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This book must not be
taken from the Library
building.

Barrs Buffbn.

Buffon's Natural History.

CONTAINING

A THEORY OF THE EARTH,

A GENERAL

HISTORY OF MAN,

OF THE BRUTE CREATION, AND OF
VEGETABLES, MINERALS,

8sc %c.

FROM THE FRENCH.
WITH NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR,

IN TEN VOLUMES.

VOL. V.

llotttott :

PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR,

AND SOLD BY H. D. SYMONDS, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1807.

T. Gillet, Printer, Wild-Court.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIFTH VOLUME

History of the Brute Creation.

Pagt

Chap. I.

Of the Nature of Animals, - i

Chap. II.

Of Domestic Animals. - 8S

The Horse 93

The Ass - - - 179

The Ox - - - 205

The Sheep - - - 2*3

The Goat - - - 264

The Souine, the Hog of Siam^

and the Wild Boar - 278

The Dog - - - 302

wo

\^<*

Directions for placing the Plates,

Page 93, Fig. 18, 19.
218, Fig. 20, 21.
243, Fig. 22, 23.
263, Fig. 24, 25.
272, Fig. 26, 27.
290, Fig. 28, 29.

320, Fig. SO, 31.

321, Fig. 32,33,34,35.

322, Fig. 36, 37, 38 , 39, 40, 41.

323, Fig. 42, 43.

333, Fig. 44, 45.

334, Fig. 46, 47.
33b, Fig. 48, 49.

BUFFON'S
NATURAL HISTORY.

HISTORY OF THE BRUTE CREATION.

CHAPTER I.

©J* THE NATUKE OF ANIMALS.

AS all our knowledge turns upon the re-
lations by which one object differs from
another, if there existed no brute animals,
the nature of the human being would be still
more incomprehensible. Having considered
man in himself, ought we not to derive every
assistance, by comparing him with the other
pads of the animal creation? We will proceed
vol v. B then

buffon's

then to examine the nature of animals, to com-
pare their organization, to study their general
economy, thereby to make particular applica-
tions, to mark resemblances, to reconcile the
differences; and from the assemblage of those
combinations, to distinguish the principal ef-
fects of the living mechanism, and fo make a
further progress in that important knowledge
of which man is the object.

We will begin by reducing within its pro-
per limits a subject which, at first view, appears
to be immense. The properties of matter
which animals possess in common with inani-
mate beings come not within our present con-
sideration, and which we have already fully
treated upon. For the same reason we shall
reject such qualities as are found equally to
belong to the vegetable and to the animal. As
in the class of animals we comprehend a num-
ber of animated beings, whose organization is
highly different from that of man, as well as
from more perfect animals, so we shall wave
the consideration of them, and confine our-
selves to those animals which have evidently
the greatest affinity to us.

But as the nature of man is superior to that
of animals, so of that superiority we shall study-
to demonstrate the cause, in order that we may

distinguish

NATURAL HISTORY. ?

distinguish what is peculiar to man, from
-what belongs to him in common with other
animals.

Previous to an examination of the minute
parts of the animal machine, and their peculiar
/unctions, let us view the general result of this
mechanism, and, without at first reasoning
upon causes, confine ourselves to an elucidation
and description of effects.

An animal has two modes of existence; that
of motion, or awake, and rest, or asleep; and
which, while life lasts, succeed each other al-
ternately. In the former, all the springs of
the machine are in action ; in the latter, there
is only a part of them so, and this part acts as
well while the animal is asleep as while it is
awake, and is therefore absolutely necessary
since the animal cannot exist without it. It is
also independent of the other, as it acts of itself ;
\ he former, on the contrary, depends on the
tatter, as it cannot exercise itself alone. The
one is a fundamental part of the animal eco-
nomy, since it acts continually and without in-
terruption; the other is less essential, since it
acts but by intervals.

The first division of the animal economy
appears general and well founded. An animal
when asleep is more easy to be examined than

B 2 when

buffon's

when awake and in motion. This difference
is essential, and not a simple changeof situation
as in an inanimate body, which may be equally
and indifferently at rest or in motion ; for in
either of these states it would perpetually re-
main, unless constrained to quit it by some
external power or resistance. By its own
powers the animal changes its condition ; and
naturally, and without constraint, it passes from
repose to action, and from action to repose.
The period for awaking returns as necessarily
as that for sleep, and both arrive independent
of any foreign cause ; since in either state the
animal cannot exist but for a certain time, and
an uninterrupted continuity of either would be
equally fata! to life.

In the animal economy, therefore, we may
distinguish two parts ; the one acts perpe-
tually without interruption, and the other
acts only by intervals. The action of the
heart and lungs in animals that breathe, and
of the heart in the foetus, seem to constitute
the former as does the action of the senses,
and the movements of the members of the
latter.

If we imagine beings endowed by nature
with only the first part of this animal econo-
my, though deprived of sense and progressive

motion.

NATURAL HISTORY. D

motion, would yet be animated, and differ in
nothing from animals asleep. An oyster which
appears to have no external sense or progres-
sive motion, is a being formed to sleep forever.
In this sense a vegetable is merely a sleeping
animal, and in general every organized being
destitute of sense and motion may be compared
to an animal doomed by Nature to a perpetual
sleep.

In animals, then, sleep is not an accidental
state, occasioned by the exertions of their func-
tions while awake. It is, on the contrary,
unessential mode of existence, which serves
as a basis to an animal economy. By sleep
our existence begins; the foetus sleeps conti-
nually, and the infant is more often asleep than
awake. Sleeip, therefore, which seems to be a
state purely passive, resembling that of death,
is, on the contrary, that which a living animal
first experiences, and is the very foundation of
life.
Confined solely to that part which acts conti-
nually, the most perfect animal will not appear
to differ from those beings to which we can
scarcely give the appellation of animal. As to
external functions, it would be nearly upon a
level with a vegetable ; for however different
the internal organization of animals and vege-
tables

$ BUFFO N*S

tables may be, the inferences will be (lie same.
They each receive nourishment, grow, expand ,
have external motions, and a vegetating life.
But of progressive motion, action, and senti-
ment, they will be equally destitute ; nor be
endowed with any interior or apparent cha-
racter by which animal life may be distin-
guished. Investing, however, this internal
part with senses and members, animal life
will presently manifest itself; and the more
this cover shall contain of sense and members,
the more will the animal life be perfect. It
is by this investment that animals differ from
each other. The internal part belongs, with-
outexception, to all animals; and is nearly the
same in all which have flesh and blood. The
external cover, however, is widely different;
and it is at its extremities that the greatest dif-
ferences subsist.

In order to elucidate this, argument, let us
compare the body of a man with that of a h<
or a ox. In each the heart and luna^s, or the
organs of circulation, and of respiration, are
nearly the same; but the external cover is
highly different. The materials of the animal
body, though the parts are similar to those of
the human, vary greatly as to number, size,
ind position; and thereby the dissimilitudes

in'

NATURAL HISTORY.

in their respective forms are rendered very
wide. Besides, we shall find that the greatest
differences are at the extremities ; for in di-
viding the body into three principal parts, the
trunk, the head, and the members, we find,
that in the head and members, which are the
extremities of the body, consist, the most ma-
terial difference between man and other ani-
mals. We discover that the greatest difference
in the trunk is at the two extremities ; since in
men there are clavicles at the upper extremity,
which in animals are wanting; and the under
extremity of animals is terminated by a tail,
consisting of a certain number of exterior ver-
tebra?, which the human body is without. The
inferior extremity of the head also, as the jaw-
bones, and the upper extremity, as the bones
©f the forehead, differ prodigiously In man and
beast. Finally, by comparing the members of
a man with those of other animals, we plainly
perceive it is at the extremities they differ
most, as no two things bear less resemblance
to each other, than the human hand with the1
foot of a horse or an ox.

Taking the heart then for the centre of the
animal machine, we find in that and other ad-
jacent parts, there is a perfect resemblance be-
tween inun and other animal.-: but the more'

we

S BUFFO N*S

we remove from this centre, the more they
become different ; and when in the centre it-
self there is found any difference, then the ani-
mal is infinitely more distant from man, and
possesses nothing in common with those ani-
mals we are now considering. In most insects,
for example, there is a peculiar organization of
this principal j art of the animal eco-iomy.
Instead of heart and lungs, they have parts
which, being subservient to the vital functions,
have been considered as analogous to those vis*
cera, but which in reality widely differ from
them, both in structure and result of action,
and therefore arc insects to the last degree dif-
ferent from man and other animals. A mi-
nute difference in the centrical parts is al ays
accompanied with an infinitely greater in the
exterior parts. The tortoise, whose heart is
of a peculiar structure, is a very extraordinary
animal, and has not the smallest resemblance to
any other animated being.

In considering men, quadrupeds, birds, ce-
taceous animals, fishes, reptiles, &c. what pro-
digious variety do we find in 'he figure and
proportion of their bodies, in the number and
position of their members, in the substance of
their flesh and bones ? Quadrupeds have ge-
nerally tails and horns; cetaceous animals

live

NATURAL HISTORY. !*

live in another element, and though their mode
of generation is similar to that of quadrupeds,
yet they differ greatly from them in form, hav-
ing no inferior extremities ; birds differ still
more by their beaks, feathers, wings, and their
propagation by eggs ; fishes and amphibious
animals are yet father removed from the hu-
man form, and reptiles have no members.
In the whole exterior covering there is the
greatest diversity, the interior conformation
being nearly the same ; they have all a heart, a
liver, a stomach, intestines, and organs for ge-
neration ; these ought to be considered as parts
the most essential to the animal economy, since
they are the most fixed, and least subjected to
variation.

But it is to be observed that, even in the
cover, there are some parts more fixed than
others. Of all the senses none of these animals
are divested . We have already explained what
may be their sensation of feeling. What may
be the nature of their smelling and taste we
know not, but we are assured they all enjoy the
sense of seeing, and perhaps that of hearing also.
The senses may be considered, then, as another
essential part of the animal economy, as well
as the brain, from which sensation derives its
origin. Even insects, which differ so much in
tol. v. C the

10 buffon's

the centre of the animal economy, have a part
analogous to the brain, and its functions re-
semble those of other animals ; and such as the
oyster, which seems to be deprived of a brain,
ought to be considered as only half-animated,
and as filling up an intermediate space between
the animal and the vegetable kingdoms.

As the heart is the centre of the interior part
of the animal, so is the brain the centre of the
cover. In like manner as the heart, and all the
interior parts, communicate with the brain
and exterior cover, by means of the blood-
vessels, the brain communicates with the heart,
and with all the interior parts, by means of the
nerves. This union appears to be intimate
and reciprocal/and though of these two organs
the functions are absolutely different, yet they
can never be separated without the instant
death of the animal.

The heart and the whole interior part acts
continually without interruption, and inde-
pendent of any exterior cause ; but the senses
and exterior part act only by alternate inter-
vals, when affected by external causes. Ob-
jects act upon the senses, the senses modify
this action, and carry the impression modified
into the brain, where it becomes what we term
sensation. In consequence of this impression

the.

NATURAL HISTORY. 11

the brain acts on the nerves, and communicates
the vibration it has received ; and this vibration
it is which produces progression, and all the
other exterior actions of the body. Whenever
a cause acts upon a body, we know that the
body also acts upon the cause. Thus objects
act upon animals by means of the senses, and
animals act upon the object by its exterior
movements. In general action is the cause,
and re-action the effect.

It may be said, that in solid bodies, which
follow the laws of mechanism, the re-action is
always equal to the action ; but that in the ani-
mal body it appears that the re-action is greater
than the action, and that the other exterior
movements ought not to be considered as sira*
pie effects of the impression of objects upon
the senses. To this objection I reply, that
though in certain cases effects appear propor-
tioned to their causes, there is in Nature an in-
finite number of cases were the effects bear
no kind of proportion to their apparent causes.
By a single spark of fire a magazine of powder
may be set in flame, and a citadel be blown
up. By electricity a slight friction produces a
violent shock, which is communicated to great
distances, and if a thousand persons touch each
other, they would all be almost as much af-

C 2 fected

12 BUFFO N?S

fected by it as if the shock had been confined
to each of them individually. It is not, then,
extraordinary that a slight impression on the
senses should produce in the animal body a
violent re-action, and should manifest itself by
exterior movements.

The causes we are qualified to ascertain, and
the quantity of whose effects we can precisely
estimate, are less numerous than those whose
mode of action is unknown, and of whose pro-
portional relation with their effects, we are
entirely ignorant. Now most effects in Na-
ture depend on a number of causes differently
combined, whose actions vary, and seem to be
determined by no established law, consequently
we can only form a conjectural estimate by
endeavouring to approximate the truth by the
means of probabilities.

I pretend not, then, to assert as a demon-
strative fact, that progressive and other exterior
movements of animals, are caused solely by the
impression of objects upon the senses. I men-
tion it merely as likely, and founded on prin-
ciples of analogy, since all organized beings,
which are destitute of sense, are likewise desti-
tute of progressive motion, and that all those
which possess the one have also the other.

To

NATURAL HISTORY. 13

To illustrate these observations let us briefly
analyze the physical principles of our actions.
When an object strikes any of our senses, and
the sensation it produces is agreeable, it creates
a desire, which desire must have a relation to
some of our qualities or modes of enjoyment.
The object we cannot desire but either to see,
taste, hear, smell, or to touch. We desire it
merely that we may render the first sensation
still more agreeable, or to excite another which
is a new manner of enjoying the object ; for if
in the moment that we perceive an object we
could enjoy it fully, through all the senses at
once, we should have nothing to desire. The
source of desire, then, is our being badly situat-
ed with respect to the object perceived, our
being either too far from, or too near to it.
This being the case we naturally change our
situation, because at the same time that we
perceive the object, we likewise perceive the
cause which prevents our obtaining a full en-
joyment of it. From the impression which the
object produces upon our senses, then, the mo-
tion we make in consequence of that desire, and
the desire itself, solely proceeds.

An object we perceive by the eye, and which
we desire to touch, if within our reach, we
stretch forth our hands, and if at a distance we

put

14: BUFFO N'S

put ourselves in motion to approach it. A
man deeply immersed in thought, if he is
hungry, and there is a piece of bread before
him, he will seize it, and even carry it to his
mouth and eat it, without being conscious that
he has done so. These movements are a ne-
cessary consequence of the first impressions of
objects, and would never fail to succeed this
impression if other intervening impressions did
not often oppose this natural effect, either by
weakening or by destroying the action of the
first.

An organized being void of sensation, as an
oyster, whose sense of feeling is probably very
imperfect, is deprived not only of progressive
motion, but even of sentiment and intelligence,
as either of these would produce desire, which
would manifest itself by exterior movement.
That such beings are divested of a sense of their
own existence I will not assert, but at least that
sense must be very imperfect, since they have
no perception of the existence of others.

It is the action of objects upon the senses
which creates desire, and desire progressive mo-
tion. In order to render this truth still moresen-
sible, let us suppose a man, at the instant his
will incites himto approach an object, suddenly
deprived of all his members, his body reduced

to

NATURAL HISTORY. 15

to a physical point, to a globular atom, and,
provided the desire still subsists, he will exert
his whole strength in order to change his situa-
tion. The exterior and progressive movement
depends not, then, upon the organization and
figure of the body and members, since what-
ever be the conformation any of being it will
not fail to move, provided it has senses, and a
desire to gt^tify them.

On this exterior organization, indeed, de-
pends the facility, quickness, direction, and
continuity of motion, but the cause, principle,
action, and determination, originate solely
from desire occasioned by the impression of ob-
jects upon the senses ; and if a man was de-
prived of them he would no longer have desire,
and consequently remain constantly at rest,
notwithstanding he might possess the faculties
for motion.

The natural wants, as that of taking nourish-
ment, are interior movements, which necessa-
rily create desire or appetite. By these move-
ments exterior motions may be produced in
animals, and, provided they are not deprived of
exterior senses relative to these wants, they will
act to satisfy them. Want is not desire; it
differs from it as the cause differs from the
effect. Every time the animal perceives an

object,

id buffon's

object, relative to its wants, desire begins, and
action follows.

The action of external objects must produce
some effect ; and this effect we readily conceive
to be animal motion, as every time its senses
are struck in the same manner, the same move-
ments always follow. But how shall we com-
prehend the action of objects creating desire or
aversion ? How shall we obtain knowledge of
that which operates beyond the senses, those
being the intermediate between the action of
objects, and the action of the animal ; a power
in which consists the principle of the deter-
mination of motion, since it modifies the action
of the animal, and renders it sometimes nullj
notwithstanding the impression of objects ?

This question, as it relates to man, is diffi-
cult to be resolved, being by nature so different
from other animals. The soul has a share in
all our movements, and to distinguish the ef-
fects of this spiritual substance, from those pro-
duced by the powers of our material being
alone, is an object of very great difficulty, and
of which we can form no judgment but by
analogy, and by comparing our actions with
the natural operations of other animals. But
as man alone is possessed of this spiritual sub-
stance, which enables him to think and re-
flect,

NATURAL HISTORY. 17

fleet, and as the brute is a being altogether ma-
terial, which neither thinks nor reflects, never-
theless acts, and seems to determine, we can-
not doubt but that the principle of the deter-
mination of motion is in the animals an effect
altogether mechanical, and absolutely depen-
dant upon its organization.

I conceive, therefore, that in the animal the
action on objects on the senses produces another
on the brain, which I consider as an interior
and a general sense, which receives every im-
pression that the exterior senses transmit to it.
This internal sense is not only capable of being
agitated by the action of the senses, but also
of retaining for a length of time the agitations
thus produced; and in the continuity of the
agitation consists the impression, which is more
or less deep in porportion as the agitation is
more or less durable.

In the first place, then, the interior sense
differs from the exterior senses, in the pro-
perty which it has of receiving all impressions,
while the exterior senses receive them merely
as they relate to their conformation; the eye,
for example, being no more affected by sound
than the ear is by light. Secondly, the interior
differs from the exterior senses, by the duration
of the agitations produced by exterior causes;
vol. v. D but

IS Brn-atf's

but in every 6thef respect they are of the same
nature. The interior sense of the brute, as its
exterior, is entirely material, and the effect of
mechanical organization. We have, like the
animal, this material sertse ; and we possess,
moreover, a sense of a nature highly superior,
which resides in the spiritual substance, and
which animates and guides us.

The brain of the animal is, therefore, a
general sense, which receives all impressions
the external senses transmit to it, and these im-
pressions continue much longer in the internal
than in the external senses : for instance, the
agitations which light produces in the eye,
continues longer than that which sound pro-
duces on the ear.

It is on this account that the impressions,
which the former transmits to the interior sense,
are more strong than those transmitted by the
latter ; and that we represent to ourselves the
things which we have seen much more forcibly
than those which we have heard. It is even
found, that of all the senses, the eye is that in
which the agitations arethe most durable, and in
which, of consequence, though seemingly they
are more explicit, the strongest impressions are
formed.

The

NATURAL HISTORY. 19

The eye may therefore be considered as a
continuation of the interior sense. It is, indeed,
nothing more than one large nerve expanded,
and a prolongation of the orgau, in which the
interior sense resides. That in its nature there
should be a greater affinity to this internal
sense is not then surprising; and in effect not
only its impressions are more durable, but its
properties more eminent than those of the
pther senses.

The eye represents outwardly the inward
impressions. Like the internal sense, it is
active, and expresses desire or aversion, while
all the other senses are wholly passive ; they
are merely organs formed for the reception of
exterior impressions, but incapable of retaining
or reflecting them.

When with violence, however, and for*
length of time any sense is acted upon, the
agitation subsists much longer than the action
of the exterior objects. This is, however,
felt most powerfully in the eye, which will re-
tain the dazzling impression made by looking
for a moment on the sun, for hours and even
days.

The brain also eminently enjoys this property,
and not only retains the impressions it receives
tut propagates their actions, by communicating

D 2 the

20 buffon's

the vibrations to the nerves. The organs of
the exterior senses, the brain, the spinal mar-
row, and the nerves, which are diffused over
every part of the body, ought to be considered
as one continued substance, as an organic ma-
chine, in which the senses are the parts acted
upon by the external objects. But what ren-
ders this machine so different from all others
is its fulcrum not only being capable of resist-
ance and re-action, but is itself active, because
it long retains impressions it has received ; and
the brain and its membranes being of great ca-
pacity and sensibility, it may receive a number
of successive agitations, and retain them in the
order in which they were received, because
each impression agitates one part of the brain
only, and the successive impressions agitate
the same or contiguous parts, in a different
manner.

Should we suppose an animal which had no
brain, but possessing an exterior of great sensi-
bility and extension ; an eye, for example, of
which the retina was as extensive as that of the
brain, and had the property of retaining, for a
long space, the impressions it might receive:
it is certain, that the animal so endowed would
see at the same time not only the present ob-
jects, but also those it had seen before ; and

seeing

NATUHAT, HISTORY. 21

seeing thus (he past and the prccnt with one
glance, it would be determined mechanically
to act according to the number or force of the
agitations produced by the images which ac-
corded with, or were contrary to this deter-
mination. If the number of images calculated
to create an appetite surpassed those that would
produce disgust or loathing, the animal would
necessarily be determined to move, in order to
latisfy that appetite : but if their number and
force were equal; having no particular caus*
for motion, it would remain perfectly at rest ;
and if the number or the force of the images
of the former are equal to the number or the
force of the images of the latter, the animal
will remain undetermined, and in an equili-
brium between these two equal powers, nor
will he make any movement either to obtain
or to avoid. This I say it would do mechani-
cally, and without the intervention of memory ;
for as the animal sees at the same time all the
images, they consequently act, and those which
have an affinity to appetite and desire, coun-
teract those which have an affinity to antipathy
and disgust ; and it is by the preponderance
of either, that determines it to act in this or in
that manner.

It

22 BUFFO N'S

It is evident, therefore, that in brutes the in-
terior sense differs in nothing from the exterior
but in the property of retaining the impressions
it has received, a property by which alone all
the actions of animals may be explained, and
some idea obtained of what passes within them ;
a property which likewise demonstrates the
essential and infinite difference which subsists
between them and us, and from which may be
distinguished in what respects they are similar.

The degrees of excellence in the senses do
not follow the same order in the brute as in the
human species. The sense which has the
strongest affinity to thought, is the touch . This
is enjoyed by man in greater perfection than by
animals. That which has the strongest affinity
to instinct and appetite, is that of smelling ; a
sense in which man must acknowledge an in*
finite inferiority. Man, then, has the greatest
tendency to knowledge, and the brute to ap*
petite. In the former, the sense first in point
of excellence, is the touch, and smelling the
last; and this difference corresponds with the
nature of each. The sense of seeing is at best
ncertain, without the aid of the touch, and
therefore less capable of perfection in the brutfc
than in man. The ear, though prehaps as per-
fect in the former as in the latter, is of much

less

NATURAL HISTORY. 23

less use to the animal, from the want of speech,
which in man is an appendage to the sense of
hearing, an organ of communication which
renders it an active sense ; whereas in the other
hearing is a sense almost entirely passive. Man,
then, enjoys the senses of feeling, seeing, and
hearing, more perfect, and the sense of smelling
more imperfectly than other animals ; and as
the taste is an inferior smell, and has also a
stronger relation to appetite than any of the
other senses, there is a sufficient probability to
suppose that animals enjoy it in a more exqui-
site degree than man. Of this a proof might
beadduced from the repugnance which animals
have to certain kinds of food, and from their
natural appetite for such as are proper for
them; while man, unless informed of the dif-
ference, would eat the fruit of one tree for that
of another, and even hemlock for parsley.

The excellence of the senses proceeds from
Nature ; but art and habit may render them
still more perfect. A painter sees, at the first
glance, numbers of shades and differences,
which another person will pass over unnoticed.
A musician, always habituated to harmony,
receives a lively sensation of pain from discord.
In like manner are the senses, and even appetites
of auimals rendered more perfect. Birds may

be

24 buffon's

be taught to repeat words, and imitate tunes;
and (he ardour of a dog for the chace may be
increased by acccustoming him to a certain re-
ward.

In proportion as these senses are acute and
perfect docs the animal shew itself active and
intelligent. In man the improvement is not so
conspicuous, because he exercises his ear and
bis eye by means more rational and ingenious.
Those persons who see, hear, or smell, imper-
fectly, are of no less intellectual capacity than
others; an evident proof than in man there is
something more than an internal animal sense.
This is the soul of man, which is a superior
sense, a spiritual substance, entirely different
in its essence and action from the nature of the
external senses.

From this, however, we are not to deny that
there is in man an internal material sense cor*
responding with the external senses. But what
I maintain is, that the latter is infinitely subor-
dinate to the other; that the spiritual substance
governs it, and cither destroys or creates its
operations. In the animal this sense is the de-
terminating principle of motion, but in man
only the means, or the secondary cause.

Let us endeavour to clear up this important
point, and let us see what power this internal

material

& C. Stete Cdfefe

NATURAL HISTORY 25

material sense possesses, and what it is capable
of producing. The internal material sense re-
ceives promiscuously all the impressions the ex-
ternal seases transmit to it. These impressions
proceed from the action of objects; they only
pass over the external senses, and produce in
them but an instantaneous vibration ; they rest,
however, upon the internal sense, and produce
in the brain, which is its organ, durable and
distinct agitations. These vibrations create
appetite or disgust, inclination or repugnance,
according to the present state and disposition of
an animal. An animal, the instant after its
birth, begins to breathe, and to feel the want of
nourishment ; the smell, which is the sense of
appetite, receives the emanations of the milk
which is contained in the teats of its mother,
The vibrations which this sense undergoes,
from the odoriferous particles, are commu-
nicated to the brain, which acting, in its turn,
upon the nerves, the animal is stimulated to
open its mouth, to obtain that sustenance of
which it feels the want. The sense of appetite
being less acute in man than in brutes, the in-
fant at its birth feels only the desire of receiv-
ing nourishment, which it announces by its
cries, but it cannot obtain it of itself ; it receives
no information from the smell, and is obliged
VOL, v. E to

2G buffon's

to have its mouth put to the nipple, when the
agitations, excited by the touch and smell, are
communicated to the brain and nerves, and the
child makes the necessary motions for sucking
in its nourishment. Solely by the smell and
taste, the senses of appetite, can the animal be
informed of the presence of its food, and of the
place where it is, as its eyes are still closed, and
would, even if they were open, in no degree
contribute towards the determination of mo-
tion. Vision has a greater relation to know-
ledge than to appetite, and in man the eye is
open from the moment of his birth ; in most
animals it is shut for several days, but in whom
the senses of appetite are far more expanded,
and more perfect.

The same remark is alike applicable to pro-
gressive motion, and to all the other exterior
movements. A new-born infant can hardly
move its members, and it is a long time before
it attains strength sufficient to change its place,
but in a very little time does a young animal
acquire these faculties: In the animal these
powers relate solely to the appetite, which is
vehement, quickly developed, and the sole
principle of motion ; in man the appetite is
weak, more slowly developed, and can have less
influence than knowledge upon the determina-
tion

NATURAL HISTORY. 27

tion of motion ; man is necessarily, in this re-
spect, more backward than the animal.

Every thing concurs then to prove, even in
a physical sense, that brutes are actuated by
appetite alone, and that man is governed by a
superior principle. If doubts still exist, it is
from our imperfect conception how appetite
alone is capableofproducing, in animals, effects
so much resembling those which knowledge
produces among ourselves; and from the diffi-
culty we have to distinguish what we do in vir-
tue of knowledge, from what we do by the mere
force of appetite. Yet, in my opinion, it is not
impossible to dispel this uncertainty. The in-
ternal material sense retains for a long time
the agitations it receives ; it is a sense of which
the brain is the organ, and by which all the im-
pressions are received that each of the exterior
senses transmits to it. When, therefore, an
exterior impression proceeds from the senses
of appetite, the animal will advance to attain,
or draw back to avoid, the object of this im-
pression.' This motion, however, is liable to
uncertainty when produced by the eye or the
ear ; because, when an animal sees, or hears, for
the first time, he will be agitated by light or
by sound ; yet this agitation will be uncertain,
since neither have any relation to appetite. It
is only by repeated acts of seeing and hearing.

E 2

28 buffon's

added to ilie senses of taste and feeling-, that it
will actually advance or recede from object?
which become relative to its appetite. A dog,
for instance, who has been tutored, however vio-
lent his appetite, will not seize what might sa-
tisfy that appetite, although he will use every
gesture to obtain it from the hand of its master.
Does not this animal seem to reason between;
desire and fear, nearly as a man would do, who
was inclined to seize upon the property of ano-
ther, but was withheld by the dread of punish-
ment? Though this analogy may be just ; yet
to render it in effect well-founded, should not
animals be capable of performing the same
actions that we perform? Now the contrary is
evident; as nothing do animals either invent or
perfect; in every thing they have an uniform-
ity* and consequently no reflection. Of this
analogy then we may doubt its reality, ami
may with propriety enquire, whether it is not
by a principle different from ours that brutes
are directed? and whether, without being
tinder the necessity of allowing them the aid
of reflection, the senses they enjoy are not
sufficient to produce the actions they per-
form?

Whatever relates to their appetites strongly
agitates their interior sense ; and on the object
of this appetite the dog would instantly rush,

did

NATURAL HISTORY. S9

did not this very sense retain the impressions
of pain which had formerly accompanied this
action. By exterior impressions the animal
has been modified . This prey is not presented
to a dog simply, but to one which has been
chastised every time it obeyed this impulse of
appetite ; the agitations of pain, therefore, are
renewed when those of appetite are felt, having
been constantly felt at the same time. The
animal being thus impelled at once by two
contrary powers^ two powers destructive of
each other, remains between them in an equi-
librium ; and, as the determinate cause of its
motion is counterbalanced, it makes no effort
to attain the object of its appetite. Though
the agitations of appetite and repugnance, or
of pleasure and pain, destroy the effect of
each other, in the brain a third vibration takes
place, which accompanies the other two,nnd
this is occasioned by the action of its master-,
from v^hose hand the animal has often received
its food ; and as this is in no degree opposed
or counterbalanced, it becomes the deter-
minative cause of motion ; and the dog is
therefore determined to move towards its mas-
ter, and to remain in motion till its appetite
is entirely satisfied.

la

SO buffon's

In the same manner, and upon the same
principles, may we explain, however compli-
cated they appear, all the actions of animals,
without allowing them either thought or re-
flection : the internal sense being sufficient to
produce all their movements. The nature of
their sensations alone remains to be eluci-
dated, which, from what we have asserted,
must be widely different from ours. " Have
animals, it may be said, no knowledge, no
consciousness of their existence? Do you de-
prive them of sentiment ? In pretending to
explain their actions upon mechanical prin-
ciples, do you not in fact render them mere
machines, or insensible automatons ?"

If I have been rightly uuderstood, it must
have appeared that, far from divesting animals
of all powers, I allow them every thing,
thought and reflection excepted. Feelings they
have, in a degree superior to ourselves. A
consciousness they also have of their present,
though not of their past existence. They
have sensations, but they have not the faculty
of comparing them, or of producing ideas :
ideas being nothing more than associations
of sensations.

Each of these objects let us examine in par-
ticular. That animals have feelings, and in

a de-

NATURAL HISTORY. 31

a degree even more exquisite than ourselves,
I think we have already evinced, by what we
have said of the excellence of their senses re-
lative to appetite. Like ourselves then, ani-
mals are affected by pleasure and pain ; they
do not know good and evil, but they feel it ;
what is agreeable to them is good, what is
disagreeable is bad, and both are nothing more
than relations, suitable, or contrary to their
nature and organization. The pleasure of
tickling, and the pain from a hurt, as they
depend absolutely on an action more or less
strong upon the nerves, which are the organs
of sentiment, are alike common to man and
other animals. Whatever acts softly upon
these organs, is a cause of pleasure, and what-
ever shakes them violently, is a cause of pain.
All sensations, then, are sources of pleasure,
while they are moderate, and natural ; but so
soon as they become too strong, they produce
pain, which, in a physical sense, is the extreme,
rather than the opposite of pleasure.

A light too bright, a fire too hot, a noise
too loud, a smell to strong, coarse victuals
and severe friction, excite in us disagreeable
sensations ; whereas a delicate colour, a mode-
rate heat, a soft sound, a gentle perfume, a
fine savour, and light touch, please and move

us

32 BUFFON'S

^s with delight. Every gentle application to
the senses, then, is a pleasure, and every vio-
lent shock a pain; and as the causes which oc-
casion violenl, happen more rarely in Nature
than those which produce mild and moderate
effects; and as animals, by the exercise of their
senses, acquire in a little time the habit of
avoiding every thing offensive or hurtful to
them, and of distinguishing, and of approach-
ing such as are pleasing; so without doubt they
enjoy more agreeable sensations than disagree-
able ones, and the amount of their pleasures
exceed the amount of their pain.

In man, physical pleasure and pain form the
smallest part of his sufferings or enjoyments.
His imagination, never idle, seems perpetually
employed to increase his misery; presenting to
the mind nothing but vain phantoms, or exag-
gerated images. More agitated by these illu-
sions, tli an by real objects, the mind loses its
faculty of judging, and even its dominion ; the
will, of which it has no longer the command,
becomes a burthen ; its extravagant desires are
sorrows ; and, at best, its prospects are delusive
pleasures, which vanish as soon as the mind,
resuming its place, is enabled to form a judg-
ment of them.

In

NATURAL HISTORY. S3

In searching for pleasure, we create ourselves
pain ; and seeking to be more happy, we in-
crease our misery ; the less we desire, the more
we possess . In fine, whatever we wish beyond
what Nature has given is pain ; and nothing is
pleasure but what she offers of herself. Na-
ture presents to us pleasures without number ;
she has provided for our wants, and fortified us
against pain. In the physical world, there is
infinitely more good than evil ; and therefore it
is not the realities but the chimeras which we
have to dread : it is not pain of body, disease,
nor death lhat are terrible; but the agitation
of the soul, the conflict of the passions, the
mental anxiety, are those only we need ap-
prehend.

Animals have but one mode of enjoying
pleasure ; the satisfy ing their appetite by the ex-
ercise of their sensations. We likewise enjoy
this faculty, and have another mode of acquir-
ing pleasure, the exercise of the mind, whose ap-
petite is knowledge. This source of pleasure
would be the more pure and copious did not
our passions oppose its current, and divert the
mind from contemplation. So soon as these ob-
tain the ascendency, reason is silenced ; a dis-
gust to truth ensues ; the charm of illusion in-
vol. v. F creases

31 buffon's

creases ; error fortifies, itself, and drags us on
to misery ; for what misery can be greater than
no longer seeing things as they are ; to have
judgment perverted by passions; to act solely
by its direction, to appear in consequence un-
just or ridiculous to others ; and when the hour
of self-examination comes, of being forced to
despise ourselves ?

In this state of illusion and darkness we
would change the nature of our soul. She was
given us for the purposes of knowledge, and we
would employ her solely for those of sensation.
Could we extinguish her light, far from re-
gretting the loss, with pleasure should we em-
brace the lot of Hcots. As we no longer rea»
son but during intervals, and as these intervals
are troublesome, and spent in secret reproaches,
we wish to suppress them, and thus proceed-
ing from one illusion to another, we at length
endeavour to lose all knowledge and remem-
brance of ourselves.

A passion without intervals is madness; and
a state of madness is the death of the soul.
Violent passions with intervals are fits of folly,
a malady of the mind, whose danger consists in
its dura- ion and frequency. In those intervals
alone it may be said to enjoy health by the re*

sumption

NATURAL HISTORY. 3j

Sumption of wisdom, but prevents it being a
state of happiness, by reflecting on and con-
demning i he past follies.

The generality of those who call themselves
unhappy, are men of violent passions, or rather
madmen, who have some intervals of reason ;
and as in exalted stations there are more false
desires, more vain pursuits, more unruly pas-
sions, more abuses of the mind, than in the
inferior, the rich man, beyond a doubt, is the
most unhappy.

But let us turn from these gloomy objects,
these humiliating truths, and take a view of the
man of wisdom, who alone is worthy our no-
tice. Contented with his situation, he who is
entitled to this character wishes not to live but
as he has always lived : happy within himself,
he stands in little need of other resources ; con-
tinually occupied in exercising the faculti f of
his mind, he perfects his understanding, culti-
vates his talents, acquires new knowledge, and
without remose and disgust, he enjoys the
whole universe by enjoying himself.

A man like this is undoubtedly the happiest
being in Nature. To the pleasures of the
body, which he possesses in common with other
animals, he adds those of the mind, which he
enjoys exclusively. He has two methods of

F 2 beins

35 buffon's

being happy, which aid and fortify each other i
and if by indisposition or accident he is sub-
ject to pain, his sufferings are not great: his
strength of mind supports him, reason con-
soles him, and he feels a satisfaction that he is
enabled to suffer.

The health of man is more precarious thart
that of any other animal ; he is indisposed
more frequently, and for a greater length of
time, and dies at all ages ; while brutes travel
through life with an even and steady pace.
This difference seems to proceed from two
causes, which, though widely distinct, contri-
bute to the same effect. The first is, the un-
ruliness of our internal material sense; the
passions have an influence on the health, and
disorder the principles which animate us. Al-
most all mankind lead a life of timidity or con-
tention, and the greatest part die of chagrin.
The second is the imperfection of those of our
senses which have an affinity with the appetite.
Brute animals have a better perception of what
is suitable to their nature ; they are not liable
to deception in the choice of their food ; they
are not guilty of excess in their pleasures ; and
guided solely by a sense of their present wants,
hey satisfy these without seeking new modes
gratification. As for man, independent of

his

NATURAL HISTORY,

Xi

his propensity to excess, independent of (hat
ardour with which he endeavours to destroy
himself, by endeavouring to force Nature \ he
hardly knows how to distinguish the effect of
this or that nourishment; he disdains simple
food, and prefers artificial dishes, because his
taste is depraved, and because, from being a
sense of pleasure, he has rendered it an organ
of debauchery, wiiich is never gratified but
when it is irritated.

It is not surprising, therefore, that we are
more subjected than animals to infirmities ;
since we know not so well as them, what may
contribute to preserve or destroy health, our
experience being less certain than their percep-
tion ; nay we abuse the very senses of the appe-
tite, which they enjoy in such superior excel-
lence, these being to them the means of pre-
serving health, and to us causes of disease and
of destruction. By intemperance alone more
men sicken and die, than by all the scourges
incident to human nature.

From these reflections it would appear, that
animals have a more certain, as well as a more
exquisite sensation of feeling than men. In
support of this superior strength of sentiment,
we may advert to their sense of smelling, which
some animals enjoy to such a degree that they

can

5S BUFFOx's

can smell further than they can see. A sense
like this is an eye which sees objects, not only
where they are, but even where they have
been ; it is the sense by which the brute animal
distinguishes what is suitable or repugnant to
ils nature, and by which it perceives and
chooses what is proper for the gratification of
its appetite.

In greater perfection, then, than man, do
animals enjoy the senses which relate to appe-
tite : and though of their present existence they
have a consciousness, of their past they have
none. This second proposition, as well as
the first, is worthy consideration. The con-
sciousness of existence is composed in man of
the sensation of his present, and of the remem-
brance of his past exis.ence. Remembrance
is a sensation altogether as present as the first
impression, and sometimes affects us more
strongly. As th.se two kinds of sensations are
different, and as the mind possesses the faculty
of comparing and forming ideas from them,
our consciousness of existence is the more cer-
tain and extensive, as remembrance more fre-
quently and copiously recals past things and oc-
currences; and as by our reflection^ we com-
pare and combine them with those | <ast and pre-
sent occurrences. Every man retains within

himself

NATURAL HISTORY. 39

liinisclf a certain number of sensations corre-
pondent with the different existences or states
through which he has passed ; and these sensa-
tions, by the comparison which the mind forms
between them, at length become a succession,
and a series of ideas. In this comparison of
sensations consists the idea of time ; and indeed
all other ideas. But this series of ideas, this
chain of existences, is often presented to us in
au order very different from that in which our
sensations reached us ; and in this it is that the
difference principally consists in the genius and
disposition of mankind.

Some men have minds particularly active
in comparing and forming ideas. These are
invariably the most ingenious, and, circum-
stances concurring, will always distinguish
themselves. There are others, and in a greater
number, whose minds are less active, allow all
sensations which have not a certain degree of
force to escape, and who only compare those
by which they are strongly agitated. In points
of ingenuity and vivacity these yield to the
former. Others still there are, and they form
the multitude, in whom there is so little activity
of mind, so little propensity to think, that they
compare and combine nothing, at least at the

first

40 buffon's

first glance; sensations of force, and repeated
a thousand times, are -required before their
minds will be influenced to compare them, and
form ideas.

The consciousness of our existence being
composed, then, not only of our actual sensa-
tions, but of the fmin of ideas which gave
rise to the comparison of our sensations, and of
our past existences, it is evident that the more
ideas we have, the more certain we are of our
existence; that the more we have of intellect
tual capacity, the more we exist; that it is by
the power of reft :tion alone that we are cer-
tain of our past existence, and view our future
one; the idea of futurity being nothing more
than a comparison of the present with the past
inverted, since in this light the present is past,
and the future present.

Tli is power of reflection being denied to
animals, it is certain they cannot form ideas,
and consequently their consciousness of exist-
ence is less sure, and less extensive than ours.
Having no idea of time, no knowledge of the
past, nor conception of the future, their con-
sciousness of existence is simple, depends solely
on the sensations which actually affect them,
and consists in the internal sentiment which
these sensations produce.

May

NATURAL HISTORY. 41

May we not conceive what this conscious-
ness of existence is in animals, by reflecting
on our own state when strongly occupied with
some object, or violently agitated by some pas-
sion, which banishes every reflection upon self?
This state we familiarly express by saying,
the man is absent or beside himself ; and
people are in reality beside themselves, when
they are occupied with sensations actually pre-
sent to them, especially if those sensations are
so violent and rapid as to allow the mind no
time for reflection. When thus situated we
feel pleasure and pain in all their varieties ;
therefore, though seemingly without the parti-
cipation of the mind, we have a consciousness
of our existence. This state, to which we are
occasionally exposed, is the habitual state of
animals ; deprived of ideas, and furnished
with sensations, they know not their existence
but feel it.

To render more sensible this difference, let
us consider minutely the faculties of brutes,
and compare them with the actions of man.
Like us they have senses, and receive im-
pressions from exterior objects ; they have also
an interior sense, an organ which retains the
agitations occasioned by those impressions, and
consequently sensations which, like ours, are
vol. v. G renewable

42 buffon's

renewable, and are more or less strong and
durable. But they have neither ingenuity, un-
derstanding, nor memory ; because they are de-
nied the power of comparing their sensations,
and because these three faculties of the mind
depend on this power.

Have animals no memory? It will be re-
plied, the contrary seems demonstrably evi-
dent. After a considerable absence do they
not recognize the persons with whom they had
lived, the places where they resided, and the
roads which they had frequented? Do they
not recollect the punishments, the caresses, the
lessonsthey had received ? Though deprived of
imagination and understanding, every thing
seems still to evince they have a memory ac-
tive, extensive, and perhaps more faithful than
our own. However persuasive these appear-
ances may be deemed, and however strong may
be the prejudices created by them, I presume
I can demonstrate, that they deceive us, and
that brute animals have no knowledge of past
events, no idea of time) and of consequence no
memory.

In man memory flows from the power of
reflection, for the remembrance of things past
supposes not only the duration of the impres-
sions on our internal material sense, or renova-
tion

NATURAL HISTORY. 43

tion of former sensations, but also the compa-
rison which the mind has made of those sensa-
tions, or the ideas it has formed. If memory
consisted merely in the renovation of past sen-
sations, those sensations would be represented
to our internal sense without leaving any deter-
mined impressions ; they would present them-
selves without order or connection, as they do
in a state of intoxication, or in dreams, when
they are so incongruous, and so incoherent,
that we immediately lose all recollection of
ihem. Of such things only as have a relation
to others, which preceded or followed them, do
we retain a remembrance ; and every solitary
sensation, however powerful, passes away with-
out leaving the smallest trace on the mind.
Now it is the mind which establishes these re-
lations of objects, by the comparison it makes
between them, and connects our sensations by
a continued thread of ideas. As memory con-
sists, then, in a succession of ideas, so it neces-
sarily supposes the power by which ideas are
produced.

But, if possible, to leave no doubt on this im-
portant point, let us enquire into the nature of
that remembrance left by our sensations when
they are accompanied with ideas. Pain and
pleasure are pure sensations, and the strongest

G 2 of

44 ruffon's

of any, yet we but feebly reccollect them, and
with confusion. All we remember is, that we
were pleased or hurt ; but this remembrance is
not distinct ; we cannot represent to ourselves
either the kind, the degree, or the duration of
those sensations by which we had been so vio-
lently agitated ; and the less are we capable of
representing those we had but seldom felt. A
pain, for example, which we have experienced
but once, which only lasted a few minutes, and
differed from all former pains, would be soon
forgotten ; we might recollect we felt great
pain, yet, though we distinctly recollected the
circumstances which accompanied it, and the
period at which it happened, we should have
but an imperfect remembrance of the pain
itself.

Why is almost every thing forgotten that
passed during our infancy ? Why have old men
a more distinct remembrance of what happen-
ed in their prime of life than what occurred
in their more advanced years? Can there be
a stronger proof that sensations alone are not
sufficient to produce memory, and that it exists
solely in the train of ideas which our minds de-
rive from those sensations? In infancy the sen-
sations are as lively and rapid as in manhood,
yet they leave few or no traces, because at this

aera

NATURAL HISTORY. 45

iera the power of reflection, which alone can
form ideas is almost totally inactive ; and be-
cause in the moments it does act, its compa-
risons are only superficial. In manhood reason,
is completely developed, because the power of
reflection is in full exercise ; we then derive
from our sensations every possible advantage,
and form many orders of ideas, and chains of
thought, whereof each, from being often re-
volved, forms so durable and indelible an im-
pression, that when old age comes on, those
very ideas present themselves with more force
than those derived from present sensations, be-
cause at that period the sensations are feeble,slow
and dull, and the mind itself partakes of the lan-
guor of the body. In infancy, the time present
is every thing ; in manhood, we equally enjoy
the past, the present and the future ; in old age
we have little sense of the present, we turn our
eyes to the future, and exist in the past. In
the infant that prattles, and the old man that
doats, reason is alike imperfect, because they
are alike void of ideas ; the former is as j^et un-
able to form them, and the latler has ceased.

An ideot, whose corporeal senses and organs
appear to be soun -, has, like us, sensations of
all kinds ; he will also have them in the same

order,

AG bupfon's

order, if he lives in society, and is obliged to
act as other men. As these sensations do not
create in him ideas, as there is no correspon-
dence between his mind and his body, and as he
is incapable of reflection, so he is necessarily
destitute of memory, and all knowledge of
himself. In nothing does such a man differ
from a brute, as to the exterior faculties, for
though he has a soul, and possesses the principle
of reason, yet as this principle remains in a state
of inaction, and receives nothing from the cor-
poreal organs, it can have no influence upon
his actions which are like those of an animal,
solely determined by its sensations, and by a
sentiment of its existence and present wants.
Thus the ideot and the brute are beings whose
operations are in every respect the same,, be-
cause the one has no soul, and the other makes
not any use of it; they arebothdestiiuteof the
power of reflection, and of course have neither
understanding nor memory.

Should it still be said, u Do not the ideot
and the brute often act as if they were deter-
mined by the knowledge of tilings past? Do
they not distinguish persons with whom they
have lived ; places where they have resided;
and perform many other actions, which neces-
sarily

NATURAL HISTORY. 47

warily imply memory? And does not all this
prove that memory proceeds not from the
power of reflection ?:'

It must already have been perceived, that I
distinguish twokindsof memory, infinitely dif-
ferent in their causes, though somewhat simi-
lar in their effects. The one consists in the
impressions of our ideas ; and the other, which
I would rather term reminiscence than memo-
ry, is nothing more than the renovation of our
sensations, or of the vibrations by which they
were occasioned. The former issues from the
mind, and is much more perfect in man than
the latter; which is produced merely by the
renovation of the vibrations of the internal
sense, and is the only memory possessed by
brutes or ideots. Their preceding sensations
are renewed by (heir present ones ; the present,
and principal, calls forth the former, and the
accessary images ; they feel as they have felt,
and therefore they act as they have acted ; they
behold together the present and the past, but
without distinguishing or comparing, and con-
sequently without knowing them.

As another proof of the existence of memory
in animals, I may be told of their dreams. It
is certain that brutes, while asleep, have the
things represented to them with which they

hav«?

4S buffon's

have been occupied while awake. Dosrsbark
when they are aslee;: ; and though this barking
is feeble, yet it is easy to distinguish in it the
cry of the chace, accents of rage, sounds of de-
sire, of murmur, &c. It is not to be doubted,
then, but hat dogs have a lively and active me-
mory, different too from that of which we
have no v been speaking, since it acts inde-
pendent of any exterior csuse.

To clear up this difficulty, it is necessary to
examine the nature of dreams, an! to inquire
whether they proceed from the mind, or de-
pend entirely on our internal material sense. If
we could prove that they reside solely in the
latter, it would be an answer to the objection,
and another demonstration, that iu brutes there
is neither understanding nor memory.

Ideots, whose minds are without action,
dreamlike other men; therefore dreams are
produced independent of the mind. Let any
person reflect upo;i his dreams, and endea-
vour to discover why the circumstances are
so unconnected, and the events so extra-
vagant. To me it appears, that it is prin-
cipally because they turn solely upon sen-
sations, and not upon ideas. With the idea
of time, for example, they have no affinity.
Persons are represented whom we never saw,

and

NATURAL HISTORY. 49

and even those who have been dead for many
years, as alive, and as they formerly were
when living; but we indifferently connect
them with things and persons of the present,
or of a different period. Thus it is also with
the idea of place; we must perceive objects
where they are not, or we should not see them
at all. Did the mind act in a single instant
it would give order to this incongruous train
of sensations. Instead of which it allows the
representations to succeed each other in disor-
der ; and though each object appears in lively
colours, the succession is often confused, and
always chimerical. If the mind is rather
roused by the enormity or force of these sen-
sations, it will in the midst of this darkness
produce a spark of light, and create in the
midst of chimeras a real idea. We then dream ,
or rather we will think so, for th >ugh this
action is but a small sign of the soul, it is yet
neither a sensation nor a dream ; it is a thought,
a reflection, but being too weak to dispel the
illusion, it mixes with and forms a part of the
dream, and prevents not the representations
from succeeding ; insomuch, that on awaking,
we imagine we had dreamed the very things
we had thought.
vol. v. H Iu

50 BUFFO N?S

In dreams we see much, though we but
seldom understand ; we are powerfully agitated
by our sensations, images follow each, oilier,
without the least intervention of the mind,
either to compare or reconcile them. We
have sensations, then, but no ideas, the latter
being comparisons of the former ; so dreams
must reside solely in the internal material sense;
and as the mind does not produce them, they
must form a part of that animal reminiscence,
of which we have already treated. Memory*
on the contrary, cannot exist without the idea
of time, without a comparison of ideas, and as
these extend not to dreams, it seems to be ob-
vious that they can neither be a consequence
nor an effect, nor a proof of memory. But
though it should be maintained that to some
dreams ideas certainly belong ; and as a proof
of it, those people be quoted who walk, speak,
and converse connectedly while asleep ; still it
would be sufficient for my argument ,that dreams
may be produced by the renovation of sensa-
tions alone, for in consequence thereof the
dreams of animals must be merely of this species,
and such dreams, far from supposing memory,
indicate nothing but a material reminiscence.

By no means am I inclined to believe, that
persons who walk and converse while asleep

are

NATURAL HISTORY. 51

ate in reality occupied with ideas. In all such
actions the mind seems to have no concern.
Sleep-walkers go about, return and act, with-
out reflection or knori ledge of their situation
or danger; alone are their animal faculties
exercised, and even of these some remain un-
employed ; and while in this state, a sleep-
walker is of course more stupid than an ideot.
As to persons who speak while asleep,
they never say any thing new. An answer to
certain common questions, a repetition of a
few familiar expressions, may be produced, inr
dependent of the principle of thoughtor action
of the mind. Why should we not speak with?-
out thought when asleep, since when most
awake, and under the influence of passion,
man utters numberless things without reflec-
tion.

As to the occasional cause of dreams, by
which former sensations are renewed without
being excited by present objects, it is to be
observed, that we never dream when our sleep
is sound : every thing is then in a state of inr
action, and we sleep both outwardly and in-
wardly. The internal sense, however, falls
asleep the last, and awakes the first, because it
is more active, and more easily agitated, than
the external senses. It is w hen our sleep is less

H 2 sound

52 buffon's

sound that we experience illusive dreams, and
former sensations, those especially which re-
quire not reflection, are renewed. The in-
ternal sense being unoccupied by actual sensa-
tions from the inaction of the external senses,
exercises itself upon its past sensations. Of
these the most strong appear the most often ;
and ihc more they are strong, the more the
situations are extravagant ; and for this reason
it is, that almost all dreams either terrify or
charm us.

That the internal material sense may act of
itself, it is not necessary that the exterior senses
should be absolutely in a state of repose : it is
sufficient if they are without exercise. Accus-
tomed regularly to resign ourselves to repose,
we do not easily fail asleep : thf* body and the
members, softly extended, are without motion ;
the eyes veiled by darkness, the tranquillity of
the place, and the silence of the night, render
the ear useless ; alike inactive are the other sen-
ses ; all is at rest, though nothing is yet lulled
to sleep. In this condition, when the mind
is also unoccupied with ideas, the internal
material sense is the only power that acts.
Then is «he time for chimerical images and
fluttering shadows. We are awake, and yet
we experience the effects of sleep. If we are

in

NATURAL HISTORY. 53

in full health, (he images are agreeable, the
illusions are charming; but if the body is dis-
ordered or oppressed, then we see grim and
hideous phantoms, which succeed each other
in a manner not more whimsical than rapid.
It is a magic lanthorn, a scene of chimeras,
which fill the brain, when destitute of other
sensations. We remember our dreams, from
the same cause that we remember sensations
lately experienced ; and the only difference
which subsists between us and brutes is, that
We can distinguish what belongs to dreams,
from what belongs to our real ideas or sensa-
tions; and this is a comparison, an operation
of the memory, to which the idea of time
extends. While brutes, who are deprived of
memory, and of this power of comparison,
cannot distinguish their dreams, from theirreal
sensations.

I presume, that in treating of the nature of
man, I have demonstratively shewn that ani-
mals enjoy not the power of reflection. Now
the understanding, which is the result of that
power, may be distinguished by two different
operations. The first is the capacity to
com pave sensations, and form ideas from
them ; the second is the faculty to compare
ideas themselves, and form arguments or con-
clusions

54 buffon's

elusions thereon : by the first we acquire par*
ticular ideas, or the knowledge of sensible
objects ; by the other we form general ideas,
which are necessary for the comprehension of
abstract truths. Neither of these faculties do
the animals possess, because they are void of
understanding ; and to the first of these opera-
tions does the understanding of the bulk of
men seem to be limited.

Were all men equally capable of comparing
ideas, of rendering them general, they would
equally manifest their genius by new produc-
tions, always different from, and sometimes
more perfect than those of others ; all would
enjoy the power of invention, or at least the
talents for improvement. This, however, is
far from being the case. Reduced to a servile
imitation, the generality of men execute no-
thing but what they see done by others ; they
only think by memory, and in the same
s'ile as others have thought, and their under-
standing being too confined for invention, they
proceed to follow imitation.

Imagination is likewise a faculty of the mind.
If, by imagination , we understand the power
of comparing images with ideas ; of giving
colours to our thoughts ; of aggrandizing our
sensations ; of perceiving distinctly all the re-
mote

NATURAL HISTORY. &5

mote affinities of objects; it is the most bril-
liant and most active faculty of the mind of
which brutes are still more destitute than of un-
derstanding or memory, But there is another
kind of imagination which depends solely upon
the corporeal organs, and which we possess in
common with brutes ; it is that tumultuous
emotion, excited by objects analogous or con-
trary to our appetites ; that lively and deep im-
pression of the images of objects, which is con-
stantly and against our inclinations, renewed,
and forces us to act without reflection ; this
representation of objects, which is more active
than even their presence, exaggerates and falsi-
fies every thing. This imagination is forever
hostile to the human mind ; it is the source of
illusion, the parent of these passions, which, in
defiance of the efforts of reason, bear us away,
and expose us to a continual combat, in which
we are almost always worsted.

HOMO DUPLEX.

The interior man is double, being composed
of two principles different in their nature, and
contrary in their action. The soul, that prin-
ciple of all knowledge, is perpetually opposed
by another purely material principle. The

former

56 buffon's

former is a pure light, accompanied with sere*
nity and peace, a salutary source, whence flow
science, reason, and wisdom ; the latter is a
false light, which never shines but in the midst
of darkness and hurricane, an impetuous tor-
rent fraught with error and passion.

The animal principle is first developed. As
it is altogether material, and consists in the du-
ration of vibrations, and the renovation of im-
pressions formed in the internal material sense,
by objects analogous, or contrary to our appe-
tites, it begins to act as soon as the body is ca-
pable of feeling pain or pleasure. The spiritual
principle manifests itself much later, and is
developed and perfected by means of education ;
it is by the communication of the thoughts of
others that the infant becomes a thinking,
a rational being ; and without this communi-
cation it would be fantastic or slupid, accord-
ing to the degree of activity or inactivity of
its internal material sense.

Let us consider a child, when at liberty, and
far from the eye of his master. By his exterior
actions we may judge of what passes within
him. A stranger to thought or reflection, he
acts without reason ; treads with indifference
through all the paths of pleasure ; obeys all
the impressions of exterior objects ; amuses

himself

NATURAL HISTORY. 57

himself like a young animal, in running and
bodily exercise ; all his actions and motions
are without order, or design. Called on by
the person who has taught him (o think, he
composes himself, directs his actions, and
proves that he has retained the thoughts which
have been communicated to him. In infancy,
the material principle is predominant, and
would so continue, were not education to de-
velopc the spiritual principle and to put it in
motion.

The existence of these two principles is easily
discovered. In life there are moments, nay,
hours and days, in which we may not only de-
termine of the certainty of their existence,
but also of the contrariety of their action. I
allude to those periods of langour, indolence,
or disgust, in which we are incapable of any
determination, when we wish one thing and
do another ; I mean that state, or distemper,
called vapours; a state to which idle persons
are so peculiarly subject. If in this situation
we observe ourselves, we shall appear as divided
into two distinct beings, of which the first, or
the rational faculty, blames every thing done
by the second, but has not strength sufficient
effectually to subdue it ; the second, on the
contrary, being formed of all the illusions of
vol. v. I sense

58 buffon's

sense and imagination, constrains, and often
overwhelms the first, and makes us either act
contrary to our judgment, or remain inactive>
though disposed to action by our will.

While the rational faculties reign, we are
calmly occupied with ourselves, ourfriends, and
affairs. But when the material principle pre-
vails, we devote ourselves with ardour to
dissipation, to all the pursuits and passions it
creates ; and are hardly capable of reflecting
upon the very objects by which we are so en-
grossed. In both these states we are happy ;
in the former we command with satisfaction,
and in the latter, wTe are still more pleased to
obey. As only one of these principles is then
in action, and acts without opposition from the
other, we feel no internal contrariety ; our self
appears to be simple, because we experience
but one impulse. In this unity of action con-
sists our happiness; for, whenever our reason
condemns our passions, or, from the violence
of our passions, we attempt to discard reason,
from that minute we cease to be happy ; the
unity of our existence, in which consists our
tranquillity, is destroyed; the internal con-
trariety commences, and the two contending
principles are manifested by doubts, inquietude
and remorse. Of all states, that is the most

unhappy

NATURAL HISTORY. 59

unhappy in which these two sovereign powers
of human nature are both in full motion, and
produce an equilibrium. Then it is man feels
that horrible disgust which leaves no desire but
that of ceasing to exist, no power but to effect
his own destruction, by coolly plunging into
himself the weapons of despair and madness.
What a state of horror ! in its blackest colours
it is here presented ; but by how many gloomy
shades must it be preceded ? all the situations
approaching an equilibrium must necessarily
be accompanied with melancholy, irresolution,
andunhappiness. From these internal conflicts
the body suffers ; and from the agitation it un-
dergoes, languishes and decays.

The happiness of man consists in the unity
of his internal existence. In infancy he is
happy, for then the material principle rules
aloneand acts almost continually. Constraints,
remonstrances, and even chastisements, affect
not the real happiness of children, but arc only
accompanied with a momentary sorrow, for as
soon as they find themselves at liberty they re-
sume all the activity and gaiety which the
vivacity and novelty of their sensations can
give them. If a child was left to himself he
would be completely happy, but this happiness
would cease and be productive of misery ever
* ® after ;

60 buffon's

after; it is, therefore, necessary that he should
be constrained, though it gives him a mo-
mentary grievance, as it is, in fact, a prelude to
all his future happiness in life.

In youth, when the spiritual principle begins
to act, and is capable of conducting us, a new
material sense appears, which assumes an ab-
solute sway over our faculties, the soul it-
sell seems with pleasure to incline to the im-
petuous passions which it produces. The ma-
terial principle has, then, more power than
ever, for it not only effaces reason but perverts
it, and uses it for its own gratification. We
only think and act to encourage and to gratify
some passion; and while this intoxication lasts
we are happy. The external contradictions,
and difficulties, seem to render the unity of
the interior existence still more firm ; they
fortify the passion, and fill up the languid in-
tervals ; they call forth our pride, and direct
all our views towards one object, all our powers
towards effecting one end.

But this happiness passes away as a dream ;
the charm disappears, disgust ensues, and a
horrid vacuity of sentiment succeeds. Hardly,
on rousing from this lethargy, is the soul ca-
pable of distinguishing itself; by slavery it lias
}ost its strength, and the habit of commanding;

of

NATURAL HISTORT. 6\

of that slavery it even regrets the r>' ivation,
and longs for another master, a new object of
passion, which presently disappears in its turn,
and is followed by a other passion moretransi-
t ry still. Thus excess and disgust succeed
each other; pleasure flies, the organs decay,
and the material sense, instead of commanding',
has nolonger strength to obey. After a youth
like this, what is there left for a man? A body
enervated, a mind enfeebled, a the inability
to make use of either.

It is remarked, that at the middle period of
life men are chiefly subjected to those languors,
or vapours. At this period we still run after
the pleasures of youth, not from an absolute
propensity but from habit. In proportion as
we advance in years, our ability for the enjoy-
ment of pleasure decreases, and so often are we
humiliated by our own weakness, that we can-
not help condemning our actions and d sires.

Besides, it is at this age that the cares and
solicitudes of life begin; we then, whether by
accident or by choice, assume a certain cha*
racter which it is al way disgraceful to abandon,
and dangerous to support. Full of pain, we
tread between contem t and hatred, two rocks
alike formidable; by the efforts we make to

pvoid

62 BUFFO NV

avoid them we weaken our powers, and sink into
despondency, for after having experienced the
injustice of mankind, we contact a habit of
accounting it a necessary evil when we have
accustomed ourselves to have less regard for the
opinions of the world than for our own repose,
and when the heart, hardened by the wounds it
has received, has become insensible, we easily
attain that state of indifference, that indolent
tranquillity, of which, a few years before, we
should have been ashamed. Glory, that power-
ful motive of great souls, which seen at a dis-
tance appears as the most desirable object,
and excites us to perform great and useful
actions, loses its attractions upon a near ap-
proach. Sloth assumes the place of ambition,
and seems to present to us paths less rugged,
and advantages more substantial: but it is
preceded by disgust, and followed by discon-
tent, that gloomy tyrant of every thinking
mind, against which wisdom has less influence
than folly.

It is, therefore, from being composed of two
opposite principles, that man has so much
trouble to be reconciled with himself; and
hence proceeds his inconstancy, irresolution,
and languor. Brute animals, on the contrary,

whose

NATURAL HISTORY. 63

tvhose nature is simple, and altogether mate-
rial, experience no interior combats, no com-
punctions, no hopes, n >r any fears.

If we were divested of memory, under-
standing, and every faculty belonging to the
soul, the material part alone would remain,
which constitutes us animals, and we should
Still have wants, sensations, appetites, pain,
pleasure, and even passion ; for what is passion
but a strong sensation, which may be renewed
at every instant ?

But the great difficulty is to distinguish the
passions which belong solely to man, from those
which he possesses in common with the brutes.
Is it certain, or probable, that the latter have
passions ? Is it not, on the contrary, allowed,
that every passion is an emotion of the soul ?
Ought we, therefore, to search any where
else, but in this spiritual principle, for
the seeds of pride, envy, ambition, avarice,
and of every other passion by which we are
governed ?

To me it appears, "that nothing which
governs the mind forms any part of it ; that the
principle of knowledge is not the principle of
sentiment; that the seeds of the passions is in
our appetites; that illusions proceed from our
senses, and reside in our internal material sense ;

that

64 buffon's

that the mind is at first pa sive with respect to
them; that when it countenances them, it
is subdued, and when it assents to tbem, it is
perverted.

Let us then distinguish in the human pas-
sions, the physical from the moral ; that is, the
cause from the effect. The first emotion is in
the internal material sense ; this the mind may
receive but cannot produce. Let us likewise
distinguish momentary from durable emotions,
and we shall immediately perceive, that fear,
horror, rage, love, or rather the desire of en-
joyment, are sensations which, though du-
rable,depend solely on the im prcssions of objects
upon our senses, combined with the remaining
impressions of our preceding sensations; and
that, of consequence, those passions we enjoy
in common with the brutes. I mention the
actual impressions of objects, as being com-
bined with the impressions that remain of our
former sensations, for neither to man nor beast
nothing is horrible, nor attractive, when seen
for the first time. Of this wc have proof in
young animals, who will run into the fire
the first time it is presented to them. By
reiterated acts, of which the imprcAsions sub-
sist in their internal sense, do they alone acquire
experience; and though this experience is

not

NATURAL HISTORY. G*

not natural, it is not less sure, and is even
on that account more circumspect. A violent
motion, a great noise, an extraordinary figure,
which is seen or heard suddenly, and for the
first time, produces in the animal a shock of
"which the effect is similar to the first move-
ments of fear. But this sentiment is only in-
stantaneous ; for as it cannot be combined with
any preceding sensation, so it must communi-
cate to the animal a transitory vibration, and
not a durable emotion, such as the passion of
fear supposes.

A young and peaceful tenant of the forests,
who suddenly hears the sound of the huntsman's
horn, or the report of a gun, leaps, bounds,
and flies off, by the sole violence of the shock
which it has experienced. Yet if this noise
is without effect and ceases, the animal distin-
guishing the wonted silence of Nature, com-
poses itself, halts, and returns to its tranquil
retreat. But age and experience render it
circumspect and timid, and having been
wounded after a parlicular noise, the sensation
of pain is retained in its internal sense, and
when the same noise shall be again heard, it is
renewed, combines itself with {he actual agi-
tation, and produces a permanent passion, a
vol. v. K real

66 buffon's

real fear; the animal flies with all its might,
and frequently never returns to its usual
abode.

Fear, then, is a passion of which brute ani-
mals are susceptible, though they have not,
like us, rational or foreseen apprehensions.
Of horror, rage, and love, they are also sus-
ceptible; but they have not our aversions,
founded on reflection, our durable hatreds, or
our constant friendships. These passions in
brutes imply no knowledge, no ideas, and
are founded solely on the experience of senti-
ment, or repetitions of pain and pleasure, and
renovation of preceding sensations of the
same kind. Fury, or natural courage, is re-
markable in animals which have experienced
and ascertained their strength, and found it
superior to ours; fear is the portion of the
weak, but love belongs to all. Love! thou
innate desire! thou soul of nature! thou in-
exhaustible principle of existence ! thou so-
vereign power, by which every thing breathes,
and every thing is renewed ! thou divine
shame! thou seed of perpetuity infused by the
Almighty into all which lias the breath of life!
thou precious sentiment, by which alone the
most savage and frozen hearts arc softened !

thou

NATURAL HISTORY. 67

thou first cause of all happiness, of all society !
thou fertile source of every pleasure, of every
delight! Love! why dost thou constitute the
felicity of every other being, and bring misery
alone to man ?

The reason is obvious. Considered in a
physical sense, this passion is good ; in a moral
one, it is attended with every evil. In what
does the morality of love consist ? In vanity ;
vanity in the pleasure of conquest, an error
which proceeds from our putting too high a
value upon it ; the vanity of desiring exclusive
possession, of which jealousy, a passion so base
that we are ashamed to own it, is the constant
attendant; vanity in tli»^ very mode of enjoy-
ing, or even relinquishing the object of our
desires, if the wish of separation originates with
ourselves; but if, instead of forsaking, we are
forsaken by the beloved object, the humilia-
tion is dreadful! and the discovery that we
have been duped and deceived, not unoften
hurries us into despair.

From all these miseries brutes are free.
They seek not to obtain pleasure where it is
not to be found : guided by sentiment alone,
they are never deceived in their choice ; their
desires are always proportioned to their power
of gratification ; they feel as much as they en-

K 2 joy ;

6$ buffon's

joy, and seek not to vary or anticipate them.
But Man, in striving to invent pleasure, only
depraves nature ; in struggling to create senti-
ment, he perverts the intention of his being,
and creates in his heart a vacuum which no-
thing can afterwards fill.

Every thing good in love belongs to the brutes
as well as to man, and even they, as if this
sentiment could never be pure, seem to have a
small portion of jealousy. Among us, this pas-
sion always implies some distrust of ourselves,
some distant knowledge of our own weakness,
while brutes are never jealous but in propor-
tion to their strength, ardour for, and propen-
sity to pleasure. The reason is, that our jea-
lousy depends on our ideas, and theirs on senti-
ment. Having once enjoyed, they desire to
enjoy again ; and feeling their strength, they
drive away all that would occupy their place.
Their jealousy is without reflection, they turn
it not against the object of their love : of their
pleasures alone are they jealous.

But are animals confined merely to those
passions we have described ? Are fear, rage
horror, love, and jealousy, the only durable
affections they arc capable of experiencing?
To meit appears that, independentof thesepas-
sions, which arise from their natural feelings,

thev

NATURAL HISTORY. 69

they have others, which are communicated to
them by example, imitation, and habit. They
have a kind of friendship, pride, and ambition,
and though we may be convinced, that in all
their operations there is neither reflection nor
thought, yet as all their habits seem to imply
some degree of intelligence, and to form the
shade between them and man, it requires, in a
peculiar manner, our strict examination.

Is there any tiling exceeds the attachment of
the dog to its master? On the grave that con-
tained his dust has this animal been known to
breathe its last. But (without quoting prodi-
gies or heroes) with what fidelity does he
accompany, follow, and defend his master!
Willi what eagerness docs he solicit his cares-
ses! With what docility does he obey him!
With what patience docs he suffer his bad hu-
mours, and his frequently unjust corrections !
With what mildness and humility does he
endeavour to be restored to favour! What
emotion and anxiety does lie express when his
master is absent ! and what joy when he returns !
— From all these circumstances it is possible
not to distinguish true marks of friendship ?
Even among the human species it is expressed
in characters of superior energy.

This

70 buffon's

This friendship is the same as that of a fe-
male for her favourite bird, or of a child for its
play-thing. Both are equally blind and void
of reflection ; that of the animal is more na-
tural, since it is founded on necessity, while
that of the other is only an insipid amusement,
in which the mind in no degree partakes.
These childish habits subsist merely by idle-
ness, and are more or less strong as the brain
is more or less vacant.

Real friendship, however, supposes the power
of reflection ; it is of all attachments the most
worthy of man, and the only one by which he
is not degraded. Friendship flows from reason
alone. It is the mind of a friend which we
love, and to love a mind it is necessary to have
one, and to have made use of it in the attain-
ment of intelligence, and in comparing the
congeniality of different minds. By friendship,
then, not only is implied the principle of know-
ledge, but also, from reflection, the actual ex-
ercise of that principle.

Thus, while friendship belongs solely to
man, attachment may be possessed by animals ;
as sentiment alone is sufficient to attach them
to persons whom they often see, and by whom
they are feed and nourished. The attachment

of

NATURAL HISTORY. 71

of females to their young is produced by the
trouble they have had in carrying them in the
womb, and in producing and giving them suck.
If, among birds, some males seem to have an
attachment to their young, and to take care of
the females while they are sitting, it is because
they have been employed in the construction of
the nest, and continue to enjoy pleasure with
their females long after impregnation. Among
other animals, with whom the season of love is
short, that elapsed, the male is no longer at-
tached to the female; where there is no nest,
no employment, in which they may be mu-
tually engaged, the fathers, like those of Sparta,
have no care for their progeny.

The pride and ambition of animals proceed
from their natural courage; that is, from their
sense of their strength, agility, &c. Large ones
hold the small in defiance, and seem to contemn
their insulting audacity. This courage may
also be improved by instruction, for, reason
alone excepted, of every thing are brute ani-
mals susceptible. In general they will learn
to perform the same action a thousand times;
to do without intermission what they did by in-
tervals; to continue for a length of time what
they at first ended in a moment ; to do chear-
fully what at first was the effect of force; to

do

72 buffon's

do by habit what they once have done by
chance; and to perform of themselves what
they have seen done by others. Of all the
operations of the animal machine imitation is
the most admirable. It is its most delicate and
most extensive mobile, and exhibits the truest
copy of thought, and though the cause of it
in animals is altogether material, yet by its
effects our wonder is excited. Men never
more admire an ape than when they see it
imitate the actions of men. In fact it is not
easy to distinguish some copies from some
originals. Besides, there are so few who can
distinctly perceive the difference between a
reality and a counterfeit, that to the bulk of
mankind an ape must always excite astonish-
ment.

Though apes have the art of imitating the
actions of men, they are not a degree superior
to other brutes, who all more or less possess
the talent of imitation. In most animals this
talent is confined to the imitation of their own
species ; but the ape, though he belongs not
to the human species, copies many of our ac-
tions; and this he is enabled to do from his or-
ganization being somew hat similar. So nearly,
indeed, do they sometimes carry the resem-
blance, that many have ignorantly ascribed (hat

to

NATURAL HISTORY. 73"

io genius and intelligence, which is nothing
hut a gross affinity of figure and organization.

It is from the relations of motion that a dog
learns the habit of its master, from the rela-
tions of figure that the ape counterfeits the
gestures of a man, and from the relations of
organization, that one bird repeats airs of mu-
sic and ano'her imitates speech, which forms
the greatest exiern d difference between man
and man, as between man and oilier animals,
since language in some indicates a superior
Understanding and an enlighte led mind, in
others it birely discovers a confusion of bor-
rowed ideas, And in the ideot, or the parrot,
it indicates the last degree of stupidity, plainly
shewing their incapacity for reflection, al-
though they may possess every necessary or-
gan for expressing what passes within.

With ease may it be rendered apparent, that
imitation is a mere mechanical effect, of which
the perfection depends on the vivacity with
which the internal material sense receives the
impression of objects, and on the facility of
expressing them by the similitude and the flexi-
bility of the exterior organs. Persons wh >se
senses are delicate and easily agitated, whose
members are active and obedient, make the
best actors, the best mimics, the brst apes.
vol. v. L Children

74 buffon's

Children, without perceiving it, imitate the
habits, gestures, and manners of those they
Kve with ; they have also a great propensity to
repeat, and to counterfeit every thing they"
hear and see. Young persons who see nothing
but by the corporeal eye, are wonderfully
ready in perceiving ridiculous objects : every
fantastic form affects, every representation
strikes, every novelty moves them. The im-
pression is so strong, that they relate them
with transport and copy them with facility
and grace. In a superior degree do they en-
joy the talent of imitation, which supposes
the most perfect organization, and to which
nothing is more opposite than a large portion
of good sense.

Thus, among men, those who reflect least
are the most expert at imitation : and therefore
it is not surprising that we meet with it in ani-
mals, who have no reflection. These ought
to possess it in a higher degree of perfection,
because they have nothing within them to
counteract it ; no principle by which they may
have the desire to be different from each other.
Among men, it is from the mind that proceeds
the diversity of our characters, and the variety
of our actions. Brute animals, by having no
mind, have not that self which is the principle

of

NATURAL HISTORY. 75

of the difference, the cause which constitutes
the individual. Of necessity, then, when their
organization is similar, or they are of the
same species, they must copy each other, do
the same things in the same manner, and imi-
tate each other with a greater degree of per-
fection than one man can imitate another.
This talent for imitation, therefore, far from
implying that animals have thought and re-
flection, is a proof that they are absolutely
destitute ot both.

For the same reason it is that the education
of animals, though short, is always attended
with success. Almost every thing the parent
knows they quickly learn by imitation. The
young are modelled by the old : they perceive
the latter approach or fly, when they hear cer-
tain sounds, when they see certain objects,
or smell certain odours ; at first they approach
or fly without any determinative cause what"
ever, but imitation ; and afterwards they ap-
proach or fly of themselves, in consequence of
their having acquired a habit of doing so
whenever they feel the same sensations.

Having compared man with the brute ani-
mal, taken individually, let us now compare
them together collectively, and endeavour at
the same time to ascertain the source of that

L 2 kind

76 buffon's

kind of industry which we observe in certain
species of animals, and those even the meanest
and the most numerous. For this industry,
what encomiums have not been best wed on
particular insects. The wisdom and talents of
the bee, observers speak of with admiration ;
they are said to possess an art peculiar to them-
selves, that of perfect government. A bee-
hive, they add, is a republic, in which the la-
bour of each individual is devoted to the pub-
lic good, in which every thing is ordered, dis-
tributed, and shared, with a foresight, an equity,
and a prudence, which is really astonishing.
The government and policy of Athens itself,
were not more exemplary. But I should ne-
ver have done, were I barely to skip over the
annals of this commonwealth, and to draw
from the history of this insect all the incidents
which have excited the admiration of its dif-
ferent historians.

What can we think of the excess to which
the eulogiums on this animal have been car-
ried? Among other great qualities they are said
to possess the most pure republican principles,
an ardent love for their country, a disinterested
assiduity in labouring for the public good, the
strictest economy, the most perfect geometry
and elegant architecture. Notwithstanding

these

NATURAL HISTORY. 77

these eulogies, a bee ought to hold no greater
rank in the estimation of naturalists than it
does in nature; and, in the eye of reas n, this
marvellous and so much extolled republic will
never be any thing more than a multitude of
small animals, which have no affinity to man
but that of furnishing him with wax and
honey.

Let people examine with atten ion their
little manoeuvres, proceedings, and toils ; let
them describe exactly their generation, their
multiplication, their metamorphoses, &c. —
These are objects worthy of the attention of
a naturalist ; but to hear the morals of insects
cried up is insufferable ; and I am fully con-
vinced, that by a strict and rational observer
it would be found, that the origin and super-
structure of the various wonderful talents as-
cribed to bees, arises from the mother bee pro-
ducing 10,000 individuals at one time, and in
the same place, which necessarily obliges them
to arrange themselves in some order for the pre-
servation of their existence. Is not Nature suf-
ncientlyastonishingof herself, without attempt-
ing to render her more so, and without attri-
buting to her miracles which have no existence
but in our own imagination ? Is not the Crea-
tor sufficiently great by his works ; and do we

believe

7S BUFFO N*S

believe we can render him more so by our
weakness ? This, were there a possibility,
would be the way to debase him. Who, in
effect, has .he most exalted idea of the Su-
preme Being, he who beholds him create the
universe, arrange every existence, and estab-
lish nature on invariable and perpetual laws ;
or he who sees him attentive in conducting a
republic of insects?

Certain animals unite info societies, which
seem to depend on the choice of those that
compose them, and which of consequence has
in it a far greater degree of intelligence and
design than the society of bees, of which the
sole principle is physical necessity. Elephants,
beavers, apes, and many other species of ani-
mals, assemble together in bodies, assist, and
defend each other. Did we not so often disturb
these societies, and could we observe them with
as much ease as those of the bees, we should,
doubtless, meet with a multitude of other won-
ders; which still, however, would amount to
nothing more than so many physical relations.
A great number of animals, of the same spe-
cies, being assembled in the same place, there
will necessarily result a certain arrangement,
and a certain order of common habits. Now
every common habit, far from having en-*

lightened

natural history. 79

lightened intelligence for its cause, implies no-
thing more than a blind imitation.

Among men, society depends less on physi-
cal agreements than on moral relations. Man
at first measured his strength, his weakness,
his ignorance and his curiosity ; he felt that,
of himself, he could not satisfy the multiplicity
of his wants ; he discovered the advantage he
should have in society ; he reflected on the idea
of good and evil, he engraved it in his heart, by
the help of the natural light communicated to
him through the bounty of the Creator ; he
saw that solitude was a state of danger, and of
warfare ; he sought for security and peace in
society ; there he augmented his power and
knowledge, by uniting them with those of
others : and this union is the noblest use he
ever made of his reason. Solely from govern-
ing himself, and submitting to the laws of so-
ciety, it is that man commands the universe.

Every thing has concurred to render man a
social being ; for though large and civilized
societies depend on the use, and sometimes on
the abuse of reason, yet they were doubtless
preceded by smaller societies, whose sole de-
pendence was on nature. A family is a natural
society, which is more permanent, and better
founded, because their wants and sources of

attach-

SO BUFFOJTS

attachment are more numerous. Far different
is man from other animals : when he is born
he hardly exists; naked, feeble, incapable of
action, his life depends on the assistance he
receives. This state of infantine weakness
continues for a length of time; and the ne-
cessity of assistance becomes a habit, which
alone is sufficient to pre duce an attachment
between the child and parent. In propor-
tion as the child advances, he is enabled to do
without assistance; the affection of the parent
continues, while that of the child daily de*
creases ; and thus love ever descends in a much
stronger degree than it ascends : the attach-
ment of the parent becomes excessive, blind,
idolatrous, while that of the child remains
cold and indifferent, till, by the influence of
reason, the seed of gratitude has begun to take
root.

Thus society, considered even in the light
of a single family, supposes in man the faculty
of reason ; among animals which seem to unite
together freely, and by mutual agreement, so-
ciety supposes experience and sentiment ; and
among insects which, like the bees, assem-
ble together involuntarily, and without design,
society implies nothing ; and whatever may be
the effects of such associations, it is evident,

they

NATURAL HISTORY. 81

they were neither foreseen, nor conceived by
those that execute them, and that they depend
solely on the universal laws of mechanism,
established by the Creator.

Let the panegyrists of insects say what they
will in their favour, those animals which, in
figure, and organization, bear the strongest re-
semblance to man, must still be acknowledged
superior to all others, with respect to internal
qualities ; and, though they differ from those of
man, though, as we have evinced, they are
nothing but the effects, exercise, experience,
and feeling, still are they, in a high degree,
superior to insects. As in every thing that
exists in nature there is a shade, a scale may be
established for determining the degrees of the
intrinsic qualities of each animal, by which,
when opposed with the material part of man,
we shall find the preference due to the ape, the
dog, the elephant, and, in different degrees, to
all the other quadrupeds. Next to them will
rank the cetaceous animals, which, like the
quadrupeds, have flesh and blood, and, like
them, are viviparous. In the third class will
be the birds, because they differ more from
man than either the quadrupeds, or the ceta-
ceous animals; and, were it not that there are
beings which, likethe oyster and the polypus,
vol. v. M seem

$2 buffon's

seem to differ from him as much as is pos-
sible ; the insects would occupy the lowest class
of animated beings.

But if animals are destitute of all under-
standing, all memory, and all intelligence; if
all their faculties depend on their senses, and are
confined to their experience ; whence proceeds
that foresight we remark in several of them ?
By sentiment alone can they be prompted to
provide in the summer provisions sufficient for
their subsistence during winter. Does not this
suppose a comparison of seasons, a rational in-
quietude concerning their future support?
Why should birds build nests if they did not
know that they should have occasion for them
to deposit their eggs, and to rear their young ?

Admitting the truth of these, and many other
circumstances which might be produced ; ad-
mitting that they are so many proofs of pre-
sentiment, of foresight, and even a knowledge
of futurity, in animals, must it follow, on that
account that they are intelligent beings ? Were
this the case their intelligence would far surpass
our own, for our foresight is always conjec-
tural. Our notions, with respect to futurity,
are, at best, doubtful ; and all the light we have
is founded on probabilities of future things.
Brute animals, then; who see the future with

certainty.

NATURAL HISTORY. 83

certainty, since they determine beforehand
and are never deceived, must have within
them a principle of knowledge greatly superior
to man, must have a soul far more pene-
trative and acute, a consequence, which, I pre-
sume, is equally repugnant to religion and to
reason.

By an intelligence similar to that of man it
is impossible that brutes can have any certain
knowledge of futurity, since in that respect,
his ideas are always imperfect, and full of
doubt. Then why, on such slight grounds,
invest them with a quality so sublime? Why,
without necessity degrade the human species ?
Is it not unreasonable to attribute their source
to mechanical laws, established, like all the
other laws of Nature, by the will of the
Creator? The certainty with which brutes
are supposed to act, and be determined, might
alone convince us, that every thing they do
is merely mechanical. The essential charac-
teristics of reason arc, doubt, deliberation, and
comparison ; but motions and actions, which
announce nothing but decision and certainty,
exhibit at once a proof of mechanism and
stupidity.

Previous, however, to the full admission of
these asserted facts, which seem to lessen those

M 2 ideas

84 buffon's

ideas we ought to maintain of the power and
will of our Divine Creator, ought we not to
enquire whether they really exist, or have suffi-
cient ground to support the supposition? The
boasted foresight of ants in collecting suste-
nance for the winter is an evident error, since
it has been found that during that season they
remain in a torpid state ; therefore, this pre-
tended foresight, supposes them to provide that
which it also must have informed them would
be entirely necessary. Is not the sensation
that they enjoy their food with more quiet and
tranquillity in their fixed residence, alone suffi-
cient to account for their conveying thither
more than they can possibly make use of? The
same applies to bees, in collecting more wax
and honey than their necessities require. Does
not this evince they are actuated by feeling, and
not intelligence, especially if we reflect that if
it proceeded from former experience, that
would tench them to decline such unnecessary
labour; which so far from being the case, they
continue to extract wax and honey as long as
there is a succession of fresh flowers, and were
it possible to continue that their labours would
never cease.

Field-mice have also been instanced, whose
abodes are generally divided ; in one hole they

deposit

NATUItAL HISTORY. S.5

deposit their young, in the other their food,
the latter of which they constantly fill ; but
here it should be observed that when they pro-
vide those apartments for themselves, the latter
are always small, yet if they find a large hole
under a tree which they chuse for their abode,
they fill that also ; a fact which renders it clear
they have no intelligence of the nature of their
wants, but are guided by the capacity of the
place they select for depositing their food.

From the same cause may be traced the pre-
tended foresight attributed to the feathered race;
nor is it necessary to suppose the Almighty has
conferred on them any particular law to account
for the construction of their nest. Love is the
grand sentiment that excites them to the la-
borious undertaking; the male and female feel
a mutual attachment, they wish to be alone,
and therefore seek retirement from the bustle
and annoyances of the world; and having
sought the most obscure part of a forest, to
render that privacy the more comfortable they
collect straws, leaves, &c. to form a com-
mon habitation, wherein they may enjoy them-
selves with perfect tranquillity. Some, how-
ever, content themselves with holes in trees, or
nests they find which have been formed by
others. But all this does not prove a pre-
sentiment

66 buffon's

sentiment of future wants, but are rather the
effects of feeling and organization. A strong
evidence of their ignorance with respect to
futurity, nay, even of the past, or present,
may be drawn from a hen's not having the
power to distinguish her own from the eggs of
another bird, and not perceiving that the young
ducks which she has hatched, belong not to
her; nay, she will even sit with the same assi-
duous attention upon chalk eggs, as upon those
from which a produce may be expected. Nei-
ther do domestic poultry make nests, although
they are constructed by the wild duck and
wood hen, and this most probably from feeling
that security in being familiarized, which the
latter seek for in a retreat and solitude. The
nests of birds, therefore, in my opinion, any
more than the cells of bees, or the food collected
by the ant and field-mouse, cannot be attri-
buted to any particular laws to each species,
but depend upon those feelings arising from the
general laws of nature, and with which every
animated being is endowed.

It is not surprising that man, who knows
so little of himself, who so frequently con-
founds his sensations with his ideas, who so im-
perfectly distinguishes the productions of the
mind from the produce of his brain, should

compare

NATURAL HISTORY. 87

compare himself to the brute animals, and ad-
mit the only difference between them depended
on the greater or less degree of perfection in
the organs ; it is not surprising that he should
make them reason, determine} and understand,
in the same manner with himself, and that he
should attribute to them not only the qualities
which he has, but even those he has not.
When man, however, has once thoroughly ex-
amined and analyzed himself, he will discover
the dignity of his being, he will feel the ex-
istence of his soul, he will cease to demean his
nature, and, with a single glance, he will see
the infinite distance which the Supreme Being
has put between him and the brutes.

God alone knowrs the »:ast, the present, and
the future; eternal is his existence, and in-
finite is his knowledge. Man, whose duration
is but for a few moments, perceives but those
moments: by a living and immortal Power
are those moments compared, distinguished,
and arrayed ; and That Power it is which ena-
bles manto know thepresent, judge of the past,
and foresee the future. Deprive him of this
divine light and you deface and obscure his
being, you render him merely an animal, ig-
norant of the past, without conception of the
future, and barely affectable by the present,

CHAP-

88 buffon's

CHAPTER II.

OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

A/TAN changes the natural state of animals
by forcing them to obey, and render him
service: a domestic animal is a slave to our
amusements or operations. The frequent abuses
he suffers, and the forcing him from his natu-
ral mode of living, make great alterations in
his manners and temper, while the wild ani-
mal, subject to nature alone, knows no other
laws than those of appetite and liberty. The
history of a wild animal is confined to a few
facts drawn from simple nature; but the history
of a domestic animal is complicated with all
the artful means used to tame and subdue his
native wildness: and not knowing how far

CI

example, constraint, or custom, may influence
animals, and change their motions, determina-
tionsj and inclinations, the design of the natu-
ralist

NATURAL HISTORY. 89

turalist ought to be to distinguish those facts
which depend on instinct, from those which
are owing to their mode of education; to as-
certain what appertains to themfrom what they
have acquired ; to separate what is natural for
them from what they are made to do ; and ne-
ver to confound the animal with the slave, the
beast of burden with the creature of God.

The empire which man has over animals h
an empire which revolution cannot overthrow ;
it is the empire of the spirit over matter; a
right of nature, a power founded on unalter-
able laws, a gift of God, by which man may
at all times discern the excellence of his being,
for he does not rule them, because he is the
most perfect, strongest, or the most dextrous of
animals. If he was only the first rank of the
same order, the others would unite to dispute
the empire with him, but it is from the su-
periority of his nature that man reigns and
commands : he thinks, and for this reason is
master over beings that are incapable of think-
ing. He reigns over material bodies because
they can only oppose to his will a sullen resist-
ance, or an inflexible stupidity, which he can
always overcome, by making them act against
each other. He is master of the vegetable
creation, which by his industry he can aiig*
vol. v. N menf.

90 buffon's

menf, diminish, renew, multiply, or destroy.
He maintains a superiority over brutes, because*
like them he not only has motion and sensation,
but possesses also the light of reason ; governs
his actions, concerts his operations, and over-
comes force by cunning, and swiftness by per-
severance. Nevertheless, among animals some
appear familiar, others savage and ferocious.
If we compare the docility and submission of
the dog with the cruelty and ferocity of the
tiger, the one will appear to be the friend of
man, the other his enemy : his empire, then,
over animals is not absolute. Many species
can escape his power by the rapidity of their
flight, by the obscurity of their retreats, and by
the elements they inhabit. Others escape him
from their minuteness, while others, who, far
from respecting their sovereign, openly attack
* him. Besides these, he is insulted by the stings
of insects, poisonous bites of serpents, and
teased with many other unclean, troublesome,
and useless creatures, that seem only to exist
to form a shade between good and evil, and to
make man comprehend how little respectable
his fall has made him.

. . But we. must distinguish the empire of God

, from, the domain of man : God, the Creator of

all beings, is the sole master of nature. Man

; has

NATURAL HISTORY. 91

has no influence on the universe, the motions of
the heavenly bodies, nor the revolutions of the
globe which he inhabits ; over animals, vege-
tables, or minerals, he has no general domi-
nion ; he can do nothing with species, his power
only extends to individuals ; for species in ge-
neral, and matter in the gross, belong to, or
rather constitute nature. All things pass away,
follow, succeed, decay, or are renewed, by an
irresistible power. Man, dragged on by the
torrent of time, cannot prolong his existence;
his body being linked to matter, he is forced to
submit to the universal law ; he obeys the same
power, and, like the rest, comes into the world,
grows to maturity, and dies.

But the divine ray with which man is ani-
mated ennobles and raises him above all other
material beings. This spiritual substance, far
from being subject to matter, has the power of -
making it obey ; and though it cannot com-
mand all Nature, it presides over particular
beings; God, the sole source of all light and
understanding, rules the universe and the spe-
cies with infinite power ; man, who possesses
only a ray of this spiritual substance, has a
power limited to small portions of matter and
individuals.

N2 Jt

92 buffon's

It is by the talent of the mind, then, and
not by force, and the other qualities of matter,
that man has been enabled to subdue animals.
In the first ages they were all equally indepen-
dent ; man, after he became guilty and fero-
cious, was very unfit to deprive them of liberty.
Before he could approach, know, make choice
of, and tame them, it was necessary that he
should be civilized himself, to know how to
instruct and command; and the empire over
animals, like every other empire, was not
founded till after society was instituted.

It is from society that man derives his pow-
er : from that he perfects his reason, exercises
his genius, and unites his strength. Previous
to the union of society man was perhaps the
most savage, and the least formidable of all
creatures; naked, defenceless and without shel-
ter, the earth to him was only a vast desert
peopled with monsters, of which he frequently
became the prey ; and even long after, history
informs us, that the first heroes were only the
destroyers of wild beasts.

But when the human race multiplied, and
spread over the earth, and when, by the aid of
the arts and society, man was able to conquer
the universe, he by degrees lessened the num-
ber

JUngraftA thf Jtarrj- Jtitfi'ort ■

FJG.18

Horje

Fig . 19

Ajs

NATURAL HISTORY. 93

ber of ferocious beasts, he purged the earth of
those gigantic animals of which we sometimes
still find the enormous bones ; he destroyed, or
reduced to a small number, every hurtful and
voracious species ; he opposed one animal to
another, and conquered some by fraud, others
by force ; and attacking them by every ra-
tional method he arrived at the means of safe-
ty, and has established an empire which is
only bounded by inaccessible solitudes, burn-
ing sands, frozen mountains, and obscure ca-
verns, which now serve as retreats for the
small number of species of ferocious animals
that remains.

THE HORSE.

THE noblest conquest ever made by man
over the brute creation, is the reduction of this
spirited and haughty animal (fig. 18. J, which
shares with him the fatigues of war, and the
glory of victory. Equally intrepid as his
master, the horse sees the danger, and encoun-
ters death with bravery ; inspired at the clash

of

94 buffon's

of arms, he loves it, and pursues the enemy
with the same ardour and resolution. He feels
pleasure also in the chace, and in tournaments ;
in the course he is all fire ; but equally tractable
as courageous, he does not give way to his im-
petuosity, and knows how to check his natural
and fiery temper. He not only submits to the
arm which guides him, but seems to consult
the desires of his rider; and always obedient to
the impression he receives, he presses on, or
stops, at his rider's pleasure. The horse is a
creature which renounces his very being for
the service of man, whose will he even knows
how to anticipate, and execute by the promp-
titude of his movements : he gives himself up
without reserve, refuses nothing, exerts him-
self beyond his strength, and often dies sooner
than disobey.

Such is the horse, whose talents and natural
qualities art has improved, and who with care
has been tutored for the service of man ; his
education commences with the loss of his li-
berty, and is finished by constraint. Theslavery
or servitude of the horse is so universal, and
so ancient, that we rarely see him in his natu-
ral state. They are always covered with harness
when at work, and not wholly free from their
bands even in time of rest. If they are some-
times

NATURAL HISTORY. 9j

times suffered to range in the fields, they always
bear about them marks of servitude, and fre-
quently the external impressions of labour and
of pain : the mouth is deformed by the wiinkles
occasioned by the bit, the sides scarred with
wounds inflicted by the spur, and the hoofs
are pierced with nails. The attitude of the bo-
dy constrained by the impression of habitual
shackles, from which they would be delivered
in vain, as they would not be more at liberty.
Even those whose slavery is the most gentle,
who are only fed and broke for luxury and
magnificence, and whose golden chains only
serve to satisfy the vanity of their masters, are
still more dishonoured by the elegance of their
trappings, and by the plaits of their manes,
than by the iron shoes of their feet.

Nature is more beautiful than art, and in an
animated being, the freedom of its movements
makes its existence more perfect. Observe the
horses in Spanish America, which have multi-
plied so fast and live in freedom : their motions
seem neither constrained nor regular ; proud
of their independence, they Hy the presence of
man, and disdain his care; they seek and find
for themselves proper nourishment ; they wan-
der and skip about in immense meadows, where
they feed on thefresh productions of a perpetual

spring

96 buf fox's

spring. Destitute of any fixed habitation,
without any other shelter than a mild sky, they
breathe a purer air than those which are con-
fined in vaulted palaces. Hence wild horses
are stronger, swifter, and more nervous than
the greater part of domestic ones ; they have
strength and nobleness, the gifts of nature ;
while the others have address and gracefulness,
which is all that art can give.

The natural disposition of wild horses is
not ferocious, they are only high-spirited
and wild. Though superior in strength to
the greatest part of animals, they yet never
attack them ; and if attacked by others, they
either disdain them as foes, and fly out of their
way, or give a fatal blow with their heels.
Thev unite themselves in troops, merely for
the pleasure of being together, for they have
no fear of, but an attachment for eacli other.
As grass and vegetables are sufficient for their
nourishment, they have quite enough to satisfy
their appetites ; and as they have no relish for
the flesh of animals, they never make war
with them, nor with themselves. They never
quarrel about their food, they have no occasion
to ravish prey from each other, the ordinary
source of contention and quarrels among car-
nivorous animals. They live in peace because

their

NATURAL HISTORY. 97

their appetites are simple and moderate, and
having enough there is no object for envy.

All these circumstances may be observed in
young horses which are brought up and led
together in droves; their manners are gentle,
and their tempers social; they seldom shew
their ardour and strength by any other sign
than emulation. They endeavour to be fore-
most in the course, are animated to brave dan-
ger, in crossing a river or leaping a ditch: and
those which in these natural exercises set the
example, it his often been observed, when re-
duced to a domestic state, are the most gene-
rous, docile, and gentle.

Several ancient authors speak of wild horses.
Herodotus says, that on the banks of the Hy-
panes, in Scythia, there were wild horses quite
white, and that in the northern parts of
Thrace, beyond the Danube, there were
others covered with hair five inches long.
Aristotle also cites Syria ; Pliny the northern
countries; Strabo, the Alps and Spain; as
places where wild horses were to be found.
Among the moderns, Garden mentions the
same thing of Scotland and the Orkneys;
Olaus, of Muscovy; Dapper, of the Isle of
Cyprus, which, as he says, contained wild
horses very beautiful, of great strength and
"vol. v. Q swiftness;

08 buffon's

swiftness ; Struys, of the Isle of May, one of
the Cape de Verds, where he found wild horses
very small. Leo the African also relates
that there were wild horses in the desarts of
Arabia and Lybia ; and he assures us, that he
saw in the remotest parts of Numidia a white
colt with a curled mane. Marmol confirms
this fact, asserting, that wild horses are found
in the desarte of Arabia and Lybia, small, and
of an ash-colour ; others white whose manes
and coats are short and rough ; and that nei-
ther dogs nor tame horses can equal them in
swiftness; we read also, in the Letters Edi-
fiantes, that in China there are wild horses of
a very small size.

As almost all parts of Europe are at present
peopled, and equally inhabited, wild horses are
no longer found therein. Those in America
originate from European tame horses, trans-
ported thither by the Spaniards ; and havemul1
tiplied considerably in the vast desarts of this"
country. The astonishment and fear which
the inhabitants of Mexico and Peru expressed
at the sight of horses and their riders, is a
strong presumption that this animal was en-
tirely unknown in the New World. The Spa-
niards carried thither a great number, as well
for service as to propagate the breed. They

left

NATURAL HISTORY. 99

left them on many islands, and even let them
loose on the continent, "where they have mul-
tiplied like other wild animals. M. la Salle, in
1685, saw in the northern parts of America,
near the bay of St. Louis, whole troops of
these horses feeding in the pastures, which
were so wild that no one could approach them.
The author of the History of the Buccaniers,
says, "That in the island of St. Domingo,
horses are sometimes seen in troops of 500, all
running together; that when they see a man,
they all stop ; and that one of them will ap-
proach to a certain distance, snorts, takes
flight and is instantly followed by all the
rest." He adds, " that he does not know
whether these horses, by becoming wild, have
degenerated or not; but that.he did not think
them so handsome as those of Spain, though
they are descended from the same breed. They
have (continues he) large heads and limbs,
and their ears and limbs are also long; the
inhabitants easily tame them, and afterwards
force them to work. To catch them, nooses
made of ropes are spread in places where they
frequent ; but if they are caught by the neck
they presently strangle themselves, unless assist-
ance is near ; they are then fastened by the body
and legs to the trees, where they are left for

O 2 two

100 eui'FOn's

two days without either food or drink. This
experiment is sufficient to make them some-
what tractable, and in a little time they become
as much so as if they had never been wild ; and
even if by chance they regain their liberty,
they never become so again, but know their
masters, and suffer themselves to be retaken
without trouble.

This proves that horses are naturally gentle,
and disposed to be familiar with man; they
never seek to quit the abodes of men to re-
cover their liberty in the forests; on the con-
trary, they shew great anxiety to return to
their old habitations, where, perhaps they find
but coarse food, always the same, and gene-
rally measured out to them with a sparing
hand, without considering the strength of their
appetites. Custom, however, serves them in
lieu of what they lose by slavery. When
•worn with fatigue, the place of rest is to them
the most delicious; they smell it at a distance,
can even find it out in the midst of large
towns, and in every thing seem to prefer sla-
very to liberty. The customs to which they
Lave been forced to submit, become a second
nature to them ; for horses abandoned in
the forests, have been known to neigh con-
tinually to make themselves heard, to gallop

towards

NATURAL HISTORY. 101

towards the human voice; and even to grow
thin and perish in a short time, notwithstand-
ing they were surrounded with a variety of pro-
vender. Their manners, then, almost wholly
depe d on their education, which is accom-
plished with puns and cares which man takes
for no other animal, and for which he is well
requited by their continual services.

It has long been the custom to separate the
foals from their mothers when five, six, or
seven months old ; for experience has proved,
that those which are suckled ten or eleven
months, are not of equal value with them
which are weaned sooner, though they are
generally fuller of flesh. After six or seven
months they are weaned ; bran is then given
them twice a day, and a little hay, of which
the quantity is increased in proportion as they
advance in age. They are kept in the stable as
long as they seem to retain any desire to return
to the mares ; but when thisdesire ceases they are
suffered to go out, and led to pasture; but care
must be taken not to suffer them to go out to
pasture fasting; they must have a little brau,
and be made to drink an hour before they are
suffered to graze, and should never be exposed
to great cold or rain. In this manner they pass
the first winter : in the May following they

may

102 BUFFOS *S

may be permitted to graze every day, and to
remain out in the fields till the end of October,
only observing not to let them eat the after-
grass, for if they are accustomed to that deli-
cacy they will grow disgusted with hay, which
ought, howe7er, to be their principal food du-
ring the second winter, together with bran
mixed with barley or oats wetted. They are
managed in this manner, letting them graze in
the day time during winter, and in the night
also during the summer, till they are four years
old, when they are taken from the pastures,
and kept on dry food. This change in food re-
quires some precaution ; for the first eight days
they should have nothing but straw, and it is
proper to administer some vermifuge drinks,
to destroy those worms which may have been
generated from indigestion and green food. M.
de Gaursault,whoreccommends this practice,
does it from experience ; but at all ages, and in.
all seasons the stomachs of horses are stuffed
with a prodigious number of worms. They are
also found in the stomach of the ass ; and yet
neither of these animals are incommoded there-
by. For this reason worms should not be looked
on as an accidental complaint caused by bad di-
gestion and green food, but rather as a common

effect

NATURAL HISTORY. 103

effect depending upon the nourishment and
digestion of these animals.

Great attention must be paid in weaning
young colts, to put them into a proper stable,
not too hot, for fear of making them too deli-
cate and too sensible of the impressions of tlie
air. They should frequently have fresh litter
and be kept very clean, by frequently rubbing
them down with a wisp of straw. But they
should not be tied up or curried till they are
near three years old, their skin being till then
too delicate to bear the comb. The rack and
manger must not be too high, as the necessity
of raising their heads to reach their food may
give a habit of raising it in that fashion, and
spoil their necks.

When about a year or eighteen months old,
their tails ought to be cut, as the hair will then
grow stronger and thicker. From two years
old the colts should be put with the horses and
the females with the mares ; without this pre-
caution, the colts would fatigue and enervate
themselves. At the age of three years, or three
years and a half, we may begin to make them
tractable ; they should at first have a light easy
saddle, and wear it two or three hours every
day ; they should also be accustomed to have a
snaffle bit in their mouths, and to have their

feet

iOi iwffon's

feet lifted up and struck, to habituate them to-
shoeing ; if designed for coach or draught
horses, they should also wear a harness. At
first a curb should not be used ; they may be held
by a cavesson, or leather strap, and be made to
trot on even ground, and with only the saddle
or harness on their bodies ; and when they
turn easily, and willingly follow the person
who holds the leather strap, the rough rider
should mount him and dismount again in the
same place, without making him move, till he
is four years old, because before that age the
weight of a man overloads him * ; but at four
years he should be made to walk or trot, a
little way at a time, with the rider on his back.
When a coach horse is accustomed to the har-
ness, he should be paired with a horse that is
thoroughly broke, putting on him a bridle with
a strap passed through it, till he begins to be
used to his duty ; after this the coachman may
try to make him draw, having the assistance of
a man to push him gently behind, and even to
give him some blows to make him do it. All

this

* This assertion of our author will meet with little credit
in the present day, when daily practice proves they may be
completely trained while rising three years, and have suffi-
cient strength to enter the lists on the course before they
are four:

NATURAL IIISTORV. 105

tbis should be done before young liofses have
changed their food, for when once they are on
grain or hay they are more vigorousj less
tractable, and more difficult to break.

The bit and the spur are two means made
use of to bring them into order, \he former for
their guidance, and the latter to make them in-
crease their motion. The mouth does not ap-
pear formed by nature to receive any other im-
pressions than that of laste and appetite; but
there is so great a sensibility in the mouth of a>
horse, that, in preference to the ryes and enrs,
we address ourselves to it, to make him under-
stand our pleasure; the slightest motions, or
pressure of the bit, is sufficient to inform and
determine his course ; and this organ of sense
has no other fault than its perfection. Its too
great sensibility requires particular manage-
ment, for if it is abused the mouth of the horse
is spoiled, and rendered insensible to the im-
pression of the bit: the senses of sight and
hearing cannot be dulled in this manner; bu£
in all likelihood it hafe been found inconvenient
to govern horses by these organs r besides^ signs
given them by the sense of feeling have more
effect on animals in general than those con-
veyed by the eyes or ears. The situation of
the eyes of horses, with relation to those who
vol. v. P mount

106 buffon's

mount or conduct them, is very unfavourable;
and, though they are frequently conducted and
animated by the ear, it appears that the use of
this organ is limited to common horses, because
in the menage they are seldom spoken to; in
fact, if they are well broke the smallest pressure
of the thighs, or most trifling motion of the
bit, is sufficient to direct them. The spur is
even useless, or at least it is only made use of
to force them to violent motions ; andas through
the folly of the rider it often happens, that in
giving the spur he checks the bridle, the horse
finding himself excited on one side, and kept in
on the other, only prances and capers without
stirring out of his place.

By means of the bridle horses are taught
to hold up their heads, and keep them in the
most graceful position, and the smallest sign or
movement of the rider is sufficient to make the
horse shew all his different paces; the most na-
tural is perhaps the trot, but pacing andgallop-
ing is more pleasant for the rider, and these are
the two paces we particularly endeavour to im-
prove. When the horse lifts up his fore legs
to walk, this motion should be performed with
spirit and ease, and the knee sufficiently bent.
The leg lifted up should seem as if suspended
for a moment, and when let down the foot

should

NATURAL HISTORY. 107

should be firmly rested on the ground without
the horse's head receiving any impression from
this motion, for when the leg suddenly falls
down, and the head sinks at the same time: it
is usual to ease the other leg, which has not
strength to support the whole weight of the
body. This is a great fault, as well as that of
carrying (he foot too far out or in. We should
also observe, that when he rests on his heel it is
a mark of weakness, and when he rests on the
forepart of his hoof it is a fatiguing and un-
natural attitude that he cannot long support.

Though walking is the slowest of all their
paces, his slep should be light, brisk, and nei-
ther too long nor too short ; his carriage should
be easy, which depends much on the freedom
of his shoulders, and is known by the manner
in which he carries his head in walking ; if he
keeps it high and steady, he is generally vigo-
rous and quick. When the motion of the
shoulders is not free, the leg does not rise
enough, and the horse is apt to stumble, and
strike his foot against the inequalities on the
ground. A horse should raise his shoulders, and
lower his haunches, in walking; he should also
raise and support his leg; but if he keeps it up
too long, or lets it fall too slowly, he loses all
the advantage of his suppleness, becomes

P 2 heavy.

10$ BUFFOiVs

heavy, and fit for nothing but to match with
another for shew and parade.

It is not sufficient that his walk should be
easy, his steps must be also equal and uniform,
both behind and before, for if his crupper has
a swinging motion while he keeps up his
shoulders, the rider is much jolted, and ren-
dered uneasy ; the same thing happens when
the horse extends his hind leg so much as to rest
it beyond the same place in w 'Inch he rested
his fore foot. Horses with short bodies arc sub-
ject to this fault; those which cross their legs
or strike them against each other, are not sure
footed ; in general those whose bodies are long,
are the most easy for the rider, because he is
at a greater distance from the two centres of
motion, the shoulders and haunches, and there-
fore less sensible of the jolting.

The usual method of walking among qua-
drupeds is to lift, at the same time, one of the
fore legs of one side, and one of the hind legs
of the other. As their bodies are sustained
upon four points of support, which form an
oblong square, the easiest manner of moving
/or them is to change two at once in the diago-
nal, in such a manner that the centre of gravity
of the body of the animal may rest always in
the direction of the two points which are not

in

NATURAL HISTORY. 109

in motion. In the three natural paces of the
horse, Ihe walk, the trot, and the gallop, this
rule of motion is always observed, though with
some difference. In the walk there are four
beats, in the movement; if the right fore leg
moves first the left hind leg follows the instant
after ; then the left fore leg moves forward in
turn, and is followed instantly by the right
hind leg; thus the right fore foot rests on the
ground first, the left hind foot next, then the
left fore foot rests, and lastly, the right hind
foot, which makes a movement of four beats>
and at three intervals, of which the first and
last are shorter than the middle one. In the
trot there are but two beats ; if the right fore
leg goes off the ground the left hind leg move?
at the same time, and then the left fore Iesr
moves at the same time with the right hind
one, in such a manner, that there are in this
movement only two beats and one interval ;
the right fore foot, and the left hind foot, rest
on the ground at the same time, as is also the
case with the left fore foot and the right hind
one. In the gallop there is usually three beats ;
but as in this movement there is a kind of
leaping of the two fore legs, the right ought to
advance more forward than the left, which
ought to remain on the ground to serve as a

point

110 button's

point of rest for the sudden jirk he takes : the
left hind foot moves the first, and rests the first
on the ground ; then the right hind leg is lifted
up conjointly with the left fore leg, and both
rest on the ground together; and lastly, the
right fore leg is raised instantly after the left
fore leg and right hind one, and rests last on
the ground : thus in the gallop there are three
beats and two intervals ; in the first interval,
when the movement is made with haste, the
four legs are, for an instant, in the air at the
same time, and the four shoes may be seen at
once. When the horse has supple limbs and
haunches, and moves with agility, the gallop
is the more perfect, and the cadence is made
in four times ; first, the left hind foot, then
the right hind foot, next the left fore foot,
and, lastly, the right fore foot.

Horses usually gallop on the right foot, in the
same manner as they carry the fore right leg in
walking and trotting; they also throw up the
dirt in galloping first with the right fore leg,
which is more advanced than the left ; and the
right hind leg, which follows immediately the
light fore one, is also more advanced than the
left hind leg, from whence it results, that the
left leg, which supports all the weight, and
forces forwards the others, is the most fatigued ;

for.

NATURAL HISTORY. Ill

for this reason it would be right to learn horse's
to gallop alternately on the left and right leg?,
as they would then bear much longer this vio-
lent motion; this is done in the riding-schools,
but, perhaps for no other reason than in tra-
versing a circle, the centre of which is some-
times on the risjht and sometimes to the left,
the rider is compelled to change hands.

In walking the horse almost scrapes the
ground with his feet ; in trotting they are some-
what raised ; and in galloping they are lifted up
still higher. The walk ought to be quick.
light, and sure; the trot should be firm, quick,
and equally sustained, and the hind {cet ougiit
to press forward the fore ones. The horse, in
this pace should carry his head high, and keep
his body straight, for if the haunches rise and
full alternately at each motion, and if the crup-
per moves up and clown, and the horse rocks
himself, he is too weak for this motion. If he
throws out his fore legs it is another fault ; the
fore legs should tread in a line with the hind
ones, and always efface their tracks. When
one of the hind legs is thrown forwards, if the
fore leg of the same side rests too long, the mo-
tion becomes uneasy from this resistance, and
it is for this reason that the interval between
the two beats of the trot should be short ; but,

be

112 buffon's

be it ever so shorty this resistance is sufficient
to make (his pace more uneasy than walking
or galloping.

The spring of the houghs contributes as
much to the motion of galloping, as that of the
loins; whilst the loins use their utmost efforts
to raise and push forward the hinder parts, the
spring of the hough, breaks the stroke, and
lessens the shock: thus, the more pliant and
strong are the spring of their houghs, the more
gentle and rapid is their motion in galloping.
Walking, trotting, and galloping, are the
most usual natural paces ; but some horses have
another natural motion, called ambling, or pa*
cing, which is very different from the other
three, and, at the first glance appears extremely
fatiguing to the animal, notwithstanding the
quickness of motion is not so great as the hard
trot or gallop. In this pace the foot of the
horses grazes the ground still more than in
walking, and each step is much longer. But
the most remarkable circumstance is, that the
two legs on the same side, for example, the
fore and hind legs on the right side, part from
the ground at the same time, and afterwards
the two left legs, so that each side of the body
alternately is without support, which cannot
fail to fatigue the animal very much, being

, obliged

NATURAL HISTORY. ] \$

obliged io support itself in a forced balanc?
by the rapidity of a motion which is scarcely
clear of the ground : for if he raised his feet in
this pace, as much as lie does in trotting, or
walking quick, he could not fail falling on his
side; and it is only from almost grazing the
earth, and the quickness of motion, that he is
enabled to support himself. In (he amble, as
well as in the trot, there are but two beats in
the motion ; and all the difference is, that in
the trot the two legs which go together are
opposite, in a diagonal line; instead of which,
in the amble, the two legs on the same side go
together. This pace is extremely fatiguing to
the horse, and which he should never be suffer-
ed to use but on even ground, but is very easy
for the rider; it has not the jolting of the fro%
because in the amble, the fore leg rises at the
same time with the hind leg on the same side,
and consequently meeis with no resistance in
the motion. Connoisseurs assure us, that
horses which naturally amble, never trot ; and
that they arc much weaker than others who
have not that pace; in fact, colts often get into
this pace, when they are forced to go fast, and
have not sufficient strength to trot or gallou;
and we observe also, that even iron 1 horses,
vor. v. Q wto|,

Ill buffok's

when much fatigued, or begin to decline, take
of themselves to ambling.

We may then look upon this pace as pro-
ceeding from weakness or defect ; but there are
still two other paces called broken ambles, one
between the amble and the walk, and the other
between the trot and the gallop ; both of which
are more defective than the amble, and pro-
ceed from great fatigue or weakness in tho
loins; these paces are frequently perceivable
in almost worn-out post horses.

The horse, of all quadrupeds, with the
noblest stature, has the greatest proportion and
elegance in all its parts. By comparing him
with those animals which are superior or infe-
rior to him, we shall see that the ass is ill-made ;
that the lion has too large a head ; the legs of the
ox too thin and short, in proportion to the size
of his body ; that the camel is deformed, and
that those monstrous animals, the rhinoceros
and the elephant, are merely rude and shapeless
masses. The great length of the jaws is the prin-
cipal difference between the heads of quadru-
peds and the human species ; it is also the most
ignoble mark of all ; yet, though the jaws of
the horse are very long, he has not like the
ass, an air of imbecility ; nor of stupidity like

the

NATURAL HISTORY. 113

Hie ox. The regularity and proportions of the
parts of his heat!, givehira an air of sprightli-
ness, which is well supported by the beauty of
his chest. He seems ambitious of raising him-
self above his state of a quadruped, by holding
up his head ; and in this noble attitude he looks
man in the face. His eyes are lively and large,
his ears well made, and of a just proportion,
without being short, like those of the bull, or
too long like those of the ass ; his mane orna-
ments his neck, and give^ him an air of strength
and courage; his long bushy tail covers and
termii.ates advantageously the extremities of
his body. Far different from the short tails of
the stag, elephant, &c. and the naked tails of
the ass, camel, rhinoceros, &c. the tail of the
horse is formed of long thick hair, which seems
to come from the crupper, because the stump
from which it grows is very short; he cannot
raise his tail like the lion, but it suits him bet-
ter hanging down, as he can move it from side
to side, and drive away the flies which incom-
mode him ; for though his skin is very firm,
and well furnished with a close thick coat, it
is, notwithstanding, extremely sensible.

The attitude of the head and neck con-
tributes more than all the other parts of the
body to give him a noble appearance; the su-

Q '^ perior

ll(j button's

pcrior part of the neck, on which the mane
grows, should raise itself in a straight line from
the withers, and , in a proachingthe head, form .
a curve somewhat rrsembling the neck of a
swan. The inferior part ought not to have
any curve, its direction should be a direct line
from the chest to the nether jaw, and a little
bent forwards; if it was perpendicular its
beauty would be diminished. The superior
parts of the neck should be slim, with a little
flesh about the mane, which should be mo-
derately ornamented with long sleek hair. A
handsome chest and forehand should be long
and raised, but proportioned to the size of the
horse ; w hen it is too long and thin the horse
usually throws his head back, and when too
short and fleshy he pushes forwards too much ;
for the head to be placed in the most advan-
tageous position, the forehead should be per-
pendicular to the horizon.

The head should be lean and small, without
being too long: the ears at a moderate dis-
tance, small, straight (but not stiff) narrow,
and well-placed on the top of the head; the
forehead should be narrow, and a little con-
vex; the hollows or spaces between the eyes
and ears, well filled; the eyelids thin : the
eyes clear, lively, full of fire, rather large,

and

NATURAL BUYOUT. 117

and projecting; Imc p«ipil rather large; the
nether jaw thin : the nose a little arched : the
nostrils I a rge and open, and divided by a thin
partition ; the lips thin, the month of a mpdor
ra-e widdi ; ihe withe: s raised and sloping . the
shoulders flat, and not co fined ; the back
equal, insensibly arched length ways, dud raised
on each side of the bick bone, which should
appear indented ; tlie flanks full and short; the
rump round and fleshy ; the haunches well
covered with muscular flesh ; the stump of the
tail thick and firm ; the thighs thick and fleshy ;
the houghs round before, and broad on the
sides ; the shank thin aid small ; tlie fetlock
strung and covered with a t'.ft of hair behind;
the pasterns large, and of a middling length ;
the coronet rather raised ; the hoof black,
smooili, and shining; the instep high; the
quarters round ; ihe heels wide and moderate-
ly raised ; the fro"' small and thin, and the
sole thick and hollow.

Few horses possess this assemblage of per-
fection ; the eyes are subject to many faults,
which are sometimes diflicult to l>e known.
In a sound eye, we ought to see through the
jcor.'iea two or three spots of the colour of
soot, above the pupil ; for to see those spots,
jthc cornea must be clear, clean, and trans-
parent ;

118 buffon's

parent ; if it appears double, or of a bad co-
lour, the eye is not good ; a small, long", and
straight pupil, encompassed with a white cir-
cle, or when it is of a blueish green colour, the
eye is certainly bad.

I shall at present only add some remarks,
by which a judgment may be formed of (he
principal perfections and imperfections of a
horse. It is very easy to judge of the natural
and actual state of the animal by the motion
of his ears ; when he walks, he should incline
forwards the points of his ears; when jaded
his ears hang low ; those which are spirited
and mischievous, alternatively carry one of
their ears forwards, and the other backwards :
they all turn their cars to that side on which
they hear any noi*e, and when struck on the
back, or on the rump, they turn their ears
backward. Horses who have the eyes deep
sunk in the head, or one smaller than the other,
have usually a bad sight ; those whose mouths
are dry, are not of so healthy a temperament
as those which have their mouths moist, and
make the bridle frothy. A saddle horse ought
to have the shoulders flat, supple, and not
very fleshy; the draft horse, on the contrary,
should have them flat, round, and thick ; if,
notwithstanding, iheshoulders ofasaddle horse

are

NATURAL HISTORY. 119

are too thin, and the bones shew themselves
through the skin, it is a defect winch proves
the shoulders are not free, and consequently
the horse cannot bear much fatigue. Another
fault of a saddle horse is, to have the chest
project too forward, and the fore legs placed
too far backward, because he is apt in this case
to rest on the hand in galloping, and even to
stumble and fall. The length of the legs should
be proportionable to the height of the horse ;
when the fore legs arc too long he is not sure-
footed, if they are too short, he bears too heavy
on the hand. It is a remark that mares are
more liable than horses to be low before, and
that stone-horses in general have thicker necks
than mares or geldings.

The most important thing to be known, is
the age of a horse. As they advance in years
the eye-pits commonly sink, but it is from the
teeth that we obtain the most certain know-
ledge of their age ; of these the horse has 40,
24 grinders, four eye teeth or tushes, and 12
incisive teeth. Mares have no eye teeth, or if
they have them they are very short; it is from
the front and eye teeth alone we are enabled
to form any judgment, of their age. The
front teeth begin to shew themselves a few
days after the birth of the foal, these first teeth

are

120 IiUFFON9S

are round, short, and not very solid ; they drop
out at differe <t times to muke room for others:
At two years and a half the four front middle
teeth drop out, two at lop, and two at bottom ;
a year after four others fall out, one on each
side of the first, which are already replaced.
At four years and a half, iour o'hers drop out,
always on each side of those which have been
shed and replaced ; these four last milk teeth
are replaced by four o hers, which do not grow
near so l^st as those which replaced the first
eight ; and these four last teeth which are
called the wed ires, 01 corner teeth, as those by
which the ages of a horse is distinguished ;
these are easily known, since they are the
third, as well at top as at bottom, beginning
to count bom the middle of the extremity of
the jaw; these teerh are hollow, and have a
black mark m their cavn ies. Ai four years and
a half, or five years ok), they scarcely project
beyond the gums, ami their cavities are plainly
seen. At six years and a half they begin to fill
up, themarkalso begins to diminish gradually,
till he comes to s< ve y ;urs and a hall, or tight
years, when the hollow is entirely filled up and
the black mark effaced. After the animal has
attained this period, it is common to attempt to
judge of his age by the eye teeth, or tusks;

thest

NATURAL HISTORY. 121

these four teeth are placed at the side of those
which we have just described. Neither the
eye teeth , nor grinders, are preceded by others
which fall out* Those of the interior jaw
usually begin to shoot at three years and a half,
the two of the upper jaw at the age of four,
and till the animal is six years old they are very
sharp ; at ten years old the upper ones appear
already blunt, worn, and long, because the gum
wears away with age, and the more it appears
worn away, the more aged is the horse.
From 10 till 13 or 14 years, there is hardly
any indication of the age ; when someofthe hairs
on the eye-brows begin to grow white ; but
this indication is equivocal, since it has been
remarked that horses engendered from old stal-
lions and old mares have the hair white on the
eye-brows by the age of 10 years. There are
also horses whose teeth are so hard that they
do not wear, and upon which the black mark
subsists and is never effaced ; but these arc
easily known by the length of the eye teeth.
We may also know, though with less precision,
the age of a horse by the ridges of the palate,
which are effaced in proportion to his age.

By the age of two, or two years and a half,
the horse is in a state to engender ; and mares,
like all other females, arc still more forward ;
TOJv! v. R but

122 uuffon's

but these young horses produce only foals ill-
shaped, or of bad constitutions. The horse
should at least be four or four years and a half
before he is admitted to the mare, and even
that is too early, unless for draught and large
horses. It is necessary 1o wait till the sixth
year for a fine breed, and the Spanish stallion
should not be admitted before the seventh. The
mares may be a year younger ; they are usually
in season from the end of March to the end of
June; but they arc most fit to receive the
male for about fifteen days or three weeks, and
this is the best period for admitting them to
the stallion. He should be chosen with care,
handsome,well madc,vigorous, perfectly sound,
and of a good breed. To have handsome
saddle-horses, foreign stallions, as Arabian,
Turkish, Barbary, and Andalusian horses, are
preferable to all others ; and even, notwith-
standing their faults, the English horses may be
successfully made use of, because they came
originally from the above-mentioned, and are
not much degenerated ; the food being excellent
in England, where they are also very careful
in keeping up the breed. The stallions of
Italy, especially those of Naples, are very good,
and produce handsome saddle-horses, when
coupled with well-shaped mares, and fine

coach*

NATURAL HISTORY. 123

coach -horses when with marcs of a large
stature. It is pretended, that in France, Eng-
land, &c. the Arabian and Barbary horses
usually beget horses larger than themselves, and
that the Spanish horses produce a smaller breed.
To have handsome coach-horses we should
make use of Neapolitan and Danish stallions,
or those from Holstein or Friezeland. The
stallions should be full 14 hands and a half
high for saddle-horses, and fifteen hands for
coach-horses; a stallio a should also have a good
coat, black as jet, or of a fine grey, bay, or
chesnut. All which seem in their colour as if
they were washed or ill-coloured should be
banished from the breed, as well as those which
have white extremities. Besides these exi erior,
a stallion should also have the best interior,
qualities, such as courage, docility, spirit, and
agility; sensibility in the mouth, freedom in
his shoulders ; he should be sure footed, supple
in the haunches, and have a spring in the whole
body, but above all in his hind legs, and should
uave been well broke and trained. These par-
ticulars, it is the more necessary to observe in
the ciioice of a stallion, because it has been re-
marked, that he communicates by generation
almost all his good and bad qualities, both na-
tural and acquired. A horse, naturally morose,
R 2 gloomy,

I24r BUFFONfS

gloomy, stubborn, &c. produces foals of the
same disposition : and as the defects of con-
formation, as well as the vices of the humours>
perpetuate with still more certainty than the
natural qualities, great care should be taken
to exclude from the whole stud all deformed,
vicious, glandered, broken-winded, or mad
horses.

In these climates the mare contributes less
than the stallion to the beauty of the foal, but
she contributes perhaps more to his tempera-
ment and form ; thus it is necessary that the
mares should be strong and large bodied, and
good nurses, in order to breed beautiful horses.
The Spanish and Italian mares are preferred
for an elegant breed , and those of England for
draught and coach-horses. The mares of all
countries may, nevertheless, produce handsome
horses, provided they are themselves well made,
of a good breed, and have proper stallions ; for
if thev are engendered from a bad horse the
foals which they produce will frequently prove
defective. In this species of animals, as well
as in the human race, the young frequently re-
semble their male or female ancestors; only it
appears, that in horses the female does not con-
tribute so much \o generation as in the human
species, where the son oftcner resembles the

mother

NATURAL HISTORY. 125

mother than the foal does the mare ; and when
the foal resembles the mare which has pro-
duced it, it is usually in the fore parts of the
body, as the head and neck.

To judge well of the resemblance of children
to their parents, the comparison should not be
made in their youth ; we ought to wait till they
are arrived at puberty ; for there happens at
this period so sudden a change of the parts that
it maybe possible to mistake, at the first glance
of the eye, a person whom we have known per-
fectly well before that period, but have not
seen since. Till afier puberty, then, we ought
not to compare the child with its parents, if we
would judge accurately of the resemblance, as
then the son frequently resembles khs father, and
the daughter her mother, and frequently the
child resembles both at once. Sometimes chil-
dren resemble the grandfathers or grand-mo-
thers, and even uncles and aunts. Almost al-
ways children of the same parents are line each
other, and all have some family likeness. In
horses, as the male contributes more ro genera-
tion than the female, mares frequently produce
colts which arc very like the stallion, or which
always resemble their lather more than their
mother ; and when the br od-mare has herself
been begot by a bad horse, it frequently hap-
pens

126 buffon's

pens that, though she had a beautiful stallion
and is handsome herself, she shall yet produce
a foal which, however in appearance handsome
and well made in its early you'll, degenerates
as it grows older ; while a well-bred mare pro-
duces foal-, which though at first they have
an unfavourable appearance, grow handsomer
as they advance in age.

These observations .hich seem all to concur
in proving that in horses the male has greater
influence than the female on their progeny, do
no appear sufficient to establish this fact in an
indisputable manner. It is not impossible, but
that these observations may subsist, and yet in
general the mare may contribute as much as the
Lorse to the production of their issue ; for it is
no' astonishing that stallions, always chosen out
oi a great number,gencrally brought from warm
cliraates,high-fed,kept and managed with great
care, should have the sway in generation over
common mares, bred in a cold climate, and
frequently obliged to labour. But if the beau»
tiful mares of warm countries were selected out,
managed with equal care, and covered by com*
mon horses four own country, I think there
cannot be a doubt but the semblance of the fe-
males would be superior to the males, and that
among horses, as well as in the human species,

there

NATURAL HISTORY. 127

there would be an equality in the influence of
the male and female in their young, supposing
a similarity in the accordant circumstances.
This appears natural, and (he more probable,
as it has been remarked in studs that an equal
number of male and female fods are bred,
which proves that, at least as far as regards the
sex, the female has equal influence.

Mares are generally in season nine days after
their delivery, when the horse ought to be ta-
ken to them, in the choice of which attention,
should be paid to his figure being perfect in
those parts wherein the mare mny be deficient.
The breed of horses, at least such as arc hand-
some, require an infinite degree of care and at-
tention, and is accompanied with considerable
expence. The marcs and foals should be kept
in rich inclosures, and if alternately grazed by
oxen and horses it will be an advantage, as the
former constantly repairs the injuries done by
the latter ; each of these inclosures should con-
tain a pond, which is preferable to a run-
ning stream, and be also provided with trees to
shelter them from the heat of the sun ; when,
however, the winter season commences they
should be taken into the stable and be wrell sup-
plied with hay.

The

12S BUFFON 9S

The stallion should always be kept in thi.
house ; he should be fed with more straw than
hay, and be moderately exercised until the
season for covering, when he should be fed
plentifully, though with nothing but common
food. If managed with proper care he may
be led to lb or 18 mares with success in (he
course of the season, which, as we before ob-
served, continues from the end of March to
the end of June.

It has been remarked, that studs, situated in
dry and light countries, produce active, swift
and vigorous horses, with nervous legs, and
strong hoofs, while those which are bred in
damp places, and in fat pasturage, have ge-
nerally large heavy heads, thick legs, soft
hoofs, and flat feet. This difference arises
from the climate and food, which may be easily
understood ; but, what is more difficult to
comprehend, and essential to be known, is, the
Necessity of always crossing, or mixing the
brrcu of horses to prevent their degenerating.
here is in nature a general prototype of
each species, from which each individual is
modelled, bu which seems in procreation to be
debased , or improved, according to its circum-
stances, insomuch, that in relation to certain

qualities

NATURAL HISTORY. 129

x qualities, there is a strange variety in the ap-
pearance of individuals, and at the same time
a constant resemblance in the whole species.
The first animal, the first horse, for example,
has been the exterior and interior model, from
which all horses that have existed, or shall ex-
ist, have been formed ; but this model, of which
we are only acquainted with copies, may have
fallen off, or arrived at greater perfection, by
multiplying and communicating its form . The
original form subsists entire in each individual ;
but though there are millions of individuals,
yet no two exactly resemble each other, nor,
consequently, the model from which they are
sprung. This difference, which proves how far
Nature is from making any thing absolutely
perfect, and how well she knows how to shade
her works, is exactly the same in the human
species, in all animals, and in all vegetables ;
and what is singular, the model of what is
handsome and excellent is dispersed through
all parts of the earth, and that in each climate
there is a portion thereof, which perpetually
degenerates, unless united with another por-
tion taken from a distant country ; so that to
have good corn, beautiful flowers, &c. it is ne-
cessary to change the seeds, and that they never
should be sown in the same ground where they
vol. v. S grew

130 buffon's

grew. To have fine horses, dogs, &c. it is pro-
per for the males and females to be of different
countries. Without this being attended to,
corn, flowers, and animals, will degenerate, or
rather take so strong a tincture of the climate
as to deform and bastardize the species ; the
form remains, but disfigured in all the lines
which are not essential thereto ; by mixing, on
the contrary, the kinds, and above all, by
crossing their breed with foreign species, their
forms seem to become more perfect.

I shall not here enter into the causes of these
effects, but indicate the conjectures which
readily present themselves. We know from
experience that animals or vegetables trans-
planted from a distant climate frequently dege-
nerate, and sometimes arc improved in a short
time. It is easy to conceive, that this effect is
produced by the difference of the climate and
food. The influence of these two causes must
at length render these animals exempt from,
or susceptible of, certain affections or certain
disorders; their temperament must gradually
change ; consequently their form, which de-
pends partly on the food and the quality of the
humours, must also change in their progeny.
This change is indeed almost imperceptible in
the first generation, because the male and

female,

NATURAL HISTORY. 131

female, supposed to be the stock of this race,
being completely grown, had taken their con-
sistence and form before they were brought
from their own country ; the new climate, and
new food may, indeed, change their tem-
perament, but cannot have influence enough
on the solid parts, and organs to alter their
form, consequently the first generation will be
no ways changed, nor will the original stock
at the time of birth be degenerated : but the
young and tender animal will feel the influence
of the climate, and receive a stronger im-
pression than its father and mother had done.
The food will also have a greater eifect, and
act upon the organic parts during the time
of its growth, change a little the original
form, and produce therein those seeds of de-
fects which manifest themselves in a very con-
spicuous manner in the second generation,
where the progeny will not only have its own
defects which arise from its growth, but also
the vices of the second stock. In the third ge-
neration, the defects, which proceed from the
influence of the climate and food, combined
with those of influence on the actual growth,
will become so visible, that the character of
the first stock will be effaced. Thus animals
of a foreign race soon lose their particular
S 2 qualities*

132 btjffon's

qualities, and in every respect resemble those
of the country. Spanish or Barbary horses,
if the breed is not crossed frequently, become
in France, French horses, in the second ge-
neration, and always in the third. We are,
therefore, obliged to cross the breed instead of
preserving it, and renew the race at each ge-
neration, by giving the horses of Barbary or
Spain, to the mares of the country ; and what
is more singular, this renewal of the race,
which is only done in part, produces much
better effects than if the renewal was entire.
A Spanish horse and mare in a foreign country
do not produce such handsome horses as those
which are bred from a Spanish horse and a
mare of the country ; this is easy to be con-
ceived, if attention is given to the amendment
of natural defects, which will be produced when
a male and female of different countries are put
together. Each climate, by its influence, and
by that of its food, gives a certain confor-
mation of parts, which offends either by excess
or defects. In a warm climate, there will
be in excess what will be deficient in a cold
climate, therefore, when we join together
animals of those opposite climates, we must
expect the produce to be complete : and as the
most perfect work in Nature is that which

has

NATURAL HISTORY. 133

has the fewest defects, and the most perfect
forms, those that have the fewest deformities,
so the produce of two animals, whose defects
exactly counterbalance each other, will be the
most perfect production of its species: they
counterbalance one another the better, in
proportion to the distance between the coun-
tries the animals matched together were bred
in; the compound that results therefrom is
the more perfect, the more opposite the ex-
cesses or defects of the constitution of the male
are to the defects or ex cesses of the temperament
of the female. Thus the breed is always im-
proved by matching the mares with foreign
horses, and they will always be more beautiful
in proportion as the climates in which the horse
and mare were bred are the more distant, and,
en the contrary, the produce will be much de-
based by suffering horses of the same race to
breed together ; for they infallibly degenerate
in a very little time.

The climate and food have not so much in-
fluence on the human species as on animals;
and the reason is plain : man can defend himself
better than any other animal from the intem-
perance of theclimate; he is lodged and clothed
suitably to the seasons ; in his food also there is
more variety, and consequently it cannot in-
fluence

134 button's

fluencc all individuals in the same manner.
The defects or excesses which arise from these
two causes, and which are so constantly and
so sensibly felt in animals, are much less con-
spicuous in men. Besides, as there have been
frequent migrations, as nations are mixed, and
great numbers travel and are dispersed every
where, it is no wonder that the human race
should appear less subject to the influence of
climate, and (hat there should be men strong,
well-made, and even ingenious in all countries.
Nevertheless, we may believe,from experience
much further back than memory can trace,
that men formerly knew the misfortunes which
resulted from alliances with the same blood ;
since in the most uncivilized nations, it has
rarely been permitted for the brother to marry
the sister. This custom, which among Chris-
tians is a divine law, and which is practised by
other people from political views, is perhaps
grounded on this observation. Policy is never
extended in. so general and absolute a manner,
unless supported by physical principles : but if
men once discovered by experience that their
race degenerated, when intercourse was admit-
ted between children of the same family, they
would soon have looked upon alliances with
oilier families as a law of nature, and agreed in

not

NATURAL HISTORY. 135

not suffering a mixture of blood among their
children. In short, from analogy it may be
presumed, that in most climates men would
degenerate, as well as animals, after a certain
number of generations.

Another influence of the climate and food is,
the variety of colours in the coats of animals:
those which are wild, and live in the same cli-
mate, are of the same colour, which becomes
a little lighter, or a little darker, in the different
season s of the year; on the contrary, those which
livein different climatesare of different colours,
and domestic animals vary so much, that there
are horses, dogs, &c. of all colours, while the
stags, hares, &c. are almost uniformly of the
same. The injuries of the climate, always the
same,and constantly eating thesame food, pro-
duce, in wild animals, this uniformity. The
care of man, the comforts of shelter, the variety
of food, efface and vary the colour in domestic
animals; as does also the mixture of foreign
racers, when no care has been taken to assort
the colours of the male and female, which
sometimes produces beautiful singularities, as
we see in pied horses, where the black and the
white are so whimsically mixed that they some-
times do not seem the work of nature, but ra-
ther the fancy of a painter.

In

136 buffon's

In coupling horses the colour and height
should he attended to ; the shapes should be
contrastedj the race should be mixed with op-
posite climates, and horses and mares bred in
the samestud should never be coupled together.
All these are necessary cautions, and there are
still some others not to be neglected; for ex-"
ample brood-mares ought never to be docked,
because, being unable to defend themselves from
the flies, they are continually tormented, and
the constant agitations which the stings of these
insects occasion diminish the quantity of their
milk, which has great influence on the tem-
perament and size of the foal, which in every
respect will be more vigorous as the mother is
more capable of nursing it. It is also pre-
ferable to choose brood-mares from such as
have always been kept at grass, and have never
been hard worked. Mares which have been
kept in stables on dry food, and are afterwards
put to grass, do not immediately conceive;
they must have time to accustom themselves to
this new kind of nutriment.

Although the usual season of mares is from
the beginning of April to the end of June, yet
it frequently happens that some are so before
that time; but which it would be better to let
pass off", because the foal in such case would be

brough

NATURAL HISTORY. 137

brought' forth in winter, and suffer both from
the intemperance of the season, and badness of
milk ; and also, if a mare does not become
proud till after the month of June, she should
not be suffered to take horse, because the foal
being produced in summer, cannot acquire
strength enough to resist the injuries of the
ensuing winter.

Many people, instead of conducting the
stallion to the mare, let him loose in a park,
where a number of mares are kept, and leave
him at liberty to single out those which are in
season : this method is good for the mares, and
they will breed with more certainty ; but the
stallion is more hurt in six weeks than he
would be well managed in as many years.

As soon as the mares are with foal, and their
bellies begin to grow heavy, they must be sepa-
rated from those which are not so, lest they
should be injured. They usually go with foal
eleven months and some days ; they bring forth
standing upright, while almost all other qua-
drupeds lie down: in some cases, when the
delivery is difficult they require assistance, and
when (he foal is dead, it is extracted with ropes.
The foal generally presents its head first, as do
all other animals ; it breaks the membranes in
the birth, and the waters flow out abundantly ;
vol. v. T at

iSS buffon's

at the same timer there is voided several solid
pieces of flesh formed by the liquor of the al-
lantoidcs: these pieces, which the ancients
have called the hippomanes, are no*, as they
say, pieces of flesh fastened to its head ; but,
on the contrary, separated by the amnios.
The mare licks the foal after its birth, but she
Joes not meddle with the hippomanes, not-
withstanding theassertion of the ancient", that
&he devours it immediately.

It is the usual custom to have the mare cover-
ed nine days after she has foaled : not to lose
time, and to make all they can from the stud ;
yet it h certain, that the mare having* a foal
and foetus to provide for, her strength is divid-
ed, and she is not able to give them so much
nourishment as if she had only one; it would,
therefore, be better, in order to have excellent
horses, to let the mares be covered but once in
two years ; they would last longer, and would
riot be so liable to drop their foals ; for in com-
mon studs it is agreat thing when, In thesame
year, half or two thirds produce foals.

The mares, when with foal, can bear to be
covered, though there is never any fresh con-
ception : they usually breed till the age of 14
or 15 years, and the most vigorous not longer
than 18. Stallions, when they have been taken

care

NATURAL HISTORY. 139

care of, may engender till they are 20 years
old, or upwards. The same remark has
been made of these animals as of men, viz.
that those who have begun too early are
soonest incapacitated ; for large horses, which
sooner arrive at their growth than delicate
ones, are frequently incapable before they are
fifteen.

The duration of the life of horses, like that
of eyery other species of animals, is propor-
tioned to the time of their growth. Man, who
is above 14 years irt growings lives six or seven
times as long, to 90 or 100. The horse, who
attains his whole growth in four years, lives
six or seven times as long, that is, to 25 or 30.
There are so few exceptions to this rule that
we cannot draw any precedents from them;
and as robust horses are at their entire growth
in less time than delicate ones, they also live
less time, seldom exceeding 15 years.

It may be easily seen, that in horses, and
most other quadrupeds, thegrowth of thehinder
parts is at first greater than those of the anterior,
whilst in man the inferior parts grow less at
first than the superior; for in a child the thighs
and legs are in proportion to the body, much
less than those of an adult; on the contrary,

T 2 the

140 buffon's

the hind legs of a foal are so long that they can
touch its head, which they cannot do when
full grown. This difference proceeds less from
the inequality of the whole growth of the
anterior and posterior parts, than from the in-
equality of the fore and hind feet, which is
constantly the case through all Nature, and is
most sensible in quadrupeds. In man the feet
are larger than the hands, and are also sooner
formed ; and in the horse the foot forms the
greatest part of the hind leg, being composed
of bones, corresponding to the tarsus, meta-
tarsus, &c. It is not, therefore, astonishing
that this foot should be sooner extended than
the fore legs, the inferior part of which re-
sembles the hands, being composed of the bones
of the carpus, metacarpus, &c. When a colt is
just foaled this difference is readily remarked ;
the fore legs compared with the hind ones
being much shorter in proportion than they are
in the sequel; besides, the thickness which the
body acquires, though independent of the pro-
portions of the growth in length, occasions
more distance between the hind legs and the
head, and consequently contributes to hinder
the horse from reaching it when arrived at his
full growth.

In

NATURAL HISTORY* 141

In all animals each species differs according
to the difference of climate, and the general
result of this variety forms and constitutes the
different races. Of these we can only particu-
larize the most remarkable, which differ great-
ly from each other, passing the intermediate
shades, which here, as in every thing else, are
infinite. We have even augmented the num-
ber and confusion, by favouring the mixture of
these breeds ; and we may be said to have
almost inverted Nature by bringing into these
climates the horses of Africa or Asia, and have
so much raised the primitive race of France,
by introducing horses of all countries, that they
are not now to be known, there only remain-
ing some slight traces, produced by the actual
influence of the climate. These traces would
be much stronger, and the differences would be
much greater, if the race of each climate were
preserved without mixture; the small differences
would be less shaded, and fewer in number;
but there would be a certain number of great
varieties, that all mankind might easily distin-
guish ; instead of which, custom, and even a
long experience, are at present necessary to
know the horses of different countries. On
this subject we have only the knowledge drawn
from the accounts of different travellers, and

the

142 buffon's

the ablest riding-masters, such as Newcastle,
Garsault, Guerinere, &c. and from some re-
marks that Pignerolles, Master of Horse to
the King of France, and President of the Aca-
demy of Angers, has communicated.

The Arabian horses are the handsomest
known in Europe, they are larger and more
plump than those of Barbary, and equally
well shaped, but as they are not often brought
into France, few observations have been made
on their perfections or defects.

The horses of Barbary are more common 3
they have a long fine neck, not too much
covered with hair, and well divided from the
withers; the head is small and beautiful; the
ears handsome and well-placed ; the back short
and straight; the flanks and sides round with-
out too much belly ; the haunches thin, the
crupper generally long, and the tail placed
rather high; the thighs well formed, and sel-
dom flat ; the legs handsome, well made, and
almost without hair ; the tendon large, the foot
well made, but frequently the pastern long;
they are of all colours, but most commonly
grey. In their paces, they are always very
negligent, and must be often reminded : they
are swift and strong, very light, and well
adapted for hunting. These horses seem the

most

NATURAL HISTORY. 143

most proper to breed from ; and leave it only
to be wished they were of larger stature, sel-
dom exceeding four feet eight inches high. It
is confirmed by experience, that in France,
England, &c. they beget foals larger than
themselves. Among the Barbary horses, those
of the Kingdom of Morocco are the best;
next, those of the mountains. The horses of
Mauritania, are of an inferior quality, as well
as those of Turkey, Persia, and Armenia.
All the horses of warm countries have the hair
shorter and smoother than others. The Turk-
ish horses are not so well proportioned as those
of Barbary ; they have commonly the neck
slender, the body long, and the legs too thin.
They will, however, travel a great way, and
are long winded; this will not appear surpris-
ing if we consider, that in warm countries the
bones of animals are harder than in cold cli-
mates and it is for this reason that, though
they have smaller shank bones, their legs arc
stronger.

The Spanish horses which hold the second
rank after those of Baibary,havea long, thick,
and hairy neck; the head rather large, the ears
long, but well placed ; the eyes full of fire,
and have a noble stately air; the shoulders
arc thick, and the breast large; the loins fre-
quently

144 buffon's

quently rather low, (he sides round, and often
too much belly; the crupper is usually round
and large, though some have it rather long ;
(lie legs thin, free from air ; the pastern is
sometimes long like those of Barbary; the
foot rather lengthened like that of a mule, and
frequently the heels too high. Spanish horses
of the best breed are plump, well-coated, and
low of stature. They use much motion in their
carriage, and have great suppleness, spirit, and
pride. Their hair is usually black, or of a dark
chesnut colour, though there are some of all
colours, and it is but seldom that they have
white legs or noses. The Spaniards have an
aversion to these marks, and never breed from
horses that have them, ch using onlya starin the
forehead ; they however prefer those which have
not a single spot, as much as the French dothose
with particular marks. But these prejudices
are perhaps equally ill-founded, since there are
exceeding good horses with all kinds of mark*,
or entirely of one colour. These small differ-
ences in the coats of horses do not, in any
manner, depend on their qualities, or their in-
terior constitution, but originate from external
causes, and even those so superficial, that by
a slight scratch on the skin a white spot is
produced. Spanish horses are all marked in

the

NATUHAL HISTORY. 1 1 j

the thigh wlih (he mark of the stud where they
were bred. They are commonly of a small
stature, though there are some four feet nine or
ten inches in height. Those of Upper Anda-
lusia are reckoned to be the best, though they
are apt to have the head too long; but this de-
fect is excused in favour of their excellent
qualities : they . are courageous, obedient,
graceful, spirited, and more supple than those
of Barbary, for which talents they are prefer-
red to all other horses in the world, for war,
for shew, and for the menage.

The handsomest English horses have in their
conformation great resemblance to those of
Arabia and Barbary, from which in fact they
originated : they have, notwithstanding, the
head larger, but well made, the ears longer,
but well placed* By the ears alone an English
horse may be known from a Barbary ; but the
great difference is in their stature, for English
horses are much larger and plumper ; they are
frequently live feet high; are of all colours,
and have all kinds of marks ; they are gene-
rally strong, vigorous, bold, capable of great
fatigue, excellent for hunting and coursing;
but they want grace and suppleness in their
shoulders. The race horses of this country
arc exceedingly swift, as indeed aijc the saddle
vol. v. " U horses

H6 buffon's

torses in general ; of which I cannot give a
stronger proof than by giving an extract of a
letter I received from a British nobleman,
(Earl of Morton) dated London, February 18,
1748, which runs in these words : " Mr.
Thornhill, a post-master of Stilton, wagered
that he would ride three times the distance
from Stilton to London, that is 215 English
miles, within 15 hours. In undertaking the
performance of which, he set out from Stilton
in the morning of the 29th of April, 1745,
and arrived in London in three hours and fifty-
one minutes, having taken a relay of eight
different horses on the road ; he immediately
set out again from London, and got back to
Stilton in three hours and fifty-two minutes,
having changed horses but six times ; for the
third space he set off again, and with seven of
the same horses he completed it in three hours
and forty-nine minues, going over the whole
space of 215 miles in eleven hours and thirty-
two minutes ; an example of swiftness that
possibly is not to be paralleled in ancient his-
tory."

The horses of Italy were formerly much
handsomer than they are at present, because the
breed for some time has been neglected ; not-
withstanding the Neapolitan horses are still

hand-

NATURAL HI9T0RY. 147

handsome, especially for carriages and draught
horses ; but in general they have large heads
and thick necks; they are untraceable, and
consequently not easily managed; these de-
frets are compensated by their noble form,
their stateliness, and the gracefulness of their
motion.

The Danish horses are so superior in make
and beauty, that they are preferred to all
others for carriages; some of them are perfectly
moulded, but their number is small ; for the
conformation of these horses is seldom regular,
most of them have thick necks, large shoul-
ders, their loins long and low, and the but-
tocks too narrow for the thickness of the fore
parts ; but they are all graceful in their mo-
tions, and in general very good for war, and
for state; they are of all colours, and some are
spotted like tygers which are found no where
but in Denmark.

Germany produces very handsome horses,
but they are generally heavy, and short-breath-
ed, though chiefly bred from Turkish and
Barbary, Spanish and falian horses; for (his
reason they are not swift enough for coursing
or hunting, whilst the Hungarian and Tran-
silvanian horses are, on the co trary, light
and good coursers. The Hungarians *plit

U 2 their

148 buffon's

their nostrils, with a view, they say, of giving
them more breath, and also to hinder their
neighing in battle. I have never had it in my
power to be convinced of this fact, that horses
who have their nostrils slit cannot neigh, but
it appears to me that their neighing must be
weaker. It is remarked, that the Hungarian,
Croatian, and Polish horses have the mark in
their mouths during life.

The horses of Holland are very good for
coach-horses : the best come from the province
of Friesland : there are also some very good
ones in the provinces of Bergues and Juliers.
The Flemish horses are greatly inferior to the
Dutch : they have almost all large heads, flat
feet, and are subject to humours ; and these
two last defects are essential ones in coach-
horses.

In France there are horses of all kinds, but
very few handsome ones. The best saddle-
horses come from the Limosin, which resem-
ble much those of Barbary, and like them* are
excellent for hunting; but they are slow in
their growth, require great care while young,
and must not be used till they are eight years
old. There are also some excellent foals in
Auvergne, Poitou, and in Moroant in Bur-
gundy; but next to the Limosin, Normandy

furnishes

NATURAL HISTORY. 149

furnishes the finest horses; they are not so
good for hunting, but are better for war: 1h?y
have thicker coats, and sooner attain their full
growth. There are many good coach horses
brought from Lower Normandy, which ^re
lighter than tho e of Holland. Francne-
Compte, and the country round Boulogne,
furnish very good draught-horses, I.i gene-
ral, the French horses have their sbouklera
too thick, which in the Barbary horses are
generally too narrow.

Having described those horses which are
best known to us, we shall now mention what
travellers report of foreign horses with which
we are unacquainted. There are good horses in
islands of the Archipelago: those ot the island
of Crete were in great reputation among the
ancients for their agility and swiftness; they
are at present bu* little used even in that coun-
try, from its being almost every where un«
equal, and very mountainous. The best horsei
in these islands, z.m\ even in Barbary, are of
the Arabian breed The native horses of the
kingdom of Morocco are much smaller than
those of Arabia, but very light and vigorous,
Shaw says, that the breed of Egypt and Tiugi-
tania are preferable to all those of the neigh-
bouring countries; and yet a century ago there

were

150 btjffon's

were good horses all over Barbary, The ex-
cellence of these Bavbary horses consists in
their never stumbling, and in their standing
still whilst the rider dismounts or lets fall his
bridle. They walk fast and gallop with ra-
pidity, but they are never sufFered to trot or
amble ; the inhabitants of the country looking
upon those paces as rude and ignoble. lie
adds, that the horses of Egypt are superior to
all others for their height and beauty; but
these Egyptian horses, as well as most of those
of Barbary, sprung from Arabian horses,
which are, without contradiction) the most
beautiful horses in the world.

According to Marmol, or rather Leon, the
African, (for Marmol has copied him almost
word for word) the Arabian horses are de*
scended from the wild horses of the desarts of
Arabia, of which, in ancient times, large studs
were formed, which have multiplied so much
that all Asia and Africa are full of them; they
are so swift as to outstrip the very ostrich.
The Arabians of ihe desart, and the people of
Lybia, breed a great number of these horses
for hunting, but neither use them in travelling
nor in their wars. They send them to pasture
whilst there is any grass, and when that fails
they feed them with dates and camels' milk,

which

NATURAL HISTORY. 151

which makes them nervous, light, and lean.
They lay snares for the wild horses, and eat
the flesh of the young ones, which they afiirrn
is very delicate. These wild horses are small,
and are commonly ash-colourod, though there
are also some white ones, and the mane and the
hair of the tail is short and frizzled. Other
travellers have given curious accounts of the
Arabian horses, of which we will only mention
the principal circumstances.

Let an Arabian be ever so poor he has
hrses ; they usually ride upon the mares, ex-
perience having taught them that they bear
fatigue, hunger, and thirst, better than horses;
they are also less vicious, more gentle, and will
remain left to themselves, in great numbers,
for dnys together, without doing the least harm
to each other. The Turks, on the contrary,
do not like mares, and the Arabians sell them
the horses which they do not keep for stallions.
The Arabs have long preserved with great care
the breed of their horses ; they know their ge-
nerations, alliances, and all their genealogies*.

They

* Of this we have a striking- instance in Pennant* Zoology
which contains the following attested paper:

(Taken before Abdorraman, Cadi of Acca )
" The occasion of this present writing or instrument is
hat at Acca, in the house of B^di, legal established judge,

appeared

152 buffon's

They distinguish J heir breeds into three classes 5
the first, which are ot% pure and ancient race or*
both sides, they call nobles ; the second are of
ancient race, b;it have been misalhed; and the
third kind are their common horses. The lat-
ter

appeared in Court Thomas Usgate, the English Consul, and
with him Sheikhs Morad Eben al Hajj Abdullah, Sheikh of
the country of Safad: and the said Consul desired, from the
aforesaid Sheikhs, proof of the race of the grey horse which
he bought of him, and he affirmed to be Monaki Shaduhi f .
but he was not satisfied with this, but desired the testimony
of the Arabs, who bred the horse, and knew how he came to
Sheikhs Morad; whereupon there appeared certain Arabs
of repute, whose names are undermentioned, who testified
and declared that the grey horse which the Consul formerly
bought of Sheikh Morad is Monaki Shaduhi of the pure
race of horses, purer than milk, and that the beginning of
the affair was, that the Sheikh Saleh, Sheikh of Alsabal
bought him of the Arabs, of the tribe of al Mahommedat,
and Sheikh Saleh sold him to Sheikh Morad Ebn al Hajj Ab-
dollah, Sheikh of Safad, and Sheikh Morad sold him to the
Consul aforesaid ; when these matters appeared to us, and
the contencs were known, the said gentleman desired a cer-
tificate thereof, and testimony of the witnesses, whereupon
we wrote him this certificate for him to keep as a proof
thereof. Dated Friday 28 of the latter Rabi, in the year 1 135.

WITNESSES.

Sheikh Jumat al Falibanof the Arabs of al Makommadat.

Ali EbnTaleb al Kaabi.

Ibrahim, his brother.

Mohammed al Adhra Sheikh Alfarifat.

Kaamis al Kaabi.

f The term for their Ncble raa

NATURAL HISTORY. 153

ter are sold at a low price; but those of the
first class, and even of the second, among
which some are as good as those of the first,
are extremely dear. They never suffer the
mares of the noble class to be covered ex-
cept by stallions of the same quality. They
are acquainted, from long experience, with
the whole race of their own horses, and evert
with those of their neighbours, and know
their names, surnames, colours, marks, Sec.
When they have no noble stallions of their own
they borrow one of a neighbour to cover their
mares, which is done in the presence of wit-
nesses who give an attestation signed and seal-
ed before the secretary of the Emir, or some
other public person, in which the names of the
mare and horse are written down, and their
whole generation set forth. When the mare
has foaled witnesses are again called, and ano-
ther attestation is drawn up, which contains a
description of the foal, with the day of its birth.
These certificates enhance the value of their
horses and are given to those who buy them.
The price of a mare of the first class is from
one to three hundred pounds sterling. As the
Arabs have only tents for their houses, those
tents serve them also for stables : the mare and
her foal, husband, wife, and children, lie pro-
vol. V. X miscnouslv

^54 buffon's

miscuously together ; the children will lie on
the body and neck of the mare and foal with*
out being incommoded or receiving the least
injury; nay, the animals seem afraid to move
for fear of hurting them. These mares are so
accustomed to live in this familiarity that they
will suffer any kind of play. The Arabs never
beat their mares, but treat them kindly, talk
and reason with them ; they take great care of
them, always letting them walk, and never use
the spur without the greatest necessity ; as soon,
therefore, as they feel their rider's heel they set
out with incredible swiftness, and leap hedges
and ditches with as much agility as so many
does. If their riders happen to fall, they are
so well trained that they will stop short even
in the mostrapid gallop. Ail Arabian horses are
of a middling size, very easy in their paces, and
rather thin than fat. They are dressed morn-
ing and evening regularly with so much care
that not the smallest spot is left on their skins ;
their legs, mane and tail arc washed ; the latter
is let to grow long, and seldom combed, to
avoid breaking the hairs. They have nothing
given them to eat all day, and seldom are
allowed to drink above two or three times.
At sunset a bag is fastened round their heads,
containing about half a bushel of very clean

barley ,

NATURAL HISTORY. 155

barley, which is not taken from them till the
next morning when all is eat up. In the month
of March, when the grass is tolerably high^
they are turned out to pasture. At this time the
mares are covered, and immediately after cold
water is thrown upon them. As soon as the
spring is past they are taken again from pasture,
and have neither grass nor hay, and seldom
straw, all the rest of the year, barley being
their only food. They cut the manes of their
foals at a year or eighteen months old, in order
to make it grow thick and long. They mount
them at two years old, or two years and a half
at furthest, and till this age they put neither
saddle nor bridle on them. Every day, from
morning till night, all the Arabian horses stand
saddled at the doors of the tents.
The breed of these horses is dispersed through-
out Barbary ; the chiefs among the Moors, and
even among the Negroes al^ng the rivers
Gambia and Senegal, have them of uncommon
beauty. Instead of barley, or oats, they give
them maize reduced to flour, which they mix
with milk, when they are inclined to fatten
them ; and in this hot climate they seldom let
them drink. The Arabian horses are also
spread over Egypt, Turkey, and perhaps Per*
sia, where there were formerly considerable
X 2 studs o

156 duffon's

studs. Mark Paul mentions one in which were
10,000 white marcs ; and he says, that in the
pro inceof Balascia there was a great number
of large nimble horses, with their hoofs so
bard that it was unnecessary to shoe them.

The horses of the Levant, as well as those
of Persia and Arabia, have the frog of the foot
very hard; they shoe them notwithstanding,
but with shoes so light and thin that nails may
bedriven through any part of them. J n Turkey,
Persia and Arabia, the custom of taking care
and feeding them is the same. Their litter
is made of their own dung, which is first dried
in the sun, to take off the ill smell, then redu-
ced into powder, and a bed made with it in the
stable or tent, four or five inches thick. This
litter lasts a long time, for when soiled, it is
dried in the sun a second time, and again loses
its disagreeable odour.

In Turkey there are horses of Arabia, Tar-
tary, and Hungary, beside the native horses of
the country, which are very handsome and
elegant, have a great deal of fire, swiftness and
symmetry, but are soon fatigued. Their skins
are so tender that they cannot bear the curry-
comb, so that they are obliged to use a brush,
and to wash them with water. These horses,
although handsome, are much inferior to those

of

NATURAL HISTORY. 157

of Arabia, and even tbose of Persia, which are,
next to the Arabians, the most beautiful and
the best horses of the east. The pasture of the
plains of Media, Persepolis, Ardebil, and Der-
bent, is excellent, and by the order of govern-
ment, a prodigious number of horses are raised
there, most of which are very h in Isome, and
almost all excellent. Pietro della Vralle prefers
the common horses of Persia to the most ex-
cellent of thfi kingdom of Naples. They are
commonly of a middling size; some are very
small, but equal in goodness and strength,
■while there are others bigger than the saddle-
horses of England. They have small heads
and thin necks ; their ears are handsome and
well placed ; slim legs, handsome cruppers,
^and hard hoofs; tliey are docile, lively, light,
bold, courageous, and capable of bearing great
hardships. They run very swift, without ever
stumbling. They are robust, and easily fed, being
kept on barley mixed with straw chopped fine,
and are only put to grass for about six weeks
in the spring. Their tails are long, and the
Persians never make geldings. They use cover-
ings to defend their horses from the injuries of
the air, and are particularly attentive in their
care of them : they manage them with a bridle
only, and without employing spurs. Numbers

of

158 buffon's

of them are transported into Turkey, but more
to the Indies. Those travellers who are so
lavish in their praises of the Persian horses
agree in allowing that the Arabians are supe-
rior for their agility, courage, strength, and
beauty; and that they are more valued, even
in Persia, than the horses of that country.

The horses bred in the country are not good.
Those used by the grandees of the country arc
imported from Persia and Arabia. They give
them a little bay in the day, and in the evening
pease boiled with butter and sugar, instead of
oats or barley; this nourishment strengthens
and gives them spirits ; without it they would
soon decay, the climate being contrary to their
nature. The native horses of India are very
small ; some of them are so little that, Ta-
vcrnier says, the young Prince of the Moguls,
who was about eight years of age, rode on a
handsome little horse, whose height did not
exceed that of a large greyhound. It should
seem that extreme hot climates are contrary
to the nature of horses. Those of the Gold
Coast, Juida, Guinea, &c. are also very bad.
They carry their heads and necks very low ;
their walk is so tottering, that one would ima-
gine they were always ready to fall ; they would
never stir if they were not to be continually

beat,

KATURAL HISTORY. 139

beat, and the greatest part of them are so low
that the feet of the riders almost touch the
ground ; they are most untractable creatures,
and only fit to be eaten by the Negroes, who
arc as fond of their flesh as they are of that
of dogs. This taste for horse-flesh is common
to the Negroes, Arabians, Tartars, and Chi-
nese. The Chinese horses are no better than
those of India, they are weak, spiritless, ill-
made, and very small ; those of Corea are not
more than three feet in height. In China
almost all the horses are made geldings; and
they are so timid that they cannot be made use
of in war ; so that it may with propriety be
said that the Tartarian horses conquered China.
Those horses are very fit for war, though com-
monly but of a moderate size, they are strong,
vigorous, spirited, agile, and very swift. Their
hoofs are hard, but the bottom is too narrow;
their heads are small, their necks long and con-
fined, and their legs are too long ; Vi ilh all these
defects they may be considered as good horses,
for they are not easily tired, and gallop ex-
tremely fast. The Tartars live with their
horses in the same manner as the Arabians.
When about seven or eight months old they
are mounted by children, who make them
walk or gallop a little way by turns. They

thus

160 duf fcn's

thus break tnem hy degrees, and oblige then*
to undergo long fast ngs ; but they never
mount them for travelling or hunting till they
are six or seven years old, and then they make
them support incredible fatigue, such as tra-
velling two or three days together without stop-
ping ; passing four or five days without any
other food than a handful of grass every eight
hours, and also to go twenty-four without
drinking, &c. These horses whjch are so ro-
bust in their own country become enfeebled
and useless, when transported to China or the
Indies ; but they succeed better in Persia and
Turkey. The little Tartars have a breed of
small horses which they value so much, that
they are not allowed to be sold to foreigners.
These horses have all the good and bad qua-
lities of those of Great T rtary, which shews
how much the same manners and education
give the same disposition to these animals.
There are also in Circassia, and in Mi grelia,
many horses which are even handsomer than
those of Tartary. . There are also some fine
horses in the Ukraine, Wallachia, Poland, and
Sweden ; but we have no particular account
of their qualities or defects.

If we com ult the ancients on the nature and
qualities of the horses of different countries,

we

NATURAL HISTORY. 161

we shall find, that the horses of Greece,
especially those of Thessaly and Epirus, were
held in great esteem, and were very useful ia
war ; that those of Achaia were the Largest
then known ; that the handsomest came fro; a
Egypt, where there was a great number, a id
where Solo non sent to buy them at a gre.t
price; that in Ethiopia the horses did not
thrive, on account of the great heat of the cli-
mate; that Arabia and Africa produced the
finest horses, but above all die lightest and best
calculated for the chace ; that tho^e of Italy
were extremely good ; that in Su ily,CMppudo-
cia, Syria, Armenia, Medea, and Persi«, there
were excellent horses, remarkable for their
swiftness and agility ; that those of Sari inia
and Corsica were small, but lively and cou-
rageous; tint those of Spain resembled 'hose
ofParthia, and were excellent for war; that
there were in Transylvania and in Walachia
swift horses with small heads, large manes
hanging down to the ground, and bushy tads;
that the Danish horses were well made and
good leapers ; that those of Scandinavia were
small, but well made and very agde; tha* he
Flanders horses wer<° st ron % ; that the Gauls
furnished the Romans wi h goo hors »s for the
saddle, and tocarry burthens : that the German
vol. v. Y horses

162 buffon's

horses were ill-made, and so vicious, that no
use was made of them ; that the Swiss had
great numbers fit for war; that the horses of
Hungary were also very good ; and lastly, that
the Indian horses were small and weak.

From the above facts it results, that the
Arabian horses have ever been, and are still,
the first horses in the world, both for beauty
and goodness; that it is from them, irarae*
diately, or by the means of Barbs, that the
finest horses in Europe, Africa, and Asia are
bred, that Arabia is perhaps not only the
original climate for horses, but the best suited
to their natures, because, instead of mixing
the breed by foreign horses, the Arabs take
care to preserve their own purity ; that if the
climate is not of itself ihe best for horses, the
natives have produced the same effects, by the
care they have taken, from time immemorial, to
ennoble their breed by putting together only the
most beautiful individuals, and of the first
quality ; and that by this attention, pursued
forages, they have improved the species beyond
what nature alone would have done in the most
favourable climate. We may also conclude
that warm climates rather than cold, but above
all, dry countries agree best with the nature
of horses ; that in general, small arc better

than

NATURAL HISTORY. 163

than large horses ; that care is as necessary for
them as food ; that familiarity and caresses will
do more with them than force and chastise-
ment ; that the horses of warm countries have
their bones, hoofs, and muscles, more firm
than those of onr climates; that although heat
agrees better than cold with these animals,
yet excessive heat does not agree with them ;
and lastly, that their habit and disposition
depend almost entirely on the climate^ food;
care, and education.

In Persia, Arabia, and many other parts of
the east, it is not customary to geld horses5
although so general a practice in Europe and
China. This operation deprives them of
much of their strength, courage, and fire, but
renders them gentle, quiet, and docile. The
only seasons for performing this operation are
spring or autumn> great heat and cold being
equally hurtful. With respect to age, they
have different customs in different countries ; in
some parts of France they geld horses at twelve
or fifteen months old; but the general and best
custom is, not to geld them till two or three
years, because, in not doing it till that age, they
preserve more of their masculine qualities.
Pliny says, that they never lose the milk-teeth if
they are made geldings before they have shed

Y 2 them.

lOi BtfrroN's

them. But this is not a fact ; and it is pro-
bable that the ancients grounded this suppo-
sition merely on the analogy it bears to the
falling of the horns of thv stag, goat, &c.
which, Ml reality, never fall off after castra-
tion. The gelding it is true, can never en-
gender, but we have sometimes examples of
their bring able to copulate.

Horses of all colours shed their coats, like
most animals covered with hair, once a year,
usually in the spring, though sometimes in-
autumn ; as they are then weaker than at other
times, they should have more care, and be more
plentifully fed. There are also horses which
shed their hoofs ; this usually happens in humid
marshy countries, such as Holland.

Geldings and mares neigh less frequently
than horses. Their voices are not so strongs
but much more shrill. In all horses we may
distinguish five kinds of eighing, relative to
different passions ; in the neigh of joy the voice
begins and ends with sharp tones ; the horse
ticks up at the same time, but without at'empt-
ing to strike. In the neigh of desire, whether
of love or attachment, the horse does not kick,
ainJ he voice is. dragged to a great length, and
ends u ith a deep sound. The neigh of anger,
during which the horse kicks violently with

his

NATURAL HISTORY. I6j

his foot, is short and sharp; that of fear,
during which he kicks also, is scarcely longer
than that of anger, the voice is hoarse and
grave, and seems as if it came from the nostrils
only. This neigh is something like the roar-
ing of a lion. That of pain is more like
groaning, or breathing with op' ression, than
of neighing; it is in a grave tone of voice, and
follows the alternatives of respiration. It has
also been remarked, that horses which neigh
frequently from joy or desire, are the best and
most generous. Horses, in general, have the
voice stronger than mares and geldings; from
the birth the male has the voice stronger than
the female. At two years, or two years and a
half, which is the age of puberty, the voice of
males and females, as in mankind, and other
animals, becomes much more strong and deep,
When the horse is impassio ed with love he
shews his teeth , and seems to laugh; he shews
them also when he is angry, and would bite.
He sometimes puts out his tongue to lick, but
less frequently tha i the ox, who, notwith-
standing, is less sensible to caresses. The
horse remembers ill treatment much longer*
and is sooner dispirited, than the ox. His na-
tural spirit and courage induce him to make
every effort, but when he finds more is ex-
pected

16G BUFFOxN ''&

pected from him than he is able to perform, lie?
grows angry, and will not endeavour at all;
instead of which, the ox, who is slow and
idle, seldom exerts his utmost, and is not there-
fore easily dejected.

The horse sleeps much less than man, for
when he is in health he does not rest more
than two or three hours together; he then
gets up to eat. When he has been much fa-
tigued he lies down a second time, after having
eat ; but in the whole he does not sleep more
than three or four hours in the twenty-four.
There are even some horses who never lie
down, but sleep standing, which is sometimes
the case even with those who do lie down. It
has also been remarked, that geldings sleep
oftener and longer than horses.

Quadrupeds do not all drink in the same
manner, though they are all equally obliged to
seek with the head for the liquor, which they
cannot get any other uay, except the monkey,
macaw, and some others, that have hands, and
consequently drink like men, when a vessel is
given to them which they can hold ; for they
carry it to their mouths, inclining the head,
throwing down the liquor, and swallowing it
by the simple motion of deglutition. Man
usually drinks in the same manner, because it is

most

NATURAL HISTORY. 167

most convenient ; but he can drink many other
ways by contracting the lips to draw in the
liquor, or dipping the note and mouth deep
enough into it for the tongue to be environed
therewith, and then perform the motions ne-
cessary for swallowing ; he can also takein a
fluid by the lips alone ; and lastly though with
more difficulty, stretch out the tongue, and,
forming a kind of little cup, carry a small
quantity of water into the mouth. Most qua-
drupeds could also drink in several different
ways, but, like men, they chuse that which
is most convenient. The dog, whose mouth
is very large, and the tongue long and thin,
drinks by lapping, or licking, forming with the
tongue a kind of cup or scoop, which fills each
time with a tolerable quantity of liquor, and so
satisfies his thirst ; and this mode he prefers to
that of wetting the nose. The horse, on the
contrary, whose mouth is small, and whose
tongue is too short and thick to form a scoop,
and who always drinks with more avidity than
he eats, dips the mouth and nose quickly and
deeply into the water, which he swallows
largely by the simple moiion of deglutition ;
but this forces him to drink without fechimr
his breah, whereas the dog breathes at his
ease while he is drinking. Horses, therefore,

should

168 bi-ffon's

should be suffered totakeseveral draughts, espe-
cially after running; when respiration is short
and quick, they should not be suffered to drink
the water too cold, because that, independent
of the cholic, which cold water frequently oc-
casions, it sometimes brings on rheums, and
often lays the founda ion of a disorder called the
glanders, the most formidable of all diseases to
which this species of animals are subject ; for
it is known, that the seat of the glanders is in
the pituitary membrane, and that it is conse-
quently a real cold, which causes an inflamma-
tion in this membrane. Traveller-, who give
us a detail of the maladies of horses in warm
climates, as in Arabia, Persia, and Barbary.do
not say that the glanders are so frequent there
as in cold cliraa es, and it is for this reason the
conjecture arises, that this malady is occa*
sioned by the coldness of the water, because
the animals are obliged to keep the nose and
nostrils a considerable time under water,which
would be prevented by never giving it to them
cold, and by always wiping the nostrils after
they have drank. Asses, who fear the cold
more than horses, and who resemble them so
strongly in (he interior structure, are not so
subject to the glanders, which may possibly be
owing to their drinking in a different manner

from

NATURAL HISTORY. 169

from horses ; for instead of dipping in the
mouth and nose deeply into the water, they
scarcely touch it with their lips.

I shall not speak of the other diseases of
horses, it would spin out Natural History too
much to join to the history of an animal that
of its disorders ; nevertheless, I cannot leave
the history of the horse without regretting that
the health of this useful animal should have
been hitherto abandoned to the care, and too
frequently absurd practice, of ignorant people.
The branch of physic, which the ancients
called Veterinaria Medicina, is at present
scarcely known but by name. I am persuaded,
that if some physician would turn his views
this way, and make this study his principal
object, he would soon find it answer his pur-
pose, both with respect to reputation and profit :
instead of degrading himself he would render
his name illustrious, and this branch of physic
would not be so conjectural and difficult as the
other. The diet, manners, and influence of
sentiment, and all other causes of disorders,
being more simple in animals than in man, the
diseases must be less complicated, and conse-
quently more easily investigated, and treated
With success, without mentioning the advan-
tages that would be derived from the entire
Yol. v. Z liberty

170 BUFFO x's

liberty of making experiments, trying new re-
medies, and to be able to arrive, without fear
or reproach, to a great extent of knowledge of
this kind, from which, by analogy, inferences
might be drawn useful to the art of curing
mankind.

SUPPLEMENT.

4C

AFRICA, it has already been observed,
appears to be the original climate of the horse,
and from the country being so dry and warm,
admits many customs that cannot be practised
in the northern regions, at least with any ef-
fect. In different countries they not only re-
ceive different food, but are also differently
managed. In Arabia and Barbary they scarce-
ly ever are allowed herbage or grain, but are
principally kept upon dates and camel's milk,
which is given them morning and evening ;
they are seldom made use of till the seventh

year,

NATURAL HISTORY. 171;

year, till when they suck the camels whom,
they constantly follow.

In Persia they are always kept in the open
air, being sometimes covered with clothes to
preserve them from the inclemency of the
weather. The whole troop are tied to a rope,
which is fastened at each end to iron rods fixed
in the ground; they have also ropes tied to
their hind legs, and fastened to pegs in their
front, this latter method is to prevent them
from doing any injury to each other ; but not-
withstanding both fastenings, they stand per-
fectly at ease, and have sufficient room to lie
down. The Persians make use of nothing but
sand or dry dust for litter, but the Arabians and
Moguls litter their horses with their own dung
dried to a powder. It is the custom in these
countries not to let the horses eat from the.
ground, or racks, but to constantly put their
barley, and cut straw into bags, which are tied
round their necks. In spring they are fed with
grass and green barley, but care is taken that
they should not have too much, upon a suppo-
sition they would soon become fat and useless.
They never use bridles or stirrups, but easily,
manage their horses with a single snaffle; whips
and spurs are also seldom employed, and one
or two strokes of the former is sufficient at all
Z 2 times

172 buffon's

times to answer every purpose. The horses in
Persia are very tall, strong, and sometimes
heavy, and from being so plenty, the best of
them sell at a low price. These people have
a practice of tying a rope to the fore and hind
foot on the same side, which teaches them to
adopt an easy pace; they also slit their nostrils,
for the purpose, they say, of making them re-
spire with more ease.

Horses, however, succeed as well in cold as
warm countries, if they are not damp. Den-
mark, Sweden, and Poland, it is well known,
produce tine and beautiful horses ; those in
Iceland, where the cold is excessive, and where
they frequently have nothing but dried fish to
subsist upon, though small, are strong and
vigorous. In this island the shepherds tend
their flocks on horseback, for they are both
jyienty,and their keep is no; attended with any
expence. When not wanted they are turned
loose into the mountains where they soon be-
come wild ; if the owners want them, they
are hunted in troops, and caught with ropes,
which is thought necessary when the mares have
foaled, the owners of which put a mark upon
the foals, and then turn Ihem into the moun-
tains again for the space of three year^, and
it is generally remarked that those left in this

manner,

NATURAL HISTORY. 173

manner, are more fleet and better than those
brought up at home.

The Norwegian horses possess a peculiarity
well adapted to the country, for they travel
through the roughest parts of it, and descend
the steepest declivities, by putting their hind
feet under th<ir bellies with perfect safety.
They are small, opneralty yellow, with a black
stripe along their backs. They are frequently
assaulted by the bear, and if a stallion happens
to be among the mares and foals, when this
destructive animal appears, he advances to
meet him, and has the sagacity to attack with
his fore feet, in which case he almost always is
conqueror, but if he ever trusts to his hind
legs he is as constantly subdued, the bear in
that ca-e leaping upon his back, which he
never quits until he has worried him to death.

The Nordland horses are also small, and it is
a pretty general remark, that the nearer we
approach the pole the more diminutive are these
animals. Tho-e of the West Nordland are
short and thick ; the upper part of their legs is
long, and the under short, and without hair;
they are generally very temperate, sure-footed,
and climb the highest mountains with the great-
est steadiness and perseverance. The pasturage
of this country is so rich that the horses are

always

174: buffon's

always fat and in good condition, which how-
ever, they soon lose if they are taken to Stock-
holm ; and by the same rule if a weakly horse
is carried to the Nordland he soon recovers.

The Japanese horses are small, as are also
those of China, although in both places some
few are of a tolerable size, which are brought
from the mountainous parts of those countries.
Those of Tonquin, according to M. Rhodes,
are strong, of a tolerable size, and \ery easily
managed.

Hordes, as before remarked, there is every
reao n to believe, were unknown in America
on its first discovery, but upon being trans-
ported thither they multiplied in a most sur-
prising manner, especially in Chili, which, as
M. Frezier remarks, is the more surprising,
since the Indians killed many <o eat, and num-
bers through fatigue and from want of proper
care. In the Phillipine Islands also horses
that were taken from Europe increased in an
astonishing manner in a very short time.

Horses are suffered to live wild in the Ukraine,
among <he Cossacks, on the river Don; here
they go in troops of four or five hundred to-
gether, seklom attended will) more than one or
two men on horseback; they have seldom any
shelter when the ground is even covered with

snow*

NATURAL HISTORY. 175

snow, which they scrape away with their fore
feet to get at the pasture ; and it is only in
very hard winters, and then but for a few days,
that they are lodged in the villages. These
troops have a chief among them, whom they
implicitly obey, and singular as it may appear,
he directs their course, makes them proceed or
stop at his pleasure. Fie seems also to have a
regular command, and regulates all their move-
ments when attacked by wolves or robbers:
in this situation heassumesentirely the business
of a commanding officer, and is busily en-
gaged, during the whole time, in traversing
round the troops, and if he perceives any out
of their places he pushes them in with his
shoulder, and actually compels them to resume
their station. Without being arranged by men
they march in perfect order, and pasture in
perfect files or brigades, without ever mixing
or separating, notwithstanding they are at per-
fect liberty, and without the smallest controul.
It is no less singular, that their chief generally
maintains his situation for four or five years,
but he nosooner discovers theleastsymptomsof
inactivity than some one will come out of the
herd and attack him; if he conquers he con-
tinues the command, but if subdued he is
forced 1o fall into the ranks, and the victoc

becomes

176 BUFFO N*S

becomes chief, and is obeyed by the whole
iroop.

The horses in Finland, as soon as the snow
is off the ground, about the month of May,
leave their st lbles, and assemble together in a
particular part of the forests, where they form
themselves into different troops, and afterwards
no one ever separates from his own party, or
intermixes with any other. When thus di-
vided, each troop fixes upon a certain district
for their pasturage, within the bounds of which
they strictly keep, and never encroach even
upon that belonging to another troop, though
adjoining; in this manner they continue to
graze while there remains any pasture, but on
that becoming scarce, lUey all march off to-
gether to another spot, and these marches are
conducted with so much order and regularity
that the owners know exactly where to find
their horses when they have occasion for them ;
in these cases, when fetched, and having done
the service they were waited for, they return
back of themselves, and again join their own
troop. In this manner they remain till about
the month of September, when the approach
of the inclement season induces them to come
home, which they do in troops, and each re-
gularly proceeds to his own stable. At this

time

NATURAL HISTORY/. 177

time they are generally in good case, but the
fatigue they undergo in the winter, together
with the small allowance of provisions, very
soon reduces them. They are small, spirited,
and very docile, and roll upon the snow as fa-
miliarly as other horses do on grass.

In the Island of St. Helena there are wild
Lorses, which, although originally transported
from Europe, are extremely savage and fe-
rocious, and, to avoid being taken, will often
leap from very high precipices into the sea.
Jn the neighbourhood of Nippes there are some
not bigger than asses, but they are strong, bold,
and extremely industrious. The horses in
St. Domingo are of a middle size, and though
many of them are caught with ropes, they sel-
dom become docile, but generally remain rest-
less, and almost unmanageable. In Virginia
there are also horses of domestic origin, yety
from feeding in the woods, are very ferocious,
and hard to be taken, and when caught, they
remain exceedingly stubborn.

In some parts of Tartary they make use of
large birds of prey to hunt their wild horses;
they are taught to seize him by the neck or
head, upon which he sets off with the greatest
speed, and continues running until he is quite
exhausted, without being able to extricate
vol. v. A a himself

ITS buffon's

himself from his tormentor. The wild horses
of the Mongous, and Kakas Tartars, are so>
swift that they of en escape the arrows of the
most expert hunters ; they generally keep in
large numbers together, and if tame ones
come near they will surround them, unless they
instantly take to flight. There are a great
number of wild horses in Congo; they at
times are seen at the Cape of Good Hope, but
the inhabitants preferring those from Persia
they are scarcely ever caught.

In the early part of this work I mentioned,
that from the observations of horse-breeders
it was the general received opinion, that the
male had more influence upon the offspring
than the female ; and I then suggested some
reasons which it rendered tome very doubtful,
but experiments and observations have since
convinced me, that the fact does not only hold
good with respect to horses, but also in the
human race, and in every species of animals,
that the male has infinitely more influence on
the exterior form of the young than the fe*
male, and that he in fa^t is the type o*|the race.
Nor does the remark I have made, that the
females constitute the unity of the species in
the least controvert this position, because that
cannot be extended further than her possessing

th*

NATURAL HISTORY. 179

the greater facility in representing the species,
but tills point is more amply discussed in this
work under the article Mule; from which it
will appear, that notwithstanding the female
may have more influence on the character of
the breed, yet from her it never receives any
improvement, which faculty is solely possessed
by the male.

THE ASS.

IF we consider this animal with attention,
he appears only to be a horse degenerated.
The perfect similitude in conformation of the
brain, lungs, stomach, intestinal conduit, heart,
liver, and other viscera, and the great resem-
blance of the body, le^s, fee*, and the entire
skeleton, supports this opinion. We may
also attribute the slight differences, which are
found between these two aninmls, to the in-
fluence of the climate and food, and to the
fortuitous succession of many generations of
small wild horses, which, gradually desrene-
A a 2 rating

180 buffon's

rating, have at last produced a new aid fixed
species; or, rather a succession of individuals
alike, all vitiated in the same manner, suffi-
ciently differing from a horse, to be looked
upon as another species. What appears to
favour this idea is, that horses vary much more
than asses in their colour ; they have conse-
quently been longer domestic, since all do*
mestic animals vary much more in their colour
than wild ones of the same species. The
greater number of wild horses, of which tra-
vellers speak, are small, and have, like the ass,
grey hair, and the tail naked and frizzled at
the end : there are ,also some wild horses, and
even domestic ones, which have a black stripe
on the back, and other marks, which nearly
resemble both wild and domestic asses.

Again, if we consider the difference of the
temperament, disposition, and manners ; in a
word, the organization of these two animals,
and, above all, the impossibility of mixing the
breed, so as to make one common species, or
feven an intermediate species, which may be re-
newed ; it appears a better founded opinion to
think thai these animals are of a species equally
ancient, and originally as essentially different as
they are at present. The ass differs material-
ly from tiie horse in the smallness of the size,

largeness

NATURAL HI8T0RY. 181

largeness of the head, length of the cars, hard*
nessjof the skin, nakedness of the tail, the form
of the rump, and the dimensions of the neigh-
bouring parts, the voice, the appetite, manner
of drinking, &c. Can we then suppose that
the horse and the ass came originally from
the same stock ? are they of tfce same family,
or not? and have they not always been diffe-
rent animals ?

This question of which philosophers will find
the generality, difficulty, and consequences,
and which we treat of in this article, because
it here offers itself for the first time, appertains
to the production of beings nearest to each
other, and renders it necessary tiiat we should
consider nature under a new point of view.
If from the immense variety of animated beings
which people the universe, we chusean animal,
or even the body of man, to serve as a founda-
tion to our knowledge, and to find out, by
way of comparison, the other organized beings,
we shall find that each possesses an independent
existence, and that all vary, by different grada-
tions, almost to infinity; there exists also, at
the same time, a primitive and general design,
which we may trace very far, and of which
the gradations are much slower than those of
the form, and other apparent relations, for,

without

IS2 bltfon's

without mentioning the organs of digestion,
circulation and generation, which appertain
to all animals, and without which they could
neither subsist nor reproduce, there is even in
the parts which contribute most to the variety
of the exterior form a prodigious resemblance,
which necessarily calls to our minds an original
design, upon which all seem to have been pro-
jected and executed. The body of a horse,
for example, which, by a single glance of the
eye, appears so different from the body of a
man, when it is compared part by part, instead
of surprising by the difference, only astonishes
fry the singular and almost perfect resemblance.
In fact, take the skeleton of a man, bend
downwards the bones of the pelvis, shorten
those of the thighs, legs, and arms, lengthen
those of the feet and hands, join the phalanges,
lengthen the jaws, by shortening the frontal
bone, and extend the spine of the back, this
skeleton would cease to represent the remains
of a human figure, and would be the skeleton
of a horse; for it is easy to suppose, that in
lengthening the spine of the back and jaws we
augment, at the same time, the number of the
vertebres, ribs, and teeth ; and it is only by the
number of those bones, which may be looked
upon as accessory, and, by the prolongation,

the

NATURAL HISTORY. 183

the shortening, or junction, of the others, that
the skeleton of a horse differs from that of the
human body. We see in the description of
the horse these facts too well established to
doubt; but, to follow these relations still fur-
ther, let us consider separately some essential
parts of the structure ; for example, we find
ribs in all quadrupeds, in birds, and in fish ;
and we find the vestiges even in the shell
of the turtle, hei us also consider, that the
foot of a horse, so different in appearance
from the hand of a man, is, notwithstanding
composed of the same bones, arid that we have,
at the extremity of each of our fingers, the
same little bone resembling a horse-shoe,
which terminates the foot of that animaL
From this we may judge if this hidden re-
semblance is not more marvellous than the
apparent differences; if this constant confor-
mity and design followed from man to qua-
drupeds, from quadrupeds to cetaceous ani-
mals, from cetaceous animals to birds, from
birds to reptiles, from reptiles to fish, Sec. in
which theessential parts, as the heart, intestines,
spine, senses, &c. are always found, does not
imply, that, in creating animals the Supreme
Being has followed but one idea, and varied
it j at the same time, in every possible manner.

that

IS4 fcUFFON's

that man may equally admire the magnificence^
execution, and simplicity of the design.

In this point of view, not only the ass and
horse, but man, monkies, quadrupeds, and all
animals, may be looked upon as making but
one family ; but ought we, therefore, to con*
elude, that in this great and numerous family ^
which the Almighty has conceived and created
from nothing, there are smaller families pro-
jected by nature and produced by time ? some
of which are composed only of two individuals,
as the horse and the ass ; others of several in-
dividuals, as the weazle, the pole-cat, the
ferret, &c. and also that in vegetables there are
familiesof ten, twenty, thirty plants, &c. If
these families existed, in fact) they could only
be formed by the mixture* the successive varia-
tion, and the degeneration of the original spe-
cies ; and, if we admit, for once, that there are
families in plants and animals, that the ass is of
the family of the horse, and that he only differs
because he has degenerated ; we may say, with
as much propriety, that the monkey belongs to
the family of man, and he is a man degenerated ;
that man and the monkey had but one com-
mon origin, like the horse and ass; that each
family, as well in animals as in vegetables*
.come from the same origin, and even that all

animals

NATURAL HISTORY. 185

animals are come from one species, which, in
the succession of time, by impr >ving and de-
generating, has produced all (lie races of ani-
mals which now exist.

The naturalists, who have so easily establish-
ed families and vegetables, do not seem to have
considered the whole extent of se conse-
quences, which ,ould reduce the immediate
product of the creation, to any number of in-
dividuals however small; for, if it was once
proved, that animals and vegetables were
really divided into families, and that there was
a single instance of one specie^ having been
produced by the degeneration of another; if it
was true, that the ass was o<:ly a horse de-
generated, there would be no bounds to the
power of nature, and, we might, with equal
reason suppoe, that from one single individual
being, in the course of time, she might have
produced all the organized bodies which are
now spread over the universe.

But it is certain, by revelation, that all crea-
tures have equally parHci, ated in the favours
of creation; that <he two first of each species,
were formed by the hands of the Creator, and
we ought lo believe, that they were then nearly
such as they appear at present in their descend-
ants. Besides, since Nature has been observed
vol.. v. Bb with

186 buffon's

with attention, from the time of Aristotle to the
present, not a single new species has been seen,
notwithstanding the rapid motion that drags on,
or dissipates the parts of matter, notwithstand-
ing the infinite number of combinations which
must have been in the space of twenty centuries,
notwithstanding the fortuitous couplings of
different animals, from which nothing has ever
resulted but vitiated and sterile individuals, and
such as have not been able to become a stock
for new generations. Were the exterior and in-
terior resemblance in some animals still greater
than they are between the horse and the ass, we
ought not to confound these animals, nor give
them to one common origin, for if they, in
fact, came from the same stock, we might
bring them back to their original state by new
alliances, and undo by time, what time is al-
ready supposed to have done.

We must also consider, that although nature
proceeds by gradual, and frequently by imper-
ceptible degrees, the intervals are not always
the same. The more exalted the species, the
fewer they are in number, and the shades by
wh ich they are separated, are more conspicuous ;
the smaller species, on the contrary, are very
numerous, and have more affinity to each
father, so that we are the more tempted to con-
found

NATURAL HISTORY. 187

found them together in the same family ; but
we should not forget that these families are our
own works, that we have made them for the
case of our memories, that if we cannot com-
prehend the real relations of all beings, it is
ourselves, not nature that is in fault, who
knows not these pretended families ; and, in
fact, contains only individuals.

An individual is a separate detached being,
and has nothing in common with other beings,
excepting that it resembles, or rather differs
from them. All similar individuals which exist
on the earth, are considered as composing the
species of those individuals. Notsvithstanding,
it is neither the number nor collection of simi-
lar individuals which form the species, but the
constant succession and renewing of these in-
dividuals which constitute them ; for, a being
which existed for ever would not be a species.
Species, then, is an abstract and general term,
the meaning of which can only be determined
on by considering nature in the succession of
time, and in the constant destruction and re-
newal of beings. It is by comparing the pre-
sent state of nature with that of the past, and
actual individuals with former, that has given
us a clear idea of what is called species : for a
comparison of the number or resemblance of
B b 2 individuals,

1S8 buffon's

individuals, is only an accessory idea, and fre-
quently independent of the first ; for, the ass
resembles the horse more than the barbet the
greyhound, notwithstanding the latter are but
one species, since 1 hey produce fertile indivi-
duals, but the horse and ass are certainly of
different species, since they produce together
vicious and unfruitful individuals.

It is then in the characteristicdiversityof the
species, that the shades of nature are the most
sensible and best marked ; we may even say,
that these shades between the species are the most
equal and least variable, since we may always
draw a line of separation between two species :
that is, between two successions of individuals,
who reproduce and cannot mix, as we may
also unite into one species two successions of
individuals which would reproduceby mixing.
This is the most fixed point that we have in
Natural History ; all other resemblances, and
differences that we can make in the comparison
of beings, are neither so constant, real, nor
certain. These intervals are the only lines of
separation that will be found in this work ; we
shall not divide beings otherwise than they are
in fact : each species, each succession of indi-
viduals which reproduce and cannot mix, will
be considered apart, and treated separately ;

and

NATURAL HISTORY. ISD

and we shall only make use of families, kinds,
orders, and classes, which are marked out by
Nature herself.

Species, then, being nothing more than a
constant succession of individuals alike, and
which reproduce, ought only to extend to ani-
mals and vegetables, and that it is only an
abuse of the term, and confounding ideas when
used (o point out the different kinds of mine-
rals. We should not then look on iron as one
species, and lead as another species, but only
as two different metals, and should be distin-
guished by lines of separation different from
those made use of with respect to animals and
vegetables.

But to return to the degeneration of beings,
and particularly to that of animals. Let us
examine more nearly still, the steps of nature,
in the variety which she offers to our view ;
and, as the human species is best known to us,
let us observe how far these steps of variation
extend. Men differ in colour from black to
white, thev differ also one half in their height.
bulk, lightness, strength, Sec. and above all in
their understandings ; but this last quality
having nothing to do with matter, ought not
to be considered here. The others are the
usual variations of nature, proceeding from

the

190 buffon's

the influence of climate and food ; but, these
differences of size and colour do not prevent
the Negro and the White, the Laplander and
Patagonian, the Giant and Dwarf, from
mixing together, and producing fertile indi-
viduals; and consequently these men, so dif-
ferent in appearance, are all of one species,
since this constant reproduction is that which
constitutes distinct species. Besides these
general variations, there are others more par-
ticular, which are also perpetrated ; such as the
enormous legs of the men who are called of
the race of St. Thomas, in the island of Cey*
Ion ; the red eyes and white hair of the Dariens
and Chacrelas, the six fingers and toes in cer-
tain families, &c. These singular varieties
are either accidental defaults or excesses, which
originating in some individuals, are propa-
gated from race to race, like hereditary defects
and diseases ; but these differences should not
be regarded as forming separate species, since
the extraordinary races of these men with large
legs, or six fingers, may mix with the ordi-
nary races, and produce fertile individuals.
The same thing may be said of all other de-
formities communicated from parents to their
children. Thus far the errors of Nature, and
the varieties among men extend, and if there

are

NATURAL HISTORY. 191

arc individuals which degenerate still more,
those individuals reproducing nothing, nei-
ther alter the constancy nor uniformity of
the species. Thus man constitutes but one
and the same species, and, though this species
is perhaps more numerous, inconstant, and
irregular in all its actions, yet the prodigious
diversity of nourishment, climate, and so many
other combinations as may be supposed, have
not produced beings different enough from
each other to constitute new species, and at
the same time so like ourselves, that we are
not able to deny but that we are of the same
race.

If the Negro and the White could not pro-
create together, or if their offspring remained
unfruitful, they would be two distinct species;
the negro would be to man what the ass is to
the horse; or rather, if the white was the man,
the negro would be a distinct animal like the
monkey, and we might with reason think,
that the white and the negro had not the
same common origin. But this supposi-
tion is denied by the fact ; for since all
varieties of men can communicate together
and transmit their kind, all men must have
come from the same stock, and are of the same
family.

When

192 button's

When two individuals of the same species
cannot produce together, it is possibly occa-
sioned by some slight difference of tempera-
ment, or accidental fault in the organs of ge-
neration. For two individuals of different
species, to produce other individuals which do
not resemble the one or the other in no fixed
particular, and can consequently produce no-
thing like them selves, there needs but a cer-
tain degree of conformity between the forms
of their bodies, and their organs of generation.
But what an immense number of combinations
are even necessary, even to suppose that two
animals, male and female, of a certain species,
have so much degenerated as to form a new
species, and are no longer able to produce with
any of their own kind but themselves! And
also to suppose that the production of these two
degenerated animals should follow exactly the
same laws which are observed in the procrea-
tion of perfect animals; for a degenerated ani-
mal is itself a vitiated production, and howr can
a vitiated, depraved origin, become a new
stock, and not only produce a constant succes-
sion of beings, but even to produce them in
the same manner, and by following the same
laws which reproduce animals, the origin of
which are pure and uncorruptcd ?

Although

NATURAL HISTORY. 193

Although we cannot demonstrate that the
production of a new species, by degeneration,
is a thing impossible in nature, yet the number
of probabilities to the contrary render it in-
credible, for if some species have been pro-
duced by the degeneration of others, if that of
the ass absolutely originated from the horse, it
can only have happened by a succession of im-
perceptible degrees, and there must necssarily
have been agreater number of intermediate ani-
mals, the first of which would have differed
but slightly in its nature from the horse, and
the latter would have approached by degrees
to that of the ass. Upon the ground of this
supposition we might ask, what is become of
these intermediate beings? Why do we not
see their representatives, their descendants?
and why do the two extremes alone re-
main?

The ass is then an ass, and not a horse de-
generated ; a horse with a naked tail. The
ass is neither a stranger, an intruder, nor a
bastard; he has like all other animals, his fa-
mily, his species, and his rank ; his blood is
pure and untainted, and although his race is
less noble, yet it is equally good, equally an-
cient, with that of the horse. Why then is
there so much contempt for an animal so good,
yol. v. C c so

194 buffon's

so patient, so steady, and so useful? Do men
despise, even among animals, those which serve;
them best and at the smallest expence ? We
educate the horse, take care of, instruct, and
exercise him, whifet the ass is abandoned to the
power of the lowest servant, or the tricks of
children, so that instead of improving, he must
lose by his education, and if he had not a fund
of good qualities he would certainly lose them,
by the manner in which he is treated. He is
the sp ft of the rustics, who beat him with
staffs, abuse, overload, and make him work be-
yond his strength. We do not consider that
the ass would be in himself, and, with respect
to us, the most beautiful^ best-formed, and
most distinguished of animals, if there were no
borse in the world ; he, however, holds the
second instead of the first rank, and it is from
that only he appears to be of no value. It
is comparison alone degrades him ; we look at,
and give our opinions, not of himself, but com*
paratively with the horse. We forget that he
is an ass, that he has all the qualities of his
nature, all the gifts attached to his species, and
only think of the figure and qualities of the
horse which are wanting in Uim, and which he
Ought not to have.

He

NATURAL HISTORY. 195

He is naturally as humble, patient, and quiet,
as the horse is proud, aHenf, and impetuous ;
he suffers with constancy, and perhaps with
courage, chastisement* ?md blows ; he is mo-
derate both as to the quantity and quality of
his food ; he is contented with the hardest and
most disagreeable herbs, which the horse, and
other animals, will leave with disdain; he is
very delicate with respect to his water, for he
will drink none but the clearest, and from
rivulets wh.ch he isacquainted with; hedrinks
as moderately as he eats, and does not put his
nose in the water through fear, as some say, of
the shadow of his ears: as care is not taken to
com!) him, he frequently rolls on the grass,
thistles, and in dust. Without regarding
his road, he lies down and rolls as often as he
can, and seemingly to reproach his master for
the little care he takes of him, for he never
wallows in the mud or in the water; he even
fears to wet his feeU and will turn out of his
road to avoid it ; his legs are also drier and
cleaner than those of the horse ; he is susceptible
of education, and some have been seen suffi-
ciently disciplined for a public shew.

When young, they are sprightly, handsome,

light and even graceful, but they soon lose those

qualities either from age or bad treatment, and

C c 2 become

196 buffon's

become slow, stubborn, and headstrong. The ass
is ardent in nothing but love, or rather when
under the influence of that passion he is so
furious that nothing can retain him ; he has
been known to exhaust himself by excessive in-
dulgence, and die some moments afterwards.
As he loves with a kind of madness, he has
also the strongest attachment to his progeny.
Pliny assures us, that when they separate the
mother from her young, she will go through
fire to recover it. The ass is also strongly
attached to his master, notwithstanding he is
usually ill-treated; he will scent him at a dis-»
tance, and distinguish him from all other men.
He also knows the places where he has lived,
and the ways which he has frequented. His
eyes are good, and smell acute, especially with
regard to females ; his ears are excellent, which
has also contributed to his being numbered
among timid animals, who it is pretended have
all long ears, and the hearing extremely deli*'
cate. "When he is overloaded, he shews it by
lowering his head and bending down his ears :
when greatly abused, he opens his mouth and
draws back his lips in a most disagreeable man-
ner, which gives him an air of derision and
scorn. If his eyes are covered, he remains
motionless ; and when he is laid down, ancl

fas

NATURAL HISTORY. 197

his head so fixed, that one eye rests on the
ground and the other being covered with a
piece of wood, he will remain in that situation
without endeavouring to get up. He walks,
trots, and gallops like the horse, but all his
motions are smaller and much slower. He
can however run with tolerable swiftness, but
he can hold it only for a small space, and
whatever pace he uses, if he is hard pressed,
he is soon fatigued.

The horse neighs, but the ass brays; which
he does by a long, disagreeable, and discordant
cry, by alternative discords of sharp and flat.
He seldom cries but when he is pressed by love
or appetite. The she-ass has the voice clearer
and more shrill ; those that are gelded, bray
very low, and though they seem to make the
same efforts, and the same motions of the
throat, yet their cry cannot be heard very far.

Of all the animals covered with hair, the
ass is least subject to vermin, which apparently
proceeds from the peculiar hardness and dry-
ness of the skin, and for the same reason he is
less sensible than the horse to the whip, and
stinging of flies.

At two years and a half old the first middle
incisive leeth fall out, and the others on each
aide soon follow ; they are renewed at the same

time

JOS btjffon's

lime, and in the same order as those of the
horse. The age of the ass is also known by
his teeth in the same manner. From the aga
of two years and a half, the ass is in a state
to engender ; the female is still more early and
quite as lascivious, so that unless she is beaten
to allay her ardour, she seldom conceives.
The usual time of her being in heat is May
or June; when pregnant it soon goes off, and
at the tenth month milk is found in her dugs:
she brings forth at the twelfth, and frequently
there are found solid pieces of flesh in the liquor
of the amnios, resembling the hippomanes of a
foal. Seven days after delivery she is capable
of receiving the male, so that we may say she
is constantly rearing and engendering. She
only produces one foal, and we have scarcely
ever heard of her having two. At the end of
five or six months the foal may be weaned, and
it is even necessary if the mother is pregnant.
The stallion ass should be chosen from the
largest and strongest of his species; he must
at least be three years old, but should not ex-
ceed ten: his legs should be long, body plump,
head long and light, eyes brisk, nostrils and
chest large, neck long, loins fleshy, ribs broad,
rump flat, tail short, hair shining, soft to the
touch, and of a deep grey.

The

NATURAL HISTORY. 199

The ass, like the horse, is three or four
years in growing, and lives also like him 25 or
30 years; it is said the female usually lives
longer than the male : but, perhaps, this hap-
pens from their being ofteu pregnant, and at
those times having some care taken of them,
instead of which the males are constantly worn
out with fatigue and blows. They sleep less
than the hor&e, and do not lie down to sleep,
except when they are exceedingly tired. The
male ass lasts also much longer than the stal-
lion ; the older he is the more ardent he ap-
pears, and in general the health of this animal
is much better than that of the horse; he is less
delicate and not near so subject to maladies.
The ancients knew of no disease they had but
the glanders, and which, as we have already
said, they are much less subject to than the
horse.

There are among asses different races, as
among horses, but they are much less known,
because they have not been taken the same care
of, or followed with the same attention ; but
we cannot doubt that t hey originally came from
warm climates. Aristotle assures us, that there
were none in his time in Scythia. nor the other
northern countries, nor even in Gaul ; which,
he.says, is too cold a climu.ie, and. adds, that a

cold

200 buffon's

cold climate either prevents them from pro-
creating their species, or causes them to de-
generate, which is the reason they are small and
weak in Illyria, Thrace, and Epirus. They
are still the same in France, though they have
been for many ages naturalized, and though the
coldness of the climate is much lessened within
these two thousand years, by the number of
forests destroyed, and marshes dried up ; but it
is more certain, they have been but newly in-
troduced into Sweden and the other northern
countries. They appear to have come ori-
ginally from Arabia* and to have passed from
Arabia into Egypt, from Egypt into Greece,
from Greeceinto Italy, from Italy into France,
and from thence into Germany, England,
Sweden, &c. for they are, in fact, weak and
small, in proportion to the coldness of the cli-
mate.

This migration seems to be well proved
by the account of travellers. Chardin says,
1 'that there are two kinds of asses in Persia,
the asses of the country, which are slow
and heavy, and which are only made use of
to carry burthens, and a race of Arabian
asses, which are very beautiful, and certainly
the first asses in the world; their skin is
glossy; their heads high, and have high, light

feet,

NATURAL HISTORY. 201

feet, which they raise with grace, walk well, and
are solely employed to ride on. The saddles
which they use with them are like a bat, round
on one side, flat on the other; they are made
of woollen cloth, or tapestry, and have harness
and stirrups, and the rider sits on them nearer
the crupper than the neck. There are some
of these asses which even cost about 18 pounds
sterling, and there are none sold under 25 pis-
toles. They are broke like horses, but are
taught no other pace than the amble ; the man-
ner of teaching them is by tying their hind and
fore-legs of the same side with two ropes of
cotton, which are made to the length of the
step the ass is to pace, and are suspended by a
cord fastened to the girth. A groom mounts
and exercises them in this pace morning and
evening. Their nostrils are slit in order to
enable them to breathe more freely, and they
go so fast, that a horse must gallop to keep
up with them."

It is to be regretted that the Arabians, who
have so long taken care to preserve the breed
of their horses, had not paid the same attention
to the ass, since from the above it appears that
Arabia is not only the first, but also the best
climate in the world for both. From Arabia
they have passed into Barbary and Egy^t7
vol. y. D d where

202 buffon's

where they are handsome and high in stature*
In the Indies, and in Guinea, they are larger,
stronger, and better than the horses of those
countries : there are a great number of them
at Madura, where one of the most considerable
and noble tribes of the Indians pay particular
homage to them, because they believe that the
souls of all their nobles pass into the bodies of
asses ; in short, asses are found in great num-
bers in all parts of the east, from Senegal to
China, and wild asses are more commonly
found than wild horses.

The Latins, after the Greeks, have called
the wild ass onager, which animal must not be
confounded, as some naturalists and travellers
have done, with the zebra, because the zebra
is of a different species from the ass. The
onager, or wild ass, is not striped like the
2ebra, and is not near so elegant in figure.
Wild asses are found in some of the islands of
the Archipelago, and particularly in that of
Cerigo; there are also many in the deserts of
Lybia and Numidia. They are grey, and run
so fast that the horses of Barbary only can beat
them in hunting. When they see a man they
give a loud cry, turn themselves about, and
throw up their legs, then stop, and do not at-
tempt to fly till he comes very near them :

they

NATURAL HISTORY. 203

they are taken in snares made with ropes, go
in troops to pasture, and their flesh is also eaten.
There were, in the time of Marrnol, wild
asses in Sardinia, but they were less than those
of Africa ; Pietro della Valle says he saw a
wild ass at Bassora, whose figure differed in no
respect from a domestic one, only of a lighter
colour, and had from the head to tail a stripe
of white; he was also much livelier and swifter
than the asses usually are. Olearius mentions,
that one day the King of Persia made him go
up with him to the top of a little building, in
form of a theatre, to eat frui and sweetmeats ;
that after the repast, 32 wild asses were
brought in, when the king amused himself for
gome time by firing at them, both with bullets
and arrows, and having wounded some, he af-
terwards permitted the ambassadors, and other
lords, to do the same ; that it was no small
diversion to see these asses with a number of
arrows sticking in them, and, from the pain
they felt, biting and rolling over each other ;
that when they were all killed and laid before
the king they were sent to the royal kitchen at
Ispahan ; the Persians setting so great a value
on the flesh of these wild asses that they have a
proverb expressive of it. But it does not ap-
pear that these 32 wild asses were. all taken in
D d 2 tbe

204 euffon's

the forests, and therefore it is probable they
were asses brought up in large parks, for the
pleasure of hunting and eating them.

Neither asses nor horses were found in
America, although the climate of South Ame-
rica is perfectly consonant with their natures.
Those which the Spaniards have transported
from Europe, and left in large islands, and on
the Continent, have greatly multiplied. In
some parts they are found in troops, and are
taken in snares like wild horses.

The he-ass with the mare produce large
mules, and the horse with the she-ass pro-
duce small mules, differing from the first in
many respects ; but as we shall treat of mules
in a particular chapter, we shall finish the
history of the ass with that of its properties,
and the uses to which the animal may be put.

As wild asses are unknown in these cli-
mates we cannot in reality say whether their
flesh is or is not good to eat ; but it is certain,
that the flesh of the domestic ass is extremely
bad, and harder than that of the horse. Ga-
len says, that it is a pernicious aliment, and
occasions diseases. The milk pf the ass, on
the contrary, is an approved and specific re-
medy for certain complaints and its use has
been transmitted to us from the Greek. To

(iaye

NATURAL HISTORY. 205

have it good we should chuse a young healthy
she-ass, full of flesh, that has lately foaled,
and has not since been "with the male : the
young one should be taken from her, and care
must be taken to feed her well with hay, oats,
barley, and grass, whose qualities may have
an influence on the disease, with particular
care not to let the milk cool, nor even to ex-
pose it to the air, which will spoil it in a lit-
tle time. The ancients also attributed great
virtue to the blood, &c. of the ass, but which
experience has not confirmed.

As the skin of the ass is extremely hard, and
very elastic, it is used for different purposes,
such as to make drums, shoes, and thick parch-
ment for pocket-books, which is slightly var-
nished over: it is also with asses' skin that
the Orientals make their sagri, which we call
shagreen. It is also probable that the bones
of asses are harder than those of other animals,
since the ancients made their best-sounding
flutes of them.

The ass in proportion to his size, can carry
the greatest weight of any animal ; and as it
costs but little to feed him, and he scarcely re-
quires any care, he is of great use in country
business ; he also serves to ride on, as all his
paces are gentle, and he stumbles less than the

horse ;

20(J BUFFO n'S

horse ; he is frequently put to the plough ixt
countries where the earth is light, and his dung
is an excellent manure,

ss

THE OX.

THE surface of the earth, adorned with its
verdure, is the inexhaustible and common food
from which man and animals draw their sub-
sistence. Every thing in nature that has life,
is nourished by that which vegetates ; and ve-
getables, in turn, exist on the spoil of every
thing that has lived or vegetated. To live, it
is necessary to destroy ; and it is only by the
destruction of beings, that animals can live
themselves and multiply. God, in creating
the first individuals of each species of animals
and vegetables, has not only given form to the
dust of the earth, but also gave it animation,
by inclosing in each individual a greater or less
quantity of active principles, organs, living
molecules, incapable of being destroyed, and

common

NATURAL HISTORY. 207

common to all organized beings. The mole-
cules pass from body to body, and arc equally
the causes of life, and the continuation of it,
to the nourishment and growth of each indi-
vidual. After the dissolution of (he body,
after its reduction to ashes, these organic mole-
cules, on which death has no power, survive,
circulate in the universe, pass into other beings
and produce life and nourishment. Every pro-
duction, every renovation, or increase by ge-
neration, by nutrition, or by growth, implies a
preceding destruction, a conversion of sub-
stance, a translation of these organic molecules
which never multiply, but always subsisting in
an equal number, render nature always equal-
ly alive, the earth equally peopled, and ever
equally resplendent with the primitive glorj
of Him who created it.

To take beings in general, the total quan-
tity of life is always then the same; and death,
which seems to destroy all, destroys nothing of
that primitive life which is common to all or-
ganized beings. Like all other subordinate
powers, death attacks only individuals, strikes
only the surface, and destroys the form ; but
can have no power over matter, and can do no
harm to Nature, which only appears to more
advantage. She does not permit him to destroy

the

§08 buffon's

the species, but leaves individuals to his power,
to shew herself independant both of Death and
Time ; to exercise every instant, her power,
-Which is always active; to manife t her pleni-
tude by her fertility, and to make the universe,
in reproducing and renewing its beings, a the-
atre always filled, and a spectacle always new.
That there may be a constant succession of
beings, it is necessary there should be a mutual
destruction; that animals may subsist and be
nourished, vegetables, or other animals must be
destroyed ; and as, before and after the destruc-
tion, [the quantity of life remains always the
same, it should, as if it was indifferent to nature
which species were more or less consumed ; like
an economical mother, however, in the midst of
abundance, she has fixed bounds to her expen-
ces, and prevents unnecessary waste, in giving
but to a few animals the instinct of feeding on
flesh, while she has abundantly multiplied both
the species and individuals which feed on plants
and vegetables. She seems to have been prodi-
gal to the vegetable kingdom, and to have be-
stowed on each great profusion and fecundity;
greatly perhaps to second her views, in main-
taining and even establishing this order on the
earth ; for in the sea, we find almost all the
species are voracious \ they live on their own

kind/

NATURAL HISTORY. £09

kind, or on others, and devour perpetually,
without ever destroying any particular species,
because the fecundity is as great as the depre-
dation, and because all the consumption turns
to the profit of reproduction.

Man knows how to exercise his power on
animals ; he has chosen those whose flesh
pleases his taste, has made them his domestic
slaves, and multiplied them more than nature
would have done ; and by the pains he takes
for their increase, seems to have acquired aright
to slaughter them ; but he extends this right
much farther than his wants require; for he
also makes war with savage animals, birds, and
fishes, and does not even confine himself to
thoseof the climate which he inhabits, but seeks
at a distance, and even in the midst of the ocean,
for new food. All nature seems insufficient to
satisfy the intemperance, and the inconstant
variety of his appetites. Man alone consumes
more flesh than all the other animals together
devour; he is, then, the greatest destroyer; and
this more from custom than necessity. Instead
of using with moderation the blessings which
arc offered him, instead of disposing of them
withequity, instead of increasing them in pro-
portion as he destroys, the rich man places alL
his glory in consuming, in one day, at his
table, as much as would be necessary to sup-
vol. v. Ee port

210 buffon's

port many families ; lie equally abuses both
animals and his fellow-creatures, seme of whom
remain starving and languishing in misery, and
labour only to satisfy his immoderate a/|:etitc,
and more insatiable vanity, and who, by de-
stroying others through wantonness, destroys
himself bv excess.

Nevertheless, man, like some other animals,
might live on vegetables ; and flesh, which
beems so analogous to flesh, is not a better
nourishment than corn or bread ; that which
contributes to the nutrition, developement,
growth, and maintenance of the body, is not
that visible matter which seems to be the tex-
ture of flesh or herbs, but of those organic
particles which they both contain, since the
ox, by eating grass, acquires as much flesh as
either man or beast, that live on flesh and
blood. The only real difference between these
aliments is, that, in an equal quantity, flesh,
corn and seeds, contain more organic particles
than grass, leaves, roots, and other parts of
plants; of which fact we may be certain by
observing infusions of these different matters,
insomuch that man, and other carnivorous
animals, whose stomachs and intestines arc not
sufficiently capacious to admit a great quan-
tity of aliment at once, cannot cat herbs-enough

to

NATURAL HISTORY. 211

to receive a quantify of organic particles suffi-
cient for their nutrition ; and it is for this
reason that man, and those animals which have
but one stomach, can only live on flesh and
corn, which, in a small bulk, contains a great
quantity of these organic and nutritive parti-
cles, while the ox*, and other animals, that
chew the cud, who have many stomachs, one
of which is very capacious, and consequently
can contain a large mass of herbage, can ex-
tract therefrom a sufficient quantity of these
organic particles for their nourishment, growth,
and multiplication ; the quantity here compen-
sates for the quality of the food, but the foun-
dation is the same ; it is the same matter, the
same organic particles, which nourishes man,
he ox, and all other animals.

Some may observe that the horse has but
one stomach, and even that very small ; that
the ass, the hare, and other animals, which live
on herbage, have also but one stomach, and,
consequently, this explanation, though it seems
probable, is not well grounded. But these
exceptions, so far from controverting, appear
to confirm this opinion, for although the horse
Ee2 has

* The term ox is generally applied to cattle in general,
but when used in its confined sense, we shall mark it with

212 BUFFOx\TS

has one stomach he has pouehes in the in-
testines, so very capacious that they may be
Compared to the paimch of ruminant animals ;
and hares have a blind gut of so great a length
and diameter, that it is at least equal to a se-
cond stomach; thus it is not astonishing that
these animals can live on herbage alone. We
find in general it is wholly on the size of the
stomach and intestines that their manner of
feeding depends ; for ruminating quadrupeds,
as the ox, sheep, goats, camels, &c. have four
stomachs, and the intestines of a prodigious
length ; these live on herbage, and that alone
suffices them. Horses, asses, hares, rabbits,
guinea pigs, &c. have but one stomach, but
they have a gut equivalent to a second, and
live on herbs and corn. Wild boars, hedge-
hogs, &c. whose stomachs and bowels are less
capacious, eat but little grass, and live on corn,
fruits, and roots. Those, such as the wolf,
fox, tyger, &c . which have the stomach smaller
than other animals, in proportion to the size of
their bodies, are obliged to chuse the most
succulent aliments ; and those which abound
most with organic particles, and to eat flesh
and blood, corn, and fruits.

It is on this necessary and physical relation,
then, much more than on the varieties of taste,

that

NATURAL HISTORY. 213

that is founded the diversity which we see in
the appetites of animals, for if necessity did
not determine them oftener than taste how
could they devour corrupted flesh with as much
avidity as that which is fresh and juicy ? Why
do they eat equally of all kinds of flesh ? We
see that domestic dogs, which have it in their
power to chuse, constantly reject certain meats,
such as the woodcock, thrush, pork, &c.
whilst wild dogs, wolves, foxes, &c. cat
equally the flesh of the hog, woodcock, birds
of all species, and even frogs, of which I once
found two in the stomach of a wolf. When
they can neither gtt flesh nor fish, they will
eat fruit, corn, grapes, &c. but they always
prefer that food, which, ii\ a small portion,
contains a large quantity of nutritive or or-
ganic particles, proper for the nourishment
and subsistence of the body.

If these are not sufficient proofs let us con-
sider the method made use of to fatten cattle.
They begin by castration, thus stopping the
passage through which the organic molecules
escape in most abundance ; then, instead of
leaving theo:r tohis usual pasture, of herbage
alone, they give him bran, corn, and turnips ;
in a word, more substantial aliments than
grass. In a little time the Uesb, juices, and

fat

214 BUFFO N"S

fat of the animal augments, the fat abounds,
and, from a flesh hard and dry, forms a viand
so succulent and good, that it is the chief of
our best repasts.

It also results from what has been said, that
man, whose stomach and intestines are not so
Capacious with respect to the size of his body,
could not live on herbage alone ; yet it is prov-
ed by facts, that he can live on vegetables, corn,
and seeds of plants, since there are whole na-
tions, and particular orders of men, who are
forbid by their religion to eat of any thing that
has had life ; but these examples, though sup-
ported by the authority of Pythagoras, and re-
commended by some physicians, do not appear
sufficient to convince us, that it would benefit
the health of mankind, or that the human spe-
cies would multiply in a greater proportion, if
they lived on vegetables and bread; the rather
as peasants, whom the luxuries, and the sump-
tuousness of the great, reduce to this mode of
living, languish and die much sooner than per-
sons in a middle station of life, to whom wants
and excesses are equally unknown.

Next to man, animals which live on flesh
only are the greatest destroyers : they are both
the enemies of nature, and the rivals of man.
It is only by a careful attention that our flocks .

and

NATURAL HISTORY. 213

and fowls can be sheltered from birds of prey,
the wolf, fox, weazle, &c. and it is only by a
continual war that we can preserve our grain,
fruits, and even clothing from the voracity of
rats, moths, mites, Sec. for insects are among
those creatures which do more harm than good.

The oy, sheep, and those other animals
which feed on grass, are not only the best, most
useful, and most precious to man, but con-
sume and cost him least. The ox, above all
the rest, is the most excellent in this respect,
for lie gives as much to the earth as he takes
from it, and even enriches theground on which
he lives ; while the horse and the greatest part
of other animals, in a few years impoverish
the best pasture-lands.

But these are not the only advantages that
this animal procures to man ; without the ox,
the poor and the rich would have much diffi-
culty to live ; the earth would remain uncul-
tivated, the fields, and even the gardens would
be dry and sterile; it is on him that all the
work of the country falls, he is the most
useful domestic of the* farmer, and does
ail the labour of agriculture-. Formerly

he

* .Modern practice, at least in Engtend, proves that with
aB the superior qualities of die ox, lie is not entitled to this

particular

216 BUFFO N'S

he formed the only riches of mankind, and
still he n the basis of the riches of states,
which only flourish, and are supported by
the cultivation of the lands, and the number
of their cattle; since these are the only real
wealth we possess, all others, even gold and
silver, being only arbitrary representations,
and are of no worth but what the produce of
the earth can give them.

That the ox is not so proper as the horse,
ass, camel, &c, for carrying burthens, the
form of his back and loins clearly demonstrate;
but the thickness of his neck, and the broad-
ness of his shoulders, sufficiently indicate his
qualification for the yoke. Although it is in
this manner that he draws with the most advan-
tage, yet in some provinces of France they
oblige him to draw with his horns; for which
they give as a reason, that when harnessed in
this manner he is managed with more ease. His
head is very strong, and he may draw very
well when so yoked, but certainly with much
less advantage than when he draws by the
shoulders. He seems to be made on purpose

for

particular encomium, since in many parts it is found the
horse can be much more advantageously employed in the
culture of lands, and even in some countries the service of
the ox in that respect is quite exploded.

NATURAL HISTORY. 217

for the plough ; the size of his body, the slow-
ness of his motions, the shortness of his legs>
and even his tranquillity and patience when he
labours, concur in making him proper for the
cultivation of the ground, and more capable
than any other animal of overcoming the con-
stant resistance that the earth opposes to his
efforts. The horse, although perhaps as strong
as the ox, is, however, less proper for this
work, his legs are too long, his motions too
great and sudden, and he is also more impa-
tient, and more easily fatigued ; we take from
him his lightness, all the suppleness of his mo-
tion, and all the grace of his attitude^ when he
is put to this laborious work, which requires
more constancy than ardour, and more strength
and weight than swiftness.

In those species of animals which man has
formed into flocks, and whose multiplication is
his principal object, the females are more
useful than the males. The produce of the
cow, is a benefit almost perpetually renewed ;
the flesh of the calf is healthy and delicate, the
milkjis excellent food at least for ch ildren ; but-
ter relishes the greatest part of our victuals,
and cheese is the common food of the country
people. How many poor families are reduced
to live entirely on their cow ! These same men
y?l. v, F f who

SIS buffon's

who toil from morning to night, groan with
anguish, exhausted with continual labour of
cultivating the ground, obtain nothing front
the earth but black bread, and are obliged to
giye to others the flour and substance of thei*
grain. It is through them that the harvests are
abundant, though they partake not thereof.
These men who breed and multiply our cattle,
who take care of, and are constantly occupied
with them, dare not enjoy the fruits of their
labour ; they are debarred from the use of flesh,
and reduced by the necessity of their condition,
or rather by the brutality of the great, to live
like horses, on barley and oats, common
herbs, &c.

The cow (jig. 21.) may also be used for
the plough ; and though she is not so strong as
the ox, yet she is often made use of to supply
his place ; but, if employed for this use, care
should be taken to match her with anox of
the same size and strength, ot with another
eow, in order to preserve the equality of the
draught, and to keep the plough in an equili-
brium between the two powers attending to
facilitate the labour, aud preserving the tillage
more regular. From six to eight oxen are fre-
quently made use of for stiff" land, but more
especially in fallow grounds which break up

iff

Enow ,./ ,:■/■ Jt, //■/:■• Burton

FIG. 20

}U,ll

^fcv-

»-"«

yr^p^y

, \

jwj

■ i '

W:Sm

hi 5t\l1

W;,jjx&;vM;;.^

flflSflb j

•V: p»

W,WKm

PIG.21

KATUIIAL HISTORY. §19

in large clots, whilst two cows are sufficient to
plough light, and sandy soils. Jhe ancients
confined the oac to 120 paces, as the extent of
the furrow, he was capable of tracing without
stopping ; after which they suffered him to take
breath a few moments before he went on with
the same furrow, or began a fresh one. The
ancients took delight in the study of agriculture
and gloried in ploughing themselves, or at
least in encouraging the labourer, and sparing
him and the ox as much trouble as possible;
but among us, those who enjoy the greatest
share of the blessings of the earth are those
who know least how to esteem, and to en?>
courage the art of cultivation.

The bull (Jig. 20.) serves chiefly for the pro-
pagation of his species, and though we can make
him submit to work, yet we are less sure of his
obedience, and must be on our guard against
the improper use he may make of his strength.
Nature has made him indocile and haughty;
in rutting time he is unmanageable, and fre-
quently furious ; but by castration these im-
petuous motions cease, whilst it robs him of
none of his strength ; it rather renders him
larger, weightier, and more proper for thfc
work for which he is intended; it has also an
effect upon his disposition, and makes him more

F f 2 tame

220 buffon's

tanie and patient, more docile and less trouble-
some to the rest ; a number of bulls would prove
an unruly herd, which man could neither tame
nor guide.

The country people adopt different modes
for castration, but they in general consider the
best time when the animal is between eighteen
months and two years of age, as they seldom
live when it is performed more early, yet those
who do survive the operation, if performed while
young calves, always become the largest and
fattest oxen. If left to a late period they re-
tain all the impetuous ferocity of the male sex,
and are scarcely governable. The females
are commonly in season from about the loth
of April to the 15th of July; they go nine,
months with young, and bring forth at the be-
ginning of the tenth ; therefore calves are
always plenty during the spring and summer.

The bull, like the stallion, should be chosen
from the handsomest of his species; he should
be large, well made, and full of flesh ; his
eyes black, his looks haughty and fierce,
forehead open, head short, horns thick, short,
and black, cars short and soft, muzzle large,
nose short and straight, neck fleshy and thick,
shoulders and breast large, loins firm, back
straight, legs thick and muscular, tail long and

well

NATURAL HISTORY. 291

"well covered with hair, step firm and sure, and
Ills coat of a reddish colour. The cows fre-
quently retain the first, second, or third time,
and as soon as they are with calf the bull takes
no more notice of them, although they have
still some appearance of ardour; but this usu-
ally goes off as soon as they have conceived, and
they also refuse the approaches of the bull.

Cows are also subject to abortion if put to
the plough, and not properly managed; and
care should be taken to prevent their leaping
over hedges, ditches, &c. they should also be
put into the richest pastures, which, without
being too humid or marshy, afford plenty of
herbage. For six weeks before they calve they
should be more fed than usual, giving them
grass in their stalls, if summer, and, during
the winter bran, lucerne, saintfoine, &c.
They should not be milked from that time ; the
milk being necessary for the nourishment of
the foetus. There are some cows in which
the milk ceases a month or six weeks before
they calve, but those which have milk to the
last arc the best mothers, and the best nurses.
The milk, towards the time of calving, is ge-
nerally bad, and in small quantities. More
Care is necessary to be taken of the cow at and

after

622 buffo n's

after her delivery than of the mare, being ap#
parently more weakened and fatigued. She
should be put into a stable and kept warm,
giving her good litter, and feeding her well,
during ten or twelve days, with bean-flower,
corn, oats, &c. mixed with salt water, and
plenty of lucerne, saintfoine, or good grass.
This time is sufficient to re-establish her
strength, after which she may be brought by
degrees to her usual manner of living and pas-
turing. Not any of her milk should be taken
for the two first months, but left solely to the
calf; besides, the milk at this time is not of
the best quality.

The calf should be left with his mother for
five or six days, that it may be kept warm, and
suck as often as it has occasion ; it may then be
removed, for it would weaken the cow too
much if it was always kept with her. It is
sufficient to let Galves suck two or three times
in a day; and to fatten them quickly, they
should every day have raw eggs, and boiled
milk and bread. At the end of four or five
weeks calves thus taken care of will be ex-*
cellent eating. It is sufficient to let a calf
suck, designed for the butcher, thirty or forty
days ; but those which nre intended to grow

up

NATURAL HISTORY. 225

Tip should be suffered to suck for two months
at least ; the longer they are allowed to suck the
stronger and larger cattle they become. Those
brought forth in April, May, and June, are the
fittest to be raised ; for calves which come later
never acquire strength enough to resist the in-
juries of the following winter, and almost all
languish and perish with the cold. Before the
milk is entirely taken from them, they should
kave a little good grass, or saintfoine, cut fine
to accustom them by degrees to then* future food ;
after which they should be entirely separated
from the mother, and not suffered to go near
her, either in the stable, or field. To the
latter they should be taken every day, and suf-
fered to remain from morning to night during
the summer; but as soon as the cold begins in
autumn, they should be taken out late in the
morningand carried home soon in theevening;
and during winter, as cold is extremely hurtful
to them, they should be kept warm in a close
well littered stable ; and with their usual food,
they should have saintfoine, lucerne, &c. and
not suffered to go out, except in mild weather.
Great care must be taken of them for the first
winter, as it is the most dangerous time in their
lives; for they get strength enough during the

following:

224 kuffon's

following: summer not to fear the cold of ase*
cond winter.*

At 18 months old, the cow arrives at puber-
ty, and the bull when he is two years; but
though they can engender at this age, it is bet-
ter to keep them asunder till they are three
years old. These animals are in their greatest
vigour from three weeks old till nine; after this,
neither cows nor bulls are fit for any thing but
to fatten for the slaughter. As at two years of
age they are almost at their full growth, the
length of their lives is also, like that of most
other animals, seven times that, or about four-
teen years; they seldom live beyond fifteen.

In all quadrupeds the voice of the male is
stronger and deeper than that of the female ;
and I believe there is no exception to this rule;
though the ancients say, that the cow, the oxy
and even the calf, have deeper voices than the
bull; but the contrary is certain, since he can
be heard much the farthest. What has afford-
ed grounds to think that his voice is less deep,
is, that his bellowing not beinga simple sound,

but

* It is evident here that our author did not draw his conclu-
sions from a general view of the subject, but possibly rather
from the practice followed in France, which, in many cases,
with regard to cows and calves, is diametrically opposite ta»
that pursued in England, both in respect to food and man-
agement*

NATURAL HISTORY. 225

but composed of two or three octaves, the
highest of which strikes the ear most forcibly,
and the others are not perceived, yet if we
give attention thereto, we hear a grave sound,
much deeper than the voice of the cow, ox, or
calf, whose lowings are also much shorter.
The bull only bellows when he is enamoured ;
the cow more frequently lows through fear and
dread, than from any other cause ; and the
calf bellows from pain, want of food, or a de-
sire of being with its mother.

The dullest and most idle animals are not
those which sleep the soundest, or the longest.
The sleep of the ox is short, and not very
sound ; for he awakes on the least noise. He
usually lies on his left side, and the left kid-
ney is always larger and fatter than the right.

Oxen, like other domestic animals, differ
in colour; but the red appears the most
common colour, and the redder they are, the
more they are esteemed ; some prefer the black,
while others assert that those of a bay colour
last longest ; that the brown are sooner fatigued
and shorter lived ; that the grey, brindled, and
white, are not proper for work, and are only
fit to be fattened for slaughter. But whatsoever
be the colour, the coat of the ox should be
shining, thick, and soft to the touch ; for if it
vol. v. G g is

226 buffon's

is rough and uneven, it indicates the animal is
not well, or at least of a weak constitution.
An ox for the plough should be neither too fat
nor too lean ; his head should be short and
thick, his ears large, with a soft even coat, his
horns strong, shining, and of a middling size,
his forehead high, his eyes large and black, his
muzzle large and flat, his nostril's wide, his
teeth white and even, his lips black, his neck
short, his shoulders thick and strong, his breast
large, his dewlap, that is, the fore part of the
neck, long, and hanging down to his knees ;
his loins very large, his belly spacious and pro-
minent, his flanks thick, his haunches long,
his rump round, his legs and thighs big and
nervous, his back straight and full, his tail
hanging down to the ground, and covered with
a fine tuft of curling hair, his feet firm, his
skin thick and pliable, and his muscles large
and elevated ; he should also be sensible of the
goad, obedient to the call, and well trained :
but it is only by degrees, and beginning early,
that we can make him submit willingly to the
yoke. At the age of two years and a half, or
three years at most, we should begin to use him
to subjection ; if it is deferred later, he fre-
quently becomes unmanageable. Patience,
gentleness, and caresses, are the only methods

to

NATURAL HISTORY. 227

to be used ; violence and ill-usage only serve to
make him sullen and untractable for ever: he
should bestroaked and caressed, and frequently
fed with boiled barley, bruised beans, and
other nourishing food of (he same kind, mixed
with a little salt, all of which he is very fond ;
he should be frequently tied by the horns some
days before he is put to the yoke ; and he should
at first be yoked to the plough with another ox
of the same size which is already trained. They
should be tied together at the rack, and led
to the same pasturage, that they may become
acquainted, and habituate themselves to the
same common motions. The goad should
never be used at the beginning, as it would
only serve to make him ungovernable. He
should only work a little at a time, for he is
soon fatigued when not perfectly broke ; and
for the same reason, he should then have more
food than at another time.

The ox should only be worked from three
years old to ten ; and he should then be taken
from the plough to fatten, as the flesh will be
belter than if he be kept longer. The age of
this animal is known by his teeth and horns.
The first front teeth fall out when he is ten
months old, and are replaced by others which
are larger and not so white; at 16 months

G g 2 those

2£& buffon's

those on each side of the middle teeth drop out,
and are replaced by others ; and at three years
old, all the incisive teeth are renewed ; they
are then all long, white, and even; and, in
proportion as the ox advances in years, they
decay, and become unequal and black. It is
the same with the bull and cow ; so that neither
sex nor castration makes any alteration in the
growth or fall of the teeth, nor does either
make any difference in the casting of the horns?
for they fall off at three years equally from the
ox, bull, and cow ; these are replaced by other
horns, which, like the second teeth, fall off no
more, only those of the ox and cow grow
longer than those of the bull. The growth
of these second horns is not uniform. The
first year, that is to say, the fourth of the ani-
mal's age, two little pointed horns sprout, wh ich
are even, and terminate at the bead by a kind
of knob ; the following year this knob grows
from the head, pushed out by a cylinder of
horn, which forms and terminates also by
another knob, and so on ; for as long as the
animal lives, the horns continue to grow;
these knobs are easily distinguished, and by
which his age may be easily known, by adding
three years to the number of intervals between
the other knobs.

The

NATURAL HISTORY. 229

The horse cats slow ly , but almost continually,
the ox, on the contrary, eats quick, and takes
in a short time all the food which he requires ;
after which he lies down t<V ruminate. This
difference arises from the different conforma-
tion of their stomachs. The ox, whose two
first stomachs form but one vast bag, can,
witfrout inconvenience, receive a large quan*
tity of grass, which afterwards, by chewing,
digests at leisure But the horse, whose
stomach is single and small, can receive but
a small quantity of grass, he therefore fills
if in proportion as it digests, and passes1 into
the intestines, where is performed the principal
decomposition of the food. Having observed
in the ox and the horse the successive product
of digestion, but, above all, the decomposition
o\ hay, I remarked in the ox, that at the
entrance of that part of the paunch which
forms the second stomach, it is reduced to a
kind of green paste; that in this form it is
retained in the plaits of the third stomach;
that the decomposition is entire in the fourth
stomach ; and that scarcely any thing but the
dregs passes into the intestines. In the horse
on the contrary, the food is not decomposed
at all, either in the stomach or in the first in-
revtines, where it only becomes more flexible

and

230 buffon's

and supple, macerated with the liquor with
which it is surrounded, it arrives at the caecum
and colon, without much alteration ; it is prin-
cipally in these two intestines, of which the
enormous capacity answers to that of the
paunch of ruminant cattle, that in the horse is
performed the decomposition of the food ; but
tliis decomposition is never so intire as that
which is made in the fourth stomach of the ox.
For these reasons, and from the inspection
of the parts, it seems easy to conceive how
chewing the cud is effected, and why the horse
neither ruminates nor vomits. Chewing the
cud is but a vomiting without straining, oc-
casioned by the reaction of the first stomach
upon what it contains. The ox fills his two
first stomachs, or portions of the paunch.
This membrane acts with force on the food it
contains ; it is chewed but a little, and its quan-
tity is greatly increased by fermentation . Were
the food liquid, this force of contraction would
occasion it to pass into the third stomach,
which communicates with the other by a narrow
conveyance, the orifice of which is situated
in the posterior part of the first, and almost as
high as the oesophagus; thus this conduit can-
not admit the food, until it has become some-
what fluid. The dry parls, mu^t, therefore, rise

up

NATURAL HISTORY. 231

up again into the oesophagus, the orifice of
which is larger than that of the conduit ; in
fact, they go up again into the mouth, and the
animal again chews and macerates them, im-
bibes them afresh with its saliva, and thus by
degrees liquefies them sufficient to pass into the
third stomach, where it is again macerated be-
fore it goes into the fourth ; and it is in this
last stomach that the decomposition of the hay
is finished, which is there reduced to a perfect
mucilage.

What chiefly confirms the truth of this ex*
planation is, that as long as the animals suck,
or are fed with milk and other liquid aliments,
they do not chew the cud ; and that they chew
the cud much more in winter, when they are
fed with dry food, than in summer, when they
eat tender grass. In the horse, on the con-
trary, the stomach is small, the orifice of the
oesophagus is narrow ; and that of the pylorus
very large. This alone would render chew-
ing the end impossible, for the food contained
in this little stomach, though perhaps more
strongly compressed than in the stomach of the
ox, does not mount upwards, since it can easily
descend through the pylorus, which is very
large ; and it is not necessary that the hay
should be reduced to a soft ruuning paste, be-
cause

232 buffon's

cause the force of the contraction of the stomach
pushes the aliment through when almost dry.
It is by this difference, then, that the ox
chews the cud, and that the horse cannot per-
form this operation. But there is still another
difference in the horse, which hinders him from
chewing the cud, and is the reason why he can-
not vomit ; the passage of the oesophagus being
placed obliquely in the stomach , the membranes
of which are very thick, makes a kind of gutter
in them so oblique that it must close still more
instead of opening by the convulsive motions
of the stomach. Although this difference, as
well as many others we observe in the con-
formation of the bodies of these animals, de-
pend on their constant nature, nevertheless,
there are in thedevelopement, more particularly
in the soft parts, differences constantly in ap-
pearance, but which may, and actually do, vary
from circumstances. The vast capaciousness
of the ox's paunch, for example, is not en-
tirely owing to Nature ; it is not of that size
in its primitive conformation, but attains it by
degrees, from the large quantity of aliment
it receives; for, in the calf, which is not very
young, but has eat no grass, the paunch is
much smaller in proportion than in the ox.
: This capaciousness of the paunch proceeds,

then.

NATURAL HISTORY. 933

then, from the extension which is occasioned
by the large quantity of aliments, of which I
was well convinced by an experiment that ap-
peared to me decisive. I brought up two
lambs of the same age, one on bread, the other
on grass, and when they were a year old, on
opening them, I found the paunch of the lamb
which had lived on grass was much larger than
that which had lived on bread.

It is said that oxen which eat slowly are more
capable of working than those which eat
quick ; that oxen fed on high and dry lands are
more lively, vigorous, and healthy, than those
which live on low and humid grounds ; that
they are all stronger when fed on dry hay than
when fed with grass; that they meet with
more difficulty on the change of climate than
horses, and that, for this reason, oxen for the
plough should never be purchased but in their
own neighbourhood.

In winter, as oxen do nothing*, it is suffi-
cient to feed them on straw, with a little hay;
but at the season they work they should have
more hay than straw, likewise a Utile bran, or
vol. v. H h a few

* This is not the case in England, as in many counties the
farmer, excepting in hard weather, findi it the best time to
keep them in full employ.

234 buffo n's

a few oats. If hay is scarce they should have
fresh-cut grass, leaves of ash, elm, oak, &c.
but this food should be given in a small quan-
tity, because the excess of it, being what they
are very fond of, occasion them to avoid bloody
urine; but lucerne, saintfoine, lupins, turnips,
boiled barley, &c. are very good tor them, and
as they never eat more than is necessary, they
should always be supplied with as much as
they will take. They should not be put to
pasture till about the middle of May ; they
should be kept at pasture all the summer; and,
about the middle of October they should be
brought back to fodder, only observing not to
change them too suddenly from green to dry
food, or from dry to green, but to bring them
to it by degrees.

Great heat incommodes this animal more
perhaps lhan great cold. During summer they
should be brought to work at day-break, taken
to the stable, or left to feed in the woods,
duri' g the heat of the day, and not yoked
again till three or four in the afternoon. In
spring, winter, and autumn, they may be
worked from eight or nine in the morning, till
five or six in the evening. They do not require
so much care as horses, yet to keep them

healthy

NATURAL HISTORY. 235

healthy and vigorous they should be curried
every day, and their ho?fs carefully greased
and washed; they should be taken to drink at
least twice a day ; they are fond of water that
is fresh and cool, while the horse loves it mud-
dy and luke-warm.

Nearly the same food and care are requisite
for the cow as the ox ; but the cow that suckles
requires more particular attention, as well in
the ch using as in the management. It is said,
that black cows give the best milk, and that
white cows give the most: but of whatever
colour, <he should be fleshy, have a brisk eye,
and be light in her walk ; she should be young,
her milk plentiful, and of a good kind ; she
should be milked twice a day in summer, and
once in winter; and, if we would increase the
quantity, she must be fed with more succulent
food than herbage.

Gcod milk is neither too thick, nor too
thin : its consistence should be such, that a drop
should preserve its roundness without running.
In colour it should be of a beautiful white :
that which is inclinable to blue or yellow is
worth nothing; its taste should be sweet, with-
out any bitterness or sourness. It is better in
the month of May, and during the summer,
than in winter; and it is never perfectly good
II h 2 but

236 buffon's

but when the cow is of a proper age, and in
good health. The milk of young heifers is
too thick, that of old cows is too dry, and
during the winter it is too thick. The milk of
the cow is not good when she is in season, near
her time, or has lately calved. In the third and
fourth stomachs of the calves which suck, there
are clots of curdled milk, which, dried in the
air, serve to make runnet, and the longer it
is kept the better it is, and it requires but a
small quantity to make a great deal of cheese.
Both cows and oxen love wine, vinegar, and
salt, and they will devour with avidity a season-
ed salad. In Spain, and some other countries,
they place near the young calf one of those
stones, called salegres, which are found in salt
mines ; they lick this salt stone all thetime the
mother is at pasture, which excites the appe-
tite, or creates thirst so much, that the moment
the cow returns, the young calf sucks with
great eagerness ; and this makes them grow fat-
ter and faster than those to whom no salt is
given. For the same reason, when oxen loath
their food, they give them grass soaked in vine-
gar, or strewed with salt; salt may also be
given to them, as it excites their appetites in
order to fatten them in a short time. It is
usual to put them to fatten when ten years old ;

if

NATURAL HISTORY. 237

if we stay longer, there is less certainty of suc-
cess, and their flesh is not so good. They may
be fattened in all seasons, but summer is gene-
rally preferred, because it is attended with less
expence; and by beginning in May or June,
we are almost certain of having them fat before
the end of October. When we begin to fat-
ten them they must not be suffered to work
any longer. They should drink much oftener,
and have succulent food in abundance, some-
times mixed with a little salt, and be left to
chew the cud at leisure, and to sleep in the
cow-house during the heat of the day. In four
or five months, if thus attended to, they will
become so fat that it will be difficult for them to
walk, or be conducted to any distance but by
small journeys. Cows and bulls, whose testi-
cles are twisted, may also be fattened ; but the
flesh of the cow is drier, and that of the bull is
redder and harder than that of the ox, and the
latter has always a strong disagreeable taste.

Bulls, cows, and oxen, are very apt to lick
themselves, especially when quiet and at rest;
and as this issupposcd to prevent their fattening,
it is usual to rub all parts of their bodies which
they can reach with their own dung. When
this precaution is not taken, they raise up the
Lair of their coats with their tongue, and swal-
low

258 buffos'*

low it in large quantities. As Ibis substance
cannot digest, H remains in the stomach, and
forms round smooth balls, of so considerable a
size, as to incommode and prevent digest ion.
These balls in time get covered with a brown
crust, which, though nothing but a thick mu-
cilage, becomes hard and shining ; they are
only found in the paunch, and if any of the
hairs get into the other stomachs, they do not
remain, but seem to pass olf with the ali-
ments.

Animals which have incisive teeth, such as
the horse and the ass, in both jaws, bite short
grass more easily than those which want these
teeth in the su perior jaw ; and if the sheep and
goat bite the closest, it is because they are small,
and their lips are thin. But oxen, whose
lips are thick, can only bite long grass ; and
it is for this reason that they do no harm to the
pasture on which they live; as they only bite
off the tops of the young herbage, they do not
stir the roots, and the growth is scarcely check-
ed ; instead of which, the slieep and the goat
bite so close, that they destroy the stalk and
spoil the root. Besides, the horse chutes the
shortest and most delicate grass, leaving the
largest to grow for seed ; but the or eats these
thick stalks, and by little and little destroys

the

NATtfllAIi HISTORY. 239

the coarser grass ; so that in a few years, the
field in which the horse has lived becomes
poor, and that on which the ox has broused,
becomes an improved pasture.

Our oxen, which we must not confound
-with the buffalo, bison, &c. seem to be ori-
ginally of this temperate climate, great heat,
or excessive cold, being equally injurious to
them. Besides this species, which is so abun-
dant in Europe, is not found in the southern
countries, and is not extended beyond Armenia
and Persia ; nor beyond Tgypt and Barbary in
Africa. For in India, the rest of Africa, and
even in America, the cattle have a bunch on
the back, or are animals of a different species,
which travellers have called oxen. Those
found at the Cape of Good Hope, and in many
parts of America, were carried from Europe
by the Dutch and Spaniards. In general,
countries which are rather cold agree better
with our oxen than hot climates; they are
larger and fatter in proportion as the climate is
humid, and as it abounds in goodness of
pasture. The oxen of Denmark, Padolia,
Ukraine, and CalmuckTartary, are the largest;
those of England, Ireland, Holland, and Hun-
gary, are larger than those of Persia, Turkey,
Greece, Italy, France, and Spain ; and those

of

240 buffon's

of Barbary are the smallest. The Dutch every
year bring from Denmark a vast number of
large thin cows, which give more milk than
those of France ; and it is possible they are of
the breed of cows which has been carried
into Poitou, Aunis, and Charente, for those
cows are larger and much thinner than com-
mon cows, and produce double the quantity of
milk and butter. They have milk at all times,
and may be milked all the year, excepting four
or five days before they calve. Though they
eat no more than common cows, their pasture,
however, must be excellent ; and as they are
always lean it is certain that all the super-
abundance of their food turns into milk; in-
stead of which, common cows become fat, and
cease to give milk when they have lived some
time in rich pastures. With a bull of this
breed, and common cows, a bastard kind is
produced, which is more fruitful, and abounds
more in milk than the common race. These
bastard cows have frequently two calves at a
time, and they give milk all the year. These
milch cows form a part of the riches of Hol-
land, from which place they export butter and
cheese to a considerable amount ; they give
as much milk again as French cows, and six
times as much as those of Barbary.

In

NATURAL HISTORY. 241

In England, Ireland, Holland, Switzerland,
and olker northern countries, they salt and
smoke the flesh of the ox in large quantities,
both for the use of the navy and for the ad-,
vantage of commerce. They export also from
those countries large quantities of leather ; the
hide of the ox, andthat of the calf, serving for
an infinite number of uses. The fat is also
very useful. The dung of the ox is the best
manure for light dry soils. The horn of this
animal was the first instrument ever made use
of for drinking or augmenting sounds; the
first transparent matter ever used for windows
and lanthorns. It is now softened to make
boxes, combs, and a thousand other things.
But I must conclude, for, as I said before,
Natural History finishes where the History of
the Arts begin.

SUPPLEMENT.

OXEN are very numerous in Tartary and
Siberia ; and at Tobolski black cattle abounds.
In Ireland I formerly remarked that both oxen
and cows were without horns ; but this I find
vol. v. I i applies

242 buffon's

applies only to the southern part, where there is
either scarcely any gra^s, or it is very bad which
gives strength to my position, that horns arise
from a superabundance of nourishment. Ad-
jacent to he sea the Irish boil their fish down
extremely so ft, with which they feed their cows,
and of which they are very fond ; and it is
6aid the milk has not the smallest disagreeable
gmell or taste therefrom.

In Norway both cows and oxen are very
diminutive ; but on the Norwegian coast they
are bigger probably owing to their having
better pasture, and being allowed to range at
perfect freedom; for they are left entirely to
themselves without any guides, unless the rams
maybe so called who accompany them in winter
and who scrape the snow from the ground
both for themselves and companions, to get
at the grass. Living in this wild state they
sometimes grow very fierce, and are only to be
caught by means of ropes.

European cattle have multiplied in a most
astonishing manner in SouthAmerica. In the vi-
cinity of Buenos-Ayres, they hunt them merely
for their grease and hides, and frequently kill
large quantities. The coast of Brazil produces
very indifferent cattle ; they are small, and their
flesh has a bad savour, most probably owing to

the

Eiignu'cd. riw Banv fiu/fim

TIG.2'2

A'c/m

l.'it'r

NATURAL HISTORY. 243

the bad quality of their pasturage. There
are great numbers of oxen in some parts of
Africa. The mountains are covered with wild
Cows from Cape Blanc to Sierra Leona ; theii
colour is generally brown with black horns,
and they are so exceedingly prolific, that both
Europeans and Negroes find it necessary to be
perpetually destroying them by hunting. There
are also wild cows of a dark chesnut colour in
many parts of Barbary, and in the deserts of
Numidia; they are small, run fast, and fre-
quently keep in flocks of one or two hundred
together.

THE SHEEP.

IT does not admit of a doubt, but that all
animals which are now actually domestic were
formerly wild. Those who e history has al-
ready been given, afford a sufficient proof of it ;
for there are still wild horses, asses, and bulls.
Can man, who has conquered so many mil-

I i 2 lions

244 buffon's

lions of individuals, boast of Laving subdued
an entire species ? As they were all created
without his participation, is it not reasonable
to believe that Nature enabled them to exist
and multiply without his aid ? If we consider,
nevertheless, the weakness and stupidity of
the sheep, and reflect, that this animal, with-
out defence, cannot find safety in flight ; that
he has for his enemies all devouring animals,
which seem to seek him in preference, and to
devour him by choice; that formerly this spe-
cies produced but few ; and that the life of each
individual is but short ; we shall be tempted to
think, that from the beginning sheep were
confided to the care of man ; that they had oc-
casion for his protection to subsist, and of his
care to multiply ; especially as there never were
any wild sheep found in the deserts. In all
places where man does not rule, the lion, tiger^
and wolf reign by force and cruelty ; and these
animals of blood and carnage, livfc longer, and
multiply faster than sheep. In short, if we
were to abandon the flocks, which we have
rendered so numerous, they would soon be
destroyed and their species entirely annihilated
by the voracity of its numberless enemies.

It appears, therefore, that it is only by the
help and care of mansheep have been preserved

and

NATURAL HISTORY. 2i5

and that they could not have continued to sub-
sist for themselves. The female is absolutely
without resource, and without defence. The
ram has but feeble arms ; his courage is nothing
but a petulance useless to himself, inconvenient
to others, and which is destroyed by castration.
The wedder is still more fearful than ewes. It
is through fear that sheep gather so often in
troops; the smallest noise to which they are
unaccustomed, makes them get close together ;
and thisfear is attended with the greatest stupi-
dity, for they know not how to fly the danger,
nor do they even seem to feel the hazard and
inconvenience of their situation. They con-
tinue obstinately fixed wherever they are, and
for neither rain nor snow will they stir. To
oblige them to change their route, or situation,
they must have a chief who is instructed to
walk first, and whom they will follow step by
step. This chief, however, would remain with-
out motion if he were not driven off by the shep-
herd, or the dog which guards them, who, in
fact, watches over their safety, defends, directs,
separates, assembles, and in short, communi-
cates to them every motion that is necessary
for their safety.

Of all quadrupeds then sheep are the most
iasensibte, and have the least resources from

instincL

245 BUFI'ON s

instinct. Goats, which in many things
resemble them^ have much more sagacity.
They know how to conduct themselves^
and to avoid danger, an I are easily fami-
liarized to new objects ; the sheep neither
knows how to fly from danger, nor to face
it : let their wants be ever so great, they never
come to man for assistance so willingly as the
goat, and which in animals appears to be the
last degree of timidity or insensibility, the
female will suffer her lamb lo be taken away
without shewing any signs of auger, or trying
to defend it, nor by the smallest difference in
her bleating, expresses the smallest degree of
sorrow*.

But this animal, so contemptible in itself, so
wantingin sentimentand i'terior qualities, is to
man the most useful of all animals. Of itself
it at the same time furnishes us with food and
clothing; without reckoning the particular
advantages we have from the milk, the fat, the
skin, the bowels, the bones, a:d even the dung.
This animal seems to evince that nature has

given

* The veracity of this charge of indifference, will be
doubted by all who have passed over the fertile plains of
England, while these fleecy flocks were grazing in the spring,
since, insensible indeed must be that breast, which has not
felt the tender responses of the bleating ewe, and her di&-
tauvlamb.'

NATURAL HISTORY. 247

given it nothing but what is for the advantage
and conveniency of man.

Love, which in all animals is the most
general and liyely sensation, seems to be the
only one which gives any vivacity to the ram.
When he feels any such emotions, he becomes
petulant, fights, and will sometimes at lack
even his own shepherd. The ewe, however,
even at those times, does not appear more
animated ; and has only instinct sufficient not to
refuse the approaches of the male, to chuse
her food and to know her own lamb. Instinct
is more certain as it is more mechanical*
The young lamb, among a numerous flock,
will search and find out its mother, and will
seize its teat, without ever being mistaken. It
is also said, that sheep are sensible to the plea-
sures ofmusick; that they brouze with more
assiduity, are better in health, and fdtten sooner
When they hear the shepherd's pipe ; but it
appears more probable that music serves to
amuse the shepherd, and that it is to this soli-
tary, idle life, that we owe the origin of the
art.

Theseanimals, whose understandings are so
simple, are also of a very weak constitution.
They cannot walk long ; travelling weakens
and exhausts them ; and when they run, they

pant

2iS buffon's

pant and are soon out of breath. The great
heat of the sun, is as disagreeable to them, as
too much moisture, cold, or snow. They are
subject to many disorders, the greatest part of
which are contagious. Superabundance of
fat sometimes kills them, and always prevents
the ev\es from having young. They suffer a
great deal in breeding, have frequent abortions
iind require more care than any other domestic
animal*.

When the ewe is near her time, she should
be taken from the rest of the flock, and watched
in order to be near to help her in delivery. The
lamb frequently presents itself cross-ways, or
by the feet ; and, in this case, the mother's life is
in dauger if she is not assisted. As soon as she
is delivered, the lamb should be lifted on its
feet^ and the milk drawn out of the mother's
teats; this first milk being bad would do much
hurt to the lamb, and therefore it is necessary to
stay till the teats are filled again, before it is
suffered to suck. The lamb is kept warm, and
shut up for two or three days with the mother,

that

* There appears in the text a degree of unusual asperity
against this harmless animal, and all its imperfectidns seem
pictured in glaring colours, but in this, as well as in several
other particulars, some exaggeration is adopted, since scarce
any domestic animal, at the time of bringing forth, require*
less assistance than the ewe does in general.

NATURAL HIST0HY. S4D

that it may learn to know her. For a few
4ajs, in order to re-establish the strength of the
ewe, she should be fed with hay, barley wetted,
or bran mixed with a little salt. The water
she drinks should be hike- warm, wih some
wheat or bean flour, or millet put into it. In
four or five days she may again be used, by de-
grees, to her common manner of living, and
may be put amongst the others, only observing
not to take her too far, lest it should overheat
her mi)k. Some time after, when the lamb
begins to have strength, and to skip about, it
may, with safety, be suffered to follow ijs mo-
ther into the fields.

It is usual to send those lambs which appear
weak to the butcher, and to preserve those
which are the largest, are most vigorous, and
have the thickest fleece ; the first lambs are
scarcely ever so good as those of the following
litters. If those lambs are wanted to be reared
which are brought for thin October, November
December, January, or February, they are kept
in the stable, and onjy let out to suck mornings
and evenings, until the beginning of April.
Some time- before letting them out they should
daily have a little grass, for the purpose of
accustoming them by degrees to their new
nourishment. They may be weaned as early
vol. v. K k as

250 buffon's

as a month old, but it is better to let them suck
for sjx weeks or two months. Lambs which
are all white, and without spots, are always
preferred because white wool always produces »
the best price. Lambs should not be castrated
before they are five Or six months old at the
earliest, and then the operation should be per-
formed when the weather [is moderate, either
in spring or autumn : it is done two ways,
either by incision, or by destroying the vessels,
which terminate in them, by a tight ligature.
Castration makes lambs sick and melancholy,
and to prevent the disgustwhich generally suc-
ceeds, they should have bran given them mix-
ed with a little salt for two or three days.

At a year old, rams, ewes, and weddcrs, lose
the two fore teeth of the under jaw ; they have
no incisive ones in the upper; six months after
the two neighbouring teeth fall out also ; at three
years of age they are all replaced, are then
tolerably even and pretty white, but as the
animal increases in years they become uneven
and black. The age of the ram is also known
by his horns; they appear the first year, and
sometimes at his birth, and a ring is added to
them every year after as long as he lives- In
general the ewes have no horns, but in their
places two bony prominences ; norwithstand-

insr

NATURAL HISTORY. 251

irig there are some which have two and even
four horns. These ewes are like the others \
their horns are five or six inches long, but less
twisted than those of the ram, and when they
have four, the two anterior are shorter than the
other two. The ram is capable of generating
at eighteen months, and the ewe to produce at
a year old ; but it, is better not to couple them
before the ram is three and the ewe two ; as
before that period the young will be feeble and
weak, which indeed is generally the case witlj
their first productions. One ram is sufficient
to attend 25 or 30 ewes ; he should be chosen
from the strongest and handsomest of hisspecies;
he should have horns, for there are some rams
in our climate which are without, but they are
less vigorous, and less proper for propagation*.
A good and handsome ram should ha vea large
thick head, a wide forehead, large black eyes,
broad nose, big ears, thick neck, long high
body, large loins and crupper, and a long tail.
The best rams are the white ones, well covered
with wool on the belly, the tail, the head, the
ears, and quite up to the eyes. Ewes which
have wool in the greatest abundance, most

* This does not always hold good, since the Lincoln sheep
are without horns, and are at the same time as fine and as
large as any in England.

K k 2 bushy,

l2d2 buffo n's

bushy, whitest, and most silky, are the best for*
propagation ; especially if they are large, have
thick necks, and walk nimbly. It has also
been remarked, that those which are rather lean
than fat are the most successful breeders.

The ewes are commonly in season from the
beginning of November to the end of April ;
but they conceive at any time if supplied with
stimulating food, such as salted water, and bread
made of hemp-seed. The ewes are allowed
to go with the ram two or three times, after
which they are separated from him ; he in-
variably attaches himself to the oldest ewes,
and despises the young ones. During the
coupling season great care must be taken not
to expose the ewes to rains or storms, for
moisture prevents conception, and a clap of
thunder often produces an abortion. A day or
two after copulation they may return to their
usual mode of living, for if the salted water,
hempen bread, and other hot foods are con-
tinued, it will prevent their produce. They
carry their young five months, and drop then!
at the beginning of the sixth. They com-
monly bring forth but one lamb, though they
sometimes have two : in warm climates they
produce twice a year, but in France, and those
which are colder3 never more than once. The

rani

NATURAL HISTORY. 253

ram is admitted to the ewes about the end of
July, or beginning of August, for the purpose
df having lambs in January ; in September,
October, and November, he is given to a
greater number, from which we have plenty of
lambs iri February, March, and April ; there
are also quantities in May, June, Jtrly, August,
and September ; and it is Only in October,
November, and December, thai they are Scarce.
The ewes have milk for six or seven months ; it
is tolerable nourishment for children aud coun-
try people, and makes very good cheese, espe-
cially when mixed with cows' milk. The
time for milking the ewes is just before they
go into the fields, Or immediately after their
return. In summer they may be milked twice
a day , and once in winter.

jiwps fatten when they are with young, be-
cause they then eat more than at any other
time. As they often hurt themselves they
have frequent abortions, sometimes become
barren, and often bring forth monsters; never-
theless, if they are well taken care of, they will
produce through life ; that is for ten or twelve
years, though they commonly begin to grow
old and useless by the time they are seven or
eight. The ram lives till he is twelve or
fourteen years old, but is unfit for propagation

after

2j4 buffon's

after lie is eight. He should then be castrated,
and fattened with the old ewes. The flesh of
the ram is always ill-tasted, that of the ewe
insipid, while that of the wedder is the most
succulent and best of our common meat.

Those who wish to form a flock with a view
to profit, buy ewes and wedders from the age
of eighteen months to two years, an hundred
of which may be put under the care of one
shepherd, and if he is careful and assisted by
a good dog, he will lose but few. When he
conducts them to the field he should always
go first, accustom them to the sound of his
voice, to followhim without going aside among
the corn, vines, and cultivated lands, where
they do considerable damage. Hills, or plains
above hills, afford them the best and most
agreeable pasture, and they should never be
suffered to brouze in low and marshy grounds.
In winter they should be fed in the stable on
bran, turnips, hay, straw, lucerne, sainfoine,
leaves of ash, elm, &c. and unless the weather
is very bad they should be allowed to go out
every day for the sake of exercise. In the cold
season they should not be taken to the fields be-
fore ten o'clock in the morning, and remain for
four or five hours; they should then be made
to drink, and about three o'clock in the after-
noon

NATURAL HISTORY. 255

noon be reconducted home. In spring and
autumn, on -the contrary, they should be taken
out as soon as thesun has dissipated the moisture
and hoar frost, and not taken back again till
near sun-set. It is sufficient in these two sea-
sons if they drink once a day, and that just be-
fore they return to the stable, where' there must
always be forage for them, though in a smaller
quantity than during winter. It is in summer
alone that 'they ought to find all their food in
the fields, where they should then be conducted
twice a day, and taken twice to drink ; they
should be led out in the morning while the dew
is on the ground, allowed to feed four or five
hours, and after drinking led back to the fold,
or some shady place. About three or four
o'clock in the afternoon, when the excessive
heat begins to diminish, they may be again
taken into the field's and allowed to stay until
the night comes on ; and were it not for the
danger of the wolf, it would be better to leave
them out all night as they do in England,
which would make them more vigorous and
healthy. As violent heat greatly incommodes
Ihem, and the rays of the sun will give them
the vertigo, they should always be kept, when
brouzing, with their heads from the sun, so
that their bodies may form a kind of shade.

And

256 BUFFO N S

And it is also very necessary, to preserve their
wool, that they should not be suffered to feed
among thorns, briars, or bristles.

In dry and high grounds, where wild thyme
and other odoriferous plants abound, the fl< sh
of the sheep is of a much better quality that)
when fed on low plains and humid valleys ;
unless near the sea coast, where all the herbage
having imbibed a degree of saltness, it renders
the mutton, superior tp that fed on any other
pasture ; it gives also a pleasing flavour to the
milk, and adds to its quantity. Nothing is
more pleasing to the taste of these animals than
salt, nor is there any thing more salutary for
them when given in moderation ; in some places
they put a bag of salt, or salt-stone, into the
sheep-fold, the which they will all lick by
turns.

Every year those grown of a proper age to
fatten should be picked out of the flock, as they
require a different treatment. If in summer,
they should be taken to the field before sun-
rise that they may feed on the grass while the
dew remains upon it. Nothing contributes
more to fatten sheep than water taken in great
quantities, and nothing retards it more than the
heat of the sun; for which reason they should
be taken into the shade by nine o'clock in the

morning,

NATURAL HISTORY. 257

morning before the violent heat comes on, and
a little salt should be given them to excite their
appetite for water. About four o'clock in the
afternoon they should be led out again to fresh
and moist pastures. This care pursued for
two or three months is sufficient to make them
fleshy and fat; but this fat, which originates
from the great quantities of water drank by the
animal, is only a kind of pursy swelling, and
would soon occasion the rot ; it is therefore
necessary to kill them immediately when they
acquire this false fat: even their flesh, instead
of having become firm and juicy, is frequently
the more flat and insipid. If we would have
good mutton, besides feeding them in the dew
and giving them plenty of water, it is necessary
they should have more succulent food than
grass. In winter^ nay in all seasons, they may
be fattened by keeping them in stables and feed-
ing them with the flour of barley, oats, wheat,
beans, &c. mixed with salt to make them drink
more frequently. But whatever mode is
followed, it should be done quickly, and the
sheep should be killed immediately, for they
cannot be fattened twice, and almost all die
with diseases of the liver.

We frequently find worms in the livers of
animals ; a description of those found in sheep
vol. v. LI and

*2aS buiton's

and oxen is contained in the Journal dcs
Savans of 1668, and in the German Ephi-
merides. It was thought that these worms
were peculiar to animals who chew the cucl,
but M. Dauberton discovered some in the liver
of an ass, and it is probable they might be
found in those of many other animals. It lias
also been said that butterflies are sometimes
found in the livers of sheep ; and in confirma-
tion of this M. Rouille favoured me with a
letter of M. Gachet de Beaufort, containing
the following observations : " It has long been
remarked, that our Alpine wedders frequently
lose their flesh on a sudden ; that their eyes
turn white and gummy, that their blood be-
comes serous, ha ving scarcely any red globules,
their tongues parched, and their noses stuffed
with a yellow purulent mucus. It is true this
docs not affect the appetite of the animal, but
makes him extremely weak and terminates in
his death. From repeated dissections it has
been discovered, that animals so affected have
always butterflies in their livers, which butter-
flies are white, and furnished with wings ;
their heads are nearly oval, hairy, and about
the size of those of the silk- worm fly. Above
seventy which I squeezed out of the two holes
convinced me of the truth of this fact." From

this

NATURAL IIISTOXY. 259

this description of M. Beaufort I cannot ad*
rait myself as positively convinced of their
being butterflies, because they have so near a
resemblance to the common worms found in
the livers of sheep, which are flat, broad, and
of so singular a figure, as to appear at first
rather leaves than worms.

It is customary for sheep to be shorn every
year ; and in warm countries where they appre-
hend no danger from leaving the animal quite
bare, they do not shear the wool, but tear it
off, and those frequently find a sufficiency to
have two crops in a year. In France, and in
colder climates, the fleece is shorn only once
a year, and then a part of the wool is per-
mitted to remain by way of preserving the
animal from the intemperance of the weather.
This operation is performed in the month of
May, after the sheep have been well washed to
render the wool as clean as possible. The
month of April is too cold, and if delayed to
July, there would not be sufficient time for the
wool to grow to preserve them from the cold
of the following winter. The wool of the
wedder is generally better, and in greater abun-
dance than that of the ewe or ram; that on
the neck and top of the back, is much superior
to that on the thighs, belly, tail, &c. and that
L 1 2 taken

260 buffon's

taken from the bodies of the dead, or diseased
animals, is by much the worst. White wool
is preferable to grey, brown, or black, because
in dying it will take any colour, and that which
is smooth and sleek is better than the curled; it
is even said, that sheep whose wool is curled are
not so good as the others. Folding sheep is of
great advantage to the land, and when it is
wished to improve any by this means, the
ground must be inclosed, and the flock shut in
every night during the summer; the dung,
urine, and heat of the animals, will soon en-
rich the most exhausted, cold, and infertile
grounds. An hundred sheep in one summer
will fertilize eight acres of land for six years.

The ancients have remarked that all animals
which chew the cud have suet, but this is only
true with the sheep and goat, and that of the
sheep is more abundant, whiter, drier, and
better than that of any other. Suet differs
materially from fat or grease, as the latter re-
mains soft, but the former hardens in cooling.
The suet amasses in the greatest quantities about
the kidneys, and there is always more about
the left than the right ; there is also a great deal
in the epiploon, and about the intestines, but
that is not near so firm and good as that of the
kidneys, tail, and other parts of the body.

Sheep

NATURAL HISTORY. §61

Sheep have no oilier fat than suet, and this
matter is so predominant in their bodies, that
their flesh is covered with it ; even their blood
contains a considerable quantity, and their
semen is so loaded with it, as to have a differ-
ent appearance from that of any other animal.
That of man, the dog, horse, ass, and probably
of all animals which have not suet, liquifies by
cold, and becomes more and more fluid from
the moment it comes out of the body ; but that
of the ram, goat, and perhaps of all animals
which have suet, hardens, and loses all its
fluidity with its heat. I discovered these dif-
ferences when examining their different liquon
with the microscope. That of the ram fixes a
few moments after it is out of the body, and
in order to discover the living organic mole-
cules, of which it contains great numbers,
heat must be applied to keep it in a state of
fluidity.

The flavour of the flesh, the fineness of
the wool, the quantity of the suet, and even
the size of the sheep, differ greatly in different
countries. At Berri, in France, they abound ;
those of the environs of Beauvoise, and some
other parts of Normandy, are the fattest, and
have the greatest quantity of suet. They are
very good in Burgundy ; but the best are those

which

262 buffon's

-which are fed upon the downs in our maritime
provinces. The wool of Italy, Spain, and
England is finer than the wool of France. In
Poitou, Provence, in the environs cf Bayonne,
and several other parts of France, there is some
sheep which appear to be of a foreign race ;
they are larger, stronger, and have a greater
quantity of wool than those of the common
breed. They are also more prolific, generally
producing two lambs at a time. The rams of
this breed engender with the common ewes and
produce an intermediate race. In Italy and
Spain there is a great variety in their races of
sheep, but they should all be regarded as form-
ing one species w ith our common sheep, which
though so numerous does not extend beyond
Europe. Those animals with large broad tails,
so common in Asia and Africa, and which tra-
vellers have given the name of Barbary sheep,
appear to be of different species from our com-
mon sheep, as well as from the pacos and lama
of America.

White wool being most esteemed, those
lambs which are black or spotted are com-
monly led to slaughter. There are some places
however wrhere almost all the sheep are black ;
and white rams and ewes will frequently pro-
duce spotted lambs. In France there are only

white.

'

Trat/acAiarzJ>

Fig

NATURAL HISTORY. 963

white, black, and spotted ; in Spain there is a
reddish kind, and in Scotland there are some
of a yellow colour ; but these varieties in co-
lour are more accidental than the difference
and variety of the breed, whicli notwithstand-
ing only happens from the influence of climate
and the difference of nourishment.

SUPPLEMENT.

I WAS favoured with the drawings of two
Walachian Sheep* (Jig. 24, 25.) by Mr. Co-
ljnson a Fellow of the Royal Society of Lon-
don, whose horns are very different from ours,
but I was never able to discover whether they
were of the ordinary kind in Walachia or
some accidental variety.

In Denmark, Norway, and in the northern
part of Europe, the sheep are very indifferent;
and it is customary there to improve the breed,
to have rams frequently imported from Eng-
land.

* The annexed representations were taken from two of
these living animals, the property of Mr. Clark ; and as the
likeness was strongly attended to, will be found more correct
than the drawings copied in the works of our author.

264 BUFFO N?8

land. In the islands near Norway the sheep
are constantly left in the fields, and they are
much larger and produce better wool than those
who are attended by men. Pontopiddan asserts
that those sheep which live in perfect liberty
always sleep on that side of the island from
whence the wind will blow the next day, and
this is constantly attended to by the mariners.
The Iceland sheep have larger and thicker
horns than the common sheep of these climates ;
some of them have four or five horns, but this
is not common, and when they find any so
ornamented, they are sent to Copenhagen and
sold at a high price as great rarities.

THE GOAT.

THOUGH the species of animals are all
separated by an interval which Nature cannot
overleap, yet some resemble others in so many
respects that there seems only a necessary space
to draw a line of separation. When we com-
pare these neighbouring species, and consider
them relatively to ourselves, some appear to be

of

NATURAL HISTORY. 265

of the greatest utility, and others seem to be
only auxiliary species, which might in many
respects serve in the place of the former. Thus
the ass might nearly supply the place of the
iiorse, and the goat that of the sheep. The
goat, like the sheep, furnishes both milk and
suet in great abundance. Their hair, though
coarser than wool, can serve the purpose of
making very good cloth ; their skins are more
valuable than those of the sheep ; and the flesh
of a young kid nearly resembles that of Iamb.
These auxiliary species are wilder and more
robust than the principals. The ass and the
goat do not require near so much care as the
horse and the sheep, for they everywhere find
means of support, and browze equally on the
most coarse as on the most delicate plants ;
they are less affected by the influence of the
climate, and can do betier without the aid of
man ; the less dependence they have on us, the
more they seem to belong to Nature; and in-
stead of considering these subordinate species
as degenerations of the principal species ; in-
stead of looking on the ass as a degenerated
horse; it might with more reason be said, the
horse is an ass brought to perfection, and that
the sheep is a more delicate kind of goat,
which we have taken care of, brought to per-
V-OL..V. Mm fection,

266 buffon's

fection, and propagated for our own use; and,
in general, that the most perfect species, espe-
cially among domestic animals, take their
origin from those wild and less perfect kinds
which resemble them the most, as the powers
of Nature are greatly augmented when united
to those of man.

Although the goat is a distinct species, and
possibly further removed from the sheep than
the ass is from the horse, yet the buck will
as willingly couple with the ewe as the he-ass
with the mare; the ram with the she-goat in
the same manner as the horse with the she-ass.
But though these couplings happen very fre-
quently, and are sometimes prolific, yet no in-
termediate species kas been formed between the
goat and the sheep. The two species are dis-
tinct, remaining at the same distance from each
other; no change has been effected by the
intermixture, no new or middle race has arisen
therefrom; at most they have only produced
individual differences, which have no influence
on the uni'y of each primitive species, but, on
the contrary, confirm the reality of their dif-
ferent characteristics.

There are, however, many cases in which
we cannot distinguish these characters, nor pro-
nounce on their differences with certainty :

there

NATURAL HISTORY. 267

there are others in which we are obliged to
suspend our opinions, and in a great number of
others we have nor the smallest ray of light for
our guide; for, independent of the uncertainty
arising from the contrariety of assertions re-
specting recorded facts, independent of the
doubts resulting from the inaccuracy of those
who have endeavoured to observe Nature, the
greatest obstacle to the advancement of know-
ledge, is our ignorance of a great number of
effects which time has not disclosed to us, and
which can only be revealed to posterity by ex-
perience, and the most accurate observations;
in the mean time we stray in darkness, per-
plexed between prejudices and probabilities,
ignorant even of possibilities, and every mo-
ment confounding the opinions of men with
the acts of Nature. Examples are in abun-
dance ; but, without quitting our subject, we
know that the goat and the sheep couple to-
gether ; though we are still to learn whether
the mule from this commixture is sterile or
fruitful. We are apt to conclude that mules
in general, are barren, because those produced
from the he-ass and mare,or the horse and she-
ass, are sterile. But this opinion may have
no foundation, since the ancients positively
assert, that the mule produces at seven years
M ra 2 old

268 BUFFO nV

old and that it can produce with the mare' 7
they say also that the she-mule is capable of
conception, but that she cannot bring her fruit
to perfection. It is necessary therefore, to de-
stroy or confirm the truth of these facts, since
they obscure the real distinction of animals and
the theory of their generation; and though
we know distinctly the species of all the ani-
mals which surround us, yet we are ignorant
-what rahrht be produced by an intermixture
among themselves, or with foreign animals.
We are but ill informed of thejumar, an ani-
mal said to be the produce of a cow and an
ass, or a mare and a bull. We are also igno-
rant whether the zebra would not produce with
the horse or the ass, or the broad-tailed Barbary
ram with a common ewe; whether the cha-
mois goat be any thing more than a common
o-oat in a wild state, or whether an intermixture
would not form an intermediate race; whether
the monkeys are of different species, or, like
that of the dog, it is one and the same, but
varied by a great number of different breeds ;
whether the dog can produce with the fox and
the wolf, the stag with the cow, &c. Our
jo-iorance in most of these cases is almost in-
vincible, and the experiments which would
decide them require more time, care, and ex-
pence*

NATURAL HISTORY. 269

pence, than the life and fortune of most men
can permit.

On the determination of these facts, how-
ever, depends our knowledge of animals, the
exact distinction of their species, the intelli-
gence of i heir genuine history and manner of
treating them. But since we are deprived of
knowledge so necessary, since it is not possible
to proceed upon positive facts, we cannot do
better than go step by step, to consider each
animal individually, to look on those as differ-
ent species who do not procreate together, and
to write their history in separate articles, re-
serving for ourselves a power to unite or sepa-
rate, as we shall acquire a more perfect know-
ledge from our own experience, or from that
©f others.

It is for this reason that though there are
many animals which resemble the sheep and
goat, we have taken notice of only the domestic
kinds. We are ignorant whether foreign kinds
would intermix and form new races with our
common species ; we are therefore authorized
to consider them as distinct species, till it can
be proved that these foreign kinds can procreate
with the common and produce fertile iudividu*
als : this degree alone constituting the reality

of

270 bitffon's

of what should be denominated species both
in the animal and vegetable kingdoms.

The goat has naturally more sagacity than
the sheep, and can shift better for itself. He
comes to man of himself and is easilyfamiliar-
iaed; he is sensible of caresses^ and capable of
much attachment; he is more strong ,ligh* ,ngile,
and less timid than the sheep ; he is lively, ca-
pricious and lascivious, and it requires much
trouble to conduct them into flocks. They are
fond of strayinginto solitude, of climbing steep
and rugged places, to stand and even to sleep
on the tops of rocks or brinks of precipices.
The female seeks the male with eagerness and
ardour; she is robust and easily supported, eat-
ing almost all kinds of herbs and very few dis-
agreeing with her. The bodily temperament,
which in all animals has great influence on the
dispositions, does not seem to differ essentially in
the goat from that of the sheep. The interior
organization of these two species of animals is
almost entirely the same ; they are fed, grow,
and multiply in the same manner, and have the
same diseases, except a few to which the
goat is not subject. The goat is not, like the
*heep, affected with too great a degree of heat,
but voluntarily exposes himself to the liveliest

rays

NATURAL HISTORY. 271

rays of (lie sun, and sleeps therein without suf-
fering a vertigo, or any other inconvenience.
He is not alarmed by rains or storms, but ap-
pears sensible of the rigours of cold. The ex-
terior movements, as already remarked, depend
less on the conformation of the body than oh
the strength and variety of their sensations, for
which reason they are more lively and less re-
gular in the goat than in the sheep. The in-
constancy of his disposition is strongly marked
by the irregularity of his actions ; he walks,
stops short, runs, skips, jumps, advances, re-
treats, shews and conceals himself, or flies off,
and all this from mere caprice, and without
any other cause than what arises from the
whimsicality of his temper; the suppleness of
his organs and strength, and nervousness of his
frame, are scarcely sufficient to support the pe-
tulance and rapidity of bis natural motions.

That theseanimalsare naturally fond of men,
and that even in uninhabited countries they
betray no savage dispositions, the following
anecdote is a strong confirmaiion. In 1698,
an English vessel having put into harbour at
the island of Bonavista, two negroes went on
board, and offered the captain as many goata
as he chose to carry away. He expressing a
surprize at this offer, the negroes informed him

there

272 buffo n's

there were only twelve persons on the island,
and that the goats multiplied so fast as to be-
come exceedingly troublesome, for instead of
being hard to be caught, they followed them
about with a degree of obstinacy, like other
domestic animals.

The male(/?g. 26) goat is capable of engender*
ing at a year, and the female at seven month*
old ; but the fruits of this early coupling are ge-
nerally weak and defective, and therefore they
are commonly restrained until they are eighteen
months or two years. The he-goat is hand-
some, vigorous, and ardent; and one is suf-
ficient to accompany 150 females for two or
three months ; but this ardour, which soon
consumes him, does not last more than three or
four years, and by the age of five or six, he
becomes aged and enervated. Therefore, in
choosing a male for propagation, he should be
large, handsome, and about two years old ;
his neck should be short and thick, his head
light, his ears hanging do -.mi, his thighs thick,
his legs firm, his hair black, thick and soft, bis
beard long and bu^hy . The choice of the female
(fig- 27) is of less importance, only observing
thai those with large bodies, thick thighs, who
walk light, have large udders, and soft bushy
hair, are the most preferable. They are usually

in

Jj/ujnjii il rbr JlniT.i- Jlmrin

,l'/,C in',//

FIG. 2 6

He Goal

NATURAL HISTORY. 273

in season in September, October, and No-
vemberj though they will couple and bring
forth at all times. They retain, however, much
surer in autumn; and the months of October
and November are preferred, because the grass
will be young and tender when the kids begin
toeat. They go about five months with young
and bring forth at the beginning of the sixth;
they suckle their young a month or five weeks;
so that about six and twenty weeks may be
reckoned from the time of their coupling
to the kids first beginning to feed on pas-
ture.

When kept among sheep they do not mix
with them, but always precede the flock. They
prefer feeding separately, are fond of getting
upon the tops of hills, and even upon the most
steep and craggy parts of the mountains. They
find a sufficiency of food on heaths, barren and
uncultivated grounds. Great attention is ne-
cessary to keep them from corn, vines, and
young plantations as they are great destroyers,
and eat with avidity the tender barks, and
young shoots of trees, and thus prove fatal to
their growth. They avoid humid and marshy
fields, or rich pastures : they are seldom kept
on flat lands, because it does not agree with
them, and it makes their flesh ill-tasted. In
vol. v. N n most

274: BUFFOS S

most warm climates goats are raised in great
numbers and never put into the stables. In
France they would perish if not preserved from
the inclemency of the winter. It is not ne-
cessary to give them litter in the summer,
though absolutely so in winter; and as all
moisture is very hurtful to them they should
never be suffered to lie upon their own dung.
They should be taken out into the fields very
curly in the morning, while the dew is on the
grass, which, though hurtful to sheep, is very
salutary for goats. As they are untractablc
and wandering animals, the most active and
robust man cannot manage more than fifty of
them. • They should never be suffered to go
out during snow or hoar frost, but be kept in
the stable, and fed with herbage, small branches
of trees gathered in autumn, or on cabbages,
turnips, and other roots. The more they eat,
the greater is their quantity of milk ; to in-
crease and preserve their milk still more, they
are made to drink a great deal, and they mix
sometimes a little ni(re or salt in their water.
They may be milked in fifteen days after they
have brought forth, and will continue to give
a considerable quantity twice a day for four o*
five months.
The female produces one kid, sometimes

two,

NATURAL HISTORY. §73

two, very rarely three, and nevermore than
four; she continues to breed from one year or
eighteen months, until she is seven years of
age. The he-goat will propagate as long, and
perhaps longer if proper care is taken of him ;
but he commonly becomes useless at about
five. He is then sent to fatten among the old
goats, and castrated kids which have been
emasculated at six months old , to render their
flesh more juicy and tender. They are fattened
with great care, in the same manner as wethers,
but they are never so good, excepting in very
warm climates, where mutton is always ill-
tasted. The strong smell of the goat does
not proceed from his flesh but his skin. These
animals are not permitted to grow old, or
perhaps they might live to ten or twelve years ;
but it is usual to kill them as soon as they
cease to multiply, because the older they are
the worse is their flesh. Both male and female
goats have horns, with a very few exceptions;
they vary very much in the colour of their hair :
it is said that those which are white, and have
no horns, give the most milk, and that the black
ones are the strongest. Though they cost
very little for their food they produce a con-
siderable profit; their flesh, tallow, hair, and
skin, are all valuable commodities. Their
N n 2 milk

276 buffon's

milk is more wholesome and better than that
of the sheep ; it is used in medicine, curdles
easily, and makes very good cheese. The fe-
males will allow themselves to be suckled by
young children, for whom their milk is ex-
cellent nourishment. Like cows and sheep,
they are sucked by the viper, and also by a
bird, called in France, the goat-sucker, which
fastens to their teats during the night, and, as
some say, makes them lose their milk for ever
after.

Goafs have no incisive teeth in the upper
jaw ; those in the under fall out, and are re-
placed in the same time and manner as those of
the sheep. Their age may be ascertained by
the knobs in their horns, and their teeth. The
number of teeth in the female goats is not
always the same, but they usually have fewer
than the male, whose hair is also more rough,
and who has the beard and horns longer.
These animals, like the ox and sheep, have four
stomachs, and chew the cud. Their species is
more generally diffused than that of sheep, and
goats similar to ours are found in many parts
of the world ; only in Guinea, and other warm
climates they are smaller, and in Muscovy and
the more northern regions, they are larger.
The goats of Angora and Syria, with ears

hanging

NATURAL HISTORY. 277

hanging clown, arc of the same species "with
ours, as they intermix together, and will pro-
duce in these climates: the males have horns
almost as long as the common kind, bat their
directions are very different, they are extended
horizontally from each side of the head, and
form spirals somewhat like a screw. The horns
of the female are short, they bend backwards,
then turn down, and their points come forward
so as nearly to approach their eyes ; but the di-
rections of these sometimes vary. These de-
scriptions arc from a male and female goat
which I have seen. Like most Syrian animals,
their hair was very long and thick, and so fine
that stuffs have been made of it almost as hand-
some and glossy as our silks.

SUPPLEMENT.

PONTOPPIDAN says, that goats abound
in Norway, and that more than S0,000 raw
hides are annually exported from Bergen alone,
besides those which are dressed. But they
seem peculiarly calculated for this country, as

they

278 buffon's

they search for their food upon high and rugged
mountains, are very courageous, and so far
from fearing the wolf, will even assist the dogs
in repelling their attacks upon the flock.

THE SWINE, THE HOG OF SIAM, AND THE WILIX
BOAR.

I SHALL treat of these three at the same
time, because they form but one species. The
one is wild, and the other two the same animal
only domestic ; and though they are different
in some external marks, and perhaps in some
of their habits, yet these differences are not
very essential, but relate merely to their con-
dition : they are not much changed by their
domestic state ; they will intermix and pro-
duce fertile individuals; which is the only
character that constitutes a distinct and per-
manent species.

-NATURAL HISTORY. 27$

It is singular in these animals that their spe-
cies seem to be entirely distinct by itself, and
not connected with any other, •which may be
considered as principal or accessary, like that
of the horse with the ass, or the goat with the
sheep ; nor is it subject to a variety of races
like the dog ; it participates of many species,
yet essentially differs from all. Let those who
would circumscribe the immensity of nature
into narrow systems, attend to this animal, and
they will find it surmounts their methodical ar-
rangements. In its extremities it has no re-
semblance to whole-hoofed animals, being
rather cloven-hoofed, and yet it does not re-
semble them fairly, because though it appears
to have but two toes, yet it has four concealed,
within ; nor does the hog resemble those which
have the toes separated, since he walks only
on two toes, and the other two are neither so
placed, nor extended sufficiently, to be made
use of in that respect. Shall we consider this
as an error in nature, and that these two toes
so concealed ought not to be reckoned ? If so,
it should be remembered that this error is con-
stant: that besides, the other bones of the feet
do not resemble cloven -footed animals, and that
there are striking differences in many other
respects, for the latter have horns and no in-
cisive

280 tfUFfon's

cisivc teeth in the upper jaw, they have four
stomachs, chew the cud, &c. while the bog,
on the contrary, has no horns, but one stomach,
docs not chew the cud, and has cutting teeth
both above and below; thus it is evident, he
neither belongs to the species of hoofed or clo-
ven-footed animals, and with as little propriety
can he be ranked among the web-footed animals
since he differs from them not only in the ex-
tremities of the feet, but in the teeth, stomach,
intestines, and internal parts of generation.
All that can be said is, that in some respects
lie forms the shade between the w hole and clo-
en- footed animals, and in others between the

v

cloven-footed and digitated animals ; for lie
differs less from the whole-hoofed quadrupeds
in the form and number of his teeth than from
others ; he also resembles them in the length
of his jaw, and, like them, has but one sto-
mach ; but by an appendage annexed to it, as
well as by the position of the intestines, he
seems nearly to approach the cloven-footed
animals, or those who chew the cud. He
likewise resembles them in the external parts of
generation, and at the same time in the make of
his legs, habits of body, number of young, he
approaches very near to the digitated quadru-
peds.

Aristotle

NATURAL HISTORY. 281

Aristotle was the first who divided quadru-
peds into whole-hoofed, cloven-footed, and
digitated, and he allows, that the hog is of an
ambiguous species ; but the only reason he gives
is, that in Illyria,Paeonia, andsome other places
there are hogs with whole hoofs. This animal
is also a kind of exception to the two general
rules of nature, namely, that the larger the
animals the less young they produce, and that
digitated animals are the most prolific. The
hog, though far above the middling size, pro-
duces more than any other quadruped. By
this fertility, as well as by the formation of
the ovary of the female, it even seems to form
the extremity of the viviparous species, and to
approach the oviparous. In short, the hog
seems to be of an equivocal nature, or rather
appears so to those who suppose the hypotheti-
cal order of their ideas to be the same as the
common order of Nature, and who only per-
ceive, in the infinite chain of beings, some ap-
parent points to which they would refer every
natural occurrence.

It is not by circumscribing the sphere of Na-
ture that we can become perfectly acquainted
with her : we cannot judge of her by making
her act with our particular views; nor is it by
ascribing our ideas to her Author that we can
vol. v. O o penetrate

282 buffon's

penetrate into His designs. Instead of con-
fining and limiting the powers of Nature, we
should extend them to immensity ; we ought
to look on nothing as impossible, but that
every thing which may be, really has existence.
Ambiguous species, and irregular productions,
would then cease to surprise, and appear
equally as necessary as others in the infinite or-
der of things; they fill up the intervals, form
the immediate points, and mark the extremities
of the chain. These beings present to the hu-
man understanding curious examples, where
Nature, appearing to act less conformably to
herself, makes a greater display of her powers,
and enables us to trace singular characters^
which indicate that her designs are more ge-
neral than our confined views, and that if she
doesr nothing in vain, neither is she regulated
by the designs we attribute to her.

Should we not reflect on this singular con-
formation of the hog? He appears not to
have been formed on an original and perfect
plan, since he is composed of parts peculiar to
other animals, and has evidently parts of which
he makes no use, particularly the toes above
described, notwithstanding the bones are per-
fectly formed. Nature is therefore far from
being influenced by final causes in the confor-
mation

MATURAL HISTORY. 283

mation of beings; why may she not sometimes
give redundant parts, since she so often with-
holds those which are essential ? How many
animals are deficient both in senses and mem-
bers ? Why should we suppose, that in each
individual every part is useful to others, and
necessary to the whole ? Is it not sufficient
that they are found together, that they are not
hurtful, can grow without hindrance, and un-
fold without obliterating each other? All
things which are not hostile enough to destroy
each other certainly can subsist together ; and
perhaps there are, in most beings, fewer re-
lative, useful, or necessary parts, than those
which are indifferent, useless, or superabundant;
but as we would always refer things to a cer-
tain end, when parts have no apparent uses, we
either suppose they have hidden ones, or in-
vent relations which have no foundation, and
only serve to lead us into errors. We do not
consider that we alter the philosophy, and
change the sense of the object, when instead of
inquiring how Nature acts, we endeavour to
divine the end and cause of her acting. This
general prejudice, which is too frequently
adopted, serves only to cover our ignorance,
and is both useless and opposite to the inquiry
after, and discovery of, the effects of Nature.
O o 2 Without

284 buffon's

Without quitting our subject we can give other
examples, where the intentions we so vainly
ascribe to Nature areevidently contradicted . It
is said the phalanges are formed merely to pro-
duce fingers or toes, yet in the hog they are use-
less, since they do not form toes which the ani-
mal can make any advantage of ; and in cloven-
footed animals there are small bones which do
not form phalanges.* If then it was the design
of Nature to produce toes, it is evident that in the
hog she has not more than half executed her pur-
pose, and in the others she has scarcely began it.

The allantois is a membrane which is found
in the foetus of the sow, mare, cow, and
many other animals. This membrane adheres
to the bladder of the foetus, and is said to be
placed there for the purpose of receiving its
urine while it is in the belly of the mother; and
at the instant of birth , indeed > an inconsiderable
quantity of liquor is found in the allantois ; in
the cow, where perhaps it is most abundant, it
never amounts to more than a few pints ; and
the extent of the membrane is so great, there is
not any proportion between that and the liquor.
This membrane, when filled with air, forms a
kind of double packet^ in the shape of a cres-
cent, thirteen or fourteen inches long, and from

nine

* M. Daubentoo Was the first who made this discovery*

NATURAL HISTORY. 2S.5

Jiirie to twelve inches broad. Can it require a
vessel capable of containing several cubic fed
to receive three or four pints of water ? The
bladder of the foetus itself, if not pierced at the
bottom, would suffice to contain this liquor, as
it does in mankind, and those animals where
the allantois has not been discovered; it is,
therefore, plain this membrane is not designed
to receive the urine of the fcetus, nor for any
purpose we are capable of imagining* for if it
was to be filled it would form a bulk as large
as the bod v in which it was contained ; besides^
as it bursts at the moment of birth, and is
thrown away with the other membranes which
envelop the fcelus, it is certainly as useless
then as it was before.

The number of teats, it has been said, in
every species of animals, corresponds with the
number of young which the female can pro*
duce and suckle. Why then has the male,
which never produces, usually the same num-
ber of teats as the female? and why should the
sow, which sometimes produces eighteen or
twenty pigs, never have more than twelve teats,
and sometimes less? Does not this prove that
it is not by final causes that we can judge of
the works of Nature, and (hat we ought not
.to determine but by examining how she zcxf,

and

286 buffon's

and by employing the physical reasons which
present themselves in the immense variety of her
productions? Allowing that this method,which
is the only one that can conduct us to real
knowledge, is more difficult than the other,
and that there are an infinity of facts in Na-
ture, which, like the preceding, cannot be ap-
plied with success, instead of searching for the
use of this great capacity in the allarttois, we
ought to inquire into those physical relations
which may indicate the origin of its produc-
tion; by observing, for example, that in ani*
mals, whose stomachs and intestines are not
very large, the allantois is either very small or
does not exist, and that consequently the pro-
duction of this membrane has some connection
with the size of the intestines, &c. By con-
sidering, in the same manner, that the number
of teats is not equal to those of the young,
admitting only that the most prolific animals
have the greatest number of teats, we may
conceive that this numerous production de-
pends on the conformation of the interior parts
of generation, and the teats being also the ex-
ternal dependancies of the same parts, there is
between the number and arrangement of those
parts and that of the paps a physical relation,
which we should endeavour to investigate.

But

NATURAL HISTORY. 287

But I here only endeavour to point out the
right path, without entering into a discussion ;
yet I must observe, that numerous productions
depend more upon the internal construction of
the parts of generation than any other cause.
It certainly does not depend upon the quantity
of semen emitted, otherwise the horse, stag,
ram, and goat, would be more prolific than the
dog, cat, and other animals, who produce a
great number of young, though they have but
very little in proportion to their size ; neither
does the number of young depend upon the
frequency of coition, for once coupling of the
hog and the dog is sufficient to produce a great
many young ; the length of time occupied in
the emission has no effect in this respect, for
the dog remains long only because he is re-
tained by an obstacle in the conformation of
the parts : and though the boar has not this ob-
stacle yet he remains longer coupled than most
animals, but no conclusion can be drawn from
that in favour of the numerous productions of
the sow, since a cock requires not more than
an instant to fecundate all the eggs an hen will
produce in a month. I shall have occasion to
unfold the ideas I have accumulated, with a
view to prove that a simple probability, or
doubt, when founded on physical relations, pro-
duces

28S buffon's

duces more light and advantages than all the
final causes put together.

To the singularities already related we shall
add some others. The fat of the hog differs
from that of almost every other quadruped,
not only in its consistence and quality, but its-
position in the body of the animal. The fat
of man, and those animals which have no suet,
such as the dog, horse, &c. is pretty equally
mixed with the flesh; the suet of the sheep,
goat, deer, &c. is found only at the extremities
of the flesh ; but the fat of the hog is neither
mixed with the flesh nor collected at its ex-
tremities, but covers the animal all over, and
forms a thick, distinct, and continued layer be-
tween the flesh and the skin. This peculiarity
also attends the whale, and other cetaceous
animals. A still greater singularity is, that the
hog never sheds any of his cutting teeth, like
man, the horse, ox, sheep, &c. but they con-
tinue to grow during life. He has six cutting
teeth in the under jaw, and a corresponding
number in the upper, but, by an irregularity,
of which there is not another example in Na-
ture, the bottom ones are of a very different
form from the upper, for instead of being
incisive and sharp, the latter are long, cylin-
drical, blunt at the points, and form an angle

almost

NATURAL HISTORY. 289

♦almost even with the upper jaw, fo that their
extremities apply to each other very obliquely.
It is only the hog, and two or three other
species of animals, which have the canine
teeth very long ; they differ from other teeth
by coming out of the mouth, and growing
during their whole lives. In the elephant, and
sea-cow, they are cylindrical, and some feet in
length ; in the wild boar, and male ,bog, they
are partly bent in the form of a eirqb, and I
have seen them from nine to ten inches long ;
they are deep in the socket, and, like those of
the elephant, have a cavity at the superior ex-
tremiy; but the elephant and sea-cow have
these tusks only in the upper jaw, and are with-
out canine teeth in the under ; while the male
hog, and .wild boar, have them in both jaws,
and those of the under are the most useful to
the animal ; they are also the most dangerous,
as it is with the lower tusks the wild boar
wounds tjiose he attacks.

The sow, wild sow, and the hog which is
cut, have these canine teeth in the under jaw,
but they do not grow like those of the boar,
and scarcely appear out of the, mouth . Beside
these sixteen teeth, that is twelve incisive and
four canine, they have twenty-eight grinders,
which make forty- four in the whole. The
vol. v. P p wild

290 buffon's

wild boar, {Jig. 29 J has the tusks larger, the
snout stronger, and the head longer than the
domestic hog, (Jig. 28.) his ieet are always
larger, his toes more separated, and his bristles
always black.

Of all quadrupeds the hog appears the most
rough and brufal, and the imperfections of his
make seem to influence his nature; all his ways
are uncouth, all his appetites unclean, all his
sensations are confined to a furious lust and
brutal gluttony ; he devours, without distinc-
tion, every thing that comes in his way, even
his own young soon after their birth. His vo-
raciousness seems to proceed from the continual
wants of his stomach, which is immoderately
large; and the coarseness of his appetite is pro-
bably owing to the dullness of his senses, bo(h
as to taste and feeling. The roughness of the
hair, hardness of the skin, and thickness of the
fat, render these animals insensible to blows.
Mice have been known to lodge on (heir backs,
and to eat their skin and fat without their seem-
ing sensible of it. Their other senses are good,
and it is well known to huntsmen, that wild
boars see, hear, and smell at a great distance,
since in order to surprise them they are obliged
to watch in silence during the night, and to
place themselves opposite to the wind, to pre~

vent

JSiutraved -for Sarr* Htq&v/i

FlC

I I'M Boar

PIG .'«

NATUftAL HISTORY. 291

vent them having notice of them by the smell,
■which in variably makes them change theirroad.

The imperfections in the senses of taste and
feeling is still more augmented by a leprous
disease which renders him almost absolutely in-
sensible. This disorder proceeds perhaps less
from the texture of the skin and flesh of this
animal than from his natural filth, and the cor-
ruption which must result from the putrid food
which he frequently devours ; for the wild boar
who usually lives upon corn, fruits, acorns,
and roots, is not subject to this distemper, noris
the pig while it continues to suck. The dis-
erder is only to be prevented in the domestic hog
by keeping him in a clean stable and feeding
him with wholesome food : his flesh will become
excellent and his fat firm and brittle, if he is
kept for a fortnight or three weeks before he
is killed in a clean paved stable, without litter,
giving him no other food than dry wheat, and
letting him drink but little ; for this purpose a
hog of about a year old and nearly fat should
be selected.

The usual method of fattening hogs, is td
give them plenty of barley, acorns, cabbages,
boiled peas, roots, and water mixed with bran.
In two months they are fat ; their lard is thick
but neither firm nor white; and their flesh,
P p 2 though

292 buffonY

thono-h good, is rather insipid. They may be
fattened at less expence in woody countries,
by conducting them into forests during autumn,
when acorns, chesnut*, beech-mast, must quit
their husks and fall from the trees. They eat
indiscriminately all wild fruits, arid fatten in a
short time, especially if a little warm water
mixed with bran and pease-meal is given to
them every night on their return home; this
drink makes them sleep atnd augments their fat
to such a degree that they are sometimes un-
able to walk or scarcely move. They fatten
much the quickest in autumn, both on account
of the plenty of food and because they losa
much less by perspiration than in the summer:

months.

It is not necessary in fattening the hog, to
■wait, as with other cattle,, until he is full
crown, for the older he is the more difficult it
is to fatten him, and his flesh decreases in good-
ness with age. Castration, which should al-
ways precede fattening, is usually performed
when they are six months old, and either in
spring or autumn, as both heat and cold are
injurious to the healing of the wound. When
this operation is performed in the spring, they
are generally fit for fattening the following
autumn. They continue growing for four or

five

NATURAL HISTORY. 293

fTve years, and even to that period it is not li-
mited, as boars kept for propagation sometimes
increase in size during the sixth, and the wild
boar is always larger in proportion to the num-
ber of his years: the life of which sometimes
extends to -2b or 30. According to Aristotle
bogs live twenty years, and both males and fe-
males are fertile till the fifteenth. Th<*y can
couple by the acre of nine or twelve months,
but it is better to keep them separate until they
are eighteen mon.hs or two years. The sows
have but few young at the first litter, and those
are generally weak, even when a year old; she
is at all times in season and solicits the male ; she
goes four months after copulation, and litters at
the beginning of the fifth ; she will receive the
malealmost immediately after and consequently
bring forth twice in the year. The wild sow
Has but one litter in the year, and as she per-
fectly resembles the domestic one in every other
respect, this difference may arise both from her
not having the same kind of nourishment, and
being obliged to suckle her young much longer.
In fifteen days pigs are fit to kill; as many fe-
males are unnecessary, and as castrated ho^s
bring most profit, it is customary not to leave
with the mother, after that period, more than
one or two females, and seven or eight males.

The

294 buffon's

The boars kept for propagation should have?
a thick body, rather short than long, a large
bead, short snout, long ears, small fiery eyes, a
thick neck, flat belly, broad thighs, short thick
legs, and strong black bristles. Black hogs
are always stronger than white ones. ri he
sow should have a large body, spacious belly,
and large dugs, and some attention should be
paid to her being of a mild disposition. After
conception she should be taken from the male,
as he will sometimes do her an injury: she
should be plentifully fed when she litters, and
watched lest she destroys her young; and the
male must then be carefully kept away, or he
will devour the whole of them. It is common
to let the females go with the males in the
spring, thatthey may litter in the summer, and
that the pigs may acquire strength before
winter ; unless when two litters are required
in the year, then she is put to the male in No-
vember, and again at the beginning of May:
some of them will regularly produce every five
months. The wild sow generally goes with
the male in January, and brings forth in June;
she suckles her young three or four months,
and they never separate from her before they
are two or three years old; and it is not un-
common to see her accompanied with two or

three

NATURAL HISTORY. 295

three different litters at a time. The domestic
sow is not permitted to suckle heryouna; more
than two months ; as early as three weeks even,
they go with the mother to the fields, by way
of being habi'uated tohrr mode of living, and
five weeks aftprward^ they arc weaned, when,
for some sh<»rt time 'hey have a little milk,
mixed with bran, given them morning and
evening. Hogs are particularly fond of earth-
worms and root-, for the purpose of procuring
which it is that they 'ear up the ground with
their snouts. The wild boar, who has a stronger
snout than the domestic one, digs deeper, and
nearly in a straight line, while the latter does
it very irregularly.

The wild boars do not separate from their
mothers until the third year, and to which age
they are called by hunters flock-beasts, from
that circumstance. They never go alone until
they are strong enough to encounter the wolf
At that time they form themselves into flocks,
and if attacked, the largest and strongest front
the enemy, and by pressing against the weak
ones keep them in the middle ; the domestic
hogs follow the same method, and therefore
require not to be guarded with dogs. They
are very untractable, and one man cannot
manage more than My of them at a time.

They

296 buffon's

They procure a number of wild fruits in au-
tumn and winter by being taken to tbe woods,
as they do worms and roots in moist lauds in
summer, both of which are good for them ;
and they may be allowed to go into waste and
fallow lands during the spring. From March
to October they are taken out as soon as the
dew is off the ground, and kept to feed till
icn o'clock ; ab$;ut two they are suffered to
go out again, and continue till the evening.
In the winter they are only let out when the
weather is fine, as dew, snow, and rain, are
very injurious to them. When a heavy rain
or storm comes on, it is not uncommon to see
them desert the flock one after another, and
run and cry until they arrive at the stable-door;
and it is the youngest which cry the loudest ;
this cry is different from their usual grunting,
and resembles that which they make when tied
up for slaughter. The male cries less than
the female; and the wild boar seldom cries but
"when he is wounded in fighting with anolher;
the wild sow cries more often, ar.d when sud-
denly surprised will breathe with such violence
as to be heard at a great distance.

.Although these animals are great gluttons,
yet they do r.otattack or devour other animals ;
sometimes, however, they eat corrupted flesh.

Wild

NATURAL HISTORY. 297

Wild boars have been seen to eat horse-flesh,
and the skin of the deer, and the claws of
birds have been found in their stomach ; but
this is, perhaps, more from necessity than in-
stinct. It cannot, nevertheless, be denied that
they are very fond of blood, and of fresh and
bloody flesh, since they will eat their own
young, and even children in the cradle.
Whenever they find any thing succulent or
humid, fat or unctuous, they first lick and then
swallow it. It is common for a whole herd of
these animals to stop round a heap of new-
dug clay, and though it is but very little unc-
tuous, they will all lick it, and some of them
swallow great quantities. Their gluttony is as
gross as their nature is brutal : they have scarce-
ly any distinct sentiments ; the young ones
hardly know their mothers, for they are very
apt to mistake her, and to suck the first sow
that will permit them. Fear and necessity seem
to give more instinct and sentiment to wild
hogs, for the young are more attached to their
mother, who also appears more attentive to
them than does the domestic sow. In the rut-
ting season the male follows the female, and
generally stays about a month with her in the
thickest and most solitary parts of the forest :
he is then more fierce than ever, and becomes
vol. v. Q q perfectly

298 buffon's

perfectly furious if another male endeavours
to occupy his place, in that case they fight,
■wound, and sometimes kill each other. The
wild sow is never furious but when her young
is in danger ; and it may be remarked in ge-
neral, that in almost all wild animals the males
are more ferocious in the rutting season, and
the females when they have young.

The wild boar is hunted by dogs, or taken
by surprise in the night, by the light of the
moon. As he flies slowly, leaves a strong odour
behind him, defends himself against the dogs,
and wounds them dangerously, he should not
be hunted by dogs designed for the stag, &c.
as it will spoil their scent, and give them the
habit of moving slowly. Mastiffs will serve
the purpose, and are easily trained to it. The
oldest only should be attacked, and they aro
easily known by the tracks of their feet ; a
young boar of three years old is difficult to
take, because he runs a great way without
stopping ; but the old boar does not run far,
suffers himself to be close hunted, and has no
great fear of <he dogs. In the day he usually
hides himself in the most unfrequented parts of
the wood, and comes out in the night in quest
of food. In summer it is very easy so surprise
him, especially in the cultivated fields, where

the

NATURAL HISTORY. 299

the grain is ripe, which he will frequent every
night. As soon as he is killed the hunters cut
off his testicles, for their odour is so strong
that in five or six hours the whole of his flesh
would be infected. Of an old wild boar the
head only is good to eat, while every part of
the young one, of not more than one year old,
is extremely delicate. The flesh of the do-
mestic boar is still worse than that of the wild
one, and it is only by castration and fattening
that they are rendered fit to eat. The ancients
castrated the young wild boars, which they
could get from their mothers, and then re-
turned them again into the woods, where they
soon grew fat, and their flesh was much better
than that of domestic\hogs.*

No one who lives in the country is ignorant
of the profits arising from the hog; his flesh
sells for more than that of the ox, and his lard
for nearly double; the blood, intestines, feet,
and tongue, are all prepared and used as food.
The dung of the hog is colder than that of
other animals, and should not be used for any
but hot and dry lands, The fat of the in-
testines and web, which differs from the com-
mon lard, is employed for greasing wheels, and
many other purposes. Sieves are made of the

skin,

* See Aristotle's Hist. Animal, lib. vi. cap. xxviii;

300 BUFFO N'S

skin, and brushes and pencil-brushes are made
of the hair and bristles. The flesh of this
animal takes salt better, and will keep longer
than that of any other.

This species, though very abundant, and
greatly spread over Europe, Asia, and Africa,
were not found on the New Continent till
they were transported thither by the Spaniards,
and who also took large black hogs (o almost
all the islands of America. They have be-
come wild, and multiplied greatly in many
places: they resemble our wild boars, and
their bodies are shorter, their heads larger,
and their skins thicker than the domestic
hogs, which in warm climates are all black,
like the wild boar.

By one of those prejudices which super-
stition alone could produce and support, the
Mahometans are deprived of this animal;
having been told hogs are unclean, they do
not either touch or feed on them. The Chi-
nese, on the contrary, are very fond of their
flesh; they raise numerous herds of them,
and pork is their principal food ; and this
circumstance is said to have prevented them
from receiving the law of Mahomet. The
hogs of China, Siam, and India, differ a lit-
tle from those of Europe ; they are smaller,

have

NATURAL HISTORY. 301

have shorter legs, and their flesh is much more
white and delicate. Some of them have been
reared in France, and they will intermix and
produce with the common hoas. The negroes
raise great numbers of hoses, and though there
are but few among the Moors, or in the coun-
tries inhabited by the Mahometans, yet wild
boars are as plenty in Africa and in Asia as in
Europe.

Thus these animals are not confined to any
particular climates ; it is only observable, that
the boar, by becoming domestic, degenerates
more in cold than in warm climates. A decree
of temperature is sufficient to change their
colour. Hogs are commonly white in the
northern parts of France, as they are in
Vivarais, while in Dauphiny, which is not far
distant, they are all black; those of Languedoc,
Provence, Spain, Italy, India, China, and
America, are also of the same colour. The
hog of Siam has a greater resemblance than the
hog of France to the wild boar. One of
the most evident marks of degeneration is fur-
nished by the ears, which become more supple
and pendant as the animal changes into a do-
mestic state ; in short the ears of the domestic
Iiog are not so stiff, are much longer, and more

pendant

302 BUFFO N*S

pendant than those of the wild boar, which
ought to be regarded as the model of the
species.

THE DOG.

IT is not the largeness of make, elegance
of form, strength of body, freedom of motions,
or all the exterior qualities, which constitute
the noblest properties in an animated being;
in mankind genius is preferred to figure,courage
to strength, and sentiment to beauty; so we
consider the interior qualities in an animal as
the most estimable; for it is by those he differs
from the automaton, rises above the vegetable
species, and approaches nearer to man. It is
sentiment which ennobles, regulates, and en-
livens his being, which gives activity to all his
organs, and birth to desire and motion. The
perfection of an animal depends, then, upon
sentiment alone, and the more this is extended
the more are his faculties and resources aug-
mented, and the greater are his relations with

the

NATURAL HISTORY. 303

the rest of the universe. When this sentiment
is delicate, exquisite, and capable of improve-
ment, the animal then becomes worthy to as-
sociate with man ; he knows how to concur
with his designs, to watch for his safety, io
defend and to flatter him with caresses ; by a
repetition of these services he conciliates the
affection of his master, and from his tyrant
makes him his protector.

The dog, independent of his beauty, strength,
vivacity, and nimblcness, has all the interior
qualities which can attract the regard of man.
A passionate and ferocious temper, makes the
wild dog dreaded by most animals, as much as
the pacific disposition of the domestic dog
renders him agreeable ; to his master he flies
with alacrity, and submissively lays at his feet
all his courage, strength, and talents ; he seems
to consult, interrogate, and supplicate for or-
ders, which he is solicitous to execute ; a glance
of the eye is sufficient, for he understands the
smallest signs of his will. Without having
like man, the faculty of thought, he has all the
ardour of sentiment, with fidelity and constan-
cy in his affections ; neither ambition, interest,
nor desire of revenge, can corrupt him, and
he has no fear but that of displeasing ; he is
all zeal, warmth, and obedience; more in-
clined

304 buffon's

clined to remember benefits than injuries ; he
soon forgets ill-usage, or at least only recol-*
iects it to make his attachment the stronger.
Instead of becoming furious or running away,
he exposes himself to the severity of his mas-
ter, and licks the hand which causes his pain :
he only opposes by his cries, and in the end
subdues by palience and submission.

More docile than man, more tractable than
any other animal, the dog is not only instructed
in a very short time, but he even conforms him-
self to the manners, motions, and habits, of
those who command him. He assumes all the
modes of the family in which he lives ; like
other servants he is haughty with the great and
rustic with the peasant. Always attentive to
his master, and desirous of pleasing his friends,
he is totally indifferent to strangers, and op-
poses beggars, whom he knows by their dress,
voice, and gestures, and prevents their ap-
proach. When the care of a house is com-
mitted to him during the night he becomes
more bold, and sometimes perfectly ferocious ;
he watches, goes bis rounds, scents strangers
at a distance, and if they stop, or attempt to
break in, he flies to oppose them, and by re-
iterated barkings, and other efforts of passion,
he gives the alarm to the family. He is equally-
furious

NATURAL HISTORY. 305

furious against thieves as rapacious animals ;
he attacks, wounds, and forces from them
what they were endeavouring to take away ;
but contented with having conquered, he will
lie down upon the spoil, nor even touch it to
satisfy his appetite ; giving at once an exam-
ple of courage, temperance, and fidelity.

To determine the importance of this species
in the order of nature, let us suppose it had
never existed. Without the assistance of the
dog how could man have been able to tame and
reduce other animals to slavery? How could
he discover, hunt, and destroy noxious and sa-
vage beasts ? To preserve his own safety, and
to render himself master of the animated world,
it was necessary to make friends among those
animals whom he found capable of attachment
to oppose them to others ; and therefore the train-
ing of dogs seems to have been the first art in-
vented by man, and the fruit of that art was the
conquest and peaceable possession of the earth.

Almost all animals have more agility, swift-
ness, strength, and even courage than man.
Nature has furnished them better ; their senses,
but above all that of smelling, is more perfect.
To have gained over a tractable and courageous
species like the dog, was acquiring new senses
and faculties. The machines and instruments
vol. v. Rr which

306 buffon's

which we have invented to improve or extend
our other senses, do not equal, in utility, those
nature has presented to us ; which by supply-
ing the defects of our smelling, have furnished
us with the great and permanent means of
conquest and dominion. The dog, faithful to
man, will always preserve a portion of his em-
pire, and a degree of superiority over other ani-
mals ; he reigns at the head of a flock, and
makes himself better understood than the voice
of the shepherd ; safety, order, and discipline are
the fruits of his vigilance and activity ; they are
a people submitted to his management, whom
he conducts and protects, and against whom he
never employs furce, but for the preservation
of peace and good order. But in war against
his enemies, or wild animals, his courage shines
forth, his understanding is displayed, and his
natural and acquired talents are united. As
soon as he hears the noise of arms, as soon as
the born, or the huntsman's voice gives the
alarm, fdled with a new ardour, the dog ex-
presses his joy by the most lively transports,
and shews by his emotions and cries, his im-
patience for combat and his desire to conquer.
Sometimes he moves along with cautious
silence to discover and surprise his enemy ; at
others he traces the animal step by step, and

NATURAL HISTORY. 307

by different tones indicates the disfance, spe-
cies, and even age of what he is in pursuit of.
Pushed, intimidated, and despairing of safety in.
flight alone, animals make use of all their fa-
culties and oppose craft to sagacity. In no in-
stance are the resources of instinct more admi-
rable : in order to make it difficult for the dog
to trace him, the animal doubles, goes over its
own steps again, by a single spring will clear a
hedge or highway, and swims over brooks and
rivers ; but being still pursued and unable to
annihilate himself, he endeavours to ; ut another
in his place ; for this he seeks an unexperienced
neighbour, with whom lie keeps close until he
supposes their steps are su ffi cicntly inter nixed
to confound the scent of his, when he suddenly
leaves him to become a victim to his deceived
enemy. J3ut the dog, by the superiorly which
exercise and education have given him, and by
the excellence of his sensations, does not lose
the object of his pursuit ; by his scent he finds
out all the windings of the labyrinth, all the
false means adopted to make him go astray;
and far from abandoning the one he was in
pursuit of for another, he redoubles his ardour,
at length overtakes, attacks, and puts him to
death ; thus drenching in his blood both his
Jiatred and revenge.

R r 2 The

308 buffon's

The inclination for hunting or war is com-
mon to us with animals. Man, in a savage
state, knows only how to fight and to hunt. All
carnivorous animals which have strength and
weapons hunt naturally. The lion and the
tiger, whose strength is so great that they are
sure to conquer, hunt alone, and without art.
Wolves, foxes, and wild dogs, hunt in packs,
assist each other and divide the prey, and when
education in the domestic dog has improved
this natural talent, when he is taught to re-
press his ardour and to regulate his motions, he
hunts with art and knowledge, and always with
success. In deserts and depopulated countries,
there are wild dogs, which differ in their man-
ners from wolves, in no case but in the facility
with which they are tamed. They unite in
large troops to hunt, and will attack wild
boars, bulls, and even lions and tigers. In
America the wild dogs spring from a domestic
race and were transported thither from Europe ;
some of them having been forgotten or aban-
doned in those deserts, have multiplied in such
a degree that they go in troops to inhabited
places, where they attack the cattle, and will
sometimes even approach the inhabitants, who
are obliged to drive them away by force and kill
them like other ferocious animals. Dogs how-
ever

NATURAL HISTORY. 309

ever continue in this state only while they re-
main unacquainted with man, for if we ap-
proach wild ones with gentleness, they soon
grow tame, become familiar, and remain faith-
fully attached to their masters ; but the wolf
though taken young and brought up in the
house, is only gentle in his youth, never loses
his taste for prey, and sooner or later gives
himself up to his fondness for rapine and de-
struction.

The dog may be said to be the only animal
whose fidelity will stand the proof; who always
knows his master, and even his master's
friends ; who points out a stranger as soon as he
arrives; who understands his own name, and
knows the voices of the domestics; who has
not confidence in himself alone; who, when he
has lost his master, will call upon him by his
cries and lamentations ; who in long journeys,
and which he may have travelled but once, will
remember his way, and find out the roads ; in
fine, the dog is the only animal whose talents
are evident, and whose education is always suc-
cessful. Of all animals he is also the most
susceptible of impressions, mosteasily modified
by moral causes, and most subject to alterations
caused by physical influences. The tempera-
ment, faculties, and habits of his body vary

prodigiously,

310 buifon's

prodigiously, and even his form is not uniform.
In (be same country one dog is very different
from another, and the species seems quite
changed in different climates ; from thence
spring the mixture and variety of races which
are so great that it isim possible to enumerate or
describe them. From the same causes arise that
great variety so visible in the height, figure,
length of the snout, form of the head, length
and direction of the ears and tail, colour, qua-
lity and quantity of hair, &c. so that there
seems to remain nothing constant in these ani-
mals but the conformity of their internal orga-
nization, and the faculty of procreating toge-
ther. And as -hose which differ most from
each other can intermix and produce fertile
individuals, it is evident that dogs, however
greatly they may vary, nevertheless constitute
but one species. But what is most difficult to
ascertain in this numerous variety of races, is
the character of the primitive stock. How are
we to distinguish the effects produced by the
influence of the climate, food, &c. ? How dis-
cover tlie changes which have resulted from an
intermixture among themselves, either in a
wild or domestic state ? All these causes will,
in time, alter the most, permanent forms, and
the image of nature does not preserve its purity

NATURAL HISTORY. 511

in those objects of which mankind have had (he
management. Those animals which are inde-
pendent and can ch use for themselves both their
food and climate, are those which best preserve
their original impressions, and we may believe
the most ancient of their species are the most
faithfully represented by their descendants. But
those which mankind have subdued, transport-
ed from climate to climate, whose food, cus-
toms, and manners of living he has changed,
may also be those which have changed most in
their forms ; and it is a fact that there are more
varieties among domestic than wild animals;
and as among domestic animals I he dog is most
attached to man, lives also the most regular-
ly, and \>ho possesses sentiments to render him
docile, obedient, susceptible of all impressions,
and submissive to all restraints, it is not asto-
nishing that he should be that in which we find
the greatest variety not only in figure, height,
and colour, but in every other quality.

There are also other circumstances which
contribute to this change. The life of the
dog is short, Ins produce is frequent, and in
pre! ty large numbers ; he is perpetually be-
neath the eye of man, and whenever by an
accident, which is very common in nature,
there may have appeared an individual pos-
sessing

312 buffon's

sessing singular characters, or apparent varie-
ties, they have been perpetuated by uniting
together those individuals, and not permitting
them to intermix with any others ; as is done
in the present time, when we want to procure
a new breed of dogs, or other animals. Be-
sides, though all the species were equally an-
cient, yet the number of generations being ne-
cessarily the greatest in those whose lives are
short, their varieties, changes, and even de-
generations, must have become more sensible,
since they must be further removed from their
original stock than those whose lives are
longer. Man is at present eight times nearer
to Adam than is the dog to the first of his
race, because man lives to fourscore years, and
the dog to not more than ten. If, therefore,
from any cause these two species equally de-
generate, the alteration would be eight times
more conspicuous in the dog than in man.
Those whose lives are so short that they are
succeeded everyyear by a new generation, arein-
finitely more subject to variations of every kind
than those which have longer lives. It is the
same with annual plants (some of which may
be said to be artificial or factitious), when com-
pared with other vegetables. Wheat, for ex-
ample, lias been so greatly changed by man

that

NATURAL HISTOTIY. 313

that it is not at present to be any where found
in a state of nature, it certainly has some re-
semblance to darnel, dog-grass, and several
other herbs of the field, but we are ignorant to
which its origin ought to be referred ; and as
it is renewed every year, and serves for the
common fool of man, so it has experienced
more cultivation than any other plant, and
consequently undergone a greater variety of
changes. Man can, therefore, not only make
every individual in the universe useful to his
wants, but, with the aid of time, he can change,
modify, and improve theirspecies; and this is
the greatest power he has over Nature. To
have transformed a barren herb into wheat is
a kind of creation, on which, however, he has
no reason to pride himself, since it is only by
the sweat of his brow, and reiterated culture,
that he is enabled to obtain from the bosom of
the earth this, often bitter, subsistence. Thus
those species, as well among vegetables
as animals, which have been the most cul-
tivated by man, are those which have under-
gone the greatest changes; and as we are
sometimes, as in the example of wheat,
unable to know their primitive form, it is not
impossible that among the numerous varieties
of dogs which exist at present there may not
vol. v. S 8 be

3H BUFFO N*S

be one like the first animal of his species^ al-
though the whole of these breeds must have
proceeded virtually from him. Nature, not-
withstanding, never fails to resume her
rights, when left at liberty to act. Wheat, if
sown in uncultivated land, degenerates the first
year ; if that is likewise sown it will be more
degenerated in the second generation, and if
continued for a succession of ages the original
plant of the wheat would appear ; and, by an
experiment of this kind, it might be discovered
how much time Nature requires to reinstate
herself and destroy the effect of art, which
restrained her. This experiment might easily
be made on corn and plants, but it would be
in vain to attempt it on animals, because they
would not only be difficult to couple and unite
but even to manage, and to surmount that in-
vincible repugnance they have to every thing
which is contrary to their dispositions or habits.
"We need not, therefore, expect to find out, by
this method, which is the primitive race of
dogs, or any other animals, which are subject
to permanent varieties. But in default of the
knowledge of these facts, which cannot be ac-
quired, we may assimilate particular indica-
tions, and from those draw probable conjec-
tures.

Those

NATURAL HISTORY. 315

r Those domestic dogs which were abandoned
in the deserts of America, and have lived wild
for 150 or 200 years, though then changed
from their original breed, must notwithstand-
ing,^ this long space of time,have approached,
at least in part, to their primitive form. Tra-
vellers say that they resemble our greyhounds;
and they say the same of the wild dogs at
Congo, which like those in America, assemble
in packs to make war with lions, tigers, &c.
But others, without comparing the wild dogs of
St. Domingo to greyhounds, only say that they
have leng flat heads, thin muzzles, a ferocious
air, and thin meagre bodies; that they are ex-
ceedingly swift in the chace,hunt in perfection,
and are easily taken and tamed when young ;
thus these wild dogs are extremely thin and
light ; and as the common greyhound differs
but little from the mastiff, or what we call the
shepherd's dog, it is not improbable that these
wild dogs are rather of those species than
real greyhounds ; because on the other hand
more ancient travellers have said that the dogs
of Canada have ears erect like foxes, and
resemble our middle-sized shepherd-dogs;
that those of the Antille Isles had very
long heads and ears, and had very much
the appearance of foxes ; that the Indians

S s 2 Of

316 buffon's

of Peru had only two kinds, a large and a
small one, which they called Alco ; that those
of the isthmus of America, were very ugly,
and that their hair was rough and coarse,
which likewise implies they had ears erect.
We cannot, therefore, have any doubt that the
original dogs of America, before they had any
communication with those of Europe, were all
of the same race, and that they approached
nearest to those dogs which have thin muzzles,
erect ears, and coarse hair, like the shepherds'
dojrs ; and what leads me further to believe
that the wild dogs of St. Domingo are not
real greyhounds is the latter being so scarce in
France, that they are brought for the king
from Constantinople, and oilier parts of the
Levant, and because I never knew of any
being brought from St. Domingo, or any of
our American colonies. Besides, in searching
what travellers have faid of dogs of different
colonies, we find that the dogs of cold climates
have long muzzles and erect ears ; that those
of Lai land are small, have erect ears, and
pointed muzzles ; that the Siberian, or wolf
dogs, are bigger than those of Lapland, but
they also have erect ears, coarse hair, and sharp
muzzles ; and that those of Iceland have a
strong resemblance to the Siberian dogs; and,

in

NATURAL HISTORY. 317

in the same manner, the native dogs of the
Cape of Good Hope and other warm coun-
tries, have sharp muzzles, erect ears, long
trailing tails, longhair, but shining and rough :
that these dogs are excellent for guarding of
flocks, and consequently not only resemble in
figure but even in instinct our shepherds' dogs.
In climates still warmer, such as Madagascar,
Madura, Calicut, and Malabar, the native
dogs have all sharp muzzles, erect ears, and
in almost every respect resemble our shepherds'
dogs; nay, that even when mastiffs, spaniels,
water-dogs, bull-dogs, beagles, blood-hounds,
&c. have been transported thither they dege-
nerated at the second or third generation.
In countries extremely hot, like Guinea, the
degeneration is still more quick, since by the
end of three or four year-, they lose their voice,
can no longer bark, but only make an howling
noise, and their immediate offspring hive erect
ears like foxes. The native dogs of these
regions are very ugly ; they have sharp muz-
zles, long erect ears, and long pointed tails ;
they have no hair on their bodies, their skin
is usually spotted, though sometimes it is of an
uniform colour ; in short they are disagreeable
to the eve and still more to the touch.

We

118

iiUFFON S

We may presume, therefore, and with some
degree of probability, that the shepherd's dog
is that which approaches nearest to the pri-
mitive race, since in all countries inhabited by
savages, or men half civilized, the dogs re-
semble this breed more than any other. On
the whole continent of the New World, they
had but these and no variety ; nor is there any
other to be found on the south and north ex-
tremities of our own continent ; and even in
France and other temperate climates, they are
still very numerous, though greater attention
lias been paid to multiplying and rearing the
more beautiful, than the preservation of those
which are most useful, and which have been
totally abandoned to the peasants who have the
care of our flocks. If we also consider that
this dog notwithstanding his ugliness, and his
wild and melancholy look, is still superior in
instinct to all others, that he has a decided
character in which education has no share,
that he is the only thing born perfectly trained,
that guided by natural powers alone, he ap-
plies himself to the care of our flocks, which
lie executes with singular assiduity, vigilance,
and fidelity, that he conducts them with an
admirable intelligence which has not been
communicated to him ; that his talents astonish

at

NATURAL HISTORY. 319

at the same time they give repose to his master,
whilst it requires much time and trouble to
instruct other dogs for the purposes to which
they are destined ; if we reflect on these facts,
we shall be confirmed in the opinion that the
shepherd's dog is the true dog of nature ; the
dog that has been bestowed upon us for the
extent of his utility ; that he has a superior
relation to the general order of animated be-
ings who have mutual occasion for the assist-
ance of each other ; and, in short, the one we
ought to look upon as the stock and model of
the whole species.

The human species appear clownish, de-
formed and diminutive in the frozen climates
of the north. In Lapland, Greenland, and
in all countries where the cold is excessive, we
find none but small and ugly men ; but in the
neighbouring countries where the cold is less
intense, we all at once meet with the Fin-
landers, Danes, &c. who for figure, com-
plexion and stature, are perhaps the hand-
somest of all mankind. It is the same with
the species of dogs : the Lapland dogs are
very ugly, and so small that they scarcely e7er
exceed a foot in length. Those of Siberia,
though less ugly have ears erect, with a wild
and savage look, while in the neighbouring

climates

320 buffon's

climates , where we find those handsome men
just mentioned, arc also the largest and most
beautiful dogs. The dogs of Tartary, Al-
bania, (he northern parts of Greece, Denmark
and Ireland, are the largest and mo^t power-
ful, and are made use of for drawing carriages.
The Irish greyhounds (Jig* SO.) are of very
ancient race and stili exist, though in small
numbers in their original climate. They were
called by the ancients, dogs of Epirus, and
Albanian dogs ; Pliny has recorded in terms
as energetic as elegant, a combat of one of
these dosrs, first with a lion and afterwards
with an elephant. These dogs are much
larger than the mastiff; they are so rare in
France that I never saw but one of them, and
he appeared as he sat to be about five feet high,
and in form resembled the large Danish dog;
but exceeded him very much in his size. He
"was quite while, and his manner was perfectly
gentle and peaceable. In all temperate cli-
mates, as in England, France, Spain, Ger-
many and Italy, we find men and dogs of
all kinds. This variety proceeds partly from
the influence of the climate, and partly from
the concourse and intermixture of foreigners.
On the former we shall not enlarge here, but
with respect to the dogs, we shall observe,

with

FIG.30

Trisiilloiuhi

FIG.31

J), 1 1 1,

Engraved for Jianv Burton

Greyhound

Shq>herdfDog

Wolr Hog

.»//'< rin 1 1 /).''

NATURAL HISTORY. 32\

with as much attention as possible, the resem-
blances and differences which care, food, and
climate have produced among these animals.
The large Dane, (jig. 31.) the mastiff, ancl
the common greyhound (fig. 31.) though
they appear different at the first sight, are
nevertheless the same dog ; the large Dane is
no more than a plump mastiff: and the com-
mon greyhound is only the mastiff, rendered
more thin and delicate by care; for there is
no more difference between these three dogs
than between a Dutchman, a Frenchman, ad
an Italian. In supposing the Irish greyhound
to have been a native of France, he would
have produced the Danish dog in a colder cli-
mate, and the greyhound in a warmer ; and
this supposition seems to be proved by the fact
of the Danish dog's coming to us from the
north, and the greyhound from Constantinople
and the Levant. The shepherd's dog(/?g. 33.)
the wolf dog (jig> 31.) and the Siberian dog
(Jig- 35.) are but the same dog, and to which
indeed might be added the Lapland, the Ca-
nadian, the Hottentot, and all those doj^
which have erect ears ; in short they only dif-
fer from the shepherd's dog in their height, in
being more or less covered with hair, and in
that being more or less long, coarse or bushy.
vol. v. T t The

322 BUFFO NTS

The hound (fig. 3G.) the harrier (fig. 37.) the
turnspit (fig. 38.) the water dog (fig. 39.) and
even the spaniel (fig 40.) may likewise be re-
garded as the same dog; the greatest difference
between them being the length of their legs,
and the size of their ears, which in them all
are long, soft, and pendent. These dogs are
natives of France ; and I do not think we
should separate them from w hat is called the
harrier of Bengal (fig' 41.) as it only differs
from our harrier in its colour. I am fully
satisfied that this dog is not originally from
Bengal, or any other part of India, and that
lie is not, as some have pretended, the Indian
dog spoken of by the ancients, which they say
was the produce of a dog and a tiger, for he
has been known in Italy above 150 years, and
never considered as a dog come from India
but as a common harrier.*

England, France, Germany, &c. appear to
have produced the hound, the harrier, and
the turnspit, for these dogs almost immediately
begin to degenerate on being carried into Per-
sia, Turkey, and such warm climates. But

the

* Canis sagax (vulgo brachus) says Aldrovande, an unius
velvarii colons sit parum refert; in Italia eligitur varius et
maculosa lynci persimilis, cum tamen niger color vel albus,
aut fulvus non sit spernendus. Ulyssis Aldrovandi 4e qua-
druped, digit at. 'uivlp. lib. Hi. p. £52.

Fig. 3b.

ITcund ■

Enora »'<>/ ii>rli<irrs Buflbn

FiG.3a
Water Doa

Iru/rjteJ tor Barrs jjufioTL .

Spaniel .

IHanier of Bengal .

hrlaihl Jicii

FIG.43

Turkish /Jrn

NATURAL HISTORY. 325

the spaniels and water dogs are natives of
Spain and Barbary, where the temperature
of the air occasions the hair- to be longer and
finer than in any other country. The bull-dog
which is improperly called the little Dane,
since he has no resemblance whatever to
the large Dane except in having the hair
short; the Turkish dog and the Iceland dog
{jig* 42.) are but the same race, which being
transported into a very cold climate has taken
a strong covering, and in the warmer climates
of Africa and India has lost ils hair. The dog
without hair known by the name of the
Turkish dog {jig* 43.) is improperly so called,
since it is not in the temperate climates of
Turkey that dogs lose their hair, but in
Guinea, and in the hottest climates of the
Indies that this change happens; and the
Turkish dog is no other than the small Dane,
which had been transported into some very
warm climate, and having lost its hair was
afterwards brought into Turkey, where, from
its singularity, care has been taken to multiply
the breed. The first of them that was seen
in Europe, according to Aldrovandus, were
taken in his time into Italy, where they could
not multiply upon account of the climate being
too cold for them. But as he gives not any
description of these naked dogs, we cannot de-
termine

324 btjffon's

tcrmine whether they Were like those which
are now called Turkish dogs, or whether we
eli -ulcJ compare them to the small Date, since
dogs of every breed lose thoir hair in very
warm climates; and as already observed, their
voices also. In some countries they become
quite mniie; in others they only lose the power
of barking, and howl like wolves, or yelp
like foxes; and by this alteration they s^em to
approach their natural state, for they change
also in their form and instincts ; they become
ugly and invariably have their enrs assume an
erect and pointed form.

It is only in temperate climates that dogs
preserve their ardour, courage, sagacity, and
other natural talents, the whole of which they
lose when taken into very warm climates.
But, as if Nature never made any thing per-
fectly useless, in those countries where they
cannot serve the purposes for which we em-
ploy them, they are in great e timation for
food, and the Negroes prefer their flesh to
that of any other animal. Dogs are sold in their
markets at as dear a rate as mutton, ven^on,
or game of any sort ; a roasted dog being the
most delici us feast among the negroes. It
is possible that their fondness for the flesh of
this animal mav be occasioned bv an alteration
in its quality by the heat of their country, and

that

NATURAL HISTORY. 325

that although extremely bad in our temperate
climates it may receive a superior flavour by
the warmth of theirs- But 1 rather think this
appetite dependent more on the nature of man
than on the change in the flesh of the dog, for
the savages of Canada have the same partiality
for dog's flesh as the Negroes ; and even our
missionaries sometimes eat of them without
disgust. " Dogs," says Father P. Sabard
Theodat, " serve in the room of mutton at
feasts. I have been several times at these dosr-
feasts, and I own that at first they excited in
me a degree of horror, but after tasting them
twice, I found the flavour to be good, and nof-
unlike pork."

In our climates the fox and the wolf are the
wild animals which approach nearest the dog,
particularly the shepherd's dog, which I look
upon as the stock and type of the species : and
as their internal conformation is wholly the
same, and their external differences very trifling,
I had an inclination to try whether they would
breed together : I hoped at least to make
them couple, and that if ihey did not produce
fertile individuals, they would bring forth a
species of mules which might participate of
the nature of both. For this purpose I pro-
cured a she- wolf, of about three months old,
from the woods, and reared her with a shep-
herd's

326 buffo n's

herd's dog of nearly the same age. They
were shut up together in a pretty large yard,
where no other beast could get access, and
where they were provided with a shed for their
retirement: they neither of them knew any
individual of their own species, nor even any
man but him who constantly supplied them
with their victuals. In this manner they were
kept together for the space of three years,
without the smallest restraint. During the
iirst year they played perpetually together, and
seemed to be very fond of each other ; in the
second year they began to quarrel about their
food, though they were always supplied with
more than they could eat. The wolf always
began the dispute. They had meat and bones
carried to them on a wooden trencher, when
the wolf, instead of seizing the meat, would
drive off the dog, then take the trencher so
dexterously between her teeth as to le! nothing
fall off, and carry away the whole; and I have
frequently seen her run five or six times round
the wall of the yard with it in her mouth, and
only stop to take breath, devour the meat, or
attack the dog if he came near. The dog was
stronger than the wolf, but as he was less fero-
cious, we began to have some fear for his life,
and therefore put him on a collar. After the
second year their quarrels were sharper, and

their

NATURAL HISTORY. S27

their combats more frequent, when a collar was
also put upon the wolf, whom the dog began to
treat more roughly. During these two years
there was not the least appearance of desire in
either of them ; towards the end of the third
they began to discover some marks of it, but
it was without any signs of love, and instead
of rendering them more gentle when they ap-
proached each other, they became ferocious
and ungovernable. Nothing was now heard
but dismal bowlings mixed with cries of an-
ger ; in about three weeks they botli grew very
thin, and never came near each other without
indications of mutual destruction. At length
they grew so enraged and fought so dreadfully
that the dog killed the wolf; and I was obliged
to have the dog killed a few days after, be-
cause as soon as he was set at liberty, he sprung
with fury on the poultry, dogs, and even men.
At the same time I had three young foxes,
two males and a female, which had been taken
wilh snares and kept in separate places, f had
one of these fastened with a long light chain,
and had an hut built to shelter him. I kept
him in this manner several months, and though
he seemed pensive and had hisejes constantly
fixed on the country, which he could see from
his hut, yet he had constantly good health and

appetite,

o2S kuffon's

appetite. A bitch in season was put to him,
but as she would not remain near the fox, she
was chained in the same place and plenty of
food was given them. The fox neither bit
nor used her ill, and during the ten days they
remained together, there was not the smallest
quarrel between them, neither night or day,
nor when they fed ; he even approached her
familiarly, but as soon as he scented his com-
panion, the signs of desire disappeared, he re-
turned in a melancholy manner to his hut, and
no intercourse took place. When the ardour
i,f tliis bitch was gone, another and even a
third and fourth were put to him iu the same
manner ; he treated them all with the same gen-
tleness and with the same indifference; to as-
certain whether it was natural repugnance, or
the state of restraint he was kept in, prevented
his coupling, I had a female of his own spe-
cies brought to him, which he covered more
than once the same day, and upon dissecting
her a few weeks afterwards we found she was
impregnated, and would have produced four
young ones. The other male fox was succes-
sively presented with several bitches in season,
who were shut up with him in a close court-
yard, but he discovered neither hatred nor love
to them ; they had neitheV combats nor caresses,

4 and

NATURAL HISTORY. 329

and lie died a few months after either of disgust
or melancholy.

These experiments prove at least that the
wolf and fox are very different in their natures
from the dog ; and that their species are so dis-
tinct as to prevent their intermixture, at least
in our climates ; that consequen ly the dog
does not derive his origin from the wolf or fox,
and that the nomenclators who look on these
two animals as nothing more than wild dogs,or
who imagine the dog to be a wolf, or«. fox,
become tame, and give to all three in common
the name of Dog, have deceived themselves
by not having sufficiently consulted nature.

In climates which are warmer than ours,
there is a ferocious animal which is less diffe-
rent from the dog than either the fox or wolf :
this animal, which is called the jackall, has been
taken notice of and tolerably well described
by many travellers. They are found, we are
told, in great numbers in Africa and Asia ;
about Trebisond and Mount Caucasus ; inMin-
grelia, Natolia, Hyrcania, Persia, India, Goa,
Guzarat, Bengal, Congo, Guinea, and many
other places ; and though this animal is con-

idered by the natives, where he is found, as a
wild dog, yet as it is very doubtful whether
they intermix, we shall treat of him as a sepa-

vol. v. U u rate

330 buffon's

rate species, as "well as the fox and wolf, and
keep their histories apart from each other as
well as from the dog. Not (hat I pretend ab-
solutely to affirm, that the jackall, or even the
■wolf a /id fox, have never in any age or country
coupled with dogs. The ancients have so
positively asserted the contrary, that there still
remain some doubts, notwithstanding the
proofs I have adduced. Aristotle says that al-
though it is very rare for animals of different
species to intermingle, yet it certainly happens
among foxes, dogs, and wolves ; and that the
Indian dogs proceed from another wild beast
like themselves and a dog ; and we may suppose
that this wild beast, to which he gives no
name, is the jackall. But he says in another
place that the Indian dogs come from the tiger
and the bitch which appears to me more impro-
bable, because the tiger is of a disposition and
form more different from the dog than either
the fox, wolf, or jackall. It must be allowed
that Aristotle himself seems to invalidate his
own argument, for after having said that the
Indian dogs proceeded from a wild beast re-
sembling the wolf or the fox, he afterwards
says they come from the tiger. If they are
from a tiger and a bitch, or from a dog *nd a
tigress, he only adds, that it does not succeed

until

NATURAL HISTORY. S3 1

until the third trial ; that the first litter is solely
tigers; that if dogs be tied up in deserts,
unless the tigers are in season, they are often
devoured ; that the frequent production of
monsters and prodigies in Africa is occasioned
by the great heat and scarcity of water making
a number of different animals assemble to-
gether to drink where they grow familiar, and
often couple together. All this seems too
conjectural, uncertain, and suspicious to de-
serve any credit ; for the more we observe the
nature of animals, the more we perceive that
the indication of instinct is the more certain
way to judge of them. By the most attentive
examination of the interior parts we only dis-
cover slight differences. The horse and ass,
though they have a most perfect resemblance
in the internal parts, are, nevertheless, animals
of very different natures. The bull, ram, and
goat, differ but little in their internal for-
mation, though they form three species more
distant than the horse and the ass; and (he same
observation holds with respect to the dog, the
fox, and the wolf. The inspection of the ex-
ternal form shews this more clearly ; but as
in many species, especially in those the least
distant, there is even in the exterior much
more resemblance than difference, this inspec-
ts u 2 tioa

332 BUFFO N*S

tion is not sufficient to determine whether they
are of the same or different species ; and when
the shades are still less we can only combine
them with the agreements they have with in-
stinct. It is from the disposition of animals
that we should judge of their natures ; if we
suppose two animals quite the same in their
forms, yet different in their dispositions, they
would not copulate nor breed together, and
however much alike they would therefore be
two distinct species.

The same means to which we are obliged
to have recourse to judge of the difference of
neighbouring species, is what we ought still
more to employ when we would distinguish
the numerous varieties which take place in the
same species. We know of thirty varieties in
the dog, and yet it is certain that we are not
acquainted with them all. Of these thirty there
are seventeen which may be said to be owing
to the influence of climate, namely, the shep-
herd's dog, the wolf dog, the Siberian dog,
the Iceland dog,' the Lapland dog, the
mastiff, the common greyhound, the great
Dane, the Irish hound, the hound, the harrier,
the terrier, the spaniel, the water-dog, the
small Dane, the Turkish dog, and the bull-
dog. The thirteen others, ^hich are the

mongrel

V1GA4

. >'/lih/c Dot)

NATURAL HISTORY. 333

mongrel Turkish dog, the greyhound with
hair like a wolf, the shock dog, (fig, 44J or
lap dog, the pug dog, the bastard pug dog, the
Calabrian, Burgos, and Alicant do^s, thelion
dog, (fig. 45.) the small water dog, the Artois
<log, and the King Charles's dog,(/?g\ 46.)
are nothing but mongrels which proceed from
the first seventeen races ; and by tracing these
mongrels back to the two races from which
they issue their natures will be easily known ;
but with respect to the first seventeen races, if
we would know what relation there is among
them we must attend to their instincts, forms,
and many of her circumstances. I have put
together the shepherd's dog, the wolf dog, the
Siberian, the Lapland, and the Iceland dogs,
because there is a more striking resemblance
between them than any others, in their forms
and coats, and because they have all pointed
noses somewhat like the fox, erect ears, and
their instincts lead them to watch and follow
the flocks. Tiie mastiff, the greyhound, the
large Dane, and the Irish hound, have, be-
sides the resemblance of form and lone: snout.

O 7

the same dispositions ; they love to course and
to follow horses ; they have but indifferent
noses, and hunt rather from their sight than
their scent. The real hunting dogs are the

hounds,

"34 buffon's

hounds, harriers, terriers, spaniels, and water-
dogs, and notwithstanding they differ in figure
yet they have all thick muzzles, the same in-
stincts, and therefore ought to be classed to-
gether ; the only difference between the water-
dog and the spaniel is, that those with long
bushy hair take to the water with more facility
than those whosehairis short and straight. The
small Dane and Turkish dog must be ranked
together, since they are in fact the same; the
latter having only lost his hair by the effects
of heat. Lastly, the bull dog, (jigAl.) seems
to form a particular variety, and even to belong
to a particular climate ; he is a native of Eng-
land, and it is difficult to preserve the breed
even in France. The pug-dog, (fig. 480 and
mastiff, (fig. 49.) are mongrels from him and
they succeed much better ; they all have short
muzzles and but little scent. The acuteness of
the scent, however, seems in general to depend
more on the largeness than the length of the
muzzle, for the greyhound, large Dane, and the
Irish greyhound, have their scent very inferior
to the hound, hauler, terrier, spaniel, and wa-
ter dog, although their muzzles are more than
proportionally longer.

These animals have all a greater or less per-
fection of the senses, and these differences,

which

JZrujrat'ed tor Jian-j- £ut)vn

Fjg.4.6

£. i 'Aar/ss's Dog

~Jhdli>ol^

Engraved for Jiunw JtiaHbn

TIG. 4,9

XATURAL HISTORY. 335

which in man occasion not any eminent or re-
markable quality, give to animals all their
merit, and produce as a cause all the talents
of which their natures are susceptible. I shall
not here take upon myself to enumerate all the
qualities ef the sporting dogs; it is well known
how much the excellence of their sense of smel-
ing, together with their education, gives them
the superiority over other animals ; but these
details belong only to a distant part of Natural
History. Besides the tricks and dexterity,
though proceeding from nature alone, made use
of by wild animals to elude the researches, or
to avoid the pursuit of the dogs, are perhaps
more wonderful than the most refined methods
practised in the art of hunting.

The dog, as well as all animals which pro-
duce more than one or two at a time, is not
perfectly formed at the time of its birth.
Dogs are commonly whelped with their eyes
shut; the two eyelids are not only closed
together, but adhere by a membrane which
breaks away as soon as the muscles of the upper
eye-lid acquire sufficient strength to raise it
and overcome this obsraele, which commonly
happens about the tenth or twelfth day. At
this time the bones of the skull are not finished,
the body and snout swelled, and the whole form
Incomplete ; but in less than two momhs they

learn

3SG buffon's

learn to make use of all their senses, begin to
have strength, and their growth is very rapid.
In the fourth month (hey lose some of their
teeth, which, as in other animals, are soon
replaced by others that do not fall out. They
Lave in all 42 teeth, namely six incisive,
and two canine at top and at bottom, fourteen
grinders in the upper, and twelve in the under-
jaw ; but these latter are not always the same,
as some dogs have more grinders than others.
When very young, males and females bend
down to void their water ; about the ninth or
tenth month, the males and some females be-
gin to lift up their legs for that purpose, and at
which time they begin to be capable of engen-
dering. The male can couple at all times, but
the females only at stated seasons, which are
usually twice a year, and more frequently in
winter than in summer; this inclination lasts
ten,t\velve,and sometimes fifteen days and shews
itself by exterior signs ; the male is apprized of
her situation by his smell, although she seldom
consents to his approaching her for the first
six or seven days. Once coupling is sometimes
sufficient for her to produce a great number
of young, but if left at liberty she will admit
many times a day almost every dog that pre-
sents himself. It has been observed that when
allowed to choose for herself, she generally

prefers

NATURAL HISTORY. 337

prefers the largest, without attending either to
his form or beauty; and it frequently happens
that small bitches who have received large
mastiffs die in bringing forth their young. It
is well known that these animals, from a sin-
gular confirmation, cannot separate after con-
summation, but are obliged to remain united
as long as the swelling subsists. The dog, like
several other animals, has not only a bone in its
member, but also a hollow ring, which is very
apparent, and swells considerably during the
time ofcopulation. The females have perhaps
the largest clitoris of any animal, and while
compressed, a swelling arises which probably
lasts longer than that of the male, and forces
him to remain ; for when the act is finished he
changes his position, to rest on his four legs ;
he has also a melancholy air, and the efforts
for separation are never made on the female
side. Bitches go nine weeks with young, that
is 63 days, but never less than 60. Those of
the largest and strongest make are the most pro-
lific, and ihose will sometimes produce ten or
twelve puppies at a litter; while those of a small
kind do not bring forth more than four or five,
and frequently but one or two; especially the
first time, which is always the least numerous
in all animals.
vol. v. X x Though

3jS buffon's

Though dogs are very ardent in their amours^,
it does not prevent their duration, for they con-
tinue to propagate during life, which is usually
limited to fourteen or fifteen years, though
some have been known to live till twenty.
Length of life in dogs is, like that of other
animals, proportioned to the time of his
growth : for as they are about two years i»
coming to maturity, so they live to twice seven .
The dog's age may be known by his teeth,
which, when he is young, are white, sharp, and
pointed; and whichjin proportion as he advan-
ces in age, become black, blunt, and unequal ;
it is also to be known by the hair, for it turns
grey about the nose, forehead, and round the
eyes. These animals, though naturally vigi-
lant, active, and formed for exercise, become,
by being over-fed in our houses, so heavy and
idle, that they pass their lives in sleeping and
eating. This sleep, which is almost continual,
is accompanied by dreams, which is perhaps a
mild manner of existing ; and notwithstanding
they are naturally voracious, yet they can sub-
sist without eating a considerable time. In the
Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, there
is an account of a bitch, who having been ac-
cidentally left in a country-house, subsisted 40
days without any other nourishment than the

stuff

NATURAL HISTORY. 339

stuff on the wool of a matrass, which she had
torn to pieces. Water seems to be more ne-
cessary for them than food, for they drink fre-
quently and very abundantly ; and it is even
a vulgar opinion that if they want water for a
length of time they become mad. It is a
circumstance peculiar to them that they seem
to make great efforts, and suffer pain in voiding
their excrements. This is not occasioned, as
Aristotle alleges, from their intestines becom-
ing narrower in approaching the anus ; for,
on the contrary, it is certain, that in the dog,
as in other animals, the great intestines grow
bigger as they proceed downwards, and that
thev rectum is larger than the colon : the diy-
rtess of the temperament of this animal is suffi-
cient of itself to produce this effect.

To give a clearer idea of the different kinds
of dogs, of their propagation in different cli-
mates, and of the mixture of their breeds, I
subjoin a kind of genealogical tree, in which
allu^he different varieties may easily be dis-
tinguished. The shepherd's dog is the stock
or body of the tree. This dog, when trans-
ported into the rigorous climates of the north,
such as to Lapland, becomes ugly and small,
but in Russia, Iceland, and Siberia, where the
climate is rather less rigorous, and the people
X x 2 more

340 buffon's

more civilized, he is not only preserved, but
even brought to greater perfecti n. These
changes are occasioned solely by the influence
of those climates, which produces no great al-
teration in his form, for in each of them he has
erect ears, long and thick hair, and a wild
look ; be barks also less frequently, and in a
different manner from those that in more fa-
vourable regions have been brought to great-
er perfection. The Iceland dog is the only
one that has not his ears entirely erect, but
-which bend or fold a li deaf their extremities;
and Iceland is, of all the northern countries,
that which has been most anciently inhabited
by half-civilized men.

The same shepherd's dog, transported into
temperate climates, and among people per-
fectly civilized, as those of England, France,
or Germany, loses its savage air, erect ears,
its long, thick, and rough hair, and takes the
form of the hound, bull-dog, and mastiff.
Of the two latter the ears are still partly erect,
or only half-pendent ; and in their manners
and sanguinary dispositions very much re-
semble the dog, from which they draw their
origin. The hound is the most distant of the
three ; his ears are long and pendent, and the
gentleness, docility, and, we may say, the

timidity

NATURAL HISTORY, 541

timidity of (bis dog, are so many proofs of (lie
great degeneration, or, more properly, the great
perfection he lias acquired by a long state of
domesticity, and a careful education bestowed
on him by man.

The hound, the harrier, and the terrier, are
only one race, for it has been remarked that in
thesame litter there have been harriers, lerriers,
and hounds, though the female bound had been
only covered by one of the three dogs. I have
coupled the Bengal harrier with a common
barrier, because they differ only by the number
of spots upon their coats. I have also coupled
the turnspit, or terrier with crooked leg<, with
the common terri< r, because the defects in the
legs of this dog only proceed from a disease
somewhat like the rickets, with which some
individualshave been attacked, and transmitted
the effects to their descendants.

The hound, if transported into Spain and
Batbarv, where all animals have the hair fine,
lomr, and thick, would become the spaniel and
•water-dog. The great and small spaniel, which
differ oniy in size, when brought into Eng-
land change their colour from while to black,
and, by the influence of he climate, hare be-
come the large and small King Charles's dog,
and the beagle, which is, in fact, the sameas

the

342 buffon's

flic others, but with liver-coloured marks on
the fore feet, over the eyes, and on the nose.

The mastiff, transported to the north, is
become the large Dane, and to the south
changes into a common greyhound. The
large greyhounds come from the Levant, those
of a middling size from Italy, and the latter
being taken into England have become still
smaller. The large Dane, transported into
Ireland, the Ukraine, Tartar}, Epirus, and
Albania, have become the large Irish dogs,
which in size surpass all the rest of the species.
The bull-dog, transported from England info
Denmark, is become the small Dane, and this
small Dane taken into warm climates changed
into the Turkish dog. All these races, with
their varieties, have been {.rod need solely by
the influence of climate, joined to the effects
of food and education ; the other dogs are not
pure races, but proceed from a mixture of
those above.

The greyhound and mastiff have produced
the mongrel greyhound, which is called the
greyhound zc'Uh wolfs hair. The nose of
this mongrel is not so thin as that of (he Turk-
ish greyhound, which is very rare in France.
The large Dane and the large spaniel have
produced the dog of Calabria, which is a hand-
some

NATURAL HISTORY. 345

some dog, with long thick hair, and higher in
stature than the largest mastiff. The spaniel
and terrier produce what is called the Bur-
gundy spaniel ; and from the spaniel and
small Dane has come the lion-dog, which is
now very scarce. The dogs with long fine
curled hair, which are called the Bouffe dogs,
and which are bigger than the water dogs,
come from the water dog and large spaniel.
The little water dog comes from the small
spaniel and the water dog. The bull-dog and
the mastiff produce a mongrel, which is larger
than the bull-dog, yet approaches him more
than the other; and the pug comes from the
bull-dog and the small Dane.

All these races are simple mongrels, and
eome from the mixture of two pure races ;
but there are other dogs which may be called
double mongrels, because they proceed from a
pure race and one already mixed. The bastard:
pug is a double mongrel, and comes from a
mixture of the pug with the small Dane. The
Alicant dog is also a double mongrel; he pro-
ceeds from the pug and the small spaniel* The
Maltese, or lap-dog, is a double mongrel, and
comes from the small spaniel and little water-
dog. In fine, there are dogs which may be
called triple mongrels, because they proceed

from

3 lli buffos's

from the mixture of two races which have al^
ready been mixed , as the Artois dogs and
what is culled the street dogs, which resemble
all dogs in general, bu: no one in particular,
since they proceed from races which have se-
veral times been mixed.

SUPPLEMENT.

THE following curious fact J had from
M. de Mailly, of the Academy of Dijon :
" The curate of Norges, near Dijon, has a
bitch, which lias had all the symptoms of
pregnancy, and baying puppies without having
been in either state. She was proud, but was
not suffered to go with a dog, yet at the end
of her usual term her paps were filled with
milk, and she brought up some young puppies
that were taken to her, with as much care and
tenderness as if they had really been her own;
and what is more singular, this same bitch,
about three years since, suckled two young
kittens, one of which has imbibed so much of
the nature of her nurse, that her cries infinitely

- more

NATURAL HISTORY. 345

more resemble the tones of a dog than those of
a cat." This is certainly a rare phenomenon,
and were this production of milk without im-
pregnation more frequent, it would render fe-
male animals more analogous to female birds
who produce eggs without connection with

the male.

The Russians have brought several dogs to
Paris, as Siberians, a very different race from
those which we have described ; one in parti-
cular, both male and female, were about the
size of a common grey bound, with pointed
noses, ears half erect, and long tails ; they
were entirely black, excepting a spot of white
which the female had upon the top of the head,
and one which the male had upon his tail ; they
were very fond, but exceedingly dirty and vo-
racious, and it was almost impossible to satis-
fy them with food ; upon the whole, they were
evidently of the same race as we have treated
of under the denomination of Iceland dogs.

Mr. Collinson, who had made various re-
searches concerning the Siberian dogs, inform-
ed me that their noses were pointed, and their
ears long, that some of them carried their tails
like the wolf, others in the same manner as the
fox, and that they certainly engendered with
both those animals; that he had himself seen
vol. v. Y y dogs

345 BUFFO N'S

dogs and wolves couple in England, and al-
though he knew of no one who could say the
same with regard to dogs and foxes, from the
kind well known there by the name of the fox-
dogs, he did not think there could be any doubt
of the fact.

The Greenland dogs are mostly white,
though some few are black, and have very thick
coats ; they employ them for drawing their
sledges, by putting four or six of them together ;
they also eat their flesh, and make clothes of
their skins. The Kamtschatka dogs are also ei-
ther black or white, and are used for drawing
Sledges ; they are suffered to run at large during
the summer, and in winter they are fed with a
sort of paste made with fish. These dogs of
Greenland and Kamtschatka, as well as the
Russian dogs just mentioned, have a strong re-
semblance to the Iceland dogs, and are most
probably of the same race.

Notwithstanding the varieties I have describ-
ed, there are still others remaining, which I
have not been able to procure ; I have myself
seen two individuals of a wild race, but could
not get a sufficient opportunity even to describe
them. M . Aubry, curate of St. Louis, inform-
ed us that a few years since he saw a dog about
the size of a spaniel, with long hair and a very

large

NATURAL HISTORY. 347

large beard on his chin. Louis XIV. had some
of the>e dogs sent to him by M. le Comte de
Toulouse ; and Comte de Lassai had some of
the same breed, but there is not any of them
to be found at present.

I have little to add with respect to the wild
dogs, of which there are different races, to
what is contained in my original work ; and
the following account of the wild dog found
near the Cape of Good Hope, I had from
M. leVicomte de Querhoent ; he says, there
are a great number of packs of wild dogs at
the Cape ; their skins are spoiled with various
colours, and some of them are very large ;
their ears are erect, they run extremely fast, and
have no constant place of abode. They kill the
deer in great numbers, are seldom destroyed
themselves, and are very difficult to be caught
in snares, from carefully avoiding every thing
that has been touched by man. Several of their
young have been taken in the woods, and some
of those it has been attempted to render domes-
tic, but they grow up so large and so ferocious
that the attempt has been given up as in vain,

END OF THE FIFTH FQWME.

T. Gfflet, Printer, Wild-Court,

PROPERTY LIBRARY

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