THE MAMMALIA— MAN AND BEASTS. 



47 



comes like a Doe to the feet of its master, receives his caresses with pleasure, and 

 takes its food mildly from his hand. 



These are only a few of the instances which might be brought forward to show the 

 immense importance of Menageries, or Zoological Gardens, to the proper knowledge 

 of the characters of animals. When at large in the desert, it is with the utmost 

 difl&culty that we can ascertain the real condition of an animal so as fully to appreciate 

 the influence of surrounding circumstances. On the contrary, when confined in the 

 Experimental Garden, we possess the means of successively abstracting those forces 

 which in its former state constrained and overpowered its natural propensities. We 

 may further submit it to new combinations of influential forces, and we may thenc« 

 deduce those general laws by which all the productions of Nature are equally swayed. 

 What, we may inquire, would be the present state of Natural Philosophy, if man- 

 kind had confined themselves only to those phenomena which Nature spontaneously 

 presents, if they had not invented complicated instruments and apparatus for the pur- 

 pose of placing the forces of Nature in new and untried conditions? To suppose that 

 animals, when captive, exhibit actions of a different Nature to those performed in the 

 wild state, would be to assign to Man the absurd power of altering the Nature of 

 animals, of creating in them other dispositions than such as were assigned to thera 

 by their Maker; in other words, of subverting the laws of created existence. No 

 person can suppose that the Chemist, however he may vary his experiments, can 

 create a single particle of matter, or alter any one of the laws of inorganic substances. 

 Jn a similar manner, the Zoologist, however he may vary the condition of the animal 

 under examination, arrives by analysis only at those particular and general laws which 

 Nature has assigned to the animal, but its original constitution remains the same 

 under all circumstances. As long as our observations of animals are confined to those 

 at liberty, this important branch of Natural History will contain nothing but a crude 

 collection of isolated facts often at variance with each other, because they are united 

 by no connecting link. The observers, perhaps, are guided by no sound views of 

 science, or the facts they record are accidental, or arise from local causes, while fan- 

 tastical hypotheses are formed of the nature of animals, derived from their views 

 regarding the nature of Man. When, however, the captive animals of a Zoologi<;al 

 Garden are submitted to a rational course of experiments, that branch of Natural 

 History which considers the actions of animals and their causes, becomes elevated to 

 the rank of a science from the richness and variety of the general truths which it 

 unfolds.* 



It is only necessary here to point out, in a few words, some of the important facts 

 which have been brought to light by a properly-regulated course of experimental 

 inqmry into the nature of animals, and to exhibit a few of the subjects which still 

 remain open for inquiry. 



For a long time it was imagined that the moral perfection of Man depended upon 

 the development of his organs, and if this error has at length been abandoned by all 

 except a few popular theorists and their followers, it still holds its sway in re^^ard to 

 animals. Those animals which enjoyed the greatest delicacy of sense, with pliable 

 limbs well adapted for rapid motion, ought, according to this theory, to be the most 

 intelligent; and the Monkeys, as well as many Camassiers, seem at first sight to 

 confirm the rule. But tho examination into the intelligence of many species of Seals 

 (Phoca) has demonstrated the important truth, that the inteUigvnt powers of animals 

 are not in proportion to the perfection of their organs. Of all Mammalia the Seal 

 seems at first sight least fitted by its structure for intelligence. Its limbs are modi- 

 fied into oars or fins, it has no external ears, its eyes are adapted for vision in the 

 dense medium of water, and hence it can see very imperfectly in the air; its nostrils 

 are only opened when the animal breathes; and its body is covered all over with a 

 thick layer of blubber, which deprives it of the exercise of touch, except at the places 

 where the whiskers are inscrtt'd. Yet the Seal equals, if not surpasses, the Dog in 

 its susceptibility for attachment, in dociUty, and in the brilliancy of its instinct. This 

 fact demonstrates that the most exact acquaintance with the organic characters of 

 animals is but an imperfect kind of knowledge, if we arc ignorant of the inward 

 principle which animates and guides their external frames. There is another striking 

 instance of the importance of studjing animals in captivity. It was always supposed 

 from examining animals only in the wild state, that their intellects were developed in 

 the same manner as those of Man. A young animal bom with faculties still in the 

 bud, seemed, during the ardour of its youth, to exhibit vivacity rather than strength ; 

 and it was thought that its intellect became matured, as in jMan, with increasing 

 yeai's. This prejudice has been altogether overthrown by the examination of animals 

 in captivity. It is there found that in the first ages of youth their intellects arrive at 

 the full development, and that young animals are beyond all comparison more 

 intelligent than their parents. It is clear that this fact never could have been ascer- 

 tained with wild animals, because it was necessary to follow them throughout all the 

 stages of their growth. There were many precautions requisite to ensure the success 

 of the inquiry. All animals were not proper for the investigation; those of very 

 limited capacity presented no apparent result ; those modified by domestication could 

 not be relied or ; and the Camassiers being under the continual necessity of usinn- 

 their faculties for subsistence, had their original nature so much altered, through the 

 experience of the individual, as to be unfit for the experiment. It was necessary to 

 confine the inquiry to the Apes, which have been most favored with intelligence, and 

 yet whose existence does not depend upon the use they make of it, as the forests of 

 their native climates yield a continual supply of abundant nourishment. 



The fact that young animals are more intelligent than their parents, marks an im- 

 portant difference between the nature of IMan and that of the Brutes. ^Vhilo human 

 nature is capable of an indefinite improvement in the lapse of time, the natm-e of the 



* At a time when London, Liverpool, and Dublin, have their own Zoological 

 Carets, increasing daily in wealth and importance, it seems singular that Scotland 

 should be so far behind her neighbours in this branch of science; that the study of 

 animals should be left to the generous munificence of private individuals, although 

 the establishment of a public Zoological Garden, in Edinburgh, offers a reasonable 

 prospect of remuneration, when considered even in the hght of a mere corainercial 

 speculationj and without any reference to its important effects in elevating the public 

 taste. 



brute blazes forth at once in its greatest brilliancy. The latter, by the continual 

 decay of its original powers, points out that eternal rest to which it will soon be 

 consigned; while the aspiring mind of Man sees, in the gradual perfectibility of his 

 Nature, a glimpse of the immortal existence beyond the gi-ave, on which his hopes 

 love to repose. 



These are not the only kind of truths to which experimental inquiries into the 

 Nature of animals lead us. They also give much important information regarding 

 their instincts, those necessary actions to which they are bhndly urged by a superior 

 power. 



While the examination of the Beavers was confined to those in their wild state, it 

 was remarked that such only as lived together in society, and in uninhabited coun- 

 tries, ever constructed habitations, while the solitary individuals encountered some- 

 times in densely peopled countries, retired into the natural cavities of the rocks on the 

 banks of lakes and rivers. Buffon says that these animals are not urged to work and 

 to build by that inward instinct, or physical necessity, which guides the Ants or the 

 Bees; but that they act par choix, that is, from understanding the design and utility 

 of their work, and that their industry ceases when the presence of Man inspires them 

 with the dread of his power. Of all previous writers upon the Nature of animals, 

 Buffon had probably the most just and elevated ideas concerning them, yet upon this 

 pomt he fell into a serious error, which subsequent experimental inquiry has not failed 

 to discover. It is found that when one of the solitary Beavers is placed in a convenient 

 situation, when he is supplied with the proper materials for hij edifice, such as earth, 

 wood, and stone, neither his solitude nor the presence of Man has any effect upon his 

 industry; he still continues to build. Had Buffon submitted one of these animals to 

 experimental inquiry, he would have regarded the huts and dikes of the social 

 Beavers not as *' the result of combined projects founded on the reason and conve- 

 nience of their ends — of natural talents perfected by repose," but he would have 

 regarded them, as they really are, the result of an industry purely mechanical, as the 

 object or gratification of an internal want wholly instinctive. Numerous experiments 

 made with several of the sohtary Beavers, taken from the banks of the Isere, the 

 Rhone, and the Danube, have demonstrated that they are always naturally disposed 

 to build, although they already may have a commodious habitation, and no apparent 

 advantage could result from their labour, except that of blindly satisfying an instinct 

 which they are, in a manner, forced to obey. 



We shall only allude here to one more error which the examination of captive 

 animals has completely served to expose. The beUef that the herbivorous animals are 

 of dispositions milder, more tractable, and more affectionate than the Carnivora, has 

 infected the works of nearly all our popular writers on Natural History, It has 

 exorcised an important influence on philosophical and religious systems, upon the 

 received views of the Nature of Man, or of the effect of food upon the moral deve- 

 lopment of his Mind, upon the laws of nations, and even upon their poetry. The 

 dark-eyed Gazelle has become the emblem of mildness as well as of beauty, and it 

 has been the same with the Hind and other animals with large eyes and a Hght or 

 timid step. On the other hand, the Tiger, the Panther, tho Hyaena, and the Wolf, 

 are held up as glaring instances of a brutal ferocity as well as cruelty, fitted only to 

 inspire us \silh hatred and detestation. 



But upon a minute and close examination, upon becoming in a manner personally 

 acquainted with them — a state of things which can only happen in a Menagerie — 

 we are compelled absolutely to reverse these epithets; in a word, to assign to the 

 Herbivorous tribes those ideas of brutality with which we had been previously taught 

 to regard the Camassiers. In fact, all the adult Ruminating animals, but especially 

 the males, are rude and brutal in their manners; they can neither be soothed by good 

 treatment, nor attached by caresses. If they have intelligence sufficient to know the 

 hand that feeds them — a circumstance not always the case — they owe him no attach- 

 ment. The requisite attentions of their keeper are performed only with the necessary 

 precautions to ensure his own safety. The moment he ceases to intimidate them, 

 they are ready for an attack. A secret sentiment urges them to regard every animal 

 as an enemy which is not of their own species. We have seen that it is altogether 

 different, even with those animals which feed most exclusively upon flesh, Whilfl 

 the former are of a low and nariow capacity, the Carnivora are equally remai-kable 

 for the extent, refinement, and activity of their intelligence. So true is it, even 

 with animals, that the development of their intellectual powers is more favorable 

 than otherwise to the advance of those nobler qualities which attract our regard and 

 esteem. 



The importance of Zoological Gardens is not confined merely to the acquisition 

 of scientific truths; they may lead to practical results of the utmost importance to 

 society. There are numerous animals whose powers of becoming domesticated have 

 not yet been fairly tried, and even in the present state of our knowledge, it is more 

 than probable that not a few will be rendered practically available, and become to the 

 next generation as famihar as Steam Boats and Gas Lights are to us. 



Upon applying the principles already explained to different tribes of animals, we 

 shall be able to point out some species which may hereafter become domesticated. 



Beginning with the Apes, we find qualities highly favorable for domestication, 

 such as the social instinct and great intelligence ; but these ai-e entirely counteracted 

 by their excessive irascibility, violence, and fickleness of disposition, which render 

 them altogether incapable of yielding submission. Hence they are entirely excluded 

 from the hst of animals with whom Man could associate. A like exclusion must be 

 given to the American tribes of Quadruniana, to the Makis, and to the Insectivora, 

 for the feebleness of their bodies would render them useless to Man, whatever suscep- 

 tibility their dispositions might possess. 



But with regard to the Seals, it seems altogether surprising that Fishermen have 

 not made use of their instincts, or taught them to assist in fishing, in the same manner 

 as the Hunter has brought up the Dog to aid in the chase. 



"We may pass over the intervening tribes of Rodentia, Edentata, and JIarsupialia. 

 The feebleness of their bodies, and their limited intelligence, disqualify them from 

 sharing our labors. It is different with the Pachydermata, as most animals of this 

 order have already been domesticated, or are fit to become so. 



The Tapir {Tapir Americanvs), it is to be regretted, is still in an unreclaimed 



