376 THE PHILOSOPHY 



of commerce, luxury, and caprice. Myriads of quadrupeds are an- 

 nually deflroyed for the fake of their furs, their hides, their tufks, 

 their odoriferous fecretions, &c. 



Over the feathered tribes the dominion of man is not lefs exten- 

 five. There is not a fingle fpecies in the numerous and diverfified 

 clafs of birds, which he either does not, or may nor, employ for the 

 nourifliment of his body. By his fagacity and addrefs he has been 

 enabled to domefticate many of the more prolific and delicious fpe- 

 cies, as turkies, geefe, and the various kinds of poultry. Thefe he 

 multiplies without end, and devours at pleafure. 



Neither do the inhabitants of the waters efcape the rapacity of 

 man. Rivers, lakes, and even the ocean itfelf, feel the power of 

 his empire, and are forced to fupply him with provifions. Neither 

 air nor water can defend againft the ingenuity, the art, and the de- 

 ftrudive induftry of the human fpecies. Man may be faid even to 

 have domefticated fome fifhes. In artificial ponds, he feeds and rears 

 carp, tench, perch, trout, and other fpecies, and with them occafion- 

 ally furniihes his table. 



It might have been expeflied, that infeds and reptiles, fome of 

 which have a moft difgufting afpe£l, would not have excited the 

 human appetite. But we learn from experience, that, in every re- 

 gion of the earth, many infeds which inhabit both the earth and 

 the waters, are erteemed as delicate articles of luxury. Even the 

 viper, though its venom be deleterious, efcapes not the all-devouring 

 jaws of man. 



Thus man holds, and too often exercifes, a tyrannical dominion 

 over almofl: the whole brute creation, not becaufe he is the ftrongeft 

 of all animals, but becaufe his intelled, though of a fimilar nature, 



is 



