Dr. T. R. Beck's Address. 



minerals : Geology, or the natural history of the earth : and, last- 

 ly, Meteorology, or the natural history of the atmosphere. To 

 these, we must, in strictness, add another most curious and inter- 

 esting subject— the natural history of man. 



The enumeration of these various subjects is, of itself, suffi- 

 cient to indicate their importance. The natural history of animals 

 teaches the characteristic, or distinctive marks of each individual 

 object— as well as its habits, its qualities, and its uses. The in- 

 terest which these should inspire, can hardly be appreciated with- 

 out some reflection, since we become so familiar with many of 

 them at an early age. From some we derive nourishment, and 

 from others, raiment, while our enjoyments are enlarged by their 

 subserviency. Here indeed, the argument of utility, without 

 which, in the eyes of some, all other arguments are frivolous, may 

 be pressed with irresistible force. It was among the earliest de- 

 crees of heaven, that the animal creation should be placed under 

 the power of man, and minister to his wants ; and what was so 

 ordained, certainly deserves his care and his study. How admirably 

 are many of the brute creation adapted to the above purpose. The 

 camel, " that ship of the desert," as he is beautifully styled by the 

 orientals, traverses the sands of Arabia, in obedience to his rider. 

 The horse is domesticated in almost every part of the globe ; the 

 ox has for ages been trained to purposes of agriculture ; while the 

 dog affords proofs of instinct, which almost renders him a com- 

 panion for man in the pastoral state. If we notice the genera that 

 furnish wool, what wisdom is seen displayed in their organization 

 — what benignity in adapting them to the climate and zone to which 

 they belong. The fiercer tribes, which refuse the dominion of man, 

 are not less objects of enlightened curiosity. The dangerous 

 power which they possess, the structure on which that power de- 

 pends, and the striking distinctions that appear between them and 

 domesticated animals, exhibit points worthy of philosophic reflec- 



Our own country, in particular, has many subjects which de- 

 serve and indeed have obtained notice, with respect to its animals. 

 In former times, it was the residence of the fur bearing tribes, and 

 for centuries it has furnished this material, not only for ourselves, 

 but for foreign nations. The march of population is alike driving 

 them and the aboriginal man of the country before it, and it can- 

 not be long before they and he will be extirpated. They will then 



