■VI. PEEFACE. 



cation ; but — sufficient to communicate individuality of 

 character, and to make the actions of one^ animal to differ, 

 in some degree, from those of another of the same species, 

 under similar circumstances. We commonly think of the 

 features of one Deer, or Sparrow, or Crab, as exact coun- 

 terparts of those of every other Deer, or Sparrow, or Crab ; 

 yet a shepherd is able to distinguish every Sheep of his 

 flock by its face ; those who are conversant with Horses 

 can readily detect diversities in the expression of their 

 eye or mouth, scarcely less marked than in their human 

 acquaintances ; and I have myself noticed the same dis- 

 tinctness in birds. When I was in Jamaica, I could tell 

 one from another of the wild Doves in my cages, by their 

 expression of countenance alone, though perfectly alike 

 in colouring. Doubtless this individuality would be much 

 more generally perceived, if our observations on animals 

 were not so loose and cursory as they usually are. And 

 if it exists in the features, we might reasonably infer a 

 parallel diversity in mind (by which I mean a faculty dis- 

 tinct from, but co-existent with, instinct) in them, even if 

 direct observation did not detect it. 



But, bearing in mind that records thus obtained of the 

 manners of animals are properly biographical, belonging 

 to the individual more strictly than to the species, it is 

 manifest that these must be the foundation of all our 

 correct generalization. Nor are they in themselves un- 

 worthy of careful regard, as those will allow who know 

 the value of human Biography. Shakspeare and Scott, 

 who treat of man as an individual, are not inferior in their 

 walk of science, to Reid and Stewart, who describe him 

 as a species. 



The inhabitants of the deep sea have hitherto been 

 almost maccessible to such observation as this ; and hence 

 exceedingly little has been accumulated of their Biograph}'. 

 A paragraph went the round of the papers some months 



