170 Ayialijsis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 



cbuld support. Among the ancients the hog was in much esteem ; it was 

 the peculiar sacrifice to Ceres ; and in the island of Crete it was regarded 

 as sacred. In ancient Rome the art of rearing and fattening them was 

 much studietl, and a dressed hog was among the most expensive of the 

 imperial dishes." 



The third family of this order includes the horse. " The different races 

 of the horse are numerous, most of the principal countries in the world 

 possessing breeds peculiar to themselves. But the Arabian race has long 

 been consideretl as the noblest of the species, and as combining the quali- 

 ties of endurance, vigour, and temper, in a higher degree than any of the 

 other varieties. As breeders of horses have ascertained that the qualities of 

 the Arabian horse may be perpetuated in his descendants, in the countries 

 of Europe where attention is paid to the raising of this valuable animal 

 for various purposes, the deterioration which a northern climate induces 

 in a native of warmer latitudes is counteracted by crossing with the origi- 

 nal breed. From the importation of the pure breed of Arabia into Europe, 

 and the different crossings of these and their descendants with the native 

 breeds, has arisen all that variety in appearance and qualities of the horse, 

 which fits them for heavy draughts, the plough, or the saddle." 



The ninth order of Mammalia is the Ruminantia or Ruminating ani- 

 mals, including that large group of quadrupeds which possess the singular fa- 

 culty of masticating their food twice, and among these the goat, the ox, and 

 the sheep. At the head of this order stands the Arabian Camel, which has 

 from ages been the medium of commercial communication between the 

 countries on either side of the great deserts of Arabia, and has been emphati- 

 cally termed the ship of the desert. We notice here also the Reindeer, the 

 only one of the genus Cervus which has been domesticated ; and the Gi- 

 raffe, known to the Greeks and Romans, and which has after along interval 

 been again brought alive to Europe. The last order of mammiferous ani- 

 mals is the Cetacea, which, to the form and habits of fishes, join some of 

 the essential characteristics of quadrupeds. This order includes the Dol- 

 phin, the Porpoise, and the Whale, the largest of animals, the mass of the 

 body of a full grown specimen being nearly equal to that of a hundred ele- 

 phants. 



" The total number of mammiferous animals described by Desmarest 

 (and Mr S. has inserted the whole ascertained species) is about 850, includ- 

 ing, however, many species imperfectly ascertained and the fossil Mammalia; 

 of which belonging to the order Quadrumana are 141, — Cheiroptera 97, — 

 Ferae 176,-— Marsupialia 47,— Rodentia 149, — Edentata 24,— Pachyder- 

 mata 35,— Ruminantia 97,- Cetacea 62. Of these about 330 are frugi- 

 vorous or herbivorous, 80 omnivorous, 150 insectivorous, and 240 carnivo- 

 rous, in a greater or lesser degree. The number of terrestrial species do- 

 mesticated by man (but perhaps including all that are really useful) 

 amount only to thirteen. 



We have thus shortly enumerated the principal divisions adopted by Mr 

 S. in the class Mammalia, without attempting to give any of the scientific, 

 generic, and specific descriptions ; and omitting entirely the general con- 

 siderations on the anatomical structure, food, and habits of the different 

 groups. For these we refer to the book itself. We only remark, that Mr S. 

 has very properly followed Cuvier and Desmarest in the distinctions of ge- 



