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MEMBRR OF THE ANTIQUARIAN AND ROYAL \
SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH.

EDINBURGH:

PRINTED FOR THE HEIRS OF CHARLES ELLIOTS
AND
GELLVOT &ND T. KAY, Ts. CADEL Ly
AND G. G. J.&J. ROBINSONS,
: LONDON.

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PRINCE OF WALES,

THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL HISTORY

IS MOST HUMBLY DEDICATED,

BY HIS DEVOTED SERVANT

WILLIAM SMELLIE

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VERY Preface, befide occafional or explanatory
remarks, fhould contain not only the general
defign of the work, but the motives and circumftan-
ces which induced the author to write upon that par-
ticular fubject. If this plan had been univerfally obfer-
ved, prefaces would have exhibited a fhort, but a cu-
rious and ufeful, hiftory both of literature and of au-
thors. Influenced by this idea, I fhall give a very
compendious account of the origin, defign, and pro-
grefs of the following work.

About fifteen years ago, in a converfation with the
late worthy, refpeCtable, and ingenious Lorp Kamzs,
upon the too general neglect of natural knowledge,
his Lordfhip fuggefted the idea of compofing a book
on the PHittosopuy or Naturat History. In
a work of this kind, he propofed that the productions.
of Nature, which to us are almoft infinite, fhould, in-

ftead

V1 Pi EE F A € Sf.

ftead of being treated of individually, be arranged un-
der general heads; that, in each of thefe divifions,
the known faéts, as well as reafonings, fhould be col-
leGted and methodifed in the form of regular dif-
courfes; that as few technical terms as poffible fhould
be employed; and that all the ufeful and amufing
views arifing from the different fubje€ts f{hould be ex-
hibited in fuch a manner as to convey both pleafure
and information.

This tafk his Lordthip was pleafed to think me not
alrogether unqualified to attempt. The idea ftruck
me. I thought that a work of this kind, if executed
even with moderate abilities, might excite a tafte for _
examining the various objects which every where fo-
licit our attention. A habit of obfervation refines
our feelings. It is a fource of interefting amufement,
prevents idle or vicious propenfities, and exalts the
mind to a love of virtue and of rational entertainment.
I likewife refle@ted, that men of learning often betray
an ignorance on the moft common fubjects of Natural
Hiftory, which it is painful to remark.

I have been occafionally employed, fince the period
which I have mentioned, in colle@ing and digefting
materials from the moft authentic fources. Thefe

materials

Sok & FF A C. FE. vil

materials I have interfperfed with fuch obfervations,
refleGtions, and reafonings, as occurred to me from
confidering the multifarious fubje&s of which I have
ventured to treat. I knew that a deliberate perufal
of the numerous writers from Ariftotle downwards,
would require a confiderable portion of time. But the
avocations of bufinefs, and the tranflating of a work
fo voluminous as the Watural Hi/ftory of the Count pr
Burron, rendered my progrefs much flower than I
wifhed. I now, however, with much diffidence, fub-
mit my labours to public opinion. An examination
of the Contents, however, will convey a more clear idea
of the nature of the work than a multiplicity of words.
But I thought it proper to prefix a fhort account of the
circumftances and motives which induced me to en-
gage in an undertaking fo extenfive, and fo difficult to
perform with tolerable fuccefs.

With regard to the manner of writing, it is per-
haps impofhble for a North Briton, in a work of any
extent, to avoid what are called Scotticifms. But I
have endeavoured to be every where perfpicuous, and
to fhun every fentiment or expreflion which might
have a tendency to injure focicty, or to. hurt the feel~
ings of individuals.

Indulgent

vill PR £ FEF A © ie

Indulgent readers, though they muft perceive er-
rors and imperfections, will naturally make fome al-
lowance for the variety of refearch, and the labour of
condenfing fo much matter into fo {mall a compafs. ©
He is a bad author, it has been faid, who affords nei-
ther an aphorifm nor a motto.

I cannot refrain from mentioning a circumftance
which has often made me uneafy. The expectations
of fome friends were higher than I was con{cious my
abilities could reach.

Upon the whole, the general defign of this publi-
cation is, to convey to the minds of youth, and of
fuch as may have paid little attention to the ftudy of
Nature, a fpecies of knowledge which it is not difh-
cult to acquire.. This knowledge will be a perpetual
and inexhauftible fource of manly pleafures; it will
afford innocent and virtuous amufement, and will oc-
cupy agreeably the leifure or vacant hours of life.

CON-

eer TY Reo Ne T i$.

Gon Aa eB ee i,

Of the Diftinguifbing Characters of Animals, Plants, and Mine=
rals—-The analogies between the plant and animal, arifing
from their firucture and organs, their growth and nouri/h-
ment, their diffemination and decay - = S

GEER Ay Pes): TT.

Of the Organs and General Srructure of Animals—A fbort view
of the external and internal parts of the human body—The
Sfiructure of Quadrupeds, Birds, Fifbes, and Infects—How far
peculiarities of firucture are connected with peculiarities of
manners and difpofitions - - - -

Sided @ ceed 3 tel eae tI

Of the Refpiration of Animals—Air neceffary to the exiflence of
all animated beings—The various modifications of the organs
employed by Nature for the tranfinifion of air into animal
bodies - - = - - -

Page

42

103

x CuOo UN Teh N iis:

Che Ae Pay. SV.

Of the Motions of Animals—The Caufes and infiruments of ani-
mal motion—Animal compared with mechanical motion =

CE PAW Rai Ne

Of the Infinct of Animals—Divifion of inftincts—Examples of
pure inftinct—Of fuch inflincts as can accommodate themfelves
to peculiar circumflances and fituations—Of inflincis improve-
able by obfervation and experience—Some remarks and conclu-
fions from this view of inftinct - - -

CoE ae Pi ML,

Of the Senfes in General - - = Ly
Of Smelling - - - . ae
Of Tafting - - = 3 4
Of Hearing - -' = 5 s
Of Louch - - - 2 5
Of Seeing: - - - 3 “

GAN. Sk VER

Of the Infancy of Animals—Some fpecies continue longer, and
others fhorter, in this flate—Different modes of managing in-

fants in diferent countries = = -

Ci Bin A oP Set,

Of the Food of animals—Their growth and expanfion—The va-
rieties of food ufed by men and other animals—Effects of pe-
culiar foods - - - g = = s

CHAP.

Page

132

144

160
1601
165
167
174.
177

216

Oo Ne Feb N» Tr xi

GH A‘ Pi TEX.
Page
Of the Sexes of Animals—The mental and corporeal differences
between males and females—Some animals endowed with both
Sexes in the fame individual - - - - 236

Sect. IL Of the Sexes of Plants - - - 245

Cis Ss aby Pal

Of Puberty—Its fymptoms and effects in different animals - 264

Cait ATES x.

Of Love—Its expreffions and effects in different animals—Pair-
ing—Scafons—Parental affection - - - 269

© iH 6A} P.. aE:

Of the Transformation of Animals—Transformation of the cater-
pillar tribes—of frogs, &*c.—All animals undergo changes im
their form and afpec-—What are the probable intentions of
Nature in changing forms - - - - - 286

¢ HAP. AUE

Of the Habitations of Animals—Their diferent modes of con-
firudling abodes for warmth and protection to themfelves and
their offspring—The form and manner of their habitations ac-
commodated to the exigencies of the animal - - 310

b 2 CHAP.

il Gp OPN FE Ne Rs XS;

CoH ALPss ExINE
Page
Of the Hoftilities of Animals—Why animals prey upon one an-
other, but feldom on their own Jpecies—Advaniages derived
from this feemingly deftructive inflitution of Nature - 374

CoA + VG
Of the Artifices of Animals in catching their prey and efcaping
their enemies—Thefé artifices are, in general, purely inflinc- |

tive ; but Jome animals can vary their mode of attack or de-
fence according to particular circumftances and fituations 399

CUE w Ate Poco Le
Of the Society of Animals—What are the motives and advanta-

ges of it—Gregarious tribes—-Whether man belongs to this
tribe—Society of two kinds - - - - 4AI4

GQoHivA\P. VN,

Of the Docility of Animals—How far improveable by culture—
Effects of domeftication - - - - 435

G, He ALP. SV IIL

Of the Characters and Difpofitions of Animals—Rapacious—
mild—timid—bold—generous - - - 464

CH Ax

SC COnme aT EIN FS:

Gea ANP ERT,
Of the Principle of Imitation in Animals—Is the neare/? approach
to reafoning and language - - - ~
Sipals Bs Ua) aera. D.

Of the Migration of Animals—More general than commonly be-
lieved—The probable motives which induce animals to mi-
grate - - - - - =

CAP.) XT,

Of the Longevity and Death of Animals—A comparative view
of animals with regard to the duration of life, and its confe-
quences - - - . - -

CRA Pe eal tf,

Of the Progreffive Scale of Animals—fops at man, and why—
In this world, it appears to be impoffible that a being fuperior
to man could exift—Reafons for this opinion - -

Xi

Page

469

473

504

520

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Page 383. line 6. from the bottom, for {peeders read fpiders.

’

THE

PRILOSOPHY

WHE URAL HIS TORY,

CA AP) TE BuRi b

Diftinguifhing characters of Animals, Plants, and Minerals—The
Analogies between the plant and animal, arifing from their ftruc-
ture and organs, their growth and nourifhment, their diffemination
and decay.

ATURAL Bodies, when viewed as they have a relation

to man, are marked with charaéters fo apparent, that they

efcape not the obfervation of the moft unenlightened minds. Ina
fyftem where all the conftituent parts have a reciprocal dependence,
and are connected by relations fo fubtile as to elude, the perception
of animals, fuch obvious characters were indifpenfible, Without
a Fg By: them,

2 OO Ba ep El b OS Opa Y

them, neither the affairs of human life, nor the funtions of the
brute creation, could be carried on. Characters of this kind are
accommodated to the apprehenfion of brutes and of vulgar men.

But, when the productions of nature are more clofely examined ;
when they are fcrutinized by the eye of philofophy, the number of
their relations and differences is difcovered to be almoft infinite ;
and their fhades of difcrimination are often fo delicate, that no fenfe
can perceive them. Nothing, apparently, is more eafy than to di-
ftinguith an animal from a plant; and yet the proper diftinction
has puzzled the moft acute inquirers, and perhaps exceeds the li-

mits of human capacity.

‘ A plant,’ fays Jungius, ‘is a Avg, but not a /eniient body,
© which is fixed in a determined place, and grows, increafes
‘ in fize, and propagates its fpecies*.’ In this definition living
powers are afcribed to vegetables ; but they are denied the faculty
of fenfation. Life, without fome degree of fenfation, is an incom-
prehenfible idea. An animal limited to the fenfe of feeling alone,
is the loweft conception we can form of life. Deprive this being
of the only fenfe it poffeffes, and, though its figure fhould remain,
we would inftantly conclude it to be as inanimate as a ftone.
The life attributed to plants feems to be nothing more than an ana-
logical dedu€tion from their growth, nutrition, continuation of
their fpecies, and fimilar circumftances.

Ludwig defines vegetables to be * Natural bodies, always en-
¢ dowed with the fame form, but deprived of the power of local
‘ motion.’ Every branch of this definition is, with equal pro-
priety, applicable to precious ftones, falts, and fome animals; and,
therefore, requires no farther attention.

Sir

* Raii Hitt. Plant. p. + Ludwig, Phil. Bot. p. 1.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 3

Sir Charles Linnaeus; in his. Fundamenta Botanica, intends to
difcriminate the three kingdoms of Nature in two lines. Stones,’
fays he, ‘ grow ; vegetables grow and live ; animals grow, live,
‘and feel*,’ This is an affemblage of words, the meaning of
which is entirely perverted. The idea of growth implies nutrition
and expanfion by the intervention of organs. The magnitude of
{tones may be augmented by an accretion of new matter. But this
is not growth, or expanfion of parts. The fecond definition,
* That vegetables grow and Jive,’ is equally inaccurate. Inftead
of proving the life of plants, Linnaeus takes it for granted, and
makes it the characteriftic between vegetables and brute matter,
The third, ‘ That animals grow, live, and fee/,’ is not lefs excep-
tionable. Growth, life, and mere fenfation, convey the moft ig-
noble notions of animated beings. From this definition, we would
be led to imagine, that Linnaeus meant to defcribe the condition of
a polypus or an oyfter. All animals, it is true, grow, live, and
feel: But thefe are only the paflive properties of animals. The
definition includes none of thofe inftinGtive, intelle@ual, and a@ive
powers which exalt the animal above the vegetable, and fo emi-
nently ‘diftinguifh the different tribes from each other.

Thefe and many other abortive attempts have been made to af-
certain the precife boundaries between the animal and vegetable.
Definitions have been the perpetual aim “of moft writers on this
fubject. But definitions, when applied to natural objects, mutt al-
ways be vague and elufory. We know not the principle of animal
life. We are equally ignorant of the effential caufe of vegetable
exiftence. It is vain, therefore, to dream of being able to define
what we never can know. We may, however, difcover fome qua-
lities common to the animal as well as to the vegetable.

A 2 | Senfation,

* Fund. Bot. § 3.

4 THE PHILOSOPHY

Senfation, motion, and ftru€ture of parts, give animals a more
extenfive range in their connection with external objets. A cer=
tain portion of intellect, joined to the vital principle, feem to be the
moft diftinguifhing properties of animals, and to conftitute their ef=
fence or being. Animals will, determine, a€t, and have a commu-
nication with diftant objects by their fenfes. They have the laws
of nature, in fome meafure, at command. They protect themfelves
from injury by employing force, fwiftnefs, addrefs, and cunning.
But vegetables remain fixed in the fame place, and are fubje& to
every thing that moves. Animals eat at intervals; their food re=
quires time for digeftion, and to anfwer the complicated purpofes
of fecretion and nutrition, The ftru€ture of plants is more fimple:
They receive perpetual nourifhment without injury. Animals
fearch for and felet particular kinds of food. But plants muft
receive whatever is brought to them by the different elements.
Animals exift on the furface and in the interior parts of the earth,
in the air, in water, in the bodies of men and other animals, in the
internal parts of plants, and even in ftones. But, if we except a
few aquatics, . plants are fixed to the earth by roots.

All animals, it has been affirmed, have a heart, or particular
fountain for propelling and diftributing their fluids to the different
parts of their bodies: But caterpillars, and many other infe@ts, have
no fuch general receptacle.

The loco-motive faculty has been confidered: as peculiar to ani=
mals, But even this chara@er is extremely fufpicious. Oyfters,.
fea-nettles, the gall-infe@ts, and. a variety of other animals, can
hardly be faid to. enjoy the power of local motion, Many {pe-
cies remain for ever fixed to the rocks on which they are produced,
and have no motion but that of extending or contracting their
bodies. Befides, examples of different kinds of motion are dif

coverable:

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 5

coverable in the vegetable kingdom. When the roots of a tree
meet with a ftone, or any other obfiruGion to their motion,
in order to avoid it, they change their former direftion, They
turn from barren to fertile earth, which indicates fomething analo-
gous to a felection of food. Like the polypus, plants, when con-
fined in a houfe, uniformly bend toward the window or aperture
through which the rays of light are introduced.

The fenfitive plant poffeffes the faculty of motion in an eminent
degree. The flighteft touch makes its leaves fuddenly fhrink, and,
together with the branch, bend down toward the earth. But the
moving plant, or hedyfarum movens, of which there are {pecimens
in the botanic garden of Edinburgh, furnifhes the moft aftonifhing
example of vegetable motion. It is a native of the Eaft Indies. Its
movements are not excited by the contact of external bodies, burt
folely by the influence of the fun’s rays. ‘The motions of this plant
are confined to the leaves, which are fupported by long flexible foot-
ftalks. When the-fun fhines, the leaves move brifkly in every direc-
tion. Their general motion, however, is upward and downward :
But they not unfrequently turn almoft round; and then their foot-
ftalks are evidently twifted. ‘Thefe motions go on inceflantly as
long as the heat of the fun continues: But they ceafe during the
night, and when the weather is cold and cloudy. Our wonder is
excited by the rapidity and conftancy of the movements peculiar to
this plant. The frequency, however, of fimilar motions in other
plants, renders it probable that the leaves of all vegetables move, or
-are agitated by the rays of the fun, though many of thefe move~
ments are too flow for our perception.

The American plant called dionaca mufcipula, or Venus’s fly-trap,
affords another inftance of rapid vegetable motion, Its leaves are
jointed, and furnifhed with two rows of ftrong prickles, Their

furfaces:

6 PHESPHCEOFSVURH ¥

furfaces are covered with a number of minute glands, which fe=
crete a {weet liquor, and allure the approach of flies. When thefe
parts are touched by the legs of a fly, the two lobes of the leaf in-
ftantly rife up, the rows of prickles lock themfelves faft together,
and fqueeze the unwary animal to death. If a ftraw or a pin be
introduced between the lobes, the fame motions are excited.

When a feed is fown in a reverfed pofition, the young root turns
downward to enter the earth, and the ftem bends upward into the
air. Confine a young ftem to an inclined pofition, and its extre=
mity will foon affume its former perpendicular direétion. Twitft
the branches of any tree in fuch a manner that the inferior furfaces
of the leaves are turned toward the fky, and you will, in a fhort
time, perceive that all thefe leaves refume their original pofition.
Thefe motions are performed fooner or later, in proportion to the
degree of heat, and the flexibility of the leaves. Many leaves, as
thofe of the mallow, follow the courfe of the fun. In the morning,
their fuperior furfaces are prefented to the eaft; at noon, they
regard the fouth; and, when the fun fets, they are directed
to the weft. During the night, or in rainy weather, thefe leaves
are horizontal ; and their inferior furfaces are’ turned toward the

earth.

What has been denominated the Sleep of Plants, affords an in-
fiance of another fpecies of vegetable motion. The leaves of many
plants fold up during the night; but, at the approach of the fun,
they expand with renewed vigour. The common appearances of
mott vegetables are fo changed in the night, that it is difficult to re«
cognife the different kinds, even by the affiftance of light.

The modes of folding in the leaves, or of fleeping, are extremely
various. But it is worthy of remark, that they all difpofe them-
felves

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 4

felves fo as to give the beft protection to the young ftems, flowers,
buds, or fruit. The leaves of the tamarind-tree contract round the
tender fruit, and protect it from the nofturnal cold. The caffia or
fenna, the glycine, and many of the papilionaceous plants, contrac
their leaves in a fimilar manner. ‘The leaves of the chickweed, of
the afclepias, atriplex, &c. are difpofed in oppofite pairs. During
the night, they rife perpendicularly, and join fo clofe at the top,
that they conceal the flowers. The leaves of the fida or althaea
Theophrafti, of the ayenia, and oenothera, are placed alternately.
Though horizonal, or even depending, during the day, at the ap-~
proach of night they rife, embrace the ftem, and proteé the tender
flowers. The leaves of the folanum, or nightfhade, are hori-
zontal during the day ; but, in the night, they rife and cover the
flowers. The Egyptian vetch eredts its leaves during the night, in
fuch a manner that each pair feem to be one leaf only. The leaves
of the white lupine, in the ftate of fleep, hang down, and prote&
the young buds from being injured by the nodturnal air.

Thefe and fimilar motions are not peculiar to the leaves of plants.
The flowers have alfo the power of moving. During the night,
many of them are inclofed in their calixes. Some flowers, as thofe
of the German fpurge, geranium ftriatum, and common whitlow
grafs, when afleep, hang their mouths toward the earth, to prevent
the noxious effects of rain or dew.

The caufe of thofe movements which conftitute the fleep of plants,
has been afcribed to the prefence or abfence of the fun’s rays. In
fome of the examples I have given, the motions produced are evi-
dently excited by heat. But plants kept in a hot-houfe, where an
equal degree of heat is preferved both day and night, fail not to
contrac their leaves, or to fleep, in the fame manner as when they
are expofed to the open air. This fact evinces, that the fleep of

plants

) Tih EtPwinesoky ¥

plants is rather owing to a peculiar law, than to a quicker or flower
motion of their juices,

A ftomach and brain have been reckoned effential characteriftics
of the animal; and plants are faid to poffefs nothing analogous to
thefe organs. But the polypus has no ftomach; or rather, like
vegetables, its whole body may be confidered as a ftomach. Its
internal cavity contains no vifcera; and, when this animal is
turned outfide in, it ftill continues to live, and to digeft its food,
in the fame manner as if it had received no injury. The mode
by. which plants are nourithed is extremely analogous. They
imbibe food by the roots, the trunk, the branches, the leaves, and
the flowers. Inftead, therefore, of having no ftomach, their whole
ftruéture is fomach. With regard to the brain, the polypus, and
many other infects, are deprived of that organ. Hence neither
ftomach nor brain are eflential charaéters which difcriminate the
animal from the vegetable.

But all animals are endowed with fenfation, or at leaf with irri-
tability, which laft has been confidered as a diftin@iive chara@ter of
animal life. Senfation implies a diftin& perception of pleafure and
pain. We infer the exiftence of fenfation in organized bodies,
when we perceive that they have organs fimilar to our own, or
when they act, in certain circumftances, in the fame manner as we
act. If an organized being has eyes, ears, and a nofe, we naturally
conclude that it enjoys the fame fenfations as thefe organs convey
tous. If we fee another being, whofe ftru€ture exhibits nothing
analogous to our organs of fenfation, contracting with rapidity
when touched, direting its body uniformly to the light, feizing
fmall infeéts with tentacula, or a kind-of arms, and conveying them
into an aperture placed at its anterior end, we hefitate not to pro-
nounce that it is affidhated. Cut off its arms, deprive it of the fa-

I culty

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 9

culty of contraéting and extending its body, the nature of this be-
ing will not be changed ; but we will be unable to determine whe-
ther it poffeffes any portion of life. This is nearly the condition of
the fmall fections of a polypus, before their heads begin to grow.
The wheel-animal, the eels in blighted wheat, and the fnails re-
corded in the Philofophical TranfaGtions, afford inftances of every
appearance of fenfation, or even of irritability, being fufpended,
not for months, but for feveral years, and yet the life of thefe ani-
mals is not extinguifhed; for they uniformly revive upon a proper
application of moifture.

Thefe and fimilar fa&ts fhow, that we are entirely ignorant of the
effence and properties of life. What life really is, feems too fubtile
for our underftanding to conceive, or our fenfes to difcern, If we
have no other criterions to diftinguifh life, than motion, fenfation,
and irritability, the animals juft mentioned continued for years in a
{late which every man would pronounce to have been perfectly
dead. It is poffible, therefore, that life may exift in many bodies
which are commonly thought to be as inanimate as ftones. Hence
it would be rafh to exclude plants from every fpecies of fenfation,
The degrees of fenfation decreafe imperceptibly from man to the.
fea-nettle, gall-infe@s, and what are called the moft imperfe& ani-
mals. Every vegetable, as well as the fenfitive plant, fhrinks when
wounded. But, in moft of them, the motion is too flow for our
perception, When trees grow near a ditch, the roots which pro-=
ceed in a direction that would neceffarily bring them into the open
air, inftead of continuing this noxious progrefs, fink below the level
of the ditch, then fhoot acrofs, and regain the foil on the oppofite
fide.. When a root is uncovered, without expofing it to much heat,.
and a wet fpunge is placed near it, but in a different direction from
that in which the root is proceeding, in a fhort time the root turns
towards the fpunge, In this manner the direGtion of roots may be

T B varied.

10 THE PHILOSOPHY

varied at pleafure. All plants make the ftrongeft efforts, by incli-
ning, turning, and even twifting their {tems and branches, to efcape
from darknefs and fhade, and to procure the influences of the fun,
Place a wet fpunge under the leaves of a tree, they foon bend
downward, and endeavour to apply their inferior furfaces to the
fpunge. If a veffel of water be placed within fix inches of a grow-
ing cucumber, in twenty-four hours the cucumber alters the direc-
tion of its branches, bends either to the right or left, and never ftops
till it comes into contaé& with the water. When a pole is placed at
a confiderable diftance from an unfupporied vine, the branches of
which are proceeding in a contrary dire@tion from that of the pole,
in a fhort time, it alters its courfe, and ftops not till it clings around
the pole.

Facts of this kind excite our wonder; but they by no means
prove that vegetables live, or that they are endowed with fenfation,
which implies a diftin& perception of pleafure and pain.

There is an inferior fpecies of fenfation, which is diftinguifhed
by the term zrritability, This term denotes that power by which
mufcular fibres, even after they are detached from the body, con-
traét upon the application of any ftimulating fubftance, whether fo-
lid or fluid. The heart of a frog, when pricked with the point of
a pin, continues to beat, or to contract and dilate, for feveral hours
after it has been cut out of the animal’s body. The heart of a vi-
per, or of a turtle, beats diftin@tly from twenty to thirty hours af-
ter the death of thefe animals. The periftaltic motion of the in-
teftines is produced by their irritability. When the inteftines of a
dog, or any other quadruped, are fuddenly cut into different por-
tions, all thefe portions crawl about like worms, and contract upon
the flighteft touch. Though irritability be unqueftionably a vital

principle, yet it is equally certain, that mufcular fibres, when fepa-
rated

OF NATURAL HISTORY. rp

rated from the body to which they belong, have no diftin& per-
ception of pleafure or pain. Their regular contration and dilata~
tion are evident fymptoms of life, which, in many cafes, may lead
us to attribute living powers to fubftances that enjoy neither life
nor fenfation. Hence, though all plants were irritable, this circum-
ftance would not prove that they are poffefled of life. The con-
traction and dilatation of the fenfitive plants, and the various mo-
tions of the leaves, branches, flowers, and roots of vegetables for-
merly mentioned, feem to indicate that moit plants are endowed
with irritability. Perhaps all vegetables have more or lefs of this
quality. The heart, inteftines, and diaphragm, are the moft irri-
table parts of animal bodies: And, to difcover whether this quality:
refides in all plants, experiments fhould be made chiefly on their
leaves, flowers, buds, and the tender fibres of the roots,

From this narration of faéts, it appears, that plants make a very
near approach to animals; and that this fimilarity, as well as the
difficulty. of. fixing the precife boundaries by which thefe two great
kingdoms of nature are limited, are dire& confequences of the or-
ganization of vegetables. It is owing to their organic ftructure
alone, that plants and animals are capable of affording reciprocal
nourifhment to each other. This organic ftru@ture, though greatly.
diverfified in-the different fpecies of animals and vegetables, evinces
that Nature, in the formation of both, has ated upon the fame ge-
neral plan May we not prefume, therefore, as plants as well as ani-
mals are compofed of a regular fyftem of organs, that the vegetable
part of the creation is not entirely deprived of every quality which
we are apt to think peculiar to animated beings ?. I mean not to in-
finuate, that plants can perceive pleafure or pain. But, as many of
their motions and affelions cannot be explained upon any prin-
ciple of mechanifm, I am inclined to think, that they originate from
the power of irritability, which, though it implics not the percep-

B. 2. tion:

2 T HE PHIL.OsS Ore oY

tion of pleafure and pain, is the principle that regulates all the vital
or involuntary motions of animals. To afcertain this point, would
require a fet of very nice experiments. I fhall mention one, which
might be performed with tolerable eafe. It was formerly remarked,
that plants kept in a hot-houfe, where the degree of heat is uniform,
never fail to fleep during the night. This is dire&t evidence, that
heat alone is not the caufe of their vigilance. But they are deprived
of light. Let, therefore, a ftrong artificial light, without increafing
the heat, be thrown upon them. | If, notwithftanding this light, the
plants are not roufed, but continue to fleep as ufual, then it may be
prefumed that their organs, like thofe of animals, are not only irri-
table, but require the reparation of fome invigorating influence
which they have loft while awake, by the agitations of the air and
the fun’s rays, by the act of growing, or by fome other latent caufe,

It is almoft unneceflary to mark the diftin@tion between vegetables
and minerals, The tranfition from the animal to the plant is ef-
fected by fhades fo imperceptible, as to elude the moft acute ob-
fervers. But, between the plant and the mineral, there is a vaft
chafm in the chain of being, which may be the fource of great dif-
coveries. In bodies purely mineral, not a veftige of organization
can be difcovered. The fibrous firu€ture of the afbeftos has been
regarded as an approach toward organization, and as the link which
connects the mineral to the vegetable kingdom. But this is one of
thofe ftrained analogies which are too often employed by theoretical
writers. Though the afbeftos is compofed of a kind of threads or
fibres, thefe fibres are not tubular; neither are they interwoven,
like that regular tiffue or fabric which fo remarkably diftinguifhes
organized from brute matter. Of courfe, the magnitude of the
afbeftos can only be increafed by the appofition of new matter, and
not by any developement or expanfion of parts. But though, in

the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 13

the mineral kingdom, Nature ceafes to organize, fhe continues to
arrange.

The regular configuration of falts, cryftals, and other precious
ftones, has been confidered by fome authors as the refult of an or-
ganic procefs. But the uniform figure of falts and chryftals may be
the effet of certain laws of attraction peculiar to each {pecies.
None of thefe particles can be regarded as a germor bud. They
are only the elements or conftituent parts, which, when applied to
each other, form a whole. They never expand or grow, like the
embrios of animals or plants. They remain for ever in the fame
ftate without diminution or increafe, except when feparated by
force, or magnified by an accumulation of frefh matter. The chry-
ftalline juice is not affimulated by vefiels: It is prepared by a chy-
mical operation of Nature. The bodies of plants and animals are
machines, exceedingly elaborate, and more or lefs complicated.
Thefe machines, by means of different organs, have the power of
converting other animals and vegetables into their own fubftance,
By this aflimulation, all their dimenfions are increafed ; and their
various parts uniformly preferve the fame proportions with regard
to each other, and continue to perform their refpeétive functions,
Befides, organized bodies not only multiply their fpecies, but fome
of them poffefs the power of reproducing fuch parts as are forcibly
abftracted from them.

In thefe and many other qualities common to the animal and ve-
getable, there is not the fmalleft analogy to be found in the mineral
kingdom, Between the moft regular foffils, as falts and chryftals,
and the moft imperfe& animal or vegetable, the diftance is immenfe.
Figured foflils are not more organized than a column or a portico.
In the formation of the former, Nature, in that of the latter, man,
is the artift. When no fimilarity is to be difcovered in thofe fof-

fils

14 TORE ee ETL AOyS Orr Hh ¥

fils which are nearly uniform in their configuration, we are not to
expe it in the more loofe and irregular parts of brute matter,
Here, Nature, regardlefs of fymmetry, conjoins heterogeneous mate-
rials, of which fhe compofes irregular mafles. Many ftones, flints,
and other concretions, afford examples of this kind. More art, it
muft be acknowledged, appears in the formation of metals: But
their ftruGture exhibits no veftiges of organization.

Be IN Di ta Oy Nae hese

HAVING {fhown the extreme difficulty of fixing the boundaries
which feparate the animal from the vegetable kingdom, I proceed
to the more pleafing tafk of enumerating fome of thofe beautiful
analogies which fubfift between them. To render this fubje& the
more agreeable and inftrudtive, inftead of bringing together an un-
conneéted mafs, I fhall trace the analogies between the animal and
plant, under the arrangement of Structure and Organs, Growth and
Nourifhment, Diffemination and Decay.

STRUCTURE (aA nwy OR GANS,

IN all organized bodies, a fimilarity of ftru€ture feems to be un-
avoidable, The bodies of men and quadrupeds confift of a feries:
of conneéted bones, which run from the head to the rump. This:
feries is known by the name of the back-bone, from each fide of:
which, a number of arched bones proceed. Some of thefe join the
breaft-bone by means of cartilages, and form a vaulted cavity, which
contains and defends the heart, and other vifcera proper to-the chef.

3 The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 15

The bones of the pelvis, and of the four extremities, are joined to
the back-bones by articulations and membranes. By the fame con-
trivance, the cranium is fixed to the upper end of the back-bones.
Into different proceffes and portions of all thefe bones, a great num-
ber of mufcles, or bundles of flefhy fibres, are inferted. Thefe
mufcles are the inftruments which give rife to all the varieties of
animal motion, The bones of the head, or cranium, contain the
brain and cerebellum, a prolongation of which runs through the
whole extent of the canal in the back-bone, and is known by the
term /pinal marrow, From the brain and fpinal marrow proceed
all the nerves, or inftruments of fenfation. Thefe nerves, the ra-
mifications of which are infinitely various and minute, are diftri-
buted upon the heart, lungs, blood-veffels, bowels, and mufcles, till
they terminate on the fkin, or external covering of the body. The
heart is the fountain, or general receptacle of the blood. The con-
traction of the heart propels the blood through the arteries, which
are likewife diftributed, by numerous and complicated ramifications,
over every part of the body, and terminate in the veins, which
again collect the whole arterial blood into one cavity, and reconvey
it to the heart. This circulatory procefs goes on during life.

Befide the organs already mentioned, there are others, termed
Jecretory, becaufe they feparate peculiar fluids from the general mafs
of circulating blood. The ftomach and inteftines are furnifhed
with a vaft number of fmall tubes, called /acteal ducts, which fe-
parate and abforb the nutritious parts of the aliment, and reje& all
the grofler and ufelefs particles. Thefe du€ts, after innumerable
communications with each other, unite into one large tube, diftin-
guifhed by the name of the thoracic duct, which is the general re-
fervoir of the chyle, or fecreted liquor. This chyle, which is a
mild fluid, paffes from the thoracic du& to the fubclavian vein;
and by this vein it is conveyed to the heart, where it mingles with

the

16 THE PHILOSOPHY

the blood, and is circulated through the body, for the nourifhment
of its different parts. It is of no moment, for our prefent purpofe,
to be more particular, efpecially as this fubje& will be afterwards
more fully handled. I fhall therefore juft mention, that there are
particular organs or glands for fecreting various fluids, which are ne-
ceflary to the exiftence of the larger animals, as the kidneys for the
fecretion of urine; the liver for the fecretion of gall; the ftomach
for the fecretion of the gaftric juices; the falivary glands for the
fecretion of faliva, &c.

From this fketch of the ftru€ture of man and of quadrupeds, very
little attention is neceffary to perceive, that Nature purfues a fimilar
plan in the formation of birds and fifhes.

In that numerous clafs of animals diftinguifhed by the name of
infects, there is a great variety of form and ftructure. In many of
thefe, Nature feems to depart from her general mode of operation.
But, upon a more accurate examination, this feeming departure will
appear to be only an extenfion of that univerfal plan which the ob-
ferves in the formation of all animated beings. Some infects, the
lobfter, and all the cruftaceous and fhell animals, have their bones
on the outfide of their bodies. To thefe bones the mufcles and
other inftruments of motion are attached. Many fpecies have no
bones ; but their bodies confift of a fucceflion of rings incafed into
each other. By contracting and dilating thefe rings, all the move-
ments of this kind are performed. The head, in fome {fpecies,
changes its form every moment. It contracts or dilates, appears or
difappears, at the pleafure of the animal. Thefe motions are per-
mitted by the flexibility of the membranes, or coverings of the
head. In other fpecies, the form of the head is permanent, owing
to the hardnefs of the coverings, which are fcaley or cruftaceous,.
and approaches nearer to that of the more perfec animals,

a Many

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 17

Many infeéts are deftitute of particular organs, Some want eyes,
ears, brain, and noftrils. Other have an acute fenfe of fmelling,
though we know not the form or fituation of the organ. The in-
ferior {fpecies of infe&s have no internal lungs, but receive air by
lateral pores, and fometimes by long tubes, or tracheae, which pro-
trude from different parts of the body. Many infects have no:
heart, or general refervoir for the reception and propulfion of the
blood. But we difcover by the microfcope, that their blood circu-
lates by the pulfation of arteries, and that their different fluids are
fecreted by glands. Ina word, Nature, in the ftructure and func-
tions of animals, defcends, by degrees almoft imperceptible, from
man to the polypus, a being which, ever fince its oeconomy and
properties were difcovered by M. Trembley, has continued to afto-
nifh both philofophers and naturalifts, The flru@ure of the poly-
pus, which inhabits frefh water pools and ditches, is extremely
fimple. Its body confifts of a fingle tube, with long tentacula, or
arms, at one extremity, by which it feizes fmall worms, and con=
veys them to its mouth, It.has no proper head, heart, ftomach, or
inteftines of any kind. This fimplicity of ftruéture gives rife to an
equal fimplicity in the oeconomy and funétions of the animal.
The polypus, though it has not the diftin@ion of fex, is extremely
prolific. When about to multiply, a fmall protuberance or bud ap-
pears on the furface of its body. This bud’gradually fwells and 'ex-
tends. It includes not. a young polypus, but is the real animal in
miniature, united to the mother as a fucker to the parent-tree,
The food taken by the mother paffes into the young by means of a
communicating aperture; When the fhooting polypus has acquired
a certain growth, this aperture gradually clofes, and the young
drops off, to multiply its fpecies in the fame manner, As every
part of a polypus is capable of fending off fhoots, it often hap-
pens, that the young, before parting from the mother, begin to
fhoot ; and the parent-animal carries feveral generations on her own.

tT CG. body,.

18 TME PH LL Os oe Hn ¥

body. There is another fingularity in the hiftory of the polypus.
When cut to pieces in every dire€tion fancy can fuggeft, it not on-
ly continues to exift, but each fe€tion foon becomes an animal of
the fame kind. What is ftill more furprifing, when inverted as a
man inverts the finger of a glove, the polypus feems to have fuffer-
ed no material injury ; for it foon begins to take food, and to per-
form every other natural funétion. Here we have a wonderful
inftance of animal ductility. No divifion, however minute, can
deprive thefe worms of life. What infallibly deftroys other ani-
mals, ferves only, in the polypus, to multiply the number of indi-
viduals. M. Trembley, in the courfe of his experiments, difcover-
ed, that different portions of one polypus could be ingrafted on an-
other. Two tranfverfe fections brought into contac quickly unite,
and form one animal, though each fection belongs to a different
{pecies. The head of one fpecies may be ingrafted on the body of
another. When a polypus is introduced by the tail into another’s
body, the two heads unite, and form one individual. Purfuing
thefe ftrange operations, M. Trembley gave fcope to his fancy, and,
by repeatedly fplitting the head and part of the body, formed hy-
‘dras more complicated than ever ftruck the imagination of the moft
romantic fabulifts.

This fhort account of the general ftru€ture of animals was a ne-
ceflary preparation for perceiving more clearly their connection
with the vegetable kingdom.

The ftructure of plants, like that of animals, confifts of a feries of
veflels difpofed in a regular order. Thefe veffels are deftined to per-
form the different functions neceflary to the nourifhment, growth,
and diffemination of the plant. In trees, and moft of the larger
vegetables, three diftin& parts are to be obferved ; the bark, the
wood, and the pith. The bark likewife confifts of three parts ; the

fkin,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 19

fkin, the body, and the /zber, or inner circle ; which laft, about the
end of autumn, affumes the fame texture and firmnefs with the
wood. The fubftance of the bark is compofed of a number of lon-
gitudinal fap and air veflels, which have the appearance of fine
threads, running from the root to the trunk and branches. Befide
thefe veffels, the bark is furnithed with a parenchymatous or pulpy
fubftance, in which there are a vaft variety of folliculi, or {mall
bladders. ‘The bark is connected to the wood by tranfverfe infer-
tions of the parenchyma.

The wood confifts of two diftinét fubftances; the one is denfe,
and compact, and conftitutes what is termed the ligneous body ; the
other is porous, moift, and pulpy, and is therefore called the paren-
chymatous part of the wood. A portion of wood is placed alter-
nately between a fimilar portion of parenchyma. Thefe alternate
portions proceed from the edges of the pith, as radzz from the cen-
ter of a circle, widening proportionally as they approach the cir-
eumference. Both of them, however, like the bark, are furnifhed
with numberlefs fap and air veffels,

The pith or heart is bounded on all fides by the wood, and is
compofed of the fame materials: It is nothing but a vaft congeries
of air and fap veflels, interwoven with the parenchyma and blad-
ders, not unlike the tiflue of gauze or lace. This texture is com-
mon to every part of the trunk, being only more clofe and compact
in the bark and wood than in the pith. It is well known, that the
pith of plants diminithes in proportion to their age. The reafon is
obvious: Every year the ring of veffels, which lies contiguous to
the wood, dries, condenfes, and becomes wood,

The leaves of vegetables confilt of a fine fkin, which inclofes the
parenchyma or pulp. This fkin, like that of animals, is an organic:
C2 body,,

20 THE?TPHILOSOPHY

body, furnifhed with an immenfe number of parenchymatous and
ligneous fibres, and interwoven in a manner precifely fimilar to that
of the trunk and branches. When the fkin is removed, the pulp
appears, and is every where interfperfed with finall cylindrical fibres,
wound up into minute bladders. A large nerve runs along the mid-
dle of every leaf, and continually fends off branches, which gra=
dually decreafe in magnitude, till they reach the edge or dife. This
principal nerve is a colle@tion of fmall tubes, which, at proper di-
ftances, go off, and are diftributed over the leaf in a manner
precifely fimilar to the diftribution of the nerves over the human
body.

With regard to flowers and fruits, their general texture is the
fame with that of the parts already defcribed, differing only in va-
rious proportions of the ligneous veffels and parenchymatous or
pulpy fubftance. That vegetables are poflefled of fecretory glands,
is apparent from the almoft infinite variety of their taftes, odours,
and colours. Thefe fenfible qualities differ even in different parts
of the fame plant. But the glandular fecretion of vegetables is moft
confpicuous in the flowers and fruit. Many flowers fecrete a nec-
tareous fluid, which is more grateful to the palate than the fineft
honey. The glands of fome fruits, as thofe of the lemon and
orange, fecrete liquors of very different qualities. The veffels of
the rhind contain an acrid effential oil, while thofe of the paren-
chyma or pulp fecrete an agreeable acid.

This fimilarity in the general ftru€ture of animals and plants is
firongly corroborated by the analogous,parts in both being deftined
to anfwer the fame purpofes,

The oeconomy and funétions of vegetables, as well as thofe of
animals, are the refults of a vafcular texture. Each of thefe claffes
of

OF NATURAL HISTORY. at

of beings have veffels deftined to the performance of fimilar offices.
In man and quadrupeds, the fluids are circulated by the pulfation
of the heart and arteries. The juices of plants do not circulate;
but they are raifed from the root to the trunk, branches, leaves,
flowers, and fruit, by the fap-veffels. The afcenfion of the fap has
been afcribed to capillary attra@tion. But, though no motion is
perceptible in the fap-veflels fimilar to the pulfation of arteries ;
yet, both the propulfion of the fap, which moves with great force,
and the fecretion of different fluids by different parts of the fame
plant, imply an aétion in thefe veffels. In animals, the gall, the
urine, the faliva, are all concocted from the general mafs of blood
by the aétion of particular veffels. Fluids of thefe different quali-
ties exift not in the blood itfelf: They are created by an incompre-
henfible operation of the veffels peculiar to their refpe€tive glands.
In plants, the fap afcends, and different fluids are fecreted from it
by glandular veffels. Here the fame effects are produced both in
the animal and the plant. We muft, therefore, attribute them to
the fame caufe, namely, the ation of veflels. Befides, the fap,
which is the blood of plants, moves with a force often equivalent
to the weight of the atmofphere. M. Bonnet remarks *, that he
has feen, by means of coloured liquors, the vegetable fap move
three inches in an hour; and Dr Hales, in his Statics, has fhown,
that the leaves are the principal organs of tranfpiration. He like-
wife confiders them to be the inftruments which raife the fap. But
it has fince been difcovered, that coloured liquors rife equally high
in branches deprived of leaves, and that they do not rife at all in
dried plants. Hence the fap of vegetables is not taken up in the
fame manner as a fpunge imbibes water, but is forced to afcend by
an unknown aétion of the veflels. The {pring of the tracheae may
put in motion the air they contain, and that air may have fome in-
fluence on the general movement. But, by whatever powers the

fap

* Ocuvres, tom. I. p. 140.

22 DHE SPH Vey OPrH Y

fap is moved, the exiftence of the motion is certain; and it is equal-
ly certain, that this movement of the fap produces the fame effects
in the vegetable, that the force of the heart and arteries does in the
animal,

The motion of the fap, in vegetables, is not properly a circula-
tion fimilar to that of the blood in the more perfe& animals. It
afcends and defcends in the fame veflels ; and thefe motions are evi-
dently affe&ted by heat and cold. The fap rifes copioufly in a warm
day, and defcends during the night, nearly in the fame manner as
the mercury rifes and falls in the thermometer, But, though the
analogy here fails with regard to man and the larger animals, yet
it holds in the taenia, the polypus, and many other infects, which
exhibit not the fmalleft veftiges of circulation in their juices.

The pith, or medullary fubftance of plants, has fome refemblance
to the brain and {pinal-marrow of animals. When the texture of
the brain or {fpinal-marrow is deftroyed, life is extinguifhed ; and,
when the pith of plants is deftroyed or dried up by age, they no
longer retain the power of vegetating. The leaves of plants are
analogous to the lungs of animals. It is by the lungs that the per-
fpiration of animals is chiefly effected; and plants difcharge moft of
their fuperfluous moifture by the leaves. They expofe a large fur-
face to the aétion of the fun, which produces a tranfpiration fo co-
pious, that fome plants throw out fifteen or twenty times more in a
given period, than is difcharged from the human body. When a
plant is deprived of its leaves in fummer, inftead of ripening its fruit,
it is in great danger of dying for want of thofe organs which carry
off the fuperfluous juices that arife from the root. A plant, in this.
fituation, may be confidered as labouring under an afthma, or dy-
ing of a fuffocation,

Befide:

2
a

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 23

Befide the leaves, plants tranfpire by the pores of the fkin. But
the quantity emitted in this manner is not nearly equal to that
which iffues from the leaves. The fame thing happens with regard
to man and quadrupeds. Though they likewife perfpire through
the fkin, yet by much the greater quantity of perfpirable matter is
difcharged by the lungs. Befide throwing out fuperfluous or noxi-
ous matter by the leaves, plants, by the fame organs, abforb from
the atmofphere, and perhaps from the fun’s rays, fome unknown
matter, which is neceflary to their exiftence. The lungs of ani-
mals likewife derive, from the fame fources, a particular matter or
principle, without which life could not long be continued.

Another analogy between the firu€ture of plants and animals me-
rits obfervation. The round bones of animals confift of concentric
ftrata or plates, which can be eafily feparated ; and the wood of
plants confift of concentric layers of hardened veffels, which feparate
when macerated in water. A tree acquires an additional ring every
year ; and, by counting thefe rings, a pretty exact eftimation of its
age may be attained.

The branches of plants have been confidered as analogous to the
arms or tentacula of animals. But this is one of thofe ftrained ana-
logies which fhould be carefully avoided. The great ufe of branches
is evident. By producing an amafing number of leaves, a large fur-
face is expofed to the air and fun, to an{wer the important purpofes
of tranfpiration and abforption. If there is any thing in plants ana-
logous to the arms or tentacula of animals, it muft be confined to
fuch {pecies as twift themfelves around poles or trees, as the ivy,
the vine, the convolvulus, &c, and to fuch as fupport their trunks
on other bodies by means of little hooks, as the goole-grafs, and
many other kinds,

All

24 T\H Eg? ULO.5 GP 4:¥

All thefe analogies, it may be remarked, are confined to large
animals and large vegetables ; but they hold not in that numerous
tribe of plants called grafés. Inftead of being filled with wood
and pith, their ftems are perfe@ly hollow; and, to fortify thefe
plants, Nature has beftowed on them ftrong joints or knots, which
are placed at regular diftances in each fpecies. But, though
fome of the analogies which fubfift between the larger animals
and vegetables exift not in the fmaller plants, this circumftance,
inftead of infringing, confirms the general plan of Nature. To
difcover the analogies between tubular plants and animals, we
muft examine the ftru€ture of the minuter tribes of animated be-
ings. The grafles have neither pith nor wood internally ; and the
pelypus, the taenia, and many other infects, have no bones, heart, or
inteftines, but are fimple tubes, perfe€tly refembling the empty ftems
of the gramineous plants. Befides, the ligneous, or at leaft the her-
baceous part of thefe plants, is placed on the outfide, fimilar to the
cruftaceous and fhell animals, whofe bones are fituated externally.
Another analogy muft not be omitted. The fucculent vegetables,
fuch as the houfe-leek, the mufhroom tribes, and many {ea-plants,
confit almoft entirely of a pulpy or parenchymatous fubftance, and
may be crufhed to a jelly by the flighteft preflure. The texture of
worms, caterpillars, and of all the foft infe€&ts, is extremely fimilar
to that of the fucculent vegetables.

tl—GROWTH anpo NOURISHMENT.

THE fecond fource of analogies between the plant and animal is
derived from the modes of their growth and:nourifhment.

Many ingenious theories have been invented, with a view to ex-

plain the myfterious operation by which the growth and _nourifh-
" ment

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 25

ment of animals and vegetables are effe€ted. But I fhall confine
myfelf, at prefent, to fuch remarks as are purely analogical, and
may be fully underftood without-a minute knowledge of the diffe-

rent ways by which growth and nourifhment have been fuppofed
to be accomplifhed,

Animals, like vegetables, gradually expand from an embryo or
gelatinous ftate, and, according to their kinds, arrive fooner or later
at perfeGtion. This expanfion and augmentation of fubftance is the
idea conveyed by the word growth. Without fome nutritious mat-
ter taken into the body, and aflimilated, by the action of veflels, to
the fubftance of the being that receives it, growth cannot take place.
Moifture is the chief food of plants. But the food of animals, in
general, varies with the fpecies. This fact led fome philofo-
phers to conclude, that every plant extracted from the foil a food
peculiar to its own nature. It was, however, afterwards difco-
vered, by repeated experiments, that vegetables can grow, and
acquire a very confiderable degree of bulk and weight, without
exhaufting a perceptible quantity of the earth in which they are
planted. Thefe experiments are a fufficient proof, that moifture
conftitutes the chief nourifhment of plants. They likewife indi-
cate, that vegetables, however diverfified in their figure, denfity, and
fibrous arrangement, are more fimple in their texture than animals,
But, notwithftanding thefe feeming differences in the nourifhment
of plants and animals, Nature fails not to obferve the fame courfe
in both kingdoms, The food of the animal, before it is converted
into nourifhment, muft go through the intricate procefs of digeftion.
But, after the food has been converted into chyle, and the chyle into
blood, this blood becomes a common fluid, from which all nourifh-
ment and all animal fluids are derived. Here the analogy is appa-
rent. Moifture is to the plant precifely what blood is to the animal.
Each of them extracts its nourifhment from a common fluid; and,

T D in

26 THESPia Loser ft ¥

in both, this fluid is changed, by the action of veffels, into the vari«
ous juices peculiar to the different fpecies.

When growth firft commences, the embryos of plants and ani-
mals are in fimilar circumftances. Soon after conception, the foe-
tus is inclofed in its membranes, and is nourifhed, till mature for
birth, by blood which it receives from the uterus and placenta. In
the fame manner, the embryo of a plant is inclofed in the mem-
branes of the feed}; and its fibrous roots are {pread over the lobes
or pulpy part. After the feed is fown, and vegetation commences,
the embryo is nourifhed by moifture, which the lobes abforb from
the earth, and convey it to the minute tubes of the feminal root.
In many plants, thefe lobes rife above the furface of the ground, in
the form of leaves, and continue to nourifh and protect the tender
plume or ftem, till it acquires ftrength fufficient to fupport the af-
faults of the air and weather, A plant, in this fituation, may be
faid to have two roots; one, the fibres of which are diffufed
through the fubftance of the lobes, or feminal leaves, and another,
attached to the foil.

The nourifhment thus conveyed to vegetables by the feminal
leaves, is extremely analogous to that of animals by the milk of the
‘mother. The texture of young animals is fo lax and unelaftic, that

the food fuited to maturer years would foon put a period to their
exiftence. But Nature has provided againft this inconveniency,
She has endowed females with a fet of veffels deftined for the fecre-
tion of a mild liquor, fo far concoéted and animalized as to be
adapted to the tender and flaccid condition of their young. A fi-
milar provifion of nourifhment is afforded to the young vegetable.
For fome time after the plume and radicle have begun to fhoot,.
their texture is fo extremely tender, that they are unable to fupport
each other without fome foreign aid.. This aid is afforded them by
the:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 27

the feminal leaves. Thefe leaves abforb dews, air, and other fine
fluids, which are concoéted and affimilated in the veffels of the fe-
minal root, and then conveyed, in a kind of vegetable form, to the
feeble veffels of the plume. Hence it is apparent, that the nourifh-
ing of young animals by milk, and of young vegetables by feminal
leaves, is the fame inftitution of Nature, and effected by fimilar in=
ftruments.

Plants, like animals, pafs gradually from an embryo, or infant
ftate, to that of puberty. At this period of their exiftence, they
have acquired that firmnefs of texture, and that evolution of parts,
which conftitute the perfetion of their natures, and enable them to
produce beings every way fimilar to themfelves. In both king-
doms, the age of puberty arrives later or more early, according to
the difference of fpecies. Some animals live a few months on-
ly. Many of the infe& tribes are produced, grow to maturity,
propagate their kind, and die in the courfe of a fingle feafon,
Others, as feveral flies, beetles, &c. exift two years, Thus
animals have a progreffive duration of life. The dormoufe lives
fix years, the hare feven or eight, the bear twenty or twenty-
five, the camel forty or fifty, the rhinoceros feventy or eighty,
the elephant two hundred; and fome birds and fifhes are fup-
pofed to exift during three or four centuries. The fame pro-
greflive duration takes place among vegetables. Some plants are
annual, as moft of the efculent kinds ; others, as the hedge- parfley,
the wild carrot, the parfnip, the fox-glove, the fcurvy-grafs, &c.
are biennial ; others exift three, five, feven, ten, twenty, thirty, fix-
ty, and a hundred years; and the oak, like the elephant and thofe
birds and fifhes which are famed for longevity, continues to adorn
the foreft for feveral centuries,

D2 The

28 TH ESP HEL OS OP i ¥

The manner by which the nutritious particles are extracted from
food, is very fimilar in the animal and the plant. In the animal,
this operation is performed by the ladteal veffels, which are diftri-
buted over the internal furface of the ftomach and inteftines. In
the plant, the fame office is performed by the veflels of the root
and leaves. Hence animals are organized beings nourifhed by roots
fituated within their bodies ; and plants are organized bodies which
abforb their nourifhment by roots placed externally. Befides, in
all viviparous animals,. the foetus is nourifhed, not by food taken
in at the mouth, but by veffels attached to the placenta. Thefe
veflels perform the fame office to the foetus, that roots do to vege=
tables..

Warmth and moiflure are favourable to the produdtion: of large
and juicy plants; and the animals that feed upon thefe fucculent
and rich vegetables, are likewife larger than thofe which inhabit cold
countries, where the plants are fmaller, more rigid, and contain:
fewer nutritive particles..

Some plants grow in particular climates only. The rubus aréfi-
cus, a {pecies of bramble, fo common in Norway. and Canada, hard-
ly. endures the climate of Upfal, in Sweden. . But the alfine media,,
or chickweed, and feveral graffes, are diffufed over almoft the whole
globe. In thefame manner, fome animals, as the camel, the-rhi-
noceros, and the elephant, are produced in warm climates only ;
while others, as the rein-deer, glutton, and marmot, are confined to
the colder regions of the earth; and man, in the animal, like fome
grafles in the vegetable kingdom, is univerfal, and inhabits every
climate,.

Some plants, as well'as fome animals, are amphibious, as the ruth:
and the frog ; others are parafites, and feed on the juices they ex=.
track:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 28

trad from different fpecies to which they adhere. The mifleltoe,.
for example, feeds upon the oak ; moft trees afford nourifhment to
certain moffes and fungous plants; and every animal is fed upon by
fmaller kinds. |

The growth of plants, like that of animals, may be accelerated
or retarded by promoting or cheéking their perfpiration, and by ex-
cluding them from proper exercife and air. When men, or other
animals, are confined to fituations which prevent the free accefs of
pure air, their growth is retarded ; and their fickly colour idicates
a defect of vigour. Plants, when placed in fimilar circumftances,
are always weak, dwarfifh, and unnaturally coloured. But exercife
is equally neceffary to the health and vigour of plants, as it is to
thofe of animals. The exercife of animals is effected by various
kinds of fpontaneous motion. Plants are likewife exercifed by mo-
tion; but that motion is not voluntary: It is communicated to them
by the action of the air. The agitation which they receive from the
winds enables them to extend their roots, prevents them froma
growth too rapid, and, of courfe, flrengthens their whole fabric,
It is owing to the want of this agitation, that plants brought up in
houfes, or in other confined fituations, fhoot out to an unnatural
length ; that their ftems and branches are always flender and weak ;
and that they ripen not their fruit like thofe which are expofed to
the open air.

To conclude this branch of the fubje&t, plants and animals are
fo nearly allied, that their growth and nourifhment are not only
effected by fimilar inftruments, but fome parts of animal. bodies evi-
dently partake of a vegetable nature. Thus, the hairs, the nails,,
the beaks, and the horns, are a fpectes of vegetables, as appears
from their comparative total infenfibility, as well as from the mode:
of their growth and reprodution,.

Wh.

4

30 THE PHILOSOPHY

II.—DISSEMINATION ann DECAY,

WE fhall next take an analogical view of the diffemination and
decay of the animal and vegetable.

The power of reprodudtion is peculiar to the plant and animal.
Each of them is capable of producing beings every way fimilar to
the parent. But the modes by which this fingular effe&t is accom-
plifhed, are very different in appearance. It is our prefent purpofe
to remove this apparent difference, and to fhow that animals and
vegetables multiply their {pecies in a manner extremely analogous,

Animals have long been divided into viviparous and oviparous.
The one clafs produce their young alive, the other lay eggs, which
mutt be hatched either by the heat of the fun, or by that of the
mother. This divifion, though very comprehenfive, is not perfec.
Several animals have lately been difcovered which are neither vivi-
parous nor oviparous; and there are animals which unite both thefe
modes of multiplication.

The viviparous clafs comprehends men, quadrupeds, and fome
fifhes, reptiles, and infe&s, The oviparous includes birds, fome
reptiles, and moft of the infe& tribes. But the armed polypus,
or hydra of Linnaeus, inftead of being either viviparous or ovi-
parous, multiplies its fpecies, as formerly remarked, by fending off
fhoots from the body of the parent.

Another fpecies, called the bel/-polypus, or hydra ftentorea of Lin-
naeus, multiplies by fplitting longitudinally. In twenty-four hours,
thefe divifions, which adhere to a common pedicle, refplit, and

form

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 3t

form four diftin@ animals. Thefe four, in an equal time, again
fplit ; and thus they proceed doubling their numbers daily, till they
acquire a figure fomewhat refembling a nofegay. The young after-
wards feparate from the parent ftock, attach themfelves to the roots
or leaves of aquatic plants, and each individual gives rife to a new
colony.

The funnel-fhaped polypus multiplies by fplitting tranfverfely.
Of the individuals, accordingly, which proceed from this divifion,
one has the old head and a new tail, and the other a new head and
the old tail. The fuperior divifion fwims off, and fixes itfelf to fome
other fubftance ; but the inferior divifion remains attached to the
former pedicle,

The dart-millepes affords another example of multiplication by
fpontaneous feparation. This infe& divides, about two-thirds be-
low the head, into two diftin& and perfe& animals; and it feems
to poffefs no other mode of continuing the fpecies.

The multiplication of the various animalcules which appear in
infufions of animal and vegetable fubftances, long occupied the at-
tention, and eluded the refearches of philofophers. This-difcovery
of the increafe of fome larger animals by {pontaneous divifion, gave
rife to the conjeCture, that thefe microfcopic animalcules might mul-
- tiply their numbers in a fimilar manner. This conjeture was com-
municated to M, de Sauffure in a letter from Bonnet, who received
an anfwer, dated at Genoa, September 28. 1769, to the following
purpofe.

* What you propofe as a doubt,” fays M. de Sauffure, ‘ I have

* verified by inconteftible experiments, namely, that infufion-ani-
* malcules multiply by continued divifions and fubdivilions. Thofe
L © roundifh.

32 THE PHILOSOPHY

* roundifh or oval animalcules that have no beak or hook on the
* fore part of their bodies, divide tranfverfely. A kind of ftri€ture
or ftrangulation begins about the middle of the body, which gra-
‘ gually increafes, till the two parts adhere by a fmall thread only.
‘ Then both parts make repeated efforts, till the divifion is com=

a

* pleted. For fome time after feparation, the two’ animals remain
* in a feemingly torpid ftate. They afterwards begin to {wim about
brifkly. Each part is only one half the fize of the whole: But
‘ they foon acquire the magnitude peculiar to the fpecies, and mul-

-

‘ tiply by fimilar divifions.——‘ To obviate every doubt,’ conti-
nucs our author, ‘I put a fingle animalcule into a drop of water,
‘ which fplit before my eyes. Next day, I had five, the day after,
fixty, and, on the third day, their number was fo great, that it
* was impofflible to count them *.

a

* Another fpecies, with a beak or horn on the fore part of its
body, which I obtained from an infufion of hemp-feed, multi-
plied likewife by divifion, but in a manner ftill more fingular
than the former. This animalcule, when about to divide, at- °
taches itfelf to the bottom of the infufion, contracts its body,

n

a

a“

n

which is naturally oblong, into a fpherical form, fo that the beak

entirely difappears. It then begins to move brifkly round, fome-
times from right to left, and fometimes from left to right, the
centre of motion being always fixed. Towards the end, its mo-

.

n

tion accelerates, and, inftead of a uniform fphere, two crofs-like

-

divifions begin tq appear. Soon after, the creature is greatly agi-

n

tated, and fplits into four animalcules perfe@ly fimilar, though

{maller than that from which they were produced. Thefe four

a

increafe to the ufual fize, and each, in its turn, fubdivides into
other four Tf,’ &c.
I The

La Palingenefie Philofophique, par C. Bonnet, tom. 1. p. 428. 429.

a

t

+ Idem, p. 430.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 33

‘The beauties of Nature have been juftly celebrated in the unifor-
mity of her produ@iions. This uniformity was early remarked, and
gave rife to the ancient divifion of animals into viviparous and ovi-
parous, which continued to be adopted as an univerfal maxim till
within thefe hundred years. Before this period, it was believed by
philofophers, that all animals were either brought forth alive, or
hatched from eggs. Among the ancients, indeed, and even down
to the time of the celebrated Redi, this maxim included chiefly the
more perfe& animals ; for, with regard to moft of the infe& tribes,
they imagined that thefe were produced by putrefation, and the
admixture of particular kinds of matter. But Redi, by a feries of
unqueftionable experiments, exploded the doétrine of the equivocal
generation of infe&s ; and then the maxim, without farther invefti-
gation, was extended to the whole animal kingdom. Redi’s experi-
ments and remarks turned the attention of philofophers to the mi-
nuter tribes of animals, In the courfe of a few years, accordingly,
feyeral eminent men arofe,’ Reaumur, Bonnet, Trembley, Ellis,
Spalanzani, and a multitude of other writers, opened new views:
with regard to the manners and oeconomy of animated beings. M,
Bonnet has furnifhed inconteftible evidence, that feveral fpecies of
the puceron, or vine-fretter, are both oviparous and viviparous, In
fummer, thefe infects bring forth their young alive; but, in autumn,
they depofit eggs upon the bark and branches of trees. Here the
intention of Nature is apparent. The puceron is unable to furvive
the winter colds; and, therefore, though viviparous during the
warm months, the {pecies could not be continued without this wife
provifion. The puceron, it fhould appear, is naturally difpofed to
produce live young. The foetus is inclofed in a membrane, which,
like that of the larger animals, burfts before exclufion. But, when
the cold feafon commences, the general texture of the animals, as

i E well

* Traite d’Infe@ologie, par C. Bonnet, tom. 1. p. 194.—202.

44 THE PHILOSOPHY

well as of the membranes inclofing the foetus, becomes more firm
and tenacious ; and this, perhaps, is the phyfical reafon why they
are viviparous in fummer, and oviparous in autumn. Many other
flies are known to be viviparous. Upon farther examination, all
thefe will probably be difcovered to be alfo oviparous *.

The puceron exhibits another phaenomenon ftill more fingular,
The maxim, that multiplication prefuppofed impregnation by fex-
ual embraces, was formerly thought to be univerfal. Neither fhould
the reception of this maxim be regarded as a matter of wonder; for
it was founded on a very general and ftrong analogy. But the fol-
lowing faéts fhow, that Nature, though uniform in many fteps of
her progrefs, is not invariably limited to the fame mode of opera=
tion.

On the 20th day of May, M. Bonnet took a young puceron, the:
moment after dropping from the womb of its mother, and fhut it
up in a glafs veffel, to prevent all pofibility of communication with
any individual of the fpecies.. A fprig of the tree on which the
animal was produced, fupplied it with nourifhment. The creature
changed its {kin four times, namely, on the 23d, 26th, 29th, and
3ift days of the fame month. After a minute detail of circum=
ftances, M. Bonnet informs us, that his imprifoned puceron grew
with rapidity ; that, on the 1ft day of June, it brought forth ; and.
that, from this day to the 21ft, it produced no lefs than 95 young,.
all full of life and vigour f. He frequently repeated this experi-
ment, and it was always followed with the fame event.

M. Bonnet, fufpecting that a fingle impregnation might influ-
ence both the mother and her immediate offspring, refolved to ob-
viate

* See Reaumur, tom. 8. edit. r2mo, p. 153. et /eg:
+ Bonnet, Traité d’Infectologie, tom. 1. p. 39.3 and Reaymur, tom, 12. p- 393:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 45

viate every difficulty. For this purpofe, he confined, in feparate
glaffes, the young of fucceflive births, as they dropped from their
mothers. Each of thefe, however, were equally fertile, though he
continued the experiment to the ninth generation from the original
parent *.

Faats of this kind, which feem to interrupt the ordinary current
of Nature, fhould infpire philofophers with caution. They fhould
create reverence for fuch of her operations as are already known ;
but they fhould likewife check that rath fpirit which too frequently
draws unlimited conclufions, before the fubject be fully inveftigated.
Of all induétions regarding the hiftory of Nature, the necefflity of
fexual commerce for multiplying the fpecies appeared to be the moft
general and the moft legitimate. The oeconomy of the puceron,
however, demonftrates, that even this law is not indifpenfable, and
that Nature has the power of changing her fteps, and of accomplifh-
ing the fame purpofes by various means,

Having enumerated the different modes by which animals multi-
ply their fpecies, I fhall next fhow, that the multiplication of vege=
tables is extremely analogous.

The viviparous, as well as the oviparous animals, are fuppofed to
proceed from eggs, with this difference, that the young of the vivi-
parous are hatched in the uterus previous to their exclufion.

Many ftriking analogies fubfift between the eggs of animals and
the feeds of plants. When placed in proper circumftances, they
both produce young every way fimilar to the parents. To accom-
plith this wonderful effet, the egg requires impregnation and heat,

Esa Moifture,

* Bonnet, Traité d’Infectologie, tom. 1. p. 74. et /eq.

36 THE PHILOSOPHY

Moifture, warmth, and foil, or fome fimilar matrix, are neceflary
for the exclufion of the young plant. This analogy has been ex-
tended much farther by Linnaeus, and other fupporters of the fex-
ual fyftem of plants. They maintain, that impregnation is equally
indifpenfable to the vegetation of the feed, as to the fertility of the
egg. But, as this doctrine will be difcufled when we come to treat
of fexes in general, we fhall here difmifs it without farther remark.

Eggs are not only analogous to feeds, in their general deftination
of reproducing individuals, and continuing the fpecies, but there is
a great fimilarity in the ftructure and ufes of their refpective organs.

The internal parts of the egg are covered with a cruft or thell,
and two membranes. Befide thefe, the yoke is included in-a fe-
parate membrane. When the two firft membranes are removed,
the white appears every way invefting the yoke. In the white, or
rather on the membrane of the yoke, a {mall cicatrice is difcernible,
in the centre of which is the punctum /aliens, or embryo of the fu-
ture animal. After two or three days incubation, this punétum fa-
liens becomes red, and fhoots out blood-veffels, which are difperfed
through the yoke, in the fame manner as the veflels of a foetus are
diftributed over the placenta.

A feed is likewife covered with a fhell, or cruftaceous membrane,
Another membrane invefts the whole kernel, or pulpy lobes of the-
feed. Each lobe, like the yoke of the egg, is involved in a feparate
me¢mbrane. In every feed there is alfo-a {mall cicatrice, or aperture,
through which the young plant iffues. Immediately under this ci-
catrice, the plume, or future plant, is difcernible, refembling the
punétum faliens of the egg. ‘Fhe branches of the radicle proceed
from this plume, and are difperfed through the fubftance of the
lobes, in the fame manner as the blood-veflels iffue from the punc-

tun

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 37

tum faliens of the egg, and are diftributed over the yoke. It is by
the pulp of the lobes that the radicle and plume are nourifhed, till
the one fhoots down into the foil, and the other mounts above the
furface. In feeds, there is nothing analogous to the white of an
egg. Such a provifion would have been fuperfluous; for the earth,
in which the feeds are to germinate, muft always be moift, otherwife
the young plant could not receive nourifhment, after iffuing from
the feed. Befides, the eggs of fifhes have no white, becaufe they
are perpetually moiftened with water.

The analogies arifing from the multiplication of animals and
plants, by means of eggs and feeds, are the moft common, and the
moft obvious. Eggs and feeds are evidently organs formed on the
fame plan, and deftined by Nature to anfwer the fame general in-
tention: But the multiplication of plants, as well as that of ani-
mals, is not confined folcly to one mode.

The young of viviparous animals, though they probably origi-
nate from {mall eggs, are not brought forth till they have acquired
a certain age and firmnefs of texture. It may be thought, that
there is no multiplication of plants which has any refemblance to
that of viviparous animals, We fhould refle&t, however, that plants
can multiply by buds. Now, a bud has no analogy, either in tex-
ture or appearance, to a feed. Buds arife from the ftems or
branches of vegetables. One object in their formation is to pro-
duce leaves.and branches, as well as to extend the length of the
trunk or ftem. But they are likewife endowed with the. faculty of
reproducing new individuals. In this refped, trees and fhrubs may
be confidered as viviparous plants ; becaufe they produce out of
their own bodies an organ, which, though differing in every view
from a feed, is brought forth alive, and, when properly cherifhed,.
is converted into a being perfectly fimilar to the parent, and capable

of

38 TRE ?P E! LO-s-Oe. HW Y¥

of continuing its fpecies. ‘The embryo of a bud commences its ex
iftence under the bark. Here it remains, for fome time, inclofed in
membranous coverings, and attached to the bark by minute fibres,
which convey to it a nourifhment fuited to its condition. When
arrived at a certain fize and confiftence, it pierces the bark, and
fhoots out into the open air. If allowed to remain on the parent, it
foon burfts through its membranes, and, in time, gives rife to a
new branch: But, when detached from the parent, and placed in
proper circumftances, it becomes a new individual of the fame {pe-

cies.

Bulbous rooted plants furnifh a ftill ftronger analogy between the
increafe of viviparous animals and that of vegetables. In the end
of autumn, if the coats of any bulbous root be carefully difle@ed,
the entire plant in miniature will appear in the centre of the root.
In fpring, this fmall plant, like a foetus inclofed in the uterus,
pierces the coats of which the root confifts, and gradually grows till
it flowers, ripens its feeds, and dies at the approach of winter, when
a new plant is again formed in the old root, Here we have an ex-
ample of the multiplication of plants fimilar to that of the puceron ;
but the order of time is reverfed. The puceron is viviparous in
fummer, and oviparous in autumn ; but bulbous-rooted plants may
be confidered as oviparous in fummer, and viviparous in autumn.

The fame analogy is to be traced in thofe roots which have what
are called eyes, like the potatoe. Thefe eyes are all plants in mi-
niature, which live in that ftate during the winter, and, when com-
mitted to the foil, come to maturity in fummer.

There are ftill other modes of multiplying common to the ani-
mal and vegetable. Many plants are multiplied by fuckers, flips,

and cuttings.

The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 39

The animal kingdom furnifhes examples of all thefe modes. of
multiplication, The fuckers of plants have an exact analogy to the
fhoots of a polypus; When feparated from the parent, the fucker
becomes a perfect plant, and the fhoot of the polypus a perfe& ani-
mal. Plants are capable of multiplication by flips and cuttings:
And the portions of a polypus, however {mall, or when cut in any
direGtion, reproduce, and become perfect animals of the fame {pe-
cies,

But fome fpecies of the polypus, the dart-millepes, and feveral
animalcules which appear in infufions of animal and vegetable fub-
ftances, multiply by fplitting, or fpontaneous feparation. Here the
analogy between the animal and vegetable might be fuppofed to
fail, The water-lentil, however, a fmall plant, which covers the
furface of ftagnating pools, multiplies its {pecies by detaching thin
films from the under fide of the leaf. Thefe films or tender leaves
produce roots, and vegetate into a regular plant.

We muft not difmifs this fubje& till another analogy be unfolded.
All animals have feafons peculiar to their refpective kinds. Some
of the larger animals produce in the fpring, others in fummer, others
in autumn, and others in winter. With regard to the infe& tribes,
their feafons are ftill more various. Every month, every week of
the year, gives birth to different {pecies. The feafons of plants are
diverfified in a fimilar manner. The growth of different vegetables
is diftributed over the whole year. Particular tribes fpring up at the
fame uniform periods. In this beautiful diverfity of arrangement,
the intentions of Nature are evident. If all plants were to rufh
forward at the fame time, they would infallibly choke each other.
The furface of the earth could not afford them room. Nature has
therefore wifely ordained, that the earth fhould always be covered.
with plants; But the has alfo ordained, that particular tribes fhould.

L die.

0 THE PHILOSOPHY

die at ftated periods, to make way for the exiftence of others. The
fame inconvenience would happen, if the produdtion of all animals,
and particularly that vaft number of fpecies, and that immenfe pro-
fufion of individuals, to which the infec tribes give birth, were to
take place at one period. The air would be fo crowded with noxi-
ous creatures, that neither man nor the larger animals could pof_i-
bly exift. Befides, the fpecies which feed upon particular plants, if
they were produced at a time when thefe plants did not flourith,
would infallibly perifh for want of food. In Lapland, where the
duration of heat is extremely fhort, the whole infe&ts which inhabit
_ that dreary and barren region are produced in a few weeks. Though
the number of {pecies, compared with thofe of the more prolific cli-
mates, be very limited, the inconvenience is feverely felt. But eve-
ry natural evil is accompanied with fome advantage. The rein-
deer, upon which the exiftence of the Laplanders ehiefly depends,
are tormented by the {warms of flies. To avoid their numberlefs
enemies, thefe animals leave the vallies, and afcend the mountains,
where the cold is too great for the flies to follow. In thefe lofty
regions, the rein-deer feed during the hot feafon, ‘and return to the
vallies after the cold has deftroyed the myriads of infe&ts, This
forced migration has two good effeéts: It both preferves the health
of the rein-deer, and the vegetables in the vallies, which otherwife
would have been prematurely exhaufted.

The operation of engrafting was long thought to be peculiar to
the vegetable kingdom. But M. Trembley found, that feveral {pe-
cies of the frefh-water polypus could fuccefsfully undergo this won-
derful procefs. Since his time, it has been difcovered, that the ac-
tinia, or fea-nettle, is likewife capable of being engrafted to an in-
dividual of the fame or of a different fpecies. In all thefe inftances,
the portions of the divided animals grow together, and become di-
ftingt individuals.

3 Having

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 4l

Having traced the general analogies between the ftruéture and
oeconomy of the animal and vegetable, from the rudiments of their
exiftence till they have acquired full maturity, and performed the
neceflary office of multiplying their fpecies, we proceed to the laft
and only melancholy branch of this fubje&t, the unavoidable decay
and death of every fucceffive individual in both kingdoms.

Tt is an invariable Jaw of Nature, that all organized bodies fhould
have a conftant tendency to diffolution. But the periods of their
exiftence vary according to the fpecies, Previous to actual refolu-
tion, plants as well as animals are fubje&t to a number of analogous
affections and difeafes. When over-heated, plants fhow evident marks
of languor and fatigue: Their leaves become flaccid, their items
and branches bend toward the earth, their juices evaporate, and their
whole texture aflumes the appearances of weaknefs and decay. The
application of too great a degree of cold makes the flowers, the
leaves, the bark, and even the woody fibres, fhrivel and contra& in
their dimenfions. When deprived of proper light and air, their co-
lours fade, and they foon acquire a lurid and fickly afpe&. They
are likewife fubje& to be ftarved for want of nourifhment. The
growth of plants, as well as that of animals, is checked by fcanty
lupplies of food. When the foil or fituation is unkindly, vegetables
are always weak and dwarfifh, and their prolific powers are diminifh-
ed. They may alfo be poifoned by the abforption of fluids hoftile
to their conftitution. Befide thefe general affeGtions, common to
the plant and animal, vegetables are injured, and often killed, by
particular difeafes.

Some difeafes attack the leaves only, and produce {pots of various
colours, rugofities, puftules, galls, &c. Others are peculiar to the
flowers and fruit, and often occafion barrennefs for a feafon ; and
fometimes this fterility continues during the exiftence of the plant.
Others aflault the vifcera, or internal organs, and give rile to ob-

t F ftructions,

42 THE PHILOSOPHY

ftru€tions, tumors, and a gradual refolution and corruption of the
whole fabrick. Many of the difeafes of plants are produced by the
infe& tribes. . Their wounds and depredations are not confined to
particular parts, but extend from the root to the ftem, branches,
leaves, flowers, and fruit. Infeéts not only injure the fubftance of
plants, but, by feeding on their juices, deprive them of a part of
~ their nourifhment, and occafion various difeafes or changes in their
organization. Other difeafes of plants derive their origin from change
of climate, from miafmata or noxious vapours in the atmofphere,
and from improper culture. When wounded by external inju-
ries, vegetables difcharge their blood in copious ftreams. If the
wound be net mortal, the fibres on all fides gradually fhoot out, and
clofe the fraQture by a callous fubftance.

From this general enumeration, it is obvious, that the difeafes of
plants are not only fimilar to thofe of animals, but proceed from the
fame caufes. In both kingdoms, fome difeafes are only partial or
fuperficial, and are cured either by Nature, or by the afliftance of
art. Others are mortal, and fucceeded by a total putrefaction or de-
compofition of the individual,

But, though plants fhould efcape the numberlefs difeafes which
daily threaten them, they have no defence againft the flower ap-
proaches of old age, and its unavoidable confequence, death. In
progrefs of time, the veflels gradually harden and lofe their tone.
The juices no longer move with equal celerity as in youth. They
are not abforbed with the fame precifion. They at laft ftagnate and
corrupt. This corruption is foon communicated to the veffels in
which the juices are contained, and produces a total ceflation of all
the vital functions.

- The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 43

The life of animals is diverfified by a number of fucceffive chan-
ges. Infancy, youth, manhood, old age, are characterifed by imbe-
cillity, beauty, fertility, dotage. All thefe viciffitudes are confpicu-
ous in the vegetable world. Weak and tender in infancy, beautiful
and vigorous in youth, robuft and fruitful in manhood, and, when
old age approaches, the head droops, the fprings of life dry up, and
the tottering vegetable, like the animal, returns to that duft from
which it fprung.

Upon the whole, by taking a retrofpedtive view of the extreme
difficulty of afcertaining the boundaries which diftinguith the animal
from the vegetable, and of the fimilarities in their ftruture and or-
gans, in their growth and nourifhment, in their diflemination and
decay, it is apparent, that both thefe kingdoms conftitute the fame
order of beings, and that Nature, in the formation of them, has ope-
rated upon one great and common model,

F 2 ; CHAP,

44. THE PHILOSOPHY

Cer A Pr Roe ee

Of the organs and general firucture of Animals—A fhort view of
the external and internal parts of the human body—This ftructure
compared with thofe of Quadrupeds, Birds, Fifhes, and Infedls—
How far peculiarities of ftrudture are connected with peculiarities
of manners and difpofitions.

N Treating of this fubje&, it is not intended to dive into the

depths of anatomical refearch. On the contrary, I fhall exhibit
fhort views only of the general ftru€ture and organization of the
various claffes of animated beings, from man, who is the moft per=
fe& animal of which. we have any knowledge, down to the infec
tribes. Confidering man, therefore, as the ftandard of animal per-
feQtion, we fhall inftitute frequent comparifons, and mark peculiar
diftin€&tions between him and the brute creation, both with regard
to form, manners, and fagacity. By following this plan, I hope I
fhall be enabled to render a fubjeét which, at firft fight, may have a
forbidding afpeét, both interefting and agreeable.

STRUCTURE OF MAN,

‘The bones may be regarded as the bafis upon which the human
body is conftruéted. The fpine, or back-bone, confifts of a number
of vertebrae, or {mall bones, connected together by cartilages, arti-

culations,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. Alpe

culations, and ligaments. In the centre of each vertebra there is a
foramen, or hole, for the lodgement and continuation of the fpinal
marrow, which extends from the brain to the rump. From thefe
vertebrae the arched bones called 1ibs proceed; and feven of them
join the breaft-bone on each fide, where they terminate in cartilages,
and form the cavity of the thorax, or cheft. This cavity contains
the heart and lungs; and the oefophagus, or gullet, pafles through
it to reach the ftomach. The five lower ribs, with a number of
mulcles, form another cavity termed the abdomen, or belly, in which
are contained the ftomach, the bowels, the omentum, or cawl, the
liver, the gall-bladder, the fpleen, the pancreas, and the kidneys.
The cheft and abdomen are feparated from each other by the dia-
phragm, or midriff. The lower part of this laft cavity contains the
bladder of urine, and the re€tum, or termination of the inteftines.
Befide thefe, in females, the pelvis includes the uterus and its ap-
pendages. This part of the cavity is formed by the os facrum, or
termination of the back-bone, and the two offa innominata,

The bones of the cranium and face are very numerous. They
are connected together by means of futures, articulations, and mem-~
branes. The bones of the cranium include the brain, and its two
membranous coverings, called the pia and dura mater, and the me-
dulla oblongata, of which laft the fpinal marrow is-a prolongation.
The bones of the upper and under jaw form another cavity for the
reception of the tongue and organs of fpeech.

The only remaining bones are thofe of the upper and lower ex-
tremities. The fhoulder and collar bones articulate with the top of
the arm and the breaft-bone. The arm-bone, or os bumeri, is join-
ed to the two bones of the’ fore-arm, called w/na and radius, and
thefe laft to the bones of the carpus, or wrift, by means of articula-

tions

46 ThE TP BLO SOP mF

tions and firm membranes. To the bones of the wrift, thofe of the
metacarpus and fingers are attached in a fimilar manner.

With regard to the lower extremities, the thigh-bone articulates
above with the hip-bone, and below with the leg-bone and the ro-
tula, or knee-pan. The leg, like the fore-arm, is compofed of two
bones, the tibia and fibula, which articulate with each other, and
with the tarfal, or heel-bones of the foot; and to thefe laft the me-
tatarfal bones, and thofe of the toes, are joined.

From this outline, fome idea may be formed of the human fke-
leton. The other parts of which our bodies are compofed fhall be
mentioned in the fame curfory manner.

The mufcular part of the human fabric confifts of numerous
bundles of flethy fibres. Each bundle, or diftin& mufcle, is inclofed
in a cellularemembrane, by which means they may be raifed, or fe-
parated from one another by the hand of the anatomift. They are
inferted, by ftrong tendinous extremities, into the different bones of
which the fkeleton is compofed, and, by their contraction and dif-
tention, give rife to all the movements of the body. The mufcles,
therefore, may be confidered as fo many cords attached to the bones;
and Nature has fixed them according to the moft perfect principles
of mechanifm, fo as to produce the fitteft motions in the bones or
parts for the movement of which they are intended,

The heart is a hollow mufcular organ of a conical fhape,
and confits of four diftin& cavities. The two largeft are called
ventricles, and the two fmalleft auricles. The heart is inclofed in
the pericardium, a membranous bag, which likewife contains a quan-
tity of water, or lymph. This water lubricates the heart, and faci-

litates all its motions. The heart is the general refervoir of the
blood.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. AT

blood. By the contrations and dilatations of this mufcle, the blood
is alternately thrown out of, and received into, its feveral cavities.
When the heart contsacts, the blood is propelled from the right
ventricle into the lungs through the pulmonary arteries, which, like
all the other arteries, are furnifhed with valves that play eafily for-
ward, but admit not the blood to regurgitate toward the heart. The
blood, after circulating through the lungs, returns into the left ven-
tricle of the heart by the pulmonary vein. At the fame inftant, the
left ventricle drives the blood into the aorta, a large artery which
fends off branches to fupply the head and arms. Another large
branch of the aorta defcends along the infide of the back-bone, and
detaches numerous ramifications to nourish the vifcera and inferior
extremities. After ferving the moft remote extremities of the bo-
dy, the arteries are converted into veins, which, in their return to-
ward the heart, gradually unite into larger branches, till the whole
terminate in one great trunk called the vena cava, which difcharges
itfelf into the right ventricle of the heart, and completes the circu=
lation.

Befide the heart, the thorax or cheft contains the lungs, or organs
of refpiration. They are divided into five lobes, three of which lie
on the right, and two on the left fide of the thorax. ‘The fubftance
of the lungs is chiefly compofed of infinite ramifications of the tra=
chea or windpipe, which, after gradually becoming more and more
minute, terminate in little cells or veficles, which have a free com-
munication with one another. At each infpiration, thefe pipes and
cells are filled with air, which is againdifcharged by refpiration. In
this manner, a circulation of air, which is neceflary to the exiftence
of men and other animals, is conftantly kept up as long as life re-
mains.

The

48 THE PHIL Os orn yy

The inftruments and procefs of digeftion fall next to be confider-
ed. The ftomach is a membranous and mufcular bag furnifhed with
two orifices: By the one it has a communication with the oe/opha-
gus, or gullet, and by the other with the bowels, which begin at the
ftomach and terminate at the anus, In the ftomach and inteftines
there are immenfe numbers of minute veffels called /actea/s, the
mouths of which are conftantly open for the reception of the nutri-
tious particles. After being moiftened and lubricated by the faliva,
the food is received into the ftomach, where it is ftill farther diluted
by the gaftric juice, which has the power of diffolving every kind
of animal and vegetable fubftance. When the food has remained
fome time in the ftomach, it is reduced to a grayith pulp, mixed
with fome chylous or milky particles, The thinner and more per-
fedtly digefted parts of the food gradually pafs through the pylorus,
or lower aperture of the ftomach, into the inteftines, where they are
fill farther attenuated and digefted by the bile and pancreatic juices.
While the food is in this fluid ftate, it receives the denomination of
chyle, and is continually. abforbed by the mouths of the laGteal veins.
Thefe veffels arife, like net-work, from the inner furface of the in-
teftines, pafs obliquely through their coats, and, running along the
mefentery, unite, as they advance, into larger branches, and at laft
terminate in the thoracic du@, or general receptacle of the chyle.
Befide the laéteals, there is another fyftem of veflels called lympha-
tic, or abforbent veins: They are minute pellucid tubes, and gene-
rally lie clofe to the large blood-veffels. The lymphatics from all
the lower parts of the body gradually unite as they approach the
thoracic du, into which they pour a colourlefs fluid by three or
four large trunks; and the lymphatics from all the fuperior parts
of the body likewife difcharge their lymph into the fame dué& as it
runs upward to terminate in the left fubclavian vein, By this cu-
rious and beautiful machinery, the chyle and lymph, which confift
oi the nutritious matters extraéted from the food, enter the circu-

I lating

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 49

lating fyftem, are converted into blood, and afford that conftant
fupply of nourifhment which the perpetual wafte of our bodigs de-
mands.

We thall next give a fketch of thofe important organs by which
we are enabled to multiply and continue the fpecies. The circula-
tion of the blood, and the mode by which the quantity of it is con-
tinually kept up by frefh fupplies of chyle, are effets which, in
fome meafure, correfpond with our ideas of the machinery employ-
ed. The organs of generation exhibit a ftill more complex fpeci-
men of exquifite mechanifm. But the machinery employed, with-
out the aid of experience, could never fuggeft the moft diftant idea
of the effect to be produced.

In the male, the organs of generation confift of the teftes, the fe-
minal veffels, and the penis. The teftes are two glandular bodies
which poffefs the power of converting the blood into femen. They
are originally formed and lodged in the abdomen ; and it is not till
after birth that they commonly pafs into the groin, and from thence
fall into the fcrotum, which is a mufcular bag prepared for their re-
ception and defence. The teftes of the hedgehog and of fome other
quadrupeds remain in the abdomen during life. Inftances of the
fame kind fometimes happen in the human fpecies. Each tefticle is
compofed of the fpermatic artery and vein. The blood paffes very
flowly through the fpermatic artery, and produces an infinite num-
ber of convolutions in the fubftance of the tefticle, where it depofits
the femen, which is taken up by the femeniferous tubes. Thefe
tubes at length unite, and, by an immenfe number of circumvolu-
tions, form a kind of appendix to the tefticle, commonly known by
the term epzdydymis, ‘The tubes of the epidydymis, after termina-
ting in an excretory duct called vas deferens, afcend toward the ab-
dominal rings, and depofit the femen in the feminal veficles, which

1 f G are

50 THE’ PHILOS OP AY

are two foft convoluted bodies fituated between the reCtum.and blad-
der, and unite at their lower extremity: From thefe refervoirs the fe-
men is occafionally difcharged through the fhort canals which open
into the urethra. The penis is a cavernous and fpungy fubftance
perforated longitudinally by a canal called the wrethra, which, by
communicating with the bladder and feminal veflels, anfwers the
double purpofe of difcharging both the urine and femen,

With regard to the female organs, the uterus and its appendages
merit a principal attention, The uterus is a hollow mufcular body
fituated between the rectum and bladder, and, when not in an im-
pregnated ftate, refembles a pear, with the thickeft end turned to-
ward the abdomen. .The entrance into the cavity of the uterus
forms a {mall protuberance, which has been compared to the mouth
of a tench, and from this circumftance it has received the name of
os tincae. ‘The uterus is connected to the fides of the pelvis by two
broad ligaments, which fupport it in the vagina in a pendulous fitu-
ation. From each fide of the bottom of the uterus the two Fallo-
pian tubes arife, pafs through the fubftance of the uterus, and ex-
tend along the broad ligaments till they reach the edge of the pelvis;
from whence they are refleted backward, and turning over behind
the ligaments, their extremities hang loofe in the pelvis. Thefe ex-
tremities, becaufe they have a ragged appearance, are called fimbriae,
or morfus diaboli: Fach Fallopian tube is about three inches long,
Their cavities are at firft very fmall, but become gradually larger,
like a trumpet, as they approach the fimbriae. Near the fimbriae
of each tube, about an inch from the uterus, are fituated the ovaria, or
two oval bodies, about half the fize of the male tefticle. They are co-
vered with a produétion of the peritoneum, and hang loofe in the pel-
vis. In their fubftance there are fevera! minute veficles filled with lymph.
The number of thefe veficles feldom exceeds twelve in each ovarium.
In mature females, thefe veficles become exceedingly turgid; anda

3 yellow

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 51

yellow coagulum gradually forms in one of them, which increafes
till its coat difappears. It then changes into a hemifpherical body
called corpus luteum, which is defcribed as being hollow and con=
taining within its cavity very minute eggs, each of which, it is fup-
pofed, may be impregnated, and produce a foetus. After impreg-
nation, one of thefe eggs, as we are informed by anatomifts, is ab-
forbed by and pafles through the Fallopian tube into the uterus,
where it is nourifhed till mature for birth.

We fhall conclude this fubjeG& with a concife account of the in-
ftruments of fenfation. The organs hitherto defcribed convey no-
thing more than the idea of am automaton, or felf-moving machine.
But fenfation, or the perception of pleafure and pain, is eflefied by
organs of a peculiar kind, Thefe organs are all comprehended un-
der the general appellations of the dra: and nerves.

Befide the bones of the cranium, the brain is invefted with two
membranes, called dura and pia mater, becaufe they were fuppofed
by the Arabians to be the fource of all the other membranes of the
body. Under the denomination of drain are comprehended three
diftin& parts, the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and medulla oblongata.
The cerebrum is a foft medullary mafs, fituated in the anterior part
of the fkull, and divided, by a portion of the dura mater, into two
hemifpheres. It confifts of two fubftances, the cortical, which is
greyifh, and the medullary, which is fofter, and of a very white co-
lour. The cerebellum is divided into two lobes, and its fubftance is
firmer and more compact than that of the cerebrum. It is likewife
compofed of the cortical and medullary fubftances. The reunion of
the medullary fubftances of the cerebrum and cerebellum, at the
bafis of the fkull, forms the medulla oblongata, of which the {pinal
Marrow isa continuation. The brain of the human {pecies is pro=
portionally much larger than that of quadrupeds,

G2 The:

SZ THE) PHTELOS. OPH ¥

The brain and f{pinal marrow are fuppofed to be the origin of all
the nerves or inftruments of fenfation. ‘The nerves are, in general,
cineritious, fhining, inelaftic cords. But they differ from each other
in fize, colour, and confiftence. From numberlefs experiments and
obfervations, it is unqueftionable, that the nerves are the inftru-
ments both of fenfation and of animal motion. But, how thefe
effects are produced by the nervous influence is a difcovery {till to
be made. The inquiry, however, has given rife to feveral ingeni-
ous conjectures and hypothefes. Some phyfiologifts have maintain-
ed, that the nerves are folid cords, which may be divided into an
infinite number of minute filaments ; and that, by the vibrations of
thefe cords, the various impreflions and modifications of feeling are
conveyed to the brain. Others, with more plaufibility, have fup=
* pofed, that the nerves are affemblages of fmall tubes; that a fub-
tile fluid, fometimes called animal /pirits, is fecreted in the brain and
fpinal marrow ; and that by the influence or motions of this fluid
all the fenfations of animals are tranfmitted to the fenforium, or ge-
neral repofitory of ideas. But it is needlefs to dwell upon a fubject
covered with darknefs, and which all the efforts of human powers
will probably never bring to light.

Anatomifts have defcribed forty pair of nerves. Ten of them
proceed from the medulla oblongata of the brain, and thirty from
the fpinal marrow. Thefe nerves, by fending off innumerable ra=
mifications, are diftributed, like a net-work, over every part of the
body, till they terminate, in the form of minute papillae, upon the
fkin. That the nerves are the immediate inftruments of fenfation,
as well as of mufcular motion, has been proved by a thoufand un=
controvertible experiments. When the trunk of the fciatic nerve
is cut, the thigh and leg on that fide inftantly lofe all motion, and
all fenfe of pain, below the incifion, and neither time nor art can

ever reftore the power of feeling or of moving. But the parts be-
tween

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 53

tween the incifion and the fpinal marrow, which is a continuation
of the brain, retain their ufual degrees both of motion and of fen-
fation. From this experiment, it is evident, that the nerves are the
organs by which fenfation and motion are effeted, and that, for
thefe important purpofes, an uninterrupted connection between any
particular nerve and the brain, or fpinal marrow, is indifpenfible.

This fketch of the human fabric requires an apology to anatomi-
cal readers, who muft be fenfible of its many imperfections. To
perfons who have not ftudied that curious and ufeful fcience, I ima-
gined a general view of the flru€ture of man, if properly compofed,
might enable them to acquire more diftinét ideas of the many feem-
ing deviations from the common plan obferved by Nature in the
formation of the inferior and more imperfect animals,

OF THE STRUCTURE OF QUADRUPEDS.

Having delineated the ftru€ture and organs of the human fpecies,
it is worthy of remark, that the intellect, or fagacity, of inferior
animals augments or diminifhes in proportion as the formation of
their bodies approaches to, or recedes from, that of man. Quadru-
peds, accordingly, are more intelligent than birds; the fagacity of
birds exceeds that of fifhes; and the dexterity and cunning of fifh-
es are fuperior to thofe of moft of the infect tribes. The fame gra-
dation of mental powers is exhibited in different fpecies of the fame
claffes of animals. The form of the orang outang makes the near-
eft approach to the human; and the arts he employs for his defence,
the actions he performs, and the fagacity he difcovers, are fo afto-
nifhing, that fome philofophers have confidered him asa real hu-
man being in the moft debafed ftage of fociety. Next to the orang

outang,

54 THE PHILOSOPHY

outang, the organs of the different fpecies of apes and monkeys have
the greateft refemblance to thofe of man; and their powers of imi-
tation, their addrefs in procuring their food, and in managing their
young, their ingenuity, and their fagacious manners, have contri-
buted to the.amufement, and excited the admiration, of mankind in
all ages and nations. ‘The fame relation between form and intellect
may be traced in the dog, the cat, the fow, the horfe, the theep, and
the other fpecies of quadrupeds.

With regard to the general ftru€ture and figure of quadrupeds, a
preat variety is exhibited in the different kinds. But, when exa-
mined in detail, it is apparent, that they, as well as man, are all
formed upon one primitive and general defign. Befide the organs
of fenfation, of circulation, of digeftion, and of generation, with-
out which moft animals could neither fubfift nor multiply, there is,
even among thofe parts that chiefly contribute to variety in external
form, fuch a wonderful refemblance as neceflarily conveys the idea
of an original plan upon which the whole has been executed. For
example, when the parts conftituting a horfe are compared with the
human frame, inftead of being ftruck with their difference, we are
aftonithed at their fingular and almoft perfe& refemblance. Take the
fkeleton of a man, fays Buffon, incline the bones of the pelvis;
fhorten thofe of the thighs, legs, and arms; join the phalanges of
the fingers and toes; lengthen the jaws by fhortening the frontal
bones; and, laftly, extend the fpine of the back. This fkeleton
would no longer reprefent that of a man: It would be the fkeleton
of ahorfe. For, by lengthening the back-bone and the jaws, the
number of the vertebrae, ribs, and teeth, would be increafed; and
it is only by the number of thefe bones, and by the prolongation,
contraction, and junétion of others, that the fkeleton of a horfe
differs from that of a man, The ribs, which are effential to the fi-
gure of animals, are found equally in man, in quadrupeds, in birds,

in

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 55

in fithes, and even in the turtle. The foot of the horfe, fo appa-
rently different from the hand of a man, is compofed of fimilar
bones; and, at the extremity of each finger, we have the fame {mall
bone, refembling the fhoe of a horfe, which bounds the foot of that
animal. Raife the fkeletons of quadrupeds, from the ape-kind to
the moufe, upon their hind-legs, and compare them with the fkele-
ton of a man, the mind will be inftantly ftruck with the uniformi-
ty of ftructure and defign obferved in the formation of the whole
group. This uniformity is fo conftant, and the gradations from one
fpecies to another are fo imperceptible, that to difcover the marks
of their difcrimination requires the moft minute attention. Even
the bones of the tail will make but a flight impreffion on the obfer-
ver. The tail is only a prolongation of the os coccygis, or rump-
bone, which is fhort in man. The orang outang, and true apes,
have no tail; and, in the baboons, and feveral other quadrupeds,
the tail is exceedingly fhort. . Thus, in the creation of animals, the
Supreme Being feems to have employed only one great idea, and,
at the fame time, to have diverfified it in every poffible manner,
that men might have an opportunity of admiring equally the mag-
nificence of the execution and the fimplicity of the defign,

In quadrupeds, as well as in man, the bones are conneéted by ar-
ticulations and membranes; and the different movements of thefe
bones are performed by the operation of mufcles. The number,
difpofition, and form of the mufcles, with a few exceptions arifing
from the figure and deftination of parts peculiar to particular ani-
mals, are nearly the fame in men and in quadrupeds. The circula-
tion of their blood, the fecretion of their fluids, and the procefs of
digeftion, are carried on by organs perfe@ly fimilar to thofe of the
human body. In the external covering, a {mall difference takes
place. Quadrupeds are furnifhed with a thick covering of hair, or
wool, to defend them from the injuries of the weather. Being

deftitute -

56 THE PHILOSOPHY

deftitute of art fufficient to make garments, Nature has fupplied that
defect, by giving them a coat of hair, which varies in thicknefs ac-
cording to the feafon of the year and the difference of climate. In
Ruffia, Lapland, Kamtfchatka, and all the northern regions, the
furs of animals are very thick and-warm. But, in Turkey, Africa,
and the fouthern parts of Afia and America, moft quadrupeds are
thinly clad, and fome of them, as the Turkith dog, are totally de-
ftitute of hair.

The fkin of quadrupeds is difpofed nearly in the fame manner as
the human, only it is more elaftic. Immediately under the fkin,
there is a thin mufcular fubftance, called panniculus carnofus, which
is common to all quadrupeds, except the hog and armadillo kinds.
Fhis fubftance, which is peculiar to quadrupeds, chiefly covers the
trunk, and, by fuddenly fhaking and fhrivelling the fkin, enables
thefe animals to drive off infeéts, or other offenfive bodies.

The fubftance of the nerves, or organs of fenfation, is the fame
in the quadruped and in man. They originate from the brain and
fpinal marrow, and are diftributed over all the internal and external
parts of the body, in the fame manner as in the human frame.

Thus it appears, that, in general ftructure and organization, the
brute creation is nearly allied to the human fpecies. Some differen
ces, however, merit attention ; becaufe a flight variation in ftru@ure,
efpecially of the internal organs, is often accompanied with great
diverfities ia difpofitions, food, and manners.

Some animals feed upon flefh, others upon vegetables, and others
upon a mixture of both. The difpofitions of fome fpecies are fierce;
and their manners convey to us the ideas of cruelty and of barba~
rifm:; The difpofitions and manners ef other fpecies are foft and

placid,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. $7

placid, and excite in us ideas of mildnefs, complacency, and inno-
cence. The ferocity of the tyger and hyaena forms a perfect con-
traft to the gentlenefs and inoffenfive behaviour of the fheep and
the ox. This oppofition of manners has given rife to the diflinction of
animals into rapacious and mild, carnivorous and herbivorous. In
the firuéture of thefe animals, whofe characters are fo oppofite, fome
differences have been difcovered, which indicate the intentions of
Nature in forming them, and fully juftify the feeming cruelty of
their condud.

In all the carnivorous tribes, the ftomach is proportionally {maller,
and the inteftines fhorter, than in thofe animals which feed upon ve-
getables. As animals of the former kind live folely on flefh, the fhort-
nefs and narrownefs of their inteftines are accommodated to the na-
ture of their food. Animal food is more eafily reduced to chyle,
and becomes fooner putrid, than vegetable. Of courfe, if its juices
were allowed to remain long in the inteftines, inftead of nourifhing
the body, they would produce the moft fatal diftempers. Befide
this accommodation of the inteftines to the nature of their food,
carnivorous animals are furnifhed with the neceflary inftruments
for feizing and devouring their prey. Their heads are roundith,
their jaws ftrong, and their tufks very long and fharp. Some of
them, as the lion, the tyger, and the whole cat-kind, are provided
with long retraétile claws, Thus both the internal and external
ftruéture of this clafs of animals indicate their deftination and man-
ners. The rapid digeftion of their food is a confequence of the
ftrength and fhortnefs of their inteftines ; and the intolerable cra-
vings of their appetite neceflarily create a fiercenefs and rapacity
of difpofition. Nothing lefs than blood can fatiate them. Their
cruelty, and the devaftation they make among the weaker and more
timid tribes, are effects refulting folely from the ftruGure and organs
with which Nature has thought proper to endow them. Hence, if

i Ho there

58 THE PHILOSOPHY

there be any thing reprehenfible in the manners and difpofitions of
carnivorous animals, Nature alone is to blame; for all their actions
are determined by the irrefiftible impulfes of their organization. But,
even in this feemingly cruel arrangement, Nature muft not be rathly
accufed. When we come to treat of the hoftilities of animals, I
hope to be able to fhow, that Nature, in the formation of rapacious
creatures, has aéted with her ufual wifdom, and that beings of this
kind have their ufes in the general fyftem and oeconomy of the
univerfe.

As to the herbivorous tribes, or thofe animals which feed upon
grain and herbage, a flight variation of organs produces the greateft
effects upon their difpofition and manners, The inteftines of this
tribe are very long, capacious, and convoluted. Vegetable food,
efpecially herbage, contains a {maller quantity of nutritive matter
than the fleth of animals; neither is it fo eafily reduced to chyle.
A larger quantity, therefore, as well as a longer detention in the fto-
mach and inteftines, is neceflary for the nourifhment of thefe crea-
tres, Several quadrupeds comprehended under this order rumi-
nate or chew the cud. Thefe are furnifhed with no lefs than four
ftomachs. The food, after maftication, is thrown into the firft
ftomach, where it remains fome time; after which, the animal for=-
ces it up again into the mouth, and gives it a fecond chewing. It
is then fent dire@tly into the fecond ftomach, and gradually pafles
ito the third and fourth; and, laftly, it is tranfmitted through the
convolutions of the inteftines, and the dregs, or faeces, are thrown
out of the body. By this machinery, herbivorous animals are e-
nabled to devour large quantities of vegetable aliment, to retain it
long in their bowels, and confequently to extra from it nutritive:
matter fufficient for their growth, fupport, and multiplication. Here
the quantity compenfates the quality of the nutriment.

kt

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 59

It is true, that the horfe, the afs, the hare, and fome other ani-
mals which live upon herbage and grain, have only one ftomach.
But, though the horfe and afs have one ftomach only, their inteftirles
are furnifhed with facs or pouches fo large, that they may be com-
pared to the paunch of ruminating animals; and hares, rabbits, the
Guiney-pig, &c. have blind guts fo long and capacious, that they
are equivalent to a fecond ftomach. The hedgehog, the wild boar,
the fquirrel, &c. whofe ftomach and inteftines are of a mean capa-
city, eat little herbage, but live chiefly upon feeds, fruits, and roots,
which contain, in {mall bounds, a greater quantity of nutritive mat-
ter than the leaves or ftems of plants.

The external form of herbivorous animals, like that of the rapa~=
cious, is accommodated to their difpofitions and the oeconomy they
are obliged to obferve. That they might be enabled to reach the
furface of the earth with eafe, the legs of the larger kinds are pro-
portionally fhort ; their head and neck long; and the mufcles and
tendons of the neck are endowed with prodigious ftrength. With-
out thefe peculiarities of ftrudture, they could not fupport the prone
pofture of the head in the tedious operation of browfing large quan-
tities of herbage. The arrangement and form of their teeth likewife
indicate the deftination of the ruminating tribes. They have no
cutting teeth in the upper jaw; and they are totally deprived of
tufks, or canine teeth. This laft circumftance, joined to their want
of claws, fhews that they are not intended to prey upon other ani-
mals. Horns are the only weapons of defence with which they are
provided. From the nature of their food, therefore, and the inter-
nal and external configuration of their bodies, it is evident, that a-
nimals of this defcription muft be humble in their deportment and
mild in their difpofition. This order of animals, accordingly, have
uniformly been celebrated for gentlenefs of manners, fubmiffion, and
timidity, Man has availed himfelf of thofe difpofitions, by reducing

H 2 almoft

60 TPHEcPHLEOSOPA ¥

almoft the whole of this tribe to a domeftic ftate. But, in all this
gracioufnels of afpe& and tractability of temper, the animals them-
felves “have no merit. Their motions and actions are neceflary re-
fults of the organs which Nature has beftowed on them. It is ob-
vious, therefore, that the diverfity of taftes and difpofitions exhibited
by different animals, arifes not folely from any fuperior agreeable-
nefs of particular kinds of food to their palates, or to a peculiar bias
of their minds to benevolence and peace, but from a phyfical caufe
depending on the firudture of their bodies.

From what has been advanced, it fellows, that man, whofe fto-=
mach and inteftines are proportionally of no great capacity, could
not live upon herbage alone. It is an inconteflible fa, however,
that he can live tolerably. well upon bread, herbs, and the fruits,
roots, and feeds of plants ; for we know whole nations, as well as
particular orders of men, who are prohibited ‘by their religion from
eating any animal fubftance. But thefe examples are not fufficient
to convince us, that the health, vigour, and multiplication of man-
kind would be improved: by feeding folely upon pot-herbs and bread,
Befides, his ftomach and inteftines are of a mean capacity betweea
thofe of the carnivorous and herbivorous animals. From this cir-
cumftance alone we are warranted to conclude, that Nature intended
him to feed partly on animal and partly on vegetable fubftances :
And daily experience teaches. us, that men fed in this.manner are
larger, ftronger, and more prolific, than thofe who are confined to a
vegetable diet. If man had no other fources of fuperiority over the
other animals than thofe which originate from the ftructure of his bo-
dy, his difpofitions ought to be a medium between thofe, of the carni-
vorous and herbivorous tribes. When confidered merely as an ani-
mal, this appears to be really the cafe. Vulgar and uninformed men,
when pampered with a variety of animal food, are much more cho-
leric, fierce, and cruel in their tempers than thofe who live chiefly

on.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 61

on vegetables. Animal food heats the blood, and makes it circulate
with rapidity. In this fituation, every object capable of exciting
appetite or paflion operates with redoubled force. The weak mind
yields to the impulfe, and gives vent to every fpecies of outrage
which can debafe human nature,

In the formation of his body, man has fome advantages over par-
ticular animals. But thefe advantages are inconfiderable, ‘and none
of them, perhaps, are peculiar to the fpecies, The ftructure of all
animals is nicely adjufted to their deftination, and the ftation they
occupy in the general fcale of Being, The body of man is ered,
and his attitude is faid to be that of command. His majeftic de-
portment, and the firmnefs of his movements, announce the fuperio-
rity of his rank. His arms are not mere pillars for the fupport of
his body. His hands tread not the earth; neither do they lofe, by
friction and:preflure, that exquifite delicacy of feeling for which
Nature had originally intended them. His arms and hands, on the
contrary, are formed for purpofes of a more noble kind. They are
deftined for executing the commands of his will, for laying hold of
bodies, for removing obftacles, for defending him from injuries, and
for feizing and retaining objects of pleafure.- The features of this
pidture are exact delineations ; but:they are not the exclufive pri-
vilege of man. The orang outang walks ereét, and he derives equal
advantages from his hands and arms as the human fpecies. Some
apes have likewife the power of walking ere&t, with the additional
faculty of employing their hands and arms as legs. They can walk,
run, or leap, by the inftrumentality either of two or of. four extre-
mities,-as their fituation or neceflities may require. It is not, there-
fore, the fabric:of man’s. body that entitles him to claim a fuperio-
rity Over the other animals. The formation of their bodies is ad-
jufted with equal fymmetry and perfe&tion to the.rank they hold in
the general fyftem of animation, Many of-them excel us in mag-
nitude,.

62 EME PHL O's'oOrrn ¥

nitude, ftrength, fwiftnefs, and dexterity in particular movements.
Their fenfes are often more acute; they feize their prey, or procure
herbage, fruits, and feeds of trees, with more facility than man,
when limited to the powers of his animal nature. Hence the great
fource of man’s fuperiority over the brute creation muft be derived
from his mental faculties alone. Brutes enjoy the fame inftinds,
the fame appetites, and the fame propenfities, as appear in the con-
ftitution of the human mind. But the inftin&s of brutes, though
they are exerted with great certainty and precifion, are much cir-
cumfcribed with regard to extenfion and improvement. Like man,
they derive advantages from experience, But the conclufions they
draw from this fource are always feeble and extremely limited.
Neither do they poffefs the ineflimable faculty of tranfmitting the
knowledge acquired by individuals from generation to generation.
By means of their fenfes, they learn to diftinguifh their enemies, or
hurtful objects, at a diftance; and they know how to avoid them.
Experience teaches them to difcriminate objects of pleafure from
thofe of pain; and they aé& according to the feelings excited by
thefe objeéts. Some animals can even accommodate their inftinéts
to particular circumftances and fituations. The feelings of brutes
are often more exquifite than ours, They have fenfations; but
their faculty of comparing them, or of forming ideas, is much cir-
cumfcribed. A dog or a monkey can imitate fome human adtions,
and are capable of receiving a certain degree of inftrution. But
their progrefs foon ftops: Nature has fixed the boundaries of men-
tal as well as of corporeal powers ; and thefe boundaries are as va-
rious as the number of diftiné& f{pecies. Our wonder is equally ex-
cited by the fagacity of fome animals, and by the ftupidity of others.
This gradation of mental faculties originates from the number or
paucity of inftin@s beftowed on particular fpecies, joined to the
greater or fmaller power of extending or modifying thefe inftinés
by experience and obfervation, Man is endowed with a greater

I number

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 63

number of inftinéts than any other animal. The fuperiority of his
rank, however, does not proceed from this fource alone, Man enjoys
beyond every other animal the faculty of extending, improving, and
modifying the different inftindts he has received from Nature, It is
this faculty which enables him to compare his feelings, to form
ideas, and to reafon concerning both. The bee makes cells, and the
beaver conftruéts habitations of clay. The order of their archi-
te€ture, however, is invariably the fame. Man likewife builds
houfes: But he is not forced, by an irrefiftible inftin&, to work
always on the fame plan. His habitations, on the contrary, vary
with the fancy of the individuals who defign and conftru& them.

Upon the whole, the dignity of man’s rank depends not upon
the ftructure of his organs. Itis from the powers of his intellect
alone that he is entitled to claim a fuperiority over the brute crea-
tion. Thefe powers enable him to form ideas, to abftra&, to rea=
fon, to invent, and to reach all the heights of {cience and of art.

The remarks formerly made are applicable to quadrupeds in ge-
neral. But, before concluding this branch of the fubje&, we thal
point out a few peculiarities in the ftructure of particular {pecies.

Befide the four ftomachs common to ruminating animals, the ca= -
mel and dromedary have a fifth bag, which ferves them as a refer-
voir for holding water. This bag is capable of containing a very
large quantity of that neceflary element. When the camel is thir-
fty, and has occafion to macerate his dry food in the operation of
ruminating, by a fimple contraction of certain mufcles, he makes
part of this water afcend into his ftomach, or even as high as the
gullet. This fingular conftruGtion enables him to travel fix, eight,
or even twelve days in the fandy defarts, without drinking, and to
take at once a prodigious quantity of water, which remains in the

refervoir

64 THE PHILOSOPHY

refervoir pure and limpid ; becaufe neither the humours of the bo=
dy, nor the juices that promote digeftion, can have accefs to it.
Befide this fingularity of ftru€ture, the camel has two large flefhy
bunches on his back, and the dromedary, or fwift camel, one bunch;
and the feet of both are covered with a very tough, but flexible
fubftance. The conformation of thefe animals enables them to tra-
vel with heavy loads through the fandy defarts of the Eaft, where
the horfe or the afs would inevitably perifh; becaufe Nature has
not provided them with refervoirs for holding and preferving water,
which are indifpenfible in countries where none of that element
can be procured but in particular places, that are often diftant many
days journey from each other. When we confider the ftru€ture of
the camel and dromedary, we cannot be deceived with regard to
their deftination. The four ftomachs indicate a vegetable diet, and
the fame docility and gentlenefs of manners which characterife the
whole ruminating tribes, From the addition of a fifth bag, or re-
fervoir for the reception and prefervation of water, we fhould expect
to find fome peculiarity of difpofition. In this conjecture we are
not deceived. Of all animals which man has fubjugated, the camel
and dromedary are the moft abject flaves. With incredible patience
and fubmiffion they traverfe the burning fands of Africa and Arabia,
carrying burdens of amazing weight. Inftead of difcovering fymp-
toms of reluctance, they fpontaneoufly lie down on their knees till
their mafter binds the unmerciful load. Arabia, and fome parts of
Africa, are the drieft and moft barren countries in the world. Both
the conftitution and ftructure of camels are nicely adapted to the
foil and climate in which they are produced. The Arabians con-
fider the camel as a gift fent from heaven, a facred animal, without
whofe affiftance they could neither fubfift, trafick, nortravel. The
milk of the camel is their common food. They alfo eat its flefh ;
and of its hair they make garments. In poffeffion of their camels,
the Arabs want nothing, and have nothing to fear. In one day

3 they

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 65

J

they can perform a journey of fifty leagues into the defert, which
cuts off every approach from their enemies. All the armies in the
world would perith in purfuit of a troop of Arabs, An Arab, by the
affiftance of his camel, furmounts all the difficulties of a country
which is neither covered with verdure, nor fupplied with water.
Notwithftanding the vigilance of his neighbours, and the fuperiori-
ty of their ftrength, he eludes their purfuit, and carries off, with
impunity, all that he ravages from them. When about to undertake
a depredatory expedition, an Arab makes his camels carry both his
and their own provifions. When he reaches the confines of the
defert, he robs the firft paflengers who come in his way, pillages the
folitary houfes, loads his camels with the booty, and, if purfued, he
accelerates his retreat. On thefe occafions he difplays his own talents
as well as thofe of the camels, He mounts one of the fleeteft, con-
duds the troop, and obliges them to travel day and night, without
almoft either flopping, eating, or drinking; and, in this manner, he
often performs a journey of 300 leagues in eight days.

Another order of quadrupeds deferves our notice. -Thofe which
have been diftinguifhed by the appellation of amphibious, are ca-
pable of remaining a long time under water. They live chiefly up-
on fifhes, and, without this faculty of continuing a confiderable time
under water, they would be unable to procure their food, To this
tribe belong the feal, the walrus, the manati, the fea-lion, &c. The
feal and walrus are-more nearly allied to land-quadrupeds than to
‘ the cetaceous animals; becaufe they have four difting legs, though
nothing but the feet proje& beyond the fkin. The toes of the feet
are all connected by membranes, which enable thefe animals to {wim
in queft of their prey. They differ from terreftrial quadrupeds by
the fingular faculty of living with equal eafe either in air or in wa-
ter. This peculiarity of oeconomy and manners prefuppofes the
neceflity of fome deviation from the general firu@ure of quadru-

tT I peds ;

66 Ty EPO SiO Pury

peds; and Nature has accomplithed this purpofe by a very fimple
artifice.

In man, and in all land-quadrupeds, the lungs of the foetus have
no motion, and receive no more blood than is requifite for their
growth and nourifhment, But, immediately after birth, the young
animals refpire, and the whole mafs of blood circulates through
their lungs, ‘To carry on the circulation in the foetus ftate, another
paflage was neceflary, The blood in the right auricle of the heart,
inftead of pafling into the pulmonary artery, and, after circulating
through the lungs, returning into the left auricle by the pulmonary
vein, paffes dire&tly from the right to the left auricle through an
aperture called the foramen ovale, which is fituated in the partition
of the heart that feparates the cavities of the two auricles. By this
contrivance, the mafs of blood, without deviating into the lungs,
enters the aorta, and is diftributed over every part of the body. In
man, and the other terreftrial animals, the foramen ovale of the heart,
which permits the foetus to live without refpiration, clofes the mo-
ment after birth, and remains fhut during life. Animals of. this
conftruGtion can neither live without air, nor remain long under
water, without being fuffocated.

But, in the feal, walrus, and other amphibious animals, the fora-
men ovale continues open during life, though the mothers bring
forth on land, and refpiration commences immediately after birth.
By means of this perpetual aperture in the feptum or partition of
the heart, which allows a dire communication of the blood from
the vena cava to the aorta, thefe animals enjoy the privilege of re-
fpiring, or not, at their pleafure.

This fingularity in the ftru€ture of the heart, and the confequent
capacity of living equally on land and in water, muft neceflarily
produce

~

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 67

produce fome peculiarities in the manners and difpofitions of am-
phibious animals, The feal, accordingly, whofe hiftory is beft
known, may be confidered as holding the empire of the filent ocean,
To this dignity he is entitled by his voice, his figure, and his intel-
ligence, which render him fo fuperior to the fithes, that they feem
to belong to another order of beings. Though his oeconomy be
very different from that of our domeftic animals, he is fufceptible
of a fpecies of education. He is reared by putting him frequently
in water. He is taught to give a falute with his head and his voice.
He approaches when called upon. His fenfes are equally acute as
thofe of any quadruped; and, of courfe, his fenfations and intellect
are equally active. Both are exhibited in the gentlenefs of his
manners, his focial difpofition, his affeétion for the female, his an-
xious attention to his offspring, and the expreflive modulation of
his voice. Befides, he enjoys advantages which are peculiar to him.
He is neither afraid of cold nor of heat. He lives indifferently on
herbs, flefh, or fifh. He inhabits, without inconvenience, water,
land, or ice, When affiftance is neceflary, the feals underftand and
mutually affift one another. The young diftinguith their mother
in the midft of a numerous troop. They know her voice; and,
when fhe calls, they never fail to obey.

Before difmiffing this branch of the fubject, the elephant muft
not be paffed over in filence. His ftru€ture is uncommon, and fo
are his talents. The elephant is the largeft and moft magnificent
animal that at prefent treads the earth. Though he daily devours
great quantities of herbage, leaves, and branches of trees, he has
but one ftomach, and does not ruminate. This want, however, is
fupplied by the magnitude and length of his inteftines, and parti-
cularly of the colon, which is two or three feet in diameter by fif-
teen or twenty in length. In proportion to the fize of the elephant,
his eyes are very fmall; but they are lively, brilliant, and capable

Lia of

68 TH EVPMULOSOPHY

of a pathetic expreffion of fentiment. He'turns them flowly, and
with mildnefs, toward his mafter. When he fpeaks, the animal re-
gards him with an eye of friendfhip and attention. He feems to
refle&t with deliberation, and never determines till he has examined,
without paffion or precipitation, the orders which he is defired to
obey. The dog, whofe eyes are very expreffive, is too prompt and
vivacious to allow us to diftinguifh with eafe the fucceflive fhades
of his fenfations. But, as the elephant is naturally grave and mo-
derate, we perceive in his eyes the order and fucceffion of his
thoughts. His ears are very large, and much longer, even in pro-
portion to his body, than thofe of the afs. They lie fat on the
head, and are commonly pendulous; but he can raife and move
them with fuch facility, that he ufes them as a fan to. cool himfelf,
and to defend his eyes from duft and infects. His ear is likewife
remarkably fine; for he delights in the found of mufical inftru-
ments, and moves in cadence to the trumpet and tabour,

But, in the ftruéture of the elephant, the moft fingular organ is
his trunk or probofcis. It is compofed of membranes, nerves, and
mufcles; and it is at once an inftrument of feeling and of motion.
The animal can not only move and bend the trunk, but he can
contraét, lengthen, and turn it on all fides. The extremity of the
trunk terminates in a protuberance that ftretches out on the upper
fide in the form of a finger; by means of which he lifts from the
ground the fmalleft pieces of money; he felects herbs and flow-
ers, and, picks them up one by one; he unties the knots of ropes,
opens and huts gates by turning the keys or pufhing back the bolts,
In the middle of this protuberance or finger, there is a cavity in the
form of a cup, and, in the bottom of the cup are the apertures of
the two organs of {melling and refpiration, This hand of the ele-
phant poffefles feveral advantages over that of the human. It is
more flexible, and equally dexterous in laying hold of objeéts. Be-

fides,

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 69

fides, he has his nofe in his hand, and is enabled to combine the
power of his lungs with the action of his finger, and to attra& fluids
by a ftrong fuction, or to raife heavy bodies by applying to them
the edge of his trunk, and making a vacuum within by a vigorous
infpiration. Hence delicacy of feeling, acutenefs of fmelling, faci-
lity of movement, and the power of fuction, are united at the extre--
mity of the elephant’s trunk. Of all the inftruments which Nature
has beftowed on her moft favourite productions, the trunk of the
elephant feems to be the moft complete, as well as the moft admi-
rable. It is not only an organic inftrument, but a triple fenfe, whofe
united fun@ions exhibit the effets of that wonderful fagacity which
exalts the elephant above all other quadrupeds.. He is not fo fub-
ject, as fome other animals, to errors of vifion; becaufe he quickly
rectifies them by the fenfe of touch; and, by ufing his trunk as
a long arm, for the purpofe of touching remote objects, he acquires,
like man, clear ideas of diftances.. But other animals, except fuch
as have a. kind of arms and hands, can only acquire ideas of diftan-
ces by traverling fpace with their bodies, Delicacy of feeling, the
flexibility of the trunk, the power of fuction, the fenfe of {melling,
and the length of the arm, convey ideas of the fubftance of bodies,
of their external form, of their weight, of their falutary or noxious
qualities, and of their diftances. Thus, by the fame organs, and by
a fimultaneous ac, the elephant feels, perceives, and judges of feve-.
ral things at one time.. It is by virtue of this combination of fen-
fes and faculties in the trunk that the elephant is enabled to perform
fo many wonderful ations, notwithftanding the enormity of his
mafs and the difproportions of his form. The thicknefs and rigi-
dity of his body; the fhortnefs and ftiffnefs of his neck ; the fmall-
nefs of his head ;. the largenefs of his.ears, nofe, and tufks; the mi-
nutenefs of his eyes, mouth, genitals, and tail; his ftraight, clumfy,
and almoft inflexible limbs ; the fhortnefs and {mallnefs of his feet ;
the thicknefs and callofity of his fkin; all thefe deformities are the:

more.

“9 THE PHILOSOPHY

more obvious and difageeable, becaufe they are modelled on a large
{cale, and moft of them are peculiar to the elephant.

From this fingular conformation, the animal is fubje&ed to many
inconvenienciés. He moves his head with difficulty, and cannot
turn back without making a large circuit. For this reafon, the hun-
ters attack him behind, or on the flanks, and avoid the effets of
his rage by circular movements. He cannot feize any object on the
ground with his mouth, becaufe his reeck is too ftiff to allow his
head to reach the earth. He is therefore obliged to lay hold of his
food, and even of his drink, with his nofe, and then convey them
to his mouth. It is likewife a confequence of this ftructure, that
the young elephants are faid to fuck with their nofe, and afterwards
pour the milk into their gullet.

OF THE STRUCTURE OF BIRDS.

From the figure and movements of the feathered tribes, we fhould
be led to imagine that the ftru€ture of their organs was extremely
different from that of quadrupeds. ‘Their oeconomy and manner of
living required fome variations in their frame, But thofe variations
are by no means fo many or fo great as might be expected. Inftead
of hairs, their bodies are covered with feathers, which, befide the
beautiful variety of their colours, protect this clafs of animals from —
the aflaults of rain and cold. They have only a couple of legs; but
Nature has furnifhed them with two additional inftruments of mo-
tion, by which they are enabled to rife from the furface of the earth,
and to fly with amazing rapidity through the air. The wings are
articulated with the breaft-bone, and their motions are performed by
muf{cles of remarkable ftrength. Many birds are continually pafling

through

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 4

through hedges and thickets. To defend their eyes, therefore, from
external injuries, as well as from too much light when flying in op-
pofition to the rays of the fun, they are furnifhed with a membrane
called membrana mictitans, which, like a curtain, can at pleafure be
drawn over the whole eye. This covering is neither opaque nor
pellucid ; but, being fomewhat tranfparent, it allows as many rays to
enter as render any object juft vifible, and enable them to dire& their
progrefs through the air, It is by the inftrumentality of this mem-
brane that the eagle looks at the fun. The feathers of all birds are
inferted into the fkin in fuch a manner that they naturally lie back-
ward from the head; and allow the rain to run off their bodies, and,
by turning their heads in oppofition to the wind, prevent the wind
from rumpling their feathers and retarding their flight. Befide this
provifion, the rump of birds terminates in a large gland, which fe-
cretes an oily fubftance. When the feathers are too dry, or any way
difordered, the animals fqueeze this gland with their bills, extra& the
oil, and with it they befmear and‘drefs the feathers. By this means
the admiflion of water is totally prevented. Birds have no feparate
ribs ; but the breaft-bone, which is very large, joins the back-bone,
and fupplies their place.

With regard to the external figure of birds, the form of their bo-
dies is nicely adapted to their manners and the mode of life they are
deftined to purfue, By ftriking the air with their wings, they move
forward in that element, and their tail ferves them as a rudder to di-
rect their courfe. “Their breaft-bone, inftead of being flat, rifes gra-
dually from the fpine and terminates in a fharp ridge or keel, which
enables them to cut the air with greater facility. For the fame pur-
pofe, the heads of birds are proportionally fmaller than thofe of
quadrupeds, and moft of them terminate in light fharp-pointed beaks.
They are likewife deprived of external ears, and of protuberant no-
ftrils, Their tails, inftead of vertebrac, mufcles, and kin, confift

k entirely

72 THE PHILOSOPHY

entirely of feathers. ‘They have no pendulous fcrotum, no bladder,
no flefhy uterus. Neither have they an epiglottis, though many of
them poffefs great powers of modulation, and fome of them may
even be taught to articulate words. To lighten their beaks, they
are deprived of lips and teeth; and their abdomen or belly is pro-
portionally {mall and narrow.

From this general- view of the external figure and ftrudture of
birds, it is apparent, that Nature has defigned them for two diftin&
kinds of motion. They can, at pleafure, either walk on the furface
of the earth, or mount aloft, and penetrate the airy regions .with
prodigious fwiftnels.

Some peculiarities in the internal ftru€ture of birds deferve our

notice.

Like quadrupeds, the feathered tribes are divided into granivo-
rous and carnivorous; and their manners and difpofitions correfpond
with their internal and external conformation.

In the granivorous clafs, the oefophagus or gullet runs down the
neck, and terminates in a pretty large membranous fac, called the
ingluvies, or craw, where the food is macerated, and partly diffolved
by a liquor fecreted from glands fpread over the furface of this fac.
Some birds, as the rooks and the pigeon kind, have the power of
bringing up the food from this fac into their mouths, and feeding
their young with it in a half digefted form. After macerating for
fome time, the food pafles through the remainder of the gullet.into
another fpecies of ftomach denominated ventriculus fuccenturiatus,
which is a continuation of the gullet. Here the food receives a far-
ther dilution. From this fecond ftomach, the food is tranfmitted to

the gizzard, or true ftomach, which confifls of two very ftrong

2 mutfcles,

ie

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 73

mufcles, covered externally with a tendinous fubftance, and lined
with a thick, firm membrane. The remarkable ftrength of the giz-
zard was formerly fuppofed to aflift the digeftion of granivorous
birds by attrition. But this notion has of late been entirely ex-
ploded ; for Doétor Stevens, and, after him, Spalanzani, have de-
monftrated, by unequivocal experiments, that digeftion is perform-
ed folely by the diffolving powers of the gaftric juices *, The other
inteftines are proportionally larger, and much longer than thofe of
the carnivorous birds.

The ftructure of the heart, in granivorous birds, is nearly the
fame with that of quadrupeds.

The lungs hang not loofe in the cavity of the thorax, but are fix-
ed to the back-bone: Neither are they divided into lobes, as in man
and other animals whofe {pines admit of confiderable motion. They
are red, fpongy bodies, covered with a membrane that is pervious,
and communicates with the large veficles or air-bags which are
fpread over the whole abdomen. Thefe veficles, when diftended
with air, render the bodies of birds fpecifically light. They like-
wife fupply the place of a diaphragm, and ftrong abdominal muf-
cles. They produce the fame effeéts on the vifcera as thefe mufcles
would have done, without the inconveniency of giving an addition-
al weight to the body.

Birds have no bladder of urine: But a blueith-coloured canal, or
ureter, is fent off from each kidney, and terminates in the rectum.
Their urine is difcharged along with the faeces. It is a whitith
fubftance, and turns chalky when expofed to the air,

1 K The

s

* See Stevens Differt. Med. Inaug. De Alimentorum Concottione, Edin. 1777)
and Spalanzani.

74. TIRE, #Pl 1. LAOssOuP Ht ¥

f

The tefticles of the male are fituated on each fide of the back-
bone, and are very large in proportion to the fize of the animal.
From the teftieles proceed two feminal du&ts, which at firft are
ftraight, but afterwards acquire a convoluted form, as in the epidy-
dymus of man. Thefe duds terminate in the penis, of which the
cock has two, one on each fide of the common cloaca. They are
very {mall and fhort; and, from this circumftance, they long efcaped
the notice of anatomifts,

In the female, the clufter of yolks, being analogous to the human
ovaria, are attached to the back-bone by a membrane. This mem-
brane is very thin, and continues down to the uterus. The yolk,
after feparating from its ftalk, pafles into a canal called the infundi-
bulum, where it receives a gelatinous liquor, which, with what it
farther acquires in the uterus, compofes the white of the egg. The
uterus is a large bag, fituated at the end of the infundibulum, and
is full of wrinkles on the infide. Here the egg receives it laft co-=
vering, or fhell, and is pufhed out of the vagina at an aperture pla-
ced immediately above the anus,

From this defcription of the ftructure of granivorous birds, the
analogy between them and the herbivorous quadrupeds is con{pi-
cuous, In both, the number of their ftomachs, the length and ca-
pacity of their inteftines, and the quality of their food, are very fi-
milar. But this analogy is not confined to ftru€ture and organs: It
extends to manners and difpofitions. Like the herbivorous quadru-
peds, this order of birds are diftinguifhed by the gentlenefs and com-
placency of their tempers. Contented with the feeds of plants, or
{mall infects, the ftronger never wage war with the weaker. Their
ehief attention is occupied in procuring food, in hatching and rear-
ing their young; and their vigilance is kept perpetually active in
eluding the {nares of men and other rapacious animals. The whole

are

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 75

are a timid race, and many of them are fo tractable that they may
eafily be rendered domeftic. Man, accordingly, ever attentive to his
intereft, has not failed to derive advantage from the innocence and
ftupidity of thefe animals. Of the gallinaceous and duck kind,
which are the moft prolific, and confequently the moft profitable, he
has chiefly felefted the hen, the goofe, the duck, the turkey, and
the peacock, In this felection he has difcovered his fagacity ; for,
inftead of pairing, thefe birds are polygamous, one male being fufh-
cient to fertilize a number of females, which is a great faving in
the article of food.

With regard to carnivorous birds, their general conformation is
nearly the fame with thofe of the granivorous kind. They have
the fame number of ftomachs; but all of them are fmaller and
weaker. Their inteftines are alfo much fhorter. To enable them
to procure food, they are obliged to fly quickly, and continue long
on the wing. Their wings, accordingly, are proportionally longer,
and they have more ftrength in their mufcles. For the purpofe of
feizing and devouring prey, Nature has beftowed on them ftrong
hooked bills, and long fharp claws or pounces. They have alfo
large heads, fhort necks, ftrong brawny thighs, and fharp-fighted
eyes.

Like rapacious quadrupeds, birds of prey are capable of enduring
hunger fora great length of time. This faculty is, perhaps, ac-
quired partly by habit ; becaufe the obtaining of their food is often
very precarious. The females are larger, ftronger, and more beau-
tiful both in fhape and plumage, than the males. For this reafon,
the male hawks are called tercels, or thirds, becaufe they are fuppo-
fed to be one third lefs than the females. Nature feems to have be-
ftowed this fuperiotity of fize and ftrength upon the female, becaufe
the is obliged to procure food both for herfelf and for her progeny.

K 2 The

76 THE PHILOSOPHY

The analogy between the ftruéture of rapacious birds and carni-
vorous quadrupeds is obvious. Both of them are provided with
weapons which indicate deftru€tion and rapine, Their manners, are
alfo fierce and unfocial, They never, if the vulture be excepted,
herd together in flocks, like the inoffenfive granivorous tribes.
When not on the wing, they conceal themfelves on the tops of fe-
queftered rocks, or in the depths of the forefts, where they fpend
their time in fullen folitude. Thofe of them which feed upon cari-
on, as the raven, have the fenfe of fmelling fo acute, that they fcent
dead carcaffes at amazing diftances.

Befide thefe great divifions of birds into granivorous and rapaci-
ous, whofe manners and difpofitions perfectly coincide with the
ftru€ture of their bodies, there are other tribes to whom Nature has
given peculiar organs. In all thefe deviations from the common
ftrudture, a fingularity in the mode of living, and the oeconomy of
the animal, is the invariable refult-

Like the amphibious animals, a number of fowls live chiefly in
the water, and feed upon fifhes and aquatic infects. To enable them
to fwim, and to dive.in queft of food, their toes are connected to-
gether by broad membranes or webs. By ftretching their toes, and
ftriking the water backward with thefe webs, their bodies are mo-
ved forward, and they employ their tail as.a rudder to dire their
courfe. Without thefe additional inftruments, fowls could not fwim;
and, accordingly, fuch birds as are not provided with webs never
take to the water. But thofe furnifhed with webs have fuch a
ftrong propenfity to. water, that, when reftrained from their favou-
rite element, they difcover the greateft uneafinefs, and, when their
liberty is reftored, they fly in a dire&t courfe either to the fea, a ri-
ver, or a lake.

There

OF NATURAL HISTORY. ry |

There is another tribe of aquatic birds, fome of which feed upon
fifhes and infeéts, and others live principally by fucking certain
juices from mud. Both thefe kinds frequent marfhy places, or the
margins of lakes and rivers. They do not fwim, but wade, in queft
of food. This fingularity in their manners required a correfpon-
dent variation in their form and ftru@ture. To enable them to wade
in waters and in mires, Nature has provided them with longs legs,
naked of feathers for a confiderable {pace above the knees. Their
toes are not, like thofe of the fwimmers, connected by continued
membranous webs. Moft of them have likewife very ong necks
and bills, to enable them to fearch for and apprehend their food.
Fo thefe tribes belong the crane, the herons, the bittern or mire-
drum, the ftork, the fpoon-bill, the woodcock, the {nipe, and many
other fpecies.

Having given a general idea of the ftructure and oeconomy of

birds, we fhall next make a few remarks on the form and manners.
of fithes.

OF THE STRUCTURE AND ORGANS OF FISHES.

It is one great and benevolent intention of Nature, that no part
of the univerfe fhould be deprived of inhabitants. The earth, the
air, the waters, are full of living beings, who are not only confcious
of their exiftence, but enjoy degrees of happinefs proportioned to
their natures, and the purpofes they are deftined to anfwer in the
general fcale of animation. The different elements in which they
live neceflarily required a variety in their form, their food, and their
manners, The inhabitants of the earth and air have already been
partially defcribed: Thofe of the waters are next to be confidered.

pet Wet

78 TOE €8 BH LILAOLSVarn WY.

4

The bodies of moft fifhes are covered with a ftrong, thick, fkin, in
which numberlefs fcales are inferted in an imbricated form, or like
tiles on the roofs of houfes. Many of them, and particularly thofe
which are fhaped like the cod, the trout, and the haddock, have a
longitudinal line on each fide. In thefe lines there are a number
of {mall duéts or apertures, which throw out a mucous fubftance
that lubri¢ates their fkins, and feems to anfwer the fame purpofes as
the mucous glands or dutts placed in moft of our internal organs,

Fithes are deftitute of hands and feet. Their progreflive motion,
therefore, is performed in a manner different from that of quadru-
peds and birds. Their inftruments of motion are fins, or machines
confifting of a number of elaftic beams, connected to one another
by firm membranes. Their tails are of the fame texture. Their
{pine is remarkably flexible toward the pofterior part of the body,
and here the ftrongeft mufcles are likewife inferted. ‘They have a
power of contracting and dilating their tails at pleafure; by which
means, and by the affiftance of the fins, they move forward in the
fame manner as a boat with oars on its fides and a rudder at its
ftern. Fifhes have no neck: As they feek their food in a horizon-
tal pofition, and can move their bodies either upward or downward,
a long neck would neceffarily have impeded their motion through
the water.

The form of fifhes is extremely various; and, if their hiftory
were fufficiently known, the connection between their ftru€ture and
their manners would be equally apparent as in the other tribes with
which we are better acquainted. Some fifhes are long and cylin-
drical, as the fea-ferpent, and all the eel-fhaped fpecies. The eel-
kind, from their figure, are enabled to trail their bodies along the
bottom, and to conceal themfelves below the fand or mud. Others
are lefs cylindrical, and proportionally fhorter, as the mackrel, the

3 : cod,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 79

cod, the herring, the falmon, &c. Thefe, from the number and
pofition of their fins, as well as from the thape of their bodies, are
deftined for quicker motion, and for travelling to great diftances in
queft of food, or for {pawning in fhoals or in rivers. Others, as the
flounder, the fkate, the turbet, torpedo, &c. are broad and compref-
fed. Thefe, like the eel-kind, frequent muddy bottoms. Others
are triangular, quadrangular, round, &c. Befide thofe which ap-
proach to regular figures, the variations and compofitions are fo nu-
merous, that the forms of fifhes are much more diverfified than thofe
of quadrupeds or birds. To defend themfelves againft their ene-
mies, many fifhes are armed with ftrong, fharp {pines.or prickles.
For the fame purpofe, and likewife for wounding or killing their
prey, fome have a large horn on their front, and others a fword, or
rather a faw, which are tremendous weapons. The more timid and
defencelefs tribes are endowed with the faculty of rapid motion;
and fome of them have fins fo large and flexible, that, when hard
purfued, they are enabled to leave their natural element, to dart
through the air to confiderable sinus and difappoint the defigns.
of their enemies.

Fifhes are as much diverfified in fize as in figure. The ocean
produces the largeft animals which now inhabit this globe. The
enormous mafles of the whale and walrus tribes far exceed thofe of
the elephant, rhinoceros, or river-horfe, the largeft terreftrial ani~
mals of which we have any proper knowledge. From the immenfe
bones, however, found in Siberia and many parts of Europe, we are
induced to believe, that land animals have formerly exifted whofe
fize muft have been much larger than that of the prefent elephant.
This animal, whofe fpecies is now fuppofed to be extinguithed, is
known among naturalifts by the denomination of the mammouth.
Near the river Ohio, fome prodigious bones and teeth have lately
been difcovered, which indicate an animal of incredible magnitude.

With

$o T EET PLE OS.O Piny

With regard to internal ftructure, fithes, like land-animals, are
furnifhed with a back-bone and ribs, which run from the head to
the tail. To thefe, the bones of the head, and the fins, all the muf-
cles and inftruments of motion, are attached.

The mouths of moft fithes are furnifhed with teeth; but in fome,
as the mullet, fturgeon, &c. the teeth are wanting. In fome, the
teeth are fituated on the jaw-bones, in others, on the tongue and
palate. The teeth of fithes are principally defigned for laying hold
of and detaining their prey, which they generally {wallow entire.
For this purpofe, the teeth are commonly ferrated, or bent inward,
like tenter-hooks. By this ftru€ture, fmall fithes are eafily forced
downwards, and their return is at the fame time prevented.

In fifhes, the organ of fmelling is large; and they have a power
of contracting and dilating, at pleafure, the entry into their nofe.

It was formerly doubted whether fithes were endowed with the
fenfe of hearing. But that doubt is now fully removed; becaufe it
has been found, that, like other animals, they have a complete or-
gan of hearing, and that water is a proper medium for the convey-
ance of found. Befides, in the fkate, and fome other genera, the
learned and ingenious Dr Monro, Profeflor of Anatomy in the Col-
lege of Edinburgh, has lately difcovered an aperture which leads
direétly to the internal parts of the ear.

The gullet of fithes is fo fhort that it is hardly to be diftinguifhed
from the ftomach, which is of an oblong figure. The guts are very
fhort, making only three convolutions, the laft of which terminates
in the common vent for the faeces, urine, and femen. From this
ftru@ure of the ftomach and inteftines, analogy would lead us to
conclude, that fithes live chiefly upon animal food, Experience, ac-

a cordingly,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 8s

cordingly, teaches us, that almoft all fithes prey upon the fmaller
kinds, and even devour their own young. ‘The liver is proportion-
ally large, of a whitith colour, and fituated on the left fide. The
gall-bladder lies at a confiderable diftance from the liver, and dif-
charges the gall into the gut. In fithes, the organs of generation
are two bags fituated in the abdomen, and uniting near the anus.
In the male, thefe bags are filled with a thick whitifh fubftance
called the alt, and in the female with an infinite number of minute
eggs called the roe. At the feafon of fpawning, the bags of both
male and female are greatly diftended; but, at other times, the male
organs can fcarcely be diftinguifhed from thofe of the female.

The fwimming bladder is an oblong, white, membranous bag, —
which contains nothing but a quantity of elaftic air. It lies clofe to
the back-bone, and has a pretty ftrong mufcular coat. By contrac-
ting this coat, and, of courfe, condenfing the air it contains, fome
fifhes are enabled to render their bodies fpecifically heavier than wa-
ter, and to fink to the bottom; and, when the mufcular fibres ceafe
to act, the air dilates, and makes their bodies {pecifically lighter. By
this curious piece of mechanifm, the animals have the power of
finking to the bottom, or of rifing to the furface. According to the
different degrees of contraction and dilatation of this bladder, fithes
can, at pleafure, keep themfelves higher or lower in the water.
Hence flounders, foles, fkate, and other fifhes which have no fwim-
ming bladder, always grovel at or near the bottom. It is likewife a
confequence of the relaxation of this bladder, that dead fithes which
are furnifhed with it uniformly rife to the furface. The air-bag,
in fome fifhes, communicates, by a duct, with the gullet, and, in
others, with the ftomach. At the upper end of the air-bag, there
are red-coloured glandular bodies connected with the kidneys. From
the kidneys the ureters proceed downward to their infertion in the

fi TE urinary

82 THE PHILOSOPHY

urinary bladder, which lies in the lower part of the abdomen, and
the urethra terminates in the anus.

Fifhes have a membranous diaphragm, or midriff, that forms a
fack in which the heart is contained. The heart is of a triangular
figure. It has only one auricle, one ventricle, and one great artery.
This artery, inftead of fupplying all the parts of the body, as in the
frog, is diftributed entirely on the gills. All the branches terminate
there, and become at laft fo {mall that they efcape the naked eye.
The branchiae, or gills, lie in two large flits on each fide of the head,
and are analogous to the lungs of land-animals. The figure of the
gills is femicircular, and on each fide of them are immenfe numbers
of fibrils refembling fringes. The gills are perpetually fubje@ed to
an alternate motion from the preffure of the water and the adtion of
the mufcles. They are covered with a large flap, which allows an
exit to the water neceflarily taken in by the animals every time their
mouths are opened. The blood is again collected by a vaft number
of fmall veins, which, inftead of going back a fecond time to
the heart, immediately unite, and form an aorta defcendens, which
fends off branches to fupply all the parts of the body, except the
gills) From the extremities of thefe branches the blood is collected
by veins, and returned to the heart nearly in the fame manner as im

other animals.

The organs by which the nutritious part of the food of fifhes are
extracted and conveyed to the general mafs of blood, and known
by the names of laéteal, abforbent, and lymphatic veflels, are fo ana-
ogous to thofe of men and quadrupeds, that it is unneceflary to de-
fcribe them. For the fame reafon, no defcription fhall be given of
the nerves, which, as in other animals, proceed from the brain and
fpinal marrow, and are diftributed over every part of the body.

Having.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 33

Having finifhed this fketch of the ftructure and organs of fithes,
it is almoft needlefs to remark, that, though they live in a different
element, and vary greatly from land-animals in figure, Nature, in
the formation of their bodies, in the mode of their nutrition, refpi-
ration, and fenfation, has a&ted upon the fame great and general
plan.

We are now to take a view of the ftructure of infects, a nume~
rous clafs of animals, moft of whom recede farther from the com-
mon mode of animal organization than any of the other claffes.

OF THE STRUCTURE OF INSECTS.

In the firft chapter, a few obfervations were made concerning the
firu€ture and organs of infects, in order to fhow more clearly the
analogies between animals and vegetables. Thefe it is unneceflary
to repeat. We fhall therefore proceed to a more particular exami-
nation of the ftructure of infects, and to trace the connection be-~
tween that and their manners,

Infe&s exhibit fuch an immenfe variety in figure, colour, and
difpofition of parts, that Naturalifts have found it neceflary to ar-
range them into different tribes or families. Thefe tribes are di-
ftinguifhed from one another by certain peculiarities in the ftruure
of their bodies.

The moft general divifion of infects is derived from the circum-
ftance of their having or wanting wings, and from the number and
fubftances of which thefe inftruments of motion are compofed.
They are diftinguifhed from all other animals by many peculiarities

L 2 of

34 THE PHILOSOPHY

of form. None of the other claffes have more legs than four.
But moft infects have fix; and many of them have eight, ten,
fourteen, fixteen, eighteen, and even a hundred, legs. Befide
the number of legs, infects are furnifhed with antennae or feelers,
Thefe feelers, by which infects grope and examine the fubftances
they meet with, are compofed of a great number of articulations or
joints. Linnaeus, and other Naturalifts, maintain, that the ufes
of thefe feelers are totally unknown. But the flighteft attention
to the manner in which fome infe&s employ their feelers will
fatisfy us of at leaft one ule they derive from thefe organs. When
a winglefs infe& is placed at the end of a twig, or in any fituation
where it meets with a vacuity, it moves the feelers backward and
forward, elevates, deprefles, and bends them from fide to fide, and
will not advance farther, left it fhould fall. Place a ftick, or any
other fubftance, within reach of the feelers; the animal immediate-
ly applies them to this new object, examines whether it is fufficient
to fupport the weight of its body, and inftantly proceeds in its jour-
ney. Though moft infects are provided with eyes, yet the lenfes of
which they confift are fo fmall and convex, that they can fee di-
ftin@ly but at fmall diftances, and, of courfe, muft be very incom-
petent judges of the vicinity or remotenefs of objects. To remedy
this defe&t, infects are provided with feelers, which are perpetually
in motion while the animals walk. By the fame inftruments, they.
are enabled to walk with fafety in the dark.

No other animals but the infect tribes have more than two eyes.
Some of them have four, as the phalangium; others, as the fpider
and fcorpion, have eight eyes. In a few infects, the eyes are {mooth;
in all the others, they are hemifpherical, and confift of many thou-
fand diftin& lenfes, ‘The eyes are abfolutely immoveable: But this
defect is fupplied by the vaft number of lenfes, which, from the di-
verfity of their pofitions, are capable of viewing objects in every di-

. rection.

A

OF NATURAL HISTORY, Sy

J

rection. By the fmallnefs and convexity of thefe lenfes, which pro-
duce the fame effe&t as the object glafs of a microfcope, infects are
enabled to fee bodies that are too minute to be perceived by the hu-
man eye.

Another peculiarity deferves our notice. No animal, except a
numerous tribe of four-winged infects, have more than two wings.

With regard to fex, quadrupeds, birds, and fithes, are diftinguifh-
ed into males and females. But the bee and the ant furnifh ex-
amples of neuters, which are abfolutely barren: And the earth-
worm, and feveral fhell infe&ts, are hermaphrodite, each individual
poffeffing the prolific powers of both male and female.

It is likewife remarkable, that all winged infects undergo three
metamorphofes or changes of form: The egg is difcharged from the:

body of the female in the fame manner as in other oviparous ani-

mals. By a wonderful inftin&, thefe feemingly ftupid creatures.
uniformly depofit their eggs on fuch animal or vegetable fubftances
as furnith proper food for the worm or caterpillar, that is to be
hatched by the heat of the fun. The worm or caterpillar is the firft
ftate. The bodies of caterpillars are foft and moift. They have no
wings, and are totally deprived of the faculty of generation. After
continuing for fome time in this reptile ftate, they are transformed
into a chryfalis, which is drier and harder than the caterpillar, The
chryfales of fome infects are naked, and thofe of others are covered
with a filken web, fpun by the animals before their change is com-
pleted. In this ftate, many of them lie motionlefs, and feemingly
inanimate, during the whole winter. When the fpring or fummer
heats return, they burft from their laft prifon, and, from vile rep-
tiles, are transformed into beautiful flies. In this perfect ftate they
are exceedingly adtive, fly about in queft of their mates, and, after

propagating:

86 T SHOEr P) Ee! |L OrSrOpPab: ¥;

propagating their fpecies, the females depofit their eggs, and the
fame circle of animation and change perpetually goes round. Hence
the ftru€ture and figure of the fame individual animals are three-
fold, which renders the knowledge of infe&ts extremely complicated,
as we mutt be acquainted with them in the feveral forms they fuc-
ceffively afflume.

There is another peculiarity in the ftructure of infects. They
are deprived of bones. But that defect is fupplied, in fome, by a
membranous or mufcular fkin, and, in others, by a cruftaceous or

“horny covering. In this circumftance, infe&ts refemble the thell-
aaimals, whofe bones conftitute the external parts of their bodies.

In general, the bodies of infe&ts are compofed of a head, trunk,
and abdomen. The head is commonly attached to the trunk by a
joint or articulation. Befide eyes, feelers, and mouth, the heads of
fome infedéts are furnifhed with palp: fixed to the mouth; and they
are either four or fix in number. Each of them confilts of two,
‘three, or four joints, and are often miflaken for the antennae or
feelers. Thefe inftruments feem to ferve the animals inftead of
hands ; for they employ the palpi to bring the food to their mouths,
and to keep it fteady while eating. It is aflerted by Linnaeus, and
other Naturalifls, that the heads of infe&ts are deftitute of brains,
noftrils, and ears. The minutenefs of the animals under confidera-
tion may have hitherto prevented us from diftinguifhing thefe or-
gans. If they want a brain, it is certain that their fenfe of feeing is
acute; and-we know that they are amply fupplied with nerves,
which produce the fame effets as the brain in larger animals. If
they are deprived of noftrils, the flighteft attention muft convince
us, that fome of them poffefs the fenfe of fmelling in a very high
degree. Upon any other fyppofition, how fhould the different fpe-
sies of flies, the moment they efcape from the chryfalis ftate, diftin-

I guith,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 87

guifh, and dire@tly approach, the different animal and vegetable
fubftances Nature has deftined for their refpeétive nourifhment? A
piece of meat is no fooner expofed to the air than it is covered with
fleth flies, upon which they both feed and depofit their eggs. With-
out this fenfe, how fhould wafps, and other flies, be allured from
confiderable diftances into bottles encrufted with honey or molaffes?
Thefe, and fimilar aGions, cannot be effects of fight; for the di-
ftance, the minutenefs, and frequently the pofition of the food, ren-
der it impoffible for the eye to difcover thofe fubftances to which
they inftantly refort.

With regard to hearing, it is more difficult to determine whether
infe&s be endowed with this fenfe, We can judge of it, not by the
knife of the Anatomift, but by the affeCtions and motions of the
animals themfelves, Several trials 1 have made on houfe-flies in-
cline me to think that thefe animals poffefs a fenfe of a nature fimi-
lar, at leaft, to that of hearing, At the diftance of three or four
feet, a fmart ftroke, even upon a ftone wall, alarms and puts them
to flight. But this may partly be attributed to the vibration in the
wall, or the concuffion of the air, produced by the ftroke. To ob-
viate this difficulty, at the fame diftance of between three and four
feet, I ftruck the air repeatedly with a bookbinder’s folder, without
giving the fmalleft alarm to the flies. But, when I ftruck the fol-
der againft the boards of a book, which I held in my hand, and
made a {mart noife, the animals were inftantly alarmed, and flew
off at the fecond ftroke. The fame effe& is produced in a room
juft light enough to render the animals vifible. Thefe trials, which
I have often repeated, feem to indicate that flies, if they are really
deprived of ears, are endowed with an analogous fenfe, though we
are ignorant of its fituation.

Naturalifts

88 THE PHILOSOPHY

Naturalifts have limited the fenfes of infects to thofe of feeing and
feeling. But the above remarks render it more than probable that
flies poffefs likewife the fenfes of {melling and of hearing: Neither
fhould the fenfe of tafte be denied them; for, though they may be
affifted by fmelling to difcover and fele& their food, we cannot fup-
pofe that Nature has denied them the pleafure which other animals
fo univerfally derive from eating. Befides, an agreeable fenfation,
fimilar to that of tafte, muft accompany an action which removes
the pain arifing from hunger.

The mouth of infects is generally placed in the under part of the
head; but, in fome, it is fituated in the breaft. The jaws, inftead
of being horizontal, are often tranfverfe, and furnifhed with teeth.
The greater number of winged infe&s are provided with a probofcis
or trunk, an inftrument by which they extra& the juices from ani-
mal or vegetable fubftances. The probofcis of infects is a machine
of a very complicated nature. In butterflies, the probofcis is fitu-
ated precifely between the two eyes. Though fome of them exceed
three inches in length, they occupy but a fmall fpace. When a
a butterfly is not in queft of food, the probofcis is rolled up ina
fpiral form, fimilar to that of a watch-fpring, each fucceflive ring
covering the one which precedes. The fubftance of the probofcis
has fome refemblance to that of horn. It tapers from the bafe to
the extremity. It is compofed of two fimilar and equal parts, each
of which is concave, and, when joined, form three diftin@ tubes,
Reaumur has rendered it probable, that thefe tubes enable the ani-
mals to extract the juices of plants, to condu& air into their bodies,
and to convey the fenfation of fmelling. Hence the probofcis of in-
feéts is an inftrument which ferves them for a mouth, a nofe, and a
wind- pipe.

x The

ee

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 89

The upper part of the trunk or body of infects is called the tho-
rax, and the under part the abdomen or belly. The abdomen con-
tains the ftomach and other vifcera. It confifts of feveral rings or
fegments, and is perforated with fpiracula, or tubes, which fupply
the want of lungs. The abdomen is terminated by the tail, which,
in fome infects, is armied with a fting, a forceps, a briftle, or a kind
of claw with a moveable thumb,

The legs are compofed of three parts, connected to each other by
joints, and reprefent the thighs, thanks, ankles, and feet of larger

animals,

The wings of infects are fo diverfified in number, confiftence,
and colour, that Linnaeus has made them the foundation of the
feveral orders or divifions into which he divides this numerous clafs
of animals. Some infects are furnifhed with four, and others with
two. wings, and fome of them are entirely deftitute of thefe inftru-
ments of motion.

The four-winged infe&s are arranged into five orders. The firf?
order Linnaeus diftinguifhes by the name of coleoptera, or thofe
infe&ts whofe upper pair of wings confift of a hard, cruftaceous, or
horny fubftance. Thefe cover and defend the under pair, which
are of a more foft and flexible texture. This order comprehends
the whole of what is properly called /carabaei, or the beetle tribe.
Like other winged infects, all the beetles live for fome time in the
form of caterpillars, or grubs,

As a farther confirmation of the conneétion of manners with
form and ftruQure, it is here worthy of remark, that the fame ani-
mals, when in the ftate of caterpillars, live in a different manner,,
and feed on fubftances of a very different kind from thofe they con-

eae M fume

go Tee er Ee PEO Seow fk

fume after their transformation into flies. The caterpillars of the
garden-beetle, cock-chafer, &c. lead a folitary life under ground,
and confume the roots of plants. Thofe of others feed upon putrid
carcaffes, every kind of fleth, dried fkins, rotten wood, the dung of
men and quadrupeds, and the fmall infects called pucerons, or vine-
Jretters, The devourers of the puceron contribute to cure fuch
plants as happen to be infeéted with the phthzria/is, or loufy difeafe.
But, after their transformation into flies, many of the fame animals,
which formerly fed upon dung and putrid carcaffes, are nourifhed
by the pureft neétareous juices extra@ted from fruits and flowers,
The creatures themfelves, with regard to what may be termed zndi-
vidual animation, have fuffered no alteration. But the fabrick of
their bodies, their inftruments of motion, and the organs by which
they take their food, are materially changed. This change of ftruc-
ture, though the animals retain their identity, produces the greateft
diverfity in their manners, their oeconomy, and the powers of their
bodies. In the caterpillar ftate, thefe animals are extremely vora-
cious, and, in many inftances, acquire a greater magnitude than they
poffefs after transformation ; but they are incapable of multiplying
their fpecies, and of receiving nourifhment from the fame kinds of
food. Befides, many caterpillars, previous to their transformation,
live even in a different element. The ephemeron fly, when in the
caterpillar ftate, lives no lefs than three years in the water, and ex-
tracts its nourifhment from earth and clay. After transformation,
this animal feldom exifts longer than one day, during which the
fpecies is propagated, and myriads of eggs are depofited on the fur-
face of the water, Thefe eggs produce worms or caterpillars, and

the fame procefs goes perpetually round.

Linnaeus’s /econd order of infe&is, or hemiptera, have likewife
four wings. But the upper pair, inftead of being hard and horny,

rather refemble fine vellum. They cover the body horizontally,
3 and

OF NATURAL HISTORY. gt

and do not meet in a direét line, forming a ridge or future, as in
the beetle tribe. The whole of this order are furnifhed with a pro-
bofcis or trunk for extracting their food,

This order comprehends feveral genera or kinds, fome of which
we fhall mention in a curfory manner.—The J/atta, or cockroach, is
an animal which avoids the light, and is particularly fond of meal,
bread, putrid bodies, and the roots of plants. It frequents bakers
fhops and cellars, and flies the approach of danger with great fwift-
nefs.—The head of the mantis, or camel-cricket, appears, from its
continual nodding motion, to be flightly attached to the thorax.
This infe&t is regarded by the Africans as a facred animal ; becaule
it frequently aflumes a praying or fupplicating poflure, by refting
on its hind feet, and elevating and folding the firft pair.—The gry/-
lus comprehends a number of fpecies, fome of which are called
grafshoppers, others locu/ts, and others crickets. The larvae, or ca-
terpillars of the grylli, have a great refemblance to the perfect in- |
feéts, and, in general, live under ground, Many of thefe infeds
feed upon the leaves of plants. Others, which live in houfes, prefer
bread, and every kind of farinaceous fubftance.—The fulgora, or fire-
fly: The foreheads of feveral of this genus, efpecially of thofe that
inhabit China, and other hot climates, emit a very lively fhining light
during the night, which often alarms thofe who are unacquainted with
the caufe of the appearance.—The cicada, frog-hopper, or flea-locuft :
The arvae, or caterpillars, of fome of this genus, difcharge a kind
of froth or faliva from the anus and pores of the body, under which

‘they conceal themfelves from the rapacity of birds and other ene~
mies.—The papa or water /corpion, frequents ftagnant waters. It
lives chiefly on aquatic infects, and is exceedingly voracious.—The
cimex or bug: Many fpecies of this genus feed upon the juices of
plants, and others, upon the blood of animals. Some of them are

‘ M 2. found.

92 THE CPE EL-.O 8 © PE Y

found in waters, and others frequent houfes, among which, though
it wants wings, is the bed-bug, a peftiferous infe&t, which is too well

known, and too generally diffufed. The bugs differ from other in-

fe&ts by their foftnefs; and moft of them emit a very foetid fmell.—

The aphis, puceron, or vine-fretter : Thefe infe&ts are very common,

and are generally termed the ice of the plants which they infeft:

The puceron, as remarked in the firft chapter, is viviparous in

fummer, and oviparous in autumn. Numbers of them are devoured

by the ants, on account, as is fuppofed, of a {weet liquor with which °
their bodies are perpetually moiftened.—Chermes: The larvae or

caterpillars of this infe@t have fix feet, and are generally covered

with a hairy or woolly fubftance. The winged infe&ts leap or

fpring with great agility, and infeft a number of different trees and

plants: The females, by means of a tube at the termination of their

bodies, infert their eggs under the furface of the leaves, and the

worms, when hatched, give rife to thofe tubercles, or galls, with

which the leaves of the afh, the fir, and other trees, are fometimes

almoft entirely covered.

The third order or tribe of four-winged infeé&ts confifts of three
genera only. But the fpecies comprehended under them are ex-
ceedingly numerous. All butterflies and moths belong to this
order. Their wings are covered with a farinaceous powder, or ra=
ther with a kind of fcales or feathers, difpofed in regular rows, near-
ly in the fame manner as tiles are laid upon the roofs of houfes,
The elegance, the beauty, the variety of colours exhibited in their
wings, are produced by the difpofition and different tinctures of
thefe minute feathers. The infeéts of this order, on account of their
beauty and eafy prefervation, have always been the favourites of
colle€tors, and particularly of thofe of the female fex. When the
feathers are rubbed off, the wings appear to be nothing more than a

3 naked,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 93

naked, and often a tranfparent membrane. The feelers of the pa-
pilio, or butterfly, are thickeft at their extremity, and often termi-
nate in a kind of capitulum, or head, ‘Their wings, when fitting,
or at reft, are erect, their extremities join each other above the bo-
dy, and the animals fly about, in queft of food and of their mates,
during the day.—The moths are divided into two genera, the one
called /phinx, or hawk-moth, and the other phalaena, or moth. The
feelers of the /phinx are thicker in the middle than at the extremi-
ties, and their form, in fome meafure, refembles that of a prifm.
The wings are, in general, deflected, their outer margins declining
toward the fides. They fly about early in the morning, and after
fun-fet; and, by means of their probofcis, like the butterflies, they
fuck the juices of plants.—The phalaena, or moth: The feelers of
this genus are fetaceous, and taper from the bafe to the point. When
at reft, their wings are commonly deflected; and they fly during
the night. Previous to their transformation, the caterpillars of the
whole of this genus fpin webs for covering and proteéting the ani-
mals while in the chryfalis ftate. From a fpecies of this tribe
mankind have derived one of the greateft articles of luxury and
‘of commerce which now exifts in the world. That feemingly con-
temptible, that difgufting reptile known by the appellation of the
Jfilk-worm, in its paflage from the caterpillar to the chryfalis ftate,
produces thofe fplendid materials which adorn the thrones of Prin-
ces, and add dignity and luftre to female beauty *.

The wings of the fourth order, diftinguifhed by the name of neu-
roptera, are membranaceous, naked, and fo interfperfed with delicate
veins, that they have the appearance of beautiful net-work. Their
tail has no fling; but that of the male is frequently furnifhed with
a kind of forceps or pincers. To this order belongs the /bel/a, or

dragom-

* See Chap. XI. concerning the Transformation of Animals.

04 THE ? BA ILiO StOIP HY

dragon-fly, an infect of very fplendid and variegated colours. It 13
a large and well known fly, and frequents rivers, lakes, pools, and
ftagnating waters, in which the females depofit their eggs. Their
mode of generating is fingular. Different fpecies of them appear
from the beginning of fummer to the middle of autumn. They ge-
nerally fly in pairs, and in a ftraight line, the male purfuing the fe-
male. ‘The organs of the male are fituated in his breaft: When he
overtakes her, with the forceps in his tail he lays hold of her by
the neck, while fhe, by an inftinétive impulfe, makes the lower end
of her body approach the male organs, In this united fituation they
form a kind of ring, have the appearance of a double animal, and
fly along till the purpofe is accomplithed. Under the fame order
is comprehended the phryganea, or /pring-fly: The larvae or cater-
pillars of this genus live in the water, and are covered with a filken
tube. They have a very fingular afpe& ; for, by means of a glu-
ten, they attach to the tubes in which they are inclofed fmall pieces
of wood, fand, gravel, leaves of plants, and not unfrequently live
teftaceous animals, all of which they drag along with them. They
are very commonly found in falads of the water-crefs; and, as they
are often entirely covered with green leaves, they have the appear-
ance of animated plants. They are in great requeft among fifher-
men, by whom they are diftinguifhed by the name of fone, or cod=
bait. The fly, or perfect infe&, frequents running waters, in which
the females depofit their eggs.

The fifth order is termed Aymenoptera. In general, the infects
belonging to this order have four membranaceous and naked wings.
In fome of the genera, however, the neuters, and, in others, the
males, or even the females, have no wings. Their tails, except in
the male fex, are armed with a fling.—The female of the-cynips,
an infect belonging to this order, inferts her eggs into the leaves of
the oak, and the caterpillars produced from them give rife to the-

galls

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 98

galls employed in the compofition of ink.—This order likewife in-
cludes the wafp, the bee, and the ant. Many of the wafp kind, like
the bees, live in fociety, make combs in which the females depofit
their eggs, and feed their caterpillars with an inferior {pecics of
honey. Others of them conftruct a feparate neft for each individual
ege.—The bee is an infe& too well known to require a particular
defcription. The males have no fting; but the females, and the
drones, or neuters, have a very fharp pointed fting concealed in their
abdomen. The female of the honey bee is much larger than the
male, or the neuter. Her feelers contain fifteen articulations. Her
abdomen is compofed of feven fegments, and is much longer than
her wings. The feelers of the male contain only eleven articula-
tions. The neuters are much fmaller than the males or females,
and their feelers confift of fifteen articulations.—The fting, with
which the male and female ants are armed, is concealed within the
abdomen. The males and females of the ant are furnifhed with
wings, but the neuters are deprived of thefe inftruments of motion.
The ants live in focieties which are compofed of males, females,
and neuters. The males are much fmaller than the females and
neuters. Soon after the males and females propagate the {pecies,
they all die. Some of the neuters, however, furvive the winter;
but they remain in their habitation without movement, or difcover-
ing any figns of life. From thefe circumftances in the hiftory of
ants, it is apparent, that the induftry and fagacity fo long and fo
univerfally afcribed to thefe little animals could be of no ufe either
to themfelves or their progeny. The female, after depofiting her
eggs, takes no farther care of her offspring. But, what is fingular,
the important office of feeding the larvae, or caterpillars, after the
eggs are hatched, is left entirely to the neuters. This affectionate
and affiduous attention of the neuters to a progeny neither begot
nor brought forth by them, is fo aftonithing, fo contrary to the ge-
neral oeconomy of Nature, that no reafoning or theory can account

for

96 THE PHILOSOPHY

for a fa& fo uncommon, till farther difcoveries fhall be made in the
hiftory of thefe furprifing animals. What is ftill more fingular,
after the caterpillars are transformed into the chryfalis ftate, the
neuters are inceffantly and anxioufly employed in preferving the
chryfales from humidity when the weather is wet, and in expofing
them to the warmth of the fun when it is fair. Thefe chryfales
are larger than the animals themfelves, and yet they carry them off
with eafe and rapidity.

The fixth order of infects is termed diptera, or two-winged in-
fects. The different fpecies of this order, befide wings, are furnifh-
ed with what is called a halter, or a poifer, which is fituated under
each wing, and is terminated by a capitulum, or knob. This order
comprehends ten genera and a multitude of {pecies. The caterpil-
lars of the oeffrus, or gad-fly, lie concealed in the fkins of cattle, -
where they are nourifhed during the whole winter. The perfe&
infeéts are frequent wherever horfes, cows, or fheep, are grazing.
Some of them depofit their eggs in the {kins of cows or oxen;
others depofit them in the inteftines of horfes, to which they get
accefs by the anus; and others in the noftrils of fheep. In thefe
habitations, the caterpillars refide till they are full grown, when they
throw themfelves down to the earth, and generally pafs the chryf{a-
lis ftate under the firft ftone they meet with.—The mu/ca, or com-
mon fly: The mouth of this infect confifts of a foft, flethy probof-
cis, with two lateral lips. The caterpillars of fome of this genus
devour the pucerons; others confume all kinds of putrid fleth;
others are found in cheefe; others in the excrements of different
animals; and many of them live in the water, and prefer that
which is moft corrupted and muddy.—The mouth of the cu/ex, or
gnat confifts of a flexible fheath, inclofing four briftles, or pointed

_ftings. The feelers of the female gnat are plain like a thread;
ut thofe of the male are beautifully feathered. The worms or
caterpillars

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 97

caterpillars of this genus are commonly found in flagnant waters.
The gnats generally frequent woods and marfhy places. The fe-
males, in particular, are very troublefome, and fting feverely. —The
feet of the hippobofca, or horfe-fly, are armed with a number of nails
or crotchets. In fome {pecies, the wings crofs each other; in others,
they are open. The horfe-flies frequent woods and marfhy grounds,
and are extremely incommodious to birds and quadrupeds, whofe
blood is the only food of thefe infects.

The feventh order of infects Linnaeus denominates apfera, becaufe
neither males nor females are furnifhed with wings, This order
comprehends thirteen genera, and a great number of {pecies, many
of which are very offenfive and noxious to the human {pecies, The
pediculus, or loufe, has fix legs, two prominent eyes, and its mouth
contains a fting or fucker, by which it extracts blood and other
juices from the bodies of animals. ‘Though almoft every different
animal is infefted with a peculiar fpecies of lice, the fpecific charac-
ters of very few of them have hitherto been afcertained. Lice are
of various forms. Some of them are oval, others oblong, and others
long and flender. They are oviparous animals, and their eggs
are large in proportion to the fize of their bodies. Before they ar-
rive at maturity, they change their fkin feveral times. They are
fuppofed to be hermaphrodites. This circumftance, if true, may
partly account for their prodigious multiplication. Swammerdam,
who diffeGied a great number, affures us, that he never found one
without an ovary, nor ever difcovered the organs peculiar to the
male fex. If this ftru€ture be univerfal, the loufe is an hermaphro-
dite of a very peculiar kind ; becaufe it muft be capable of foecun-
dating itfelf. Several fpecies of worms are hermaphrodites; but,
inftead of foecundating themfelves, they are obliged to impregnate
each other.—The pulex, or flea, has likewife fix legs, the articula-
tions of which are fo exceedingly elaftic, that the animal is enabled

Tt N by

98 Ti/M2 xP BLWLOseOr HW ¥

by their means, to {pring to furpriling diftances. It has two fine
eyes, and its body is covered with cruftaceous feales. The flea is .
the only infe& belonging to this order which undergoes a transfor-
mation fimilar to that of the former orders: All the other winglefs
infects are produced in a perfect ftate either by the mother, or from
eggs. The caterpillars of the flea have forked tails, and are very
fmall and lively. They may be nourifhed in boxes, and fed with
flies, which they greedily devour. Before changing into the chry-
falis ftate, they live fourteen or fifteen days in the form of caterpil-
lars.—Aranea, or fpider: This genus comprehends a great many
fpecies. The fpider has eight feet, and an equal number of im-
moveable eyes. The chief prey of the fpider is flies, animals whofe
motions are extremely quick and defultory. To enable the fpider
to obferve their movements in every diredtion, fhe is furnifhed with
eight eyes, the pofition of which merits attention: Two of them
are placed on the top of the head, other two on the front, and two
on each fide. The mouth is armed with two crotchets, by which it
feizes and kills its prey. Round the anus there are feveral mufcular
inftruments, fhaped like nipples or teats. Each of thefe contain a-
bout a thoufand tubes cr outlets for threads fo extremely minute,
that many hundreds of them muft be united before they form one
of thofe vifible ropes of which the fpider’s web is compofed. ‘The
figure of the web varies according to the fpecies, or the fituation
the animal choofes for its abode. After the web is completed, fome
{pecies refide in the center, and others occupy the extremity of their
habitations, where they lie in ambuth, with aftonithing patience, till
an ill-fated fly is accidentally entangled. The fpider, from the vi-
bration of the threads, perceives his prey, rufhes forth from his cell,
inftantly feizes it with his fangs, devours its vitals, and afterwards
rejects the exhaufted carcafe, . Spiders prey upon all weaker infets,
and even upon their own fpecies.—The /corpion : This venomous
infect is a native of warmer climates than thofe of the north of Eu-

es rope.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 69

rope. It has eight feet, and two claws, the laft of which are fitu=
ated on the fore part of the head. Likethe fpider, the fcorpion
has eight eyes, three of which are placed on each fide of the
breaft, and the other two on the back. The tail is long, jointed,
and terminates in a fharp crooked fling. The venom of the fcor-
pion is more deftructive than that of any other infe@; and is fome-
times fatal in Africa and other hot regions,

The /af divifion of infects is termed vermes, or worms, by Lin-
naeus. This clafs comprehends not only all the infects commonly
called worms, but all the teftaceous animals, and the zoophites, or
plant-animals. The ftru€ture of feveral genera belonging to this
clafs is extremely fingular. After giving a few examples, we fhall
haften to the conclufion of the prefent fubjec.

The body of the gordius, or hair-worm, is long, fhaped like a
thread or hair, {mooth, and round. A fpecies of the hair-worm is
very common in our frefh waters, and is perfe@tly harmlefs. In
Scotland, it is a vulgar and foolifh notion, that the hair of a horfe’s
tail, when thrown into the water, is converted into this worm.
Though inoffenfive in this country, the hair-worm of Africa, and
of both the Indies, is extremely noxious, It is of a pale yellowith
colour, and is frequently met with among the grafs, efpecially when
covered with dew. It often infinuates itfelf into the naked feet or
limbs of children and unwary perfons, where it produces an inflam-
mation, which is fometimes fatal. It may be extracted by tying a
thread round its head, and then pulling it gently out of its abode.
But this operation requires great caution; for, if the animal is
broken, the part which remains does not die, but, in a fhort time,
regains what it had loft, and becomes equally entire and trouble-
fome as if it had received no injury.—The /umbricus, or carth-worm:
The body of this worm is cylindrical, confifts of many rings, and

N 2 the

100 THE-PHILOSOPHY

the middle is encompaffed with an elevated belt. It is likewife fur-
nifhed with fharp prickles, which the animal can erect or deprefs at
pleafure. Through certain perforations in the fkin, it occafionally
emits a flimy fluid, which lubricates its body, and facilitates its paf-
fage into the foil. The inteftines of this worm are always filled
with a fine earth, which feems to conftitute its only nourifhment.
Earth-worms, like fnails, are hermaphrodite. The parts of genera~
tion are placed near the neck, and they mutually impregnate each
other. This operation is performed on the furface of the ground ;
and, while thus employed, they will allow themfelves to be crufhed
to pieces rather than part. The females depofit their eggs in the
earth, where they are hatched. ‘Thefe worms, like the polypus,
when cut through the middle, reproduce, and each portion. becomes
a diftingt individual. According to the different periods of theix
erowth, their colour varies; but, in general, it is a dufky red,

The /epia, or cuttle-fi/b, though comparatively a large animal,
fome of them being two feet long, is ranked by Linnaeus under the
elafs of worms. The ftru€ture of the cuttle fith is remarkable. Its
body is cylindrical, and, in fome of the fpecies, is entirely covered
with a flefhy fheath; in others, the fheath reaches only to the mid- |
dle of the body. The fepia has eight tentacula, or arms, befide two
feelers, as they are called, which are much longer than the arms.
Both the feelers and arms are furnifhed with ftrong cups, or fuckers,
fhaped like the cup of an acorn, by means of which the animal
feizes its prey, and firmly attachés itfelf to rocks, or to the bottom
of the fea. It has two large and prominent eyes. What is ftill
more fingular, it is furnifhed with a hard, ftrong, horny beak, pre-
cifely fimilar, both in texture and fubftance, to the bill of a parrot.
With this bill, the cuttle-fith is enabled to break the fhells of lim-
pets, and other fhell-animals, upon which it chiefly feeds. In the
belly, there is an aperture through which the animal, when purfued

3 by

OF NATURAL HISTORY. Ior

by its enemies, emits a fluid as black as ink, tinges the water, and
often efcapes by this ingenious ftratagem. The ancient Romans
frequently ufed this black fluid as ink in writing, The males and
females copulate by a mutual embrace. The female depofits her
eggs upon fea-plants in parcels refembling bunches of grapes. At
the inftant they drop from the mother, the eggs are white; but the
male immediately coats them over witha black liquor. The male
perpetually accompanies the female. When the female is attacked,
he braves every danger, and often refcues her at the hazard of his
own life. The bone of the cuttle-fith is very light, and, when pul
verized, it is employed by different artifts in making moulds,

The medufa is an animal which has the appearance of a lifelefs
mafs of jelly floating on the furface of the ocean. Its body is round-
ith, flattened underneath, and the mouth is fituated in the center of
the under part. There are many {pecies of this feemingly moft im-
perfect, defencelefs, and abject part of animated nature. They are,
however, furnifhed with tentacula, by which they feize infects and
the {mall fry of fifhes, convey them to their mouths, and devour
them. Although the fport of the waves, and the prey of every
fith that approaches them, they are gregarious animals, and, parti=
cularly in warm climates, fometimes colle€ in fuch numbers as to
have the appearance of whitifh rocks under the furface of the ocean.

We have thus given.a fhort fketch of the ftructure of animals,
from man down to the infect tribes, and fhall now conclude with a
few remarks..

Ta:

102 T HOE? PHI LOS OPH Y

In all the variety of animated beings whofe general ftruture has
been exhibited, the intelligent reader will eafily perceive, that the
bodily forms of the different kinds are exaGly adapted to the rank
they hold in the creation, and that their oeconomy and manners are
ftri@ly and invariably connected with their ftru€ture and organs. If
a new animal appears, and if its figure be uncommon, it may with
fafety be pronounced, that its manners are equally uncommon.
Change the external or internal form of an animal; diminifh the
number of ftomachs in the ruminating tribes; or give to the horfe
a parot’s bill; and the fpecies will be annihilated.

The comparative power, or ftrength, of animals depends not on
ftructure alone. Mental faculties, and docility, or the capacity of
receiving inftruction, feem to be the greateft fources of animal pow-
er. Hence man’s unlimited empire over all other creatures. The
inventions of language, of arms, of writing, printing, and engra-
ving, have been the chief means of extending his influence, and of
his acquiring the dominion of the earth, By thefe arts, men tranf-
mit the improvements, the inventions, and the acquifitions, of one
age to another. By thefe arts, the difpofitions of men are foftened,
their manners become more and more civilized, humanity is gra-
dually extended and refined, and the groffer animofities yield to
external politenefs and decorum at leaft, if the feelings themfelves
be not blunted. How far this progrefs of fcience, and the peace-
ful arts of life, by the accumulation of ages, may proceed, it is
impoffible to determine. But the time, it is to be hoped, is not very
remote, when the fiercer contentions of nations will ceafe, when
felfifhnefs and venality, which at prefent feem to be infeparable from
commercial ftates, will give way to generofity of temper, and. up-
rightnefs of conduc.

CHAP,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 103.

CHAPTER Ii.

Of the Refpiration of Animals—Aur neceffary to the exiftence of all
animated beings—The various modifications of the organs employed
by Nature for the tranfmiffion of Air into animal bodies.

T is foreign to the defign of this chapter to mention the different
kinds of air; to unfold its compotition; or to recapitulate the
innumerable benefits derived from it in the animal and vegetable
kingdoms, in the arts of life, and in the texture and cohefion of in-
animate bodies. For our purpofe, it is fufficient to obferve, that by:
air is meant that common elaftic fluid which pervades this globe,.
and which by its weight, its. preffure in all dire@tions, and its com=
prefibility, infinuates itfelf into every vacuity, and is neceflary to.
the exiftence of every animal and vegetable being.

In man, and the larger land animals, air is taken into the body
by the lungs. When an animal infpires, the external air pafles
through the apertures of the mouth and nofe into the trachea or
wind-pipe, and thence dire@tly into the lungs. This air, by infinu-
ating itfelf into the numerous cells of the lungs, neceflarily inflates
them, and, when retained for a fecond or two, produces an uneafy
fenfation.. To remove this difagreeable feeling, the animal inftinc-
tively, by the exertion of particular mufcles deftined by Nature for

that:

ros PHWE@?P HM ULO SOP HY

that purpofe, forces out the air, and thus removes the offending
caufe. The lungs, after the air is thrown out, inftead of being in-
flated, collapfe; and, if a frefh fupply is not foon taken in, a fimilar
uneafy fenfation is felt) which obliges the animal again to infpire.
This alternate reception and rejection of air goes on during the life
of the animal, and is diftinguifhed by the general name of re/pira-
tion, But, when treating more accurately of the fubje&, the act of
taking air into the lungs is called infpiratzon, and the act of throw-
ing it out is termed expiration.

That the refpiration of air is indifpenfible to the exiftence of land-
animals, has been proved by innumerable experiments made with
the air-pump. Mice, rats, rabbits, cats, dogs, &c. when placed in
an exhaufted receiver, inftantly become reftlefs, and difcover fymp-
toms of pain. Their bodies {well, and their life is foon extinguifh-
ed. Indeed, our own feelings are fufficient to afcertain this faa,
No perfon can remain long either in a ftate of infpiration or expira-
tion without being fuffocated. ,

But the alternate motions of infpiration and expiration, joined to
the circulation of the blood through the lungs, may be confidered as
the more mechanical effets of refpiration. Though thefe opera-
tions are abfolutely neceflary to the exiftence of animals, yet the air
itfelf has been fuppofed to impart fome vital principle to the blood,
without which life could not be continued,

The ingenious Doétor Crawford, in his treatife on Animal Heat,
has rendered it probable, that the refpiration of air is the caufe of
that vital warmth without which no animal can exift. After men-
tioning a well known faét, that all bodies, whether animate or in-
animate, contain a certain quantity of fire asa principle in their
compofition, the Doctor remarks, that this quantity, in different bo-

. dies,

>

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 105

dies, varies according to their nature or texture; that this fire, when
in a latent or quiefcent ftate, is termed ab/olute heat; that, when
fubftances of different textures have a given quantity of heat thrown
into them, their temperature will be difcovered to be different by the
thermometer; for the fame quantity of heat which raifes one body
to a certain degree, will raife another to a greater or a lefs; and this
different difpofition of bodies is called their capacity of containing
abfolute heat.

Doctor Crawford next endeavours to prove by experiments, that,
when phlogifton is added to any body, its capacity of containing
abiolute heat is diminifhed ; and that, when phlogifton is abftrated
from the fame body, its capacity of receiving abfolute heat is aug=
mented. Hence he infers, that heat and phlogifton feem to confti-
tute two oppofite principles in nature By the ation of heat upon
bodies, the force of their attraction to phlogifton is diminithed ; and,
by the action of phlogifton, a part of the abfolute heat, which ex-
ifts in every fubftance as an element, is expelled. ‘ Hence,’ fays
the Doctor, ‘ animal heat feems to depend upon a procefs fimilar to
* a chemical elective attra@tion, The air is received into the lungs,
* containing a great quantity of abfolute heat, The blood is re-
turned from the extremities, highly impregnated with phlogifton,
The attraction of the air to the phlogifton is greater than that of
the blood. This principle will therefore leave the blood to com-=
bine with the air. By the addition of the phlogifton, the air is
obliged to depofit a part of its abfolute heat; and, as the capacity
of the blood is, at the fame moment, increafed by the feparation
of the phlogifton, it will inftantly unite with that portion of heat
which had been detached from the air.

e

a

«

-

«

.

* We learn from Doétor Prieftley’s experiments with refpect to:
refpiration, that arterial blood has a ftrong attraction to phlogifton:.
si 0 “Te:

L

106 THE PHILOSOPHY

a

a

o

n

wn

a

o

na

a

a

Ic will, confequently, during the circulation, imbibe this principle
from thofe parts which retain it with the leaft force, or from the
putrefcent parts of the fyftem: And hence the venous blood, when
it returns to the lungs, is found to be highly impregnated with
phlogifton. By this impregnation, its capacity for containing heat
is diminifhed. In proportion, therefore, as the blood, which had
been dephlogifticated by the procefs of refpiration, becomes again
combined with phlogifton, in the courfe of the circulation, it will
gradually give out that heat which it had received in the lungs,
and diffufe it over the whole fyftem *,

The Dotor afterwards proceeds to affign a reafon why the heat

of animals is always equal. ‘ As animals,’ fays he, ‘ are continu-

a

-

a

c

ry

a

«

a

ally abforbing heat from the air, if there were not a quantity of
heat carried off, equal to that which is abforbed, there would be an
accumulation of it in the animal body. The evaporation from
the furface, and the cooling power of the air, are the great caufes
which prevent this accumulation, And thefe are alternately in-
creafed and diminifhed, in fuch a manner as to produce an equal
effect. When the cooling power of the air is diminifhed by the
fummer heats, the evaporation from the furface is increafed ; and
when, on the contrary, the cooling power of the air is increafed
by the winter colds, the evaporation from the furface is propor-
tionally diminithed f.’

This theory, though not fupported by mathematical evidence, is

not only ingenious, but feems to make a nearer approach to truth
than any that has hitherto been invented {.

Refpiration,

* Crawford on Animal Heat, pag. 73. + Ibid. pag. 84.
+ If the reader is defirous of feeing fome pertinent remarks on Dottor Crawford’s
Theory

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 107

Refpiration, befide being the probable caufe of the equable conti-
nuation of heat in animals, produces many other falutary and ufeful
effects in the oeconomy of animated bodies. There is a moft inti-
mate conneétion between the act of refpiring and the circulation of
the blood. When refpiration is, for a fhort time, interrupted by
the fumes of burning fulphur, by mephitic air, or by remaining fome
minutes under water, the action of the heart ceafes. But, in many
cafes of this kind, the motion of the heart may, and frequently has
been renewed, by blowing air into the lungs, and by the application
of ftimulating fubftances to different organs of the body. In per-
fons feemingly dead from a temporary fufpenfion of refpiration, if
the lungs can be excited to a&, the motion of the heart inftantly
commences, the circulation of the blood is reftored, and life is re-
covered, This intimate connection between refpiration and the ac-
tion of the heart, is one of thofe aftonifhing faéts in the animal oe~
conomy, the caufes of which will perhaps forever elude the keeneft
refearches of the human intellect. All we know is, that certain
fundtions are indifpenfible to the exiftence of animals, and that, if
any of them are fufpended for a few feconds, life is extinguifhed ;
namely, the action of the brain and nerves, the circulation of the
blood, refpiration, and a probable refult of refpiration, animal heat.
Thefe funations, from their importance in the fyftem, have received
the appellation of vital functions. ‘There are other functions of the
body, called natural, which are no lefs neceflary to life, as the di-
geftion and concoction of aliment, the various fecretions and excre-
tions. But they are diftinguifhed from the vital funétions, becaufe
fome of them may be fufpended for a confiderable time without
materially injuring the body.

O 2 Refpiration

Theory of Animal Heat, he may confult Dottor Gardiner’s Ob/ervations on the Animal
Oeconomy, and on the Caufes and Cure of Difeafes, an ingenious and ufeful performance,
lately publifhed, and which merits much more attention from Philofophers and Phy-
ficians than it has hitherto received.

108 THE*PAITLOSOPAY

Refpiration commences inftantly after birth, and is inftindtively
continued during life. In the foetus ftate, as formerly mentioned *,
refpiration is unneceflary, becaufe the circulation of the general mafs
of blood is carried on through a different channel. In the act of
infpiration, we are confcious of making a certain effort ; but in the
act of expiration we {carcely perceive any exertion whatever,

Befide the circulation of the blood, and the continuation of the
vital warmth, refpiration gives rife to many other important func-
tions in the animal oeconomy. All animals who refpire, befide a
watery vapor, exhale great quantities of mephytic or corrupted ef-
fluvia, which, if retained in the lungs, or breathed by other animals,
would foon prove fatal. The mutcles of refpiration, of which we
have the command, are employed in many other operations of the
body, befide the mere act of breathing air. All animals furnifhed
with lungs exprefs their wants, their affections and averfions, their
pleafures and pains, either by words, or by founds peculiar to each
fpecies. Thefe different founds are produced by ftraitening or
widening the glottis and wind-pipe, or, in general, the paflage
through which the air paffes in refpiration, The inferior animals
are by this means enabled to exprefs themfelves, though not by ar-
ticulate founds, in fuch a manner as to be perfeétly intelligible to
every individual of a fpecies. On man alone, Nature has beftowed
the faculty of fpeaking, or of exprefling his various feelings and_
ideas, by a regular, extenfive, and eftablifhed combination of arti-
culate founds. ‘To have extended this faculty to the brute creation,
would not, it is probable, have been of any ufe to them; for, though
fome animals can be taught to articulate, yet, from a defect in their
intellect, none of them feem to have any idea of the proper mean-
ing of the words they utter. Speech is performed by a very various

and

* See above, page 66.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 109

and complicated machinery. In fpeaking, the tongue, the lips, the
jaws, the whole palate, the nofe, the throat, together with the muf-
cles, bones, &c. of which thefe organs are compofed, are all em-
ployed. . This combination of organs we are taught to ufe when fo
young that we are hardly confcious of the laborious tafk, and far
lefs of the manner by which we pronounce different letters and
words. The mode of pronouncing letters and words, however, may
be learned by attentively obferving the different organs employed
by the fpeaker. By this means we are enabled to correct various
defeéts of fpeech, and even to teach the dumb to fpeak ; for dumb-
nefs is feldom the effect of imperfeticn in the organs of {peech, but
generally arifes from a want of hearing; and it is impoffible for
deaf men to imitate founds which they never heard, except they be
taught to ufe their organs by vifion and by touching.

When about to laugh, we make a very full infpiration, which is
fucceeded by frequent, interrupted, and fonorous expirations. When
the titillation is great, whether it arifes from the mind or body, thefe
convulfive expirations fometimes interrupt the breathing to fuch a
degree as to endanger fuffocation. Moderate laughing, on the con-
trary, promotes health: By agitating the whole body, it quickens
the circulation of the blood, gives an inexpreffible chearfulnefs to
the countenance, and banifhes every kind of anxiety from the mind.

In weeping, we employ nearly the fame organs as in laughing,
It commences with a deep infpiration, which is fucceeded by fhort,
broken, fonorous, and difagreeable expirations. "The countenance
has a difmal afpe&, and tears are poured out. Weeping originates
from grief, or other painful fenfations either of body or mind: When
full vent is given to tears, grief is greatly alleviated. Both laugh-
ing and weeping have been reckoned peculiar to man. But this no-
tion feems not to be well founded. Though the other animals ex-

3 . prefs

110 THE PHILOSOPHY

prefs not their pleafures or pains in the fame manner as we do, yet
all of them exhibit their pleafant or painful feelings by fymptoms or
cries, which are perfe@tly underftood by the individuals of each fpe-
cies, and, in many inftances, by man. A dog, when hurt, complains
in the bittereft terms; and, when he is afraid, or perhaps melancho-
ly, he expreffes the fituation of his mind by the moft deplorable
howlings. A bird, when fick, ceafes to fing, droops the wing, ab-
ftains from food, aflumes a lurid afpect, utters melancholy, weak
cries, and exhibits every mark of depreffed fpirits. By this means,
animals intimate the affiftance they require, or foften thofe who
maltreat them. Their plaintive cries are fometimes fo affecting as
to difarm their enemies, or procure the aid of their equals.. On the
other hand, when animals are pleafed or careffed, they difcover, by
their countenance, by their voice, by their movements, unequivocal
fymptoms of chearfulnefs and alacrity of mind. Thus the expref-
fions of pleafure and pain by brute animals, though not uttered in
the precife manner with thofe of the human fpecies, are perfely
analogous, and anfwer the fame intentions of Nature,

By refpiration, and the inftruments employed in the performance
of it, the larger animals are not only brought forth, but are enabled
to extract milk from the breafts of the mother. By refpiration,
odors are conveyed to the nofe ; coughing, fneezing, yawning, figh-
ing, finging, vomiting, and many other fun€tions in the animal oeco-
nomy, are at leaft partly accomplifhed.

After this general view of the refpiration of man and of quadru-
peds, we proceed, according to the method laid down, to give fome
account of the fame funétion in the other clafles of animals.

With regard to BIRDS, though, like other land-animals, they re~
fpire by means of lungs, Nature has enabled them to tran{mit air to
almoft

OF NATURAL HISTORY. IIY

almoft every part of their bodies. The lungs of birds are fo firmly
attached to the diaphragm, the ribs, the fides, and the vertebrae, that
they can admit of very little dilatation or contradtion. Inftead of
being impervious, the fubftance of the lungs, as well as of the dia-
phragm, to which they adhere, is perforated with many holes or
paflages for the tranfmiflion of air to the other parts of the body *.
To each of thefe perforations a diftinét membranous bag is joined.
Thefe bags are extremely thin and tranfparent. They extend
through the whole of the abdomen, are attached to the back and
fides of that cavity, and each of them receives air from their refpec-
tive openings into the lungs. The cells in birds which receive air
from the lungs are found not only in the foft parts, but in the bones,
That ingenious and accurate anatomift, Mr John Hunter of Lon-
don, remarks, that the bones of birds which receive air are of two
kinds: ‘ Some, as the fternum, ribs, and vertebrae, have their inter-
nal fubftance divided into innumerable cells, whilft others, as the
os humeri and the os femoris, are hollowed out into one large ca=

hal

nal, with fometimes a few bony columns running acrofs at the ex-
tremities. Bones of this kind may be diftinguifhed from thofe
that do not receive air by certain marks: 1. By their lefs fpecific
gravity: 2. By being lefs vafcular, and therefore whiter: 3. By
their containing little or no oil, and confequently being more eafi-

a

.

a

ly cleaned ; and, when cleaned, appearing much whiter than com-

a

mon bones: 4. By having no marrow, or even any bloody pulpy
fubftance in their cells: 5, By not being, in general, fo hard and
firm as other bones; and, 6. By the paflage that allows the air to
enter the bones, which can eafily be perceived. In the recent

ry

cal

bone we may readily difcover holes, or openings, not filled with

Lal

any fuch foft fubftance as blood-veffels or nerves; and it happens
‘ that

* This fact feems to have been firft mentioned by the celebrated Doctor Harvey.
See Harvey de Generat. Animal. Exercit. 3.

112 , STyHSEO SP IpL;.O}$:0'P HY

* that feveral of thefe holes are placed together, near that end of the -
‘ bone which is next to the trunk of the bird ; and are diftinguifh-
able by having their external edges rounded off; which is not the
cafe with the holes through which either nerves or blood-veflels
pafs into the fubftance of the bone *,’

6
6

6

Mr Hunter afterwards informs us, that the lungs, at the anterior
part, open into a number of membranous cells, which lie upon the
fides of the. pericardium, and communicate with thofe of the fter-
num. At the fuperior part, the lungs open into the large cells of
a loofe net-work, through which the wind-pipe, gullet, and large.
veflels, pafs as they proceed to and from the heart. Thefe cells,
when diftended with air, augment confiderably the part where they-
are fituated ; and this augmentation, or fwelling, is generally a mark
either of anger or of love, This tumefaion is remarkable in the
turkey-cock, in the pouting pigeon, and in the breaft of a goofe
when fhe cackles. Thefe cells communicate with others in the ax=
illa, under the large peCtoral mufcle. In moft birds, the axillary
cells communicate with the cavity of the os humeri by {mall open-
ings in the hollow furface near the head of that bone. In fome
birds, thefe cells are continued down the wing, and communicate
with the ulna and radius; in others, they extend even to the pi-
nions. The pofterior edges of the lungs open into the cells of the
vertebrae, into thofe of the ribs, the canal of the {pinal marrow, the
facrum, and other bones of the pelvis ; from thefe parts the air finds
a paflage into the thigh-bone. ‘ Thus,’ continues our learned and
indefatigable author, ‘ the cells of the abdomen, thofe furrounding
* the pericardium, thofe fituated at the lower and forepart of the
* neck, and in the axilla, thofe in the cellular membrane under the
* pectoral mufcles, as well as in that which unites the fkin to the

* body,,

* unter’s Obfervations on. certain parts of the Animal Oeconomy, pag. 79.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 113

- © body, all communicate with the lungs, and are capable of being
© filled with air; and again from thefe the cells of the fternum, ribs,
* vertebrae of the back and loins, bones of the pelvis, the humeri,
© the ulna and radius, with the pinions and thigh-bones, can in many
* birds be furnifhed with air *.’

Thefe faéts, which our author candidly acknowledges had been

formerly obferved, led him, in the year 1758, to make experiments

- on the breathing of birds, in order to prove the free communication

between the lungs and the feveral parts of the body mentioned
above.

‘ Firft,’ fays he, ‘I made an’opening into the belly of a cock,
© and having introduced a filver canula, tied up the trachea; I found

that the animal breathed by this opening, and might have lived ;
but, by an inflammation in the bowels coming on, adhefions were
* produced, and the communication cut off.

* Inext cut the wing through the os humeri, in another fowl,
¢ and tying up the trachea, as in the cock, found that the air pafled
to and from the lungs by the canal in this bone, The fame expe-
riment was made with the os femoris of a young hawk, and was
® attended with nearly the like fuccefs }.’

a

Lal

The extreme fingularity of this almoft univerfal diffufion of air
through the bodies of birds, naturally excited a defire to difcover
what might be the intention of Nature in producing a ftrudture fo
extraordinary. Mr Hunter firft imagined that it might be intended
to affift the act of flying, by increafing the volume and ftrength of

t P the

* Hunter’s Obfervations on certain parts of the Animal Oeconomy, pag. 81.
+ Ibid, pag. 82.

114 PEP el LOS OAR HY.

the animal, without adding to its weight, which muft be diminifh- *
ed; becaufe the fpecific gravity of the external air is fuperior to that
of the internal air, which is rendered more rare by the heat of- the
animal’s body. This opinion was corroborated, by confidering that
the feathers of birds, and particularly thofe of the wings, contain a
great quantity of air. With his ufual ingenuoufnefs, however, Mr
Hunter, in oppofition to his firft conjecture, informs us, that the
oftrich, which does not fly, was amply provided with air-cells dif-
perfed through its body ; that the wood-cock, and fo:ne other flying
birds, were not fo liberally fupplied with thefe cells as the oftrich;
and that the bat had no fuch peculiarity of ftru€ture. With regard
to the oftrich, though it is not intended to fly, it runs with amazing
rapidity, and, confequently, requires fimilar refources of air.

He next conjectured, from analogy, that the air-cells in birds
ought to be confidered as an appendage to the lungs; becaufe in the
{nake, viper, and feveral other amphibious animals, the lungs are
continued, in the form of two bags, through the whole abdomen,
the upper part of which can only perform the office of refpiration
with any degree of effett; becaufe the lower part has comparatively
few air-veffels. ‘The air,” fays Mr Hunter, ‘ muft pafs through
this upper part before it gets to the lower in infpiration, and muft
* alfo repafs in expiration; fo that the refpiratory furface has more

a“

air applied to it than what the lungs of themfelves could contain,
* There is, in fa@, a great fimilarity between birds and that clafs of
* animals called amphibious; and, although a bird and a fnake are
* not the fame in the conftruction of the refpiratory organs, yet the
* circumftance of the air paffing in both beyond the lungs, into the
* cavity of the abdomen, naturally leads us to fuppofe, that a ftrue-
* ture fo fimilar is defigned in each to anfwer a fimilar purpofe. This

analogy is ftill farther fupported by the lungs in both confifting of

e

large cells. Now, in amphibious animals, the ufe of fuch a con-
* formation:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 115

* formation of lungs is evident; for it is in confequence of this

ftru€ture that they require to breathe lefs frequently than others,

oe

Even confidering the matter in this light, it may fill, in birds,

oe

Rave fome connection with flying, as that motion may eafily be

«

imagined to render frequency of refpiration inconvenient, and a

refervoir of air may therefore become fingularly ufeful. Although

we are not to confider this ftru€ture in birds to be an extenfion of

lungs, yet I can eafily conceive this accumulation of air to be of

great ufe in refpiration; for, as we obferved in the viper, that the

air, in its paflage to and from thefe cells, muft certainly have a
confiderable effect upon the blood in the lungs, by allowing a much
greater quantity of air to pafs in a given time, than if there was

-

no fuch conftru€tion of parts. And this opinion will not appear
to be ill founded, if we confider, that, both in the bird and the vi-
per, the furface of the lungs is fmall in comparifon to what it is
in many other animals which have not this extenfion of cavity,—

a

wn

‘ We muft not, however, give up the idea of fuch ftruture being
of ufe in flying; for I believe we may fet it down asa general

‘ rule, that, in the birds of longeft and higheft flight, as eagles, this

cd

extenfion, or diflufion of air, is carried farther than in the others;
* and this opinion is ftrengthened, by comparing this flructure with

the refpiratory organs in the flying infects, which are compofed of
* cells diffufed through the whole body; and thefe are extended
even into the head and down the extremities, while there is no
* fuch ftru€ture in thofe that do not fly, as the fpider,’ &c.

Lal

Though Mr Hunter’s modefty has not permitted him to draw his
conclufion in a pofitive manner, he feems to have proved decidedly,
that one ufe of the general diffufion of air through the bodies of
birds is to prevent their refpiration from being ftoped or interrupted
by the rapidity of their motion through a refifting medium. The
refiflence of the air increafes in proportion to the celerity of the

P 2 motion.

116 THE *PHIELOSOPRH ¥

motion. Were it poffible for man to move with a fwiftnefs equal
to that of a fwallow, the refiftance of the air, as he is not provided
with internal refervoirs fimilar to thofe of birds, would foon fuffo-
cate him, Neither does the difficulty he mentions, with regard to
the ftruture of the oftrich, feem to contradi@ his theory; for
though, as formérly remarked, the oftrich does not fly, he runs with
aftonifhing rapidity.

The refpiration of air is not only neceflary to the exiftence of
Jand-animals, but to that of FISHES of every denomination. Coeta-
ceous fifhes, or thofe of the whale-kind, refpire, like man and qua-
drupeds, by means ef lungs; and, of courfe, they are obliged, at
certain intervals, to come to the furface, in order to throw out the
former air, and to take in a freth fupply.

Inftead of lungs, the other fpecies of fithes are furnifhed with gills,
through which they refpire both water and air; for air is univerfal-
iy diffufed or mixed with every portion of water. When a free
communication with the external air is prevented by ice, or by ar-
tifice, fithes immediately difcover fymptoms of uneafinefs, and foon
perifh, lian informs us, that, in winter, when the river Ifter was
frozen, the fifhers dug holes in the ice; that great numbers of fithes
reforted to thefe holes; and that their eagernefs was fo great, that
they allowed themfelves to be feized by the hands of the fifhermen.
Rondeletius made many experiments on this fubje&. If, fays he,
fifhes are put into a narrow-mouthed veffel filled with water, and
a communication with the air be preferved, the animals live, and
fwim about, not for days and months only, but for feveral years.
If the mouth of the veflel, however, be fo clofely fhut, either with
the hand, or any other covering, that the paflage of the air is ex-
cluded, the fithes fuddenly die. Immediately after the mouth of
the veffel is clofed, the creatures rufh tumultuoufly, one above an-

other,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 117

other, to the top, contending which of them hall fooneft receive
the benefit of the air *, In the fhallow parts of rivers, when fro-
zen, many fifhes are found dead. But, when parts of a river are
deep or rapid, the fithes fly from the ice, and by this means avoid
deftruction.

Thefe, and fimilar experiments, have been repeated by Mr Wil-
loughby, and many other modern authors; and they have uniform-
ly been attended with the fame event, A carp, in a large veflel full
of water, was placed in the receiver of an air-pump. In proportion
as the air was exhaufted by working the pump, the furface of the
animal’s body was covered with a number of bubbles. The carp
foon breathed quicker, and with more difficulty: A little after, it
rofe to the furface in queft of air. The bubbles on its furface next
difappeared; the belly, which before was greatly fwollen, fuddenly
collapfed; and the animal funk to the bottom, and expired in con=
vulfions.

Thus the refpiration of air is as neceffary to the exiftence of
fithes as to that of land-animals; for none of them can live long
when deprived of this vivifying element. Fifhes, indeed, feem to
require a {maller quantity of air than animals who have a conftant
and free communication with the atmofphere. The bodies and
fluids of fifhes are colder than thofe of land-animals; and, of courfe,
if Doctor Crawford’s theory be well founded, fithes require lefs air
to fupport the proportionally {mall quantity of heat they poflefs,

An analogy between fithes and birds deferves here to be noticed.
Both of thefe clafles of animals are rapid in their motions; and both
of them, befide refpiring by lungs or gills, have receptacles of air
within their bodies, Fifhes tranfmit fall quantities of air through:

their

* Rondeletius, lib. 4. cap. o.

118 TORE, oP HE L10:S5/0 (Pi ¥

their gills; but Nature has provided moft of them with air-bags or
bladders, which may anfwer the double purpofe of enabling them
to afcend and defcend in the water, and to communicate a vital prin-
ciple to their whole fyftem.

We fhall conclude this fubje&t with an account of the modes em-
ployed by Nature for tranfmitting air into the bodies of INsECTS.

In this feemingly contemptible, and often noxious clafs of ani-
mals, Nature has exhibited a wonderful diverfity of form, of man-
ners, of inftinéts, of deformity, and of beauty. But, however in-
fignificant thefe creatures may appear to inattentive obfervers, Na-
ture has been equally provident in the formation of their bodies,
and in the means of preferving the different individuals, according
to their kinds, as in the larger animals, which have the appearance
of more importance in the fcale of being. To infeéts fhe has denied
lungs fimilar to thofe of men, quadrupeds, birds, and fifhes ; but, as
the tranfmiffion of air into their bodies was neceflary to continue
the principle of life, fhe has furnifhed them with peculiar inftru-
ments and apparatus for accomplifhing this indifpenfible purpofe.

Air is conveyed into the bodies of infects by inftruments called
iracheae or fligmata. The tracheae, or wind-pipes, are, in many
infeéts, long tubes protruding externally from different parts of the
body. In fome, they proceed from the pofterior part, and have the
appearance of one, two, or three tails; in others, they arife from
the back or fides. The /figmata are {mall holes, generally of a dif-
ferent colour from the reft of the body, and run along the fides of
many caterpillars in regular and beautifully dotted lines. That thefe
tracheae and ftigmata are deftined for the tranfmiffion of air, has
been proved by repeated experiments; for, when ftopped up by the

application

OF NATURAL HISTORY. . IQ

application of oil, or other untuous fubftances, the animals foon
lofe their exiftence.

In contemplating the parts ‘of animals, when the ufes of thefe parts
are not apparent, we are apt to deceive ourfelves by rathly fuppo-
fing them to anfwer purpofes for which they were never intended
by Nature. Impreffed with this idea, M. de Reaumur was not fa-
tisfied with the notion of Goedart and others, that the long tails of
certain worms were intended to keep them fteady in their motions,
and to prevent them from rolling. Reaumur obferved, that thefe
worms or grubs could lengthen or fhorten their tails at pleafure, but
that they were always longer than the animal’s body. Becaufe thefe
tails have fome refemblance to that of a rat, he diftinguifhes the ani-
mals by the name of rat-tailed worms. 'Thefe worms are aquatic,
and never appear on dry ground till they are about to undergo their
firft transformation. Reaumur, in order to obferve their oeconomy
more clofely, collected a number of rat-tailed worms, and put them
into a glafs veffel filled two inches high with water. At firft they
were confiderably agitated, each feemingly fearching for a proper
place of repofe. Some of them fwam acrofs, others attached them-
felves to the fides, and others refted at the bottom of the veffel. In
a quarter of an hour they were almoft entirely tranquil, and Reau-
mur foon difcovered the real ufe of their long tails) Upon exami-
ning the veffel, he found that each of the animals, in whatever fitua-
tion they were placed, extended its tail exa@tly to the furface; that,
like other aquatic infects, the refpiration of air was neceflary to their
exiftence; and that the tail, which is tubular, and open at the extre-
mity, was the organ by which this operation was performed. In
this experiment, the diftance from the bottom to the furface was two
inches, and, of courfe, the tails were of an equal length. To dif-
cover how far the animals could extend their tails, this moft inge-
nious and indefatigable philofopher gradually augmented the height

3 : of

120 THE P MUL Os Or MY

of the water, and the tails uniformly rofe to the furface till it was
between five and fix inches high. When the water was raifed high-
er, the animals immediately quitted their ftation at the bottom, and
either mounted higher in the water, or fixed upon the fides of the
veflel, in fituations which rendered it convenient for them to reach
the furface with the points of their tails. Thefe tails confift of two
tubes, both of which are capable of extenfion and contraction, The
firft tube is always vifible; but the fecond, which is the proper or-
gan of refpiration, is exferted only when the water is raifed to a cer-
tain height. Through this tube the air is conveyed into two large
tracheae or wind-pipes within the body of the animal, and main-
tains the principle of life. When the tails are below the furface,
they occafionally emit fmall bubbles of air, which are vifible to the
naked eye; and immediately repair to the furface for freth fupplies.
Thefe rat-tailed worms pafs the firft and longeft part of their lives
under water; when near the time of their transformation, they leave
the water, go under the ground, and are there transformed into
chryfalids; and, laftly, from this ftate they are transformed into
flies, and {pend the remainder of their exiftence in the air.

Another fpecies of aquatic worms merit attention. They frequent
marfhes, ditches, and ftagnating waters. Their general colour is a
greenifh brown. Their bodies confift of eleven rings; and their
fkin is not cruftaceous, but rather refembles parchment. Though
thefe animals, before their transformation into flies, live in water,
air is neceflary to fupport their principle of life; and the apparatus
with which Nature has furnifhed them for that important purpofe
deferves our notice. The laft ring, or termination of their bodies,
is open, and ferves as a. conductor of air. From this laft ring pro-
ceed a number of hairs, which, when examined by the microfcope,
are found to be real feathers with regular vanes. In particular fi-

tuations, they bend the laft ring in fuch a manner as to reach the
3 furface

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 121

furface of the water or mud in which they are placed. Thefe feathers
prevent the water from entering into the tube, or organ of refpira-
tion; and, when the animal raifes the termination of its body to the
furface, in order to receive air, it erects and fpreads the feathers,
and by this means expofes the end of the tube to the atmofphere.
When cautioufly cut open, two large veffels, or tracheae, appear on
each fide, and occupy almoft one half of the body. Both of thefe
wind-pipes terminate in the open tube, or laft ring. Though thefe
worms are furnifhed with organs of refpiration, and actually refpire
air, yet M. de Reaumur difcovered that fome of them could live
more than twenty-four hours without refpiration.

So anxious is Nature to provide animals, in every ftate of their
exiftence, with air, that, after the transformation of many infects
into chryfalids, fhe creates inftruments for that purpofe, which did
not exift previous to their transformation. The rat-tailed worms,
formerly mentioned, foon after they are transformed into chry/alids,
inftead of a foft pliable fkin, are covered with a hard cruftaceous
fubftance, feemingly impervious to the air; and the tail, which was
the wind-pipe of the animal in its firft ftate, gradually vanifhes. In
a few hours, however, four hollow horns fhoot out, two from the
fore, and two from the hind, part of what was the head of the ani-
mal, Thefe horns, which are hard and tubular, M. de Reaumur
difcovered to be real wind-pipes, deftined for the introduGtion of air
into the chryfalis, a flate in which the animals have the appearance
of being almoft totally dead, and, of courfe, fhould feem to have
little ufe for refpiration. He likewife difcovered that thefe horns,
which had pierced the hard exterior covering, terminated in as many
tracheae in the body of the animal, This fa& affords a ftrong ex-
ample of the neceflity of air for fuftaining the principle of life, even
in its loweft condition. After thefe animals pafs from the chryfalis
ftate to that of flies, they are deprived both of their tails and horns.

Tt Q. But

f22 THE PHILOSOPHY

But Nature, in this Jaft ftage of their exiftence, has not left them
without proper refources for the introduction of air into their bo-
dies. Inftead of protuberant tracheae in the form of tails or horns,
they now, like other flies, receive air by means of ftigmata, of
holes, varioufly difpofed over different parts of the body,

The nymph of the libella, or dragon-fly, refpires water, in the
fame manner as men and quadrupeds: refpire air. We receive and
throw out the air by the mouth and noftrils. But the nymphs of
the libella receive and eje&t water by an aperture at the termina-
tion of their bodies. Thefe nymphs fometimes throw out the wa-
ter, at certain intervals, with fuch force, that the ftream is percep-
tible at the diftance of two or three inches from their bodies, When
kept fome time out of the water, the defire or neceffity of refpira-
tion is augmented; and, accordingly, when replaced in a veflel
filled with water, infpirations and refpirations ate repeated with un-
ufual force and frequency. If you hold one of thefe nymphs in
your hand, and apply drops of water to the pofterior end of its bo-
dy, it inftantly, by an apparatus fimilar to the pifton of a pump,
fucks in the water, and the dimenfiois of its body afe vifibly aug-
mented. This water is again quickly thrown out by the fame in-
ftrument. But, though this infec refpires water, air feems to be
not the lefs neceflary to its exiftence ; for, like other infects, the
whole interior part of its body is amply provided with large and
convoluted tracheae; and, externally, there are feveral ftigmata def-
tined for the introduction of air *,

The worms, or nymphs, of the éphemeron flies merit attention.
They have received the denomination of ephemeron, becaufe almoft
none of them furvive the day in which they are transformed into

flies,

* Reaumur, tom. 12. pag. 187. 12° édit.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 123

flies. But many of them live not one hour after their transforma-
tion. When in the worm and nymph ftates, they generally live in
holes near the furface of the water; and, under thefe two forms,
continue to grow till they are mature for pafling into the laft and
fhorteft period of their exiftence. Swammerdam informs us, that
fome of them remain three years under water, others two, and
others one only. During their abode in this element, they are nou-
rifhed and prepared for their laft and fatal change. Immediately
after the males have joined their mates, and the females have de-
pofited their eggs in the water, both perifh, but not before they have
left the rudiments of a numerous race of fucceflors. As long as
thefe infects live in the water, to inattentive obfervers, their general
appearance is nearly the fame. When they have pafled, however,
into nymphs, the veftiges of wings may be perceived, which we look
for in vain during their firft or worm ftate. In both ftates, the in-
fe&t which is to become an ephemeron fly has fix legs attached to
the breaft. The head is triangular, and from the bafe of each eye
proceeds an articulated feeler. The body is compofed of ten rings,
from the laft of which three tails, that probably perform the office
of tracheae, arife. Thefe tails, in fome fpecies, are as long as the
animal’s body, and are fringed with hairs which have a refemblance
to feathers. But, what principally deferves our notice on this fub-
ject is, that, on each fide of the body, there are fix or feven protu-
berances, which have the appearance of fo many oars. With thefe
inftruments the animals defcribe arches in the water, firft on one
fide, and then on the other, with aftonifhing rapidity. This circum-
ftance led Clutius, and fome other authors, to think that thefe pro-
tuberances were fins, or inftruments of motion, and that the animals
were fifhes. But Reaumur remarked that they moved thefe fins
with the fame rapidity when the animals were at reft as when they
were in motion; and that, inftead of fins, when examined by the
microfcope, he difcovered them to be gills, through which the crea-

Q2 tures

124 THE PHILOSOPHY

tures refpire. Each gill confifts of a fhort trunk, and two large
branches, or tubes, which give off on all fides a number of fmaller
ramifications, and are perfedtly fimilar to the tracheae of other in-
fe&s. At the origin of every gill, two tracheae penetrate the trunk,
and are difperfed through the body of the animal.

Though the ftigmata, or refpiratory organs, of caterpillars and
other infeéts, were long known to ferve the purpofe of infpiration,
yet it was uncertain whether the animals refpired by the fame ori-
fices, till Bonnet, and, after him, Reaumur, afcertained the fa& by
many curious and accurate experiments. The firft of thefe authors
immerfed numbers of caterpillars, of different kinds, and at different
times, in water, and he obferved, both with the naked eye, and by
the affiftance of a glafs, bubbles of air iffuing from various parts of
their bodies, and particularly from the ftigmata. To remove all de-
ception from his experiments, before immerfion, he carefully moif-
tened the caterpillars with water, in order to diflodge any portions
of the external air that might be adhering to their bodies. Some
of them he allowed to remain fo long under water, that they had
every appearance of death. He then raifed the head and the two
anterior ftigmata above the furface. The head, and firft pair of
lees, foon began to move from fide to fide; and the body neceflari~
ly partook of the fame motions. During thefe movements, many
bubbles of air iffued from the pofterior and intermediate ftigmata,
which ftill remained under water; but the membranous limbs con-
tinued nearly at reft. He next kept a caterpillar under water till all
motion was fufpended. Then he elevated the anus and the two laft
ftigmata above the furface, that they might have a communication
with the external air. He kept the animal in this fituation about
half an hour, without any fymptoms of re-animation. After raifing
the body fuccefflively from the laft to the firft pair of ftigmata, full
the animal exhibited no fymptoms of life; but, when he expofed

the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 125

the whole body to the external air for half an hour, the powers of
life completely returned. After fufpending the caterpillar about
two hours with the laft five pair of ftigmata above the furface, he
found that life was not extinguifhed. He then raifed the water till
the anus and laft pair of ftigmata only were expofed to the atmof-
phere. He allowed the caterpillar to remain in this fituation more
than half an hour; and he obferved that it often bended its body
with a view to reach the furface, and that, during thefe efforts, bub-
bles of air iffued from the anterior, but not from the pofterior ftig-
mata. He likewife remarked, that, on the fmalleft motion of the
animal, thefe bubbles were difcharged, but that they were augment-
ed both in quantity and fize, in proportion to the agitations of the
body. M. Bonnet immediately raifed the water till it covered- the
two laft ftigmata; the caterpillar was violently agitated; but no
bubbles of air, the communication being cut off, appeared, and all
motion ceafed. He inftantly lowered the water, and expofed the
two pofterior ftigmata to the air; the animal refumed its move-
ments; but in a moment after it expired. By another experiment,
M. Bonnet difcovered that a caterpillar lived eight days fufpended
in water, during all which time it breathed folely by the two pofte-
rior ftigmata.

After thefe, and many other faéts of a fimilar kind, which de-
monftrate that air is neceflary for the fupport and continuation of
animal life, it fhall only be remarked, that, when caterpillars under-
go their laft change, and appear in the form of flies of every deno-
mination, Nature has ftill furnithed them with ftigmata, or re{pira-
tory organs.

Reptiles of all kinds are likewife furnithed with organs of refpi-
ration. Land-f{nails, at the approach of winter, bury themfelves in
the earth, or retire into holes of rocks, or of old buildings, where

they

126 THE PHILOSOPHY

they remain in a torpid ftate during the feverity of the feafon. For
protection and warmth, thefe animals, when they go into their win-
ter habitations, form, by means of a flime or faliva that iffues from
every pore of their bodies, a membranous cover which ftops up the
mouths of their fhells. But this pellicle or cover, though apparent-
ly pretty hard and folid, is fo thin and porous as not entirely to ex-
clude the entrance of air, without which the principle of life could
not be continued, Accordingly, when, by accident, the pellicle is
made too thick, and prevents a communication with the external
air, the animal, to remedy the evil, makes a {mall aperture in its
cover. In this ftate {nails remain fix or feven months, without
food or motion, till the genial warmth of the {pring breaks their
flumber, and calls forth their ative powers. Hence it fhould ap-
pear, that air is more neceflary to the prefervation of animal life
than food itfelf; for, in numberlefs inftances, animals can live, not
for days or weeks, but for months, without fupplies of nourifhment,
None of them, however, are capable of exifting nearly fo long with-
out having fome communication with the air.

With regard to {nails that live in frefh waters, or in the ocean,
the fpecies of which are numerous, their manner of refpiring is fin-
gular. All of them have an aperture on the right fide of the neck,
This aperture ferves the complicated purpofes of difcharging the
faeces, of lodging the organs of generation, of afcending and de=
{cending in the water, and of refpiration, They are frequently ob-
ferved to ftraiten the orifice of this aperture, to ftretch it out in the
form of an oblong tube; and, in this ftate, they rife to the furface,
in order to expel the former air, and take in a new fupply.

But, though air feems to be an indifpenfible principle of animal
life, yet many animals can live longer without the ufe of this ele-
ment, or at leaft with fmaller quantities of it, than others, Even

3 ‘men,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 127

men, by long practice, acquire the faculty of retaining the air in
their lungs for an almoft incredible length of time. Some of thofe
wretched creatures who are compelled by tyranny to dive for pearl-
oyfters, have been known to continue under water three quarters of
an hour without receiving a frefh fupply of air. Thofe animals
which lie torpid during the winter, as the hedge-hog, the dormoufe,
the marmot, &c. though perhaps not entirely deprived of all com-
munication with the air, exift, without any apparent breathing, till
the heat of the fpring reftores their wonted powers of life, when the
refpiration of air becomes again equally neceflary as before their
torpor commenced. The toad, like all the frog-kind, is torpid in
winter. At the approach of winter, the toad retires to the hollow
root of a tree, to the cleft of a rock, and fometimes to the bottom of
a ditch or pond, where it remains for months in a ftate of feeming
infenfibility. In this laft fituation, it can have very little commu-
ication with the air. But ftill the principle of life is continued,
and the animal revives in the fpring. What is more wonderful,
toads have been found, in a hundred places of'the globe, inclofed in
the heart of folid rocks, and in the bodies of trees, where they have
been fuppofed to exift for centuries, without any apparent accefs
either to nourifhment or to air; and yet they were alive and vigo-
rous. In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for the year
1719, we have an account of a toad found alive, and healthy, in the
heart of an old elm. Another, in the year 1731, was difcovered,
near Nantz, in the heart of an old oak, without any vifible entrance
to its habitation. From the fize of the tree, it was concluded, that
the animal muft have been confined in that fituation at leaft eighty
or a hundred years. In the many examples of toads found in folid
rocks, exact impreffions of the animals bodies, correfponding to their
refpective fizes, were uniformly left in the ftones or trees from
which they were diflodged; and, to this day, it is faid, that there is
a marble chimney-piece at Chatfworth with a print of a toad in it;

and

128 THE PHILOSOPHY

and a traditionary account of the place and manner in which it was
difcovered.

Thefe, and fimilar facts, are fupported by authorities fo numerous
and fo refpectable, that it is unneceflary to quote them. Many a=
bortive attempts have been made to account for an animal’s grow=
ing and living very long in the fituations above defcribed, without
the poffibility of receiving nourifhment or air; efpecially as, like all
other animals, when put into an exhaufted receiver, the toad foon lofes
its exiftence. Upon this fubje& I fhall only hazard two obfervations.
The toad, it is well known, when kept in a damp place, can live fe-
veral months without food of any kind, though, in its ftate of na-
tural liberty, it devours voracioufly fpiders, maggots, ants, and other
infeéts. Here we have an inftance, and there are many, of an animal
whofe conftitution is fo framed by Nature, that it can exift feveral
months without receiving any portion of food. According to our ide-
as of the neceflity of frequent fupplies of nourifhment, it is nearly as
difficult for us to conceive an abftinence of four or fix months as one
of as many years, or even centuries, The one fact, therefore, though
we are unable to account for either, may be as readily admitted as
the other. The fame remark is equally applicable to the regular ref-
piration of air, The toad, and many other animals, from fome pe-
culiarity in their conftitution, can live very long in a torpid ftate
without feeming to refpire, and yet their principle of life is not en-
tirely extinguifhed. Hence the toad may, and actually does, live
many years in fituations which exclude a free intercourfe with the
external air. Befides, almoft all the above, and fimilar fa€ts, muft,
from their nature, have been difcovered by common labourers, who
are totally unqualified for examining every circumftance with the
difcerning eye of a philofopker. In rocks there are many chinks, as
well as fiffures, both horizontal and perpendicular ; and in old trees

nothing is more frequent than holes and vacuities of different dimen-
3 fions.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 129

fions. ‘Through thefe fiffures and vacuities the eggs of toads may
accidentally be conveyed by water, the penetration of which few
fubftances are capable of refifting. After the eggs are hatched, the
animals may receive moifture, and {mall portions of air, through
the crevices of rocks, or.the channels of aged trees. But I mean
not to perfuade; for I cannot fatisfy myfelf. All I intend is to re-
commend, to thofe gentlemen who may hereafter chance to fee fuch
rare phaenomena, a ftrit examination of every circumftance that
can throw light upon a fubjeét fo dark and myfterious ; for the vul-
gar, ever inclined to render uncommon appearances ftill more mar-
vellous, are not to be trufted.

From the facts 1 have enumerated, it is apparent that air, in cer-
tain proportions, according to the ftructure and conftitution of every
animated being of which we have any knowledge, is indifpenfibly ne-
ceflary for the exiftence and continuation of animal life. . Not only
men, quadrupeds, birds, fithes, reptiles, and the larger infects, but even
fleas, mites, the minute eels found in pafte or in vinegar, and the ani-
malcules produced by infufing animal or vegetable fubftances in wa-
ter, inevitably perifh when deprived of this all-vivifying element.

With regard to plants, air is fo neceflary to their exiftence, that
they do not vegetate in an exhaufted receiver. Plants, as formerly
mentioned, are furnifhed with numerous air-veflels, or refpiratory
organs. They abforb and tranfmit air through every pore. When
placed in an exhaufted receiver, the air contained in every part of
their fubftance is foon extrated; and, in ‘proportion as this air is
likewife pumped out by the machine, the flowers and leaves fhow
evident fymptoms of debility; they become flaccid, pendulous, and
affume a fickly appearance ; and, if retained in that fituation a cer-
tain length of time, their vegetating powers are irrecoverably ex-
tinguifhed,

Tt R Upon

130 THE PHILOSOPHY

Upon the whole, as the air we continually breathe is an univer=
fal menftruum, and, of courfe, liable to be impregnated with exha-
lations from every fubftance to which it has accefs, the great impor-
tance of perfonal, as well as of domeftic cleanlinefs, is an obvious
reflection. In building towns or houfes, the fituation, with regard
to air, is a capital object. The vicinity of marfhes, of ftagnating
waters, of manufactures of tallow, oil, fal ammoniac, the {melting .
or corroding of metals of every kind, and many other operations
which contaminate the air, fhould be either avoided or removed, as
they are the pefts of our fenfes, and the poifoners of our conftitu-
tions. Even in northern climates, houfes furrounded with trees, or
in the neighbourhood of luxuriant vegetables, are always damp,
and infefted with infe&ts; and hence the ambient air is replete with
the feeds of difeafe. Precautions of this kind are ftill more necef-
fary in hot climates. Air, like other menftruums, abforbs a greater
or lefs proportion of the particles of bodies, according to its degree
of heat. In Madrid, however, in Conftantinople, and in many
other cities of warm regions, the houfes are crouded together, the
ftreets are narrow, and covered with filth of every kind. We can-
not, therefore, be furprifed, that human beings exifting in fuch fi-
tuations fhould be fo frequently infected with peftilential difeafes.

CILLA,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. I

Gs
De |

Ch, Ay (DE apical Ve

Of Motion,

OTION, in the opinion of Ariftotle, and the admirers of
ancient philofophy, can only be produced by mind; and
hence they define mind to bethe power of moving, By the fame
mode of reafoning, it may be faid that re/?, or inactivity, is the power
of being moved, But fuch fpeculations are foreign to the nature of
this work, and perhaps fruitlefs in themfelves. Though it is impof-
fible to give an unexceptionable definition of motion, the phaeno-
menon itfelf is obvious to every man’s fenfes,

All the terreftrial objets which prefent themfelves to our obfer=
vation are, with regard to motion, diftinguifhable into two general
clafles. The firft confifts of thofe which are endowed with a fpon-
taneous or felf-moving power, and with fome qualities and affec-
tions fimilar to thofe of our minds. The fecond confifts of all thofe
objects in which no fuch qualities and affections appear, and are of
a nature fo paflive, that they never move of themfelves, nor, when
put in motion, do they ever ftop without fome external influence or
refiftance. The firft clafs of objets, from their poffefling the power
of fpontaneous motion, and other qualities peculiar to animated be-

I R2 ings,

132 THE PHILOSOPHY

ings, are eafily diftinguifhed from body, or matter, which is totally
deprived of all thefe qualities. In confequence of its paflive nature,
matter not only never changes its ftate without external force, but
refifts when any fuch change is attempted to be made. When at
reft, it cannot be put in motion without difficulty; and, when in
motion, a certain force is required to ftop its courfe. The force
with which matter perfeveres in its ftate, and refifts any change, is
called its vis inertiae, and is always proportional to the quantity of
matter in any particular body. When we double or triple a body,
we uniformly find, that the force requifite to move it with equal
celerity muft likewife be doubled or tripled. Thefe, and fimilar
facts, which are refults of perpetual experience, fhow that body is
equally indifferent to motion and reft ; that this indifference feems
to be the natural confequence of the moft abfolute inaQivity ; and
that the power of beginning motion is peculiar to ative and intel-
ligent beings. Leaving, therefore, all metaphyfical fpeculations oa
this fubjeét, we fhall. give fome remarks upon the motions of ani-
mals.

In general,, all the progreflive motions of animals are performed
by the inftrumentality of mufcles, tendons, and articulations. The
operation of mufcles depends upon fome unknown influence derived
to them from the brain and nerves. Hence the brain and nerves
are the fources. of every motion as well as of every fenfation, With
regard to the caufes which determine the a€tions of animals, thefe
muft be referred to fenfation, and the confequent exertions of intel=
le&t. The firft impreffion an obje€&t makes upon our fenfations fti-
mulates us either to approach or retire from: it, according as it ex=
cites affection or averfion. Thefe motions neceflarily refult from
the firft impreflion made by the obje&. But man, and many other
animals, have the power of refifting thefe original’ motives to ation,
and of remaining at reft, without either retiring or approaching, ‘ If

3 a

OF NATURAL HISTORY. £33

‘aman,’ fays the Count de Buffon, ‘ were deprived of fight, he

would make no movement to gratify his eyes. The fame thing
would happen, if he were deprived of any of the other fenfes;
‘ and, if deprived of every fenfe, he would remain perpetually at
‘ ‘eft, and no object would excite him to move, though, by natural
* conformation, he were fully capable of motion.’ Natural wants,
as that of taking nourifhment, neceflarily excite defire or appetite.
But, if a man be deprived of fenfation, want cannot exift, becaufe
all its fources are annihilated, This is cutting off all the caufes, and
at the fame time looking for the effets. An animal without fome
fenfation is.no animal, but a dead mafs of matter. Sentiment is the
only ftimulus to animal motion ; the aptnefs of the parts produces
the effet, which varies according to the ftru@ture and deftination of
thefe parts. The fenfe of want creates defire, Whenever an ani-
mal perceives an objec fitted to fupply its wants, defire is the ne-

eeflary confequence, and action or motion inftantly fucceeds.

Befide progreflive motion, the motion of hands, and. other parts
of animal bodies, which are all effected by means of mufcles, and
are fubjeé&t to the will of the creatures who perform them, there are
other motions that have little or no dependence on our inclinations.
Of this kind are the ation of the heart, the circulation of the blood,
the digeftion of food, the periftaltic motion of the bowels, the pro-
grefs of the chyle from the ftomach and inteftines to the fubclavian
vein, the movement of the various fecreted liquors, fuch as the gall,
the urine, the faliva, &c, Thefe, together with the action of the
lungs in. refpiration, have received the denomination of vital and in~=
voluntary motions, becaufe moft of them go on without any confcious
exertions of the intellectual principle. If fuch a variety of nice and
complicated movements had been left to the determination and di-
rection of our minds, they muft neceflarily have occupied too much
of our attention; and many of them would infallibly have been ne-

gleed.

134 THE PHILOSOPHY

elected during fleep, when confcioufnefs is often almoft totally fu-
fpended. But Nature in her operations is always wife. She has
given to man, and other animals, the dire€tion of no movements
but what are eafily performed, contribute to pleafure and health,
and enable them to acquire food correfponding to the ftruQure of
their bodies and the elements in which they live.

It never was my intention, and, indeed, it would have been fo-
reign to the defign of this work, and ill fuited to that clafs of man-
kind to whom I with chiefly to be ufeful, to enter into the rationale
of animal motion; to mention the number, infertion, and direction,
of the mufcles employed in moving the different parts of animated
bodies; or to account for the modes by which animals walk, leap,
fly, fwim, creep, &c. Such difcuffions would not only require a
volume, but a thorough acquaintance with all the depths of anato-
mical and mathematical knowledge. What follows, therefore, will
confift of fome defultory obfervations; and the fubjeé fhall be con-
cluded by enumerating a few examples of movements peculiar to
certain animals,

The motions of animals are proportioned to their weight and
ftruGture. A flea can leap fome hundred times its own length.
Were an elephant, a camel, or a horfe, to leap in the fame propor-
tion, their weight would crufh them to atoms. The fame remark
is applicable to fpiders, worms, and other infe@&s, The foftnefs of
their texture, and the comparative fmallnefs of their fpecific gravi-
ty, enable them to fall with impunity from heights that would
prove fatal to larger and heavier animals.

Motion gives birth, perfection, death, and reprodudtion, to all
animal and vegetable beings. It is the caufe of all that diverfity
and change which perpetually affe&t every obje& in the univerfe.

The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 435

The globe we inhabit, as well as the innumerable and ftupendous
heavenly bodies which prefent themfelves, in forms apparently mi-
nute to our obfervation, conftantly exhibit motions of the moft in-
conceivable rapidity. The magnitude of this earth, when confider-
ed with relation to man, and other animals, appears to be exceed-
ingly great, It is indeed fufficiently fpacious, and fufficiently pro-
lific, for the conveniency and maintenance of its inhabitants. ‘The
magnificent objects difplayed on its furface excite the admiration of
every beholder. Its plains and mountains, its rivers and lakes, its
iflands and continents, its feas and oceans, continually follicit atten=
tion, gratify curiofity, and call forth the powers of reafon and re-
flection.’ But, when compared to the other heavenly bodies, the
number and magnitude of which exceed all the powers of human
conception, the grandeur of our earth diminifhes. Inftead of ex-
citing wonder, it almoft vanifhes from our fight. Inftead of an im-
menfe globe, it dwindles into a point, feems to occupy no {pace, and
lofes itfelf in the boundlefs regions of the univerfe. Confiderations
of this kind are apt to deprefs the dignity of man, and to leflen his
importance in the great fcale of being; but they expand his mental
faculties, and exalt his ideas concerning that inconceivable Power
which firft produced, and ftill fupports, thofe aftonifhing orbs,

The different movements to which animals are ftimulated by the
defire of food, by love, by the appetite for frolic and exercife, by
their hoftilities, and by other exciting caufes, give animation and vi-
vacity to the whole fcene of nature. A filent and motionlefs pro-
fpeét, however beautiful and variegated, foon ceafes to pleafe, and at
laft becomes infupportable. Motion, fays Mr Harris, is the objed
or caufe of all fenfation. In mufic we hear it; in favours we tafte
it; in odors we fmell it; in touch we feel it; in light we fee it.

Animals,

136 THE PHILOSOPHY

Animals furnifhed with deftru@tive weapons, or endowed with
uncommon ftrength, courage, or ingenuity, are proportionally flow-
er in their movements than the weaker kinds. The fame remark is
applicable to thofe fpecies whofe food is always at hand. Worms,
caterpillars, and many other infects, in order to procure nourifh-
ment, are under no neceffity of taking an extenfive range. But the
motions of birds and fithes are extremely rapid; becaufe, in queft of
food, they are obliged to pafs through large tracks, and they have
alfo many enemies to avoid.

Timid animals, as the hare, the rabbit, the Guiney-pig, &c. are
almoft perpetually in motion. Even when perfe@ly undifturbed,
they are reftlefs, and betray a continual anxiety of danger. They
run about, ftop fhort, erect their ears, and liften, The Guiney-pig
frequently raifes itfelf on its hind-legs, and f{nuffs all around to catch
the fcent of food when hungry, or to increafe its circle of hearing
when afraid.

The movements of many animals are fo extremely flow, that
fome of them, particularly thofe of the fhell tribes, are generally
fuppofed to be deftitute of the power of moving. It is a common
notion, that both frefh and falt water mufcles have not the loco-
motive faculty, But this isa vulgar error. It is almoft unneceflary
to mention, that the exterior part of mufcles confifts of two shells
hinged together, which the animals can open or fhut at pleafure.
Every perfon muft likewife have obferved, in the ftru€ture of the
animal itfelf, a flefhy protuberance of a much redder colour, and
denfer confiftence, than the other parts of the body. This mufcular
protuberance, which confifts of two lobes, has been denominated a
trunk, or tongue: But it is an inftrument by which the creature is
enabled to perform a progrefflive, though a very flow motion; and,

therefore,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 137

therefore, in defcribing its manner of moving, I fhall call thefe two
lobes the animal’s tentacula, or feet.

When inclined to remove from its prefent fituation, the river-
mufcle opens its fhell, thrufts out its tentacula, and, while lying on
its fide in an horizontal pofition, digs a fmall furrow in the fand.
Into this furrow, by the operation of the fame tentacula, the ani-
mal makes the fhell fall, and thus brings it into a vertical pofition.
We have now got our mufcle on end ; but how is he to proceed?
He ftretches forward his tentacula, by which he throws back the
fand, lengthens the furrow, and this fulcrum enables him to proceed
on his journey.

With regard to marine mufcles, their progreflive motion is per-
formed in the fame manner, and by the fame inftruments. When
not in motion, they are all firmly attached to rocks, or {mall ftones,
by many threads of about two inches in length, which ferve the
double purpofes of an anchor and cable. Without this provifion
of Nature, thefe animals muft become the fport of the waves, and
the fpecies would foon be annihilated. But, how does the creature
fpin thefe threads? A cylindrical canal extends from the origin to
the extremity of the tentacula. In this canal an extremely gluti-
nous fubftance is fecreted, which the animal, by the operation of ~
certain mufcles, has the power of forcing out, and of attaching it,
in the form of ftrong threads, to ftones or other folid bodies. More
than a hundred and fifty of thefe cables are often employed in
mooring a fingle mufcle *. The fubftance of the threads is exceed-
ingly vifcous, indigeftible in the human ftomach, and is probably
the caufe of thofe fatal confequences which fometimes happen to in-
attentive eaters. In Scotland, thefe threads are called the beards of

7. S mutcles,

* Ocuvres de Bonnet, tom. 5. pag. 361. 4to edit.

138 THE (PTL O'S ‘Orr 1. ¥

mufeles, and fhould be carefully pulled off before the animals are
thrown into the ftomach.

Other bivalved fhell-fithes, the fpecies of which are numerous,
perform a progreflive or retrograde motion by an inftrument that
has no fmall refemblance to a leg and foot. But the animals can,
at pleafure, make this leg aflume almoft every kind of form, accor-
ding as their exigencies may require. By this leg they are not on-
ly enabled to creep, to fink into the mud, or difengage themfelves
from it, but to perform a motion, which no man could fuppofe fhell-
fithes were capable of performing. When the tellina, or limpin, is
about to make a fpring, it puts the thell on the point or fummit, as
if with a view to diminifh fridtion. It then ftretches out the leg
as far as poffible, makes it embrace a portion of the fhell, and, by a
fudden movement, fimilar to that of a {pring let loofe, it ftrikes the
earth with its leg, and actually leaps to a confiderable diflance *.

The fpout-fith f has a bivalved fhell, which refembles the handle
ofarazor. This animal is incapable of progreflive motion on the
furface; but it digs a hole or cell in the fand, fometimes two feet in
depth, in which it can afcend and defcend at pleafure. The inftru-
ment or leg by which it performs all its movements is fituated at
the centre. This leg is flefhy, cylindrical, and pretty long. When
neceflary, the animal can make the termination of the leg aflume
the form of a ball. The fpout-fith, when lying on the furface of
the fand, and about to fink into it, extends its leg from the inferior
end of the fhell, and makes the extremity of it take on the form of
a fhovel, fharp on each fide, and terminating in a point. With this.
inftrument the animal cuts a hole in the fand. After the hole is
made, it advances the leg ftill farther into the fand, makes it aflume

the

* Oeuvres de Bonnet, tom. 5. pag. 341. 4to edit.
p The name of the animal in. Scotland. In England it is.called razor-ji/h,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 139

the form of a hook, and with this hook, as a fulcrum, it obli-
ges the fhell to defcend into the hole, In this manner the animal
operates till the fhell totally difappears. When it choofes to regain
the furface, it puts the termination of the leg into the fhape of a
ball, and makes an effort to extend the whole leg ; but the ball pre-
vents any farther defcent, and the mufcular effort neceflarily puthes
the fhell upward till it reaches the furface, or top of the hole. It is
amazing with what dexterity and quicknefs thefe feemingly awk~
ward motions are performed.

It is remarkable that the fpout-fifh, though it lives in falt water,
abhors falt. When a little falt is thrown into the hole, the animal
inftantly quits his habitation. But it is ftill more remarkable, that,
if you feize the animal with your hand, and afterwards allow it to
retire into its cell, you may ftrew as much falt upon it as you pleafe,
but the fith will never again make its appearance. If you do not
handle the animal, by applying falt, you may make it come to the
furface as often as you incline; and fifhermen often make ufe of
this ftratagem. This behaviour indicates more fentiment and recol-
lection than one fhould naturally expect from a {pout-fith.

The fcallop, another well known bivalved fhell-fith, has the pow=
er of progreflive motion upon land, and likewife of fwimming on
the furface of the water. When this animal happens to be deferted
by the tide, it opens its fell to the full extent, then fhuts it with a
fudden jerk, by which it often rifes five or fix inches from the
ground, In this manner it tumbles forward till it regains the water.
When the fea is calm, troops, or little fleets of {callops, are often ob-
ferved fwimming on the furface. They raife one valve of their
fhell above the furface, which becomes a kind of fail, while the other
remains under the water, and anfwers the purpofe of an anchor, by
fteadying the animal, and preventing its being overfet, When an

I S 2 enemy

140 THE PHILOSOPHY

enemy approaches, they inftantly fhut their fhells, plunge to the
bottom, and the whole fleet difappears. By what means they are
enabled to regain the furface, we are ftill ignorant.

With regard to the locomotive faculty of the oyfter, the follow-
ing facts are recorded in the Yournal de Phyfique by the Abbé Dic-
quemare. Like many other bivalved fhell-fith, the oyfter has the
power of f{quirting out water with a confiderable force. By thus
fuddenly and forcibly ejeéting a quantity of water, the animal re-
pulfes fuch enemies as endeavour to infinuate into its fhell while
open. By the fame operation, if not firmly attached to rocks, to
ftones, or to one another, the oyfter retreats backwards, or ftarts to
a fide in a lateral dire€tion. Any perfon may amufe himfelf with
the fquirting and motions of oyfters, by putting them in a plate fi-
tuated in a horizontal pofition, and which contains as much fea-
water as is fufficient to cover them. The oyfter has been reprefent-
ed by many authors as an animal deftitute not only of motion, but
of every fpecies of fenfation. The Abbé Dicquemare, however,
has fhown, that it can perform movements perfectly confonant to
its wants, to the dangers it apprehends, and to the enemies: by which
it is attacked. Inftead of being deftitute of all fenfation, oyfters are
capable of deriving knowledge from experience. When removed
from fituations which are conftantly covered with the fea, devoid
ef experience, they open their fhells, lofe theit water, and die ina
few days. But, even when taken from fimilar fituations, and laid
down in places from which the fea occafionally retires, they feel the
effects of the fun’s rays, or of the cold air, or perhaps. apprehend
the attacks of enemies, and accordingly learn to keep their fhells clofe
till the tide returns. Conduct of this. kind plainly indicates. both.
fenfation and a degree of intelligence..

The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. ‘4x

The progreffive motion of the fea-urching, or fea-egg, a well
known multivalved fhell-fifh, merits our attention. This animal,
of which there are feveral fpecies, is round, oval, or fhaped like a
bias-bowl. The furface of the fhell is divided into beautiful trian-
gular compattments, and covered with numberlefs prickles; from
which laft circumftance it has received the appellation of /ea-urchin,
or fea-hedge-hog. Thefe triangles are feparated by regular belts, and
perforated by a great number of holes. Each hole gives lodgement
to a flefhy horn fimilar to thofe of the fnail, and fufceptible of the
fame movements. Like the fnail, the fea-urchin ufes its horns
when in motion; but their principal ufe is to fix the animal to
rocks, ftones, or the bottom of the ocean. By means of the horns
and prickles, which proceed from almoft every point of the fhell,
the fea-urchin is enabled to walk either on its back or on its belly.
The limbs it moft generally employs are thofe which furround the
" mouth. But, when it choofes, it can move forward, by turning on
itfelf like the wheel of a coach. Thus the fea-urchin furnifhes an
example of an animal employing many thoufand limbs in its various
movements. The reader may try to conceive the number of mufcles,
of fibres, and of other apparatus, which are requifite to the progref=
five motion of this little animal,

The motion of that fpecies of medufa, or fea-nettle, which at+
taches itfelf to rocks, and to the larger fhell-fifh, is extremely flow.
The fea-nettles affume fuch a variety of figures, that it is impoffible
to defcribe them under any determinate fhape. In general, their
bodies have a refemblance to a truncated cone. The bafe of the
cone is applied to the rock, or other fubftance to which they adhere,
With regard to colour, fome of them are red, fome greenith, fome
whitifh, and others are brown, When the mouth, which is very
large, is expanded, its margin is furrounded with a great number of
flethy filaments, or horns, fimilar to thofe of the fnail, Thefe horns

are:

x4s THE PHILOSOPHY

are difpofed in three rows around the mouth, and give the animal
the appearance of a flower. Through each of thefe horns the fea-
nettle {quirts water, like fo many jets-d’eau. What is peculiar in
the ftruCture of thefe creatures, the whole interior part of their body,
or cone, is one cavity or flomach. When fearching for food, they
extend their filaments, and entangle any {mall animals they encoun-
ter. When they meet with their prey, they inftantly {wallow it,
and fhut their mouths clofe like a purfe. Though the animal fhould
not exceed an inch, or an inch and a half, in diameter, as it is all
mouth and ftomach, it fwallows large whelks and mufcles. Thefe
fhell-animals fometimes: remain many days in the ftomach before
they are ejected. Their nutrifying parts are at laft, however, ex-
tracted ; but how does the fea-nettle get quit of the hell? The
creature has no other aperture in its body but the mouth, and this
mouth is the inftrument by which it both receives nourifhment, and
difcharges the excrement, or unprofitable part of its food. When
the fhell is not too large, the fea-nettle has the power of turning its
infide out, and by this ftrange maneouvre the fhell is thrown out of
the body, and the animal refumes its former ftate. But, when the
thell prefents itfelf in a wrong pofition, the animal cannot difcharge
it in the ufual manner; but, what is extremely fingular, near the
bafe of the cone, the body of the creature fplits, as if a large wound
had been made with a knife, and through this gath the fhell of the
mufcle, or other fhell, is ejected.

With regard to the progreflive motion of the fea-nettle, it is as
flow as the hour-hand of aclock. The whole external part of its
body is furnifhed with numerous mufcles. Thefe mufcles are tubu-
lar, and filled with a fluid, which makes them projec in the form
of prickles. By the inftrumentality of thefe mufcles, the animal is
enabled to perform the very flow motion juft now mentioned. But
this is not the only means by which the fea-nettle is s capable of mo-

ving.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 143

rw]

ving, When it pleafes, it can loofen the bafe of the cone by which
it is attached to the rock, reverfe its body, and employ the filaments
round its mouth as fo many limbs. Still, however, its movements
are imperceptibly flow. For thefe faéts feveral authors might be
quoted ; but we fhall refer the reader folely to M. de Bonnet *.

Before we conclude this chapter, we fhall juft mention a mode of
flying which is peculiar to certain infects. The ma/on-bee, which is
one of the folitary fpecies, has received that appellation, becaufe it
conftruéts a neft with mud or mortar. Externally, this neft has no
recular appearance; and is, therefore, generally regarded as a piece
of dirt accidentally adhering to a wall. This habitation, however
unfeemly in its exterior afpect, is furnifhed with regular cells, and
often gives rife to great conflifts, When the real proprietor is
abroad in queft of materials’to finifh the neft, a ftranger takes pof-
feffion. At meeting, a battle always enfues, This battle is fought
in the air. Sometimes they fly with fuch rapidity and force againft
each other, that both parties fall tothe ground. But, in general,
like birds of prey, the one endeavours to rife above the other, and
to give a downward blow. To avoid the ftroke, the undermoft,
inftead of flying forward or Jaterally, is frequently obferved to fly
backward, This retrograde flight is likewife performed occafionally
by the common houfe-fly, and fome other infects, though we are
unable to perceive what ftimulates them to employ this uncommon
movement.

CHAP...

* Oenvres de Bonnet, Ato edit. tom, 5. pag. 3455

rAd THE PHILOSOPHY

Ci Ae oT Re Ve

Of the Inftinet of Animals—Divifion of Inftincts—Examples of Pure
Inftine&i—Of fuch Inftinéts as can accommodate themfelves to pecu-
liar circumftances and fituations—Of Inftinéts improveable by obfer-
vation and experience—Some remarks and conclufions from this view

of Inftind.

ANY theories have been invented with a view to explain

the inftinGiive actions of animals; but none of them have
received the general approbation of Philofophers. This want of
fuccefs in the inveftigation of a fubje& fo curious and fo interefting
muft be owing to the operation of fome powerful caufes. Two
of thefe caufes appear to be a want of attention to the general
oeconomy and manners of animals, and miftaken notions con-
cerning the dignity of human nature. From perufing the compofi-
tions of moft authors who have written upon animal inftin@, it is
evident, that they have chiefly derived their ideas, not from the va-
rious mental qualities difcoverable in different {pecies of animals,
but from the feelings and propenfities of their own minds. Some
of them, at the fame time, are fo averfe to allow brutes a participa-
tion of that intellect which man poffeffes in fuch an eminent degree,
that they confider every animal action to be the refult of pure me-
@ chanifm.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 145

chanifm, But the great fource of error on this fubject is the uni-
form attempt to diftinguith inftinGtive from rational motives. I fhall,
however, endeavour to fhow that no fuch diftin€tion exifts, and that
the reafoning faculty itfelf is a neceflary refult of infting.

The proper method of inveftigating fubje&ts of this kind, is to
colle& and arrange the fats which have been difcovered, and to
confider whether thefe fats lead to any general conclufions, This
method I have adopted; and {fhall therefore exhibit examples of
pure inftinéts; of fuch inftinéts as can accommodate themfelves to
peculiar circumftances and fituations; and of inftinéts improveable
by obfervation and experience. In the laft place, I fhall draw fome
conclufions.

I. Of Pure Inftinéts.

By pure inftiné&s, I mean thofe, which, independent of all inftruc-
tion or experience, inftantaneoufly produce certain a€tions when
particular objects are prefented to animals, or when they are influ-
enced by peculiar feelings. Of this clafs the following are ex-
amples,

In the human fpecies, the inftinét of fucking is exerted imme-
diately after birth. This inftin@ is not excited by any fmell pecu-
liar to the mother, to milk, or to any other fubftance ; for infants
fuck indifcriminately every thing brought into conta with their
mouths. The defire of fucking, therefore, is innate, and coeval
with the appetite for air. ,

The voiding of urine and excrement, fneezing, retraction of the
mufcles upon the application of any painful ftimulus, the moving of
3 ‘i A the

146 Thay BE oP ee 1. OS/O:8. WY

the eye-lids, and other parts of the body, are likewife effects of ori-
ginal inftin@s, and effential to the exiftence of young animals.

The love of light is exhibited by infants at a very early period.
1 have remarked -evident fymptoms of this attachment on the third
day after birth. When children are farther advanced, marks of the
various paflions gradually appear. The paflion of fear is difcove-
rable at the age of two months. It is called forth by approaching
the hand to the child’s eye, and by any fudden motion or unufual
noife. I once inftituted a courfe of experiments to afcertain the
periods when the various paflions, principles, or propenfities, of the
human mind are unfolded, and to mark the caufes which firft pro-
duced them. Burt, in lefs than five months after the birth of the
child, the bufinefs became too complicated and extenfive for the time
I had to beftow on fubjects of this nature.

The brute creation affords innumerable examples of pure in-
ftincts.

When caterpillars are fhaken off a tree in every diretion, all of
them inftantly turn toward the trunk, and climb up, though they
had never formerly been on the furface of the ground.

Young birds open their mouths upon hearing any kind of noife,
as well as that of their mother’s voice. They have no apprehen-
fions of harm; neither do they offer to ufe their wings till they ac-
quire more ftrength and experience. The lion’s cub.is not feroci=
ous till he feels force and activity for deftruction.

Infects invariably depofit their eggs in fituations moft favourable
for hatching and affording nourifhment to their future progeny.
Butterflies, and other infects, whofe offspring feed upon vegetables,

uniformly;

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 147

uniformly fix their eggs upon fuch plants as are moft agreeable to
the palate and conftitution of their young. Water infeés never
depofit their eggs on dry ground. Ihave feen butterflies which
had been transformed in the houfe exhibit marks of the greateft un-
eafinefs becaufe they could not find a proper nidus for their eggs;
and, when every other refource failed, they pafted the eggs on the
panes of the window.

Some fpecies of animals look not to future wants, Others, as
the bee and the beaver, are endowed with an inftin& which has the
appearance of forefight. They conftru& magazines, and fill them
with provifions,

The common bees attend the female, or queen, do her many lit-
tle fervices, and even feed her with honey from their trunks *,
When deprived of the female, all their labours ceafe t, till a new
one is obtained, whom they treat with much refpeé, and renew their
ufual operations {. They make cells of three different dimenfions,
for holding workers, drones, and females; and the queen-bee, in
depofiting her eggs, diftinguifhes the three different kinds, and ne-
ver puts a royal or a drone egg into the cells deftined for the recep-
tion of the working bees. What is equally fingular, the number of
thefe cells is proportioned to that of the different bees to be produ-
ced. One royal cell weighs as much as one hundred of the com-
mon kind |], When there are feveral females in a hive, the bees
work little till they have deftroyed all the females but one. If more
than a fingle female were allowed to remain in a hive, a greater
number of eggs would be laid than the working bees are able to
make cells for receiving them.

I Tr2 The

* Reaumur, 12mo edit. vol. 9. pag. 300. + Ibid. pag. 320.
¢ Ibid. pag. 340. || Ibid. tom. 10. pag. 124.

148 THE PHILOSOPHY

The wood-piercing bee, which is one of the folitary fpecies,
gnaws, with amazing dexterity and perfeverance, a large hole in
old timber. After laying her eggs in the cells, fhe depofits fuch a
quantity of glutinous matter as nourifhes the worms produced from
thefe eggs till the time of their transformation into flies, She then
paftes up the mouth of the hole, and leaves her future offspring to
the provifion fhe has made for them.

The bees of that fpecies which build cylindrical nefts with rofe-
leaves, exhibit a very peculiar ining. They firft dig a cylindrical
hole in the earth. When that operation is finifhed, they go in queft
of rofe-bufhes; and, after felecting leaves proper for their purpofe,
they cut oblong, curved, and even round pieces, exaétly fuited to
form the different parts of the cylinder *.

The folitary wafp digs holes in the fand. In each hole fhe de-
pofits an egg. But how is the worm, after it is hatched, to be
nourifhed? Here the inftin& of the mother merits attention.
Though fhe feeds not upon flefh herfelf, and certainly knows not
that an animal is to proceed from the egg, and far lefs that this ani-
mal muft be nourifhed with other animals, fhe colleGs ten or twelve
{mall green worms, which fhe piles one above another, rolls them
up in a circular form, and fixes them in the hole in fuch a manner
that they cannot move. When the wafp-worm is hatched, it is
amply ftored with the food Nature has deftined for its fupport. The
- green worms are devoured in fucceffion T; and the number depofited
is exaGtly proportioned to the time necefflary for the growth and
transformation of the wafp-worm into a fly, when it iflues from

the hole, and is capable of procuring its own nourifhment {.
; There

* Reaumur, tom. 11. pag. 138. + Ibid. tom. 12. pag. 28. -
t Ibid. pag. 22.—32. .

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 149

There are many other inftances of ichneumon wafps and flies,
which, though they feed not themfelves upon worms, lay up pro-
vifions of thefe animals for the nourifhment of their young; and
each kind is adapted to the conftitution of the worm that is to pro-
ceed from their eggs *,

Birds of the fame fpecies, unlefs when reftrained by peculiar cir-
cumftances, uniformly build their nefts of the fame materials, and
in the fame form and fituation, though they inhabit very different
climates. When removed by neceflity from their eggs, they haf-
ten back to them with anxiety, They turn and fhift their eggs,
which has the effe&t of heating them equally. Ducks and geefe
cover up their eggs till they return to the neft. A hen fits with
equal ardour upon eggs of a different fpecies, or even upon artificial
eggs. Ihave often contemplated with wonder an inftin& of the
{wallow. When her offspring are. very young, like other {mall
birds, fhe carries their excrements out of the neft. But, after they
are older, fhe attaches herfelf to the fide of the neft, and, by fome
geftures and founds, follicits the young to void their excrements:
One of them immediately turns round, elevates its hind parts above
the edge of the neft, makes the proper effort, and the mother, before
the dung is half protruded from the anus, lays hold of it with her
bill, drags it out, carries it off, and drops it at a diftance from the
neft. In all thefe operations, men recognife the intentions of Na-
ture ; but they are hid from the animals who perform them.

The fpider, the dermeftes, and many infeéts of the beetle kind,
exhibit an inftin& of a very uncommon nature. When put in ter-
ror by a touch of the finger, the fpider runs off with great fwiftnefs:
But, if he finds, that, whatever direction he takes, he is oppofed by

. another

& \.
Reaumur, tom. 11. pag. 38.

150 THMEHAULOSoOPH Y

another finger, he then feems to defpair of being able to efcape,
contracts his limbs and body, lies perfectly motionlefs, and counter=
feits every fymptom of death. In this fituation [ have pierced fpi-
ders with pins, and torn them to pieces, without their difcovering
the fmalleft mark of pain. This fimulation of death has been afcri-
bed to a ftrong convulfion, or ftupor, occafioned by terror. But this
folution of the phaenomenon is erroneous. I have repeatedly tried
the experiment, and uniformly found, that, if the obje& of terror
be removed, in a few feconds the animal runs off with great rapidi-=
ty. Some beetles, when ccunterfeiting death, fuffer themfelves to
be gradually roafted, without moving a fingle joint.

It is unneceflary to give more examples of pure inftinéts. I fhall
therefore proceed to the fecond clafs, namely,

Il, Of Inftinéts which can accommodate themfelves to peculiar cir=
cumftances and fituations,

To this clafs many human inftin@s may be referred. But, as
thefe inftinétive propenfities are likewife highly improveable by ex-
perience and obfervation, examples of them will fall more naturally
to be given under the third clafs,

Thofe animals are moft perfect whofe fphere of knowledge ex-
tends to the greateft number of objets. When interrupted in their
operations, they know how to refume their labours, and to accom-
plith their purpofes by different means. Some animals have no other
power but that of contracting or extending their bodies, But the
falcon, the dog, and the fox, purfue their prey with intelligence and
addrefs,

The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 155

The oftrich has been accufed of unnaturalnefs, becaufe fhe leaves
her eggs to be hatched by the heat of the fun. In Senegal, where
the heat is great, fhe neglects her eggs during the day, but fits upon
them in the night. At the Cape of Good Hope, however, where
the degree of heat is lefs, the oftrich, like other birds, fits upon her
eggs both day and night.

Rabbits dig holes in the ground for warmth and protection. But,
after continuing long in a domeftic ftate, that refource being unne-
ceflary, they feldom employ this art *.

Bees, when they have not room enough for their operations, aug=
ment the depth of their honey-cells +. The female bee, when the
cells are not fufficiently numerous to receive her eggs, lays two or
three in each cell. But, a few days after, when the cells are in-
creafed, the working bees remove all the fupernumerary eggs, and
depofit them in the new conftruéted cells +t.

When a waifp, in attempting to tranfport a dead companion from
the neft, finds the load too heavy, he cuts off its head, and carries
it out in two portions ||.

In countries infefted with monkeys, many birds, which, in other
climates, build in bufhes and the clefts of trees, fufpend their nefts
upon flender twigs, and, by this ingenious device, elude the rapaci-
ty of their enemies.

The nymphs of water-moths, commonly called cod-bait, cover
themfelves, by means of gluten, with pieces of wood, ftraw, {mall
fhells,

* Gazette Liter. tom, 3. pag. 228. t Reaumur, tom. ro. pag. 29%.
} Ibid. pag. 240, ] Ibid, tom, 11, pag. 241,

152 Takb E oP 114 O.8) OP BY

fhells, or gravel. It is neceflary that they fhould always be nearly
in equilibrium with the water in which they live. To accomplifh
this purpofe, when their habitations are too heavy, they add a piece
of wood, when too light a bit of gravel *,

Thad a cat that frequented a clofet, the door of which was faf-
tened by a common iron latch. A window was fituated near the
door, When the door was fhut, the cat gave herfelf no uneafinefs.
As foon as fhe tired of her confinement, fhe mounted on the fole of
the window, and with her paw dexteroufly lifted the latch and
came out. This practice fhe continued for years.

Thefe examples, I hope, are fufficient.

I. Lhe third clafs comprehends all thofe Inftinéts which are im=
proveable by experience and obfervation.

The fuperiority of man over the other animals feems to depend
chiefly on the great number of inftin@ts with which his mind is en-
dowed. Traces of every inftin& he poffeffes are difcoverable in the
brute creation. But no particular fpecies enjoys the whole. On
the contrary, moft animals are limited to a fmall number. This ap-
pears to be the reafon why the inftinéts of brutes are ftronger, and
more fteady in their operation, than thofe of man. A being aQu-
ated by a great variety of motives muft neceflarily reafon, or, in
other words, hefitate in his choice. Its conduét, therefore, muft
often waver; and he will have the appearance of being inferior to
another creature who is ftimulated to action by a fmaller number of
motives. Man, accordingly, has been confidered as the moft vacil-

lant

* Bonnet, tom. 4. pag. 209.

Reaumur, tom. 5. pag. 215.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 14

lant and inconfiftent of all animals. The remark is juft ; but, inftead
of a cenfure, it is an encomium on the fpecies. The actions of a
dog, or a monkey, for the fame reafon, are more various, whimfical,
and uncertain, than thofe of a fheep or a cow.

Moft human inftinéts receive improvement from experience and
obfervation, and are capable of a thoufand modifications. This is
another fource of man’s fuperiority over the brutes. When we are
ftimulated by a particular inftin@, inftead of inftantly obeying the
impulfe, another inftiné arifes in oppofition, creates hefitation, and
often totally extinguifhes the original motive to ation. The in-
ftin& of fear is daily counteraéted by ambition or refentment; and,
in fome minds, fear is too powerful for refentment, or any other
inftin& we poflefs. The inftiné of anger is often reftrained by the
apprehention of danger, by the fenfe of propriety, by contempt, and
even by compaflion, Sympathy, which is one of our moft amiable
inftinéts, frequently yields to anger, ambition, and other motives.
The inftin& or fenfe of morality is too often thwarted by ambition,
refentment, love, fear, and feveral of what I call modified or com-
pounded inftinéts, fuch as avarice, envy, &c.

The following are examples of modified, compounded, or extend-
ed inftinGs. |

Superitition is the inftin& of fear extended to imaginary objeéts
of terror.

Devotion is an extenfion of the inftiné: of love to the Fir Caufe,
or Author of the Univerfe.

Reverence or refpet for eminent charatters is a fpecies of devo-
tion.
I F U Avarice

154 T HOEr Pi HI LO;S O;PAe ¥

Avarice is the inftin@: of love dire@ted to an improper object.
Hope is the inftin& of love dire&ted- to future good.
Envy is compounded of love, avarice, ambition, and fear.

Benevolence is the inftinét of love diffufed over all animated be-

ings.

Sympathy is the inftin&t of fear transferred to another perfon,.
and reflected back upon ourfelves.

In this manner, all the modified, compounded, or extended paf-
fions and propenfities of the human mind, may be traced back to.
their original inftin&s.

The inftinéts of brutes are likewife improved by obfervation and.
experience. A young dog, like a child, requires both time and art
to unfold and perfe&t his natural inftints. If negle&ted by man,
- he learns from his companions how to a& in particular fituations:
But, when he enjoys both thefe fources of information, his talents
are improved to a degree that often excites our aftonifhment. The
fame remark applies to all docile animals, as the*elephant, the horfe,
the camel, &c. Every man’s recolle€tion will fupply him with
many examples of the improveable talents of brutes; and, therefore,

it is unneceflary to be more explicit.

Having exhibited inftances of pure inftin@, of inftin&s which
accommodate themfelves to peculiar circumftances and fituations,
and of inftinéts improveable by obfervation and experience, 1 fhall
now hazard a few remarks,

~ From

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 1o§

From the examples I have given, it appears that infting is an ori-
ginal quality of mind, which, in many animals, may be improved,
modified, and extended, by experience; that fome inftinéts are coe-
val with birth ; and that others, as fear, anger, the principle of imi-
tation, and the power of reafoning, or balancing motives, are gra-
dually unfolded, according to the exigencies of the animal.. One
of the ftrongeft inftinéts appears not till near the age of puberty;
but, by bad example, and improper fituations, this inftin@ive defire
is often prematurely excited. The minds of brutes, as well as thofe
of men, have original qualities, deftined for the prefervation of the
individual and the continuation of the fpecies. The calling forth
of thefe qualities is not inftin&, but the exertion or energy of in-
ftin&. Inftinéts exift before they act. What man or brutes learn
” by experince, though this experience be founded on inftiné, cannot
with propriety be called inftin@ive knowledge, but knowledge de-
rived from experience and obfervation. Inftiné: fhould be limited
to fuch adtions as every individual of a fpecies exerts without the
aid either of experience or imitation, Hence inftinci may be de
fined, ‘ Every original quality of mind which produces particular
* feelings or actions, when the proper objects are prefented to it.’
Thefe qualities or inftinéts vary in particular fpecies. Some are en-
dowed with many, and others with few. In fome they are ftronger,
in others weaker; and their ftrength or weaknefs feems to be ex-
actly proportioned to their number. The difference of talents among
men who have had the fame culture, arifes from a bluntnefs, or ab-
folute deprivation, of fome original or modified inflin&s. Tafte, or
love of particular obje@s, whether animated, inanimated, or artifi-
cial, is in fome men fo obtufe, that we often fay it is entirely want-
ing. Infeéts have fewer inftins than men or quadrupeds; but the
exertions of infects are fo uniform and fteady, that they excite
the admiration of every beholder.

2 U2 Senfation

156 THECPHILQSORNY

Senfation implies a fentient principle or mind. Whatever feels,
therefore, is mind. Of courfe, the loweft fpecies of animals are en-
dowed with mind: But the minds of animals have very different
powers; and thefe powers are exprefled by peculiar ations. The
ftrudture of their bodies is uniformly adapted to the powers of their
minds. We never fee a mature animal attempting ations which
Nature has not enabled it to perform, by beftowing on it proper in-
ftruments. A bee colleéts the materials of honey and wax, but at-
tempts not to gnaw rotten wood, like the wafp.—Neither does pe-
culiarity of ftru@ture prompt the actions of brutes, Calves pufh
with their heads long before their horns are grown. This, and fi-
milar examples, fhew, that the inftin€ts of brutes exift previous to
the expanfion of thofe inflruments which Nature intended they
fhould employ.

This view of inftiné is fimple, removes every objection to the
exiftence of mind in brutes, and unfolds all their a€tions, by refer-
“ring them to motives perfectly fimilar to thofe by which man is
a@tuated. There is, perhaps, a greater difference between the men-
tal powers of fome animals than between thofe of man and the moft
fagacious brutes.” Inftinéts may be confidered as fo many internal
fenfes, of which fome animals have a greater, and others a fmaller
number. ‘Thefe fenfes, in different fpecies, are likewife more or lefs
dudtile; and the animals poffefling them are, of courfe, more or
‘lefs fufceptible of improving, and of acquiring knowledge.

The notion that animals are machines, is perhaps too abfurd to:
merit refutation. Though no animal is endowed with mental pow-
ers equal to thofe of man, yet there is not a faculty of the human:
mind, but evident marks of its exiftence are to be found in particu-
lar animals. Senfes, memory, imagination, the principle of imita~
tion, curiofity, cunning, ingenuity, devotion, or refpect for fuperi-

Ors.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 157

ors, gratitude, are all difcoverable in the brute creation. Neither is

art denied to them. ‘They build in various ftyles; they dig; they

wage war; they extract peculiar fubftances from water, from plants,

from the earth; they modulate their voices fo as to communicate
their wants, their fentiments, their pleafures and pains, their appre-

henfions of danger, and their profpects of future good. Every fpe-

cies has its own language, which is perfedtly underftood by the in-

dividuals, They afk and give afliftance to each other. They fpeak

of their neceffities ; and this branch of their language is more or lefs

extended, in proportion to the number of their wants. Geftures and

inarticulate founds are the figns of their thoughts. It is neceflary

that the fame fentiments fhould produce the fame founds and the

fame movements; and, confequently, each individual of a {pecies

muft have the fame organization, Birds and quadrupeds, according=

ly, are incapable of holding difcourfe to each other, or communi-

cating the ideas and feelings they poffefs in common, The lan=
guage of gefture prepares for that of articulation; and fome ani-
mals are capable of acquiring a knowledge of articulate founds.
They firft judge of our thoughts by our geftures; and afterwards
acquire the habit of conneting thefe thoughts with the language in

which we exprefs them, It is in this manner that the elephant and

the dog learn to obey the commands of their matters,

Infants are exactly in the fame condition with brutes. They
underftand fome of our geftures and words long before they can
articulate. They difcover their wants by geftures and inarticulate:
founds, the meaning of which the nurfe learns by experience. Dif-
ferent infants have different modes of exprefling their wants. This
is the reafon why nurfes know the intentions of infants, though
they are perfe@tly unintelligible to ftrangers. When an infant, ac-
cordingly,. is. transferred. from. one nurfe to. another, the former in-

ftrude

158 TEE, OP HTL Os'Or FH ¥

firuéts the latter in the geftures and inarticulate language of the
child.

The idea of a machine implies a fele€&t combination of the com-
mon properties of matter. The regularity of its movements is a
proof that they are totally diftin@ from animal or fpontaneous mo-
tion. A machine has nothing analogous to fenfation, which is the
loweft charadteriftic of an animal. An animated machine, therefore,
is an abfurd abufe of terms. It confounds what Nature has diftin-
guifhed in the moft unambiguous manner. The inftin&s of brutes
are, in general, ftronger, and lefs fubject to reftraint, than thofe of
man. The reafon is plain: They have not an equal number of in-
ftinéts to curb, counterbalance, or moderate their motives to parti-
cular aGions. Hence they have often the appearance of acting by
mere impulfe; and this circumftance has led fome philofophers to
confider brutes as machines. But they reflect not that children, fa-
vages, and ignorant men, act nearly in the fame manner. It is fo-
ciety and culture which foften and moderate the paffions and ac-
tions of men, as well as thofe of docile animals,

Brutes, like men, learn to fee objects in their proper pofition, to
judge of diflances and heights, and of hurtful, pleafureable, or in-
different bodies. Without fome portion of reafon, therefore, they
could never acquire the faculty of making a proper ufe of their
fenfes. A dog, though prefled with hunger, will not feize a piece
_of meat in prefence of his mafter, unlefs it be given to him: But,
with his eyes, his movements, and his voice, he makes the moft
humble and expreflive petition. If this balancing of motives be not
reafoning, T know not by what other name it can be called.

Animals, recently after birth, know not how to avoid danger.
Neither can they make a proper ufe of their members, But expe-

rience

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 159

rience foon teaches them what is pleafant and what is painful, what
objects are hurtful and what falutary. A young cat, or a dog, who
has had no experience of leaping from a height, will, without hefi-
tation, precipitate itfelf from the top of a high wall. But, after
perceiving that certain heights are hurtful, and others inoffenfive,
the animal learns to make the diftinétion, and never afterwards can
be prevailed upon to leap froma height which it knows will be
productive of pain.

Young animals examine every obje& they meet with. In this
inveftigation they employ all their organs. The firft periods of
their life are dedicated to ftudy. When they run about, and make
frolickfome gambols, it is Nature {porting with them for their in-
firnGtion... In this manner they improve their faculties and organs,
and acquire an intimate knowledge of the objets which furround
them. Men who, from peculiar circumftances, have been. prevent-
ed. from mingling. with companions, and: engaging in the different
amufements and exercifes of youth, are always awkward in their
movements, cannot ufe their organs with eafe or dexterity, and of-
ten continue, during life, ignorant of the moft common objeéts.

From the above facts and reafoning, it feems to be apparent, that
inflingts are original qualities of mind; that every animal is pof-
fefled of fome of thefe qualities; that the intelligence and refources
of animals are proportioned to the number of inftinéts with which
their-minds are endowed; that all animals are, in fome meafure,
rational beings ; and that the dignity and fuperiority of the human
intellect are neceflary refults, not of the conformation. of our bodies,
but of the great variety of inftinéts which Nature has been pleafed.
to confer on the fpecies,

GHA P.

160 THE PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER VI

Of the Senfes.

O animal of which we have any knowledge is endowed with
more than the five external fenfes of fmelling, tafting, hear-
ing, touch, and feeing; and no animal, however imperfeG, is defti-
tute of the whole. Without organs of fenfation, in a fmaller or
greater number, animal or intelle@tual exiftence is to us an incon-
ceivable idea. Hence the notion of the ancients, and of a very few
moderns, that this earth, as well as all the heavenly bodies, are in-
telligent beings, though they have not the veftige of any inftrument
of fenfation, or of any thing analogous to our ideas of animation,
except mechanical motion, is too abfurd even to be ferioufly men-
tioned. shh

Upon this interefting fubje€t, as it comprehends every fource of
information, and every motive to action in man, as well as in the
inferior animals, it is not furprifing that fo much has been written,
and that fo many different theories have been invented, and fubmit-
ted to public infpe€tion. Some of thefe theories fhall be taken no=
tice of in a curfory manner, and others, as unworthy of attention,

fhall be paffed over in filence,
Our

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 16

Our obfervations on the different inftruments of fenfation fhall
proceed in the following order, namely, of the fenfes of fuelling,
of tafting, of hearing, of touch, and of feeing. In general, it may
be remarked, that all fenfation is conveyed to the mind by an un-
known influence of the nerves. If the optic, olfa@tory, or any
nerve diftributed over an organ of fenfation, be cut, or rendered pa-
‘ ralytic, the animal inftantly lofes that particular fenfe. This is a
fa& univerfally eftablifhed by experiment. But that the nerves,
which are perfectly fimilar in every part of the body, fhould, when
diftributed over the eye, the ear, the tongue, the nofe, convey to the
mind feelings fo different, is the moft myfterious part of this fubject.
When M. de Bonnet tells us, that every organ of fenfe probably
confifts of fibres {pecifically different ; and that thefe fibres are par-
ticular fenfes endowed with a peculiar manner of acting, correfpond-
ing to the perceptions they excite in the mind ;—he means to reafon;
but he does no more than give a circumlocution for the fac.

OF SMELLING.

IN man, and many other animals, the organ by which the fenfe
of {melling is conveyed to the mind, has received the general appel-
lation of nofe, or noffrils. The more immediate inftrument of this
fenfation is a foft, vafcular, porous membrane, covered with nume=
rous papillae, and is known by the name of membrana pituitaria, or
membrana Schneideriana. This membrane is totally covered with
infinite ramifications and convolutions of the olfactory nerves. Thefe
nerves are almoft naked, and expofed to the action of the air which
paffes through the nofe in performing the funtion of refpiration.
But Nature, ever attentive to the eafe and convenience of her crea-
tures, has furnifhed the noftrils with a number of glands, or {mall
arteries, which fecrete a thick infipid mucus, By this mucus, the

2 . x olfactory

162 THE*PHULOSOPRE Y

olfactory nerves are defended from the action of the air, and from
the painful ftimuli of acrid odours,

The odours perceived by fmelling are extremely various. Some
of them convey to us the moft delightful and refrefhing fenfations,
and others are painful, noxious, and difgufting. All bodies in
Nature, whether folid or fluid, whether animated or inanimated,
continually fend forth to the air certain effluvia or emanations from
their refpetive fubftances. Thefe effluvia float in the atmofphere,
and aé&t upon the olfactory nerves of different animals, and fome-
times of different individuals of the fame {pecies, in fuch a manner
as to produce very different fenfations. What is pleafant to the
noftrils of one animal is highly offenfive to thofe of another. Brute
animals feleét their food chiefly by employing the fenfe of {melling,
and it feldom deceives them. ‘They eafily diftinguifh noxious from
falutary food; and they carefully avoid the one, and ufe the other
for nourifhment. The fame thing happens with regard to the drink
of animals. A cow, when it can be obtained, always repairs to the
cleareft and fretheft ftreams; but a horfe, from fome inftin@tive im-
pulfe, uniformly raifes the mud with his feet, and renders the water
impure, before he drinks.

In the feleGtion of food, men are greatly aflifted, even in the moft
luxurious ftate of fociety, by the fenfe of fmelling. By fmelling
we often reje& food as noxious, and will not rifk the other teft of
tafting. Vi@uals which have a putrid fmell, as equally offenfive to
our noftrils as hurtful to our conftitutions, we avoid with abhor-
rence; but we are allured to eat fubftances which have a grateful
and favoury odour. The more frequent and more acute difcern-
ment of brutes in the exercife of this fenfe, is entirely owing to their
freedom, and to their ufing natural productions alone, But men in
fociety, by the arts of cookery, by the unnatural aflemblage of twen-

ty

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 163

ty ingredients in one difh, blunt, corrupt, and deceive both their
fenfes of fmelling and of tafting. Were we in the fame natural
condition as the brutes, our fenfe of fmelling would enable us to di-
ftinguifh, with equal certainty, noxious from falutary food. Brutes,
as well as men, prefer particular foods to others, This may be con-
fidered as a fpecies of luxury but it fhould likewife be confidered,
that all the articles they ufe are either animal or vegetable fubftances
in'a natural ftate, neither converted into a thoufand forms and qua-
lities by the operation of fire and water, nor having their favour ex-
alted by ftimulating condiments. Domeftic animals are nearly in the
fame condition with luxurious men. A pampered dog fnuffs and
reje&s many kinds of food, which, in a natural ftate, he would de-
vour with eagernefs,

It is not’ unworthy of remark, that, in all animals, the organs of
fmelling and of tafting are uniformly fituated very near each other.
Here the intention of Nature is evident. The vicinity of thefe two
fenfes forms a double guard in the felection of food. Were they
placed in diftant parts of the body, they could not fo readily give
mutual aid to one another.

But affiftance in the choice of food is not the only advantage that
men and other animals derive from the fenfe of {melling. Every
body in nature, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, when expo-
fed to the air, continually fends forth emanations, or efluvia, of
fuch extreme fubtilty, that no eye can perceive them. Thefe efflu-
via, or volatile particles, diffufe themfelves through the air, and moft
of them are recognifed, by the organ of {melling, to be either agree-
able or difagreeable. To give fome idea of the inconceivable mi-
nutenefs of thefe particles, and of the amazing fenfibility of the
noftrils of animals, the odour of mufk has been known to fill a
large fpace for feveral years without lofing any perceptible part of

I Rye its

164 T Hob iP Hy Lb: OcS7OvRKE ¥

its weight. Thus, the air we breathe is perpetually impregnated
with an infinity of different particles which ftimulate the olfactory
nerves, and give rife to the fenfation of fmell. When our fenfes
are not vitiated by unnatural habits, they are not only faithful mo-
nitors of danger, but convey to us the moft exquifite pleafures.
Even the fenfe of {melling is always produ@tive either of pleafure
or pain. The fragrance of a rofe, and of many other flowers, is
not only pleafant, but gives a refrefhing and delightful ftimulus to
the whole fyftem, and may be confidered as a fpecies of wholefome
nourifhment; while the odours proceeding from hemlock, and from
many other noxious vegetable, animal, and mineral fubftances, are
highly offenfive to our noftrils, Hence we are naturally compelled
to embrace the one clafs of fenfations and to avoid the other.

Some animals, as the dog, the fox, the raven, &c. are endowed
with a moft exquifite fenfe of fmelling. A dog fcents various kinds
of game at confiderable diftances; and, if the faét were not confirm-
ed by daily experience, it could hardly gain credit, that he can trace
the odour of his mafter’s foot through all the winding ftreets of a po-
pulous city. If we judge from our own feelings, this extreme fen-
fibility in the nofe of a dog is to us perfectly incomprehenfible.

The fenfe of felling, like that of fome other fenfes, may be per-
verted or corrupted by habit. The fnuffing, chewing, and fmoking
tobacco, though at firft difagreeable, become, by the power of habit,
not only pleafant, but almoft indifpenfible. The fame remark is ap-
plicable to the practice of {wallowing ardent {pirits, the moft delete-
rious of all poifons, becaufe the moft extenfively employed. How,
the natural ftate of the nerves, and of the fenfations conveyed by.
them, fhould be fo completely changed, we are totally ignorant.
The conftitution of the nerves often. varies in different individuals
of the fame fpecies An odour which is difguftful to one man is

highly

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 165

highly grateful to another. I knew a gentleman who was in the
daily habit of lighting and putting out candles, that he might enjoy
the pleafure of their fell. Few men, | fuppofe, would envy him.

O F A ege Pes UNG,

THE tongue and palate are the great inftruments of this fenfa-
tion. With much wifdom and propriety the organ of tafte is fitu-
ated in fuch a manner as enables it to be a guardian to the alimen-
tary canal, and to affift the organ of fmell in diftinguifhing falutary
from noxious food. The tongue, like the other inftruments of fen-
fation, is amply fupplied with nerves. The terminations of thefe
nerves appear on the furface of the tongue in the form of papillae,
or minute nipples, which are always erected on the application of
fapid or ftimulating fubftances, This elevation and extenfion of the
papillae, by bringing larger portions of the nerves into contaé&t with
the fubftances applied to the tongue, give additional ftrength to the
-fenfation, and enable us to judge with greater accuracy concerning
their nature and qualities. Befide the nervous papillae, the tongue
is perpetually moiftened with faliva, a liquor which, though infipid
itfelf, is one great caufe of all taftes. The faliva of animals is a very
powerful folvent. Every fubftance applied to the tongue is partially
diffolved by the faliva before the fenfation of tafte is excited. When
the tongue is rendered dry by difeafe, or any other caufe, the fenfe
of tafte is either vitiated or totally annihilated.

In fome men, the fenfe of tafte is fo blunt, that they cannot di-
ftinguifh with any degree of accuracy the different fpecies of that
fenfation. In others, whether from Nature or from habit, this
fenfe is fo acute, that they can perceive the niceft diltin@iions in the
favour of folids and of liquids,

The

166 THE PHILOSOPHY

The fenfations conveyed to the mind by tafte, like thofe of all the
fenfes, are either agreeable, difagreeable, or indifferent. The plea-
fures arifing from this fenfe are not only great, but highly ufeful
to every animal, The fenfe itfelf, however, is comparatively grofs ;
for, in fmelling, hearing, and feeing, fenfations are excited by ema-
nations or undulations proceeding from. bodies at great diftances
from the animals who perceive them. But, in tafting, the objec
mutt be brought into actual conta& with the tongue before its qua- _
lities can be difcovered. How this proportionally grofs fenfe fhould
have been feleted, and figuratively applied to the general percep-
tion of every thing beautiful and fublime, whether in Nature or in
art, it is difficult to determine. The inquiry, however, would not
be incurious, whether men who have an obtufe fenfe of tafting ma-
terial fubftances are likewife deficient in the perception of beauty
and deformity.

Though the fenfe of tafte varies in fome individuals, yet, like fi-
gurative tafte, the ftandard of agreeable and difagreeable, of pleafant
and painful, is almoft univerfally diffufed over mankind and the
brute creation. Every horfe, and every ox, when in a natural ftate,
eat and reject the fame fpecies of food, But men in fociety, as well
as domeftic animals, are induced by habit, by neceflity, or by imita-
tion, to acquire a tafte for many difhes, and combinations of fub-
ftances, which, before the natural difcriminating fenfe is perverted,
would be rejected with difguft.

Some individuals of the human fpecies have an averfion to parti-
cular kinds of food, which are generally agreeable. 'This averfion
may be either original or acquired. I knew a child, who, from the
moment he was weaned, could never be induced to take milk of
any kind. Thefe original averfions muft be afcribed to fome pecu-
liar modification in the ftru@ture of the organ, or in the difpofition

of

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 167

of its nerves. But, in general, difguft at particular foods is produ-
ced by furfeits, which injure the ftomach, and create, in that exqui-
fitely irritable vifcus, an infuperable antipathy to receive nourifh-
ment which formerly gave it fo much uneafinefs to digeft.

Brute animals, efpecially thofe which feed upon herbage, and are
not liable to be corrupted by example or neceffity, diftinguith taftes
with wonderful accuracy. By the application of the tongue, they
inftantly perceive whether any plant is falutary or noxious. To
enable them, amidft a thoufand plants, to make this difcrimination,
their nervous papillae, and their tongues, are proportionally much

larger than thofe of man.

O F CB A IN. G,

THE fenfation of hearing is conveyed to the mind by undula-
tions of air ftriking the ear, an organ of a very delicate and complex
ftru@ure. In man and quadrupeds, the external ears are large, and
provided with mufcles by which they can erect and move them from
fide to fide, in order to catch the undulations produced in the air by
the vibrations of fonorous bodies, or to diftinguifh with greater ac-
curacy the fpecies of found, and the nature and fituation of the ani-
mal or obje&t from which it proceeds. Though the human ears,
like thofe of quadrupeds, are furnifhed with mufcles, evidently in-
tended for fimilar movements, yet, I know not for what reafon,
there is not one man in a million who has the power of moving his
ears. When we liften toa feeble found, we are confcious of an
exertion; but that exertion, and the motions produced by it, are
confined to the internal parts of the organ,

The

168 THE PHILOSOPHY

The canals or paffages to the internal parts of the ear are cylin-
drical, fomewhat contorted, and become gradually fmaller till they
reach the membrana tympani, which covers what is called the drum
of the ear. This membrane, which is extremely fenfible, when
aéted upon by indulations of air, however excited, conveys, by
means of a complex apparatus of bones, nerves, &c. the fenfation
of found to the brain or fentient principle.

That air is the medium by which all founds are propagated, has
been eftablithed by repeated experiments. The found of a bell, fu-
fpended in the receiver of an air-pump, gradually diminifhes as
the air is exhaufted, till it almoft entirely ceafes' to be heard. On
the other hand, when the quantity of air is increafed by a con-"
denfer, the intenfity of the found is proportionally augmented. Mr
Haukfbee, in a paper publifhed in the Philofophical Tranfaétions,
has proved, that founds aétually produced cannot be tran{mitted
through a vacuum, or a fpace deprived of air. ‘I took,’ fays he,
‘ a ftrong receiver, armed with a brafs hoop at the bottom, in which
© | included a bell as large as it could well contain. This receiver
* I {crewed ftrongly down to a brafs plate with a wet leather be-
© tween, and it was full of common air, which could nowife make
‘ its efcape. Thus fecured, it was fet on the pump, where it was
© covered with another large receiver. In this manner, the air con-
tained between the outward and inward receivers was exhautted.
* Now here I was fure, when the clapper fhould be made to ftrike
the bell, there would be aétually found produced in the inward
© receiver; the air in which was of the fame denfity as common air,
could fuffer no alteration by the vacuum on its outfide, fo ftrong-
* ly was it fecured on all parts. Thus, all being ready for trial, the
clapper was made to ftrike the bell ; but I found that there was no
* tranfmiffion of it through the vacuum, though I was fure there
was actual found produced in the inward receiver.’

n a “ a

ee

To

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 169

To enable us to underftand the manner in which founds are pro-
pagated through the air, philofophers have had recourfe to the un-
dulations produced by a ftone thrown into a pond of ftagnating wa-
ter. Thefe undulations affume the form of circular waves, which
fucceflively proceed from the place where the ftone ftruck the water,
as from a center, and continually dilate, and become greater and
greater as they recede from that center, till they reach the banks of
the water, where they either vanifh or are refleted. Now, as air
is likewife a fluid, fimilar undulations, though to us invifible, are
produced in it by the vibrations of fonorous bodies, and are alfo
propagated to great diftances in fucceflive waves or rings. Thefe
undulations of the air, when they come into contact with our or-
gans of hearing, make fuch a tremulous impreflion upon them as
excites in our minds the fenfation of found. This analogy, though
not altogether perfect, is fufficient to illuftrate thofe invifible mo-
tions of the air by which founds are conveyed from one place to
another, and to give an idea of echoes, or reflected undulations of
that fluid.

The celerity with which founds, or undulations of air, move, has
been exactly computed. All founds, whether acute or grave, ftrong
or weak, move at the rate of 1142 feet in a fecond of time. Hence,
whenever the lightning of thunder, or the fire of artillery, are feen,
their a€tual diftances from the obferver may be eafily afcertained by
the vibrations of a pendulum. This velocity, it is true, may bea
little augmented or diminifhed by favourable or by contrary winds,
and by heat or cold. But the difference, even in high winds, is fo
trifling, that, for any ufeful purpofe, it {carcely merits attention.

Infants hear bluntly, becaufe the bones of their ears are foft and
cartilaginous; and, of courfe, the tremulations excited in them by
the motions of *the air are comparatively weak, Young children,

I T Y accordingly,

170 THE PHILOSOPHY

accordingly, are extremely fond of noife. It roufes their attention,
and conveys to them the agreeable fenfation of found; but feeble
founds are not perceived, which gives infants, like deaf perfons, the
appearance of inattention, or rather of ftupidity.

The force or intenfity of found is augmented by refleGtion from
furrounding bodies. It is from this caufe that the human voice, or
any other noife, is always weaker, and lefs diftinétly heard, in the
open air than in a houfe,

The modifications of found are not lefs various than thofe of
taftes or odours. The ear is capable of diftinguifhing fome hundred
tones in found, and probably as many degrees of ftrength in the
fame tones. By combining thefe, many thoufand fimple founds,
which differ either in tone or in ftrength, are perceived and diftin-
guifhed by the ear. A violin, a flute, a French-horn, may each of
them give the fame tone; but the ear eafily makes the diftin@ion.
The immenfe variety of fenfations, arifing from the organs of fmell-
ing, of tafting, and of hearing, enables animals to judge concerning
the nature and fituation of external objeéts. By habit we learn to
know the bodies from which particular fpecies of founds proceed.
Previous to all experience, we could not diftinguifh whether a found
came from the right or the left, from above or below, from a greater
or a fmaller diftance, or whether it was the found of a coach, of a
drum, of a bell, or of an animal, By catching cold, I once had a
temporary deafnefs in my left ear. I was furprifed to find that I
had loft the faculty of perceiving the fituation from which founds
proceeded. If a dog barked on the left, I thought the noife came
from the right. This circumftance excited my curiofity: But, up-
on recollection, I knew that my left ear was-deaf; and that every
found I heard was perceived folely by the right 5 a confequently,
I difcovered the caufe of the deception.

Hearing

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 171

Hearing enables us to perceive all the agreeable fenfations con-
veyed to our minds by the melody and harmony of founds. This,
to man at leaft, is a great fource of pleafure and of innocent amufe-
ment, But fome men are almoft totally deftitute of the faculty of
diftinguifhing mufical founds, and of perceiving thofe delightful and
diverfified feelings excited by the various combinations of mufical
tones. Moft men derive pleafure from particular {pecies of mufic.
But a mufical ear, in a reftri€ted fenfe, is by no means a general
qualification, An ear for mufic, however, though not to be acquired
by ftudy, when the faculty itfelf is wanting, may be highly impro-
ved by habit and culture. Buffon, after examining a number of
perfons who had no ear for mufic, fays, that every one of them
heard worfe in one ear than in the other; and afcribes their inabi-
lity of diftinguifhing mufical expreffion to that defe&. But a mufi-
cal ear feems. to have no dependence on acutenefs or bluntnefs of
hearing, whether in one or in both ears, There are many examples
of people who may be faid to be half deaf, and yet are both fond of
mufic, and {fkilful practitioners. An ear for mufic, like a genius
for painting or poetry, is a gift of Nature, and is born with the pof-
feffor, ;

Befide the innumerable pleafures we derive from mufic and agree-
able founds, the extenfion and improvement of artificial language
mutt be confidered as objeGs of the greateft importance to the hu-
man race, Without the fenfe of hearing, mankind would forever
have remained mute. I mention artificial, or improved language,
becaufe, from a thoufand obfervations which every perfon muft have
made, it is perfectly apparent, that, if deftitute of a xatural language,
neither man nor the brute creation * could poflibly have exifted and

I 2 continued

* Concerning the language of beafts, I fhall, perhaps, be more explicit in a future
work,

172 THE PHILOSOPHY

continued their fpecies. As brutes, without information or expe-
rience, are capable of communicating to each other, by particular
founds and geftures, their pleafures and pains, their wants and de-
fires, it would be the higheft abfurdity to fuppofe that the great
Creator fhould have denied to man, the nobleft animal that inhabits
this globe, the fame indifpenfible privilege. Without a bafis there
can be no fabric. Without a natural no artificial language could
poflibly have exifted. This point is clearly demonftrated, in a few
words, by that moft ingenious, candid, and profound philofopher,
Dr Thomas Reid, Profeffor of Moral Philofophy in the Univerfity
of Glafgow. ‘ If mankind,’ fays Dr Reid, ‘ had not a zatural lan-
‘ guage, they could never have invented an artificial one by their
* reafon and ingenuity. For all artificial language fuppofes fome
compact or agreement to affix a certain meaning to certain figns;
therefore, there muft be compacts or agreements before the ufe of
artificial figns ; but there can be no compact or agreement without
figns, nor without language; and therefore there muft be a na-
tural language before any artificial language can be invented *,’
Let any man try to overturn this argument, which is founded, not
upon metaphyfical conjecture, but upon the folid bafis of fact and
uncontrovertible rea/oning. The elements, or conftituent parts of
the natural language of mankind, the Doétor reduces to three kinds ;
modulations of the voice, geftures, and features. ‘ By means of

* thefe,’ fays he, ‘ two favages, who have no common artificial lan-
¢

6

¢

guage, can converfe together ; can communicate their thoughts in
fome tollerable manner; can afk and refufe, affirm and deny,
threaten and fupplicate ; can traffic, enter into covenants, and
* plight their faith.’

¢

6

* Doétor Reid’s Inquiry into the Human Mind, on the Principles of Common
Senfe, pag. 93.

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 173

I can perceive only one plaufible objection to this reafoning. If,
it may be faid, man were endowed with a natural language, this
language muft be univerfal; from what fource, then, can the great
diverfity of languages in different nations, and tribes of the human
race, be derived? The folution of this queftion depends not upon
metaphyfical arguments, but upon fact and experience. I have had
confiderable opportunities of obferving the behaviour of children.
Infants, when very young, have nearly the fame modes of expref-
fing their pleafures and pains, their defires and averfions. 'Thefe
they communicate by voice, gefture, and feature; and every infant,
whatever be the country, climate, or language, uniformly expreffes
its feelings almoft in the fame manner, . But, when they arrive at
nine or twelve months of age, a different fcene is exhibited, They
then, befide the general expreffions of feeling and defire, attempt to
give names to particular objects. Here artifice begins. In thefe at-
tempts, previous to the capacity of imitating articulate founds, every
individual infant utters different founds, or rather gives different
names, to fignify the fame objects of its defire or averfion. Befide
this natural attempt towards a nomenclature, infants, during the
period above mentioned, (for the time varies according to the health
and vivacity of the child), frequently make continued orations.
Thefe orations confift both of articulate and inarticulate founds, of
which no man can give an idea in writing. But moft men, and
every woman who has nurfed children, will perfe€tly underftand
what I cannot exprefs. From the fact, that children a@tually utter
different founds, or give different names to denote the fame objects,
T imagine, arifes all that diverfity of languages, which, by exhauft-
ing time and attention, retard the progrefs and improvement both of
Art and Science. If any number of children, or of folitary favages,
fhould chance to affociate, the names of objeéts would foon be fet-
tled by imitation and confent. By obfervation and experience the
number of names would be augmented, as well as the qualities or

attributes

r74 THE PHILOS OPH ¥

attributes of the objects themfelves ; and, in the progrefs of time, 2
new and artificial language would be gradually formed. While this
eperation is going on in one corner of a country, twenty fimilar af-
fociations and compaéts may be forming, or already formed, in dif-
ferent nations, or in different diftri€ts of the fame nation, all of
which would give birth to feparate artificial languages,

0. F f Os WAG)

THE fenfations of f{melling, tafting, hearing, and feeing, are
conveyed to us by partial organs, which are all confined to the head.
But the fenfe of touching, or of feeling, is not only common to thefe
organs, but extends over almoft every part of the body, whether ex-
ternal or internal, Though every fenfation may be comprehended
under the general appellation of feeling, yet what is called the fenfe
of touch is properly reftrifted to the different fenfations excited by
bodies applied to the fkin, and particularly to the tips of the fingers.

With regard to fenfation in general, it is worthy of remark, that
the eyes, the ears, the noftrils, the tongue and palate, the palms of
the hands, efpecially towards the points of the fingers, are more
amply fupplied with nerves than any other external parts of the
body. The terminations of the nerves on the furface of the fkin
are foft and pulpy, and form minute protuberances refembling the
nap of freeze-cloth, though greatly inferior in magnitude. Thefe
protuberances have received the denomination of nervous papillae.
They might be called animal feelers ; for they are obvioufly the im-
inediate inflruments of fenfation. If an obje& be prefented to the
eye, or any other organ of fenfation, certain feelings are excited,
which are either agreeable or difagreeable, according to the real or

imaginary qualities which we confider as belonging to that object.
The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 175

The feelings thus excited inftantly produce a change in the fenfitive
organs by which they are occafioned. If the object be pofleffed of
difagreeable qualities, averfion is the neceflary confequence, But,
if beauty and utility are perceived in the objedt, pleafant emotions
fpring up in the mind, which naturally induce a fimilar tone or dif-
pofition in the organs fuited for the enjoyment of thefe qualities.

When examining or enjoying any object, it is natural to inquire,
what are the changes produced in the nervous papillae, or organs of
fenfation? If an obje& pofleffed of agreeable feelings is perceived,
the nervous papillae inftantly extend themfelves, and, from a ftate
of flaccidity, become comparatively rigid like briftles. This exten-
fion of the papillae is not conjeQural: It is founded on anatomical
obfervation, and, in fome cafes, may be feen and felt by perfons of
acute and difcerning fenfations. When a man in the dark inclines to
examine any fubftance, in order to difcover its figure, or other qua-
lities, he perceives a kind of rigidity at the tips of his fingers. If
the fingers are kept long in this ftate, the rigidity of the nervous
papillae will give him a kind of pain or anxiety, which it is impof-
fible to defcribe. The caufe of this pain is an over-diftenfion of
the papillae. Ifa {mall infe&t creeps on a man’s hand, when the
papillae are flaccid, its movements are not perceived: But, if he hap-
pens to direct his eye to the animal, he immediately extends his pa-
pillae, and feels diftinétly all its motions. If a body be prefent,
which, in the common ftate of the nerves, has fcarcely any fenfible
odour, by extending the papillae of the noftrils, an agreeable, difa-
greeable, or indifferent {mell will be perceived. When two perfons
are whifpering, and we wifh to know what is faid, we flretch the
papillae, and the other organs of hearing, which are exceedingly
complex. Ifa found is too low for making an impreffion on the
papillae in their natural ftate of relaxation, we are apt to overi{tretch
the organ, which produces a painful or irkfome feeling. When we

examine

176 THE PHILOSOPHY

examine a mite, or any very minute object, by the naked eye, a
pain is propagated over every part of that organ. Several caufes
may concur in producing this pain, fuch as the dilating of the pupil,
and the adjufting the chryftalline lens ; but the chief caufe muft be
afcribed to the preternatural intumefcence and extenfion of the pa-
pillae of the retina, the fubftance of which is a mere congeries of
netvous terminations. This circumftance confirms a former re-
mark, that the immediate organs of fenfation were more copioufly
fupplied with nervous papillae than thofe parts whofe ufes require
not fuch exquifite fenfibility ; for a diftin@tion in this refpec is ob-
fervable even among the fenfitive organs themfelves. They are
furnifhed with nerves exactly proportioned to the fubtility of the
objects whofe impreflions they are fitted to receive. The eye pof=
fefles by far the greateft number. The particles of light are fo mi-
nute, that, had not this wife provifion been obferved in the con-
{trution of the eye, it could never have been able to diftinguith ob=
jeats with fuch accuracy as at prefent it is capable of performing.
When an infipid body, or a body which conveys but a very feeble
fenfation of tafte, is applied to the tongue, we are confcious of an
effort which that organ makes in order to difcover the quality of the
body thus applied. This effort is nothing but the ftretching of the
nervous papillae, that they may enlarge the field of conta&t with the
body under examination.

The pleafure or pain produced by the fenfe of touch depends
chiefly on the fri€ion, or number of impulfes, made upon the pa-
pillae. Embrace any agreeable body with your hand, and allow it
to remain perfeétly at reft, and you will find the pleafure not half
fo exquifite as when the hand is gently moved backward and for-
ward upon the furface. Apply the hand to a piece of velvet, and
it is merely agreeable: Rub the hand repeatedly on the furface of the

cloth, and the pleafant feeling will be augmented in proportion to
the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 177

the number of impulfes on the papillae. When a man is pinched
with hunger, the fight or idea of palatable food raifes the whole pa-
pillae of his tongue and ftomach. From this circumftance he is
highly regaled by eating. But, if he eats the fame fpecies of food
when his ftomach is lefs keen, the pleafure in the one cafe is not to
be compared with what is felt in the other. The caufe is obvious:
His defire was not fo urgent; the object, of courfe, was lefs allu-
ring ; and therefore he was more remifs in erecting his papillae, or
in putting them in a tone fuited to fuch eminent gratification.

The fame obfervations are applicable to difagreeable or painful
objects of contaé. If the hand is laid upon a gritty ftone, or a
piece of rufty iron, the feeling is difagreeable ; but if it is frequently
rubbed upon the furface of thefe bodies, the feeling becomes infuf-~
ferably irkfome.

It is by the fenfe of touch that men, and other animals, are enabled
to perceive and determine many qualities of external bodies. By this
fenfe we acquire the ideas of hardnefs and foftnefs, of roughnefs and
f{moothnefs, of heat and cold, of preffure and weight, of figure, and
of diftance. The fenfe of touch is more uniform, and liable to few-
er deceptions, than thofe of fmelling, tafting, hearing, and {eeing ;
becaufe, in examining the qualities of objets, the bodies themfelves
muft be brought into actual contact with the organ, without the in-
tervention of any medium, the variations of which might miflead
the judgment.

O''F 5° EERE IN ~G:

OF all the fenfes, that of feeing is unqueftionably the nobleft, the

moft refined, and the moft extenfive. The ear informs us of the
I Z tT exiftence

178 THE PHILOSOPHY

exiftence of objects at comparatively fmall diftances; and its infor=
mation is often imperfe& and fallacious, But the organ of fight,
which is moft admirably conftruéted, ‘not only enables us to perceive
thoufands of objeéts at one glance, together with their various fi-
gures, colours, and apparent pofitions, but, even when unarmed, to
form ideas of the {in and planets, and of many of the fixed ftars ;
and thus conneats‘is with bodies fo remote, that imagination is loft
when it attempts ty form a conception of their immenfe magnitude
and diftances. Tjs natural field of vifion, however great, has been
vaftly extended by the invention of optical inftruments. When
aided by the telefegpe, the eye penetrates into regions of fpace, and
perceives flars innumerable, which, without the affiftance of art,
would to us have no exiftence. Our ideas of the beauty, magnitude,
and remotenefs or vicinity of external objets, are chiefly derived
from this delicate and acute inftrument of fenfation.

Before proceeding to the peculiarities of vifion, and the general
properties of light, we fhall give a fhort defcription of the ftruéture.
of the eye.

The globe of the eye is compofed of three humours, called ague-
ous, cryftalline, and vitreous ; and of the retina, ciliary hgament, and
iris, All thefe are contained within the /clerotica and cornea, or
capfule of the eye. The white part of the cornea is opaque ; but
the pupil, or fight of the eye, through which the rays of light pafs,
is tranfparent. The aqueous humour is a menifcus, or a convex ex-
teriorly, and concave internally. The cryftalline humour is doubly
convex ; and its exterior convexity is embraced by the concave fur-
face of the aqueous, The vetreous humour is likewife a menifcus 3.
its concave furface embraces the interior convexity of the cryftalline,
and its convex furface is encompafled by the vetina, which is a fine
expanfion. of the medullary fibres of the optic nerve {pread upon the

convex

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 199

convex furface of the vitreous humour, and covering the bottom of
the eye. The czlary ligament is a ring of fibres, which inclofe the
edges of the cryftalline, and ftretch in right lines towards its center.
When thefe fibres contraét, the diftance between the retina and
cryftalline is lengthened; and that diftance is fhortened when thefe
fibres are in a relaxed ftate. The cris is that coloured circle which
furrounds the pupil.

By this curious apparatus all the phaenomenafof vifion are con-
veyed to the mind. But, before we enter upon the manner in which
the different parts of the eye concur in tranfmitting the rays of light
and the images of objects to the retina, it will be neceflary to give
fome general ideas concerning the nature of light, which is the uni-
verfal medium of vifion.

Light confifts of innumerable rays, which proceed in dire& lines
from eyery part of luminous bodies. The motion of light, though
not inftantaneous, is inconceivably fwift. 'To give fome comparative
idea of its great velocity, it has been difcovered by philofophers, that
rays of light coming from the fun reach this earth in feven minutes.
Now, the diftance of the earth from the fun is fo immenfe, that, fup-
pofing a cannon ball to move at the rate of 500 feet in a fecond, it
~ could not come from the fun to the earth in lefs than 25 years, At
this rate, the velocity of light will be above 10 million of’ times
greater than that of a cannon ball,

The rays of light, though they proceed in dire& lines from lumi-
nous bodies, are refracted, or bent out of their courfe, in pafling
through different mediums, as the air, glafs, and every tran{parent
fubftances ; but, when they fall upon opaque bodies, they are reflec-
ted. Rays proceeding from any obje&, and pafling through a con-
- vex glafs or lens, are refracted and colle€ted into a point, or {mall
I L 2 fpace,

180 THEE OP WIL Ose H ¥

fpace, at a certain diftance from the glafs, which is called the focus
of that lens.

The white light conveyed to us by the fun is not homogeneous,
but confifts of feven differently coloured rays, or what are calledsthe
primary colours. 'Thefe differently coloured rays were difcovered by
Sir Ifaac Newton to have different degrees of refrangibility. When
the white light of the fun was made to pafs through a glafs prifm,
he found, that, inftead of retaining its original whitenefs, it exhi-
bited feven diftin& colours, and that this phaenomenon was produ=
ced by the feveral rays in the compofition of white light being more
or lefs refraéted, or turned from their dire& courfe. The fimple
primary colours are feven in number, namely, red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, and violet. Red is the leaft, and violet the moft
refrangible parts of white light. A proper mixture of all the feven
ptimary colours conftitutes whitenefs ; and by various combinations
of the primary colours, all the compound colours exhibited either in
Nature or art are produced. Any furface appears black when it re«
fects little or no light.

The different humours of the eye, and the cryftalline lens, are all
denfer than air or water; of courfe, their power of refracting the
rays of light is likewife greater. ‘The rays proceeding from every
point of an obje& enter the pupil; and the refraction of the diffe-
rent parts of the eye, which aét asa lens, neceflarily makes them
crofs each other in their paflage to the retina. After crofling, they
diverge till they are ftopped by the retina, where they form an in-
verted picture. The upper part of the objet is painted on the lower
part of the retina, and the right fide upon the left, &c. The cele-
brated Kepler firft difcovered, that diftin@, but inverted piGtures of
every obje&t we behold are painted on the retina by the rays of
light proceeding from vilible objects, This difcovery naturally led

Kepler,

OF NA TUBAL! HS TORW. rSt

Kepler, as well as many other philofophers fince his time, to inquire
how we fhould fee objets ere from inverted images on the retina,

Many ingenious theories have been invented, and many volumes
have been written, in order to explain this feemingly difficult quef-
tion. To give even a curfory view of thefe theories would not only
be tedious, but in a great meafure ufelefs. We thall therefore only
remark, that their authors uniformly aflumed it as a principle, that,
becaufe the pictures are inverted on the retina, the mind ought alfo
to perceive them in the fame pofition. It is certain, that, unlefs di-
ftin& images are painted on the retina, objeéts cannot be clearly per-
ceived. If, from too little light, remotenefs, or any other caufe, a
picture is indiftin@ly painted on the retina, an obfcure or indiftin&
idea of the objet is conveyed to the mind. The picture on the re-
tina, therefore, is fo far the caufe of vifion, that, unlefs this picture
be clear and well defined, our ideas of the figure, colour, and other
qualities of any object prefented to the eye, will be obfcure and im-
perfect. The retina of the eye refembles a canvas on which ob-
jects are painted. The colours of thefe pictures are bright or ob-
fcure, in proportion to the diftances of the objets reprefented.
When objets are very remote, their pictures on the retina are fo
faint, that they are entirely obliterated by the vigorous and lively
impreffions of nearer objects, with which we are every way fur-
rounded. On the other hand, when near objects emit a feeble light
only, compared with that which proceeds from a remote obje@, as,
for example, when we view luminous bodies in the night, then very
diftant objects make diftin& pictures on the retina, and become per-
fe&tly vifible. Hence a man, by placing himfelf in a dark fituation,
and looking through a long tube, without the intervention of a
glafs, may make a kind of telefcope, which will have a confiderable
effect even during the day. For the fame reafon, a man at the bot=

tom of a deep pit can fee the ftars at noon,
The

1$2 PDE PP BLL OMeP i

The firft and greateft error in vifion, in the opinion of many au-
thors, arifes from the inverted reprefentation of objects upon the re-
tina; and they maintain, that, till children learn the real pofition of
bodies by the fenfe of feeling, they fee every obje&t inverted. But
new born animals, whether of the human or brute fpecies, fee ob-
jects, not inverted, but in their real pofitions, independently of all
experience, or of any opportunity of rectifying the fuppofed illufion
by the fenfe of touch. Animals fee objects in their real pofition by a
law of Nature, and by the inftrumentality of the eye and optic nerve.
Were it not a law of Nature, or of the conftitution of animals, to fee
objects ereé&t, though their images be inverted on the retina, an in-
verted obje& could not poflibly appear inverted; for, in this cafe,
we fhould not be obliged to have recourfe to experience, or to the
fenfe of feeling. Befides, it is an eftablifthed fact, that blind men,
who had been reftored to fight by chirurgical operations, inftantly
faw objects in their real pofition *. There is no relation to the
principles of optics, in the fenfation of feeling, by which an image,
painted by rays of light on foft white nervous terminations, is con-
veyed through a moft opaque body, in a long courfe of perfe& dark-
nefs, to the brain. Indeed, the fenfe by which the perceiving nerves
of any kind are affected, is not an image or idea’ of the obje&. The
idea of rednefs has nothing in common with the leaft refrangible
portions of light feparated from the other fix coloured rays of which

white light is compofed. The pain of burning reprefents not to the’

mind any thing of that fwift and fubtle matter by which the ner-
vous threads are broken or deftroyed. There is nothing in the idea
of a fharp found, from a cord of a certain length, which can inform
the mind that this cord vibrates 2000 times in a fecond Tf.

° Another

* Haller. Phyfiol. tom. 2. pag. 87.

+ For a more ample difcuflion of this point, fee Haller. Phyfiol. tom, 2.;—and
Dr Reid’s Inquiry.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 183

J

Another queftion with regard to vifion has been much agitated by
philofophers. Becaufe a feparate image of every object is painted
on the retina of each eye, it was concluded, that we naturally fee all
objects double; that we learn to correct this error of vifion by the
fenfe of touching ; and that, if the fenfe of feeing were not con-
ftantly rectified by that of touching, we fhould be perpetually de-
ceived as to the pofition, number, and fituation of objets. The
Count de Buffon mentions, the real fact, though he afcribes it to a
wrong caufe. ‘ When two. images,” fays he, ‘ fall on corre/ponding
* parts of the retinae, or thofe parts which are always affected at the
‘ fame time, objects appear fingle, becaufe we are accuffomed to judge
¢ of them in this manner, Pur, when the images of objects fal! up-
‘ on parts of the retinae which are not ufually affected at the fame
* time, they then appear double, becaufe we have not acquired the
© habit of reGtifying this unufual fenfation. Mr Cheffelden, in his
* anatomy, relates the cafe of a man who had been affected with a
* ftrabifmus, or fquinting, in confequence of a blow on the head.
* This man faw every obje&t double for along time: But he gra-
‘ dually learned to correé this error of vifion, with regard to objects
* which were familiar to him ; and, at laft, he faw every object
* fingle as formerly, though the fquinting was never removed. This
‘ isa proof ftill more dire, that we really fee all objeéts double,
© and that it is by Aadit alone we learn to conceive them to be
* fingle *.’

In this, and other paflages, the Count de Buffon has pointed out
the genuine caufe (or ultimate fat) why we fee objeéts fingle with
two eyes. He tells us, that, though a diftin@ image is painted on
each retina, whenever thefe images are painted on correfponding
points of the retinae, an obje@l is perceived to be fingle. It is equal-

lyr

* Buffon, vol. 3. pag. 7.. Tranflat.

184 THE PHPLOS OP HT

ly true, that, when one eye is diftorted by the finger, or any other
caufe, in fuch a manner that the images are painted on points of the
retinae which do not correfpond, the objeé& is perceived to be
double. Obje&ts which are much nearer, or much more remote,
than that to which both eyes are directed, appear double. If a
candle is placed at the diftance of ten feet, and a man holds his
finger at arm’s-length between his eyes and the candle, when he
looks at the candle, he fees his finger double, and, when he looks at
his finger, he fees the candle double. ‘ In this phaenomenon,’
Dr Reid properly remarks, ‘ it is evident to thofe who underftand
* optics, that the pictures of objeéts which are feen double, do not
fall upon points of the-retinae which are fimilarly fituated, but
that the pictures of objeéts feen fingle do fall upon points fimilar-
ly fituated. Whence we infer, that as the points of the two reti-

a

cy

-

nae, which are fimilarly fituated with regard to the centres, do
correfpond, fo thofe which are diffimilarly fituated do not corre-
fpond. Itis to be obferved, that although, in fuch cafes as are
mentioned in the laft phaenomenon, we have been accuftomed
from infancy to fee objets double which we know to be fingle;
yet cuftom, and experience of the unity of the objec, never take
away this appearance of duplicity *.’

a

n

ow

The fenfe of feeing, without the aid of experience, conveys no
idea of diftance. If not affifted by the fenfe of touching, all objects
would feem to be in contact with the eye itfelf. Obje@s appear
larger or fmaller according as they approach or recede from the eye,
or according to the angle they fubtend. A fly, when very near the
eye, feems to be larger than a horfe or an ox at a diftance, Children
can have no idea of the relative magnitude of objeéts, becaufe they
have no notion of the different diftances at which they are feen. It

is

* Dr Reid’s Inquiry, &c. page 287.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 195

_is only after meafuring fpace by extending the hand, or by tranf-
porting their bodies from one place to another, that children acquire
juft ideas concerning the real diftances and magnitudes of objects:
Their ideas of magnitude refult entirely from the angle formed by
the extreme rays reflected from the faperior and inferior parts of
the obje&: Hence every near objet muft appear to be large, and
every diftant one fall. But after, by touch, having acquired ideas
of diftances, the judgment concerning magnitude begins to be recti-
fied. If we judge folely by the eye, and have not acquired the ha-
bit of confidering the fame objets to be: equally large, though feen
at different diftances, the neareft of two men, though of equal fize,
would feem to be many times larger than the fartheft. But we

_ know that the laft man is equally large with the firft; and, there-
fore, we judge him to be of the fame dimenfions, Any diftance
ceafes to be familiar to us, when the interval is vertical, inftead of
“being horizontal; becaufe all the experiments by which we ufually
rectify the errors of vifion, with regard to diftances, are made hori-
zontally. We have not the habit of judging concerning the mag-
nitude of objects which are much elevated above or funk below us,
This is the reafon that, when viewing men from the top of a tower,
or when looking up to a globe or a cock on the top of a fteeple, we
think thefe abje&ts much fmaller than when feen at equal diftances
in a horizontal dire@tion, During the night, on account of the dark-
nefs, we have no proper idea of diftance, and, of courfe, judge of
the magnitude of objects folely by the largenefs of the angle or
image formed in the eye, which neceflarily produces a variety of
deceptions. When travelling in the night, we are liable to miftake
a buth that is near us for a tree at a diftance, or a diftant tree for a
bufh which is at hand. When benighted ina part of the country
with which we are unacquainted, and, of courfe,. unable: to
judge of the diftance and figure of objeéts, we are every moment
liable to all the deceptions of vifion. This is the origin of that dread

Ai Ana . which

186 THE PHILOSOPHY

which fome men feel in the dark, and of thofe ghofts and horrible:
figures which fo many people pofitively affert they have feen in the
night. Such figures are commonly faid to exift in the imagination
only; but they often have a real exiftence in the eye; for, when
we have no other mode of recognifing unknown objects but by the
angle they form in the eye, their magnitude is uniformly augmented
in proportion to their vicinity. If an objed, at the diftance of twenty
or thirty paces, appears to be only a few feet high, its height, when
viewed within two or three feet of the eye, will feem to be many
fathoms. Objedts, in this fituation, muft excite terror and aftonifh-.
ment in the fpeCator, till he approaches and recognifes them by ac-
tual feeling ; for the moment a man examines an obje& properly,
the gigantic figure it aflumed in the eye inftantly vanifhes, and its
apparent magnitude is reduced to its real dimenfions, But if, in-
ftead of approaching an object of this kind, the {petator flies from it,.
he retains the idea which the image of it formed in his eye, and he
may affirm with truth, that he beheld an objeé terrible in its afped,
and enormous in its fize. Hence the notion of fpectres, and of hor-
rible figures, is founded in nature, and depends not folely on ima-
gination. i

When we have no idea of the diftance of objeéts by a previous
knowledge of the {pace between them and the eye, we try to judge
of their magnitudes by recogniling their figures. But, when their
figures are not diftinguifhable, we perceive thofe which are moft
brilliant in colour to be neareft, and thofe that are moft obfcure to:
be at the greateft diftance. From this mode of judging many de-
ceptions originate. When a number of objeéts are placed in a right
line, as lamps in a long ftreet, we cannot judge of their proximity.
or remotenefs but by the different quantities of light they tran{fmit

tothe eye. Of courfe, if the lamps neareft the eye happen to be
more

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 187

more obfcure than thofe which are more remote, the firft will ap-
pear to be laft, and the laft firft,

Before I difmifs this fubje&t, I feel an irrefiftible defire of giving
a fhort view of the Abbé de Condillac’s Traité des Senfations *; a
moft ingenious performance, which, I believe, is not very generally
known in this country.

In an advertifement prefixed to this Treatife, the fagacious and
learned Abbé defires his readers to abftract themfelves from all their
preconceived opinions, and to imagine the fituation and feelings of
a ftatue, limited, at firft, to a fingle fenfe, and afterwards acquiring
gradually the whole five.

1. Senfe of Smelling alone.

A man, or a ftatue, who had no fenfe but that of fmelling, could
have no other ideas than thofe of odours. He would be the fmell
of a rofe, a violet, or a jeflamine, according as the effluvia of thefe
objects aéted upon his fingle organ of fenfation. From agreeable or
difagreeable fmells he would acquire ideas of pleafure and pain. By
means of agreeable and difagreeable {mells frequently repeated, thefe
fenfations' would remain in his memory, and produce defire and
averfion. He can now compare the fmell of a rofe with that of an

2 Aa2 hemlock,

* From the edition 1754, in two yolumes 12mo.

198 THE PHILOSOPHY

hemlock. As foon as he compares, he judges of the relation be-
tween two ideas. In proportion as thefe comparifons or judgments
are repeated, he acquires, by habit, a greater facility in making them.
He can judge of different degrees of pleafure and pain. Hence,
when he feels uneafy, he recals pleafant fenfations which are paft,
and wifhes for their return, This is the origin of defire and want.
Memory is the recollection only of what is paft; but, when the ideas
of objects prefent themfelves in fo lively a manner, that he believes
they are a@tually prefent, this operation of the mind jis called imagi-
nation. Being limited to the ufe of one fenfe, he would learn to
‘diftinguith fmells with greater accuracy than beings endowed with
more fources of information, Abftration is the feparation of two
ideas which have a natural connection. By reflecting that the ideas
of pain and pleafure refult from different modifications of. his ex-
iftence, he contraéts the habit of feparating them, and thus acquires
abftract notions. To our ftatue, a violet is a particular idea only;
cconfequently, all his abftraGtions are limited to different degrees of
pleafure and pain. The fucceffion of fenfations will give him fome
faint ideas of number, of paft, and of future time. Duration is an
idea purely relative, and changes according to the rapidity or flow-
nefs of our perceptions. Our ftatue is incapable of diftinguifhing
dreams, or a lively imagination, from real fenfations. By the aid’
of memory he recognifes his identity, and knows his prefent from
his paft condition. From thefe remarks it appears, that a man li-
mited to one fenfe is capable of acquiring the rudiments of every
human faculty, and that thefe faculties are only extended by the ad-
dition of other fenfes. Nearly the fame acquifitions would be made,
if a man were limited to any of the other fenfes,

2, Of

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 189

2. Of Hearing alone.

The pleafures of the ear arife chiefly from the fucceffion of founds
conformably to the rules of melody or of harmony. Hence our fta-
tue’s defires would not be confined to a fingle found; he would with
to become a complete air, Sounds produce greater emotions than
odours. They excite joy or fadnefs independently of acquired ideas,
Noife alone, without mufical expreffion, would be agreeable: And
mufic would. convey pleafure proportioned to the exercife of the
ear. Simple; and even coarfe fongs, would at firft be ravifhing.
But, when gradually accuftomed to mufic more compounded, the
ear would difcover new fources of delight. The pleafure of a fuc-
ceffion of mufical tones being fuperior to that of a continued noifes
he would not confound the one’ with the other.

3. Smelling and Hearing united.

As thefe fenfes, taken feparately, give to our ftatue no idea of ex-
ternal objects, neither can they by their union. He would-never
fufpe& that he had two different organs of perception, nor, at firft,
diftinguith two modes of exiftence in himfelf, Sounds and odours
would be confounded, and feem to be only one fimple modification.
He would learn, however, by experience, and the aid of memory,
to diftinguifh two fenfations ; and then he would think that his ex-
iftence was double. His train of ideas is more varied and extenfive,
becaufe he has two kinds of modification ; and, perhaps, noife would
- feem fo different from harmonious founds, that he might imagine he
had three fenfes,

4. Tofte

190 THE PHILOSOPHY

4. Lafte alone, and Tafte united with Smelling and Hearing.

When limited to tafte alone, the ftatue would acquire the fame
mental powers as with {melling or hearing. Tafte would contribute
more to his happinefs and mifery than fmelling or hearing; becaufe
favours, in general, affect us more than {mells, or even harmonious
founds,

When tafte is united with fmelling and hearing, the ftatue, after
learning to know them feparately, would be enabled to diftinguith
thefe fenfations, even when tranfmitted to him at the fame time;
and therefore his exiftence would in fome meafure be tripled. The
union of thefe fenfes would ftill farther extend and diverfify the

train of his ideas, augment the number of his defires, and make him
contract new habits.

5. Of Sight alone.

Sight and all fenfations are internal, and belong to the mind. The
difficulty is to conceive how we refer thefe fenfations to external
objeéts or caufes. Our ftatue would confider light and colour as
modes of his own exiftence; but could have no idea that they be-
longed to bodies diftin® from himfelf. At firft he would not be
able to diftinguifh one colour from another; but he would foon ac-
quire the habit of confidering one colour at a time, and thus learn
to diftinguifh them. By fight alone he could have no idea of figure,
fituation, extenfion, or motion,

6. Sight

OF NATURAL HISTORY. Ig

6. Sight united with Smell, Hearing, and Tafte.

This union would augment our ftatue’s mode of exiftence, extend
the chain of his ideas, and multiply the objeéts of his attention, of
his defires, and of his enjoyments. But he would ftill continue to
perceive himfelf alone, and could have no idea of external objects.
He would fee, fmell, tafte, and hear, without knowing that he had
eyes, nofe, mouth, or ears, nor even that he had a body. With the
fame colour before his eyes, if a fucceflion of {mells, favours, and
founds, were prefented to him, he would confider himfelf as a co-
lour fucceflively odoriferous, favoury, and fonorous. If the fame
odour were conftantly prefent with him, he would confider himfelf
as a favoury, fonorous, and coloured odour.

7. Of Touching alone.

The {malleft degree of fentiment, or feeling, which a man limited
to the fenfe of touching could have, would arife from the action of
different parts of the body, and particularly from the motion of re-
fpiration, This the Abbé calls the fundamental /entiment, becaufe
with it life commences. As foon as this fundamental fentiment has
undergone any change, the ftatue is confcious of his own exiftence.
When not ftruck by any external body, and placed in a temperate
tranquil air, of an equal degree of heat, he would only recognife his
exiftence by the confufed impreffion refulting from the motion of
refpiration. He cannot diftinguifh the different parts of his body,
and confequently has no idea of extenfion. Different feelings per-
ceived at the fame time convey a confufed fenfation only. But, when
heat and cold are felt in fucceffion, he diftinguifhes them, and re-

tains

192 THE PHILOSOPHY

tains in his memory the idea of each fenfation. Touching different
parts of his body, and of external objects, gradually unfolds the
ideas of extenfion, folidity, foftnefs, hardnefs, diftance, &c. Hence
he no longer confounds himfelf with his modifications. He is no
. longer heat or cold; but he perceives heat in one part and cold in
another. By means of the hand, he diftinguifhes his own perfon
from external objeéts. When he touches the parts of his body, each
part returns a fenfation, But, when he touches another body, he feels
that it exifts, but returns no fenfation; and hence he learns that there
are bodies which conftitute no part of himfelf,

Children derive the greateft happinefs from motion. Even falls
do not deter them. A bandage on their eyes would give them lefs
pain than a reftraint on the ufe of their limbs. Motion, befide many
other advantages, gives them the moft lively confcioufnefs of their
own exiftence and powers. If exercife be pleafant to children, it
would be ftill more fo to our ftatue; for as yet he not only knows
no obftacle to interrupt his movements, but he will foon experience
all the pleafures to be derived from motion, The ftatue at firft loves
every body that does not hurt him, Polithed and fmooth furfaces
will be agreeable to him; and he will be delighted to find that he
can at pleafure enjoy warmth or coolnefs. He will receive peculiar
pleafure from objects, which, from their figure and magnitude, are
moft accommodated to the form of his hand. At other times, the
difficulty of handling objects, on account of their fize or weight,
will give him pleafure by furprife ; and this pleafure wiil be aug-
mented by the fpace he difcovers around them, which will render
the motion of his body from one place to another extremely agree-
able. Solidity and fluidity, hardnefs and foftnefs, motion and reft,
will be pleafant fenfations; for the more he contrafts them, the more
they will attra& his attention and extend his ideas. But the habit
he acquires of comparing and judging is the greateft fource of his

3 pleafures,

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 193

pleafures. He no longer touches objects folely for the pleafure of
handling them, He wifhes to know their relations, and he fecls as
many agreeable fenfations as he forms new ideas.

Touching expofes him more frequently to pain than the other
fenfes. But pleafure is always within his reach, and pain is felt on-
ly at intervals. His defires; confift chiefly‘of the efforts of his mind
to recal the moft agreeable ideas) But that kind of defire of which
the fenfe of touch renders him capable, includes motion, or the
power of fearching for fenfations. Hence his enjoyments are not li-
mited to the ideas prefented’ bythe imagination, but extend to all
the objects he can reach ; and his defires,' inftead of being concen-
trated into modes of his exiftence, as in the other fenfes, lead him
always to external bodies, which are the objets of his love, hatred,
and other paffions.

By motion he acquires the idea of fpace. Repeated experience
of difcovering new fenfations renders him capable of curiofity, But
pain repreffes his defire of moving, and makes him diffdent, Hence
he learns to. move with caution; and the fame chance that led him
to lay hold of a ftick, will teach him to ufe it for exploring what
may be hurtful to him. Pleafure and pain are the fources of all his.
ideas, the number of which acquirable by our ftatue is almoft infi-
nite. He learns to compare his different fenfations, and to diftin-
guith different bodies. He acquires the idea of figure, and becomes
capable of reflection and abftraGtion.. He acquires likewife the ideas.
of number, of duration, of fpace, and of immenfity.

2 + Bb 8. OF

194. THE PHILOSOPHY

8. Of Touch united with Smelling.

On this fuppofition, the ftatue would perceive himfelf to be two
diferent beings, one that he could touch, and another which he
could not. When chance made him jay hold of an odorous body,
he would find that its {mell was ftronger or weaker, in proportion
as he brought the body nearer, or removed it farther from his face.
This experiment frequently repeated will give him the idea that
fmell proceeds from, or is a quality of bodies. . By the fame means
he difcovers the organ of fmelling. From this fource his ideas con-
cerning the qualities of bodies are greatly extended.

9. Hearing, Tafte, and Touching, united.

At firft our ftatue is totally occupied with this new fenfe, and be-
lieves himfelf to be the finging of birds, the noife of a cafcade, &c.
By the exercife, however, of handling fonorous bodies, or of letting
them fall, he perceives that found is produced by impulfe or collifion,
gradually difcovers this new organ, and that noife is a property of
bodies even at a diftance.

10. Of Sight united with all the other Senfes.

The eye conveys no idea of diftance, of magnitude, of figure, .or
of fituation, without the affiftance of touching. Either from chance,
or from the pain occafioned by too ftrong a light, the ftatue cafries
his hand to his eyes) The colours of objects inftantly difappear.
He removes his hand, and the colours return. Hence he learns

3 that

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 195

that colours are not modes of his exiftence, but that they feem to be
fomething exifting in his eyes, in the fame manner as he feels at
the ends of his fingers the objeéts he touches.

The Abbé, in the fame ingenious manner, fhews how, by expe-
rience and habit, by motion and, touching, we acquire a facility in
correcting the errors of vifion, But our limits permit us not to fol-
low him any farther,

Bb2 CHAP,

196 ‘THE PHILOSO?P'H YO

Rs AR yen Roa IR a 8
Of Infancy.

Y the term Jnfancy, in this chapter, is generally meant that

portion of life which commences at birth, and terminates at
that period when animals have acquired the power of felf-preferva-
tion, without any affiftance from their parents. ‘This period varies
greatly in different animals, Of courfe, when different fpecies are
mentioned, the term infancy muft have very different limitations with
regard to time.

The ftate of infancy, in the human fpecies, continues longer than
in any other animal. Infants, immediately after birth, are indeed
extremely helplefs, and require every affiftance and attention from
the mother. Moft writers, however, on this fubje& feem to have
exaggerated not only the imbecillity, but the miferies of the infant
ftate. ‘ An infant,’ fays Buffon, ‘is more belple/s than the young
* of any other animal: Its uncertain life feems every moment to vi-
‘ brate on the borders of death. It can neither move nor fupport
its body: It has hardly force enough to exift, and to announce, by
* groans, the pain which it fuffers; as if Nature intended to apprife
© the little innocent, that it is born to mi/ery, and that it is to be rank-
ed among human creatures only to partake of their infirmities and
of their affli€tions *.’

“

°

a

This

* Buffon, vol. 2. pag. 369. Tranflat.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 197

This humiliating picture is partly juft, and partly mifreprefented,
Though infants remain longer in a ftate of imbecillity than the young
of other animals, they are by no means more he/pile/s. The inftant
after birth, they are capable of fucking whatever is prefented to their
mouths, ‘When in the fame condition, the young of the opoffum,
of hares, rabbits, rats, mice, &c. can do no more. They can neither
move nor fupport their bodies. Befides, many quadrupeds are defti-
tute of the fenfe of feeing for feveral days after birth. But the fa-
culty of vifion is enjoyed by infants the moment after they come
into the world, This faculty, in a few hours, becomes a great fource
of pleafure and amufement to them; but it is denied, for fome days,
to many other fpecies of animals. The young of moft birds are
equally weak and helplefs as human infants. The former have no
other powers but thofe of refpiration, opening their mouths to re-
ceive food from the parent, and ejecting the excrement, after the
food has been properly digefted. If infants really fuffer more pain
and mifery than other animals in the fame ftate, Nature feems not
to merit that feverity of cenfure which fhe has fometimes received.
Man in fociety, like domeftic animals, by luxury, by artificial modes
of living, by unnatural and vicious habits, debilitate their bodies,
and tranfmit to their progeny the feeds of weaknefs and difeafe, the
effects of which are not felt by thofe who live more agreeably to the
general oeconomy and intentions of Nature. The children of fa-
vages, for the fame reafon, whether in the hunting or fhepherd ftate,
are more robuft, more healthy, and liable to fewer difeafes, than thofe
produced by men in the more enlightened and refined ftages of fo-
ciety. Even under the fame governments, and in the fame ftate of
civilization, a fimilar gradation of imbecillity and difeafe is to be ob-
ferved. The children of men of rank and fortune are, in general,
more puny, debilitated, and difeafed, than thofe of the peafant or ar-
tificer. Still, however, children, in their progrefs from birth to ma-
turity, have innumerable fources of pleafure, which alleviate, if they

do

198 THE PHILOSOPHY

do not fully compenfate, the pain which muft unavoidably be en-
dured, whether in a more natural or more artificial ftate of mankind.
If luxury and civilization debilitate the conftitutions of children, they
give rife to many real enjoyments which are totally unknown to the
favage. His wants are fewer; but his gratifications are more than
proportionally diminifhed.

Though the period of human infancy be proportionally long, it is
too often increafed by improper management. In this, and many other
countries of Europe, infants have no fooner efcaped from the womb
of their mothers, and have enjoyed the liberty of ftretching their
limbs, than they are again condemned to a more cruel and unnatu-
ral bondage. The head is fixed in one pofition ; the legs are fet-
tered; the arms are bound down to the fides; and the little inno=
cents are laced with bandages fo ftrait that they cannot move a fingle
joint. The reftraint of fwaddling bands muft be productive of pain.
Their original intention was to prevent the head and limbs from be-
ing diftorted by unnatural or hurtful pofitions. But it was not con-
fidered, that the efforts made by infants to difentangle themfelves,
have a greater tendency to diftort their members than any poftures
they could affume, if they enjoyed a greater degree of liberty. But,
if the efforts for liberty made by infants fettered in this cruel man-
ner be hurtful, the ftate of inaftivity in which they are forced to re-
main, is, perhaps, equally noxious. Infants, as well as all young
animals, are extremely prone to motion. It promotes the growth
and expanfion of their organs. It likewife invigorates all their mem-
bers, and facilitates the circulation and fecretion of their different
fluids. But, when infants are deprived of exercife, or of the power
of performing their natural movements, the oppofite effets are pro-
duced. The want of exercife retards their growth and weakens
their conftitution. Thofe children, therefore, who are allowed full
freedom of motion will always be the moft healthy and the -moft vi-

gorous,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 199

gorous. We are, however, happy to remark, that, by the efforts of
philofophers and phyficians, the praétice of employing tight ban-
dages has of late become lefs general, efpecially among intelligent
midwives and mothers. But, to eradicate long eflablifhed prejudices,
and to diffufe more enlightened and falutary notions through a whole
country, cannot be effeCted without a great length of time and vigo-
rous exertions.

From what caufes or circumftances particular modes in the ma-
nagement of infants originate, it is difficult to determine. But it is
certain that favages, and the ruder nations, in their treatment of in-
fants, often difcover more difcernment, and propriety of condud,
_ than are to be found in the moft polifhed ftages of fociety. The
negroes, the favages of Canada, of Virginia, of Brafil, and the na-
tives of almoft the whole of South America, inftead of ufing fwad-
dling-bands, lay their infants naked into hammocks, or hanging beds
of cottoa, or into cradles lined with fur. The Peruvians leave the
arms of their infants perfectly loofe in a kind of f{wathing-bag.
When a little older, they are put, up to the middle, in a hole dug
out of the earth, and lined with linen or cotton. By this contri-
vance, their arms and head are perfeQly free, and they can bend
their bodies, and move their arms and head, without the {malleft
danger of falling, or of receiving any injury. -To entice them to
walk, whenever they are able to ftep, the breaft is prefented to them
at a little diftance. The children of negroes, when very young,
cling round, with their knees and legs, one of their. mother’s
haunches, and grafp the breaft with their hands. In this pofition
they adhere fo firmly, that they fupport themfelves without any af-
' fiftance, and continue to fuck without danger of falling, though the
mother moves forward, or works at her ufual labour. Thefe chil-
dren, at the end of the fecond month, begin to creep on their hands
and knees; and, in this fituation, they acquire, by habit, the faculty

of running with furprifing quicknefs.
Savages

2c0 Th BV aP HW nL. @ SS) Oy HY

Savages are remarkably attentive to the cleanlinefs of their chil~
dren. Though they cannot afford to change their furs fo frequently
as we do our linen, this defect they fupply by other fubftances of no
value. The favages of North America put wood-duft, obtained from
decayed trees, into the bottom of the cradle, and renew it as often
as it is neceflary. Upon this powder the children are laid, and co-
vered with fkins, This powder is very foft, and quickly abforbs
moifture of every kind. The children in Virginia are placed naked
upon a board covered with cotton, and furnifhed with a proper hole
for tranfmitting the excrement, This praCtice is likewife almoft ge-
neral in the eaftern parts of Europe, and particularly in Turkey. It
has another advantage: It prevents the difmal effe€ts which too of-
ten proceed from the negligence of nurfes.

Many northern nations plunge their infants, immediately after
birth, into cold water, without receiving any injury. The Laplan=
ders expofe their new-born infants on the fnow till they are almoft
dead with cold, and then throw them into a warm bath. During
the firft year, this feemingly harfh treatment is repeated three times.
every day. After that period, the children are bathed in cold wa-
ter thrice every week, It is a general opinion in northern regions,
that cold bathing renders men more healthy and robuft; and hence
they inure their children, from their very birth, to this habit. In
the ifthmus of America, the inhabitants, even when covered with
fweat, plunge themfelves with impunity into cold water. ‘The mo-
thers bathe in cold water, along with their infants, the moment af=-
ter delivery ; yet much fewer of them die of child-bearing, than in.
nations where a practice of this kind would be confidered as ex-
tremely hazardous,

With regard to the food’ of infants, it fhould confift, for the firft
two months, of the mother’s milk alone. A child may be injured.

by

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 201

by allowing it any other nourifhment before the end of the firft
month. In Holland, in Italy, in Turkey, and over the whole Le-
vant, children, during the firft year, are not permitted to tafte any
other food. The Canadian favages nurfe their children four or five
years, and fometimes fix or feven. In cafes of neceffity, the milk of
quadrupeds may fupply that of the mother. But, in fuch cafes, the
child fhould be obliged to fuck the animal’s teat; for the degree of
heat is always uniform and proper, and the milk, by the action of
the mufcles, is mixed with the faliva, which is a great promoter of
digeftion, Several robuft peafants have been known to have had no
other nurfes than ewes. After two or three months, children may
be gradually accuftomed to food fomewhat more folid than milk.
Before the teeth fhoot through the gums, infants are incapable of
maftication. During that period, therefore, it is obvious that Na-
ture intended they fhould be nourifhed folely by foft fubftances,
But, after they are furnifhed with teeth, it is equally obvious, that
they fhould occafionally be allowed food of a more folid texture.

The bodies of infants, though extremely delicate, are lefs affeted
by cold than at any other period of life. This effe& may be pro-
duced by the fuperior quicknefs in the pulfation of the heart and
arteries which takes place in {mall animals. The pulfe of an infant
is more frequent than that of an adult. The pulfe of a horfe, or of
an ox, is much flower than that of a man; and the motion of the
heart, in very {mall animals, as that of a linnet, is fo rapid that it is
impoflible to count the ftrokes,

The lives of children, during the firft three or four years, are ex-
tremely precarious. After that period, their exiftence becomes gra-
dually more certain. According to Simpfon’s tables of the degrees
of mortality at different ages, it appears, that, of a certain number
of infants brought forth at the fame time, more than a fourth part

(ites Cc ‘ of

202 THE PHILOSOPHY

of them died in the firft year, more than a third in two years, and
at leaft one half at the end of the third year. Mr Simpfon made
this experiment upon children born in London. But the mortality
of children is not nearly fo great in every place; for M. Dupré de
S. Maur, by a number of experiments made in France, has fhown,
that one half of the children born at the fame time are not extin®
in lefs than feven or eight years.

To treat of the difeafes of children, or to enter minutely into the
caufes which contribute to the great mortality of mankind in early
infancy, is no part of our plan. In general, thefe caufes are to be
referred to unnatural practices in the management of children, in=
troduced by fuperftition, by ignorance, and by foolifh notions arifing
from over-refinement, from prejudice, and from hypothetical fyftems,
while the oeconomy and analogy of Nature, in the conduct and fi-
tuation of the inferior animals, are almoft totally negleted. Every
animal, except the human fpecies, brings forth its young without
any foreign aid. But incredible numbers of children, as well as of
mothers, are daily maimed, enfeebled, and deftroyed, by the igno-
rance and barbarity of midwives and accoucheurs, An infant is no
fooner brought into the world than it is crammed with phyfic. Na-
ture’s medicine for cleanfing the bowels of infants is the milk of the
mother, But midwives abfurdly imagine that drugs will anfwer
this purpofe much better. All other animals that give fuck nurfe
their own offspring: But we too frequently delegate this tender and
endearing office to ftrange women, whofe conftitutions, habits of
life, and mental difpofitions, are often totally different from thofe of
the genuine parent. Infants, recently after birth, frequently fuffer
from giving them, inftead of the mother’s milk, wine- whey, water-=
gruel, and fimilar unnatural kinds of nourifhment. In this period
of their exiftence, however, very little food, but a great deal of reft,
is neceflary for promoting their health, and fecuring their eafe and

tranquillity ;

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 203

tranquillity ; for infants, when not teazed by officious cares, fleep
almoft continually during feveral weeks after birth. Young animals
are naturally fond of being in the open air; but our infants, parti-
cularly in large towns, are almoft perpetually fhut up in warm
apartments, which both relaxes their bodies and enervates their
minds, The great agility, ftrength, and fine proportions of favages,
are refults of a hardy education, of living much in the open air, and
of an unreftrained ufe of all their organs the moment after they
come into the world.

In young animals, as well as in infants, there is a gradual progrefs,
both in bodily and mental powers, from birth to maturity. Thefe
powers are unfolded fooner or later, according to the nature and
exigencies of particular fpecies. This progrefs, in man, is very flow.
Man acquires not his full ftature and ftrength of body till feveral
years after the age of puberty: And, with regard to his mind, his
judgement and other faculties cannot be faid to be perfectly ripe
before his thirtieth year.

In early infancy, though the impreffions received from new ob-
jects muft be ftrong, the memory appears to be weak. Many cau-
fes may concur in producing this effeét. In this period of our ex-
iftence,' almoft every objet is new, and, of courfe, ingroffes the
whole attention. Hence the idea of any particular obje& is oblite-
rated by the quick fucceflion and novelty of others, joined to the
force ‘with which they act upon the mind. Haller afcribes this
want of recollection to a weaknefs of memory ; but it feems rather
to proceed from a confufion which neceffarily refults from the num-
ber and ftrong impreffions of new obje&s. The memory ripens not

fo much by a gradual increafe in the ftrength of that faculty, as by
a diminution in the number and novelty of the objects which folli-
cit attention. Ina few years children are enabled to exprefs all
Cc2 their

204. T GE? Pie I L;Oss0re. EY

their wants and defires, The number of new objects daily diminith-
es, and the impreflions made by thofe with which they are familiar
become comparatively fmail and uninterefting. Hence.their habits
of attention, and the ardour of their minds, begin to relax. Inftead
of a general and undiftinguifhing gratification of their fenfes, this is
the period when it is neceflary to ftimulate children, by various ar-
tifices, to apply their minds fteadily to the examination of particular
objects, and to the acquifition of new ideas from more complicated
and refined fources of information. The great bafis of education is
a habit of attention. When this important point is gained, the minds
of children may be molded into any form. But that reftleffneds,
and appetite for motion, which Nature, for the wifeft purpofes, has
implanted in the conftitution of all young animals, fhould not be
too feverely checked, Health and vigour of body are the fureft
foundations of ftrength and improvement of mind.

With regard to the duration of infancy, from man to the infe&
tribes, it feems, in general, to be proportioned, not'to the extent of
hife, but to the fagacity or mental powers of the different clafles of
animated beings. The elephant requires 30 years, and the rhino-
ceros 20, before they come to perfect maturity, and are enabled to
multiply their fpecies. But thefe years mark not the period of in-
fancy ; for the animals, in a much fhorter time, are capable of pro-
curing their own food, and are totally independent of any aid from
their parents. The fame remark is applicable to the camel, the horfe,
the larger apes, &c. Their ages of puberty are four, two and a half,
and three years. But, in thefe quadrupeds, the terminations of in-
fancy are much more early. The fmaller quadrupeds, as hares, rats,
mice, &c, are mature at the end of the firft year after birth; and the
Guiney pig and rabbit require only five or fix months. There is a
gradation of mental powers, though not without exceptions, from
the larger to the more minute quadrupeds; for the dog and fox,

whofe

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 205

whofe fagacity is very great, come to maturity in one year, and their
ftate of infancy is fhort. But, of all animals, the infancy and help-
lefs condition of men are the moft prolonged; and the fuperiority
and dudtility of his mind will not be queftioned.

The infant ftate of birds is very fhort. Moft of the feathered
tribes arrive at perfection in lefs than fix months; and their fagacity
is comparatively limited.

With regard to fifhes, if the whale and feal kind, who fuckle their
young, be excepted, they receive no aid from their parents. Fithes
no fooner efcape from the eggs of their mother, than they are in a
condition to procure nourifhment, and to provide, in fome meafure,
for their own fafety. Of the fagacity of fifhes, owing to the ele-
ment in which they live, we have very little knowledge. But their
general character is ftupidity, joined to a voracious and indifcrimi-
nating appetite for food. In oppofition to an almoft general Jaw of
Nature which fubfifts among other animals, fifhes devour, without
diftinétion, every fmaller or weaker animal, whether it belongs to a
different fpecies, or to their own. In animals of a much higher or-
der, voracity of appetite is feldom accompanied with ingenuity or
elegance of tafte. When the principal attention of an animal is
engrofled with any fenfual appetite, it is a fair conclufion that the
mental powers are weak, becaufe they are chiefly employed upon
the groffeft of all objects. If this obfervation be juft, fifhes muft be
ranked among the moft ftupid animals of equal magnitude and adti-
vity.

The infant ftate of infects is a various and complicated fubjec.
After they efcape from the egg, they undergo fo many changes, and
aflume fuch a variety of forms, that it is difficult to determine the
period of their exiftence which correfponds to the condition of in-

fancy

206 TPE OP a UL Os oP i. ¥

fancy in the larger animals, Different fpecies remain longer or
fhorter in the form of worms, caterpillars, or grubs, before they are
changed into chryfalids, and afterwards into flies. When young,
like other animals, they are fmall and feeble: But, even in their
moft helplefs condition, with a very few exceptions, Nature is their
only nurfe. They require no aid from their parents, who, in gene-
ral, are totally unacquainted with their progeny. But, as formerly
obferved, when treating of inftin@, the mothers uniformly depofit
their eggs in fituations which afford both protection and nourifh-
ment to their young. The parent fly, according to the fpecies, in-
variably, unlefs reftrained by neceflity, depofits her eggs upon parti-
cular plants, in the bodies of other animals, in the earth, or in wa-
ter. Whenever, therefore, an infect receives exiftence in its primary
form, all its wants are fupplied. Though the mother, after the
worms iffue from the eggs, takes no charge of her offspring, and
frequently does not exift at the time they come forth, yet, by an
unerring and pute inftin@, fhe uniformly places them in fituations
where the young find proper nourifhment, and every thing necef-
fary to their feeble condition. .

To this general law, by which infe&s are governed, there are fe-
veral exceptions. Bees, and fome other flies, not only conftru&
nefts for their young, but actually feed, and moft anxioufly prote&
them,

From what has been faid concerning the infancy of animals, one
general remark merits attention. Nature has uniformly, though by
various modes, provided for the nourifhment and prefervation of all
animated beings while they are in an infantine ftate. Though the
human fpecies continues long in that ftate, the attachment and folli-
citude of both parents, inftead of abating, .in proportion to the time
and labour beftowed on their progeny, conftantly augment, and

commonly

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 207

commonly remain during life. The reciprocal affeCtion of parents
and children is one of the greateft fources of human happinefs. If
the love of children were not ftrong, and if it did not increafe with
time, the labour, the conftant attention, the anxiety and fatigue of
mothers would be unfufferable. But here Nature, whofe wifdom is
always confpicuous, makes affection brave every difficulty, and footh
every pain, Ifa child be fickly, and require uncommon care, the
exertions of the mother are wonderfully fupported: Pity unites with
love; and thefe two paffions become fo ftrong, that hardfhips, and
fatigue of every kind, are fuffered with chearfulnefs and alacrity,

With regard to the inferior tribes of animals, Nature has not been
lef provident. To quadrupeds and birds fhe has given a ftrong and
marked affection for their offspring, as long as parental care is ne= |
ceflary. But, whenever the young begin to be in a condition to pro-
te& and provide for themfelves, the attachment of the parents gra-
dually fubfides; they become regardlefs of their offspring, at laft banith
them with blows, from their prefence, and, after that period, feem to
have no knowledge of the objects which fo lately had engrofled all the
attention of their minds, and occupied all the induftry and labour
of their bodies.—Here the dignity and fuperiority of man appears
in a confpicuous light. Inftead of lofing the knowledge of his off-
fpring after they arrive at maturity, his affetion expands, and em-
braces grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, with equal warmth
_as.if they had immediately originated from himéelf,

CHAP.

208 THE PHILOSOPHY

CTV AXE 'E ER Nate

Of the Growth, and Food, of Animals.

T is a law of Nature, that all organized bodies, whether animal

or vegetable, require food, in order to expand and ftrengthen
their parts when young, and to preferve health and vigour after they
have arrived at maturity. The food of animals is digefted in the
ftomach and inteftines: By this procefs it is converted into chyle,
and abforbed by the ladteal veflels, in the manner defcribed in
Chap. Il. pag. 48. But how this chyle, or nutritious matter, after
mingling with the general mafs of blood, contributes to the growth,
and repairs the wafte of animal bodies, is a myftery which probably
never will be unfolded by human fagacity, It has, however, like
many other fecrets of Nature, given rife to feveral ingenious theories
and conjectures, fome of which fhall be flightly mentioned.

Buffon confiders the bodies of animals and vegetables as what he
calls znternal moulds. He fays, that the matter of nutrition is not
applied by juxta-pofition, but that it penetrates the whole mafs ;
that each part receives and applies thofe particles only which are
peculiar and neceflary to its own nature; and that, by this means,
the whole parts of the body are gradually and proportionally aug-
mented, This nutritive matter, he remarks, is organic,, and fimilar

to

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 209

to the body itfelf; and hence the fize of the body is increafed, with-
out any change in its figure or fubftance. The matter ejeéted by
the different excretions he confiders to be a feparation of the dead
from the vivifying and organic parts of nourifhment, which are di-
{tributed over the body by an aétive power: This power, fimilar to
that of gravity, penetrates the internal fubftance of the body, and
attracts the organic particles, which are thus pufhed on through all
its parts. As thefe organic -particles are fimilar to the body itfelf,
their union with the different parts augments its fize, without chan-
ging its figure. To unfold an embryo or germ, nothing more is re-
quifite than that it contain, in miniature, a body fimilar to the f{pecies,
and be placed in proper circumftances for the acquifition of freth
organic particles to increafe its fize and unfold its members. Hence
nutrition, developement, and reproduction, are all effects of the fame
caufe,

This account of the nutrition and growth of organic bodies has
the appearance of an ingenious theory. But an attentive reader
will eafily perceive, that it contains no other information, than that
animals and vegetables are nourifhed and grow by the intervention
of the nutritious particles of food. This is a fact univerfally known
and admitted. But we are ftill as ignorant as ever of the mode by
which this myfterious operation is performed.

Other authors have fuppofed that the brain is a large gland; that
the nerves diftributed over the whole body are the duéts or canals
of this gland; and that the principal ufe of the brain is to fecrete
nutritious matter, and to tranfmit it by the nerves to the various
parts of the fyftem, in order to expand the different organs of which
it is compofed, or to repair the wafte they may have fuffered from
labour and other caufes,

3 T Dd This

210 Pine PEL Oroour Hy.

This theory prefuppofes that the nerves are tubular, and’contain a
fluid: But both of thefe circumftances have hitherto eluded the re-
fearch of the ableft anatomifts. Befides, the learned and indefatigable
Doétor Monro, in his Nervous Syftem, has rendered it highly impro-
bable that the nerves are the inftruments of nutrition. The Dodor
reafons in the following manner. On comparing different animals,
he remarks, we find no correfpondence between the fize of their
brain, the rapidity of their growth, or the quantity of nourifhment
they receive. An ox is fix times heavier than a man; but the brain of
an ox weighs not above a fourth part of that of aman. On this fup-
pofition, an ox’s brain muft fecrete twenty-four times more nourifh-
ment than a portion equal to it of the human brain, In two years
an ox acquires his full fize. His brain muft, of courfe, be fuppofed
to tranfmit daily through the nerves two or three pounds of flefh,
bones, &c. But the much larger brain of a man does not, in an
equal time, add to his body a fiftieth part of that weight.

“Ta monfters, fays the Doétor, ‘I have found the limbs very
plump, though the brain was very fmall. Nay, in fome monfters,
‘the head has been. wanting, yet the limbs were as large and per-
fe&as common, In other monfters with one head and two bo-
dies, I Have found that the brain furnifhed the nerves-of the head
and fpinal marrow on the right fide of the monfter; yet the left

a

a

e

a

fpinal marrow, at the top of which there was only a {mall medul-

lary knob, about the fize of a large pea, was as perfect as the right
one; and that body, and its limbs, were as large, and as well nou-
rifhed, as-thofe on the right fide. On the other hand, where there
were two heads of the ordinary fize, and only one body, the limbs
- were not remarkable for-their fize.

a

«

=

- © We fee that organs, of which the nerves: are fo fmall that we
cannot trace them by diffeCtien, as the bones, the:placenta, &c.
* grow

ow

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 21%

* grow as quickly as the other organs, in which the nerves are large
* and numerous,

‘A year after 1 had cut acrofs the fciatic nerve of a living frog, I
“could not perceive that limb fmaller than the other; yet it conti-
© nued to be infenfible and motionlefs. Nay, when I had broken
“the bones of the infenfible limb, or wounded the fkin and flefh, 1
‘ found that the callus formed, and the wounds healed, as readily as
“if the nerve had been entire. The event was the fame after di-
‘ viding, tranfverfely, the lower or pofterior end of the fpinal mar-
‘ row of the frog.

* © Tt is well known,’ concludes our author, ‘ that, if powder
‘of madder root is mixed with the food of a young animal, the
© bones become red; or, if a bone has been broken, that the callus
‘ joining its parts will be red. The ferum of the blood, in the firft
‘ place, is deeply tinged; but the red colour of the bones is not fole-
“ly, nor even chiefly, owing to the coloured ferum or blood circu-
‘lating; for I have found, that, after injeQing water into the veflels
* till thefe were emptied of the blood, and that the water came out
‘ colourlefs, the tinge in the bones appeared equally deep, and was,
‘ therefore, plainly owing to a great quantity of the red earth added
‘to the bones in the time of their growth. But this earth was not
* tranfmitted by the nerves ; for the colour of thefe, as I found, re-
‘ mained unchanged,’

‘That the nutritious particles of food are conveyed by the arteries,
and applied by their extremities to the various parts of animal bo-
dies which require to be repaired or expanded, is an epinion not
only beft fupported by faéts, but adopted by all the more rational
phyfiologifts. The principal facts and arguments in fupport of this
theory fhall now be mentioned.

Dd2 The

212 Tween YL OS Ow i

The chyle, as formerly remarked, is converted into blood. The
glutinous part of the blood, known by the name of coagulable lymph,
refembles the white of an egg. That the white of an egg is the fole
nourifhment of the chick before its exclufion, is an eftablifhed fact ;
and the conclufion, from analogy, that the lymph of blood is deftin-
ed for the growth and reparation of animal bodies, is by no means
unnatural. ‘ Without repeating,’ fays Dr Monro, ‘ our extreme
‘ uncertainty as to the tubular nature of the nerves, and the impro-
‘bability that canals fo exceedingly minute as thofe within the
‘nerves muft be, and of fuch length, are deftined for the convey-
* ance of glue, do we not find, that this very matter is feparated by
‘ the exhalant branches of the arteries of the peritoneum, pleurae,
‘and other fhut facs, and univerfally, by the branches of the ar-
*teries of the cellular membrane ?—The kinds of matter neceflary
‘ for the growth and nourifhment of our feveral organs are fo vari-
“ous and different in their nature, that it is altogether incredible they
© can be furnifhed by the nerves: Thus, water is needed for the ex-
* tenfion of the fore-part of the eye, vifcid matter for the cryftalline
* and vitreous humours, earth for the growth of the bones, &c. ;
* whereas we can as eafily conceive thefe to be furnifhed by the ar-
‘ teries, as that, in one place, they fhould furnifh faliva, in another
$ bile, &c.—As the wafte of the feveral organs is carried off by the
‘ veffels, either circulating or abforbent, why fhould we doubt that
‘ the circulating fluids can add a particle in the place of one that has
* been carried off, or that an artery can fupply what has been abforb-
‘ed by a lymphatic vein? As it is granted that the fecretion of all
‘ other kinds of matter in the bodies of animals is performed by the
‘branches of the arteries, is it not incredible that there fhould be
‘an exception to the general rule in the fecretion of the nourifh-
‘ment? Surely that power which can convert the food into blood,
“and can change the blood into bile and faliva, is fufficient to con-
* vert it into nourifhment.

ad

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 213

©] will now add,’ continues our author, ‘ that in calli, cicatrices,
‘ or accretions, there are numberlefs new formed veffels filled, in
‘ the living animal, with red blood, and which can readily be injec-=
“ted. Nay, I found by experiment, that fuch new formed veffels,
© produced by the oppofite fides of a wound, unite into continued
© canals, or anaftamofe.—If, then, in a callus, new earthy or offeous
‘ fibres, and new veflels, can be formed by the original arteries, mutt
© we not believe that the wafte of this earth, and of thefe veflels,
© can be ever after fupplied by the arteries which formed them? If
©fo, are we not to conclude, that the wafte of other arteries, and of
© other organs, is fupplied in the fame manner from the arteries? If
‘the quantity of blood naturally circulating through a limb be dimi-
© nithed, as by tying the trunk of the brachial artery, in the opera-
tion for an aneurifm, the arm lofes part of its ftrength and fize;
‘ but the lofs is lefs than, at firft fight, might be expected; becaufe
‘ the anaftomofing (or uniting) canals foon come to be greatly en
“larged.

‘Upon the whole,’ the Doétor concludes, ‘ there are few points
‘in phyfiology fo clear, as, 1. That the arteries prepare, and direct-
‘ly fecrete the nourifhment in all our organs; and, 2. That the
‘nerves do not contain nor condu& the nourifhment, but, by
‘ enabling the arteries to a&t properly, contribute indiretly to nutri-
“tion.”

The ingenious Charles Bonnet endeavours to fhow, that the parts:
of all organifed bodies are contained, in miniature, in germs or buds;
that thefe germs, when placed in proper fituations, gradually unfold
and increafe in magnitude; that the various members of animals and.
vegetables are expanded, both longitudinally and laterally, by food
adapted to their refpeflive natures; and that every germ actually.

includes:

2P4. ive PLL Ose rH Y¥

includes the rudiments of the whole animals or vegetables which
are to proceed from it during all fucceflive generations.

‘With ‘regard to vegetables, it is true, that the feed firft produces
a {mall tree, which it contained in miniature within its lobes: At -
the top of this {mall tree a bud or germ is formed, which contains
the fhoot or tree that is to fpring next feafon. In the fame manner,
the fmall tree of the fecond year produces a bud which includes a tree
for the third year ; and this procefs uniformly goes on as long as the
tree continues to vegetate. At the extremity of each branch, buds
are likewife formed, which contain, in miniature, trees fimilar to
that of the firft year. From thefe, and fimilar fadts, it is concluded,
that all thefe germs were contained in the original feed ; for the firft
bud was fucceeded by a fimilar bud, which was not unfolded till the
fecond year, and the third bud was not expanded till the third year;
and, of courfe, the feed may be faid to have contained not only the
whole buds which would be formed in a hundred years, but all the
feeds, and all the individuals, which would fucceflively arrive till
the final deftruction of the fpecies,

Thefe faéts are known and eftablifhed; but the reafoning deduced
from them is fallacious, or, what amounts to the fame thing, is per-
fe€tly incomprehenfible. The feed is unqueftionably the origin or
caufe of all future individuals, which may be infinite. But the idea _
that it really contained the germs of all the individuals which were
to {pring from it as a fource, is not only abfurd, but exceeds all the
powers of human imagination to conceive. Theories of this kind,
of which there are too many in almoft every department of {cience,
hardly merit examination. Every feed, and every animal, according
to this doétrine, includes in its own body an infinite pofterity! If
we affent to reafonings of this kind, we muft lofe ourfelves in the

labyrinths

OF NATURAL HISTORY. ars

labyrinths of infinity ; and, inftead of throwing light upon the fub-
jet, we fhall involve it in tenfold darknefs, All we know concern-
ing the nature of growth and nutrition is extremely limited. We
know that, in the animal kingdom, nutrition is performed by means
of the blood, which is forcibly propelled through every part of the
body by the aétion of the heart and arteries; and that vegetables, in
a fimilar manner, are nourifhed by the afcenfion and diftribution of
the fap. But, how the nutritive particles are applied to the various
parts of organized bodies, and how they expand the organs, or re-
pair their continual wafte and lofs of fubftance, we muft content
ourfelves with remaining in perpetual ignorance..

In general, the food of animals, and particularly of the human
fpecies, confifts of animal and vegetable fubftances, combined with
water or other fluids. ‘The Gentoo, and fome other fouthern na-
tions, live entirely upon vegetable diet. From the accounts we have
of the different regions of the earth, it appears, that the natives of
warm climates, where the cultivation of plants is practifed, employ
a-fireater proportion of vegetable food than in the more northern
countries. The inhabitants of Lapland have little or no dependence
on the fruits of the earth. They neither fow nor reap. They flill
remain, and, from the nature of their climate, muft forever remain,
in the fhepherd ftate. Their comparative riches confift entirely of
the number of rein-deer poffeffed by individuals. Their principal
nourifhment-is derived from the flefh and milk of thefe animals.
In autumn, however, they catch great multitudes of fowls, moft of
them of the game kind. With thefe, while freth, they not only fup-
ply their prefent wants, but dry and preferve them through the win-
ter. They likewife kill hares, and other animals, which abound in |
the woods and mountains; but the fleth of the bear is their greateft .
‘delicacy. In their lakes and rivers, they have inexhauftible ftores ;
, of:

216 THE PHILOSOPHY

of fithes, which, in fummer and autumn, they dry in the fun, or in
ftoves, and in winter they are preferved by the froft. The Laplan-
ders drink water, or animal oils; but never tafte bread or falt. They
live in a pure air, and have fufficient exercife, Their conftitutions
are attempered to the coldnefs of the climate ; and they are remark-
able for vigour and longevity. The gout, the ftone, the rheumatifm,
and many other difeafes which torture the luxurious in milder
climes, are totally unknown to them. With the few gifts which
Nature has beftowed on them, they remain fatisfied, and live happi-
ly among their mountains and their ftorms. If fouthern nations
afford examples of people who feed nearly on vegetables alone, the
Laplanders furnifh one of the oppofite extreme; for they are al-
moft entirely carnivorous animals,

To Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Britain, the fame obfervation
is applicable. In thefe countries, animal food is much more ufed
than in France, Spain, Italy, Barbary, and the other fouthern regions
of the globe. Many reafons may be affigned for thefe differences in:
the food of nations. The natural productions of the earth depend
entirely on the climate. In warm climates, the vegetables which
grow fpontaneoufly are both more luxuriant and more various.
The number and richnefs of their fruits far exceed thofe of colder
regions, From this circumftance, the natives muft be ftimulated to
ufe a proportionally greater quantity of vegetable food; and we
learn from hiftory, and from travellers, that this is actually the cafe.
In cold countries, on the contrary, vegetables are not only
fewer, but more rigid, and contain lefS nourifhment. The inha-
bitants, accordingly, are obliged to live principally on animal fub-
ftances. If we examine the mode of feeding in different nations, it
will be found, that, in proportion as men approach or recede from
the poles, a greater or lefs quantity of animal and vegetable fubftan-

ces

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 217

ces are ufed in their diet. Cuftom, laws, and religious rites, it muft
be allowed, produce confiderable differences in the articles of food,
among particular nations, which have no dependence on climate, or
the natural productions of the earth. But when men are not fet-
tered or prejudifed by extraneous circumftances, or political infitu-
tions, the nature of their food is invariably determined by the cli-
mates they inhabit. The variety of food, in any country, is like-
wife greatly influenced by culture, and by imitation. Commerce
occafionally furnifhes new fpecies of food, particularly of the vege-
table kind. In Scotland, till about the beginning of this century,
the common people lived: almoft entirely upon grain. Since that
period, the culture and ufe of the potatoe, of many fpccies of cole-
worts, and of fruits, have been introduced, and univerfally diffufed
through the nation.

~ Whether man was originally intended by Nature to live folely

upon animal or vegetable food ? is a queftion which has been much
agitated both by the ancients and the moderns. Many faéts and cir-
cumftances concur in eftablifhing the opinion, that man was defign-
ed to be nourifhed neither by animals nor vegetables folely, but by
a mixture of both. Agriculture is an art, the invention of which
muft depend on a number of fortuitous circumftances It requires
a long fucceffion of ages before favage nations learn this art. They
depend entirely for their fubfiftence upon hunting wild animals,
fifhing, and fuch fruits as their country happens fpontaneoufly to
produce. This has uniformly been the manner of. living among all
the favage nations of which we have any proper knowledge; and
feems to be a clear proof, that animal food is by no means repug-
nant to the nature of man. Befides, the furface of the earth, even
in the moft ‘uxuriant climates, and though affifted by culture, is
not capable of producing vegetable food in fufficient quantity to
fupport the human race, after any region of it has become fo popu-
2 Ee t lous

218 THEO Pa TEL OS DPI Y

lous as Britain, France, and many other nations. The general prac-
tice of mankind, when not reftrained by prejudice or fuperftition,
of feeding promifcuoufly on animal and vegetable fubftances, is a
ftrong indication that man is, partly at leaft, a carnivorous animal.
The Gentoos, though their chief diet be vegetables, afford no proper
argument againft this reafoning. They are obliged, by their reli-
gion, to abftain from the flefh of animals; and they are allowed to:
ufe milk, which is a very nourifhing animal food. Notwithftanding
this indulgence, the Gentoos, in general, are a meagre, fickly, and
feeble race. In hot climates, however, a very great proportion of
vegetable diet may be ufed without any bad confequences.

Other arguments, tending to the fame conclufion, are derived,
not from the cuftoms or practices of particular nations, but from the
ftru€ture of the human body. All animals which feed upon vege-
tables alone, as formerly remarked, have ftomachs and inteftines
proportionally larger than thofe that live folely on animal fubftan-
ces. Man, like the carnivorous tribes, is furnifhed with cutting and
canine teeth, and, like the graminivorous, with a double row of
grinders. The dimenfions of his ftomach and inteftines likewife
hold a mean proportion between thefe two tribes of animals, which
differ fo effentially in their charaéters and manners.—From thefe,
and fimilar arguments, I have no hefitation to conclude, that a pro-
mifcuous ufe of animal and vegetable fubftances is no deviation from
the original nature or deftination of mankind, whatever country
they may inhabit.

With regard to the different proportions of animal and’ vegetable
food which are moft accommodated to the health and vigour of
mankind, no general rule can be given that could be applicable to
different climates, and to the different conftitutions of individuals.
Animal food, it is certain, gives vigour to the body, and may be

ufed:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 219

ufed more liberally by the a€tive and laborious than by thofe who
lead a ftudious and fedentary life. A great proportion of vegetable
food, and particularly of bread, is confidered, by the moft eminent
phyficians, as beft adapted for men who are fond of f{cience and lite-
rature; for full meals of animal food load the ftomach, and feldom
fail to produce dulnefs, yawning, indolence, and many difeafes
which often prove fatal.

The remainder of this chapter, from unavoidable caufes, muft
confift of obfervations of a more defultory kind, ‘

Moft animals, when they live long on a particular fpecies of food,
are apt to be affected with difeafes, which generally arife from cof-
tivenefs, or its oppofite. The guiney-pigs, after being confined for
fome time to coleworts, contract a loofenefs, which often terminates
in death. But, when thofe animals are at full liberty, they prevent
this effe&, by an inftin& which teaches them to make frequent
changes from moift to dry food: If they are reftrained in their
_. thoice, they will eat, as a fuccedaneum, paper, linen, and even weol-
len cloths, :

Though fome animals, and many vegetables, would be noxious to
man, if ufed as food, yet, in general, that matter is more regulated
by chance and cuftom than by rational motives. By experience,
and the aid of our fenfes, we acquire a tollerable facility of diftin-
guifhing falutary from noxious food. Other animals fele& their
food inftin@ively ; and their choice is chiefly determined by the
fenfe of fmelling. The fpaniel hunts his prey by the {cent ; but the
grey-hound depends principally upon the ufe of his eye. When
the grey-hound lofes fight of a hare, he inftantly gives up the chace,
and looks keenly around him, but never applies his nofe, in order
to difcover the track. Some rapacious animals, as wolves and ra-

Ee 2 vens,

220 THE - PHILOSOPHY

vens, difcover carrion at diftances, which, if we were to judge from
our own fenfe of {melling, would appear to be altogether incredible,
Others, as eagles, hawks, gulls, &c. furprife us no lefs by the acute-
nels of their fight. They perceive, from great heights in the air,
mice, {mall birds, and minute fifhes in the water.

One great caufe of the diffufion of animals over every part of the
globe, is to be derived from the diverfity of appetites for particular
{pecies of food, implanted by Nature in the different tribes, Some
fithes are only to be found in certain latitudes. Some animals inha-
bit the frigid, others the torrid zones; fome frequent deferts, moun-
tains, woods, lakes, and meadows, In their choice of fituation, they
are uniformly determined to occupy fuch places as furnifh them
with food accommodated to their natures. Monkies, the elephant,
and rhinoceros, fix on the torrid zone, becaufe they feed on vege-
tables which flourifh there during the whole year. The rein-deer
inhabit the cold regions of the north, becaufe thefe countries pro-
duce the greateft quantity of the lichen, a fpecies of mofs, which is
their beloved food, The pelican makes choice of dry and defert
places to lay her eggs. When her young are hatched, fhe is obli-
ged to bring water to them from great diftances. To enable her to
perform this neceflary office, Nature has provided her with a large
fac, which extends from the tip of the under mandible of her bill to
the throat, and holds as much water as will fupply her brood for
feveral days. This water fhe pours into the neft to cool her young,
to allay their thirft, and to teach them to {fwim. Lions, tigers, and.
other rapacious animals, refort to thefe nefts, drink the water, and
are faid not to injure the young *. The goat afcends the rocky
precipice, to crop the leaves of fhrubs, and other favourite plants.
The floth and the fquirrel feed upon the leaves and the fruit of

trees,

* Amoen. Acad. vol. 2. p. 41>

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 225

trees, and are, therefore, furnifhed with feet which enable them to
climb, Water-fowls live upon fithes, infects, and the eggs of fithes.
Their bill, neck, wings, legs, and whole ftructure, are nicely fitted
for enabling them to catch the food adapted to their natures. Their
feeding upon the eggs of fifhes accounts for that variety of fithes
which are often found in lakes and pools on the tops of hills,
and on high grounds remote from the fea and from rivers, The
bat and the goat-fucker fly about during the night, when the whole
air is filled with moths, and other noéturnal infects. The bear, who
acquires a prodigious quantity of fat during the fummer, retires to
his den, when provifions fail him, in winter. For fome months,
he receives his fole nourifhment from the abforption of the fat
which had been previoufly accumulated in the cellular membrane.

A glutton, brought from Siberia to Drefden, eat every day, fays
M. Klein, thirty pounds of flefh without being fatisfied. This fac
indicates an amazing digeftive power in fo {mall a quadruped; for
the ftory of his fqueezing his fides between two trees, in order to
make him difgorge, is a mere fable *.

Siberia, Kamtfchatka, and the polar regions, are fuppofed to be
the abodes of mifery and defolation. They are, it muft be allowed,
infefted with numerous tribes of bears, foxes, gluttons, and other ra-
pacious animals, But it fhould be confidered, that thefe voracious
animals fupply the natives with both food and clothing. To elude:
- the attacks of ferocity, and to acquire poffeffion of the fkins and
earcafles of fuch creatures, the induftry and dexterity of favage na-
tions are excited. The furs are demanded by foreigners. The inha-
bitants by this means learn commerce and the arts of life; and, in the
progrefs of time, bears and wild beafts become the inftruments of

polifhing

* Gaz, Litteraire, vol. 1. p. 481>

222 THESPHILOSOPRH ¥

polifhing a barbarous people. Thus, the moft fubftantial good of-
ten proceeds from apparent misfortune.

There is hardly a plant that is not rejeéted as food by fome ani-
mals, and ardently defired by others. The horfe yields the common
water-hemlock to the goat, and the cow the long-leafed water-hem-
lock'to the fheep. The goat, again, leaves the aconite, or bane-ber-
ries, to the horfe, &c. Plants which afford proper nourifhment to
fome animals, are by others avoided, becaufe they would not only
be hurtful, but even poifonows. Hence no plant is abfolutely dele-
terious to animal life. Poifon is only a relative term. The euphor-
bia, or fpurge, fo noxious to man, is greedily devoured by fome of
the infec tribes.

It is a maxim univerfally received, that every animal, after birth,
grows, or acquires an augmentation of fize. The fpider-fly, how-
ever, affords an exception. The mother lays an egg fo difpropor-
tionally large, that no perfon, without the aid of experience, could
believe it to have been produced by this infe&. When the egg is
hatched, a fly proceeds from it, which, at the moment of birth,
equals the parent in magnitude. Upon a ftrifter examination of
this egg, it has been difcovered, that the infe@, while in the belly
of its mother, undergoes a transformation into the nymph or chry-
falis ftate; and that, inftead of a worm, a fly is produced from it,
of the fame dimenfions as the parent. This difcovery, however,
does not diminifh our wonder, that any animal fhould actually give
birth to a fubftance as large as its own body, and that its fize fhould
never afterwards receive any augmentation *.

When

* Reaumur, tom. 6. p. 48.;—and Bonnet, tom. 3. p. 363.—369-

~~

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 223

When caterpillars, fome time before their change, are deprived of
food, they diminifh to at leaft one half of their former fize. Their
chryfalids, of courfe, as well as the butterflies which proceed from
them, are proportionally fmall. From this fac&t we learn the impor-
tance of feeding all young animals well till they acquire their full
growth.

It is a*remark of the ingenious Reaumur, that fuch infects as feed
upon dead carcafles, and whole fecundity is great, never attack live
animals, The flefh-fly depofits her eggs in the bodies of dead ani-
mals, where her progeny receive that nourifhment which is beft fuit-
ed to their conftitution. But this fly never attempts to lay her eggs
in the flefh of found and living animals. If Nature had determined
her to obferve the oppofite condu@, men, quadrupeds, and birds,
would have been dreadfully affli&ted by the ravages of this fingle
infe&. Left it might be imagined that the flefh-fly feleQed dead,
inftead of live animals, becaufe, in depofiting her eggs, fhe was un-
able to pierce the fkin of the latter, M. de Reaumur made the fol-
lowing experiment, which removed every doubt that might arife on
the fubje&. He carefully pulled of all the feathers from the thigh of
a young pigeon, and applied to it a thin flice of beef, in which there
were hundreds of maggots. The portion of beef was not fufficient
to maintain them above a few hours. He fixed it to the thigh by a
bit of gauze; and he prevented the pigeon from moving, by tying
its wings and leggs. The maggots foon fhewed that their prefent
fituation was difagreeable to them. Moft of them retired from under
the flice of beef; and the few that remained perifhed in a fhort time.
Their death was probably occafioned by the degree of heat in the
pigeon’s body being greater than their conftitution could bear. Up-:
on the fame pigeon M. de Reaumur performed another experiment.
He took off the fkin from its thigh, laid bare the flefh, and applied
immediately another flice of beef full of maggots. The animals

difcovered:

224 THE PHVLOSOPH ¥%

difcovered evident marks of uneafinefs; and all of them that re-
mained on the flefh of the pigeon were deprived of life, as in the
former experiment, in lefs than an hour. Thus the degree of heat
that is neceflary to fuch worms as inhabit the interior parts of ani-
mals, is deftructive to thofe fpecies which Nature has deftined to
feed upon the fleth of dead animals. Hence the worms fometimes
found in ulcerous fores, muft belong to a different fpecies from thofe
upon which the above experiments were made.

The growth of fome worms, which feed upon animal or vege-
table fubftances, is extremely rapid. Redi remarked, that thefe crea-
tures, the day after they cfcaped from the egg, had acquired at leaft
double their former fize. At this period he weighed them, and
found that each worm weighed feven grains; but that, on the
day preceding, it required from twenty-five to thirty of them to
weigh a fingle grain. Hence, in about the fpace of twenty-four
hours, each of thefe worms had become from 155 to 210 times
heavier than formerly. This rapidity of growth is remarkable in
thofe maggots which are produced from the eggs of the common
fleth-fly.

Before we difmifs this fubje&, a few obfervations on that power,
inherent in all animal bodies, of diffolving, and converting into
chyle, every nutritive fubftance thrown into the ftomach, merit at-
tention.

In order to explain the procefs of digeftion, fome phyficians and phi-
lofophers have had recourfe to mechanical force, and others to chemical
action. The fupporters of mechanical force maintained, that the ftomachs
of all animals comminuted, or broke down into {mall portions, every
fpecies of food, and prepared it for being converted into chyle. The
chemical philofophers, on the contrary, fupported the opinion, that

the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 225

the food was diflolved by a fermentation induced by the faliva and
gaftric juices. The difputes which naturally arofe from thefe feem-
ingly oppofite theories, ftimulated the inquiries of the ingenious, and
produced feveral curious and important difcoveries. Reaumur,
M‘Bride, Stevens, Spalanzani, Hunter, have all exerted their induftry
and talents upon this fubject. To give even an abridged view of
their different labours would be both tedious, and, at the fame time,
would not coincide with the defign of this work. I thall therefore
confine myfelf to fome refults of their experience and labours.
Spalanzani, who is a voluminous writer on this fubjeG, relates not
only the difcoveries of his predeceffors, but has enriched his work
with numerous experiments and obfervations made by himfelf. In
his inveftigation of the procefs of digeftion, and the action of the
ftomach, he obferves the following order: —

1. He treats of animals with ftrong mufcular ftomachs, as com+
mon fowls, turkeys, ducks, geefe, pigeons, &c. 2. Of animals with
ftomachs of an intermediate confiftence, as crows, herons, &c.,
3. Of animals with membranous ftomachs, as frogs, lizards, earth
and water {nakes, vipers, fifhes, fheep, the ox, the horfe, the owl,
the falcon, the eagle, the cat, the dog, man, &c.

With regard to birds which are furnifhed with mufcular ftomachs,
or gizzards, Spalanzani, in imitation of Reaumur, procured {mall glafs
and metal balls and tubes, perforated with many holes, Thefe he
filled with different kinds of food, and forced them down the
throats of common fowls, turkeys, &c. He filled balls with bar-
ley, or other grains, in their entire ftate, and allowed them to re-
main in the ftomachs of ducks, turkeys, and other fowls, for twen-
ty-four, and, in fome cafes, for forty-eight hours. He then killed
the animals, took the balls out of their ftomachs, and, after examin-
ing the grains attentively, he could not difcover that the gaftric juice,

tT EE to

226 THE PHILOSOPHY

to the ation of which they were fully expofed by the numerous
holes in the balls, had made the fmalleft impreffion upon them.
They fuffered no diminution of fize, and exhibited no marks of
diffolution. Thefe experiments he often repeated upon a number of
fowls provided with mufcular flomachs, and the event was uniform-
ly the fame: In no inftance did the gaftric juice produce any fol-
vent effet upon the grain contained in the balls. After thefe un-
fuccefsful attempts, he fufpected, that, though the gaftric juice was
unable to diffolve grains in their entire ftate, it might act as a men-
ftruum upon them when fufficiently mafticated or bruifed. To af-
certain this point, he afterwards filled his balls with bruifed grains,
and introduced them into the ftomachs of different fowls, as cocks,
ducks, turkeys, wood-pigeons, &c, In all the numerous trials he
made with bruifed grain, he invariably found, that the grain was
more or lefs diffolved in proportion to the timé the balls were allow-
ed to remain in the fiomach.

Reaumur and Spalanzani, in the courfe of their experiments upon
the digeftion of birds with mufcular ftomachs, difcovered a won-
derful comminuting force which thefe ftomachs poffefs. When tin
tubes full of grain were thrown into the ftomachs of turkeys, and
allowed to continue there a confiderable time, they were found to
be broken, cruthed, or diftorted, in-a moft fingular manner. ‘ Ha-
* ving found,’ fays Spalanzani, ‘that the tin tubes which I ufed for
* common fowls were incapable of refifting the ftomach of turkeys,
* and not happening at that time to be provided: with any tin plate
* of greater thicknefs, I tried to ftrengthen them, by foldering to the
* ends two circular plates of the fame metal, perforated: only with a
few holes for the admiffion of the gaftric fluid. But this contri-
vance was ineffectual; for, after the tubes had been twenty hours
in the ftemach of a turkey, the circular plates were driven in,

* and

“

a

wn

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 227

‘ and fome of the tubes were broken, fome comprefled, and fome

* diftorted, in the moft irregular manner *.’

The {mooth and blunt fubftances formerly employed, Spalanzani
remarks, though fo violently ated upon, could not injure the fto-
mach; he therefore tried what effeéts would be produced by tharp
bodies thrown into the gizzards of fowls. He found that the fto-
mach of a cock, in the fpace of twenty-four hours, broke off the
angles of a piece of rough jagged glafs. Upon examining the giz-
zard, no wound or laceration appeared. ‘ Twelve ftrong tin needles,’
fays Spalanzani, ‘ were rmly fixed in a ball of lead, the points
‘ projecting about a quarter of an inch from the furface. Thus
* armed, it was covered with a cafe of paper, and forced down the
‘ throat of aturkey. The bird retained it for a day and a half
without fhowing the leaft fymptom of uneafinefs, Why the fto-

a

mach fhould have received no injury from fo horrid an inftrument
I cannot explain: The points of the twelve needles were broken
off clofe to the furface of the ball, except two or three, of which

”

the ftumps projected a little higher.—Two of the points of the
needles were found among the food; the other ten I could not

n

difcover, either in the ftomach or the long track of the inteftines ;
and therefore concluded, that they had paffed out at the vent f.’

The fame author made a fecond experiment feemingly ftill more
cruel, He fixed twelve fmall lancets, very fharp both at the points
and edges, in a fimilar ball of lead. ‘ The lancets,’ fays he, ‘ were
* fuch as I ufe for the difleG@ion of {mall animals. The ball was
* given to a turkey cock, and left eight hours in the ftomach; at
“ the expiration of which time that organ was opened; but no-
* thing appeared except the naked ball, the twelve lancets having

F f 2 ‘been

* Spalanzani’s Differtations, vol. 1. p. 12. t+ Ibid. p. 18.

228 TOE We ED hE OSG. Fi, ¥

~

been broken to pieces. I difcovered three of them in the large

a

inteftines, pointlefs, and mixed with the excrements; the other
nine were mifling, and had probably been voided at the vent.
The ftomach was as found and entire as that which had received
the needles. Two capons, of which one was fubje€ted to the ex-

-

a

periment with the needles, and the other with the lancets, fuflain-

a

ed them equally well.’

The fmall ftones fo commonly found in the ftomachs of many of
the feathered tribes, have been fuppofed to fheath the gizzard, and
to enable it to digeft, or at leaft to break down into fmall fragments,
glafs, iron, wood, ftones, and other hard, and even fharp-pointed,
fubftances. Spalanzani has endeavoured to prove, that the mufcu-
Jar ation of the gizzard is equally powerful, whether the fmall
ftones are prefent or abfent. To afcertain this point, he took wood-
pigeons the moment they efcaped from the egg, fed and nurfed
them himfelf till they were able to peck: ‘ They were then,’ con-
tinues our author, ‘ confined in a-cage, and fupplied at firft with
» vetches foaked in warm water, and afterwards in a dry and hard

a

“ ftate. Ina month after they had begun to peck, hard bodies,
-fuch as tin tubes, glafs globules, and fragments of broken glafs,
were introduced with the food. Care was taken that each pigeon
fhould fwallow only one of thefe fubftances. In two days after-
wards they were killed. Not one of the ftomachs contained a
-fingle pebble; and yet the tubes were bruifed and flattened, and
the fpherules and bits of glafs blunted and broken: This happened
alike to each body; nor did the fmalleft laceration: appear on the
coats of the ftomach.’ From feveral experiments of a fimilar na-
ture, and accompanied with the fame events, Spalanzani concludes

a

o

a

~

a

“

«

chis fubje€t with that candour which is always a genuine charadte-
riftic of areal philofophic fpirit. Upon the whole, ‘ it appears,’
fays he, ‘that thefe {mall ftones are not at all neceflary to the tritura-

* tion

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 229

tion of the firmeft food, or the hardeft foreign fubftance, contrary
to the opinion of many anatomifts and phyfiologifts, as well an-
cient as modern, I will not, however, deny, that, when put in
motion by the gaftric mufcles, they are capable of producing fome
effect on the contents of the ftomach.’

The celebrated Mr John Hunter, in his Ob/ervations on Digeftion*,

fairly quotes the modeft conclufion of Spalanzani, But he infifts
that ftones are extremely ufeful in the comminution of grain, and
other fubftances, which conftitute the food of many fowls. ‘ In

6

a o- a ae - ~ o o a « o s

-~- 8

o

confidering, Mr Hunter remarks, ‘ the ftrength of the gizzard, .
and its probable effets when compared with the human ftomach,
it muft appear that the gizzard is, in itfelf, very fit for trituration.
We are not, however, to conclude, that ftones are entirely ufelefs;.
for, if we compare the ftrength of the mufcles of the jaws of ani-
mals who maftigate their food, with thofe of birds who do not,
we fhall fay, that the parts are well calculated for the purpofe of
maftication; yet we are not from thence to infer, that the teeth
in fuch jaws are ufelefs, even although we have proof that the
gums do the bufinefs when the teeth are gone. If ftones are of
ufe, which we may reafonably conclude. they are, birds have an
advantage over animals. having teeth, fo far as ftones are always
to be found, while the teeth are not renewed.—If we conftantly

‘find in an organ fubftances which, can only be fubfervient to the
¢.

functions of that organ, fhould we deny them that ufe, although

‘the part can do its.office- without them?—The ftones affift in
‘grinding down the grain, and, by feparating its parts, allow the.
‘gaftric juice to come more readily.in contact with it.’

The.

* Pape 156.:.

20 THE PHILOSOPHY

The next feries of experiments were made upon animals with
what Spalanzani denominates intermediate ftomachs between the
mufcular and membranous, as ravens, crows, herons, &c. The pow-
er and action of thefe intermediate ftlomachs are fuperior to thofe
of the membranous kind, but greatly inferior to thofe of the muf-
cular. The tin tubes, or balls, which pigeons and turkeys foon flat-
ten and disfigure, remain unaltered in the ftomach of crows, Their
gaftric mufcles, however, are by no means inert. Though they are
unable to comprefs or diftort tin tubes, they are capable of produ-
cing this effect upon thin tubes of lead. Birds whofe ftomachs are
of an intermediate kind, with regard to the thicknefs and firength
of their mufcular coats, may be denominated omnivorous. They eat
grafs, herbs, grain, and fleth of every kind. When we make expe-
riments, upon the digeflive powers of gallinaceous birds, the animals
mutt be killed before we can learn what effects have been produced
on the fubftances inclofed in the balls or tubes. But, on crows and
ravens, experiments of this kind may be repeated as often as we
pleafe, without deftroying a fingle individual. Subftances which
they are incapable of digefting, as metallic tubes, they have the
power of difgorging, or returning by the mouth, in the fame man-
ner as falcons, and other birds of prey, throw up the feathers and
hair of the animals they have devoured. In birds of prey, this vo-
miting is commonly performed every twenty-four hours; but, in
crows, it happens at leaft every nine, and not unfrequently every
two or three hours..

Spalanzani, as in the former experiments, thruft down perforated
tubes, filled with different fubftances, into the ftomachs of crows.
Thefe tubes were uniformly thrown up by the animals in a few
hours. When the tubes were filled with entire grains, as wheat or
beans, he found that the gaftric juice, though the tubes, by being
repeatedly forced down, continued in the ftomach for the {pace of

3 forty-

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 231

forty-eight hours, had exerted no folvent power. As the hufks of
the feeds refifted the action of the gaftric juice, he bruifed them, and
repeated the experiment. ‘ Four tubes full of this coarfe flour,’
fays he, ‘ were given to a crow: They remained eight hours in the
* ftomach, and proved the juftnefs of my fufpicion; for, upon ex-
_* amining the contents, I found above a fourth part wanting. This
© could arife from no other caufe but folution in the gaftric liquor,
with which the remainder was fully impregnated. Another ob-
fervation concurred in proving the fame propolition: The largeft
bits of wheat and bean were evidently much diminifhed: This
muft have been owing to the gaftric liquor having corroded and
* diffolved good part of them, as the nitrous acid, diluted with a
* large quantity of water, gradually confumes-calcareous fubftances.
“I replaced what remained of the feeds inthe tubes, and committed
“them again to the ftomach, wherein they: remained, at different
‘intervals, twenty-one hours; at the end of which period they
* were entirely diffolved; nothing being left but/fome pieces of hufk,
* and a few inconfiderable fragments of the feeds. Wheat and beans
* floating loofe in the cavity of the ftomach, undergo the fame alte-
* ration asin the tubes, When I fed my crows with thefe feeds, I
© obferved, that, before they fwallowed them, they fet them under
© their feet; and reduced them to pieces by repeated ftrokes of their
“long and heavy beaks: And now they. digefted them very wells
“nay, this procefs was very rapid in comparifon of that which took
© place within the tubes, But, when the birds, either from excef-
* five hunger, or violence, fwallowed the feeds-entire, the greateft
* part of them paffed out entire at the anus, or were vomited. We
* cannot, therefore, be furprifed, that the gaftric juice could not dif-

‘folve them within the tubes, fince it was incapable of effecting
‘this procefs within the cavity.of the ftomach, where its: folvent.
*- power is far fuperior,’’

Similar:

232 Wn UP aL os orn ¥

Similar experiments were made with French beans, peafe, nut-
kernels, bread, apples, and different kinds of flefh and fith, all of
which were diffolved, both in tubes, and in the cavity of the fto-
mach, by the gaftric juice.

Spalanzani finifhes his experiments on digeftion with thofe ani-
mals which have thin membranous ftomachs. This clafs compre-
hends an immenfe number of fpecies, as man, quadrupeds, fithes,
reptiles. In thefe the coats of the ftomach feem to have little or no
ation upon their contents, the gaftric juice being fully fufficient to
break down the food, and reduce it to a pulp,

With regard to man, Dr Stevens, in an Inaugural Differtation con-
cerning Digeftion, publithed at Edinburgh in the year 1777, made
feveral experiments upon a German, who gained a miferable lively-
hood by {wallowing ftones for the amufement of the people. He
began this ftrange practice at the age of feven, and had at that time.
continued it about twenty years. He fwallowed fix or eight ftones
at atime, fome of them as large as a pigeon’s egg, and pafled them
in the natural way. Dr Stevens thought this poor man would be
an-excellent fubyect for afcertaining the folvent power of the gaftric
juice in the human ftomach. The Doétor, accordingly, made ufe
of him for this purpofe. He made the German fwallow a hollow
filver fphere, divided into two cavities by a partition, and perforated
with a great number of holes, capable of admitting an ordinary
needle. Into one of thefe cavities he put four fcruples and a half
of raw beef, and into the other five feruples of raw bleak. In twen-
ty-one hours the {phere was voided, when the beef had loft a {cruple
and a half, and the fifh two feruples. A few days afterwards, the
German fwallowed the fame fphere, which contained, in one cavity,
four {cruples and four grains of raw, and, in the other, four fcruples

and eight grains of boiled beef. The fphere was returned in forty-

3 three

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 233

three hours: The raw flefh had loft one f{cruple and two grains, and
the boiled one fcruple and fixteen grains. Sufpecting that, if thefe
fubftances were divided, the folyent would have a freer accefs to
them, and more of them would be diffolved, Dr Stevens, procured
another fphere, with holes large enough to receive a crow’s quill,
He inclofed fome beef in it a little mafticated. In thirty-eight hours
after it was {wallowed, it was voided quite empty. Perceiving how
readily the chewed meat was diffolved, he tried whether it would
diffolve equally foon without being chewed. With this view, he
put a fcruple and eight grains of pork into one cavity, and the fame
quantity of cheefe into the other, The fphere was retained in the
German’s ftomach and inteftines forty-three hours ; at the end of
which time, not the fmalleft quantity of either pork or cheefe was
to be found in the fphere. He next fwallowed the fame fphere,
which contained, im one partition, fome roafted turkey, and fome
boiled falt herring in the other, The {phere was voided in forty-
fix hours; but no part of the turkey or herring appeared ; for both
had been completely diffolved. Having difcovered that animal fub-
flances, though inclofed in tubes, were eafily diffolved by the gaftric
juice, the Do@or tried. whether it would produce the fame effet up-
en vegetables. He, therefore; inclofed an equal quantity of raw:
parfnep and potatoe in a fphere. After continuing forty-eight hours
in the alimentary canal, not a veltige of either remained. Pieces of
apple and turnip, both-raw and_-boiled, were. diffolved in thirty-fix-
hours,

It is a comfortable ciscumftance, that no animal, perhaps, except’
thofe worms which are hatched in the human inteftines, can refift
the diffolving power of the gaftric juice,. Dr Stevens: inclofed live
leeches, and earth-worms, in. different fpheres, and made the Ger-
man {wallow them. When the fpheres were difcharged, the animals
were not only deprived of life, but completely diflolved, by the-

T Gg, operation:

234 TIDEGPRHUMAOSORA Y

operation of this powerful menftruum. Hence, if any live reptile
fhould chance to be fwallowed, we have no reafon to apprehend any
danger from fuch an accident.

The-German left Edinburgh before the Door had an opportu-
nity of making a farther progrefs in his experiments. He therefore
had recourfe to dogs and ruminating animals. In the courfe of his
trials upon the folvent power in the gaftric fluid of dogs, he found
that it was capable of diffolying hard bones, and:even balls of ivory;
but that, in equal times, very little impreflion was made upon pota-
toes, parfnep, and other vegetable fubftances.. On the contrary, in
the ruminating animals, as the fheep, the ox, &c, -he'difcovered,
that their gaftric, juice fpeedily diffolved vegetables, but made no im-
preffion on beef, mutton, and other animal bodies, _ From thefe laft
experiments, it appears that the different tribes of animals are not
lefs diftinguifhed by their external figure, and by their manners; than
by the quality and powers of their gaftric juices. Dogs are unable
to digeft vegetables, and fheep and oxen cannot digeft animal fub-
ftances. As the gaftric juice of the human ftomach is capable of
diffolving, nearly with equal eafe, both animals and, vegetables, this
circumftance’affords.a ftrong, and almoft an irrefiftible, proof, that
Nature originally intended man to feed promifcuoufly upon both.

Live animals, as long as the vital principle remains in them, are
not affected by the folvent powers of the ftomach. ‘ Hence it is,’
Mr Hunter remarks, ‘ that we find animals of various kinds living
© in the ftomach, or even hatched and bred there; but the moment
© that any of thefe lofe the living principle, they become fubje& to
‘ the digeftive powers of the ftomach. If it were poffible, for ex-
“ample, fer a man’s hand.to be introduced into the ftomach of a
* living animal, and kept there for fome confiderable time, it would
‘be found, that the diffolvent powers of the ftomach could have no

* effet

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 235

effect upon it: But, if the fame hand were feparated from the bo-
dy, and introduced into the fame ftomach, we fhould then find,
that the ftomach would immediately a& upon it. Indeed, if this
were not the cafe, we fhould find that the ftomach itfelf ought to
have been made of indigeftible materials; for, if the living prin-
ciple was not capable of preferving animal fubftances from under-
going that procefs, the ftomach itfelf would be digefted. But we
find, on the contrary, that the‘ftomach, which at one inftant, that
is, while poffefled of the living principle, was capable of refifting
the digeftive powers which it contained, the next moment, viz.
when deprived of the Jiving=principle, is itfelf capable of being
digefted, either by the digeftive powers of other ftomachs, or by
the remains of that power which it had of digefting other things,’

When bodies are opened fome time after death, a confiderable

aperture is frequently found at the greateft extremity of the fto-
mach. ‘In thefe cafes,” fays Mr Hunter, ‘ the contents of the fto-

ao

e

mach are generally found loofe in the cavity of the abdomen,
about the fpleen,and diaphragm. In many fubjedts, this digeftive
power extends much farther than through theftomach, I have
often found, that, after it) had diffolved the ftomach at the ufual
place, the contents.of; the ftomach had come into conta@ with
the-f{pleen. and diaphragm, had partly diflolved the adjacent fide
of the fpleen, and. had, diflolved the ftomach quite through; fo
that the-contents of the flomach were found in the cavity of the

* thorax, and Had even affeGted the lungs in a {mall degree.’

Gg 2 CoH AP:

236 THE PHILOSOPHY

C; Ap Ange B® Rea Xs

Of the Sexes of Animals and Vegetables.

Ste Od Ghd! Kaa i © aa I,

Of the Sexes of Animals.

A LL the larger and more perfe& animals are diftinguifhed by
the fexes of male and female. The bodies of males, though

not without exceptions, are, in general, ftronger, larger, and more
active, than thofe of the females. In the human fpecies, the male
is not only larger than the female, but his mufcular fibres are firmer
and more compaét, and his whole frame indicates a fuperior ftrength
and robuftnefs of texture. He does not acquire his full growth, and
beft form, till he arrives at the age of thirty years. But, in women,
the parts are rounder, and their mufcular fibres more feeble and lax
than thofe of men, and their growth and form are perfeé& at the age
of twenty. A fimilar obfervation is applicable to the minds of the
two fexes, Man is, comparatively, a bold, generous, and enterpri-
fing animal, Women, on the contrary, are timid, jealous, and dif-

pofed to ations which require lefs agility and ftrength, Hence they
are

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 237

are entitled to claim, and, by their amiable weaknefles, they actually
receive our protection. Men are endowed with majefty of figure
and force of mind; but beauty, and the graces, are the proper cha-
racteriftics of women. The laxity and foftnefs of their texture may,
in fome meafure, account for the timidity and liftleffnefs of their
difpofition ; for, when the bodies of men are relaxed by heat, or by
any other caufe, their minds become not only timid, but weak, un-~
determined, and inactive.

The focial intercourfe of women foftens the difpofitions, and
foothes the cares and labours of the men. Their little female hu-
mours, caprices, and follies, give rife to many exertions of virtue,
They excite in us compaflion, humanity, and tendernefs of affedion,
The delicacy of their bodies, and the weaknefs of their minds, re-
quire our fupport and protection, In return, the gentle and infi-
nuating manners of the women have a direct tendency to foften
and fmooth the natural roughnefs of men. In moft governments,
women have the entire management and training of children, till
their characters and difpofitions are almoft fixed for life. This
is'an important office; and would require more education and
fenfe than they commonly receive either from nature or art. But
their perfevering and unremitting attention to their charge, efpecial-
ly when children are fick or weakly, is fo truly aftonithing, that no
man could have patience to perform the laborious and painful tafk,
Women are likewife faid to fuffer bodily pain with more refolution
than men. Women reafon rapidly; but their reafoning, though
often acute, is feldom folid.

Modefty is one of the moft diflinguifhing and attractive charac-
teriftics of the female fex. This isthe great defence with which
Nature has armed them againft the artifices and deceit of the males.
Modefty has a double effet; It both attracts and repels, It heigh-

tens

238 THE PHILOSOPHY

tens the defire of the male, and deters him from rudenels, or im-
proper behaviour. Were women deprived of this amiable quality,
all their charms would vanifh, and the ardour of love would be ex-
tinguifhed. It is, therefore, not only the intereft of females to cul-
tivate modefty, but to guard, with the moft anxious attention, againft
the fmalleft incroachments. Every attack, however apparently in-
fignificant, fhould be repelled with fpirit and intrepidity. To men
of fenfibility, a fingle glance of the eye will tell them that their
conduat is improper, and make them not only inftantly defift, but
prevent every future attempt. There is no part of the female cha-
trader which men revere fo much as modefty. It is the brighteft
and moft valuable jewel with which 1 woman can be adorned: Ar
fine woman without modefty, inftead of gaining the affections of
men, becomes an obje& of contempt, and even of difguft. It is
equally the intereft of men to cherifh, and not to injure by indeli-
cacy, a quality from which they derive fo much pleafure and advan-

tage.

It is not unworthy of remark, that modefly is by no means con-
fined to the human fpecies. Evident traces of it are difcoyerable ini
the brute creation. Even fo low as the infect tribes, moft: females
repel the firft attacks of the males. If this is not modefty, it has. all:
the effeéts of it; for it heightens the refped and affection of the
males, and makes them employ every alluring art to procure the re=
gard of the female.

It is a curious faét, that moft carnivorous quadrupeds- are more
averfe from devouring women than men. The bears of Kamtfchatka
follow the women when gathering wild fruits in the woods, and,
though moft rapacious animals, do them no farther harm than: rob=
bing them of part of the fruit *. The afpect of man being more
bold;

» Gazette Literaire, vol. 1. p. 482.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 239

bold, may, perhaps, create an idea of competition and danger, and
excite the ferocity and courage of the animal. There feems to be
an inftinctive refpe@, if not dread, of the human kind implanted
in moft animals. If this be the cafe, the above fact amounts to a
high compliment to the women; for they receive more favour from
the brute creation than the men,

With regard to animals, in general, the intercourfe of fexes is
neceflary for the multiplication of the fpecies. But, as formerly re-
marked *, feveral of the lower tribes are enabled to multiply with-
out the intervention of fexes. In fome animals, both fexes are
combined in each individual. The earth-worm, fnails, and feveral
fhell-fifhes, are hermaphrodites; and yet the conjundtion of two is
neceflary for their multiplication, Mr Adanfon, in his Account of
Senegal, mentions fome fhell-animals which, in order to produce,
tequire the union of three individuals. In the polypus, no appear-
ance of fexual diftin@ion has hitherto been difcovered. Nature,
however, has not denied them the power of multiplication, which is
effefed in a very fingular manner f. Caterpillars of every deno-
mination are totally deftitute of fexes, and are incapable, while they
remain in that ftate, of multiplying their fpecies. But, after their
transformation into flies, the diftin€tion of fexes is apparent, and
their fertility is exceedingly great.

Among the larger animals, the difference of fize and figure be-
tween males and females is not remarkable. The moft ftriking di-
ftinGtions arife from the horns, the tufks, the creft, &c. which adorn
the head of the male, and are often wanting in the female. But,
among the infe& tribes, fome males differ fo greatly from: the fe-
males, that they have the appearance of belonging to a feparate ge-

nUs.

* See chap. 1. pag. 30. &c. + Ibid.

240 THE PHILOSOPHY

nus. In fome butterflies, for example, the female is deftitute of
wings, while thofe of the male are very large. The male and fe-
male of thofe animals called gall-znfects bear no proportion to each
other, either in fize or in figure, They adhere for feveral months to
the ftems and branches of plants, fhrubs, and trees, without any ap-
parent movement. They have every appearance of galls, being of
a fpherical or oval figure, from which circumftance they havé re-
ceived their denomination, and were long confidered as vegetable
‘ubftances deftitute of every degree of animation, Reaumur, how-
ever, by a ftrit examination of the changes they undergo, and of
their internal ftru€ture, difcovered that they belong to the animal
kingdom. He found that they contained thoufands of {mall eggs,
and that, from thefe eggs, fmall animals were produced, which ran
about with fome quicknefs, and {pread themfelves all over the tree
or bufh. After fome days, they attach themfelves to the ftem and
branches, remain immoveable, and gradually increafe to their full
dimenfions, when their bodies are found to contain numbers of eggs.
As the perfect animal had no apparent motion, and yet multiplied
its {pecies, it. was firft thought to be an hermaphrodite of a fingular
kind, and that it was capable of producing without any foreign aid.
But Reaumur difcovered that they were impregnated by fmall flies,.
and that thefe fmall flies were male gall-infeéts, The head, the:
body, the breaft, and the fix limbs of this fly, are of a deep red co-
lour; and the wings, which are proportionally large, are white, .
bordered with a band: of fine carmine red, In the month of April,
he perceived numbers of thefe flies wandering about on: the gall-
infets. He obferved that they pierced the covering of the gall-
infe@ts with a kind of fting fhaped like a needle. This circumftance‘
created a fufpicion that thefe flies were the males, and that this was
their mode of impregnating the eggs.-of the female. To afcentain
this point, he opened a number of gall-infects, which had no un=
common appearance, and, in fome of them, he found the males, in
every:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 241

every ftage of their exiftence, till they pierced the external covering,
came out in the form of perfec flies, and attached themfelves, as
ufual, to the females, The glow-worm, an animal condemned to
crawl perpetually on the furface of the earth, is a female; and the
male, inftead of a reptile, is a fcarabaeus, or beetle, furnithed with
four wings. A fpecies of phofphorus, emitted from the body of the
female, excites the attention of this apparently ftrange male, who
darts down upon her, and a@tually enables her to continue the kind ¥,
The female of another fpecies of beetle is a perfeat reptile, and has
not the fmalleft veftige of wings. But the male is a real beetle with
four wings, and is fo difproportioned to the female in fize, that
their jun@ion fhould appear to be equally fingular as that of a ram
with an elephant. With regard to the pucerons, or vine-fretters,
the males are winged; but the females remain during life totally
deftitute of wings. In fome fpecies of them, however, the females
have wings, and thefe infttuments of motion are denied to the males,
Between the fize of the male and female pucerons, there is likewife
a remarkable difproportion, The males, particularly thofe which
have no wings, are fo comparatively fmall, that they run about,
like the male gall-infe&ts, upon the backs of the females. While
this exercife continues, which is often very long, the female remains
almoft motionlefs. The more infenfibility and liftleffnefs fhown by
the female, the male exhibits the greater ardour and agility. In this
fituation he paffles whole days without taking any nourifhment.

In birds of prey, the females are larger, flronger, fiercer, and more
beautiful than the males. This fuperiority of ftrength and magni-
tude is conferred on the females, becaufe, in general, they are obli-
ged to procure food both for themfelves and for their progeny.
Vultures, however, are to be excepted; for the males are equal in .

Hkh ii fize,

* Reaumur. Oeuvres de Bonnet, tom. 2. p. 87. edit. Sve.

242 THE(PHITELOSOPHY

fize, if they do not exceed that of the females. In the gallinaceous
tribe of birds, on the contrary, the males are larger, more beautiful,
and more.courageous, than the females, The peacock, the turkey,
the pheafant, and the dunghill cock, are remarkable examples,
Dunghill cocks, efpecially that kind of them which are called game~
cocks, are the moft intrepidly bold and high-fpirited animals in the
creation. Nothing but abfolute death can make them yield to an
antagonift, In the domeftic ftate, at leaft, this intrepidity, and this
. daring fpirit, refult- from competition, and jealoufy of rivals. Game-
cocks, to the difgrace of humanity, are fed and trained with the
moft {crupulous attention. For what purpofe? For the cruel amufe~
ment and fortuitous emolument of gamblers.

That there are natural hermaplirodites, I have formerly mention-
ed. But, in man, dogs, cats, unnatural hermaphrodites, if they ever
exift, are fo rare, that the celebrated anatomift, Mr Hunter, de-
clares he never faw a fingle example. But, in the horfe, the afs,
black-cattle, and fheep, he has feen many hermaphrodites, It is
faid to be a known fa, that, when a cow brings forth two calves,
one of them a male, and the othera female, the female is in-
capable of propagation, but that the male is a perfect animal. In
England, a cow-calf brought forth with a bull-calf is denominated
a free martin, and is as well known among farmers as either cow or
bull, Mr Hunter remarks, that a cow-calf, brought forth in the
fituation above mentioned, may be either a free martin or a perfect
female. ‘ For, he remarks, ‘ bhave reafon to believe, that, in
* black cattle, fuch a deviation may be produced witheut the cir-
* cumftance of twins; and, even when there are twins, the one:a
‘ male, the other a female, they may both have the organs of gene-
‘ration perfeétly formed *” What is called:a free martin, or im-

perfec:

* Hunter’s Obfervations on the’ Animal Qeconomy, p; 49.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 243

perfect hermaphrodite, as far as obfervation has hitherto extended,
is confined to black-cattle. The free martin has all the external
charaéteriftics of a female calf. When animals of this defcription
are preferved by farmers, it is not for the purpofe of propagation,
but for yoking with the oxen, or fattening for the table. They
neither breed, nor, what is curious, do they difcover the fmalleft
inclination for the male, nor does the bull pay the leaft attention to
them.

The free martin, in figure, refembles the ox, or {payed heifer. It
is confiderably larger than the bull or cow, and its horns are fimilar
to thofe of the ox. ‘ The belly of the free martin,’ fays Mr Hun-
ter, ‘ is fimilar to that of an ox, having more refemblance to that of
© the cow than of the bull. Free martins are very fufceptible of

‘ growing fat with food. The fleh, like that of the ox, or fpayed
‘heifer, is in common much finer in the fibre than either the bull
* or cow, and is fuppofed to exceed that of the ox or heifer in de-
© licacy of flavour, and bears a higher price at market *” The Ro-
mans feem to have had fome knowledge of free martins, though
' they have not tranfmitted to us any peculiarities in the ftructure of
thefe animals. With them, taurus was the generic name of the ox
kind. They likewife mention taurae, by which, it is thought, they
meant barren cows. Columella, when talking of cattle, fays, ‘ and,
© Jike the ¢aurae, which occupy the place of fertile cows, fhould be
© rejected t2 Varro likewife informs us, that ‘ the cow which is
darren is called taura,’

Mr Hunter gives an anatomical defcription of three free martins,

the moft perfeé& of which we fhall tranfcribe.
Hh 2 ‘ Mr

* Hunter’s Obfervations on the Animal Oeconomy, p. so. + Columella,
lib. 6. cap. 22.

244 THEoPHT LOS OPA YX

“

“

al

e

o

a

o

e«

«

e

a

‘

© Mr Arbuthnot’s Free Martin *.

‘ The external parts were rather fmaller than in the cow. The

vagina pafled on, as in the cow, to the opening of the urethra,
and then it began to contract into a {mall canal, which paffed on
to the divifion of the uterus into two horns; each horn paffed
along the edge of the broad ligament laterally towards the ovaria,
At the termination of thefe horns were placed both the ovaria
and the tefticles; both were nearly of the fame fize, which was
about as large as a {mall nutmeg. To the ovaria [ could not find
any Fallopian tube. To the tefticles were vafa deferentia; but
they were imperfect, The left one did not come near the tefticle;
the right one came clofe to it, but did not terminate in a body call-
ed the epididymis. They were both pervious, and opened into
the vagina near the opening of the urethra. On the pofterior fur-
face of the bladder, or between the uterus and bladder, were the
two bags called veficulae feminales in the male, but much fmaller
than what they are in the bull: The duéts opened along with the
vafa deferentia +.’

SECTION

* ¢ This animal was feven years old, had been often yoked with the oxen, at other
times went with the cows and bull, but never fhowed any defires for either the one
or the other.’

+ Hunter’s Obfervations on the Animal Oeconomy, p.. 52.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 245

SE eco Pr-O °N If.

Of the Sexes of Plants.

HEN an hypethefis, or theory, has obtained a general re-
ception among even the enlightened part of mankind, it is
extremely difficult to eradicate the prejudice, either by arguments
or by faéts. There is not a notion more generally adopted, than
that vegetables have the diftin€tion of fexes, and that the influence
of what is called the male is indifpenfibly neceffary to the fecunda-
tion of the female, or feed-bearing plant: A notion which I have
long confidered as a ftriking example of the danger of rathly yield-
ing affent to the alluring feductions of analogical reafoning *,

Every

* The fubftance of the following facts, and reafoning, was delivered, above twenty
years ago, in the Botanic Garden at Edinburgh, in prefence of the late worthy and
learned Dr Hope, and his ftudents. Dr Hope, in order to excite induftry and at-
tention in his pupils, appointed annually four of their number to give a lecture, or
difcourfe, upon fome botanical fubject, which he prefcribed to them. To me the
Profeffor affigned the Sexes of Plants, with the liberty of oppofing the dottrine of
Linnaeus, and his own. Being at that time a very young man, and a ftriét believer in
the fexual fyftem of plants, I willingly undertook the tafk, becaufe I thought I had
the chance of fhowing fome little ingenuity in attempting to fhake a theory which I
_ then imagined to be eftablifhed upon the firmeft bafis of fact and experiment. But,,
after

246 THE HULL OSO FM ¥

Every perfon who is acquainted with the fexual theory of vege-
tables, and with the arguments by which it is defended, muft ac-
knowledge, that its principal fupport is derived from the many beau-
tiful analogies which fubfift between plants and animals. Becaufe
all animals were fuppofed to propagate by fexual embraces, and be-
caufe plants refembled animals in their growth, their nourifhment,
their diffemination, and decay, it was therefore concluded, that all
vegetables were either male, female, or hermaphrodite; and that
fexual commerce was equally neceffary for the fecundation of the
vegetable as of the animal tribes.

This analogy was plaufible, and feemed to beftow a fplendid uni-
formity on the conduét of Nature. But experiment, the only teft
of natural truths, has totally annihilated this beautiful fabrick. The
numberlefs fpecies of vine-fretters, of polypi, of millepedes, and of
infufion animalcules, multiply, without having recourfe to the com-
mon laws of generation.» Here, then, the analogy ftops; and, in-
ftead of bringing aid.to the fexualift, operates powerfully againft his
favourite hypothefis. If many fpecies of animals are deftitute of
all the endearments of love, what fhould induce us to fancy that
the oak or the mufhroom enjoy thefe diftinguithed privileges ?

The analogy, befides, is frequently contradi&ted in the ordinary
oeconomy of vegetables. It is univerfally allowed, for example,
that, even in oviparous animals, the eggs can only be impregnated
while they are in a gelatinous or mere embryo ftate. When far-
ther advanced, their membranes, or fhells, acquire a confiftence fuf-
ficient to refift the male influence. But, among the vegetable tribes,

every

after perufing Linnaeus’s works, and many other books on the fubject, I was aftonifh-
ed to find, that this theory was fupported neither by facts nor arguments, which could
produce conviction even in the moft prejudiced minds. This difcourfe was afterwards
publithed in the firfl edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 247

every circumftance is reverfed. In moft hermaphrodite plants, (t
muft {peak in the language of the fyftem), the feeds are not only
not in a gelatinous ftate, but have acquired confiderable bulk and
folidity, long before the pollen, or fuppofed fecundating duft, ‘is
thrown out of its capfules,

The fame remark is applicable to.dioicous plants, or fuch as are
barren and feed-bearing in different individuals. What conclufion
is here to be drawn? Analogy fails; and facts contradict the ana-
logy. - The pollen of moft. plants fheds after the feeds of their re-
fpective fpecies are far advanced in fize and confiftence. If this
pollen had the power of fecundating, it could feldom impregnate
plants of its own fpecies ; becanfe, when it is difcharged, the feeds
are paft the proper feafon; but, by flying promifcuoufly abroad, this
pollen might impregnate different fpecies which happened then to
be in a fit condition for the reception of male influence. Confider
the confequences of fuch an arrangement. Is not this to make Na-
ture operate againft her own intentions? Nature intends that plants
fhould multiply and perpetuate their kinds; but the fexual hypo-
thefis makes her take the moft effectual meafures to prevent that in-
tention, and to introduce univerfal anarchy among the vegetable
tribes. Were this theory true, the whole vegetable kingdom, in a
few years, would be utterly confounded: Inftead of a regular fuc-
ceffion of marked fpecies, the earth would be covered with mon-
ftrous productions, which. no botanift could either recognife or un-
ravel,

The propagation of plants by fuckers, flips, and cuttings, is a.
curious faét in the hiftory of vegetation. The ftrawberry is com-.
monly raifed by flips taken from the old root, or by fuckers fent off.
from the plant. In either of thefe methods, the plants flourith,
and produce.fruit. Many bulbous and eye-rooted plants, and moft:

fhrubs

248 THE PHILOSOPHY

fhrubs and trees, may be propagated in the fame manner. Where,
it may be afked, do thefe plants procure impregnation? That they
grow, and produce fertile fruit, is undeniable; and yet, according
to the fexual hypothefis, the pollen of the male is indifpenfibly ne-
ceflary to the ripening and fertilization of the fruit. By means of
fuckers, flips, cuttings, and layers, the whole globe might be fpread
over with vegetables, without the poffibility of a fingle impregna-
tion.

Though the argument from analogy fhould be inconclufive, yet,
fay the fexualifts, we appeal to facts. I fhall, therefore, give a fhort
view of the principal faéts employed to fupport the fexual inter-
courfe of plants.

After what has been remarked, it will not-be expected that I
fhould mention thofe parts of Linnaeus’s reafoning which are de-
rived from analogy. In many inftances, he has puthed analogy fo
far beyond all decent limits, that it becomes truly ridiculous, For
example, he gravely tells us, ‘ That the calix reprefents the mar-
‘ riage bed; the corolla the curtains ; the filaments the /permatic
‘ veffels; the antherae the tefes; the pollen the male /emen; the
‘ ftigma the extremity of the female organ; the ftylus the vagina;
© the germen the ovarzum ; the pericarpium the zmpregnated ovari-
© um; and the feeds the eggs *.’

The moft plaufible fa& in favour of the fexual hypothefis is deri-
ved from the culture of the date-bearing palm-tree. Haffelquiftt, and
fome other travellers, mention their having feen flowering branches

of

* Sponfalia Plantarum, in Amoen. Acad. vol. 1. p. 103.
+ Hallelquift’s Travels, p. 112, 416. Kempfer. Amoen. p. 706. Tournefort
Tag. p. 69.

—

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 249

of male trees fixed to the females by Arabian gardeners, who al-
ledged, that, unlefs this operation were performed, their dates would
neither be good nor plentiful. _This pra€tice can boaft of an anti-
quity long prior to the notion of fexes in plants. How it came to be
introduced, it is of little importance to inquire. We know that the
cuftom is ftill faid to prevail: But we likewife know, that there is not
an authentic faé&t which fhows any connedtion between the practice
and the event, though that be an effential ingredient in the contro-
verfy. The eaftern nations are famous for introducing fuperftition
into every part of their oeconomy ; and it is equally difficult to ace
count for their manners as for their culture of palm-treés.

Mylius’s letter to Dr Watfon, recorded in the Philofophical Tranf-
actions, is'an attempt to remove this difficulty, and to fhow a necef-
fary connection between the male and female palm. Mylius writes
to his correfpondent, ‘ That a female palm-tree grew many years
* in the garden belonging to the Royal Academy at Berlin, without
producing any ripe or fertile fruit; that a male branch, with its

flowers in full blow, was brought from Leipfic, about twenty Ger-
man miles from Berlin, and fulpended over the female tree. The
refult was, that the female yielded, the firft year, 100 ripe dates.
The fame experiment being repeated the following year, 2000 ripe
* fruit were produced.’

$
6
6
¢

Not to call Mylius’s veracity in queftion, the experiment is both
inconclufive and defective. Berlin is not the climate of palm-trees.
The tree, he informs us, bore flowers and fruit for thirty years be-

- fore the trial was made; but the fruit, it is faid, never came to ma~
turity. Plants feldom produce ripe fruit in a climate not adapted to
their nature, until they have grown therealong time. Mylius’s
palm-tree had carried unripe fruit for thirty years. According to the
ufual courfe of exotic plants, therefore, it is natural to think, that,

a I Li like

250 THE PHILOSOPHY

like the American aloe, the tree, during all this time, was making
gradual advances toward perfection; that, when the male branch
happened to be fufpended over the female, the plant had arrived at
the higheft degree of maturity it could ever acquire in the climate
of Berlin; and, of courfe, that the accidental circumftance of fu-
fpending the male branch over it, at this critical period, might give
rife to the deception of attributing the ripening of the fruit to the
prefence of the male branch. The produétion of 100 ripe fruit
only the firft year, and 2000 the fecond, is a {trong corroboration
of this account of the matter. At any rate, the experiment is ex-
ceedingly defetive and unfatisfa@tory. To convince any man that
the fertility of this tree was folely owing to fome impregnating vir-
tue communicated to it by the male, a branch fhould have been fu-
{pended over the female one year, omitted the next, and fo on al-
ternately for a fucceffion of feafons, or, as the fexualifts would ex-
prefs it, giving her a hufband one year, and denying her that gratifi-
cation the next. After treating the female in this manner, if it had
uniformly happened, that the fruit ripened every year the male
branch was fufpended, and that none came to maturity when that
operation was omitted, then there would have been fome founda-
tion for fuppofing a connection between the ripening of the fruit
and the prefence of the male branch. But, as this neceflary pre-
caution was omitted, the experiment is incomplete, and the conclu=-
fion drawn from it precipitate and unphilofophic.

In accounting for the fecundity of all the diozcous * and monoe=
cious T plants, the fexualifts have recourfe to the aid of the winds,
and of infects, They betake themfelves to this ftrange refuge, im

order

* Plants which have the male character in one individual, and the female in ans-
other.

+ Plants which have both the male and female characters in the fame individual.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 25

order to explain the manner in which female plants, when fituated
at a diftance from males, are impregnated. Some-of them, as Kalm,
and others, are perfetly fatisfied with this fuppofed aerial commerce
of vegetables, even when the males are ten, fifteen, or twenty miles
diftant from the females! Here, it may be remarked, that the mul-
tiplication of fpecies is one of the moft important laws of Nature.
All the laws of Nature are fixed, fteady, and uniform, in their ope-
ration: None of their effeéts are abandoned to thofe uncertainties
which neceffarily refult from chance, or from any fortuitous train of
circumftances. But, is there any thing, in northern climates at leaft,
more defultory and capricious than the diretion and motion of the
winds? Can we form a conception of any thing more cafual and
uncertain than the wayward paths of infects? The very fuppofition,
therefore, that Nature has expofed the fertility of a tenth part of
the whole vegetable kingdom, and many of them, too, plants of the
utmoft importance to man, and other animals, to fuch accidental
caufes, is repugnant to every idea of found philofophy. Befides,
the reverfe has been proved by Dr Alfton, Camerarius, and Tour-
nefort. Thefe gentlemen reared female plants of the fpinage and
hemp in fuch fituations, and with fuch ferupulous precautions, to
prevent any fuppofed impregnation by means of the wind, or of in-
feéts, that it is difficult to conceive the poffibility of any communi-
cation between the males and females. Thefe females, however,
produced fertile feeds in the greateft abundance.

Since thefe experiments were made, it has been difcovered, that
male flowers are fometimes found lurking on the female plants of
the fpinage and hemp: And this difcovery the fexualifts think fuffi-
cient to account for the fuccefs of Dr Alfton’s experiments. But,
inftead of folving the difficulty, this cireumftance feems to involve
it in ftill deeper obfcurity: For, that the pollen iffuing from the an-
therae of a male flower or two fhould rife, fall, and turn round ia

Lie every

i A THE PHILOSOPHY

every direction, fo as to light precifely on the ftigmata of all the
fuperior, inferior,: and circumjacent female flowers, appears to ex-
ceed the common powers of human faith. Befides, this cireumftance
would feem to indicate, that there is no fteadinefs in what is called
vegetable fexes. We are even told, that trees, which had continued
many years under the character of females, but, from fome ftrange
metamorphofis, had fuddenly dropped their female forms, and af-
fumed the more robuft features peculiar to the male part of the
creation !

It was hinted above, that all the dioicous, monoecious, as well as
moft of the hermaphrodite flowers, being impregnated by means of
the wind, feemed not to accord with the rules.of philofophizing ;
we fhall now examine that dotrine more clofely.

The pollen is allowed to be too large to get admiflion into the
ftigmata, though laid upon them with the greateft dexterity. This
difficulty the fexualifts imagine to be removed, when they tell us,
that moifture makes the pollen fplit, and difcharge a fubtile aura,
and that this aura impregnates the feeds. But, though the pollen
fhould explode by the application of. moifture, and difcharge a fub-
tile aura, this explofion could never effect the purpofes of impreg-
nation: For, when the pollen was lying on the ftigma, the aura
muft neceflarily blow off,. inftead of being, abforbed by that part of
the plant. Is not the fuppofition fingular, and even contradictory,
that a plant fhould be impregnated. by a. fubftance. forcibly blown
away. from the female ?.

This reafoning proceed’ upon the admiffion, that the pollen is.
laid with dexterity upon the ftigma. But it will receive additional
force, when I defy all the naturalifts in the univerfe to produce an
inftance. of a fingle grain of pollen being ever. feen on.any part of.a,

female:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 253

female plant, even wher at no great diftance from a male, far lefs
wpon the ftigmata of each feparate flower. Granting, however, the
pollen to be carried off from the male by the wind, yet, as the fup-
pofed fecundating aura it contains is much lighter than air, and is
difcharged by the flighteft moifture, it can never fall down upon the
diftant females, but muft rife and diflipate in the higher regions of
the atmofphere. It may alfo be difcharged by the application of rain
or dews before the pollen is carried off by the wind from the male
flowers: And, if the winds blow in a direétion contrary to the fitu-
ation of the female plants for a few critical hours, the females mutt
be rendered barren, at leaft for a feafon,

It is an eftablifthed fa&, that coleworts, turnips, &c. when grow=
ing in gardens, fometimes produce new varieties. Thefe varieties:
. the fexualifts uniformly hold up as inftances of hybrids, or mong-
rels, from fortuitous commixtures of different males and females.
This conclufion, however, feems.to be precipitate. ‘It is well known
to nurferymen and gardeners, that, from feeds of the fame indivi-
dual plants, varieties fometimes appear. If thefe varieties chance to
have any qualities fuperior in value to the original plants, their feeds,
fhoots, or flips, are colle@ted, and the new kind is propagated with
diligence. That the beauty of flowers, and the magnitude and fla-
vour of fruits are improveable by particular modes of culture, and
even by unknown accidents, is an undeniable truth: That thefe im-
proved qualities, in: whatever manner procured, continue in the kind,
unlefs allowed to degenerate by negligence, is not lefs true. But
there is nothing fo wonderful in thefe phenomena as to require the
moft unbounded ftretches of fancy to.account forthem. Are not:
the beauty, ftrength, and magnitude of animals, equally improve-
able by.culture ?: Does not an ox, tranfported from the comparative
ly barren mountains of Scotland, to the rich paftures of Yorkfhire;
aflume qualities very different. from thofe he originally pofleffed 2:

Why;,

254. Tape? a tL ON OP

Why, then, fhould an inconfiderable change in the conftitution of a
colewort, or a turnip, excite furprife ? Plants are liable to be diver-
fified by numberlefs accidents. Perpetually fixed to the fame local
fituation, they-muft receive, indifcriminately, fuch nourifhment as is
tranfmitted to them by the earth and air. When different kinds
happen to grow very near each other, and, as they have not the
choice of rejecting fuch food as is prefented to them, may not exu-
dations from the one be abforbed by the roots of the other? May
not the matter which tranfpires fo copioufly from the leaves and
flowers of one plant be conveyed to, and abforbed by, thofe of a
different kind? And may not this foreign nourifhment occafionally
introduce fome changes in the colour, texture, or flavour, of the
leaves, flowers, or fruit? Nay, is it not reafonable to fuppofe, that
folutions of various mineral fubftances, the ation of particular ma-
nures, and a thoufand other circumitances, may often induce fuch
changes? Why, then, fhould we have recourfe to unnatural and
ftrained analogies, when the phenomena may be folved upon the
principles of found philofophy?

The learned Dr Hope, late Profeffor of Botany in‘the Univerfity
of Edinburgh, who was a ftrenuous fupporter of vegetable fexes,
thought he had almoft eftablifhed the theory by the following ex-
periment upon the lychnis dioica, of which two varieties are natives
of Scotland, the one bearing white, and the other red flowers. The
Doétor, about twelve years ago, raifed a white female and a red
male under the fame glafs-bell, which was funk fo far in the foil as
to prevent all communication with other vegetables. The bell ter-
minated in a tube, which, for the occafional introdudtion of a little
frefh air, was ftuffed with mofs. The feeds of the white female
were fown next feafon; and, inftead of white, the plants produced
red flowers, in confequence, it was imagined, of the influence of the
male upon the female. He likewife afferted, that the red kind,

; when

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 255

when left to Nature, never brought forth white flowers, nor the
white kind red flowers,

Upon this experiment we have to remark, 1. That nothing is
more dangerous, or more fallacious in philofophy, than the aflump-
tion of general pofitions without an accurate inveftigation. The
Doétor advanced, for example, that the red and the white lychnis,
when in a natural ftate, never. change their colours. This pofition
is neither capable of admiffion nor denial ; becaufe no experiment,
nor inquiry, feems ever to have been made on the fubje@: Yet it is
affumed as a premife to the conclufion, that the change of the white
into a red lychnis was occafioned by the influence of the red male
upon the white female.

2. That hybrids, or mules, uniformly participate of both the fpe-
cies or varieties by which they are engendered. A jack-afs and
mare never produce a fimple afs or horfe, but a mule, or mixture of
the two. It fhould feem, however, that this red lychnis transfufed
its own individual qualities, without allowing a fingle particle of the
female to appear. This is contrary to every analogy. If the change
had originated from fexual commixture, the progeny ought not to
have been completely red, but pied, or a mixture of red and white.
To whatever caufe, therefore, this change may be attributed, it can
never be afcribed to any thing analogous to generation.

3. ‘That colour is.a delicate and fluctuating quality, It depends.
fo much on light, air, health, and perhaps fome unknown caufes,
that botanifts, with great propriety, have rejected it as a fpecific
character. SufpeGting that caufes of this nature might change the
colour of the white lychnis under confideration, I examined the
condition of fome plants then fubjected to the fame trials in our
Botanic Garden. The flowers both.of the red and white lychnis:

4 were:

256 THE PHILOSOPHY

were then in full blow under the bell, the glafs of which was thick,
and of a darker green than our common beer-bottles. The light,
of courfe, tranfmitted to the plants was lurid and obfcuree They
were alfo deprived of a free circulation of air. Under thefe unna-
tural circumftances, the plants had a fickly afpe&. The flowers of
the red variety, inftead of a vivid red, were almoft perfe&@tly white.
Here we have nearly an equal change made upon the fame plant,
without the poffibility of its being effeGted by the intercourfe of
fexes. If plants are thus deprived of proper light and air, it cannot
be furprifing to fee changes produced in the colour of their imme-
diate defcendents. The contaminated air efcaping from the plants
themfelves, and from the foil under the bell, may be fufficient to
produce this effe&. I formerly mentioned, that the colour, and
other qualities of plants growing near each other, may be changed
by abforbing the matter of tranfpiration and exudation. The argu-
ment is applicable with peculiar force to plants imprifoned fo clofely,
and having fo little accefs to freth air. In this fituation, they muft,
of neceflity, feed upon each other. Confine a man and a woman
for years in a fmall ill-aired cell, and obferve their afpe@t, and that
of their progeny. Their appearance will be very different from
that of children produced by healthy parents, and enjoying the be-
nefits of the fun’s rays, and of the open air.

4. That, independently of all thefe arguments, the experiment is
incomplete. Even on the fuppofition of the exiftence of fexes in
plants, the conclufion drawn from it cannot be admitted. The fame
change, for inftance, might have happened, if, inftead of a white
female and red male, a white female had been imprifoned with a red
female, In this cafe there could be no commixture of fexes; and
yet, it is highly probable, that both would have ripened their feeds,
and that thefe feeds would have produced plants differently coloured
from the fame varieties growing in a natural ftate, Till thefe indif-

penfible

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 257

penfible parts of the experiment, therefore, be tried, nothing can be
concluded in favour of the fexual fyftem.

5. That flowers growing from the fame root, fruits upon the
fame tree, or raifed from feeds of the fame individual plant, often
vary in colour, fize, figure, and texture. Thefe varieties are appa-
rent to the moft fuperficial obfervers; but they can never, with any
degree of propriety, be afcribed to the influence of fex. The caufes
of fuch variations are rather to be looked for in the expofure of the
plants with regard to light and air, the nature of the foil, the mode
of culture, accidental injuries from dews, from eleétrical fire, from
the poifon or wounds of infe&ts, and from the abforption of mineral
folutions. In a word, if we are to hope for an explanation of thefe,
and other minute changes in the appearances of plants, recourfe
muft be had to chemical and philofophical principles, and not to an
hypothetical commerce of fexes.

The difcourfe was concluded with the following fentiment :—
But I aim not at complete refutation; for experiments are {till to be
made. 1 only wifh to render the fexual commerce of plants fu-
fpicious, that the minds of men may be freed from the fetters of a
fyftem, which has, perhaps, too long received the general affent of
Europe; and that thé oeconomy of the vegetable kingdom may
again be open to impartial inveftigation,

To remove the poffibility of male influence being conveyed by
means of the wind, or of infects, about ten or twelve years ago,’ I
thought, if a female plant could ripen her feeds within doors during
the winter, the experiment would infallibly determine the contro-
verfy. With this view, I confined a female lychnis, which is a na-
- tive plant of this country, and gave her fuch a degree of heat as
made her produce flowers three months before any male flowers of

Bs Kk ot the

258 TAMECRALIOS OR AY

the fame fpecies were blown in Britain. The flowers and the young
feed had every appearance of health and vigour. But the plant it-
felf, as ufually happens to vegetables when forced to grow in unna-
tural fituations, was feeble, flender, and double the common length
it acquires in the fields. 1 waited the event. My expectations,
however, were’ difappointed; for the flowers dropped long before
the feeds were ripened. The plant was kept three years in the fame
fituation ; bur {till the flowers dropped, and no ripe feeds were pro-
duced. As the health of plants, like that of animals, depends upon
many circumftances, as expofure to the open air, to light, to the agi-
tations of the wind, which to them anfwers the invigorating purpofe
of exercife, to nocturnal dews, to natural rains, inftead of artificial
waterings, &c. I refolved to place the female lychnis in a fituation
where fhe might enjoy all thefe advantages, and at the fame time be
removed from every fufpicion of a connection with male influence.
For this purpofe, 1 applied to my learned and ingenious friend Dr
Daniel Rutherford, now Profeffor of Botany in the Univerfity of
Edinburgh, who, at that time, had.a {mall garden, or rather a little
area, in the heart of the city, which was furrounded with houfes of
five and fix ftories high, and diftant from any male lychnis about an
Englith mile. Dr Rutherford received: this female lychnis into his
garden. The firft fummer after her admiffion, being enfeebled by
her former three years confinement, fhe dropped her flowers, with-
out producing fertile feeds. During three or four fucceeding years,
however, fie remained in the fame fituation; and fhe not only
ripened her feeds, but thefe feeds vegetated, without the poffibility of
any male impregnation; for the Do@or, after the young plants were
in a ftate of difcrimination, uniformly extirpated all the males,, and
never could. difcover the veftige of a fingle male upon the female
plants. Her female progeny, hawever, continued to bear fertile feeds
for feveral fucceflive generations. If, after this, and fome experiments
formerly mentioned, any fexualift choofes to have recourfe to the

wind,,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 259

wind, and to infects, he may enjoy his theory; but few men of
penetration will join him in opinion,

But, if thefe faéts and reafonings fhould not be fufficient to con-=
vince every believer in the fexual fyftem of plants that the hypothe-
fis has no foundation in Nature, Spalanzani, ‘a late ingenious Italian
naturalift; has, by a number of experiments, removed the poffibility
of any rational doubt on the fubject.

»/ Spalanzani, in order to make a complete inveftigation of this fub-
je&t, performed a number of experiments on what are called Aerma-
phrodite, monoecious, and diozcous plants.

'Hermaphrodite plants comprehend all thofe which have ftamina
and piftils, or the male and female organs, in the fame flowers, To
difcover whether'the pollen had any influence: upon the fertility of
the feeds, Spalanzani forced” open the petals, or flower-leaves, fome
time before they began to expand. He then cut off all the ftamina,
or male parts, before the fuppofed foecundating duft was ripe, lea-
ving the:female part to its fate. The refult was, that, in many-of
the\plants, the feeds did not ripen,. or even acquire their full fize;
in others, they grew to the natural fize; but, after being committed
tothe ground, they did not germinate. Above thirty years ago, a
fimilar fet of experiments were made, in the Botanic Garden at Edin+
burgh, by the late Dr Alfton, the then Profefior of Botany. But,
-whether Dr Alfton’s experiments were performed with greater dex-
terity than thofe of Spalanzani, it is impoflible to determine, The
“event, “however, was the reverfe; for Dr Alfton’s plants, which
were treated in the fame manner with thofe of Spalanzani, not only
“ripened their feeds, but thefe feeds, when fown, were found to be as
fertile as if no fuch operation had been performed. But no experi-
ments of this kind can be made with any degree of certainty upon

Kk 2 hermaphrodite

ote THE PHILOSOPHY

hermaphrodite plants; becaufe they are impracticable, without
wounding and injuring the tender flowers. By forcing open the
petals fome days before they would naturally unfold, the interior
parts of the flowers are prematurely expofed to the action of the
air, of dews, and of the fun’s rays. Befides, no man can determine
what changes the young feeds may undergo, what injury they may
fuffer, by an unnatural deprivation of the ftamina. In every flower
treated in this rough manner, an extravafation of fap muft una-
voidably be produced. If a pregnant animal is wounded, and in a
part too fo intimately connected with the foetus, what reafon Haye
we to expect a fertile and aroubeee gee ianee offspring ?

Spalanzani next proceeded to tials on the Sshnceitieg plants, or
thofe which bear both male and female flowers feparately on the
fame individual, In fpring 1777, he fowed two fpecies of the pum-
pion, which belong to this divifion of plants, in a fituation removed
from every fufpicion of foreign connection by means of the wind
or of infeéts. ‘ In the beginning of June, fays he, ‘ two indivi-
‘* duals, for I had ordered two only to be raifed, were juft beginning
* to put forth a few flower-buds. towards the bottom of the ftalk..
* At this early period, the male flowers may be eafily diftinguifhed
* from the female. The former, alfo denominated barren by bota-
* nifts, have a flender ftalk; while the ftalk of the latter, where it
* joins the calyx, forms a tumor, confifting of the immature fruit.
“[ paid daily vifits to thefe two individuals, and very carefully
* watched the progrefs of both forts of flowers. That there might.
* be no fufpicion of the pollen exerting any influence upon the fe-
* males, the males were deftroyed at their firft appearance. As fruit,.
* when a fmall quantity only is left upon a plant, is: fooner ripe,
* and grows to a larger fize, becaufe it receives a greater quantity of
* nutritious juice, I left on each of my two individuals two flowers:
“only. The buds that made their appearance. afterwards were ta~

* kem

¢

n

o~

a

o

°

cy

Dol

Lad

wn

- cal a a e a . * « « ao o

had

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 261

ken away, along with the male flowers, Meanwhile my four
gourds grew rapidly, Finding that, towards the middle of Sep-
tember, they had attained the ufual full fize, I gathered one, in
order to infpect the internal parts. The flefh was too foft, becaufe
the fruit was not thoroughly ripe; but, in colour, ftru€ture, and
tafte, it refembled fruit produced by plants which had their male
flowers.—The feeds were in great number, and, as well internaliy
as externally, were perfe@ly formed.—At the end of the month,
the other three gourds were quite ripe. I therefore gathered them,
and’ put the feeds of each into a feparate box, that I might be able
to examine them at pleafure. The lobes filled the whole infide of

' the feeds, and had all the characters of perfect maturity.

* Thus far,’ continues our author, ‘ there is a perfect agreement
with the obfervations made on the feeds of fome hermaphrodite
plants, which feemed, notwithftanding they were deprived of the
efficacy of the pollen, to have acquired the fame degree of per-
feGtion as thofe impregnated in the ufual manner. But, as they

“did not grow, however perfe&t they might be in appearance, be-

caufe they had not been vivified by the pollen, I imagined, thar,
for the fame reafon, the feeds of my three gourds would not grow.
It was, however, proper to make the experiment. I therefore

dried one hundred and fifty in the fun, and afterwards planted

them in three pots, fifty in each, taken from feparate gourds. But
the latenefs of the feafon, it being the roth of O&ober, the con-
ftant rain, and the coolnefs occafioned by it, circumftances unfa-
vourable to vegetation, obliged me to place my pots in a ftove,
which, though it was not heated, was kept warm by a contiguous
chimney. The event did not by any means correfpond to my expec-
tation. I took it for granted, that none of the feeds would germi-
nate; and yet they almof all came up very well *.’

Here

* Spalanzani’s Differtations, vol. 2. p. 276. &c.

262 To B eR HLL. Oso Pe Y

Here it is pleafant to obferve candour and fair experiment tri-
umphing over deep prejudice. From the above, and many other
paflages, it is evident that Spalanzani was a keen fexualift, and that
he expected his experiments, inftead of overthrowing, would con-
firm his faith; but, like a true philofopher, he candidly, though
with relu€tance, unhinges his favourite opinion.

‘ I referved the remainder of the feeds,’ continues Spalanzani,
for another experiment to be made the following {pring. Before

a

a“

it can be aflerted that fru@tification has been complete, it is necef-
fary, according to the determination of botanifts, not only that the
feeds fhould grow, but that they fhould alfo be capable of bringing
productive feeds, or, in other words, of perpetuating the fpecies.
That I might learn whether the feeds of my three gourds enjoyed

a

a

nw

”

this prerogative, I caufed fome of them. to be planted in the fame

.

place in May 1778; and, when they were grown to fome fize,
they were, as in the foregoing experiment, carefully ftripped of all
their male flowers, one female flower only being left on each in-
dividual, Thefe flowers were furnifhed with fmall gourds, which
grew ripe towards the beginning of autumn, and the feeds they
‘ produced grew juft as well as the former *.’

-

wn

o

wn

With regard to dioicous plants, or thofe which produce male
flowers on one individual and female flowers on another, they are
by far the moft unexceptionable fubje&ts for determining the ex-
iftence or non-exiftence of fexes in plants. Accordingly, Bonnet,
Fourgeroux, and Spalanzani, &c. about the year 1770, placed fe-
male plants of this defcription in fituations fo ftritly guarded againft
the poflibility of foecundating duft being conveyed to the females
either by the air or by infects, that the fuppofition of male influence

baffles

* Spalanzani’s Differtations, vol. 2. p. 278.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 263

bafiles all the powers of imagination. Thefe females, however, uni-
formly produced ripe feeds; and thefe feeds were as prolific as if
they had been furrounded with males.

From the faéts and arguments above related, and many others
which might be adduced, it appears, that this beautiful theory, de-
rived from a miftaken analogy, has no foundation in Nature, I
would not have dwelt fo long on this fubject, if 1 had not fincerely
wifhed that the minds of men might be emancipated from the fet-
ters of a fyftem which has too long received the almoft univerfal
affent of the literary world; and that the oeconomy of the vegetable
kingdom may again be open to impartial inquiries.

C.H A PB..

264 THE PHILOSOPHY

Co TE PAL ea Pes Be AROS Re
Of the Puberty of Animals:

HE puberty of animals commences at that period of their

exiftence when Nature endows them with the power of mul-
tiplying the fpecies. This period is as various as the different tribes
of animals. In fome it arrives fooner, in others later; but, in every
animal, it is accompanied with fome remarkable changes in confti-
tution and affetions, From infancy to puberty there is a gradual
increafe of fize; but, immediately after that period, in both fexes,
the growth of the body makes a fudden fpring, and acquires re-
doubled ftrength and a@tivity. The growth of animals, however,
does not always ftop at the age of puberty. Men, quadrupeds, and
fifhes, continue to grow for fome time after their capacity of multi-
plying. But moft birds and infeéts feem to acquire their full di-
menfions before they arrive at the age of puberty.

Before puberty, the voice of a man, like that of a woman, is
fhrill and feeble. But, after that period, it becomes rough and ftrong.
This effe& is produced by fome unaccountable and fudden change
in the organs of {peech, which is not confined to the human fpecies;
for the voice of a horfe or a bull is deeper after than before puberty.

In

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 265

Ym eanuchs, no fuch alteration of voice is to be obferved; for their
voice, though fhrill and piercing, can never produce a low or deep
note. At this period, too, that diftinguifhing charateriftic of man,
the beard, begins to appear, together with other external and inter-
nal changes, which it is unneceffary to relate. But eunuchs are to-
tally deftitute of beards, Thefe two faéts indicate a conneCion
which merits the attention of philofophers.

With regard to the female fex, they are by no means exempted
from conftitutional changes when they arrive at the age of puberty.
The alteration in the tone of their voice, if it does happen, is hard-
ly perceptible. Neither are their faces deformed by a beard, which,
according to our prefent ideas, would have a difgufting effeG@. At
this period, however, their mammae f{well, and a periodical evacua-
tion takes place, which produces wonderful revolutions in their con-
ftitution and affections. In both fexes, the mental changes are not
Jefs remarkable than the corporeal. The powers of the mind expand,
the force of genius is felt, and very different objects folicit attention:
Inftead of puerile amufements, ambition, a warm and unaffected
friendfhip, a generofity and unfufpicious demeanour, both in words
and a&ions, are the almoft univerfal charateriftics of this period of
human life. I mention it with pleafure, that, as far as my obferva-
tion extends, in youth, unlefs they are corrupted by example, by
negleét, or by other caufes, all men are honeft, friendly, generous,
and humane. If this remark be true, Nature is fully exculpated.
But, when a young man enters into the bufinefs of life, his candour
and ingenuoufnefs foon meet witha fhock. This.is the painful re-
verfe. Inflead of liberality and integrity of conduc, he has to en-
counter with felfifhnefs, chicane, and too often with dire@ villany.
This unhappy difcovery turns his thoughts into a different current,
contraéts the noble opennefs of his heart, renders him fufpicious'and
guarded, and, if he fhall chance to retain his integrity, he is obliged

if L1 to

266 THE PHILOSOPHY

to aflume, at leaft, the appearance of jealoufy and deceit. I by no
means intend this to be the univerfal character of mankind; I only
lament that it is too general.

In every race of mankind of which we have any knowledge, the
females arrive fooner at puberty than the males. But the age of
puberty differs in different countries. This difference feems to ori-
ginate from two caufes, the temperature of the climate, and the qua-
lity of the food. Children of citizens, and of opulent parents, who
are fed with rich and nourifhing victuals, arrive fooner at this ftate.
Children, on the contrary, brought up in the country, or whofe pa-
rents are poor, require two or three years longer ; becaufe their food
is not only coarfe, but too fparingly given. In the fouthern regions
of Europe, and in large cities, the females arrive at puberty about
the age of twelve, and the males about fourteen. But, in northern
climates, and in the country, girls hardly come to maturity till they
are fourteen, and boys not before fixteen. In the warmeft regions
of Afia, Africa, and America, the age of puberty in females com=
mences at ten, and fometimes at nine.

After puberty, the Count de Buffon remarks, ‘ marriage is the
natural ftate of man. A man ought to have but one wife, anda
‘woman but one hufband. This isthe law of Nature; for the
* number of females is nearly equal to that of the males. Such laws
as have been enaéted in oppofition to this natural principle, have
* originated folely from tyranny and ignorance. Reafon, humanity,
* and juftice, revolt againft thofe odious feraglios, in. which the liber-
‘ty and the affe€tions of many women are facrificed to the brutal
“ paffion of a fingle man. Does.this unnatural pre-eminence render
* thofe tyrants of the human race more happy? No! Surrounded:
‘ with eunuchs, and with women who are ufelefs to themfelves and
6 to,

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 267

*to other men, they are tormented with the conftant appearance of
‘that accumulated load of mifery they have created.’

* All animals, as well as thofe of the human fpecies, undergo, at the
age of puberty, fimilar changes in the form of their bodies, and ina
the difpofitions of their minds. From mild, placid, and gentle, they
become bold, reftlefs, and ungovernable. Their bodies are then, in
ftrength and fymmetry, perfetly accommodated to the new fentiments
which Nature, for wife purpofes, excites in their minds. In the
deer kind, the horns of the males appear not till they are fit for
multiplying the fpecies. At this period, the creft, the wattles, and
the plumage’ of the male gallinaceous birds acquire additional beauty,
and their courage and ftrength are greatly augmented. The pigeon,
inftead of being querulous, timid, and voracious, whenever the age of
puberty arrives, feels emotions of a very different kind. Confcious of
the new vigour he has acquired, he affumes a bold and important air.
He ftruts about with a majeftic pride, and immediately addrefles, with
all the gaiety of a lover, fome favourite female, whom he {ollicits
with the moft affiduous gallantry and attention, After the coy fe-
male gives her affent, their after condué exhibits fuch a mutual and
ardent affe€tion, and fuch a conftant fidelity, as afford no inconfide-
rable pattern to the human fpecies.

With regard to fifhes, we are totally ignorant of the periods when
the different tribes of them acquire the power of multiplying. From
the element they inhabit, from the rapidity of their motions, and
from their defultory and wandering mode of living, we are equally
ignorant of many other important parts of their oeconomy and man-
ners, This continues to be an ample field for future inveftigation,
and highly worthy of the attention of naturalifts.

2 Ll2 The

268 THE PHILOSOPHY

The oeconomy and manners of infects are more open to infpec-
tion. Thofe of the winged tribes undergo many changes, both in
figure and ftruéture, before they arrive at the age of puberty. They
firft efcape from the eggs in the form of minute caterpillars. In this
flate they are exceedingly voracious, and grow with rapidity tc their
full fize; but they are deftitute both of the power and of the organs
neceflary for the multiplication of the fpecies. They are next tranf-
formed into chryfalids: In this ftate, their bodies are covered
with a kind of cruft or fhell, from which the animals have again to
efcape, as from a fecond egg. In this imprifoned condition, they
remain during a longer or fhorter period, according to the fpecies,
or to the feafon of the year in which they are transformed. After
their transformation into flies, they burft this cruft or fhell, and ap-
pear in the form of flies, furnifhed with wings, legs, feelers, 8c. of
all which they were deftitute in their former ftate. When tranf{-
formed into flies, caterpillars have arrived at the age of puberty.
They are now perfeét animals, and endowed with. the faculty of
tranimitting a numerous progeny to pofterity.

CHAP.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 269

aes ge gs ge ae alge egeaiaae

Of Love.

HE great intention of Nature, in endowing almoft every ani-

mal with a fexual attachment, is the multiplication and conti-
nuation of the refpective fpecies. But, with regard to man, and, in
an inferior degree, to all pairing animals, love is the fource of many
other focial and important advantages. Love, or a ftrong affection.
for a particular woman, is to young men, perhaps, one of the great=
eft incentives to virtue and propriety of condud. In northern coun-
tries, it feldom rifes to that degree of frenzy, which, in warmer cli-
mates, not only engroffes the whole attention, but often totally un-
hinges the powers of the mind. In northern regions, however, it
occupies more gently the imagination, gives a chearfulnefs and ala-
crity to the bufinefs or ftudies of life, and, if reciprocal, diffufes over
‘the mind and body a placid happineis, and a tranquillity of difpofi-
tion, which greatly contribute to the health and vigour of both. A
young man in love thinks that the eyes of his favourite continually
behold him. Through this amiable medium he views all his ations,
and even his thoughts. His affection and veneration are fo great,
that he is, in fome meafure, deterred from regarding any other wo-
man, and, what is of more importance, from indulging any loofe or
irregular

270 TH'EcPHULOSOLE Y

irregular appetite. The difpofitions and affections of the female are
the fame with thofe of the male. Her attention is completely en-
grofled ; and fhe never thinks or dreams of any man, but of him
who is the objet of her affection. A young man and'a young wo-
man in love exhibit the moft innocent and the moft amiable picture
of human nature. Actuated by no interefted motives, and regard-
lefs of future contingencies, they obey the fupreme command of
Nature. How much is it to be lamented, that, from the cruel, but
perhaps unavoidable inflitutions and cuftoms of civil focieties, it is
fo often not only prudent, but neceflary, to check, and even to over-
come, this powerful law of Nature?

Many are the advantages that mankind derive from fociety and
regular governments, and we fhould chearfully fubmit to thofe hard-
fhips and inconveniencies to which they give rife. But every man,
however fubmiffive to the laws of his country, muft regret that.ne-
ceffity which makes them oppofe any of the laws of Nature, and
efpecially the almoft irrefiftible law of love.

In the prefent ftate of fociety, it muft be acknowledged, early
marriages, among people in the ordinary and dependent ranks of
life, are extremely hazardous. When both parties are induftrious and
oeconomical, fuch marriages are not only the moft natural, but are
produCtive of the greateft happinefs and cordiality. But the reverfe
is dreadful! Children, ftraitened circumftances, refentment of pa-
rents, whether real or affected, too often produce all the complicated
miferies to which mankind, in their loweft ftate of degradation, can
be fubje&ted. Among this order of men, therefore, it is of the high-
eft importance that the law of Nature fhould yield, for fome time at
leaft, to the inftitutions of fociety, and to thofe prudential motives
which parents learn from experience to be ingredients effential to

the comfort and happinefs of life.

Men

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 27

Men of fortune and of opulence have it in their power to obey
the Jaws of Nature and of love; and fome examples, though few in
number, oceafionally happen of rich men adting a difinterefted part
in their matrimonial engagements. Inftead of following the dic-
tates of Nature, many men of fortune and independence, difregard-
ing the high privilege they enjoy, facrifice their tafte, their paffion,
and often their happinefs during life, at the thrine of Gold. To ac-
complith this fordid end, they often embrace deformity, difeafe, ig-
norance, peevifhnefs, and every thing that is difgufting to human
nature. Let fuch individuals fuffer their punifhment. But what
are the confequences to the public? Men of rank, in all nations and
governments, not only regulate, in a great meafure, the manners of
their inferiors, but are the natural guardians of the ftate. For thefe
important purpofes, their minds fhould be noble, generous, and bold;
and their bodies fhould be ftrong, mafculine, fit to encounter the fa-
tigues of war, and to repel every hoftile affault that may be made upon
their country. But, when.men of this defcription, whatever be their
motives, intermarry with weak, deformed, puny, or difeafed females,
their progeny muft of neceflity degenerate. The ftrength, beauty,
and fymmetry of their anceftors are, perhaps, for ever loft. What
is ftill more. to be regretted, debility of body is almoft univerfally -
accompanied with weaknefs of mind. Thus, by the avarice, ambi-
tion, or inattention, of one individual, a noble and generous race is
completely defiroyed. By reverfing this conduct, it is true, the
breed may again be mended; but, to repair a fingle breach, many
generations, endowed with gilidads and circumfpeétion, will be re-
quifite. A fucceffive degeneration, however, is an infallible confe-
quence of imprudent or interrefted marriages of this kind. One
puny race may for fome time be fucceeded by another, till at laft
their conftitutions become fo feeble that the animals lofe the faculty
of multiplying their fpecies. This gradual degeneration is one great’
caufe of the total extid€tion of confpicuous and noble families, That:

if

272 THDECGH LL Osean ¥

it fhould be fo, is a wife and beneficent inftitution of Nature; for, if
fuch debilitated races were continued, a univerfal degeneration would
foon take place, and mankind would be unable to perform the du-
ties, or to undergo the labours of life. Nature firft chaftifes, and at
laft extirpates, all thofe who a& contrary to her cftablithed laws,

Befide the pleafures refulting from fociety, and from mutual at-
tachment in man, and in pairing animals, the natural love of off=
{pring is a fource of the moft engaging endearments. The inno=
cence and helplefs condition of infants call forth our pity and pro~
tection, When a little farther advanced, their beauty, their fmiles,
and their fprightlinefs, excite the moft agreeable emotions. In their
progrefs from infancy to manhood, we obferve with pleafure the
unfolding of their mental powers. They imitate our aétions long
before they can exprefs their defires, or their wants, by language.
Their attempts in the acquifition of language are extremely curious
and amufing. Their firft fyftem of grammar confifts entirely of
fubftantive nouns. It is long before they learn the ufe of adje€tives
or of copulatives, and ftill longer before they employ the verb. Their
fpeeches are fhort, aukward, and blundering; but they are ani-
mated, and uttered with aftonifhing force and vivacity of expreffion
in their eyes, and in the geftures of their bodies. At this period of
life, children are folely actuated by Nature and imitation. After
they acquire words fufficient for conveying the few ideas they pof-
fefs, they begin to reafon, or rather to employ the language of rea=
foning ; for, at this period of life, children, when they mean to give
a reafon why they fhould have any indulgence or gratification, al-
moft univerfally argue againft themfelves, and employ a reafon why
their defires fhould not be granted. This ridiculous mode of rea-
foning excites laughter, and affords pleafure and amufemeuat to the
parents. It likewife fhows, that our firft attempt toward reafoning
is principally, if not folely, the effeQ of imitation; for the reafoning

power,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 274

f

power, at this period, is not fully unfolded, becaufe. many human
inftinéts, or mental qualities, have not yet been called forth into ac-
tion. But here I muft ftop. To do juftice to this interefting fub-
je&t would require volumes.

The love of offspring, which, though not univerfal, is perhaps
the ftrongeft and moft active principle in human nature. It over-
comes the fenfe of pain, and fometimes even the principle of feltf-
prefervation. A remarkable and a melancholy example of the
ftrength of parental affection was lately exhibited, and, for the ho-
nour of our fpecies, deferves to be recorded. In the beginning of
January 1786, the Halfewell Eaft Indiaman, Captain Richard Pierce,
was unfortunately wrecked on the coaft of Dorfetfhire. Befide fe-
veral other ladies, Captain Pierce had two of his own daughters on
board. When the fhip was in the extremity of danger, fome of
the company, by fwimming, and other feats of activity, got upon a
rock. In this dreadful fituation, Captain Pierce afked Mr Rogers,
his third mate, if any plan could be devifed for faving the ladies?
Mr Rogers replied, ‘ It is impoffible! but you may fave yourfelf.’
Upon which the Captain, addreffing himfelf to his daughters, and
enfolding them in his arms, faid, ‘ Then, my dear children, we fhall
* not part; we thall perifh together!’ Mr Rogers quitted the fhip
and reached the rock: An univerfal fhriek of defpair was heard, in
which the voices of female diftrefs and horror were lamentably di-
ftinguifhable. Ina few moments all was hufhed; the fhip, with
every perfon on board, had then gone to the bottom, Parents chear-
fully fubmit to the hardeft labour, and expofe themfelves to the
greateft dangers in order to procure nourifhment to their young, or
to protect them from injury,

A bitchy during the operation of diffe€tion, licked her young,
owhofe prefence feemed to make her forget the moft excrucia-
+ M m. : ting

274 THE ceil Os i@ Pre ¥

ting tortures; and, when they were removed, fhe uttered the
moft dolorous cries. Certain fpecies of fpiders inclofe their eggs
in a filken bag fpun and wove by themfelves. This bag they fix
to their back, and carry it along with them wherever they go.
They are extremely nimble in their motions, But, when the bag
is forced from a fpider of this kind, her natural agility forfakes
her, and fhe falls into a languid ftate. When the bag is again pre-
fented to her, fhe inftantly feizes it, and carries it off with rapidity.
The young fpiders no fooner efcape from the eggs than they dex-
teroufly arrange themfelves on the back of the mother, who conti-
nues for fome time to carry them about with her, and to fupply all
their wants. Another fpecies of fpider attaches her bag of eggs to
her belly. This fpider is likewife very agile, and fo ferocious and
determined in the proteCtion of her eggs, that fhe has been known
to fuffer death rather than relinquifh them, The deer fpontaneoufly
prefents herfelf to be chaced by the dogs, to prevent them from at-
tacking her fawn. When the fox perceives that her young have
been difturbed in her abfence, fhe carries them off, one after another,
and conceals them in a new retreat. Wafps feed their young, when
in the worm or caterpillar ftate, in the fame manner as pigeons and
other birds that difgorge. The pigeon, after fwallowing grain, re-
tains it for fome time in her ftomach, till it is foftened and mace-
rated: She then difgorges, and throws it into the mouths of her
young. ‘ Inthe fame manner,’ fays Reaumur, ‘ I have obferved a
* female wafp fwallow a large portion of an infect: In a fhort time
‘ afterwards, fhe traverfed the different cells of her neft, difgorged
© the contents of her ftomach, and diftributed food in this half di-
* gefted form to her young worms *,’

“
All animals, man perhaps not excepted, acquire a double portion
of force and courage after they bring forth. A cow, at leaftina
domeftic

* Reaumur, tom. 11. pag. 230. 12mo edit.

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 275

domeftic ftate, is a placid and phlegmatic animal: But, whenever
fhe produces a calf, a wonderful change is exhibited: She inftantly
becomes vigilant, active, and even ferocious, in the defence of her
young. A lionefs deprived of her cubs prefents the moft dreadful
picture of anxiety, rage, and rapacity. Defcending lower in the
feale of animation, the fame change is to be remarked. A domeftic
hen is a timid, indocile, and obftinately ftupid creature.’ Though
chaced, harraffed, and even put in danger of her life, fifty times in
a day, fhe never learns to avoid a garden, or any particular place
which fhe is accuftomed to frequent, or to which fhe is led by her
appetite for food. But, the moment her chickens are hatched, in-
ftead of her ufual timidity, fhe becomes as bold as a lion. When
fhe thinks her young are in danger, fhe briftles up her feathers, af-
fumes a fiercenefs in her eye, makes an alarming noife, and attacks,
in the moft furious manner, and without diftintion, every animal
that comes near her. By the fuddennefs of her onfets, fhe often
alarms men, and adtually intimidates and beats off dogs and other
animals that could devour her in an inftant.

Though feveral of the infec& tribes difcover a {trong attachment
to their young, yet all thofe which undergo transformations, and do
not form focieties, muft be completely ignorant of the exiftence of
their progeny ; becaufe, in general, the parents die before tie young
are hatched. Nature, however, has endowed thofe fpecies with an
inftin& which produces all the effeéts of parental affection: They
uniformly depofit their eggs in fubftances which afford to the young,
immediately after their efcape from the egg, a nourifhment adapted
to their refpeGtive conftitutions, and a comfortable and fafe protec-
tion from injury. Thus Nature, ever attentive to the continuation
and happinefs of her productions, however feemingly infignificant
in the feale of being, often employs very different means to accom-
plith the fame beneficent purpofes.

Mm 2 Nature

276 THE PHILOSOPHY

Nature has unqueftionably attached pleafure to all the neceflary
fun@tions of animals.» But this pleafure cannot be confidered as the
original caufe,of any particular action ; for the experiment muft be
made before the animal can difcover whether the refult is to be
agreeable or difagreeable. The truth is, that Nature has beftowed
on the minds of all animated creatures a number of laws or inftinéts
perfealy accommodated to the fpecies, and which irrefiftibly com-
pel them to perform certain ations. The effeéts of thefe laws we
perceive: But the caufes, or the modes by which they operate on
animal minds, are infcrutable. We may and mutt admire, but we
can never penetrate the myfteries of Nature.

Bonnet, and fome other naturalifts, imagine they are exhibiting
the caufes of that flrong and mutual attachment between parents
and their offspring, when they tell us, that, in man, and quadrupeds,
and birds, the mother is fond of her young, becaufe their natural
actions give rife to agreeable fenfations; that, from the flrudture of
the mammae, a gentle, but pleafant fenfation, is excited by the ac-
tion of fucking ; that the mother is often incommoded by too great
a quantity of milk, and that fucking relieves her; that the young
love their mother, becaufe the feeds, proteéts, and communicates to
them a cherifhing warmth ; that, among the feathered tribes, and
particularly thofe which fit upon their young, by the gentle motions
of the little ones, an agreeable fenfation is excited in the belly of the
mother, which is then frequently deprived of feathers. All thefe
fources of reciprocal pleafure may be true: But ftill they are only
effets, and not original caufes, of filial and parental affeGtion ; for
that mutual attachment exifts the moment after the young animals
come into the world, and, of courfe, previous to all experience of
titillation, of heat, of habit, or of any other circumftances that may,
perhaps, contribute to ftrengthen or prolong the exertion of the pri-

mary

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 277

mary caufe, which muft remain forever concealed from human pe-
netration.

In moft animals, except the human fpecies, parental and filial af-
fection ceafe whenever the young are able to provide for themfelves.
The pleafures derived from fucking, and from other circumftances
formerly mentioned, might for fome time remain; but the young
grow large, unwieldy, petulant, and enter into competitions for food,
which not only contribute to alienate the affeCtion of the parents,
but even to excite refentment ,and averfion. Thefe, however, are
only fecondary caufes. The purpofes of Nature are fulfilled. The
ardour of affeGtion, which was indifpenfably neceflary to the pro-
tection and rearing of the young, being now no longer ufeful, is fo
totally extinguifhed, that neither the parents nor the offspring are ;
capable of recognizing one another.. This temporary and amiable
inftin& is obliterated, and never revives till the fervours of love are
again felt, and a new progeny appear.

Marriage or pairing, though by no means an univerfal inftitution
of Nature, is not unfrequently exhibited in the animal creation.
With regard to man, both male and female are inflin@tively impelled
to make a feletion. The force of this natural impulfe is ftrongly
felt by-every young and uncorrupted individual, When not re-
{trained by neceffity, or other powerful motives, men and women
would intermarry long before it would be prudent in civilized or
artificial ftates of fociety. This univerfal, and almoft irrefiftible im-
pulfe of feleétion, is to me the ftrongeft argument in favour of mo-
nogamy, or the union of pairs, among the human {pecies.

The fame impulfe, or law of Nature, takes place among many
other animals, as the patridge tribes, the {wallow, the Jinnet, and, in
general,

278 THE PHILOSOPHY

general, all the fmall birds. The affiduity, attention, mutual affec-
tion, laborious vigilance, and fteadfaft fidelity of pairing animals,
are truly admirable, and, to ingenuous minds, afford the moft exem-
plary admonitions to virtue and conjugal attachment.

Befide this forcible impulfe of feleGtion implanted by Nature in
man, and in every other pairing animal, fome other fa&ts deferve to
be noticed. In all pairing animals, including, of courfe, the human
race, the males and females produced are nearly equal, This is a
plain indication that Nature deftined thefe animals to pair, or to
marry. Injuftice, jealoufy, animofity, and every animal calamity,
would enfue, if this order of Nature were encroached upon in crea~
tures who are endowed with the inftin& of fexual felection.

It is not incurious to remark, that human inftitutions often con-
tradi& the laws of Nature. The dunghill cock and hen, in a natural
ftate, pair. In a domeftic ftate, however, the cock is a jealous tyrant,
and the henaproftitute. But, even in this unnatural fociety, a fele@ion
is fometimes to be obferved. ‘The fame phenomenon is exhibited
among mankind, when placed in certain fituations, Like domeftic
poultry, the Turks, and fome Afiatic and African nations, influen-
ced by an accurfed government, and by an execrable religion, rebel
againft the law of love, and of reciprocal attachment. In thefe
countries, a rich man not only engrofles, but imprifons and tor-
tures, as many beautiful women as his fortune enables him to fup-
port. Deftitute of all thofe endearments which arife from mental
communication, from parental tendernefs and affeGtion, from mutual
confidence and folace, he is, while young, perpetually tormented
with jealous apprehenfions. As he advances in life, his jealoufy and
his terror augment. Though his females are fcrupuloufly guarded
from every intrufion, by fervile and mutilated wretches, his fears

increafe

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 279

increafe with his years and debility, till a premature and comfortlefs
old age puts a period to his infignificant and liftlefs exiftence,

In general, it is to be remarked, that all thofe {pecies of animals,
whofe offspring require, for fome time, the induftry and fupport of
both parents, are endowed with the inftiné of feleCtion, or of pair-
ing. With regard to the feathered tribes, pairing is almoft univer-
fal. A diftin€tion, however, as to the duration and circumftances
of their pairing is to be obferved. The young of all the {mall birds,
as well as of moft of the larger kinds, continue for fome weeks in a
weak and helplefs condition. The mother is not, like quadrupeds,
provided with organs fitted to fecrete milk ; of courfe, fhe is unable
to nourifh them out of her own body. She is therefore obliged to
go abroad in queft of food for them. But the progeny are fo nu-
merous, that all her induftry, if not affifted by the father, would be
ineffe€tual for their fupport and protetion. In all birds whofe young
are in this condition, the males and femaies not only pair, but each
of them is endowed with the ftrongeft parental affection. Both are
equally anxious and induftrious in procuring food for their mutual
offspring. This parental care and attachment uniformly continues
till the young are fledged, and have acquired fufficient ftrength to
provide for themfelves. Eagles, and fome other birds of prey, con-
tinue faithfully in pairs for years, and perhaps during life. Thefe
facts afford a ftrong argument in favour of marriage among man-
kind. No animal remains fo long in the infant and helplefs ftate as
the children of men; and no mother could, with her own induftry,
poflibly fuckle and procure nourifhment for a numerous family.
Here, as in the feathered tribes, the afliftance of the father becomes
indifpenfable. On this fubje@t, a curious inftin@ merits attention.
The male of moft birds not only {elects a female, but, with great af-
fiduity, brings food to her when fitting on her eggs, and often re-
lieves her, by fitting on them himfelf,

2 There

280 THE PHILOSOPHY

There are other fpecies of pairing birds, whofe young, as foon as
they are hatched, are capable of eating their food when prefented to
them, and of courfe, require lefs labour from the parents. In thefe
fpecies, accordingly, the male pays no attention to the progeny, be-
caufe it is unneceflary ; but the mother carefully leads them about
to places where proper food is to be had, proteéts them from inju-
ries, and communicates heat to them by covering them with her
wings.

Quadrupeds, efpecially thofe which feed upon grafs, do not pair;
becaufe, while the female gives fuck to her young, fhe herfelf is
feeding. Befide, the young of this tribe, very foon after birth, can
eat grafs and other vegetables. ‘The Count de Buffon remarks, that
the roe-deer, though they feed upon grafs, are to be excepted from
this rule; for they pair, and have annually but one litter. Lions,
tigers, wolves, and other rapacious quadrupeds, do not pair, The
whole labour of procuring food is devolved upon the female, which
often fhortens her own life, as well as that of her offspring. In re-
lation to man, this is a fortunate circumftance ; for, if beafts of prey
paired, a dangerous multiplication of thofe deftrudtive fpecies would
be the confequence. But pairing is effentially neceffary to birds of
prey; becaufe, during the procefs of incubation, the female would
not have time fufficient for procuring food; which, in thefe animals,
requires both patience and addrefs. Some quadrupeds, particularly
thofe which lay up provifions for the winter, as the beaver, pair.
As foon as the young beavers are produced, the males abandon the
ftock of provifions to the females, and go in queft of food for them-
felves. But they by no means relinquifh their mates; but frequent-
ly return and vifit them while they are fuckling their young.

If man, and fome of the pairing animals be excepted, the feafons
of love are limited to particular times of the year, Thefe feafons,.
though:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 28

though various, are admirably adapted to the nature and oeconomy
of the different fpecies. In all animals of this kind, the feafons of
love, and the times of female geftation, are fo contrived by Nature,
that the offspring, when brought forth, are amply fupplied with the
particular fpecies of food upon which they principally live. Though
the times of geftation vary confiderably among fuch quadrupeds as
feed upon grafs, the refpective females uniformly bring forth early
in fummer, when the grafs is tender and luxuriant. The mare comes
in feafon in fummer, carries eleven months, and is delivered in the
beginning of May. Sheep and goats come in feafon in the end of
O&tober or beginning of November. They carry five months, and
produce when the grafs begins to fpring. It is worthy of obferva-
tion, that, though the times of geftation in the fame f{pecies, and in
all latitudes, never alter, yet the feafons of love, and times of deli-
very, vary with the climate, In Italy, fheep come in feafon in the
months of June or July. The females, as ufual, carry five months,
and bring forth in November or December, the very period when
grafs, in that climate, is in its beft ftate for pafture; for, in April,
it is burnt up, and fheep have nothing to browfe upon but fhrubs.
The rutting feafon of the ftag is in the end of September and be-
ginning of OGober, and the female brings forth in May or the
beginning of June. Thefe animals inhabit the higheft mountains
of Scotland, where the grafs, of courfe, does not begin to fpring fo
early as in the lower parts of that country. Beavers come in fea-
fon about the end of autumn, and bring forth in January, when their
Mtore-houfes are full of provifions. The young of pairing birds are
produced in the f{pring, when the weather begins to be comfortably
warm, and their natural food abounds. In a word, the bringing
forth, or hatching, of all animals, not excluding the infed tribes,
uniformly takes place at thofe feafons of the year when the nature
of the weather, and the food peculiar to the {pecies, are beft adapted
tothe conftitution of their offspring. Caterpillars of every kind are

PAR Na never

282 THE PHILOSOPHY

never hatched till the various plants on which they feed, though
they grow in different months, have put forth their leaves.

We fhall conclude this fubje&, by giving a Table of the Relative
Fecundity, &c. of Animals, which, in a fhort compafs, folves a
number of queftions with regard to the natural hiftory of quadru-
peds. It is taken from the eighth volume of the Tranflation of Buf-
fon, to whofe authority moft readers will be inclined to give great
weight.

TABLE

we

283

OF NATURAL HISTORY.

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285

OF NATURAL HISTORY,

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286 THHESPnilL os orn s

CUBS AL Pio, Re Xa

Of the Transformation of Animals.

H E transformation of caterpillars, and of different kinds of
worms, into winged infeéts, has long excited the attention, as

well as the admiration of mankind. But the truth is, that every
animal, without exception, undergoes changes in their ftructure,
mode of exiftence, and external appearances. Mankind, from their
embryo ftate, to their final diffolution, aflume many different forms.
Some weeks after conception, the rudiments of a human being are
to be perceived. As pregnancy advances, the approaches to the per-
fe&t figure become gradually more diftinguifhable, till the period of
birth. While in the foetus ftate, the head is difproportionally large,
when compared with the other parts of the body; nourifhment is -
conveyed to it by very different channels; and refpiration is not ne-
ceflary, becaufe the circulation of the blood is not carried on in the
fame manner as after birth. Even after birth, the form, fymmetry,
and organs of the animal are by no means complete. The head con-
tinues for fome time to be difproportionally large; the hands and feet
are not properly fhaped; the legs are crooked ; the hair on the head
is fhort and fcanty; no teeth as yet appear ; and there is not a vef-
tige of a beard. Ina few months, however, the fymmetry of all
the

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 287

the parts is evidently improved, and the teeth begin to fhoot. The
growth of the whole body, as well as the ftrength and beauty of its
form, gradually advance to perfection till the fixth or feventh year,
when another change takes place. At this period, the firft fet of
teeth are fhed, and are replaced by new ones. From boyhood to
puberty, the fize of the body, and of its different members, increafe,
When the age. of puberty arrives, feveral important changes are pro-
duced in the fyftem of both males and females. The beard now
makes its appearance; the dimenfions of the body, in moft indivi-
duals, are fuddenly augmented; and both fexes become capable of
multiplying the fpecies. From this period, to the age of twenty-
five or thirty, the mufcles fwell, their interftices are filled with fat,
the parts bear a proper proportion to each other, and man may now
be confidered as a perfect animal. In this ftate of bodily perfection
and vigour, he generally remains till he reaches his fiftieth year.
Then a new but a gradual change begins to appear. From the
fiftieth year to the age of feventy or eighty, the powers of the body
decline in their ftrength and adtivity. The mutcles lofe their fpring
and their force. The vigour of manhood is no longer felt; and the
withered decrepitude of old age is fucceeded by death, its unavoid~
~ able confequence.

The mind of man undergoes changes as well as his body. The
tafte, the appetites, and the difpofitions, are in perpetual flu€tuation.
How different is the tafte of a child from that of aman? Fond of
gewgaws and of trifling amufements, children frolic away their time
without much thought or refleCtion. When advancing toward pu-
berty, their difpofitions and defires fuffer a gradual mutation. New’
inftin&ts are unfolded, and a fenfe of propriety begins to be per-
ceived. They defpife their former occupations and amufements;
and different fpecies of objects follicit and obtain their attention.
Their powers of reflection are now confiderably augmented; and

I both

288 THE PHTLOSOPHY

both fexes acquire a modefty and a fhynefs with regard to each
other. This aukward, but natural bafhfulnefs, by the intercourfe
of fociety, as well as by the impulfes of Nature, vanifhes foon after
puberty, when the ftate of manhood and of gallantry commences.
From this period, to the age of twenty-five or thirty, men’s minds
affume a bold, enterprifing, and active tone. ‘They engage in the
bufinefs of life, look forward to futurity, and have a defire of mar-
rying, and of eftablifhing families. All the focial appetites are in
vigour; folid and manly friendfhips are formed ; and man goes on
for fome time to enjoy every kind of happinefs which his nature is
capable of affording. I with the next change had no exiftence, At
fifty or fixty, the mental powers, in general, like thofe of the body,
begin to decline, till feeble and tremulous old age arrives, and death
clofes the mutable fcene of human life. ‘
With regard to quadrupeds, both before and after birth, they un-
dergo fimilar, and many of them greater, changes of form than thofe
of the human fpecies. Their mental powers, likewife, their difpo-
fitions and manners, as well as the objects of their attention, vary

according to the different ftages of their exiftence. Many of them .
come into the world blind, and continue for fome time before they ~

receive the fenfe of feeing. How many changes are exhibited in
the dog from birth till he becomes a perfe& animal, till all his mem-
bers are completely formed, and all his inftinéts are unfolded and
improved by experience and education? The deer-kind acquire not
their magnificent and. beautiful horns before the age of puberty ;
and even thefe are annually caft off and renewed. Similar changes
take place in quadrupeds of every denomination; with examples of
which every man’s experience and. recolleGtion will readily fupply
him; and, therefore, it is unneceflary to be more particular. _

Neither

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 289

Neither are Birds, in their progrefs from birth.to maturity, ex-
empted from changes. . Like quadrupeds, many. birds are blind for
fome time after they are hatched. In ‘this condition, how different
are their form and appearances from thofe of the perfe&t animals !
At firft, they are covered with a kind of down inftead of feathers.
Even after the feathers fhoot, they are often of .a colour different
from that which they acquire when full grown. The beautifully
variegated colours of the peacock’s tail appéar not till he arrives
at his third year *. Birds that have crefts, or wattles, live a confi-
derable time before they acquire thefe ornaments, or marks of di-
ftinétion, All birds annually molt, or.caft their. feathers, in the
fame manner as quadrupeds fhed their hair, the new pushing out the
old.

Frogs, and many other amphibious animals, undergo great chan-
ges in their form and ftructure, When it firft efcapes from the
egg, a frog appears in the form of a tadpole, an animal with a large
roundifh head, and a compreffed or flat tail, but totally deftitute of
feet and legs. In this ftate.it remains a confiderable time, when the
two fore-feet begin to fhoot, and have an exact: refemblance to the
buds of trees. As their growth advances, the toes and legs are di-
ftinguifhable. . The fame procefs goes on with the hind-legs, only

they are fomewhat later in making their appearance. During the
; growth of the legs, the blood being drawn into different channels,
the tail fuffers a gradual. mortification, till-at laft it totally vanithes,
and the tadpole is metamorphofed into a quadruped., Tadpoles
never come out of the water; but,..after their transformation into
frogs, they become amphibious, and occafionally frequent both land
and water. hori :

ce ai Bn eis vatinn ke

* Linnaei Amoen. Acad. vol.-4. p. 368.

290 THE PHILOSOPHY

The cruffaceous tribes, as lobfters, crabs, &c. befide the different
appearances they afflume while’ growing to -perfeGtion, caft their
fhells every year. When this change is about to‘happen, they re-
tire into the crevices of rocks, or fhelter themfelves below detached
ftones, with a view to conceal and defend their bodies from the ra-
pacious attacks of other fifhes. After the fhells are caft, the animals
are exceedingly weak and defencelefs. Inftead of their natural de-
fence of hard fhells, and {trong claws, they are covered only ‘with a
thin membrane or fkin. In this ftate they become an eafy prey to
almoft every fith that fwims, The fkin, however, gradually thickens
and grows harder, till it acquires the ufual degree of firmnefs. By
this time the animals have refumed their former ftrength and a@tivi-
ty; they come out from their retirements, and go about in queft
of food.

Serpents, and many other reptiles, caft their {kins annually, The
beauty and luftre of their colours are then highly augmented. Be-
fore cafting, the old fkins have a tarnifhed and withered appearance.
The old fkins, like the firft fet of teeth in children, are forced off by
the growth of the: new.

We come now to give fome account of the transformations of i=
feéts, which are both various and wonderful. All winged infects,
without exception, and many of thofe which are deftitute of wings,
muft pafs through feveral changes before the’animals arrive at the
perfection of their natures. The appearance, the ftru€ture, and the
ergans of a caterpillar, of a chryfalis, and of a fly, are fo different,
that, to a perfon unacquainted with their transformations, an iden-
tical animal would be confadered as three diftinG fpecies.. Without
the aid of experience, who could believe that a butterfly, adorned
with four beautiful wings, furnifhed with a long fpiral probofcis or
tongue, inftead of a mouth, and with fax legs, fhould have proceed-
‘ed

id

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 2g8

ed from a difgufting, hairy caterpillar, provided with jaws and teeth,
and fourteen feet? Without experience, who could imagine that a
long, white, {mooth, foft worm, hid under the earth, fhould be tranf-
formed into a black, cruftaceous beetle, having wings covered with
horny elytra, or cafes?

Upon this branch of the fubject, we thal, /x/?, give an example
or two of the moft common transformations of Infects; and, /econd-
ly, defcribe fome of the more uncommon kinds.

_. Befide their, final, metamorphofis into flies, caterpillars undergo
feveral‘intermediate.changes, All. caterpillars caft_ or change their
fkins oftener or more feldom, according to the fpecies. Malpighius
informs us, that the filk-worm, previous to its chryfalis ftate, cafts
its fkin four .times,,., The firft, fkin is caft on the roth, rith, or 12th
day, according to the nature of the feafon; the fecond in five or fix
days after; the third in five or fix days more; and the fourth and
laft in fix or feven days after the third. This changing of {kin is
not only common to all caterpillars, but to every infect whatever,
Not, one of them arrives at perfe&tion without cafting its fkin at leaft
once or twice. The fkin, after it is caft, preferves fo entirely the
figure of the,caterpillar in its head, teeth, legs, colour, hair, &c, that
it is often miftaken for the animal itfelf. A day or two before this
change happens, caterpillars take no food: They lofe their former
activity, attach themfelves to a particular place, and bend their bo-
dies in various-direGtions, till at laft they efcape from the old fkin,
and leave it behind them, The inteftinal canal of caterpiHars is
compofed of two principal tubes, the one inferted into the other.
The external tube is compact and flefhy; but the internal one is
thin and tranfparent. Some days before caterpillars change into the
chryfalis ftate, they void, along with their excrement, the inner tube
which lined their ftomach and inteftines. When about to pafs into

I Oo2 the

292 THE°PHEFLOUSOPH ¥

the chryfalis ftate, which is a ftate of imbecillity, caterpillars fele&
the moft proper places ‘and modes of concealing themfelves from
their enemies. Some, as the filk- worm, and many others, fpin filken
webs or cods round their bodies, which completely difguife the ani-
mal form, Others leave the plants upon which they formerly fed,
and hide themfelves in little cells which they make in the earth.
The rat-tailed worm abandons the water upon the approach of its
metamorphofis, retires under the earth, where it is changed into a
chryfalis, and, after a certain time, burfts from its feemingly inani-
mate condition, and appears in the form of a winged infe&t. Thus
the fame animals pafs the firft and longeft period of their exiftence
in the water, another undef the earth, and the third ‘and Jaft in’the
air. Some caterpillars, when about to change into a chryfalis ftate,
cover their bodies with a mixture of earth and of filk, and conceal
themfelves in the loofe foil. Others incruft themfelves with a filky
or glutinous matter, which they pufh out from their mouths,’ ‘with-
out {pinning it into threads. Others’ retire ‘into the holes of walls
or of decayed trees. Others fufpend thémfelvés to the twigs of trees,
or to other elevated bodies, with their heads undermoft. Sonte ‘at-
tach themfelves to walls, with their heads higher than their bodies,
but in various inclinations; and others ‘choofe a ‘horizontal 'pofition.
Some fix themfelves by a gluten, and fpin a rope round ‘their middle
to prevent them from falling. Thofe which feed upon trees attach
themfelves to the branches, inftead of the leaves, which-are lefs: du-
rable, and fubjeét to a greater variety of accidents. The colours of
the caterpillars give no-idea of thofe of the future flies.

In general, the figure of chryfalids approaches to that of a cone,.
efpecially in their pofterior part. When under this form, the infect
feems to have neither legs nor wings. It is incapable either of walk-
ing or of crawling. It takes no nourifhment, becaufe it has no or-
gans fuited to that purpefe; yet, in fome fpecies, life is continued

. for

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 293

for feveral months before their laft metamorphofis takes place. In
a word, it feems to be a lifelefs mafs. But, upon a more attentive
obfervation, it pofleffes the power of bending upwards and down-
wards the pofterior part of its body. The fkin, or exterior cover-
ing, of thofe which do not {pin cods, feems to be of a cartilaginous
nature. It is commonly fmooth and fhining. In fome fpecies,
however, the {kin of the chryfalis is more or lefs covered with hair,
and other rugofities. Though chryfalids differ both in figure and
colour, their appearances are by no means fo various as thofe of the
caterpillars from which they are produced. The colour of fome
chryfalids is that of pure gold, from which circumftance the whole
have received their denomination. For the fame reafon they are
ealled aureliae in Latin. Some are brown, others green; and, indeed,
they are to be faund of almoft every colour and fhade,

| The life of winged infects confifts of three principal periods,
which prefent very different {cenes to the ftudent of Nature! In
the firft period, the infe@t appears under the form of a worm or ca-
terpillar. Its body is long, cylindrical, and confifts of a fucceffion
of rings, which are generally membranous, and encafed within each
other. By the aid of its rings, or of crotchets, or of feveral pairs of
legs, it crawls about in queft of food ; and its movements are, in
fome fpecies, remarkably quick. Its head is armed with teeth, or
pincers, by which it eats the leaves of plants or other kinds of food.
In this ftate, it is abfolutely deprived of fex, and, confequently, of
the power of multiplication, Its blood moves from the tail toward
the head. It refpires either by, ftigmata or fmall apertures placed on
each fide of its body, or by one or feveral tubes fituated on its po-
fterior part, which have the refemblance of fo many‘tails, In the fe-
cond period,-the infe&t appears under the form of ‘a nymph, or that
of a chryfalis... When an infe@, after throwing off the ikin of the
caterpillar, exhibits all its external parts, only covered with foft and

tran{parent:

294. TAVE G2 ODL. @ S/O Hy

tranfparent membranes, it is called a nymph. But, when to thefe
membranes is added a common and cruftaceous covering, it receives
the name of a chryfalis, While in the ftate of a nymph, or that of
a chryfalis, infets, in general, are totally inadtive, and feem not
to poflefs any powers of life. Sunk into a kind of deep fleep, they
are little affeted with external objeéts. They can make no ufe of
their eyes, their mouth, or any of their members; for they are all
imprifoned by coverings more or lefs ftrong. No cares occupy their
attention. Deprived of the faculty of motion, they remain fixed
in thofe fituations which they have chofen for their temporary
abode, or where chance has placed them, till their final metamor-
phofis into flies. Some of them, however, are capable of changing
place; but their movements are flow and painful. Their blood cir-
culates, but in a contrary diretion from what takes place in the
caterpillar ftate; for it proceeds from the head toward the tail. Ref-
piration continues to go on, but the organs are differently fituated.
In the caterpillar, the principal organs of refpiration were placed at
the pofterior part of the body ; but now thefe fame organs are to be
found at the anterior part of the animal. In the third. period, the
infect has acquired that perfect organization which correfponds to
the rank it is to hold in the fcale of animation. The bonds of the
nymph, or of the chryfalis, are now burft afunder, and the infe&
commences a new mode of exiftence. All its members, formerly
foft, inactive, and folded up in an envelope, are expanded, ftrengthen-
ed, and expofed to obfervation. Under the form of a worm or ca-
terpillar, it crawled ; under thofe of a nymph, or chryfalis, its pow-
er of motion was almoft annihilated ; under the laft form, it is fur-
nifhed with fix fpringy legs, and two or four wings with which it is
enabled to fly through the air. Inftead of teeth or pincers, with
which it divided a grofs aliment, it has now a trunk by which it
extraéts the refined juices of the moft delicate flowers. Inftead of a
few {mooth eyes which it poffefled in the worm or caterpillar ftate,

the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 295

the new infe& is furnifhed with both fmooth and convex eyes, to
the number of feveral thoufands.

The internal parts of the infe& have likewife undergone as many
changes as the external, The texture, the proportions, and the
number of the vifcera, are greatly altered. Some have acquired an
additional degree of confiftence ; others, on the contrary, are render-
ed finer and more delicate. Some receive a new form, and others
are entirely annihilated. Laftly, fome organs in the perfe& infea,
which feemed formerly to have no exiftence, are unfolded, and be-
come vifible. The moft important of this laft kind are the organs
of generation. The caterpillar, the nymph, and the chryfalis, were
of no fex. But, after transformation, both fexes are diflinguifhable,
and the animals are capable of multiplying their fpecies.

We fhall now give fome examples of transformations which de-
viate from the common mode.

Some infe&s. hold a middle rank between thofe which preferve
their original figure during life, and thofe that fuffer transforma-
tions. Their exiftence is divided into two periods only. They
walk in the firft, and fly in the fecond. Thus their only metamor-
phofis confifts of the addition of wings, the growth and expanfion
of which are performed without any confiderable alteration in the
figure of their bodies. .

There is not a law eftablifhed among organized bodies which
feems to be fo univerfal, as that all of them grow, or augment in
fize, after birth, till they arrive at maturity. Ifa hen were to bring
forth an egg as large as her own body, and if this egg, when hatch-
ed, were to produce a bird of equal dimenfions with either of the
parents, it would be confidered as a miracle, But the /pider-fly, fo

denominated

296 THE PHILOSOPHY

denominated from its figure, affords an example of a fimilar prodi-
gy. This fly a@tually lays an egg, from which a new fly is hatched
that is as large and as perfect as its mother. This egg is roundifh,
is at firft white, and afterwards affumes a fhining black colour.
Upon a more accurate examination, however, this production was
found to be an egg only in appearance. When the envelope. is
removed, inftead of a gelatinous fubftance, the new infeG, furnifhed
with all its members, is difcovered. But this difcovery does not
render the fact the lefs wonderful. All winged infects undergo their
different transformations after being expelled from the bodies of
their mothers, and receive great augmentations of fize before their
metamorphofis into the nymph or chryfalis ftate, after which their
growth ftops. But the fpider-fly affords an inftance of an infe&
transformed in the belly of its mother, and which grows no more
after it efcapes from its envelope. This fa€t is fully authenticated
by Reaumur *, Bonnet f, and other naturalifts.

The worm from which the tipula or crane-fly is produced is
perfely fmooth. Immediately before ‘its firft transformation it re-
tires under ground. After this metamorphofis, the furface of the
nymph is furnifhed with a number of prickles. By means of thefe
prickles, the nymph, when about to be transformed into a fly, raifes
itfelf in its hole till the cheft of the infeét is above ground. ‘The
fly then burfts its prifon, mounts into the air, and leaves its former
covering behind in the earth.

Many fpecies of flies depofit their eggs in the leaves and different
parts of plants. Soon after the egg is inferted into the leaf, a {mall

tubercle begins to appear, which gradually increafes in magnitude
till

* Reaumur, vol. 12. p. 412. edit. 12mo.
+ Oeuvres de Bonnet, vol. 4. p. 28. edit. 8vo.

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 297

till the animal is hatched, and has paffed through its different tranf-
formations. Thefe tubercles are known by the name of galls, and
are very different in their form, texture, colour, and fize. Galls of
every kind, however, derive their origin from the ftings of infects,
which generally belong to the clafs of flies. The female fly, by
means of her fting, makes incifions in the leaves or branches of a
tree, and in each incifion fhe lays an egg. . This egg is at firft ex-
tremely minute ; but it foon acquires a confiderable bulk, and the
gall has arrived at its full fize before the worm is hatched. This
gall feems to be analogous to the membranes which inveft a foetus,
and expand in all dire€&tions in proportion to its growth. That the
eggs of oviparous animals grow while in the ovarium is univerfally
known; but it is fingular that the eggs of gall-flies fhould grow af-
ter being feparated from the body of the mother. Thefe eggs muft
undoubtedly be furnifhed with external veflels, or a kind of roots,
by which they extract juices from the internal cavity of the gall.
Malpighius afcribes the origin of galls to a corrofive liquor introdu-
ced by the fly into the wound. But Reaumur, to account for the
growth of a gall, thinks it unneceflary to have recourfe to any fup-
pofed poifonous fluids, and attributes it to the fuperabundant nutri-
cious juices derived to that particular part by the continual action
of the abforbent veflels of the egg, joined to its heat, which may be
compared to a little fire placed in the center of the tumour,

Whether thefe caufes are fufficient to explain the growth of galls,
we fhall fubmit to the judgment of the reader. But, that the eggs
depofited by the flies augment in fize; that worms proceed from
them ; that thefe worms are nourifhed, and live a certain time im-
prifoned in the galls ; that they are there transformed into nymphs
or chryfalids; and, laftly, that they are metamorphofed into winged
infeGis, which, by gnawing an aperture through the gall, take their
flight in the air; are known and inconteftible faGts, of the truth

2 i) Pp of

298 THE PHILOSOPHY!

of which every man may eafily fatisfy himfelf. Examine the com-
mon oak-galls, or thofe of any other tree; if any of them happen ta
have no aperture, cut them gently open, and you are certain to find
an egg, a worm, a chryfalis, or a fly: But in fuch as are perforated
by a cylindrical hole, not a veftige of an animal is difcoverable. The
galls which make an ingredient in the compofition of ink are thick,
and their texture is very ftrong and compact: That the fmall ani-
mals they contain fhould be able to pierce through fuch a rigid fub-
ftance is. truly wonderful.

In the general order of Nature. among oviparous animals, each
egg includes one embryo only. A fingular fpecies of eggs, however,
difcovered by the celebrated Mr Folks, late Prefident of the Royal
Society of London, muft be excepted. He found great numbers of
them in the mud of fmall rivulets. In fize they equalled the head
of an ordinary pin. They were of a brown colour, and their fur-
face was cruftaceous, through which, by employing the microfcope,
feveral living worms were»diftin@ly perceptible. . By dexteroufly
breaking the fhell, he diflodged them; and he found with furprife,
that eight or nine worms were contained in, and proceeded from,
the fame egg. ‘They were all well formed, and moved about with -
great agility. Each of them was inclofed in an individual membra-
nous covering, which was extremely thin and tranfparent. It were
to be wifhed that the transformations of thefe extraordinary animals
had been traced.

Some caterpillars, when about to: transform, make a belt pafs
round their bodies. This belt is compofed of an affemblage of filk-
en threads {pun by themfelves, the ends of which they pafte to the
twigs of bufhes, or other places where they choofe to attach their
bodies. They likewife fix their hind legs in a tuft of filk. After
transformation, the chryfalids remain fixed in the fame manner as

before

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 299

before their metamorphofis, The belt is loofe, and allows the chry-
falis to perform its flow and feeble movements.

The whole moth-kind, as well as the filk-worm, immediately be-
fore their transformation into the chryfalis ftate, cover their bodies
with a cod or clue of filk, though the nature of the filk, and their
mode of fpinning, are very different. The cods of the filk-worm
are compofed of pure filk, Their figure is generally oval, which
neceflarily refults from that of the animal’s body upon which they
are moulded. When {pinning, they twift their bodies into the form
of an S. The cod is produced by numberlefs circumvolutions and
zigzags of the fame thread. The filk is fpun by an inftrument
fituated near the mouth of the infect. The filky matter, before it
is manufactured by the fpinning inftrument, appears under the form
of a gum almoft liquid, which is contained in two large refervoirs
contorted like the inteftines of larger animals, and which terminate
at the {pinning inftrument by two parallel and flender conduits.
Fach conduit furnifhes matter for one thread. The fpinning in-
ftrument, as is evident when viewed by the microfcope, unites the
two threads into one. Thus a thread of filk, which has the appear-
ance of being fingle, is in reality double, and fpun with great dexte-
rity. Some writers, who delight in the marvellous, afcribe forefight
to the filk-worm in fpinning its cod. The filk-worm, it muft be
acknowledged, acts as if it forefaw the approaching event. But the
truth-is, that, when the animal has acquired its full growth, its re-
fervoirs of filk are completely filled. It.then feems to be ftrongly
ftimulated to evacuate this glutinous matter. Its different move-
ments and attitudes, while difcharging the filk, produce thofe oval
bundles which clothe and ornament vaft numbers of the human
{pecies,

Pp 32 Another

400 THE ALL Oma PA ¥

Another fpecies of caterpillar conftruéts its cod in the form of a
boat with the keel uppermoft; but it confifts not entirely of pure
filk. The animal, with its teeth, detaches fmall triangular pieces of
bark from a bufh or atree. Thefe pieces of bark it paftes upon its
body by means of a glutinous or filky fubftance, and they conftitute
a principal part of its cod.

Another fpecies works alfo in wood, though not with equal art-as
the former. Its cod is compofed entirely of {mall irregular frag-
ments of dried wood. Thefe fragments the animal has the addrefs
to unite together, and to form of them a kind of box which covers
and defends its whole body, It accomplithes this purpofe by moiften-
ing, for fome moments, the pieces of wood in its mouth, and then
attaches them to each other by a glutinous fubftance. Of this mix-
ture the caterpillar forms a cod, the folidity of which is nearly equal
to that of wood.

The moft folitary of all infets are‘thofe who live in the internal
parts of fruits. Many of them undergo their metamorphofis in the
fruit itfelf, which affords them both nourifhment and a fafe retreat.
They dig cavities in the fruit, which fome of them either line with
filk, or {pin cods. Others leave the fruit, and retire to be transform=
ed in the earth.

The metamorphofis of infects has been regarded as a fudden ope-
ration, becaufe they often burft their fhell or filky covering quickly,
and immediately appear furnifhed with wings. But, by more at-
tentive obfervation, it has been difcovered that the transformation of
caterpillars is a gradual procefs from the moment the animals are
hatched till they arrive at a ftate of perfeGion. Why, it may be
afked, do caterpillars fo frequently caft their fkins? The new {fkin,
and other organs, were lodged under the old ones, as in fo many

tubes

OF NATURAL HISTORY. gor

tubes or cafes, and the animal retires from thefe cafes, becaufe they
have become too ftrait. The reality of thefe encafements has been
demonftrated by a fimple experiment. When about to molt or
caft its fkin, if the foremoft legs of a caterpillar are cut off, the ani-
mal comes out of the old fkin deprived of thefe legs. From this
fact, Reaumur conjectured, that the chryfalis might be thus encafed,
and concealed under the laft {kin of the caterpillar. He difcovered
that the chryfalis, or rather the butterfly itfelf, was inclofed in the
body of the caterpillar. The probofcis, the antennae, the limbs, and
the wings, of the fly are fo nicely folded up, that they occupy a
fmall fpace only under the two firft rings of the caterpillar. In the
firft fix limbs of the caterpillar are encafed the fix limbs of the but-
terfly. Even the eggs of the butterfly have been difcovered in the
caterpillar long before its transformation,

From thefe faéts it appears, that the transformation of infects is
only the throwing off external and temporary coverings, and not an
alteration of the original form. Caterpillars may be confidered as
analogous to the foetufes of men and of quadrupeds. They live
and receive nourifhment in envelopes till they acquire fuch a degree
of perfection as enables them to fupport the fituation to which they
are ultimately deftined by Nature. «>

One would not readily believe that the excrements of a butterfly
fhould be capable of exciting confternation in the minds of the people.
But this event has frequently happened in different places and na~

“tions. Among many other prodigies which have terrified nations,
Showers of blood have been enumerated by hiftorians, Thefe fhowers
of blood were fuppofed to portend great and calamitous events, as
wars, the deftruction of cities, and the overthrow of empires. About
the beginning of July, in the year 1608, one of thefe pretended
fhowers of blood fel! in the fuburbs of Aix, and for feveral miles

sound.

302 THE PHILOSOPHY

round. This fuppofed fhower of blood, M. de Reaumur remarks,
would probably have been tranfmitted to us as a great and a real
prodigy, if Aix had not then been poffeffed of a philofopher, who,
amidft other fpecies of knowledge, did not negle& the operations
and oeconomy of infects. This philofopher was M. de Peirefc,
whofe life is written by Gaflendi. This life contains a number of
curious faé&ts and obfervations. Among others, M. de Peirefe dif-
covered the caufe of the pretended fhower of blood at Aix, which
had created fo general an alarm. About the beginning of July, the
walls of a church-yard adjacent to the city, and particularly the walls
of the fmall villages in the neighbourhood, were obferved to be
{potted with large drops of a blood-coloured liquid. The people, as
well as fome theologians, confidered thofe drops as the operation of
forcerers, or of the Devil himfelf. M. de Peirefc, about that time,
had picked up a large and beautiful chryfalis, which he laid in a
box. Immediately after its transformation into the butterfly ftate,
M. de Peirefc remarked, that it had left a drop of blood-coloured lis
quor on the bottom of the box, and that this drop, or ftain, was as
large as a French fou. ‘The red ftains on the walls, on ftones near
the highways, and in the fields, were found to be perfeétly fimilar
to that on the bottom of M. de Peirefc’s box. He now no longer
hefitated to pronounce, that all thofe blood-coloured ftains, wherever
they appeared, proceeded from the fame caufe. The prodigious
number of butterflies which he, at the fame time, faw flying in the
air, confirmed his original idea. He likewife obferved, that the
drops of the miraculous rain were never found in the middle of the
city; that they appeared only in places bordering upon the country ;
and that they never fell upon the tops of houfes, or upon walls
more elevated than the height to which butterflies generally rife,
What M. de Peirefe faw himfelf, he fhowed to many perfons of
knowledge, or of curiofity, and eftablifhed it as an inconteftible faa,

that

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 303

that the pretended drops of blood were, in reality, drops of a red
liquor depofited by butterflies.

Fo the fame caufe M. de Peirefc attributes fome other fhowers of
blood related by hiftorians; and it is worthy of remark, that all of
them are faid to have happened in the warm feafons of the year,
‘when butterflies are moft numerous. Among others, Gregory of
Tours mentions a fhower of blood which fell, in the time of Childe-
bert, in different parts of Paris, and upon a certain houfe in the ter-
ritory of Senlis; and, about the end of the month of June, another
likewife fell under the reign of King Robert.

M. de Reaumur remarks, that almoft- all the butterflies which
proceeded from different fpecies of hairy caterpillars in his poffeflion,
voided at leaft one, and often feveral large drops of excrement,
which had the colour of blood. The hairy caterpillar that feeds
upon the leaves of the elmstree, after its transformation, emits drops,
the colour of which is of a more deep red than that of blood; and,
after being dried, their colour approaches to that of carmine, From
another caterpillar of the elm, which is larger, and much more com-
mon than the former, proceeds a butterfly, that, immediately after
its transformation, emits a great quantity of red excrement. This
fpecies of caterpillar, in particular years, is fo numerous, that it lays
bare the whole trees in certain diftridts. Myriads of them are tranf-
formed into chryfalids about the end of May or beginning of June.
When about to undergo their metamorphofis, they often attach
themfelves to the walls, and even enter into the country houfes. If
thefe butterflies were all brought forth at the fame time, and flew in
the fame dire€tion, their number would be fufficient to form fmall
clouds, to cover the ftones, &c. of particular diftriéts with blood-
coloured fpots, and to convince thofe who wih to fright themfelves,
and to fee prodigies, that a fhower of blood had fallen during the

; night.

304 TiDE dPMULOS OBR ¥

night. Some of thofe hairy caterpillars which live in fociety upon
nettles, likewife emit an excrementitious matter of a red colour, A
thoufand examples of the fame kind might be enumerated. Hence
the notion of miraculous or portentous fhowers of blood fhould be
forever banifhed from the minds of men.

I would not have faid fo much upon this fubje&, if Thad not
confidered it to be the duty of every man, when it is in his power,
to remove popular prejudices, efpecially when they have a direct ten-
dency to terrify the minds of men, and to cherith i ienomatt and fu-
perftition.

We not only read of fhowers, but, what feems to be more unac-
countable, of fountains running occafionally with blood inftead of
water. Sir David Dalrymple, one of the Senators of the College
of Juftice in Scotland, a gentleman not more diftinguifhed by his
learning and deep refearch, than by his {crupulous integrity and pro-
priety of condud, relates, in -his Annals of Scotland *, upon the au-
thority of Hoveden and Benediétus Abbas, that, in the year'1184,
* A fountain near Kilwinning |, in the fhire of Air, ran blood for
eight days and eight nights without intermiffion, This portent
had frequently appeared, but never for fo long a fpace. In the
opinion of the people of the country, it prognofticated the effufion
of blood. Benedictus Abbas, and R. Hoveden, relate the ftory of
this portent with perfe& credulity. Benedictus Abbas improves a

«

a

a

o

“

n~

little upon his brother; for he is pofitive that the fountain flowed _
with pure blood.’ If Kilwinning, like Aix, had poffeffed fuch a
philofopher as Peirefc, the rednefs of the water, if ever it did appear,
would have received a moft fatisfactory explanation.

Transformations

* Vol. 1. page 298.
+ A Scottifh village.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. ~ 305

Transformations are not peculiar to animals. All organized bodies
pafs through fucceffive changes. Plants, of courfe, are not exemp-
ted from mutation. What an amazing difference between an acorn
and a ftately oak? The feeds of plants may be compared to the
chryfalids of butterflies. The feed, like the chryfalis, contains, in
miniature, all the parts of the future plant. Thefe parts require
only time, and other circumftances neceflary to vegetation, for their
complete evolution. How different are the feed-leaves from thofe
of the plume? Befide the general changes arifing from growth,
plants undergo a number of metamorphofes from other caufes. In
northern climates, if we except a few evergreens, trees, during win-
ter, are entirely ftripped of their leaves. Inftead. of the pleafant
emotions excited by the variety of figures, movements, colours, and
fragrance of the leaves, flowers, and fruit, during the {pring and
fummer, nothing is exhibited in winter but the bare ftems and
branches. In this ftate, the trees of the foreft have a lugubrious ap-
pearance, and remind us of death and of fkeletons. Very different
are the emotions we feel in the {pring, when the buds begin to burft,
and the leaves to expand. When fummer approaches, another beau-
tiful change takes place. The flowers, with all their fplendour of
colours, and fweetnefs of flavours, are then highly delightful to our
fenfes. After performing the office of cherifhing and proteéting the
tender fruit for fome time, the flowers drop off, and a new change
is exhibited. When the flowers fall, the young fruit appear, and
gradually grow to maturity, perpetually prefenting varieties in their
magnitude, colour, odour, and flavour, When the fruit or feeds
are fully ripe, they are gathered for the ufe of man, drop down up-
on the earth, or are devoured by birds and other animals, After
this change happens, to which all the others were only preparatory,
the leaves begin to fhed, winter commences, and the fame feries of
metamorphofes go on during the exiftence of the plant.

t Q4q The

306 TWihyE gh a LLO s@ Re ¥

The changes juft now mentioned are annual, and are ultimately
intended to fupply men and other animals with food. But plants
are fubjected to changes of form from caufes of a more accidental
nature. Varieties or changes in the figure of plants are often pro- ©
duced by foil, by fituation, by culture, and by climate.

A plant is compofed of the bark, the liber or inner circle, the
wood, and the pith. The calyx or cup, the carolla or flower leaves,
the ftamina, and piftils, are only expanfions of the bark, the liber,
the wood, and the pith. The petals of all flowers, in a natural ftate,
are fingle. But, when tranfplanted into gardens, many of them,
efpecially.thofe which are furnifhed with numerous ftamina, as the
anemone, the poppy, the peony, the ranunculus, the daify, the mari-
gold, the rofe, &c. double, or rather multiply their flower-leaves
without end. This change from fingle to double, or monftrous
flowers, as. they are called, is produced by too great a quantity of
nutricious juices, which prevents the fubftance of the liber from con-
denfing into wood, and. transforms. the ftamina into petals ; and it
not unfrequently. happens, that, when thefe double flowering plants
are committed to a poor foil, they become drier, are reduced to their
natural ftate, and produce fingle flowers only. Plants which inhabit
the valleys, when tranfported to the. tops of mountains, or other ele-
vated fituations, not only become dwarfifh, but undergo fuch chan-
ges intheir general, flructure and. appearance, that they are often
thought to belong to a different fpecies, though they are, in reality,
only varieties of the fame. Similar changes are produced when.
Alpine or mountain plants are cultivated in the valleys.

From culture and climate, likewife, plants undergo many changes.
But this fubject is fo generally known, that to enlarge upon it would
be entirely fuperfluous. We fhall only remark, that the older bo-
tanifts, when they perceived the fame fpecies of plants grow-

ing

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 30%

ing in a different foil, or in a different climate, aflume fuch different
appearances, confidered and enumerated them as diftin& {pecies.
But the modern botanifts, to prevent the unneceflary multiplication
of feparate beings, have ‘endeavoured to reduce all thofe varieties
arifing from fortuitous circumftances to their original f{pecies.

From thefe facts, and many others which might be mentioned, it
appears, that, in both the animal and vegetable kingdoms, forms are
perpetually changing. The mineral kingdom is not lefs fubje& to
metamorphofes ; but thefe belong not to our prefent fubjec&t. Though
forms continually change, the quantity of matter is invariable. The
fame fubftances pafs fucceflively into the three kingdoms, and con-
ftitute, in their turn, a mineral, a plant, an infect, a reptile, a fith, a
bird, a quadruped, a man. In thefe transformations, organized bo-
dies are the principal agents. They change or decompofe every
fubftance that either enters into them, or is expofed to the action of
their powers. Some they affimulate, by the procefs of nutrition,
into ‘their own fubftance; others they evacuate in different forms;
and thefe evacuations make ingredients in the compofitions of other
bodies, as thofe of infects, whofe multiplication is prodigious, and
affords a very great quantity of organized matter for the nourifh-
ment and fupport of almoft every animated being. Thus, from the
apparently vileft and moft contemptible fpecies of matter, the richeft
produGions derive their origin. The moft beautiful flowers, the
moft exquifite fruits, and the moft ufeful grain, all proceed from the
bofom of corruption, The earth is continually beftowing freth
gifts upon us; and her powers would foon be exhaufted, if what
fhe perpetually gives were not perpetually reflored to her. It is a
law of Nature, that all organized bodies fhould be decompofed, and
gradually transformed into earth. While undergoing this fpecies of
diffolution, their more volatile particles pafs into the air, and are
diffufed through the atmofphere. Thus animals, at leaft portions of

Qq2 them,

308 TiHEaPHhLOsoPpHA yY

them, are buried in the air, as well as in the earth, or in water,
Thefe floating particles foon enter into the compofition of new or-
ganized beings, who are themfelves deftined to undergo the fame
revolutions, This circulation of organized matter has continued
fince the commencement of the world, and will proceed in the fame
courfe till its final deftru€tion.

With regard to the intentions of Nature in changing forms, a
complete inveftigation of them exceeds the powers of human re-
fearch. One great intention, from the examples above enumerated,
eannot efcape obfervation. In the animal world, every fucceflive
change is a new approach to the perfection of the individuals. Men,
and the larger animals, fome time after the age of puberty, remain
ftationary, and continue to multiply their fpecies for periods pro
portioned to their refpective fpecies. When thofe periods terminate,
they gradually decay till their final diffolution, The fame obferva-
tion is applicable to the infect tribes, whofe transformations ftrike us
with wonder, The caterpillar repeatedly moults or cafts off its {kin.
The butterfly exifted originally in the body of the caterpillar; but
the organs of the fly were too foft, and not fufficiently unfolded. Ie
remains unfit to encounter the open air, or to perform the functions
of a perfect animal, till fome time after its transformation into a
chryfalis. It then burfts through its envelope, arrives at a ftate of
perfection, multiplies its fpecies, and dies. All the changes in the
vegetable kingdom tend to the fame point. In the procefs of grow-
ing, they are perpetually changing forms till they produce fruit, and
then they decay, Some plants, like caterpillars, go through all their
transformations, death not excepted, in one year. But others, like
man and the larger animals, befide the common changes produced
by growth and the evolution of different organs, continue for many
years ina flate of perfection before the periods of decay and of
diffolution-arrive. But thefe perennial plants undergo, every year,

all

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 309

all the. viciffitudes of the annuals. They every year increafe in
magnitude, fend forth new leaves and branches, ripen and diffemi-
nate their feeds, and, during winter, remain in a torpid ftate, or fuf-
fer a temporary death, Thefe annual changes in trees, &c, have
fome refemblance to thofe of animals which produce at certain ftated
feafons only.

The diftribution of life to an immenfity of fucceffive individuals
feems to be another intention of Nature in changing forms, and in
the diffolution of her productions. Were the exiftence of indivi-
duals perpetual, or were it prolonged for ten times the periods now
eftablithed, life would be denied to myriads of animated beings, who
enjoy their prefent limited portion of happinefs.

CHAP.

gto THE PHILOSOPHY

Con vA Tinh) RR. Ti
Of the Habitations of Animals.

ANY animals,- as well as thofe of the human fpecies, are

endowed by Nature with an architeétonic faculty. This fa~
culty is beftowed upon them for a number of wife and ufeful pur-
pofes. It enables them to conftru& proper habitations for conceal-
ing themfelves, for defending them againft the attacks of their ene-
mies, for fheltering and cherifhing their young, and for protecting
them from the injuries of the weather.

All animals of the fame fpecies, when not reftrained by accidental
caufes, uniformly build in the fame ftyle, and ufe the fame materi-
als. From this general rule man is to be excepted. Pofleffed of a
fuperior number of inftin&ts, of which the reafoning faculty is a
refult *, he can build in any ftyle, and employ fuch materials as his
tafte, his fancy, or the purpofes for which the fabric is intended,
fhall dire&t him. A cottage or a palace are equally within the reach
of his powers. In treating of. this fubje&t, we mean not to trace the

progreis

* See Chap. V. OF Inftind.

)

|

OF NATURAL HISTORY. Bit

progrefs of human architecture, which, in the earlier ftages of focie=
ty, is extremely rude, but to confine ourfelves to that of the inferior
tribes of animated beings.

With regard to Quadrupeds, many of them employ no kind of
architeure, but live continually, and bring forth their young, in
the open air. When not under the immediate protection of man,
thefe {pecies, in rough or ftormy weather, fhelter themfelves among
trees or bufhes, retire under the coverture of projecting rocks, or
the fides of hills oppofite to thofe from which the wind proceeds.
Befide thefe arts of defence, to which the creatures are prompted by
inftin& and experience, Nature furnifhes them, during the winter
months, with a double portion of long hair, which protects them
from cold; and other aflaults of the weather.

Of the quadrupeds that make or choofe habitations for themfelves,
fome dig holes in the earth, fome take refuge in the cavities of de-
cayed trees, and in the clefts.of rocks, and fome actually conftru&
cabins or houfes. But the artifices they employ, the materials they
ufe, and the fituations they feleét, are fo various, and fo numerous,
that our plan neceflarily, limits us to a-few of the. more curious ex=
amples.

The Alpine marmot is a quadruped about fixteen inches imlength,
and has a fhort tail. In figure, the marmots have fome refemblance
both to the rat and to the bear. When tamed, they eat every thing
prefented to them, as flefh, bread, fruit, roots, pot-herbs, infects, &c.
They delight in the regions of froft and of fnow, and are only to be
found on the tops of the higheft-mountains. Thefe animals remain
in a torpid ftate during winter. About the end of September or the
beginning of Odtober, they retire into their holes, and never come
abroad again till the beginning of April. Their retreats are formed

with

312 THE PHILOSOPHY

with much art and precaution. With their feet and claws, which
are admirably adapted to the purpofe, they dig the earth with ama-
zing quicknefs, and throw it behind them. They do not makea
fimple hole, or a ftraight or winding tube, but a kind of gallery in
the form of a Y, each branch of which has an aperture, and both
terminate in a capacious apartment, where feveral of the animals
lodge together. As the whole operation is performed on the decli-
vity of a mountain, this innermoft apartment is alone horizontal.
Both branches of the Y are inclined. One of the branches defcends
under the apartment, and follows the declivity of the mountain.
This branch is a kind of aqueduét, and receives and carries off the
excrements of the animals; and the other, which rifes above the
principal apartment, is ufed for coming in and going out. The place
of their abode is well lined with mofs and hay, of which they lay
up great ftore during the fummer. They are focial animals. Se-
veral of them live together, and work in common when forming
their habitations. hither they retire during rain, or upon the ap-
proach of danger. One of them ftands centinel upon a rock, while
the others gambol upon the grafs, or are employed in cutting it, in
order to make hay. If the centinel perceives a man, an eagle, a
dog, or other dangerous animal, he alarms his companions by a loud
whiftle, and is himfelf the laft that enters the hole. As they conti-
nue torpid during winter, and, as if they forefaw that they would
then have no occafion for victuals, they lay up no provifions in their
apartments. But, when they feel the firft approaches of the fleep-
ing feafon, they fhut up both paflages to their habitation; and this
operation they perform with fuch labour and folidity, that it is more
eafy to dig the earth any where elfe than in fuch parts as they have
thus fortified. At this time they are very fat, weighing fometimes
twenty pounds. They continue to be plump for three months; but
afterwards they gradually decline, and, at the end of winter, they
are extremely emaciated. When feized in their retreats, they appear

rolled

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 313

rolled up in the form of a ball, and covered with hay. In this ftate,
they are fo torpid that they may be killed without feeming to feel
pain. The hunters felect the fatteft for eating, and keep the young
ones for taming. Like the dormice, and all the other animals which
fleep during winter, the marmots are revived by a gradual and gen-
tle heat: And it is remarkable, that thofe which are fed in houfes,
and kept warm, never become torpid, but are equally active and
lively during the whole year.

We fhall now give a fhort account of the operations and archi-
tecture of the beaver. This amphibious quadruped is about three
feet in length, and its tail, which is of an oval figure, and covered
with fcales, is eleven inches long. He ufes his tail as a rudder to
dire&t his courfe in the water. In places much frequented by man,
the beavers neither affociate nor build habitations. But, in the nor-
thern regions of both Continents, they aflemble in the month of
June or July, for the purpofes of uniting into fociety and of build-
ing acity. From all quarters they arrive in numbers, and foon
form a troop of two or three hundred. The operations and archi-
teQture of the beavers are fo well defcribed by the Count de Buffon,
that we fhall lay it before our readers nearly in his own words. The
place of rendezvous, he remarks, is generally the fituation fixed up-
on for their eftablifhment, and it is always on the banks of waters.
If the waters be flat, and feldom rife above their ordinary level, as
in lakes, the beavers make no bank or dam, But in rivers or brooks,
where the water is fubje& to rifings and fallings, they build a bank,
which traverfes the river from one fide to the other, like a fluice,
and is often from 80 to roo feet long, by 10 or 12 broad at the
bafe. This pile, for animals of fo {mall a fize, appears to be enor-
mous, and prefuppofes an incredible labour *, But the folidity with

+ Rr which

* The largeft beavers weigh only 50 or 60 pounds.

4s TIDE CPM ULOSORA YX

which the work is conftruéted is ftill more aftonifhing than its mag-
nitude. The part of the river where they ereé& this bank is gene-
rally thallow. If they find on the margin a large tree, which can
be made to fall into the river, they begin, by cutting it down, to
form the principal bafis of their work, This tree is often thicker
than a man’s body. By gnawing it at the bottom with their four
cutting teeth, they in a fhort time accomplifh their purpofe, and
always make the tree fali acrofs the river, They next cut the branches
from the trunk to make it lie level. ‘Thefe operations are perform-
ed by the joint induftry of the whole community. Some of them,
at the fame time, traverfe the banks of the river, and cut down fmal-
ler trees, from the fize of a man’s leg to that of his thigh. Thefe
they cut to a certain length, drefs them ‘into ftakes, and firft drag
them by land to the margin of the river, and then by water to the
place where the building is carrying on. Thefe piles they fink down,
and interweave the branches with the larger ftakes. In performing
this operation many difficulties are to be furmounted. In order to
drefs thefe ftakes, and to put them in a fituation nearly perpendicu-
lar, fome of the beavers muft elevate, with their tecth, the thick ends
againft the margin of the river, or againft the crofs tree, while others
plunge to the bottom, and dig holes with their fore-feet to receive
the points, that they may ftand on end. When fome are labouring
in this manner, others bring earth, which they plath with their feet,
and beat firm with their tails. They carry the earth in their mouths,
and with their fore-feet. They tranfport earth in fuch quantities,
that they fill with it all the intervals between the piles. Thefe piles
confift of feveral rows of ftakes, of equal height, all placed oppofite
to each other, and extend from one bank of the river to the other.
The ftakes facing the under part of the river are placed perpendicular-
ly; but thofe which are oppofed to.the ftream flope upward to fuftain
the preflure of the water; fo that the bank, which is ten or twelve feet
wide at the bafe, is reduced to two or three at the top. Near the top, or

thinneft

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 315

thinneft part of the bank, the beavers make two or three floping
holes, to allow the furface-water to efcape. Thefe they enlarge or
contract in proportion as ‘the river rifes or falls; and, when any
breaches are made in the bank by fudden or violent imundations,
they know how to repair them when the water fubfides.

Hitherto all thefe operations were performed by the united force
and dexterity of the whole community. They now feparate into
fmaller focieties, who build cabins or houfes, Thefe cabins are con-
ftruéted upon piles near the margin of the river or pond, and have
two openings, one for the animals going to the land, and the other for
throwing themfelves into the water. The form of thefe edifices is
either round or oval, and they vary in fize from four or five to eight
or ten feet in diameter. Some of them confift of three or four ftories.
Their walls are about two feet thick; and are raifed perpendicularly
upon planks, or plain ftakes, which ferve both for foundations and
floors to their houfes, When they confift of but one ftory, they rife
perpendicularly a few feet only, afterwards aflume a curved form, and
~ terminate inadome or vault, which anfwers the purpofe of aroof. They
are built with amazing folidity, and neatly plaftered with a kind of ftuc-
co both within and without. In the application of this mortar the tails
of the beavers ferve for trowels, and their feet for plafhing. Their
houfes are impenetrable to rain, and refift the moft impetuous winds,
In their conftruétion, they employ different materials, as wood, ftone,
and a ‘kind of fandy earth, which is not liable to be diffolved in wa-
ter. The wood they ufe is generally of the light and tender kinds, as
alders, poplars, and willows, which commonly grow on the banks
of rivers, and are more eafily barked, cut, and tranfported, than the
heavier and ‘more folid fpecies of timber. They always begin the
operation of cutting trees at a foot or a foot and a half above the
ground: They labour in a fitting pofture; and, befide the conve-
nience of this pofture, they enjoy the pleafure of gnawing perpe-

2 Rr 2 tually

316 TIHE@SPHILO@SOPRX TY

tually the bark and wood, which are their favourite food. Of thefe
provifions they lay up ample ftores in their cabins to fupport them
during the winter. Each cabin has its own magazine, which is pro-
portioned to the number of its inhabitants, who have all a common
right to the ftore, and never pillage their neighbours, Some villages
are compofed of twenty or twenty-five cabins. But thefe large efta-
blifhments are not frequent; and the common republics feldom ex-
ceed ten or twelve families, of which each have their own quarter
of the village, their own magazine, and their feparate habitation.
The fmalleft cabins contain two, four, or fix, and the largeft eigh-
teen, twenty, and fometimes thirty beavers. As to males and fe-
males, they are almoft always equally paired. Upon a moderate
computation, therefore, the fociety is often compofed of 150 or 200,
who all, at firft, labour jointly in raifing the great public building,
and afterwards, in fele&t tribes or companies, in making particular
habitations, In this fociety, however numerous, an univerfal peace
is maintained, Their union is cemented by common labours; and
it is perpetuated by mutual conveniency, and the abundance of pro-
vifions which they amafs and confume together. A fimple tafte,
moderate appetites, and an averfion to blood and carnage, render
them deftitute of the ideas of rapine and of war. Friends to each.
other, if they have any foreign enemies they know how to avoid
them. When danger approaches, they advertife one another, by
ftriking their broad tail on the furface of the water, the noife of
which is heard at a great diftance, and refounds through all the
vaults of their habitations. Each individual, upon thefe oceafions,.
confults his own fafety ; fome plunge into the water; others conceal
themfelves within their walls, which can be penetrated only by the
fire of heaven, or the fteel of man, and which no animal will at-
tempt either to open or to overturn. Thefe retreats are not only
iafe, but neat and commodious. The floors are fpread over with
verdure: The branches of the box and of the fir ferve them for

carpets,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 3r7
carpets, upon which they permit not the fmalleft dirtinefs, The
window that faces the water anfwers for a balcony to receive the
frefh air, and for the purpofe of bathing. During the greater part
of the day, the beavers fit on end, with their head and the anterior
parts of their body elevated, and their pofterior parts funk in the
water. The aperture of this window is fufficiently raifed to prevent
its being ftopped up with the ice, which, in the beaver climates, is
often two or three feet thick. When this accident happens, they
flope the fole of the window, cut obliquely the ftakes which fupport
it, and thus open a communication with the unfrozen water. They
often fwim a long way under the ice. The continual habit of keeping
their tail and pofterior parts of their body in the water, appears to have
changed the nature of their fleth ; for that of their anterior parts, as
far as the reins, has the tafte and confiftence of the flefh of land-
animals; but that of the tail and pofterior parts has the odour and
all the other qualities of fifth. The tail, which is a foot long, an
inch thick, and five or fix inches broad, is a genuine portion of a
fith attached to the body of a quadruped: It is wholly covered with
feales, and below the fcales with a fkin perfe&tly fimilar to that of
large fifhes. In September, the beavers colle& their provifions of
bark and of wood. Till the end of winter, they remain in their
cabins, enjoy the fruits of their labours, and tafte the fweets of do-
meftic happinefs. This is their time of repofe, and their feafon of
love. Knowing and loving one another, each couple unite, not by
chance, but by tafte and a real felection. The females bring forth
in the end of winter, and generally produce two or three at a time.
About this period they are left by the males, who retire to the coun-
try to enjoy the pleafures and the fruits of the fpring. They return
occafionally, however, to their cabins; but dwell there no more.
- The mothers continue in the cabins, and are occupied in nurfing,
proteGting, and rearing their young, which in a few weeks are in a
condition to follow their dams. The beavers affemble not again till

autumn”,,

318 THE PHIL OSO RH Y

autumn, unlefs their banks or cabins be injured by inundations; for,
when accidents of this kind happen, they fuddenly colleé& their for-
ces, and repair the breaches that have been made.

This account of the fociety and operations of beavers, however
marvellous it may appear, has been eftablifhed and confirmed by fo
many credible-eye-witneffes, that it is impoffible to doubt oriniealiy

ee

The habitation where moles depofit their young merits a particu-
lar defcription ; becaufe it is conftruéted with peculiar intelligence,
and becaufe the mole is an animal with which we are well acquaint-
ed. They begin by raifing the earth, and forming a pretty high
arch, They leave partitions, or a kind of pillars, at certain diftan-
ces, beat and prefs the earth, interweave it with the roots of plants,
and render it fo hard and folid, that the water cannot penetrate the
vault, on account of its convexity and firmnefs. They then elevate
a little hillock under the principal arch; upon the latter they lay
herbs and leaves for a bed to their young. In this fituation they are
above the level of the ground, and, of courfe, beyond the reach of
ordinary inundations. They are, at the fame time, defended from
the rains by the large vault that covers the internal one, upon the
convexity of which laft they reft along with their young. This inter-
nal hillock is pierced on all fides with floping holes, which defcend
ftill lower, and ferve as fubterraneous paflages for the mother to go
in queft of food for herfelf and her offspring. Thefe by-paths are
beaten and firm, extend about twelve or fifteen paces, and iffue from
the principal manfion like rays from a centre.- Under the fuperior
vault we likewife find remains of the roots of the meadow faffron,
which feem to be the firft food given to the young. From this de-
fcription it appears, that the mole never comes abroad but at confi-
derable diftances from her habitation, Moles, like the beavers, pair ;
and fo lively and reciprocal an attachment fubfifts between them,

that

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 310

that they feem to difrelifh all other fociety. In their dark abodes
they enjoy the placid habits of repofe and of folitude, the art of fe-
curing themfelves from injury, of almoft inftantaneoufly making ar
afylum or habitation, and of procuring a plentiful fubfiftence with-
out the neceflity of going abroad. They fhut up the entrance of
their retreats, and feldom leave them, unlefs compelled by the ad-
miffion of water, or when their manfions are demolifhed by art.

The nidification of Bzrds has at all times défervedly called forth the
admiration of mankind. In general, the nefts of birds are built with
an art fo exquifite, that an exact imitation of them exceeds all the
powers of human {kill and induftry. Their ftyle of architeGure,
the materials they employ, and the fituations they feleét, are as va~
rious as the different fpecies. Individuals of the fame {pecies, what-
ever region of the globe they inhabit, collect the fame materials, ar-
range and conftruc&t them in the fame form, and make choice of
fimilar fituations for ereéting their temporary habitations; for the
nefts of birds, thofe of the eagle-kind excepted, after the young have
come to maturity, are forever abandoned by the parents.

To defcribe minutely the nefts of birds would. be a vain attempt.
Such defcriptions could not convey an adequate idea of their archi-
te€ture to a perfon who had never feen one of thofe beautiful and
commodious habitations, which even aftonifh and excite the amaze-
ment of children.

The different orders of birds exhibit great variety in the mate-
rials and ftru€ture of their nefts. Thofe of the rapacious. tribes
are in general rude, and compofed of courfe materials, as dried
twigs, bents, &c. But they are often lined with foft fubftances.
They build in elevated rocks, ruinous and fequeftered caftles and
towers, and in other folitary retirements, The aiery or neft of the

eagle

320 THE PHILOSOPHY

eagle is quite flat, and not hollow, like thofe of other birds. The male
and female commonly place their neft between two rocks, in a
dry and inacceffible fituation. The fame neft, it is faid, ferves the
eagle during life. The ftruature is fo confiderable, and compofed
of fuch folid materials, that it may laft many years. Its form re-
fembles that of a floor, Its bafis confifts of fticks about five or fix
feet in length, which are fupported at each end, and thefe are cover-
ed with feveral layers of rufhes and heath. An eagle’s neft was
found in the Peak of Derbyfhire, which Willoughby defcribes in
the following manner: ‘It was made of great fticks, refting one end
‘ on the edge of a rock, the other on a birch tree. Upon thefe was
‘ a layer of rufhes, and over them a layer of heath, and on the
‘ heath rufhes again; upon which lay one young, and an addle egg ;
‘ and by them a lamb, a hare, and three heath pouts. The neft was
* about two yards fquare, and had no hollow init.’ But the butcher-
birds, or fhrikes, which are lefs rapacious than eagles and hawks,
build their habitations in fhrubs and buthes, and employ mofs, wool,
and other foft materials.

The birds belonging to the order of Pies in the ingenious Mr
Pennant’s Genera of Birds, are extremely irregular in conftructing
their nefts.) The common magpies build their nefts in trees, and
their ftru€ture is admirably contrived for affording warmth and
protection to the young. The neft is not open at top: It is cover-
ed, in the moft dexterous manner, with an arch or dome, anda
{mall opening in the fide of it is left, to give the parents an oppor-
tunity of paffing in and out at their pleafure. To protect their eggs
and young from the attacks of other animals, the magpies place,
all round the external furface of their neft, fharp briars and thorns.
The long-tailed titmoufe, or ox-eye, builds nearly like the wren, but
with ftill greater art. With the fame materials as the reft of the
ftruture, the titmoufe builds an arch over the top of the neft, which

) refembles

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 321

refembles an egg erected upon one end, and leaves a {mall hole in the
fide for a paflage. Both eggs and young, by this contrivance, are de-
fended from the injuries of the air, rain, cold, &c. That the young
may have a foft and warm bed, fhe lines the infide of the neft with
feathers, down, and cobwebs. The fides and roof are compofed of
mofs and wool interwoven in the moft curious and artificial manner.

In treating of inftinG, it was mentioned, that, in warm climates,
many fmall birds fufpended their nefts on tender twigs of trees, to
prevent them from being deftroyed by the monkeys. In Europe,
there are only three birds which build penfile nefts, namely, the
common oriola, the parus pendulinus, or hang-neft titmoufe; and
another penfile neft, belonging to fome unknown bird, was lately
difcovered by Mr Pennant, near the houfe of Blair in Athole, in the
north of Scotland. ‘ In a fpruce fir-tree,” Mr Pennant remarks,
¢ was a hang-neft of fome unknown bird, tufpended at the four cor-
* ners to the boughs. It was open at top, an inch anda half dia-
* meter, and two deep; the fides and bottom thick; the materials.
* mofs, worfted, and birch bark, lined with feathers *.’

Mr Pennant, in his Indian Zoology, gives the following curious
account of the manner in which the motacilla futoria, or taylor
bird, builds its neft. ‘ Had providence,’ Mr Pennant remarks, * left
© the feathered tribes unendowed with any particular inftinG, the
* birds of the torrid zone would have built their nefts in the fame
* unguarded manner as thofe of Europe; but there the lefler fpecies,
* having a certain prefcience of the dangers that furround them, and
* of their own weaknefs, fufpend their nefts at the extreme branches
* of the trees: Fhey are confcious of inhabiting a climate replete
with enemies to them and their young; with fnakes that twine up

T Sf * the

* Pennant’s Tour, vol. 1. pag. 104. 3d edit.

22 TRE €PMuLGgsyOrREe ¥

G

n

the bodies of the trees, and apes that are perpetually in fearch of ©
prey; but, heaven-inftruéted, they elude the gliding of the one,

and the activity of the other.—The brute creation are more at

enmity with one another than in other climates; and the birds

are obliged to exert an unufual artifice in placing their little broods

out of the reach of an invader. Each aims at the fame end, though

by different means; fome form their penfile neft in fhape of a

purfe, deep and open at top, others with a hole in the fide, and

others, {till more cautious, with an entrance at the very bottom,

forming their lodge near the fummit *. But the taylor-bird feems

to have greater diflidence than any of the others: It will not truft.
its neft even to the extremity of a flender twig, but makes one _
more advance to fafety by fixing it to the leaf itlelf. It picks up
a dead leaf, and, furprifing to relate, fews it to the fide of a living
one J, its flender bill being its needle, and its thread fome fine
fibres, the lining feathers, goflamer, and down. Its eggs are white,
the colour of the bird light yellow; its length three inches; its
weight only three fixteenths of an ounce; fo that the materials of
the neft, and its own fize, are not likely to draw down a habita=
tion that depends on fo flight a tenure {.’

Birds of the gallinaceous or poultry kind lay their eggs on the
ground. Some of them fcrape a kind of hole in the earth, and line
it with a little long grafs or ftraw.

It

* This inftin& prevails alfo among the birds on the banks of. the Gambia, in
{ Africa, which abounds with monkeys and fnakes ; others, for the fame end, make
their neft in holes of the banks that overhang that vaft river; Purchas, vol. 2. pag.
15706.

+ A neft of this bird is preferved in the Britifh Mufaeum.

{ Pennant’s Indian Zoology, pag. 7.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 323

It is a fingular, though a well attefted fact, that the cuckow makes
‘no neft, and neither hatches nor feeds her own young. ‘ The hedge-
* fparrow,’ fays Mr Willoughby, ‘ is the cuckow’s nurfe, but not
‘the hedge-fparrow only, but alfo ring-doves, larks, finches.
‘ myfelf, with many others, have feen a wag-tail feeding a young
“cuckow. The cuckow herfelf builds no neft ; but having found
“the neft of fome little bird, fhe either devours or deftroys the eggs
© the there finds, and, in the room thereof, lays one of her own, and
“fo forfakes it. The filly bird returning, fits on this egg, hatchea
¢ it, and, with a great deal of care and toil, broods, feeds, and che-
‘ rifhes the young cuckow for her own, until it be grown up and
“able to fly and fhift for itfelf. Which thing feems fo ftrange,,
¢ monftrous, and abfurd, that for my part I cannot fufficiently won-
© der there fhould be fuch an example in Nature; nor could I ever
© have been induced to believe that fuch a thing had been done by
¢ Nature’s inftin&, bad I not with mine own eyes feen it. For Na-
“ture, in gther things, is wont conftantly to obferve one and the
’* fame law and order, agreeable to the higheft reafon and prudence ;
* which in this cafe is, that the dams make nefts for themfelves, if
‘need be, fit upon their own eggs, and bring up their own young
* after they are hatched *.’ This oeconomy, in the hiftory of the
euckow, is not only fingular, but feems to contradict one of the
moft univerfal laws eftablifhed among animated beings, and parti-
cularly among the feathered tribes, namely, the hatching and rear-
ing of their offspring. Still, however, like the oftrich in very warm
climates, though the cuckow neither hatches nor feeds her young,
the places her eggs in fituations where they are both hatched and
her offspring brought to maturity. Here the ftupidity of the one
animal makes it a dupe to the rapine and chicane of the other; for
the cuckow always deftroys the eggs of the fimall bird before the

depofits her own.
Sf 2 Mok

* Willoughby’s Ornithology, pag. 98.

424 THE PHILOSOPHY

Moft of the pafferine or fmall tribes build their nefts in hedges,
fhrubs, or bufhes; though fome of them, as the lark and the goat-
fucker, build upon the ground. The nefts of {mall birds are more
delicate in their ftru@ture and contrivance than thofe of the larger
kinds. As the fize of their bodies, and likewife that of their eggs,
are {maller, the materials of which their nefts are compofed are ge-
netally warmer. Small bodies retain heat a fhorter time than thofe
which are large. Hence the eggs of {mall birds require a more
conftant fupply of heat than thofe of greater dimenfions. - Their
nefts, accordingly, are built proportionally warmer and deeper, and
they are lined with fofter fubftances.. The larger birds, of courfe,
can leave their eggs for fome time with impunity; but the fmaller
kinds fit moft affiduoufly ; for, when the female is obliged to go
abroad in queft of food, the neft is always occupied by the male.
When a neft is finifhed, nothing can exceed the dexterity of both
male and female in concealing it from the obfervation of man, and
of other deftrutive animals, If it is built in buthes, the pliant
branches are difpofed in fuch a manner as to hide it entirely from
view. To conceal her retreat, the chaffinch covers the outfide of her
neft with mofs, which is commonly of the fame colour with the
bark of the tree on which fhe builds. The common fwallow builds
its neft on the tops of chimneys; and the martin attaches hers to
the corners of windows, or under the eaves of houfes. Both employ
the fame materials. The neft is built with mud well tempered by
the bill, and moiftened with water to make it more firmly cohere;
and the mud or clay is kept ftill firmer by a mixture of ftraw or
grafs. Within it is neatly lined with feathers, Willoughby, on the
authority of Bontius, informs us, ‘ That, on the fea coft of the king-
* dom of China, a fort of fmall party-coloured birds, of the fhape
* of fwallows, at a certain feafon of the year, viz. their breeding
* time, come out of the midland country to the rocks; and from
* the foam or froth of the fea-water dafhing and breaking againft

I ‘the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 325

¢ the bottom of the rocks, gather a certain clammy, glutinous mat-
‘ ter, perchance the fperm of whales, or other fifhes, of which they
© build their nefts, wherein they lay their eggs, and hatch their
young. Thefe nefts the Chinefe pluck from the rocks, and bring
them in great numbers into the Eaft Indies to fell; which are
efteemed by gluttons great delicacies, who, diflolving them in

e

chicken or mutton broth, are very fond of them, preferring them

far before oyfters, mufhrooms, or other dainty and lickerifh mor-
fels which moft gratify the palate.-—Thefe nefts are of a hemif-
pherical figure, of the bignefs of a goofe-egg, and of a fubftance
refembling ifing-glafs *.’

Mott of the cloven-footed water-fowls, or waders, lay their eggs
upon the ground. But the fpoon-bills and the common heron build
large nefts in trees, and employ twigs and other coarfe materials ;
and the ftorks build on churches, or on the tops of houfes. Many
of the web-footed fowls lay their eggs likewife on the ground, as
the terns, and fome of the gulls and merganfers. But ducks pull
the down from their own breafts to afford a warmer and more com-
fortable bed for their young. The auks, the guillemots, and the
puffins or coulternebs, lay their eggs on the naked thelves of high
rocks, The penguins, for the fame purpofe, dig large and deep
holes under ground,

It is not unworthy of remark, that birds uniformly proportion
the dimenfions of their nefts to the number and fize of the young to
be produced. Every fpecies lays nearly a determined number of
eges. But, if one be each day abftra&ted from the neft, the bird
continues to lay daily more till her number is completed. Dr Lifter,
by this practice, made a {wallow lay no lefs than nineteen eggs.

The

* Willoughby’s Ornithology, pag. 215.

326 TIRE OPH PLOSoe AH ¥

The habitations of Jnfec?s are next to be confidered. On this
branch of the fubje&, we hall firft give fome examples of abodes
conftruéted by folitary workers, and next of thofe habitations which
are executed by affociated numbers, f

In feveral preceding parts of this work, and particularly im the
chapter upon Inftin@, the reader will find fome inftances of the fkilf
and induftry exhibited by infe€ts for the convenient lodging and
protection of their young. Thefe it is unneceffary to repeat. We
fhall therefore proceed to give fome examples of a different kind.

There are fevéral {pecies of bees diftinguifhed by the appellation
of /olitary, becaufe they do not aflociate to carry on any joint ope=
rations. Of this kind is the ma/on-bee, fo called becaufe it builds a
habitation compofed of fand and mortar. The nefts of this bee are
fixed to the walls of houfes, and, when finifhed, have the appear-
ance of irregular prominences arifing from dirt or clay accidentally
thrown againft a wall or ftone by the feet of horfes. Thefe promi-.
nencies are not fo remarkable as.to attract attention ; but, when the
external coat is. removed, their ftruéture is difcovered to be truly ad-
mirable. The interior part confifts of an aflemblage of different
cells, each of which affords a convenient lodgement to a white
worm, pretty fimilar to thofe produced by the honey-bee. Here
they remain till they have undergone all their metamorphofes, In
eonftructing this neft, which-is a work of great labour and dexte-
rity, the female is the fole operator. She receives no affiftance from.
the male. Phe manner in which the female mafon-bees build their:
nefts is the moft curious branch of their hiftory.

After choofing a part of a.wall on which fhe is refolved to fix am
habitation for her future progeny, fhe goes in queft of proper ma-
terials. The neft to be conftruéted muft confift of a {pecies of mor-

tary,

« OF WAT URAL Wits T ORY. 327

tar, of which fand is the bafis. She knows, like human builders,
that every kind of fand is not equally proper for making good mor-
tar. She goes, therefore, to a bed of fand and feleéts, grain by
grain, the kind which is beit to anfwer her purpofe. With her teeth,
which are as large and as ftrong as thofe of the honey bee, fhe ex-
amines and brings together feveral grains. But fand alone will not
make mortar. Recourfe muft be had toacement fimilar to the
flacked lime employed by mafons, Our bee is unacquainted with
lime, but the poffefles an equivalent in her own body. From her
mouth fhe throws out a vifcid liquor, with which fhe moiftens the
firft grain pitched upon. To this grain fhe cements a fecond, which
fhe moiftens in the fame manner, and to the former two fhe attach-
es a third, and fo on, till fhe has formed a mafs as large as the fhot
ufually employed to kill hares. This mafs fhe carries off in her teeth
to the place fhe had chofen for erecting her neft, and makes it the
foundation of the firft cell, In this manner fhe labours inceffantly
till the whole cells are completed, a work which is generally accom~
plithed in five or fix days, All the cells are fimilar, and nearly
equal in dimenfions. Before they are covered, their figure refem-
bles that of a thimble. She never begins to make a fecond till the
firft be finifhed. Each cell is about an inch high, and nearly half
an inch in diameter. But the labour of building is not the only one
this female bee has to undergo, When a cell has been raifed to one
half or two thirds of its height, another cccupation commences.
She feems to know the quantity of food that will be neceflary to
nourith the young that is to proceed from the egg, from its exclu-
fion till it acquires its full growth, and paffes into the chryfalis ftate.
The food which is prepared for the fupport of the young worm con-
fifts of the farina or powder of flowers, diluted with honey, which
forms a kind of pap. Before the cell is entirely finifhed, the mafon-
bee colleéts from the flowers, and depofits in the cell, a large quan-
tity of farina, and afterwards difgorges upon it as much honey as

dilutes

328 THE PHILOSOPHY

dilutes it, and forms it into a kind of pafte, or fyrup. When this
operation is performed, fhe completes her cell, and, after depofiting
an egg in it, covers the mouth of it with the fame mortar fhe ufes
in building her neft. The egg is now inclofed on all fides in a wall-
ed habitation hermetically fealed. A {mall quantity of air, however,
gets admiffion to the worm, otherwife it could not exift. Reaumur
difcovered that air actually penetrated through this feemingly com-
pact mafon-work,

As foon as the firft cell is completed, the mafon-bee lays the foun=
dation of another. In the fame neft fhe often conftruéts feven or
eight cells, and fometimes only three or four. She places them near
each other, but not in any regular order, This induftrious animal,
after all her cells are conftructed, filled with provifions, and fealed,
covers the whole with an envelope of the fame mortar, which, when
dry, is as hard as a ftone. The neft now is commonly of an oblong
or roundifh figure, and the external cover is compofed of coarfer
fand than that of the cells. As the nefts are almoft as durable as
the walls on which they are placed, they are often, in the following
feafon, occupied and repaired by a ftranger bee. Though inclofed
with two hard walls, when the fly emerges from the chryfalis ftate,
it firft gnaws with its teeth a paflage through the wall that fealed up
the mouth of its cell, afterwards, with the fame inftruments, it pierces
the ftill ftronger and more compa@ cover which invefts the whole
neft; at laft it efcapes into the open air, and, if a female, in a fhort
time, conftructs a neft of the fame kind with that which the mother
had made. ‘To all thefe fats, Du Hamel, Reaumur, and many
other naturalifts of credit and reputation, have been repeatedly eye=
witnefles.

From the hardnefs of the materials with which the mafon-bee
eonftruéts her neft, from the induftry and dexterity fhe employs to.
protect

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 329

protect her progeny from enemies of every kind, one fhould natu-
rally imagine that the young worms were in perfect fafety, and that
their caftle was impregnable. But, notwithftanding all thefe favou-
rable precautions, the young of the mafon-bee are often devoured
by the inftinétive dexterity of certain fpecies of four-winged infects,
diftinguifhed by the name of zchneumon flies. Thefe flies, when the -
mafon-bee has nearly completed a cell, and filled it with provifions,
depofit their own eggs in her cell. After the eggs of the ichneu-
mon flies are hatched, their worms devour not only the provifions
laid up by the mafon-bee, but even her progeny whom fhe had la-
boured fo hard, and with fo much art and ingenuity, to protect,
But the mafon-bee has an enemy ftill more formidable. A certain
fly employs the fame ftratagem of infinuating an egg into one of
her cells before it is completed. From this egg proceeds a ftrong
and rapacious worm, armed with prodigious fangs. The devafta-
tions of this worm are not confined to one cell. He often pierces
through each cell in the neft, and fucceflively devours both the
mafon-worms, and the provifions fo anxioufly laid up for their fup-
port by the mother. This ftranger worm is afterwards transformed
into a fine beetle, who is enabled to pierce the neft, and to make
his efcape.

The operations of another fpecies of folitary bees, called wood-
piercers, merit attention, Thefe bees are larger than the queens of
the honey-bee. Their bodies are fmooth, except the fides, which
are covered with hair. Inthe fpring, they frequent gardens, and
fearch for rotten, or at leaft dead wood, in order to make an habi-
tation for their young. When a female of this fpecies, for fhe re-
ceives no affiftance from the male, has felected a piece of wood, or
a decayed tree, fhe commences her labour by making a hole in it,
which is generally directed toward the axis of the tree. When fhe
has advanced about half an inch, the alters the direction of the hole,

T Tit and

330 THE PHILOSOPHY

and conduéts it nearly parallel to the axis of the wood. The fize
of her body requires that this hole fhould have a confiderable dia-
meter. It is often fo large as to admit the finger of a man, and it
fometimes extends from twelve to fifteen inches in length. If the
thicknefs of the wood permits, fhe makes three or four of thefe long
holes in its interior part. M. de Reaumur found three of thefe pa-
rallel holes in an old efpalier poft. Their diameters exceeded half
an inch. ‘This labour, for a fingle bee, is prodigious; but, in exe-
cuting it, fhe confumes weeks, and even months,

Around the foot of a poft or piece of wood where one of thefe
bees are working, little heaps of timber-duft are always found lying
on the ground, Thefe heaps daily increafe in magnitude, and the
particles of duft are as large as thofe produced by a hand-faw. The
two teeth with which the animal is provided are the only inftru-
ments fhe employs in making fuch confiderable perforations. Each
tooth confifts of a folid piece of fhell, which in fhape refembles an
auger. It is convex above, concave below, and terminates in a fharp
but ftrong point.

Thefe long holes are defigned for lodgings to the worms that are
to proceed from the eggs which the bee is foon to depofit in them.
But, after the holes are finifhed, her labour is by no means at an
end. The eggs muft not be mingled, or piled above each other.
Every feparate worm muft have a diftin appartment, without any
communication with the others. Each long hole or tube, according-
ly, is only the outer walls of a houfe which is to confift of many
chambers ranged one above another. A hole of about twelve inches
in length fhe divides into ten or twelve feparate appartments, each of _
which is about an inch high. The roof of the loweft room is the
floor of the fecond, and fo on to the uppermoft. Each floor is about
the thicknefs of a French crown. The floors or divifions are com-

pofed:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 331

pofed of particles of wood cemented together by a glutinous fub-
ftance from the animal’s mouth. In making a floor, fhe commen-
ces with gluing an annular plate of wood-duft round the internal
circumference of the cavity, To this plate fhe attaches a fecond, to
the fecond a third, and to the third a fourth, till the whole floor is
completed. The undermoft cell requires only a roof, and this roof
is a floor to the fecond, &c.

We have hitherto defcribed the wonderful affiduity of this anima!
in conftructing her cells. But this operation, though great, and
feemingly fuperior to the powers of a creature fo fmall, is not her
only labour. Before roofing in the firft cell, fhe fills it with a pafte
or pap, compofed of the farina of flowers moiftened with honey.
The quantity of pafte is equal to the dimenfions of the cell, which
is about an inch high, and half an inch in diameter. Into this pafte,
which is to nourifh the future worm, fhe depofits an egg. Immedi-
ately after this operation, fhe begins to form a roof, which not only
inclofes the firft cell, but ferves as a floor to the fecond. The fecond
cell fhe likewife fills with pafte, depofits an egg, and then covers
the whole with another roof. In this manner fhe proceeds, till fhe
has divided the whole tube into feparate cells. A fingle tube fre-
quently contains from ten to a dozen of thefe cells; When the cells
are all inclofed, the bufinefs of this laborious bee is finifhed, and the
takes no more charge of her future progeny. The attention and
folicitude beftowed by many other animals, in rearing their young,
are exerted after birth. But, in the wood-piercing bee, as well as
in many other infects, this inftinétive attachment is reverfed. All
her labours and all her cares are exerted before fhe either fees her
offspring, or knows that they are to exift. But, after the defcrip-
tion that has been given of her amazing operations, fhe will not be
confidered as an unnatural mother. With aftonifhing induftry and
perfeverance, fhe not only furnifhes her young with fafe and con-

tye venient

332 THE PHILOSOPHY

venient lodgings, but lays up for them ftores of provifions fufficient
to fupport them till their final metamorphofis into flies, when the
new females perform the fame almoft. incredible operations for the
protection and fuftenance of their own offspring. When the young
worm is hatched, it has fcarcely fufficient {pace to turn itfelf in the
cell, which is almoft entirely filled with the pappy fubftance for-
merly.mentioned. But, as this fubftance is gradually devoured by
the worm, the fpace in the cell neceflarily enlarges in proportion to
the growth and magnitude of the animal.

We are informed by M. de Reaumur *, that M. Pitot furnifhed
him with a piece of wood, not exceeding an inch and a half in dia-
meter, which contained the cells of a wood-piercing bee, He cut
off as much of the wood as was fufficient to expofe two of the cells
to view, in each of which was a worm. The aperture he had made,
to prevent the injuries of the air, he clofed, by pafting on it a bit of
glafs) The cells were then almoft entirely filled with pafte. The
two worms were exceedingly fmall, and, of courfe, occupied but
little {pace between the walls of the cells and the mafs of pafte. As
the animals increafed in fize, the pafte daily diminifhed. He began
to obferve them on the 12th day of June; and, on the 27th of the
fame month, the pafte in each cell was nearly confumed, and the
worm, folded in two, occupied the greater part of its habitation.
On the 2d of July, the provifions of both worms.were entirely ex-
haufted; and, befide the worms themfelves, there remained in the
cells only a few fmall, black, oblong grains of excrement. The five
or fix following days they fafted, which feemed to be a neceflary.
abftinence, during which they were greatly agitated. They often
bended their bodies, and elevated and deprefled their heads. Thefe
movements were preparatory to the great change the animals were

about,

® Tom. 11. pag. 58. 12mo edit.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 333

about to undergo. Between the 7th and 8th of the fame month,
they threw off their {kins, and were metamorphofed into nymphs.
On the 30th of July, thefe nymphs were transformed into flies fimi-
lar to their parents. Ina range of cells, the worms ate of different
ages, and, of courfe, of different fizes. Thofe in the lower cells are
older than thofe in the fuperior ; becaufe, after the bee has filled
with pafte and enclofed its firft cell, a confiderable time is requifite
to colle& provifions, and to form partitions for every fucceflive and
fuperior cell, The former, therefore, muft be transformed into
nymphs and flies before the latter. Thefe circumftances are appa-
rently forefeen by the common mother ; for, if the undermoft worm,
which is oldeft, and fooneft transformed, were to force its way up-
ward, which it could eafily do, it would not only difturb, but infal-
libly deftroy all thofe lodged in the fuperior cells. But Nature has
wifely prevented this devaftation ; for the head of the nymph, and
confequently of the fly, is always placed in a downward direction,
Its firft inftin@iive movements muft, therefore, be in the fame direc-
tion. That the young flies may efcape from their refpective cells,
the mother digs a hole at the bottom of the long tube, which makes
a communication with the undermoft cell and the open air. Some-
times a fimilar paffage is made near the middle of the tube. By this
contrivance, as all the flies inftinGtively endeavour to cut their way
downward, they find an eafy and convenient paflage ; for they have
only to pierce the floor of their cells, which they readily perform
with their teeth.

Another fmall fpecies of folitary bees dig holes in the earth to
make a convenient habitation for their young. Their nefts are
compofed of cylindrical cells fixed to one another, and each of them,
in figure, refembles a thimble. Their bottom, of courfe, is convex
and rounded. The bottom of the fecond is inferted into the entry
of the firft; and the entry of the fecond receives the bottom of the

: third,

334 THE PHILOSOPHY

re)

third. They are not all of the fame length. Some of them are
five lines long, others only four, and their diameters feldom exceed
two lines. Sometimes only two of thefe cells are joined together ;
and, at other times, we find three or four, which form a kind of
cylinder. This cylinder is compofed of alternate bands of two dif-
ferent colours: Thofe of the narroweft, at the juncture of two cells,
are white, and thofe of the broadeft are of a reddifh brown. The
cells confift of a number of fine membranes, formed of a glutinous
and tranfparent fubftance from the animal’s mouth. Each cell our
bee fills with the farina of flowers diluted with honey, and in this
pafte fhe depofits an egg. She then covers the cell, by gluing to its
mouth a fine cellular fubftance taken from the leaves of fome plant ;
and in this manner fhe proceeds till her cylindrical neft is completed.
The worms which are hatched from the eggs feed upon the pafte,
fo carefully laid up for them by the mother, till they are transformed
into flies fimilar to their parents.

Among wafps, as well as bees, there are folitary fpecies, which
carry on no joint operations. Thefe folitary wafps are not lefs in-
genious in conftru€ting proper habitations for their young, nor lefg
provident in laying up for them a ftore of nourifhment fufficient to
fupport them till they are transformed into flies, or have become
perfect animals *. But, to give a detailed defcription of their ope=
rations would lead us into a prolixity of which the plan of our work
does not admit,

On this fubjeé&, however, it cannot efcape obfervation, that all the
fagacity and laborious induftry exerted in the various inftances of
animal archite€ture above defcribed, have one uniform tendency.
They are all defigned for the multiplication, proteCtion, and nou-

rifhment

* See page 128.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 335

rifhment of offspring. But many of them are fo artful, and require
fuch perfevering labour, that the human mind is bewildered when it
attempts to account for them. If we attend to the operations of qua-
drupeds, of birds, and of infects, moft of them, like pregnant women,
feem to know, from their own feelings, and forefight, not only their
prefent condition, but what futurity is to produce. To folve this
problem, recourfe has been had by Des Cartes, by Buffon, and by
other philofophers, to conformation of body and mechanical impulfe.
Their reafonings, however, though often ingenious, involve the fub-
ject in tenfold obfcurity. We can hardly fuppofe that the animals
a€tually forefee what is to happen, becaufe, at firft, they have not
had even the aid of experience ; and, particularly in fome of the in-
fe&t tribes, the parents are dead before their young are produced.
Pure inftinéts of this kind, therefore, muft be referred to another
fource. Ina chain of reafoning concerning the operations of Na-
ture, fuch is the conftitution of our minds, that we are under the
neceflity of reforting to an ultimate caufe. What that caufe is, it is
the higheft prefumption in man to pretend to define. But, though
we muft forever remain ignorant of the caufe, we are enabled to
trace, and even to underftand, partially, fome of the effects ; and,
from thefe effets, we perceive the moft confummate wifdom, the
moft elegant and perfec contrivances to accomplifh the multifarious.
and wonderful intentions of Nature. In contemplating the opera-
tions of animals, from man down to the feemingly moft contemp-
tible infe&, we are neceflarily compelled to refer them to pure in-
ftinéts, or original qualities of mind, variegated by Nature according
as the neceflities, prefervation, and continuation of the different fpe-
cies require. Let any man try to proceed a ftep farther, and, how-
ever he may deceive himfelf, and flatter his own vanity, he muft
find, at laft, that he is clouded in obfcurity, and that men who have —
& more correct and unprejudifed mode of thinking will brand him

2 with

336 PHWEVPH IL OS Orm FT

with abfurdity, and of acting in dire& oppofition to the conftitution
and frame of the human mind,

I hall now give fome examples of the operations of affociating
infeé&ts, who conftrué habitations by exerting a common and a mu-
tual labour.

The fkill and dexterity of the honey-bees, difplayed in the con-
ftruction of their combs or nefts, have at all times called forth the
admiration of mankind. They are compofed of cells regularly ap-
plied to each others fides. Thefe cells are uniform hexagons or fix-
fided figures. In a bee-hive, every part is arranged with fuch fym-
metry, and fo finely finifhed, that, if limited to the fame materials,
the moft expert workman would find himfelf unqualified to conftrué
a fimilar habitation, or rather a fimilar city.

Moft Natural Hiftorians have celebrated bees for their wifdom,
for the perfection and harmony of their republican government,
and for their perfevering induftry and wonderful oeconomy. All
thefe {plendid talents, however, the late ingenious Count de Buffon
has endeavoured to perfuade us, are only refults of pure mechanifm.
But this is not the proper place to enter into a difcuflion of this
point. It will fall more naturally to be treated of when we come
to defcribe the focieties eftablifhed among different gregarious ani-
mals. We {fhall therefore, at prefent, confine ourfelves chiefly to
the mode in which bees conftrué their habitations.

In the formation of their combs, bees feem to refolve a problem
which would not be a little puzzling to fome geometers, namely,
A quantity of wax being given, to make of it equal and fimilar
cells of a determined capacity, but of the largeft fize in proportion
to the quantity of matter employed, and difpofed in fuch a manner

as

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 337

as to occupy in the hive the leaft poffible fpace. Every part of this
problem is completely executed by the bees. By applying hexago-
nal cells to each other’s fides, no void fpaces are left between them ;
and, though the fame end might be accomplithed by other figures,
yet they would neceflarily require a greater quantity of wax. Be-
fides, hexagonal cells are better fitted to receive the cylindrical bodies
of thefe infects. A comb confifts of two ftrata of cells applied to
each other’s ends. This arrangement both faves room in the hive,
and gives a double entry into the cells of which the comb is com-
pofed. As a farther faving of wax, and preventing void fpaces, the
bafes of the cells in one ftratum of a comb ferve for bafes to the op-
pofite ftratum. In a word, the more minutely the conftruétion of
thefe cells are examined, the more will the admiration of the obfer-
ver be excited. The walls of the cells are fo extremely thin, that
their mouths would be in danger of fuffering by the frequent enter-
ing and iffuing of the bees. To prevent this dilafter, they make a
kind of ring round the margin of each cell, and this ring is three or
four times thicker than the walls,

It is difficult to perceive, even with the affiftance of glafs-hives,
the manner in which bees operate when conftruéting their cells.
They are fo eager to afford mutual affiftance, and, for this purpofe,
fo many of them crowd together, and are perpetually fucceeding
each other, that their individual operations can feldom be diftin@ly
obferved. It has, however, been plainly difcovered, that their two
teeth are the only inftruments they employ in modelling and polifh-
ing the wax. With a little patience and attention, we perceive cells
juft begun: We likewife remark the quicknefs with which a bee
moves its teeth againft a fmall portion of the cell. This portion
the animal, by repeated ftrokes on each fide, f{mooths, renders com-
pact, .and reduces to a proper thinnefs of confiftence. While fome
of the hive are lengthening their hexagonal tubes, others are laying

Uu if the

338 THE PHILOSOPHY

the foundations of new ones. In certain circumftances, when ex=
tremely hurried, they do not complete their new cells, but leave
them imperfe@ till they have begun a number fufficient for their
prefent exigencies. Whena bee puts its head a little way into a
cell, we eafily perceive it {craping the walls with the points of its
teeth, in order to detach fuch ufelefs and irregular fragments as may
have been left in the work. Of thefe fragments the bee forms a
ball about the fize of a pin-head, comes out of the cell, and carries
‘this wax to another part of the work where it is needed. It no
fooner leaves the cell than it is fucceeded by another bee, which
performs the fame office, and in this manner the work is fucceflively
carried on till the cell is completely polifhed.

The cells of bees are defigned for different purpofes. Some of
them are employed for the accumulation and prefervation of honey.
In others, the female depofits her eggs, and from thefe eggs worms
are hatched, which remain inthe cells till their final transformation.
into flies. ‘The drones or males are larger than the common or
working bees; and the queen, or mother of the hive, is much larger
than either. A cell deftined for the lodgement of a male or female
worm muft, therefore, be confiderably larger than the cells of the
fmaller working bees. The number of cells deftined for the recep-
tion of the working bees far exceeds thofe in which the males are
lodged. The honey-cells are always made deeper and more capa=-
cious than the others. When the honey collected is fo abundant
that the veffels cannot contain it, the bees lengthen, and of courfe
deepen the honey-cells.

Their mode of working, and the difpofition and divifion of their
labour, when put into an empty hive, do much honour to the fa-
gacity of bees. They immediately begin to lay the foundations of
their cambs, which they execute with furprifing quicknefs and ala-

crity.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 339

crity. Soon after they begin to conftru& one comb, they divide
into two or three companies, each of which, in different parts of the
hive, is occupied with the fame operations. By this divifion of
labour, a greater number of bees have an opportunity of being em-
ployed at the fame time, and, confequently, the common work is
fooner finifhed. The combs are generally arranged in a diretion
parallel to each other. An interval or ftreet between the combs is
always left, that the bees may have a free paflage, and an eafy com-
munication with the different combs in the hive. Thefe ftreets are
juft wide enough to allow two bees to pafs one another. Befide
thefe parallel ftreets, to fhorten their journey when working, they
leave feveral round crofs paflages, which are always covered.

Hitherto we have chiefly taken notice of the manner in which
bees conftru&t and polifh their cells, without treating of the mate-
rials they employ. We have not marked the difference between the
crude matter collected from flowers and the true wax. Every body
knows that bees carry into their hives, by means of their hind
thighs, great quantities of the farina or duft of flowers. After many
experiments made by Reaumur, with a view to difcover whether
this duft contained real wax, he was obliged to acknowledge, that
he could never find that wax formed any part of its compofition.
He at length difcovered, that wax was not a fubftance produced by
the mixture of farina with any glutinous fubftance, nor by tritura-
tion, or any mechanical operation. By long and attentive obferva-

‘tion, he found that the bees actually eat the farina which they fo
induftrioufly colleé&t ; and that this farina, by an animal procefs, is
converted into wax. This digeftive procefs, which is neceflary to
the formation of wax, is carried on in the fecond ftomach, and per-
haps in the inteftines of bees. After knowing the place where this
operation is performed, chymifts will probably allow, that it is equal-
ly difficult to make real wax with the farina of flowers, ‘as to make

Uu2 chyle

340 TORE HL Os O Ree

chyle with animal or vegetable fubftances, a work which is daily
executed by our own ftomach and inteftines, and by thofe of other
animals. Reaumur likewife difcovered, that all the cells in a hive
were not deftined for the reception of honey, and for depofiting the
eggs of the female, but that fome of them were employed as recep-
tacles for the farina of flowers, a fpecies of food that bees find ne-
ceflary for the formation of wax, which is the great bafis and raw
material of all their curious operations. When a bee comes to the
hive with its thighs filled with farina, it is often met near the en-
trance by fome of its companions, who firft take off the load, and
then devour the provifions fo kindly brought to them. But, when
none of the bees employed in the hive are hungry for this fpecies
of food, the carriers of the farina depofit their loads in cells prepared
for that purpofe. To thefe cells the bees refort, when the weather
is fo bad that they cannot venture to go to the fields in queft of frefh
provifions. The carrying bees, however, commonly enter the hive
loaded with farina. ‘They walk along the combs beating and ma-
king a noife with their wings. By thefe movements they feem to:
announce their arrival to their companions. - No fooner has a load-
ed bee made thefe movements, than three or four of thofe within.
leave their work, come up to it, and firft take off its load, and then
eat the materials it has brought. Asa farther evidence that. the:
bees actually eat the farina of flowers, when the ftomach and intef-
tines are laid open, they are often found to be filled with this duft,
the grains of which, when examined by the microfcope, have the
exact figure, colour, and confiftence of farina, taken from the an-
therae of particular flowers. After the farina is. digefted, and con=
verted into wax, the bees. poflefs the power of bringing it from.
their ftomachs to their mouths. The inftrument they employ in
furnifhing materials for conftrudting their waxen cells is their tongue.
This tongue is fituated below the two teeth or fangs. When at
work, the tongue may. be feen by the affiftance of a lens and a glafs-

hive,,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 341

hive. It is then in perpetual motion, and its motions are extremely
rapid. Its figure continually varies. Sometimes it is more fharp,
at others it is flatter, and fometimes it is more or lefs concave, and
partly covered with a moift pafte or wax. By the different move-
ments of its tongue the bee continues to fupply freth wax to the
two teeth, which are employed in raifing and fafhioning the walls
of its cell, till they have acquired a fufficient height. As foon as the
moift pafte or wax dries, which it does almoft inftantaneoully, it
then affumes all the appearances and qualities of common, wax.
There is a ftill ftronger proof that wax is the refult of an animal
procefs. When bees are removed into a new hive, and clofely con-
fined from the morning to the evening, if the hive chances to pleafe
them, in the courfe of this day feveral waxen cells will be formed,
without the poffibility of a fingle bee’s having had accefs to the
fields, Befides, the rude materials, or the farina of plants, carried
into the hive, are of various colours. The farina of fome plants em-
ployed by the bees is whitifh; in others it is of a fine yellow colour;
in others it is almoft entirely red; and in others it is green, The
combs conftruéted with thefe differently coloured materials are, how-
ever, uniformly of the fame colour. Every comb, efpecially when
it is newly made, is of a pure white colour, which is more or lefs
tarnifhed by age, the operation of the air, or by other accidental cir-
cumftances. To bleach wax, therefore, requires only the art of ex
tracting fuch foreign bodies as may have infinuated themfelves into
its fubftance and changed its original colour.

Bees,, from the nature of their conftitution, require a warm habi-
tation. They are likewife extremely folicitous to prevent infects of
any kind from getting admittance into.their hives. ‘To accomplifh
both thefe purpofes, when they take pofleflion of a new hive, they
carefully examine every part of it, and, if they difcover any {mall
holes or chinks, they immediately pafte them firmly up with a refi-

I. shat tes nous.

342 THE PHILOSOPHY

nous fubftance which differs confiderably from wax. This fubftance
was not unknown to the ancients. Pliny mentions it under the name
of propolis, or bee-glue. “Bees ufe the propolis for rendering their
hives more clofe and perfect, in preference to wax, becaufe the for-
mer is more durable, and more powerfully refifts the viciffitudes of
weather than the latter. This glue is not, like wax, procured by an
animal procefs. The bees collect it from different trees, as the pop-
lars, the birches, and the willows. It is a complete produdtion of
Nature; and requires no addition or manufaQure from the animals
by which it is employed. After a bee has procured a quantity fuffi-
cient to fill the cavities in its two hind thighs, it repairs to the hive.
Two of its companions inftantly draw out the propolis, and apply it
to fill up fuch chinks, holes, or other deficiencies, as they find in
their habitation. But this is not the only ufe to which bees apply
the propolis. They are extremely folicitous to remove fuch infects
or foreign bodies as happen to get admiffion into the hive. When
fo light as not to exceed their powers, they firft kill the infe& with
their flings, and then drag it out with their teeth. But it fometimes
happens that an ill-fated {nail creeps into the hive, It is no fooner
perceived than it is attacked on all fides and ftung to death. But
how are the bees to carry out a burden of fuch weight? This labour
they know would be in vain. They are perhaps apprehenfive that
a body fo large would diffufe, in the courfe of its putrefaction, a
difagreeable or noxious odour through the hive. To prevent fuch
hurtful confequences, immediately after the animal’s death, they
embalm it, by covering every part of its body with propolis, through
which no effluvia can efcape. When a fnail with a fhell gets en-
trance, to difpofe of it gives much lefs trouble and expence to the
bees. As foon as this kind of fnail receives the firft wound from a
fting, it naturally retires within its fhell. In this cafe, the bees, in=
ftead of pafting it all over with propolis, content themfelves with

gluing

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 343

gluing all round the margin of the fhell, which is fufficient to ren=
der the animal forever immoveably fixed,

But propolis, and the materials for making wax, are not the only
fubftances thefe induftrious animals have to colle&. As formerly
remarked, befide the whole winter, there are many days in fummer
in which the bees are prevented by the weather from going abroad
in queft of provifions, They are, therefore, under the neceflity of
colleting, and amafling im cells deftined for that purpofe, large
quantities of honey. This fweet -and balfamic liquor they extraa,
by means of their probofcis or trunk, from the nectariferous glands
of flowers. The trunk of a bee isa kind of rough cartilaginous
- tongue. After collecting a few {mall drops of honey, the animal
with its probofcis conveys them to its mouth and fwallows them,
From the oefophagus or gullet, it paffes into the firft ftomach, which
is more or lefs fwelled in proportion to the quantity of honey it
contains, When empty, it has the appearance of a fine white thread:
But, when filled with honey, it aflumes the figure of an oblong
bladder, the membrane of which is fo thin and tranfparent, that it
allows the colour of the liquor it contains to be diftin@ly feen, This
bladder is well known to children who live in the country, They
cruelly amufe themfelves with catching bees, and tearing them afun-
der, in order to fuck the honey: A fingle flower furnithes but a
{mall quantity of honey. The bees are, therefore, obliged to fly
from one flower to another till they fill their firft ftomachs. When
they have accomplifhed this purpofe, they return diredily to the hive,
and difgorge in a cell the whole honey they have collected. It not
unfrequently happens, however, that, when on its way to the hive,
it is aécofted by a hungry companion. How the one can commu-
nicate its neceflity to the other, it is perhaps impoffible to difcover.
But the fa& is certain, that, when two bees meet in this fituation,
they mutually ftop, and the one whofe ftomach is full of honey ex-

tends

344 THE PHILOSOPHY

tends its trunk, opens its mouth, which lies a little beyond the teeth,
and, like ruminating animals, forces up the honey into that cavity.
The hungry bee knows how to take advantage of this hofpitable
invitation, With the point of its trunk it fucks the honey from the
other’s mouth. When not ftopped on the road, the bee proceeds to
the hive, and in the fame manner offers its honey to thofe who are
at work, as if it meant to prevent the neceffity of quitting their la-
bour in order to go in queft of food. In bad weather, the bees feed
upon the honey laid up in open cells; but they never touch thefe
refervoirs when their companions are enabled to fupply them with
freth honey from the fields. But the mouths of thofe cells which
are deftined for preferving honey during winter, they always cover
with a lid or thin plate of wax.

Though not ftriétly connected with the prefent fubje&t, we can-
not refrain from giving fome account of the ingenious Mr Debraw’s
difcoveries concerning the fex of bees, and the manner in which
their fpecies is multiplied *. It was almoft univerfally believed,
both by ancients and moderns, that bees, hke other animals, propa-
gated by an actual intercourfe of the male and female, though it
never could be perceived by the moft attentive obfervers. Pliny re-
marks, that apium coitus vifus eff nunquam ; and even the indefati-
gable Reaumur, notwithftanding the many minute refearches and
experiments he made concerning every part of the oeconomy of
bees, and though he reprefents the mother, or queen-bee, as a per-
fe& Meflalina, could never detect an actual intercourfe. From this
fingular circumftance, Maraldi, in his obfervations upon bees |, con-
jectured that the eggs of bees, like thofe of fifhes, were impregnated
after they were depofited in the cells by the mother. He was far-

ther

* See Philofophical Tranfactions, ann. 1777, Part I. page 15.
} Hitt. de Acad. de Scien. ann. 1712.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 345

ther confirmed in this opinion, by uniformly obferving that a whitifh
liquid fubftance furrounded each egg which turned out to be fertile ;
but that thofe eggs round which no fuch fubftance was to be found
were always barren, The working bees, or thofe which colle& from
flowers the materials of wax, have generally been confidered as be-
longing to neither fex. But Mr Schirach, a German Naturalift, in
his Hiftory of the Queen of the Bees, maintains, that all the com-
mon bees are females in a difguifed or barren ftate ; that the organs
which diftinguifh the fex, and particularly the ovaria, are either
obliterated, or, on account of their minutenefs, have not hitherto
been difcovered; that, in the early period of its exiflence, every one
of thefe bees is capable of becoming a queen-bee, if the community
choofe to nurfe it in a certain manner, and to raife it to that diftin-
guifhed rank ; and that the queen-bee lays only two kinds of eggs,
namely, thofe that are to produce drones or males, and thofe-from
which the working bees are to proceed.

The conjeéture of Maraldi concerning the impregnation of the
eggs after they are depofited in the cells, as well as the obfervations
of Mr Schirach concerning the fex of the working bees, have been
completely verified by the experiments of Mr Debraw. Both Ma-
raldi and Reaumur had long ago difcovered, that, in every hive, be-
fide the large drones, there are males or drones as fmall as the work-
ing bees. By means of glafs-hives, Mr Debraw obferved, that the
queen-bee begins to depofit her eggs in the cells on the fourth or
fifth day after the bees begin to work. On the firft or fecond day
after the eggs’ are placed in the cells, he perceived feveral bees fink-
ing the pofterior parts of their bodies into each cell, where they con-
tinued but a fhort time. After they had retired, he faw plainly with
the naked eye a {mall quantity of whitifh liquor left in the bottom
of each cell that contained an egg. Next day he found that this
liquor was abforbed into the egg, which, on the fourth day, is

T br Ap hatched.

346 THE PHILOSOPHY

hatched. When the worms efcape from the eggs, they are fed for
eight or ten days with honey by the working bees. After that pe-
riod they fhut up the mouths of the cells, where the worms conti-
nue inclofed for ten days more, during which time they undergo
their different transformations,

© Timmerfed,’ fays Mr Debraw, ‘all the bees in water; and,
when they appeared to be in a fenfelefs ftate, I gently prefled every
one of them between my fingers, in order to diftinguith thofe
armed with ftings from thofe that had none, which laft I might
fufpe& to be males. Of thefe I found fixty-feven, exadtly of the
fize of common bees, yielding a little whitith liquor on being pref-
fed between the fingers. I killed every one, and replaced the
{warm ina glafs-hive, where they immediately applied again to
the work of making cells; and, on the fourth or fifth day, very
early in the morning, I had the pleafure to fee the queen-bee de-
pofiting her eggs in thofe cells, which fhe did by placing the po-
‘ fterior part of her body in each of them. I continued to watch
moft part of the enfuing days, but could difcover nothing of what
Thad feen before. The eggs, after the fourth day, inftead of
changing in the manner of caterpillars, were found in the fame
ftate they were in the firft day.’ The next day about noon, the
whole fwarm forfook the hive, probably becaufe the animals per-
ceived, that, without the affiftance of males, they were unqualified
to multiply their {pecies. To fhow the neceffity of the eggs being
fecundated by the male influence, Mr Debraw relates an experiment

a

n

nw

n

wn

a

fa

a

o

a

a

a.

.

ftill more decifive,

* I took,’ fays he, ‘ the brood-comb, which, as I obferved before,

“ had not been impregnated ; I divided it into two parts; one I
* placed under a glafs-bell, No. 1. with honey-comb for the bees
* food; I took care to leave a.queen, but no drones, among the com-
* mon,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 347

mon bees I confined in it. The other piece of brood-comb I placed -
under another glafs-bell, No. 2. with a few drones, a queen, and
a number of common bees proportioned to the fize of the glafs.

nw

The refult was, that, in the glafs No. 1. no impregnation happen-
ed ; the eggs remained in the fame ftate they were in when put in-
to the glafs; and, upon giving the bees their liberty on the feventh
* day, they all flew away, as was found to be the cafe in the former
* experiment: Whereas, in the glafs No, 2. 1 faw, the very day af-
ter the bees had been put under it, the impregnation of the eggs
by the drones in every cell containing eggs; the bees did not leave
* their hive on receiving their liberty; and, in the courfe of twenty
* days, every egg underwent all the above mentioned neceflary

-

nm

changes, and formed a pretty numerous young colony, in which I
was not a little ftartled to find ¢wo queens,’

wn

The appearance of a new queen ina hive where there was no
large or royal cell, made Mr Debraw conjecture that the bees are
capable, by fome particular means, of transforming a common fub-
ject into a queen, To afcertain the truth of this conjecture, he pro-
vided himfelf with four glafs-hives, into each of which he put a piece
_ of brood-comb taken from an old hive. Thefe pieces of brood-
comb contained eggs, worms, and nymphs. In each hive he con-
fined a fufficient number of common bees, and fome drones or males,
but took care that there fhould be no queen,

‘ The bees,’ Mr Debraw remarks, ‘ finding themfelves without a

* queen, made a ftrange buzzing noife, which lafted near two days,
© at the end of which they fettled, and betook themfelves to work,
* On the fourth day, I perceived in each hive the beginning of a
* royal cell, a certain indication that one of the inclofed worms would
* Joon be converted into a queen. The conftrution of the royal cell
* being nearly accomplifhed, I ventured to leave an opening for the
x 2 ‘ bees

348 THE PHILOSOPHY

‘ bees to get out, and found that they returned as regularly as they
* do in common hives, and fhewed no inclination to leave their ha-
‘ bitation. But, to be brief, at the end of twenty days, I obferved
* four young queens among the new progeny.’

To thefe experiments of Mr Debraw, it was objected, that the
queen-bee, befide the eggs which fhe depofits in the royal cells,
might likewife have laid royal or female eggs in the common cells;
and that the pieces of brood-comb, fo fuccefsfully employed in his
experiments for the production of a queen, had always happened to
contain one of thefe royal eggs, or rather one of the worms proceed-
ing from them. But this objeétion was afterwards removed by many
other accurate experiments, the refults of which were uniformly the
fame; and the objectors to Mr Debraw’s difcovery candidly admit,
that, when the community ftands in need of a queen, the working-
bees poffefs the power of raifing a common fubje& to the throne;
and that every worm of the hive is capable, under a certain courfe
of management, of becoming the mother of a numerous progeny.
This metamorphofis feems to be chiefly accomplifhed by a peculiar
nourifhment carefully adminiftered to the worm by the working-
bees, by which, and perhaps by other unknown means, the female
organs, the germs of which previoufly exifted in the embryo, are ex-
panded, and all thofe differences in form and fize, that fo remark=
ably diftinguifh the queen from the working-bees, are produced.

It is always a fortunate circumftance when difcoveries, which at
firft feem calculated folely to gratify curiofity, are capable of being
turned to the advantage of fociety. Mr Debraw, accordingly, has
not failed to point out the advantages that may be derived from his
refearches into the oeconomy and nature of bees. By his difcovery,
we are taught an eafy mode of multiplying, without end; fwarms,
er new colonies, of thefe ufeful infeds. Befide the great increafe

of

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 349

of honey, if this difcovery were fufficiently attended to, confiderable
fums annually expended in importing wax into this kingdom from
the Continent might be faved. The pradtice of this new art, Mr
Schirach informs us, has already extended itfelf through Upper Lu-
fatia, the Palatinate, Bohemia, Bavaria, Silefia, and Poland. In fome
of thefe countries, it has excited the attention, and acquired the pa-
tronage, of government. The Emprefs of Ruffia, who never lofes
fight of a fingle article by which the induftry, and, of courfe, the
happinefs of her fubjeéts can be augmented, has fent a proper perfon
to Klein Bautzen to be inftruéted in the general principles, and to
learn all the minutiae of this new and important art.

Woajps, \ike the bees, affociate in great numbers, and conftruct,
with much dexterity and fkill, a common habitation, There are
many {pecies of wafps, fome of which unite into focieties, and others
fpend their lives in perfect folitude, But, in this place, we fhall
confine our attention to the operations of the common affociating
wafp, an infe& fo well known, even to children, that it requires no
defcription. Though bees, as well as wafps, are armed with a fting,
yet the former may be regarded as a placid and harmlefs race. Bees
are continually occupied with their own labours, Their chief care
is to defend themfelves; and they never take nourifhment at the ex-
pence of any other animal. Wafps, on the contrary, are ferocious
animals, who live entirely on rapine and deftru@ion. They kill
and devour every infec that is inferior to them in ftrength. But,
though warlike and rapacious in their general manners, they are
polifhed and peaceable among themfelves. To their young they
difcover the greateft tendernefs and affeG@tion. For their proteéion
and conveniency no labour is {pared; and the habitations they con-
ftrué do honour to their patience, addrefs,and fagacity. Their ar-
chitecture, like that of the honey-bee, is fingular, and worthy of
admiration; but the materials employed furnith neither honey nor

WaX..

350 THE PHILOSOPHY

wax. Impelled by an inftinctive love of pofterity, they, with great
labour, fkill, and affiduity, conftru& combs, which are likewife com-
pofed of hexagonal or fix-fided cells. Though thefe cells are not
made of wax, they are equally proper for the reception of eggs, and
for affording convenient habitations to the worms which proceed
from them till their transformation into wafps.

In general, the cells of the wafps are formed of a kind of paper,
which, with great dexterity, is fabricated by the animals themfelves.
The number of combs and cells in a wafp’s neft is always propor-
tioned to the number of individuals affociated. Different fpecies
choofe different fituations for building their nefts, Some expofe their
habitations to all the injuries of the air; others prefer the trunks of
decayed trees; and others, as the common kind, of which we are
principally treating, conceal their nefts under ground. The hole
which leads to a wafp’s neft is about an inch in diameter. This hole
is a kind of gallery mined by the wafps, is feldom in a ftraight line,
and varies in length from half a foot to two feet, according to the
diftance of the neft from the furface of the ground. When expofed
to view, the whole neft appears to be of a roundifh form, and fome-
times about twelve or fourteen inches in diameter, It is ftrongly
fortified all round with walls or layers of paper, the furface of which
is rough and irregular. In thefe walls, or rather in this external
covering, two holes are left for paffages to the combs. The
wafps uniformly enter the neft by one hole, and go out by the other,
which prevents any confufion or interruption to their common la~
bours,

We are now arrived at the gates of this fubterraneous city, which,
though fmall, is extremely populous. Upon removing the external
covering, we perceive that the whole interior part confifts of feveral
ftoreys or floors of combs, which are parallel to each other, and

nearly

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 351

nearly in a horizontal pofition. Every ftcrey is compofed of a nu-
merous affemblage of hexagonal cells, very regularly conftructed
with a matter refembling afh-coloured paper. Thefe cells contain
neither wax nor honey, but are folely deftined for containing the
eggs, the worms which are hatched from them, the nymphs, and
the young wafps till they are able to fly. Wafps nefts are not al-
ways compofed of an equal number of combs. They fometimes
confift of fifteen, and fometimes of eleven only. The combs are of
various diameters. The firft, or uppermoft, is often only two inches
in diameter, while thofe of the middle fometimes exceed a foot.
The loweft are alfo much fmaller than the middle ones. All thefe
combs, like fo many floors or ftoreys ranged parallelly above each
other, afford lodging to prodigious numbers of inhabitants, Reau-
mur computed, from the number of cells in a given portion of comb,
that, in a medium fized neft, there were at leaft 10,000 cells. This
calculation gives an idea of the aftonithing prolific powers of thefe
infe&ts, and of the vaft numbers of individuals produced in a fingle
feafon from one neft; for every cell ferves as a lodging to no lefs
than three generations, Hence a moderately fized neft gives birth
annually to 30,000 young wafps.

The different ftoreys of combs. are always about half an inch
high, which leaves free paflages to the wafps from one part of the
neft to another. Thefe intervals are fo fpacious, that, in proportion
to the bulk of the animals, they may be compared to great halls, or
broad ftreets, Each of the larger combs is fupported by about fifty
pillars, which, at the fame time, give folidity to the fabric, and great-
ty ornament the whole neft. The leffer combs are fupported by the
fame ingenious contrivance. Thefe pillars are coarfe, and of a
roundifh form, Their bafes and capitals, however, are much larger
in diameter than towards the middle. By the one end they are at-
tached to the fuperior comb, and dy the other to the inferior, Thus

between.

352 THE PHILOSOPHY

between two combs there is always a fpecies of ruftic colonade.
The wafps begin at the top and build downward. The uppermoft
and {malleft comb is firft conftructed. It is attached to the fuperior
part of the external covering. The fecond comb is fixed to the bot-
tom of the firft; and in this manner the animals proceed till the
whole operation is completed. The conneéting pillars are compofed
of the fame kind of paper as the reft of the neft. To allow the
wafps entries into the void fpaces, roads are left between the combs
and the external envelope or covering.

Having given a general idea of this curious edifice, it is next na-
tural to inquire how the wafps build, and how they employ them-
felves in their abodes. But, as all thefe myfteries are performed
under the earth, it required much induftry and attention to difcover
them. By the ingenuity and perfeverance of M. de Reaumur, how-
ever, we are enabled to explain fome parts of their internal oecono-
my and manners. This indefatigable naturalift contrived to make
wafps, like the honey-bees, lodge and work in glafs-hives. In this
operation he was greatly affifted by the ardent affection which thefe
animals have to their offspring; for he found, that, though the
neft was cut in different direétions, and though it was expofed to
the light, the wafps never deferted it, nor relaxed in their attention
to their young. When placed in a glafs-hive, they are perfe@tly
peaceable, and never attack the obferver, if he calmly contemplates
their operations; for, naturally, they do not fting, unlefs they are
irritated,

Immediately after a wafp’s neft has been tranfported from its na-
tural fituation, and covered with a glafs-hive, the firft operation of
the infects is to repair the injuries it has fuffered. With wonderful
activity they carry off all the earth and foreign bodies that may have

accidentally been conveyed into the hive. Some of them occupy
a. themfelves

OF NATURAL- HISTORY. 333

themfelves fixing the neft to the top and fides of the hive by pillars
of paper fimilar to thofe which fupport the different ftories or ftrata
of combs; others repair the breaches it has fuftained; and others
fortify it by augmenting confiderably the thicknefs of its external
cover. This external envelope-is an operation peculiar to wafps.
Its conftruction requires great labour; for it frequently exceeds an
inch and a half in thicknefs, and is compofed of a number of ftrata
or layers as thin as paper, between each of which there is a void
fpace, This cover is a kind of box for inclofing the combs, and de-
fending them from the rain which occafionally penetrates the earth.
For this purpofe it is admirably adapted. If it were one folid mafs,
the contaét of water would penetrate the whole, and reach the
combs, But, to prevent this fatal effect, the animals leave confide-
rable vacuities between each vaulted layer, which are generally fif-
teen or fixteen in number. By this ingenious piece of architeCture,
one or two layers may be moiftened with water, while the others
are not in the leaft affected.

The materials employed by wafps in the conftruétion of their
nefts are very different from thofe made ufe of by the honey-bee.
Inftead of colle&ting the farina of flowers, and digefting it into wax,
the wafps gnaw with their two fangs, which are ftrong and ferrated,
{mall fibres of wood from the fathes of windows, the pofts of efpa-
liers, garden doors, &c. but never attempt growing or green timber.
Thefe fibres, which, though very flender, are often a line, or a
‘twelfth part of an inch long. After cutting a certain number of
them, the animals collec them into minute bundles, tranfport them
to their neft, and, by means of a glutinous fubftance furnifhed from
their own bodies, form them into a moift and du@iile pafte. Of
this fubftance, or papier maché, they conftruét the external cover,
the partitions of the neft, the hexagonal cells, and the folid columns
which fupport the feveral layers or ftories of combs.
vy The

354 THE PHILOSOPHY

The conftruting of the neft occupies a comparatively fmall num-
ber of labourers. The others are differently employed. Here it is
neceflary to remark, that the republics of wafps, like thofe of the
honey-bees, confift of three kinds of flies, males, females, and neu-
ters. Like the bees, alfo, the number of neuters far furpaffes thofe
of both males and females. The greateft quantity of labour is de-
volved upon the neuters ; but they are not, like the neuter bees, the
only workers; for there is no part of their different operations
which the females, at certain times, do not execute. Neither do the
males, though their induftry is not comparable to that of the neu-
ters, remain entirely idle. They often occupy themfelves in the in-
terior part of the neft. The greateft part of the labour, however,
is performed by the neuters. They build the neft, feed the males,
the females, and even the young. But, while the neuters are em=
ployed in thefe different operations, the others are abroad in hunt-
ing parties. Some attack with intrepidity live infects, which they
fometimes carry entire to the neft ; but they generally tranfport the
abdomen or belly only. Others pillage butchers ftalls, from which
they often arrive with a piece of meat larger than the half of their
own bodies, Others refort to gardens, and fuck the juices of fruits:
When they return to the neft, they diftribute a part of their plun-
der to the females, to the males, and even to fuch neuters as have
been ufefully occupied at home. As foon as.a neuter enters the neft,
it is furrounded by feveral wafps, to each of whom it freely gives.a
portion of the food it has brought, Thofe who have not been hunt-
ing for prey, but have been fucking the juices of fruits, though they
feem to return empty, fail not to regale their companions; for, after
their arrival, they ftation themfelves upon the upper part of the neft,
and difcharge from their mouths two or three drops of a clear li-
quid, which are immediately. fwallowed by the domeftics..

The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 359

The neuter wafps, though the moft laborious, are the fmalleft;
but they are extremely active and vivacious. The females are much
larger, heavier, and flower in their movements. The males are of
an intermediate fize between that of the females and neuters. From
thefe differences in fize, it is eafy to diftinguifh the different kinds of
thofe wafps which build their nefts below the ground. In the hive
of the honey- bee, the number of females is always extremely {mall;
but, in a wafp’s neft, there are often more than three hundred fe-
males. During the months of June, July, and Auguft, they remain
conftantly in the neft, and are never feen abroad except in the be-
ginning of fpring, and in the months of September and Oétober,
During the fummer, they are totally occupied in Jaying their eges
and feeding their young. In this laft operation, they are affifted by
the other wafps; for the females alone, though numerous, would be
infufficient for the laborious tafk. A wafp’s neft, when completed,
fometimes confifts of fixteen thoufand cells, each of which contains
an ege, a worm, oranymph. The eggs are white, tranfparent, of
an oblong figure, and differ in fize, according to the kind of wafps
which are to proceed from them. Some of them are no larger than
the head of a fmall pin. They are fo firmly glued to the bottoms
of the cells, that it is with difficulty they can be detached without
breaking. Eight days after the eggs are depofited in the cells, the
worms are hatched, and are confiderably larger than the eggs which
gave birth tothem. Thefe worms demand the principal cares of
the wafps who continue always inthe neft. They feed them, as
birds feed their young, by giving them, from time to time, a mouth-
ful of food. It is aftonifhing to fee with what induftry and rapi-
dity a female runs along the cells of a comb, and diftributes to each
worm a portion of nutriment. In proportion to the ages and con=
ditions of the worms, they are fed with folid food, fuch as the bel-
lies of infeéts, or with a liquid fubftance difgorged by the mother.
When a worm is fo large as to occupy its whole cell, it is then ready

Yy2 to

356 Tih Ree il) OnSeO. Po: ¥

to be metamorphofed intoa nymph. It then refufes all nourifh-
ment, and ceafes to have any connection with the wafps in the neft.
It fhuts up the mouth of its cell with a fine filken cover, in the fame
manner as the filk-worm and other caterpillars {pin their cods, This
operation is completed in three or four hours, and the animal re-
mains in the nymph ftate nine or ten days, when, with its teeth, it
deftroys the external cover of the cell, and comes forth in the form
of a winged infe@t, which is either male, female, or neuter, accor-
ding to the nature of the egg from which it was hatched. Ina
fhort time, the wafps newly transformed receive the food brought
into the neft by the foragers in the fields. What is ftill more curi-
ous, in the courfe of the firft day after their transformation, the
young walps have been obferved going to the fields, bringing in
provifions, and diftributing them to the worms in the cells. A cell
is no fooner abandoned by a young wafp, than it is cleaned, trim-

med, and repaired by an old one, and rendered, in every refpec,
proper for the reception of another egg.

As formerly mentioned, wafps of different {exes differ greatly in
fize. The animals know how to conftrué cells proportioned to the
dimenfions. of the fly that is to proceed from the egg which the fe=
male depofits in them. ‘The neuters are fix times fmaller than the
females, and their cells are built nearly in the fame proportion. Cells
are not only adapted for the reception of neuters, males, and fe-
males, but it is remarkable that the cells of the neuters are never
intermixed with thofe of the males or females. A comb is entirely.
occupied with {mall cells fitted for the reception of neuter worms.
But male and female cells are often found in the fame comb, The
males and females are of equal length, and, of courfe, require cells
of an equal deepnefs. But the cells of the males are narrower than
thofe of the females, becaufe the bodies of the former are never fo
thick as thofe of the latter,.

This:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 357

This wonderful affemblage of combs, of the pillars which fupport
them, and of the external envelope, is an edifice which requires fe-
veral months labour, and ferves the animals one year only. This
habitation, fo populous in fummer, is almoft deferted in winter, and
abandoned entirely in {pring ; for, in this laft feafon, nota fingle |
wafp is to be found in a neft of the preceding year. It is worthy
of remark, that the firft combs of a neft are always accommodated
for the reception of the neuter or working wafps. The city, of
which the foundation has juft been laid, requires a number of work-
men. The neuter or working wafps are accordingly firft produced.
A cell is no fooner half completed than an egg of a neuter is depo-
fited in it by the female. Of fourteen or fifteen combs inclofed in
a common cover, the four laft only are deftined for the reception of
males and females. Hence it uniformly happens, that, before the
males and females are capable of taking flight, every wafp’s neft is
peopled with feveral thoufand neuters or workers. But the neuters,
who are firft produced, are likewife the firft that perifh; for not one
of them furvives the. termination even of a mild winter. It was
remarked by the ancient naturalifts, that fome wafps lived one year
only, and others two. To the former Ariftotle gives the appellation
of operariz?, which are our workers or neuters, and to the latter
matrices, which are our females.

-.'The female wafps are ftronger, and fupport the rigours of win-
ter better than the males or neuters. Before the end of winter,
however, feveral hundred females die, and not above ten or a dozen
in each neft furvive that feafon. Thefe few females are deftined for
the continuation of the fpecies. Each of them becomes the foun-
der of a new republic. When a queen-bee departs from a hive in
order to eftablifh a new one, fhe is always accompanied with feveral
thoufand induftrious labourers, ready to perform every neceflary
Operation. But the female wafp has not the aid of a fingle labour-

I en;

358 THE PHILOSOPHY

er; for all the neuters are dead before the beginning of the fpring.
The female alone lays the foundation of a new republic. She ei-
ther finds or digs a hole under the earth, builds cells for the recep-
tion of her eggs, and feeds the worms which proceed from them.
Whenever any of thefe neuter worms are transformed into flies,
they immediately aflift their parent in augmenting the number of
cells and combs, and in feeding the young worms, which are daily
hatching from the eggs. Ina word, this female wafp, which im
fpring was perfectly folitary, without any proper habitation, and
had every operation to perform, has, in autumn, feveral thoufands of
her offspring at her devotion, and is furnifhed with a magnificent
palace, or rather city, to prote& her from the injuries of the weather
and from external enemies,

With regard to the male wafps, it is uncertain whether any of
them furvive the winter. But, though not fo indolent as the males
of the honey-bee, they can be of little afliftance to the female; for
they never engage in any work of importance, fuch as conftru@ting
cells, or fortifying the external cover of the neft. They are never
brought forth till towards the end of Auguft; and their fole occu-
pation feems to be that of keeping the neft clean: They carry out
every kind of filth, and the carcafles of fuch of their companions as
happen to die. In performing this operation, two of them often
join, and, as mentioned in another place, when the load is too heavy,
they cut off the head, and tranfport the dead animal at two times.

In the beginning of fpring, when the female wafp has built her
fubterraneous habitation, which is foon to be peopled with thoufands
of flies, fhe has no occafion for the males; becaufe, in the month of
September or OGtober, fhe had been previoufly impregnated. The
males and females are produced at the fame time, and they are near-
Jy equal in number, Like the male honey-bees, the male wafps are

deftitute

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 359

deftitute of ftings, but the females and neuters have ftings, the poi-
fonous liquor of which, when introduced into any part of the hu-
man body, excites inflammation, and creates a confiderable degree.
of pain.

The habitations and the oeconomy of the common ant are ex-
ceedingly curious. But, as they are fo well known, and fo obvious.
to infpection and examination, we fhall not detain the reader with a
defcription of them. ‘To fupply this defe&t, we fhall give fome ac-
count of the truly wonderful operations of the ¢ermites, which are
generally called whzte-ants *, though they belong to a different ge-
nus of infeéts, Thefe animals infeft Guinea, and all the tropical
regions, where, for their depredations of property, they are greatly
dreaded by the inhabitants; from which circumftance. they have re-
ceived the name of Fatalis or Defiructor.

The following abridged account of the termites, and of the won=-
derful habitations they build, is feleted from an excellent defcrip-
tion of them in a Letter from Mr Henry Smeathman, of Clement’s
Inn, to Sir Jofeph Banks, which was publifhed in the Philofophical
TranfaGions t. Though the nefts, or rather hills, conftructed by
the termites, are mentioned by many travellers, their defcriptions
and obfervations are by no means {fo accurate as thofe of the inge-
nious Mr Smeathman. Of thefe infeéts there are feveral fpecies ;
but they all refemble each other in form, and in their manner of
living. They differ, however, as much as birds, in the ftile of their
architecture, and in the felection of the materials of which their

nefts .

* In the windward parts of Africa, they are denominated éugga, buggs; in the:
Weft Indies, wood-lice, wood-ants, or white-ants. They are likewife called piercers,.,
eaters, or cutters, becaufe they cut almoft every thing in pieces.

+ Vol. 71. part 1. page 130.

360 THE PHILOSOPHY

nefts are compofed. Some build on the furface, or partly above and
partly below the ground, and others on the trunks or branches of
lofty trees.

Before defcribing the nefts or hills, it is neceflary to give fome
idea of the animals themfelves, and of their general oeconomy and
manners. We fhall confine ourfelves to that fpecies called termites
bellicofi, or fighters, becaufe they are largeft, and beft known on the
coaft of Africa.

The republic of the termines bellicofi, like the other fpecies of this
genus, confifts of three ranks, or orders of infe@ts: 1, The working
infe&ts, which Mr Smeathman diftinguifhes by the name of Jabour-
ers; 2. The fighters, or /oldiers, which perform no kind of labour ;
and, 3. The winged, or perfect infects, which are male and female,
and capable of multiplying the fpecies. Thefe laft Mr Smeathman
calls the nobility or gentry; becaufe they neither labour nor fight.
The nobility alone are capable of being raifed to the rank of kings
and queens. A few weeks after their elevation to this ftate, they
emigrate, in order to eftablifh new empires.

In a neft or hill, the labourers, or working infects, are always
moft numerous: There are at leaft one hundred labourers to one
of the fighting infe€ts or foldiers. When in this fate, they are
about a fourth of an inch in length, which is rather fmaller than
fome of our ants. From their figure, and fondnefs for wood, they
are very generally known by the name of woad-lice.

The fecond order, or foldiers, differ in figure from that of the la-
bourers. The former have been fuppofed to be neuters, and the
latter males. But, in fa&t, they are the fame infects. They have

only undergone a change of form, and made a nearer approach to
the

—_— -— _— is ae

emetien =

er ye

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 361

the perfect ftate. They are now much larger, being half an inch in
length, and equal in fize to fifteen of the labourers. The form of
the head is likewife greatly changed. In the labourer ftate, the
mouth is evidently formed for gnawing or holding bodies: But, in
the foldier ftate, the jaws being fhaped like two fharp awls a little
jagged, are deflined folely for piercing or wounding. For thefe pur-
pofes they are very well calculated; for they are as hard as a crab’s
claw, and placed in a ftrong horny head, which is of a nut-brown
colour, and larger than the whole body.

The figure of the third order, or that of the infe@ in its perfe&
ftate, is ftill more changed. The head, the thorax, and the abdo-
men, differ almoft entirely from the fame parts in the labourers and
foldiers. Befide, the animals are now furnifhed with four large,
brownifh, tranfparent wings, by which they are enabled, at the pro-
per feafon, to emigrate and to eftablifh new fettlements. In the
winged or perfe& ftate, they have likewife acquired the organs of
generation, and are greatly altered in their fize as well as in their
figure. ~ Their bodies now meafure between fix and feven tenths of
an inch, their wings, from tip to tip, above two inches and a half,
and their bulk is equal to that of thirty labourers, or two foldiers.
Inftead of aGtive, induftrious, and rapacious little animals, when they
arrive at their perfect ftate, they become innocent, helplefs, and
daftardly. Their numbers are great; but their enemies are ftill
more numerous. They are devoured by birds, by every fpecies of
ants, by carnivorous reptiles, and even by the inhabitants of many
parts of Africa. This laft fa& is attefted by Pifo, Margraave, De
Laet, Konig, Moor, Sparman, and by many other travellers, as well
as by Smeathman. After fuch devaftation, it is furprifing that a
fingle pair fhould efcape fo many dangers. ‘ Some, however,’ fays
Mr Smeathman, ‘are fo fortunate ; and being found by fome of the
* labouring infedts, that are continually running about the furface of

+ Lz ‘the

362 EHEC PHILOS OPA Y

.

a

ca

a

4.

the ground under their covered galleries, are elected Kings and
Queens of new ftates ; all thofe who are not fo elected and pre-
ferved certainly perifh. The manner in which thefe labourers
protect the happy pair from their innumerable enemies, not only
on the day of the maffacre of almoft all their race, but for a long
time after, will, I hope, juftify me in the ufe of the term election.

’ The little induftrious creatures immediately inclofe them in’a fimall

chamber of clay fuitable to their fize, into which, at firft, they
leave but one fmall entrance, large enough for themfelves and the
foldiers to go in and out, but much too little for either of the roy-
al pair to make ufe of; and, when neceflity obliges them to make
more entrances, they are never larger; fo that, of courfe, the vo-
luntary fuljects charge themfelves with the tafk of providing for
the offspring of their fovereigns, as well as to work and to fight
for them, until they have raifed a progeny capable at leaft of di-
viding the tafk with them.

© It is not till this, probably, that they confummate their mar
riage, as I never faw a pair of them joined, The bufinefs of pro-
pagation, however, foon commences; and the labourers having
conftruéted a {mall wooden nurfery, carry the eggs and lodge
- them there as faft a8 they can obtain them from the gucen.

‘ About this time a moft extraordinary change begins to take
place in the queen, to which F know nothing fimilar, except in the

- pulex penetrans of Linnaeus, the jigger of the Weft Indies, and in

the different fpecies of coccus, cochineal. The abdomen of this fe-
male begins gradually to extend: and enlarge to fuch an enormous
fize, that an o/d queen will have it increafed fo as to be fifteen hun-
dred or two thoufand times the bulk of the reft of her body, and
twenty or thirty thoufand times the bulk of a labourer, as I have

- found by carefully. weighing and computing the. different ftates.
* The;

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 363

* The {kin between the fegments of the abdomen extends in every
‘ dire@tion; and at laft the fegments are removed to half an inch
‘ diftance from each other, though, at firft, the length of the whole
‘abdomen is not half an inch. I conjecture the animal is upwards
‘of two years old when the abdomen is increafed to three inches in
‘length: I have fometimes found them of near twice that fize. The
‘ abdomen is now of an irregular oblong fhape, being contracted by
“the mufcles of every fegment, and is become one vaft matrix full
‘ of eggs, which make long circumvolutions through an innumerable
‘ quantity of very minute veflels that circulate round the infide in a
‘ ferpentine manner, which would exercife the ingenuity of a {fkill-
‘ ful anatomift to difle& and develope. This fingular matrix is not
“more remarkable for its amazing extenfion and fize than for its
‘ periflaltic motion, which refembles the undulating of waves, and
“continues inceflantly without any apparent effort of the animal ;
‘ fo that one part or other, alternately, is rifing and finking in per-
‘ petual fucceffion, andthe matrix feems never at reft, but is always
* protruding eggs to the amount (as I have frequently counted in
“old queens) of fixty in a minute, or eighty thoufand and upward
‘im one day of twenty-four hours.

© Thefe eggs are inftantly taken from her body by her attendants,
‘(of whom there’always are, ‘in the royal chamber and the galleries
“adjacent, a fufficient number in waiting), and carried to the nurfe-
“ries, which, in a great neft, may fome of them’be four or five feet
‘ diftant in a ftraight line, and, confequently, much farther by their
eae galleries. Here, after they are hatched,’ the young are
* attended and provided with every thing neceflary until they are
‘ able to fhift for ithourlelaes and take their thare of the labours of
“the ‘community.’

Zz 2 Ve

364 T AGE? PH I. L Ors Ore: ¥

We thall now endeavour to give fome idea of the almoft incre-
dible archite@ture and oeconomy of thefe wonderful infects.

The nefts of the termites bellicofi, or wood-lice, are called bills by
the natives of Africa, New Holland, and other hot climates. This
appellation is. highly proper; for they are often elevated ten or
twelve feet above the furface of the earth, and are nearly of a coni-
cal figure. Thefe hills, inftead of being rare phenomena, are fo
frequent in many places near Senegal, that, as defcribed with great
propriety by Monf. Adanfon, their number, magnitude, and clofe-
nefs of fituation, make them appear like villages of the Negroes,
‘ But, of all the extraordinary things I obferved,’ fays Monf. Adan-
fon, ‘ nothing ftruck me more than certain eminences, which, by
‘ their height and regularity, made me take them, at a diftance, for
* an aflemblage of Negroe huts, or a confiderable village, and yet
*‘ they were only the nefts of certain infects, Thefe nefts are round
* pyramids, from eight to ten feet high, upon nearly the fame bafe,
* with a fmooth furface of rich clay, exceflively hard and well built *.”
Jobfon, in his hiftory of Gambia, tells us, that ‘ the ant-hills are
* remarkable caft up in thofe parts by pifmires, fome of them twen-
‘ty foot in height, of compaffe to contayne a dozen of men, with
* the heat of the fun baked into that hardneffe, that we ufed to hide
* ourfelves in the ragged toppes of them, when we took up ftands
‘to fhoot at deere or wild beafts f.2. Mr Bofman remarks, in his
defcription of Guinea, that ‘ the ants make nefts of the earth about
“ twice the height of a man }.

Each.
* Adanfon’s Voyage to Senegal, 8vo, pag. 153.—337- Voyage de Senegal, 4to,
pag: 83.—99-
+ Purchas’s Pilgrams, vol. 2. pag. 1570.

$ Page 276.—493-

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 365

Each of thefe hills is compofed of an exterior and an interior part.
The exterior cover is a large clay-fhell, which is fhaped like a dome.
Its ftrength and magnitude are fufficient to inclofe and protec the
interior building from the injuries of the weather, and to defend its
numerous inhabitants from the attacks of natural or accidental ene-
mies. The external dome or cover is, therefore, always much
ftronger than the internal building, .which is the habitation of the
infeé&ts, and is divided with wonderful artifice and regularity into a
vaft number of apartments for the refidence and accommodation of
the king and queen, for the nurfing of their progeny, and for ma~
gazines, which are always well ftored with provilions.

Thefe hills make their firft appearance in the form of conical
turrets about afoot high. Ina fhort time, the infects erect, at a
little diftance, other turrets, and go on increafing their number and
widening their bafes, till their underworks are covered with thefe
turrets, which the animals always raife higheft in the middle of the
hill, and, by filling up the intervals between each turret, collet them,
at laft, into one great dome.

© The royal chamber,’ Mr Smeathman remarks, ‘ which is occu-
* pied by the king and queen, appears to be, in the opinion of this:
‘little people, of the moft confequence, and is always fituated as
“near the centre of the interior building as poffible, and generally
* about the height of the common furface of the ground. It is al-
“ways nearly in the fhape of half an egg, or an obtufe oval, within,
* and may be fuppofed to reprefent a long oven. In the infant ftate
‘of the colony, it is not above an inch, or thereabout, in length;
* but in time will be increafed to fix or eight inches, or more, in the
‘clear, being always in proportion to the fize of the queen, who,
* increafing in bulk as in age, at length requires a chamber of fuch

* dimenfions.’
The

366 THECrPHMinResgorm ¥

The entrances into the royal chamber will not admit any animal
larger than the foldiers or jabourers. Hence the king and the queen,
which laft, when full grown, is a thoufand times the weight of a
king, can never poflibly go out. The royal chamber is furrounded’
by an innumerable quantity of others, which are of different fizes,
figures, and dimenfions; but all of them are arched either in a cir-
cular or an elliptical form. Thefe chambers either open into each
other, or have communicating paflages, which being always clear,
are evidently intended for the conveniency of the foldiers and at-
tendants, of whom, as will foon appear, great numbers are necef-"
fary. Thefe apartments are joined by the magazines and nurferies,
The magazines are chambers of clay, and are at all times well ftored
with provifions, which, to the naked eye, feem to confift of the rafp-
ings of wood and plants which the termites deftroy; but, when ex-
amined by the microfcope, they are found to confift chiefly of the
gums or infpiflated juices of plants, thrown together in {mall irre-.
gular maffes. Of thefe mafles, fome are finer than others, and re-
femble the fugar about preferved fruits; others refemble the tears of
gum, one being quite tranfparent, another like amber, 4 third brown,,
and a fourth perfectly opaque,

The magazines are always intermixed with the nurferies, which
laft are buildings totally different from the reft of the apartments.’
They are compofed entirely of wooden materials, which feem to be’
cemented with gums. Mr Smeathman very properly gives them the’
appellation of nur/eries ; becaufe they are invariably occupied by the’
eggs, and the young ones, which firft appear in the fhape of la-
bourers ; but) they are as white as fnow. Thefe buildings are ex-
ceedingly compact, and are divided into'a number of fmall irregu="
lar-fhaped chambers, not one of which is half an inch wide. They
are placed all.round, and as near as poflible to the royal apartments.

When

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 367

When a neft or hillock is in the infant ftate, the nurferies are
clofe to the royal apartment. But as, in procefs of time, the body
of the queen enlarges, it becomes neceflary, for her accommodation,
to augment the dimenfions of her chamber, She then, likewife, lays
a greater number of eggs, and requires more attendants; of courfe,
it is neceflary that both the number and dimenfions of the adjacent
apartments fhould be augmented. For this purpofe, the fmall firft
built nurferies are taken to pieces, rebuilt a little farther cff, made a
fize larger, and their number, at the fame time, is increafed. Thus
’ the animals are continually employed in pulling down, repairing, or
' rebuilding their apartments; and thefe operations they perform with
wonderful fagacity, regularity, and forefight.

One remarkable circumftance regarding the nurferies muft not be
omitted. They are always flightly overgrown with a kind of mou/d,
and plentifully fprinkled with white globules about the fize of a
{mall pin’s head. Thefe globules, Mr Smeathman at firft conjec-
tured to be the eggs; but, when examined by the microfcope, they
evidently appeared to be a {pecies of muthroom, in fhape refembling
our eatable mufhroom when young. When entire, they are white
like {now a little melted and frozen again; and, when bruifed, they
feem to be compofed of an infinite number of pellucid particles, ap-
proaching to oval forms, and are with difficulty feparated from each
other. The mouldinefs feems likewife to confift of the fame kind
of fubftance *..

The

* Mr Konig, who examined the termites nefts in the Eat Indies, conjectures,
that thefe mufhrooms are the food of the young infects: This fuppofition implies,
that the old ones have a method of providing for and promoting the growth of.the
mufhroom ; ‘ a circumftance,’ Mr Smeathman remarks, ‘ which, however {trange to:
* thofe unacquainted with the fagacity of thofe imfects, I will venture to fay, from.
“many other extraordinary facts I have feen of them, is not very improbable.’

368 THE*PHILTOSOfA ¥

The nurferies are enclofed in chambers of clay, like thofe which
‘contain the provifions; but they are much larger. In the early ftate
of the neft, they are not bigger than-an hazel nut; but, in great hills,
they are often as large as a child’s head of a year old.

The royal chamber is fituated nearly on a level with the furface
of the ground, at an equal diftance from all the fides of the build-
ing, and dire€tly under the apex of the hill. On all fides, both above
and below, it is f{urrounded by what are called the royal apartments,
which contain only labourers and foldiers, who can be intended for
no other purpofe than to continue in the neft either to guard or
ferve their common father and mother, on whofe fafety the happi-
nefs, and, in the eftimation of the Negroes, the exiftence of the
whole community depends, Thefe apartments compofe an intricate
labyrinth, which extends a foot or more in diameter from the royal
chamber on every fide. Here the nurferics and magazines of pro-
vifions begin; and, being feparated by {mall empty chambers and
galleries, which furround them, and communicate with each other,
are continued on all fides to the outward fhell, and reach up within
it two thirds or three-fourths of its height, leaving an open area in
the middle under the dome, which refembles the nave of an old ca-
thedral. This area is furrounded by large Gothic arches, which are
fometimes two or three feet high next the front of the area, but
diminith rapidly as they recede, like the arches of aifles in perfpec-
tives, and are foon loft among the innumerable chambers and nurfe-
ries behind them, All thefe chambers and paflages are arched, and
contribute mutually to fupport one another. The interior building,
or aflemblage of nurferies, chambers, and paflages, has a flattifh roof
without any perforation, By this contrivance, if, by accident, wa-
ter fhould penetrate the external dome, the apartments below are
preferved from injury. The area has alfo a flattifh floor, which is
fituated above the royal chamber. It is likewife water-proof, and

fo

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 359

fo conftruGted, that, if water gets admittance, it runs off by fubter-
raneous paflages, which are of an aftonifhing magnitude. ‘I mea-

* fured one of them,’ fays Mr Smeathman, ‘

which was perfectly
‘cylindrical, and thirteen inches in diameter.’ Thefe fubterraneous
paflages are thickly lined with the fame kind of clay of which the
hill is compofed, afcend the internal part of the external fhell in a
fpiral form, and, winding round the whole building up to the top,
interfeét and communicate with each other at different heights. From
every part of thefe large galleries a number of pipes, or fmaller gal-
leries, leading to different apartments of the building, proceed. There
are likewife a great many which lead downward, by floping de-
fcente, three and four feet perpendicular under ground, among the
gravel, from which the labouring termites fele&t the finer parts,
which, after being worked up in their mouths to the confiftence of
mortar, become that folid clay or ftone of which their hills, and
every apartment of their buildings, except the nurferies, are com-
pofed. Other galleries afcend and lead out horizontally on every
fide, and are carried under ground, but near the furface, to great
diftances, Suppofe the whole nefts within a hundred yards of a houfe
were completely deftroyed, the inhabitants of thofe at a greater di-
ftance will carry on their fubterraneous galleries, and invade the
goods and merchandizes contained in it by fap and mine, unlefs
great attention and circum{pe@ion are employed by the proprietor.

Mr Smeathman concludes his defcription of the habitations of the
termites bellicofi, with much modefty, in the following words :
© Thus I have defcribed, as briefly as the fubje&t would admit, and I
© truft without exaggeration, thofe wonderful buildings, whofe fize,
“and external form, have often been mentioned by travellers, but
-© whofe interior, and moft curious parts are fo little known, that I

‘ may venture to confider my account of them as new, which is the
- only merit it has; for they are conftruéted upon fo different a plan
T Ne * from

370 THE PHILOSOPHY

‘ from any thing elfe upon the earth, and fo complicated, that I can-.
‘ not find words equal to the tafk.’

When a breach is made in one of the hills by an ax, or other in-
ftrument, the firft objeQ that attracts attention is the behaviour of
the foldiers, or fighting infe@ts, Immediately after the blow is given,,
a foldier comes out, walks about the breach, and feems to examine
the nature of the enemy, or the caufe of the attack. He then goes
in to the hill, gives the alarm, and, in a fhort time, large bodies rufh
out as faft as the breach will permit. It is not eafy to defcribe the
fury thefe fighting infects difcover. In their eagernefs to repel the
enemy, they frequently tumble down the fides of the hill, but re-
cover themfelves very quickly, and bite every thing they encounter.
This biting, joined to the ftriking of their forceps upon the build-
ing, makes a crackling or vibrating noife, which is fomewhat fhriller
and quicker than the ticking of a watch, and may be heard at the
diftance of three or four feet. While the attack proceeds, they are
in the moft violent buftle and agitation. If they get hold of any
part of a man’s body, they inftantly make a wound, which difcharges
as much blood as is equal to their own weight. When they attack
the leg, the ftain of blood upon the ftocking extends more than an
inch in width, They make their hooked jaws meet at the firft
ftroke, and never quit their hold, but fuffer themfelves to be pulled.
away leg by leg, and piece after piece, without the fmalleft attempt
to efcape. On the other hand, if a perfon keeps out of their reach,
and gives them no farther difturbance, in lefs than half an hour
they retire into the neft, as if they fuppofed the wonderful monfter
that damaged their-caftle had fled. Before the whole foldiers have
got in, the labouring infeéts are all in motion, and haften toward:
the breach, each of them having a quantity of tempered mortar it
his mouth. This mortar they ftick upon the breach as faft as they
atrive, and perform the operation with fo much defpatch and faci-

lity,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 371
lity, that, notwithftanding the immenfity of their numbers, they ne-
ver ftop or embarrafs one another. During this fcene of apparent
hurry and confufion, the fpectator is agreeably furprifed when he
perceives a regular wall gradually arifing and filling up the chafm.
While the labourers are thus employed, almoft all the foldiers remain
within, except here and there one, who faunters about among fix
hundred or a thoufand labourers, but never touches the mortar. One
foldier, however, always takes his ftation clofe to the wall that the
labourers are building. This foldier turns himfelf leifurely on all
fides, and, at intervals of a minute or two, raifes his head, beats up-
on the building with his forceps, and makes the vibrating noife for-
merly mentioned. A loud hifs inftantly iffues from the infide of
the dome and all the fubterraneous caverns and paflages. That this
hifs proceeds from the labourers is apparent; for, at every fignal of
this kind, they work with redoubled quicknefs and alacrity. A re-
newal of the attack, however, inftantly changes the fcene. ‘ On
* the firft ftroke,’ Mr Smeathman remarks, ‘ the labourers run into
“the many pipes and galleries with which the building is perforated,
‘ which they do fo quickly, that they feem to vanifh ; for in a few
'* feconds all are gone, and the foldiers rufh out as numerous and as
* vindiétive as before. On finding no enemy, they return again lei-
* furely into the hill, and, very foon after, the labourers appear load-
* ed as at firft, as ative, and as fedulous, with foldiers here and
* there among them, who act juft in the fame manner, one or other
* of them giving the fignal to haften the bufinefs. Thus the plea-
* fure of feeing them come out to fight or to work, alternately, may
* be obtained as often as curiofity excites, or time permits; and it
* will certainly be found, that the one order never attempts to fight,
“ or the other to work, let the emergency be ever io great.’

It is exceedingly difficult to explore the interior parts of a neft or
hill. The apartments which furround the roya! chamber and the
3 An2 nurferies,

TIBECPHREOSORE ¥

nurferies, and indeed the whole fabrick, have fuch a dependence on
each other, that the breaking of one arch generally pulls down two
or three. There is another great obftacle to our refearches, namely,
the obflinacy of the foldiers, who, fays our author, ‘ fight to the
“very laft, difputing every inch of ground fo well as often to
‘drive away the Negroes who are without fhoes, and make white
“ people bleed plentifully through their ftockings. Neither can we
“Jet a building ftand fo as to get a view of the interior parts with-
* out interruption; for, while the foldiers are defending the out-
* works, the labourers keep barricading all the way againft us, ftop-
‘ ping up the different galleries and paflages which lead to the vari+
* ous apartments, particularly the royal chamber, all the entrances to
‘which they fill up fo artfully as not to let it be diftinguifhable
‘ while it remains moift ; and, externally, it has no other appearance
* than that of a fhapelefs lump of clay. It is, however, eafily found
* from its fituation with refpe& to the other parts of the building,
“and by the crowds of labourers and foldiers which furround it, ad
© fhow their loyalty and fidelity by dying under its walls. The foy-
* al chamber, in a large neft, is capacious enough to hold many hun-
* dreds of the attendants, befides the royal pair ; and you always find
‘it as full of them as it can hold. Thefe faithful fubjeGts never
* abandon their charge even in the laft diftrefs ; for, whenever I took
* out the royal chamber, and, as I often did, preferved it for fome
‘time in a large glafs bowl, all the attendants continued running in
* one direction round the king and queen with the utmoft folicitude,
‘fome of them ftopping at the head of the latter, as if to give her
‘fomething. When they came to the extremity of the abdomen,
‘they took the eggs from her, and carried them away, and piled
‘them carefully together in fome part of the chamber, or in the
* bowl under, or behind any pieces of broken clay which lay moft.
“convenient for the purpofe.’

In

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 373

In this chapter, I have given a fuccin& view of the fagacity, dex-
terity, and architectonic powers, exhibited in the conftruétion of ha-
bitations by the different claffes of animals. But I am not without
apprehenfions, that, in my endeavours to avoid prolixity, I may have,
in fome inftances, degenerated into obfcurity. Enough, however, I
hope, has been faid, either for the purpofes of admiration or of rea-
foning; and, therefore, I fhall not anticipate the reflections of my
readers, but proceed to the next fubjeét.

CHAP.

374 THE PHILOSOPHY

CH AR LY ER XIV.

Of the Hoftilities of Animals.

N contemplating the fyftem of animation exhibited in this pla-
net, the only one of which we have any extenfive knowledge,
the mind is ftruck, and even confounded, with the general fcene of
havock and devaftation which is perpetually, and every where, pre-=
fented to our view. There is not, perhaps, a fingle fpecies of ani-
mated beings, whofe exiftence depends not, more or lefs, upon the
death and deftruétion of others. Every animal, when not prema-
turely deprived of life by thofe who are hoftile to it, or by accident,
enjoys a temporary exiftence, the duration of which is longer or
fhorter according to its nature, and the rank it holds in the creation;
and this exiftence univerfally terminates in death and diffolution.
This is an eftablifhed law of Nature, to which every animal is obli-
ged to fubmit. But this neceflary and univerfal deprivation of in-
dividual life, though great, is nothing when compared to the havock
occafioned by another law, which impels animals to kill and devour
different {pecies, and fometimes their own. In the fyftem of Nature,
death and diffolution feem to be indifpenfible for the fupport and
continuation of animal life.

But,

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 375

But, though almoft every animal, in fome meafure, depends for
its exiftence on the deftruction of others, there are fome fpecies in
all the different tribes or claffes, which are diftinguifhed by the ap-
pellation of carnivorous or rapacious, becaufe they live chiefly, or
entirely, on animal food. In the profecution of this fubje@, there-
fore, we fhall, in the fir? place, mention fome examples of animal
hoftility and rapacity; and, in the wex¢ place, endeavour to point
out fuch advantages as refult from this apparently cruel inftitution
of Nature. On the laft branch of the fubjeQ&, however, the reader
muft not expect to have every difficulty removed, and every quef-
tion folved. Like all the other parts of the oeconomy of Nature,
the neceflity, or even the feeming cruelty and injuftice, of allowing
animals to prey upon one another, is a myftery which we can never
be enabled completely to unravel. But we are not entirely without
hopes of fhowing feveral important utilities which refult from this
almoft univerfal fcene of animal devaftation.

Of all rapacious animals, Manis the moft univerfal deftroyer,
Fhe deftru€tion of carnivorous quadrupeds, birds, and infeéts, is, in
general, limited to particular kinds. But the rapacity of man has:
hardly any limitation, His empire over the other animals which:
inhabit this globe is almoft univerfal. He accordingly employs his
power, and fubdues or devours every fpecies. Of fome of the qua-
druped tribes, as the horfe, the dog, the cat, he makes domeftic
flaves; and, though in this country, none of thefe {pecies is ufed for
food, he either obliges them to labour for him, or keeps them as
fources of pleafure and amufement. From other quadrupeds, as the
ox, the fheep, the goat, and the deer kind, he derives innumerable
advantages. The ox-kind, in particular, after receiving the emolu-
ments of their labour and fertility, he rewards with death, and then
feeds upon their carcafles. Many other fpecies, though not com=
monly ufed as food, are daily maflacred in millions for the purpofes

of

376 TNE PHILOSOPHY

of commerce, luxury, and caprice. Myriads of quadrupeds are an-
nually deftroyed for the fake of their furs, their hides, their tufks,
their odoriferous fecretions, &c.

Over the feathered tribes the dominion of man is not lefs exten-
five. There is not a fingle fpecies in the numerous and diverfified
clafs of birds, which he either does not, or may not, employ for the
nourifhment of his body. By his fagacity and addrefs he has been
enabled to domefticate many of the more prolific and delicious fpe-
cies, as turkies, geefe, and the various kinds of poultry. Thefe he
multiplies without end, and devours at pleafure.

Neither do the inhabitants of the waters efcape the rapacity of
man. Rivers, lakes, and even the ocean itfelf, feel the power of
his empire, and are forced to fupply him with provifions. Neither
air nor water can defend againft the ingenuity, the art, and the de-
ftructive induftry of the human fpecies. Man may be faid even to
have domefticated fome fifhes. In artificial ponds, he feeds and rears
carp, tench, perch, trout, and other fpecies, and with them occafion-
ally furnithes his table.

It might have been expected, that infe&s and reptiles, fome of
which have a moft difgufting afpeét, would not have excited the
human appetite. But we learn from experience, that, in every re-
gion of the earth, many infe€&ts which inhabit both the earth and
the waters, are efteemed as delicate articles of Juxury. Even the
viper, though its venom be deleterious, efcapes not the all-devouring

jaws of man.

Thus man holds, and too often exercifes, a tyrannical dominion
over almoft the whole brute creation, not becaufe he is the ftrongeft
of all animals, but becaufe his intelle&t, though of a fimilar nature,

is

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 377

is vaftly fuperior to that of the moft fagacious of the lefs favoured
tribes. He reigns over the other animals, becaufe, like them, he is
not only endowed with fentiment, but becaufe the powers of his
mind are more extenfive. He overcomes force by ingenuity, and
fwiftnefs by art and perfevering induftry. But the empire of man
over the brute creation is not abfolute. Some fpecies elude his pow-
er by the rapidity of their flight, by the fwiftnefs of their courfe,
by the ‘obfcurity of their retreats, and by the element in which they
live. Others efcape him by the minutenefs of their bodies ; and, in-
ftead of acknowledging their fovereign, others boldly attack him
with open hoftility. He is alfo infulted and injured by the flings
of infects, and by the poifonous bites of ferpents. In other refpeds,
man’s empire, though comparatively great, is very much limited. He
hhas no influence on the univerfe, on the motions and affeQlions of
the heavenly bodies, or on the revolutions of the globe which he
inhabits, Neither has he a general dominion over animals, vege-
tables, or minerals. His power reaches not fpecies, but is confined
to individuals. Every order of being moves on in its courfe, per-
ithes, or is renewed, by the irrefaflible power of Nature. Even man
himfelf, hurried along by the general torrent of time and of Nature,
cannot prolong his exiftence. He is obliged to fubmit to the uni-
werfal law ; and, like all other organized beings, he is born,- grows
to maturity, and dies. Though man has been enabled to fub-
due the animal creation by the fuperior powers of his mind, his em-
pire, like all other empires, could not be firmly eftablithed previous
to the inftitution of pretty numerous focieties. Almoft the whole
of his power is derived from fociety, It matures his reafon, gives
exertion to his genius, and unites his forces. Before the formation
of large focieties, man was perhaps the moft helplefs and the leaf
formidable of all animals. Naked, and deftitute of arms, to him
the earth was only an immenfe defert peopled with ftrong and ra-
pacious monfters, by whom he was often devoured, Even long af-

+ 3B ter

378 THE PHILOSOPHY

ter this period, hiftory informs us, that the firft heroes were deftroy-
ers of wild beafts. But, after the human fpecies had multiplied,
and fpread over the earth, and when, by means of fociety and the
- arts, man was enabled to conquer a confiderable part of the globe, he
forced the wild beafls gradually to retire to the deferts. He cleared
the earth of thofe gigantic animals who, perhaps, now no longer ex-
ift, but whofe enormous bones are ftill found in different regions,
and are preferved in the cabinets of the curious. He reduced the
numbers of the voracious and noxious fpecies. He oppofed the pow-
ers and the dexterity of one animal to thofe of another. Some he
fubdued by addrefs, and others by force. In this manner he, in
procefs of time, acquired to himfelf perfect fecurity, and eftablifhed
an empire that has no other limits than inacceflible folitudes, burn-
ing fands, frozen mountains, or obfcure caverns, which are occupied
as retreats by a few {pecies of ferocious animals.

Next to man, the carnivorous quadrupeds are the moft numerous
and the moft deftrudtive. Different parts of the earth are infefted
with lions, tigers, panthers, ounces, leopards, jaguars, couguars,
lynxes, wild cats, dogs, jackals, wolves, foxes, hyaenas, civets, genets,
polecats, martins, ferrets, ermines, gluttons, bats, &c. Though all
thefe, and many other tribes of quadrupeds, live folely upon blood
and carnage, yet fome of them, as the tiger, the wolf, the hyaena,
and many other inferior fpecies, are much more rapacious and de
firutive than others. The lion, though furrounded with prey, kills
no more than he is able to confume. But the tiger is grofsly fero-
cious, and cruel without neceflity. Though fatiated with carnage,
he perpetually thirfts for blood. His reftlefs fury has no intervals,
except when he is obliged to lie in ambufh for prey at the fides of
lakes or rivers, to which other animals refort for drink. He feizes
and tears in pieces a frefh animal with equal rage as he exerted in
devouring the firft, He defolates every country that he inhabits,

and

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 379

and dreads neither the afpeét nor the arms of man. He facrifices
- whole flocks of domeftic animals, and all the wild beafts which
come within the reach of his terrible claws. He attacks the young
of the elephant and rhinoceros, and fometimes even ventures to
brave the lion, His predominant inftin@ is a perpetual rage, a
blind and undiftinguithing ferocity, which often impel him to de-
vour his own young, and to tear their mother in pieces. when fhe
attempts to defend them. He delights in blood, and gluts himfelf
with it till he is intoxicated. He tears the body for no other pur-
pofe than to plunge his head into it, and to drink large draughts of
blood, the fources of which are generally exhaufted before his thirft
is appeafed. The tiger is perhaps the only animal whofe ferocity
is unconquerable, Neither violence, reftraint, nor bribery, have any
effe&t in foftening his temper. With harfh or gentle treatment he
is equally irritated. The mild and conciliating influence of fociety
makes no impreffion on the obduracy and incorrigiblenefs of his
difpofition. Time, inftead of foftening the ferocioufnefs of his na-
ture, only exafperates his rage. He tears, with equal wrath, the
hand which feeds him, as that which is raifed to ftrike him. He
roars and grins at the fight of every living being. Every animated
object he regards asa frefh prey, which he devours before hand
with the avidity of his eyes, menaces it with frightful groans, and
often fprings at it, without regarding his chains, which only reftrain,
but cannot calm his fury.

In temperate climates, the wolf feems to exceed all other animals
in the ferocity and rapacioufnefs of his difpofition, When prefled
with hunger, he braves every danger. He attacks all thofe animals
which are under the protection of man, efpecially fuch as he can
carry off with eafe, as lambs, kids, and the {maller kinds of dogs.
When fuccefsful in his expeditions, he returns often to the charge,
till, after being chaced and wounded by men and dogs, he retires,

3 B2 during

380 THE PHILOSOPHY?

during the day, to his den, In the night he again iffues forth, tra-
verfes the country, roams round the cottages, kills all the animals
which have been left without, digs the earth under the doors, enters
with a terrible ferocity, and puts every living creature to death, be-
fore he choofes to depart, and carry off his prey. When thefe in-
roads happen to be fruitlefs, he returns to the woods, fearches about
with avidity, follows the track and the fcent of wild beafts, and pur-
fues them till they fall a prey to his rapacity. In a word, when his
hunger is extreme, he lofes all idea of fear, attacks women and chil-
dren, and fometimes men ; at laft he becomes perfe@ly furious by
exceflive exertions, and generally falls a facrifice to pure rage and
diftra@ion. When feveral wolves appear together, it is not an affo-
ciation of peace, but of war. It is attended with tumult and dread-
ful growlings, and indicates an attack upon fome of the larger ani-
mals, as a ftag, an ox, or a formidable maftive. This depredatory
expedition is no fooner ended than they feparate, and every indivi-
dual returns in filence to his folitude. Wolves are fond of human
flefh. They have been known to follow armies, to come in troops
to the field of battle, where bedies are carelefsly interred, to tear
them up, and to devour them with an infatiable avidity: And, when
once accuftomed to human flefh, thefe wolves ever after atrack men,
prefer the fhepherd to the flock, devour women, and carry off chil-
dren. Whole countries are fometimes obliged to arm, in order to
deftroy the wolves. It is a fortunate circumftance that thefe dange-
rous and deftruCtive animals have been long totally extirpated from
Great Britain and her iffands.

,

Neither are the feathered tribes exempted from the general law of
cevaftation. But the number of birds of prey, properly fo called,
is much lefs in proportion than that of carnivorous quadrupeds..
Birds of prey are likewife weaker; and, of courfe, the deftru@tion
of animal life they occafion is much more limited than the immenfe:

devaftations

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 381

devaftations daily committed by rapacious quadrupeds. But, as if
tyranny never loft fight of its rights, great numbers of birds make
prodigious depredations upon the inhabitants of the waters. A vaft
tribe of birds frequent the waters, and live folely upon fifhes. In a
certain fenfe, every fpecies of bird may be faid to be a bird of prey;
for almoft the whole of them devour flies, worms, and other infects,
either for food to themfelves or their young. Birds of prey, like
carnivorous quadrupeds, are not fo prolific as the milder and more
inoffenfive kinds. Moft of them lay only a {mall number of eggs.
The great eagle and the ofprey produce only two eggs in a feafon.
The pigeon, it may be faid, lays no more. But it fhould be con-
fidered that the pigeon produces two eggs three, four, or five times,
from fpring to autumn. All birds of prey exhibit an obduracy and
a ferocioufnefs of difpofition, while the other kinds are mild, chear-
ful, and gentle, in their afpe& and manners. Moft birds of prey
expel their offspring from the neft, and relinquifh them to their fate,
before they are fufficiently able to provide for themfelves. This
cruelty is the effe&t of perfonal want in the mother. When prey is:
feanty, which often happens, fhe in a manner ftarves herfelf to fup-
port her young. But, when her hunger becomes exceflive, fhe for-
gets her parental affection, ftrikes, expels, and fometimes, in a pa-
roxy{m of fury produced by want, kills her offspring. An averfion
to fociety is another effe& of this natural and acquired obduracy of
temper. Birds of prey, as well as carnivorous quadrupeds, never
affociate. Like robbers, they lead a folitary and wandering life..
Mutual attachment unites the male and the female; and, as they
are both capable of providing for themfelves, and can give mutual
affiftance in making war again{ft other animals, they never feparate,
even after the feafon of love. The fame pair are uniformly found
in the fame place; but they never affemble in flocks, nor even affo-
ciate in families. ‘The larger kinds, as the eagles, require a greater
- quantity of food, and, for that reafon, never allow their own off-
{pring,.

382 THE PHILOSOPHY

a

{pring, after they have become rivals, to approach the places which
the parents frequent. But all thofe birds, and all thofe quadrupeds,
which are nourifhed by the productions of the earth, live in fami-
lies, are fond of fociety, and affemble in numerous flocks, without
quarrelling or difturbing one another.

Both the earth and the air furnifh examples of rapacious animals.
In thefe elements, however, the number of carnivorous animals is
comparatively fmall, But every inhabitant of the waters depends
for its exiftence upon rapine and deftruction. The life of every f/h,
from the fmalleft to the greateft, is one continued fcene of hoftility,
violence, and evafion, Their appetite for food is almoft infatiable.
It impels them to encounter every danger. They are in continual
motion; and the object of all their movements is to devour other
fifhes, or to avoid their own deftruction. Their defire for food is
fo keen and undiftinguifhing, that they greedily {wallow every thing
which has the appearance of animation, Thofe that have {mall
mouths feed upon worms and the fpawn of other fifhes; and thofe
whofe mouths are larger devour every animal, their own fpecies not
excepted, that can pafs through their gullet. To avoid deftrution,
the fmaller fry retire to the fhallows, where the larger kinds are un-
able to purfue them. But, in the watery element, no fituation is
abfolutely fafe; for, even in the fhallows, the oyfter, the fcallop,
and the mufcle, lie in ambufh at the bottom, with their fhells open,
and, when a fimall fith comes into conta& with them, they inftantly
clofe their fhells upon him, and devour at leifure their imprifoned
prey. Neither is the hunting or purfuit of fithes confined to parti-
cular regions. Shoals of one fpecies follow, with unwearied ar-
dour, thofe of another through vaft traéts of the ocean. The cod
purfues the whiting from the banks of Newfoundland to the fou-
thern cofts of Spain.

It

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 383

=)

It is a remarkable circumftance in the hiftory of animated Nature,
that carnivorous birds and quadrupeds are lefs prolific than the in-
offenfive and aflociating kinds; but, on the contrary, that the inha-
bitants of the waters, who are all carnivorous, are endowed with a
moft aftonifhing fecundity. All kinds of fifhes, a few only excep-
ted, are oviparous, Notwithftanding the amazing deftruGion of
their eggs by the fmaller fry that frequent the fhores, by aquatic
birds, and by the larger fifhes, the numbers which efcape are fuffi-
cient to fupply the ocean with inhabitants, and to afford nourifh-
ment to a very great portion of the human race. A cod, for inftance,
according to the accurate computation of Lewenhoeck, produces,
from one roe, above nine millions of eggs in a fingle feafon, ‘The
flounder lays annually above one million, and the mackarel.more
than five hundred thoufand: An increafe fo great, if permitted to
arrive at maturity, that the ocean itfelf, in a few centuries, would
not be fpacious enough to contain its animated produ€tions, This
wonderful fertility anfwers two valuable purpofes. In the midft of
numberlefs enemies it continues the refpedtive fpecies, and furnifhes
to all a proper quantity of nourifhment,

We have thus feen that man, fome quadrupeds, fome birds, and
all fithes, are carnivorous animals, But this fyftem of carnage de-
fcends ftill lower. Many of the zn/ect tribes derive their nourifh-
ment from putrid carcaffes, from the bodies of living animals, or
from killing and devouring weaker fpecies. How many flies are
daily facrificed by fpiders, a moft voracious and a moft numerous
tribe of infe&ts? In return, fpeeders are greedily devoured by flies
which are diftinguifhed by the name of ichneumons, The number
of thefe ichneumon flies is inconceivable; and, if it were not for the
prodigious havock they make upon caterpillars and other infeéts, the
fruits of the earth would be entirely deftroyed. Wafps are extreme-
ty fond of animal food. They frequent butchers ftalls, and beat of

the

334 T BWE 6P\H 1iLiO SO Ba ¥

the fleth fly, and every.other infec that reforts thither for the pur-
pofe of depofiting its eggs in the meat. Butchers take the advan-
tage of this jealous warfare. They encourage the wafps, and make
centinels of them, by giving them livers, whicu they prefer to more
fibrous flefh, probably becaufe they can cut livers more eafily with
their teeth.

The libella, dragon, or lady-fly, is well known by the beauty of
its colours and the fymmetry of its form. For thefe external qua-
lities it has received the appellation of /ady-fly. Its difpofitions and
its mode of life, however, are more ferocious and warlike than thofe
of the Amazones. Like birds of prey, they hover about in the air,
for the fole purpofe of devouring almoft every fpecies of winged
infe&t. They accordingly frequent marihy grounds, pools of wa-
ter, and the margins of rivers, where infects moft abound. Their
appetite is fo grofs and voracious, that they not only devour {mall
flies, but even the large flefh-fly, moths, and butterflies, of every
kind.

It has been often faid, that no animal fpontaneoufly feeds upon
its own [pecies, This remark has probably been intended as an apo-
logy for, or at leaft a limitation to, the general fyftem of carnage
eftablifhed by Nature. But the obfervation, whatever might have
been its intention, is‘unhappily a refult of ignorance; for fome qua-
drupeds, all fifhes, and many infedts, make no fuch difcrimination,
The weaker are uniformly preyed upon by the ftronger. Reaumur
put twenty of thofe caterpillars which feed upon the leaves of the
oak into a vial. Though he regularly fupplied them with plenty of
freth oak leaves, he obferved that the number of dead ones daily in-
creafed. Upon a more attentive examination into the caufe of this
mortality, he found, that the ftronger attacked with their teeth, kill-
ed, fucked out the vitals of their weaker companions, and left no-

thing

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 385

thing but the head, feet, and empty fkins. In a few days, one only
of the twenty remained in life.

Caterpillars have myriads of external enemies, as birds of almoft
every kind, many of the fmaller quadrupeds, their own fpecies, and
numberlefs infe&ts. But this vaft fource of devaftation is ftill aug-
mented by what may be denominated their internal enemies, Many
flies depofit their eggs in the bodies of caterpillars. From thefe eggs
proceed fmall maggots, which gradually devour the vitals of the
animal in which they refide. When about to be transformed into
chryfalids, they pierce the fkin of the caterpillar, fpin their pods,
and remain on the empty fkin till they aflume the form of flies, and
efcape into the air to perform the fame cruel office to another un-
fortunate reptile. Every perfon muft recolle& to have feen the
colewort or cabbage caterpillar ftuck upon old walls, or the win-
dows of country cottages, totally covered with thefe chryfalids, which
have the form of fmall maggots, and are of a fine yellow colour.
One of the moft formidable enemies of the caterpillar is a black
worm, with fix cruftaceous legs. It isas long, and thicker than
an ordinary fized caterpillar. In the fore part of the head it has two
curved pincers, with which it quickly pierces the belly of a cater-
pillar, and never quits the prey till it is entirely devoured. The
largeft caterpillar is not fufficient to nourifh this worm for a fingle
day; for it daily kills and eats feveral of them. Thefe gluttonous
worms, when gorged with food, become ina@tive, and almoft mo-
tionlefs. When in this fatiated condition, young worms of the fame
fpecies attack and devour them. Of all trees, the oak, perhaps, nou-
rifhes the greateft number of different caterpillars, as well as of dif-
ferent infects. Amongft others, the oak is inhabited by a large and
beautiful beetle. This beetle frequents the oak, probably becaufe
that tree is inhabited by the greateft number of caterpillars. It

a. ¢ tr marches

386 THE PHILOSOPHY

marches from branch to branch, and, when difpofed for food, at-
tacks and devours the firft caterpillar that comes in its way.

The pucerons, vine-fretters, or plant-lice, are very injurious to
trees and vegetables of almoft every kind. Their fpecies are fo nu-
merous, and all of them are endowed with fuch a wonderful ferti-
lity, that we fhould expe& to fee the leaves, the branches, and the
ftems of every plant totally covered with them. But this aftonifh-
ing fecundity, and the devaftation thefe {mall infects would una-
voidably produce among the vegetable tribes, is checked by num-
berlefs enemies. Myriads of infeés of different claffes, of different
genera, and of different fpecies, feem to be produced for no other
purpofe but to devour the pucerons. Some of thefe infeéts are fo
voracious, that, notwithftanding the extreme prolific powers of the
pucerons, we have reafon to be furprifed that their {pecies are not
entirely annihilated. On every leaf inhabited by the puceron we
find worms of different kinds. Thefe worms feed not upon the
leaves, but upon the pucerons, whom they devour with an almoft
incredible rapacity. Some of thefe worms are transformed into flies
with two wings, others into flies with four wings, and others into
beetles. While in the worm-ftate, one of thefe gluttonous infects
will fuck out the vitals of twenty pucerons in a quarter of an hour,
Reaumur fupplied a fingle worm with more than a hundred puce=
rons, every one of which it devoured in lefs than three hours.

Befide the general fyftem of carnage produced by the neceflity of
one animal’s feeding upon another, there are other fources of de-
ftruGion, which originate from very different motives. Man is not
the only animal who wages war with his.own fpecies. War among
mankind, in certain accidental fituations of fociety, may be produc-
tive, to particular nations or communities, of beneficial effeGs. But
every advantage derived by war to ane nation is acquired at the ex-

pence,,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 387

pence, and either the partial or the total ruin of another, If uni-
verfal peace could be completely eftablifhed, and if the earth were
cultivated to the higheft perfection, it is not probable that the mul-
tiplication of the human fpecies would ever rife to fuch a degree as
to exceed the quantity of provifions produced by agriculture, and
by the breeding of domeftic animals, neceflary for their exiftence
and happinefs. But, as long as men are actuated by ambition, by
refentment, and by many other hoftile paffions, war and animofity,
with all their train of blood-fhed and calamity, will forever conti-
nue to harrafs and perfecute the human kind. Let us, however, be
humble. We cannot unfold the myfteries of Nature; but we may
admire her operations, and fubmit, with a becoming refignation, to
her irrefiftible decrees. The man, if fuch a man there be, whofe
ftrength of mind enables him to obferve fteadfaftly this condué, is
the only real philofopher.

As formerly remarked, man is not the only animal that makes
war with his own fpecies. Quadrupeds, birds, fifhes, infeéts, inde-
pendently of their appetite for food, occafionally fight and kill each
other. On this fubje& we fhall confine ourfelves to a few examples
derived from the infe& tribes,

A fociety or hive of bees confifts of a female, of males, and of
drones, or neuters, Thefe three kinds continue, for fome time, in
the moft perfe& harmony, and mutually proteé and affift each other.
The neuters, or working bees, difcover the ftrongeft attachment and
affeGtion to the males, even when in their worm ftate. The neu-
ters are armed with a deadly fting, of which the males are deftitute.
Both are equally produced by the fame mother, and live in the fame
family. But, notwithftanding their temporary affeGtion, there are
times when the neuters cruelly maflacre the males. Among the laws
of polifhed republics, we find fome which are extremely barbarous.

a Gira The

388 THE PHILOSOPHY

The Lacedemonians were allowed to kill fuch of their children as
were produced in a defective or maimed ftate, becaufe they would be-
come a burden upon the community. ‘The laws of the Chinefe per-
mit aCtions equally inhuman. We perhaps know not all the reafons
why the neuter bees treat the males with fo much cruelty, There
is a time, however, when the males become perfectly ufelefs to the
community ; and it is not incurious to remark, that the general
maflacre never commences till this period arrives. Whenever a
ftranger bee enters a hive, his temerity is uniformly punithed with
death, But mortal combats are not unfrequent between bees be-
longing to the fame hive. Thefe combats are moft frequent in clear
and warm weather, Sometimes two combatants come out of the
hive clofely faftened to each other, At other times the attack is
made in the air. But, in whatever way the battle begins, both com-
batants uniformly come to the ground before it is terminated by the
death of one of the parties. When they reach the ground, each
individual, like a wreftler, endeavours to gain the moft advanta-
geous pofition for ftinging his adverfary to death. Sometimes,
though rarely, the fting is left in the wound. If this were general-
ly the cafe, every combat would prove fatal to two bees; for the
victor could not long furvive the lofs of his fting. Thefe battles
fometimes continue near an hour before one of the flies is left ex-
piring on the ground.

Befide thefe fingle combats, general ations are not unfrequent,
efpecially in the {warming feafon. When two fwarms, or colonies,
happen to contend for the fame habitation, a general and bloody
engagement immediately enfues. Thefe engagements often continue
for hours, and never terminate without great havock on both fides.
The fting is not the only weapon employed in war by bees. They
are furnifhed with two ftrong fangs or teeth, with which they cruel-
ly tear each other. Even in general engagements, all the combats.

are

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 389

are fingle. But, when the great flaughter of the males is commit-
ting, three or four neuters are not afhamed to attack a fingle fly.

Every wafp’s neft, about the beginning of October, exhibits a fin-
gular and a cruel fcene. At this feafon, the wafps ceafe to bring
nourifhment to their young. From affectionate mothers or nurles,
they at once become barbarous ftepmothers. They are worfe; for
they drag the young worms frorn their cells, and carry them out of
the neft. Being thus expofed to the weather, and deprived of nou-
rifhment, every one of them unavoidably perifhes, This devafta-
tion is not, like that of the honey-bees, confined to the male-worms,
Here no worm, of whatever denomination or fex, efcapes the gene-
ral and undiftinguifhing maflacre. Befide expofing the worms to
the weather, the wafps kill them with their fangs. This fact feems
to be a violation of parental affection, one of the ftrongeft principles
in animal nature. But the intentions of Nature, though they
may often elude our refearches, are never wrong. What appears
to us cruel and unnatural in this inftin@ive devaftation committed
annually by the wafps, is perhaps an act of the greateft mercy and
compaffion. Wafps are not, like the honey-bees, endowed with the
inftin& of laying up a ftore of provifions for winter fubfiftence. If
not prematurely deftroyed by their parents, the young muft necel-
farily die a more cruel and lingering death, occafioned by hunger.
Hence this feemingly harfh conduét in the oeconomy of wafps, in-
ftead of affording an exception to the univerfal benevolence and wif-
dom of Nature, is, in reality, a merciful inftitution. Befides, as the
multiplication of wafps is prodigious, and as they are a noxious race
both to man and other animals, and efpecially to many tribes of in-
feéts, if their increafe were not checked by fuch a dreadful carnage,
their depredations, in a few years, would annihilate other fpecies,
break the chain of Nature, and even prove deftructive to man and:

the larger animals,
The

390 THE PHILOSOPHY

The fame inftin@ive flaughter, and probably for the fame reafons,
is made by the hornets. Towards the end of O@ober, all the worms
and nymphs are dragged out of the neft and killed. The neuters
and males fall daily victims to the cold; fo that, at the end of win-
ter, a few fertile females only remain to continue the fpecies.

According to the adopted plan, we fhall finith this fubje& with
fome obfervations which may have a tendency to reconcile our
minds to a fyftem fo deftructive to individuals of every fpecies, that
humanity, when not enlightened by a ray of philofophy, is apt to
revolt, and to brand Nature with cruelty and oppreffion, Nature,
it muft be confeffed, feems almoft indifferent to individuals, who
perifh every moment in millions, without any apparent compunc-
tion. But, with regard to fpecies of every defcription, her uniform
and uninterrupted attention to the prefervation and continuation of
the great fyftem of animation is confpicuous, and merits admiration.
Life, it fhould appear, cannot be fupported without the intervention
of death. Through almoft the whole of animated Nature, as we
have feen, nothing but rapine, and the deftruction of individuals,
prevail. This deftruction, however, has its ufe. Every animal, af-
ter death, adminifters life and happinefs to a number of others. In
many animals, the powers of digeftion, and of affimilation, are con-=
fined to animal fubftances alone. If deprived of animal food, fuch
{pecies, it is evident, could not exift. The chief force of this obfer-
vation, it is admitted, is applicable folely to the carnivorous tribes,
ftritly fo denominated. But, from the facts formerly enumerated,
and from the daily experience of every man, it is apparent, that,
perhaps, no animal does or can exift totally independent of food
that is or has been animated. Sheep, oxen, and all herbivorous ani-
mals, though not from choice, and even without confcioufnefs, daily
devour thoufands of infe&ts. This may be one reafon why cattle of
all kinds fatten fo remarkably in rich paftures ; for infects are always

moft

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 391

moft numerous where the herbage is luxuriant. Nature is fo pro-
fufe in her animated produdtions, that no food can be eat, and no
fluid can be drunk, in which animal fubftances, either in a living or
dead ftate, are not to be found.

To this reafoning it may be objected, Why has Nature eftablifhed
a fyftem fo cruel? Why did fhe render it neceffary that one animal
could not live without the deftru€tion of another? To fuch queftions
no anfwer can be either given or expected. No being, except the
Supreme, can unfold this myftery. Perhaps it even exceeds the li-
mits of poffibility to eftablith fuch an extended fyftem of animation
upon any other foundation. From the general benevolence of the
great Creator, we are warranted to conclude that this is really the
cafe. But it is fruitlefs to dwell upon fubjeéts which are infcrutable,
and far removed beyond the powers of human intelle&t. We fhall.
therefore defcend, and endeavour to point out fome advantages which
refult from this myfterious inftitution of Nature.

On this branch of the fubje&, the reader will eafily perceive that
much order or connection is not to be expected,

The hoftilities of animals, mankind not excepted, give rife to mu-
tual improvement. Animals improve, and difcover a fuperiority of
parts, in proportion-to the number of enemies they have to attack
or evade. The weak, and confequently timid, are obliged to exert
their utmoft powers in inventing and practifing every poflible mode-
of efcape. Pure inftin@ powerfully prompts; but much is learned:
by experience and obfervation. Rapacious animals, on the contrary,,
by frequent difappointment, are obliged to provide againft the cun-
ning and alertnefs of their prey. Herbivorous animals, as they have:
little difficulty in procuring food, are proportionally ftupid; but they:
would be ftill more ftupid, if they had no enemies to annoy them.

Man,,

302 THE PHILOSOPHY

Man, if his attention and talents were not excited by the animofities
of his own fpecies, by the attacks of ferocious animals, and even by
thofe of the infect tribes, would be an indolent, an incurious, a dirty,
and an ignorant animal. Thofe of the human race, accordingly,
who procure their food with little or no induftry, as we learn from
a multitude of travellers and voyagers, are perfectly indolent and
brutifhly ftupid. ‘Timid animals never ufe the arts of defence, or
provide againft danger, except from three caufes, pure inftin&t, which
is implanted in their natures, imitation, and experience. By expe-
rience, timid animals are taught the arts of evalion. Flight is in-
{tinGtive; but the modifications of it are acquired by imitation and

experience.

Hoftilities, in fome inftances, feem to arife, not from a natural
antipathy of one fpecies to another, but from a fcarcity of food.
The celebrated Captain Cooke informs us, that, in Staten Ifland,
birds of prey afflemble promifcuoufly with penguins and other birds,
without the one offering any injury, or the other difcovering the
{malleft fymptom of terror. In that ifland, the rapacious birds, per-
haps, find plenty of food from dead feals, fea-lions, and fithes.

A profufion of animal life feems to be the general intention of
Nature. For this purpofe, when not modified or reftrained by the
induftry and intelligence of man, fhe uniformly covers the furface
of the earth with trees and vegetables of every kind, which fupply
myriads of animated beings with food. But the greateft poffible ex-
tention of life would ftill be wanting, if animals did not prey upon
each other. If all animals were to live upon vegetables alone, many
{pecies, and millions of individuals, which now enjoy life and hap-
pinefs, could have no exiftence; for the produdtiions of the earth
would not be fufficient to fupport them. But, by making animals

feed upon each other, the fyftem of animation and of happinefs is
extended

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 393

extended to the greateft poffible degree. In this view, Nature, in-
ftead of being cruel and oppreflive, is highly generous and benefi-
cent,

To diminifh the number of noxious animals, and to augment that
of ufeful vegetables, has been the uniform fcope of human induftry,
A few fpecies of animals only are of immediate utility to man, Thefe
he either cultivates with care, or hunts for his prey. The ox, the
fheep, the goat, and other animals which are under his peculiar pro-
teGtion, he daily ufes for food. This is not cruelty. He has a right
to eat them: For, like Nature, though he occafionally deftroys do-
meftic animals, a timid and docile race of beings, by his culture and
protection he gives life and happinefs to millions, which, without
his aid, could have no exiftence, The number of individuals, among
animals of this defcription, if they were not cherifhed and defended
by man, would be extremely limited; for, by the mildnefs of their
difpofitions, the comparative weaknefs of their arms, and the uni-
verfal and ftrong appetite for them by rapacious quadrupeds and
birds of prey, though the fpecies might, perhaps, be continued, the
number of individuals would, of neceffity, be very {mall.

There is a wonderful balance in the fyftem of animal deftrution.
If the general profufion of the animated produdtions of Nature had
no other check than the various periods to which their lives, when
not extinguifhed by hoftilities of one kind or another, are limited,
the whole would foon be annihilated by an univerfal famine, and
the earth, inftead:of every where teeming with animals, would, un-
lefs re-peopled by anew creation, exhibit nothing but a mute, a
lifelefs, and an inadtive fcene. If,even.a fingle fpecies were permit+
ted to multiply. without difturbance, the food of other fpecies would:
be exhaufted; and, of courfe, a:period would be put to their-ex-
iftence. The herbivorous and frugivorous races, if not reftrained by

Tt 3.D the

394 THE PHILOSOPHY

‘the carnivorous, would foon increafe to a hurtful degree. Carnivo-
rous animals are the barriers fixed by Nature to noxious inundations
of other kinds. The carnivorous tribes may be compared to the
hoe and the pruning hook, which, by diminifhing the number of
plants when too clofe, or lopping off their luxuriancies, make the
others grow to greater perfeCtion. To thofe {warms of infe&ts which
cover the furface of the earth, are oppofed an army of birds, an ac-
tive, a vigilant, and a voracious race. Hares, rabbits, mice, rats, are
expofed to the depredations of carnivorous quadrupeds and birds.
The larger cattle, as the ox, the deer, the fheep, &c. are not ex-
empted from enemies: And man, by the fuperiority of his mental
powers, checks the multiplication of the carnivorous tribes, and
maintains the balance and empire of the animal fyftem. Thofe fpe-
cies which are endowed with uncommon fertility have the greateft
number of enemies. ‘The caterpillar, the puceron, and infeéts in
general, one of the moft prolific tribes of animals, are attacked and
devoured by numerous hoftile bands. No fpecies, however, is ever
exhaufted. The balance between gain and lofs is perpetually pre-
ferved. The earth, the feas, the atmofphere, may be confidered as
an immenfe and variegated pafture. In this view, it is moft judi-
cioufly cultivated and ftocked by the numerous animated beings which
it is deftined to fupport. Every animal and every vegetable furnith
fubfiftence to particular fpecies. Thus, nothing of value is loft; and
every fpecies is abundantly fupplied with food.

That the general balance of animation is conftantly preferved, we
learn from daily experience. The reader, however, I prefume, will
not be difpleafed to have fome examples of the modes employed by
Nature to accomplifh this effe& fuggefted to him.

After an inundation of the Nile, the lower parts of Egypt are
greatly infefled with ferpents, frogs, mice, and other vermin. At
that

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 305

that period, the ftorks refort thither in immenfe multitudes, and de-
your the ferpents, frogs, and mice, which, without this dreadful car-
nage, would be highly noxious to the inhabitants. Belon, a moft
ingenious and faithful French naturalift, remarks, that, in many
places, the land could not be inhabited, if the ftorks did not deftroy
the amazing numbers of mice which frequently appear in Paleftine,.
and other parts of the Eaft bordering upon Egypt. The Egyptian
vulture, fays Haffelquift, is of fingular benefit to that country. I[t
eats up all the dung and off-falls in the towns, and the carcafles of
camels, horfes, affes, &c. in the fields, which, if not quickly devour-
ed, would, in that warm climate, by their putrefcency, be produc-
tive of difeafe and death to the inhabitants. Putrid carcafles, in all
eountries, are both offenfive to the noftrils and hurtful to health.
But Nature, by various inftruments, foon removes the evil. An ani-
mal no fooner dies, than, in a very fhort time, he is confumed by
bears, wolves, foxes, dogs, and ravens. In fituations where thefe
animals dare not approach, as in the vicinity of towns and villages,
a.dead horfe, in a few days, is devoured by myriads of maggots. In
the uncultivated parts of America, ferpents.and.f{nakes of different
kinds abound. After it: was difcovered that {wine greedily devour--
ed ferpents, hogs were uniformly kept by all new fettlers. Cater--
pillars are deftrutive to the leaves and fruits of plants.. Their num-
bers and varieties are immenfe,. But their devaftations are checked.
by many enemies.. Without a profufion of caterpillars, moft of the-
fmaller birds, efpecially when young, could not be fupported. By-
devouring the caterpillars, thefe birds preferve the fruits of the earth.
from total deftruction. Mr Bradley, in his general treatife of huf-
bandry and gardening, has publifhed a letter, in. which the author.
oppofes the common opinion, that birds, and particularly {parrows, do)
much mifchief in our gardens and fields. The fa&t is admitted. But-
the great utility of thefe birds is overlooked : For this author proves,
that they are much more. ufeful than. noxious, He fhows, that
2.2: ant

396 THE PHILOSOPH YOrm

Jv

a pair of {parrows, during the time they have their young to feed,
deftroy, every week, 3360 caterpillars. This calculation he founded
upon actual obfervation. He difcovered that the two parents car=
ried to the neft 40 caterpillars in an hour. He then fuppofes, which
is a moderate fuppofition, that the fparrows enter the neft only 12
hours each day, which is a daily confumption of 480 caterpillars,
This fum, multiplied by 7, or the days of a week, gives 3360 cater-
pillars extirpated weekly from a garden. The utility of thefe birds
is not limited to this circumftance alone; for they likewife feed their
young with butterflies, and other winged infeéts, each of which, if
not deftroyed in this manner, would be the parent of feveral hun-
dreds of caterpillars. Thofe butterflies and caterpillars which are
covered with hair are rejeted by fome birds, who prefer flies of a
{moother and {maller kind. But thefe hairy {pecies, it fhould be con-
fidered, are the food of the worms which are transformed into thofe
{maller flies that afford nourifhment to the birds which rejeé the
hairy caterpillars and butterflies,

Shell-fifhes are extremely prolific, and fo ftrongly fortified by Na-
ture, that their increafe, one fhould imagine, would foon augment to
a degree that might be hurtful to other fpecies. Their noxious mul-
tiplication, however, is checked by numberlefs enemies. But their
moft deftru@tive enemy is the trochus, which is a kind of fea-{nail.
This animal is furnifhed with a ftrong, mufcular, hollow trunk, bor-
dered at the extremity with a cartilage toothed like a faw. Againft
this inftrument, which aéts like an augre, no fhell, however hard or
thick, is a fufficient defence. Thefe animals, called trochi, fix them-
felves upon an oyfter or a mufcle, bore through the fhell with their
trunk, and devour their prey at their leifure. The animal attacked,
if a bivalve, may open or fhut its fhell ; but no efforts of this kind
can be of any avail; for the trochus remains immoveably fixed till
it has completely fucked out the vitals of its prey. In this cruel oc-

cupation

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 397

cupation the trochus often continues for days, and even weeks, be-
fore the life of the animal attacked is fully extinguithed. The ope-
ration of the trochus may be feen in the fhells of many oyfters,
mufcles, and other fhell-fithes; for their fhells are often pierced with
a number of circular holes,

The amazing fize and ftrength of the whale, one fhould imagine,
would fecure it from the infults of every other animal. But, befide
the annual depredations made by man upon the cetaceous tribes,
they are often attacked and killed by the fword-fith. The fnout of
this comparatively {mall animal is armed with a long, hard, projec-
tion of bone, each edge of which is furnifhed with a number of
ftrong, flat, and tharp points, or teeth, fome of which, efpecially near
the fnout, are.an inch and a half in length. With this inftrument
the fword-fifh boldly attacks the whale. I have often had the plea-
fure, fays Pere Labat *, of feeing their combats. The whale has no
other defence but its tail, with which it endeavours to ftrike its an-
tagonift. But, as the fword-fith is more active and nimble than the
whale, he eafily parries the blow by fpringing into the air, and re-
newing the attack with his faw-like inftrument. Whenever he fuc-
ceeds, the fea is dyed red with the blood iffuing from the wound.
The fury of the whale appears from the vehemence with which it
lathes the waters, each ftroke refounding like the report of a can-
non.

Many {mall birds, and particularly the wren and the tit-moufe,
may be feen, during the winter-feafon, pecking at the buds and
branches of trees in our gardens. To thefe little animals Nature has
entrufted the charge of preventing the noxious multiplication of
thofe worms which feed upon fruits. Nature, as far as we are able

to

* Nouv. Voyage, tom. 6. pag. 150.

398 THE PHILOSOPHY

to trace her operations, does nothing in vain, or without fome va=
Juable intention. No animals exift which are not ufeful, either by af-
fording nourifhment to, or preventing the hurtful increafe of other
fpecies.

Upon the whole, every animated being that inhabits this globe
feems to be deftined by Nature, not for its own individual exiftence
and happinefs alone, but likewife for the exiftence and happinefs of
other animated beings. A circle of animation and of deftruction
goes perpetually round. ‘This is the oeconomy of Nature. Diffe-
rent fpecies of animals live by the mutual deftruction of each other.
Even among individual men, the ftrong too often opprefs the weak;
but, on the other hand, the wife inftruG the ignorant.. Thefe are:
the bonds. of fociety, and the fources of improvement.

CHAR

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 399

CHAPTER XV.

Of the Artifices of Animals.

T will be recollected, that many inftances of the dexterity and

artifices employed by different animals in various parts of their
manners and oeconomy, have been occafionally mentioned in feveral
of the foregoing chapters. This circumftance, to avoid repetitions,
will neceflarily render the prefent chapter proportionally fhort.

The artifices practifed by animals proceed from feveral motives,
many of which are purely inftin@tive, and others are acquired by ex-
perience and imitation, Their arts, in general, are called forth and
exerted by three great and important caufes, the love of life, the de-
fire of multiplying and continuing the fpecies, and that ftrong at=-
tachment which every animal has to its offspring. Thefe are the
fources from which all the movements, all the dexterity, and all the
fagacity of animals originate. The principle of felf-prefervation is
inftinctive, and ftrongly imprefled upon the minds of all animated
beings. It gives rife to innumerable arts of attack and defence, and
not unfrequently to furprifing exertions of fagacity and genius. The
fame remark is applicable to the defire of multiplication, and to pa-
rental affeGtion, Upon this fubject :ve fhall, as ufual, give fome ex-

amples

foo THE PHILOSOPHY

amples of animal artifice, which may both amufe and inform fome
readers.

When a bear, or other rapacious animal, attacks cattle, they in-
ftantly join and form a phalanx for mutual defence. In the fame
circumftances, horfes rank up in lines, and. beat off the enemy with:
their heels. Pontopidon tells us, that the fmall Norwegian horfes,.
when attacked by bears, inftead of ftriking with their hind-legs, rear,
and, by quick and repeated ftrokes with their fore-feet, either kill the.
enemy, or oblige him‘to-retire. This curious, aad generally fuccefl-
ful defence, is frequently performed in the woods, while a traveller-
is fitting on the horfe’s back. It has often been remarked, that troops
of wild horfes, when fleeping either in plains or in the foreft, have
always one of their number awake, who.acts as a centinel, and gives
notice of any. approaching danger.

Margraaf informs us, that the monkeys in Brazil, while they are
fleeping on the trees, have uniformly a centinel to warn them of the
approach of the tiger or other rapacious animals; and that, if ever
this centinel is found fleeping, his companions inftantly tear him’in
pieces for his negle& of duty. For the fame purpofe, when a troop
of monkeys are committing depredations on the fruits of a.garden, a
centinel is placed.on an eminence, who, when any perfon. appears,
makes.a certain chattering noife, which the reft underftand to bea
fignal for retreat, and immediately, fly; off. and, make their. efcape..

The deer-kind are remarkable for the arts. they employ. in. order
to deceive the dogs. With this view the ftag often. returns twice
or thrice upon his:former fteps. He endeavours to raife hinds or
younger ftags to follow him, and to.draw off the dogs from the im-
mediate object of their purfuit. If he fucceeds in this attempt, he

then flies off with redoubled fpeed; or fprings off at a.fide,, and lies
. down

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 4or

down on his belly to conceal himfelf. When in this fituation, if by
any means his foot is recovered by the dogs, they purfue him with
more advantage, becaufe he is now confiderably fatigued. Their
ardour increafes in proportion to his feeblenefs; and the fcent be-
comes ftronger as he grows warm. From thefe circumftances the
dogs augment their cries and their fpeed ; and, though the ftag em-
ploys more arts of efcape than formerly, as his {wiftnefs is diminifh-
ed, his doublings and artifices become gradually lefs effe€tual. No
other refource is now left him but to fly from the earth which he
treads, and go into the waters, in order to cut off the fcent from the
dogs, when the hunt{men again endeavour to put them on the track
of his foot. After taking to the water, the ftag is fo much exhanft-
ed that he is incapable of running much farther, and is foon at bay,
or, in other words, turns and defends himfelf againft the hounds, In
this fituation he often wounds the dogs, and even the huntfmen, by
‘blows with his horns, till one of them cuts his hams to make him
fall, and then puts a period to his life. The fallow-deer is more de-
licate, lefs favage, and approaches nearer to the domeftic ftate than
the ftag. The males, during the rutting feafon, make a bellowing
noife, but with a low and interrupted voice. They are not fo furi-
ous as the ftag. They never depart from their own country in queft
of females; but they bravely fight for the poffeffion of their miftref-
fes. They affociate in herds, which generally keep together. When
great numbers are aflembled in one park, they commonly form
themfelves into two diftiné& troops, which foon become hoftile, be-
caufe they are both ambitious of poflefling the fame part of the in-
clofure. Each of thefe troops has its own chief or leader, who al-
ways marches foremoft, and he is uniformly the oldeft and ftrongeft
of the flock, The others follow him; and the whole draw up in
order of battle, to force the other troop, who obferve the fame con-
duct, from the beft pafture. The regularity with which thefe com-
bats are conducted is fingular. They make regular attacks, fight

7 2 E with

402 THE PHILOSOPHY

with courage, and never think themfelves vanquifhed by one check ;
for the battle is daily renewed till the weaker are completely defeat-
ed, and obliged to remain in the worft pafture. They love elevated
and hilly countries. When hunted, they run not ftraight out, like
the ftag, but double, and endeavour to conceal themfelves from the
dogs by various artifices, and by fubftituting other animals in their
place. When fatigued and heated, however, they take the water,
but never attempt to crofs fuch large rivers as the ftag. Thus, be-
tween the chace of the fallow-deer and of the ftag, there is no ma~
terial difference. Their fagacity and inftinéts, their fhifts and doub-
lings, are the fame, only they are more frequently practifed by the
fallow-deer. As he runs not fo far before the dogs, and is lefs en-
terprifing, he has oftener occafion to change, to fubftitute another in
hig place, to double, return upon his former tracks, &c. which ren-
ders the hunting of the fallow-deer more fubje&t to inconveniencies
than that of the ftag.

The roe-deer is inferior to the ftag and fallow-deer both in
ftrength and ftature; but he is endowed with more gracefulnefs,
courage, and vivacity. His eyes are more brilliant and animated,
His limbs are more nimble; his movements are quicker, and he
bounds with equal vigour and agility. He is likewife more crafty,
conceals himfelf with greater addrefs, and derives fuperior refources
from his inftinéts. Though he leaves behind him a ftrenger fcent
than the ftag, which increafes the ardour of the dogs, he knows how
to evade their purfuit, by the rapidity with which he commences his
flight, and by his numerous doublings. He delays not his arts of
defence till his ftrength begins to fail him; for he no fooner per-
ceives that the firft efforts of a rapid flight have been unfuccefsful,
than he repeatedly returns upon his former fteps; and, after con-
founding, by thefe oppofite motions, the direGtion he has taken, af-
ter intermixing: the prefent with the paft emanations of his body,

he,,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 403

he, by a great bound, rifes from the earth, and, retiring to a fide,
lies down flat on his belly. In this immoveable fituation, he often
allows the whole pack of his deceived enemies to pafs very near
him. The roe-deer differs from the ftag in difpofition, manners, and
in almoft every natural habit. Inftead of affociating in herds, they
live in feparate families. The two parents and the young go to-
gether, and never mingle with ftrangers. They are conftant in their
amours, and never unfaithful like the ftag. The females common-
ly produce two fawns, the one a male and the other a female. Thefe
young animals, who are brought up and nourifhed together, acquire
a mutual affection fo ftrong, that they never depart from each other.
This attachment is fomething more than love; for, though always
in company, they feel the rut but once a year, and it continues only
fifteen days, At this period the father drives off the fawns, as if
he intended that they fhould yield their place to thofe which are to
fucceed, in order to form new families for themfelves. After the
rutting feafon, however, is paft, the fawns return to their mother,
and continue with her fome time longer; after which they feparate
forever, and remove to a diftance from the place of their nativity.
When about to bring forth, the female feparates from the male; and,
to avoid the wolf, her moft dangerous enemy, conceals herfelf in the
deepeft receffes of the foreft. In a week or two the fawns are able
to follow her. When threatened with danger, the hides them in a
clofe thicket ; and, fo ftrong is her parental affe€tion, that, in order
to preferve her offspring from deftrution, fhe prefents herfelf to be
chaced.

Hares poffefs not, like rabbits, the art of digging retreats in the
earth. But they neither want inftin& fufficient for their own pre-
fervation, nor fagacity for efcaping their enemies. They form feats
or nefts on the furface of the ground, where they watch, with the
moft vigilant attention, the approach of any danger. In order to

4. Fe deceive,

404 THE PHILOSOPHY

deceive, they conceal themfelves between clods of the fame colour
with that of their own hair. When purfued, they firft run with rapi-
dity, and then double, or return upon their former fteps. From the
place of ftarting, the females run not fo far as the males; but they
double more frequently. Hares hunted in the place where they were
brought forth, feldom remove to a great diftance from it, but return
to their form; and, when chaced two days fucceffively, on the fecond
day they perform the fame doublings they had pra¢tifed the day be-
fore. When hares run ftraight out to a great diftance, it is a proof
that they are ftrangers. Male hares, efpecially during the moft re-
markable period of rutting, which is in the months of January, Fe-
bruary, and March, fometimes perform journies of feveral miles in
queft of mates; but, as foon as they are ftarted by dogs, they fly
back to the place of their nativity. ‘ I have feen a hare,’ Fouilloux
remarks, ‘ fo fagacious, that, after hearing the hunter’s horn, he
‘ ftarted from his form, and, though at the diftance of a quarter of a
‘]Jeague, went to fwim in a pool, and lay down on the rufhes in the
‘ middle of it, without being chaced by the dogs. I have feena
‘hare, after running two hours before the dogs, puth another from
“his feat, and take poffeffion of it. I have feen others fwim over
‘ two or three ponds, the narroweft of which was eighty paces broad.
“I have feen others, after a two hours chace, run into a fheep-fold
‘ and lie down among them, I have feen others, when hard pufhed,
‘run in among a flock of fheep, and would not leave them. I have
“feen others, after hearing the noife of the hounds, conceal them-
‘felves in the earth. I have feen others run up one fide of a hedge
‘and return by the other, when there was nothing elfe between them
‘and the dogs. I have feen others, after running half an hour,
* mount an old wall, fix feet high, and clap down in a hole covered
‘with ivy. Laftly, 1 have feen others {wim over a river, of about
‘ eighty paces broad, oftener than twice, in the length of two hun-

* dred paces.’
The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 405

The fox has, in all ages and nations, been celebrated for craftinefs
and addrefs. Acute and circum{pe@t, fagacious and prudent, he di-
verfifies his conduét, and always referves fome art for unforefeen
accidents, Though nimbler than the wolf, be trufts not entirely to
the fwiftnefs of his courfe. He knows how to enfure fafety, by
providing himfelf with an afylum, to which he retires when danger
appears. He is not a vagabond, but lives in a fettled habitation and
in a domeftic ftate. The choice of fituation, the art of making and
rendering a houfe commodious, and of concealing the avenues which
lead to it, imply a fuperior degree of fentiment and refletion, The
fox poffeffes thefe qualities, and employs them with dexterity and
advantage. He takes up his abode on the border of a wood, and in
the neighbourhood of cottages. Here he liftens to the crowing of
the cocks and the noife of the poultry. He {cents them at a diftance,
He choofes his time with great judgment and difcretion. He con-
ceals both his route and his defign. He moves forward with cau-
tion, fometimes even trailing his body, and feldom makes a fruitlefs
expedition. When he leaps the wall, or gets in underneath it, he
ravages the court-yard, puts all the fowls to death, and then retires
quietly with his prey, which he either conceals under the herbage,
or carries off to his kennel. Ina fhort time he returns for another,
which he carries off and hides in the fame manner, but in a different
place. In this manner he proceeds, till the light of the fun, or fome
movements perceived in the houfe, admonifh him that it is time to
retire to his den. He does much mifchief to the bird-catchers. Ear-
ly in the morning he vifits their nets and their bird-lime, and carries
off fucceffively all the birds that happen to be entangled. The young
hares he hunts in the plains, feizes old ones in their feats, digs out
the rabbits in the warrens, finds out the nefts of partridges, quails,
&c. feizes the mothers on the eggs, and deftroys a prodigious num-
ber of game. Dogs of all kinds fpontaneoufly hunt the fox. Though
his odour be ftrong, they often prefer him to the ftag or the hare.

: When

406 THE PHILOSOPHY

When purfued he runs to his hole; and it is not uncommon to fend
in terriers to detain him till the hunters remove the earth above, and
either kill or feize him alive. The moft certain method, however,
of deftroying a fox is to begin with fhutting up the hole, to ftation
a man with a gun near the entrance, and then to fearch about with
the dogs. When they fall in with him, he immediately makes for
his hole. But, when he comes up to it, he is met with a difcharge
from the gun. If the fhot miffes him, he flies off with full fpeed,
takes a wide circuit, and returns again to the hole, where he is fired
upon a fecond time; but, when he difcovers that the entrance is
fhut, he darts away ftraight forward, with the intention of never re-
vifiting his former habitation, He is next purfued by the hounds,
whom he feldom fails to fatigue; becaufe, with much cunning, he
paffes through the thickeft part of the foreft, or places of the moft
difficult accefs, where the dogs are hardly able to follow him; and,
when he takes to the plains, he runs ftraight out, without either
ftopping or doubling. But the moft effectual way of deftroying
foxes is to lay {nares baited with live pigeons, fowls, &c. The fox
is an exceedingly voracious animal. Befide all kinds of flefh and
fithes, he devours, with equal avidity, eggs, milk, cheefe, fruits, and
particularly grapes. He is fo extremely fond of honey, that he at-
tacks the nefts of wild bees. They at firft put him to flight by num-
berlefs flings; but he retires for the fole purpofe of rolling himfelf
on the ground, and of crufhing the bees. He returns to the charge
fo often, that he obliges them to abandon the hive, which he foon
uncovers, and devours both the honey and the wax. Some time
before the female brings forth, fhe retires, and feldom leaves her
hole, where fhe prepares a bed for her young. When fhe perceives
that her retreat is difcovered, and that her young have been difturb-
ed, fhe carries them off, one by one, into a new habitation. The
_ fox fleeps in a round form, like the dog ; but, when he only repofes
himfelf, he lies on his belly with his hind-legs extended. It is in

this

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 407

this fituation that he eyes the birds on the hedges and trees. The
birds have fuch an antipathy againft him, that they no fooner perceive
him than they fend forth fhrill cries to advertife their neighbours of
the enemy’s approach, The jays and blackbirds, in particular, fol-
low the fox from tree to tree, fometimes two or three hundred paces,
often repeating the watch-cries. The Count de Buffon kept two
young foxes, which, when at liberty, attacked the poultry; but, af-
ter they were chained, they never attempted to touch a fingle fowl.
A living hen was fixed near them for whole nights; and, though
deftitute of victuals for many hours, in fpite of hunger and of op-
portunity, they never forgot that they were chained, and gave the
hen no difturbance.

In Kamtfchatka, the animals called g/uttons employ a fingular
ftratagem for killing the fallow-deer, They climb up a tree, and
carry with them a quantity of that {pecies of mofs of which the deer

‘are very fond. When a deer approaches near the tree, the glutton

throws down the mofs. If the deer ftops to eat the mofs, the glut-
ton inftantly darts down upon its back, and, after fixing himfelf
firmly between the horns, tears out its eyes, which torments the ani-
mal to fuch a degree, that, whether to put an end to its torments,
or to get rid of its cruel enemy, it ftrikes its head againft the trees
till it falls down dead. The glutton divides the fleth of the deer in=
to convenient portions, and conceals them in the earth to ferve for
future provifions, The gluttons on-the river Lena kill horfes in the-
fame manner *.

There are feveral fpecies of rats in Kamtfchatka. The moft ree.
markable kind is called tegulchitch by the natives. Thefe rats make:
neat and fpacious nefts underground, They are lined with turf, and

divided.

* Gazette Literaire, vol. 1. pag. 481«.

408 THE PHILOSOPHY

divided into different apartments, in which the rats depofit ftores of
provifions for fupporting them during the winter. It is worthy of
remark, that the rats of this country never touch the provifions laid
up for the winter, except when they cannot procure nourifhment
any where elfe. Thefe rats, like the Tartars, change their habitations.
Sometimes they totally abandon Kamtfchatka for feveral years, and
their retreat greatly alarms the inhabitants, which they confider as a
prefage of a rainy feafon, and of a bad year for hunting. The re-
turn of thefe animals is, of courfe, looked upon as a good omen.
Whenever they appear, the happy news is foon fpread over all parts
of the country. They always take their departure in the fpring,
when they aflemble in prodigious numbers, and traverfe rivers, lakes,
and even arms of the fea. After they have made a long voyage,
they frequently lie motionlefs on the fhore, as if they were dead.
When they recover their ftrength they recommence their march.
The inhabitants of Kamtfchatka are very folicitous for the preferva-
tion of thefe animals. They never do the rats any injury, but give
them every afliflance when they lie weakened and extended on the
ground. They generally return to Kamt{chatka about the month
of Odtober; and they are fometimes met with in fuch prodigious
numbers that travellers are obliged to ftop two hours till the whole .
troop paffes. The track of ground they travel in a fingle fummer
is not lefs wonderful than the regularity they obferve in their march,
and that inftin€live impulfe which enables them to forefee, with cer=
tainty, the changes of times and of feafons.

With regard to Birds, their artifices are not lefs numerous nor lefs
furprifing than thofe of quadrupeds. The eagle and hawk kinds are
remarkable for the fharpnefs of their fight and the arts they employ
in catching their prey. Their movements are rapid or flow, accor
ding to their intentions, and the fituation of the animals they with
to devour, Rapacious birds uniformly endeavour to rife higher in

the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 409)

the air than their prey, that they may have an opportunity of dart-
ing forcibly down upon it with their pounces. To counteract thele
artifices, Nature has endowed the {maller and more innocent {pecies:
of birds with many arts of defence, When a hawk appears, the
fmall birds, if they find it convenient, conceal themfelves in hedges
or brufh-wood. When deprived of this opportunity, they often, in
great numbers, feem to follow the hawk, and to expofe themfelves
unneceflarily to danger, while, in fact, by their numbers, their per-
petual changes of direction, and their uniform endeavours to rife
above him, they perplex the hawk to fuch a degree, that he is un-
able to fix upon a fingle obje&; and, after exerting all his art and
addrefs, he is frequently obliged to relinquith the purfuit. When in
the extremity of danger, and after employing every other artifice in
vain, {mall birds have been often known to fly to men for protec-
tion. This is a plain indication that thefe animals, though they in
general avoid the human race, are by no means fo much afraid of
man as of rapacious birds.

The ravens often frequent the fea-fhores in queft of food. When
they find their inability to break the thells of mufcles, &c. to accom-
plifh this purpofe they ufe a very ingenious ftratagem: They carry
‘a mufcle, or other fhell-fith, high up in the air, and then dah it
down upon:a rock, by which means the fhell is broken, and they
obtain the end they had in view..

The wood-pecker is furnifhed with a very long and voluble
tongue. It feeds upon ants and. other fmall infeéts. Nature has.en-
dowed this bird with a fingular inftin&. It knows how to procure
food without feeing its prey. It attaches itfelf to the trunks or
branches of decayed trees; and, wherever it perceives a hole or cre-
vice, it darts in its long tongue, and brings it out loaded with infects
of different kinds, This operation is.certainly inftintive; but the

3,F Tk inftin&

410 THE PALLOSO PRA ¥

inftinet is affifted by the inftru@tion of the parents; for the young
are no fooner able to fly, than the parents, by the force of example,
teach them to refort to trees, and to infert their tongues indifcrimi-
nately into every hole or fiffure.

Of the oeconomy of Fz/hes, as formerly remarked, our knowledge

is extremely limited. But, as the ocean exhibits a perpetual and a
general fcene of attack and defence, the arts of affault and of eva-
fion muft, of courfe, be exceedingly various. For the prefervation
of fome fpecies of fithes, Nature has armed them with ftrong and
fharp pikes, Others, as the perch-kind, .are defended with ftrong
bony rays in their fins. Others, as the univalve fhell-fifh, retire in-
to their fhells upon the approach of danger. The bivalves and mul-
tivalves, when attacked, inftantly fhut their fhells, which, in general,
is a fufficient protection to them. Some univalves, as the limpet-
kind, attach themfelves fo firmly, by excluding the air, to rocks and
ftones, that, unlefs quickly furprifed, no force inferior to that of
breaking the fhell can remove them. The flying-fith, when purfued,
darts out of the water, and takes refuge in the air, in which it is for
fome time fupported by the operation of its large and pliable fins.
The torpedo is furnifhed with a remarkable apparatus for felf-prefer-
vation: It repels every hoftile attempt by an eledtrical ftroke, which
confounds and intimidates its enemies. Several fifhes, and particu-
larly the falmon kind, when about to generate, leave the ocean,
afcend the rivers, depofit their eggs in the fand, and, after making
a proper nidus for their future progeny, return to the ocean from
whence they came, Others, as the herring-kind, though they fel-
dom go up rivers, affemble in myriads from all quarters, and ap-
proach the fhores, or afcend arms of the fea, for the purpofe of pro-
pagating the fpecies, and cherifhing their offspring. When that
operation is performed, they leave the coafts and difperfe in the
ocean, till the fame inftintive impulfe forces them to obferve a fimi-
lar

OF NATURAL HISTORY. All

lar conduct next feafon. This migration of falmons, herrings, and
many other fifhes, from the ocean to the rivers or fhores, is of infi-
nite advantage to mankind. They fupply us occafionally, and in
fome countries, as Great Britain, and particularly Scotland, with
abundance of nourifhing and luxurious food; and, if our fifhe-
ries were once put upon a proper footing, they would foon confti-
tute one of the moft powerful incentives to induftry, and become a
great and important fource of national ftrength and profperity.

The zn/fect tribes, though comparatively diminutive, are not defi-
cient in artifice and addrefs. With much art the fpider fpins his
web. It ferves him the double purpofe of an habitation, and of a
machine for catching his food. With incredible patience and perfe-
verance he lies in the center of his web for days, and fometimes for
weeks, before an ill-fated fly happens to be entangled. One fpecies
of fpider, which is fmall, of a blackith colour, and frequents cottages
or out-houfes, 1 have known to live during the whole winter months
without almoft the poffibility of receiving any nourifhment; for,
during that period, nota fly of any kind could be difcovered in the
apartment. If they had been fixed in a torpid ftate, like fome other
animals, the wonder of their furviving the want of food fo long
would not have been fo great. But, in the fevereft weather, and
through the whole courfe of the winter, they were perfe@ly active
and lively. Neither did they feem to be in the leaft emaciated.

The formico-leo, or ant-lion, is a fmall infe&, fomewhat refembling

a wood-loufe, but larger. Its head is flat, and armed with two fine
moveable crotchets or pincers, It has fix legs, and its body, which
terminates ina point, is compofed of a number of membranous rings.
In the fand, or in finely pulverifed earth, this animal digs a hole in
' the form of a funnel, at the bottom of which it lies in ambuth for
its prey. As it always walks backward, it cannot purfue any infec.
3, Bo 2 To

412 THE PHILOSOPHY?

To fupply this defed, it lays a fnare for them, and efpecially for the
ant, which is its favourite food. It generally lies concealed under
the fand in the bottom of its funnel or trap, and feldom exhibits
more than the top of its head. In digging a funnel, the formica-
leo begins with tracing a circular furrow in the fand, the circumfe=
rence of which determines the fize of the funnel, which is often an
inch deep. After the firft furrow is made, the animal traces a fe-
cond, which is always concentric with the firft. It throws out the
fand, as with a fhovel, from the fucceflive furrows or circles, by
means of its fquare flat head and one of its fore-legs. It proceeds
in this manner till it has completed its funnel, which it does with
furprifing promptitude and addrefs. At the bottom of this artful
fnare it lies concealed and immoveable. When an ant happens to
make too near an approach to the margin of the funnel, the fides of
which are very fteep, the fine fand gives way, and the unwary ani-
mal tumbles down to the bottom. The formica-leo inftantly kills
the ant, buries it under the fand, and fucks out its vitals. It after=
wards pufhes out the empty fkin, repairs the diforder introduced in-
to its fnare, and again lies in ambuth for a freth prey.

We formerly took fome notice of that fpecies of {pider which car-
ries her eggs in a bag attached to her belly. A fpider of this kind
was thrown into the funnel of a formica-leo. The latter inftantly
feized the bag of eggs, and endeavoured to drag it under the fand.
The {pider, from a ftrong love of offspring, allowed its own body to
be carried along with the bag. But the flender filk by which it was
fixed to the animal’s belly broke, and a feparation took place. The
{pider immediately feized the bag with her pincers, and exerted all
her efforts to regain the object of her affeGtions. But thefe efforts
were ineffe@tual ; for the formica-leo gradually funk the bag deeper
anJ deeper in the fand. The fpider, however, rather than quit her
hold, allowed herfelf to be buried alive, Ina fhort time, the ob-

ferver

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 413

ferver removed the fand, and took out the fpider. She was perfea-
ly unhurt; for the formica-leo had not made any attack upon her.
But, fo ftrong was her attachment to her eggs, that, though fre-
quently touched with a twig, fhe would not relinquifh the place
which contained them *.

When arrived at its full growth, the formica-leo gives up the bu-
finefs of an enfnaring hunter. He deferts his former habitation,
and crawls about for fome time on the furface of the earth. He at
laft retires under the ground, fpins a round filken pod, and is foon
transformed into a fly.

CHAP.

* Ocuvres de Bonnet, vol. 4. pag. 295. 8vo edit. Amfterdam 1769,

414 THE PHILOSOPHY

Ch Ae a he XVI.
Of the Society of Animals,

HE affociating principle, from which fo many advantages are
derived, is not confined to the human fpecies, but extends, in
fome inftances, to every clafs of animals,

It is remarked by Buffon, and fome other authors, that the ftate
of Nature, which had long occupied the attention and refearches of
philofophers, was rejected by them after the difcovery was made.
In the eftimation of the authors alluded to, the favage ftate is the
ftate of Nature. The firft natural condition of mankind is the union
of a male anda female. Thefe produce a family, who, from ne-
ceflity, or, in other words, from parental and filial affeCtion, conti-
nue together, and affift each other in procuring food and fhelter.
This family, like moft families in eftablifhed civil focieties, feel their
own weaknefs, and their inability to fupply their wants without
more powerful refources than their feeble exertions, When this.
wandering and defencelefs family accidentally meet with another fa-
mily in the fame condition, Nature, it is faid, teaches them to unite
for mutual fupport and protection. The aflociation of two families.
may be confidered as the firft formation of a tribe or nation. When

a

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 41g

a number of tribes happen to’ unite, they only become a larger or
more numerous nation. A fingle pair, it is true, if placed in a fitua-
tion where plenty of food could be procured without much labour,
might, in a fucceflion of ages, produce any indefinite number. This
is precifely the fituation in which Mofes has placed our firft parents.
He has added another circumftance highly favourable to a {peedy
population. Inftead of the prefent brevity of human life, he informs
us, that men, in the firft periods of the world, lived and propagated
feveral hundred years.

In countries thinly peopled with favages, it is extremely probable,
that focieties are formed by the gradual union of families and tribes,
The increafe of power arifing from mutual affiftance, and a thou-
fand other comfortable circumftances, foon contribute to cement
‘more firmly the affociated members. Some of the arts of life, befide
that of hunting, are occafionally difcovered either by accident or by
the ingenuity of individuals. In this manner, gradual advances are
made from the favage to the civilized condition of mankind. This
is a very fhort view of the origin of fociety, which has been adopted
‘by moft authors both ancient and modern, though many of them
have derived the affociating principle from very different, and even
from oppofite caufes, which it is no part of our’plan‘either to enu-
merate or refute. Some writers, as Ariftotle, and a few moderns,
implicit followers of his opinions, deny that man is naturally a gre-
garious or affociating animal. To render this notion confiftent with
the actual and univerfal ftate of the human race, thefe authors have
had recourfe to puerile conceits, and to queftionable fais, which
it would be fruitlefs to relate, Other writers, poffeffed of greater
judgment and difcernment, and lefs warped with vanity and hypo-
thetical phantoms, have derived the origin of fociety from its real
and only fource, Nature herfelf,

That

416 THE PHILOSOPHY

That the affociating principle is inftinGtive hardly requires a proof.
An appeal to the feelings of any human being, and to the univerfal
condition of mankind, is fufficient. Thefe feelings, it may be faid,
are acquired by education and habit. By thefe caufes, it is true, our
focial feelings are ftrengthened and confirmed; but their origin is
coeval with the exiftence of the firft human mind. Let any man at-
tend to the eyes, the features, and the geftures of a child upon the
breaft, when another child is prefented to-it; both inftantly, previous
to the poflibility of inftru@ion or habit, exhibit the moft evident ex-~
preffions of joy. Their eyes fparkle, their features and geftures de-
monttrate, ia the moft unequivocable manner, a mutual attachment,
and a {trong defire of approaching each other, not with a hoftile in-
tention, but with an ardent affection, which, in that pure and uncon=
taminated ftate of our being, does honour to human nature. When
farther advanced, children who are ftrangers to each other, though
their focial appetite is equally ftrong, difcover a mutual fhynefs of
approach, This fhynefs or modefty, however, is foon conquered by
the more powerful inftin& of affociation. They daily mingle and
fport together, Their natural affeGions, which, at that period, are
ftrong, and unbiafled by thofe felfifh and vicious. motives which too
often conceal and thwart the intentions of Nature, create: warm
friendfhips that frequently continue during their lives, and produce
the moft beneficial and cordial effets. When we thus fee with our
eyes, that the affociating principle appears at a period much more
early than many of our other inftinéts, who will liften to thofe wri-
ters who choofe to deny that man is, naturally, an affociating or
gregarious animal ?

With regard to the advantages we derive from affociation, a vo-
lume would not be fufficient to: enumerate them. Man, from the
comparatively great number of inftin@s with which his mind is en-
dowed, neceflarily poffeffes a portion of the reafoning faculty highly

fuperior

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 47

fuperior to that of any other animal. He alone enjoys the power
of communicating and exprefling his ideas by articulate and artifi-
cial language. This ineftimable prerogative is, perhaps, one of the
greateft fecondary bonds of fociety, and the greateft fource of im-
provement to the human intelle@. Without artificial language,
though Nature has beftowed on every animal a mode of exprefling
its wants and defires, its pleafures and pains, what an humiliating
figure would the human fpecies exhibit, even upon the fuppofition
that they did affociate? But, when language and affociation are con-
joined, the human intelle&, in the progrefs of time, arrives at a high
degree of perfeétion, Society gives rife to virtue, honour, govern-
ment, fubordination, arts, fcience, order, happinefs. All the indivi-
duals of a community condu& themfelves upon a regulated fyftem.
Under the influence of eftablithed laws, kings and magiftrates, by
the exercife of legal authority, encourage virtue, reprefs vice, and
diffufe, through the extent of their jurifdiGions, the happy effects
of their adminiftration. In fociety, as in a fertile climate, human
talents germinate and are expanded ; the mechanical and liberal arts
flourith ; poets, orators, hiftorians, philofophers, lawyers, phyficians,
and theologians, are produced, Thefe truths are pleafant; and it
were to be wifhed that no evils accompanied them, But, through
the whole extent of Nature, it fhould appear, from our limited views,
that good and evil, pleafure and pain, are neceflary and perpetual
concomitants.

The advantages of fociety are immenfe and invaluable. But the
inconveniencies, hardfhips, injuftice, oppreffions, and cruelties, which
_ too often originate from it are great and lamentable. Even under
the mildeft and beft regulated governments, animofities, jealoufies,
avarice, fraud, and chicane, are unfortunately never removed from
our obfervation. In abfolute monarchies, and particularly in defpo-
tic governments, the fcenes of private and of general calamity and
fr 3G diftrefs

418 THE PHILOSOPHY

diftrefs are often too dreadful to be defcribed. Notwithftanding all
thefe difadvantages, however, any government is preferable to anat-
chy; and the comforts, pleafures, and improvements, we receive
from affociating with each other, overbalance all the evils to which
fociety gives rife. )

From an attentive obfervation of the manners and oeconomy of
animals, fociety has been diftinguifhed into two kinds, which have
been called proper, and improper. 1. Proper Societies, comprehend
all thofe animals who not only live together in numbers, but carry
on certain operations which have a dire tendency to promote the
welfare and happinefs of the community. 2. Jmproper Societies, in-
clude all thofe animals who herd together, and love the company of
each other, without carrying on any common operations.

1, Proper Societzes.—It is almoft needlefs to remark that mam
holds the firft rank in animal affociations of this kind. If men did
not affift each other, no operation of any magnitude, or which could
fhow any great fuperiority of talents above thofe of the brute crea-
tion, could poffibly be effected. A fingle family, or even a few fa-
milies united, like other carnivorous animals, might hunt their prey,
and procure a fufficient quantity of food. They might, like the
bear, lodge in the cavities of trees; they might occupy natural caves
in the rocks; they might even build huts with branches of trees and.
with turf, and cement thefe grofs materials with clay, This loweft
and moft abje&t view of human natute is not exaggerated. It were
to be wifhed that this grovelling condition.of mankind were fidti-
tious, and that, in many regions-of the globe, it did not, at this mo-
ment, exift. Thefe operations of men, when only acquainted with.
the mere rudiments of fociety, indicate parts little fuperior to thofe
of the brutes. Man, even in his moft uninformed ftate, poffefles the-

inftints, or the germs, of every fpecies of knowledge and of genius.
But

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 41g

But they muft be cherithed, expanded, and brought gradually to per-
fection. It is by numerous and regularly eftablithed focieties alone
that fuch glorious exhibitions of human intellect can be produced.
What is the hut of a favage when compared to the palace of a prince?
or what his canoe when compared to a firft rate fhip of war?

Next to the intelligence exhibited in human fociety, that of the
beavers is the moft confpicuous. Their operations in preparing,
fafhioning, and tranfporting, the heavy materials for building their
winter habitations, as formerly remarked *, are truly aftonifhing;
and, when we read their hiftory, we are apt to think that we are
perufing the hiftory of man in a period of fociety not inconfiderably
advanced. It is only by the united ftrength, and co-operation of
numbers, that the beavers could be enabled to produce fuch wonder-
ful effets; for, in a folitary ftate, as they at prefent appear in fome
northern parts of Europe, the beavers, like folitary favages, are timid
and ftupid animals, They neither affociate, nor attempt to conftrué
villages, but content themfelves with digging holes in the earth.
Like men under the oppreffion of defpotic governments, the {pirit
of the European beavers is depreffled, and their genius is extinguifh=
ed by terror, and by a perpetual and neceflary attention to individual
fafety. The northern parts of Europe are now fo populous, and
the animals there are fo perpetually hunted for the fake of their furs,
that they have no opportunity of aflociating ; of courfe, thofe won=
derful marks of their fagacity, which they exhibit in the remote and
uninhabited regions of North America, are no longer to be found,
The fociety of beavers is a fociety of peace and of affection. They
never quarrel or injure one another, but live together in different
numbers, according to the dimenfions of particular cabins, in the
moft perfe&t harmony. The principle of their union is neither mo=

2.Gi2 narchica!

* See above, page 313, &c.

420 THE PHILOSOPH ¥

narchical nor defpotic. For the inhabitants of the different cabins,
as well as thofe of the whole village, feem to acknowledge no chief
or leader whatever. Their affociation prefents to our obfervation a
model of a pure and perfe& republic, the only bafis of which is mu-
tual and unequivocal attachment. They have no law but the law
of love and of parental affection, Humanity prompts us to with
that it were poflible to eftablifh republics of this kind among man-
kind. But the difpofitions of men have little affinity to thofe of the
beavers.

The hampfter, or German marmot, and fome other quadrupeds
of this kind, live in fociety, and affift each other in digging and ren-
dering commodious their fubterraneous habitations. The operations
of the marmots have already been defcribed ; and the nature of their
fociety, as they continue during the winter in a torpid ftate, is either
lefs known, or does not excite fo much admiration as that of the
beavers.

Pairing birds, in fome meafure, may be confidered as forming pro=
per focieties; becaufe, in general, the males and females. mutually
affift each other in building nefts and feeding their young. But this
fociety, except in the eagle tribes, commonly continues no longer
than their mutual offspring are fully able to provide for themfelves,
None of the feathered tribes, as far as we know, unite in bodies, in
order to carry on any operation common to the whole,

Neither do we learn from hiftory that fifhes ever affociate for the
purpofe of executing any common operation. Many of them, as
herrings, falmons, Sc. affemble in multitudes at particular feafons
of the year ; but this aflociation, to which they are impelled by in=
find, has no common object;, for each individual is ftimulated to:

act.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 42%

aét in this manner by its own motives, and no general effect is pro-
duced by mutual exertions,

In proper focieties, each individual not only attends to his own
prefervation and welfare, but all the members co-operate in certain
laborious offices which produce many common advantages that could
not otherwife be procured. In fome focieties, the general principle
of affociation and of mutual labour is purely inftinGive, though, in
many cafes, individuals learn, by obfervation and experience, to mo-
dify or accommodate this general principle according to particular
_ accidents or circumftances; fome examples of which have already
been given in the chapter upon inftinc.

The infe& tribes furnifh many inftances of proper focieties. The
honey-bees not only labour in common with aftonifhing affiduity
and art, but their whole attention and affections feem to centre in
the perfon of the queen or fovereign of the hive. She is the bafis of
their affociation and of all their operations. When fhe dies by any
accident, the whole community are inftantly in diforder. All their
labours ceafe. No new cells are conftructed. Neither honey nor
wax are colle@ted. Nothing but perfect anarchy prevails, till a new
queen or female is obtained. The government or fociety of bees is
more of a monarchical than of a republican nature. The whole
members of the ftate feem to refpeé&t and to be directed by a fingle
female. This fa& affords a ftrong inftance of the force and wifdom
of Nature. The female alone is the mother of the whole hive, how-
ever numerous. Without her the fpecies could not be continued,
Nature, therefore, has endowed the reft of the hive with a wonder-
ful affe@tion to their common parent. For the reception of her eggs
Nature impels them to conftrud cells, and to lay up ftores of provi-
fions for winter fubfiftence. Thefe operations proceed from pure
inftin@tive impulfes, But every inftin& neceflarily fuppofes a degree

of

422 THEW HILos 0 Pu ¥

“

of intelle&t, a fubftratum to be afled upon, otherwife no impulfe
could be felt, and, of courfe, no action nor mark of intelligence could
poffibly be produced.

That the intelligence, the government, and the fagacity of bees, have
been frequently exaggerated, and as frequently mifunderftood, no real
philofopher, or natural hiftorian, will pretend to deny. But the late in-
genious Count de Buffon, through the whole of his great work, betrays
the ftrongeft inclination to deny that brutes, even thofe which are e-
fteemed to be the moft fagacious, as the dog, the elephant, &c. not to
mention the inferior tribes, as birds, fifhes, and infects, are endowed
with the fmalleft portion of mind or intellect, but that all their move-
ments, their expreffions, their defires, their arts, are folely the refults
of mechanical impulfes. The Count is peculiarly fevere in his decla-
mations againft the fagacity of the honey-bees, and the celebrators
of their oeconomy and manners. ‘ The genius of folitary bees,’ he
remarks, ‘ is vaftly inferior to that of the gregarious fpecies ; and
‘ the talents of thofe which affociate in {mall troops are lefs confpi-
‘ cuous than of thofe that aflemble in numerous bodies. Is not this
‘alone fufficient to convince us, that the /eeming genius of bees is
‘nothing but a refult of pure mechanifm, a combination of move-
‘ ments proportioned to numbers, an effect which appears to be com-=
S plicated, only becaufe it depends on thoufands of individuals? It
* muft, therefore, be admitted, that bees, taken feparately, have lefs
‘ genius than the dog, the monkey, and moft other animals: It will
© likewife be admitted, that they have lefs docility, lefs attachment,
‘ and lefs fentiment; and that they poflefs fewer qualities relative to
© thofe of the human fpecies. Hence we ought to acknowledge,
‘ that their apparent intelligence proceeds folely from the multitude
‘ ynited. This union, however, prefuppofes not intelle@ual powers;
‘for they unite not from moral views: They find themfelves to-
‘ gether without their confent. This fociety, therefore, is a phyfical

‘ aflemblage

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 423

© affemblage ordained by Nature, and has no dependence on know-
* ledge or reafoning. The mother bee produces at one time, and in
* the fame place, ten thoufand individuals, which, though they were
‘much more ftupid than I have fuppofed them, would be obliged,
‘ folely for the prefervation of their exiftence, to arrange themfelves
‘into fome order. As they all act againft each other with equal
* forces, fuppofing their firft movements to produce pain, they would
© foon learn to diminith this pain, or, in other words, to afford mu-
© tual affiftance: They, of courfe, would exhibit an air of intelli-
* gence, and of concurring in the accomplifhment of the fame end.
* A fuperficial obferver would inftantly afcribe to them views and
“talents which they by no means poflefs: He would explain every
*adtion: Every operation would have its particular motive, and pro-
* digies of reafon would arife without number ; for ten thoufand in-
* dividuals produced at one time, and obliged to live together, muft
“all a& in the very fame manner; and, if endowed with feeling,
“they muft acquire the fame habits, affume that arrangement which
“is the leaft painful, or the moft eafy to themfelves, labour in their
“hive, refurn after leaving it, &c. Hence the origin of the many
* wonderful talents afcribed to bees, fuch as their architecture, their
“geometry, their order, their forefight, their patriotifm, and, ina
© word, their republic, the whole of which, as I have proved, has no»
* exiftence but in the imagination of the obferver *,’

That this mode of reafoning fhould’ have been ferioufly adopted’
by fo great a literary character as that of the Count de Buffon, is:
truly aftonifhing. The fubftance of the argument is, that ten thou-
fand bees, or other gregarious infects, when brought into exiftence
at the fame time, and in the fame place, muft neceflarily, by the in--
convenience or pain arifing from mutual preflure, affume an arrange-

ment;.

* Tranflation, vol..3, page 285.

424. Tye oh HILO S OB HH ¥

“p24

ment, and conftrua commodious and artful habitations for the whole
community. 1 hate polemical argumentation; and philofophical ab-
furdities are the moft difficult to refute. If ten thoufand butterflies,
-or any other flies, whofe inftinGive or mental powers differed from
thofe of the bee, fhould be brought forth at the fame time, and in
the fame place, which might be eafily effeCted by colleting their
chryfalids, Would thefe animals, from the inconveniencies or pain
they might fuffer by being crouded together, aflume a proper ar-
rangement, and build habitations fuited to their mutual comfort and
prefervation? No. If not allowed to efcape from their prefent fitu-
ation, they would fuffocate each other ; and, if any of them were
permitted to get out of their prifon, inftead of returning, like the
bees, they would avoid it with as much horror as a perfon who had
made his efcape from the Black Hole of Calcutta. No declamatory
reafoning, however fpecious, will ever change the nature of truth.
Without fome portion of intelle&t, or what is fynonimous, of mental
powers, How fhould the different kinds of bees in the fame hive be
induced to perform fo many different operations? While fome are
bufily employed at home in the conftruGtion of cells, others are
equally induftrious in the fields colle€ting materials for carrying on
the work. They are no fooner relieved from their load by their
companions and fellow-labourers in the hive, than they again repair
to the fields, and, with perfevering induftry, fly from flower to flow-
er till they have amaffed another load of materials, which they im-
mediately tranfport to the hive. In this laborious office they perfift
for many hours every day when the weather permits. Will any
man pretend to affert, that thefe, and many fimilar operations per-
formed by bees, are the refults of mechanical impulfes *? Are bees,
when collecting honey, and the farina of flowers, at great diftances

: from

* For feveral curious operations of bees, which it will be difficult to reconcile

with any principles of mechanifm, the reader may confult page 336, &c.

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 425

from the hive, compelled, by the mechanical preffure of multitudes,
to aflume a certain arrangement, and all of them to a& in the fame
manner? Can any animal be poffefled of more liberty, or be more
free from mechanical reftraint, than a bee while roaming at large in
the fields? Befides, What fhould force a bee, while wallowing in
luxury, to return fo repeatedly to the hive with no other view than
to feed its companions, or to furnifh them with materials for their
work? Here every idea of mechanical impulfe is utterly excluded,
That bees, as well as other animals, are a¢tuated by motives, or im-
pulfes, it is willingly allowed. But thefe are not mechanical impul-
fes. They are the wife and irrefiftible impulfes of Nature upon their
minds. If bees did not aflociate, and mutually affift one another in
their various operations, the fpecies would foon be annihilated. Not
one of them, it is probable, would furvive the firt winter. But Na-
ture, ever folicitous for the prefervation of her produdtions, has en-
dowed their minds with an affociating principle, and with inftinéts
which ftimulate them to perform all thofe wonderful operations that
are neceflary for the exiftence of individuals, and the continuation of
the fpecies,

What are called the common caterpillars afford an inftance of pro-
per aflociation, About the middle of fummer, a butterfly depofits
from three to four hundred eggs on the leaf of a tree, from each of
which, in a few days, a young caterpillar proceeds, They are no
fooner hatched than they begin to form a common habitation. They
fpin filken threads, which they attach to one edge of the leaf, and
extend them to the other. By this operation they make the two
edges of the leaf approach each other, and form a cavity refembling
a hammock, In a fhort time, the concave leaf is completely roofed
with a covering of filk, Under this tent the animals live together
in mutual friendfhip and harmony, When not difpofed to eat or to
fpin, they retire to their tent, It requires feveral of thefe habitations

A 3 to

426 THE PHILOSOPHY

to contain the whole. According as the animals increafe in fize, the
number of their tents is augmented. But thefe are only temporary
and partial lodgements, conftruéted for mutual conveniency, till the
caterpillars are in a condition to build one more fpacious, and which
will be fufficient to contain the whole. After gnawing one half of
the fubftance of fuch leaves as happen to be near the end of fome
twig or fmall branch, they begin their great work. In conftrudting
this new edifice or neft, the caterpillars encruft a confiderable part
of the twig with white filk, Inthe fame manner, they cover two
or three of fuch leaves as are neareft to the termination of the twig.
They then fpin filken coverings of greater dimenfions, in which they
inclofe the two or three leaves together with the twig. The neft is
now fo fpacious that it is able to contain the whole community,
every individual of which is employed in the common labour. Thefe
nefts are too frequently feen, in autumn, upon the fruit-trees of our
gardens. They are ftill more expofed to obfervation in winter,
when the leaves, which formerly concealed many of them, are fallen.
They confift of large bundles of white filk and withered leaves, with-
out any regular or conftant form. Some of them are flat, and others
roundifh; but none of them are deftitute of angles. By different
plain coverings extended from the oppofite fides of the leaves and
of the twig, the internal part of the neft is divided into.a number. of
different apartments. To each of thefe apartments, which feem to
be very irregular, there are paflages by which the caterpillars can ei-
ther go out in queft of food, or retire in the evening, or during rainy
weather. The filken coverings, by repeated layers, become at laft fo
thick and ftrong, that they refift all the attacks of the wind, and all
the injuries of the air, during eight or nine months. About the be-
ginning of Odtober, or when the froft firft commences, the whole
community fhut themfelves up in the neft. During the winter
they remain immoveable, and feemingly dead. But, when expofed
to heat, they foon difcover fymptoms of life, and begin to creep. . In

this

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 427

this country, they feldom go out of the neft till the middle or end
of April. When they fhut themfelves up for the winter, they are
- very fmall; but, after they have fed for fome days in {pring upon
the young and tender leaves, they find the neft itfelf, and all the en-
trances to it, too fmall for the increafed fize of their bodies. To re-
medy this inconveniency, thefe difgufting reptiles know how to en-
large both the neft and its paflages by additional operations accom-
modated to their prefent ftate. Into thefe new lodgings they retire
when they want to repofe, to fcreen themfelves from the injuries of
the weather, or to caft their fkins. In fine, after cafting their fkins
feveral times, the time of their difperfion arrives. From the begin-
ning to near the end of June, they lead a folitary life. Their focial
difpofition is no longer felt. Each of them fpins a pod of coarfe
brownifh filk, In a few days they are changed into chryfalids; and,
in eighteen or twenty days more, they are transformed into butter-
flies.

~ Caterpillars of another fpecies, which Reaumur diftinguifhes by

the appellation of the proceffonary caterpillar, live in fociety till their
transformation into flies. Thefe caterpillars are of the hairy kind,
and are of a reddifh colour. They inhabit the oak, and feed upon
its leaves. When very young, they have no fixed or general habi-
tation. But, after they have acquired about one half of their natu-
_ al fize, they aflemble together, and conftrué a neft fufficient to ac-
commodate the whole. The nefts of thefe caterpillars are attached
to the trunks of the oak, and are fituated fometimes near the earth,
and fometimes feven or eight feet above its furface. They confift
of different ftrata, or layers, of filk, which are fpun by the united la-
bour of the whole community. Their figure is neither ftriking nor
uniform. On the part of the oak to which they are fixed they form
a protuberance fimilar to thofe knots which are feen upon trees.
‘This protuberance fometimes refembles a fezgment of a circle, and
3 EL fometimes

428 THE PHILOSOPHY

fometimes it is three or four times longer than it is broad. Some
of thefe nefts are from eighteen to twenty inches long, and from five
to fix inches wide. About the middle of their convexity, they often
rife more than four inches above the furface of the tree, Between
the trunk of the tree and the layers of filk a fingle hole is left, to
allow the animals to go out in queft of food, and to retire into the
neft after they are fatiated. Notwithftanding the great bulk of thefe
nefts, and though there are often three or four of them upon the
fame tree, and never elevated above the height of diftin vifion, they
are not eafily perceived ; for the filk of which they are compofed is
cinereous, and refembles, in colour, thofe moffes with which the
trunk of the oak is generally covered,

The inhabitants of a neft, which are numerous, march out, about
the fetting of the fun, to forage, under the condué of a chief or
leader, all whofe movements they uniformly follow. The order
they obferve is fingular. The firft rank confifts of fingle animals,
the fecond of two, the third of three, the fourth of four, and fome-
times more. In this manner they proceed in queft of food with all
the regularity of difciplined troops, The chief or leader has no
marks of pre-eminence; for any individual that happens firft to
iffue from the neft, from that circumftance alone, becomes the lead-
er of an expedition. After making a full repaft upon the neigh-
bouring leaves, they return to the neft in the fame regular order;
and this practice they continue during the whole period of their ex-
iftence in the caterpillar ftate. It was from this ftrange regularity
of movement that Reaumur, with much propriety, denominated
thefe animals proce/fionary caterpillars, When arrived at maturity,
each individual fpins a filken pod, is converted into a chryfalis,.
and afterwards affumes the form of a butterfly. This laft tranf-
formation breaks all the bonds of their former affociation, and the-

female.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 429

female flies depofit their eggs, which, when hatched, produce new
colonies, who exhibit the fame oeconomy and manners.

There are feveral fpecies of caterpillars who are real republicans,
and whofe difcipline, manners, and genius, are equally diverfified as
thofe of the inhabitants of different nations and climates. Some,
like particular favages, conftrué a kind of hammocks, in which they
take their victuals, repofe, and fpend their lives till the period of
their transformation. Others, like the Arabs and Tartars, conftruc&t
and live in filken tents, and, after confuming the neighbouring her-
bage, they leave their former habitations, and encamp on frefh paf-
ture. Under thefe tents they are not only protected from the inju-
ries of the weather, but they repofe in them when fick, or in a ftate
of inactivity. They go out of their tents at particular times in queft
of food, and often to confiderable diftances ; but they never lofe their
way back. It is not by fight that they are direéted with fo much
certainty to their abodes. Nature has furnifhed them with another
guide for regaining their habitations. We pave our ftreets with
ftones; but the caterpillars. cover all their roads with filken threads,
Thefe threads make white tracks, which are often more than a fixth
of an inch wide. It is by following thefe filken tracks, however
complicated, that the caterpillars never mifs their nefts. If the road
is broke by a man’s finger drawn along it, or by any other accident,
the caterpillars are greatly embarrafled. They ftop fuddenly at the
interrupted fpace, and exhibit every mark of fear and of diffidence.
Here the march ftops, till an individual, more bold or more impa-
tient than his companions, traverfes the gap. In his paflage, he
leaves behind him a thread of filk, which ferves as a bridge or con-
duétor to the next that follows. By the progreffion of numbers,
each of which fpins a thread, the breach is foon repaired. We can-
not fuppofe that thefe ftupid animals cover their roads to prevent
their wandering, But they never wander, becaufe their roads are

covered.

430 T ee oP t-O's OO; Pae ¥

covered with filk. In this, as well as in many other inftances, Na-
ture obliges animals to embrace the moft effectual means of felf-pre-
fervation, and even of conveniency, without their perceiving the
utility of their own operations. The caterpillars, whofe manners
we have been defcribing, {pin almoft continually, becaufe they are
continually obliged to evacuate a filky matter, fecreted from their
food by veffels deftined for that purpofe, and included in their in-
teftines. In obeying this call of Nature, they effetually fecure their
retreat to their nefts, and perhaps their exiftence. It may be faid,
that caterpillars affociate for no other reafon but becaufe they are all
produced at the fame time from eggs depofited near each other. But
many other fpecies of caterpillars, who are brought to life in the
very fame circumftances, never affociate or act in concert in the per-
formance of any mutual labour. The filk-worms afford a familiar
example. It is true, they fpontaneoufly remain affembled in the
fame place, which is of great advantage to manufacture. But the
individuals of other fpecies difperfe immediately after birth, and ne-
ver re-unite, Spiders, when newly hatched, begin with {pinning a
web in common; but they foon terminate this affociation by de-
vouring one another.

As caterpillars do not engender till they arrive at the butterfly
ftate, their aflociations have no refpeét to the rearing or education of
young. Self-prefervation and individual conveniency are the only
bonds of their union. A perfect equality reigns among them, with-
out any diftinGion of fex, or even of fize. Each takes his fhare of
the common labour; and the whole fociety, which conftitutes but one
family, is the genuine iflue of the fame mother.

The affociation and oeconomy of the common ants merit fome
attention. With wonderful induftry and activity they colle& mate-
rials for the conftru€tion of their neft. They unite in numbers, and

affift

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 421

affift each other in excavating the earth, and in tranfporting to their
habitation bits of ftraw, fmall pieces of wood, and other fubftances
of a fimilar kind, which they employ in lining and fupporting their
fubterraneous galleries. The form of their neft or hill is fomewhat
conical, and, of courfe, the water, when it rains, runs eafily off, with-
out penetrating their abode. Under this hill there are many galle-
ries or paflages which communicate with each other, and refemble
the fireets of a {mall city.

The ants not only affociate for the purpofe of conftructing a com-
mon habitation, but for cherifhing and proteting their offspring.
Every perfon muft have often obferved, when part of a neft is fud-
denly expofed, their extreme folicitude for the prefervation of their
chryfalids or nymphs, which often exceed the fize of the animals.
themfelves. With amazing dexterity and quicknefs the ants tranf-
port their nymphs into the fubterraneous galleries of the neft, and
place them beyond the reach of any common danger. The courage
and fortitude with which they defend their young is no lefs aftonifh-
ing. The body of an ant was cut through the middle, and, after
fuffering this cruel treatment, fo ftrong was its parental. affection,,
with its head, and one half of the body, it carried off eight or ten
nymphs. They go to great diftances in fearch of provifions, Their
roads, which are often winding and involved, all terminate in the
nett..

The wifdom and forefight of the ants have been celebrated from
the remoteft antiquity. It has been afferted and believed, for near
three thoufand years, that they lay up magazines of provifions for
the winter, and that they even cut off the germ of the grain to pre-
vent it from fhooting. But the ancients were never famed for ac-
curate refearches into the nature and operations of infects. Thefe
fuppofed magazines could be of no ufe to the ants; for, like the

marmots

THE PHILOSOPHY

432
marmots and dormice, they fleep during the winter. A very mo-=
derate degree of cold is fufficient to render them torpid. In fa&, it
is now well known that they amafs no magazines of provifions. The
grains which, with fo much induftry and labour, they carry to their
neft, are not intended to be food to the animals, but, like the bits of
ftraw and wood, are employed as materials in the conftruction of
their habitation,

2. Improper Societies. —Many animals are gregarious, though they
unite not with a view to any joint operation, fuch as conftru@ting
common habitations, or mutually and indifcriminately nourifhing
and proteCting the offspring produced by the whole fociety. But,
even among animals of this defcription, there are motives or bonds
of affociation, and, in many inftances, they mutually affift and de-
fend each other from hoftile affaults.

The ox is a gregarious animal. When a herd of oxen are paf-
turing in a meadow, if a wolf makes his appearance, they inftantly
form themfelves in battle array, and prefent their united horns to the
enemy. This warlike difpofition often intimidates the wolf, and
obliges him to retire.

In winter, the hinds and young ftags affociate, and form herds,
which are always more numerous in proportion to the feverity of
the weather. One bond of their fociety feems to be the advantage
of mutual warmth derived from each other’s bodies. In fpring they
difperfe, and the hinds conceal themfelves in the forefts, where they
bring forth their young. The young ftags, however, continue to-
gether; they love to browfe in company; and neceflity alone forces
them to feparate.

The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 433

The Count de Buffon reprefents fheep as ftupid creatures, which
are incapable of defending themfelves again{t the attacks of any ra-
pacious animal. He maintains that the race muft long ago have
been extinguifhed, if man had not taken them under his immediate
protection. But Nature has furnifhed every {pecies of animated beings
with weapons and arts of defence which are fufficient for individual
prefervation as well as the continuation of the kind. Sheep are en-
dowed with a ftrong affociating principle, When threatened with
an attack, like foldiers, they form a line of battle, and boldly face
the enemy. Ina natural ftate, the rams conftitute one half of the
flock. They join together and form the front. When prepared in
this manner for repelling an affault, no lion or tiger can refift their
united impetuofity and force. )

A family of hogs, when in a ftate of natural liberty, never fepa-
rate till the young have acquired ftrength fufficient to repel the wolf.
When a wolf threatens an attack, the whole family unite their for-
ces, and bravely defend each other.

The wild dogs of Africa hunt in packs, and carry on a perpetual
war againft other rapacious animals, The jackals of Afia and Africa
likewife hunt in packs. But, though animals of this kind mutually
affift each other in killing prey, individual advantage is the chief, if
not the only bond of this temporary union.

Another kind of fociety is obfervable among domeftic animals,
Horfes and oxen, when deprived of companions of their own fpe-
cies, affociate, and difcover a vifible attachment. A dog and an ox,
or a dog and a cow, when placed in certain circumftances, though
the fpecies are remote, and even hoftile, acquire a ftrong affetion for
each other. The fame kind of affociation takes place between dogs
and cats, between cats and birds, &c. If domeftic animals had a

tT 31 ftrong

434 THE PHILOSOPHY

ftrong averfion to one another, man could not derive fo many ad-
vantages from them. Horfes, oxen, fheep, &c. by browfing pro=
mifcuoully together, augment and meliorate the common pafture,
By living under the fame roof, and feeding in common, this affoci-
ating principle is ftrengthened and modified by habit, which often
commences immediately after birth. A fingle horfe confined in an
inclofure, difcovers every mark of uneafinefs, He becomes reftlefs,
neglects his food, and breaks through every fence in order to join
his companions in a neighbouring field. Oxen and cows will not
fatten in the fineft pafture, if they are deprived of fociety.

From the fa¢ts and remarks contained in this chapter, it feems to
be evident, that the principle of affociation in man, as well as in
many other animals, is purely inftinétive; and that this principle
may be ftrengthened and modified by the numberlefs advantages de-
rived from it, by imitation, by habit, and by many other circum~
ftances.

CHAP.

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 435.

CHAPTER XVII

Of the Docility of Animals.

QO’ all animals capable of culture, man is the moft dudtile. By
inftruction, imitation, and habit, his mind may be moulded
into any form. It may be exalted by fcience and art to a degree of
knowledge, of which the vulgar and uninformed have not the moft
diftant conception. The reverfe is melancholy, When the human
mind is left to its own operations, and deprived of almoft every op-
portunity of focial information, it finks fo low, that it is nearly ri-
valed by the moft fagacious brutes. The natural fuperiority of man
over the other animals, as formerly remarked, is a neceflary refult
of the great number of inftinéts with which his mind is endowed.
Thefe inftinéts are gradually unfolded, and produce, after a mature
age, reafon, abftraGtion, invention, fcience. To confirm this truth,
it would be fruitlefs to have recourfe to metaphyfical arguments,
which generally miflead and bewilder human reafon. A diligent at-
tention to the actual operations of Nature is fufficient to convince
any mind that is not warped and deceived by popular prejudice, the
fetters of authorities, as they are called, whether ancient or modern,
or by the vanity of fupporting preconceived opinions and favourite
theories. Let any man reflect on the progrefs of children from birth

212 I te

436 THE PHILOSOPHY

to manhood, At firft, their inftin&ts are limited ‘to obfcure fenfa-
tions, and to the performance of a few corporeal actions, to which
they are prompted, or rather compelled, by certain ftimulating im-
pulfes unneceflary to be mentioned. In a few months, their fenfa-
tions are perceived to be more diftin@, their bodily ations are
better dire@ted, new inftinéts are unfolded, and they affume a
greatcr appearance of rationality and of mental capacity. When
ftill farther advanced, and after they have acquired fome ufe of lane
guage, and fome knowledge of natural objects, they begin to reafon;
but thew reafonings are feeble, and often prepofterous. In this
manner they uniformly proceed in improvement till they are a@u-
ated by the laft inftin&, at or near the age of puberty. After this
period, they reafon with fome degree of perfpicuity and juftnefs.
Bur, though their whole inftints are now unfolded and in ation,
every power of their minds requires, previous to its utmoft exer=
tions, to be agitated and polifhed by an examination of a thoufand
natural and artificial objets, by the experience and obfervations of
thofe with whom they affociate, by public or private inftruction, by
ftudying the writings of their predeceffors and contemporaries, and
by their own. reflections, till they arrive at the age of thirty-five.
Previous to that period, much learning may have been acquired,
much genius may have been exerted; but, before that time of life,
judgment, abftraction, and the reafoning faculty, are not fully ma-
tured. This progrefs is the genuine operation of Nature, and the
gradual fource of human fagacity and mental powers. The fame
progrefs is to be cbferved in the powers of the body. It arrives,
indeed, fooner at perfeGtion than the mind. But, if the progrefs of ©
the mind greatly preceded that of the body,. what a miferable and.
aukward figure would human beings, at an early period of their
exiftence, exhibit ? Attive and vigorous minds, ftimulated to com-
mand what the organs of their bodies were unable to obey, would
produce peevifhnefs, anger, regret, and every diftrefling paffion..
The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 437

The bodies of men, though not fo duGile as their minds, are
capable, when properly managed by early culture, of wonderful ex-
ertions, Men, accuftomed to live in polifhed focieties, have little or
no idea of the activity, the courage, the patience, and- the perfe-
vering induftry of favages, when fimply occupied in hunting wild
animals for food to themfelves and their families. The hunger, the
fatigue, the hardthips, which they not only endure, but defpife with
fortitude, would amaze and terrify the imagination of any civilized
European.

Befide man, many other animals are capable of being inftructed.
The ape-kind, and efpecially the larger fpecies of them, imitate the
actions of men without any inftru€tion. This imitation they are
enabled to perform with the greater exactnefs, on account of their
ftruéture. The orang-outang, a native of the fouthern regions of
Africa and India, is as tall and as ftrong asa man. He has no tail.
His face is flat. His arms, hands, toes, and nails, are perfe@tly fimi-
lar to ours. He walks conftantly on end; and the features of his
vifage make a near approach to: thofe of the human countenance.
He has a beard on his chin, and no more hair on his body than
men have when in a ftate of nature. -He knows how to bear arms,
to attack his enemies with ftones, and to defend himfelf with a club.
Of all the apes, the orang-outang, or weld man, as he is called by
the Indians, has the greateft refemblance to man both in the ftruc-
ture of his body and in his manners. There are two fuppofed fpe-
cies of orang-outang, a larger and a fmaller. The latter has been
feveral times brought to Europe, and accurate defcriptions have been
given both of his external and internal parts. But, with regard to
the larger kind, who is faid to exceed the ordinary ftature of man,
we have nothing to rely on but the relations of travellers. Bontius,
who was chief phyfician in Batavia, affirms exprefsly, that he faw,,
with admiration, feveral individuals of this fpecies walking on their

tye

438 THE PHILOSOPHY

«wo feet. Among others, he remarked a female, who feemed to
have a fenfe of modefty, who covered her face with her hands when
men approached her with whom fhe was unacquainted, who wept,
groaned, and feemed to want nothing of humanity but the faculty
of fpeech *. Many other furprifing aGtions performed by this ani-
mal are recorded by different voyagers, which it is unneceflary to
repeat, efpecially as we have a fufficient number of facts attefted by
unequivocal evidence. The Count de Buffon, with much probabi-
lity, confiders what are called the large and {mall orang-outangs to
be the fame fpecies of animals; for thofe hitherto brought to Eu-
rope were very young, and had not acquired one half of their fta=

ture.

‘ The orang-outang,’ fays Buffon, ‘ which I faw, walked always
on two feet, even when carrying things of confiderable weight.
His air was melancholy, his movements meafured, his difpofitions
gentle, and very different from thofe of other apes. He had nei-
ther the impatience of the Barbary ape, the malicioufnefs of the
baboon, nor the extravagance of the monkeys, It may be alledged
that he had the benefit of inftruction; but the apes, which I fhall
compare with him, were educated in the fame manner. Signs and
words were alone fufficient to make our orang-outang a&: But
the baboon required a cudgel, and the other apes a whip; for none
of them would obey without blows. I have feen this animal pre-
fent his hand to condu€& the people who came to vifit him, and
walk as gravely along with them as if he had formed a part of the
company. I have feen him fit down at table, unfold his towel,
wipe his lips, ufe a fpoon or a fork to carry the victuals to his

o

”

oe

a

“

a

o

x

a

~

mouth, pour his liquor into a glafs, and make it touch that of the
perfon who drank along with him. When invited to drink tea,
Atle

a

* Jac. Bont. Hift. Nat. Ind. cap. 32.

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 439

© he brought,a cup and a faucer, placed them on the table, put in

© fugar, poured out the tea, and allowed it to cool before he drank
it. All thefe a€tions he performed without any other inftigation
than the figns or verbal orders of his mafter, and often of his own
accord, He did no injury to any perfon: He even approached
company with circumfpection, and prefented himfelf as if he want-
ed to be carefled. He was very fond of dainties, which every
body gave him: And, as his breaft was difeafed, and he was af-
flied with a teazing cough, this quantity of fweatmeats un-
doubtedly contributed to fhorten his life. He lived one fummer
in Paris, and died in London the following winter. He eat almoft
every thing; but preferred ripe and dried fruits to all other kinds
of food. He drank a little wine; but fpontaneoufly left it for

_milk, tea, or other mild liquors *,’

wn

a

a

e

M. de la Broffe purchafed two orang-outangs from a Negro, whofe:
age exceeded not twelve months. ‘ Thefe animals,’ he remarks,
* have the inftiné of fitting at table like men. They eat every
* kind of food without diftinétion. They ufe a knife, a fork, or a:
* fpoon, to cut or lay hold of what is put upon their plate. They
* drink wine and other liquors. We carried them aboard. At table,
* when they wanted any thing, they made themfelves be underftood
* by the cabin-boy : And, when the boy refufed to give them what
* they demanded, they fometimes became enraged, feized him by
‘ the arm, bit, and threw him down.—The male was feized with
* ficknefs in the road. He made himfelf be attended as a human
* being. He was even twice bled in the right arm: And, whenever
* he found himfelf afterwards in the fame condition, he held out
* his arm to be bled, as if he knew that he had formerly received
* benefit from. that operation,’

We

* Buffon, vol. 8. page 86. tranfi.

440 TIHEscPHLLOSOPH Y

We are informed by Francis Pyrard, ‘ that, in the province of
© Sierra- Leona, there is a fpecies of animals called daris, (the orang-

outang), who are ftrong and well limbed, and fo induftrious,

oe

that, when properly trained and fed, they work like fervants ; that
they generally walk on the two hind-feet ; that they pound any
fubftances in a mortar; that they go to bring water from the river
in {mall pitchers, which they carry full on their heads. But,
when they arrive at the door, if the pitchers are not foon taken
off, they allow them to fall; and, when they perceive the pitcher
overturned and broken, they weep and lament *.’ With regard
to the education of thefe animals, the teftimony of Schoutton corre-
{ponds with that of Pyrard, ‘ They are taken,’ fays he, ‘ with fnares,
© taught to walk on their hind-feet, and to ufe their fore-feet as
* hands in performing different operations, as rinfing glaffes, carry=
‘ ing drink round the company, turning a fpit,’ &c. f. Guat in-
forms us, that he ‘ faw at Java a very extraordinary ape. It was a
* female. She was very tall, and often walked erect on her hind-
* feet. On thefe occafions, fhe concealed with her hands the parts
* which diftinguifh the fex.—She made her bed very neatly every
* day, lay upon her fide, and covered herfelf with the bed-clothes.—
When her head ached, fhe bound it up with her handkerchief ;
‘ and it was amufing to fee her thus hooded in bed. [I could relate
* many other little articles which appeared to be extremely fingular.

o

o

n

o

”

o

“

§ But I admired them not fo much as the multitude; becaufe, asI ©

* knew the defign of bringing her to Europe to be exhibited as a
* thew, I was inclined to think that fhe had been taught many of
thefe monkey tricks, which the people confidered as being natural
to the animal. She died in our fhip, about the latitude of the

* Cape

cy

ss

* Voyages de Frangois Pyrard, tom. 2. pag. 331.

+ Voyages de Schoutton aux Indes Orientales,

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 4at

* Cape of Good Hope. The figure of this ape had a very great re-
* femblance to that of man *.’

We have now enumerated the principal faéts regarding this ex=
traordinary animal, which have been related by voyagers of credit,
and by thofe who have feen and examined him in Europe; and {hall
only remark, that, notwithftanding the great fimilarity of his ftruc-
ture and organs to thofe of the human fpecies, his genius and talents
feem to be very limited. The form of his body enables him to imi-
tate every human action. But, though he has the organs of fpeech,
he is deftitute of articulate language. If, however, he were domef-
ticated, and proper pains beftowed for inftru@ting him, he might un-
queftionably be taught to articulate. But, fuppofing this point to
be obtained, if he remained incapable of refle@tion, if he was unable
to comprehend the meaning of words, or to difcover by his expref=
fions a degree of intellect greatly fuperior to that of the brute crea-
tion, which | imagine would be the cafe, he could never, as fome
authors have held forth, be exalted to the diftinguithed rank of hu-
man beings.

Of all quadrupeds, of whofe hiftory and manners we have any
proper knowledge, the elephant is moft remarkable both for docility
and underftanding. Though his fize is enormous, and his members
rude and difproportioned, which give him, at firft fight, the afpect
of dullnefs and ftupidity, his genius is great, and his fagacious man-
ners, and his fedate and colleted deportment, are almoft incredible,
He is the largeft and ftrongeft of all terreftrial animals. Though
naturally brave, his difpofitions are mild and peaceable. He is an
affociating animal, and feldom appears alone in the forefts. When.
in danger, or when they undertake a depredatory expedition into

I. + 3K cultivated

* Voyages de Fran. le Guat, tom. 2. pag. 96.

age THE PHILOSOPHY

cultivated fields, the elephants aflemble in troops. The oldeft takes
the lead; the next in feniority brings up the rear; and the young
and the feeble occupy the center. In the forefts and folitudes they
move with lefs precaution; but never feparate fo far afunder as to
render them incapable of affording each other mutual affiftance when
danger approaches. A troop of elephants conftitutes a moft formi-
dable band. Wherever they march, the foreft feems to fall before
them. They bear down the branches upon which they feed; and,
if they enter an inclofure, they foon deftroy all the labours of the
hufbandman. Their invafions are the more tremendous, as there is
hardly any means of repelling them; for, to attack a troop, when
thus united, would require a little army. It is only when one or
two elephants happen to linger behind the reft, that the hunters dare
exert their art and ingenuity in making an attack; for any at-
tempt to difturb the troop would certainly prove fatal to the aflail-
ants. When an infult is offered, the elephants inftantly move for-
ward againft the offender, tofs him in the air with their tufks, and
afterwards trample him to pieces under their feet, or rather pillars
of flefh and bone. Let not+the character of this noble and majeftic
animal, however, be mifreprefented. With force and dignity he re-
fents every affront; but, when not difturbed by petulance or a@ual
injury, he never fhows an hoftile intention either againft man or
any other animal. Elephants live entirely on vegetables, and have
no thirft for blood. Sach is their focial and generous difpofition,
that, when an individual chances to meet with a luxurious fpot of
pafture, he immediately calls to his companions, and invites them to
partake of his good fortune.

The elephant pofleffes all the fenfes in perfeGtion: But, in the
fenfe of touching, he excells all the brute creation. His trunk is the
chief inftrument of this fenfe. In an elephant of fourteen feet high,
the trunk is about eight fect long, and five feet and an half in cir-

cumference

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 443

cumference at the bafe. It is a large flefhy tube, divided through
its whole extent by a feptum or partition, It is capable of motion
in every direQion. The animal can fhorten or lengthen it at plea-
fure. It anfwers every purpofe of a hand; for it grafps large objects
with great force, and its extremity can lay hold of a fixpence, or
even of apin. The trunk of the elephant affords him the fame
means of addrefs as the ape. It ferves the purpofes of an arm and
ahand. By this inftrument, the elephant conveys large or {mall
bodies to his mouth, places them on his back, embraces them faft,
or throws them forcibly to a diftance. Ina ftate of nature and per-
fect freedom, the difpofitions of the elephant are neither fanguinary
nor ferocious. ‘They are gentle creatures, and never exert their
ftrength, or employ their weapons, but in defending themfelves or
protecting their companions. Even when deprived of the inftruc-
.tion of men, they poffefs the fagacity of the beaver, the addrefs of
the ape, and the acutenefs of the dog. To thefe mental talents are
added the advantages of amazing bodily ftrength, and the experience
and knowledge he acquires by living at leaft two centuries. With |
his trunk he tears up trees. By a puth of his body he makes a breach
in a wall. To this prodigious ftrength he adds courage, prudence,
and coolnefs of deportment. As he never makes an attack but
when he receives an injury, he is univerfally beloved; and all ani-
mals refpeét, becaufe none have any reafon to fear him. In all ages,
men have entertained a veneration for this moft magnificent and fa-
-gacious of terreftrial creatures. The ancients regarded him as a mi-
racle of Nature, and he is, in reality, one of her greateft efforts. But
they have greatly exaggerated his faculties. Without hefitation, they
have afcribed to him high intelle@tual powers and moral virtues.
Pliny, Hlian, Plutarch, and other authors of a more modern date,
have beftowed on the elephant not only rational manners, but an in-
nate religion, a kind of daily adoration of the fun and moon, the ufe
of ablution before worfhip, a fpirit of divination, piety toward hea-

Sin 2 ven

A44 THE PHILOSOPHY

ven and their fellow creatures, whom they affift at the approach of
death, and, after their deceafe, bedew them with tears, and cover
their bodies with earth.

When tamed and inftru&ted by man, the elephant is foon render=
ed the mildeft and moft obedient of all domeftic animals. He loves
his keeper, careffes him, and anticipates his commands. He learns
to comprehend figns, and even to underftand the expreflion of
founds. He diftinguifhes the tones of command, of anger, and of
approbation, and regulates his ations by his perceptions. The voice
of his mafter he never miftakes. His orders are executed with ala-
crity, but without any degree of precipitation. His movements are
always meafured and fedate, and his character feems to correfpond
with the gravity of his mafs. To accommodate thofe who mount
him, he readily learns to bend his knees. With his trunk he falutes
his friends, ufes it for raifing burdens, and affifts in loading himéfelf.
He loves to be clothed, and feems to be proud of gaudy trappings.
In the fouthern regions, he isemployed in drawing waggons, ploughs,
and chariots. ‘I was eye-witnefs,’ fays P. Philippe, ‘ to the follow=
‘ ing fats. At Goa, there are always fome elephants employed in
¢ the building of fhips. I one day went to the fide of the river,
© near which a large fhip was building in the city of Goa, where
there is a large area filled with beams for that purpofe. Some

¢ men tie the ends of the heavieft beams with a rope, which is hand-
* ed to the elephant, who carries it to his mouth, and, after twifting
* it round his trunk, draws it, without any conductor, to the place
* where the fhip is building, though it had only once been pointed
* out to him. He fometimes drew beams fo large that more than
* twenty men would have been unable to move. But, what furprifed
* me ftill more, when other beams obftructed the road, he elevated
the ends of his own beams, that they might run eafily over thofe
which lay in his way. Could the moft enlightened man do

‘ more?

a

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 44g

* more *? ‘When at work, the elephant draws equally, and, if pro-
perly managed, never turns reftive. The man who conduéts the ani-
mal generally rides on his neck, and employs a hooked iron road, or
a bodkin, with which he pricks the head or fides of the ears, in or-
der to pufh the creature forward, or to make him turn, But words
are commonly fufficient. The attachment and affeGtion of the ele-
phant are fometimes fo {trong and durable that he has been known
to die of grief, when, in an unguarded paroxyfin of rage, he had
killed his guide,

Before the invention of gun-powder, elephants were employed
in war by the African and Afiatic nations. ‘ From time immemo-
* rial,’ fays Schouten, ‘ the Kings of Ceylon, of Pegu, and of Ara-
* can, have ufed elephants in war. Naked fabres were tied to their
¢ trunks, and on their backs were fixed {mall wooden caftles, which
© contained five or fix men armed with javelins, and other wea-
* pons tf.” The Greeks and Romans, however, foon became ac=
quainted with the nature of thefe monftrous warriors. They open-
ed their ranks to let the animals pafs, and directed all their weapons,
not againft the elephants, but their condutors. Since fire has now
become the element of war, and the chief inftrument of deftruction,
elephants, who are terrified both at the flame and the noife, would
be more dangerous than ufeful in our modern battles. The Indian
Kings, however, {till arm elephants in their wars. In Cochin, and
other parts of Malabar, all the warriors who fight not on foot are
mounted on elephants {. The fame practice’ obtains in Tonquin,
Siam, and Pegu. In thefe countries, the kings and nobles at public
feftivals are always preceded and followed by numerous trains of

elephants,

* Voyage d’Orient. pag. 367.
+ Voyage de Schouten, pag. 32.
$ Thevenot, tom. 3. pag. 261.

146 THE PHILOSOPHY

elephants, pompoufly adorned with pieces of fhining metal, and
clothed with rich garments. ‘Their tufks are ornamented with rings
of gold and filver; their ears and cheeks are painted with various
colours ; they are crowned with garlands; and a number of fmall
bells are fixed to different parts of their bodies. They delight in
gaudy attire; for they are chearful and carefling in proportion to
the number and fplendour of their ornaments. The Afiatics, who
were very anciently civilized, perceiving the fagacity and docility of
_ the elephant, educated him in a fyftematic manner, and modified his
difpofitions according to their own manners, and the ufeful labours
in which his ftrength and dexterity could be employed.

A domeftic elephant performs more labour than could be accom=
plifhed by fix horfes; but he requires much care and a great deal of
food. He is fubje& to be over-heated, and muft be led to the
water twice or thrice a-day. He eafily learns to bathe himfelf. With
his trunk he fucks up large quantities of water, carries it to his
mouth, drinks part of it, and, by elevating his trunk, makes the
remainder run over every pait of his body. To give fome idea of
the labour he performs, and the docility of his difpofitions, it is
worthy of remark, that, in India, all the bales, facks, and tuns,
tranfported from one place to another, are carried by elephants.
They carry burdens on their bodies, their necks, their tufks, and
even in their mouths, by giving them the end of a rope, which they
hold faft with their teeth. Uniting fagacity with ftrength, they
never break or injure any thing committed to their charge, From
the margins of the rivers, they put weighty bundles into boats with-
out wetting them, lay them down gently, and arrange them where
they ought to be placed. When the goods are difpofed as their
maflers dire&t, they examine with their trunks whether the articles
are properly ftowed ; and, if a cafk or tun rolls, they go fpontane-
oully in queft of ftones to prop and render it firm.

In

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 447

In the elephant, the fenfe of fmelling is acute, and he is paflion-
ately fond of odoriferous flowers, which he colle&ts one by one,
forms them into a nofegay, and, after gratifying his nofe, conveys
them to his mouth.

In India, the domeftic elephants, to whom the ufe of water is as
neceflary as that of air, are allowed every poflible conveniency for
bathing themfelves. The animal goes into a river till the water
reaches his belly. He then lies down on one fide, fills his trunk fe-
veral times, and dexteroufly throws the water on fuch parts as hap-
pen to be uncovered. The mafter, after cleaning and currying one
fide, defires the animal to turn to the other, which command he
obeys with the greateft alacrity; and, when both fides have been
properly cleaned, he comes out of the river, and ftands fome time
on the bank to dry himfelf. The elephant, though his mafs be enor-
mous, is an excellent {wimmer; and, of courfe, he is of great ufe in
the paflage of rivers. When employed on occafions of this kind,
he is often loaded with two pieces of cannon which admit three or
four pound balls, befide great quantities of baggage and feveral men
fixed to his ears and his tail. When thus heavily loaded, he fpon-
taneoufly enters the river and fwims over with his trunk elevated in
the air for the benefit of refpiration. He is fond of wine and ar-
dent fpirits. By fhowing him a veffel filled with any of thefe li-
quors, and promifing him it as the reward of his labours, he is in-
duced to exert the greateft efforts, and to perform the moft painful
tafks. The elephant, as we are informed by M. de Buffy, quoted
by the Count de Buffon, is employed in dragging artillery over
mountains, and, on thefe occafions, his fagacity and docility are con-
{picuous. Horfes or oxen, when yoked to a cannon, make all their
exertions to pull it upa declivity. But the elephant pufhes the
breach forward with his front, and, at each effort, fupporis the car«
tiage with his knee, which he places againft the wheel. He feems

to

448 THE PHILOSOPHY

to underftand what his cornack, or conductor, fays to him. When
his conductor wants him to perform any painful labour, he explains
the nature of the operation, and gives the reafons which fhould in-
duce him to obey. If the elephant fhows a relutance to the tafk,
the cornack promifes to give him wine, arrack, or any other article
that he is fond of, and then the animal exerts his utmoft efforts.
But to break any promife made to him is extremely dangerous,
Many cornacks have fallen victims to indifcretions of this kind, ‘At
“Dehan,’ fays M. de Buffy, ‘ an elephant, from revenge, killed his
‘cornack, The man’s wife, who beheld the dreadful fcene, took
‘her two children, and threw them at the feet of the enraged ani-
‘mal, faying, Since you have flain my hufband, take my life alfo, as
© qwell as that of my children. The elephant inftantly ftopped, re=
‘lented, and, as if ftung with remorfe, took the eldeft boy in its
© trunk, placed him on its neck, adopted him for its cornack, and
* would never allow any other perfon to mount it!

From the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences, we learn
' fome curious faéts with regard to the manners of the Verfailles ele-
phant. This elephant, they remark, feemed to know when it was.
mocked, and remembered the affront till it had an opportunity of
revenge. A man deceived it, by pretending to throw fome food in-
to its mouth, The animal gave him fuch a blow with its trunk as
knocked him down, and broke two of his ribs. A painter wanted
to draw the animal in an unufual attitude, with its trunk elevated,
and its mouth open. The painter’s fervant, to make it remain in:
this pofition, threw fruits into its mouth, but generally made only a,
faint of throwing them. This conduct enraged the elephant; and,
as if it knew that the painter was the caufe of this teazing imperti=
nence, inftead of attacking the fervant, it eyed the mafter, and {quirt-
ed at him from its trunk fuch a quantity of water as fpoiled the pa-
pes on. which he was drawing, This elephant commonly. made lefs

ufe:

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 449

ufe of its ftrength than its addrefs. It loofed, with great eafe and
} coolnefs, the buckle of a large ‘double leathern ftrap, with which its
Jeg was fixed; and, as the fervants had wrapped the buckle round
with a {mall cord, and tied many knots upon it, the creature, with
much deliberation, loofed the whole, without breaking either the
ftrap or the cord.

It is remarked by le P. Vincent Marie, that the elephant, when
in a domeftic ftate, is highly efteemed for his gentlenefs, docility,
and friendfhip to his governour. When deftined to the immediate
fervice of princes, he is fenfible of his good fortune, and maintains a
gravity of demeanour correfponding to the dignity of his fituation.
But if, on the contrary, lefs honourable labours are affigned to him,
he grows melancholy, frets, and evidently difcovers that he is hum-
bled and depreffed. He is fond of children, carefles them, and ap-
pears to difcern the innocence of their manners. The Dutch voya-
gers relate *, that, by giving elephants what is agreeable to them,
they are foon rendered perfe€tly tame and fubmiffive. They are fo
fagacious, that they may be faid to be deftitute of the ufe of lan-
guage only. They are proud and ambitious; and they are fo grate-
ful for good ufage, that, as a mark of refpe&t, they bow their heads
in paffing houfes where they have been hofpitably received. They
allow themfelves to be led and commanded by a child; but they
love to be praifed and careffed. When a wild elephant is taken, the
hunters tie his feet, and one of them accofts and falutes him, makes
apologies for binding him, protefts that no injury is intended, tells
him, that, in his former condition, he frequently wanted food, but
that, henceforward, he fhall be well treated, and that every promife
fhall be performed to him. This foothing harangue is no fooner

f 3 L : finifhed

* Voyage de la Compagnie des Indes de Hollande, tom. 1. pag. 413,

450 THE PHILOSOPHY

finifhed than the elephant placidly follows the hunter *. From this
fa&, however, we muft not conclude that the elephant underftands
language, but that, like the dog, he has a ftrong difcerning faculty.
He diftinguifhes efteem from contempt, friendfhip from hatred, and
many other emotions which are exprefled by human geftures and
features. For this reafon, the piephanr.: is more eafily tamed by mild-
nefs than by blows.

© [have frequently remarked,’ fays, Edward Terry f, ‘that the ele-
‘ phant performs many actions which feem to proceed more from
‘reafon than from infting. He does every thing that his mafter
“commands. If he wants to terrify any perfon, he runs upon him
‘ with every appearance of fury, and, when he comes near, ftops
‘ fhort, without doing the perfon the fmalleft injury. When the
© mafter choofes to affront any man, he tells the elephant, who im-
© mediately colle€ts water and mud with his trunk, and {quirts it
‘ upon the object pointed out to him. The Mogul keeps fome ele-
* phants who ferve as executioners to criminals condemned to death.
© When the conduétor orders one of thefe animals to defpatch the
* poor criminals quickly, he tears them to pieces in a moment with
‘his feet: But, if defired to torment them flowly, he breaks their
‘ bones one after another, and makes them fuffer a punifhment as
‘ cruel as that of the wheel.’

Next to the elephant, the dog feems to be the moft docile quadru-
ped. A wild dog is a paffionate, ferocious, and fanguinary animal.
But, after he is reduced to a domeftic ftate, thefe hoftile difpofitions
are fupprefled, and they are fucceeded by a warm attachment, and a
perpetual defire of pleafing. The perceptions and natural talents

of

* Voyage d’Orient. du P. Phillippe, pag. 366.

+ Terry’s Voyage to the Eaft Indies, pag. 15.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 4gr

of the dog are acute. When thefe are aided by inftruétion, the ‘fa-
gacity he difcovers, and the actions he is taught to perform, often
éxcite our wonder. Thofe animals which man has taken under his
immediate protection are taught to perform artificial a€tions, or have
their natural inftin@s improved, by three modes of inftru@tion, pu-
nifhment, reward, and imitation. More duétile in his nature than
. moft other animals, the dog not only receives inftruction with rapi-
dity, but accommodates his behaviour and deportment to the man-
ners and habits of thofe who command him. He affumes the very
tone of the family in which he refides, Eager, at all times, to pleafe
his mafter, or his friends, he furioufly repels beggars; becaufe he
probably, from their drefs, conceives them to be either thieves, or
competitors for food.

Though every dog, as well as every man, is naturally a hunter,
the dexterity of both is highly improved by experience and inftruc-
tion. The varieties of dogs, by frequent intermixtures with thofe
of different climates, and perhaps with foxes and wolves, are fo great,
and their inftin€@s are fo much diverfified, that, even though they
produce with each other, we fhould be apt to regard them as diffe~
rent {pecies. What a difference between the natural difpofitions of
the fhepherd’s dog, the fpaniel, and the grey-hound? The thepherd’s
dog, independently of all inftru@tion, feems to be endowed by Nature |
with an innate attachment to the prefervation of fheep and cattle,
His docility is likewife fo great, that he not only learns to under-
ftand the language and commands of the fhepherd, and obeys them
with faithfulnefs and alacrity, but, when at diftances beyond the
reach of his mafter’s voice, he often ftops, looks back, and recog-
nifes the approbation or difapprcbation of the fhepherd by the mere
waving of his hand. He reigns at the head of a flock, and is better
heard than the voice of his mafter. His vigilance and aétivity pro-
duce order, difcipline, and fafety. Sheep and cattle are peculiarly

bi fubjefted

452 TEESE ALLO Sere ¥

fubjected to his management, whom he prudently conduéts and pro-
tects, and never employs force againft them, except for the prefer-
vation of peace and good order. But, when the flock committed to
his charge is attacked by the fox, the wolf, or other rapacious ani-
mals, he makes a full difplay of his courage and fagacity. In fitua-
tions of this kind, both his natural and acquired talents are exerted.
Three fhepherds dogs are faid to be a match for a bear, and four for
a lion.

Every perfon knows the docility and fagacity of fuch dogs as are
employed in conduéting blind mendicants. Johannes Faber, as
quoted by Mr Ray, informs us, that he knew a blind beggar who
was led through the ftreets of Rome by a middle fized dog. This
dog, befide leading his mafter in fuch a manner as to protect him
from all danger, learned to diftinguith not only the ftreets, but the
houfes where his mafter was accuftomed to receive alms twice or
thrice a~week. Whenever the animal came to any of thefe ftreets,
with which he was well acquainted, he would not leave it till a call
had been made at every houfe where his mafter was ufually fucceff-
ful in his petitions. When the beggar began to afk alms, the dog,
being wearied, lay down to reft; but the mafter was no fooner fer-
ved or refufed, than the dog rofe fpontaneoufly, and, without either
order or fign, proceeded to the other houfes where the beggar gene-
rally received fome gratuity. I obferved, fays he, not without plea-
fure and furprife, that, when a halfpenny was thrown from a win-
dow, fuch was the fagacity and attention of this dog, that he went
about in queft of it, lifted it from the ground with his mouth, and
put it into his.mafter’s hat. Even when bread was thrown down,
. the animal would not tafte it, unlefs he received a portion of it from
the hand of his mafter. Without any other inftruation than imita-
tion, a maftiff, when accidentally fhut out from a houfe which his

matter frequented, uniformly rung the bell for admittance. Dogs
can

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 453

can be taught to go to market with money, to repair to a known
butcher, and to carry home the meat in fafety. They can be taught
to dance to mufic, and to fearch for and find any thing that is loft *.

There is a dog at prefent belonging to a grocer in Edinburgh,
who has for fome time amufed and aftonifhed the people in the
neighbourhood. A man who goes through the ftreets ringing a bell
and felling penny pies, happened one day to treat this dog with a
pye. The next time he heard the pyeman’s bell, he ran to him with
impetuofity, feized him by the coat, and would not fuffer him to pafs.
The pyeman, who underftood what the animal wanted, fhowed him
a penny, and pointed to his mafter, who ftood in the ftreet-door,
and faw what was going on. The dog immediately fupplicated his
mafter by many humble geftures and looks. The mafter put a penny
into the dog’s mouth, which he inftantly delivered to the pyeman,
and received his pye. This traffick between the pyeman and the
grocer’s dog has been daily practifed for months paft, and ftill con-

tinues.

Dogs, horfes, and even hogs, by rewards and punifhments, and, I
am afraid, often by cruelty, may be taught to perform actions, as we
have frequently feen in public exhibitions, which are truly aftonifh-
ing. But of thefe we muft not enter into any detail.

With regard to the horfe, the gentlenefs of his difpofitions, and
the docility of his temper, are fo well and fo univerfally known,
that it is unneceflary to dwell long upon the fubject. To give fome
idea of what inftruétion horfes receive when in a domeftic fate, we
fhall mention fome traits of their form and manners when under

no

* For thefe, and many other inftances of the fagacity and docility of the dog, the
reader may confult Synopfs Quadrupedum a Foanne Raio, p. 6. ec.

44 THE PHILOSOPHY

no reftraints. In South America the horfes have multiplied’ prodi=-
gioufly, and, in that thinly inhabited country, live in perfec free-
dom. ‘They fly from the prefence of man. They wander about in.
troops, and devour, in immenfe meadows, the produtions of a per-
petual fpring. Wild horfes are ftronger, lighter, and more nervous,
than the generality of thofe which are kept in a domeftic ftate, They
are by no means ferocious. Though fuperior in ftrength to moft
animals, they never make an attack, When affaulted, however, they:
either difdain the enemy, or ftrike him dead with their heels. They
affociate in troops from mutual attachment, and neither make war
with other animals nor among themfelves. As their appetites are
moderate, and they have few objects to excite envy or difcord, they
live in perpetual peace. Their manners are gentle, and their tem-
pers focial, Their force and ardour are rendered confpicuous only
by marks of emulation, They are anxious to be foremoft in the
courfe, to brave danger in croffing a river, or in leaping a ditch or
precipice ; and, it is faid, that thofe horfes which are moft adventu-
rous and expert in thefe natural exercifes, are, when domefticated).
the moft generous, mild, and tractable.

Wild horfes are taken notice of by feveral of the ancients.. He=
yodotns mentions white wild horfes on the banks of the Hypanis in
Scythia. He likewife tells us, that, in the northern part of Thrace,
beyond the Danube, there were wild horfes covered all over with
hair five inches in length. The wild horfes in America are the off-
{pring of domeftic horfes originally tranfported thither from Europe
by the Spaniards. The author of the hiftory of the Buceaneers *
informs us, that troops of horfes, fometimes confifting of 500, are
frequently met with in the ifland of St Domingo; that, when they
fee a man, they all ftop; and that one of their number approaches

to

* Hit. des Avanteur, Flibufticrs, tom. 1. pag. tio.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 455

to a certain diftance, blows through his noftrils, takes flight, and is
inftantly followed by the whole troop. He defcribes them as having
grofs heads and limbs, and long necks and ears. The inhabitants
tame them with eafe, and then train them to labour. In order to
take them, gins of ropes are laid in the places where they are known
to frequent. When caught by the neck, they foon ftrangle them-
felyes, unlefs fome perion arrive in time to difentangle them, They
are tied to trees by the body and limbs, and are left in that fituation
two, days without victuals or drink. This treatment is generally fuf-
ficient to render them more tractable, and they foon become as gen-
tle as if they had never been wild. Even when any of thefe horfes,
by accident, regain their liberty, they never refume their favage ftate,
but know their mafters, and allow themfelves to be approached and
retaken.

From thefe, and fimilar fats, it may be concluded, that the dif-
pofitions of horfes are gentle, and that they are naturally difpofed to
affociate with man. After they are tamed they never forfake the
abodes of men. On the contrary, they are anxious to return to the
ftable. The fweets of habit feem to fupply all they have loft by
flavery. When fatigued, the manfion of repofe is full of comfort.
They {mell it at confiderable diftances, can diftinguith it in the midft
of populous cities, and feem uniformly to prefer bondage to liberty.
By fome attention and addrefs colts are firft rendered tratable.
When that point is gained, by different modes of management, the
docility of the animal is improved, and they foon learn to perform
‘with alacrity the various labours afligned to them. The domeftica-
tion of the horfe is perhaps the nobleft acquifition from the animal
world which has ever been made by the genius, the art, and the in-
duftry of man. He is taught to partake of the dangers and fatigues
of war, and feems to enjoy the glory of victory. He encounters
death with ardour and with magnanimity. He delights in the tu-

mult

456 T SE Ie BIL O° Ss jO%R TE Wy

mult of arms, and attacks the enemy with refolution and alacrity.
Tt is not in perils and confliéts alone that the horfe co-operates with
the difpofitions of his mafter, He even feems to participate of hu-
man pleafures and amufements. He delights in the chace and the
tournament, and his eyes fparkle with emulation in the courfe.
Though bold and intrepid, however, he does not allow himfelf to:
be hurried on by a furious ardour. On proper occafions, he repref-
fes his movements, and knows how to check the natural fire of his.
temper. He not only yields to the hand, but feems to confult the
inclination of his rider. Always obedient to the impreffions he re-
ceives, he flies or ftops, and regulates his motions folely by the will
of his mafter.

Mr Ray, who wrote about the end of laft century, informs us,
that he had feen a horfe who danced to mufic, who, at the com-
mand of his mafter, affected to be lame, who fimulated death, lay
motionlefs with his limbs extended, and allowed himfelf to be drag-
ged about, till fome words were pronounced, when he inftantly
fprung up on his feet *. Faéts of this kind would fcarcely receive
credit, if every perfon were not now acquainted with the wonder-
ful docility of the horfes educated by Aftley, and other public exhi-
bitors of horfemanfhip. In exhibitions of this kind, the docility
and prompt obedience of the animals deferve more admiration than
the dexterous feats of the men.

Animals of the ox-kind, ina domettic ftate, are dull and phlegmatic.
Their fenfibility and talents feem to be very limited. But we fhould
not pronounce rafhly concerning the genius and powers of animals
in a country where their education is totally negle@&ed. In all the
fouthern provinces of Africa and Afia, there are many wild bifons,

or

* Raii Synopfis Animalium Quadrupedum, pag. to.

OF NATURAL (HISTORY. AS7

Sov

ot bunched oxen, which are taken when young and tamed: They
are foon taught to fubmit, without refiftance, to all kinds of domettic
labour. They become fo tra€table, that they are managed with as
much eafe as our horfes, The voice of their mafter is alone fuffi-
cient to make them obey, and to dire& their courfe. They are fhod,
curried, carrefled, and fupplied abundantly with the beft food. When
managed in this manner, thefe animals appear to be different crea-
tures from our oxen, The oxen of the Hottentots are favourite do-
meftics, companions in amufements, affiftants in all laborious exercifes,
and participate the habitation, the bed, and the table of their mafters.
As their nature is improved by the gentlenefs of their education, by
the kind treatment they receive, and the perpetual attention beftow-
ed on them, they acquire fenfibility and intelligence, and #erform
actions which one would not expect from them. The Hottentots
train their oxen to war. In all their armies there are confiderable
troops of thefe oxen, which are eafily governed, and are let loofe
by the chief when a proper opportunity occurs, They inftantly dart
with impetuofity upon the enemy. They ftrike with their horns,
kick, overturn, and trample under their feet every thing that oppo-
fes their fury. They run ferocioufly into the ranks, which they foon’
put into the utmoft diforder, and thus pave the way for an eafy vic-
tory to their mafters *. Thefe oxen are likewife inftru@ted to guard
the flocks, which they condué with dexterity, and defend them
from the attacks of ftrangers, and of rapacious animals. They are
taught to diftinguith friends from enemies, to underftand fignals,
and to obey the commands of their mafter. When pafturing, at
the fmalleft fignal from the keeper, they bring back and colle@ the
wandering animals, They attack all ftrangers with fury, which
renders them a great fecurity againft robbers. Thefe drackeleys, as
they are called, -know every inhabitant of the kraal, and difcover
T 3M the

* Voyage de Cap, par Kolbe, tom. 1. pag. 160.

ue THE PHILOSOPHY

the fame marks of refpe& for all the men, women, and children, as
a dog does for thofe who live in his mafter’s houfe. Thefe people
may, therefore, approach their cattle with the greateft fafety, But,
if a ftranger, and particularly an European, fhould ufe the fame
freedom, without being accompanied with one of the Hottentots,
his life would be in imminent danger *.

Notwithftanding the many furprifing a€tions which different qua-
drupeds may be taught to perform, none of them, though their or-
gans are much more perfect than thofe of birds, have ever been able
to pronounce articulate founds. But many birds, without much in-
ftrution, learn to pronounce words, and even fentences, In par-
rots, the diftinguifhing accuracy of their ear, the acutenefs of their
attention, and their ftrong inftin@live propenfity to imitate founds of
every kind, have juftly procured them univerfal admiration. When
in a ftate of domeftication, the parrot learns to pronounce the com-
mon ftreet-calls, befide many words and phrafes occafionally em-
ployed by the family in which he refides. Though the limitation
of his mental powers does not permit him to learn any extent of
language, or the proper ufe and meaning of words, he not unfre-
quently difcovers,the aflociation between the object and the found,
A woman every morning pafled the window, where a parrot’s cage:
was fixed, calling falt. The parrot foon learned to imitate the call,
But, before any found could be heard, he no fooner caft his eye
upon the woman than he uttered her ufual call. In this, and many
other fimilar cafes, the objets and the founds are evidently connec-
ted in the mind of the animal. How. far thefe affociations might
be carried by a patient and perfevering education, it is difficult to
determine, In this manner, however, parrots might be taught a
confiderable vocabulary of fubftantive nouns, or the proper names

i of

* Voyage de Cap, par Kolbe, pag. 307.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 459

TJ:

of common objeés. But his intelle@, it is more than probable,
would never reach the ufe of the verb, and other parts of {peech.

Befide parrots, jays, &c. who learn to pronounce articulate founds,
there is another race of birds whofe docility deferves to be mention
ed. Singing birds, thofe, lively and fpirited little animals, at-
tempt not to articulate. But their mufical ears are as delicate and
difcerning as their voices are melodious and delightful. The viva~
city, the extent of voice, and the imitative powers of thefe beautiful
creatures, have at all times excited the attention-and conciliated the
affeGtions of mankind. When domefticated, thefe birds, befide
their natural notes, foon acquire the faculty of finging confiderable
parts of artificial tunes. Thefe imitations are effects of natural in-
ftin&. But, in exhibitions, I have feer linnets fimulate death, and
remain perfectly tranquil and unmoved, when {mall cannons were
fired, within an inch of their bodies, from a wooden fort. Thefe
little creatures have even been taught to lay hold of a match and
fire the cannons themfelves.

The docility and fagacity of animals have always been confidered
as wonderful. But this wonder is partly the effe& of inattention;
for, though man is unqueftionably the chief of the animal creation,
the other animals, according to the number of inftin@s, or, which
amounts to the fame thing, according to the mental powers with
which Nature has endowed them, comparatively approach to or re=
cede from the fagacity and genius of the human fpecies. The whole
is a graduated fcale of intelligence. A philofopher fhould, there-
fore, contemplate and admire the whole, but fhould never be fur-
prifed at any partial exhibitions of the general f{cene of intelle& and
animation,

3M 2 We

460 THE PH FLOSS O PH Y

We fhall conclude’this fubje& with a few remarks cbncerning the
changes produced in animals by DOMESTICATION,

Climate and food are the chief caufes which produce changes in
the magnitude, figure, colour, and conftitution, of wild animals,
But, befide thefe caufes, there are others which have an influence
upon animals when reduced to a domeftic or unnatural ftate. When
at perfe@t liberty, animals feem to have felefted thofe particular
zones or regions of the globe which are moft confonant to the na-
ture and conftitution of each particular tribe. There they fponta-
neoufly remain, and never, like man, difperfe themfelves over the
whole furface of the earth.’ But, when obliged by man, or by any
great revolution of Nature, to abandon their native foil, they un-
dergo changes fo great, that, to recognife and diftinguifh them, re-
courfe muft be had to the moft accurate examination. If we add to
climate and food, thofe natural caufes of alteration in free animals,
the empire of man over fuch of them as he has reduced to fervitude,
the degree to which tyranny degrades and disfigures Nature will ap-
pear to be greatly augmented. The mouflon, the ftock from which
our domeftic fheep have derived their origin, is comparatively a
large animal. He is as fleet as a ftag, armed with horns and ftrong
hoofs, and covered with coarfe hair. With thefe natural advanta-~
ges, he dreads neither the inclemency of the fky, nor the voracity
of the wolf. By the fwiftnefs of his courfe, he not only efcapes
from his enemies, but he is enabled to refift them by the ftrength
of his body and the folidity of his arms, How different is this ani-
mal from our domeftic fheep, who are timid, weak, and unable to
defend themfelves ? Without the proteétion of man, the whole race
would foon be extirpated by rapacious animals and by winter-ftorms.
In the warmeft climates of Africa and of Afia, the mouflon, who is
the common parent of the fheep, appears to be lefs degenerated than -
in any other region, Though reduced to a domeftic ftate, he has

‘ preferved

OFINATURALIIISTORY, — A61

preferved his ftature and his hair; but the fize of his horns is di-
minifhed, The fheep of Barbary, Egypt, Arabia, Perfia, &c. have
undergone greater changes; and, In proportion as they approach
toward either pole, they diminifh in fize, in ftrength, in {wittnefs,
and in courage. In relation to man, they are improved in fome ar-
ticles, and vitiated in others, Their coarfe hair is converted into

fine wool. But, with regard to Nature, improvement and degene-

ration amount to the fame thing; for both imply an alteration of
"the original conftitution.

The ox is more influenced by nourifhment than any other do-
meftic animal. In countries where the pafture is luxuriant, the ox-
en acquire a prodigious fize. To the oxen of Athiopia and fome
provinces of Afia, the ancients gave the appellation of Bu//-E/e-
“phants, becaufe, in thefe regions, they approach to the magnitude of
the elephant. This effect is chiefly produced by the abundance of
rich and fucculent herbage. The Highlands of Scotland, and indeed
every high and northern country, afford firiking examples of the
influence of food upon the magnitude of cattle. The.oxen, as well
as the horfes, in the more northern parts of Scotland, are extremely
‘diminutive; but, when tran{ported to richer pafture, their fize is
augmented, and the qualities of their flefh are improved. The cli-
mate has likewife a confiderable influence on the nature of the ox,
In the northern regions of both continents, he is covered with long
foft hair. He has likewife a large bunch on his fhoulders; and this
deformity is common to the oxen of Afia, Africa, and America.
Thofe of Europe have no bunch. The European oxen, however,
feem to be the primitive race, to which the bunched kind afcend, by
intermixture, in the fecond or third generation. The difference in
their fize is remarkably great. The fmall zebu, or bunched ox of
Arabia, is not one tenth part of the magnitude of the Ethiopian
bull-elephant. te,

The

Diu

hee

Bs)

.

462 THEW Lo sora yY

The influence of food upon the dog-kind feems not to be great.
In all his variations and degradations, he appears to follow the dif-
ferences of climate. In the warmeft climates, he is naked; in the
northern regions, he is covered with a coarfe thick hair; and he is
adorned with a fine filky robe in Spain and Syria, where the mild
temperature of the air converts the hair of moft quadrupeds into a
kind of filk. Befide thefe external variations produced by climate,
the dog undergoes other changes, which proceed from his fituation,
his captivity, and the nature of the intercourfe he holds with man.
His fize is augmented or diminifhed by obliging the fmaller kinds
to unite together, and by obferving the fame condué with the larger
individuals. The fhortening of the tail and ears proceeds alfo from
the hand of man. Dogs who have had their ears and tails cut for
a few generations, tranfmit thefe defes, in a certain degree, to their
defcendants. Pendulous ears, the moft certain mark of domeftic fer-
vitude and of fear, are almoft univerfal. Of many races of dogs, a
few only have retained the primitive flate of their ears. Erect ears
are now confined to the wolf-dog, the fhepherd’s dog, and the dog
of the North.

The colour of animals is greatly variegated by domeftication. The
dog, the ox, the fheep, the goat, the horfe, have affumed all kinds
of colours, and even mixtures of colours, in the fame individuals.
The hog has changed from black to white; and white, without the
intermixture of fpots, is generally accompanied with effential imper-
fe€tions. Men who are remarkably fair, and whofe hair is white,
have generally a defect in their hearing, and, at the fame time,
weak and red eyes. Quadrupeds which are entirely white have like-
wife red eyes and a dullnefs of hearing. The variations from the
original colour are moft remarkable in our domeftic fowls, Ina
brood of chickens, though the eggs be laid by the fame hen, and

though

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 463

though the female be impregnated by the fame male, not one of
them has the fame colours with another.

Domeftication not only changes the external appearances of ani-
mals, but alters or modifies their natural difpofitions. The dog, for
example, when in a ftate of liberty, is a rapacious quadruped, and
hunts and devours the weaker fpecies: But, after he has fubmitted
to the dominion of man, he relinquifhes his natural ferocity, and.
is converted into a mean, fervile, patient, and parafitical flave.

CHAP,

. 464 T HE @'8 1.L50'S/0. Rill \'Y

CH AP. T.:-E Rv) SVL

Of the Characters of Animals.

N this fubjeét it never was intended to paint the characters of

every fpecies, even of the larger animals, The reader will

eafily recolle&t, that, in many parts of this work, much has already

been faid with regard to the tempers, difpofitions, and manners, of

a great number of animals, Thefe we fhall not repeat, but pro-
ceed to fome general remarks,

On every animal Nature has imprinted a certain character, which
is indelibly fixed, and diftinguifhes the fpecies. This charaéter we
difcover by the aGions, the air, the countenance, the movements,
and the whole external appearance. The courage of the lion, the
ferocity of the tiger, the voracioufnefs of the wolf, the pride of the
courfer, the dullnefs and indolence of the afs, the cunning and ad-
drefs of the fox, the affection and docility of the dog, the fubtlety
and felfifhnefs of the cat, the mildnefs of the fheep, the timidity of
the hare, the vivacity of the fquirrel, are proper examples, Thefe
charaéters, when under the influence of domeftication, may be mo-
dified by education, of which rewards and punifhments are the chief
inftruments employed. But the original character, imprefled by the
hand of Nature, is never fully obliterated. Thofe animals which

feem
1

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 465

feem to have been deftined by Nature to live in perpetual flavery
under the dominion of man, have the mildeft and moft gentle dif-
pofitions. It is pleafant, but, at the fame time, fomewhat contemp-
tible, to fee a troop of oxen guided by the whip of a child.

In the human fpecies, the variety of tempers, affections, averfions,
and ftudies, is indifpenfibly neceflary for fupporting the focial ftate,
and carrying on the general bufinefs of life. Some minds are form~
ed for ftudy and deep refearch, and others for action, courage, and
the exertion of bodily powers. The fame variety in the difpofitions
and manners of the different tribes of animals is equally neceflary
for peopling the earth, and for fupplying the reciprocal exigencies
of its inhabitants.

Befide the general fpecific characters of animals, individual
charaéters, efpecially among the human race, are ftrongly mark-
ed, and greatly variegated. In every government, and particu-
larly in commercial ftates, human characters, independently of
the original bias, or genius, ftamped by Nature on individual
minds, are often fo difguifed by a thoufand artifices, that it re-
quires not only time, but frequent interefting fcenes, before a
man can difcover the real charaéter even of an intimate compa-
nion. Many men affociate together in the moft harmonious man-
ner, and fhow every fymptom of friendfhip and attachment; but,
when any of them happens to be diftreffed, and to require aid, all
this apparent friendfhip inftantly vanifhes, the afpe& of the counte-
nance, inftead of exhibiting fympathy and cordiality, is converted
into a cold referve, and the unfortunate former companion is firft
fhunned, and then deferted. This picture of human nature, we are
forry to remark, is too general; but, thank Heaven, it is not unt-
verfal; for there always were, and ftill are, men of noble and ge-

T 3N nerous

466 THE PHILOSOPHY

nerous minds, who willingly facrifice part of their own intereft to
that of their friends,

With regard to the charaéters of quadrupeds, befide the fpecific
difpofitions which diftinguifh the different kinds, each individual pof-
feffes a peculiar charaéter by which it may be difcriminated from
any other. Thefe individual charaéters may be difcovered not only
by the afpeét, but by the actions of animals. Some dogs, even of
the fame race, are furly, churlifh, and revengeful. Others are gay,
frolickfome, and friendly. The countenances of men, which always
indicate fome part of their original and genuine character, are as
various as their numbers. Though lefs fubjecét to general cbferva-
tion, Nature has marked the countenances of every animal, even
down to the infeé tribes, with fome characteriftic ftrokes, which
enable them to diftinguith one another, and even to contract parti-
cular attachments. ‘To us, the fmall birds, fuch as fparrows and
linnets, appear to be fo perfectly fimilar, that, though we had an
opportunity of feeing great numbers of them collected in one place,
it would require much time and attention to be enabled to make in-
dividual diftinétions. After they have brought up their young, they
affociate promifcuoufly in flocks; but, when the genial {pring ar-
rives, a different fcene is exhibited. The flocks difappear. Each
male has feleéted, courted, and retired with a female to build a neft,
to hatch eggs, and to nourifh and fupport their young. If Nature
had not ftamped upon every individual a peculiar mark, it would
be ‘impoffible that the immenfe multitudes who pair, or join
in matrimony, fhould be capable of diftinguifhing and adhering
faithfully to one another. A fhepherd, who has been long accuf-
tomed to fuperintend a numerous flock, knows, by the countenan-=
ces, and other natural or accidental marks, every individual. I knew
a fhepherd, who not only diftinguifhed every individual of above
two hundred fheep, but gave to each a particular name.

The

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 467

The characters of quadrupeds, and even of fome birds, are indi-
cated by obfcure refemblances between the lineaments of their faces,
and thofe of men of different features and difpofitions. Some men,
‘in the general expreffion of their countenances, refemble goats,
others fheep, others oxen, others fwine, others lions, others dogs,
-others foxes, others owls, others hawks. Even in particular races
of the fame fpecies, fimilarities of this kind may be traced. I know
fome men who refemble terriers, others greyhounds, others fpaniels,
others the ‘thepherd’s dog, others the lap-dog, &c. Some of thefe re-
femblances may be regarded as fanciful, and perhaps they frequently
are. But, in general, when the refemblance to a particular animal is
ftrongly marked in a human countenance, the difpofitions of the
‘man have a ftriking affinity to thofe of the animal. Men who re-
femble the fox are uniformly cunning and deceitful. Thofe who
+efemble the ox are dull, ftupid, and phlegmatic. Thofe who re-
femble the lion are bold, open, generous, and witty. Thofe who
refemble the cat are circumfpeét, defigning, and avaricious. Thofe
who refemble the greyhound are vigilant, ative, and fmart. Thofe
who refemble the lap-dog are vain, prefumptuous, petulant, and laf-
civious. Thofe who refemble the fow are difguftful both in their
appearance and in their difpofitions. Thofe who refemble a crofs-
made horfe are cruel, unfeeling, and highly felfith. Thofe who re-
femble the fpaniel, of whom the examples are numerous, are fawn-
ing, mean, and parafitical, ‘Thofe who refemble the theep are dull,
timid, and inoffenfive. Thofe who refemble the goat are fanciful,
obftinate, and libidinous. Thofe who refemble a fine horfe are in-
trepid, generous, tractable, and good humoured. Thofe who re-
femble a hawk are quick, defultory, and ingenious, Thofe who re-
femble the owl are dark, defigning, and treacherous. Thofe who
refemble the bee are active, ignorant, and induftrious, It is needlefs
to multiply examples. Every man’s recolle@ion and obfervation
will furnith him with numberlefs coincidences between the fimila+

3N2 rities

4.68 THE PHILOSOPHY

rities in ftructure and features to particular animals, and the form,
difpofitions, and manners, of the men who poffefs them.

Comparifons have been inftituted, and analogies traced, between the
ftrudture, afpedt, and difpofitions, of fome quadrupeds and thofe of cers
tain birds, which fhow a uniformity in the general plan of Nature. A-
mong birds, as well as quadrupeds, fome fpecies are carnivorous, and
others feed upon fruits, grain, and various kinds of herbage. The
eagle, which is a noble and a generous bird, reprefents the lion. The
vulture, which is cruel and infatiable, reprefents the tiger. The kite,
the buzzard, and the raven, who live chiefly on offals and carrion,
reprefent the hyaena, the wolf, and the jackal. The falcon, the
fparrow-hawk, and other birds employed in hunting, reprefent the
dog, the fox, the lynx, &c. The owl, who fearches for her prey in
the night, reprefents the cat. The heron and the cormorant, who
feed upon fifhes, reprefent the beaver and the otter. Peacocks,
hens, and all other birds which have a crop, or craw, reprefent oxen,
fheep, goats, and other ruminating animals.

CHAP.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 469

CHAPTER XIX.
Of the Principle of Imitation.

MITATION neceffarily implies fome degree of intelligence.
All animals, particularly thofe of the more perfe& kinds, are
endowed with the principle of imitation. The confequence is ob-
vious, that all animals poffefs a certain portion of intellectual power.
In man, the principle of imitation appears at a very early period of
his exiftence. In the more advanced ftages of life, this principle is
fo interwoven with other motives of acting and thinking, that it is.
difficult to diftinguifh it as a feparate inftin, and equally difficult to
conquer the habits and prejudices to which it has given rife. The lefs
a man has cultivated his rational faculties, the more powerful is the
principle of imitation over his ations and his habits of thinking.
Moft women, of courfe, are more influenced by the behaviour, the
fafhions, and the opinions of thofe with whom they afflociate than.
men. From this almoft irrefiftible inftin@&, we fhould learn the ex-
treme danger of frequenting the company of the diflolute and un-
principled; for bad habits are focn acquired, but very difficult to
conquer. It isa comfortable circumftance, however, that if men,
efpecially when young, are fortunate enough to fall in with the fo-
ciety of the virtuous and intelligent, the principle of imitation, fo be-
nevolent is Nature, acts with redoubled force. Lf we attend'to our own
feelings,

470 TWE 2H PLOS'O Pi ¥

feelings, we muft acknowledge, that, in the acquifition of bad habits,
there is an evident force upon our natural inclinations, but that, in
virtuous affociations, the mind acquiefces with pleafure, and feels no
reftraint in complying with the examples it perceives nor in acqui-
ring the correfpondent habits We are prone'to evil; but, when
not corrupted by improper imitations, Nature has made us much
more prone to good,

Artificial language, which we learn entirely by imitation, diftin-
guifhes us, more than any other circumftance, from the brute crea-
tion. The proper ufe of it likewife forms the chief difference be=
tween one man and another; for, by language, one man difcovers
a fuperiority of knowledge and of genius, while others exprefs by
it nothing but borrowed or confufed ideas. In an idiot, or in a
parrot, it marks only the moft abje&t degree of ftupidity. It fhows
the incapacity of either to produce a regular chain of thinking,
though both of them be endowed with organs capable of exprefling
what pafles within their minds, -Men whofe fenfes are delicate, and
whofe minds are eafily affeted, make the beft actors, and the beft
mimics. Children, accordingly, are extremely alert in imitating the
adtions, the geftures, and the manners, of thole with whom they af-
fociate. ‘They are dexterous in perceiving ridiculous figures and re-
prefentations, which they imitate with eafe and propriety. Hence
we perceive, in the education of children, the infinite importance of
regulating the principle of imitation.

The education of the inferior animals, though ‘hort, is always
fuccefsful. By imitation, they foon acquire all the knowledge pof-
fefled by their parents. They not only derive experience from their
own feelings, but, by imitation, they learn and employ the expe-
rience of others. Young animals model their ations entirely upon °
thofe of the old. They fee their feniors approach or fly when they

perceive

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 47%

perceive particular objects, hear particular founds, or fmell certain
odours. At firft, they approach or fly without any other determin-
ing principle but that of imitation. Afterwards, they approach or
fly fpontaneoufly, becaufe they have then acquired the habit of ap-
proaching or flying, whenever they feel the fame or fimilar fenfa-
tions, Many inftinéts, as terror upon hearing particular founds, the
appearance of natural enemies, the feleGion of food, &c. feem to be
partly. the effects of imitation. It is remarked by Ulloa, that, in the
year 1743, the dogs in Juan Fernandes had loft the faculty of bark-
ing. When affociated with other dogs, it was with great difficulty
that they again learned, by imitation, to bark. The caufe of thefe
dogs lofing the expreffion of their ufual language in a domeftic ftate,
it is not eafy to inveftigate. Perhaps, by the aid of experience, and
their own fagacity, they difcovered that barking warned their prey
to efcape from danger. The jackals, however, who are confidered
as belonging to the dog-kind, not only hunt in packs, but, during
the chace, make a loud and a hideous noife. Mr White, in his
Natural Hiftory of Selborne, a work which contaths much infor-
mation, and difcovers a good and benevolent heart in the author,
informs us, that he had an opportunity of feeing two dogs, a male
and a female, which had been brought from Canton in China. Thefe
dogs, which, in China, are fattened for eating, are about the fize of
an ordinary fpaniel, and are of a pale yellow colour. * When taken
‘ out into a field,’ he remarks, ‘ the bitch fhowed fome difpofition
for hunting, and dwelt on the fcent of a covey of partridges till
fhe fprung them, giving her tongue all the time. The dogs in
South America are dumb; but thefe bark much in a fhort thick
manner, like foxes; and have a furly favage demeanour, like their
anceftors, which are not domefiicated, but bred up in flies, where
they are fed for the table with rice-meal, and other farinaceous
food. Thefe dogs, having been taken on board as foon as weaned,
could not have learned much from their dam; yet they did not

* relith

«

a

472 THE PHILOSOPHY

© relith flefh when they came to England. In the iflands of the Pa-
® cific Ocean, the dogs are bred upon vegetables, and would not eat
© flefh when offered them by our circumnavigators.’

From facts of this kind, of which a great number might be men«
tioned, the following obfervations naturally arife. Thefe Chinefe
dogs, though defcended, probably for many generations, from a
race of anceftors who never had the leaft experience or education in
hunting, preferved their original inflin& of fcenting and purfuing
game. The dog is a grofsly carnivorous animal ; for he prefers car=
rion to any other kind of nourifhment ; yet the Chinefe dogs difco-
vered no particular relifh for the flefh of animals. Thus it appears,
that, by habits, acquired, not by the individual, but by a train of
anceftors, both the tafte and the conftitution of animals may be
greatly altered. From the fame facts, however, it is equally evident,
that Nature can never be entirely conquered. The moment the
Chinefe dogs firft faw a field, they both fcented and hunted game.
Imitation and habit feem to have greater effects upon the mode of
living, feeding, and the corporeal fabrick, than upon the original _
inftinéts of the mind. Thefe dogs, even when they came to Eng-
land after a long voyage, had not acquired the habit of greedily de-
vouring, like other dogs, either frefh meat or carrion; but, on the
firft opportunity afforded to them, they difcovered an inclination to
hunt,

CHAP.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 473

CH eAsBreE Ee Re Ke

Of the Migration of Animals.

‘THE Hon. Daines Barrington, in his Effay on the Periodical
Appearing and Difappearing of certain Birds, at different times

of the year *, has, by many ingenious arguments, as well as curious
faéts, rendered it extremely probable, that no birds, however ftrong
and fwift in their flight, can poffibly fly over fuch large traéts of
the ocean as has been commonly fuppofed. He admits partial mi-
grations or flttmgs, as he calls them, though he does not attempt to
afcertain the diftances of thefe flittings. With regard to the fwal-
lows, of which there are feveral fpecies in Britain, fome naturalifts,
of whom the Hon. Daines Barrington is one, are inclined to think
that they do not leave this ifland at the end of autumn, but that they
lie in a torpid ftate till the beginning of fummer in the banks of
rivers, the hollows of decayed trees, the recefles of old buildings,
the holes of fand-banks, and in fimilar fituations. That fwallows,
in the winter months, have fometimes, though very rarely, been
found in a torpid ftate, is unqueftionably true. Neither is the infe-
rence, that, if any of them can furvive the winter in that ftate, the
whole of them may fubfift, during the cold feafon, in the fame con-
240 + ditton,

* Phil. Tranfact. vol. 62. pag. 265, &c.

474 T Se 1.0 SOPH ¥

dition, in the fmalleft degree unnatural, Still, however, the num-
bers of fwallows which appear in this ifland, as well as in all parts
of Europe, during the f{ummer months, are fo very confiderable, that,
if the great body of them did not migrate to fome other climate,
they fhould be much more frequently found in a torpid ftate. On
the contrary, when a few of them are difcovered in that ftate, it is
regarded as a wonder even by the country people, who have the
greateft opportunities of ftumbling upon faéts of this kind. When,
accordingly, a few fwallows or martins are found torpid in winter,
and have been revived by a gentle heat, the faét, and few fuch facts
there are, is carefully recorded as fingular in all the periodical pub-
lications of Europe.

Mr Pennant informs us, from undoubted authority, that fome
quails, and other birds which are generally fuppofed to leave this
ifland in winter, retire to the fea-coafts, and pick up their food
among the fea-weeds *,

“ Quails,’ Mr Pennant remarks, ‘ are birds of paffage; fome en-
tirely quitting our ifland, others fhifting their quarters. A gentle-
man, to whom this work lies under great obligations, has affured
us, that thefe birds migrate out of the neighbouring inland coun-
ties, into the hundreds of Effex in October, and continue there all
the winter: If froft or {now drive them out of the ftubble-fields
and marfhes, they retreat to the fea-fide, fhelter themfelves among
the weeds, and live upon what they can pick up from the algae,
&c, between high and low water mark. Our friend remarks, that
the time of their appearance in Effex coincides with that of their
leaving the inland counties f.’

~

nw

n

a

«

a

“

a

A

* Brit. Zool. Vol. 1. pag. 210. 2d edit. 8vo,
¢ Pennant, ibid.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 475

A quail, it muft be allowed, feems to be very much unqualified
for a long migration; for its tail is fhort, the bird never rifes more
than twenty or thirty feet from the ground, and it feldom flies above
three hundred yards at a time. Belon, however, an author of great
fapacity and credit, tells us, that, in his paflage from Rhodes to
Alexandria, many quails, flying from north to fouth, were taken in
his fhip. From this circumftance, he remarks, ‘1 am perfuaded
* that they fhift places; for formerly, when I failed out of the Ifle
‘ of Zant to Morea, or Negropont, in the fpring, I obferved quails
© flying the contrary way, at which time, alfo, a great many were
* taken in our fhip.’ This traverfe they might be enabled to ac-
somplifh by paffing from one ifland to another in the Mediterra-
nean.

Inftances of fwallows and fome other birds alighting on the mafts
and cordage of veflels, at confiderable diftances from any fhore, are
not fo numerous as might be expected. Neither have they been
often obferved flying over feas in great flocks. Mr Peter Collinfon,
in a letter printed in the Philofophical TranfaCtions, fays, ‘ that Sir
© Charles Wager had frequently informed him, that, in one of his
‘ voyages home in the fpring, as he came into foundings in our
© channel, a great flock of fwallows almoft covered his rigging ;
‘ that they were nearly fpent and famifhed, and were only feathers
* and bones; but, being recruited by a night’s reft, they took their
* flight in the morning.’

M. Adanfon, in his voyage, informs us, that, about fifty leagues
from the coaft of Senegal, four fwallows fettled upon the fhip,
on the fixth day of Oétober; that thefe birds were taken; and that
he knew them to be the true {wallow of Europe, which he con=
jeQtures were then returning to the coaft of Africa. The Hon.
Daines Barrington, with more probability, fuppofes that thefe {wal-

302 lows,,

476 THE PHILOSOPHY

lows, inflead of being on their paflage from Europe, were only
flitting from the Cape de Verde iflands to the continent of Africa,
a much fhorter flight, but to which they feemed to be unequal, as
they were obliged, from fatigue, to light upon the fhip, and fall in-
to the hands of the failors.

Swallows, Mr Kalm remarks, appear in the Jerfies about the be-
ginning of April. They are, on their firft arrival, wet, becaufe they
have juft emerged from the fea or lakes, at the bottom of which
they had remained in a torpid ftate during the whole winter. But
Mr Kalm, who wifhes to fupport the torpidity of fwallows du-
ring the winter, likewife informs us, that he himfelf met with them
at fea, nine hundred and twenty miles from any land *.

_Thefe, and fimilar facts, the Hon. Daines Barrington endeavours
to explain, by fuppofing that birds difcovered in fuch fituations, in-
ftead of attempting to crofs large branches of the ocean, have been
forcibly driven from fome coaft by ftorms, and that they would na-
turally perch upon the firft veflel which came within their view.

In Britain, five {pecies of fwallows appear in fummer and difap-
pear in winter. 1. The houfe-fwallow makes its appearance about
twenty days earlier than the martin, or any other of the fwallow
tribe. They are often feen about the 13th day of April. They
difappear about the end of September. A few days previous to their
departure, they aflemble in great flocks on the tops of houfes,
churches, and trees, from whence they are fuppofed to take their
flight. This unufual and temporary affociation of numbers indi-
cates the impulfe of fome common inftin& by which each indivi-
dual is aétuated. The houfe {wallow is eafily diftinguithed from

the

* Voy. tom. 1. pag. 24.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 477

the other fpecies by the fuperior forkinefs of its tail, and by a red
fpot on the forehead, and under the chin. This fpecies builds in
chimneys, and makes its neft of clay, but leaves the top quite open.
2. The martin is inferior in fize to the former, and its tail is much
lefs forked. The martins appear in Britain foon after the houfe-
{wallow. They build under the eaves of houfes: The neft is com-
pofed of the fame materials as thofe of the houfe-fwallow ; but it is
covered above, and a {mall hole only is left in the fide for the in-
grefs and egrefs of the birds. The martins totally difappear about
the beginning of October. 3. The fand-martin, or bank-martin, is
by much the fmalleft of the fwallow-kind that vifit Britain. The
fand-martins arrive very foon after the houfe-fwallow, and difappear
about Michaelmas, They dig confiderable holes in fand-pits and in
the banks of rivers, where they build their nefts, which confift not
of mud, like thofe of the former fpecies, but of graffes and feathers
laid together in a very flovenly manner. It is worthy of remark,
that thefe birds do not employ the cavities they dig in fummer for
winter-quarters ; fince fand-banks, fo perforated, have been care=
fully fearched in the winter, and nothing was found but empty
nefts *. 4, The fwift, or black martin of Willoughby, is the largeft
of our fwallows, and is the lateft of arriving in this country; for
the {wifts are feldom feen till the beginning of May, and commonly
appear, notin flocks, but in pairs. Swifts, like the fand-martins,
catry on the bufinefs of incubation in the dark. They build in the
cranies of caftles, towers, and fteeples. Straw and feathers are the
materials they ufe. They difappear very early; for they are almoft
never feen after the middle of Auguft. 5. The goatfucker, which
belongs to the {wallow tribe, is likewife a bird of paflage. Like the
other fwallows, it feeds upon winged infects. But, inftead of pur-
fuing its prey during the day, it flies only in the night, and feizes
moths, and other nocturnal infe&s, From this circumftance, it has

not

* White’s Natural Hiftory of Selborne, pag. 177.

478 TADE GEO LAC SIO BH ¥

not improperly received the appellation of the nocturnal /wallow.
The goat-fucker ftays only a fhort time in Britain. It appears not
till about the end of May, and retires in the middle of Auguft. It
lays its eggs, which are commonly two, and fometimes three, on the
bare ground.

To give catalogues of the numerous birds of paflage which fre-
quent this ifland, as well as other countries, and to mark the times
of their arrival and departure, would be deviating entirely from our
plan. For circumftances of this kind, the curious may confult
Catefby, Klein, Linnaei Amoenitates Academicae, White, &c. But,
as the periodical appearance and difappearance of the {wallow-tribe
have given rife to different theories and opinions, we fhall briefly relate
thofe opinions, and conclude with fome remarks on migration in
general.

Herodotus and Profper Alpinus mention one fpecies of {wallow
which refides in Egypt during the whole year *; and Mr Loten,
late governour of Ceylon, affured Mr Pennant, that thofe of Java
never remove. If thefe be excepted, all the other known kinds re=
treat or migrate periodically. Swallows migrate from almoft every
climate. They remove from Norway +}, from North America t.
from Kamtfchatka §, from the temperate parts of Europe, from
Aleppo ||, and from Jamaica **, 6

Concerning the periodical appearance and difappearance of fwal-

lows, there are three opinions adopted by different naturalifts. The
firft

* Profp. Alp. tom. 1. pag. 198.

+ Pontopp. Hift. Norw. ii. 98.

+ Catefby’s Carol. v. 1..pag. 51. App. 8
§ Hift. Kamtfchatka, pag. 162.

| Ruffel’s Alep. pag. 70.

**°Phil. Tranf. N° 36.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 479

firft and moft probable is, that they remove from climate to climate
at thofe particular feafons when winged imfects, their natural food,
fails in one country or diftri&t and abounds in another, where they
likewife find a temperature of air better fuited to their conftitutions.
In fupport of this opinion, we have the teftimony, as*formerly men-
tioned, of Sir Charles Wager, of M. Adanfon, and of many naviga-
tors, It is equally true, however, that fome f{pecies of {wallows have
been occafionally found in atorpid ftate during winter. Mr Col-
linfon gives the evidence of three gentlemen who were eye-witnef-
fes to a number of fand-martins being drawn out of a cliff on the
Rhine in the month of March 1762 *. The Hon. Daines Barring-
ton, in the year 1768, communicated to Mr Pennant, on the autho-
rity of the late Lord Belhaven, the following fa&: ‘ That numbers
© of fwallows have been found in old dry walls, and in fand-hills,
© near his Lordihip’s feat in Eaft Lothian; not once only, but from
‘ year to year; and that, when they were expofed to the warmth of
* a fire, they revived J.’ Thefe, and other facts of the fame kind,
feem to be uncontrovertible; and Mr Pennant infers from them, that
© we muft divide our belief relating to thefe two fo different opi-
£ nions, and conclude, that one part of the (wallow tribe migrate,
* and that others have their winter-quarters near home {.’ But we
fhould rather incline to think, with thofe naturalifts who fuppofe
that the torpid fwallows which are occafionally, though very rarely,
difcovered in the winter feafon, have been obliged to remain behind,
becaufe they were too young, weak, ‘difeafed, or fuperannuated, to
undertake a long and fatiguing flight. Still, however, that the tor-
pidity of the feathered tribes fhould be folely confined to the fwal-
lows, is a very fingular fact in the hiftory of Nature. Among qua-

drupeds,

* Philofoph. Tranfact. vol. §3. pag. Tol. art. 24.
+ Pennant’s Britith Zoology, vol. 2. pag. 250. 8vo edit.
4 Ibid. 251.

480 THE PHILOSOPHY

drupeds, there are many fpecies who lie in a dormant or torpid ftate
during winter. But, if the fwallow be excepted, not a fingle fpecies
of birds, notwithftanding the great numbers which, at ftated times,
appear and difappear in every corner of the globe, has ever been dif-
covered in that ftate. This circumftance alone, though we cannot
yet afcertain the precife places to which different fpecies of birds of
paffage refort, is a moft convincing proof of migration in general.

It has been afferted, and even believed, by fome naturalifts, that
fwallows pafs the winter immerfed under the ice, at the bottom of
lakes, or beneath the waters of the fea. Olaus Magnus, Archbifhop
of Upfal, feems to have been the firft who adopted this opinion. He
informs us, that fwallows are found in great clufters at the bottoms
of the northern lakes, with mouth to mouth, wiag to wing, foot to.
foot, and that in autumn they creep down the reeds to their fubter-
raneous retreats *. * That the good Archbifhop,’ Mr Pennant arch-
ly remarks, ‘ did not want credulity in other inftances, appears from
‘ this, that, after having ftocked the bottoms of the lakes with birds,
* he ftores the clouds with mice, which fometimes fall in plentiful
© fhowers on Norway and the neighbouring countries!’ Klein has
endeavoured to fupport the notion that fwallows lie under water du-
ring the winter, and gives the following account of their manner of
retiring, which he collected from fome countrymen: They afferted,
he tells us, that the fwallows fometimes affembled in numbers on a
reed till it broke and funk them to the bottom: That their immer-
fion was preceded by a kind of dirge, which lafted-more than a
quarter of an hour: That others united, laid hold of a ftraw with
their bills, and plunged down in fociety: That others, by clinging
together with their feet, formed a large mafs, and in this manner
committed themfelves to the deep f.

Two

* Derham’s Phyf.-Theol. pag. 349.

+ Klein Prod. Hift. Avium, pag. 205.— 206.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 481

Two reafons feem to render this fuppofed fubmerfion of fwallows
tmpofible. In the firft place, no land-animal can exift fo long
without fome degree of refpiration, The otter, the feal, and water-
fowls of all kinds, when confined under the ice, or entangled in
nets, foon perith ; yet itis well known, that animals of this kind
can remain much longer under water than thofe who are deftitute
of that peculiar ftructure of the heart which is necefiary for any
confiderable refidence beneath that penetrating element. Mr John
Hunter, in a letter to Mr Pennant, informs us, ‘ That he had dif-
© feGted many {wallows, but found nothing in them different from
other birds as to the organs of refpiration: That all thofe animals
* which he had difleCted-of the clafs that fleep during winter, fuch
as lizards, frogs, &c. had a very different conformation as to thofe

a“

*

organs: That all thofe animals, he believes, do breathe in their
torpid ftate; and, as far as his experience reaches, he knows they
¢ do; and that, therefore, he efteems it a very wild opinion, that
terreftrial animals can remain. any long time under water without

-

© drowning.’ Another argument againft their fubmerfion arifes from
the fpecific gravity of the animals themfelves. Of all birds, the
{wallow tribes are perhaps the lighteft. Their plumage, and the
comparative fmallnefs of their weight, indicate that Nature deftined
. them to be almoft perpetually on the wing in queft of food. From
this fpecific lightnefs, the fubmerfion of fwallows, and their conti-
nuing for months under water, amount toa phyfical impoflibility.
Even water-fowls, when they wih to dive, are obliged to rife and
plunge with confiderable exertion, in order to overcome the refiftence
of the water. Klein’s idea of {wallows employing reeds and flraws as
means of {ubmerfion is rather ludicrous; for thefe light fubftances,
inftead of being proper inftruments for affifting them to reach the
bottom, would infallibly contribute to fupport them on the furface,
and prevent the very object of their intention. . Befides, admitting
the poffibility of their reaching the bottom of lakes and feas, and

t aS fuppofing

482 THE PHILOSOPHY

fuppofing they could exift for feveral months without refpiration,
What would be the confequence? —The whole would foon be de-
voured by otters, feals, and fifhes of various kinds. Nature is ale
ways anxious for the prefervation of fpecies. But, if the {wallow
tribes were deftined to remain torpid, during the winter months, at
the bottom of lakes and feas, fhe would ac in oppofition to her own
intentions; for, in a feafon or two, the whole genus would be an=
nihilated. ©

Mr White of Selborne has favoured us with the following infor-
mation concerning the migration of {wallows: ‘ If ever I faw,’ fays
he, ‘ any thing like aétual migration, it was laft Michaelmas day,
‘ 1768. I was travelling, and out early in the morning: At firft
there was a vaft fog; but, by the time that I was got feven or
eight miles from home towards the coaft, the fun broke out into a
delicate warm day. We were then on a large heath or common,
and I could difcern, as the mift began to break away, great num-=
bers of {wallows cluftering on the ftinted fhrubs and buthes, as if
they had roofted there all night. As foon as the air became clear
and pleafant, they all were on the wing at once, and, by a placid
and eafy flight, proceeded on fouthward towards the fea: After
this I did not fee any more flocks, only now and then a ftraggler.
When I ufed to rife in a morning laft autumn, and fee the fwal-
lows and martins cluftering on the chimneys and thatch of the
neighbouring cottages, I could not help being touched with fecret
delight, mixed with fome degree of mortification: With delight,
to obferve with how much ardour and punctuality thofe poor lit-
tle birds obeyed the flrong impulfe towards migration, or hiding,
imprinted on their minds by their great Creator; and with fome
degree of mortification, when I reflected, that, after all our pains
and inquiries, we are yet not quite certain to what regions they

* do

a

oe

a

a

o

e

”

6

a Le eo! a

alc

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 483

do migrate; and are ftill farther embarraffed to find, that fome do
not actually migrate at all *.’

In another part of his work, Mr White fays: ‘ But we mutt not
deny migration in general; becaufe migration certainly does fub-
fift in fome places, as my brother in 4ndalufia has fully informed
me. Of the motions of thefe birds he has ocular demonftration,
for many weeks together, both {pring and fall: During which pe-
riods, myriads of the. fwallow kind traverfe the Straits from north
to fouth, and from fouth to north, according to the feafon. And
thefe vaft migrations confift not only of Airudines (fwallows), but
of bee-birds, hoopoes, oropendulos, or golden thrufbes, &c. &c. and
alfo many of our /oft billed fummer birds of paffage ; and, more-
over, of birds which never leave us, fuch as all the various forts of
hawks and kites. Old Belon, two hundred years ago, gives a cu-
rious account of the incredible armies of hawks and kites, which
he faw in the fpring-time traverfing the Thracian Bofphorus from
Afia to Europe. Befides the above mentioned, he remarks, that
the proceffion is fwelled by whole troops of eagles and vultures f.”

Mr White likewife, with much propriety, remarks, that our in-

quiries concerning the migration of birds have been too much con~
fined to the fwallow tribes; while little attention has been paid to
the thort-winged birds of paflage, fuch as quails, red-ftarts, nightin-
gales, white-throats, black-caps, &c. All thefe, though feemingly
ill qualified for long flights, difappear in the winter, and not one of
them, notwithftanding their immenfe numbers, has ever been found
in a torpid ftate.

a7 2 To

* White’s Natural Hiftory of Selborne, pag. 64.—65-

+ Ibid. pag. 139.

484:

THE PHILOSOPHY

To mark the times of the arrival and departure of birds of paf=
fae in different countries, and in different diftri€ts of the fame coun-
tries, and the probable motives arifing from the ftate of the country
with regard to heat and cold, and to that of the food peculiar to each

kind, would throw much light upon the hiftory of migration.

To

Mr White of Selborne we are obliged for the following lifts of birds
of paflage which he has obferved in his neighbourhood. Thefe lifts
are arranged nearly in the order of time.

Lift of Summer Birds of Paffage.

Names.
. Wryneck,
. Smalleft willow- wren,
- Houfe-fwallow,
. Martin,
Sand-martin,;
. Black-cap,
. Nightingale,
. Cuckoo,
g. Middle willow- wren,
10. White-throat,
ir. Red-ftart,
12, Stone-curlew,
13. Furtle-dove,
Grafshopper lark,
15. Swift,
16. Lefs reed-f{parrow,.

CY AnHPRPwWR

17. Land-rail,
18. Largeft willow-wren,
19. Goat-fucker, or fern-owl,

20, Fly-catcher,

Ufually appear about:
Middle of March.
March 23.
April 13.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Beginning of April.
Middle of April.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.

End of March.

Middle of April.
April 27.

End of April.
Beginning of May.
May 12. This is the lateft fum-

mer bird of paflage.
Moft

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 485

Moft foft-billed birds feed upon infeéts, and not on grain or feeds;
and, therefore, they retire before winter. But the following foft-
billed birds, though they eat infects, remain with us during the
whole year; fuch as the red-breaft and wren, who frequent out-
houfes and gardens during the winter, and eat fpiders, &c.; the
hedge-{parrow, who frequents finks for crumbs and other fweep-
ings ; the white wagtail, the yellow wagtail, and the gray wagtail,
who frequent fhallow rivulets near the {pring heads, where the wa-
ter feldom freezes, and feed upon the aureliae of infeéts; the wheat=
ear, fome of which are to be feen during the winter, &c..

Lift of Winter Birds of Paffage im the neighbourhood of Selborne.

1. The ring-oufel. This bird appears about Michaelmas week,
and is a new migration lately difcovered by Mr White.

z. The red-wing, or wind-thrufh, appears in Britain about old
Michaelmas. They come in great flocks from the frozen regions of
the north.

3. Field-fare. Thefe birds vifit Britain in immenfe numbers
about Michaelmas, and depart about the end of February, or the
beginning of March. They pafs the fummer in the northern parts
of Europe, and likewife in Lower Auftria *, They breed in the
largeft trees, feed on berries of all kinds f, but prefer thofe of the
juniper. It is probable that the field-fares which migrate into Bri-
tain come from Norway and the northern regions of Europe, be-

caufe

* Kramer Elench. pag. 361. :

+ Linn. Faun. Suec. fp. 78:

486 THE PHILOSOPHY

caufe we find that they both breed and winter in Pruffia, Auftria *,
and the more temperate climates.

4. The Royfton-crow, or hooded crow of our countryman Sir
Robert Sibbald, is likewife a bird of paffage. It vifits us in the be-
ginning of winter, and departs with the wood-cocks. They frequent
the inland as well as the maritime parts of Britain. When near the
coafts, they feed upon crabs, mufcles, and other fhell-fithes. They
breed in Sweden, build their nefts in trees, and lay four eggs tT.
They likewife breed in the fouthern parts of Germany, and parti-
cularly on the banks of the Danube f.

5. The wood-cock appears in this country about old Michaelmas,
During the fummer, wood-cocks inhabit the Alps ||, Norway, Swe=-
den §, and the northern parts of Europe. From thefe countries they
retire as foon as the froft commences, which obliges them to migrate
into milder climates, where the foil is open, and more adapted to
their mode of feeding; for they live on worms, which they fearch
for with their long bills in foft and moift grounds in the midft of
woods. Wood-cocks, taking the advantage of the night, or of fog-
gy weather, arrive here in flocks: But they foon feparate; and,
before returning to their fummer quarters, they pair. They fly and
feed during the night. They begin their flight in the evening, and
return to their retreats in the glades when day commences. They
depart from Britain about the end of February or the beginning of
March. Some of them, however, like the ftraggling fwallows,
have been known to breed, and to remain here during the whole

year

* Klein Hift. Avium. pag. 178.

+ Linn. Faun. Suec. fp. 88.

+ Kramer, pag. 333.

|| Willoughby’s Ornithology, pag. 290.

§ M. de Geer’s and Dr Wallerius’s letters to Mr Pennant.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 487

year *, It is likewife known that wood-cocks migrate from France,
Germany, and Italy, and that they make choice of cold northern
climates for their fummer refidence. About the end of Odober they
vifit Burgundy, but remain there four or five weeks only ; becaufe
it is a dry country, and, on the firft frofts, they are obliged to retire
for want of fuftenance. In the winter, they are found as far fouth
as Smyrna, Aleppo ft, and Barbary {. They are even very com-
mon in Japan ||.

6. The fnipe. Snipes are enrolled as birds of paffage by Mr
White, though he acknowledges that fome of them conftantly breed
in England. ‘ In winter,’ Mr Pennant remarks, ‘ f{nipes are very
* frequent in all our marfhy and wet grounds, where they lie con-
* cealed in the rufhes, &c. In the fummer, they difperfe to diffe-
rent parts, and are found in the midft of our higheft mountains,
as well as our low moors. Their neft is made of dried grafs,
* They lay four eggs of a dirty olive colour, marked with dufky
‘ fpots. Their young are fo often found in England, that we doubt
§ whether they ever entirely leave this ifland §,’

¢

7. The jack-fnipe. This bird, which is very common in Scot-
land, and frequents the banks of rivers and lakes, is ranked by Mr
White as a winter bird of paflage, without mentioning either the
time of its arrival or departure ; and Mr Pennant is entirely filent on
the fubje& **,

8. The

* Pennant’s Britifh Zoology, vol. 2. pag. 349. 8vo.

+ Ruffel’s Hiftory of Aleppo, pag. 64.

+ Shaw’s Travels, pag. 253.

|| Kaempfer’s Hift. Japan. vol. 1. pag. 129.

§ Pennant’s Britifh Zoology, vol. 2. pag. 358. 8vo.

** White’s Natural Hiftory of Selborne, pag. 117.3 and Pennant’s Britifh Zoolo-

27 vol. 2. pag. 359. 8vo.

488 - TOL E 62H LLYO ShO;Per fY.

8, The wood-pigeon. Mr White, without mentioning either the
time of their appearing or difappearing, tells us, that ‘ they feldom
* appear till late; nor in fuch plenty as formerly *.’

g. The wild-fwan. During hard winters, this bird frequents the
coafts of Britain in large flocks; but, from any information we have
been able to obtain, it does not breed in our ifland: Martin, in his
Hiftory of the Hebrides, or Weftern Ifles }, informs us, that wild
fwans arrive in great numbers in Lingey, one of the Hebrides, in the
month of O@ober, and remain there till March, when they retire
more northward to breed. For this purpofe, the fwans, like moft
other water-fowls, prefer fuch places as are leaft frequented by man-
kind. During fummer, the lakes, marfhes, and forefts of Lapland
are filled with myriads of water-fowls. In that northern region,
{wans, geefe, the duck tribe, goofanders, divers, Sc. pafs the fum-
mer; but in autumn they return to us, and to other more hofpitable
fhores {.

10. The wild-goofe. The wild geefe, it is probable, breed in the
retired regions of the north, They arrive here in the beginning of
winter, and frequently feed on our corn grounds. They fly at a
great heighth, and obferve regularity in their movements. They
fometimes form a flraight line; and, at others, they aflume the fhape
of a wedge, which facilitates their progrefs through the refifting air,

With regard to the wild-duck, pochard, wigeon, and teal, though
Mr White places them in the lift of birds of paffage, he does not
mention either the times of their arrival or departure. Though it

be

* White’s Natural Hiftory of Selborne, pag. 117.
+ Defeription of the Weftern Ifles, pag. 71.

j Linn. Flora Lapponica, pag. 273- Ocuvres de Maupertuis, tom. 3. pag. 141

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 489

be probable that moft of the duck-kind migrate, yet it is certain,
that fome individuals of different {pecies of them breed in this coun-
try, and continue in it during the whole year. As to the duck-
kind in general, Mr Pennant remarks: ‘ Of the numerous fpecies
* that form this genus, we know of no more than five that breed
‘here. The tame fwan and tame goofe, the Shield duck, the eider
* duck, and a very {mall portion of the wild ducks, The reft con-
tribute to form that amazing multitude of water fowl that annu-
ally repair from moft parts of Europe to the woods and lakes of
Lapland, and other Arétic regions *, there to perform the func-
tions of incubation and nutrition in full fecurity. They and their

6
¢

* young quit their retreat in September, and difperfe themfelves over
‘ Europe. With us they make their appearance the beginning of
* O&ober, circulate firft round our fhores, and, when compelled by
* fevere froft, betake themfelves to our lakes and rivers ,’

In winter, the bernacles, or brent-ducks, appear in vaft flocks on
the north-weft coafts of Britain, They are very thy and wild; but,
when taken, they foon grow as familiar as our domeftic ducks. They
leave the Britith fhores in February, and migrate as far as Lapland,
Greenland, and even Spitfbergen {.

The folan-geefe, or gannets, are likewife birds of paflage. They
frequent the ifle of Ailfay, near the Frith of Clyde; the rocks adja~
cent to St Kilda, the moft remote of the Hebrides; the Skelig ifles,
off the coaft of Kerry ; and the Bafs ifle in the Frith of Forth. The
multitudes which frequent thefe places are prodigious. To give an

} grQo idea

* Collect. Voyag. Dutch Eaft India Company, 8vo, 1703. pag. 19. Clufii Exot.
pag. 368.

+ Pennant’s Britifh Zoology, vol. 2. pag. 5§19.—520.

t Linn. Amoen, Acad. tom. 4. pag. 585. Barent’s Voyage, pag. 10.

490 FPHESPHIEOSOPH ¥

idea of their numbers, the reader will not be difpleafed to fee Dr
Harvey’s fhort account of the Bafs. ‘ There is a fmall ifland in the
Frith of Forth, called the Ba/s land, which does not exceed a
mile in circumference. The furface of this ifland, during the

ws

n

months of May and June, is fo entirely covered with nefts, eggs,
and young birds, that it is fcarcely poflible to walk without tread-

ing onthem. The flocks of birds on the wing are fo prodigious,

that they darken the air like clouds, and their noife is fo great,
that a man cannot without difficulty hear his neighbour’s voice.
If, from the top of the precipice, you look down upon the fea,
you will fee it on every fide covered with infinite numbers of
birds of different kinds, fwimming about and hunting for their
prey. When failing round the ifland, if you furvey the hanging

ad

-

a

oe

*

cliffs, you will perceive, in every cragg, or fiflure of the rocks, in-
numerable birds of various kinds, more than the ftars of heaven

o

-

in a ferene night. If you view the diftant flocks, either flying to

a

or from the ifland, -you will imagine them to be a vaft fwarm of
‘ bees *,” The rocks of St Kilda feem to be equally frequented by
folan geefe ; for Martin, in his defcription of the Hebrides, informs
us, that the inhabitants of this {mall ifland confume annually no lefs
than 22,600 young birds of this fpecies, befide an amazing number
of their eggs. The folan geefe and their eggs conftitute the chief
food of thefe iflanders. They preferve both the fowls and the eggs
in {mall pyramidal ftone buildings, which, to prote& the food from
moifture, they cover with the afhes of turf. The folan geefe are
birds of paffage. Their firft appearance is in March, and they con-
tinue till Auguft or September. But, in general, the times of their
breeding and departure feem to coincide with the arrival of the her-
ring, and the migration of that fifth from our coafts. It is more than
probable that thefe birds attend the herrings and pilchards during their
whole

* Harvey de Generat. Animal. Exercit. 11.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 491

whole circuit round the Britifh iflands; for the appearance of the
folan geefe is always efteemed by the fifhermen as a certain prefage
of the approach of the herrings or pilchards, In queft of food, thefe
birds migrate as far fouth as the mouth of the Tagus; for they are
frequently feen off Lifbon during the month of December. :

The crofs-beak, the crofs-bill, and the filk-tail, are likewife enu-
merated by Mr White as birds of paflage. ‘ But thefe,’ fays he,
* are only wanderers that appear occafionally, and are not obfervant

* of any regular migration *,’

The long-legged plover, and fanderling, vifit us in winter on-
ly; and it is worthy of remark, that every fpecies of the curlews,
wood-cocks, fand-pipers, and plovers t, which forfake us in the
fpring, retire to Sweden, Polland, Pruffia, Norway, and Lapland,
both to feed and to breed. They return to us as foon as the
young are able to fly ; becaufe the frofts, which fet in early in thefe
countries, totally deprive them of the means of fubfiftance. For
the fame reafon they leave us in fummer, as the drynefs and hard-
nefs of the ground prevent them from penetrating the earth with
their bills in queft of worms, which conftitute the natural food of
thefe birds.

From the faéts which have been enumerated, and from
others of a fimilar nature, it is evident, that many birds, both of the
land and water kinds, migrate from one climate to another. But,
even in the fame climate and country, birds occafionally perform
partial migrations. During hard winters, when the furface of the
earth is covered with fnow, many birds, as larks, fnipes, &c. retire

7 Qa from

* White’s Natural Hiftory of Selborne, pag. 118.
+ Linn. Amoen, Acad. tom. 4. pag. 588. Klein de Avium Migrat. pag. 187.

492 THE PHILOSOPHY

from the iuland parts of the country to the fea-fhores, where they
pick up afcanty fubfiftance. Others, as the wren, the red-breaft,
and many of the fmall birds, or fparrow-kind, refort to gardens, and
the habitations of men. Their intention, it is obvious, is to procure
food and fhelter.

There are three principal obje&ts of migration: Food, tempera-
ture of air, and convenient fituations for breeding. Such birds as
migrate to great diftances are alone denominated dirds of paffage.
But all birds are, in fome meafure, birds of paflage, though they do
not migrate to places fo remote from their former abodes. At par-
ticular times of the year, moft birds migrate from one county to
another, or from the more inland diftri€ts toward the fhores. Thefe
partial migrations of fmall birds are well known to bird-catchers,
who make a livelihood by enfnaring them into their nets, and fell-
ing them. The birds fly, as the bird-catchers term it, about the end
of September, and during the months of Oétober and November,
There is another, but lefs confiderable, flight in March. Some begin
their flight annually about Michaelmas; others, as the wood-larks,
fucceed, and continue their flight till the middle of OGober; but
the green-finch does not migrate till the froft obliges it to remove in
queft of food and fhelter. Thefe partial migrations, or flittings, are
performed from day-break till noon, Another, but fmaller, flight
commences at two o’clock, and continues till night approaches, The
times when particular birds migrate from one fituation to another
are well known to the bird-catchers, who, by means of call-birds,
nets, and other devices, feize great numbers of them, and, after ac-
euftoming them for fome time to reftraint and flavery, fell them, for
confiderable prices, to curious men and whimfical women. A dili=
gent attention to thefe partial migrations, and their motives, would
foon unfold the caufes of thofe of a more extenfive kind.

Migration

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 493

Migration is generally fuppofed to be peculiar to the feathered
tribes. This is a limited idea, which has originated from inattention
to the oeconomy of Nature. Birds migrate with a view to remedy
the inconveniencies of their prefent fituation, and to acquire a more
commodious ftation with regard to food, temperature, generation,
and fhelter. From fimilar motives, men, fometimes in amazing
multitudes, have migrated from north to fouth, difplaced the native
inhabitants, and fixed eftablifhments in more comfortable climates
than thofe which they had relinquifhed. Thefe, in their turn, have
fallen victims to frefh and barbarous emigrants. Among the inha-
bitants of the more northern nations, as Norway, Sweden, Scotland,
&c. notwithftanding a very ftrong attachment to their native coun-
tries, there feems to be a natural or inftinctive propenfity to migrate.
Poverty, the rigour of climate, curiofity, ambition, the falfe repre-
fentations of interefted individuals, the oppreflion of feudal barons,
and fimilar circumftances, have of late given rife to great emigra~ -
tions of the human fpecies. But, it is worthy of remark, that the
emigrations from fouth to north, except from the love of conqueft
in ambitious nations, are fo rare, that the inftin& feems hardly to
exift in thofe more fortunate climates. Curiofity is a general inftinc-
tive principle, which operates ftrongly in the youthful periods of
life, and ftimulates every man to vifit places that are diftant from
his ordinary refidence. This innate defire is influenced by the rela-
tions of travellers, and by many other incentives of a more inter-
efted kind. Without the principle of migration, mankind, it is pro-
bable, would never have been fo univerfally diffufed over the fur-
face of the earth. It is counterbalanced, however, by attachment
to thofe countries which gave us birth, a principle ftill more power-
ful and efficient. Love of our native country is fo ftrong, that, af-
ter gratifying the migrating principle, almoft every man feels a long-
ing defire to return,

Savages,

494 THE PHILOSOPHY

Savages, as long as their ftore of food remains unexhaufted, con-
tinue in a liftlefs inaGtive ftate. They exhauft many days fitting in
perfect indolence, and feem not to be prompted by any motives of
curiofity, They have not a conception of a man’s walking either
for amufement or exercife. But, when their provifions begin to
fail, an aftonifhing reverfe takes place. They then roufe as from a
profound fleep. In queft of wild beafts, birds, and fifhes, they mi-
grate to immenfe diftances, exert the greateft feats of activity, and
undergo incredible hardfhips and fatigue. After acquiring a ftore
of provifions, they return to their wonted haunts, and remain inac=-
tive till their food again begins to fail.

Quadrupeds likewife perform partial migrations. At the approach
of winter, the ftag, the rein-deer, and the roebuck, leave the tops of
the lofty mountains, and come down to the plains and copfes. Their:
chief objets, in thefe flittings, are food and fhelter. When fummer
commences, they are harraffed with different fpecies of winged in~
feéts, and, to avoid thefe enemies, they regain the fummits of the
mountains, where the cold and the heighth of the fituation protect
them from the attacks of the flies. In Norway, and the mcre nor-
thern regions of Europe, the oxen, during the winter,: migrate to
the fhores of the fea, where they feed upon fea-plants and the bones
of fithes ; and Pontoppidan remarks, that the cattle know by infting
when the tide retires, and leaves thefe articles of food upon the
fhore. In Orkney and Shetland, the fheep in winter, for the fame
purpofes, uniformly repair to the fhore at the ebbing of the tides.
Rats, particulaily thofe of the northern regions of Europe, appear,
from time to time, in fuch myriads, that the inhabitants of Norway
and Lapland imagine the animals fall from heaven. The celebrated
Linnaeus, who paid great attention to the oeconomy of thefe migra-
ting rats, remarked, that they appeared in Sweden periodically
every eighteen or twenty years. When about to migrate, they leave

their

OF NATURAL HISTORY. . 495

their wonted abodes, and affemble together in numbers inconceivable.
In the courfe of their journey, they make tracks in the earth of two
inches in depth; and thefe tracks fometimes occupy a breadth of
feveral fathoms, What is fingular, the rats, in their march, uni-
formly purfue a ftraight line, unlefs they are forced to turn afide by
fome unfurmountable obftacle. If they meet with a rock, they firft
try to pierce it, and, after difcovering the attempt to be impradti-
cable, they go round it, and then refume the ftraight line. Even a
lake does not interrupt their paflage; for they either traverfe it in a
ftraight line or perifh in the attempt; and, if they meet with a bark
or other veflel, they do not alter their direGtion, but climb up the
one fide of it and defcend by the other,

Frogs, immediately after their transformation from the tadpole
ftate, leave the water, and migrate to the meadow or marfhy
grounds in queft of infe&s. The numbers of young frogs which
fuddenly make their appearance in the plains induced Rondeletius,
and many other naturalifts, to imagine that they were generated in
the clouds and fhowered down upon the earth. But if, like the
worthy and intelligent Mr Derham, they had examined the fitua-
tion.of the place with regard to ftagnating waters, and attended to
the nature and transformation of the animals, they would foon have
difcovered the real caufe of the phenomenon.

Of all migrating animals, particular kinds of fifhes make the
longeft journies, and in the greateft numbers. The multiplication
of the fpecies, and the procuring of food, are the principal motives
of the migration of fithes. The falmon, a fifh which makes regu-
Jar migrations, frequents the northern regions alone. It is unknown
in the Mediterranean fea, and in the rivers which fall into it both
from Europe and Africa, It is found in fome of the rivers of France

that

496 THE PHILOSOPHY

that empty themfelves into the ocean *, Salmons are taken in the
rivers of Kamtfchatka t, and appear as far north as Greenland.
Salmons live both in the ocean and in frefh waters. For the pur-
pofe of depofiting their fpawn, they quit the fea in the month of
September, and afcend the rivers. So ftrong is the inftin& of mi-
grating, that they prefs up the rivers with amazing keennefs, and
fcarcely any obftacle is fufficient to interrupt their progrefs. They
fpring, with great agility, over cataracts of feveral feet in heighth.
In their leaps, they fpring ftraight up with a ftrong tremulous mo-
tion, and do not, as has been vulgarly fuppofed, put their tails in
their mouths. When they find a place which they think proper
for depofiting their eggs, the male and female unite their labours in
forming a convenient receptacle for the {pawn in the fand, which is
generally about eighteen inches deep. In this hole the female de-
pofits her eggs, and the male his milt, which they are faid to cover
carefully with their tails; for, after {fpawning, their tails are depri-
ved of fkin. The eges, when not difturbed by violent floods, lie
buried in the fand till the fpring, and they are hatched about the
end of March. The parents, however, after this important office
has been performed, haften back to the fea, in order to cleanfe them-
felves, and to recover their ftrength. ‘Toward the end of March,
the young fry begin to appear, and they gradually increafe in fize
till they acquire the length of four or five inches, and are then called
Jinelts, or fmoults t. About the beginning of May, all the confide-
rable rivers of Scotland are full of falmon-fry. After this period,
they migrate to the fea. -About the middle of June, the earlieft of
the fry begin to appear again in the rivers. At that time they are

from

* Rondelet. de Fluviat. pag. 167.
+ Hift. Kamtfchatka, pag. 143-

+ See an Account of the Salmon Fifhery on the River Tweed, communicated to
Mr Pennant by Mr Potts, Brit. Zool. vol. 3. pag. 241. 8vo edit.

OF NATURAL HISTORY, 497

from twelve to fixteen inches long, and gradually augment, both in
number and fize, till about the end of July or the beginning of Au-
guft, when they weigh from fix to nine pounds. This is a very ra-
pid growth. But a gentleman of credit at Warrington informed
Mr Pennant of a growth ftill more rapid. A falmon, weighing fe-
ven pounds and three quarters, was taken on the feventh day of Fe-
bruary. It was marked on the back, fin, and tail, with fciflars, and
then turned into the river. It was retaken on the 17th day of the
following month of March, and then it weighed feventeen pounds
and ahalf. The feafon for fifhing falmon in the Tweed begins on
the 30th of November, and ends on old Michaelmas day. In that
fingle river, it is computed that no lefs than 208000, at a medium,
_-are annually caught, which, together with the produdts of many
other rivers on both fides of Scotland, not only afford a wholefome
and palatable food to the inhabitants, but form no inconfiderable
article of commerce.

Herrings are likewife a@tuated by the migrating principle. Thefe
fithes are chiefly confined to the northern and temperate regions of
the globe. They frequent the higheft latitudes, and are fometimes
found on the northern coafts of France. They appear in vaft thoals
on the coaft of America, as far fouth as Carolina. In Chefapeak
Bay there is an annual inundation of herrings; and Mr Catefby in-
forms us, that they cover the fhores in fuch amazing numbers as to
become offenfive to the inhabitants. The great winter rendezvous
of the herrings is within, or near, the Arctic Circle, where they re-
main feveral months, and acquire ftrength after being weakened by
the fatigues of {pawning, and of a long migration. In thefe feas,
infe& food is much more abundant than in warmer latitudes. They
begin their migration fouthward in the fpring, and appear off the
Shetland iflands in the months of April and May. Thefe, however,
are only the forerunners of the immenfe fhoal which arrives in June.

tT gh Their

498 THE *PHELOS O-P/ ¥

Their approach is recognifed by particular figns, fuch as the appear-
ance of certain fifhes, the vaft number of birds, as gannets or
folan geefe, which follow the fhoal to prey upon the herrings, -But,
when the main body arrives, its breadth and depth are fo great as to
change the appearance of the ocean itfelf. The fhoal is generally
divided into columns of five or fix miles in length, and three or four
in breadth. Their progreflive motion creates a kind of rippling or
fmall undulations in the water. They fometimes fink and difappear
for ten or fifteen minutes, and then rife again toward the furface.
When the fun fhines, a variety of fplendid and beautiful colours are
reflected from their bodies. In their progrefs fouthward, the firft
interruption they meet with is from the Shetland iflands. Here the
fhoal divides into two branches. One branch fkirts the eaftern, and
the other the weftern fhores of Great Britain, and fill every bay and
creek with their numbers. Thofe which proceed to the weft from
Shetland, after vifiting the Hebrides, where the great fifhery is car=
ried on, move on till they are again interrupted by the north of Ire-
land, which obliges them to divide a fecond time. One divifion
takes to the weft, where they are fcarcely perceived, being foon loft
in the immenfity of the Atlantic Ocean. The other divifion goes.
into the Irifh Sea, and affords nourifhment to many thoufands of
the human race. The chief object of herrings migrating fouthward
is to depofit their fpawn in warmer and more hallow feas than thofe
of the Frigid Zone. This inftin@ feems not to be prompted bya
fearcity of food; for, when they arrive upon our coafts, they are
fat and in fine condition; but, when returning to the ocean, they
are weak and emaciated. They continue in perfection from the end
of June to the beginning of winter, when they begin to depofit their
fpawn. The great ftations of the herring fifheries are off the Shet-
land and the weftern iflands, and along the coaft of Norfolk.

Befide

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 499

Befide falmons and herrings, there are many fifhes which obferve
a regular migration, as mackerels, lampreys, pilchards, &c; About
the middle of July, the pilchards, which are a fpecies of herrings,
though fmaller, appear in vaft fhoals off the coafts of Cornwall.
When winter approaches, like the herrings, they retire to the Arc-
tic feas. Though fo nearly allied to the herring, it is not incurious
to remark, that the pilchards, in their migration for the purpofe of
fpawning, choofe a warmer latitude; for, off the coafts of Britain,
the great fhoals never appear farther north than the county of Corn-
‘wal and the Scilly iflands. Dr Borlafe, in his hiftory of Cornwal,
gives the following account of the pilchard fifhery: ‘It employs,’
fays he, * a great number of men on the fea, training them thereby
© to naval affairs; employs men, women, and children, at land, in

falting, prefling, wafhing, and cleaning, in making boats, nets,

ay

ropes, cafks, and all the trades depending on their conftruction and
fale. The poor is fed with the offals of the captures, the land with
the refufe of the fith and falt; the merchant finds the gains of
commiffion and honeft commerce, the fifherman the gains of the
fifh. Ships are often freighted hither with falt, and into foreign
countries with the fith, carrying off, at the fame time, part of our
tin. The ufual produce of the number of hogfheads exported
each year, for ten years, from 1747 to 1756 inclufive, from the
four ports of Tawy, Falmouth, Penzance, and St Ives, it appears,
that Tawy has exported yearly 1732 hogfheads; Falmouth, 14631
hogtheads and two-thirds; Penzance and Mounts-Bay, 12149
hogfheads and one-third ; St Ives, 1282 hogfheads: In all amount-
ing to 29795 hogfheads. Every hogfhead, for ten years laft paft,

-

Lad

a

a

together with the bounty allowed for each hogfhead exported, and
the oil made out of each hogfhead, has amounted, one year with

another at an average, to the price of one pound thirteen fhillings

a

and three pence; fo that the cafh paid for pilchards exported has,

a

at a medium, annually amounted to the fum of L. 49532: 10:0.
3 R2

500 EPHELPH LL OoOs OPH YX

Of the land-crab there are feveral {pecies. The migration of what
is called the violet land-crab deferves fome notice. It inhabits the
warmer regions of Europe: But its particular refidence is in the
tropical climates of Africa and America. Land-crabs generally fre-
quent the mountainous parts of the country, which are, of courfe,
moft remote from the fea. They inhabit the hollows of old trees,
the clefts of rocks, and holes which they themfelves dig in the earth.
They are extremely numerous. In the months of April and May,
they leave their retreats in the mountains, and march in millions to
the fea-fhore, At this period the whole ground is covered with
them; and a man can hardly put down his foot without treading
on them *. The obje& of their migration is to depofit their fpawn
on the fea-fhore, In their progrefs towards the fea, like the nor-
thern rats, the land-crabs move ina ftraight line. Even when a
houfe intervenes, inftead of deviating to the right or left, they at-
tempt to fcale the walls. But, when they meet with a river, they
are obliged to wind along the courfe of the ftream. In their mi-
gration from the mountains, they obferve the greateft regularity,
and commonly divide into three battalions or bodies. The firft con=
fifts of the flrongeft and boldeft males, who, like pioneers, march
forward to clear the route, and to face the greateft dangers. The
females, who form the main body, defcend from the mountains in
regular columns, which are fifty paces broad, three miles long, and
fo clofe that they almoft entirely cover the ground. Three or four
days afterwards, the rear-guard follows, which confifts of a ftrag-
gling undifciplined troop of males and females. They travel chief-
ly during the night; but, if it rains by day, (for moifture facilitates
their motion), they proceed in their flow uniform manner. When
the fun fhines, and the furface of the ground is dry, they make an
univerfal halt till the evening, and then refume their march. When

alarmed

* Voyage aux Ifles Francoifes par Labat, tom. 2. pag. 221.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 50%

alarmed with danger, they run backward in a diforderly manner,
and hold up their nippers in a threatening pofture. They even feem
to intimidate their enemies; for, when difturbed, they make a clat- ©
tering noife with their nippers. But, though they endeavour to ren=
der themfelves formidable to their enemies, they are cruel to each
other. When an individual, by any accident, is fo maimed that he
cannot proceed, his companions immediately devour him, and then
purfue their journey. After a fatiguing and tedious march, which
fometimes continues three months before they reach the fhore, they
prepare themfelves for depofiting their fpawn. The eggs ftill remain
in the bodies of the animals, and are not excluded, as ufual to this
genus, under the tail. To facilitate the maturation and exclufion of
the eggs, the land-crabs no fooner arrive on the fhore, than they ap-
proach to the margin of the fea, and allow the waves to pafs feve-
ral times over their bodies. They immediately retire to the land;
the eggs, in the mean time, come nearer to maturity, and the ani-
mals once more go to the water, depofit their eggs, and leave the
event to Nature. The bunches of fpawn are fometimes as large as
a hen’s egg; and it is not incurious to remark, that, at this very pe=
riod, numbers of fifhes of different kinds are anxioufly waiting for
this annual fupply of food. Whether the painful migration of the
land-crabs, or the wonderful inftin& of the fifhes which await their
arrival, in order to devour their fpawn, is the moft aftonifhing faa,
we fhall leave to the confideration of philofophers. The eggs which
efcape thefe voracious fifhes are hatched under the fand. Soon af-
ter, millions of minute crabs are feen leaving the fhore, and migra-
ting flowly toward the mountains. Moft of the old ones, however,
remain in the flat parts of the country till they regain their ftrength..
They dig holes in the earth, the mouths of which they cover with
leaves and mud. Here they throw off their old fhells, remain quite
naked, and almoft without motion for fix days, when they become
fo fat that they are efteemed delicious food. When the new {hell
has

502 THEVA LIO SO RH Y¥

has hardened, the animals, by an inftinétive impulfe, march back to
thofe mountains which they had formerly deferted. In Jamaica,
where they are numerous, the land-crabs are regarded as great deli-
cacies; and they are fo abundant, that the flaves are often fed entire-
ly upon them,

The migrating principle is not confined to men, quadrupeds, birds,
and reptiles: It extends to many of the zn/ec? tribes. Numberlefs
inhabitants of the air pafs the firft ftages of their exiftence in the wa=
ters. There they remain for longer or fhorter periods, according to
the fpecies. Previous to their transformation into chryfalids, they
quit the waters, and come upon dry ground, where they undergo
their amazing change. - Inftead of active water-worms, they dig or
find holes in the earth, where they are converted into chryfalids, or
feemingly inanimated beings, and, in a fhort time, mount into the air
in the form of winged infe€&ts. Similar migrations are to be obfer-
ved among land-infeéts. But migration is not confined to water=
worms. Many fpecies of caterpillars which feed upon the leaves of
trees, fhrubs, and other vegetables, when about to undergo their
transformation, leave their former abodes, defcend from the trees,
and conceal themfelves in the earth. ‘The hiving of bees, when nu-
merous colonies remove in order to eftablifh new fettlements, is an-
other inftance of the migration of infects. Indeed, if we except bees,
wafps, ants, and a few others, moft infe&ts, whether they inhabit the
air, the earth, or the waters, are perfect wanderers, having no fixed
place of refidence. Some of them, as the fpider tribes, build tem-
porary appartments; but, when difturbed, they migrate to another
commodious place, and ereét new habitations.

From the faéts which have been enumerated, it is apparent, that
the principle of migration, or the defire of changing fituations, is
not confined to particular birds, but extends through almoft the

whole

OF NATURAL HISTORY. $03

whole fyftem of animation. Men, quadrupeds, birds, fifhes, reptiles,
infeats, all afford ftriking examples of the migrating principle, From
the fame faéts it is equally apparent, that the general motives for
migrating are fimilar in every clafs of animals. Food, multiplication
of fpecies, and a comfortable temperature of air, are evidently the
chief caufes which induce animals to remove from one place to an-
other, or, what amounts to the fame thing, from one climate to an-
other. Partial emigrations, or emigrations to {mall diftances, are
prompted by the fame inftin&tive motives which induce animals of a
different ftruéture to undertake long and fatiguing excurfions. But,
previous to actual migration, what are the peculiar feelings of diffe-
rent animals, and what fhould ftimulate them to proceed uniformly
in the dire€tion that ultimately leads them to the fituations moft ac-
commodated to their wants and their conftitutions, are myfteries,
with regard to which, like every other part of the oeconomy of Na-
ture, it is the duty of philofophers, inftead of attempting to pufh
their inquiries beyond the bounds of human ability, to obferve a re-
f{pectable filence. ;

, GHAP.

SO4. THE PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER XxXI.

Of the Longevity and Diffolution of Organifed Bodies.

T is a law of Nature, though a melancholy one, that all orga-

nifed bodies fhould be diffolved. The periods of diffolution,
however, are as various as the fpecies, and the intentions of Nature
in producing them,

In the human kind, the brevity of life is regarded as an object of
regret. One half of mankind die-before they arrive at eight years
of age. From that early period to eighty, befide the deftru€tion of
war, and other accidents, Nature kills them annually in millions,
Some inftances may be given of men whofe lives were prolonged
beyond the ufual period of human exiftence. Such men are not to
be envied; nor fhould they be confidered as favourites of Nature.
With refpe& to maturity of judgment, and a knowledge of the
world, no man can be faid to exift till he paffes thirty years of age.
Give him thirty or thirty-five more, and, in general, both mind and
body are vifibly declined. Thofe people, therefore, who arrive at
an extraordinary age may be faid to exift, but they do not live. All
intelleGtual enjoyments and exertions, which conftitute the chief

dignity and happinefs of man, are gone. There are exceptions;
but

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 505

but thefe exceptions are confirmations of what we have advanced.
Mankind, in the early ages of the world, have been faid to live for
feveral centuries. We mean not to contradict the aflertion. But
we muft remark, that, if ever men lived fo long, they muft have
been very different, both in the ftructure of their bodies and in their
manners, from thofe who now exift. From infancy to manhood,
there is a gradual growth or extenfion of our organs, After this.
period, and when we advance in years, the bones harden, the mufcles
turn ftiff, the cartilages are converted into bones, the membranes in-
to cartilages, the ftomach and bowels lofe their tone, and the whole
fabric, inftead of being foft, flexible, and obedient to the inclinations,
or even the commands of the mind, becomes rigid, inactive, and
feeble. Thefe are the general and progreflive caufes of death, and
they are common to all animals, There are modes of living more
favourable to health than others. But examples are not wanting of
men who have arrived at extreme old age, without obferving either
temperance, or any of the other modes of living which are gene-
rally fuppofed to be favourable to longevity. Some men, who lived.
temperately, and even abftemioufly, have reached to great ages:
Others, who obferved the very oppofite condu&t, who lived freely,
and often intemperately, have had their exiftence equally pro-
longed. But, in general, notwithftanding a few exceptions, tem-
perance, a placid and chearful difpofition, moderate exercife, and
proper exertions of mind, contribute, in no uncommon degree, to
-the prolongation of life..

A few examples of longevity in the human fpecies, though no
general conclufions can be drawn from them, may not be incurious
to the reader. We fhall not go back to a remote and obfcure anti-
quity, but confine ourfelves to more modern times, when the modes.
of living were nearly the fame as they are at prefent.

LE t 3 S : On:

506 THE PHILOSOPHY

On this fubject, the celebrated Lord Verulam, in his Sylva Sylva-
rum *, gives the following paflage, chiefly tranflated from the fe-
venth book of Pliny’s Natural Hiftory: ‘ The year of our Lord fe-
* venty-fix, falling into the time of Vefpafian, is memorable; in
© which we fhall find, as it were, a kalendar of long-lived men:
© For that year there was a taxing, (now a taxing is the moft au-
thentical and trueft informer touching the ages of men), and in
* that part of Italy which lieth between the Appennine mountains
* and the river Po, there were found 124 perfons that either equalled
* or exceeded an hundred years of age, namely,

* Fifty-four - - - of 100 years each.
* Fifty-feven - - - +8 fo)

* Two - - . - 125

* Four = - - - - 130

* Four - - - - - 135 Or 137

* Three - - - . 140

* Befide thefe, Parma, in particular, afforded five, whereof,

‘ Three were = - - = 120 years each,
* Two - - - - = 130
© One in Bruxelles = - - 125
* One in Placentia - - - 131
© One in Faventia - - - 132

© A certain town, then called Velleiatium, fituate in the hills about
* Placentia, afforded ten, whereof

* Six were - - - - Ilo years each.
‘ Four - - - - - 120
© One in Rimino, whofe name was Marcus
© Aponius - - - 150.”
The

® Page 293-

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 507

The moft extraordinary inftance of longevity in Great Britain
was exhibited in the perfon of Henry Jenkins. He was a native of
Yorkfhire, lived to the amazing age of 169 years, and died on the
8th day of December 1670.

Next to Jenkins, we have the famous Thomas Parre, who was a
native of Shropfhire, and died on the 16th day of November 1635,
at the age of 152.

Francis Confift, a native of Yorkfhire, aged 150, died in January
1768.

Margaret Forfter, aged 136, and her daughter, aged 104, were
natives of Cumberland, and both alive in the year 1771,

William Evans, aged 145, lived in Carnarvon, and ftill exifted in
the year 1782.

Dumiter Radaloy, aged 140, lived in Harmenftead, and died on
the 16th day of January 1782.

—

James Bowels, aged 152, lived in Kilingworth, and died on the
15th day of Auguft 1656.

The Countefs of Defmond, in Ireland, faw her 140th year.

Mr Eclefton, a native of Ireland, lived to the age of 143, and
died in the year 1691.

John Mount, a native of Scotland, faw his 136th year, and died
on the 27th day of February 1776.

25 3 William

508 THE PHILOSOPHY

William Ellis of Liverpool died on the 16th day of Auguft 1780,
at the age of 130.

Colonel Thomas Winfloe, a native of Ireland, aged 146, died on
the 22d day of Auguft 1766.

John Taylor was born in Carrygill, in the county of Cumberland.
He was bred a miner. His father died when John was only four
years of age. Poverty obliged him to be fet early to work. During
two years he dreffed lead ore for 2d. a-day. The next three or four
years he affifted the miners in removing the ore and rubbifh to the
bank, for which he received 4d. a-day. At this period there hap-
pened a great folar eclipfe, which was diftinguifhed in Scotland by
the appellation of Mirk Monday *. This event, which he always
repeated with the fame circumftances, is the chief aera from which
John’s age has been computed. After labouring many years both
in this and the neighbouring kingdom, he died, near Leadhills in
Scotland, in the month of May 1770, at the great age of 133.

Though the above modern examples of extraordinary longevity
reft chiefly on the authority of periodical publications, yet there is
not a doubt, that, in all countries, and at all times, fome perfons of
both fexes have arrived at ages far beyond the common periods of
human life. If the reader is defirous of feeing many inftances of
longevity, he may confult Bacon’s Hiffory of Life and Death t,
Whitehurft’s Inquiry into the Original State and Formation of the
Earth $, and Dr Fothergill’s Ol/ervations on Longevity ||.

The

* Mirk, in the Scottith diale&t, fignifies dark; and the eclipfe happened in the
year 1652.

+ Sylva Sylvarum, pag. 273. &c.

{ ad Edit. pag. 165.

{| Annual Regifter, Natural Hiftory divifion, pag. 61.

OF NATURAECHISTOR Y. 500

‘The general caufes of death have already been mentioned. But,
in women, the operation of thefe caufes is frequently retarded. In
the female fex, the bones, the cartilages, the mufcles, as well as every
other part of the body, are fofter and lefs folid than thofe of men:
Neither are they generally fo much fubjeted to bodily exertions,
Their conftituent parts, accordingly, require more time in hardening
to that degree which occafions death. Women, of courfe, ought to
live longer than men. This reafoning is confirmed by the bills of
mortality ; for, upon confulting them, it appears, that, after women
have paffed a certain time, they live much longer than men who
have reached the fame period. The duration of the lives of animals
may, in fome meafure, be eftimated by the time occupied in their
growth. An animal, or even a plant, as we learn from experience,
which acquires maturity in a fhort time, perifhes much fooner than
thofe which are longer in arriving at that period. In the human
fpecies, when individuals grow with uncommon rapidity, they ge-
nerally die young. This circumftance feems to have given rife to
the common proverbial expreffion, Soon ripe foon rotten, Man grows
in ftature till he be fixteen or eighteen years of age; but the thick-
nefs of his body is not completely unfolded before that of thirty.
Dogs acquire their full length in one year; but their growth in
thicknefs is not finifhed till the end of the fecond. A man, who
continues to grow for thirty years, may live ninety or a hundred:
But a dog, whofe growth terminates in two or three years, lives on-
ly ten or twelve. The fame obfervation is applicable to moft ani-
mals. Fifhes continue to grow for a great number of years. Some
of them, accordingly, live during feveral centuries; becaufe their
bones and cartilages feldom acquire the denfity of thofe of other
animals. It may, therefore, be confidered as a general fact, that
large animals live longer than {mall ones, becaufe the former require
more time to complete their growth. Thus the caufes of our diffo-
lution are inevitable; and it is equally impoffible to retard that fatal

period,

510 THE PHILOSOPHY

period, as to change the eftablifhed laws of Nature. When the con-
flitution is found, life may, perhaps, by moderating the paffions, and
by temperance, be prolonged for a few years. But the varieties of
climate, and of the modes of living, make no material differences
with regard to the period of our exiftence, which is nearly the fame

in the European, the Negro, the Afiatic, the American, the civilized

man and the favage, the rich and the poor, the citizen and the pea-

fant, Neither does the difference of food, or of accommodation, .

make any change on the duration of life. Men who are fed on raw
fleth or dried fith, on fago or rice, on caflada or roots, live as long
as thofe who ufe bread and prepared victuals, If luxury and in-
temperance be excepted, nothing can alter thofe laws of mechanifm
which invariably determine the number of our years, Any little
differences which may be remarked in the term of human life, feem
to be chiefly owing to the quality of the air. In general, there are
more old men in high than in low countries. The mountains of
Scotland, of Wales, and of Switzerland, have furnifhed more exams
ples of longevity than the plains of Holland, Flanders, Germany, or
Poland. But, if we take a furvey of mankind, whatever be the cli-
mate they inhabit, or their mode of living, there is fcarcely any dif-
ference in the duration of life. When men are not cut off by acci-
dental difeafes, individuals may every where be found who live nine-
ty or a hundred years. Our anceftors, with few exceptions, never
exceeded this period; and, fince the days of David King of the
Jews, it has undergone no variation. Befide accidental difeafes,
which are more frequent, as well as more dangerous, in the latter
periods of life, old men are fubjeéted to natural infirmities that ori-
ginate folely from a decay of the different parts of the body. The
mutcles lofe their tone, the head fhakes, the hands tremble, the limbs
totter, the fenfibility of the nerves is blunted, the cavities of the
veflels contract, the fecretory organs are obftructed, the blood, the
lymph, and the other fluids, extravafate, and produce all thofe fymp-

toms

1

OF NATURAL HISTORY. SIL.

toms and difeafes which are commonly afcribed to a vitiation of the
humours, The natural decay of the folids, however, appears to be
the original caufe of all thefe maladies. It is true, that a bad ftate
of the fluids proceeds from a depravity in the organization of the
folids. But the effects refulting from a noxious change in the fluids
produce the moft alarming fymptoms. When the fluids ftagnate, or
if, by a relaxation of the veffels, an extravafation takes place, they
foon corrupt, and corrode the weaker parts of the folids. Hence the
caufes of diffolution gradually, but perpetually, multiply, our inter-
nal enemies grow more and more powerful, and at laft put a period
to our exiftence.

With regard to Quadrupeds, the caufes of their diffolution are pre-
cifely the fame with thofe which deftroy the human fpecies. The
times of their growth bear, likewife, fome proportion to the dura-
_ tion of their lives. But, as we have already given a Table of the
_ ages at which different quadrupeds are capable of multiplying their
fpecies, and of the general duration of their lives, to avoid unnecef-
fary repetitions, we muft refer the reader to page 283. of this work,

Some Birds afford inftances of great longevity. In this clafs of
animals, the duration of life is by no means proportioned to the
times of their growth. Moft of them acquire their full dimenfions
in a few months, and are capable of multiplying the fpecies the firft
fpring or fummer after they are hatched. In proportion to the fize
of their bodies, birds are much more vivacious, and live longer than
either men or quadrupeds. Swans have been faid to live three hun-
dred years; but, though mentioned by refpectable writers, the af-
fertion is not fupported by any authentic evidence. Mr Willough-
by, in his Ornithology *, remarks, ‘ We have been affured by a

* friend

* Page 14.

512 THE PHILOSOPHY

* friend of ours, a perfon of very good credit, that his father kept
a goofe known to be fourfcore years of age, and as yet found and
lufty, and like enough to have lived many years longer, had he
not been forced to kill her for her mifchievoufnefs, worrying and
deftroying the young geefe and goflings.’ In another part of his
valuable work, Mr Willoughby tells us, ‘ that he has been affured
‘ by credible perfons, that a goofe will live a hundred years or

&

$s

“ more *.’ In man and quadrupeds, the duration of life bears fome
proportion to the times of their growth. But, in birds, their growth,
and their powers of reproduction, are more rapid, though they live
proportionally longer. Some fpecies of birds, as all the gallinaceous
tribes, can make ufe of their limbs the moment they iffue from the
thell; and, in a month or five weeks after, they can likewife employ
their wings. A dung-hill cock has the capacity of engendering at
the age of four months, but does not acquire his full growth in lefs
than a year. The fmaller birds are perfe& in four or five months.
They grow more rapidly, and produce much fooner than quadru-
peds, and yet they live proportionally much longer. In man and
quadrupeds, the duration of life is about fix or feven times more
than that of their growth. According to this rule, a cock or a par-
rot, who arrive at their full growth and powers in one year, fhould
not live above fix or feven. But Nature knows none of our rules.
She accommodates her conduét, not to our fhallow, and often pre-
f{umptuous conclufions, but to the prefervation of {pecies, and to the _
{upport and general balance of the great fyftem of animated beings.
Ravens, though capable of providing for themfelves in lefs than a
year, fometimes have their lives protracted more than a century.
The Count de Buffon informs us, that, in feveral places of France,
ravens have heen. known to arrive at this extraordinary age, and

that,

* Ornithology, page 256.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. GX3:

that, at-all times, and in all countries, they have been efteemed birds
of great longevity *.

© Eagles,’ fays Mr Pennant, ‘ are remarkable for their longevity,
© and for their power of fuftaining a long abflinence from food. A
‘ golden eagle, which has now been nine years in the poffeffion of
© Owen Holland, Efq; of Conway, lived thirty-two years with the
* gentleman who made him a prefent of it; but what its age was
© when the latter received it from Ireland is unknown. The fame
© bird alfo furnifhes a proof of the truth of the other remark, ha~
‘ ving once, through the neglect of fervants, endured hunger for
‘ twenty-one days, without any fuftenance whatfoever f.’ The pe-
lican that was kept at Mechlin in Brabant during the reign of the
Emperor Maximilian, was believed to be eighty years of age.
‘ What is reported of the age of eagles and ravens,’ fays Mr Wil-
loughby, ‘although it exceeds all belief, yet doth it evince that
© thofe birds are very long-lived }.’ Pigeons have been known to
live from twenty to twenty-two years. Even the fmaller birds live
very long in proportion to the time of their growth and the fize of
their bodies. Linnets, gold-finches, &c. often live in cages fifteen,
twenty, and even twenty-three years.

Fifhes, whofe bones are more cartilaginous than thofe of men and
quadrupeds, are long of acquiring their utmoft growth, and many
of them live to great ages. Gefner gives an inftance of a carp in
Germany which he knew to be one hundred years old |. Buffon
informs us, that, in the Count Maurepa’s ponds, he had feen carps
of one hundred and fifty years of age, and that the fact was attefted
i 3T in

* Hift. Nat. des Oifeaux, tom. 3. pag. 32»

+ Britith Zoology, vel. 1. 8vo edit. page i23-
{ Ornithology, page 14.

l| Gefner de Pifc. pag. 312.

514 TALE pPHLLOFO RH ¥

in the moft fatisfadtory manner. He even mentions one which he
fuppofed to be two hundred years old *. Two methods have been
devifed for afcertaining the age of fifhes, namely, by the circles of
the feales, and by a tranfverfe fection of the back-bone. Whena
fcale of a fith is examined by the microfcope, it is found to confift
of a number of circles within one another, refembling, in fome mea-
fure, thofe rings that appear on the tranfverfe fe€tions of trees, by
which their ages are computed. In the fame manner, the ages of
fifhes may be afcertained by the number of circles on their {cales,
reckoning for each ring one year of the animal’s exiftence. The
ages of Buffon’s carps were chiefly determined by the circles on their
feales. The age of fifhes that want fcales, as the fkate and ray-kind,
may be pretty exa&tly known by feparating the joints of the back-
bone, and obferving minutely the number of rings which the furface
exhibits. Both of thefe methods may be liable to deception; but
they are the only natural ones which have hitherto been difcovered.
The longevity of fifhes has been afcribed to feveral caufes, The
element in which they live is more uniform, and lefs fubjec to ac-
cidental changes than the air of our atmofphere. Their bones,
which are more of a cartilaginous nature than thofe of land animals,
admit of indefinite extenfion ; of courfe, their bodies, inftead of
fuffering the rigidity of age at an early period, which is the natural
caufe of death, continue to grow much longer than thofe of moft

land-animals.

As to the age of Reptiles, probably from the uninterefting nature
of the animals, we have very little information. But two letters of
J. Arfcott, Efq; of Tehott in Devonfhire, concerning the longevity
of a toad, deferve fome notice. Thefe letters were addreffed to Dr
Milles, Dean of Exeter, and by him communicated to Mr Pennant

in

* Epoques de la Nature, pag. 181.

OF NATURAL HISTORY. gts

in the year 1768: ‘It would give me the greateft pleafure, fays Mr
Arfcott, ‘to be able to inform you of any particulars worthy Mr

€

n

a

a

ae

Lal

&

Pennant’s notice, concerning the toad who lived fo many years
with us, and was fo great a favourite—It had frequented fome
fteps before the hall-door fome years before my acquaintance com-
menced with it, and had been admired by my father for its fize,
(which was of the largeft I ever met with), who conftantly paid it
a vifit every evening. I knew it myfelf above thirty years, and,
by conftantly, feeding it, brought it to be fo tame, that it always

‘came to the candle, and looked up, as if expecting to be taken up

and brought upon the table, where I always fed it with infects of
all forts.——You may imagine that a toad, generally detefted, (al-
though one of the moft inoffenfive of all animals), fo much taken
notice of and- befriended, excited the curiofity of all comers to the
houfe, who all defired to fee it fed; fo that even ladies fo far con-
quered the horrors inftilled into them by nurfes, as to defire to fee
it *.” In the fecond letter, Mr Arfcott remarks, ‘I cannot fay
how long my father had been acquainted with the toad before I
knew it; but, when I was firft acquainted with it, he ufed to men-
tion it as the old toad I have known fo many years; I can anfwer
for thirty-fix years t. —‘ In refpeé to its end, had it not been for
a tame raven, I make no doubt but it would have been now living,
who one day, feeing it at the mouth of its hole, pulled it out, and,
though I refcued it, pulled out one eye, and hurt it fo, that, not-
withftanding its living a twelvemonth, it never enjoyed itfelf, and
had a difficulty in taking its food, miffing the mark for want of
its eye. Before that accident it had all the appearance of perfect
health t.’

37 2 ~ Mott

* Pennant’s Britifh Zoology, vol. 3. pag- 323-
+ Ibid. pag. 326.
+ Ibid. pag. 331.

516 THE PHILOSOPHY

Moft /nfects, efpecially after their laft transformation, are fhort-
lived. But the fpecies are continually fupported by their wonderful
fecundity. Thofe animals whofe parts require a long time of harden-
ing and expanding are endowed with a proportional degree of lon-
gevity. Infe&ts grow, and their bodies harden, more quickly than
thofe of larger animals. Many of them complete their growth in
a few weeks, and even in a few days. The duration of their ex-
iftence is accordingly limited to very fhort periods. Some {pecies of
flies lie in a torpid ftate during the winter, and revive when the heat
of fpring or fummer returns, The ephemeron flies, of which there
are feveral kinds, feldom live above one day, or one hour, after their
transformation. But, to continue the fpecies, Nature has taken care
that myriads of males and females fhould be transformed nearly at
the fame inftant. Were it otherwife, the males and females could
have no opportunity of meeting, and the {pecies would foon be ex-
tinguifhed. Other kinds are transformed more irregularly, and live
feveral days. Here the wifdom of Nature is confpicuous: She pro-
longues the exiftence of thefe animals for no other purpofe but to
allow the individuals of both fexes to meet and multiply the fpecies,
Bees, and flies of all kinds, after lying Jong in water, and having
every appearance of death, revive by the application of a gentle
heat, or by covering their bodies with afhes, chalk, or fand, which
abforb the fuperfluous moifture from their pores. Reaumur made
many experiments upon the revivifcence of drowned bees. He
found, that, after being immerfed in water for nine hours, fome of
them returned to life; but he acknowledges that many of them, in
the fourth part of this time, were actually dead, and that neither
heat, nor the application of abforbent powders, could reftore them
to life. Analogical reafoning is often deceitful, but it frequently
leads to ufeful truths. As flies of all kinds, after immerfion in wa-
ter, and exhibiting every mark of aétual death, can be reftored to
life by covering their bodies with any abforbent fubflance, without

the

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 517

the affiftance of a heat fuperior to that of the common atmofphere,
might not the ordinary methods employed for the recovery of drown-
ed perfons be affifted by the application of warm afhes or chalk?
The. ftru€ture of a fly and that of a man, it is allowed, are very dif-
ferent. But, in defperate cafes, when every other method fails, no
fa& fhould be overlooked, and no analogy defpifed.

Plants differ as much in the periods of their exiftence as animals.
Many plants perifh yearly; others are biennial, triennial, &c. But
the longevity and magnitude of particular trees are prodigious. We
are informed by Mr Evelyn, that, in the bodies of fome Englith
oaks, when cut tranfverfely, three, and even four, hundred rings of
wood have been diftinguifhed. A ring of wood is added annually

to the trunks of trees; and, by counting the rings, the age of any

tree may be pretty exatly afcertained *. With regard to the mag-
nitude of oaks, fome of them are huge mafles. Dr Hunter, in his
Notes upon Evelyn’s Sylva, remarks, that none ‘ of the oaks men-
tioned by Mr Evelyn bear any proportion to one now growing at
Cowthorpe, near Wetherby, upon an eftate belonging to the Right
Hon. Lady Stourton. The dimenfions are almoft incredible, With-
in three feet of the furface, it meafures fixteen yards, and, clofe by
the ground, twenty-fix yards. Its height, in its prefent and rui-
nous ftate, (1776), is about eighty-five feet, and its principal limb
extends fixteen yards from the bole-—When compared to this, all
other trees are but chzldren of the foreft fT.’

a

e

Lad

*

From the faéts which have been enumerated, it appears, that all
animals, as well as vegetables, have ftated periods of exiftence, and
that their diffolution is uniformly accomplifhed by a gradual harden-

ing

* See Evelyn’s Sylva, page 505;.
+ Ibid. page soo.

518 THE PHILOSOPHY

ing and deficcation of their conftituent parts. No art, no medicine,
can retard the operations of Nature. It is, therefore, the wifdom
and the duty of every human being to fail down the irrefiftible cur-
rent of Nature with all poffible tranquillity and refignation, Life;
whether fhort or long, whether fortunate or unfortunate, when the
fatal period arrives, is of little confequence to the individual. Socie-
ty, knowledge, virtue, and benevolence, are our only rational en-
joyments, and ought to be cultivated with diligence.

With regard to animals in general, the aQual duration of their
lives is very different. But the comparative fhortnefs or length of
life, in particular animals, probably depends on the quicknefs or
flownefs of the ideas which pafs in their minds, or of the impref-
fions made upon their fenfes. A rapid fucceflion of ideas or impref-
fions makes time feem proportionally long. There is likewife a con-
neQion between the quicknefs and flownefs of ideas, and the circu-
lation of the blood. A man whofe pulfe is flow and fluggith, is ge-
nerally dull and phlegmatic. Raife this fame man’s pulfe with wine,
or any other exhilarating ftimulus, and you immediately quicken his
fenfations, as well as the train of his ideas. In all young animals,
the circulation of the blood is much more rapid than after they have
acquired their full growth. Young animals, accordingly, are frolick-
fome, vivacious, and happy. But, when their growth is completed,
the motion of the blood is flower, and their manners, of courfe, are
more fedate, gloomy, and penfive. Another circumftance merits at-
tention. The circulation of the blood is flower or quicker in pro-
portion to the magnitude of animals, In large animals, fuch as man
and quadrupeds, the blood moves flowly, and the fucceffion of their
ideas is proportionally flow. In the more minute kinds, as mice,
fmall birds, fquirrels, &c. the circulation is fo rapid that the pulfes
of their arteries cannot be counted. Now, animals of this defcrip-
tion aftonith us with the quicknefs of their movements, the vivacity

of

OF: WAIT WRALIHIS TOR Y. 519

of their manners, and the extreme chearfulnefs of their difpofi-
tions.

Reaumur, Condillac, and many other philofophers, confider dura-
tion as a relative idea, depending on a train of confcious perception
and fentiment, It is certain that the natural meafure of time de-
pends folely on the fucceflion of our ideas. Were it poffible for the
mind to be totally occupied with a fingle idea for a day, a week, or
a month, thefe portions of time would appear to be nothing more
than fo many inftants. Hence a philofopher often lives as long in
" one day, as a clown or a favage does in a week or a month fpent in
mental inactivity and want of thought.

This fubje& fhall be concluded with a fingle remark: If it be true,
and we are certain that it is fo in part, that animals of every fpecies,
whatever be the real duration of their lives, from a flow or rapid
fucceffion of ideas, and perhaps from the comparative intenfity of
their enjoyments, live equally long, and enjoy an equal portion of
individual happinefs, it opens a wonderful view of the great bene-
volence of Nature. To ftore every portion of this globe with ani-
mal life, She has amply peopled the earth, the air, and the waters.
The multifarious inhabitants of thefe elements, as to the aétual du-
ration of their lives, are extremely diverfified. But, by variation of
forms, of magnitude, of rapidity of ideas, of intenfity of pleafures,.
and, perhaps, of many other circumftances, She has conferred upon.
the whole nearly an equal portion of happinefs,

CHAP.

520 THE PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER. $ XXil.

Of the Progreffiive Scale or Chain of Beings in the Univerfe.

TE O men of obfervation and refle€tion, it is apparent, that all
- the beings on this earth, whether animals or vegetables, have
a mutual conneétion and a mutual dependence on each other. There
is a graduated fcale or chain of exiftence, not a link of which, how-
ever feemingly infignificant, could be broken without affecting the
whole. Superficial men, or, which is the fame thing, men who avoid
the trouble of ferious thinking, wonder at the defign of producing
certain infeéts and'reptiles. But they do not confider that the anni-
hilation of any one of thefe {pecies, though fome of them are incon=
venient, ad even noxious to man, would make a blank in Nature,
and prove deftruétive to other fpecies who feed upon them. Thefe,
in their turn, would be the caufe of deftroying other fpecies, and
the fyftem of devaftation would gradually proceed, till man himfelf
would be extirpated, and leave this earth deftitute of all animation.

In the chain of animals, man is unqueftionably the chief or capi-
tal link, and from him all the other links defcend by almoft imper-
ceptible gradations. As a highly rational animal, improved with
{cience and arts, he is, in fome meafure, related to beings of a fupe-

rior

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 52

rior order, wherever they exift. By contemplating the works of
Nature, he even rifes to fome faint ideas of her great Author. Why,
it has been afked, are not men endowed with the capacity and paw-
ers of angels? beings of whom we have not even a conception.
With the fame propriety, it may be afked, Why have not beafts the
mental powers of men? Queftions of this kind are the refults of ig-
norance, which is always petulant and prefumptuous. Every erea-
ture is perfe&t, according to its deftination. Raife or deprefs any
order of beings, the whole fyftem, of courfe, will be deranged, and
a new world would be neceffary to contain and fupport them. Par-
ticular orders of beings fhould not be confidered feparately, but by
the rank they hold in the general fyftem. From man to the mi-
nuteft animalcule which can be difcovered by the microfcope, the
chafm feems to be infinite: But that chafm is actually filled up with
fentient beings, of which the lines of difcrimination are almoft im-
perceptible. All of them poffefs degrees of perfection or of excel-
lence proportioned to their ftation in the univerfe. Even among
mankind, which is a particular fpecies, the fcale of intelle& is very
extenfive. What a difference between an enlightened philofopher
and a brutal Hottentot? Still, however, Nature obferves, for the
wifeft purpofes, her uniform plan of graduation. In the human fpe-
cies, the degrees of intelligence are extremely varied. Were all men
philofophers, the bufinefs of life could not be executed, and neither
fociety, nor even the fpecies, could long exift. Induftry, various de-
grees of knowledge, different difpofitions, and different talents, are
great bonds of fociety. The Gentoos, from certain political and re-
ligious inftitutions, have formed their people into different cafts or
ranks, out of which their pofterity can never emerge. To us, fuch
inftitutions appear to be tyrannical, and reftraints on the natural li-
berty of man. In fome refpeéts they are fo: But they feem to have ~
been originally refults of wifdom and obfervation ; for, independent-
ly of all political inftitutions, Nature herfelf has formed the human

4 3U {pecies

522 THE PHILOSOPHY

fpecies into cafls or ranks. To fome fhe gives fuperior genius and
mental abilities; and, even of thefe, the views, the purfuits, and the
taftes, are moft wonderfully diverfified.

In the talents and qualities of quadrupeds of the fame fpecies,
there are often remarkable differences. Thefe differences are confpi-
cuous in the various races of horfes, dogs, &c. Even among the
fame races, fome are bold, fprightly, and fagacious, Others are com-
paratively timid, phlegmatic, and dull.

Our knowledge of the chain of intellectual and corporeal beings
is very imperfect; but what we do know gives us exalted ideas of
that variety and progreffion which reign in the univerfe, A thick
cloud prevents us from recognifing the moft beautiful and magnifi-
eent parts of this immenfe chain of being. We fhall endeavour,
however, to point out a few of the more obvious links of that chain,
which falls under our own limited obfervation.

Man, even by his external qualities, ftands at the head of this
world. His relations are more extenfive, and his form more advan-
tageous, than thofe of any other animal. His intellectual powers,
when improved by fociety and fcience, raife him fo high, that, if no
degrees of excellence exifted among his own fpecies, he would leave a
great void in the chain of being. Were we to confider the characters,
the manners, and the genius of different nations, of different pro-
vinces and towns, and. even of the members of the fame family, we
fhould imagine that the fpecies of men were. as various as the num-
ber of individuals. How many gradations may be traced between
a ftupid Huron, or a Hottentot, anda profound philofopher? Here
the diftance is immenfe ; but Nature has occupied the whole by al-

- moft infinite fhades. of difcrimination.
In

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 523

In defcending the fcale of animation, the next ftep, it is humilia-
ting to remark, is very fhort. Man, in his loweft condition, is evt-
dently linked, both in the form of his body and the capacity of his
mind, to the large and fmall orang-outangs. Thefe again, by an-
other flight gradation, are connected to the apes, who, like the for-
mer, have no tails, It is wonderful that Linnaeus, and many other
naturalifts, fhould have overlooked this gradation in the {cale of ani-
mals, and maintained, that the ifland of Nicobar, and fome other
parts of the Eaft Indies, were inhabited by tailed men. Before thole
animals whofe external figure has the greateft refemblance to that of
man, are ornamented, or rather deformed, with tails, there are feve-
ral fhades of difcrimination. The larger and fmaller orang-outangs,
which are real brutes, have no tails. Neither are the numerous
tribes gf apes furnifhed with this appendage. But the believers in
tailed men gravely tell us, that there is nothing furprifing in this
phenomenon, becaufe a tail is only a prolongation of the os coccygis,
which is the termination of the back-bone. They confider not,
however, that, inftead of accounting for the exiftence of tailed men,
they do nothing more than, fubftitute a learned circumlocution for
the fimple word fail. It is here worthy of remark, that a philofo-
pher, who has paid little attention to natural hiftory, is perpetually
liable to be deceived; and that a naturalift, I mean a nomenclator,
without philofophy, though he may be ufeful by mechanically mark-
ing diftin@ions, is incapable of enriching our minds with general
ideas. A proper mixture of the two is beft calculated to producea real
philofopher. From the orang-outangs and apes to the baboons, the
interval is hardly perceptible. The true apes have no tails, and thofe
of the baboons are very fhort. The monkeys, who form the next
link, have long tails, and terminate this partial chain of imitative
animals, which have fuch a deteftable refemblance to the human

frame and manners.
2U 2 Wher

524 THE PHILOSOPHY

When examining the characters by which beings are diftinguifh-
able from each other, we perceive that fome of them are more ge=
neral, and include a greater variety than others. From this cir-
cumftance all our diftributions into clafles, orders, genera, and fpe=
cies, are derived. Between two claffes, or two genera, however,
Nature always exhibits intermediate produétions fo clofely allied,
that it is extremely difficult to afcertain to which of them they be-
long. The polypus, which multiplies by fhoots, or by fe@tions,
from its body, conneéts the animal to the vegetable kingdom. Thofe
worms which lodge in tubes compofed of fand, feem to link the in-
feéts to the fhell and cruftaceous animals, Shell-animals and crufta-
ceous infeéts make alfo a near approach to each other. Both of
them have their mufcles and inftruments of motion attached to ex-
ternal inftead of internal bones. From reptiles, the degrees of per-
feGtion in animal life and powers move forward in a gradual but
perceptible manner. The number of their organs of fenfe, and the
general conformation of their bodies, begin to have a greater ana-
logy to the ftru@ture of thofe animals which we are accuftomed to
confider as belonging to the more perfect kinds. The fnake, by
its form, its movements, and its mode of living, is evidently con-
nected with the eel and the water-ferpent. Like reptiles, moft fith-
es are covered with fcales, the colours and variety of which often
enable us to diftinguifh one fpecies from another. The forms of
fithes are exceedingly various. Some are long and flender ; others
are broad and contracted. Some fifhes are flat, others cylindrical,
triangular, {quare, circular, &c. The fins of fithes, from the me-
dium in which they live, are analogous to the wings of birds. Like
thofe of reptiles, the heads of fifhes are immediately connected to
their bodies, without the intervention of necks. The flying fithes,
whofe fins refemble the wings of bats, form one link which unites
the fifhes to the feathered tribes, Aquatic birds fucceed, by a gentle
gradation, the flying fithes.

In

OF NATURAL HISTORY. 525

In tracing the gradations from fifhes to quadrupeds, the tranfi-
tion is almoft imperceptible. The fea-lion, the morfe, all the ce-
taceous tribes, the crocodile, the turtle, the feals, have fuch a re-
femblance, both in their external and internal ftrudture, to terref-
trial quadrupeds, that fome naturalifts, in their methodical diftri-
butions, have ranked them under the fame clafs of animals. The
bats and the flying fquirrels, who traverfe the air by means of mem~-
branous inftead of feathered wings, evidently connec quadrupede
with birds. The oftrich, the caflowary, and the dodo, who rather
run than fly, form another link between the quadruped and the
bird.

All the fubftances we recognife on this earth may be divided in-
to organifed and animated, organifed and inanimated, and unor-
ganifed, or brute matter. The whole of thefe poflefs degrees of
perfection, of excellence, or of relative utility, proportioned to-
their ftations or ranks in the univerfe. Change thefe ftations or
ranks, and another world would be neceflary to contain and fup-
port them. Beings muft not be contemplated individually, but by
their rank, and the relations they have to the conftituent parts of
the general fyftem of Nature, Certain refults of their natures we
confider as evils. Deftroy thefe evils, and you annihilate the be-
ings who complain of them. The reciprocal action of the folids. ©
and fluids conftitutes life, and the continuation of this aétion is the
natural caufe of death. Immortality on this earth, therefore, pre-
fuppofes another fy‘tem; for our planet has no relation to immor-
tal beings. Every animal, and every plant, rifes, by gentle gra-
dations, from an embryo, or gelatinous ftate, to a certain degree
of perfeétion exaétly proportioned to their feveral orders. An af-
femblage of all the orders of relative perfection conftitutes the ab-
folute perfection of the whole, All the planets of this fyftem:
gravitate toward the fun and toward. each other, Our fyftem gra-

Vitates: .

526 PHESPHILOS OPA Y

vitates toward other fyftems, and they to ours. Thus the whole
univerfe is linked together by a gradual and almoft imperceptible
chain of exiftences both animated and inanimated. Were there no
other argument in favour of the uniTy of DEITY, this uniformity
of defign, this graduated concatenation of beings, which. appears
not only from this chapter, but from many other parts of the book,
feems to be perfeatly irrefragable.

In contemplating Man, as at the head of thofe animals with
which we are acquainted, a thought occurred, that no fentient be-
ing, whofe mental powers were greatly fuperior, could poflibly live
and be happy in this world. If fuch a being really exifted, his
mifery would be extreme. With fenfes more delicate and refined ;
with perceptions more acute and penetrating; with a tafte fo ex-
quifite that the obje€ts around him could by no means gratify it;
obliged to feed upon nourifhment too grofs for his frame; he muft
be born only to be miferable, and the continuation of his exiftence
would be utterly impoflible. Even in our prefent condition, the
famenefs and infipidity of objets and purfuits, the futility of plea-
fure, and the infinite fources of excruciating pain, are fupported
with great difficulty by cultivated and refined minds. Increafe our
fenfibilities, continue the fame objets and fituation, and no man
could bear to live.—Let man, therefore, be contented. His ftation
in the univerfal fcale of Nature is fixed by Wifdom, Let him con-
template and admire the works of his Creator; let him fill up his
rank with dignity, and confider every partial evil as a caufe or an
effet of general good.—This is the whole duty of man.

INDEX.

Fe Bye ee XL:

A

Aétinia. See fea-nettle.

Air, neceffary to the exiftence of all animals and vegetables, 103. Air-cells in birds
defcribed, 111. ‘Temporary inftruments fometimes provided for its admiffion into
animal bodies, 121. Some animals can live long without it, 126,127. Air is al-
ways impregnated with odorous particles, 164. The medium of founds, 168.

Amphibiousinimals. See animals, Sketch of their ftructure and difpofitions, 65. The
foramen ovale of their hearts continue open during life, 66.

Analogy. See animals and plants. Analogy between birds and fifhes, 117. Sexes of
plants founded on falfe analogies, 246. See fexes.

Animal heat. An attempt to account for it, 104.

Animalcules. Thofe obtained by infufions multiply by continued divifions and fubdi-
vifions, 31.

Animals. Difficulty of diftinguifhing them from plants, 2. See plants, All of them
endowed with fenfation, 8. A fketch of their ftruéture and organs, 14. Analogies
between animals and plants, originating from their ftruéture and organs, ibid.—from
their growth and nourifhment, 24, 30. ‘The food of animals compared with that of
plants, 25. Analogies from their diffemination and decay, 30, &c. Some animals
neither viviparous nor oviparous, 33; fome are both, ibid.; and fome multiply with+-
out impregnation, 34. Analogies between the eggs of animals and the feeds of plants,
35. Moft animals have their feafons, 39, 280. All animals fubjet to difeafes and
death, 41. Of the organs and general ftructure of animals, 44, Structure of man,
ibid. Of the bones, ibid. Of the mufcular parts, 46. Of the lungs, 47. Of the
ftomach and inftruments of digeftion, 48. Of the organs of generation, 49. Of the
brain and nerves, s1. Of the ftructure of quadrupeds, 53. ‘Phe general ftructure of
quadrupeds has a great refemblance to that of man, 54. Peculiarities in the ftructure
of carnivorous animals, 57; and of the herbivorous tribes, 58. Sketch of the ftruc-
ture and difpofitions of amphibious animals, 65. Sketch of the ftructure of birds,
yo. Of the ftructure of fithes, 77. The comparative ftrength of animals depends

not on ftrudture alone, 102. OF their refpiration, 103. Moft animals capable of*
exprefling

528 Tow pie se

expreffing their wants and defires, iro. OF their motions, 131, &c. The notion
that animals are machines abfurd, 1 56. Of the infancy of animals, 196. ‘Their ge-
neral diffufion over the globe owing partly to the diverfity of their appetites for food,
220. Of the fexes of animals, 236. Of the puberty of animals, 264. All animals
undergo changes at the age of puberty, 267. Their attachment to their young, 273.
This attachment ceafes, in fome animals, as foon as the young can provide for them-
felves, 277. Many of them marry or pair, ibid. Advantages derived from the va-
riety of feafons obferved by different animals, 280. Table of their relative fecundi-
ty, 283. Of their transformations, 286. All animals undergo changes, ibid, Cruf-
taceous tribes annually caft their fhells, 290. Of the habitations of animals, 310.
Operations of animals referred by fome authors to mechanical impulfes, 335. OF
their hoftilities, 374. Man the moft univerfal deftroyer of animal life, 377. Some
animals devour their own fpecies, 384. Advantages derived from animals preying
upon one another, 390. Profufion of animal life feems to be a general intention of
Nature, 392. There is a wonderful balance in the fyftem of animal defjruction and
multiplication, 393. Reftraints againft noxious inundations of particular fpecies,
394. Animals not deftined for individual exiftence alone, 398. Of the artifices of
animals, 399. Of the fociety of animals, 414. Of gregarious animals who carry on
no common operations, 432. Different fpecies affociate, 433. Of their docility,
435. Animals of the ox kind dull and phlegmatic, 456. Much influenced by cli-
mate and domeftication, 460, &c. Of the characters of animals, 464. Of their prin-
ciple of imitation, 46g. Of the migration of animals, 473. Of their longevity, 504,
&c. Thofe which grow quickly foon perifh, 509, All animals perfect according to
their deftination, 521.

Ants. Their ftruture and manners, 95. Wood-ants, their furprifing operations and
manners. See termites. Their fociety, 430.

Aphis. See puceron,

Apterous infects deferibed, 97.

Arabians confider the camel as a gift fent from heaven, 64. Perform journies of fifty
leagues in one day, 65.

Aranea. See fpiders.

Arteries. ‘The probable inftruments of nutrition and growth, 111.

Artifices. General fources of the artifices of animals, 399. Artifices of cattle, horfes,
and monkeys, goo. Of the flag, ibid. Of the fallow-deer, 4o1. Of the roebuck,
402. Ofthe hare, 403. Of the fox, yos. Of the glutton, 407. Of the Kamt-
{chatka rats, ibid. Of birds, 408. Of fifhes, gro. Of infe&ts, arr.

Afbeftos. Its ftruéture makes no approach toward organization, 12.

Aureliae. See chryfalids.

IANS DO EM, 529

B

Beavers. Account of their manners and architecture, 3 13. Live peaceably in Society
with each other, 316. Lay up provifions for winter, 317.

Bees. The general ftructure of the honey-bee, 95. The mafon-bee fometimes
moves in a retrograde direction, 143. Some of their inftinéts enumerated, 147.
Wood-piercing bee makes a neft in old timber, 148. When pinched for room, they
augment the depth of their cells, 151. Neft of the mafon-bee, 326. Ichneumon
flies deftru€tive to bees, 329. Operations of wood-piercing bees, ibid. Of other fo-
litary bees, 333- Operations and oeconomy of the honey-bee, 336. The figure and
mode of making their cells, 337. Their cells are deftined to anfwer different pur=
pofes, 338. Their divifion of labour, ibid. Their wax a refult of a digeftive pro-
cefs, 339. Hat the farina of flowers, ibid. 340. Require a warm habitation, 341.
Mend their hives with propolis, 342. Amafs great quantities of honey, 343. Occa-
fionally feed one another, ibid. Eggs of the female impregnated by the males after
they are depofited in the cells, 344. Can transform a common fubject into a queen
or female, 347. May be multiplied without end, 348. The neuters maflacre the
males, 387. Have frequent combats, 387. ‘Their fociety of a monarchical nature,
421. The Count de Buffon’s mechanical theory of the operations of bees examined,
422, &e. ‘

Beetle tribe of infeéts. An account of their form and manners, 89. Many of them,
when terrified, fimulate death, 149. Remarkable differences between fome of the
males and females, 241.

Beings fhould not be contemplated individually, but by their rank, 525. Nave fuperior
to man could exift in this world, 526.

Birds. Sketch of their ftructure, 70. Their form renee to their mode of living, 71.
Of granivorous birds, 72. Analogy between them and herbivorous quadrupeds, 74.
Of carnivorous birds, 75, 380. Birds refpire by almoft every part of their bodies,
and even by the bones, 111. One ufe of this ftructure, 113. Analogy between birds
and fifhes, 117. When not reftrained, uniformly build nefts in the fame form, and
of the fame materials, 149. The great comminuting force of fome of their ftomachs,
227. Whether the fmall {tones they fwallow aflift the digeftion of their food, 228.
Among birds of prey, the females are larger, ftronger, and more beautiful, than the
males, 241. The reverfe takes place among the gallinaceous tribes, 242. Many of
them pair, 277, 279. Changes they undergo after being hatched, 289. Of their
nidification, 319, 325. Of their artifices, 408. Some of them may be taught arti-
culation, 458. Of their migration, 473, &c. Of their longevity, 511.

Bifons. See oxen.

Blatta. See Cockroach, o1.

t 3 x Blood,

539 LEN DE ak

Blood. Its circulation connected with refpiration, 107. Showers of it accounted for,
3ol.

Bones. Birds breathe through them, 111.

Brackeleys, a fpecies of the ox, which are taught ‘by the Africans to perform wonderful
actions, 456, &c. :

Brain. See nerves.

Brain. A fhort defcription of it, 51. The fource of all fenfation and motion, 133.
Suppofed to fecrete and diftribute the nutritious matter of food, 209.

Breathing. See refpiration.

Brutes. See animals.

Bug. Some account of it, 91.

Butterflies. Defcription of them, 92. Gave rife to the notion of fhowers of blood,
302. Void drops of blood, 303.

Cc

Cabins. See beavers.

Camel and dromedary, befide four ftomachs, have a refervoir for holding water, 63.
Their manners and difpofitions, 64.

Camel-cricket. Regarded as a facred animal, 91.

Carnivorous animals. See animals. Their ftructure adapted to their difpofitions, 57.
Are not fo apt to devour women as men, 238. Man the moft rapacious of all animals,
375. OF carnivorous quadrupeds, 378. Of carnivorous birds, 380. Of carnivo-
rous infects, 383. Advantages derived from animals preying upon one another, 390.
Carnivorous animals are the barriers againft noxious inundations of other kinds,
394:

Caterpillars. See infeéts. Their mode of refpiring, 124. Are of no fex, 239. When
they arrive at the age of puberty, 268. Of their transformations, 290. Caft their
fkins, 291, 300. ‘Their different modes of retiring previous to their transformation.
A defcription of them, 293. The circulation of their blood changes its direc-
tion, 294. Their different modes of behaving when about to transform, 298. Spin-
ning of the filk-worm defcribed, 299. The flies exift in the bodies of the cater-
pillars, 301. Some of them devour their own fpecies, 384. Have numberlefs ene-
mies, 385. Without a profufion of them fmall birds could not be fupported, 395.
Common kind affociate, 425. Some of them are republicans, 429.

Caufe. We muft at laft have recourfe to a final caufe, 335.

Cells, See bees, and wafps. Air-cells in birds defcribed, 111.

Chain. Of the progreflive chain of beings, 520.

Changes of form, See transformations,

Characters

-

7 N DE £ 531

Charaéters of animals, 464. How they may be modified, ibid. Individual characters
often ftrongly marked, 465.

Chermes. The female of this infe&t depofits her eggs in the leaves of trees, and
produce thofe protuberances called galls, 92.

Children. See infants. The gradual progrefs of their inftincts, 435.

Chryfalids. A defcription of them, 292.

Cimex. See bug.

Cinyps. A fly whofe eggs produce galls in the oak, 94.

Cleanlinefs. Its importance to health, 130.

Cock. The game-cock a moft intrepid animal, 242.

Cockroach. Some account of it, gt.

Colours. The origin of the primary ones, 180. A mixture of them produces white-
nefs, ibid. Colour no fpecific character of plants, 25 ss 257. Colours of animals
greatly variegated by domeftication, 462.

Coleopterous infects defcribed, 89.

Combs. See bees, and wafps.

Crabs, An account of the migration of land-crabs, 500.

Crows. Experiments on their digeftive powers, 230. Endeavour to break grain be-
fore they {wallow it, 231.

Cruftaceous fifhes caft their fhells annually, 290.

Cuckoo makes no neft, and neither hatches nor feeds her young, 323.

Culex. See gnat.

Cuttle-fith. Its ftru€ture and manners, 100.

D

Death. All animals and vegetables fubject to diffolution, 41, 287. Life cannot be
fupported without the intervention of death, 390. There is a wonderful balance in
the fyftem of animal deftruction and multiplication, 393. The general caufes of
death, 505.

Deer. Their artifices in efcaping the dogs, 400.

Deity neceffarily one, 526.

Digeftion. The organs of digeftion defcribed, 48. The mechanical and chemical theo«
ries of it, 224. WVictuals diffolved by the gaftric juice, 226. Whether the fmall
ftones fwallowed by birds affift their digeftion, 228. Greatly aflifted by chewing, or
by comminution, 231. Dr Stevens’s experiments upon digeftion in man and other
animals, 232. After death, the ftomach is diflolved by its own gaftric juice, 235.
Bees wax a refult of digeftion, 339.

Dipterous infeéts defcribed, 96.

3\x2 Docility

532 roN DB, Er

Docility of animals, 435, &c.

Dog. His fenfe of {melling extremely acute, 164. Wild dogs hunt in packs, 433.
Next to the elephant, the dog is the moft docile animal, 450. Accommodates his
behaviour to the manners of thofe who command him, 451. Great differences in
their natural difpofitions, ibid. Conduct blind perfons with great fagacity, 452. An
extraordinary inftance of their intelligence, 453. ‘The influence of climate upon
them, 462. Fattened in China for the table, 471.

Domeftication. Its effects on different animals, 460.

Dragon-fly. See libella.

Dromedary. See camel.

E

Eagles. Their longevity, 513.

Ears. See hearing and fenfes. Mufical ear a gift of Nature, 171.

Earth, though fpacious, is comparatively {mall, 135.

Education much influenced by the principle of imitation, 470.

Eggs. Analogies between them and the feeds of plants, 35. Egg of the fpider-fly as
large as the mother, 296. Eggs of fome infects grow after they are laid, 297. Se-
veral worms difcovered in the fame egg, 298. Eggs of bees impregnated after they
are depofited in the cells, 344. .

Elephant. His firuéture, 67. His fagacity and manners, 69. A more particular ac-
count of this animal, 441. &c. A mild and obedient domeftic, 444. Elephants
were formerly employed in war, 445. Their fenfe of fmelling very acute, 447. Ree
vengeful when affronted, 448. They are fenfible of good fortune, and maintain a
gravity of demeanour correfponding to the dignity of their fituation, 449. They al-
low themfelves to be commanded by a child, ibid. More eafily tamed by mildnefs
than by blows, 450.

Ephemeron-fly lives only one day in its perfect ftate, but continues three years in the
water before its transformation, 90, 516. The nymphs refpire by gills, 123, 124.

Evils neceflary in this world, 525. » =

Expiration. See refpiration.

Eyes. No animal, except the infect tribes, has more than two, 84. Defcription of the
eye, 178. Inverted pictures on the retina, 180. Why feen ftraight, 181, 182.
Why we fee fingle with two eyes, 183. Vifion conveys no idea of diftance, 184.
Why near objects appear large, and diftant ones fmall, 185. Origin of ghofts, &c.

185.

i Nr Dr By 533

F

Fallow-deer. His artifices and manners, 4o1.

Farina. See plants and fexes. Farina of flowers the raw material of wax, 330.

Feelers of infects. One ufé of them, 84.

Females. See fexes, man, and males, Among infects, great differences between
males and females, 239, 240, 241. Female birds of prey larger, ftronger, and more
beautiful than the males, 241. The reverfe takes place among gallinaceous birds,
242. Changes in body and mind produced by puberty, 265. Arrive fooner at that
period than males, 266.

Fire-fly. Emits a fhining light in the night, gt.

Fifhes. Sketch of their ftruéture, 77. Much diverfified in figure, 78. Are endowed
with the fenfe of hearing, 80. Their mode of refpiration, 116. Analogy between
them and birds, 117. We are ignorant of the periods when they become fit for
multiplying, 267. Cruftaceous kinds caft their fkins annually, 290. The life of
every fifh one continued fcene of hoftility, 382. Shell-fifhes very prolific, 396.
Their artifices, 410. Of their migration, 495. ‘Their longevity, 509, 513.

Flea. A defcription of it, 97. Undergoes a transformation like that of winged in-
fects, 98.

Flies. See infects. An account of the phrygania or fpring-fly, 94. Of the dragon-
fly, ibid. Of the cinyps, the eggs of which give rife to the galls on oak leaves, ibid.
Gad-fly very troublefome to cattle, 96. Of the common fly, ibid. Of the gnat,
ibid. Spider-fly as large as the mother when it efcapes from the egg, 222, 296.
Some depofit their eggs in the leaves of plants, ibid. Ichneumon flies deftruttive to
bees, 3293 and other infects, 383.

Food of plants and of animals compared, 25. Man could not live upon herbage alone,
60. Food neceflary for the growth and expanfion of all organifed beings, 208. See
growth. The general ingredients of food, 215. MRein-deer, the principal food of
the Laplanders, ibid. ~ Animal food more ufed in proportion as people recede from
the Equator, 216. The nature of man’s food determined by the climate, 217. Man
defigned by Nature to feed partly on animal and partly on vegetable fubftances, ibid.
218. Living long on a particular fpecies of food is apt to create difeafes, 219. Diver-
fity of food ufed by different fpecies one caufe of the diffufion of animals over the
earth, 220. Every animal furnifhed with proper inftruments for procuring food,
221. Importance of feeding all young animals well, 223. Infeéts which feed upon
carrion never attack live animals, 223. This fact eftablifhed by experiments, 223,
224. Spalanzani’s experiments upon the digeftion of food by various animals, 225.

Foramen ovale. In amphibious animals it remains open during life, 66.

Formica-leo. Its artifices and manners, 411.

Forms

534 PeoN- DP EO x

Forms are perpetually changing, 307. See transformations,
Fox. His artifices and manners, 405.

Frogs. Undergo great changes in their form, 289.
Fulgora. See fire-fly.

G

Gad-fly, extremely troublefome to cattle, both in its caterpillar and fly ftate, 96.

Gall-infeéts. Defcription of their form and manners, 240,

Galls. See chermes. The eggs of the cinyps give rife to thofe on oak leaves, 94,
How galls are formed, 296.

Gaftric juice. See digeftion and ftomach. Its folvent power affifted by chewing, 233.
No dead animal fubfance can refift its power, ibid.; but it has no effect upon live
animals, 234. Diffolves the ftomach after death, 235.

Generation. See multiplication.

Gentoos. Live almoft entirely on vegetables, 215. Their cafts founded in Nature,
52t.

Germs. Examination of Bonnet’s theory of them, 213. See growth.

Glow-worm. See worms.

Glutton. His artifices and manners, 407.

Gnat. Account of it, 96.

Goat-fucker, a bird of paflage, 477.

Goofe. Its longevity.

Gordius. See worms, 511.

Granivorous birds. Sketch of their ftru€ture, 72. Analogous to herbivorous quadru-
peds, 74. Their gentle manners, ibid. j .

Growth of animals and vegetables extremely analogous, 25, &c. May be accelerated
or retarded by certain cireumftances, 29. Buffon’s theory of growth, 208. Nutri-
tion fuppofed to be effected by the brain and nerves, 209. This notion rendered
improbable, 210. More probable that the nutritious particles of food are conveyed
and applied by the arteries, 211. Bonnet’s theory of germs examined, 213, 254.
Our limited conceptions of the nature of growth and nourifhment, 215. All animals
fuppofed to grow after birth, 222. The fpider-fly affords an exception, ibid. Re-
markable rapidity of growth in fome worms, 224. Animals, as well as plants, which
quickly arrive at maturity, foon perifh, 509.

Gryllus. Some account of it, or.

Gujney-pig contracts a loofenefs when forced to eat coleworts for fome time, 219.

at pl et x: 535

H

Habitations of animals. When not reftrained, animals uniformly build in the fame ftile,
310. Habitations and manners of the Alpine marmot, 311, 312. Of the beaver,
313, 318. Of the mole, 318. Of birds, 319. Defcription of the eagle’s neft, ibid.
Of the magpie’s neft, 320. Of the titmoufe’s neft, ibid. Of penfile nefts, 321. OF
the neft of the taylor-bird, ibid. Nefts of fmall birds, 324. Of water-fowls, 325.
Neft of the mafon-bee, 326. Of the wood-piercing bee, 329. Of another folitary
bee, 333- Of the honey-bee, 336, &c. Of the wafps, 349. Of the termites or
wood-ants, 359. Of the common caterpillar, 426. Of the proceffionary caterpillar,
427.

Hares. Their artifices in efcaping the dogs, 403.

Health promoted by moderate laughing, 109.

Hearing. Fifhes endowed with that fenfe, 80, The inftruments and caufes of hearing,
167. Why infants hear bluntly, 169. The pleafures derived from hearing, 171.
The fource of artificial language, ibid.

Heat. See animal heat.

Hemipterous infects. Of their form and manners, go.

Herbivorous quadrupeds. See animals. Their form adapted to their difpofitions, 59.

Hermaphrodites. Some infects are hermaphrodites, 239. Many inftances of herma-
phrodites among horfes, black cattle, and fheep, 242, 243, 244.

Herrings perform extenfive migrations, 497-

Hippobofca. See horfe-fly.

Hogs affociate and defend each other, 433.

Honey-bee. See bees.

Horfe-fly. Account of it, 97.

Horfes. When attacked by any rapacious animal, rank up in lines to defend themfelves,
goo. One aéts as a centinel, ibid. Affociate with oxen, 433. The gentlenefs and
docility of their difpofitions, 453. Notices of wild horfes, 454. Naturally affociate
with man, 455. Their emulation and warlike temper, 455, 456. Their feats in
exhibitions, 456.

Hoftilities of animals, 371, 374. Man the moft rapacious and the moft univerfal de-
ftroyer, 375. Of rapacious quadrupeds, 378. Of rapacious birds, 380. Every fifh
rapacious, 382. Of rapacious infects, 383. Man not the only animal that makes
war with his own fpecies, 386. Neuter bees maflacre ‘the males, 387. Bees fre-
quently fight with each other, 388. In Oétober, wafps maflacre all their young,
389. ‘This feeming cruelty is perhaps an act of mercy, ibid. Hoftilities of animals
give rife to mutual improvement, 391. There is a wonderful balance in the fyftem
of animal deftruction, 393.

Hottentots,

536 Ie Ne Dy Ex X

Hottentots. Their mode of training and inftructing oxen, 457.

Honter, Mr John. His account of the refpiration of birds, 1rz: His defcription of the
free-martin, 242.

Hymenopterous infects. Their form and manners, 94.

I

Ichneumon flies. See flies and bees.

Imitation. Its effeéts upon animals as a principle, 469.

Ynfancy. See infants.

Intelle&. The degrees of it extremely varied both among men and other animals, 521.

Infants. ‘They underftand language before they can fpeak, 157. Hear bluntly, 169.
Are fond of noife, 170. Invent, at the age of nine or twelve months, an artificial
language, 173, 272. ‘The condition of human infants confidered as miferable, 196.
This notion invalidated, 197. Fond of motion, 198. The methods of managing
them by favages, 1993 and by northern nations, ibid: Are lefs affe€ted by cold than
at any other period, 201, Their lives very precarious, ibid. Caufes of their difeafes
and mortality, 202. Sleep, for feveral weeks, almoft continually, 203. Their me-
mory weak, and why, ibid. Duration of infancy in different animals, 204. Infant
ftate of birds fhort, 205. Infancy of fifhes, ibid. Of infects, ibid. The ftrong at-
tachment of parents to their young, 207.

Infeé&ts. A fketch of their ftruéture, 16, 17. A more enlarged view of it, 83. Divi-
fion of infeéts from their wings, $3. Ufe of their feelers, 84. Undergo three
changes of form, 85. Some of them endowed with the fenfe of fmelling, 86; and
fome probably with that of hearing, 87. “Account of their probofcis, 88. Of the
form and manners of the beetle tribe, 89. Of the form and manners of the hemip-
terous tribe, 90. Of neuropterous infects, g3. Of hymenopterous infects, 94. OF
dipterous infects, 96. Of apterous infects, 97. Of the refpiration of infects, 118.
Examples of their inftinéts, 146. Infeéts have few inftinéts, 155. Thofe that feed
upon carrion never attack live animals, 223. Great differences between fome male
and female infects, 239, 240, 241. Defcription of the form and manners of gall-
infects, 240. Infeéts fuppofed to impregnate certain plants, 250. Changes they un-
dergo before their age of puberty, 268. Some of them have a ftrong affection to
their young, 275- Of their transformations, 290. Lives of winged infects confifts
of three principal periods, 293. Their internal parts changed after transformation,
293. The behaviour of different caterpillars when about to transform, 298. Their
transformation is only the throwing off temporary coverings, 30i. Nefts of various
infedts defcribed, 326. Some of them are rapacious, 383. Thoufands of them daily
devoured by cattle, 390. Infeéts afford many inftances of affociation, 421. Some

of them migrate, 503. Are fhort lived, 516. ‘
Infpiration.

7 NF Da EV. xX: $37

Tnfpiration. See refpiration.

Inftin&. Reafons why it has been fo little underftood, 144. Divifion of inftin&s,
145. Of pure inflinéts, ibid. Examples of it in the human fpecies, ibid.; in the
brute creation, 146. Of inftinéts which can accommodate themfelves to peculiar
circuinftances, 150. Of inftinéts which are improveable by experience and obferva-
tion, 152, 154. Superiority of man arifes from his great number of inftinéts, 152.
Examples of modified, compounded, or extended inftinéts, 153. - Inftinét defined
and explained, 155. Infedts have few inftindts, ibid. Inftin& prefuppofes a degree
of intelleét, 421. ‘The gradual progrefs of inftincts in children, 435. When they
begin to reafon with fome propriety, 436. The education of animals depends great-
ly on the principle of imitation, 470.

Irritability defcribed, 10, Many plants are endowed with this power, 11.

L

Lady-fly. See libella.

Language. . Moft animals can exprefs their wants and defires, 110, 157,172. Artifie
cial a refult of natural language, 172. The origin of the great diverfity of langua-
‘ges, 173. Articulate language peculiar to man, 417. 5

Laplanders. Live chiefly on the rein-deer, 215. Fond of bear’s flefh, ibid.

_ Laughing defcribed, 109. Not peculiar to man, ibid.

Leggs. No animal, except the infect tribes, have more than four, 84.

Libella. A defcription of it, 93. Its nymph refpires water, 122, A rapacious animal,
384.

Life. Our ignorance of its effential characteriftics, 9. Its duration longer or fhorter
according to the fpecies, 41. Life very precarious in infancy, 201. Lives of winged
infects confift of three principal periods, 293. Life cannot be fupported without
the intervention of death, 390. A profufion of animal life feems to be a general
intention of Nature, 392. Of the duration of life in man and other animals, 504,
&c. Its duration a relative idea, 519.

Light. Some of its properties, 179. Its refrangibility, 180.

Lobfters caft their fhells annually, 290.

Longevity of animals, 504. Some remarkable inftances of it in the human fpecies,
5063 of fifhes, 509, 5133 of quadrupeds, 5113 of a toad, 5143 of infects, 5163 of
plants, 517.

Loufe. Its ftrufture and manners, 97-

Love. The fource of many important advantages, 269. Isa great incentive to virtue,
ibid. 270. Bad effects of too early marriages, 270; and of imprudent ones, 271.
Love of offspring a fource of great pleafures, 2725 remarkable inftances of its

+ Bue . . ftrength,

333 in B £ =z

ftrength, 273, 274, 275. Marriage or pairing frequently exhibited in the brute
creation, 277. Moft animals have feafons 280.

Lumbricus. See worms.

Lychnis dioica. Dr Hope’s experiments upon that plant examined, 254, 255. Fe-
male lychnis ripened feeds without the poffibility of fexual commixture, 257, 258.

M

Magpies. Defcription of their nefts, 320.

Males. See fexes, and man. Differences between males and females, 239, 240, 241.
Changes produced by puberty, 264. In pairing animals, the males and females pro-
duced are nearly equal, 278.

Man. Of his ftruéture and organs, 44. From his internal organs he could not live
upon herbage alone, 60. His fuperiority over the other animals derived folely from
his mental faculties, 62, 102, 153, 377. He alone is endowed with the faculty of
articulate fpeech, 108, 417. The moft inconfiftent of all animals, 152. His inftinéts
improveable by obfervation and experience, 153. Defigned by Nature to-live partly
on animal and partly on vegetable fubftances, 217, 218. His texture more firm and
compact than that of woman, 236. See women. Changes produced by puberty,
264. After puberty, marriage is his natural ftate, 266. A ftriking inftance of his.
parental affection, 273- Undergoes many changes in form after birth, 286. His
mind undergoes changes as well as his body, 287. The moft rapacious of all ani-
mals, 375. Without fociety, his powers are limited, 377- Not the only animal
that makes war with his own fpecies, 386. The moft docile of all animals, 435.
His body capable of great exertions, 437- The refemblance of men to particular
animals an indication of their difpofitions, 467. Of man’s longevity and diffolution,,
504. No being fuperior to him could exift in this world, 526.

Manners and difpofitions of animals connected with their form and ftructure, 53, 57»,
89, 102.

Mantis. See camel-cricket.

Marmot, Alpine. Defcription of its archite€ture and manners, 341, 312.

Marriage, after the age of puberty, is the natural ftate of man, 266. Difadvantages of
too early marriages, 270. Bad effects of interefted and imprudent ones, 271. Ar=
guments in favour of monogamy, 277, 278.

Martin. Myr Hunter’s account of the free-martin, 242, 243, 244.

Martins are birds of paffage, 477.

Mafon-bee. See bee.

Matter. Its uzs inertiae, 132.

Mechanifm inadequate to account for animal attion, 335.

Medufa,

> wD £ P39

Medula deferibed, 101. Its motions, 141.

Memory of children is weak, and why, 203.

Metamorphofes. See transformations.

Migration of animals, 473. Lifts of birds of paflage, with the times of their arrival and
departure, 484, &c. Partial migrations, 491. Principal objects of migration, 492)
503. Men havea principle of migration, 493. Quadrupeds likewife perform par-
tial migrations, 494. Migration of rats, ibid.; of frogs, 4953 of fifhes, ibid.; of
land-crabs, 500; of infects, 502.

Millipes multiplies by {pontaneous feparation, 31.

Mind. Its faculties the chief fource of animal power, 102. Minds of brutes poffeffed
of original qualities, 155. The loweft fpecies of animals are endowed with minds,
156. ‘The mind of man undergoes changes, 287.

Minerals, no analogy between them and vegetables, 12.

Modefty. The great defence and ernament of women, 237, 238. Is not confined to
the human fpecies, 238.

Moles. Defcription of their manners and operations, 318.

Monkeys. When fleeping, one atts as a centinel, 400.

Motacilla. See titmoufe.

Moths. An account of them, 93. Divided into two kinds, the fphinx and phalaena,
ibid. All of them, when about to transform, fpin cods or clues of filk, 299-

Motion. Spontaneous motion, 131. By what inftruments it is performed, 132. Vital
and involuntary motions, 133. Motions of animals proportioned to their weight
and ftruéture, 134. Motion gives animation and vivacity to the whole fcene of Na-
ture, 135. Deftruétive animals flower in their motions than the weaker kinds, 136.
Progreflive motion of the mufcle, ibid. Motions of the razor or fpout-fith, 1383; of
the fcallop, 1393 of the oyfter, 1403 of the fea-urchin, 1415 of the medufa, or fea-
nettle, 141. Motion of the mafon-bee fometimes retrograde, 143. The rate at
which found moves, 169. Children derive great happinefs from motion, 192.

Moufion, the original ftock of the fheep, 460.

Multiplication. The hydra of Linnaeus multiplies by fending off thoots from its body,
30. The bell-polypus multiplies by fplitting longitudinally, ibid.; and the funnel-
fhaped polypus by fplitting tranfverfely, 31. The dart-millepes likewife multiplies
by fpontaneous feparation, ibid. Infufion-animalcules multiply by continued divi-
fions and fubdivifions, ibid. Puceron multiplies without impregnation, 34. A pro-
fufion of animal life one great intention of Nature, 392. Noxious multiplication
refrained by various caufes, 393, 394-

Mufca. See flies.

Mofcles, Their progreflive motion defcribed, 136.
3 Xi'2 Mufcles,

$40 rN m ir =

Mufcles. The inftruments of animal motion, 132.
Mufical ears. See ears. i

N

Nature, in the formation of animals and vegetables, feems to have atted upon the fame
general plan, iz. Her intentions in changing forms, 308. If properly underftood,.
her intentions are never wrong, 389. Seems to pay little attention to individuals,
but uniformly fupports the f{pecies, 390. Advantages derived from her allowing
animals to prey on one another, ibid. &c. It gives rife to mutual improvement, 391-
A profufion of animal life feems to be a general intention of Nature, 392. There
is a wonderful balance in the fyftem of animal deftruction, 393. Nature obferves a
uniform gradation of beings, 521.

Nerves. A fhort defcription of them, 51. The fource of all fenfation and motion,
133, 161, 174. ‘Their papillae the immediate inftruments of fenfation, 174.

Nefts. See birds and habitations. Penfile nefts, 321. Curious neft of the taylor-bird,
ibid. Cuckow makes none, 323. Nefts of different birds, 324. Nefts of various
infects, 326. Wafp’s neft defcribed, 349. Nefts or hills of the termites, 3603, of
caterpillars, 425.

Nettle. Sea-nettle’s motions extremely flow, 141.

Neuropterous infects. Defcription of them, 93.

Nidification. See birds.

Nofe. Defcription of that organ, 161.

Nutrition. See food, growth.

Nymphs. A defcription.of them, 294.

oO

@ak. Account of a remarkable one, 517.

Ocean. It produces the largeft animals now known, 79.

Odours. The reafon why they excite the fenfe of fmelling, 162. The particles of
odorous bodies extremely minute, 163.

Oeftrus. See gad-fly:

Orang-outang. His form as well as his manners make the neareft approach to thofe
of man, 53. Walks ereét, 61. An account of the imitative powers of what is called
the larger and fmaller fpecies, 437. Their manners, 438, 4395,440. Belong not:to,
the humankind, 441. Nearly allied to: man, 437.

Organs. See animals, birds, quadrupeds, fifhes, plants, and. {tructure..

Oftrich vindicated from unnaturality, 151.

Ox-eye. See titmoufe.
Oxen:

ew DE x 54k.

Oxen dull arid phlegmatic animals, but capable of inftruction, 456, 447. Much chan=
ged by domeftication, 4651.

Oyfter. Its motions defcribed, 140. Is endowed with fome degree of intelligence,
ibid.

E
Pairing. See marriage. Many animals pair, 277, 279:
Palm-tree. Its mode of culture in Arabia no proof of the fexes af plants. See fexes.
Palpi of infects defcribed, 86.
Papillae. See nerves.
Papilio. See butterfly.
Parental affection. See love.
Pediculus. See loufe.
Pelican. Her mode of fupplying her young with drink, 220;

Phalaena. See moth.

Phryganea. See flies.

Pies. Their nefts very various, 32.

Pilchards. See herrings.

Plants. Difficulty of diftinguifhing them from animals, 2. Definitions of them by
Jungius, ibid.,; by Ludwig, ibid.; by Linnaeus, 3. Examples of the motions of
plants, 5,—8. Their whole ftructure may be confidered as a ftomach for receiving
thiéir food, 8. Other examples of vegetable movements, 9, 10. Many of them
have the power of irritability, 11. Between vegetables and minerals there is hardly
any analogy, 12, 13. Analogies between animals and plants, -originating from theic
ftructure and organs, 14,—24. Sketch of the ftructure of plants, 18,—20. Their
oeconomy and functions are refults of a vafcular texture, 20, Analogies arifing from
their growth and nourifhment, 24,—30. Food of plants and of animals compared,
25. Analogies between the animal and vegetable derived from their diffemination
and decay, 30, &c. Amalogies between the eggs of animals and the feeds of plants,
35. Some plants may be confidered as viviparous, 37. Plants have their feafons as
well as animals, 39. Are all fubject to many difeafes, and at laft to individual diffo-
lution, 41. Of the fuppofed:fexes of plants, 245. Sce fexes. Pollen or farina of
plants fuppofed to be analogous to the male organs of generation, 247. New varie-
ties of plants often proceed from accidental caufes, 253, 254. Plants, as well as ani-
mals, undergo transformations, 305, 306. See transformations, Thofe which grow
quickly foon perifh, 509. Their longevity, 517>.

Pollen, See plants, and fexes..

c Polypus-

542 row oD £ x

Polypus. Defcription of its ftructure and mode of multiplying, 17. When cut to pieces
in any direction, each fection foon becomes a perfect animal, 18. One fpecies may
be engrafted upon another, ibid. Some polypi multiply by fplitting longitudinally,
and others tranfverfely, 30, 31. Connects the animal to the vegetable kingdom,
§25-

Probofcis of infects defcribed, 88.

Propolis, or bee-glue. See bees.

Puberty. This period of life arrives later, or more early, according to the difference
of fpecies, 27. Of the puberty of animals in general, 264. Changes produced by
it, ibid. 265, 287. Females arrive fooner at that period than males, 266. All ani-
mals undergo changes at the age of puberty, 267.

Pucerons. Some fpecies are both viviparous and oviparous, 33. Can produce without
impregnation, 34,92. Differences between the males and females, 241. Devoured
by numberlefs enemies, 386.

Pulex. See flea.

Q

Quadrupeds. Their ftrudture, 53. The fimilarity of their ftrudture and organs to
thofe of man, 54. Of the carnivorous kinds, 57. Of the herbivorous, 58. Few
quadrupeds pair, 280. Undergo changes of form after birth, 288. Their mental
powers likewife change, ibid. Some of them conftruct habitations, 311. Of carni-
vorous quadrupeds, 378. Their difcriminating characters, 466, 467. Some of them
migrate, 494. Of their longevity, 511.
Quails. Of their migration, 474.

R

Rapacious. See carnivorous.

Rats of Kamtfchatka, Their artifices and manners, 407.

Ravens. Their mode of breaking fhell-fifhes, 409. Their longevity, 512.

Razor-fith. See fpout-fith.

Rein-deer, the chief food of the Laplanders, 215.

Refpiration. Air neceffary to the exiftence of all animal and vegetable bodies, 103
The mode in which refpiration is carried on by man and the larger land animals,
103. Dr Crawford has rendered it probable that refpiration is the caufe of animal
heat, 104. Conneéted with the circulation of the blood, 107. Commences inftant-
ly after birth, and continues during life, 108. Of laughing, 109. Of weeping, ibid.
Many fecondary advantages derived from refpiration, 110. Birds refpire by the

bones,

bones, and almoft every part of the body, as well as by the lungs, 111. Refpiration
of fifhes, 116. Refpiration of infects, 118.

Retina. External objects painted on it in an inverted pofition, 180. Why objects are
feen erect notwithftanding the inverfion of the pictures, 181, 182, Why vifion is
fingle though a picture is painted on each eye, 183, 184.

Roebuck. His artifices and manners, 402.

Saliva, a powerful folvent, 165. :

Salmons. Of their migrations, &c. 495.

_ Scale. Of the progreffive fcale of beings, 520, &c.

Scallop. Its motions defcribed, 139.

Scarabaei, or the beetle tribe of infects, an account of them, 89.

Scorpion. Account of it, 98.

Sea-nettle capable of being ingrafted, 4o.

Seal. Sketch of his manners, 67.

Seafons. See love.

Seeds. Analogies between them and the eggs of animals, 35.

Seeing. See fenfes.

Senfation implies the perception of pleafure and pain. May be fufpended without
death, 19. See fenfes. Theory of fenfation, 174.

Senfes. Fifhes endowed with the fenfe of hearing, 80. Of the fenfes in general, 160..
OF the fenfe of fmelling, 161. Men, as well as brutes, affifted in the fele€tion of
food by the fenfe of {melling, 162. Moft odours produttive either of pleafure or
pain, 163. The-fenfe of fmelling in fome animals remarkably acute, 164. Of tafting,
165. The organs of tafte and fmeliing affift each other, ibid. Senfe of tafting com-
paratively profs, 166. Senfe of hearing, 167. The pleafures derived from it, 171.
Senfe of touch, 174. Senfe of feeing, 1773; conveys no idea of diftance, 184. Er-
rors of vifion correéted by touch, 155. Of the fenfe of fmelling alone, 1873 of
hearing alone, 189; of {melling and hearing united, ibid.; of tafte alone, and united
with fmelling and hearing, 190; of fight alone, ibid.; of fight united with fmell,
hearing, and tafte, 19!3 of touching alone, ibid.; of touch united with fmelling,.
194; of hearing, tafte, and touch united, ibid. Of fight united with all the other
fenfes, ibid.

Sepia. See cuttle-fifh. :

Serpents caft their fins annually, 290.

Sexes. Of the fexes of animals, 236 Their intercourfe not always neceffary for mul-
tiplication, 239. See multiplication. Caterpillars are of no fex, 239. Among the-
larger animals, the difference of fize between males and females is not confiderable;.

239)5

$4 TI Ne De Ey Xe

2395 but, among infe&ts, the difference often great, ibid. 240, 241. Of the fuppo-
fed {exes of plants, 245. The arguments employed to fupport the fexes of plants
are entirely analogical, 246, Thefe analogies fhown to be without foundation, ibid.
247. Some of them ridiculous,-248. The moft plaufible argument in fupport of
vegetable fexes derived foom the culture of the date-bearing palm, ibid. This cir-
cumftance brings no aid to the fexualift, 249. Mylius’s experiment on the Berlin
palm imperfect and inconclufive, 249, 250. Sexualifts have recourfe to the winds
and to infects for the impregnation of certain plants, 250. This notion refuted, 251,
252. Argument from new varieties examined, 253. Dr Hope’s experiments on the

” Jychnis dioica examined, 254. Spalanzani’s experiments on the fexes of plants, 259,
—262. Changes produced in animals by puberty, 264. The male bees impregnate
the eggs after they are depofited in the cells, 344.

Sheep affociate, and defend each other, 433. ‘Their origin, 460.

Showers of blood accounted for, 302.

Silk-worms. See worms and caterpillars.

}keletons, of all quadrupeds, when raifed on their hind-legs, have a great refemblance
to thofe of man, 54.

Sleep, of plants, 6,

Smeathman. His account of the termites or wood-ants, 359.

Smelling. See fenfes.

Snails. ‘Their mode of refpiring, t24, 125.

Society. Not confined to the human fpecies, 414. Its origin, ibid. The affociating
principle is inftinétive, 416. Its advantages, ibid. Gives rife to many virtues and
fources of happinefs, 417. Its difadvantages, 418. Without affociation, men could
perform no extenfive operations, ibid. Society of the beavers, 419; of pairing
birds, 4203 of the honey-bees, 421; of the common caterpillars, 425; of the pro-
ceflionary caterpillars, 427. Some caterpillars are republicans, 429. Society of ants,
4303 of gregarious animals who carry on no common operations, 432.

Sound. Its medium and caufes, 168. The celerity of its motion, 169. Augmented
by reflection, 170. Its modifications, ibid.

Spalanzani. Account of his experiments upon digeftion, 225. His experiments on :
the fexes of plants, 259.

Sparrows of great ufe by devouring nunibers of caterpillars, 395.

Speech. See language.

Sphinx. See moth.

Spiders. Their ftruture and manners, 98. When terrified fimulate death, 149.

Their attachment to their young, 274. Moft voracious animals, 383. Some furvive

the winter, 411.

Spider-

TNs Des ki. Xs 545

Spider-fly. See flies, and growth.

Spout-fifh. Its motions defcribed, 138. Comes above the fand upon putting {alt on
the mouth of its habitation, 139.

Stag. His artifices in efcaping the dogs, 400. Form herds, 432.

Stevens (Dr). His experiments on digeftion performed by means of a German who
was in the habit of fwallowing ftones, 232.

Stigmata of infects defcribed, and their ufes, 118.

Stomach. Every part of vegetables may be confidered as a ftomach, 8. In carnivorous
animals, the ftomach is proportionally {mall, 57. Its juice diffolves all kinds of vic-
tuals, 226. Its great comminuting force in certain birds, 226, &c. In man and
quadrupeds, the ftomach feems not to act upon its contents, which are totally diffol-
ved by the gaftric juice, 232. See gaftric juice. After death, the gaftric juice dif
folves the ftomach, 235.

Storks clear Egypt of ferpents, frogs, mice, &c. 395.

Structure and organs. Their connection with manners and difpofitions, 53, 57, 89,
102. Structure of quadrupeds has a great refemblance to that of man, 54. Structure
of birds, 70. Structure of fifhes, 77. Structure of infects, 83.

Swallow. A curious inftin& of it, 149. Swallow’s nefts, 324. Of their migration
and torpidity, 473, &c. Different opinions on this fubject examined, 478. Could
not poffibly exift under water, 481.

Swans. Their longevity, 511.

Sword-fith often kills the whale, 397.

Tadpole. See frogs.

Tailed men have no exiftence, 523.

Tafte. See fenfes. The inftruments and caufes of the fenfation of tafting, 165. Tafte
various in individuals of the fame fpecies, 166.

Taylor-bird. Defcription of its wonderful neft, 321.

Termites. Mr Smeathman’s defcription of their fingular operations, 359. Defcription
of thefe animals, 360. Undergo great changes in form, ibid.'361, 362. Wonder-
ful prolific powers of the females, 363. Their nefts or hills defcribed, 364. Of
their royal chamber, 365. Of their nurferies, 366. Of their magazines, 368. Of
their fabterraneous paflages, 369. OF their warlike difpofitions, 370. Repair
their habitations, 372.

Tiger. His difpofitions are grofsly ferocious, 378.

Tit-moufe, Defcription of its neft, 320.

t 34 Toads.

546 ke Ni! ‘Dy! Ey! Xe

Toads. Inftances of their being found alive in the heart of trees, and inclofed in folid
ftones, 127, 128. Their longevity, 514. ;

Tongue and palate, the principal inftruments of the fenfe of tafting, 165.

Touch. See fenfes,

Tracheae of infe&ts defcribed, and their ufes, 118.

Transformations. Every animal undergoes changes, 286, &c. Transformation’ of
frogs, 289. Cruftaceous animals caft their fhells annually, 290, Serpents annually
caft their fkins, ibid. Of the transformations of infeéts, ibid. Transformation of
the filk-worm, 292; of other caterpillars, ibid. ‘The internal parts, as well as the
external form, of winged infects undergo confiderable changes, 295. Spider-fly
transformed into a chryfalis before efcaping the belly of, its mother, 296. The be-
haviour of different caterpillars when about to transform, 298. ‘Transformation of
infects is only the throwing off of temporary coverings, 301. Plants, as well as ani-
mals, undergo transformations, 305. ‘Intentions of Nature in changing forms, 308:

Trochus deftroys numbers of fhell-filhes, 396.

Turkey. he great comminuting force of its ftomach, 227.

: U
Urchin. Motions of the fea-urchin defcribed, 141.

Vv AYE
Vacuum. Sounds cannot be propagated through it, 168. e Gwe
Vegetables. See plants.
Vermes, See worms.
Vis inertiae defined, 132.
Vifion. See eyes and retina.

WwW

‘War. Man not the only animal that makes war with its own {pecies, 386.

Wafp. Solitary wafp digs holes in the fand, where fhe depofits her eggs, 148. Feed
their young by difgorging like the pigeon, 274. Their manners and operations,
349. Their cells compofed of paper, 350. Defcription of their neft, ibid. Their
manner of building, 352. Republics of wafps confift of males, females, and neuters,

’ 354. Defcription of the different kinds, 356. Miaffacre their young, 389.

Wax. Bees wax a refult of a digeftive procefs, 339.

‘Weeping, how performed, and its effects, 109. Not peculiar to man, ibid.

‘Whales often killed by the fword-fifh, 397.

Winds. Suppofed to impregnate certain plants, 250. This notion refuted, 251, 252.

5 Wings.

eN DoH # ¥49

Wings. No animal, except infeéts, have more than two, 85. Thofe of infects made
the foundation of a methodical diftribution, 89.

Wolf. His difpofitions are fierce and rapacious, 379, 380.

Women. Their texture more lax than that of man, 236.- Their minds are likewife
more timid, ibid. Social intercourfe with them foftens the difpofitions of men, 237.
Modefty the great ornament of women, ibid. 238. Carnivorous quadrupeds not fo

“apt to devour women as men, ibid. See multiplication, and fexes,

Wood-ants. See ants and termites,

Woodpecker. Some account of it, 409.

Worms. Account of thefe infects, 99. Of the hair-worm, ibid. Of the earth-worm;
ibid. Rat-tailed worms, their mode of refpiring air, 119. In fome worms, the ra-
pidity of their growth is remarkable, 224. Account of the male and female glow-
worm, 241. Silk-worms fpin pods before their transformation into flies, 292. See
caterpillars. Inftances of feveral worms proceeding from one egg, 298. The man
ner in which the filk-worms fpin their cod or clue, 299. °

Rois ni apni
oid iit el rae ‘Wrtaciotink at
wai ein te i Fede enka

weve wer 2