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No. I. Jan. 1, 1833

Published on the First of every Month.

PRICE SIXPENCE.

K-C.6.

THE ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

/r

OR

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY.

CONTENTS.

Page
The Giraffe 1

The Zoological Gardens .... 14

Attack by a Tiger 15

Importation of Furs 16

Sagacity of the Dog 16

Page
17

The Rhinoceros ,

The Gymnotus, or Electrical Eel 28

The Cuckoo 30

Zoologist's Calendar for Ja-
nuary 32

LONDON:

WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND Co.,

AVE MARIA LANE.

TUCHARD TAYLOR, PRINTER,] [RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

34

THE

ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE,

OR

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY.

The GIRAFFE, {(Camelopardalis Giraffa, Gmel.)

XHE history of the Giraffe affords one of the most striking
examples of the slow and uncertain progress of Natural
History, and strongly points out the necessity of unwearied
research and repeated observation to ensure its advancement.
Indeed it appears scarcely credible that the quadruped which
exceeds every other in its lofty stature, which bears so remote
a resemblance to any in its extraordinary proportions, and is
equalled by so few in the beauty of its colouring, should
have remained till within sixty years of the present time so
obscurely known as to have had its very existence cast into
doubt. But the descriptions of this animal which appeared
in the middle ages having been overlooked, the more ancient
notices, vague and imperfect as they in general were, while
they seemed to ascribe to the camelopardalis a combination
of the characteristics of a ferocious beast of prey with those
of the harmless ruminant, began at length to be regarded
with the same degree of distrust as the fabulous narratives
of the unicorn and sphinx.

In the year 1770, after three centuries -and a half had
elapsed without any example of the giraffe, dead or alive,
having appeared in Europe, this impression seems to have be-
come so general, that the Royal Society thought it proper to
publish in their Transactions the simple recital of a traveller
who had himself seen and procured a representation of the
living giraffe. Capt. Carteret, in his communication to that
learned body, says, " Inclosed I have sent you the drawing
of a camelopardalis, as it was taken off from the life, of one
near the Cape of Good Hope. I shall not attempt here to
give you any particular description of this scarce and curious
animal, as it is much better known to you than it can be to
me ; but from its scarcity, as I believe none have been seen
in Europe since Julius Caesar's time (when I think there

Zool. Mag. No. 1. b

2 THB GIRAFFE.

were two of them at Rome), I imagine its drawing, and a
more certain knowledge of its reality, will not be disagree-
able to you. As the existence of this fine animal has been
doubted by many, if you think it may afford any pleasure to
the curious, you will make what use of it you please.'' He
goes on to say, that a party of men sent by the Governor of
the Cape of Good Hope on an inland discovery, found two
of these creatures ; but they caught only the young one, from
which the drawing was taken, and the skin of which was sent
to Holland "as a confirmation of the fact.*"

Ten years after this announcement of the actual existence
of the giraffe, the skin of a fine male specimen was brought
to this country by Lieut. Paterson, by whom it had been
shot in the interior of Caffraria. This skin was presented to
the celebrated John Hunter, and still forms part of his col-
lection preserved at the Royal College of Surgeons f. It was
the first example of the remains of the camelopardalis ever
brought into England, and excited the greatest interest at
the time. Since that period, however, fresh specimens have
been rapidly added to the different European collections of
Natural History, the results of exploratory journeys in the
interior of Africa effected by modern zeal and enterprise ;
but it was only within a very few years that the habits and
gait of this extraordinary species could in modern Europe be
again contemplated in the living animal.

The Pasha of Egypt having learnt that the Arabs of the
province of Sennaar in Nubia had succeeded in bringing up
two young giraffes with camel's milk, caused them to be
brought to Cairo ; and after resting for three months in his
gardens, to prepare them for a journey of greater difficulty
and hazard, they were embarked in boats and conveyed down
the Nile to Alexandria, where they were consigned to the
English and French consuls, as presents from the Pasha to
their respective sovereigns.

These young giraffes were both females ; but as there was
some difference in their size, the consuls of each nation drew
lots for them, when the shortest and weakest fell to the lot of
England. The giraffe J destined for our sovereign was con-
veyed to Malta under the charge of two Arabs, and was from
thence forwarded to London in a merchant vessel, and arrived
on the 11th of August 1827- The animal was conveyed to
Windsor two days after in a spacious caravan, and was lodged

* Phil. Trans, vol. lx. f Paterson's Travels in Africa, p. 12/.

. X A minute and interesting account of the arrival and conveyance of
this giraffe may be found in the Literary Gazette, August 23rd, 1827-

THE GIRAFFE. 3

in a commodious hut, with the range of a spacious paddock,
in the late king's private menagerie at Sandpit Gate. Shortly
after its arrival at this place it was accurately measured; and
its dimensions were found to be —

Feet. In.
From the top of the head to the bottom of the hoof . . 10 8
From the top of the head to the root of the neck ... 4 0

Length of the back 3 1

From the croup to the bottom of the hoof ..... 2 9
Length of the head 1 9

It was at that time exceedingly playful ; but as its growth
proceeded, which was rapid (having increased eighteen inches
in less than two years), it became much less active ; its health
evidently declined ; its legs almost lost their power of sup-
porting the body ; the joints seemed to shoot over / and at
length the weakness increased to such a degree, that it be-
came necessary to have a pulley constructed, which, being
suspended from the ceiling of the animal's hovel, was fasten-
ed round its body, for the purpose of raising it on its legs
without any exertion on its own part. From the harmless
disposition and uniform gentleness of this animal, the inter-
est which it had excited in His late Majesty was very great ;
but notwithstanding every attention, it died in the following
year. Its food was barley, oats, split beans, and ash leaves.
It was never observed to drink any other fluid than milk, its
preference for which probably arose from that fluid being so
long the only sustenance afforded it while living among the
Arabs.

Owing: to the distance from town at which this animal was
kept, and the state of confinement which its weakly condition
rendered indispensable during the latter period of its exist-
ence, the living giraffe was seen in this country by compa-
ratively few individuals. The skin, however, and skeleton,
both beautifully prepared, are preserved in the Museum of
the Zoological Society, — the munificent donations of His
present Majesty.

The full-grown male giraffe is reported to be sometimes
nearly twenty feet high, from the summit of the head to the
sole of the foot. The highest specimen, however, in the Bri-
tish Museum, (which is a beautiful male brought over by
Mr. Burchell,) measures seventeen feet six inches ; the re-
mainder do not exceed sixteen feet. The greatest peculiarity
in this animal, and what most strikes the eye of the observer,
is the remarkable disproportion of the different parts of its
frame. The head and the trunk are of extreme shortness,
especially when compared with the neck and legs, which are

b 2

4 THE GIRAFFE.

as disproportionately elongated. The trunk, for example, is
divided into three equal parts, the fore and hind quarters
having respectively the same length as the intermediate divi-
sion,— a circumstance which occurs in no other quadruped.
To this curtailed trunk are attached legs of extreme length,
which, if they were of the ordinary proportions, would have
rendered the giraffe the swiftest of animals : but the contrary
is, in some measure, the result; for while the fore and hind
pair of legs are too closely approximated, they are also of
unequal length, and this inequality is so disposed as to retard
swiftness of motion. The hare and the greyhound have the
hinder legs the longest ; and, as these are the principal pro-
pellers in locomotion, hence results the peculiar and prover-
bial swiftness of these quadrupeds; but in the giraffe, the
proportions of the extremities are reversed, and, conse-
quently, when compelled to flight, although from his supe-
rior stature he can, for a short distance, outstrip his pur-
suers, yet he soon grows weary, and becomes incapable of
sustaining a prolonged chase.

From the time of Heliodorus bishop of Tricca, to the
present day, the peculiar gait of the giraffe has been noticed,
and is described by most authors as a sort of natural amble.
That ancient writer, in his work entitled Ethiopica, written
in the fourth century of the Christian sera, observes : u The
ambassadors of the Axeomitae (Abyssinians) brought pre-
sents to Hydaspes ; and among other things, there was an
animal of a strange and wonderful species, about the size of
a camel, which had its skin marked with florid spots ; the
hinder parts, from the loins, were low, like those of a lion ;
but the shoulders, fore- feet, and breast, were elevated above
proportion to the other parts ; the neck was small, and
lengthened out from its large body like that of a swan ; the
head, in form, resembled a camel's, but was in size about
twice that of a Libyan ostrich ; and it rolled the eyes, which
had a film over them, very frightfully. It differed in gait
from every other animal, terrestrial or aquatic, and waddled
in a remarkable manner ; each leg was not moved alternately
and diagonally, but those on the right side moved together
independently of the other, and those on the left side in the
same manner, so that each side was alternately elevated.
This animal was so tractable as to be led by a small string
fastened to the head, and the keeper could conduct it where-
ever he pleased, as if by the strongest chain.' ' Similar testi-
mony respecting the gait of the giraffe is given by Antonio
Constanzio, an Italian author, who describes the giraffe pre-
sented to Lorenzo de Medici by the Soldan of Egypt, and

THE GIRAFFE. O

which was living at Florence in the year 1486. " It is/'
says he, " in the meridional part, of Ethiopia that the carae-
lopardalis, which the Arabs call Siraf, is found. Its hinder
part is so low compared to the front, that it seems as if it
were sitting. The inhabitants of Florence have seen this
giraffe, without any effort, to run with so much speed as to
outstrip the cavaliers, even when they gave the rein and spur
to their steeds." In another place he adds, "What is very
surprising, is, that Pliny, Solin, Strabo, Albertus Magnus,
Diodorus, Varro, and other writers, were ignorant that this
animal had horns ; which leads me to conjecture that the one
which was seen for the first time at Rome under the dicta-
torship of Julius Caesar, had lost its horns, as well as the one
which appertained to the Emperor Frederic in the time of
Albertus Magnus." Lastly, Constanzio observes : "When
the camelopardalis walks, the left foot does not follow the
right fore- foot; on the contrary, the two right feet move
together, then the two left."

It has, however, been denied that the giraffe exhibits this
ambling gait. Mr. Davis the animal painter, who executed
several portraits of the living giraffe for His late Majesty,
observes : " I doubt whether the giraffe does amble, as as-
serted by M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire. Its walk is fast, from
the length of its limbs, but extremely awkward ; its gallop
is a succession of jumps, and I see no reason why it should
not continue long, if we judge by analogy with the form of
some horses and dogs that have narrow stomachs: there may
be a sufficient space for the play of lungs in depth, if not pos-
sessed in breadth. When I say the walk is awkward, perhaps
this specimen is hardly a fair one to form such an opinion
generally, for its growth has been very rapid, and its limbs are
deformed by the treatment it experienced when in the hands
of the Arabs in its overland journey from Sennaar to Cairo. It
was occasionally confined on the back of a camel; and when
they huddled it together for that purpose, they were not nice
in the choice of cords, or the mode of applying them ; it bears
the marks of what it must have suffered in this way.*"

Our own observations on the giraffe now living in the
Garden of Plants in Paris, which exhibits none of the untoward
symptoms mentioned by Mr. Davis, go very much to support
the ancient and generally received opinions on this subject. In
starting, we observed that it invariably moved first a fore-
foot, then the hind-foot of the opposite side ; this action was
almost immediately followed by throwing forward the fore-
foot of the same side ; then the hind-foot of the opposite side

* Literary Gazette, Dec. 1, 1827.

O THE GIRAFFE.

moved, and was as quickly succeeded by the carrying forward
of the leg which had commenced the movement; the gait then
proceeded, the two legs of the same side appearing to move
simultaneously, although not exactly so ; for on a close in-
spection, a trifling interval could be detected between the
elevation of the fore- and hind-leg of the same side. When-
ever it commenced its walk, its long neck was stretched for-
ward in a line with his body, so as to give it rather a stiff and
ungainly appearance ; but the novelty and uncommon peculi-
arity of every movement and act of this animal overpowered
every sentiment but that of astonishment and of delight.

The chief beauty in the giraffe is the form of the head, and
the lustre combined with a mild expression of the eye. These
organs are large and prominent, and are so situated at the
side of the head, that the animal can see both behind and
below it without turning its head. Hence, while browsing
on the acacias which skirt the desert, he can command the
space behind without suspending the act of feeding. The
ears, as in all the ruminants, are well formed for catching
sounds ; they most resemble those of the ox. The nostrils
have the same shape and position as in the camel, the upper
lip being hairy and extending considerably beyond them.
The sense of smell is acute and delicate. The most remark-
able of the organs of sense is the tongue, which is so modified
as to perform in the giraffe many of the purposes for which
the proboscis of the elephant is destined. It is even in some
respects superior to that wonderful organ ; for being composed
almost wholly of contractile parts, unmixed with rigid liga-
mentous and cartilaginous material, it can be wholly retracted
within the mouth, although when fully extended its length is
seventeen inches. When in the latter state, it is so attenuated
that its extremity can be inserted into the ring of a very small
key; it resembles, in short, a large black worm twisting about
the animal's lips, and in this state it is used to hook down the
branches which would otherwise be out of the reach of even
the Giraffe's lofty stature. We have observed the giraffe in
the Garden of Plants instinctively performing this action in
extracting the highest straws from the partition which sepa-
rated it from a neighbouring stall. With respect to the
peculiar colour of this organ, Sir Everard Home observes^
(€ As the tongue, in procuring and tasting the food, is much
exposed to the sun's rays, it is furnished with a black rete
mucosum, to prevent its being blistered.*" It is covered
with little papillae, which Mr. Davis f remarks it can raise at
pleasure; for at times the tongue is perfectly smooth and soft,

* Phil. Trans, vol, exviii. f Literary Gazette, Dec. 1, 1827.

THE GIRAFFE. J

at others exceedingly rough. The lips possess great flexi-
bility, the upper one being longer than the lower, and rather
pointed at the end, and therefore adapted to assist the tongue
in drawing in boughs, but when grinding the food it is con-
tracted.

As in all other ruminants, the front or incisive teeth are
wanting in the upper jaw. The giraffe lies down when it
chews the cud ; and with respect to this action, Sir Everard
Home observes that " it is curious to see the cud rise gra-
dually through the length of the oesophagus to the mouth. '*
This gradual motion might probably result from the weak
state of the animal he observed ; for in the healthy specimen
at Paris, it was still more wonderful to watch the rapidity
with which the cud traversed the long neck to reach the
mouth ; the eye could hardly follow it in its passage.

It would seem, from the silence of the early describers of
the giraffe, that the horns were either occasionally deficient,
or, from their small size and peculiar covering, had been over-
looked. The latter is the more probable supposition, for in
none of the instances, in which this animal has come under
observation since the importance of careful scrutiny in Natu-
ral History has been duly appreciated, have the horns been
found wanting. In the female giraffe now living at the
Garden of Plants, they are seven inches in length, perfectly
conical for one half of their extent, whilst the other half,
which is cylindrical, is curved backwards, and ends ob-
tusely. Each horn is eleven inches in circumference at the
base, four inches in circumference at the middle, and the
same at the extremity. The skin of the head covers them
entirely, and the hair is of the same length there as on other
parts, except at the extremity of the horn, where the hairs
are longer, and hang off like a tuft or brush.

In order to understand completely the nature of these
horns, it becomes necessary to consider those of ruminating
animals in general. The weapons with which these otherwise
defenceless animals are provided, are situated on the upper
part of the head, and are wielded with a vigour proportionate
to the vast muscular apparatus connected with that part.
They are of two kinds. In the ox, the sheep, the goat, and
the antelope, the horns are composed of a true elastic horny
sheath, encased upon a bony core, which is a production or
branch of the frontal bone of the skull. These two parts
grow together ; they are never shed. After death the outer
sheath separates, sooner or later, from its bony core; its
cavity early suggested its utility as a drinking-vessel, &c, —
and in Natural History all this class of horns are technically

8 THE GIRAFFE.

termed ' hollow'. In the elk and the stag, on the contrary,
the horns consist of bone only* — of a core without a sheath,
and are termed 'solid.' The nutrient vessels, which lie safely
protected beneath their covering in the preceding examples,
could not carry on their functions under the present form :
the horn, therefore, soon falls after it is completed, and pro-
vision is made for its immediate renewal.

Whilst the growth of the stag's horn proceeds, the vessels
which carry and deposit the bony material are protected by
an integument covered with short hairs, and termed techni-
cally the velvet : this outer covering is co-extended with the
horn. Were the horns destined, as apparently in the giraffe,
to be mere ornaments, they might have retained their hairy in-
vestment, and have become permanent ; but, being formed for
purposes of defence and combat, the nutrient vessels are com-
pressed between tubercles of bone thrown out at the base of the
antlers, forming the burr; their growth is thus arrested, the
integument covering them shrivels and peels off, and they re-
main naked and insensible weapons. But being thus cut off
from any vital connexion with the part from which they grew,
the antlers, after a short period, are cast off by a process of
absorption set up at their base, in accordance with an univer-
sal law, by which dead parts are separated from living.

Now it is obvious that the giraffe differs from both the
preceding groups of ruminants in the nature of its horns ;
for, to say nothing of the female possessing them as well as
the male, — a circumstance which rarely occurs in the solid-
homed ruminants, — they differ also from those of the latter
tribe, in being permanent, and in retaining their investment,
which is the cause of their permanency. In the nature of
this investment, the horns of the giraffe differ essentially
from the hollow horns, as well as in their bony nucleus,
which is not an immediate production from the skull, but is
a distinct bone articulated to the former by an expanded
base. Of the two tribes, however, it is obvious that the gi-
raffe, in this respect, most resembles the solid- horned rumi-
nants or deer; and the analogy is almost complete, if we com-
pare its horns with those of a red deer in the second year,
while in the growing state, or in the velvet. This condition,
however, which is transitory in the stag, is permanent in the
giraffe ; and hence we have one of those anomalous genera
standing alone and isolated, and partaking more or less re-
motely of the characters which are found to separate into

* The term ' horns ' is therefore obviously improper. The French, who
appear to have early appreciated the difference, call the stag's horns 'bois',
in contradistinction to those of the ox, termed 'comes'.

THE GIRAFFE. 9

distinct groups the animals most resembling it in general
structure.

But there remains another peculiarity more remarkable
and unexpected than any that have previously been alluded
to in this anomalous animal ; — it is a third horn, situated on
the median line of the head, between the other horns and
the nostrils. It has precisely the same structure as the other
horns, and differs only in form and relative size, being more
widely extended at the base, with considerably less elevation,
so that externally it is only recognised as a protuberance on
the part of the head above mentioned.

The head of the giraffe thus ornamented, is supported on
an extremely long neck, which is compressed and thin near
its junction with the head. This very long neck contains,
however, according to Sir Everard Home, (to whom we are
indebted for all the anatomical knowledge we possess respect-
ing the giraffe,) but seven vertebrae, the same number as is
found in man. From their form and mode of articulation,
they however permit every necessary degree of flexibility,
and the motions of this part are almost as free and graceful
as those exhibited by the swan.

The skin upon the neck, the trunk, the thighs, and part of
the fore-legs, is marked with large spots of a reddish or clear
yellow hue, upon a dull white ground. These spots, being
very close together, present an angular form, more or less
approaching to a rhomboid : they are arranged with some
degree of regularity, something like the squares of a chess-
board. This animal has a mane like the ass or mule, which
extends from the back of the head to the withers, composed
of short and very stiff hairs. This mane and the ears are of
a yellow colour. The under part of the body, with the insides
of the thighs and extremities of the legs, are a faded white.
The hoofs are black, well divided, and well placed ; they are
reduced to a very little thickness behind. The giraffe has
generally been described as having, like the camel, a callosity
between the fore- legs, supposed to result from a similar man-
ner of resting on the chest when lying down : but Mr. Davis
observes, "There are between the fore-legs what, to the
casual observer, may appear such ; but these are folds of loose
skin, which enable it to separate its fore-legs when reaching
downwards. Its mode of resting is, like most quadrupeds,
on its side ; but the operation of lying down is curious and
peculiar : I will endeavour to describe it. — We will suppose
it to be preparing to lie on the off-side : the first action is to
drop on the fetlock of the off fore-leg, then on the knee of
the near one, to bring down the other knee : it then collects

10 THE GIRAFFE.

its hind-legs to perform the next movement, the near one
being brought rather forward but wide, until the off hind-leg
is advanced between the fore ones 5 this requires some time
to accomplish, during which it is poised with the weight of
its head and neck, until it feels that its legs are quite clear
and well arranged ; it then throws itself on its side and is at
ease. When it sleeps, it bends its head back, and rests the
head on the hind quarter." Besides the loose folds of skin
in the situation above described, there are others at the first
joints of the fore-legs, which, like pockets or bags, receive
the projecting part of the bone termed ulna, when the joint
falls back during progressive motion, but are quite empty
when the animal is at rest. In a preceding part of our de-
scription, we have alluded to the apparent disproportion in
the length of the fore- and hind-legs. This appearance is,
however, in a great measure deceptive ; for, when the extre-
mities themselves are attentively examined, especially when
seen in the skeleton, they are found to be of nearly the same
length. The sinking of the hind quarter is then seen to de-
pend partly on the greater angle at the bending of the thigh
upon the body, but chiefly on the great depth of the chest,
together with the great elevation of the spines of the vertebrae
at that part, for the purpose of giving a firm and extensive
attachment to the strong elastic ligament which supports the
neck and head. The tail of the giraffe reaches below the
hocks, and is terminated by a long tuft of coarse hairs.

With respect to the habits of the giraffe in a state of na-
ture, our knowledge is confessedly vague and general. The
Arabs who accompanied the two young females from which
the preceding description has been drawn, asserted that they
were taken at a distance of eight or ten days' journey of the
caravans, to the south of Sennaar, not far from a district
which was mountainous, and covered with deep and extensive
forests. It may be presumed, that this country is near to
where the Nile and its tributary streams begin to leave the
mountains of Abyssinia to flow along the plains ; and here
the Arabs stated that ostriches, gazelles, antelopes, a small
species of lion and panthers abounded, while deeper in the
forests, elephants and rhinoceroses were met with. They
observed that the giraffes were found in small number, that
they inhabited the forests, and rarely appeared on the plain,
when they were united in groups of three and four, two old
ones, and one or two young ones, but seldom more. They
do not fly at the first view of man ; but if he approaches them,
they suddenly start off in a gallop or succession of bounds
with such speed, that they leave far behind them the swiftest

THE GIRAFFE. Jl

horses. However, if they happen to be driven fairly into the
plain, they are soon run down, being much shorter- winded
than the horse : but, when thus fatigued, they make a sudden
turn to the right-about, and defend themselves vigorously
with their fore-feet, which they fling out with great force :
in fact, the Arabs are unable to take the full-grown giraffes
alive, and are obliged to kill them on the spot. They eat the
flesh j and out of the skin, which is hard and thick, they
make long straps, cut from the top of the head to the end of
the fore-feet. The old giraffes are asserted by the Arabs to
be able to defend themselves successfully by kicks of their
fore-feet, against the most redoubtable animal of the desert.
The lion, which learns by experience the resources opposed
to him by the giraffe, and the futility of pursuit along the
plain, prefers waiting near a stream where that animal drinks,
or crouches in view of the grove of Mimosae, whose summits
afford him a rich pasturage, and by a single bound falls un-
awares upon his prey, which is thus taken by surprise and
unable to put into use its natural means of defence. If, how-
ever, the lion in springing from his ambuscade miscalculates
his leap, and is unable to fix on the hinder parts of the
giraffe, the latter makes head against him, and often renders
mortal the first blow, from the violent and rapid flinging out
of the fore-legs : should he miss his stroke, however, and the
lion succeed in fixing upon him, he becomes defenceless and
falls a victim.

The giraffe in a state of captivity, when teased or offended,
manifests his natural mode of defence, by striking out with
his fore-legs, and sometimes by kicking with the hinder
ones like a horse; but he has never been observed to butt, or
to make any demonstration with his horns, but on the con-
trary always keeps his head raised as high as possible when
he is disquieted or afraid.

The Arabs assert that the only chance of taking the giraffe
alive is while he still suckles, and even then it most frequently
happens, that in their struggles to free themselves they break *
some of their limbs, or dislocate their neck ; at other times
they refuse all sustenance, pine away, and die. If, however,
they chance to be preserved for a few days, they then become
tranquil and soon familiar, readily following those who have
the care of them, and even horses or camels.

This propensity was manifested in a singular manner by
the giraffe at present living in Paris. After its disembarca-
tion at Marseilles, it passed without any sign of fear through
the gates of the Lazaretto, and walked tranquilly as far as an
ancient gate of the city, where it suddenly stopped, neither
attempting to go forward nor to retrace its steps ; it niani-

]2 THE GIRAFFE.

fested also some alarm and inquietude. Its conductors were
considerably embarrassed, not knowing how to induce it to
continue its course. Just at that time an inhabitant of the
town, who had until then preceded it on horseback, returned
to them, and proposed to try if it would follow him ; and in
fact the giraffe, as soon as it saw the horse of which it had
suddenly lost sight as the latter passed through the gate,
became again tranquil, and marched behind it, following it
closely with the Arabs, who held it with four reins : the
horse, however, became uneasy, and its rider could scarce
hold it in, as the giraffe from time to time stretched forward
its neck and applied its nose to the horse's crupper. In this
course the giraffe had to pass through many of the public
promenades, and always strove to reach the branches of the
trees near which it passed ; without, however, losing sight of
the horse it had chosen for its guide, which it followed faith-
fully to the stable destined for its temporary abode. M. Salze,*
who relates the above anecdote, makes the following observa-
tions on the same giraffe. " She has great pleasure in being
let out of her stable, and when she is permitted to walk in
the gardens of the Prefecture in fine weather, which often
occurs, she bounds like a young horse, but in a manner quite
peculiar and indescribable, raising herself pretty high from
the ground, and falling stiff and immoveable upon her legs.
Sometimes she will start forward in a gallop, and then she
drags along the four Arabs who keep hold of her ; and we
have seen her, in a moment of gaiety, drag even five strong
men. It is with difficulty she brings her mouth on a level
with the ground ; in doing so she separates widely her fore-
legs, draws in her crupper, sticks her shoulders as it were
out of their place, and elongates her neck in a stiff and truly
ludicrous manner : in this position one may readily perceive
she could take up a branch from the ground, but one cannot
conceive that she could drink. When in this position, she
seems dislocated or crippled. It appears that she cannot
bend her neck easily downwards towards her fore-feet ; but
we have seen her often carry her mouth to the crupper and
all along the thighs ; the neck then bends easily into a com-
plete circle. If the giraffe cannot reach the ground without
difficulty, she possesses on the other hand an extreme facility
in reaching the leaves that are far above her ; stretching out
her neck, raising her head, and elongating her tongue to seize
the branches that are two or three feet beyond her stature.
Thus she can browse, without changing her situation, on the
branches of trees for a considerable extent. This animal is

* Annates du Museum.

THE GIRAFFE. 13

of a sweet disposition, never manifesting the least sentiment
of anger or of malice. She distinguishes the Arab who is in
the habit of giving her milk and grain, but has not any par-
ticular affection for him. She lets every one approach her
who comes to see her, but does not like to be touched ; and
it is only when afraid of something, or when teased too much,
that she defends herself by striking out her fore- or hind-legs.
QC She often licks the hands and clothes of the Arab who has
the care of her. Sometimes she will use the same familiarity
with strangers, and frequently she smells at the persons who
approach her. She seems fearful, attentive to every noise,
but at the same time is not disquieted by any number of per-
sons who may come to see her. When horses have been
brought to her, she appears to view them with pleasure, to
regard them attentively, to follow them with her eyes as they
recede from her, and to seem to have a wish to go after them :
but the horses are uneasy at the sight of her ; they stamp
with their feet, and bound off the moment the rein is slack-
ened. Cows which have seen her for the first time, show no
sign of fear.

" Our young giraffe likes the broad daylight, and its stable
is lighted with two windows and a large glass door. It is
under the same roof with the two cows that supply it with
milk, and two antelopes of large size, and is separated from
two strong horses only by a boarded partition. It is fat and
in good condition. Since its departure from the Lazaretto
it has acquired more gaiety and vigour. It has never been
heard to utter any sound.

" One may say that the giraffe has nothing elegant or
graceful in the detail of its forms ; its short body, its high and
closely approximated legs, the excessive length of its neck,
the declivity of its back, its ill -rounded crupper, and its long
and naked tail, — all these things contrast together in a manner
which offends the sight: it seems ill put together, ill balanced
on its feet ; and yet we are seized with astonishment at its
aspect, and acknowledge it beautiful without being able to
say why, — only, perhaps, because it is extraordinary, and in
opposition with all the animals we are acquainted with. It
is very remarkable that, after having considered it attentively,
we nevertheless can preserve but an uncertain recollection of
its carriage and proportions, which is the reason, I think,
that one loves, in general, to see it often ; and every time we
see it, it gives rise to some new remarks. "

The cloven-footed quadrupeds which chew the cud, form a
distinct and well-marked group. The sacred historian and
lawgiver of the Jews indicates them by their most natural

14 THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

characters. They were also defined in almost similar terms
by Aristotle, who may be called the father of Natural History.
In the system of Linnaeus they are termed ' Pecora,' and form
the fifth of his great divisions of the Mammalia, or animals
that give suck. In the arrangement of Cuvier they are termed
6 liuminantia,' and constitute his seventh order.

The zoologist divides the ruminating order into three sub-
ordinate groups : two of these subdivisions or tribes, founded
on the nature of their horns, have been already pointed out ;
the third embraces the camels and llamas, which are altogether
destitute of horns, and defend themselves with their teeth.
In zoological strictness we might consider the giraffe as the
pattern of a distinct tribe ; but from the before-mentioned
analogy of his horns to those of the deer, &c. he is ranked
in the solid-horned tribe, and with Linnaeus formed a species
of the Stag (Cervus Camelopardalis). In the modern ar-
rangements the giraffe forms a distinct genus. It has been
supposed, that the giraffe which is found in Abyssinia is
specifically distinct from the one inhabiting the southern
extremity of Africa: a third species or variety without spots,
is also supposed to have been seen by Mungo Park in Central
Africa.

THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

So many descriptions of the Zoological Gardens have already
been given to the public, that we shall not at present attempt
to enter upon this subject ; more particularly as we take for
granted that most of our readers have had an opportunity of vi-
siting the interesting and valuable collections preserved there.
We intend however, occasionally, to notice the proceedings of
both institutions, and to report such matter as we think will
be interesting.

Amongst the latest additions at the gardens in the Regent's
Park, are three rare species of Antelope; two from the Deserts
of Northern Africa, called the M'horr Antelope (Ant Hope
Dama), and the Cervine Antelope {Ant. Bubalh), and a
female specimen of a fine species from India, called the
Sing-sing Antelope. — There is also a rare species of Bear from
South America, the Ursus ornatus, or Spectacled Bear^ so
called from the peculiar broad light-coloured band round each
eye. Of this species we think we have seen a fine specimen
in Wombwell's collection. — Two living Beavers presented by
the Hudson's Bay Company supply the place of those which

ATTACK BY A TIGER. 15

died last winter. — A fine male American Elk has also recently
arrived.

Such of the animals as require a greater degree of atten-
tion during the winter have been removed to a house in Wel-
lington Street, Somers Town, which has been taken as a tem-
porary repository; but notwithstanding the care bestowed
upon them, we are sorry to hear of some losses by death since
the commencement of the winter.

The animals that are accustomed to cold climates seem in-
vigorated by the change in the weather. The bears now
show themselves to great advantage, and our fair readers we
have no doubt will notice the improved appearance of the fur
of these and the other animals of this species at the present
season.

Additional land has been obtained adjoining the gardens.
If the accounts which have been circulated as to the terms on
which Government made the grant be correct, every friend to
science must regret that there should be so little disposition
on the part of those connected with this department of the
revenue (the Crown lands) to assist in forwarding the objects
of the institution.

We are glad to find that the spirited proprietor of the
Surrey Gardens is continuing to make great improvements,
and is daily adding to the attractions of the place.

ATTACK BY A TIGER.

Bishop Heber relates the following affecting account of an
attack by a tiger, which was told him by Major Hamilton :
" One of his acquaintance who was marching with a body of
troops between Gulliakote and Luneewarra, called on a Bheel
villager to be his guide through the wood very early one
morning. The Bheel remonstrated, observing that it was
not the custom of the country to march before day-light, and
that it was dangerous to do so. The officer, supposing this
to be the mere pretext for laziness, was positive, and threat-
ened him if he did not go on. The man said nothing more,
but took his shield and sword, and walked on along the narrow
path overhung with long grass and bamboos. The officer
followed at the head of his men, and had moved slowly fast
asleep on his saddle for about five miles, when he heard a
hideous roar, and saw a very large tiger spring past him so
close that he almost brushed his horse. The poor Bheel lifted
up his sword and shield, but was down in an instant under the

16 IMPORTATION OF FURS. — SAGACITY OF THE DOG.

animal's paws, who turned round with him in his mouth,
growling like a cat over a mouse, and looked the officer in
the face. He did what could be done, and with his men
attacked the tiger, whom they wounded so severely that he
dropped his prey. But the first blow had done its work
effectually, and the poor man's skull was mashed in such a
manner as literally to be all in pieces. — The officer told
Major Hamilton that from that day forwards this scene was
seldom absent from his dreams, and with the least illness or
fever he had always a return of the vision of the tiger, with
the unfortunate man in his jaws, whom his imprudence had
sacrificed/ '

IMPORTATION OF FURS.

Our fair readers are perhaps not aware of the extent to
which they furnish employment to the hunters in North
America by their demand for furs. It has been stated that
the Hudson Bay Company alone in one year imported 3000
skins of the black bear, 60,000 of the pine marten, 1800 of
the fisher (a species of sable) , 4600 of the mink, 7300 of the
otter, 8000 of the fox, 9000 of the Canadian lynx, 60,000 of
the beaver, 150,000 of the musk rat ; besides a great many
skins of wolves, badgers, and racoons.

SAGACITY OF THE DOG.

Many years ago, a waterman near Hammersmith was sleep-
ing in his boat, when the vessel broke from her moorings and
was carried by the tide under a barge. A dog which was on
board awoke the waterman by pawing his face and pulling the
collar of his coat at the instant the boat was filling with water,
— and thus saved his life.

Le Vaillant, in the course of his travels in Africa, having
missed a favourite little dog, directed one of his servants to
mount a horse and return in search of the lost pet. After an
absence of some hours, the man returned with the dog, bring-
ing with him a basket and a chair that had been dropped
from one of the waggons without being noticed. The dog
was found at the distance of several miles, lying on the road
watching the lost basket and chair ; and if he had not been
found by the servant, must inevitably either have perished
with hunger or been devoured by wild beasts.

E 1/ ]

The INDIAN RHINOCEROS, (Rhinoceros Indicus, Cuv.)

If the moderns are able to boast of a more extended know-
ledge of animated nature than was possessed by the ancients,
it must be acknowledged that it is rather the result of their
geographical discoveries, than of the zeal of their Governments
or commercial Companies for its promotion. And it is hu-
miliating to think that the nations, among which a pure love
of science is most widely diffused, still should be debarred
the contemplation of those rarer species of quadrupeds in-
habiting the Old World, which in ancient Rome were
repeatedly exhibited to gratify a tyrant's love of ostentation,
ZooL Mag.NoA. c

18 THE RHINOCEROS.

and a people's lust for the cruel combats and wholesale
slaughter of the Amphitheatre.

The history of the remarkable quadruped with which the
present work commences in some measure exemplifies this
anomalous fact, and the rhinoceros is a still stronger proof
of it. This quadruped, which is second in bulk to the ele-
phant alone, is peculiar to the Old World ; yet of the five or
six distinct species which inhabit Africa and Asia, only one
has been exhibited in modern Europe, and that at rare and
distant intervals ; while the knowledge of the rest has been
chiefly acquired in our own times.

The first rhinoceros of which any mention is made in an-
cient history, was that which appeared at the celebrated fes-
tival of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus, and which was made to
march the last of all the strange animals exhibited at that
epoch, as being apparently the most curious and rare. It
was brought from Ethiopia.

The first which appeared in Europe graced the triumph
and games of Pompey. Pliny states that this animal had but
one horn, and that that number was the most common.

Augustus caused two to be slain, together with a hippo-
potamus, when he triumphed after the death of Cleopatra :
and these, also, are described as having each but one horn.

Strabo very exactly describes a one-horned rhinoceros
which he saw at Alexandria, and mentions the folds in its
skin. But Pausanias gives a detailed account of the position
of the two horns, on a species having that number, which he
terms the Ethiopian Bull.

Of this latter kind two appeared at Rome under Domitian,
and were engraved on some of the medals of that emperor ;
these occasioned some of the epigrams of Martial, which
modern commentators, from ignorance of the species with
two horns, found so much difficulty in comprehending.

The emperors Antoninus, Heliogabalus, and Gordian,
severally exhibited the rhinoceros : and Cosmus expressly
speaks of the Ethiopian species as having two horns : there
is abundant evidence, therefore, that the ancients possessed
a degree of knowledge respecting these animals, of which the
moderns were for a long period destitute.

The first rhinoceros which was exhibited in Europe after
the revival of literature, was a specimen of the one-horned
species. It was sent from India to Emmanuel king of Por-
tugal, in the year 1513. This sovereign made a present of
it to the Pope ; but the animal being seized during its passage
with a fit of fury, occasioned the loss of the vessel in which
it was transported. A second rhinoceros was brought to

THE RHINOCEROS. 19

England in 1685 : a third was exhibited over almost the
whole of Europe in 1739; and a fourth, which was a female,
in 1741 . That exhibited in 1739 was described and figured by-
Parsons, in the Philosophical Transactions (vol. xlii. p. 583),
who mentioned also that of 1685 and of 1741 . A fifth specimen
arrived at Versailles in 177^ and it died in 1793 at the age of
twenty-five or twenty-six years. The sixth was a very young
rhinoceros, which died in this country in the year 1800 :
some account of its anatomy was published by Mr. Thomas,
in the Philosophical Transactions for that year. Lastly, a
seventh specimen was living a few years ago in the Garden
of Plants at Paris. All these specimens were one-horned,
and all from India. So that the two-horned rhinoceros has
never been brought alive to modern Europe, and it was long
before even an accurate description of it was given by tra-
vellers ; its existence was known only by specimens of the
horns adhering to the skin of the head, which were preserved
in different museums. As these specimens were from Africa,
and as the first authentic accounts of the living animal of the
two- horned species were derived from the histories of African
travellers, a general notion prevailed that Asia afforded the
one-horned species only, and that the two -horned kind was
peculiar to Africa. However, in the year 1793, Mr. William
Bell, a surgeon in the service of the East India Company,
discovered a species of rhinoceros in the Island of Sumatra,
which had also two horns, whose skin, like the African two-
horned species, did not exhibit those folds which are so pe-
culiar to the hide of the Indian rhinoceros. This species,
however, differed from the African rhinoceros in possess-
ing incisive or front teeth, which in the latter are wholly de-
ficient. The Abyssinian traveller Bruce has given a vague
indication of a two-horned rhinoceros, which exhibits the
plaiting of the hide peculiar to the Indian species ; and some
naturalists have supposed it probable, from the form of the
horns, that this may ultimately be found to be a true and di-
stinct species. More recently, again, the accurate and scien-
tific traveller Burchell has announced the existence in the
interior of the southern promontory of Africa, of a rhino-
ceros double the size of the ordinary Cape species, which,
like it, has also two horns, and a skin without hairs or folds,
but which differs in having the lips and nose thickened, en-
larged, and as if flattened.

Thus we find that two, if not three, distinct species of two-
horned rhinoceros exist in Africa, and that another distinct
species, similarly armed, is found in Sumatra. Lastly, we
have to add a second species with one horn, discovered by

c 2

20 THE RHINOCEROS.

Sir Stamford Raffles in Java, the smallest of all the living
species, and quite distinct from the Indian one-horned rhi-
noceros.

The characters which these several species possess in com-
mon, and which distinguish them from all other quadrupeds,
are the following. Both sexes are armed with one or two
horns, of an uniform fibrous texture, placed on the nose,
and always situated on the middle line of the head. They
have three toes on each foot, and each toe is inclosed in a
thick rounded hoof. These, therefore, constitute the true
generic character of the rhinoceros.

In their large size, bulky body, and thick legs, they resem-
ble the elephant, have a hide even thicker than that animal,
and are rendered further peculiar in some of the species by
being thrown into deep and extensive folds. The surface
of the skin is rough, and devoid of hair : the snout is elon-
gated in some of the species, while in others it is remark-
ably blunted, and as if cut off : the eyes are very small, like
those of the hog : the ears elongated, but much shorter than
the head, and supported, as it were, on a sort of pedicle or
stalk : the lips project beyond the mouth, and the upper one
especially is very moveable : the tail is short, and its extre-
mity bears a number of very stiff and large bristles set on at
the sides, and projecting in two opposite directions. The
number of nipples are two, and situated on the groin. Some
species possess, while others are deficient in, incisive or front
teeth ; the canine teeth are wanting in all ; the grinding or
cheek teeth are seven in each jaw on each side.

It is our intention, in succeeding Numbers, to give the most
accurate figures and accounts that can be obtained of the se-
veral species above indicated. In the present Number the
one-horned species of India {Rhinoceros Indicns, Cuv.) will
be described. As this is the only species which, in modern
times, has been brought alive to Europe, it has been most
commonly figured. A sketch was taken from the animal
sent to Portugal in 1513, which was engraved by Albert
Durer. This sketch, as it was improved and embellished by
the celebrated painter of Nuremberg, came afterwards into
the possession of Sir Hans Sloane ; and to it was attached a
German inscription, of which the following appears in the
Philosophical Transactions for 1744, as * a close translation.'
"In the year 1513, upon the 1. day of May, there was
brought to our king at Lisbon such a living beast from the
East Indies that is called Rhinocerate : therefore, on ac-
count of its wonderfulness, I thought myself obliged to send
you the representation of it. It hath the colour of a toad,

THE RHINOCEROS. 21

and is close covered over with thick scales. It is in size like
an elephant, but lower, and is the elephant's deadly enemy :
it hath on the fore-part of its nose a strong sharp horn ; and
when this beast comes near the elephant to fight with him,
he always first whets his horn upon the stones, and runs at
the elephant with his head between his fore-legs ; then rips
up the elephant where he hath the thinnest skin, and so gores
him. The elephant is terribly affraid of the Rhinocerate,
for he gores him always wherever he meets an elephant, for
he is well armed, and is very alert and nimble. This beast
is called Rhinocero in Greek and Latin, but in Indian,
Gomda."

The animal which was sent to England in 1739, is de-
scribed by Dr. Parsons as being "very broad and thick. His
head, in proportion, is very large, having the hinder part
next his ears extremely high in proportion to the rest of his
face> which is flat, and sinks down suddenly forward towards
the middle, rising again to the horn, but in a lesser degree.
The horn stands on the nose of the animal as upon a hill. I
have seen the bones of the head of one of these in Sir Hans
Sloane's museum ; and the part on which the horn is fixed
rises into a blunt cone, to answer to the cavity in the basis
of the horn, which is very hard and solid, having no manner
of hollow or core like those of other quadrupeds. That part
that reaches from the fore part of the horn towards the upper
lip may be called the nose, being very bulky, and having a
kind of circular sweep downwards towards the nostrils : on
all this part he has a great number of wrinkles running cross
the front of it, and advancing on each side towards his eyes.
The nostrils are situated very low, in the same direction with
the opening of the mouth, and not above an inch from it.
His under lip is like that of an ox, but the upper more like
that of the horse, using it, as that creature does, to gather
the hay from the rack, or grass from the ground ; with this
difference, that the rhinoceros has a power of stretching it
out above six inches to a point, and doubling it round a stick
or one's finger, holding it fast ; so that as to that action, it
is not unlike the proboscis of an elephant.

6 ' As to the tongue of the rhinoceros, although it is confi-
dently reported by authors that it is so rough as to be capa-
ble of rubbing a man's flesh from his bones, yet that of our
present animal is soft, and as smooth as that of a calf ; whe-
ther it may grow more rough as the beast grows older, we
cannot say.

"His eyes are dull and sleepy, much like those of a hog in
shape, and situated nearer the nose than that of any other

22 THE RHINOCEROS.

quadruped I have ever seen, which he very seldom opens en-
tirely. His ears are broad and thin towards the tops, much
like those of a hog, but have each a narrow round root with
wrinkles about it. His neck is very short, being that part
which lies between the back edge of the jaw and the fold of
the shoulder : on this part there are two distinct folds which
go quite round it, only the fore-one is broken underneath,
and has a hollow flap hanging from it, so deep, that it would
contain a man's fist. From the middle of the hinder of these
folds arises another, which, passing backwards along the
neck, is lost before it reaches that which surrounds the fore-
part of the body.

" His shoulders are very thick and heavy, and have each
another fold downward that crosses the fore-leg, and almost
meeting that of the fore-part of the body just mentioned 3
they both double under the belly close behind the fore-leg.

"His body in general is very thick, and juts out at the sides
like that of a cow with calf. His belly hangs low, being not
far from the ground, as it sinks much in the middle. From
the highest point in his back, the fold of the loins runs down
on each side between the last ribs and the hips, and is lost
before it comes to the belly ; but above the place of its being
lost, another rises and runs backward, round the hind legs,
a little above the joint : this I call the crural fold, which runs
up behind till it meets another transverse one which runs
from the side of the tail forward, and is lost before it reaches
within two inches of that of the loins.

" The legs of the rhinoceros are thick and strong ; those
before, when he stands firm, bend back at the knee a great
way from a straight line, being very round and somewhat
taper downwards. The hinder legs are also very strong,
bending backwards at the joint at an obtuse angle, beneath
which the limb grows smaller, and then becomes gradually
thicker as it approaches the foot ; so also does that part of
the leg. About the joint of each of his legs there is a remark-
able fold when he bends them in lying down, which disap-
pears when he stands.

"The tail of this animal is very inconsiderable, in proportion
to his bulk, not exceeding seventeen or eighteen inches in
length, and not very thick. It has a great roughness round
it, and a kind of twist or stricture towards the extremity,
ending in a flatness, which gave occasion to authors to com-
pare it to a spatula. On the sides of this flat part a few
nairs appeared, which were black and strong, not short. It
is further to be observed, that the hairs on the left side grow
out a great way up towards the root of the tail, whereas on

THE RHINOCEROS. 23

the right side they grow no higher than the flat part. There
is no other hair on this young rhinoceros, except a very
small quantity on the posterior edge of the upper part of the
ears. I have observed a very peculiar quality in this creature,
of listening to any noise or rumour in the street ; for though
he were eating, sleeping, or under the greatest engagements
nature imposes on him, he stops everything suddenly, and
lifts up his head with great attention till the noise is over.

"The skin of the rhinoceros is thick and impenetrable. In
running one's fingers under one of the folds and holding it
up with the thumb at the top, it feels like a piece of board
half an inch thick. It is covered all over, more or less, with
hard incrustations like so many scabs, which are but small
on the ridge of the neck and back, but grow larger by de-
grees downwards toward the belly, and are largest on the
shoulders and buttocks, and continue pretty large upon the
legs, all along down ; but between the folds the skin is as
smooth and soft as silk, and easily penetrated ; of a pale flesh
colour, which does not appear to view in the folds except
when the rhinoceros extends them, but is always in view
under the fore and hinder parts of the belly, but the middle
is incrusted over like the rest of the skin.

" As to the performance of this animal's several motions, let
us consider the great wisdom of the Creator in the contrivance
that serves him for that purpose. The skin is entirely im-
penetrable and inflexible ; if, therefore, it was continued all
over the creature as the skins of other animals, without any
folds, he could not bend any way, and consequently not per-
form any necessary action ; but that suppleness in the skins
of all other quadrupeds, which renders them flexible in all
parts, is very well compensated in this animal by those folds;
for since it was necessary his skin should be hard for his de-
fence, it was a noble contrivance that the skin should be so
soft and smooth underneath, that when he bends himself any
way, one part of this board-like skin should slip or shove
over the other, and that these several folds should be placed
in such places of his body as might facilitate the performance
of every voluntary motion he might be disposed to."

The rhinoceros utters a note like the grunt of a boar ; it
increases to a shrill sound when he becomes enraged. It will
consume 124 pounds of vegetable food in the course of the
day, and drink in proportion. The animal described by Dr.
Parsons was fed with rice, sugar, and hay; "of the first he ate
seven pounds to about three pounds of the sugar ; they were
mixed together, and he ate this quantity every day, divided
into three meals, and about a truss of hay in the week, besides

24 THE RHINOCEROS.

greens of different kinds, which were often brought to him,
and of which he seemed fonder than of his dry victuals, and
drank large quantities of water at a time, — being then, as I was
informed by his keeper, two years old. It was said by those
who took care of him, that from the time of his being first
taken, to the time of his landing in England, his expenses
amounted to one thousand pounds sterling."

In a state of nature the rhinoceros commonly lives in soli-
tude, moves slowly, with the head hanging down, and often
ploughs the earth with his horn, uprooting vegetables, and
casting behind him very large stones. When he runs, the
tail is stiffly extended like that of a bull. As the rhinoceros
consumes an immense quantity of vegetables and of water,
he can only exist in places where they abound. The animal
which was preserved at Versailles used frequently to enter
and roll about in the water of his bath. In their native haunts
these animals, notwithstanding the thickness of their hide,
are tormented by the stings and bites of numerous insects ;
therefore, as a means of defence, they roll in the mud and
slime, which, hardening in the sun, forms a sort of cuirass to
the naked skin.

The flesh of the rhinoceros, though coarse and fibrous, is
said to be similar in its flavour to pork, and better than that
of the elephant.

The horn of the rhinoceros is much esteemed by the
Asiatics : they make drinking-cups of them, believing them
to be antidotes against poison : they are capable of a high
polish, and are sometimes sculptured with considerable taste
and delicacy. The hide is commonly employed to make
whips.

An interesting memoir from the pen of M. Frederic Cu-
vier, has appeared in the splendid work published by him
conjointly with M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, on the animals in
the menagerie in the Garden of Plants at Paris. It relates to
the rhinoceros lately living in that establishment, and from
which the figure was taken which serves to illustrate the
present account,

"This rhinoceros was but young at the time that the figure
was taken ; and, contrary to the commonly received opinion,
was habitually of a very gentle disposition, obedient to his
keeper, and receiving his care and attention with a real affec-
tion. However, he would occasionally be seized with fits of
fury, during which it was not prudent to come near him.
No cause could be assigned for these violent paroxysms : one
might say that a blind impulse or desire to regain a state of
liberty, (which he had never enjoyed,) excited him to break

THE RHINOCEROS. 25

his chains, and escape from the bondage in which he was re-
tained. Bread and fruits, however, always pacified him ; and
the claims of hunger always silenced those of liberty; so
that this resource against his fury was always kept in reserve.
He knew those persons who most indulged him in his gour-
tnandise, and they were received with the liveliest manifesta-
tions of affection : the moment he saw them he stretched
towards them his long upper lip, opened his mouth, and drew
in his tongue. The narrow stall in which he was confined did
not allow him to manifest much intelligence ; and his keeper
took no other pains than to induce him to forget or miscon-
ceive his own strength, and to obey : but from the attention
which he paid to everything which was passing around him,
and from the readiness with which he distinguished indivi-
duals and recognised those circumstances which seemed the
preliminaries of his receiving something agreeable to him, one
can readily judge that his intelligence would have acquired a
greater development under favourable circumstances. But
his immense force, and the apprehensions constantly enter-
tained that in one of his fits of passion he would break down
his apartment, insured for him the most indulgent treatment;
nothing was required of him without a reward ; and the little
degree of motion which was allowed him, was an additional
reason for requiring from him no other actions than to open
his mouth, turn his head to the right or to the left, hold up
his leg, &c.

"This animal was brought from the Indies to England, from
whence he was transported to Paris in 181 5. He was thicker
and still more unwieldy in his proportions than the elephant,
although less in general size. His height at the highest part
of his back was five feet six inches, and his length nearly
eight feet; his head measured two feet including the ears.
The whole body was covered with a thick tubercular and
almost naked skin, which formed a number of deep folds,
almost too irregular to be described. It was of a deep violet-
gray colour, which seemed almost black when oiled or greased;
and this kind of lubrication was performed twice or thrice
a week to prevent the skin drying and crackling. Beneath
the folds the integument was of a flesh colour, and much
softer than at the other parts. At certain parts, as the outer
side of the limbs, the knees, and on the head, the tubercles
of the skin had acquired such a length, as to resemble horny
threads, closely arranged in a parallel manner one against the
other, and it is these papillae which some authors have termed
excrescences. The few hairs that are observable, are chiefly
situated on the tail and ears, and are stiff, thick, and smooth :

26 THE RHINOCEROS.

some however of those which are met with on the rest of
the body were curled ; and although thick and hard, had a
woolly appearance. His legs were bent inwards, which was
without doubt owing to the close confinement he endured,
and to the little strength his joints could acquire in the state
of inaction in which he was kept. Each foot was composed
of three toes, which were manifested externally only by the
three nails with which they were furnished, and which had the
form of hoofs, t. e. they defended the toes both above and
below. The tail was habitually pendent, but was susceptible
of voluntary movements to the right and left, and the animal
made use of it to drive off from the skin whatever annoyed
him.

a The eyes were very small, the eyelids simple, the pupil
round, and no accessory organ was found there. The nostrils
opened at the sides of the upper lip, and presented an aper-
ture curved like the letter S, but more open in front than
behind. The tongue was smooth, the lips entire, the lower
one thick and rounded, the upper one very moveable, and
susceptible of being extended, and curled downwards like a
little proboscis. The ears were moderately large, moveable,
and of very simple construction. With respect to the organ
of touch, it can hardly possess much delicacy except in the
upper lip.

"All the senses of this animal, save that of touch, appeared
to be pretty delicate. He frequently made use of that of
smell, and preferred sugared fruits and sugar itself over every
other aliment. He collected together the smaller morsels of
food with his moveable upper lip to carry them to his mouth :
and when he ate hay, he formed it with his upper lip into
little bunches, which he afterwards introduced between his
teeth by means of his tongue.

" His horn is solid, attached to the bones of the nose, and
composed of fibres of the same nature as the horns of goats
and antelopes. It was short and blunt, and he made use of
it to strike against objects at the moments of his rage, and
even to tear up and destroy whatever he found could give
way to his efforts. One might see that he was borne by an
instinctive impulse to make use of that part in preference to
every other whenever the employment of his strength was
required."

The learned Bishop Heber confirms the supposition of
Frederic Cuvier, as to the tractability of the rhinoceros. In
his journey through India, he observes : "At Lucknow there
were five or six very large rhinoceroses, the first animals of
the kind I ever saw, and of which I found that prints and

THE RHINOCEROS. 27

drawings had given me a very imperfect conception. They
are more bulky animals, and of a darker colour than I had
supposed, and the thickness of the folds of their impenetrable
skin much surpasses all which I had expected. These at
Lucknow are quiet and gentle animals, except that one of
them has a feud with horses. They seem to propagate in
captivity without reluctance, and I should conceive might be
available to carry burthens as well as the elephant, except
that as their pace is still slower than his, their use could only
be applicable to very great weights, and very gentle travelling.
These have sometimes had howdahs on them, and were once
fastened in a carriage, but only as an experiment, which was
never followed up." — vol. ii.

And in the third volume, he observes : "In passing through
the city I saw two very fine hunting-tigers in silver chains ;
and a rhinoceros, (the present of Lord Amherst to theGuicwar,)
which is so tame as to be ridden by a Mohout quite as pa-
tiently as an elephant."

The able translator of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom observes :
" The power of this species is frequently displayed to a sur-
prising degree when hunting it. A few years ago, a party of
Europeans with their native attendants and elephants, when
out on the dangerous sport of hunting these animals, met
with a herd of seven of them, led, as it appeared, by one larger
and stronger than the rest. When the large rhinoceros
charged the hunters, the leading elephants, instead of using
their tusks or weapons, which in ordinary cases they are
ready enough to do, wheeled round and received the blow of
the rhinoceros's horn upon the posteriors; the blow brought
them immediately to the ground with their riders, and as
soon as they had risen, the brute was again ready, and again
brought them down; and in this manner did the contest con-
tinue until four out of the seven were killed, when the rest
made good their retreat.

u By comparing the tenour of these short observations of
them in their wild condition and in a state of confinement, we
may gather sufficient data on which to form a tolerable estimate
of the character of these animals. Endowed with amazing
powers of body, — powers which can repel, if not overcome
the active ferocity of the lion and the ponderous strength of
the elephant, but at the same time seeking their sustenance
not by the destruction of animal life, but in the profuse
banquet of the vegetable kingdom, they might naturally be
expected to avail themselves of their physical power prin-
cipally in self-defence. Accordingly we find that to the first
aggressor the rhinoceros is a terrible enemy; but if left to

28 THE GYMNOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL.

the ordinary bent of his own inclination, — if unmolested, in
short, he does not wantonly seek occasion to exercise his
strength to the injury of other creatures/'*

BARON HUMBOLDT S OBSERVATIONS ON THE GYMNOTUS, OR
ELECTRICAL EEL.

The galvanic electricity of the gymnotus causes a sensation
which can hardly be said to be specifically distinct from that
which is occasioned by the conductor of an electrical machine,
a Leyden jar, or even the voltaic pile. The same observation
has been made respecting the torpedo, or electric ray. In
the gymnotus, however, the difference that does exist is the
more striking in proportion as the shocks are greater. No
man exposes himself rashly to the first discharges of a strong
and highly irritated gymnotus. If, by accident, a shock be
received before the fish is wounded or tired out by the pur-
suit, this shock is so painful, that it is impossible even to
find an expression to describe the nature of the sensation. I
do not remember to have ever experienced, from the discharge
of a large-sized Leyden jar, a shock so dreadful as one which
I received on placing my feet on a gymnotus which had just
been drawn out of the water. I felt during the rest of the
day an acute pain in the knees, and in almost every joint of
the body. A blow upon the stomach, a stone falling on the
head, a violent electric explosion, produce instantly the same
effect. We distinguish nothing when the whole nervous sy-
stem is affected at once. To experience the difference believed
to exist between the sensations produced by the voltaic pile

* Griffiths' Cuvier, vol. iii.

THE GYMNOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL. 29

and electrical fishes, the latter must be touched when they
are reduced to a state of extreme weakness. In that case we
observe, that the electrical eels and torpedos cause twitchings
of the muscles (subsultus tendinum), which are propagated
along the arm, from the part resting on the electric organ up
to the elbow. This trembling, which is not visible externally,
slightly resembles the very slight commotions produced by
our artificial electrical apparatuses. M. Bayon, some time
ago, was struck with this difference; and the common people,
to characterize the nature of this extraordinary sensation,
still confound, so to say, the cause ! with the effect, and call
the gymnotus, Tremblador in the Spanish colonies, and An-
guille tremblante in French Guiana. In fact, on touching
these electrical fishes, we seem to feel at every shock a vibra-
tion, an internal trembling, which lasts for two or three se-
conds, and which is followed by a painful numbness.

If the sensation which is experienced on the contact of the
electric eel be different from that which is produced by the
voltaic pile or Leyden jar, it is, however, very analogous to
the pain caused by applying zinc and silver to wounds on the
back and on the hand. These wounds, which I have myself
made — one by means of the blistering fly, and the other by
a slight incision — have furnished abundant and convincing
proof of the relations which exist between the effect of elec-
trical fishes, and that of the galvanic current established by
the application of different metals upon the human body.

After having handled gymnoti for four hours consecutively,
we felt, even till the next morning, a pain in the joints of the
extremities, a debility in the muscles, and a general uneasi-
ness, which was, without doubt, the consequence of a long
and violent irritation of the whole nervous system. M. Van
der Lott, surgeon at Essequibo, has published in Holland a
Memoir on the Medical Properties of the Electrical Eel.
Mr. Bancroft assures us, that at Demerara they are employ-
ed for the cure of paralytic subjects ; but in the Spanish
colonies they know nothing of this property in the gymnotus.
The ancients, however, made use of the galvanic electricity
of the torpedo, according to Scribonius Largus, in cases of
head-ache, megrims, and gout. And such is all we know
respecting medical electricity among the Greeks and the
savages of America.

Persons most accustomed to electric shocks support, with
repugnance, those given by a torpedo one foot four inches
in length ; but the power of a gymnotus is ten times greater,
as we have seen by its effect upon horses. It often happens,
in taking young crocodiles of two or three feet in length, and

30 THE GYMNOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL.

little fishes in the same net with gymnoti, that the fishes are
found dead, and the crocodile expiring. The Indians, in such
cases, say that the young crocodile had not time to tear the
net, because the gymnotus had paralysed and put him horsdu
combat. These terrible fishes, although carnivorous and of
an aspect hideous as the serpent, are nevertheless in some
measure docile, and naturally of a peaceable disposition.
Much less active than our eels, they readily accustom them-
selves to their new prison ; they eat everything that is offer-
ed them, but without manifesting a great voracity. They do
not discharge their violent shocks unless irritated ; and then
especially if tickled along the under part of the body, at the
transparent part of the electric organs, at the pectoral fin,
the lips, the eyes, and especially if the skin be touched near
the gill-cover. All these parts seem to be the most sensible,
for here the skin is thinnest and least loaded with fat.

Fishes and reptiles which have never before felt the shocks
of a gymnotus, do not seem to be warned of their danger by
any particular instinct. Although its form and size are rather
imposing, a little tortoise which we put into the same tub
approached it with confidence ; it wanted to hide itself under
the eel's belly; but scarcely had it touched it with the end of
one of its feet, when it received a shock, too feeble, indeed,
to kill it, but strong enough to make it retire as far away as
possible. From that moment the tortoise would no longer
remain in the vicinity of the torpedo. And so, in all the
pools or streamlets which it inhabits, one finds very few fishes
of any other species. The gymnotus often kills without de-
vouring its victim. It instinctively regards as an enemy
everything that approaches it. Like a cloud surcharged
with the electric fluid, he comes upon the fish he means to
destroy; when at a short distance from it, he rests for a few
seconds, necessary perhaps to prepare the storm that is to
burst, and then hurls his thunder against his devoted enemy.''
— From the Voyage of Humbolt and Bonpland.

[The remainder of these observations, with the mode of
taking the gymnotus by the natives, will be given in a future
Number].

THE CUCKOO.

To the Editor of the Zoological Magazine.

SlR, Liverpool, December 4, 1832.

About the middle of July 1829 I got possession of a young
cuckoo, about half-fledged ; and on account of its insatiable

THE CUCKOO. 31

appetite I could never give it sufficient food, and my ears
were incessantly dinned with its call. Very few days after-
wards a young cock thrush came into my hands ; and it being
soon able to feed itself, for the sake of convenience I put the
birds together into one large cage. They were not long to-
gether before the cuckoo scrambled up to the thrush and
began its call, and continued it for several hours. I observed
the thrush take a piece of meat towards its companion ; and
the idea occurred to me that if I left them alone, the thrush
would feed it. I left the door of the room a little open, and
did not wait watching long before I saw the young thrush
feed the cuckoo. From this time I never had any more
trouble; the cuckoo grew fat and healthy, and the thrush
seemed quite satisfied with its state of servitude. Afterwards
I determined to try if the cuckoo required all the help it re-
ceived, and removed the thrush. In a few minutes I observed
the cuckoo (apparently without any difficulty,) helping itself.
In about a week I again replaced the thrush, and the cuckoo
found its voice again and forgot how to take care of itself.
The thrush did not relish its occupation; and it was not until
after it had received a severe beating, and one of its eyes
nearly torn out of its head, that it would feed the cuckoo again.
The injury that the thrush received in its eye was the cause
of its death a few weeks after. Since this experiment, I have
been anxious to know what birds will attend to the cuckoo's
cry ; and I found the lark would sometimes do so, but more
frequently beat it, and the cuckoo died of ill usage. A linnet
which I placed with another cuckoo did its duty well for
some time, but at last let the cuckoo die of neglect. — Perhaps
some of your readers will follow up these experiments with
me, that we may compare notes.

About the middle of September I was awakened by the
constant fluttering the cuckoo made in its cage, which at
night I always placed in my bed-room. After repeated watch-
ing at night, I found that from shortly after sun-set to a
little before sun-rise, this bird for nearly a month continued
to wave its wings as if in flight; and sometimes, as if forget-
ting that it was confined, it would hit its head against the
top of the cage. I have no doubt it was instinct teaching it
to quit our country, as during the period of its would-be emi-
gration it was very quiet all day, but as soon as it was over,
it became as lively, active, and noisy as ever.

Can any of your readers inform me where the cuckoo
goes to ? I find there are three kinds at the Cape of Good
Hope during the summer, one very similar to that which
visits us. v Wt C.

[ 32 ]

ZOOLOGIST'S CALENDAR FOR JANUARY.

Quadrupeds. — Those of our indigenous quadrupeds which
exhibit the remarkable phenomenon of torpidity, as the
Squirrel {Sciurus vulgaris), and more especially the Hedge-
hog {Erinaceus Europceus), and Dormouse {Myoxus avella-
narius), are at this dreary season sunk in their deep repose,
defended from the inclemency of the weather in retreats well
lined with dry leaves and moss, and other non-conductors of
heat. The dormouse commonly selects a cleft in a hazel-
bush or black-thorn, about three or four feet from the ground,
and carefully closes the aperture to its domicile when it has
taken up its final abode. Hedgehogs make a snug retreat
for themselves, where, imbedded in leaves and moss, they re-
main concealed for the winter.

Birds. — The Blackbird {Merula vulgaris), Thrush {Tardus
musicus), Redbreast {Sylvia rubecula), Wren {Anortkura
communis), Tomtit {Parus cceruleus), Hedgesparrow {Sylvia
modularis), Skylark {Alauda arvensis), Woodlark {Alauda
arborea), and Chaffinch {Fringilla spiza), begin to sing oc-
casionally.

Those birds which in summer frequent woods and solitary
places, now approach our dwellings. Several species of sea-
fowl and water-birds may be met with on our rivers. Larks
begin to congregate. The Missel Thrush {Turdus viscivo-
rus) begins to build ; and towards the end of the month the
Redbreast {Sylvia rubecula), and Housesparrow {Fringilla
domestica), commence their nests. The smallest of British
birds, the Golden-crested Wren {Sylvia regulus), may now
be seen in thick hedges near the house.

Some birds are accused of destroying the buds of trees at
this season; but the truth is, that it is the insects frequenting
the buds, and not the buds themselves, of which the birds are
in search.

Insects swarm under hedges on sunny days. Gnats play
about ; spiders make their webs ; bees appear.

The following may be occasionally met with during this
month. The Peacock Butterfly {Vanessa lo), the Early Moth
{Cheimatobia rupicapraria), the Bay Shoulder Moth (Pero-
nea spadiceana), the Hearth Cricket {Acheta domesticus), the
Dung Beetle {Geotrupes stercorarius), and the Chain Beetle,
{Carabus catenulatus).

Notwithstanding the severe cold usual at this season, the
eggs of many caterpillars which were deposited in autumn
survive, and are hatched in the course of the spring.

Many small insects may also be found amongst mosses.

THE

ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

The ELEPHANT.

AFTER the numerous histories, compilations, and anecdotes
respecting the Elephant which have appeared either as sepa-
rate treatises, or in the periodical publications of the day,
it may with some reason be supposed that the subject has
been already exhausted, and that another description of this,
though it be the most stupendous and interesting of quadru-
peds, can afford very little either of novelty or entertainment.
But a careful review of these several accounts convinces us
that an accurate description of the species and varieties of the
genus Elephas, and a faithful recital of those qualities which
render this sagacious animal so useful an auxiliary to man in
the most important of our colonial possessions, may still prove
interesting to the lover of zoology at home, and useful, it is
hoped, to those who now are, or are likely to become, residents
in the East Indies.

All the accurate knowledge which we at present possess
relative to the mode of propagation, the growth, the disposi-
tion, and faculties of the elephant, is founded on observations
made upon the Asiatic species : and it may be doubted
how far we are warranted in referring the attributes of this
to the less commonly known elephant, which ranges uncon-
trolled in the wilds of Africa. Buffon indeed, and most
writers previous to Cuvier, have applied the remarks of ob-
servers to both species indiscriminately, for it was not until
they had been subjected to the penetrating scrutiny of the
latter celebrated naturalist that their real specific difference
was distinctly pointed out.

In this country it naturally happens, from our relations with
the East Indies, that the elephant which is most commonly
exhibited in menageries is of the Asiatic species. The two
young individuals which have been seen to such advantage
during the past summer in the Gardens of the Zoological So-
ciety are of this kind. In the menagerie at the Jardin des
Plantes, however, there is at present a fine young African
elephant (Elephas Africanus, Cuv.), as well as a noble
Asiatic one (Elephas Indicus,Qv\.), Hence the most ample
opportunities have been afforded to the eminent naturalists
who have the charge of that truly national establishment
ZooL Mag. No. 2. d

34 THE ELEPHANT.

to determine accurately the sum and nature of their spe-
cific differences, and to furnish the world with figures of
unquestionable fidelity, and executed under all the advantages
of the present condition of the arts. These figures, which
have recently appeared in the splendid illustrations of the
Parisian menagerie, we have had faithfully copied and en-
graved for our present Number, so that the differences of form
in the two species may be readily observed.

The head of the elephant of Africa is smaller, more elon-
gated, and less irregular in its contour than that of the
Asiatic species. The summit is rounded instead of being
divided by a central longitudinal depression. But the most
striking feature in the African elephant is the enormous
size of his ears, which extend over his shoulders, and
when agitated to and fro, beat the air with a violence and
noise equal to that produced by the flapping of the wings of
the condor or other huge bird. On the thick integument
which invests the disproportionately small foot of the ele-
phant five hoofs may be observed on the fore foot in both
species, whilst on the hind foot four hoofs are observable in
the Asiatic elephant, and three only in the African. We
should be mistaken, however, in supposing that the number
of toes strictly corresponded to these outward indications ;
for in both species, when the skin and flesh are removed and
the bony framework is exposed, these huge productions of
nature are seen to have been constructed on the same plan,
and the ultimate divisions of all the four extremities are seen
in the skeleton to be into five distinct parts or toes.

It has been observed that the extremity of the proboscis in
the African elephant is better constructed as a prehensile
organ, and that he seizes thin substances with greater ease
and effect than his Eastern relative. The tail in the African
species is shorter by half its length than in the Asiatic.

These characters are open to superficial inspection, and
may be readily seized by the youngest student of zoology :
but the most important specific distinction requires a closer
investigation : it is derived from the differences presented
by the worn- down surfaces of the grinding teeth ; — those
of the Asiatic elephant presenting parallel transverse wavy
ridges, while the African's grinders are marked by transverse
lozenge- shaped ridges.

The degree of difference, therefore, between those two ani-
mals, when strictly considered with reference to the modern
methods in zoology, is even greater than usually separates
species such as the dog and wolf ; and is equivalent rather to
that which distinguishes the dog from the hyena. A distinct

THE ELEPHANT. 35

generic name {Loxodonte) has therefore been proposed for the
African elephant.

The obscurity which formerly prevailed respecting the
mode of reproduction of the elephant has been dissipated
in a great measure by the accurate and assiduous obser-
vations of our countryman, Mr. Corse. And it is a re-
markable instance of the difficulty of eradicating a popular
error or prejudice, that notwithstanding the circumstantial
evidence and authentic description given by this gentleman
relative to the above subject, it is still very generally be-
lieved that in a state of subjection the elephant is unaltera-
bly barren ; and that though it has been reduced under the
dominion of man for ages, yet, as if it had a proper sense
of its degraded condition, it refuses to increase the pride
and power of its conquerors by propagating a race of slaves.
This circumstance was adduced by Buffon as one of the most
striking instances of the superiority of the elephant, in its
moral condition, over other quadrupeds.

Mr. Corse, who resided for more than ten years at Tiperah,
a province of Bengal, where herds of elephants are taken
every season, and who for five years had the Company's
elephant hunters entirely under his direction, has completely
disproved these assertions. Twice during that period he
succeeded in breeding from elephants in a state of captivity
and servitude, and observes that this mode of supplying the
Indian community with so useful an animal is abandoned
only from its being more expensive than the ordinary method
by the capture of the wild herds ; since the elephants, after
being reduced by the process of training, require rest and
high feeding to bring them into the requisite condition.

In this way was ascertained the precise period of gestation
in the elephant, which Mr. Corse states to be twenty months
and eighteen days. The young animal when born is 35 \
inches high. It soon begins to nibble and suck the breast,
pressing it with its trunk to make the milk flow more readily
into its mouth while sucking. It has never been observed to
use its proboscis in any other manner during this act, but in-
variably seized the nipple with the side of its mouth.

At this period it is a common practice with the elephant
attendants to raise a small mound of earth, about six or eight
inches high, for the young one to stand on, and thus to save
the mother the trouble of bending her body every time she
gives suck ; for she has never been observed to lie down for
that purpose. The nipples are two in number, and are situ-
ated between the fore legs.

It is remarkable that the elephant, although having but one

d 2

36 THE ELEPHANT.

young, has by no means a strong affection for it : instances
have occurred of the mother leaving her offspring and escaping
into the woods. If a wild elephant happens to be separated
from her young for only two days, though giving suck, she
never afterwards recognises or acknowledges it. " I have
been much mortified/ ' says Mr. Corse, " at such unnatural
conduct, particularly when it was evident the young ele-
phant knew its dam, and by its plaintive cries and submissive
approaches solicited her assistance/ '

During the first year the elephant grows eleven inches,
and is three feet eleven inches high ; in the second he grows
eight inches; in the third six ; in the fourth year five inches;
about the same in the fifth year; in the sixth year three
inches and a half; and in the seventh year two inches
and a half, — measuring then six feet four inches in height.
During the succeeding ten years the growth is comparatively
slow.

The male is longer in attaining his full growth than the
female, seldom having acquired it before his twenty- sixth
year.

The height of the elephant has been much exaggerated. In
India the height of the female is in general from seven to
eight feet, and that of the male from eight to ten feet, mea-
sured at the shoulder.

" I have never heard/' says Mr. Corse, " but of one ele-
phant, on good authority, that much exceeded ten feet ; this
was a male belonging to the Vizier of Oude. The admeasure-
ments of this animal were as follow : —

Feet. In.

From foot to foot over the shoulder 22 lOf

From the top of the shoulder, perpendicular height . . 10 6
From the top of the head when set up as he ought to

march in state 12 2

From the front of the face to the insertion of the tail . 15 11

" The Madras elephants have been said to be from seven-
teen to twenty feet high : but to show how much the natives
of India are inclined to the marvellous, and how liable Eu-
ropeans themselves are to mistakes, I will relate a circum-
stance that happened to myself.

" Having heard from several gentlemen who had been at
Dacca that the Nabob there had an elephant about fourteen
feet high, I was desirous to measure him, especially as I had
seen him often myself during the year 1/85, and then sup-
posed him to be above twelve feet. After being at Tiperah,
and having seen many elephants caught, and finding all of
them much inferior in height to what I supposed the Nabob's

THE ELEPHANT. 37

elephant, I went to Dacca in 17^9, determined to see this
huge animal measured. At first I sent for the driver, to ask
some questions concerning this elephant ; he without hesita-
tion assured me he was from ten to twelve cubits, that is,
from fifteen to eighteen feet high ; but added, he could not
without the Nabob's permission bring me the elephant to be
examined. Permission was accordingly asked and granted.
I had him measured exactly, and was rather surprised to find
he did not exceed ten feet in height."

The Hon. Company's standard for serviceable elephants
is seven feet and upwards, measured at the shoulder in the
same manner as horses are. At the middle of the back
they are considerably higher, the curve of which, particu-
larly in young elephants, makes a difference of several inches.
After an elephant has attained his full growth, it is a sure
sign of old age when this curve becomes less, and still
more so when the back is fiat or a little depressed. A par-
tial depression of the spine is however not unfrequently ob-
served even in very young elephants, and is in general the
effect of external injury : for in herds of wild elephants
just taken, Mr. Corse observes, u it is no uncommon circum-
stance for the large elephants, both male and female, to vent
their rage upon the young ones, putting the projecting part
of the upper jaw, from which the tusks grow out, on the
spine of the young ones, and pressing them violently to the
ground, while they roared out from pain."

Having thus described the differences which characterize
the African and Asiatic elephants, and traced the latter from
its birth to its maturity, we shall next briefly advert to such
circumstances as may be most usefully known to those des-
tined to reside in our Indian dominions. The impositions
practised by the elephant dealers upon the inexperienced Eu-
ropean in the purchase of this expensive animal, are as com-
mon in India as those of the horse-jockey in our own country ;
for not only do the elephants participate in as many various
bodily defects as the horse, but they exhibit as great vari-
eties of disposition.

When the price of a perfect elephant is demanded, the
buyer should assure himself, first, that the animal is of the full
size — if a male, not less than eight feet high, with the arch or
curve of his back rising gradually from the shoulder to the
middle, and thence descending to the insertion of the tail; and
that all the joints are firm and strong : the nails should not
be overgrown, and should be perfect in number, viz. five nails
on each of the fore feet, and four on each of the hind ones,
making eighteen in all j the tusks perfect and unbroken ;

38 THE ELEPHANT.

the head well set on, and carried rather high ; the ears large
and rounded, not ragged or indented at the margin; the
eyes of a dark hazel colour, free from specks ; the roof of the
mouth and tongue without dark or black spots of any consi-
derable size ; the trunk large, and the tail long, with a tuft of
hair reaching nearly to the ground.

There are some other points of less consequence which are
taken notice of by the natives as well as Europeans ; but the
qualities above mentioned ought to be associated in every
animal for which the full price is demanded, whatever may be
its race or variety.

Two principal varieties of elephant are recognised in Ben-
gal, viz. the Koomereah (or princely caste) and the Merghee (or
hunting caste) ; and these are not distinguished by the size or
form of the tusks, which serve merely to characterize subor-
dinate varieties in these two principal forms. The koome-
reah is a deep-bodied, strong, compact elephant, with a large
trunk, and the legs short but thick in proportion to the size of
the animal. The merghee when full grown is generally taller
than the former, but has not so compact a form, nor is he so
strong, or so capable of bearing fatigue. His legs are long ;
he travels fast ; has a lighter body, and his trunk is both short
and slender in proportion to his height. A large trunk is al-
ways esteemed a great beauty in an elephant ; so that the
koomereah is preferred, not only for this, but for its supe-
rior strength, by which it can undergo greater fatigue and
carry heavier loads than the merghee,

A breed from a pure koomereah and merghee is termed
Sunkareah (or mixed breed) : but besides these three, several
other varieties are generally to be found in the same herd ; but
the nearer an elephant approaches to the true koomereah caste
the more he is preferred, especially by the natives, and the
higher price he will consequently bear. Europeans are not so
particular, and will sometimes prefer a merghee female for
hunting and riding on, when she is known to have remarkably
good paces, and to be of a mild and tractable disposition.

The incisors or cutting teeth assume in the elephant the
peculiar form which has obtained for them the name of
tusks. They exist in the upper jaw only, and are two in
number. In the females of the Asiatic species they are so
small as not to appear beyond the lip ; in the African species
they are very large, and of equal size in both the sexes. In
the Asiatic males they project in some individuals to a con-
siderable distance from the mouth, whilst in others their
size scarcely exceeds that of the tusks in the female. Now
both these varieties are found in the koomereah as well as

THE ELEPHANT. 39

in the merghee castes. The long-tusked males are termed
Dauntelahs (or toothed males); the short-tusked ones, Mook-
nahs (or face- males).

The animal figured at the commencement of the present
Number is a mooknah of the koomereah variety, and is hardly
to be distinguished by his head from a female of the same kind.

Notwithstanding the difference in the appearance of a
mooknah and a dauntelah, yet if they are of the same caste,
size, and disposition, and free from any defect or blemish,
there is scarcely any difference in their price.

The dauntelah is generally more daring and less manage-
able than the mooknah : for this reason, until the temper
and disposition of the two species are ascertained, Europeans
will prefer the mooknah; but the natives, who are fond of
show, generally take their chance and prefer the dauntelah,
which, when known to be of a mild and gentle disposition,
will always be preferred both by Europeans and natives.

It is obvious that particulars similar to those above recited,
could only have been ascertained after a long and intimate
association of the elephant with the wants and luxuries of
civilized man : and as this stupendous quadruped is not, like
the ordinary domesticated animals, a born slave, but in every
instance must be withdrawn by fraud and force from its
native swamps and forests, our readers we are sure will ex-
cuse our digressing from the strictly descriptive account to
which we had proposed to limit ourselves in the present Num-
ber, in order to lay before them a brief sketch of the modes
in which the elephant is entrapped.

The rudest of these contrivances, and probably the one
which was earliest adopted, is to dig a pit, and cover the
mouth over with a light wooden platform, concealed by
branches of trees, grass, and herbs of which the elephant is
fond. A trap of this kind must however have rarely proved
successful, in consequence of the intuitive caution which the
elephant uniformly manifests when treading upon insecure
and suspicious ground. In the event of one being thus cap-
tured, he is left in the pit until his violence subsides, and he
is rendered sufficiently tractable by starvation; and he is
liberated, by throwing in sheaves of jungle grass, which the
sagacious animal treading under foot, at length attains, as
they accumulate, an elevation which enables him to step out
of the pit. Thus subdued, the captive elephant is soon made
the instrument of enslaving his species ; ^and in this he ex-
ercises considerable ingenuity, courage, and perseverance.

Mr. Corse observes*, "In the month of November, when the
* Asiatic Researches, vol. iii.

40

THE ELEPHANT.

weather has become cool, and the swamps and marshes
formed by the rains in the five preceding months are lessened,
and some of them dried up, a number of people are employed
to go in quest of elephants.

" At this season the males come from the recesses of the
forest into the borders and outskirts thereof, whence they
make nocturnal excursions into the plains in search of food,
and where they often destroy the labours of the husbandman,
by devouring and trampling down the rice, sugar-canes, &c.
that they meet with. A herd or drove of elephants, as far as
I can learn, has never been seen to leave the woods ; some of
the largest males often stray to a considerable distance, but
the young ones always remain in the forest under the protec-
tion of the Palmai (or leader of the herd), and of the larger
elephants. The Goondahs (or large males), come out singly
or in small parties, sometimes in the morning, but commonly
in the evening, and they continue to feed all night upon the
long grass that grows amidst the swamps and marshes, and
of which they are extremely fond. As often, however, as they
have an opportunity, they commit depredations on the rice-
fields, sugar-canes, and plantain-trees that are near, which
oblige the farmers to keep regular watch, under a small cover,
erected on the tops of a few long bamboos about fourteen feet
from the ground ; and this precaution is necessary to protect
them from the tigers, with which this province abounds.
From this lofty station the alarm is soon communicated from
one watchman to another, and to the neghbouring villages,
by means of a rattle, with which every one is provided. With
their shouts and cries and noise of the rattles, the elephants
are generally scared, and retire. It sometimes, however, hap-
pens that the males advance even to the villages, overturn
the houses, and kill those who unfortunately come in their
way, unless they have had time to light a number of fires ; —
this element seems to be the most dreaded by wild elephants,
and a few lighted wisps of straw or dried grass seldom fail to
stop their progress.

" To secure one of the males, a very different method is em-
ployed from that which is taken to secure a herd : the former
is taken by Koomkees, (or female elephants trained for the
purpose), whereas the latter is driven into a strong inclosure
called a Keddah. As the hunters know the places where the
elephants come out to feed, they advance towards them in
the evening with four koomkees, which is the number of
which each hunting party consists ; when the nights are dark,
— and these are the most favourable nights for their purpose,
— the male elephants are discovered by the noise they make in

THE ELEPHANT. 41

cleaning their food by whisking and striking it against their
fore legs, and by moonlight they can see them distinctly at some
distance. As soon as they have determined on the Goondah
they mean to secure, three of the koomkees (or decoy elephants)
are conducted silently and slowly by their Mahotes (drivers) at
a moderate distance from each other, near to the place where
he is feeding ; the koomkees advance very cautiously, feed-
ing as they go along, and appear like wild elephants that had
strayed from the herd. When the male perceives them ap-
proaching, if he takes the alarm and is viciously inclined, he
beats the ground with his trunk and makes a noise, showing evi-
dent marks of his displeasure, and that he will not allow them
to approach nearer ; and if they persist, he will immediately
attack and gore them with his tusks ; for which reason they
take care to retreat in good time. But should he be amo-
rously disposed, as is generally the case, (as these males are
supposed to be driven from the herd at a particular period
by their seniors, to prevent their having connexion with the
females of that herd,) he allows the females to approach, and
sometimes even advances to meet them. When from these
appearances the mahotes judge that he will become their
prize, they conduct two of the females, one on each side,
close to him, and make them advance backwards and
press gently against his neck and shoulders; the third
female then comes up and places herself directly across his
tail : in this situation, so far from suspecting any design
against his liberty, he begins to toy with the females and
caress them with his trunk : while thus engaged, the fourth
female is brought near, with ropes and proper assistants, who
immediately get under the belly of the third female, and put
a slight cord (the Chilkah) round his hind legs ; should he
move, it is easily broken, in which case, if he takes no notice
of this slight confinement, nor appears suspicious of what was
going forward, the hunters then proceed to tie his legs with
a strong cord (called Bun da), which is passed alternately, by
means of a forked stick and a kind of hook, from one leg to
the other, forming a figure of 8; and as these ropes are short,
for the convenience of being more readily put around his legs,
six or eight are generally employed, and they are made fast by
another cord (the Dagbearee), which is passed a few turns per-
pendicularly between his legs, where the folds of the bundahs
intersect each other. A strong cable (called the Phand,) with
a running noose, sixty cubits long, is next put round each
hind leg, immediately above the bundahs ; and again above
them, six or eight additional bundahs, according to the size
of the elephant, are made fast, in the same manner as the

42 THE ELEPHANT.

others were. The putting on these ropes generally takes up
about twenty minutes, during which the utmost silence is ob-
served ; and the mahotes, who keep flat upon the necks of the
females, are covered with dark-coloured cloths, which serve
to keep them warm, and at the same time do not attract the
notice of the elephant. — While the people are busily em-
ployed in tying the legs of the goondah, lie caresses some-
times one, sometimes another, of the seducers In case

of accidents, however, should the goondah get loose, the
people upon the first alarm can always mount on the
backs of the tame elephants, by a rope which hangs ready
for the purpose, and thus get out of his reach. When his
hind legs are properly secured, they leave him to himself,
and retire to a small distance; as soon as the koomkees
leave him, he attempts to follow, but, finding his legs tied,
he is roused to a proper sense of his situation, and re-
treats towards the jungle ; the mahotes follow at a moderate
distance from him on the tame elephants, accompanied by a
number of people that had been previously sent for, and who,
as soon as the goondah passes near a stout tree, make a few
turns of the phands (or long cables that are trailing behind
him,) around its trunk : his progress being thus stopt, he be-
comes furious, and exerts his utmost force to disengage him-
self, nor will he then allow any of the koomkees to come
near him ; he is outrageous for some time, falling down and
goring the earth with his tusks. If by these exertions the
phands are once broken, which sometimes is effected, and he
escapes into the thick jungle, the mahotes dare not advance
for fear of the other wild elephants, and are therefore obliged
to leave him to his fate ; and in this hampered situation, it is
said, he is even ungenerously attacked by the other wild ele-
phants. As the cables are very strong and seldom give way,
when he has exhausted himself by his exertions, the koom-
kees are again brought near, and take their former positions,
viz. one on each side, and the other behind. After getting
him nearer the tree, the people carry the ends of the long
cables around his legs, then back and about the trunk of the
tree, making if they can two or three turns, so as to prevent
even the possibility of his escape. It would be almost im-
possible to secure an elephant in any other manner, as he
would tear up any stake that could at the time be driven into
the ground, and even the noise of doing it would frighten the
elephant ; therefore nothing less than a strong tree is ever
trusted to by the hunters.

" For still further security, as well as to confine him from
moving to either side, his fore legs are tied exactly in the same

THE ELEPHANT. 43

manner as the hind legs were, and the phands or cables are
made fast, one on each side, to trees or stakes driven deep into
the earth. During the process of tying both the hind and
fore legs, the fourth koomkee, or decoy elephant, gives assis-
tance where necessary, and the people employed cautiously
avoid going within reach of his trunk ; and when he attempts
to seize them, they retreat to the opposite side of the koom-
kees, and get on them if necessary, by means of the rope
above mentioned, which hangs ready for them to lay hold of.

" Being thus secured, he is left, until, wearied by his fruit-
less exertions, he becomes more subdued. An abundant sup-
ply of food is placed near him ; and after he has eaten of it,
the necessary preparations are made to carry him off, by
means of additional girths and strong ropes passed round his
body and attached to two of the tame females.

" Every thing being now ready, and a passage made from
the jungle, all the ropes are taken off his legs, and only the
strong rope remains round his hips to confine the motion of
his hind legs ; the koomkees pull him forwards by the large
cables, and the people from behind urge him on. In-
stead of advancing in the direction they wish, he attempts
to retreat further into the jungle ; he exerts all his force, falls
down, and tears the earth with his tusks, screaming and
groaning, and by his violent exertions often hurts and bruises
himself very much ; and instances happen of their surviving
these violent exertions only a few hours, or at most a few
days. In general, however, they soon become reconciled to
their fate, will eat immediately after they are taken, and, if
necessary, may be conducted from the verge of the jungle as
soon as a passage is cleared. When the elephant is brought
to his proper station and made fast, he is treated with a mix-
ture of severity and gentleness, and in a few months (if do-
cile) he becomes tractable, and appears perfectly reconciled
to his fate.

"It appears somewhat extraordinary, that though the
goondah uses his utmost force to disengage himself when
taken, and would kill any person coming within his reach,
yet he never, or at least seldom, attempts to hurt the females
that have ensnared him, but on the contrary seems pleased,
(as often as they are brought, near, in order to adjust his har-
nessing, or move and slacken those ropes which gall him,)
soothed and comforted by them, as it were, for the loss of his
liberty."

The more wholesale method of taking the wild elephants
by the keddah, is of course a much more complex and te-
dious one, often requiring a period of several weeks, and the

44 THE ELEPHANT.

exertions of five hundred people to effect the successful cap-
ture of a herd.

As the elephant is naturally of a social disposition, they
congregate in troops of from forty to one hundred, under the
guidance of one of the oldest and largest of the females and
one of the largest males.

When a herd is discovered, the hunters disperse themselves
so as to form an irregular circle, in which the elephants are
inclosed. They then light fires and form tracts of communi-
cation with each other, so as to be able to concentrate them-
selves at any part of the circle which may be threatened with
an attack from the inclosed herd.

" The first circle being thus formed, the remaining part of
the day and night is spent in keeping watch by turns, or in
cooking for themselves and companions. Early next morning
one man is detached from each station, to form another circle
in that direction where they wish the elephants to advance.
When it is finished, the people stationed nearest to the first
circle put out their fires, and file off to the right and left to
form the advanced party, thus leaving an opening for the herd
to advance through ; and by this movement both the old and
new circle are joined and form an oblong. The people from
behind now begin shouting and making a noise with their
rattles, tomtoms, &c. to cause the elephants to advance ; and
as soon as they are got within the new circle the people close
up, take their proper stations, and pass the remaining part of
the day and night as before. In the morning the same pro-
cess is repeated, and in this manner the herd advances slowly
in that direction where they find themselves least incom-
moded by the noise and clamour of the hunters, feeding, as
they go along, upon branches of trees, leaves of bamboos, &c.
which come in their way. If they suspected any snare, they
could easily break through the circle ; but this inoffensive ani-
mal going merely in quest of food, and not seeing any of the
people who surround him, and who are concealed by the thick
jungle, advances without suspicion, and appears only to avoid
being pestered by their noise or din."

This process is repeated until the elephants are gradually
brought to the keddah, or place where they are to be secured.
This Mr. Corse describes as being composed of three distinct
inclosures, communicating with each other by means of nar-
row openings or gateways, the last or furthermost into which
the elephants are driven being the smallest.

"When the herd is brought near to the first inclosure, or
Baigcote, which has two gateways towards the jungle, from
which the elephants are to advance, (these as well as the other

THE ELEPHANT. 45

gateways are disguised with branches of trees and bamboos
stuck in the ground, so as to give them the appearance of a
natural jungle,) the greatest difficulty is to get the herd to
enter the first or outer inclosure : for notwithstanding the
precautions taken to disguise both the entries, as well as the
palisades which surround this inclosure, the Palmai (or
leader) now appears to suspect some snare, from the difficulty
and hesitation with which in general she passes into it ; but
as soon as she enters, the whole herd implicitly follows.

" Immediately, when they are all passed the gateway, fires
are lighted round the greatest part of the inclosure, and par-
ticularly at the entries, to prevent the elephants from return-
ing. The hunters from without then make a terrible noise
by shouting, beating of tomtoms (a kind of drum), firing
blank cartridges, &c. to urge the herd on to the next inclo-
sure. The elephants, finding themselves ensnared, scream
and make a noise; but seeing no opening except the entrance
to the next inclosure, and which they at first generally avoid,
they return to the place through which they lately passed,
thinking perhaps to escape, but now find it strongly barrica-
doed, and as there is no ditch at this place, the hunters, to pre-
vent their coming near and forcing their way, keep a line of fire
constantly burning all along where the ditch is interrupted,
and supply it with fuel from the top of the palisade, and the
people from without make a noise, shouting and hallooing to
drive them away. Wherever they turn they find themselves
opposed by burning fires, or bundles of reeds, or dried grass,
which are thrust through the opening of the palisades, ex-
cept towards the entrance of the second inclosure. After
traversing the baigcote for some time, and finding no chance
of escaping but through the gateway into the next inclosure,
the leader enters and the rest follow : the gate is instantly
shut by people who are stationed on a small scaffold imme-
diately above it, and strongly barricadoed; fires are lighted, and
the same discordant din made and continued till the herd has
passed through another gateway into the last inclosure, the
gate of which is secured in the same manner as the former
was. The elephants being now completely surrounded on
all sides, and perceiving no outlet through which they can
escape, appear desperate, and in their fury advance frequently
to the ditch in order to break down the palisades, inflating
their trunks, screaming louder and shriller than any trumpet,
sometimes grumbling like the hollow murmur of distant
thunder; — but wherever they make an attack, they are opposed
by lighted fires, and by the iioise and triumphant shouts of
the hunters. As they must remain some time in this inclo-
sure, care is always taken to have part of the ditch filled with

46 THE ELEPHANT.

water, which is supplied by a small stream, either natural or
conducted through an artificial channel from some neighbour-
ing reservoir. The elephants have recourse to this water to
quench their thirst and cool themselves, after their fatigues, by-
sucking the water into their trunks, and then squirting it
over every part of their bodies. While they remain in this
inclosure they continue sulky, and seem to meditate their
escape ; but the hunters build huts and form an encampment
as it were around them close to the palisade ; watchmen are
placed, and every precaution used to prevent their breaking
through. This they would soon effect if left to themselves,
notwithstanding the palisade is made of very strong stakes
stuck into the earth on the outside of the ditch, and strength-
ened by cross bars and buttresses, as already mentioned."
In this inclosure they are kept confined for a few days ; after
which they are enticed one by one into a passage leading from
the keddah, too narrow for them to turn round in, and from
which retreat or advance is prevented. When a large elephant
finds himself inclosed in this place, he advances and exerts his
utmost force to break down the bars, which were previously
put across a little further on in the outlet, by running against
them, screaming and roaring, and battering them like a ram,
by repeated blows of his head, retreating and advancing with
the utmost fury. In his rage, he rises and leaps upon the
bars with his fore feet, and strives to break them down with
his huge weight. When the elephant is somewhat fatigued
by these exertions, he is bound in nearly the same manner
as the elephant captured singly by means of the decoy fe-
males ; and is afterwards led away and treated in a similar
manner.

It is a remarkable fact that the elephant, notwithstanding
its boasted sagacity and power of memory, will suffer itself
to be a second time driven into the keddah, after having re-
gained its liberty, though it has lived only for eighteen months
wild in the woods. Mr. Corse relates an instance of this
kind, where a runaway male in a surrounded herd, instead of
taking alarm as might have been expected on the first shout
of the hunters, and setting the example to its inexperienced
companions of breaking through the line, suffered itself to be
driven from circle to circle to the last fatal inclosure, where,
notwithstanding he at first appeared equally wild and fierce
with the rest, yet the moment he was addressed in a com-
manding tone the recollection of his former obedience seemed
to rush upon him at once, and without any difficulty he per-
mitted a driver to be seated on his neck, who in a few days
made him as tractable as ever.

The difference of disposition in the captured elephants is so

THE ELEPHANT. 4J

great, that a given time for rendering them safely manage-
able can hardly be assigned. An instance has occurred where
every effort has been made for ten years to reduce an elephant
to obedience, but in vain. This animal was repeatedly offered
for sale at a low price, but his character was so well known
that no one would purchase him-.

The process of training an elephant, so that he shall per-
form the ordinary duties and learn to be guided from place
to place, is mostly effected by a series of coaxings and re-
wards, rarely of punishment. He is entirely under the care
of one individual, who is destined to be his future conductor.
This man, seated on his neck, guides him by means of an
iron instrument shaped like a boat-hook, called theHawkniss.
With this he twitches his ear, or presses the point on his
head or neck ; which actions being combined with pressure
of the knees on the sides of the neck, the elephant learns to
understand as the horse does the applications of the bitt or
spur. Instances, however, have occurred where an inju-
dicious and brutal use of the hawkniss has so enraged the
noble animal that he has torn his driver from his seat, and
dashed him to pieces.

Notwithstanding the massiveness of his frame, the elephant
is not without a certain degree of lightness in his motions.
He has a tolerably quick trot, and easily overtakes a man at
full speed ; but as he cannot turn rapidly, one may escape by
turning suddenly to one side. Being specifically lighter than
water, he easily swims ; and his motions in that element are
of the most free and lively description. Every one who en-
joyed the sight of the elephant sporting in his bath at the
Zoological Gardens during the summer of last year must ac-
knowledge the gratification and surprise excited by the ease
and variety of his actions. Notwithstanding, however, the
liberal space allowed for his paddock and pond, our sagacious
animal seemed not contented until he had rendered his do-
main still more analogous to the favourite haunts of his spe-
cies in their native clime. This he effected by forming a
miniature swamp in the immediate proximity of his pond,
pumping up with his proboscis repeated quantities of water,
and treading it into the soil, which thus was soon converted
into a mud bath of a few feet in depth. In this he seemed
peculiarly delighted, rubbing and rolling himself about, and
expressing his gratification at the same time by uttering pe-
culiar shrill guttural notes, and flapping his ears.

In a state of nature this species prefers the banks of rivers,
for heat as well as cold annoys him. He is under a constant
necessity of moistening his hard and rough skin, which other-

48 THE ELEPHANT.

wise is so apt to be excoriated ; and he not only waters it, but
throws over it dust, grass, straw, &c.

Although this integument is so thick, it appears neverthe-
less to be extremely sensible, especially about the face, the
legs, and the under part of the neck and body. We have
sometimes seen the young elephant above mentioned, in the
Society's menagerie, take a small branch in his trunk, and
switch away the flies the moment they alighted on any of
those parts.

The hairs are few and scattered, but are most abundant on
the upper part of the head and neck. It is probable that their
growth may be excited by the change of climate ; and the
young elephants seem more abundantly supplied in this re-
spect than the adult.

We shall return to this subject in a future Number, when
we come to speak of the extinct species of elephant which
was found frozen in the river Lena in Siberia ; as the skin of
this singular animal was found defended with both wool and
hair.

Although the proboscis of the elephant is a continuation
of the nose, it is not properly a continuation of the organ
of smell, the membrane with which it is lined not being
adapted to receive the impressions of odorous particles. In
fact, had it been so, it would not have been adapted for its
real and more important uses, viz. of conveying the aliment
to the mouth, more especially liquids. When he drinks, he
draws up the water into his trunk by a kind of inspiration, and
having filled the two canals which traverse it, he carries the
extremity of it to the back of the mouth, and (the upper part of
the windpipe being protected from the current) empties the ca-
nals by a violent expiration, and literally blows the water down
his throat. Of his mode of taking up solid substances little
need be said. If they are very small, they are seized between
the finger-like process of the trunk and the opposite flattened
part, as between a finger and thumb ; if of larger size, the
end of the proboscis is turned round them ; if scattered upon
the surface of the ground, he sweeps a larger proportion of
his inimitable prehensile organ around them, and assists it
by opposing his fore foot to the substances he is collecting in
a mass, and thus prevents them receding from the trunk. By
means of his fore foot also he strikes up the earth or gravel
into a heap, around which he twines his trunk, then changing
the curve from the horizontal to the vertical direction, lifts up
all that lies on the concavity of the curve, and dextrously
flings it over his head.
The utility of the domestic elephant is chiefly experienced

THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.

49

in transporting heavy burdens : in modern warfare he is used
only to carry baggage or drag along artillery ; his dread of
fire rendering him in actual battle more dangerous to his em-
ployers than their enemies.

His consumption of food, however, is immense, and renders
him an expensive auxiliary. In India he requires daily one
hundred pounds of rice, to which must be added fresh vege-
tables and fruits : the finer animals of the rich are also treated
with butter and sugar. — The full-grown elephant Chunee, when
in Mr. Cross's collection at Exeter 'Change, consumed daily
three trusses of hay, and about two hundred weight of carrots
and other fresh vegetables, together with from sixty to eighty
gallons of water.

The AFRICAN ELEPHANT.*

In the preceding description the elephant is seen under all
the favourable circumstances that an association with man is
calculated to produce. His wants being supplied, his passions

* When this figure was taken, the tusks had not appeared.

Zool. Mag. No. 2. e

50 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.

moderated, and his intellectual powers developed by tuition,
we find him elevated to the highest degree of perfection his
nature can sustain ; and in return he renders all his endow-
ments subservient to the wants and luxuries of his master.

But in the history of the elephant of Africa the scene is
sadly reversed. In the wild regions which he traverses we
find that in his relations to mankind, mutual fear and deadly
enmity usurp the place of services and benefactions.

How often in the records of African travellers is the fol-
lowing picture presented ! A tribe of Africans of a mild and
unwarlike disposition cultivate a fertile spot on the banks of
some large stream, and subsist on the produce of their rice
grounds, fields of maize, and plantations of sugar-cane. The
time of harvest having arrived, they rejoice at the ample store
of nutriment provided for their subsistence during the un-
productive months. In a single night the hopes of a season
are blighted. With rushing noise and the earth trembling
beneath their tread, a herd of wild and hungry elephants
come suddenly upon the devoted settlement, attracted by the
ripened vegetables. The poor negroes, surprised in sleep,
and destitute of fire-arms, in vain attempt to oppose the pro-
gress of these formidable invaders. Their simple huts are
overturned; and such as are unable to escape are beaten
down with an irresistible blow of the proboscis, trodden
under foot, or gored to death. The morning displays to the
survivors the spot which had been occupied by their planta-
tions converted into a wilderness and swamp ; for the ele-
phants tread down and destroy more than they consume. A
famine succeeds, and pestilence its usual concomitant ; and
the wrretched remnant of the tribe are driven to the alterna-
tive of perishing through hunger, or of selling themselves as
slaves to a more fortunate tribe.

But for occasional ravages of this description man takes
ample vengeance, by the unceasing warfare waged against the
offenders for the sake of their tusks. All the methods of
capture practised against the elephant of Africa have his
destruction for their end, his utility being confined to the
ivory he furnishes for commerce; for the tusks of this
species are very large, and of equal size both in the male and
female. We are informed by Lander that the negroes inha-
biting the banks of the Niger employ a very simple stratagem
to insure the destruction of their ponderous and dreaded
neighbour. In one of the beaten tracks by which the ele-
phants pass down from the forests to bathe in the stream, a
lance is fixed in the ground, pointing towards the part from
which they issue : this being concealed by brushwood, pene-

THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. 51

trates the abdomen of the foremost elephant, who feeling the
smart, instead of retreating backwards blindly rushes on with
augmented speed, and thus is mortally wounded.

In the neighbourhood of the Cape, and in other parts of
the coast of Africa, where commercial settlements are situ-
ated, and fire-arms have been introduced, those weapons are
commonly employed. This method of destruction requires
great courage, patience, and capability of bearing fatigue, and
is attended with considerable personal risk to the hunters.

A third method, which requires still more address, consists
in enticing the elephant to pursue a mounted hunter on the
open plain, while the huge pursuer is ham-stringed by a
sabre cut inflicted by another hunter behind him.

One might infer from the previous summary of the present
condition of the African elephant, as relates to man, that his
disposition was naturally vicious, and rendered him incapable
of domestication. But there is no real ground for such a
conclusion. Were the Africans raised to the same degree of
civilization as the Asiatics, there seems little doubt but that
their species of elephant might be made equally useful in a
state of servitude ; for the specimen now living in the
French national menagerie has not shown less intelligence
than the Asiatic elephant. It has learnt the same tricks,
and has performed the same motions and exercises, under the
same circumstances, and in the same period of time. It
is as affectionate to those who feed him, and as obedient to
their commands.

The Carthaginians, moreover, employed elephants for all
the purposes that they have served in other parts of the ci-
vilized world ; and they must have derived their supply from
the species under consideration.

Cuvier gives the following concise account of the ancient hi-
story of the elephant. u Homer speaks frequently of ivory, but
knew not the animal whence it was derived. The first of the
Greeks who saw the elephant were Alexander and his soldiers,
when they fought with Porus ; and they must have observed
them well, for Aristotle gives a complete history of this ani-
mal, and much truer in its details than those of our moderns.
After the death of Alexander, Antigonus possessed the great-
est number of elephants. Pyrrhus first brought them into Italy
4/2 years after the foundation of Rome : they were disembarked
at Tarentum. The Romans to whom these animals were en-
tirely strange, gave them the name of Leucanian Bulls. Curius
Dentatus, who captured four of these animals from Pyrrhus,
brought them to Rome for the ceremony of his triumph.
These were the first which were there exhibited, but after-

v 9

52 SALMON-FISHING BY A DOG.

wards they became in some measure common. Metellus
having vanquished the Carthaginians in Sicily, conducted their
elephants to Rome on rafts, to the number of a hundred and
twenty according to Seneca, of a hundred and forty-two ac-
cording to Pliny. Claudius Pulcher had combats of the ele-
phant in the circus in 655 ; and similar combats, either of
elephant against elephant, of the elephant against the rhino-
ceros, the bull, or the gladiator, were exhibited by Lucullus,
Pompey, Caesar, Claudius, and Nero. Pompey harnessed
them to his car during his triumph for Africa. Germanicu3
exhibited some 'which danced in a rude fashion. In the reign
of Nero they were seen to dance on a rope, carrying at the
same time a Roman knight. One may read in ^Elian the
extraordinary feats they were brought to execute. It is true
they were trained to them from their earliest age, and ^Elian
says even, expressly, that these dancing elephants were brought
forth at Rome. This assertion, with the confirmation it has
received in our own day from the experiments of Mr. Corse,
leads us to hope it will be possible to multiply this useful
animal in a state of domestication.' '

SALMON-FISHING BY A DOG,

" Now that I am got upon the subject of fishing, let me tell
you of an amusing instance of sagacity which I had an op-
portunity of seeing a short time ago, in a water-dog of this
country, who had become a most excellent fisher. In riding
from Portrush to the Giant's Causeway with some company,
we had occasion to ford the river Bush, near the sea ; and as
the fishermen were going to haul their net, we stopped to
see their success. As soon as the dog perceived the men to
move, he instantly ran down the river, of his own accord, and
took post in the middle of it, on some shallows, where he
could occasionally run or swim, and in this position he placed
himself with all the eagerness and attention so strongly ob-
servable in a pointer dog who sets his game. We were for
some time at a loss to apprehend his scheme, but the event
soon satisfied us, and amply justified the prudence of the
animal ; for the fish, when they feel the net, always endeavour
to make directly out to sea. Accordingly, one of the salmon,
escaping from the net, rushed down the stream with great
velocity toward the ford, where the dog stood ready to receive
him at an advantage. A very diverting chase now commenced,
in which, from the shallowness of the water, we could discern
the whole track of the fish, with all its rapid turnings and

FASCINATING POWER OF SERPENTS. 53

windings. After a smart pursuit, the dog found himself left
considerably behind, in consequence of the water deepening,
by which he had been reduced to the necessity of swimming.
But instead of following this desperate game any longer, he
readily gave it over, and ran with all his speed directly down
the river, till he was sure of being again to seaward of the
salmon, where he took post as before in his pointer's attitude.
Here the fish a second time met him, and a fresh pursuit
ensued ; in which, after various attempts, the salmon at last
made its way out to sea, notwithstanding all the ingenious
and vigorous exertions of its pursuer.

" Though the dog did not succeed at this time, yet I was
informed that it was no unusual thing for him to run down
his game; and the fishermen assured me that he was of very
great advantage to them, by turning the salmon toward the
net." — Hamilton's Letters on the Coast of Antrim, 1790.

ON THE FASCINATING POWER OF SERPENTS.

The folllowing is an abstract of a paper by Dr. Barton, which
appeared in the American Philosophical Transactions.

Every one is acquainted with the power ascribed to the
rattle-snakes and other American serpents, of fascinating
birds and small animals, such as the squirrel, and of depri-
ving them of the power of escaping their magic influence ;
and which thus enables them to capture animals that other-
wise would seem to have been placed entirely out of their
reach. The unhappy animal is described as running up and
down the tree, always going down more than it goes up, till
at length it is drawn nearer to the snake, whose mouth is
open to receive its victim. The poor little animal runs into
the snake's jaws, uttering a piteous cry, and is immediately
swallowed. This is the manner in which this fascinating
power is exerted, as related by different authors. And this
story has been repeated by naturalists in their histories of
serpents. They seem credulously to have believed the ac-
counts they received, and to have taken them for granted
without sufficient examination. Linnaeus says that this power
was given to the rattle- snake as a compensation to it for the
slowness of its motion. He seems to have received this tale
from some of his pupils, and does not assert that he was ever
the eye-witness of the fact. The existence of this power
would be readily believed in by the uninformed, who always
give credence to any tale of wonder.

Where this belief originated, is unknown. Perhaps some

54 FASCINATING POWER OF SERPENTS.

traces of it may be discovered in the mythology of Asia and
Africa. Some have referred it to the American Indians ;
while others, who have travelled amongst them, never heard
any mention of the circumstance, although they heard them
praise the ingenuity of these reptiles in catching birds, squir-
rels, &c.

M. de la Cepede, in his Histoire Naturelle des Serpens,
has paid great attention to this subject ; and he offers two
suppositions for the explanation of this miraculous power.
One is, that the pestiferous breath of the snake agitates the
animal which it means to devour, and prevents its escape.
Many persons assert that they never knew any disagreeable
smell to proceed from these animals, even after they had been
some time shut up in a box ; while others say that a very of-
fensive stench is continually arising from the body of the
rattle-snake. Some have ascribed the motions of the birds
that are introduced into the cages of these animals to the ef-
fect of their breath ; but they were probably caused by fear.
The rattle-snake has been known to continue for days coiled
round a tree, in which the thrush or cat-bird were rearing
their young, which, upon this supposition, must have perished.
The other supposition is that these animals have been slightly
bitten. But their actions are totally different from those ob-
served in animals bitten by a rattle-snake ; besides that the
agitation of the bird has ceased on the death of the snake.
Nor is this power of fascination ascribed exclusively to the
venomous serpents ; for almost every species is supposed to
be endued with it. Blumenbach ascribes it to the rattle on
the tail of the rattle-snake ; but this has been observed to be
perfectly quiet at the time when the supposed charm is work-
ing : and this explanation cannot apply to the other snakes.

Hence it appears that none of these explanations are satis-
factory. If we examine the species of birds that are generally
observed to be enchanted, and the season when it takes place,
we may perhaps arrive at a more probable solution of the
problem.

Those birds that are led by instinct to build their nests on
the ground, or on trees near the ground, have most frequently
been observed to be under the enchanting influence of the
rattle-snake ; for it is well known that each kind of bird
builds its nest in the same situation, at least in anyone par-
ticular country. Upon inquiry concerning the time of the
year when any bird had been seen under this influence, it was
found, in almost every instance, to be that at which it was
either laying its eggs or rearing its young. From these con-
siderations it appeared probable that the cries and fears of

FASCINATING POWER OF SERPENTS. 55

birds, supposed to be fascinated, originated in an endeavour
to protect their nest or young.

The rattle-snake does not climb trees ; but many other
species do. When a bird sees its well-known enemy gliding
up the tree to attack its nest and devour its young, it natu-
rally endeavours to defend them ; and she attacks the snake
with her wing, her beak, or her claws, and frequently drives
it away, although sometimes she approaches so near as to
fall a prey to her enemy. This contest is by no means so
unequal as might be supposed. The bone on the top of the
head of the rattle- snake is thin and brittle ; so much so that
it is thought that a stroke from the wing of a thrush or robin
would be sufficient to break it. A thrush was observed seated
on the back of a large black snake, which it was pecking
with its beak. The snake was in the act of swallowing a
young bird ; and as soon as the snake was killed, the old bird
flew away. The cries and actions of this bird exactly resem-
bled those ascribed to fascination. The rattle- snake lives
chiefly on the great frog (Rana ocellata), and birds are very
rarely found in its stomach. Birds and squirrels are by no
means the principal food of serpents ; and yet this influence
is chiefly exerted upon them : so it can hardly be considered
as designed to secure food for these reptiles. The black snake
is often obliged to use great ingenuity to get at his food,
which consists chiefly of eggs and young birds. If it pos-
sessed the power of fascination, it might secure for itself
abundance of food, when the woods are swarming with birds,
without having recourse to the artifice of suspending itself by
its tail from a bough over a nest, the contents of which could
not be reached by it in any other way.

[It seems strange that this extraordinary faculty should
have been ascribed solely to these already formidable reptiles,
when the cries of distress and the signs of alarm, which gave
rise to the story, are really to be referred to the love of the
mother for her young, and to the fear of death ; feelings which
must be continually operating in every animal at the sight
of another, whose appetite is to be satisfied only by her own
destruction.

Fear sometimes entirely deprives an animal of the power
of escape. I have seen a Spanish greyhound so overwhelmed
with dread at the sight of a terrier, which was flying at it,
that it appeared as if under the influence of fascination, stood
perfectly still, neglecting its swiftness of foot, which would
soon have placed it out of danger, and would have fallen, a
victim to its antagonist, had not the latter been arrested by
the blow of a heavy stick.] — From a Correspondent.

56 MEMOIR OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS.

We have inserted the foregoing abstract of Dr. Barton's
paper, in the hope that some of our readers will favour us with
their observations on this interesting subject. We cannot
agree in all the conclusions drawn by the Doctor, and have
reason to question the accuracy of some of his facts. — We
are inclined to think that he has not dissected the head of a
rattle-snake, or he would have discovered that the bone on the
top of the head is not " so thin and brittle that it is thought
that a stroke from the wing of a thrush or robin would be
sufficient to break it." At the same time we must admit
that there is considerable weight in the reasons he gives in.
support of his explanation of this singular supposed faculty.

Editor.

MEMOIR OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS.

We propose occasionally to present our readers with short
memoirs of the most distinguished naturalists, and of persons
who have, either by their discoveries or their scientific attain^
ments, made valuable additions to our knowledge of zoology,
or have contributed to the advancement of any branch of
natural history.

Foremost in the rank of such persons, we must place the
subject of the present memoir, who may claim our attention
not on any one of these grounds singly, but on all of them.
He united a love of science with an earnest zeal and steady
perseverance in its pursuit ; an energetic and courageous
disposition, combined with ample pecuniary resources, and
the friendship and patronage of those in power, and thus pos-
sessed qualifications seldom met with in one individual.

These numerous advantages were well bestowed on Sir
Joseph Banks. In all his undertakings the chief object
he had in view was the general advancement of science, and
particularly his favourite study, natural history. Totally
free from all selfish feelings he seems ever to have considered
his acquisitions and discoveries as public property ; and his
splendid library and magnificent collection of specimens and
drawings were always at the service of scientific men. Indeed
the unbounded generosity with which he communicated his
treasures to those whom he considered woulji duly appreciate
them, may be considered as a remarkable trait in his character.
— But we feel that we are anticipating, and that we ought to
state shortly, the history of this enterprising individual, be-
fore we offer any further remarks.

Sir Joseph Banks was born 13th December, 1743. Some
doubt appears to exist as to the period at which his ancestors

MEMOIR OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 57

(who are stated to have come originally from Sweden,) had
been settled in this country. It seems, however, agreed,
that his grandfather was a medical, practitioner of some cele-
brity in Lincolnshire, and that he acquired a considerable
fortune by his practice, and represented the city of Peter-
borough in one or two parliaments.

The subject of our present memoir was sent at an early age
to Harrow, and from thence to Christ's College Oxford. His
father dying in or before 1761, he was left at the age of
eighteen, without restraint, with a handsome fortune at his
own disposal. His principal estates were situated in Lincoln-
shire, and he devoted himself with great zeal to the improve-
ment of this property, particularly in draining and embank-
ing it.

Sir Joseph appears at an early age to have imbibed a taste
for natural history. At first botany was his favourite pursuit,
and he seems to have cultivated this study with a considerable
degree of ardour. It is related that in the course of one of
his botanical expeditions, when much fatigued he fell asleep,
and was seized by police officers as a suspected person, and
taken before a magistrate, who was not a little amused at the
adventure.

In 1 768 the scientific expedition under the command of
Captain Cook was planned ; and although the chief object
which the promoters (of whom George III. was the chief,)
had in view was the advancement of geographical and astro-
nomical knowledge, Sir Joseph Banks was anxious to avail
himself of the opportunity of adding to the stores of natural
history ; and, influenced by this motive, he resolved to ac-
company the expedition. Accordingly he made the most
ample preparations, at his own expense, for the undertaking,
and engaged Dr. Solander and other scientific persons to
accompany him.

Most of our readers are no doubt acquainted with the in-
teresting discoveries and amusing adventures which resulted
from this expedition. Many will remember with what de-
light they first read the history of Captain Cook's voyages ;
and throughout this history they will no doubt recollect the
frequent and honourable mention of the subject of our present
memoir, and the justly earned tribute paid to the great zeal
and activity displayed by him throughout the progress of the
voyage.

As might be expected, they met with many interesting ad-
ventures in the course of their travels. On the coast of Terra
del Fuego Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander narrowly
escaped perishing in a storm of snow in which they were

58 MEMOIR OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS.

compelled to pass the night on shore. A seaman and a black
servant who accompanied them fell victims to the excessive
fatigue and cold ; and it was with considerable difficulty that
Dr. Solander was rescued from a similar fate. Indeed the
ultimate escape and safety of the party was attributed to the
energy and presence of mind which Sir Joseph displayed
under the very trying circumstances in which they were
placed.

In proceeding from thence, many valuable acquisitions were
made of ornithological specimens, and it is particularly re-
corded that Sir Joseph Banks in the course of one day killed as
many as sixty- two birds with his own hand, of which number
a great proportion had till then been undescribed.

The expedition arrived at Otaheite in April 1 769. They
remained there three months, and Sir JosephBanks, on ac-
count of his many useful and agreeable qualities, became a
general favourite. His energetic character again displayed
itself in many instances, particularly in recovering the qua-
drant which had been stolen by some of the natives, and the
loss of which would have proved of very serious consequence
to the main object of the expedition.

From Otaheite they proceeded to New Zealand, and to the
eastern coast of New Holland, which they called New South
Wales. The well known name of Botany Bay was also given
by them, in consequence of the numerous botanical speci-
mens collected there by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander.
Whilst at New South Wales a very mortifying accident oc-
curred, which destroyed a great part of the valuable and
interesting collection, in obtaining which so much time and
labour had been expended. The vessel struck upon a rock,
and was considerably damaged; and afterwards, whilst under-
going repair, still further mischief was occasioned by the
rushing in of the sea. It may readily be conceived how
acutely these disasters were felt by the subject of our present
memoir.

The expedition afterwards sailed for New Guinea, and
on their return touched at Batavia, where a great part of the
crew perished from fever. In June 1771 the vessel arrived
in the Downs, and Sir Joseph Banks was welcomed home
by numerous friends and admirers of his public and scientific
character. He received from all the celebrated literary cha-
racters, and from the public in general, the respect due to
his talents and his energy.

Another expedition was projected under Captain Cook in -
1772, in search of the Southern continent; and Sir Joseph
Banks made great preparations, and intended to have again

MEMOIR OF SIR JOSEH BANKS. 59

joined the party, but owing to circumstances connected with
the vessel, he altered his determination, and did not accom-
pany the expedition. His active mind could not, however,
remain long unemployed, and he determined on a voyage to
Iceland and the Western Islands of Scotland, as well for the
purpose of making scientific researches as of giving employ-
ment to those persons whom he had engaged under the
expectation of joining the expedition under Captain Cook
last alluded to. In the course of this voyage Sir Joseph
Banks visited Staffa, and explored the Cave of Fingal (then
almost unknown), and other curiosities. On reaching Ice-
land they commenced their researches, and made many valu-
able additions to what was then known of the products of
this island. They also reached the summit of Mount Hecla,
after an arduous journey of twelve days.

After the return of Sir Joseph Banks from this expedition
he did not again leave his native shore, but continued to reside
at home, extending his valuable collection of specimens in all
the branches of natural history, and applying his scientific
and experienced mind to a variety of subjects connected with
his favourite study. His house became the general resort
for scientific characters from all countries, and he himself
was visited by persons of all ranks.

In 1777) on the retirement of Sir John Pringle, Sir Joseph
Banks was appointed President of the Royal Society. That
he was qualified to fill this important station seems to have
been generally admitted ; and although it would show a want
of candour and impartiality if we did not state, that some
faults were occasionally discovered in the conduct of Sir
Joseph as President, yet upon the whole we believe we are
justified in saying, that he presided over this learned Society
with great credit to himself, and great advantage to the insti-
tution.

It was not until 1781 that he was created a baronet. We
have been therefore rather inaccurate in speaking of him as
Sir Joseph Banks prior to this period. He was subsequently
created a Knight of the Bath. He took an active part in
the foundation of the African Association, and was also one
of the chief promoters or founders of the Horticultural So-
ciety.

He died 19th May, 1820, at his house in Soho Square,
having bequeathed his valuable museum for the benefit of his
country, and which now forms a valuable part of the British
Museum.

[ 60 ]

CLEARNESS OF THE SEA AT THE NORTH CAPE.

The following interesting description of the appearance of
the Northern Sea is given by Capell Brooke, in his Travels
to the North Cape.

" Nothing can be more surprising and beautiful than the
singular clearness of the water of the northern seas. As we
passed slowly over the surface, the bottom, which was in
general a white sand, was clearly visible, with its minutest
objects, where the depth was from twenty to twenty-five fa-
thoms. During the whole course of the tour I made, nothing
appeared to me so extraordinary as the inmost recesses of
the deep thus unveiled to the eye. The surface of the ocean
was unruffled by the slightest breeze, and the gentle splashing
of the oars scarcely disturbed it. Hanging over the gunwale
of the boat with wonder and delight, I gazed on the slowly
moving scene below. Where the bottom was sandy, the
different kinds of Asterice and Echini, and even the smallest
shells, appeared at that great depth conspicuous to the eye ;
and the water seemed in some measure to have the effect of a
magnifier, by enlarging the objects like a telescope, and
bringing them nearer. Now creeping along, we saw, far
beneath, the rugged sides of a mountain rising towards
our boat, the base of which perhaps was hidden some
miles in the great depth below. Though moving on a level
surface, it seemed almost as if we were ascending the height
under us ; and when we passed over its summit, which rose
in appearance to within a few feet of our boat, and came
again to the descent, which on this side was suddenly per-
pendicular, and overlooking a watery gulf, as we pushed
gently over the last part of it, it seemed almost as if we had
thrown ourselves down this precipice ; the illusion, from the
crystal clearness of the deep, actually producing a sudden
start. Now we came again to a plain ; and passed slowly
over, the submarine forests and meadows which appeared in
the expanse below, inhabited, doubtless, by thousands of
animals unknown to man ; and I could sometimes observe
large fishes of a singular shape gliding softly through the
watery thickets, unconscious of what was moving above them.
As we proceeded the bottom became no longer visible : its
fairy scenes gradually faded to the view, and were lost in the
dark green depths of the ocean. "

[ 61 ]

THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

Although the Gardens at this season of the year do not pre-
sent such numerous inducements to strangers, as in spring
or summer, when the ride or walk, and the choice collection
of plants and flowers with which they are ornamented, are
of themselves sufficient to gratify the visitor, yet some of the
animals are now to be seen to great advantage, and many
persons have availed themselves of the mild and dry weather
during the past month to pay them a visit.

Some valuable donations have been added to the collection
at the Regent's Park ; including a pair of chetahs from
India, presented by Lord Clare ; a South American ostrich,
from the President, Lord Stanley ; and a number of golden
pheasants from J. Fuller, Esq.

Workmen are now engaged in inclosing and fencing a part
of the land lately added to these gardens on the east side, and
we understand a bank is to be formed and planted for the
purpose of sheltering the grounds, as much as possible, from
the east wind. From the Report read at the last monthly
meeting, it would appear that the Council do not contem-
plate the erection of any buildings on the newly inclosed
land at present, but intend forming two large ponds or re-
servoirs, one of which is to be appropriated to the use of
those beautiful birds the mandarin ducks ; and the other
for the rest of the aquatic birds.

The members of this Society held their first scientific
meeting on the evening of the 8th of January. It is in-
tended to continue these meetings at intervals of a fortnight,
and to publish occasionally the papers read, and other sci-
entific information obtained, in the shape of Transactions,
similar to those of other Societies. At the first meeting,
papers were read and observations made by Mr. Bennett,
the intelligent Vice- Secretary of the Society, Mr. Yarrell,
Dr. Grant, and others. We shall probably in future give a
short account of the proceedings of these meetings, which,
we trust, will be acceptable to many of our readers.

Dr. Grant has commenced a course of lectures to the
members on Zoology, which, as far as they have proceeded,
have been well attended, and have given great satisfaction.

We hear favourable accounts of the Surrey Gardens, and
that some valuable additions are likely to be made in the
course of the spring. We must, however, candidly admit
that we have not visited these gardens during the past
month, and can therefore only promise to furnish all the
information we can procure against our next Number.

Sir,

[ 62 ]

ON THE PANTHER.

To the Editor of the Zoological Magazine.

Perhaps you can find room in your next Number, or in the
Notices to Correspondents, to give me some light on the fol-
lowing subject.

In Pennant, Buffon, and all the old books of natural hi-
story, the panther is universally described as a beast larger
than the leopard, and differing from him by having a single
spot in the centre of the rings on his body, while the leopard
has only the rings. Now in the Zoological Gardens there
is a beast which they call the panther, larger indeed than the
leopard, but having neither rings, nor rings with central
spots, but only single spots like the chetah. To complete
this riddle, the author of the " Tower Menagerie" asserts
that there is no such existing beast as the panther. If you
can solve this Gordian knot, you will greatly oblige

Felis.

Though we are not vain enough to undertake to solve a
Gordian knot, we gladly give our correspondent " Felis "
such information as we possess on the subject. We must ob-
serve that in the present state of knowledge relative to these
two species, very little dependence can be placed on charac-
ters drawn from the markings and spots on the skin. The
single spot in the middle of the ring [ocellus pupillatus) at-
tributed to the panther by Buffon, is an error arising from
his having been ignorant of the country from which was
derived the large spotted Felis, figured as the female panther
at pi. xii. vol. ix. of the quarto edition of his Works. This
animal is the American Jaguar.

Our correspondent would be equally mistaken in sup-
posing the fine single- spotted Felis ticketed ' Panther ' in the
Zoological Gardens, to be the type of that species. It is
either a variety merely, or a species distinct from both the
leopard and panther. But the determination of this question
will require more minute investigation than is practicable
on the living animal.

According to the investigation of Temminck, the panther
(Felis Pardus) is larger than the leopard, and its tail equals
in length the body and head, and contains twenty-eight ver-
tebrae ; while in the leopard, the tail is equal in length to the
trunk only, and contains twenty-two vertebrae. Both the
species have the spots on the sides of the body arranged in
rings, which are broader in the leopard than in the panther.

THE CUCKOO. 63

These rings contain occasionally a central spot like the Ja-
guars, but are more commonly without, {ocelli cceci) . They
are never so broad as in the jaguar. Linnaeus was of opinion
that the leopard and panther were varieties of the same
species. — Editor.

the CUCKOO.
To the Editor of the Zoological Magazine.

Sir,
I have read with great interest the communication of your
correspondent W. C, describing the manner in which the
young cuckoo refuses to labour for its own support, as long
as it can force any other bird to supply it with food ; as well
as the attention which the smaller birds pay to its cry for
help. I have seen an account of a similar occurrence be-
tween a cuckoo and a thrush, which were put into the same
cage, the latter undertaking to feed the former. The cuckoo
had been taken out of a hedge-sparrow's nest. These birds
were in the possession of Gideon Man tell, Esq. of Lewes.
The following extract from the Introduction to Sweet's Bri-
tish Warblers rather confirms his supposition that migratory
birds, detained in this country beyond the time appointed for
their departure, feel, in captivity, the same impulse which, in
a state of liberty, would have carried them to far distant
lands.

" These birds, when in confinement, are very restless at
the seasons of their usual migration from one country to
another, — at the time that they are leaving this country in au-
tumn, about twice during the winter, and again when they
are returning in the spring. From their agitation at various
times in the winter, it may be concluded that they visit more
than one country after their departure from this. It is very
curious to see them when in that state ; their restlessness
seems to come on them all at once ; and generally in the
evening, when they are sitting, seemingly quite composed,
they start up suddenly and flutter their wings ; sometimes
flying direct to the top of the cage or aviary \ at other times
running backwards and forwards on their perches, continu-
ally flapping their wings, and looking upward all the time :
nor will they notice anything that is going forward as long
as they continue in that state, which lasts for an hour or two
at each time. By their always wishing to fly upwards, it
may be supposed that when they take their flight, they mount
to a great height, so that they can direct their course the

64 zoologist's calendar.

better by seeing the way clear all around them : their agita-
tion generally lasts on them about a fortnight ; sometimes
more, and sometimes less : in the spring it seems strongest
on them ; at that season they will sometimes flutter about the
whole of the night, and sleep a great part of the day."

Perhaps your correspondent may, during his observations
on this singular bird, have discovered some explanation of
the curious fact mentioned by Prof. Rennie, in his edition
of Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, — that, in many in-
stances, the female cuckoo cannot possibly have sat upon the
nest so as to have deposited her egg therein in the ordinary
manner. According to Le Vaillant one of the African cuckoos
places its egg in the nest with its bill. Audubon says, in his
account of the Chuck- Will's- Widow [Caprimulgus Caroli-
nensis), that if its eggs are disturbed it immediately trans-
ports them in its mouth to some other spot. He was him-
self once a witness of this fact. This evidence proves that
birds do sometimes remove their eggs in this manner.

M.

ZOOLOGIST S CALENDAR FOR FEBRUARY.

Quadrupeds. — Several species of Bats (Plecotus auritus,
Vesper tilio murinus, fyc.) begin to revive from their torpid
state. The Mole (Talpa europcea) makes a nest chiefly
composed of moss.

Birds. — The Rook (Corvus frugilegus) and the Raven
(Corvus Corax) begin to build. The Goldfinch (Fringilla
Carduelis), the Yellow-hammer (Emberiza Citrinella), the
Sky-lark (Alauda arvensis), the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs),
all improve considerably in song. Partridges (Perdix cinerea)
pair. Hens (Phasianus Gallus) sit. House Pigeons ( Colurnha
domestica) breed. Missel Thrushes pair.

Insects, &c. — The following may be occasionally met with
in the course of this month. Brimstone Butterfly (Papilio
Rhamni), the Primrose Butterfly (Gonopteryx Rhamni),
the February Carpet Moth (Jplocera ccesiata), the Spring
Usher Moth iAnisopteryx leucophearia), the Meal Worm
Beetle (Tenebrio Molitor), the Bacon Beetle (Dermestes
lardanius), and the Ditch Beetle (Hydrophilus caraboides) .

THE

ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

The POLAR BEAR. (Ursus maritimus, Pallas.)

1 HE quadrupeds whose extremities are terminated by claws,
and whose jaws are armed with the three kinds of teeth, viz.
molares, laniarii, and incisor es, — or grinders, lacerators, and
cutters, — are for the most part driven by an innate ferocity of
disposition to prey upon and destroy those animals which
these natural weapons enable them to overcome.

The carnivorous propensity, however, exists among them
in different degrees. In some of the genera it can only be
satiated with blood, and is active as long as any prey can be
procured: but these wholesale destroyers are happily the
smallest and weakest of the order Ferce. The larger and
more formidable species again, as those of the Feline tribe, are
limited in their geographical range, rarely extending beyond
the tropics ; they also devour the whole of their prey except
the bones, and their hunger is accordingly satisfied with fewer
victims than that of the insatiable weasel-tribe. At length
the tendency to destroy ceases to be a prominent feature; and
this we find to be the widely distributed genus to which our
present subject appertains, which embraces the largest and
most indomitable animals of the order.

Bears have in fact their molar or back teeth so construct-
ed as to be better fitted for bruizing and masticating vegetable
substances, than for cutting or dividing the raw fibres of an ani-
mal's flesh : instead of sloping to an edge, as in the Feline
tribe, and sliding upon those of the opposite jaw like the
blades of a pair of scissors, these teeth have broad tubercu-
lated surfaces, and are opposed crown to crown. According-
ly it is observed that by far the greater number of the species
derive their sustenance from the vegetable kingdom.

The general form of the body corresponds to this destine
tion, and is better adapted for digging and climbing than for
executing those agile movements by which the more carni-
vorous tribes capture their living prey. Thus, instead of
stealing lightly and softly on the extremities of the >toes, the
whole foot in both the fore and hind legs is applied to the
ground * ; and as the claws of the bear have no provision for
retraction, their gait is frequently accompanied by a disagree-
able clatter, very different from the noiseless tread of the cat.

* The tribe to which the bear belongs is called ' plantigrade.'
ZooL Mag. No. 3. f

66 THE POLAR BEAR.

Nevertheless the bears still possess formidable destructive
weapons ; their jaws are actuated by powerful muscles, and
are both armed in front with six incisors and two large pointed
conical teeth, or laniaries. Their claws, although not indeed
so sharp as in the tiger, are yet sufficiently capable, from the
great power of the limbs, of inflicting severe lacerations : and
the irresistible gripe of these animals, — their favourite and
almost peculiar method of attack, — is proverbial. The cou-
rage of the bear corresponds with his corporeal powers ; and
although he avoids a rencontre with man, and exercises con-
siderable caution under circumstances not familiar to him,
and from which danger might be apprehended, yet when
compelled to fight, he becomes a formidable opponent, bring-
ing his forces into the field with good-will and energy, and
losing none of his natural advantages through fear.

Possessing an internal organization capable of digesting
either animal or vegetable food, and locomotive powers
adapted to a vast variety of circumstances, it may be readily
supposed that the animals of the genus Ursus are widely
distributed over the face of the globe. Indeed it will be dif-
ficult to point out any other group in the class Mammalia,
inferior to man, so truly cosmopolite. Accordingly species of
the bear, differing but little from each other in general form,
are met with from the equator to the pole : and, notwith-
standing the organized products which characterize these
latitudes are of a nature so widely different, the bear contrives
in both climates to satisfy his voracious appetite and grow fat.

In the arctic regions, where the vegetable kingdom is feebly
represented by lichens and mosses, but where, on the contrary,
the ocean teems with myriads of small mollusca, and at the
same time exhibits animal life under its bulkiest forms, — here
the polar bear is found laying wait for and combating the
walrus and the seal; pursuing and overtaking in its own ele-
ment the swift salmon ; employing stratagem to surprise the
smaller quadrupeds and birds which in summer-time visit
the higher latitudes ; less delicate also in his appetites than
the more strictly carnivorous quadrupeds, this species does
not disdain to feast on the stranded carcase of the whale; and
being of a slothful disposition, he prefers this more easy and
abundant sustenance to that which demands from him more
active predatory exertions.

In the tropical regions, on the contrary, where vegetation
is exhibited under the most luxuriant forms and in the great-
est profusion, the bears live almost exclusively on vegetable
matter; and it is interesting to observe that these species
are the smallest of the genus, and are consequently best fitted

THE POLAR BKAR. 67

for climbing; whilst the bears inhabiting the wilds of Siberia,
the Rocky Mountains of North America, and the arctic ice-
bergs, attain that superior size and strength which enable
them to execute the acts of destruction necessary for their
own support and existence.

Besides differences in size and colour, there are few cha-
racteristics by which the species can be distinguished from
each other ; and these marks of distinction are by no means
prominent or easily perceived. Linnaeus, who had never had
an opportunity of examining the polar bear, doubted even
its specific difference from the brown bear, which conse-
quently was the only one admitted into his catalogue of species.
It is true he has characterized in his last edition of the Sy-
stema Naturoe four species of Ursus; but then he associated in
the same genus with the common bear, the badger, the ra-
coon, and the glutton, all of which, possessing fewer teeth
and longer tails, have been separated from the genus Ursus in
the modern systems of zoology. In the same year that Storr
effected this dismemberment, Pallas added two species to the
restricted group, and satisfactorily pointed out the characters
which distinguish the polar and the American black bear from
the European species.

Soon afterwards a new era arose in natural history, when
the knowledge of living species was found essential to the
elucidation of those numerous extinct forms of which the
fossil remains now alone exist ; and it may be readily con-
ceived what rapid strides the natural history of living animals
has made, since to its own intrinsic attractions has been added
the stimulus of a new and deeply interesting inquiry. Thus
the immortal Cuvier observes, "From the commencement
of my researches on the cave-bones, I perceived the neces-
sity of determining the characters, as well external as osteolo-
gical, of the living species of bears; and I made efforts to
obtain the means. We possessed in our Museum but one
skeleton of a bear, of an undetermined species. I was then
obliged for many years to examine all the bears that I could
procure, and to have their skeletons prepared. Our menagerie
has in this respect been to me of the greatest utility ; and
on this, as on many other occasions, the scientific impor-
tance of such an establishment has been demonstrated/ ' His
own zeal and industry were met with corresponding ardour
by his pupils abroad, and by scientific men of all nations ;
and the catalogue of species has accordingly been rapidly ex-
tended. They may be thus enumerated : —

f2

68 THE POLAR JJKAR.

Bears of Europe.

1. The Common or Brown Bear; Ursus Arctos, Linn.

2. The Pyrenean Bear, or Bear of the Asturias; Ursus

pyrenceus, F. Cuv. ?

3. The Norwegian Bear ; Ursus norvegicus, F. Cuv. ?

Bears of Asia.

4. The Siberian Bear ; Ursus collaris, F. Cuv. ?

5. The Labiated Bear ; Ursus labiatus, Blainville.

6. The Malayan Bear ; Ursus malayanus, Raffles.

7. The Thibetan Bear ; Ursus thibetanus, Cuv.

8. The Bornean Bear ; Ursus eurispylus, Horslield.

9. The Isabelline Bear ; Ursus isabellinus, Horsfield.

10. The Syrian Bear# ; Ursus syriacus, Hemprich.

Bears of Africa.

11. The Abyssinian Bear; Ursus habessinicus, Hemprich.?

Bears of America.

12. The Spectacled Bear; Ursus ornatus, F. Cuv.

13. The Grisly Bear; Ursus fer ox, Lewis and Clarke.

14. The Black Bear ; Ursus americanus, Pallas.

15. The Polar Bear; Ursus maritimus, Pallas.

Those of the above species which are denoted by a mark
of interrogation require additional investigation and further
opportunities of comparison, before they can be admitted as
species unquestionably distinct. Numbers 2, 3, and 4, may
ultimately be found to be varieties only of the common Euro-
pean Brown Bear.

Numbers 5 to 9 have been grouped together under the
subgeneric titles Prochitus and Helarctos, or Sun-bears,
having some characteristics in common, in which they differ
from the rest of the genus. The species 11 has only been
seen in its wild state, and has not yet been scientifically de-
scribed : it is inserted here chiefly on account of its geogra-
phical position, being the only species of bear recorded with
any degree of authenticity as inhabiting the continent of
Africa.

As there is no genus of carnivorous quadrupeds in which
the species present so few deviations from the common
type, so are there none in which the differences of size are

* This, in all probability, was the species of bear which, as an instrument
of Divine displeasure, tore the children that on Mount Bethel scoffed at the
Prophet Elisha: see 2nd Kings, ii. 23, 24.

THE POLAR BEAR. 69

so slight. The Zoological Gardens at present contain the
largest and perhaps the smallest species of Bear ; viz. the
Grisly Bear, and the Malayan Bear ; in this menagerie
may also be seen and compared together the species 1, 5,
12, 13, 14, and 15, of the above catalogue ; besides a brown
or chestnut variety of the Ursus americanus, called the Cin-
namon Bear. In all these species it may be observed that
the body is heavy and ungainly, the limbs short and strong,
each terminated by five toes, and armed with long curved
unretractile claws ; their ears are short, and hairy both within
and without ; their body is in most of the species covered with
long shaggy hair, by which the tail is almost concealed. The
habits of the different species differ almost as little as their
forms, and were consequently nearly as well known 2500 years
ago, when studied in the common European species, as at
the present day.

Thus Aristotle observes, " But the bear is omnivorous ; for
it eats the fruits of trees, which, through the pliability of its
body, it climbs. It also eats leguminous fruits. Destroy-
ing likewise the hives of bees, it eats their honey, and feeds
on crabs and ants, and is carnivorous ; for on account of its
strength this animal not only attacks stags, but also wild-
boars, if it can invade them latently. It likewise attacks
bulls : for attacking the bull in front, he falls on his back, and
while the bull endeavours to strike him (as he lies in this su-
pine position), the bear throws his arms round the horns of
the bull, bites his shoulder, and lays him prostrate. For a
short time, likewise, the bear walks erect on two feet, and eats
every kind of flesh, previously masticating it." — Book viii.
chap. 5 : and again in chap. 17? — "Among viviparous qua-
drupeds, also, porcupines and bears hide themselves. That
savage bears, therefore, hide themselves is evident ; but it
is dubious whether it is from cold, or some other cause :
for both the males and females become about this time
very fat, so as to be unwieldly. The female also brings forth
at this season, and conceals herself till the period arrives of
leading forth the young bears from her retreat : but she
does this in the spring, and in the third month after the
winter solstice. The bear likewise is concealed for about
forty days at least ; and it is said, that for fourteen of these
days it does not move at all, but in most of the days after
these it is concealed indeed, yet is in a vigilant state, and
in motion. A pregnant bear, however, has either never
been caught by any one or by very few. It is evident, also,
that the bear during the time of its concealment does not eat
anything ; for it does not come forth from its retreat ; but

70 THE POLAll BEAU.

when it is caught, both its stomach and intestines are found
to be empty." — History of Animals {Taylor s Translation).
Modern observers have added little of importance to the pre-
ceding brief summary of the habits of the bear. The same
uncertainty still prevails as to the duration, or even the fact,
of its torpidity. Nay, almost the very words of the Greek
philosopher respecting the pregnant European bear have
been applied to the black bear of America ; and with every
appearance of being an original observation. "The bears
are very common in this province (North Carolina), though
not quite so large as in more northerly climates, such as
Greenland and Russia. Their flesh is good and nourishing,
not inferior to the best pork in taste, and is betwixt beef
and pork. The young cubs are amost delicious dish, as mostof

the planters testify These beasts feed upon all manner

of wild fruits, and are great devourers of every sort of fish,
especially herrings, which they catch at the brook's side in
the months of March and April. The flesh of those bears that
feed upon them, is not good at that season, and eats filthily ;
neither are they good when they feed upon green berries.
They are great devourers of swine that they take in the
woods, especially when they are hungry and can get no other
food, which is the only flesh meat they are fond of. They
sometimes get into the Indian corn-fields or maize, where they
generally spoil ten times more than they eat ; they are so
fond of the potatoes of this country, that they seldom fail to
destroy and root out all clean, whenever they chance to come

where they are Notwithstanding they seem to be such a

clumsy creature, yet they will nimbly climb trees when pur-
sued by hunters and dogs, where they generally remain till
shot; and it is strange to see with what agility they will go
up and down the trees, and in coming down they always run
tail foremost. They are likewise very dexterous and expert
in fishing, catching vast quantities of several sorts of fish as
they run up the narrow creeks and shallow waters to spawn.
There you shall see these beasts sit and take up fish as fast
as it is possible for them to dip their paws into the water.
There is one thing very strange and remarkable of this
creature, which is, that no man, either Christian or Indian,
ever killed a she-bear with young. It is most certain that
they hide themselves in the most secret places, otherwise
the Indians, who constantly hunt in the woods and kill thou-
sands of he-ones, would at some time or other have found
them." — BricknelVs Natural History of North Carolina,
p. 110.

The obscurity which so long prevailed respecting the gesta-

THE POLAR BEAR. *J\

tion of the bear, in consequence of the extreme caution which
the female practises in selecting her retreat, has been in a
great measure dissipated by the circumstance of the Ameri-
can black bear having bred in the Parisian menagerie. Gesta-
tion lasts seven months, and the young ones are brought forth
in January; they are entirely grey, and without the white
collar which characterizes the young of the Euporean brown
bear. The period, therefore, which Aristotle has assigned to
the latter species, of thirty days, is evidently erroneous.

With respect to the intellectual faculties of the bear, it has
been stated by the naturalist who has been most happy in
observations of this kind, that " prudence is the principal
trait in the character of the bear ; circumspection cannot be
carried beyond the degree in which he manifests it : he re-
cedes, whenever he is able, from everything unfamiliar to him;
if he is compelled to approach it, he does it slowly, calling
in aid all his methods of exploration, and he does not advance
until he has become fully assured that the object of his alarm
is without danger for him. It is not, however, resolution
nor courage that he wants; he seems little susceptible of fear;
he is not seen to fly; confident in himself, he resists a threat-
ened injury, opposes force to force, and his rage as well as
his exertions may become terrible if his life is threatened.
But it is especially in defence of their young, that the female
bears put forth all the resources of their muscular energies
and of their courage : they throw themselves with fury upon
every living creature that excites their alarm, and only cease
to combat when they cease to exist.

"What adds in some measure to the merit of their prudence
and courage is the singular extent of their intelligence, which
seems to take away whatever of a blind mechanical character
might be considered to appertain to their other qualities. We
know the education which the bears receive from those men
who get their living by leading these animals from town to
town, and making them perform clumsy dances to the sound
of a flageolet ; and we can conceive that by means of chas-
tisements and rewards, whilst the animal is compelled to
assume the necessary attitudes, that they at length succeed
in making him repeat them by word of command. It is by
means of these associations that even the most stupid animals
can in some degree be instructed. But we have witnessed in
many species of bears an education, which was effected freely
and by themselves, produce more remarkable results than the
compulsatory tuition of which we before knew them to be
susceptible. We have observed this in the bears which live
in the pits of our menagerie, and are influenced only by the

72 THE POLAR BKAlt.

public, who speak to them and gwe them dainties. Through
the influence of these two means alone these animals have
learnt to perform a number of exercises, which they repeat at
the simple word of command, and under the sole expectation
of being rewarded by a cake or an apple. Thus at the words
montf a I'arbre, they climb the trunk of the tree which is
placed in their pit. If one says to them fais le bean, they
know that they ought to lie down on their back, and bring
together their four paws. At the word priez, they sit up
erect and join their fore legs. At the word tourne, they
pirouette upon their hind legs, &c." — F. Cuvier, Diet, des
Sciences Nat.

It has been observed, that the black bears of America pro-
fit less by this sort of public education than their European
congeners, and it is remarkable that the form of their head
presents a less intellectual character. — The polar bear, to the
particular history of which we shall now turn, presents a still
less degree of docility and intelligence.

This species ranks among the larger productions of the ani-
mated creation; but it must be observed that in the accounts
of the older navigators its size has been greatly exaggerated.
Those seen by the naturalists who accompanied Captain Parry
in the northern expeditions, did not in general exceed seven or
eight feet in length. Captain Lyon has given the dimensions of
one which was considered to be unusually large, being 8 feet
7i inches long, and weighing 1600ibs. A female, which was
attended by two cubs, was killed on the 31 st of August, 1822,
and was so small that two or three men were able to lift her
into a boat; yet she must have attained the period at which
she was capable of propagating her kind on or before the
autumn of the preceding year." — Appendix to Parry's Se-
cond Voyage, p. 288.

With the exception of the naked end of the snout, the lips,
the margins of the eyelids and the claws, the exterior of the
polar bear presents at all seasons of the year an uniform white
colour ; a provision which renders its movements less easily
distinguishable either by its enemies or its prey in the snowy
regions destined for its habitual abode. The parts above
mentioned are of a black colour; the lips have a purple tinge;
the tongue is black, and the whole inside of the mouth is of
a pale violet hue. As the polar bear advances in age it ac-
quires a yellowish tint, and the forehead of the old animals
is generally devoid of hair, and of a brown colour, a con-
setmence of a remarkable habit this species has of rubbing
that part of the head with a swinging circular motion against
any hard perpendicular surface.

TIJK POLAR BEAR. ^S

In shape the polar bear deviates more than any of the spe-
cies from the generic type. It stands lower on the limbs,
which are very strong and thick; the body seems consequent-
ly longer in proportion, but it is the neck and head that more
especially possess this elongated character. The latter is
narrow and tapering, and its contour presents a continuous
line without that separation of the forehead from the muzzle
which we observe in the brown bear. The projecting eye-
brows are a peculiar character in the white bear. The eyes
have the disproportionate smallness common to the genus ;
but the ears are much shorter than in the land bears, and
thus form as slight an obstacle as possible while diving. The
feet are remarkably long and broad ; the toes united by a
strong web as far as the roots of the nails : these are of a com-
pressed form, and very strong, but shorter, perhaps, than
in any other species. The polar bear can thus steal silent-
ly on its prey; and while a noiseless tread is further en-
sured by the hairy nature of the soles of the feet, this
structure at the same time ensures him a firmer footing on
the ice.

The hair on the head is very short and close-set ; it becomes
longer about the occiput and cheeks ; upon the body it be-
comes still longer and shaggy, hanging down from the sides
so as almost to hide the legs, and quite concealing the short
tail behind. The longer hairs are intermixed at their roots
with a very fine white wool or fur.

In considering the habits of this species of quadruped, we
cannot avoid, in the first place, being struck with the remark-
able geographical position in which nature has placed it. Ani-
mals in general, like plants, avoid extreme cold, rather than ex-
treme heat: and though in consequence of being endowed with
higher powers, their distribution over the globe is not regulated
so absolutely by temperature as vegetables, yet they are con-
siderably influenced by it. It is interesting, indeed, to observe
the various modes in which they evade the influence of cold ;
some escape by migrating to warmer climates ; others pass into
a state of torpidity, previously placing themselves beyond the
influence of low temperature either by surrounding them-
selves with substances that are bad conductors of heat, bur-
rowing into the earth, or submerging beneath water. But
with the present animal, heat seems the chief annoyance, and
cold his greatest luxury. He is, however, stated by some to
pass the dreariest period of the arctic winter in a torpid state,
sheltered from the intense cold by the snow that has accu-
mulated upon him. But, as we have before observed with
respect to the common bear, some doubt also exists as to

/4 THE POLAR BEAR.

whether the polar bear hibernates, or not. Dr. Richardson
observes, " Our navigators confirm the statements of Fabri-
cius and Hearne, that the polar bear does not hibernate, having
occasionally seen them in the winter, and actually pursued
one in December. It is mentioned in the narrative, that
the Esquimaux killed eight or ten in the winter of 1822 ; and
Mr. Edwards learnt from the hunters that they often saw
and killed the males when roaming at large during that season,
and as often dug the dams with their cubs from under the
snow. These facts seem conclusive as to the uniform hiber-
nation of the gravid females, and the, at least, occasional
appearance of the males abroad in the winter. It is pos-
sible, however, that the latter may also become torpid in the
winter, when the local circumstances of their native districts
are such as to preclude them from reaching open water at that
season; and thus the opposite opinions of naturalists maybe
in some degree reconciled/' — Appendix to Parry's Second
Voyage, p. 229.

It is at the decline of winter that the polar bears, and espe-
cially the females, are the fiercest and most formidable. At
this period the stores of fat accumulated in autumn have be-
come exhausted, and the maternal cares combining with hun-
ger render the dam remarkably bold. They are rarely, how-
ever, the aggressors ; but become furious when attacked.

The Siberian hunters, however, assured Pallas that the
polar bear was more easily killed than the land bear, rarely
surviving two body wounds. " The weak and ill-armed natives
of those parts, "he observes/ ' do not fear to enter into single
combat with this powerful and generally dreaded beast, and
for the most part come off conquerors. Armed only with a
rude spear, they provoke their antagonist; and whilst he rushes
madly forward to the attack, they slip with agility to one side
and pierce him in the flank ; for the bear sees nothing but
what is straight before him, and passes blindly beyond his
aggressor; which has been unaptly attributed to the celerity
of his onset. But if he is beset with dogs, he heeds not the
hunter, and consequently gives him ample opportunity to
wound him from behind or on one side. And thus the Ja-
cuti attack him with great safety, first setting on him a num-
ber of dogs ; and they dread the polar bear much less than
the brown bear. Thus in this unequal conflict the Siberian
hunters, who are terrified by the first discharge of fire-arms
as much as the American Indians, far exceed the Europeans
in boldness and agility; for though the latter fearlessly
stand in the ranks and brave the blind fortune of war, yet
which of these heroes would venture singly to attack the

THE POLAR liBAtt. 7^

bear, armed with a simple lance ? " Pallas takes notice of an
assertion respecting the ease with which the polar bear, like
the seal, may be killed by a blow on the nose ; and he ob-
serves that a young animal which he kept alive during one
winter, was quickly enraged by slight blows on the muzzle,
and would then cover the injured part with his hand, or even
hide his head with both his fore-feet : but he quotes a state-
ment of Marten's, to the effect that the polar bear will sustain
severe wounds on the head without fatal injury : and in the
specimen now alive at the Zoological Gardens there may be
observed a cicatrix on one side of the muzzle, which is appa-
rently the effect of a severe blow. Pallas's young bear was
exceedingly impatient at being touched about the ears or tail.
He seemed a dull sluggish animal except when irritated; then,
as if by a sudden impulse, he exhibited most prompt but con-
fused motions, standing erect on his hind feet, and attempt-
ing to tear with his teeth. When threatened, he snarled with
a hissing noise and a fierce expression of the eyes. When
enraged and in combat, or unwillingly dragged by his chain,
he uttered a graver and louder roar, but never howled like
the common bear : he preferred fish and frozen meat to fresh
meat, — holding this food between his feet upon the ground as
he tore it. He never refused, however, any carcase; and the
Dutch observed the polar bears devouring the bodies of their
own species that had been slain. But he ate sparingly and
not greedily, licking his food a long time. For drink he swal-
lowed snow in large quantities and with great avidity, and
lapped water. He swallowed also hay and straw, which was
afterwards found in a small quantity quite undigested in his
stomach. When sleeping, he generally covered his nose with
his right paw ; and seemed most lively when the cold was
most intense. From Pallas's observation respecting the
condition of the vegetable substances in the stomach of his
bear, it might be supposed that this species was purely car-
nivorous ; but it must be remembered that these substances
were of the most undigestible nature. Tn the Parisian mena-
gerie a polar bear was fed on bread only, consuming six
pounds in the day; and after subsisting on this diet five years,
it was nevertheless found extremely fat.

In its choice of habitation the polar bear differs most from
the rest of the species. Instead of seeking concealment in the
depths of forests, it prefers the floating iceberg and the
open sea, its powers of swimming peculiarly adapting it to
that sphere of existence. It rarely frequents the coasts of
the Frozen Ocean, and does not descend to the eastern bound-

76 MODI* OF CATCHING THE

ary of Siberia, nor to Kamchatka : and although it is met
with on the north coast of America and in Hudson's Bay,
it does not inhabit the islands between America and Siberia.
They resort to Spitzbergen in great numbers, and sometimes
are transported on the ice to the coasts of Iceland and Nor-
way; but the inhabitants of these places destroy them as
soon as they are detected. The part of Siberia where they
are found to be most numerous is at the mouths of the rivers
Lena and Janissea.

The females go with young six or seven months, and are
supposed to bring forth in the month of March. The num-
ber of their young is generally two, which follow their dam
everywhere, subsisting on her milk until the winter that suc-
ceeds their birth. It is said that the mother carries them on
her back when she swims from iceberg to iceberg. Nothing
precisely is known of the longevity of the polar bear. It is
hunted principally for its hide and fur, which from the soft-
ness of its texture is more esteemed than that of the brown
bear.

BARON HUMBOLDT S DESCRIPTION OF THE MODE OF CATCH-
ING THE GYMNOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL.

While traversing the immense plains of the province of
Caraccas, in order to embark at St. Fernando de Apure, and
commence our voyage on the Orinoco, we stayed five days
atCalabozo, a small town situated, according to my observa-
tions, in 8° 56' 56" north latitude. The object of this visit
was to study the electric eels (Gymnoti), an innumerable
quantity of which are found in the neighbourhood. Indeed I
was assured, that near Urituca a road, once much frequented,
had been entirely abandoned on account of these electric fishes;
travellers being obliged to ford a stream in which a number
of mules were annually drowned, stunned by the shocks they
received from the Gymnoti.

In order to perform our experiments with more precision,
we were desirous of having the electric eels in the house which
we inhabited at Calabozo. Our host took all possible pains
to gratify our desires. He sent Indians on horseback to fish
in the pools. It was easy enough to procure plenty of dead
Gymnoti ; but an almost puerile fear prevented the natives
from bringing them alive. We were afterwards, it is true, con-
vinced of the difficulty of handling this fish whilst it still
retained all its powers : but the dread of the common people

GYMNOTUS, OK KLECTRICAL BBL. //

is the more extraordinary in these countries, as they pretend
that any one with tobacco in his mouth may touch a gymnotus
with impunity. If the Indian had full confidence in this pre-
servative, which is altogether false, why did he not avail him-
self of it to gain the ten francs which we had promised for
every living electric eel that was brought to us ? The love of
the marvellous is so great among the natives, that they often
maintain and spread abroad as facts what they themselves
are far from putting faith in. It is thus that man thinks he
must needs add to the wonders of Nature, as if Nature was
not of herself sufficiently mysterious, grand and imposing.

After three days of fruitless attempts in the town of Cala-
bozo, during which we received only one eel alive, and that
in a very weak state, we resolved to transport ourselves to
the spot, and make our experiments in the open air, on the
banks of the pools in which the gymnoti abounded. We
reached first a little village called Rastro de Abaxo; thence
the Indians conducted us to Cano de Bera, a muddy stag-
nant pool of water, but surrounded with a beautiful vegeta-
tion of the Clusia rosea, the Hymenea Courbaril, the large
Indian figs, and Mimosas with odoriferous flowers. We wTere
much surprised on being told that thirty wild horses must be
caught in the neighbouring savannahs, to serve for the fish-
ery of the electric eels. The idea of this mode of fishing,
which they call embarbascar con cabal los, (to stupify by means
of horses,) is truly very odd. The word barbasco signifies the
roots of Jacqidnia, of Piscidia, or of any other poisonous
plant, by the contact of which a great extent of water re-
ceives in an instant the power of killing, or at least of intoxi-
cating or benumbing, the fishes. The latter rise to the sur-
face of the water when they are poisoned in this way. As
the horses driven here and there in a pool cause the same
effect with respect to the frightened fishes, the natives, con-
founding cause and effect, call the two modes of fishing by
the same name.

Whilst our host was explaining to us this strange mode of
catching fish in this country, the troop of horses and mules
arrived. The Indians formed a sort of battue, and encircling
the poor quadrupeds closely on every side, compelled them
to enter the pool. I can but imperfectly depict the interest-
ing spectacle which the attack of the eels upon the horses
presented to us. The Indians, holding long canes and har-
poons, place themselves around the pool; some of them climb
the trees whose branches project over the surface of the water;
and all of them by their shouts and their weapons prevent the

78 MODE OF CATCHING THE

horses from gaining the bank. The eels, confounded by the
hubbub and splashing of the horses, defend themselves by the
reiterated discharge of their electric batteries.

For a long time they seem victorious over the horses and
mules ; everywhere we see the latter, stunned with the fre-
quency and force of the electric shocks, disappearing beneath
the water. Some of the horses recover themselves, and, despite
the active vigilance of the Indians, gain the bank; overcome
by fatigue, and their limbs paralyzed by the power of the
electric commotions, they lay outstretched upon the earth.

How I wished that a clever painter could have seized the
moment when the scene was at its greatest animation. The
groups of Indians surrounding the pools, — the horses, with
mane erect, and eyes of fright and pain, struggling to
escape from the storm which had surprised them ; — those
yellow livid eels, like great aquatic serpents, swimming upon
the surface of the water, and pursuing their enemy ; — all these
objects presented, in truth, a most picturesque ensemble. I
remembered the superb painting which represents a horse
entering a cavern and scared at the sight of a lion ! The ex-
pression of terror was not stronger than we witnessed in this
unequal conflict.

In less than five minutes, two horses were already drowned.
The eel, being more than five feet in length, glides beneath
the body of the horse or mule ; it then gives a discharge from
the whole length of its electric organ. It attacks at the same
time the heart, the digestive viscera, and above all the plexus
of the gastric nerves. One cannot feel astonished, then, that
the effect produced by the fish upon a great quadruped much
exceeds that produced on man, which it only touches by one
of the extremities. I doubt, however, that the Gymnoti kill
the horses immediately; I rather imagine that the latter,
stunned by the electric shocks which they receive in rapid
succession, fall into a profound lethargy. Deprived of all
sensibility, they disappear beneath the water, the other horses
and mules pass over their bodies, and a few minutes suffice
to make them perish.

After this commencement, I began to fear that this conflict
would terminate very tragically. I did not doubt but that
I should in a little time see all the mules drowned. We pay,
however, only eight francs for each, if the master of it is
known. But the Indians assured us that the fishing would
soon be over, and that it was only the first assault of the
gymnoti that was formidable. In fact, whether it is that
the galvanic electricity accumulates during a state of rest, or

GYMNOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL. J9

that the electric organ ceases to perform its functions when
fatigued by too long usage, the eels, after a certain time, re-
semble discharged batteries. Their muscular motions con-
tinue equally lively, but they have no longer the power of
discharging very energetic shocks. When the conflict had
lasted a quarter of an hour, the mules and horses seemed less
alarmed ; they did not erect the mane, their eye expressed
less pain and terror ; we saw them no longer fall over. On
the other hand the eels, swimming half out of the water, and
endeavouring to avoid the horses in place of attacking them,
in their turn approached towards the bank. The Indians as-
sured us, that no horse is killed when driven two days after-
wards into the pool. These electric fishes require rest and
abundant nourishment to produce and to accumulate a great
quantity of the galvanic electricity. We know, by the expe-
riments that have been made upon the torpedos (electric rays)
of Italy, that on cutting or tying the nerves which go to the
electric organs, the functions of these parts cease as the move-
ment of a muscle is suspended, as long as the ligature of the
main artery or nerve remains. The organs of the torpedo or
gymnotus depend upon the nervous system and the vital func-
tions : they are not mere electro-motive apparatuses, which
attract from the surrounding bed of water the electricity they
have lost. One cannot, therefore, be surprised that the
power of the electric shocks of the gymnoti depends upon
their health, and consequently upon rest, nourishment, age,
and probably a great assemblage of physical and moral con-
ditions.

The eels, making towards the bank, are taken with great
facility. Small harpoons, attached to cords, are cast at them;
the harpoon sometimes brings up two at a time. By this
means they are drawn out of the water without the cord,
which is very dry and of some length, communicating the
shock to the person who holds it. In a few minutes five
large eels were on dry land. One might have caught twenty,
if as many had been wanted for our experiments. Many
were only slightly wounded in the tail; others severely in the
head. We were enabled to observe the natural electricity of
these fishes, modified by the different degrees of the vital
force which they enjoyed. I shall describe in this Memoir
not only the experiments made, in conjunction with M. Bon-
pland, on the gymnoti taken in our presence, but also those
which we had an opportunity of making upon an eel of an
enormous size, which we found in our house on our return
from Rastro to Calabozo. This latter had been caught in a
net ; it had not received any wound. Immediately on being

80 NIGHTINGALES IN RUSSIA.

drawn out of the water, it had been put into the same tray in
which it was brought to Calabozo. Remaining thus in the
same water it was accustomed to, galvanic electricity had not
been altered. We shall see, however, in the course of this
Memoir, that the wounded gymnoti, that is to say, those of
less power, are much more instructive in the inquiry into
galvanic phenomena than the very active gymnoti, for many
shades escape the eye of the observer when the electric tor-
rent takes as impetuous a course across good conductors, as
across those which are more imperfect.

When one has seen the eels knock down a horse, and de-
prive it of all sensibility, he is naturally afraid to touch them
the moment they are brought out of the water. So strong, ,
in fact, is this dread among the people of the country, that
none of them could muster up resolution to disengage the
gymnoti from the cords of the harpoon, or to transport them
to the little holes filled with water which we had made along
the bank of the Cano de Bera. It needed all our fortitude
to receive ourselves the first shocks, which certainly were not
very agreeable. The most energetic surpassed in power the
most painful electric shocks I ever remembered to have re-
ceived, accidentally, from a large and completely charged
Leyden jar. From that time we readily conceived that, with-
out doubt, there was no exaggeration in the story of the In-
dians, when they assert that persons who are swimming are
drowned when one of these eels attacks them by the leg or
the arm. A discharge so violent is fully capable of depriving
a man for many minutes of all use of his limbs. If the gym-
notus should glide along the belly or the chest, death might
even follow instantaneously the electric shock ; for, as we have
before observed, the most noble parts, as the heart, the ga-
stric system, the cceiiac plexus, and all the nerves that de-
pend upon it, would at once be deprived of their irritability.
A feeble electricity augments the vital forces, — a strong de-
gree extinguishes them entirely. — Voyage de Humboldt et
Bonpkmd'y Zoologie, p. 54.

NIGHTINGALES IN RUSSIA.

" Seeing several stalls apparently covered with wheat, I
approached to examine its quality, but was surprised to find
that what had the appearance of wheat consisted of large
ants ' eggs, heaped for sale. Near the same stalls were tubs
full of pismires, crawling among the eggs, and over the per-

THE LABI ATE D BEAR.

81

sons of those who sold them. Both the eggs and the ants
are brought to Moscow as food for nightingales, which are
favourite though common birds in Russian houses. They
sing, in every respect, as beautifully in cages as in their
native woods. We often heard them in the bird-shops war-
bling with all the fulness and variety of tone which charac-
terizes the nightingale in its natural state/' — Dr. Clarke's
Travels in Russia.

The LABIATED BEAR. (Ursus labiatus, Blainville.)

Of all bears the labiated or sloth bear presents the rudest
and most shapeless figure. One might suppose that our great
countryman Ray had had this species especially under his
eye when he characterized * the ursine genus. The whole of
its body and legs are concealed beneath a coat of long, coarse,

* " Totum ejus corpus tarn denso pilorum crassorum vellere undique ob-
tegitur et occultatur, ut rudis quaedam indigestaque moles potius quam
animal membris distinctum esse videatur, ut non injuria a Virgilio informe
appelletur." — Synops. Quadruped, p. 171 ' 1693.

Zool. Mag. No. 3. g

82 THE LARIATED BEAR.

black hair, out of which there projects in front a narrow
elongated ill-shapen snout ; while beneath this shaggy pent-
house four great paws, turned awkwardly inwards, bespeak
the quadruped.

Such, at least, is the general appearance of two of this
species at present living in the Gardens of the Zoological So-
ciety, where, however, both the density and length of the
covering may, perhaps, in some measure, be ascribable to the
influence of our northern climate. This bear is, however,
in its natural haunts, distinguished from all its tropical con-
geners by its denser coat of hair ; and it is doubtless owing
to this natural protection that it is enabled to brave our
winters with impunity, even when its den is placed in a com-
paratively unsheltered situation. The hair upon the back of
the head and neck is so remarkably developed as to represent
a sort of mane, exceeding a foot in length, and almost hiding
the ears. The labiated bear differs also from the rest of the
genus, in losing, at an early period of its existence, the whole
or greater part of the incisor or front teeth ; his nostrils are
supported by a peculiarly large and moveable cartilagi-
nous plate, by means of which he can open or close their
apertures at will, and in this way probably defends the nasal
passages from the ants, into whose nests he intrudes his snout.
The lips of this species are soft and fleshy, and susceptible
of varied and extensive motion, often being elongated in a tu-
bular form three or four inches beyond the jaws. It is from
this peculiarity that the commonly adopted trivial name, la-
hiatus, has been derived.

The labiated bear is a native of Hindostan, more especi-
ally the mountainous districts. It is common in Bengal, on
the mountains of Silhet, and in the Deccan Ghauts. Its first
appearance in this country was about fifty years ago. Bewick,
in his History of Quadrupeds, has given a characteristic
figure and an accurate description of this species ; and from
the striking correspondence of parts observable between it
and the common bear, as well as from an attentive exami-
nation of its disposition and manners, he was induced to
place it in the same genus, notwithstanding it seemed to
differ in some of those characteristics, which have been pointed
out by naturalists as the guides to a regular and systematic
arrangement. In an earlier and ruder figure, which we find
in Caton's Figures of Animals, the good sense of the artist
also detected the true relations of this subject, and the animal
is called the Petre Bear.

There are few of our readers who, if they were asked if they
had ever seen a living sloth, would not answer in the affirma-

THE LABIATKD BEAR. 83

tivo, and perhaps be inclined to receive with incredulity our
assertion, that their curiosity, with respect to this singular
animal, still remains to be gratified,

But the fact is, that the animal, which is exhibited as the
sloth in the travelling menageries, is the bear now under con-
sideration ; and we are not aware that either of the true
species of sloth, which are peculiar to South America, has
hitherto been brought alive to this country.

It is further remarkable, that the mistake of calling this
species of bear a sloth, did not originate with an ignorant
showman, whose interest it might be to deceive, but was com-
mitted by a scientific naturalist, who, however, in his ex-
amination of this animal, appears to have been guided by
the letter, rather than inspired by the spirit of his great
master Linnaeus. In the Naturalist's Miscellany, vol. ii.,
Dr. Shaw observes, u In its habit or general appearance it
has a striking resemblance to the common bear; and it has
even been considered a species of bear by some naturalists.
Its teeth, however, and the peculiar formation of its claws,
with several other particulars, absolutely forbid it to be any
longer considered as a species of Ursus." In what consists
the peculiar formation of the claws, Dr. Shaw does not inform
us, neither does he say more about the other particulars; but
finding no trace of incisors, he referred his new animal to the
order Bruta, in utter disregard of every other character save
that which corresponded to the Linnaean phrase, "dentes pri-
mores nulli utrinque" (primary teeth none in either jaw).
From the length of its claws, which, however, in this respect
do not differ from those of many other species of bear ; and
probably also from the nature of its covering, and compara-
tively naked face, it was arranged with the genus of sloths,
and entered in the Systematic Catalogue under the name of
Brady pus ur sinus, — the ursine, or ursiform sloth.

This new addition to one of the most remarkable genera
of quadrupeds, soon attracted the attention of the continental
naturalists ; and although the false character with which our
species had been invested, probably prevented the amount of
its affinities to the bear being appreciated, yet the necessity
of dissociating it from the sloths was soon perceived. It was
accordingly at first supposed to be a new genus of qua-
drupeds, and was called Prochilus, from a Greek word sig-
nifying 'long-lipped;' but soon afterwards was recognised
as a true bear.

In size this species is about the eighth part smaller than the
Alpine bear ; when young, and before the hairs have acquired
their extreme length, it is seen to stand rather high upon its

g2

84 THE LAB1ATED BEAR.

legs, and its form is lighter than in after-life. Its motions
are then agile, and it cannot easily be overtaken, even when
pursued by a horseman at full speed. Its colour is a deep
shining black, relieved by a white mark on the chest, shaped
like "a chevron or horse-shoe, the two branches of which ex-
tend over the arms. The muzzle and extremities of the feet
are of a yellowish white colour.

The feet are armed with long, crooked, white claws, with
which it is said to burrow in the ground : they are doubtless
of considerable use in enabling it to dislodge the ants, which
form part of its food, and to get at the stores of bees, which
also contribute to form the diet of this creature in a state of
nature. Bewick informs us that it will eat marrow or the fat
of meat either raw or dressed ; but refuses roots of all kinds,
and the lean and muscular parts of flesh.

Its disposition is gentle and docile : it is taught similar ex-
ercises to those which the brown bear is made to learn ; and
it is exhibited in the same way by the jugglers of Hindostan,
as the latter species is by the wandering Savoyards in Europe.
A very good notion of the peculiarities of the labiated bear
may be derived from a glance at the synonyms that have been
unmercifully heaped upon it by modern naturalists, as, for
example —

# Bradypus ursinus, Shaw.

ursiformis, Pennant.

Prochilus hirsutus, Iliger.

Melursus hirsutus, Meyer.

Chondrorhynckus hirsutus, Fischer.

Ursus labiatus, Blainville.

loiigirostris, Tiedemann.

Prochilus labiatus, Gray.
And we are not sure whether some of our naturalists may
not consider it as appertaining to Dr. Horsiield's new sub-
genus, and therefore as having a claim to the appellation of
Helarctos lahiata, unless Iliger's generic title of Prochilus
be extended over all the tropical Sun-bears.

With respect to the animals included under the latter name,
we may observe that they bear a close affinity with our pre-
sent species. They have all long compressed claws, exten-
sible lips and tongue, and are marked with the white spot on
the throat ; but they are smaller than the labiated bear, and
are covered with short close- set hair. They are all gentle in
their habits, and purely vegetable feeders. The Malayan
species is peculiarly fond of the young protruding summits
of the cocoa-nut trees, which always become its prize when
the natives change their residence. In one of his excursions

USEFUL RAT. 85

through the Passumah district of Sumatra, Sir Stamford
Raffles found the cocoa-nut trees of deserted villages destroyed
by the Malayan bears.

In his description of the animals of Sumatra, this distin-
guished philosopher observes, " The Malayan bear deserves
to be ranked as a distinct species from the common bear, and
from that of the continent of India. The most striking dif-
ference is in the comparative shortness of its hair, and the
fineness and glossiness of its fur ; in which particular it ap-
pears to resemble the American bear.

" When taken young they become very tame. One lived for
two years in my possession. He was brought up in the
nursery with the children j and when admitted to table, as
was frequently the case, gave a proof of his taste by refusing
to eat any fruit but mangosteens, or to drink any wine but
champaign. The only time I ever knew him out of humour
was on an occasion when no champaign was forthcoming.
It was naturally of a playful and affectionate disposition, and
it was never found necessary to chain or chastise him. It
was usual for this bear, the cat, the dog, and a small blue
mountain bird, or lory, of New Holland, to mess together
and eat out of the same dish. His favourite playfellow was
the dog, whose teasing and worrying was always borne and
returned with the utmost good humour and playfulness. As
he grew up he became a very powerful animal ; and in his
rambles in the garden he would lay hold of the largest
plantains, the stems of which he could scarcely embrace, and
tear them up by the roots." — Linn, Trans, xiii. p. 255.

USEFUL RAT.

On the farm of Lyonthoin, near Falkirk, there is a remark-
able instance not only of docility but usefulness in a rat.
It first devoured the mice caught in traps, and was after-
wards seen to catch them as they ventured from their holes,
till at length the whole house was cleared of these vermin,
except, as is believed, a single one. It has frequently been
seen in pursuit of this solitary mouse, and the little fugitive,
which takes refuge behind the ingle, has a part of its fur
singed off. From the service it renders, the family kindly
protect the rat, and it runs about and gambols among them
on the floor, without the least uneasiness.

[ 86 ]

SINGULAR AUDACITY OF A FISH.

In most classes of animals, even in those of the most timid
disposition, instances of remarkable courage have occasion-
ally been observed and recorded. It is rarely, however, that
fish of diminutive size have been found bold enough to re-
pel the attacks of man, much less to become the aggressor,
as in the following instance, related by the highly talented
naturalists who accompanied Captain Freycinet in his late
voyage round the world.

(( It happened one day, while we were wading in calm
water among the coral reefs at the Island of Guam, in search
of molluscous animals, that we were assailed by a small che-
todon, butting against us with the end of its snout, as if to
defend the approach to the rock under which it lodged, with
many others of the same kind. We stretched out our hands
towards it, against which it precipitated itself in the same
manner. In order to drive it away we struck it several times,
which made it retreat, but without alarming it, for it returned
again to the charge. At last it disappeared suddenly in a
hole formed by the corals.

6i This species was scarcely larger than one's hand ; its
colours, though brown, were however agreeable. We call
the species bellicosiis." — Quoy fy Gaimard, Zoologie du
Voyage, p. 383.

ANIMALS AND BIRDS ON THE PLAINS OF CAMDEBOO.

Travelling over the Karoo plains of Camdeboo, Barrow
thus describes the various animals and birds he met with.
He says :

Naked on the surface appeared to be game of every sort
even very plentiful, particularly spring-boks and the larger
kinds of antelopes. Upon those parched plains are also
found several species of a small quadruped which burrows in
the ground, and which is known to the colonists under the
general name of meer-cat. They are mostly of that genus of
animals to which zoologists have given the name of Viverra.
An eagle, making a stoop at one of these, close where we
were passing, missed his prey ; and both fell a sacrifice, one
to the gun, the other to the dogs. Both the bird and the
quadruped appeared to us to be undescribed species. Of the
eagle, the head, neck, back and abdomen, were of a pale fer-
ruginous brown ; wings and tail steel-blue, the latter faintly
barred with small bands from the root to the middle ; the

ANIMALS AND BIRDS ON THE PLAINS OF C AMDS BOO. 87

cera pale yellow ; the beak and nails black ; the feet entirely
covered with downy feathers ; length two feet two inches.
The viverra was wholly of a bright chestnut colour ; the tail
shaded with black hairs, bushy, straight, and white at the
extremity ; ears short and round ; on the fore feet five, and
the hind feet four toes ; the body and tail each one foot long.
Others of this genus are the muskiliatte cat, or zenik of the
Sy sterna Natures ; the tigrina, or tiger cat ; the mellivora, or
ratel ; and the cafra. In general these animals are easily
domesticated. One species however it is very difficult, if not
impossible, to render tame. It resembles the putorius or pole-
cat of America, with this difference only, that the latter has
five parallel white lines along the back, and the African spe-
cies only four that diverge from the shoulder. When first
taken they smell very strongly of musk, which, however,
shortly wears off by confinement. There is also found in
this part of the country a beautiful little ground-squirrel,
with a white stripe on each side from the shoulder to the
flank ; the body a dark chestnut colour, about eight inches in
length ; tail ten inches, grizzled, black, brown, and white.

That elegant bird the Balearic Crane, Grus pavonina, was
first met with near the Melk River ; and Guinea fowls were
very abundant near every streamlet. Bee-eaters, Merops
apiaster, with their beautiful plumage, and Certhias or creep-
ers with colours still more brilliant, were fluttering about in
vast numbers among the Mimosae of the Sunday River, where
are also many beautiful species both of kingsfishers and
woodpeckers. The modest garb of the Colii, of which I met
with three species, formed a striking contrast with the gaudy
plumage of the others. There are several species of Swallows
in the Cape, all migratory. One in particular, with a red spot-
ted breast, frequents the habitations of man, where it builds
its nest. In many of the farm-houses are small shelves nailed
against the beams, expressly for the swallows ; and I have
heard it asserted very commonly, that the same birds return
to their places for many years, and generally on the very same
day : which, if true, is a striking instance to prove that na-
ture is not more constant in the organization of the machine
than in the effects that are intended to result from it.

The Sunday River was nearly dry, which gave our people
an opportunity of taking plenty of turtle with great ease.
These, when full grown, are generally in size about a foot in
diameter ; the females are exceedingly prolific in eggs, and
the flesh is by no means wanting in flavour. The river
abounds also with short thick eels that are very delicious. —
Barroiv's Africa, vol. i. p. 187.

[ 88 ]

DESCRIPTION OF ANIMALS, &C. IN BRAZIL.

The following interesting sketch of the animated creation
in the wilds of South America, is taken from the Travels
in Brazil of two learned foreigners, Drs. Von Spix and Mar-
tius.

" How different are the feelings of the traveller when he
passes from the dark low forests into the free and open tracts !
On these serene and tranquil heights the noisy inhabitants
of the wood are mute : we no longer hear the howling of
herds of monkeys, the incessant screams of innumerable
parrots, orioles, and toucans, the far-sounding hammering of
the woodpeckers, the metallic notes of the uraponga, the full
tones of manakins, the cry of the hoccos, jacus, &c. The
more numerous are the humming-birds, buzzing like bees
round the flowering shrubs ; gay butterflies fluttering over
the rippling streams ; numerous wasps flying in and out of
their long nests hanging suspended to the trees ; and large
hornets hovering over the ground, which is undermined to a
great extent with their cells. The red-capped and hooded
fly-catcher, the barbets, little sparrow-hawks, the rusty red
or spotted Brazilian owl, bask on the shrubs during the heat
of noon, and watch concealed among the branches for the
small birds and insects which fly by ; the tinamus walks
slowly among the pine-apple plants, the cuapupes and nam-
bus in the grass ; single toucans, seeking berries, hop among
the branches ; the purple tanagers follow each other in amo-
rous pursuit from tree to tree ; the caracard and the caracau
flying about the roads, quite tame, to settle upon the backs of
the mules or oxen ; small woodpeckers silently creep up the trees
and look in the bark for insects ; the rusty thrush, called Joao
de Barros, fearlessly fixes its oven-shaped nest quite low be-
tween the branches ; the siskin-like creeper slips impercep-
tibly from its nest (which, like that of the pigeons, is built of
twigs, and hangs down from the branches to the length of
several feet,) to add a new division to it for this year ; the
Caoha sitting still on the tops of the trees, looks down after
the serpents basking on the roads, which, even though poi-
sonous, constitute its food ; and sometimes,when it sees people
approaching, it sets up a cry of distress, resembling a human
voice. It is very rarely that the tranquillity of the place is
interrupted, when garrulous orioles, little parrots and parro-
quets coming in flocks from the maize and cotton plantations
in the neighbouring wood, alight upon the single trees on the
campos, and with terrible cries appear still to contend for the
booty -, or bands of restless hooded cuckoos, crovvded together

ACCOUNT OF THE RED-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 89

upon the branches, defend, with a noisy croaking, their com-
mon nest, which is full of green speckled eggs.

"Alarmed by this noise, or by passing travellers, numerous
families of little pigeons, often no bigger than a sparrow,
fly from bush to bush : the larger pigeons, seeking singly
among the bushes for food, hasten, alarmed, to the summits
of the neighbouring wood, where their brilliant plumage
shines in the sun ; numerous flocks of little monkeys run
whistling and hissing to the recesses of the forest ; the
cavies running about on the tops of the mountains, hastily se-
crete themselves under loose stones ; the American ostriches,
which herd in families, gallop at the slightest noise, like
horses, through the bushes, and over hills and valleys, ac-
companied by their young ; the dichotopus, which pursues
serpents, flies, sometimes sinking into the grass, sometimes
rising into the trees, or rapidly climbing the summits of the
hills, where it sends forth its loud deceitful cry, resembling
that of the bustard ; the terrified armadillo runs fearfully
about to look for a hiding place, or, when the danger presses,
sinks into its armour ; the ant-eater runs heavily through
the plain, and in case of need, lying on its back, threatens
its pursuers with its sharp claws. Far from all noise, the
slender deer, the black tapir, or a pecari, feed on the skirts of
the forest. Elevated above all this, the red-headed vulture
soars in the higher regions ; the dangerous rattle-snake hid-
den in the grasses, excites terror by its rattle ; the gigantic
snake sports suspended from the tree with its head upon the
ground ; and the crocodile, resembling the trunk of a tree,
basks in the sun on the banks of the pools. After all this
has passed, during the day, before the eyes of the traveller,
the approach of night, with the chirping of the grasshoppers,
the monotonous cry of the goat-sucker, the barking of the
prowling wolf, and of the shy fox, or the roaring of the ounces,
complete the singular picture of the animal kingdom in these
peaceful plains. '

ACCOUNT OF THE RED-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD, Le petit

Rubis de la Caroline.

[Translated from " Lesson's Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaitx Mouches."~}

"Although this bird," says M. Vieillot ( Ois. Dores, p. 66.)
"lives for four or five months in the more northern parts of
America, — as it is to be met with at New York about the be-
ginning of May, and in Canada from about the end of the
month until the autumn, — yet it equals in beauty those which

90 ACCOUNT OF THE RED-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD.

never leave the torrid zone. Some of them, indeed, have their
throat adorned with the most brilliant colours. In one point
of view, it is of a bright green ; in another, it has the fire and
brilliancy of the ruby ; in a third, its sides are covered with
gold ; and if we look at the bird underneath, it presents the
sombre hue of the garnet. It is impossible to describe the
numerous shades of colouring which it exhibits. This hum-
ming-bird retires during the winter to the Floridas, and is
rarely met with in the Antilles.

" It is not wild, but as soon as any one approaches in order
to capture it, it springs up and vanishes like lightning.
These little beings are extremely envious of each other. If
several of them should meet on the same tree, when in blos-
som, they attack one another with the greatest impetuosity,
and continue the pursuit with so much ardour and pertinacity,
that they will fly into a room, where they continue the com-
bat, which is concluded only by the flight of the vanquished
and the loss of a few feathers. When the flowers are faded,
they evince their vexation and anger by tearing off the petals,
with which they strew the ground.

u These humming-birds cannot support the total deprivation
of liquid honey for more than twelve or fourteen hours at
the most*; and they frequently die from this cause in the
autumn; when, if they have been detained by a late brood be-
yond the proper period of their departure, and the flowers
are destroyed by early frosts, the elasticity of their wings is
weakened by the want of nourishment. The movements of
the bird are no longer executed with that velocity which
holds it suspended over the blossom that contains its food.
The more their want increases, the more their powers dimi-
nish ; they frequently alight, they fly less swiftly, they rest
themselves on the ground, languish, and die. Their young,
wrhen hatched late in the season, are exposed to this danger,
and may frequently be met with in the autumn perishing in
this way.

"The difficulty of obtaining these beautiful birds, without
injuring their plumage, has given rise to the invention of
several different modes of catching them. Some drown them
by means of a syringe ; others kill them with a pistol loaded
with sand ; and indeed, when very near to them, the explo-

* Audubon observes, that the humming-bird is insectivorous, and that
it inserts its bill into the flowers in order to extract the minute insects that
live in their interior, and thus relieves them from these enemies ; and that
they also catch many small flies while on the wing. He says, " The nectar
or honey which they sip from the different flowers, being of itself insuffi-
cient to support them, is used more as if to allay their thirst."

ACCOUNT OF THE RED-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 91

sion of the powder is sometimes sufficient to stun them and
bring them to the ground. It scarcely need be observed,
that even the very finest shot should not be used in the pur-
suit of these small birds, for a single grain would shatter
them and leave only a wreck of their beauties. These plans
are but ill adapted to their object, as water injures the fea-
thers of the bird, and sand makes it fall to the ground. I
have therefore had recourse to two other methods ; I have
employed with success the net called spider's web, with which
I surrounded the shrubs at the distance of a foot or two.
The bird cleaves the air with such rapidity that it has not
time to perceive the net, and is thus easily caught. I have
also made use of green gauze in the shape of a butterfly net ;
but this method requires much patience, and can only be em-
ployed on plants and small shrubs. The person must be
carefully concealed ; for although the bird will approach very
near, it is not the less distrustful ; and if any strange object
should excite his suspicion, he quits the flower, rises about a
foot above the plant, remains there perfectly stationary, ex-
amines the object which disturbs him, and when he has as-
certained that his fear is well founded, he utters a cry and
disappears. To have any degree of success in this pursuit, a
little niche must be constructed as low as possible with plants
and surrounding shrubs, from which the bird may be covered
with the net, in the same way that a butterfly is caught.

"Lastly, having observed that these birds often perched upon
the dead branches of shrubs, — and wishing to behold in the sun
and on the living animal, all the beauty of a plumage resplen-
dent with a thousand hues, the brilliancy of which is tarnished
by the hand of death, — I inserted some small sticks into the
flowers, upon which they perched. I had thus for a minute
the pleasure of seeing them dart their tongue into the nectar-
bearing cup, to draw from it a liquor suited to the delicacy of
their organs.

"This bird places its nest on trees and shrubs ; the inside
consists of the brown down of the sumac, and the outside is
covered with lichens. The one which I have preserved was
on a small branch of the red cedar. The male brings the
materials, and the female arranges them ; two eggs are laid
of a size proportioned to that of the bird, and each parent
sits alternately."

[ 92 ]

OBSERVATIONS ON SOME MOLLUSC A AND ZOOPHYTES, RE-
GARDED AS THE CAUSES OF THE PHOSPHORESCENCE OF

THE SEA.

[Translated from "Freycinet's Voyage autour du Monde."']

It is in places where the phenomena which assist in their
production are constantly renewed, where floods of light and
heat penetrate and warm the water, where electricity seems
profusely diffused through every substance, — that myriads of
animalculse are, as it were, spontaneously produced. When
a perfect calm succeeds to the light breezes which agitate the
surface of the sea, it seems as if a magic wand animated the
bosom of the waters, and that their constituent principles had
assembled and joined together to produce life.

We have often contemplated this spectacle ; it broke the
monotony of calms, and diminished the ennui of long voyages.
But no one is ignorant, that it is necessary to be initiated in
the study of the secrets of Nature in order to appreciate her
wonders j for these seas, so full of life to the observer, are
inanimate and devoid of interest to the generality of men, who
only regard the more striking objects.

It is chiefly in straits near the land, and in rather shallow
places,1 that the animalculae are produced in the greatest num-
bers. In the Molluccas, for instance, one need only draw up a
little water in a bucket in order to procure several varieties of
them. Some are long and cylindrical ; others circular and flat-
tened. The greatest number are of a round form; these
swim and twirl about with much activity, while those seem to
consist simply of an immovable gelatinous mass. Sometimes
the sea was covered with fibres, with minute filaments, or rather
with a kind of dust apparently inanimate, but probably an
organized body. It is difficult to form a conception of this
productiveness ; it equals if it does not exceed that which is
going on upon earth.

Phosphorescence is a phenomenon which, although attached
to many different animals, belongs peculiarly to the marine
mollusca: — about this, much has been written, and it still
leaves a vast field for conjecture ; since, as regards the manner
in which it is effected, every thing remains to be discovered.

Truly we may say, that we have observed this singular
spectacle under all meridians, since we have passed under all;
we have even beheld results, which no one has mentioned ;
and yet we must confess that we are not more advanced
in a knowledge of the principle which produces phospho-
rescence than when we began to examine it ten years ago.
Therefore, without aspiring to the honour of starting an hypo-

OBSERVATIONS ON SOME MOLLUSCA AND ZOOPHYTES. 93

thesis, we shall content ourselves with adding to the facts
already known some simple remarks, by means of which
more skilful observers may perhaps develop the cause of the
surprising power which those animals possess, which we are
now considering.

We can no longer be in doubt as to the general causes of
the luminosity of the sea. Naturalists have shown that it is
produced by animalculae which multiply in its waters ; that
it belongs neither to the liquid, nor to electricity, still less
to putrefaction ; although in that state some mollusca, such
as the Salpae and Calmars, are susceptible of emitting some
light, although always of short duration. An active phos-
phorescence is essentially connected with life ; for animal-
culae and mollusca whose vital powers are weakened emit
scarcely any light, and that is extinguished when they cease to
exist. This luminosity is occasionally an inherent property of
the substance of some Medusae, Salpae, Beroes, &c, and these
animals are not able to strengthen or to weaken it. Others,
on the contrary, strange to say! enjo) this power, and can so
modify the light, that they spontaneously increase, diminish,
or extinguish it altogether, as we shall hereafter mention.

Calm weather, heat, and a superabundance of electricity in
the atmosphere increase the intensity of the phosphorescence,
Night renders it more apparent, and agitation develops it.
All who have sailed between the tropics near to land, and in
tolerably shallow water, know what a brilliant train of light
the vessel leaves behind her. This beautiful light has exercised
the pen of more than one traveller ; and each, in describing
it according to the impression which it produced upon him,
has but too often embellished it still more by an exaggerated
description. However it may be, the development of phospho-
rescence by agitation is a truly wonderful circumstance. When
at rest, the waves do not make apparent any other light than
that of some large mollusca ; but when they are agitated,
every living molecule becomes luminous. And if at the same
time the active dolphins play around the ship, they seem to
resemble serpents of artificial lire under the water. But when
they respire the air with noise, the illusion increases, and we
seem to behold and hear the firing of a gun.

No doubt the viscidity of the sea may be referred to this in-
calculable quantity of animalculae. The greater number, which
are invisible from their transparency, by the aid of phospho-
rescence become luminous points, which attach themselves to
anything that is plunged into the water. Hence probably has
arisen the idea that many living fishes were luminous : — it may
be so ; we do not deny it : yet we must consider them rare,

94 OBSERVATIONS ON SOME MOLLUSCA AND ZOOPHYTES.

as we have never seen them. Fishes may be distinctly seen
swimming about when the sea is luminous ; and it even seems
that they contribute to give it that appearance; but if ex-
amined when at rest, it is easy to convince oneself that the
power of emitting light is not inherent in them ; and that
the effect produced by them in this case is the same that may
be obtained by agitating any inanimate substance in the sea."

Our authors then proceed to detail some experiments re-
lative to these phosphorescent phenomena, the results of
which may be thus stated.

Diluted sulphuric acid, gently added to sea- water, con-
taining the phosphorescent animalculae, excited a sudden bril-
liancy, arising from distinct globules of light, which gradu-
ally faded into darkness. A fresh dose of the acid caused a
re-appearance of the light : but a third repetition of the ex-
periment produced no effect ; the animalculae were destroyed,
and the phosphorescence could not by any means be repro-
duced. When undiluted sulphuric acid was added to the
water, the animalculae suddenly perished, emitting a slight
luminosity. Vinegar and muriatic acid produced the same
effect, — the latter especially with much greater force.

" What is the true cause of this phosphorescence ? Which
is the organ that in the more simple mollusca, as well as the
more complicated, serves to impress upon our view such
effects ? These are questions that, perhaps, will never be
answered with certainty. We shall confine ourselves to
making a single remark on this subject, which is, that in
studying these animals, and handling great numbers of them,
our sense of smell has always experienced the same sensation
as that produced by a great quantity of electricity collected
in the plate of an electrical machine.

" The observation with which we shall conclude this chap-
ter, is the most remarkable fact of this kind which we have
yet beheld.

" Having anchored under the small island of Rawak, situ-
ated exactly under the Equator, we one evening saw lines of
a dazzling whiteness on the water. Crossing them in our
canoe, we wished to take up some portion, but we found no-
thing but water, whose light disappeared in our hands. Soon
afterwards, during the night, and while the sea was calm, we
saw several of these white steady lines near the ship. Upon
examination we discovered that they were caused by some
very small zoophytes ; and that these possessed a principle
of phosphorescence so subtle, and so capable of expansion,
that when they swam swiftly, and in a zigzag direction, they
left glittering trains on the sea about an inch wide, which

THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 95

afterwards increased to two or three inches by the agitation of
the waves. Their length was sometimes several fathoms. Ge-
nerators of this fluid, these animals emit it at pleasure. A lu-
minous point is observed to spring up suddenly on their
body, and then to increase rapidly. A bottle, which we laid
on the surface of the sea, received two of these animalculse,
which immediately rendered all the water luminous. By de-
grees this light diminished, and at last disappeared. It was
in vain that we endeavoured to perceive the animal with the
microscope, or by means of a candle (an easy way of distin-
guishing transparent mollusca in water) ; everything had
disappeared. We can only say that, by the light which
these animals shed, we could perceive that they were ex-
tremely minute.

"We have often reflected on the wonderful faculty with
which these microscopic zoophytes are endowed; and we
have always found it inexplicable, unless we suppose, in
order to give a reason for so extraordinary a fact, that they
conceal within themselves some principle of phosphorescence,
which they emit at pleasure ; and that this principle becomes
visible only when combined with the water of the sea.

" We only mention a few facts, it is true, but we may ven-
ture to assert that they were as well observed as we could do
it in our double capacities of physicians and naturalists, and
while we were rapidly traversing immense distances. " — Zoo-
logie, ii. p. 402, par MM. Quoy et Gaimard, Medecins de
r Expedition.

THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

As no addition of any consequence has been made to the
Menagerie in the Regent's Park, we have little to add to our
last report. The alterations in the grounds we before alluded
to are in a state of considerable forwardness, and will form
a great improvement both as regards appearance and utility.
Although the absence of verdure, of flowers, and of the gay
company which render these gardens so delightful in summer,
now conduces to render them less attractive to the general
visitor ; yet, to the Zoologist, they are perhaps, on that ac-
count, more useful, as the animals can be studied with fewer
interruptions. We regret to state that the fine old male
lion, which has been some time in a declining state, is dead.
Some of the monkeys have also been lost, exhausted by the
variable and inclement season. We cannot help thinking
this Institution might adopt with advantage some of the

96 zoologist's calendar.

plans which the experienced proprietor of the Surrey Gar-
dens finds so successful in preserving the health of the more
delicate animals. His monkeys, for example, instead of being
confined by twos and threes in close cages, are preserved in
a large space, well ventilated and heated, and defended by a
glass frame ; and here they can disport and exercise them-
selves throughout the whole winter.

At the Scientific Meeting, held on the 12th of February,
some interesting communications were read, including a let-
ter from M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, referring to some obser-
vations lately published by Mr. Owen on the Ornithorhyn-
chus paradoxus of New South Wales ; from Capt. Hallam,
with an account of the Mango Fish ; and Mr. Martin's notes
on the dissection of a Lemur.

Notice of a Motion on the subject of closing the Gardens
on Sunday during the hours of Divine Service has been
given ; and it was stated that sales of many of the animals
now at the Farm at Kingston, and duplicates of those in the
Gardens, are about to take place during the spring.

ZOOLOGIST S CALENDAR FOR MARCH.

The animals which we mentioned in our Calendar for Ja-
nuary, as being in a state of torpidity, are now beginning
to show some symptoms of existence, and to re-appear after
their winter's repose. To these we may add the Tortoise
(Testudo grceca), and the Toad (Bu/o vulgaris), which also
make their appearance in the course of the present month.
To such of our readers as are anglers it will almost be super-
fluous to remark that now trout begin to rise.

The Crow (Corvus corone) begins to build : several kinds
of Birds lay their eggs and sit in the course of this month.
Amongst others, we may enumerate the Blackbird ( Turdus
Merula), the Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo), and the Raven
(Corvus Coras). It is only occasionally, however, that this
occurs, as it is more frequently during the next month that
these birds lay their eggs.

THE

ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

The RHINOCEROS of Java. (Rhin. Sondaicus, Cuv.)

In the time of Linnaeus only a single species of the more
bulky quadrupeds, as the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippo-
potamus, was known ; and Buffon, who too frequently gene-
ralized on slight grounds, considered it as a law of Nature,
that in these her larger productions the genus was limited in
its representation to a solitary species. But every day brings
fresh instances of the boundless extent of the Creative Power;
and both species that now move on the surface of the earth,
as well as those which are concealed beneath its crust, de-
monstrate that the principle of variety is by no means limited
to the minuter forms of animal life.

We have in a former Number enumerated the different
species of Rhinoceros which are at present known to exist,
and have given a detailed account of the One- horned Rhino-
ceros of the Asiatic Continent, {Rhinoceros Indicus, Cuv.)

The present description relates to the one-horned species
which inhabits the Island of Java, which is the smallest rhi-
noceros now known to exist. Its specific distinction from
the Rhin. Indicas was first suspected by Camper, from the
difference he observed in the form of their crania. Subse-
quently the Baron Cuvier established with great exactness
the peculiar characters of this species, founded on a compa-
rison of its entire skeleton wTith that of the Indian rhinoceros,
and on a drawing and description of the living animal which
he had received from India.

It has not been known to exceed nine feet in length, is less
massive in its proportions, and stands higher on its legs,
than the Indian species. It has only a single horn, which is
situated nearer the eyes than the front horn of the two-horned
species, and which in the female is reduced to a mere semi-
oval tuberosity j the front teeth or incisors of the upper jaw
are four in number in the young animal, two in each inter-
maxillary bone, small and almost cylindrical : they are soon
shed, and are replaced in the adult by two small external
incisors, and two large internal ones; the latter, however,
scarcely project from the gums, and are smooth and rounded
at the extremity, which is opposed to the front part of the
long inferior incisors.

The learned and indefatigable naturalist, Dr. Horsfield,
to whom we are chiefly indebted for a knowledge of the ani-

Zool. Mag. No. 4. h

98 THE RHINOCEROS OF JAVA.

mal creation in the Island of Java, observes, " The folds of
the hide, on the whole, appear less rough or prominent than
in the Indian rhinoceros : those of the neck are comparatively
smaller ; and the posterior fold, which has an oblique direc-
tion towards the spine, is less extended. The thick covering
or coat of our animal is divided on the surface into small tu-
bercles, or polygonous scutula ; and a few short bristly hairs,
rising from a slight depression in the centre, constitute a pe-
culiar character. The ears are bordered with a series of long
stiff bristles, closely arranged ; and a similar series of bristles
also extends along the tail, underneath, through its whole
length."

When the French descriptions in the Histoire Naturelle
des Mammiferes and the EncyclopMie Methodique were
written, nothing was known of the habits of this species.
This hiatus has been in a great measure supplied by the
accurate observer above quoted. " The individual which
is represented in our plate, and which has afforded the pre-
ceding details, was taken, while very young, in the forests of
the Province of Kedda, and was conveyed to the Residency
at Magellan in the year 1815 or 1816. By kind treatment
it soon became domesticated to such a degree, that it per-
mitted itself to be carried in a large vehicle resembling a cart,
to the capital of Surakarta. I saw it during its conveyance,
and found it perfectly mild and tractable. At Surakarta it
was confined in the large area or square which bounds the
entrance to the royal residence. A deep ditch about three
feet wide limited its range, and for several years it never
attempted to pass it. It was perfectly reconciled to its con-
finement, and never exhibited any symptoms of uneasiness or
rage, although, on its first arrival, harassed in various ways,
by a large proportion of the inhabitants of a populous capital,
whose curiosity induced them to inspect the stranger of the
forest. Branches of trees, shrubs, and various twining plants
were abundantly provided for its food ; of these the species
of Cissus, and the small twigs of a native fig-tree were pre-
ferred. But plantains were the most favourite food, and the
abundant manner in which it was supplied with these by the
numerous visitors, tended greatly to make the animal mild
and sociable. It allowed itself to be handled and examined
freely, and the more daring of the visitors sometimes mounted
on its back. It required copious supplies of water, and
when not taking food, or intentionally roused by the natives,
it generally placed itself in the large excavations which its
movements soon caused in the soft earth that covered the
allotted space.

THE RHINOCEROS OF JAVA. 99

" The animal rapidly increased in size : in the year 1817,
having been confined at Surakarta about nine or ten months,
the dimensions, as already stated, were nine feet in length,
and four feet three inches in height at the rump. In 1821 it
had acquired the height of five feet seven inches. This in-
formation I received from my friend Mr. Stavers, who is now
in England, on a visit from the interior of Java ; and he fa-
voured me further with the following detail, which completes
the history of 7the individual whose figure is annexed to this
article- Having considerably increased in size, the ditch of
three feet in breadth was insufficient for confining it ; but
leaving the inclosure, it frequently passed to the dwellings of
the natives, destroying the plantations of fruit-trees and culi-
nary vegetables which always surround them. It likewise
terrified those natives that accidentally met with it, and who
were unacquainted with its appearance and habits. But it
showed no ill-natured disposition, and readily allowed itself
to be driven back to the inclosure, like a buffalo. The ex-
cessive excavations which it made by continually wallowing
in the mire, and the accumulation of putrefying vegetable
matter, in the process of time became offensive at the en-
trance of the palace, and its removal was ordered by the em-
peror to a small village near the confines of the capital, where
in the year 1821 it was accidently drowned in a rivulet.

" The rhinoceros lives gregarious in many parts of Java.
It is not limited to a peculiar region or climate, but its range
extends from the level of the ocean to the summit of moun-
tains of considerable elevation. I noticed it at Tangling,
near the confines of the Southern Ocean, in the districts of
the native princes, and on the sumniit of the high peaks of
the Priangan Regencies ; but it prefers high situations. It
is not generally distributed, but is tolerably numerous in cir-
cumscribed spots, distant from the dwellings of man, and
covered with a profuse vegetation. On the whole, it is more
abundant in the western than in the eastern districts of the
island. Its retreats are discovered by deeply excavated pas-
sages, which it forms along the declivities of mountains and
hills. I found these occasionally of great depth and extent.

" In its manners, the rhinoceros of Java is comparatively
mild. It is not unfrequently met in the wilds by Europeans
and by natives. No instance of its showing a disposition to
make an attack has come to my knowledge; — being the largest
animal in Java, its passions are not roused, as in many parts
of India, by contentions with the elephant. It is rarely seen
in a domestic state, but it is occasionally decoyed into pits,
and destroyed. Our animal rambles chiefly at night, and

h2

100 THE RHINOCEROS OF JAVA.

often occasions serious injury to the plantations of coffee and
pepper, which are laid out in the fertile districts selected for
its retreats.

" The horns and skin are employed for medicinal purposes
by the natives*."

The Baron Cuvier observes that the folds of the hide are
observable in the foetal animal. These folds differ in their
arrangement from those of the Indian rhinoceros ; they are
altogether wanting on the head, the integument of which is
rugous and covered by a cuticle divided into small angular
plates like those on the body ; the fold behind the occiput is
situated close to the head ; another stretches like a hood trans-
versely across the middle of the shoulders, and extends on
either side beneath the throat, so as almost to form a conti-
nuous circle. A second doubling, which also nearly begirts
the body, is situated behind the shoulders : a transverse fold
exists above each fore-leg, but there is no fold in the direc-
tion of the spine, as in the Indian rhinoceros : a large fold
crosses the region of the crupper, and descends on either side
in front of the thighs : a slighter depression advances for-
wards upon the thigh on either side from the root of the tail.

This species has hitherto been found only in the Island of
Java. It is called by the Malays, Badak.

The extended and minute comparisons which have been in-
stituted between the several bones of this species and those
of the Indian rhinoceros, prove incontrovertibly the specific
difference of the two animals. These observations, with figures
of the skeletons, &c, are contained in the second volume of
the great work by Cuvier on Fossil Remains.

The extinct species whose osseous remains have hitherto
been collected and compared, are four in number. First, The
rhinoceros described by Pallas in the Commentaries of the
Petersburg Academy (1773). Not only are its bones found
scattered abundantly over Siberia, but the entire carcass, en-
veloped in its hairy hide, has been preserved from the ravages
of time, frozen up in the ice on the banks of the Wiluji, a
river which opens into the Lena. This rhinoceros had two
long horns, which were supported by a strong bony, instead
of gristly, partition of the nostrils ; hence the name, which
Cuvier has given to this species, of tichorrhmus. This enor-
mous species appears to have extended its wanderings into
Germany, France, and even England, in all which countries
its bones are occasionally found.

The remains of the second extinct species abound in Italy,
principally in the Val d' Arno in Tuscany, and in the valley
* Zoological Researches in Java.

REMARKS ON THE ALBATROSS AND PETREL. 101

of P6 in Lombardy, mingled with the bones of elephants and
hippopotamuses. It bore also two horns on the nose, but had
not the bony partition of the nostrils : it also wanted incisive
teeth ; — in all of which characters it approximates to the living
two-horned species of Africa ; but its nostrils are much nar-
rower, and the bones of the nose thinner : it is termed Rhi-
noceros Cuvieri, and Rhin. ptorhinus.

The third species {Rhinoceros incisivus,) is known only by
its enormous incisive teeth, which could only have belonged
to an animal as large as the two fossil species we have just
mentioned, which are totally devoid of this kind of teeth.

Lastly, A fossil species, with incisive teeth, not larger than
a common hog, has been discovered ; teeth and numerous
bones, not only of adult but of old individuals, have been
found in France : M. Cuvier denominates it Rhinoceros mi-
nutus.

REMARKS ON THE ALBATROSS AND PETREL.

[From Freycinet's ' Voyage autour du Monde.'}

The ocean has its own peculiar birds as well as the land.
Compelled to traverse incessantly its solitudes to obtain their
subsistence, they are endowed with a wonderful power of
flight ; so that in a few hours they are able to cross immense
distances, and to betake themselves to those places to which
their instinct directs them. Among these numerous tribes
there exist distinctions of manners as decided as the physical
characters by which they are classified ; and this induces us
to give the name of Birds of the Ocean (oiseaux pelagiens) ,
properly so called, to the petrels and the albatrosses. The
former are found in every sea, under every meridian, and in
almost every latitude. Except the short time which they de-
vote to rearing their young, all the rest of their life is occu-
pied in traversing the ocean, and laboriously seeking in the
midst of storms, a scanty sustenance, almost as soon digested
as procured ; which seems to place them under subjection to
a single duty, that of obtaining nourishment.

Boobies (Sula Bassana), Noddies (Sterna), Men of War
Birds (Pelecanus Aquilus, Linn.) and Tropic Birds (Phaeton
erubescens), although they occasionally take long flights over
the sea, do not deserve the name of Birds of the Ocean : they
simply make excursions ; and preferring their lonely cliffs to
the rocking of the waves, they generally return to them every
evening.

The discrimination of the several species of Albatross has
become a matter of great difficulty, from the many different

102 REMARKS ON THE ALBATROSS AND PETREL.

names that successive travellers have bestowed upon them,
and from the difference between the sexes, as well as from
the change which takes place in the same individual at dif-
ferent ages and at different seasons of the year.

The greatest number of albatrosses are met with between
the 55th and 59th parallel of latitude, and probably in that di-
rection they may have no boundary but the polar ice. Although
they are to be met with over the whole of this vast space, there
are some places for which they have a preference, and in which
they are found in greater numbers than elsewhere. They are
most abundant about the Cape of Good Hope and about Cape
Horn, and both these places are well known to be almost con-
stantly the scenes of very violent storms, — The petrels are
more numerous, and more widely diffused, since they are to be
met with from pole to pole, and they vary very much in size.
The albatross is distinguishable by its great size ; but one
species of the petrel (Procellaria gigantea) is nearly as
large, while another species is as different from this as a
sparrow from a goose.

It is certain that fish do serve for food to the albatross
and petrel, although they were never seen pursuing the fly-
ing fish, which are said to fall a prey to them when they
leave the deep, and, betaking themselves to their wings to
avoid the enemy in the water, only encounter a new danger
in the albatross ; nor were any remains, either of these or of
the mollusca, — which, as it were, cover these seas, and would
alone be sufficient to satisfy one of these birds for a whole
day, — ever found in their stomachs. We have seen them sur-
rounded with Sea-blubbers, Physaliae, Salpae, &c, but these
afforded them no nourishment ; they invariably sought other
food. This was not the case with cuttlefish and calmars,
fragments of which were constantly found in their stomachs.

One circumstance which could not escape notice during
our long voyages, is the habit, we should almost say the ne-
cessity, which these birds are under of frequenting rough seas.
The tempest itself does not alarm them ; and when the wind
is blowing most furiously they may be seen wheeling about
without appearing at all affected by it. When, on the other
hand, the face of the ocean is smoothed by a calm, they fly
to other regions, again -to appear with the return of winds
and storms. No doubt the reason of this is, that the agita-
tion of the waves brings to their surface those marine animals
which serve for food to these birds. It is from the same rea-
son that they keep near the eddying and disturbance occa-
sioned by the passing of a vessel through the water. This
design was clearly demonstrated to us when approaching

REMARKS ON THE ALBATROSS AND PETREL. 103

the Cape of Good Hope. We were accompanied by a great
number of small petrels of the size of kingfishers, who were
busy skimming the surface of the water in a line of exactly
the width of our track. None were to be seen anywhere else.
We took great care that nothing should be thrown from the
corvette ; and yet we saw them every instant, darting their
bills into the water to seize some object which we were unable
to distinguish.

The duration, the rapidity, the strength and the manner of
flight of these birds in general, has been a subject of study
and astonishment to us. Their agility in casting themselves,
like a harpoon, on their prey, in raising it with their beak,
their activity in striking the backs of the waves with their
foot, or in traversing their long unsteady ridges, were some-
times the only spectacle which the solitudes of the ocean had
to offer to us.

One of the peculiar characters of these Palmipedes (web-
footed birds) is, that their flight is effected almost entirely by
sailing as it were through the air. If they do sometimes flap
their wings, it is in order to raise themselves more quickly ;
but such instances are rare. In the albatross, which was
principally remarked upon, both from its great size and from
its approaching nearer to the ships, it was observed that their
long wings were concave underneath, and that they did not
show any apparent vibration in whatever position the bird
might be ; whether when skimming the surface of the wave
they regulated their flight by its undulations, or when rising
into the air they described wide circles around the vessel.

Land birds of prey who fly in this way without moving
their wings, are generally descending towards the earth when
they adopt this mode of flight; while the petrel and the
albatross easily raise themselves up into the air, turn quickly
round by means of their tail, and go on in the face of the
highest wind without their progress appearing to be at all di-
minished by its force, and without any apparent motion being
imparted to their wings. But still we must admit that some
impulse is given to the air which sustains them, — although
we cannot perceive it, it is true, since it probably is exerted
at the end of very long levers (at the extremities of their
wings) ; for, otherwise, we cannot conceive how the progres-
sive motion of the animal is accomplished. The exceedingly
long wings which many of these birds possess, spoil the
beauty of their figure when closed, as they produce a thick-
ness in the posterior part of the body. It is when flying that
they display themselves to the greatest advantage ; and they
are endowed with a wonderful strength to enable them to per-

104 REMARKS ON THE ALBATROSS AND PETREL.

form their flights. When in 59° south latitude, where there
is scarcely any night as long as the sun is under the tropic
of Capricorn, we have seen the same petrels sailing on the
wing several days together without interruption. The petrels
do not dive after their food, but if it lies only at a certain
depth, they endeavour to seize it by forcing part of their body
under water.

From what has been said it appears, that the mere presence
of these birds is not a sure sign of the approach of land.

With respect to the incubation of these pelagic birds, the
French naturalists observe, that the petrels flock in immense
numbers to the ' Isles Malouines/ along the shores of which
their eggs are deposited in such abundance as to be a source
of subsistence to the seamen employed in the seal-fishery.
They were also informed that these birds arrange their eggs
with much order, and, living as it were in a republic, exer-
cise by turns the function of incubation in this kind of tem-
porary establishment.

The little stormy-petrel (Thalassidroma pelagica, Vigors)
breeds in the Orkneys.

Mr. Scarth states *, that in passing over a tract of peat-
moss, near the shore, in a small uninhabited island in Orkney,
one evening in the month of August last, he was surprised to
hear a low purring noise, somewhat resembling the sound of
a spinning-wheel in motion 5 and on inquiry, he was informed
by one of the boatmen who accompanied him, that it was
the noise commonly emitted by the Alimonty (the Orkney
name for the stormy petrel,) that frequented the island when
hatching.

On examining a small hole in the ground, he found the bird
and its nest, which was very simple, being little more than a
few fragments of shells laid on the bare turf. It contained
two round pure- white eggs, which were very large in com-
parison with the size of the bird. When he seized the bird,
she squirted out of her mouth an oily substance of a very
rancid smell. He took her home, and having put her into a
cage, he offered her various kinds of worms to eat ; but, as
far as he could observe, she ate nothing till after the expira-
tion of four days, when he observed that she occasionally
drew the feathers of her breast singly across, or rather
through her bill, and appeared to suck an oily substance from
them. This induced him to smear her breast with common
train oil ; and observing that she greedily sucked the feathers,
he repeated the smearing two or three times in each day for
about a week. He then placed a saucer containing oil in the
* Linn. Trans, xiii. p. 61/.

DEATH OF M. LATREILLE. — EULOGIUM ON CUVIER. 105

cage, and he observed that she regularly extracted the oil by-
dipping her breast in the vessel, and then sucked the feathers
as before. In this way he kept her for three months. After
feeding, she sat quietly at the bottom of the cage, sometimes
making the same purring noise which first attracted his no-
tice, and sometimes whistling very shrilly.

DEATH OF M. LATREILLE.

Our readers who are interested in the science of Entomology
will learn with regret that the death of M. Latreille was an-
nounced to the Academie des Sciences on the 11th of February
last. This illustrious naturalist, the collaborator of the great
Cuvier, was born at Brives (Corrize), in the year 1762 ; he was
attached to the Museum of the Garden of Plants at Paris in
17975 as assistant to Lamarck; with whom he was afterwards
made adjunct Professor, and upon his death succeeded to the
chair of the Natural History of Invertebrate Animals. He was
elected into the Academy of Sciences in 1814. His princi-
pal works are : The Natural History of the Salamanders of
France, 1vol. 1800. The Natural and General History of
Ants, with a Collection of Memoirs, 1 vol. 8vo. 1802. Natu-
ral History of Crustacea and Insects, forming a continuation
of Sonnini s edition of Buffon, 14 vols. 8vo. Genera Crus-
taceorum et Insectornm, 4 vols. 8vo. 1809. Natural History
of Reptiles, forming a continuation to the Buffon of Castel,
4 vols. 8vo. The third volume of the 1st edition of Cuvier's
Regne Animal, and the fourth and fifth volumes of the 2nd
edition of the same work ; many Memoirs among those of
the Academy of Sciences, and of the Museum of Natural
History; and the principal articles on Entomology in the
Dictionary of Natural History by Deterville.

He has been succeeded by M. Valenciennes, a naturalist
well known since his association with Cuvier in the ' His-
toire Naturelle des Poissons.'

EULOGIUM ON CUVIER.

The following is translated from M. Valenciennes' Introduc-
tion to the Ninth Volume of the great work on Fishes, which
has recently appeared.

"We were pursuing assiduously the publication of our
work ; — I continued to assist my illustrious master : — Who

106 EULOGIUM ON CUVIER.

would then have told me that this volume would appear co-
vered with the funeral crape !

te The first pages were hardly printed when the Sciences had
to deplore one of the greatest losses that they could sustain.
The first naturalist of our age was destined not to see the ter-
mination of the great work, of which he had conceived the
plan, and to which he consecrated a great part of his powers.

" To a superior strength of genius, which Nature at remote
periods grants to those privileged men whom she would raise
above the scene of the world as monuments of the glory of
the human intellect, M. Cuvier united two eminent quali-
ties, which most other men are deficient in ; an activity which
no labour could fatigue, and a most astonishing patience in
researches of the minutest kind, but which are always ne-
cessary to the discovery of truths.

" These two qualities, aided by a great justness of thought
and a vast erudition, have given to the Works of this great
man a character which we seek for in vain in those of the
other naturalists of our times.

" The curiosity of his mind leads him to dissect the nume-
rous animals whose organization still remained to be studied;
his patience in observation brings such exactness in the
knowledge of facts, that by this first labour the class Vermes
emerges^ one may say, out of chaos. Pursuing his first re-
searches, he publishes that succession of admirable memoirs
for the basis of the natural history of mollusca : they are
models of literary critique, of precision in description, and of
sagacity in the art of selecting and representing zoological
characters.

" His genius manifests itself with still greater superiority
in his immortal Work on the researches of the fossil bones of
extinct animals.

" M. Cuvier had studied the beings which animate and
adorn the actual surface of the globe.

" He had made known their varied organization in the too
modest title of e Lectures on Comparative Anatomy.'

" He had distributed them according to a methodical order,
in a work which became classical the moment it was pub-
lished;— but this was not enough for a mind that would com-
pel Nature to reveal her most hidden secrets.

" M. Cuvier penetrates beyond the ages which the most
ancient traditions make known to men ; he soars above our
planet, sees the earth peopled with species which he re-cre-
ates, and makes known to us their forms with as much cer-
tainty, as he himself said, as if he had seen the animals in
our menageries : he penetrates the depths of ocean, and

JiULOGIUM ON CUVIER. 107

beholds swimming there those enormous marine reptiles, of
which we now find only the scattered remains.

" To arrive at that degree of certainty in the knowledge of
extinct animals, M. Cuvier is obliged to make, on the living
species which he compares to the antediluvian forms, obser-
vations which demonstrate his immense knowledge, and the
justness of his mind in the art of discrimination. His work
becomes a fruitful source of instruction for the zoologist
and the anatomist. His critical and literary discussions on
the animals known to the ancients, complete the natural
history of many species commenced by Button. He sketches
out the history of many others, discovered since the death of
his predecessor and rival in glory. His osteological descrip-
tions, full of facts as new as they are curious, commence a com-
parative osteology unknown before his time. The prelimi-
nary discourse of that work, now read as a distinct and sepa-
rate work, translated in all the living languages of Europe,
is filled with principles, as just as they are admirable, upon
the perpetuities of species, and on the accidental variations
which may happen to certain among them : they will ever
serve as a guide to those naturalists, who, not permitting
themselves to be led astray by the imagination, will see in
physical phenomena that only which observation can discover.
" M. Cuvier had scarce written the last pages of that im-
perishable work, when the ardour of his genius led him to
undertake a new work, still more considerable, The Natural
History of Fishes. We again find the same character per-
vading the execution of the plan created by the genius of
M. Cuvier.

" He commences by studying one after the other all the
species which he is able to collect, and the number then ex-
ceeded four thousand. This preliminary labour ended, M. Cu-
vier then writes these descriptions, remarkable for their exact-
ness without dryness, and which naturalists, jealous of pro-
ducing durable works, will without doubt seek to imitate.

" M. Cuvier had the happiness to enjoy during his life-
time the duration and solidity of his Works. Having consi-
dered under every point of view the objects which he had
studied, he established laws, conceived by his vast intelligence,
which have remained immutable as the order of nature upon
which they are based.

" But I feel my voice too feeble for the eulogium of the
great Master ! A grateful pupil, I ought only to express my-
self in words of gratitude, and to remember his latest wishes.
He has charged me to terminate the Work, in which he had
willed me to be his associate. The numerous materials we

108 ACCOUNT OF THE REIN-DEER.

had collected together are now at my disposal j I shall reli-
giously execute the last commands of my illustrious friend ;
and, if I may hazard that expression, I shall have the glory
of having completed his Works, as far at least as my powers
will permit me."

ACCOUNT OF THE REIN-DEER.

[From the Journal kept by Mr. Cartwright in Labrador, 17790

" I took a walk round the island with the dogs, but saw no-
thing ; I was also attended by my young deer, which is now
perfectly tame, — and I shall here make some remarks on those
animals. Notwithstanding rein-deer are naturally very wild
and timorous, yet no creature is so soon or so effectually
tamed if taken young; but what they may be when caught
afterwards, I cannot tell. They not only grow very bold, but
also show great affection for such men and dogs as they take
a liking to, and have a great spite against those who affront
them. This deer of mine has had its full liberty ever since
the fourth day after it was caught (except a few nights' con-
finement in the crib, lest the dogs should kill it when we
were all asleep) ; but since then it has constantly lain out. It
is not in the least alarmed at any noise, not even at the
report of a gun fired close to it ; but it is much terrified if
any dogs run after, or even near it, and any running of the
people instantly affrights it : but the moment all is quiet, it
is so too. It will often go up to a dog, and smell to him ;
it is well acquainted with all mine, and will lie down by the
fire amongst them. I believe they scarce ever sleep, for as
much as I have watched this, I never could observe that it
was ever asleep, or kept its eyes closed for more than two
seconds at a time ; and if I moved ever so little, it would
start up. When I have lain down on the bed, at a time when
it was lying on the floor, it would start up every five or six
minutes, and come to see that I was not gone \ and having
licked my face, or sucked my neckhandkerchief a little, it
would quietly lie down again. When at any time it lost me,
it would run about, grunting somewhat like a hog, and never
rest until it had found me, when it would run up to me at
full speed. Sometimes I have diverted myself with stooping
and running, both after and from it, which pleased it much ;
and it would do the same, and frisk about in the same
manner as I have seen the wild calves one among another :
I have likewise observed, that whenever it is frightened, it
erects its single (tail), which at all other times hangs down.

ACCOUNT OF THE REIN-DEER. 109

" It is a mistaken notion that they will not eat grass, or
scarcely anything but white moss ; for they will eat every kind
of vegetable which this country naturally produces ; alexander
(a species of berry) and some few other things excepted: nor
have I yet been able to discover that any beast in this coun-
try f would eat alexander, except black bears, which are very
fond of it. Rein-deer do not seem to relish grass much, yet
I have seen mine eat a little, and it generally preferred the
coarsest kinds. I have often observed that, in the latter end of
April, and in the month of May, the wild ones eat little else
besides dry grass and wild rye, which then appear through the
snow. They affect great variety in their food, while things are
in a growing state ; preferring the youngest and most juicy.
This causes them to vary their food every month, and also
several times in the same day, accordingly as it is moist or
dry ; rejecting now, what an hour ago they preferred to every-
thing else. The leaves of the dogberry-bush when young, and
a tender plant which grows by hill-sides on moist ground,
resembling cross lettuce, as also a succulent aquatic plant
which grows in ponds, all these they devour most greedily.
There is a small pond near this house which is full of the
latter, and this deer of mine has eaten it close down to the
water. I think I have seen the same kind of plant in the
Highlands of Scotland, and is what they use there in their
beer instead of hops. They also delight to eat the young
leaves of most sorts of trees and shrubs which have not a re-
sinous juice, particularly the willow : but I have known them
eat the outer shoots of the black spruce in the winter time,
though but sparingly. I most wonder that they are not fond
of vetches, which grow in great abundance here. I have
often tracked the wild ones through large beds of them, with-
out observing that they cropped any ; yet I have seen mine eat
a few sometimes. This will eat a little of the crumb of soft
bread, but will scarcely touch the crust or biscuit j but that
may be owing to the tenderness of its teeth. Pudding and
boiled potatoes it is very fond of, but will not eat the latter
raw ; it will also eat boiled salt meat.

" They are very sure-footed, for they will run along shore,
over sharp, rough rocks, or smooth, round, loose stones, with-
out ever stumbling or slipping ; but on smooth ice they can
with difficulty stand. They are beautifully made, are as
straight-limbed, and have nearly the same shape as the horse,
only not so good a neck. They walk, trot, and gallop in the
same manner, and no old hunter will take either a flying or
standing leap with more grace or judgement than my young
* Labrador.

1 10 OBSERVATIONS ON THE WILD ASS.

deer will now. They have great strength and are remarkably
active, which renders them very useful in a sledge. They go
very wide behind, are fearless of their road, and will swim
with most extraordinary swiftness, and to a prodigious di-
stance : I am certain they will swim more than five miles in
an hour, and I verily believe six. The stags have a deal
more courage than the hinds, and those hinds which have
calves have less than the dry ones. When they hear a noise,
or if they see a man standing perfectly still, their curiosity
will often tempt them to make out the object; a curiosity
which I have known prove fatal to them ; for they will fre-
quently gallop or trot down within sixty or a hundred yards,
and there stand and gaze for the space of a minute or two.
When they are satisfied, they run off, and generally sink the
wind to be informed of a pursuit. In the winter they most
commonly go several miles before they rest. If pursued by
a dog, they husband their speed and wind surprisingly ; for
they will suffer their pursuer to come by degrees within a few
yards of them, but no nearer if they can prevent it ; they
will then continue to run at his rate until he is tired ; and as
soon as he stops, they will do so to, and turn about and look
at him ; after which they will go leisurely on, but often stop
to look back. If they are upon ice where there is much snow,
they will not quit it for the barren hills. When pursued in
the summer time they always make for the nearest water, in
which no land animal has the least chance with them. If
their enemy comes up with them, they defend themselves
with their horns and hind feet, and are so strong and active
that a fair stroke with either generally proves fatal to wolf or
dog, if the deer be an old one. I have often eaten of various
kinds of venison, and in different countries, but I think none
equal to that of the rein-deer when in proper season. From
the observations which mine has given me opportunities to
make, I am fully of opinion, that there are many parts of
England where they would live and thrive well ; but I do not
think they would exist in such parks as produce nothing but
fine grass." — Vol. ii. page 472.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE WILD ASS.

[From Sir Robert Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c.]

u The sun was just rising over the summits of the eastern
mountains, when my greyhound, Cooley, suddenly darted off
in pursuit of an animal, which my Persians said, from the

OBSERVATIONS ON THE WILD ASS. Ill

glimpse they had of it, was an antelope. I instantly put
spurs to my horse, and followed by Sedak Beg and the meh-
mandar*, followed the chase. After an unrelaxed gallop of
full three miles, we came up with the dog, who was within
a short stretch of the creature he pursued ; and to my sur-
prise, and at first, vexation, I saw it to be an ass ; but, on a
moment's reflection, judging from its fleetness, it must be a
wild one, a species little known in Europe, but which the
Persians prize above all other animals as an object of chase.
I determined to approach as near to it as the very swift Arab
I was on would carry me. But the single instant of check-
ing my horse to consider, had given our game such a head of
us, that notwithstanding all our speed, we could not recover
our ground on him. I, however, happened to be considerably
before my companions, when, at a certain distance, the ani-
mal in its turn made a pause, and allowed me to approach
within pistol-shot of him. He then darted off again with
the quickness of thought, capering, kicking, and sporting in
his flight, as if he were not blown in the least, and the chase
were his pastime.

u He appeared to me to be about ten or twelve hands high ;
the skin smooth, like a deer's, and of a reddish colour ; the
belly and hinder parts partaking of a silvery grey ; his neck
was finer than that of a common ass, being longer, and bend-
ing like a stag's, and his legs beautifully slender ; the head
and ears seemed large in proportion to the gracefulness of
these forms, and by them I first recognised that the object of
my chase was of the ass tribe. The mane was short and
black, as was also a tuft which terminated his tail. No line
whatever ran along his back, or crossed his shoulders, as are
seen on the tame species with us. When my followers of the
country came up, they regretted I had not shot the creature
when he was so within my aim, telling me his flesh is one of
the greatest delicacies in Persia ; — but it would not have been
to eat him that I should have been glad to have had him in
my possession. The prodigious swiftness and peculiar man-
ner with which he fled across the plain, coincided exactly
with the description that Xenophon gives of the same animal
in Arabia, (vide Anabasis, lib. i.)f . But, above all, it reminded

* " Accompanied by my Persian provider (that being the real import
of the name ' Mehmandar.')" — Ibid, page 203, vol. i.

f And of the wild animals, the greatest number were wild asses, but
there were also many ostriches ; and there were in that country (Arabia)
both bustards and antelopes ; and our horsemen used sometimes to pursue
.these wild animals ; and when pursued the asses would run forward and
then stand still, (for they run much faster than a horse) ; and when the

112 DISPOSITION OF THE ( MANGEUR DE SERPENS'.

me of the striking portrait drawn by the author of the Book
of Job. I shall venture to repeat it, since the words will give
life and action to the sketch that is to accompany these pages.

" * Who hath loosed the bonds of the wild ass ? whose
house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his
dwellings ? He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither
regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the
mountain is his pasture/

" I was informed by the mehmandar, who had been in the
desert when making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Ali, that
the wild ass of Irak Arabi differs in nothing from the one I
had just seen. He had observed them often, for a short time,
in the possession of the Arabs, who told him the creature
was perfectly untameable. A few days after this discussion,
we saw another of these animals, and pursuing it determi-
nately, had the good fortune, after a hard chase, to kill it and
bring it to our quarters. From it I completed my sketch.
The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, in his most admirable
account of the kingdom of Caubul, mentions this highly pic-
turesque creature under the name of Goorkhur; describing it
as an inhabitant of the desert between India and Afghanistan
or Caubul. It is called Gour by the Persians, and is usually
seen in herds, though often single, straying away, as the one
I first saw, in the wantonness of liberty. " Vol. i. page 459.

This animal was met with in the first instance soon after
Sir Robert Porter had entered, from the northward, into the
province of Tars, called by the ancients Persis, or Persia
Proper.

disposition of the e mangeur de serpens' (Secretary
Falcon) .

[From Le Vaillant's Oiseaux d'Afrique, vol. i. p. 109.]

<e When taken young, this bird soon becomes familiar, and
readily feeds itself; it lives with the poultry, and if care is
taken to feed it plentifully, it does them no harm ; but if, on
the contrary, it be left to famish, the pullets and young ducks
very soon become his prey ; it is only the want of them
which makes him do any mischief, if indeed it is mischief to
provide for his own subsistence. It is not his nature to be

horse again approached them they did the same as before ; so that it was
impossible to take them, unless the hunters, having stationed themselves
at intervals, should relieve each other, and continue the chase in succession
with fresh horses. And the flesh of those which were taken was like veni-
son, but more tender. — Xenoph. Anab. ib.

THE WEASEL- HEADED ARMADILLO.

113

quarrelsome : on the other hand he seems to love peace ; for,
if there should he any quarrel among the animals in the court-
yard, he runs directly to separate the combatants. Many
persons at the Cape of Good Hope rear these birds in their
yards, as much in order to preserve peace there as to destroy
the lizards, serpents, and rats which frequently enter to de-
vour the poultry and eggs."

THE WEASEL- HEADED ARMADILLO,

Dasypus Miistelinus, Tatu Mustelinus, Grew and Ray; En-
coubert, Buffon ; Dasypus sex-cinctus and Dasypus octode-
cem-cinctw, Linnaeus. This armadillo, the Tatoupoyouoi
the Spanish naturalist D'Azara, is one of the smaller species
of a numerous tribe of quadrupeds peculiar to the continent
of South America.

Buffo n introduces this singular genus to our notice, with a
fine strain of eloquence. " When a quadruped," says he,
u is mentioned, the very name seems to convey the idea of an
animal covered with hair. In the same manner, when we
speak of a bird or a fish, feathers and scales present them-
selves to the imagination, and appear to be inseparable attri-
butes of these beings. Nature, however, as if she intended
to withdraw herself from all method, and to elude our most
general views, contradicts our ideas and denominations, knows

Zool. Mag. No. 4. i

114 THE WEASEL-HEADED ARMADILLO.

nothing of our arbitrary characters, and astonishes us still
more by her exceptions than by her laws. Quadrupeds,
which should be regarded as constituting the first class of
animated nature, and are, next to man, the most conspicuous
creatures in this world, are nevertheless neither superior in
every respect, nor separated by permanent characters or at-
tributes from all other beings. The first character, that of
having four feet, and from which their name is derived, is
found among the lizards, frogs, &c, which differ so much
from quadrupeds in every other article, that they have, with
propriety, been thrown into a distinct class. The second
general property, that of being viviparous, belongs not ex-
clusively to quadrupeds, but is common to them and the ceta-
ceous animals. In fine, the third attribute, that of being
covered with hair, which appears to be the least equivocal,
because it is the most conspicuous, is wanting in several spe-
cies which cannot be retrenched from the order of quadrupeds;
since, with the exception of this character alone, their re-
semblance to each other is complete. And as these seeming
exceptions of nature are in reality but the shades she em-
ploys to connect beings of the most remote kinds, we ought
to seize these singular relations as often as they present them-
selves. The armadillos, instead of hair, are covered, like the
turtles, lobsters, &c, with a solid crust. The manis is
armed with scales similar to those of fishes. The porcupine
carries a kind of prickly feathers, without vanes, but having
quills like those of birds. Thus, in the class of quadrupeds
alone, and in the most constant and apparent character of
these animals, that of being covered with hair, nature varies
by making them approach the three very different classes of
birds, fishes, and the crustaceous tribes. Hence we ought
never to judge of the nature of beings by a single character,
for it will always be found imperfect and fallacious. Even
two or three characters, though extremely general, are often
insufficient \ and, as I have frequently remarked, it is only
by the union of all the attributes, and an enumeration of all
the characters, that a judgment can be formed concerning the
permanent and essential qualities of the productions of nature.
Accurate descriptions, without any attempt toward defini-
tions, a more scrupulous examination of the differences than
of the similarities, a particular attention to the exceptions,
and even to the slightest shades, are the true guides, and, I
will venture to affirm, the only means we possess of investi-
gating nature. If the time lost in framing definitions and
methodical arrangements had been employed in making good
descriptions, we should not at this day have found Natural

THE WEASEL-HEADED ARMADILLO. 115

History in her infancy, but should have had less difficulty in
removing her swaddling clothes and her toys, and perhaps
might have advanced her age, for we should have written
more for science and less against error.

" But to return to our subject. Among viviparous quad-
rupeds, as we have seen, there are several species of animals
which are not covered with hair. The armadillos alone consti-
tute an entire genus, which includes a number of distinct spe-
cies, and all of them are covered with a crust resembling bone."

This crust or armour consists, 1st, of a plate which defends
the head ; 2nd, of a large shield situated over the shoulders,
and formed of small compartments of a rectangular, or of a
many-sided form, disposed in transverse rows ; 3rd, of bands
made up of transverse rows of more elongated pieces, which
bands vary in number according to the species, and are move-
able ; 4th, of a shield upon the crupper, analogous in its com-
position to that of the shoulders ; 5th, of rings surrounding
the tail for a greater or less extent.

The hind feet have five toes in all the species j the fore feet
have also five in some, but in others have only four toes.
The muzzle inclines more or less to a point. The tongue is
smooth, almost cylindrical, and moderately extensible. The
hairs are few and scattered, and are principally situated along
the under part of the body and on the legs ; it is from the
latter circumstance that the Linnaean term Dasypus, or hairy
foot, is applied to this genus.

The small compartments that compose the bands and shields
are firmly and immoveably united together in each division
of the armour ; but they are nevertheless all distinct and they
separate from each other when exposed to the action of fire.
They vary in their forms in the different species, but are
generally disposed with great regularity, resembling mosaic
work. The entire crust, or armour, is covered with a thin
and transparent cuticle, which gives it a shining appearance,
as if it were varnished.

The skin on the under surface of the body is covered with
scale-like warts, from which the long hairs spring out, gene-
rally in a determinate number. The same kind of excres-
cences cover the legs, but they are more closely approximated,
and more scale-like. The tail is thick, pointed, and very
straight. There is a concavity in the posterior margin of the
hinder shield over its root. In one of the species, the Ca-
bassou, or 12-banded armadillo of Erxleben, the tail is hairy,
and is not protected by a crust ; in the other species, the
annular structure of the defensive integument permits a slight
mobility.

i 2

116 THE WEASEL-HEADED ARMADILLO.

The ears are moderately large, erect, pointed and moveable.
The eyes small, and placed laterally. The extremities are
thick, and hardly longer than is necessary for preventing the
body trailing on the ground. The claws are very long, a little
curved, very powerful and adapted for burrowing.

The teeth are all of one kind as respects their form, which
is designed for triturating, or grinding ; but, as in the species
we shall more particularly describe in this article two of these
teeth are implanted in the intermaxillary bones, they, together
with those which are opposed to them in the lower jaw, have
been regarded as incisors, and consequently as indicative of a
generic distinction. The teeth are of a cylindrical form, those
of the same jaw separated by intervals from each other, and
meeting those of the opposite jaw by oblique grinding sur-
faces.

The moveable bands are separated by narrow intervals of
naked and flexible skin, which gives to the body a great mo-
bility at this part, and enables the animal to contract itself
into a ball, when assaulted. These central bands vary in num-
ber from three to twelve in the different species, but are not
so well calculated as Linnaeus supposed, to serve as distinc-
tive characters, since their number is not always the same in
individuals of the same species ; they also become more di-
stinctly marked by age.

With his coat of mail the armadillo defends not only his
head and all the upper part and sides of the body, but also
the neck, which, being extremely short, can be covered by the
corresponding margins of the plates of the head and shoulder.
By the same means, the armadillo, in retracting his head,
covers the sides of that part by the margins of the shoulder-
piece. With respect to the four legs, they are naturally con-
cealed by the lower margins of the shields and bands ; but as
the feet are deprived of this advantage, they are on that ac-
count defended by the strong scale's.

The armadillos have hitherto been only met with in the
warm and temperate parts of South America, as New Spain,
Guiana, Brazil, Paraguay and Chili. They live solitary, or
in small societies, some in the woods, others in the plains or
pampas. Their burrows extend downwards at an angle of
about 45 degrees, and have sudden turnings, so as to render
their extent difficult to be ascertained ; but they appear in
general not to exceed eight feet in length.

The species may be enumerated as folio ws : —

a. Armadillos with incisors and molaries.
1. The Weasel -headed Armadillo ; Dasypus mustelines.

THE WEASEL-HEADED ARMADILLO. 117

b. Armadillos wanting incisor*.

2. The Three-banded Armadillo ; Dasypus {Tatusia) tricinctiis.

3. The Pig-headed Armadillo ; Dasypus porcinus ; Tatu porcinus, Grew;

Tatusia Peba, Desmarest.

4. The Hybrid Armadillo : Dasypus hyhridus, Desm.

5. The Spurious Armadillo ; Dasypus Tatouay, Desm.

6. The Hairy Armadillo; Dasypus villosus, Desm.

7. The Dwarf Armadillo ; Dasypus minimus, Desm.

8. The Giant Armadillo ; Dasypus (Priodontcs) Gigas.

9- The Truncated Armadillo; Dasypus (Chlamyphorus) truncatus.

The term Poi/ou which D'Azara gives to the weasel-headed
armadillo signifies c yellow-handed ;' he observes that it is
also sometimes called 6 pepondo/ or hairy. This species
measures one foot and a half from the extremity of the nose
to the setting on of the tail, which is nine inches and a half
in length. The head measures five inches in length, and the
ears an inch and a quarter. The form of the head is trian-
gular, flat or very slightly convex above ; broad behind.
The muzzle short : the coronal plate or helmet is composed
of irregularly disposed segments : it is slightly notched on
either side over the eye, and the angles are, as it were, cut
off in front of the ears. On each cheek-bone there is a small
series of irregular scales, with strong bristles growing there-
from projecting beneath the eyes. A transverse row of eight
or nine pieces crosses the neck. The scapular shield is com-
posed of six rows of segments, which, separating as they ex-
tend from the middle line of the back to the sides, receive
other segments of a similar form in the intervals. The mar-
gin of each segment is as it were divided into a series of six
or eight smaller segments, surrounding a larger central piece.
The moveable bands are seven in number, composed of elon-
gated rectangular segments. The shield covering the loins
is composed of ten rows of less elongated pieces, similarly
sculptured to those of the scapular shield. The tail is round
and conical ; it is surrounded at its base with three or four
rings ; the remainder is irregularly covered with tubercular
segments.

The number of teeth are nine on either side of the upper
jaw, and ten on either side of the lower ; the anterior teeth
differ neither in form nor function from the rest, they are
incisors only in respect to the bone in which they are im-
planted.

The four extremities are terminated each by five toes. The
nipples are pectoral, and two in number. Large hairs may
be observed projecting from the hinder part of the segments
composing both the moveable bands and the shields.

This species is very common in Paraguay, and burrows

118 THE WEASEL-HEADED ARMADILLO.

with incredible agility. It possesses great strength, and runs
with considerable swiftness ; notwithstanding it has the broad-
est, flattest, and least agile form of any of the genus.

Besides devouring roots and grain, this species is insectivo-
rous ; it penetrates and overturns the firmest and strongest
ant-hills, and wherever it abounds does great service to the
neighbourhood by clearing it of the destructive insects whose
united labours construct those remarkable habitations. It
also acts as scavenger, and will devour any carrion. If a
horse or mule dies, the armadillo penetrates the carcase where
the integument most readily gives way, burrows beneath it,
and devours the whole of the flesh without making any other
breach in the skin than that by which it entered.

M. Fr. Cuvier makes the following observations on an ar-
madillo closely allied to this species, which lived for many
years in the Menagerie at the Garden of Plants in Paris. "If
we were to judge of the intellectual faculties of the species
by the individual now under consideration, we should con-
clude that the Encoubert possesses them in a very limited
degree. When he is set at liberty, he goes running to the
right and to the left, digging in one corner, and then sud-
denly stopping to run and scratch in another. A sudden
noise startles him ; he stops to listen, but he does not seem
to perceive the presence of a new object, nor to distinguish
a person from a stone ; when he runs, he goes indiscrimi-
nately against everything in his way, and passes over it or by
the side of it, with equal indifference whether the obstacle be
a piece of wood or an animal. His indifference in this respect
is such that I should be inclined to attribute it only to his
inexperience, to the continual slavery in which he had lived,
and to the habit he had contracted of being touched and
carried about in the hand from one place to another. But he
never learnt to distinguish the hand that fed him, and re-
mained as unfamiliar with the person who had the care of
him, as with any other individual. In this respect I cannot
compare him better than to the animals of the lower classes ;
yet there are even among the insects some which seem to
have received the faculty of judging and of discriminating in
a higher degree than this animal." — Hist, des Mammif.

We have observed the same habits, the same unceremoni-
ous manner of running against or over anything that stood
in their way, whether a rabbit, or another of their own spe-
cies, in specimens living at the Surrey Zoological Gardens. A
smaller variety of Dasypus mustelinus, or a species nearly
allied to it, has attracted considerable notice at the Gardens
in the Regent's Park during the preceding year. The mode

VIEW OF THE ANIMAL CREATION AT THE CAPE. 119

of locomotion and the habits of these individuals were similar
to those above mentioned. In their place of confinement it
was extremely amusing to see the mock air of business with
which they would run from corner to corner, suddenly stop-
ing as if to listen, then scratching and rearing themselves up
until generally they lost their balance and tumbled backwards
in the straw; these actions they would repeat over and over
again in the most mechanical manner, until the patience of
the observer at length became exhausted.

These animals have brought forth more than once since
they came into the possession of the Zoological Society : and
it seems by no means improbable that they might be as rea-
dily naturalized as the guinea-pig. There is perhaps no qua-
druped more easy to transport : a little food, either animal
or vegetable, and a little milk suffice for their nourishment,
and they readily bear close confinement. And as the species
require to be rigorously compared in order to determine the
value of the characters that have been adopted to distinguish
them, it is desirable that the facility with which they may
be brought over should be generally known to those who
make voyages from South America to Europe.

VIEW OF THE ANIMAL CREATION IN THE INTERIOR OF THE

CAPE.

"Upon the plains of the Sea-Cow River we fell in with
springboks in countless troops, with hartebeests and bonte-
boks. Quachas from fifty to a hundred in a troop were hourly
seen. The smaller kinds of game were also very plentiful.
Hares were continually among the horses' feet. Of this ani-
mal are four known species in or near the colony, — the com-
mon hare, the Cape hare, the mountain hare, and the red-
rumped hare. Of the last, the exterior part of the thighs
and its long tail are of a deep chestnut colour, and the ears
are much shorter than in the others. Cape partridges and
the Namanqua grouse were equally plentiful. The latter is
a gregarious bird, and we usually met with it in large coveys
near all the springs of water. So little were they intimidated
at the approach of our people, that they suffered themselves
to be knocked down with whips and sticks. A new species
of korhaen or bustard was also seen here ; it appeared to be
something like the tetrix or French field duck, but was so
Very wild and scarce that not one of them could be procured.
The Egyptian black ibis ( Tantalus niger) and another spe-
cies of tantalus, called by the farmers the haddadas, were

120 VIEW OF THE ANIMAL CREATION AT THE CAPE.

obtained at this place. The latter uttered the most horrid
screams that can be imagined. I believe it has not yet been
described. The beak is black ; the ridge of the upper mandi-
ble, and the upper part of the toes, red ; head, neck, and ab-
domen cinereous blue ; wing- and tail-feathers deep violet-
blue; back-feathers green, edged with dusky brown; shoulders
and covering feathers of the wings of a metallic lustre and
iridescent. The mountain goose, the Egyptian goose, and
the mountain duck were seen in considerable numbers. The
last species answers to the description of the cana ; but there
seems to be a mistake in giving the white head to the male,
which is found only in the female. Several other aquatic
birds were met with about the Sea-Cow River, attracted thi-
ther, no doubt, by the vast quantities offish that it contained.
Of these, a species of Cyprinus, of a silvery colour, was the
most common ; and we caught also a species of Silurus. The
most remarkable of the birds were the Platalea leucorodia
or white spoonbill, the great white pelican, and the flamingo.
We saw also the common crane ( Grus), the Numidian crane
(Virgo), and the heron (cinerea) ; the bald ibis (calvus), the
Cape curlew, and the common coot.

" In the neighbourhood of such places as are most frequented
by graminivorous animals, the carnivorous tribe are, as might
naturally be expected, the most abundant. The peasantry
were however much surprised that no more than one lion had
been seen by the party among the reedy banks of the Sea-
Cow River, a part of the country that has at all times been
considered as particularly infested by this animal, and where
they are also of a much larger size, as well as of a fiercer tem-
per, than those of the lower parts of the colony. The people
of Sneuwberg are great sufferers from their frequent visits,
particularly in their horses, to the flesh of which, after that
of a hottentot, the lion seems to give a decided preference.
The farmers here have a kind of dog that is not afraid to at-
tack a lion, and it is said that instances have occurred wherein
two of these together have been able to destroy him. This
domestic animal is as large but not so strongly made as the
Newfoundland dog, of a dark cinereous brown, with black and
ferruginous stripes, a long straight tail, long pendulous ears,
and spurious toes on the hind legs. Of tigers, as they are
called in the colony, the peasantry distinguish two sorts, the
tiger of the mountains, and the tiger of the plains. Of the
first, the upper part of the body and exterior part of the legs
are of a fallow ground, with irregular black spots, some cir-
cular, some lunated, and others ocellated; in some parts
distinct, in others running together in clusters ; the sides,

VIEW OF THE ANIMAL CREATION AT THE CAPE. 121

belly, and interior parts of the legs, a white ground, with
large black circular spots ; upper part of the tail fulvous,
with oblong black spots ; under part barred across with alter-
nate black and white bands ; vibrissas or strong bristles about
the mouth, silvery white ; a black line along the fore part of
the shoulders to the chest ; length from the nose to the end
of the tail seven feet four inches ; length of the tail two feet
ten inches. The description answers very nearly to that of
the leopard, of which I believe it to be a variety only. The
tiger of the plains is evidently of the same species, the only
difference being in the size, which is a little larger than that
of the former ; and in the colour of the ground, which is a
little lighter, both of which probably may arise from local
circumstances. To another species of the feline tribe they
give the name of leopard. It is not so long, but thicker,
taller and much stronger than those described above; the
colour is cinereous, with small black spots ; the neck and
temples covered with long crisp hair, like that of the mane of
the lion ; tail two feet, flat, vertical, spotted half way from
the root, and the other half annulated ; a thick black line
from the interior angle of the eye extends to the opening of
the mouth. Of this species we procured a young one ; it be-
came instantly tame, and as playful as the domestic kitten.
Most beasts of prey, if taken young, may almost instantly be
rendered tame. The fierce lion or the tiger is sooner recon-
ciled to a state of domestication than the timid antelope ; and
the cadaverous crocuta, the wild dog, has lately been domes-
ticated in the Sneuwberg, where it is now considered as one
of the best hunters after game, and as faithful and diligent as
any of the common sort of domestic dogs, yet in a state of
nature there cannot possibly be a more savage animal.

" Birds, as well as beasts of prey, are attracted to all such
places as abound with game. In the vicinity of the Sea- Cow
River, vultures were more numerous than they had hitherto
been seen in any part of the country. Of these we distin-
guished three sorts, — the large black condor, the percno-
pterus, or Egyptian sacred vulture, and a third species, that
seemed to differ from the second only in size, being no more
than two feet long. The female also of this bird, as well as
that of the percnopterus, is distinguished from the whitish-
coloured male by its plumage of dusky brown. This small
species is called by the peasantry the White Crow. The Sa-
cred Scavenger of Egypt meets not here with that protection
which was afforded it on the banks of the Nile, where, accord-
ing to Herodotus, to destroy it was a capital crime. The
percnopterus is a gregarious bird, and is usually seen in flocks

122 ON THE HABITS OF THE BLACK SKIMMER.

that rarely consist of fewer than fifty ; and they are generally
attended with two or three condors, as many of the small
white kind above mentioned, and a whole flock of the vultu-
rine crow. An animal is no sooner shot than these birds ap-
pear hovering at an immense height in the air, from whence
they plunge down the moment that the carcase is left alone.
It has often been a subject of astonishment to me, from whence
they could so instantaneously collect themselves in a body to
souse upon their prey ; but at the same time it convinced me
of the accuracy of Pliny's observation, where he says that vul-
tures are accustomed to hover about a place two or three days
before the death of a diseased animal, and that they have a
presentiment when and at what time a carcase will be found."
— Barrow's Travels in Africa, vol. i. p. 223.

ON THE HABITS OF THE BLACK SKIMMER OR SHEERWATER

(rhyncops nigra, LINN.).

[From Wilson's " American Ornithology,"]

" This truly singular fowl is the only species of its tribe
hitherto discovered. Like many others, it is a bird of pas-
sage in the United States, and makes its first appearance on
the shores of New Jersey early in May. It resides there, as
well as along the whole Atlantic coast, during the summer,
and retires early in September. * ** * * He is found on
various coasts of Asia as well as America, residing principally
near the tropics, and migrating into the temperate regions of
the globe, only for the purpose of rearing his young. * * *
" The singular conformation of the bill of this bird has ex-
cited much surprise ; and some writers, measuring the divine
proportions of nature by their own contracted standards of
conception, in the plenitude of their vanitjr, have pronounced
it to be c a lame and defective weapon.' Such ignorant pre-
sumption, or rather impiety, ought to hide its head in the
dust on a calm display of the peculiar construction of this
singular bird, and the wisdom by which it is so admirably
adapted to the purposes or mode of existence for which it was
intended. The Sheerwater is formed for skimming, while on
wing, the surface of the sea for its food, which consists of
small fish, shrimps, young fry, &c, whose usual haunts are
near the shore and towards the surface. That the lower man-
dible, when dipt into and cleaving the water, might not re-
tard the bird's way, it is thinned and sharpened like the blade
of a knife -, the upper mandible, being at such times elevated

ANECDOTE OP A PERSIAN GREYHOUND. J 23

above water, is curtailed in its length, as being less necessary,
but tapering gradually to a point, that on shutting it may
offer less opposition. (The length of the upper mandible is
three inches and a half; that of the lower four and a half.)
To prevent inconvenience from the rushing of the water, the
mouth is confined to the mere opening of the gullet ; which,
indeed, prevents mastication taking place there, but the sto-
mach or gizzard, to which this business is solely allotted, is
of uncommon hardness, strength, and muscularity, far sur-
passing in these respects any other water bird with which I
am acquainted. To all these is added a vast expansion of
wing, to enable the bird to sail with sufficient celerity while
dipping in the water. The general proportion of the length
of our swiftest hawks and swallows to their breadth is as one
to two ; but in the present case, as there is not only the re-
sistance of the air but also that of the water to overcome, a
still greater volume of wing is given, — the Sheerwater mea-
suring nineteen inches in length and upwards of forty-four
in extent*. In short, whoever has attentively examined this
curious apparatus, and observed the possessor with his ample
wings, long bending neck, and lower mandible occasionally
dipt into and ploughing the surface, and the facility with
which he procures his food, cannot but consider it a mere
playful amusement, when compared with the dashing im-
mersions of the tern, the gull, or the fish-hawk, who, to the
superficial observer, appear so superiorly accommodated."

ANECDOTE OF A PERSIAN GREYHOUNDf.

[From Sir Robert Kerr Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c]

M At this point of my journal 1 cannot refrain from mention-
ing an instance of uncommon sagacity in a greyhound of our
company; that sort of dog not, in general, being celebrated
for anything beside fleetness in the chase. Soon after we
had advanced into the uneven country, by some negligence or
other, the horse-keeper allowed a fine spirited animal he was
leading to break away. The horse set off at speed up the
hills ; and, from the darkness of the night, and the few peo-
ple 1 could spare to pursue, I at first despaired of his reco-

* The wandering albatross (JDiomedea exulans,) measures in length
nearly four feet, and in extent about ten feet or upwards (Shaw's Zoo-
logy) ; nearly the same proportions as those of the sheerwater.

f A fine specimen of this elegant, and, as it appears, sagacious and cou-
rageous variety of dog, may be seen at the Zoological Gardens, Regent's
Park.

124 OBSERVATIONS ON THE MARMOT.

very. But the dog, on the instant he perceived the animal
loose, headed him at every turn ; and, at length, after a long
run, succeeded in catching tke end of the halter, and retain-
ing it in his mouth; holding it firm, while the superior strength
of the horse dragged him onward ; and then, pulling him in
his turn, endeavoured to arrest the fugitive's pace, during his
bounds and sudden freaks ; which effort of the dog's, so far
impeded the animal's flight, as, at last, to allow one of my
servants to seize him. A British bull-dog could not have
shown more determination, or strength of mouth, at the nose
of a bull, than was evinced by my slightly made Persian grey-
hound, Cooley (the spotted,) in his contest with this strong
and very highly mettled horse." — Vol. i. p. 444.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE MARMOT.

[Translated from the Bibliothlque Universelle, by J. E. T.]

u Having, in the winter of 1830, undertaken some experi-
ments on the hybernation of animals, I exposed four young
marmots to a temperature of from 10° to 12° R. below zero.
But this cold, which was perhaps too intense to determine
their numbness, put them into a state of trouble, which lasted
until I restored them to a temperature of 7° to 8° R*. My
marmots then fell asleep, with the exception of one, which
escaped secretly from the room where I was making my ob-
servations. I searched for it in every adjoining place, but in
vain; when, after the lapse of a fortnight, a servant, on
entering a deep cellar beneath my house, felt such a resist-
ance at the door, in trying to push it open, that she could not
succeed in forcing it back. She instantly came to me, ex-
pressing her fear that some ill-disposed person had secreted
himself in the cellar. I went to the spot with some friends
who chanced to be with me at the time ; but what was our
astonishment, on forcing open the door, at finding that the
marmot which I had imagined to have been lost, had pos-
sessed himself of this lodging ! The animal had found an
entrance by a small opening in the vault, and wishing to se-
cure for itself an impenetrable retreat, we noticed that it had
dug up the earth and scraped the wall, in order to heap up
the mould and plaster against the door, to about the height

* Dr. Marshall Hall observes, in a valuable paper on Hybernation in
the last Part of the Philosophical Transactions, that " to induce true hy-
bernation, it i» quite necessary to avoid extreme cold ; otherwise we pro-
duce the benumbed and stiffened condition to which the term torpor or

OBSERVATIONS ON THE MARMOT., 125

of two feet ; and by a still further foresight, perceiving an
aperture below the door of two or three inches, it had taken
the precaution, before heaping up the earth and plaster, to
fix against this space a piece of board, which it had detached
from a shelf. Our marmot had then untied a straw rope
which enveloped twenty bottles, with which it formed a bed
from eight to ten inches thick, in a corner of the cellar ; and
afterwards, to protect itself apparently from the annoyance
of the rats, the industrious animal had broken several bottles,
and formed, with the greatest regularity, a half circle of
the broken pieces of glass, before its bed. Unhappily, my
servant roused it too hastily, and in attempting to seize it,
inflicted on it a mortal wound, which thus deprived me of
the pleasure I should have had of studying, in this animal,
habits which result from an instinct in the marmot, more
perfect than its apparent stupidity seems to indicate/ '

Our correspondent adds : — This mention of the marmot re-
minds me of a singular spot I visited in the course of a tour
last summer amongst the Alps, which is a favourite resort
of these animals. During a stay at Chamounix, I made an
excursion, in company with some friends, to the " Jardin,"
a spot situated at several leagues across the Mer de Glace.
The name is given to a patch of rocks which rise in the
midst of a wide plain of snow, forming a horse-shoe basin
of considerable extent, and inclosed on all sides but at one
opening, by a circle of the highest Alps. This spot is situated
at a height of about 9000 feet, and its chief interest arises
from its forming an insulated patch of verdure in the midst
of a region of sterility and snows, — an oasis of spring in
a desert of winter. While resting there, on a rich bed of
turf and flowers, we looked around in vain for any other
appearance of life or vegetation. The eye stretched across
this plain of snows to the gray craggy mountains which rose
around us ; or still further, through the opening of this am-
phitheatre, across the valley of the Mer de Glace, for several
leagues, to the smooth dome of snows of Mont Blanc. The
marmots burrow in these rocks in great numbers. They
come out in wet weather, and towards evening, and may fre-
quently be heard in their burrows, especially on the approach
of rain, making a shrill and peculiar whistle, by imitating
which, and remaining quiet on the ground, they may be at-
tracted from their holes. The weather was fine and dry when
we visited this spot, and we neither heard nor saw anything
of them ; and our guides predicted from this circumstance a
continuance of good weather.

120 CHARACTERS OF THE PANTHER.

THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

The preparation of the ground lately added to the gardens in
the Regent's Park is now approaching to a completion. It
appears to have been laid out with great taste and judgement,
and we may venture to assert that in the ensuing summer this
delightful establishment will be more attractive than ever.

Among the rarities of the menagerie maybe noticed in the
parrot-room a large and handsome bird from New Holland,
called the Laughing King-fisher {Dacelo gigantea), and a sin-
gular species of lizard with the tail beset with a kind of spiny
armour (Uromastyx).

The establishment at Brighton on the plan of the Zoolo-
gical Gardens in London is now broken up, the speculation
not having succeeded. We have received from our valuable
correspondent W. C. of Liverpool the following account of
a spirited undertaking of a similar kind at that place. "At-
kins has taken a large piece of ground, about eight acres, or
more ; part of it has been an old marl quarry, and presents a
great undulation of surface. He has employed the first archi-
tects here for the plans, &c, and is really doing things in
style. Several of his friends interested in the cause have
talked about funds to him, but at present there is no want ;
he has ^30,000, he says, ready if needed. Animals are cheap
here, and many will be given. The grounds are planted very
well with trees and shrubs of all descriptions, and about May
it will be opened. The elephant-house is quite ready. He has
the tiger-lions of which you have heard, and, as far as I can
learn, his collection is good : his situation though on high
ground is central, about half way from the two ends of the
town."

CHARACTERS OF THE PANTHER.

[From a Correspondent.]

The interesting communication of W. H. S. relative to the
Panther was received just as our last sheet was going to press,
and we regret that it did not reach us earlier in the month.

torpidity may be appropriated. I have even observed that methods which
secure moderation in temperature, lead to hybernation : hedgehogs sup-
plied with hay or straw ; and dormice, supplied with cotton wool, make
themselves nests and become lethargic ; when others, to which these ma-
terials are denied, and which are consequently more exposed to the cold,
remain in a state of activity. J n these cases, warmth or moderated cold
actually concur to produce hybernation."

zoologist's CALENDAR FOR APRIL. 127

Our Correspondent observes, " M. Temminck, M. Lesson,
and the translators of the RZgne Animal agree that the coat
of the leopard is of a lighter shade of tawny, and a greater
quantity of the ground colour is visible, than in the panther ;
in the former also the black rings are more broken, giving the
animal a somewhat dotted appearance. The panther, on the
contrary, has less of the ground colour visible, a deeper shade
of tawny, the rings more closely approximated and much less
broken. Indeed in some specimens I have seen from the same
localities with the more common kind, the crowding of the
black rings and the darkness of the tawny have given the
skins a blackish hue. But with respect to the above general
characters, I can testify that they are sufficiently unvarying
to be good specific guides. I may add that the leopard, al-
though taller, is comparatively less bulky than the panther,
stands higher on its legs, and has them less robust ; the chest
is deeper and narrower, and the loins proportionally smaller."
With this testimony as to the validity of the specific distinc-
tion afforded by the outward markings of the skin we should
have gladly received a confirmation also of the remarkable
character pointed out by M. Temminck as existing in the
comparative length and the number of the bones of the tail.
Perhaps our valued correspondent would enable us to add
his observations on this particular to the remainder of his
present communication, in a future Number. We thank him
for his good wishes, and shall avail ourselves of his sugges-
tions.— Ed.

ZOOLOGIST S CALENDAR FOR APRIL.

As the genial season approaches, the animal world seems in-
vigorated with new life ; additional species daily crowd upon
our observation, and the work of creation is, as it were, per-
formed anew.

To enumerate every varied form of bird and insect that
successively presents itself would extend this catalogue to a
tedious length, and be little more than a repetition of what
has been already given in other works. We shall therefore
confine our notice to a few of the more interesting objects
that now claim the attention of the naturalist.

This month affords the best opportunities for distinguish-
ing the short- winged summer birds before the trees have put
on their full summer foliage, and prior to the commencement
of the breeding season. Their arrival, however, is consider-

128 zoologist's CALENDAR FOR APRIL.

ably influenced by tbe weather, and will be delayed if the sea-
son should continue severe and turbulent.

Among the few carnivorous quadrupeds that live wild in
this country, the fox (Cams Vulpes), the pole-cat (Mustela
Putorius), and the martin (Martes fagorum), suckle their
young.

When the mild weather has set in, the sibilous note of the
grasshopper lark (Sylvia Locustella, Lath.) may be heard in
the fields. This bird simulates so closely the noise of a grass-
hopper as readily to deceive an unpractised ear. " Nothing
can be more amusing," says the delightful historian of Sel-
bourne, u than the whisper of this little bird, which seems to
be close by, though at an hundred yards distance, and when
close to your ear is scarce any louder than a great way off."

Our other visitors are the white-breasted warbler ( Curruca
garrula), the white-throat (Curruca cinerea), the sedge-bird
(Curruca salicaria), the wry-neck (Yunx Torquilla), the
black-cap (Sylvia Atricapilld), the redstart (Sylvia Phceni-
curus), the whinchat (Saxicola Rubeta), the pied flycatcher
(Muscicapa luctuosa), the chimney-swallow (Hinmdo rus-
tied), the bank-swallow (Hirundo ruparia), the ring black-
bird (Merula torquata), the quail (Coturnix major), the
turtle-dove ( Columba Turtur), the stone curlew ( CEdicnemus
crepitans), the ruff (Tringa pugnax) ; the notes of the cuckoo
and nightingale may perhaps be heard, and the rare stilt-bird
(Himantopus melanopterus) may occasionally be seen at the
end of this month. They migrate hither from the South of
Europe, and according to Hasselquist from Egypt.

The birds which build and hatch in April are, the golden-
crested wren (Regulus cristatus), which makes a hanging
nest; the red-breast {Sylvia Rubecula), the wood- lark (Alan-
da arborea), the missel thrush ( Turdus viscivorus), the chick-
stone (Saxicola Rubecula), the linnet ( Fringilla Canabrina),
the kingfisher (Alcedo Ispida), the lapwing (Vanellus cris-
tatus), the black cock (Tetrao Tetrix), the shear- water (Pro-
cellar ia Puffinus).

Those who keep in their gardens the common tortoise, may
expect him to come forth from his winter's grave in the
warmer period of this month. He is observed to make a little
breathing hole as a preliminary step before emerging. He
buries himself about November.

The frog (Rana temporaria), the toad (Bnfo vulgaris),
the natter-jack (Bufo Rubeta), and the eft (Triton palus-
tris), all spawn early in the month.

<r**

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'Zat&Rp**' -v

I TJR1D K&N&AM. O 0 .

THE

ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

The FASCIATED KANGAROO, (Halmaturus fas-
ciatus, Cuv.)

A HE organic productions of Australia, whether vegetable or
animal, have for the most part characters so peculiar to them-
selves, that they seem rather to have been contemporaneous
with the fossilized relics of the older strata, than with the
animated productions of the present period ; and to have es-
caped those revolutions which have changed the surface of the
rest of the globe.

Among the quadrupeds especially, the most remarkable
modifications of form and structure have been discovered, —
of which, after the Duck-billed Platypus and the Porcupine
Ant-eater, we may consider the Kangaroo as presenting one
of the most striking examples.

The first discovery of this singular animal was made in 1 7/0,
during the period in which our celebrated navigator Captain
Cook was exploring that part of the coast of Australia which
is now called New South Wales.

" On Friday, June 22nd, (he says,) a party who were en-
gaged in shooting pigeons for the use of the sick of the ship,
saw an animal which they described to be as large as a grey-
hound, of a slender make, of a mouse-colour, and extremely
swift." The following day the same kind of animal was again
seen by a great many other people. On the 24th it was seen by
Capt. Cook himself, who, walking at a little distance from the
shore, observed a quadruped, which he thought bore some re-
semblance to a greyhound, and was of a light mouse- colour,
with a long tail, and which he should have taken for a kind of
wild dog, had not its extraordinary manner of leaping, in-
stead of running, convinced him of the contrary. Sir Joseph
(then Mr.) Banks, whose association with Capt. Cook ren-
dered that voyage so peculiarly fortunate for the interests of
natural history, having obtained a transient view of it, im-
mediately concluded it to be an animal perfectly new and un-
described.

On the 17th of July, this gentleman, accompanied by a
small party, went out at dawn of day in quest of discoveries
in natural history; and, in a walk of many miles, at length
saw four of these animals, two of which were chased by his
greyhound, but readily outstripped their pursuer, and throw
him out to a great distance, by leaping over the long grass,

Z00L Mas?. No. 5. k

130 THE FASCIATED KANGAROO.

which prevented the dog from running to advantage. All that
could then be distinctly observed was, that the animal in some
degree resembled the Jerboa in its manner of springing for-
ward on the hind legs, instead of running in the manner of
other quadrupeds.

The sight of a creature so extraordinary could not fail to
excite, in the mind of a philosophic observer, the most ardent
wishes for a complete examination. These were at length
gratified ; Mr. Gore, one of the associates in the expedition of
Capt. Cook, having been so fortunate as to shoot one in the
course of a few days, and it seems to have been from this speci-
men that the figure given in Hawksworth's Voyage was drawn.

The term Kangaroo is borrowed from the natives of Aus-
tralia; and the last syllable of this word, it may be observed,
seems to be a generic appellative signifying e quadruped ' or
6 beast,' for we find it again in Poto-roo, by which they desig-
nated the Kangaroo Rat; Wha-tapoa-roo, the native name for
the Lemurine Opossum; and in Hepoona-roo, the native name
of the Petaurus or Flying Opossum.

The labours and researches of modern naturalists have been
repaid by the discovery of several other species of kanga-
roo, in addition to the large one first seen and described. One
of the most elegant of the species is the banded kangaroo
discovered by the French naturalists Peron and Le Sueur,
from whose figure we have copied the illustration prefixed to
this article.

All these animals are remarkable for the extreme dispro-
portion subsisting between their fore and hind extremities.
One might almost say that the whole of the upper part of the
body had been in some measure sacrificed to the lower : the
hinder limbs possess an astonishing power, from their bulk
and length; while the tail, from its thickness and the strength
of its muscles, seems, as it were, to form a fifth extremity.
The fore legs on the contrary are very slim and small; the
neck tapers to the head, which is itself small and tapering.
This conformation permits them to assume and maintain the
erect position, during which the tail forms with the hind legs
a firm tripod, or basis of support, the disarrangement of whose
equilibrium is little risked by the lightness of the superin-
cumbent parts ; and the kangaroo in this position derives ad-
ditional support and stability from the length of its feet, — a
peculiarity from which the generic term Macropus is derived.
The fore feet are armed with five strong claws, which are of a
three-sided figure, with a flat surface below, and slightly
arched; the toes are very free and moveable, and thus adapted
in some degree for grasping. The hind feet have only four
toes, the two innermost of which are rudimentary^ and enve-

THE FASCIATED KANGAROO. 131

loped in a single sheath of skin as far as the claws, which are
small, curved and distinct; the next toe is very large and long,
armed with a very powerful sharp- pointed claw, or rather elon-
gated hoof, with which the kangaroo can inflict very severe
wounds : the outer toe is almost as strong as the preceding;
but is shorter and its claw somewhat weaker : the under sur-
face of the foot is naked as far as the projecting heel or hock;
the leg is twice the length of the thigh. The hair of the kan-
garoo is of two kinds, silky and woolly; the first kind is only
found on the limbs, the head, and the tail, whilst the woolly
hair covers all the rest of the body; a few short black stiff bris-
tles appear on the upper lip, the eyebrows, and beneath the
eyes and the throat. The eyes are large with a mild expres-
sion, the pupils large and round; the ears are of a moderate
size and simple structure; the nostrils are patulous and sur-
rounded by a hair-clad skin; the tongue is smooth; and the
upper lip divided, like that of the hare or rabbit.

The dentition of the kangaroo presents a combination of
characters from the Rodent, the Ruminant, and the Pachyder-
matous orders. Laniaries or tusks are wanting: the incisors
are six in number in the upper jaw, and two only in the lower
jaw; they are separated from the molaries by a wide space.
The upper incisors are in contact with each other, disposed
in a curved line, short, flat and trenchant : the lower ones are
large, straight, somewhat flattened, pointed, closely approxi-
mated to each other, and lying parallel to the plane of the jaw,
or directed straight forwards. The molaries are in some four,
in others five, on either side of either jaw; the first is of a com-
pressed form, with a trenchant and slightly serrate crown;
this is shed in some of the species, while in others it is re-
tained, which gives rise to the difference in number just men-
tioned; the other four have square crowns, formed of two
transverse ridges, united at their base by a projection, but
leaving a simple flattened surface when worn down by attri-
tion. They are herbivorous animals, generally living in small
troops under the guidance of an old male, frequenting the
wooded regions of Australia, but readily propagating in our
climate ; and since their flesh is esteemed for its flavour, they
might form a useful addition to our stock of domesticated ani-
mals, as well as an ornament to our parks and forests.

They appear to be a very hardy race : the naturalists who
accompanied M. Freycinet relate that in the sterile region of
the Bay of Seals, where there is an absolute want of fresh
water, the kangaroos still find a subsistence, and satisfy their
thirst with sea- water. On board ship, although from their
digestive system essentially herbivorous, yet they would eat
any kind of viand, as bread, sugar, and even salt-beef, or old

k2

132 THE FASCIATED KANGAROO.

leather, &c; they would also drink wine or brandy. We have
heard that advantage has occasionally been taken of this ap-
titude to drink intoxicating liquors, to occasion the ludicrous
spectacle of their singular modes of progressive motion as mo-
dified by a state of inebriation.

In their more leisurely motions as quadrupeds, with the
four legs on the ground, they raise the hinder part of the body
by making use of their tail as a prop or support, then carry-
ing the hind legs past the fore legs they rest them on the
ground, and simultaneously throw forward the fore legs and
the tail; on which again the body is supported while the hind
legs are again brought forward, &c. — but when pushed to a
swifter motion, they make leaps of from twenty to thirty feet in
extent, and from six to nine in height, clearing the obstacles
which impede their less gifted pursuers, and using the tail as
an essential instrument in this vigorous species of locomotion.

The kangaroo is hunted by the colonists with a strong race
of dog, partaking of the qualities of the greyhound and stag-
hound ; it is observed, when hard pressed by these pursuers
in the open plains, not to use the saltatory mode of progres-
sion, but to run on its four legs, leaping only when it has an
obstacle to overcome; for it appears that the tail cannot be
brought with sufficient rapidity into the position necessary for
the performance of its part in the leap, to enable the kanga-
roo to escape by this means when on level and unobstructed
ground. The chase is not without its dangers to the dogs.
The kangaroos inflict stunning blows with their heavy and
muscular tail ; the kick from the hind leg is often fatal, and al-
ways inflicts a severe wound ; the strong males will also grap-
ple with the dog, and whilst they hold it fast in the fore paws
they will tear open the belly of their enemy with the strong
hinder claws.

The genus Macropus has been divided into two groups, from
differences in the form of the nose. In one of the divisions,
there is only a very small naked and glandular border over each
nostril ; in the other group, this glandular circle is remarkably
developed, and is divided in the middle by a little furrow.

To the first of these divisions belong the Kangaroos, pro-
perly so called, — animals remarkable for their great size; their
long, conical head ; and their large, oval, villous ears ; they
have, besides, their fore legs longer, and their tail for the most
part shorter and stronger than the species included in the
second group. They are all peculiar to New Holland, and
the species are difficult to determine, the distinctive cha-
racters resting chiefly on slight differences of the fur, which
differences seem also to pass by a series of gradations or
shades into one another. The only species known to Dr.

THK FASCIATKD KANGAROO. 133

Shaw was the large one he describes under the specific name
Macropus major, and which was termed by Gmelin Didel-
phis gigantea.

The species at present characterized which belong to the
first group, are : the great or brown kangaroo, Macropus ma-
jor; the woolly kangaroo, Macr. laniger, Quoy and Gaimard;
the mustachioed kangaroo, Macr. barbatus, Geoff.; the
Banksian kangaroo, Macr. Banksianus, Lesson; the grey-
red kangaroo, Macr. rufogriseus, Geoff. ; the vinous kangaroo,
Macr. vinosus, Geoff. ? ; the red-necked kangaroo, Macr. rufi-
collis, Geoff.; the Eugene kangaroo, Macr. Eugenii, Lesson.

The kangaroos of the second family are of less size, with
a shorter and larger head ; the ears shorter, and of a rounder
form ; the fore legs much smaller, and the tail for the most
part longer and more slender. The generic name Halmatu-
rus, originally proposed by Iliger for the whole genus, has
been applied exclusively to this group by Fred. Cuvier.

One of the species {Macropus Brunii,) has long been
known to naturalists, and is figured by Schreber under the
title of Didelphis Brunii ; it inhabits the Island of Aru, New
Guinea, and is about the size of a hare : the remainder of the
species have been more recently added to science. These are
the Macropus (Halmaturus) Thetidis of Geoffroy : the Macr.
(Halmaturus) Billardieri of Lesson. The silver or bush
kangaroo was first described by Mr. Lambert in the Linnean
Transactions, from a specimen in Pidcock's Menagerie at
Exeter 'Change. u It is," he says, u one of the most elegant
animals I ever saw :" he was informed by Mr. White that
its habits were very different from those of the common kan-
garoo, it being always found solitary, whereas the other is
found in herds of forty or fifty together. From its light and
beautiful figure and graceful deportment, this species was
named Macropus elegans.

In all the qualities, however, which induced Mr. Lambert
to give it the above specific name, the bush kangaroo is far
exceeded by the species whose figure we have given in the pre-
sent Number, viz. the Fasciated Kangaroo {Macropus fascia-
tus3) of Peron and Le Sueur. Its discoverers describe it as the
smallest and most elegant species of the extraordinary genus
of quadrupeds described in this article. It is scarcely so large
as a rabbit, and is easily distinguishable from all the other
known species by twelve or fifteen bands disposed transversely
across the back; these bands are narrow, of a reddish brown
colour, less regular and decided over the shoulders, where
they commence, but becoming more distinct and of a deeper
brown as they descend towards the tail, at the base of which
they teuninate, The bands are gradually lost on the sides of

134 THE FASCIATJSD KANGAROO.

the body, and no trace of them can be perceived at the under
part. The head and the feet of a light yellow colour; the un-
der part of the body is of a clear grey approaching to white;
the rest of the body is the colour of a hare, more or less deep
in different individuals. The ears in this species are propor-
tionately shorter than in any other; it is the same with
respect to the tail, which, being deprived of hair, presents
considerable resemblance to that of a very large rat. In other
respects, the pyramidal form of the body, the disproportionate
size of the hind legs, the disposition and proportions of the
toes and claws, are the same as in other kangaroos.

The banded or fasciated kangaroo inhabits the three islands
called after Bernier, Doore and Dirk-Hattraich, and has not
been met with on the continent of Australia, or in any other
of the islands which the French naturalists successively touch-
ed at. They also remark that the other species of kangaroo
seem to be confined to a similarly limited range of country ; to
be fixed by nature to such and such islands, without any in-
dividual appearing to break the limits assigned to its species.
The smaller species of kangaroo, being comparatively deprived
of any means of attack or defence, resemble, in their gentle and
timid character, the hares and other feeble quadrupeds of our
own climates. The slightest noise alarms them; a breath of
wind agitating the bushes is sufficient to put them to flight.
On this account, notwithstanding their great abundance at the
Island of Bernier, their capture was extremely difficult and
precarious. Concealed and defended by the impenetrable jun-
gles, these animals were enabled to brave with impunity the
craft and activity of their pursuers. When driven at last from
these asylums, they escaped by unknown routes, and darted
rapidly across the open space to some neighbouring bush,
through the inextricable intertexture of which it seemed in-
conceivable how these delicate creatures could force a pas-
sage; but, upon a closer examination, it was found that they
had formed in every bush many little covered ways, commen-
cing at different parts of the circumference, and leading to the
centre of the jungle, from which, when attacked, they could
select an outlet from among numerous different routes. But
these attempts at escape were mostly fatal to them when the
outlets were once discovered ; as, in that case, the hunters
stationed themselves in readiness to knock down the affrighted
animals, while others beat the bushes with long staves, to scare
them from their hiding-place. To the French naturalists above
mentioned, the flavour of these animals resembled that of the
hare, but was more aromatic, in consequence of the peculiar
nature of the plants on which they fed, which were all of an
odoriferous kind. They assert that this species affords by far

THE FASCIATED KANGAROO. 135

the best food of any of the kangaroo kind, and strongly re-
commend its introduction into Europe, both on that ground,
as well as its beauty.

" At the period," they observe, " when we were on these
coasts, all the full-grown females had in their pouch a tolera-
bly sized young one, which they strove to defend and preserve
with an admirable degree of courage. When wounded, they
fled, bearing along their young one in the pouch, and did not
abandon it until being overcome with fatigue, and exhausted
by loss of blood, they were unable any longer to carry it;
then they would stop, and sitting upright on their hind legs,
would assist the young one out of the pouch with their fore
legs, and endeavour, as it were, to direct it to the place where
it could find the most easy means of escape. Thus disem-
barrassed, they would then continue their flight with as much
rapidity as their powers would permit; but if the pursuit
was given over or slackened, they would then be seen to
return to the bush which protected their young ; to call them
by a sort of grunt peculiar to them; and, on their return,
affectionately to caress them as if to dissipate their alarm,
again to receive them in the pouch, and to seek, with their
beloved burthen, some other jungle remote from the persecu-
tion of the hunter. Similar proofs of intelligence and affection,
but still more touching, were exhibited by the poor mothers
when they felt themselves mortally wounded ; all their cares
were then directed to the safety of their offspring; far from
seeking to save .themselves, they would stand still beneath
the blows of the hunter, and their last efforts would be given
to the preservation of their young. Generous devotion ! of
which the history of animals offers so many examples, and
which we are often reduced to envy.

" During our sojourn at the Island of Bernier, we took
several of these young kangaroos; they were, however, loo
feeble, and survived their captivity but a short time. One
alone lived and became tame : this animal ate bread with
readiness, and was particularly fond of the sugared water
which was offered to it. This last taste seems the more ex-
traordinary, as, in the desert islands which these animals
inhabit, every kind of fresh water is constantly wanting.
This young kangaroo was killed accidentally at Timor : we
felt its loss the less sensibly, because, having but one, we
could not hope to have naturalized it in Europe ; but this first
attempt is enough to prove with certainty, that this species
can accommodate itself very readily to the cares and society
of man ; and we repeat, that it would be a valuable acquisition
for our parks and pleasure-grounds. "

The pouch above mentioned, which Nature has given the

136 THE FASCFATED KANGAROO.

kangaroo for the defence and shelter of her offspring, is not
confined to this genus, but is found in females of all the
quadrupeds of New Holland, with the exception of the native
dog, a species of water-rat, the paradoxical platypus, and the
porcupine ant-eater ; the two latter have, however, the pe-
culiar bones which, from a supposition of their supporting
the pouch, have been termed by anatomists the marsupial
bones. The naturalist has borrowed a term from the same
source to designate the animals endowed with this abdominal
bag ; and all the great Australian family of quadrupeds, to-
gether with the opossums of America, are included by Cuvier
in an order called Marsupiata* marsupial or pouched animals.
The young in all this tribe are received into the pouch when
of an extremely minute size, and there acquire, as in a second
womb, their principal growth. It was from this peculiarity
that Linnaeus gave to the genus most anciently known, the
epithet Didelphis. The peculiarity of this mode of generation
has rendered it a subject of great interest in a scientific point
of view.

Some of the particulars that have been noticed may be
briefly alluded to. The Count Aboville attentively watched a
pair of opossums which he kept in his house. On the fifteenth
day of gestation he found, on introducing his finger into the
pouch, a round body of the size of a pea; on the seventeenth day
he could detect two similarly formed bodies; on the sixtieth day
a number of young ones could be seen in the pouch, hanging
from the teats. %

Dr. Barton, an American physician, has observed that the
young opossum is born without form, a mere gelatinous mass,
without trace of eyes or ears, weighing not more than a sin-
gle grain, though coming from a parent as large as a cat.
These germs adhere to the nipple, and grow from thence with-
out quitting it till they attain the size of a rat ; they then re-
turn to the pouch for the purposes of suckling, or when they
require shelter. According to him, uterine gestation lasts
from twenty-two to twenty- six days.

M. Rengger also states, that the gestation of the opos-
sum, observed in a species he has termed Didelphis Azarcc,
lasts twenty-five days ; but according to this author, the
young, when they are received into the pouch, are half an inch
in length, naked, with the head very large, the eyes closed,
the nostrils and the mouth open, the ears folded, the fore- and
hind-legs crossed in front of the body, and the tail turned to-
wards the same part. In this state, they manifest no signs
of life when touched or irritated. Shortly after birth, they
are found suspended by the mouth to the nipples, but with-
out being coherent with them. They remain attached to the

AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 137

nipples seven weeks, when their eyes are for the first time
opened; they then begin to quit the pouch, — a sort of second
birth; and afterwards return to it at intervals for nourish-
ment and protection.

The period of gestation in the kangaroo is not yet ascer-
tained, but the young is received into the marsupium or ex-
ternal pouch when of very small size. Sir Everard Home
found one attached to the nipple, which weighed twenty-one
grains, and measured an inch without the tail ; its fore-paws
were tolerably well formed, and double the length of the hind
ones. " When the young," he observes, " is first attached to
the nipple, the face appears to be wanting, except a round
hole at the muzzle, to which the nipple is applied and adheres ;
soon after, the lips and jaws grow upon the nipple, till at last
nearly half an inch of its length is inclosed in the mouth. "

According to some notes made by a keeper on a kangaroo
which belonged to the Duchess of Berri, it would appear that
gestation had continued from the 6th of May to the 6th of Oc-
tober, viz. five months ; and that the young one remained in
the pouch till the January following, when it quitted the nip-
ple and came out. The exact period, however, of gestation in
the kangaroo, the form and condition of the embryo at birth,
and the precise manner in which it passes or is conveyed into
the pouch, are points which still remain to be decided.

AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG.

The affection displayed by insects for their young, and the
industry and perseverance with which they labour to provide
for them, have frequently been the subject of interesting obser-
vations and remarks by different naturalists.

This subject has been very ably treated in that well-known
and valuable work the e Introduction to Entomology ' of
Kirby and Spence; and amongst other instances they refer to
an account of a singular species of the beetle {Necrophorus
Fespillo, F.) first noticed by M. Gleditsch in the Acts of the
Berlin Society for 1752. He begins by stating that he had
often remarked that dead moles, when laid upon the ground,
especially if upon loose earth, were almost sure to disappear
in the course of two or three days, often of twelve hours. To
ascertain the cause, he placed a mole upon one of the beds in
his garden. It had vanished by the third morning ; and on
digging where it had been laid, he found it buried to the depth
of three inches, and under it, four beetles which seemed to
have been the agents in this singular inhumation. Not per-
ceiving anything particular in the mole, he buried it again f

138 AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG.

and on examining it again at the end of six days, he found it
swarming with maggots apparently the issue of the beetles,
which, M. Gleditsch now naturally concluded had buried the
carcase for the food of their future young. To determine these
points more clearly, he put four of these insects into a glass
vessel half filled with earth, and properly secured, and upon
the surface of the earth two frogs. In less than twelve hours
one of the frogs was interred by two of the beetles : the other
ran about the whole day as if busied in measuring the dimen-
sions of the remaining corpse, which, on the third day, was
also found buried. He then introduced a dead linnet. A pair
of the beetles were soon engaged upon the bird. They began
their operations by pushing out the earth from under the
body so as to form a cavity for its reception ; and it was cu-
rious to see the efforts which the beetles made by dragging at
the feathers of the bird from below to pull it into its grave.
The male having driven the female away, continued the work
alone for five hours. He lifted up the bird, changed its place,
turned it and arranged it in the grave, and from time to time
came out of the hole, mounted upon it, and trod it under foot,
and then retired below and pulled it down. At length, ap-
parently wearied with this uninterrupted labour, it came forth
and leaned its head upon the earth beside the bird, without
the smallest motion, as if to rest itself, for a full hour, when
it again crept under the earth. The next day, in the morn-
ing, the bird was an inch and a half under ground, and the
trench remained open the whole day, the corpse seeming as
if laid out upon a bier, surrounded with a rampart of mould.
In the evening it had sunk half an inch lower, and in another
day the work was completed and the bird covered. M. Gle-
ditsch continued to add other small dead animals, which were
all, sooner or later, buried ; and the result of this experiment
was, that in fifty days four beetles had interred, in the very
small space of earth allotted to them, twelve carcases, viz.
four frogs, three small birds, two fishes, one mole and two
grasshoppers, besides the entrails of a fish and two morsels
of the lungs of an ox. In another experiment a single beetle
buried a mole forty times its own bulk and weight in two days.
It is plain that all this labour is incurred for the sake of pla-
cing in security the future young of these industrious insects
along with a necessary provision of food. One mole would
have sufficed a long time for the repast of the beetles them-
selves, and they could have more conveniently fed upon it
above ground than below. But if they had left thus exposed
the carcase in which their eggs were deposited, both would
have been exposed to the imminent risk of being destroyed at
a mouthful by the first fox or kite that chanced to espy them.

I 139 ]

THE LOCUST.

Dr. Clarkk in his Travels in Tartary, on approaching Cuffa,
thus notices the number of locusts.

" We now began to perceive the truth of those surprising
relations which we had often heard and read concerning the
locust in countries infested with that insect. The steppes were
entirely covered by their bodies ; and their numbers falling,
resembled flakes of snow, carried obliquely by the wind, and
spreading a thick mist over the sun. Myriads fell over the
carriage, the horses and the drivers. The stories of these ani-
mals, told us by the Tartars, were more marvellous than any
we had before heard. They said that instances had occurred
of persons being suffocated by a fall of locusts in the steppes.
It was now the season, they further added, in which their
numbers began to diminish. When they first make their ap-
pearance, a thick dark cloud is seen very high in the air, which,
as it passes, obscures the sun. I had always supposed the
stories of the locust to exaggerate their real appearance ; but
found their swarms so astonishing in all the steppes over which
we passed in this part of our journey, that the whole face of
nature might have been described as concealed by a living veil.
They were of two kinds; the Gry litis Tartaricus, and the Gryl-
lus migratorius or common migratory locust. The first is al-
most twice the size of the second, and since it precedes the
other, bears the name of the Herald or Messenger. The mi-
gratory locust has red legs, and its inferior wings have a live-
ly red colour, which gives a bright fiery appearance to the ani-
mal when fluttering in the sun's rays. The strength of limbs
possessed by it is amazing : when pressed down by the hand
upon a table, it has almost power to raise the fingers ; but
this force resides wholly in the legs ; for if one of these be
broken off, which happens by the slightest accident, the power
of action ceases. There is yet a third variety of locust, Gryl-
lus viridissimus of Linnaeus, found near the Don and the Ku-
ban, which is entirely of a green colour. This last I have since
seen upon the banks of the Cam in my own country, and felt
for the moment intimidated, lest such a presage should be the
herald of the dreadful scourge which the locust bears where-
ever it abounds. On whatever spot these animals fall, the
whole vegetable produce disappears. Nothing escapes them,
from the leaves of the forest to the herbs of the plain. Fields,
vineyards, gardens, pasture, everything is laid waste; and
sometimes the only appearance left upon the naked soil is a
disgusting superficies caused by their putrifying bodies, the
stench of which is sufficient to breed a pestilence."

[ HO j

FECUNDITY OF THB SEA TURTLE.

[From ■ Travels in Brazil/ by Prince Maximilian, p. 190.]

cc While our people were employed in fetching some sea-
water, and in picking up drift-wood on the beach, we found
to our great surprise, at a short distance from our fire, a pro-
digious sea-turtle ( Testudo My das, Linn .) which was justgoing
to deposit its eggs : nothing could be more welcome to our
hungry company ; the animal seemed to have come expressly
to provide us with a supper. Our presence did not disturb
it ; we could touch it, and even lift it up ; but to do this it
required the united strength of four men. Notwithstanding
all our exclamations of surprise and our deliberations what to
do with it, the creature manifested no sign of uneasiness but
a kind of hissing, nearly like the noise made by the geese when
any one approaches their young. It continued to work as it
had commenced, with its fin-like hinder feet, digging in the
sand a cylindrical hole from eight to twelve inches broad ; it
threw the earth very regularly and dexterously, and, as it were,
keeping time on both sides, and began immediately after to
deposit its eggs.

" One of our two soldiers laid himself all along on the
ground near this purveyor of our kitchen, and took the eggs
out of the hole as fast as the turtle deposited them ; and in this
manner we collected a hundred eggs in about ten minutes. We
considered whether we should add this fine animal to our col-
lections ; but the great weight of the turtle, which would have
required a mule for itself alone, and the difficulty of loading
such an awkward burden, made us resolve to spare its life,
and to content ourselves with its eggs.

" Those huge animals, the mydas and the soft-shelled tur-
tle {Testudo Mydas and coriacea), as well as the Testudo ca-
retta or cauamia, deposit their eggs in the sand in the warm-
est months of the year, particularly in this uninhabited part
of the coast, between the Riacho and the Mucuri; they come
on shore for this purpose in the evening twilight, drag their
heavy bodies up the sandy coast, dig a hole, in which they
deposit their eggs, fill it up with sand, which they tread down,
and an hour or two after sunset return to the sea. This was
the case with the turtle which had so amply supplied us; when
we came back to the strand a few hours afterwards, it was
gone ; it had filled up the hole, and the broad track left by it
in the sand, showed that it had returned to its proper element.
A single turtle of this kind can furnish an abundant repast
with its eggs for a whole company ; for the mydas is said to
lay at once ten or twelve dozen, and the soft-shelled from

THE CROCODILE AND LITTLE RING-PLOVER. 141

eighteen to twenty dozen. These eggs are a very nutritious
food, and are therefore eagerly sought after on this desert
coast by the Indians, and in the neighbourhood of the colony
also by the Whites."

FRIENDSHIP OF THE CROCODILE AND LITTLE RING-PLOVER,

( Charadrius JEgyptius, Hasselquist.)
[Translated from ' Description de l'Egypt, ' Hist. Nat. vol. i. p. 198.]
" < As the Crocodile feeds principally in the water, the inside
of his mouth is constantly infested with insects which suck his
blood' " (with leeches, sanguisugce, as it has been rendered by
preceding translators). " ' Every species of land acimals and of
birds avoids him ; the trochilus alone lives at peace with him,
because this little bird renders him a great service. When-
ever the crocodile comes up out of the water to go upon land,
and when he stretches out his half-opened mouth, (as he is in
the habit of doing, having turned towards the west wind,)
the trochilus creeps in, and devours all the insects which it
finds there. The crocodile, sensible of this advantage, does
him no injury.' — Herodotus, Book 2. § 68.

" This passage is one of those which has particularly ex-
ercised the acuteness of commentators. Some of them have
regarded it as a mere fiction ; while others, in order to oppose
themselves with greater effect against so odious an imputa-
tion, have pushed their zeal so far as to imagine and to create
a new animal which could overreach the crocodile, and prove
itself capable of performing the different actions attributed to
the trochilus. But we shall shortly see that our historian
has been as unskilfully defended, as he has been unjustly at-
tacked.

u Everything that depends upon the renewal of beings whom
we see appearing again and again, with the same conforma-
tions and the same habits, is connected with the eternal youth-
fulness of Nature. Now that which is contained in the above
passage, this compact agreed to between an enormous and
cruel-tempered animal and a little defenceless bird, this min-
gling of such different interests, these scenes of reciprocal
attachment, — all this is constantly and uniformly reproduced
from age to age : and indeed if these phenomena were ac-
tually noticed two or three thousand years ago by the priests
of Thebes and Memphis, I ought again to witness them. I
have again met with them unchanged in any one particular.
I also have had this interesting spectacle before my own eyes;
truly valuable details, which no one would know how to in-
vent and condense with an equal degree of conformity and
perfect simplicity.

142 THE CROCODILE AND LITTLE RING-PLOVER.

" Arrived in my turn on the shores of Egypt, and having
observed there, after the lapse of so many centuries, every
action under the different appearances in which life is displayed
in this country, I have found the passage, which is the object
of the present remarks, true in its general meaning, but inaccu-
rate in some particulars. We shall see from the character of
these inaccuracies, which I cannot refrain from remarking
upon, that they lead us to the idea, that in this instance He-
rodotus has not observed for himself, but that he has drawn
up his account from hearsay.

" Herodotus uses the word hdella — an animal that sucks —
to describe these tormentors of the crocodile. This has be-
come the Greek name for a leech, and is so translated gene-
rally, and Herodotus seems to have intended it to have that
meaning. The true leech, (Hirudo, L.,) is not found in the run-
ning waters of the Nile, but is met with in standing waters,
generally, in Egypt. These animals were probably gnats or
muskitoes, which he mentions under the name conops, and
which are now the insects that infest the crocodile. " (Having
decided that the trochilus is the same species as that named by
Hasselquist Charadrius JEgi/ptius, — which is very much like
the petit pluvier a collier of France, if indeed it be not the
same bird, — the author proceeds :) " I have paid great attention
to the habits of the little plover : and having seen it pursue its
prey, about which it is very dainty, even into the mouth of the
crocodile, I am convinced about the facts, the knowledge of the
true determination of which I so anxiously wished for. But
the fact, that which I first noticed, is, that it is not for the
purpose of cleansing his teeth, (for which the hind feet of the
crocodile can and do suffice,) that the trochilus, or little plo-
ver, interests and busies itself about him. Now, what I have
learnt both from my own experience and from the accounts
of the fishermen, is, that every crocodile, when it comes up to
repose itself upon the sand, is immediately attacked by a
swarm of gnats, which fly about in immense numbers in the
neighbourhood and over the surface of the water. His mouth
is not so hermetically closed, as to prevent these insects from
effecting an entrance into it; they introduce themselves, and
arrange themselves there in such numbers, that the interior
surface of the whole palate, which is of a bright yellow through-
out, is covered with a coating of blackish brown, which is
owing to the gnats arranged side by side. All these sucking
insects thrust their trunks into the orifices of the glands,
which are very numerous in the mouth of the crocodile.

"The following circumstance is well worthy of remark.
There is at St. Domingo a crocodile which so much resembles
that of Egypt, that I have had great difficulty in detecting the

THE CROCODILE AND LITTLE RING-PLOVER. 143

distinctive characters of it. It is, however, particularly distin-
guished by its longer jaws, whence its Latin name of Crocodilus
acutus ; it also has the tongue longer, and therefore more com-
pletely enveloped in the interior and exterior integuments
which are distributed between the maxillary branches. Here
there is another crocodile, which, deprived of the use of its
tongue, is unable to perform those actions which are neces-
sary to preserve its palate in good preservation, — the same
causes, and the same effects. Insects which are equally hurt-
ful, if indeed they are not perfectly identical, called marin-
gouins at St. Domingo, exist there as in Egypt. The cro-
codile of St. Domingo, in like manner coming to repose
upon the sloping banks of rivers, is then equally exposed to
the same torments as the crocodile of the Nile, and conse-
quently requires the same assistance. But are these latter
also administered by the little plover ? This bird lives on the
main land. However these may be, birds of similar habits,
feeding upon the spawn of fish, on larvae and small insects,
are seen in every country, continually engaged in the search
after this minute kind of nourishment, hopping about and
running from place to place, and never neglecting to feast
themselves whenever they have the opportunity. This oppor-
tunity is afforded by the mosquitoes, which never fail to at-
tack the crocodile ; they penetrate into his mouth, and cover
the whole of its surface. The bird which performs this good
office for the crocodile of St. Domingo, is, they say, the
todier, a smaller species than the Charadrius JEgyptius, with
a weak, depressed, and much flattened bill. It can then with-
out difficulty enter the crocodile's mouth, and having finished
its repast, come forth again in the same way. Except that it
is another species that performs the part of the little plover,
these are the same scenes as occur in Egypt, — a repetition of
the same habits. This coincidence of manners was noticed by
M. Descourtils, who staid for some time at St. Domingo,
and who, hearing of my researches on this subject, did not
fail to give the same direction to his own, of which science
has happily just reaped the fruits.

" Neither of these crocodiles, which are equally deprived of
the use of their tongue as an organ of motion, can supply its
place by a recourse to their fore legs ; these are too stiff, and very
much too 'short to reach to the mouth. Nature, then, has form-
ed the crocodile without the means of providing personally
for its own well-being, for the care of its own preservation.
In this case, being miserably abandoned to the bites of these
insects, which, though very minute in size, are, by a singular
concurrence of circumstances, rendered very formidable, it
must follow that the crocodile would sink under the accumu-

144 THE CROCODILE AND LITTLE RING-PLOVER.

lation of evils, unless it were able to remove them by appeal-
ing to the charity of some other animal.

" The narrative of the ancients agrees in showing, that not-
withstanding the opposite characters of their powers and dis-
positions, there do exist reciprocal duties and mutual attach-
ment between the leviathan and the little bird. But what
answer is to be given to the question, — which of the two, the
crocodile or the trochilus, is most interested in the commence-
ment and continuation of this alliance? It seems to me, that,
before we knew of what happened at St. Domingo, we could
only have recourse to judgement, necessarily accompanied by
the ordinary chances of error, to come to a decision on this sub-
ject : — but now the question has acquired a foundation in pre-
cise and determinate facts. The most interested of the two is
evidently the crocodile. It is certain, that if, in the imper-
fect state of its organs, the crocodile had been, at the great
day of creation, confined to its own resources, — that is to say,
if it had been left without any other assistance, — these species
could not have lasted through so many ages and come down
to our own times. We are then here in a state to give full
belief to another account, more decisive and particular, of the
motives which influence the crocodile : — it is the passage in
which Pliny declares that the trochilus and the crocodile mu-
tually invite one another to render this reciprocal service;
1 the crocodile opens his mouth as wide as he can, which is
pleasantly affected by the pecking of the bird/

" Thus, in the absence of a complete organization, Nature has
come to the assistance of the crocodile, by inspiring it at least
with a cunning and forbearance, which has preserved it from
being destroyed as soon as created. Now what assistance
could be more useful to him than that of a small and very ac-
tive bird, eager in the pursuit of its prey, and quick in seizing
it ? Its Arabic name of sag-sag, sexag, or rather tek-tak,
which signifies that strikes, expresses the common habit of
these little plovers, which are continually striking the sand
with the end of their bill, to discover and extract all the mi-
nute bodies on which they subsist. Conscious of the pleasure
of being relieved, the crocodile shows himself grateful for the
service rendered to him, and gently warns his companion to
remove himself, when both ought to think of retreating.
When we contemplate the perfect security of the little bird in
the interior of an immense mouth, which, for every other ani-
mal is so cruelly murderous, — when we reflect on the renounce-
ment, on the part of the stronger, of his natural ferocity, and
the daring intrepidity of the weaker, and the mutual conces-
sion arising from reciprocal advantages, — we have one of the
most extraordinary pictures of the habits of the animal ere-

THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT.

145

ation laid before us, — a picture, which the ancients have pre-
sented to us without reserve or ambiguity ; which has been
simply and literally described by Herodotus, by Aristotle, and
after them confirmed by Pliny, ^Elian, and some writers of
the first ages of the Christian sera. At this time greater faith
was placed in the simple recital of habits of animals than is
done at present. I add, as a last proof in favour of the pre-
ceding conclusions, that if there were any of the true leeches,
(Hirudo,) in the Nile, — and we have stated above that they do
not exist in the running waters of the rivers, — in that case the
bill of the little plover would be too weak to divide them, to
tear them in pieces, and reduce them to a state in which they
would be useful to it in the way of nourish ment."

THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT, (P/lOCd proboSClded,

Pe'ron.)

When a seal is contemplated for the first time, its fish-like
form and singularly shaped extremities lead to the supposition
that it must belong to a peculiar and distinct order of animals
most nearly allied to the cetaceous mammalia. But when its
teeth and claws are attentively examined, these unerringguides
distinctly point out its relation to the carnivorous order. Ac-
cordingly we find it placed in that division in the systems of
Zool.'Mag. No. 5. l

146

OR SEA-ELEPHANT.

Ray and Linnaeus; and with Cuvier, the Linnaean genus Pho-
ca is joined with the walrus to form his third and last tribe
of Camivora. In this tribe the feet are so curtailed and en-
veloped in integument, that on land they serve only to drag
along the body with a clumsy, unequal motion ; but as the
intervals of the toes are filled up by membrane, they form ex-
cellent instruments for swimming. Accordingly it is found
that these animals pass the greater part of their lives in the
sea, and come on shore only to sleep and bask in the sunshine,
and for the purposes of procreation and of suckling their young.
Their elongated body; their very moveable spine, endowed with
great strength of muscle to bend it in different directions; their
narrow pelvis ; their close- set smooth fur, — all contribute to
make them excellent swimmers ; and this idea, which would
be formed on a superficial inspection, is confirmed by all the de-
tails of the anatomical structure of these amphibious carnivora.

The seals, which form the first division of this tribe, have
all the three kinds of teeth, which vary, however, as to form
and number, in the different subgenera. Some have six, others
four incisors only in the upper jaw, with four, or two in the
lower jaw ; they all possess the usual number of laniaries,
viz. two above and two below; themolaries are twenty, twen-
ty-two, or twenty-four in number, always trenchant and co-
nical, without any tubercular or grinding surface. Each ex-
tremity has five toes, which in the fore- feet decrease in length
from the thumb to the little finger, while in the hind-feet the
toes analogous to these two are the longest, and the interme-
diate ones the shortest. The hind-feet are directed backwards,
and are united to a short, flattened tail, so as to form with it
a rude resemblance to the tail of the manatee or whale.

The form of the head varies in different seals ; it is always
large, and in our common species resembles that of a dog.
There is much intelligence in the eye, with a sweet and expres-
sive aspect; and we find that from the earliest periods the seal
has been celebrated for its docility. <c The structure of this
animal is so strange," says Buffon, " that it served as a model',
upon which the imagination of the poets framed the tritons,
sirens, and sea-gods, with a human head, the body of a qua-
druped, and the tail of a fish. The seal, in fact, reigns in this
mute empire by his voice, his figure, his intelligence, and his
talents, which are common to him with the inhabitants of the
land, and render him so superior to the fishes, that they seem
not only to belong to another order of beings, but to a dif-
ferent world. This amphibious animal, though his nature be
very remote from that of our domestic animals, is susceptible
of a species of education. He is reared by keeping him often

THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT. 147

in water ; he is taught to give a salute with his head and his
voice ; he comes when called upon, and exhibits several other
marks of intelligence and docility.

u His brain is of considerable size ; his senses are as good
as those of any quadruped ; and, consequently, his sensations
are equally vivacious, and his intellect equally active. Both
are exhibited in the gentleness of his manners, his social dis-
position, his affection for the female, his attention to his off-
spring, and in the expressive modulation of his voice, which
is superior to that of any other quadruped."

Fishes constitute the natural food of the seals ; they devour
them in the water, and when they dive they are enabled to
close the nostrils by means of a sort of valve. As they are
able to remain long under water, Buffon supposed that this
faculty resulted from a peculiar conformation of the heart,
which allowed the venous blood to pass into the arterial system
without traversing the lungs; butCuvier asserts that this struc-
ture, viz. the open aperture of Botallius, does not exist in them,
but that they have, on the other hand, a large venous reservoir
in the liver, where the blood accumulates when impeded in its
passage through the lungs in consequence of the suspension
of breathing which must take place during the act of diving.
Their blood is very abundant, and dark-coloured. Their
tongue is smooth, and forked at the end; their stomach is
simple, their caecum short, and their intestinal canal long and
of equable diameter.

The first natural division of the numerous family of the
seals is into those that have no external ears, and those which
possess these appendages.

The seals of the first division have pointed incisors ; and all
their toes possess a certain degree of mobility, and are armed
with pointed claws placed on the edge of the uniting web.
Those which have six incisors above, and four below, form the
genus denominated by Frederick Cuvier Calocephalus, from
two Greek words signifying c well-formed head/ Those with
four incisors above and four below, and whose molaries are
deeply cleft into three points, constitute the genus which the
same naturalist has termed Stenorhi/nchus. A third group,
with the same number of incisors as the preceding, but with
the molaries ending in obtuse cones, is termed Pelagius. A
fourth division, with only two incisors in the lower jaw, bears
the name of Stemmatopas ; and, lastly, the earless seal, whose
figure illustrates the present article, and whose elongated
snout forms so striking a feature in his physiognomy, consti-
tutes the fifth subgeneric division of the French naturalist,
under the appropriate designation of Macrorhinus.

l2

148 THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT.

The seals with external ears apparent, are included under
the collective term Otaria; they have also been divided into
subgenera ; which, however, we shall pass over, and return
to the more particular history of the sea-elephant, as it is
called by English sailors ; the Phoca proboscidea of Peron
and Le Sueur.

No apology can be necessary for proceeding at once to the
translation of the interesting history of this singular animal
given by the intelligent travellers and scientific naturalists
above mentioned.

" In rendering it compulsatory on the seals to come on
shore to bring forth their young, Nature seems to have volun-
tarily devoted them to death and destruction. In fact, devoid
of any means of defence, and scarcely able to drag themselves
along the ground, the seals everywhere fall victims to the larger
animals, and above all, to man; so that, equally avoiding
these two kinds of enemies, the timid herds only multiply in
abundance on those remote islands, and those solitary rocks,
where, in the midst of eternal ice, the savage beasts of prey
exist not, and man has not yet fixed his habitual abode. The
greater part of the islands in the Australian regions ought
therefore, on both accounts, to form an especial retreat for
these legions of amphibious quadrupeds; since in these places,
there exists no beast of prey larger than a common cat,
and the human species, which is so rare on the larger tracts
of land, does not inhabit the innumerable neighbouring islands.
These, then, form the dominions of the seal; successively oc-
cupied by their peaceful invasions, from the Malouin Islands
and Tristan d'Acufia, to the land of De Witt, and the middle
of the Australian regions. There is no part of this immense
space that does not support species of a greater or less magni-
tude, herds more or less numerous, of the family of seals, so lit-
tle known up to the present time, and which cannot fail one day
to form one of the principal sections of the animal kingdom.

" At the head of these oceanic mammalia of the antarctic
hemisphere, must be placed the proboscis-seal, one of the
hugest and most extraordinary of those which are known. In
indicating it by the specific name of leonina, Linnaeus gave it
a character it never possessed, viz. that of a crest or mane on
the head, fronte cristatd ; a mistake which evidently origi-
nated in the incorrect figures of Anson and Pernetty; but
every naturalist after Linnaeus has committed the same error.
" The savages of New Holland call the seal we are at present
treating of, Mourong.

" The English sailors employed in the fishery on these
coasts call it the Sea-elephant; and the bay in the Isle of King,

THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT. 149

where these mammalia congregate in greatest number, has
received the name of ' Bay of Elephants.' This latter de-
signation, which is evidently deduced from the gigantic pro-
portions of the animal, the rudeness of its outlines, and above
all, from the kind of trunk in which its snout terminates, would
be rather appropriate, if it had not already been applied to the
walrus, which itself borrowed the term from the singular
tusks, analogous to those of the elephant, which project from
the upper jaw.

u As none of these several denominations, therefore, can be
appropriately applied to this species, we propose to call it the
Proboscidean Seal, (Phoca proboscidea,) which brings to mind
the character which distinguishes it from all the other species
hitherto known.

" It is characterized by its enormous proportions, being
commonly twenty, five-and-twenty, or even thirty feet in length,
and from fifteen to eighteen feet in circumference ; its colour
is greyish, or blueish grey, rarely of a dark brown; it has
no external ears ; the two inferior laniaries are long, strong,
curved and projecting ; the whiskers are formed of very stiff
and long bristles twisted like a screw ; similar bristles pro-
ject above either eye, and represent the eyebrows. The eyes
are very large and prominent. The fore-feet or paddles large
and vigorous, presenting at their extremity, near the posterior
margin, five small black claws. The tail is very short, almost
concealed between two flattened horizontal flippers, dilated at
their extremity. But the most prominent character is the
prolongation of the muzzle, or rather of the nostrils. When
the animal is at rest these nostrils, being relaxed and pendant,
give its face a broader aspect; but whenever they are raised by
a strong respiratory effort, or when the animals are engaged
in attack or defence, they become elongated, forming a tube
of about a foot in length ; and not only is the shape of the
head rendered very different by this action, but the tone of the
voice is considerably modified. The females are strangers to
this organization ; they even have the upper lip slightly fis-
sured at the margin. In both sexes the hair is extremely
close- set, but is of too inferior a character to be put to the
same use as the finer fur of other antarctic species of seal.

" Inhabiting exclusively the antarctic regions, the proboscis-
seal delights more particularly in the desert isles, and seems
to show an exclusive preference to some of them. Thus among
the numerous islands of Bass's Straits, these seals only
dwell in great numbers, on Hunter* s9 King's and JVeiv Year's
Islands. One scarcely finds an individual on the Two Sisters;
they seem to be complete strangers to the Island Maria ; on

150 THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT.

the island Decrds I only found a single tooth of the proboscis-
seal. Lastly, this amphibious creature does not exist on the
continent of New Holland, nor on the shores of VanDiemen's
Land ; and the species is only known to the inhabitants of
these countries by an individual being occasionally carried
thither by a storm or current.

" Numerous herds of these seals inhabit the land of Kergue-
len, the Island of Georgia, and the land of the States, where
the English habitually maintain their fishery of these animals.
They exist in great numbers on the Island of Juan Fernandez.
It is probable that the small fresh- water lakes in which these
seals delight to bathe, may induce their preference for par-
ticular spots 5 but from all the observations that have hitherto
been made, these powerful animals are confined between the
35th and 55th degrees of south latitude, inhabiting the Atlan-
tic and the great Southern Ocean.

" Besides choosing some islands by preference, these seals
also change their residence at particular seasons j they are in
fact migratory animals. Equally obnoxious to extreme heat
as to severe cold, they advance with the winter season from
the south to the north, and return with summer in the con-
trary direction. It is in the middle of June that they perform
their first migration, covering, in countless multitudes, the
shores of King's Island, which sometimes, the English sailors
say, are blackened by them. The same migratory movements
have been remarked by Rogers and Steller in other species of
seals, which they have compared, in that respect, to swans,
wild geese, &c.

(e A month after their arrival, the females bring forth; at this
period they are surrounded by the males, which prevent their
return to the sea, and even compel them to remain on shore,
until the period of suckling their young is ended. Nay, it is
asserted that when the mothers, wearied of this confinement,
endeavour to drive away their offspring, the males bite the
young ones and compel them to return. The female has but
one young, which measures, when born, from four to five feet
in length, and weighs about seventy pounds ; the males are
already larger than the females.

" The mother turns on her side to give suck to the young.
Lactation lasts seven or eight weeks, during which period the
females, guarded as above mentioned, neither eat nor come
down to the sea. This strange abstinence did not escape the
observation of the unfortunate Alexander Selkirk, who in-
formed Captain Rogers, that towards the end of the month
of June these animals visited his solitary abode, bringing
forth their young about a musket- shot from the sea, and stay-

OR SEA-ELEPHANT. 151

ing to the end of September, without shifting their place, or
taking any kind of nourishment during all that time. Forster
relates the same circumstance; and adds, that towards the lat-
ter end of their fast, when they have become extremely ema-
ciated, they swallow a considerable quantity of stones, to
keep their stomachs distended. The growth of the young is
extremely rapid; at the end of eight days it weighs lOOlbs.
So considerable an increase can only take place at the expense
of the parent, for she does not repair by any kind of food the
loss of the nutritious substance which she has supplied. Hence
she visibly grows lean ; some have even been observed to pe-
rish during this painful lactation ; but it is, of course, uncer-
tain whether an internal malady might not have been the cause.
14 At the end of fifteen days the milk teeth appear, and are
completed in four months. The stages of growth follow so
rapidly, that in three years the young animals have acquired
a length of from eighteen to five and twenty feet, which is the
ordinary limit of their growth in this direction ; they after-
wards increase only in breadth. At this period the young
males first acquire the proboscis.

" At the age of six or seven weeks the young ones are con-
ducted to the water ; the shores are then abandoned for some
time, the whole herd row together, if we may so express our-
selves. The manner of swimming of these mammalia is rather
slow ; they are forced, at very short intervals, to come to the
surface of the water to breathe the air, which is essential to
their existence. It is observed that when any of the young
seals separate from the herd, they are immediately pursued by
some of the old ones, who compel them, by biting, to return
to the family group.

u After having remained three weeks or a month at sea, both
to familiarize the young ones with that element, and to repair
the powers that have been exhausted by a long abstinence,
the sea- elephants return a second time to the shore, and the
work of reproduction recommences.

" At this period the males have furious and bloody combats,
but always individual against individual. Their manner of
fighting is remarkable. The two colossal rivals drag them-
selves heavily along; they meet, muzzle to muzzle ; they raise
the whole of the fore-part of the body on their flippers ; they
open wide their enormous mouth; their eyes are inflamed
with fury : thus prepared, they drive themselves furiously
against each other, and falling together with the shock, teeth
to teeth, and jaw to jaw, they reciprocally inflict severe la-
cerations ; sometimes the eyes are torn out of their sockets
In this conflict ; still more frequently they loose their tusks ;

152 ON THE MEDUSjE.

blood flows abundantly; but the obstinate combatants, with-
out appearing to feel their wounds, continue the fight until
their powers are completely exhausted. It is rare to see
one left dead on the field of battle, for their wounds are
observed to heal with inconceivable promptitude. The English
sailors attribute this to some peculiar qualities of the blubber,
the natural salve ; but it probably results from the obvious
influence this substance must have in excluding the air from
the wounds, and in arresting the bleeding.

" During these murderous conflicts, the females remain in-
different spectators to the rage they have excited, and sub-
mit to the conqueror, who assumes the mastership of the herd.
The sailors call him the Bashaw, comparing him to the jealous
and despotic master of a Turkish harem.

" The sun now approaching the antarctic hemisphere, the
heat increases, and the whole herd resumes the route to the
southward, there to remain till the return of frost compels
them again to resort to the more temperate coasts of the Isle
of King. Some individuals, however, are observed to stay
there throughout the summer ; but whether detained by infir-
mity, or loss of strength necessary for an extensive naviga-
tion, or by some other disposition which renders a greater
degree of heat essential to them, is uncertain.

" The great migrations of the sea-elephant, however re-
markable they may be, are not peculiar to this species ; the
habit probably obtains with every tribe of seals. Influenced
by the same wants, these voyages take place in both hemi-
spheres at analogous periods, and in this respect the confor-
mity of habits is so great between the seals of the north ob-
served by Steller, and those we have been describing, as to
render it probable that these migrations are the same in all
the amphibious mammalia."

[To be continued in our next Number.]

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS TOTHE HISTORY OF THE MEDUSA
OR SEA BLUBBERS, BY MM. PERON AND LESUEUR.

[From the * Annales du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle/ vol. xiv. page 219.]

" Of all the Zoophytes which Nature has scattered over the
surface of the ocean, none are more numerous or more extra-
ordinary than those to which the great Linnaeus has given the
name of Medusas. Every sea supports different tribes of these
singular creatures : they live in the midst of the almost frozen
waters of Spitzbergen, of Greenland, and of Iceland; they mul-
tiply under the heat of the equator; and the great Southern

ON THE MEDUSiE. 153

Ocean also nourishes rich and numerous species of them.
Every maritime people, from the highest antiquity, seem to
have been acquainted with them; Pnilippides, Eupolis, Aris-
tophanes and Diphilus before Aristotle, have mentioned them;
and from the time of Pliny down to our own age, more than one
hundred and fifty writers of all the nations of Europe have
occupied themselves with their history.

" Notwithstanding so many labours and praiseworthy ex-
ertions, the genus Medusa is still one of those which most
abounds with the uncertainties and errors of the naturalist ;
and these uncertainties, these errors, belong to the very na-
ture of the animals about which we are speaking. In fact, no
other animals unite such singularity in the nature of their
constituent substance, so much variety in their forms, so much
diversity in their organs, so many anomalies in their vital
functions, — and none therefore present the physiologist with
more problems to resolve, or more discoveries to follow up.

" The substance of the Medusas, for instance, resolves itself,
by a kind of instantaneous fusion, into a fluid analogous to
sea-water, and yet the most important functions of life are
carried on in a body which seems to be, as it were, nothing
but coagulated water. The multiplication of these animals
is prodigious, but we know nothing positively about their
mode of generation; they may attain the size of several feet
in diameter, they sometimes weigh from fifty to sixty pounds,
and yet their digestive organs escape our notice; they exe-
cute very rapid and long-continued motions, but the details
of their muscular system are unknown ; their secretions are
very abundant, and we see nothing which can furnish us with
a theory about them; they have some sort of respiration
which is very active, while the true seat of it is a mystery;
they appear excessively weak, but fish of considerable size
are their daily food; one would imagine that their stomach
was incapable of any kind of action on these latter animals,
but in a few moments they are digested : many of them con-
ceal in their interior considerable quantities of air; we are
equally ignorant by what means they can either receive it
from the atmosphere, or from the water, or develop it in their
intestines. A great number of these Zoophytes are phosphoric;
they shine in the midst of darkness like so many globes of
fire; but the nature, the principle, and the agents of this won-
derful property are as yet undiscovered : some of them sting
and benumb the hand that touches them; the cause of this
sensation is still a problem. It would be easy for me to en-
ter into longer details of the singularities which distinguish
the Medusae; but it is sufficient to have pointed out the

154 ON THE MEDUSAE.

principal claims which they have always had to the interest
of observers, and to have laid before the reader all the import-
ance of the researches towards which I am going to call his
attention.

" In the midst of the vast seas which our vessels have tra-
versed, we, M. Lesueur and myself, have discovered more new
species of animals of this kind, than the naturalists of any
age or country had made known before us. These numerous
species have been described and painted from living indi-
viduals ; they have afforded us grounds for a multitude of re-
searches and important discoveries. On the other hand, all
the authors who have written on Medusae have been laid un-
der contribution: I have myself undertaken the task of ex-
tracting from many hundred volumes in different languages,
all that could have any relation to these animals, and M. Le-
sueur himself has copied the designs and paintings scattered
through the numerous volumes with which he has been en-
gaged; and lastly, our recent excursions on the coast of La
Mancha, and the shores of the Mediterranean, have placed at
our disposal the greater part of the European species which
have been described before us.

u Having so large a fund of materials, we propose to our-
selves in this work, to give successively the history of all the
species and of all the genera which ought naturally to com-
pose this great family of the animal kingdom : we shall treat
in detail of the organization and the habits of these singu-
lar beings; we shall set forth all that we have been able to
discover about their various systems of locomotion, of diges-
tion, of generation, &c; we shall relate the series of experi-
ments by which we have been led to discover in the Medusae
a mode of respiration analogous to that of the more perfect
animals, and which, however, has hitherto escaped the re-
searches of the most skilful observers; we shall mention the
different phaenomena of the phosphorescent property, and we
shall dwell with so much the more interest on this subject,
since it connects itself more immediately with the great pro-
blem of the phosphorescence of the sea.

" However simple may be the organization of the Medusae,
still they are not scattered indiscriminately over the surface
of the ocean ; each species has its proper sphere of existence,
beyond the limits of which it does not seem to extend. It
may be that the temperature of the waves, the nature or the
abundance of its food retains it there, or that the limited
power of locomotion which characterizes these animals, does
not permit them to go far from the places where they have
been originally established by nature. Whichever of these

ON THE medusa:. 155

be the true cause, it is not less certain, that to such and such
latitudes belong exclusively such and such species of Medusae :
it is in such situations that the astonished observer meets
with those immense shoals of similar individuals, in the midst
of which he sometimes sails for several days, but of which
the ocean afterwards furnishes him with no traces. This
curious circumstance in the existence of the animals of which
we are speaking, having been the object of our especial atten-
tion, we shall not fail to join to the history of each genus, a
geographical table of the distribution of all the species of
which it is composed.

ff There are, in the same way, different seasons when the
Medusae show themselves in different countries; and this ob-
servation becomes particularly valuable as regards the history
of those which live in our own seas. These Zoophytes do not
in fact appear on the coasts of Italy, of Spain, of France, of
England, of Sweden, of Denmark, of Iceland, of Greenland,
and of Spitzbergen, until the middle of spring ; they are most
particularly abundant there during the dog-days : their num-
ber diminishes on the approach of autumn, and about the
middle of November their countless legions disappear, and
go, perhaps, like many other marine animals, to bury them-
selves and become insensible in the depths of the sea. In
the seas under the equator, on the contrary, the Medusae co-
ver the waters, even in the midst of the winter of those coun-
tries; and everything shows that these latter species are
strangers to the migrations, or rather hybernation, of the Me-
dusae of our climates. Considered under this point of view,
our work will, we think, offer some new and interesting re-
sults. Domestic economy has not entirely neglected the Me-
dusae; Diphilus, Siphnius, Dioscorides, and the other physi-
cians of ancient Greece, mention them as a valuable remedy
for the gout, chilblain, &c.

" Philippides in his Amphiarus, Athenaeus in the third book
of the Deipnosophistes, mention the species e velella' as ex-
cellent eating; and again in our own times, the same animals
are greedily sought after by the epicures of Sicily, by those
of the Ionian Sea, and especially by the Greeks of the Morea.
In some places the Medusae are employed to manure the land.

" None of these facts will be foreign to the history in which
we are engaged : to collect them and set them forth with care,
will undoubtedly draw a fresh degree of interest towards ani-
mals which have been too much neglected, under the double
relation of science and of public utility. So many singu-
larities mark the animals of which we are writing, that it is
not surprising that amongst different nations they should

156 CHARACTERS OF THE PANTHER AND LEOPARD.

have given rise to a multitude of traditions and ridiculous
fables, as if all the extraordinary productions of nature must
necessarily be a constant source of superstition and terror to
the human mind. We have thought that we ought not to
neglect these popular traditions; without being indispensable
to science they form an interesting supplement to it.

" We shall conclude our history with an alphabetical table of
all the names, generic, specific and trivial, which have been
employed by different authors and different people to desig-
nate the Medusae, and some curious results have been ob-
tained from this comparison : thus for instance, from the most
ancient periods of history to our own times, we find all na-
tions agreeing to designate these animals by names corre-
sponding to the cnide and acalephe of the Greeks, which also
correspond to the urtica of the Latins ; and, if we endeavour
to ascend to the origin of this singular conformity of names,
we shall find it in the property which some species have of
causing a stinging and burning sensation, similar to that
which, under the same circumstances, the nettle, Urtica urens,
of the different countries of Europe, will produce."

The following is the outline of the principles of the classi-
fication, proposed by MM. Peron and Lesueur, for these ani-
mals : —

1st. The Medusae which are entirely gelatinous.

2d. Those which have a vesicular membrane, containing
air, attached to the upper part of the body.

Of the first division, some of the Medusae have the margin
of their disk ciliated; others have the margin simple. Some
have no stomach, the Agastria; others possess that cavity;
and, of these some have a single aperture leading to it, the
Monostoma, while others have many apertures, the Poly-
stoma. Again, some Medusae have a central peduncle, depen-
dent from them, while others are destitute of this appendage.
— Such are the points of structure which these Naturalists
have adopted as foundations of their primary divisions of this
singular and beautiful group of animals.

CHARACTERS OF THE PANTHER AND LEOPARD.

To the Editor of the Zoological Magazine,

Sir,
In reply to your invitation to state my opinion of the spe-
cific characters of the Panther and Leopard, founded by
M. Temminck on the number of the caudal vertebrae, I will
candidly admit that I omitted to take advantage of many op-
portunities to ascertain the fact. In the absence of personal

CHARACTERS OP THE PANTHER AND LEOPARD. 157

knowledge, let us see what benefit we can derive from the ob-
servation o those whose names should be a guarantee from
error.

Panth. Leop.

M. Cuvier, Anat. Comp., states the number

of the caudal vertebrae .... 24 —

M. Temminck, Monogr. of Felis ... 28 22

M. Lesson, Man. de Mammalogie . . 18 22

As far as regards the panther, therefore, the results are
nugatory; and we have the choice of supposing, either that the
number of caudal vertebrae differ in different individuals, or that
different species of felis have been examined for the panther, or
that there are typographical errors in the published accounts.
I possess two skeletons of the panther, but the bones of both
were mixed by accident; and as the caudal vertebrae do not
correspond with any of the above numbers, it is probable they
suffered from the depredations of birds while exposed to dry.

I may add to my characteristics of the panther and leopard,
that I think the head of the latter slightly more elongated,
the line of the face and cranium less arched, and the frontal
bones somewhat flatter, than in the former.

M. Cuvier says, (Oss. Foss., torn. iv. p. 427,) " Le Felis
varia de Schreber, pi. 101. B. ne me paroit differer du leopar-
das que par une enlumenure trop rouge. "

This figure differs so slightly from Schreber's, pi. 101,
which is Buffon's Felis leopardus, that I cannot but consider
them the same. If such be the case, Buffon, Schreber and
Cuvier entertain in common specific ideas with respect to the
leopard ; and as the figure of the animal so designated bears
a sufficiently close resemblance to the figure of the leopard
by Major Hamilton Smith, (< Animal Kingdom/) to a stuffed
specimen in the India House, and to a living specimen in the
Zoological Gardens, — and as M. Temminck, M. Lesson, and
the translators of the Regne Animal, agree in certain charac-
ters of the skin applicable to these figures and specimens, I
think we may admit the type of the leopard to be a large cat,
of a comparatively paleish tawny, with the rose rings much
broken into dots, but still preserving, more or less, the ring
form; and the panther is characterized by crowded rose
rings little broken; the ground-colour of a deeper hue, and
less of it visible. We may set aside length of tail, and tri-
fling variations in size. By the by, if M. Temminck's asser-
tion respecting the length of the panther's tail hold good,
there is not an animal in the Zoological Gardens apparently
entitled to that name. We readily recognise the lion, royal
tiger, and puma by their colours ; the jaguar especially by its

158 INGENUITY OF A THRUSH.

rings, with a spot in the middle ; the hunting leopard by
its full round spots not arranged in rings, (independently of
the peculiar form of the creature) ; the ocelots by their longi-
tudinal elongated ovals, linear markings, and small size; and
with the above characters of the panther and leopard, attend-
ing also to form, I think it would not be very difficult to
distinguish them. Occasional varieties of every species of
Felis will no doubt be met with, but it must be kept in mind,
that these are exceptions to the rule.

Your obedient Servant,

W. H. S.

INGENUITY OP A THRUSH.

[From a Correspondent.]

During a visit to a lady in the country, I was walking in the
garden one day, and observed in several spots a large quan-
tity of broken snail shells in a circle, round some large stones,
which seemed to have served the purpose of an altar of sa-
crifice. Mrs. B. told me that she had frequently observed a
thrush hopping up with a snail in its beak to one of these
stones, against which it knocked the snail, broke the shell,
and then swallowed the slug.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE LORIS, OR SLOW-PACED LEMUR.

[From Sir William Jones's Works, vol. i. p. 544.]

if In his manners he was for the most part gentle, except in
the cold season, when his temper seemed wholly changed ;
and his Creator who made him so sensible of cold, to which
he must often have been exposed even in his native forests,
gave him, probably for that reason, his thick fur, which we
rarely see on animals in these tropical climates : to me, who
not only constantly fed him, but bathed him twice a week in
water accommodated to the seasons, and whom he clearly
distinguished from others, he was at all times grateful ; but
when I disturbed him in winter, he was usually indignant,
and seemed to reproach me with the uneasiness which he felt,
though no possible precautions had been omitted to keep him
in a proper degree of warmth. At all times he was pleased
with being stroked on the head and throat, and frequently
suffered me to touch his extremely sharp teeth ; but at all
times his temper was quick, and when he was unseasonably
disturbed, he expressed a little resentment by an obscure nrw>

LORIS, OR SLOW-PACED LEMUR. 159

mur, like that of a squirrel, or a greater degree of displeasure
by a peevish cry, especially in winter, when he was often as
fierce, on being much importuned, as any beast of the woods.
From half an hour after sunrise to half an hcur before sunset,
he slept without intermission rolled up like a hedgehog; and
as soon as he awoke, he began to prepare himself for the
labours of his approaching day, licking and dressing himself
like a cat ; an operation, which the flexibility of his neck and
limbs enabled him to perform very completely : he was then
ready for a slight breakfast, after which he commonly took a
short nap ; but, when the sun was quite set, he recovered all
his vivacity. His ordinary food was the sweet fruit of this
country ; plantains always, and mangoes during the season ;
but he refused peaches, and was not fond of mulberries, or
even of guaiavas ; milk he lapped eagerly, but was contented
with plain water. In general he was not voracious, but never
appeared satiated with grasshoppers ; and passed the whole
night, while the hot season lasted, in prowling for them : when
a grasshopper, or any insect, alighted within his reach, his
eyes, which he fixed on his prey, glowed with uncommon
fire ; and, having drawn himself back to spring on it with
greater force, he seized the victim with both his fore-paws,
but held it in one of them while he devoured it. For other
purposes, and sometimes even for that of holding his food,
he used all his paws indifferently as hands, and frequently
grasped with one of them the higher part of his ample cage,
while his three others were severally engaged at the bot-
tom of it ; but the posture, of which he seemed fondest,
was to cling with all four of them to the upper wires, his body
being inverted; and in the evening he usually stood erect for
many minutes, playing on the wires with his fingers, and
rapidly moving his body from side to side, as if he had found
the utility of exercise in his unnatural state of confinement.
A little before day- break, when my early hours gave me fre-
quent opportunities of observing him, he seemed to solicit my
attention ; and, if I presented my finger to him, he licked or
nibbled it with great gentleness, but eagerly took fruit when
I offered it ; though he seldom ate much at his morning re-
past : when the day brought hack his flight, his eyes lost
their lustre and strength, and he composed himself for a slum-
ber of ten or eleven hours.

" My little friend was, on the whole, very engaging; and,
when he was found lifeless, in the same posture in which he
would naturally have slept, I consoled myself with believing,
that he had died without pain, and lived with as much plea-
sure as he could have enjoyed in a state of captivity."

t 160 ]

ZOOLOGICAL CALENDAR FOR MAY.

The greater number of our English quadrupeds have already
brought forth their young, and are engaged in providing for
their respective families. The hind produces her offspring
about the end of the month.

In this month, the latest of our summer birds of passage
arrive. The fly-catcher (Muscicapa Grisola,) is mentioned
in White's Calendar as appearing about the middle of the
month, and is called by him " the latest bird of passage."
Several other species are also first seen about the same time ;
amongst which are the swift (Hirundo Apus), the goat- sucker
(Caprimulgus EuropcBiis), the red-backed shrike (Lanius
Collurio), the land rail (Rallus Crex), the wood wren {Sylvia
Sibilatrix), the fauvette (Sylvia hortensis), the field lark
(Alauda trivialis), &c. The following species are engaged
in incubation, or in preparing their nests, — the sky lark
(Alauda arvensis), the greater redpole (Fringilla cannabi-
na), yellow wren (Sylvia Trochilus), goldfinch (Fringilla
Carduelis), bullfinch (Loxia Pyrrhula), bearded tit (Parus
biarmicus), golden plover (Charadiius pluvialis), and the
ring dottrel or ring plover (Charadrius hiaticula), which, if
not the same species, is very nearly allied to the one which
renders such grateful service to the crocodile.

Numerous tribes of insects which have been unseen by us
during the winter months, again show themselves as the
warmth of the sun increases. Several species of moths and
butterflies may be seen, — the dragon fly (Libellula), the lady
cow (Coccinella bipunctata), the May bug (Scarab&us Me-
lolontha), the forest fly (Hippobosca equina), the female wasp
(Vespa vulgaris), &c. appear; field crickets (Gryllus cam-
pestris) are heard; and the light of the glow-worm (Lamjjy-
rus noctiluca) may be noticed in the evening on banks near
woods and hedge ways.

The greater number of our fresh-water fish, and of our
reptiles, have already deposited their spawn ; the perch (Perca
fiuviatilis), the bream ( Cyprinus Brama), the minnow (Leu-
ciscus phoxinus) , and the chub (Leuciscus cephalus) deposit
their spawn during this month.

THE

ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

The PREHENSILE PORCUPINE, or COENDOU,

(Synetheres prehensilis, Fr. Cuvier.)

I HE relations which animals were first observed to bear to
one another reposed on general appearances only, on the re-
semblance of their outward forms, on the nature of their inte-
guments, and, in a word, on the most superficial and obvious
organs. Thus the porcupine and the hedgehog, being both
covered with a conspicuous defensive armour of spines, were
classed together, as being animals whose organization was
analogous. They were regarded in this manner by the an-
cients ; and in the posthumous volumes of Aldrovandus, pub-
lished in the ljth century, we find them thus associated to-
gether. The erroneous nature of these approximations was
so palpable, that it was detected the instant an attempt was
made to classify animals by their natural affinities ; and the
porcupine was transferred to the Rodentia, while the hedgehog
was left next the shrews. But the porcupine was not the only
Rodent which had long spines instead of hairs : other species
were found in America, in the East Indies, and in Africa ; and
we find Ray, Linnaeus, and the majority of their successors,
grouping all these animals in the same genus, under the com-
mon appellation of Porcupine (Hystrix). In this approxima-
tion they were doubtless influenced, though with some re-
strictions, by the same preconception which had guided their
predecessors, by that early notion that animals covered with
integuments of so remarkable a kind should form a natural
group. However, as one of these porcupines had a prehensile
tail, M. de Lacepede separated it from the rest, to form the
type of a distinct though allied genus.

These Rodentia, armed at all points by strong and acute
spines, — the porcupines mentioned in Travels and Works of
natural history, — are already ascertained to be tolerably nu-
merous ; but they are far from being all so well known as to
enable us to determine their real nature, and mark out their
affinities. Those of Italy and Spain are said to have been
originally derived from Africa. Porcupines are common in
Barbary, Abyssinia, Guinea, and at the Cape of Good Hope :
they are met with id Asia Minor, Palestine, and Persia : they
exist in all the southern parts of Asia, and the neighbouring
islands ; and lastly, South and North America equally produce
them.

Zoo!. Mag. No* 6. M

162 THE PREHENSILE PORCUPINE.

From what we know already of the laws which regulate
the geographical distribution of animals, it might be pre-
sumed that these spine-coated Rodentia would include dif-
ferent genera, requiring only the means of instituting the
necessary comparisons in order to bring their distinctive cha-
racters to light. This has been effected in a great measure by
the labours of M. Fred. Cuvier, who has separated from the
genus Hystrix of Linnaeus, the Java porcupine, under the
title of Acanthion ; the Canada porcupine, or Urson of
Buffon, under that of Erethizon ; the Brazilian porcupine,
under that of Sphiggurus : and for the Mexican species, de-
scribed and figured in the present Number, he proposes the
generic name of Synetheres, as preferable to that of Coendus,
originally given to it by the Count Lacepede.

The Coendou is an animal altogether peculiar and distinct :
no other species resembles it in its general forms. Its gait
is as heavy and ungraceful as its proportions, notwithstand-
ing it is endowed with an additional locomotive organ to those
usually granted to the Rodentia, viz. a prehensile tail. But
it is in the shape of the head and muzzle that it is more espe-
cially remarkable. All that part which corresponds to the
brain is raised and expanded so as to announce a most highly
developed cerebral organ within ; but this is in reality no
larger than in other Rodents. The phrenological character
is here produced by large sinuses, which extend in every
direction over the frontal bones, covering the brain anteriorly,
and augmenting the extent of the organ of smell ; for these
cavities communicate with the nostrils. The muzzle presents
a thick obtuse fleshy projection, in front of which are the ori-
fices of the nostrils, of a very simple form. In all these re-
spects there is no resemblance between this animal and the
porcupine ; and the same characters serve even better than
the prehensile tail to separate it from every other Rodent, being
indicative of a fundamentally different nature, peculiar habits,
and consequently the type of a distinct genus. But if by its
physiognomy it is found isolated from all the other known
species of its class, it nevertheless appertains in its denti-
tion, like the other spiny genera, to the omnivorous Rodentia
with compound teeth.

The Coendou has four molaries on either side, both in the
upper and the lower jaw, which diminish in size from before
backwards : their structure is analogous to that of the Urson
shown at fig. 9. of the Plate of dentary characters in the pre-
sent Number.

The external conformation does not indicate a lively or pre-
dominant sensibility in any of the organs of sense. The eyes
are small and prominent, and their pupil, which can only be

THE PREHENSILE PORCUPINE. 163

distinguished by a weak light, is round : it is closed altogether
in full daylight. The nostrils open by two simple circular
apertures, which are situated close together on a broad flat-
tened surface, covered with a smooth but not glandular inte-
gument. It is by the sense of smell chiefly that this animal
takes cognizance of external objects. The ear is of an ex-
tremely simple structure, being composed merely of a circular
ridge crossed transversely by two slight elevations. The mouth
is of a remarkably diminutive size, scarcely opening sufficiently
to allow a passage for the incisors, or permitting any great de-
gree of separation of the jaws. The tongue is smooth : there
are no cheek pouches.

The exterior coat consists almost entirely of spines, adhering
to the skin by a narrow pedicle, and consequently detaching
themselves readily from it. Hairs are found only on the under
parts of the body and upon a portion of the tail. Strong whis-
kers project from the sides of the muzzle. The organs of mo-
tion have a special structure, from which results the natural
destination of the Coendou to be an animal of the woods, to
live on trees, to dwell on their summits, to derive from them
its nourishment, and there to propagate and rear its family.
Its fore-feet are strong, with four distinct and regular digits,
armed with long and strong, but thin and pointed, claws.
The thumb is indicated merely by a large moveable tubercle,
covered with a very papillose skin, and capable of being op-
posed to a certain degree to the other digits. The hind-feet
have also four toes ; the sole is similarly papillose, and the
thumb seems still more developed in them than in the fore-
feet ; so that the animal can truly grasp objects between this
thumb and the other digits, which gives it the faculty of
perching, almost like birds, on the smallest branches.

To feet formed in this favourable manner is added, as we
have before observed, a prehensile tail ; but it presents the
peculiarity, and is the only example hitherto known, of having
the prehensile surface above, and consequently curving in a
direction contrary to that of other tails which are organized
for twisting round and clinging to branches, &c.

The spines are mostly of a yellowish white colour at the
root, black in the middle, and white at their extremity. The
thickest are on the anterior parts of the body, and the longest
on the back, where they measure about three inches in length.
On the extremities, the sides of the head, and along the first
half of the tail, they are thinner and shorter ; and on the re-
mainder of the tail, and on the under parts of the body, they
are gradually reduced to the dimensions of simple hairs. The
muzzle and soles of the feet are naked, and are of a reddish
brown colour.

M 2

164 OBSERVATIONS ON THE FLYING-FISH.

The principal dimensions of the Coendou are as follows : —

Length of the body, two feet.

Length of the head, four inches.

Length of the tail, fifteen inches.

Height at the middle of the body, one foot.
All the movements of the Coendou are slow, and bespeak
circumspection and timidity. It only takes exercise in the
evening, or during the night ; and although it is then tolerably
active, it has never been seen to make a bound. When it would
pass from one place to another, it advances by degrees, fixing
each of its feet; and before raising any of them it assures itself of
the stable footing of the others ; and its tail, wound round the
objects within its reach, is ready to grasp them if the other
points of support should fail. This animal can raise itself
upon its hind-feet, and in that position carries its food to its
mouth with the fore-feet.

The above account of this singular species is derived chiefly
from the Me'moires du Museum, and the splendid work en-
titled Histoire des Mammif&res of MM. St. Hilaire and Cu-
vier, from which our figure is copied. The original was a female
specimen, which was living for some time in the Garden of
Plants at Paris. We would suggest to our subscribers who
may have friends in Mexico, to direct their attention to this
remarkable animal. Its native name, as given by Hernandez,
is ' Hoitztlacuatzin/ or the Prickly Opossum.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE FLYING-FISH.

"July 6. — The flying-fish today were more numerous and
lively. They rose in whole flights to the right and left of the
bow, flying off in different directions, as if the vast body of
the ship alarmed and disturbed them. Others however, at a
greater distance, kept rising and falling without any visible
cause, and apparently in the gladness of their hearts, and in
order to enjoy the sunshine and the temporary change of ele-
ment. Certainly there was no appearance or probability of
any larger fish being in pursuit of even one hundredth part
of those which we saw, nor were there any birds to endanger
their flight ; and those writers who describe the life of these
animals as a constant succession of alarms, and rendered
miserable by fear, have never, I conceive, seen them in their
mirth, or considered those natural feelings of health and hila-
rity which seem to lead all creatures to exert, in mere lightness
of heart, whatever bodily powers the Creator has given them.
It would be just as reasonable to say that a lamb leaps in a
meadow for fear of being bitten by serpents, or that a horse
gallops round his pasture only because a wolf is at his heels,

THE CEYLON LEECH. SOURCE OF THE DOMESTIC CAT. 165

as to infer, from the flight of these animals, that they are
always pursued by the bonito." — Bishop Heber's Journal of
a Voyage to India.

THE CEYLON LEECH.

Dr. Davy, in his account of Ceylon, gives a full description
of this troublesome and occasionally dangerous little animal.
He describes it as varying in its dimensions ; the smallest
being exceedingly minute, and the largest seldom more than
half an inch long.

He says, " This leech is a very active animal : it moves with
considerable rapidity, and it is said occasionally to spring. Its
powers of contraction and extension are very great : when fully
extended it is like a fine cord ; and its point is so sharp, that
it readily makes its way through very small openings. It is
supposed to have an acute sense of smelling ; for no sooner
does a person stop where leeches abound, than they appear
to crowd eagerly to the spot from all quarters.

*c Those who have had no experience of these animals, of
their immense numbers in their favourite haunts, of their ac-
tivity, keen appetite, and love of blood, can have no idea of
the kind and extent of annoyance they are to travellers in the
interior, of which they may be truly said to be the plague. In
rainy weather it is almost shocking to see the legs of men on
a long march, thickly beset with them, gorged with blood, and
the blood trickling down in streams. It might be supposed
that there would be little difficulty in keeping them off : this
is a very mistaken notion ; for they crowd to the attack, and
fasten on quicker than they can be removed. I do not exag-
gerate when I say that I have occasionally seen at least fifty
on a person at a time. Their bites are much more troublesome
than could be imagined, being very apt to fester and become
sores ; and, in persons of a bad habit of body, to degenerate
into extensive ulcers, that in too many instances have occa-
sioned the loss of limb, and even of life."

ON THE ORIGINAL SOURCE OF THE DOMESTIC CAT.

[TranslatedfromTemminck's 'MonographiesdeMammalogie,' vol. i. p. 76.]
"While speaking of the Domestic Cat, — which is met with in
every part of the globe where man, in different states of civili-
zation, has been collected into societies, and has become ac-
customed to the use of fixed habitations, — we may naturally
consider the question of the origin of its domestication, and
endeavour to ascertain the original or typical species to which
the different races of it owe their existence. Many very ju-

166 ON THE ORIGINAL SOURCE OF THE DOMESTIC CAT.

dicious naturalists have had doubts respecting the source to
which our cats have generally been referred. The opinion
which has been received and adopted by the greatest number
is, that the wild cat of the forests of Europe and Asia ought
to be considered as the original stock of all the races of do-
mestic cats. But the consideration of this point gives rise to a
doubt, which a comparison between our house cat and this,
its supposed wild type, tends to strengthen.

" When we attempt to trace the domestication of the cat up
to its commencement, our thoughts are naturally directed to-
wards those countries in which the earliest marks of civiliza-
tion appeared. It was from the walls of the Temples of Isis,
and under the dominion of the Pharaohs, that the first rays of
knowledge burst forth, which, after being so successfully
cultivated by the Greeks in later times, was gradually trans-
mitted from them to the countries which we now inhabit.
Egypt, which beheld the beginning of this civilization, with-
out doubt furnished its inhabitants with this useful animal.
The ancient Egyptians would value the good qualities of the
cat more than any other agricultural people. If, then, they
were acquainted with it, (and everything leads us to the be-
lief that they were,) it is evident that a wild species peculiar
to those countries has supplied the first domestic race.

" In fact, the Egyptian cat, which we have described in this
work under the name of Felts gautd (Felis maniculata) , has
a much greater resemblance to our house cat than the latter
has to the wild cat of the woods ; the height and the figures
are perfectly similar, the tail is of the same length, and is
thinner in both at the extremity than at the root. Our do-
mestic cats of the largest kind are always smaller than the
wild species, and there is also a permanent difference in the
form of the tail. We know by experience that a long-con-
tinued state of domestication affects the size and the whole
physical system of an animal. A superabundance of nourish-
ment and constant attention assist the development of all
their organs, and increase their size. All our animals removed
from a wild state, and domesticated, furnish us with proofs of
this. The domestic cat, upon the supposition that it is a de-
scendant of the wild cat of the woods, would furnish a proof
of the degeneration of its race, a constant forerunner of the
entire destruction of it.

" When we compare the exterior form of the domestic cat
with that of the wild species, we invariably find that the
former is smaller ; that its tail is longer, and terminated in a
point ; while the tail of the wild cat is much shorter in pro-
portion to the size of the animal, and seems as if the end had
been cut off, being of the same size at both extremities.

POWER OF SCENT IN THE REIN-DEER. 167

The size of the Egyptian cat, our Felis gaute, is less than
that of the house cat ; the tail bears the same proportion to
the body, and is of the same shape as that of the common cat.
We see, in fact, an agreement in the general appearance of
the figures of this Egyptian Felis and our Cat, and that there
is a permanent difference between the latter and the wild spe-
cies of the forests of Europe and Asia."

POWER OF SCENT IN THE REIN-DEER.

[Extracted from Capell Brooke's 'Winter in Lapland and Sweden.'J

" In proceeding along the extensive and endless lakes of Lap-
land, if the number of deer be great, a close and lengthened
procession is invariably formed ; each deer following the fore-
most sledge so closely, that the head of the animal is generally
in contact with the shoulders of the driver before. Should the
guide alter his direction, by making a bend to the right or left,
:he whole of the deer in the rear will continue their course till
they arrive at the spot where the turn was made. It thus fre-
quently happens, that when the distance between the foremost
and hindmost deer is great, on the guide making a bend, con-
siderable saving might be obtained by cutting across. This,
however, it is scarcely possible to do ; for should the deer even
hi pulled by main force out of its former course, it will imme-
diately turn aside from the new direction it is placed in, and
regain the old track, in spite of all the driver can do to pre-
vent it. It is useless to contend with the animal ; and the
time thus lost might leave the driver at such a distance from
the rest of the party as to render it a matter of some difficulty
to overtake them. This unwillingness to separate from its
companions is one feature of the instinct given to this animal;
and it is the very circumstance that, more than any other, en-
sures the safety of the traveller. Should any accident sepa-
rate him from the rest of his party, the deer be fatigued, or
other occurrences throw him considerably in the rear, if he
trust entirely to his deer, it will enable him to overtake the
rest, though they should be some miles in advance, from the
exquisite olfactory sense it possesses. The animal in this
case, holding its head close to the snow, keeps frequently
smelling, as a dog would do to scent the footsteps of its mas-
ter, and is thus enabled to follow with certainty the track the
other deer have gone. Were it not for this property of the
animal, travelling across Lapland would be not a little hazard-
ous, particularly in those parts where the weather is the dark-
est, which is generally while crossing the mountains of Fin-
mark. It often happens that the party is unavoidably scat-

168 THE PROBOSCIS- SKA I., OR SEA-ELEPHANT.

tered, and the sound of the bells enables them to rejoin each
other. The bells however, should the weather be very thick
and stormy, can only be heard a short distance off; and it is
then by the sagacity of the deer alone that the difficulty is
surmounted/ '

THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SKA-ELEPHANT, (PIlOCCl proboscidecty

Peron.)

[Concluded from page 152.]

"The greater part of the known species of Seal prefer rocky
places for their habitation 5 but the Proboscis Seal, on the
contrary, is found exclusively on sandy shores ; it seeks the
neighbourhood of fresh water ; — not that this is essential to its
existence, but because the animals of this species delight to
plunge into it, and suck it up with pleasure. They sleep
equally well stretched at length upon the sand, or floating in
the sea. When they are congregated in large herds to sleep
on shore, one or more individuals are constantly on the watch,
On the approach of danger these centinels give the alarm to
the rest of the band, when the whole scuffle together to re-
gain the sea, and throw themselves into the midst of the pro-
tecting waves.

" Nothing is more singular than the gait of these animals ;
it is a sort of crawling, performed entirely by the anterior
extremities ; and the body at every motion appears to tremble
like an immense bag of jelly, so thick is the layer of blubber
which envelopes them. Not only is their gait slow and pain-
ful, but they are compelled besides to rest every fifteen or
twenty paces, panting with fatigue, and succumbing beneath
their own weight. If, during their flight, any one places him-
self in front of one of them, it instantly makes a stop ; and
if, by repeated blows, it is compelled to move on, it seems to
suffer greatly : the most remarkable thing that is observable
in this case is, that the pupil of the eye, which in the ordi-
nary condition is of a light blueish green, becomes then of a
very deep red colour. Notwithstanding this slowness and
difficulty of their progressive motion, the seals contrive to
climb over sandy downs from fifteen to twenty feet in height,
beyond which they find the little pools of fresh water ; their
patience and perseverance compensating for their want of
agility and address.

" The cry of the females and of the young males has a near
resemblance to the bellowing of a strong ox ; but in the adult
males, the tubular prolongation of the nostrils has such an
effect- on their voice, that the noise they make has some re-

THK PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT. 169

semblance in its nature to that of a man when he gargles.
This hoarse and singular cry is heard from a great distance ;
it carries with it something wild and fearful ; and when in
the middle of the stormy nights of which we spoke in the
preceding chapter, we found ourselves suddenly awoke by the
confused roarings of countless colossal forms, which covered
the sands in the vicinity of our tents, it was with difficulty we
could repress a feeling of uneasiness and apprehension^ which
nothing, indeed, but the certainty of the real impotence of
these creatures could dissipate.

" Whilst the periodical migrations of the proboscis -seal
clearly prove that it is obnoxious to too great heat, there is
also another circumstance in its habits which equally indi-
cates this repugnance. When one of these creatures reposes
at full length along the sand, and finds itself incommoded
with the sun's rays, it may be seen repeatedly lifting with its
fore-flippers great quantities of sand moistened with sea
water, and throwing the same over its body until it has com-
pletely covered itself. It is in this state that we are apt, with
Foster, to take the sea-elephants for so many large rocks.

" The greater part of the external senses seem possessed of
little subtilty in these Amphibia. The flattening of the eye,
the very remarkable density of the vitreous humour, as ob-
served by M. de Labillardiere, the not less extraordinary
density of the crystalline lens, — all indicate that the organ of
vision, though perfectly adapted to the nature of the denser
medium in which these animals are especially destined to
exist, is on that account less calculated to be of use to them
in another element; so we find them, especially on first quit-
ting the sea, unable to distinguish objects except at very short
distances. With respect to the ear, the deficiency of auricles
contributes perhaps to the deterioration of their sense of
hearing, which seems to be but dull.

" The sea-elephants are of an extremely easy and gentle
disposition ; one may wander among them without fear ; and
they never attempt to hurt any one, unless when attacked,
or provoked in a very violent manner. It is not only on shore
that they manifest this character of mildness and innocence ;
we have been told by the fishermen that young seals of a
much smaller species than the present are frequently seen
swimming in the midst of these amphibious monsters, with-
out their offering the slightest injury to the feeble strangers.
Even men may bathe with impunity in the waters where the
sea-elephants congregate, without having anything to fear,
and the fishermen are accustomed to do so.

" It would seem also that these animals are susceptible of
a real attachment, and of a kind of peculiar education. An

170 THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT.

English fisherman (soon after their first arrival on the island,)
having taken a liking to one of these Mammalia, prevailed
upon his comrades to abstain from injuring his prot£g£e. For
a long time in the midst of the work of slaughter, this seal
lived peaceful and respected. Every day the fisherman ap-
proached to caress it, and in a few months it was so com-
pletely tamed, as to permit its master to ride on its back, or
thrust his arm down its throat ; it would come to him when
called ; and in a word, this docile and affectionate animal did
everything for its protector, and suffered him to do what he
pleased with it without manifesting any sign of offence. Un-
fortunately this man having had a slight altercation with one
of his comrades, the latter, in a cowardly and ferocious spirit
of revenge, killed his adversary's adopted favourite. — The sea-
elephant, however, is not the only seal which is distinguished
by a character of intelligence and gentle bearing : most of the
other species of the same family participate in this disposition;
and authors have preserved many traits similar to that we have
just related. But peaceable and good-natured as the pro-
boscis-seals undoubtedly are, we may be permitted to doubt
whether they are sufficiently so to suffer the treatment which
Perouse asserts they experienced from his crew. f They
mounted/ says he, ' on these animals as upon horses, and
when they would not move quick enough, they goaded them
on with their knives, piercing and cutting their skin/

" With respect to the term of life of these seals, the English
have not been able to give me any very precise notions ; but
they are inclined to believe, from the great numbers which
are seen to die a natural death on the shores, that the average
period of their existence does not extend beyond twenty-five
or thirty years. We have thus an additional proof of the ge-
nerally admitted rule, that ' the duration of life is propor-
tionate to the period of development, being so much the
shorter as the latter is more rapid.'

" The most remarkable circumstance attending the period
which terminates the career of the animals of which we have
been speaking, is the following. As soon as they feel them-
selves sick, they quit the waves, advance into the interior of
the island further than ordinary, lie down at the foot of some
shrub, and there remain until they expire, never attempting
to return to the sea, but seeming desirous to quit life in the
same element in which they first received it. What makes the
fishermen conclude that death in this case is natural, is, that
without exhibiting any trace of wound or contusion, they
seem to suffer greatly, and in fact expire at the end of a few
days. Stellcr has made similar observations on the seals of
the northern seas.

THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OK SEA-ELEPHANT. 1/1

" In the midst of the stormy oceans they inhabit, the pro-
boscis-seals have also other accidents to dread than diseases
and old age. Sometimes, surprised by storms, and borne
away by the currents and the waves, they are driven against
the rocks and dashed to pieces. I myself witnessed, on that
terrible night when our vessel lost its anchors and its long-
boat, and was so nearly wrecked, two of these animals beaten
to pieces upon the masses of granite which formed Point
Plumier in Elephant's Bay. Other perils await them in the
depths of the sea; sometimes, say the fishermen, we see
them unexpectedly rise with every symptom of alarm from
the bosom of the ocean, often covered with enormous wounds,
and staining the sea with their blood ; their terror, and these
wounds, prove that they have been pursued by one or more
redoubtable enemies. What should be these terrible adver-
saries ? The fishermen agree unanimously that no animal
they know could inflict wounds of such magnitude and depth;
they only presume that these monsters inhabit the depths of
the sea far from the coasts, but have never found a trace of
them : they add, that it is without doubt to preserve their
young that the proboscis-seals take such pains to prevent
them wandering too far, or diving too deep, as we have before
observed.

" A much more terrible enemy awaits these animals on land,
— it is man. We have had occasion to remark that some in-
dividuals are carried by currents, or driven by storms, upon
the continent of New Holland, or Van Diemen's Land. No
sooner do the savages of these regions discover one of these
creatures, than they surround it : in vain it strives to regain
the sea; all retreat is cut off; the savages, armed with long
staves of wood, lighted at one end, assault the unfortunate
castaway : no sooner does he open his mouth to menace
them with the only arms Nature has given him, than they
thrust together down his throat many of these burning torches.
The amphibious giant utters loud groans, agitates with vio-
lence his enormous frame, and quickly expires, suffocated by
the painfully arrested respiration. Then the cries of joy
arise on all sides, the ferocious victors collect around their
victim ; they tear him up in all directions, and every one eats,
sleeps, awakes, and eats and sleeps again. This abundance
attracts and unites together tribes which ordinarily are the
most hostile to each other, and their hatred then seems extin-
guished ; but by the time the last decomposing remnants of
their prey have been devoured, their resentments revive, and
murderous combats ordinarily close these disgusting orgies.
Some years ago, in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson, a scene
of this nature took place amongst the savages of the County

]/2 TH|G PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT.

of Cumberland, occasioned by the stranding of an enormous
whale, over the bones of which they slew each other.

" The sea-elephants, guided by a prudent instinct, had hi-
therto succeeded in escaping the fury of the human race.
Withdrawing to wild and solitary islands, far from the places
inhabited by man, these huge seals were enabled, without ene-
mies and without alarm, to multiply and increase. But cir-
cumstances are completely altered now ; even if it were pos-
sible for them to find a retreat against the voracity of the
natives of these climates, they could not escape an insatiable
mercantile avidity, which seems to have sworn the annihila-
tion of their race. In short, the English have invaded these
retreats, so long their places of safety ; they have everywhere
organized such massacres, as must inevitably in a little while
occasion a marked and irreparable diminution of these ani-
mals.

" The English fishermen use for the purpose of killing them
a lance of from twelve to fifteen feet in length, the iron head
of which is extremely sharp, and from twenty- four to thirty
inches in length. They seize with adroitness the moment
when the animal, in order to move forward, lifts up its left
fore-fin, beneath which they plunge the lance so as to pierce
the heart, which they rarely fail to hit. The unhappy amphi-
bian quickly falls, pouring out oceans of blood.

" However mild and peaceable these animals habitually are,
it is always necessary to view their motions with the greatest
attention when about to strike them ; for, as if aware of the
fate with which they are threatened, they summon all their
vigour to fall upon their murderers. Lord Anson lost one
of his sailors, who died a few days after having his skull frac-
tured by an infuriated seal. But, in general, the defence
which these creatures offer is very feeble ; their enormous bulk
serves only to embarrass them, and their teeth have little that
is formidable but their appearance. In vain they open widely,
as if by instinct, their monstrous mouth, bristled with threat-
ening tusks. These weapons, so terrible in themselves, are
put in motion by levers so cumbrous and unwieldy, that the
animal can rarely draw from them any other advantage than
the dread which the first sight of them inspires.

"The female seals rarely oppose violence to their assailants;
they have received, indeed, other means of defence, but more
powerless than those of the males. No sooner do they find
themselves attacked, than they endeavour to escape by flight ;
but if their retreat be cut off, they shake themselves with vio-
lence, their countenance bears the expression of despair, and
they burst into tears. I have myself seen one of these young
females shed tears abundantly, whilst one of our sailors, a

THE PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT. 1J3

wicked and cruel man, amused himself with breaking her teeth
with the end of an oar every time the poor creature opened
her mouth. Steller, that talented observer of the seals of the
northern hemisphere, has recounted some curious details re-
specting the same signs of grief which a species of northern
seal (Otaria urtina) also exhibits. A female happened to be
beaten by one of the males : c This unhappy creature,' says
Steller, f crept before him like a worm, she kissed him (e.v-
osculabatur), and shed such abundance of tears, that they
flowed down her chest, as if from a vessel. '

" In the massacres of which we have been speaking, there is
a circumstance which takes away from the character of ge-
nerosity by which the proboscis-seal is distinguished, and
which seems entirely opposed to the principle that maintains
these animals united together in a family, — it is the cold in-
difference which they at that time manifest towards each
other : not only, indeed, is every attempt at mutual defence
abandoned, but those even which survive seem not to perceive
the work of destruction which is going on around them.
When the blows which they receive are not immediately mor-
tal, and they feel themselves severely wounded, instead of
returning to the sea, they drag themselves inland, as far as
their powers will enable them ; there they rest at the foot of
a tree, and remain till they expire. This remarkable habit,
which we before mentioned when speaking of the diseases of
the sea-elephant, is also observed in the sea-lion of the North
(Phoca jubata) ; which, when it finds itself mortally wounded
in the sea, quits that element to die on the land. Krachen-
ninikow has made the same observation on the seals of Kam-
schatka. However easy and prompt may seem the manner
in which the English fishermen slay the sea-elephants, it is
not the most expeditious nor the most simple ; they practise
it rather with a view of causing an effusion of blood, in
order to improve the oil which they prepare. In fact, were
it not that navigators have repeated the observation on almost
every species of seal, without excepting that which we have
been describing, one should hardly be tempted to believe that
a few blows, nay, sometimes a single blow of a stick forcibly
applied to the end of the nose, is sufficient to kill them in an
instant. The ancients were long ago aware of the slight
tenure on which the seals held their existence.

' Non hami penetrant Phocas, ssevique tridentes ....
In caput incutiunt, et circum tempora pulsant ....
Nam subita pereunt capitis per vulnera morte.' — Oppianus.

" The capture of these animals," says Frezier, w is attended
with little difficulty ; they are easily overtaken on shore, and
are killed by a single blow on the nose."

1/4 THK PROBOSCIS-SEAL, OR SEA- ELEPHANT.

" When one sees a brutal sailor armed with a heavy stick,
running sometimes for his amusement in the midst of these
marine herds, slaughtering as many seals as he chooses to
strike, and in a short time surrounded by their carcasses, one
cannot help lamenting that Nature should have left these
powerful, yet gentle and unfortunate creatures, such easy vic-
tims to the attacks of their enemies. This stunning of the
seal by a blow on the muzzle, like a stroke of lightning, is,
however, one of the most singular phenomena of animal
physiology.

" On opening the stomachs of those which are killed, they
are commonly found to contain a great number of the beaks
of cuttle-fish, a good deal of sea- weed, as well as stones and
gravel ; but the remains of fishes, or of other vertebrated ani-
mals, are never found there. I ought here to observe, that,
notwithstanding the assertions of the older voyagers, it is not
true that these animals browse on the shore- side herbage, or
pluck the leaves of certain trees : the English fishermen po-
sitively deny it, and we never saw anything like it ourselves.

" With respect to the stones which are commonly found in
the stomach of the proboscis-seal, this occurs in most of the
Phocidce. Sometimes these stones are so numerous and large,
that one can hardly conceive how the parietes of the stomach
can contain them without being torn by their weight. In a
species of seal (Otaria cinerea) at the Isle of Decres, I found
thirty-three stones of different weights accumulated in that
cavity.

" It is not on account of the quality of the flesh, that
the periodical fisheries of the sea-elephants have been esta-
blished ; this is not only insipid, oily, and black, but it is
almost impossible to detach it from the layers of fat which
surround it. The tongue is the only part which furnishes
tolerable food ; and the fishermen salt them with great care,
and sell them at high prices. Our sailors also ate the heart,
but I thought it very hard and indigestible food. With re-
spect to the liver, which is esteemed in many species of seal,
it would seem to have in the sea-elephant some noxious pro-
perty ; for the English seamen, after having eaten of it, were
overcome with a stupifying drowsiness which lasted several
hours, and returned every time that they tasted this noxious
aliment. The fresh blubber of the proboscis-seal holds a great
reputation among the sailors for the healing of wounds ; and
they attribute to it the rapid cicatrization of the deep wounds
the seals themselves receive during their combats ; the En-
glish never use any other means in the daily and often severe
cuts they receive whilst skinning these animals and slicing
away the fat, &c. : nothing, they say, can exceed the prompti-
tude with which these wounds heal.

THK PROBOSCIS- SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT. 17*>

" As soon as the animal is killed it is skinned, then with
large and very sharp knives the fat is removed in long slices,
much in the same way as is practised by the whalers ; these
slices are then cut into small cubes, which are rendered over
a slow fire in immense cauldrons arranged for that purpose
along the shores ; when it is sufficiently melted, the oil is
poured into casks. All this operation is so rapid and easy,
that ten men established on the Isle of King might easily
procure 3000 pounds of oil daily, including the time employed
in killing the seals, skinning them, and preparing the blubber.
We found, indeed, that all the casks these men had brought
had been for some time filled when we arrived at the Isle of
King, and the commander of the establishment complained
that his employers had not furnished him with a twentieth
part of what he could have filled.

" The quantity of oil yielded by each of these seals is pretty
constantly proportionate to the bulk of the animal, whatever
its sex or age may be ; but it is remarkably small in all the
individuals during the period of giving birth to and suckling
the young, when both males and females remain for many
weeks consecutively without taking any nourishment. With
respect to the quality of the oil, we could not observe any
difference between that furnished by the young and old, the
male and female, — it was equally good in all. As it is pre-
pared by the English sailors, this oil is clear, inodorous, and
does not contract that rancid flavour, of which you can never
deprive the oil of whales or fishes. Whatever kind of food it
is employed with, it never communicates to it any disagree-
able flavour. When used in a lamp it furnishes an extremely
pure and clear flame, without the smoke or disagreeable smell
which most animal oils give out : it also supports a given
quantity of flame for a longer period. These details were
communicated to us by the English fishermen, and we were
enabled to assure ourselves of their accuracy upon a quantity
of the oil which their captain, the brave Cowper, forced us to
accept at our departure.

u The whole of this oil is destined for the ports of England.
It is there employed for various purposes of economy, but
particularly in the cloth manufactories, for the softening of
the wool, &c. It is sold, we were informed, at six shillings
and sixpence the gallon. It appears certain, from the obser-
vations of Mortimer, that the importation of this substance
into China would be productive of great advantage, and I have
no doubt it will soon become to the English a new and va-
luable article of exchange." — Peron, ' Voyage de Decouvertest
au.v Terres Australes,' torn. ii. p. 32.

[ 1/6 ]

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA.

We propose in the following pages to lay before our readers
a sketch of the principal methods which have been adopted for
the classification of the Mammalia.

Animals in general are distinguished from every other form
of matter by possessing sensation ; for although nerves have
not been detected in some of the more minute and simple
forms, yet the living phenomena of these, when attentively
studied, sufficiently indicate the existence of this faculty.
Every animal has been observed, at least at some period of
its existence, to exhibit spontaneous locomotion. An internal
digestive cavity or stomach is a third characteristic of this
division of organized matter.

Various — almost infinitely various — as are the outward con-
figurations of animals, it has been observed that they are re-
ducible to four principal forms : — 1st, A radiated form, as in
the polype and star-fish ; 2nd, A jointed symmetrical form,
as in the worm and insect ; 3rd, An irregular and mostly un-
symmetrical form, where the body is soft, as in the oyster and
snail ; 4th, A symmetrical form, supported by an internal
jointed column or spine. The last, which is called the ver-
tebrated division of animals, is divided into fishes, reptiles,
birds, and mammalia.

The animals of the latter group are those which have always
attracted most attention from mankind ; since it is from them
that we draw the greatest services, and in them we observe
the properties of animal life manifested in the highest degree.
The mammalia were first separated from other animals and
distinguished as a Class by Aristotle, the founder of Natural
History, by whom they were denominated Zootoka, or vivi-
parous animals.

One of the most learned and acute naturalists of the present
age (Mr. W. S. MacLeay,) has reduced Aristotle's subdivi-
sions of this Class into a tabular form *, which may be con-
trasted, without the least disadvantage, with the classifications
of the best modern systematists.

The Greek philosopher first arranges the Zooto/ca, accord-
ing to the nature of their locomotive organs, into three sec-
tions : — 1st, Dipoda, or bipeds ; 2nd, Tetrapoda, or quadru-
peds ; and 3rd, Apoda, or impeds, which comprehends the
whale tribe.

The second of these primary divisions, which includes by
far the greater part of the Class, and, in common language,
is considered as the Class itself, — the quadrupeds, — Aristotle

* Linn. Trans., vol. xvi. p. 24.

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA. 1 77

subdivides into two great natural groups, according to the
modifications of the organs of touch. In the first of these
groups, a part of the digits, or last divisions of the members,
is left free for the exercise* of that faculty, the nail or claw
being placed upon one side only ; in the second group, the
digits are inclosed in hoofs.

For the convenience of treating of the different forms of the
unguiculate quadrupeds, Aristotle employs for their further
subdivision another system of organs ; viz. the teeth. His
first group or family is composed of those which have the
front teeth trenchant, or terminating in an edge, and the back
teeth terminated by a flattened surface, as the apes (Pithe-
coida), and the bats (Dermaptera) : his second family in-
cludes the quadrupeds with acuminated, trenchant, or carni-
vorous teeth, the Karcharodonta ; whilst the Rodent quadru-
peds, or Glires of Linnaeus, are also indicated by a negative
dental character.

With respect to the hoofed or ungulate quadrupeds, Aristotle
continues to employ the organs for progressive motion for the
subordinate characters, and divides them into, 1st, the Po/y-
schidce, or multungulate quadrupeds, as the elephant, &c. ;
2nd, the Dischidce, or bisulcate quadrupeds, including, with
the ruminants, the hog ; 3rd, the Aschidce, or solidungulate
quadrupeds, as the horse and ass.

The apodal vivipara, which form the third of Aristotle's
more comprehensive groups, has undergone no further divi-
sion by him. It embraces the Cetacea (Ketoda), and affords,
by its position in his system, one of the most striking exam-
ples of his sagacity and penetrating genius.

It is to be observed, however, that although Aristotle has
arranged animals in groups which, in their relative value and
comprehensiveness, agree with the modern Classes, Orders,
Genera, Species, and Varieties, yet he applies to each of them
the same denomination ; viz. genos, or genus.

From the time of Aristotle to the period of our great coun-
tryman Ray, we find no improvement or modification of any
consequence in this arrangement. The honour of having pro-
posed the second original scheme for the classification of
quadrupeds is due to him. This classification is given in a
tabular form in his 'Synopsis Methodica Animalium Qua-
drupedum,' and is as follows : —

Zool. Mag. No. 6.

178

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA.

•i

s

!

1

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA. \*9

" The anomalous species," he afterwards observes, " among
the viviparous quadrupeds with a multifid foot are the Hedge-
hog, the Armadillo, the Mole, the Shrew, the Tamandua, the
Bat, and the Sloth. The first five of these species agree with
the canine and vermine genera in their elongated muzzle, but
differ from them in the form and disposition of the teeth : the
Tamandua, indeed, is altogether destitute of teeth : the re-
maining two anomalous species have the muzzle shortened.' *

Linnaeus, like Aristotle and Ray, founds his primary divi-
sions of the Class Mammalia on the locomotive organs ; but
his secondary divisions or orders are taken chiefly from modi-
fications of the dentary system. The following is the scheme
of his arrangement : —

f Front teeth, none in either jaw Bruta.

r* • ; / J Front teeth, cutters 2, laniaries 0 Gltres.

4 r unguiculate < Front teeth^ cutters 4> ianiaries \ Primates.

< \ L Front teeth, piercers (6, 2,10), laniaries 1 . . Ferjs.

5 \ 77 If I ^'ron* teeth, in both upper and lower jaw. Bellu^e.

< J n9u fle- j Front teeth, none in the upper jaw Pecora.

S L Muticate . . Teeth variable Cete.

(From the * Sy sterna Naturce,' ed. xvi. Holmise, p. 24.)

On comparing the three preceding systems, it will be found
that the most important errors of arrangement have been com-
mitted, not by Aristotle, but by the modern naturalists. Both
Ray and Linnaeus have mistaken the character of the horny-
parts enveloping the toes of the elephant, which do not defend
the upper part merely, as is the case with claws, but embrace
the under parts also, forming a complete case or hoof.

With respect to Linnaeus, however, it must be observed, that
although he has followed Ray in placing the elephant in the
unguiculate group of quadrupeds, he has not overlooked the
great natural divisions which the latter naturalist adopted from
Aristotle, as is evident from the Table above quoted. He
erred, perhaps, in not giving names to those primary di-
visions.

From the manner in which Linnaeus has arranged his
Orders in this Table, it wTould seem that he had the circular
progression of affinities in view. The Walrus among Bruta
connects the commencement of the chain with Cete, which
forms the last link ; but whether or not he had perceived the
affinity of Elephas to the G/ires, and intended it as the
transitional genus to that Order, as Cuvier has subsequently
shown, is less certain.

We shall now proceed to the arrangement of the Mamma-
lia proposed by Cuvier in the last edition of the ' Regne Ani-
mal? and this is the more interesting, as, in giving the out-

n2

180 CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA.

line of his method, lie developes the principles on which his
divisions are founded.

" The characters by which Mammalia differ most essentially
one from another are derived from the organs of touch, from
which results their degree of dexterity, and from the organs
of mastication, which determine the nature of their food ; and,
as a corollary to these, depends not only everything which is
connected with the digestive functions, but a variety of other
circumstances relative even to their degrees of intelligence.

M The perfection of the organs of touch is estimated by the
number and mobility of the digits, and the extent to which
they are inclosed in a claw or in a hoof. A hoof which com-
pletely incloses that part of the digit which touches the ground,
precludes the exercise of it as an organ of touch or of prehen-
sion. The opposite extreme is where the nail, in the form of
a simple lamina, covers only one side of the end of the digit,
leaving the other side in possession of all its delicacy of tact.

" The kind of food is indicated by the molar teeth, to the
form of which the articulation of the jaws invariably corre-
sponds.

" For cutting flesh, the molar teeth must be trenchant and
serrated ; and the jaws fitted together, so as to move like the
blades of a pair of scissors, simply opening and closing in the
vertical direction.

" For bruising grains and roots, the molar teeth must have
flattened crowns, and the jaws a horizontal motion : and
further, that the grinding surface may be always unequal, like
a millstone, the teeth must be composed of substances of dif-
ferent degrees of density, and consequently wearing down in
different proportions.

" The ungulate quadrupeds are all of necessity herbivorous,
or with flat- crowned molaries, because the conformation of
their feet does not permit them to seize living prey.

" The unguiculate animals are susceptible of more variety.
They are not limited to one kind of food ; and, besides the
consequent variation in the form of their molaries, they differ
materially from each other in the mobility and sensibility of
their digits. There is, moreover, a characteristic which pro-
digiously influences their dexterity, and gives variety to their
modes of action : it is the faculty of opposing a thumb to
the other fingers, so as to seize the smallest objects, which
constitutes a hand, properly so called. This faculty is carried
to its highest degree of perfection in man, in whom the whole
{interior extremity is free, and can be exclusively employed in
prehension. These different combinations, which strictly de-
termine the nature of the several mammiferous animals, have

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA. 181

formed the grounds for their distribution into the following
Orders : —

" Amongst the Unguiculate animals, the first is Man, who,
in addition to his peculiar privileges in every other respect,
is distinguished zoologically, by possessing hands on the an-
terior extremities alone; the posterior extremities being
destined to sustain him in the erect position.

" The Order which comes nearest to Man, — that termed
Quadrumana, — has hands on the four extremities.

" Another Order, termed Carnivora, has not the thumb
free and opposable to the anterior extremities.

" These three Orders possess likewise severally the three
kinds of teeth, viz. molaries, laniaries, and incisors.

" The quadrupeds of the fourth Order, viz. the Rodentia,
have the digits differing little from those of the Carnivora ;
but they want the laniary teeth, and have the incisors of a
form and disposition altogether peculiar to themselves.

" To these succeed the animals whose digits now become
much cramped, being sunk deep in large and, most commonly,
crooked clawrs. They are further defective in the absence of
incisor teeth 5 some of them even want the laniaries, and
others are altogether destitute of dentary organs. We shall
comprehend them under the term Edentata.

" This distribution of unguiculate animals would be perfect,
and would form a v ery regular chain, if New Holland had not
lately furnished us with a small collateral chain, composed of
the Marsupial animals, all the genera of which, while they
are connected by a general similarity of organization, at the
same time correspond in their dentition and diet, some to the
Carnivora, others to the Rodentia, and a third tribe to the
Edentata.

" The Ungulate animals are less numerous, and present
fewer variations of form.

" The Rnminantia, by their cloven feet, their want of upper
incisors, and their complicated stomach, form a very distinct
Order.

" All the other quadrupeds with hoofs might be united into
a single Order, which I would call Pachydermata or Ju-
menta, the elephant excepted, which might form an Order of
itself, having some remote affinities to the Order Rodentia.

" Last of all come the Mammalia which have no hinder
extremities, and whose fish-like form and aquatic life would
induce us to form them into a separate Class, if their ceconomy
was not in every other respect the same as in the Class in which
we shall leave them. They are the warm-blooded fishes of the
ancients, or the Cetacea, which, combining the powers of other
Mammalia with the advantage of being sustained upon the

182 CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA.

watery element, include the most gigantic forms to be found in
the whole animal creation/' — Regne Animal, 2nd edit., p. 65.

Having thus laid before our readers the principles which
have guided four of the most original writers on Natural
History in their primary arrangement of Mammalia, we shall
next subjoin a short tabular view of the genera or minor
groups included by Linnaeus and Cuvier in their respective
Orders.

The System of Mammalia of Linnaeus, from the \2th edition
of the * Sy sterna JVaturce.'

A. Unguiculata.

I. Primates.

Fore-teeth cutting ; upper ones parallel, 4 ; laniaries solitary. Teats
pectoral, 2. Food, fruits, except a few which use animal food. 1. Homo.
2. Simia. 3. Lemur. 4. Vespertilio.

II. Bruta.

Fore-teeth none in either jaw. Feet with large nails. Food mostly
vegetables. 5. Elephas. 6. Trichecus. 7« Bradypus. 8. Myrme-
cophaga. 9. Manis. 10. Dasypus.

III. FKRiE.

Fore-teeth conical, usually 6 in each jaw ; laniaries long ; molaries
pointed, conical. Food, carcasses and living prey. 11. Phoca. 12. Canis.
13.Felis. 14.Viverra. 15. Mustela. 16.Ursus. 17.Didelphis.
18. Talpa. 19- Sorex. 20. Erinaceus.

IV. Glires.

Front teeth cutting, 2 in each jaw. Food, bark, roots, vegetables, which
they erode or gnaw. 21 . Hystrix. 22. Leius. 23. Castor. 24. Mrs.
25. Sciurus. 26. Noctilio.

B. Ungulata.

V. Pecora.

Fore-teeth cutting, many in the lower jaw, none in the upper jaw. Feet
bisulcate. 4 stomachs. Food, herbs, which they pluck, and afterwards
ruminate. 27. Camelus. 28. Moschus. 29- Cervus. 30. Capra.
31. Ovis. 32. Bos.

VI. Bellu^:.

Fore-teeth obtuse. Tread heavy. Food, vegetables. 33. Equus.
34. Hippopotamus. 35. Sus. 36. Rhinoceros.

C. Mutica.
VII. Cete.

Teeth in some horny, in others bony. In place of Feet they have
pectoral fins without claws ; and a horizontal flattened tail. Nostrils ter-
minating in 1 or 2 fistulous apertures at the anterior and upper part of
the head. Food, mollusca and fish. 37. Monodon. 38. Baltena,
39- Physeter. 40. Delphinus.

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA. 183

The System of Mammalia of Cuvier, according to the 2nd
Edition of the ' Regne Animal.'

A. Unguiculata.

Sect. a. With three kinds of teeth.

I. Bimana.
1. Homo.

II. QUADRUMANA.

1. Simla, incisors 4 in each jaw, erect; nails flattened.

». Inhabiting the Old World; molaries 5 on either side of each jaw.

PlTHECUS, &C.

/3. Inhabiting the New World ; molaries 6 on either side of each jaw.
Cebus, &c.

2. Lemur ini, incisors more than 4 either in the ripper or lower jaw, pro-
cumbent. Lemur, &c.

III. Carnivora.

1. Cheiroptera, with membranous expansions between the fingers, and
laterally between the extremities.

et. Vespertiliones, with the bones of the anterior extremity dispropor-
tionately elongated. Pteropus, &c.

/3. Galeopitheci, with the fingers and toes of the same length. Galeo-
pithecus.

2. Insectivora, without lateral membranous expansions ; molaries cus-
pidated.

a. With 2 long anterior incisors, the rest short, the laniaries small.
Erinaceus, &c.

/S. With the incisors small, the laniaries large. Centetes, &c.

3. Carnivora, incisors 6 in each jaw ; molaries, some of them sectorial or
trenchant.

a. Plantigrada. Ursus, &c.

iS. Digitigrada. Canis, Felis, &c.

y. Amphibia. Phoca, &c.

IV. Marsupiata.

1. Incisors small ; laniaries long ; posterior molaries cuspidated. Di-
delphis, &c.

2. Lower incisors 2, long ; upper ones 6. Upper laniaries long and
pointed ; lower ones small. Phalangista, &c.

3. Lower laniaries wanting; no thumb on the hind feet. Hypsi-
prymnus.

4. No laniaries. Macropus.

5. Lower incisors 2 ; no laniaries : upper incisors 6 ; 2 small laniaries.
Phascolarctos.

6. 2 long incisors in each jaw ; no laniaries. Phascolomys.

Sect. b. Without laniaries ; 2 large incisors distant
from the molaries.

V. RODENTIA.

1 . With clavicles.

*. Sciuridae, anterior digits 4, posterior 5 ; tail cylindrical and bushy.

184 CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA.

/3. Muridse, tail cylindrical, not bushy.
y. Pedetidae, anterior digits 5, posterior 4.
B. Spalacidse, anterior digits 5, posterior 5.
*. Castoridse, tail flat and scaly.

2. With imperfect clavicles, or none.

a. Hystricidae, body covered with spines.

/8. Leporidse, 2 small incisors behind the 2 superior large ones.

y. Caviadae, no character in common.

Sect. c. Without incisor teeth.
VI. Edentata.

1. Tardigrada; with a short muzzle. Bradypus, &c.

2. Typical Edentata; with an elongated muzzle. Dasypus, &c.

3. Monotremata ; with marsupial bones and a cloaca. Ornitho-

RHYNCHUS, &C.

B. Ungulata.
a. Not Ruminants.

VII. Pachydermata.

1. Proboscidea ; with a proboscis : incisors projecting ; feet pentadac-
tyle. Elephas, &c.

2. Typical Pachydermata ; feet tetra-, tri-, or di-dactyle. Hippopo-
tamus, &c.

3. Solipeda ; feet monodactyle. Equus, &c.

b. Ruminants.

VIII. Ruminantia.

. 1. Without antlers or horns. Camelus, &c.

2. With antlers. Cervus, &c.

3. With horns. Antilope, &c.

C. Mutica.

IX. Cetacea.

1. Herbivora; teeth fitted for mastication. Manatus, &c.

2. Typical Cetacea ; teeth unfitted for mastication, or wanting. Del-
phinus, &c.

We shall conclude this article with quoting some obser-
vations by Mr. MacLeay on the analogies observable between
the principal groups of Mammalia, and those into which the
class of Birds is resolvable. " Every Mammiferous animal
may be reduced to these five orders ; that is, may be assimi-
lated, in a greater or less degree, to one or other of the fol-
lowing typical forms ; viz. Man, the Lion, the Horse, the
Whale, and the Mouse. I shall show hereafter how these five
orders form a continued series returning into itself, so as to
be a natural group. In the mean time, I must recall to the
attention of the reader the orders of Birds as defined and ar-

CLASSIFICATION OK MAMMALIA. 185

ranged by Mr. Vigors ; and to which definitions and arrange-
ment I have just applied so severe a test, only to corroborate
their accuracy, and to make them display additional harmony.

"When we have heard the Parrot or Mainate speaking ;
when we have witnessed the former feeding itself as it were
with a hand j when, in short, we have reflected on the re-
markable intelligence and development of brain throughout
the whole order of Insessores, to which both birds belong,
— there has been no one, perhaps, dull enough not to com-
pare them to Primates .... I allow, indeed, that it is difficult
to follow the opinion of the great naturalist of France, who,
ignorant of the true nature of relations of analogy, imagined
that the Psittaceous tribe of Birds ought to occupy the first
step in the scale of nature below Man ; but we cannot help
adopting the notion of Linnaeus in the ( Systema Naturae,9
that although not near him in construction, they are yet ana-
logous to him in various important respects. And, adopting
this notion, we must place the whole order of Insessores, to
which Psittacus belongs, opposite to the Primates, of which
Man forms the type.

" The analogies existing between Birds of Prey and Carni-
vorous quadrupeds having been noticed by Aristotle, who
called both groups Gampsonucha, were enlarged upon by
Plutarch. Among a host of moderns who have been struck
with the resemblance, I may particularly mention Linnaeus,
who in his ' Systema Naturce' has expressly called his Ac-
cipitres " Peris analogi ' ' ; and Buffon, who has treated the
subject at length and with his usual eloquence. I conceive,
therefore, that no one can object to the propriety of my placing
the Ferce opposite to the Raptores.

"The analogy between Aquatic Birds and Aquatic Mamma-
lia scarcely requires the mention of the authority of Linnaeus
to make it be granted. It is indeed so evident, that Hermann,
according to his custom, takes it for a relation of affinity.
In both orders the anterior appendages of the vertebral axis
dwindling into fins, and the two undivided posterior appen-
dages being placed so far behind on the axis as to show that
both were intended for motion in the water rather than on
land, are circumstances of themselves sufficient to authorize
the placing of the Cetacea opposite to the Natatores.

" Two orders still remain in each class to be considered :
the Glires and Ungulata among the Mammalia ; and among
Birds, the Rasores and Grallatores. The relations of analogy
pointed out by Linnaeus between Mammalia and Birds are, as
Hermann has observed, not always correct ; and his errors
have arisen from the misfortune of his not detecting the na-
tural group of Aristotle and Ray, which the latter has called

186 CLASSIFICATION OP MAMMALIA.

Ungulata *. Having only been able to seize Aristotle's sub-
divisions of this group, he lost the parallelism of analogy, and
fell, as I shall hereafter show, into very glaring mistakes. In
the ' Systema Naturae,' however, he has mentioned that very
striking analogy which appears between his groups of Grallce
and Brut a ; that is, according to the parallelism of analogy,
between the orders of Grallatores and Ungulata, since the
Bruta, as we have seen, do not form an order, but only a na-
tural subdivision of the Ungulata. That this analogy is de-
monstrably true, I deduce from the following facts. Of their
respective classes, the orders of Ungulata and Grallatores
contain examples of the longest legs in proportion to the
body, — witness Camelopardalis and Hcemantopus. Both
orders present us, in groups not exactly aquatic, with in-
stances of the toes soldered together, as in the Horse ; or con-
nected together by a web, as in the Flamingo. Both orders
present us with the greatest elongation of muzzle or facies, —
witness Myrmecophaga, or Antilope (particularly A. Bu-
balus L.), and Scolopax ; and also with the most depressed
form of muzzle, — witness Hippopotamus and Platalea, which
genera also afford us the truest specimens of Wading Verte-
brata. In both orders we have the most elongated claws, —
witness Megalonyx and Parra. Both orders afford us the
swiftest animals in running, — as the Horse and Tachydro-
mus ; and the most pugnacious on account of love, — as the
Bull and Machetes. The Bull moreover and the Butor (or
Bostaurus, for hence comes the bird's name,) afford us the
loudest and hoarsest voice of their respective orders : where
we have also the most remarkable instances of the upper and
under mandibles touching each other merely at their base and
point ; as Myrmecophaga, or the whole of the ru psv oux ocpipo-
lovrcc of Aristotle, and Anastomus Illig. Both orders exhibit
ornamental appendages to the head, — as the antlers of the
Stag and the crown of the Crane ; and both orders afford us
the only instances of true horns, — as Bos or Rhinoceros, and
Palamedea L. To see a hundred instances of resemblance,
it is only necessary to walk into a museum. I shall there-
fore only further say, that both orders contain polygamous
animals, are generally gregarious, and more graminivorous
than granivorous, being essentially inhabitants of marshes and

* In making this assertion, Mr. MacLeay appears to have overlooked the
tabular arrangement prefixed by Linnseus to the more extended characters
of his Orders of Mammalia. The only fault in the construction of his
Ungulata, is the exclusion of the elephant from that division ; for with
respect to the edentate Bruta, it may be questioned whether Linnaeus and
Cuvier are not after all correct in placing them among the Unguiculate
Mammalia.

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA. 187

savannahs. Thus then, with Linnaeus, I place the Bruta, or
rather the whole order of Ungulata to which they belong,
opposite to the Grallatores.

u Four orders in each class being now disposed of, it follows
by parallelism of analogy, that the Glires ought to be placed
opposite to the Basores. But setting theory aside, — is this
position true in fact* ?

" Linnaeus, from the above-mentioned error in his series of
affinity, considered the Basores to be analogous to his group
of Pecora. But this group, according to Aristotle and Ray,
is only a subdivision of Ungulata, which have, I consider,
been now proved to be analogous to the Grallatores. If,
therefore, Linnaeus be right in making his Bruta analogous
to the order of Wading Birds, it follows that his Pecora must
be so also.

" The analogy of the Basores to the Ruminating Animals
was first, I believe, mentioned by Linnaeus in the ' Systema,
JVaturce.' It has since his days been copied and copied, until
now it almost becomes a sort of heresy to inquire into its
accuracy. I am not, however, aware that any reason for this
analogy has ever been assigned, beyond the fact, — that one
order affords the principal part of those birds which are do-
mesticated by man for purposes of food ; and the other, the
principal part of quadrupeds which are destined to the same
purpose. Now, granting even this domestication not to be
the work of art, but to be an analogy really existing in nature,
I would observe, — setting the whole family of Anatidcc aside,
— that the Glires afford us many eatable or domesticated ani-
mals, such as the Capromys and Rabbit ; and the Grallatores
afford us similar instances in the Snipe and Psophia. If some
Basores be said, like the Pecora, to have ornamental appen-
dages to the head, so it must be remembered has the Crowned
Crane ; whereas no rasorial bird is truly horned, like the Pa-
lamedea. But it may be worth while to take into consideration
successively the grand characteristics of the Basores, as given
by ornithologists to distinguish them from all other birds.

" The Basores are, properly speaking, frugivorous birds ;
by which I do not mean eating fruits only, but all manner of
seeds or grain. Now this character of being frugivorous ap-
plies much more to the Glires than the Ungulata, which are
truly herbivorous, and only feed on grain in an artificial or

* " The ancient name of Struthio Camelus, as well as the form and habits
of the Ostrich, show indeed a relation of analogy to the Camel ; but then
we are to recollect, in the first place, that the Ostrich is at the osculant
point or confines of the orders of Grallce and Rasores ; and secondly, that
such slight variations of the parallelism of analogy often appear, although
I think it possible that even these are subject to rule."

188 CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA.

domesticated state. To begin, then, with the rasorial or
scratching powers of gallinaceous fowls ; these are certainly
the most burrowing of frugivorous birds : now the most bur-
rowing of frugivorous quadrupeds are certainly not the Un-
gulata, but the Glires. These birds are characterized by the
shortness of their wings and the weakness of their pectoral
muscles. Now if we inquire whether it is among the Glires
or Ungulata that we find the corresponding appendages of
the vertebral axis, — that is, the fore-feet most shortened, —
the answer will be, certainly not among the Ungulata; where,
on the contrary, the Giraffe has them extraordinarily length-
ened : but among the Glires we have the Jerboa, in this re-
spect almost a bird. In general, moreover, this latter order
is distinguished, like the Rasores, by the strength of those
muscles of the two posterior appendages of the vertebral axis
or hind-feet, that contribute to locomotion. Gregarious habits
distinguish the most of the Rasores ; so they do in a still
more extraordinary manner the Glires. Many are insecti-
vorous in both orders, and some are omnivorous. The muzzle
or facies of Glires is short and round, very like that of Fercey
there being a direct relation between the two orders. The
facies of Rasores is also short and round, very like that of
Raptores (the order analogous to that of Ferce) ; and there
is also a direct relation between these two orders. Many
Rasores perch and nestle on trees ; so do many of the
Glires. The Rasores generally feed on hard grain, which
they pick up with their hooked beak, and masticate in a tri-
turating gizzard : the Glires feed also on hard substances,
which they gnaw with their strong hooked incisors, and mas-
ticate with their grinders. In both orders the thumb is very
often rudimentary. In both orders the tail varies from an
extraordinary length, as in the Squirrel and Pheasant, to being

very short, as in the Hare and Partridge No orders in

their respective classes present the tail so spread out and flat-
tened as the Glires and Rasores, — witness the Beaver and
Peacock. In both orders the sense of hearing is much de-
veloped. In both orders we find animals, such as Squirrels
and Pigeons, with their toes perfectly free ; and others, as
Hydromys and Phasianus, which have them united at the
base by a membrane. Castor is an aquatic animal, having
some relation to Cetacea ; Struthio is a terrestrial animal,
approaching to Natatores. And so on relation comes so fast
upon relation, that I know not how we can for a moment
hesitate to place the Glires opposite to the Rasores.

" I conceive it now to be demonstrated, that, so far as re-
lates to the analogies existing in nature between the orders
of Mammalia and Aves, we ought to place them thus :

CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA. 189

Animals typically.

1. Fer,e carnivorous 1. Raptores.

2. Primates ... omnivorous 2. Insessores.

3. Glires frugivorous 3. Rasores.

4. Ungulata... frequenting the vicinity of water . 4. Grallatores.

5. Cetacea — aquatic 5. Natatores."

{Linn. Trans, vol. xvi. p. 26.)

In the subjoined Plate some figures are given of the prin-
cipal modifications of the locomotive and masticatory organs
referred to in the preceding classifications.

Fig. 1. The lower extremity of Man.

Fig. 2. The corresponding extremity in the Ape.

Fig. 3. Lion.

Fig. 4. ' Rhinoceros.

Fig. 5. Antelope.

Fig. 6. Seal.

In the figures of the dentary organs or secondary charac-
ters, those animals have been selected of which descriptions
have been given in this work.

Fig. 7« (from the Bear), shows the three kinds of teeth cha-
racteristic of the first two orders of the Unguiculata ; the
lines a, Z>, c, d, e are drawn respectively behind the incisors,
laniaries, spurious, sectorious, and tuberculate molaries :
this subdivision of the latter kind of teeth becoming necessary
in the Carnivora, where their form is modified, as the terms
indicate, for cutting as well as grinding. In the Quadrumana
they are of a more uniform structure.

The dental formula of the genus Ursus is as follows : —
Dent. prim. -1, Ian. LL, mol. |£.

Fig. 8. Fasciated Kangaroo.

Dental formula of the genus Halmaturus, Fr. Cuv. — Dent,
prim. A, Ian. ° mol. ||-.

Fig. 9. Canada Porcupine.

Dental formula of the genus Synetheres, Fr. Cuv. — Dent,
prim. 4-> mol, -* .

* 2; 4.4

In this figure the jaws are turned so as to show the grind-
ing surfaces of the molar teeth, and the manner in which the
enamel is intermixed with the ivory of the tooth. The figures
which the enamel thus forms vary in the different genera of
Bodentia, but are always more or less transverse ; and the
structure of the joints of the jaw is such as to give the grind-
ing motions a direction backwards and forwards.

Fig. 10. Weasel-headed Armadillo.

Dental formula of the genus Dasyjms, Fr. Cuv.— Dent,
prim, -f-, Ian. ±, mol. g-

190 NEST OF THE TAILOR-BIRO.

Fig. 11. Asiatic Elephant.
Fig. 12. African Elephant.

Dental formula of the genus Elephas. — Dent, prim. JL
Ian. ° mol. " or H.

0 ' 2.2 ' 1.1

Fig. 13. Indian Rhinoceros.
Dent. prim. 11, mol. &•

Fig. 14. The Giraffe. '
Dent. prim. ■—, mol. |i.

NEST OF THE TATLOR-BIRD.

To the Editor of the Zoological Magazine.
Sir,
Of all the various birds which show inimitable skill in the
construction of their nests, the one I think which has occa-
sioned the greatest wonder and admiration is the Tailor-bird
of Hindostan. Although, perhaps, many other birds, which
are so busily engaged in collecting little tufts of hair, dis-
engaging them from each other, and then braiding them into
the smooth lining of their mossy baskets, may really possess
equal ingenuity, yet the tailor-bird excites more surprise,
from his setting about his work more as a human creature
might be expected to do. The account given by Dr. Darwin
of this little bird, is, that he picks up a fallen leaf, and fastens
it by means of his sharp bill, which answers the purpose of a
needle, to another leaf growing on the slender branch of a
tree, and then lines this purse-formed nest with down. This
account has been copied by many writers, and receives some
confirmation from the appearance of the nests which are pre-
served in the British Museum. But against this opinion we
have the strong evidence of an eye-witness, Mr. Forbes, who
says that he himself observed the actions of a pair of these
birds in his garden in India, and who, while he confirms the
fact of the bird sewing leaves together with cotton, says, that
he does this, not to make a nest, but to conceal the nest which
he has made. If we credit this last account in preference to
Darwin's, what are we to think of the nests in the British
Museum ?

The author of the 'Architecture of Birds' thinks Mr, Forbes's
statement the more probable. Why so ? Is it not the sewing
of the leaves which excites our surprise ? And does the bird
appear less extraordinary if he devotes his skill, not, as other
birds do, to the important affair in hand, but to the after-
thought of concealment ?

NKST OF THE TAILOR-BIRD. 191

The author of the ' Architecture of Birds' also states, on
the authority of Latham and Edwards, that there is a bird in
the West Indies (the Bonana Starling) which combines leaves
and fibres in a most ingenious manner, and sews them " to
the under part of a bonana leaf, so that the leaf makes one
side of the nest."

It cannot surely be thought out of reason for a little bird
in the East Indies to busy himself in pretty nearly the same
manner as another bird does in the West. It is worthy of
observation, that Darwin speaks of the tailor-bird, which he
describes as a bright yellow bird, while Forbes describes him
as possessing as gay plumage as that of the harlequin hum-
ming-bird : it is, perhaps, possible that Dr. Darwin's autho-
rity might have viewed the female only, or yellow may be the
colour of the youthful jirkin, before the complete tailor- apparel
is complete. But is it not also possible that there are two
birds in the East Indies which construct their nests, the one
of leaves, the other amongst them, both using the needle f
and thus may not both accounts be true ?

I am well aware that we should incline to the statements
of the ocular observer, rather than to those of the theorist at
home ; but I do not like to give up the evidence of the nests
themselves. Perhaps, Sir, you may be able to throw some
light upon these ingenious architects. I shall be much gra-
tified if these hasty observations of mine should be the means
of leading to a further investigation of this curious fact.
There are many Englishmen in India, — men of leisure, too,
— but I fear there is no Alexander Wilson among them.

C. E.

London, May 3rd, 1833.

We are happy in being able to add to the observations of
our Correspondent the testimony of an accurate and talented
observer, relative to the interesting habits of the tailor-bird.

Colonel Sykes, whose zoological researches in India may
well bear a comparison with those of the American ornitholo-
gist, states, that the species of tailor-bird (Orthotomus Ben-
nettii) whose operations came under his observation, " con-
structed its nest by sewing the leaves of trees together with
cotton thread and fibres ;" and that he "has seen nests in
which the thread used was literally knotted at the end." In
this species the sexes are alike in plumage. — Proceedings of
Zoological Society, vol. ii. p. 90.

[ 192 J

INCUBATION OP THE EGGS OF THE COMMON FOWL BY AN

EAGLE.

A correspondent, to whom we are indebted fcr some useful
suggestions, informs us, that u at the Chequers Inn, Uxbridge,
Middlesex, may be seen an eagle which has hatched and
brought up several broods of the common fowl.',

THE HIPPOCAMPUS.

The Sea-Horse, or Hippocampus, is a small fish belonging
to the family Syngnathidce, and the Order called Lopho-
branchii by Cuvier; the few genera which constitute that
Order differing from other fishes in the form of their gills,
which are not disposed in the ordinary manner, like the teeth
of a comb, but consist of small tufts arranged in pairs along
the branchial arches. These fishes are also remarkable for
having the body defended from one end to the other by a kind
of armour, composed, for the most part, of quadrangular
pieces. The genus Hippocampus differs from the Syngnathiy
or Pipe-fishes, by its laterally compressed trunk, and the cur-
vature of its tail, which generally takes place after death ; but,
like those fishes, the mouth is produced in a tubular form ;
and the female has a cavity, analogous to the marsupial pouch
of the Opossum and Kangaroo, beneath the tail, in which the
eggs are received and hatched. But little is known of the
living habits of the Hippocampi, although a species (the Hip-
pocampus brevirostris) is occasionally found on our own coasts.

THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

At the Regent's Park may be seen a living specimen of one
of the species of that rare bird, the Indian Hornbill ; and
naturalists have now an opportunity of witnessing the ease
with which it uses its apparently disproportionate and cum-
brous beak. Ornithologists have also the means of advan-
tageously comparing together the four Struthious genera,
Dromaius, Cassuarius, ll/iea, and Struthio ; these giants of
their class being represented by fine and healthy specimens
exhibited in different parts of the gardens.

Amongst the Mammalia we have not noticed any addition
of consequence ; but we were gratified on seeing the Brahmin
cow and her calf in a healthy and promising condition.

«H9

•*'<

ADDRESS.

SdME apology may be thought necessary on offering to public notice an
addition to the already overgrown stock of Periodicals ; and we trust our
Readers will find a sufficient one in the following brief statement of the
origin and scope of the present Work.

Since the taste for Natural History has become so widely diffused,*" a
general complaint has arisen that the facts accumulated by the numerous
eminent Naturalists of the present age are either concealed from the
ordinary reader beneath a rigid scientific phraseology, or are placed
beyond his reach in works of great expense and rarity, and frequently
written in a foreign language.

To embody the results of their labours in a series of concise descriptions
as free as possible from technicalities, and to accompany them with inter-
esting extracts from the latest and most authentic foreign Works, would,
we imagine, remedy in a great measure the inconvenience complained of.
We have also made such arrangements as will secure for our humble and
inexpensive Work, Graphic Illustrations of unquestionable fidelity, and
creditable as works of art.

But while we endeavour to open a source of entertainment to the gene*
ral reader, we shall at the same time, in all our descriptions, aim at laying
the foundation of„a scientific knowledge of Zoology. Possessed of this
knowledge, the visitor of a Menagerie derives a rational pleasure from
sources infinitely more numerous and diversified than can interest a com-
mon observer. He goes not merely to enjoy the feeling of security which
arises from the contemplation of the encaged Monarch of beasts, nor is he
dependent for his amusement on the sagacious feats of the ponderous
Elephant, or on the nimble antics of the Ape ; but* in tracing the modifi-
cations of form which adapt each animal to its destined sphere, he finds in
every species a field for interesting meditation.

Our aim will be accomplished if, while we are instrumental in affording
amusement for a leisure hour, we should be fortunate enough to succeed
in inducing the reader unversed in Zoology to turn his attention seriously
to its scientific study, and to grapple with those works which have in-
struction more especially for their object. No study, he may be assured,
is repaid by a more abundant store of rational and innocent entertainment,
or opens a wider scope for serious reflection on the wisdom and power of
a beneficent Creator.

The Engraving of the Giraffe which wa,s executed on wood, not an-
swering our expectations, we have substituted one on steel, which we
hope will give general satisfaction.

We intend, notwithstanding the expense, to adopt the latter style of
engraving, whenever it will give a better representation of the Animal.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Thanks to Z — , R. S., W. C, and others, for their Letters and good
wishes. The latter will see that we have availed ourselves of his commu-
nication.— We particularly invite similar contributions.

The article from Dulwich we fear will not suit our readers.

Owing to the length of the Descriptive Accounts in our present Num-
ber, we are obliged to postpone several extracts and translations, and a
Memoir of Sir Joseph Banks.

%• All communications for the Editor must be addressed (post paid)
to the care of Messrs. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane.

// , L OC/ L

No. II.

Feb. 1, 1833.

Published on the First of every Month.
PRICE SIXPENCE.

THE ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

OR

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY.

CONTENTS.

Page

The Elephant (Asiatic) 33

(African) 49

Salmon-Fishing by a Dog ..... 52
On the fascinating Power of Ser-
pents 53

Memoir of Sir Joseph Banks. . . . 56

Page

Clearness of the Sea at the North

Cape * . . . . 60

The Zoological Gardens 61

On the Panther : . . . 62

The Cuckoo 63

Zoologist's Calendar for February 64

LONDON:
WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND Co.,

AVE MARIA LANK.

RICHARD TAYLOR, PRINTER,]

[red LION COURT, FLEET STREET,

ADDRESS.

Some apology may be thought necessary on offering to public notice an
addition to the already overgrown stock of Periodicals ; and we trust our
Headers will find a sufficient one in the following brief statement of the
origin and scope of the present Work.

Since the taste for Natural History has become so widely diffused, a
general complaint has arisen that the facts accumulated by the numerous
eminent Naturalists of the present age are either concealed from the
ordinary reader beneath a rigid scientific phraseology, or are placed
beyond his reach in works of great expense and rarity, and frequently
written in a foreign language.

To embody the results of their labours in a series of concise descriptions
as free as possible from technicalities, and to accompany them with inter-
esting extracts from the latest and most authentic foreign Works, would,
we imagine, remedy in* a great measure the inconvenience complained of.
We have also made such arrangements as will secure for our humble and
inexpensive Work, Graphic Illustrations of unquestionable fidelity, and
creditable as works of art.

But while we endeavour to open a source of entertainment to the gene-
ral reader, we shall at the same time, in all our descriptions, aim at laying
the foundation of a scientific knowledge of Zoology. Possessed of this
knowledge, the visitor of a Menagerie derives a rational pleasure from
sources infinitely more numerous and diversified than can interest a com-
mon observer. He goes not merely to enjoy the feeling of security which
arises from the contemplation of the encaged Monarch of beasts, nor is he
dependent for his amusement on the sagacious feats of the ponderous
Elephant, or on the nimble antics of the Ape ; but in tracing the modifi-
cations of form which adapt each animal to its destined sphere, he finds in
every species a field for interesting meditation.

Our aim will be accomplished if, while we are instrumental in affording
amusement for a leisure hour, we should be fortunate enough to succeed
in inducing the reader unversed in Zoology to turnjiis attention seriously
to its scientific study, and to grapple with those works which have in-
struction more especially for their object. No study, he may be assured,
is repaid by a more abundant store of rational and innocent entertainment,
or opens a wider scope for serious reflection on the wisdom and power of
a beneficent Creator.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

W. C.'s further communication is received. We shall have an oppor-
tunity, shortly, of alluding to the subject, and of introducing his observa-
tions.

We are much indebted to I. C. C. for his valuable suggeations.

We also thank. T. C. for his interesting communication, and shall be
dad to hear again from him.

We feel obliged to H. M. R. of Reading for his letter.

© ©

Several letters have been received so late in the month that our Cor-
respondents must excuse our noticing them at present.

%* All communications for the Editor must be addressed (post paid)
to the care of Messrs. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane.

/V . U^/ L

y

No, III. March], 1833.

Published on the First of every Month.

PRICE SIXPENCE.

THE ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

OR

JOURNAL OF N

RAL HISTORY.

CONTENTS.

Page

The Polar Bear . . . 65

Baron Humboldt's Description of

the Mode of catching the Gym-

notus, or Electrical Eel 76

Nightingales in Russia 80

The Labiated Bear 81

Useful Rat 85

Singular Audacity of a Fish .... 80

Animals and Birds on the Plains

of Camdeboo . 86

Page

88

Description v)f Animals in Brazil
Account of the Red -throated Hum-
ming Bird 89

Observations on some Mollusca
and Zoophytes, regarded as the
Causes of the Phosphorescence

of the .Sea . 92

The Zoological Gardens 95

Zoologist's Calendar for March . . 96

LONDON:

WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND Co.

AVE MARIA LANE.

RICHARD TAYLOR, KRINTFR,

TrED LIOV COURTi Ff.KKT STRFCT.

ADDRESS.

Some apology may bethought necessary on offering to public notice an
addition to the already overgrown stock of Periodicals ; and we trust our
Readers will find a sufficient one in the following brief statement of the
origin and scope of the present Work.

Since the taste for Natural History has become so widely diffused, a
general complaint has arisen that the facts accumulated by the numerous
eminent Naturalists of the present age are either concealed from the
ordinary reader beneath a rigid scientific phraseology, or are placed
beyond his reach in works of great expense and rarity, and frequently
written in a foreign language.

To embody the -results of their labours in a series of concise descriptions
as free as possible from technicalities, and to accompany them with inter-
esting extracts from the latest and most authentic foreign Works, would,
we imagine, remedy in a great "measure the inconvenience complained of.
We have also made such arrangements as will secure for our humble and
inexpensive Work, Graphic Illustrations of unquestionable fidelity, and
creditable as works of art.

But while we endeavour to open a source of entertainment to the gene-
ral reader, we shall at the same time, in all our descriptions, aim at laying
the foundation of a scientific knowledge of Zoology. Possessed of this
knowledge, the visitor of a Menagerie derives a rational pleasure from
sources infinitely more numerous and diversified than can interest a com-
mon observer. He goes not merely to enjoy the feeling of security which
arises from the contemplation of the encaged Monarch of beasts, nor is he
dependent for his amusement on the sagacious feats of the ponderous
Elephant, or on the nimble antics of the Ape ; but in tracing the modifi-
cations of form which adapt each animal to its destined sphere, he finds in
every species a field for interesting meditation.

Our aim will be accomplished if, while we are instrumental in affording
amusement for a leisure hour, we should be fortunate enough to succeed
in inducing the reader unversed in Zoology to turn his attention seriously
to its scientific study, and to grapple with those works which have in-
struction more especially for their object. No study, he may be assured,
is repaid by a more abundant store of rational and innocent entertainment,
or opens a wider scope for serious reflection on the wisdom and power of
a beneficent Creator.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

H. W. — F.Z.S.* — and other Communications, have been received, and
we are obliged by the suggestions they contain.

We shall avail ourselves of J. W.'s notes on the Beaver when we treat of
that animal.

We are under great obligations to E. E. for his valuable contributions.

Several Communications are under consideration.

*** All Communications for the Editor must be addressed (post paid)
to the care of Messrs. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane.

// ;&/'/>

No. IV.

April 1, 1833.

Published on the First of every Month.
PRICE SIXPENCE.

THE ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

Oil

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY.

CONTENTS.

Page

The Rhinoceros of Java 97

Remarks on the Albatross and Pe-
trel 101

Death of M. Latreille 105

Eulogium on Cuvier 105

Account of the Rein-deer 108

Observations on the Wild Ass .. 110
Disposition of the Mangeur de Ser-
pens (Secretary Falcon) 112

The Weasel-headed Armadillo .. 113

Fage

View of the Animal Creation in

the interior of the Cape 119

On the Habits of the Black Skim-
mer orSheerwater (Rhyncops ni-
gra, Linn.) 122

Anecdote of a Persian Greyhound 1 23

Observations on the Marmot . . . li-I

The Zoological Gardens 126

Characters of the Panther 12(5

Zoologist's Calendar for April ... 127

LONDON:
WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND Co.,

AVE MARIA LANK.

RICHARD TAYLOR, WRINTK

B,l

[RED LION COURT, KLhliT STKKtT.

ADDRESS.

Some apology may be thought necessary on offering to public notice an
addition to the already overgrown stock of Periodicals ; and we trust our
Readers will find a sufficient one in the following brief statement of the
origin and scope of the present Work.

Since the taste for Natural History has become so widely diffused, a
general complaint has arisen that the facts accumulated by the numerous
eminent Naturalists of the present age are either concealed from the
ordinary reader beneath a rigid scientific phraseology, or are placed
beyond his reach in works of great expense and rarity, and frequently
written in a foreign language.

To embody the results of their labours in a series of concise descriptions
as free as possible from technicalities, and to accompany them with inter-
esting extracts from the latest and most authentic foreign Works, would,
we imagine, remedy in a great measure the inconvenience complained of.
We have also made such arrangements as will secure for our humble and
inexpensive Work, Graphic Illustrations of unquestionable fidelity, and
creditable as works of art.

But while we endeavour to open a source of entertainment to the gene-
ral reader, we shall at the same time, in all our descriptions, aim at laying
the foundation of a scientific knowledge of Zoology. Possessed of this
knowledge, the visitor of a Menagerie derives a rational pleasure from
sources infinitely more numerous and diversified than can interest a com-
mon observer. He goes not merely to enjoy the feeling of security which
arises from the contemplation of the encaged Monarch of beasts, nor is he
dependent for his amusement on the sagacious feats of the ponderous
Elephant, or on the nimble antics of the Ape ; but in tracing the modifi-
cations of form which adapt each animal to its destined sphere, he finds in
every species a field for interesting meditation.

Our aim will be accomplished if, while we are instrumental in affording
amusement for a leisure hour, we should be fortunate enough to succeed
in inducing the reader unversed in Zoology to turn his attention seriously
to its scientific study, and to grapple with those works which have in-
struction more especially for their object. No study, he may be assured,
is repaid by a more abundant store of rational and innocent entertainment,
or opens a wider scope for serious reflection on the wisdom and power of
a beneficent Creator.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

As we propose to give in a future number an abridged treatise on Taxi-
dermy, or the art of preserving animals, we shall defer until then the reply
to the question of ' Sphinx ' as to * the best and speediest method of de-
stroying the lives of moths and other well-clothed insects ' without in-
jury to their fine down or barbed scales.

To A. Z. Wolverhampton. We fear the additional matter he wishes for
would extend our work beyond the plan originally proposed, and oblige
us to increase its price.

T. M., Castle Hill, will find in Pennant's British Zoology, vol. i. p. 79,
first edition, a brief account of the early introduction of exotic quadrupeds,
and of the establishment of menageries in this country.

All Communications for the Editor must be addressed (post paid)
to the care of Messrs. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane.

t

No. V.

May 1, 1833.

Published on the First of every Month,
PRICE SIXPENCE.

THE ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

OR

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY.

CONTENTS.

Page

The Fasciated Kangaroo, (Halma-

turus fasciatus, Cuv.) 129

Affection of Insects for their Young 137

The Locust 139

Fecundity of the Sea Turtle .... 140
Friendship of the Crocodile and
Little Ring-Plover (Charadrius

JEgyptius, Hasselquist) 141

The Pr<5boscis-Seal, or Sea-Ele-
phant (Phoca proboscidea, Peron) 145

Page
Preliminary Observations to the
History of the Medusse, or Sea

Blubbers 152

Characters of the Panther and Leo-
pard. 156

Ingenuity of a Thrush ........ 158

Observations on the Loris, or

Slow -paced Lemur 158

Zoological Calendar for May ... 160

AVE MARIA LANE.

RICHARD TAYLOR, HUNTER,

[RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

ADDRESS.

Some apology may be thought necessary on offering to public notice an
addition to the already overgrown stock of Periodicals ; and we trust our
Readers will find a sufficient one in the following brief statement of the
origin and scope of the present Work.

Since the taste for Natural History has become so widely diffused, a
general complaint has arisen that the facts accumulated by the numerous
eminent Naturalists of the present age are either concealed from the
ordinary reader beneath a rigid scientific phraseology, or are placed
beyond his reach in works of great expense and rarity, and frequently
written in a foreign language.

To embody the results of their labours in a series of concise descriptions
as free as possible from technicalities, and to accompany them with inter-
esting extracts from the latest and most authentic foreign Works, would,
we imagine, remedy in a great measure the inconvenience complained of.
We have also made such arrangements as will secure for our humble and
inexpensive Work, Graphic Illustrations of unquestionable fidelity, and
creditable as works of art.

But while we endeavour to open a source of entertainment to the gene-
ral reader, we shall at the same time, in all our descriptions, aim at laying
the foundation of a scientific knowledge of Zoology. Possessed of this
knowledge, the visitor of a Menagerie derives a rational pleasure from
sources infinitely more numerous and diversified than can interest a com-
mon observer. He goes not merely to enjoy the feeling of security which
arises from the contemplation of the encaged Monarch of beasts, nor is he
dependent for his amusement on the sagacious feats of the ponderous
Elephant, or on the nimble antics of the Ape ; but in tracing the modifi-
cations of form which adapt each animal to its destined sphere, he finds in
every species a field for interesting meditation.

Our aim will be accomplished if, while we are instrumental in affording
amusement for a leisure hour, we should be fortunate enough to succeed
in inducing the reader unversed in Zoology to turn his attention seriously
to its scientific study, and to grapple with those works which have in-
struction more especially for their object. No study, he may be assured,
is repaid by a more abundant store of rational and innocent entertainment,
or opens a wider scope for serious reflection on the wisdom and power of
a beneficent Creator.

y* All Communications for the Editor must be addressed (post paid)
to the care of Messrs. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane.

Jfc f&fr.

No. VI. JuNE 1, 1833.

Published on the First of every Month.

PRICE SIXPENCE.

THE ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

OR

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY.

CONTENTS.

Page
The Prehensile Porcupine, or Coen-
dou (Sy nether es prehensilis, Fr.

Cuvier) . . . 161

Observations on the Flying-Fish . 164

The Ceylon Leech 165

On the original Source of the Do-
mestic Cat 165

Power of Scent in the Rein-Deer . 167

Page

The Proboscis-Seal, or Sea-Ele-
phant (Phoca proboscidea, Peron) 168
Classification of Mammalia .... 176

Nest of the Tailor-bird 190

Incubation of the Eggs of the

common Fowl by an Eagle ... 192

The Hippocampus, or Sea-horse . 192

The Zoological Gardens 192

LONDON:

WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND Co.,

AVE MARIA LANE.

RICIIAIU) TAYLOR, PRINTER,] [RED LION COURT, FLEET STREFT.

ADDRESS.

Some apology may be thought necessary on offering to public notice an
addition to the already overgrown stock of Periodicals ; and we trust our
Readers will find a sufficient one in the following brief statement of the
origin and scope of the present Work.

Since the taste for Natural History has become so widely diffused, a
general complaint has arisen that the facts accumulated by the numerous
eminent Naturalists of the present age are either concealed from the
ordinary reader beneath a rigid scientific phraseology, or are placed
beyond his reach in works of great expense and rarity, and frequently
written in a foreign language.

To embody the results of their labours in a series of concise descriptions
as free as possible from technicalities, and to accompany them with inter-
esting extracts from the latest and most authentic foreign Works, would,
we imagine, remedy in a great measure the inconvenience complained of.
We have also made such arrangements as will secure for our humble and
inexpensive Work, Graphic Illustrations of unquestionable fidelity, and
creditable as works of art.

But while we endeavour to open a source of entertainment to the gene-
ral reader, we shall at the same time, in all our descriptions, aim at laying
the foundation of a scientific knowledge" "6r Zoology. Possessed of this
knowledge, the visitor of a Menagerie derives a rational pleasure from
sources infinitely mote numerous and diversified than can interest a com-
mon observer. He goes not merely to enjoy the feeling of security which
arises from the contemplation of the encaged Monarch of beasts, nor is he
dependent for his amusement on the sagacious feats of the ponderous
Elephant, or on the nimble antics of the Ape ; but in tracing the modifi-
cations of form which adapt each animal to its destined sphere, he finds in
every species a field for interesting meditation.

Our aim will be accomplished if, while we are instrumental in affording
amusement for a leisure hour, we should be fortunate enough to succeed
in inducing the reader unversed in Zoology to turn his attention seriously
to its scientific study, and to grapple with those works which have in-
struction more especially for their object. No study, he may be assured,
is repaid by a more abundant store of rational and innocent entertainment,
or opens a wider scope for serious reflection on the wisdom and power of
a beneficent Creator.

All Communications for the Editor must be addressed (post paid)
to the care of Messrs. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane.