210 THE PHILOSOPHY 



fmall and unlntereftlng. Hence their habits of attention, 

 and the ardour of their minds, begin to relax. Inftead of a 

 general and undiftlnguifliing gratiticatien of their fenfes, 

 this is the period when it is neceflary to ftimulate children, 

 by various artifices, to apply their minds fteadily to the ex- 

 ^mition of particular objects, and to the acquifition of new 

 ideas from more complicated and refined fources of informa-r 

 tion. The great bafis of education is a habit of attention. 

 When this important point is gained, the minds of children 

 may be molded into any form. But that reftlefliiefs, and 

 appetite for motion, which Nature, for the wifeft purpofes, 

 has implanted in the confi:itution of all young animals, fhould 

 not be too feverely checked. Health and vigour of body 

 ^re the furefi: foundations of ftrength and improvement of 

 mind. 



With regard to the duration of infancy, from man to the 

 infedl tribes, it feems, in general, to be proportioned, not to 

 jt'he extent of life, but to the fagacity or mental powers of 

 Xhe different claffes of animated beings. The elephant re- 

 quires 30 years, and the rhinoceros 20, before they come to 

 perfeft maturity, and are enabled to multiply their fpecies. 

 But thefe years mark not the period of infancy ; for the ani- 

 mals, in a much (horter time, are capable of procuring their 

 own food, and are totally independent of any aid from their 

 parents. The fame remark is applicable to the camel, the 

 horfe, the larger apes, &c. Their ages of puberty are four, 

 two and a half, and three years. But, in thefe quadrupeds, 

 the terminations of infancy are much more early. The 

 fmaller quadrupeds, as hares, rats, mice, &c. are mature at 

 the end of the firft year after birth ; and the Guiney pig 

 and rabbit require only five or fix months. There is a gra- 

 dation of m.ental pov;ers, though not without exceptions, 

 from the larger to the more minute quadrupeds ; for the 

 dog and fox, whpfe fagacity is very great, come to maturity 



