50 



Reptiles. 



Reptiles, as a class, exhibit little beauty of form. We have 

 but to refer to the clumsy long body, very short limbs, and evil- 

 looking head of Crocodiles and Alligators, to show that sluggish 

 and voracious habits are associated with want of beauty in 

 form. But in Snakes and Lizards, where activity, especially 

 among the former, is a marked characteristic, the general form 

 is graceful. Tortoises and Turtles, though possessed of beauti- 

 fully-marked carapaces, are eminently clumsy and wanting in 

 symmetry, and of inactive, indolent habits, relying upon passive 

 rather than active methods of protection from their foes. 



Birds. 



The class of Birds, as in the case of Fishes; is essentially 

 one in which beauty of form and extreme activity of habits are 

 the rule. There are but few exceptions to this rule, such as 

 Penguins, which are heavily built, clumsy and most sluggish 

 birds. The Flightless Birds, such as Ostriches and Emus, 

 which, though capable of extremely rapid locomotion, are less 

 active than other birds, and wanting considerably in symmetry 

 of head, trunk and limbs. Another flightless bird, now extinct, 

 the Dodo, was heavy and clumsy in its build, and its head 

 and beak are disproportioned to the body. 



Owls again, though capable of activity, are nocturnal, and 

 less accustomed to a life of great activity than other birds, and 

 are comparatively wanting in symmetry. 



The Cranes, Storks, especially the Adjutants, Hornbills, 

 Pelicans, Gannets, Cormorants, Flamingoes, are all birds with 

 highly specialized activity in regard to the movements of their 

 necks and beaks, but not of generally active habits of life, and 

 all decidedly show want of proportion between body, head, neck 

 and limbs. Of all birds, perhaps the stupid, heavy and ugly 

 and sluggish Penguins are at once the least beautiful and most 

 inert in life. 



Mammals. 



Of the great Mammalian Class, numerous illustrations 

 may be taken to show the truth of our thesis ; the only 

 difficulty is to select the most striking examples. It will 

 be best to pass rapidly in view the eleven great orders of 

 Mammals, referring to the more notable forms in which beauty 

 or the reverse is manifested. 



