DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXXlll 



the former being cast off and renewed every year, the latter 

 enduring for the life of the animal. The Stag and other 

 allied species are furnished with antlers ; the Antelope, the 

 Goat, the Sheep, and the Ox, with horns. The ruminating 

 tribes may be said to be the most important of any other to 

 the interests of the human race, some of them being endowed 

 with instincts which cause them to relinquish their natural 

 wildness, and submit themselves entirely to our purposes. 

 The Camel is fitted beyond all other creatures to traverse the 

 burning sands of the desert ; the Ox, the Sheep, and the 

 Goat, have been the servants of man from the earliest records 

 of our race. The very species have been subjected to our 

 will : they till the ground for our support, and bear our bur- 

 dens ; they yield us milk, and hair, and wool ; and, finally, 

 they render up their bodies for our food, and their skins for 

 our covering. 



3. Pachydermata, or thick-skinned animals, comprehend- 

 ing,^!.) The Tapir, the Wild and Ethiopian Hogs, the Pec- 

 caries, and others, of which the Wild Hog is formed, beyond 

 any other animal, to submit himself to human control, and 

 multiply in the state of slavery ; (2.) The Hippopotamus, 

 the Rhinoceros, and the Elephant, of which, in a former age 

 of the world, many species abounded, whose bones alone now 

 remain to attest their former existence ; (3.) The Solidungu- 

 la, comprehending the Horse, the Ass, the Zebra, and other 

 allied species ; some of which beautiful creatures remain in 

 a state of liberty, and refuse to resign themselves to bond- 

 age': while others the Horse and the Ass have been sub- 

 mitted to domestication from the earliest records of human 

 societies ; (4.) The Dugongs, usually classed with the Whales, 

 which live in the sea, but crawl on shore to feed ; creatures 

 strong, but harmless and timid, and betaking themselves, 

 when alarmed, to their natural element. 



4. Edentata, or animals destitute of incisor teeth, as the 

 gigantic Megatherium and Myolodon, now extinct; the family 

 of Sloths, fitted to pass their lives in trees ; the Armadilloes, 



