60 THE BARBYROUESSA. 



from the attacks of larger animals during the hours 

 which are devoted to sleep, is one of the most striking 

 marks of the power of instinct which the animal crea- 

 tion can possibly display : as the upper tusk of the 

 animal grows ma curve towards the head, it exactly 

 answers (he purpose of a hook, and with it they sus- 

 pend themselves to the branch of a tree, and thus 

 avoid the invasion of their foes. 



CHAP. VIII. 



ANIMALS OF THE CAT KIND. 



WE have hitherto been describing a class of harm- 

 less animals, that serve as instruments to the happiness 

 of man, or at least that are notat warfare with his tribe ; 

 but we are now to turn to an unrelenting race, whose 

 sanguinary tempers deal in blood. All the class of the 

 cat kind are chiefly distinguished by their sharp and 

 formidable claws, which they can hide or extend at 

 pleasure ; they lead a solitary ravenous life, neither 

 uniting for their mutual defence, like. those which feed 

 on vegetables, or, like the dog, for mutual support. 

 The dog, the wolf, and the bear, are sometimes kuown 

 to live upon farinaceous food ; but all of the cat 

 kind, such as the lion, the tiger, the leopard, and 

 the ounce, refuse the sustenance that does not teem 

 with blood. 



In other animals many alterations are produced by 

 the arts and assiduity of man ; but these creatures re- 

 main inflexibly the same, and neither climate or con- 

 trol can change them. 



The cat, which is the smallest animal of the kind, 

 is the only one that has been taken under human pro- 



