BARON CUVIER. 65 



&c. The sixth, Edentata, furnishes us with that disgust- 

 ing animal the sloth, and the ornithorynchus, that extraor- 

 dinary native of New Holland, which has a beak like that 

 of a duck, feet so webbed as to resemble fins, fur like that of 

 a weasel, and which has by some been supposed to lay 

 eggs. The seventh order is called Pachydermata, and in 

 it we find the largest animals which walk on the surface of 

 the globe, such as the elephant, the hippotamus, the rhino- 

 ceros, and also the horse, which has been in all ages the 

 most easily adapted to the use of mankind. The eighth, 

 Ruminantia, whence come the cow, the camel, and the rein- 

 deer ; the two latter of which convey their masters over the 

 hottest or the coldest regions of the earth ; and lastly, the 

 ninth, or Cetacea, which presents us with the mighty 

 monsters of the deep. These nine orders are subdivided in- 

 to families, genera, subgenera, d:c., and the most important 

 species are noticed with considerable detail. 



From Mammalia, M. Cuvier proceeds to Birds ; and after 

 their physiological description, he also divides them into 

 orders, pointing out the reasons of such divisions, and car- 

 rying us through every portion of the winged tribe. He 

 first embraces the |birds of prey, such as the vultures, 

 who act, as it were, the part of scavengers ; the eagles who 

 prey by day, and owls who thieve by night ; the second 

 contains the numerous genera of the Passeres, they are not 

 so violent as birds of prey, properly so called, nor have they 

 the decided habits of the Gallinacere, or aquatic birds, but 

 devour insects, fruits, and grains ; those who pursue insects 

 will also feed on smaller birds, and have slender beaks ; and 

 those who eat grains have thick beaks. The first subdi-' 

 vision of this order depend on the feet, and the others on 

 the form of the beaks. Among them we find our singing 

 birds, our birds of paradise, and our humming birds. The 

 third order is that of the Climbers, such as the parrot, &c. 

 The fourth embraces the Gallinaceae, whence we derive 

 our farm-yard fowls, and most of our game. The fifth, or 

 Grallee, gives us the ostrich, the cassowary, the sacred ibis, 

 (fcc. ; and the sixth, named the Palmipedes, presents us 

 with ducks, geese, pelicans, &c. &c. 



As this first volume is conducted, so does the Regne Ani- 

 mal lead us through every part of the animal world, describ- 



F* 



