RELATIONS. r83 



agdinst the coldness of th^t element. Such a defence ia 

 furnished to the swan in the muff in which its body is 

 wrapped. But all tliis outward apparatus would have been 

 in vain if the intestinal system had not been suited to the 

 digestion of vegetable substances. I say suited to the diges- 

 tion of vegetable substances, for it is well known that there 

 are two intestinal systems found in birds : one with a mem- 

 branous stomach and a gastric juice capable of dissolving 

 animal substances alone ; the other with a crop and gizzard 

 calculated for the moistening, bruising, and afterwards di- 

 gesting of vegetable aliment. 



Or set off with any other distinctive part in the body of 

 the swan ; for instance, with the long neck. The long neck 

 without the web-foot would have been an encumbrance te 

 the bird ; yet there is no necessary connection between j. 

 long neck and a web-foot. In fact they do not usually go 

 together. How happens it, therefore, that they meet only 

 when a particular design demands the aid of both ? 



11. This mutual relation arising from a subserviency to 

 a common purpose, is very observable also in the parts of a 

 mole. The strong short legs of that animal, the palmated 

 feet armed with sharp nails, the pig-like nose, the teeth, the 

 velvet coat, the small external ear, the sagacious smell, the 

 sunk protected eye, all conduce to the utilities or to the safe- 

 ty of its under-ground life. It is a special purpose, specially 

 consulted throughout. The form of the feet fixes the char- 

 acter of the animal. They are so many shovels ; they deter- 

 mine its action to that of rooting in the ground ; and every 

 tiling about its body agrees with its destination. The cylin- 

 drical figure of the mole, as well as the compactness of its 

 form, arising from the terseness of its limbs, proportionably 

 lessens its labor ; because, according to its bulk, it thereby 

 requires the least possible quantity of earth to be removed 

 for its progress. It has nearly the same structure of the face 

 and jaws as a swine, and the same office for them. The 

 nose is sharp, slender, tendinous, strong, with a pair of nerves 



