ANIMAL KINGDOM. 2^9 



sorely injured, by perceiving that while some mammiferous 

 animals excelled him in particular points of organization, 

 others, such as the Quadricmanes, approached him so nearly 

 as to render it a problem ofsome little difficulty to draw the 

 line of distinction between them. It is rather amusing now 

 to observe the interest which the older anatomists took in 

 this research, and to mark the tortures to which their amour 

 propre seems to have been put, when the internal structure 

 of the Ourang Outang was discovered to be almost the 

 same as that of Man. The fact however could not be dis- 

 puted ; and nothing remained but to throw a veil of impor- 

 tance over the whole study of mammiferous animals, which 

 they neither peculiarly deserved, nor would indeed have ever 

 obtained, had they not interested the self-love of man. 



There is no one however, I trust, who from this will be- 

 lieve me absurd enough to imagine that human anatomy 

 is not infinitely the noblest part of natural history, and 

 that the prosecution of it does not contribute as much to 

 the service of true philosophy as to the welfare of our fellow 

 creatures. But its dignity is superior precisely because it 

 is our own structure that is under examination, that is, a 

 frame which has been animated by reason; and I cannot 

 help thinking, that when once we have passed this barrier, 

 and have descended to the other animals, as we can then 

 have little other aim than a general acquaintance with the 

 works of our Creator; so, to attain this purpose, the vilest 

 insect that crawls is as deserving of notice as the Elephant. 

 When therefore we witness that by far the greatest por- 

 tion of animal life is often regarded with total unconcern 

 by those whose profession it may be to acquire a know- 

 ledge of the human frame, it naturally excites regret that 

 so much science and talent should scarcely ever be brought 



