Chap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 317 



we have domeflicatcd, and with whom we may he faid to live. The 

 care they take of their young is really wonderful. I have heard a 

 ftory, that was very well vouched, of a bitch, who not having milk foi- 

 her puppies, fwallowed herbs which made her vomit ; and fo fhe 

 fed her puppies with what fhe had taken to feed herfelf. I 

 have been told another ftory, which I likev;ife believe, of a bitch 

 in the fame fituation, v;ho did flill better than eating the victuals 

 herfelf, and then vomiting them ; for fhe carried them in the veflel, 

 which was fet down to her, to her puppies at the diftance of a mile. 

 And I had a grey-hound bitch of my own, who, when her milk for 

 her puppies failed, went out and catclied young hares, and brought 

 them to her puppies to eat. 



In this way propagation goes on among the brutes who inhabit 

 the earth and air. As to the inhabitants of the water, and particu- 

 larly that great coUeclion of water we call the fca, the propagation 

 among them is mofi: v/onderful, efpecially among the herrings. The 

 hiftorians of the North tell us, that in their feas the propagation of 

 them, fome centuries ago, was fo great (and I fuppofe it flill con- 

 tinues to be very great), that the men took them with their hands; 

 and there were fuch numbers of them, that they hindered the boats 

 from failing fo faft as they would otherwife have done. 



Thus we fee that the prefervation of tlie races of animals, which 

 is the chief thing in the animal fyftem, and of much greater confe- 

 quence than the prefervation of individuals, is wonderfully provided 

 for. And even as to the individuals of the feveral fpeciefes, thofe 

 which live in the ftate of nature, are as happy, I believe, as any 

 animals can be that are only fenfitive, but not intelligent : For they 

 enjoy all the pleafures of fenfe, and better than we do, as they en- 

 joy them in a more natural way ; and they are liable to no difeafes, 

 which make the great mifery of our lives, nor to any calamities, ex- 

 cept 



