OF NATURAL HISTORt. Ill 



In all the variety of animated beings wliofe general struc- 

 ture has been exhibited, the intelligent reader will ealily per- 

 ceive, that the bodily forms of the different kinds are exactly 

 adapted to the rank they hold in the creation, and that their 

 oeconomy and manners are ftrldlly and invariably connedted 

 with their ftru£lure and organs. If a new animal appears, 

 and if its figure be uncommon, it may with fafety be pro- 

 nounced, that its manners are equally uncommon. Change 

 the external or internal form of an animal ; diminifli the 

 number of ftomachs in the ruminating tribes ; or give to the 

 horfe a parrot's bill •, and the fpecies will be annihilated. 



The comparative power, or ftrength, of animals depends 

 not on ftrudlure alone. Mental faculties, and docility, of 

 the capacity of receiving inftrudllon, feem to be the greateft 

 fources of animal power. Hence man's unlimited empire 

 over all other creatures. The inventions of language, of 

 arms, of writing, printing, and engraving, have been the 

 chief means of extending his influence, and of his acquiring 

 the dominion of the earth. By thefe arts, men tranfmit the 

 improvements, the inventions, and the acquisitions, of one 

 age to another. By thefe arts, the difpolitions of men are 

 foftened, their manners become more and more civilized, 

 humanity is gradually extended and refined, and the groiTer 

 anijiiofities yield to external politenefs and decorum at leafl, 

 if the feelings themfelves be not blunted. How far this pro- 

 grefs of fclence, and the peaceful arts of life, by the accumu- 

 lation of ages, may proceed, it is impoflible to determine. 

 But the time, it is to be hoped, is not very remote, when 

 the fiercer contentions of nations will ceafe, when felfifh- 

 nefs and venality, which at prefent feem to be infeparable 

 from commercial flates, will give way to generofity of tem- 

 per, and uprightnefs of conduct. 



