THE MAMMALIA— MAN AND BEASTS. 



95 



lachrymal ducts and pores. It may also be noticed, that the olfactory system tends 

 gradually to diminish. 



In the organs of locomotion, it is observed that the bones lose their medullary 

 cavitv, and become spongy throughout their whole extent in the Cetacea. But the 

 most remarkable part of their conformation consists in the general fish-like shape 

 which the true Cetacea exhibit. Their bodies usually ending in a point both before 

 and behind, and expanded in the middle, approach nearly in form to the solid of least 

 possible resistance. Already we remark a tendency towards this form in the Otters, 

 and still more so in the Seals, although these animals possess four complete limbs. 

 Their resemblance in shape to the Fishes is, moreover, most perfect in the Lamantins 

 and proper Cetacea, where there exist only a few slight rudiments of a pelvis, and 

 where the vertebral column is terminated by a powerful and broad tail, formed exter- 

 nally by a large horizontal expansion, sometimes bifurcated and acting as a fin. 



GENERAL UEVIEW OF THE MAMMALIA CONTINUED. 



Ildations of the Mammalia to Man — Their injuries and depredations — EconO' 

 viical purposes to zvhich their products are applied — Manafjement of the do- 

 mestic Mammalia, relative to Station^ Soil^ and Climate. 



As the other Mammalia are influence4 by the same wants and necessities as Man, 

 as they are under an equal necessity with him of seeking their own preservation, of 

 finding their food, and reproducing their kind, it will often happen that these in- 

 stincts will run counter, and appear in opposition or competition with the corre- 

 sponding wants of Man. Hence result those injuries to his person and property 

 which some of them inflict. 



The Tiger, the Panther, and Jaguar, are the principal carnivorous animals which 

 venture to attack our species by open force, in the forests of those warm countries 

 which they inhabit. It has often been said and repeated, that the Lion is generous 

 towards Man ; but his generosity is that of a Cat, and there are few who would be 

 disposed voluntarily to place their persons within his reach. The Wolves. Hyjenas, 

 and Bears, do not attack Man except when pressed with hunger, or wht-n they have 

 young ones, which they think it necessary to defend. The greater part of the re- 

 maining Carnassiers confine themselves in all cases to a defensive combat. Certain 

 foreign Bats are said, probably with some exaggeration, to be capable of inflicting 

 death on a sleeping person, by opening a vein, and then sucking the blood, through 

 means of certain horny papillee with which their tongue is supplied. In our own 

 country, and on the continent of Europe, it sometimes, though very rarely, happens 

 that a "Weasel or Pole-cat insinuates itself into the cradle of a newly-born infant, 

 and sucks its blood, so as to occasion death. It is well known thai the domestic 

 Pig, which devours flesh with avidity, often occasions similar accidents. In gene- 

 ral, we find that the Carnassiers attack women and children, with whose feebleness 

 or tenderness of flesh they seem to be instinctively acquainted, in preference to the 

 adult Alan. 



Some of the larger herbivorous animals» such as the Buffalos, in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Cape of Good Hope, and certain Elephants of a savage disposition, and 

 known in the East Indies by the name of Grondahs^ as well as the Rhinoceros, do 

 not hesitate to attack iMan, if they happen to meet him in their road, and speedily put 

 him to death, by trampling him under foot. 



Certain Mammalia maintain a continual war against those flocks of herbivorous 

 animals, or domestic fowls, which fllan has tamed for his own use. The Wolves on 

 the continent of Europe roam continually round the parks where the Sheep are as- 

 sembled, and carry ofi" all stragglers. The Foxes, Weasels, and Polecats, introduce 

 themselves into the farm-yards, where they destroy the fowls, and devour their eggs. 

 Many other species of Martens, as well as the Opossums of North America, and the 

 Dasyures of New Holland, make depredations similar to the preceding. Even 

 Horses are attacked by Wolves in mountainous and woody regions, in preference to 

 other animals, against which enemies they have no other defence than their heels ; 

 but by an admirable instinct of self-preservation, they collect together in a circle 

 with their heads towards the centre, and the hinder feet in the circumference. The 

 Oxen of Africa, are sometimes surprised by the Lions. After killing them by biting 

 through the hinder part of the neck, the Lions transport their victinvs to their re- 

 treats, with a degree of case, which serves to exemplify the extraordinary force of 

 these animals. The herds of Paraguay are likewise diminished in number by similar 

 attacks from the Jaguars. 



But the Carnassiers are far from inflicting so severe an injury on JMan as the herb- 

 ivorous animals, and especially those belonging to the smallest species, which attack 

 the seed when under ground, the hojvest on its surface, or the hoards of the granary 

 and store-house. The wild Doer, Goats, Hares, and Rabbits of Europe, devour the 

 corn while in leaf ; Rats, Field-Rats, and Hamsters, devour it while in grain, and 

 the last-mentioned species, not content with destroying its share, amasses a store 

 for future use, which may be estimated, on an average, at about a bushel for each 

 individual. The common and garden Dormouse attack the fruits of our garden trees ; 

 the Rats and Mice destroy our provisions of every description; and the Moles, while 

 seeking their food, consisting of Earthworms, Insects, and their larvae, plough the 

 surface uf our meadows. On the continent of Europe, the wild Boars, whose de- 

 struction, except by a privileged few, is prohibited in some countries by game-laws 

 of doubtful justice, advance in innumerable troops to attack the stores of potatoes, 

 which perhaps are the only resource of the injured cultivator of the soil. The Otters 

 plunder the fish-ponds of the Continent, and the Water-Rat, by living on the fry of 

 the fishes, prevents their increase. Our own country is happily exempted, by its in- 

 sulated situation, from many of these depredations. 



Each kind of animal, which lays waste our own territory or that of our continental 

 neighbours, finds analogous plunderers in more remote or foreign countries. In 

 Africa the Apes, descending in immense numbers, fill their cheek-pouches with grains 

 of maize, and when molested, take to flight, their hands being filled with as many ears 

 of this plant as they can conveniently carry. In America the Agoutis, Cabiais, and 

 Cobayes, execute the same kind of devastations which, in oar country, are inflicted by 



the Hares and Rabbits. A herd of forty or fifty Elephants soon causes every vest- 

 ige of cultivation to disappear from an entire canton of the East Indies. In the 

 North of Europe, thousands of Lemmings, descending in a body from the rnburitains 

 of Norway and Lapland, direct their route in a straight line towards the south, and 

 may almost be said to destroy every plant in their way. These legions of the north- 

 ern hive are soon followed by another plague. Innumerable Foxes, which at first 

 followed the Lemmmgs, and lived at their expense, are soon obliged to change their 

 prey ; and, after the complete annihilation of the Lemmings has been effected, to re- 

 gale themselves on the fowls of the farm-yard, or some of the smaller quadrupeds. 



However great these injuries already enumerated "may appear, they are fully com- 

 pensated by advantages of a more solid kind, derived from the use of that small num- 

 ber of species which Man has succeeded in taming for economical purposes. 



The flesh of the herbivorous Mammalia forms a well known article of food. Those 

 animals chiefly used in European countries for this purpose are the Bull, the Hog, 

 the Sheep, the Goat, the Hare, the Rabbit, the Stag or Red Deer, the Fallow Deer, 

 the Roe-buck, the Chamois Antelope, the Ibex, the Squirrel, the Dormouse, and a 

 few others. The Laplanders feed chiefly on the flesh of the Rein Deer ; the Cana- 

 dians upon that of the Wapiti (^Cervus Canadensis'}, and of the Elk (C. alces). 

 The Negroes eat that of the Elephant, the Rhinoceros, the Hippopotamus, the Mi- 

 nis, and several Apes. The Americans of New Spain do not refuse the flesh of the 

 Armadilloes ; the inhabitants of Chile esteem that of the Lama and Vicugna ; and 

 the Arabs eat the flesh of the Horse and Dromedary. With the inhabitants of the 

 Indian Archipelago, the flesh of the Roussette Bats forms a daily articln of food. 



Certain species have been interdicted in some countries by laws dictated either by 

 superstition or convenience. The flesh of the Hog is held in horror by the ortho- 

 dox Turk and Jew, while the Bull is the object of veneration among the Brahmins. 



Particular parts of some of the larger Mammalia are highly esteemed by certain 

 nations. Thus, the foot of the Elephant is generally considered by the Negroes of 

 Africa as a delicious article of food ; while the Dutch sailors, who pass half their 

 lives m the midst of the polar ice, look upon the tongue of the Whales as a very deli- 

 cate morsel. 



Seals, Dogs, and Otters, are the only carnivorous animals forming articles of food. 

 The first two are in common use among the inhabitants of Kamtchatska, and the 

 last, from its fiihy flavour, is in great request among the monks of Catholic countries 

 during Lent. 



A few of those Mammalia which Man has succeeded in taming and subjugating com- 

 pletely to his use, appear to have been distributed, like him, from the more elevated 

 parts of Central Asia, to all other points of the globe. Those species are the Horse, 

 the Ass, the Sheep, and the Goat. The Dog and the Rein Deer are proper to the 

 cUmates of the North ; the Buffalo and Elephant to those regions of India situate 

 at the foot of the elevated mountains of Central Asia. The Lama is peculiar to the 

 New Continent. Our race of Bulls, usually considered to be peculiar to Europe, is, 

 with very great probability, identical with the Zebu, or Humped Bull of India ; and, 

 according to M. Desmarcst, it does not differ specifically from the Yak, or Grunt- 

 ing Bull of Thibet and the frontiers of China. 



Two species of Mammalia, in particulai", have served to assist in subjugating the 

 remainder ; being the Horse and the Dog. Many others are employed in hunting, 

 such as the Chetah or Hunting- Leopard, and the Ferret ; or for fishing, as the Otterg. 

 Others have been destined to carry burthens of greater or less weight ; of these 

 we may particularize the Bull, the Camel, the Dromedary, the Yak, the Horse, the 

 Elephant, the Ass, and the Lama. Many have been harnessed to carriages of vari- 

 ous forms, such as tho Dog, the Rein Deer, the Horse, and the Bull ; or have served 

 for riding, as the Elephant, the Horse, the Ass, and the Bull. 



To some, Jlan has confided the care of his property. The Dog seems as it were 

 consecrated for this purpose ; while the Cat, the Guinea- Pig, and, it is said, also 

 the Ichneumon of Egypt, have been destined to defend his provisions from the at- 

 tacks of the smaller parasitical species. 



The art of medicine has derived many useful materials from this class of animals. 

 Without noticing the ridiculous properties which have been assigned to the excre- 

 ments of Dogs and Rats {Album Gracum and Albumnigrum), it is generally ad- 

 mitted that the flesh of the Calf possesses relaxing properties ; the empyreumatic oil, 

 procured by the distillation of horns, is used on several occasions, and especially as a 

 vermifuge. The blood of the Ibex, Goat, or Chamois Antelope, was once considered 

 as a useful medicine during attacks of pleurisy. 



The organic produc-ts of the Mammalia have, from the earliest ages, furnished the 

 materials for a variety of useful arts. Tho horns and bones are used for combs, 

 boxes, button-moulds, the handles of cutting instruments, and the innumerable pro- 

 ducts of the toy manufacturer. The longer hairs, such as those of the mane or tail, 

 are used for fishing Hnes, or coarse stuflrs ; the shorter or finer hairs, such as wool, 

 the hair of the Goat, the Rabbit, and Cat, when dressed and spun, enter into the 

 fabrication of a multitude of different tissues; the bristles, or large and stiff hairs, 

 serve for brushes ; and the finer hairs of other species for pencils. The skin, pre- 

 pared in divers manners, furnishes the soles or upper leathers of shoes, the materials 

 for gloves, harnesses, portmanteaus, the roofs of coaches, bottles, &:c. &c. ; and the 

 Korekis form boat-sails with the skin of the Rein-Deer. 



The blood of the Mammalia serves to clarify liquids, and is particularly useful to 

 sugar-refiners, and in the manufacture of Prussian blue. The tendons are used for 

 thread by the Samoiedes, the Laplanders, and the Greenlanders. The fat, more or 

 less liquid, according to the species from which it is taken, may be used under the 

 form of lamp-oil, lard, or suet. The marrow of the bones forms the basis of many 

 kinds of pomatum. The intestines, after having been washed, dried, and twisted, 

 compose the strings of some musical instruments ; and the gall serves for extracting 

 grease from stuffs, or for laying on colours over a greasy surface. 



The distillation of flesh and bones yields many chemical products of great utility in 

 the arts, such as ammonia, phosphorus, Sic. Finally, the manure of the Herbivorous 

 animals may with justice be said to be the primum mobile of Agriculture. It restores 

 to the soil those principles which are annually extracted from it, and thus conduces 

 eminently to its fertility. Indeed, it has always been found, that the success of agri- 



