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 THE STUDY 
 
 OF 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 By FENWICK SKRIMSHIRE, M. D. 
 
 Lately President of the Natural History Society of Edinburgh Author 
 of " A Series of Popular Chymical Essays." 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Hontion ; 
 
 Printed by I. Gold, Shoe-Lane, 
 FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. 
 
 1805.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE materials, of which the present 
 Essays are composed, were originally col- 
 lected, as mentioned in the preface to 
 " A 'Series of Popular Chymical Essays," 
 with a view of delivering a course of Lec- 
 tures on Chymistry and Natural History. 
 The author's first intention being frus- 
 trated by professional engagements, he has 
 thrown them into the form of essays, and 
 respectfully offers them to the public in 
 this dress. 
 
 It is the author's intention to make hi$- 
 readers acquainted with the full extent and 
 
 AS 
 
 2090958
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 important advantages of the study of Natu- 
 ral History ; and, by selecting many useful 
 as well as interesting topics of inquiry, to 
 instill into the reader's mind a thirst for 
 further knowledge, and for a more intimate 
 acquaintance with the science. It cannot 
 therefore properly be called an elementary 
 work, though it contains a concise view 
 of the classification of natural objects ; 
 neither does the author profess it to be 
 a system of Natural History. 
 
 It is calculated rather for the general 
 reader, who desires only to be acquainted 
 with the extent of the science, its general 
 divisions, and the particular objects of in- 
 quiry which each branch comprises. And 
 the author flatters himself that it may with 
 advantage be put into the hands of young 
 students, to prepare them, by a general
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 glance at the whole science, for a more 
 serious application to any one department 
 in particular. 
 
 The author has heen anxious through 
 the whole work to impress the reader's mind 
 with the utility of the science : he has 
 endeavoured to draw him from application 
 to the mere classifying and arranging of 
 natural objects, by pointing out a variety 
 of important subjects for his investigation ; 
 and by connecting with it pleasing views 
 of the plans of Providence, and occasional 
 moral reflections. 
 
 Should it appear that those naturalists 
 are treated with too much severity, who 
 confine their pursuits to the collection and 
 arrangement of plants, insects, shells, or 
 fossils ; or that the founders of systems, 
 A 3
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 and the inventors of an appropriate and 
 accurate language of the science have not 
 been mentioned with sufficient acknow- 
 ledgements of their great merits ; let it be 
 attributed to an earnest desire that young 
 students should be taught to consider clas- 
 sification as a help merely, not as the 
 . ultimate object of their pursuits. The 
 author has a very high sense of the merits 
 of the great Linnaeus, and of all who by 
 their assiduity in collecting and comparing 
 specimens in Natural History, are extend- 
 ing and correcting our knowledge of Na- 
 ture. But now that we have so good a 
 guide, and now that so few who pursue 
 this study can hope to improve or extend 
 its limits, it is surely right that their 
 attention should be turned to other, and 
 those important and improving, subjects 
 .of investigation.
 
 PREFACED VII 
 
 i 
 
 Should any readers likewise be led to 
 suppose that the subject of natural the- 
 ology is too frequently introduced, or 
 that, the same thoughts on that subject 
 are too often repeated, they are re- 
 quested to consider how highly necessary 
 it is to bring the younger students to a 
 habit of constantly connecting such views 
 with the science we are treating of, lest by 
 admiring the productions of Nature with- 
 out at the same time contemplating the 
 Creator, they lose the most important 
 benefit of their studies. 
 
 A 4
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 VOL, I. 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 PAGE 
 ON THE OBJECT AND UTILITY OF THE 
 
 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 1 
 
 Study of Natural History erroneously confined 
 
 to classification 1 
 
 True objects of the science . 
 
 Divided into two heads * 2 
 
 First teaching the characteristics of natural ob- 
 jects by a system of classification 2 
 
 Second teaching their habits and uses * 3 
 
 Example from Zoology 4 
 
 Botany 5 
 
 practical Botany 5 
 
 philosophy of Botany* 6 
 
 Mineralogy 7 
 
 object of Mineralogy 8
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 FACE 
 
 Utility of the study of Natural History 8 
 
 to iLe (Jra/ier ........ 8 
 
 Farmer 8 
 
 Artizan 9 
 
 in giving the mind a power of ab- 
 
 straction 10 
 
 in leading the student to the contem- 
 plation of the Creator . . . 1 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS OF NATURE 17 
 
 The division into animal, vegetable, and mineral 
 
 kingdom, supposed natural *.. IB 
 
 Zoophytes fonn the connecting links . 18 
 
 The division really artificial 
 
 Zoology defined 21 
 
 Its divisions 22 
 
 General observations on animals 23 
 
 Immensity of nature - 0.3 
 
 Animals more numerous than vegetables 2-A 
 
 Animals which feed upon the oak - 26 
 
 Carnivorous animals - 27 
 
 Vermin 29 
 
 Power of the Creator in the variety of his works SO 
 in their complicated structure . 31
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 
 CLASS I. 
 
 MAMMALIA 35 
 
 Division into seven orders 35 
 
 General observations on the class 38 
 
 Warm blooded animals 38 
 
 All animals equally perfect 39 
 
 Circulation of the blood 40 
 
 Respiration 42 
 
 Secretion 43 
 
 Digestion * 44 
 
 Peculiarities of the different orders 45 
 
 In the ape tribe . 45 
 
 predacious animals 40 
 
 ruminating annuals 46 
 
 cete, or whales 47 
 
 Of Bats 48 
 
 domestic animals 49 
 
 Varieties 49 
 
 how perpetuated . ^ 51 
 
 of dogs from one pair * ...... 5&
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 Of varieties of sheep .. ........ 55 
 
 of deer ...* CO 
 
 = of goats . 6'0 
 
 of horses .. 61 
 
 of oxen ... 62 
 
 Other useful quadrupeds .................. 03 
 
 Man not allied to apes ................... . v 64 
 
 Slave trade unjustifiable 64 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 CLASS II. 
 
 AVES BIRDS .......... 67 
 
 Land and water birds 6? 
 
 Graniverous and carnivorous 68 
 
 Linnaeus's orders C8 
 
 1 . Accipitres 68 
 
 2. Picae 09 
 
 3. Anseres (j<) 
 
 4. Grallae 70 
 
 5. Gallinae 70 
 
 ^. Passeres 71
 
 CONTENTS. X1U 
 
 PAGE 
 
 General observations 71 
 
 Structure conducive to buoyancy 72 
 
 Brilliancy of colour in our own birds 72 
 
 Peculiarities of structure in accipltres 73 
 
 the owl 74 
 
 picas 75 
 
 anseres 76 
 
 To take Soland geese 77 
 
 - water fowl in China 78 
 
 Flight of wild fowl 79 
 
 Peculiarities in graliae 79 
 
 gailinae 80 
 
 passeres 81 
 
 the cross-bill ". . . . 82 
 
 Sparrow, u^ful bird 83 
 
 Migration of birds 84 
 
 of sw allow s 83 
 
 Torpid state of swallows 85 
 
 List of summer birds of passage 89 
 
 winter ditto ; 90 
 
 Other interesting subjects in ornithology ...... 92
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 ESSAY V. 
 
 CLASS III. 
 
 PAGE 
 AMPHIBIA 95 
 
 CLASS IV. 
 
 PISCES, FISHES 103 
 
 Character of amphibia Q.5 
 
 Divisions 97 
 
 Tortoise,, or turtle r 98 
 
 Toad 98 
 
 Serpents ; . . 99 
 
 Fishes, the structure of 103 
 
 - the senses 105 
 
 the food 105 
 
 -the age i. 107 
 
 Salmon ] Q 
 
 Fecundity of fish 1 ] 1 
 
 Shoals of herrings 112 
 
 Division of fish into orders 1 15
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ESSAY VI. 
 
 CLASS V. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INSECTA, INSECTS 117 
 
 Insects found in all situations 1 20 
 
 Generation of insects 121 
 
 Oviparous 121 
 
 Metamorphosis 122 
 
 Division into orders 123 
 
 1 Coleoptera 123 
 
 2 Hemiptera ] 04 
 
 T5 Lcpidaptera 1 25 
 
 4 Neuroptera 127 
 
 5 H} menoptera i o 7 
 
 6 Diptera \o<) 
 
 7 Aptera 129 
 
 ORDER I. 
 
 COLEOPTERA 131 
 
 Cockchafer, description of 132 
 
 how best destroyed 133 
 
 Maggots, their uses 135
 
 XU CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 To destroy insects in furniture 136 
 
 Cow-lady, cure for the tooth-ache 137 
 
 Spanish flies 138 
 
 Water beetles 138 
 
 Earwigs, how taken . . 140 
 
 Turnip fly 141 
 
 Glow-worm 142 
 
 ORDER II. 
 
 HEMIPTERA 
 
 Cock-roach 144 
 
 Mantis , 145 
 
 Locusts 146 
 
 Mole cricket 146 
 
 Bug 147 
 
 JVphis, tree-louse, or puceron 148 
 
 Cochineal 1 50 
 
 Kermes 151 
 
 Coccus on vine I .-, 1
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 (INTRODUCTORY.) 
 
 And yet was every faultering tongue of man, 
 
 ALMIGHTY FATHER! silent in thy praife, 
 
 Thy works themselves would raise a general voice, 
 
 Even in the depths of solitary woods 
 
 By human foot untrod, proclaim thy power, 
 
 And to the quire celestial Thee resound 
 
 To.' eternal cause, support, and end of all. 
 
 THOMSOV. 
 
 THE OBJECT AND UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF 
 NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 -i ii E study of Natural History has been unfortunately 
 confined by many to the mere classification of natural 
 objects ; and, to obtain a knowledge of the distinc- 
 tive characters of individual productions, has been 
 thought to constitute the whole object of the natu- 
 ralist's pursuit. How erroneous, how unphilosophi- 
 cal the notion ! Can the botanist be content with 
 learning the class and order of a plant ? Will he not 
 investigate its habits ; the soil in which it grows, the 
 time it flowers, its mode of propagation, whether by 
 seed, by sucker, by runners like strawberries, or by 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 3 INTRO DTJCTORY. 
 
 ii bulbous root, as the tulip ? And will he not endea- 
 vour to discover its uses, and delect its qualities? 
 Surely these things are included in the study of natu- 
 ral history, and form indeed its most essential part ; 
 to which arrangement of natural productions is only 
 
 a step, to assist iu its attainment. 
 
 "i 
 
 Many, who call themselves naturalists, and wish 
 to be considered as such by the world, have con- 
 fined their pursuits to tlte. collection and arrange- 
 ment of their plants, their birds, their insects, or 
 their shells ; and have thus brought undeserved ob- 
 loquy and derision on this interesting and improving 
 science. But how .enlarged, how entertaining, and 
 how useful a study it really is, may be easily con- 
 ceived from the short sketch which I am now about 
 to give of its object and utility. 
 
 The object of natural history may with propriety 
 foe divided into two heads. Tire first, though, as I 
 before said, not most important, teaches us the cha- 
 racteristics, or distinctive marks of each individual 
 natural object, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral. 
 The second makes us acquainted with all its peculi- 
 arities,, as to its habits, its qualities, and its uses. 
 
 To assist us in attaining the first, it is necessary to 
 adopt some system -of classification, in which iudi-
 
 INTRODUCTORY, 3 
 
 viduals, that agree jn particular points, may be ar- 
 ranged together. This very essentially lessens the 
 labour of acquiring a knowledge of this, department 
 of natural history. 
 
 The knowledge of the distinctive characters of in- 
 dividual objects, \\ hich is thus to be acquired by means 
 of classification, is necessary, to prevent confusion 
 in studying the second branch of natural history. 
 
 Without this knowledge we might make important 
 discoveries, \\hich we should be unable to communi- 
 cate to others ; and the information of one race of 
 naturalists would be wholly lost to succeeding gene- 
 rations. 
 
 A knowledge of the second head is only to be 
 gained by a patient investigation of each particular 
 -object ; for it requires continued attention and ob- 
 MT\ation, to make ourselves acquainted with the 
 whole history of a single individual production. It 
 i* on this account that we know so little of the pe- 
 culiar habits and manners of many animated beings, 
 whilst we easily ascertain their distinctive characters, 
 and learn where to arrange them in our artificial 
 ^ystems. 
 
 Let us now prosecute the view we have here 
 
 B2
 
 4 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 taken of the subject, by an observation upon each 
 of the three grand divisions of Nature, called the 
 animal kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, and the 
 mineral kingdom. 
 
 i. In Zoology, or the natural history of the animal 
 kingdom, it is necessary to ascertain both the distinc- 
 tive characters of each individual animal, and its 
 peculiar habits, properties, and uses. 
 
 The naturalist first learns that the sheep, for in- 
 stance, is in the class mammalia, being one of those 
 animals that suckle their young, in the order pecora, 
 because it is hoofed, and has no cutting teeth in the 
 upper jaw ; and that it is distinguished from other 
 animals of the same order, by its having several blunt 
 wedge-like incisive fore-teeth in the lower jaw only, 
 hollow reclined horns, and no tusks. 
 
 This information would satisfy many, who call 
 themselves naturalists ; but it is far from being all 
 that is required : the philosophical investigator of 
 Nature inquires into its habits ; as its food, its period 
 of gestation, its season of lambing, the weather and 
 climate most suited to its health and vigour. He 
 , endeavours to learn what produces the difference in 
 its fleece, whether climate, food, or some pecu- 
 liarity in the breed ; and is anxious to ascertain what 
 1
 
 1NTROBUCTORY, 5. 
 
 variety is most disposed to fatten, and what food 
 effects this most speedily ; with many other very use- 
 ful particulars. 
 
 The information of the first kind is of consequence* 
 and even necessary in many cases ; but that of the 
 latter is most useful. 
 
 If a traveller discover an animal possessing any 
 useful property, or producing any useful drug, if he 
 have not the first kind of information, he gives so 
 confused and inaccurate a description of it, that others, 
 mistaking the animal, discredit the author's account; 
 and the world loses the benefit of his discovery. 
 
 II. BOTANY, or the natural history of the vege- 
 table kingdom, in the usual acceptation of the term 
 implies only the knowledge of the distinctive charac- 
 ters of plants ; and he who knows the greatest num- 
 ber, and is most accurate in determining the different 
 species, is accounted the best botanist. 
 
 This, however, constitutes but a small part of the 
 science ; there is another distinct department, which 
 may properly be termed the philosophy of botany, 
 which is both more interesting, and more useful. 
 Tliis includes the knowledge of the structure, or the 
 anatomy of plants ; and the knowledge of the uses, 
 B 3
 
 INTRO DTTCTOTIY. 
 
 or functions of their various parts, as of the leaves, 
 the bark, the pith, the roots, the juices, &c.; which 
 is called the physiology of plants. It includes also 
 an acquaintance with the soil and climate adapted 
 to different vegetables, their inwde of propagation, 
 and the various uses to which their, several parts or 
 productions may be applied. 
 
 Botany in the first sense, which may be called 
 practical botany, is subservient, and absolutely ne- 
 cessary, to the study of (lie philosophy of bc-tauy ; 
 fur r.j one, that' is unacquainted with the classifi- 
 cation of plants, can either convey to others his own 
 information, or himself receive the benefit of tliat of 
 others, respecting either the structure and economy, 
 or the habits and the uses of such plants, as may 
 have been investigated. 
 
 If medical virtues are discovered in any vegetable 
 ' r< "i'.ction; without the accuracy of the practical 
 botanist to ascertain, and describe the particular plant, 
 which affords it, the discovery is often lost ; or per- 
 haps, what i.s worse, the virtues are attributed to a 
 different plant, and it is only by repeated failures, and 
 in^ some cases after much mischief, that the error is 
 detected. 
 
 Jt is evident that the same may happen to the agri-
 
 V 
 
 INTRODUCTORY, 7 
 
 culturist, the dyer, or any other artizan, who has 
 discovered in the vegetable kingdom the means of 
 improving his art, but has not botanical knowledge 
 sufficient, to give an accurate character of the plant, 
 to which he is indebted for his discovery. 
 
 in. IN MINERALOGY, or the natural history of th 
 mineral kingdom, almost half the students are of that 
 class, who content themselves with collecting and 
 being able to arrange systematically the minerals 
 they meet with. But in this department of natural 
 history, as well as the other two, which we have consi- 
 dered, something more than arrangement is required. 
 
 It is the man, who can analyze, and separate the 
 component parts of mineral productions ; who knows 
 the art of assaying,' and who knows a priori the pro- 
 bable site of a quarry, or a mine, and can tell the 
 direction of a stratum of coal, or of marble, that I 
 call a mineralogist. 
 
 The natural history of the mineral kingdom in- 
 cluvles geology, or the data upon which are founded 
 the different theories of the formation of the earth. 
 It includes the knowledge of those facts, upon which 
 the art of mining, and the art of separating and pu- 
 rifying metals is founded ; and its object is to teach 
 likewise the properties of those metals, as well as of 
 B 4
 
 8 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 the earths, and other mineral productions, when se- 
 parated, and in their simple state. 
 
 With respect to THE UTILITY OF THE STUDY 
 OF NATURAL HISTORY, I have unavoidably given 
 many instances of it, in considering the object of the 
 science. I need therefore add but few others. 
 
 The grazier knows the advantage of attending to 
 the habits and distinctive marks of our domestic 
 animals. It is natural history, though not often stu- 
 died scientifically, that teaches him what variety of 
 sheep to prefer ; by what means to obtain a variety 
 of cow r s, remarkable for their quantity of milk ; how 
 to choose the stock, that is best adapted to his land, 
 and what is the best food for them during winter. 
 
 Much benefit is likely to accrue from the attention 
 lately paid to the cultivation of what are termed the 
 artificial grasses. Instead of sowing his hay seeds 
 indiscriminately, the grazier may select only such 
 grasses as are by observation found to be most suited 
 to his soil and cattle. 
 
 i 
 The farmer's knowledge of the proper succession 
 
 of crops, the best times for sowing them, when to 
 weed, and with what to manure, as well as how to 
 destroy both weeds and insects, is the knowledge of
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 9 
 
 a naturalist ; and surely he, who is scientifically ac- 
 quainted with the growth of plants, knowing what 
 part the soil acts in vegetation, and what is thfc ali- 
 ment most required by them, will have great advan- 
 tage over the mere empirical farmer, who has no 
 better reason for what he does, than that his father 
 did the same before him. 
 
 By studying the natural history of insects we learn 
 the habits of such as are noxious and injurious, and 
 thence derive the' means of destroying them. 
 
 The mineralogist has often enriched individual 
 proprietors of land, and benefited his country, by the 
 discover)- of mines; he is enabled to direct 'the plan- 
 ners of canals by warning them of obstacles, and 
 his know ledge has aided the physician in ascertaining 
 the virtues of minerals, iind of mineral waters. 
 
 In the arts, a knowledge of natural history pre- 
 vents that confusion, and those innumerable errors 
 that must be committed, where the natural produc- 
 tions, which are employed, cannot be accurately dis- 
 criminated from others. 
 
 It is to the naturalist that we are many times in- 
 debted for the introduction of foreign animals, and 
 foreign plants, into our own country. Wheat, oats, 
 B 5
 
 16 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 barley, and other vo;/ .i>i , which are now become 
 necessary to our existence, were not originally of 
 British growth. The potatoe, now so general and 
 so useful; was first introduced into this country by 
 Gerard, a noted botanist, and was for some time 
 cultivated in his garden as a rarity. The sugar-cane, 
 the bread-fruit tree, the farinaceous palms, the flax 
 and hemp, have all been transported by naturalists of 
 the present day to regions where they never grew 
 before. 
 
 Cochineal, which until lately was not even known 
 to be an InaKJj has been accurately examined, and 
 its habits noted by the naturalist. Its food is now 
 known to be a particular species of the Indian fig, 
 on which alone it can bs made to thrive. The plant 
 was therefore first introduced, and then the insect, 
 into the East Indies, wher* they were never seen 
 before. Both have thriven well, and we may now 
 look forward with confidence to a supply of that ex- 
 pensive article from colonies of our own. 
 
 Besides the above, and many similar instances of 
 advantage to be derived from studying the different 
 branches of natural history, these two incalculable 
 benefits necessarily arise to the student himself, from 
 attending to the whole, or any part of the science ; 
 namely, a power of abstracting the mind, and rea-
 
 INfAODUCTOHT, 11 
 
 xonir.g methodically : and a habit of contemplating 
 the Creator hi his works. 
 
 Tine first of the two heads, into which v/e divided 
 natural history., gives us the habit of abstraction ; 
 whilst the second leads the student to the contem- 
 plation of the Creator. 
 
 In studying any artificial classification, a certain 
 degree of application and abstracted attention is re- 
 quii-ite. A regular series of examinations, compa- 
 risons,, and inferences, is necessary to attain the 
 knowledge we are in quest of. The mind thus ac- 
 quires a methodical habit of instituting other inqui- 
 ries; and its reasoning po\\ ns become thert by gra- 
 dually strengthened. I mid a plant, for example, 
 and wish to learn its name, and the place it holds in 
 1 .innaWs arrangement of the vegetable kingdom. I 
 first examine its anthenv (a pajt of the flower, upon 
 the number and position of which depends his first 
 division of plants into classes) ; I compare these 
 with the characters of his iirst, second, third, and 
 following classes, till I find the one with which it 
 exactly tallies. My inference now is, that I shall 
 find it in this division of his system ; and I have thus 
 abridged my labour to a twenty-fourth part ; for that 
 is the number of Linnaus's classes, or first divisions. 
 I now proceed by examining other parts of the plant,
 
 12 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 and comparing them with the characters of his orders., 
 and his genera, which are subdivisions of his system. 
 I have now reduced my investigation to the species 
 only, of which there are seldom many ; and by con- 
 tinuing my comparisons, I soon find the name and 
 description of the very plant I sought for. 
 
 The frequent repetition of such inquiries cannot 
 but improve the mind ; and teaching us the great 
 .utility of method, will fix a habit of abstraction, and 
 methodical investigation. 
 
 In studying natural history, we are necessarily ob- 
 servant of minute distinctions, which general observers 
 Constantly overlook. How many hundred plants, 
 and insects, are passed by every day unnoticed, each 
 of which attracts the naturalist's eye, and furnishes a 
 subject fpr his investigation. This nice attention be- 
 comes a habit too, and the accuracy of the naturalist 
 is generally apparent in his other pursuits. 
 
 How natural, how unavoidable I 'may say, the 
 transition from investigating the work, to contem- 
 plating the Creator ! 
 
 Examine the structure or anatomy of any one of 
 Nature's works, search the uses of each part, the 
 necessary connection of the whole, and see the de-
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 13 
 
 rangement that would follow, were any one part ab- 
 sent^ or in any way different from what it is. Ask 
 yourself this question ; had I the sume materials be- 
 fore me, of which this animal, or part of an animal, 
 is formed ; and were I desired to produce the effect 
 that is here produced, could I form such an animal, 
 or such a part, possessing the same properties as 
 this before me possesses ? 
 
 Compare the eye of an animal with an optical 
 instrument that most nearly resembles it ; where will 
 you find the power of adjusting itself to objects at 
 different distances, that the eye possesses ? where the 
 contrivance for cleansing and preserving itself fit for 
 use, that the tears and eyelids exhibit ? And where 
 that most wonderful property of all, sensation, by 
 which we are informed of the objects, from whose 
 surface the rays of light enter the eye, and strike the 
 retina ? 
 
 Compare the heart, the lungs, or any other part of 
 the animal machine, with any thing that our best 
 mechanics could invent to answer the same purpose. 
 How many excellencies does the former exhibit, 
 which the latter can never imitate ? 
 
 Suppose that a machine is formed with four par- 
 titions, answering to the two auricles and two ven-
 
 14 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 tricles of the heart ; suppose, too, that like the heart 
 it is capable of receiving and expelling one ounce of 
 blood four thousand times every hour ; can you con- 
 ceive that this machine, of workmanship so fine, as 
 not to exceed the heart in bulk, will continue its 
 work, night and day, for sixty, seventy, or rvon 
 eighty years, without repair * Or can you suppose 
 that it could be made to possess within itself the 
 power of repairing its waste ; and that, too, without 
 ceasing one moment in its action ? How much more 
 wonderful then it is, that the heart should do all 
 this, whilst the case that contains it is almost con- 
 stantly in motion ; sometimes inverted in its posi- 
 tion, at other times placed on it, side ; at one time 
 carried slowly and evenly along, but oftentimes jostled 
 and tossed about, or carried forward \\ ith great velocity. 
 
 After thus examining one or two instances' of Xa- 
 ture's works, and comparing them with the produc- 
 tions of our most ingenious artists, with all their 
 contrixanee and experience, how is it possible not to 
 admit intelligence and design in their formation, and, 
 of course, an intelligent dt signer and artificer for 
 their Maker ? 
 
 When, moreover, we consider, that the instances 
 which we have adduced are by no means the most 
 astonishing; and that there are millions of such,
 
 15 
 
 I 
 
 works by the same artificer ; can we deny him the 
 attribute of omnipotence ? 
 
 All the attributes of the Deity are deducible from 
 observations respecting his works, and consequently 
 from such as occupy the mind of the thoughtful na- 
 turalist. 
 
 Who can observe, without admiration, the infinite 
 variety that exists, both in the animal 'and vegetable 
 kingdom, and yet the remarkable uniformity amongst 
 the individuals of the same species ? 
 
 Plants and animals, that never attract the notice 
 of a common observer, continually catch the atten- 
 tion of the naturalist, even one of which affords in- 
 numerable marks of wisdom, and some fresh in- 
 stance of beneficence in the Creator. 
 
 The smallest insects are endowed with propeji- 
 sities and powers for their own comfort and preser- 
 vation, and are in some way or other made useful, 
 and perhaps even necessary to the comfort and pre- 
 servation of other animals. The bee, that has never 
 known a winter, provides against its approach by 
 laying up its store of honey. The ephemera, that 
 lives but for a few hours, is endowed with wisdom to 
 procure safety for its future progeny. The former
 
 10 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 furnishes man with a delicious condiment, and an 
 exhilarating drink ; and the latter, by dropping into 
 the water, from whence it took its flight, affords a 
 delicious feast to many of the finny tribe. 
 
 The history of the bee would open a field for re- 
 flection which a volume would not exhaust. I shall 
 notice only the form and size of the cells of its comb, 
 which exhibit marks of superior skill. The whole 
 comb is made with mathematical exactness, is divided 
 into small cells, and every cell is hexagonal. Why 
 are they small ? To preserve the honey from fer- 
 menting and being spoiled, which must unavoidably 
 take place, if kept at a temperature equal to that of 
 the hive, and in large quantities. Why are they 
 hexagonal ? Because no other regular form, except 
 squares and triangles, would exactly fill ug space ; 
 and hexagons admit of their being most capacious in 
 a given compass. 
 
 Who can notice these things, and not allow infi- 
 nite wisdom, power, and goodness in the Creator ? 
 Let the Cartesian philosopher study but the history 
 of a bee, or the economy of a moss, and his doc- 
 trine, teaching that these things are the effects of the 
 fortuitous concourse of atoms, must inevitably give 
 way to the innumerable proofs which they contain of 
 design and wisdom.
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS OF NATURE. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON ZOOLOGY. 
 
 JLN the first Essay- we have treated generally of the 
 object and utility of the study of Natural History. 
 We are now to commence our consideration of the 
 different departments of the science ; and to make 
 such observations on each, as may be thought best 
 calculated to elucidate the study, and give to the reader 
 a general idea of what each comprises. This will be 
 done in regular order, according to the system of 
 Linmeus, to which an almost universal preference is 
 given. 
 
 After such general observations, we shall select in 
 each department some few subjects for particular 
 investigation ; and make cursory remarks on others ; 
 in doing which, we shall endeavour to join amuse- 
 ment with instruction. But we shall first premise 
 some few observations on the grand division of Na-
 
 18 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 ture into the three kingdoms, animal, vegetable, and 
 mineral. 
 
 This division is universally received, as perfect l y 
 consistent with Nature ; and is by most persons 
 thought to be so clear and distinct, that they sup- 
 pose it to be impossible to mistake in referring any 
 particular object to its proper kingdom. This arises 
 from their having noticed only such objects as bear 
 evident marks of the division to \\hich they belong; 
 but draw their attention to a variety of other indi- 
 viduals, and they will acknowledge themselves to be 
 incompetent to the decision, or will erroneously re- 
 fer to one division, what has, after accurate exami- 
 nation, been determined to belong to another. 
 
 There is one whole class of productions, called 
 zoophytes by naturalists, which seem to form the 
 connecting hiiks between the different kingdoms. 
 They are animals of the polypus kind, mostly covered 
 with a calcareous crust, differing little in compo- 
 sition from the shells of lobsters, shrimps, and other 
 shell fish ; and formed like them from an exudation, 
 or secretion, on the surface of their bodies. Tlirsc 
 polipi are connected together by ih;>u--,inds or even 
 millions, and assume a great variety of appearances 
 according to their arrangement ; the same species.
 
 OF NATURE, 1<> 
 
 however, always assuming the same, or very nearly 
 the same appearance. Some are connected together 
 in die form of stem and brandies, as the fluslra, 
 sertulariaj, coralline, and others ; many of which 
 have their offspring in the egg state attached to them, 
 and so situated as to bear exact resemblance to the 
 seed vessels of plants. These are altogether so like 
 to many of the sea-plants, as to be generally corfc- 
 founded with them under the title of sea-weeds ; 
 but the attentive naturalist may, by examining them 
 in their natural state, perceive the tentacula, or 
 feelers of each polypus extended in its search for 
 food, and hastily retracted within its shell upon the 
 least akirm. Many of this description are found at- 
 tached to oysters or other shell fish ; and often to 
 stones and pebbles, which are covered, or occa- 
 sionally wetted, by the sea. 
 
 Other zoophytes assume less regular figures, and 
 are much more tirni and solid, resembling the pro- 
 ductions of the mineral kingdom. Madrepores and 
 millepores, railed often brainstones, are of this 
 kind. At first sight they look very like stones and 
 pebbles, or like pieces of chalk or marble ; but on 
 an accurate inspection any one may perceive marks 
 of an organic structure; and vhen they are in a 
 recent state, detect the inhabitants of their nume- 
 rous cells.
 
 20 ON TUG THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 The above examples would suffice to prove, how 
 insufficient is either a hasty examination, or the 
 judging by similarity of appearance, for determining 
 to what kingdom of Nature any particular object be- 
 longs ; but there are many other productions, to which 
 few persons could without hesitation assign their 
 places. For instance, where w ould you arrange the 
 green powdery substance so common on paling ; the 
 spotted or streaked appearance on stones ; the mould 
 on cheese ; or the green jelly-like matter that floats 
 on the surface of stagnant waters? Naturalists in 
 general hfcve assigned these productions to the ve- 
 getable kingdom; but Sennebier, and a few others, 
 have maintained that some of them are animals. 
 
 The most philosophical notion which we can form 
 on this subject is undoubtedly this ; that the division 
 of natural objects into three kingdoms is artificial ; 
 and that Nature, acknowledging no such bonds, passes 
 imperceptibly from the animal to the vegetable, and 
 from the vegetable to the mineral w 01 Id, without de- 
 fining where one ceases, or where the next begins. 
 It is a just -and truly philosophical observation, _ 
 (( Natura non per salt inn 
 
 As the appearances of natural productions are in- 
 sufficient, so are their properties or powers, for de- 
 termining which are animals, or which vegetables,
 
 OF NATURE. 2-1 
 
 according to the received acceptation of the terms. 
 If locomotion is allowed to be the characteristic of 
 an animal, where will you place the oyster, or the 
 zoophytes, of which we have just beni speaking ; or 
 where some species of ufoa, and conferva, plants 
 that swim about detached in water? If feeling, or 
 sensation be the test, who shall decide that the sen- 
 sitive plant (mimosa of Linn.) possesses it not? 
 and who determine that the petals of the catch-fly 
 (dion&a muscipala), when they contract, and catch 
 the fly as soon as it alights, do not feel the despoiler 
 that comes to rob it of its honey ? 
 
 Notwithstanding these imperfections in the grand 
 division of natural objects into animal, vegetable, and 
 mineral ; consider it as merely artificial, and we 
 shall find it sufficiently accurate for all useful pur- 
 poses, nor will the adoption of it lead to much error 
 or inconvenience. 
 
 We now proceed to the consideration of the ani- 
 mal kingdom, the study of which is termed Zoology. 
 
 ZOOLOGY. 
 
 ZOOLOGY is a comprehensive term, .including the 
 study of natural history in a variety of its branches.
 
 22 . ON THE THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 It comprehends indeed the whole of animated Nature, 
 exclusive of the vegetable kingdom. The immense 
 variety of its objects makes it necessary to divide the 
 subject, and subdivide it through four or five series, 
 before the individuals which it comprises can be par- 
 ticularized. 
 
 The system of division, or, as it is termed, of 
 classification, which we shall adopt, is that of the 
 celebrated Swedish naturalist, Linnaeus, before men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The first division of zoology, or of the animal 
 kingdom, is into six classes. The first class, called 
 mammalia, from its comprehending all animals that 
 suckle their young, includes man, quadrupeds of 
 every description, whales, seals. &e. The second, 
 ares, includes all the feathered tribe. The third, 
 amphibia, comprehends serpents, lizards, and all 
 animals commonly called reptiles; it includes like- 
 wise the lamprey, skate, thornback, catfish, dog- 
 fish, sharks, and some others, which are usually de- 
 nominated fishes ; for the s:e, as well as reptiles, are 
 amphibious ; being so constituted, as to be able to 
 live for some time either in or out of water. The 
 fourth class, pisces, includes fishes properly so call- 
 ed. The fifth, insecta, insects of every kind ; 
 amongst which are arranged the lobster, crab,
 
 OF NATUBE. 23 
 
 shrimp, and some others, as having two antennae, 
 or feelers, improperly -called horns. The sixth and 
 iast class, vermex, includes not only worms, but 
 most kinds of shell fish, both of fresh and sea water ; 
 slugs also, and some other animals. 
 
 Before we proceed to treat of the different branches 
 of zoology separately, it may perhaps prove interest- 
 ing, to make some general observations on this most 
 important grand division of Nature. 
 
 The immensity of Nature is no where so conspi- 
 cuous as in the animal creation. 
 
 " Full Nature swarms with life, one wondrous mass 
 * Of animals, or atoms orgarriz'd, 
 *' Waiting the vital breath, when 1'arcnt-Heaven 
 4 ' Shall bid his spirit blow," 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 Whether we consider the vast variety, the com- 
 plicated structure, or the powers with which they 
 iire endowed, the animal kingdom far exceeds either 
 of the other, two. 
 
 The number of plants already discovered is very 
 great ; more than thirty thousand have been described, 
 and arranged in our systems of botany ; and when we 
 reflect how many thousand* of leagues have never
 
 34 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 been explored at all by any botanist, aud how many 
 more but cursorily examined, \ve cannot doubt but 
 that great numbers, probably more than hull of all 
 the vegetable productions, remain still unkno\vn. 
 And yet how small is the proportion of distinct spe- 
 cies of vegetables to that of the animated beings which 
 are formed to feed upon them ! There is not, per- 
 haps, a single vegetable but what has its peculiar in- 
 sect attached to it, which can live upon no other ; or 
 at least we may advance, that there is for every plant 
 some insect which gives it a preference, and parti- 
 cularly affects it. The papilio urtica:, or common 
 red butterfly, chiefly affects the nettle, on which its 
 black caterpillars are seen by scores together, being 
 of that kind which are gregarious. The white but-, 
 terfly, in the caterpillar state, in which it is green 
 spotted with black, lives on the cabbage, on which 
 rt frequently commits astonishing depredations. The 
 pfialeena verbosci, one of the full-bodied moths, in- 
 habits the rerbascum. Hundreds of the beetle tribe 
 live each on some particular plant ; as a yellow and 
 blue spotted one, on the asparagus ; some very mi- 
 nute ones of the genus chrysomela, or of that of 
 staphiKma, in different species of fungi. A little 
 green one affects the horse-radish leaf, and another 
 the dock. 
 
 Besides those insects, which live solely or chii-fK
 
 OF NATURE. 25 
 
 on one species of plant, there are many which may 
 be tenned general feeders, as the eanvig, that is 
 found in almost every kind of pulpy fruit, when ripe ; 
 the bee, that sips its honey from an hundred different 
 flowers ; or the locust, that has by its numbers some- 
 times alarmed whole districts, and stripped every 
 hedge and every fruit-tree of its leaves, whole pas- 
 tures of their grass, and corn-fields of their rising 
 crops. 
 
 We have not yet glanced at one half of the insects 
 which derive their nutriment immediately from the 
 vegetable world ; for at different seasons, different 
 insects feed upon the same plant ; and the leaves, the 
 flower, the fruit, the bark, the wood, have each their 
 peculiar inhabitants. 
 
 Besides insects, the number of birds, of quadru- 
 peds, and of reptiles, that peck the berries, browze 
 on the leaves, devour the fruits, and crop the herbage, 
 is very great. 
 
 That the variety of animals greatly exceeds that of 
 vegetables, becomes never more apparent than when 
 we carefully examine all the animals which inhabit, 
 or feed upon one particular plant. The examination 
 of the oak, the poplar, the elm, the nut, the black- 
 thorn, the dandelion, the butter-cup, or a blade of 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 526 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 grass, would equally illustrate the foregoing re- 
 mark. 
 
 We shall, however, take the oak. The sheep 
 will browze upon its leaves and tender twigs ; both 
 sheep and goats will tear off its bark when young. 
 The caterpillars of several moths devour its leaves ; 
 one of which, from its being found only on the oak, 
 is called phalana guercus; another curls itself tip in 
 the leaf ; and a third attaches itself only to the under 
 surface, where it devours the substance, but leaves 
 the tough nerves and ribs a skeleton. Several spe- 
 cies of small four-winged flies, called cynips, affect 
 different parts of the leaf, leaf stalk, and bud ; 
 tvhere, by depositing their eggs, they produce diffe- 
 rent kinds of excrescences, called galls. There are 
 at least four distinct species of this insect, which are 
 found no where but upon the oak. 
 
 If again we shake an oak bough in the summer 
 season over a white cloth, we shall discover many 
 varieties of beetles, flies, and spiders, which feed 
 upon its bark and leaves. The very heart of its 
 woody trunk is sometimes perforated by the cater- 
 pillar of one of the lepidopterous tribe, of the genus 
 sphinx. 
 
 its bark is old and decayed, we discover
 
 or NATURE. 27 
 
 tinder it, earwigs, snails, and insects called old sows, 
 * ith many of the beetle tribe, that derive their food 
 either from the tree, or from each other. The 
 acorns, or fruit of the tree, are sometimes gathered 
 for the use of man as a substitute for bread ; but 
 more frequently as food for cattle, of which swine in 
 particular consider it as a delicious repast. The 
 squirrel, the dormouse, and I believe many birds, are 
 fond of the acorn ; and when allowed to decay, this, 
 like other parts of the tree, affords food to insects of 
 the beetle tribe. 
 
 The wood itself, when in a state of decay, often 
 harbours woodlice, the .glow-worm, and the lepisma, 
 a silvery, or lead-coloured insect without wings, 
 that is often seen in old window frames^ 
 
 From this review we may form some idea of the 
 vast variety of animals that are supported by the ve- 
 getable world ; but to these we must add thousands 
 and thousands more that feed -one upon another, 
 from the tiger, that easily devours deer, and can 
 even carry off a heifer, to the microscopic mites, 
 hundreds of which are sometimes seen upon a. single 
 beetle. 
 
 The beasts and birds of prey are numerous, as to 
 iheir genera or families ; but Providence has wisely 
 c2
 
 28 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 ordained that they should be less prolific than other 
 animals; and therefore there are proportionally but 
 few individuals. Tigers and jackalis are never seen 
 in herds, like deer ; nor does the vulture, or the 
 eagle, lay near so many eggs as the hen, the turkey, 
 or the duck. The shark, which is the most raven- 
 ous of the finny tribe, is but now and then met with, 
 whilst herrings appear in shoals of several leagues in 
 length. 
 
 There are amongst animals, many kinds that live 
 partly on animal and partly on vegetable food, as well 
 as many that live wholly on the former ; whilst the 
 lion and its congeners, the tiger, the leopard, the 
 cat, and others, will only eat the fruits of their own 
 sanguinary deeds; the badger, some of the weesel 
 tribe, and the shrew-mouse, will devour roots and 
 grain, as well as insects and reptiles. Amongst 
 fishes many are wholly canutferous, greedily devour- 
 ing frogs, lizard's, and the smaller tribes of fishes ; 
 but there arc others again \\hich derive part of their 
 .support from sea-weeds. 
 
 Amongst the amphibia and vermes, or worms, 
 many live wholly on animals of their own class, or on 
 insects. But it is amongst insects themselves that we 
 shall find the greatest number of animals deriving 
 from animals their sole support,
 
 OF NATURE. 29 
 
 There is scarcely a quadruped, or a bird, but 
 what is infested with vermin, and each of a different 
 kind. The sheep-louse, the tick on the dog, the 
 bot in the hide of the ox, the pigeon-louse, that of 
 the swallow, the little black vermin on poultry, the 
 flea, the bug, the common louse, and thut which 
 tYeow-ntly i-.itvsts, and indeed sometimes almost co- 
 vers, the body of a corpse, are each perfectly distinct. 
 
 Besides these, there are insects that burrow under 
 the scales of fishes, and between the lamina of oyster- 
 shells. Millions of polypi at the bottom of the sea 
 compose extensive beds of coral, which from their 
 want of locomotion must be supposed to derive their 
 nutriment from other myriads of microscopic insects 
 floating in the water. 
 
 Other tribes are to be found in particular parts of 
 animals only, as worms of several species in the in- 
 testines ; one species of hydatid in the head of the 
 sheep, producing the disease called staggers, and 
 another in the liver of different animals producing 
 diseases there. Many insects, too, are insectivorous ; 
 the earwig destroys thousands of what are called tree- 
 lice, particularly such as are found on the stalks of 
 rose-buds, and the leaves of fruit-trees ; spiders de- 
 vour flies ; a family of insects, called ichneumon, lay 
 their eggs in the bodies of caterpillars, and their
 
 30 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 young ones devour every part of them but their skins, 
 and thousands of little acari, or mites, suck the juices 
 of the larger insects. 
 
 When to all that has been now said, we add, that 
 every drop of water contains some kind of animal, 
 that dead animals of every description, and other 
 dead animal matter, such as cheese, tallow, leather, 
 feathers, clothes, and a hundred other things, all 
 give support to some insects or other, we cannot but 
 wonder at the immensity of Nature ; and, struck with 
 awe, admire the Creator in his works. Who could 
 have designed such an infinity of animated beings, 
 destined to inhabit, and occupy, as it were, every 
 speck of space, but an omnipresent and omnipotent 
 God ! ! Who could have suited each to its proper ha- 
 bitation, and adapted its means of procuring suste- 
 nance to its peculiar wants ? and who could have so 
 balanced between the carnivorous and insectivorous 
 animals, and those that are their prey, between the 
 prolific powers of the latter, and the destruction of 
 them by the former, so that no species should ever 
 be wholly lost, and none become detrimentally nu- 
 merous ? Who, I say, could have thus balanced, and 
 thus nicely adjusted a creation so immense, but a 
 kind and beneficent, as w ell as all-intelligent Being ! ! 
 
 If a view of the variety of Nature's works excite
 
 OF NATURE, 31 
 
 such sentiments as above, how much more so must 
 an accurate examination of the complicated struc- 
 ture of animated beings, and of the wonderful powers 
 with which they are endowed ! It would be improper 
 here to enter into details on this subject, but a few- 
 general observations will not, I hope, be deemed 
 misplaced. 
 
 To form an intricate and complicated piece of 
 machinery, requires contrivance, patience, and ma- 
 nual dexterity ; and the more so, the more compli- 
 cated, and the smaller the machine, or its various 
 parts, are required to be. Yet what mind can even 
 conceive of a machine, so complicated, and the 
 parts of it so minute, as those of an animal ? Arteries 
 and veins to carry blood, lymphatics and absorbents 
 to convey colourless fluids, nerves to propagate sen- 
 sation, and to give the power of motion ; and all 
 these so ramified, and so universally distributed over 
 every portion of the body, that not even the point of 
 a needle can be placed where there is not both nerve 
 and blood vessel. The pain produced by the prick 
 of the needle proves the presence of the former ; and 
 the blood that issues clearly demonstrates the latter. 
 
 Besides these parts there are numerous bundles of 
 fibres, called muscles, intended to produce motion ; 
 in the disposition of which are the most evident 
 c 4
 
 S2 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS 
 
 marks of contrivance and design : some are straight, 
 some oblique, some transverse, some stretched over 
 pullies, some fastened to bones, others to moveabie 
 cartilages ; and in short, every necessary contrivance 
 is adopted to produce the wonderful variety of mo- 
 tions, of which we find different parts of this coin- 
 plicatedjnachine to be capable. 
 
 What wonderful contrivance is displayed in the 
 heart and blood vessels, by which the blood is first 
 expelled into the lungs, there to receive an impor- 
 tant change from the air we breathe ; is thence re- 
 turned into another chamber of the heart, from that 
 to a third, and thence to every part of the body, and 
 back by the veias to the heart again ! How compli- 
 cated is the structure of the eye, the ear, and, in 
 short, every part of the animal frame ! In the eye, 
 for instance, there are three coats or coverings, and 
 three humours, all of them transparent, that they 
 may admit the rays of light, but all of different forms 
 and different consistencies, and of course possessing 
 different refracting powers. These are so adjusted 
 as to concentrate on the small space of the retina, 
 rays from as large a surface as possible. A power is 
 given by the action of certain muscles to lengthen or 
 shorten the axis of the eye, by which we are enabled 
 to see distinctly objects very near, and objects at a 
 distance. And by the action of another muscle the
 
 OP NATURE. 33 
 
 pupil is dilated or contracted, which, by admitting 
 more or fewer of the rays of light, enables us to see 
 clearly in a dim light, and prevents to a certain de- 
 gree the indistinctness of vision which must arise from 
 too dazzling a light. The same organ possesses 
 many more adjustments and contrivances, equally 
 advantageous and equally wonderful. 
 
 But when we cease to examine the animal frame 
 us a mere machine, and dwell upon its properties, 
 how impossible it is to form an adequate idea of the 
 amazing power of the Creator ! What would the eye 
 be, considered as a mere philosophical Instrument, 
 without a power in its nerve to receive and propagate 
 impressions to the brain : The eyes of some persons 
 born blind are perfect in .structure \ but the retina or 
 nerve wants this peculiar power. 
 
 What would the nice contrivances in the ear, 
 for receiving sound, avail, had it no connection 
 with the sensorium? In short, what would the 
 brain itself exhibit, considered only as a ma- 
 chine of complicated structure, in which blood- 
 vessels, the cortical and cineritious substance, and 
 the pia mater, like a tissue of the finest fabric, 
 are beautifully and regularly disposed ? How unim- 
 portant does this mere machinery of the brain ap- 
 pear, compared to its sublime use, as the seat of in- 
 c5
 
 34 ON THE THREE KINGDOMS OF NATURE. 
 
 telligence and of life. The structure cannot be sup- 
 posed to give it its powers, but merely to be adapted 
 to their reception and exertion. The machine is 
 first formed, and then endowed in an inexplicable 
 manner with the wonderful powers, that we know it 
 to possess, though we cannot comprehend their na- 
 ture. What less than Omnipotence could effect all 
 this ! 
 
 And when again we discover that in different ani- 
 mals there is a difference of structure, and different 
 powers, and a difference in the degree of their rea- 
 soning faculties, all exactly suited to their peculiar 
 habits, and evidently designed to promote either their 
 own or some general good ; who is there that does 
 not feel gratitude, as well as admiration, to the great 
 Cause of all !
 
 ESSAY III, 
 
 CLASS I. 
 
 MAMMALIA, 
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 
 
 .A. SHORT description of the systematical arrange- 
 ment of each class will very properly precede the 
 few observations, that I shall make upon the in- 
 dividuals which it comprehends. 
 
 This first class of animals is divided into seven 
 orders, distinguished chiefly by the number and po- 
 sition of their teeth. 
 
 Order 1st. Primates have four parallel fore-teeth 
 and two pectoral mammae. 
 
 2d. Bruta, no front-teeth in either jaw, feet 
 armed with strong, blunt, hoof-like nails. 
 
 3d. Fera, six upper fore-teeth, and two canine 
 teeth in each jaw. 
 
 c6
 
 36 MAMMALIA,, 
 
 4th. Glires, two sharp fore-teeth in each jaw. 
 No canine teeth. 
 
 5th. Pecora, no upper fore-teeth; eight under 
 fore-teeth. Hoof divided. Horns. 
 
 6th. Belltue, more than two fore-teeth in each 
 jaw. No horns. 
 
 7th. Cete. No legs. 
 
 The first order contains only man,, apes, including 
 baboons and monkies, the lejnaz, and the bat tribe ; 
 these being the only animals that have four upper 
 fore-teeth and two pectoral manmnv. 
 
 The second order, brut a, contains the sloth tribe, 
 the elephant, the rhinoceros, the ant-eaters, and a 
 few others. 
 
 The third order, ferte, contains the fottcfering 
 genera, distinguished from each other chiefly by the 
 number, shape, and position of their teeth ; the seal, 
 the dog, the cat, (including the lion, tiger, &c.) the 
 weesel, otter, bear, opossum, kangaroo, mole, shrew, 
 and the hedgehog. 
 
 The fourth order, glires, distinguished by having
 
 OE ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 37 
 
 two large and long fore-teeth in each jaw, and no 
 canine teeth, includes the porcupine, beaver, rat, 
 marmot, squirrel, dormouse, jerboa, hare, and hyrax. 
 Their feet have claws, and are formed both for 
 bounding and running. 
 
 The fifth order, pecora, or cattle, as it may be 
 translated, includes the camel, musk, deer, giraffe, 
 antelope, goat, sheep, and ox tribe. They have 
 divided hoofs ; and have no upper fore-teeth ; they 
 are in general inoffensive ; but when urged to com- 
 mit violence, they do it by butting with their heads, 
 which are hard, and generally furnished with horns, 
 and the muscles of the neck are remarkably strong. 
 
 r llie sixth order, be/hue, includes only four genera, 
 the horse, the hippotamus or river horse, the tapir, 
 and the hog. These animals have hoofs, which in 
 the horse are whole and rounded. His mode of 
 ig is by biting and kicking. 
 
 The seventh order, cete, distinguished from all 
 other animals of this tirst class by the want of legs, 
 includes four families, the whale, the narwal, the 
 cachalot, and the dolphin. They are all inhabitants 
 of the sea; and although they bear some resemb- 
 lance to fish in external appearance, are much more 
 like to quadrupeds in internal structure. They
 
 38 MAMMALIA, 
 
 breathe air through lungs, and suckle their young 
 at their breasts. 
 
 The further division of the genera into species 
 will not be attempted, as it would prove dry and un- 
 interesting to general readers ; and others may more 
 readily learn this part of natural history in books pro- 
 fessedly systematical. We shall only observe, that 
 these divisions are chiefly regulated by the colour, 
 shape, and size of the animals, or some such 
 quality. 
 
 As this 1st class, Mammalia, includes all such 
 and only such animals, as suckle their young, it 
 may' be called a natural division, and we might 
 expect to find in it only such as bear a great resemb- 
 lance to each other. This, however, is not the case f 
 for, besides bringing man into the same class with 
 quadrupeds, it includes whales, which in general 
 appearance resemble fish ; and bats, that more nearly 
 approach to the class of birds ; for these, it is now 
 well authenticated, suckle their young like quadru- 
 peds. 
 
 All animals of this class have a heart with four 
 cavities, (two auricles, and two ventricles); and 
 breathe through lungs ; in consequence of which 
 structure, heat is evolved during the circulation of the
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 39 
 
 blood, and they are therefore called warm-Wooded 
 animals. In the severest winter, or in the coldest 
 regions that man or any quadruped can inhabit, 
 the temperature of the body is hardly a degree 
 lower than in the warmest summer, or in the torrid 
 zone. A thermometer with its bulb under the tongue, 
 or buried in a wound in any fleshy part of the body, 
 always indicates a heat of 97or98bc the temperature 
 of the air what it may. The process by which this 
 equilibrium is maintained is now pretty accurately 
 ascertained, but cannot with propriety be explained 
 in a work of this nature, as much chymical reason- 
 ing as well as anatomical description must necessa- 
 rily be introduced. I shall however be able to give 
 some general ideas upon the subject in my cursory 
 remarks upon the other animal functions. 
 
 To say, that in man and in quadrupeds all the 
 animal functions are more perfectly performed than 
 in the other classes of the animal kingdom, is per- 
 haps equally erroneous and improper. The circu- 
 lation of the blood, and the respiration in amphi- 
 bious animals, in fishes, or in insects, differ widely, 
 it is true, from the same functions in man and in 
 quadrupeds; but the peculiarities of the former are 
 equally necessary to the life, and equally well adapted to 
 the peculiar habits of those animals, as are the peculia- 
 rities of the latter. Why then should we call the pro-
 
 40 MAMMALIA, 
 
 cess in one case more perfect than in the other? or 
 why style one class of animals (exclusive of man) 
 superior to others ? In none could the least change 
 be made without derangement, inconvenience, and 
 evident mischief; in all therefore it appears, that 
 both the structure and the functions are the most 
 perfect that could be adopted. 
 
 As the animal functions have been most frequently 
 and most completely examined in the human frame, 
 this is properly taken as the point of comparison ; 
 and the knowledge of the differences of these functions 
 in other animals may be called comparative physi- 
 ology, as the knowledge of their differences of struc- 
 ture is called comparative anatomy. 
 
 In this view it may be more useful to learn tli 
 animal functions as performed in the human bodv ; 
 and for this reason I beg that what follows may be 
 considered as referring to the physiology of man. 
 
 The circulation of the blood means the passage of 
 it in certain ramifying vessels from the heart to eveiy 
 part of the body, and back again to the heart. In 
 man and other warm-blooded animals the blood 
 forms two circles ; tirst from the heart to the lungs, 
 and back again ; then from the heart to every other 
 part, and back again. This two-fold circulation may
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 41 
 
 be thus briefly described ; first premising that the heart 
 is divided into four cavities or chambers, two auricles, 
 (right and left), placed superiorly to the two ventricles, 
 (right and left). 
 
 About one ounce of blood received into the right 
 auricle is propelled into the right ventricle ; and thence, 
 by its muscular contraction, into a large vessel, called 
 the pulmonary artery : having now left the heart, it is 
 forced through all the minute branches of this artery, 
 which are spread throughout the substance of the 
 lungs ; and being received by another set of vessels, 
 the veins, is transferred through larger and larger 
 branches into the trunk, called the pulmonary vein, 
 and thence into the left auricle of the heart. The 
 left auricle propels the blood into the left ventricle ' 3 
 and this contracting, forces it into the large artery, 
 called the aorta. This artery by innumerable ramifi- 
 cations conveys the blood to every part of the head, 
 to the arms, to the whole trunk, and to the lower 
 extremities. Corresponding veins receive the blood 
 from the extreme branches of the arteries, and gra- 
 dually increasing in size, as they receive more and 
 more of the blood, terminate in the large vein, called 
 vena cava, which empties itself into the right auricle, 
 whence we commenced our description of the circu- 
 lation.
 
 42 MAMMALIA, 
 
 From the above statement it appears, that all the 
 blood passes through the lungs, and returns to the 
 heart, before it is distributed to the rest of the 
 system. In this part of the circulation its properties 
 are very considerably altered, in consequence of its 
 exposure to the air, received into the lungs in breath- 
 ing ; to give some idea of which, I shall make a few 
 remarks on the function' of respiration. 
 
 Respiration is the reception of air into the lungs, 
 and its expulsion ; the former termed mspiration, 
 the latter expiration. By the action of certain 
 muscles which elevate and depress the shoulders, 
 protrude and draw back the breast-bone, and straighten 
 or relax the partition which there is between the 
 chest and the abdomen, the cavity which contains 
 the lungs is alternately increased and diminished in 
 all its dimensions. When it is increased, the air as 
 naturally rushes into the lungs, as it does into the 
 body of a pair of bellows, when by raising one 
 handle you increase the dimensions of the cavity. 
 And again, when the action of these muscles dimi- 
 nishes the cavity, the air is as necessarily expelled. 
 So far we have -explained the mechanism of respira- 
 tion ; but the air thus received into the lungs is es- 
 sentially altered in its chymical properties. Part of 
 its oxygen, which is the pure vital air, is absorbed ;
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 43 
 
 and besides the impure part, an addition of fixed air 
 is found in that which is expelled. This change is 
 effected in consequence of its coming nearly into 
 contact with the blood as it circulates in the minute 
 vessels of the lungs ; and if this reciprocal chymical 
 action between the air and the blood is prevented by 
 any means for a few minutes only, the animal inevi- 
 tably dies ; or if it is partially obstructed, disease is 
 the certain consequence, as in asthma, consumption, 
 and other diseases of the lungs. 
 
 The blood thus altered in its circulation through 
 the lungs, is more florid in colour, and is fitted for 
 the important functions which it has to perform in 
 what may be called its second circulation. It is 
 from the blood in its passage through different parts 
 of the body that every thing necessary to repair the 
 waste, and increase the growth, is to be extracted, 
 as bones, flesh, fat, and skin ; and certain .fluids, 
 as the tears, the bile, the perspirable matter, &c. : 
 each of these is separated from the blood in its pas- 
 sage through particular parts, and the process by 
 which it is done is termed secretion* 
 
 To supply this continual waste which the blood 
 sustains by all these different secretions, the nutri- 
 tious parts of our aliment, duly prepared by the 
 process of digestion, are blended into one uniform
 
 44 MAMMALIA, 
 
 milky fluid called chyle, which is absorbed or taken 
 up by the open mouths of certain vessels called 
 lacteals, and poured into one of the blood-vessels, 
 there to be mixed with/ and to circulate with the 
 blood. 
 
 This naturally leads us to make a few remarks on 
 the process of digestion. Our food taken into the 
 mouth, is there not only masticated, or ground 
 down by chewing, but is mixed with a large quan- 
 tity of saliva, or spittle ; in this state it is swallowed 
 into the stomach, is there mixed with a fluid of pe- 
 culiar chymical properties called the gastria juice, 
 and being intimately mixed by the muscular action of 
 the stomach, is converted by a chymical process into 
 an uniform pulpy mass termed chyme. Immedi- 
 ately upon its expulsion from the stomach into the 
 small intestines, it is further altered by an addition 
 of bile, and of a liquor called pancreatic juice, very 
 like to saliva, which is secreted by the pancreas, or 
 sweat bread, both which fluids are here poured into 
 the intestines. On the surface of the stomach, and 
 all the intestines, are the open mouths of the lac- 
 teals, which absorb the nutritious part of the chyme 
 as it passes slowly through them, and which then 
 receives the name of chyle. This fluid, after pas- 
 sing through its peculiar vessels, is poured into the 
 gubclavian vein to be mixed with the blood, and to
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 43 
 
 replenish its loss, whilst the remainder of the chyme 
 is expelled as useless. 
 
 The blood thus altered by the chymical action of 
 the air in the lungs, by the separation of the secreted 
 fluids, and by the admixture of chyle, is continually 
 passing through various chymical changes, during 
 which the matter of heat is absorbed in a latent form 
 from without, and is gradually evolved in a sensible 
 form within the body, which is the cause of what 
 is called animal heat. It would not be suitable here 
 to enter more minutely into these chymical changes. 
 
 After this short sketch of the animal functions, the 
 characteristics of the first class, mammalia, will be 
 more satisfactorily understood. They are animals 
 with warm red blood, whose heart has two auricles 
 and two ventricles, which breathe through lungs, 
 and have breasts for the secretion of milk, as a food 
 for their young offspring. 
 
 The different orders of this class have very diffe- 
 rent habits, and have peculiarities in structure won- 
 derfully adapted to those habits. The primates, 
 particularly the ape and monkey tribe, are destined 
 to live principally on fruit, and for security they 
 lodge on trees. To enable them to climb, to grasp, 
 and pluck the fruit, they have arms and hands much
 
 46 MAMMALIA, 
 
 more resembling those of man, than like the fore 
 legs of other quadrupeds. Such as have long tails 
 have a remarkable prehensile power in that mem- 
 ber, and in climbing or leaping from tree to tree, 
 can catch at a bough, and support themselves by 
 their tails with perfect ease and safety. 
 
 The third order, ferte, consists of predacious ani- 
 mals, whose sharp hooked claws, and sharp fore- 
 teeth, sufficiently bespeak their habits. They are all 
 endowed with a keen sight, and have strength and 
 agility combined to dart suddenly upon their prey, 
 and to retain it with a firm grasp. 
 
 The fifth order, pecora, includes the ruminating 
 animals, or animals that chew the cud. In these 
 the food is first swallowed without much chew-ing, 
 and received into a large cavity, not its proper sto- 
 mach, but a receptacle for its food, where it is re- 
 tained till the animal is inclined to masticate it at its 
 leisure. By a voluntary act the beast regurgitates, 
 or throws up its food in small portions from this re- 
 ceiving stomach into its mouth, chews it, and mixes 
 it with saliva, and then swallows it into its proper 
 digesting stomach. There are other peculiarities in 
 the structure of their alimentary canal, which it is 
 unnecessary here to mention.
 
 Ofc ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 4? 
 
 The seventh order, cete, or wkales, have many 
 peculiarities. Being warm-blooded animals, and 
 breathing air like quadrupeds, and yet being destined 
 to live in water, their nostrils are situated on the 
 top of their heads, so that by rising to the surface of 
 the water, which they are continually obliged to do, 
 they can take in air, and expire, without raising their 
 heads out of the water. The fat, or blubber of these 
 animals, is entirely lodged on the surface of their 
 bodies under the skin, serving as a warm covering* 
 and preserving their heat, which the constant appli- 
 cation of the cold water would otherwise soon dissi- 
 pate. The limbs of the animals of this order are 
 more like fins than like legs and feet, the two hinder 
 ones being united so as to form a kind of horizontal 
 tail. The intention of this peculiarity of structure is 
 evident, it being the best adapted for producing mo- 
 tion in the element which they inhabit. The anterior 
 limbs serve the same purpose as fins do to fishes, in 
 balancing arjd propelling their bodies, whilst the 
 horizontal tail is the part that by its strong lateral 
 motion enables the animal to dart downwards to the 
 bottom of the sea, and to rise again at will to the 
 surface of the water. 
 
 After these few remarks on some of the orders of 
 ihis class, I shall now give a few detached observa- 
 tions on certain families and species ; with which I 
 
 5
 
 48 MAMMALIA, 
 
 shall conclude the consideration of this branch of 
 zoology. x 
 
 Of bats there are four species in this country ; viz. 
 the long-eared bat, the short-eared bat, the great 
 bat, and the horse-shoe bat. They are awkward, ill 
 proportioned animals, and seem to constitute the 
 connecting link between quadrupeds and birds. What 
 are called the wings of the bat, are not composed of 
 feathers, but resemble in consistence the webs on the 
 feet of water-fowls, and are united to its fore-legs. 
 Its flight is laboured, and ill directed. It only flies 
 in the evening, and that only in the summer months, 
 retiring, as the winter approaches, into old buildings, 
 and hollow tree;s, where it remains in a torpid state 
 till spring. The female, of most of the species, pro- 
 duces two young at a time. In warm climates they 
 are more numerous, and the species in general much 
 larger. They are sometimes seen in such large 
 flights as to darken the atmosphere, and two or three 
 kinds of them are said to be so voracious as to attack 
 men ; and fastening on them when asleep, to perfo- 
 rate some large vein, and gorge themselves with 
 blood. The bats of this country live chiefly on in- 
 sects, particularly gnats, which induces them to fre- 
 quent the sides of woods, or to glide along the sur- 
 face of water. Other species live on fruits, and
 
 "eft ANIMALS TftAT BUCKLE TH-litR YOUNG. 49 
 
 some extract the juice from trees, especially from 
 the palm-trees in India. 
 
 Most of our domesticated animals are in this 
 class ; some of which, as the horse, ox, sheep> and 
 dog, being most useful to man, more particularly 
 demand our attention ; and what we shall say con- 
 cerning them, will chiefly relate to their varieties, 
 or to the peculiarities of particular kinds of horses^ 
 t>xen, sheep, or dogs. 
 
 There are varieties of each, that possess distinc- 
 tive characters, by which they are fitted for particu- 
 lar uses ; and these distinctive characters may by 
 care and attention be preserved, and thus different 
 varieties possessing each some peculiar and useful 
 property, may be continued. This has in some in- 
 stances met with deserved attention ; but in many 
 others it has been altogether overlooked and neglect- 
 ed. By drawing your attention therefore to the sub- 
 ject, and by pointing out some advantages, that may 
 with probability be expected to be derived from at- 
 tention to it, I shall hope to stimulate some of my 
 readers to promote the investigation. 
 
 There are two very prevailing opinions upon this 
 subject, that may fairly be termed vulgar errors ; 
 which have considerably retarded, and do still retard 
 
 VOL. i. D
 
 50 MAMMALIA, 
 
 and check the spirit of improvement which \ve wish 
 to see prevail. The first of these opinions is, that 
 particular varieties of animals, or, to speak techni- 
 cally, particular breeds, which are common in other 
 countries, would, if introduced into our own, infal- 
 libly degenerate, and in time assume all the charac- 
 ters of our native ones. 
 
 The second mistaken opinion upon this subject is, 
 that it is beyond our power to preserve any peculi- 
 arities of breed which we may discover in animals of 
 our own country ; but that they will in time lose 
 their peculiar qualities, and partake of those of other 
 varieties, or breeds. 
 
 These errors originated, no doubt, from the no- 
 tion, almost universally adopted, that all varieties 
 have originally proceeded from one stock ; that all 
 kinds of sheep, for instance, have sprung from a 
 first pair. Hence the natural inference was, that 
 the peculiarities of different varieties proceeded from 
 change of climate, food, or other appreciable cir- 
 cumstance. 
 
 Whether there was originally created only one 
 pair of animals, which we call sheep, only one pair 
 of dogs, and one pair of horses, is a matter of no 
 great moment to our present question ; neither is it
 
 OH ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 51 
 
 now within the power of man to ascertain its truth. 
 Perhaps the wool-bearing sheep, and the hair-bear- 
 ing sheep, the large draft-horse, and the Shetland 
 pouey, were created each in pairs, and some of the 
 other varieties were the immediate consequence of 
 an intermixture of these breeds. Leaving this hypo- 
 thesis, however, and allowing, that only one pair of 
 each of the animals, to which man now gives a dis- 
 tinct name, was originally created ; still the inference 
 is unjustifiable, that climate, food, or other appre- 
 ciable circumstance has been the cause of the va- 
 rieties, or peculiar breeds. We have, indeed, as 
 will appear hereafter, many instances, in which it 
 can be proved ^not to be the case. 
 
 From whatever cause, or by whatever power, 
 these varieties originally sprung; I shall now at- 
 tempt to prove, that they may, by proper care, be 
 perpetuated ; and that climate or food alone will 
 not have the effect of changing one variety into 
 another. 
 
 Every now and then we discover in a brood of 
 sparrows, or a litter of kittens, one or more that is 
 perfectly white, although the parent animals were 
 both of the usual colour. The same circumstance 
 frequently occurs amongst mice ; and as these arc 
 more frequently kept for their peculiarity of colour, 
 DC
 
 32 MAMMALIA, 
 
 'I shall take them as an example, for the purpose of 
 elucidating the subject. This is an accidental va- 
 riety ; at least we are wholly unacquainted \\ ith the 
 circumstances, that have determined this variation 
 from the usual course of Nature. But if we procure 
 a pah- of these white mice, and keep them separate 
 from all others, their progeny will invariably be 
 white ; at least it will be as rare to meet with one 
 of a dHlercnt colour amongst them, as it is, in tlie 
 natural way, to rind a white one. If these mice, as 
 is often the ^ase, are pampered with the nicest deli- 
 cacies, that those who keep them can procure, and 
 with the greatest variety of foods, the peculiarity 
 is as certainly preserved, as though they were at 
 large, and met with scanty fare. White mice have 
 been met with too in various countries, and no one 
 has ever supposed, that, if taken to the burning sands 
 of Africa, or to the icy regions of the north, they 
 would sooner lose this peculiarity of colour, thau 
 they do with us. As it is with mice, so it is with 
 other animals ; and as it is with respect to colour, 
 so it is with respect to many other, arid those some- 
 times important peculiarities. 
 
 Many, if not all, the varieties of dogs, sheep, 
 horses, and other animals, may, and, I doubt not, 
 have originated from what we at first should have 
 called accidental varieties ; and the reason win .some
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUN&. 55 
 
 ubtnind in one elime and situation, \\hilst a different 
 variety abounds in another, may be this ; that where-, 
 any variety found food, climate, and other external 
 circumstances most adapted to its peculiarity, there 
 that variety would remain, and would thrive, whilst 
 others were compelled to quit it, or would gradually 
 decrease in numbers, from the want of this adapta- 
 tion of circumstances to their peculiarities. 
 
 To illustrate my meaning ; suppose that a male 
 and female dog of any breed, the Newfoundland 
 breed, for instance, were landed on an island that 
 possessed the advantages of variety as to climate a* A! 
 productions, but in which there were no other dogs. 
 For some time none but Newfoundland dogs are 
 bred ; and in consequence of their peculiar fondness 
 for water, they continue to inhabit the coast only ; but 
 suppose that, after some time, two or more are born,, 
 remarkable for their rleetness, and for. the acute- 
 ness of their vision : these peculiarities would enable 
 them to obtain food of a kind different from what 
 their parents could procure ; they would natu: ally 
 resort to such situations as afforded this- kind of food r 
 namely the more inland parts, and would take plea- 
 sure in hunting hares, and other animals remarkable 
 for their rleetness. In these situations they would 
 meet, and their progeny almost universally inheriting 
 these peculiarities, would leave the coast entirely for 
 D 3
 
 I 
 
 54 MAM MALTA, 
 
 the interior, would intcrcopulate \\ith (hose of th# 
 same kind, and llius a race of greyhounds be estab- 
 lished perfectly distinct from the original breed. 
 
 Others, born with the peculiarity of acute smell, 
 would hunt their prey in still different situations ; and 
 according to their strength, fleetness, and some other 
 peculiarities, would either ferret out rats, wersels, 
 aud such small animals, as the terrier does ; or would 
 laboriously follow the track of foxes, as the beagles 
 do fq^ many miles together. Those lhat possessed 
 similar properties would resort to simitar situations, 
 and naturally associate ; thus keeping up the peculi- 
 arity of the breed. 
 
 In this way the different varieties of all animals 
 may have proceeded from accidental peculiarities in 
 the offspring of the original pairs ; and these new 
 varieties may have been preserved, by the individuals 
 being led, in consequence of their peculiarities, to 
 associate with each other, and not with those of dif- 
 ferent habits. 
 
 What is commonly acknowledged with respect to 
 dogs, has been denied in other animals, particularly 
 in sheep ; viz. that the varieties may be preserved by- 
 attending to the breeding. The pointer was, I be- 
 lieve, introduced into this country from Spain, and
 
 OH ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 55 
 
 that many years ago ; he still, however, possesses the 
 same shape and make, and same propensities as at 
 iirst. That the variety of sheep, called the Spanish 
 sheep, would as certainly retain its peculiar quality of 
 wool, I have no doubt, were the same pains taken to 
 prevent a crossing of the breed with others. 
 
 It is to the sportsman chiefly that we are indebted 
 for preserving the varieties of dogs distinct; and when 
 the grazier pays the same attention to the selection of 
 the proper kinds, and to the prevention of mongrel 
 breeds, we may expect to see very many distinct 
 varieties of sheep, each valuable for some peculiar 
 property. Many are already known, and many 
 more might be discovered, and preserved, remarkable 
 either for fecundity, for fattening early, for early 
 lambing, for superior flavour, or some other valuable 
 quality. 
 
 There are several varieties of sheep, which, instead 
 of wool, bear hair. One of these varieties is bred 
 in Spain, another has been found at St. Vincent's, 
 and a third on the coast of .Africa. Perhaps from 
 their peculiarity of bearing hair, and no wool, they 
 are not likely to be bred in this country. Their 
 other qualities, however, being as yet unattended to, 
 we know not what advantages they might be found to 
 possess. 
 
 D 4
 
 5<j MAMMALIA, 
 
 Sir Joseph Banks had one of the Spanish hair- 
 hearing variety in his possession for several years, 
 which preserved exactly the same properties in this. 
 country that it had in Spain, 
 
 
 The native sheep of Jamaica bears both hair and. 
 wool ; but the former being longest, it has generally 
 been considered a hair-bearing sheep; the wool,, 
 liov.evcr, may easily be separated, and is as soft as 
 the Shetland wool. One of this variety also wa 
 not long since alive in this country. 
 
 At the Cape of Good Hope there is a breed of 
 Sheep, whose great peculiarity consists in having an 
 immense broad tail ; and in some part of Asia is 
 another, bearing a large quantity of fat upon its 
 rump. 
 
 The Spanish wool-bearing sheep is another va- 
 riety, noted for the fineness, and at the same time 
 firmness of its wool, which makes it more valuable 
 than other kinds of wool. It was long thought, that 
 \\ hen this variety was taken into other countries, its 
 wool gradually degenerated, and partook of the less 
 valuable properties of that of the native sheep. This 
 error probably arose from the inaccuracy of the first 
 experiments ; for later trials, made upon a large 
 scale, both in this country and in France, have
 
 OR ANmVES THAT "SUCKLE TIIEIH YOUNG. 57 
 
 proved, that the wool continues equally fine and firm 
 as in Spain itself, provided die breed is kept distinct ; 
 but by crossing it with others, the wool necessarily 
 partakes of the qualities of both. It may be neces- 
 sary to observe, that the wool, as well as other parts 
 of the animal, will vary according to the state of 
 Health of the animal, and according to the quantity 
 or quality of its food ; so that sorters of wool are 
 able to teltfrom the appearance of the fleece, whether 
 tiie sheep was fed on rich or poor laud, on high 
 lund or in meadows; but this difference is neither 
 permanent nor hereditary, nor does the wool of one 
 breed assume from. these causes the properties of that 
 f toother- 
 
 The distinct varieties cf our own country are the 
 Southdown, distinguished for the fineness of their 
 wool ; the Dorsetshire, yielding short wool,, having 
 their bellies bare, and being remarkable for bringing 
 early lambs ; the Ryeland, being a small breed, with 
 fine wool; the Welsh sheep, chiefly characterised 
 by a peculiar elasticity and softness of the wool, as 
 well as a superior flavour of the mutton ; the Nor- 
 folk breed, with long legs, and black faces ; the 
 iancolnshire, a very large breed, and bearing very 
 long wool ; the Cumberland mountain, Lammer- 
 moor, and Cheviot breeds. 
 
 D 5
 
 58 MAMMALIA, 
 
 These are all acknowledged to be distinct varieties 5 
 and although they probably originated from acci- 
 dental births of two or more bearing similar peculi- 
 arities ; yet, from such associating together, they 
 have now established themselves into distinct breeds, 
 inhabiting distinct districts. In the same way that 
 Nature has led these varieties to perpetuate their 
 kinds, uncontaminated by other varieties, so may 
 art establish other breeds with such peculiarities as 
 the grazier may think it worth his while to encou- 
 rage. Some attention has of late been paid towards 
 establishing a variety that will fatten well, and ac- 
 quire a large size. This has been done nearly upon 
 the same principle, only that too much attention has 
 been paid to, what is called by graziers, good points, 
 and good figure, and too little attention to actual ex- 
 periments concerning their disposition to fatten. 
 
 It has been observed, that sheep, bearing such 
 and such points, are most likely to fatten well ; and 
 such are therefore selected for breeding from ; but 
 it is a fact, that some sheep, whiten are wanting in 
 what are reckoned good points, will turn out better 
 in feeding than many possessing these points : And 
 it is from such only as are observed to feed well, 
 fatten fast, and acquire a large bulk, that selection 
 should be made for keeping up the reed, that is, 
 supposing this to be the only object of the breeder.
 
 OR ANIMALS THA^ SUCKLE THEIR YOUN'G. 59 
 
 If, again, it is required to obtain a breed remark- 
 able for fecundity, select both rams and ewes from 
 such as were born couplets or triplets ; of their 
 offspring preserve for breeding only such as are bora 
 of ewes bearing two or three, and so on for several 
 years, and there is little doubt but you may at last 
 procure a breed that shall very rarely have less than 
 two or three lambs. 
 
 If early lambing is an object, breed only from 
 such as were lambed early ; if peculiar flavour of the 
 mutton, if any particular kind of wool, or any other 
 peculiarity is your object, pay the same attention to 
 breeding from such only as possess that peculiarity, 
 n nd you will almost certainly obtain your end. Let 
 it always be remembered, that the same attention 
 must be paid to selecting the males, as the females. 
 
 To such as have not considered this subject, these 
 speculations may appear absurd, and little likely to 
 answer ; but let them only observe what is daily 
 taking place amongst our own species, and their 
 doubts will cease. The different varieties of man 
 originated probably from the same cause as those of 
 other animals. The peculiarities of nations most 
 assuredly depend upon their intermarrying only with 
 each other ; for in the British, French, Dutch, or 
 other settlements, whether in Asia, Africa, or Ame- 
 J>6
 
 ft) MAMMALIA, 
 
 rica, the peculiarities of the mother country still 
 prevail. The English settler in Jamaica differs as 
 much in visage, and in disposition too, from the 
 Frenchman in Domingo, as the Londoner differs 
 from the Parisian. If, however, an Englishman 
 inter marries with a French, Chinese, or even Negro 
 woman, their children partake of the varieties of 
 both, and their children's children retain still less of 
 tiie peculiarities of the father, if allowed to marry 
 only with the French, Chinese, or Negro nation.. 
 Family likenesses, and peculiarities, are agreeable to* 
 the same general law. 
 
 The remarks that I have here made respecting 
 heep, are equally applicable to other animals, and 
 open a wide field for the scientific grazier. A va- 
 riety of the fallow deer was introduced into this- 
 country above seventy years ago, which still retains 
 its original appearance. It is called the Menel deer r 
 is of a reddish brown colour, spotted wil-h clear 
 white, and is reckoned the most beautiful variety 
 that we haVe. 
 
 There is a variety of goat, called the Angora 
 goat, which bears wool, and that of great length, 
 fine, soft, and silky. This wool has long been sold 
 at a very high price, as an indispensable ingredient 
 in the manufacture of fine camlets, and bombazines ;
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THETtt YOUNG. 6t 
 
 so that it forms a considerable article of import from 
 the Levant into this kingdom. It has generally been 
 thought an absurdity to talk of introducing the An- 
 gora goat into this country, in consequence of the 
 vulgar opinion, that by climate its wool would soon 
 degenerate. A gentleman, however^ of Lancashire,, 
 has tried the experiment, and he finds them to thrive 
 well, to breed freely, and the wool to preserve its 
 original qualities. The skin of one that was drowned, 
 was valued by a furrier in London at six guineas, 
 and the same price offered for as many such as he 
 could let him have. These are a few of the many 
 instances that might be adduced, to prove that cli- 
 mate has little or no effect in altering the peculiari- 
 ties of different animals. 
 
 We shall now bring one or two instances of ad- 
 vantages to be derived by selecting such varieties of 
 animals only as possess the desired peculiarities. 
 
 The Arab, whose livelihood, and whose very ex- 
 istence often depends upon his horse, has, by care 
 and assiduity, wonderfully improved the breed in 
 those particulars that he has reason most to prize. 
 It is not so much swiftness, as a capability of bear- 
 ing fatigue, that is required by the Arabs ; and in 
 selecting the proper objects for continuing the breed, 
 they pay less attention to beauty of shape and make,
 
 62 i MAMMALIA, 
 
 than to the feats they have accomplished in the way 
 of bearing fatigue, or to what their sires and grand- 
 sires, dams and grandams, were able to peiform. 
 From attending to this peculiarity, they have so im- 
 proved their breed, that an Arab would hardly think 
 of riding a horse that could not carry him at a brisk 
 pace for two, or even three days successively, with- 
 out either eating or drinking ; a task that, I presume, 
 scarcely a single horse in this country could be found 
 able to accomplish. 
 
 The English, however, have wonderfully improv- 
 ed tlieir horses in those qualities to which they have 
 attended ; for better racers, hunters, or draft-horses, 
 are no where to be found. 
 
 In the oxen tribe, I have no doubt but that tlie 
 breed, as to fattening, might be equally improved as 
 that of sheep ; and that instead of having a large fat 
 ox carried about as a wonder, we might in time have 
 a whole breed, as remarkable for their size, as those 
 which are now shewn for rarities. Other qualities 
 besides this should be attended to ; for instance, by 
 breeding only from such cows as are remarkable for 
 their quantity of milk, we might in time essentially 
 improve the breed in this particular, and so of others. 
 
 As the domesticated animals have occupied so 
 1
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 63 
 
 much of our attention, we shall make but few obser- 
 vations on the other auiinals of this first class. You 
 must not, however, from this infer tliat there are 
 few others that add to the comforts, convenience, 
 and even sustenance of man. 
 
 In uncivilized countries, thousands derive their 
 chief support from the quadrupeds with which their 
 woods abound. The skins of many wild beasts af-- 
 ford an article of traffic, and are. sought as orna- 
 ments and articles of dress among Europeans. 
 
 The elephants of Africa and Asia supply all the 
 world with ivory ; and the whales of the northern 
 seas afford an immense quantity of oil. Animals, 
 that are never seen but as curiosities with us, are the 
 domestic animals of other nations. The camel, the 
 buffalo, and even the elephant, are beasts of burden 
 in other countries. In parched and burning sands, 
 where no European animal could travel, the patient 
 camel carries his load from day to day, requiring 
 but little food, drink, or rest. The broad-hoofed 
 buffalo drags the plough in marshy miry soils, where 
 our English draft horse could Jiaidly move. And 
 lastly, the elephant is trained by the native Indians 
 to carry the heaviest burdens, and to act against their 
 -t-nemies in battle.
 
 64 MAMMALIA, 
 
 In our own country we have useful animals of the 
 class- mammalia, besides the domesticated ones. 
 Hares and rabbits, besides supplying us with a deli- 
 cate food, afford their furs to be manufactured into 
 feats. The fox's fur and brush are made into other 
 articles of dress.. 
 
 The wolf and the fox are classed by naturalists 
 under the same genus with the dog ; as the tiger and 
 the leopard are classed with the cat, between which 
 there is certainly a considerable similarity of manners,, 
 as well as of appearance. But when naturalists or 
 philosophers attempt to prove that some varieties of- 
 the human species are nearly allied to the simi*, or 
 apes, I cannot help thinking that such men, propa- 
 gating such notions, debase themselves thereby, ami 
 become more upon a- level with the brutes of which 
 they speak, than are the poor African and South. 
 Sea Islander, whom they endeavour to depreciate. 
 
 I have heard arguments, founded on such a no- 
 tion, advanced even by intelligent men, to support 
 the propriety of the slave trade ; a commerce that 
 must cause every feeling heart to sicken at the sight,, 
 or even at the recital of half its miseries ; and which 
 would, if like were paid for like, draw forth tears o 
 blood from every man, that dares to be concerned;
 
 OR ANIMALS THAT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG. 6,5 
 
 in, or to encourage it. TIS true that the Negroe 
 differs in the colour of his skin, and the, consistence 
 of his hair ; so does the goat of Angora from the 
 goat of Wales, in the colour and consistence of its 
 fleece, yet both are goats ; and so is the African as 
 much a man as the Guinea trader, or the British 
 merchant ; and in the practice of morality, ofteu 
 comes nearer to the character of a good man. Tis 
 not because the black man differs, from the white in 
 external appearance, or internal qualities, that a 
 Christian nation tolerates his slavery ; but it is be- 
 cause the white man has extensive power, and the 
 uncivilized Negroe none. Is there not as much dif- 
 ference between the figure and habits of a Chinese 
 peasant and a British artizan, as between the latter 
 and a native of the coast of Guinea ? And who ever 
 heard the propriety supported, of carrying on a slave 
 trade at Canton, or Pekin, to supply our Indian 
 possessions with Chinese slaves ? No one ; for 
 China has power to resist ; and were that the case 
 with the Negroes, none would be daring enough to 
 assert, that a traffic in human flesh was recoucileable. 
 to the doctrines of Christianity.
 
 ESSAY IT. 
 
 CLASS II. 
 
 AVES, OR BIRDS. 
 
 THE study of this branch of natural history is deno- 
 minated Otfltthology ; in treating which, \ve shall 
 follow precisely the same plan as before ; giving first 
 a concise view of the classification of birds, and then 
 making our observations on the whole class, on par- 
 ticular families or on individual species, as to their 
 economy, habits, instincts, or uses. 
 
 Some naturalists have, in the first instance, divided 
 birds into land and water birds ; but there are some 
 species that cannot properly be classed with either ; 
 as the curlew, woodcock, snipe, and others; which 
 only frequent the shores and sides of lakes, rivers, 
 and brooks, where they wade about in search of food, 
 tut never swim like the goose, the duck, or the 
 diver. 
 
 Other naturalists have arranged all the different
 
 G8 AVE9 r 
 
 genera of birds under the two divisions of granivo- 
 rous and carnivorous ; but this, like tlie last, is toa 
 vague and indeterminate ; for there are birds that live 
 on insects alone, as the swallow tribe ; others that 
 eat both insects and grain, as the sparrow, and its 
 congeners ; some, again, devour slugs,, and do not 
 refuse grain ; one bird lives on the honey and honey- 
 comb of bees ; and another perforates the bark, and. 
 sucks the sap of some species of palm. Under which,, 
 then, of the above two heads, can these, and a 
 variety of oilier birds, be classed ? Nature will not be 
 shackled. For the purposes of arrangement we 
 must be content without any one grand division, and 
 consider the whole feathered race as classed into the 
 six following orders, according to Linnaeus : 1st, 
 Accipitres, or the rapacious kind ; 2d, Piece, or the 
 pye kind ; 3d, Ariseres, the goose, or duck kind ;. 
 4th, Gralldfy. or the crane kind ; 5th, Galliruz, or 
 the poultry kind ; and 6th, P asserts, or the sparrow, 
 kind. 
 
 ORDER I. 
 
 ACCIPITRES. 
 
 THE birds of this order have hooked bills, the su- 
 perior mandible near the base being extended beyond
 
 on tfifciys. 09 
 
 the inferior, and in some it is armed with teeth. 
 Their thighs are muscular, and claws hooked, and 
 strong. This order contains four genera ; 1st, the 
 vulture ; 2d, the falcon, which includes also the 
 <?agle ami hawk tribe; 3d, the owl; and 4th, the 
 lanius, or butcher bird. 
 
 ORDER II. 
 
 THIS order, the pies, includes twenty-three ge- 
 nera ; the crow, roller, cuckoo, wryneck, wood- 
 pecker, kingfisher, hoopoe, and many others. The 
 bill of these birds is convex and compressed. 
 
 ORDER III. 
 
 ANSERES. 
 
 TH E birds of this order are the water birds, ac- 
 cording to the division of some naturalists. They 
 have smooth bills, broad at the point, and covered 
 with a thin membrane ; the tongue is fleshy, the legs 
 are naked, and the feet webbed. There are thirteen 
 genera in this order, some of which ure the swan,
 
 70 AVE9, 
 
 vhich genus includes the goose, duck, widgeon, and 
 teal; the avvk, or penguin j the puffin, and the cor- 
 vorant, 
 
 ORDER IV. 
 
 GRALIwE. 
 
 THE birds of this order have somewhat cylindrical 
 bills, tongue entire and fleshy, thighs naked, toes 
 divided, and tail short. It includes twenty genera ; 
 the heron, curlew, woodcock, snipe, ruff, lapwing, 
 sandpiper, dottrel, coot, and bustard, are all in this 
 order. 
 
 ORDER V. 
 
 GALLING. 
 
 Til E bill in these is convex, the superior mandible; 
 vaulted over the inferior, the nostrils are half covered 
 with a cartilaginous membrane. The toes are di- 
 vided, except at the last joint, where they are con- 
 nected by a membrane. There are ten genera in 
 this order ; they bear considerable resemblance to 
 each other in general appearance as well as in man-
 
 OR BI11D3. 
 
 ner, as the pheasant, black game, moor game, 
 partridge, and the domestic fowl. 
 
 ORDER VI. 
 
 
 
 PASSERES. 
 
 Til is, the sparrow tribe, have conical sharp-pointed 
 bills, and wide naked oval nostrils. It includes se- 
 venteen genera. The pigeon, lark, starling, field- 
 fare, chatterer, bulfinch, linnets, sparrows, swallows, 7 
 wagtails, and the nightingale, as well as all our 
 other little songsters and warblers, belong to this sixth 
 division. 
 
 In our general observations on this class of ani- 
 mals, we cannot avoid noticing, in the first place, 
 the admirable contrivances throughout the whole of 
 their structure, for promoting their buoyancy in the 
 air, for enabling them to move with celerity, and for 
 directing their course. 
 
 Their covering is of the lightest kind; yet the 
 down, with which they are supplied under their fea- 
 thers, is the warmest that could be devised; for, in 
 consequence of the air entangled as it were in its in- 
 terstices, it is one of the slowest conductors of heat.
 
 .7fi AYES, 
 
 The outer feathers, by their slanting disposition, and 
 their natural oiliness, form a complete shelter to the 
 body from wet; and the hollow structure of the 
 wing feathers, by increasing their bulk without in* 
 creasing their weight, renders them more buoyant in 
 the air. 
 
 The whole form of the body is adapted to its fly* 
 ing with ease and celerity; the small head and sharp 
 beak for diminishing the resistance of the air; the 
 great muscular strength,, as well as expansion of the 
 wings, for impelling its body forward with celerity ; 
 and the broad feathers of the tail, movfeabte in al- 
 most every direction, for steering its course, like the 
 rudder of a ship. 
 
 The disposition of the lungs along the back bone, 
 and their communication with the cells in the bones 
 of the wings, thighs, and breast, by admitting air 
 into almost every part of the body, increases the 
 buoyancy of the whole ; and enables the bird to exist 
 longer without breathing, which must be in a great 
 measure impeded, if not suspended, during some of 
 its most rapid flights. 
 
 It has been observed, that the brilliancy of plumage 
 in the feathered tribe is only to be looked for in the 
 warmer regions of Asia and Africa; but whoever
 
 t)fc BIRDS. 73 
 
 lias seen the beautiful kingfisher dart along the shaded 
 brook, cannot allow that Britain has nothing to boast 
 in the brilliancy of its birds. The crimson crown, 
 and variety of colours of the green woodpecker, the 
 beautiful bars of black, blue, and white, on the 
 greater jving-coverts of the jay, and die elegant plu- 
 mage of the pheasant, as well as the extreme beauty 
 of the roller, and the Bohemian chatterer, which 
 sometimes visit us from countries still further north, 
 prove that Nature has not confined her works of ele- 
 gance to regions within the tropics. 
 
 The whole class of birds differs essentially from all 
 other animals in internal structure, as well as external 
 form and appearance ; and every point of difference, 
 'when accurately examined, is evidently adapted to 
 their peculiar habits. These, however, we shall not 
 particularize, as the description of them must neces- 
 sarily be minute, to be at all intelligible. 
 
 The remarkable differences between the different 
 orders of birds, may w ith propriety be noticed ; and 
 we shall in every instance be able to point out some 
 advantage that is derived from the peculiarity of eacli^ 
 than which nothing can be a stronger proof of design 
 and wisdom in the Maker. 
 
 The general appearance of the Accipitres, or birds 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 AVES, 
 
 of prey, bespeaks their character, and their mode of 
 procuring sustenance. Their beaks are hooked> 
 strong, and notched at the point ; and the neck 
 .strong and muscular, to enable them to strike their 
 prey with force. Their legs are short and muscular, 
 and their talons sharp and crooked, to force down, 
 and keep their prey upon the ground, or to grasp it 
 in their claws, and soar away with it. Their sight is 
 M> piercing, that oftentimes, when so high as to be 
 out of human ken, they can descry their prey upon 
 the ground ; and their flight is so rapid, that they 
 can dart upon it with the celerity of a meteor. Their 
 prey varies, according to their strength and rapacity, 
 from the lamb or kid, which the vulture bears away 
 in his talons, to the smaller birds and mice, on which 
 the hawk and owl tribes feast. 
 
 To prevent the depredation that they would 
 otherwise commit, Nature has ordained that this 
 tribe of birds should be the least prolific ; few of 
 them lay more than two eggs. 
 
 The fanner ought never to disturb the owls that 
 frequent his barns, for the number of mice which 
 they destroy is immense. They devour the whole 
 animal, and have the power of afterwards rejecting 
 t*ic sldu and bones in the form of balls or pellets, 
 V me frequently found in vast heaps in hollow
 
 trees, or other haunts. As mice, the chief food of 
 the common o\\ 1, come out in the evening only, and 
 are very nimble, as well as easily alarmed, Nature 
 lias given the o\vl a peculiar structure in the eye, by 
 which it ip enabled to see with much less light than 
 other animals ; and from the same cause it is almost 
 blind in a strong light : and this bird is moreover en- 
 abled to fly with less noise than any other, and of 
 course with less danger of giving the alarm to its prey, 
 in consequence of a peculiar softness of the feathers, 
 iind a serrature of their external edges. 
 
 The second order, Pica, includes birds of very 
 different habits, and therefore they have no great 
 peculiarities of structure in commpn. Some of them 
 feed on grubs, worms, and insects ; as the rook, the 
 starling, and others : some on fruit, and berries ; as 
 ihe magpie, jay, and fieldfare. The king-fisher lives 
 on fish ; and the woodpecker on insects, which it is 
 enabled to detect, and procure from behind the bark 
 of trees ; for this purpose all the woodpeckers are 
 furnished with large strong wedge-shaped beaks to 
 penetrate the tree, and long taper tongues, with a 
 hard bony substance at the end, to extract the in- 
 sects and their eggs. The humming bird extracts 
 its food from flowers, with its forked tongue, while 
 on the wing. In this particular, and in its modfe of 
 flight, it very much resembles a lepidopterous insect 
 E 2
 
 76 AYES, 
 
 of the genus sphinx, and may therefore be consider- 
 ed as one of the connecting links in Nature's chain. 
 
 Rooks are remarkably fond of the grubs of beetles, 
 particularly of the cock-chafer ; and by the destruc- 
 tion of this injurious insect, they more than repay 
 the farmer for any mischief which they may do his 
 grain. Indeed they ought rather to be encouraged, 
 than driven away from new sown land ; for it is to 
 the springing crop that grubs and slugs are particu- 
 larly detrimental, and especially in land first plough- 
 ed up from the sward. It has been observed, that 
 the destruction of a rookery has been followed by 
 the destruction of whole crops in the neighbourhood, 
 in consequence of the immense increase of grubs 
 and slugs. 
 
 The third order, Anseres, comprehends all kinds 
 of water fowl. The webbed feet of these birds are 
 admirably adapted to aid them in swimming ; and 
 the greater quantity of oil secreted by the glands near 
 the tail, and rubbed by means of their bills over all 
 the feathers of their body, enables them to live on 
 the water, without ever being very wet. 
 
 They live mostly on fish ; and some of them have 
 been occasionally tamed, and trained to the catching 
 of fish for the use of their masters. The cormorant,
 
 OR BIRDS. 77 
 
 in China, has been put to this use ; and a ring being 
 fastened round the neck of the bird, to prevent its 
 swallowing its prey, it has been taught to bring all 
 it catches to its master, in hopes of receiving at last 
 its accustomed reward. The pelican, it is said, has 
 been trained to the same use, and has brought home 
 its extraordinary pouch full of fish. The soland 
 goose, which visits some of the Scotch Isles annu- 
 ally, particularly the Bass, has a pouch somewhat like 
 that of the pelican, though less, in which it some- 
 times carries to its young as many as three whole 
 herrings at a time. 
 
 I have heard of a peculiar mode of taking this b,ird r 
 which is sometimes practised at the Bass. The 
 fowler chooses the night time for his stratagem, 
 when whole flocks are at rest together ; but as they 
 always have their sentinels in advance, it requires 
 great care and caution to approach them. For ibis 
 purpose he crawls upon his hands and knees with the 
 least possible noise, till he has got near enough to 
 seize one of them, and then as quickly as possible he 
 catches another by the legs, and holding one in each 
 hand, sets them- a fighting with each other. If he is- 
 able to effect this, his work immediately begins ; for 
 the whole flock, instantly upon hearing the affray, 
 advance and join in the combat ; and siding with one 
 or other party till the whole are engaged, they are 
 E 3
 
 79 AVES, 
 
 / 
 inattentive to every thing else that is going on. The 
 
 fowler now .with less caution crawls about, and de- 
 stroys as many as he can. In this way he may some- 
 times catch two or three dozen before they take to 
 flight. 
 
 Fn some of the lakes of China, where the water- 
 fo\vl abound, the natives have the following ingenious 
 mode of catching them : For several days before 
 ihey attempt to take them, many empty goiurd shells 
 ure set afloat on the water, to habituate the birds to 
 their appearance ; arid when they are observed to 
 take no notice of these shells, but to swim about 
 Amongst them, a man, with one of the same kind 
 upon his head, goes into the lake, and wades or 
 r swims amongst the biids with nothing but his head 
 above water. He now begins his sport ; and taking 
 4he birds by their legs, draws tin in undt;r water, 
 breaks their necks, and fastens them to his girdle 
 one after another till he is sufficiently loaded, and 
 then returns with them to the shore. 
 
 In this country another mode is adopted in what 
 are called the decoys. Tame ducks are employed to 
 entice the wild fowl, by calling them, and swim- 
 ming before them into ponds of water, properly pro- 
 vided with nets to take them in. The decoys in Lin- 
 colnshire almost wholly supply the London markets
 
 OR BIRDS. 79' 
 
 \vith wild ducks, widgeons, and half birds, taken in 
 this way. Most of the water fowl a;e birds of pas- 
 sage with us ; and leave the lakes of Sweden, Den- 
 mark, and Lapland, where they breed in summer, 
 to visit our warmer climate during the rigour of win- 
 ter. They fly in large flocks, and always preserve a 
 certain order during their flight. The wild ducks 
 generally fly in the form of a wedge, in which the 
 foremost birds, breaking the resistance of the air, 
 certainly render the flight less laborious to those that 
 follow. And when the foremost are fatigued, they 
 are observed to remove to the rear, and are immedi- 
 ately relieved by others. 
 
 The swan, which ia of lhia tribe of birds, feeds 
 almost solely on water plants. Ducks and geese ex- 
 tract many insects and their eggs from the water, and 
 fronj the muddy bottom of pools and ponds, by fil- 
 tering it, as it were, through their broad bills. The 
 ducks sometimes catch small fishes ; and geese, par- 
 ticularly the soland geese, which feed chiefly on her- 
 rings, derive their principal support from die finny 
 
 The fourth order, gruU(e t or the crane kind, are 
 peculiarly well adapted in their form to their mode 
 of life. Their legs are long and naked, to enable 
 them to wade with ease in shallow waters, and on 
 
 Ju 4
 
 80 AVES, 
 
 the shores, where their whole sustenance is to be 
 found. Their bills are long, and in many their 
 necks are likewise of a remarkable length, to enable 
 them to search, in moist, boggy, and marshy places, 
 for insects, or in others to give them the power of 
 darting their bills into the water, to seize their prey,, 
 while they are standing knee-deep patiently waiting; 
 its approach. 
 
 The heron is such a devourer of fish, us to be 
 considered a nuisance, wherever fish is intended to 
 be preserved^ The woodcock and snipe live wholly 
 on insects, to the taking of which their bills are very 
 nicely adapted ; and the plovers live on worms. The 
 Bustard, which is also of this order, though differ- 
 ing in many respects from the rest, is the largest of 
 the British birds. This, with a few others of the 
 order grallae, lives principally on herbs and grain. 
 
 The fifth order, gaMina, includes the domestic 
 fowls ; and here again we must observe and admire 
 the bountiful hand of Nature, in rendering most pro- 
 lific those birds, that are best calculated for the food 
 of man. 
 
 The common cock and hen, which now furnish 
 our tables with such profusion of delicate and whole* 
 sonie food., are supposed to have been originally
 
 OR BtRDSV 81 
 
 transported from India, where they are still occa- 
 sionally found in a state of nature. This bird has 
 been from time immemorial domesticated, and ren- 
 dered serviceable to man. Though not found in 
 America, when that continent was first explored by 
 Europeans, it has by its fecundity already become as 
 plentiful there as in Europe. The hen will, if well 
 fed, lay annually upwards of two hundred eggs ; and 
 will rear one, sometimes two broods of chickens, of 
 from ten to fifteen each. 
 
 America, in return for the common fowl, which 
 she received from Europe, has given us the turkey, 
 which is now in a domestic state all over Europe. 
 
 The turkey brings off fifteen or sixteen at a brood, 
 but tV-ey require great care in this climate during the 
 first few weeks. 
 
 The peacock is a native of India ; the guinea fowl 
 of Africa ; and the Pheasant, though not domesti- 
 cated, but living wild in our woods r is not originally 
 a British bird. All the varieties of pheasants have 
 been brought from the Chinese, or other Eastern 
 nations ; our common pheasant is the only one that 
 has multiplied in this country. 
 
 The sixth and last order, passeres, or the sparrow 
 E 5
 
 82 AVES, 
 
 tribe, includes a vast variety of birds generally small ; 
 and amongst them are all the songsters and warblers 
 of our groves and thickets. The food of this tribe of 
 birds is either berries, fruit, and occasionally grain ; 
 or insects and the eggs and larvae of insects . Nature in 
 this, as in every other instance, beautifully adapts 
 the means of procuring sustenance to the creature's 
 peculiar wants; this tribe, therefore, is naturally 
 divided into such as have soft and delicate bills, and 
 others that have hard, conical, and sharp-pointed bills : 
 the latter live on berries, kernels of fruit, and grain ; 
 the former, on insects. N 
 
 The structure of the bill of the bird called cross- 
 bill is in a very remarkable manner fitted for its pe- 
 culiar food. This bird, which occasionally visits us 
 in the winter, breeds in Russia, Sweden, Poland, 
 and Germany, where it derives its chief sustenance 
 from the seeds of -the fir-cones: The upper and 
 under mandible of its bill, curving in opposite direc- 
 tions, cross each other at the points ; so that while it 
 holds the fir-cone in one claw, like -the parrot, it is 
 enabled to raise each scale with its lower inaudible, 
 and at the same time to break it with the upper, and 
 thus get at the seed. 
 
 Many birds of this order, and particularly the com- 
 mon sparrow, have been considered by narrow-minded
 
 OR BIRDS. 83 
 
 as clcstnictive, useless animals ; and .Nature has 
 been impiously taxed with creating them with the 
 sole intent of destroying other useful productions, 
 without .answering in themselves any one good and 
 useful purpose. Even Buffon has described the 
 Sparrow, as a bird that is extremely destructive, its, 
 plumage entirely useless, its flesh indifferent' food, 
 its notes grating to the ear, and its familiarity and 
 pctulence disgusting. We shall, however, suffici- 
 ently satisfy ourselves of the error of suqh impious 
 declaimers, if we do but examine some of the pro- 
 pensities of these birds. ^ 
 
 The sparrow, for instance, amply repays the hus- 
 bandman and gardener for his petty thefts, by de- 
 stroying innumerable insects. It has been calculated 
 from actual observations, that a single pair of spar- 
 rows, during the time of feeding their young, will 
 destroy about four thousand caterpillars weekly. 
 Only consider, then, what myriads of these pernici- 
 ous insects are destroyed annually by one species of 
 birds. 
 
 We can hardly doubt but that the total extinction 
 of the race of sparrows, provided the breed of other 
 birds of similar habits was not increased, would soon- 
 prove the cause of an universal dearth. Every cater- 
 pillar, whose life was thus preserved, would, when
 
 84 AVES, 
 
 arrived to its perfect winged state, lay several hun- 
 dred eggs, which immense increase of all the 
 various caterpillars, that the sparrow is known to 
 search for and devour, would in a few years be 
 equal to the destruction of every blade of grass and 
 every leaf. 
 
 The swallow, by its unexampled destruction of 
 other insects that would poison the very atmosphere 
 in which we live, preserves the nice balance that is 
 requisite for the happiness and harmony of the 
 whole. These birds again afford a necessary source 
 of food to others, which answer evident and impor- 
 tant purposes in the grand scheme of Nature. 
 
 We have now gone through the six orders into 
 which birds are divided ; noticing some of the pecu- 
 liarities of each. We shall finish our essay on 
 ornithology with some observations on the migration 
 of birds, and some other remarkable instances of 
 their instinct. 
 
 A great variety of birds are known to emigrate 
 annually to a considerable distance from the country 
 where they breed, and to return again regularly at 
 the breeding season. The only evident inducements 
 to these long voyages are, either to seek a more 
 genial temperature, to obtain more abundant food,
 
 OR BIRDS* 85 
 
 or to find a safe retreat for producing and rearing 
 their numerous young. How they acquire the neces- 
 sary knowledge for their journey, or how they are- 
 directed to regions most suited to their respective 
 wants, has been the subject of various speculations. 
 But all inquiries of this sort end in doubt, and only 
 prove that the Creator has endowed his creatures 
 with instincts sufficient to relieve their respective 
 wants, and to preserve their future progenies. 
 
 I shall now give some account of the birds, that 
 have their stated times for visiting this island, natu- 
 rally dividing them into such as spend their summer 
 here ; and such as come in winter, and leave us in 
 the spring. 
 
 Of the summer birds of passage the different kinds 
 of swallows are most numerous, and have attracted 
 the most attention. They have so often been ob- 
 served at sea, steering their course southward in 
 autumn, and northward in spring, that no doubt 
 can now be entertained as to the majority of them 
 leaving us in the w inter for the more genial warmth 
 of the southern latitudes. There are, however, 
 authentic accounts of some few being found in a 
 torpid state, like bats, during the winter months. 
 These individuals, probably by the lateness of their 
 broods, or by some other accident, were necessarily
 
 86 AYES, 
 
 detained till after the general migration, and were 
 then unable, probably from want of food and strength, 
 to undertake the journey. The same circumstance 
 satisfactorily explains the transitory appearance of a 
 few swallows so late in the year as November, and 
 even December, when a warm sunny day has roused 
 and brought out some of these torpid birds in search 
 of a little food. The bat in the same manner, 
 though it lies torpid most of the winter months, is 
 occasionally seen in the evening of a warm day many 
 weeks after it has retreated to its winter lurking- 
 place, or some weeks before it leaves it entirely in 
 the spring. On these occasions they are sure to 
 meet with some provisions ; for the same warmth 
 that has roused them to activity, has brought out 
 many of the insect tribe from their winter slumbers 
 also. 
 
 It has been observed too 'by naturalists, that great 
 numbers of swallows have been sometimes seen early 
 in the spring, have then totally disappeared for seve- 
 ral days of cold weather, and have been on the wing 
 again the first fine sunny day. As they cannot be 
 supposed to have gone back again to warmer cli- 
 mates, and to have returned so soon, I think it 
 highly probable, that these also have been for a few 
 days in a state of torpor.
 
 OR BlR'DS. 87 
 
 Tliis disposition of the swallow to become torpid 
 is evidently regulated by the temperature of the air, 
 as has been satisfactorily proved by experiment. 
 Swallows detained here, and not kept warm, have 
 become torpid, whilst others, carefully preserved, 
 have remained lively all winter. The torpid ones, 
 gradually warmed, have likewise recovered their 
 activity. That they have been endowed with this 
 peculiarity for wise purposes cannot be doubted. 
 
 The sole food of the swallow we know to be in-* 
 sects, and as these only fly during warm weather, it 
 is probable that, in a variable climate like this, these 
 bird.? would occasionally suiter by being without food 
 for a week or two together, particularly such as have 
 come over rather sooner than the general fligjit, 
 were it not for their capability of becoming torpid 
 from the same cause that deprives them of their 
 food. 
 
 The opinion, that swallows do not migrate, but 
 spend their winter at the bottom of our ponds and 
 lakes, though formerly pretty generally admitted, is 
 too preposterous to be thought worth a moment's 
 consideration by modern physiologists. Indeed, from, 
 the anatomical structure of the bird, it is known to 
 be impossible for them to exist under water.
 
 88 AVES, 
 
 The frequent appearance of swallows on the verge 
 of the water late in the autumn, and early in the 
 spring, which had given rise to the above opinion, 
 and which Mr. White notices in his History of 
 Selboarne, makes it probable, that the transitory 
 fctale of torpor, which we suppose some of them 
 occasionally to undergo, is passed among the weeds- 
 and roots along the banks of ponds and lakes. 
 
 The other summer birds of passage, as well as the 
 Swallows, are soft billed birds, and live on insects. 
 From this circumstance it is evident, that a want of 
 food, as well as the coldness of the weather, impel* 
 them to their migration ; for during the winter there 
 are but few insects on the wing. 
 
 As if, however, Nature delighted in shewing the ex- 
 haustless variety of her means to support and perpetu- 
 ate her creatures, she has not destined all the insecti- 
 vorous birxls of this country to migrate in winter iir 
 search of food. The redbreast and wren approach the 
 habitations of men during the severity of winter; 
 and besides the spiders, which they search for and 
 detect in our out-houses, and the thatches of out 
 buildings, they gladly accept a few scattered crumbs j 
 as also does the hedge-sparrow, which almost lives 
 on this precarious subsistence. The three species 
 of wagtails which we have in Britain, frequent shal-
 
 OR BIRDS. 89 
 
 low rivulets near the spring heads, where the water 
 never freezes, and there they procure the aui eliaj or 
 grubs of a four-winged insect called pkrygunea. The 
 whin-chat, stone-chatter, golden crowned wren, and 
 some of the wheat-ears, are the other soft billed 
 birds, that stay with us the whole winter, and are 
 supported on the few insects, and their eggs, that 
 are then to be found. 
 
 As many of my readers may not be acquainted 
 with the particular birds which only spend their 
 summer with us, I shall subjoin a list made out by 
 that accurate observer Mr. White, in which they are 
 arranged nearly in the order in which they re-appear 
 in Spring. 
 
 SUMMER BIRDS OF PASSAGE. 
 
 1. Wryneck, - - - - Middle of March, 
 
 2. Smallest Willow Wren, March C3. 
 
 3. Swallow, - - - April 15. 
 
 4. Martin, ditto. 
 
 5. Sand Martin, - - - ditto. 
 
 6. Black Can, - - - - ditto. 
 
 7. Nightingale, - - - - Beginning of April. 
 
 8. Cuckoo, ----- Middle of April. 
 
 9. Middle Willow Wren, - ditto.
 
 90- AVF.S, 
 
 10. Whitethroat, - - **o 
 
 11. Redstart, - - - - - 
 
 12. Stone Curlew, - - - 
 
 13. Turtle Dove, - - - - 
 
 14. Grasshopper Lark, - - 
 
 15. Swift, ------ 
 
 16. Less Reed Sparrow. 
 17- Landrail. 
 
 18. Largest Willow Wren, 
 19 Goat Sucker, or Fern i 
 Owl, - - - - 5 
 20. 'Fly Catcher, - - - 
 
 Middle of April. 
 
 ditto. 
 End of March. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Middle of April. 
 About April <27. 
 
 End of April. 
 Beginning of May. 
 May 12. 
 
 The winter birds of passage are such as brcrd" in 
 more northern climates, chiefly Denmark, Norway, 
 Sweden, and Lapland; and which visit us, \vbeu tho 
 cold weather becomes too severe, and their food 
 consequently scanty. The most numerous of this 
 class are the different kinds of wild fowl, as geese, 
 ducks, widgeons, half birds, ,c., .which come over 
 in vast flocks in the beginning of winter. Many of 
 them used to stop here in the summer, and breed 
 with us ; but since the population has increased, and 
 the quantity of waste land has been diminished, they 
 find the northern lakes more, secure, as well as better 
 supplied with fish for them during their incubation, 
 and the rearing of their young. The other birds 
 that visit us iu winter, are likewise impelled to it
 
 OR, BIROS. 9fc 
 
 by intensity of cold, and scantiness of food, and pro- 
 bably return in summer vi hence they came for the 
 security of their young. 
 
 It is a wise provision of Nature, that directs the 
 return of the insectivorous birds from Africa and the 
 south of Europe, to spend the summer here, al-s 
 though insects still abound in the countries they have 
 left ; and the same that directs the winter birds of 
 passage to leave us in the summer, although fish 
 and worms, tlieir chief support, still abound with 
 us. Were no such migration to take place, the 
 insects here, and fishes and worms in Lapland, 
 would soon be detrimentally abundant. 
 
 The winter birds of passage are the redwing, field- 
 fare, royston crow, woodcock, snipe, jack-snipe, 
 wood-pigeon, wild swan, wild goose, soland goose, 
 wild duck, pochard, widgeon, and teal. Some of 
 the last species breed in this country-. The ring- 
 ousel seems only to make this island its baiting place 
 from a northern to a more southern country. Some 
 have been observed here in the latter end of Sep- 
 tember, and others again in March. The crossbill, 
 
 x 
 
 the grossbeak, the roller, and Bohemian chatterer, 
 are not annual visitants, but appear every now and 
 then in the winter season.
 
 92 AYES, 
 
 It being now necessary that we draw to a conclu- 
 sion this Essay on Ornithology, we shall only glance 
 at some remaining subjects of interesting inquiry. In 
 the first place, the manner in which the different 
 birds pair, warble out their amorous strains,, and 
 build their nests,, will afford many hours of amuse- 
 ment to the observing naturalist. 
 
 " 'Tis love creates their melody, and all 
 " This waste of music is the voice of love*. 
 " That even to birds and beasts, the tender arts 
 " Of pleasing teaches. " 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 Some are by no means constant to their mates f 
 but that male bird who has by his prowess proved 
 victorious over the rest, considers himself entitled to- 
 the favours of numerous females ; this is remarkably 
 the case with grouse. Others,, as the turtle dove, 
 and many of the smaller birds, pair in the spring, 
 and maintain an admirable constancy throughout the 
 season of hatching and rearing their young. The 
 sweet warbling of these rural songsters is chiefly con- 
 fined to the male birds, and seems to be their effort*, 
 to attract and please the females. 
 
 The art of the swallow in building its house of clay, 
 and lining it with feathers : the art also of the small
 
 Ofc UIRDS. 93 
 
 that build in or hedges, in collecting moss, 
 small twigs, and leaves, and lining their nests with 
 feathers, or with horse hair, is extremely astonish- 
 ing ; whilst the partridge, alike anxious for the pre- 
 servation of its young, deposits her eggs upon the 
 bare ground in standing grass, or in the rising crops. 
 
 The attention paid by the parent birds in hatching 
 and rearing their young, is truly interesting. The 
 raven and the pigeon divide the labour of incubation 
 with their mates, the one sitting close whilst the 
 other fetches food ; and this they do alternately. 
 The common hen, and females of the eagle tribe, 
 not only hatch the young themselves, but seem to be 
 entirely forsaken by their mates at this interesting 
 season ; while in most other cases the male at least 
 assists in feeding the young brood, although the fe- 
 males have the sole care of incubation. 
 
 The many ingenious modes that different birds 
 have of procuring food, affords another ample field 
 for observation; and we cannot but admire their 
 powers, whether they be acquired by experience, or 
 be purely instinctive. Thus the swallow will attend 
 you, when riding in the country, and scud around 
 your horse, to catch the insects that follow him, or 
 that are roused by him from the grass : for the same 
 reason broods of wagtails will play about .the noses
 
 94 AVES, OR BIRDS. 
 
 and legs of cattle that are feeding in moist places; 
 rooks will follow the plough, to devour the slims and 
 worms that UK dug up ; and the little redbreast will 
 attend the gardener, \\hen employed in digging. 
 
 These are but a few of the many interesting topics, 
 \vhich catch the eye, please the fancy, and improve, 
 the heart of the diligent observer of Nature's works. 
 But it is hoped that these few will suffice to shew the 
 importance and extent of the study, as it relates to 
 this second class of animal*, the birds. We sliali 
 now proceed to the consideration of the third.
 
 ESSAY V, 
 
 CLASS III. 
 
 AMPHIBIA. 
 
 JLHE distinctive character of the third class, am~ 
 piiibia, or amphibious animals, seems to be a pecu- 
 liarity in the organs of respiration ; these being of a 
 mixed kind between the perfect lungs of quadrupeds 
 and birds, and the gills, which are the respiratory 
 organs of fishes. This peculiarity enables them to 
 breathe in air like the former, and also to extract 
 the same vital principle from the water, or rather 
 from the air contained in the water, as do fishes. 
 
 The characteristic of this class being a peculiarity 
 of internal organization, it is not surprising that the 
 animals \\hich it comprehends should agree more in 
 certain propensities and habits, than in external ap- 
 pearance; accordingly ^e shall find it -to contain 
 some that resemble fishes, as the shark and skate ; 
 and others that more nearly resemble quadrupeds, as 
 1
 
 96 AMPHIBIA. 
 
 the tortoise, the crocodile, &c. : and others, agaiu> 
 that in general appearance resemble no other class of 
 animals, but have a tout ensemble of their own ; as, 
 for instance, snakes and serpents, some of which 
 can move with equal ease on land or in water, 
 though they have neither feet nor fins. 
 
 The points of agreement in the whole class are all 
 the consequence of the above stated peculiarity in the 
 organs of respiration. They are all cold-blooded 
 animals, and their own heat is in a great measure 
 regulated by the temperature of the surrounding me- 
 dium ; whilst that of quadrupeds, and other w ann- 
 "blooded animals, scarcely varies one degree, whe- 
 ther immersed in water at the freezing point, or shut 
 up in a stove heated almost to boiling. , Frogs have 
 been absolutely frozen, so as to chip like ice ; and 
 yet when carefully and gradually thawed, have been 
 completely re-anirnated. 
 
 All the amphibious animals have hearts with only 
 one ventricle ; which organization is necessarily con- 
 nected with the peculiarity of their breathing ; and 
 they are likewise remarkably retentive of life. A frog 
 will live and move for some minutes after its head is 
 severed from the body, or after its heart is cut out. 
 The heart itself, too, may be plainly seen to contract
 
 AMPHIBIA. 97 
 
 ar.il cahte'for some minutes after it is taken from 
 
 the bo<iy. 
 
 The amphibia have no grinders, but most of them 
 sharp-pointed teeth, and their bodies are either naked 
 or scaly. This class is not numerous ; and though 
 \ve are far from admitting that any one of them has 
 been created but for some important purpose, yet 
 the immediate utility of most of them to man is less 
 apparent than that of other tribes. 
 
 The class is divided by Liunasus into four orders, 
 distinguished as follows : 
 
 1st. Reptiles, v.hich breathe through the mouth, 
 and have four feet. This includes the families of 
 the tortoise, lizard, and frog. 
 
 Cd. Serpents, which breathe through the mouth, 
 but have no legs, no fins, no ears. They proceed 
 In an undulatory motion. There are six genera. 
 
 .3d. Meantes, having both gills and lungs. There 
 is only one species, the Syren, a singular animal, 
 discovered by Dr. Garden in Carolina, inhabiting 
 muddy situations. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 & AMPHIBIA. 
 
 4th. Nantts, which breathe indifferently through 
 their lungs and gills, and have fins. This order it 
 most allied to fishes properly so called : it contains 
 the shark, lamprey, skate, and several others, v\ hich 
 are by many naturalists classed amongst fishes. \\ < 
 have no general observations to make upon this class 
 of animals, but shall cursorily notice a few indivi- 
 duals. Amongst the first order, reptiles, is the 
 turtle, or sea tortoise, known amongst epicures of 
 every country for the delicious flavour of its meat. 
 It is brought from the West Indies to European 
 markets. 
 
 The crocodile, so fierce and formidable an enemy 
 to cattle, \vhen they come to drink of the waters of 
 the Nile, the Niger, or the Ganges, is of the same 
 order. Its usual food is fish ; but when that fails, it 
 attacks almost any animal, and even man. Both 
 the eggs of this animal, and the animal itself, are 
 eaten by some of the natives, 
 
 The last animal of this order that I shall mention 
 is the toad, which is unjustly detested as poisonous, 
 and as the mo.st disgusting of animals in its forim 
 It is, however, certainly ascertained to be perfectly 
 innocent ; nor do I think it at all disgusting. It is, 
 perhaps, merely prejudice, and an association of
 
 khais connecting its supposed venomous qualities with 
 its appearance, that has rendered it so disagreeable 
 to most persons. 
 
 There is a species of toad in Surinam, that shew?, 
 in a remarkable manner, the ever-varying means that 
 Nature delights to use for accomplishing her ends, 
 and affords a fresh instance of the infinitude of her 
 power. On the back of the female are several hollow 
 prominences, resembling eyes, into each of which 
 the male carefully inserts one of the eggs as soon as 
 the female has spawned. Here the eggs remain en- 
 closed, but not connected with the mother till tln>. 
 time of their maturity, v\hcu the cells burst, and 
 the young escape. 
 
 Of serpents, many are justly the objects of terror 
 both to man and other animals. In India is an im- 
 tncnse serpent called the boa cwistrictfi, often above 
 thirty feet long, which has such strength and power 
 as to destroy oxen, and even tigers, and afterwards 
 to devour them whole. It has many sharp teeth, 
 but no fangs or tusks, am] it is not venomous. Its 
 prey, however, is as certainly destroyed as if it wen? 
 so; for if too large to be ^wallowed without some 
 preparation, it twists itself round the animal, by a 
 sudden contraction breaks every bow, and soon re- 
 duces it to a shapeless mass; then moistening it all
 
 100 AMPHIBIA. 
 
 over with its saliva, it swallows the whole at once, 
 After a repast of this kind it is unable to move for 
 several days, and is then most easily taken and de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 The venomous snakes are of a smaller size, but 
 the bite of many of them is certainly fatal. They 
 chiefly inhabit warm countries; and fortunately for 
 this happy island we have only one, the viper, that 
 is at all venomous. It is now far from being com- 
 mon, and the bite is easily prevented from becoming 
 serious, by the early application of sallad oil to the 
 part. This is the only venomous animal that is 
 known in this island. 
 
 Of the last order, Mantes, many are used for food, 
 as the skate, thornback, lamprey, and sturgeon. 
 Isinglass is procured from a species of sturgeon caught 
 in the river Danube. The skin, entrails, fins, and 
 tail of this animal, are cut into small pieces, and after 
 sufficient maceration in water, are boiled till they 
 are dissolved, and the jelly is then dried and rolled 
 out. It is a subject worth the experiment, to en- 
 deavour to ascertain whether the same parts of some 
 of our own fish would not yield a similar substance. 
 
 The shark, known to all as the most ravenous of 
 fish, belongs to this order. He is so voiacious as to 
 
 1
 
 AMPHIBIA. 101 
 
 swallow, without distinction, almost every thing that 
 <lrops from a ship, as cordage, wood, iron, and 
 even knives, and is thus often caught by devouring 
 the hook baited for his destruction. He will not, 
 however, touch any of the feathered tribe, if thrown 
 to him ; and in his otherwise indiscriminate depreda- 
 tions on the finny tribe, he never devours a small 
 fish called the pilot fish. This little animal being 
 also a fish of prey, and seeing much better than the 
 shark, whom Nature, as a protection to other fish, 
 has rendered almost blind, directs the shark to its 
 prey. The shark, therefore, aware of the services 
 of his little friend, spares his life. Another means, 
 by which Nature has counteracted the voracious ap- 
 petite of this "animal, has been by making its upper 
 jaw project far beyond the lower, which renders it 
 necessary for it to turn on one side before it can seize 
 its prey, tlms often affording it an opportunity of 
 escaping.
 
 CLASS IV. 
 
 PISCES, OR FISilF.S. 
 
 Jin E study of this branch of natural history is turn 
 ed Icthyology. It is, perhaps, of all others, the 
 most imperfectly understood, both with respect to 
 the individuals which it comprehends, and with re- 
 spect to the manners and habits of fishes in general. 
 From the very circumstance of their inhabiting the 
 watery element, their operations are mostly hidden 
 from our view. We know little or nothing of their 
 amours and procreation, of their growth or natural 
 decay ; we have learned but little of the food, the 
 process of digestion, or the function of the gill?, 
 even in those lish that \ve most frequently meet with ; 
 and of the immense variety we naturally conclude to 
 inhabit the seas of different climates, we know 
 scarcely any but what visit the shores, and thos 
 shores only that are inhabited by Europeans. 
 
 The general form and structure of fishes is beauti- 
 fully adapted to the peculiarity of their situation.
 
 104, PISCES, 
 
 For, to inhabit an element so much heavier than air, 
 they want not the large expansive wings of birds to 
 buoy them up ; but being themselves nearly of the 
 same specific gravity as the water which they inhabit, 
 their small fins are all that is requisite to enable them 
 to move with ease, and steer their course at pleasure. 
 The exact use of the different fins, and how accu- 
 rately their position and number are adjusted, will 
 appear by the following quotation from Dr. Paley'u 
 " Natural Theology:" 
 
 ft In most fish, beside the great fin, the tail, we find 
 two pair of fins upon the sides, two single fins upon 
 the back, and one upon the belly, or rather between 
 the belly and the tail. The balancing use of these 
 organs is proved in this manner : Of the large-headed 
 fish, if you cut oft' the pectoral fins, /. e. the pair 
 which lies close behind the gills, the head falls prone 
 to the bottom : if the right pectoral fin only be cut 
 off, the fish leans to that side ; if the ventral fin on 
 the same side be cut away, then it loses its equili- 
 brium entirely : if the dorsal and ventral fins be cut 
 off, the fish reels to the right and left. "When the 
 fish dies, that is, when the tins cease to play, the 
 belly turns upward. The use of the same parts for 
 motion is seen in the following observation upon 
 them when put in action : The" pectoral, and more 
 particularly the .ventral tins, serve to raise, and d<>-
 
 OR FISHES. 105 
 
 press the fish : when the fish desires to have a retro- 
 grade motion, a stroke forward with the pectoral fin 
 effectually produces it : if the fisludesire to turn either 
 way, a single blow with the tail, the opposite way, 
 sends it round at once : if the tail strike both ways, 
 the motion produced by the double lash is progres- 
 sive, and enables the fish to dart forwards with an 
 astonishing velocity. When the tail is cut off, the 
 fish loses all motion, and gives itself up to where the 
 water impels it." 
 
 Fishes in general are but imperfectly endowed 
 with those senses that are common to most other 
 animals. Their sense of feeling is supposed to be 
 very dull ; the sense of hearing, perhaps, none at all. 
 Whether they smell at all, is doubtful ; and that 
 thov have no sense of taste, is evident from their 
 swallowing their food without the least mastication. 
 The sight of fishes is the most perfect of their senses, 
 and is, perhaps, the only one that, from the peculia- 
 rity of their situation, they have any occasion for, or 
 could at all avail themselves of, if they possessed them. 
 
 Of their food, it is presumed that some fishes live 
 on the vegetable productions -of the sea; but in ge- 
 neral they are carnivorous, or insectivorous, devour- 
 ing one ..another, 'or deriving their sustenance from 
 4he myriads of sea insects, and their eggs, or from 
 F 5
 
 PISCES, 
 
 the spawn of other fishes, that every where abound. 
 Crabs, and other shell-fish, are often found in the 
 maw of the cod ; and rats have frequently been de- 
 tected in the stomach of the pik. The very long 
 abstinence that some jish have been known to un- 
 dergo, or rather the small quantity of food which 
 they have had to support them, has induced .some to 
 believe that they can derive nutriment from water 
 alone. Pike have boon put into ponds, rvhere it hah 
 not been known that there have been any other fish, 
 which is their usual food, and yet they have lived in 
 such situations for years. Here, however, it must 
 be observed, that frogs, newts, and insects, might 
 afford sufficient food, and that of a kind which they 
 we known frequently to devour. 
 
 All fishermen agree that they never find any kind 
 of food in the stomach of the salmon. Herrings 
 live iii immense* shoals, and yet those in the centre 
 and the rear are found equally large, and well fed, 
 with the foremost ; which we can hardly suppose 
 would be the case, did they live on other fish. Be- 
 sides, no bait will tenipt the herring, which seems to 
 argue that its food is of another kind. Both these, 
 and paiaaou, however, may derive considerable sup- 
 port from the myriads of minute insects, vi hich we 
 know to be present in eea water, and which, taken 
 ui continually, and digested almost as soon as taken..
 
 OR FISHES. 107 
 
 would discover little or nothing in their stomachs, 
 when examined. 
 
 Gold and silver fish are frequently kept in glass 
 vessels for ornament, or amusement ; and they have 
 been known to live in such situations for several 
 months together without being once fed, provided 
 the water has been frequently changed. In this case it 
 is probable that they derived some nutriment from the 
 microscopic insects, with which all water abounds. 
 
 There is, however, great reason to believe, that 
 fish have the power of decomposing water, and de- 
 riving real aliment from it. Nor is this the case 
 with fish alone ; for water, if properly combined, 
 affords nutriment to man. A certain quantity of 
 soup, for instance, will go further in supporting a 
 family, than the whole solid matter would do, of 
 which the soup was formed ; and a bason of sago, 
 properly prepared, than the grains of sago s\\ allowed 
 dry ; and the barley crowdy of the Scotch, than the 
 same quantity of barley made into bread. 
 
 The ouratioji of the life of fishes is almost alto- 
 gether a secret. Some few, however, have been 
 known to live to a great age. Gesner asserts, that 
 a pike was taken at Hailbruu in S \yabia, in 1497, 
 with n brass ring affixed to it, proving it to be CG7 
 P6
 
 108 PISCES, 
 
 years old ; and a carp has been known to live above. 
 an hundred years. 
 
 Most fish, it is supposed, are oviparous ; but 
 whether the male impregnates the spawn before or 
 after it is deposited by the female, is yet, with re- 
 spect to most fishes, a subject of dispute. Some few 
 are known to be viviparous ; one of which is a spe- 
 cies of blenny, called on that account the viviparous 
 bl'enny, which usually produces two or three hun- 
 dred young ones at a time. 
 
 - 
 
 Most fish leave thf deep and resort to shallows on 
 the coast, or leave -the sea altogether for the rivers, 
 during the spawning season. 
 
 The salmon leaves the' sea awl pushes to a con- 
 siderable distance up the rivers, for the purpose of 
 depositing its spawn in s-afetv. This it does with us 
 in September; and when thev find a place convenient 
 for the purpose, both male and female unite their 
 labours to make a hole in the sand twelve or eighteen 
 inches deep, in which the eggs are deposited and 
 lie buried till spring. The old ones return imme- 
 diately to the sea, it is supposed, in search of more 
 abundant or more congenial food. The young fry 
 appear about the end of March, and in May leave 
 the rivers for .the sea, but return again in June or
 
 OR TISHES. 109 
 
 Julv, grown to the size of twelve or sixteen inches in 
 
 length. 
 
 Tn ascending the rivers, salmon are known some- 
 times to leap up cataracts several feet high ; and if 
 foiled at first,, to repeat the attempt again and again 
 till they succeed. These places are frequently called 
 salmon-leaps. 
 
 The regular return of salmon from the sea to the 
 risers at that particular season, when they deposit 
 their spawn, is deserving of attention ; and, although 
 a recent discovery proves it not to be an instinctive 
 action of the fish for the preservation of their young, 
 it is a remarkable display of inventive power, if 1 
 may so express myself, in the great Creator, who 
 delights in multiplying his means, and in rendering 
 every link in the great chain of creation subservient 
 to the rest. 
 
 It is observed., that when the salmon first leaves 
 the sea, hi.s body is covered vuth a particular .species 
 of louse, which can only live in salt water, and there- 
 fore soon dies, v.hen the salmon has entered the 
 fresh water ; after the destruction of this species, 
 another breeds, and the salmon is soon covered again 
 with as troublesome a guest as before ; but this being 
 a fresh water insect, is destroyed as soon as the fish
 
 110 % PISCES, 
 
 returns to its briny element. Now it is supposed, 
 and with great appearance of probability, that the 
 inconvenience experienced by the fish from the ver- 
 min which infests it, is the immediate cause of its 
 leaving the salt for the fresh, and the fresh for the 
 salt water; but still we have the same display of 
 \vjsdom, and beneficent contrivance in the Creator, 
 as we should have had, if he had endowed the sal- 
 mon with an instinctive faculty to seek the stream 
 for the immediate purpose of depositing its spawn in 
 safety. The same end is answered, the safety of the 
 future progeny is equally secured, and an opportunity is 
 offered of adding two links to the chain of Nature's 
 works, by the production of two families of insects, 
 that could not otherwise have existed ; and of thus 
 beneficently enlarging the sum of positive enjoyment 
 amongst created sensitive beings. Nor are the pecu- 
 liar endowments or instinctive faculties of the salmon 
 in any sort abridged by this ingenious arrangement. 
 Some would be ready to bring this fact forward as 
 an instance of instinct being fairly resolvable into 
 sensation ; they would say, that the uneasiness which 
 the salmon experiences from the irritation of the in- 
 sects, drives it to seek relief in the fresh water in one 
 instance, and the salt water in the other : but w ho 
 taught tin's fish to know, that such a change of situa- 
 tion would rid it of its inconvenience ? Allowing that 
 it could th'scover the cause of the irritation \\ Inch it
 
 OK FISHES. Ill 
 
 felt, to be an insect, surely it cannot be supposed, 
 that either reason, experience, or tradition, could 
 teach the salmon, that fresh water, which was so 
 agreeable to itself, would prove destructive to this 
 insect. The young fry, from their very entrance into 
 life, live unknowing and unknown by their parents, 
 and in May perform their first emigration to the sea, 
 returning in June or July to the rivers, without hold- 
 ing any communication with their parents, or their 
 senior brethren. To what then must we attribute 
 this propensity in the fish to change its element, but 
 to an instinct originally implanted by the Creator for 
 the wise and benevolent purposes above specified ? 
 
 The astonishing fecundity of almost every kind of 
 fish must not be passed over unnoticed. M. Petit 
 of Paris found, that the roe of a carp eighteen inches 
 Jong weighed eight ounces two drams, which make 
 four thousand seven hundred and fifty-two grains ; 
 and that it required seventy-two eggs of this roe to 
 make up the weight of one grain ; which gives a pro- 
 duct of three hundred forty-two thousand one hun- 
 dred and forty-four eggs contained in this one fish. 
 Many other fish are known to be equally prolific as the 
 rarp. The intention of sa great an increase is cer- 
 tainly to furnish food for man, for many of the fea- 
 thered tribe, for thousands of their own kind, and 
 yet to allow enough of each species to remain for its
 
 112 PISCES, 
 
 preservation, and for the annual renewal of the same 
 t>eneficent purposes. 
 
 The immense shoals of herrings that annually ap- 
 pear upon our coasts, and upon the coasts of other 
 countries as far south as the Mediterranean, have 
 "been generally described as emigrating from the 
 North Seas ; but from certain facts mentioned by Dr. 
 Anderson in his Agricultural Recreations, this is ren- 
 dered at least doubtful; and it appears probable, 
 that they only retire further from our coasts, and 
 sink deeper in the sea at certain seasons, re-appearing 
 at others. The following arguments incline me to 
 favour this opinion. In the rirst place the herring 
 fishery commences sooner in some southern bays 
 than in some others that are more northerly ; second- 
 ly, there has been no return of the shoal ever observed, 
 and no account is given of what becomes of the im- 
 inense numbers that must escape our coasts in travel- 
 ling southwards ; thirdly, from certain peculiarities 
 in the herrings of particular fisheries, there is reason 
 to believe that certain breeds or herds return annu- 
 ally to the same shores; and lastly, they are taken 
 on our coasts in full roe, just after they have de- 
 "posited their roe, and in all the intermediate .stages ; 
 so that we cannot suppose that they seek the north- 
 ern seas for the purpose of spawning. This subject, 
 "however, being still an undecided point, I shall giw
 
 OR PISHES. 113 
 
 fin account of what is supposed to be the case by 
 those who favour the opinion of migration. 
 
 An immense shoal is supposed to issue from the 
 seas of the north, which first divides at the northern 
 extremity of Iceland ; and whilst one half proceeds 
 to diffuse plenty over Europe, the other steers its 
 course across the Atlantic to convey the same bene- 
 fits to the inhabitants of America. The European 
 shoal appears off the Shetland Isles in May and June, 
 in columns of several miles in length, and three or 
 four in breadth. They sometimes descend for ten or 
 fifteen minutes, and then rise again to the surface. 
 The Shetland Isles divide the shoal into two branches ; 
 the one of which skirts the eastern, the other the 
 western coast of Great Britain ; filling every bay and 
 creek with a valuable and abundant supply of food. 
 The eastern division supplies likewise the shores of 
 Denmark and of Holland ; and the western sends 
 numbers to the Irish coast. Such is the account 
 given by ancient naturalists, and credited till the 
 present times. 
 
 The herring fisheries in the Hebrides, in Holland, 
 and in this country, are now carried on to a very great 
 extejit. In 1 G 1 the Dutch employed three thousand 
 boats in the business of catching them only. In 
 178*2,, at (he mouth of the Gothela, a small river
 
 114 PISCES, 
 
 > 
 
 which washes the town of Gottenburgh, 139,000 
 barrels were cured by salt, 3700 were smoaked, 
 and 2845 casks of oil were extracted from what 
 could not be preserved. Besides this great devasta- 
 tion committed by man, the shoal of herrings is 
 always accompanied by fishes, and by birds of prey, 
 by whales, by porpoises, sea-dogs, sea-calves, saw- 
 fish, ,c., which devour thousands of them daily 
 ir appearance. 
 
 Besides herrings, cod-fish, pilchards, salmon, and 
 many other fish, are caught for food, and what can- 
 not be ea.ten. fresh are dried or salted, and trans*- 
 ported in immense quantities to distant nations. 
 
 .Another use of fish, where it abounds, is some- 
 times made in manuring the land with them; in 
 which way they prove highly serviceable. In some 
 of the fenny parts of this kingdom is a small fresh 
 water fish called stickle-back ; which in certain sea- 
 sons is so remarkably abundant, that they are obliged 
 to leave their native drains and ditches, and seek the 
 rivers ; in which they form such vast shoals as to be 
 caught in baskets or in nets, and are sold to farmers 
 for manure. 
 
 The pike and carp, though now so common in 
 (Jus country, have been introduced from other parts ;
 
 OR FISHES. 115 
 
 X 
 
 the tbrmer in 1537, as is commonly believed; the 
 hitter in 1514. 
 
 As we have nothing to observe respecting the par- 
 ticular orders of fishes, and nothing more respecting 
 individual species, we shall conclude the subject by 
 a bare enumeration of the orders, and their charac- 
 teristics. Linnaeus divides them into four orders. 
 
 1 st. dpudi's i without ventral fins, as the eel, the 
 conger, &c. 
 
 2d. Jugulares; ventral fins placed before the pec- 
 toral, as the cod-fish. 
 
 3d. Thoracici ; ventral fins under the pectoral, as 
 the perch. 
 
 4th. Abdvminaks', ventral -fins behind the pecto- 
 ral, as the salmon.
 
 ESSAY 
 
 CLASS V. 
 
 IXSECTA, INSECTS. 
 
 " Let no presuming impious railer tax 
 
 " Creative tvisJim, as if aught was form M 
 
 " In vain, or not for admirable ends. 
 
 " Shall little haughty ignorance pronounce 
 
 " His works unwise, of which the smallest part 
 
 " Exceeds the narrow vision of her mind ?" 
 
 " And lives the man, whose universal eye 
 
 " Has swept at once th' unbounded schema of things; 
 
 " Mark'd their dcpendance so, and firm accord, 
 
 14 As with unfaultering accent to conclude 
 
 14 That this availeth nought ?" THOMSON. 
 
 JLHE study of tins branch of Natural History is 
 termed entomology. It is a study which may be 
 considered as in its infancy. So prone is man to 
 look with contempt on those parts of the creation 
 which are diminutive, that the insect tribe has been 
 almost overlooked in his searches after knowledge. 
 Jiis ignorance, the consequence of this .contemptu- 
 ous neglect, has led him to consider -the whole class 
 as of small importance, and to arraign the Creator 
 for forming a useless, and in many cases offensive
 
 118 1NSECTA, 
 
 and injurious tribe of beings. Such can be the lan- 
 guage only of " haughty ignorance ;" the modest ob- 
 server of Nature, although he may have learned little 
 of the habits, economy, and uses of insects, will ac- 
 knowledge that they have been created with design, 
 and will not doubt but that the design was benevo- 
 lent. To such a one it will prove a study equally 
 interesting, and, I doubt not, equally useful with that 
 of birds, of fishes, or of quadrupeds. 
 
 Not only from the weak and unenlightened, but 
 from the philosopher too, who has studied and ad- 
 mired the more stupendous acts of the Creator, the 
 entomologist has often met with derision, and with 
 ridicule, for examining the structure, the instincts, 
 and the arts of a spider, or a fly. But what is size in 
 , the all-cornprehensive eye Of the universal Architect ? 
 As with respect to time, a thousand ages are to him 
 but as a day, and" a day as a thousand ages ; so with 
 respect to space, the orbit of a world is as the speck 
 occupied by a puceron, or the hundredth part of a 
 drop of water, in which a monoculus can live, and 
 move, and swim. The same wisdom that ordained 
 the revolution of the planets, was requisite to form 
 the butterfly or gnat ; for nothing short of infinite 
 skill could have contrived the spiral trunk of the for- 
 mer, to suck irp, as with a syringe, the honey of the 
 Full-Mown flower, or its elegant colourings, com- 
 4
 
 INSECTS. 119 
 
 posed by an infinite number of minute variously- 
 painted feathers, artfully arranged ; and nothing less 
 could have endowed it with instincts for depositing 
 its eggs on plants, or in situations best adapted to 
 secure the birth, and to furnish with food the embryo 
 caterpillars. Why, then, should we depreciate any 
 part of Nature's works, or cast an opprobrium on the 
 study of any of its branches ? 
 
 The general opinion, that insects act a less impor- 
 tant purpose than any other tribe in the economy of 
 Nature, and that the study of their natural history 
 would conduce but little to the benefit of mankind, 
 I conceive to arise merely from our ignorance on the 
 subject. 
 
 I have already said that entomology is in its in- 
 fancy; if, however, we can now bring a few in- 
 stances of the importance and utility of the study, we 
 may hope that a further acquaintance with it will 
 discover furtlter benefits ; and for this reason I par- 
 ticularly recommend it as an important pursuit. 
 
 Blights, both in our orchards and corn-fields, have 
 almost universally been attributed to some peculiar 
 action of the elements ; but they have lately been 
 discovered to be owing to myriads of minute insects, 
 often of the puct*oiv kind. Who cu telt but that
 
 ]'20 . INSECTA, 
 
 an accurate knowledge of the natural history of this 
 insect may enable us to prevent its future devasta- 
 tions I 1 How often does our ignorance lead us to 
 destroy insects as injurious, which are altogether 
 harmless, and perhaps even serviceable to us in va- 
 rious ways. 
 
 To diffuse the little knowledge that I have acquir- 
 ed, and to stimulate others to engage in this hitherto 
 neglected path, I shall dwell rather longer on the 
 subject of entomology, than on any of the preceding 
 departments. 
 
 Insects are characterized by Linnaeus as having two 
 antenna?, or, as it is anglicised, feelers : these are 
 moveable appendages affixed to the head, of different 
 forms in different insects, the precise use of which 
 is not ascertained; but probably, as the English 
 name denotes, they are endowed with an accurate 
 sense of feeling, for the purpose of directing the ani- 
 mal, especially in entering holes and crevices, in- 
 sects have six or more feet, a hard or bpney cover- 
 ing, and breathe through pores arranged along their 
 sides. 
 
 Though insects are the smallest of animated be- 
 ings, yet their variety, and the number of individuals 
 of each species, make them to occupy a larger share
 
 INSETCS. 121 
 
 than any other class, in the list of Nature's works : 
 they are to be found in almost every situation, in air, 
 \vater, and in earth;* in wood, in and upon other 
 animals ; in decayed vegetables, and in putrid flesh. 
 Their manners and their appearances are as various 
 as their situations ; but what we have to observe of 
 them in particular, will be done when considering 
 their separate orders r which we shall enter upon as 
 soon as we have noticed their generation and meta- 
 morphosis. 
 
 Mostlnsects are oviparous, and in most there are 
 only two sexes, the male and female ; but to both of 
 these cases there are a few exceptions. The puceron, 
 or tree-louse, is viviparous, and has other peculiarities 
 in its process of generation, which I shall notice else- 
 where. In the bee, the ant, and perhaps some 
 other insects, which live in societies, and unite their 
 labours, besides male and female, there are neuters 
 which are of no sex, and on whom the labour of pro- 
 curing food chiefly devolves : the conunon working 
 bee is of this kind ; whilst the drones, which are 
 the males, and the queen bee, which is the only 
 female, are alone engaged in the task of procrea- 
 tion. 
 
 The eggs of insects, like those of fish,, in very few 
 VOL. i. o