REPTILES. Class III. 



But if we duly weigh their noxious qualities, 

 we shall, with our moral poet, find 



" All partial evil itniver sal good." 



The teeth of wild beasts, and of serpents, are 

 not only created as instruments of vengeance, 

 but are salutary in lessening the numbers of 

 those animals which are highly useful in the 

 degree, and only hurtful in their excess; still 

 if their bad qualities are serviceable, we are 

 more indebted to their good ones than we 

 chuse to acknowledge. Many also of the ani- 

 mals that form the class of Reptiles are of im- 

 mediate benefit to mankind. The Turtle, or 

 Sea-Tortoise, supplies the torrid zone with a 

 w r holesome and delicious food, as the epicures of 

 our own country can attest. Frogs are a food 

 in several parts, as Lizards and Serpents are in 

 others. The medicinal virtues of the Viper are 

 partly exploded by the moderns, but time, the 

 overthrower of systems, as well as empires, may 

 restore it to the rank it held with the antients. 

 The Lacerta Scincus is, however, yet esteemed 

 in the East for its salubrious qualities, and even 

 Toads have contributed to the ease of patients 

 in the most inveterate of all diseases. 



Had I followed Linnaus> and included the 

 Cartilaginous Fishes in this class, there would 



