THE MAMMALIA— MAN AND BEASTS. 



71 



they do not refuse fruits. Some live chiefly on the eggs of Birds, or on Crabs and 

 Insects. Others devour carcasses, and even venture to make unwelcome visits into 

 the houses of the Americans in search of food. The Macropoila, on the other hand, 

 live almost wholly upon herbs or fruHs, Of the Monotreraata, the one Genus (^Echid- 

 na) appears to feed, like the Hedgehog, upon land Insects and fruits ; the other 

 (0 rnithorynchus) upon aquatic Insects, Worms, and MoUusca. 



The Pachydermata being in general of great bulk, are obliged, by their organiza- 

 tion, to feed chiefly on vegetables, while some of the smaller species, such as the Hog, 

 seem almost omnivorous. The larger species find their food either among the trees 

 ■of the forest, or in the marshes bordering on large rivers; the smaller generally seek 

 with their snouts for the coarser kinds of fruit which fall from the trees, and lie con- 

 cealed beneath the surface «f the soil. All the Solipeda are essentially herbivorous. 



Among the Ruminantia, the taste for food is wholly limited to the vegetable king- 

 dom. The Camels, whose callous feet are well adapted to the sandy soil of Arabia, 

 find in these Deserts a scanty herbage of prickly trees or shrubs ; for this purpose 

 their gums and tongue are almost cartilaginous, as a protection against the spinous pro- 

 cesses of their food. The Rein-Ueer, which is the sole sustenance of the Laplanders, 

 Samoiedes, and Jakutes, scratches the snow for a supply of Lichens and Mosses, 

 which is sufficient for his support. On the other hand, in the sultry plains of Ethi- 

 opia, the colossal Camelopard pastures on the foliage of the highest trees. The Os 

 and the larger Cattle feed on the rich herbage of the plains ; some of the smaller, such 

 a3 the Sheep and Goats, are satisfied with the more stunted plants of mountain regions. 



The Herbivorous Cetacea feed in numerous herds on the marine vegetables accu- 

 mulated at the mouths of rivers, as well as on the terrestrial herbs which float down 

 the streams. Some, however, confine themselves to Fuci. The proper Cetacea are 

 chiefly carnivorous, preying upon Fishes and MoUusca, Some, as the Dolphin, do 

 not refuse vegetable substances; while others, as the Grampus (Delphinus gladiator) 

 and Narwhal (Monodon 7nonoceros^y carry on a deadly warfare against the very 

 largest Fishes, and even upon their own order. Combining together in troops, they 

 do not hesitate to attack the great Whale, apparently for the sole purpose of devour- 

 ing his tongue, for which the Narwhals seem to have a great partiality, leaving the 

 remainder of his enormous body as a prey for epicures of a lower grade. 



In general, animals of the class Mammalia seek their food separately, or in com- 

 pany, in which cases each individual labors for himself alone. It is only in a few 

 species, such as the Ceaver, Hamster, and Economic Mouse, all of which construct 

 dweUngs of great complexity, that each individual assists in accumulating a common 

 hoard. In this arrangement we sec one of the simplest states of society, where there 

 exists community of goods, without any permanent division of labour. It is in IMan 

 alone that the Mechanic becomes distinguished from the Agriculturist. 



Thus the Mammalia derive their subsistence from all inferior classes of hving 

 beings, as well as" from their own; and hence they exert a very great influence in 

 regulating the numbers of all otlicr animals, and in establishing a universal equili- 

 brium among living beings in general. The earth, destitute of herbivoroua animals, 

 would soon be covered with a rank and dense vegetation. A few luxuriant species 

 of herbs would wholly engross each Botanical province, and annihilate all others. 

 Hence the herbivorous animals are requisite to curb the exuberance of the Vege- 

 table Kingdom; but as the herbivorous animals themselves would multiply, iu their 

 turn, to an inconvenient degree, even so far as to devour all plants to their very 

 roots, the carnivorous animals are created to restrain the excessive multiplication 

 of the herbivorous tribes, and thus become the indirect, yet necessary, allies of the 

 Vegetable Kingdom. 



In respect to the kind of food, which is most suited to each animal, and the relative 

 facility with which different sub^itances are digested, these are questions which apply 

 chiefly to INIan. Each wild animal only uses that kind of food which is best suited to it ; 

 and its aliments are consequently very much restrained in their number. But JIan 

 is omnivorous, every kind of aliment can be rendered suitable to him, and he does 

 not scruple to avail himself even of those which are most prejudicial to his health. 



In all species of wild animals, and iu some which have been domesticated, we per- 

 ceive a most remarkable caution in avoiding such kinds of food as are deleterious to 

 them. Nature commonly imparts a special instinct to each animal, in those cases 

 where the ordmary processes of knowledge by experience would arrive too late to 

 ensure the desired effect. " In looking at a pastured field," says Dr Fleming, " we 

 observe that there are some plants which are left untouched, while others are cropped 

 to the ground. But as the tastes of animals in this respect are exceedingly various, we 

 observe that what is left untouched by one species is greedily devoured by another. 

 What is eaten by the Goat, for example, with avidity, and with impunity by the 

 Horse or Sheep, as the Water Hemlock (Cicuia virosa)^ is certain poison to the 

 Cow. Hence it has been called Water -Cowbane, and we have heard a Fifeshire 

 farmer, with a sigh, which intimated his experience of its effects, call it *deathen."' 

 Cantharides, if taken by the Dog in a very small quantity, produce convulsions and 

 death ; yet the Hedgehog, being chiefly insectivorous, devours with impunity these 

 poisonous insects. 



Domestication exercises a certain influence over those instincts which lead animals 

 to discriminate between nutritious and poisonous food, for some species are observed 

 to lose, when long domesticated, that instinctive aversion to deleterious substances, 

 so necessary for their preservation in the wild state. Dr Fleming remai-ks that Cows, 

 which have been kept within doors during the winter, and supported chiefly on dry 

 food, when turned out to pasture in the spring, devour indiscriminately every green 

 herb, and frequently suffer for their indiscretion. Linnxus relates in his Lachesis 

 Lapponica, that when he visited Tornea, the inhabitants complained of a distemper 

 v.hich killed multitudes of their cattle, especially during spring, when turned out 

 into a meadow in the neighbourhood. He soon traced the disorder to the Water 

 Hemlock which grew plentifully in the place, and which the cattle did not know how 

 to avoid. In the Orkney Inlands, the Fox-glove becomes fatal to the Goslins, when first 

 turned out into the hills to pasture. It is probable that, in a wild state, this instinct 

 remains unimpaired, and directs them invariably to avoid those substances which are 

 nnsuited to their digestive organs. 



Civilized 5Ia:i appears to have lost, in a greater degree than any other animal, this 



power of discriminating between noxious and nutritious food. By means of the art 

 of Cookery, which he alone knows how to employ, numerous substances, though in 

 their natural state they may be nauseous to the taste or even poisonous, are rendered 

 highly nutritious ; and thus the original properties of substances" become disguised or 

 neutralized in endless variety. Habit soon modifies his taste ; and Man, being now 

 left to the suggestions of Reason, is denied that Instinctive power of discrimination 

 which the wild animals so largely enjoy. 



Slany interesting facts relative to the comparative facility with which different 

 substances arc digested, have been elicited from numerous experiments made on Man 

 and the other Mammalia. 



Blilk being a fluid peculiar to the Mammalia, is, of all substances, the most nutri- 

 tious to them. This proceeds from its containing the three ingredients essential to 

 a perfect regimen. " All other matters appropriated by animals as food," observes 

 Dr Prout, " exist for themselves, or for the use of the vegetable or animal of which 

 they form a constituent part. But Milk is designed and prepared by Nature ex- 

 pressly as food ; and it is the onhj material, throughout the range of organization, 

 that is so prepai'ed. In Milk, therefore, we ought to expect to find a model of what 

 an alimentary substance ought to be — a kind of prototype, as it were, of nutritious 

 materials in general. Now, every sort of Milk that is known is a mixture of three 

 staminal principles ; that is to say. Milk always contains a sacc/iaW«e principle (sugai-), 

 a buiyraceoits or oily principle (butter), and a caseous^ or, strictly speaking, an 

 albuminous principle (cheese). Though in the milk of different animals these three 

 principles exist in endless modified forms, and in very different proportions, yet 

 none of the three is at present known to be entirely wanting in the milk of any 

 animal." 



It has been remarked, that the following kinds of aliment are the most digestible 

 for Mani — beef, mutton, veal, lamb, and chicken ; fresh eggs when half boiled, the 

 milk of the Cow, Mare, Ass, Camel, and Goat; several kinds of Fish, when seasoned 

 only with salt and parsley, but if used with oil or dripping, they are less diges- 

 tible. Those vegetable substances easiest to digest are spinage, celery (chiefly the 

 root), young asparagus, hop-buds, the placenta of artichokes, the boiled pulp of 

 fruits with stones or pippins, especially if they be sweet and aromatic ; the farina- 

 ceous seeds of the Cereal plants, wheat, rice, peas, &c. ; bread on the day after it 

 is baked, but especially stale bread, and chiefly white bread ; turnips ; new pota- 

 toes ; and gum-arabic. 



The following substances arc less digestible: — the flesh of pork, the different kinds 

 of raw salad, cabbages, beet, onions, carrots, horse-radish, warm bread, figs, pastry, 

 fried fish, and seasonings with vinegar or oil. The stomach can attack these sub- 

 stances but imperfectly; and that digestion which it is unable to accomplish is 

 finished in the intestine. 



Finally, we may mention as the most indigestible substances, the tendinous and 

 cartilaginous parts, and especially the membranes of beef, pork, veal, fowls. Sec. ; 

 bones, even when minutely divided ; fat and oily substances ; the white of g^^ 

 hardened by heat ; mushrooms; truffles; oily seeds, such as walnuts, almonds., pista- 

 chia nuts; the pippins of raisins, apples, &c. ; olive's; cocoa; the different oils; 

 raisins ; grape-skins ; the epidermis, or outer skin of different seeds and fruits ; the 

 skins of peas; the bark of different trees; and many emulsive and ligneous grains. 

 These last-mentioned seeds undergo so little change from the action of the stomach, 

 that they germinate without difficulty on leaving the intestine. In this way many 

 Plants are disseminated from one country to another. 



There are several substances which serve to facilitate digestion, when mixed in 

 small quantities with the food. The Ruminantia cannot exist without a supply of 

 salt ; and Man experiences, with advantage, the moderate use of spices, wine, 

 liqueurs, cheese, sugar, and some bitter substances, particularly the products of the 

 Cashew nut. 



Numerous other substances are in an eminent degree prejudicial to digestion, and 

 produce a more marked effect; such as the acids, Peruvian bark when taken after 

 a repast, and the several emetics and poisons, in however small a quantity they may 

 be used. Sedentary habits, excessive mental exertion, or violent emotions, also 

 disturb or retard the function of digestion. AVater, particulary when warm, if taken 

 in large quantities aftur a meal, occasions the aliments to leave the stomach before 

 they are digested. 



It is by means of a well-regulated regimen, that Man and the domesticated animals 

 are brought to the state of the highest possible health. Race-Horses, Greyhounds, 

 and Fighting-Cocks, as well as Boxers, Racers, and other Athlete, acquire by this 

 means an extraordinary increase of physical force, and are enabled to continue their 

 exertions for a very long time. This training of Men to athletic exercises produces 

 surprising improvements in their external appearance. Their appetite is improved by 

 this means, and digestion rendered more perfect. Giddiness of the head, after violent 

 exertion, never occurs. The skin becomes clear, smooth, ^nd well-coloured, and the 

 veins are seen distinctly through it. The bones get harder and rougher; they 

 thence become less liable to injury from blows and exercise, while the shape is im- 

 proved. But the most important effects of training are upon the lungs, which ac- 

 quire a free and powerful respiration, without which no animal can long maintain a 

 vigorous action. The mental powers are also said to become improved; the atten- 

 tion is more ready and the perceptions more acute. These important effects are pro- 

 duced by temperance without abstemiousness, and regular exercise in the open air. 

 *' By these processes," says Sir John Sinclair, " the nature of the human frame is 

 totally changed, and in the space of two or three months, the form, the character, 

 and the powers of the body, are completely altered from gross to lean, from weakness 

 to vi<Torous health, and from a breathless and bloated carcass to one active and untiring. 

 Thus the very same individual, who but a few months before became giddy and breathless 

 on the least exertion, has his health not only improved, but is enabled to run thirty 

 miles with the fleetncss of a Greyhound; or, in a shortness of time hardly to be 

 credited, to walk above a hundred ; or, varying the object in view, to excel in 

 wrestling, or to challenge a professed boxer. The mind also becomes more courageous, 

 corporeal sufferings are borne with patience ; a command of temper, and a presence 

 of mind, are also acquired and preserved undisturbed amidst pain and danger." Il 



