LETTER XI. 



tc Out of the ground upr6se, 

 As from his lair, the wild beast, where he wons 

 Tn tbrcst wild, in thicket, brake, or den, 

 Among the trees ; in pairs thej? rose, they walk'd, 

 The cattle in llic fields and meadows green." 



MILTOX. 

 DEAR SIR, 



I AM now about to open to your view an extensive 

 field for observation, in which curiosity may have an 

 ample range, and receive continual gratification 

 without finding its source exhausted. You have long 

 expected to be entertained with a survey of the ani- 

 mal kingdom. I have promised you this satisfaction, 

 mid am now about to miter on the pleasing task of 

 fulfilling my promise, and realizing yonr expecta- 

 tion, f shall begin this survey of animal life wuli 

 the quadrupeds ; but before we enter on individual 

 description, it may be requisiic to exhibit them in a. 

 general view. 



If we descend by regular gradations, from man, 

 the masterpiece of the terrestrial world, we must for 

 many reasons assign to the quadruped part of the 

 creation the second rank. Whether we direct -our 

 attention to the structure of their bodies, or their va- 

 rious and wonderful instincts, to their ability to ren- 

 der us service, or their power to injure us, we cannot: 

 but consider them as prominent- and interesting ob- 

 jects of curiosity. The internal conformation in 

 quadrupeds is strikingly analogous to that of man, 

 and the general anatomy of the monkey race bears 

 so great a resemblance to that of the human species, 

 that it requires some skill in physiology to make the 

 discrimination. Their instincts seem also sometimes 

 to approximate to the reasoning faculty, and to ex- 

 hibit aa appearance of some 1 thing like the human 

 passions. Some of them seem to imitate, or even to 

 rival us, in our most tender ailections. What human 

 attachment can exceed that of the dog to his master ? 

 He accompanies him with constancy, guards his pro- 

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