14 On Man's Influence in effecting 



according to the laws presiding over the mutual dependence 

 and geographical distribution of the species; in the latter, man 

 undertakes to substitute tame or other species, for those which 

 he thinks proper to exterminate or repress : in the former, eve- 

 rything will spontaneously tend to restore a new equilibrium ; 

 in the latter, the self-called wisdom and divine power of man, 

 which too often are but ignorance, and unpunishable arro- 

 gance, will often tend to keep up a zoological state, as much 

 at variance with the laws of a natural equilibrium, as with the 

 true interests of his own species. 



The former principle has, hitherto, evidently been in ope- 

 ration on the larger scale ; but the latter will claim its superi- 

 ority in the proportion as mankind approaches the standard of 

 civilization, or as its progress towards that standard becomes 

 more self-conscious and universal. As, however, man is often 

 most methodical, when he least intends to be so, as well as 

 most irrational, when acting after a system, it is not possible 

 to say what part of the ultimate effect will belong to the one 

 principle or to the other, or which is destined to act the most 

 prominent part upon the whole. They both, moreover, in 

 many cases, determine each other, and walk abreast with the 

 indirect influence of man ; so that we may sum up the total 

 effect of man's agency, in saying, that the general zoological 

 features of the globe, greatly depend on the general progress 

 of mankind towards its great temporal end ; whereas the zo- 

 ological condition of each particular country will, in a great 

 measure, be determined by the social institutions and habits 

 of its inhabitants, so that the moral and political state of the 

 latter, may be very fairly tested by the condition of the lower 

 animals. 



I shall now try to give a general sketch of the changes which 

 man effects in the animal kingdom, according to the different 

 stages and forms of his own developement. 



First, the wandering and savage tribes of hunters leave the 

 surface of their habitats nearly in its original state, but cause 

 a considerable destruction with reference to the herbivorous 

 and carnivorous animals, upon which they draw for their sub- 

 sistence, clothing, and poor comforts. However, as the old 

 habitats of animals remain unaltered, the direct destruction 

 will be almost imperceptible, provided the surface of the hunt- 

 ing district bear a large proportion to the population ; (and 

 that it almost invariably does, as the hardships and other cir- 

 cumstances of this mode of life, are unfavourable to the mul- 

 tiplication of the human species), as the consumption of game 

 will be almost balanced by the conservation of it, in conse- 

 quence of the destruction of animals of prey. Thus we find 



