CHARACTERS OF AWMALS, 115 



The nomenclature employed to express size, is taken, in 

 each country, from the ordinary standards of length. In 

 Britain, the English inch, and its fractional parts, are uni- 

 versally employed. 



3. Weight. Almost every circumstance which operates? 

 in varying the dimensions of animals, likewise exercises a 

 powerful influence on their weight. On this account it is 

 necessary to consider the age and sex of the animal, the 

 season of the year in which it has been killedj and its habit 

 of body. The weight, in this country, is usually expressed 

 by grains arid other fractions of a pound ; but it does not 

 appear that the same kind of weight is generally used. 

 Apothecaries weight is the most convenient in its divi- 

 sions *. 



4. SJiape. The characters furnished by colour, size, and 

 weight, are influenced by so many circumstanceSj that it 

 becomes difficult to avoid all sources of error, tt is, for- 

 tunately, otherwise with shape. Many of the soft parts of 

 animals, indeed, vary considerably in their form^ according 

 to their condition with regard to fatness ; but in all the 

 hard parts^ or those which are in constant exercise, the 

 shape is subject to little change. The form of the bill of 

 birds, and the teeth of quadrupeds, seldom varies, while 

 change in the size, weight, and colour of the body, are fre- 

 quent. The breadth of a bird, taken from the tips of the 



* In taking the dimensions of animals, a small foot-rule is usually employ- 

 ed; but a piece of tape, with the divisions marked upon it, is in many cases 

 more convenient. For the determination of the weight, a tube, with a spiral 

 steel-wire and index, is the most expeditious. Allowance should be made 

 for the loss of blood the animal may have sustained, or the increase to its 

 weight from the shot with which it has been killed. In the case of small 

 birds, the last precaution is indispensably necessary. 



