CHAP. II. SENSES. HEARING IN QUADRUPEDS. 49 



point of the mandibles is not only comparatively soft, 

 but is often covered with a very thin membranous 

 skin, which evidently implies considerable sensibility. 



(6l.) The senses in QUADRUPEDS are developed in 

 very different degrees. That of feeling, as in mankind, 

 is seated beneath the outward skin, and is disseminated 

 in various proportions throughout the whole animal 

 world ; but many like the elephant, the rhinoceros, 

 and still more the armadilloes are covered with a thick 

 and impenetrable case, which protects the more sensitive 

 parts, and secures the greater portion of their bodies 

 from injury. The touch of the former of these animals 

 of which his trunk appears to be the principal in- 

 strument is exquisitely delicate ; and he is also pos- 

 sesssed of a quick ear and an acute smell ; the first 

 leads him to delight in the sound of music, to which 

 he is frequently brought to move in cadence ; while, as 

 an equivalent for an imperfect sight, the ear is endowed 

 with a very acute sense of hearing. The scent of the 

 American bison is said to be so keen, that it is difficult 

 for either men or dogs to get near him, excepting on 

 his leeward side ; while the camel, by the perfection of 

 the same sense, is enabled, while wandering over the 

 sandy and parching deserts in which he so often ranges, 

 to discover the vicinity of water at the distance of a 

 mile. 



(62.) The sense of hearing, in many quadrupeds, is 

 particularly keen, and seems to be given more especially 

 to the herbivorous tribes : thus the elk, although not 

 remarkably swift, is enabled to avoid its enemies by an 

 unusual keenness in its perception of sounds. The 

 same delicacy of hearing is well known to be possessed 

 by the stag; while the chamois, and the beautiful 

 antelopes of Africa, more highly gifted than either, add 

 to these an unusually penetrating sight. Hares and 

 rabbits, more especially, must possess this faculty highly 

 developed, since they are provided with long ears which 

 convey sounds on the principle of the speaking trumpet ; 

 while their large and prominent eyes are constructed to 







