We admire the elegance and fleetness of the horse ; we 

 view with terror the strength and fierceness of the lion 

 and tiger ; we are astonished at the magnitude of the whale, 

 the giraffe, and the elephant ; we make a companion of the 

 dog from its attachment and fidelity ; we are amused with 

 the grotesque vocal imitations of the parrot, and the in- 

 telligent airs of the monkey ; we admire the industry of 

 the ant, the mechanical skill of the beaver, and the syste- 

 matic economy of the bee ; we contemplate with pleasure 

 the soaring flight of the eagle, the immense velocity of 

 the falcon, and the strength of the ostrich ; we listen with 

 delight to the warbling of birds, and are charmed with the 

 melodious notes of the nightingale. 



No department of science indeed is calculated to present 

 the mind with more interesting objects of contemplation, 

 or enrich it with more affecting imagery, than the study 

 of animated nature. It has called forth the intellectual 

 energies, and enriched the compositions of all the philoso- 

 phers, historians, and poets of antiquity, and has been a fer- 

 tile theme of the profoundest disquisitions in modern times. 

 The writings of Moses, and Solomon, of Homer, Hesiod, 

 and Oppian, of Herodotus, Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, 

 Diodorus, and JElian, abound with interesting descriptions 

 and metaphors taken from the Animal Kingdom ; and in- 

 deed they constitute the most striking and affecting objects 

 of the works of genius in every language, in every coun- 

 try, and in every age. An accurate acquaintance with the 

 forms, characters, and habits of animals, gives energy and 

 life to the productions of the painter, the statuary, and 

 the sculptor ; and as they constitute the chief natural 

 riches of a country, they equally interest the navigator, 

 the traveller, the geographer, the historian, and the le- 

 gislator. They occupy a prominent part in the hierogly- 

 phics of Egypt, the sculptures of Greece, the mosaics of 

 ancient Rome, and in the great productions of Raphael, 

 Michael Angelo, Canova, and other artists of modern 

 times. They were the gods of the Egyptians, and are 



