NATURAL HISTORY. 135 



attacks whole caravans crossing th< desert, and when 

 over-powered, retires still facing the enemy. But the 

 Lion of Morocco, which is a more popolous country, 

 seems to acknowledge a superiority, arid is even scared 

 away by the cries of women and children. 



It is in the forest therefore, and remote from man, 

 that we must expect to find those varieties, instincts, 

 and amazing instances of courage and cunning, which 

 Quadrupeds exert in a very high degree. 



The heads of Quadrupeds are variously formed, 

 corresponding to their different manner of subsisting : 

 in the porcine species, it is sharp, as their food is 

 chiefly under ground : in the canine, which pursue 

 their prey by scent, it is long, in order to afford room 

 for the olfactory nerves : in others, which are fre- 

 quently engaged in combat, it is short and strong, as 

 in the lion. Their teeth also are adapted to the nature 

 of their food : in those which live on vegetables, they 

 are edged before, for cropping grass and herbs: in car- 

 nivorous animals, the fore teeth are sharp, for holding 

 and dividing; and farther in the mouth, they turn 

 broad with unequal, rugged surfaces, to render the 

 aliment fit to assimilate with the fluids in the stomach. 

 Their feet and legs are also adapted to them ; those 

 which live on fish have webbed feet ; and beasts of 

 prey have claws which they can sheathe or unsheathe 

 at pleasure. The stomachs of quadrupeds are formed 

 according to their diet ; those which eat flesh, have it 

 small and glandular, while those which eat vegetables, 

 have it very large. Some animals which chew the cud 

 have four stomachs; but in Africa, where the plants 

 are soft and nutritious, only two. 



The first aliaient of all quadrupeds is milk, which, 

 is a liquor at once both nourishing, and easily digested, 



