504 THE SENSORIAL FUNCTIONS. 



and especially those whose bulk is great, as 

 the Elephant, the Ithinoceros, and the Hippo- 

 potamus, have comparatively small eyes ; for 

 that of the elephant does not exceed two inches 

 in diameter. The eye of the Whale is not much 

 more than the 200th part of the length of the 

 body. In the purely carnivorous tribes, which 

 are actively engaged in the chase of living prey, 

 the organ of vision is large, and occupies a con- 

 siderable portion of the head ; the orbit is much 

 developed, and encroaches on the bones of the 

 face ; while, at the same time, the bony par- 

 tition separating the globe of the eye from the 

 temporal muscle is supplied by ligament alone : 

 so that when that muscle is in strong action, the 

 eye is pressed outwards, giving a peculiar ferocity 

 of expression to the countenance. 



While nature has thus bestowed great acute- 

 ness of sight on pursuing animals, she has, 

 on the other hand, been no less careful to arm 

 those which are the objects of pursuit, with 

 powers of vision, enabling them to perceive 

 their enemies from afar, and avoid the impend- 

 ing danger. Thus, large eyes are bestowed 

 on the Rodentia and the Ruminant ia. Those 

 tribes which pursue their prey by night, or 

 in the dusk of the evening, as for example 

 the Lemur and the Cat, are furnished with 

 large eyes. Bats, however, form an exception 



