LOOKING-GLASS. 
119 
We need only view the lynx for a moment, at 
the crooked line his muzzle, and the 
ruffled brows, added to the fwiftnefs of his motions, 
in order to be convinced of his cruel defigns. 
The beaver poffleffes lefs courage than ingenuity : 
he is armed with teeth fitter to gnaw than devour. 
The powerful elephant is of an overbearing cha- 
Tafler, fuch as agrees with his gigantic figure.— 
Well-turned and hollow bones mark his fagacity. 
His embonpoint is proportioned to that luxurious 
ftyle of living, of which he is fo fond. The 
fupple trunk difcovers prudence and craftinefs; 
while the length and compafs of his brow are figns of 
that retentive memory for which he is diftinguifhed. 
Were it not for the ftriking fitQation of his fore- 
head, with refpeft to his eyes and mouth, we might 
difcover a greater refemblance of a human being 
than is vifible in any other creature. But it is a 
man’s brow alone that always forms a right angle, 
more or lefs regular, with the axis of the eye, and 
line of the mouth. In fliort, every glance of an 
elephant’s eye proclaims his fuperior abilities. 
The bat expreffes in all his diminutive body a 
vile and violent paffion, that he dares not indulge 
in the face of day ; nor are his hidden eyes adapted 
to light. His form indicates agility ; while the tail, 
adjoining to his wings, is the type of his mifchievous 
difpofition. 
N 2 
Essay 
