ESSAY ON SHEEP 



There are few studies more generally amus- 

 ing than those which relate to natural history, 

 or rather to that branch of it which comprises 

 the history of animals; it is sufficiently simple 

 to be embraced by the untutored mind, and 

 yet so comprehensive as to employ the faculties 

 of the most elevated. The first will be enter- 

 tained by the more obvious characters of the 

 animal he considers, by its innocence or its fe- 

 rocity, by its manners, its habits, and the in- 

 stincts which lead it to provide for its wants 

 and those of its ofispring. A more profound 

 philosopher will carry his views further; he 

 will analyze the reason or the instincts of the 

 animal, will examine the internal structure, 

 and will admire the wonderful harmony that 

 exists in the several parts of his body, and the 

 analogy that is found between these and its 

 manner of life. He will be insensibly led from 

 the examination of the creature to a contem- 

 plation of the Creator, and will acknowledge 



