OF NATURAL HISTORY. 59 



It Is true, that the horfe, the afs, the hare, and fome other ani- 

 mals which live upon herbage and grain, have only one ftomach. 

 But, though the horfe and afs have one ftomach only, their inteftirtes 

 are furnifhed writh facs or pouches fo large, that they may be com- 

 pared to the paunch of ruminating animals ; and hares, rabbits, the 

 Guiney-pig, &c. have blind guts fo long and capacious, that they 

 are equivalent to a fecond ftomach. The hedgehog, the wild boar, 

 the fquirrel, &c. whofe ftomach and inteftines are of a mean capa- 

 city, eat little herbage, but live chiefly upon feeds, fruits, and roots, 

 which contain, in fmall bounds, a greater quantity of nutritive mat- 

 ter than the leaves or ftems of plants. 



The external form of herbivorous animals, like that of the rapa- 

 cious, is accommodated to their difpofitions and the oeconomy they 

 are obliged to obferve. That they might bp enabled to reach the 

 furface of the earth with eafe, the legs of the larger kinds are pro- 

 portionally fhort ; their head and neck long ; and the mufcles and 

 tendons of the neck are endowed with prodigious ftrength. With- 

 out thefe peculiarities of ftrudure, they could not fupport the prone 

 pofture of the head in the tedious operation of browfing large quan- 

 tities of herbage. The arrangement and form of their teeth likewife 

 indicate the deftination of the ruminating tribes. They have no 

 cutting teeth in the upper jaw ; and they are totally deprived of 

 tufks, or canine teeth. This laft circumftance, joined to their want 

 of claws, (hews that they are not intended to prey upon other ani- 

 mals. Horns are the only weapons of defence with which they are 

 provided. From the nature of their food, therefore, and the inter- 

 nal and external configuration of their bodies, it is evident, that a- 

 nimals of this defcription muft be humble in their deportment and 

 mild in their difpofition. This order of animals, accordingly, have 

 uniformly been celebrated for gentlenefs of manners, fubmiflion, and 

 timidity. Man has availed himfelf of thofe difpofitions, by reducing 



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