LIBRARY OF I685_l©56 CUVIER'S ANIMAL KINGDOM, ârraiigctï afcovïiiiig to ità (©rgam^ation ; FORMING THE BASIS FOR A NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS. AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. MAMMALIA, BIRDS, AND REPTILES, BY EDWARD ELYTH. THE FISHES AND RADIATA, BY ROBERT MUDIE. THE MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS, BY GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D. THE ARTICULATED ANIMALS, BY 3. n. WESTWOOD, F.L.S. / Ç' /J. /•) /f Li», ILLUSTRATED BY THREE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. CQ LONDON: WM. S. ORR AND CO., AMEN CORNER, PATERNOSTER ROW. London : Printed by Baker & Darby, Holborn Hill. PREFACE Perhaps no book was ever so soon, so generally, and with so little envy, admitted to take its place at the head of that department of knowledge to which it belongs, as the Règne Animal of the illustrious Baron Cuvier. This is a high, but a just tribute, both to the work and the author ; for it at once showed that the former, is what had long been required, and that the latter was as much beloved for the kindness and urbanity of his manners, as he was admired for the comprehensive range and unprecedented accuracy of his views. It must, indeed, be admitted, that, until Cuvier's great work made its ap- pearance, we had no modern systematic arrangement of animals which applied equally to all the Classes, Orders, and Families ; — which brought the extinct species into their proper situations in the living catalogue, and enabled every discoverer of a new animal, or part of an animal, instantly to connect it with its proper tribe or family. Important, however, as are the labours of this great naturalist, they could not possibly extend beyond the limits of what was known ; and as Cuvier was no speculative theorist, but a rigid adherent to nature and fact, he kept his system considerably within the limits of those who were more speculative, and consequently less accurate. For students, no work is equal to that of Cuvier, for it is at once compre- hensive and concise ; and though the student may choose a particular de- partment, and require books more in detail with reference to that department, he must still have the Règne Animal to point out to him the general analogies of the living creation. The present work is a complete Cuvier, as regards the essential part of the arrangement ; and it is not a mere translation, but in some respects a new book, embodying the original one. Throughout the whole of it, there will be found original remarks ; but these are always distinguished from that which belongs to Cuvier, by being inclosed within brackets. This mode of arrangement Mas thought to be much better than the appending iv PREFACE. of notes, which always divide the attention of the reader, and weaken the interest of the subject. Many of the classes and orders have been reinves- tigated, and new species added. This is most extensively done in the departments which were intrusted to Mr. Blyth and Mr. Westwood ; but it runs more or less throughout the whole ; and the pubhshers flatter them- selves that this will be of great service to all students of this highly in- teresting branch of knowledge. The style in which the book is brought out will speak for itself. The different sizes of type, which bear some pro- portion to the comparative importance of the subject, will enable the reader to glean an outline of the system ; — to obtain something more than a bare outline, he must read the entire work, which in the present edition embodies all the discoveries of more recent naturalists. London, June, 1840. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page Page PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 1 Ruminantia 134 ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND Without horns 135 EDITION 10 With horns 136 INTRODUCTION 13 Cetacea 144 Of Natural History, and of Systems gene - Herbivora 145 rally .... 13 Ordinaria 145 Of living Beings, and of Organization in Analogies of the Teeth of Mam general .... 16 MALIA 150 Division of Organized Beings into Animal OVIPAROUS VERTEBRATES IN GENE and Vegetable 19 RAL .... 153 Of the Forms peculiar to the Organic Ele AVES .... 154 ments of the Animal Body, and of the Division into Orders 162 principal Combinations of its. Chemical ACCIPITRES 163 Elements 21 Diurnal Birds of Prey 163 Of the Forces which act in the Animal Body 22 Nocturnal Birds of Prey 172 Summary idea of the Functions and Organs PASSERINiB 177 of the Bodies of Animals, and of theii Dentirostres 178 various degrees of complication 25 Fissirostres 194 Of the Intellectual Functions of Animals 28 Conirostres 196 Of Method, as applied to the Animal King Tenuirostres 206 dom .... 31 Syndactyli 209 General Distribution of the Animal King SCANSORES 211 dom into four great Divisions— Vertebrate Affinities of the three precedinc Animals, Molluscous Animals, Articulate Orders 220 Animals, Radiate Animals 32 Galling 223 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS 35 Grall^ .... 231 Subdi\'ision into four Classes 37 Brevipennes 232 MAMMALIA 38 Pressirostres 234 Division into Orders 41 Cultrirostres 237 BiMANA, orMAN 44 Longirostres 242 Peculiar Conformation of Man 45 Macrodactyli 247 Physical and Moral Developement o f Palmipedes 251 Man 47 Brachypteres 251 Varieties of the Human Species 49 Longipennes 255 QUADRUMANA 54 Totipalmati 259 Monkey-like Animals 54 Lamellirostres 261 Monkeys of America 60 REPTILIA 267 Carnaria 66 Chelonia 269 Cheiroptera 67 Sauria .... 272 Insectivora 77 The Crocodiles 272 Carnivora 82 The Lizards . . . . 274 Marsupiata 100 The Iguanas 275 RODENTIA 107 The Geckotians 277 Edentata 122 The Chameleons 278 Ordinary Edentata 124 The Scindoidiens 278 Monotremata 126 Ophidia . . . , 280 Pachydermata 128 The Orvets 280 Proboscidea 128 The True Serpents 280 Ordinary Pachydermata 130 The Naked Serpents 285 Solidungula 133 Batrackia . . . . 285 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page , P^ge PISCES 289 Dorsibranchiata ... 393 ACANTHOPTERYOII 292 Abranchia 397 Percidae 293 Setigera 397 Fishes with hard cheeks 294 Asetigera 398 Scienidae 295 ARTICULATED ANIMALS WIT H AI ITICU- Sparidae 296 LATED FEET 401 Menidae 296 Introduction, by Latreille 401 Squamipenues 296 Divided into Classes . 405 Scomberidae 298 CRUSTACEA MALACOSTRACA 410 Taenida; 302 A. Eyes placed on a footstalk 410 Tlieutyes 303 Decapoda 410 Labyrinthiform Pharyngeals 303 Brachyura 412 Mugilidae 304 Macrura 416 Gobiodae 305 Stomapoda 423 Pectorales pedunculati 308 Unipeltata 424 Labridœ 309 Bipeltata 425 Fistularidae 311 B. Eyes sessile and immoveable 425 Malacopterygii Abdominale 312 Amphipoda 426 Cyprinidae 313 L^EMODIPODA 429 Esocidae 314 ISOPODA . 430 Siluridae . 316 CRUSTACEA ENTOMOSTRACA 434 Salmonidae 318 Branchiopoda 436 Clupeidae 320 Lophyropa 436 Malacopterygii Subbrachiai 321 Phyllopa . 441 Gadida; . 322 Pœcilopoda 444 Pleuronectidae 323 Xyphosura 444 Discoboli . 324 Siphonostoma 445 Malacopterygii Apoda 325 TRILOBITES 449 LOPHOBRANCHII . 326 ARACHNIDA 450 Plectognathi 327 Pulmonaria 453 Gynmodontes 327 The Spiders 454 Sclerodermi 328 The Pedipalpi 465 Chondropterygii Branchiis Liberis 330 Tracheari* 466 Chondropterygii Branchiis Fixis 331 The Pseudo-Scorpiones 467 Selachii ..... 331 The Pycnogonides 467 Cyclostomata 333 The Holetra 468 MOLLUSCA 335 INSECTA 471 Division into Classes . 337 Myriapoda 482 CEPHALOPODES . 337 Chilognatha 483 PTEROPODES 343 Chilopoda 485 GASTEROPODES . 344 Thysanoura 486 Pulmonea 347 Lepismenae 487 Nudibranchiata 351 Podurellae 487 Inferobranchiata 353 Parasita 488 Tectibranchiata 353 Suctoria 489 Heteropoda 356 Coleoptera 491 Pectinibranchiata 357 Pentamera 492 Trochoides 358 Carnivora 492 Capuloides 361 Brachelytra 506 Buccinoides 362 Serricornes 508 Tueulibranchiata 367 Clavicornes 515 Scutibranchiata 368 Palpicornes 520 Cyclobranchiata 369 Lamellicornes 521 ACEPHALES 369 Heteromera 530 ACEPHALA TeSTACEA 370 Melasoma 530 The Oysters 371 Taxicornes 533 Mytilaceae , 375 Stenelytra 533 Camacea . 376 Trachelides 536 Cardiacea 377 Tetramera 538 Inclusa 379 The Weevils 539 Acepiiala Nuda 382 Xylophagi 542 Segregata 382 Platysoma 544 Aggregata 383 Longicornes 544 BRACHIOPODES . 384 Eupoda 549 CIRRHOPODES 385 Cyclica 550 ARTICULATED ANIMALS 387 Clavipalpi 554 Division into Classes 388 Trimera 554 ANNELIDES 389 Fmigicolae 554 Division into Orders 389 Aphidiphagi 555 Tubicol/E 391 Pselaphi 555 TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii Page Page Orthoptera . . . • . 556 ) Tabanides .... 625 Cursoria 557 Notacantha 626 Saltatoria 560 Athericera 623 Hemiptera 562 Pupipara 636 Heteroptera 563 RADIATA 638 Geocorisae 563 ECHINODERMATA 639 Hydrocorisae 566 Pedicellata 639 HOMOPTERA 567 Asterias C39 Cicadariae 567 Echinus 640 Aphidii 570 Holothuria 641 Gallinsecta 572 Apoda 642 Neuroptera 573 ENTOZOA 643 Subulicornes 574 Nematoidea 644 Planipennes 577 Parenchymata 646 Plicipennes 580 Acanthocephala 646 Hymenoptera 581 Tremadotea 647 Terebrantia 582 Tœnioidea 648 Securifera 582 Cestoidea 649 Pupivora 585 ACALEPHA 650 ACULEATA 591 SlMPLlCIA 650 Heterogyna 591 Hydrostatica 652 Fossores 593 POLYPI 653 Diploptera 596 Carnosi 653 Mellifera 598 Gelatinosi 654 Lepidopthra 603 CORALLIFERI 655 Diurna 605 Tubularia 655 Crepuscularia 608 Cellularia 656 Nocturna 609 Corticati 657 Rhipiptera 614 INFUSORIA 659 Diptera 615 ROTIFERA 660 Nemocera 617 HOMOGENEA 660 Tanystoma 621 THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Having been devoted, from my earliest youth, to the study of comparative anatomy, that is to say of the laws of the organization of animals, and of the modifications which this organization undergoes in the various species, and having, for nearly thirty years past, consecrated to that science every moment of which my duties allowed me to dispose, the constant aim of my labours has been to reduce it to general rules, and to propositions that should contain their most simple expression. My first essays soon led me to perceive that I could only attain this object in proportion as the animals, whose structure I should have to elucidate, were arranged in conformity with that structure, so that under one single name, of class, order, genus, &c., might be embraced all those species which, in their internal as well as exterior conformation, present accordancies either more general or more particular. Now this is what the greater number of naturalists of that epoch had never sought to eflfect, and what but few of them could have achieved, even had they been willing to try ; since a parallel arrangement presup- poses a very extensive knowledge of the structures, of which it ought, in some measure, to be the representation. It is true that Daubenton and Camper had supplied facts, — that Pallas had indicated views ; but the ideas of these well-informed men had not yet exercised upon their contemporaries the influence which they merited. The only general catalogue of animals then in existence, and the only one we possess even now, — the system of Linnaeus, — had just been disfigured by an unfortunate editor, who did not so much as take the trouble to comprehend the principles of that ingenious classifier, and who, wherever he found any disorder, seems to have tried to render it more inextricable. It is also true that there were very extensive works upon particular classes, which had made known a vast number of new species ; but their authors barely con- sidered the external relations of those species, and no one had employed himself in co-arranging the classes and orders according to their entire structure : the cha- racters of several classes remained false or incomplete, even in justly celebrated anatomical works ; some of the orders were arbitrary ; and in scarcely any of these divisions were the genera approximated conformably to nature. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. I was necessitated then, — and the task occupied considerable time, — I was com- pelled to make anatomy and zoology, dissection and classification, proceed beforehand ; to seek, in my first remarks on organization, for better principles of distribution ; to employ these, in order to arrive at new remarks ; and in their turn the latter, to carry the principles of distribution to perfection : in fine, to ehcit from the mutual reaction of the two sciences upon each other, a system of zoology adapted to serve as an introduction and a guide in anatomical researches, and a body of anatomical doctrine fitted to develope and explain the zoological system. The first results of this double labour appeared in 1795, in a special memoir upon a new di\dsion of the white-blooded animals. A sketch of their application to genera, and to the di^^sion of these into sub-genera, formed the object of my Tableau Élûnentaire des Animaux, printed in 1798, and I improved this work, with the assistance of M. Dumeril, in the tables annexed to the first volume of my Leçons d' Anatomie Compare'e, in 1800. I should, perhaps, have contented myself with perfecting these tables, and proceeded immediately to the publication of my great work on anatomy, if, in the course of my researches, I had not been frequently struck with another defect of the greater number of the general or partial systems of zoology ; I mean, the confusion in which the want of critical precision had left a vast number of species, and even many genera. Not only were the classes and orders not sufficiently conformed to the intrinsical nature of animals, to serve conveniently as the basis to a treatise on comparative anatomy, but the genera themselves, though ordinarily better constituted, offered but inadequate resources in their nomenclature, on account of the species not having been arranged under each of them, conformably to their characters. Thus, in placing the Manati in the genus Morse, the Siren in that of the Eels, Gmelin had rendered any general proposition relative to the organization of these genera impossible ; just as by approximating in the same class and in the same order, and placing side by side, the Cuttle and the fresh-water Polypus, he had made it impossible to predicate anything generally of the class and order which comprised such incongruous beings. I select the above examples from among the most prominent ; but there existed an infinitude of such mistakes, less obvious at the first glance, which occasioned incon- veniences not less real. It was not sufficient, then, to have imagined a new distribution of the classes and orders, and to have properly placed the genera ; it was also necessary to examine all the species, in order to be assured that they really belonged to the genera in which they had been placed. Having come to this, I found not only species grouped or dispersed contrary to all rea- son, but I remarked that many had not been established in a positive manner, either by the characters which had been assigned to them, or by their figures and descriprions. Here one of them, by means of synonymes, represents several under a single name, and often so different that they should not rank in the same genus : there a single one is doubled, tripled, and successively reappears in several sub-genera, genera, and sometimes different orders. What can be said, for example, of the Trichechus manatus of Gmelin, which, under a single specific name, comprehends three species and two genera, — two genera differing in almost everj'thing .'' By what name shall we speak of the Velella, which figures PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. twice among the Medusa and once among the Holothuriœ ? How are we to reassemble the Biphorœ, of which some are there called Dagysa, the greater number Salpa, while several are ranged among the Holothurice ? It did not therefore suffice, in order completely to attain the object aimed at, to review the species : it was necessary to examine their synonymes ; or, in other words, to re-model the system of animals. Such an enterprize, from the prodigious developement of the science of late years, could not have been executed completely by any one individual, even granting him the longest life, and no other occupation. Had I been constrained to depend upon myself alone, I should not have been able to prepare even the simple sketch which I now give ; but the resources of my position seemed to me to supply what I wanted both of time and talent. Living in the midst of so many able naturalists, drawing from their works as fast as they appeared, freely enjoying the use of the collections they had made, and having myself formed a very considerable one, ex- pressly appropriated to my object, a great part of my labour consisted merely in the employment of so many rich materials. It was not possible, for instance, that much remained for me to do on shells, studied by M. de Lamarck, nor on quadrupeds, described by M. Geoffroy. The numerous and new affinities described by M. de Lacepède, were so many data for my system of fishes. JM. Levaillant, among so many beautiful birds collected from all parts, perceived details of organization which I immediately adapted to my plan. My own researches, employed and fructified by other naturalists, yielded results to me which, in my hands alone, they would not all have produced. So, also, M. de Blain^^Ue and M. Oppel, in examining the cabinet which I had formed of anatomical preparations on which I designed to found my divisions of reptiles, anti- cipated— and perhaps better than I should have done — results of which as yet I had but a glimpse, &c., &c. Encouraged by these reflections, I determined to precede my Treatise on Com- parative Anatomy by a kind of abridged system of animals, in which I should present their divisions and subdivisions of all degrees, established in a parallel manner upon their structure, both internal and external ; where I would give the indication of well- authenticated species that belonged, with certainty, to each of the subdivisions ; and where, to create more interest, I would enter into some details upon such of the species as, from their abundance in our country, the services which they render us, the damage which they occasion to us, the singularit}^ of their manners and economy, their extraordinary forms, their beauty, or their magnitude, are the most remarkable. I hoped by so doing to prove useful to young naturalists, who, for the most part, have but little idea of the confusion and errors of criticism in which the most accredited works abound, and who, particularly in foreign countries, do not sufficiently attend to the study of the true relations of the conformation of beings : I considered myself as rendering a more direct service to those anatomists, who require to know beforehand to which orders they should direct their researches, when they wish to solve by com- parative anatomy some problem of human anatomy or physiology, but whose ordinary occupations do not sufficiently prepare them for fulfilling this condition, which is essen- tial to their success. Nevertheless, I have not professed to extend this twofold view equally to aU classes of the animal kingdom ; and the vertebrated animals, as in every sense the most in- B 2 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. teresting, claimed to have the preference. Among the Invert ebrata, I have had more particularly to study the naked mollusks and the great zoophytes ; but the innumerable variations of the external forms of shells and corals, the microscopic animals, and the other families which perform a less obvious office in the economy of nature, or whose organization affords but little room for the exercise of the scalpel, did not require to be treated with the same detail. Independently of which, so far as the shells and corals are concerned, I could depend on a work just published by M. de Lamarck, in which will be found all that the most ardent desire for information can require. With respect to insects, so interesting by their external forms, their organization, habits, and by their influence on all living nature, I have had the good fortune to find as- sistance which, in rendering my work infinitely more perfect than it could have been had it emanated solely from my pen, has, at the same time, greatly accelerated its pubhca- tion. My colleague and friend, M. Latreille, who has studied these animals more profoundly than any other man in Europe, has kindly consented to give, in a single volume, and nearly in the order adopted for the other parts, a summary of his immense researches, and an abridged description of those innumerable genera which entomolo- gists are continually establishing. As for the rest, if in some instances I have given less extent to the exposition of sub-genera and species, this inequality has not occurred in aught that concerns the superior divisions and the indications of affinities, which I have every where founded on equally solid bases, established by equally assiduous researches. I have examined, one by one, all the species of which I could procure specimens ; I have approximated those which merely differed from each other in size, colour, or in the number of some less important parts, and have formed them into what I designate a sub-genus. Whenever it was possible, I have dissected at least one species of each sub-genus ; and if those be excepted to which the scalpel cannot be applied, there exists in my work but very fe"\y groups of this degree, of which I cannot produce some considerable portion of the organs. After having determined the names of the species which I had examined, and which had previously been either well figured or weU described, I placed in the same sub- genera those which I had not seen, but whose exact figures, or descriptions, sufficiently precise to leave no doubt of their natural relations, I found in authors ; but I have passed over in silence that great number of vague indications, on which, in my opinion, naturalists have been too eager to establish species, the adoption of which has mainly contributed to introduce into the catalogue of beings, that confusion which deprives it of so much of its utility. I could have added, almost every where, a vast number of new species ; but as I coiild not refer to figures, it would have been incumbent on me to extend their descrip- tions beyond what space permitted : I have, therefore, preferred depriving my work of this ornament, and have only indicated those, the peculiar conformation of which gives rise to new sub-genera. My sub-genera once established on positive relations, and composed of well-authen- ticated species, it remained only to construct this great scaffolding of genera, tribes, famiUes, orders, classes, and primary divisions, which constitute the entire animal kingdom. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. In this I have proceeded, partly by ascending from the inferior to the superior divi- sions, by means of approximation and comparison ; and partly also by descending from the superior to the inferior groups, on the principle of the subordination of characters ; comparing carefully the results of the two methods, verifying one by the other, and always sedulously establishing the correspondence of external and internal structure, which, the one as well as the other, are integral parts of the essence of each animal. Such has been my procedure whenever it was necessary and possible to introduce new arrangements ; but I need not observe that, in very many places, the results to which it would have conducted me had already been so satisfactorily obtained, that I had only to foUow the track of my predecessors. Notwithstanding which, even in those cases where no alteration was required, I have verified and confirmed, by new observations, what was previously acknowledged, and what I did not adopt until it had been subjected to a rigorous scrutiny. The public may form some idea of this mode of examination, from the memoirs on the anatomy of mollusks, which have appeared in the Annales du Museum, and of which I am now preparing a separate and augmented collection. I venture to assure the reader that I have bestowed quite as extensive labour upon the vertebrated animals, the anne- lides, the zoophytes, and on many of the insects and crustaceans. I have not deemed it necessary to pubUsh it with the same detail ; but all my preparations are exposed in the Cabinet of Comparative Anatomy in the Jardin du Roi, and will serve hereafter for my treatise on anatomy. Another very considerable labour, but the details of which cannot be so readily authenticated, is the critical examination of species. I have verified aU the figures alleged by different authors, and as often as possible referred each to its true species, previously to selecting those which I have indicated : it is entirely from this verifica- tion, and never from the classification of preceding systematists, that I have referred to my sub-genera the species that belong to them. Such is the reason why no astonish- ment should be experienced on finding that such and such a genus of Gmelin is now divided, and distributed even in different classes and still higher divisions ; that nume- rous nominal species are reduced to a single one, and that popular names are very differently applied. There is not one of these changes which I am not prepared to justify, and of which the reader himself may not obtain the proof, by recurring to the sources which I have indicated. In order to lessen his trouble, I have been careful to select for each class a principal author, generally the richest in good original figures ; and I quoted secondary works only where the former are deficient, or where it was useful to establish some com- parison, for the sake of confirming synonymes. My subject could have been made to fill many volumes ; but I considered it my duty to condense it, by imagining abridged means of expression. These I have obtained by graduated generalities. By never repeating for a species that which might be said of an entire sub-genus, nor for a genus what might be applied to a whole order, and so on, we arrive at the greatest economy of words. To this my endeavours have been, above all, particularly directed, inasmuch as it was the principal end of my work. It may be remarked, however, that I have not employed many technical terms, and that 1 have endeavoured to communicate my ideas without that barbarous array of fictitious words, which, in the works of so many modern naturalists, prove PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. so very repulsive. I cannot perceive, however, that I have thereby lost any thing in precision or clearness. I have been compelled, unfortunately, to introduce many new names, although I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to preserve those of my predecessors ; but the numerous sub-genera I have established required these denominations ; for in things so various, the memory is not satisfied with numerical indications. I have selected them, so as either to convey some character, or among the common names which I have latinized, or lastly, after the example of Linnaeus, from among those of mytho- logy, which are generally agreeable to the ear, and which we are far from having exhausted. In naming species, however, I would nevertheless recommend employing the sub- stantive of the genus, and the trivial name only. The names of the sub-genera are designed merely as a relief to the memory, when we would indicate these sub- divisions in particular. Otherwise, as the sub-genera, already very numerous, will in the end become greatly multiplied, in consequence of having substantives continually to retain, we shall be in danger of losing the advantages of that binary nomenclature so happily imagined by Linnœus. It is the better to preserve it that I have dismembered as little as possible the great genera of that illustrious reformer of science. Whenever the sub-genera into which I divide them were not to be translated into different families, I have left them together under their former generic appellation. This was not only due to the memory of Linnaeus, but was necessary in order to preserve the mutual intelligence of the naturalists of different countries. To facihtate still more the study of this work, — for it is to be studied more than to be glanced over, — I have employed different- sized types in the printing of it, to correspond to the different grades of generalization of the statements contained in it. * * * Thus the eye will distinguish beforehand the relative importance of each group, and the order of each successive idea ; and the printer will second the author with every con- trivance which his art supplies, that may conduce to assist the memory. The habit, necessarily acquired in the study of natural history, of mentally classify- ing a great number of ideas, is one of the advantages of this science, which is seldom spoken of, and which, when it shall have been generally introduced into the system of common education, will perhaps become the principal one : it exercises the student in that part of logic which is termed method, as the study of geometry does in that which is called syllogism, because natural history is the science which requires the most precise methods, as geometry is that which demands the most rigorous reason- ing. Now this art of method, when once well acquired, may be applied with infinite advantage to studies the most foreign to natural history. Every discussion which sup- poses a classification of facts, every research which requires a distribution of matters, is performed after the same manner ; and he who had cultivated this science merely for amusement, is surprised at the facilities it affords for disentangUng all kinds of affairs. It is not less useful in solitude. Sufficiently extensive to satisfy the most powerful mind, sufficiently various and interesting to calm the most agitated soul, it consoles the unhappy, and tends to allay enmity and hatred. Once elevated to the contem- plation of that harmony of Nature irresistibly regulated by Providence, how weak and PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. trmal appear those causes which it has been pleased to leave dependent on the will of man ! How astonishing to behold so many fine minds, consuming themselves, so uselessly for their own happiness and that of others, in the pursuit of vain combina- tions, the very traces of which a few years suffice to obliterate ! I avow it proudly, these ideas have been always present to my mind, — the companions of my labours ; and if I have endeavoured by every means in my power to advance this peaceful study, it is because, in my opinion, it is more capable than any other of supplying that want of occupation, which has so largely contributed to the troubles of our age ; — but I must return to my subject. There yet remains the task of accounting for the principal changes I have effected in the latest received methods, and to acknowledge the amount of obligation to those naturalists, whose works have furnished or suggested a part of them. To anticipate a remark which will naturally occur to many, I must observe that I have neither pretended nor desired to class animals so as to form a single line, or as to mark their relative superiority. I even consider every attempt of this kind im- practicable. Thus, I do not mean that the mammalia or birds which come last, are the most imperfect of their class ; still less do I intend that the last of mammalia are more perfect than the first of birds, or the last of moUusks more perfect than the first of the annelides, or zoophytes ; even restricting the meaning of this vague word perfect to that of " most completely organized." I regard my divisions and subdivisions as the merely graduated expression of the resemblance of the beings which enter into each of them ; and although in some we observe a sort of passage or gradation from one species into another, which cannot be denied, this disposition is far from being general. The pretended chain of beings, as applied to the whole creation, is but an erroneous application of those partial observations, which are only true when confined to the limits within which they were made; and, in my opinion, it has proved more detrimental to the progress of natural history in modern times, than is easy to imagine. It is in conformity with these views, that I have established my four principal divisions, which have already been made known in a separate memoir. I still think that it expresses the real relations of animals more exactly than the old arrangement of Vertebrata and Invertebrata, for the simple reason, that the former animals have a much greater mutual resemblance than the latter, and that it was necessary to mark this difference in the extent of their relations. M. Virey, in an article of the Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, had already discerned in part the basis of the division, and principally that which reposes on the nervous system. The particular approximation of oviparous Vertebrata, inter se, originated from the curious observations of M. Geoffroy on the composition of bony heads, and from those which I have added to them relative to the rest of the skeleton, and to the muscles. In the class of Mammalia, I have brought back the SoUpedes to the Pachydermata, and have divided the latter into families on a new plan ; the Ruminantia I have placed at the end of the quadrupeds ; and the Manati near the Cetacea. The distribution of the Carnaria I have somewhat altered ; the Oustitis have been wholly separated from the Monkeys, and a sort of parallelism indicated between the Marsupiata and other digitated quadrupeds, the whole from my own anatomical researches. All that I have PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. given on the Quadrumana and the Bats is based on the recent and profound labours of my friend and colleague M. Geoffroy de St. Hilaire. The researches of my brother, M. Frederic Cuvier, on the teeth of the Carnaria and Rodentia, have proved highly useful to me in forming the sub-genera of these two orders. Notwithstanding the genera of the late M. Illiger are but the results of these same studies, and of those of some foreign naturalists, I have adopted his names whenever his genera corresponded with my sub-genera. M. de Lacepède has also discerned and indicated many excellent divisions of this degree, which I have been equally compelled to adopt ; but the cha- racters of all the degrees and all the indications of species have been taken from nature, either in the Cabinet of Anatomy or in the galleries of the Museum. The same plan was pursued with respect to the Birds. I have examined with the closest attention more than four thousand individuals in the Museum ; I arranged them according to my ^^ews in the public gallery more than five years ago, and all that is said of this class has been drawn from that source. Thus, any resemblance which my sub-divisions may bear to some recent descriptions, is on my part purely accidental.* Naturalists, I hope, will approve of the numerous sub-genera w'hich I have deemed it necessary to make among the birds of prey, the Passerinee, and the Shore-birds ; they appear to me to have completely elucidated genera hitherto involved in much confusion. I have marked, as exactly as I could, the accordance of these subdivisions with the genera of MM. de Lacepède, Meyer, Wolf, Temminck, and Savigny, and have referred to each of them all the species of which I could obtain a very positive knowledge. This laborious work will prove of value to those who may hereafter attempt a true history of birds. The splendid works on Ornithology published within a few years, and those chiefly of M. le Vaillant, which are filled with so many interesting observations, together with M. Vieillot's, have been of much assistance to me in designating the species which they represent. The general division of this class remains as 1 published it in 1798, in my Tableau Élément air e.f I have thought proper to preserve for the Reptiles, the general division of my friend M. Brongniart ; but I have prosecuted very extensive anatomical investigations to arrive at the ulterior subdivisions. M. Oppel, as I have already stated, has partly taken advantage of these preparatory labours ; and whenever my genera finally agreed with his, I have noticed the fact. The work of Daudin, indifferent as it is, has been useful to me for indications of details ; but the particular divisions which I have given in the genera of Monitors and Geckos, are the product of my own observations on a great number of Reptiles recently brought to the Museum by MM. Pérou and Geoffroy. My labours on the Fishes will probably be found to exceed those which I have bestowed on the other vertebrated animals. Our Museum having received a vast number of Fishes since the celebrated work of M. de Lacepède was published, I have been enabled to add many subdivisions to those of that learned naturalist, also to combine several species differently, and to miiltiply anatomical observations. I have also had * This observation not having been sufficiently understood abroad, 1 am obliged to repeat it here, and openly to dct-lnre a fact witnessed by thousands in Paris ; it is this, that all the birds in the gallery of the Museum were named and arranged according to my system, in 1811. Those even of ray subdivisions to which I had not yet given names, were marked by particular signs. This is my date. Inde- pendently of this, my first volume was printed in the beginning of 1816. Four volumes are not printed so quickly as a pamphlet of a few pages. I say no more. (Note to Kdit. 1S29). t 1 only mention this because an estimable naturalist, M. Vieillot, has, in a recent work, attributed to himself the union of the Pica; and Passfres. 1 had printed it in 1798, together with my other arrange- ments, so as to render them public in the Museum since ISll and 1813. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. better means of verifjàng the species of Commerson, and of some of other travellers ; and, upon this point, I am much indebted to a review of the drawings of Commerson, and of the dried fishes which he brought with him, by M. Dumeril, but which have only been very lately recovered ; — resources to which I have added those presented to me in the fishes brought by Pérou from the Indian Ocean and Archipelago, those which I obtained in the Mediterranean, and the collections made on the coast of Cororaandel by the late M. Sonnerat, at the Mauritius by M. Matthieu, in the Nile and Red Sea, by M. Geoffroy, &c. I was thus enabled to verify most of the species of Bloch, Russell, and others, and to prepare the skeletons and viscera of nearly all the sub-genera ; so that this part of the work will, I presume, ofi'er much that is new to Icthyologists. As to my division of this class, I confess its inconvenience, but I believe it, never- theless, to be more natural than any preceding one. In publishing it some time ago, I only oifered it for what it is worth ; and if any one should discover a better principle of division, and as conformable to the organization, I shall hasten to adopt it. It is admitted that all the works on the general division of the invertebrated animals, are mere modifications of what I proposed in 1795, in the first of my memoirs ; and the time and care which I have devoted to the anatomy of mollusks in general, and principally to the naked mollusks, are well known. The determining of this class, as well as of its divisions and subdivisions, rests upon my own observations ; the magni- ficent work of M. Poli had alone anticipated me by descriptions and anatomical researches useful for my design, but confined to bivalves and multivalves only. I have verified all the facts furnished by that able anatomist, and I believe that I have more justly marked the functions of some organs. I have also endeavoured to determine the animals to which belong the principal forms of shells, and to arrange the latter from that consideration ; but with regard to the ulterior divisions of those shells of which the animals resemble each other, I have examined them only so far as to enable me to describe briefly those admitted by MM. de Lamarck and de Montfort ; even the small number of genera and sub-genera which are properly mine, are principally derived from obser\'a- tions on the animals. In citing examples, I have confined myself to a certain number of the species of Martini, Chemnitz, Lister, and Soldani ; and that only because, the volume in which M. Lamarck treats of this portion not ha\ing yet appeared, I was compelled to fix the attention of my readers on specific objects. But in the choice and determin- ing of these species, I lay no claim to the same critical accuracy which I have employed for the vertebrated animals and naked mollusks. The excellent observations of MM. Savigny, Lesueur, and Desmarest, on the com- pound Ascidians, approximate this latter family of mollusks to certain orders of zoophytes : this is a curious relation, and a further proof of the impracticabiUty of arranging animals in a single line. I believe that I have extricated the Annelides, — the establishing of which, although not their name, belongs virtually to me, — from the confusion in which they had hitherto been involved, among the Mollusks, the Testacea, and the Zoophytes, and have placed them in their natural order ; even their genera have received some elucidation only by my observations, published in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, and else- where. Of the three classes contained in the third volume, I have nothing to remark. 10 ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. M. Latreille, who, with the exception of some anatomical details, founded on my own observations and those of M. Ramdohr, which 1 have inserted in his text, is its sole author, will take upon himself to explain all that is necessary. As to the Zoophytes, which terminate the Animal Kingdom, 1 have availed myself, for the Echinoderms, of the recent work of M. de Lamarck ; and for the Intestinal Worms, of that of M. Rudolphi, intitled Entozoa ; but I have anatomized all the genera, some of which have been determined by me only. There is an excellent work by M. Tiédemann, on the anatomy of the Echinoderms, which received the prize of the Institute some years ago, and wiU shortly appear ; it will leave nothing to be desired respecting these curious animals. The Corals and the Infusoria, offering no field for anatomical investigations*, will be briefly disposed of. The new work of M. de Lamarck wiU supply my deficiencies. f With respect to authors, I can only here mention those who have furnished me with general views, or who were the origin of such in my own mind. J There are many others to whom I am indebted for particular facts, and whose names I have carefully quoted wherever I have made use of them. They will be found on every page of my book. Should I have omitted to do justice to any, it must be attributed to involuntary forgetfulness, and I ask pardon beforehand : there is no property, in my opinion, more sacred than the conceptions of the mind ; and the custom, too pre- valent among naturalists, of masking plagiarisms by a change of names, has always appeared to me a crime. The publication of my Comparative Anatomy will now occupy me every moment : the materials are ready ; a vast quantity of preparations and drawings are arranged ; and I shall be careful in dividing the work into parts, each of which will form a whole, so that, should my physical powers prove insufficient for the completion of my design, what I have produced will still form entire suites, and the materials I have collected be in immediate readiness for those who may undertake the continuation of my labours. Jardin du Roi, October, 1816. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. The preceding preface explains faithfully the condition in which I found the history of animals when the first edition of this work was published. During the twelve years that have since elapsed, this science has made immense progress, not only from the acquisitions of numerous travellers, as well-instructed as courageous, who have explored every region of the globe, but by the rich collections which various governments have formed and rendered public, and by the learned and * The sarprising^ researches of M. Ehrenberg, now publishing from time to time> triumphantly refute this allegation, — Ed. 1 1 have just received L'Histoire des Polypiers cnrrelligenes fiej-ibles of M. Lainouroux, which furnishes an excellent supplement to M. de Lamarck. t M. de Blainville has recently published general zoological tables, which I regret came too late for me to profit by, having appeared when my book was nearly printed. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. 11 splendid works, wherein new species are described and figured, and of which the authors have striven to detect their mutual relations, and to consider them in every point of view.* I have endeavoured to avail myself of these discoveries, as far as my plan permitted, by first studying the innumerable specimens received at the Cabinet du Roi, and com- paring them with those which served as the basis of my first edition, in order thence to deduce new approximations or subdivisions ; and then, by searching in all the books I could procure for the genera or sub -genera estabUshed by naturalists, and the descriptions of species by which they have supported these numerous com- binations. The determination of synonymes has become much easier now than at the period of my first edition. Both French and foreign naturahsts appear to have recognized the necessity of establishing divisions in the vast genera in which such incongruous species were formerly heaped together ; their groups are now precise and well-defined ; their descriptions sufficiently detailed ; their figures scrupulously exact to the most minute characters, and often of the greatest beauty as works of art. Scarcely any difficulty remains, therefore, in identifying their species, and nothing hinders them from coming to an understanding with respect to the nomenclature. This, unfortunately, has been the most neglected ; the names of the same genera, and the same species, are multiplied as often as they are mentioned ; and should this discord continue, the same chaos will be produced that previously existed, though arising from another cause. I have used every effort to compare and approximate these redundancies, and, forget- ting even my own trifling interest as an author, have often indicated names which seemed to have been imagined only to escape the avowal of having borrowed my divisions. But thoroughly to execute this undertaking, — this pinax or rectified epitome of the animal kingdom, which becomes every day more necessary, — to discuss the proofs and fix the definitive nomenclature which should be adopted, by basing it on sufficient figures and descriptions, requires more space than I could dispose of, and a time imperatively claimed by other works. In the History of Fishes, which I have commenced pub- lishing, with the assistance of M. Valenciennes, I purpose to give an idea of what appears to me might be effected in all parts of the science. Here, 1 only profess to offer an abridged summary — a simple sketch ; — well satisfied if I succeed in rendering this accurate in all its details. Various essays of a simdar kind have been published on some of the classes, and I have carefully studied them Mdth a view to perfect my own. The Mammalogie of M. Desmarest, that of M. Lesson, the Treatise on the Teeth of Quadrupeds, by M. Frederic Cuvier, the English translation of my first edition, by Mr. Griffith, enriched by numerous additions, particularly by Hamilton Smith ; the new edition of the Manuel d'Ornithologie of M. Temminck, the Ornithological Fragments of M. Wagler, the History of Reptiles of the late Merrem, and the Dissertation on the same subject by M. Fitsinger, have principally been useful to me for the vertebrated animals. The Histoire des Animaux sans Vertèbres of M. de Lamarck, the Malacologie of M. de Blainviile, have also been of great service to me for the mollusks. To * See my discourse before the Institute oa tlie Progrès de fhistoire naturelle depuis la paix maritime, published at tlie closî ot tlie first volunie of my Eloges. 12 ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. these I have added the new views and facts contained in the numerous and learned writings of MM. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, father and son, Savigny, Temminck, Lichtenstein, Kuhl, Wilson, Horsfield, Vigors, Swainson, Gray, Ord, Say, Harlan, Charles Bonaparte, Lamouroux, Mitchell, Lesueur, and many other able and studious men, whose names will be carefully mentioned when I speak of the subjects on which they have treated. The line collections of engravings which have appeared within the last twelve years, have enabled me to indicate a greater number of species ; and I have amply profited by this facility. I must particularly acknowledge what I owe on this score to the Histoire des Mammifères of MM. Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Frederic Cuvier, the Planches coloriées of MM. Temminck and Laugier, the Galerie des Oiseaux of M. Vieillot, the new edition of the Birds of Germany, by MM. Nauman, the Birds of the United States of Messrs. Wilson, Ord, and Charles Bonaparte*, the great works of M. Spix, and of his Highness the Prince Maximilian de Wied, on the Animals of Brazil, and to those of M. de Ferussac on the Mollusks. The plates and zoological descriptions of the travels of MM. Freycinet and Duperrey, supplied in the first by MM. Quoy and Gaymard, in the second by MM. Lesson and Garnot, also present many new objects. The same must be said of the Animals of Java, by Dr. Hors- field. Though on a smaller scale, new figures of rare species are to be found in the Mémoires du Muséum, the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, and other French peri- odicals, in the Zoological Illustrations of Mr. Swainson, and in the Zoological Journal, published by able naturalists in London. The Journal of the Lyceum of New York, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, are not less valuable ; but in proportion as the taste for natural history becomes extended, and the more numerous the countries in which it is cultivated, the number of its acquisitions increases in geometrical progression, and it becomes more and more difiicult to collect all the writings of naturalists, and to complete the table of their results. I rely, therefore, on the indulgence of those whose observations may have escaped me, or whose works I have not sufficiently consulted. My celebrated friend and colleague M. Latreille, having consented, as in the first edition, to take upon himself the important and diffiicult part of the Crustaceans, Arachnides, and Insects, will himself explain in an advertisement the plan he has followed, so that I need say nothing more on this subject. Jardin du Roi, October, 1828. * The work of M. Audubon upon the Birds of North America, ] me till after the whole of that part wliicU treats of Birds was which surpasses all others in magnificence, was unknown to I printed. 13 INTRODUCTION. OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND OF SYSTEMS GENERALLY. As few persons have a just idea of Natural History, it appears necessary to com- mence our work by carefully defining the proposed object of this science, and establish- ing rigorous limits between it and the contiguous sciences. The word Nature, in our language, and in most others, signifies — sometimes, the qualities which a being derives from birth, in opposition to those which it may owe to art ; at other times, the aggregate of beings which compose the universe ; and sometimes, again, the laws which govern these beings. It is particularly in this latter sense that it has become customary to personify Nature, and to employ the name, respectfully, for that of its Author. Physics, or Natural Philosophy, treats of the nature of these three relations, and is either general or particular. General Physics examines, abstractedly, each of the properties of those moveable and extended beings which we call bodies. That depart- ment of them styled Dynamics, considers bodies in mass ; and, proceeding from a very small number of experiments, determines mathematically the laws of equilibrium, and those of motion and of its communication. It comprehends in its différent divisions the names of Statics, Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Hydrodynamics, Pneumatics, &c., ac- cording to the nature of the bodies of which it examines the motions. Optics considers the particular motions of light ; the phenomena of which, requiring experiments for their determination, are becoming more numerous. Chemistry, another branch of General Physics, expounds the laws by which the elementary molecules of bodies act on each other when in close proximity, the com- binations or separations which result from the general tendency of these molecules to unite, and the modifications which different circumstances, capable of separating or approximating them, produce on that tendency. It is a science almost wholly ex- perimental, and which cannot be reduced to calculation. The theory of Heat, and that of Electricity, belong almost equally to Dynamics or Chemistry, according to the point of view in which they are considered. The method which prevails in all the branches of General Physics consists in isolating bodies, reducing them to their utmost simplicity, in bringing each of their properties separately into action, either mentally or by experiment, in observing or calculating the results, in short, in generaUzing and correcting the laws of these pro- 14 INTRODUCTION. perties for the purpose of establishing a body of doctrine, and, if possible, of referring the whole to one single law, under the universal expression of which all might be resolved . Particular Physics, or Natural History, — for these terms are synonymous — has for its object to apply specially the laws recognized by the various branches of General Physics, to the numerous and varied beings which exist in nature, in order to explain the phenomena which they severally present. In this extended sense, it would also include Astronomy ; but that science, suffi- ciently elucidated by Mechanics, and completely subjected to its laws, employs methods too different from those required by ordinary Natural History, to permit of its cultiva- tion by the students of the latter. Natural History, then, is confined to objects which do not allow of rigorous calculation, or of precise measurement in all their parts. Meteorology, also, is subtracted from it, to be ranged under General Physics ; so that, properly speaking, it considers only inanimate bodies, called minerals, and the various kinds of living beings, in all which we may observe the effects, more or less various, of the laws of motion and chemical attraction, and of all the other causes analyzed by General Physics. Natural History should, in strictness, employ the same modes of procedure as the general sciences ; and it does so, in fact, whenever the objects of its study are so little complex as to permit of it. But this is very seldom the case. An essential difference, in effect, between the general sciences and Natural History is, that, in the former, phenomena are examined, the conditions of which are all regulated by the examiner, in order, by their analysis, to arrive at general laws ; Mobile in the latter, they occur under circumstances beyond the control of him who studies them for the purpose of discovering, amid the complication, the effects of general laws already known. It is not permitted for him, as in the case of the experimenter, to subtract successively from each condition, and so reduce the problem to its elements ; but he must take it entire, with all its conditions at once, and can analyze only in thought. Suppose, for example, we attempt to isolate the numerous pheno- mena which compose the life of an animal a little elevated in the scale ; a single one being suppressed, the life is wholly annihilated. Dynamics have thus become a science almost purely of calculation ; Chemistry is still a science wholly [chiefly*] of experiment ; and Natural History will long remain, in a great number of its branches, one of pure observation. These three terms sufficiently designate the modes of procedure employed in the three branches of the Natural Sciences ; but in establishing between them very different degrees of certitude, they at the same time indicate the point to which the two latter should tend, in order to approach perfection. Calculation, so to speak, commands Nature ; it determines phenomena more exactly than observation can make them known : experiment forces her to unveil ; while obser- vation watches her when deviating from her normal course, and seeks to surprise her. Natural Historj' has, moreover, a principle on which to reason, which is peculiar to it, and which it employs advantageously on many occasions ; it is that of the conditions of existence, commonly termed final causes. As nothing can exist without the concur- rence of those conditions which render its existence possible, the component parts of each * The discovery of the atomic theory has reduced many of its phenomena to calculation. — Ed. INTRODUCTION. 15 must be so arranged as to render possible the whole hving bemg, not only with reo-ard to itself, but to its surrounding relations ; and the analysis of these conditions fre- quently conducts to general laws, as demonstrable as those which are derived from calculation or experiment. It is only when all the laws of general physics, and those which result from the condi- tions of existence, are exhausted, that we are reduced to the simple laws of observation. The most effectual mode of observing is by comparison. This consists in suc- cessively studying the same bodies in the different positions in which Nature places them, or in a comparison of different bodies together, until constant relations are recognized between their structures and the phenomena which they manifest. These various bodies are kinds of experiments ready prepared by Nature, who adds to or subtracts from each of them different parts, just as we might wish to do in our laboratories, and shows us herself the results of such additions or retrenchments. It is thus that we succeed in establishing certain laws, which govern these relations, and which are employed like those that have been determined by the general sciences. The incorporation of these laws of observation with the general laws, either directly or by the principle of the conditions of existence, woidd complete the system of the natural sciences, in rendering sensible in all its parts the mutual influence of every being. This it is to which the efforts of those who cultivate these sciences should tend. All researches of this kind, however, presuppose means of distinguishing with certaintv, and causing others to distinguish, the objects investigated ; otherwise we should be incessantly liable to confound the innumerable beings which Nature presents. Natural History, then, should be based on what is called a System of Nature, or a great catalogue, in which aU beings bear acknowledged names, may be recognized by distinctive cha- racters, and distributed in divisions and subdivisions themselves named and characterized, in which they may be found. In order that each being may always be recognized in this catalogue, it should carrj^ its character along with it : for which reason the characters should not be taken from properties, or from habits the exercise of wliich is transient, but should be drawn from the conformation. There is scarcely any being which has a simple character, or can be recognized by an isolated feature of its conformation : the combination of many such traits is almost always necessary to distinguish a being from the neighbouring ones, which have some but not all of them, or have them combined with others of which the first is destitute ; and the more numerous the beings to be discriminated, the more must these traits accumulate : insomuch that, to distinguish from all others an individual being, a complete description of it must enter into its character. It is to avoid this inconvenience that di^dsions and subdivisions have been invented. A certain number of neighbouring beings only are compared together, and their par- ticular characters need only to express their differences, which, by the supposition itself, are the less important parts of their conformation. Such a reunion is termed a genus. The same inconvenience would recur in distinguishing genera from each other, were it not that the operation is repeated in collecting the neighbouring genera, so as to form an order ; the neighbouring orders to form a class, &c. Intermediate subdivisions may also be estabHshed. This scaffolding of divisions, the superior of which contain the inferior, is what is 16 INTRODUCTION. called a method. It is, in some respects, a sort of dictionary, in which we proceed from the properties of things to discover their names ; being the reverse of ordinary dic- tionaries, in which we proceed from the names to obtain a knowledge of the properties. "When the method, however, is good, it does more than teach us names. If the sub- divisions have not been established arbitrarily, but are based on the true fundamental relations, — on the essential resemblances of beings, the method is the surest means of reducing the properties of these beings to general rules, of expressing them in the fewest words, and of stamping them on the memory. To render it such, an assiduous comparison of beings is employed, directed by the principle of the subordination of characters, which is itself derived from that of the conditions of existence. All the parts of a being having a mutual correlativeness, some traits of conformation exclude others ; while some, on the contrary, necessitate others : when, therefore, we perceive such or such traits in a being, we can calculate before- hand those which co-exist in it, or those that are incompatible with them. The parts, properties, or the traits of conformation, which have the greatest number of these relations of incompatibility or of co-existence with others, or, in other words, that exercise the most marked influence upon the whole of the being, are what are called important characters, dominant characters ; the others are the subordinate characters, all varying, however, in degree. This influence of characters is sometimes determined rationally, by considering the nature of the organ : when this is impracticable, recourse must be had to simple observation ; and a sure means of recognizing the important characters, which is derived from their own nature, is, that they are more constant ; and that in a long series of diff"erent beings, approximated according to their degrees of similitude, these characters are the last to vary. From their influence and from their constancy result equally the rule, which should be preferred for distinguishing grand divisions, and in proportion as we descend to the inferior subdivisions, we can also descend to subordinate and variable characters. There can only be one perfect method, which is the natural method. An arrangement is thus named in which beings of the same genus are placed nearer to each other than to those of all other genera ; the genera of the same order nearer than to those of other orders, and so in succession. This method is the ideal to which Natural History should tend ; for it is evident that, if we can attain it, we shall have the exact and complete expression of aU nature. In fact, each being is determined by its resem- blance to others, and its diff^erences from them ; and all these relations would be fully given by the arrangement which we have indicated. In a word, the natural method would be the whole science, and each step towards it tends to advance the science to perfection. Life being the most important of all the properties of beings, and the highest of all characters, it is not surprising that it has been made in all ages the most general prin- ciple of distinction ; and that natural beings have always been separated into two immense divisions, the living and the inanimate. OF LIVING BEINGS, AND OF ORGANIZATION IN GENERAL. If, in order to obtain a just idea of the essence of life, we consider it in those beings in which its eflfects are the most simple, we readily perceive that it consists in the INTRODUCTION. 17 faculty which certain corporeal combinations have, of enduring for a time, and under a determinate form, by incessantly attracting into their composition a part of sur- rounding substances, and rendering to the elements portions of their own proper substance. Life, then, is a vortex {tourbillon), more or less rapid, more or less complicated, the direction of which is constant, and which always carries along molecules of the same kind, but into which indi\ddual molecules are continually entering, and from which they are constantly departing ; so that the form of a living body is more essential to it than its matter. As long as this movement subsists, the body in which it takes place is living — it lives. When it is permanently arrested, the body dies. After death, the elements which compose it, abandoned to the ordinary chemical affinities, are not slow to separate, from which, more or less quickly, results the dissolution of the body that had been living. It was then by the vital motion that its dissolution was arrested, and that the elements of the body were temporarily combined. All li\dng bodies die after a time, the extreme limit of which is determined for each species ; and death appears to be a necessary consequence of life, which, by its own action, insensibly alters the structure of the body wherein its functions are exercised, so as to render its continuance impossible. In fact, the living body undergoes gradual but constant changes during the whole term of its existence. It increases first in dimensions, according to the proportions and within the limits fixed for each species, and for each of its several parts ; then it augments in density, in most of its parts : — it is this second kind of change that appears to be the cause of natural death. On examining the various living bodies more closely, a common structure is discerned, which a little reflection soon caioses us to adjudge as essential to a vortex, such as the vital motion. Solids, it is evident, are necessary to these bodies for the maintenance of their forms, and fluids for the conservation of motion in them. Their tissue, then, is com- posed of interlacement and network, or of fibres and solid laminae, which inclose the liquids in their interstices : it is in these liquids that the motion is most continual and most extended ; the extraneous substances penetrate the intimate tissue of bodies in incorporating with them ; they nourish the solids by interposing their molecules, and also detach from them their superfluous molecules : it is in a liquid or gaseous form that the matters to be exhaled traverse the pores of the living body ; but, in return, it is the soUds which contain these fluids, and by their contraction communicate to them a part of their motion. I'his mutual action of the solids and fluids, this passage of molecules from one to the other, necessitated considerable affinity in their chemical composition ; and, accord- ingly, the solids of organized bodies are in great part composed of elements easily convertible into liquids or gases. The motion of the fluids, requiring also a continually repeated action on the part of the solids, and communicating one to them, demanded of the latter both flexibility and dilatability ; and hence we find this character nearly general in all organized solids. This fundamental structure, common to all living bodies — this areolar tissue, the more 18 INTRODUCTION or less flexible fibres or laminae of which intercept fluids more or less abundant — constitutes what is termed the organization ; and, as a consequence of what we have said, it follows that only organized bodies can enjoy life. Organization, then, results from a great number of dispositions or arrangements, which are all conditions of life ; and it is easy to conceive that the general move- ment of the life would be arrested, if its efl'ect be to alter either of these conditions, so as to arrest even one of the partial motions of which it is composed. Every organized body, besides the qualities common to its tissue, has one proper form, not only in general and externally, but also in the detail of the structure of each of its parts ; and it is upon this form, which determines the particular direction of each of the partial movements that take place in it, that depends the compUcation of the general movement of its life, which constitutes its species, and renders it what it is. Each part concurs in this general movement by a pecuhar action, and experiences from it particular efl"ects ; so that, in every being, the life is a whole, resulting from the mutual action and reaction of all its parts. Life, then, in general, presuj^poses organization in general, and the life proper to each being presupposes the organization peculiar to that being, just as the movement ot a clock presupposes the clock ; and, accordingly, we behold life only in beings that are organized and formed to enjoy it ; and all the effbrts of philo- sophers have not yet been able to discover matter in the act of organization, either of itself or by any extrinsic cause. In fact, life exercising upon the elements which at every instant form part of the living body, and upon those which it attracts to it, an action contrary to that which would be produced without it' by the usual chemical afiinities, it is inconsistent to suppose that it can itself be produced by these affinities, and yet we know of no other power in nature capable of reuniting previously separated molecules. The birth of organized beings is, therefore, the greatest mystery of the organic economy and of all nature : we see them developed, but never being formed ; nay, more, all those of which we can trace the origin, have at first been attached to a body of the same form as their own, but which was developed before them ; — in one word, to a. parent. So long as the off"spring has no independent life, but par- ticipates in that of its parent, it is called a germ. The place to which the germ is attached, and the occasional cause which detaches it, and gives it an independent life, vary ; but the primitive adherence to a similar being is a rule without exception. The separation of the germ is what is designated generation. All organized beings produce similar ones ; otherwise, death being a necessary con- sequence of life, their species would not endure. Organized beings have even the faculty of reproducing, in degrees varying with the species, certain of their parts of which they may have been deprived. This has been named the power of reproduction. The developement of organized beings is more or less rapid, and more or less ex- tended, according as circumstances are differently favourable. Heat, the supply and quality of nourishment, with other causes, exert great influence ; and this influence may extend to the whole body in general, or to certain organs in particular : — hence the similitude of off"spring to their parents can never be complete. INTRODUCTION. 19 Differences of this kind, between organized beings, are what are termed varieties. There is no proof that all the differences which now distinguish organized beings are such as may have been produced by circumstances. All that has been advanced upon this subject is hypothetical : experience seems to show, on the contrary, that, in the actual state of things, varieties are confined within rather narrow limits ; and, so far as we can retrace antiquitj^ we perceive that these limits were the same as at present. "We are then obliged to admit of certain forms, which, since the origin of things, have been perpetuated without exceeding these limits ; and all the beings appertaining to one of these forms constitute what is termed a species. Varieties are accidental subdivisions of species. Generation being the only means of ascertaining the limits to which varieties may extend, species should be defined the reunion of individuals descended one from the other, or from common parents, or from such as resemble them as closely as they resemble each other ; but, although this definition is rigorous, it will be seen that its application to particular individuals may be very difficult when the necessary experi- ments have not been made.* To recapitulate, — absorption, assimilation, exhalation, developement, and generation, are the functions common to all li^^ng beings ; birth and death, the universal limits of their existence ; a porous, contractile tissue, containing within its laminae liquids or gases in motion, the general essence of their structure ; substances almost all susceptible of being converted into liquids or gases, and combinations capable of easy transformation into one another, the basis of their chemical composition. Fixed forms, and which are perpetuated by generation, distinguish their species, determine the complication of the secondary functions proper to each of them, and assign to them the office they have to fulfil in the grand scheme of the universe. These forms neither produce npr change themselves ; the life supposes their existence ; it can exist only in organizations already prepared ; and the most profound meditations, assisted by the most delicate observations, can penetrate no further than the mystery of the pre-existence of germs. DIVISION OF ORGANIZED BEINGS INTO ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES. Living: or organized beings have been subdivided, from the earliest times, into ani- mate beings, or those possessing sense and motion, and inanimate beings, which enjoy * That insurmountable difficulties oppose the rigid determination of species» and, consequently, render even the definition of the term impossible, except in a very vague and loose manner, will readily appear on consideriition of some of the phenomena presented. The prevalent idea is, that a species consists of the aggregate of individuals descended from one original parentage, which alone are supposed to be capable of producing offspring that are prolific inter se; and that when individuals, not of the same pristine derivation, interbreed, the hybrids are necessarily mules^ which are either quite sterile, or at most can only propagate with individuals of unmixed descent. But it so happens, that every possible grade of approxi- mation is manifested, from the most diverse races, to those which are utterly undistinguishable ; while, even in the latter case, urgent ana- logies, notwithstanding, sometimes forcibly indicate a sep:irateucss of origin ; as when a scries of analogous races inhabiting distant regions are compared together, some of which are obviously different, others doubtfully so, and some apparently identical. And it remains to be sliown whether such intimately allied races as some of these, even if not descended from a common stock, (which of course cannot be ascertained), would not produce hybrids capable of transmitting and perpetuating the mingled breed. It is true that Cuvier guards against this contingency, in the wording of his definition; and that most naturalists would concur in regarding such miscible races, how- ever dissimilar, as varieties merely of the same ; but a question arises, whether there be not different degrees of fertility in hybrids, corresponding to the amount of affinity, or physiological accordancy^ subsisting betwixt the parent races ; it being only within a certain sphere of that affinity that they can be produced at all : besides which, as hybrids are seldom exactly intermediate, and in some instances (particularly among multiparous races) have been known to resemble entirely one or the other parent, it may be presumed tliat this circum. stance would also materially affect their capability of propagation* Experiments are needed to solve this important problem, though there is every reason to suspect that the following proposition will ( ally gain the general assent of natu dissimihirity does îiot of necessity i verse equnUy holds^ that absolute \ «titutc specijical identity.~En. , that while considerable tnply specifical diversity^ the con- ■esemblance fails of itself to con- c2 20 INTRODUCTION. neither the one nor the other of these faculties, but are reduced to the simple function of vegetating. Although many plants retract their leaves when touched, and the roots direct themselves constantly towards moisture, the leaves towards air and Ught, and though some parts of vegetables appear even to exhibit oscUlations without any perceptible external cause, stiU these various movements bear too little resem- blance to those of animals to enable us to recognize in them any proofs of perception or of will. The spontaneity of the movements of animals reqiiired essential modifications, even in their simply vegetative organs. Their roots not penetrating the ground, it was necessary that they should be able to place within themselves provisions of food, and to carry its reservoir along vdth them. Hence is derived the first character of animals, or their alimentary cavity, from which their nutritive fluid penetrates all other parts through pores or vessels, which are a sort of internal roots. The organization of this cavity and of its appurtenances required varying, according to the nature of the ahment, and the operations which it had to undergo before it could furnish juices proper for absorption : whilst the atmosphere and the earth supply to vegetables only juices ready prepared, and which can be absorbed immediately. The animal body, which abounds with functions more numerous and more varied than in the plant, required in consequence to have an organization much more com- plicated ; besides which, its parts not being capable of preserving a fixed relative posi- tion, there were no means by which the motion of their fluids could be produced by external causes, as it required to be independent of heat and of the atmosphere : from this originates the second character of animals, or their circulatory system, which is less essential than the digestive, since it was unnecessary in the more simple animals. The animal functions required organic systems, not needed by vegetables, as that of the muscles for voluntary motion, and that of the nerves for sensibility ; and these two systems, like the rest, acting only through the motions and transformations of the fluids, it was necessary that these should be more numerous in animals, and that the chemical composition of the animal body should be more complicated than that of the plant : and so it is, for an additional substance (azote) enters into it as an essential element, while in plants it is a mere accidental junction with the three other general elements of organization, — oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. This then is the third character of animals. The soil and the atmosphere supply to vegetables water for their nutrition, which is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, air, which contains oxygen and azote, and car- bonic acid, which is a combination of oxygen and carbon. To extract from these aliments their proper composition, it was necesar)^ that they should retain the hydrogen and carbon, exhale the superfluous oxygen, and absorb little or no azote. Such, then, is the process of vegetable life, of which the essential function is the exhalation of oxygen, which is effected through the agency of hght. Animals in addition derive nourishment, more or less immediately, from the vegetable itself, of which hydrogen and carbon form the principal constituents. To assimilate them to their own composition, they must get rid of the superfluous hydrogen, and especially of the superabundant carbon, and accumulate more azote ; this it is which is performed in respiration, by means of the oxygen of the atmosphere combining with the hydrogen and carbon of the blood, and being exhaled with them under the form of INTRODUCTION. 21 water and carbonic acid. The azote, whatever part of their body it may penetrate, appears to remain there. The relations of vegetables and animals with the atmosphere are then inverse ; the former retain {défont) water and [decompose] carbonic acid, while the latter reproduce them. Respiration is the function essential to the constitution of an animal body ; it is that which in a manner animalizes it ; and we shall see that animals exercise their peculiar functions more completely, according as they enjoy greater powers of respira- tion. It is in this difference of relations that the fourth character of animals consists. OF THE FORMS PECULIAR TO THE ORGANIC ELEMENTS OF THE ANIMAL BODY, AND OF THE PRINCIPAL COMBINATIONS OF ITS CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. An areolar tissue and three chemical elements are essential to every living body, a fourth element being peculiar to that of animals ; but this tissue is composed of vari- ously formed meshes, and these elements are united in different combinations. There are three kinds of organic materials, or forms of tissue, — the cellular membrane, the muscular fibre, and the medullary matter; and to each form belongs a peculiar combination of chemical elements, together with a particular function. The cellular membrane is composed of an infinity of small laminae, fortuitously dis- posed, so as to form little cells that communicate with each other. It is a sort of sponge, which has the same form as the entire body, all other parts of which fill or traverse it. Its property is to contract indefinitely when the causes which sustain its extension cease to operate. It is this force that retains the body in a given form, and within determined limits; When condensed, this substance forms those more or less extended laminae which are called membranes ; the membranes, rolled into cylinders, compose those tubes, more or less ramified, which are termed vessels ; the filaments, named fibres, resolve them- selves into it ; and the bones are nothing but the same, indurated by the accumulation of earthy particles. The cellular substance consists of that combination [isinglass] which bears the name of gelatine, and the character of which is to dissolve in boiling water, and to assume the form, when cold, of a trembUng jeUy. The medullary matter has not yet been reduced to its organic molecules : it ap- pears to the naked eye as a sort of soft bouillie [pultaceous mass], consisting of exces- sively small globules ; it is not susceptible of any apparent motion, but in it resides the admirable power of transmitting to the me the impressions of the external senses, and of conveying to the muscles the mandates of the will. The brain and the spinal chord are chiefly composed of it; and the nerves, which are distributed to aU the sentient organs, are, essentially, but ramifications of the same. The fleshy or muscular fibre is a peculiar sort of filament, the distinctive property of which, during life, is that of contracting when touched or struck, or when it experi- ences, through the medium of the nerves, the action of the wiU. The muscles, immediate organs of voluntary motion, are merely bundles of fleshy fibres. All the membranes, aU the vessels which need to exercise any compression, are furnished with these fibres. They are always intimately connected with nervous threads ; but those which subserve the purely vegetative functions contract without 22 INTRODUCTION. the knowledge of the me, so that the will is indeed one means of causing the fibres to act, but which is neither general nor exclusive. The fleshy fibre has for its base a particular substance termed fibrine, which is insoluble in boiling water, and of which the nature appears to be to take of itself this filamentous form. The nutritive fiuid, or the blood, such as we find in the vessels of the circulation, not only resolves itself principally into the general elements of the animal body, — carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and azote, but it also contains fibrine and gelatine, all but disposed to contract, and to assume the forms of membranes or of filaments peculiar to them ; nought being ever acquired for their manifestation but a little repose. The blood pre- sents also another combination, which occurs in many animal solids and fluids, namely, albuinen [or white of egg], the characteristic property of which is to coagulate in boiling water. Besides these, the blood contains almost all the elements which may enter into the composition of the body of each animal, such as the lime and phosphorus, which hardens the bones of vertebrated animals, the iron, which colours the blood itself as well as various other parts, the fat or animal oil, which is deposited in the cellular substance to maintain it, &c. All the fluids and solids of the animal body are composed of chemical elements contained in the blood ; and it is only by possessing some ele- ments more or less, or in different proportions, that each is severally disthiguished ; whence it becomes apparent that their formation entirely depends on the subtraction of the whole or part of one or more elements of the blood, and, in some few cases, on the addition of some element from elsewhere. The various operations, by which the blood supplies nourishment to the solid or liquid matter of all parts of the body, may take the general name of secretion. This term, however, is often exclusively appropriated to the production of liquids, while that of nutrition is applied more especially to the production and deposition of the matter necessary to the growth and conservation of the solids. Every solid organ, as well as fluid, has the composition most appropriate for the office which it has to perform, and it preserves it so long as health continues, because the blood renews it as fast as it becomes changed. The blood itself, by this continual contribution, is altered every moment ; but is restored by digestion, which renews its matter ; by respiration, which sets free the superfluous carbon and hydrogen ; and by perspiration and various other excretions, that relieve it from other superabundant principles. These perpetual changes of chemical composition constitute part of the vital vortex, not less essential than the \dsible movements and those of translation : the object, in- deed, of these latter is simply to produce the former. OF THE FORCES WHICH ACT IN THE ANIMAL BODY. The muscular fibre is not only the organ of voluntary motion ; we have seen that it is also the most powerful of the means employed by nature to eflfect the move- ments of translation necessary to vegetative life. Thus the fibres of the intestines pro- duce the peristaltic motion, which causes the aliment to pass onward along this canal ; the fibres of the heart and arteries are the agents of the circulation, and, through it, of all the secretions, &c. INTRODUCTION. 23 The will causes the fibre to contract through the medium of the nerve ; and the involuntary fibres, such as those we have mentioned, are equally animated by the nerves which pervade them ; it is, therefore, probable, that these nerves are the cause of their contraction. All contraction, and, generally speaking, all change of dimension in nature, is produced by a change of chemical composition, though it consists merely in the flowing or ebbing of an imponderable *, such as caloric ; it is thus also that the most \'iolent of known movements are occasioned, as combustions, detonations, &c. There is, then, great reason for supposing that it is by an imponderable fluid that the nen'e acts upon the fibre ; and the more especially, as it is demonstrated that this action is not mechanical. The meduUary matter of the whole nervous system is homogeneous, and m.ust exercise, wherever it is found, the functions appertaining to its nature ; all its ramifi- cations receive a great abundance of blood-vessels. All the animal fluids being derived from the blood by secretion, it cannot be doubted that the same holds with the nervous fluid, nor that the meduUary matter secretes [or evolves] it. On the other hand, it is certain that the medullary matter is the sole conductor of the nerv'ous fluid ; and that aU the other organic elements serve as non-conductors, and arrest it, as glass arrests electricity. The external causes which are capable of producing sensations, or of occasioning contractions in the fibre, are all chemical agents, capable of efi'ecting decompositions, such as light, caloric, the salts, odorous vapours, percussion, compression, &c. It would seem, then, that these causes act upon the nervous fluid chemically, and by changing its composition : which appears the more likely, as their action becomes weakened by continuance, as if the nervous fluid needed to resume its primitive com- position in order to be altered anew. The external organs of sense may be compared to sieves, which allow nothing to pass through to the nerve except the species of agent which should affect it in that particular place, but which often accumulates so as to increase the eflfect. The tongue has its spongy papillae, which imbibe saline solutions : the ear a gelatinous pulp, which is intensely agitated by sonorous vibrations ; the eye transparent lenses, which concentrate the rays of light, &c. It is probable that what are styled irritants, or the agents which occasion the con- tractions of the fibre, exert this action by producing on the fibre, by the nerve, the same eff'ect which is produced by the will ; that is to say, by altering the nervous fluid in the manner necessary to change the dimensions of the fibre on which it has influence ; but the will has nothing to do in this action ; the me is often even without any knowledge of it. The muscles separated from the body are stUl susceptible of irrita- tion, so long as the portion of the nerve distributed within them preserves its power of acting on them ; the will being e%ddently unconnected with this phenomenon. The nervous fluid is altered by muscular irritation, as weU as by sensation and voluntary motion ; and the same necessity occurs for the re-estabUshment of its primi- tive composition. The movements of translation necessary to vegetative life are determined by irritants : • " Imponderable fluid'' is the expression in tlie original. — Ed. 24 INTRODUCTION. the aliment irritates [or excites] the intestine, the blood irritates the heart, &c. These movements are all independent of the will, and in general (while health endures) take place without the cognizance of the me ; the nerves which produce them have even, in several parts, a dilFerent distribution from that of the nerves affected by sensations or subject to the will, and the object of the diiFerence appears to be the securing of this independence.* The nervous functions, that is to say, sensitiveness and muscular irritability, are so much the stronger at every point, in proportion as the exciting cause is more abundant ; and as this agent, or the nervous fluid, is produced by secretion [or evolution], its abundance must be in proportion to the quantity of medullary or secretory matter, and the amount of blood received by the latter. In animals that have a circulation, the blood is propelled through the arteries which convey it to its destined parts, by means of their irritability and that of the heart. If these arteries be irritated, they act more vigorously, and propel a greater quantity of blood ; the nervous fluid becomes more abundant, and augments the local sensibility ; this, in its turn, increases the irritability of the arteries, so that this mutual action may be carried to a great extent. It is termed orgasm, and wheii it becomes painful and permanent, inflammation. The irritation may also originate in the nerve, when it experiences acute sensations. This mutual influence of the nerves and fibres, either in the intestinal system, or in the arterial system, is the real spring of vegetative life in animals. As each external sense is permeable only by particular kinds of sensation, so each internal organ may be accessible only to such or such agent of irritation. Thus, mercury irritates the salivary glands, cantharides excite the bladder, &c. I'hese agents are what are termed specifics. The nervous system being homogeneous and continuous, local sensations and irrita- tion debilitate the whole ; and each function, carried too far, may enfeeble the others. Excess of aliment thus weakens the faculty of thought ; while prolonged meditation impairs the energy of digestion, &c. Excessive local irritation will enfeeble the whole body, as if aU the powers of life were concentrated on a single point. A second irritation produced at another point may diminish, or divert as it is termed, the first ; such is the eff"ect of purgatives, bUsters, &c. [denominated counter-irritation]. All rapid as the foregoing enunciation is, it is sufficient to establish the possibility of accounting for all the phenomena of physical life, by the simple admission of a fluid such as we have defined, from the properties which it manifests.! * In the above sentence, there are distinctly mentioned the three j John Herschel, " (for which wonderfully constituted organ no other sorts of nerves, the separate functions of which have been con- mode of action possessing the least probability has ever been devised), clusively demonstrated by Sir Charles Bell : viz., nerves of volitiotif j be an electric pile, constantly in action, it may be conceived to dis- charge itself at regular intervals, when the tension of the electricity developed reaches a certain point, along the ner^'es which communi- cate with the heart, and thus to excite the pulsations of that organ. This idea is forcibly suggested by a view of that elegant appar[itus, the dry pile of Deluc, in which the successive accumulations of electricity are carried off by a suspended ball, which is kept, by the discharges, in a state of regular pulsation for any length of time. We have witnessed the action of such a pile, maintained in this M-ay for whole years, in the study of the above-named eminent philosopher. The same idea of the cause of the pulsation of the heart appears to have occurred to Dr. Arnott, and is mentioned in his useful and ex- cellent work on Physics, to which, however, we are not indebted for the suggestion, it having occurred to us independently many years ago." — Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy^ p. ^3. — Ed. which transmit the mandates of the will ; of sensation, which convey to the sensorium the impres.sioiis of the senses ; and of sipnputhy, or involuntary movement, tlie reunion of the ramifications of which in a plexus of knots, or ganglions, is intimated in the text, those of the second class being distinguished by a swelling or ganglion near their base. — Ed. t The unceasing chemical changes consequent upon vitality must necessarily develope electricity ; and that the nervous Jiuid is no other than the electric, may be considered as proved by the identity of their phenomena. Indeed, it has long been known that llie transmission of voltaic electricity along the nerves of a recently dead animal, suffices to produce the most violent muscular action ; but the regula- tion of that action, its exclusive direction to particular suites of muscles, requires the vital impulse. " If the brain," remarks Sir INTRODUCTION. 25 SXTMMARy IDEA OF THE FUNCTIONS AND ORGANS OF THE BODIES OF ANIMALS, AND OF THEIR VARIOUS DEGREES OF COMPLICATION. After what we have stated respecting the organic elements of the body, its chemical principles, and the forces which act within it, it remains only to give a sum- mary idea in detail of the functions of which life is composed, and of their respective organs. The functions of the animal body are divided into two classes : — The animal functions, or those proper to animals, — that is to say, sensibility and voluntary motion. The vital, vegetative functions, or those common to animals and vegetables ; that is to say, nutrition and generation. Sensibility resides in the nervous system. The most general external sense is that of touch ; its seat is in the skin, a mem- brane enveloping the whole body, and traversed all over by nerves, of which the extreme filaments expand on the surface into papillœ, and are protected by the epider- mis, and by other insensible teguments, such as hairs, scales, &c. Taste and smell are merely delicate states of the sense of touch, for which the skin of the tongue and nostrils is particularly organized ; the former by means of papillae more convex and spongy ; the latter, by its extreme delicacy and the multiplication of its ever humid surface. We have already spoken of the eye and ear in general. The organ of gene- ration is endowed with a sixth sense, which is seated in its internal skin ; that of the stomach and intestines declares the state of those viscera by peculiar sensations. In fine, sensations more or less painful may originate in all parts of the body through accidents or diseases. Many animals have neither ears nor nostrils ; several are without eyes, and some are reduced to the single sense of touch, which is never absent. The action received by the external organs is continued through the nerves to the central masses of the nervous system, which, in the higher animals, consists of the brain and spinal chord. The more elevated the nature of the animal, the more volumi- nous is the brain, and the more the sensitive power is concentrated there ; in propor- tion as the animal is placed lower in the scale, the medullary masses are dispersed, and in the lowest genera of all, the nervous substance appears to merge altogether, and blend in the general matter of the body. That part of the body which contains the brain and the principal organs of sense, is called the head. When the animal has received a sensation, and which has induced in it an act of volition, it is by [particular] nerves also that this volition is transmitted to the muscles. The muscles are bundles of fleshy fibres, the contractions of which produce all the movements of the animal body. The extensions of the limbs, and all the lengthenings of parts, are the effect of muscular contractions, equally with flexions and abbreviations. The muscles of each animal are disposed in number and direction according to the movements which it has to execute ; and when these movements require to be effected with some vigour, the muscles are inserted into hard parts, articulated one over another, and may be considered as so many levers. These parts are called bones in 26 INTRODUCTION. the vertebrated animals, where they are internal, and formed of a gelatinous mass, penetrated with molecules of phosphate of lime. In moUusks, crustaceans, and insects, where they are external, and composed of a calcareous or corneous substance that exudes between the skin and epidermis, they are termed shells, crusts, and scales. The fleshy fibres are attached to the hard parts by means of other fibres of a gela- tinous nature, which seem to be a continuation of the former, constituting what are called tendons. The configuration of the articulating surfaces of the hard parts limits their move- ments, which are further restrained by cords or envelopes attached to the sides of the articulations, and which are termed ligaments. It is from the various dispositions of this bony and muscular apparatus, and from the form and proportions of the members which result therefrom, that animals are capable of executing those innumerable movements which enter into walking, leaping, flight, and swimming. The muscular fibres appropriated to digestion and circulation are independent of the will ; they receive nerves, however, but, as we have said, the chief of them exhibit subdivisions and enlargements which appear to have for their object the estrangement of the empire of the me. It is only in paroxysms of the passions and other powerful mental emotions, which break down these barriers, that the empire of the me becomes perceptible ; and even then its effect is almost always to disorder these vegetative functions. It is also in a state of sickness only that these functions are accompanied by sensations. Digestion is ordinarily performed unconsciously. The aliment, divided by the jaws and teeth, or sucked up when liquids con- stitute the food, is swallowed by the muscular movements of the back part of the mouth and throat, and deposited in the first portion of the alimentary canal, usually expanded into one or more stomachs ; it there is penetrated with juices proper to dis- solve it. Conducted thence along the rest of the canal, it receives other juices destined to complete its preparation. The parietes of the canal have pores which extract from this ahmentary mass its nutritious portion, and the useless residue is rejected as excrement. The canal in which this first act of nutrition is performed, is a continuation of the skin, and is composed of similar layers ; even the fibres which encircle it are analogous to those which adhere to the internal surface of the skin, called the fleshy pannicle. Throughout the whole interior of this canal there is a transudation, which has some connexion with the cutaneous perspiration, and which becomes more abundant when the latter is suppressed ; the skin even exercises an absorption very analogous to that of the intestines. It is only in the lowest animals that the excrements are rejected by the mouth, and in which the intestine has the form of a sac without issue. Among those even in which the intestinal canal has two orifices, there are many in which the nutritive juices, absorbed by the coats of the intestine, are immediately diffused over the whole spong}»- substance of the body : this appears to be the case with the whole class of insects. But, ascending from the arachnides and worms, the nutritive fluids circulate in a system of confined vessels, the ultimate ramifications of which alone dispense its molecules to the parts that are nourished by it ; those particular vessels which convey it are named INTRODUCTION. 2/ arteries, and those which bring it back to the centre of the circulation are termed veins. The circulating vortex is sometimes simple, sometimes double, and even triple (includ- ing that of the vena porta) ; the rapidity of its movements is often aided by the contrac- tions of a certain fleshy apparatus denominated hearts, and which are placed at one or the other centres of circulation, and sometimes at both of them. In the red-blooded vertebrated animals, the nutritive fluid exudes white or transpa- rent from the intestines, and is then termed chyle ; it is poured by particular vessels, named lacteals, into the venous system, where it mingles with the blood. Vessels resembhng these lacteals, and forming with them what is known as the lymphatic system, also convey to the venous blood the residue of the nutrition of the parts and the products of cutaneous absorption. Before the blood is proper to nourish the several parts, it must experience from the ambient element, by respiration, the modification of which we have already spoken. In animals which have a circulation, a portion of the vessels is destined to carry the blood into organs, where they spread over an extensive surface, that the action of the ambient element might be increased. When this element [or medium] is the air, the surface is hollow, and is called lungs ; when water, it is salient, and termed gills."^ There are always motive organs disposed for propelling the ambient element into, or upon, the respiratory organ. In animals which have no circulation, the air is diflfused through every part of the body by elastic vessels, named trachea ; or water acts upon them, either by pene- trating through vessels, or by simply bathing the surface of the skin. The blood which is respired is qualified for restoring the composition of all the parts, and to effect what is properly called nutrition. It is a great marvel that, with this facility which it has of becoming decomposed at each point, it should leave precisely the species of molecule which is there necessary ; but it is this wonder which consti- tutes the whole vegetative Hfe. For the nourishment of the solids, we see no other arrangement than a great subdivision of the extreme arterial ramifications ; but for the production of liquids, the apparatus is more complex and various. Sometimes the extremities of the vessels simply spread over large surfaces, whence the produced fluid exudes ; sometimes it oozes from the bottom of Uttle cavities. Very often, before these arterial extremities change into veins, they give rise to particular vessels that convey this fluid, which appears to proceed from the exact point of union between the two kinds of vessels ; in this case, the blood-vessels and these latter termed especial, form, by their interlacement, the bodies called conglomerate or secretory glands. In animals that have no circulation, and particularly insects, the nutritive fluid bathes all the parts ; each of them draws from it the molecules necessary for its suste- nance : if it be necessary that some liquid be produced, the appropriate vessels float in the nutritive fluid, and imbibe from it, by means of their pores, the constituent elements of that liquid. It is thus that the blood incessantly supports all the parts, and repairs the altera- tions which are the continual and necessary consequence of their functions. The ' It may be remarked here, that, in strictness of language, uii I respiration of animals is, that some breathe the free air, and are sup- animals respire water, hut the air which is suspended in water, and plied with lungs, and others that diffused in water, and have there- which has been ascertained to contain more oxygen than that of the I fore gills : but even this difference, however, is more apparent than free atmosphere. The elements of water, it should be remembered, are real, as in all cases the respiratory surface requires to be moist or wet, chemically combined, while those of air are only mechanically mixed. I in order to perform its function. Deprive water of its air by boiling it. To obtain oxygen from the one, therefore, decomposition is required ; I and it cannot support life. — Ed. from the other, no disunion. The only distinction, then, in the ' 28 INTRODUCTION. general ideas which we form resjjecting this process are tolerably clear, although we have no distinct or detailed notion of what passes at each point ; and for want of knowino- the chemical composition of each part with sufficient precision, we cannot render an exact account of the transformations necessary to produce it. Besides the glands which separate from the blood those fluids which perform some office in the internal economy, there are some which detach others from it that are to be totally rejected, either simply as superfluities, such as the urine, which is produced by the kidneys, or for some use to the animal, as the ink of the cuttle, and the purple matter of various other moUusks, &c. Willi respect to generation, there is one process or phenomenon infinitely more difficult to conceive than that of the secretions ; it is the production of the germ. We have seen even that it may be regarded as little less than incomprehensible ; but, the existence of the germ once admitted, generation presents no particular difficulty : so long as it adheres to the parent, it is nourished as if it were one of its organs* ; and when it detaches itself, it has its own proper life, which is essentially similar to that of the adult. The germ, the embryo, the foetus, and the new-born animal, have in no instance, however, precisely the same form as the adult, and the difference is sometimes so great, that their assimilation merits the name of metamorphosis. Thus, no one not previously aware of the fact, would suppose that the caterpillar is to become a butterfly. All living beings are more or less metamorphosed in the course of their growth, that is to say, they lose certain parts, and develope others. The antennae, wings, and all the parts of the butterfly were inclosed within the skin of the caterpillar ; this skin disappears along with the jaws, feet, and other organs that do not remain in the butterfly. The feet of the frog are inclosed by the skin of the tadpole : and the tad- pole, to become a frog, loses its tail, mouth, and gills. The infant likewise, at birth, loses its placenta and envelope ; at a certain age its thymous gland almost disappears ; and it acquires by degrees its hair, teeth, and beard. The relative size of its organs alters, and its body increases proportionally more than its head, its head more than its internal ear, &c. The place where these germs are found, the assemblage of them, is named the ovary ; the canal through which, when detached, they are carried forward, the oviduct ; the cavity in which, in many species, they are obliged to remain for a longer or shorter period before birth, the matrix or uterus ; the exterior orifice through which they pass into the world, the vulva. When there are sexes, the male sex fecundates ; the germs appearing in the female. The fecundating liquor is named semen ; the glands which separate it from the blood, testicles ; and, when it is necessary that it should be intro- duced into the body of the female, the intromittent organ is called a. penis. RAPID EXPOSITION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONS OF ANIMALS. The impression of external objects on the me, the production of a sensation, of an image, is a mystery impenetrable to our intellect ; and materialism an hypothesis, so much the more conjectural, as philosophy can furnish no direct proof of the actual * Germs have been detected in the ovaria of a human foetus. — Ed, INTRODUCTION. 29 existence of matter. But the naturalist should examine what appear to be the mate- rial conditions of sensation ; he should trace the ulterior operations of the mind, ascer- tain to what point they reach in each being, and assure himself whether they are not subject to conditions of perfection, dependent on the organization of each species, or on the momentary state of each individual body. For the me to perceive, there must be an uninterrupted nervous communication between the external sense and the central masses of the medullary system. Hence it is only when a modification is experienced by these masses that the me perceives : there may also be real sensations, without the external organ being affected, and which originate either in the nervous passage, or in the central mass itself ; such are dreams and visions, or certain accidental sensations. By central masses, we mean a part of the nervous system, which is more circum- scribed as the animal is more perfect. In man, it consists exclusively of a limited portion of the brain ; but in reptiles, it includes the brain and the whole of the medulla, and each of their parts taken separately ; so that the absence of the entire brain does not prevent sensation. In the inferior classes this extension is still greater. The perception acquired by the me, produces the image of the sensation ex- perienced. "We trace to without the cause of that sensation, and thus acquire the idea of the object which produces it. By a necessary law of our intelligence, aU the ideas of material objects are in time and space. The modifications experienced by the medullary masses leave impressions there, which are reproduced, and recall to mind images and ideas ; this is memory, a cor- poreal faculty that varies considerably, according to age and health. Ideas that are similar, or which have been acquired at the same time, recall each other; this is the association of ideas. The order, extent, and promptitude of this asso- ciation constitute the perfection of memory. Each object presents itself to the memory with all its qualities, or with all its accessory ideas. Intellect has the power of separating these accessory ideas of objects, and of com- bining those that are alike in several different objects under one general idea, the prototype of which nowhere really exists, nor presents itself in an isolated form ; this is abstraction. Every sensation being more or less agreeable or disagreeable, experience and re- peated essays show promptly what movements are required to procure the one and avoid the other ; and with respect to this, the intellect abstracts itself from eeneral rules to direct the will. An agreeable sensation being liable to consequences that are not so, and vice versa, the subsequent sensations become associated with the idea of the primitive one, and modify the general rules abstracted by the intellect ; this is prudence. From the application of rules to general ideas, result certain formulœ, which are afterwards adapted easily to particular cases ; this is called reasoning — ratiocination. A lively remembrance of primitive and associated sensations, and of the impressions of pleasure and pain that attach to them, constitutes imagination. One pri\Tleged being, Man, has the faculty of associating his general ideas with particular images more or less arbitrary, easily impressed upon the memorj-, and which serve to recall the general ideas which they represent. These associated images are 30 INTRODUCTION. what are called signs ; their assemblage is a language. When the language is com- posed of images that relate to the sense of hearing or sound, it is termed speech. When its images relate to that of sight, they are called hieroglyphics. Writing is a suite of images that relate to the sense of sight, by which we represent elementary sounds ; and, in combining them, all the images relative to the sense of hearino- of which speech is composed : it is, therefore, only a mediate representation of ideas. This faculty of representing general ideas by particular signs or images associated with them, enables us to retain distinctly in the memory, and to recall without con- fusion, an immense number, and furnishes to the reasoning faculty and the imagina- tion innumerable materials, and to individuals the means of communication, which cause the whole species to participate in the experience of each individual ; so that no bounds seem to be placed to the acquisition of knowledge : this is the distinctive character of human intelligence.* The most perfect animals are infinitely below man in their intellectual faculties ; but it is, nevertheless, certain that their intelligence performs operations of the same kind. They move in consequence of sensations received, are susceptible of durable affections, and acquire by experience a certain knowledge of things, by which they are governed in- dependently of actual pain and pleasure, and by the simple foresight of consequences.f When domesticated, they feel their subordination, know that the being who punishes them may refrain from doing so if he will, and when sensible of having done wrong, or behold him angry, they assume a suppliant air. In the society of man they become either corrupted or improved, and are susceptible of emulation and jealousy : they have among themselves a natural language, which, it is true, expresses only their momentary sensations ; but man teaches them to understand another, much more complicated, by which he makes known to them his will, and causes them to execute it. In short, we perceive in the higher animals a certain degree of reason, with all its consequences, good and bad, and which appears to be about the same as that of chil- dren before they have learned to speak. In proportion as we descend to the animals more removed from man, these faculties become enfeebled ; and, in the lowest classes, we find them reduced to signs, at times equivocal only, of sensibility, that is to say, to a few slight movements to escape from pain. Between these two extremes, the degrees are endless. In a great number of animals, however, there exists a diflferent faculty of intelli- gence, which is named instinct. This prompts them to certain actions necessary to the preservation of the species, but often altogether foreign to the apparent wants of individuals ; frequently, also, very complicated, and which, to be ascribed to intelligence, would suppose a foresight and knowledge in the species that execute them infinitely superior to what can be admitted. These actions, the result of instinct, are not the effect of imitation, for the individuals that perform them have often never seen them performed by others : they are not proportioned to the ordinary intelligence, but become more singular, more wise, more disinterested, in proportion as the animals belong to less elevated classes, and are, in all the rest of their actions, more dull and * Linnicus defined the human being to he a" self-knowing animal ;" i but it is doubtful whether any of them can nieutally trace remote which is a bold assumption, taken either way. — En, rau-ie», amid the eonipliratiou of phciinmeua. It is with man in his t Tliat is to say, they obviously remark coincidences and sequences ; ' least civilized state that they should be compared. — Kd. INTRODUCTION. 31 stupid. They are so truly the property of the species, that all its individuals perform them in the same way, without any improvement. Thus the working bees have always constructed very ingenious edifices, agreeably to the rules of the highest geometry, and destined to lodge and nourish a posterity not even their own. The wasps and the solitary bees also form very complicated nests, in which to deposit their eggs. From this egg issues a grub, which has never seen its parent, which is ignorant of the structure of the prison in which it is confined, but which, once metamorphosed, constructs another precisely similar. In order to have a clear idea of instinct, it is necessary to admit that these animals have innate and perpetual in^ages or sensations in the sensorium, which induce them to act as ordinarj^ and accidental sensations commonly do. It is a sort of dream or vision that ever haunts them, and may be considered, in all that relates to instinct, as a kind of somnambulism. Instinct has been granted to animals as a supplement for intelligence, to concur with it, and with force and fecundity, to the preservation, in a proper degree, of each species. There is no visible mark of instinct in the conformation of the animal ; but intelli- gence, so far as has been observed, is in constant proportion to the relative size of the brain, and particularly of its hemispheres.* OF METHOD, AS APPLIED TO THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. After what we have said respecting methods in general, there remains to ascertain which are the most influential characters of animals, that should serve as the basis of their primary divisions. It is evident they should be those which are drawn from the animal functions ; that is to say, from the sensations and movements ; for not only do both these make the being an animal, but they establish, in a manner, its degree of animality. Observation confirms this position, by showing that their degrees of developement and comphcation accord with those of the organs of the vegetative functions. The heart and the organs of the circulation form a kind of centre for the vege- tative functions, as the brain and trunk of the nervous system do for the animal * One of the most curious phenomena of instinct is the transmission of instilled habits by generation, as in the instance of hijh-bred pointer and setter dogs, often requiring no training to fit them for their particular modes of indicating game. Propensities are similarly hereditary in the human species ; but innate knowledge, as a substi- tute for individually acquired experience, is peculiar to brutes, which, for the most part, are thrown upon their own resources, before they have had time or opportunities to gain the necessary information to serve as a guide for the regulation of their conduct. All the higher ani- mals, except the human species, appear to recognize their natural foes intuitively, to know even where their hidden weapons lie, also where they (and likewise themselves) are most vulnerable, and they endea- vour to use their own peculiar weapons before these are developed. If incapable of resistance, they commonly have recourse to stratagem; thus a brood of newly-hatched partridges will instantly cower motion- less at sight of an object of distrust, the intent of which must be, that the close similarity of their colour to that of the surface should cause them to be overlooked. Predatory animals, again, which immolate victims capable of dangerous resistance, instinctively endeavour always to attack a vital part, so as to effect their purpose speedily, and with least hazard to themselves ; but those which prey on feeble and de- fenceless animals attack indiscriminately. Many astonishing mani- festations of the instinctive faculty occur respecting the manner in which the food is obtained ; and in the ant and some rodent quadrupeds, which store up grain, the embryo of every seed is destroyed, to pre- vent germination. The seasonal migrative impulse which recurs in some animals is among the most incomprehensible of instinctive pbenomeua, as it is shown to be, in various cases, independent of food or temperature ; though the latter, in particular, exercises some influence on its de- velopement, as does also the state of the sexual organs in spring. The guiding principle of migration is equally mysterious, — that which enables a bird of passage to return periodically to its former haunts, to the same locality (both in winter and summer), which it had pre- viously occupied ; and the young also to the place of their nativity. This principle is farther evinced in the return of pigeons, &c. to their accustomed place of abode from indefinite distances, and by a straightcr and more direct route than that by which they had been removed. It appears, likewise, to be manifested in somnambulism, and, perhaps, in some other affections of the human body ; but the sexual and parental instincts are those which are chiefly cognizable in civilized man- kind. One curious fact connected with the migrative propensity is, that the same species is sometimes permanently resident in one locality, and migratory in another. Thus the robin, which is stationary in Britain, leaves Germany in the autumn ; which would seem to indi- cate that the erratic habit may have originated (in this instance) from necessity, and in course of time have become regular and transmis- sible, independently of external causes. Migratory animals, how- ever, may commonly be distinguished from others of the same genus, by their superior structural powers of locomotion. — Ed. 32 INTRODUCTION. functions. Now, we see these two systems degrade and disappear together. In the lowest of animals, where the nerves cease to be visible, there are no longer distinct fibres, and the organs of digestion are simply excavated in the homogeneous mass of the body. In insects, the vascular system disappears even before the ner\-ous one ; but, in general, the dispersion of the medullary masses accompanies that of the muscular agents : a spinal chord, on which the knots or ganglions represent so many brains, corresponds to a body divided into numerous rings, and supported by pairs of members distributed along its length, &c. This correspondence of general forms, which results from the arrangement of the organs of motion, the distribution of the nervous masses, and the energy of the circu- lating system, should serve then for the basis of the primary sections to be made in the animal kingdom. "We will afterwards ascertain, in each of these sections, what characters should succeed immediately to these, and form the basis of the primary subdivisions. GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM INTO FOUR GREAT DIVISIONS. If the animal kingdom be considered with reference to the principles which we have laid down, and, divesting ourselves of the prejudices founded on the divisions formerly admitted, we regard only the organization and nature of animals, and not their size, utility, the more or less knowledge which we have of them, nor any other accessory circumstances, it will be found that there exist four principal forms, four general plans, if it may be thus expressed, on which all animals appear to have been modelled, and the ulterior divisions of which, under whatever title naturalists may have designated them, are merely slight modifications, founded on the develope- ment or addition of certain parts, which produce no essential change in the plan itself. In the first of these forms, which is that of man, and of the animals which most resemble him, the brain and the principal trunk of the nervous system are inclosed in a bony envelope, which is formed by the cranium and the vertebrae : to the sides of this medial column are attached the ribs, and the bones of the limbs, which compose the framework of the body : the muscles generally cover the bones, the motions of which they produce, and the \ascera are contained within the head and trunk. Animals of this form we shall denominate VERTEBRATE ANIMALS (Animalia vertehrata). They have all red blood, a muscular heart, a mouth furnished with two jaws, placed one either before or above the other, distinct organs of sight, hearing, smell, and taste, situated in the cavities of the face ; never more than four limbs ; the sexes always separated ; and a very similar distribution of the medullary masses, and of the principal branches of the nervous system. On examining each of the parts of this great series of animals more closely, there may always be detected some analog}^ even in those species which are most remote from one another ; and the gradations of one single plan may be traced from man to the last of fishes. In the second form there is no skeleton ; the muscles are attached only to the skin. INTRODUCTION. 33 which constitutes a soft, contractile envelope, in which, in many species, are formed stony plates, called shells, the production and position of which are analogous to that of the mucous body ; the nervous system is contained within this general envelope, too-ether with the viscera, and is composed of several scattered masses, connected by nervous filaments, and of which the principal, placed over the oesophagus, bears the name of brain. Of the four senses, the organs of those of taste and vision only can be distinguished ; the latter of which are even frequently wanting. A single famUy alone presents organs of hearing. There is always, however, a complete system of circulation, and particular organs for respiration. Those of digestion and of the secre- tions are little less complicated than in the vertebrated animals. We will distinguish the animals of this second form by the appellation of Molluscous Animals {Animalia mollusca). Although the general plan of their organization is not so uniform, as regards the external configuration of the parts, as that of the vertebrates, there is always an equal degree of resemblance between them in the essential structure and the functions. The third form is that observed in insects, worms, &c. Their nervous system con- sists of two long chords running longitudinally through the abdomen, dilated at inter- vals into knots or ganglions. The first of these knots, placed over the oesophagus, and called brain, is scarcely any larger than those which are along the abdomen, with which it communicates by filaments that encircle the oesophagus like a collar. The envelope of their trunk is divided by transverse folds into a certain number of rings, of which the teguments are sometimes hard, sometimes soft, but to the interior of which the muscles are always attached. The trunk often bears on its sides articulated limbs, but is frequently unfurnished with them. We wiU bestow on these animals the term Articulate Animals {Animalia articulata). It is among these that the passage is observed from the circulation in closed vessels, to nutrition by imbibition, and the corresponding transition from respiration in cir- cumscribed organs, to that effected by tracheae or air-vessels distributed through the body. The organs of taste and vision are the most distinct in them, a single family alone presenting that of hearing. Their jaws, when they have any, are always lateral. Lastly, the fourth form, which embraces all those animals known under the name of Zoophytes, may be designated Radiate Animals {Animalia radiata). In all the preceding, the organs of sense and motion are arranged symmetrically on the two sides of an axis. There is a posterior and an anterior dissimilar face. In this last division, they are disposed as rays round a centre ; and this is the case, even when they consist of but two series, for then the two faces are alike.* They approximate to the homogeneity of plants, having no very distinct nervous system, nor organs of particular senses : there can scarcely be perceived, in some of them, the vestiges of a * M. Agassiz has expressed a different opinion. See Radinta.—Eo. 34 INTRODUCTION. circulation ; their respiratory organs are almost always on the surface of the body ; the greater number have only a sac without issue, for the whole intestine ; and the lowest families present only a sort of homogeneous pulp, endowed with motion and sensibility.* [" The necessity," writes Mr. Owen, " for a dismemberment of the Radiata of Cuvier, which Rudolphi justly calls a chaotic groupt, has been felt, and directly or indirectly expressed, by most naturalists and comparative anatomists.^ It is impossible, indeed, to predicate a com- munity of structure in either the locomotive, excretive, digestive, sensitive, or generative systems, with respect to this division, as it now stands in the Règne Animal. * * * " Taking the nervous system as a guide, the Radiata of Cuvier will be found to resolve them- selves into two natural groups, of which the second differs in the absence or obscure traces of nervous filaments from the higher division, in which these are always distinctly traceable, either radiating fi-om an oral ring, or distributed in a parallel longitudinal direction, according to the form of the body. "These different conditions of the nervous system are accompanied by corresponding modifications of the muscular, digestive, and vascular systems ; and a negative character, appli- cable to the higher division of Cuvier's Radiata, may be derived from the generative system."§ It is only in the lower-organized of these divisions, to which the term AcRiTE Animals {Animalia acrita) has been applied by Macleay, also that of Protozoa and Oozoa by Cams (from the circumstance of its members being analogous to the ova or germs of the higher classes), that the alimentary cavity and sanguiferous canals are destitute of proper parietes, being simple excavations or passages in the granular pulp of the body : for in the Nematoneura (a name applied to the higher division of Cuvier's Radiata by Owen), the digestive organ is provided with a proper muscular tunic, and floats in an abdominal cavity : and those classes which manifest a circulating system distinct from the diges- tive tube possess vessels with proper parietes, distinguishable into arteries and veins. No nematoneurous class presents an example of generation by spontaneous fision or gemmation, but these modes of reproduction are common in the acrite division. Some of the latter, however, are oviparous ; and in a few the sexes are separate.] * Before my time, modern naturalists divided all invertebrated ani- mals into two classes, the Insects and Worms. I was the first to attack this method, and presented another division.iu a Memoir read before the Natural History Society of Paris, on the 10th of May, 1795, and printed in the Décade Philosophique, \ii which 1 marked the characters and limitg of the Mollusks, Crustaceans, Insects, Worms, Echinodcrms, and Zoophytes. I distin^ished the red-blooded worms, or Annelides, these various classes under three grand divisions, each of which is comparable to that of the vertebrate animals. t Synopsis Entozoorum, p. 572. X Lamarck observes : — "The --//ïrtfAeïic Animals," (as he terms the Acrita,) " have been very improperly called Zoophytes ; as their nature is completely animal, and in no respect vegetable. The denomina- tion of Rayed Animals is also objectionable, as it applies only to a in a memoir read before the Institute on the .'ilst of December, 1801. ; portion of them.— y*nim. sans rertibres, i. p. 890. And finally, in a Memoir read before the Institute in July, 1812, and 1 § Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, An. Acrita; from which printed in tiie Annales du Mus. d'Hiit. Nat., torn, xix., 1 distributed | the succeeding passages are also abridged.— £0, 35 FIRST GREAT DIVISION OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. THE VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. The bodies and limbs of these being supported by a frame-work composed of connected pieces moveable upon each other, they have the more precision and vigour in their movements : the solidity of this support permits of their attaining considerable size, and it is among them that the largest animals are found. Their more concentrated nervous system, and the greater volume of its central portions, impart more energy and more stability to their sentiments, whence result superior intelHgence and perfectibility. Their body always consists of a head, trunk, and members. The head is formed by the cranium, which incloses the brain, and by the face, which is composed of the two jaws and the receptacles of the organs of sense. Their trunk is supported by the spine of the back and the ribs. The spine is composed of vertebrae moveable upon each other, of which the first supports the head, and which have an annular perforation, forming together a canal, wherein is lodged that medullary production from which the nerves arise, and which is called the spinal marrow. The spine, most commonly, is continued into a tail, extending beyond the hinder hmbs. The ribs are semicircles, which protect the sides of the cavity of the trunk : they are articulated at one extremity to the vertebrae, and are ordinarily attached in front to the breast-bone ; but sometimes they only partly encircle the trunk, and there are genera in which they are hardly visible. There are never more than two pairs of limbs ; but sometimes one or the other is wanting, or even both : their forms vary according to the movements which they have to execute. The anterior limbs may be organized as hands, feet, wings, or fins ; the posterior as feet, or instruments for swimming. D 2 Fig. 1. 36 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. Tlie blood is always red, and appears to have a composition proper for sustaining that energy of sentiment and vigour of muscles, but in different degrees, which correspond to the amount of respiration, from which originates the subdivision of the vertebrate animals into four classes. The external senses are always five in number, and reside in two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the teguments of the tongue, and those of the body generally. Certain species, however, have the eyes obliterated. The nerves reach the medulla through perforations of the vertebrae, or of the cra- nium : they all seem to unite with this medulla, which, after crossing its filaments, expands to form the various lobes of which the brain is composed, and terminates in the two medullary arches (vuutes) termed hemispheres, the volume of which corre- sponds to the amount of intelligence. There are always two jaws, the principal motion of which is in the lower one, which rises and falls ; the upper is oftentimes entirely fixed : both of them are almost always armed with teeth, excrescences of a peculiar nature, the chemical composition of which is very similar to that of bone, but which grows by layers and transudations ; one entire class, however, (that of birds,) has the jaws invested with horn*, and the group of tortoises, in the class of reptiles, is in the same predicament. The intestinal canal is continued from the mouth to the anus, undergoing various inflexions, and several enlargements and contractions ; having also appendages, and receiving solvent fluids, one of which, the saliva, is discharged into the mouth : the others, which flow into the intestine only, have various names ; the two principal are the juices of the gland called the pancreas [or sweet -bread'], and the bile [or gall], which is the product of another very large gland, named the liver. WhUe the digested aliment is traversing its canal, that portion of it which is proper for nutrition, and is termed the chyle, is absorbed by particular vessels, named lacteals, and carried into the veins ; the residue of the nutriment of the parts is also carried into the veins by vessels analogous to the lacteals, and forming with them one same system, designated the lymphatic system.f The veins return to the heart the blood which has served to nourish the parts, to- gether with the chyle and lymph with which it has been renewed ; but this blood is obliged to pass, either wholly or in part, into the organ of respiration, to regain its arterial nature, previous to being again dispersed over the system by the arteries. In the three first classes, this organ of respiration consists of lungs, that is, an assemblage of cells into which air penetrates. In fishes only, and in some reptiles while young, it consists of gills, or a series of laminae between which water passes. In all the vertebrate animals, the blood which furnishes the liver with the materials of the bile is venous blood, which has circulated partly in the parietes of the intestines, and partly in a peculiar body named the spleen, and which, after being united in a trunk called the vena porta, is again subdivided at the liver. * M. Geoffroy St. Hil.'iire has described a structure in the bill of birds which presents some approach to a dentary system. In a fœtus of a Parroquet nearly ready for hatcliing, he found that the margins of the bill were beset with tubercles arranged in a regular order, and having all the exterior appearance of teeth ; these tubercles were not, indeed , implanted in the jaw-bones, but formed part of tiie exterior sheath of the bill. Under each tubercle, however, there was a gelatinous pulp, analogous to the pulps which secrete teeth, but resting on the edge of the maxillary bones, and every pulp was supplied by vessels and nerves traversing a canal in the substance of the bone. These tubercles form the first margins of the mandibles, and their remains are indicated by canals in the horny sheath, subsequently formed, which contain a softer material, and which commence from small foramina in the mar- gin of the bone. In certain other birds (as the Mergansers) also, the lateral edges of the bill are provided with horny processes or lamina: analogous in this respect to the whale- ich are toothless Mnmmiilin, as are also tu : it is further remarkable that the n the fœtus of tlie toothless Whales. secreted by distinct pulps, :i bone lamina; of the Whales, the ant eaters and Afuiiotre rudiments of dentition occ — Ku. t The lymphatic vessels are also the media of cutaneous transuda' tion. — Ed. VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. 37 AU these animals have a particular secretion, which is that of m^îie, and which is elaborated in two large glands attached to the sides of the spine of the back, and called kidneys : the liquid which these glands secrete, accumulates most commonly in a reservoir named the bladder. The sexes are separate, and the female has always one or two ovaries, from which the eggs are detached at the instant of conception. The male fecundates them with the seminal fluid ; but the mode varies greatly. In most of the genera of the three first classes, it requires an intromission of the fluid ; in some reptiles, and in most of the fishes, it takes place after the exit of the eggs. SUBDIVISION OF THE VERTEBRATE ANIMALS INTO FOUR CLASSES. We have seen to what extent vertebrate animals resemble each other : they present, however, four great subdivisions or classes, characterized by the kind or power of their movements, which dejoend themselves on the quantity of respiration, inasmuch as it is from this respiration that the muscular fibres derive the energy of their irritability. The quantity of respiration depends upon two agents : the first is the relative quantity of blood which presents itself in the respiratory organ in a given instant of time ; the second, the relative amount of [free] oxygen which enters into the com- position of [or is dispersed through] the ambient fluid. The quantity of the former depends upon the disposition of the organs of respiration and of circulation. The organs of the circulation may be double, so that all the blood which is brought back from the various parts of the body by the veins, is forced to circulate through the respiratory organ before returning by the arteries ; or they may be simple, so that a portion only of the blood is obliged to pass through the respiratory organ, the re- mainder returning to the body without having been subjected to respiration. The latter is the case with reptiles. The amount of their respiration, and all the qualities which depend on it, vary according to the quantity of blood which is thrown into the lungs at each pulsation. Fishes have a double circulation, but their organ of respiration is formed to execute its function through the medium of water ; and their blood is only acted upon by that small portion of oxygen which is dissolved or mingled in water ; so that the quantity of their respiration is, perhaps, less than that of reptiles. In mammalians, the circulation is double, and the aerial respiration simple, that is, it is performed in the lungs only : their quantity of respiration is, therefore, superior to that of reptiles, on account of the form of their respiratory organ, and to that of fishes, from the nature of their surrounding medium. But the quantity of respiration in birds is even superior to that of quadrupeds, since they have not only a double circulation and an aerial respiration, but also respire by many other cavities besides the lungs, the air penetrating throughout their bodies, and bathing the branches of the aorta, or main artery of the body, as well as those of the pulmonary artery.* Hence result the four kinds of progression to which the four classes of the vertebrate animals are more particularly destined. The quadrupeds, in which the quantity of * In Batrachian reptiles (frogs, newts, &c.). respiration is to a e6Fected by which is needed to developc the requisite nervous or vital certain extent performed over the whole outer skin ; which, on this energy, those animal» of this group which in the adult state have account, requires to be always moist. Hence, as there can be no lungs and not gills, but which pass the «'inter in a torpid state under muscular action without previous respiration, the chemical change water, are enabled to resuscitate in spring.— Ed. 38 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. respiration is moderate, are generally formed to walk and run with precision and vigour ; the birds, in which it is greater, have the muscular energy and lightness necessary for flight ; the reptiles, where it is diminished, are condemned to creep, and many of them pass a portion of their life in a state of torpor ; the fishes, in fine, to execute their movements, require to be supported in a fluid specifically almost as heavy as themselves.* All the circumstances of organization proper to each of these four classes, and especially those which refer to motion and the external senses, have a necessary relation with these essential characters. The class of mammalians, however, has pecuHar characters in its viviparous mode of generation, in the manner in which the foetus is nourished in the womb by means of the placenta, and in the mammae by which they suckle their young. The other classes are, on the contrary, oviparous ; and if we place them together, in opposition to the first, there will be perceived numerous resemblances which announce, on their part, a special plan of organization, subordinate to the great general plan of all the vertebrates. THE FIRST CLASS OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. MAMMALIA. Mammalians require to be placed at the head of the animal kingdom, not only because this is the class to which we ourselves belong, but also because it is that which enjoys the most numerous faculties, the most delicate sensations, the most varied powers of motion, and in which all the different qualities seem together combined to produce a more perfect degree of intelligence, — the one most fertile in resources, most susceptible of perfection, and least the slave of instinct. As their quantity of respiration is moderate, they are in general designed for walking on the ground, but with vigorous and continued steps. Consequently, aU the articula- tions of their skeleton have very precise forms, which rigorously determine their motions. Some of them, however, by means of lengthened limbs and extended membranes, raise themselves in the air ; others have the limbs so shortened, that they can employ them with effect only in water ; but they do not the more on this account lose the general characters of the class. * To descend to particular cases, however, it would appear that species may be framed on almost every type, even very subordinate types, for any particular mode of life. Thus, to illustrate briefly, the bats, whicli are true mammalians, are modified for aerial projjfression like birds ; and the whales, other mammalians, have a fish-like exterior, being designed to live exclusively in water : so there are birds which are utterly incapable of flight ; some, as the ostrich, adapted to scour the plains, like a quadruped ; others, as the penguins, whose only ^oups which they approximate in habit, — nought that can be regarded as an intentional or designed representatiun of them, as has some- times been imagined : for it is evident, that if species based on two different plans of organization are respectively modified to perform the same office in the economy of nature, they must necessarily re- semble, to a certain extent, superficially, as a consequence of that adaptation ; while there are many cases also in each class which can- ill be represented in some others, as that of the mole among sphere of activity is in the water : the ptérodactyle affords an ex- I quadrupeds, which has no counterpart or correspondent group in the ample of a genus of flying reptiles, the fossil remains of which only I class of birds. Habit, or mode of life, has indeed nothing whatever have been discovered. Descending to lower groups, we find among to do with the pliysiological relations of organisms, which afford the birds, a genus of thrushes (CiwcZws), which seeks its subsistence under j only legitimate basis of classification ; and those special modifications water; and another of totipalmate water-fowl (Trichi/petes), which | to particular habits, which, occurring alike in any class, superinduce neither swims nor dives. Such deviations, however, from the general ! a resemblance in superficial characters only, constitute what has been character of their allied genera, have no intriusical relation to the ! well distinguished by the term analog;/, as opposed to aJfiiiiti/.—ED. MAMMALIANS. 39 Fiff. 2. They have all the upper jaw fixed to the skull, and the lower composed of two pieces only, articulated by a projecting condyle to a fi:xed temporal bone ; the neck consists of seven vertebrae, one single species excepted, which has nine*; the anterior ribs are attached in front, by cartilage, to a sternum formed of a certain number of pieces placed in a row ; their fore-limb commences in a blade-bone, which is not articulated, but merely suspended in the flesh, often resting on the sternum by means of an intermediate bone, called a clavicle. This extremity is continued by an arm, a fore-arm, and a hand, the last composed of two ranges of small bones, called a WTist or carpus, of another range of bones termed metacarpus, and of digits or fingers, each of which consists of two or three bones, named phalanges. Excepting the Cetacea, they have all the first part of the hinder extremity fixed to the spine, and forming a girdle or pelvis, which, in youth, consists of three pairs of bones, — the ilium, which is attached to the spine, the pubis, which forms the fore part of the girdle, and the ischium, which constitutes the hind part. At the point of union of these three bones is situate the cavity with which the thigh is articulated, to which, in its turn, is attached the leg, formed of two bones, the tibia and fibula : this extremity is terminated by the foot, which is composed of parts analogous to those of the hand, namely, a tarsus, metatarsus, and digits or toes. The head of mammalians is always articulated by two condyles upon the atlas, or first vertebra. Their brain is composed of two hemispheres, united by a medullary layer termed the corpus callosum, containing two ventricles, and enveloping the four pairs of tuber- cles named the corpora striata, the thalami nervorum opticorum, or beds of the optic nerves, and the nates and testes. Between the optic beds is a third ventricle, which communicates with a fourth situated under the cerebellum, the crura of which always form a transverse prominence under the medulla oblongata, called the pons Varolii. Their eye, invariably lodged in its orbit, is protected by two lids and a vestige of a third, and has its crystalline fixed by the ciliary process and its simply cellular sclero- tica [or white] . In their ear, there is always found a cavity named the drum, or ty7npanum, which communicates with the back part of the mouth, by a canal termed the trumpet, or Eustachian tube : the cavity itself is closed externally by a membrane called the membrana tympani, and contains a chain of four little bones, named the hammer, anvil, orbicular, and stirrup bones ; a vestibule, on the entrance of which rests the stirrup- bone, and which communicates with three semicircular canals ; and, finally, a cochlea, which terminates by one passage in the drum, and by another in the vestibule. Their cranium subdivides into three portions : the anterior is formed by the two frontal and the ethmoidal bones ; the middle, by the parietal bones and the sphenoidal ; * The sloth is alluded to, in which, however, distinct nidiments of ribs are attached to the eighth and ninth, (a, i) ; so that, in reality, this constitutes no exception to the universal rule. — Kd. shown in the above figure 40 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. and the posterior, by the occipital. Between the occipital, the parietal, and the sphe- noidal, are interposed the temporal bones, part of which belong properly to the face. In the foetus, the occipital bone divides into four parts ; the sphenoidal into halves, which subdivide into three pairs of lateral wings ; the temporal into three, of which one serves to complete the cranium, another to close the labyrinth of the ear, and the third to form the parietes of its drum, &c. These bony portions [centres of ossifica- tion], which are still more numerous in the earliest period of foetal existence, are united more or less promptly, according to the species, and the bones themselves be- come finally consolidated in the adult.* Their face is essentially formed by the two maxillary bones, between which pass the nostrils, and which have the two intermaxillaries in front, and the two palate bones behind ; between them descends a single lamina of the ethmoidal bone, named the vomer; at the entrance of the nasal canal are the bones proper to the nose ; to its external parietes adhere the inferior turbinated bones, which occupy its upper and posterior portion, belonging to the ethmoidal. The jugal or cheek bone unites on each side the maxillary to the temporal bone, and often to the frontal ; lastly, the lachrymal bone occupies the inner angle of the orbit, and sometimes a part of the cheek. These bones also present more numerous subdivisions in the embryo. Their tongue is always fleshy, and attached to a bone termed the hyoidal, which is composed of several pieces, and suspended from the cranium by ligaments. Their lungs, two in number, divided into lobes, and composed of an infinitude of cells, are always inclosed without adhesion in a cavity formed by the ribs and diaphragm, and lined by the pleura ; their organ of voice is always at the upper end of the windpipe ; a fleshy elongation, called the velum palati, establishes a direct com- munication between their larynx and nostrils. Their residence on the surface of the earth exposing them less to the alternations of heat and cold, their body has only a moderate kind of tegument, the hair or fur, and even this is commonly scanty in those of hot climates. t The cetaceans, which live entirely in water, are the only ones that are altogether deprived of it. The abdominal cavity is lined with a membrane called the peritonaeum ; and their intestinal canal is suspended to a fold of it, termed the mesentery, which contains numerous conglomate glands, in which the lacteal vessels ramify : another production of the peritonaeum, named the epiploon, hangs in front of and under the intestines. The urine, retained for some time in the bladder, is discharged, in the two sexes, with very few exceptions, by orifices in the organs of generation. In aU mammalians, generation is essentially viviparous ; that is to say, the foetus, immediately after conception, descends [gradually] into the matrix, inclosed in its envelopes, the exterior of which is named chorion, and the interior amnios ; it fixes itself to the parietes of this cavity by one or more plexus of vessels, termed the placenta, which establishes a communication between it and the mother, by which it receives its nourishment, and probably also its oxygenation ; notwithstanding which, • Here it may be remarked that, descenriing in the series of verte- cessivcly assuming the conditions of this organ in fishes, reptiles, brates, the same is observable as in ascending to fœtal life in the | birds, the lower and then higher groups of mammalians.— Ed. higher groups ; the progress of developement, in this and other re- t In some monkeys from Sierra Leone, the most torrid region in the speets, being arrested at different stages of advancement, according | world, the hair is much elongated, but thin and coarse, as if designed to the class, order, and species : the brain for instance, in man, sue- ! to protect tliem from the solar rays. — F,D, MAMMALIA. 41 the foetus of mammalians, at an early period, has a vessel analogous to that which contains the yolk in the oviparous classes, receiving, in like manner, vessels from the mesentery. It has also another external bladder named the aUantoid, vi^hich communi- cates with the urinary one by a canal termed the urachus. Conception always requires an effectual coitus, in which the fecundating fluid of the male is thrown into the uterus of the female. The young are nourished for some time after birth by a fluid peculiar to this class (the milk), which is produced by the mammae, at the time of parturition, and for as long a period as the young require it. It is from the mammse that this class derives its name, and, being a character peculiar to it, they distinguish it better than any other that is external.* DIVISION OF THE CLASS OF MAMMALIA INTO ORDERS. The variable characters which establish essential difi'erences among the mammalia are taken from the organs of touch, on which depends their degree of ability or address, and from the organs of manducation, which determine the nature of their food, and are connected together, not only with all that relates to the digestive func- tion, but also with a multitude of other diflerences extending even to their intelUgence. The degree of perfection of the organs of touch is estimated by the number and the mobility of the fingers, and from the greater or less extent to which their extremities are enveloped by the nail or the hoof. A hoof which envelopes all that portion of the toe which touches the ground, blunts its sensibility, and renders the foot incapable of seizing. The opposite extreme is where a nail, formed of a single lamina, covers only one of the faces of the extremity of the finger, and leaves the other possessed of all its delicacy. The nature of the food is known by the grinders, to the form of which the articula- tion of the jaws universally corresponds. For cutting flesh, giinders axe required as trenchant as a saw, and jaws fitted like scissors, which have no other motion than a vertical one. For bruising grain or roots, flat-crowned grinders are necessary, and jaws that have a lateral motion : in order that the crowns of these teeth should always be irregular, as in a mill, it is further requisite that their substance should be formed of parts of unequal hardness, so that some may wear away faster than others. Hoofed animals are all necessarily herbivorous, and have flat-crowned grinders, in- asmuch as their feet preclude the possibility of their seizing a living prey. Animals with unguiculated fingers are susceptible of more variety ; their food is of all kinds : and, independently of the form of their grinders, they difi'er greatly from each other in the mobility and delicacy of their fingers. There is one character with respect to this, wliich has immense influence on their dexterity, and greatly multiplies its powers ; it is the faculty of opposing the thumb to the other fingers for the purpose of seizing small objects, constituting what is properly termed a hand; a faculty which * We shall find, however, in the sequel some doubts on this sub- i to be no nipples, simple pressure alone causing the fluid to exude, ject, as regards the family of Muuotremiita. [These doulits have In the class of birds, a lacteal fluid is secreted by the crops of the since been removed, inasmuch as the lacteal glands have been de I parrots and pit/eons, which is disgorged into the throats of the youniç tected, with their secretion ; though, as in the cetaceans, there appear t when newly hatcbcd. — Ed,] 42 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS. is carried to its highest perfection in Man, in whom the whole anterior extremity is free, and capable of prehension. These various combinations, which rigidly determine the nature of the différent mammalians, have given rise to the following orders : — Among the unguiculates the first is Man, who, besides being privileged in all other respects, has hands to the anterior extremities only ; his hinder limbs support him in an erect position. In the order next to Man, — that of the Quadrumana, there are hands to the four extremities. Another order, that of the Carnaria, has not the thumb free and opposable to the other fingers. These three orders have each the three sorts of teeth, namely, grinders, canines, and incisors. A fourth, that of the Rodentia, in which the toes differ little from those of the Carnaria, is without the canines, and the incisors are placed in front of the mouth, and adapted to a very pecuUar sort of manducation. Then come those animals whose toes are much cramped, and deeply sunk in large nails, which are generally curved ; and which have further the imperfection of want- ing the incisors. Some of them are also without canines, and there are others which have no teeth at all. We comprehend them all under the name Edentata. This distribution of the ungniculated animals would be perfect, and form a very regular series, were it not that New Holland has lately furnished us with a small collateral series, composed oi the pouched animals [Marsupiata], the different genera of which are connected together by the aggregate of their organization, although in their teeth, and in the nature of their regimen, some correspond to the Carnaria, others to the Rodentia, and others, again, to the Edentata. The hoofed animals are less numerous, and have likewise fewer irregularities. The RuMiNANTXA compose an order very distinct, which is characterized by its cloven feet, by the absence of the incisors to the upper jaw, and by having four stomachs. All the other hoofed animals may be left together in a single order, which I shall call Pachydermata or Jumenta, the Elephant excepted, which might constitute a separate one, having some distant relation to that of Rodentia. Lastly, those mammalians remain which have no posterior extremities, and whose fish-like form and aquatic mode of life would induce us to form them into a particular class, if it were not that all the rest of their economy is precisely the same as in that wherein we leave them. These are the warm-blooded fishes of the ancients, or the Cetacea, which, uniting to the vigour of the other mammahans the advantage of being sustained in the watery element, include among them the most gigantic of all animals. [Linnaeus reduced all mammahans to three great groups, Unguiculata, Ungulata, and Mutica ; terms which are at least convenient for their expressiveness, although the groups they represent intergrade, and in some instances invade each other, if too rigorously accepted. His order Primates, as extended to the Bimana, Quadrumana, and Cheiroptera of Cuvier, receives the approbation of most naturalists ; few regard the last as subordinate to the Carnaria, which is equivalent to Primates. Viewing Man zoologically, opinion is divided respecting the propriety of assigning MAMMALIA. 43 him a separate ordinal station ; his rudimentd structure according so nearly with that of the Quadrumana, of which type he presents the modification for ground habits and an upright attitude ; his more highly developed brain is merely a difference in degree. Conceding this much, he would require to be admitted into the same particular group as all other mammalians based on the same next general plan of structure to that of the entire class ; which special type is externaUy distinguished by pecu- liarities in the sexual organs, a system of organs of all others the least subject to be influenced by the general modification in reference to habit. It is thus that, after being necessarily included among the Mammalia, Man must next range with the other handed animals and the Bats, in a particular subdivision, which Linnaeus has named Primates. There would appear to be four distinct major groups of Primates .—the CatarrUni, composed of the Apes, Monkeys, and Baboons of the eastern hemisphere; the Platyrrhini, consisting of the anthropoid animals of America ; the Strepsirrhini, or Lemurs (including Galœopithecus, and, perhaps, Cheiromys) ; and the Cheiroptera, or Bats, which last, varying most essentially in their dentition, according as they are frugivorous, sanguivorous, or insectivorous, afford a decisive proof that the dentary system alone, lilce any other single character considered apart from the rest, fails to supply an invariable indication of the affinities of an animal (as has sometimes been stated). We perceive no sufficient reason why the genus Homo should not range at the head of the Catarrhini, though as a distinct {?imily—Hominidce, as opposed to Sîmiadœ; in accordance wherewith, the Primates present a tolerable series, from the summit of the animal kingdom to forms that are rather low in the class of mammalians. An analogous gradation is exhibited by the second grand division, which De Blain- viUe has designated Secundates ; it is the Carnaria of Cuvier divested of the Bats. We prefer the latter appellation, as more in unison with the names of the succeeding orders ; and for the same reason would substitute Primaria for Primates. Our illustrious author, with a view to present some approximation to a linear suc- cession, has arranged the present series inversely, commencing with those least elevated in the scale, or the Insectivora. To this we cannot accede, as virtually implying an exploded principle. Considered as a carnivorous group, the Feline animals must be selected as the standard— most characteristic example*— of the order ; but in its totality, without reference to especial modifications, the Dog has better claim to be placed at the head. Some curious analogies accordingly present themselves between the respectively highest animals of the two first orders. As a general, perhaps universal rule obtaining in consecutive groups when sufficiently extensive, the summit of the inferior displays a higher organization than the terminal members of the superiorf ; and this sometimes in a very remarkable degree, as shown in the present instance. A sort of parallehsm may also frequently be observed between such members of two different ordinal types as are of a corresponding degree of eleva- tion in the scale of being : thus, the Shrews present certain characters of the Rodentia, without linking with them. It is on this principle, we suspect, that transitions appear to occur in some instances, from one great type of structure to another ; and a key is hereby supplied to the proper understanding of much that seems otherwise inexplicable. . The word ..pe is often employed in .hi, sense : we use it in a j t A proposition which is --•'--'' ''J '''i:^''";!:;:;';:"!,'^;!' somewsat different one. I "s s'»"^''" ^^ '''^ «""''» »° '"'''"' ""ng«n>«"'- ^ '"^ prelace, p. /. 44 MAMMALIA. We have seen, in the Primaria, that particular plan of conformation so modified as to enable certain species to fly : in the Carnaria, the Seals afford an example of exclusive adaptation to aquatic habits. It could only have been the desire to maintain a sort of continuous succession, as in the former instance, which induced our author to range the Marsupiata next to the Carnaria ; for they are unquestionably the lowest-organized of mammalians, whence their intrusion so high in the system of the class furnishes another proof of the impropriety of allowing undue importance to particular characters. An order which has a better claim to succeed the Carnaria, is that of the fish-like mammalians, or Cetacea ; but, divested of the herbivorous genera ranged in it by Cuvier, which are strict Pachydermata. (It is scarcely necessary to repeat, that modifications which have reference to habit do not necessarily affect the essential relations of organisms). The Pachydermata follow, which, in their turn, must not be regarded as more nearly related to the last, because certain genera of them are analogously adapted for aquatic habits only. We feel compelled to reiterate this general principle, in order to preclude misconception ; the sound inference seems to be, that a tendency to general modification for aquatic habits prevails in this part of the system ; which certainly helps to indicate what orders should be placed in contiguity, though still not of necessity, even admitting that many analogous cases may be cited in corroboration of a vague index being thus afforded.* We prefer to arrange the Ruminantia next to the Pachydermata ; then the Edentata, and the Rodentia ; and last of all the Marsupiata, including the Monotremata of Cuvier, the formerly doubtful points concerning which are now, with shght reservation, finally set at rest. It wiU be perceived that this arrangement is tolerably in accordance with the ordinary cerebral developement, and consequent amount of intelligence, of the eight successive orders. Passing on to the Birds, we commence with a higher intellect (in the Parrots) than is manifested in either of the last three, or, perhaps, four orders ; which agrees with the general proposition stated at p. 43.] THE FIRST ORDER OF MAMMALIANS. BIMANA, OR MAN. Man forms but one genus, and that genus the only one of its order. As his history is more directly interesting to ourselves, and forms the standard of comparison to which we refer that of other animals, we will treat of it more in detail. We will rapidly sketch whatever Man offers, that is peculiar in each of his organic systems, amidst all that he has in common with other mammahans ; we will describe his principal races and their distinctive characters ; and finally point out the natural order of the developement of his faculties, both individual and social. * For an instance in point, sec our remarks ou certain conformities of structure observable in the two (frnups of Parrots and Hawks. BIMANA, OR MAN. 45 PECULIAR CONFORMATION OF MAN. The foot of Man is very different from that of Apes : it is large ; the leg bears vertically upon it ; the heel is expanded beneath ; his toes are short, and but slightly flexible ; the great toe, longer and larger than the rest, is placed on the same line with and cannot be opposed to them. This foot, then, is proper for supporting the body, but cannot be used for seizing or climbing*, and as the hands are unfitted for walking, Man is the only animal truly bimanous and biped. The whole body of Man is modified for the vertical position. His feet, as we have already seen, furnish him with a larger base than those of other mammalians ; the muscles which re- tain the foot and thigh in the state of extension are more vigorous, whence results the swelliu» of the calf and buttock ; the flexors of the leg are attached higher up, which permits of com- plete extension of the knee, and renders the calf more apparent. The pelvis is larger, which separates the thighs and feet, and gives to the trunk that pyramidal form favourable to equi- librium : the necks of the thigh-bones form an angle with the body of the bone, which increases still more the separation of the feet, and augments the basis of the body. Finally, the head, in this vertical position, is in eouilibrium with the trunk, because its articulation is exactly under the middle of its mass. Were he to desire it, Man could not, with convenience, walk on all fours : his short and nearly inflexible foot, and his long thigh, would bring the knee to the ground ; his widely sepa- rated shoulders and his arms, too far extended from the methan line, would ill support the fore-part of bis body ; the great indented muscle which, in quadrupeds, suspends the trunk between the blade-bones as a girth, is smaller in Man than in any one among them ; the head is heavier, on account of the magnitude of the brain, and the smallness of the sinuses or cavi- ties of the bones ; and yet the means of supporting it are weaker, for he has neither cervical ligament, nor are the vertebrœ so modified as to prevent their flexure forward ; he could therefore only maintain his head in the same line with the spine, and then, his eyes and mouth bemg directed towai-ds the ground, he could not see before him ; the position of these organs is, on the contrary, quite perfect, supposing that he walks erectly. The arteries which supply his brain, not being subdivided as in many quadrupeds, and the blood requisite for so voluminous an organ being carried to it with too much violence, fre- quent apoplexies would be the consequence of a horizontal position. Man, then, is designed to be supported by the feet only. He thus preserves the entire use of his hands for the arts, while his organs of sense are most favorably situated for observa- tion. These hands, which derive such advantages from their liberty, receive as many more from their structure. Their thumb, longer in proportion than in the apes, increases the facility of seizing small objects ; all the fingers, except the annularis [and this to a certain extent], have separate movements, which is not the case in any other animal, not even in the apes. The nails, covering only one side of the extremities of the fingers, form a support to the touch, without in the least depriving it of its delicacy. The arms which support these hands have a solid attachment by their large blade-bone, their strong collar bone, &c. Man, so highly favoured as to dexterity, is not so with regard to strength. His swiftness in running is much inferior to that of other animals of his size; having neither projecting jaws, nor sahent canine teeth, nor crooked nails, he is destitute of off"ensive armatm-e ; and the sides and upper part of his body being naked, unprovided even with hair, he is absolutely It is certain, however, that by much practice from early youth, | with the anterior extremities imperfect, have illustrated this practi- the foot has been known to acquire an amount of dexterity operations, which it would not have been supposed capable of by those whose feet have been enveloped from the tin.c they first walked in close investments. Individuals, in particular, who have been born cability the most remarkably. The influence of habit in training i the hand to perform its functions, will be appreciated by those who cannot use their left hand with the same freedom as the right. — Ed. 46 MAMMALIA. without defensive weapons : lastly, he is of all animals that which is latest to acquire the power necessary to provide for himself. But this weakness even has been for him another advantage, in obhging him to have re- course to those internal means — to that intelhgence which has been awarded to him in so high a degree. No quadi'uped approaches him in the magnitude and convolutions of the hemispheres of the brain, that is to say, of that part of this organ which is the principal instrument of the intel- lectual operations ; the posterior portion of the same organ extends backwards, so as to form a second covering to the cerebellum ; even the form of the cranium announces this great size of the brain, as the smallness of the face shows how shghtly that portion of the nervous system which influences the external senses predonunates in him. These external senses, however, moderate as they all are in Man, are yet extremely delicate and well balanced. His two eyes are directed forwards ; he does not see on two sides at once, like many quadru- peds, which produces more unity in the result of his vision, and concentrates his attention more closely on objects of this kind. The ball and iris of his eye vary but little, which re- strains the activity of his sight to hmited distances, and to a determined degree of light. The conch of his ear, possessing but httle mobility or extent, does not increase the intensity of sounds, notwithstanding which, of all animals, he best distinguishes their intonation. His nostrils, more comjihcated than those of apes, are less so than those of all other genera ; and yet he appears to be the only animal whose sense of smell is sufficiently deUcate to be affected by unpleasant odours. Delicacy of smell must influence that of taste ; and Man must have a further advantage, in this respect, at least over those animals whose tongues are covered vnih scales. Lastly, the nicety of his touch results, both from the delicacy of his teguments and the absence of all insensible parts, as well as from the the form of his hand, which is better adapted than that of any other animal for suiting itself to all the small inequahties of surfaces. Man has a particular pre-eminence in his organ of voice : of all mammalians, he can alone articulate sounds ; the form of his mouth and the great mobihty of his lips being probably the cause of this. Hence results his most invaluable mode of communication ; for of all the signs which can be conveniently employed for the transmission of ideas, variations of sound are those which can be perceived at the greatest distance, and in the most various directions simultaneously. It seems that even the position of the heart and of the great vessels bears reference to the vertical carriage. The heart is placed obUquely on the diaphragm, and its point inchnes to the left, thereby occasioning a distribution of the aorta differing from that of most quadrupeds. The natural food of Man, judging from his structure, appears to consist principally of the fruits, roots, and other succulent parts of vegetables. His hands afford every faciUty for gathering them ; his short and but moderately strong jaws on the one hand, and his canines being equal only in length to the other teeth, together with his tuberculated molars on the other, would scarcely permit him either to masticate herbage, or to devour flesh, were these condiments not previously prepared by cooking. Once, however, possessed of fire, and those arts by which he is aided in seizing animals or killing them at a distance, every Uving heino' was rendered subser^ient to his nourishment, thereby giving him the means of an indefinite multiphcation of his species. His organs of chgestion are in conformity with those of manducation ; his stomach is simple, his intestinal canal of mean length, his great intestines well marked, his cœcum short and thick, and augmented by a small appendage, and his liver divided only into two lobes and one small one ; his epiploon hangs in front of the intestines, and extends into the pelvis. To complete this abridged statement of the anatomical structure of Man, necessary for this BIMANA, OR MAN. 47 Introduction, we will add, that he has thirty-two vertebrae, of which seven belong to the neck, twelve to the back, five to the loins, five to the sacrum, and three to the coccyx. Of his ribs, seven pairs are united to the sternum by elongated cartilages, and are called true ribs ; the five foUowino- pairs are denominated false ones. His adult cranium consists of eight bones ; an occipital {occipito-basilaire) ; two temporal ; two parietal ; a frontal ; an ethmoidal, and a sphenoidal. The bones of his face are fourteen in number ; namely, two maxillaries ; two iu"-als, each of which joins the temporal to the maxillary bone of its own side by a sort of handle named the zygomatic arch ; two nasal bones ; two palatines, behind the palate ; a vomer, between the nostrils ; two turbinated bones of the nose in the nostrils ; two lachrymals in the inner angles of the orbits, and the single bone of the lower jaw. Each jaw has sixteen teeth : fom- cutting incisors in the middle, two pointed canines at the corners, and ten molars with tuberculated crowns, five on each side, in all thh-ty-two teeth. His blade-bone has at the extremity of its spine or projecting ridge a tuberosity, named the acromion, to which the clavicle or collar-bone is connected, and over its articulation is a point termed the coracoid process, to which certain muscles are attached. The radius turns completely on the cubitus or ulna, owing to the mode of its articulation with the humerus. The wrist has eight bones, four in each range ; the tarsus has seven ; those of the remaining parts of the hand and foot may be easily counted by the number of digits. Enjoyino-, by means of his industry, uniform supplies of nourishment, Man is at all times inclined to sexual intercourse, without being ever furiously incited. His generative organ is not supported by a bony axis ; the prepuce does not retain it attached to the abdomen ; but it hangs in front of the pubis : numerous and large veins, which efl'ect a rapid transfer of the blood of his testes to the general circulation, appear to contribute to the moderation of his desires. The uterus of woman is a simple oval cavity ; her mammœ, only two in number, are situated on the breast, and correspond with the faciUty she possesses of supporting her child upon her PHYSICAL AND MORAL DEVELOPEMENT OF MAN. The ordinary produce of the human species is but one child at a birth ; for in five himdred cases of partiu-ition, there is only one of twins, and more than that number is extremely rare. The period of gestation is nine months. A foetus of one month is ordinarily an inch in heio'ht ; at two months, it is two inches and a quarter ; at three months, five inches ; at five months, six or seven inches ; at seven months, eleven inches ; and at nine months, eighteen inches. Those which are born prior to the seventh month usually die. The first or milk teeth begin to appear a few months after birth, commencing with the incisors. The number increases in two years to twenty, which are shed successively from about the seventh year, to be replaced by others. Of the twelve posterior molars, which axe permanent, there are four which make their appearance at four years and a half, foiu- at nine years ; the last fom- being frequently not cut until the twentieth year. The fœtus grows more rapidly in proportion as it approaches the time of birth. The infant, on the contrary, increases always more and more slowly. It has upwards of a fourth of its heifht when born, attains the half of it at two years and a half, and the three fourths at nine or ten years. By the eighteenth year the growth almost entirely ceases. Man rarely exceeds sLx feet, and seldom remains under five. Woman is ordinarily some inches shorter. Puberty manifests itself by external signs, from the tenth to the twelfth year in girls, and from the twelfth to the sixteenth in boys. It arrives sooner in warm climates. Either sex very rarely produces before the epoch of this manifestation. Scarcely has the body attained its full growth in height, before it commences to increase in bulk; fat accumulates in the cellular tissue. The difl'erent vessels become 48 MAMMALIA. gradually obstructed ; the solids become rigid ; and after a life more or less prolonged, more or less agitated, more or less painful, old age arrives, vnih decrepitude, decay, and death. Man rarely Uves beyond a hundred years ; and most of the species, either from disease, accidents, or merely old age, perish long before that term. The child needs the assistance of its mother much longer than her milk, whence results an education intellectual as well as physical, and a dm-able mutual attachment. The nearly equal number of individuals of the two sexes, the difficulty of supportmg more than one wife, when wealth does not supply the want of power, intimate that monogamy is the natm-al condition of our species ; and as, wherever this kind of union exists, the sire participates in the education of his oflFspring, the length of time required for that education allows the birth of others, whence the natural perpetuity of the conjugal state. From the long period of infantile weak- ness results domestic subordination, and, consequently, the order of society at large, as the young persons which compose the new families continue to preserve vdih their parents those tender relations to which they have so long been accustomed. This disposition to mutual assistance multiplies to an almost unhmited extent those advantages previously derived by isolated Man from his intelUgence ; it has assisted him to tame or repulse other animals, to defend himself from the efFects of climate, and thus enabled him to cover the earth with his species. In other respects, Man appears to possess nothing resembling instinct, no regular habit of industry produced by innate ideas; all his knowledge is the result of his sensations, his obsenations, or of those of his predecessors. Transmitted by speech, increased by meditation, applied to his necessities and his enjoyments, they have given rise to all the arts. Language and letters, by preserving acquired knowledge, are a source of indefinite perfection to his species. It is thus that he has acquh-ed ideas, and made all natm-e contribute to his wants.* There are very different degrees of developement, however, in Man. The first hordes, compelled to live by hunting and fishing, or on wild fruits, and being obhged to devote all their time to search for the means of subsistence, and not being able to multiply greatly, because that would have destroyed the game, advanced but slowly ; their arts were limited to the construction of huts and canoes, to covering themselves with skins, and fabricating arrows and nets ; they observed such stars only as served to direct them in their journeys, and some natural objects whose properties were of use to them ; they gained the dog for a companion, because he had a natural inclination for the same kind of hfe. "When they had succeeded in taming the herbivorous animals, they found in the possession of numerous flocks a never-failing som-ce of subsistence, and some leisure, which they employed in extending the sphere of their acquirements. Some industry was then employed in the construction of dwelUngs and the making of clothes; the idea ofpropei-ty was admitted, and, consequentl)', that of barter, together with wealth and difference of conditions, those fruitful sources of the noblest emulation and the vilest passions ; but the necessity of searching for fresh pastures, and of obeying the changes of the seasons, stiU doomed them to a wandering Ufe, and hmited their improvement to a very narrow sphere. The multiplication of the human species, and its improvement in the arts and sciences, has > The numerous structural concurrences, all of which are required i necessary consequence of their imperfect means of communication], to promote the intellectual developement of manliind, are worthy of serious consideration with reference to the unaided faculties of other animals. For example, if the superior intelligence of Man were not seconded bv his admirable hands ( so vastly excelling; those of tlie monkey tribe), by his efficient vocal or^an, &c., which are obvious to all as mere physical conformations, indeed, but sliglit modifications of what occur in otlier animals, — if, in short, he were reduced in these re- spects to the condition of the Dog, how effectually would the privation operate to prevent tliat progressive advancement which, under exist- ing circumstances, is achieved by the human race only. But, even grant to Man the use of all his organs, yet deprive him of the accumulated experience of his predecessors, and all mental culture beyond the result of his incidental experience (which in brutes is a and we perceive how immensely he is indebted also to these ac- cessories. On the other hand, however, a duly developed brain and commensu- rate intelligence are required to enable Man to avail himself of the advantages of his structure, for otherwise he appears doomed to re- main stationary like a brute (as in the instance of the New Hol- landers), even in the midst of civilization. There are also casualties, as the general insecurity of life or property arising from situation or misgovernment, which ordinarily suffice to repel the efforts of ad- vancement, even of the roost intelligent races. It would accordingly, then, appear, that the characteristic traits of human intellect are mainly due to the co-operation of extrinsic causes, and to the accessory aids afforded by physical conformation. BIMANA, OR MAN. 49 only been carried to a high degvee since the invention of agriculture and the division of the soil into hereditary possessions. By means of agricultm-e, the manual labour of a portion of society is adequate to the maintenance of the whole, and allows the remainder time for less necessai-y occupations, at the same time that the hope of acquiring, by industry, a comfortable subsistence for self and posterity, has given a new spring to emulation. The lUscovery of a representative of property, or a circulating medium, has carried this emulation to the highest degree, by facilitating exchanges, and rendering fortunes more independent and susceptible of being increased ; but by a necessary consequence, it has also equally increased the vices of effeminacy and the furies of ambition. In every stage of the developement of society, the natm-al propensity to reduce all knowledge to general principles, and to search for the causes of each phenomenon, has produced reflecting men, who have added new ideas to those already accumvdated ; nearly all of whom, while know- ledge was confined to the few, endeavoured to convert their intellectual superiority into the means of domination, exaggerating their merit in the eyes of others, and disguising the poverty of their knowledge by the propagation of superstitious ideas. An evil more irremediable, is the abuse of physical power ; now that Man only can injure Man, he affords the only instance of a species continually at war with itself. Savages dispute their- forests, and herdsmen their pastures ; and make irruptions, as often as they can, upon the cultivators of the soil, to deprive them of the fruits of their long and painful labours. Even civilized nations, far from being satisfied with their enjoyments, carry on war for the prerogative of pride, or the monopoly of commerce. Hence the necessity of governments to direct the national wars, and to repress or reduce to regular forms the quarrels of indinduals. Circumstances, more or less favourable, have restrained the social condition within limited degrees, or have promoted its developement. The glacial climates of the north of both continents, and the impenetrable forests of America, are still inhabited by the savage hunter or fisherman. The immense sandy or salt plains of Central Asia and Africa are covered with a pastoral people, and innumerable herds : these half-civilized hordes assemble at the call of every enthusiastic chief, and overrun the cultivated countries that surround them, in which they establish themselves but to become enervated, and to be subjected in their turn to the next invaders. This is the true cause of that despotism, which, in every age, has crushed the industry called forth under the fine chmates of Persia, India, and China. Mild climates, soils naturally irrigated and rich in vegetables, are the natiu*al cradle of agriculture and civilization ; and when their position is such as to afford shelter from the incursions of barbarians, talents of every kind are mutually excited ; such were formerly (the first in Europe,) Italy and Greece ; and such is, at present, nearly all that happy portion of the earth's surface. There are, however, certain intrinsic causes which appear to arrest the progress of particular races, even though situated amidst the most favourable cn-cumstances. VAÏIIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. Although the human species would appear to be single, since the union of any of its members pro- duces individuals capable of propagation*, there are, nevertheless, certain hereditary peculiarities of conformation obsen'able, which constitute what are termed races. Three of these in particular appear eminently distinct : the Caucasian, or white, the Mongolian, or yellow, and the Ethiopian, or negro. The Caucasian, to which we belong, is distinguished by the beauty of the oval which forms tlie • It is now certain that this circumstance affords no proof of spe- . which I have just witnessed, in the class of hirds, of a brood of ducks, cifical identity, inasmuch as many nearly allied but oliviously dis- both parents of which were half milliard and half pintail (.-*nas ioscAns tinct species produce hybrids that are prolific inter se : an instance of I and ^. acuta). See note to p. 19.— Ed. 50 MAMMALIA. liead ; and it is this one which has given rise to the most civihzed nations, — to those which haTC gene- rally held the rest in subjection : it varies in complexion and in the colour of the hair. The MongoUan is known by his projecting cheek-bones, flat visage, nan-ow and obUque eyebrows, scanty beard, and oUve complexion. Great empires have been estabUshed by this race in China and Japan, and its conquests have sometimes extended to this side of the Great Desert ; but its civilization has always remained stationary. The Negro race is confined to the southward of the Atlas chain of mountains : its colour is black, its hair crisped, the cranium compressed, and nose flattened. The projecting muzzle and thick lips evidently approximate it to the Apes : the hordes of which it is composed have always continued barbarous. The name Caucasian has been affixed to the race from which we descend, because tradition and the fiUation of nations seem to refer its origin to that group of mountains situate between the Caspian and Black Seas, whence it has apparently extended by radiating all around. The nations of the Caucasus, or the Circassians and Georgians, are even now considered as the handsomest on earth. The principal ramifications of this race may be distinguished by the analogies of language. The Armenian or Syrian branch, spreading southward, produced the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the hitherto untameable Arabs, who, after Mahomet, expected to become masters of the world ; the Phoenicians, the Jews, the Abyssinians, which were Arabian colonies, and most probably the Egyptians. It is from this branch, always incUned to mysticism, that have sprung the most widely extended forms of religion. Science and literature have sometimes flourished among its nations, but always in a strange disguise and figurative style. The Indian, German, and Pelasgic branch is much more extended, and was much earher divided : notwithstanding which, the most numerous affinities have been recognized between its four principal languages— the Sanscrit, the present sacred language of the Hindoos, and the parent of the greater number of the dialects of Hindostan ; the ancient language of the Pelasgi, common parent of the Greek, Latin, many tongues that are extinct, and of aU those of the south of Europe ; the Gothic or Teutonic, from which are derived the languages of the north and north-west of Europe, such as the German, Dutch, English, Danish, Swedish, and their dialects ; and finaUy, the Sclavonian, from which are descended those of the north-east, the Russian, Pohsh, Bohemian, and that of the Vandals. It is by this great and venerable branch of the Caucasian stock, that philosophy, the arts and sciences, have been carried to their present state of advancement ; and it has continued to be the depository of them for thirty centuries. It was preceded in Europe by the Celts, whose tribes, once very numerous, came by the north, and are now confined to its most western extremities ; and by the Cantabrians, who passed from Africa into Spain, and have become confounded vrith the many nations whose posterity have intermingled in that peninsula. The ancient Persians originate from the same source as the Indians, and their descendants still present a very close resemblance to the nations of Europe. The Scythian and Tartar branch, extending first towards the north and north-east, and always wandering over the immense plains of those countries, returned but to devastate the happier abodes of their more civihzed brethren. The Scythians, who, at so remote a period, made irruptions into Upper Asia ; the Parthians, who there destroyed the Greek and Roman domination ; the Turks, who there subverted that of the Arabs, and subjugated in Europe the unfortunate remnant of the Grecian people, were all offsets from this branch. The Finlanders and Hungarians are tribes of the same division, which have strayed among the Sclavonic and Teutonic nations. Their original country, to the north and eastward of the Caspian Sea, still contains inhabitants who have the same origin, and speak similar languages ; but these are mingled with many other petty nations, variously descended, and of difl"erent languages. The Tartars remained unmixed longer than the others throughout that extent of country included between the mouth of the Danube to beyond the Irtisch, from which they so long menaced Russia, and where they have finally been subjugated by her. The Mongoles, however, have mingled their blood with that of the nations they conquered, many traces of which may still be found among the inhabitants of Lesser Tartary. It is to the east of this Tartar branch of the Caucasian race that the MongoUan race begins, whence it extends to the eastern ocean. Its branches, the Calmucks and Kalkas, still wandering shepherds, BIMANA, OR MAN. 51 traverse the great desert. Thrice did their ancestors, under Attila, Genghis, and Tamerlane, spread far the terror of their name. The Chinese are the most anciently civilized branch, not only of this race, but of all known nations. A third branch, the Mantchures, have recently conquered and still govern China. The Japanese, Coreans, and nearly all the hordes which extend to the north-east of Siberia, subject to Russia, are also to be considered, in a great measure, as originating from this race ; and such also is deemed to be the fact with regard to the original inhabitants of various islands bordering on that archipelago. With the exception of some Chinese literati, the nations of the Mongolian race pertain generally to different sects of Buddism, or the religion of Fo. The origin of this great race appears to have been iu the Altai mountains, as that of ours in the Caucasus ; but it is impossible to trace with the same certainty the filiation of its different branches. The history of these wandering nations is as fugitive as their establishments ; and that of the Chinese, confined exclusively to their ovm empire, furnishes little that is satisfactory with respect to their neighbours. The affinities of their languages are also too little known to direct us in this labyrinth. The languages of the north of the peninsula beyond the Ganges, as well as that of Tliibet, bear some relation to the Chinese, at least in their monosj'llabic structure ; and the people who speak them are not without resemblance to the other Mongoles : but the south of this peninsula is inhabited by Malays, whose forms approach them much nearer to the Indians, and whose race and language are distributed over the coasts of all the islands of the Indian archipelago. The innumerable small islands of the southern ocean are also peopled by a handsome race, who appear to hold a near relation to the Indians, and whose language has much affinity with the Malay : but iu the interior of the larger islands, particularly in the milder portions of them, there exists another race of men with black complexions, and negro faces, all extremely barbarous, which are named Alfom-ous ; and on the coasts of New Guinea and the neighbouring islands, are other Negroes nearly similar to those of the eastern coast of Africa, which are termed Papous ; to the latter are generally referred the natives of Van Diemen's Land [now rapidly approaching to extermination] , and those of New Holland to the Alfourous.* Neither the Malays nor the Papous are easily referable to either of the three great races ; but can the former be clearly distinguished from their neighbours on both sides, the Caucasian Indians and the Mongolian Chinese ? We avow that we cannot discern in them sufficient traits for that purpose. Are the Papous Negroes, which may formerly have strayed into the Indian Ocean .' We possess neither figures nor descriptions precise enough to enable us to reply to this question. The inhabitants of the north of both continents, the Samoyedes, the Laplanders, and the Esquimaux, are derived, according to some, from the MongoUan race : but others regard them as mere degenerate offsets from tlie Scythian and Tartar branches of the Caucasian race. The Americans have not yet been referred clearly to either of the races of the eastern continent ; nevertheless, they have no precise or constant character, which can entitle them to be considered as a particular one. Their copper-coloured complexion is not sufficient : their general black hair and scanty beard would induce us to approximate them to the Mongoles, if their defined features, their nose as projecting as ours, their large and open eyes, did not oppose such a theory, and coiTcspond with the features of the European. Their languages are as numberless as their tribes, and no demonstrative analogies have as yet been obtained, either with each other, or with those of the ancient world.f [With all deference, I would suggest that naturahsts are much too prone to confound resemblance with identity; as if any reason existed of necessity, for analogous races to differ in the least degree. How many geographical mutual representatives are there, which the analogy of alhed races forcibly indicates to be distinct, though undistinguishable on minute comparison ! How nearly also do many acknowledged species resemble ! Bearing these facts in mind, does it not appear that the Americans have as good a claim to be regarded as a primary race, as the MongoUans have to be separated as such from the Caucasians ? The arrangement of Blumenbach, who adds the Malayan and American races to the three admitted by Cuvier, has been more generally adopted : but there would seem to be quite as good reason for admitting others. Fischer, in his Synopsis Mammalium, indicates what he conceives to be seven species of Homo (reducing the number that had previously * Refer, fnr the different races which people the islands of the Indian t See, on the subject of the Americans, the travels of M. de Hum- and Pacific Oceans, to the dissertation of MM. Lesson and Garnot, in I boldt, so rich in important information, and the dissertations of Vater tlie Zoologie du f'oyage de la Coquille^ p. 1 — 113. For the languages of 1 and of Mitchell, the Asiatic nations, and their affinities, consult the Asia Polyglotta of ' M. Klaproth. E 2 52 MA]\ÎMALIA. been assigned by Bory St. Vincent) : and the numerous divisions and subdivisions of that naturalist | being tolerably in accordance with the apparent value of the characters presented, whether or not they | truly represent the real distinctions, or, in some instances, similarity be confounded with identity (a problem to which philology seems to offer the only key), the outline of his arrangement may be transferred to the present work, where it may chance to prove useful to some observers. His supposed species are as follow : — 1 . H. Japeticus, Bory ; corresponding to the Caucasian race of Cuvier. — This is distributed under three principal varieties, termed Caucasiens, Arabicus, and Indiens: of these the first is arranged into five subvarieties, named Caucasiens {Orientalis), Pelagius {Meridionalis), Celticus (Occident alts), Ger- manicus {Borealis), and Sclavonicus {Intermedins), which severally comprehend the Caucasie, Pelasgic, Celtic, Teutonic, and Sclavonic (incluchng the Sarmatic) nations ; the second into two subvarieties, Atlantiens (Oeeidentalis), and Adamicus {Orientalis), respectively containing the Phœnicians, ancient Numidians, and Guanches, or the Punic nations, and the Abyssinians, primitive Egyptians (modern Copts), Jews, Armenians, Arabians, &c., or the Coptic and Semitic nations. 2. H. Neptnniamis, Bory. — Ranged under three subdivisions : the first unnamed (Qu. Malay anus ?) allied to — probably much mingled with — the Indian variety of H. Japeticus, and consisting of the well-known Malays, which people the coasts only of the peninsula of Malacca, the islands of the Indian ocean, Madagascar, &c., never penetrating inland ; the second, Oecidentalis, comprising the New Zealanders, and natives of the Society, Friendly, Sandwich, and other islands scattered over the Pacific ocean, — it is suggested, also, (but vrith due and much required hesitation,) the ancient Mexi- cans and Peruvians : the third, Papuensis, composed of certain inhabitants of part of the north coast of New Guinea, the shores of the islands Waigou, Salwaty, Gammeu, and a few others, is obviously a hybrid race, derived from the intermixture of the Malay and true Papou. Cuvier has remarked the affinity of language subsisting between the Malays and South Sea Islanders. 3. H. Scythicus, Bory. — The first division of this, unnamed (Qu. Mongolensis ?) consists of the Calmucks and other Tartars ; the second, Sinicus {Homo sinieus of Bory), of the Chinese, Japanese, &c. ; and the third and last, Ilyperboreus {Homo hyperhoreus, Bory), of the Esquimaux. It corre- sponds to the Mongolian race of Cuvier. 4. H. Americanus, Bory. — " Species," the author writes, " adhuc male cognita, forsan tola vel ex ■parte ad SeytJdeam reducenda," of which the latter only is in the least probable. " Autochthones Ame- ricœ meridionalis, in stirpes innumeras distribua ; e. g. Omaguœ, Guarani, Coroadi, Atures, Otomaqui, Botucudi, Guiacce, Cherrucœ, &c." * A second division is designated Patagonus, (being the Homo Patagonus of Bory,) composed of the large-statured Patagonians. 5. H. Colnmbieus, Bory. — The ordinary red Indian of America. 6. H. jUthiopicus, Bory. — Divided into the true Negro, not otherwise named ; Caffer, {Homo Caffer, Bory,) inhabiting Caffraria, and part of the coast of Madagascar ; Melanoides, {Homo melaninus, Bory), the Papons or indigenous inhabitants of Madagascar, the shores of New Guinea, the islands of New Britain, New Ireland, and many others, also of Van Diemen's Land ; and Hottentotus {Homo Hotten- totus, Bory), the Bush and other Hottentots, which, it may be remarked, have not a few analogies with the nomadic Mongoles. The last appear to have been much reduced and encroached on, till a remnant only is left near the south coast of Africa, just as the Celts are now confined to the exteme west of Europe. 7. Lastly, H. Polynesius, Fischer {H. australaricus, Bory). — The Alfourous, the lowest in the scale of human beings : comprising the inland inhabitants of the Malay peninsula, the islands of the Indian Ocean, Madagascar, New Guinea, New Holland, &c. Such is the arrangement of an able and accomphshed naturaUst, published in 1829, or the same year in which our author gave to the world his second and last edition of the present work. The most recent authority, which is the third edition of Dr. Prichard's elaborate " Researches into the Physical History of Mankind," contends strenuously for unity of species in the genus Homo : but it may be remarked that much stress is laid on the productiveness of mingled races of mankind, without any new or satisfactoiy evidence being adduced in proof of the comparative sl;erility of the hybrid offspring of the more intimately approximate races which have claim to be ranked as species ; such as * " A species imperfectly known, probably or in part referable to ' species, want of space compels me to refer the reader to the original the preceding one. It comprehends numerous tribes of South Ame I work. A cranium of the savage tribe of Botucudi i& è^Mreà by Spix rica/' some of which are above named. For the characters of these in his work on American Quudrummifi. BIMANA, OR MAN. 53 the wild bovine and striped equine animals, &c. &c. Tlie following are the leading varieties of Man, according to the opinion and arguments of Dr. Prichard. " On comparing the principal varieties of form and structure which distinguish the inhabitants of different countries, we find that there are seven classes of nations which may be separated from each other by sti-ongly marked lines. Among their principal characteristics are peculiar forms of the skull, but these are by no means the only diiference which require notice and particular description. These seven principal classes are, first, those nations which in the form of their skulls and other physi- cal characters resemble Europeans, including many nations in Asia and some in Africa ; secondly, races nearly similar in figure, and in the shape of the head, to the Kalmucks, Mongoles, and Chinese. These two first classes of nations will be designated, for reasons to be explained, Iranian and Turanian nations, in preference to Caucasian and Mongolian. * * * fjig third class are the native Ame- rican nations, excluding the Esquimaux and some tribes which resemble them more than the majority of inhabitants of the New World. The fourth class comprises only the Hottentot and Bushman race. A fifth class are the Negroes ; the sixth, the Papuas, or woolly-haired nations of Polynesia ; the seventh, the Alfourou and Austrahan races. The nations comprised under these departments of man- kind differ so strikingly from each other, that it would be improper to include any two of them in one section, and there is no other division of the human family that is by physical traits so strongly cha- racterized. There are, indeed, some nations that cannot be considered as falling entirely within either of these divisions, but they may be looked upon as approximating to one or another of them." * The same writer affirms, of the Caucasian race of Cuvier, that " there is no truth in the assertion that the traditions of all these nations deduce their origin from Caucasus f," and states, of his Indo- Atlantic, or Iranian nations, that " complexion does not enter among the characters of this type, since it is of all shades, from the white and florid colour of the northern Europeans, to the jet-l)lack of many tribes in Lybia, and southward of Mount Atlas. In many races, as we shall hereafter prove, the type has degenerated. The ancient Celts appear, for example, to have had by no means the same developement of the head as the Greeks, and the Indians cUsplay some differences in the configuration of the skull," &C.Î It appears to be conclusively proved that barbarism and insufficient nourishment tend, in a few generations, to deteriorate the physical characters of even the highest races of mankind, by increasing the facial angle, &c. § ; while the reverse induces proportional improvement. Still there is reason to suspect that the diversities which are thus occasioned are restrained within moderate Umits ; and this remarkable fact must be borne in mind (which I believe has not been hitherto stated), that while an artificial mode of life would seem to have produced those acknowledged varieties of species which are noticeable among such of the lower animals as have been domesticated, we observe very dissimilar races of human beings among those whose mannner of living is least artificial of any, and which, further- more, in numerous instances, inhabit the same countries, besides being widely diffused ; thus proving that cUmate and locality exert less influence than has been imagined. This most difficult subject of inquiry, in fine, is endlessly perplexed, and in several instances rendered quite inextricable, by the occasional blending of two or more diverse races, in every degree of proportion. There are also decisive proofs (afforded by architectural reUques scattered over Siberia and both Americas) of great nations having been utterly exterminated, whose very names have perished : and if civilized, or com- paratively civilized, populous nations have thus become so completely sunk in oblivion, that we infer their former existence only as that of some lost tribes of animals can be recalled, how very many hordes of savages, who erect no memorials, may have been extirpated, and are forgotten in-etrievably. Hence the extreme and apparently insuperable difficulties wliich, it is probable, will continue to oppose the definitive solution of the intricate and peculiarly interesting problem which we have been considering.] * Vol. i. 246-7. t Id. 259. t Id. 262. 5 Vide id. vol. ii. 349. 54 MAMMALIA. THE SECOND ORDER OF MAMMALIANS. QUADRUMANA. Independently of the anatomical details which distinguish it from Man, and which we have indicated, this family differs from our species in a very obvious character, having the thumbs of the hind feet free and opposable to the other digits, which are as long and flexible as those of the hand : in consequence of this, all the species climb trees with facility, while it is only with pain and difficulty that they can stand and wallc upright, their foot then resting on its outer edge only, and their narrow pelvis being unfavourable to an equilibrium. They all have intestines very similar to those of Man*, the eyes directed forward, the mammae on the breast, the penis pendent, the brain with three lobes on each side, the posterior of which covers the cerebellum, and the temporal fossae separated from the orbit by a bony partition. In every thing else, however, they gradually recede from him, in presenting a muzzle more and more elongated, a tail and a gait more like that of quadrupeds : nevertheless, the freedom of their arms, and the complication of their hands, admit of their performing many of the actions of Man, as well as to imitate his gestures. They have long been divided into two genera, the Monkeys and the Lemurs, which, by the multiplication of secondary forms, have now become two small families, between which must be placed a third genus, that of the Ouistitis [or Marmosets], which cannot be referred to either of the others. The Monkey-like Animals {Simla, Linnajus). These are all Quadrumana, which have four straight incisors to each jaw, and flat nails to all the extremities, — two characters which approximate them more nearly to Man than the sub- sequent genera. Their molars have also blunt tubercles like ours, and they subsist mainly upon fruits ; but their canines, being longer than the other teeth, supply them with a weapon which we do not possess, and require a vacant space in the opposite jaw to receive them when the mouth is closed. They may be divided, according to the number of then molars, into two principal sub-genera, which again subdivide into numerous others. The Monkeys {Singes), properly so called, or those of the ancient continent, [Catarrhini, Geof.'], — Have the same number of grinders as Man, but otherwise differ among themselves in the characters which give rise to the following subdivisions. The Ourangs (Simia, Erxl., Pithecus, Geof.), — Are the only Apes of the ancient continent which have no callosities on the buttocks ; thek hyoid bone, liver, and cœcum resemble those of Man. Their nose does not project ; they have no cheek pouches, nor any vestige of a tail. Some of them have arms long enough to reach the ground when standing ; their legs, on the con- trary, are veiy short. Such are the Ourangs, strictly so called. • Here we must except the genus Semnopitliecus, and probably also Cnlobus.—Ku. QUADRUMANA. 55 The Ourang-outanq* (Shnia satyrus, Lin.) Of all animals, this is reputed to bear the nearest resemblance to Man in the form of its head, the magnitude of its forehead, and volume of brain ; but the exaggerated descriptions of some authors respecting this similarity arise partly from the circumstance of only young individuals having been observed, as there is every reason to believe that, with age, the muzzle becomes much more prominent [a fact now ascertained]. The body is covered with coarse red hair, the face is bluish, and the hinder thumbs very short compared with the toes. The lips are capable of a singular elongationf, and possess great mobiUty. Its history has been much confounded with that of the other large Apes, and especially of the Chimpanzee ; but, after subjecting it to a rigorous analysis, I have ascertained that it inhabits only the most eastern countries, such as Malacca, Cochin China, and particularly the great island of Borneo, whence it has been sometimes brought by the route of Java, though very rarely. When young, and such as it has been seen in Europe, it is a very mild animal, that is easily rendered tame and attached, and which, by its conformation, is enabled to imitate many of our actions ; but its intelligence appears to be lower than has been asserted, not very much surpassing that of the Dog. Camper discovered, and has well dis- cribed, two membranous sacs which communicate with the glottis of this animal, and obstruct its voice ; but he is mistaken in supposing that the nails are always absent from the hinder thumbs. There is an ape in Borneo, at present only known by its skeleton, called the Pongo, which so closely resembles the Ourang-outang in all its parts, and by the arrangement of the cavities and sutures of its head, that notwith- standing the great prominence of its muzzle, the smaUness of the cranium, and the height of the branches of the lower jaw, we are inclined to consider as an adult, if not of this species of Ourang, at least of another very nearly allied to it. The length of its arms, and of the apophyses of its cervical vertebrae, together with the tuberosity of its calcaneum, may enable it to assume the vertical position. It is the largest of known Apes, approaching to the jsize of Man. prhe Pongo has proved to be a second species of Ourang, covered with black, relieved with dark red hair, and which at present is known only to occur in Borneo, where the Red Ourang has not been ascertained to exist. Both attain the same large dimensions, and are distinguished as the Pitheciis Wonnbii und P. Abelii. They differ somewhat in the contigaration of the cranium, and considerably in the profile of the face, as seen in the skull. A third species, also from Borneo, has more recently been determined by Prof. Owen, of which only a single adult skull has been received ; it announces a smaller animal, which has been named P. morio. The adult males of this genus have an immense projecting tuberosity on each cheek. J These Ourangs do not ordinarily assume the upright attitude, to maintain which they are obliged to raise, and throw their long arms backward, in order to preserve a balance ; the outer edges only of their feet are applied to the ground, where they commoidy progress by resting on the knuckles, and swinging the body forward between the arms. Their structure is more designed for traversing the forest boughs ; and they are said to inhabit the upland forests of the interior of their native countries. The old males are reported to be savage and solitary, and much dreaded by the Alfourou inhabitants of their native region ; each appropriating a particular district, into which it resents intrusion. There is reason to suspect that they are not exclusively vegetable feeders, but subsist in part on the eggs and caUow young of birds. They are sedentary and inactive animals, possessed of great strength. So excessive is the degradation of the adult from the characters which it exhibits in youth, that our author, in his first edition, arranged the Pongo next to the Baboons, allowing them the precedence. According to M. Geoffroy, " the brain of the young Ourang bears a very close resemblance to that of a child ; and the skull, also, might be taken, at an early age, for that of the latter, were it not for the developement of the bones of the face. But it happens, in consequence of its advance in age, that the brain ceases to enlarge, while its case continually increases. The latter becomes thickened, but in an unequal degree ; enormous bony ridges appear, and the animal assumes a frightful aspect. When we compare the effects of age in Man and the Ourang, the difference is seen to be, that in the latter there is a super-developement of the osseous, muscular, and tegumentary systems, more towards the upper part than the lower, while the developement of the brain is entirely arrested." It is only in the male sex, however, that the cranial ridges appear, the canines, also, of the females being much smaller. M. Geoffi-oy thus describes the skuU of the Pongo, before its identity as an Ourang had been ascertained :— " What is most remarkable," he observes, " is the excessive elongation of the muzzle ; and as this con- siderable volume of the muzzle cannot be gained but at the expence of the other adjoining parts, we accord- ingly find that there is scarcely any apparent forehead, that the bony box which contains the brain is uncommonly small, and that the occipital foramen is situated as far as the posterior part of the head. The immense muzzle, moreover, is remarkable, not only for the enormous thickness of the gums, but also for the extraordinary size of the canine and incisor teeth with which they are provided ; the incisors exceed in magnitude those of a Lion, and the canines do not differ much in dimensions from those of the same animal: the occiput also is elevated at its point, and forms a quadrilateral protuberance, very large and thick, where three bony crests are produced, not less apparent nor less solid than those of the Lion. Two of • Ourang is a Malay word, signifying rational being, which is applied to Man, the Ourang-outang, and the Elephant. Outang signifies icild, or of the woods : hence Ourang-outang. t Noticeable, to a certain c:itent, in the Hottentot race of man- kind.— Ed. t There is at present (1S3S) a young male and female of the Black Ourang (P. fVormbii), in the menagerie of the Zoological Society, which have continued now for several months in a very thriving con- dition, and atfurd reasonable grounds for expectation that they will live to attain maturity. Most of those previously imported have been weak and sickly. — Ed. 56 MAMMALIA. these crests are considerably elevated, and extend laterally to the auricular foramina. Another extends across the vertex, and then assumes a bifurcal form, as in the Lion, above the forehead in two lateral branches, which proceed as far as the external side of the upper edge of the orbits. These little crests are decisivelv marked, and form an equilateral triangle with the upper edge of the orbital foramina. The head is formed like the half of a pyramid, and the auricular foramina are placed so considerably above the palatine bones, that a line let down from the former to the internal edge of the ossa palatina, viovld form, with a horizontal line, an angle of twenty-five degrees." It varies to about thirty degrees. All the above modifications have immediate reference to the immense size of the canines, which necessitates a proportional developement of the jaws, and the high cranial ridges to furnish attachment to muscles of suflficieut power to work them. The Ourangs do not cut their huge permanent teeth until nearly full grown.*] In the other Ourangs, the arms descend only to the knees. They have no forehead, and their cranium retreats immediately from the crest of the eyebrow. The name of Chimpanzee might be exclusively appUed to them. Sim. troglodytes, Lin. [Troglodytes niger of others]. — Covered with black or brown hair, scanty in front; [a white marking on the rump]. If the reports of travellers can be relied on, this animal must equal or be superior in size to Man. [The skeleton of an adult female in London is considerably smaller.] It inhabits Guinea and Congo, lives in troops, constructs huts of branches, arms itself with clubs and stones, and thus repulses JNIan and Elephants ; pursues and abducts, it is said, negro womenf, &c. Naturalists have generally confounded it with the Ourang-outang. In domestication it is very docile, and readily learns to walk, sit, and eat like a man. [It is much more a ground animal than the Ourangs, and runs on its lower extremities without difficulty, holding up the arms. Is of a lively and active disposition. The facial angle of the adult about thirty-five degrees. By the general consent of living naturalists, the Chimpanzee is placed next to Man in the system, preceding the Ourangs, which it exceeds in general approximation to the human form.] From the foregoing groups are now separated The Gibbons {Hylobates, lUiger), — Which, together with the long arms of the Ourangs, and the receding forehead of the Chimpanzee, possess [all of' them] callosities on the buttocks like the true Monkeys ; differing, however, from the latter in having no tail or cheek-pouches. All of them inhabit the most eastern part of India, and its archipelago. The Onko Gibbon (Sim. lar, Lin.)— [This name is now by general consent applied to the next species, the present one being distinguished asi/. Rafflesii, Geof.] Black, with white hairs round the face. [The Lar Gibbon of Linnaeus (//. lar, Geof.) — Black, with white hands and feet, and a white circle round thé face. Is identical with H. albimanus, Vig. and Horsf., and probably with H. variegatus, Kuhl, which seems to ditfer only in colour, being bro^Ti where the other is black. The Hoolock Gibbon (H. hoolocJ;, Harlan). — Black, marked with white across the forehead. The Coromandel Gibbon (//. c/ioromandus, Ogilby).— Of a dingy pale brown, with black hair and whiskers.] The Wou-wou Gibbon (S. agilis, Lin.)— Brown, the circle romid the face and lower part of the back, pale fulvous [with also some white around the visage]. The young are of a uniform yellowish white. Its agility is extreme ; it lives in pairs, and its name TVou-ifoti is derived fiom its cry. The Gray Gibbon {S. leiicisca, Sdireb.)^Gray, with dark crown, and white beard and whiskers ; the visage black. It lives among the reeds, and climbs up the highest stems of the bamboos, where it balances itself by its long amis. We might separate from the other Gibbons The Siamang (S. syndactyla. Raffles), which has the second and third toes of the hind foot united by a nan-ow membrane, the whole length of the first phalanx [a character which now and then occurs in some of the others, but in the present species is constant]. It is whoUy black, viith the chin and eyebrows rufous [and the throat bare] ; lives in numerous troops, which arc conducted by vigilant and courageous chiefs, which, at sunrise and sunset, make the forest resound with frightful cries. Its lai-ynx has a membranous sac connected with it. [AU the above are mild and gentle animals in domestication, of extremely deUcate constitutions when brought to our climate]. The remaining Monkey-like animals of the ancient continent have the liver divided into several * It may be remarked generally, that, with the possession of for- midable caaines, Quadrumana acquire a consciousness of their efficacy as weapons, which renders them impatient of that controul, more par- ticularly if based on fear, to which they had previously been sub- missive. Chastisement then excites their ire rather than affrijjhts them ; and if they cannot gratify their rage, they will pine and die. They require, in short, different treatment. An adult male Mandrill, which was long exhibited in London, would perform various feats indicative of intelligence, if bribed to do so by the offer of its iavourite beverage. The notion that the species with prominent muzzles are therefore less intelligent, requires modification. The de\elopemcnt of tirain, in all the Simiœ, as compared with that of Man, is arrested at a particular stage of advancement ; but it does not follow that the growth of the other parts — that is, the developement of the other systems — should cease simultaneously : on the contrarv, this proceeds to a variable extent in different species, aijd the projection of the muzzle, with its accompaniments, appears to increase in proportion to the stature ultimately attained ; so that the adults of the smaller species are, in this respect, analogous to partially developed speci- mens of the larger, which correspond in disposition until they acquire the strength and armature of which an instinctive knowledge prompts them to resent affronts, and renders them so highly dangerous to tamper ^\ith. The Baboons are even remarkable for penetration and quickness of apprehension, however short their temper. — Ed. t Very highly improbable. — Ed, QUADRUMANA. 57 lobes ; the cœcum thick, short, [except in Semnopitkecus, and perhaps Colobus'], and without any appendage : the hyoid bone has the form of a shield. The Monkeys* {Cercopithecus, Erxl. in part), iGuenons of the French], — Have a moderately prominent iliuzzle (of sixty degrees) ; cheek pouches ; tail ; callosities on the but- tocks ; the last of the inferior molars %vith four tubercles hke the rest. Veiy numerous species of them, of various size and colouring, abound in Africa, living in troops, which do much damage to the gardens and cultivated fields. They are easily tamed, [and are lively and active animals. Their hair, unlike that of the preceding groups, is of two kinds, the outer commonly annulated above with two colours, producing a grizzled appearance, which in several imparts a tinge of green. More than twenty species have been ascertained, and doubtless many others remain to be discovered. They vary in the proportional length of the fingers. The larger of them acquire, mth their growth, a more projecting muzzle, and are the Cercocehi of some naturalists (a term now falling into disuse) : these, in a few instances, manifest an additional relationship to the Baboons, in exhibiting bright colours on the genitals ; as exemplified by the Malbrouck Monkey (C. cynosurus), in which the scrotum is vivid ultramarine, and the Vervet (C. pi/tjt'n/- thnis), which has the same part green. Many are prettily variegated, as the Diana Monkey (C. Diana), which has a crescent-shaped white mark on the forehead, and a slender, pointed, white beard ; the Mona Monkey (C. mona), &c. One only is of a red colour, the Patas (C. rubra). A few of the more recently discovered of them may be briefly indicated. Campbell's Monkey (C. Campbellii, Waterhouse.)— Hair long, and parted on the back, of a grizzled black and yellow colour, nearly uniform blackish grey on the hind parts ; beneath, dingy white ; a black line encircling the fore part and sides of the crown of the head. From Sierra Leone. The Bearded Monkey (C. poffonias, Ben.)— Hair very long ; greyish, i.e., grizzled black and yellowish white ; a spot on each side of the head, another on the crown, and tip of the tail, black ; cheeks furnished vidth an immense tuft of pale hair. Red-eared Monkey (C erythrotis, Waterh.)— Grey ; the tail red, with a dark line along its upper surface; ears with very long red hairs internally ; throat white ; under parts of the body greyish. From Fernando Po. Next follows a group of smaller species, of mild and confiding disposition ; consisting of the Talapoin M. (C. talapoin, Geof., Sim. melarrkina, F. Cuv.), the Moustache M. (S. cephu>,;hm.), the Vaulting M. (S. pctaurista, Gm.), the Hocheur (S. niciitans, Gm.), &c. A new Monkey appertaining to it is the C. Martini, Waterh. —Of a dark grey, the hairs annulated with yellowish white ; lower portions of limbs, crown of the head, and tail, blackish ; hairs near the root of the tail beneath, brown. Inhabits Fernando Po. Several of these smaller kinds are very common in Guinea. Allied to them are the larger green Monkeys ; and the series terminates with the Mangabeys, or dusky-coloured white-eyelid Monkeys (C. œthiops, and C. fuUginosus), which display some peculiarities of gait and gesture, and have the most prominent muzzles of any. The following occurs as a note in the original work. " Pennant has described certain Chienons" — Doues rather — "without thumbs f, Sim. poli/eomos and S.ferruffinea, o{ -which IWiger has formed his genus Colobus, but I have not been able to see them, and for this reason have not introduced them. M. Temminck assures us that the head and teeth resemble those of a Semnopiihecus." This group is now well established, and several species have been added to it ; all of them, however, peculiar to Africa, as the members of the last-named genus are to Asia : they differ chiefly from the Doues in possessing cheek-pouches, having the limbs similarly elongated, and only one sort of hair, as in the Apes. A small rudiment of a thumb exists in some of them. Nine clearly distinct species have been ascertained; and there are probably many others. Tliey resolve into two minor groups ; the species composing the first are rather large animals, of a black ground-colour, with very long hair ; those of the second division are smaller, with shorter hair, and rufous ground-colour. Their markings readily distinguish them. The Black Colobin (C. satanas, Waterh.)— Quite black, with very long shaggy hair, obviously designed to pro- tect it from the scorching rays of a vertical sun. This animal is common in Fernando Po, and when captured refuses to take sustenance, pining and moaning constantly and very piteously. Ursine Colobin (C. ursinus, Ogilby.)— Black, with grey head and white tail. From Sierra Leone. White-thighed Colobin ? (C. ? leticomeros, Ogilby.) — Established on some imperfect skins. The thighs white ; head, legs, and tail undetermined. From the Gambia. Sim. polycomos, Pennant ; termed by him the " Full-bottomed Monkey."— Has a long yeUowish-white sort of mane, compared to a fuU-bottomed wig, and a white tail. Brought from Sierra Leone. C. guereza, Ruppel.— The throat and around the face white ; and long flowing white hair on the shoiUders and along each side of the body, as if a garment were thrown over it ; end of the tail also white, and largely tufted. From Abyssinia. C. rufoniger, Ogilby.— Black above, deep red beneath; locality unknown. * The word Monkey is a dimiinitive of A/an.— Ed. t The thumb is very sci.-iU in tlie Doues.— Kd. 58 MAMMALIA. Sim. ferruginea, Pennant ; called by him the " Bay Monkey."— Of a deep bay colour above ; cheeks and under- parts very bright bay. From Sierra Leone. C. Pennantii, Waterh.— Above blackish ; beneath dingy yellow ; the sides yellowish red, and cheeks white. From Fernando Po. C. Temminckii, Kuhl. — Blackish above ; rusty-red beneath and on the cheeks ; the sides yellow. From the Gambia. Is identical with C. obscurus, Ogilby. The skins of these animals are an article of traffic in Western Africa, but are commonly deprived of the head, limbs, and tail. Many Cercopitheci are prepared in the same manner.*] The Doues {Semnopitheeus, F. Cuv.) — Differ from the true Monkeys by having an additional small tubercle on the last of the inferior molars. They are the ordinary Monkeys of the East ; and their lengthened limbs and extremely elongated tail [as in Colobus] give them a peculiar air. Their muzzle projects very little more than that of the Gibbons, and, like them, they have callosities on the buttocks ; they appear, likewise, to have no cheek-pouches : their larynx is furnished with a sac. [The stomach (fig. 3) is singularly complicated, consisting of three divisions ; first, a cardiac pouch, with smooth and simple parietes, sUghtly bifid at the extremity, secondly, a middle, very wide and sacculated portion ; thirdly, a narrow, elongated canal, sacculated at its commencement, and of simple structure towards its termination : their food, accordingly, is supposed to be more herba- ceous than that of other Catarrhini, which is further intimated by the blunter tubercles of their molars, and the elongation of their intestines and coecum. Their hair is of one kind only, approaching in character to that of the Gibbons. Their movements are staid and and the gravity of their deportment is expressed by Fig. 3, deliberate, though capable of much agility their systematic name. Fourteen or fifteen species have been determined, of which the most extraordinary is] Tlie Long-nosed or Proboscis Doue {Sim. nasica, Schr. ; Nasalis larvatus, Geof.f) [The /S. recurvus, Vig. and Horsf., is apparently the young.] — It is of large size, and yellowish colour tinted with red ; the nose extremely long and projecting, in form of a sloping spatula. This species inhabits Borneo, and lires in great troops, which assemble morning and evening on the branches of the great trees on the banks of the rivers ; its cry is Kahau. Is stated also to occur in Cochin China. The Variegated Doue (S. nemaiis, Geof.) — Remarkable for its lively and varied colouring: the body and arms are grey ; the hands, thighs, and feet black ; legs of a lively red ; the tail, [fore-arm,] and a large triangular spot upon the loins, white ; face orange ; and there is also a black and red collar, and tufts of yellow hairs on the sides of the head. It inhabits Cochin China. (The genus Lasiopyga of Illiger was founded on a mutilated skin of this animal.) S. entellus, Dufres. [The species most frequently brought alive to Europe.] — Of a light yellowish grey colour, with black hair on the eyebrows and sides of the head, directed forwards. From Upper Bengal, where it is held in superstitious reverence. [Some frequent the Pagodas. Several are black, dusky, or ash-coloured. S. aurattis, Geof., is uniform bright golden yellow, with a black patch on each knee. The Simpai (S. melalophus, Cuv.) is of a very lively red ; beneath white : its face is blue ; and a crest of black hairs reaches from one ear to the other. Some have the hair of the head turned up, forming a sort of crest. AH are from the islands of the Indian Ocean, and neighbouring regions of Asia.] The Macaques {Macactis, Desm.) — Possess, like the Doues, a fifth tubercle on their last molars, and callosities and cheek-pouches like the true Monkeys. Their limbs are shorter and stouter than in the former ; their muzzle is more elongated, and the superciliary ridge more prominent than in either the one or the other. Though docile when young, they become unmanageable with age. They have all a sac which communicates with • I have availed myself of this opportunity to give a more complete list of the Cutobi than has hitherto been published. — £o. t The anatomy of this animal is now known to accord with that of the other Doues. — En. QUADRUMANA. 59 the larynx under the thyroid cartilage, and which fills with air when they cry out. Their tail is pendent, and takes no part in their movements ; [it varies in length from a tubercle to longer than the body.] They produce early, but are not completely adult for four or five years. The period of gesta- tion is seven months ; during the rutting season the external generative organs of the female become excessively distended [as in the Baboons]. Most of them [all] inhabit India [and its Archipelago. At least seven species have been ascertained, the most remarkable of which is] The Maned Macaque or Wanderoo (Sim. Silenus and leonbia, Lin.)— Black, with an ash-coloured mane and whitish beard surrounding; the head. [Tail moderately long', and slightly tufted.] Inhabits Ceylon. [The Bonneted Macaque {M. sinicus), and the Toque (31. radiaius), have the hairs on the top of the head dis- posed as radii ; these, with the Hare-Upped M. (J/, cyiiomolgiis), have long' tails. In the Pig-tailed Macaque (il/, rhesus), this appendage reaches little below the hamstrings : it is shorter, thin, and wrinkled in the Brown Macaque (M. nemestrinus); and in the Black M. (M. niger, Ben. ; Cipiocephalus niger, Desm., and of Cuvier's last edition), it is reduced to a mere tubercle. The Black Macaque is wholly of that colour, with an erect tuft of hair on the top of its head ; its native country Celebes.] The Magots {Inuiis, Cuv.) Mere Macaques, which have a small tubercle in place of a tail. [According to this definition, the last-named species should be introduced here : the only known Magot, however, does not well range with the others ; its cranium is intermediate to those of the Macaci and CynocepJialï]. The Barbary Magot (iSm. sylvamts, pithecus, a,nd »(!<««, Lin.)— Completely covered with greenish-brown hair. Of all the tribe, this suflers least in our climates. Originally from Barbary, it is said to have become naturaUzed on the Rock of Gibraltar.* [This well-known species, in its wild state, is both lively and remarkably intelligent at all ages ; but, subjected to the restraint of captivity, becomes sullen and unmanageable as it grows up ; forcibly illustrating what has been stated in a note to the Ourangs.] The Baboons {Cynocephalus, Cuv.), — Together with the teeth, cheek-pouches, and callosities of the preceding, have an elongated muzzle abruptly truncate at the end, where the nostrils are pierced, which gives it a greater resemblance to that of a Dog than of other Monkeys ; their tail varies iu length. They are generally large, ferocious, and dangerous animals, of which the majority [all of them] inhabit Africa. [Some have the tail long and tufted, as the Gelada Baboon (Macacus gelada of Ruppell). — This has the upper parts covered with very long hair, of a pale brown on the head, shoulders, and rump, blackish on the back ; a dark medial Une extends backwards from the forehead ; the extremities are black. A native of Abyssinia. The others have the hair grizzled or annulated. Such are the Tartariu Baboon (Sim. hamadryas, Lin.), of a slightly bluish ash-colour (grizzled black and white); face flesh-coloured: inhabits Arabia and Ethiopia. The Chacma B. (Sim. porcaria, Bodd. ; S. ursina, Penn ; 5. sphyngiola, Herra.), which is black, with a yellowish or greenish glaze, particularly on the forehead ; the face and hands black, and the adult has a large mane. From the Cape of Good Hope. The Anubis B. (C. aniibis, F. Cuv.), is another huge Cape species, uniformly grizzled black and yellow ; the face black, and snout much elongated. The Sphynx B. (Sim. sp/iynx, Lin., and it would appear from descriptions, also, C. papio, Desm.), is likewise yellowish, more or less tinged with brown ; face black ; the cheek-tufts fulvous : inhabits Guinea. Lastly, the Babouin (Sim. cynocephalus, F. Cuv.), has a shorter tail, and coat more inclining to greenish ; also whitish cheek-tufts, and flesh-coloured visage.] The Mandrills — Are, of all the Monkey tribe, those which have the longest muzzle (thirty degrees f) ; their taU is very short ; they are also extremely brutal and ferocious ; nose as in the others. The Mandrill Baboon (Sim. maimon and mormon, Lin.) — Greyish brown, incUning to olive above ; a small citron-yeUow beard on the chin ; cheeks blue and furrowed. The adult males have the nose red, particularly at the end, where it is scarlet ; the genital parts and those about the anus, are of the same colour ; the buttocks are of a fine violet. It is difficult to imagine a more hideous and extraordinary animal. It nearly attains the size of a Man, and is a terror to the negroes of Guinea. Many details of its histoiy have been mixed up with that of the Chimpanzee, and consequently wth that of the Ourang-outang. The Drill (Sim. leucophœa, F. Cuv.) — Yellowish grey, the visage black ; in old ones the coat becomes darker; [the white hairs on the belly are much elongated], and the chin is bright red. [Hideous as the animals of this genus appear, and disgustingly deformed to those who have only seen them in captivity, their adaptation to a pecuhar mode of life is of course as exquisite as that of any other animal, and requires only to be understood to command an amount of admiration, which must lessen to a considerable * Pithecus is the Greek name for Monkeys iu general ; and the one . species, all that Galen has stated respecting the anatomy of his of which the anatomy is given hy Galen was a Magot, although Pithecus. Camper thought it was an Ourang-outang. M, de Blaiuville perceived f The Ourangs will bear comparison. — Ed. this mistake, and I have proved it by comparing with these two 1 60 MAMMALIA. extent the abhorrence with which we are apt to regard them. It has lately been discovered that they chiefly inhabit barren stony places, where they subsist, for the most part, upon scorpions ; to procure which they employ their hands to lift up the numerous loose stones, under most of which one or more of these creatures commonly lie concealed ; their stings they extract with dexterity. Accordingly, we find that the Baboons are expressly modified for traversing the ground on all-fours, and are furnished with efRcient hands ; their eyes are peculiarly placed, directed downwards along the visage. Want of space necessarily prevents us, generally, from noticing these highly interesting relations, afforded by the special modifications of structure in reference to habit: but we avail ourselves of the present instance (which is little known*) to call attention to them. "With the Baboons, the series of Catarrhini (Geof.) terminates ; and we may observe that the Simiadce fall under three principal divisions. First, that of the Apes, (comprising the Chimpanzee, Ourangs, and Gibbons), tail-less genera, which have the liver divided as in Man, an appendage to the cœcum, &c. Second, the slender-limbed Monkeys, with sacculated stomachs and longer intestines (or the Doues, and most probably the Colobins), all of which have exceedingly long tails. Third, those with shorter and stouter limbs, a simple stomach, and tail varying in length from a tubercle to longer than the body. These last (or the true Monkeys, Macaques, Magots, and Baboons), are all partly insectivorous ; and the habit mentioned of the Baboons, of turning over stones in quest of prey, applies perhaps more or less to all of them, but particularly to the Magot and some Monkeys. In the two first divisions, the coat consists of only one sort of hair ; in the last of two sorts, the longer and coarser of which is mostly annulated with two colours. It is remarkable that none of the genera are common to Asia and Africa (one Baboon only extending to Arabia), and, until very recently, no remains of any had occurred in a fossil state ; but the jaw of one said to be allied to the Gibbons has lately been detected in a tertiary deposit, at Sanson, France ; and some bones, adjudged to be those of Macaques, ia the tertiary ranges of northern India.] The Monkey-like Animals of the New World, [Platyrrhini, Geof.l, — Have four grinders more than the others, thirtj^-six in all ; the tail [with very few excep- tions] long ; uo cheek-pouches ; the buttocks hairy and without callosities ; nostrils opening on the sides of the nose, and not underneath ; [the thumbs of the anterior hands no longer opposablef.] AH the great Quadrumana of America pertain to this division.J Their large in- testines are less inflated, and their cœcum longer and more slender than in the preceding divisions. The tails of some of them are prehensile, that is to say, their extremity can twist round a body with sufficient force to seize it as with a hand.§ Such have been designated Sapajous {Cebus, Erxl.) At their head may be placed the Stentors {Mycetes, Illiger), — Or Howling Monkeys {Jlouaites of the French], which are distinguished by a pyramidal head, the upper jaw of M'hich descends much below the cranium, while the branches of the lower one ascend very high, for the purpose of lodging a bony di'uro, formed by a vesicular inflation of the hyoid bone, which communicates with their larynx, and imparts to their voice prodigious volume and a most frightful sound. Hence the appellations which have been bestowed on them. The prehensile portion of their tail is naked beneath. [The Rufous Stentor (Sim. seniculiis, Buff., Supp. vii. 25), the Ursine Stentor (Stentor ursinxs, Geoff.), and at least five other species, are now tolerably established. They are shaggy animals, averaging the size of a Fox, of difterent shades of brown or blackish, the females of some being differently coloured from the males ; such is M. barbatus, Spix, pi. 32, of which the male is black and bearded, the female and young pale yellowish-grey. || They are of an indolent and social disposition, and grave deportment ; utter their hideous yells and howling by night ; subsist on fruits and foliage, and are deemed good eating.] * For the information communicated, we are indebted to Dr. A. Smith, the conductor of the South African expedition from the Cape colony. — Ed. t They are but slightly so in many of the Simiadce. — Ed. t By tills is meant, that the Marmosets and Tamarins ^Oliistilis of our author) are excluded from the. generalization. — Ed. § This organ possessing in an eminent degree the sense of touch, where the character is most developed. — Ed. II Cuvier accordingly suggests, inadvertently, that the A/, stramineus Spix, pi. 31, which is entirely of a straw-yellow colour, may be the female of some other ; Spix, however, figures a male. — Ed. QUADRUMANA. G I The Ordinary Sapajous have the head flat, the muzzle but sliglitly prominent (sixty degrees). In some the anterior thumbs are nearly or quite hidden iu the skin, and the prehensile portion of the tad naked beneath. They constitute the genus CoAiTA (Ateles, Geof.),— [Or the Spider Monkeys, as they are commonly termed, in allusion to their long slender limbs, and sprawling movements.] The first species, the Chamek (A. subpentadactjilus, Geof.), has a slight projection of the thumb, though only for one phalanx, which has no nail. Another, the Mikiri (At. hypoxanthus, Pr. Max. ; Brachyteles macrotarsus, Spix), has also a very small thumb, and sometimes even a nail. These two species are separated by SpLx under the iiame Brachyteles. They connect Ateles with Lagothrix.* Tlie others, to which alone Spix applies the name Ateles, have no apparent thumb whatever. [Six have been ascertained ; one of them the Sim. paniscus, Lin.] All the above are natives of Guiana and Brazil. Their limbs are very long and slender, and their gait slow and deliberate. They exhibit some remarkable resemblances to Man in their muscles, and, of all animals, alone have the biceps of the thigh made like his. [Accordingly, they make little use of their fore-hands in progression. Their colours are chiefly or wholly black, or fulvous-grey ; face black, or flesh-coloured. They are gentle and confiding, and capable of much attachment. Some attain to as large a stature as the preceding.] The Gastromargues {Lagothrix, Geof. ; Gastromargas, Spix). Head round, as in the Coaitas ; the thumb developed, as in the Stentors ; and tail partly naked, like the one and the other. Such are — Tlie Caparo, Humb. (L. Humholdtii, Geof. ; G. olivacetis, Spix), and the Grison {L. canus, Geof. ; G. infumatus, Spix.)— Inhabitants of the interior of South America, said to be remarkable gluttons. Their limbs are shorter and stouter than iu the Coaitas, and they often raise themselves on their hinder extremities : occur in numerous bands. The other Sapajous, or The Capuchins (Cebus, Geof.) — Have a round head, the thumbs distinct, and the tail entirely hairy, though prehensile. The species are still more numerous than those of the Stentors, and almost as difficult to characterize. Some have the hair upon the forehead of a uniform length ; as the Sajou (S»», apella, Lin.), and the Capuchin, \_Auct.'] (S. capucina, Lin.) : others have the hair of the forehead so disposed as to form aigrettes; as the Horned Capuchin {Sim. fatuellus, Gm., which has a tuft of black hairs on each side of the forehead), the C. cirrhifer, Geof., and the Cebus of the same name of Pr. Max., but which is different — C. cristatus, F. Cuv. There are nu- merous others ; but we require many observations, made in the places where these animals inhabit, before we can hope to establish their species otherwise than in an arbitrary manner. [About sixteen are commonly admitted, most of which are of different shades of brown, some very variable. They are of smaller size than the preceding, and of mild and gentle disposition ; their motions are quick and light, and they are easily tamed. Several exhale a strong odour of musk.] In the SAiMiRif, the tail is depressed, and almost ceases to be prehensile ; the head is very much flattened ; in the interorbital partition of the cranium there is a membranous space. Only one species is known, — The Saimiri (Sim, seiurea. Buff. xv. 10.)— Size of a Squirrel ; of a yellowish grey ; the fore-arms, legs, and the four extremities, of a fulvous-yellow ; end of the nose black. [A pretty, vivacious little animal, which subsists much on insects, and is also carnivorous. Its tail is sub-prehensile, or capable of coiling slightly throughout its length, and so holding in a moderate degree ; but its extremity cannot seize a smaU object : it is often wound round the body.] The remaining Monkey-like animals of America have the tail not at all prehensile. J Several have that appendage very long and tufted, whence they have been termed Fox-tailed Monkeys : their teeth project forwards more than in the others. They are The Sakis (Pithecia, Desm. and lUig.),— [VMiich are again divisible into three minor groups. Of these, the first is represented by the Yarke Saki (Sim. Pithecia, Lin., P. leucocephala), and three or four others : singular-looking animals, with extremely long hair, except on the head, where, in most of the genus, it is parted. In the Yarke, the head is whitish, and aU the other parts brov. n-black, which adds to the strangeness of its appearance. The Jacket Saki (Sim. sagulata, Traill), illustrates * The latter may da so, but certainly not the former, which is in all other respects a characteristic Ateles. — Kd. t Sugoinus (or, what would be preferable, Sigrinits,) of some. This name, however, originally proposed by Laccpede for the Sagouins, [Vrillitli.i.r), among which the Saimiri was included, can only lead to confusion if applied to the latter exclusively. We would suggest, therefore, the appellation Sumirij, formed out of the vernacular. — Ed. t It has a propensity to curl in the Marmosets, if not in the Sa gouins.-ED. 62 MAMMALIA. the next group, which chiefly differs from the third (Brachyurus, SpLx), in possessing a long tail : the hair is comparatively short, and in the Jacket Saki of a rich dark brown, except on the head, where it is longer, crisped, and deep black, as is also its fine bushy beard. Others would appear intermediate, as the P. satanas, Humb. : seemingly allied to which is the Brachyurus israelitus of Spix, and the diminutive P. melanoeephala of Humboldt.* These last are represented as mainly frugivorous, and the first to be great destroyers both of wild bees and their honey. They are said to inhabit the very depth of the forest, and to repose during mid-day ; are moderately social, and crepuscular if not nocturnal in their time of action.] There are also some, The Sagottins {Callithrix, Geof.), — The tail of which is slender, and the teeth do not project. They were a long time associated with the Saimiri, but the head of the Sagouins is much higher, and their canines considerably shorter. Such are The Masked Sagouin {C.personata, Geof.), the Widow Sagouin (C. lugens, Humb.), [and several others ; some of which have been ascertained to live in pairs, while others, (as the C. melanochir, Pr. Max.), assemble in numerous bands, and make a loud and unpleasant yelping about sunrise. They are very carnivorous, though smaU, and spring to a considerable distance on birds and other prey, for which they lie in wait ; are also dexterous in seizing flying insects with the hand. They have none of the sprightliness of the Saimiri.] The Douroucouli {Nocthoms, F. Cuv. ; Nyctipithecus, Spix : improperly named Aotus by lUiger), — Only diflfer from the Sagouins by their great nocturnal eyes, and in their ears being partly hidden under the hair. [Three species are now known, of somewhat Lemur-like appearance, but stiU having no particular relation- ship with the Lemurs. They are almost lethargic by day, which they pass in the darkest recesses of the hollows of trees ; but at night are all energy and activity, and subsist on small birds and insects, as well as fruit : they drink little, and appear to live in pairs.] AU the foregoing animals are from Guiana or Brazil. The Ouistitis {Hapale, Illiger), — Constitute a small genus, similar to the Sakis, and which was long confounded in the great genus Simia. They have, in fact, like the American Monkey-Mke animals in general, the head round, visage flat, nostrils lateral, the buttocks hairy, no cheek-pouches ; and, like tlie latter divisions of them in particular, the tail not prehensile : but they have only twenty grinders, like those of the old continent. All their nails are compressed and pointed, except those of the hinder thumbs [a character to which the immediately preceding chvisions approx- imate], and their anterior thumbs are so little separated from the other digits, that we hesi- tate to apply tlie name Quadrumana to them. All are diminutive animals of pleasing forms, and are easily tamed. [Their brain is surprisingly low, almost without convolutions.] M. Geoffroy distinguishes the Ouistitis, properly so called, by the name Jacchus. They are the Marmosets {Hapale, as restricted), — Which, for characters, have the inferior incisors pointed, and placed in a cmred hne, equalling the canines. Their tail is annulated, and well covered with hair ; and their ears are generally tufted. [Seven or eight species are tolerably established, some of which are subject to vary. These pretty little creatures are gregarious, and very indiscriminate feeders ; are indeed rapacious, and in confinement wiU eagerly seize and prey on gold fishes, &c. They produce two or three young at a birth.] M. Geoffroy designates as Tamarins (Midas), — Those species which have inferior trenchant incisors placed in an almost straight line, and shorter than the canines. Their tail is also more slender, and not annulated. [These differ more than the others, and are also somewhat variable in colour. At least seven or eight have been ascertained, of which the Pinche (Sim. œdipus, Lin.), is the longest known. Those curious little beings, the Silky Tamarin (A/, rosalia), and the Leoucito, or Lion Monkey of Humboldt (M. leoninm), fall under this division. * It is probable that all but the members of the first should range in the division Bracht/urua, Spix, (provided this be separable,) whicli name is consequently ill-chosen. — Ed, QUADRUMANA. 63 All are restlessly active, and extremely rapid in their movements ; also remarkably short-tempered, bristling with fury when enraged, and putting on a most formidable appearance, considering their size. They are so cleanly, that any appearance of dirt about their habitations causes them to fret ; and are exceedingly sensitive of damp : but, if duly attended to, are easily kept in captivity. The Platyrrhini were very properly ranged by BuflFon in two great natural divisions, named by Mm Sapajous and Sagouins ; to the latter of which the Ouistitis are strictly referable, to judge from the aggregate of their conformation. We cannot but think that Cuvier has, in this rare instance, attached undue importance to the number of molar teeth, in so decidedly separating the Ouistitis from the other small American Qtiadrumana.} The Lemurs, {Lemur, Linn.), [Strepsirrhini, GeofJ], — Comprehend, according to Linnaeus, all the Quadrumana which have [supposed] incisors in either jaw differing in number from four, or at least otherwise directed than in the Monkeys. This negative character could not fail to em- brace very different beings, while it did not unite those which should range to- gether. M. Geoffroy has established several better characterized divisions in this genus. The four thumbs of these animals are well developed and oppos- able, and the first hind finger is armed with a raised and pointed claw (fig. 4), all the other nails being flat. Their cover- ing is woolly; and their teeth begin to exhibit sharp tubercles, catching in each other, as in the Insectivora. [These animals have been described to differ from all other Mammalia in the circum- stance of their upper canines locking outside or before the lower : but we have just discovered that their true inferior canines have always hitherto been mistaken for ad- ditional incisors, which they resemble in general aspect and direction ; while the succeeding tooth, which from its size and appearance has been supposed to be the lower canine, is in reality the first false molar ; (as will readily appear on opposing the successive teeth of both jaws). In the genus Tarsius, however, the true canine assumes more of its ordinary form ; and the same is observable of the first false molar in Microcebus* The grinding motion of the lower jaw is exceedingly reduced.] The Lemurs, properly so called {Lemur, as restricted IProsimia, Briss.]), — Have six [four] lower incisors, compressed, and slanting forwards [as are also the canines] ; four in the upper jaw, which are straight, those intermediate being separated from each other ; trenchant [upper] canines ; six molars on each side above, and six below f; the ears small. They are very nimble animals, and have been designated Fox-nosed Monkeys, from their pointed heads. They subsist on fruits. Their species are very numerous, and inhabit only the island of Madagascar, where they appear to replace the Monkey-tribe, which, it is said, do not exist there. They differ but slightly among themselves, except in colour. [Thirteen, at least, have been ascertained definitively ; one of the longest known of which is the Macaco of Buffon, or the Ring-tailed Lemur (L. catta, Lin.), which is ash-grey, the tail annulated black and white. Others are black, or rufous, with sometimes white; and one beautiful species, the Rufled Lemur (L. macaco, Lin.), is Fig. 4. — Hand and Foot of Lemur • An approach to this deviation on the part of the inferior canine i noticeable in the adult Mandrill. — Eo. f The latter statement chance would have been erroneous. — Ed. to be correct, but, as intended 64 MAMMALIA. varied with large patches of black on a pure white g:round. They average the size of a large Cat, but have longer limbs ; and have all long tails, which are elevated in a sigmoid form, when in motion, and not trailed after them. They are nocturnal or twilight animals, which sleep by day in a ball-like figure, perched on a bough ; are gentle in disposition, and easily tamed ; but have much less intelligence than the Monkeys, and are without the prying, mischievous propensities of those animals : their ordinary voice is a low grunt, but they often break forth into a hoarse abrupt roar, producing a startling eflTect ; in their native forests they frequently thus roar in concert.] The Indris {^Lichanotus, Illiger) — Have teeth as in the preceding, except that there are only four [two] lower incisors [the central pro- bably soon falling. Their hinder limbs are extremely long ; the head broad, muzzle short, and hands long.] But one species is known, without tail [this appendage being reduced to a tubercle], three feet in height, black with the face grey, and white behind (Lemur indri, Lin., Indris brevicaudatiis, Geof.), which the inhabitants of Madagascar tame, and train to the chace like a Dog. The Long-tailed Indri (Lemur laniger, Cm.) needs further examination. [The latter appears to be very intimately allied to a species, with a naked face, named Propithecus diadema by Bennett, (Macromerus ttipicus, Smith,) the systematic characters of which seem hardly to wan-ant its separa- tion from the Indris. Both are natives of Madagascar, and it is doubtful whether the present genus should not precede the last. The Short-tailed Indri is the most human-like of its tribe. The Macaucos {Microcebus, Geof., Galayoides, Smith) — Have the head round ; muzzle short and pointed ; ears moderate and erect ; the fore-limbs small : four incisors above, the central larger ; also four below, with similar projecting canines, as in Lemur ; the upper canines are small and pointed ; and the fii'st inferior false molar is scarcely larger than the next : the cheek-teeth indicate a partly insectivorous regimen. Their scrotum is disproportionately large. Two small species are known : the Murine Macauco (Lemur murinus, Pen .), which is Buffon's Rat of Madagascar ; and the Brown JIacauco (J/, pusillus, Geof. ; also Galago madagascariensU, Geof., G. demidaffii, Fischer, and Otolicnus madagascariensis, Schinz). The Lemur cir.ereus, Geof. and Desm. (Petit Mala, Buff.), may perhaps con- stitute a third. These little animals have much the aspect, and also the manners, of a large Dormouse, which they further resemble in nestling in the holes of trees, which serve them for a donnitory : during day they sleep rolled up in a ball, and only rouse from their torpor on the approach of twilight, but are then extremely agile and lively. Of their habits in a state of nature we know little, except that they are arboreal.] The Loris {Stenops, Illiger) — Have the teeth of the Lemurs, except that the points of their grinders are more acute ; tlie short muzzle of a mastiff; body slender ; no tail ; large approximating eyes ; the tongue rough. They subsist on insects, occasionally on small birds or quadrupeds, and have an excessively slow gait : their mode of life is nocturnal. Sir A. Carlisle has found that the base of the arteries of the limbs is divided into small branches, [anastomosing freely with each other,] as in the true Sloths, [the object of which appears to be to enable them to sustain a long continuance of muscular contraction. The same cha- racter occurs, however, in the Cetacea]. Only two species are known, both from the East Indies ; the Short-limbed Loris (Lemur fardigradus, Lin.), and the Slender Loris (L. gracilis) : the former has been made a separate genus of by Geoffroy, who styles it Nycticebus ; but he is wrong in asserting that it has only two incisors in the upper jaw : the latter is remarkable for the disproportionate elongation of its limbs, and especially of its fore-arms. [These most singular animals are eminently nocturnal and arboreal, being incommoded by daylight ; they are also very susceptible of cold, which makes them dull and inanimate. During the day, they sleep clinging to a branch, with the body drawn together, and head sunk upon the chest ; at night they prowl among the forest boughs in quest of food. Nothing can escape the scrutiny of their large glaring orbs : they mark their victim, insect or bird, and cautiously and noiselessly make their advances towards it, until it is within the reach of their grasp ; they then devour it on the spot, previously divesting it, if a bird, of its feathers. Wlien rousing from their diurnal slmiibers, they delight to clean and lick their full soft fur ; and in captivity will then allow themselves to be caressed by those accustomed to feed them : they are remarkable for extreme tenacity of gi-asp. The Pottos {Perodicticus, Bennett) — Have comparatively small eyes ; the ears moderate and open : dentition approaching that of the Lemurs ; tail moderate ; limbs equal ; the index finger of the anterior hands (fig. 5) Uttle more than rudimentary. QUADRUMANA. 65 Fig. 5.— Hand of Potto. Geoffrey's Potto ( Lemur potto, Lin. ; Galago Gruniensis, Desm. ; P. Geoffrotji, Ben.)— From Sierra Leone; a slow-moving and retiring animal, wliich seldom makes its appearance but in the night-time, and feeds on vegetables, chiefly the Cassada.] The Galagos {Otolicnus, Illig.) — Have the teeth and insectivorous regimen of tlie Loris ; the tarsi elongated, which gives to their hinder hmbs a dispro- portionate extent ; tail long and tufted ; large membranous ears [which double down when at rest, as in some Bats] ; and great eyes, which indicate a nocturnal life. [The index, as well as the thumb of the anterior hand, inclines in some to be op- posable to the other fingers.] Several species are known, all from Africa ; as the Great Galago (Galago crassicaudatiis, Geof.), as large as a Rabbit ; and the Senegal Galago (G. Seiiegaleiisis, Geof.), the size of a Rat. The latter is known as the Gwn animal of Senegal, from its feeding much on that production. [These pretty animals have at night all the activity of birds, hopping from bough to bough, on their hind limbs only. Tliey watch the insects flitting among the leaves, listen to the fluttering of the moth as it darts through the air, lie in wait for it, and spring with the rapidity of an arrow, seldom missing their prize, which is caught by the hands. They make nests in the branches of trees, and cover a bed with grass and leaves for their little ones : are a favourite article of food in Senegal. A species larger than the others has lately been received alive, 0. Garnottii of Ogilby.] The Malmags (Tarsius) — Have the tarsi elongated (fig. 6), and all the other details of form as in the preceding ; but the inter\al between their molars and incisors is occupied by several shorter teeth [that is, their upper canines are very small ; and] the middle upper incisoi's are elongated, and re- semble canines. [There are but two permanent lower incisors, and the inferior canines present more of the ordinary form and direction.] Their muzzle is very short, and their eyes still larger than in any of the fore- going. [Tail very long, and almost naked.] Are also noctm'nal ani- mals, and insectivorous ; inhabiting the Molluccas. [Two species are known, T. spectrum, Geof., (Lemur tarsius, Shaw ; T. fusco- manus, Fischer,) and the T. bancanus of Horsfield. It is observed by Geoflroy that although the Malmags have the e.xternal ears much less developed than in the Galagos, this inferiority is counterbalanced by the far greater volume of the auditory bullœ of the temporal bones, which are so developed as to touch each other; and thus the sense of hearing is, by another mode, rendered as acute in the former as in the latter. The Malmag has an aversion to light, and retires by day under the roots of trees ; feeds chiefly on Uzards, and leaps about two feet at a spring ; is easily tamed, and capable of some attachment ; holds its prey in its fore-hands, while it rests on its haunches ; produces one young at a birth, and lives in pairs.] Travellers should search for certain animals figured by Commerson, Fie. 6.-Foot of the Maimag. and which GcofiToy has engraved {Ann. Mus. xix. 10), under the name of Cheirogales {C/ieirogaleus). These figures seem to announce a new genus or subgenus of Quadrumana. [Three species are re- presented in Commerson's drawing, all of wlrich appear to be now authenticated by specimens. Their proportions are those of the Galagos ; dentition as in the Malmags, except that they retain all their inferior incisors ; the head is round, the nose and muzzle short, Ups fm-nished with whiskers, the eyes large and approximate, and the ears short and oval ; the nails of the four extremities are compressed and somewhat claw-like, and the tail is long, bushy, and regularly cylindrical. Three or more species are known, all from the great island of Madagascar. They constitute the division Lichanos of Gray. The singular genus Cheiromys, also, from the same peculiar locality, which is arranged by the author among the Rodentia, would appear to have much better claim to be introduced here, and near 66 MAMMALIA. to the Galagos. Likewise, GalœojnthecuSy which Cuvier has placed after the Bats, but which is Lemurine in all the essential details of its conformation.*] THE THIRD ORDER OF MAMMALIANS,— CARNARIAt,— Consists of an immense and varied assemblage of unguiculated quadrupeds, which pos- sess, in common with Man and the Quadrumanay the three sorts of teeth, but have no opposable thumb to the fore-feet. Î They all subsist on animal food, [some Bats ex- cepted,] and the more exclusively so, as their grinders are more cutting. Such as have them wholly or in part tuberculous, take more or less vegetable nourishment, and those in which they are studded with conical points live principally upon insects. The articulation of their lower jaw, directed crosswise, and clasping like a hinge, allows of no lateral motion, but can only open and shut : [the latter, however, had already been nearly lost in the Lemurs.] Their brain, though still tolerably convoluted, has no third lobe, and does not cover the cerebellum, any more than in the following families ; the orbit is not separated from the temporal fossa in the skeleton § ; the skull is narrowed, and the zygomatic arches widened and raised, in order to give more strength and volume to the muscles of the jaws. Their predominant sense is that of smell, and the pituitary membrane is generally spread over numerous bony laminae. The fore-arm is still capable of re- volving in nearly all of them, though with less facility than in the Quadrumana. The intestines [save in the frugivorous Bats] are less voluminous, on account of the sub- stantial nature of the aliment, and to avoid the putrefaction which flesh would undergo in a more extended canal : [besides which, the requisite nutriment is more readily ex- tracted from it.] As regards the rest, their forms and the details of their organization vary consider- ably, and occasion analogous differences in their habitsU, insomuch that it is impossible to arrange their genera in a single line ; and we are obhged to form them into several families, which are variously connected by multiplied relations. * Here, at the end of the Quadrumana, may be appended some in- formation, which unfortunately arrived too late for insertion under the generic heads Cercopiikecus and Colobus. It has just been ascertained, by Mr. Martin, that the Mangabkts {Cercopithecus œthinps Awà fuligiuusus, Auct.) po:>sess the additional tubercle on the last molar, found in the Macaques, Doues, &c. ; whence the name Cerrocebns may now be continued to them ex- clusively, as a definite subordinate group, more nearly related to the true Monkeys than to the Macaques, notwithstanding the structural character adverted to. Their hair, it may be remarked, is not grizzled or annulatcd, as in both the Macaques and Monkeys. Of the genus Colobus, a perfect skin of C. leucomeros, Ogilby, has been received in Paris, which securely establishes that species. The tace is encircled with white hair, very long on the sides ; and the tail also is white, as in C. ursinus. Finally, a notice and figure hare been just published of a species designated Colobus verus, but which appears to me, both from its con- tour and the description (which states its hair to be annulated), to be a thumbless Cercopithecus, allied to C. Campbellii. The netjative character of wanting a thumb, only, will not constitute a Colobus. —Ed. t Written Carnassiers by Cuvier. — Ed. J In one genus of Cheiroptera {Di/sopes) , the hinder thumbs of some of the species incline to be opposable ; while the last trace of this character in the anterior limbs, would seem to be the freedom of the thumb in the Bats generally, their fingers being all connected by membrane. — Ed. § At least not generally : but it is commonly so in the Mangoustes {H erpest es), aud allied genus Cynivtis ; also in tïm Felis plauiceps : it is nearly so in the fru(j;ivorous Cheiroptera, and, it would seem, in Taphozous among the insectivorous Bats. — Ed. II This is a favourite mode of expression of our author ; but we have reason rather to transpose the sequency, or, in other words, to regard the habit as necessitating the pariicular modifications of struc- ture. Thus, on consideration, it will appear, that the productive powers of nature ever exceeding the actual demand for such multiplication, species upon species have been endowed with the necessary organization to aid as successive checks upon CARNARIA. Q1 THE FIRST FAMILY OF CARNARIA,- CHEIROPTERA,— Preserves some affinities v^ith the Quadrumana by the pendulous penis*, and mammae which are placed on the breast. Their distinctive character consists in a fold of the skin, which, commencing at the sides of the neck, extends between their four feet and their fingers, sustams them in the air, and even enables such of them to fly as have the hands sufficiently developed for that purpose. t This disposition required strong clavicles, and large scapulars, to impart the requisite solidity to the shoulder ; but it was incompatible with the rotation of the fore- arm, which would have diminished the force of the stroke necessary for flight. These animals have all four large canines, but the number of their incisors varies. They have long been distributed into two genera, according to the extent of their organs of flight X [sustaining membrane] ; but the first requires numerous subdivisions. The Bats {yespertilio,'Lva..) — Have the arms, fore-arms, and fingers excessively elongated, so as to form, with the membrane that occupies their intervals, real wings, the surface of which is equally or more extended than in those of Birds. Hence they fly very high, and with great rapidity. Their pectoral muscles have a thickness pro- portioned to the movements which they have to execute, and the sternum possesses a medial ridge to aff"ord attachment to them, as in Birds. The thumb is short, and fur- nished with a crooked nail, by which these animals creep and suspend themselves. Their hinder parts are [generally] weak, and divided into five toes, nearly always of equal length, and armed with trenchant and sharp nails. They have no cœcum to the intestine. Their eyes [except in the frugivorous species] are extremely small, but their ears are often very large, arji constitute with the wings an enor- mous extent of membrane, almost naked, and so sensible that the Bats guide themselves through all the intricacies of their labyrinths, even after their eyes have been removed, pro- bably by the sole diversity of aerial impres- sions.§ They are nocturnal animals, which, in During the day they suspend themselves in Fig. 7.— Skeleton of Bat. our climates, pass the winter in a torpid state, superduity, it being clear, speaking generally, that the consumed must have pre-existed to the consumer ; or, to embody the proposi- tion in still more general terms, the conditions must ha\'e been first present, in especial reference to which any species has been or- ganized : in conformity with which theorem, it may be remarked, that, iiowever reciprocal, on a superficial view, may .appear the relations of the preyer and the prey, a little reflection on the observed facts suffices to intimate that the relative adaptations of the former only are special, those of the latter being comparatively vague and general ; indicating that tliere having been a superabundance which might serve as nutriment, in the first instance, and M'hich, in many cases, was unattainable by ordinary means, particular species have therefore been so organized (that is to say, modified upon some more or less general type or plan of structure,) to avail themselves of the supply ; which special adaptation, however, does not necessarily preveiit them (in a vast proportion of cases) from also deriving nourishment from as occasioning the pa :, contains a bone (though g pair of muscles.— Ed. exception of the Colugo other sources. Hence, therefore, the organization should be con sidered as having reference to, rather th; ticular habit.— Ed. * This organ, iiowever, as in the Carniiu only within the glans,) with its accompani _ t This character applies to all, with tl (Ualaopit/iccui), a genus which has little claim to range in this div sion.— Ed. t This term is inapplicable to the parachute membrane of the Colugo.— Ed. 5 1 have reason to suspect that the delicate tact alluded to resides principally in the fecial membrane, present in only some genera. A specimen of Fesp. Nattercri, which I have just been observing, (in which restricted genus there is no developement of memliraue on tlie face,) has several times, in flying about llic room, flapped against a -Ed. f2 68 MAMMALIA. obscure places. Their ordinary produce is two young at a birth, [one only in the frugivorous species, and many others,] which cling to the mammae of their parent, [have their eyes closed for a while,*] and are of large proportional size. They form a very numerous genus, present- ing many subdivisions. First there require to be separated — The Roussettes {Pteropus, Briss.), — Which have cutting incisors to each jaw, and grinders with flat crowns, or rather the latter have originally two longitudinal and parallel projections, separated by a groove, and which wear away by attrition : accordingly they subsist in great part upon fruits, of which they consume a vast quantity ; they also ably pursue small birds and quadrupeds : [a statement which much requires confirmation.] They are the largest of the tribe, and their flesh is eaten. The membrane is deeply emarginated between their legs, and they have httle or no tail ; their index finger, shorter by half than the middle one, pos- sesses a third phalanx, bearing a short nail (see fig. 9), which are wanting in other Bats ; but the following fingers have each only two phalanges ; [their thumb is proportionally very large] ; they have the muzzle simple, the nostrils widely separated, the ears middle-sized and without a tragus, and their tongue studded with points that curve backwards ; their stomach is a very elongated sac, unequally dilated, [and their intestines are much longer than in other Bats.] They have only been discovered in the south of Asia and the Indian Archipelago ; [now, however, also in Japan, Austraha, Madagascar, and the south and west of Africa. Tlie species are very numerous, and have been greatly elucidated by the investigations of Temminck and others, who have established most of them on a considerable number of specimens of all ages, and many anatomically. They produce early, and the sexes are separately gregarious, the young also associating apart from their parents as soon as they can provide for themselves.t] They divide into 1. Tailless Roussettes, with four incisors to each jaw; all of which were comprehended by Linnaeus under his Vespertilio vampyrus. [More than twenty species are known, some of which exceed five feet across. One of the commonest in collections is] The Black-bellied Roussette ( Pt. ediilis, Geof.) — Of a blackish brown, deeper beneath [the fur crisp and coarse] ; nearly four feet in extent [sometimes, according to Temminck, upwards of five feet French, corre- sponding to five feet and a half English]. It inhabits the Moluccas and Isles of Sunda, where they are found during the day suspended in great numbers to the trees. To preserve fruit from their attacks, it is necessary to cover it with nets. Their cry is loud, and resembles that of a Goose. They are taken by means of a bag held to them at the end of a pole ; and the natives esteem their fiesh a delicacy ; but Europeans dislike it on account of its musky odour. The flesh of the Common Roussette (Pt. vulgaris, Geof.), an inhabitant of the Mauritius, has been compared to that of the Hare and Partridge. 2. Roussettes with a short tail, and four incisors to each jaw: [also generally less than the smaller species of the preceding. At least six are known, one of which only {Pt. amplexicmidatus), has the tail moderately con- spicuous : the muzzle is comparatively somewhat shorter. These two divisions comprehend all that are now ,/i'/// /' ' ' ranged in Pteropus; and one species only (P^ macro- cephalus, Ogilby), from the Gambia, presents any marked Rg-. 8.— Heart of Pteropn» edulis. departure from the general character, in the g^eat size of its head, the superior magnitude and solidity of its canines, and separation of the molars : allied to it is Pt. gambianus, Ogilby, from the same locality, and Pt. Whitei, Ben., which has a singular tuft on each side of the neck. The name Epomophorus, Ben., is applied to these three species by Gray.] 3. According to the indicia of M. Geoffroy, we now separate from the Roussettes The Cephalots (Cephaloies, Geof.), — Which have [nearly] similar grinders, but in which the index finger, short, and consisting of three * Perhaps the frugivorous species form an exception to this. The I t The same appears to be the case with some of the insectivorous others are naked at birth, but have the limbs strong, and adapted for Bats of Europe.— Eo. clinging to their parent. I CARNARIA. 69 phalanges, like that of the preceding, has no nail. The membranes of their vrings, instead of meeting at the flank, are joined to each other at the middle of the back, to which they adhere by a vertical and longitudinal partition [a character whicli occurs, however, more or less completely, that is, the volar membrane is attached more or less near to the middle of the back, in some of the Roussettes]. They have often only two incisors [when adult, which are inserted in small curved interma^aries, that are moveable backwards and forwards]. " M. Isidore Geoffi'oy, in a monograph of this genus IPteropus'] , forms the Pt. personatus, Tem., and some allied species, into the subgenus Pachysoma, which has four molars less than the others, and the zygomatic arches more projecting : the Pt. minimus or rostratus composes his subgenus Macro- glossus, the muzzle of which is longer and more slender, and there are spaces between the grinders ; it is beUeved that the tongue is extensile [now known to be shghtly so, and of a rather longer and more acuminate form than in the others]. Lastly, he separates the Cephalot of Peron from that of Pallas, and applies to the former the name Hypodermis, on account of the complete dorsal insertion of the membranes of its wings."* [M. Temminck, in his excellent monograph of the Pteropidts, or fnigivorous Bats (published in 1835), adopts, as generic, the divisions Pteropus, Pachysoma (Ci/nopterits, F. Cuv.), Cephalotes, Geof. (Hypodermis, Is. Geof.), Harpyia, Illiger (Cephalotes, Is. Geof.), and Macroglossus.-\ Six species are known of Pachysoma, which present some other pecuUar characters, and vary in size from ten to twenty inches across : the remaining three respectively consist of one known species only, viz., C. Peronii, sometimes two and a half feet in extent,— JÏ. Pallasii (fig. 9), a singular looking animal, from Ti- mour, fourteen inches across, with a claw on its fore-finger (Uke the Cephalot), and projecting tubular nostrils, — and M. rostratus, the Kiodote, the smallest of the tribe, rarely measvu-ing a foot in spread of wing, and which is known to subsist chiefly on the fruit of the Clove (Eugenia) ; its grinders are remarkably diminutive. Between these frugivorous Cheiroptera and the following genera, the lapse is very considerable.] ..-^^ -IJ) Fig. 9.— Harpyia Pallasii. The Roussettes having been detached, the genuine Bats remain, all of which [excepting Desmodus] are insectivorous, and possess three grinders on each side of both jaws, beset with conical points, and preceded by a variable number of false molars. Their index never has a nail, and, a single sub- genus excepted, the membrane always extends between their hind-legs. [The greater number have cheek-pouches, and most, if not all, emit a peculiar low clicking note.] They should be divided into two principal tribes : the first having three bony phalanges to the middle finger of the wing, while the other finger and the index even have only two. To this tribe, which is almost exclusively foreign, belong the following subgenera : — The Molossines (Molossus, Geof. Dysopust, Ulig.) These have the muzzle simple ; the ears broad and short, arising near the angle of the lips, and uniting with each other upon the muzzle ; the tragus short, and not enveloped by the conch. Their tail occupies the whole length of the interfemoral membrane, and very often extends beyond it. [Their wings are narrow, and body large and heavy.] It is seldom that they have more than two in- cisors to each jaw : but, according to M. Temminck, several of them have at first sk below, four of which they successively lose. * This passage occurs in the Appendix to the original work. — Ed. + The term Macroglosaus, however, has unfortunately been pre- occupicj in Entomology ; for which reason Kiodotus (the common name of the species, latinized) may be proposed iu its stead. Harpt/ia is likewise used in Ornitholofry, where another appellation must be substituted.— Ed. t This term is more generally accepted.— Ed. 70 MAMMALIA. The Dinops of M. Savi refers to these Molossines with six inferior incisors. There is one of them in Italy (Dinops cestonii, Savi). M. GeoftVoyhas applied the name Ni/ctonomus to those which have four inferior incisors. The Molossines were at first dis- covered only in America ; but we now know several from both con- tinents. Some of them have the hinder thumb placed farther from the other digits than these are from each other, and capable of separate motion ; a character on which, in one species where it is very strongly marked, Dr. Horsfield has established his genus Cheiromeles [the ears of which, also, diifer in being widely separated]. It is probable that we should also place here the Thyroptera of Spix, which appears to have several cha- racters of the Molossines, and the thumb of which has a little concave palette peculiar to them (fig. 10, a), by which they are enabled to cling more closely. [Several species of this genus agree in possessing this appendage, which is proportionally larger in the Fijf. 10. — Head of Dysopus tenu Fig. 11. — Dysopus cheiropuu. young. As a whole, the group of Molossines is extremely distinct and insulated, though consisting of a vast number of species, of which about twenty may be considered established ; six or seven of these ap- pertain to the eastern hemisphere. The largest and most curious of them is B. chciropus, Tem. (Cheiromeles, Horsf., fig. 11), from Siam, which measures nearly two feet across : it is quite naked, with the exception of an abrupt collar of hairs round the neck. Several have the upper lip laterally pendent (fig. 10), whence the name Molossus or Mastiff; and the term Dysopxis refers to the toes being more or less tufted with hair. The greater number of species are from Brazil and Paraguay.] The Noctules (Noctilio*, Lin. Ed. xii.) Muzzle short, inflated, and split into a double hare-lip, marked with odd-looking warts and grooves ; ears separate ; four incisors above and two below ; tail short, and [possibly in some] free above the inter- femoral membrane ; [limbs much elongated, the hinder very large and stout, and furnished with strong claws ; the volar membranes are attached high upon the back, in some almost meeting dorsally, as in the Cephalot and some Roussettes.] The most generally known species is from America (Vesp. leporinus, Gm.), of a unifoi'm fulvous. [Others have been found on the same continent : and Celteno, Leach, was founded on an imperfect specimen, which is still extant. The Noctules are allied to the true Bats ( Vespertilio) ; and a group which appears to be somewhat intermediate, but with a more elongated muzzle, is the Emballonura, Kuhl (Proboscidea, Spix), of which four species have been described from South America, and a fifth from Java. Pteronotus, Gray, is probably a Noctule, with a longer tail than usual ; and Myopteris, Geoff., and also Aëllo, Leach, do not seem to differ essentially.] The Phyllostomes (Phyllostoma, Cuv. and Geoflf.) The regular number of incisors is four to each jaw, but some of the lower ones frequently fall, being forced out by the growth of the canines ; [the second false molar is generally elongated] . They are, moreover, distinguished by the membrane, in the form of an upturned leaf, which is placed across the end of the nose. The tragus of their ear {ûg. 12) resembles a leaflet, more or less indented. Their tonguft.wliich is very extensile, is terminated by papillae, which appear to be arranged so as to form ' The division Noctilio was unaccountably ranged by Ldnnseus among his GUres, or the Rodenlia of our author. — Ed. CARNARIA. 71 an organ of suction ; and their lips also have tubercles sj-mmetrically arranged. They are American animals, wliich run along the ground with more facility than the other Bats, and have a habit of sucking the blood of animals. 1. Tailless Phyllostomes (Vampyrus, Spix). The Vampyre [of authors] (Vesp. spectrum, Lin.)— (.fig. 12.) Tliis animal is reddish-brown, and as large as a jMasfpie. It has been accused of causing the death of men and animals by sucking their blood ; but the truth appears to be, that it inflicts only very small wounds, which may sometimes prove dangerous from the effects of the climate. [There are several others, certain of which compose the divisions Madataus and Arctibeus, Leach, Lophostoma, Orb., (which is very like a Besmodus ex- ternally,) Diphylla, SpLx, and CarolUa, Gray, — founded on trivial modifications of the form of the nose-leaf, tragus, and interfemorai membrane.] 2. Phyllostomes with the tail enveloped in the interfe moral membrane. The Javelin Ph. (Vesp. hastatus, Lin.) — The leaf shaped like the head of a javelin, with its edges entire. [Also various others, some of which constitute Macrophylluni and Brachyphylla, Gray.] 3. Phyllostomes with the tail free above the membrane. Ph. crenulatum, Geof. — The leaf indented on the side. M. Geoffroy distinguishes from the Phyllostomes those species which have a narrow extensile tongue, furnished with papillae resembling hairs. He de- signates them Glossophagues {Glossophaga). All the species are likewise from America. [These also bave been subdivided, according to the presence or absence of a short tail, and other frivolous characters into PhyllopJiora and Anoura, Gray, Monophyllus, Leach, and Glossophaga, as restricted. Spix applies to one of them (Gl. amplexicaudata, Phyllophora of Gray) the term Sanginsuga crndelissima, — " a very cruel blood-sucker." According to Mr. Bell, the tongue of Phyllostoma, has " a number of wart-like elevations, so arranged as to form a complete circular suctorial disc, when they are brought into con- tact at their sides, which is done by means of a set of muscular fibres, hanng a tendon attached to each of the warts." The teeth of these animals, however, are decidedly ill-adapted for blood-letting. Fig. 12.-Va The True Vampyres {Des7nodm, Pr. Max., Edostoma, Orb., Stenoderma ?, Geof.) This extraordinary genus has two immense, projecting, approximate upper incisors, and similar lancet-shaped superior canines, all of which are excessively sharp-pointed, and arranged to inflict a triple puncture, like that of a Leech ; four bilobate inferior incisors, the innermost separated by a wide interval ; the lower canines small and not compressed : there are no true molars, but two false ones on the upper jaw, and three on the lower, of a peculiar form, apparently unfitted for mas- tication (fig. 13). The intestine is shorter than in any other known animal ; as blood, which probably constitutes their sole food, is so readily assimilated.* They have the general characters of the Phyllostomes externally, a small bifid membrane on the nose, no tail or calcaneum, and the interfemorai membrane but little developed. Are also in- habitants of South America. Fig. 13.— Teeth of Desmodus. * In yespertiïo noctula, the intestine is only twice the length of I proceeds almost straight to the anus. It would be interesting to kno the body, while in P(erop«j it is full seven times. In Destnodtia, it ' the first or milk teeth of i>cjmodHJ. 72 MAMMALIA. Two or three species are known, of moderate but not large size.* One was taken in the act of sucking blood from the neck of a Horse, by IMr. Darwin. It is probable that their external similitude to the Phyllostomes has occasioned the latter to be accused of a sangTiivorous propensity, for which their structure seems to be at most but partially adapted, while that of the present genus is obviously expressly designed for this mode of Ufe. Compare the figures given of the dentition of the two genera.] In the second grand tribe of Bats, the index has only one bony phalanx, while all the other fingers have two. This tribe also requires to be divided into several subgenera. The Megaderms {Megaderma, Geof.) — Have the nasal membrane more complicated than in the Phyllostomes ; the tragus large and most commonly bifurcated ; the conch of the ears very ample, and joined together on the top of the head ; the tongue and the lips smooth ; interfemoral membrane entire, and there is no tad. They have four incisors below, but none above, and their intermaxillaries remain carti- laginous. [Their wings are remarkably ample, the whole cutaneous system of these animals being excessively de- veloped. Four species are known ; two from Africa, the others fron. the Indian archipelago. One of the former {M. frons, fig. 14) has the body covered with long hair, of most delicately fine texture ; it constitutes the division Lavia of Gray.] They are distinguished by the figure of the leaf, like the Phyllostomes. The Rhinolphines (Rhinolophus, Geof. and Cuv. [Noctilio Bechst.]), vulgarly termed Horse-shoe Bats. These have the nose furnished with very complicated membranes and crests resting on the forehead, and al- together presenting [more or less] the figure of a horse- shoe ; their tail is long, and placed in the interfemoral membrane. They have four incisors below, and two small ones above, fixed in a cartilaginous intermaxillary. Tn'O species are very common in France [and found sparingly and locally in England!],— Fmjo. ferrum-equinum, Lin., or Rh. bifer, Geof., and Vesp. hipposideros, Bechstein. They both inhabit quarries [cathedrals, &c.], where they hang solitarily [?] suspended by the feet, and enveloping the'ii- selves with their wings, so that no part of their body is visible. [They differ chiefly in size, but in this con- siderably ; the larger measuring 13 inches across, the other 8i inches. More than twenty species are known, all from the eastern hemisphere. They fall under two divisions, of which the extremes are shown in the accompanying representation (fig. 15) ; but the majority are of intermediate character, like the two which inhabit Europe. Tliose with membranous crests have the tragus distinct, and sometimes considerably developed ; the others have no separated tragus, and compose the divisions Ilipposidoros, Gray, (identical with PhillorMna, Bonap.) and AselUa, Gray : Ariteus of the same systematist referring to a member of the former sub-group, which is destitute of tail, and almost of interfemoral membrane ; charac- ters, however, to which other species approxi- mate. They inhabit the darkest caverns, in vast n.altitudes, the sexes and young in separate assemblages. Penetrating to more deeply obscure recesses than any of the others, it is probable that their facial appendages are endowed with exquisite sensibility, for the still further extension of that delicacy of the sense of touch, by which others of this family are enabled to guide themselves when deprived of vision : the dryness of those membranes intimates that they are not olfactory. Certain inguinal glands, more or less distinctly developed in these animals, have been erroneously described as mammary teats. * There is reason to suspect that the genus Deamodus is much more i t A British locality, where both occur rather numerously, is the extensively represented. — Ed. I well-known cave near Torquay, in Devonshire, called Kent'» Hole. Fig. 14. — IMegaderma frons. Figf. 15. — Khiuolophus i R. insignis CARNARIA. 73 Fig. 16. — Head of Nyctcris javanicus. The Nyctophilets {Nyctophilus, Leach) — Are, according to Temminck, somewhat intermediate to the Rhinolphines and the next genua of Nycterins ; approaching the former in the character of their incisors and canines, and the latter in that of their molars : the ears are large and pointed ; the tragus lanceolate ; nasal follicles distinct ; the tail moderately long, and enveloped in the membrane. Nyct. Geoffroyi, Leach, is the only known species, from some part of Oceanica. It appears to be allied to the true Bats (Vespertilio), and was included in Barbastellus, Gray, as originally constituted.] The Nycterins (Nycteris, Cuv. and Geof.) — Have the forehead furrowed by a longitudinal groove, which is even marked upon the cranium, bordered by a fold of the skin, which partially covers it ; nostrils simple ; four incisors without inter- vals above, and six below ; ears large and separated ; the tail involved in the inter- femoral membrane [and terminated by a bifid cartilage (fig. 16, 2).] They ai. African species [for the most part, but oik inhabits Java. These animals are remarkable for a power of inflating the skin, which is only attached to the body in some few places, by an open cel- lular connexion. There is a small aperture at the bottom of each cheek-pouch, by which this is effected ; and the nostrils are so formed as to close when at rest, and to open only at will. By respiring with the mouth closed, the air passes through these apertures along the frontal groove to the upper part of the neck, and thence under the skin of the back, chest, and abdomen, which, by a repetition of the process, can be puffed out like a balloon : the intent remains to be explained.] The Rhinopomes {Rhinopoma, Geof.) — Have the frontal depression less marked ; the nostrils at the end of the muzzle, with a little lamina above, forming a kind of snout; the ears are joined;. and the tail [which is very slender] extends far beyond the interfemoral membrane. [A few species occur on both continents, one of which is figured in the great French work on Egypt, under the name Taphien filet.] The Taphiens {Taphozous, Geof.) — Have also a small rounded indenture on the forehead ; but their nostrils have no raised lamina : the head is pyramidal, and there are only two incisors above, very often none, and four tiilobate incisors below ; their ears are widely separated, and [the _ ,^^ tipof] their tail free above ' i- ''^ I «i Vv. v^ the membrane. The males have a transverse cavity under the throat. A little prolongation of the mem- brane of their wings forms a sort of pouch near the carpus.* One species was discover- ed in the catacombs of Egypt by M. Geoffroy [and it is probable that the others are peculiar to the old con- ,- » i. i_ ,T7- F'S- !"• — Mormoops BlainvilUi. tment, though one (Vesp. martupialis, MuUer) is said to be American. T. rufus, Harlan (Wils. Am. Orn., vol. vi. pi. 50) is most likely a • Hence the name Saccopteri/x, applied to tliis genus by lUiijcr. 74 MAMMALIA. Vespertilio. The Egyptian species is represented to have small eyes ; but that figured by Gen. Hardwicke (Lin. Trans., vol. xiv. p. 525) possesses eyes proportionally as large as in a Squirrel, and we have examined skins of another species (chinchilla-grey above, pure white beneath), in which the same character must have been con- spicuous.] The Mormopes (Mormoops, Leach) — Have four incisors to each jaw, the superior rather large ; the inferior trilobate : their skull (fig. 17) is singularly raised like a pyramid above the muzzle ; and on each side of the nose is a triangular membrane, which extends to the ear. The species M. Blainvillii, Leach, is from Java. [It has since been received, together with two others of the same form (but considered by Gray as separable), from Jamaica ; so that the former locality may be presumed to be wrongly assigned.] The ordinary Bats [to which this term may be restricted] {Vespertilio, Cuv. and Geof.) — Have no leaf or other distinctive mark on the muzzle, and the ears separated ; four incisors above, of which the two middle ones are apart, and six below, sharp-edged, and somewhat notched * : their tail is comprehended in the membrane. This subgenus is the most numerous of all, and universally distributed. There are six or seven species m France [more than double that number. Thirteen have now been met with in England, including the Barbastelle and Oreillard. The sexes and young of several congregate separately.!] • M. Rousseau, In a memoir on the anatomy of Veip. murinus, states, of the two dentitions of this animal, that the first is developed before birth, the second not till some time afterwards. The fœtal teeth, he remarks, are twenty-two in number ; namely, four incisors, two canines, and four molars to the upper jaw, and six incisors, two canines, and four molars to the lower one. The permanent teeth, in the adult, are thirty-eight in number j of which twenty-two should replace the fœtal or temporary teeth ; the sixteen others successively show themselves, later as their position is further bacliward. The permanent teeth do not wait to appear until their predecessors are shed, whence at a certain epoch forty or fifty teeth, or even more, may be counted in the same individual : this last fact we have ob- served in the instance of the common Fitchet Weasel.— Ed. t To facilitate the researches of the British naturalist, our known indigenous species may be briefly indicated : it is not unlikely that more remain to be discovered, as but few persons have hitherto be- stowed much attention on these lucifugal animals. The British species fall under two natural divisions. In the first, the tragus is more or less rounded at the tip, short, and a little thickened in its substance ; there are four pairs of false molars to each jaw. Such are The Noctule Bat (f. noctula).—Ot a bright reddish-brown; the membrane dusky. Length of the head and body nearly 3 inches : ex- tent 13 or 14 inches. Ears oval-triangular, shorter than the head ; the tragus not one-third the length of the car, arcuated, and termi- nated in a broad rounded head ; muzzle short, broad, and blunt. This species is not uncommon, and is even numerous in some districts : its flight is lofty, whence designated alHvolaui by White. Hairy-armed Bat (^'.Leij/eri).— The fur long, bright chestnut above, brownish grey beneath ; under surface of the flying membrane with a broad band of hair along the fore-arm. Length of the head and body 21^ inches ; extent \\y^ inches. The ears oval-triangular, shorter than the head j tragus barely one-third the length of the ear, terminating in a rounded head. But one specimen is known to have been killed in England. Particoloured Bat (I'', discolor), — Fur reddish-brown above, with the tips of the hairs white; beneath, sullied white. Length of the head and body S^-j inches ; extent lOV^ inches. Ears about two- thirds the length of the head, oval, with a projecting lobe on the inner margin ; the tragus of nearly equal breadth throughout, rather more than one-third the length of the ear. It inhabits towns, and comes abroad early in the evening. The only native specimen was taken at Plymouth. Pipistrelle Bat (K. pipislrellus, erroneously termed r. inurinu» by British writers till very lately).— This small species is the commonest of any; it is dark reddish brown, paler beneath. Length to the tail IVs inch ; extent 814 inches. Ears two-thirds the length of the head, oval-triangular, notched on the outer margin ; tragus nearly half as long as the ear, almost straight, thickened, obtuse, and rounded at the apex. It runs with celerity, carrying its head near the ground, from which it rises with ease ; and is active during the greater part of the year. The Pygmy Bat [F. pygmaus. Leach,) is evidently a young animal, and probably of this species. Ttie next has only two pairs of superior false molars. The Serotine Bat {F. teTotiuus).—T\\j chestnut-brown above, yel- lowish-grey beneath. Length of the head and body 2% Inches ; ex- tent 121/i inches. The ears oval triangular; shorter than the head ; tragus semicordate, little more than one-third the length of the ear. The Serotine frequents uninhabited houses, the roofs of churches, &c. and sometimes hollow trees ; flies steadily and rather slow, and is occasionally taken near London. In the second group, the tragus is relatively longer, thin, narrow, and more or less pointed ; and there are six pairs of false molars to each jaw. Mouse-coloured Bat (f^. murinus), — The fur reddish-brown above, dull white beneath. Length of the head and bodySVii inches ; spread of wing L5 inches. Ears oval, broad at the base, becoming narrower towards the apex, as long as the head ; tragus falciform, the inner margin straight, not quite half the length of the ear. This Bat i» very common in France and Germany, but only one instance has been re- corded of its occurrence in Britain. Bechstein's Bat {F. Bechsteinii) . — Fur reddish-grey above, greyish- white beneath. Dimensions, to the insertion of the tail, 2Vi inches ; 11 inches across. Ears oval, rather longer than the head ; tragus narrow, falciform, not half the lengtli of the ear. The thumb longer than in the others. A woodland species, found occasionally in the New Forest, Hants. Fringe-tailed Bat ( ^. Nnitereri). — Fur brown above, whitish beneath. Length, to the tail, nearly 2 inches ; extent 11 inches. Ears oblong-oval, about as long as the head ; tragus narrow-lanceo- late, nearly two-thirds the length of the ear; interfemoral membrane with the margin crenate and stiffly ciliated, from the end of the spur or calcancum to the tail. Has been met with in several parts of the country. Notch-eared Bat (K. emarginatus, Geof., not of Jenyns). — The. fnr reddish-grey above, ash-coloured beneath. Length of the head and body two inches ; extent 9 inches. The ears oblong, as long as the heal, with a notch and a small lobe on the outer margin ; tragus awl- shaped, a little curved outward, more than half the length of the ear. One was killed near Dover. Daubenton's Bat (^F. Dfiubentonii, — emarginatus of Jenyns). — Fur soft, plentiful, brownisli-black at the base ; the surface greyish-red above, ash-grey beneath. Length of the head and body 2 inches ; extent 9 inches. The ears oval, three-fourths the length of the head, very slightly notched on the outer margin, with a fold on the inner margin at tile base ; tragus narrow-lanceolate, rather obtuse, bending a little inward, half the length of the ear; tail longer than the body. Has been taken in several localities, and flies rapidly near the ground, or over stagnant water. Whiskered Bat { F, mystacinus) — Fur blackish-chestnut above, dusky beneath ; the upper lip furnished with a moustache of long tine hair. Length of the head and body I'Ji inch ; extent Syi> inches. Ears oblong, bending outward, shorter than the head, notched on the outer margin ; the tragus half the length of the ear, lanceolate, a little ex- panded at the outer margin near the base. Has also occurred in different parts of the country. The above characters are chiefly compiled from Bell's British (Quad- rupeds, where figures and minute descriptions are given of each of them, together with full-sized rei)resentation3 of their heads. It may be remarked that only the last five are retained in Fespertilio by Mr. Gray, the others being included in his ScotophiUta. — Ed. CARNARIA. 75 M. Geoffroy also separates from the Bats The Oreillards (Plecotus), — Which have the ears longer than the head, and joined above the cranium, as in the Megaderms, Rhinopomes, &c. Their tragus is large and lanceolate, and there is an operculum to their auditory orifice. Tig. IS.— Ears oi Plccotu8 auritus. The common species (Vesp. auritus, Lin.) is still more abundant in France than any of the Bats [and is equally plentiful in England], inhabiting; houses, kitchens, &c. Its ears (fig. 18) are nearly as long as its body [more than double the length of the head; yet, when reposing (as shown in fig. 19), they are folded so as to be out of sight. Its peculiar shuffling gait, with the head raised, is different from that of the Bats with short ears ; and it may be tamed to hover around with famiUarity, and alight upon the hand for insect food. The PI. brevimanus, Jenyns, is merely the young ; but there are several exotic species.] We have also another, discovered by Daubenton, with much shorter forming the equivalent division Fig. 19. — Plecotus auritus. ears, [now Barbastelle {BarbasteUus, Gray) — The ears of which are moderate, united at base ; and there is a hollowed naked space on the upper surface of the muzzle, in which the nostrils are situ- ated ; but one pair of false molars to each jaw. B. Daubentonii, Bell, (fig. 20,) is the only ascertained species. It is of rare occur- rence in Britain, and measures lOi inches in extent of wing.] Finally, Nycticeus*, Ra fin., [ Scotophilus, Leach, PipistrelluS, Bonap.], with Fig. SO.-Uarbastellus Dau'emom. ears of medium size, and the simple muzzle of the Bats, has only two incisors to the upper jaw [which are vridely separated, and close to the canines.] It does not otherwise differ from Vesperfilio. The known species are from North America, [but others have since been discovered in the ancient continent, as N. Heathii, Horsf., from India, and another from Java. Mr. Gray, indeed, includes most of the European Bats in his Scotophilus ; but Temminck, who rejects Plecotus even, suggests, and I think with reason, that the present also is a superfluous division, based on insufficient characters. The Oreillards and Barbastelles are subordinate to Vespertilio, also Furia, F. Cuv., (Furipterus, Bonap.) which hajs the tail partly cartilaginous, Natalus, Gray, wherein the heel-bone extends the whole length of the interfemoral membrane ; Romicius, Gray, and Miniopterus, Bonap. Atalapha, Rafin., is said to have no incisors, Hypexodon, Rafln., to have incisors (of the usual number, six) in the lower jaw only ; Lasiurus has been applied to a small group with the interfemoral membrane hairy ; and, lastly, Pachyotus and Nyctalus, Bowditch, are divisions of no value whatever. It is to be regretted that naturalists cannot occupy their time more profitably than in coining supernumerary names. ' Sometimes written Nt/cticejus. — E». 76 MAMMALIA. Many of the foregoing animals fly with their young involved in the interfemoral membrane, extremity of the tail in some is slightly prehensile. The We would remark, here, that the order Primaria, indicated at p. 43, resolves into two primary sections, of which the second is constituted by the Cheiroptera, as opposed to the remainder, or the Bimana and Quadrumana of Cuvier. We regard the Cheiroptera as divisible into two groups only of the value of families, namely, Pteropidœ, comprising the frugivorous genera, and Vespertilionidœ, comprehending all the remainder, which may pro- bably be reduced to seven or eight primary divisions. The remains of insectivorous Cheiroptera have been detected in the European tertiary deposits.]* The Colugos {Galœopithecus, Pallas) — Diffter generically from the Bats in having their fingers, which are armed with trenchant nails, no longer than the toes, so that the membrane which occupies their intervals, and extends to the sides of the tail, can only oflSciate as a parachute. Their canines are dentelated, and as short as the molars. They have two [four] dentelated incisors above, very widely apart; six below f, split into narrow strips like a comb, a structure altogether pe- cuhar. These animals hve on the trees in the Indian archipelago, and pursue insects, and per- haps birds ; to judge from the detrition which their teeth experience with age, they would ap- pear to subsist also upon fruits. They have a large cœcum. [This remarkable genus accords chiefly with the Bats in the adaptive structure of its hind extremities, and in the tail being completely attached to interfe- moral membrane : the molars, also, are sharply tuber- culated, implying an insectivorous regimen, at least in part ; but this character is common to several Strep- êirrhini: there is also a tendency to an opposable power in both the fore and hind thumbs. The general anatomy agrees very closely with that of the Lemurs ; one marked feature in which it differs from the Bats is, the presence of a large cœcum, as intimated by Cuvier. The orbits of the skull, though raised, are much less approximated than in the Lemurs, and incomplete ; in which respect this genus chiefly devi- ates from the type of the Quadrumana. A parachute membrane occurs, likewise, among the Squirrels and Phalangers, only not extending to the tail, as in the present instance ; this, therefore,is merely an adaptive character of minor importance. Linnaeus designated the only species he knew Lemur volans. " Two species," remarks Temminck, " are strongly characterized by their osteology ;" which may be pre- sumed to be those provisionally named by Waterhouse G. Temminckii, and G. philippinensis, both of which are extremely variable in colour. The former is more exten- sively diffused, and superior in its linear dimensions, but with smaller hands and ears ; its teeth are separated by intervals, and the parietal ridges of the cranium are widely apart : in the latter there are no interspaces between the teeth, which are much stouter and broader ; the jaw is accordingly much stronger, and to impart ad- ditional vigour to the muscles which operate upon it, the parietal ridges, to which they are attached, almost meet on the occiput. They inhabit lofty trees in dark woods ; to which they cling with all four extremities, and traverse easily by means of their strong and extremely compressed, very hitching claws ; they also leap and float a dis- tance of a hundred yards in an inclined plane, supported by the membrane. They are very inoffensive animals, subsisting in part on the leaves of the nanka, or jack-fruit ; and when captured, do not attempt to bite, as has often Fi|;. 21. — Galaeopitheous Temminckii. * Our plan only permitting U8 to class those animals the characters of which we have personally ascertained, or from very complete descriptions and figures, we have been obliged to omit several genera of MM. Rafinesque, Leach, &c. ; and may here observe that there is no group of animals which stands more in need of revision than that of the Bats— a revision from Nature, and not frtjm compilation. [Their mutual affinities particularly require elucidation.] t Analogy with the Lemurs intimates that the exterior of these represent the canines. — Ed. CARNARIA. 77 been remarked on cutting down the tree to which one was clinging, and seizing it before it could extricate itself from the branches. They produce generaUy two young at a birth ; and their cry resembles the low cackle of a Goose.] All the other Carnaria have the mammae situated on the belly, THE SECOND FAMILY OF CARNARIA — INSECT1V0RA,— Possess, like the Cheiroptera, grinders beset with conical points, and generally lead a nocturnal or subterraneous life : they subsist principally on insects, and in cold countries most of them pass the winter in a torpid state. They have no lateral membranes, as in the Cheiroptera j but the clavicles are never absent : their feet are short, and their movements feeble*; the mammae are placed under the abdomen, and the penis in a sheath. None of them have a cœcum, and in running they all place the entire sole of the foot upon the ground. They diifer in the relative proportions and position of their incisors and canines. Some have long incisors in front, followed by other incisors [along the sides of their narrow jaws], and canines, all shorter even than the molars ; a kind of dentition, of which the Mal- mags, among the Quadrumana, have already afforded an example, and which somewhat approximates these animals to the Rodents : others have large separated canines, between which are placed small incisors, being the ordinary disposition of these teeth both in the Quad- rumana and Carnaria ; and these two systems of dental arrangement occur in genera other- wise very similar in the character of their teguments, in the form of their limbs, and mode of life. [It is in this group that we are led to identify the canine tooth as simply the first of the false molars, which in some has two fangs ; and, as in the Lemurs, to perceive that the second in the lower jaw is in some more analogous in size and character to an ordinary canine, than that which follows the incisors. The incisor teeth are never more than six in number, which is the maximum throughout placental Mammalia (as opposed to marsupial) ; and, in several instances, one or two pairs are deficient f: the canines, with the succeeding false molars, are extremely variable X i but there are ordinarily three tuberculated molars posterior to the repre- sentative of the carnivorous or cutting grinder of the true Carnivora. The snout in the Insectivora is generally elongated.] The Urchins, or Hedgehogs {Erinaceits, Lin.) — Have the body covered with prickles instead of hairs. The skin of the back is furnished with such muscles that the animal, by inclining its head and feet towards the belly, is enabled to inclose itself as in a purse, presenting only its spines towards an enemy. Their tail is very short, and their feet have each five toes. They possess on each jaw six incisors, of which the middle are the longest ; and on either side three false molars, three bristled true molars, and a small tuberculous tooth. The European Urchin (E. Européens, Lin). — A weU known species, common in the woods and hedges. It sub- sists chiefly on insects, but also feeds partly upon fruit, by which at a certain age its teeth become worn : passes the winter in its burrow, whence it issues in the spring with an amplitude and complication of its vesiadœ sémi- nales that is almost incredible. [It produces a variable number of young, sometimes six or seven, which are born with their eyes closed, and, what is remarkable, their ears also : their prickles are then thin, and few in number, white, and at first flexile and disposed backward ; but they soon harden on exposure. The adults remain concealed till the evening, when they run about in search of prey, with an omnivorous appetite ; they devour Toads, and have been known to destroy leverets.] Pallas has noticed as an interesting fact, that the Urchin eats hundreds of Cantharides without experiencing any ill effect, whereas a single one produces horrible agony in a Dog or Cat. [Ten other species are now known, distributed over Asia and Africa, but not Madagascar. Some are of small size, and others have the ears considerably enlarged. • In MacrosvhelideSf the hind feet are lengthened, and announce \ this genus, appear, in Solenodon and Mt/ogaïea^ of small size, between agility; while the Banxrings are said to be as lively as a Squirrel. — Ed. the representatives of the long dentelated incisors of Sorejr, t The forked incisors of the Shrews appear each to represent two I X It should be remarked that a single tooth with two fangs is often teeth ; and the analogues of the inferior central incisors, wanting in I represented by two separate teeth, each with one fang. 78 MAMMALIA. The SoKiNAH (Eehinops, Martin) — Is a Madagascar animal, which differs chiefly from the Urchins in its dentition, having but four upper incisors, of which the medial are large, and placed before the others ; the superior canines (or what may be designated as such) are tuberculated behind ; there are five molars in all to each side of the upper jaw, longitudinally very short, but broad, a groove passing continuously along their crowns : two small lower canines, three inferior false molars inclining forward, and four true molars obtusely tuberculated. E. Tel/airi, Mart., is the only ascertained species ; and the form may be regarded as subordinate to Ermaceus.] The Tenrecs {Centenes, lUiger) — Have the body covered with spines, like the Urchins [but more slender and bristle-like] ; they do not, however, possess the faculty of roUing themselves so completely into a ball : they have no tail ; their muzzle is very pointed, and their teeth are very different. On each jaw are from four to six incisors, and two large canines : next follow one or two small teeth, and four triangular molars with sharply tuberculated crowns. They are natives of Madagascar, one species having been naturalized in the Mauritius : are also nocturnal animals, which pass three months of the year in a state of lethargy, although inhabiting the torrid zone. Brugiere even asserts that it is during the greatest heats that they become torpid. [Three if not four species have been ascertained ; one of which, the Tendrac of Buffon {Erinacetcs setosus, Lin.), with sLx incisors to each jaw, composes the Ericulus of Is. Geoffroy. The foregoing genera have httle or no tail, whereas the following have very long tails.] The Gymnures {Gymnura, Vig. and Horsf. [Echinosorex, Blain.] ) — " Appear to approach the Banxring in dentition, and the Shrews by the pointed muzzle and scaly tail. There are five unguiculated toes to each foot, and tolerably stiff [almost spinous] bristles growing among woolly hair, [resembhng the close fur of the Shrews.] It can only be properly classed when its anatomy is known."* [The general aspect is that of a Tenrec, with a long, naked, and scaly tail. There are six incisors to each jaw, the medial above widely separated, large, and resembling canines ; the others lateral, and successively smaller : those below are separated into two pairs, the middle ones being somewhat apart, and one smaller on each side. The canines are moderately large, and somewhat curved, those of the upper jaw having two fangs : next follow, on each jaw, two pairs of small false molars, succeeded by one larger above, and two below ; and the tnie molars are four in number above and three below, square, and tuberculated as in the Urchin. The only known species (G. Bafflesii) inhabits Sumatra, and is larger than the Urchin of Europe. The various preceding genera have small but not minute eyes. The Macroscelles (Macroscelides , Smith; Erinomys, Blain.; Rhynomys, Lichst.) — Compose a well-marked genus, somewhat resembUng the Shrews, but with large eyes and more elong- ated hind-feet : their fur is long and soft, and of very fine texture. They have six (lateral) incisors to each jaw, minute canines, and on either side five sharply tuberculated molars. Their habits are diurnal, and they retreat into burrows or beneath stones on apprehension of danger. Eight species are known, all from South Africa except one, which inhabits Algiers. They are called Elephant Mice in the Cape Colony.] The Banxrings {Tupaia, Raflf. ; Chdobates, Fr. Cuv. [^Glisoren; Diard. ; Hylogale, Tem.] ), — A genus lately characterized, from the Indian Archipelago, the teeth of which bear some resemblance to those of the Urchins, only that their middle superior incisors are proportionally shorter, and there are four to the lower jaw, more elongated, [and projecting foi-wards as in the Lemurs] ; they also [do not] want the tuberculous tooth behind. These animals are covered with hair [soft and glistening, but not fine in texture], and have a long bushy tail ; and, contrary to the habits of other Inscctivora, they ascend trees with the agility of a Squirrel, but their pointed muzzle renders them easily distin- • Froin the Appendix to the author's edition. — Ed. CARNARIA. 79 guishai)le, even at a distance. [The general form is not unlike that of the Marsupial genus Mijrme- cohius : and the bony orbits of the cranium are sometimes complete. Three species are known, the T. tana, sumatrana, and ferruginea, all of which are well characterized by differ- ences in the conformation of the cranium, in addition to external distinctions : they inhabit trees, and are lively and active animals.* All the remaining genera have minute eyes.] The Shrews {Sorer, Lin.) — Are generally small, and covered with [soft] hair. Under this, on each flank, there is a band of stiff, closely-set bristles, from between which, during the rutting season, exudes an odorous flmd, the product of a peculiar gland. Their two middle superior incisors are hooked, and dentated at the base ; the lower ones slanting and elongated : five small teeth foUow on each side the first, and only two the second. There are besides, on each jaw, three bristled molars, and finally on the upper one a small tuberculous tooth. These animals retire to holes they burrow in the ground, which they scarcely leave till towards the evening, and subsist on worms and insects. [We have observed them to be much about during the day, under shelter of close herbaofe, where their sibilant and insect-like cry notifies their presence, and have occasionally seen them venture forth from cover when all was quiet.t M. Duvernoy discovered that their incisors occupy, from the first, the position they maintain in after-life, but are enveloped for a while by the periostanim or investing membrane of the bone to which they are attached, through which the larger protrude some time before the others : he accordingly infers that these animals have no milk-teeth. The same naturalist divides this genus into 1. Sorex, Duv. (Crocidura, Wagl. ; including Myosorex, Gray) ; wherein the edge of the long inferior incisors is unserrated ; that of the upper notched, or with the spur appearing as a point behind ; the small lateral teeth which follow are three or four in number, and diminish rapidly in size from the first to the last ; none of the teeth being coloured. The ears are conspicuously developed, and the tail has always longer and coarser hairs mingled with the ordinary short ones. This group, which is very distinct, comprises all the numerous extra-European species, together with three (S.araneus, Geoff., «S. Etruscus, Savi, and S. levcodon, Herm.) which are met with on this con- tinent. None occur in the British islands. One of the most remarkable is «S. giganteus. Is. Geof., from India, which approaches in size to the Black Rat, and has a foUicle on each side, producing a pungent musky secretion. The remainder have the ears buried in the fur, and consequently inconspicuous. 2. Amphisorex, Duv. (Corsira, Gray.) — Incisors of the lower jaw with the edge dentelated ; those of the upper forked, the spur behind prolonged to a level with the point in front : the lateral small teeth which follow five in number, and diminishing gradually in size : all the teeth more or less coloured at the tips. The British species have till very recently been confounded together under the name araneus, which pertains to a continental mem- ber of the preceding division.^ 3. Hydrosorex, Duv. {Amphisorex and Crossopus, Gray.) — The inferior incisors with an entire edge ; the upper notched, or with a spur appearing as a point behind : the lateral teeth which follow in the upper jaw four in number; the first two equal, the third somewhat smaller, and the fourth rudimentary: tips of all the teeth a little coloured. This division, which comprises the aquatic species, is less distinct from the second than both are from the first. Crossopus of Gray is indeed stated to have the lower incisors dentelated. The British species require further elucidation. § The Shrews compose an exceedingly numerous genus, the first section of which appears to be almost generally diffused. They renew their covering both in spring and autumn, acquiring a longer and less glossy winter coat ; and the mode of effecting this is rather pecuhar, the change commencing at the head and proceeding backward, preserving a distinct cross line of demarcation throughout its progress. These animals are often found dead on foot-paths, and dry ditches, on spots devoid of herbage, the cause of which remains to be explained. • It is remarkable that tne Squirrels of the same region have very similar fur, both in colour and texture. t The common Shrike (^Lanius coUurio) preys much upon our native species. — Ed. X Mr. Jenyns distinguishes them as follows : all are of a reddish- brown colour. The Common Shrew (^. rusitcus, Jenyns) . — Snout and feet slender ; tail moderately stout, nearly cylindrical, not attenuated at the tip, well clothed with hairs, which are very divergent in the young state, and never closely appressed. It appears principally to frequent dry situations^gardens, hedge-banks, &c. Irish Shrew {A. hibernicus, Jenyns). — Admitted as a species doubt- fully, until more specimens have been examined. It is allied to but apparently smaller than the last, with the colours more uniform, and tail shorter and more slender. Square-tailed Shrew [A. tetragonuruSf Herm.) — The snout broad, compared with that of the common Shrew: feet, the fore especially, much larger ; the tail slender, more quadrangular at all ages, and slightly attenuated at the tip ; clothed with closely appressed hairs in the young state, in age nearly naked : upper parts very deep reddish brown ; below, dirty yellowish-grey. This species is more attached to marshy districts, though not confined to them. Chestnut Shrew {A. castaneus, Jenyns). — Snout and feet much as in the last species, but the former rather more attenuated ; tail mo- derately short, nearly round, well clothed with hairs, which form at the extremity a long pencil : upper parts, as well as the snout, feet, and tail, bright chestnut ; under parts ash-grey. The cranium is broader posteriorly and rather more elevated in the crown than in A, tetragonurus. It inhabits the same marshy districts. § Mr. Jenyns distinguishes the H. fodiens, Gm.— Of a deep brownish-black above, nearly white beneath ; the two colours distinctly separated on the sides : feet and tail ciliated with white hairs. It inhabits marshes and banks in ditches, but is occasionally met with at a distance from water. It often seeks its prey at the botom of pools under water, thus approxi- mating in habit to the Desmans. 5. ci7ta(«s,Sowerby(remi/er of Varrell, and doubtfully of Geoffroy) , — Black above ; greyish-black beneath ; throat yellowish-ash colour ; feet and tail strongly ciliated with greyish hairs. Is found in the same situations as the preceding. There is reason to suspect others, one or more marked ^vith rufous on the under parts having been indicated by observers. — Ed. 80 MAMMALIA. The Solenodon {Solenodon, Brandt) — Resembles a gigantic Shrew, but with coarse fur, and proportionally much longer whiskers : the tail is long, naked, and scaly, and the claws considerably more developed. There are six incisors to each jaw, the first pah above, and the second pair below, very large, and resembling canines ; two superior false molars, and three inferior, on each side ; then five true molars above, and four below, subquad- rate, and broad or transverse. The species, S. paradoxus, Brandt, inhabits Hayti, and is larger than the Brown Rat.] The Desmans {Mygale*, Cuv.) — Diflfer from the Shrews by having [like the Solenodon] two very small teeth placed between the two large inferior incisors, and in their upper incisors, which are flattened and triangular. Behind these incisors are six or seven small teeth, and four bristled molars. Their muzzle is elongated into a small, very flexible proboscis, which is constantly in motion. Their long tail, scaly and flattened at the sides, and their feet with five toes all connected by membrane, proclaim them to be aquatic animals. Their eyes are very small, [the fur long, straight, and divergent,] and they have no external ears. The Russian Desman (Soi-ex moschatus, Lin).— Nearly equal in size to the common Urchin ; blackish above, inclining- to white beneath ; the tail one fourth shorter than the body. It is very common along the rivers and lakes of Southern Russia, where it feeds on worms, the larvae of insects, and particularly on Leeches, which it easily with- draws from the mud by means of its flexible proboscis. Its burrow, excavated in a bank, commences under water, and ascends to above the level of the highest floods. Tliis animal never comes voluntarily on shore, but is taken very often in the nets of the fishermen. Its musky odour arises from a kind of pomatum secreted in small folhcles under the tail, and is even communicated to the flesh of Pike which devour the Desman. ITiere is found in the streamlets of the Pyrenees a smaller species of this genus, which has the tail longer than its body {Myg. pyrenaica, H.) [This constitutes the division Mygalina of Isidore Geofl"roy. The rest of the Insectivora have amazingly powerful fore-feet, designed for tearing open the ground, rather than for burrowing by merely scratching away the mould, as in the preceding genera.] The Chrysochlores {Chrysocloris, Lacepede), — Like the preceding genus, possess two incisors above and four below ; but their grinders are elevated, distinct, and nearly all in the form of triangular prisms : the muzzle is short, broad, and recurved ; and their fore-feet have only three nails, of which the exterior is very large, much arcuated, and pointed, forming a powerful instrument for digging and burrowing into the soil ; the others successively decrease in size. Their hind limbs have five toes of the ordinary dimensions. They are subterraneous animals, whose mode of life is similar to that of the Moles. To enable them to dig the better, their fore-arm is supported by a third bone placed under the cubitus. The Cape Chrysochlore {Talpa asiatica, Lin. [now better known as C. capensis, Desm.)]. — Rather smaller than our Moles, without apparent tail. It is the only known quadruped which presents any appearance of those splendid metallic reflections which adorn so many birds, fishes, and insects. Its fur is of a green, changing to copper or bronze : the ears have no conch, and the eyes are not perceptible.f It inhabits Africa, and not Siberia, as falsely reported. [There are three others, C. Uottentota, Damarensis, and villosa, all from the same general locaUty.] The Moles {Talpa, Lin.) — Are well known for their subterraneous life, and for their structure eminently qualified in adaptation to it. A very short arm, attached to a large shoulder-blade, supported by a stout clavicle, and provided with enormous muscles, sustains an extremely large hand, the palm of which is always directed either outwards or backwards : the lower edge of this hand is trenchant, and the fingers scarcely perceptible, but the nails which terminate them are long, flat, strong, and sharp. Such is the instrument which the Mole employs to tear open the ground, and throw back the mould behind it. Its sternum possesses, in common with that of Birds and Bats, a ridge which allows the pectoral muscles to attain the mag- nitude requisite for the performance of their functions. To pierce and raise up the ground, it makes * This name being; preoccupied by a genus of Spiders, Fischer has 1 caiiadctiih.'\ But the Tttcan of Fernandez, regarded as one of it» altered it to Myogalea.—ED. \ synonymes, appears rather, to judge from its two long teeth to each t The Red Mole of America, Seba I. pi. xxxii. fig. 1, (Talpa rubra, | jaw, and vegetable legimeu, to be some subterraneous rodent, perhaps Lin.), is most probably a Cape Chrysochlore, figured from a dried spe- 1 a Diptostoma. cimen, for then the fur appears purple. [It is more likely the Sculopt 1 CARNARIA. 81 use of its long, pointed head, the extremity of its muzzle being provided vdth a peculiar little bone, and the cervical muscles being extremely powerful. There is even an additional bone in the cervical liga- ment. The hinder part of the body is feeble, and the animal above ground advances as awkwardly as it does rapidly below the surface. Its sense of hearing is extremely acute, and the tympanum very large, although there is no external ear; but the ej'es are so small, and so hidden beneath the hair, that their existence even was denied for a long while. [They have been ascertained, however, to be tolerably sharp-sighted.] The genital organs have this pecuharity, that the bones of the pubis do not become joined ; by reason of which, notwithstanding the narrowness of the pelvis, they are enabled to produce tolerably large young ones : the urethra of the female passes through the clitoris : she has six teats. The jaws are feeble, and the food consists of insects, worms, and some tender roots, [chiefly, however, worms, though even small birds are sometimes sacrificed to their voracity, when they can dart upon them from the entrance of their runs]. There are six incisors above and eight below.* The canines have two roots, in which respect they partake of the nature of false molars f : behind them are four false molars above, and three below ; and finally, three bristled molars. [The fur is set vertically in the skin, whence it has no grain or particular direction.] Our common European Mole (T. Eitropaa, Lin.) — Entirely black, but often varjing to white, fulvous, or pied. [A most remarkable animal, not only for the ardour of its passions, appetites, and emotions, but for the curious instincts wth which it is endowed, more particularly with regard to the complicated regularity of its sc.bterraneous dwelling and galleries.] According to M. Harlan, this species likewise exists in North America [or, at any rate, there is a species stated to be from that continent most closely allied to it, of which the Zoological Society of London possess specimens.] M. Savi has found a Mole in the Apennines said to be quite blind, although otherwise similar to the common one (the T. cceca, Sav.) : it is not, however, perfectly blind, for the eyelids have an opening, though snaaller than in the common Mole. Tlie existence of the optic nerve in this last species has been denied : J think I can demonstrate it throughout its course. [T^vo other species are known, T. japonica and T. mooguraJ] The Condylures {Condylura, Illig.), — Seem to combine the two kinds of dentition of the Insectivora : their upper jaw has two large trian- gular incisors, two others which are extremely small and slender, and upon each side a strong canine ; the lower jaw has four incisors slanting forward, and a pointed canine of small size. Their superior false molars are triangular, and separated ; the lower dentelated and trenchant. In their feet and whole exterior, the animals of this genus resemble the Moles, but have a longer tail, and. what very readily distinguishes them, their nostrils are encircled vnth small moveable cartilaginous points, which, when they separate, radiate like a star. [Three or four species are now known, all from North America. Among them is] tilorex cristatiis, Lin. The Shrew-moles {Scalops, Cuv.) — Have teeth rather similar to those of the Desmans, except that their small or false molars are less numerous ; the muzzle is simply pointed, as in the Shrews ; and their hands are widened, armed vnth strong nails, and in short adapted for digging into the ground precisely as in the Moles, which they entirely resemble in their mode of life. Their eyes are equally small, and their ears concealed in the same manner. Sorex aguaficus, Lin. — Appears to inhabit a very great part of North America, along the rivers : exterually, it so nearly resembles the European Mole as to be readily mistaken for it. [Three other species, from the same general locality, have been recently discovered. The Insectivora, according to the views of De Blainville, should constitute an entirely distinct order, intermediate to the Cheiroptera and Edentata. They present an almost unbroken series of successively distinct divisions, more or less allied together. The most definite super-generic section is that composed of the four genera last in order, or the various animals analogous to the European Mole. At the other end of the series, the spinous genera, at first sight, appeal- equally separated ; but they certainly grade through Centenes and then Gymnura to the Shrews, which are again related to the Talpidœ; if, indeed, the line of separation shoidd not be drawn between Centenes, and Erinaceus and Echinops : the * Were this truly the case, it would be an anomaly throughout pla- j incisors as the real canines. — Ed. cental Mammalia : but as the lower canines, as thus assigned, close t There is no essential diflfcrence between canines and false molars, within the upper, we are led to identify the exterior p;iir of seentinir | See p. 77. — Ed. 82 MAMMALIA. different generic groups, however, maintain their integrity. Macroscelides and Tupaia are the least conformable with the others ; but neither are these much removed in their more essential characters. As a whole, they compose a very natural and appreciable division, and our author assigns them a rank equivalent to the Cheiroptera on the one hand, and to the Carni- VORA, comprising his Plantigrada, Digitigrada, and Amphibia, on the other. Remains of three species of Sorex, one of Talpa, and one of Erinaceus, have been found in the European Tertiary deposits, apparently referable to species still in existence. The present range of the division does not extend to South America* nor Austraha, where, however, it appeal's to be adequately represented by the numerous small Marsupiata, peculiar to those regions; a curious fact, first noticed by Waterhouse, and since by De Blainville.] THE THIRD FAMILY OF CARNARIA. CARNIVORA. Although the designation carnivorous is applicable to all unguiculated Mamtnalia, except the Quadrumana, which have three sorts of teeth, inasmuch as they all subsist more or less on animal matter, there are nevertheless many, more especially of the two preceding families, which are reduced by the feebleness and the conical tubercles of their grinders to prey almost entirely on insects. In the present family, the sanguinary appetite is combined with the force necessary for its gratification. There are always four stout and long separated canines, between which are six incisors to each jaw, of which the second inferior are inserted a little more inward than the rest. The molars are either wholly cutting, or have some blunted tuberculous parts, but they are never studded with sharp conical projections. These animals are the more exclusively carnivorous, in proportion as their teeth are more completely trenchant or cutting, so that the degree of admixture of their regimen may be almost calculated from the extent of the tuberculous surface of their teeth, as compared with the cutting portion. The Bears, which can Uve altogether on vegetables, have nearly all theii' teeth tuberculated. The anterior molars are the most trenchant ; next follows a molar, larger than the others, which has usually a tuberculous projection, differing in size ; and then follow one or two smaller teeth, that are entirely flat. It is with these small hindward teeth that the Dog chews the herbage that he sometimes swallows. We will call, with M. F. Cuvier, this large upper molar, and its corresponding one below, carnivorous teeth ; the anterior pointed ones, false molars, and the posterior blunt ones, tuberculous molars. It is easy to conceive that the genera which have fewer false molars, and of which the jaws are shorter, are consequently better adapted for biting. Upon these difl'erences the genera can be most surely established. The consideration of the hind-foot, however, must also be attended to. Several genera, like those of the two preceding families, in walking, place the whole sole of the foot on the ground, a circumstance [generally] indicated by the absence of hair on all that part.f Others, and by far the greater number, rest on only the ends of the toes, elevating the tarse. Their gait is more rapid, and to this primary difference are added many others of habit, and even of internal conformation. In both, the clavicle is a mere bony rudiment suspended in the muscles. The Plantigrada Constitute this first tribe, which walk on the whole sole of the foot, a circumstance which gives them greater facility of standing upright upon their hind-feet. They partake of the slowness « Sores trittriatut 01" some of the old authors is a true Didelphis. — Eo. t In the Polar Bear, and Panda, the sole is completely covered with hair : the same is observable in some M&rte this genus have the sole altogether naked. — Ed. : while others of CARNARIA. 83 and nocturnal life of the Insectivora, and, like them, have no cœcum : most of those ^hich inhabit cold countries pass the winter in a state of lethai-gy. All have five toes to each foot. The Bears {Ursus, Lin.) — Possess three large molars on each side of both jaws*, altogether tuberculous, and of which the poste- rior above are the most extended. These are preceded by a tooth a little more trenchant, wliich is the carnivorous tooth of this genus f, and by a variable number of very small false molars, which sometimes fall at an early age. This system of dentition, almost frugivorous, explains why, notwithstanding their great strength, the animals of this genus devour flesh only from necessity. They are large stout-bodied animals, with thick limbs, and tail extremely short : the cartilage of their nose is elongated and moveable. They excavate dens and construct huts [ ? ], where they pass the winter in a state of somnolency more or less profound, and without taking food. It is in these retreats that the female brings forth. The species are not easily distin^ished by obnous characters. The Brown Bear(î7. arctos, Lin.) of Europe, has the forehead convex : fur, brown, more or less woolly when young, becoming smoother with age. It varies, however, considerably in colour, and also in the relative propor- tion of parts: the young have generally a pale collar, which in some is pennanent. This animalinhabits the high mountains and extensive forests of Europe, together with a great part of Asia. [The Barren-ground Bear of North America appears to be undistinguishable.] It couples in June, and brings forth in January ; nestles sometimes very high up in trees ; its flesh is good eating when young, and the paws are much esteemed at all ages. pThe Black Bear of Europe is now generally regarded as a mere variety.] The Black Bear (U. americanus, Gm.) of North America, is a species well distinguished, with a flat forehead, smooth and black fur, and fulvous muzzle. We have always found the small teeth behind its canines to be more numerous than in the Bear of Europe. It lives chiefly on wild fruits, and where fish is abundant sometimes frequents the shores for the purpose of catching it ; resorts to flesh only in default of other food, [and is then destructive to Pigs ; is a great devourer of honey, in common with most others of the genus] : its flesh is highly esteemed. There is another Black Bear found in the Cordilleras, with white throat and muzzle, and large fulvous eye-brows (JJ. or- natus, F. Cuv.), [considered by many to be a variety of U. americanus. The Jardin des Plantes, however, has lately received a Bear from the Peruvian Andes, which appears very distinct : colour of U. arctos, with larger ears. The gigantic Grisly Bear (C. ferox), now a well-known species, from the Rocky Mountains of North America, is the most formidable of all the land Bears, and by much the largest. It can only ascend trees, as the others do, when young. It constitutes the ill-characterized subgenus Danis of Gray. The Syrian Bear (U. syriacus) is of a fulvous white colour, with a stiff mane of close erected hairs be- tween the shoulders. The species which inhabits the Atlas chain of mountains remains to be ascertained.] The East Indies produce several Bears of a black colour ; such as The Malayan Bear (U. malayanus) ; from the peninsula beyond the Ganges to the islands of the Straits of Sunda. — Sleek [with comparatively short fur], a fulvous muzzle, and heart-shaped mark of the same colour upon the chest. [This, and another species, or perhaps variety, (U. eurijspilus,) with the whole chest fulvous, from Borneo, consti- tute the division Helarctos of Horsfield, or the Sun Bears. They are smaU, and of very gentle and playful dispo- sition, easily rendered quite tame.] It is very injurious to the cocoa-nut trees, which it climbs in order to devour the tops, and drink the milk of the fruit. The Thibet Bear (U. thibetictts, F. Cuv.)— Black ; the under lip, and a large mark in the form of a Y on the breast, white ; profile straight and claws weak. [Is intermediate to the preceding and next species.] From the mountains in the north of India. The most remarkable, however, of all these Indian Bears is the following, of which Ilhger forms his genus Prochilus. Fif. 24.— Tbe Black Bear. * We shall no longer repeat the words on each side. &c. ; it being understood that where the molars of one side are spoken of, those of the other correspond. t Although it may seem presumptuous to attempt to set Cuvier right in matters of this kind, it is nevertheless sufficiently obvious, on analogical comparison of the Bear'» dentition with that of pro.\imate genera, that the third tooth in succession from behind represents the cutting or carnivorous tooth in each jaw, there being two tuberculous grinders in this and the five succeeding genera (which together com- pose a distinct natural group), and one only in the rein.\inder. — Ed. G 2 84 MAMMALIA. Fig. 25.— The tigle Be The Jungle Bear (U. labiatus, Blainv. : U. longirostris. Tied : Bradypus ursinus, Shaw), which has the nasal cartilage dilated, and the tip of the under lip elongated, both lips being moveable : when old, very long shaggy hairs surround the head. The muzzle and tips of the paws are fulvous or whitish, and there is a half-collar or Y-like marking on the fore-neck and cheek. [The incisors of this species generally drop at an early age.] It is a favourite with the Indian jugglers on account of its uncouth appearance. M. Horsfield describes another Bear from Nipâl of a light bay colour, the nails of which are less trenchant than those of the other Bears of India, and which appears to him a distinct species. We have also recovered many fossil bones of lost spe- cies of Bears ; the most remarkable of which are U. spelceus, Blumenb., with a rounded forehead, and of very large size ; and U. cultridens, Cuv., for which see the fourth vol. of my Ossemens Fos- siles: [another extinct species (U. sivalensis, Caut. and Falc), has been detected in the Si^-alik deposits of the sub-Himmalayas.] Lastly, The Polar Bear (Ursiis maritimus, Lin.), is yet another species, very distinctly characterized by its lengthened and flat head, and by its smooth and white fur. It pursues Seals and other marine animals [on the polar ice, but in captivity will thrive, like the rest, on vegetable food only. It is the largest of the genus,] and exaggerated reports of its voracity have rendered it very celebrated. [It constitutes the Thalarctos of Gray.] The Raccoons {Procyon, Storr.) — Have three tuberculous back molars [the first representing the carnivorous tooth], of which the superior are nearly square, and three pointed false molars before them, forming a continuous series to the canines, which are straight and compressed. Their tail is [moderately] long ; but the rest of their exterior is that of a Bear in miniature. They rest the whole sole of their foot on the ground only when they are still, raising the heel when they advance. [Are peculiar to the western continent.] The Common Raccoon (Ursus loior,lÀ\\.; Mapach of the Mexicans.) — Greyish brovra ; the muzzle white; a brown streak across the eyes : tail annulated with brown and white rings. An animal the size of a Badger, which is easily tamed, and remarkable for a singular instinct of eating nothing that it has not previously dipped in water. It is a native of North America, and subsists on eggs, birds, &c. The Crab-eating Raccoon (P. cancrivorus, BulF. Supp. vi. xxxii.) — Uniform ash-brown ; the caudal rings less distinct. From South America. [Tliree others have been described by Prof. Wiegmann, (see Ann. Nat. Hist. i. 133), of which P. Hernandrii, Wagler, would appear to be dubiously separable from P. lotor.'] The Panda {Ailurus, F. Cuv.) — Appears to approximate the Raccoons by its canines and what is known of its other teeth ; except that it has only one false molar. " Gen. Hardwicke has since described it to hare four square tuberculous molars, and one trenchant false molar in front, at a short distance from the canine." The head is short ; tail [rather] long ; gait plantigrade, the toes live in number, with half-retractile nails. Only one is known, the Bright Panda {A. refidgens, F. Cuv.) -Size of a large Cat ; the fur soft and thickly set : above of the richest cinnamon-red ; behind more fulvous, and deep black beneath. The head is whitish, and the tail annulated with brown. This beautiful species, one of .^-^jT'-'-^r*--^ .jjti*^'!' &^^^^^ the handsomest of known quadrupeds, from the moun- tains of the north of India, was sent to Europe by my late son-in-law, M. Alfred du Vaucel. [It frequents the vicinity of rivers and mountain torrents, passes much of its time upon trees, and feeds on birds and the smaller quadrupeds. Is generally discovered by means of its loud cry or call, which resembles the sound wha, often repeated. The soles of its feet are hairy.] THEBiNT0RONGs(/c^2(fes,Valenc.;^rc/2cfe,Tem.) Are also related to the Raccoons by their denti- tion ; but the three superior back molars are considerably smaller, and less tuberculous, the last one of each jaw more particularly, which is very small and almost simple. These animals are Fip. 22.— Ailu 1 fuli/e CARNARIA. 85 covered with long hair, and have a tuft at each ear. The tail is long, hairj', and has a propensity to curl, as if prehensile ; [which it really is : their whiskers are long and conspicuous]. They are also natives of India, for the first knowledg'e of which we are indebted to M. du Vaucel. One species (let. alhifrons, F. Cuv.) is grey, with the tail and sides of the muzzle black ; of the size of a large Cat ; from Boutan. Another (let. ater, F. Cuv.) is black, with a whitish muzzle, and as large as a stout Dog ; from Malacca. [Tlie latter is merely the male, and the other the female of the same species, which is rather a slow-moving animal, allied to the last in habit, of a timid disposition, and easily tamed. The Ictide dorée, F. Cuv., is a species of Musang (Paradoxurus). ] The Coatimondis {Nasua, Storr), — To the dentition, tail [wliich however is longer], nocturnal life, and slow dragging gait of the Raccoons, add a singularly elongated and moveahle snout. Their feet are semi-palmate, not^vith- standing which they climb trees [with great facility, and descend them head foremost, clinging by their hind feet, which they almost reverse]. Tlieir long claws serve them to dig with ; [and they feed voraciously on earth-worms, slugs and snails, also on small mammalians (which they catch adroitly), birds and their eggs, together with fruits and vegetables]. They inhabit the warm parts of America, and subsist on nearly the same food as oiu- Martens. The Red Coatimondi (Viverra nasua, Liu. ; iV. rufa, Desm.) — Rufo-fulvous, the muzzle and caudal annulations brown. And the Brown Coatimondi (F. narica, Lin. ; N.fusca, Desm.)— Brown, with white spots over the eye and snout. [These animals employ their claws to divide flesh, which they thus tear and separate before devour- ing it.] The Kinkajou {Cercolepfes, Illiger) — Can scarcely be introduced elsewhere than in this place [which is imquestionably its true position]. To the plantigrade gait, it joins a verj' long tail, prehensile, as in the Sapajous*, a short muzzle, slender and extensile tongue, with two pointed grinders before, and three tuberculous ones backward, [the first of which latter represents the carnivorous tooth]. But one species is known {Viverra caudivolvula, Gm.), from the warm parts of America and some of the Great Antilles, where it is named Pott of : size of a Fitchet, [and larger] ; the fur woolly, and of a yellowish [or golden] brown : nocturnal, and of a mild and gentle disposition ; subsisting on fruits, honey, milk, blood, &c. [It is emi- nently an arboreal quadruped, which moves with a cautious gait, recalling to mind some of the Quadrumaiia. There is a Mexican animal to which Lichtenstein has assigned the generic name Bassaris, and which Blainville and others have associated with the Viverrine genera, but which I greatly suspect must rather be placed near the Kinkajou, though I have not at present the means of ascertaining its cha- racters. In form it is not unlike a Musang {Paradoxurus.) X The remaining genera are only semi-plantigrade (that is, they do not bring the heel quite to the ground), and possess but one tuberculous grinder, which vai-ies greatly in extent of surface : none of them become torpid in winter ; and they all emit, when alarmed, a defensive odour, which in many is horribly fetid.] The Badgers {Meles, Storr), § — Which Linnaeus placed, together with the Raccoons, in his genus of Bears, have one very small tooth behind the canine, then two pointed molars, followed in the upper jaw by one which we begin to recognize as carnivorous, from the trace of a cutting character which it exhibits on its outer side ; behind this is a square tuberculous tooth, the largest of the series ; and, on the lower jaw, the last but one likewise commences to bear some resemblance to the inferior carnivorous tooth ; but as there are two tubercles on its inward border as elevated as its cutting point, it performs the office of a tuberculous one ; the last below is verj' small. [The Badger, in fact, has precisely the same den- tition as the Weasels and Otters, presenting a modification of that tj-pe for less carnivorous regimen.] These animals have the tardy gait and nocturnal habit of all the preceding ; their tail is short, [and * One vhich I had an opportunity of studying, as it ran about loose in a room, possessed the prehensile power of the tail in an extremely moderate de^ee, merely resting slightly on this organ, which it stiffened throughout its length, and never coiled in the manner of the Sapajous. — Ed. t This term, applied by the negroes in Africa to a Lemurine animal {Perodicticus), has been introduced by them, and misapplied in other countries. — Ed . t Strong presumptive evidence that the Basset (SoM/irij) does not appertain to the Viverrine group, is afforded by the restriction of the geographic range of the latter to the eastern hemisphere, in every other instance. The presence or absence of a cœcum would decide the question. § Tasus of some systematists : but this name is employed in Botany for the Yew genus. — Ed. 86 MAMMALIA. Fig. 25. — Common Badger. commouly held erect]. Their toes are much enveloped in the skin ; and, what eminently distinguishes them, is a pouch situate beneath the tail, from which exudes a fatty, fetid humour, [as in the Skunks, "Weasels, &c., to which the Badgers are very closely allied]. The long claws of their fore-feet enable them to burrow with much facihty. The European Badger (Ursus meles, Lin. ; M. taxus, Auct.)— Greyish above, beneath black, with a dusky band on each side of the head. That of America (Mel. hudsonius [ (?) M. labradorius, Sa- bine; Ursus taxus, Schreb.] does not appear to differ essentially. [It is even generically very dis- tinct, pertaining to the ne.xt dinsion. A second species of Badger, however, appears to me to ex- ist in the Balysaur of India (Arctonyx collaris, F. Cuv. ; Mydaug collaris, Gray,) which M. F. Cuvier has represented much too Hog-like in his figure ; the snout being scarcely longer than that of the European Badger, the fur somewhat coarser, and the tail (which almost reaches the ground) not so scantily covered with hair as stated.* A cranium figured as that of the Balysaur by Mr. Gray, in his published series of Gen. Hardwicke's drawings, appears to me to indicate another species, distinguished by the long vacant interspace between the inferior canine and first existing moiar. This genus would seem to be peculiar to the eastern continent. The Taxels {Taxidea, Waterh.) — Are the reptited Badgers of America, but which present a very different cranium, and more carnivorous dentition : their cutting molar is increased, and the tubercular reduced, to an equal size ; the latter having a triangular crown : skull widest at the occiput, where it is abruptly truncated ; the auditory bullae much developed; and articulating surface of the lower jaw ex- tended, but not locking as in the Badgers. Their claws are longer and stouter, enabling them to burrow with great rapidity. One only is clearly ascertained, the T. lahra- doria (Ursus taxus, Schreb.) Remarkable for the fine quality of its fur. Dr. Richardson has taken a Marmot from the stomach of this animal. The Bharsiah {Ursotaxus, Hodgson). Four cheek-teeth above and below, com- prising two superior and three inferior false molars ; the tubercular of the upper jaw transverse, and smaller than the carnivorous tooth. General conformation similar to that of the Badger, but without external ears . But one species is known (N. inauritus, Hodg., Asiat. Res. xix. 60, and Journ. As. Soc. v. 621), from the \icinity of Nipal, scantily covered with coarse hair. It is completely plantigrade and fossorial, dwelling in bur- rows on the southern slopes of the hills, which it seldom leaves during the day.] The Wolverines (Gulo, Storr) — Have also been placed in the Bear genus by Linnaeus ; but they rather approximate the Martens in then- dentition and general character, according only with the Bears in their plantigrade gait. They have three false molars above, and four below, anterior to the carnivorous tooth, which is well cha- racterized ; and behind this a small tubercular, which is wider than long. Their upper carnivorous tooth has but one small internal tubercle, so that they have nearly the same dental system as the Fig. 26.— Taxel. * There is a figure, in Bewick's Quadruped$, apparently of this spticies, taken from a seemingly unhealthy individual confined in the Tower Menagerie. The description intimates its near resemblance to the common Badger. CARNARIA. • 87 Martens. These animals have the tail of middle length, with a fold beneath it in place of a pouch ; and their foot is very similar to that of a Badger. The most celebrated species is the Glutton of the north, Rossomak of the Russians {Ursits gulo, Lin.) ; size of a Bado-er and commonly of a fine deep maroon colour, with a browner disk on the back ; but sometimes it is paler. It inhabits the glacial regions of the north, is reputed to be very sanguinary and ferocious, hunts by night, does not become torpid during the winter, and subdues the largest animals by leaping upon them from a tree. Its voracity has been absurdly exaggerated by some authors. The Wolverine of North America {Ursus Itiscus, Lin.) does not appear to differ by any constant characters, but is generally of a paler tint. [Excepting in size and massiveness, I cannot perceive that this animal differs from the Martens : assuredly it does not in the structure of its feet.] Wann climates produce some species which can only be placed near the Wolverines, from which they differ merely in having one false molar less to each jaw, and by a longer tail. Such are the animals termed by the Spanish inhabitants of North America Ferrets (Hurons), and which in point in fact have the dentition of our Ferrets and Weasels, and lead the same kind of life ; but they are distinguished by their semi-plantigrade carriage, [or rather by having their soles uncovered with hair]. Such are The Grisou (Viverra vittata, Lin.)— Black, the top of the head and neck grey, a white band reaching from the forehead to the shoulders. [This constitutes the Grisonia, Gray, and with an allied species, le petit furet of Azzara (Galictis Allamandi, Bell), the Galictis* of the last-named naturaUst, who places them contiguous to the Weasels. They are small animals, easily rendered very tame, and extremely playful in domestication ; of very carnivorous disposition, and particularly fond of eggs.] The Taira {Mustela barbara, Lin.) [Subdivision Tatm of Gray.]— Brown [or brownish-black] ; the head grey ; [and sometimes] a large white spot under the throat. [The fur remarkably short.] These two animals are distributed throughout the warm parts of America, and exhale an odour of musk. Their feet are a Uttle palmated, and it appears that they have been sometimes taken for Otters.f [We conceive that the Wolverine might be advantageously removed to the genus of Martens ; and would restrict the term Gulo to the others. The Grisons diffuse when irritated a disgusting stench.] The Ratels {MelUvora, F. Cuv.) — Have a false molar to each jaw still less than the Grisons, and their upper tuberculous tooth but little developed, so that they approximate the Cats in dentition ; but their whole exterior is that of the Grison, or [rather] of a Badger. The legs are short ; feet [semi-] plantigrade, and five toes to each ; the claws very strong, &c. But one species is known (Viverra mellivora, Sparm., and Viv. capensis, Schreb. pi. 125), of the size of the European Badger; grey above, black below, with a white Une that separates the two colours; sometimes it is almost wholly white above. It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, and burrows into the ground with its long claws, in search of the honey-combs of the wild Bees. The Digitigrada — Form the second tribe of Carnivora, tlie members of which walk on the ends of their toes. In the first subdivision of them [all the members of which are semi-plantigrade], there is only one tuberculous grinder behind the upper carnivorous tooth : these animals, on account of the length of their body, and shortness of the limbs, which permit them to pass through very small openings, are styled vermiform \_vermin\. They are destitute of ccecum, like the preceding, but do not pass the winter in a state of lethargy. Although small and feeble, they are very sanguinary and ferocious. Linnaeus comprehended them all under one genus, that of The Weasels {Mustela, Lin.), — Which we will divide into four subgenera. The Trce Weasels (Putorius, Cuv. [Mmtela, Ray.] ) — Are the most sanguinary of any : their lower carnivorous tooth has no internal tubercle, and the upper tuberculous one is broader than long ; there are only two false molars above and three below. These animals may be recognized by having the extremity of the muzzle somewhat shorter and blunter than in the Martens. They all diffuse [when alarmed] a fetid stench ; [take the water, and dive with faciUty, having the toes semipalmated ; trace their prey by scent, and kill it by inflicting a wound in the neck : the female is commonly much smaller than the male. • Tliis must not be confounded with the Galiclis of Is. Geoffroy ', t I' 's supposed from the description given by Marcgjeave of his IComple rendu, Oct. 1837), which refers to the Mustela or Putoriua \ Cariqueibeia, which name Buffon has applied to his Saricovienne, vol. Hriatut of Cuvier.— Ed. I xiii. p. 319, that he meant to speak of the Taira. MAMMALIA. ^'^':x^i^^-^f m-^;- Fig. 27.— The Marten. There are very many species, three of which inhabit Britain :— Tlie Fitchet Weasel, or Polecat, of which the Ferret appears to be a domesticated variety* ; the Stoat, or Ermine, which in cold countries (and occasionally even in South Britain) becomes pure white in winter, except the end of its tail, which always continues black ; and the Common Weasel, of diminutive size, which preys chiefly on Mice and other small animals injurious to the agricul- tui-ist. It is a curious fact that in several instances the female Polecat has been known to stow away many Frogs and Toads in an apartment of its burrow, disabling each without kilhng it, by puncturing the skull. The Common Weasel traverses the boughs of trees, tops of palings, &c., with facility, and will spring from the ground upon a Partridge flying near the surface. Put. striatus, Cuv., a small Madagascar species, reddish-brown, with five longi- tudinal white stripes, composes the division Galictu of Isidore GeolTroy (not of Bell) ; and Put. Zorilla, Cuv., a species marked with broken stripes of white, and possessing a more snout-like muzzle, the tail of which also is longer and more bushy, is the Zorilla capensis of some recent authors : there would appear, indeed, to be several species of these Zorilles.] The Martens {Mustela, Cuv. [Martes, Ray] ) — Differ from the true Weasels by having [commonly] an additional false molar above and below, and a small tubercle on the inner side of their car- nivorous tooth ; two characters which some- what diminish the ferocity of their nature. [They are handsome, and remarkably lithe active animals, with larger ears than the Weasels, and fine bushy tails ; are also more arboreal in their habits. The scent they diifuse when irritated is not disagree- able, f] There are two species in Europe, very closely allied together. The YeUow-breasted or Pine Marten (Mustela martes, Lin.), inhabiting wild districts, and the White-breasted or Beech Marten {M. foina, Lin.), W'hich frequents woods near human habitations. [Many consider these to be varieties merely of the same ; but on examining several crania, I have noticed that the former are constantly smaller, with the zygomatic arch fuUy twice as strong as in the other. The American species usually deemed identical with M. foina, is intermediate. There are numerous others, as the Pekan or Fishing Marten of Canada, &c. -, and the Sable of commerce (il/. zibeUina, Auct.), celebrated for its beautiful fur, is a member of this division. In the Sable and several others, the soles are completely covered with close fur; but in M, flavigula of the Himmalayas, the under surface of the foot is naked, and the toes joined to their extremities, as in the Badgers, &c.] The Skunks {Mephitis, Cuv.) — Possess, like the Weasels, two false molars above and three below ; but their superior tuberculous grinder is very large, and as long as broad, and their inferior carnivorous tooth has two tubercles on its inner side, thus approximating these animals to the Badgers, in the satne way as the Weasels are related to the Grisons and Wolverine. In addition to this, the Skunks accord with the Badgers in having their anterior claws long, and adapted for burrowing, and they are even semiplantigrade, [and equally slow in their movements]. This resemblance extends even to the distribution of their colours. [The truth is, they scarcely differ from the Badgers, except in having a remarkably fine and large bushy tail, which is borne elevated, like the small short tail of the Badgers.] In the present family, notorious for diffusing a fetid stench, the Skunks are pre-eminently distinguished by emitting a most intolerable odour. These animals are mostly striped longitudinally with white on a black ground, but the number of stripes appears to vary even in the same species ; [not, however, I think, to the extent that has been supposed ; for there are several species, distinguishable by their osteology', which agree sufficiently in their general style of colouring, allowing for some variation on the part of each, to induce the supposition, judging only from external characters, that they might all be referred to one. The intensity of their most nauseous suffocating stench, which has been described to resemble that of the Fitchet mingled with assafoetida, is scarcely credible : it appears, however, to be emitted only in self-defence. The geographic range of this genus is confined to America]. We may make an additional subgenus of The Teledu {Mydaus, F. Cuv.), — Which, together with the dentition, [the teeth, however, being smaller (from which results a more ught in .—Ed. vain for any osteological distinction between t Hence ( on to FoU'Vi IT native species are designated Svieet-martt in opposi- rt, OT fuut mart, a common name for the Polecat. — Ed. CARNARIA. 89 elongated muzzle), the canines placed further backward, and the molars more sharply tuberculated, recalling to mind those of the Insectivora], feet, and colouring even of the Skunks, have the muzzle truncated, so as to assume the form of a suout, and the tail reduced to a small pencil, [which, however, is also held erect, as in the Badgers, &c.] Only one species is kno^^^l, — The Javanese Teledu {Mid. melaceps, F. Cuv.)— [Brownish] black, the nape of the neck, a stripe along the back, and tail, white ; the dorsal stripe sometimes intennipted about the middle. [Fur soft and rather fine.] Its stench is equally horrible with that of the Skunks, [and precisely similar, as I am informed by Dr. Horsfield, who has had experience of both : it subsists principally on earth-worms, for which it turns up the light soil with its snout, in the manner of a Hog ; is easily tamed, and by no means oftensive in captivity ; and it is especially remarkable for its restriction to a particular elevation on the mountains of Java, below which it is never found. We may here also introduce The Nyentek {Helictis, Gray; Melogale, Is. Geof.), — The body of which appears to be more lengthened and vermiform, and the tuberculous molar small and transverse : it is described to have three false molars above, and four below ; the upper carnivorous tooth three-lobed, with a broad two-pointed internal process : soles of the feet bare, and toes united. The Nyentek of the Javanese {fiulo orienfalis, Horsf. ; H. moschatits, Gray.) — Size of a Polecat ; brown, with a white stripe along the back, crossed by another less distinct over the shoulders, and a white spot on the head ; tail of mean length. This animal inhabits eastern Asia, and smells strongly of musk : it is one of the few ^Mammalia known in Europe to inhabit China, where the larger indigenous species are supposed to have been exterminated. ] The Otters {Lutra, Storr) — Have three false molars above and below, a strong process to the upper carnivorous tooth, an internal tubercle to the lower one, and a large tuberculous grinder that is nearly as long as broad ; their head is flattened, and the tongue rather rough. They are distinguished from all the preceding genera by their [more completely] webbed toes, and horizontally flattened tail, — two characters which pro- claim them to be aquatic animals : they subsist on fish. The European Otter (Must. Intra, Lin.) — Brown above, whitish round the lips, on the cheeks, and the whole under parts. The rivers of Europe [and sometimes the sea-coast. Is occasionally spotted above with white. The species of this extensive genus, which is almost generally diffused, are mostly very similar externally, and are best distinguished by the configuration of the cranium, &c.] That of India (L. voir, F. Cuv.) is employed for fishing, as the Dog is for hunting. The Cape Otter {L. capensis, F. Cuv.) is remarkable (at least at a particular age) for having no nails ; a character on which M. Lesson has founded his genus Aonyx : young individuals, however, have been received from the Cape, which possess nails ; and it remains to ascertain whether they are of the same species. Tlie American Otter (M. braziliensig), from the rivers of both Americas, has the extremity of the muzzle, which in most other animals is naked, covered with close fur: [it is also very gregarious in its habits. But the most remark- able species is the great Sea Otter (Mustela liitris, Lin., composing the division Enhydra of Fleming. It is twice the size of the European species, from which it differs in the form of its hind feet, which have the outermost toe longest. The adults have but four lower incisors, the exterior pair being doubtless forced out by the canines.] Its blackish velvet-looking fur is extremely valuable, to obtain which the EngUsh and Russians hunt the animal throughout the northern shores of the Pacific Ocean, for the purpose of disposing of it to the Cliinese and Japanese. [A species intermediate to the Sea Otter and the others constitutes the Ptero- nura, Gray. M. Temminck has received a new genus allied to the Otters, which he names Potamophilus. We here arrive at the termination of an extensive and very distinct natiu'al group, which falls under two principal subdivisions, the Umits of wliich, however, are not easy to define. The first consists of exclusively ground animals, with a thick and heavy body, stout hmbs, and strong claws adapted for burrowing with rapidity. It comprises the Badgers, Teledu, Skunks, Taxels, Bharsiah, and Ratel ; nearly all of which ordinarily erect the taU, and are more or less striped longitudinally. The remainder are vermiform and agile, and most of them ascend trees with facility : they are also more predatory, though some of the former (as the Ratel) possess an equally carni- vorous dentition : many are marked similarly to the preceding. The Zorilles might almost be referred to either section; but we prefer retaining them near the Weasels.] The second subdivision of the Digitigrada [being the first, strictly so named,] possesses [hke the Vrsidce] two flat tuberculated molars posterior to the upper carnivorous tooth*. There are three tuberculous mohirs to each jaw in the Cajiis (Megalotis) Lulandi, and De Blainvilte figrures the cranium of a common Dog nrhich the same was observable. — Ed. 90 MAMMALIA. whicli has itself a large internal process. They are carnivorous animals, but not preda- tory in proportion to their strength, and often feed on carrion. They have all a small cœcum. The Dogs {Cants, Lin.) — Have three false molars above, foiir below, and two tuberculous grinders behind each carnivorous tooth. The first of these upper tuberculous molars is very large. Their superior carnivorous tooth has only a smaU internal tubercle ; but the inferior one has its hinder portion altogether tuberculous. The tongue is soft ; the fore-feet have five toes, and the hind-feet [in general] only four. [The cœcum is of a peculiar spiral form.] The Domestic Dog (C. familiar is, lAn.) — Distinguished by its recurved tail, but otherwise varying infinitely with respect to size*, form, colour, and quality of the hair. It is the most complete, the most singular, and useful conquest ever made by Man ; the whole species having become his property : each individual is devoted to its particular master, assumes his manners, knows and defends his property, and remains attached to him until death ; and all this, neither from constraint nor want, but solely from gratitude and pure friendship. The swiftness, strength, and scent of the Dog have rendered him a powerful ally to Man against other animals, and were even, perhaps, necessary to the establishment of society. It is the only animal which has followed Man all over the world. Some naturalists think the Dog is a Wolf, and others that he is a domesticated Jackal ; but those which have become wild on desert islands resemble neither one nor the other, t The wild Dogs, and those which belong to savages, such as the inhabitants of Australia, have straight ears, whence has arisen a belief that the European races, nearest to the original type, are our Shepherd^ s Dog and Wolf Dog ; but com- parison of the crania indicates a closer approach on the part of the French Matin and Danish Dog, after which follow the Hound, the Pointer, and the Terrier, which chiefly differ in size and the relative proportions of parts. The Greyhound is more attenuated, and has the the frontal sinus smaller, and scent weaker. The Shepherd''s Dog and Wolf Dog resume the straight ears of the wild ones, but with greater developement of brain, which continues to increase, together with the intelligence, in the Barbet and Spaniel, The Bull-dog, on the other hand, is remarkable for the shortness and strength of its jaws. The small pet Dogs, the Pugs, lesser Spaniels, Shocks, &c., are the most degenerate productions, and exhibit Fi^. 28. — The Dingo, or Austral'mD Dog. the most striking marks of that influence to which Man subjects all nature. The Dog is bom with its eyes closed ; it opens them on the tenth or twelfth day ; its teeth commence changing in the fourth month, and its full growth is attained at the expiration of the second year. The female remains with young sixty-three days, and produces from six to ten young at a birth. The Dog is old at fifteen years, and seldom * A specimen, which attained two years of age, and is preserved in the Museum of Dresden, measured only five inches and a half in length j this being exactly the same length, from the corner of the eye to the tip of the nose, of a Saxon boar-hound examined by Col. Hamilton Smith.— Ed. + If the idea, which I conceive there is every reason to entertain, respecting the origin of the Domestic Dog be well founded, it is clear that a recurrence to a single wild type would be impossible. The Dog is apparently a blended race, derived principally from the Wolf, and partly from various other allied species. In the M useum of the Zoologi- cal Society of London, there is a specimen of an Esquimaux Dog, which resembles the large American Wolf (C. nuhilm) so closely, that there can scarcely be any doubt of the connexion which subsists between them ; and it is well known, of the American Wolves in particular, that if a young animal be surprised by a hunter, and suddenly menaced by his roice and manner, it will crouch to him and implore his mercy in precisely the manner of a spaniel ; so that only a little encourage- ment and kindness are required to gain its permanent attachment ; indeed, many of them are killed to obtain the proffered reward, by taking this (assuredly unworthy) advantage of their natural submis- siveness. That the Wolf possesses the mental (jualities. and is capable of the same strong attachment to Man as the most faithful Dog, has been abundantly proved by the observations of M. F. Cuvier and others ; and the unremitting persecution to which it has been necessarily subjected in Europe for so many ages, will sufhciently account for the pavage and distrustful character which it exhibits when unreclaimed ; though eveu then the germs of a better disposition are tracer.ble in the permanent attachment of the male and female, and sociality of the young till urgent necessity, or the annual period of dominant sexual excitement, subdues every milder propensity and acquired sentiment of friendship or disinterested affection. In the late edition of Dr. Prichard's work on Man, an old error is revived, which originated with Buffon, but which that naturalist afterwards corrected ; namely, that the period of gestation in the Wolf is much shorter than in the Dog. It is precisely the same in both animals. Instances occasionally happen of the Dog returning by choice toa state of wildness, and assuming then, of necessity, the character ascribed to the Wolf. I have known this to occur in a male pointer, and in a female greyhound : the latter was so fine a specimen of the breed, that on being entrapped, it was thought desirable to obtain a litter from her, which was accordingly effected ; but, while her puppies were very young, she manageti to escape to the woods, and never returned : three of her progeny grew to be excellent hounds ; but two others proved quite irreclaimable ; and escaping from ser^'itude, like their dam, were finally shot, for their destructive poaching propensities. It is not unusual to trace the peculiar markings, and grizzled colour- ing of the back, common to most of the wild species of CaniSf in domestic Dogs, of various size and character, — Ed. CARNARIA. 91 lives beyond twenty. Every one is acquainted with its Tigilance, bark, singular mode of copulation, and suscepti- bility of various kinds of education. The Wolf (C lupus, Lin.)— A large species, with a straight tail ; the most noxious of all the Carnivora of Europe. It is found from Eg^ypt to Lapland, and appears to have passed over to America. Towards the north, its coat becomes white in winter. It attacks all our animals, but does not evince a courage proportioned to its strength ; it often feeds on carrion. Its habits and physical developement are closely related to those of the Dog. Another species, the Black Wolf (C. lycaon) is sometimes, though rarely, found in France. The Mexican Wolf (C. mexicanus, Lin.) has the under part of the body and the feet white. The Red Wolf (C. jubata, Az.)— A fine cinnamon red, with a short black mane along the spine. From the marshes of South America. [ITie beautiful fur of this animal renders it one of the handsomest of the genus.] The Jackal (C. aureus, Liu.) [division Vulpicanis, Blainv. and Jacalits, Hodg.] — A voracious species, which hunts like the Dog [in packs], and in its conformation and the facility with which it is tamed, resembles the latter more nearly than any other wild species. Jackals are found from the Indies and the environs of the Caspian Sea, as far as Guinea inclusive ; but it is doubtful whether they all belong to the same species. [There are now several well-known species of these animals. The Canis prinuevus, Hodg., C. Dukhunensis, Sykes, is a large red Jackal, or Jackal-like Dog, inhabiting India, and very like the Dingo of Australia.] Foxes [ Vulpes of some naturalists] may be distinguished from Wolves and Dogs by having the tail longer and more bushy [though in this respect there is no drawing the line of separation], by a more pointed muzzle, and pupils which, during the day, form a vertical fissure ; also by their upper incisors being less sloping; they emit a foetid odour [scarcely less offensive in the Jackals], dig burrows, and attack only the weaker animals ; [are also more frugivorous than the preceding.*] This subgenus is more numerous than the foregoing. The Common Fox (C. vulpes, Lin.)— More or less rufous, with the extremity of the tail [generally] white. Is found from Sweden to Egypt, [though many of those of the south of Europe appertain to a diffe- rent species, C. melanogaster, Savi, which is smaller and less carnivorous than the Common Fox, and differs somewhat in habit.f There are very many others, almost generally diffused over the globe. We can only mention] The Arctic or Blue Fox, or Isatis (C. lagopus, Lin.)— Deep ash-colour, often white in winter; the under surface of the toes hairy, (though several of the Foxes, and even the common one, have hair under the feet in the north). From the glacial regions of both continents, particularly the north of Scandinavia ; is much esteemed for its fur. Fi^. 2J.— The Black Fox. The interior of Africa produces Foxes remarkable for the size of their ears, and the strength of their whiskers : they compose the Megalotis, IlUger. Two are known, the C. megalotis, Lalande [Megalotis Lalandi of some authors], a Cape species, somewhat smaller than the Common Fox, but higher on its legs ; [especially remarkable for possessing three tuberculous molars posterior to the cutting grinder of each jaw : its teeth become much worn with use, whence it would appear to be mainly frugivorous.] And The Zerda, or Fennec of Bruce (C zerda, Gm.), which has ears still larger; it is a very small species, almost of a whitish fulvous, with woolly hair extending beneath the toes ; burrows in the sands of Nubia, [and ascends the trunks of trees with facihty : dentition that of an ordinary Fox.] Finally, we may place after the Dogs, as a fourth subgenus, distinguished by the num- ber of toes, which are four to each foot. The Wild Dog of the Cape (Hyana venatica, Burch ; H. picta, Tem. [Lycaon picta, Brookes] ), which has the dental system of the Dogs [Ci- vets, &c.], and not of the Hyaenas ; a tall gaunt form ; fur marbled with white, fulvous, grey, and blackish; the size of a Wolf, with large ears tipped with black, &c. It lives in numerous packs, which often approach Cape-town, and de- vastate the environs. [This remarkable species •The it will m Fig. -The Marbled Lycaon. Dog is an eager devourer of gooseberries, of which strip the bushes to which it has access. — Ed, emarkable that many of the habits attributed to the Fox, in the old Greek fables, apply better to C. C. fu/pej.— Ed. clanogaster tfcj 92 MAMMALIA. is Dog- like, but certainly not a Caiiis: its form and colouring (and there is reason to suspect its internal conformation), are rather those of a Hyaena; and it is known to copulate in the manner of those animals, and not in the peculiar manner of the Dogs and Foxes. Even its dentition is the same as that elsewhere found, (with one other exception,— Pro/efes,) throughout the group to which we conceire the Hyaenas to belong, the dental system of which latter appears to be modified in accordance with their much increased and prodigious strength of jaw.] The Civets (Fiverra), — Have three false molars above and four below, the anterior of which sometimes fall out ; two tolerably large tuberculous teeth above, one only below, and two tubercles projecting forwards on the inner side of the lower carnivorous tooth, the rest of that tooth being tuberculous. The tongue is covered with sharp and rough papillae. Their claws are more or less raised as they walk ; and near the anus is a pouch more or less deep, where an unctuous and often odorous matter is secreted by peculiar glands. They divide into four subgenera. The True Civets {Viverra, Cuv.), — In which the pouch, large, and situate between the anus and the genitals, divided also into two sacs, is abundantly supplied with a pommade having a strong musky odour, secreted by glands which surround the pouch. This substance is an article of commerce, much used in perfumery. It was more employed when musk and ambergris were little known. The pupil of the eye remains round during the day*, and their claws are only semi-retractUe. [Four species are known, from Africa and India: beautiful spotted animals, larger than a domestic Cat: they have an erectible mane along the back (as in the Hyaenas), more or less conspicuous : are of an indolent disposition, and easily tamed ; feed partly on fruits; ar.d when irritated raise the dorsal mane, and liiss like Cats.] The Genets {Genetta, Cuv.), — Have tlie pouch reduced to a slight depres- sion formed by the projection of the glands, with scarcely any discernible secretion, al- though diffusing a very perceptible odour. In the light, their pupil forms a vertical fissure ; and their claws are completely re- tractile, as in the Cats. [They are smaller and more slender animals than the Civets, from which they scarcely differ in style of colour- ing : are also partly, but less, frugivorous, and in general easily tamed. The species are numerous, and inhabit the same general locality as the preceding. One (Viv. genetta, Lin.) ] is found from the south of France to the Cape of Good Hope. It frequents the edges of brooks, near springs, &c., and its skin forms an important article of traffic. [The Galet {Cryptoproctay Ben.) — Would appear, from its dentition, to be the most carnivorous of the Viverrine quadrupeds : its jaws are much abbreviated, and there are only two false molars to each : claws wholly retractile. The species (C. ferox, Ben.) is little larger than a Stoat, and uniformly brown, with large ears : an inhabitant of Madagascar. Eupleres (Jourdan ?) would seem to be allied. The Delundung {Prionodon, Horsf.) — Is also alUed to the Genets, hut with the false molars three-lobed or serrated. Felis and subsequently Pr. gracilis, Horsf., is the only species ; a rare Javanese animal, of slender form, very handsomely streaked and spotted.] » Indicating that they inhabit the open country. See the Cats (Fe/ii).— Ed. Fig. 31.— The African Civet. CARNARIA. 93 The Musangs (Paradoxurus, F. Cuv.) — Possess the teeth and most of the characters of the Genets, with which they were long confounded : but their general form is stouter, and their gait plantigrade: what more particularly distinguishes them, however, is the spiral inclination of the tail*, which is not prehensile. Only one species is known, the Pongonné of India (P. typus, F. Cuv.), termed Palm Marten by the French in India. [No less than ten or twelve have since been discovered, chiefly from India and thereat Asiatic islands, though some inhabit Africa. They feed much on fruit, but are also tolerably carnivorous, springing upon their prey from a place of ambush : gait slow and plantigrade, with the head and tail lowered, and the back arched ; but they also advance by rapid digital bounds, and are excellent climbers, constructing a nest on the forked branches of trees. They are easily tamed, and, when angry, growl and spit like Cats : sleep rolled up in a ball, &c. As the Dogs may be considered the highest of the Carnivora, and the Cats the most eminently predaceous, so the Musangs may be regarded as presenting the fairest average of a member of this division. Their dentition is scarcely distinguishable from that of the Dogs ; but, on reverting the cranium, their cerebral cavity is seen to be proportionally smaller. Various species of Musang have been named as separate subgenera by different systematists. Ambliodon, Jourd., is the IcUde dorée of M. F. Cuvier ; and Paguma, Gray, refers to the young of P. larvatus. P. Berbianus, Gray, a species approximating the Genets, of a fulvous-grey colour, with broad cross bands of dark brown, is the Hemigalea zebra of Jourdan. Most of them present the streaks and spots of the Genets, but on a darker ground-tint. Several affect the vicinity of human habitations, and are very destructive to poultry, their eggs, &c. The Cynogale {Cynogale, Gray; Limictis, Blainv.) — Is an aquatic representative of the preceding, to which it bears a similar relation to that which the Otters hold with the Weasels. Its false molars are large, compressed, sharp, and slightly notched or serrated ; and entire dental system, together with its external characters, generally modified for a pis- civorous regimen. One species only is known (C. Bennettii, Gr. ; Viv. and Lim. carcharias, Bl.)— A natiye of Sumatra, uniform dark brown ; the ears smaU : head, and also colouring, very similar to that of a common Otter : its tail, however, is cylindrical.] The Mangoustes {Mangusta, Cuv. ; Herpestes, IlLf) The pouch voluminous and simple, and the anus situate within its cavity ; [bony orbits of the skuU most usually perfect.] Their hairs are annulated with pale and dark tints, which determine the general colour of the eye. [Tail long as in the preceding subdivisions, and bushy towards its insertion. Tlie species are very numerous ; and] that of Egypt (Viv. ichneumon, Lin.), so celebrated among the ancients by the name of Ichneumon, is grey, with a long tail terminated by a black tuft ; it is larger than our Cat, and as slender as a Marten. It chiefly hunts for the eggs of the Crocodile, but also feeds on all sorts of small animals ; brought up in houses [where, in common with its congeners, it is readily domesticated, and exhibits much intelli- gence and attachment], it pursues Mice, reptiles, &c. By the Em-opeans at Cairo it is designated Pharaoh^s Rat, and Nems by the natives. Tlie ancient allegation of its entering the throat of the Crocodile, to destroy it, is quite fabulous. The common Indian species (Viv. mungos, Lin.) is celebrated for its combats with the most dangerous serpents ; and for having led us to a knowledge of the Ophiorhiza mungos as an antidote to their venom. [Some are less vermiform in their make, and higher on the legs : one, termed the Vansire by Buffon, forms the division Athylax of M. F. Cuvier; others compose the Galidea and Ichneumonia of M. Is. Geoffroy : Cynictis, Og., includes several species with only four toes to each foot ; and Lasiopus and Mongo, Auct., are additional dismember- ments of this genus. The Urva of Mr. Hodgson appears also to be a Mangouste, with incomplete orbits.] The Surikate {Ryzœna, 111.) — Resembles the Mangoustes, even to the tints and annulations of its fiir ; but is distinguished from them, and from aU the Carnivora hitherto mentioned [save the Lycaon picta and Cynictis, just indi- cated], by having only four toes to each foot. It is also higher upon the legs, and does not possess the small molar immediately behind the canine. The pouch extends even into the anus. Only one is known (Viv. tetradaetyla, Gm.), a native of Africa, and rather smaller than the Mangouste of India. The Mangue {Crossarchus, F. Cuv.), — Has the muzzle, teeth, pouch, and gait of the Surikate ; the toes and genital organs of the Man- goustes. * In those which I have seen alive, including P. ^y/Ji/y, this charac- i + This term is more generally adi>ptcd. The name Ichneumon^ ter was not perceptible : the individual 6gured by M. F- Cuvier pre- formerly applied to the animals of this genus, has been transferred seating a morbid deformity, an analogous instance of which occurred to a ver}' extensive group of Hymenopterous Insects. — Ed. in a Leopard formerly exhibited in London. — Ed. I 94 MAMMALIA. We know but of one {Cr. obscurus, F. Cuv.), from Sierra Leone : size of a Surikate. [Other Mangoustes are included by recent systematists ; and it may be remarked that both this and the preceding subdivision are merely slight modifications of Herpestes, and have similar perfect orbits.] We shall here mention a singular animal from South Africa, which is known only when young, and which has five toes before, four behind, and the head a little elongated as in the Civets, the legs raised, those behind rather shorter, and a mane as in the Hyaena ; and which also resembles the Striped Hyaena very remarkably in its colouring. Its anterior thumb is short, and placed high up. The Proteles Lalandi, Is. Geof. ; an inhabitant of caverns. The individuals examined, which were all young, possessed but three small false molars, and one small tuberculous back molar. It seems as though their teeth had never come to perfection, as often happens in the Genets. (See my Ossemens fossiles, iv. 388.) [The per- manent canines are of tolerable size, but the simple form of the molars, all very small, and separated by intervals, presents an anomaly among the Carnivora, which is even more re- markable on account of the affinity of this spe- cies to the Hyaenas. It is destructive to very young lambs, and is stated to attack the mas- sive fatty protuberance on the tails of the African Sheep.] Fig. 32.— Proteles Lalandi. The last subdivision of the Digitigrades has no small teeth whatever behind the large molar of the lower jaw. It contains the most sanguinary and carnivorous of the class. There are two genera. The Hyjenas {Hyama, Storr) — Have three false molars above and four below, all conical, blunt, and singularly large : their upper car- nivorous tooth has a small tubercle within and in front ; but the lower one has none, presenting only two stout cutting points. This powerful armature enables them to crush the bones of the largest prey. Their tongue is rough [exhibiting a circular collection of retroflected spines] ; all their feet have each but four toes, as in the Surikate ; and under the anus is a deep and glandular pouch, which led the ancients to believe that these animals were hermaphrodite. The muscles of their neck, and of the jaws, are so robust, that it is almost impossible to take from them anything they may have seized ; whetice, among the Arabs, their name is the symbol of obstinacy. It sometimes happens that their cervical vertebrae become anchylosed in consequence of these violent efforts ; and thus has arisen the opinion that the animals of this genus have only one bone in their neck. They are nocturnal animals, and inhabit caverns ; voracious, subsisting chiefly on dead bodies, which they will even disinter from the grave, a habit that has given rise to a multitude of superstitious traditions. Tliree species are known. The striped Hyaena (H. vulgaris. Cams hyana, Lin.), foimd from India to Abyssinia and Senegal. The spotted H. (H. crociita, Schreb., C. crocuta, Lin.,) from South Africa ; and the Woolly Hyaena, {H. bruanea, Thunb., H. villosa. Smith), also from South Africa. Remains of a fossil species (H. spelaa) are found in many cavern deposits of France, Germany, and England. [Hyaenas are easily tamed, if allowed their liberty, and are susceptible of strong attachment to those who use them kindly : many are employed in the capacity of watch-dogs both in Asia and Africa. They are physiologically nearly related to the Civets, and not to the Dogs * ; and the loss of the posterior tuberculous molar appears to be a consequence of the great increase in size of the carnivorous grinders : notwithstanding which these animals feed much on bulbs.] The Cats {Felis, Lin.)— Are, of all the Camaria, the most completely and powerfully armed. Their short and rounded muzzle, short jaws, and especially their retractile talons, which, being raised upward when at rest, and closing within the toes, by the action of elastic ligaments, lose neither point nor edge, render them most for- midable animals, more particularly the larger species. They have two false molars above, and two • Their rough tongue, small and not spiral coecum, the structure of their reproductive organs, and consequent mode of copulation ; their anal pouch, style of colouring, &c., combine to indicate their true position to be as above assigned, . CARNARIA. 95 below : the upper carnivorous tooth three-lobed, with a broad heel on its inner side ; the inferior with two pointed and cutting lobes, and without any heel : finally, they have only one very small upper tubercular, and no corresponding one in the lower jaw. [These animals creep unawares upon their prev, and seize it with a sudden spring, in which they expend their energy.] The species are exceedingly numerous, and vary much in size and colour, but they are all nearly similar in structure. We can only subdivide them by characters of trivial import, as size, and the length of fur. At the head of this genus ranks Tlie Lion (Felis leo, Lin.), the most powerful of the beasts of prey ; distinguished by its uniform tawny colour, the tuft of black hair at the end of the tail, and the flowing mane which clothes the head, neck, and shoulders of the male. Formerly inhabiting- the three divisions of the ancient world, it appears to be now confined to Africa, and the neighbouring parts of Asia. Its head is squarer than in the following species. [The Lion is subject to considerable variation, chiefly as regards the quantity of mane, and lengthened hair on other parts : those of Guizerat are almost destitute of any ; the Lions of Africa present the greatest quantity, in many of which there is a median line of long hair extending along the belly ; but even these differ one from another : there is also con- siderable difference of physiognomy between the African and Asiatic Lions, and the latter are always paler, and reputed to be less courageous ; but there is no difference of size and apparent strength. Those who distinguish the Lions of Asia and Africa as different species, might change their opinion on seeing the various adults now living in London.] Tigers are large species with short hair, and commonly exhibiting vivid markings. [We may here observe that it is quite impossible to subdivide the genus Fel'u into definite sections, and that every attempt of this kind hitherto made has consequently proved a complete failure : the transition into the Lynxes is most gradual ; and the spotless species (as the Lion, Puma, &c.) are marked like the rest when young. Those species, however, which affect the open country-, as the Lion and Leopard, have the pupil of the eye contracting to a point ; whereas in those which inhabit forests, as the Tiger and domestic Cat, the pupil closes to a vertical Une, permitting thus when least dilated, of a full range of vision, in the direction in which these animals chiefly watch for prey. A few of the more conspicuous may be briefly indicated.] The Tiger {F. tigris, Lin.)— As large as the Lion, but with the body longer and head rounder ; of a bright red- dish-buff above, with irregular black transverse stripes, and pure white underneath ; [the hair surrovmding the head elongated] : the most cruel of quadrupeds, and the scourge of the East Indies. Such are the strength and the velocity of its movements, that during the march of an army it has been known to seize a soldier while on horse-back, and bear him ofl" to the jungle, without aftording a chance of rescue. [This species also occurs, sparingly, in northern Asia. Its markings vary much in different individuals.] The Jaguar (F. onca, Lin.) of America.— Nearly as large as the preceding, and scarcely less dangerous : it is beautifully spotted with rings more or less complete, and containing smaller spots [on a deeper ground-tint : the space included within the annulations of all the spotted Cats being deeper coloured than the rest of the body.] Black individuals sometimes occur, which have the spots more intense, and visible only at particular angles, [the fur of the spots differing in texture : the same has been observed of the Tiger and Leopard, and albino individuals of the former have likewise been noticed. Jaguars also differ much one from another]. The Panther (F. pardm, Lin. : Pardalis of the ancients.) — [Covered with annular series of irregxilar small spots.] It is widely spread over Africa, the hottest region of Asia, and also the Indian archipelago. The Leopard (F. leopardm, Lin.)— [Very like the ^\JJW^V"\ /7>^r^ Panther, but with the markings less broken into '^ " ^ small spots : it varies, however, considerably, and the two sides of the same animal do not always resemble : from Asia and Africa.] These two spe- cies are smaller than the American Jaguar [and are very doubtfully separable from each other. The Ounce of Buffon (F. uncia, Gm.) is a long- haired mountain Cat, as large as a Leopard, with tail longer than the body : also similarly spotted, but more obscvu-ely, and on a paler ground-tint. It inhabits the Asiatic mountains, and a fine spe- cimen of it has lately been deposited in the British Museum. Of the other spotted Cats, may be mentioned the F. chalybeata, Herm.,from the north of India; &nAF.viverrina, Ben., from Sumatra*: also the Rymau-dyan (Fig. 33), or gigantic Tiger-cat of Sumatra (F. macroscelis), and the nearly aUied but smaller Marbled Cat {F. marmorata), from the same locahty, which are remarkable for length of tail. The Ocelot of South America (F. pardalis, Fig. 33.— Tiger-cat of Sumatra. • Notwithstanding its name, this species presents no real approach to Fiverra : its cranium, for instance, being strictly that of a Felts, 96 MAMMALIA. Lin.), twice the size of a large domestic Cat, and comparatively lower on the legs, is marked somewhat like the Jaguar, but with a tendency to a linking of the spots into longitudinal bands, more or less obsen'able in different individuals.* F. Sumatranus and Bengalensis are not larger than a House-cat, but coloured like the foregoing ; though individuals commonly occur of the same greyish ground-tint as the majority of the smaller species. A beautiful European Cat, with the markings of the Leopard group, is the F. pardina, Oken, which inhabits the mountains of Spain ; its tail, however, is short, as in the following. There are many others]. Lyn.\es are short-tailed Cats, with mostly pencil-tufts to their ears, and fur generally spotted more or less dis- tinctly : those of cold countries have the fur long. A species little less than a Leopard (F. lynx, Lin.) still inhabits the mountainous parts of Europe, from Scandinavia to Spain and Naples, and, it is said, the north of Africa also. [Prof. Nilsson dis- tinguishes three large European species in Scan- dinavia, and figures different varieties of each.] The Canada Lynx is smaller, with very long fur, which extends even under the toes ; [it is allied to the Wild Cat of Britain. There are many others, some, as the Pampas Cat (F.pajeros) grad- ing into the next group. We can only notice a handsome short-haired species, the Caracal of Turkey and Persia, almost uniform bright vinous red ; it is the true Lynx of the ancients. Tlie Chati (F. Serval, F. Cuv.), an elegant spotted species, of slender form, and very high upon the legs, may be approximated to this group, and indeed has a moderately short and singularly Fig. 34.— Fells Lyii mobile tail : it inhabits Africa. Allied to it is the Chati (F. mitis), a native of South America. Approaching the domestic Cat in size, colour, and markings, are also numerous species, among which the native Cat of Britain (fig. 35) may be particularized, distinguished by its tail not tapering as in the tame Cat ; it is also larger, but with much shorter intestinal canal, though it is probable that the length of intestine in the common Cat may have been gradually induced by long-continued habituation to a less carnivorous regimen, operating through many successive generations. The domestic Cat is referred by Temminck to his F. maniculata, a species wild in Egypt ; but is probably a mingled race, derived from several distinct wild stocks : our author, in his last edition, referred it to the European Wild Cat, but subsequently retracted his opinion : the Angora variety of it is perhaps the most remarkable, being -.0 c\^- covered with long silky hair. Of the spotless species, may be mentioned] The Cougar, Puma, or pretended Lion of America (F. concolor, Lin.) (Fig. 36,)— Red [sil- very or greyish-red], with small spots of a slightly deeper colour, which are not easily per- ceived [nor always present in the adults, and a smaU black tuft at the end of the tail. Size nearly that of a Leopard], from both Americas, where it preys on Sheep, Deer, &c. [and has been known, though very rarely, to attack mankind. An allied species, redder, and with shorter tail, exclusively from South America, is known as F. unicolor; and there is a small species also very similar, the Eira of Azzara, the tail of which is not tufted. The Jaguarondi ,-■ -. „r-, /> . is another from the same locality, of medium Fig as— WilaCat. ■" size, altogether of a blackish-brown, more or less dark and rather low on the legs: and there is a deep reddish-brown Cat in India, scarcely larger than the • As a warning against relying too much upon Ibe proverbially uncertain temper of these eminently carnivorous animals, may be mentioned a fact which occurred not lone ago in France. A gentleman had succeeded in taming an Ocelot, which for three years enjoyed the range of his house and garden as freely as a domestic Cat, appearing thoroughly reclaimed. One evening, however, at the fire- side, when a child of three years old was playing with it, as it had often done before, the animal, being irritated, seized the infant by the throat, and killed it before assistance could be rendered. An instance has occurred in this country of a babe being attacked by a tame Ferret. The Domestic Cat is undoubtedly more susceptible of attachment than it has been generally described ; and it is surprising to perceive how patiently it bears the rough handling of children. We have seen it hail the return of persons it knew with as lively joy as any animal could well testify, and this in the case of individuals who had never fed it : but it is understood, with what general truth may perhaps be questioned, that while the Dog will mourn and even pine to death over the body of its master, the Cat feels no compunction in making it its prey : it is needless to observe, however, that the intel- lect of the Cat is very much inferior to that of the Dog, on which account some allowance may be granted. With respect to the Domestic Cat, also, another consideration may be borne in mind, which is, that there can be little doubt that its nature has been considerably modified by domestication, which has gradually rendered it less exclusively carnivorous than its wild con geners. It is even remarkable that instances of the rapacity of this animal towards young children are not of frequent occurrence. — Ed. CARNARIA. 97 Fig. 36.— Toe Puma domestic, named i?. Temminckii: F. p?a«Jc: rosmarus, L.) ; an inhabitant of all parts of the Arctic seas, exceeding the largest Bull in bulk ; it attains a length of twenty feet, and is covered with short yel- lowish hair. Tliis animal is much sought for on account of its oil and tusks ; the ivory of which, though coarse- grained, is employed in the arts. The skin makes excellent coach-braces. [A strange assertion originated with Sir E. Home, that the feet of the Morse possess suckers, by which it is enabled to ascend perpendicular ice-bergs. There is no foundation for this statement. It is difficult to intercalate the Amphibia in the series of Carnivora, and to determine to what extent their peculiarities should be regarded as adaptive modifications, based on the rudimental structure of the whole order. At the head of the Carnivora we prefer to place the Dogs or Canidœ, followed by the Viverridœ and Felidce : the Seals or Phocidœ might, we conceive, next range with less impro- priety than elsewhere : and after them the Mas^eZic^œ, and Ursidœj then, ûnally, the Insectivora, which the author ranks as equivalent to all the foregoing. The Cheiroptera, or Bats, we deem to be subordinate rather to the preceding order. Remains of nearly all the principal genera and some additional ones have been found, more or less abundantly, in the tertiary strata, or deposits overlying the chalk, but not in beds of anterior formation.] THE FOURTH ORDER OF MAMMALIANS,— MARSUPIATA,— {Or that of the Pouched Animals,) — With which we formerly terminated the Carnaria, as a fourth family of that great ordinal division, presents so many singularities in the economy of its members, that we are induced to separate and elevate it to its present position ; the more particularly, as we observe in it a sort of representation of three very different orders. The first of all their peculiarities is the premature production of their young, which are born in a state of developement scarcely comparable to that of an ordinary foetus a few days after conception. Incapable of motion, and barely exhibiting the rudiments of limbs and MARSUPIATA. loi other external organs, these minute oifspring attach themselves to the teats of their mother, and remain fixed there until they have acquired a degree of developement analogous to that in which other animals are born. The skin of the abdomen is almost always so disposed around the mammae as to form a pouch, in which these imperfect young are preserved as in a second uterus ; and into which, long after they can walk, they retire for shelter on the appre- hension of danger. Two peculiar bones attached to the pubis, and interposed between the muscles of the abdomen, support the pouch, [and prevent inconvenient pressure of the young, when grown, upon the bowels.] These bones are also found in the male, and even in those species in which the fold that forms the pouch is scarcely visible. The matrix of the animals of this order does not open by a single orifice into the extremity of the vagina, but communicates with this canal by two bent lateral tubes. The premature birth of the young appears to depend on this singular organization. The scrotum of the male, contrary to what obtains in other quadrupeds, hangs before the penis, which at rest is directed backwards. Another pecuHarity of the Marsupiata is, that, notwithstanding a general resemblance of the species to each other, so striking that they were all long included in one genus, they differ so much in the teeth, the digestive organs, and the feet, that if we rigidly adhered to these characters, it would be necessary to separate them into distinct orders? They carry us by insensible gradations from the Carnaria to the Rodentia*, and there are even some animals which have the pelvis furnished with similar bones ; but which, being destitute of incisors and even of any sort of teeth, have been approximated to the Edentata, where, in fact, we shall leave them, under the name of Monotremata. [The latter are now more properly included as a second order of the same superior division of Mammalia which contains the Marsupiata, by the general consent of physiologists.] In brief, it may be stated that the Marsupiata form a distinct class, parallel to that of ordinai-y quadrupeds, and divisible into similar orders; so that, if we were to arrange these two classes into even columns, the Opossums, Dasyures, and Bandicoots, would be opposed to the insectivorous Carnaria, such as the Tenrecs and Moles; the Phalangers and Potoroos to the Urchins and Shrews ; while the Kangaroos, properly so called, could^not well be compared with any other genus; but the Wombat should be placed opposite the Rodentia. Lastly, if we were to consider the bones of the pouch only [commonly desig- nated marsupial bones], and regard as marsupial all animals which possess them, the Platypuses and Echidnas might compose a group parallel to the Edentata. LinnjEus ranged all the species which he knew under his genus Didelphis, signifying double matrix. The pouch is indeed in some respects a second one. [The Marsupiata, together mth the Monotremata, is now generally regarded as a distinct subclass, Ovovivipara, equivalent to the rest of the Mammalia. Its members are lower in their organization than any other mammiferous animals, approximating the oviparous type (and particularly Reptiles), in sundry details of their organization. The hemispheres of the brain, for instance, (which is much reduced in size,) are not united by a corpus callosumj and they are observed to be very defective in inteUigence, as is indicated by their phy'- siognomy t : the blood also is returned to the heart by two principal veins, as in Birds and Reptiles ; and the sutures of the skull never become united. In short, they hold an analogous relation towards other Mammalia, to that which the Batrachia present to all other Reptiles. Their incisor teeth frequently exceed six in number, which is the maxi- mum throughout the rest of the class,— another indication of their inferiority. The geographic range of the Marsupiata, with the exception of the Opossum group peculiar to America, is at present almost confined to Australia and the neighboui-ing coun- J. .""n^fiT" ""^ '"PP"'''""." """ ""= e"^^'"f '""> °f "-^ Rodentia | >upiata, is afforded by their turning to bite the stick with which they are n>od,fied .nc.sors, wh.ch » more than doubtful.-ED. are smitten, rather than the hand that guides it. ^ t A curion» illustration of this inferiority on the part of the Mar- I 102 MAMMALIA. tries, where thej^ constitute, very nearly indeed, the only mammiferous animals ; but fossil remains of them oceiu-, sparingly, in the ancient secondary deposits of Eiu-ope, where hitherto no higher Mammalia have been detected. Consequently, the Marsupiata would appear to have been much earlier introduced upon our planet ; a fui'ther indication, if not of their inferiority, at least of their intrinsical separateness as a group : there is reason also to suspect that at former epochs they were much more numerous, as well as generally diffused, than at jiresent.*] The first subdivision of them is distinguished by long canines, and small incisors to each jaw ; the back molars are beset with pointed tubercles, and the general character of the teeth is the same as in the Insectivora, which these animals entirely resemble in their regimen. The Opossums {Didelphis, Lin.), — Which of all the Marsupiata have been the longest known, compose a genus peculiar to America. They have ten incisors above, and eight below ; three anterior compressed molars, and four sharply tuberculated back molars, the superior of which are triangular, the inferior oblong : so that, with the four canines, they have in all fifty teeth, a number greater than has as yet been observed in any other quadruped.f Their tongue is bristled, and the tail prehensile and in part naked ; the hinder thumb is long and effectively opposable to the four- other digits, whence the name Pedimana has been apphed to these animals ; it is not furnished with a nail. Their extremely wide mouth, and large naked ears, give them a peculiar physiognomy. The glam penis is bifurcated. They are fetid and noctiu-nal animals, whose gait is slow ; nestle upon trees, and there pursue birds, insects, &c., without rejecting fruit : their stomach is small and simple, and the cœcum moderate and without enlargements. The females of certain species have a deep pouch, wherein are placed their teats, and in which the young are inclosed. The Common Opossum (B.virginiana, Pen. (fig. 41.) —Nearly the size of a Cat; fur, a mixture of black and fvhite : it inhabits the whole of America, enters the villages at night, and attacks poultrj', devour- ing their eggs, &c. The young at birth, sometimes sixteen in number, weigh only a grain each. Al- though blind and nearly shapeless, they find the nipple by instinct, and adhere until they have at- tamed the size of a Mouse, which happens about the fiftieth day, at which epoch they open their eyes. Tlie\ continue to return to the pouch until they are as large as Rats. The term of uterine gestation '^ only twenty-six days. [Several others are known ; 11 of which] the Crab-eating Opossum (D. cancri- nui), frequents the marshes of the sea-coast, where It feeds chiefly upon crabs. Other species possess no pouch, but merely a vestige of it, or fold of skin on each side of the belly. They habitually carry their young on their backs, the tails of the latter being entwined round that of the mother. [\ considerable number are known, from South America.] The Yapach (Cheironecfes, Illig.) — [Is merely an aquatic Opossum, with semi-pal- mate toes.] entertained the same idea. The question still remains tubjudice; and It even appears that the objections to either solution of the difficulty are more weig:hty than the arguments in its favour. t There arc fifty-two teeth in the newly-discovered Myrmecobius. The multiplication of the teeth in the Cetacea is on n ditfereut principle. — Ed. Fig. 41. — Common Opossum. • Since writing the above. Prof. Btainville has published an elabo- rate Essay on the reputed Marsupiata of the secondary deposits, wherein he advances the opinion that these celebrated fossil remains appertain rather to reptiles of a hlijher organization than any now e-xisting. M- Valenciennes and Prof. Owen have subseiiuently ad- vocated the currently received opinion; while the first-named natu- ralist has been supported by Dr. Grant, who long previously bad I MARSUPIATA. 103 The Yapach (Did. palmata, Geof. ; Lutra memina, Bodd, fig. 42) frequents the rivers of Guiana. All the other Marsupials inhabit eastern countries, and especially New Holland ; a land of which the mammiferous population seems even to consist principally of ani- mals of this group. [The three next genera, and probably the fourth, possess no cœcum.] The Thylacines (Thylacinus, Tem.) — Are the largest of this first division : they are distinguished from the Opossums by the hind-feet having no thumb, by a hairy and not prehensile tail, and two incisors less to each jaw ; their molars are of the same number. They have accordingly forty-six teeth ; but the external edge of Fig:. 42.— TheT.pach. ^ jl^g three large ones is projecting and trenchant, almost like the carnivorous tooth of a Dog : their ears are hairy, and of middle size. But one [hving] species is known, a native of Van Diemen's Land. — Size that of a [small] Wolf, but lower on the leg's ; of a greyish colour, barred with black across the crupper (Did. ci/nocepliala, Harris). It is very carnivorous, and pursues all small quadrupeds. [Tliis animal does not fish, as has been stated ; nor is its tail compressed : it is principally nocturnal, and is called Tiffer and Hyana in its native island.] A. fossil species of Thylaciue has been found in the gypsum quarries of Paris. The Phascogales {Phascogale, Tem.) — Have the same number of teeth as the Thylacines ; but their middle incisors are longer than the others, and their back molars more sharply tuberculated, in which respect they rather approximate the Opossums. They are also allied to them by their small size ; the tail, however, is not prehensile : their posterior thumbs, though very short, are still distinctly apparent. [Four species are now known, varying from the size of a R