MAMMALIA. 479 



exhibit more variety in their habits and modes 

 of existence, than the one we are now exa- 

 mining. Each race has its peculiar destination 

 with regard to the kind of food by which it is 

 nourished, and the means by which that food 

 is obtained. The carnivorous tribes wage war 

 with the larger animals, whom they either 

 spring upon unawares, or openly pursue and 

 overpower, displaying the savage energies of 

 their nature, in practising all the arts of fero- 

 cious and sanguinary destruction. Others, in- 

 tent on meaner prey, resort to divers stratagems 

 for its possession ; some are designed to feed 

 chiefly on the mollusca, and others swallow in- 

 sects only. The numerous tribes which are 

 formed to subsist on vegetable food exhibit, in 

 like manner, a great diversity of constructions, 

 adapted to the particular nature of that subsis- 

 tence, whether it be herbage, or the leaves of 

 trees, or fruits, or seeds, or the coarse fibres 

 of the wood and bark. While all are gifted 

 with powers to obtain the nourishment they 

 require, those that have not been armed with 

 weapons of attack, are still provided with in- 

 struments of defence, or with means of flight. 

 Each has its respective sphere of operation ; 

 and to each has its appropriate soil, habitation, 

 climate, and element been assigned. 



It is easy to conceive that all these various cir- 



