INTRODUCTION. v 



inanimate, and gives us an exalted conception of His attributes, placing before us the clearest 

 proofs of their reality ; and so prepares, or ought to prepare, the mind for the reception of that 

 higher illumination which brings the rebellious faculties into obedience to the Divine will." 



Nor less certainly may the study of Natural History subserve, in other ways, our 

 temporal interests. The acclimatisation of the eland, which may now be considered a fait 

 accompli, was commenced by the Zoological Society in 1853, after efforts for the same purpose 

 had been made by the late Earl ot Derby. Herds of these noble antelopes have since been 

 founded at Hawkstone, by Viscount Hill ; at Taymouth, by the Marquis of Breadalbane ; and at 

 Tatton, by Lord Egerton. As we write, too, an Acclimatisation Society is springing into 

 existence, with the son of the late Dean Buckland, a zealous and highly intelligent Naturalist, 

 for its secretary, whose labours we shall watch with the liveliest interest, and in whose dis- 

 tinguished success we shall most cordially rejoice. That this will be the reward of enlightened, 

 patient, and persevering toil, we are fully convinced. In countries adjacent to the Punjaub, 

 for instance, there is a Purick sheep a creature so small, that, when full grown, it is not 

 larger than a lamb a few weeks old. Its bones are small, its carcase is full and fleshy, and its 

 mutton is excellent ; it gives, moreover, two lambs -every year, and yields three pounds of very 

 line wool. Its habits are domesticated, as those of a dog ; it feeds on all kinds of vegetables, 

 taking them even from its master's hand ; and thus, if acclimatised, would be, not only to the 

 owners of land, but to people having gardens, or small patches of ground, a most valuable 

 acquisition. Nor can it be doubted by those who have made Natural History their study, that 

 numberless other quadrupeds might be introduced to our country with corresponding advantages. 



Passing from Mammalia to Birds, a very different class of creatures appears, existing, 

 too, in far greater numbers. It is stated by Agassiz and A. A. Gould that about 

 1 ,500 species of Mammals are ascertained, their probable number being 2,000 ; while of 

 Birds, well known, there are 4.000 or 5,000 species, tlveir probable number being 

 (i,000. Their perfect adaptation in form and structure to the element in which tliey live, 

 their peculiar beauty of colour, the instincts by which their movements are directed, tlie 

 melodies which some so freely pour forth, and the pleasant food yielded by others, have invited 

 attention to the feathered tribes during successive ages. Eveu Solomon had a taste for Natural 

 History, and, at certain times, his fleets returned laden with the most curious and valuable 

 products of distant climes. No wonder, then, that his servants, struck by the elegant shape, 

 the splendid plumage, and the majestic mien of " the bird of Medea," were anxious to present 

 it to their sovereign ; and hence we read, that " once in three years came the navy of 

 Tarshish, bringing," not only " gold and silver, ivory and apes," but " peacocks." Pheasants, 

 birds of Phasis in Asia Minor, were early brought from tlie banks of that river, And thus became 

 known in other lands. When Croesus, king of Lydia, arrayed in the royal magnificence of 

 the East, asked Solon if he had seen anything so fine, the philosopher replied, that, after 

 having beheld the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, he could uot be astonislied at any other 

 finery. 



Among ourselves, there is a range for efforts at acclimitisation, which has .hitherto 

 been regarded with surprising indifference. In the list of those birds called GALLINACEUUS, 

 published by the Prince Charles Bonaparte, in the " Comptcs Rendus," there are enume- 

 rated no fewer than 346 species ; yet of all these we have, as yet, only made eight 

 available by domestication : the domestic fowl, whose origin, says M. Marion-Didiorex, is 



