326 CONCLUSION. 



observation. Even in the dog and horse, how many pro- 

 perties reside which are hourly experienced, but seldom 

 considered with attention ! From such objects as are most 

 obvious and inviting, we should gradually ascend, by firm 

 and patient steps, to the knowledge of others. 



The larger animals, and such as contribute to our pleasure 

 and utility, will doubtless first engage our attention. After 

 duly examining their nature and instincts, their growth, 

 their maturation, their increase, the care of their young, 

 their selection of food, and the various means with which 

 Providence has endowed them for their preservation, the 

 student should descend to such quadrupeds as are more 

 minute or retired from his notice : and, when he is toler- 

 ably well acquainted with those of his own country, should 

 extend his views to the natives of foreign regions. The 

 same mode of proceeding is proper, through every class 

 of animated and also unanimated nature. 



The sagacious docility of the elephant, the persevering 

 fortitude of the camel, the generous magnanimity of the 

 lion, and the savage fierceness of the tyger and the hyena, 

 will supply abundant materials for reflection, and incen- 

 tives to farther and closer investigation. We shall dis- 

 cover how the useful quadrupeds are wisely apportioned 

 to their respective climates, and to the exigencies of men ; 

 and how the noxious classes are generally restrained to 

 haunts little frequented by mankind, and how their num- 

 bers are limited by a most admired and benevolent 

 economy of nature. 



After this acquaintance with the history of quadrupeds, 

 the student should proceed to BIRDS, the most beautiful 

 and most innocent tribes of the creation. To contemplate 

 the lustre of their plumage, and listen to their notes of 

 love ; to study their propensities and their pursuits, will 

 prove an exhaustless fund of rational entertainment. The 

 various means by which they are enabled to subsist, either 

 on land or water; the invariable structure of their nests, 

 according to their respective kinds ; and the fond affection 

 displayed for their young, will teach lessons of prudent 



