C **8 3 



SECT. IV. 



Zoology. 



Non ad unam natura for mam opus fuum pr^flat ; fed in ipla 

 varictate fe j aflat. 



Seneca Quaeft. 



1, TT would greatly tend to improve our know- 

 ledge in this department of natural hiftory, 

 were the following remarks refpe&ing quadrupeds 

 to be carefully made ; viz. the general times of 

 coupling and of geftation ; how many young are 

 brought forth at a time, and how often during one 

 feafon ; at what period of life they become pro- 

 lific or barren : where their principal refort and 

 dens are ; whether the males alfift the dams in 

 providing food for the young of the carnivorous 

 tribe 3 how long thefe are under the protection of 

 the old ones ; and what age each fpecies attains ? 



2. It might be inquired whether any perfon 

 hath ever feen elephants in copulation, which 

 has been hitherto denied ; it is faid that if the wild 

 elephants perceive any body, they immediately 

 begin to rave, and ceafe not till the curiofity 

 of that perfon has been rewarded with death ; 

 and though the Indian princes have kept great 

 numbers of tame elephants of both fexes, they 

 never could procure a breed from them. What 

 differences are there betwixt the African and 



Indian 



