'590 HISTORY OF 



cular fibres, by means whereof the food is ground up and down, 

 in the same manner as in those which are particularly distin- 

 guished by the appellation of ruminants. 



But not these alone ; men themselves have been often known 

 to ruminate, and some even with pleasure. The accounts of 

 these calamities, for such I must consider them, incident to our 

 fellow-creatures, are not very pleasant to read : yet I must 

 transcribe a short one, as given us by Slare, in the Philosophical 

 Transactions, as it may, in some measure, show the satisfaction 

 which the lower tribes of animals enjoy while they ruminate. 

 The man in question was a citizen of Bristol, of about twenty 

 years of age, and, what seemed more extraordinaiy still, of a 

 ruminating family, for his father was frequently subject to the 

 same infirmity, or amusement, as he himself perhaps would call 

 it This young man usually began to chew his meat over again 

 within about a quarter of an hour after eating. His ruminating 

 after a full meal generally lasted about an hour and a half ; nor 

 could he sleep until his task was performed. The victuals, upon 

 the return, tasted even more pleasantly than at first ; and re- 

 turned as if they had been beaten up in a mortar. If he ate a 

 variety of things, that which he ate first came up again first ; 

 and if this return was interrupted for any time, it produced sick- 

 ness and disorder, and he was never well till it returned. In- 

 stances of this kind, however, are rare and accidental ; and it is 

 happy for mankind that they are so. Of all other animals, we 

 spend the least time in eating ; this is one of the great distinc- 

 tions between us and the brute creation ; and eating is a plea- 

 sure of so low a kind, that none but such as are nearly allied to 

 the quadruped, desire its prolongation. 



CHAP. IL 



OF QUADRUPEDS OF THE COW KIND.' 



Of all ruminant animals, those of the cow kind deserve tha 

 first rank, both for their size, their beauty, and their services. 



I The animals of thie kind have the horns hollow, smooth, turned outwards 



