226 THE PHILOSOPHY 



whole year. The rein-deer inhabit the cold regions of the 

 north, becaufe thefe countries produce the greateft quantity 

 of the lichen, a fpecies of mofs, which is their beloved food. 

 The pelican makes choice of dry and defcrt places to lay 

 her eggs. When her young are hatched, fl\e is obliged to 

 bring water to them from great dlftances. To enable her 

 to perform this neceflary office, Nature has provided her 

 with a large fac, which extends from the tip of the under 

 mandible of her bill to the throat, and holds as much water 

 as will fupply her brood for feveral days. This water fhe 

 pours into the nefl to cool her young, to allay their thirft, 

 and to teach them to fwim. Lions, tigers, and other rapa- 

 cious animals, refort to thefe nefts, drink the water, and are 

 faid not to injure the young *. The goat afcends the rocky 

 precipice, to crop the leaves of flirubs, and other favourite 

 plants. The floth and the fquirrel feed upon the leaves and 

 the fruit of trees, and are, therefore, furnifhed with feet 

 which enable them to climb. Water-fowls live upon filhes, 

 infe61:s, and the eggs of fifties. Their bill, neck, wings, legs, 

 and whole ftru6lure, are nicely fitted for enabling them to 

 catch the food adapted to their natures. Their feeding upon 

 the eggs of fifties accounts for that variety of fifties which 

 are often found in lakes and pools on the tops of hills, and 

 on high grounds remote from the fea and from rivers. The 

 bat and the goat-fucker fly about during the night, when 

 the whole air is filled with moths, and other no6lurnal in- 

 fects. The bear, who acquires a prodigious cjuantity of fat 

 during the fummer, retires to his den, when provifions fail 

 him, in winter. For fonie months, he receives his fole nour- 

 iftiment from the abforption of the fat which had been pre- 

 vioufly accumulated in the cellular membrane. 



A glutton, brought • from Siberia to Drefden, eat every 

 day, fays M. Klein, thirty pounds of flefti without being fat- 



* Amoen. Acad, vol. z, p. 4;. 



