propensity to feed ; the killing is the consequence 

 of the eating. It is no more proper to say, .that a 

 lion in killing and eating a sheep is actuated by 

 one propensity to kill the sheep, and by another 

 to eat the sheep, than to say that the sheep is 

 actuated by a desire to take away the life of the 

 grass, and a desire to eat the grass. The life is 

 taken away, in both cases, in precisely the same 

 way. 



I repeat, there is no faculty to bo found in 

 either man or the lower animals, in which such 

 great and marked differences exist as in the pro- 

 pensity to feed. There are no two tribes of ani- 

 mals differ so much in any other particular as 

 do the carnivori and herbivori in that of the 

 propensity to feed ; and we shall look in vain for 

 any other organ in which such a marked difference 

 of development is to be found. This argument 

 is, if not all-sufficient, of the utmost weight in 

 deciding the question. 



Buffon appears to have seized on the voracity of 

 the carnivori as theirjnost prominent characteristic. 

 He frequently speaks of them as being " gorged 

 with prey.'" Of tho tigers, he says, " They tear 

 tho body for no other purpose than to plunge their 

 head into it, and to drink largo draughts of blood ; 

 the sources of which are generally exhausted before 

 their thirst is appeased." Of tho lions in cap- 

 tivity he says, — "As his movements are impetu- 

 ous, and his appetite vehement, we ought not to 

 presume that he can always be balanced by the 

 impressions of education. It is dangerous, there- 

 fore, to allow him to want food too long, or to 

 irritate him unnecessarily." Again — "He roars 

 at the sight of everything that lives ; every object 

 appears to him as a fresh prey, which he devours 

 beforehand with the avidity of his eyes. He me- 

 naces with frightful groans and tho grinding of his 

 teeth, and often darts upon it without regard- 

 ing his chains, which only restrain, but cannot 

 calm his fury." Of tho jagur, Ho says — "he is 

 tho tiger of the new world," and " when his 

 stomach is full, he so entirely loses all courage 

 and vivacity, that he runs before a single dog. 

 Ho is neither nimble nor active, save when pressed 

 with hunger." " Of the cougar, he says — 

 " Though weaker, he is equally ferocious, and 

 perhaps more cruel than the jagur ; ho appears 

 to be still more rapacious on his prey ; for he 

 devours without tearing it in pieces. As soon as 

 ho seizes an animal, he kills, sucks, and eats it 

 successively, and never quits it until he is fully 

 gorged" Of the two together, ho says — " When 

 gorged icith prey, they are both equally indolent 

 and cowardly." The wild hog procures his food 

 with difficulty. Ho has to plough for a liveli- 

 hood ; or, in other words, ho has to root in tho 

 ground with his nose ; and we find that his organ 

 of alimentiveness is intermediate between the 

 graminivorous and carnivorous tribes. Buffon 

 speaks of them as follows : — " Their gluttony, as 

 formerly remarked, is equally gross, as their 

 nature is brutal," and '• though extremely glut- 

 tonous, they never attack, or devour other 

 animals." Fenelon, in Tclemachus, speaks of 

 the " Numidian lion, which cruel hunger devours, 

 and which rushes into a flock of feeble sheep — he 

 rends, he slays, he swims in blood." 



Here wo have evidence of a propensity such as 

 has no equal in the whole range of animal nature. 



The continuance of the species may be dependent 

 on other propensities, but the individual exis- 

 tence of the animal is dependent on this. It 

 cannot go beyond a certain time without food, and 

 live. Imagine that time to be nearly spent — 

 the animal worn away with want and fatigue, 

 yet wandering on in pursuit of food ; and as that 

 bodily wasting away increases, so does that pro- 

 pensity increase in energy ; and when at length 

 food is seen, though that food has been endowed 

 by nature with instincts to preserve it from 

 becoming food, though it possesses powerful 

 means of flight, or deadly weapons of defence, 

 combined with courage, sagacity, and health — 

 yet the sight of that food is sufficient to com- 

 pensate for all that wasting away, for all that 

 feebleness. The poor, lame, and weary brute 

 becomes on a sudden possessed of strength, 

 energy, activity, indomitable courage ; and he 

 rushes on to his prey, regardless of danger to 

 life and limb, simply and singly actuated by a 

 desire to eat. 



But it may reasonably be asked, how is it that 

 the most ferocious villains have so generally a 

 large development of tho organ in question? 

 My answer will be gathered from the following 

 remarks : I have observed that, generally, the size 

 of this organ is a fair index of the stoutness of 

 the person. It appears to me, that immediately 

 in front of its organ is located the organ of the 

 perceptive faculty of taste, and that there is also 

 in contact with it the organ of a faculty which 

 influences digestion ; and that the members of 

 this group are generally large, or small, together, 

 and that when large there is a good digestion, 

 and an abundant supply of blood, giving great 

 energy to the brain, and body, and making much 

 flesh. Bold robbers and murderers exhibit in 

 their daring, much energy at the time of action. 

 But we may trace a very intimate connection 

 betweenthis faculty and crime. Mr. Coombe says, 

 speaking of combativeness, — " When the organ 

 is large, and excited by strong potations, an 

 excessive tendency to quarrel ami fight is tho 

 consequence. Hence some individuals in whom 

 it is great, but whose moral and intellectual facul- 

 ties are capable of restraining it when sober, 

 appear, when inebriated, to be of a different 

 nature, and extremely combative !" 



A deficiency of food has an effect similar to an 

 excess of intoxicating drink. Extreme hunger 

 has a sort of maddening effect on tho faculty 

 of anger. The fearful effects produced by a want 

 of food, and also by intoxicating drinks, are seen 

 to an awful extent in the history of tho ship- 

 wreck of tho " Medusa, " an account of which 

 is published by Chambers, in No. 92 of tho 

 Miscellany, from which the following extracts 

 are taken : — " Now, maddened with liquor, tho 

 folly of tho Mutineers knew no bounds ; and 

 they proceeded to cut the lashings that held the 

 timbers of the raft together, in order to destroy 

 all at a blow." Again, " whilo tho combat still 

 raged, some of tho mutineers took occasion to 

 throw into the sea, together with her husband, 

 the unfortunate woman who was on board" (the 

 raft) . To show the severity with which those are 

 treated who under such circumstances offend 

 against alimentiveness, take the following : — 

 <: Two soldiers were discovered drinking wine 



