1^ ANTIKNT METAPHYSICS. Book IV. 



exceeding what human art or fcience can do. But I do not 

 propofe to write a Natural Hlftory of Animals ; my intention 

 being only to Ibow what InfliniH; is. 1 fhall, therefore, only 

 further add, that, as Infl.in<£l is from Nature, it is no doubt 

 moft perfedl in the natural ftatc : And yet there are animals in a 

 tame and domefticated ftate, which fhow a great deal of it. The dog, 

 for example, who, in his natural ftate, is an animal of prey, as 

 much as the fox, being, as is now certainly known, of the fame 

 fpecies, becomes fo fond of his houfe and home, that, when he is 

 carried away from it, he can find his way hack again, which, in 

 many cafes, it would be impoffible for us to do with all our art and 

 fcience : For it is a fad; well known, that dogs, who have been 

 carried by fea from Scotland to London, have found their way 

 back again by land to the very place from whence they had been 

 taken away ; and in fo fhort a time, that it was evident they 

 muft have taken the neareft way : And I have heard a ftory 

 from a perfon whom I can believe, of a Ship Dog, that is, a 

 dog bred aboard a fhip, who had been accuftomed always to fail 

 with the fhip, but having been left by fome accident at Leith 

 when the fliip failed, found his way acrofs the country to 

 Lochfine, where the fhip was fifhing for herring. Whether the 

 dog had ever been there before with the fhip, I could not 

 learn with any certainty ; but I was allured that he had never 

 travelled before from Leith to Lochfine by land. I am alfo well 

 informed of a Tame Serpent, in the Eaft Indies, which belonged to 

 the late Lord Pigot, and was kept by him in the fuburbs of Ma- 

 drafs. This ferpent was taken by the French, when they invefted 

 Madrafs in the laft war, and was carried to Pondicherry in a clofe 

 carriage. But from thence he found his way back again to his 

 old quarters, which, it feems, he liked better, though Madrafs be 

 diftant from Pondicherry above loo miles. This information I have 

 from a Lady, who was then in India, and had feen the Serpent of- 

 ten before his journey, and faw him after he returned. 



Noi" 



