M. Floxirens on the Natural History of Man. 351 



attack animals or plants while yet alive, while others find 

 nourishment in dead animals and vegetables, in a more or less 

 advanced stage of decomposition ; or to employ Mr Macleay's 

 phraseology, some are thalerophagous, others saprophagous. 

 It is not without interest to inquire into their relative propor- 

 tions, and the laws to which they are subject, for the parts 

 which they perform in the economy of nature are very differ- 

 ent. 



Among the creophagous kinds, the Carabidae, Hydrocan- 

 thares, and carnivorous Palpicornes, may be regarded as tha- 

 lerophagous. There remain, consequently, only the Teredy- 

 les, the Brachelytres, and Clavicornes, which live on animal 

 substances, to be ranked among the saprophaga. Of the 4752 

 creophagous species mentioned above, we find that 3587 are 

 thalerophagous, and 1165 saprophagous. The latter conse- 

 quently are to the former : : 1 : 3,07. 



On the Natural History of Man. By M. Flourens. 



The study of man, viewed in the light of natural history, 

 has a peculiar importance, which no other branch of this 

 science can pretend to. The physical characters which dis- 

 tinguish the human races from one another, are, perhaps, the 

 fact of natural history, which has at all eras most struck the 

 imagination of men. We know the gi'eat astonishment of the 

 first Portuguese, who, in the fifteenth century, penetrating 

 into the interior of Africa, found there men absolutely black, 

 with curled hair, flat noses, and thick lips. This astonishment 

 was renewed at the epoch of the discovery of the New World. 

 Historians relate, that, on the first return of Columbus, the 

 Europeans could not withdraw their eyes from the unknown 

 plants and animals he had brought back, and above all from 

 the Indians, so different from all the races of men they had 

 hitherto seen. 



Notwithstanding this lively interest which the physical study 

 of man inspires, and has at all times inspired, this study is 

 very little advanced. And fir.st, with regard to the ancients, 

 one can scarcely collect any thing else concerning the natural 



