  The
flowers with all  their splendour  of  colours, and sweetness of
flavours, are then highly delightful to our  senses   After per-
forming the office of cherishing and  protecting the tender fruit
for some time, the flowers drop  off, and a new change is ex-
hibited.  When  the flowers fall, the young fruit appears, and
gradually grows to  maturity, perpetually presenting  varieties
in its magnitude, colour, odour, and flavour.  When the fruit
or seeds are fully ripe, they  are  gathered for  the use of man,
drop down  upon the earth, or are devoured by birds and oth-
er  animals.  After this  change  happens, to which  all  the
others were only preparatory, the leaves begin to fall, winter
commences, and the  same  series of metamorphoses  go on
during the  existence of the plant.
   The changes just now mentioned are annual, and are ulti-
mately intended  to supply men and other animals with food.
But plants  are subjected to changes of form from causes of a
more accidental nature.  Varieties  or changes in the figure of
plants are often  produced by soil,  by  situation, by culture,
and by climate
   The petals of  all flowers, in a natural state, are single    But,
wh n transplanted  into  gardens, many of them, especially
those which  are furnished  with numerous  stamina,  as  the
anemone,  the poppy, the  peony,  the  ranunculus, the dai-
sy, the  marigold, the rose,  he. double, or rather  multiply
their flower leaves without end.  This change from single to
double, or  monstrous  flowers,  as they are called, is produced
by too great a quantity of nutritious juices, which transforms
the stamina into  petals ; and it not unfrequently  happens, that,
when these double-flowering  plants are committed  to a poor
soil, they become drier, are  reduced to their natural state, and
produce single flowers only.   Plants  which  inhabit the val-
leys,  when transported to  the tops of mountains,  or other
elevated situations, not only  become  dwarfish, but undergo
such  changes in their general structure and  appearance, that
they are often thought to belong to a different species,  though
they are, in reality, only varieties of the same.   Similar chan-
ges are produced  when Alpine  or mountain  plants are culti-
vated in the valleys.
   From culture and  climate, likewise, plants undergo many
changes.   But this  subject is so generally  known,  that to
enlarge upon it would be eutirely-superfluous.  We shall only 
TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.
171
remark,  that the older botanists,  when they perceived  the
same species of plants  growing in a different  soil,  or in a
different climate, assume such different appearances, consid-
ered and enumerated them as distinct species.   But the mod-
ern  botanists, to prevent the unnecessary multiplication of
separate beings, have endeavoured to reduce all those varieties
arising from fortuitous circumstances to their original  species.
   From these facts, and  many others which might  be men-
tioned,  it appears,  that, in both  the  animal and  vegetable
kingdoms,  forms are  perpetually changing.    The  mineral
kingdom  is  not less subject to  metamorphosis;  but this
belongs  not  to our  present  subject.   Though  forms  con-
tinually  change, the  quantity of  matter is invariable.   The
same substances pass successively  into the three  kingdoms,
and constitute,  in their  turn,  a mineral, a plant, an insect, a
reptile, a fish, a bird, a  quadruped, a man.  In these  trans-
formations, organized bodies are the principal  agents.   They
change or decompose every substance that either enters into
them, or is exposed  to  the action  of  their powers.   Some
they  assimilate, by the process  of nutrition, into  their own
substance ; others they evacuate in different forms ;  and these
evacuations make  ingredients in  the  compositions of other
bodies, as those of insects, whose multiplication is prodigious,
and affords a very great  quantity of organized matter for the
nourishment  and support  of  almost every animated  being.
Thus, from the  apparently vilest and most contemptible species
of matter,  the  richest productions derive  their origin.   The
most beautiful flowers, the  most exquisite  fruits,  and the most
useful grain, all proceed  from the bosom of corruption.   The
earth is continually bestowing fresh gifts  upon us;  and  her
powers  would  soon  be  exhausted, if what she perpetually
gives were not perpetually restored to her.   It  is  a law of
nature, that all organized bodies should  be decomposed, and
gradually transformed into earth.   While undergoing this
species  of  dissolution, their more volatile particles pass into
the air,  and are diffused  through the atmosphere.  Thus ani-
mals, at  least portions of them, are  buried in the air, as well
as in  the earth, or  in water.  These floating  particles soon
enter into the composition of new  organized beings, which
are themselves destined  to undergo the  same  revolutions.
This circulation of  organized  matter has continued  since the
commencement of the world, and will  proceed in the same
course till its final destruction* 
172           TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS.

  With regard to the intentions of .Nature in changing forms, a
complete investigation of them exceeds the (lowers of human
research.   One  great intention,  from the  examples  above
enumerated, cannot escape observation.  In the animal world,
every successive change  is a new approach  to the perfection
of the  individuals.  Men, and the larger animals, some time
after the age of  puberty, remain  stationary, and continue to
multiply their species for periods proportioned to their respec-
tive species.   When  those periods terminate, they gradually
decay7  till  their final dissolution.   The same observation is
applicable to the insect tribes whose transformations strike us
with wonder.  The  caterpillar repeatedly  moults or casts off
its skin.   The butterfly existed originally in the  body of the
caterpillar ; but  the organs of the  fly were  too soft, and not
sufficiently unfolded.   It remains unfit to encounter the  open
air, or to perform the functions of  a perfect animal, till some
time after its transformation  into a chrysalis.   It then  bursts
through its envelope, arrives at a state of perfection, multiplies
its species, and dies.   All the changes  in the vegetable king-
dom tend  to the same point.   In the process of growing, they
are perpetually changing forms till they produce fruit, and then
they decay.   Some plants,  like  caterpillars, go through all
their  transformations, death not excepted,  in one year.   But
others, like  man  and the larger animals, beside the common
changes produced by  growth and  the evolution  of different
organs, continue for many years in a state of perfection before
the periods of decay  and of dissolution arrive.   But these
perennial  plants  undergo, every  year, all  the  vicissitudes of
the annual.   They  every year increase in magnitude, send
forth new  leaves and  branches, ripen and  disseminate  their
seeds,  and, during winter, remain in a torpid state, or suffer a
temporary  death.  These annual changes in trees, he. have
some resemblance to those of animals, which produce at cer-
tain stated seasons only.
  The distribution of life  to an immensity  of successive indi-
viduals seems to  be another  intention  of Nature in changing
forms, and in the dissolution  of her productions.  Were the
existence  of  individuals  perpetual, or  were it  prolonged for
ten times  the periods now established, life  would  be  denied
to myriads  of animated  beings,  which enjoy their present
limited portion of happiness. 
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS*,
173
                     CHAPTER VIII.

             OF THE HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.

   Many animals, beside those of the human species, have the
faculty of constructing proper habitations for concealing them-
selves, for defending  themselves  against the attacks of their
enemies, for sheltering and cherishing their young, and for pro-
tecting them from the injuries of the weather.  All those of the
same species, when not restrained by accidental causes, uniform-
ly build in the same style, and use the same materials.  From
this general rule man is to be excepted.   Possessed of superior
faculties and understanding, he can build in any style, and em-
ploy such materials as his taste, his fancy, or the purposes for
which  the fabric is intended, shall direct him.  A cottage and a
palace are equally within the reach of his  powers.  In treating of
this subject, we mean not to trace the progress of human archi-
tecture, which, in the earlier stages of  society, is extremely
rude, but to confine ourselves to that of the inferior  tribes of
animated beings
   With regard to Quadrupeds, many of them employ no kind
of architecture, but  live  continually,  and bring forth  their
young, in the open air.   When not under the immediate  pro-
tection of man, these species, in rough or stormy  weather,
shelter themselves among trees or bushes, retire under the cov-
erture  of projecting  rocks,  or the sides of hills opposite  to
those from which the wind proceeds   Beside these arts  of
defence,  to which they are prompted by instinct and experi-
ence, nature furnishes them, during  the winter months, with
a double portion of  long hair, which protects them from cold,
and other assaults of the weather.
   Of the  quadrupeds that  make  or choose  habitations  for
themselves,  some dig holes in the earth, some  take refuge in
the cavities of decayed trees,  and in  the clefts of rocks,  and
some actually  construct cabins,  or houses.  But the artifices
they employ,  the materials they  use, and the situations they
select,  are so various and so numerous, that our plan necessari-
ly limits us to  a few of the more curious examples.
   The  Alpine  Marmot  is a  quadruped  about  sixteen
inches in length, and has a short tail.   In figure,  the mar-
mots  have some  resemblance -both to the rat and to  the 
17*4
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
bear.   When tamed, they eat every thing presented to them, as
flesh, bread, fruit, roots, pot-herbs, insects, he  They delight in
the regions of frost and of snow,  and are only to be found on
the tops of the highest mountains.  These animals  rimain in
a torpid state during winter.   About  the  end of September,
or the beginning of October,  they retire into  their holes, and
never come abroad again  till the beginning of April.   Their
retreats are formed with much art and precaution.  With their
feet and claws, which are admirably adapted to  the purpose,
they dig the earth  with amazing quickness, and throw it  be-
hind them.   They <lo not make a simple hole, or a straight or
winding tube, but  a kind of gallery in the  form  of a Y, each
branch of which has an aperture, and both terminate in a  ca-
pacious apartment.   As the whole operation  is performed on
the declivfty of a mountain, this innermost apartment alone is
horizontal.  Both branches of the Y are inclined   One of the
branches  descends  under the apartment, and follows the  de-
clivity  of the mountain   This  branch  is a  kind  of  aqueduct,
and receives and carries off the filth of their habitations; and
the other, which rises above the  principal apartment, is used
for coming in and going out.  The  place of their abode is
well lined with moss and hay, of which they lay up great store
during the summer.  They  are  social animals. Several of
them live together, and work in common when  forming their
habitations.  Thither they retire  during rain, or upon the  ap-
proach of danger.   One of them stands centinel upon a rock,
while  the others gambol upon the grass, or  are employed in
cutting it, in order to make hay.   If the centinel perceives a
man, an eagle, a dog, or other dangerous  animal,  he  alarms
his companions by  a loud whistle, and is himself the last that
enters the hole.  They  continue torpid during winter, and, as if
they foresaw that they would then have no occasion for victuals,
they lay up no provisions in  their apartments.  But, when
they feel the first approaches of the sleeping season, they shut
up both passages to their habitation ; and  this operation they
perform with such labor and solidity, that it is more easy to  dig
the earth any where else, than in such  parts as they have thus
fortified.   At this time they are very fat, weighing sometimes
twenty pounds.  They continue to be plump for three months;
but afterwards they gradually decline, and, at the end of win-
ter, they are extremely emaciated.   When seized in their re-
treats, they appear rolled up in the form of  a ball, and covered
with hay.   In this  state, they are so torpid that they may be 
BEAVER.                     175
killed without seeming  to feel  pain.  The hunters select the
fattest for eating, and keep the  young ones for taming.  Like
the dormice,  and all the other animals which sleep  during
winter, the marmots are revived by a gradual and gentle heat;
and it is  remarkable, that those  which are fed in houses,  and
kept  warm,  never become torpid, but are  equally active  and
lively during the whole year.
   The Beaver is about three feet in length, and its tail, which
is of an  oval figure, and  covered with scales, is eleven inches
long.   He uses  his tail as a rudder to direct his course in the
water.   In places much  frequented by man, the  beavers nei-
ther associate nor build habitations.   But in the northern re-
gions of  both continents, they assemble in the month of June
or July, for the purposes  of uniting into society and of building
a city.   From all quarters  they arrive in numbers,  and soon
form a troop of two or  fhree hundred.  The operations  and
architecture of the beavers are so well described by the Count
de Buffon,  that we shall lay it before our' readers  nearly in
his own  words.  The place of rendezvous, he  remarks, is
generally the situation fixed upon for their establishment,  and
it is always on the banks of waters.  If the waters be flat, and
seldom rise above their ordinary level, as in lakes, the beavers
make no bank or dam.  But in rivers or brooks,  where the
water  is subject to risings  and  fallings,  they build  a bank,
which traverses the river from one side to the other,  like a
sluice, and  is often from eighty to a hundred feet long, by ten
or twelve  broad  at the  base.   This  pile,  for  animals of so
small a size,  (the largest beavers weighing only fifty or sixty
pounds) appears to be enormous, and presupposes an incredible
labour.  But the solidity with  which the work  is constructed
is still more astonishing  than its magnitude.  The part of the
river where they erect this bank is generally shallow.  If they
find on  the margin a large tree, which can be made to fall into
the river, they begin, by cutting it down, to form the principal
basis of their work.  This tree is often thicker than a man's
body.   By gnawing it at  the  bottom with their  four cutting
teeth, they in a short time  accomplish their purpose, ancl al-
 ways make the  tree fall across the river.  They next cut the
branches from  the trunk to make it lie level.  These opera-
 tions are performed by the joint industry of the whole commu-
 nity.  Some of them, at the same time, traverse the banks of
 the river, and cut down  smaller trees, from the size of a man's
 leg to that of his thigh.  These they cut to a certain length, 
170
HABITATIONS  OF ANIMALS.
dress them into stakes, and first drag them by land to the mar-
gin of the river, and then  by water to the  place where the
building is carrying on.  These piles  they  sink  down,  and
interweave the branches with the larger stakes   In perform-
ing this operation many difficulties are to be surmounted.  In
order to dress these stakes, and to put them  in a situation near-
ly perpendicular, some of the  beavers must elevate, with their
teeth, the  thick ends against the margin of the river, or against
the cross  tree, while others  plunge  to the bottom,  and dig
holes with their forefeet to receive the  points, that they may
stand on  end.   When some  are  labouring  in this manner,
others bring earth  in their mouths and  with their forefeet, and
transport it in such quantities, that  they fill with it all the in-
tervals between the  piles.  These piles  consist  of  several
rows  of stakes of  equal  height, all placed opposite  to  each
other, and extend  from  one bank OT the  river to the other.
The stakes facing  the lower part of the river  are placed per-
pendicularly ;  but  those  which are  opposed  to  the  stream
slope upward to sustain the pressure of the  water ; so that the
bank, which is ten or twelve feet wide at the base, is reduced
to two or  three at  the top.  Near the  top,  or thinnest  part of
the bank,  the  beavers make  two or three sloping holes, to
allow the   surface-water to escape.   These  they  enlarge or
contract in proportion as the  river rises or  falls; and, when
any breaches  are made in the bank by sudden or violent in-
undations, they know how to repair them when the water sub-
sides.
   Hitherto all these operations were performed by the united
force and  dexterity of the whole  community.   They  now
separate into smaller societies, which build cabins or houses.
These cabins  are  constructed upon piles  near the margin of
the river or pond,  and have two openings,  one  for the animals
going to the land,  and the other for throwing themselves into
the water.  The form of these edifices is either round or oval,
and they  vary in size from four or five to  eight or ten feet in
diameter.   Some  of  them  consist  of three  or four  st 'lies.
Their walls are about two feet thick ;  and are raised perpen-
dicularly  upon planks, or plain stakes, which serve  both for
foundations and floors to their houses.   When they consist of
but one story, they rise perpendicularly a few feet only, after-
wards assume a  curved form,  and terminate  in a dome or
vault,  which answers the purpose of a roof.   They are built
with amazing solidity, and neatly plastered  with a kind of stuc- 
                         BEAVER.                      177

co both within and without.  In the application of this mor-
tar the tails of the beavers serve for trowels, and their feet for
plashing.  Their houses are impenetrable to rain, and resist
the most impetuous winds   In their construction, they employ
different materials, as wood, stone, and a kind of sandy earth,
which is not liable to be dissolved in water.   The wood they
use is generally of the light and  tender kinds, as alders,  pop-
lars,  and willows, which commonly grow on the banks of riv-
ers,  and are  more easily barked, cut, and transported, than
the heavier and more solid  species of timber.  They always
begin the operation of cutting trees at a  foot or a foot and a
half  above the ground.  They  labour in a sitting posture ;
and, beside the  convenience of this posture, they enjoy the
pleasure of gnawing  perpetually the  bark  and  wood, which
are their favourite food.  Of these provisons they lay up  am-
ple stores  in their cabins to support them  during the winter.
Each cabin has  its own magazine,  which is proportioned to
the number of its inhabitants, who have all a common right to
the store,  and never pillage their neighbours.  Some villages
are composed of twenty or twenty-five cabins.   But these
large establishments are not frequent; and the common repub-
lics  seldom exceed  ten or  twelve families, which each have
their own quarter of the village,  their own magazine, and their
separate habitation.   The  smallest  cabins contain two,  four,
or six, and the largest eighteen,  twenty, and sometimes thirty
beavers.  As to  males  and  females, they are almost always
equally paired.   Upon a moderate computation, therefore, the
society is  often composed of a hundred and fifty or two hun-
dred, who all, at first, labour jointly in raising the great public
building, and afterwards, in  select tribes or companies, in mak-
ing  particular habitations.   In this  society, however numer-
ous, an universal peace is maintained.  Their union is cement-
ed by common labours; and it is perpetuated by mutual con-
veniency, and the abundance of provisions which they amass
and  consume together.   A simple taste,  moderate appetites,
and  an aversion   to blood and carnage, render them  destitute
of the ideas of rapine and  of war.   Friends to each  other,  if
they have any foreign enemies they know how to  avoid them.
When danger approaches, they advertise one another, by strik-
ing their  broad tail on the  surface of the water,  the noise  of
which is  heard at a  great distance,  and resounds  through all
the vaults of their habitations.   Each individual,  upon these
occasions, consults his own safety;  some plunge into the wa-
              23 
178
HABITATIONS  OF ANIMALS.
 ter; others conceal themselves  within their walls, which can
 be penetrated only by the fire of heaven, or the steel of man,
 and which  no animal will attempt either to open or to overturn.
 These retreats are not only safe, but neat and commodious  The
 floors are spread  over with verdure;  the branches of the box
 and of the fir serve them for carpets, upon which  they permit
 not the smallest dirtiness.  The  window that faces the water
 answers for a balcony to receive the fresh air, and  for the pur-
 pose  of  bathing.   During  the greater  part of the day,  the
 beavers sit on end, with their  head and the anterior parts of
 their body  elevated, and their posterior parts sunk  in the wa-
 ter.   The  aperture of this window is sufficiently raised to pre-
 vent its being stopped  up with the ice,  which,  in the beaver
 climates, is often two or three  feet thick.  When this acci-
 dent happens, they slope the sole of the window, cut obliquely
 the stakes which  support it, and  thus open a communication
 with the unfrozen water.  They  often swim a long way under
 the ice.  In September, the beavers collect their provisions
 of bark and of wood.   Till the  end  of  winter, they remain
 in their cabins,  enjoy the fruits of their hibours,  and taste the
 sweets of domestic  happiness.  This  is their time of repose.
 In the spring  they separate; the males n tire into the country
 to enjoy the pleasures and fruits of spring.  They return oc-
 casionally,  however, to their cabins ;  but  dwell there no more.
 The females continue in the cabins, and are occupied in nurs-
 ing, protecting, and rearing their young, which in a few weeks
 are in a condition to follow  their dams.   The beavers-assem-
 ble not again till autumn, unless  their banks or cabins be in-
jured by inundations; for, when accidents of this kind happen,
they suddenly collect their forces,  and  repair the breaches that
have been made.
   This account of the society and operations of beavers, how-
ever marvellous it may appear, has been established and con-
firmed  by so  many credible eyewitnesses,  that it  is impossi-
ble to  doubt of its reality.
   The habitation  where Moles deposit their young merits a
particular description; because it is constructed with peculiar
intelligence, and  because the  mole is an animal with which
we are  well acquainted.  They  begin by  raising  the earth,
and forming a  pretty high arch.   They leave partitions, or a
kind of pillars, at certain distances, beat and press the earth,
interweave  it with the roots of plants, and  render it so hard
and solid,  that the water cannot  penetrate the vault,  on ac- 
NESTS OF BIRDS.
179
count of its convexity and firmness.  They then elevate a lit-
tle hillock under the principal arch ; upor* the latter they lay-
herbs and leaves for a bed to their young   In this  situation
they are above the level of the ground, and of course, beyond
the reach of ordinary inundations. They are, at the same time,
defended from the rains by the large vault that covers the in-
ternal one, upon the convexity  of which last they rest  along
with their young.  This internal hillock is pierced on all sides
with sloping holes, which descend still lower,  and  serve as
subterraneous  passages for the mother to go in  quest of food
for herself and her offspring.  These by-paths are beaten and
firm, extend about twelve or  fifteen paces, and issue  from the
principal  mansion like rays from a centre.  Under the  supe-
rior vault we likewise find remains of the roots of the meadow
saffron, which seem to be the first food gi'-en  to the young.
From this  description  it appears,  that the mole never comes
abroad  but  at considerable  distances  from her  habitation.
Moles, like the beavers, pair  ; and so lively and reciprocal an
attachment subsists between them, that they seem to disrelish
all other society.   In their dark abodes they  enjoy the placid
habits of repose and of solitude,  the  art of securing them-
selves from injury, of  almost instantaneously making an asyr-
lum  or habitation, and of procuring  a plentiful  subsistence
without the necessity  of  going  abroad.   They shut up the
entrance of  their retreats, and  seldom  leave them, unless
compelled by  the admission of water, or when their mansions
are demolished by art.
   The  nidifieation of  Birds  has at all times called  forth the
admiration 'of mankind.   In general,  the nests  of birds  are
built with an art so exquisite, that an exact imitation of them
exceeds all the powers of human skill and industry.  Their
style of architecture, the materials they employ, and the situ-
ations they select,  are as various as the different species.   In-
dividuals of the same species,  whatever region of the  globe
they inhabit, collect the same materials, arrange and construct
them in the same form, and make choice of similar situations
for erecting their temporary habitations; for the nests of birds,
those of the eagle kind excepted, after the young have  come
to maturity, are forever abandoned by the parents.
   To describe minutely  the nests of birds  would be a vain
attempt.  Such  descriptions could not  convey an adequate
idea of  their architecture to a person who had never seen one
of those beautiful and commodious habitations,  which even
astonish, and excite the amazement of children. 
180
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
  The different  orders of birds  exhibit great variety in  the
materials and structure of their nests.  Those of the rapacious
tribes are in general rude, and composed of coarse materials,
as dried twigs, bents, he.   But  they are often lined with soft
substances.   They build in elevated rocks,  ruinous  and  se-
questered castles and towers, and in other solitary  retirements.
The aerie  or nest of  the eagle is  quite flat, and not hollow,
like those of other birds.   The  male and  female commonly
place their nest  between two rocks, in a dry and  inaccessible
situation.   The  same nest, it is said, serves the eagle dining
life.   The  structure is so considerable, and composed of such
solid materials, that it may  last many years.  Its form resem-
bles that of a floor.   Its basis consists  of sticks about five or
six feet in length, which are supported at each end, and these
are covered with several layers of rushes and heath. An eagle's
nest was found in the Peak of Derbyshire, which Willoughby de-
scribes in the following manner :  " It was made of great sticks,
resting one end  on the edge of a rock, the other on a birch
tree.   Upon these  was a  layer of rushes,  and over them a
layer  of heath, and upon the heath rushes again;  upon which
lay one  young,  and an  addle egg; and by them a  lamb, a
hare,  and three  heathpouls.  The  nest was about two yards
square, and had no hollow in  it."   But the butcher-birds, or
shrikes, which are less rapacious than eagles and hawks, build
their habitations  in shrubs and bushes, and employ moss, wool,
and other soft materials.
   The common magpies build their nests  in trees,  and their
structure is admirably contrived  for affording warmth and pro-
tection to the young.   The nest is not open at top :  It is cov-
ered,  in the  most dexterous manner, with an  arch or dome,
and a small opening in the  side of it is left, to give the parents
an opportunity  of passing  in and out at their pleasure.   To
protect their eggs and young from the attacks of other animals,
the magpies place, all round the external surface of their nest,
sharp briars and thorns.  The long-tailed titmouse, or ox-eye,
builds nearly like the wren, but with still  greater art.  With
the same materials  as the rest of the structure, the titmouse
builds an arch over  the top of the nest, which  resembles an
egg erected upon one end,  and leaves a small hole in the side
for a  passage.   Both eggs and young, by this contrivance, are
defended from the injuries  of  the  air, rain, cold,  &,c.  That
the young  may have a soft  and warm bed, she lines the inside
of the nest with feathers, down,  and  cobwebs.  The sides 
NESTS OF BIRDS.
181
and roof are composed of moss  and wool interwoven  in the
most curious and artificial manner.
  Mr Pennant, in his Indian Zoology, gives the following cu-
rious  account of the manner in  which the Motacilla sutoria,
or tailor-bird, builds its nest.   " Had  providence," Mr Pen-
nant remarks, '• left the feathered tribes unendowed with any
particular instinct, the birds of  the torrid zone would have
built their nests  in  the same unguarded manner  as those of
Europe ; but there the lesser species, having a certain presci-
ence of the  dangers that  surround them, and of their own
weakness, suspend their nests at the extreme  branches  of the
trees.   They are conscious of  inhabiting a  climate  replete
with enemies to them and their young ; with snakes that twine
up  the  bodies of the trees, and  apes that are  perpetually in
search of prey ;  but, heaven-instructed, they elude the gliding
of the one, and the activity of the other.—The  brute creation
are more at  enmity with one another than in  other climates;
and the- birds are obliged to exert an unusual  artifice in plac-
ing their little broods  out of the reach of an  invader.   Each
aims at the same end, though by different means ;  some form
their pensile  nest in shape of a purse, deep and open at top;
others, with a hole in the side; and others, still more cautious,
with an entrance at the very bottom, forming  their lodge near
the summit.*   But the tailor-bird seems to have greater dif-
fidence than  any of the others;  it will not trust its nest even to
the extremity of  a slender twig, but makes one  more advance
to safety by fixing it to the leaf itself.  It picks up  a dead
leaf, and, surprising to relate, sews it to the  side of a  living
one, its slender bill  being its needle, and its thread some fine
fibres,  the lining  feathers, gossamer, and down.   Its eggs are
white, the colour of the  bird light  yellow;  its length three
inches ; its weight only three sixteenths of an ounce;  so that
the materials of the nest, and its own size, are not likely to
draw down a habitation that depends on so  slight a tenure."
   Birds of the gallinaceous or poultry  kind lay their eggs on
the ground.   Some of them scrape a kind of hole in the earth,
and line it with a little long grass or straw.
   It is a singular, though a well  attested fact, that the cuckoo
makes no nest, and neither hatches nor feeds  her  own young.

  * This  instinct prevails also among the birds on the banks of the  Gambia,
in Africa, which abounds with monkeys and snakes ; others, for the same end,
make their nest in holes of the banks that over hang that vast river. Purchas,
vol. 2. p. 1576. 
182
HABITATIONS OF  ANIMALS.
 "The hedge-sparrow,"  says Mr  \\ illoughby, "is the  cuc-
 koo's nurse,  but not the hedge-sparrow only, but also ring-
 doves, larks, finches.   I myself, with many  others, have seen
 a  wag-tail feeding a  young cuckoo.  The  cuckoo  herself
 builds no nest;  but having found the  nest of some little bird,
 she either devours or destroys the  eggs she there finds, and. in
 the room thereof, lays one of her own, and so forsakes it.  The
 silly bird returning, sits on this egg,  hatches  it, and,  with a
 great deal of care and toil, broods, feeds,  and cherishes the
 yroung cuckoo for her own, until it be grown up,  and able to
 fly and shift for  itself.  Which thing seems  so strange,  mon-
 strous, and absurd, that for my part I cannot sufficiently won-
 der there should be such an example in nature; nor  could I
 ever have been induced to believe that such  a  thing had been
 done by  nature's instinct, had  I not with mine own eyes seen
 it.   For  nature,  in other things, is wont constantly to observe
 one and the same law and order, agreeable to the highest rea-
 son and prudence;  which in  this case is, that  the dams make
 nests for  themselves, if need be, sit upon their  own eggs, and
 bring up their own young after  they are hatched."*   This
 economy, in the history of the cuckoo, is not only singular,
 but seems to contradict one of the most universal laws estab-
 lished  among  animated  beings, and  particularly  among  the
 feathered tribes, namely, the hatching and rearing  of their
 offspring.  Still, however,  like the ostrich in  very warm  cli-
 mates, though the cuckoo neither hatches nor feeds her young,
 she places her eggs in situations where they  are both hatched
 and her offspring brought to maturity.   Here the stupidity of
 the one animal makes  it  a dupe to the rapine  and  chicane of
 the other; for the cuckoo always destroys the eggs  of  the
 small bird before she deposits her own.
   Most of the passerine  or  small birds build their nests in
hedges, shrubs, or bushes ; though some of  them, as the lark
 and  the  goat-sucker, build upon the ground.   The nests of
 small birds are  more  delicate in their structure and  contri-
vance than those of the larger  kinds.  As  the size of their
bodies, and likewise that of their eggs, are smaller, the mate-
rials  of which their nests are composed are generally warmer.
Small bodies retain heat a shorter  time than those which  are
large.  Hence, the  eggs of small birds  require a  more con-
stant supply of heat than those of greater  dimensions.   Their
'* Willoughby's Ornithology, p. 98. 
NESTS  OF BIRDS.
183
 nests, accordingly, are built proportionally warmer and deep-
 er, and they are lined with softer substances. The larger birds,
 of course, can leave their eggs for some  time with impunity ;
 but the smaller kinds sit most assiduously ; for,  when the fe-
 male is obliged to go abroad in quest of food, the nest is always
 occupied by the  male.   When a nest is finished, nothing can
 exceed the  dexterity of both male and  female in concealing it
 from the observation of man, and of other destructive animals.
 If it is  built in bushes, the pliant  branches  are disposed in
 such a manner as to hide it  entirely from view.   To conceal
 her retreat,  the chaffinch  covers the outside of her nest with
 moss, which is commonly of  the same colour with the bark
 of the tree on  which she builds  The common swallow builds
 its nests on the  tops of chimneys; and the martin attaches
 hers to  the corners of windows, or under the eaves of houses.
 Both employ the same materials.   The nest is built with mud
 well tempered by the bill, and moistened with water to make
 it more firmly cohere ; and  the  mud or clay is  kept  still
 firmer by a  mixture of straw  or grass.   Within, it is  neatly
 lined with feathers. Willoughby, on the authority of Bontius,
 informs us, " That on the sea-coast of the kingdom of China,
 a sort of small party-coloured  birds, of the shape of swallows,
 at a certain  season of the year, viz. their  breeding time, come
 out of the midland country to the rocks; and from the foam
 or froth  of  the  sea-water dashing  and  breaking against the
 bottom  of the rocks, gather a  certain clammy, glutinous mat-
 ter, perchance the sperm  of whales, or other fishes, of which
 they build their nests, wherein they lay their eggs, and hatch
 their young. These nests the Chinese pluck from the rocks,and
 bring them  in  great  numbers into the  East  Indies to sell;
 which  are  esteemed by gluttons great delicacies,  who, dis-
 solving  them in  chicken  or mutton broth, are very fond  of
 them, preferring them far before oysters, mushrooms, or other
 dainty and lickerish morsels which most gratify the  palate.—
 These nests are of a hemispherical figure, of the bigness of a
 goose-egg, and of a substance resembling isinglass."
   Most of the cloven-footed water-fowls, or waders, lay their
 eggs upon the  ground.   But, the spoon-bills and.the common
heron build large nests  in trees,  and employ twigs and other
coarse materials; and the storks build on churches, or on the
tops of houses.   Many of the  web-footed fowls lay their eggs
likewise on the ground, as the  terns, and some of the gulls and 
184
HABITATIONS OF  ANIMALS.
mergansers.  But ducks pull the down from their own breasts
to afford a warmer and more comfortable bed for their young.
The awks,  the guillemots, and the  puffins or coulternebs, lay
their  eggs on  the naked  shelves of high  rocks.   The  pen-
guins, for the  same purpose, dig large and deep holes under
ground.
   It is not unworthy of remark,  that birds  uniformly propor-
tion the dimensions  of their nests to the number and size of
the young to be prod iced.  Every species  lays nearly a de-
termined number of eggs.  But, if one be  each day abstract-
ed from the nest, the bird continues to lay daily more till her
number is completed.  Dr Lister, by this  practice, made a
swallow lay no less than nineteen eggs.
   The habitations of  Insects are next to be considered.   On
this branch of the subject,  we shall first give some examples
of abodes constructed by  solitary workers,  and  next  of those
habitations  which are executed by associated numbers.
   In several preceding parts of this work, the reader will find
some instances of the skill  and industry exhibited  by insects,
for the  convenient  lodging and protection of their young.
These it is unnecessary to repeat.  We shall therefore proceed
to give some examples of a different kind.
   There are several species of bees distinguished  by the ap-
pellation of solitary,  because they do not associate  to carry
on any  joint operations.   Of this kind is  the  mason-bee, so
called because  it builds  a habitation composed of sand and
mortar.  The nests of this bee are fixed to the walls of hous-
es, and, when finished, have the appearance of irregular prom-
inences arising from dirt or clay accidentally thrown  against a
wall or stone by the feet of horses.  These prominences are
not so remarkable as to attract attention ; but, when the exter-
nal coat  is  removed, their structure is discovered  to be truly
admirable.   The interior part consists of an assemblage of
different cells, each of which affords a convenient lodgment
to  a  white worm,  pretty  similar  to  those produced by the
honey-bee.   Here they  remain till they have  undergone all
their metamorphoses.  In constructing  this nest,  which is a
work of great labour and dexterity,  the  female  is the  sole
operator.  She  receives no assistance  from the male.   The
manner in  which the female mason-bees build their nests, is
the most curious branch of their  history.
   After choosing a  part of a wall on which she is  resolved to
fix an habitation for her  future progeny, she goes in quest of 
                     SOLITARY INSECTS.                185 '

 proper materials.  The nest to be constructed must consist of
 a species of mortar, of which sand is the basis.  She knows,
 like human  builders,  that every kind of sand is not equally
 proper for making good mortar.  She  goes, therefore, to  a
 bed of sand, and selects, grain by grain, the kind which is best
 to answer her purpose.  With her teeth,  which are  as  large
 and as strong as those of the honey-bee, she examines and
 brings together several grains.  But sand alone will not make
 mortar.   Recourse must be had to  a cement similar to the
 slacked lime employed by masons.  Our bee is unacquainted
 with lime, but she possesses  an equivalent in her own  body.
 From her mouth she throws out a viscid liquor, with which
 she moistens the first grain pitched upon.   To this grain she
 cements a second, which she moistens  in the same  manner,
 and to the former two  she attaches a third, and  so on, till
 she has formed a mass as large as the shot  usually  employed
 to kill hares.   This mass she  carries off in her teeth to the
 place she had chosen for erecting  her nest, and makes it the
 foundation of the first cell.  In this manner she labours inces-
 santly till the whole cells are completed,  a work which is gen-
 erally accomplished in five or six days.   All the cells are simi-
 lar, and nearly equal in dimensions.  Before they are covered,
 their figure resembles that  of a thimble.  She never begins
 to make a second till the first be finished.   Each cell is about
 an inch high,  and nearly half an inch in diameter.   But the
 labour of building is not  the only one this female bee has to
 undergo.   When a cell  has been raised to one  half or two
 thirds  of its height,  another  occupation commences.   She
 seems to know the  quantity of food that will be necessary to
 nourish the young that is to proceed from  the egg, from its
 exclusion till it acquires its full growth  and passes into the
 chrysalis state.   The  food which is prepared for the  support
 of the young worm consists of the farina or  powder of  flow-
 ers, diluted with honey, which forms  a kind of pap.   Before
 the cell is entirely finished, the mason-bee  collects from the
 flowers, and deposits in the cell, a large quantity of farina, and
 afterwards disgorges upon it as much honey as dilutes it,  and
 forms it into a kind of paste,  or syrup.   When this operation
 is  performed, she completes her cell,  and after depositing an
 egg in it covers the mouth of it with the same mortar she  uses
 in  building her nest.  The egg is now inclosed on all sides in
a walled habitation hermetically sealed.  A small quantity of
 air, however, gets admission  to the worm, otherwise it could
             24 
186
HABITATIONS OF  ANIMALS.
not exist.  Reaumur discovered that air actually penetrated
through this seemingly compact mason-work.
  As soon as the first cell  is completed, the mason-bee lays
the foundation of another.  In  the same nest she often con-
structs seven  or eight cells, and sometimes only three or four.
She places them near each other, but not in any regular order.
This industrious animal, after all her cells are constructed, fill-
ed with provisions,  and sealed, covers the whole with an en-
velope of the same mortar,  which, when dry, is as hard as
stone. The nest now is commonly of an oblong or roundish
figure, and the external  cover is composed of coarser  sand
than that of the  cells.  As the nests are almost as durable as
the walls on which they are placed, they are often, in the fol-
lowing season,  occupied  and  repaired by a stranger bee.
Though  inclosed with two hard walls,, when the fly emerges
from the  chrysalis state, it first gnaws  with its teeth a passage
through the wall that sealed  up the mouth of  its cell; after-
wards, with the same instruments,  it pierces the still stronger
and more compact cover which invests the whole nest;  at last
it escapes into the open air, and, if a  female, in a short time,
constructs a nest of the same  kind with that which the mother
had made.  To all these facts, Du  Hamel, Reaumur, and ma-
ny other naturalists of credit and  reputation,  have  been re-
peatedly  eye-witnesses.
  From  the hardness of the materials with which the mason-
bee constructs her nest, from the industry  and dexterity she
employs  to protect her progeny from enemies of every kind,
one  would naturally imagine  that  the young  worms were in
perfect safety, and that their castle was impregnable.  But,
notwithstanding all these favourable precautions, the young of
the mason-bee are often devoured by the instinctive dexterity
of certain species of  four-winged insects, distinguished by the
name of  ichneumon-flies  These flies,  when the mason-bee
has nearly completed a cell, and filled it with provisions, de-
posit their own eggs in her cell.  After  the eggs of the ich-
neumon-flies  are hatched, their worms devour  not  only the
provisions laid  up by the mason-bee, but  even  her progeny
whom she  had laboured so hard,  and with so much  art and
ingenuity, to protect.  But the mason-bee  has an enemy still
more formidable.  A certain fly employs the same stratagem
of insinuating an egg into  one of  her cells before it is com-
pleted.   From this egg proceeds a strong and rapacious worm,
armed with prodigious fangs.  The devastations of this worm 
SOLITARY INSECTS.
187
 are not confined to one cell.   It often  pierces through each
 cell in  the nest,  and successively devours both the  mason-
 worms, and the provisions so anxiously laid up for their sup-
 port by the mother.  This stranger worm is afterwards trans-
 formed into a fine  beetle, who is enabled to pierce the nest,
 and to make his escape.
   The operations of another species of solitary bees,  called
 wood-piercers  merit attention.  These  bees are  larger than
 the queens of the honey-bee.   Their bodies are smooth, ex-
 cept the sides, which  are covered with hair.  In the  spring,
 they frequent gardens, and search for rotten, or at least dead
 wood, in order to make a habitation for their young.   When
 a female of this species,—for she receives no assistance from
 the male,—has selected  a piece of wood, or a decayed tree,
 she commences her labour by  making a hole in it, which is
 generally directed toward the axis of the  tree.  When she has
 advanced  about half an inch,  she alters the direction of the
 hole, and conducts it nearly parallel to the axis of the wood.
 The size  of her body requires that this hole should  have a
 considerable  diameter.  It is often so large  as to admit the
 finger of a man, and it sometimes extends from twelve to fif-
 teen inches in length.   If the thickness of the wood permits,
 she makes three or four of these long holes in its interior part.
 M. de Reaumur found three of these parallel holes in an old
 espalier post.   Their diameters exceeded half an inch.  This
 labour,  for a single  bee,  is prodigious;  but, in executing it,
 she consumes weeks, and even months.
  Around the foot of  a post or piece of wood where one of
 these bees is working, little heaps of timber-dust are always
 found  lying on the ground.  These heaps daily increase in
 magnitude, and the particles of dust are as large as those pro-
 duced by a hand-saw.   The two teeth with which the animal
 is provided are the only  instruments she employs in making
 such considerable perforations.   Each tooth consists of a solid
 piece of  shell, which in shape resembles an auger.  It is con-
vex above, concave below, and terminates  in  a sharp but
 strong point.
  These long holes are designed  for lodgings to  the worms
that  are  to proceed  from the eggs which the bee is soon to
deposit in them.  But, after the holes are finished, her labour
is by no means at an end.  The eggs must not be mingled, or
piled above each other.  Every separate worm must  have  a
distinct apartment, without any communication with the others. 
1S8
HABITATIONS OF  ANIMALS.
Each long hole or tube, accordingly,  is only the outer walls
of a house which is to consist of many chambers ranged one
above another.   A hole of about twelve inches in length she
divides into ten or twelve separate apartments, each of which
is about an  inch  high.   The  roof of the lowest room is the
floor of the second, and so on to the uppermost.  Each floor
is of about the thickness of a French crown.  The floors or di-
visions are composed of particles of wood cemented together  •
by a glutinous substance from the animal's mouth.   In mak-
ing a floor, she commences with  gluing an annular  plate  of
wood-dust round the  internal circumference of the cavity.
To this plate she attaches a second, to the second a third, and
to the third a fourth, till the whole floor is completed.  The
undermost cell requires only a roof, and this roof is a floor  to
the second, &,c.
  But these operations, though great,  and seemingly superior
to the powers of a creature so small, are not her only labour.
Before roofing in the first cell, she fills it with a paste or pap,
composed  of the  farina of flowers  moistened  with honey.
The quantity of paste  is equal to the dimensions of the cell,
which is about an inch high,  and half an inch in  diameter.
In this paste, which is to nourish the future worm,  she de-
posits an  egg.   Immediately after this operation, she begins
to form a  roof, which not only incloses the first cell, but serves
as a  floor to the second.  The second  cell she likewise fills
with paste,  deposits  an egg,  and then covers the whole with
another roof.  In this manner she proceeds, till she has divid-
ed  the whole tube into separate cells.   A  single  tube fre-
quently  contains from ten to a dozen  of these  cells.  When
the cells are all inclosed, the business of this laborious bee is
finished, and she takes no more charge of her future  progeny.
The attention and solicitude bestowed  by many other animals,
in rearing their young,  are exerted after birth.   But, in the
wood-piercing bee, as well as in many other insects, this in-
stinctive attachment is reversed.   All  her labours and all her
cares are exerted before she either sees her offspring, or knows
that they  are to  exist.   But,  after the  description  that has
been  given of her amazing operations,  she will not  be con-
sidered  as an unnatural  mother.  With  astonishing  industry
and  perseverance, she not only  furnishes her young with
safe and convenient lodgings,  but lays up for them  stores  of
provisions sufficient to support them till their final metamor-
phosis into flies, when the new females perform the  same al- 
SOLITARY  INSECTS.                189
 most incredible operations for the protection and sustenance
 of their own offspring.  When the  young worm is hatched,
 it has scarcely sufficient  space to turn itself in the cell, which
 is  almost  entirely filled with the pappy substance formerly
 mentioned.  But,  as this substance  is gradually devoured by
 the worm,  the space in the cell necessarily enlarges in propor-
 tion to the growth and magnitude of the animal.
   We are  informed by M.  de  Reaumur, that  M. Pitot fur-
 nished  him with a piece  of wood, not exceeding an inch and
 a half  in  diameter, which  contained  the cells of a wood-
 piercing bee.   He cut off as much of the wood as was  suffi-
 cient to expose two of the cells to  view,  in  each of which
 was a worm.   The aperture he  had  made, to prevent the  in-
juries of the air, he closed, by pasting on a bit of glass.  The
 cells were  then almost entirely  filled with paste.   The two
 worms  were exceedingly small,  and, of course, occupied but
 little  space between the walls  of the cells  and the mass of
 paste.   As the animals increased in  size, the  paste daily di-
 minished-  He began to observe them on the 12th day of
 June ; and, on the 27th of the same  month, the paste in each
 cell was nearly consumed, and  the worm, folded in two, oc-
 cupied  the greater part of its habitation.   On the 2d of July,
 the provisions of both worms were entirely exhausted; and,
 beside the  worms themselves, there remained in the cells only
 a few small, black, oblong grains of excrement.  The five or
 six following days they fasted, which seemed  to be a neces-
sary abstinence,  during  which  they were greatly agitated.
They often bended their bodies, and elevated  and depressed
 their heads.  These movements were preparatory to the great
 change  the animals were  about to undergo.  Between the 7th
 and 8th of the same month,  they threw off their skins, and
were  metamorphosed into  nymphs.   On the 30th of July,
these nymphs were  transformed into flies similar to their pa-
rents.   In a range  of cells, the worms are of different ages,
and, of course, of different sizes-  Those in the lower cells
are older than  those in the superior; because,  after  the bee
has filled with paste and inclosed its first cell, a considerable
time is  requisite to collect  provisions,  and to form partitions
for every successive  and  superior cell.   The former,  there-
fore, must  be transformed  into nymphs and flies before the
latter.   These circumstances  are apparently  foreseen  by the
common mother; for, if the undermost worm, which is oldest,
and soonest transformed, were to force its way upward, which 
190
HABITATIONS OF  ANIMALS.
 it could easily do, it would n it only disturb, but infallibly de-
 stroy, all those lodged in the superior cells.   But Nature has
 wisely prevented this devastation ;  for the head of the nymph,
 and consequently of the fly, is always placed  in a downward
 direction.  Its first instinctive movements must, there! ire, be
 in the same direction.   That the yroung flies may escape from
 their respective cells, the mother digs a hole at the bottom of
 the long tube, which makes a communication with the under-
 most cell  and the open  air.  Sometimes  a similar passage is
 made near the middle of the tube   By  this contrivance, as
 all the  flies  instinctively endeavour to cut  their  way down-
 ward,  they  find an easy and convenient passage; for  they
 have only to pierce  the floor o! their cells, which they readily
 perform with their teeth.
   Another small species of solitary bees dig holes in the earth
 to make a convenient habitation for their young.  Their nests
 are composed of cylindrical  cells  fixed  to one another, and
 each of them, in figure,  resembles a thimble.  Their bottom,
 of course, is convex and  rounded.   The bottom of the second
 is inserted into the entry of the first; and  the entry of the
 second receives the  bottom of the third.   They are not all of
 the same  length.  Some of them  are five lines long, others
 only four, and their  diameters  seldom   exceed  two  lines.
 Sometimes only two of these cells  are joined together;  and,
 at other times, we find  three or four, which form a kind of
 cylinder.  This cylinder is composed of alternate  bands of
 two different  colours; those of the  narrowest, at  the junc-
 ture of two cells, are white, and those of the broadest are of
 a  reddish brown.   The  cells consist of a number of fine
 membranes,  formed of a glutinous  and transparent substance
 from the animal's mouth.   Each cell our bee fills with the
 farina of flowers diluted  with honey, and  in this paste she
 deposits an egg.  She then covers  the cell,  by gluing to its
 mouth a fine cellular substance taken  from  the leaves of some
 plant; and in this  manner  she proceeds  till her cylindrical
 nest is completed.  The worms which are hatched from the
 eggs feed  upon the paste,  so carefully laid  up for them  by
 the mother, till they are transformed into flies similar to their
 parents.
   Among wasps, as well  as bees, there are solitary  species,
which carry on no joint operations.   These solitary wasps are
 not less ingenious in constructing  proper habitations for their
 young,  nor less  provident  in laying up for them a store of 
MONEY BEE.
191
nourishment sufficient to support them till they are transform-
ed into flies,  or have become perfect animals.   But, to give
a detailed description of their operations would lead us into
a prolixity, of which the plan of our work  does not admit.
  1 shall now give some examples of the operations of asso-
ciating insects,  who  construct habitations by exerting a com-
mon and mutual labour.
  The skill and  dexterity of the honey-bees displayed in the
construction of their combs or nests, have  at all times called
forth  the admiration of mankind.  They  are  composed of
cells regularly applied  to each other's sides.  These cells are
uniform  hexagons or six-sided  figures.  In a beehive, every
part is arranged with such symmetry, and  so finely  finished,
that, if limited to the same materials, the most expert work-
man would find himself unqualified to construct a similar hab-
itation, or rather a similar city.
  Most Natural Historians have  celebrated  bees for their wis-
dom, for the perfection  and harmony of their  republican
government,  and for their persevering industry and wonderful
economy.  All these splendid talents,  however, the late in-
genious Count de Buffon has endeavoured  to persuade us, are
only results of pure  mechanism.  But this is not  the proper
place to enter into  a  discussion of this point.  It will fall
more naturally to be treated of when we come to describe the
societies established  among different gregarious animals.   We
shall, therefore,  at  present, confine ourselves chiefly to the
mode in  which bees  construct their habitations.
  In the  formation of their  combs, bees  seem to  resolve  a
problem which would not be a little  puzzling to some geome-
ters,  namelyr, a quantity of wax being given,  to make of  it
equal and similar cells of a determined capacity,  but of the
largest size in proportion to the  quantity of matter employed,
and disposed in such a manner as to occupy in the hive the
least possible space.   Every part of this  problem  is  com-
pletely executed  by the bees.   By applying hexagonal cells
to each other's sides, no void spaces are left between  them;
and,  though the same end  might be accomplished  by other
figures,  yet they would necessarily require a greater quantity
of  wax.  Besides,  hexagonal   cells are better fitted  to  re-
ceive the cylindrical bodies of  these insects.  A  comb con-
sists of two strata of  cells applied to each other's ends.   This
arrangement both saves  room  in the hive, and  it gives  a
double  entry into the cells of which the comb is composed. 
11) 2
HABITATIONS OF  ANIMALS.
 As a farther saving of wax, and  preventing void spaces, thu
 bases of these cells in one stratum ol  a comb  serve for bases
 to the  opposite stratum.  In a word,  the  more minutely the
 construction of these  cells  is  examined,  the  more  will the
 admiration  of the observer be  excited.  The walls  of the
 cells are so extremely  thin, that  their  mouths would  be in
 danger of suffering by the frequent entering and issuing of the
 bees.   To  prevent this disaster,  they make a kind  of ring
 round the margin of  each cell, and this ring is three or four
 times as thick as the walls.
   It is difficult to perceive, even  with the assistance  of glass
 hives, the manner in which bees operate when constructing
 their cells.   They are so eager  to afford mutual assistance,
 and, for this purpose, so many of them  crowd together, and
 are perpetually  succeeding  each  other, that their  individual
 operations   can  seldom be distinctly observed.  It has,  how-
 ever, been  plainly discovered, that their  two  teeth  are the
 only  instruments they employ  in modelling and polishing the
 wax.  With a  little patience and attention, we perceive cells
just  begun; we likewise remark the quickness with which a
 bee moves its teeth against a small portion of the cell.   This
 portion the animal, by repeated strokes on each side, smooths,
 renders compact, and reduces to a proper  thinness of  consis-
 tence.  While  some of the hive are  lengthening  their  hex-
 agonal tubes,  others are laying the foundations of new ones.
 In certain circumstances, when extremely hurried, they do
 not complete their new  cells,  but leave them imperfect till
they have begun a number sufficient for their present exigen-
 cies    When a  bee puts its head a little way into a cell, we
 easily  perceive it scraping  the walls  with tb^g points of its
teeth, in order to detach such useless  and irregular  fragments
as may  have been left in the work.  Of these  fragments the
bee forms a ball  about  the  size of a pin-head, comes out of
the cell, and carries  this wax  to  another  part of  the work
where it is  needed.  It no sooner leaves the  cell  than it is
succeeded by another bee,  which  performs  the same office,
and in this manner the work is successively carried on  till the
cell is completely polished.
  The  cells of bees are  designed for different  purposes.
Some of them are employed for the accumulation and preser-
vation  of honey.  In others, the  female  deposits  her eggs,
and from these  eggs worms are  hatched,  which remain in the
cells till their final transformation into flies.  The drones, or 
HONEY-BEE.
193
males, are larger than the common,  or working, bees; and
the queen, or mother of the hive, is much larger than either.
A cell destined for the lodgement of  a male or female worm
must,  therefore, be considerably larger than the cells of the
smaller working bees.  The number of cells destined for the
reception of the working bees  far exceeds those  in which the
males are lodged.  The  honey-cells are always made deeper
and more capacious than  the  others.   When the honey col-
lected is so abundant that the vessels cannot  contain it, the
bees lengthen, and of course deepen, the honey-cells.
   Their  mode of working, and the  disposition and division
of  their  labour,  when  put into an  empty hive,  do  much
honour to the sagacity of bees.  They immediately begin  to
lay the foundations of their combs, which they execute with
surprising quickness and  alacrity.  Soon  after they begin to
construct one comb,  they  divide into two or three companies,
each of which, in different parts  of the hive, is occupied with
the same operations.  By this  division of labour,  a  greater
number of bees have an opportunity of  being  employed at
the same time, and, consequently, the  common work is sooner
finished.  The combs are generally  arranged in a direction
parallel to each other.   An interval,  or street,  between the
combs is always left, that the bees may have a  free passage,
and an easy communication with the  different combs  in the
hive.   These streets are just  wide enough to allow two bees
to pass one another.  Beside these parallel streets, to shorten
their  journey when working,   they leave several round cross
passages, which are  always covered.
   Hitherto we have chiefly taken  notice of the  manner in
which  bees construct and polish their cells, without treating
of the materials they employe   We have not marked the dif-
ference between the crude matter collected from flowers and
the true wax.   Every body knows that bees carry  into their
hives* by means of their hind  thighs, great "quantities of the
farina,  or dust, of flowers.  After many  experiments  made
by Reaumur,  with a view to discover whether this dust con-
tained real wax, he was obliged to acknowledge, that he could
never find that wax formed any  part of its composition.  He
at length discovered, that  wax  was not a substance  produced
by the mixture of farina with any glutinous substance, nor by
trituration, or any mechanical  operation.   By long and atten-
tive observation, he found that  the bees actually eat  the farina
which they so industriously collect;  and that  this farina, by
              25 
194
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
an animal  process,  is converted into  wax.  This digestive
process, which is necessary to the formation of wax, is carried
on in the second  stomach, and perhaps  in the intestines of
bees   After knowing the place where this operation is per-
formed, chemists will probably allow,  that it is equally diffi-
cult to make real wax with the farina of flowers, as to make
chyle with animal  or vegetable  substances, a work  which is
daily executed  by our own stomach and  intestines, and  by
those of other animals.   Reaumur  likewise discovered, that
all the cells  in a hive were not  destined  for the reception of
honey  and  for depositing the  eggs  of the female,  but that
some of them were employed as receptacles for the  farina of
flowers, a  species of food that bees find necessary for  the
formation of wax,  which  is the great  basis and raw material
of all their  curious  operations.  When  a bee  comes  to  the
hive with its thighs filled with farina, it is often  met near  the
entrance by some of its companions,  who first take off  the
load,  and then devour  the  provisions so  kindly brought to
them.  But, when none of the bees employed in  the hive
are hungry for this species of food,  the carriers  of the farina
deposit their loads in cells prepared for  that purpose.  To
these cells the bees resort, when the weather  is so bad that
they cannot venture  to go to the fields* in quest  of  fresh pro-
visions.  The carrying  bees, however, commonly enter  the
hive loaded  with farina.   They walk along the combs beating
and making a noise  with  their  wings.  By these movements
they seem to announce their arrival to their companions.  No
sooner has a loaded  bee  made these movements,  than three
or four of those within  leave their work,  come  up to it, and
first take off its load, and then eat the materials it has brought.
As a farther evidence that  the  bees actually eat the farina of
flowers, when the stomach and  intestines  are laid open, they
are often found to be filled with this dust, the grains of which,
when  examined  by the microscope,  have the  exact figure,
colour,  and  consistence of farina, taken from the antherre of
particular flowers   After the farina is digested, and converted
into wax, the bees possess the power of bringing it from their
stomachs  to their mouths.  The instrument  they  employ in
furnishing materials for  constructing their waxen cells is their
tongue.  This tongue is situated below the two teeth or fangs.
When  at work,  the tongue may be seen by the assistance of
a lens and a glass hive.   It is then  in perpetual motion, and
us motions are extremely rapid.   Its figure continually varies. 
HONEY-BEE.
195
Sometimes it  is more sharp, at others it is flatter, and some-
times it  is more or less concave, and partly covered with a
moist  paste  or wax.  By  the different  movements of its
tongue, the bee  continues  to supply fresh  wax  to  the two
teeth, which are employed in raising and fashioning the walls
of its cell, till  they  have acquired a sufficient  height.  As
soon as  the moist paste or wax dries,  which it does  almost  •
instantaneously, it then  assumes all the appearances and qual-
ities of common wax.  There  is a still stronger proof that
wax is the result of an animal  process.   When bees  are re-
moved into a new hive, and  closely confined from the morn-
ing to the evening, if the hive chances to please them, in the
course of this day several waxen cells will be formed, without
the  possibility of a  single  bee's having had access  to the
fields.   Besides, the rude materials, or the  farina of plants,
carried  into the hive, are of various colours.  The farina of
some plants employed  by the  bees is  whitish; in others it is
of a fine yellow colour; in others it  is almost entirely red ;
and in others  it is green.  The combs constructed with these
differently coloured materials are, however,  uniformly of the
same colour.   Every comb, especially when it is newly made,
is of a pure white colour, which is more or less tarnished by
age, the operation of the air, or by other accidental  circum-
stances.   To  bleach wax,  therefore,  requires only the art of
extracting such foreign bodies  as may have insinuated them-
selves  into its substance, and changed its original colour.
  Bees, from the nature of their constitution, require a warm
habitation.  They are likewise  extremely solicitous to prevent
insects of any  kind from  getting admittance  into  their hives.
To accomplish  both these purposes,  when they take posses-
sion of a new  hive, they carefully examine  every part of it,
anc?, if they discover any small holes or chinks, they  imme-
diately paste them firmly up  with a resinous substance which
differs considerably from  wax.   This substance was  not un-
known to the ancients.  Pliny  mentions  it under the name of
propolis, or bee-glue.  Bees use the  propolis for rendering
their hives more close and perfect, in preference to wax, be-
cause the former is more durable, and more powerfully resists
the vicissitudes of weather, than the latter.  This  glue is not,
like wax, procured by  an animal process.   The bees  collect
it from different trees,  as the poplars, the birches,  and the
willows.   It is  a complete production of nature, and requires
no addition or manufacture from the animals by  which it is 
196
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
 employed.   After a bee has procured  a quantity sufficient to
 fill  the cavities in its two hind thighs, it repairs  to the hive.
 Two of its companions  instantly draw out  the  propolis, and
 apply it to fill up such chinks, holes, or other deficiencies,  as
 they find in their habitation.   But this is not the only use to
 which bees apply the  propolis.  They are extremely solicit-
 ous to remove such insects or foreign bodies as happen to  tret
 admission into  the hive.  When so  light as not to  exceed
 their powers, they first  kill the insect  with  their stings, and
 then drag it out with their teeth.   But it sometimes happens
 that an ill-fated snail  creeps  into  the hive.  It is no sooner
 perceived than it  is attacked on all sides and stung to death.
 But how  are the bees to  carry out a burden  of such weight ?
 This labour they know would  be in vain.   They are perhaps
 apprehensive that a body so large would diffuse, in the course of
 its putrefaction, a disagreeable or noxiousodour through the hive.
 To prevent such hurtful  consequences, immediately after the
 animal's death, they embalm it, by covering every part of its
 body with propolis,  through which no effluvia can escape.—
 When a snail with a shell gets  entrance, to dispose of  it gives
 much less trouble and expense to the bees.   As soon as this
 kind  of snail receives the first wound from a sting, it naturally
 retires  within  its shell.   In this  case,  the bees, instead  of
 pasting it all over with propolis,  content  themselves with
 gluing all round the margin of the  shell, which is sufficient to
 render the animal forever immovably fixed.
  But propolis, and  the materials  for making wax, are not
 the only substances these industrious animals have to  collect.
 As  formerly remarked,  beside  the whole  winter, there are
 many days  in which the bees  are prevented  by  the  weather
 from  going abroad in quest of  provisions.   They are,  there-
 fore,  under the necessity of collecting, and  laying up  in cfclls
 destined  for that  purpose,  large quantities of honey.   This
 sweet and balsamic  liquor  they extract,  by  means of their
 proboscis or trunk, from the nectariferous glands of flowers.
 The trunk of a bee  is a kind  of rough cartilaginous tongue.
 After collecting a few small drops of honey, the animal with
its  proboscis conveys them to its mouth and  swallows them.
 From the oesophagus, or  gullet, it passes into the first stomach,
which is more or less swelled  in proportion to the quantity  of
houey it contains.  When empty,  it has the appearance of a
fine white thread ; but,  when filled with  honey,  it assumes 
WASF.
197
the figure of an oblong bladder, the membrane of which is so
thin and transparent, that it allows the colour of the  liquor it
contains to be distinctly seen.  This bladder is well known
to children who  live in the  country.   They cruelly  amuse
themselves with catching bees, and tearing them asunder, in
order to suck the honey.   A single flower furnishes but a
small quantity of honey.   The bees are, therefore, obliged
to fly from one  flower to another till they fill their first sto-
machs.   When they have  accomplished  this  purpose, they
return directly to the  hive, and disgorge  in a cell the whole
honey they  have collected.   It  not unfrequently  happens,
however, that, when on its way to the hive, it  is accosted by
a  hungry companion.   How  the  one  can communicate its
necessity to  the  other, it is  perhaps impossible to  discover.
But the fact  is certain, that, when  two bees meet in this situa-
tion, they mutually  stop, and the one whose stomach  is full of
honey extends its trunk, opens its mouth, which  lies  a little
beyond the teeth, and, like ruminating  animals, forces up the
honey into that cavity.  The hungry bee knows how  to take
advantage of this hospitable  invitation.  With the point of its
trunk it sucks the honey from the other's mouth.  When not
stopped on the road, the bee proceeds to  the hive, and in the
same manner offers its honey to those  who are at work, as if
it meant to  prevent the necessity of quitting their  labour in
order to go in quest of food.  In bad weather, the bees feed
upon the honey  laid up in open  cells; but they never touch
these reservoirs when their companions are enabled  to supply
them with fresh  honey from  the fields.   But the mouths of
those cells which are destined for  preserving  honey during
winter, they always cover  with a lid or thin plate of wax.
    Wasps,  like the bees, associate in great numbers,  and con-
struct,  with  much dexterity  and  skill,  a common habitation.
There  are many species of wasps, some  of  which unite  into
societies, and others spend  their  lives  in  perfect solitude.
 But, in this place, we shall confine our  attention to the opera-
 tions of the common associating  wasp, an  insect so well
 known, even to children,  that  it requires no  description.
 Though bees, as well as wasps,  are armed with a  sting, yet
 the former may  be  regarded as a placid  and harmless race.
 Bees are continually occupied with  their own labours.   Their
 chief care  is to defend  themselves ; and  they  never take
 nourishment at  the expense of  any other  animal.   Wasps,
 on the  contrary, are ferocious animals, who live entirely on 
198
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
rapine and destruction.   They kill  and devour  every insect
that is inferior to them in strength.  But, though warlike and
rapacious in their  general  manners, they are  polished  and
peaceable among themselves.   To their young they discover
the greatest  tenderness and  affection.   For their  protection
and  conveniency no  labour is spared;  and  the  habitations
they construct do honour to their patience, address, and saga*
city.   Their architecture, like that of the honey-bee,  is sin-
gular, and worthy of admiration;  but the materials employed
furnish neither  honey  nor wax.   Impelled  by an instinctive
love of posterity, they, with great labour, skill, and assiduity,
construct combs, which are likewise composed of hexagonal
or six-sided  cells.   Though these  cells are not  made of
wax,  they are equally  proper for the reception of eggs,  and
for affording convenient habitations to the worms which pro-
ceed from them  till  their  transformation into wasps.
   In  general, the cells of the  wasps are  formed of a kind of
paper, which,  with great  dexterity,  is fabricated  by  the
animals themselves.  The  number of combs and cells in a
wasp's nest is always  proportioned to the number of individ-
uals associated.   Different species choose different situations
for building their nests.   Some expose their habitations to all
the injuries of the air; others prefer  the trunks of decayed
trees; and others,  as  the common  kind, of which  we  are
principally treating, conceal their  nests under ground.   The
hole which leads to  a wasp's nest is about an inch in diameter.
This hole is a kind  of gallery mined by  the wasps, is seldom
in a straight line, and varies in length from half a foot  to two
feet, according to the distance of the nest from the surface of
the ground.   When exposed to view, the whole nest appears
to be of a roundish  form, and  sometimes about  twelve or
fourteen inches in diameter.   Is is strongly fortified all  round
with walls or layers of paper, the surface of which is  rough
and irregular.   In these walls  or rather in this external cover-
ing, two holes are left for passages  to the combs    The  wasps
uniformly enter the  nest by one hole, and go out by the  other,
which prevents any  confusion or interruption to their common
labours.
   We are now arrived at the gates of this subterraneous city,
which, though small, is extremely populous.   Upon removing
the external  covering, we perceive  that the whole  interior
part consists of several stories or floors of combs, which  are
parallel to each other, and nearly in a horizontal  position. 
WASP.
199
Every story is composed of a numerous assemblage of hex-
agonal cells, very regularly constructed  with a matter resem-
bling  ash-coloured  paper.  These  cells contain neither wax
nor honey, but  are  solely destined  for containing the eggs,
the worms which are hatched from them, the nymphs,  and   *
the young wasps till they are able to fly.   Wasps' nests are
not always composed of  an equal number of combs.  They
sometimes consist of fifteen,  and  sometimes of eleven only.
The combs are of various  diameters.  The first, or upper-
most, is often only two  inches  in diameter,  while  those of
the middle sometimes exceed a foot.  The lowest are  also
much smaller than the middle ones.   All these combs, like so
many floors or stories ranged in a parallel manner above each
other, afford lodging to  prodigious  numbers  of inhabitants.
Reaumur computed,  from the number of cells in a given por-
tion of  comb, that,  in a medium-sized nest, there were at
least 10,000 cells.  This calculation gives  an  idea of the as-
tonishingly prolific powers of these insects, and the vast num-
bers of individuals produced in a single season from one nest;
for every cell serves as a  lodging to no less than three genera-
tions.  Hence a  moderately-sized nest gives  birth annually
to 30,000 young wasps.
  The different  stories of combs are always about half an
inch high,  which leaves free  passages to the wasps from one
part of the nest to another.   These intervals are so spacious,
that,  in proportion to the bulk of the animals, they may be
compared to great halls, or broad streets.  Each of the larger
combs is supported by about  fifty pillars, which, at the same
time,  give solidity to the fabric,  and greatly ornament the
whole nest.  The  lesser combs are supported  by the same
ingenious  contrivance.  These  pillars  are  coarse, and of a
roundish form.   Their bases and capitals, however, are much
larger  in  diameter  than the middle.   By  the  one  end
they are attached to  the superior  comb, and by the other to
the inferior. Thus between two combs there is always a spe-
cies of rustic colonnade.   The wasps begin at  the  top  and
build  downward.   The uppermost and smallest comb  is  first
constructed.  It  is attached to the superior part of the  exter-
nal covering.  The second comb is  fixed to the bottom of
the first;  and  in this manner the animals proceed till  the
whole  operation is completed.  The connecting pillars are
composed of the same kind of paper as the rest of the nest. 
200
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
   To allow the wasps entries into the void spaces,  roads are
   left between the combs and the external envelope or covering.
      Having given a general idea of  this curious edifice,  it is
   next  natural to inquire how the wasps build,  and  how they
•  employ themselves in their abodes.  But, as all these  myste-
   ries are performed under the earth, it required much industry
   and attention to discover them.  By the ingenuity and perse-
   verance  of M. de Reaumur,  however,  we  are enabled to
   explain some  parts of their internal  economy and manners.
   This indefatigable naturalist contrived to make wasps, like the
   honey-bees, lodge and work in glass hives.  In this operation
   he was greatly assisted by the ardent  affection which these
   animals  have  to  their offspring ; for he found, that,  though
   the nest was  cut  in different  directions, and though  it was
   exposed to the light, the wasps never deserted it, nor relaxed
   in  their attention to their young.   When  placed  in  a glass
   hive,  they  are  perfectly  peaceable,  and  never  attack the
   observer, if  he calmly contemplates  their operations;  for,
   naturally, they do not sting, unless  they are irritated.
      Immediately after a wasp's  nest has been transported from
   its natural situation,  and covered with a glass hive,  the first
   operation of the insects is to repair the injuries it has suffered.
   With wonderful activity they carry off all the earth and foreign
   bodies that may have  accidentally been conveyed into the
   hive.   Some of them occupy  themselves in fixing  the nest to
   the top  and sides of the hive by  pillars of paper similar to
   those  which support the different  stories or strata  of combs;
   others repair the breaches it has sustained; and others fortify
    it by  augmenting considerably the thickness of its external
    cover.  This external envelope is an operation  peculiar to
   wasps.  Its construction requires great labour; for it frequently
    exceeds an inch  and a half in  thickness,  and  is composed of
    a number of  strata or layers  as thin as paper, between each
    of which there is a void space.  This cover  is a kind of box
    for inclosing  the  combs, and  defending them from the rain
    which occasionally penetrates the earth.  For this purpose
    it  is  admirably  adapted.   If it  were one solid mass, the
    contact of  water would penetrate the whole, and reach the
    combs.   But, to prevent this fatal effect,  the animals leave
    considerable vacuities between the vaulted layers, which are
    generally fifteen or  sixteen  in number.  By this ingenious
    piece of architecture, one  or two layers may be moistened
    with water, while the others are not in the least affected. 
WASP.
201
   The materials  employed by wasps in the construction of
 their nests  are very different from those made use of by the
 honey-bee.  Instead of collecting the  farina of flowers,  and
 digesting it into wax, the wasps  gnaw with their two  fangs,
 which are strong and serrated, small fibres of wood from the
 sashes of windows, the  posts of espaliers, garden doors, he.
 but never attempt growing or green  timber.  These fibres,
 though very slender, are often a line,  or a twelfth part  of an
 inch  long.   After  cutting  a certain  number of them,  the
 animals collect  them into minute bundles, transport them to
 their nest, and,  by means of a glutinous  substance  furnished
 from their  own bodies,  form them into  a moist and ductile
 paste.  Of this substance, or papier tnache, they construct the
 external cover, the partitions of the nest, the hexagonal cells,
 and the  solid columns which  support the several  layers or
 stories of combs.
   The constructing  of  the nest occupies  a comparatively
 small  number of labourers.  The others are differently em-
 ployed.   Here it  is necessary to remark, that the  republics
 of wasps, like those of the honey-bees, consist of three kinds
 of flies,  males,  females, and neuters.   Like the bees, also,
 the number of neuters far surpasses those of both  males and
 females.  The greatest  quantity of labour is devolved  upon
 the neuters ; but they are not, like the neuter bees, the only
 workers; for there is  no part  of  their operations which the
 females, at certain times, do  not execute.   Neither do the
 males, though  their industry is not comparable to that of the
 neuters,  remain entirely idle.  They often occupy themselves
 in  the interior  part of the nest.   The greatest part of the
 labour, however,  is performed oy the neuters.   They build
 the nest, feed the males, the females,  and even the young.
 But, while the neuters are employed in these different opera-
 tions, the others are abroad in hunting  parties.  Some attack
 with  intrepidity  live  insects,  which  they sometimes  carry
 entire to the nest; but they generally  transport  the  abdomen
 or  belly only.   Others pillage  butchers' stalls, from which
 they often arrive with a piece of meat  larger than the half of
 their own bodies.   Others  resort to gardens, and  suck  the
juices of fruits.  When they return to the nest, they distribute
 a part of their plunder to the females,  to the  males,  and even
 to such neuters as  have been usefully occupied at home.  As
 soon as a neuter  enters the nest,  it is  surrounded by several
 wasps, to each of whom  it freely gives a portion of the food
                  26 
202
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
it has brought.   Those who  have not been hunting for prey,
but have been sucking  the juices of fruits, though  they seem
to return empty, fail not to regale  their companions; for, after
their arrival, they station themselves upon the upper part of
the nest, and discharge from their mouths two or three drops
of a clear liquid,  which are  immediately swallowed  by the
domestics.
  The  neuter  wasps,  though  the most laborious, are the
smallest; but they are  extremely  active and vivacious.  The
females are much larger,  heavier, and jslower in their move-
ments.  The males are of an intermediate size between that
of the  females and neuters.   From these differences  in size,
it  is easy  to distinguish the different  kinds of those wasps
which  build  their nests below the ground.  In the  hive of
the honey-bee,  the number of females  is always  extremely
small;  but,  in a wasp's nest, there are often more  than three
hundred females.  During the  months  of June,  July, and
August, they remain constantly in  the nest, and are never seen
abroad except in the beginning of spring, and in the  months
of September and October. During the summer, they are total-
ly occupied  in laying their eggs and feeding their young.   In
this last operation, they  are assisted by the other wasps ; for the
females alone, though numerous, would be insufficient for the
laborious task.   A wasp's  nest, when completed, sometimes
consists of  sixteen thousand  cells,  each of which contains an
egg, a  worn., or a nymph.   The  eggs are white, transparent,
of an oblong figure, and  differ in size, according to the  kind
of wasps which are to proceed from them.   Some of them
are no  larger than the head of a small pin.  They are  so
firmly  glued  to the bottoms of the cells, that it is  with diffi-
culty they can  be detached  without breaking.  Eight  days
after the eggs are deposited in the cells, the worms  are hatch-
ed, and are considerably larger than the eggs which gave birth
to them.  These worms demand  the principal cares of the
wasps  who  continue always in the nest.   They feed them, as
birds feed their young, by giving them,  from time to  time, a
mouthful of food.  It is astonishing to see with what industry
and rapidity a female runs along the cells of a comb, and dis-
tributes to each worm a portion of nutriment.   In proportion
to the  ages and  conditions of the worms, they are  fed  with
solid food, such  as the  bellies of insects,  or with a liquid sub-
stance  disgorged by the mother.  When a worm  is so large
as to occupy its whole cell,   it is  then ready to be metamor-
phosed into  a nymph.  It then  refuses all nourishment, and 
WASP.
203
ceases to have  any connexion with  the  wasps in the  nest.
It shuts up the mouth of its  cell with a fine silken cover, in
the same manner as the silk-worm and other caterpillars spin
their  cods.   This operation  is completed in  three or four
hours, and the animal remains in the nymph state nine or ten
days, when, with  its teeth, it destroys the external cover of the
cell, and comes forth in the form of a winged insect, which is
either male, female, or neuter, according to the nature of the egg
from which  it was hatched.  In a short time, the wasps newly
transformed receive the food brought into the nest byr the fora-
gers in the fields.  What is still more curious, in the course of
the first day after their transformation, the young wasps have
been  observed going to the fields,  bringing in provisions, and
distributing  them to the worms in the cells.   A  cell is no
sooner abandoned by a young wasp, than it is cleaned, trim-
med,  and  repaired  by an old one, and rendered, in every
respect, proper for the reception of another egg.
  As formerly  mentioned, wasps  of different sexes differ
greatly in size.   The animals know how to construct  cells
proportioned  to the  dimensions of the fly that  is to proceed
from  the egg which  the  female  deposits  in  them.   The
neuters are six times smaller than the females, and their cells
are built nearly  in the same  proportion.   Cells are not only
adapted  for the reception of neuters, males, and females, but
it is remarkable that  the cells of the  neuters are never inter-
mixed with  those of the males or females.  A comb is entirely
occupied with small cells  fitted for the reception  of neuter
worms.  But male  and  female cells are often found in the
same  comb.   The males and females  are  of  equal  length,
and, of course, require cells of an equal deepness.  But the
cells of the  males are narrower than  those of the females,
because the bodies of the former are never so thick as those
of the latter.
  This wonderful  assemblage of combs, of the pillars which
support them, and of the external  envelope,  is  an  edifice
which requires several months' labour, and serves the animals
one year only.  This  habitation, so populous  in summer, is
almost deserted in winter, and abandoned  entirely in spring;
for, in this last season, not a single  wasp is to be found in a
nest of the preceding year.  It is worthy of remark, that the
first combs of a nest are always accommodated for the recep-
tion of the neuter or  working wasps.   The city, of which the
foundation has just been laid, requires a number of workmen. 
JO 1
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
The neuter or working wasps are accordingly first produced.
A cell is no sooner half-completed than an egg of a neuter is
deposited in it by the female.   Of fourteen or fifteen combs
inclosed  in a common cover,  the four last only are destined
for the reception of males and females.   Hence it uniformly
happens,  that,  before the males and  females  are  capable of
taking flight, every  wasp's nest is peopled  with several thou-
sand neuters or workers.   But the neuters, who are first pro-
duced, are likewise the first that perish ;  for not one of them
survives  the termination  even of  a mild winter.   It  was
remarked by the ancient  naturalists,  that  some wasps lived
one year only, and others two.  To the former, Aristotle gives
the appellation  of operarii, which are our workers or neuters,
and to the latter matrices, which are our females.
  The female wasps are  stronger, and support the rigours of
winter better, than  the males or  neuters.   Before  the end of
winter, however, several hundred females die,  and not above
ten  or a dozen m each nest survive that  season.  These few
females   are  destined  for  the continuation of the  species.
Each of  them   becomes  the  founder of  a  new republic.
When a queen-bee  departs from a hive,  in order to establish
a new one, she is always accompanied with several thousand
industrious labourers, ready to perform every necessary opera-
tion.  But the female wasp has not the aid of a single labour-
er ; for all the  neuters are dead  before the  beginning of the
spring.   The  female alone lays the foundation of a new  re-
public.   She either finds  or  digs a  hole under  the  earth,
builds cells for the  reception of her eggs, and feeds  the worms
which proceed  from them.   Whenever  any of these neuter
worms are transformed into flies, they immediately  assist their
parent in augmenting the  number of cells and combs, and in
feeding the  young worms, which are  daily hatching from the
eggs.  In a word, this female wasp, which in spring was per-
fectly solitary, without any proper habitation, and  had every
operation to perform, has,  in autumn, several thousands of
her offspring at her devotion, ancl  is furnished with  a mag-
nificent  palace,  or rather city,  to protect her from the injuries
of the weather and from external enemies.
  With  regard to the male wasps, it is uncertain whether any
of them  survive the winter.  But, though  not so indolent as
the males of the honey-bee, they can be of little  assistance
to the female; for  they never  engage in any work of  impor-
tance, such  as  constructing cells, or  fortifying the external 
ANT.
205
cover of the nest.  They are  never brought forth till towards
the end of  August; and  their sole  occupation  seems to be
that of keeping the nest clean. They carry out every kind of
filth, and the carcases of such of their companions as happen to
die.  In performing this operation,  two of them  often join,
and, as  mentioned in  another place, when the load  is too
heavy, they cut off the head, and  transport the dead animal
at two different times.
   The  males and females are produced  at the same time, and
they are nearly equal in number.  Like the male honey-bees,
the male wasps are destitute of  stings, but the females  and
neuters  have  stings, the poisonous liquor of which, when
introduced into any part of the human body, excites inflam-
mation, and creates a considerable degree of  pain.
   ' The habitations and economy of the various species of Ants
are equally curious  with  those which  have been  described.
There  are, as with  the wasps and  bees, individuals  of three
sorts ;  males  and  females, which  have wings, and  neuters,
which are without them.   The  former desert the  habitations
in which they have been reared, as soon as they have under-
gone the last metamorphosis, and  seldom revisit them.  They
live principally in the air like other insects, forming numerous
swarms.  The females, as soon as they are ready to deposit
their eggs, wander from their place of birth, deprive  them-
selves of their wings by means of their  feet, and found a  new
establishment,  whilst the males, having become entirely  use-
less,  all perish.  A few of the  females  are seized by the
neuters, confined in  the original habitation, deprived of their
wings, and obliged to lay their eggs there, and are then driven
out to perish.
   ' The neuters are distinguished  not only  by the  want of
wings,  but  by the size of their head,  the strength  of their
jaws,  and the  length of their feet.   They  have charge of the
principal part  of the  labour  of preparing for  the reception
and nourishment of the young.  The nests of ants  differ very
much in different species.  They are generally made  in the
earth.   Some merely dig out the  sand and form holes running
in different  directions,  so that  the habitation is almost entirely
subterraneous.  Others gather together particles of many dif-
ferent kinds, and raise  mounds of considerable size above the
surface of the earth in  the form of domes.  Others choose for
their residence  the trunks of old  trees,  the interior of  which
they pierce  with holes  passing in every direction.  All  the 
206
HABITATIONS  OF  ANIMALS.
 passages or  galleries of which  these habitations consist,  ter-
 minate in an  apartment  designed for the reception of  the
 young.
   'The food of ants consists of fruit, insects ind their larva, and
 the bodies of small quadrupeds and birds.  The neuters, which
 are the providers for the whole establishment, are  principally-
 governed in  their researches by the senses of touch and smell.
 With the fruits of their labours they feed the  larvae while  in a
 helpless state.   In warm  weather they drag  them up for the
 benefit of the  heat to the outside of their holes,  and at  the
 approach of  night or of bad  weather, convey  them back
 again into the recesses of their habitations.  In short, all their
 labour and care are directed with a view to the accommodation
 and  preservation of an offspring in which they really have no
 share.  They  defend them against the attack of all enemies,
 and  risk for them their  safety  and  their lives ; and after
 watching them  with unremitting  assiduity until  they have
 arrived at the perfect state, they will not then suffer them to
 leave the nest unless the weather be fine and propitious, when
 they  permit  them  to take their  departure.'
   'The male and female ants perish at the approach of winter,
 but  the neuters  survive  it, and pass  the cold months  in a
 dormant  state in  the  recesses  of their  habitations.   Their
 forethought and providence, then, in the provision of food  has
 not for its object their own support, but that of their young;
 and  in  preparing for the winter,  they have merely to render
 their habitations  tight end secure against the cold.'
   The habitations and operations of the Termites, a species of
 insects  frequently called white ants,* although  of  a different
 genus  and even  a different  order  from  the common ants,
 are well worthy of attention.   They  infest Guinea, and all
 the  tropical  regions, where,  for  their  depredations upon
 property, they  are  greatly dreaded  by the inhabitants.
   Of these insects there are several species ; but  they all
 resemble each  other in form, and in their manner of  living.
 They differ,  however, as much as  birds, in the style of their
 architecture,  and in the  selection of the materials of  which
 their nests are  composed.  Some  build  on  the  surface,  or
  • In the windward parts of Africa, they are denominated bugga, bugs; in
the West-Indies, wood-lice, wood-ants, or white ants.  They are likewise call-
ed pieratrs,  eaters, or cutters, because they cut almost every thing in pieces.
This account of the termites is selected, with some slight alterations,  from
an excellent description of them in the Philosophical Transactions by Mr
 Henry Smeathman, vol. 71, part 1, p. 139. 
TERMITES.
207
partly above and  partly below the ground,  and others on the
trunks or branches of lofty trees.
  Before describing the nests or hills,  it is necessary to give
some idea of  the  animals themselves,  and of their general
economy and  manners.  We shall confine ourselves to  that.
species called termites bellicosi,  or fighters,  because they are
largest, and best known on the coast of  Africa.
  The republic of the termites bellicosi, like the other species of
this genus, consists  of three  ranks  or  orders of insects:  1.
The working insects, which Mr  Smeathman distinguishes by
the name of labourers;  2. The  fighters,  or  soldiers, which
perform no  kind of labour; and,  3. The winged,  or perfect
insects, which are male and female.   These last Mr Smeath-
man calls the nobility or gentry ; because they neither labour
nor fight.   The nobility alone are capable of  being raised  to
the rank of kings and queens.  A  few weeks after their eleva-
tion to  this state, they emigrate,  in order to establish  new
empires.
  In a  nest or hill, the  labourers,  or  working insects, are
always  most  numerous.   There  are  at  least one hundred
labourers to one of the fighting  insects or soldiers.   When  in
this state, they are about a fourth of an inch in length, which
is rather smaller than  some of our ants.  From their figure,
and fondness for wood, they are very generally known by the
name of wood-lice.
  The  second order, or soldiers, differ in figure from that ot
the labourers.  The former have been supposed to be neuters,
and the latter  males.   But, in fact, they are the same insects.
They  have only  undergone  a change of form, and made a
nearer approach  to the perfect  state.   They are  now much
larger, being half an inch in length, and equal in size to fifteen
of the  labourers.   The form of the head  is likewise greatly
changed.   In the labourer state,  the mouth is evidently formed
for gnawing or  holding bodies; but, in the soldier state, the
jaws  being shaped  like two  sharp  awls a little jagged, are
destined solely for piercing or  wounding.  For these purposes
they are very  well calculated  ; for they are as hard as a crab's
claw,  and placed  in  a strong  horny  head,  which is of  a
nut-brown  colour, and larger than the whole body.
  The figure  of the  third order, or that of the insect  in  its
perfect state,  is still more changed. The head, the thorax,
and the abdomen,  differ  almost entirely from the  same parts
in the labourers and soldiers.  Beside, the animals are now 
208
HABIT \TIONS OF ANIMALS.
furnished with four  large,  brownish, transparent  wings,  by
which they are enabled, at the proper season, to emigrate and
to establish new settlements.   In the winged or perfect state,
they are greatly altered in their size as well as in their figure.
Their bodies  now measure  between six and  seven tenths of
an inch, their wings, from tip to tip, above two inches and a
half, and their bulk is equal to that of thirty labourers,  or two
soldiers.  Instead of active, industrious, and  rapacious little
animals, when they arrive at their  perfect state, they become
innocent, helpless, and dastardly.  Their  numbers are great;
but their enemies are still more numerous.   They are devour-
ed by birds, by every species of ants, by carnivorous reptiles,
and even by the inhabitants of many parts of Africa.
   Of those that  escape,  some  are  seized  upon  by  the
labouring insects, and  are  made the founders of  new states.
They are immediately inclosed in a chamber suitable  to their
size.  This is  built around them  and has an entrance too
small for them to go out, but large enough for the  labourers
to pass  in and  out.  It was the  opinion of former observers,
that  both males and  females  were thus  preserved,  but the
analogy of other insects renders it probable that it is females
alone.  At any rate, there soon takes place a most extraordi-
nary change in the female or queen.  Her abdomen is grad-
ually  extended and  enlarged  to  a most  enormous size ; so
that in  an old  queen it has been found to have increased to
1500 or 2000  times the bulk of the rest of the body,  and 20
or 30,000 times the bulk of a common labourer.   The skin
extends in every direction,  so that  the abdomen, which is not
originally more than half an  inch in  length, has at  length
each of  its segments removed to that distance from each other.
When the animal is two years old,  the abdomen has increased
to three inches in length and they have sometimes been found
of near  twice  that size.  This is now full  of eggs, which are
contained in a vast  number of very minute and convoluted ves-
sels, which moving in a serpentine manner  cause an undulating
appearance without,  like that of the peristaltic motion of the
intestines.  By means of this motion, the  eggs are protruded
in almost incredible  numbers, to  the  amount, as has been
pretty accurately calculated, of 80,000 or upward  in twenty-
four hours.
  The eggs are instantly taken care of by the  labourers  and
placed in proper  depositories or  nurseries where they are
hatched.  The young  are then attended  and  provided with 
                        TERMITES.                    209

every thing  necessary until  they are  able to shift for them-
selves and  take their share in the labours of the community.
  The nests of the termites bellicosi, or wood-lice, are called
hills by the natives of  Africa, New-Holland, and other hot
climates.  This appellation  is highly proper; for they are
often elevated ten or twelve feet above the surface of the earth,
and are nearly of a conical figure.   These  hills, instead  of
being rare  phenomena, are so frequent  in many places  near
Senegal, that,  as  described  with gre*at propriety by Mons.
Adanson, their  number, magnitude, and closeness of situation,
make them  appear like villages of the negroes.  "Of all the
extraordinary things I observed," says Mons. Adanson, in his
voyage  to Senegal, " nothing struck me more  than  certain
eminences,  which, by their  height and regularity, made me
take them, at a distance,  for an assemblage of negro  huts,  or
a considerable  village,  and yet they were  only the nests  of
certain insects.  These nests are round pyramids, from eight
to ten feet  high,  upon  nearly the same base, with a smooth
surface  of  rich  clay,  excessively  hard  and  well   built."
Jobson, in his history of Gambia, tells us, that " the ant-hills
are remarkable cast up in those parts  by the pismires, some
of  them twenty foot .in height, of compasse to contayne a
dozen of men,  with the heat of the sun baked into that hard-
nesse, that we used to hide ourselves in the ragged toppes  of
them,  when we  took  up  stands to shoot at deere  or  wild
beasts."  Mr Bosnian remarks, in his description  of Guinea,
that " the ants make nests of the earth about  twice the height
of a man."
  Each of  these  hills  is composed of an  exterior  and  an
interior part.  The exterior cover is a large clay shell, which
is shaped like a dome.   Its strength and magnitude are suffi-
cient to enclose and protect the  interior building from the
injuries of the weather, and to defend  its numerous inhabit-
ants from the attacks of natural or accidental enemies.   The
external dome or cover is,  therefore, always much stronger
than the  internal building,  which  is  the habitation  of the
insects, and is  divided with wonderful artifice and regularity
into a  vast number of  apartments for the residence  and
accommodation of the king  and queen, for the nursing  of
their progeny, and for magazines, which are always well stored
with provisions.
  These hills make their first appearance in the form of  con-
ical turrets,  about a foot high.  In a short time,  the  insects
               27 
210
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
  erect, at a little distance, other turrets,  and  go on increasing
  their number and widening their  bases  till their underworks
  are covered w ith these turrets, which the animals always raise
  highest in the middle of the hill, and, by filling up the intervals
  between each turret, collect them,  at last, into one great dome.
    The royal  chamber  appears to be, in the opinion of this
  little  people, of the most  consequence, and is always situated
  as near  the  centre of the interior building as  possible,  and
  generally about the  lrfeight of the  common surface of the
  ground.   It is always nearly in the shape  of half an egg, or an
  obtuse oval, within, and may be supposed to represent a long
  oven.   In the  infant  state of the  colony,  it is  not above an
  inch, or thereabouts, in length; but  in time will be increased
  to six or eight inches, or more, in the clear, being always in
  proportion to the size of the queen, who increasing in hulk as
  in age, at length requires a chamber of such dimensions.
    The royal chamber is surrounded by an innumerable  quan-
  tity of others, which are of different sizes, figures, and dimen-
  sions ; but all of them are arched either in a  circular  or  an
  elliptical form.  These  chambers either  open into each other,
  or have  communicating  passages,  which, being always clear,
  are evidently intended for the conveniency of the soldiers and
  attendants, of whom, as will  soon appear, great numbers are
  necessary.  These apartments are joined by  the  magazines
  and  nurseries.   The magazines are chambers of clay, and are
  at all limes well stored with provisions,  which, to the naked
  eye, seem to consist of the raspings of wood and plants which
  the termites destroy ; but, when examined by the microscope,
•  they are found to consist chiefly of the  gums  or  inspissated
  juices of plants,  thrown  together in small  irregular masses.
  Of these masses,  some are finer  than others, and resemble
  the sugar about preserved fruits ; others  resemble  the tears of
  gum, one being quite transparent,  another like amber, a third
  brown, and a fourth perfectly opaque.
    The magazines are always intermixed with the nurseries,
  which last are buildings totally different from the rest of the
  apartments.  They are  composed  entirely of wooden materi-
  als, which seem to  be cemented with gums.  Mr Smeathman
  very  properly  gives  them  the appellation of  nurseries; be-
  cause they are invariably occupied by the eggs, and the young
  ones,  which first appear in the shape of labourers; but they
  are as white as snow.  These buildings are exceedingly com-
  pact, and are divided into a number of small, irregularly shaped 
TERMITES.
211
qhambers, not one of which is half an inch wide.  They are
placed all round, and as near as possible  to the royal  apart-
ments.
  When a nest or hillock  is in the infant state, the nurseries
are close to the royal apartment.  But as, in process of time,
the body of the queen enlarges, it becomes necessary, for her
accommodation, to augment the dimensions of her chamber.
She then,  likewise,  lays  a  greater  number  of  eggs,  and
requires more attendants ;  of course, it is necessary that both
the number and dimensions of the adjacent apartments should
be augmented.  For this purpose,  the small first-built  nurse-
ries are taken to pieces, rebuilt  a little farther off, made a size
larger, and their number, at the same time is increased.  Thus
the animals are continually employed in pulling down, repair-
ing, or rebuilding their apartments ;  and these operations they
perform with wonderful sagacity, regularity, and foresight.
  One remarkable circumstance regarding  the nurseries must
not be omitted.   They  are always slightly overgrown  with a
kind of mould,  and  plentifully sprinkled with  white globules
about  the  size of a small  pin's head.  These globules,  Mr
Smeathman at first conjectured to be the eggs ;  but,  when
examined by the microscope, they evidently appeared to be a
species of  mushroom,  in  shape resembling our eatable mush-
room when  young.  When entire,  they are  white like snow
a little melted  and  frozen again ; and,  when  bruised, they
seem to be composed of an infinite number of  pellucid parti-
cles, approaching  to oval forms,  and are with  difficulty sep-
arated from each  other.   The mouldiness seems likewise to
consist of the same  kind of substance.*
  The  nurseries are inclosed in chambers of clay, like those
which contain the provisions; but they  are much  larger.   In
the early state of the nest, they  are  not bigger than a  hazel
nut; but, in great hills, they are often  as  large as a  child's
head a year old.
  The  royal chamber is  situated nearly on  a  level with the
surface of the ground, at art equal distance from all the sides
of the building, and directly under the apex of the hill.   On

  * Mr Konig, who examined the termites' nests in the  East-Indies, conjec-
tures, that these mushrooms are the food of the young insects.  This supposi-
tion implies, that the old ones have a method of providing for and promoting
the growth of the mushroom ; " a circumstance," Mr Smeathman remarks,
" which, however strange to those unacquainted with the sagacity of those
insecft; I will venture to say, from many other extraordinary facts I have
seen of them, is not very improbable." 
212             HABITATIONS  OF  ANIMALS.

all sides, both above and below, it  is surrounded by what are
called  the  royal  apartments,  which contain only labourers
and soldiers,  who can be intended  for no other  purpose than
to continue in the nest either to guard or  serve their common
parents, on whose safety the happiness, and, in the estimation
of the  negroes,  the  existence, of  the whole community de-
pends.    These  apartments  compose an intricate labyrinth,
which  extends a* foot or  more  in diameter  from the royal
chamber on every side.  Here the nurseries and  magazines
of provisions  begin ; and, being  separated  by small  empty
chambers and galleries,  which surround them, and communi-
cate with each other, are continued on all sides to  the outward
shell, and reach up within it two thirds or three fourths of its
height, leaving an open area in the  middle under the dome,
which  resembles the nave of an  old  cathedral.   This area
is surrounded by large Gothic arches, which are sometimes
two or three  feet high next the front  of the area, but diminish
rapidly as they recede, like the arehes of aisles in perspectives,
and are soon lost among the innumerable chambers and nurs-
eries behind  them   All these chambers and passages  are
arched, and contribute mutually to  support one another.  The
interior building, or assemblage of nurseries, chambers, and
passages, has a flattish roof, without any perforation.   By this
contrivance,   if,  by accident,  water should  penetrate  the
 external  dome,  the apartments  below  are preserved from
 injury.  The area  has also a flattish floor,  which is situated
 above the royal chamber.   It is likewise water-proof, and so
 constructed, that, if water gets admittance, it runs off by sub-
 terraneous passages, which are of an astonishing magnitude.
 " I measured one of them," says Mr Smeathman, " which was
 perfectly cylindrical, and thirteen inches in diameter."  These
 subterraneous passages are thickly lined with the same kind
 of clay of which  the hill is  composed,  ascend  the  internal
 part of  the external shell in a spiral form, and, winding round
 the whole building up  to the top, intersect and communicate
 with  each other at different  heights.   From every part  of
  these large  galleries a  number  of pipes, or smaller galleries,
  leading to  different parts of the  building,  proceed.  There
  are likewise a great many which  lead downward, by sloping
  descents, three and four  feet perpendicular under  ground,
  among the  gravel, from which the labouring termites select
  the finer  parts, which, after being worked  up in their m#uths
  to the consistence of mortar, become that solid clay or stone of 
TERMITES.
213
which  their hills,  and every  apartment  of  their  buildings,
except the nurseries, are composed.  Other galleries ascend
and lead out horizontally on ever)r side, and are carried under
ground, but near the surface, to great distances.  Suppose the
whole  nests within a hundred  yards of a house were  com-
pletely destroyed, the inhabitants of those at a greater distance
will  carry on  their subterraneous galleries,  and invade  the
goods  and  merchandise contained  in  it by  sap  and mine,
unless  great attention and  circumspection  are employed by
the proprietor.
  When a breach  is made in one of the hills, the  first object
that attracts attention is the  behaviour of the soldiers, or fight-
ing  insects.   Immediately after the blow is given,  a soldier
comes out, walks about the breach, and seems to examine the
nature of the  enemy, or the  cause of the attack.   He then
goes into the  hill,  gives the alarm, and in a short  time, large
bodies  rush out as fast as  the  breach will permit.   It is not
easy to describe the fury these fighting insects discover.   In
their eagerness to repel the enemy, they frequently tumble
down  the sides of  the  hill,  but recover themselves  very
quickly, and  bite every thing they encounter.  This biting
joined to the striking of their forceps upon the  building, makes
a crackling or vibrating noise,  which is somewhat shriller and
quicker than the ticking of a watch, and may  be heard at the
distance  of three  or  four feet.  While the attack  proceeds,
they are in the most  violent bustle and agitation.   If they get
hold of any  part of a man's body,  they  instantly make a
wound,  which discharges as much blood as is equal to their
own weight.   When they  attack the  leg, the stain of blood
upon  the stocking  extends  more  than an  inch  in width.
They  make their  hooked jaws meet at the  first stroke,  and
never quit their hold, but suffer themselves to be pulled away
leg by leg, and" piece after piece, without the smallest attempt
to escape.  On the other hand, if a person  keeps out of their
reach, and gives them no farther disturbance,  in less than half
an hour they retire  into  the  nest, as if they supposed the
wonderful monster that damaged their castle had fled.  Before
the whole of the soldiers have got in, the labouring insects are all
in motion, and hasten toward the breach, each of them having a
quantity of tempered mortar in his mouth.  This mortar they
stick upon the breach as  fast as they arrive, and perform the
operation with so  much despatch and  facility, that, notwith-
standing the immensity of  their numbers, they never stop or 
214
HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
embarrass one another.   During this scene of apparent hurry
and confusion, the  spectator is agreeably surprised  when he
perceives a regular wall gradually arising  and filling  up the
chasm.   While the labourers are  thus  employed,  almost all
the soldiers remain within, except  here and there one,  who
saunters  about among six  hundred or a thousand  labourers,
but never touches the mortar.  One soldier, however,  always
takes his station close to the wall that the labourers  are build-
ing.   This soldier turns himself leisurely on all sides, and, at
intervals of a minute or two, raises  his head, beats upon the
building  with  his  forceps, and  makes the vibrating  noise
formerly mentioned.  A loud  hiss instantly issues from the
inside  of the  dome and  all the  subterraneous  caverns and
passages.  That  this  hiss  proceeds from the labourers  is
apparent;  for, at every  signal of this  kind, they work with
redoubled quickness and alacrity.   A renewal  of the  attack,
however, instantly changes  the scene.   On  the  first  stroke,
the labourers run into the many pipes and galleries wjth which
the building is perforated, which they do so quickly, that they
seem to vanish ; for in  a few  seconds all are gone, and the
soldiers  rush out as numerous and  as  vindictive as before.
On finding no enemy, they return again leisurely  into the hill,
and, very soon after,  the labourers appear loaded  as at first,
as active, and as sedulous, with soldiers  here and there  among
them, who act just in the same manner, one or other of them
giving the  signal to hasten the business.   Thus the pleasure
of seeing them come out to fight or to work, alternately,  may
be obtained as often as  curiosity  excites,  or time  permits;
and  it will certainly be found, that the  one  order  never
attempts to fight, nor the other to work, let the emergency be
ever so great.
  It is exceedingly difficult to explore the  interior  parts of a
nest or  hill.   The apartments  which  surround  the royal
chamber  and  the  nurseries, and  indeed  the  whole  fabric,
have such  a dependence on each other,  that the breaking of
one arch generally pulls down two or three.  There is another
great obstacle, namely, the obstinacy of the soldiers who dis-
pute every inch of ground, and fight to  the very last, wound-
ing severely  those who are  engaged  in the  attempt,  and
sometimes obliging them to desist.   Besides this, while the
soldiers are engaged in  defending the outworks, the labourers
are barricading the way within, slopping up the different gal-
leries and passages which lead to the various apartments, 
                HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.             215

particularly the royal chamber, all the entrances to which they
fill up so artfully as  not to  let it be distinguishable while it
remains moist; and externally it has no other appearance than
that of a  shapeless lump of clay.  It may  be known, how-
ever, by its situation and by the crowd of soldiers and labour-
ers who assemble  around and  within it, to defend or perish
with it.  It is never abandoned, and when taken out is always
found  full,  the attendants running  in one  direction  around
the  queen with the  utmost solicitude, some of them  stop-
ping at her head as if to give her something, and others taking
her eggs away from  her and piling them carefully together in
some part of the chamber.
                     CHAPTER IX.

             OF THE HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.


  In contemplating the  system of animation exhibited in this
planet, the only one of which  we  have any extensive knowl-
edge, the  mind is struck, and even confounded, with the gen-
eral  scene of havock and  devastation which is perpetually,
and every where,  presented to our view.  There is not, per-
haps,  a  single species of animated beings,  whose existence
depends not, more or less, upon the death and destruction of
others.  Every animal, when not prematurely deprived  of life
by those who are hostile to it, or by accident, enjoys a tempo-
rary existence, the duration jaf which is longer or shorter
according to its nature, and the rank it holds in the creation ;
and this existence universally terminates in death and dissolu-
tion.  This is an established law of nature, to which  every
animal is obliged to submit.   But this necessary and universal
deprivation of individual life,  though great, is nothing  when
compared  to the  havock occasioned  by  another law,  which
impels animals to kill and devour different species, and  some-
times their own.   In the system of nature, death and dissolu-
tion seem to be indispensable for the support and continuation
of animal life. 
210
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
  But, though almost every animal, in some measure, depends
for its existence on the destruction of others,  there are some
species  in all  the different  tribes or classes, which  are dis-
tinguished  by  the appellation  of carnivorous, or rapacious,
because they live chiefly, or entirely, on animal food.  In the
prosecution  of this subject,  therefore,  we shall,  in  the first
place, mention  some examples of animal  hostility and repa-
city; and, in the next place, endeavour  to  point  out such
advantages  as result from this  apparently cruel  institution of
nature.   On the last branch of the subject, however, the reader
must not expect to have every difficulty removed, and every
question solved.   Like all the other jjarts of the economy of
nature, the necessity, or even the  seeming cruelty and injus-
tice, of allowing animals to prey upon one another, is a mys-
tery which we  can never be enabled completely to unravel.
But we are  not entirely without hopes of showing several im-
portant utilities which  result from this almost universal scene
of animal devastation.
  Of  all  rapacious  animals,  Man  is  the  most   universal
destroyer.   The destruction of carnivorous quadrupeds, birds,
and  insects, is,  in general,  limited to particular kinds.  But
the  rapacity of man has  hardly any  limitation.  His empire
over the  other animals which inhabit this  globe  is almost
universal.   Of some of the  quadruped tribes, as the  horse,
the dog, the cat, he makes domestic  slaves; and  though in
this country, none of these species is used for food,  he either
obliges them to labour for him,  or keeps them as sources of
pleasure and amusement.  From other quadrupeds,  as the ox,
the sheep, the goat, and the deer kind, he derives innumera-
ble advantages.   The ox kind in particular, after receiving the
emoluments of their  labour and fertility,  he  rewards with
death, and then feeds upon  their  carcasses.   Many other spe-
cies, though not commonly  used  as food, are daily massacred
in millions for the purposes  of commerce, luxury, and caprice.
Myriads of quadrupeds  are annually destroyed  for the sake
of their furs, their hides,  their tusks, their odoriferous secre-
tions, he.
   Over the feathered  tribes the dominion of man is not  less
extensive.  There are few species in the numerous and diver-
sified  class of  birds, which  he either does  not, or  may not,
employ  for the  nourishment of  his body.   By  his sagacity
and address he has been enabled  to domesticate many of the
more prolific and delicious species, as turkeys, geese, and the 
MAN.
217
various kinds of poultry.   These  he multiplies without end,
and devours at pleasure.
  Neither do the inhabitants of the waters escape the rapacity
of man.   Rivers, lakes, and even  the ocean  itself, feel  the
power of his empire, and are forced to supply him with pro-
visions.  Neither air nor water can defend against the ingen-
uity,  the art, and  the destructive  industry  of  the human
species.  Man may be said even to have domesticated  some
fishes.  In artificial  ponds, he  feeds and  rears  carp, tench,
perch, trout,  and other species, and with them  occasionally
furnishes his table.
  It  might  have been expected, that insects and reptiles,
some of  which have a most disgusting  aspect,  would not have
excited the human appetite.   But we iearn  from experience,
that, in every region of the earth,  many insects which inhabit
both the  earth and the waters, are esteemed as  delicate articles
of luxury.   Even  the viper, though its venom be deleterious,
escapes not the all-devouring jaws of man.
  Thus  man  holds, and  too often exercises, a  tyrannical
dominion over almost the whole brute creation,  not because
he is  the strongest  of all animals,  but because his intelleet,
though of a similar  nature, is vastly superior to that  of the
most  sagacious of the less  favoured tribes.   He reigns over
the other animals, because the powers of his  mind .are more
extensive.   He overcomes  force by ingenuity, and swiftness
by  art and  persevering industry.   But the  empire of man
over the  brute creation is not absolute.  Some species  elude
his  power by the  rapidity of their flight, by the  swiftness of
their  course,  by the obscurity of their retreats,  and  by the
element  in which  they live.   Others  escape him by  the
minuteness of their  bodies ; and,  instead of acknowledging
their  sovereign, others boldly attack  him with  open  hostility.
He is also insulted  and  injured by the stings  of insects, and
by the poisonous bites of serpents.
  In other respects, man's empire, though comparatively great,
is  very  much limited.  He has no influence on the universe,
on the motions and  affections of the heavenly bodies,  or on
the revolutions of  the globe which he inhabits.   Neither has
he a  general dominion  over animals, vegetables,  or minerals.
His  power reaches  not species,  but is confined to individ-
uals.   Every order of beings moves on in  its course, perishes,
or is renewe'd, by the irresistible power of nature.   Even man
himself,  hurried along  by the general torrent  of time and of
              28 
21S
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
nature, cannot prolong  his existence.   He is obliged to sub-
mit to the universal law; and, like all other organized beings,
he is  born,  grows to maturity, and dies.   Though  man has
been enabled  to subdue the  animal creation  by the superior
powers of his mind, his empire, like all other empires,  could not
be firmly established previous to the institution of pretty numer-
ous societies.  Almost  the  whole of his power is derived
from  society.  It  matures  his reason,  gives  exertion to his
genius, and  unites his forces.   Before the formation of  large
societies,  man was perhaps  the  most  helpless and  the least
formidable of all animals.  Naked, and destitute of arms, to
him the earth was only an immense desert peopled with strong
and  rapacious  monsters, by whom he was  often  devoured.
Even long after this period,  history informs us; that the first
heroes were destroyers of wild beasts.  But,  after the human
species had multiplied,  and  spread over the earth, and when,
by means of society and the  arts, man was enabled to conquer
a considerable part of the  globe, he forced  the wild beasts
gradually  to retire  to the deserts.   He  reduced the numbers
of the voracious and noxious species.   He opposed the  pow-
ers and  the  dexterity of one animal  to those  of another.
Some  he subdued  by address, and others by force.  In this
manner he,  in  process of time,  acquired to himself perfect
security,  and established an empire that has no other  limits
than inaccessible solitudes,  burning sands,  frozen mountains,
or obscure caverns, which  are occupied  as retreats by  a few
species of ferocious animals.
   Next  to  man,   the  carnivorous  quadrupeds  are the most
numerous and the  most destructive.  Different parts of the
earth are infested with lions, tigers, panthers, ounces, leopards,
jaguars, couguars,  lynxes, wild  cats, dogs, jackals,  wolves,
foxes, hyaenas, civets, genets, polecats, martins, ferrets,  er-
mines, gluttons, bats, he.  Though all  these, and many other
tribes  of  quadrupeds, live solely  upon blood and carnage, yet
some of them,  as the tiger,  the wolf,  the hyaena, and  many
other  inferior species, are much  more  rapacious and destruc-
tive than others.   The lion,  though surrounded with  prey,
kills no more than he  is able to  consume.   But the tiger is
grossly ferocious, and cruel without necessity.  Though satiat-
ed with carnage, he perpetually thirsts for blood.  His rest-
less fury  has no intervals, except when he is obliged  to lie in
 ambush for prey at the sides of lakes or rivers, to which other
 animals resort for drink.  He seizes and tears in pieces a fresh 
CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS.
219
animal with the same rage as he exerted in devouring the first.
He desolates  every country  that  he  inhabits,  and  dreads
neither the aspect nor the arms of man.   He sacrifices whole
flocks  of domestic animals, and  all the wild  beasts which
come within "the reach of his  terrible claws.  He attacks the
young of the  elephant  and rhinoceros, and sometimes  even
ventures to brave the  lion.  His predominant instinct is a
perpetual rage,  a blind  and undistinguishing ferocity, which
often impel him  to devour  his own  young, and to tear their
mother in pieces when she attempts to defend  them.  He
delights  in blood, and  gluts himself  with it till he is intoxi-
cated.  He tears the body for no other purpose than to plunge
his head into it, and  to drink  large draughts  of  blood, the
sources of which are generally exhausted  before his thirst is
appeased. The  tiger is perhaps the only animal whose fero-
city is unconquerable.   Neither violence, restraint, nor  brib-
ery, have any effect in softening his  temper.   With harsh
or  gentle  treatment he is equally irritated.  The mild  and
conciliating influence of society  makes  no impression on the
obduracy and incorrigibleness of his disposition.  Time, in-
stead of softening the  ferociousness of his  nature,  only exas-
perates his rage.   He tears, with equal wrath, the hand which
feeds him, and that which  is  raised to  strike  him.  Every
animated object  he regards as a fresh  prey,  menaces it with
frightful  groans,  and often springs at it, without regarding his
chains, which only restrain, but cannot calm his fury.
   In temperate climates, the wolf seems to exceed all  other
animals  in the ferocity and rapaciousness of his  disposition.
When  pressed with hunger, he braves  every danger.   He
attacks all those animals which  are under the  protection of
man, especially such as he  can carry off with ease, as lambs,
kids, and the smaller kinds of dogs.  When successful in his
expeditions,  he returns often  to the charge, till, after  being
chased and wounded by men and dogs, he retires, during the
day, to his den.   In the night he again issues forth,  traverses
the country,  roams round  the cottages,  kills all  the animals
that have been left without, digs the earth under the doors,
enters with a terrible ferocity,  and  puts every living creature
to death, before he chooses to depart, and  carry off his prey.
When these inroads happen to be fruitless, he returns to the
woods, searches about with avidity, follows the track and the
scent of wild beasts, and pursues them till  they fall a prey to
his rapacity.  In a  word, when  his hunger  is extreme, he 
220
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
loses all idea of fear, attacks women and  children, and some-
times men ; at last he becomes perfectly  furious by excessive
exertions, and generally falls a  sacrifice to pure rage and dis-
traction.   When several  wolves appear together,  it is not an
association of peace, but of war.   It is nttended witli  tumult
and dreadful growlings, and indicates an attack  upon some of
the larger  animals, as a stag, an ox, or a formidable mastiff.
This  depredatory expedition is no  sooner  ended than they
separate,  and  every individual returns in silence  to  his
solitude.   Wolves are fond of human flesh.  They have been
known to follow armies, to come in troops to the field of bat-
tle, where bodies are carelessly interred,  to tear them  up, and
to devour them with an  insatiable avidity;   and, when once
accustomed to human  flesh,  these  wolves  ever  alter attack
men, prefer the shepherd to  the flock, devour women, and
carry off" children.   Whole  countries are sometimes  obliged
to arm, in order to destroy the  wolves.
  Neither are the feathered tribes exempted from the general
law of devastation.   But  the  number  of birds  of prey,  pro-
perly so  called,  is much, less in proportion  than  that of car-
nivorous  quadrupeds.  Birds of prey  are  likewise  weaker;
and, of course, the destruction  of animal life they occasion is
much more  limited than the immense devastations daily com-
mitted by  rapacious  quadrupeds   But,  as if  tyranny never
lost sight of its rights, great numbers of birds make prodigious
depredations upon the inhabitants of the waters.   A vast tribe
of birds  frequent the waters, and live solely upon fishes.  In
a certain  sense, every species  of bird may be said  to be a bird
of prey; for almost the  whole of them  devour flies, worms,
and other insects, either for food to themselves or their young.
Birds of  prey,  like carnivorous quadrupeds, are  not  so  pro-
lific as the milder and more inoffensive kinds.   Most of them
lay only  a small  number of eggs.   The great  eagle and the
osprey produce only two eggs in a season.  The pigeon, it
may be said, lays no more.   Bui it should be  considered,
that the pigeon produces two eggs, three, four, or five times,
from spring  to autumn.   All birds of prey exhibit an obduracy
and a  ferociousness of disposition, while the other kinds are
mild,  cheerful,  and gentle,  in their  aspect and manners.
Most birds  of prey expel their offspring from  the nest, and
relinquish them to their fate,  before  they are sufficiently able
to provide  for themselves.  This cruelty is the effect of per-
sonal want in the mother.  When prey is scanty,  which often 
BIRDS AND FISHES.                221
happens, she in a manner starves herself to support her young.
But, when  her  hunger becomes  excessive,  she forgets her
parental affection,  strikes, expels, and sometimes, in a parox-
ysm of fury produced by want, kills her offspring.  An aver-
sion to society is another effect of this  natural and acquired
obduracy of temper.  Birds of prey,  as well as carnivorous
quadrupeds, never associate.  Like robbers,  they lead a solitary
and wandering life.  Mutual attachment unites the  male and
the female; and,  as they are both  capable of providing  for
themselves,  and can give  mutual assistance in  making war
against  other animals,  they never  separate,  even  after the
season of love.  The same pair are uniformly found  in the
same place  ; but  they  never assemble in  flocks,  nor even
associate in families.  The larger kinds, as  the eagles, require
a greater quantity  of food, and, for  that reason,  never allow
their own offspring, after they have become rivals, to approach
the places which they frequent.   But all those birds, and all
those quadrupeds, which  are nourished by the  productions
of the earth, live in families, are  fond of society, and assem-
ble in  numerous flocks, without quarrelling or disturbing one
another.
  Both the  earth and  the  air furnish examples of  rapacious
animals.   In these elements, however, the  number of carniv-
orous animals is  comparatively small.   But every inhabitant
of the waters depends for its existence upon rapine and de-
struction.  The life of every fish, from the smallest  to the
greatest,  is  one continued scene  of hostility,  violence, and
evasion.   Their  appetite for food  is  almost insatiable.   It
impels them  to encounter  every  danger.   They are in con-
tinual  motion ; and  the  object of all  their movements is to
devour other fishes, or to avoid their own destruction.   Their
desire  for  food  is so  keen and  undistinguishing,  that they
greedily  swallow  every thing  whic   has the  appearance
of animation.   Those that have  small mouths feed  upon
worms and  the spawn  of other fishes ;  and those  whose
mouths are larger devour every animal,  their own species not
excepted, that can pass tnrough  their gullet.  To  avoid de-
struction, the smaller fry  retire to  the shallows, where the
larger kinds are unable to  pursue them.  But, in the watery
element, no situation is absolutely safe ;  for, even in the shal-
lows, the oyster, the scallop, and the muscle, lie in ambush at
the bottom,  with  their shells  open, and, when  a small fish
comes into contact with them, they instantly close their shells 
m
HOSTILITIES  OF ANIMALS.
upon  him, and  devour  at  leisure  their  imprisoned  prey.
Neither is the hunting or pursuit of fishes confined to  particu-
lar  regions.   Shoals of one  species follow,  with unwearied
ardour,  those of another through  vast  tracts of  the ocean.
The cod pursues the whiting from the banks of Newfoundland
to the southern coasts of  Spain.
  It is a remarkable circumstance in the history of animated
nature, that carnivorous birds and quadrupeds are less prolific
than the inoffensive and  associating kinds ; but,  on the con-
trary,  that the inhabitants of the  waters, who  are  all carnivo-
rous, are endowed with a most astonishing fecundity. All kinds
of fishes, a few only excepted, are oviparous.  Notwithstand-
ing  the  amazing  destruction of  their eggs  by the smaller fry
that frequent the shores, by aquatic  birds, and  by the larger
fishes, the numbers which escape  are sufficient to supply  the
ocean with inhabitants, and  to afford nourishment to a very
great  portion of the human race.   A cod, for instance,  ac-
cording to the accurate computation, of Lewenhoeck, produ-
ces, from one roe,  above nine  millions of eggs   in a single
season.   The flounder lays  annually above one million, and
the  mackarel  more than five hundred  thousand; an increase
so great, if  permitted to arrive  at  maturity,  that the ocean
itself,  in a  few centuries, would not be spacious enough to
contain  its animated productions.   This  wonderful  fertility
answers two valuable purposes.  In  the midst of  numberless
enemies, it continues the respective  species, and  furnishes to
all a proper quantity of nourishment.
  We have thus seen that man, some quadrupeds, some birds,
and all  fishes,  are carnivorous  animals.   But this system of
carnage  descends still  lower.   Many  of the insect tribes
derive their nourishment from putrid carcasses, from the bodies
of living animals,  or from killing and devouring weaker spe-
cies,  flow  manyr flies are daily  sacrificed by spiders, a most
voracious and a most numerous tribe?   In return, spiders are
greedily devoured  by flies  which are  distinguished by  the
name  of ichneumons.   The  number of these  ichneumon-
flies is inconceivable; and,  if it  were not for the prodigious
havock  they make  upon caterpillars and other   insects,  the
fruits  of the  earth would  be entirely destroyed.   Wasps are
extremely  fond of animal  food.   They frequent butchers'
stalls, and beat off the flesh-fly,  and every other  insect that
resorts thither for the purpose of depositing its eggs in  the
meat.   Butchers take the advantage of  this  jealous warfare. 
INSECTS.
223
They encourage the wasps, and make centinels of them,  by
giving them livers, which they prefer to more  fibrous flesh,
probably because they can cut livers more easily  with  their
teeth.
  The  libella,  dragon, or lady-fly,  is well known  by the
beauty  of  its  colours  and the symmetry of its form.   For
these external qualities it has received the appellation of lady-
fly.  Its dispositions and its mode of life, however, are more
ferocious  and  warlike  than  those of the Amazons.   Like
birds of prey,  they hover about in the  air, for the sole purpose
of devouring  almost every species of winged insect.  They,
accordingly,  frequent  marshy  grounds,  pools of water,  and
the  margins  of rivers,  where  insects most abound.   Their
appetite is so gross and voracious, that they not only devour
small flies, but even the large flesh-fly, moths, and butterflies,
of every kind.
  It has been often said, that no  animal spontaneously feeds
upon its own species.   This remark  has probably been  in-
tended  as an apology for, or at least a  limitation to, the general
system  of  carnage  established  by nature.  But, the observa-
tion, whatever might have been  its intention, is unhappily a
result  of  ignorance ;   for some quadrupeds,  all fishes,  and
many insects,  make no such discrimination.  The weaker are
uniformly preyed upon by the stronger.   Reaumur put twenty
of those caterpillars which feed  upon the leaves  of  the oak
into a vial.  Though  he regularly supplied  them with plenty
of fresh oak leaves, he observed that the number of dead ones
daily increased.  Upon a more attentive examination into  the
cause of this mortality, he found, that  the stronger attacked
with their teeth, killed, sucked out the vitals of their weaker
companions, and left  nothing but the head, feet, and empty
skins.   In a  few days,  one  only of the twenty remained in
life.
   Caterpillars have myriads of external  enemies, as birds of
almost  every  kind, many of the smaller quadrupeds, their
own species, and numberless insects.  But this vast source of de-
vastation  is still augmented  by  what may be  denominated
their internal  enemies.  Many flies deposit their  eggs in  the
bodies of caterpillars.   From these eggs proceed small mag-
gots, which  gradually devour  the  vitals of the animal ,in
which  they reside   When about to be transformed into chry-
salids,  they pierce  the skin of the caterpillar, spin their pods,
and remain on the empty skin till they assume the  form of 
224
HOSTILITIES  OF ANIMALS.
flies, and escape into the air.  Every person must recollect to
have seen the colewort or cabbage caterpillar stuck upon old
walls, or the  windows of  country cottages, totally  covered
with these chrysalids, which have the form of small maggots,
and  are of a fine yellow colour.   One of the most formidable
enemies of the caterpillar is a black worm, with six  crusta-
ceous legs.  It is as long, and thicker than  an  ordinary sized
caterpillar.  In the  fore part of the head it has two  curved
pincers, with which  it quickly pierces the belly of a caterpil-
lar,  and never  quits the  prey till it  is entirely  devoured.
The largest caterpillar is  not sufficient to nourish  this worm
for a single day;  for it daily kills and  eats several of them.
These  gluttonous  worms,  when gorged with  food,  become
inactive, and almost motionless.   When in  this satiated con-
dition,  young  worms of the same species  attack and  devour
them.   Of all trees, the oak,  perhaps,  nourishes the greatest
number of different  caterpillars, as well as of different insects.
Amongst others, the oak is  inhabited by a large and beautiful
beetle.  This  beetle frequents the oak,  probably because that
tree  is inhabited  by the greatest  number of caterpillars.  It
marches from  branch to branch, and, when disposed for food,
attacks and  devours  the first caterpillar  that comes in its way.
   The pucerons, vine-fretters, or plant-lice,  are very injurious
to trees and vegetables of almost every kind.   Their species
are so numerous, and all  of them are  endowed  with  such a
wonderful fertility, that we should expect to see  the  leaves,
the branches,  and  the stems of  every plant totally covered
with them.  But this astonishing fecundity, and the devasta-
tion  these small insects would unavoidably produce among the
vegetable tribes, is  checked by numberless enemies.  Myri-
ads of  insects  of different classes, of different  genera, and of
different species, seem to be produced  for  no  other purpose
but to devour the pucerons.  Some of these insects are so vo-
racious, that, notwithstanding the  extreme  prolific powers of
the pucerons, we have reason  to be  surprised that their spe-
cies  are not entirely  annihilated.   On every leaf inhabited by
the puceron we find  worms  of different kinds.   These worms
feed not upon  the leaves, but upon the pucerons, whom they
devour with an almost incredible  rapacity. Some of these
worms are transformed into flies with two wings, others into flies
with four wings, and others  into beetles.  While in the worm
state, one of these  gluttonous insects will suck out the vitals of
twenty pucerons in a quarter of an hour.  Reaumur supplied a
I 
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
225
 single worm with more than  a hundred  pucerons, every one
 of which it devoured in less than three hours.
  Beside  the  general  system of  carnage  produced  by the
 necessity of one animal's feeding upon another, a further source
 of destruction is found in the wars  which  man and many other
 animals wage with their own species.  War among mankind,
 in certain accidental situations of society, may be productive,
 to particular  nations or communities, of beneficial  effects.
 But  every advantage derived by war to  one nation  is acquir-
 ed at the  expense, and  either the  partial or the total  ruin, of
 another.  If universal peace could be completely established,
 and  if the earth were cultivated to the highest perfection, it is
 not  probable that  the  multiplication of the human  species
 would ever rise to such a degree as to exceed the quantity of
 provisions produced by agriculture,  and  by  the  breeding of
 domestic  animals, necessary for their existence and happiness.
 But, as long as men are actuated by  ambition, by resentment,
 and  by many other hostile  passions, war and animosity, with
 all their train of bloodshed  and calamity,  will forever continue
 to harass and  persecute the  human kind.   Let us, however,
 be humble.  We cannot unfold the mysteries of Nature ; but
 we may admire her operations, and  submit, with a  becoming
 resignation, to her irresistible decrees.  ' The  man, if  such  a
 man there be. whose strength of mind enables him to observe
 steadfastly this conduct, is  the only real philosopher.
  But man is  not the only animal that  makes war with his
 own  species.  Quadrupeds, birds, fishes, insects, independent-
 ly of their appetite for  food,  occasionally fight and  kill  each
 other.   On this subject we shall confine ourselves  to a few
 examples derived from  the insect tribes.
  A society or hive of bees consists of a female, of malesor drones,
 and of neuters or working bees.  These three kinds continue,
for  some  time,  in  the  most perfect  harmony, and  mutually
protect and assist each other.   The neuters, or working  bees,
discover the strongest attachment and  affection to the males,
even when in their worm state.  The neuters are armed with
a deadly  sting, of  which the males  are destitute.  Both are
equally produced by the same mother, and live  in  the  same
family.  But notwithstanding their temporary affection,  there
are   times  when the neuters .cruelly massacre  the males.
Among the laws of polished republics, we  find  some which
are extremely barbarous.   The Lacedemonians were allowed
to kill  such of their children  as were produced in a defective
              29 
226
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
or maimed state, because they would  become a burden upon
the community.  The laws of the Chinese permit actions
equally inhuman.  We perhaps know  not all the reasons why
the neuter bees treat the males with so much cruelty.  There
is a time, however, when the males become  perfectly useless
to the community ; and it is not incurious to remark, that the
general massacre never commences till this  period arrives.
Whenever a stranger  bee enters a hive, his temerity is uniform-
ly punished with death.   But mortal combats are  not unfre-
quent  between bees belonging  to the  same  hive.   These
combats are most  frequent  in clear  and  warm   weather.
Sometimes  two combatants come out  of  the  hive closely
fastened to each other.  At other times the-attack is made in
the  air.  But, in whatever way the battle  begins, both com-
batants  uniformly come to the ground  before it is terminated
by  the death of one of the parties.  When they  reach  the
ground, each individual, like a wrestler, endeavours to  gain
the  most advantageous position for stinging his  adversary  to
death.   Sometimes, though rarely, the  sting is left in  the
wound.  If this were generally the case, every combat would
prove fatal to two bees; for the victor  could not long survive
the  loss of his sting.   These battles sometimes continue  near
an hour before one of the flies is left expiring on the ground.
  Beside  these single combats, general actions are  not unfre-
quent, especially in the swarming season.  When two swarms,
or colonies, happen  to contend for  the  same  habitation, a
general and  bloody engagement immediately ensdes.  These
engagements often coutinue for hours, and never terminate
without great havock  on  both sides.   The sting  is  not the
only weapon employed in war by bees.  They  are furnished
with two strong fangs or  teeth, with which they cruelly  tear
each other.   Even in  general  engagements, all the combats
are  single.  But, when the great  slaughter of the  males  is
committing,  three or  four neuters are not ashamed to attack a
single fly.
  Every wasp's nest, about the beginning of October, exhibits
a singular and a cruel scene.  At this season, the wasps cease
to bring nourishment  to  their young.   From  affectionate
mothers or nurses, they at once become barbarous stepmothers.
They  are worse ; for they drag the young worms from their
cells, and  carry them out of the nest.   Being thus exposed to
the  weather, and deprived of nourishment, every one of them
unavoidably perishes.  This  devastation is not, like that of 
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
227
 the honey-bees, confined to the male worms.   Here no worm,
 of whatever denomination or  sex, escapes  the  general and
 undistinguished massacre.  Besides exposing  the worms  to
 the weather, the wasps kill  them with their fangs.  This fact
 seems to be a violation of parental affection, one of the strong-
 est principles in animal nature.  But the intentions of nature,
 though they may often elude our researches, are never wrong.
 What appears  to us cruel and unnatural  in  this instinctive
 devastation committed annually by the wasps, is perhaps  an
 act of the greatest mercy  and  compassion.   Wasps  are not,
 like the honey-bees, endowed with the instinct of laying up a
 store of provisions for  winter subsistence.   If not prematurely
 destroyed by their  parents, the young must necessarily  die  a
 more cruel and lingering death, occasioned  by hunger.  Hence
 this seemingly harsh  conduct  in  the economy of wasps, in-
 stead of affording an exception to the  universal benevolence
 and wisdom of nature, is, in reality',  a  merciful  institution.
 Besides, as the  multiplication of wasps is  prodigious, and  as
 they are a noxious  race both to man and  other animals, and
 especially to many  tribes of insects, if their increase were not
 checked by  such a dreadful carnage, their depredations, in a
 few years, would annihilate other species, break the chain of
 nature, and even  prove destructive  to man and the  larger
 animals.
   The same instinctive slaughter, and  probably for the same*
 reasons, is made by  the hornets.  Towards the end of October,
 all the worms  and  nymphs are dragged out of the nest and
 killed.  The neuters and  males fall daily victims to the cold;
 so that, at the end of winter, a few fertile females only remain
 to continue the species.
   According to the adopted plan, we shall  finish this subject
 with some observations which may have a tendency to recon-
 cile our minds  to  a system  so destructive to individuals of
 every species, that humanity, when not enlightened by  a ray of
 philosophy, is apt to revolt, and to brand nature with  cruelty
 and oppression.   Nature,  it must be  confessed, seems  almost
 indifferent to individuals, who perish every moment in millions,
 without any  apparent compunction.   But,  with regard  to
 species of every description, her uniform  and  uninterrupted
 attention to the preservation and continuation of the  great
system of animation is conspicuous, and  merits admiration.
 Life, it should appear,  cannot be supported without the inter-
vention of death.   Through  almost the whole of animated 
228
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
 nature, as we have seen, nothing but rapine, and the destruc-
 tion of individuals, prevail.   This  destruction, however, has
 its use.   Every animal, after death, administers life and  hap-
* piness to a number of others,   in many animals, the  powers
 of digestion, and of assimilation, are confined to animal  sub-
 stances alone.  If deprived of animal food, such species, it is
 evident, could not exist.  The chief force  of this observation,
 it  is  admitted, is applicable solely  to  the carnivorous tribes,
 strictly  so denominated.   But, from the  facts  formerly
 enumerated, and  from the daily experience of every  man, it
 is apparent, that, perhaps, no animal does or can exist totally
 independent of food, that is  or  has been  animated.   Sheep,
 oxen, and  all herbivorous animals, though not from  choice,
 and even without  consciousness, daily devour thousands of
 insects.   This may be one reason why cattle of all kinds fat-
 ten so remarkably in rich  pastures ; for insects are  always
 most numerous where the herbage is luxuriant.  Nature is so
 profuse in her animated productions, that no food  can be eat,
 and no fluid can be drunk, in which animal substances, either
 in  a living or dead state,  are not to be found.
   To this reasoning it may be objected, why has  Nature
 established a system so cruel ?  Why did she render it neces-
 sary that one  animal  could  not live without the destruction
 of another ?  To such  questions no answer  can  be  either
•given  or expected.  No being,  except  the  Supreme,  can
 unfold this mystery.   Perhaps  it even  exceeds the limits of
 possibility to establish such an extended system of animation
 upon  any. other foundation.   From the general benevolence
 of  the great Creator, we  are warranted to conclude that  this
 is  really  the case.   But  it is fruitless to dwell  upon subjects
 which are inscrutable, and far removed beyond the powers of
 human intellect.   We shall therefore descend, and  endeavour
 to point out some advantages which result from this mysterious
 institution of nature.
   The hostilities of animals give rise to mutual improvement.
 Animals improve, and discover a superiority of  parts,  in pro-
 portion to the number of enemies they have to attack or evade.
 The weak, and consequently timid,  are obliged to exert their
 utmost powers in inventing and practising  every possible
 mode  of escape.   Pure instinct powerfully  prompts ;  but
 much  is learned by experience and  observation.   Rapacious
 animals,  on the  contrary, by frequent disappointment,  are
 obliged to  provide against the cunning and alertness of iheir 
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
229
prey.  Herbivorous animals, as they  have little  difficulty  in
procuring food, are proportionally stupid ;  but they would  be
still  more stupid, if they had no  enemies  to  annoy  them.
Man, if  his  attention  and  talents were not excited by  the
animosities of his  own  species, by  the attacks of  ferocious
animals,  and even by those  of the insect tribes, would  be  an
indolent, an incurious, a dirty, and an ignorant animal.  Those
of the human race, accordingly-, who  procure their food  with
little or no industry, as we learn from a multitude of travellers
and  voyagers,  are  perfectly indolent  and  brutishly stupid.
Timid animals  never  use  the arts  of defence,  or provide
against danger, except from three causes, pure instinct, which
is implanted in their natures, imitation, and experience.  By
experi°nce,  timid  animals   are  taught  the  arts of evasion.
Flight k instinctive ; but the modifications of it are acquired
by imitation  and experience.
   Hostilities, \r> some  instances, seem  to  arise, not from a
natural antipathy of one species to another, but from a scarcity
of food.  The  celebrated  Captain  Cooke  informs us, that,
in Staten-Island, birds of prey assemble promiscuously with
penguins and other birds, without the one offering any injury,
or the other discovering the smallest sympton of terror,   in
that island, the rapacious birds, perhaps, find plenty of food
from  dead seals, sea-lions, and fishes.
   A profusion of animal life seems to be the general intention
of nature.   For this purpose, when not modified or restrained
by the industry and intelligence of man, she uniformly covers
the surface of  the  earth with trees and vegetables  of  every
kind, which  supply myriads of  animated beings with food.
But the greatest possible extension of life would still be  want-
ing, if animals did not prey  upon each other.  If all animals
were to live upon vegetables alone, many species, and millions
of individuals, which now enjoy life and happiness, could have
no existence; for the productions of  the earth would not  be
sufficient to support them.   But, by making animals feed upon
each other, the system of animation  and of  happiness  is ex-
tended to the greatest  possible degree.  In this view, nature,
instead of being cruel and oppressive, is highly  generous and
beneficent.
  To diminish  the  number of noxious animals, and to aug-
ment that of useful vegetables, has been the uniform scope of
human  industry.   A  few  species of animals  only are  of
immejfcate utility to man.   These he either cultivates with 
230
HOSTILITIES OF  ANIMALS.
care, or hunts for his prey.  The ox, the sheep, the goat, and
other animals which  are under  his  peculiar  protection, he
daily uses for food.  This is not cruelty.   He  has a right  to
eat them ; for, like nature, though  he occasionally  destroys
domestic amimals, a timid and docile race of beings, by  his
culture and protection he gives life and happiness to  millions,
which, without his aid, could have no existence.  The  num-
ber of individuals, among animals of this description, if they
were not cherished and defended by man, would be extremely
limited ; for, by  the mildness of their  dispositions, the com-
parative weakness of their arms, and the universal and strong
appetite for them by rapacious quadrupeds and birds of prey,
though the species might, perhaps, be continued,  the number
of individuals would, of necessity, be very small.
   There  is a wonderful balance in the  system of animal
destruction.  If  the  general  profusion of the animated pro-
ductions of nature had no other check than the various periods
to which their lives, when not extinguished  by hostilities of
one  kind  or another, are limited, the whole would  soon  be
annihilated by an universal famine, and the  earth, instead of
every where teeming  with  animals, would, unless repeopled
by a new creation, exhibit nothing but a mute, a  lifeless, and
an inactive scene.   If even a single species were permitted to
multiply without disturbance, the food of other species would
be exhausted, and, of course, a period would be  put to their
existence.   The  herbivorous  and frugivorous races, if not
restrained by the carnivorous, would soon  increase to a hurt-
ful degree.  Carnivorous animals are the  barriers fixed  by
nature to noxious inundations of other kinds.  The carnivo-
rous tribes may be compared to the hoe and the pruning hook,
which, by diminishing  the  number of plants when too close,
or lopping off their luxuriances, make the  others  grow  to
greater perfection.  To those  swarms of insects which cover
the surface of the  earth, are  opposed an  army  of  birds, an
active, a vigilant, and a  voracious race.  Hares, rabbits, mice,
rats, are exposed to the depredations of carnivorous quadrupeds
and  birds.  The larger cattle, as the ox, the deer, the sheep,
he. are not exempted from enemies ; anti man, by the  supe-
riority of his  mental  powers, checks the multiplication of  the
carnivorous tribes, and  maintains the balance and empire of
the animal system.  Those species which  are endowed with
uncommon  fertility  have the  greatest  number of  enemies.
The caterpillar,  the puceron, and  insects  in  general, #ne of 
HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.             231
 the most prolific classes of animals, are attacked and devoured
 by numerous  hostile  bands.  No species,  however, is ever
 exhausted.   The balance between gain and loss is perpetually
 preserved.   The  earth, the  seas, the  atmosphere,  may  be
 considered  as  an  i/nmense and  variegated  pasture.   In this
 view, it  is most judiciously cultivated  and  stocked by the
 numerous animated  beings  which it  is  destined  to  support.
 Every animal  and  every  vegetable  furnish subsistence  to
 particular species.   Thus, nothing of value is lost; and every
 species is abundantly supplied with food.
   That the general balance of animation is constantly pre-
 served, we learn from daily  experience. The  reader, how-
 ever, I presume, will not be displeased to have some examples
 of the modes employed by  nature  to  accomplish this effect
 suggested to him.
   After an inundation of  the Nile, the  lower parts of Egypt
 are  greatly  infested  with serpents,  frogs,  mice, and  other
 vermin.   At that period,  the storks resort thither in immense
 multitudes, and devour the  serpents frogs, and  mice, which,
 without this dreadful carnage, would be highly noxious to the
 inhabitants.  Belon,  a most  ingenious  and  faithful  French
 naturalist, remarks, that, in  many places, the land could not
 be inhabited, if the storks did not destroy the amazing num-
 bers of mice which frequently appear in Palestine, and  other
 parts of the East bordering upon Egypt.   The Egyptian
 vulture, says Hasselquist, is of singular benefit to that country.
 It eats up all the dung and  offals in the towns, and the carcasses
 of camels, horses, asses, he. in the fields, which, if not quickly
 devoured, would, in that warm climate,  by their putrescency,
 be productive of disease and death to the inhabitants.   Putrid
 carcasses, in all countries are both offensive to the nostrils and
 hurtful to  health.   But nature, by various instruments, soon
 removes the evil.   An animal no sooner dies, than, in a very
 short time, he is consumed by bears, wolves, foxes, dogs, and
 ravens   In situations where these animals dare not approach,
 as in the  vicinity of towns  and villages, a dead horse, in  a few
 days is devoured by myriads of maggots.  In the uncultivated
parts of  America,  serpents  and  snakes of different  kinds
abound.   After it was discovered that swine greedily devoured
serpents,  hogs  were   uniformly  kept  by all  new   settlers.
Caterpillars are destructive to the leaves and  fruits of plants.
Their numbers and varieties are immense.  But their devas-
tations are checked by many enemies.   Without a profusion 
 2'62             HOSTILITIES OF .\NTMAL*.

 of caterpillars,  most of the  smaller  birds,  especially when
 voumz, could not be supported.  By devouring the caterpillars,
 these birds preserve the fruits of the earth from total destruc-
 tion.
   Shell-fishes are extremely prolific, and so strongly fortified
 by nature, that their increase, one would imagine, would soon
 augment to a degree that might be hurtful  to  other species.
 Their noxious multiplication, however, is checked by number-
 less enemies.  But their most destructive enemy is the trochus,
 which is a kind of sea-snail.   This animal is furnished with
 a strong, muscular, hollow trunk, bordered at  the  extremity
 w ith a cartilage  toothed  like  a saw.   Against this instrument,
 which acts like an auger, no  shell, however hard  or  thick, is
 a sufficient defence.   These  animals, called  trochi,  fix them-
 selves upon  an  oyster  or a   muscle, bore through  the  shell
 with their trunk, and devour  their prey at their leisure.  The
 animal attacked, if  a bivalve, may open or shut its shell; but
 no efforts of  this kind can be of any avail; for  the trochus
 remains immovably fixed till it  has  completely  sucked  out
 the vitals of  its  prey.   In this cruel  occupation, the trochus
 often  continues  for  days, and even weeks, before the  life of
 the animal attacked is fully extinguished.   The  operation of
 the trochus may be seen in the shells of many oysters, muscles,
 and other shell-fishes; for their shells are often pierced with
 a number of circular holes.
   The amazing strength of the  whale, one  would  imagine,
 would secure it from the insults of every other animal.  But,
 beside the annual depredations made  by man upon  the ceta-
 ceous tribes, they are often attacked and killed by the sword-fish.
 The snout of this comparatively  small animal is armed with a
 long, hard, projection of bone, each edge of which is furnished
with a number of strong, flat, and sharp points, or teeth, some
of which, especially near the  snout, are an  inch and  a half in
length.  With this  instrument the sword-fish  boldly  attacks
the whale.  The whale has no other defence but its  tail, with
which  it endeavours  to  strike  its antagonist.   But, as  the
sword-fish is  more active and nimble than the whale, he easily
parries the blow by  springing into the air, and renewing the
attack with his saw-like instrument.  Whenever he succeeds,
the sea is dyed red with the  blood issuing from the wound.
The fury of  the whale  appears  from  the  vehemence with
which  it lashes the waters, each stroke resounding  like  the
report of a cannon. 
ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.
233
  Upon the whole, every animated being  that inhabits  this
globe seems to be destined by nature, not for its own individual
existence and happiness alone, but  likewise for the existence
and happiness of other animated beings.  A circle of animation
and  of destruction  goes perpetually  round.  This is the
economy of nature.  Different species of animals  live by the
mutual destruction of  each  other.   Even  among individual
men, the strong too often oppress the weak ; but on the other
hand, the wise instruct the ignorant.  These are  the  bonds
of society, and the sources of improvement.
                      CHAPTER X.


              OF THE ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.

   Many instances of the  dexterity and artifices of different
 animals, in various parts of their manners and economy, have
 been occasionally mentioned in several of the foregoing chap-
 ters.   This circumstance, to avoid repetitions, will necessarily
 render the present chapter proportionally short.  The artifices
 practised by animals proceed from  several  motives, many of
 which are  purely instinctive, and others  are  acquired by
 experience  and  imitation.  Upon  this  subject we shall, as
 usual, give some examples, which may  both amuse and inform
 the reader.
   When a  bear,  or  other rapacious  animal, attacks cattle,
 they instantly join  and  form  a phalanx for mutual defence.
 In the same circumstances, horses  rank up in lines, and  beat
 off the enemy with  their heels.   Pontoppidan tells us, that
 the small Norwegian horses, when attacked  by bears, instead
 of  striking  with  their  hind  legs, rear,  and,  by  quick  and
 repeated strokes with their fore feet, either kill the enemy, or
 oblige him to retire.  This curious, and generally successful
 defence,  is frequently performed in the woods, while a traveller
 is sitting  on the horse's  back.   It has  often  been remarked,
that troops of wild horses, when sleeping either  in  plains or
 in  the forest, have always one of  their number awake, who
acts as a  centinel, and gives notice of any approaching danger. 
234
AKTIFlCLS OF ANIMALS.
  Margraaf informs us, that the monkeys in Brazil, while they
are sleeping on the trees, have uniformly a centinel  to  warn
them of the approach of the tiger or other rapacious animals;
and that, if ever this centinel is found sleeping, his companions
instantly  tear him in  pieces for his neglect of duty.   For the
same  purpose, when a  troop of monkeys are  committing
depredations on the fruits of a garden, a centinel is placed on
an eminence, who, when any person appears, makes a certain
chattering noise, which the rest understand to be a signal  for
retreat, and immediately  fly off and make their escape.
  The deer kind ate remarkable for the arts they employ in
order to deceive the clogs.   With this  view the stag  often
returns twice or thrice upon his former steps.   He endeav-
ours to raise hinds or  younger stpgs  to follow  him, and to
draw off the dogs from the  immediate object of their pursuit.
if he succeeds iu this attempt, he then flies off with redoubled
speed, or springs off at a side, and lies down  on his belly to
conceal  himself.   When in this situation, if by any means his
foot is  recovered  by  the dogs,  they  pursue him with  more
advantage,  because he is now considerably fatigued.  Their
ardour increases  in  proportion  to his  feebleness;  and the
scent  becomes stronger  as  he  grows  warm.   From  these
circumstances the dogs augment  their cries and  their speed;
and, though the stag employs more arts of escape than former-
ly, as his swiftness is diminished, his doublings  and  artifices
become gradually less effectual.   No  other resource  is  now
left him  but to fly  from the earth which he treads, and go into
the waters, in order to cut off the scent from the dogs, when
the huntsmen again endeavour to put them on the track of his
foot.  After taking to the water,  the stag is so much exhaust-
ed  that he  is incapable of running much farther, and is  soon
at bay, or,  in other words, turns and defends  himself against
the hounds.  In this situation  he often wounds the dogs, and
even the huntsmen, by blows with his horns, till one of  them
cuts his hams to make him fall, and then puts a period to  his
life.
   The fallow-deer is more delicate, less savage, and approach-
es nearer to the domestic state than the stag.  They associate
in herds, which generally keep  together.   When great  num-
bers are assembled in one  park, they commonly form them-
selves into two distinct  troops,  which soon become  hostile,
because they are both ambitious of possessing the same part
of  the enclosure.  Each of these troops has its own chief or 
ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.
235
leader, who always marches foremost, and he  is uniformly
the oldest and strongest of the flock.   The others follow him ;
and  the  whole draw  up  in order of battle, to force the other
troop, who observe the same conduct, from the best  pasture.
The regularity  with  which these combats are conducted  is
singular.  They make regular attacks, fight with courage, and
never think  themselves  vanquished  by  one check ; for the
battle is daily renewed till the weaker are completely defeated,
and  obliged  to  remain  in  the worst  pasture.   They love
elevated and  hilly countries.   When  hunted, they  run not
straight out, like the stag, but  double, and  endeavour to con-
ceal themselves from the dogs by  various artifices, and  by
substituting other animals in their place.  When fatigued and
heated, however, they take* the water;  but never attempt to
cross such large rivers as the stag.  Thus, between the chase
of the fallow-deer  and of the stag, there is no material  differ-
ence.  Their sagacity and instincts, their shifts and doublings,
are the same, only they  are more frequently  practised  by the
fallow-deer.   As he runs not  so far before the dogs,  and  is
less enterprising, he has  oftener occasion to change, to  substi-
tute another  in  his place, to double, return upon  his  former
tracks, he. which  renders the hunting of the fallow-deer more
subject to inconveniences than  that of the stag.
   The roe-deer is inferior to the stag and  fallow-deer both
in strength and stature ;  but he is endowed  with more grace-
fulness, courage, and  vivacity.  His  eyes are more brilliant
and animated.  His  limbs are more nimble ; his movements
are  quicker, and  he   bounds  with equal vigour and  agility.
He  is likewise  more crafty, conceals  himself with  greater
address,  and  derives  superior resources from  his instincts.
Though  he leaves behind him a stronger scent than  the stag,
which  increases  the  ardour of the dogs, he knows  how  to
evade their pursuit, by the rapidity with which he commences
his  flight, and by numerous  doublings.  He delays  not  his
arts of defence till his strength  begins to fail him ;  for  he  no
sooner  perceives that the efforts of a rapid  flight  have been
unsuccessful, than  he  repeatedly returns upon his former steps;
and, after confounding, by these opposite motions, the  direc-
tion he  has taken,  after intermixing the present with  the past
emanations of his  body, he, by a great  bound, rises  from the
earth, and, retiring to a  side, lies  down flat upon his belly.
In  this immovable situation, he often allows  the whole pack
of his deceived enemies to pass very near him.  The roe-deer 
23G
AKTIFICKS OF ANIMALS.
 differs from the stag in disposition,  manners, and in almost
 every natural habit.  Instead of associating in herds, they live
 in separate families.  The two parents and the young -o
 together, and  never mingle  with  strangers.   The  females
 commonly  produce two fawns, the one a male and the other
 a female.  These young  animals, who arc  brought  up  and
 nourished together, acquire a  mutual  affection so  strong,  that
 they never  depart from each other,   in a week or two  after
 birth  the fawns  are  able  to  follow their  mother.   W hen
 threatened with danger, she hides them  in  a close  thicket;
 and, so strong is her parental affection, that, in order to preserve
 her  offspring from  destruction, she  presents herself to  be
 chased.
   Hares  possess not, like rabbits, the art of  digging  retreats
 in the earth.   But they neither want  instinct  sufficient for
 their own preservation, nor sagacity for escaping their enemies.
 They form seats or nests on the surface of the ground, where
 they watch, with  the most vigilant attention,  the approach of
 any  danger.   In  order to  deceive, they conceal  themselves
 between clods of the same  colour with that of their own hair.
 When pursued, they first run with rapidity, and then double,
 or return upon their former steps.  From the  place of  starting,
 the females  run not so  far as the males ;  but they double
 more frequently.   Hares hunted in  the place  where they were
 brought forth, seldom remove  to a great distance  from it,  but
 return to their form ; and, when chased two days successively,
 on the second day they perform the same doublings they had
 practised the day before.  When hares run straight out  to a
 great distance, it is a proof that they are strangers. u I have
 seen  a hare," Fouilloux remarks,  " so  sagacious, that, after
 hearing the hunter's horn, he started  from his form, and, though
 at the distance of  a quarter of a league, went to swim  in a
 pool, and lay down on  the rushes in the middle of it,  without
 being chased by the dogs.   1  have  seen  a hare, after  running
 two hours before  the dogs, push another from his seat, and
 take  possession of it.   1 have seen others swim over two or
 three ponds, the narrowest of which was  eighty paces broad.
 I have seen others, after a two  hour's chase, run into a sheep-
 fold  and  lie  down among them.   1  have seen others, when
 hard  pushed, run in among a flock of sheep,  and  would  not
leave them.   I have seen others, ai'cr  hearing  the   noise of
the hounds,  conceal themselves in the earth.  1  have seen
others run up one  side  of a hedge and return by  the other, 
ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.
237
   when there was nothing else between them and  the dogs.  I
   have seen others, after running half an hour, mount an old
   wall, six feet high, and clap down in a hole covered with ivy.
   Lastly, I have seen others swim over a river, of  about eighty
   paces broad, oftener than twice, in the length of two hundred
   paces."
      The  fox has. in all ages and nations, been celebrated  for
   craftiness and address. Acute and circumspect, sagacious and
   prudent, he diversifies his conduct, and  always reserves some
   art for unforeseen accidents.   Though nimbler than the wolf,
   he trusts not entirely to the swiftness of his course.  He knows
   how to ensure safety, by  providing  himself  with an asylum,
   to which he retires when danger  appears.  He is not a vaga-
   bond, but lives in a settled  habitation and in a domestic state.
t  The choice of situation, the art of making and  rendering a
   house commodious, and of concealing the avenues which lead
   to it, imply a superior degree of sentiment and  reflection.
   The fox  possesses  these  qualities,  and  employs  them with
   dexterity and advantage.   He takes up his abode on the bor-
   der of  a wood, and in the neighbourhood of cottages.  Here
   he listens to the crowing of the cocks and the  noise of the
   poultry.  He scents them at a distance.   He chooses his time
   with great  judgment and discretion.  He conceals  both his
   route and his design.  He moves forward with caution, some-
   times even  trailing his body,  and seldom makes a  fruitless
   expedition.  When  he leaps  the wall, or gets in underneath
   it, he ravages the court-yard, puts all the fowls to death, and
   then retires quietly with  his prey, which he  either conceals
   under the herbage, or carries off to his kennel.  In  a  short
   time he returns for another, which  he carries off  in the same
   manner, but to a  different place.   In this manner he proceeds,
   till the light of the sun, or some movements perceived in the
   house, admonish  him that it is time to retire to his den.  He
   does  much  mischief  to  the bird-catchers.    Early in the
   morning he  visits their nets and their birdlime,  and carries
   off successively all  the birds that  happen to  be entangled.
   The young  hares he  hunts  in the  plains, seizes old ones in
   their seats,  digs out the rabbits in the warrens, finds out the
   nests of partridges, quails, he. seizes the mothers on the eggs,
   and destroys a prodigious number of game.  Dogs of all kinds
  spontaneously hunt the fox.  Though his  odour be  strong,
  they often prefer him  to the stag or the hare.   When pursued
  he runs  to his hole ;  and it is not uncommon to send  in  ter- 
238
ARTIFICES OF ANIMAL"..
riers to  detain him  till the hunters remove the earth above,
and either kill or seize him alive.  The most certain method,
however, of destroying a fox is  to begin with  shutting up the
hole, to station a man with  a gun near the entrance, and then
to search about with  the dogs.    When they fall  in  with him
he  immediately makes for  his  hole.  But, when he  comes
up to it, he is  met  with a discharge from the gun.  if the shot
misses  him, he flies  off full  speed, takes a  wide circuit, and
returns again to the hole, where  he  is  fired  upon  a second
time ;  but, when he discovers  that the entrance is shut,  he
darts  away  straight  forward, with  the  intention  of  never
revisiting his former habitation.   He is  next pursued  by the
hounds, whom he seldom fails  to fatigue; because, with much
cunning, he passes through the thickest  part of  the forest,  or
places  of the most difficult  access, where the dogs are  hardly
able to follow  him  ;  and, when he takes to the plains, he runs
straight out, without  either stopping or doubling.  But the
most effectual way of  destroying foxes  is to lay snares baited
with live pigeons, fowls, he.   The fox is  an  exceedingly
voracious animal.  Besides all  kinds of flesh and  fishes,  he
devours, with  equal  avidity, eggs,  milk, cheese, fruits, and
particularly  grapes.   He is so extremely fond of honey, that
he attacks the nests of wild bees.  They at first  put  him  to
flight by numberless stings; but he  retires for the sole pur-
pose of rolling himself on the ground, and of crushing the bees.
He returns to the charge  so often,  that he  obliges them  to
abandon the hive, which he soon uncovers, and devours both
the honey and the wax.
   When the female  perceives that  her retreat  is discovered,
and that her young have been  disturbed, she carries them off,
one by one, into a new habitation.  The fox sleeps in a round
form, like the  dog; but, when  he  only reposes himself,  he
lies on his belly with his  hind legs  extended.   It is in this
situation that he eyes the birds on the hedges and trees.  The
birds have such an antipathy against him, that they  no  sooner
perceive him  than they send  forth  shrill  cries  to advertise
their neighbours of  the  enemy's  approach.  The jays and
blackbirds, in  particular, follow the fox from  tree to tree,
sometimes two  or three hundred paces, often repeating the
watch-cries.   The Count  de Buffon kept two young foxes,
which, when at liberty, attacked   the poultry ;  but after they
were chained,  they never attempted  to  touch  a single fowl.
A living hen  was fixed near them for whole nights; and. 
ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.
239
though destitute of victuals for many hours, in spite of hunger
and of opportunity, they never forgot that they were chained,
and gave the hen no disturbance.
   In  Kamtschatka,  the animals called gluttons  employ  a
singular stratagem for  killing the fallow-deer.  They cfimb
up a tree, and carry  with them a quantity of that  species of
moss of which the deer are very fond.  When a deer approach-
es near the tree, the glutton throws down the moss.  If the
deer stops  to eat the  moss, the glutton instantly darts down
upon his back, and, after fixing  himself firmly  between the
horns, tears out its eyes, which torments the animal to such a
degree, that, whether to put an end to  its torments, or to get
rid of  its cruel enemy,  it strikes its head  against the trees till
it  falls down dead.   The glutton divides the flesh of the deer
into convenient  portions, and conceals  them in the earth to
serve  for future provisions.   The gluttons on the river Lena
kill horses  in the same manner.
   There are several  species of  rats  in  Kamtschatka.  The
most remarkable  kind  is called tegulchitch  by the natives.
These  rats make neat  and spacious  nests  under ground.
They are lined  with turf, and  divided  into  different apart-
ments,  in  which  the rats  deposit stores of provisions for
supporting  them during the winter.   It  is worthy of remark,
that the rats of this country  never touch the provisions laid up
for the winter, except when they cannot procure nourishment
any where  else.   These rats, like  the Tartars, change  iheir
habitations.  Sometimes they totally abandon Kamtschatka
for several  years, and their retreat greatly alarms the inhabi-
tants,  which they consider as a presage of a rainy season, and
of a bad year for  hunting.  The return of these animals is, of
course, looked upon as a good omen. Whenever they appear, the
happy news is soon spread over all parts of the country. They
always take their departure in the spring, when they assemble
in  prodigious numbers, and  traverse rivers, lakes, and even
arms of the sea.   After  they have made  a long voyage,  they
frequently  lie motionless on the shore, as if theyr were dead..
When  they recover  their  strength, they  recommence their
march.  The inhabitants of Kamtschatka are very  solicitous
for the preservation of these animals.  They never do  the
rats any injury, but give them every assistance when they lie
weakened  and extended on the ground.   They  generally
return to Kamtschatka about the month of October ;  and they
are sometimes met with in such prodigious numbers, that trav- 
210
autifict.s Of animals.
ellcrs are obliged to stop two hours till the whole troop passes.
The tract of ground they travel in  a single summer is not less
wonderful than  the regularity they observe  in  their march,
and  that instinctive impulse which enables them  to  foresee,
with certainty, the changes of times and of seasons.
  With regard to Birds, their artifices are not less numerous
nor less surprising than those of quadrupeds.   The eagle and
hawk kinds are remarkable for  the sharpness of  their sight,
and  the  arts they employ in  catching their  prey.  Their
movements are rapid  or  slow, according to  their intentions,
and the situation of the animals they wish to  devour.   Rapa-
cious birds  uniformly endeavour  to  rise higher  in  the  air
than their prey, that they may have an opportunity of darting
forcibly down upon  it  with their pounces.   To counteract
these artifices,  nature has endowed  the smaller  and more
innocent species of birds with many arts of  defence.   When
a hawk  appears, the  small birds, if they find it  convenient,
conceal themselves in  hedges or brush-wood.   When deprived
of this  opportunity,  they  ofyen, in great numbers,  seem to
follow the hawk, and  to  expose themselves unnecessarily to
danger, while in fact, by their numbers, their perpetual changes
of direction, and their uniform endeavours to  rise  above him,
they perplex the  hawk to such a degree, that "lie is unable to
fix upon  a single object; and,  after exerting  all  his art  and
address, he is  frequently  obliged  to  relinquish the pursuit.
When in the extremity of  danger, and after employing every
other artifice in vain,  small birds have  been often known to
fly  to  men  for  protection. This  is a plain indication that
these animals, though they in general  avoid  the human race,
are by no means so much afraid of man as of rapacious birds.
  The  ravens often frequent the seashores in quest  of food.
When they find their  inability to break the shells  of  muscles,
he. to accomplish this purpose they use a very ingenious strat-
agem.  They carry a  muscle, or other shell-fish, high up in the
air, and  then dash  it  down upon a rock, by which means the
shell is broken, and they obtain the end they  had  in view.
  The woodpecker is furnished  with a very long and flexible
tongue.  It  feeds upon ants and  other small insects.   Nature
has endowed this bird with a singular instinct.  It knows how
to procure food  without seeing its prey. It attaches itself to
the  trunks  or  branches of decayed trees ;  and,  wherever it
perceives a  hole or crevice, it darts in  its long tongue,  and
brings it out  loaded with insects of different kinds.  This 
ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.
241
operation is certainly instinctive ; but the instinct is  assisted
by the instruction of the  parents ; for the young are no sooner
able to fly, than the  parents, by the force of example, teach
them to resort to trees, and to insert their tongues indiscrim-
inately into every hole or fissure.
  * A small bird of the hawk kind called the nine-killer has been
observed at particular seasons of the year to catch grasshoppers,
beetles, or other insects, kill them and stick them  in a position
entirely natural, upon the branches of trees or bushes, so that
they appear, at first sight, as if alive.  It is a  common opinion
where this  bird is  found, that  it thus destroys  nine insects
every day, and hence its name; but as  it is known not to feed
upon insects itself, but principally upon small quadrupeds and
birds, the object of this  expedient  is  not perfectly obvious.
Some have supposed that it was done merely for amusement.
The  most probable explanation, however, is, that the  insects
are intended by this little hawk as a decoy for the birds which
it  designs for  its prey.   This manoeuvre  is put in practice in
the fall of the  year, just before the severe frosts begin, which
by killing the  insects deprive the smaller birds  of the food on
which they have  been  accustomed to subsist.   They are of
course,  in  the  season  of scarcity,  led to the bait their
sagacious enemy has provided, and thus become an easy prey.'
  Of the economy of the inhabitants of the water, as formerly re-
marked, our knowledge is extremely limited.   But, as the ocean
exhibits a perpetual and  a general scene of attack and defence,
the arts of assault and of evasion must, of course, be exceed-
ingly various.   For the preservation of some  species of fishes,
nature has armed them with strong and sharp pikes.  Others,
as the perch kind, are defended with strong, bony rays in their
fins.  Others,  as the univalve shell-fish, retire into their shells
upon the  approach of danger.  The bivalves and multivalves,
when attacked, instantly  shut their shells,  which, in general,
is  a sufficient protection  to  them.  Some  univalves, as the
limpet kind, attach themselves so firmly, by excluding  the air,
to rocks  and  stones, that, unless quickly surprised, no force
inferior to that of breaking the shell can remove them. The
flying-fish, when  pursued, darts out of  the  water, and takes
refuge in the air, in which it  is for some time supported  by
the operation of its  large  and pliable fins.   The torpedo  is
furnished  with a remarkable apparatus for  self-preservation.
It repels  every hostile attempt by an electrical  stroke, which
confounds and intimidates its enemies.   Several fishes, and
              31 
342
ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.
particularly the salmon kind, when about  to  generate, leave
the ocean, ascend the rivers, deposit their  eggs in the sand,
and, after  making  a  proper nidus for their future  progeny,
return to the ocean from whence they came.   Others, as the
herring kind, though they seldom  go  up  rivers, assemble in
myriads from all quarters, and approach the shores, or ascend
arms of the sea, for the  purpose of  continuing the  species,
and cherishing their offspring.   When that operation  is  per-
formed, they leave the coasts, and disperse  in  the ocean, till
the  same instinctive impulse forces them  to observe similar
conduct the next season.   This migration of salmons, herrings,
and many other fishes, from the ocean to the rivers or shores,
is of infinite advantage to mankind.   It is upon their  passage
that such immense numbers are taken to  be used as  food,
and thus became  an important article  of commerce.
   The insect tribes, though comparatively diminutive, are not
deficient  in artifice and  address.   With much art the spider
spins his  web.   It  serves him  the double  purpose of a
habitation, and of  a machine for catching his  food.  With
incredible patience and perseverance  he lies in the centre of
his web for days, and sometimes for weeks, before  an  ill-fated
fly happens to be entangled.  One species of spider, which
is small, of a  blackish colour, and frequents cottages or out-
houses, 1 have known to  live during the whole winter months
almost without the  possibility of receiving any nourishment;
for, during that period, not a fly of any kind could be discov-
ered in  the apartment.  If they had been  in  a  torpid stale,
like some other  animals, the wonder of their surviving the
want of food so long would not have been  so  great.  But,
in the severest weather, and through the whole course of the
winter, they were  perfectly active and lively.   Neither  did
they seem to be in the least emaciated.
   The  formica-leo, or ant-lion, is  a  small  insect, somewhat
resembling  a  wood-louse, but larger.  Its  head is flat, and
armed with two fine moveable crotchets, or pincers.  It has
six legs, and its body, which terminates in a point, is composed
of a number of membranous rings.  In the sand, or in finely
pulverized earth, this animal digs a hole in the form of a funnel,
at the bottom of which  it lies in ambush for its prey.  As it
always  walks  backward, it cannot pursue  any insect.  To
supply this defect, it  lays  a snare for them, and  especially
for the ant, which is  its favourite food.   It generally lies
concealed under the sand in the bottom of its funnel or trap, 
                  ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.               248

and seldom exhibits more than  the  top of  its head.   In
digging a funnel, the formica-leo  begins  with tracing  a cir-
cular   furrow   in  the  sand,  the  circumference  of  which
determines the size of the funnel, which is often an inch deep.
After  the first  furrow is  made, the animal traces  a second,
which is  always concentric with the first.  It throws out the
sand,  as with a shovel, from the successive  furrows or circles,
by means of its square, flat head, and one of its fore legs.  It
proceeds in this manner till it has completed its funnel,  which
it  does with  surprising  promptitude  and address.  At the
bottom of  this artful snare it lies concealed and  immovable.
When an ant happens to make too near an approach  to the
margin of  the  funnel, the sides of which are very steep, the
fine sand gives way, and the unwary animal tumbles down to
to the bottom.  The formica-leo instantly kills the ant,  buries
it  under the  sand, and  sucks out its  vitals.   It  afterwards
pushes out the empty  skin, repairs the  disorder introduced
into its snare,  and again lies in ambush for  a fresh prey.
  We formerly took  some notice of  that species of  spider
which carries  her eggs in  a bag attached  to  her belly.  A
spider of this kind was thrown  into  the funnel of a formica-leo.
The latter  instantly seized the bag of eggs, and  endeavoured
to drag it under the  sand.  The spider, from a strong love of
offspring, allowed its own body to  be carried  along with the
bag.  But the slender silk by which it was fixed to the animal's
belly  broke, and a separation took  place.  The spider  imme-
diately seized the bag with her pincers, and exerted all her efforts
to regain the object of her affections.   But these efforts were
ineffectual; for the formica-leo gradually sunk the bag deeper
and deeper in the  sand.  The spider, however, rather than
quit her hold, allowed herself to be buried alive.  In a short
time,  the observer removed the sand, and took out the spider.
She was perfectly unhurt;  for the  formica-leo had not made
any attack  upon her.  But, so strong was  her  attachment to
her eggs, tljat, though frequently  touched with a  twig, she
would not relinquish the  place which contained them.
  When arrived  at  its  full growth, the formica-leo gives up
the business of an ensnaring hunter.   He deserts his former
habitation,  and crawls about for some time  on the surface of
the earth.  He at last retires under the ground, spins a  round
silken pod, and is soon transformed into a fly. 
241                SOCIETY OF ANIMAL*.
CHAPTER XI.
               OF THE SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.

  The associating principle, from which so many advantages
are derived, is not confined to the human species, but extends,
in some instances, to every class of animals.
  It is remarked by Buffon, and  some other authors, that the
state of nature, which  had  long  occupied the  attention and
researches of philosophers,  was rejected by  them after  the
discovery was made.  In the estimation of the authors alluded
to, the savage state is the  state of nature.   The first natural
condition of mankind is the union of a male and female.  These
produce  a  family, who, from  necessity, or, in  other words,
from parental and  filial affection, continue together,  and assist
each  other  in  procuring food  and  shelter.    This family,
like most families in established  civil  societies, feel  their own
weakness, and their inability  to supply  their wants  without
more powerful resources than their feeble exertions.  When
this  wandering and defenceless family accidentally  meet with
another  family in  the  same condition, nature, it is said,
teaches them  to  unite  for  mutual support and protection.
The association of two  families  may be  considered  as  the
first formation  of a tribe   or  nation.   When  a number  of
tribes  happen  to  unite, they only become a larger or more
numerous nation.   A  single pair, it  is  true, if placed in a
situation where plenty of food could be procured without much
labour, might, in a succession of  ages, produce any indefinite
number.  This is  precisely  the situation in which Moses has
placed our  first parents.   He has added another  circumstance
highly favourable to a  speedy population.  Instead  of the
present brevity of human life, he informs us, that men, in the
first periods of the world, lived and propagated  several hun-
dred years.
   In countries thinly peopled  with  savages, it is  extremely
probable, that societies are formed by  the gradual union of
families  and tribes.   The  increase  of power  arising from
mutual assistance, and a thousand  other comfortable circum-
stances, soon contribute to cement more firmly the  associated
members.  Some of  the  arts of life, beside that of hunting,
are  occasionally  discovered either  by  accident or  by  the 
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
245
 ingenuity of individuals.  In this manner, gradual  advances
 tre made from the savage to the civilized condition of mankind.
 This is a very short view of the origin  of society, which has
 been adopted  by  most authors  both  ancient  and  modern,
 though many of  them have derived the associating  principle
 from very different, and even from opposite causes, which  it
 is no part of our plan either to enumerate or to refute.  Some
 writers, as Aristotle, and a few moderns, implicit followers of
 his opinions, deny that man is naturally a gregarious or associat-
 ing animal.  To render  this notion consistent with the  actual
 and  universal  state of the human race, these  authors  have
 had  recourse  to puerile conceits, and  to questionable  facts,
 which it would be fruitless  to relate.   Other writers, possessed
 of greater judgment and  discernment, and less warped with
 vanity and hypothetical phantoms, have derived the  origin of
 society from its real and only source, Nature herself.
   That the associating principle is instinctive, hardly requires
 a proof.   An appeal to the feelings of any human being, and
 to the  universal condition of mankind, is sufficient.  These
 feelings, it may be  said,  are acquired by education and habit.
 By these causes, it is true, our social  feelings are strengthened
 and  confirmed ;  but their  origin is coeval  with  the existence
 of the  first human mind.   Let any man attend to  the  eyes,
 the features, and the gestures of a  child upon the breast, when
 another  child  is presented to it; both instantly, previous to
 the possibility  of instruction or habit, exhibit the most evident
 expressions of joy.   Their  eyes  sparkle, their features and
 gestures demonstrate, in  the  most  unequivocal  manner,  a
 mutual  attachment, and  a  strong  desire of approaching each
 other, not with a hostile intention, but with an ardent  affection,
 which, in that  pure and  uncontaminated  state of  our being,
 does  honour to  human nature.   When  farther advanced,
 children who are strangers  to each other, though their social
 appetite is equally strong, discover a mutual shynessof approach.
 This shyness, or modesty,  however, is soon conquered by the
 more powerful instinct of association.    They daily mingle and
 sport together.  Their natural affections, which, at that period,
 are strong, and unbiassed by those selfish and vicious motives
 which too often conceal  and thwart the intentions of nature,
 create warm friendships that frequently  continue during  their
 lives, and  produce  the  most beneficial and  cordial effects.
 When we  thus  see with  our eyes,  that the  associating
principle appears distinctly at  so  early a  period, who will 
246
50L1KTY OF ANIMALS.
 listen to those writers who choose to deny that man is, naturally,
 an associating or gregarious animal ?                        •
   With regard to the advantages  we derive from association,
 a volume would  not  be sufficient to enumerate them.   Man,
 possesses a portion of the reasoning faculty highly superior to
 that of any  other animal.   He alone enjoys  the  power of
 communicating  and  expressing his  ideas by  articulate and
 artificial language.  This inestimable prerogative is, perhaps,
 one of the greatest secondary bonds of society, and the great-
 est source of improvement to the human  intellect.   Without
 artificial language, though nature has bestowed on every animal
 a mode of expressing its wants  and desires, its pleasures and
 pains,  what  a humiliating figure  would  the human species
 exhibit, even upon  the supposition  that they did  associate ?
 But, when language and association are conjoined, the human
 intellect, in the  progress of time, arrives at a high  degree of
 perfection.   Society gives rise to virtue, honour, government,
 subordination,  arts, science,  order, happiness.  All the  in-
 dividuals of a community conduct themselves upon a regulated
 system.   Under  the influence of established  laws, kings and
 magistrates,  by  the  exercise of legal authority,  encourage
 virtue, repress vice, and diffuse, through the extent of their
jurisdictions, the  happy effects of their administration.  In
 society, as in a  fertile climate, human talents germinate and
 are expanded ;  the mechanical and liberal arts flourish ;  poets,
 orators,  historians, philosophers, lawyers,  physicians,  and
 theologians, are  produced.  These truths  are pleasant;  and
 it were to be wished  that no evils accompanied  them.   But,
 through  the  whole  extent of nature, it would  appear,  from
 our limited views, that good and evil, pleasure and  pain, are
 necessary and perpetual concomitants.
   The  advantages of  society are  immense and invaluable.
But the inconveniences, hardships,  injustice, oppressions, and
cruelties, which  too  often originate  from  it, are great  and
lamentable.   Even  under the  mildest and best  regulated
governments, animosities, jealousies,  avarice, fraud,  and chi-
cane, are unfortunately never removed  from our observation.
In  absolute monarchies, and  particularly in despotic govern-
ments, the scenes of private and of general calamity  and  dis-
tress are often too dreadful to  be described.   Notwithstanding
all these disadvantages, however, any government  is preferable
to anarchy ^ and  the comforts, pleasures, and improvements,
we receive from associating with each other, overbalance  all
the evils to which society gives rise. 
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
247
  From an attentive observation of the manners and economy
of animals, society has  been distinguished into two  kinds,
which  have  been called proper, and  improper.—1. Proper
Societies comprehend all those animals which not  only  live
together  in  numbers, but carry on  certain operations which
have a direct tendency to promote the welfare and  happiness
of the community.—2. Improper Societies include all those
animals  which herd together, and love the company of each
other, without carrying on any common operation.
  1. Proper Societies.—It is almost needless to  remark that
man holds the firt:t rank in animal  associations of this kind.
If men did not assist each other, no operation of any magni-
tude, or which could show  any great superiority of  talents
above those of the brute creation, could  possibly be effected.
A single family, or even  a  few  families united, like other
carnivorous animals, might  hunt their prey, and procure a
sufficient quantity of food.  They might, like the bear, lodge
in the cavities of trees; they might occupy natural caves  in
the  rocks;  they  might even  build huts with  branches  of
trees and with turf, and cement  these gross materials with clay.
This lowest and  most  abject view of human nature  is not
exaggerated.  It were to be wished  that this grovelling con-
dition of  mankind were fictitious, and that, in many regions
of the globe, it did not,  at this moment, exist.  These  opera-
tions of men, when only acquainted with the mere rudiments
of society, indicate parts little superior to those of the brutes.
Man, even in his most uninformed  state, possesses the capacity
for every species of knowledge and every exertion of genius.
But  it may be cherished, expanded, and brought gradually to
perfection.   It  is by  numerous and regularly  established
societies alone, that such glorious exhibitions of human intellect
can be produced.  What is the hut of a savage, when compared
to the palace of a prince ? or what his canoe, when compared
to a  first-rate ship of war ?
  Next to the intelligence exhibited in human society, that of
the  beavers  is  the  most conspicuous.  Their operations  in
preparing, fashioning, and  transporting, the heavy materials
for  building  their  winter  habitations, as formerly remarked,
are truly astonishing; and, when we read  their history, we
are apt to think that we are "perusing the history of man in
a period of society not  inconsiderably  advanced.  It is only
by the united strength, and co-operation of numbers, that the
beavers could be enabled to produce such wonderful effect^ : 
24ti
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
for, in a  solitary  state, as they  at  present appear  in  some
northern parts of  Europe, the  beavers are timid and stupid
animals.   They neither associate, nor attempt to  construct
villages, but  content  themselves  with  digging  holes in  the
earth.   Like  men under the oppression of  despotic  govern-
ments, the spirit of the  European  beavers is  depressed, and
their genius is extinguished by terror, and by a perpetual and
necessary attention to individual safety.  The northern  parts
of Europe are now so populous, and the animals there are so
perpetually hunted for the sake of their furs,  that they  have
no  opportunity  of associating; of course,  those wonderful
marks of  their sagacity, which they  exhibit  in the remote
and uninhabited regions of North America, are  no  longer to
be found.  The society of beavers is a society of peace and
of affection.   They never quarrel or injure one another,  but
live together in different numbers, according to the dimensions
of particular cabins,  in the most perfect  harmony.   The
principle of their union  is  neither monarchical nor  despotic:
For the inhabitants of the different cabins, as well as those of
the whole village,  seem  to acknowledge  no chief  or leader
whatever.  Their  association  presents  to our observation a
model of a pure and  perfect republic,  the only basis of which
is mutual  and unequivocal attachment.   They have  no law
but the law of  love  and of parental affection.  Humanity
prompts us to wish that it were possible to establish republics
of this  kind among mankind.   But the dispositions of men
have little affinity to those of the beavers.
  The hamster, or German marmot, and some other quadru-
peds of this  kind, live  in  society, and assist each  other  in
digging and rendering commodious their subterraneous habita-
tions.  The operations  of  the  marmots have already  been
described ; and  the  nature of their society, as they continue
during the winter in  a torpid  state, is either less  known,  or
does not excite so much admiration,  as  that of the beavers.
  Pairing  birds,  in  some measure may be  considered  as
forming  proper  societies ;  because,  in general, the males
and females mutually  assist each other in building nests and
feeding their youug.  But this society, except  in the  eagle
tribes,commonly continues no longerthan their mutual offspring
are fully able to provide for themselves.   None of the feather-
ed tribes, as far as  we  know, unite in bodies, in order to  carry
on any operation common to the whole. 
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
249
  Neither do we learn from  history that fishes ever associate
for the purpose of executing any common operation.   Many
of them, as herrings, salmons, he. assemble in multitudes at
particular seasons of the year; but this association, to which
they are impelled  by  instinct, has no  common object; for
each individual is stimulated to act in this manner by  its own
motives, and no general effect is produced by mutual  exertions.
  In  proper societies, each  individual not  only attends  to
his  own preservation and welfare, but all  the members co-
operate in certain laborious offices which produce many com-
mon advantages that could  not  otherwise be procured.   In
some societies,  the general principle of association  and of
mutual  labour  is  purely instinctive, though, in many cases,
individuals learn, by  observation  and experience,  to modify
or accommodate this general principle according to  particular
accidents or circumstances;  some examples of which have
already been given in the chapter upon instinct.
  The insect tribes furnish many instances of proper societies.
The honey-bees not only labour in common with astonishing
assiduity and art,  but  their  whole attention and  affections
seem to centre in the person of the queen or sovereign of the
hive.   She  is  the basis of  their association and of all their
operations.   When she dies by  any accident, the whole
community are instantly in disorder.  All their labours cease.
No new cells are constructed.   Neither honey  nor  wax is
collected.  Nothing but  perfect anarchy prevails,  till a new
queen or female is obtained.  The government or  society of
bees is more of  a monarchical than of a republican  nature.
The whole of the members of the state seem to respect and
to be directed by a single female.  This fact affords a strong in-
stance of the force and wisdom of nature.   The female  alone is
the mother of the whole hive, however numerous.  Without
her, the species could not be continued.  Nature,  therefore,
has endowed the  rest of the  hive with a wonderful affection to
their common parent.  . For the reception of her eggs, nature
impels them to construct cells, and to lay up stores of provi-
sions for winter subsistence.   These operations proceed from
pure  instinctive  impulses.   But every  instinct necessarily
supposes a degree of intellect, a substratum to be acted upon,
otherwise no impulse  could  be felt, and, of  course,  no action
nor mark of intelligence  could possibly be  produced.  That
the intelligence, the government, and the  sagacity of bees,
have  been frequently exaggerated, and  as frequently  mis-
              32 
       250                SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.

       understood, no  real  philosopher, or  natural historian, will
       pretend to  deny.   But to refuse to believe them possessed of
       any portion of intelligence, and  to  refer all their wonderful
       operations to a mere mechanical impulse, as is done by Buffon,
       is equally  opposed to  the  dictates of  common sense and of
       sound philosophy.
         What are called the common caterpillars afford an instance
       of proper  association.  About the middle of summer, a but-
       terfly deposits from three to four hundred eggs on the  leaf of
       a tree, from each of which, in a few days, a young caterpillar
       proceeds.  They are  no sooner hatched than they  begin  to
       form a common habitation,  'jfchey spin silken threads, which
       they attach to one edge of the leaf, and  extend them  to  the
*      other.   By this operation they make the tw,o edges of  the leaf
if      approach each other, and form a cavity resembling a hammock.
       In a short time, the concave  leaf is  completely roofed with
       a covering  of silk.  Under this tent the animals live together
       in mutual  friendship  and harmony.   When not disposed  to
       eat or to spin, they retire  to  their tent.   It requires  several
       of these habitations to contain the whole.   According as  the
       animals increase in size, the number of their tents is augment-
       ed.  But these are only temporary and  partial lodgements,
       constructed for mutual conveniency, till the galerpillars are in
       a condition to build  one more spacious,^md which  will  be
       sufficient to contain the whole.   After gnawing one  half  of
       the substance of such leaves as happen to be near the end of
       some twig or small  branch, they  begin  their great work.  In
       constructing this new  edifice  or  nest, the caterpillars  encrust
       a considerable part of the twig with white silk.   In the same
       manner, they cover two or three of such leaves as are  nearest
       to the termination of the twig.  They then spin silken cover-
       ings of  greater dimensions, in which  they inclose the two or
       three  leaves together with the twig.   The nest is  now  so
       spacious that  it  is able to contain  the  whole community,
       every individual of which is employed in the common labour.
       These nests  are  too  frequently  seen, in autumn, upon the
       fruit trees of our gardens.   They are still more exposed  to
       observation in  winter, when the leaves, which formerly con-
       pealed many of them, have fallen.   They consist of large bun-
       dles of white silk and  withered leaves, without any regular or
       constant form.  Some of them are flat, and  others roundish ;
       but none of them are destitute of angles.  By different plain
       coverings extended from the opposite  sides of the leaves and
4 
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
251
 of the twig, the internal  part of the nest is divided into  a
 number of different apartments.  To each of these apartments,
 which seem to be very irregular, there are passages by which
 the caterpillars can either go out in quest of  food, or retire in
 the evening, or during rainy  weather.   The  silken coverings,
 by repeated  layers, become  at  last so thick  and strong, that
 they resist all the attacks of the wind, and all  the injuries of
 the air,  during eight or nine months.  About the beginning of
 October, or when the frost first commencesj the whole com-
 munity  shut themselves up  in  the  nest.  During the winter
 they  remain  immovable, and  see.mingly  dead.   But, when
 exposed to  heat, they soon  discover symptoms of life, and
 begin to creep.   In this country, they seldom  go out of the
, nest till  the middle or end of April.  When they shut them-
 selves up for the winter, they are very small;  but, after  they
 have fed  for some days in spring upon  the young and tender
 leaves,  they find the nest itSefF,  and all the entrances to it, too
 small for the increased size of their bodies.  To remedy this
 inconveniency, these disgusting reptiles know  how to enlarge
 both the nest and its passages by additional operations accom-
 modated to their present state.  Into these new lodgings they
 retire when they want to  repose, to screen themselves from
 the  injuries of the weather, or to cast their skins.   In  fine,
 after casting  their skins  several times, the time of  their dis-
 persion arrives.  From the beginning to near the end of June,
 they lead a solitary life.  Their social disposition is  no longer
 felt.  Each of them spins a pod of coarse brownish silk.   In
 a few days they are changed into chrysalids; and, in eighteen
 or  twenty  days more, they are transformed into  butterflies.
    Caterpillars of another species, which Reaumur distinguishes
  by the  appellation of the processionary caterpillar, live  in
  society till  their transformation into flies.  These caterpillars
  are of  the  hairy  kind, and are of a reddish colour.  They
  inhabit the oak, and feed upon  its leaves.  When very young,
  they have  no  fixed  or  general  habitation.  But, after  they
  have acquired about one  half of their natural size, they assem-
  ble  together, and construct a nest sufficient to accommodate
  the whole.   The nests of these caterpillars are attached to the
  trunks of the oak, and are situated sometimes near the earth,
  and  sometimes seven or eight  feet above its surface.  They
  consist of  different strata, or  layers of silk, which are  spun
  by the united labour of the whole community.   Their figure is
  neither striking  nor  uniform.  On the  part of the oak to 
  <2o2               SOCIETY OF  ANIMALS.

  which thev  are  fixed, they form a  protuberance similar  to
  those knots which are  seen upon trees.   This  protuberance
  sometimes resembles a segment  of a circle, and  sometimes it
  is three or four times longer than it is broad.   Some of these
  nests are from eighteen to twenty inches long, and  from five
  to six  inches  wide.   About  the middle of their  convexity,
  they often  rise  more than four inches above the surface of the
  tree.   Between the trunk of the tree and the layers of silk
  a  single  hole  is  left, to allow the animals to  go out in quest
 of food, and  to retire into the nest  after they are  satiated.
 Notwithstanding the great bulk of  these nests, and  though
 there are often  three or four of them  upon the  same tree, and
 never elevated  above  the height of  distinct  vision, they are
 not easily  perceived ; for the silk of which they are composed
 is  cinereous, and  resembles, in  colour, those mosses with
 which the trunk of the oak is generally covered.
   The inhabitants of a nest, which are numerous, march out,
 about the setting of the sun, to forage, under the conduct of a
 chief or  leader, all whose movements they uniformly follow.
 The order  they observe is  singular.   The first rank consists
 of single  animals, the second  of two, the third of three, the
 fourth of four, and  sometimes more.  In this manner they
 proceed in  quest of food with  all the regularity of disciplined
 troops.  The chief or leader has  no marks of  pre-eminence;
 for any individual that happens first  to  issue from the  nest,
 from that circumstance alone  becomes the leader of an expe-
 dition.   After  making a full  repast  upon the neighbouring
 leaves, they return  to the nest in  the same regular order; and
 this practice they continue during the whole  period of their
 existence in  the  caterpillar state.  It was from this strange
 regularity of movement that Reaumur, with much propriety,
 denominated these animals processionary caterpillars.   When
 arrived at  maturity, each  individual  spins a  silken  pod, is
 converted  into  a  chrysalis, and  afterwards assumes the form
 of a butterfly.   This last transformation breaks all the bonds
 of  their former association, and  the female flies deposit their
 eggs, which, when hatched,  produce new colonies, which ex-
 hibit the same economy and manners.
  There are  several species of caterpillars  which are real
republicans, and  whose  discipline,  manners,  and  genius,
are  as  diversified  as those of the  inhabitants of  different
nations and climates.  Some, like  particular savages, construct
a kind of hammocks, in which they take their victuals, repose, 
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS
253
 and spend their lives till  the period of their transformation.
 Others,  like  the  Arabs and  Tartars,  construct and  live  in
 silken tents,  and, after consuming the  neighbouring herbage,
 they leave their  former  habitations, and  encamp on  fresh
 pasture.  They  go out of their tents  at particular times  in
 quest of food, and often to considerable distances ; but they
 never lose their way back.   It is not  by  sight that they are
 directed with so much certainty to their abodes.  Nature has
 furnished them with another guide for regaining their  habita-
 tions.  We  pave  our streets with stones; but the caterpillars
 cover all their roads with silken threads.   These threads make
 white tracks, which are often more than  a sixth of  an inch
 wide.  It  is  by following these silken tracks, however com-
 plicated, that the caterpillars never miss their nests.  If the
 road is broken  by a man's finger drawn along it, or  by  any
 other accident, the caterpillars are greatly embarrassed.  They
 stop  suddenly  at the  interrupted space, and  exhibit every
 mark of fear and of diffidence.  Here the march stops, till an
 individual, more bold or more impatient than his companions,
 traverses the  gap.  In  his passage, he leaves behind him a
 thread of silk, which serves as a  bridge or conductor to the
 next that follows.  By the  progression of  numbers,  each  of
 which spins  a thread, the  breach is soon repaired.  We can-
 not  suppose  that these stupid animals cover their roads  to
 prevent their wandering.   But  they never wander, because
 their roads are covered with silk.   In this, as well as in many
 other instances, nature obliges animals to  embrace the most
 effectual means of self-preservation, and even of conveniency,
 without their perceiving  the utility of their own operations.
 The caterpillars, whose manners we have  been describing,
 spin  almost  continually, because they are continually  obliged
 to evacuate a silky matter,  secreted from their food by  vessels
 destined for   that  purpose, and included  in  their intestines.
 In  obeying  this call of nature, they effectually secure their
 retreat to their nests, and perhaps their existence.  It may be
 said, that caterpillars associate for no other reason but because
 they are all  produced at  the same  time from eggs deposited
 near each other.  But many other species of caterpillars, which
 are  brought  to life in the  very same circumstances, never
 associate or act in concert  in the  performance of any  mutual
 labour.   The silk-worms  afford a  familiar example.  It  is
true they spontaneously remain assembled in the same place,
which is of great advantage to manufacture.  But the individ- 
254
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
uals of other species disperse  immediately  after  birth, and
never re-unite.  Spiders, when  newly  hatched, begin, with
spinning  a web in  common ; but they  soon terminate this
association by devouring one another.
  As caterpillars do not engender till they arrive at the butter-
fly state,  their associations have no respect to the  rearing or
education of  young.   Self-preservation and individual conve-
niency are the only bonds of their union.  A perfect equality
reigns among them,  without any distinction of sex or even of
size.  Each takes  his  share of the common  labour; and the
whole society, which constitutes but one family, is the genuine
issue of the same mother.
  The association and economy of the  common  ants merit
some attention.  With  wonderful  industry and activity they
collect materials for the  construction of their nest.   They
unite in numbers, and assist  each other in excavating the earth,
and in transporting  to their habitation bits of straw, small
pieces of wood, and  other substances of  a similar kind, which
they employ  in lining and supporting their subterraneous gal-
leries.   The form  of their nest or hill  is somewhat conical,
and, of course, the water, when it rains, runs easily off, with-
out penetrating their abode.    Under this hill there are many
galleries  or passages, which communicate with each  other, and
resemble the streets of  a small city.
  The ants not only associate for the purpose of constructing
a common habitation, but for  cherishing  and protecting their
offspring.  Every  person must  have often  observed, when
part of a nest is suddenly exposed, their extreme  solicitude
for  the preservation  of their  chrysalids  or  nymphs, which
often exceed the size of the  animals themselves.   With amaz-
ing dexterity  and  quickness the ants transport their nymphs
into the subterraneous  galleries  of the  nest, and  place them
beyond the reach of any common danger.  The courage and
fortitude  with which  they defend  their young is no  less aston-
ishing.   The body of an ant was  cut through the  middle, and,
after suffering this cruel treatment,  so strong was its parental
affection, with  its  head, and one half of the body, it carried
off eight or ten nymphs.   They go to great distances in search
of provisions.  Their  roads, which are often winding and  in-
volved, all terminate in the nest.
  The wisdom and foresight of the ants have been  celebrated
from the remotest  antiquity.   It has been asserted and believ-
ed, for near three  thousand years, that they lay up  magazines 
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
255
 of provisions for the winter,  and that they even cnt off the
 germ of the grain to prevent it  from shooting.   But the an-
 cients were never famed for accurate  researches into the na-
 ture  and operations of insects.  These supposed  magazines
 could be of no use to the ants ; for,  like the marmots  and
 dormice, they sleep during the winter.   A very moderate de-
 gree of cold is sufficient to render them torpid.  In fact, it is
 now well known that they amass no magazines of provisions.
.The grains  which, with  so much  industry and labour, they
 carry to their nest, are not intended  to be food to the animals,
 but, like the bits of straw and wood, are employed as materi-
 als in  the construction of their habitation.
   2. Improper Societies.—Many animals are gregarious, though
 they unite not with a view to any joint operation, such as con-
 structing common habitations, or  mutually and indiscrimi-
 nately nourishing and protecting the  offspring  produced by
 the whole society.   But, even among animals of  this descrip-
 tion,  there are motives or  bonds of  association, and,  in many
 instances, they mutually  assist  and  defend each other  from
 hostile assaults.
   The ox is a gregarious animal.  When a herd  of oxen are
 pasturing in a meadow, if a wolf makes his appearance, they
 instantly form  themselves in battle array, and present their
 united horns to the enemy.  This  warlike disposition often
 intimidates the wolf, and obliges him to retire.
   In  winter, the  hinds and young  stags  associate, and form
 herds, which are always  more  numerous in proportion to the
 severity of the weather.   One bond of their society seems to
 be the advantage of mutual warmth  derived from each other's
 bodies.  In spring they disperse, and the hinds conceal them-
 selves in the forests, where  they produce their young.  The
 young stags, however, continue  together ; they love to browse
 in company ; and necessity alone forces them to separate.
   The Count de Buffon  represents sheep as stupid creatures,
 which are  incapable of defending themselves against the at-
 tacks of any rapacious animal.   He  maintains  that  the  race
 must  long  ago have  been extinguished, if man  had  not tak-
 en  them under  his immediate  protection.   But  nature  has
 furnished every species of animated  beings with weapons and
 arts of defence which are sufficient for individual  preservation
 as well as for the continuation of the kind.  Sheep are endowed
 with a strong associating  principle.   When threatened with an
 attack, like  soldiers, they  form a line of battle,  and boldly 
256
SOCIETY OF ANIMALS.
face the enemy.   In a natural state,  the  rams constitute one
half of the flock.  They join  together  and  form the front.
When prepared in this manner for repelling an assault, no lion
or tiger can resist their united impetuosity and force.
  A family of hogs,  when in a state of natural liberty, never
separate till  the young  have  acquired strength sufficient  to
repel the wolf.   When a wolf threatens  an attack, the whole
family unite their forces, and bravely defend each other.
  The wild dogs of Africa hunt in packs, and carry on a  per-
petual war against other rapacious animals.  The jackals  of
Asia and Africa likewise hunt in packs.   But, though  animals
of this kind mutually assist each other in killing prey,  individ-
ual advantage is the chief, if not the only, bond of this tem-
porary union.
   Another kind of society is observable among domestic ani-
mals.   Horses and  oxen,  when  deprived of companions of
their own species, associate, and discover a visible attachment.
A dog and an ox, or a dog and a cow, when placed in certain
circumstances, though the species are remote, and  even  hos-
tile, acquire a  strong affection  for  each other.   The same
kind of association takes place between  dogs and cats, between
cats and  birds, he.  If domestic  animals had a strong aver-
sion to one another, man could not derive so many advantages
from them.  Horses, oxen, sheep, he. by browsing promiscu-
ously together, augment and meliorate  the common  pasture.
By living under the same  roof, and  feeding  in common, this
associating principle  is strengthened  and  modified  by habit,
which  often commences  immediately  after  birth.   A single
horse confined  in  an enclosure, discovers every mark of un-
easiness.  He becomes restless, neglects his food, and breaks
through every  fence in  order to join  his companions  in a
neighbouring field.   Oxen and cows will not  fatten in the fin-
est pasture, if they are deprived of  society.
   From the facts and  remarks contained  in this chapter, it
seems to be evident, that  the principle of association in man,
as well as in  many  other animals,  is  natural; and that this
principle may be strengthened and  modified  by the number-
less advantages derived from it, by imitation,  by habit, and  by
many other circumstances. 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.              257
                     CHAPTER XI.

               OF THE DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.

   Of all animals capable of  culture, man is the most ductile.
 By instruction, imitation, and habit, his mind may be moulded
 into any form.  It may be exalted  by science and  art to a
 degree of knowledge of which the vulgar and uninformed have
 not the most distant conception.  The reverse is melancholy.
 When the  human mind  is  left to  its own operations, and
 deprived of almost every  opportunity of social information, it
 sinks  so low, that it  is nearly rivalled by the most  sagacious
 brutes.  It is not  necessary,  however, to enlarge upon a sub-
 ject so familiar to  the most common observer as the  capacity
 of mankind for acquiring knowledge by observation and  in-
 struction.  The bodies of men, though not so ductile as their
 minds, are capable, when properly managed by early culture,
 of wonderful  exertions.   Men accustomed to live in polished
 societies, have little or no idea of the activity, the  courage,
 the patience, and  the  persevering industry of savages, when
 simply occupied in hunting wild animals for food to themselves
 and  their families.   The hunger, the fatigue, the hardships,
 which they not only endure with fortitude, but despise, would
 amaze and terrify  the imagination of any civilized European.
  Beside man, many other animals  are capable  of being
 instructed.   The ape  kind, and especially the larger species of
 them,  imitate the actions of men without any  instruction.
 This imitation they are enabled  to  perform with the greater
 exactness, on account of their structure, which approaches in
 many respects so nearly to that of  the human species.  The
orang-outang is the most celebrated of these animals in this
particular.
  " The orang-outang," says Buffon, " which I saw, walked
always on two feet, even when carrying things of considerable
weight.  His air was  melancholy, his  movements measured,
his dispositions gentle, and very different from those of other
apes.  He had neither the impatience of the Barbaryape, the
maliciousness  of the  baboon, nor  the extravagance  of  the
monkeys.  It may be alleged that he had the benefit of in-
struction ; but the  apes, which I shall compare with him, were
educated in the same manner.  Signs and words were alone
              33 
25S
DOCILITY OF  ANIMALS.
 sufficient to make our  orang-outang act;   but  the baboon re-
 quired a cudgel,  and the other apes a whip ; for none of them
 would obey without blows.  I have seen this animal  present
 his hand to conduct the people who came to  visit him, and
 walk as gravely along as if he had formed a  part of the com-
 pany.  1 have seen him sit down at table, unfold  his towel,
 wipe his lips,  use a spoon or a fork to carry the victuals to his
 mouth, pour his liquor  into a glass, and make it touch that of
 the person who drank along with him.  When invited to drink
 tea, he brought a cup and a saucer, placed them on the table,
 put in sugar, poured out the tea, and allowed it to  cool before
 he drank it.  All these actions he  performed without any other
 instigation  than the signs or verbal orders of his master,  and
 often of his own accord.   He did no injury to any  person.
 He even approached company with circumspection, and pre-
 sented himself as if he wanted to  be caressed.   He was  very
 fond of dainties,  which every body  gave him ; and, as his
 breast was diseased, and he was afflicted with a teazing cough,
 this quantity of sweetmeats undoubtedly contributed to shorten
 his life.  He lived one summer in Paris,  and died in London
 the following winter. He eat almost every thing ; but preferred
 ripe and dried fruits to all other kinds of food.  He drank a
 little wine; but spontaneously left it for  milk,  tea, or other
 mild liquors."
   M. de la Brosse remarks of two  orang-outangs, whose age
 exceeded not  twelve months, that " These animals  have  the
 instinct of  sitting  at table like men.  They eat  every kind of
 food without distinction.  They use a knife, a fork, or a spoon,
 to cut or lay hold of what is put upon their plate. They drink
 wine  and other liquors.  We carried  them abroad.   At table,
 when they wanted any  thing, they made themselves under-
 stood by the cabin-boy; and, when the  boy refused  to give
 them what  they demanded, they sometimes became enraged,
 seized him by the arm,  bit, and threw him down.—The male
 was seized with sickness on the road.   He made  himself be
 attended as a human being.   He  was even twice  bled in the
 right arm;  and, whenever he found himself afterwards in the
 same condition, he held out his arm to be bled, as if he knew
 that he had formerly received benefit  from that operation."
   Wo are informed by Francis Pyrard, "  that, in the province
 of Sierra Leoua, there is a species of animals called baris (the
orang-outang), which are strong and well limbed, and so indus-
 trious, that, when  properly trained and fed, they work like ser- 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
259
 vants;  that they generally walk  on the two  hind feet; that
 they pound any substances in a mortar; that they go to  bring
 water from  the river in small  pitchers, which  they carry full
 on their heads.   But when they arrive at the door, if the pitch-
 ers  are not soon taken off, they allow them to fall ; and,  when
 they  perceive the pitcher overturned and broken, they  weep
 and lament."   With  regard to the education of these animals,
 the testimony of Schoutton corresponds with that of Pyrard.
 " They are taken," says he,  " with snares, taught to walk on
 their hind feet, and to use their fore feet as hands in perform-
 ing different operations, as rinsing glasses, carrying drink round
 the company, turning a spit,&c.  Guat informs  us, that he
 " saw at Java a very extraordinary ape.  It was a female. She
 was very tall, and often walked erect on her hind feet.   She
 made her bed very neatly every dayr, lay upon her  side, and
 covered herself with the bedclothes.—When her  head ached,
 she bound it up  with her handkerchief; and it was  amusing
 to see her thus hooded in bed.   I  could  relate  many  other
 little articles which appeared to be extremely singular.   But
 I admired them not so  much as the multitude ; because, as I
 knew the design of bringing her to Europe to be exhibited as a
 show, I was inclined to think  that she had been taught many
 of these monkey tricks, which the people considered as being
 natural  to the animal.   She died in our ship, about the latitude
 of the Cape of Good  Hope.  The  figure  of this ape had a
 very great resemblance to that of man."
   We have  now  enumerated the principal facts regarding this
 extraordinary animal, which have been related by voyagers of
 credit, and by those who  have seen and examined him in
 Europe ; and shall only remark, that,  notwithstanding the  great
 similarity of his structure and organs to those of the human
 species, his genius and talents seem to be very limited. The form
 of his body enables him to imitate every human action.   But
 though he has the organs of speech, he is destitute of articulate
 language.   If, however, he were  domesticated,  and  proper
 pains bestowed for instructing him, he might possibly be taught
to articulate. But, supposing this point td be obtained, if he
remained incapable of reflection, if he  was unable to compre-
hend the meaning of words, or to discover by his expressions a
degree of intellect greatly superior to that of the brute creation,
which I imagine  would be the case, he could never, as some
authors  have held forth, be exalted to the distinguished  rank
of human beings. 
2GG
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
  Of all quadrupeds, of whose history and manners we have
anv proper knowledge, the elephant is one of the most remark-
able both for docility and for understanding.  Though his size
is enormous, and his members rude and disproportioned, which
give him, at first sight, the aspect of dulness and stupidity, his
genius is great, and his sagacious manners, and his sedate and
collected deportment, are  almost  incredible.  He is the largest
and strongest of all terrestrial animals. Though naturally brave,
his dispositions are mild and peaceable.  He is an associating
animal, and seldom  appears alone  in the  forests.   When  in
danger, or when they undertake  a depredatory expedition in-
to cultivated fields, the  elephants assemble  in  troops.  The
oldest takes the lead ; the next in seniority brings up the rear ;
and  the young and the feeble occupy the centre.  In the forest
and  solitudes they move with less precaution ; but never  sep-
arate so far asunder as to render them incapable of affording
each other assistance when  danger approaches.   A troop  of
elephants constitutes a most formidable band.  Wherever they
march, the forest seems to fall before them.  They bear down
the branches upon which  they feed ;  and, if they enter an en-
closure, they soon destroy all the labours of  the husbandmen.
Their invasions are the more tremendous, as there is hardly any
means of repelling them ; for, to  attack a troop, when  thus
united, would require a  little army.  It is only when one  or
two elephants happen to linger behind the rest that the hunters
dare exert their art and ingenuity in making an attack ; for any
attempt to disturb the troop would  certainly  prove fatal to the
assailants.   When an insult is offered, the elephants instantly
move forward  against the offender,  toss him in the air with
their tusks, and afterwards trample  him  to pieces under their
feet, or rather pillars of flesh  and bone.   Let not the character
of this noble, majestic animal,  however, be misrepresented.
With force and  dignity he resents  every affront;  but,  when
not disturbed by petulance or actual  injury, he never shows  an
 hostile intention either against man or any other animal.   Ele-
 phants live entirely on vegetables, and have no thirst for blood.
 Such is their social and generous disposition,  that, when  an
 individual chances to meet with  a luxurious spot of pasture, he
 immediately  calls to  his companions,  and invites  them  to
 partake of his good fortune.
   The elephant possesses all the senses in perfection;  but, in
 the sense of touching, he excels all  the brute  creation.  His
 trunk is the chief instrument of  this  sense.  In  an elephant 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.              261
fourteen  feet high, the trunk is about  eight feet long, and five
feet and  half in circumference at the base.   It is a large fleshy
tube, divided through its whole extent by a septum or partition.
It is capable  of motion in every  direction.  The  animal can
shorten  or  lengthen  it at pleasure.   It'answers every pur-
pose of a hand ; for it grasps large objects with great force, and
its extremity can lay hold of  a sixpence, or even of a pin.
The trunk of the elephant affords him the same  means of  ad-
dress as  the ape.  It  serves the purposes of an arm and a hand.
By this instrument, the elephant conveys large or small bodies
to his mouth, plaees them on his back, embraces them fast, or
throws them forcibly to a distance.   In a state of nature and
perfect freedom,  the  dispositions  of  the elephant are neither
sanguinary  nor ferocious.  They are  gentle creatures, and
never exert their strength, or  employ their weapons,  but in
defending themselves or protecting their companions.   Even
when deprived of the instruction of men, they possess the sa-
gacity of the beaver, the address of the ape, and the acuteness
of the  dog.   To  these mental talents  are added the advantages
of amazing bodily strength,  and the experience and knowledge
he  acquires by living at least  two centuries.  With his trunk
he  tears  up trees.  By a  push of his  body he makes a breach
in a wall.  To this  prodigious strength he adds courage, pru-
dence, and coolness of deportment.   As he never makes  an
attack but when he receives an injury, he is  universally belov-
ed ; and all animals respect, because none have any reason to
fear him.  In  all ages,  men  have entertained a veneration for
this most magnificent  and  sagacious of terrestrial creatures.
The ancients regarded him  as a miracle of nature, and he is, in
reality, one of  her greatest efforts.  But they have greatly ex-
aggerated his faculties.   Without hesitation, they have ascrib-
ed to him high intellectual powers and moral virtues.   Pliny,
iElian, Plutarch, and other authors of  a more  modern date,
have bestowed on  elephants  not only rational manners, but
an innate religion,  a kind of  daily adoration of the sun  and
moon, the use of ablution before worship, a spirit of divination,
piety  toward  heaven and  their fellow-creatures, whom they
assist at the  approach of death, and, after their decease, bedew
them with tears, and cover  their bodies with earth.
   When tamed and instructed by  man, the elephant is soon
rendered the mildest and most obedient of all domestic animals.
He loves his  keeper, caresses him,  and anticipates his com-
mands.   He learns to comprehend signs, and even to under- 
2G2
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
  stand the expression of sounds.  He distinguishes the tones of
  command, of anger, and of approbation, and regulates his ac-
  tions by bis perceptions.  The voice of his master he never
  mistakes.  His orders are executed with alacrity, but without
  any degree of precipitation.  His movements are always mea-
  sured and sedate, and  his character seems to  correspond w ith
  the  gravity of his  mass.   To accommodate those who mount
  him, he readily learns to bend his knees. With his trunk he sa-
  lutes his friends, uses itfor raising burdens, and assists in loading
  himself.  He  loves to  be clothed,  and seems to be proud  of
  gaudy trappings.   In the southern regions,  he is employed in
  drawing wagons, ploughs,  and  chariots. "I was eyewitness,"
  says P  Philippe, " to the  following facts.  At  Goa, there
  are always some elephants employed in the building of  ships.
  I one day went to the side of the river, near which a large'ship
  was  building in the city of  Goa, where there is a large area
  filled with beams for that purpose.   Some  men tie the ends
  of the heaviest beams with  a  rope, which is handed  to the
  elephant,  who carries  it to his  mouth, and,  after twisting  it
 round his  trunk, draws it. without any conductor, to the place
 where the ship is building, though it had only once been point-
 ed out to him.  He sometimes drew beams so large that more
 than twenty men would have been unable  to move them.   But,
 what surprised me  still more, when other  beams obstructed
 the road, he elevated  the ends of his own beams, that  ti.ey
 might run  easily over those which lay in his way.  Could the
 most enlightened man do more ?"  When at work, the elephant
 draws equally, and  if  properly managed, never  turns restive.
 The man who  conducts the animal generally rides on his neck,
 and employs a hooked iron rod, or a bodkin, with  which he
 pricks the head or sides of the ears, in order to push the crea-
 ture forward, or to make him  turn.  But words are commonly
 sufficient.   The attachment and affection of the elephant are
 sometimes so strong and durable that he  has been known  to
 die of grief, when, in an unguarded paroxysm of rage, he had
 killed his guide.
   Before the invention of gunpowder, elephants were employ-
 ed in war by  the African and Asiatic  nations.   "From  time
 immemorial," says Schoutton, " the kings of Ceylon, of Pegu,
 and of Aracan, have used  elephants in  war.  Naked sabres
 were  tied to their trunks, and  on their backs were fixed  small
 wooden  castles, which  contained five or  six men armed with
javelins,  and  other  weapons."   The Greeks and Romans, 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
263
 however, soon became acquainted with the  nature of these
 monstrous warriors.   They opened their ranks to let the ani-
 mals pass, and directed all their weapons, not against the ele-
 phants, but their conductors. Since fire has now become the ele-
 ment of war, and the chief instrument of destruction, elephants,
 who are terrified both  at the flame and noise, would be more
 dangerous than useful in our modern battles.   The  Indian
 kngs, however, still arm  elephants in their wars.   In Cochin,
 and other parts of Malabar, all the warriors who  fight not on
 foot are mounted on elephants.  The same practice obtains in
 Tonquin, Siam, and Pegu.   In these countries, the kings and
 nobles at public festivals are always preceded and followed by
 numerous trains of elephants, pompously adorned with pieces
 of shining metal, and clothed with rich garments.  Their tusks
 are ornamented with rings of gold and silver ; their ears and
 cheeks are painted with various  colours; they are crowned
 with garlands ; and a number of small  bells are fixed to differ-
 ent parts of their  bodies.  They delight in gaudy attire; for
 they are cheerful and caressing in  proportion  to  the  number
 and splendour of their ornaments.  The Asiatics,  who  were
 very anciently civilized, perceiving the  sagacity and docility of
 the elephant, educated  him in a systematic manner, and mod-
 ified his dispositions according to their own manners,  and the
 useful  labours in  which his strength  and dexterity could be
 employed.
  A domestic elephant performs more labour than could be
 accomplished by six horses ; but he requires much care and a
 great deal of food.  He is subject to  be overheated, and must
 be led to  the  water twice or thrice a day.  He  easily learns
 to bathe himself.   With his trunk he sucks up large quantities
 of water, carries it to his mouth, drinks part of it, and, by ele-
 vating  his trunk, makes the remainder run over every  part of
 his  body.  To give some idea of the labour he performs, and
 the docility of his  disposition,  it is worthy of remark,  that, in
 India, bales, sacks, and tuns, are transported from  one place to
 another, by elephants.   They carry burdens on their  bodies,
 their necks, their tusks, and even in  their mouths, by giving
them the end  of a  rope, which they hold fast with their teeth.
Uniting  sagacity with  strength, they  never break or injure any-
 thing committed to their charge. From the margins of the riv-
 ers  they put weighty bundles into boats without wetting them,
lay  them  down gently  and arrange them where they ought to
be placed.  When the  goods  are  disposed  as their masters 
264
DOCILITY  OF ANIMALS.
 direct, they examine with their trunks whether*the articles are
 properly  stowed ; and if a  cask or tun rolls, they go sponta-
 neously in quest of stones to prop and render it firm.
   In the elephant,  the sense of  smelling is acute, and he  is
 passionately  fond of odoriferous flowers, which he collects one
 by one, forms them into  a nosegay, and, after gratifying his
 nose, conveys them to  his mouth.
   In India, the domestic elephants, to whom the use of water
 is as necessary as that  of air, are allowed  every  possible con-
 veniency  for bathing  themselves.  The  animal  goes into  a
 river till the  water reaches his belly.  He then lies  down on
 one side, fills his trunk several'times,  and dexterously throws
 the water on  such  parts  as  happen  to  be  uncovered.   The
 master, after  cleaning and currying one side,  desires the animal
 to turn to the other, which command he obeys with the great-
 est alacrity ;  and, when both sides have been properly cleaned,
 he comes out of the river, and stands some time on the bank to
 dry  himself.   The elephant, though his mass be enormous, is
 an excellent  swimmer ;  and, of course, he  is of great use in
 the passage of rivers.  When employed on  occasions of  this
 kind, he is often  loaded with two pieces of cannon which admit
 three or four pound balls,  beside great quantities of baggage  and
 several men fixed to his  ears and tail.   When  thus  heavily
 loaded, he spontaneously enters the river  and  swims over
 with his trunk elevated in the air for the benefit of respiration.
 He is fond of wine  and ardent spirits.   By showing him a
 vessel loaded with any of these liquors, and  promising him it
 as the reward of his labours, he is induced to exert the greatest
 efforts, and to perform the most painful tasks.   The elephant
 is  employed in dragging artillery over mountains, and, on these
occasions, his sagacity and docility are conspicuous.   Horses
or oxen, when yoked to a cannon, make all  their exertions to
pull  it up a declivity.  But the elephant  pushes  the  breech
forward with his  front, and, at each effort, supports the carriage
with his knee, which he places against the wheel.  He seems
to understand what  his  cornack, or conductor, says  to him.
When his conductor wants him to perform any painful labour,
he explains the nature of the operation, and  gives the reasons
which should induce him to obey.  If the elephant  shows a
reluctance to  the task, the cornack promises  to give him wine,
arrack, or  any other article that he is  fond of, and then  the
animal exerts his utmost efforts.   But to  break any  promise
made to him  is extremely dangerous.   Many  cornacks  have 
DOCILITY  OF ANIMALS.
265
fallen victims to indiscretions of this kind.  " At Dehan," says
M. de Bussy, ' an elephant, from revenge, killed his cornack.
The man's wife, who beheld the dreadful scene, took her two
children,  and threw them  at the feet of the  enraged animal,
saying, Since you have slain my husband, take my life also, as
well as that of my children. The elephant instantly stopped, re-
lented,and,  as if stung with remorse, took the eldest boy in its
trunk, placed him on its neck, adopted him for its cornack, and
would never allow any other person to mount it."
   From the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences we
learn some curious facts with  regard  to the  manners of  the
Versailles elephant.  This elephant, theyr remark, seemed to
know  when it was mocked, and remembered the affront till it
had an opportunity of revenge.  A man  deceived it, by pre-
tending  to  throw  some food  into  its mouth.  The animal
gave him such a  blow with its trunk as  knocked him down,
and broke two of his ribs.  A painter wanted to draw  the
animal in an unusual attitude, with its  trunk elevated, and its
mouth open.  The  painter's servant, to make it remain in
this position, threw fruits  into its mouth, but generally made
only a  feint of throwing  them.   This conduct enraged  the
elephant; and, as if it knew that the painter was the cause of
this teazing  impertinence, instead of attacking the servant, it
eyed the master, and  squirted at  him from  its trunk such a
quantity of water as spoiled the paper on which he was draw-
ing.   This elephant commonly made  less use  of  its strength
than of its address.  It loosed, with great ease and coolness, the
buckle of a large  double  leathern strap, with  which its  leg
was fixed ;  and, as the servants had wrapped the buckle round
with a small cord, and tied many knots upon it, the creature,
with much  deliberation, loosed the whole, without  breaking
either the strap or the cord.
   It is remarked by le P. Vincent Marie, that the  elephant,
when  in  a domestic  state,, is  highly  esteemed for  his
gentleness, docility, and friendship  to  his governor.  When
destined to the immediate  service of princes, he is sensible of
his good  fortune, and maintains a gravity of demeanour cor-
responding to the  dignity of  his  situation.   But if, on  the
contrary, less honourable  labours are assigned to him, he
grows melancholy, frets, and  evidently discovers  that he is
humbled and  depressed.   He is  fond of children, caresses
them, and appears to discern the innocence of  their manners.
The Dutch voyagers relate, that  by giving elephants what is
              34 
260
DOCILITY OF ANIMAL*.
 agreeable to them, they are soon rendered perfectly tame and
 submissive.   They are so sagacious, that they may be said to
 be destitute of the use of language only.  They are proud
 and ambitious;  and they  are so grateful for good usage, that,
 as a mark of respect, they bow their heads in passing  houses
 where they have been hospitably received.  They allow them-
 selves to be led  and commanded by a child ;  but they  love
 to be praised  and caressed.   When a wild elephant is taken,
 the hunters tie his feet, and one of them accosts and  salutes
 him, makes apologies for  binding him, protests that no injury
 is intended, tells him, that, in his former condition, he frequent-
 ly wanted food, but that, henceforward, he shall be well treated,
 and  that every  promise shall  be  performed  to  him.  This
 soothing harangue is  no  sooner  finished than the  elephant
 placidly follows  the  hunter.   From  this  fact,  however, we
 must not conclude that the elephant understands  language, but
 that, like  the  dog, he has a  strong discerning  faculty.  He
 distinguishes esteem from contempt,  friendship  from  hatred,
 and  many other  emotions which are expressed by human
 gestures and features.   For this reason, the elephant  is more
 easily tamed by mildness  than by blows.
   " I have frequently remarked," says Edward Terry, " that
 the elephant performs many actions which seem to  proceed
 more from reason than from instinct.   He does  every thing
 which  his master commands.   If he wants to terrify any per-
 son,  he runs  upon  him with every appearance of fury, and,
 when  he  comes near,  stops short, without doing  him the
 smallest injury.   When the master chooses to  affront  any
 man, he tells  the elephant, who immediately collects water
 and mud with his trunk, and squirts it upon the object pointed
 out to  him.   The Mogul keeps  some elephants who serve
 as executioners to criminals condemned to death. When the
 conductor orders one of these  animals to  despatch the poor
 criminals quickly, he tears  them to pieces in a moment with his
 feet;  but, if desired to torment them slowly, he breaks their
 bones one after another, and makes them suffer a punishment
 as cruel as that of the wheel."
   Next to the elephant, the dog seems to be the most  docile
 quadruped.  A wild dog  is a passionate, ferocious, and san-
guinary animal.  But, after he is reduced to a domestic state,
these hostile dispositions are  suppressed,  and they  are suc-
ceeded by a warm attachment, and a perpetual desire of pleas-
ing.  The perceptions and natural talents of the dog are acute. 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
267
When these are aided by instruction, the sagacity he discovers,
and the actions he is taught to perform, often excite our wonder.
Those animals which  man has taken under  his  immediate
protection  are taught  to perform  artificial actions, or have
their natural instincts improved, by three modes of instruction,
punishment, reward, and imitation.   More ductile in his nature
than most other animals, the dog not only receives instruction
with rapidity, but accommodates  his behaviour and  deport-
ment to the manners and habits of those who command him.
He  assumes the very tone of the  family in  which  he resides.
Eager, at  all times, to  please  his  master, or his friends, he
furiously  repels  beggars; because  he  probably,  from their
dress,  conceives  them to be either thieves, or competitors for
food.
   Though every dog, as well as every man, is  naturally a hunter,
the dexterity of both is highly improved by experience and in-
struction.  The shepherd's dog, independently of all instruction,
seems to be endowed by nature with an innate attachment to the
preservation of sheep and cattle.   His docility is likewise so
great,  that he not only learns  to understand the language and
commands of the shepherd, and obeys them with faithfulness
and alacrity ; but, when at distances beyond the reach of his
master's voice, he often stops, looks back, and recognises the
approbation or disapprobation of  the shepherd by the mere
waving of his hand.   He  reigns at the  head of a flock, and is
better heard than the voice of his master.  His vigilance and
 activity  produce order, discipline, and safety.   Sheep  and
 cattle are  peculiarly subjected to his management, which  he
 prudently  conducts  and  protects, and never  employs force
•against them, except for the  preservation of peace and  good
 order.   But, when the flock committed  to his charge is attack-
 ed by the fox, the wolf, or other rapacious  animals,  he makes
 a full display of his courage and  sagacity.   In  situations of
 this kind, both his natural and acquired  talents  are exerted.
 Three shepherd's dogs  are said to be a match for a bear, and
 four for a lion.
   Every person knows the docility and sagacity of such dogs
 as are employed in  conducting  blind  mendicants.   Ablind
 beggar used  to be led through the streets of Rome by a mid-
 dle-sized dog.  This dog, beside leading  his master in such
 a manner as  to protect him from  all danger, learned to  dis-
 tinguish  not only the streets, but  the houses where his master
 was accustomed  to  receive  alms twice  or thrice  a week. 
268
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
 Whenevcrtheanimal came to any of these streets, wit,h which he
 was well acquainted, he would not leave it till a call had been
 made at every house where his master was usually successful
 in  his  petitions.  When the beggar  began to ask alms, the
 ilo«, being wearied, lay down to rest; but the master was no
 sooner  served or refused, than  the dog  rose  spontaneously,
 and, without  either  order  or  sign, proceeded to the  other
 houses  where the beggar generally received  some gratuity.
 When a halfpenny was thrown from a window, such was the
 sagacity and attention of this dog, that be went about in  quest
 of it, lifted it  from the ground with his mouth, and put it into
 his  master's hat.  Even  when bread was thrown down, the
 animal  would not taste it, unless he received a portion of it
 from the hand of his master.   Without any other instruction
 than imitation, a mastiff,  when accidentally shut out from a
 house  which  his master frequented,  uniformly rung the bell
 for admittance.  Dogs can be taught  to  go to market  with
 money, to repair to a known butcher, and to carry home the
 meat in safety.  They can  be taught to dance to music, and
 to search for and find any thing that is lost.
  There was  a dog formerly belonging to a grocer in Edin-
 burgh which for some time amused and astonished the people
 in the neighbourhood.  A man who went through the streets
 ringing  a bell  and selling penny pies, happened one day to
 treat this dog  with a pie.   The next time he heard the  pie-?
 man's bell, he  ran  to  him  with  impetuosity, seized him by
 the coat, and would  not  suffer him to pass.  The  pie-man,
 who understood what the animal wanted, showed him a penny,
 and pointed to his  master, who stood  in the street-door, and
 saw  what was going on.   The dog immediately supplicated
 his master by  many humble gestures and looks.  The master
 put a penny into the dog's mouth, which he instantly delivered
 to the pie-man, and received his pie.   This traffick between
 the pie-man and the grocer's dog was daily practised for several
 months.
  Dogs, horses, and even hogs, by rewards and punishments,
 and, I am afraid, often  by cruelty, may be taught to perform
 actions, as  we have  frequently  seen  in  public exhibitions,
which  are  truly astonishing.   But of these  we  must not
enter into any  detail.
  With  regard to the horse, the gentleness of his dispositions,
and the  docility of his temper, are so  well and so universally 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
269
 known, that it is unnecessary to dwell long upon the subject.
 To give some idea of what instruction horses receive when in
 a  domestic state, we shall  mention some traits of their form
 and  manners when under  no restraints.  In  South America
 the horses have  multiplied  prodigiously, and,  in that thinly
 inhabited  country, live  in  perfect freedom.  They fly from
 the presence of man.   They wander about  in troops, and
 devour, in immense meadows, the productions of a perpetual
 spring.  Wild horses are stronger, lighter, and more nervous,
 than the generality of those which are kept in a  domestic
 state.   They are  by no means ferocious.  Though superior
 in  strength  to most  animals, they  never make an attack.
 When assaulted, however, they either disdain  the enemy,  or
 strike him dead with their  heels.   They associate  in troops
 from  mutual attachment, and neither  make war with other
 animals nor among themselves. As their  appetites are mod-
 erate, and they have few objects to excite envy or discord, they
 live in perpetual peace.   Their manners are gentle, and their
 tempers social.  Their  force  and  ardour are rendered con-
 spicuous only by marks of emulation.   They are anxious  to
 be  foremost in the course, to brave danger in crossing a river,
 or  in leaping a ditch  or precipice;  and, it is said, that those
 horses which are most adventurous and expert in these natural
 exercises, are, when domesticated,  the most generous, mild,
 and tractable.
  Wild horses are taken notice of by several of  the ancients.
 Herodotus mentions white wild horses  on the  banks of the
 Hypanis, in Scythia.   He likewise tells us, that,  in the north-
 ern part of Thrace, beyond  the Danube,  there were wild
 horses covered all over with hair five inches in length.  The
 wild horses in America are the offspring of domestic horses
 originally transported  thither from Europe by the Spaniards.
 The author of the history of the Buccaneers informs us, that
 troops of horses, sometimes consisting of 500, are frequently
 met with in the island of St Domingo ;  that, when they  see
 a man, they all stop ; and that one of their number approaches
 to a certain distance, blows  through  his  nostrils, takes flight,
 and is instantly followed  by  the whole troop.   He describes
 them as having gross  heads  and limbs, and long necks and
 ears.   The inhabitants tame them with ease, and then train
 them to labour.  In order to take them, gins of ropes are laid
 in the places which they  are known to frequent.  When
caught by  the neck, they soon strangle themselves, unless 
270
DOCILITY OP ANIMALS.
some  person arrive in time  to  disentangle them.  They are
tied to trees by the body and limbs, and are left  in that situa-
tion two days without victuals or drink.   This  treatment is
generally  sufficient to render them more  tractable, and  they
soon become as gentle as if they had never been  wild.  Even
when  any of these horses,  by accident, regain their liberty,
they never resume their savage state, but know their  masters,
and allow themselves to be approached and retaken.
  From  these, and  similar facts, it may  be  concluded, that
the dispositions of horses are gentle, and that they are naturally
disposed to associate with man.  After they are tamed  they
never forsake the abodes of men.   On the contrary,  they are
anxious to return to the stable.   The sweets of habit  seem
to supply all they  have  lost by slavery.   When  fatigued, the
mansion of repose is full of comfort.   They smell it at consid-
erable distances, can distinguish  it in the  midst of populous
cities, and  seem  uniformly to prefer bondage to liberty.  By
some  attention and address colts  are first  rendered tractable.
When that point is gained, by different modes of management,
the docility of the animal is improved, and they  soon learn to
perform  with alacrity the various labours assigned to  them.
The domestication of the horse is perhaps the noblest acquisi-
tion from the animal world, which  has ever  been made  by
the genius, the art, and  the  industry of man.   He is taught to
partake of the dangers and fatigues of war, and seems to enjoy
the glory of victory.   He encounters death with ardour and
with  magnanimity.  He  delights in the tumult  of arms, and
attacks the enemy with resolution and alacrity.  It is not in
perils and conflicts alone that  the horse co-operates with the
dispositions of  his master.  He even seems  to  participate of
human pleasures and amusements.  He delights in the chase
and the  tournament, and  his eyes sparkle with emulation in
the course.  Though  bold and  intrepid, however,  he does
not allow  himself to be hurried on by a  furious ardour.  On
proper occasions, he represses his movements,  and  knows
how  to check the natural fire of his temper.   He  not only
yields to the hand, but  seems to consult the inclination, of his
rider.  Always obedient to the impressions he receives, he
flies or stops, and regulates  his  motions  solely  by the will of
his master.
   Mr Ray, who wrote about the end of the seventeenth century,
 informs us, that he had seen a horse who danced to music, who,
 at the command of his master, affected to be lame, who simulat- 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
271
 ed death, lay motionless with his limbs extended, and allowed
 himself to be dragged about, till some words were pronounced,
 when he  instantly sprung up on his feet.  Facts of this kind
 would scarcely receive credit,  if every person were not now
 acquainted with the wonderful  docility of the horses educated
 by public exhibitors of horsemanship.   In  exhibitions of this
 kind, the  docility  and prompt obedience of the animals de-
 serve more admiration than the  dexterous feats of the men.
   Animals of the ox kind, in   a  domestic  state, are dull and
 phlegmatic.  Their sensibility and  talents seem to be very
 limited.   But we should not pronounce rashly concerning the
 genius and powers  of animals in a country  where their educa-
 tion is  totally  neglected.   In  all the southern  provinces of
 Africa and Asia, there are many wild bisons, or bunched oxen,
 which are caught, young  and tamed.  They are soon taught to
 submit, without resistance, to  all kinds of domestic labour.
 They become so tractable, that they are managed with as much
 ease as our horses.  The voice of their master  is alone suffi-
 cient to make them obey, and  to direct their course.   They
 are shod,  curried, caressed,  and supplied abundantly with the
 best food.   When managed   in this  manner, these animals
 appear to be different creatures from our  oxen.  The  oxen
 of  the  Hottentots  are  favourite domestics, companions  in
 amusements, assistants in all laborious exercises, and partici-
 pate the  habitation, the bed, and the table of their masters.
 As their nature is improved  by the gentleness of their educa-
 tion, by the kind treatment they receive, and the perpetual atten-
 tion bestowed on them, they acquire sensibility and intelligence,
 and perform actions which  one would not  expect from them.
 The Hottentots train their oxen to war.  In  all their armies
 there are  considerable troops of these oxen, which are easily
 governed, and are let loose by  the chief when a proper oppor-
 tunity occurs.  They  instantly  dart with  impetuosity  upon
 the enemy.   They strike with their horns, kick, overturn, and
 trample under their feet every thing  that opposes their  fury.
 They run ferociously into the ranks, which they soon put  in
 the utmost disorder, and  thus pave the way  for an easy victory
 to their masters.  These oxen are likewise instructed to guard
 the flocks, which  they conduct  with  dexterity, and defend
 them from the attacks of strangers and of rapacious animals.
 They are taught to distinguish friends from enemies, to under-
 stand signals, and to obey  the commands of their master.  When
pasturing,  at the smallest signal from the keeper, they  bring 
272
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
back and  collect  the  wandering  animals.  They  attack  all
strangers,  with  fury, which renders them a  great  security
against robbers.  These brackelays, as they are called, know
every inhabitant of the kraal, and  discover the  same marks of
respect for all  the men, women, and children, as a dog does
for those who live  in his master's house.   These people may,
therefore, approach their cattle with the greatest safety.  But
if a  stranger,  and  particularly an European, should  use the
same freedom, without being  accompanied  with one of the
Hottentots, his  life would be in imminent danger.
   Notwithstanding the many surprising actions which different
quadrupeds may be taught to perform, none of them, though
their organs are much more perfect than those  of birds,  have
ever been able to pronounce articulate sounds. But many birds,
without much instruction, learn to pronounce words and even
sentences.  In parrots, the distinguishing accuracy of their ear,
the  acuteness of their attention, and  their  strong  instinctive
propensity  to imitate sounds of every kind, have justly  pro-
cured them universal admiration.  When in  a state of do-
mestication, the parrot learns to pronounce the common street
calls, beside many words and  phrases occasionally employed
by the family in which he resides  Though the limitation of his
mental powers does not permit him to learn any extent of lan-
guage, or the proper use and  meaning  of words, he  not un-
frequently  discovers the association between the object and the
sound.   A woman every morning passed the window, where
a parrot's cage was fixed, calling salt.  The parrot soon learn-
ed to imitate the call.  But, before any  sound could be heard,
he no sooner cast his eye upon the woman than he uttered her
usual call.  In this and many other similar cases, the objects
and the sounds  are evidently  connected in the mind of the
animals.   How far these associations might be carried by a pa-
tient and  persevering education, it is difficult to determine.   In
this manner, however, parrots might be taught  a considerable
vocabulary of substantive nouns, or the proper names of com-
mon  objects.  But his intellect, it is more than probable, would
never reach the use of the verb, and  other parts of speech.
   Beside parrots, jays, he. who learn to pronounce articulate
sounds, there is another race of birds whose docility deserves
to be mentioned.   Singing birds, those lively and spirited little
animals, attempt not to articulate.   But their musical ears are
as delicate  and discerning, as their voices are melodious and de-
lightful.  The vivacity, the extent of voice, and the imitative 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
273
powers of these beautiful creatures, have at all  times  excited
the attention and conciliated the affections of mankind.  When
domesticated, these birds, beside their  natural notes, soon ac-
quire the faculty of singing considerable parts of artificial tunes.
These imitations are effects of natural instinct.  But, in exhib-
itions,  I have seen linnets simulate  death, and remain perfectly
tranquil and unmoved, when small cannons were fired, within
an inch of their bodies,  from a  wooden  fort.  These little
creatures have even been  taught to lay hold of a match, and
fire the cannons themselves.
  We shall conclude this subject with a few remarks concerning
the changes produced in animals by domestication.
  Climate and food are the chief causes which produce changes
in the  magnitude,  figure,  colour, and constitution of  wild
animals.  But,  beside these  causes, there are others which
have an influence upon animals when reduced to a domestic
or unnatural state.  When at  perfect liberty, animals seem to
have selected those particular zones or  regions of the globe,
which  are most consonant to the   nature and  constitution  of
each  particular tribe.   There  they spontaneously remain,
and  never,  like man,  disperse  themselves over  the  whole
surface of  the  earth.   But when obliged  by  man,  or by
any  great  revolution of nature, to  abandon their  native  soil,
they undergo changes so  great,   that, to  recognise and  dis-
tinguish them,  recourse must be  had to  the  most  accurate
examination.   If we add  to climate and food, those natural
causes of  alteration in  free  animals, the empire of man over
such of them  as he has reduced to  servitude,  the degree
to which tyranny degrades and disfigures nature,  will appear
to be  greatly  augmented.   The   mouflon,  the  stock  from
which  our  domestic sheep have derived their origin, is com-
paratively a large animal.   He is  as fleet as  a  stag, armed
with horns and strong hoofs, and  covered with coarse hair.
With these natural advantages,  he dreads  neither  the  incle-
mency of the sky, nor the  voracity  of the wolf.  He not only,
by the  swiftness of his course, escapes from his enemies, but
he is enabled to resist them  by the strength of his body  and
the solidity of his arms.  How different is this animal from
our domestic sheep, who are timid, weak, and unable  to de-
fend themselves.  Without the protection of man, the  whole
race would soon be extirpated by   rapacious animals and  by
winter  storms  In the  warmest climates of Africa and of Asia,
the mouflon, which is the common parent of the sheep, appears
              35 
274
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
to be less degenerated than in any other region.   Though re-
duced to a domestic state, he has  preserved his stature and his
hair; but the size of his horns is diminished.   The  sheep  of
Barbary, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, he.  have undergone  greater
changes ; and, in proportion as they approach toward either
pole, they diminish in  size, in  strength, in swiftness, and  in
courage.   In relation to man, they are improved  in some  ar-
ticles, and vitiated in others.  Their coarse hair is converted
into  fine  wool   But, with regard to nature, improvement and
degeneration amount to  the same  thing;  for  both  imply  an
alteration of the  original constitution.
   The ox is more influenced by nourishment than any other
domestic animal.  In countries where the  pasture is luxuriant,
the oxen acquire a prodigious size.  To the oxen of -Ethiopia
and some provinces of Asia, the ancients gave the appellation
of Bull-Elephants, because, in these  regions, they approach to
the magnitude of the elephant.   This effect is chiefly produc-
ed by  the abundance  of rich and succulent  herbage.  The
Highlands of Scotland,  and indeed every  high and northern
country,  afford striking examples of the  influence of food upon
the magnitude of cattle.   The oxen, as well as the  horses,  in
the more northern parts of Scotland, are extremely diminutive;
but, when transported to richer pasture, their size is augmented,
and  the  qualities of their  flesh are  improved.   The climate
has likewise a considerable influence on the nature of the ox.
In the northern regions of both continents, he is covered with
long  soft  hair.  He has likewise a large bunch on his shoul-
ders  ; and this  deformity  is common to  the oxen of Asia,
Africa, and America.  Those of Europe have no bunch.   The
European oxen,  however, seem to be  the primitive race, to
which the bunched kind ascend, by intermixture, in the second
or third generation.  The difference in their size is remarka-
bly great.  The small zebu, or bunched ox of Arabia, is not
one tenth part of the magnitude of the  ^Ethiopian bull-elephant.
   The influence of food upon the dog kind seems not  to  be
great.  In all his variations and degradations, he appears to
follow the differences of climate.   In the  warmest climates,
he is naked; in  the northern regions, he   is covered  with  a
coarse, thick hair; and  he is adorned with a fine silky robe in
Spain and Syria, where the mild temperature of the air con-
verts the hair of most quadrupeds  into a kind of silk.  Beside
these external variations produced by climate, the dog under-
goes  other changes, which proceed from his situation, his 
DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
275
 captivity, and the nature of the intercourse he holds with man.
 His size is augmented or diminished by obliging  the smaller
 kinds to unite  together, and  by  observing the same  conduct
 with the larger individuals.  Pendulous ears, the most certain
 mark of domestic servitude and  of fear, are almost universal.
 Of many races of dogs, a few only  have retained the primitive
 state of their ears.  Erect ears are now confined to the wolf-
 dog,  the shepherd's dog, and the dog of the north.
   The colour of animals is greatly variegated by  domestica-
 tion.  The  dog, the ox, the sheep, the goat, the  horse, have
 assumed all kinds of colours, and even mixtures of colours, in
 the same individuals.   The hog has  changed from  black to
 white ;  and white, without the intermixture of  spotst is gen-
 erally accompanied with  essential imperfections.  Men who
 are remarkably fair, and whose hair is white, have generally a
 defect in their hearing, and, at the same time, weak and red eyes.
 Quadrupeds which are entirely white  likewise have red eyes
 and a dulness of hearing.*  The  variations from the original
 colour are most remarkable in our domestic fowls.   In  a brood
 of chickens, though all of them proceed from the same  parents,
 not one of them has the same colours with another.
   Domestication  not only changes the external  appearances
 of animals, but alters and  modifies their natural  dispositions.
 The  dog, for example, when in a  slate of liberty,  is a rapacious
 quadruped, and hunts and devours  the  weaker species.  But,
 after he  has  submitted to the dominion of man, he relinquishes
 his natural  ferocity, and is converted into  a  mean, servile,
 patient,  and  parasitical slave.

  * ' The individuals known under the name of Albinoes are examples of the
 same sort of imperfection as that alluded to in the text with regard to animals.
 They have a skin of a peculiar  and unnatural whiteness, white hair, eye-
 brows, and eyelashes.  The iris is also of a rosy tint, and the pupils still more
 deeply red.  This  imperfection seems to  consist in an entire absence of the
 colouring principle of all these parts, which leaves the bare texture  of the
 parts themselves without any colour except that of the fluids circulating in
 them.   It occurs among all the varieties of mankind, but more commonly
 among the dark ones.  Stories have been told of whole tribes of Albinoes or
white negroes, but they have proved unfounded.  Some persons  are only
partially affected in this way, and thus present a spotted or piebald appear-
ance ; and it is to be remarked that if the eyes or any part of the hair be
included in any of the spots which remain in the natural state, they  retain
their natural colour and appearance   The same is the case  with inferior
animals, as may be frequently observed in  the spotted, black and white rabbits.
The white rabbit  is  a true Albino, as is the white mouse, and they both
have red eyes, unless the eyes happen to be included in a spot which remains
in its natural state.' 
276
COVERING OF ANIMALS.
CHAPTER XII.
 OF THE COVERING, MIGRATION, AND TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS.

   'Although man is naturally the most defenceless of animals,
and  the most exposed to suffer from the attacks of cold and
the rigors of inhospitable climates,  yet  by the sagacity with
which he has devised means of guarding against the vicissitudes
of the seasons, and protecting himself against the various degrees
of heat and cold which he  encounters, he has  been enabled
to brave the dangers of every climate,  and establish  himself
over a great part of the globe.  Neither the cold of the polar,
nor the heat of the equatorial regions, has been sufficient to
deter him ; but he  is capable of enjoying the necessaries, com-
forts, and even  luxuries of life at either extreme.
   'Buttheconstitutionsofotheranimalsare not so accommodat-
ing.   They do not adapt themselves so readily to changes in
external  circumstances, nor have they  the sagacity to  avail
themselves of other means  for protecting themselves from  the
influence of cold and heat.   Each species of  animals is gene-
rally confined to some particular portion of the earth, and it is
with difficulty that many of them are  made  to survive, for a
long time,  any great change of  climate.   To  a certain
extent, however, nature has provided  means for obviating the
bad effects which would be produced upon them  by the dif-
ferent  temperature of the  seasons  and of  different climates.
These means are,  a change in the quantity or  colour of the
hair, fur, or feathers, with which they are covered;  migration
during the winter to  warmer climates; or passing it in a state
of torpidity.
   ' In the colder regions of  the earth, animals are covered with
thick and warm fur.  In the warm, they  are only clothed with
hairs thinly  scattered, or have a skin entirely naked.  The
contrast  is more striking where the same kind of animals, or
kinds closely resembling each other, inhabit different climates.
In the dogs of Guineaiand in the African and Indian sheep, the
fur is so thin that  they may  be  almost denominated naked. 
COVERING OF ANIMALS.
277
 In the Siberian dog and Iceland sheep, on the other hand, the
 body is protected by a thicker and longer covering.   In  the
 swine of warm countries, we find a covering of bristles thinly
 scattered and of a uniform size and  texture ; but in colder
 countries, there  is,  beside  this covering,   another  of fine,
 frizzled wool next to the skin,through which the bristles project.
 The elephant of the warm regions has scarcely any hair upon
 his  body, whilst that species which  is supposed to  be now
 extinct, but to have formerly inhabfted the  northern  parts of
 both continents, was clothed with a thick and warm fur; as is
 proved from the discovery of a carcass which had  been pre-
 served  in a frozen state, probably for many thousand years, in
 the ice of Siberia.
   ' In the same climate the quantity of covering is  accommo-
 dated to the alterations in the seasons.   At the approach of
 winter  the hair  is increased in  quantity and  in length, as may
 be observed in any of our domestic animals, and this increase
 is proportioned to the  rigour and severity  of the season.   On
 the contrary, at the return of the warm  season, the fur becomes
 thin.  Hence those animals which are sought, for the  sake
 of their fur, must be hunted in the winter;  and it  has been
 observed  that, where the  beginning of the season is mild and
 the cold weather late in setting in, the hair is also   backward,
 and that a few days of cold will produce a perceptible change
 in  the  rapidity of its growth.  The  moulting  or  casting of
 their plumage in birds  furnishes examples to  the same point.
   ' Changes of  colour are not so common  or  so  important.
 But in cold climates there are many striking instances of a com-
 plete change from a dark colour to a white, both of  fur and of
 plumage.   The summer dress of the Alpine hare is of a tawny
 grey, but  as winter approaches, it changes to a snowy white-
 ness, continues  so until  spring, and then resumes  its tint of
 grey.  The ermine, which in summer  has a fur of a pale red-
 dish brown, exhibits  in  winter a dazzling white.  Among
 birds a similar change takes place in a great number of species,
 as in a variety of  the smaller kinds  known  familiarly under
 the name  of snow-birds.
   ' It is obvious, according to the  known  laws of  the trans-
 mission of caloric, how both these provisions concur towards
maintaining, during the winter, a proper  temperature in the
bodies of  animals.  Animal heat is maintained not  by the
influence of external causes, but by an internal principle.  The
object  to  be attained is, then,  to prevent the escape of this 
278
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.
heat to other bodies, and preserve it within the system.   The
increased thickness of the fur effects this purpose by obstruct-
in^ its gradual transmission to the cold bodies around, and its
colour by diminishing the degree of radiation, which is always
less from light coloured than from dark substances.   Upon the
same principle, under ordinary circumstances, the thin covering
and dark colour are favourable  to  the comfort  of  the animal
during summer,  since they serve to keep down its temperature
by carrying off all superabundant heat, both  by  gradual  com-
munication and by  radiation*
   ' The second method by which animals avoid the  danger and
suffering to which they would be exposed by the extremes of
climate, is  a periodical migration.  In  this  way they are
enabled to live throughout the year in a temperature congenial
to their constitution.
   ' The extensive and numerous migrations of birds have been
noticed by mankind from time immemorial.   They  are accom-
panied  by  many circumstances of  a curious and  interesting
nature,  and have given rise to a good deal of speculation.   The
different species of swallow in particular have excited a large
share of attention, and  the place of their winter  residence has
been  the subject of much doubt.'  With regard  to  the several
species of swallows, some naturalists are  inclined to think that
they do not leave the place of  their summer residence  at the
end of autumn, but that they lie in a torpid  state till  the  be-
ginning of summer in the banks of rivers, the  hollows of decay-
ed trees, the recesses of old buildings, the holes of sand-banks,
and in similar situations.  That swallows, in the winter  months,
have  sometimes, though very  rarely, been   found  in a torpid
state, is unquestionably true.  Neither is the inference, that,

  * ' The  uncomfortable sensation of heat  in summer arises not directly
from the external heat, which is  seldom  so high as that of our  bodies,
but rather from the animal heat of the system itself, which is prevented by
the high temperature of the atmosphere from being carried  off  as rapidly as
usual, and hence becomes, as it were, accumulated.  Whatever circumstan-
ces, therefore, favour either the radiation or transmission of  caloric, will con-
tribute most to comfort; and consequently  a dark and thin covering, and
one which is a good conductor, would seem to be most  proper both  for
men and  for other animals, under ordinary circumstances. Where there is ex-
posure, however, to the rays of the sun, the reverse would be  true; and  this ap-
pears at least  not to contradict experience. It these remarks  are  well founded,
they obviously explain, how the colour  of the negro is adapted to the  regions
he inhabits, by favouringthe radiation of heat whenever the temperature of the
air is below that of his body.  And even in the depths of  Africa  it is sel-
dom that the  thermometer will  for any length of time indicate a degree of
htat above that of our bodies.' 
migration of animals.
27&
if any of them can survive the winter in that state, the whole
of them may subsist, during the cold season, in the same con-
dition, in the smallest  degree unnatural.  Still, however,  the
numbers of swallows which appear in Great Britain, as well as
in all parts of Europe,  during the summer months, are so very
considerable, that, if the great body of them did not migrate
to some other climate,  they would be  much  more frequently
found in a torpid state.   On the contrary, when a few of them
are discovered  in  that state, it is regarded as a wonder even
by  the country people, who have the greatest opportunities
of stumbling upon facts of this kind.   When, accordingly, a
few swallows or martins are found torpid in winter, and have
been  revived by  a  gentle  heat, the fact, and few such facts
there are, is carefully recorded as singular in all the periodical
publications of Europe.
  Instances of swallows and some  other birds  alighting on the
masts and cordage of vessels, at considerable  distances from
any shore, are not so numerous as might be expected. Neither
have they been often observed flying over seas in great flocks.
Mr Peter Collinson, in a letter printed in  the  Philosophical
Transactions, says, "that Sir Charles Wager had frequently in-
formed him, that,  in one of his voyages home  in the spring, as
he came into soundings in our  channel, a great flock of swal-
lows almost covered his rigging;  that they were nearly spent
and famished, and were only  feathers and bones ;  but, being
recruited  by  a night's rest, they took  their  flight  in  the
morning."
   M.  Adanson, in his voyage,  informs  us, that,  about  fifty
leagues from the coast of Senegal, four swallows settled upon
the  ship, on the sixth day of  October; that  these birds were
taken; and that he knew them to be the true swallows of Europe,
which he conjectures were then returning to the coast of Africa.
Mr Barrington,* with  more  probability, supposes that these
swallows, instead of being on their passage from Europe, were
only flitting from the Cape de Verde islands to  the continent
of Africa, a much  shorter flight, but to which  they seemed  to
be  unequal, as they were obliged, from fatigue, to  light upon
the ship, and fall into  the hands of the sailors.
   Swallows, Mr Kalm remarks, appear in the Jerseys about
the beginning of April, and are, on the first  arrival, wet, be-
cause they  have just  emerged from the sea or lakes,  at  the
   * Essay on the periodical appearing and disappearing of certain birds at
different times of year. Phil. Trans, vol. 62. 
 i^O             migration of animals.             *

 bottom of which they had remained in a torpid state during
 the whole winter.   But Mr Kahn, who wishes to support the
 torpidity  of swallows during the winter, likewise informs us,
 that he himself met with them at sea, nine hundred and twenty
 miles from any land.
   These, and similar facts, Mr Barrington endeavours to ex-
 plain, by  supposing that  birds discovered  in  such  situations,
 instead of attempting to  cross large branches  of the ocean,
 have been forcibly driven  from  some  coasts by storms,  and
 that they  would naturally  perch upon  the first vessel which
 came within  their view.
   In Great Britain, five species of swallows appear in  summer
 and disappear in winter.    1. The house-swallows make their
 appearance about twenty days earlier than the  martin, or any
 other of the swallow tribe.  They are often seen about  the 13th
 day of  April.  They disappear about the end of September.
 A few days previous to their departure, they assemble in great
 flocks on the  tops of houses, churches, and trees, from whence
 they are supposed  to take their flight.   This unusual and tem-
 porary association of numbers indicates the impulse  of some
 common instinct by which  each individual is  actuated.  The
 house-swallow is easily distinguished from the other species by
 the superior forkiness of its tail, and by a red spot on the fore-
 head, and  under the chin. This species builds in  chimneys, and
 makes  its  nest of clay, but leaves the top quite open.  2. The
 martin is inferior in size to  the former,  and its tail is much less
 forked.  The martins appear in Britain  soon after the house-
 swallow.  They build under the eaves of houses. The nest is
 composed of the same materials as those of the house-swallow ;
 but it is covered above,  and a small hole  only  is left in  the
 side for the ingress and egress of the  birds.  The martins totally
 disappear  about the beginning of October. 3. The sand-martin,
 or bank-martin, is by much the smallest of the swallow kind
 that visit Britain.  The sand-martins arrive very soon after the
 house-swallow, and disappear about Michaelmas.  They dig
 considerable holes in sand-pits and in the banks of rivers, where
 they build  their nests, which consist not of mud, like those of
 the former species, but of grass and feathers laid together in
 a very  slovenly manner.  It is worthy of  remark, that these
birds do  not  employ the  cities  they  dig  in summer  for
winter quarters ; since sand-banks,  so perforated, have been
carefully searched in  the  winter,  and  nothing  found  but
empty nests.   4. The swift, or black-martin  of  Willoughby, 
                    MIGRATION of  animals.              2c 1'

   is the largest of these swallows, and is the latest of arriving in
   in the country; for the swifts are seldom seen till  the begin-
   ning of May, and commonly appear, not in flocks, but in pairs.
   Swifts, like the sand-martins, carry on the business of incuba-
   tion in the dark.  They builfl in the crannies of castles, towers,
   and steeples.  Straw and feathers are the materials they use.
   They disappear very early ; for they are almost never  seen
   after the middleof August.   5. The goatsucker, which behjigs
   to. the swallow tribe, is likewise a bird of passage.  Like'the
 ,  other swallows, it feeds upon winged insects. - But, instead of
   pursuing its prey during the day, it flies only in the night, and
   seizes moths, and other nocturnal insects.  From  this circum-
   stance,  it has not improperly  received the appellation of the
   nocturnal swalloxom^The goalsucker stays only a short time in
   Britain.  It agpears not tiff, aboat the end o&.Maw and retires
   in the  middle of August.  It lays its eggs, whicj^are common-
   ly twfo and sometimes three, an the bare grotyid.  ^
      Herodotus and. Prosper  Alpinus  mention'one species of
   swallow which resides in Egypt during th%whole year;  and
   Mr Loten,  l%te'governor  of  Ceylon,, assured  Mr Pennant,
   that, those of Java never remove.  If these be excepted, all the
   other known kinds  retreat or nrigrate periodically.  Swallows
   migrate from almost every dimate.   .They remove from Nor-
   way, from  North America, worn Kamtschatka, from the tem-
»   perate parts of Europe, fronf Aleppo, and from Jamaica.
V    Concernin§|y|ie periodical jappearanc^ and disappearance of
r  swallows, tliei«rethree opinions adopted by diffeveSt ualural-
   ists.s The first^pFu'  most^pbable* is*, that they remove  from
   climate to climates at those particular  seasons  when  winged
   insects,* their nawal foodv fail  in one country or district  and
   abound  in aq|per, where  the^likewise find a temperature of
   air better  si^d to  thiir  <Jonsthuyons.  In  support of this
   opinion, we have the testimony, as  formerly  mentioned, of
   Sir Charles Wager^o'f M. Adanson, and of many navigators.
   It is equally true, however, that soine species of swallows have
   been occasionally found in a torpid  state during winter.  Mr
   Collinson  gives  the evidence of three  gentlemen who  were
   eyewitnesses to a number of sand-martins being drawn out of a
   cliff on the Rhine in the month of March 1762.   Mr Barring-
   ton, in the year 1768, communirated to  Mr Pennant, on the
   authority of tfee late Lord Belhaven, the following fact; "That
   numbers of swallows have been^pund in old dry walls, and  in
   sand-hills, near his  Lordship's seat^n East-Lothian; not once
                J3o
** 
2S2
MIGRATION of
ANIMALS.
only, but from year to year; and that, when they were exposed
to the wawnth of a fire, they revived."  These, and other facts
of the same kind, seem to be incontrovertible; and Mr Pen-
nant infers from them, that "we must divide  our belief relat-
ing to these two so  different opinions, and conclude, that one
part of the swallow tribe  migrate, and  that others have their
winter quarters near home."  But we should rather incline to
thii^t  with those naturalists who suppose that the torpid swal-
lows which are  occasionally, though very rarely, discovered in
the winter season,have been obliged to remain behind, because
they were  too  young,  weak, diseased, or superannuated, to
undertake a long and fatiguing flight.   Still, however, that the
torpidity of the feathered tribes should  be solely confined to
the swallows, is a very  singular fact in  th^e history of nature.
Among quadrupeds, there are many species  who lie in a  dor-
mant or torpid  state during winter.   But, if the . swallow^be
excepted, not* single species  of birds, notwithstanding  the
great numbers wjhjch, at stated times, appear and disappear in
every corner of the globe, has ever  been discovered ir^that
slate.   This circumstance alone, though we cannot yet ascer-
tain the precise places to  which different  species of birds of
passage resort, is a most convincing  proof of migration in
general.                       ■                         :-
   It has been asserted, and even believed, by some naturalists,
that swallows pass the winter immersed under the ice, at the   +
bottom a£ lakes, or  beneath the  waters of  )jm sea.   Olaus
Magnus, Archbishop of  Upsal, seems tp l|ave  been the  first
who adopted  this opinion.  " He informs us, tjfat swallows are
found in great  clusters at the  bottoms of the northern lakes,
with mouth to  mouth, wing to wing, foot toifoot, and that in
autumn they  creep  down the reeds to their subterraneous re-
treats.   " That  the good.  Archbishop," Mr Tennant archly
remarks, •' did  not want credulity in  other instances, appears
from this, that, after having stocked the bottoms of the lakes
with birds, he stores the cfouds with mice, which  sometimes
fall in plentiful showers on  Norway and the neighbouring coun-
tries !" Klein has endeavoured to support the notion that swal-
lows lie under water during the winter, and gives the following
account of their manner of retiring, which he collected  from
some countrymen.  They  asserted, he  tells us, that the swal-
lows sometimes assembled in numbers  on a reed till it broke
and sunk them to   the  bqgem ; that  their  immersion  was
preceded by a kind of dirge, which lasted more than a quarter 
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.              283
of an hour;  that others united, laid hold of a straw with their
bills, and plunged down in society ; that  others,  by clinging
together with their  feet, formed a large mass, and  in  this
manner committed themselves to the deep.
   Two reasons seem to render this supposed  submersion of
swallows impossible.  In the first place, no land animal can
exist so long without some degree of respiration.  The otter,
the seal, and water fowls of  all kinds, when confined  under
the ice, or entangled in nets,  soon perish ; yet it is well known,
that animals of this kind can remain much longer under water
than those which are destitute of that peculiar structure of the
heart which is necessary for  any considerable residence  be-
neath that penetrating  element.   Mr John Hunter,  in a letter
to Mr Pennant,  informs us,  "That he  had dissected many
swallows, but found nothing  in them different from other birds
as to the organs of respiration ; that all those  animals  which
he had dissected of the class that sleep during winter, such as
lizards, frogs, &c. had a very different conformation as to those
organs ; that all those animals, he believes, do breathe in their
torpid state ; and, as far as his experience reaches, he knows
they do ; and that, therefore, he esteems it a very wild opin-
ion, that terrestrial animals  can remain any long time under
water  without drowning."   Another  argument against their
submersion  arises from the  specific gravity  of the animals^
themselves.  Of all birds, the swallow tribes are perhaps the*
lightest.   Their plumage, and  the comparative smallness of
their weight, indicate that nature destined them to be almost
perpetually  on the wing in quest of food.   From this specific
lightness, the submersion of swallows, and their continuing for
months under water, amount to a physical impossibility. Even
waterfowls,  when they  wish to dive, are obliged to rise  and
plunge with considerable exertion, in order to  overcome the
resistance of the water.  Klajn's idea of swallows employing
reeds and straws as means of submersion is rather ludicrous ;
for these light substances, instead of being proper instruments
for assisting them to  reach the bottom, would infallibly  con-
tribute to support them on the  surface, and prevent the  very
object of their intention.  Besides, admitting the possibility of
their reaching the bottom of lakes  and  seas,  and  supposing
they could exist for  several  months without respiration, what
would be the consequence 1  The whole would soon be devour-
ed by otters, seals, and fishes of various  kinds.  Nature is al-
ways anxious for the preservation of species.  But, if the swal- 
 26 f              MIGBVTIONOF ANIMALS.

 low tribes were destined to remain torpid, during the winter
 months, at the bottom of lakes and seas, she would act in
 opp '  ition to her own intentions ; for, in  a season or two, (he
 whole ;rrnus would be annihilated.
    Mr White  of  Selborne has favoured us with the  following
 information concerning the  migra ion of swallows. " II ever I
 saw," says he, " any thins:  like actual migration, it was last
 Michaelmas  day,  1708.   I was travelling, and out early in the
 morning ; at first there was  a vast fog; but, by the lime that I
 was got seven or eight miles from home towards the  coast, the
 sun broke out into a delicate warm day.   We were then on a
 large heath or common, and 1 could discern, as the mist began
 to break  away, great numbers of swallows clustering on the
 stinted shrubs and bushes, as  if they had roosted there all night.
 As soon as the air became clear and pleasant, they all were on
 the wing at once, and, by a  placid and easy flight, proceeded
 on southward towards the sea.  After  this I did not  see any
 more   flocks, only  now and then  a straggler.   When  I
 used to rise in a  morning last autumn, and see the  swallows
 and martins  clustering  on   the chimneys and thatch of the
 neighbouring  cottages, I could not help  being touched  with
 secret  delight, mixed with  some degree of mortification;
 with delight, to observe with  how much  ardour and  punctu-
 ality those poor little  birds obeyed the strong impulse towards
Migration, or hiding,  imprinted on their minds by tieir great
 Creator ; and with some degree of mortification,  when  I  re-
 flected, that after all our pains and  inquiries, we are yet not
 quite certain to whai  regions they do  migrate ; and  are still
 farther embarrassed to find, that some  do  not actually migrate
 at all."
   In  another part of his work, Mr White says; "But  we
 must not deny migration in  general;  because migration cer-
 tainly  does  subsist in some places,  as my brother in  An-
 dalusia lias fully informed me.   Uf the motions of these birds
 he has ocular demonstration,*for many weeks together, both
 spring and fall;  during which periods, myriads of the swal-
 low kind traverse the straits from north to south, and from
 south to north, according to the season.   And  these vast nii-
 grations consist not only  of swallows,  but of  bee-birds, hoo-
 poes, oropendulos or golden-thrushes, he.  he. and also many
 of  our soft-billed summer birds of passage ;  and, moreover,
 of birds which never  leave us, such as all  the  various sorts of
 hawks and kites.   Old Belon, two hundred years ago, gives a 
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.              285
curious account of the incredible armies of hawks and  kites
which he saw in the spring time traversing the Thracian Bos-
phorus from  Asia to Europe.   Besides the above mentioned,
he remarks that the procession is swelled by  whole troops of
eagles and vultures."
   " The  swallow,"  says  Dr Fleming, in his Philosophy of
Zoology, "about whose migrations so many idle  stories  have
been  propagated  and  believed, departs from Scotland  about
the end of September, and from England about the middle of
October.   In the latter month, M. Adanson observed them on
the shores of Africa after  their  migrations from Eurbpe.  He
informs us, however, that  they do not build their nests'in that
country, but  only come to spend the winter.   M. Prelong has
not only confirmed the observations of Adanson in reference to
swallows, but has stated  at the  same time, that the  yellow
and  grey  wagtails visit Senegal at  the  beginning of winter.
The former (motacilla flava) is well known as one of our sum-
mer visitants.  Thai nightingale departs from England  about
the beginning of October,  and from the other parts of Europe
about the same period.  During the  winter season it is found
in abundance in lower Egypt,  among the thickest coverts, in
different parts of the Delta.  These  birds  do not  breed in
that country, and to the  inhabitants are merely  winter  birds
of passage.  They arrive  in autumn and depart in spring,
and  at the time of  migration are plentiful  in  the islands of
the Archipelago.   The quail is  another of our summer guests,
which has been  traced to Africa.  A few indeed brave the
winters of England, and in Portugal they appear to be station-
ary.  But in general  they leave this country in autumn and
return in spring.  They  migrate about the  same time from
the eastern parts  of  the  continent of Europe, and  visit and
revisit in their migrations the shores of  the  Mediterranean,
Sicily, and the islands  of the Archipelago."
  ' Beside those birds which retire in the winter from temperate
to more southern climates, there are many others which spend
the summer in the northern regions, and seek a milder residence
during the winter in the same countries from which the former
have  migrated.  Thus in  every country or district a double
migration takes place.   There are two sets of birds, one which
frequents  it in the  summer and  another in the winter.   The
former are called  summer birds of passage, the  latter winter
birds of passage.  The summer  residence of the  birds of pas-
sage, which frequent temperate  climates  in  the winter,  is not 
286
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.
   always known, but many of them have been traced to northern
   countries.   The  snow-buntings, which are common in Great
   Britain during the winter, retreat in the summer  to the polar
   regions of Spitzbergen, Lapland, and Greenland, where they
   pair and produce their offspring.'  Martin, in  his history of the
   Hebrides, or Western Isles, informs us, that wild  swans arrive
   in great numbers in Lingey, one of the Hebrides, in the month
   of  October, and  remain there till  March, when  they  retire
   more northward  to breed.  For this  purpose, the swans,  like
   most other waterfowls, prefer such places as are  least  fre-
   quented *by mankind.   During summer, the lakes, marshes,
   and forests of Lapland are filled with myriads of waterfowls.
   In  that  northern region, swans, geese, the duck-tribe, goos-
   anders,  divers, he.  pass  the summer; but  in  autumn they
   return to more hospitable shores.
     The wild goose, which breeds in  the most retired regions
   of the North, arrives  in temperate regions, at the  beginning of
   winter, and  departs  early  in  the  spring.   Their periodical
   movements are familiar to all.   They fly at a  great height, and
   observe the utmost regularity in all their movements.   Many
   birds of the duck kind are also winter  birds of passage.   They
   are found  in abundance upon  the shores, islands,  and rivers of
   the temperate regions during  the cold  months ;  but,  on  the
   approach of winter, migrate to Lapland, Greenland, and Spitz-
   bergen.
     The solan geese, or gannets, are birds of passage, which  pass
   their summer and  breed upon the most northern shores  and
   islands of Scotland.   The multitudes which frequent these
   places are prodigious.  " There is," says  a writer who has
   given some account of them,  " a small island in  the Frith of
   Forth, called the Bass Island, which does  not exceed  a  mile
   in   circumference.  The  s rface of this  island, during the
   months of May  and  June, is so entirely covered with nests,
*  eggs, and young  birds, that  it is  scarcely  possible  to walk
   without treading on them.  The flocks of birds  on the wing
   are so  prodigious, that they  darken  the air  like clouds, and
   their  noise is so  great, that a man  canno* without difficulty
   hear his neighbour's  voice.   If, from the top of the precipice,
   you look down upon the sea, you  will see  it on every side
   covered  with infinite  numbers of birds  of different kinds,
   swimming about and hunting for their  prey.  When  sailing
   round the island, if  you  survey the hanging cliffs, you will
   perceive, in every cragg, or fissure of the rocks, innumerable 
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.
28?
birds of various kinds, more than the  stars of heaven in a
serene night.  If you  view the distant flocks, either flying to
or from the island, you will imagine them to be a vast swarm
of bees."   The rocks of St Kilda seem to be  equally fre-
quented by solan geese ; for Martin, in  his description of  the
Hebrides, informs us, that the inhabitants of this small island
consume  annually  no  less than  22,600 young birds of this
species, beside an amazing number of their eggs.   The solan
geese and their eggs constitute the chief food of these island-
ers.   They preserve  both the fowls and the  eggs  in  small
pyramidal  stone  buildings, which, to protect the  food from
moisture, they cover with the ashes of turf.  The solan geese
are  birds of passage.   Their first appearance is  in March,
and they continue till August or September.  But, in general,
the times of their breeding and  departure seem  to  coincide
with the arrival of the herring, and the  migration of that fish
from our coasts.   It is more  than  probable that these birds
attend  the  herrings  and pilchards during their whole  circuit
round  the  British islands ;  for the appearance of the solan
geese  is always esteemed by  the fishermen as a certain pre-
sage of the approach of the herrings or pilchards.   In quest
of food, these birds migrate  as  far  south  as the   mouth of
the Tagus; for they are frequently seen off Lisbon during the
month of December.
   The various species of curlews, woodcocks, sandpipers, and
plovers, which pass the winter in  Great  Britain, retire  in  the
spring to  Sweden, Poland, Prussia, Norway, and   Lapland,
both to feed and to  breed.   They return as soon as the young
are able to fly; because the frosts, which set in early in these
countries, totally deprive them of  the means  of  subsistence.
For  the same reason they take their  departure in summer, as
the dryness and hardness of the ground prevent them from
penetrating the earth with their bills in quest of worms, which
constitute their natural food.
   From the  facts  which  have been enumerated, and from
others  of a similar nature, it is evident, that many birds, both
of the land and water kinds,  migrate  from one climate  to
another.   But, even in the same  climate  and country, birds
occasionally perform partial migrations.  During hard winters,
when the surface of the earth  is covered  with snow, many-
birds, as larks, snipes,  he. retire from the inland parts of  the
country to the seashores, where they pick up  a  scanty sub-
sistence.   Others, as the wren, the redbreast, and  many of 
2>«-
■MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.
the small  birds, or sparrow kind, resort to gardens, and  the
habitations of men.   Their intention, it is obvious, is to  pro-
cure food  and shelter.
  There are three principal objects of migration ; food, tem-
perature of air,  and convenient situations for breeding.   Such
birds as  migrate to  great distances are  alone denominated
birds of passage.  But  all birds are, in some measure, birds
of passage,  though they do not  migrate  to  places so remote
from their former abodes.   At  particular times of  the  year,
most birds migrate from one country to another, or from the
more inland districts  toward the  shores.  These  partial  mi-
grations of small birds are well  known to birdcatchers, who
make a livelihood by ensnaring them into  their nets, and  sel-
ling  them.  The birds fly, as the birdcatchers term it,  about
the end of September, and during the months of October and
November.  There is another, but  less considerable, flight in
March.  Some begin their flight annually about Michaelmas;
others, as the  woodlarks, succeed, and continue their  flight
till  the middle  of October; but  the  greenfinch does not mi-
grate till  the frost obliges it to remove in quest of  food  and
shelter.  These partial migrations, or flirtings, are performed
from day  break till  noon.  Another, but smaller, flight com-
mences at  two o'clock  and continues  till night approaches.
The times when  particular birds migrate from one situation
to another are well known to the birdcatchers, who, by means
of call-birds, nets, and  other  devices, seize great numbers of
them, and, alter accustoming them for some time to restraint
and  slavery, sell them for considerable prices, to  curious men
and  whimsical  women.   A diligent attention to these  partial
migrations,  and their motives, would soon unfold the causes
of those of a more extensive kind.
   ' Migrating birds before they take their  departure  in general
collect together in  flocks, and  many of  them are  known to
perform their migrations in company  and to  form  large and
regularly  arranged flocks on  their route.  Swallows are  well
known to assemble in immense  numbers  before the  period of
their migration.  Some  birds,   however, have  never  been
observed  to gather together previous to their departure.    The
males of many  species appear to  perform their migrations a few
days before the females.   This is remarkably the case with the
nightingale.  Others depart during the night.   In  short, the
habits of  birds  with regard to their migrations differ  according
to their characters and habits  in other respects.          * 
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.              289
  * It has been objected to the migration of birds, that it is
impossible they should support themselves so long upon the
wing or exist so long without food, as they must probably do
in performing such long journies as migration  supposes. "But
these difficulties," says Dr Fleming, " vanish  altogether when
we  attend to the rapidity of the flight of birds.   The rapidity
with which a hawk and many  other birds occasionally fly, is
probably not less than at the rate of 150 miles  an  hour.  Major
Cartwright, on the coast of  Labrador, found by repeated ob-
servations, that the flight of an  eider duck, was at the rate of
90 miles an hour.  Sir George Cayley computes the rate  of
flight, even of the common crow, at nearly 25 miles an hour;
and Spallanzani  found that of the  swallow completed about
92 miles, while he conjectures that the rapidity of the swift is
nearly three times greater.  A falcon, which belonged to Henry
IV  of France, escaped from Fontainbleau, and in 24 hours
was found at Malta, a distance of 1350 miles ;  a velocity nearly
equal to  57 miles an hour, supposing the falcon to  have been
upon  the wing the whole time.   But  as such birds never fly
by night, and allowing the day to be at the longest, his flight
was perhaps equal to 75 miles an hour.  It is probable, how-
ever,  that he neither  had so many hours of light in the twenty ■
four, to perform his journey, nor that he was retaken the  mo-
ment of  his  arrival.   But if we even  restrict the migratory
flight of  birds to the rate of 50 miles an hour, how  easily can
they perform their most extensive migrations ! and  we know,
in the case of woodcocks, and perhaps  all  other migrating
birds, that they in general take advantage of a fair  wind  with
which to perform  their flights.  This  breeze perhaps aids
them at the rate of 30 or 40 miles an  hour;  nay, with three
times greater rapidity, even in a moderate  breeze, if we  are
to give credit to the  statement of aerial navigators,  who seem
to consider the rate of the motion of winds as  in general stated
too low."  If this be true, the   movements of birds in their
migrations may be performed with little difficulty ; for even
those that execute their journeys at one flight, if there be any
that  do so, may do it in a very  short time, perhaps a day, by
the help of a favourable wind.'
  Migration is often supposed to be peculiar  to the feathered
tribes.   This is a limited  idea, which has originated from in-
attention  to  the economy of nature.   Birds migrate with  a
view  to remedy the inconveniences of their present situation,
and to acquire a more commodious station with regard to food,
              37 
2\)()               MIGRATION  OF ANIMALS.
 temperature, generation, and  shelter.   From similar motives,
 men, sometimes in amazing  multitudes, have migrated  from
 north  to south, displaced  the  native  inhabitants, and  fixed
 establishments in more comfortable climates than those which
 they had relinquished.  These,  in their turn, have fallen vic-
 tims to fresh and barbarous emigrants.   Among the inhabitants
 of  the  more northern nations, as Norway, Sweden, Scotland,
 See. notwithstanding a very strong attachment  to their native
 countries, there seems to be a natural or instinctive propensity
 to migrate.   Poverty, the rigour of the climate, curiosity, ambi-
 tion, the false representations of interested individuals, the op-
 pression of feudal barons, and similar circumstances, have given
 rise to  great emigrations of the human species.   But  it  is
 worthy of  remark, that the emigrations from south  to north,
 except  from  the love of conquest in ambitious nations, are  so
 rare, that the instinct seems hardly to exist in those more for-
 tunate  climates.  Curiosity is a general instinctive  principle,
 which  operates strongly in  the  youthful periods of life, and
 stimulates every man to visit  places that are distant from his
 ordinary residence.   This innate desire is influenced  by the
 relations of travellers, and by many other incentives of a more
 interested kind.   Without the  principle  of migration, mankind,
 it is probable, would never  have  been  so universally diffused
 over the surface of the earth.  It  is counterbalanced, however,
 by  attachment to those countries which gave us  birth, a prin-
 ciple still more  powerful  and efficient.  Love of our native
 country is so strong, that, after gratifying the migrating prin-
 ciple, almost every  man feels a longing  desire to return.
  Savages, as long as their store of food remains unexhausted,
 continue in a listless, inactive state.   They exhaust many days
sitting in perfect indolence,  and seem not to be prompted by
any motives of curiosity.  They  have not a conception of  a
 man's walking either for amusement or  exercise.  But, when
their provisions begin to fail, an astonishing reverse takes place.
They then rouse as from a profound sleep.   In quest of wild
beasts, birds, and fishes, they migrate to immense distances,
exert the greatest  feats of activity, and undergo incredible
hardships and fatigue.  After  acquiring a store of provisions,
they return  to  their wonted haunts, and remain inactive till
their food again begins to fail.
  ' There are but few quadrupeds which perform migrations,
and these are generally limited in  their extent to different parts
of the   same country.   A few species,  however, which have 
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.
291
faculties for more extensive locomotion, perform more exten-
sive migrations.   Thus  some of the bats of  England  spend
their winters in Italy in a torpid state, and the seal, which fre-
quents the shores of Greenland  during the summer, removes
at the approach of cold weather to the south,  and spends the
winter in the neighbourhood of Iceland.'
   At the approach of winter, the stag, the rein-deer, and the
roebuck,  leave  the  tops of the lofty  mountains, and come
down to the plains and copses.   Their chief  objects, in these
flittings, are food  and shelter.  When summer commences,
they are  harassed  with  different species of  winged  insects,
and, to avoid  these enemies, they regain the summits of the
mountains, where the cold  and the height of the situation pro-
tect them from the attacks  of the flies.   In Norway, and the
more northern regions of Europe, the oxen, during the winter,
migrate to the shores of  the sea, where  they feed upon sea
plants and the  bones of  fishes; and  Pontoppidan remarks,
that the  cattle  know by  instinct  when the tide retires, and
leave these articles of food upon the shore.   In Orkney and
Shetland, the  sheep, in winter, for the same purposes, uniform-
ly repair to the shore at the ebbing of the tides.   Rats, par-
ticularly  those of the northern regions of  Europe, appear,
from  time to time,  in such myriads, that the inhabitants of
Norway and  Lapland imagine the animals fall  from heaven.
The  celebrated  Linnaeus, who paid  great  attention  to  the
economy of these migrating rats, remarked, that they appear-
ed in Sweden periodically, every eighteen  or twenty years.
When  about to migrate,  they leave their  wonted abodes,
and  assemble together in numbers inconceivable.   In  the
course of their journey, they make tracks in  the earth, of two
inches in depth ; and these tracks sometimes occupy a breadth
of several fathoms.   What is singular, the rats, in their march,
uniformly pursue a straight line, unless they are forced to turn
aside  by  some unsurmountable obstacle.   If they meet with a
rock,  they first try to pierce it,  and,  after discovering the
attempt to be  impracticable, they go round it, and  then re-
 sume  the  straight line.   Even  a lake  does not interrupt their
 passage ; for  they either traverse it in a straight line, or perish
 in the attempt; and, if they meet with a bark or other vessel,
 they do not alter their direction, but climb up the one side of
 it, and descend by the other.
   Frogs  immediately after their transformation from the tad-
 pole state, leave the water, and migrate to  the  meadow or 
>
292             MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.

marshy grounds in quest of insects.  The number of young
frogs, which suddenly  make their appearance  in the  plains,
induced  Rondeletius, and  many other naturalists, to imagine
that they were  generated in the clouds  and showered  down
upon the earth.  But if, like  the  worthy and  intelligent Dr
Derham, they had  examined the situation of  the  place with
regard to stagnating waters, and attended to  the nature and
transformation of the animals, they would soon have discover-
ed the real cause of the phenomenon.
  Of all migrating animals, particular kinds of fishes make the
longest journeys, and in the greatest numbers.   The multipli-
cation of the species, and the procuring of food, are the prin-
cipal motives of the migration of  fishes.   The salmon, a fish
which makes regular migrations, frequents the northern regions
alone.  It is unknown  in the Mediterranean sea, and   in the
rivers which fall into  it both from Europe  and Africa.   It is
found in some of the rivers of France that empty themselves
into the ocean.  Salmons are taken  in  the rivers of  Kamt-
schatka, and appear as  far north  as Greenland.  They are
found in many of the rivers of the United States, and ascend and
descend the river Columbia in immense and almost incredible
shoals.  The  Indians around  this river  preserve them in  a
dried state and make them a principle article  of food.   Sal-
mons live  both in  the ocean and  in  fresh waters.  For the
purpose of depositing their spawn, they quit the sea  in the
month of September, and ascend the rivers.  So strong is the
instinct of migrating, that they press up the rivers with  amaz-
ing  keenness, and scarcely any obstacle is sufficient to interrupt
their progress.  They spring, with great agility, over cataracts
of several  feet in height.   In their leaps, they spring straight
up with a strong tremulous  motion, and do not, as has  been
vulgarly supposed,  put  their tails  in their mouths.   When
they find a place which they think proper for depositing their
eggs, the male and  female  unite their labours  in  forming  a
convenient receptacle  for the  spawn  in  the sand, which  is
generally about eighteen inches deep.  The eggs, when not
disturbed by violent floods, lie buried in the sand till the spring,
and they are hatched about the end of March.   The parents,
however, after this important office has been performed, hasten
back  to the sea.   Toward the end of March, the young fry
begin to appear, and they gradually increase in size till they
acquire the length of four or  five inches.   About the   begin-
ning of May, all the considerable rivers of Scotland are full of 
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.              293
salmon fry.  After this period, they migrate to the sea.   About
the middle of  June, the earliest of the fry begin to appear
again in the  rivers.  At  that  time they are from twelve  to
sixteen inches long, and gradually augment, both  in  number
and size, till about the end of July or the beginning of August,
when they weigh from six to nine pounds.   This is  a very
rapid growth.   But a gentleman of credit at Warrington in-
formed  Mr Pennant of a growth still more rapid.  A salmon,
weighing s^ven pounds and three quarters, was taken  on  the
seventh day of February.   It was marked on the back, fin,
and tail, with scissars, and then turned into the river.   It was
retaken on the 17th day of the following month of March, and
then it weighed seventeen  pounds and  a half.  The season
for fishing salmon in the Tweed begins on the 30th of Novem-
ber, and ends  on old Michaelmas day.  In  that single river,
it  is  computed  that no  less than 208,000 at a medium, are
annually caught, which,  together with  the products of  many
other rivers on both sides of Scotland, not only afford a whole-
some and palatable food to the inhabitants, but form no incon-
siderable article of commerce.
   Herrings are  likewise actuated by the migrating principle.
These fishes are chiefly confined to the northern and tempe-
rate regions of the globe.  They frequent the highest latitudes,
and are sometimes found  on  the northern coasts of  France.
They appear  in  vast shoals on the coast of America, as far
south  as  Carolina.  In Chesapeak Bay there  is an  annual
inundation of  herring ;  and Mr Catesby informs us, that they
cover the shores in such amazing numbers as to become offen-
sive to the inhabitants.  The great winter rendezvous of the
herrings is  within,  or near, the Arctic Circle, where they re-
main several months, and  acquire strength after  being weak-
ened by the fatigues of spawning, and of a  long migration.
In these seas,  food  is much more abundant than  in  warmer
latitudes.   They begin their migration southward in the spring,
and appear off the  Shetland islands  in  the months of April
and May.  These, however, are only the forerunners of the
immense shoal  which  arrives  in June.   Their approach is
recognised by particular signs, such as the appearance of cer-
tain fishes, the vast number of birds, as gannets or solan geese,
which follow the shoal to prey upon the herrings.  But, when
the main body arrives, its breadth and depth are  so  great  as
to change the  appearance  of the  ocean itself.  The shoal is
generally divided into columns of five or six miles in length, 
20-J              MK.HAT10N OF  ANIMALS.

and three or four in breadth.   Their  progressive motion cre-
ates  a kind of  rippling or small  undulations  in  the  water.
They sometimes sink  and disappear for ten or  fifteen min-
utes, and  then  rise again toward  the surface.   When the sun
shines, a variety of splendid and beautiful colours are reflected
from their  bodies.  In their  progress southward, the first in-
terruption they  meet with  is from  the Shetland islands.   Here
the shoal  divides into two branches.  One branch skirts the
eastern, and the other the western  shores of Great Britain, and
fill every  bay and  creek with their numbers.  Those which
proceed to the  west from  Shetland, after visiting the Hebri-
des,  where the  great fishery is carried on, move on till they
are again interrupted  by  the north of  Ireland, which obliges
them to divide a second time.  One division takes to the west,
where they are scarcely perceived, being soon lost in the im-
mensity of the Atlantic Ocean.   The other division  goes into
the Irish Sea, and affords  nourishment to many thousands of
the human race.  The chief object of herrings migrating south-
ward  is to deposit their spawn in warmer and more shallow
seas  than  those of the frigid zone.  This instinct seems not
to be prompted by a scarcity of food ; for, when they arrive
upon our coasts, they are  fat and  in fine condition ; but when
returning to the ocean, they are weak and emaciated.  They
continue in perfection from the end of June to the  beginning
of winter, when  they  begin to  deposit their  spawn.  The
great stations of the herring fisheries are off  the Shetland and
the Western islands, and along the coast of Norfolk.
   Beside salmons and herrings, there are many fishes which
observe a regular migration, as mackerels, lampreys, pilchards,
he.   About the middle of July,  the  pilchards, which are a
species of  herrings, though smaller, appear in vasts shoals off
the coasts of Cornwall.   When  winter approaches, like the
herrings, they retire to the Arctic seas.   Though  so  nearly
allied  to  the herring, it is not incurious  to  remark, that the
pilchards,  in their migration for the purpose of  spawning,
choose a warmer latitude.
   Of the land-crab there are several species.   The migration
of what is called the  violet land-crab deserves some notice.
It inhabits the  warmer regions of  Europe, but its  particular
residence is  in the tropical climates of  Africa  and  America.
Land-crabs generally  frequent the mountainous  parts of the
country, which  are of course, most remote from the sea. They
inhabit the hollows of old trees, the clefts of  rocks, and holes 
MIGRATION OF ANIMALS.
295
which they themselves dig in the earth,   They are extremely
numerous.   In the months of April and May, they leave their
retreats in the mountains, and march in  millions to  the sea-
shore.   At this period the whole ground is covered with them,
and a man can hardly  put down his  foot without treading on
them.   The object of their migration is to deposit their spawn
on the seashore.  In  their progress  toward the sea,  like the
northern rats, the land-crabs  move in a  straight line.  Even
when a house  intervenes,  instead of  deviating to the right or
left, they attempt to  scale the w7alls.  But, when they  meet
with a river, they are obliged to  wind along the course of the
stream.  In their migration from the mountains, they observe
the greatest regularity,  and commonly divide into three battal-
ions, or bodies.  The first consists of the strongest and boldest
males, who, like pioneers, march forward to  clear the route,
and to face the greatest dangers.  The females, who form the
main body, descend  from the mountains  in regular columns,
which are fifty paces broad, three miles long, and so close that
they almost entirely  cover the ground.  Three or  four days
afterwards, the rearguard follows, which consists of a straggling,
undisciplined troop of males and females. They travel chiefly
during the night; but, if it rains by day (for moisture facilitates
their motion), they  proceed in  their slow, uniform  manner.
When the sun shines, and the surface of the ground  is dry,
they make a universal  halt till evening, and then resume their
march.  When alarmed with danger, they run backward in a
disorderly manner, and hold up  their nippers in a threatening
posture. They even seem to intimidate their enemies ; for,
when disturbed, they make a clattering noise with their nippers.
But, though they endeavour  to render  themselves formida-
ble to their enemies, they are cruel to each other.  When  an
individual, by  any  accident, is so  maimed that  he cannot
proceed, his companions immediately devour him, and then
pursue their journey.  After  a  fatiguing  and tedious march,
which sometimes continues three months before they reach the
shore, they  prepare  themselves  for  depositing their spawn.
The eggs still remain in the  bodies of the  animals,  and are
not excluded, as  usual  to  this genus, under the tail.   To fa-
cilitate the maturation and exclusion of the eggs, the land-crabs
no sooner arrive  on  the shore,  than they approach  to the
margin of the sea, and allow the waves to pass several times
over their bodies. They immediately retire to the land ; the
eggs  in the mean time, come  nearer to maturity,  and the 
296
MIGRATION OK ANIMALS.
animals once more go into the water, deposit their eggs, mid
leave the event to  nature.  The bunches of spawn are some-
times as large as a lien's egg ;  and it is not incurious to remark
that, at this very period, numbers of fishes of different kinds are
anxiously  waiting for this annual  supply of food.   Whether
the painful migration of the land-crabs, or the wonderful in-
stinct of the  fishes which  await their arrival, in order to devour
their spawn, is the most  astonishing  fact, we shall leave to
the consideration of philosophers.  The eggs which escape
these voracious fishes are  hatched under the sand.  Soon after,
millions of minute  crabs are seen leaving the shore, and  mi-
grating slowly toward the mountains.   Most of the  old ones,
however, remain in the flat parts of the country till they regain
their strength.  They dig holes in  the earth, the mouths of
which they cover with  leaves and mud.  Here they throw off
their  old  shells,  remain  quite  naked, and almost  without
motion for six days, when they become so fat that they are es-
teemed delicious food.  When the new shell has hardened, the
animals, by an instinctive impulse, march back to those moun-
tains which  they had formerly deserted. In Jamaica, where
they are numerous, the land-crabs are regarded as great delica-
cies ; and they are so abundant, that the slaves are  often fed
entirely upon them.
   The migrating principle is not confined  to  men,  quadru-
peds, birds, and reptiles; it extends  to many of the insect
tribes.  Numberless inhabitants of the air  pass the first stages
of their existence in  the water.  There they remain for  long-
er or shorter periods, according to the species.  Previous to
their transformation into  chrysalids, they quit the water, and
come  upon  dry  ground, where they undergo their amazing
change.   Instead of being active water-worms, they dig or find
holes in the earth, where they are converted into chrysalids, or
seemingly inanimate beings, and  in a short time, mount into
the air in the form of winged insects.   Similar migrations are
to be observed among land  insects.   But  migration is  not
confined to  water-worms. Many species of caterpillars, which
feed upon the  leaves of trees, shrubs,  and other vegetables,
when about to undergo their  transformation, leave  their for-
mer abodes, descend from the trees, and conceal themselves in
the earth.   The  hiving  of  bees,  when  numerous  colonies
remove  in  order  to  establish new settlements, is another in-
stance of the migration of insects.   Indeed, if we except bees,
 wasps, ants, and  a few others, most insects, whether they in- 
TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS.
297
habit the air, the earth, or the waters, are perfect wanderers,
haying no fixed  place of residence.  Some of them, as the
spider tribes, build temporary apartments ; but when disturb-
ed, they migrate to another commodious place, and erect new
habitations.
   From the facts which have been enumerated, it is apparent,
that the principle of migration, or the desire of changing situ-
ations, is not confined to particular birds, but extends through
almost  the  whole  system of  animation.  Men,  quadrupeds,
birds, fishes, reptiles,  insects, all afford  striking  examples ol
the migrating principle.  From the same  facts it  is equally
apparent, that the  general  motives  for migrating are similar
in every class of animals.  Food, multiplication of the species,
and a comfortable temperature of air, are evidently the  chief
causes which induce  animals  to remove from one place to
another,  or,  what amounts to the same thing, from one climate
to another.   Partial emigrations, or emigrations to small dis-
tances, are prompted  by  the  same instinctive motives which
induce animals of a different structure to undertake long and
fatiguing excursions.  But, previous  to actual migration, what
are the peculiar feelings of different animals, and what should
Stimulate  them  to proceed  uniformly  in the direction that
ultimately leads them to the situations most accommodated to
their wants and  their  constitutions, are mysteries, with regard
to which, like every other part of the economy of nature, it is
the duty of  philosophers, instead of  attempting to push  their
inquiries beyond  the bounds of human ability, to observe a
respectful silence.
   ' The third method by which animals  are enabled to  avoid
suffering from the winters of cold climates, is by passing  them
in a state of torpiditt.  Among quadrupeds, those which
become torpid are found in the orders Carnivora and Roden-
tia; as  the  bat, hedge-hog, tenrec,  marmot,  hamster,  dor-
mouse, he.   They pass into the state of torpidity at different
times of the year according to the severity of the climate they
inhabit.  Thus in Canada the jerboa  goes into winter quarters
in September and comes out in May, but  in England torpid
animals usually retire  in October and  reappear in April.   The
place in which they pass the winter, is that which  they  have
been  accustomed  to  inhabit during  the summer.   The  bats
retire to caves and old chimneys, where they remain suspend-
ed  by  the claws.  The marmot,  hamster, he. secure them-
selves in their subterranean retreats, and when they first feel
             38 
298
TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS.
the approach of the  torpid state, shut the passages to their
habitations, in such a  manner,  that it is more easy  to  dig up
the earth any where else than  in the parts they have thus for-
tified.   At the time of becoming torpid, animals are generally
very fat; this fat during the winter, is absorbed  for the  pur-
pose of nutrition, and  they become quite lean.
   ' During the torpid state, the temperature  becomes  very
much diminished.   The natural heat of these  animals is  gen-
erally a little above that of man, but during torpidity  it de-
scends to 30° or 40° of Fahrenheit, as has been ascertained
by  accurate observation, but still, generally continues  above
that of  the surrounding atmosphere.  The quantity of respi-
ration is also very  much lessened.  The animal has long in-
tervals of  complete repose, during which it does not  breathe
at all, and then performs a number of respirations in immedi-
ate succession.   Sometimes this function is for a considerable
time entirely suspended, and the degree  in which it is dimin-
ished, is in proportion to the  more or less complete state of
torpidity of the animal.
   ' Connected  with  this  diminution  of  temperature  and
respiration, there is a corresponding diminution in the force
and rapidity of the circulation.  The  heart beats feebly and
with less  force.   In  the hamster, whose pulse, in  its  active
state, amounts to 150 in a minute, it is, when the animal is torpid,
reduced to only 15 in  the same period.  The pulsations of-the
heart in dormice, under  common  circumstances, from their
great frequency, can scarcely be counted ; but as soon as  they
begin to pass into the  torpid state, the pulse is reduced grad-
ually to thirty, twenty, and sixteen, and becomes finally  im-
perceptible  from feebleness.   Whilst this lethargy  continues,
these animals remain  entirely  insensible  to external objects.
They do not feel when wounded, or deprived  of their limbs;
they are not roused by the electric spark.   The functions of
the digestive organs cease, and they are not only without the
appetite for food, but  without the power of digesting it.   The
stomach and bowels are found empty and collapsed.   There
seems to be  only just  so much of vital  action going on in the
system, as is sufficient to keep the spark of life from becom-
ing entirely extinguished.
   ' Torpidity is brought on by the first cold  weather in the
autumn, and is  probably principally produced by cold.  Tor-
pid animals, however, sometimes revive  a  little, during the
warm days  which occur during the winter, and in this  case 
TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS.
299
they take  some  food.   It is remarkable, that although the
ordinary cold of the season keeps them in the torpid state, yet
exposure to  a much lower  temperature than that  to  which
they are commonly subjected, rouses them from it.  Thus a
marmot which had remained in its natural lethargic state in an
atmosphere of 45°, upon being exposed to one of  16°, soon
gave signs  of returning animation and  in  sixteen  hours was
completely revived ; it shivered with cold and made attempts
to escape.  The same has been found true of bats.  If this
diminished temperature be continued,  the animal is frozen to
death.   The benevolent object of this singular provision is
obvious.  It prevents the destruction of life which might arise
from the occurrence of uncommonly cold weather, or from the
accidental exposure of the habitations of torpid animals to the
access of cold,  by rousing them from their  lethargy and ena-
bling them to seek protection from the danger which threatens
them.
   ' Animals come out of their torpid state diminished in weight,
but not with any considerable diminution in strength, or vigour
of constitution.  They enter immediately with great alacrity
upon  the business of the season, the collection of  food, and
preparation for the reception  of their young.   It is not impro-
bable that this winter lethargy acts in some  measure like sleep,
in refreshing and invigorating the system, and may be necessary
to the  constitutions of some animals.
   ' It has been frequently supposed, that many birds, as well as
quadrupeds, become torpid  during the winter, and instances
have been  related in particular of swallows which  have been
found at the bottom of ponds, or rivers, and have revived on
exposure to air and warmth.  That birds  have been  some-
times found in a  torpid state  is highly  probable, but the facts
which  have come to light are not sufficient to authorize the
belief,  that any species pass the winter in  a torpid state as a
substitute for the  annual  migrations  by  which  they are usually
enabled to avoid  the extremes of cold.
   «All the reptiles of cold climates become torpid during the
winter, and the phenomena they exhibit do not differ essentially
from  those of  quadrupeds.   Below the temperature of 50°
they soon  fall  into  a state of lethargy,  which continues till
spring ; and by exposing them in an ice-house, where  the at-
mosphere  remains constantly below that degree of  heat, rep-
tiles have been kept in  a  torpid  state for three years and a
half, and  have at the end of that  time readily revived.   No 
300
LONGEVITY OK ANIMALS.
limits can be set to the time during which they  might thus be
kept in a dormant state, without the extinction of life, and this
fact seems to account,  in  some measure, for the finding of
toads imbedded in stone.
  'Many animalsof the lower classes are also capable of becom-
ing torpid.  Several of the mollusca, spiders, the house-fly, the
cricket, he.  are  known under  favourable circumstances to
pass  the winter in a torpid state and revive in the  spring.
  ' In these different ways, then, different animals  are enabled
to avoid the dangers to which they are exposed from the vary-
ing temperature of the seasons ; 1st. By a change  in the quan-
tity and colour of their covering ; 2dly.  By periodical migra-
tions ; and 3dly. By passing the winter in  a lethargic state.'
                    CHAPTER XIII.

OF THE LONGEVITY AND DISSOLUTION OF ORGANIZED BODIES.

  It is a law of nature, though a melancholy one, that all or-
ganized bodies should be dissolved.   The periods of dissolu-
tion, however, are as various as the species, and the intentions
of nature in producing  them.
  In the human kind, the brevity of  life is  regarded  as  an
object  of regret.  One half of mankind die  before they arrive
at eight years of age.   From that early period to eighty, beside
the  destruction of war, and other  accidents,  nature kills them
annually in millions.   Some  instances may  be given of men
whose  lives were prolonged beyond the usual period of human
existence.  Such men are not to be envied ;  nor should they be
considered as  favourites of nature.  With respect to  maturity
of judgment, and  a knowledge of the world, no man can  be
said to exist till he passes thirty years of age.   Give him  thirty
or thirty-five more, and. in general,  both mind  and body are
visibly   dec lined.   Those people, therefore, who arrive at an
extraordinary  age,  may  be said to exist, but  they do not live.
All  intellectual enjoyments and exertions, which constitute the
chief dignity and happiness of man, a: e gone.   There are ex-
ceptions ; but  these exceptions are confirmations of what we
have advanced.  Mankind in the early ages of the world, have 
MAN.
301
been said to live for several centuries.  We mean not to con"
tradict the assertion.   But we must remark, that, if ever uien
lived so long, they must have been very different, both in lhe
structure of their bodies, and in their manners, from those who
now exist.  From infancy to manhood, there  is  a gradual
growth  or extension of our  organs.  After  this period,  and
when we advance in years, the bones harden, the muscles be-
come stiff, the cartilages are converted  into bones, the  mem-
branes into cartilages, the stomach and  bowels lose their tone,
and  the whole  fabric,  instead  of being  soft,  flexible,  and
obedient to the  inclinations, or even  the commands, of the
mind,  becomes  rigid, inactive, and  feeble.   These  are  the
general and  progressive causes of death, and they are common
to all  animals.  There are modes of  living more favourable
to health, than others.  But examples are not wanting of men
who have arrived at  an  extreme old  age, without observing
either  temperance,  or any  of  the other  modes  of  living
which  are generally supposed to be favourable to longevity.
Some men, who  lived temperately, and even  abstemiously,
reached to  great ages ; others, who observed  the very  op-
posite  conduct, who lived freely and often intemperately, have
had their  existence  equally prolonged.   But,  in  general,
notwithstanding a few exceptions, temperance, a placid  and
cheerful disposition, moderate exercise, and proper exertions
of mind, contribute, in no uncoromon degree, to the prolong-
ation of life.
   A few examples of longevity in the human species, though
no general conclusions can be drawn from them, may not be
incurious to the reader.  We shall  not go back to a remote
and obscure antiquity, but confine ourselves to  more modern
times,  when the modes of living  were nearly the same as they
are at  present.
   On this subject, the celebrated Lord Verulam, in  his Sylva
Sylvarum, gives the following passage,  chiefly translated from
the seventh  book of Pliny's  Natural History.   " The year of
our  Lord seventy-six, falling into  the  time of Vespasian, is
memorable ; in which we shall find, as it were, a kalendar of
long-lived  men ; for that year there was a taxing (now a  tax-
ing is the most authentical and  truest  informer touching the
ages of men), and in that  part of Italy which  lieth  between
the  Apennine  mountains and the river Po, there were found
124 persons that either equalled or  exceeded an  hundred
years of age, namely, 
■302
LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS.
     Fifty-four     -    -    -    -  of 100 years each.
     Fifty-seven     -     -     -     -   110
     Two.....125
     Four.....130
     Four.....135 or 137
     Three.....140
Beside these, Parma, in particular, afforded five, whereof
     Three were    -     -     -     -    120 years each
     Two.....130
     One in Bruxelles    -               125
     One in Placentia      -     -     -   131
     One in Faventia     -     -     -    132
A certain town, then called the Velleiatium, situate in the hills
about Placentia, afforded  ten, whereof
     Six were  -----   110 years each
     Four.....120
     One in Rimino, whose name was
       Marcus Aponius     -             150."
   The most extraordinary instance of longevity in Great Brit-
ain, was exhibited in the person of  Henry Jenkins.  He was
a native of Yorkshire, lived to the amazing age  of 169 years,
and died on the 8th day of December 1670.
   Next to Jenkins, we have the famous Thomas Parre, who
was  a native of Shropshire, and  died on the  16th day  of
November  1635, at  the age  of 152.
   Francis Consist, a native  of Yorkshire, aged  150, died  in
January 1768.
   Margaret Foster,  aged  136, and  her daughter, aged 104,
were natives of Cumberland, and both alive in the year 1771.
   William  Evans, aged 145, lived  in Caernarvon,  and still
existed in the year 1782.
   Dumiter Radaloy, aged  140, lived  in Harmenstead, and
died on tffe 16th day of January 1782.
   James Bowels, aged 152, lived in Killingworth, and died on
the 15th day of August 1656.
   The Countess of  Desmond, in Ireland, saw her 140th year.
   Mr Ecleston, a native of  Ireland,  lived to the age of  143,
and died in the year 1691.
   John Mount, a native of Scotland, saw his 136th year, and
died on the 27th day of February  1776.
   William  Ellis of Liverpool died on the 16th day of August
1780, at the age of 130. 
MAN.
303
  Colonel Thomas Winsloe, a native of  Ireland, aged  146,
died on the 22d day of August 1766.
  John Taylor was born in  Carrygill, in the county of Cum-
berland.   He was bred a miner.  His father died when John
was only four years of age.  Poverty  obliged him  to be set
early to work.   During two years he  dressed lead ore for 2d.
a day.   The next three or four years he assisted the miners
in removing  the ore and  rubbish to the  bank, for which he
received 4d.  a day.  At this period there  happened a great
solar eclipse, which was  distinguished in Scotland  by  the
appellation of Mirk Monday.*  This event, which he always
repeated with the same circumstances, is  the chief era from
which John's age has been computed.  After labouring many-
years both in  this and  the neighbouring kingdom, he died,
near Lead-hills in Scotland, in the month of May  1770, at
the great age of 133.
  'An account is given by Professor Silliman, in his Journal
of a Tour to Quebec, of a  visit which he paid near White-
hall, in the state of New York, to a man who had reached the
extreme  age of one hundred and thirty four years.  His name
was Henry Francisco, and he was a native of France.  " He
believes  himself to be 134 years old, and  the country around
believe him  to be of this great age.   When we arrived at his
residence, (a plain farmer's  house, not painted, rather out of
repair, and much open to the wind,) he was  up stairs, at his
daily work, of spooling and winding yarn.  This occupation is
auxiliary to that of his  wife, who is a weaver,  and  although
more than eighty years old,  she weaves six  yards a  day, and
the old  man  can supply  her with more  yarn than  she  can
weave.   Supposing he must be very  feeble, we  offered to go
up stairs to   him, but he soon came down, walking somewhat
stooping, and supported by a staff, but with  less apparent in-
convenience, than  most persons exhibit  at  85  or  90.   His
stature is of the middle size, and although  his person is rather
delicate ancl  slender, he sloops but  little, even  when unsup-
ported.   His complexion  is very fair and  delicate, and his
expression bright, cheerful, and intelligent;  his features  are
handsome, and considering  that they have endured through
one third part of a second century, they are regular, comely,
and wonderfully undisfigured by the  hand of time ;  his eyes
are of a lively blue ; his profile is Grecian and very fine ; his
  * Mirk, in the Scottish dialect, signifies dark ; and the eclipse happened in
the year 1652.   S. 
304
LONGEVITY OF ANIM.VLs.
head is completely covered with the  most beautiful  and deli-
cate white locks imaginable ; they are  so long and abundant
as to fall gracefully from the crown of his head,  parting regu-
larly from a central point, and reaching down to his shoulders ;
his hair is perfectly snow white, except where it is  thick  in
his neck ; when parted there, it shows some few dark shades,
the remnants of a former century.  He  still retains the front
teeth of his upper jaw ;  his mouth is not  fallen in, like that of
old people generally, and his lips particularly, are  like those
of middle life ;  his voice is strong and sweet-toned, although a
little tremulous; his hearing very little impaired, so that a voice
of  usual strength, with  distinct articulation, enables  him  to
understand ;  his eyesight  is  sufficient for his work,  and he
distinguishes large print, such as the title page of the Bible,
without glasses ; his  health is good, and  has always been so,
except that he has now a cough and  expectoration."
   ' It appeared from his account of himself, which was con-
sistent and  intelligible,  and  confirmed by  collateral histori-
cal facts, that his father was a French protestant who fled from
France,  in  the latter part of the reign of Louis  XIV, in eon-
sequence of the persecutions arising from the revocation of the
edict of Nantz, that he took  refuge in Holland, and afterwards
in England ; that Francisco himself was born in the year 1686 ;
that he  recollects his emigration from France  in  1691, and
the coronation of Queen Anne  in 1702, at which time he says
he was 16 years old. • He fought in all Queen Anne's wars, and
exhibits  the scars of many wounds, but only recollects the name
of the  Duke of Marlborough, among the commanders under
whom he served.  He came out with his father  to New York
early  in  the last century, though he cannot remember the dale,
and was engaged in most of the  wars which occurred until
that of  the revolution.  " He has had two wives and 21 chil-
dren ; the  youngest  child is the daughter in whose house he
lives, and she is 52 years old ;  of course he was 82 when she
was born."  " He  has  been all  his life,  a very  active and
energetic, although not a stout-framed man.   He was formerly
fond of  spirits, and did, for  a certain period, drink  more than
was proper, but that  habit appears to have been long abandon-
ed.  In  other respects  he  has been remarkably abstemious,
eating but  little, and particularly abstaining, almost entirely,
from  animal food ; his favourite articles  being tea, bread and
butter,  and  baked  apples.   His wife  said  that after  such  a
breakfast, he would go out and work till  noon ;  then dine up- 
man.                       305
 on  the same if  he could get it, and  then take  the  same at
 night; and particularly, that he always drank tea, whenever he
 could obtain it, three cups at a time, three times a day."  " The
 oldest  people in  the vicinity, remember Francisco, as being
 always, from their earliest recollection, much older than them-
 selves ;  and  a Mr Fuller, who recently died  here,  between
 80 and 90 years of age, thought Francisco was one  hundred
 and forty."   " He is really a most remarkable and interesting
 old man ;  there is nothing, either  in  his person or  dress, of
 the negligence  and squalidness of extreme age, especially
 when not in elevated  circumstances ; on  the contrary, he is
 agreeable and attractive,  and were he dressed in  a  superior
 manner, and  placed in a handsome, well furnished apartment,
 he would be  a most beautiful old man."*
   The general causes  of death have already been mentioned.
 But  in women, the operation of  these  causes  is  frequently
 retarded.  In the female sex, the bones, the  cartilages, the
 muscles, as well  as every other  part of the  body, are softer
 and less solid  than those of  men ; neither  are  they general-
 ly so much subjected  to bodily exertions.  Their constituent
 parts, accordingly, require more  time  in  hardening  to that
 degree which occasions death.  Women, of  course, ought to
 live longer than  men.   This reasoning is  confirmed  by  the
 bills of mortality ; for, upon  consulting them, it appears, that,
 after women have passed a certain time, they live much longer
 than men who have reached  the same period.   The duration
 of  the  lives of animals  may, in some measure,  be estimated
 by the time occupied  in their growth.  An animal, or  even a
 plant, as  we  learn from experience, which acquires  maturity
 in  a short time, perishes much sooner than  those  which  are
 longer in arriving at that period.  In the human species, when
 individuals grow with  uncommon rapidity,  they generally  die
 young.  This circumstance seems  to have given rise to  the
 common proverbial expression, " soon ripe, soon rotten." Man

  » Silliman's Tour between Hartford and Quebec in the summer of 1819,
p. 172.  ' This old man has,  I believe, since died. In the 10th Vol. 2d Series
of the Massachusetts Historical Collections, there is an account of a number
of instances of longevity which have been known to occur in New Hampshire.
Within the ten years from 1810 to  1820, eighty persons are recorded who
died  above the age of 90, twenty-nine of whom reached  or exceeded
the age of 100.  Besides these there have died in the state within  the last
century—one person of 120—one  of 116—one of 115—one  of 110—one
of 108—one of 107—one of 106—several of 105, and there were  living, in
1822, at Chesterfield, a woman of 1<>5, and, at Row, a man of 112.  The pop-
ulation of New  Hampshire in 1810 was 214,460, and in 1820, 243,236.'
               39 
306
LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS.
grows in stature till he is sixteen  or eighteen years of age ;
but the thickness of his body is not completely unfolded before
that of  thirty.  Docs acquire their  full  length  in one year;
but their growth in  thickness is not  finished till the end of the
second.  A man, who continues to  grow for thirty years, may
live ninety or a hundred ; but a dog, whose growth terminates
in  two or three years, lives  only ten or twelve years.   The
same observation is applicable to  most animals.   Fishes  con-
tinue to grow for a great number of years.  Some of them,
accordingly,  live  during several centuries ; because their
bones aud  cartilages seldom acquire the  density of those of
other animals.  It  may,  therefore, be considered  as a general
fact, that  large animals live longer than small  ones, because
the former require  more  time to complete their growth.  Thus
the causes of our dissolution are  inevitable ;  and  it is equally
impossible to retard that  fatal period, as to change the estab-
lished  laws of nature.   When the  constitution is sound, life
may, perhaps, by moderating the passions, and by  temperance,
be prolonged for a few  years.   But the varieties of  climate,
and of the modes of living,  make no material differences with
regard to the period of our existence, which is nearly the same
in  the  European,  the Negro, the Asiatic, the  American, the
civilized  man and  the savage, the rich and the poor, the citi-
zen and the peasant.  Neither does the difference, of food, or
of accommodation, make any change in the duration  of life.
Men who are fed on  raw flesh or dried fish, on  sago  or rice,
on cassada or roots, live as  long as those who use bread  and
 prepared victuals.   If luxury and  intemperance  be excepted,
 nothing can alter those laws of  mechanism  which  invariably
 determine the number of our  years.   Any  little differences
 which  may be remarked in  the term of  human life, seem to be
 chiefly owing to the  quality of the air.  In general, there are
 more old  men in high than in low  countries.  The mountains
 of Scotland, of  Wales,   and of  Switzerland, have  furnished
 more examples of longevity than the plains of Holland,  Flan-
 ders,  Germany,  or Poland.  But, if we take a survey of man-
 kind, whatever  be the  climate they inhabit, or their mode of
 living, there is no very  essential difference in the duration of
 life.  When men  are not cut off by accidental diseases, indi-
 viduals may every where be found who live ninety or a hun-
 dred  years.   Our ancestors, with few exceptions, never ex-
 ceeded this period ;  and, since the days of David, king of the
 Jews, it has undergone no variation.  Beside accidental diseases, 
QUADRUPEDS.
307
which are more frequent, as well as  more dangerous, in the
latter periods of life, old men are subjected to natural  infirm-
ities that originate solely from a decay of the different parts of
the body.  The muscles lose  their tone, the head shakes, the
hands tremble, the limbs totter, the sensibility of the nerves is
blunted,  the cavities of the  vessels  contract, the  secretory
organs are  obstructed, the blood, the lymph, and  the other
fluids, extravasate,  and  produce all those  symptoms  and
diseases which are commonly  ascribed to  a vitiation of the
humours.   The natural decay of the solids, however, appears
to be the original cause of all  these maladies.  It is true, that
a bad state of the fluids proceeds from a depravity in the or-
ganization of the solids.   But the effects resulting from a nox-
ious change in the fluids produce the most alarming symptoms.
When the fluids stagnate, or if, by a relaxation of the vessels,
an extravasation takes place,  they soon corrupt,  and corrode
the weaker  part of the solids.   Hence the causes of dissolu-
tion gradually, but perpetually, multiply;  our internal enemies
grow more and more powerful, and at last put a period to our
existence.
   With regard to  Quadrupeds, the causes of their dissolution
are  precisely the  same with those which  destroy  the  human
species, with the exception of those  which depend upon the
vices and intemperance of mankind.  The times  of their
growth bear, likewise, some proportion to the duration of their
lives.  The following table will afford a view of the period of
arriving at maturity, the length of life  of some of the principal
quadrupeds, and the number of young which they  produce at
a birth.
    Names.    Period of Maturity.  Length of Life.   No. of young at  a
                                                 birth.
Elephant	30 years	200 years.	1	
Rhinoceros	15 or 20	70 to 80	1	
Hippopotamus	probably	about the same	1	
Camel	4	40 to 50	1	
Horse	2 or 3	25 to 30	1,	rarely 2
Zebra	2 *	do.		do.
Ass	2	do.		do.
Buffalo	3	15 to 18	1	
Ox	2	20	1,	rarely 2
Stag	1 or U	30 to 35		do.
Rein-deer	2	16	1	
Large Apes	3	1	1,	sometimes 2
 
308
LONf.KVITY OV ANIMALS.
lj sometime'
1 to 3
 Saiga            1           15 to 20
 Roebuck         1  or U     12 to 15
 Chamois         1           20                do.
 Goat             1            8 to 10'        1 to 4
 Sheep            1              do.          1 to 3
 Bear             2           20 to 25      never above 5
 Lion             2              do.          3 or 4
 Leopard h Tiger  2           about the same   4 or 5
 Wolf            2           15 to 20        5 to 9
 Dog             1             do.          3 to 6
 Fox             1           10 to 12          do.
 Cat          less than 1        do.            do.
 Dormouse       do.          6              3 to 5
 Hog             1           15              6 to 20
 Hare         less than 1      7 to 8          2 to 4
 Rabbit          do.            do.          4 to 8
 Guineapig      6 weeks       7              4 to 12.
   Some Birds afford  instances of  great  longevity.   In  this
 class of  animals, the duration  of life is by no means  propor-
 tioned to  the times  of  their growth.  Most of them  acquire
 their full dimensions in a few months, and are capable  of mul-
 tiplying the species the first spring  or  summer after they are
 hatched.  In proportion to the size  of  their bodies, birds are
 much  more vivacious, and  live  longer than either men  or
 quadrupeds.   Swans have  been said  to  live three hundred
 years;  but, though  mentioned  by  respectable writers,  the
 assertion is not supported  by any authentic evidence.  Mr
 Willoughby, in his Ornithology, remarks,  " We  have been as-
 sured by a  friend of  ours, a person  of  very good  credit, that
 his father kept  a goose known to be fourscore  years of age,
 and as yet  sound and lusty, and  like enough  to  have lived
 many years longer, had he not been forced to kill her  for her
 mischievousness, worrying and destroying the  young geese
 and goslings."  In another part of his valuable work, Mr Wil-
 loughby tells us, " that he has  been  assured by  credible per-
 sons, thai a  goose will live a hundred years and more."  In man
 and quadrupeds, the  duration of life bears  some proportion to
 the  times of their growth.  But, in birds, their growth, and
 their powers of  reproduction,  are  more   rapid, though they
 live proportionally  longer.  Some species  of birds, as  all  the
 gallinaceous tribes, can make use of their limbs the moment
they issue from the shell;  and, in a  month or five weeks after,
they can likewise employ their wings.  A  dunghill cock does 
BIRDS.  FISHES.
309
 not acquire his full growth in less than a year.   The  smaller
 birds  are  perfect in four or five  months.   They grow more
 rapidly, and produce much sooner than quadrupeds, and yet
 they live proportionally much longer.  In man and quadrupeds,
 the duration of life is about six or seven times more than that
 of their growth.  According to this rule a  cock or a parrot,
 which arrive at their full growth and powers  in one year, should
 not live above she or seven.   But nature knows none of our
 rules.   She accommodates her conduct, not  to our shallow, and
 often  presumptuous,  conclusions,  but to the  preservation  of
 species, and to the support and  general balance of the great
 system of animated beings.   Ravens, though capable of pro-
 viding for themselves in less than a year, sometimes have their
 lives protracted more than a century.  The Count de Buffon
 informs us, that, in several places in France, ravens have been
 known to arrive at this extraordinary age, and that, at all times,
 and in all countries, they  have  been esteemed  birds of  great
 longevity,
   " Eagles," says  Mr Pennant, " are  remarkable for  their
 longevity, and for their power of sustaining a long abstinence
 from food.   A golden eagle, which has now been nine years
 in possession of Owen Holland, Esq. of Conway, lived thirty-
 two years with the gentleman who made him a present of it;
 but what its age was when the latter received it iVom Ireland
 is unknown.   The  same  bird  also furnishes a proof of the
 truth of the other remark, having once, through the neglect of
 servants, endured hunger for  twenty one   days, without any
 sustenance  whatsoever."   The pelican that  was kept at Mech-
 lin in Brabant  during the reign of the Emperor Maximilian,
 was believed to be eighty years of age.  " What is reported
 of  the age  of eagles and  ravens," says Mr Willoughby, " al-
 though it exceeds all belief, yet doth it evince that those birds
 are very longlived.  Pigeons have been known  to live  from
 twenty to twenty two years.   Even the smaller birds live very
 long in proportion to the time of their growth and the size of
 their  bodies.   Linnets, goldfinches, he. often live in  cages,
 fifteen, twenty,  and even twenty-three years.
   Fishes, whose  bones  are  more  cartilaginous than those of
 men and quadrupeds, are long of acquiring their utmost growth,
 and many of them live  to great ages.   Gesner gives an  in-
stance  of a  carp in Germany which he knew to be one hun-
dred years  old.  Buffon informs us, that, in the Count Mau-
repas' ponds, he had seen  carps of one hundred and fifty years 
31U
LONGEVITY Of ANIMALS.
of a^c, and that the fact was attested in the most satisfactory
manner.   He  even mentions one which he supposed  to be
two hundred years old.   Two methods have been devised for
ascertaining the age of fishes, namely, by  the  circles of  the
scales, and by a transverse section of the back  bone.   When
a scale of a fish is examined by  the  microscope, it is found
to consist of a number of circles one within another, resem-
bling, in  some measure, those rings  that appear on  the trans-
verse sections  of trees,  by which their ages are computed.  \n
the same manner, the ages of fishes may  be ascertained by
the number of circles on their scales, reckoning for each ring
one  year of the  animal's existence.   The ages of Buffon's
carps were chiefly determined by the circles  on their scales.
The age  of fishes that want scales, as the skate  and  ray  kind,
may be pretty exactly  known by separating the joints of  the
backbone, and observing minutely the number of  rings which
the surface exhibits.   Both of these methods may be liable to
deception ; but they  are the  only  natural  ones which  have
hitherto been discovered.  The  longevity of  fishes has  been
ascribed  to several causes.  The element in  which they live
is more uniform, and less subject to accidental changes than
the air of our atmosphere.  Their  bones,  which  are more of
a  cartilaginous nature  than  those  of land  animals, admit of
indefinite extension ; of course, their bodies, instead of suffer-
ing the rigidity of  age  at an early period, which is the natural
cause of death, continue to grow much  longer than those of
most land animals.
   As to  the age of Reptiles, probably  from the uninteresting
nature of the  animals, we  have very little  information.   But
two letters of  J. Arscott, Esq. of Tehott in Devonshire, con-
cerning the longevity of a toad, deserve some notice.  These
letters were  addressed  to  Dr Milles,  Dean of Exeter,  and
by him communicated to Mr Pennant  in the year  1768.   "It
would give me the greatest pleasure," says Mr Arscott, "to be
able  to  inform you of any  particulars worthy Mr Pennant's
notice, concerning the toad  who lived so many years with us,
and was so great a favourite.—It had frequented  some steps
before the hall door some years before  my  acquaintance com-
menced  with  it, and had been admired  by  my father for its
size (which was of the largest I ever met with), who  constantly
paid  it a visit  every evening.  I knew  it myself above  thirty
years, and, by constantly feeding it, brought it to be so  tame,
that it always  came to  the candle, and looked up, as if expect- 
REPTILES.   INSECTS.
311
ing to be taken up and brought upon the table, where I always
led it with insects of all sorts.—You  may imagine that a toad,
generally detested (although one of the most inoffensive of all
animals), so much taken notice of and befriended, excited the
curiosity of all comers to the house, who all desired to see it
fed ; so that even ladies so far conquered the horrors instilled
into  them by nurses, as to desire to see  it."   In the second
letter, Mr Arscott remarks, " I cannot say how long my  father
had  been  acquainted with  the  toad before I  knew it; but,
when I was first  acquainted with it, he used to mention it as
the old toad 1  have known so many years; I can answer for
thirty six years."—" In respect to its end, had it not been for
a tame raven,  I make no doubt it would have been now living,
who, one day, seeing it at the mouth of its hole, pulled  it out,
and, though I  rescued it, pulled  out one eye, and hurt  it so,
that, notwithstanding  its living a twelvemonth, it never enjoy-
ed itself, and  had a  difficulty in taking its food, missing the
mark for want of its eye.    Before that accident it had all the
appearance of perfect health."
   Most Insects, especially after  their last transformation, are
shortlived.  But the species are  continually supported by their
wonderful  fecundity.   Those animals whose  parts require  a
long time of hardening and  expanding, are endowed  with  a
proportional degree  of longevity.  Insects  grow,  and their
bodies harden, more  quickly than those of larger animals.
Many of them complete their growth in a few weeks, and even
in a few days.  The duration of their existence is accordingly
limited to very short periods.  Some species of  flies lie in a
torpid state during the winter,  and revive  when the  heat of
spring  or  summer returns.  The ephemeron flies, of  which
there are several kinds, seldom  live above one day,  or one
hour,  after their transformation.   But, to continue the species,
nature has taken care that myriads of males and females should
be transformed nearly at the same  instant.  Other kinds are
transformed more irregularly, and  live  several  days.   Here
the  wisdom of nature is conspicuous ; she prolongs the exist-
ence of these animals for no other purpose but to make pro-
vision for the continuance of the species.   Bees, and  flies of
 all kinds, after lying  long in water,  and  having every appear-
 ance of death, revive by the application of a gentle  heat, or by
 covering their bodies with ashes, chalk, or sand, which  absorb
 the  superfluous  moisture from  their pores.  Reaumur made
 many experiments upon the reviviscence of drowned bees. He 
312
LONGEVITY OF PLANTS.
       found, that, after being immersed  in  water for nine hours,
       some of them returned to life ; but he acknowledges that many
       of them, in the  fourth  part of this lime, were actually dead,
       and that neither heat, nor the application of absorbent powders,
       could  restore  them to life.  Analogical reasoning  is often
       deceitful, but it frequently  leads to useful truths.  As flies of
       all kinds, after immersion in water, and exhibiting every mark
       of actual death, can be restored to life  by covering their bod-
       ies  with anyr absorbent substance, without the assistance of  a
       heat superior to that of the common  atmosphere,  might not
       the  ordinary methods employed for the  recovery of  drowned
       persons be  assisted by the application of warm ashes or chalk ?
       The structure of a  fly and that of a  man, it is allowed,  are
       very different.   But, in desperate cases, when every other
       method fails, no fact shoulcf be overlooked, and  no  analogy
       despised.
         Plants differ as much in  the  periods  of their existence as
       animals.  Many  plants  perish  yearly ; others are  biennial,
       triennial, Sec.  But the longevity and magnitude of  particular
       trees are prodigious.  We are informed  by   Mr Evelyn, that
       in the bodies of some English oaks, when cut transversely, three
       and  even four hundred rings of wood have been distinguish-
       ed.   A ring of wood is added annually  to the trunks of trees;
       and, by counting the rings,  the age of any tree may be pretty
       exactly ascertained.   With  regard  to the magnitude of oaks,
       some of them are huge masses.  Dr Hunter, in his notes upon
       Evelyn's  Sylva,  remarks, that none "of the  oaks mentioned
       by Mr Evelyn  bear any proportion  to  one   now growing at
       Cowthrope, near Wetherby, upon  an estate belonging  to  the
       Right Hon. Lady Stourton.  The dimensions are almost' in-
       credible.  Within three  feet of the surface, it measures six-
       teen yards,  and, close  by the ground, twenty-six yards.   Its
       height, in its present and ruinous state (1776), is about eighty-
       five  feet, and its principal limb extends sixteen yards from the
       bole.  When compared to this, all other trees  are but children
       of the forest."
         From the facts which have  been enumerated, it appears,
       that  all animals, as well as vegetables, have stated periods of
       existence, and that their dissolution is uniformly accomplished
^      by a gradual hardening and desiccation of their  constituent
       parts.   No  art, no  medicine,  can  retard the  operations of
       nature.  It is, therefore, the  wisdom and  the duty  of every
       human  being to  sail  down the irresistible current of nature 
ACTUAL DURATION OF LIFE.
313
with  all possible tranquillity and resignation.  Life, whether
short or long, whether fortunate or unfortunate, when the fatal
period  arrives, is  of little  consequence  to the individual.
Society, knowledge, virtue,  and  benevolence, are  our  only
rational enjoyments, and ought  to be cultivated with diligence.
   With regard to animals in  general, the actual duration of
their lives  is  very  different.   But the comparative  shortness
or length of life, in particular  animals, probably  depends on
the quickness or slowness of the ideas which pass  in  their
minds,  or of  the impressions  made upon  their  senses.  A
rapid succession of ideas or  impressions makes time seem
proportionally long.   There  is  likewise a connexion  between
the quickness and slowness of ideas, and the circulation of the
blood.  A man whose pulse  is  slow  and sluggish, is  generally
dull and phlegmatic.  Raise  the same man's  pulse with wine,
or any other  exhilarating stimulus,  and you  immediately
quicken his sensations, as well as the train of his ideas.  In all
young animals, the circulation of the  blood is much more rapid
than after  they  have acquired their full growth.   Young .an-
imals,  accordingly,  are  frolicksome, vivacious,  and  happy.
But, when their growth is completed, the motion  of  the blood
is  slower,  and their manners, of course,  are more  sedate,
gloomy, and pensive.  Another circumstance merits attention.
The circulation of the blood is slower or quicker  in propor-
tion to the magnitude of animals.   In large animals, such  as
man and quadrupeds, the blood moves slowly, and the succes-
sion of their ideas is proportionally slow.  In the more minute
kinds, as mice, small birds, squirrels, he. the circulation  is so
rapid that the pulsations of  their arteries cannot be counted.
Now, animals of this description astonish us with the quickness
of their movements, the vivacity of their manners, and the ex-
treme cheerfulness of their dispositions.
   Reaumur, CGndillac, and many other philosophers, consid-
er duration as a relative idea, depending on a train  of conscious
perception and sentiment.  It is certain that the natural meas-
ure of time  depends solely  on the  succession of our ideas.
Were it possible for the mind to  be totally occupied with a
single  idea for a  day, a week, or  a  month, these  portions of
time would  appear  to be nothing more than so many instants.
Hence a philosopher often lives as long in  one day, as a clown
or a savage does  in  a week or a month spent in mental inac-
tivity  and want of thought.
              40 
314           I ROGRESSlVF.  SCALE OF BEINGS.

  This subject shall be concluded with a single remark ; if it
be true, and we are certain that it is so in part, that animals
of every species, whatever be the real duration of their lives,
from a slow or rapid  succession of ideas, and  perhaps from
the  comparative intensity of  their enjoyments, live equally
long, and  enjoy an equal  portion of individual  happiness, it
opens a wonderful  view of the great benevolence of Nature.
To store every portion of this  globe with animal life, she has
amply  peopled the earth, the air, and the waters.  The mul-
tifarious inhabitants of these elements, as to the actual duration
of their  lives,  are  extremely diversified.  But,  by variation
of forms, of  magnitude, of rapidity of ideas, of intensity of
pleasures,4 and,  perhaps, of many other circumstances, she
has conferred  upon the whole  nearly an equal portion of hap-
piness.
CHAPTER XIV.
 OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCALE OR CHAIN OF REINGS IN THE
                        UNIVERSE.

  To men of observation and reflection, it is  apparent, that
all the beings on this earth, whether animals  or vegetables,
have a mutual connexion and  a  mutual dependence on each
other.   There is a graduated scale or chain  of existence, not a
link of which, however seemingly insignificant, could be broken
without affecting  the  whole.  Superficial  men, or, which  is
the same thing, men who avoid the trouble of serious thinking,
wonder at the design of producing certain insects and reptiles.
But they do not consider that the annihilation of any  one of
these species, though some of them are  inconvenient, and
even noxious to  man, would  make  a blank  in nature, and
prove destructive to other  species,  which  feed upon them.
These,  in their turn, would  be the cause of destroying other
species, and the system of devastation would gradually proceed,
till man himself would be  extirpated, and leave this earth
destitute of all animation. 
PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS.
315
  In the chain of animals, man is unquestionably the chief or
capital link.   As a highly rational animal, improved with science
and arts, he is, in some measure, related to beings of a superior
order, wherever they exist.   By  contemplating the works of
Nature, he even rises to some faint ideas of her great Author.
Why, it has been  asked, are not men endowed with the ca-
pacity  and powers of angels ? beings of whom we have  not
even a conception.  With the same propriety, it may be ask-
ed, Why have not beasts the mental powers of men ?   Ques-
tions of this kind are the results of ignorance, which is always
petulant and presumptuous.   Every creaturels perfect, accord-
ing to  its destination.  Raise or depress any order of beings,
the whole system, of  course, will  be deranged, and a new
world would be necessary to contain and support them.   Par-
ticular orders of beings should not  be considered separately,
but by the rank they hold in the general system.  From man
to the  minutest  animalcule which can  be discovered by the
microscope, the chasm seems  to  be infinite;  but that chasm
is actually filled  up with sentient beings, of which the lines
of discrimination are almost imperceptible.   All of them pos-
sess degrees of perfection or of excellence proportioned to
their station in the universe.   Even among mankind,  which
is a particular species, the scale of intellect is very extensive.
What  a difference between an enlightened philosopher  and a
brutal Hottentot ?   Still, however, Nature observes, for the
wisest purposes, her uniform plan of gradation.  In the human
species,  the degrees of intelligence are extremely  varied.
Were all men philosophers,  the business of life could not be
executed, and  neither society, nor  even the  species  could
long exist.   Industry, various degrees of knowledge, different
 dispositions, and  different  talents, are great bonds of society.
 The Gentoos, from certain political and  religious institutions,
 have formed their people into different casts  or ranks, out of
 which their posterity  can never emerge.  To us, such institu-
 tions  appear to be  tyrannical, and  restraints  on the natural
 liberty of man.   In some  respects they are so; but they seem
 to have been originally results of wisdom  and observation ;
 for independently of  all  political  institutions, nature  herself
 has' formed the human species into casts or ranks.  To some
 she ^ives superior genius  and  mental abilities ;  and, even of
 these, the views, the  pursuits, and the tastes, are most wonder-
 fully  diversified. 
316
rROGRESSIV'E SCALE Of BEINGS.
   In the talents and qualities of quadrupeds of  the same spe-
cies, there are often  remarkable differences.   These differ-
ences are conspicuous in the various races of horses, dogs, &c.
Even among the same races, some  are bold, sprightly, and
sagacious.   Others  are  comparatively timid, phlegmatic, and
dull.
   Our knowledge of the chain of  intellectual  and  corporeal
beings is very imperfect;  but what we do know gives us ex-
alted ideas of that variety and  progression which reign in the
universe.   A  thick cloud  prevents  us from recognising the
most beautiful and magnificent parts of this immense chain of
being.   We shall endeavour, however, to point out a  few of
the more obvious links of that  chain, which falls  under our
own limited observation.
   Man, even by his external qualities, stands at the head of this
world.   His relations are more extensive, and his  form more
advantageous, than those of any other animal. His intellectual
powers, when improved by society  and science,  raise  him
so high, that, if no degrees of excellence existed  among his
own species, he would leave a great void in the chain of being.
Were we  to  consider the  characters, the  manners, and the
genius  of different nations, of different provinces and towns,
and even of the members of the same family, we should im-
agine that the species of men were as various as the number
of individuals.  How many gradations may be traced between
a stupid Huron, or a Hottentot, and a profound  philosopher ?
Here the distance is immense ; but nature  has  occupied the
whole by almost infinite shades of discrimination.
   ' In descending the scale of animation, the next step brings
us to the monkey tribe.   Man, in many particulars, undoubt-
edly resembles the animals of this tribe, more especially in his
bodily  structure.  But even in this respect, the  lowest variety
of the human species  does  not nearly so much  resemble
the highest of the apes,  as the  latter do the  majority of quad-
rupeds.  In short, notwithstanding the attempts of  some phi-
losophers to confound their own species witt) monkeys, it re-
quires only a small share of knowledge of the anatomical struc-
ture of animals, and the  general  principles of natural history,
to convince any one of the  folly and absurdity of such specu-
lations.
   ' In the families of bats, of carnivorous, and of gnawing ani-
mals, there is a gradual  departure in their form  and structure
from that of the original standard, man.   Instead of fingers 
PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS.
317
fitted for delicate motions and  sensations, they are  possessed
only of claws which are capable of far less varied  application
and utility ; and  passing on still farther we find in the rumin-
ating and pachydermatous animals the toes enveloped in hoofs
of different sizes and numbers, which totally prevent them from
being used for any thing but locomotion,
   ' There is not only this regular gradation among individuals
belonging to the same class, but there are instances in which
the individuals of different classes very nearly approach each
other in certain particulars.   The bat, the flying squirrel, the
flying opossum,  are instances of animals of the class mamma-
lia, approximating to that of birds in the possession of wings or
organs resembling them, whilst the ornilhorhynchus resembles
them in the structure of its mouth, and its mode of producing
its young by eggs.  On the other hand the ostrich, the casso-
wary and the dodo, which have wings so short as to be in-
capable of flying, and therefore always run or walk, are instan-
ces of birds approaching,  in some degree, to the character of
quadrupeds.  So too, the cetaceous tribe affords an example of
the transition from the mammalia  to fishes ; the flying fish, of
the transition  from birds  to fishes ;  the dragons, of that from
birds to reptiles.   Many other examples might be adduced in
illustration of the same principle, among the vertebral animals ;
and among the  invertebral, the connexions  and relations of
this sort are so numerous, as to form  a great obstacle  to the
proper division of them into classes and orders.'
   All  the  substances  we  recognise  on  this earth may  be
divided into organized and animated, organized and inanimate,
and unorganized or brute matter.   The  whole of these pos-
sess degrees of perfection, of excellence, or of relative utility,
proportioned to their stations or ranks in the universe.  Change
these  stations or ranks, and another world would be necessary '
to contain and support them.  Beings must not be contemplated
individually, but by their rank, and the relations they have to the
constituent parts of the general system of nature.   Certain re-
sults of their natures we consider as evils.   Destroy these evils,
 and  you annihilate the beings who complain of them.  The
 reciprocal action of the solids and  fluids constitutes life, and
 the continuation of this  action is the natural  cause of death.
 Immortality on this earth, therefore, presupposes another sys-
 tem ;  for  our  planet  has   no relation  to  immortal beings.
 Every animal, and  every  plant, rises, by gentle  gradations,
 from  an embryo, or gelatinous state, to  a certain degree of 
 31S          PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS.

 perfection exactly proportioned to their several orders.   An
 assemblage of all the orders of relative  perfection constitutes
 the absolute perfection of the whole.  All the  planets of this
 system gravitate toward the sun and toward each other.  Our
 system  gravitates  toward other systems,  and  they to ours.
 Thus the whole universe is linked together by a gradual and
 almost imperceptible  chain of existences both animated and
 inanimate.   Were there  no other argument in favour of the
 unity of  deity, this  uniformity of design,  this  graduated
 concatenation of  beings, which  appears not only  from this
 chapter,  but from many other  parts of the book, seems to be
 perfectly irrefragable.
  ' In contemplating man as at the head of those animals with
 which we are acquainted, and  viewing him in connexion with
 the economy of the world about him, it appears obvious that
 no sentient being, whose physical construction was more deli-
 cate, or whose mental powers  were  more elevated, than those
 of man, could  possibly live and be  happy here.  If such a
 being really  existed, his  misery would  be  extreme.   With
 senses more refined and  acute ; with perceptions more deli-
 cate and  penetrating ;  with  a taste, so exquisite that the objects
 around him could by no means gratify it;  obliged to feed up-
 on  nourishment too gross for  his  frame ;  he must be born
only  to  be  miserable, and the continuation of his  existence
 would be utterly impossible.   Even in our  present condition,
the sameness and insipidity of objects and pursuits, the  futility
of pleasure, and the infinite sources of excruciating pain, bring
constantly to our minds a conviction of the  imperfections at-
tendant on our present state of being.  Increase our sensibil-
 ities, continue  the same objects and situation, and no man
could bear to live.  Let man therefore be contented with the
 powers and the sphere of action assigned  him.  There is an
exact adaptation of his  powers, capacities, and desires, both
bodily and intellectual, to the scene in which he is destined
to move.  His station  in the scale of nature is fixed by wisdom.
 Let him  study the works of nature, and find in the contempla-
tion of all that  is beautiful, curious, and wonderful  in  them,
 proofs of the existence and attributes of his Creator.   Let him
 see in his own structure and that of all other animals,  and in
the whole economy of the  universe, animate and  inanimate,
 the evidences of the  wisdom, the skill, the  benevolence, and
the justice, of that great and overruling Intelligence, who has
made all things and who upholds all things.  Let him find in the 
              PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS.           319

contemplation of the final destiny which is promised  him, a
source of consolation for the imperfections, pains, and trials, of
the present state of being.  Let him fill  up  his  rank here
with dignity, and consider every partial evil as a cause, or an
effect, of general ultimate good ;  and let him adore and wor-
ship that great and good Being, who has, even in this state of
discipline and probation, dispensed so many blessings to alle-
viate its  necessary and unavoidable evils.' 
 
ANALYTICAL  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.
                      INTRODUCTION.

                          CHAPTER I.

OF THE NATURE OF LIVING BODIES AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN
                   ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES.
Common division of natural objects into the mineral, vegetable, and
    animal kingdoms not perfectly accurate        -                 1-2
Division into those possessed of life and those not possessed of life        2
Distinctions between these two    -----      2-6
Distinction between animals and vegetables         ...  6-12


                          CHAPTER II.

     GENERAL REMARKS ON  THE STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES.
Great simplicity and uniformity  in the structure of plants      -      12-13
Circulation of the sap in annual plants     -                         13
Differences in the circulation in plants of larger growth and trees,
    and the formation of the bark and wood      ...   13-14
Object of this arrangement      -                                  14
Of the other functions of vegetables                     -      -      14


                          CHAPTER III.

                 OF THE STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS.

Sect.  1.   General Classification of Animals.               15
Necessity of some system of Arrangement                           15
Two grand divisions of Animals, Vertebral and Invertebral    -      16-17
Vertebral division subdivided into warm-blooded and cold-blooded      17
Warm-blooded vertebral animals, two classes, Mammalia and Birds      17
Cold-blooded vertebral animals, two classes, Reptiles and Fishes        17
Invertebral division subdivided into five classes, Insects, Crustacea,
    Mollusca, Vermes or Worms, Zoophytes      -     -      -      18
Objects and nature of the divisions into orders, genera, and species    18-20
                41 
32a
CONTENT*.
Sect. II.  Class I.—Mammalia.
This class at the head of the animal kingdom, and contains Man
General similarity in the anatomical structure of the Mammaliu
Description of the anatomy of Man ;  head, vertebial  column, spi-
    nal marrow, ribs, cavity of the chest, cavity of the abdomen, pel-
    vis, and limbs  -------
Digestion ; action of the jaws and teeth ; function of the stomach and
    gastric juice    -------
Function  of the intestines; effect of the bile and pancreatic juice ;
    absorption of the chyle by the lacteals, and passage into the left
    subclavian vein     ..----
Circulation of the blood.   Structure and office of the heart
Course of the blood  from the left subclavian vein through the heart,
    Jungs, and body, and influence of the air upon it
Term in at ion of the circulation in the capillary vessels
Of the  brain, nerves, and senses  -      -      -      -       -
Structure  of other Mammalia       -
Division into nine orders.  Characters  of the orders
  1. Bimana.  Man  the only instance of this order.   Attempts to
    confound him with apes.   How distinguished
Causes of man's superiority to other animals.
Races of mankind; 1st, Caucasian; 2d,  Mongolian;  3d, African;
    4th, American; 6th, Malay.   Account of these varieties
Progress of man to the civilized state      -
  2. Quadrumana.  Structure, habits, &.c.  Apes, Monkeys, Baboons,
    Sapajous, Orang-outang, Chimpanze^  Pongo
  3. Carnivora. Divided into several families ; 1st, Bats; 2d, Insec-
    tivora,—Hedge-hog, Mole, he.; 3d, Truly carnivorous. nimals,
    —Dog, Lion, Tiger, &.c.  4th, Amphibia,—Seal and Morse
  4. Rodenlia.   Beaver, Jerboa, Hamster, Marmot, &c.
  5. Edentata.   Sloth,  Armadillo, Ant-eater, he.
  6. Ruminanlia.  Camel  and Dromedary, Lama, Bison,  Camel-
    opard, he.    -------
  7. Pachydermala.  Elephant,  Mammoth, Hippopotamus, Rhinoc-
    eros, Tapir, J log, Horse, Ass,  &.c.    ....
  S. Cetacea.  Manati,—Sea-cow and Dugong. Blowers,—Whales,
    Porpoises, £cc.
  9. Marsupialia.  Account of their structure.  Opossum, Phalan-
    gcrs, Kanguroo, Ornithorhynchus   -
20
 20
20-22
23-24
   24

24-25
25-26
26-27
   27
27-28

29-30
   30

31-33
33-35

35-37
37-42
42-45
45-46

46-48

48-51

52-53

53-56
Sect. III. Class II.—Birds.
Peculiarities in the structure of birds to adapt them for flight
Organs of Diction.   Senses.      -
Orders of Birds.  1. .iccipitres.   Birds of Prey
   56
56-57
67-5S
68-51' 
CONTENTS.
323
2.  Passtres. The Sparrow tribe;—Birdsof Paradise, Hummingbirds,
  he.........59-60
3.  Scansores. Climbers;—Woodpecker, Cuckoo, Parrot, Toucan, he. 60-61
4.  Gallinacece.  Gallinaceous Birds;—Peacock,  Turkey, Cock,
    Quail, he........61-62
5.  Grallce.   Waders or Shore Birds;—Flamingo, Ostrich,  Rail
    Plover, he.  ------               62
6.  Anseres.  Webfooted Birds ;—Goose, Duek, Petrel, Cormorant,
    &c.........62
Sect. IV.  Class III.—Reptiles.                             63

Peculiarities in the structure of Reptiles         ~                      63
Orders of Reptiles.  1. Chelonia.  Tortoises  -       *            -     63
  2. jiauria.  Lizards;—Crocodile, Cameleon, Dragon, Alligator, he.  64-65
  3.  Ophidia. Serpents;—Venomous and not venomous      -      65-66
  4.  Batrachia.  Frog, Toad, Salamander, Proteus, Siren, he.     -     66


Sect. V.  Class IV—Fishes.                                66

Peculiarities in the structure of Fishes     -      -      -          66-68

Sect. VI.  Class  V.—Insects.                                68

Structure of Insects.  Dorsal vessel.  Mode of  Respiration.  Ner-
    vous system, senses    -       -       -                        68-69
No internal skeleton, external covering      -      -      -      -     69
Head of insects, mouth and  organs around  it,  jaws and  mode of
    action.......69"70
Legs and wings of insects.  Abdomen     -        -       -        70-71
Metamorphoses of insects       ...                      71
Three stages of existence, Larva, Chrysalis, Perfect insect        -    71-72
Orders of Insects.   1. Coleoptera.   Beetles, &c.      -      -           72
  2.  Hemiptera.  Grasshopper, Cricket, he.           -             72-73
  3.  Lepidoptera.  Butterfly, Moth   -      -      -      -     -     73
  4.  Muroptera.  Dragon-fly, Ephemera, &.c.   -      -      -        73
  5.  Hymenoptera. Ant, Wasp, Bee, he.      •      -      -       -   73
  6.  Diptera.  House-fly, Gnat, Musquito, &c.                         74
  7.  Aptera.  Millepedes, Flea, Louse, he.       ...       74
Family of the Arachnides or Spiders      ...      -       75
Their mode of transporting themselves through the air      -       75-76


Sect. VII.  Class  VI.—Crustacea.                          76

Resemblance in some points to insects       -       -      -     -   76
Structure, shell, claws; singular structure of the  stomach in some species 77 
324
contents
Sect. VIII.  Class VII—Mollusca.                         77
Destitute of bones and articulated limbs.  Testaceous covering to
    many species  -------     77-78
Nervous system, respiration, circulation, digestion    -      -        78-79
Orders of .Mollusca        ...---        79
Structure  of the Cuttle-fish, their size.      ....   T'J-81
Oyster, clam, he. Organ of locomotion.        ...        81

Sect. IX. Class VIII.— Vermes or Worms.                82
Structure of Worms.  Earth-worm, Leech, and Hair-worm     -     82-83

Sect. X.  Class IX.— Zoophytes.                           84
Lowest iii the scale of the  animnted creation.  Imperfectly known       84
Echinodermata, most  perfect of the class.  Singular mode of loco-
    motion      -      -      -       -      -      -      -        • 84
Intestinal worms, found in all animals ;  mode of production      -      85
?ca-nettles or Sea-anemones, Medu.»;e, Polypes, Animalcules.        85-86
          PHILOSOPHY  OF NATURAL HISTORY.

                           CHAPTER I

                         OF RESPIRATION.
Nature and  composition of the Air.  Influence it  exerts on the
    blood       ----...         g7
Respiration of the Mammalia.   Effects of other kinds of air      -     88
Changes which take place in the air and in the blood.  Animal Heat    89
Connexion and mutual relation of respiration and circulation      -    90
Respiration subservient  to  other purposes ;—voice, laughing, cry-
    ing, fcc.      --...       .   s  .      90_91
Respiration in Birds how carried on.  Arrangement of their lungs       92
Objects answered by this arrangement.   Voice of birds       -      93-94
Hi  niration of Reptiles.  Temperature of their bodies      -      -     94
Respiration of Fishes; air necessary to them    -       -      .      94-95
Respiration of Insects.  Different modes in which it is efle ted        95-99
Respiration of the  Crustacea, Mollusca,  Worms, and Zoophytes   -     99-101
Respiration of Plants       -                                       .Q.

                           CHAPTER II.

                   OF THE MOTIONS OF ANIMALS.
Motions of Animals, voluntary and involuntary                      102
Nature and organs of voluntary motion          -         .       102-104
Nature and organs of involuntary motion                            104 
CONTENTS.
325
Different motions of animals adapted to their mode of life, and
    proportioned to their weight and structure   ...       105
Mode in which locomotion is performed by the sea and fresh-
    water Muscles, the  Limpin, Spout-fish, Scallop, Oyster, Sea-
    urchin, Medusa or Sea-nettle       ....     106-111

                           CHAPTER III.

                            OF INSTINCT.
Instinct and mental powers of animals      -      -      -           m
Difference between man and  other animals in capacity for im-
    provement       --             ----112
Different effects of instinct and  intelligence     -      -      -   "112-113
Division of Instincts into, 1. Pure Instincts.  Examples.     -       114-116
  2. instincts which can accommodate themselves to peculiar circum-
    stances and situations, or such as are improvable by experience
    and observation.  Examples.      -                          116-117
Of the notion that animals are  machines.   Nature and  extent of
    their faculties      -
117-119
CHAPTER IV.
                           OF THE SENSES.
Senses never more than five.  All sensation conveyed by nerves        120
  1.  Of Smelling. Its seat in the pituitary or schneiderian membrane    120
Offices of this sense in Man and other animals        -      .      121-122
Of this sense in Fishes and Invertebral animals    -      -      .  122-123
  2.  Of Tasting.  Organ of Taste.  Manner in which the sensation
    is produced.    •-----_      193
Offices of this sense, and varieties of it  -                             124
  3.  Of Hearing.  Organ of Hearing. Medium of sound.  Reflec-
    tion and velocity of sound  -                                125-126
Modifications of sound.  Offices of this sense.  Language.          126-128
  4.  Of Touch.  Feeling universally diffused.  Touch  confined to
    particular parts.      ---...        jgg
Organs of Touch.  Offices of this sense.  Effects of habit upon it 129-131
  5.  Of Seeing.  Structure of the eye    -                        131-132
Of Light, and the manner in which it produces vision      -        132-133
Of some inexplicable phenomena of vision     -       -      .    133-135
Of the distances of objects as determined by the eye      -        135-137

                            CHAPTER V.

                             OF INFANCY.
Of Infancy in the human species   -----      J3g
Modes of managing Infants among different nations  -      -     138-140 
326
CONTENTS.
 Proper management of Infants           -      -       -          140-141
 Of Infancy in Quadrupeds     ....            111-143
 In Birds, Fishes, Insects, &c.      ...              -   113-145

                            CHAPTER VI.

              OF THE GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS.
 Of the mode in  which the nutrition of animals is effected     -     145-146
 Of the food of man—customs of different nations.  Nature of man
    in respect to food      .....         116-149
 Of the food of animals.  Rapidity of growth in some worms        149-152
 Of the function  of digestion.  Experiments of Spallanzani on stom-
    achs of different kinds      .....     152-155
 Experiments of Dr Stevens on digestion in man    -              155-157
 Mr Hunter's opinion of the powers of the stomach      -      -    157-158

                           CHAPTER VH

               OF THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF ANIMALS.
 Change which takes place in Man, Quadrupeds, Birds, Reptiles, he.  158-161
 Transformation  of Insects.   Of the metamorphoses which common-
    ly take plaoc      ------       161-165
 Transformations which differ from the  common mode.  Spider-fly,
    Crane-fly, Nut-gall insect, Moth, and Silk-worm.   -      -     165-168
 Mode in which  the metamorphosis takes place    -      -          168-169
 Chan-es in plants.  Monstrous flowers       -      -       .       169-170
 Composition and decomposition of plants and animals    <         170-171
 Final  intention of Nature in these changes    -     -             -   172

                          CHAPTER VIII.

                 OF THE  HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
 Habitations of the same specie^ uniform.  Man an exception     -     173
Habitations of Quadrupeds.  Marmot, Beaver, and Mole     -      173-179
Nests  of Birds.  Rapacious birds, Magpies, Tailor-bird, Gallina-
    ceous birds, Cuckoo, Passerine birds, Chinese swallow, Wad-
    ers, Wcbfooted birds   -      -.            -       .          179-184
Habitations of  Insects.   Solitary workers,—Mason-bee, Wood-
    piercers, Solitary bees, Solitary wasps      -      -      -    184-190
 Associating Insects.  Combs of the Honey bees; mode in which
    they are constructed ; materials employed and mode of pre-
    paration      -------    191-196
Propolis, and the purposes for which it is collected by bees.  Col-
    lection of honey      ......   195-197 
CONTENTS.
 Habitations of Wasps, materials and construction ;  great fertility
     of wasps      -.--...
 Some account of their manners and internal economy
 Habitations and economy of Ants       ....
 Of the Termites or white Ants ; of the species denominated Ter-
     mites bellicosi; the three orders—Labourers, Soldiers, and
     Nobility   -      -       -      -      -          ,  .
 Their great changes of form and size, and wonderful fertility
 Appearance of their nests, their construction;  the royal chambers,
     and nurseries      ......
■Courage and obstinacy with which they defend their habitations
197-200
200-205
205-206
206-208
208-209
209-213
213-215
                            CHAPTER IX.
                  OF THE HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS.
General destruction of animal life      ....         215
Man the universal destroyer       ....        216-218
Carnivorous Quadrupeds,—Lion, Tiger, Wolf, he.     -      -     218-220
Rapacious Birds, their number less than of quadrupeds    -         220-221
All Fishes rapacious     ......     221-222
Rapacity of different species of Insects      ...       222-225
Man not the only animal that makes war with his own species          225
Massacres of the male bees by the neuters.   Wars of bees     -    225-226
Havock and cruelty among wasps    -                          226-227
Of the final causes of this system of animal destruction, and the
    balance which it preserves in the creation between different
    kinds of animals       -                                   227-238

                            CHAPTER X.

                   OF THE ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS.
Sources of the artifices of animals      ....         233
Cattle, Horses, Monkeys    -----         233-234
Arts used by  the Stag, Fallow-deer, Roe-buck, and Hare, when
    hunted      .......     234-237
Craftiness and address of the Fox   -                             237-239
Glutton and Kamtschatka rat   -      -      -      -      -      239-240
Of Birds.  Singular artifice of the Nine-killer     -      -         240-241
Of the inhabitants of the ocean,—Fishes, Shellfish, he.       -      241-242
Of the Insect tribes         ......   242-243
                            CHAPTER XI.

                  OF THE SOCIETY  OF ANIMALS.
Not confined to the human species
Origin of Society among mankind
    244
244-246 
328
CONTENT?.
The associating principle natural to man ;  advantngo of society     24.V216
  1. Propir Societies.  Man, Beaver, Hamster, Pairing birds    -   247--M9
  Of the Honey-bees, common Caterpillar, processionary Cater-
    pillar, republican Caterpillar, Ants      -      -      -       249-255
  2. Improper Societies.  On, Deer, Sheep, Hogs, wild Dogs     -   266-266
Society between animals of different species       -      -      -    266

                           CHAPTER XI*

                   OF THE DOCILITY OF ANIMALS.
Man superior to all other animals in ductility of mind      -           257
Accounts of the Orang-outang by Buffon, Brosse, Pyrard, he.    -   257-259
Of the Elephant, its sagacity, docility, utility, he.          -       260-266
Of the Dog, Horse, Oxen of the Hottentots      -       -      -   266-272
Articulation of words by some  birds         ....   272
Musical and imitative faculties  of singing birds   -       -      -   272-273
Effects of Dome-tication upon different animals, in size, shape,
    colour, he.      ......       273-275
Of Albinoes       .......        276

                           CHAPTER  XII.
   OP THE COVERING, MIGRATION, AND TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS.
Man capable of inhabiting in every climate.....276
Constitutions of other animals not so accommodating    ...    27tS
Means by which they are protected against climate and seasons      -  276
  1.  Changes in the colour and quantity of hair, fur, feathers, he.
    in different climates and seasons-     -                      276-277
How these  changes operate  to maintain the proper animal  tem-
    perature     ........    ..   277-278
  2.  Migration. Of Birds. Swallows, question as to their torpidity
    or migration.........278-280
British species of swallows ;  their limes of appearance and disap-
    pearance    ..........   280-281
Different opinions concerning the periodical appearance and disap-
    pearance of Swallows       ----...   281-285
Of Summer and Winter birds of passage ;  their residence in differ-
    ent seasons.........   285-286
Of the Wild Goose, Solan Geese or Gannets in the Frith of Forth
    and at  St Kilda        ........286-287
Of partial migrations.  Circumstances attending migrations   -     287-288
The  great rapidity of the flight of birds removes one objection to
    their migration.........      289
Migration not peculiar to Birds.  Migrations of the human species  289-290
  ♦ See Table of Chapters at the beginning of the volume. 
CONTENTS.
329
Migrations of Quadrupeds, and of Reptiles.....290-292
Migrations of Fishes ;-Salmon, Herring, Mackerel, he.; and of
     the Land Crab    .........   292-296
Migrations of Insects.  Migration to a certain extent a universal
     Princ'Ple..........296-297
  3. Torpidity.  Quadrupeds which become torpid      -    -    -    297
Temperature diminished in the torpid state.....298
Diminution in the force and rapidity of the circulation       -    -    298
Causes of torpidity, and some phenomena attending it    -    -   298-299
Of the torpidity of Birds, Reptiles, he.       -                    299-300

                           CHAPTER XIII.

   OF THE LONGEVITY AND  DISSOLUTION OF ORGANIZED BODIES.
Dissolution of organized bodies a general law of nature    -    -      300
Length  of the life of Man    ---....    300-301
Instances of Longevity from Pliny......301-302
Instances of Longevity in modern times     ....      302-303
Professor Silliman's account of a very aged man in the state of New
     York..........303-305
In women the operation of the causes  of death  often retarded     -     305
Circumstances which favour Longevity in Man  and other Animals  305-307
Table of  the Longevity of Quadrupeds, their Period of Maturity,
     and Number of Young      .......      307-308
Great Longevity of Birds and of Fishes.....308-310
Length  of the life of Reptiles.  Remarkable Toad      -     -      310-311
Shortness of the life of Insects......311-312
Great diversity in the Longevity of Plants.....312
Actual duration of life in Man and other Animals   -     -     -    312-313
Benevolence of the  provisions of nature in this  respect      -     -     314

                           CHAPTER XIV.

OF  THE PROGRESSIVE SCALE OR CHAIN OF BEINGS IN THE UNIVERSE.
Mutual connexion and dependence of all created things    -   -     314
Man the chief link in the chain of animals.....315
His structure and powers adapted to the rank which he holds    -      315
Uniform plan of Gradation in nature.....315-316
Gradation from Man downwards, through the Monkeys, Bats, &c.   316-317
Instances in which individuals of different classes approach each
     other in structure and powers......317
All  substances possessed of powers, qualities, he. exactly propor-
     tioned to the relations they maintain in the universe    -    -  317-318
Unity of design in the Universe an  argument for the Unity of God      318
No being superior to Man could exist in this world      ...    3]g
Conclusion..........318-319
                42 
 
EXPLANATION
OF SOME OF THE SCIENTIFIC TERMS OR UNUSUAL WORDS WHICH
              OCCUR IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORK.
 Accipitrine,  belonging to the  first order of birds, called Accipitres, Birds of
    Prey.»
 Alburnum, the outer and most recent layer of wood in trees.
 Alluvia, soils formed from the muddy sediment of rivers, or from the earth
    washed down by rains and torrents from mountains.
 Ammonia, or Ammoniacal Gas, a pungent air which gives its peculiar qualities
    to volatile salts or Hartshorn drops.
 Antenna, organs of touch situated near the mouth of insects, having  many
 joints.
 Anther, a small body which contains the pollen or fertilizing dust of flowers;
    the antherse are fixed generally on the ends of slender filaments and sur-
    round the germ or seed-vessel.
 Articulations, joints formed by the union of bones.
 Auricles, two appendages to the heart, so called from their supposed resem-
    blance to the external ear (auricula).  They  are hollow and muscular.
    Their office is described, p. 24, 25.
 Azote, See Nitrogen.
 Bimanous, two handed ; belonging to the order Bimana.
 Bivalved, having two valves  or shells;  applied to shell-fish, as the oyster,
    clam, &ic.
 Calcareous, composed of lime.
 Caloric, the  ultimate principle of heat.
 Canine, as applied  to the teeth, designates  those commonly called dog-teeth
    or eye-teeth.  They are peculiarly adapted to tearing flesh, p. 27.
 Capillary, hair-like.  The extreme  vessels  of  the  body are so called on
    account of their indefinite  minuteness.
 Carbon, pure charcoal; it is a component part of most animal and vegetable
    substances.
 Carbonic acid gas, fixed air;  the gas produced by  the burning of charcoal,
   and the effervescence of chalk, marble, and other calcareous substances,
   with acids.
Carbonic oxide,  a gas, composed of carbon and oxygen. 
  ,jo2               EXPLANATION OK TERMS.

Carburetted hydrogen, hydrogen combined with a portion of carbon.
Cartilage, gristle.
Cellular, composed of cells.
Cttnccous, of the whale  kind ; belonging to the order Cetacea.
Chlorine, a highly  irritating and deleterious gas, produced by the distillation
   of manganese with muriatic acid.
Chrysatid, an insect in its second or chrysalis state, p. 71.
Cod, the case or envelope formed by many insects to enshroud and protect
   them during the chrysalis state.
Comminution, grinding,  or breaking up into small parts.
Condiments, substances taken with the food, not containing any nourishment,
   but used as seasoning, to promote appetite and digestion,as salt, pepper, he.
Congeries, a collection, a heap.
Crustaceous, belonging to the class Cr}istacea, having a shelly covering with
   joints, allowing the free motion  of the body and limbs.
Crystalline Lens, a doubly convex lens, formed of a transparent animal sub-
   stance, situated within the  eye,  and serving to collect  the rays of light
   passing in at the pupil, and to transmit them to the retina.
Diaphragm, the midriff; a broad, thin, muscular membrane, extending across
   the cavities of the  trunk of the body, and separating the thorax or  chest,
   from the abdomen or belly.
Dormant, as applied to animals, designates those which pass a part of the year
   in a state  of torpidity.
Elytra, cases, the horny or shell-like external wings of some  insects.
Espalier, trees planted and cut so as to join.
Lztrarasate, to  pass or force out  of the proper containing  vessels.  Blood
   which settles under the skin in  consequence of a blow, is said to be ex-
   travasated.
Farina, the dust which bees collect from the antherae and flowers of plants
   to form into wax.
Filament, a substance long and slender like a thread.
Frvgivorous, feeding upon fruits.
Fulcrum, the point of support on which a lever is moved.
Gallinaceous, belonging to the fourth order of birds, Gallinacece.
Gas, a  term used in chemistry, nearly synonymous with  air.   All  (luidd
   which  remain in an aeriform  state at .the  ordinary pressure and temper-
   ature of the atmosphere are called gases.
Gastric, appertaining to the stomach.
Gastric juice, a fluid  prepared by  the stomach  to assist in dissolving and
   digesting the  food.
Gelatinous, of the composition or consistence of jelly.
Glands, organs in living bodies intended for the secretion,  or  separation from
   the blood, of fluids of various  kinds ; as the liver which separates the bile ;
   the kidnejs, the urine, he.
Graminivorous, feeding upon grass. 
EXPLANATION OF TERMS.
333
   Gregarious, living in flocks'and herds.
   Herbivorous, feeding upon herbs, i. e. plants whose stems are soft and have
      but little that is woody or fibrous in their texture.
   Homogeneous, having the same nature or principle.
   Hydrogen, one of the elements of water;  it can only  be obtained iu the
      state of a very light and inflammable gas.
   Imbricated, arranged like slate or tiles on a roof, or like  the scales offish.
   Incisors, Incisive teeth, the front or cutting teeth, p. 27.
   Incubation, the sitting upon  and hatching of eggs.
   Intumescence, swelling, enlargement.
   Invertebral, without vertebrs, or back-bone; used to designate one of the two
      grand divisions of the animal kingdom,  including those which  have no
      internal skeleton.
   Larva, an insect in its first  state,  commonly  called a  worm or caterpillar
      p. 71.
   Lens, any circular transparent body with either convex  or concave surfaces,
      for the purpose of collecting or dispersing the rays of light.
   Locomotion,  motion from place  to place.
  Macerate, to soak a substance in any liquid, till its texture is destroyed.
  Marsupial.  Animals having a pouch or bag (marsupium) for containing their
     young after birth,are called Marsupial animals; in this work they are all
     arranged under one order, Marsupialia, but have been usually distributed
      among the other orders.
  Mastication,  the act of chewing the food and mixing it with saliva.
  Membranes,  thin, broad expansions  of  animal substance,  covering all the
     important organs and  lining all the organs  and  cavities in the bodies of
     animals.   Thus  the nose is lined by the  schneiderian or pituitary,  and
     the eye covered by the conjunctive membrane;  the stomach and  blad-
     der are each formed of several membranes laid together.
•  Menstruum, a dissolvent, any substance  in which another substance may be
     dissolved.
  Molares, Molar teeth, the grinders or double teeth, p. 27.
  Mucus, a viscid animal fluid; such as the phlegm which is poured out from
     the nose, or raised up from the throat in common colds.
  Multivalved,  having many valves or shells ;  applied to some shell-fish, as the
     sea-urchin, sea-egg, &.c.
  Muscles, (in Anatomy) bundles of fibrous flesh,  fixed by tendons or sinews to
     the bones, and serving to move them one upon another at their joints.
     In  the  mammalia, birds, and some reptiles, they are of a  red  colour;
     in  other animals for the  most part white.  They constitute  the.  greatest
     portion of the flesh of animals, and are the  parts principally used  as food.
 Nectariferous, bearing or producing honey;  applied to certain  parts of plants
     from which honey is collected.
 JYidus, a nest ; any place where the eggs of animals are deposited for hatch-
     ing. 
334
EXPLANATION OF TERMS.
NUrogtn or Azote, one of the gases which compose atmospheric air ;  its qual-
   ities are negative and its principal use seems to  be merely to dilute the
   oxygen.
Nitrous oxide, a gas composed of oxygen and nitrogen in different  propor-
   tions from those in which they exist in atmospheric air ;  remarkable for
   its power of intoxicating and exhilarating those who breathe it.
Nympha*, nymphs, insects in their second or chrysalis state.
Oesophagus, the gullet; the passage through which  the food passes from the
   mouth to the stomach.
Oviparous, producing young by  means of eggs.
Oxygen,  vital air;  the principle upon which atmospheric air  depends for its
   power of supporting life and combustion.  It forms also one of the com-
   ponent parts of water.
Pachydermatous, thick-skinned ; belonging to the order Pachydermata.
Palpi,  organs situated near the  mouth of some  insects, resembling  in some
   degree the antennae in their  structure.
Papier machi, chewed paper.
Pupillte.  The terminationsof the nerves in the skin and other organs of sense,
   are supposed to form little eminences, which are  called papilla:.
Papion dpetruque, baboon  with a wig.
Parachute, a machine often attached to an air balloon, and constructed so as
   to open like an umbrella, and break the fall of a  person descending from
   any great height in the air.
Passerine, belonging to the  order Passeres, or birds of the sparrow kind.
Peristaltic, the  intestines of animals  are  constantly undergoing  a  sort of
   motion, by which their contents are moved through them, which  appears
   like that of the  creeping of a worm.  It  is called  their vermicular or
   peristaltic motion.
Permanently elastic, applied to fluids,denotes those which retain their elastic
   state at the ordinary pressure and temperature of the atmosphere.
Petals, the coloured leaves of the flowers of plants.
Pituitary, one of the names of the membrane lining the nose.
Quadrumanous, four-handed, belonging to the order Quadrumana.
Radiation of heat, the passing of heat from bodies through an  intervening
   space in rays like light,  used in  contradistinction to the direct transmis-
   sion of heat by contact.
Radiated, arrayed like the radii  or rays of a circle.
Rationale, a detail of any course of phenomena  or operations with the prin-
   ciple  or reason  on which they proceed.
Retina, a nervou- membrane situated at the back part of the eye, and intend-
   ed to receive the images of external  oojects; formed by the expansion
   of the optic nerve as it comes out from the brain  into the eye.
Retrograde, going backward, moving backward.
Reviviscence, renewal of  life.
Rugosity, roughness, inequality of any kind. 
EXPLANATION OF TERMS.
335
 Ruminate, to chew the cud; this operation is described, p. 46.
 Saliva, spittle, the liquid which  moistens  the  mouth, and  mixes with the
    food in mastication.
 Sapid, having taste.
 Schneiderian, one of the names of  the  membrane lining  the  nose, derived
    from the  name of the anatomist who first described it.
 Sea-anemone, an animal of the class Zoophytes, so called  from some degree
    of resemblance in its form to  an expanded flower.
 Serrated, notched like a saw.
 Spinal, belonging to the back-bone  or spine.
 Spleen, a small oblong  organ situated  on  the  left side of the stomach, just
    under the ribs ; of a reddish blue, or purple  colour and very full of blood.
 Stalactites, substances deposited in  caves  or the  fissures of rocks, from the
    droppings of water which contains lime in solution.
 Sternum, the breast-bone.
 Stigma, in Botany, the extremity  of the germ or seed-vessel of flowers.
 Stimuli, substances which stimulate or excite.
 Strata, beds, layers.
 Subclavian, lying underneath the  clavicle  or collar-bone ; as the subclavian
    artery, the subclavian vein.
 Substratum, foundation, groundwork.
 Subtend.  A  line which passes across from one of the lines forming an an^lc
    to the other, is said to subtend that angle.
 Sulphuretted  Hydrogen, hydrogen combined with a portion of sulphur.
 Suture, a mode of union which takes place  in the  bones of  the head and
    face, in which the edge of one bone is let into that of  another by means
    of corresponding indentations in each, the  line of  union  appearing like
    a seam (sutura), whence the name.
 Tendons, white,  smooth, and strong cords by which muscles  are generally
    fixed to the bones; usually called cords or sinews.
 Tendrils, the  filaments by  which  creeping  or climbing plants attach them-
    selves to other objects for support, as those of the vine, ivy, he.
 Tentacula, often called  feelers;  organs supplying  the  place  of hands and
    arms  to  some animals, intended both for feeling,  and for seizing and
    holding food or other substances, or conveying them to the mouth.
 Testaceous, having a shelly covering, but without joints or articulated limbs.
 Thorax, the chest, a cavity in the  body formed by the back-bone behind, the
   sternum before, the  ribs on each side, and  the diaphragm below, which
   last separates it from the abdomen.
 Triturate, to pound up or reduce to  powder, as in a mortar.
 Truncated cone, a cone divided, or cut off.
Vnivalved, having only one shell or  valve, applied to shell-fish, as the cockle,
   nautilus, he.
Vascular, consisting of vessels, relating to vessels, i. e. arteries, veins, he.
Venous, appertaining to the veins. 
33G
EXPLANATION OF TERMS.
Ventricles, muscular cavities of the heart, which receive the blood from th«
   auricles and transmit it by their contraction through the  arteries.   Their
   office is described, p. 24, 25.
Vertebra:, the bones of which the back-bone  is composed.
Vertebral, having vertebrae; ti-ed  to  designate one of Ihe grand divisions of
   the animal kingdom, and including those animals which  have an internal
   skeleton.
Viscus, plural Viscera; used principally to designate organs contained in the
   great cavities of the body, as the brain, heart, stomach, &c.
Viviparous, producing young alive. 
 
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