I
I
ZOOLOGICAL LECTURES .
GEORGE SHA>OLDJKK.S.*V
from the firft Authorities and most select 8p«vimriis
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GRIFFITH.
Loio>o N
tor c Kear«ley Kl.-ct
I8O9.
ZOOLOGICAL LECTURES
DELIVERED AT THE
ROYAL INSTITUTION
IN THE YEARS
1806 AND 1807,
BY
GEORGE SHAW, M.D.F.R.S.
&c. &c.
VOL. r.
LONDON:
PRINTED TOR GdORGE KEARSLEY, FLBBT-SRTEET }
BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITXFRIARI.
1809.
ADVERTISEMENT.
JL HE present short course of Lectures is by no
means intended as a deeply scientific and ela-
borate series of zoological disquisitions, but may
rather be termed, in the words of Sir Kenelm
Digby, " a familiar discourse with Lady-Audi-
tors." The general tenor of the explanations is
purposely conducted with as little appearance of
the parade of technical terms as possible ; and the
reader must not expect to find any long disserta-
tions relative to the nature of animal life, any very
minute observations relative to the classification
of the animal kingdom, and still less any quota-
tions from Aristotle in order to prove that " a man
hath ten toes * j" but the whole is merely intend
* Grew, Mu«. Reg. Soc.
ADVERTISEMENT.
ed as a plain illustration of the animal world ac-
cording to the Linnaean mode of arrangement,
with some occasional deviations and transpositions.
It should be added, that these Lectures were
accompanied by a very numerous collection of en-
gravings, drawings, &c. in order to elucidate the
respective subjects; and, wherever circumstances
rendered their introduction possible, by preserved
as well as living specimens of the animals them-
selves.
British Museum,
May 30, 1808.
The reader is requested to pay particular attention to
the list of Errata, and to cast his ei/es on the Notes and
Illustrations.
SYLLABUS OF LECTURES.
VOL. I.
LECTURE I.
INTRODUCTION. General description of the Animal King-
dom, according to different authors. Lin mean ar-
rangement. Union of animal and vegetable life in
Zoophytes, and particularly in Polypes. General de-
scription of Polypes.
LECTURE II.
Linrucan arrangement of MAMMALIA or viviparous Qua-
drupeds. Order Primates, comprehending the Apes,
Macaucos, and Bats. Vampyres. Order Bruta. Bra-
dypus or Sloth. Fossil skeleton, supposed to be allied
to this latter genus.
LECTURE III.
Continuation of Linnaean Mammalia. Genera of Da-
sypus or Armadillo, Munis or Pangolin, Myrmeco-
SYLLABUS.
phaga or Ant-Eater, Platypus or Duckbill. Order
Ferte. Canis or Dog, Felis or Cat, Viverra or Wee-
sel. Didelphis or Opossum, Macropus or Kanguroo.
Order Glires. Hystrix or Porcupine, Castor or Bea-
ver, Arctomys or Marmot, Lepus or Hare, Sciurus or
Squirrel, Mus or Mouse, Dipus or Jerboa.
LECTURE IV.
Continuation of Linnsean Mammalia. Elephant. Mam-
moth. Order Pecora. Giraffa or Camelopard, Cer
vus or Deer, Bos or Ox, Camelus or Camel, Moschui
or Musk, Antilope or Antelope, Ovis or Sheep, Capra
or Goat. Order Belluts. Equus or Horse, Hippopota-
mus, Rhinoceros, Tapir, Sus or Hog. Pinnated Mam-
malia. Phoca or Seal. Trichechus or Walruss.
Whales. General History of the different genera and
species of ditto.
LECTURE V.
BIRDS. General description of the anatomy of. Linnaean
division of. Order Accipitres. Vultures, Eagles, Owls.
Order Pica. Hornbills, Toucans, Parrots, Wood-
peckers, Paradise-Birds, Kingfishers, Cuckows, and
Hununing-Birds.
SYLLABUS.
1 KCTURE VI.
Continuation of Birds. Order Passcrcs. Pigeons, Thrushe*,
Chan, in •>, GrnNln-aks, Tim k and Slcnder-Billed Small-
Birds. Nightingale, Taylor-Bird, Titmice, Swallows,
and Goatsuckers. Order Gallin*. Pheasants, Turkey,
Partridge, Dodo, Peacock. Ostrich. Cassowary.
Bustard. Order G rathe. Jabirus, Herons, Storks,
Bitterns. Ibis, Scarlet ditto, Egyptian ditto, Curlew.
Jacana. Trumpeter. Spoonbill. Snipes and Plo-
vers. Flamingo. Order Anseres. Swan. Supposed
song of. Black Swan. Pelican. Corvorant. Pen-
guins. Albatross. Tropic-Bird.
VOL. II.
LECTURE VII.
I.miuvan AMPHIBIA. General description of. Genus
Testudo or Tortoise, different species of. Genus
Rana or Frog, different species of. Genus Lacerta or
Lizard, different species of. Crocodiles, viz. Indian,
SYLLABUS.
Argo or Paper Nautilus. Description of the Linnsean
genus Nautilus, or Pearly Nautilus. Genera of Den-
talium, Serpula, Teredo, and Sabella. Bivalve Shells
exemplified. History of the Mytilus margaritiferus
or Mother of Pearl Shell, of Pearls, of the Pearl-
Fishery, and manufacture of artificial pearls. Genera
of Spondylus, Chama, and Pinna. Multivalve Shells
exemplified by the genus Lepas or Barnacle. History
of the Lepas anatifera, &c. Hatching of shell-ani-
mals, and growth of shells.
LECTURE XII.
Linnaean Vermes and Zoophytes. The Vermes or Worms
elucidated by a description of the genera of Tsenia,
Gordius, Filaria, &c. Genus Furia, with the history of
the Furia infernalis. Zoophytes or Plant-Animals.
Genus Hydra or Polype particularly described. Gene-
ral description of the Coral tribe, with the observations
of Marsigli, Peyssonel, Ellis, &c. Genera of Sertularia,
Tubularia, Flustra, Gorgoriia, Isis, and Madrepora.
Formation of coral rocks and islands in the Indian seas
by the different species of Madrepoe, &c. Animal-
cula Infusoria or Animalcules in fluids, general his-
tory of. Description of the genus Vorticella, and of
some of the chief species. Genus Cercaria, with the
particular description of Cercaria mutabilis. Genus
81 1 I \I1US.
Trichoda, with particular description of Trichoda Sol.
Genus Volvox, with particular description of Volvox
Globator or the Globe- Animal. Genus Vibrio, with
t)tion of the Vibrio Anguillula or Paste-Vibrio.
Genus Cyclidium. Genus Monas, containing the
smallot of all animals visible by the assistance of the
microscope.
The Vignette represents, in its natural size, an elegant species
of Humming-Bird, called the Trochilus furcatus or Smaller
Fork-Tailed Humming-Bird, seated on a sprig of the Ipomsca
coccinea.
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LECTURES,
LECTURE I.
JL HE study of Natural History at large, or in
all its branches, has of late been so much cultivated,
that it seems almost unnecessary to enforce its
utility by any particular recommendation. _Its
importance begins to be understood, and it is
generally acknowledged, that, exclusive of its
more consequential aims, it has the peculiar advan-
tage of uniting amusement with instruction, and
of impressing the mind with a train of the most
pleasing ideas while engaged in Contemplating tin
infinitely-varied forms exhibited in the fi< M d
Nature, and in tracing their gradations and con
LECT. I. B
2 LECTURE I.
nexions ; and we must readily allow that it is no
unimportant object to be able to secure to our-
selves some species of study, which in its pro-
gress may continue to afford a rational delight, and
in the pursuit of which there can be no fear of
soon exhausting the subject.
I shall here beg leave to introduce the opinion
of one of the greatest and most estimable cha-
racters that perhaps ever ornamented this or any
other nation. I mean the celebrated Ray, whose
dignified simplicity of language enforces with
peculiar energy the truth of his sentiment.
" We content ourselves, (says he) with a little
skill in philology, history, or antiquity; and we
neglect that which appears to me of much greater
moment : I mean the study of Nature, and the
works of Creation. I do not mean, (he adds,) to
derogate from or discommend those other studies ;
I only wish that they might not quite jostle out
and exclude this; and that men would be so equal
and civil as not to vilify or disparage in others
those studies they themselves are not conversant in,
No knowledge can be more pleasant to the soul
than this; none so satisfying, or that doth so feed
the mind; in comparison of which the study of
II.CTUREI. S
i.l phrases seemeth insipid and j- June; for
words lii-iii*; hut the images of things, to be given
up wholly to their >tudy, what is it but to verify
the folly of Pygmalion, to fall in love with a
statue, and neglect the reality! The treasures
of Nature are inexhaustible : there is enough tor
the most indefatigable industry, the happn-t op-
portunities, the most prolix and undisturbed \;i-
cancies."
Such appears to have been the opinion of Mr.
Ray.
I shall next observe that the celebrated poet
Gray was in a peculiar manner devoted to the
study of Natural History ; as appears from the
testimony of his friend Mr. Mason, who assures
us that Gray frequently felicitated himself on
having been early introduced to so delightful a,
science, and which improved in so remarkable u
manner the general tenor of his health and spirits.
I might also here mention, as a circumstance not
generally known, that Gray translated the Lin-
iiiran Genera or Characters of Insects into elegant
Latin hexameters, some specimens of which have
been preserved by his friends, though they were
never intended for publication.
4 LECTURE I.
Another exalted character, whose hours of
leisure from the official employments of his life
were devoted to this pursuit, was the learned and
accomplished Sir William Jones, whose works
bear ample testimony to the attention which
he paid to the history of the Productions of
Nature.
The mistakes which occasionally appear in the
works of various authors, even of the highest cele-
brity, arising from a want of accurate information
relative to the natural subjects of which they are
speaking, are numerous and striking; the epithets
by which many objects are distinguished, are, for
this reason, improperly chosen, and utterly incon-
sonant with the character of the things intended.
This is no where more strikingly illustrated than
in the august lines of Milton, in which the de-
scription of a sleeping whale is injured by an epi-
thet of all others least according with the nature
of the animal.
-" That sea beast
Leviathan, which God, of all his works
Created hugest that swim th' ocean stream.
Him haply slumb'ring on the Norway foam
The pilot of some small night-founder' d skiff,
JJXTL'RF. I. j
Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell,
With fixed anchor in his scaly rind,
Moore by bis tide under tbe lee, while night
Invests tbe sea, and u MJC J mom delays."
Hut none oftlic whale-tribe are furnished with
scales, or any tiling analogous to them. It must
be acknowledged, however, that this observation
may apjx ar a mere piece of hypercriticism, and
that Milton by the expression of scaly rind, might
only mean rough or scaly, in the same sense that
those epithets are often applied to the bark of a
tree, or any other irregular surface. There can
be little doubt, however, that real and proper scales
were intended by the poet, nor is it difficult to dis-
cover the particular circumstance which impressed
Milton with this erroneous idea, viz. a figure in the
works of Gesner, so injudiciously expressed as to ap-
pear on a cursory view, as if coated with large scales,
scales, with a vessel near it, and an inscription above
it, importing that sailors often mistake a whale
for an island, and thus endanger themselves by
attempting to anchor upon it. As the general
learning and extensive reading of our great poet
are so well known, it can hardly be doubted that
he was conversant with the writings of Gesner,
6 LECTURE L
whose work was then the great depository of na?
tural knowledge, and that the figure and descrip-
tion there given left a lasting impression on his
mind. It must be confessed also that the poet
was here deceived by the naturalist.
A modern writer, having occasion to allude to
the dormant state of the Butterfly and Moth tribe,
during their period of imperfection, has evidently
shewn that he supposed the animal to become a
chrysalis after having appeared in its complete or
flying state, and has thus entirely inverted or
reversed the real progress of the animal.
" Thus the gay Moth, by sun and vernal gales
Call'd forth to wander o'er the dewy vales,
From flower to flower, from sweet to sweet will stray,
Till, tir'd and satiate with her food and play,
Deep in the shades she builds her peaceful nest,
In lov'd seclusion pleas'd at length to rest :
There folds the wings that erst so widely bore j
Becomes a household Nymph, and seeks to range no more."
A curious example of ridiculous ignorance re-
lative to such subjects, might be taken from some
of the public papers for the month of July 1794,
in which we were informed that in the neighbour-
hood (I think) of Sheffield, were found (in the
-
K
y
I
I. 1
criber) " two strange ph:rnomen;i
-T< i ii, and covered
or r-lated over, il id exact eh- ^re-
senting shell-work: tin- I: tliese animals
wen :hat of a Lion, and upon the
slightest touch, it darted out two spears behind, of
the line.st scarlet colour, and at the same time one
before, which was white, and shaped like the paw
of a bear: they had each of them fourteen legs,
and on each side the back of these wonderful
( T< atures, was the representation of the animal
itself, in perfect white, which shone like silver."
It is extremely easy to all who are conversant
in the history of insects, to guess what these for-
midable monsters must have been : viz. a brace of
harmless Caterpillars, of a species, singular indeed
in appearance, but by no means very uncommon,
and which do, by a slight aggravation, in some
degree justify the description of the observer.
A few years ago, a description, (accomp;.
by a figure,) of one of the most common insects in
England, but in its first state, (in which it always
resides under water) was given, with much solem-
nity, in a periodical publication, (the Gen
Magazine) and was considered by its dcscribcr,
8 LECTURE I.
who, I believe, was the late Mr. Philip Thicknesse,
as a new, and till then unheard-of animal, of which
he believed himself to have been the first describer.
To a total ignorance of the real nature of ani-
mals (excusable in ancient times, but not so in mo-
dern) must be attributed the numerous histories of
showers of frogs and mice, and other animals ; the
raining of blood ; the change of certain Frogs into.
Fishes, and back again from Fishes to Frogs,
with many other particulars equally extravagant}
and from these and many other instances which
might be adduced, we may perceive what mistaken
notions may be adopted by those, who otherwise
well informed, happen to have paid little or no re-
gard to the general doctrines of Natural History.
Natural History at large, divides itself into what
are called the three Kingdoms of Nature ; viz. the
animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdom.
Of these the Zoological or animal kingdom is
what naturally engages our first attention, and
seems to claim a superiority over the rest. It
would be unnecessary to add, that Zoology com-
prizes the whole animal world, or all those beings
which are called by the name of Quadrupeds,
Birds, Amphibia, Fishes, Insects, Testaceous
LECTURE I. D
animal-, and Zoophytes, which latter are of very
various. f<»rm>, and arc allied by many resemblances
to the vegetable world.
In taking a survey of the animal world, we may
cither commence with the highest order of animals,
and gradually descend from our own species to the
minutest animalcules visible by the assistance of
the microscope; or from these minute points, as it
were, of existence, to Man himself, the chief of
Creation here helow.
I must observe, that it may be greatly doubted,
whether it be practicable to make out a continued
natural chain or series of animals, united through-
out by evidently connecting links; at least, all at-
tempts of that kind have hitherto failed; and the
animal world, and indeed all the productions of
Nature, seem rather connected by many points of
affinity on different sides, than by a regular chain
of gradation; so that, as the learned Dr. Pallas has
well observed,the face of nature may rather be said
to represent a reticulated or polygonal surface, than
to be disposed in a continued linear progression.
But though a perfectly natural chain or arrange-
ment of animals cannot be contrived, it is still ne-
cessary to form some kind of classification, in order
10 LECTURE T.
to keep together such tribes as most evidently re-
semble each other. Naturalists have therefore in-
vented several systems or distributions of animals;
formed, either from the general external appear-
ance, or from the structure of the principal in-
ternal organs.
The most ancient division of animals, (exclusive
of the slight sketches to be found in some parts of
the sacred writings,) is that of Aristotle, who divided
animals into viviparous or such as produce living
and perfectly-formed young, and into oviparous, or
such as produce eggs, from which the young are
afterwards excluded. This distinction of animals
was not conducted with perfect exactness, and
Aristotle himself was sensible that it was liable to
some exceptions, and that it contained certain inac-
curacies. It continued however to be in use, with
some modifications, till towards the decline of the
seventeenth century, when our famous Mr. Ray
formed a new classification of animals, founded
chiefly on the structure and nature of the heart
and lungs in the different tribes ; and the Linnaean
arrangement of the animal kingdom still acknow-
ledges that of Ray for its basis ; particularly with
respect to quadrupeds.
LECTURE I. 11
The great or gnu-mi Linn;van outline or ar-
rangemt nt of the animal world is thus distributed.
First, into such animals as have warm ml blood,
and a heart di\id<d into two ca\ it ies, or ventricles,
;ts anatomists term them. These animals consist
of Quadrupeds and Birds; the former being vi-
viparous, or producing living and ready-formed
voung, and the latter or birds being oviparous, or
producing eggs, from which the young are after*
wards excluded.
The next division consists of such animals as
have a heart with a single cavity or ventricle,
while the blood, though red, is of a far lower tern-
iture than in quadrupeds and birds; insomuch
that it is commonly said to be cold blood. These
animals consist of what Linnaeus calls Amphibia,
such as Tortoises, Frogs, Lizards, and Serpents,
and in the next place, of Fishes. The former of
these subdivisions, or the Frog, Tortoise, Lizard,
and Serpent tribes, have what Linnaeus terms ar-
bitrary lungs, or such as can suspend respiration
at pleasure, for a considerable time, without injury
to the animal. The latter tribe, or that of Fishes,
instead of lungs, is furnished with what are
12 LECTURE I.
commonly called gills, in which innumerable divi-
sions of blood-vessels are disposed in semicircular
ranges.
The third order or great division of animals
consists of such as Linnaeus supposes to have a heart
with a single cavity, and a cold whitish or nearly co-
lourless blood. These animals consist of Insects, and
of a very numerous and diversified tribe, called,
iu a large acceptation of the word, by the name
of Worms. The former of these tribes, or that of
Insects, is distinguished by the particular organs
called antennas, and resembling small horns ; while
the latter tribe, or that of Worms, is distinguished
by having tentacula or flexible feelers. Modern
observations seem to prove that the former of
these divisions, or Insects, have, in reality, no true
or regular circulation : this however is a point
which I confess I consider as by no means com-
pletely ascertained.
Since the establishment of the Linnaean arrange-
ment, so captivating appears to have been the
study of system- making, that numerous arrange-
ments have been attempted in different parts of
the animal kingdom; more particularly within a
I KCTURE I. 13
Ii in. iv li«)\\«-MT br nujcli doubted
\\li.thcr tin study of Natural History has been
greatly ad\an< ••• I by their institution.
It ^ ini|i"^;l)lc not to allow some degree of
just;. , • com plaints uttered on this subject by
an ingenious naturalist in a neighbouring nation,
\\lio thu.N expresses his sentiments.
By u hat fatality does it happen, that the beau-
tiful and elegant science of Natural History is be-
come an assemblage of systems, of methods, and
discussions of nomenclature, as dry and tedious as
they are idle and unnecessary? How can it hap-
pen that men of any sterling sense should spend
their time in endeavouring to reduce into geome-
trical divisions the beautiful gradations of Nature,
and to be the slaves to arbitrary and petty ar-
rangements, which rise and perish, like so many
mushrooms, and which appear to be of no oth«-r
t but to disgust and fatigue those who are
doomed to study them? When shall we see a stop
put to that inundation of new and barbarous words
and terms, which deform and disgrace almost all
our new works on Natural Hi-story, and which
threaten to reproduce the scholastic jargon of
14 LECTURE I.
ages of darkness ? A certain methodical arrange-
ment is indeed absolutely necessary in the science
of natural history; but it is by no means necessary
to obscure an easy and elegant study by the intro-
duction of innumerable harsh and ill-constructed
technical terms, and to sacrifice every grace and
elegance of language to the desire of torturing
Greek into bad French, and to substitute unin-
telligible awkwardness for elegant explanation.
It is certain, continues this author, that neither
Arnoldus de Villa Nova, nor Raymond Lully, or
any other among the old masters of the study of
Alchemy, ever introduced a diction more bar-
barous, or terms more repulsive, than some of our
modern managers of systematic Natural History.
I give this quotation as a proof of the ridicule
to which the spirit of minute arrangement, so
much admired among the lower order of natural-
ists, has of late unthinkingly exposed itself. I
hope, however, that the author had no intention
of glancing at the celebrated Monsieur Cuvier,
whose arrangement of the animal kingdom, not-
withstanding the unnecessary minuteness of some
of his divisions, must be allowed to possess a very
LECTURE I. 15
degree of iin-rit, ;m«l perhaps may he allowed
to be tin- mo-4 truly philosophic that ha- \ et l>een
p , it.
Monsieur Cuvicr di\ ides the whole animal world
into what he calls Vertebrated and IH.->TU '>rated
animals ; that is, Mich as are furnished with a back-
bom , divided into the joints called vertebrae, and
forming a case, or guard for the spinal marrow,
and into such as are destitute of this series of
bones, and are therefore Invertebrated animals.
His first class, viz. the Vertcbratcd animals, are
subdivided into such as have warm blood and a
heart with two cavities or ventricles, and into such
as have comparatively cold blood, and a heart with
one ventricle. In the first division then of Verte-
brated animals rank Quadrupeds and Birds, and in
the second, or such as have cold blood and a
single ventricle, rank the Linnajan Amphibia and
Fishes.
The second great class, consisting of the Iirccr-
tebratcd animals, or such as are destitute of the
.spine or back-bone, is divided into such as have a
system of blood-u >M Is for the purpose of circu-
lation, and Midi as have none.
The first of these divisions, or that consisting of
16 LECTURE I.
animals furnished with blood-vessels, contains the
major part of what Linnaeus calls Mollusca or
soft-bodied animals, and also all the Crustacea or
such as are furnished with a moderately hard or
crustaceous covering. In the second division of
Invertebrated animals, are contained those which
are supposed to be destitute of a regular system of
blood-vessels ; these animals are Insects and Zoo-
phytes ; Monsieur Cuvier not allowing a circu-
lation of the blood in insects, and in the animals
called Zoophytes, it has certainly never been
observed.
Such is the general outline of Monsieur Cu-
vier's Zoological System.
His institution and arrangement of the various
genera of animals, under each more particular
division of his system, is conducted with great
anatomical precision, and evinces the highest de-
gree of philosophical knowledge of animals ; but
the whole arrangement has a somewhat compli-
cated and forbidding appearance to a general
reader, and is of course less immediately attrac-
tive than the more simple arrangement of Lin-
naeus.
Animals are, in general, sufficiently and readily
MUSOIPULA
Jffpff Oct'iJLcndfn fi*AUj)nt tt GJicarsUt fii-,-t Strr.-f
I I « II RE f. 17
'shed fniin \
ill-stances in which we can Mippose a person in the
sounding tip in. Vet I
many indistinct approximations l>
and VCgi tabl.'s, • \« lilsive «»!' tin- r
petni^ link-. Tims tli« •!•«• an many
animals \\hirli . '"i-pid as tin- in.
part of vegetables: and a^ain, then ome
v. hich M em almost t-> trench upon tin-
prop !' animaN, l»y tlu-ir p« cnliar motion on
being suddenly irritated ; thus, tin- Diona.i Mu--
cipnla, or \'mn.N'- Fly-Trap, an American plant,
well known to all who are con\er>ant with the
M -it nee of Botany, i^ fnrnishod with leaves pos-
sessed of so strong a degree of irritability, as to
(online, by their Midden contraction, any -mall
animal which happens to alight upon them; and
the 1 1( (ly->arnm gyran-, an
the papilionaceous or pea-bloom tribe, >.
possess a kind of voluntary m'-ii'-n in the -mall
the ba-e of the la
I hoWe\er, the di-Un. 1
u animals and too strikin
admit of any hi ->it at ion, and it would be a mere
•<!' time, in the -ho: tu ouc prey
IT. I.
18 LECTURE I.
sent course of Lectures, to enter, with any degree
of minuteness, into the history of the possible
cases in which a doubt might be supposed to arise
between the two kingdoms, to which sucli parti-
cular subject should be supposed most properly to
belong.
The limits of animal and vegetable life are
generally allowed to concur or unite in those extra-
ordinary beings called Zoophytes, and above all
others in those Zoophytes called Polypes, of which
four different species have been discovered in our
own country, as well as in many other parts of Eu-
rope. They are small water animals, of a very
tender substance, and furnished at the upper part
with several long and slender arms, with which they
seize their prey : the body is of a lengthened and
tubular form, and the whole creature possesses, in.
a very high degree, the power of extending or
contracting itself at pleasure. It produces its
young principally by a species of vegetation ; cer-
tain small swellings or tubercles appearing at in-
tervals on different parts of its body, which, in
the space of a few days, become complete, and
resemble the parent animal in every respect ex-
cept that of size. When thus fully formed, they
LECTURE I. 19
drop off from the body of the parent animal, ami
attach themselves to any convenient substance: it
often happens that a Polype shall IK- loaded, not
only with a primary but a secondary offspring,
the young animals themselves, before their se-
paration from the parent, producing others in a
similar manner ; so that the whole may be com-
pared to a kind of genealogical tree. These crea-
tures are highly voracious, and possessing, as be-
fore observed, a very high degree of contractile
and extensile power, are capable of swallowing
other animals of far larger size than themselves}
the tubular body of the Polype enlarging in order
to receive them. The act of seizing their prey is
very sudden and violent, but their mode of swal-
lowing or absorbing it is very gradual. When a
Polype is cut into two or three pieces, each piece,
in the space of a few days, especially in warm
weather, becomes a perfectly complete animal, by
the reproduction of every part deficient. Thus, if
a Polype be cut into three pieces, the office of the
head or upper part is to produce a new extremity
or tail, with its sphincter-muscle; of the tail part
to produce a new head and arms; and of the
middle part to produce both extremes. It there-
20 LECTURE I.
fore cannot be doubted that the Polypes do really
constitute the connecting link between animal and
vegetable life.
The figures of the Polype, selected for our pre-
sent inspection, are from the work of the cele*
brated Roesel ; and represent with great elegance
and fidelity, the appearance of these extraordinary
animals, both in their natural size, and magnified
by the microscope. The species in these figures
of Roesel are the Green, the Brawn, and the
yellowish-Grey Polype.
These most curious and interesting animals were
first fully described by a Monsieur Trembley, of
Geneva, who, about the year 1730, happened to
discover them in searching after some small aqua-
tic plants. They had indeed been discovered long
before by the celebrated Leewenhoeck, who gave
a general description of the animal, and observed
that it multiplied by an apparent vegetation ; but
it was reserved for Monsieur Trembley to discover
and describe, in an ample and circumstantial man-
ner, all its extraordinary properties. Monsieur
Trembley happened first to observe the small green
Polype, or Hydra viridis, and being greatly sur-
prised at the appearance of a creature, which had •
the middle /uji't i ////////////>>/
LECTURE I. 21
sit once the aspect of a plant, and the motions of
mi animal, determined £o try the experiment of
cutting it in two, in order to ascertain its doubtful
nature; and was beyoiul measure astonished to
Find that instead of destroying it, hot li parts seemed
uninjured by the wound, and that, in a very i< u
days, each had reproduced every deficient organ,
and that each animal seized its prey, and moved
about as before.
This striking discovery, being announced, was
at first considered by many as a fable ; and it was
even contended, that this division of animal life
was in itself absolutely impossible upon the prin-
ciples of common sense, as well as of sound philo-
sophy: but, at length, the attention of philosophers
in every part of Europe being excited by the sin-
gularity of the circumstance, the animals were
every where sought after, and experiments made
by cutting them in every possible direction. Their
real nature was thus completely ascertained ; and,
from subsequent experiments, it was found, that
in reality many other tribes of the inferior aniinaK
were likewise possessed of the power of repro-
duction, though in a less striking degree ; and thus
a wide field of philosophical investigation was sud-
32 LECTURE I.
denly opened, which may be said to have consti-
tuted a new era in the sconce of Natural Historv.
In .warm weather so rapid is the multiplication
of the common Polype, that the descendants of a
single animal are supposed to amount to several
thousands in the course of a single summer.
An ingenious observer in our own country, soon
after the first account of Monsieur Trembley's dis-
coveries had been published, made the following
observations, which I shall give in his own words.
" A single Polype, say she, was put into a glass
by itself, on the 12th of July, with two intentions,
viz. first, that I might learn how long-lived the
creature is, and at what rate it produces branchers.
It is still alive in this present week of September ;
and goes on to produce at least five in a week,
one week with another. But, because this Polype
had the appearance of a young one on it when I
first set it apart, (which young one was separated
by falling off from the parent in three days' time,)
I was willing to make trial how long it would be
before a young Polype might be expected, pro-
vided the old one was without any appearance of a
bud, and was itself only of moderate growth. Ac-
cordingly I took such a one, which was a brancher
LECTURE I. tz
"from the first-mentioned animal, and put it into a
glass by itself' on the 23d of July, and in a w<
time it pr«>diuvd a young one, and since that time
produces at the rate before-mentioned, viz. fm in
4 week. Soon after, I sent to a friend well .skilled
in figures, to desire him to make a computation of
the number jv single Polype would produce in a
year's time, and on the moderate supposition, that,
(a week being allowed for every hrancher when
separated, before it begins to produce,) it be sup-
posed afterwards to produce one in three days.
But he informs me that there exists no rule by
which such computation can be made ; that it is in
itself extremely difficult, and that, after all, mis-
takes might arise in such a multitude of figures as
would be necessary ; but that he went so far as to
calculate the number of the second generation,
which amounted to more than eleven thousand.
AVhut then, says he, must be the amount of the
whole !"
The objections made at the time of the first dis-
covery of the extraordinary power of reproduction
in the Polype were chiefly these. If the animal
soul or life, said the objectors, be one indivisible
essence, all in all, and all in every part, how comes
it in this animal, to endure being divided several
24 LECTURE I.
times, and yet continue to exist and flourish?
Again, if animal identity consists in consciousness,
and if every living creature is sensible of pleasure
and pain, or in other words, has a consciousness,
which is generally thought a reasonable suppo-
sition; when the Polype is divided into several
parts, which all become perfect Polypes, where
shall we find the identity of the original animal ?
A letter dated from the University of Cam-
bridge, inserted in the Philosophical Transactions,
reasons thus on the subject.
The last news from Paris gives us something
very surprising; viz. that an animal called the
Polypus is of such a nature, that life is preserved
in it after it has been cut into several pieces ; so
that one animal seems by section to be immediate-
ly divided into two, or three, or more complete
animals, each separately enjoying life, and con-
tinuing to perform all the usual operations of its
species. Such an account would have been less;
regarded, had we not been informed that letters
avouching the reality of the fact had lately been,
communicated to the Royal Society, and that its
reality had also been confirmed by some of our
best observers.
Some of our friends, who are firmly attache^
I.I CTURK I. 25
to the general metaphysical notions v
Mrmerly Irani* (1, reason strongly against the pos-
.-ihility of &uch a f.iet , hut, as I have myself for-
merly confessed my distrust of tin- truth of some of
those principles, I .shall n<»w make no scruple of
acknowledging that I have already seen so many
.-.trance tilings in Nature, that I am become >
i ant ions in allinning what may, or what may not
pu»ibly be. The most common operations of
Nature- in the animal and vegetable world are all
in themselves astonishing, and nothing but daily
experience and constant observation makes us see
without amazement an animal produce another
of the same kind, or a tree blossom, and produce
leaves and fruit.
The same observation, and daily experience,
make it also familiar to us, that, besides the first
way of increasing vegetables from their respective
seeds, they are also increased by cuttings; and
every one knows that a twig of a willow, cut off,
and placed in the ground, does presently take root
and grow, and by degrees becomes as much a real
and perfect tree as the original one from which it
\\ as taken.
Here is then, in the vegetable kingdom, a fa-
miliar instance of the very example hitherto un-
26 LECTURE I.
known in the animal kingdom. The best philoso-«
phers have long ago observed very strong analo-
gies between these two classes of Beings, and the
moderns have every day found reason to extend
that analogy; and some have even talked of a scale
of Nature, in which, by an insensible transition, a
connexion is made from the most perfect of ani-
mals to the most imperfect of vegetables. Now in
such a scale who shall say, here animal life entirely
ends, and here the vegetable life begins ? or just
thus far, and no farther, one sort of operation goes,
and just tiere another quite different sort takes place ?
Or again, who will venture to say, Life in every
animal is a thing absolutely different from that
which we dignify by the same name in every vege-
table ? and might not a man even be excused if he
should modestly doubt whether vegetables may
not themselves be considered as a very low and im-
perfect tribe of animals, as animals might, in like
manner, be considered as a more perfect and
exalted kind of vegetables ?
At our next meeting I shall proceed to give a
general description of the different tribes of the
animal kingdom.
LECTURE II.
VV E have already seen that Linnaeus has ar-
ranged the whole animal world into three great
divisions; the first containing such animals as have
\\i\rm red blood, and a heart divided into two ca-
vities, or ventricles; the second containing ani-
mals with cold red blood, and a heart with one
cavity only; and the third consisting of animals
with pale or colourless cold blood, and a heart (as
Linnanis imagined) furnished with a single cavity.
The secondary or more particular Linnaean dis-
tribution of Animals is thrown into six divisions,
the first of which is entitled Mammalia, compre-
hending such animals as suckle their young, being
furnished \vitli proper organs for that purj>
The second division comprises Birds. The third
the Amphibia in the Linnaean sense of the word,
comprising the Lizard, Tortoise, Frog, and Ser-
£* LECTURE II.
pent tribes. The fourth division comprehends
Fishes; the fifth Insects, and the last Worms, which
latter term is to be received in a very extended
signification; comprising a great multitude of
Animals which, in common language, bear very
different titles.
With some occasional variations and transposi-
tions, the Linnasan distribution of animals will be
that by which we shall regulate our own survey of
the animal world ; and we shall, of course, begin
with Quadrupeds or Linnasan Mammalia. The
old and generally received English term Quadru-
ped, means, as every one knows, a four-footed
animal; and it is evident that it will apply to a
Lizard, a Tortoise, or a Frog, as well as to the
higher order of Quadrupeds, or such as are ge-
nerally called four-footed Beasts. It was therefore
absolutely necessary to fix upon some term which
should sufficiently distinguish the viviparous from
the oviparous quadrupeds; and Linnaeus according-
ly instituted the expressive term Mammalia, mean-
ing such animals as are furnished with organs for
suckling their young. This (except in one doubt-
ful instance) sufficiently distinguishes Quadrupeds
of tl>e higher order, or four-footed Beasts, from the
LECTLU1. II
-uadrupeds \\hich we shall find to !«•
more properly referred to the Linna-an Amphibia.
Aiiioni; the Mammalia \\e muM not In; .surprised
to find all the kinds of Whales arranged; it being
well known that those animals nun rish their young
by suckling tin in, in the manner of other Mamma-
lia; and that in the structure of their skeleton and
internal parts, they resemble quadrupeds and not
fishes; so that they may be considered as Mamma-
lia in the disguise of Fishes.
The doubtful instance which I just mentioned
.empt'itied in that most singular animal called
the Duckbill: a native of New-Holland, and dis-
covered but a very few years ago. In this animal
we have the appearance of an indistinct alliance to
very different tribes, since the bill or snout resem-
bles that of a Duck, and, upon the strictest •
ruination that has yet been made, no appeal .
of teats has been discovered in the female; so that.
if the animal be really destitute of those organs, it
cannot belong to the Linnxan Mammalia, the
•jrund or essential character of which consists in
being provided with them.
The general characters of the Mammalia at
large are the following.
30 LECTURE II.
The plan or fabric of their Skeleton, as well as
of their internal organs, bears a degree of general
resemblance to that of Man.
Their outward covering consists, in general, of
hair; but in some few, the animal matter or sub-
stance of the hair takes the form of distinct spines
or quills, as in the Porcupine and Hedgehog tribe,
and in a highly curious species of Ant-Eater dis-
covered in New Holland, and called the aculeated
Ant-Eater, or Porcupine Ant-Eater. In other
Mammalia the same substance is expanded into
the appearance of very strong and broad scales, as
in the quadrupeds of the genus Manis or Pangolin,
which from its general appearance has obtained the
improper title of the Scaly Lizard; though no other-
wise allied to the Lizards; being a genuine vivi-
parous quadruped, and consequently belonging to
the Linngsan Mammalia; and lastly, in one set of
Mammalia, called Armadillos, instead of hair,
which is only sparingly scattered over some parti-
cular parts of the animal, we meet with strong
bony zones or bands, forming a regular suit of
armour, and securing the animal from all common,
injuries.
The instruments of loco-motion, or feet, in the
LECTURE n. 91
Mammalia are generally four in immUr, and fur-
nished \\itli M j>nrate toes, or di\ MOM-, "ii.inlrd by
claws, more or less strong in tin- ditVerent tribe!*.
Jn vnin,-, as in the M«>nk«-y>, the l'« ••» II.IM- tin- ap-
pearanee of hands; aii<l the daws often b< .ir a
great resemblance to the human nails, for which
ration these animals have sometimes been called
Quadmmane$i as having four hands, rather than
four feet*. In some tribes of Mammalia the feet
are armed or shod with strong hoofs, either quite
entire, or cloven or divided. In such of the Mam-
malia as possess the power of flight, as in the Bat
tribe, the fore-feet are drawn out into slender fin-
gers of an immoderate length, and united by a
common membrane or web. In some of the
aquatic Mammalia, as the Seals, for instance, both
the fore and hind feet are very strongly or widely
webbed; and in the Whales, there are in reality
only two feet, the bones of which are inclosed irt
it are commonly-ailed the fins, while the lobes
of the tail in some degree answer the purpose of a
pair of hind-feet, but consist merely of strong
• The celebrated Cuvier in particular has adopted this name,
which indeed bat often been applied to such animal* by many
prior writer*.
32 LECTURE II.
muscles and tendons without any internal joints or
bones.
The arms, or offensive and defensive weapons
of the Mammalia, besides the claws and teeth,
(which will be afterwards particularized,) are prin-
cipally the horns; inserted in various directions,
and on different parts in the different tribes. The
horns are either perennial or annual. In the Rhi-
noceros the horn is perennial, and situated on the
top of the nose. In the Deer tribe the horns are
annual, branched, covered while young, with a soft
villous skin or coat; they grow from the tip, and
become very solid and strong at their full size. In
the Ox tribe, as well as in the Sheep and Goat, they
are hollow, mounted on a bony core, and grow
from the base. Besides the assistance which they
derive from horns and claws, the Mammalia have
many other modes of defence, which they occa-
sionally exert; and sometimes even deter their
enemies by their voice or their scent, of which we
have many curious examples in the history of par-
ticular animals.
The Teeth in Quadrupeds or Mammalia are of
three kinds. [ . Front or Cutting-Teeth, of a broad,
compressed structure, designed for cutting their ,
I.I < Tl KK II. 33
lengthen. (I, or canin
tu.ilej on caeh side the t nil niur-t< «'tli, and ealeti-
l.it< -I tor t, .1 I di\ idini; tin- lo. i« I; and l.t -llv ,
(mnders, \sith broad, angular tops, for c«mmi-
iiuting or grinding the loud. They are MM:
in the human >ubj« ( l, on ( a< h side tin \ja\\v The
teeth afford a principal < liara< h r in forming the
trilx ncra, or piirtirular setsof Quadrnp<
their distribution dilfcring greatly in the different
kinds. In >oinr tin: canine tc-cth arc wanting; in
other- tli, front teeth; and some few are totally
it nte of any teeth.
The tail in Quadrupeds is formed by a con-
tinuation of the vertebra; or joints of the back-boncj
and i.s in some of great length, and covered with
long hair: in others very short; and in >om«.
few entirely wanting, as in the real or genuine
Api
The .Senses of the Mammalia consist, as in
Man, of the orgaJM ot'>ifht, Uearinif, ta-tin^, and
Miidling, and the power of feeling; and in many of
animals the organs are of greater acutein^
or sensibility than in Man. The K\es, m some
Quadrupeds, are furni>hcd with what is call< d a
iiietitatinmnembrane, or wini^traiiNpan-iit -.:uard.
LKCT. II. »
34 LECTURE IL
situated beneath the eyelids, and which can at
pleasure be drawn over the ball of the eye for its
farther defence. The nose or organ of smelling is
more or less compressed and lengthened. In the
Elephant it is extended in a most wonderful man-
ner into a long and tubular proboscis or trunk, at
the tip of which are placed the nostrils. The
tongue in Quadrupeds is usually of a flattened and
lengthened shape; sometimes, as in the Cat or
Lion-tribe, beset on its upper surface, with small,
reversed spines. In some few, as in the Ant-
Eaters, it is of a cylindric shape, and lengthened
into the form of a worm, and is extensile at the
pleasure of the animal.
The Teats or Mammae are found in all these
animals, and, as before observed, give rise to the
Linnaean title of the whole class.
After this general description of the Mammalia,
we may proceed to take a slight view of the prin-
cipal tribes or orders, and their most remarkable
genera and species.
Modern Naturalists have disagreed with respect
to the particular methods or distributions into
which they have arranged Quadrupeds. The cele-
brated Count de Buffon entirely neglected all me-
LECTUBE II. S5
thod or systc m, Diving his elegant, hut too diffuse
di -c -i -iptinn* without any regular order t»f <i
but ion; and having begun his natural history of
Qu.ulnijx tls in this manner, lie chose to continue
it through tin- \\holi- of his \i»lumiitou«, work, ex-
cept in a few instances, in which he seems to I
found the necessity of being systematic even in
spite of himself. Not contented with this general
neglect of all arrangement in his history of Qua-
drupeds, Bufibn seems to have taken a pleasure in
endeavouring to depreciate the merit of systematic
arrangement in general, and more particularly
that of Linnaeus. Linnaeus, however, appears to
have been fully conscious of his own superiority,
and to have understood the policy as well as the
dignity of literature too well, to exalt into cele-
brity the petulant remarks of Buffon by conde-
scending to answer them. He even carefully ab-
st ained from mentioning that author; not a sh
quotation from the work of Burton making its ap-
ance in the whole course of the twelfth edition
of the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus. A cl»
which is very properly remedied in the enlarged
edition of that work by Dr. Gmelin.
The whole class of Mammalia is divided bv
36 LECTURE II.
Linnaeus into seven orders. The first of these
orders is entitled Primates, as containing the chiefs
of the Creation. Its characters are, four front or
cutting teeth above and below ; and one canine or
sharpened tooth on each side these. The feet are
formed with a resemblance of handsy and the nails
are more or less ovate in shape. Most of the
order feed chiefly on vegetable substances. In
a merely zoological view, the Human kind stands
at the head of this order, forming the Linnaean
genus Homo. Of the human species it can only
be necessary here to observe, that it is strongly
allied in the general structure of the body to a
race of animals by no means calculated for flatter-
ing us by the resemblance.
The leading characters of the genus Simia,
comprehending the whole race of Apes, Baboons,
and Monkeys, are, that the teeth have the same
disposition and general form as the Human teeth ;
i. e. that there are four flattish front teeth both
above and below, a sharpened or canine tooth at
some distance on each side these, and several
grinders beyond : the feet also have a general re-
semblance to hands, and in most species are fur-
nished with nails rather than claws.
4
fBI-, GTED
«&><? t>ct'jJ.otuton. fubtykiJ tf fcXcarsicr ftect Street.
LECTUKK II.
This numerous race, con^tin^ of the dill< r< lit
kiiul> of A|)« Sj Bui ...... is ami Monkcy>, lias in all
ages extorted from tin- philosopher and the mo-
ralist, sentences expressive either o1' complaint or
admiration.
The < i i IK- tribe, or the Orati Otan, has
been often studiously held up as nut. only making
ircr approach to I ral figure of Man-
kind than any other animal, hut even a> pos- ->iii^
a di intellect. superior to the rest of the
animal world ; and a variety of exaggerated descrip-
tions might be cited from those who have given
its natural histor\. Tu o very distinct s]>ecies of
Oran Otan are known: the one a native of Africa,
and of a Mack colour; the other a native of the
East Indies, and of a reddish or chesnut colour.
It is to thexr that most of the popular tales relate.
But the two species, distiw
till lately confounded by most authors, and among
others by Linna'us, under the title of Sinn'ti Sa-
fi/rns. The sji liich makes the nearest ap-
proach to the human figure, is the chesnut-coloured
or reddish Oran Otan, well represented in the
\\-itrks of Vosmaer and Audebert. It i^ also
injured by Fxl wards. The general fault of the
38 LECTURE II.
common figures of these animals is, that the
artists represent the mouth as if furnished with
human lips.
The Black Oran Otan, which, as before observed,
is a native of Africa, has been long ago very
elegantly figured in the celebrated work of Dr.
Tyson. It is somewhat less strikingly allied to
the human figure than the former animal, the face
being rather more prominent. Like the former,
it has hitherto been brought to Europe in a young
or unadvanced state, and its height has hardly
ever exceeded that of two feet ; but it appears
probable that both species at their full length may
arrive at a size not far inferior to the human sta-
ture, and indeed the black species, if we may rely
on the accounts of some travellers, has been known
to surpass that height.
The manners of both these animals, in a state
of captivity, are gentle, and void of that disgusting
ferocity so remarkable in many of the large ani-
mals of the Genus Simia. Their imitations of
human actions, and the feats of dexterity for which
they have been celebrated, have been so often re-
peated in various works of natural history, that
they must be familiarly known to all persons of
>-,;/, . , . ;
BLACK ORAW-O TAT? .
I 1 ( Tt III II. 39
retd. M! it must l>r quite Unix < . -sary to re-
tlicm to ;ui audit-nee like the pr«-.s« nt. Those
\\ln» max x\i-h t«» « their history m<>r< mi-
nutely, must he referred to tlir works of Hullon,
t'amper, VOSIII.M rt Daiilit-ntoii, and OIXHT.
Coiuinccd 1»\ the ln:iii'.:«'Hs
latter enquirer^, ivluti\< U> the aii:ifon.
thi - Hii-ulai- animal-, \ve >hall find tliat ther-
ntial ditTen n their l>odilv
structure and that of the human race ; and .shall
readily dismiss all apprehensions of being too
!y allied to animals, which ha\e, l»y unin-
iornied philosophers, been held up a-^ the rivals
of Mankind.
From the ob>erva;ions of Camper and Cu
evident tliat these animals are in reality
dilated for running and climbing in the manner of
mo-t other quadntptds, and not for walking up-
right, as they are generally r ted. It i<
however true, that they can ir liily a-um«
that po>ition than most other quadrupeds, and
may no doubt ha\e been somctimo M m in Mieh
a posture in their native woods. Like the r« M d
the g'-nuine Ape<, tin- Oran Otans are perfectly
d« stitnte of a tail.
40 LECTUKE II.
The manner of both the species of Oran Otan,
viz. the black and the chesnut-coloured, are repre-
sented as extremely gentle when in a state of cap-
tivity. Dr. Tyson, who about the close of the
17th century gave a description of a young Oran
Otan of the black species, assures us that it was-
(to use his own expressions) " the most gentle and
loving creature that could be. Those on ship-
board that h° knew, he would embrace with the
greatest tenderness, and, as I was informed, al-
though there were other Monkies on board, yet
it was observed that he would never associate,
and, as if nothing akin to them, would always
avoid their company."
Mr. Vosmaer's account of the manners of a
chesnut-coloured Oran Otan, brought into Holland
vin the year 1776, and presented to the Prince
of Orange's Menagerie, is so curious, that I shall
repeat it from his accurate publication on that
subject.
This animal, says Mr. Vosmaer, was in height
about two Rhenish feet and a half. It shewed no
symptoms of fierceness or malignity, and was
even of a melancholy appearance. It was fond of
being in company, and shewed a preference to
• "IT Hi: II. 41
\\lio took ilai! \vhieh it -*•• int (I
jo !.<• \rry ^ •iisibl,.. Oft, ii, v, !,' ii ill ,1, )t
would tlirov. "ii tin Around ;is if in despair,
Mttering -lamentable cries. I k p< T lia\in^ 1
accn sometimes to sit near it on tin- ground,
• •Hid take tin hay of its bed, and -pr< ad it in
tin- form of a cushion or a
moiistration invite i<> kc^p. r to Mt \\ith it. It-,
usual manner of \\alkii. on all lours, but it
eonld id.M> \\alk on i»» two hind feet. One inorn-
ini; it ur"t unchained, and we beheld it, with won-
derful ability, ascend the Ix anis and rafters of the
building: it was not without .xoine trou!>le that it
taken, and we then remarked the prodigious
strength of the animal; the a.v>istancc of four men
beinir necessaiy, in order to hold it in such a man-
as to Ix properly secured. During its state
of liberty, it hud, among other things, taken the
cork from a bottle of Malaga wine, which it drank
t<> the la-t drop, and had set the bottle in i^ place
n. Wlu-n presented witfj .strawberries on a
plate, of which it was extremely fond, it was \, r\-
umutiii^ to Bee it take them up one by one with
a fork, and put them into its mouth. Its common
drink was water, but it also willingly drank all
42 LECTURE II.
sorts of wine, but preferred Malaga. After eating,
it always wiped its mouth, and when presented
with a toothpick, always used it in a proper man-
ner. This animal lived seven months in Holland,
and was brought from the island of Borneo.
Two other very remarkable species of Ape are
those called the long-armed Apes, or Gibbons. One
of these is of a black colour, with the arms of such
a length, that the tips of the fingers touch the
ground when the animal stands upright. It is a
native of India, and grows to the height of about
three feet. It is remarkable for having been once
placed by Linna3us, in one of the earlier editions
of the Systema Nature, under the genus Homo,
having been considered at that time as being still
more nearly related to the Human race than even
the Gran Otan. It was the Simla Lar of Linnssus,
and is finely represented in Miller's Miscellaneous
plates of Natural history*. The other species of
Gibbon, or long-armed Ape, differs from the pre-
* But besides this animal, Linnaeus, in 8orae editions of the
Systema Naturae, once introduced a species under the name of
flw/;r> Nocturne, which was evidently no other than the Oran
Otan, indistinctly described, with various circumstances of aggra-
vation, from certain voyages and travels.
7
>>!.•. .MAIXRTAN
DOG-FACEUD BABOON'.
fuklifh'd. i>* OJUarrlyfUtt ftr-cet.
i i CT! IM II. 43
ceding in l»cinu; entirely \\hile, except tin- face
ami hands : it / It of And. !
(){' this annual, an admira' imci) exists in
tin- I 11 Miis.-nm, and i-, well repres-
th«' M (-(Mill number <>!' the \\i.rk entitled Museum
rinmnn. It i» im|><>-Ml.lr ; tlic
aniin;:!, witlioir with tl pe-
culiar apprarance \vhidi i: :nl'lance
to the luiniau figure giv« > it.
coininon !' \ .nid tho smaller
i \ «>r Pvjj:niy Apo, arc too w< 11 known to re-
(juire partieula. uppo-rd by
Mr. Pennant t<> \\ , \\\>- I'x.^my of tho an-
cier/ \vith
the Crai
Siniia •
(•• in
u ith 1- ti^theiv like
; \ miiM -tilar bodies, and tails of rl
ths in the different . One of the in.»>t
irkahle is the Simia Ijamadryas of Linnaeus,
or (ir« v li.ihooii. It is of an ( le-ant »n-y colour,
with the hair thickly mottled or freckled with mi-
nut-- dusky \ :t is ])articn'
diitingaished by th- ->ive length and fulnesi
44 LECTURE II.
of the hair on each side the head, which flows over
the shoulders in such a manner as to form a kind
of mantle. It is a native of many parts of Africa,
and, like most other Baboons, is of a ferocious dis-
position. In a state of nature it feeds entirely on
fruits and grain ; and is said to commit great ha-
voc in plantations of various kinds. This Baboon
\vas one of the sacred animals of the ancient Egyp-
tians, and frequently appears among the hierogly-
phics inscribed on the ancient sarcophagi and
obelisks of that country. It is also one of those
species which are furnished with a tail of moderate
length.!?
Among the Baboons with very short tails, the
most remarkable is the S. Mormon, or variegated
Baboon; finely represented in the first, number of
the Museum Leeerianum. It is of an olive-brown
colour, with a •)' yellow, and thickly be-
sprinkled with small black specks. The whole
length of the nose, in the full-grown animal, is of
a vivid red, and the checks of a bright blue, marked
on each side b. il deep furrows: round the
lower part of the body, the skin is of a beautiful
changeable violet-colour, shaded with red. Like
the former, it is a native of various parts of Africa.
8
VAHIKC-AT F i> BABOON .
/>, J fc. G. K.>mvln flfti Strttt.
x iT
MONKEY
oS Oct^JLonJan fuMi/hH fy G&arslcr Fleet Street.
II. 45
Tin i . >cmhlin
,il in ha\iii«; tin- 1
l»rill: ,'.d. 1 Lin-
n.i i: iigMbLas ; tj ol the
f<»rm< r, hut Iml;. <ii^' mil.
Am.
\\ ith \» ry h>i / nunikry, or
S. Su/nri! ij)l(\
[ts col nr i- a <larl. !i tin- t:
- of llu- body and i :inhs \\i
the tail lini;;- ami I/'.
I must not - ne Mon-
. particularly li, !irni>h<<l
•\\ith uhat Lim iN a p
part be; (1, as t- > the JH»\\«T
of stron at plra>Miv,
and \\n- j)in
h hand : . in such
mm, '--arc, a::
'I'o i '.-, ith
the
IS, I m'
Schreber,
f.ll, < t« (I all
46 LECTURE II.
scribed. Several good figures may also be found
in the magnificent work of Audebert, though many
bad ones may also be there found. It may be
added, that from indistinct or transient views of
some of the larger kind of Apes and Baboons,
must have originated the ancient idea of Satyrs,
as the smaller kind of Apes gave rise to that of
Pygmies.
The next natural genus, or assortment of the
Order Primates, is that of Lemur or Macauco.
It consists of a set of animals, allied to the mon-
keys in some degree, but of a much more elegant
appearance.
The particular character of the genus Lemur
consists in tlie disposition of the teeth, which re-
semble those of Monkeys, but the lower front teeth
are stretched out or forwards ; and the canine
teeth are placed close to them. As a secondary
character, it maybe observed,, that the feet are
formed like hands, and that the index or second
finder of the hind feet is often furnished with
o
a sharp lengthened claw. The genus Lemur,
like that of Simla, feeds chiefly on vegetables;
though some species are also observed to be carni-
vorous.
JO
MACAPCO
• LEMF
iff 08 l>cti.£oiuk>n fuhli/Jni (n> (,' hcwslev F&ef Street.
LF< T\ RE II. 47
•tally 1 1 of a
. uliili- ' that p.
Of the taillr-s kiml. ! uiir "la:
Slow I.' • Indian Nand>,
and particularly of (Y\lon. This animal is ex-
v slow in all its motion
dun: from th
ii .ailed tin ( Noth,
though not at all allied in any other r<->peet to the.
Sloth- properly so called, or tin- Bradypn- tril>e.
Another and sinnewhal smaller >pecies of Lemur,
\vhich h. •nndi d \\ itli th« IMIHK r.
i> the slender-limbed L«-mur: it . 'ntcofa
tail, and i- di>tin^ni-hed hy ti. sl6B»
ileriK-.N' of its limbs. It U -aid to !.•• naturalh
tht r a (jnick and lively animal ti A in its
motions.
A -lailt-il of L« mur, Ihr
inoxt elegant is ih-- I.emnr Cattaof Liniuvn-, or
,!i aniie
and a ] >low Lemur in iti
maniM-r- ; I-
leaping uith |" i . It i>
often l»;-oi!ulit over to !
•.vn Ma-
48 LECTURE II.
cauco, differs in being of a brown colour without
variegation ; in some, rufous on the breast, and
white beneath.
The two genera of Simla and Lemur may be
said to constitute the real or proper Primates :
Linnasus, however, as is well known, places in this
order the genus Vespertilio or Bat j an association
which at first appears incongruous, but which is
justified by a consideration of many particulars in
the structure of those animals ; though not appa-
rent at first view; nor will the transition from the
genus Lemur to Vespertilio appear too abrupt, if we
consider, that in the Linnaean genus LEMUR once
stood a very curious animal, allied in many points
to the rest of that tribe, but so different in others,
that it is now, by the common consent of Zoolo-
gists, removed from it, and allowed to constitute
a distinct genus. It is the Colngo, formerly called
the Plying Lemur ; the Galeopithecus of Pallas,
a large animal, measuring about three feet in
length, or from head to the extremity of the tail,
and is furnished with expanded lateral membranes,
ul.cn fully extended, measuring nearly as much:
these membranes are not naked, as in the bats,
•but covered with a furry skin, like the rest of the
( ' OX.TTGO or [' ! A'TS" G L
f/fff Strret .
i RK II. 49
, rind M ;K liiii'.- to tin- f« < t tli« in
continued from the hind-feet to the tip of th«- tail,
\\hich is included iiith- kin*. This curious
quadruped, \\hich lias often hem iudM in< tlv de-
serihetl |>y Indian travellers, under the title of the
:'g Cat, \- a native .,f i. Indian inlands,
where it lives in the manner uf the IM nu> Lemur,
but flutter-* about during tin- night in the manner
of a bat. Its general eolour is grey, with a slight
of reddish brown. Specimens are figured in
the work of Audebert, from the museum of the
Prince of Orange. That figured in tin- work of
Mr. Peniuin: ian museum. This
animal therefore may, at 1 ad us, hy a
kind of natural transition, to the genus V< >jr rtilio
or Bat.
Linna-us has been sonv i ely cen>
for placing the Hats in tl. tribe with the
Primal. iich, on a < view, th
so little alii* d. A> it is certain. ho\..-ver, that we
cannot form a fairly eontn •< t< d chain of the animal
world, these seemingly abrupt transitions are but
* Its particular characters are : no front-u-i-th in the upper-jaw;
but in the lower six broad, short, and distinct or separate teeth,
deeply notched or pectinated on the tips.
1ECT. II. i
50 LECTURE II.
of small consequence in an arrangement of Qua-
drupeds. I may add., in the words of an inge-
nious French writer, " so easy is it for a person con-
versant in subjects of this nature to ring changes,
as it were, on the animal world, that a new system
of Quadrupeds might be composed in less than
half an hour."
Without enquiring, therefore, whether the Lin-
nasan arrangement be in all points the best and
most natural, it may perhaps, with some variations,
be considered as the most convenient.
The genus Vespertilio, or Bat, is characterized
by having, in general, small, upright, numerous,
sharp-pointed teeth; and the fingers or divisions
of the fore-feet are stretched out to a great length,
and connected by a thin, naked membrane, giving
the animal the power of flight. With respect to
the teeth, however, in this genus, I must observe
that they differ so much in the different kinds or spe-
cies, that several distinct genera might be formed,
instead of one, if an exact regard were paid to the
particular disposition of the teeth in the various
tribes. Some of the French naturalists have pur-
sued this plan, and have instituted several genera
from the single Limuuun genus Vespertilio.
EAT in tivo attitudes
1808 Oct'j. London fuhti/h'd b\- GEcarf/fr Ftrcr Street.
LECTURE II. 51
curiou^ .structure "I the wings m tin- Bat
tribe cannot I"- contemplated \\ithoiit admir.c
so forilK 'I OS to |M- capable, from tll'-il- I
, of In-ill -4 ..'iii-
ini r. ill!.- \\ rink! t«i lie in
\\hcn tin- auiin.i- HI;! to !. :ied into
a v. ut.
union Bats of our own country, lio\v-
iiy curious, sink into insignificant oi.jeets
compan (1 to the enormous species found in some
parts of India, Africa, and South America. Of
tln-sr the chid' is a species, lo, -rated IP
the name of tlie Vamp\ re Bat: it is the \Y-
tilio V*auip\rus of LinnaMis, and n >rdinary
hi>t<>ry, if true, may \\i-Il l»e said to d
ticular attention. The body of this animal is
tuice the >ixe of a squirrel, or even larger, and
the extent of the win^s often measures at
fl\ e fe< t * : I lie Colour of the |MM|\ I- .1 dusk} l»ro\\n,
the head, neck, and should, -i > of a redi \ n :
the \\in. k, as in the e.Mmnou l.,it. '1'his
-i' nt il
r Hans Sloane, xi appears by his catalogue*, pr
the British Museum, was in po^cssion • measuring
•even feet. This is the largest I ever remember to have be.;
and was brought from Sumatra.
52 LECTURE II.
is pretended that it has the power of inserting the
tip of its tongue so dexterously into the vein of a
sleeping person, as to draw away a considerable
quantity of blood, without waking the patient ;
all the while fanning with its wings, and agitating
the air, in those hot climates, in so pleasing a
manner, as to fling the sufferer into a still sounder
sleep. It is therefore said to be unsafe for any
person either to sleep in the open air, in regions
frequented by these animals, or to sleep in a
chamber with an open window. The cattle in
many parts of South America are said to be often
destroyed by these bats. The tongue of the Van>
pyre bat, when accurately examined, is found to
be covered with very numerous, small, sharp
prickles ; but, except these, as the Count de Buffon
observes, there seems to be nothing very par-
ticular in its structure, which can enable the
animal to exert this singular power of bleeding
without causing pain. It is, however, on account
of this quality that Linnxus has denominated the
species Vespertilio Vampyrus ; but as he has
given no explanation of the name, it is probable
that the reason may not be generally known. A
Vampyre is an imaginary monster, or spirit, sup-
posed to suck the blood of sleeping persons. It
LECTURE II 53
also alludes to one of tin m<-t .il.>urd and de-
grading superstition* tliat «-\er entered the liuman
niind. Ahotit tin- year 1732, an idea prevailed in
some parts of Poland an<l HIM. tun
human bodies, after interment, became possessed
of a power of extracting or absorbing blood from
those \vli-i urn so unfortunate as to pass over, or
stand near their gra\es: such bodies were said to
In- possessed by Vampyres, and in order to put a
stop to their pernicious power, it was supposed
necessary to disinter them, and wound them with
a sword. Astonishing as this folly may appear, it
is yet more astonishing to find that a great many
learned treatises were written on the subject, and
tint while some endeavoured to combat the ab-
surdity upon all the principles of sound philosoplu ,
others defended it, from what they called un-
doubted facts. In the Bibliotheca Anatomica of
the learned Mailer may be found a list of m<
the publications on this .subject, and uh<
read.s that entertaining work of the late Lord
Orford, entitled Reminiscences*, will be fully «
* In this work we are informed by his lordship, that a very
•xalted personage, in the time of his father, was perfectly coo-
54 LECTURE II.
vinced that this superstition was by no means con-
fined to the vulgar. We see, therefore, the pro-
priety of the Linnaean name Vampyre or Blood-
Sucker applied to this kind of Bat.
It is also to be observed, that the propensity
to sucking the blood of animals is not in reality
confined to the Vampyre bats, but is practised by
many other species; and even the common bats
of Europe are said to possess a similar faculty.
Some of the large animals of this genus are well
represented in the superb work of Seba, entitled
Thesaurus rerum Naturalium, and are repeated,
on a smaller scale, in Schreber's work on the
Mammalia.
Bats are animals that lie torpid during the
winter months; sometimes concealing themselves
singly in any convenient cavity, and sometimes
hanging together in clusters under rocks, in ca-
verns, and sheltered places. When thus taken,
in a torpid state, the circulation of the blood is
not to be perceived by the microscope in the
vessels of the membrane of the wings ; but on the
vinced of the existence of these beings, and expressed high dis-
pleasure against Sir Robert Walpole for speaking irreverently of
Vampyrcs.
1 1 ( 1 1 RI: ir. 55
application of a certain d< gree of heat, the animal
:rom its torpor, and the ci
lation of the blood becomes visible.
Tin- general appearance of tlio Bat, tog»
with 11^ ii'tctunial flight, must be confessed to
lea of something hideous and dismal ;
and for tins reason the ancients conscc:;tt< d it to
i pine, and supposed it to be one of the inha-
itt of her dusky regions : and it cannot fail
to occur to the recollection of every one, that
painters, in their representations of ilend> and
demons, usually exhibit them with the leathern
\\ in'^s of the Bat. It is also equally evident, that
the fabulous Harpies of the ancients must I
, nated from a similar source; the larger I
of India and Africa, by a little poetical exagi:
tion of their manners, answering extremely well
to the general description of thus, monsters.
I know not whether it may he worth while to
mention the cel< Ic-ated experiments of Spallan-
ya:ii, n Hurt ini: a supposed additional x-nse or
;ry in Hats, enabling them, when depm-
siu;ht, to avoid any obstacles as readily as v.
they retained their power of MMUM. These expe-
riments are cruel, and pi -r baps do not lead U
56 LECTURE II.
any very important discoveries in the animal ceco-
nomy: nevertheless, that I may not seem entirely
to neglect a phenomenon which has been thought
worthy of attention by several eminent experi-
mentalists, I shall here give a short abstract of
Spallanzani's observations.
Having observed that Bats would fly in the
most dusky chambers with precision, and not even
touch the walls, he found them equally exact in
their motions when the eyes were closely covered :
and at length he destroyed the eyes, and covered
the socket with leather ; and even in this state the
animal continued to fly with the same precision as
before; avoiding the walls, and cautiously sus-
pending its flight in seeking where to perch. It
even flies out at a door without touching the archi-
traves. The Abbe repeated his experiments on
several species of Bats; and with the same suc-
cess. These experiments were repeated by Vas-
salli at Turin, by Rossi at Pisa, Spadon at Bologna,
and Jurin at Geneva. Spallanzani's arguments for
supposing that in these instances no other sense
can supply the place of sight, are the following.
" Touch cannot, in this case, supply the place
of sigh', because an animal covered with hair
CTURE II. 51
Cannot be supposed to have that sense very deli-
. In fly ing tin-on- !i tin- mid. Ik- of a narrow
passage which timnd at n-Jit ail"!. >, the Bali
regularly bent their flight at the curvature, though
two f it distant from tin- nails. They discovered
r their retreat ; found a : j>lace on
thr cornice] a\<.i«led the branches of trees sus-
j» iidcd iii a room; ll«-\v thruugh threads hung
• iiilicularly from the ceiling, without touching
them, though they were scarcely at a greater
distance from each other than that of t!
tended \\mur-s and \\hrn the threads were brought
IT, th« y contracted their wings to pass through
them. They equally avoided every obstacle,
though the whole head was covered with a varnish
madr of Sund.iiach dissolved in spirit of wine.
" The ear could not have discovered a cor-
nice, or the threads ; this sense therefore docs not
compensate the want of vision. Besides, Bats
fly equally well when the ear is most carefully
red. The smell might possibly a»ist them;
for when the nose was stopped, they breathed
\\ith dilliculty, and soon fell. While they did lly.
h«»weur, they avoided obstacles very well; and
the smell could scan : in dis-
60 LECTURE II.
The genus Bradypus or Sloth is highly remark-
able. It consists of but very few species, of which
the most curious is the three-toed Sloth, or Brady-
pus tridactylus of Linnaeus. This quadruped is a
native of the hotter parts of South America, where
it resides on trees, feeding on the foliage and fruit.
It is of all quadrupeds the slowest in its motions,
appearing even to move with difficulty, and
never exerting its progressive powers, except
when urged by a want of food. Before the dis-
covery of the western hemisphere, the common
Tortoise seems to have been considered as the
established type of tardiness; but the three-toed
Sloth is a much more striking example of languid
motion and habitual inactivity. The early ac-
counts, however, of this extraordinary animal seem
to have been given with a considerable degree of
exaggeration; it having been at first pretended,
that the creature could scarcely advance to the
distance of a stone's throw in less than fifteen
days: that it required eight or nine minutes, in
order to move one foot to the distance of three
inches. The general appearance of the Sloth is
extremely uncouth: its size is that of a smallish
LECTURE II. «1
I thr l><>cly is of a thick shape, the fore-legs very
; the hind' liorter: the feet are vn-y
small, hut they are each armed uith three most
>sively strong and large claws, of a slightly
curved form, and sharp-pointed: the- head i^ Miiall:
t, \vith a rounded or blunt Miout : the
II, black, and round: the ears flat, round-
ed, lying (lose to the head, and not ill resembling
• of Monkeys. The general colour of the
animal is a greyish brown, and the hair is extreme-
ly coarse, moderately long, and very thickly covers
the whole body and limbs. A remarkable character
as to colour in this animal is a broad patch on the
upper part of the back of a reddish or ycllou isli
brown, marked on each side by several black
spots, and down the middle by a \eiy COO
cuous long black stripe. In the young animals
this stripe is but very obscurely, if at all, visible.
The I^adiiiL; or specific character of the animal
in all tin- ' sg furnished with three
claws; which affords an ea>\ and n a«K ;
distinction between this species and th< / , >-toctl
Sloth or Bradypus didact \lus-, which is of .similar
and COnsid< i-ibly alli< d to it in form, bir
62 LECTURE II.
invariably two claws only on the fore-feet, and
three on the hind*.
The Count de Buffon, in one of those flights of
paradoxical eloquence in which he sometimes in-
dulges, is not willing to allow the common or
three-toed Sloth any share in contributing to the
general beauty in the scale of animated nature,
but considers it as an ill-constructed mass of de-
formity, calculated only for misery, which he thinks
is the less to be wondered at, since perhaps the
major part of Mankind experience a similar fate.
" From a defect in their conformation, says this
author, the misery of these animals is not less con-
spicuous than their slowness: they have no cutting-
teeth : the eyes are obscured with hair ; the chaps
are heavy and thick; the hair is flat, and resembles
withered herbs ; the thighs are ill jointed to the
handles; the legs are too short, ill turned, and ter-
minated still worse : their feet have no soles, and
no toes which move separately, but only two
* The three-toed Sloth exhibits a peculiarity in the structure
of its skeleton, unexampled by that of any other quadruped : viz.
that the neck has nine vertebrae or bones ; the number in all other
quadrupeds, and even in the two-toed Sloth, being only seven.
i i en • ir. n
or three cla proportionately Inn-', and ;
dou which move together, ;iud are more
hurtful !•• their walking than ad\antai;eous in as-
Mstm- i • (limb. Slowness, habitual pain,
and .stupidity arc the results of iliis strange and
^rled conformation. The Sloths have no wea-
pons cither • or defensive. They are fur-
ni>lied \\ith no in. aiis «>f .-afety; for they can neither
run, nor di.-j into the earth. Confined to a small
space, or to the tree under which they are brought
forth, they arc prisoners in the midst of space, and
;ot move the length of one fathom in an hour.
They drag theniM 1\< -s up a tree with much labour
and pain; their cry, and interrupt they
only utter in the ni.?ht: all these circum-
.stanee.s ann-Mince the misery of the Sloths, and recal
to our minds those defeetiu- monsters, those im-
• i -ketches of Nature, \\hieh, bein^ hardly
! with faculties of existence, could not sub-
IciiLrth o\' time, and ha\c accordingly
been .-.truck out of the list of beings. li'the, regions
inhabited by the Sloths were not desert, but had
been occupied for any length of time by Man and
the larger anim ds, these creatures would neu-r ha\c
descended tu our times } but would hav
64 LECTURE II.
hilated, as in some future period will be the case.
Every thing that Nature could possibly produce,
capable of existence, has been produced, of which
the Sloths are a striking example. They constitute
the last term of existence in the order of animals
endowed with flesh and blood: one other defect
added to the number would have totally prevented
their existence. To regard these bungled sketches
as beings equally perfect with others; to call in the
aid of final causes to account for such dispropor-
tioned productions, and to make Nature as brilliant
in these as in her most beautiful animals, is to view
her through a narrow tube, and to substitute our
own fancies for her intentions. Why should not
some animals be created for misery, since in the
human species the greatest number of individuals
are devoted to pain from the moment of their ex-
istence ? Evil, it is true, proceeds more from our-
selves than from Nature. For a single person who
is unhappy because born feeble or deformed, there
are millions who are rendered miserable by the
oppression of their superiors. The inferior ani-
mals, in general, are more happy, because the
species have nothing to fear from individuals : to
them there is but one source of evil : to Man there
LECTURE II. 65
an- two; Moral L'vil, of ulneh In- is himself the
fountain, li:is accumulated into an immense ocean,
which COM ri :nnl aflliets tin \\hole surface of the
earth. I'hy-ica! < \ il, on tin- contrars , i^ i. -trained
within \ery narrow bounds: it seldom appears
alone, for it is always accompanied with an equal,
il not a superior good. Can happiness be dcnu d
to animals, when they enjoy freedom; have the
faculty of procuring subsistence with ease, and pos-
more health and organ> capable of affording
more pleasure than those of the human species?
Now the generality of animals are most liberally
endowed with all these sources of enjoyment. The
aded Sloths are (jcrhaps the only animals to
whom Nature has been unkind, and which exhibit
io us the picture of innate mist
In opposition however to this eloquent ha-
. v. c may venture to suppose, without any
fear of being in the wrong, that the Sloth, notwith-
standing this appearance of wretchedness and de-
>ity, is as well fashioned for its proper modes
and habits of life, and feels as much pleasure in its
solitary and obscure retreats, as the rest of the
animal world, of greater locomotive powers,
>u|n rior e\ti rnal elegance.
LECT. II. P
66 LECTURE II.
I should add, that although the Sloths are na-
tives of South America, yet it is contended by Seba
and some others that the two-toed species has
been found in some parts of the East-Indies, and
particularly in the island of Ceylon.
A few years ago a very remarkable animal
was brought into this country from the interior
parts of Bengal, which by Mr. Pennant and others
was referred to the present genus, and considered
as a species of Sloth. Its general appearance
however was so much allied to that of a Bear,
that it was natural enough, at first sight to sup-
pose it to belong to the genus Ursus. It was in
company with Mr. Pennant that I first examined
it with accuracy, and could not but agree with him
in opinion that it should be regarded as a species
of Sloth, from the appearance of the teeth. But
the age of the animal was not ascertained, and it
was not clear that it had gained the legitimate
number of its teeth. It was described by myself
under the name of Bradypus ursinus or the Ursine
Sloth, and has been extremely well figured by an
ingenious artist, whose representation has been re-
peated in different works. The animal was about
the size of a Bear, and of a black colour, with very
LECTURE II. 67
long shaggy hair; a lengthened, naked, and flexible
snout; fi\» < M . ^i\. K strong, curved claws on tin:
tret, and live much smaller, and of a rounder
sh;i|>r, on tlir hind feet ; the tail and car> \<T\ -hort.
Its motions u< re not peculiarly languid, as in the
Sloths, but moderately lively: its manners were
gentle, and it fed on vegetable substances and
milk. I forbear any longer description of the ani-
mal, and must refer those who wish for more par-
ticular information, to the description given in the
Naturalist's Miscellany, and in last Edition of Mr.
Pennant's Quadrupeds; but I have now to observe
that in consequence of information received on
this subject from an ingenious naturalist lately
arrived from India, and who has had opportunities
of examining the animal in its native regions, it
ought really to be referred to the genus Ursus or
Bear, and may therefore not improperly be named
Ursus Bengalensis or the Bengal Bear*.
To the genus Bradypus or Sloth is allied, ac-
cording to the ingenious Cuvier, the celebrated
* In the Lcverian Museum, the impending dispersion of which
must be considered as an unspeakable disadvantage to the study of
Natural History in this Country, may be seen a very fine specimen
of this remarkable animal
68 LECTURE II.
fossil skeleton of a very large quadruped, dug up
a few years ago in South America, and preserved
in the Museum at Madrid. It has been described
under the title of Megatherium, and differs, ac-
cording to Cuvier, in its characters, taken together,
from all known quadrupeds; and each of its bones,
considered apart, also differs from the correspond-
ing bones of all known animals; but it appears
more nearly allied to the Sloths than to any other
of the Mammalia. The skeleton measures near
twelve feet in length^ and six in height.
I.KCTUU: 111.
J.N tlit^ preceding lecture, I repeated the o !<•-
brated harangue of the Count de Billion, relative
to the supposed misery of the Quadrupeds called
Sloths, and concluded \\ith a slight account of a
supposed Indian species, and of a remarkable
I >kel<-ton, seemingly allied to the same genus.
I .shall iiu\v proceed to the remaining animals of
this order, all of \\hieh an distinguished by the
total uant of front teeth, and some- are totally
destitute of any teeth.
One of the most remarkable of tin -M- (ienera
of Quadrupi <U i> that of Dasypus, or Arma-
dillo. This genus is readily distinguished from all
others, shift- all the species lu-lougiivs: to it are
l»y nature iurnisli- d ^ith a most » Ir^ant suit of
. armour, so curioiislv di^jxisi-d, that it i> im-
ihl«- to behold it without the biglic.^t admira-
70 LECTURE III.
tion. The long zones or divisions, covering the
upper part of the body, differ in number in the
different species, and thus afford a good general
character of distinction. The most common spe-
cies is the Dasypus novem-cmctus, or nine-banded
Armadillo. All the Armadillos are natives of
South America, where they reside in dry and
rocky places, and have the faculty of burrowing
under ground. They wander about chiefly by
night, and devour various kinds of roots and
grain: they also prey on worms and insects; and
when in a state of captivity, will readily eat ani-
mal food, and that in considerable quantities.
The side-teeth or grinders are numerous, but they
have neither canine nor front-teeth. They are of
a perfectly innocent and inoffensive nature. The
largest species known is the twelve-banded Arma-
dillo, which arrives at the length of four feet from
the snout to the tip of the tail : all the rest are
of a much smaller size, measuring noif more
than a foot in body, exclusive of the tail. The
general colour of Armadillos in a living state
seems to be brown, but some are of a very pale
or yellowish brown cast ; and all, in a natural state,
have the shelly or bony armour covered with a
MAK1S TETHADACTYLA
failed fango/itt
JoJf, .'
iS PElfTADACTTXA
or short tailed fangolws
i4oS PcUlontJcn fuAU/lid fiy C.fraf.t/r< F/rff Street.
LECTURE III. 71
thin, semitran-parciit epidermis or skin, beneath
\\liicli the bony cn^t itself is \\hite. When the
Armadi!! d by other animals, they
roll theiiiM-hes up into tin- form of a hall, hy o>n-
tlu-ir body and limbs, and arc thus secured
from all common violence ; aH'onling one of the
utiriil and striking instances of the bene-
\«.!«-nt care which Nature has taken in the pro-
tection of animals of a weak and inoilrnM\e
nature.
The genus Mania or Pangolin, is distinguished
by an appearance so far removed from that of the
generality of viviparous quadrupeds, that, at first
view, it rather suggests the idea of an animal of
the Lixard tribe; and hence these quadrupeds
been oft eii called by the improper tit!
Scaly Li-iink. The mouth is lengthened into the
form of a tubular snout, without any teeth, and
the tongue is very long, round, and capable of
being extended at pleasure, to a great length, and
in-tead of hair, the animal is coated on all parts,
except on the belly, by extremely strong and
large scales, composing a suit of armour, capable
of defending the creature, when rolled up, from the
assaults of t i f. rocious enemies. The Pan-
72 LECTURE III.
golins are of a harmless nature, and are chiefly
found in various parts of India and the Indian
islands : they feed on the smaller kinds of insects,
and particularly on ants, which they obtain by
stretching out their long worm-shaped tongue
amidst heaps of those insects, and when covered
with them, suddenly retracting it, and swallowing
them.
There seem to be only two or three distinct
species known, with some occasional varieties of
each. The principal species is the Mauls pen-
tadactyla of Linnasus, or the five-toed Pangolin ;
distinguished by having five claws on the fore-
feet, and four on the hind: the middle claws of
the fore-feet being extremely large and strong.
In India this animal is particularly called the
Pangolin; it is said chiefly to frequent woods and
marshy places, walking slowly, and when pursued,
rolling itself up into the form of an oval ball; and
thus becomes so strongly armed, that even the
Tiger and the Leopard cannot attack it with
impunity, but wound their own feet in the assault.
The colour of the five-toed Pangolin is a pale,
yellowish brown; besides the character of five
claws on the fore-feet, the tail, in this species, is-
M < Tl HK III. 73,
shorter than tin- body. It gTOWl i<> lh€ l<-:i:jih of
lour or five feet, <»r even more. Tin- other specie*
or four-lord Pangolin, tin- M. t- ; r.tdaetyl
Limurus, is \<r\ ( los.lv allied tu tin- pi-ending,
Itut i- <>f a ratlin- lon-rr or more sender shape,
\\ith only four claws uii all the feet ; and tin- tail
i. ral)l\ lon.m-r than the body. Its man-
arc >imilar to ilm-i <»!' tlu- pi < -r diiii; kiiul,
and it> size scarcely infs-rior.
Tin- n<-xt genus which \vo .shall attend to, is
that o£ Myrmecophaga, or Ant-Eat .IT. It is distin-
guished, like that of Manis, !>y h.ivinLj the mouth
thrn< d into tlic tonn of a snout, and perfectly
destitute of teeth, < -\ccpt that, very d'-ep at the
ijack part of the mouth, an .said to be situ;
(according to th Camper) a pair
of small bony promin which may be sup-
posed to act as a kind of grinders: the tongue, as
in the former gem :^, round, and
d»lr of bei. udrd to a Ljreat distance
from the tip of the snout. The hod ,t in
one <>r two species lately discoveivd, i> covered
with hair. The sp, ;irt. n,,t nu-
merous. The chief is th< : Ant-eater, or
M. Jubata of Linnxus, a qua- ..TV eon-
14 LECTURE III.
siderable size and of very singular aspect, mea-
suring from six to seven feet in length, from the
tip of the snout to that of the tail ; the body is of
a lengthened form, with a small head, long snout,
and very long hairy tail. The colour of the
animal is a deep iron-grey, with a broad black
band or stripe, edged with white, passing along
each side of the breast and flanks -3 the tail is also
black: on the fore-feet are four claws, and on
the hind-feet five: the two middle claws of the
fore-feet being extremely strong; a circumstance
which renders this quadruped, though destitute of
teeth, a very formidable adversary, since it has
been known to destroy animals of much greater
apparent strength, by continued laceration and
pressure. It is a native of South America j chiefly
of Brasil and Guiana; sleeping during the greatest
part of the day, and coming out by night. It
feeds entirely on ants and other insects, laying its
tongue on the hillocs or nests of these insects, and
from time to time retracting it, in order to swallow
the ants with which it is covered. The finest
specimen of this animal perhaps ever brought into
Europe, is preserved in the Leverian Museum.
The smallest species of Ant-Eater is a highly
TWO TOETj) &JST K
\ IN E
LECTUKl. III 75
elegant animal. l\ larger than a squirrel,
.UK! measuring little more than seven inches from
tin- HOM- to the tail, u hich is longrr than the whole
body and head, and i> also ttroBgly prehensile:
the snout is slightly bent, rather sharpem d, and
of a tubular structure; the h-^s short, with the
fore feet furnished with only two claws on each,
I. ut of excessive size in proportion to the limb.
The hind-feet have each f'<>ur cla\\-, of mode-rate
size. The colour of the animal is an elegant pale
yellow-brown, and the hair is beautifully undulated
or waved. This species, which is called the two-
toed Ant-Eater, Myrmecophuga dldactyla of Lin-
iKrus i< a native of South America, where it re-
sides on trees, and lives on insects, and particularly
on a species of Ants, which form their nests on
the trees it frequents. An excellent figure of tin*
species of Ant-KaUr has been given by Edwards,
in his Gleanin- \ itural History.
Tin- BCiea "t Ant-F.ater which I .shall
men: n nati\e of Au>t rala.sia or New Hol-
land, and di tiers from all the rest in being covered,
not \\ith hair, hut with strong and ^-harp quills or
spines, .similar to tho>cof a Porcupine, but shorter
in proportion. This highly curious species usually
76 LECTURE III.
measures about a foot or fifteen inches in length,
and is of a thick and strong form, with very short
limbs, and a narrow tubular snout. It affords a
striking instance of one of those collateral affinities
which we had before occasion to advert to; by
which animals of different tribes have a kind of
connexion with each other; in the present in-
stance, we see an affinity between the genus
Myrmccophaga in the order Bruta, and the Por-
cupine, which belongs to a widely different tribe
of animals, and ranks in an order called Glires.
The Aculeated or Porcupine Ant-Eater, is of a
black or very dark brown colour on the limbs and
lower parts, while the spines or quills are of a
yellowish white, with black tips. On the fore-feet
are five very strong claws, and on the hind four ;
the tail is excessively short, and beset with large
upright quills. In its mode of life this animal
resembles the rest of the Ant-Eaters. It is ge-
nerally found in the midst of some large ant-hill.
It burrows with great strength and celerity under
ground, when disturbed, and it is said that it will
even burrow under a very strong pavement, re-
moving the stones with its claws: during such
exertions, its body is observed to be stretched or
I.I.CTURE III. 71
tinned t«> an HIM-'. iimion d :;rce, so as to ap-
\ dill't i-( nt from tin- -hort .-lid j)luni|) a
uhich it b«-ar> in its undisturbed state.
It cannot liau 1 the attention of every
one, that the ^cncru of the Pangolins and Ant-
Eaters diller nnly in their external covering from
each other; the Linn;'., ua M yrmecophaga
being covered with hair, and that of Manis uitli
strong horny scalo. In con-vqui IK •<• therefore of
tlie discovery oi' the aeuli-aicd or porcupine Ant-
Eater, it follows that the Linna-an character of the
L:* nus Myrmeeophaga, is in part rcnderrd inap-
plicable, sin- nuine .spi-eic.-, <.)' Ant-Eater is
now discovered, which is coated, not with hair,
but with strong spines or quills. \\V may th-
fore either enlarge the Linna-an character of the
Ant-l;.att -rs, l.\ that tlie body is covered
r \\itli hair or .spino, or < Kc uc ma\ consider
the aculei'tr.l . \nt-l -titntini( a new and
distinct ^enu.s, of which the characters will be,
a mouth of a tubular structure, and without teeth,
but furnislK (1 \\ith n^ilr tongue, and
th» body covered with .strong spines. I may add
two oth« r j-pcci'-v have been lately di-cu\cred,
LECTURE III.
ewhat sma«er
of a s colour.
This senus, w
.
- -
i :rh at present consists
hich at pi
« name having been given
the webs of its
fore-feet, and the bill
v,-^v, has the resemblance
theT;'tEnIu generic name of D^
58 ^ ^ ording to the Linn^n ar-
rank this anlmal dmg ^ ^^^.^
rangement of f^^^tute of teeth,
belong to the order J 8 ^ or
but if we rank it accordmg to * g
t might find a place among
s,
^
H
<
a
S
.:
20
Btak IcFectofttu. 3*1ATYI»17S of theirNatural stzt.
I.F.CM HK III. 19
inspirit^, ha\e exhibited tin- least appearance of
I'M- MM klinu the \ouiiLr; nor i> il < a>y to COI1-
ceive \i»\\ the animal roiild perform tip- action of
Mirk: Oce tin- mouth or Mioul hi-ars tli*- iii'M
.Mam •«• to the hill of a Dm k, ami par-
Meularlv tu that of the broad-billed Ducks called
Show -Hers. This beak is surrounded at tin- !
by a circular llap or border, resembling leather,
and perfectly .separating the base of the bill from
the I'm- of the head. There are no teeth of any
kind; and cvc-n the tubercles or processes, which
may be perceived by dissection, on each side the
base or back part of the beak, are not real teeth,
having no sockc not bring of a really bony
nature. The tongue is situated very far back in
the mouth, and is broad and short: the fore-feet
are wrhbrd, much more widely in proportion than
in any other \vrb-footed quadruped, and are fur-
nished with five short, sharp, and strong claws:
the hind-fret are less deeply webbed, and have
of a slightly curved form; besides
which, in the male animal is situated on each
foot ronic and sharp crooked spur or
.-i\th claw, not ill resembling the spur of a
Cock: the body is of a broad, and sli^InK d< -
SO LECTURE III.
pressed shape, with a rather small head, and eyes
so small, and so deeply imbedded in the fur, as
not to be distinctly visible without a close in-
spection : the tail is broad, rather short, and very
slightly pointed. The whole animal is thickly
covered with strong, but soft and glossy hair,
which on the upper parts is of a deep iron-grey,
more or less intense in different individuals, and
on the under-parts considerably paler; in some
specimens whitish. The general length of the
animal, from the tip of the bill to that of the tail,
is from twelve to sixteen or eighteen inches.
This most extraordinary and dubious qua-
druped is a native of Australasia or New Hol-
land, where it inhabits fresh-water lakes, and is
supposed to feed on worms, water-insects, and
perhaps on various weeds, in the manner of a
Duck. It is obliged to rise every now and then
to the surface in order to breathe, and it is at this
particular juncture that it is principally taken, by
transfixing it with a small kind of harpoon. It is
supposed to burrow, at a considerable depth into
the banks of the waters it inhabits.
If there be no mistake in the anatomical dis-
quisitions hitherto made on the Duckbill, its in
« Tt RE HI. 81
tiriial structure is not i< ^ordinary than
• xtrrnal ; since it appears to be oviparous,
,111 appe;-.ranee \\liich gives reason for
supj.. ihat it hears internal eggs, in the
inanniT of many of the li/anl tribe, from \\hich
the yonii.^ ar. hatched before their final
cloaioD.
This Quadruped therefore may be considered
as tlu miracle of Modern Zoology.
In the Phil. Trans, for 1802, may be found an.
excellent description of the anatomy of this in-
teresting animal, by the ingenious Mr. Home.
The order Eruta presenting several highly
curious animals, we have dwelt somewhat longer
upon it, than its proportional limits would other-
wise ha\e allowed us to do; and must ha
through the remaining orders with a more rapid
step.
third Linnxan Order of the Mammalia is
entitled I-\-ra-. It contains the predacious qua*
s, and consists of several genera, all agree-
in liavinir teeth evidently calculated for feeding
on liesh. The front-teeth, which are usually six
both above and below, approach to a conical or
pointed figure-; the canine-teeth are longi and
LECT. HI. G
82 LECTURE III.
the grinders not flattened at the top, but are of a
lobated and sharpened form ; the claws also with
which the feet are furnished are sharp, and more
or less curved in the different species.
The first genus of the Ferte or predacious
quadrupeds, (if we exclude that of Phoca or Seal,
which will be more properly stationed in a dif-
ferent division), is that of Canis or Dog ; this
comprehends all the animals of the Dog tribe :
it consequently consists of the common Dog,
with all its numerous varieties; the Hycena, of
which there are two distinct kinds; the Fox, of
which many varieties exist ; the Wolf, so common
and so destructive in many parts of the northern
world; and the Jackall, peculiar to Eastern and
Southern regions. The chief character of the
Dog tribe, consists in having six front-teeth above
and below ; the middle ones in the upper jaw,
and the side ones in the lower jaw lobated : the
/
grinders are six or seven on each side : the toes,
or divisions of the fore-feet are five in number,
and of the hind-feet four. To these characters
may be added that the visage is of a lengthened
shape.
Next succeeds the genus Fdis or Cat, compre-
'
PABTTHEH
/8cSCrir i J.i IK/€/
• GJ?earslc\ f'ft-ct Mr,-,-t
III.
bending ;ill I In- ('.it or I. ion tribt , from the
\\hiehisthe leading 01 principal . to tin:
Tii- :n tin- mnu^
p|-ett\ 1,11111 :
perhap^, \vl. i m perfection, the > au-
tiful of (jiiadnip ul lively
orange-colour, uith i hlack
stripes. The Panther i- a liiL'iily lx ;iutilnl species,
of a l>riu,ht lawny yellmv eolotir, marked \\ itli
nninerous Ma- »sed in < irclcs of
tour or five spots in each, with one or more cen-
tral spots: the Leopard extremely resemhles the
Panther, hut is smaller, and ditlers in having no
central ^pot in the circles of black spots with
which the skin is covered. These two animals,
tin Panther an 1 the Leopard, have been very fre-
quent I v confounded in the work.s of naturalists:
lowever will he readily pereeivetl
on inspecting their ii\e skin* in tin shops
of the dealer* in fu
Of these animals ti i er is chiefly found in
:il tin- Lion, Panther, and Leopard in
Africa; but none of them are nati Vm< rica,
other sp emis beiii!^ improperly so
named Of these the chief i* the Jct^liar, com-
84 LECTURE III.
monly called the Brasilian Tiger, about the size
of a Wolf, and of a tawny colour, with the top of
the back marked by long black stripes, and sides
by rows of irregular lengthened spots. Many of
the smaller American animals of this genus are
very beautiful, and are collected and figured in
the works of Schreber and others.
I shall dismiss this genus by observing that
the general shape of most of the species resembles
that of the common Cat, which, in a wild state, is
a native of many parts of Europe, and among
>
others of our own island ; being occasionally found
in woods: in its natural or wild state it is far larger
•than the domestic kind, and is of a grey colour,
with darker stripes. The numerous varieties of
the domestic Cat are well known: the variety call-
ed the Angora Cat is reckoned the most elegant,
and is remarkable for the fulness of its hair: it is
also often seen with one eye of a bright blue, and
the other yellow. All the generic characters of
the whole lion tribe may be readily exemplified by
an examination of the common Cat, and it is
therefore unnecessary to particularize them here;
we may only observe as a particular mark, that
the claws are retractile, that is, so constituted as
STJilATED Y
IK Tl Kl III. 85
at pleasure \uthdrawn into ;i kind of sh< ;uhs
when not in use.
Tin- MIC< •«•< -dim: genu^ COnt it many
speci. v, comprehending all tin- annuals of the
Wea.M -I kind. Ijim:rus indeed in
parate genera for these animals, on account of
iin dillerem -t - observable in the di>p<^it ion of
the tt < th; luit, in a general \ic\v, tht-y m:iy all lx-
( oii-^idcred as furnishm «-nus or
assortment, under the till- .crra. Tin
il rhara> tlie \\'e.i->el trilte is a certain
hlenderiK ss and length of l>ody, \vith a sharpened
visage, short legs, and, in most sj» loutish
tail; ,r«-r n is xhort in but a few.) The front teeth
are six in number: with the middle ones shorter
than the re
To the Wea>el tribe belongs the celebrated
animal called the Iclmuemon, which was so
highly « si,-,.|n.-<| by the ancient Egyptians on ac-
count of it^ utility in destroying serpents
and other noxious animals. It has a general re-
very large ferret, but i> of a brow n-
* The animal known by the name of the Polecat, (Mustela
Potorius, Lin.) may serve to give some idea of the general op-
pcarance of the animals of this gemu.
86 LECTURE III.
ish-grey colour, with the hair freckled by innumer-
able minute dusky specks. The snout is long and
sharp, and the tail thick and full at the base, and
gradually tapering to the tip. Like many other
animals of this tribe it is a dangerous enemy to
many creatures larger than itself, over which it
gains an easy victory by fastening upon them,
and sucking their blood. It is a native both of
Asia and Africa, and varies in size in the different
regions.
Some of the Weasel tribe are remarkable for
diffusing, when disturbed or hunted, a most intoler-
ably fetid small, so powerful as to taint the air to
an incredible distance. If the accounts given of
this odious vapor are not aggravated by those who
have experienced its effects, every other ill smell
which Nature is capable of producing is surpassed
by the overpowering fetor of these extraordinary
quadrupeds. In consequence of the dreadful ema-
nation, even the dogs are said to relinquish their
prey, and the men to fly with the utmost precipi-
tation from the tainted spot. One of the most re-
markable of these animals is the Mephltic IVcasel,
a North- American species, of the size of a small
cat, and of a deep chocolate-brown colour, with a
1 ' ( Tl HF. III. 81
.1 uliilc stripe down the hack, and ;i \.
bu>liy tail of a \\hite colour.
Oiher ;mimul> of the Weasel tribe an; e.|iiall\
lor ditVii- ii. .MI odor of a highly p;
kind; as tin animal called the ( ' t for
m.Ntaiirr. \\ hit Ii i- a large vi\rrr;i or V»'.-a>rl, nu-a-
Mirini; iimn; than thn • l\ • t from i to
the end of tin- tail: it is of a y«»llo\\ jsh i;rcy colour,
marked aloni^ the >id« > hy iari;e blackish or <lu.-.ky
xj)ot> disposed into rou>: the throat, luva-t, and
,il>o l.laek. The Mibstance called Ci\
ohtaiiu (1 l»y scrap in;.: it out from tim<' to time
from a peculiar inland or ca\ ity in which it is con-
tained. When fre>h, it i- \dy stronir, hut
grows milder hv length of time.
The remaining LT- nt ra ot'aiiimals helonmng to
trihe are the following, viz.
Ursus ^ I' mprehendiug many sp<
Didcljthix or Opossum, a numerous genus.
ropus or k <>, a geun- gn ally allied
»f ()po»uni in some points, hut diifering
alily in other>, and not feeding on animal
food, nor in striri proj»rit ty to be ranked in this
orcii
ti or M
88 LECTURE III.
Sarex, or Shrew ; and lastly,
Erinaceus, or Hedgehog.
Of these genera the most remarkable are those
of Didelphis and Macropus, Opossum and Kanga-
roo. The Opossum tribe is characterized by hav-
ing small rounded front teeth, ten in the upper,
and eight in the lower: the canine teeth are long,
and the grinders are lobed or divided on their up-
per part. But the chief character of the genus
consists in a peculiar cavity or pouch in which
the parent places the young, immediately after
their birth, and in which she preserves them till
they are sufficiently advanced in growth to be
able to defend and provide for themselves. In
this pouch the teats are placed, which are six
or eight in number. The Opossums are also
often distinguished by the appearance of a thumb
on the hind-feet, and in some species the tail is of
that kind which Linnaeus calls prehensile, formed,
as in some of the Monkeys, in such a manner as
to be able strongly to coil round any object at
pleasure.
The Opossums now constitute a pretty exten-
sive genus of quadrupeds, many new species hav-
ing been of late years discovered in Australasia or
*4
ViKi'.r.\i.v.\
. SS*fi tlif l.rrrmvi Vksrion .
OPOSSUM
1,1 ::B OPOSSUM
/, W/v, ruhtijtnl :» /•:/, . <>,:,
I 1CTI HI. 111. 89
({••Hand. Inn tin first discovered is a
1 0111-
moi; i in partit uhir. It is about the
fur, ••!' a pal.- y. I-
lour, .in<l naked flesh
• 1 tail, coated with a kind of .scale-, like t.
on llif ta;l ot a rat, hut! i !«-s in woods,
and pre\> principally on birds and tin
Anton-.: th«- Nc\v Holland Opossums the Le-
ninriiit.- OpovMim i- f the mosl «-lr^;iiit : of
til- size of a C'at, of a line dark-grey col»»ur, yt-llo\s-
ath ; v. ith an r\ijii ,11 1'ur, and with
e much rc-cmhlini; th< Lt-mur; the tail
ply furred, and prehensile at the tip*.
\ still more el< ^ant kind of \e\v Holland
P '.unriiH' O/)(>\.fin/i, often i:
Miring nioie tiiau a \ard in length from the nose
t" the tip ot the tail. 'J ' )possum has
i lie 1 ig Scjuirrel, being
furnislu-d \\ith a broad furry membrane, from the
the help of uhieli it springs
* d. Scinrta is aKo .1 New-Hol-
land species oi gre:i; ,t the G:
: white beneath,
with ihe tail very lull of hair, and tipprd with bl.:
90 LECTURE III.
from tree to tree, and to a very considerable dis-
tance: the hind-feet are furnished with thumbs,
\
and the tail is long and thickly furred: the colour
of the whole animal is a most beautiful sable or
blackish grey, of a yellowish cast beneath, and its
fur is still finer than that of the lemurine Opos-
sum. It is known in its native regions by the
name of Hepoona Roo.
But the most curious of all the Opossums is
•the Didelphis pygmcea or Pygmy Opossum, which
in its general form is similar to the Hepoona Roo,
but no larger than a common Mouse. Its colour
is an elegant pale brownish-grey, white beneath,
•and the tail is slightly flattened, with the hair
spreading to a small distance on each side,
throughout its whole length.
The genus Macropus or Kangaroo, which fol-
Jlows that of Opossum, is strongly allied to those
animals in being provided with a pouch for the
temporary preservation of its young, but differs
in the front-teeth, which are six in number in the
upper jaw, and two in the lower, which lower teeth
are extremely large, long, sharp, and prominent:
the grinders are five on each side, both above and
below: it also differs in its manner of life, being
PYGMY OPOSSUM.
SSn *~
.- CfKEY or &IC7ER
bv GJTcarslcv fleet Street.
Ill III.
Ton-, and in reality should not be
: ,-;r. It i- Hi"
; tin- K :<• of tl»e most
animals disco\. r< il in
mod< rn tin; 'I'li ' ra-
I till then n
, a corm-r of tin; world, was
lartof tlx
i \\liidi \cu South \\'ates.
'.hen i'uil
a lull i;roun sliccj) : the uppet
remarkably
,.IIHJC Of
ill ay
picturesque
•rt,
will: il i:ito :, h iurnished
uith a .sharp and soin«-what c,-«M.k«'»I claw: the
thighs aiul hind-'
ami are so const run • , at first
sight, rumpnscfl of but th , <>t \shich the
nnd'1 id is furnished with
a rl; i-ih; and u hat apf»cars on a
cursory \.«\s the niwr toe, will be found,
on a n«-ar III-JK < -lion, to consist of tuo .-mall toes,
.92 LECTURE III.
united under a common skin, with the respective
claws placed so close to each other as to appear
like a split or double claw. The Kangaroo rests
on the whole length of the foot, which is callous,
blackish, and granulated beneath, and bears a ge-
neral resemblance to that of a bird. A popular
error seems to prevail, that it never touches the
ground with its fore-feet; but all who have con-
templated the animal when at large, must have
observed that it every now and then places the
fore-feet on the ground ; though its favourite atti-
tude appears to be that of supporting itself, on its
hind-feet, with the assistance of its tail, which is
remarkably strong. This animal is observed to
produce but a single young at a birth, which it
carries for a great length of time in its ventral
pouch, and which frequently emerges in quest of
food or exercise, and again returns on the least
alarm. Of the Kangaroo there seem to be differ-
ent races or varieties, or perhaps even distinct
species, the exact discrimination of which yet re-
mains to be investigated. The common kind is
x>f a pale brown colour; but some are of a dark
iron-grey, and others of a very fine whitish or
'blueish grey.
-
i I KK III.
(.1 IKES.
maining Orders
ot'the Lmn;> :nmalia, having passed through
the tin-
•tli Onlrr is entitled G7;m or S
lyinir. an animal of
Knirli-.li term Sleepers, proposed by some
Zool iilU>t In- eolite.vM d to 1)C IllUCll tOO
vague a term ; - >i<>nLrli >t-v«-ral Quadni)
of tliis order lie dormant during a good part of
tin \vinti r, \( t the major part do not. The prin-
cipal < 1, of the animals of this order con-
sists in a pair of very con^|>nuoii-, strong, and
•li, placed dox- tom-ther in the
front of both jaws. They have no canine teeth,
but are furnUIied with grinders on each side.
Tin- tii>i a>-ortm< nt or genus of the Glires is
that of Ilystr'u' or Porcupine, which, ( -\( -lusive of
, MK li as just mentioned, \< distinguished,^
as every one knows, by the extraordinary covering
to body, v.hidi is beset, all over the upper p
94 LECTURE III.
with very long, strong, and sharp spines or quills,
elegantly variegated with alternate zones of black
and white. The common Porcupine, which is
about the size of a small dog, is a native of many
of the wanner regions of Asia and Africa, and
even of some of the warmer parts of Europe. It
is an animal of a harmless nature; feeding en-
tirely on vegetable substances, as roots, barks of
trees, and fruits. It inhabits subterraneous re-
treats, which it is said to form into several com-
partments or divisions, leaving only a single hole
for entrance. It seems to admit of several va-
rieties as to size, and length of its quills, and is
distinguished, as a species, by having the upper
part of the head crested as it were by long
bristles.
It would be a waste of time to particularize
the long-continued error (for such it, in a great
degree, is), of the Porcupine possessing the power
of darting its quills at pleasure, with great vio-
lence, and to a considerable distance, at its ene-
mies : this notion seems now pretty generally ex-
ploded, and perhaps might have originated from
some accidental circumstances ; for the Porcupine,
like most other quadrupeds, having the power of
I I.CTURE III. n
iracting ami shaking the general skin of tin-
body, ma\ -oin. hint -, by this motion, cast oil' ;i
few of its IOOMT <juills to some distance, and tlms
D slightly uoimd any aninuil tliat may happei.
in it^ \\ay . and this may have given rise
to tin- popular id< a of its darting them at pleasure
ai;am>t its ciieiii
Tlw poet Claudian, it is well known, lias availed
hiniM If of this notion, and has represented the
Porcupine in tli u mil stile of false wit so re-
markable among the minor poets.
" Ecce, brevis propriis munitur bestia telis,
Externam nee quirit opem, fert omnia secura,
Sc phareu^a, sese jaculo, sese utitur arcu !"
" Ann'd at all points in Nature's guardian mail,
See the stout Porcupine his foes assail ;
And, urged to fight, the ready weapons throw,.
Himself at once the quiver, dart, and bow."
;e are several different species of Por-
rnpinr, one of the most remarkable of which is
called tin- Canada Porcupine. It is of the size of a-
Miiali or half-grown Beaver, and has, at first sight,
so little of the appearance of a Porcupine, that
>uld hardly be supposed by any common-
96 LECTURE III.
spectator to belong to the same genus; the fur,
i
which is extremely full, and of a dusky brown
colour, being much longer than the quills, which
are only to be observed on a close inspection :
these quills have their points barbed with many
minute reversed spines, and are very apt to wound
and adhere strongly to the skin of any animal
that happens to make a close approach; and so
conscious does this Porcupine appear of their
power, that he is observed, when attacked, pur-
posely to brush against the aggressor, leaving
numbers of his spines infixed on his skin.
It will naturally occur to every one, that we
have not yet particularly noticed an animal greatly
' allied in its general appearance to the Porcupine
tribe: viz. the Hedgehog. But the Hedgehog,
which, on a general view, might be associated
with the Porcupines, is, in fact, widely removed
from them in the structure of its teeth, which are
perfectly those of the Order Ferai.
Perhaps the most extraordinary genus among
the Glires is that of Castor or Beaver; it is cha-
racterized by the very strong pair of cutting teeth
in each jaw, and, more strikingly, by the very
singular structure of the tail, which is large, of a
91
in .1 <>\.i! i I \\itli large scales.
The-
• lour a liii'1, de< |>, Hi<
u< II known to require
ii-ular mention, l»ni ii i> to I red that
Q . , i , Mil-, l.riieatii the longer
, that i, ii- <l in the composition of so m
.UK! \aries aeeordini; to tlr
season of ti the health of tlur animal, ami
many nthi-r ciixunHtaii'
I 'Uiritr r. i the Heaver are retired
vvatry ami woody .situation-. In >uc!i places tin-
animal-; MS4 ;nl»lc, and M.mrt inn •.- t«j tin- mir
of se\cral hundnds, living in a kind ul' lam
and l»ii,l. ,u<li<d inaiiMoi]-, eurioiislv
I or j)I;r ••• ithrlax. Of these a lonir and
agreeahlr dcMTi|iti«in ma\ l.«- t'.nitul in the wiv
iulVon. In such i iln- H. a\.r>, \\hich
Byi naii\(s of cold climates, and j
:lie northern parts of America, ;
rigour of the winter months; f.-cding at in-
ils on the twius and hi-unches of the softer
km.; nd poplars, great q
s of \\hirh ilu-y cut into proper lemrih-, and
Soim times, however, the
LECT. III. H
93 LECTURE III.
Beavers seem to forget their usual ceconomy, and
live in a less regular stile, straying about, and ap-
pearing to have merely a few common holes in
the banks of the waters they frequent. It has
been said that the Beaver fed entirely on fish;
and the Count de Buffon, who delighted in such
speculations, fancied this kind of diet to have
been originally the cause of the flattened, scaly,
and fish-like appearance of the tail of the animal;
the organic particles of its fishy food having at
length impressed on the Beaver something of a
fishy form. It seems, however, pretty generally
agreed that the principal food of the Beaver is of
a vegetable nature.
From the Beaver is obtained the celebrated
dcagcalled Castor, which is the product of a par-
ticular gland, and is taken from the animal imme-
diately after killing it : it is one of the strongest
or most fetid of all animal substances, and is of
very considerable use in medicine.
Linnaeus comprized a large tribe of animals be-
longing to the Order Glires, under one extremely
numerous genus entitled Mus, or Mouse, or Rat :
but the genus was by this rendered too extensive;
and as many of the species admitted into it were
99
it in h:i!.it or .r, neral appearance, it
was at length tli«u;ht iNtribute them
into sever. il distinct gen- T;I, l« -axim? the Mouse or
tribe, strictly so called, to form the genus
Mus.
Among the genera thus formed out of the old
I.nmaean genus Mus, one of the chief is that
railed C'a\ia, or, as it may be otherwise pro-
noiinc.-d. . -a\i-i, i:i Kn.nIMi Circy.
As the characters of the teeth in almost all
the Glires are very nearly similar, it is often un-
necessary to 'hem. I -hall then
only observe, that the genii i> in general of
a thick and short form, and of various size. As
tlif most familiar example, we may mention the
well-kn improperly eallcd the G'uinea-
which i> now the Cavia Cobnya, or varies.
Cavy, and was tli-' Mu> Porcellus of th<
the S\ sterna Naturae of Linnaeus. It
native of the hotter parts of South-America,
and is now well known in .,f Europe.
The South American animal called tin- \
or Java-Han-, belongs also to this genus, and is
Of tin- Mire of :i U:;bbet or larger.
largest kind of Ca\ \ yi-t known, is a spe-
100 LECTURE III.
cies not often to be found in the European Mu-
seums : it is called the Patagonian Cavy, and is
considerably larger than a Hare, and of a pale
brown colour, with a large black patch on the
hind part of the body. It occurs in the Leveriau
Museum, and in that of the late Mr. John Hunter.
Another genus latety subtracted from that of
Mus, is called Arctomys or Marmot. It contains
but few species, most of which are of a thick
form, with large, roundish, and somewhat flattened
heads, and small mouths, which, when held open,
appear longer in their perpendicular than their
transverse diameter. The Marmots feed on roots,
grain, and leaves, which they often collect into
heaps; they reside in subterraneous holes or
burrows, and sleep during the winter. The most
common European species is the Alpine Marmot,
a native of the Alps and the Pyrenean mountains^
Its general size is rather superior to that of a
Rabbet, and its colour a tawny grey. It inhabits
the higher part of the Alps, in which situations
several individuals unite in forming a subter-
raneous retreat, well lined with moss and hay,
which they prepare during the summer, as if con-
scious of the necessity of providing for their long
in. in. 101
> in winter. At llie commencement of the
autumnal frosts, tli. .• up the holes or en-
trances of their inan-M.n, and gradually fall into a
torpidity, in which they continue till the
arrival of the MICH ceding spring.
The g< mi- J.i-/i;ijs or Hare, i- easily distin-
guished aiming th<- rot of the Glires : the cult
i in tin upper jaw being disposed in a double
pair; two small inner teeth being placed at the
base of the large or outward pair. As this is a
genus of which the history, (in the European
species at least) i> well known, I shall at present
only particularize the distinction between the
eoniinoii Hare and the Rabbet, which two animals
ach other so much, that the con-
stitution of a genuine specific character of each
been found a task of some diiliculty; and it
curious fait that the attempts at a specific
r of the Rabbet in particular, by Linn;
in the- earlier editions of his Systema Nat;,
remarkable for want of preei>i«»n. The criterion
proposed by the late Mr. Dailies Harrington, in
the Philosophical TraBaactiooi, ha-* b((n a.lnpnd
by mod tic writers, and con>i>t- in the
comparatiu' length of the hind Ict^s withtl,
102 LECTURE III.
the body. In the Hare the hind-legs are longer
than half the length of the back ; in the Rabbet
they are shorter.
The genus Sciurus or Squirrel, is so well
characterized by the remarkable disposition of
the hair on the tail, as to require no other ex-
planation. I shall only observe that it is a nu-
merous genus, that some of the exotic species
are of very considerable size, and that some
squirrels have a furry skin, stretching from the
fore to the hind-feet, enabling them at pleasure
to spring to a far greater distance than those
species which are unprovided with such a la-
teral skin. The European Flying Squirrel is
an elegant, but rather small species, found in
Poland, and in some parts of Siberia, where it is
chiefly said to inhabit birch-woods. Its colour is
a beautiful pale grey, white beneath. In North
America is a still smaller species of an elegant
pale-brown colour, and which has been some-
times confounded with the former ; and in some
parts of Asia is a very large species, of a dark
colour, and much allied in its general appearance*,
to the Petauririe or Flying Opossum of New
Holland.
LECTURE III. 103
The yvnus Miio.iiix or Dormouse, is principally
distinguished from that <>f Squirrel by the form of
the tail, which is round or cylindricj not flattened
and .spreading. The genus contains but few spe-
cies. Tlie common Dormouse is too well known
to require any description. The chief or prin-
cipal species is the (His of the ancient Romans,
which is the Fat Dormouse of Pennant, and is a
native of the South of Europe, living in the
manner of a Squirrel, but sleeping through the
winter. Its size is not very far short of that
of the common Squirrel, and its colour pale grey,
white beneath.
The genus Mus or Mouse, under which, as we
have before observed, were once arranged a great
many animals now placed under different genera,
is still extremely extensive; comprehending all
the species of the Rat and Mouse tribe strictly
so called. Of these, the chief species known
to our ancestors in this country was the black
Rat, now become a rare animal in comparison
with the brown Rat, introduced above a century
ago from the Kasli rn n gion>, and vulgarly culled
the Norway Hat. It is at present the common
Rat of our o\\n country, and has, in a great do-
104 LECTURE III.
gree, destroyed the black Rat, or original English
species : it is a size larger than the black Rat, and,
as is well known, is of a brownish grey colour,
white beneath. It is a native of India.
The Common Mouse needs no description,
and the same may be said of our common field-
mice, and the Water-Rat ; but the beautiful Har-
vest-Mouse, first distinctly described as a British
species by the late Mr. White of Selburne, claims
our attention from its peculiar elegance. Its size
does not much exceed half that of the common
Mouse, and in its colour it bears a near resem-
blance to the Dormouse, being of a pale rufous
brown above, and white beneath. It is common
in some parts of Hampshire.
The exotic species of this genus are excessively
numerous, and vary in size, from nearly that of
a Rabbet to a degree of minuteness beyond that
of the common small British species. Among the
large exotic Rats one of the most remarkable is
the Mas Typhlus or Blind Rat, a native of the
Southern parts of Russia, where it burrows under
ground, and feeds on the roots of various vegeta-
bles. It usually measures about eight inches in
length: is of a brown colour and destitute of a
HAMSTEK
RAT
ill.
tail; hut it is chiclly remarkable for the total \\anl
.!< rnal cyt s, having merely two ahr.o-t imprr-
Me rud! i under
iiibits the only instance
•.!il\ Mind quadruped ; for the Mule and some
red as blind, on account of
of their eyes, have still
those organs complete in all the usual parts; but
*-J A i. *
the M»is Typhlus is totally blind. In return, its
In aring is said to be uncommonly acute, enabling
it readily to avoid all the general dangers to which
it may be expo
Of the European Rats of large size the
Hamster or Mus Cricctus is the most remarkable.
It i- of t eral size of the brown Rat, but of
a thicker form, and is uf a pale reddish colour
above, and black beneath j with, generally, two
or three white on each >ide the fore-parts.
On • :i«>uth the Hamster i> fur-
nishrd with a large membranaceous pouch
which is capable of containing the quantity of a
quarter of a pint I ji^lish measure. This animal
i inhabitant of (lermany, Poland, and Russia,
.1- !y destructive, by devouring
quantities of grain, \\hich it carries oil' in its
106 LECTURE III.
cheek-pouches, and deposits in its subterraneous
retreat in order to feed on during the autumn.
On the approach of winter the Hamster conceals
himself in his deep cell, well lined with dried
grass and moss, and falls into a state of the most
profound sleep and entire torpidity ; every animal
function being so entirely deadened, that it is said
the creature may be cut open without exhibiting
any sign of sensibility : the heart, however, may
be observed to contract and dilate alternatelv,
«/ '
but with a motion so slow that the pulsations do
not exceed fourteen or fifteen in the space of a
minute : the strongest stimulants are of no avail,
and the electric shock may be passed through the
animal without exciting any appearance of irri-
tability. This lethargy of the Hamster has been
generally ascribed to the effect of cold alone 5
but late observations have proved, that, unless at
a certain depth beneath the surface, so as to be
beyond the access of the external air, the animal
does not fall into its state of torpidity ; the se-
verest cold, on the surface, not affecting it. On
the contrary, when taken out of its burrow and
exposed to the air, it infallibly wakes in a few
hours. Its waking is a gradual operation, au<i
LECTUHK III. 107
.iiul profound in-
spirations, it open-* it ;m<l i-nd; avou
walk, l)iit iv i is ;ilu)iit I'm- some time, as if in a
stah of intoxii ation, till at length it j
recovers till it- i
Another singular species <>t Rat, furni>h« d
with pouch < ach side the mouth fur the
temporary nccption of food, \- dt-crihcd in the
fifth volume of the Transactions of the Lim.
Society, under the name of the Canada Rat ; its
and colours nearly resemble those of the
brown or Norway Rat, but it i> Munewhat paler,
and of a yellower cast. Its way of life is Mip-
posed to be similar to that of the Hamster.
The i^enus Dipu* or Jerboa i> remarkable for
the peculiar .Mrueturc of the legs, of which the
fore-pair are t \tr< in< Iv >ln>rt, and the hind-pair
melyl" (ring the animal the appearance
of a Kangaroo in miniature: the teeth resemble
those of the rest of the Glircs, and no
\entral pouch a> in the Kangaroo: ol
limal.s and the Kaii^an" -s might ah:
admit of bein? plac< d in the same assortm
union Jerboa, of \\hic ->mc
to size and colour, is a native of r..
IDS LECTURE III.
of the Eastern and Southern parts of the world -y
frequenting dry and sandy places, where it burrows
under the surface and conceals itself during the
day, coming out to feed during the night. Its
general attitudes are those of a bird, hopping on
its hind-legs, and when, pursued, springing, by
vast and quickly repeated leaps, to a great dis-
tance, so as not to be easily overtaken by the
swiftest of quadrupeds. The general size of the
common Jerboa is that of the common or brown
Rat, and its colour pale yellowish-brown, white
beneath ; the tail very long, and elegantly ter-
minated by a feather-shaped tuft, of a black co-
lour, tipped with white. It is well represented
in the works of Bruce, Buffon, Edwards and
other modern authors.
The genus Hyrax, which concludes the Order
Glires, is of rather late institution, and consists of
two species, each about the size of a common
Rabbet, and of nearly similar colour. The genus
Hyrax differs from all the rest of the Glires in the
front teeth of the lower jaw, which, instead of
two, are four in number, rather broad, and
notched at the edges or tips. Of the two species
of Hyrax, one is the Ashkoko of Mr. Bruce, which
SYRIA!* HYRAX.
CAPE HYKAX.
I.I-XTl UK III. 109
he supposes to !><• tin- Stijthnn of ihr sarn <1 urit-
in_u>. It i^ foinnl in several parts of AlVica, and
inhabits tin ( a\ nx ks.
The ntln-r >p< c'us i> the Cape Hyrax, a natiu;
of tlic Cape of Good Hope, inhabiting similar
situations uitli tlie fornu-r.
LECTURE iv.
VV F, now turn our attention to the nrxt order
Mammalia, which is a very extensive one at »"
Species, though tli not numerous.
'I'll is order is entitled Peconi, and contains all the
Cattle, commonly so called, as ()\< n, Sheep, Goats
and others. It also comprises the Camelopardi,
tlie Deer tribe, the Antel- p( -, tlu- Musk and some
others. In this order also, at p , though
naps not quite of a similar nature \\itl
. \\e may l»e permitted to rank the Klephant,
\vhich in its maune:-> ur habit tin- I*.--
i, though it • a ruminate, and is not fur-
ni>hrd uitlf any Iront-teeth.
In the Linmran arrangement the Elephant is
pla.'-ed among the Kritta, from the want of fore-
li. I3y Mr. Pennant it i> arranged under the
112 LECTURE III.
cloven-hoofed Order, in which stand the Linnaean
Pecora. By Monsieur Cuvier it is considered as
constituting an Order distinct from all others.
The mouth is usually furnished with one very
broad grinder on each side both above and below,
and with two upper tusks. The general appear-
ance, and even the general history of the Elephant
is pretty well known to most persons. It is a na-
tive of the warmer regions of Asia and Africa,
where it is chiefly seen in woody regions, and
feeds entirely on vegetable substances, as the
tender shoots of trees, and various kinds of fruit
and grain. The Elephant 'drinks by means of its
trunk, first sucking up the water into it, and then
conveying it to the mouth. The intelligence and
docility of the Elephant are well known, and are
generally detailed, with sufficient enlargements]m
most of the common publications on Natural
History. I shall here only observe that in general
the intelligence of animals is in proportion to the
size of the brain : yet in the Elephant that part
is by no means large.
In some parts of North-America, are often
found fossil bones bearing a general resemblance
to those of the Elephant, arid commonly known
LECTURE IV. n z
by the title of Mammoth loin-: tin- teeth i
ever, (that is the grinders,) are of an appearance
widely dilVei-eni from those of the Elephant, I.,
;>ly lobed on the top, like those of Carnivorous
animals. Of this curious, and at present unknown
animal in a recent stale, the complete skeleton
has been of late di-i inred in North America,
and was, as is well known, exhibited in this me-
iropolis. Every one must have been struck with
.al similitude to that of an Elephant, but
the grinders or lateral teeth, as before observed,
are of a very different appearance, and seem to
indicate an animal of a carnivorous nature. By
Mr. Pennant this animal is considered as a species
of Elephant, under the title of the American Ele-
phant, and he seems to be of opinion that it may
yet exist in some of the remote parts of the
American Continent yet unvisited by European <.
Others have Mippo.sed it an animal of an extinct
,>•>, and in reality allied only to the Elephant
in the general size and appearance of its bones,
while some particular parts seem to prove a dif-
ferent tribe, and there have not been wanting
o
•one, who have even imagined it to be a marine
animal. All however is at present conjectural on
LECT. IV. I
lit LECTURE IV.
this subject, and it can only be mentioned as
one of those interesting zoological curiosities
which will probably long continue to remain
imperfectly understood.
One of the great or leading characters of the
Order Pecora or Cattle, to which we now proceed,
is the total want of front-teeth in the upper jaw.
In the lower jaw there are six or eight front-teeth:
the grinders or side-teeth are usually pretty numer-
ous, and such of the Pecora as are furnished with
horns, have no tusks or canine-teeth; which on the
contrary are conspicuous in such as are not fur-
nished with the defence of horns. Another cha-
racter belonging to most of this tribe of Mammalia
is the power of rumination, or ruminating: that is,
of throwing up into the mouth at intervals a por-
tion of the food which has been hastily swallowed
during their feeding, in order that it may undergo
a more complete grinding by the teeth. This
action is so conspicuous in Cows and other cattle,
that every one is perfectly acquainted with it.
The stomachs of these animals and of others that
ruminate, are wonderfully calculated for facili-
tating this necessary operation, and may be found
described at large, accompanied by proper expla-
IV. 115
natoi\ plates', in flu- mormons . \S of
Daubciiton, amirvd to lljr ijuarto « -dilion of
JiulVmi's II; i Qnadrnpr
All the IVcora or Ruminants ;is they an- «»!';
called, an- hoofed; and in the major part the hoof
is dmded into tuo principal parts, \\itii the addi-
tion, in many, of two very small undivided hoofs
or processes on each side, or rather behind the
principal ones.
In the Camel the structure of the foot is pe-
culiar; the M>lt or part beneath the hoofs, being
swelled into a kind of clastic pad, covered with
an extremely strong, but flexible skin, admirablv
adapted for enabling the animal to travel over the
dry and sandy deserts which it is chiefly destined
to inhabit.
The whole Order Pecora, without an excep-
tion, feeds entirely on vegetable food. Of these
• •ra I shall only particularize a few of the most
remarkable. One of these is the CamdopartS, or
fj'u.
The most curious or singular genera in the
IV-cora, or Kuminant tribe, are those of
i, Can" I, J/w.v/;, and Antelope. The
i, \\hich is the CamelitparduHs Glraffa
116 LECTURE IV.
of the modern editions of the Systema Nature of
Linnaeus, was once considered as a species of
Deer ; but it differs from the Deer tribe in its
horns, which are never cast, but are permanent,
simple or unbranched, covered by a skin, and
terminated by a tuft of short bristles. The Ca-
melopardi or Giraffe is the tallest of all Quadru-
peds, often measuring seventeen feet from the top
of the head to the soles of the fore feet : its neck
is of a vast length, and the fore-parts of the ani-
mal appear, on account of their conformation, to
be considerably higher than the hinder. The
whole aspect of the Camelopardi is at once sin-
gular and elegant in the highest degree : its co-
lour is a very pale yellowish or whitish brown,
with numerous, large, squarish spots of light
chesnut-colour. The history of this animal has
been much elucidated of late years by the re-
searches of various African travellers, and speci-
mens of the complete skin have been brought
into Europe, of which one of the finest is in the
Museum of the late Mr. Hunter j now the Mu-
seum of the College of Surgeons. Mr. Pennant,
in his History of Quadrupeds observes, that, had
he not seen the dried skin of the Camelopardi,
inn i;i, IV.
11 alm«»t inclined to < ntertam
duul> • tlic existence • >rdmai \ an
.•iniinal. I: was ho .ell kno\\n t«> tin an-
cient li'Miians \\ ho >umel lines exhibited it t«.
juiblic sheu> ; and n- r< pn
ation occurs in tli atcd remain of anti-
quity gene-rally called tlic Pr.riK >tiiit- Pavement.
The Deer tribe or the gi >-cus is cha-
rixcd liy liavin^ branclicd horn», which are
annually deciduous, lulling off at a particular
son, being gradually replaced by others. Of tin
: tribe the largest species is the Elk, (Cciui-
Ale- a native of the northern parts of
Europe and America, in which latter it i
by the name of Moose. The Elk is not an ani-
mal of an elegant shape, having a large head,
and a very thick short neck; its colour is a dark
ish brown.
The Stag or red Deer, (C. Elaphus Lin.) on
contrary may be co of the most
ant of the \\holc tribe: its co!
:>roun, and its II-MI^ are branched, or di-
d into man)- round, and sharp-pointed pro-
••«. It is a native of the v
>po, and particularly of Germany.
118 LECTURE IV.
The Fallow Deer, (C. Dama. Lin.) is the spe-
cies so generally seen in our parks, and is distin-
guished by having the horns dilated into a broad,
subdivided expanse at the upper parts. In colour
it varies greatly, as do most animals when in a
state of captivity.
Rein-Deer. C. Tarandus. — A moderately large
species of a grey colour, and with slender horns of
great length, dividing into numerous processes.
This species, as is well known, constitutes a great
part of the wealth of the Laplanders, and is most
providentially ordained to support that simple and
harmless people with many of the chief conve-
niences of life.
The Ox tribe, or the genus Bos, is distinguished
by having bent or lunated horns, which are
permanent, and have a core or central bony part,
on which the horny shell is mounted. The Wild
Ox or Urus, is found in the more northern parts
of Europe and Asia, and from it have been gra-
dually derived all the breeds of domestic cattle.
One of the most remarkable species of this
genus is the Bos grunnkns of Linnaeus, or grunt-
ing Ox, so named from its voice. Its size is that
o
of a small bull ; and its colour blackish brown : it
< TURF. IV. \\>
is coven (1 \\itli l«iiix \\ooll\ hair, and is i-mirk
able lor the vaM l< n:;th and fiilm 19 <>t I h< hai
the tail, wlmh of a milk-
\\hite colour, and reaches to tin- L.nmml
tai!> - of Ox, v. liidi in
coiintrv «>I"I ill«-'l th
• UN <•!' la.-shiini in China, India, and other
of the Eastern world, \>\ of tl\-i
and an- c'arried, on ><>mc
of authoritv.
.
The tr< -mis Came/us or Cam«-l contains the
Camel and Dromcdan .
and other S]
Ciinicl and Dromedary . i to
ahno>t e\ery one: the C(tmclii.i Dromedarim
IJiiiiaMiN or Arabian Camel ha 'ion
or Imneh on the back: the Cuinclux Kacl rt .
of Ijiiuieiis or Baetrian Camel ha !>nt the
nam«-> of Camel and 1 :
nj)plied by diiferent writers, \vi,
ea»-e> a de^,-< e oi iking1 of
them. It h -oiiu.' that \\.< -\
litnte in realit\ but on<
t irh'T with a single or double < K\ation on the
i !s arc of the gr«-ai -:hlr
120 LECTURE IV.
utility to the inhabitants of many of the Asiatic
and African regions, since with a very small
portion of food they can travel for several days
together, and can also suffer a long abstinence
from water. The admirable contrivance of Na-
ture for enabling the animal to do this must by
no means be omitted. This consists in the sto-
mach of the Camel and Dromedary being so
formed as to be divided internally into a vast
many separate cells or cavities ; and as the whole
organ is of great size, when the Camel drinks,
it takes in a very large quantity of water, which
is preserved in the cells of the stomach, and is,
at the pleasure of the animal, thrown back into
the mouth, in order to refresh that part when
heated and parched by the sun and dust.
The genus Moschus or Musk is distinguished
by having no horns, and in the mouth being fur-
pished with long, sharp, crooked tusks, one on
each side, directed downwards, and reaching
nearly two inches beyond the lips. The com-
mon Musk is an inhabitant of the mountains of
Thibet, and is of the size of a Roebuck, and of
a deep iron grey colour. The substance called
Musk, by far the most powerfully diffusive of
-
v! .
LECTURE IV. 121
:ill animal odors, (if we except that of some of
llic American Viverra-, before mentioned) is con-
tained in a small pouch about the size of an egg,
.situated !• IK at h the body ; and is of an unctuous
substance, and of a reddi.sh brown colour. Wh- n
i, it is said to be so excessively powerful or
ju-iii tratiiiLC, as to force blood from the nose,
eyes, and cars of those who incautiously smell it.
It form- well known, an article of com-
and i> used both as a medicine and a
perfum
T<> this genus belongs a very elegant little
(juadruprd, about the size of a small cat, and
1 1 the IV.^iny Musk. It is found in many
Java and Sumatra, but is of so tender
a nature as not to be capable of being brought
alive into Europe. It is distinguished as a species,
by the total want of the small or secondary hoofs
behind tin larger pair on each foot, and which
are found in almost all the n-t < f the Cattle
tribe. To this litlK s of Mu>k also be-long
the very minute le^s with their hoofs, sometimes
* It has been also observed that the smell of mu«k is not
easily discharged even from metallic substances themselves which
hare been rubbed with it.
122 LECTURE IV.
seen ii? Museums, and which do not much exceed
the size of a quill in diameter. They have often
been tipped with gold and used for the purpose of
a tobacco-stopper, and are sometimes called by
the mistaken title of the legs of Greenland Deer.
In the Order Pecora we find a very extensive
genus under the title of Antelope, forming the
modern genus Antilope, (for Linnaeus arranged
the few species then known, among the Goat
tribe.) The Antelopes are in general remarkable
for the elegance of their appearance. The com-
mon Antelope or A. Ceroicapra is a native of
many parts of Asia and Africa, its general size
is somewhat smaller than that of a fallow deer,
and its colour a tawny reddish-brown above, and
white beneath : the horns black, of a peculiarly
beautiful form, having a double flexure, first in-
wards, and again outwards, and they are elegantly
and distinctly marked, throughout almost their
whole length, by numerous prominent rings or
circles. The Antelopes in general inhabit the
hottest regions of the globe : their swiftness is
proverbial, and it is observed that most spe-
cies are of a gregarious nature, forming herds of
manv hundreds or even thousands together. For
COMMON ANTELOPE.
i unit ti
!\. 123
figures of this numerou> mid < 1, -.;-ant tribe I nm>t.
to the \\ork of Schn l>er, where they arc
colh cti d fr<>m the \\orks of Pallas ami many 0
<1. M ; -i!» It, In tin- Leverian MiiM-um, so unfor-
tunati ly doom* d to d n, may l»c founcl
some of the most curious kind-.
Of the S/nr/> and Gout tribe, or tlie tu«> Lin-
na-an -• n.-ra of Om and C\rprat it may be suf-
nt to say, that tin- sjxr'u-s \vliidi is supposed
to be the origin of the Common Sheep in all
arietta, i^ tin- Argali, a large and handsome
animal, found in many of the mountainous rc-
uion> of the Ka>tern world. In this its natural
itate it i> rather covered with hair than wool,
and is <>f a pale tau ny-brown colour, with very
large horns.
Tlie Common Goat, in all its varieties, is MIJ>-
posed to have descended from the animal called
the ///<•!•, a lar^e and \ery active (jnadriiped, fmmd
in situations not dissimilar to those in \\hii-h
th< Ar.urali <>r A\'ild Sheep is seen. The Ibex is
of a brown colour, with r\c« - :\« K lariat- and
bending or curving backwards and
mark. (I above by rows of transverse knobs or
half-ci:
124 LECTURE IV.
The chief distinctive character between the
two genera of Ovis and Capra or Sheep and
Goat, is that in the former the horns have a
spiral curvature; in the latter a simple one.
The next, or 6th Linnaean Order of Quad-
rupeds is called BELLU.S, a word which cannot
admit of any very distinct English corresponding
word. We must be content to take the Linnasan
term in its original shape. This order, Bcllua,
consists, in general, of animals either of large
or moderate size, and comprizes the Rhinoceros,
Horsey the Hippopotamus, the Tapir, and the Hog.
Of these Genera we surely need not particu-
larize that of Equus or Horse, any otherwise
than to say, that the common Horse is a native
of the Eastern regions, in which it is still seen in
a state at least approaching to that of natural
wildness, and that the cultivated or improved
races of the Eastern countries are allowed to
excel all others in swiftness as well as in beauty.
The Ass belongs to the same genus, and,
like the Horse, is a native of the East, and is
an animal of great elegance and fleetness; and
by no means to be judged of from its degraded
descendents in the European regions, where it
CTURE IV. 125
generally nj under every possible < ireum-
e of disadvantage.
But, >o far as regards mere beauty, the Afri-
can species of this ijcnus, railed the Zclmi, must
confessed to stand superior to almost every
lii.-il, even thevTiger itself
CXCe] one knov,
distinguished numerous ribband-like, br
stripes on -! < vani-coloured ground. The Z<
not yet been brought into a state of com-
plete domestication; its native wildne.vs still pre-
v<-nti iv effort at rendering it serviceable
in an economical view.
Lastly to the genus Equus or Horse is re-
ferred an animal, discovered of late years in the
mountainous parts of Chili in South- America, and
distinguished by the titl of the Cloven-fi-
ter of the genus Horse
:.) consisting in the hoofs
entire or undivided, it fc>!
tli- animal just mentioned, must be c<
• nstitutinsr a very anomalous species,
. adieting in part, the generic character of
. But as nature scorns all artificial ar-
rangements, we cannot presume to suppose that
126 LECTURE IV.
she may not have produced a species of this ex-
traordinary cast. The Cloven-footed Horse was
first described by Molina, in his Natural History
of Chili : In its general appearance, size, and
colour, it resembles the Ass, but has the voice
of the Horse, and the hoofs are divided, like
those of ruminant-animals. One might be in-
duced to suppose that Molina, from its general
appearance, might have chosen to consider it as
a species of Horse, but that it really belonged
more properly to the Antelope tribe ; but this
supposition is contradicted by its anatomical
structure, which resembles that of other ani-
mals of the Horse genus. It must therefore be
considered as one of the most remarkable ani-
mals yet discovered.
The genus Hippopotamus, of which we only
know of one species, is a highly singular genus.
The front-teeth in each jaw are four ; and the
tusks, which are single on each side, are very
large : the feet are each furnished with four hoofs.
The Hippopotamus is a very large animal : its
general size equalling that of the Rhinoceros:
in its mode of life it is Amphibious, concealing
itself during the day in large rivers, out of which
LECTURE IV.
it only • nostnN .it intervals, in <>
t«> breathe ; and coming out by night to graze,
- uttn l\ <>ii \. getables. li^ \»im \^ highly
uncouth; tin- body hcinu' extremely lar^c, fat,
and i^s \cry slmrt and thick :
the in ad verj large, \\ilh >lmrt rounded or \
.-lightly pointed ears, B UK ly wide mouth,
with trrth of ;i vu>t si/e ;uid Micnu,th ; pnrticii-
l.nly tin tii^k--, or c;inin« -ic< th of the lower jaw,
which arc of u curved form, streaked on their
ont-ide with numerous furrows, and appear a> if
oliliijiiely cut off at the tips. These teeth some-
liiiH'N niea.-urc more than two feet in length.
'I'he skin of the Hippopotamus is smooth, but
is thinly covered witli short hairs. When the
Hippopotamus first emerges from the water, it
t<» he of a Imnvn colour, accom-
panied by a hliiei-h cast; hut \vhen dry, is of
an oliM ure brown. It is naturally of a harmless
disposition, but if pursued or wounded, is said
to become excessively furious, and to be cap a-.
ble of easily ouTturnm- a canoe or boat, and
has sometimes been known to sink them, by biting
large pitccs out of the bottom. The j are
:ble of behi£ tamed, and \\e are told by Be-
12$ LECTURE IV.
Ion that he saw one in that state. The Hippo-
potamus is a native of the large African and
Asiatic rivers, and is sometimes seen in herds.
The tusks are much esteemed as a species of
ivory, being more hard, and less liable to change
colour than those of the Elephant : they are there-
fore in great use among the dentists. I shall
add, that the Hippopotamus was known to the
ancient Romans, and that Pliny tells us that
Scaurus a Roman ^Edile, treated the people of
Rome with the exhibition of an Hippopotamus
accompanied by four Crocodiles, all brought out
of Egypt, and exhibited in a temporary lake,
prepared for that purpose.
The genus Rhinoceros, which some natural-
ists have placed, like the Elephant, among the
Bruta of the LinnaBan arrangement, is distin-
guished by the remarkable circumstance of a
horn or process situate above the nose. The
mouth is furnished in each jaw with two teeth,
placed at the corners of the jaws in the manner
of canine-teeth ; and in each jaw are six grinders
on a side. The general height of the Rhino-
ceros is about eight feet, but specimens are said
to be occasionally seen which nearly equal the
-
c
T
e
-.
IV. 12J>
,'iant in , 'sin <>f Ihc Rhinoceros
•,onir and : roloiir,
i. Oil I. .lilillKll,
ill Mi' h .1 in;iMM' r .
Mils (.}' |ii<
forward- the
;i|i]i< 11 anim -ted with a kiiul of
arm •>unt of tin- strongly-nr.irki-d folds
and ; in. '1 h
tlic Kill:
lie !,
the rrcatup
suit of armour .rate \\
Thi'. \Ii)ort D d in
. and many
others, and 1 a kind
'aiulanl !. The
rn of a
full-
oft hrcc feet : it is .
|>t at thr I) trds, and sluii'p-
pointed. The Rlirn%tn|fl^j^; :!I\ a nathe
1.EC
130 LECTURE IV.
of Asia and Africa, where it is still seen in consi-
derable numbers, living in woody regions, and
feeding on the young shoots of trees. In some
parts of Africa is also found another species,
called the two-horned Rhinoceros, having two
horns on the nose, one behind the other : this
species, which is of equal size with the common
or single-horned Rhinoceros, is farther distin-
guished by having a much smoother skin than
that of the single-horned species, and which (in
the younger specimens particularly,) exhibits
hardly any of the roughnesses or folds which dis-
tinguish the common kind. The ancient Ro-
mans had undoubtedly seen a two-horned Rhi-
noceros exhibited ; since the circumstance is par-
ticularized in an Epigram of Martial, who, in
speaking of the combat between this animal and
a bear, says that it threw up or tossed the bear
with its double horn as easily as a bull would a
bag of wool. The animal also appears with a
double horn on a coin belonging to the reign
of Domitiun. It is well known that the cele-
brated Mr. Bruce has been much censured for
having figured in his travels the two-horned Rhi-
noceros as perfectly resembling in every other
I l.v IV. 131
rill. I!' ill. « ollimon or - III •!•• |)O| : iCg :
it is also certain lliat tin- li nn LTACII in Mr.
Him • •'- uoi-k is absolutely a ropy from IJuiluii's
fl of the common Rhinoceros, with tin- addi-
tion m< r« Iv of a second horn. Jt < • -i liow-
I«.||«)U from this rirt un. that Mr.
Urine's li^up. j.tis*-, ami it is si;.
no improbable circnnM mofi lluit the ctunni"n
Rhinoceros may vary with a double horn ; in
uhirh ( ase Mr. Bruce, knowing Button's figure
to In- correct, nn^ht have thought it unneces-
sary to be at the trouble of causing a com-
pletely new figure to be executed.
I must add, that Mr. Bruce's description of
the manners or habits of the animal, i> an in-
teresting and even a sublime composition; and
'•oinmend it to all uho \\ish for an ani-
mated account of so extraordinary a quadruped.
The jjenus called Tapir consists of a single
-nly, and is di>tini,ui>hrd by having mi-
men.u.N teeth, amounting in all to no fewer than
J'<irty-t\io: namely six iront or cutting-teeth above
and IM lo\\ ; two canine-teeth aho\.- and below,
and tu.nty-siv: grinders: the nose is lengthened
out into :i short proboscis -»nd the feet are ea< h
LECTURE IV.
divided into three narrow hoofs in front, with the
addition of a small or spurious hoof behind each
of the fore-feet. The Tapir is a South-American
animal, nearly equal in size to a heifer. Its co-
lour is an ohscure brown, and the skin is but spar-
ingly covered with hair. It is an animal of harm-
less manners, wandering about the woods, and
feeding on the young shoots of various shrubs.
It has been occasionally brought alive into Eu-
rope, and a well preserved specimen occurs in the
Museum of Mr. Hunter.
The genus Sus or Hog, concludes the enumera-
tion of the Limicean Bellua?. It is characterized
by having four front-teeth above, and six below :
two short tusks or canine-teeth in the upper jaw,
and two very long and curved ones in the lower
jaw, projecting upwards from the mouth : the
snout is prominent, moveable, and abruptly ter-
minated; and the feet are divided into two large,
and two smaller hoofs, all pointing forwards. The
wild Boar, which is supposed to be the stock or
origin of all the domestic breeds, is a native of
almost all the temperate and warmer regions of
the ancient Continent. It is, in general, of smaller
size than the domestic Hog, and is of a dark grey
IV. 135
ii iln- liri-i
mueh lin< r .iixi s,,fi«-,- kind of hair, of a s<
uh.it \\oolU in- curled hut the principal
dill. . n thf wild IJuar and the domestic
feukf, uhieh in the uild Boar
are often in 1- iiirtli, and capahle of
inflicting the most severe and fatal wound--.
neral si/,- of tin- Wild Boa:
interior to that of the domestic, yi-i in
• •nally occurred in which tin- animal
en of a -ixc so enormous as far to
surj»a>s the general measure of its trihc, and to
i\ ndcr credihle the Mcniini,dv extravagant recitals
which .sometimes occur iu the works of ancient
authors.
PI\ \ATA.
arc nov. to take a \ icw of the pinnated
Mammalia, or those in which the divisions or toes
of tl iK connected hy \\ehs; enabling the
animal>, whoso principal residence is in the waters,
134 LECTURE IV.
to swim with far greater facility than any other
quadrupeds, while, on the contrary, they walk
with much greater difficulty.
In the Linnaean System, in which, perhaps,
too great a degree of attention is paid to the cha-
racters of the teeth, these quadrupeds are some-
what awkwardly arranged; making their appear-
ance in detached parts of the class Mammalia.
In this instance therefore we shall depart from the
Linnasan arrangement, and pursue that of Mr.
Pennant and others; making a separate order
for the pinnated quadrupeds, which will thus be
made to lead, by a natural transition to the Ce-
taceous Mammalia, or Whales. I need hardly
observe, that by the pinnated or web-footed Mam-
malia, must be understood those only which are
strikingly and conspicuously distinguished by webs
on all their feet, and not those which are par-
tially web-fooied, as the Otter, Beaver, and many
others.
Of the truly pinnated quadrupeds we are ac-
quainted with but two distinct genera, viz. that
of Phoca or Seal, and that of Trichechus or
Munati.
The first ge^us, or Phoca, (Seal,) is entirely
LECTtKl IV.
marine. It i> characterized by haying teeth,
inil.ir ill form and disposition to tlm^i- ol'ti
..Inlc the I". ei an- so ionm d a> to resemble
.1 kind of leatlnry tin-, through which an- very
distinct I »es, which an- terminated
-lightly I- Dgthened nails or < ',
tin- whole -eiiu- Plmea is aijiiati.
'itntrd a-> to rctjiiin- i'ci:a>-ion:d interval
i <-<.iiM<!>Ta!>l<- decree ot' <
ti iiiiinci- on dry land; toi>ukni'_; at particular
the water, and congregating iu multiti
on til-- shores, on lloating ice, or on in-u!
nid tin- «->p«-cially at the season in which
the young arc produ. The mo>t com
species, or that which x-ein^ t<> have been kn
from times <>f remote antiijuity, i> the Phoca ri di-
ll na of Linmvus, tlie comn:<
tn-imeiitly termed. It is a nati\c of the
Kurope - and is chiefly seen in the mu-ti
I iiit it- -eiu-ral length
ns t-» he from fi\. to six feet, and its colour
grey or greyish hrown: the In ad is larg< ami
rounded, \\ithout any a|)pearai)
k small and short ; the j
-hoi, \ tliick, th-
136 LECTURE IV.
thence towards the extremity : the legs are so
very short as to be scarcely perceptible, but the
feet are large, and the hinder ones are so placed
as to be of the highest use to the animal in swim-
ming, being situated at the extremity of the body,
and close to each other : the tail is very short :
the whole animal is covered with short, thick-set,
glossy hair, and its general colour is a dark grey-
ish brown. In this respect, however, it is known
to vary, like most others of its genus, being some-
times seen spotted or variegated. Like the rest
of the genus it feeds on various fishes, shell
animals, and marine plants. A species much re-
sembling this, but larger, is often seen about some
of the European coasts: it differs in having a
somewhat more lengthened snout than the com-
mon Seal, and is generally black above, and white
beneath, but, like the former, it varies in colour.
It is the Pied Seal of Mr. Pennant, which in the
first or folio edition of the British Zoology, was
not considered as distinct from the common Seal.
I shall not pursue the description of this genus
farther, than to observe that it is of considerable
extent, and that several species inhabiting the
Asiatic and American seas are of vast size, and
-
I
RE IV.
lieir (Economy or n liibit many
[i.irtiru1. . iption ot'uliicli
I iin r t«> tli- :i of Mr. IVnu.
Hi-' Quadrupeds, \\ lull de>eri|<
liners will he fount!, rxtractcd fr«mi
of high
hority.
d t'> tli us, \\hieh is entitled
I ;-izc<l hy the*
want of t«>, \-< ry large tti.sk on
. nwanls : the ^rinder> are
I or ii ilar >m, • the
toj>. 'I mhk- thovc <,(' ;
. ami e\ • unite into
tin- a;>jH'ar;' cies.
])riiicip (x Rosmarus
of Liniia-iis, or i ;h> r;i Walruss, an ani
Its nhles that of a
f a thicker « aspect;
its ( iark brown ; the s! \-r tiiick,
and d over with short dusky hair : t!ic !,
.Kill, and rounded, the upper lip very large,
divided in the middle, and beset with mum
13$ LECTURE IV.
bristles of the length of three or four inches, and
of the thickness and colour of wheat straw j the
tusks are of great length, measuring from eighteen
inches to two feet or more. The Walruss is of a
gregarious nature, often assembling in vast num-
bers on the masses of floating ice so often seen
in the northern seas; where they produce their
young in the spring season, and have generally
but one at a birth. In their manners they re-
semble the genus Phoca, but feed principally on
sea-plants and shell-animals rather than on fishes.
The Walruss is naturally a harmless animal, unless
attacked, when it becomes extremely vindictive ;
roaring in a dreadful manner, and with its long
tusks grappling with and endeavouring to overset
the boats of those who attack it. It is an animal
which has long ago been pretty well represented
in the works of some of the earlier zoologists, but
it is observed by Mr. Pennant, that the best re-
presentation is given in the fifty-second plate of
the last voyage of Captain Cook. There appear,
however, to be distinct races or varieties of the
Walruss, those seen in the icy regions of the
Anacrican sens, and represented in the above
plate, having longer and sharper tusks in pro-
1 9
portion than those ob- n the northern
in which also tin- tusks are obse: i
r. nut to converge, as in the American
the T. boreal is, or Whalc-
1 \Valru-, the feel «>f which very nearly re-
i>le those of Wha! uniting no distinct
app< of the toes or claws. It grows to
a -till longer sj/e llian the common Walruss,
sometimes measuring cight-and-twenty feet in
th, and is an inhabitant of the Asiatic and
in seas.
A third .species is the T. Alanutus, or tin- Ma-
nati, fuinid \n the Indian and- American rivers,
and of which a curious anecdote is told by the
historians of America, who relate that at the
arrival of the Spaniards, a tame Manati was
!>\ .1 Prince of Hispaniola, in a lake a.ljoin-
in^ !•• lii> residence; ;ind whieli, wlicn e;di.-d by
it> name, \\oiild readily appear and suffer it-elf }o
l»y its protectors. It would occa>ion-
ally oiler itself to its Indian favorites and carry
th- in "\-r th«- lake, to the number often at a
'•I playing on its back. At leu
•iis-queiice of a violent inundation, it
140 LECTURE IV.
carried back to its native waters, and never more
appeared.
It is well known that the common Seal or
Phoca vitulina, may also be readily tamed.
Lastly the round-tailed Manati, a species allied
to the former, but smaller, is a native of the larger
African rivers ; it grows to the length of fourteen
feet, and is of a dark colour, with hair somewhat
resembling that of the Seals, and a flat rounded
fin at the extremity of the body, formed by the
juncture of the webs of the hind-feet : the fore-
feet are each furnished with flat and rounded nails.
A specimen of this animal exists in the Levenan
Museum.
CETACEA.
HAVING taken a slight survey of the pinnated
or web-footed quadrupeds, we are led by a kind of
natural transition to the Cetaceous Mammalia or
Whales. These cannot in strict propriety be called
Quadrupeds, since they are in reality furnished
with only two feet, which have the appearance of
1.K.CTURE IV. 141
Iliick fins uhile the tail, \\liicli is divide.! into two
\\ muscular and i. n-
dinons, hc:< I of any IMMU-S analogous to
the f;-(t in i' Mammalia; th<>>,- hones
'•nnil in tin- fins or fore-feet.
•1 appearance of tin (' ' < eons
lia or Wli.. much resembles that of
a li>h. that it is vt ry natural for anyone to sup-
that they should be classed ainon^ that trilio
iiimals, and not with tlu- rest of th(> Main-
jnali.' ; and indeed so far has this eompliance with
popular ci!>tom Tolloucd, that most natu-
ralists, till the institution of the LinnaMii S\>j< m,
them the appellation of Fi-hcs. Tims, ex-
rln-ivr of the more early writers, the eeh-hr,
.uul Willoughby considered them in this view,
and rommeneed their History of Fishes with that
of Whales. Nay i veil Limr.vu - him- If, in his
well-known work the Fauna Su as well as in
some of tin- earlier editions of the Svst< -ma Xa-
•
turze, at them under the class of IV
Hut, sine.- their whole interior structure a^:
with that of the Mannn.iiia; since they have lr
and l>nathc, MIX «• tin \ h;;\e \\aim blood, and a
heart ic-< uibling in conformation that of Qua-
142 LECTURE IV.
drupeds, and in particular, since they produce and
nourish their young in the same manner, it fol-
lows very clearly that they can with propriety be
ranked in no other class of animals than the Lin-
naean Mammalia.
In a general view, exclusive of their Fish-like
form, the Whales are distinguished by a particu-
larity not to be found in any of the rest of the
aquatic Mammalia. This is a double opening or
spout-hole, on the top of the front of the head,
through which they discharge at intervals, with
great violence, and to a great height, the water
which they have taken in at the mouth.
Though the Whales, all together, constitute a
pretty numerous tribe, yet the genera, or par-
ticular divisions into which they have been distri-
buted are but few. Linnaeus institutes for the
whole tribe only four distinct genera, viz. Bala?ia,
Physeter, Monodon, and Delphinus.
The first of these genera, or that of BALDEN A,
is distinguished by the total want of teeth j instead
of which the mouth is furnished, but in the upper
jaw only, with a vast number of very long and
broad, horny, flexible plates, disposed in regular
rows along each side. These are popularly known
|,v tin- name <>f Whalrhonr: rach plat ply
ed or subdivided at it • into long
.UK! lender bri«tleS, by which i
the imdt T iau UK- secure from being wounded by
it, and at tin- same lime t be- junction of many
iiri-ilrd or suhdi\id< d < as a
. \\hen the nunitli, after PT< i\in-^ 1'ood,
>uddi-nl\ . thus retaining the prey, and per-
mitting the superfliiouN \\aler to c-se. The
principal sj». t tlie ^enns llalaiia i» tlie II.
M\Nt:r< tns or i^rcat Wlialeboiie AVbale, M \-ticet,
or common Xcrtlieni \\'liale. It is «m all bands
alhiued to be the ! »i' all animals yet
tun tly knou-n. Befor th( Northern Whale-F
had reduced the- number of tbi- s, it
no uncommon circumstance to find specimens
<>f ;m hundred, an hundred and t < >r e\< 11,
accordin , an hundred and fifty feet ill
lengtb. Such however arc now \vry ranly, if
ever seen, and it is not often that th- >und
of more tlian M . jeventy feet in I'-n^tb. In
its general appearance the animal is poculiarh
uiKouth; the bead constituting n third of
the u hole ma<s: the mouth is of prodigious width,
the tongue measuring eighteen or twenty feet in
144 LECTURE IV.
length: the eyes most disproportionably small;
scarce exceeding in size the eyes of an Ox. The
common colour of this species is black above, and
white beneath ; but in this it is known to vary :
the skin, as in all the rest of the Whale tribe, is
perfectly smooth, soft, and glossy, and is entirely
bare, or destitute of any appearance of hair. The
general residence of the animal is in the Northern
seas; its food is supposed to consist chiefly of dif-
ferent kinds of small, gelatinous marine animals,
particularly of the smaller Medusas or Sea-Blub-
bers, and Sea-Snails of the genus called Clio. The
throat in this Whale is observed to be very j
narrow, so that it only preys on the smaller sea-
animals in general.
With respect to the anatomy of the Whale, I
shall content myself with observing, that on so
colossal a scale of magnitude does nature act in
these animals, that the vertebrae or joints of the
back-bone are of the size of moderate barrels;
the ribs and jaw-bones so large as to be occasion-
ally used to form the sides of tall, arched gate-
ways; the heart too large to be contained in a
very wide tub ; the aorta or principal artery mea-
sures about a foot in diameter, and it is computed
•TURK IV. J45
:he (jitantity of blood thrown into it at every
ti..n of I), . is nut It ss than from t.-
ii gallon-.
1 -!i of tlu1 .threat Northern Whale is
prod . it is able to shatter a strong canoe in
ith a a tail : it swims,
. the compulation of CVpede, at the
bout thirty-three feet in a second, and it
rther computed that i;i the space of about
forty-seven days, it might circumnavigate the
globe in the direction of the equator, even allow-
ing it to rest by night during the whole time. It
imposed to !.,- an extremely long-lived animal.
The ii male product ••ncral, but one young
at a birth, which usually measures something more
than i in length; and she ha.s the repu-
>n of being very tenderly attached to her
The hast of all the Whalebone-Whales or Lin-
* B. Glacialis or Nord-Caper is a very large species of Whale,
but thinner in proportion than the Mysticete : it is an extremely
voracious animal ; preying on many kinds of fish, and in par-
ticular on Cod and Herring. In the stomach of this Whale
have been observed three hundred Cod : and in tin* stomach of
4 second individual were found more than a tun of herring*.
LECT. I. L
KG LECTURE IV.
nsean Balsenje is the B. rostrata, rostrated or
taper-snouted Whale. It seldom reaches to the
length of twenty feet, and is of an elegant shape,
its colour is blueish-black above, and white be-
neath, and the skin, from the throat to the middle
of the body beneath, is marked in a longitudinal
direction by very numerous, deep furrows, the in-
sides of which are of a red colour: this furrowed
structure of the skin beneath the fore-parts of the
body, appears to be a wonderful institution of
Nature for enabling the animal to increase at
pleasure its diameter, and render itself specifically
lighter ; by inflating a vast cavity situated beneath
the breast and communicating with the throat :
during this action the furrowed skin becomes ex-
tended laterally, and the insides of the furrows
being thus laid open, give the appearance of so
many beautiful red stripes, along the sides and be-
neath the body. This curious structure, which,
perhaps, was first distinctly described by the late
Mr. Hunter, is not peculiar to the present species,
but exists in some others. The Rostrated Whale
is a native of the Northern seas, and has occasion-
ally been taken on our own coasts.
The genus PHYSETER, containing what are
47
LECTURE IV. 147
ralk-d Sperma-Ceti Whales, is distinguished \>y
having visible teeth in tin- Io\\crjaw only, which
\\hi-ii the mouth is dosed, are received into so
inaiiv open socket* in the upper jaw : an accurate
inspection <>f the upper jaw h that
there are cor respond! n i in that al-o, but
thev are very small, and situated so deep within
the sockets as to be totally invisible on a general
view.
The Physeter Macrocephalus, or great Sper-
maceti Whale, is not greatly inferior in size to the
Great Whah hone Whale or Mysticeto, and is of a
shape not less uncouth; the head being of so
a >i/e a^ at Ica.-t to equal a third of the length of
the whole animal. It is from this Whale, as well
as from some others of this genus, that the well-
known substance popularly known by the name of
Spermaceti is obtained. This substance, v.h.ch
in the living animal is a liquid oil, is contained in
a vast cellular cavity within the head; when ex-
posed to thi f cold air, it concretes into a
solid form: it exists in other parts of the animal,
as well as in the head, and may be gained from
the blubber or common oil by proper preparation:
in a smaller proportion also it is found to exist in
150 LECTURE IV.
pear indeed to have been guilty of some aggrava-
tion in this respect in their poetical and sculptorial
representations, while the moderns, on the con-
trary, have been somewhat too severe in con-
demning them.
The Porpoise or D. Phocana, is a still more
common species than the Dolphin, and so ex-
tremely similar to it, that there can be little doubt
of its having been often confounded with it : it is
however a smaller animal, and rarely exceeds the
length of six or seven feet: its chief mark of dis-
tinction from the Dolphin seems to consist in having
a shorter and blunter snout. The Porpoise, being
the most common European species of all the
Cetaceous tribe, has, of course, been more ac-
curately inspected, as to its anatomical structure,
than any of the rest; Rondeletius, Ray, Tyson, and
others, having given a good general anatomy of
the animal. It is also a curious fact, (such is the
revolution of taste), that the Porpoise was a few
centuries ago considered as a splendid and elegant
dish at royal and noble tables ; and this in Eng-
land even so late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
By far the largest of the Dolphin genus is the
species called the Grampus, the D. Orca of Lin-
IV. 151
It arrivi a at tin- l< ii-.:ih of fi\< -ainl tu eiity
and is of an e\tremel\ fierce and \orarioilS
iiatu 'in:; nn the lar-. i- li-ln-s, and c\» n,
•ionally, on the Dolphin and Porpoise th.-m-
I i'.und in tin- Mediterranean and
Atla. 11 as in the polar regions, and is
our of the most ferocious inhabitants of the ocean.
cies it i> chieily distinguished by ha\
the Miout turned a little upwards. I cannot but
here observe that the IJnmran character of this
ics inay mislead, since it is said to be furnished
ikntibus scrratisy \\-\i\\ serrated or sawed teeth, a
particularity not found in any of the Whale tribe,
uliich have all simple or plain, conical teeth: but
the meaning of the words dentibus scrratis here is
only to be understood in the common classical
sense, as in Pliny and other authors; meaning so
disposed as to give the outline of the jaw a ser-
rated appearance in profile.
There remains one more Linncean genus of the
Whale tribe, and that one of the most remarkable:
this is the ^enus Afonodon or Xanvhal. It is dis-
tinguished by an extremely large and long, spi-
rally twisted tooth, projecting in a straight direc-
tion, from the upper jaw. Sometinn arc
152 LECTURE IV.
two of these teeth, parallel to each other, in which
case one is always observed to be somewhat shorter
and thinner than the other. Supposing the na-
tural number to be two, as stated by Linnams, in
his generic character, I neecl not observe, that the
name of J\lonodon would be peculiarly absurd. In
fact the natural number is two, but one is always
observed to predominate, and the probability is
that they are so constituted as alternately to supply
the defect occasioned by casting, on one side.
The common 'N'torwhtil or M. Monoceros of
Linnaeus, sometimes called the Sea Unicorn, is an
inhabitant of the northern seas, where it grows
to the length of more than twenty feet, exclusive
of the tooth, which is about half the length of
the body. The colour of the animal is an ir-
regular variegation of black and white on the
upper parts, and white beneath ; and the young
are said to be of a much darker colour than the
full-grown animal. The food of the Narwhal,
like that of the great Whalebone Whale, consists
chiefly of Sea-blubbers or Medusa3 and other small
animals, but it is also known to prey occasionally
on fishes, and particularly on flat-fish. Before
this animal became very distinctly known to the
LECH IM. IV. 15S
iiaturali-ts of Europe, tin- teeth, or spiral lioni-
lik> , I<1 in very 1
as tin- -upposed li> Unicorns. \"arious
medical \irturs were attributed to them, and they
were even numbered among th<- artidt > oi' i
magnitifcnce. At Rosenberg in Denmark is said
11 pri-srrvcd an ancient throne, composed
of Narwhals' teeth, and which uas once the seat
of state of the ancient Daui-h Monarch*.
I purposely omit speaking of the supposed
.•i nt .-pecies of this genus; their dc scription,
as yet, IK ing not sufficiently accurate to justify
any very clear conclusions.
Having thus taken a general view of the Mam-
malia or viviparous quadrupeds, we shall in our
ju-xt Lecture proceed to Birds.
I5f
LECTURE V.
W E are now entering upon a beautiful and ex-
teiiMve brunch of Natural History, called Orni-
thology or the History of Birds. These animals
far exceeding Quadrupeds in point of number,
it was highly necessary that they should be dis-
tributed into orders, and gcneru, in order to faci-
litate the- knowledge of the species. In this part
of Zoology, as in Quadrupeds, we shall pursue
the Limuiun arrangement, with some variations
and transpositions.
I know not whether it may be thought neces-
sary to be very particular in the description of a
bird, us distinguished from a quadruped, but as
there are some circumstances which are important
in the comparative anatomy of these animals, it
may not be improper to give a slight general
. iption of them.
I5G LECTURE V.
The skeleton or bony frame of the animal is
in general of a lighter nature than in quadrupeds,
and is calculated for the power of flight : the spine
is immoveable, but the neck lengthened and flex-
ible : the breast-bone very large, with a prominent
keel down the middle, and formed for the attach-
ment of very strong muscles : the bones of the
wings are analogous to those of the fore-legs in
quadrupeds, but the termination is in three joints
or fingers only, of which the exterior one is very
short. What are commonly called the legs are
analogous to the hind -legs in quadrupeds, and they
terminate, in general, in four toes, three of which
are commonly directed forwards, and one back-
wards j but in some birds there are only two toes,
in some only three. All the bones in birds are
much lighter or with a larger cavity than in
Quadrupeds.
With respect to the definition of a Bird, as ab-
solutely distinguished from all other animals, it
would be sufficient to say, according to the old
mode, that a bird is a two-footed, feathered animal.
The power of flight need not enter into the defini-
tion , for there are many birds which are perfectly
destitute of the power of flight ; as the Ostrich,
(.ETON
f'/fff .\'tr. ,t
V. 151
the Cassowary, all and some other
MX rs with v. arc covered
logous in their nature to the hair oi' (}na-
ing con of a similar Mil^tance
appearing in a di>-imil. Beneath or under
the comm<> or general plumage, the
.skin in bird* is inn: ly covered with a much
. or so: ihrry substance called down.
Tlu- external or common leathers are called by
;vnt names on ditlercnt parts of the animal,
longest of the wing-feathers, which are ge-
nerally ten in number, in each wing, are called
\
first or great quills, (in the Linmean phrase
remises primores, as being the chief oars or guid-
> i; were.) The feathers constituting the
middle part of the wing are called the secondaries
ccond quills (rcmigcs secondarii of Linnaeus,)
and are more nunn rous than the first- tin- lea-
; nding along each side the back are
atlirrs: the small li-athers
.shoulders are ciilli-d the .smaller wing-
ria, (tectrices minores:) the nev s to
culled the larger wing-coverts, (tcci;
secondariae or majore>. an 1 at the edge of the
•huuldt.-r arc a few rather strong awl slightly
I5g LECTURE V.
lengthened feathers, constituting what is called
the false or spurious wing; the alula or alulet
of some ornithologists. The tail, in most birds,
consists of twelve feathers; in some of ten only,
and in some others of eighteen, twenty, or twenty-
four. Sometimes on each side the tail or above
it, at the lower part of the back, are placed se-
veral very long feathers of a different structure
from the rest: these have been called the hypo-
chondriac and unpygial feathers. These are the
principal distributions of the feathers on a bird.
With respect to the particular shape of the fea-
thers themselves, they vary greatly in the different
tribes.
The particulars most important in the com-
parative anatomy of birds are these. The throat,
after passing down to a certain distance, dilates
itself into a large membranaceous bag, answering
to the stomach in quadrupeds : it is called the
crop, and its great use is to soften the food taken
into it, in order to prepare it for passing into-
another stronger receptacle called the gizzard:
this which may be considered as a more powerful
stomach than the former consists of two very
strong muscles, lined and covered with a stout
rruRE V.
and furrowed on the insidi •. In
ivc.-ptaclr the l»»od is completely ground and
r« tin a pulp. Tin- lungs of Birds differ
. those of quadrupeds in not being loose or
in tin- breast, but fixed to the bones all
tin- way down: they consist of a pair of large
spongy bodies, covered with a membrane which
d in several places, and communicates
with I large vesicles or air-bags dispersed
about the cavities of the body.
The eyes of birds are more or less convex
in the different tribes j and in general, it may be
observed that the sense of sight is more acute in
birds than in most other animals -y and they seem
t<> possess a greater degree of power in accom-
i at ing the convexity of the eye to any par-
ticular distance than other animals, for which
purpose they are provided with a curious ap-
paratus of scales round the iris or coloured part
of the eve not be observed in quadrupeds. Birds
have no outward Ear, but the internal is formed
on the same general plan as in quadrupeds.
Birds as every one knows are oviparous ani-
mal>, ah\a\- producing Eggs, from which the
* In the predaceoos birds or Accipitres this is wanting, the sto-
mach being allied to that of quadruped*.
160 LECTURE V.
young are afterwards excluded. The process
of the young in the Egg, from the time of its
first production to that of the complete forma-r
tion of the bird, is extremely curious and in-
teresting, and may be found detailed with suf-
ficient exactness in the works of Malpighi, Bufr
fon, Monro, and many others. I shall only ob-
serve on this subject that the first appearance
of the young, as an organized body, begins to
be visible in six hours after the egg has been
placed in a proper degree of heat under the
parent animal*.
The number of eggs is extremely various in
the different tribes of birds.
Birds are divided by Linnasus into six Or-
ders or Assortments, viz. 1. Accipitres or Pre-
dacious Birds, such as Vultures, Eagles, Hawks,
Owls, and some others.
* A particular highly worthy of attention is, that the chick,
or young bird, when arrived at its full size, and ready for hatch-
ing, is by 'nature provided with a small, hard, and calcareous
protuberance at the point or tip of the bill, by which it is enabled
the more readily to break the shell, and which falls off some
hours after its hatching. So careful has Nature been, and so
accurately has every circumstance attending the process been
foreseen and provided for !
I.ECTUIF. V. 161
t. Pica or Pies, containing all the birds of
nd Jay kind, tin- Parrots, the Wood-
til.- Kingfishers, and a great variety of
r bird*.
3. Passercs or Passerine birds, comprising
I, tin- Thrushes, the Larks, and all
tin- I inches or small-birds in general, either with
thick «*r slender bills
4. Gallitue or Gallinaceous birds, or such as
are more or less allied to the common domestic
1 I, and consequently containing the Pheasant
and Partridge tribe, the Peacock, Turkey, and
a variety of other birds.
5. Gratia or Waders, consisting of all the
Heron tribe, the Curlews, the Plovers, and other
numerous tribes which have lengthened legs and
chiefly frequent watery situations.
6. The Anseres or Web-footed birds, as the
Swan, Goose, or Duck tribe, the Gulls, the Pen-
guins and many others.
Out of these six Linncean Orders some or-
nithologists have instituted a few others, in or-
der to give a greater degree of clearness and j
cision to the arrangement of birds, but they
cannot be considered as absolutely necessary.
LECT. 1. M
162 LECTURE V.
Thus the Pigeons have been sometimes consi-
dered as properly forming a distinct order of
birds under the title of the Columba or the Colum-
bine Order, instead of being ranked among the
Passeres of Linnaeus j and the Ostrich, Cassowary,
and Dodo have been supposed to constitute an or-
der called the Struthious Order, instead of ranking
either among the Grallas or Gallinae of Linnaeus.
The first Linnaean tribe of Birds, called Ac-
CIPITRES, consists of the Vultures, the Eagles, the
Chvls, and the Shrikes or Butcher-Birds ; for all
these birds are of a predacious nature, and feed
entirely on animal food. Their general charac-
ters, considered at large, or as belonging to the
whole tribe, are these. The bill is more or less
curved, strong, and often covered, round the base,
by a naked membrane, called a cere ; and on
each side, towards the tip, is a pretty strong
point or projection, forming a kind of tooth,
and serving the more easily to tear the prey.
The wings are large and strong, and the whole
body stout and muscular ; the legs strong and
short, the claws much curved, and sharp-pointed.
These birds generally make a somewhat neg-
ligently or slightly-formed nest, in lofty situa-
PURE V.
163
, and lay from i\\<> t . lour eggs. The fe-
male in the pn<la< ,.MI |iird> it aluay.s larger
than the ni ih ; and the whole trilu-, according
to Liima-us, may In- < d as analogous to
the Order i 'lonir ijiiadnipi iN.
Oi* tin- preda< iom tribe tlu- first genus or
of rultur. It- cliicf character is, a
beak of a somewhat lengthened form, running
.strait to some distance, but curving strongly at
tht tip: it has no cere or naked membrane at
base: th.- In ad and neck, in most species,
are bare of feathers, being covered only with a
kind of down. '1 h s of Vultures are con-
:ahly numerous, and they inhabit almost all
tin wanner parts of the globe, but are not so
oiuii seen in the Northern regions, where their
>cnce would be less necessary. They are
rved to prey on dead animals in preference
to living ones, and as they are always on the
watch for those, and prefer such as are in a
putrid state, they may be considered as the Sca-
vengers of Nature in the animal world, and are
ot extreme utility in the hotter regions, by quickly
removing all such animal remains as would other-
\\i»e tend to infect the air.
164 LECTURE V.
The largest, and most extraordinary of all
the Vultures is the South- American species called
the Condor, so long celebrated as the largest of
all birds possessing the power of flight, and till
lately, so very indistinctly described in the works
of naturalists. It does not appear that a spe-
cimen of the Condor was ever seen in Europe
till about twelve or fifteen years ago, when a
female bird was brought over in a dried state
by Captain Middleton, and deposited in the Le-
verian Museum. About two years afterwards a
male, in the most perfect preservation, was ob-
tained, and placed in the same collection. It is
this latter specimen that has afforded the oppor-
tunity of giving a true description of the species,
which is distinguished by being of a black co-
lour, with the shorter or secondary wing-feathers
white j the head furnished with an upright, com-
pressed, fleshy crest or comb, the throat, to a
considerable distance down the breast, naked and
red, and the neck furnished, down each side, with
several short, circular wattles or flaps : round the
upper part of the neck, where it joins the back,
is a kind of ruff or tippet of milk-white, downy
feathers ; the wings are of vast extent, and when -
LECTURE V. 165
the bird was fn ,h killed, are said to have mea-
sured nearly I'-nit. . n f« •« t from tip to tip. 1
:MCII allords an opportunity of rectifying au
important error in i «-ription of the Condor
gi\cn by general obtcnreny who have seen it
in its IL. , hut prohahly at a di>tance,
and with it^ \ dosed; tor such descrip-
11 us that the hack of the bird is milk-
white, which is not the case, but the mistake
may be supposed to have arisen from the white
uiiiLc-leatln r> folding over the hack when the
. Njsi-d. In SIK h d( x-riptions also, the
tail is said to be small, whereas, on the contrary,
it i> large in proportion to the bird. The ac-
counts of the Condor, by some of the earlier
historians of the Western Continent are singu-
curious, and such as the more sober phi-
losophic faith of Kuropean Naturalists could
hardly be supposed to admit. These writers
•More us that the Vulture called the Condor is
Hatching up, and carrying oil boys
-irds of ten years of age; that a pair
of these destroyers in concert, will attack a heifer
in th«- midst of a field, and tear it in pieces w ith
the utmost ease. In short, tke descriptions of
166 LECTURE V.
the Condor bring to our mind the imaginary
bird called the Roc or Ruck, which makes so
conspicuous a figure in the Arabian Tales.
The most common European Vulture is the
V. castaneus, or great brown Vulture ; it is of a
dusky chesnut-brown colour, with a naked head and
neck ; the long wing-feathers black, and the base
of the neck surrounded by a ruff of short whitish
feathers. This is the Vulture so often seen in the
usual exhibitions of animals. It is found in the
South of Europe, and in many parts of Africa.
The next genus of the Accipitres is called
Falco, and contains all the Eagles, Falcons and
Hawks. It is a genus so very numerous that
on the most moderate computation the species
may be supposed to amount to about 120. The
largest and most celebrated species is the Golden
Eagle, or Falco Chrysaetos of Linnaeus, which is of
a reddish brown colour, with dusky shades and
variegations, and has the cere or naked mem-
brane round the base of the bill of a deep yellow
or gold-colour : and the legs and feet are of
similar colour. Its general length is about three
feet, and its weight about 12 pounds. It is ob-
served to vary in some degree in its colours. The
i.t«,i t',i.i
J 61
1 1 < n in; v.
•le is the Bud of .Inpitcr of the an-
i - R .llv It l> llllinhiTCil
among our nah\«- British hinK haung been oc-
casionally ol«MT\i el to breed in thr northern part-
-i i!ni , hut in I i it i- more < om-
!ii"ii : itl < \trnr ..! \vm-_:s, v\hcn fully c\|)aiulril)
is in"--.- than
. 1 1 alia tns of Linn.Tus is
OT ratlun- ini<lilU>sixc(l species
1 hrown colour above1,
lii-iH-atli, \sitli tin' h'-ad uhitisli, and the
, legs and tlrt hluc. Liniucu>, in nu-ntiuning
l»ird, falls into a vulu , in snj (posing
that tin* left foot is .sli-rhtly w« h!>«-d. 'I'lic Osprey
n.itivr i^f Kunjpf, and is found in our o\\ n
, ( hicily frequenting tin: s<-a shor«-<, and
larger LI. B, and j>rryin.^ on fish, which it
y precipitating itM-lf nnon them ti-om a
' H ««f th<-
\ much larger and finer species, very nearly equalling the
Golden Eagle in size, u the Falco OstifragHs of Linnaeus,
by many naturalists is also called the Sca-Kagle, though very
different from the Common Osprey. Its colour is brown with
paler variegations, and it is remarkable for the strong curva-
ture of iu sharp pointed claws. Native of England, &c
168 LECTURE V.
have any gayety of colours, but some are pos-
sessed of a high degree of elegance, especially
some of the smaller kind of Falcons and Ha?cks>
among which latter may be particularized the
Kestril, a well-known British species of a reddish
brown colour above, spotted with black; with
the head and tail dove-coloured, the latter marked
by a black bar. The female is brown, with black
variegations, and the tail is brown also, with
numerous blackish bars.
The third genus of the Accipitres is that of
Strix or Owl. The bill in this genus is hooked,
but without cere at the base : the nostrils are
covered by reversed bristly plumes, and the head,
eyes, and ears are very large. The genus is
pretty numerous ; and the largest or principal
species is nearly equal to a small Eagle in size,
and of a rich chesnut-brown colour, elegantly
marked and spotted with very numerous blackish
variegations of different sizes: the head is dis-
tinguished by a large pair of feathered tufts,
rising above each ear, and the irides or circles
of the eyes are of the finest golden yellow. This
bird, generally known by the name of the Eagle-
Owl, or Great Horned Owl is not very uncom*
GKEAT
t/wi.
ifivt Cttfi I****'* fulA/M *• Mrrnr*** ft,
LECTURE V. ir,!>
mon in ninny parts of Europe, nnd has been
times found in Kir, land. In North Aim-
I much allied to it, l)iit differing
in li;i\ iuur tin- under parts ash-e
•e brown lines or bars.
'I'll.-- < onnnon IJnm n Owl, and the common Hani
mu>t he M;pp<>-ed to he known to everyone.
()v\l> in general are calculated lor seeing to the
.u'-eatesl ad\antage in a sober light, for which
reason tlioy shun the glare of day, and pur-
Mu their prey by night; and, as an eminent
writer somewhat oddly expresses himself, they
see ill because they see too well ; their «
beiii£ sensible to the smallest or weakest im-
-ions of light. Yet some speeies have been
rved to prey, like Ilauks, dnrinp: the d;;y-
tinu ; and it is remarkable that such species
are in some degree allied to Hawks in shape;
having a slender or lengthened body and «i
:«r tail than the rest of their tribe. The
bird called the Caparacoch or Hawk-Owl of
North Aim riea is of this kind, and is well
figured in the ornithological work of Kdwards.
Some of thi> ijrnus are remarkable for their small
; as a Siberian species, called by Dr. Pailus
170 LECTURE V,
Striv demmutdy which is hardly superior to a
sparrow in size, and of an elegant grey co-
lour, freckled with very numerous dark-brown or
^blackish specks.
Ornithologists differ in some degree about
the next or fourth Linna^an genus of the Acci-
pitres or predacious Birds; some thinking that
it should rather be placed among the Picae or
Pies. Its habits however are strictly those of
Birds of prey. This genus is called Lanius, in
English Shrike or Butcher- Bird, which nanie is
given to it on account of its singular practice
of separating the limbs of such birds and other
animals as it kills, and fastening them on thorns,
by regularly transfixing each : this practice is
not only common to the several European spe-
cies, but is observed in those of Africa and Ame-
rica. The Great or Common English Shrike or
Buteher-Bird is the Lanius Excubitor of Lin-
nreus, and chiefly seen in the northern parts of
the kingdom. It is about the size of a Thrush
and of a grey colour, with black wings and tail,
and a black streak across each eye : the bill and
legs are also black. Some of the exotic species
of this genus are of very brilliant colours.
Lrrri i:r V. 1:1
1 » PICJB or PM.>, at \vhi< h PI now
0 \ery mum-run-, that, far from passing
i all the genera of which it is comp<
I only select a fe\\ Hple--. The
,iy be con-id« n •<! as analog >u-~ to
v among Qnadrn: 1 he bill
lure in the <lill'» rent genera. 1-i.L
•minonly of a slightly compressed and eon-
II : they !)uiM their nests op deposit, iheir
in trees, ami their fr,(.| is principally of a
regetable nature, though some genera feed on
I shall now proceed to select some examples
of the genera belonging to this numerous order.
genus Puceros is one of the most singular:
>ts of birds of rather large size, and dis-
;i>hed l.y the excessive size of their beaks,
which an- often still fartln-r ivmark.ihli.- for some
kind of large prominence on the upper man-
dihle. The most conspicu- is the I5n-
lihinoceros of Linnaeus, commonly called
-Bird: its general size is that of
a 'I with a much more slender body
in proportion. It.- colour is black, M'ith the tail
. l>ur: the beak is of
17? LECTURE V*
enormous size, of a lengthened, slightly curved,
and pointed shape, and on the upper mandible,
towards the base, is an extremely large process,
equal in thickness to the bill itself, and turning
upwards and backwards in the form of a thick,
sharp-pointed horn. The use of this strange pro-
cess is by some supposed to be that of enabling
the bird the more easily to tear out the entrails
of its prey ; but others affirm that it is not of
a predacious nature, feeding only on vegetable
substances. This bird is principally found in the
East-Indian islands. In the Leverian Museum
is a remarkably fine specimen.
But the genus Ramphastos or Toucan ex-
hibits a still greater degree of disproportion be-
tween the size of the bill and that of the bird ;
for the Toucans in general are not larger than
Magpies; but are provided with bills of so in-
ordinate a size as, in some species, almost to
equal that of the whole body: the bill in this
genus however, notwithstanding its size, is of
a very slight substance, having a very large in-
ternal cavity, and the exterior sides, in the living
bird, are so slight that they may be impressed
by the fingers, and afterwards restore themselves
LECTURE V. 113
heir own elasticity. The tongue in tin • Tou-
.s<> much resembles a long .sleud< r f< ather,
that the first describers considered it as really
L: it is of a horny substance, and dividid
at the edges into innumerable notches or barbs.
Tlu- Toucans arc all natives of South America,
and feed mi the softer kind of fruits. One of
the most rcmurkahle specie.- is the Toco, the Ram-
tos Toco of Linna-us, a bird about the size
of a Pigeon, black above and white beneath;
with a bill measuring more than seven inches
in length, and of a reddish-yellow colour with
a black tip.
The T»ueans are not very numerous, and
are in general of very gay colours ; the under
parts being commonly either red or bright yel-
. ied with both these colours; while
the prevailing colour of the upper parts is a
greenish black. The bills are, in some species, not
less brilliant, being richly marked and shaded
with red, green, or yellow, generally in the form
of long and broad stripes or bands on each
side.
The genus Psittacus or Parrot needs very-
little description, since every one knows the usual
174 LECTURE Y.
shape of a Parrot's bill, and that the feet are
formed for climbing, or are, in the Linnasan
phrase, scansorial, that is, with two of the toes
forwards, and two backwards. Every one how-
ever may not have observed that in a Parrot's
bill the upper mandible is moveable as well as
the lower; a very rare particularity in animals;
and that the tongue, in most species, is thick
and fleshy : in some however, and particularly
in some which are natives of New Holland, the
tongue is tipped by a fringe of white cartilagi-
nous fibres.
So very numerous is this splendid genus, that
the species already described in the works of
authors amount to more than 170, and new ones
are frequently added to the list, particularly from
the regions of Australasia or New Holland, and
from the Indian islands. The whole genus, for the
convenience of investigation, is divided into the
long and short-tailed kinds : the long-tailed kinds
are remarkable for having the two middle feathers
of the tail longest, the rest shortening. gradually
on each side, so that the shape of the tail is
more or less lanced or sharpened in the dif-
ferent species. On the contrary, in the short-
56
GREAT SCAETLIETMACCAW
jSflff VctiZcndon Publi/hd *>• GXearf/e i> fleet Sbret.
i.i < TI I;K v.
1 Parrots thcfrath. n »t fa tail < oC » «jual
! :li, and the end or tip is nearly c\< n or
itly n.imded. Tin- larger kind of long-tailed
in «.ill. .1 Maccaws; the smaller /'</;•-
rakeett. The l'ngli>h term Parrot, in emninmi
!..ii/ii:!'_' usually confined to ilic- H. I or
lxind>. Oi' tl,<- la: -taili «1 Par-
«r .)/</(•(•<: [lieuons is the
Ptittacus Macao of Liniums, or (treat Scarlet
. \\hieh indeed may be well considered
as one i-f tin- most magnificent of the whole
feathered trilie. As a >pei ies, it is distingui-
by hiivinir the Ix.dy >earlet, the wings blue, with
a bar of yellou, and the cheeks ba;-c, \\hite, and
sli^iitly wrinkled. In colours it sometimes varies a
in different individuals. Like the rest of the
t Macraus, it is a native of South- America.
The best figure extant is that of Edwards,
which, in the true expression of character, as
well as of colours, far surpasses that given in
the Planches Enlnmiii- Danbenton. In its
native regions this bird is often seen in large
flocks, \\hich, from the brilliancy of their colours,
when seen at a distance, exhibit the appearance
.1 kind of Hying rainbow. An appearance
176 LECTURE V.
of this kind is described in Anson's voyage, of
the description of the beautiful isle oiTinian.
The Psittacus Ararauna or Blue and Yellow
Maccaw is of similar size and shape, but is
entirely of a fine blue colour above, and gold-
yellow beneath.
Psittacus Augustus or kyacinthinus is of equal
size with the two preceding, but is entirely of a
fine deep blue, with the bill and feet black, and
the orbits of the eyes, and base of the lower man-
dible surrounded by a bare yellow skin. This very
fine species was unknown to Naturalists till it made
its appearance in the Leverian Museum. It is
supposed to be a native of South-America.
The smaller kind of long-tailed Parrots, or
Parrokeets as they are commonly called, are
V •/
wonderfully numerous. As an example of these
I shall mention the Psittacus Alexandra or com-
mon Ring-Parrakeet, which is a native of India
and the Indian islands, and is supposed to have
been first made known to the Greeks and Ro-
mans by means of the Indian expeditions of
Alexander and his Generals. It seems to have
been almost the only Parrot distinctly known
to the Ancients. It is to this species that Ovid's
,*A#*6> CJT.wsto Met .firrrt
v. m
beautiful Klepy on tin- d< ath of Corimui\ Parrot
t IK f« ['. !Ti (I.
();. i.r in i < Vgant of the Parrakcets is
a species lately brought in a dried state from
l!»IUuid, and which I have myself lately
described under tin- name of Psittacus Melanotos
or black- 1 MI -krd l\irr:ik«-«-t. It ^ a middle-sized
and remarkable for the vivid contrast
,
Among tlu- short or even-tailed Parrots the
common Cini/ l\irrot ii rve as an example:
the Psittacus Erithacus of Linnaeus, and
is a very well-known , generally of the
of a small I'i^eon, and of a deep-grey co-
lour with a red tail : it is a native of the inland
I of Africa. The Parrot called the Ama-
zon's Parrot (P. JBttiOHt) is also of this di-
i, and is .subject to much variety in point
of colour.
Tlu- Pa; lied Lories belong also in ge-
neral t<> tin tailed division in this genus.
\ample \\e may take the Psittacus Gar-
rulus or Scarlet Lory, remarkable for the beuuty
I plumage.
r. i, N
ITS LECTURE V.
Among the numerous genera of the Order
Piece one of the principal is the genus Wood-
pecker or Picus. It is distinguished by having
climbing feet, as in the Parrots, and a strait,
strong, pointed bill ; while the tongue is wonder-
fully calculated by Nature for the mode of life
to which the animal is destined, being of equal
length, when extended, with the body of the
bird ; but by an admirable apparatus of muscles
and tendons, it is either withdrawn into the bill,
or thrust out at pleasure, and is tipped with a
sharp horny point, serving to seize and transfix
the softer kind of insects upon which the birds
of this genus feed j as well as to probe or search
for them in the cavities of the bark and bodies
of trees. The residence of the whole genus Pi-
cus, which is very numerous, is in the hollows
of trees, in which they breed. The most fami-
liar example of the genus is the common Green
English Woodpecker or P. viridis Lin. frequent
in this country, and of a green colour, with the
top of the head sprinkled with bright scarlet spots.
The Picus major is an elegant British spe-
cies also, and notwithstanding its name, is of
Pic ITS PILE A-
,;< /rt- t'/n f .
LF.CTl !:i \ 179
izc than tin- former, and of a black
d white colour, with ;i ml bar .1- TOSS the
k of tin- IK .id.
Oi' tl ; < !«•-•, tlu; greater mini I •
. one of thf elm f i^ the
://.v i»f Limner or H'hite hilled If'ood-
, a I way hed by the ivory uliito
;ll : th If is one of the
.iii.l i> hlaek, with a white
tin! a length-
. iin.-on cresi "ii the li«-a«l.
Picus pilctitn* is ;i North-. \ in .sjii-cies
neai-l\ Allied t«> the former, but distin-
gui>li«I 1' 'iired bill.
Th \\hoK i-, the Picus
minimus of Linnaeus, of the .^i/e \\'ren,
ajid of a brown c-ilMur, with th the head
n-d, and the Lack part black sjxekled with \\hite:
tin.- total length of the bird is thro ,•!
a half: it is a native of South-America.
Pica it would be nnpardona'
.lendid genus Paradisca or Pamdi -
Bird, of which l>nt a very few
known » ago, but whiiii
Creased l>y the |,er<cvcriiiLr n.>searches of mo-
ISO LECTURE V.
dern naturalists that the number is pretty coi
siderable. Of these the most common, or th
which was earliest known to the Europeans is
the Paradisea apoda of Linnasus, who did wrong
to give it that title, since it still keeps up in
some degree the highly absurd idea, that the
bird was naturally destitute of feet, the word
apoda meaning footless, whereas, on the con-
trary, the legs and feet of the Paradise-Birds
are rather remarkably stout and large. The cha-
racter of the Paradise-Birds is that the bill, which
is somewhat lengthened, slightly curved and
sharp-pointed, is beset, round the base, with up-
right velvet or plush-like feathers, and that from
each side, beneath the wings, springs, in most
species, a certain number of loose-webbed fea-
thers, of a peculiar construction, and greatly ex-
ceeding the rest in length.
The P. apoda or common Paradise-Bird is
about the size of a Thrush, and of a very fine
reddish chesnut-colour on the upper parts, and
yellowish-white beneath : the velvet-feathers round
the bill are black ; the top of the head and the
back of the neck yellow, and the throat of the
most brilliant golden-green : the tail is of mo-
.„
GKEAT/V COMMON PARADISE BIRD
<»•* Pft't.lv*** /WA/*./ At CJ^mr^n f'lni Slrrrt
LECTURE V. 1S1
derail- 1< n-th; of the sani«- brown colour with
the rest of the- upper part-, a:id is shaped as
ill tl, < rality of birds ;:iid is in a «;r--at
ihe loiiLc and beautiful as-
sortment oi !;-v. ebbed floating plumes
sprinijini; from f the back : these are
of the most el< -ant si met in Ic, and
arc generally of :i bright jonquil yellow at
their base, gradually growing pale or whitish as
they advanee in l.-ngth; and besides these, there
are two very long naked shafts or .slender quills
in the middle. The long floating feathers are
popularly called the tail of the bird, though in
reality, as before observed, the tail is of a very
different appearance and structure.
This species, or the Parudixca apoda, like the
rest of the genus, was onee supposed to be natur-
ally without feet, and to float almost perpetually
in air, never resting, except by the supp-
assistance of the two long and slender naked
shafts or filaments before mentioned, whieh the
bird was supposed to have the power of occasion-
ally coiling round the branches of trees, and of
thus somt times sleeping. Thc.se laities are now
sufficiently exploded. The Paradise-birds
182 LECTURE V.
to live chiefly on the larger kind of Butterflies
and Moths. They are the peculiar natives of the
Philippine and other Indian .islands, and the
reason of the old supposition of their wanting
legs was owing to these parts having been gener-
ally cut 'off by the natives before they sold the
skins to the Europeans. Several of the most ele-
gant species of the genus Paradisea, have lately
been engraved in a most magnificent manner in a
French work on the subject by Audebert and his
associates ; but it must be confessed that they
neither seem to have been copied from capital
specimens, nor can they be said to exhibit with
sufficient effect the peculiar splendor and elegance
so remarkable in the birds of this genus. A
highly learned dissertation on the genus Paradisea
may be found in the additions to Mr. Pennant's
Indian Zoology, by the late Dr. Reinhold Forster,
together with an elaborate and satisfactory dis-
quisition relative to the fabulous PhcenLv of an-
tiquity, to which these birds have been sometimes
supposed to bear a kind of affinity.
The beautiful genus Alcedo or Kingfisher has
a strait, strong, very sharp pointed beak; with a
very short tongue j legs and feet extremely short,,
EINGPISHEH
LECTURE V.
Ami the toes so con>ntnted as to form \\hat \.in-
calls n pes gressoriuf or gressorial toot, con-
f t!'. \\anUand one bickuanU,
\\ith two of the front* toes joined half u.iy
from tin- ha>e. The genus Alcedu or K.inuli>h< -r is
mini* TOU>, and remarkably brilliant in point of
colour, tli«- prevailing ( ast being blue or given,
uith dilVereiit • of splendor. The only
European speeirs is the common K-m.^nMicr, one
of the most brilliant of all the Knropcan birds.
It inhabits the banks of rivulei e it deposit-*
its eggs. The kingfisher is supposed to be the
Alcijnn of the Ancients, but the idea of tin- float-
ing nest, uhich tin- ai attributed to their
Alevon, will by no means apply to ihi^ bird;
though Mich a circumstance n ally takes place in
a certain g ; aquatic birds of a very dif-
ferent tribe.
The genus CifCidu.f or Ciiekow i> ol i/ed
by its slightly curved bill, climbing ti et, and tail
composed of ten soft feathers.
It is a numerous genus, differing greatly
in si/e and colours in the diifeivnt >pccies: the
only species inhabiting Euro| the common
Cuckow or Cuculus Canorus of Liniuvus,
184 LECTURE V.
known by its remarkable note. The common
Cuckow is about the size of a turtle-dove, and of
a deep blueish grey above, white beneath, with
numerous narrow dusky bars : the tail rather
long and edged with black and white bars, but
the young, or bird of the first year's growth,
differs so widely in appearance from the bird in
its advanced state, that at first sight, it would
hardly be supposed to belong to the same species,
being varied with brown, black, and ash-colour,
-somewhat in the manner of the plumage of a
Woodcock. The extraordinary conduct of the
Cuckow in usurping the nest of some other bird,
of much smaller size than itself, as the Yellow-
hammer, the Wagtail, or the Hedgesparrow for
instance, and depositing its egg in it, leaving it to
be hatched, and s the young nursed by the care
of a stranger, has long excited the wonder of
the philosophic world. It is observed that the
Cuckow seldom lays more than one egg in the
same nest, as if conscious that the space would
not be sufficient for the young when hatched. Oti
this subject may be found a highly curious and
interesting paper in the 78th vol. of the Phil.
Trans, by the celebrated Dr. Jenner, from which
COMMOW I'
' '
LECTURE V. 181
it appears that the young Cuckow, on the very
first day of its exclusion from the egg, employs
itself in throwing out all tin- yotm : of tin- bird
under which it. has been hatch sole
possessor of the not, , all the care
of the parent bird. Wjn-tln r any of the mi-
nn T- ! . tie Cuekou.s pursue a plan
ueli diilcnng from the general inst itution of
Nat i. '\\n.
But, of all the ord(r Picd'y none is so remark-
able for beauty and .singularity as the numerous
genus Trochi/itx or 1 iumming-Bird. This bril-
liant and lively race is p« ciilinr to America, and
with it \v (Xi'eptions, to tin- hottail parts of South
America. Their vivacity, swiftness, and singular
appearance unite in rendering the Ilumming-
Hirds the admiration of mankind ; while their
colniii-N arc so brilliant, that it is not by com-
paring them with the analogous hues of other
birds that u c arc cnaMcrl to describe their ap-
UHC, but by the more exalted brilliancy of
polUhed metals and precious >tone>; the ruby,
the topaz, the garnet, the sapphire, the emerald,
and polished gold being considered as the most
proper objects of elucidation. It is not however
186 LECTURE V.
to be imagined that all the race of Humming-
Birds are so decorated j some are even obscure
in their colours, and instead of the prevailing
splendor of the major part of the genus, exhibit
only a faint appearance of a golden-green tinge
slightly diffused .over the brown or purplish-brown
colour of the back and wings : neither are all the
species very small, for some few exist which mea-
sure many inches in length, and may be con-
sidered as the giants of this generally diminutive
genus.
The structure of the tongue in the Humming-
Birds, which constitutes the chief part of the ge-
neric character, cannot be sufficiently admired.
It consists of a very long double tube, formed
somewhat on the principle of the long trunk in
some of the Moth and Butterfly tribe, except
that instead of being rolled into a spiral form
when contracted, it is merely withdrawn and
doubled deep into the throat as in the Wood-
peckers, and at the tip it is fringed on each
side with a few horny hairs or processes. By
means of this tongue the animal absorbs the
sweet juice or nectar at the bottom of flowers,
and always feeds on the wing, stretching out its
K IvD THROATED HUMMING B'
jffcff Oct'tl.o/uivn fulili/hJi 6r £J&arslci -ftcer
l.VCTURK V. 187
tongue in tli-- nianiKi- of aM|e Motli, and dart-
ing oil with the in -notion <»» Hr- least
apprehension of danger. One of tin- mo.st eom-
inoii, as well as one of the most beautiful of all
tin- Humming-birds is t!ic T me hit us Calabria or
red-tluoai< d Humming-bird, which is not confined
to South America, hut otv . in most of the.
northern parts of that coniincnt, and is •
found as far north a> Canada. Its colour above
is ti! -id, with purplish-brown wings, and
tail, and beneath white, with the throat, to a
considerable distance our the breast, of the most
inten.se mul \i\id crimson, changing, on the least
alteration of pov.uiv, into the most brilliant gold-
colour, and again in some particular lights, into a
very dark or black i \s before observed,
it is found in mosi. parts of North America, and
whoever . iii summer-time, some of its fa-
vourite llowcrs in the window, as the scarlet Mo-
nanla, t 'nxe others, is sure
of bein^ visited bv innltitudes of tin s of
Humming-Bird. " The mo>t violent pas>i<ms,"
• writer, " sometii;, ,ite their
little breasts: they have often dreadful contests,
!i numbers happen to dispi, MI of
188 LECTURE V.
the same flower : they will tilt against each other
with such fury as if they meant to transfix their
antagonists with their long bills. During the fight
they often pursue the conquered into the apart-
ments of houses which happen to have the windows
open, and, taking a few turns round the room,
like the flies in Europe, again make their escape
into the open air. They are almost fearless of
mankind, and, in feeding, will suffer people to
approach within two yards of them, but if ap-
proached more nearly, fly off with the rapidity
of lightening." An author of high credit, Fer-
nandez Oviedo, in his History of the Indies, speaks
from his own experience of the wonderful cou-
rage and spirited instinct of this minute bird in
defence of its young. " When they see a man
(says he) climbing a tree where they have their
nest, they will fly at his face, and strike him in
the eyes, coming, going, and returning, with such
swiftness, that no man would lightly believe it
that had not seen it." The nest is of an elegance
suited to the architect, being composed of small
i
fragments of mosses and lichens on the outside,
and lined within with the down of the leaves of
plants : it is somewhat like the nest of a Chaffinch.
TROCHTLTTS MTNIMTJS
1806 Oct'jJ.Oiuloii PubU/hdbv GJcarsbv ////'/ ftrr
LECTURE V. 189
in mini.'1' \\i\\ diamr-tor 1>« ing about
an inch, ami it^ d< |>th about half an inch. The
bird la\s only t\\<> eggs, which an- white, round,
and of the -mall pease. It is a general
rule of nature that the smallest birds lay the
numb< ^s but in the- IJummin^-
^r jAfe
Bird this rule si d.
The smallest of all the Humming-Birds is the
Trochilus Minimus of Linnaeus ; but it is not very
splendid in colour, being of a dull gilded green
above, with brown or purplish wings and tail, and
white beneath ; it measures only an inch and
quarter in total length, from the tip of the bill to
tiie end of the tail. It is a native of South- America,
but is said likewise to be sometimes found in the
i>land of Jamaica.
One of the largest of all the Humming-birds is
the Trcchilm Pelkt or Topaz Hummingbird, the
body of which is of the size of a Wren, but as
the two middle tail-feathers greatly < the
k and as the bill is also of consider-
able length, the total extent of the bird amounts
to more than ri^ht inches. The colour of the body
1 ; of the back, wings,
and tail purple; tin- head black, and tin- throat
190 LECTURE V.
and breast of the most vivid changeable polished-
gold or topaz-colour, varying according to the
light, into deep green. It is a native of Surinam.
I should observe, that this very numerous genus is
divided into two assortments, according to the
shape of the bill, which is either strait or curved.
The species just mentioned is one of the curve-
billed kinds, but the two preceding ones belong
to the strait-billed division. The Humming-birds
have rarely been so coloured in the figures given
in the works of naturalists, as to convey any very
exact idea of their brilliant hues. An ingenious
attempt has been lately made by a French artist,
Audebert, to express by means of prepared gold
itself, properly rubbed on the copper-plate used
in the process, the metallic brilliancy of the birds;
but though the work be highly elegant, yet it
/
must be acknowledged that the experiment has
not succeeded so completely as might be wished.
The publication itself however is highly valuable,
since it collects in one view more species and va-
rieties than had ever been represented in any one
work before. In this work also the peculiar struc-
ture of the brilliant feathers of the Humming-
bird is well explained, and it is justly observed
MCTUREV. l»l
thai Iliix is owini; to the barbs <»r lateral plumes of
the !. nth. i> In ing of a flattened form, of a so
what horny .strurture, and so disposed as to form
on each feather very numerous rows of con-
cylindric mirror- UN it were, which very strongly
reflect the li«;ht which falls upon them in different
directions. There is one more particular to be
noticed with respect to this curious genus, \\li;< h
i*. that if we may rely on the observations of a
French observer, who had frequent opportunities
of examining their manner of life in the West
Indies, some of the larger Humming-birds have
been known to swallow minute insects as well as
the juices of flowers ; fragments of such, accord-
ing to Monsieur Badier, having been sometimes
found in their stomachs. This however is con-
tradicted by others who have never been able to
perceive any remains of insects in the stomachs
of these birds, but merely the chrystallized sac-
charine matter or juice which had been extracted
from flowers.
One would almost be tempted to suppose that
in those cases in which the remains of insects had
been found, some species of Certhia or Creeper had
been mistaken for a Humming-bird j the Certhia?
1*2 LECTURE V.
feeding on insects, and the smaller kinds being so
nearly allied in appearance to the Humming-birds
that they seem to differ only in the structure of
the tongue, which is not of a tubular form.
[93
LECTURE VL
[E Order Passeres of Linnaeus may be said
to comprehend most of the smaller kind of land
birds in general, together with some of a larger
size than the rest. The natural characters of this
order of birds are the following. The bill is form-
ed so as to operate in the manner of a forceps j
the limbs are rather weak than strong: their flight
is quick, with a frequent repetition of the move-
ment of the wings : they chiefly build in trees, or
shrubs, and in general lay a moderate number of
eggs, except some of the smaller species, which
lay numerous ones. They excel in the art of nidi-
fication or constructing their nests. Their food
is either animal or vegetable j some live chiefly
on insects, some on seeds, and some on both.
The whole order is considered by Linnaeus as ana-
logous to the Glires among Quadrupeds.
The Pigeon tribe, forming the first Linna?aii
LBCT. i. o
194 LECTURE VI.
genus in this order, under the title of Columba, is
by some referred to a distinct order called the
Columbine. The generic characters of the Pigeon
are a rather weak and slender bill, swelled at the
base into a soft protuberance in which the nostrils
are situated: the tongue is entire or undivided.
The common Pigeon may stand as an example.
To give a particular history of the Pigeon would
be superfluous. In its wild state it is known by
the name of the Stock-Dove, and inhabits the
hollows of rocks and other similar situations. In
its domestic or cultivated state it runs into a
number of beautiful varieties, the culture of which
forms a particular kind of business. This ad-
diction to the more rare and singular kind of
Pigeons is not confined to modern times, but
may be traced to the ancient Romans, who, ac-
cording to the testimony of Pliny, were as far
gone in the expensive varieties of tame* Pigeons
* Among others the variety called the carrier Pigeon was
highly esteemed both among the Greeks and Romans : it is the
nature of this bird to retain a very strong and almost invincible
attachment to the place of its early residence : being therefore
carried elsewhere, it hardly ever fails to fly back again to its native
spot. If therefore marked by any particular token, as a signal of
LECTURE VI.
as the m«»l»Tns*. Tlie Pigeon is the C. Oenas of
IJIIIKIU-V It must not be coiifoiuiilcil \\ith tin-
Wtod-Pigcon, Ring-Doce; or tin- C'olumba Pa-
lunihitx of LIMIIUMIS wliicli is of inucli larger size:
in -OHM- u liters, ln.\\f\(r, \\r liml this lattrr bird
im|>roprr!v naiin <1 the Stock-Dove. Thus Thom-
son in particular so names it*
" The Stock-Dove only thro' the forest cooes
Mournfully hoarse; oft ceasing from his plaint,
Short interval of weary woe ; again
The sad idea of his murder' d mate
Struck from his side by savage fowler's guile
Across his fancy comes ; and then resounds
A louder song of sorrow thro' the grove."
intelligence ; or if a letter be tied to its leg, it becomes the swiftest
of all messengers. The tales related of this bird are almost in-
credible. One has been known to fly from Babylon to Aleppo^
(which is considered as a distance of thirty days journey,) In th«
space of forty-eight hours.
* Linflaeus observes that the domestic Pigeon commonly, or
at least frequently, breeds once a month ; laying two eggs each
time : the increased production of the whole, would amount in
the space of four years to the number of eighteen thousand.
Others say that from a single pair of Pigeons may proceed four*
teen thousand in the space of four years.
196 LECTURE VI.
The species of Pigeons are excessively nu-
merous, and many are remarkable for the splendor
and beauty of their colours. Of the whole genus
by far the most magnificent is the Columba co-
ronata of Linnaeus or great crowned Pigeon, a
native of the East-Indian islands ; in size not far
inferior to a Turkey, and of a beautiful violet
purple colour, with a very large, upright, com-
pressed crest. The eyes are of the most vivid red,
and the whole bird has an air of an unusual mag-
nificence.
The Pigeons are succeeded by the numerous
tribe of Thrushes, forming the genus Turdus of
Linnaeus. The species are so very numerous
that those at present known may be supposed to
amount to at least 1 60.
The character of the genus consists in having
a straitish beak, slightly bending towards the tip
with a small notch on each side : the nostrils are
oval and naked.
The common Song-Thrush may stand as an
example. It is brown above, whitish beneath,
with reversed arrow-shaped spots on the breast
and belly.
The Fieldfare is another species, brown above,
H
:AT
65
TTLTKAM ARISE AMFELIS
, f/. , f . fft; rf
I.I ( Tt HK VI. iv?
\\ itli tin* In -ad l« ;id-eo|,,nn d or Mueish grey, the
body \\hite beneath.
Of tin exotic Thru.slios none arc more remark-
able than the celebrated bird called th. .]/,„ I i//^-
Thrushj or mocking-bird of America, tin- I Or-
pheii- and PoK <^lottus of Linna-nv C)i' this bird
an animated description may be found in Mr.
Pennant's Arctic Zoology.
The genus .-Impcli? or Chati. r< r, uhicli is very
nearly allied to that of Thrush, ditll r> in having
the nostrils conc< -al< d l»y small bristles growing
over them.
It is not a numerous LM -nn>, l»nt i>> remarkable
for the extreme .splendor of it> colour. The Am-
pelix ( for instance, or Ultramarine Ampelis,
is of so intense and brilliant a blue as scarcely to
ui|.;i-. d b\ any other natural object, not
n by the bine exhibited on the wings of some
of the larger exotic Butterflies. The Pompadour
Ampelis is remarkable for its fine purple colour:
both these species are natiu- of South America*.
* In the large picture at present before us, may be seen both
these beautiful species by the ingenious pencil of the Chevalier
de Barde; they are taken from select specimens in the Leverian
Museum.
198 LECTURE VI.
The only European species is the A. Garrulus, or
Bohemian Chatterer of the older writers ; it is a
native of many parts of Europe, and is an occa-
sional visitant in our own country. It is of a
beautiful bright bay colour, with the larger wing
and tail-fe'athers black, and is easily distinguished
by the remarkable appearance of the secondary
wing-feathers, which are each tipped with a small,
flat, oval appendage, of a bright red colour and
of a shining surface, like that of sealing-wax.
The genus Loyia or grossbeak, is remarkable
for the thick or stout appearance of the bill in
most species : it is a very numerous genus, and
may be exemplified by the Bullfinch, the Cross
Bill and many others, and particularly by the bird
palled the Coccothraustes or Crossbill.
The genus Emberiza is distinguished by hav-
ing a moderately strong bill, with the gape or
outline descending rather abruptly on each side
the base, and the inside of the upper mandible is
usually furnished with a hard or callous tubercle,
serving for the convenient breaking of seeds and
other vegetable substances on which these birds
chiefly live. Like the genus Loxia, it contains a
great number of species.
FOCCOTHRAU8TES w C.uossu li.l,
IP VI. 199
The remaining genera of the Order Passert*t
consist of the more Muiilcr-billcd small liinls, or
sueli as, from the structure of their l>< -aks, arc
more calculati .I fef feeding on the smaller and
mtou insects than on grain. Linnaeu* ranges the
major part of these birds imdrra vast genus called
Alotacilla or Warbler, the characters of which are
a weak, slender bill, slightly notched at the tip:
the tongue either divided or jagged at the tip, and
the legs slender. These birds live principally on
the smaller kind of insects and worms.
Among the principal species is the Nightingale,
which is the J/. Luxcinia of Linnaeus, a native of
most parts of Europe and Asia, and of a migra-
tory nature. In our own country it arrives, as is
well known, about the beginning of April, and
leaves us in the month of August.
" To every person, (says the Count de Buflbn,)
whose ear is not totally insensible to melody, t lie-
name of the Nightingale must recal the charms
of those soft evenings in spring, when the air is
still and serene, and all nature seems to listen to
the songster of the grove. Other birds, the larks,
the canaries, the chaffinches, the petty-chaps, the
linnets, the goldfinches, the blackbirds, the Ame-
200 LECTURE VI.
rican mocking-birds, excel in the several parts
which they perform: but the nightingale com-
bines the whole, and joins sweetness of tone
with variety and extent of execution. His notes
assume each diversity of character, and receive
every change of modulation ; not a part is re-
peated without variation; and the attention is
kept perpetually awake, and charmed by the
endless flexibility of strains. The leader of the
vernal chorus begins the prelude with a low and
timid voice, and he prepares for the hymn to na-
ture by essaying his powers and attuning his
organs: by degrees the sound opens and swells;
it bursts with loud and vivid flashes; it flows
with smooth volubility; it faints and murmurs ;
it shakes with rapid and violent articulations : the
soft breathings of love and joy are poured from his
inmost soul, and every heart beats in unison, and
melts with delicious languor. But this continual
richness might satiate the ear. The strains are
at times relieved by pauses, which bestow dig-
nity and elevation. The mild silence of evening
heightens the general effect, and not a rival in-
terrupts the solemn scene."
I must not omit to observe, that, according to
I.KCTURE VI. 201
united testimonies of all modern natura
tin admired song of the Nightingale is that of
the male bird, ubo tliu.s cni|il<i\> him-rlf, as if to
entertain and soothe the female during her task
of incubation; so that tin- celebrated lines of
Virgil, however beautiful in point of poetry, are
in reality inaccurate in point of natural history.
Quails populea mcerens Philomela sub umbra
Amissos queritur foetus, quos durus arator
Observans, n'tdo implumes detraxit ; at ilia
Flet noctem, ramoque sedens, miscrabile carmen
Integral, et mcestis late loca questibus implet.
So close in poplar shades, her children gone,
The mother Nightingale laments alone :
Whose nest some prying churl had found, and thence,
By stealth, convey'd th' unfeather'd innocence.
But she supplies the night with mournful strains,
And melancholy music fills the plains.
Among the very numerous species of the genus
•
Motacilla, every one must be acquainted with the
common Water-Wagtail, or M. Alba of Linnaeus;
but so very marked and peculiar is the appearance
of this bird and a few others nearly allied to it,
that Dr. Latham in his excellent Ornithology,
has instituted for these birds a separate genus to
202 LECTURE VI.
which he confines the title of Motacilla or Wag-
tail, while all the rest of the Linntean Motacilla
are referred to a genus called Sylvia or Warbler.
Among the smallest and most curious birds of
the genus Motacilla, may be numbered the Indian
species called the M.Sutoria or small Taylor-bird.
It is so named from its singular practice in build-
ing its nest, which consists of one or two leaves
proper for the purpose, dexterously sewed toge-
ther by the bird, which makes use for this purpose
of any kind of fine vegetable filament that it can
most easily procure. If the nest be prepared
from one leaf only, the two edges are sewn toge-
ther, so as to form a kind of pouch : if of two
leaves, the edges of both are connected in a
similar manner. The figure at present exhibited
is copied from Mr. Pennant's Indian Zoology ;
and the original was a drawing in the possession
of Governor Loten. The hollow of the leaves
is filled up with cotton or feathers. The colour
of the bird is yellow.
Among the European birds the genus Parus
or Titmouse is distinguished for the remarkable
neatness of the nest in some species ; more parti-
cularly the elegant little species called the long-
SMALL TATLOK -B 1 >
,.{,<•• HMijAit *, K h'wf.
LECTUR1. VI. MB
• I Titmouse, uhich buil \t o\al nest with
a lateral opeiiin:;. Others Imilil pend- nl
tin- Pnli-li 'I. or P. pemlulnm->.
Amont; the soft-hilled Passen-s or small-birds
tin- ijeniis Ilinimtu or Swallow is r« -markable for
many particularities. The eh of liie genus
,11 a -^iiiall short l>ill, ^^itll a broadish base;
a uiiir mouth or <^i|x •; a .sliori, divided tongue;
long wings, and short I.
The common Swallow, or Hinindo rustica, is a
migratory Itird, \arying its residence according
to tli >n, on account, chiefly, of the insect
trilu-s on which it ft •« <U. If kept in a sufficiently
warm apartment, and supplied with insect food,
the ( oinmon Swallow may be kept throughout ih<
\\iutcr, without exhibiting any symptoms of an
inclination to torpidity. It is well known that it
lia^ been by many supposed to remain torpid, or
rather concealed in close caverns and other retired
situations during the winter season; and this
really appears to have been sometimes the ease
with the later broods; instances having been
known of Swallows suddenly appearing on th*-
tops of sunny buildings and rocks in the middle
of winter. Among the most extravagant theories,
204 LECTURE VI.
that of the supposed submersion of the Swal-
low tribe under water during the winter; but I
forbear to dwell any longer on a topic so often
discussed, and shall recommend to those who may
wish to pursue the arguments on all sides, relative
to the dormancy of Swallows, to the pages of
Pennant, Buffon, Klein, Willughby, and especially
to those of the Gentleman's Magazine, where
they may find an ample harvest of observations on
the subject.
One curious circumstance should not be omitted
in the history of the Swallow, which is, that the
same pair have been known to return to the self- .
same spot in which they bred the year before :
this has been observed for at least three years
successively, and has been ascertained by mark-
ing the birds, before their disposition to migration,
by a circle of red or other coloured silk fastened
round their legs.
Allied to the Swallow genus is that of Capri-
mulgus or Goatsucker, a genus of birds, differing,
as Linnaeus observes, in the same degree from the
Swallows that Moths do from Butterflies ; for in
reality the Goatsuckers may almost be considered
as a kind of nocturnal Swallows. The bill is very
LECTURE VI. 203
small in most species, but broad at the base, tin
gape or swallow excessively wide; the edges of
the jaws btM t with strong bristles, the wings
long, and the tail even, or not forked. They are,
in general, birds of moderate size, and are remark-
able for their curiously variegated or speckled
plumage, without any brilliancy of colour. The
common European Goatsucker, the only species
known in Europe, is a migratory bird, appearing
in England during the summer months, and feed-
ing, like the rest of this genus, on the larger kind
of Moths, Beetles, and other insects*. The
largest of the genus is the Caprimulgus Grandis
or Great South American Goatsucker, in size
source inferior to a Buzzard, and with a mouth so
wide as to measure three inches in the gape, or
from the tip of the bill to the angle of the mouth.
Its plumage is a dull cream colour with very nu-
merous brown freckles or variegations. But the
most curious or singular of all the Goatsuckers is
an African species discovered not many years ago
in Sierra Leona, and which is somewhat smaller
than the common European Goatsucker. It is
* It flies by night, and is lometimes called the Fern-Owl, oc
Churn-Owl.
208 LECTURE VI.
varieties, of which the most remarkable is that
called the Silk Fowl, (S* lanatus Lin.) in which
the whole body is covered with feathers so loosely
webbed as rather to represent hair than plumes.
This variety is most common in some parts of
China and Japan. Another very remarkable va-
riety of the common fowl is called the Negro
Fozcl, in which not only the whole plumage, but
the comb, wattles, skin, and even the flesh itself
are entirely black. This variety is said to be
chiefly found in some of the lower parts of
Africa.
The genus or particular set in which the fowl
is placed is entitled Phasianus, and comprehends
not only the fowl but all the Pheasants. Its cha-
racters are that the cheeks or sides of the head
are bare, or covered by a naked skin : that the
bill is short and strong, and that the legs, in most
species, are armed with spurs.
The common Pheasant or Phasianus Cokhicus
of Linnaeus, takes its title from the regions of the
ancient Colchos, where it was formerly found, and
from whence it was first brought into different
parts of Europe. Of late years some other highly
beautiful birds of this genus have been rendered
ARG-US
VI. 209
common in our own country in :i douieMie si
;i> t of China or /'. piclus of
id M en i re only,
and not tin- bird it- lit have
gined it to ha\ ; lal animal,
than a r |n culiarly vivid
and varied i I plum;;
uirkable for its
si/r ami lieauty, tliou-h unaccompailiecl by any
brill i" colour, is a native of Sumatra, arid
has lor many years been eon^idi red as consti-
tuting one of the chief ornaments uf ihe F.u-
ropean Museums.
There exists in China some very large N|.
of Pheasaiit i!»ed, and known to us
only from the long tail-feather !i are some »
tim« Jit over, and which are of such a
length as to exce< d six feet : their colour is grey,
with very numerous brown bars.
This may perhaps be the bird mentioned l.v
Marc«» 1' that in the neighbourhood
of the city of Siriiras in Carthage are large Phea-
sants, with tails measuring from seven to ten spans
in length.
. i. P
210 LECTURE VI.
The P. Ignitus or Fire-backed Pheasant, de-
scribed in Sir George Staimton's Account of the
Embassy to China, is a species, which till that
period had either never been described, or so im-
properly and indistinctly as to convey no just idea
of the bird. I confess however that I have some
suspicion of its being very nearly allied to the
Guan of Edwards's Ornithology. If so, it has been
referred by Linnxus and others to a wrong genus,
and considered as a species of Turkey.
The Turkey, so long domesticated in this
country as well as in most other parts of Europe,
is a native of North America, and by no means of
India, as sometimes imagined. The genus to
which the Turkey belongs is called Meleagris,
and is distinguished by a short, thick bill, and the
head and throat covered by spongy tuberculated,
bare, reddish, or other coloured membrane. The
Turkey in its native regions of North America
is commonly of # black colour, accompanied by a
coppery and greenish gloss. It is seen in nu-
merous flocks, and is principally found in woods.
A very fine specimen of the Wild American Tur-
key may be seen in the Leverian Museum. Tho
LFCTURE VI. 211
Turkey ii commonly said to have been intro-
duced into England, or culti\ated in a domestic
staff, in the reign of King Henry the Eighth.
A \cry numerous genus called Tetrao or Par-
fridge MU-MC.U. It contains a vast variety of
>|M •( -it-, of which by far the major part arc inha-
bitants of Africa and America. In our own
country the two prevailing species are the Com-
mon Partridge and the Common Quail. The
former of these is so well known that it would
appear a mere loss of time to particularize its
description. The latter or the Quail is less com-
mon ; and is a migratory species, varying its
quarters according to the season. The Quail,
says an excellent ornithologist, seems to spread en-
tirely through the old world, but does not inhabit
the new : it is seen from the Cape of Good Hope
cu n to Iceland ; and throughout Russia, Tartary,
and China ; and is mentioned by so many tra-
vellers and in so many places, that we may almost
(all it a universal inhabitant of the old continent.
In spring it migrates northward, and in autumn
-outhward ; and this in large flights, like most
oilier migrating birds. Twice in a year such
flights come into the island of Capri (in the
212 LECTURE VI.
Archipelago) that the bishop of the island draws
his chief revenue from them, and has thence been
sometimes called the Bishop of Quails. Almost
all the islands in the Archipelago, and on the op-
posite coasts, are also at particular times covered
with these birds. On the western coast also of
the kingdom of Naples, within a space of about
four or five miles, have been taken no less than
eight hundred thousand in a day. Great clouds
of Quails are also occasionally seen to alight in
spring on some of the French coasts, according
to the testimony of the Count de Buffon. All
these observations may therefore tend to con-
firm the account in the sacred writings of the
Quail having been the bird sent, heaven-directed,
in such countless flights, among the Israelites
during their abode in the wilderness.
The Quail is the Tetrao Cuturnic of Lin-
naeus, and is distinguished as a species by its
pale chesnut-brown colour, with a whitish stripe
down each feather, and by a whitish stripe over
each eye.
In China is a species much allied to it but
of a smaller size, and with a black crescent be-
neath the throat. This is the species trained by
HOD ')
/hii t>t GXfarslcr fit** Street.
VI. 213
, in the manner of C
in Kurope.
Tii •••lin is a beautiful sperie>, about the
• minon Partridge or rather larger, and
<1 with dilleivnt colours: it is
a native ot' tin- (ireeian Islands, and is the
/ rrancol Liiina-us.
Among the (iallina« we must by
no moans omit that in alar bird the Dodo,
a very la rue and thick-bodied bird, formerly seen
in tin- i>land of Hourbon in the Indian seas, as
well as in x»nie parts of Africa, but which for
nearly two centuries appears to ha\c- eluded all
the diligence of naturalists tu detri-t. The only
authentic original 1: f the Dodo is a paint-
•ii)Lc preserved in the British Museum, which is
said to have been executed from the living bird,
brought into Holland bv the Dutch some time
t
the d: the Indies by the way of
the Cape of Good Hope. The bird ap;>
to b derably larger than a Turkey, with
!it, and with a
large head, an e\tn inely large thick bill, and
MT\ sj) ;t, thick legs. A skin of a Dodu was
preserved in the Museum of the famous John
214 LECTURE VI.
Tradescant, at Lambeth, and was seen by our
famous Ray, who mentions it in his Synopsis of
Birds; but this skin appears to have been after-
wards suffered to decay; the beak alone, with
one of the legs, and that in a state of consi-
derable decay, being now preserved in the Ash-
molean Museum at Oxford, which is well known
to contain the old collection of Tradescant. The
Leg of a Dodo was also preserved in the Mu-
seum of the Royal Society, and is well described
by Grew in his description of that collection :
it is at present in the British Museum, and,
(fortunately for ascertaining the real existence of
so extraordinary a bird,) is in a good state of
preservation; amply confirming the description
given by Dr. Grew, and at once demonstrating
to the eye of every ornithologist that it cannot
belong to any other known bird. This leg,
from the British Museum, with the beak from
the Oxford Museum may be found amply de-
scribed and figured in the Naturalists' Miscellany,
where I have taken some pains to evince the
existence of the animal, which has been some-
times considered as doubtful. The bird itself
however is either grown so rare as to be no
] i < T( i;r. vi. sis
longer easily discoverable in the regions where
it \\a> formerly found, or else, like some other
nni inuls, must have become extinct, from some
of destruction with which we are un-
It would he unnecessary to observe that the
generic characters of the Dodo, (which is the
l)idii> ineptus of LiimaHis,) are taken from the
figures published by Edwards and others, and
which have been copied from the painting in
the British Museum. The colour of the Dodo
is a variegation of black and white, as may be
seen in the coloured engraving of Edwards. The
figure of the Beak from the Oxford Museum,
and of the Leg from the British Museum will
give a sufficiently clear idea of the characters
of the genus. The bill is strongly wrinkled or
indented in the middle ; and the legs are thicker
in proportion to their length than in any other
bird.
But the Pride of the order Gallinrc, and
indeed of the whole feathered race, is tl
Pn\-n or Peacock ; in the chief species of which,
or /Vt'o L-rlstatus, Nature s« ems to have exhai
all her powers of splendor combined with
216 LECTURE VI.
gance. The Peacock is a native of India, and
when the conquering Alexander led his deso-
lating Myriads into the peaceful plains of India,
he is said to have been so struck by the sight
of the Peacock in its native regions, and in the
full magnificence of its plumage, as to have for-
bidden any one to destroy a Peacock under pain
of death. It may not be improper to observe,
on the subject of the Peacock, that the beau-
tiful set of feathers springing from the lower
part of the back, and usually called the tail, do
not constitute the real tail, which is situated be-
neath them, and is short like that of a hen, and
serves as a support to the long and beautiful
feathers constituting the admired train, which,
together with the upright and slightly revolute
feathers on the head, constitute the characters
of the genus Pavo.
There are two remarkable genera of birds,
which are placed by ornithologists in different
Orders j some referring them to the present
Order Galling, while others rather choose to
rank them among the Gralla. These are the
genera called Struthio and Otis or Ostrich and
Bustard. In reality the birds which rank under
OSTRICH
/-Yr,-/ .Tow/-.
j.i . vi. an
genera >» •< in to be of an ambiguous
caM, and may with almost c-<|iuil propriety be
placed in either order. The t'enus Strutlno or
O.Mrieh i> eminently . nous among bird>;
containing by far tin- lariat of tin- leathered
tribe. Thf generic character.-. CODM^I in a some-
what conical, and slightly ilaltencd Ijill ; wings
tor flight, and feet forme il for running,
iuf destitute of the hind or back toe. The
Common O>trich, of which at least the general
appearance and common history must be known
to almost every one, is a native of the hottest
parts of Africa j the hody of the male is black,
of *the female brown ; the wings and tail in both
are white; the neck nearly bare, and of a flesh
colour: the legs excessively. strong, and the feet
have only two toes, a particularity not to be found
in any other bird.
The Ostrich is supposed to feed principally
on vegetable substances : it has been accused,
from the earliest times, of a proverbial neglect
of its eggs, which it is supposed to lea\e in
the sand without paying any regard to tlu-ir
curity. Dr. Sparrman however is inclined to
218 LECTURE VI.
believe that the male and female Ostrich sit b^
turns on the eggs, which are generally from
ten or twelve to twenty in number; (not fifty,
as mistakenly stated by Linnseus in the Systema
Naturae.)
Other travellers of high reputation assure us,
that the male Ostrich, accompanied by three,
four, or five females, makes a kind of nest or
cavity, in which all the females deposit their re-
spective eggs, which they all likewise sit on, the
male occasionally relieving them by exercising
that office himself.
The American or three-toed Ostrich was of
course unknown till the discovery of that Con-
tinent. It is a native of South America, and
perhaps the only specimen known in Europe is
that in the Leverian Museum ; but it has rather
the appearance of a half-grown bird than one
of its full growth. The colour of the American
Ostrich is brown, with whitish wing and tail
feathers, and the feet have three toes.
In the same genus with the Ostrich is by
T/mnatus placed the Cassowary, or Emu, under
the title of Stntthio Casudrius; but of late it has
7J
IKCTI 1:1; vr.
been ratln ;• i "u>idi>red as belonging to a distinct
i- under tin- name of C'dsmiriux, and is eall«-d
:arill> ( . : itlVC
of the East I IK 1 d was fn>t
into ard- t|;.- < .' • ••
of th h cent i: of a coal-hhrk
d want
of win^s having only, in pi. , live or
irong, naked, horny spines or quills on
side: on thr head N a very ^trong and some-
what flatten*- d rising crest or helmet, down cadi
side the neck run a pair of long spongy waul* s
of an irregular surface and of a mixed red and
violet-colour. The feathers of this bird are re-
markably long and narrow, so as to give the
bird at first sight the appearance of being co-
vered rather with hair than feathers: each fea-
ther ;) double, two .springing from one
shaft oi- the legs ; mely .^trong,
and tli- .uc tlip . all pointing for-
ward nong t!i ntations of the
v : •> in the sevcntfrnth
century, of Mr. Millar in his Miscellaneous
Plates of Natural History, and Barraband in
some plates lately published at Paris.
220 LECTURE VI.
In New Holland is a species of Cassowary
of rather superior size to the Indian Casso-
wary, of a brown colour, destitute of a horny
crest, and in its whole appearance bearing a
nearer resemblance to the Ostrich. It has been
described under the name of Casuarius Australia.
The genus Otis or Bustard is characterized
by a slightly convex and rather pointed bill, very
open nostrils, sharp divided tongue, and long
legs, naked above the knee, with feet formed for
running, having three toes, all directed forwards.
The chief Species is a European Bird, and is
occasionally seen in our own country ; some-
times in small flocks or groups, and sometimes
singly. It chiefly frequents large open plains,
is a very large bird, with long neck and legs, and
of a yellowish brown colour, elegantly varied
with numerous black isa transverse streaks and bars.
The male bird has a membranaceous sack or pouch
within tin.' neck, for the purpose of holding water;
this pouch is capable of containing several pints,
but it is remarkable that the fnnale bird is des-
titute of a similar apparatus. The general food
of the bustard is supposed to be of a vegetable
nature, but it also feeds on worms and in.--
BFSTARD
I.FC VI. 221
and, according to sonic lat<- observations on
and tield-miee. A | rdinary cir-
cnm :i lately n !at« d of tin- bird ;
lliat it has been kiio'.\n to d«-M •end .suddenly
from IN Illicit, and Iron) some unknown capn« .-,
l«> attack a horse and its rider with great \i«>-
lencc, and \\ ith such blind fury as to sulTrr it>«-|f
to I- d 1>\ tin- traveller, rather than at-
tempt an (>ca|)c. Two instances of this are
recorded in thr Gentle-man's Magazine of the
of about t\\o years jia-t.
The two rcmainiujT Orders of Birds are the
(initU and jH.wrcst or the Il'tidcm and the
Jl\b-footed Birds. The former of these tribes
is termed Oral/a on account of the general
length of the legs in these birds, which in some
ra is Mich as to give the appearance of the
bird.- walking as it Avere on stilts, the Latin
d Gralhe signifying a pair of stilts. The
birds contained in this tribe are all the Herons,
Craticxj Storks, and nittcrn.s ; all the Snipe and
Plircer-kimL The Ibijtes, the Cools and Rails,
and several other birds, some of very large size,
and >ome ratlu-r small. I must also here ob-
serve, that systematical ornithologists differ in
222 LECTURE VI.
opinion as to the arrangement of some of the
genera in the Order Grallas, some of which ap-
pear of a dubious cast, and may with almost
equal propriety be referred either to the Gralla
or Gall'ma; while others seem to hang in equal
suspence between the Gralla and the Anseres
or Web-footed Birds.
In both these tribes I shall, as usual, parti-
cularize only some of the most important genera.
"We shall commence with the Order Gralla?.
The Order Gratia is considered by Linnaeus
as analogous to the Order Bruta among Qua-
drupeds. The bill in these birds is generally
rather long than short : the legs lengthened, and
the thighs often bare of feathers above the knee.
Their chief residence is in watery situations, and
their food consists of various kinds of aquatic
animals, though some feed also on vegetable sub-
stances. Their nests are often on the ground,
sometimes in tail trees. It is observed that few
of the birds of this order lay more than four
eggs, and some genera only two.
Perhaps the most remarkable genus among
the GraLlz or Waders is that of Mycteria or
Jabiru. It is distinguished by having a very
7-*
MTTURE VI. 225
large, pointed beak, which Ujiit3*4 of descend
i the generality of l>inl>, turns slightly up-
ward.-: the hunt or face i- bare of i< at i
and the 'igth, with feet of
tin- u-ual OH .iciurcj that is ha\in^
tli!' ;md ono backwards.
on!\ of tlii- mi ntioned h\ Lmi
is tiu- Mijctcr'nt ^hncnania or Coimnon Jabiru,
••ird, a nati\<- of South- America,
of a white colour, with the bill, long wiu^-
fcathtTs and tail black, and the neck bare, of a
black colour, ( ncircl« d at tlic bottom by a broad
red zone or collar; but of late years two other
sptcK > have bi-en added to this genus, one of
which is the bird now before us; it is' called
the M. S^negatensU or Senegal Jabiru, and
ditYcrs from the American or Common Jabiru
in ha\ing a pale or whitish beak, with a red
. and < near the middle by a broad
black bar. Of t! a more particular
•ipiion may be found in the fifth volume of
tin- Transactions of the Limuean Society. New
Holland has aNo atl'orded another species, smaller
than the former, and distinguished by having the
224 LECTURE VI.
neck covered with feathers, and of a deep change-
able greenish-black colour. A fine specimen may
be seen in the Leverian Museum, now (unfor-
tunately for the study of natural history,) con-
demned to dispersion. The birds of this genus
are supposed to live in the manner of Herons, to
which their whole habit bears a near resemblance.
The Herons, which belong to a genus called
Ardea, are by far the most numerous of all the
x
tribe of wading-birds or Grallse, and are distin-
guished by a rather large and long, strait sharp-
pointed bill, generally marked on each side by a
longitudinal furrow. Their legs are very long,
and the feet of the usual or general structure,
except that, in some species, the claw of the
middle toe is deeply serrated or toothed on its
inner edge, in order the better to enable such
species to hold their prey, which often consists of
fish, frogs, and other water-animals. The common
Heron must be known to every one, and is a very
frequent inhabitant of the country. The Crane,
now so rarely seen, and that only as an accidental
visitant, was once a constant inhabitant. It is a
migratory species, and, unlike most of the genus,
LECTURE VI. j_-
feeds, at least principally, on grain of different
kinds*. The largest bird of the Heron tril
tin- Ka>t Indian spirits called the Ilargil, or
.--, or Giant-Heron j chi»-fly seen in
It is of a blackish colour, with a n
, and a
:it craw or crop. On opening one of
these birds; says an eminent t:\iv.-iler, was found
a land-tortoise ten inches long in its craw, and a
large black cat in its stomach. It is said to be
easily tamed, and rendered domestic ; in which
state it has been permitted to fly about at j
sure in the neighbourhood, when it has been ob-
served to sit on the tallest trees, and at the dis-
tance of two or three miles could spy the dinner
carrying along the court-yard; and would th«-n
dart from its station, and soon join the company,
and has been known to snatch up a whole fowl
from the dish, and swallow it in an instant : the
traveller adds, that the bone of a shin of beef,
being broken asunder, served it but for two mouth-
* The Indian Crane or Ardea Antigone of Linnaeus, is nearly
allied in general appearance to the Crane, but differs in having a
red bare collar round the neck : it is well figured in the works of
Edwards.
LECT. I. O
•J26 LECTURE VI.
fuls. A young bird of this species is preserved in
the British Museum.
Many highly elegant birds belong to the genus
Ardea, among which may be particularized the
Egret or Ardea Garzetta, a beautiful white spe-
cies, remarkable for affording, like some other
birds of this tribe, a peculiarly elegant kind of
long and delicate feathers, appropriated by he-
raldic rules to the decoration of certain orders of
knighthood and other ceremonials.
The Sfork is a large species of Heron, of a
white colour, with the longer wing-feathers black,
and the legs and beak of a bright red.
The Bitterns are a kind of Herons which differ
from the rest in the thicker or shorter appearance
of their bodies, and in the fulness of tlie feathers
on the breast. The common Bittern, which is the
Ardea stellaris of Linnaeus, is a very elegant bird,
of a pale yellowish brown, beautifully varied with
darker streaks and specks : it is found in marshy-
situations, and is remarkable for uttering, during
some particular states of the weather, a peculiarly
loud and sudden noise, the nature of which has
given rise to many disputes among naturalists,
and is thus explained by Sir Thomas Browne.
" That a Bittor makctli that mugient noise, or
74
m
-.
—
-
I
-
\.
LECTURE VI. 227
as we term it, humping, t>v putting its bill into a
NMd, as m«. or as B"llonius and .V
vain I: iv «•, by putting the same in water or
mud, and alter a while retaining tlic air l>y >ud-
dt nly excluding it again, is not
out. F<>r my own part, though after diligent
MHj.inv, 1 ( <>uld never behold than in this motion;
. ithstandinu; by others whose observation
have expressly r< <i informed, that
some hau- beheld them making this noise on the
>hore, their bills being i'ar enough removed from
reed or water; that is, fust strongly attracting the
air, and unto a manifest distent ion of the neck,
and presently after with great contention and vio-
lence excluding the same again. As for what
others affirm of putting their bill in water or mud,
also hard to make out. For what may be
observed from any that walketh the fens, there is
little intermission, nor uny observable pause,
tween the drawing in and sending forth of their
breath. And the expiration or breathing forth
doth not only produce a noise, but the inspiration
or hailing in of the air, aflfordeth a sound that majf
be heard almost a flight shot.
Now the reason of this strange and peculiar
223 LECTURE VI.
noise, is deduced from the conformation of the
wind-pipe, which in this bird is different from other
volatiles. For at the upper extream it hath no fit
larynx or throttle to qualify the sound, and at
the other end, by two branches deriveth itself into
the lungs. Which division consisteth only of
semicircular fibres, and such as attain but half
way round the part : by which formation they
are dilatable into larger capacities, and are able
to contain a fuller proportion of air; which being
with violence sent up the weazon, and finding no
resistance by the larynx, it issueth forth in a
sound like that from caverns, and such as some-
times subterraneous eruptions from hollow rocks
afford. As Aristotle observeth in a problem; and
is observable in pitchers, bottles, and that instru-
ment which Aponensis upon that problem de-
scribeth, wherewith in Aristotle's time gardiners
affrighted birds.
Whether the large perforations of the extre-
mities of the weazon, in the abdomen, admitting
large quantity of air within the cavity of its mem-
branes, as it doth in Frogs, may not much assist
this mugiency or boation, may also be considered*
For such as have beheld them making this noise
K3LET IBIS
iffoff CctJ.Lotulen PuJ>ti/h'J by GJfrar.r/ri- Fleet -tV/vv/.
; VI.
out of the \va? a, larg it ion in
. and tlu-ir ordina
that of a raven."
The Hud.- MI'S Ba\ Bittern or American Bittern,
ured in t k> of Kd-.vanb.
!y allied to the . h Bittern, but of rather
smaller si/ Ttic Ardea ininuta, or Smallest
Hittern, i- not much larger than a Thrush, and
has been sometii ud in Kugland.
'I'll.- • - mis of birds called Tantalus claims our
attention, from its ha\in^ i to con-
tain th«- celebrated bird called the Ibi*, s«» niuch
esteemed by the ancient I'.v\ jitians, for its useful
quality in destroying various troublesome reptiles
and other animals. The Linmean genus Tantalus
is distinguished by l,a\mu; a Ion;.;, curved bill, 'not
sharpened, but rati itly rounded at tin- tip;
and sit or fore-part of the
kin. One of the hand>»im-t gp<
is the T. Rubcr or scarl< i Ibis, a natr.
Am« nd entirely of a most brilliant
colour, exc< pt the tips of the \\in2:.s, which are
Mack: its size i> ti common fowl.
The Egyptian Ibis h; rally been sup-
230 LECTURE VL
posed to be the T. Ibis of Linnaeus, a large spe-
cies, of a white colour, with the tips of the wings
black, and the beak yellow. From the exami-
nation, however, of such specimens of embalmed
Ibises as have lately been brought over from
Egypt, Monsieur Cuvier is of opinion that the
Egyptian Ibis is not the T. Ibis of Linnreus, but
either the same with, or very nearly allied to, the
bird described and figured by Mr. Bruce, under
the title of Abbou Ilannes. It is about the size
of a Curlew, and is of a white colour, with the
tips of the wings and the scapular-feathers black,
the base of the beak greenish, and the head slightly
tinged with brown. The bird however embalmed
by the ancient Egyptians, and examined by Cuvier
and others, has the head and neck naked or bare
of feathers, ancl of a blackish colour, a particular
which I do not recollect that Mr. Bruce has men-
tioned in his description ; nor does it appear in
the figure annexed to the description, in which
both the head and neck appear plumed ; so that
it is not quite clear that Mr. Bruce's bird is really
the Ibis of the ancient Egyptians, or that it is the
game with the Ibis of Monsieur Cuvier. It is
OUTLrNB of
'// //// /^ i yy //////
YPTJAN 1 H I N
Cfnrs/fr fat Slrrrf
!.!•.( :
probable that tl:
. 'Mil sp< ci( .s (if tl, Mirnl
\( ui-ration.
Herodotus ti 11s ns ' I that l
Egypt!;!. amu.allx invaded by --varms of
small living M Tponts, which 9 ,-ck' <1. .
(1, and killed by the Ibis, which on this
account was revered by the Egyptians. He
adds that lir had been shewn heaps of the bones
of these serpents near the confines of the de-
serts. As to the winged serpents, we well
know that no such animals are now discoverable;
and it i* not very probable that any such have
:• existed. The animal called the Dragon
indeed, or the Flying-Lizard might be add;
as in some degree justifying such an idea; but
tli- Dragon is a harmless animal, whereas the
Flying-Serpents mentioned by Herodotus are sup-
(l to have been highly p6uonon& An in-
>>us French author, Monsieur S o far
from supposing any natural antipathy to exist be-
; the Ibis and the ! tribe, imagines
that neither the Egyptian Ibis nor any other of
'•n such reptilo, b( ing by no n--
. dated for such a kind of food, but that the
LECTURE VI.
whole is nothing more than a metaphorical illus-
tration of the effects of the hot south-winds and
clouds of sand, which at a particular period, viz.
during the spring, invade, or as it were threaten
the borders of Egypt, at which time all man-
ner of contagious diseases prevail, and of the
salubrious effects of the cooling north-winds,
which blow after the inundation of the Nile, at
which time the Ibis makes its appearance, and
may therefore be said to have conquered the
winged Serpents -} i. e. the hot winds, with all their
accompanying evils. The Cerastes or horned
Serpent, which is an inhabitant of the hot sandy
deserts, was therefore very naturally made an em-
blem of the malignity of these winds, with their
accompanying sands and diseases j while the Ibis,
which so constantly accompanied the effects of
the cooling north- winds and the recovered ver-
dure of the country, became a kind of emblem of
salubrity, and of the conquest over the wingeci
Serpents.
The Egyptians, according to this author, instead
of saying in common language, The sands, in
which the Cerastes resides, are blown into the air
and arrive among us with their train of evils ;
LECTU1U. \I 233
IM ihaps ovcruhclm mir cultivated lands
iii; and v« noinous serpent N in.t\
ssess our abed. •> a.-> ill- v now <J-> th< ir iia-
.1 i.f >p< iius tli.-y would
in metaphor, The /'/// 'flits ;r/7/ </(
at. Iii tlu* same manner, when, by tin-
:li-\vinds tlic r<nmtr_ >uriluil, a.-d the
irbiuger of fertility, j-c-appoan d, tlir-y
:\, The Ibl , conquered the Serpi
!y, ilu« sand.-, accumulated on the confines of
rt, arrested by vegetation in those places
ulit re the openings between the hills allorded
thrm a passage, might well be denominated the
heaps of bone*, which declared the victory of the
|bis, and justified the veneration paid to the bird.
The genus Numenius or Curlew is so closely
allied to that of Ibis, that Jt only differs in not
having a naked front Tin- common Curlew is a
native of our own island, and is often seen on our
coa> Its colour i- pale-brown, \aried with
vn, and the lower parts are white.
The is not very numerous, l>nt some of the
e birds of considerable elegance -t
:n particular which sometimes strays into this
country, and i> of a brilliant coppery-brown colour,
23-* LECTURE VI.
with greenish, iridescent variegations, according
to the direction of the light. It is naturally an
inhabitant of Russia, Siberia, and other distant
regions, and is the Numenius igneus of modern
ornithologists.
Another exotic species much allied to this, and
which though a native of South-America., has been
seen on the British coasts, is the N. Gnarauna,
which is by Linnasus referred to his genus Scolopax.
J must also here observe that the supposed Egyp-
tian Ibis or the sfbbou Hanncs of Bruce, may be
considered as a Numenius rather than a Linnoean
Tantalus.
Among the most singular genera of the Grallne
or Waders, is a genus called Parra. It is distin-
guished by a slightly obtuse beak of moderate
length, by a rising scolloped flap or naked skin
above the base of the bill in front, by a spine or
'
sharp horny process on each shoulder, and lastly
by the immoderate length of the toes and claws,
which in some species nearly equal half the length
of the body. The Parra variabilis or variable
Parra, called the Jacana, is well figured in the
works of Edwards, and is of a chesm.it colour
.•hove, white beneath, with green wings. It is a
'
Ii<!l 1!! VI '.MS
of South :», an. I i > ivpn -« ntcti in
Kdwai'd-'s |i!.it«- in its natui. Hut tin most
Mi' bird of the t:enii> i • .died flic faithful
I'.ina or faithful Jaeana; it is th<- • n.i\an.'
and i- of liir .si/e of a Common do-
:c fowl. Jt i> ehicth i.la«-ki>li brown
colour, deeper Ix-ncatii, and .stands lii'.Ji on
;ind ch1 t'j of sncli a length
Jo one another in walk
bird is easily tamed and re nd» n d <loinestic,
in xvliit i it is made the guardian of all the
utlit-r kind of poultry, \\liich are coininilt'
care in the same manner as a flock of sheep are
to that of their attendin During the day-
time iids them from all birds of }>i« y, being
able, by means of the spurs on its shoulders, to
dri\e olV «-\en Vultures thin It is said
c-oinmitted to its «
goin^ out with them to proper situations by da\ ,
and ularly bringing the in all safe home at
'it.
Of a similar disposition and manners is an-
. South Auu riean bird belon^iiiLr to th«: e
ia% but. of a different genus, called Psophia
gi 'liu, iiarity of its notes.
236 LECTURE VI.
The genus Psopbia has a shortish, pointed bill,
long legs, and feet of the usual structure. The
principal species is called the Golden-breasted
Trumpeter, and is a rather large and tall bird, of
the size of a domestic fowl, with a long neck,
and of a grey colour above, black beneath ; the
breast of a changeable golden-green with a
blackish cast. This bird is also tamed by the
South Americans, and made ilse of as a guard to
their poultry in the same manner as the Parra
Chccvaria before described, but seems to be some-
what inferior to that bird in its character and qua-
lities. The Trumpeter is by some ornithologists
rather referred to the Linnrean order Gallinsc than
that of the Grallas. Indeed it seems to partake of
the nature of both these orders.
The genus Platalea or Spoonbill is too remark-
able to be passed over in silence. Its character is a
long flattened bill, dilated at the tip into a broad
and slightly rounded expanse. The common or
European Spoonbill, which was once a native of
our own island, but which has long since ceased
to appear among us except as a mere accidental
straggler, is about the size of a Stork, and of a
white colour, with the bill and legs blackish or
SPOONBILL.
LECTL'Kl VI. jr>7
• hnivni. It is rcconl« d by Mr. IVnnnnt thai
a Hock of tlic.-M. buds migrated into tin- ma,
>uth in th<- y« . Ill !• M.uid
OS Common binl>, but
! South-AmiTi
.ut it'iil .SJM-I •',
mhtoM0M(^l^|^
ce to tli >ean^biK)o»ibill,
a bright rose-colour. South ..
. \« r\ Mnall >| mi-,
vhi< li is said l»y JJiiMiL-ti^ lianlly to i the
a Sparrow, and is of a brown colour above,
and white beneath. The birds ol' th. > are
observed to live in the manner of the- I K-ron trih.
li>h, reptiles and water insects, and they build
their nests on. tall trees.
tw.> genera of Tri/iga and C/iiiradriusmij*-
tain all the birds of the Snipe and Plorer trilx-,
and y much allied t- !ln r, but in the
ailed Tnnga th- re furnished with a
: toe, wl ' initlrin-f thrre is
Of the the T. InU r/urs or
Tuni.stone may serve ;i ; and of the
• enus Charadrius • th«- n.o->t reinarkablr-
C'h. Iliinantopus or :
Plover; one of the rare-t «.-f the Hritiah b.
LECTURE VI.
black above, white beneath, with red legs of a
most extravagant length.
The last genus of the Gralla which I shall par-
ticularize, is the Flamingo or Phoenicoplcrus ; it
is distinguished by a large, broad, but rather thin
bill, suddenly bent down in the middle as if
broken, and finely toothed or serrated on the
edges. The Red Flamingo is a most extraordinary
bird, of the size of a Goose, but with a neek and
legs so enormously long as to appear out of pro-
portion to the rest of the animal. The colour of
the whole bird when full grown is a vivid scarlet,
\rith the tips of the wings black. It is a native of
Africa and of South America, frequenting the sea
coasts and the brinks of rivers, and feeding in the
manner of the Heron tribe, on fish and water
insects, and sometimes on vegetables.
As the feet in the .Flamingo are pretty deeply
webbed, it may be considered as forming a kind
of connecting link between the Grallae and the
Anscrcs, or web-footed swimming-birds, to which
we shall now direct our attention.
The Anseres consist of such birds as have very
strongly or conspicuously-webbed feet, and are,
from their general structure, calculated for swim-
FLAMINGO
IK T! UK \ I.
au or Goo
sin- IVn-uiiis, ti s, the Pelicans*
T! oui to ih«-
P Kflluce an; '[amm.dia. The hill in
:-;il rither somr'Ahat dilat« d
at the ti; with u Kind of nail or
md in must it is so con-
tout Led with Alight prominences. The
in all arc v< .oug
:\\\d .t, iat, and i
<'iilar. Tln.ir loud consists of fish and other water
animals, and 1'n'qurinly of water- plants. Th< ir
rest is generally on the ground; but sometimes on
lofty rocks: the nmul> i.i;-<U D|'
i»rd«-r differs greatly in th . rent gci:
laying only one egc: ; othrrs two; o;
, and olh»'i> a : 'i to
tutiity.
As the chief examples of the tribe of Ai:
or \ may be addin . \vi!d
Hud tan: - i, or t! Cyi^nus f<-ni-, and
clomesticus; the j^eiius Anas nil the
bird
240 LECTURE VI.
names of Swans, Geese and Ducks. This genus
is distinguished by having a broad, slightly convex
bill, toothed along the edges by numerous small
cartilaginous plates or processes, disposed like the
teeth of a comb -7 and the tongue is obtuse, fleshy^
and slightly toothed or pectinated at the edges.
The two birds often confounded together by natu-
ralists, under the titles of the wild and tame Swan,
are now found to be truly distinct ; nor does the
difference consist merely in the exterior appear-
ance, but in the interior organization j the trachea
or wind-pipe in the tame Swan being simple or
straight, while in the wild Swan it is very strikingly
reflected or doubled into the sternum or breast-
bone, so as to be able to utter the powerful note
for which the bird is remarkable. The wild Swan
is rather smaller or more slender than the tame,
with a black beak, and a yellow cere at the base ;
while the tame Swan, on the contrary, has a red
or orange beak, with a large, globular, black cere
at the base.
Every one has heard of the supposed musical
voice of the Swan, which was believed to be par-
ticularly exerted during its latest hours, when it
reclined on the banks of its native waters, and
LECTURE VI. 241
took leave of life with a sweetly-mournful song or
dirge. So strongly was this idea impressed on tin
minds of the ancients, that the Swan became tin
syinliol of | )<>< try , Imt ' it really is, it seems
to have had its excuse, and to have originated
from some exaggerated descriptions of the natural
notes of the wild Swan; the flocks of which, dur-
ing tlu-ir flight, have been often observed to emit
a sound far from un pleasing in concert, though
the general notes of a single bird are harsh and
stridulous. The tame Swan has no other voice
than a mere hiss : yet so common appears to Imvi
been the general belief of its musical pov.
that the celebrated Aldrovandus, in his Ornitho-
logy, speaks, as he imagines, from good authorit \ ,
01 the music of the Swans upon the Thames near
London, which he had been well assured, were
very frequently heard to sing.
Sir Thomas Brown, with his usual depth o
learning and solemnity of diction, endeavours in
his P>( -ndoduxia Epidemica, or Vulgar Errors, to
explode this popular notion, and concludes with
sentence : M When therefore we consider the*
dissention of authors, the falsity of relations, the
^disposition of the organs, and the unmusical
LECT. J. R
2*2 LECTURE VI.
note of all we ever beheld or heard of, if gene-
rally taken, and comprehending all Swans, we
cannot assent thereto : surely he that is bit by a
Tarantula shall never be cured with this music ;
and with the same hopes we may expect to hear
the harmony of the spheres."
There is a Irighly curious species of Swan, a
native of some parts of New Holland, and the
neighbouring regions, called the Black Swan, which
I have myself some years ago described under the
name of Anas Plutonia. It is sometimes brought
over to this country in a living state, and whoever
has closely attended to it, must have been struck
with the sweetness of the tones which it occasionally
utters : they are not of long continuance, but sin-
gularly melodious. I must here observe that the
black or southern Swan, though so lately made
familiar to the European Naturalists, from the dis-
coveries in the Southern Pacific, appears to have
been known to navigators a great many years
ago, since on some of the older kind of globes
and maps, we may occasionally observe about
these regions, an inscription importing that black
Swans are there to be found.
The genus Pekcanus or Pelican, is distin-
BLACK
CQMMOH
1606 OctJ.J.ondc/1 fubli/tid by GJuarflty flfet Street
VI. 243
rfni-lu d by .1
mandible, .ind by widely v. <th four
toes all turned forwards. The great or r< 11:1111011
\\hite T a native of many parts ot' the old
Continent, and
enor
.
chiclly |. -h it is said
ally to c an v to IN man '. liile engaged in
incubation.
The C'orvorant Pelican, though
•icnibra!! bill is but
nt in this bird. Ti a nati-.
and, and thoi; d lurd i- u
1 to sit or re>; in trees : it builds <»n high
rock\ cliiVs. It ha> been son
IIM (1 for 'imd
it^ 'I'll- i
ihis jiucj, »se, \, iiieh ••(•(! and
figured in ^ China.
It i^ :it, l»nt
a brown colour above, and whitish with brown
spot- beneath. According to Sir G. Staun'
• unt, tl.- • -irried in boats by tin ii
proprietors on the -'ivers, and well trained
244- LECTURE VI.
as not to require any ring round their necks, but
spring into the water at the command of their
owners, and soon return with their prey in their
mouths.
Among the Goose tribe we may particularize
a species often found in the northern parts of our
own island, and called the Bernacle Goose or
Clakis : it is commonly supposed the A. Erythropus
of Linnaeus, and is black above with the feathers
barred or edged with white. This is the bird
which the vulgar, and even some of the learned
once supposed to have been produced, not in the
manner of other birds, from an egg, but from a
peculiar kind of shell-fish called the Bernacle, an
animal which we shall have occasion to parti-
cularize when we arrive at that department of
Zoology.
One of the most singular genera among the
Anseres or the web-footed swimming-birds, is the
genus Penguin, Aptenodytes or Pinguinaria. We
cannot but recollect, that among quadrupeds there
are some particular kinds, which in point of ex-
ternal appearance, seem to make an approach to
animals of a different cast or nature; thus, the
Munis has so much the appearance and make of
a Lizard that, outward form alone were con-
VI.
it might b. ' upon as const ;>
link Ix-tuccii the j.-rojicr or \i\iparous quadrupeds
and li/ard--. Tlie Jerboa and the Kangaroo \
the i. • des «*f birds; generally
ling on the hind legs only. The Bats may
also I" adduced aa quadrupeds of an anomalous
nature, and possessed of the power of flight ;
while tin Cetaceous tribe affords a striking instance
of the gradual declension of the quadruped form,
till in the Manati it approaches to that of a very
different class of beings. Even among birds then-
are not wanting Mime instances of the same sort
of indistinct alliance to animals of an opposite
cast; the Penguins, v\hich I have just mentioned,
hcifiLT furnished with wings so very short, covered
with leathers so very small, so much resembling
scales, and so perfectly useless for flight, that they
seem approximated in some degree to fishes, and
are capable of exercising with case and rxp'
d it ion no other actions than those of swimming
and diving; since when they attempt to walk,
they can merely stagger alnnir in an awkward
manner, and if di>turhed are liable to stumble and
l.ill.
-remis I\-n«t{in i> not very numerous, and
246 LECTURE VI.
the largest of all is called the Patagonian Pen-
guin ; it is about the size of a Swan, and of a
deep or blackish ash colour above, and white be-
neath : the head is black, and the beginning of
the neck marked by a yellow collar, descending
on each side from the eyes. It is an inhabitant
of the Magellanic seas ; the other species of Pen-
guin are also natives of the Antarctic regions, and
are in general about the size of a common Duck.
The generic character of the Penguins consists in
having a strong but rather narrow bill, slightly
bent towards the tip, nostrils linear, and wings
useless for flight ; all the four toes placed forwards.
There is a European bird, occasionally seen on
our own coasts, which a beginning ornithologist
might be inclined to suppose a Penguin ; and
which indeed is often called the northern Penguin.
Its colour is black above, and white beneath, and
its size that of a Goose. In the shortness of its
wings, and its general appearance, it greatly re-
sembles a true Penguin ; but belongs to a dif-
ferent genus, called Alca or Av.'k, and is the Alca
impennis of Linnaeus. It is the only bird of its
genus that is incapable of flight ; the rest of the
Awks flying with great strength. The generic
ALB A'!
VI.
diararter of the Auks ftnsistfl in a strong, t
bill, compressed 01
forward.
With respeet to the real or >outhern PenflAHU
i hut
two • tip-
Of tlir I- • 1111-
;i u itli the Trojiii-Bini
or P ! with ; \lbatross,
1 til--
serial
The Albatross or Diomcdea, i^ a \<iv
bird, of a white coK>ur when full-irrnwn, vari«.l
with n 11, ]>\]' :i <»f
it b!. -ur, ui, .11, ;ui«l
\vinv rtent as soi
tions, that i: '»ui jmli*
lo pole, ami "in land
i any other known bird. It is the DKUU,
« xulans of Linnxus, and the wandering All)at
logists,
represented in the works of Eclwa:
2 IS LECTURE VI.
The other genus, or Phaeton, with which Lin-
nseus once associated the Penguins, merely on ac-
count of the form of the beak, is called the Tropic-
Bird. The principal species is the Phaeton aethe-
reus of Linnaeus, and is so named from the vast
height to which it soars. It is about the size
of a large Duck, but more slender in proportion,
of a silvery white colour, with numerous trans-
verse blackish bars or streaks, and has the middle
tail-feathers extremely slender, and of a vast
length in comparison with the rest. It is rarely
seen beyond the limits of the Tropical regions.
Another species is of a pale rose colour.
After these examples of the tribe Anseres or
web-footed swimming-birds, it would be unneces-
sary to dwell on the less conspicuous genera of
the order. I shall therefore request your attention
in my next Lecture, to the animals distinguished
by the title of Amphibia,
END OF VOLUME I.
T. Davison, Printer,
Whitefriais.
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