THE LUSTRE OF LIVING THINGS. 387 



pendicular biped — the lord of the creation. Many people 

 are rich in gold and silver — and not a few abound in 

 brass — but, notwithstanding the received name of " Copper 

 Indians," no man, not even an American, has in his own 

 proper person — and barring the buttons— a metallic lustre. 

 Amono- the other tribes of the mammalia that lustre is 

 extremely rare. At present we can recall only a single 

 instance in which it is exhibited — that of the chrysochlore, 

 or Cape mole, of which a portion of the fur is radiant with 

 reflections of a green and copper colour. Throughout the 

 ornithological kingdom this peculiar adornment is not 

 unfrequent, as — " On the wings of a dove covered with 

 silver, and her feathers with yellow gold/' It is also very 

 striking among some birds allied to the thrushes ; is well 

 known to invest a great portion of the peacock as in 

 a kingly coat-of-mail ; but is most sumptuously mani- 

 fested among the many exquisite forms of the Trochilidse. 

 In the descending scale the next great class is that of 

 fishes ; and, truly, amid the great waters we behold the 

 wonderful works of the Lord. When we consider the 

 obscurity in which at a certain depth of ocean all things 

 are enshrouded, it is surprising to perceive so much em- 

 blazoned lustre emerging from the sunless deep, where 

 no human eye can ever behold its beauty. But so it is. 

 There are few created things more resplendent than many 

 of the southern fishes, among which all metallic splendour 



