NATURAL HISTORY. 203 



" So dismal and amazing a devastation, as in all the circum- 

 stances of it, is scarcely to be paralleled in history." TILLOTSOX. 

 ' That trample down the flowers and brush the dew." DRYUEN. 



Because, also, their chief purpose in creation seems to have been 

 t<) act as checks upon the redundancy of other animals, or as 

 scavengers clearing away the offal left upon the earth's surface. 

 To this end their solitariness contributes by spreading their 

 numbers over a wider surface, and with greater equality. 



610. Why are carnivorous animals, and the larger quadrupeds, 

 less prolific than other species of the animal kingdom ? 



If the number of carnivorous animals were excessive, their 

 rapacity would devastate the earth, while the larger quadrupeds 

 would desolate the land by trampling down vegetation, and by 

 the enormous quantity they would consume. 



611. It should also be observed that these two classes" have no natural enemies to 

 contend with ; the sanguinary character of the one, and the bulk of the other, 

 securing them from violence. Of herbivorous and other animals essential to man, 

 either as food, or for his other purposes, the increase Is surprising, and exactly 

 proportioned to his necessities and to the means the earth affords for their 

 subsistence ; and this rule applies equally to the wild districts, where the savage 

 tribes, in supporting their existence, check the exuberance of what would 

 otherwise be an evil rather than a blessing. 



612. Why do animals usually seize their prey by the throat ? 



Because their instinct guides them to select some vital part, or 

 at all events some part where death can be caused in the most 

 summary manner. 



The weasel tribe divide the blood-vessels in the side of the neck, 

 even of animals much larger than themselves, with as much 

 accuracy and precision as if they had carefully studied the 

 anatomical structure of their prey ; and though the larger cats 

 throw themselves on the backs of those animals which they are 

 unable to beat to the ground by the force of their spring, 

 they tear the muscles of tUose parts on which the power of 

 escape of their prey depends, and thus bring it most easily to 

 the ground, when they speedily dispatch it, by lacerating the 

 vital parts. 



