■198 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



from the one to tlie other ; nor would these 

 animals have remained, for so long a time, com- 

 mon to them both. 



Species. Hon- far nature has proceeded m 

 the production of quadrupeds, we have not as 

 yetj sufficient information to determine. There 

 may be many species, yet unknown, in those 

 parts of the earth which have not been explor- 

 ed : Nor is the enumeration complete, in those 

 countries which are known. The most that 

 has been done in this branch of natural history, 

 is to be found in the celebrated vroi k of M. 

 BufFon. As the result of his inquiries and in- 

 formation, this able philosopher concludes that 

 the whole number of quadrupeds;, which are 

 epread over the face of tlie earth, Avill form a- 

 bout two hundred different species or kinds. '"^ 

 Of these, one hundred are found in America, 

 and about seventy five are peculiar to it. If 

 the power, the force, or the vigour of animated 

 nature, is to be estimated by the species of 

 quadrupeds, which different countries contain, 

 the conclusion will be, that nature has acted 

 with the greatest vigour and energy in Ameri- 

 ca. In tlie different climates in Amerion, na- 

 ture has produced seventy five species of quad- 

 rupeds : the number of those which are pecul- 

 iar to the other parts of the globe are on.e hun- 

 dred. The dimensions of America, compared 

 with the dimensions of Asia, Africa, and Eu~ 

 rope, by the computation of the modern geogra- 

 phers, are as one hundred and forty one to two 

 hundred and forty nine.f The ratio of one 



♦ Vol. IX. 4T. 



•j- Guthrie's Geography, p. 15, 



