52 THE VITAL FUNCTIONS. 



of Asia: and often have we heard of the sunken spirits of the 

 traveller through the weary desert, from the appalling si- 

 lence that reigns over those regions of eternal desolation; 

 hut no sooner is his eye refreshed hy the reappearance of 

 vegetation, than he again traces the footsteps and haunts of 

 animals, and welcomes the cheering sound of sensitive be- 

 ings. 



The kind of food which nature has assigned to each par- 

 ticular race of animals has an important influence, not mere- 

 ly on its internal organization, but, also, on its active powers 

 and disposition; for the faculties of animals, as well as their 

 structure, have a close relation to the circumstances con- 

 nected with their subsistence, such as the abundance of its 

 supply, the facility of procuring it, the dangers incurred in 

 its search, and the opposition to be overcome before it can 

 be obtained. In those animals whose food lies generally 

 within their reach, the active powers acquire but little de- 

 velopment: such, for instance, is the condition of herbivo- 

 rous quadrupeds, whose repast is spread every where in rich 

 profusion beneath their feet: and it is the chief business of 

 their lives to crop the flowery mead, and repose on the same 

 spot which aflbrds them the means of support. Predaceous 

 animals, on the contrary, being prompted by the calls of ap- 

 petite to wage war with living beings, are formed for a more 

 active and martial career; their muscles are more vigorous, 

 their bones are stronger, their limbs more robust, their senses 

 more delicate and acute. What sight can compare with that 

 of the eagle and the lynx; what scent can be more exquisite 

 than that of the wolf and the jackal? All the perceptions 

 of carnivorous animals are more accurate, their sagacity em- 

 braces a greater variety of objects, and, in feats of strength 

 and agility, they far surpass the herbivorous tribes. A tiger 

 will take a spring of fifteen or twenty feet, and, seizing upon 

 a buffalo, will carry it with ease on its back through a dense 

 and tangled thicket: with a single blow of its paw it will 

 break the back of a bull, or tear open the flanks of an ele- 

 phant. \ 



