386 



AMPHIBIOUS QUADRUPEDS. 



must be hollow, like a syringe, which it is not 

 found to be. I should therefore suppose, 

 that the animal is endowed with a strong 

 power of suction; and that, without inflicting 

 any wound whatsoever, by continuing to draw, 

 it enlarges the pores of the skin in such a 

 manner that the blood at length passes, and 

 that more freely the longer the operation is 

 continued ; so that, at last, when the bat goes 

 off, the blood continues to flow. In confir- 

 mation of this opinion we are told, that where 



beasts have a thick skin, this animal cannot 

 injure them; whereas, in horses, mules, and 

 asses, they are very liable to be thus destroy- 

 ed. As to the rest, these animals are con- 

 sidered as one of the great pests of South 

 America; and often prevent the peopling 

 of many parts of that continent : having 

 destroyed at Barja, and several other pla- 

 ces, such cattle as were brought there by 

 the missionaries, in order to form a settle- 

 ment. 



CHAPTER LVII. 



OF AMPHIBIOUS QUADRUPEDS. 



THE gradations of nature from one class 

 of beings to another are made by impercep- 

 tible deviations. As we saw in the foregoing 

 chapters quadrupeds almost degraded into 

 the insect tribe, or mounted among the in- 

 habitants of the air, we are at present to ob- 

 serve their approach to fishes, to trace the 

 degrees by which they become more unlike 

 terrestrial animals, till the similitude of the 

 fish prevails over that of the quadruped. 



As in opposite armies the two bodies are 

 distinct and separated from each other, while 

 yet between them are various troops that 

 plunder on both sides and are friends to 

 neither; so between terrestrial and aquatic 

 animals there are tribes that can scarce be 

 referred to any rank, but lead an amphibious 

 life between them. Sometimes in water, 

 sometimes on land, they seem fitted for each 

 element, and yet completely adapted to 

 neither. Wanting the agility of quadrupeds 

 upon land, and the perseverance of fishes in 

 the deep, the variety of their powers only 

 seems to diminish their force ; and, though 

 possessed of two different methods of living, 

 they are more inconveniently provided than 

 such as have but one. 



All quadrupeds of this kind, though cover- 

 ed with hair in the usual manner, are furnish- 

 ed with membranes between the toes, which 

 assist their motion in the water. Their paws 

 are broad and their legs short, by which they 



are more completely fitted for swimming ; for, 

 taking short strokes at a time, they make 

 them oftener and with greater rapidity. Some, 

 however, of these animals are more adapted 

 to live in the water than others ; but, as (heir 

 power increases to live in the deep, their un- 

 fitness for living upon land increases in the 

 same proportion. Some, like the otter, re- 

 semble quadrupeds in every thing except in 

 being in some measure web-footed; others 

 depart still farther, in being, like the beaver, 

 not only web-footed, but having the tail cover- 

 ed with scales, like those of a fish. Others 

 depart yet farther, as the seal and the morse, 

 by having the hind feet stuck to the body 

 like fins ; and others, as the lamentin, almost 

 entirely resemble fishes, by having no hind 

 feet whatsoever. Such are the gradations of 

 the amphibious tribe. They all, however, 

 get their living in the water, either by habit 

 or conformation; they all continue a long 

 time under water ; they all consider that ele- 

 ment as their proper abode; whenever press- 

 ed by danger they fly to the water for secu- 

 rity ; and, when upon land, appear watchful, 

 timorous, and unwieldy. 



THE OTTER. 



IN the first step of the progression from land 

 to amphibious animals, we find the Otter, re- 



