392 



THE PHILOSOPHY 



Man, if his attention and talents were not excited by the animofitles 

 of his own fpecies, by the attacks of ferocious animals, and even by 

 thofe of the infe£l tribes, would be an indolent, an incurious, a dirty, 

 and an ignorant animal. Thofe of the human race, accordingly, 

 who procure their food with little or no induftry, as we learn from 

 a multitude of travellers and voyagers, are perfedHy indolent and 

 brutifhly ftupid. Timid animals never ufe the arts of defence, or 

 provide againft danger, except from three caufes, pure inftindt, which 

 is implanted in their natures, imitation, and experience. By expe- 

 rience, timid animals are taught the arts of evafion. Flight is in- 

 ftindive ; but the modifications of it are acquired by imitation and 

 experience. 



Hoftilltics, in fome inftances, feem to arife, not from a natural 

 antipathy of one fpecies to another, but from a fcarcity of food. 

 The celebrated Captain Cooke informs us, that, in Staten Ifland, 

 birds of prey aflemble promifcuoufly with penguins and other birds, 

 without the one offering any injury, or the other difcovering the 

 fmalled: fymptom of terror. In that ifland, the rapacious birds, per- 

 haps, find plenty of food from dead feals, fea-lions, and fifhes. 



A profufion of animal life feems to be the general intention of 

 Nature. For this purpofe, when not modified or reftrained by the 

 induRry and intelligence of man, fhe uniformly covers the furface 

 of the earth with trees and vegetables of every kind, which fupply 

 myriads of animated beings with food. But the greateft poflible ex- 

 tention of life would ftill be wanting, if animals did not prey upon 

 each other. If all animals were to live upon vegetables alone, many 

 fpecies, and millions of individuals, which now enjoy life and hap- 

 pinefs, could have no exiftence ; for the productions of the earth 

 would not be fufEcient to fupport them. But, by making animals 

 feed upon each other, the fyftem of animation and of happincfs is 



extended 



