preface. vii 
and in the union of numbers find a means to 
counterbalance the assaults of individual strength. 
Wild animals generally seek the most seques- 
tered retreats, and shun the presence of the man, 
who thus reigns undisputed lord of this nether 
world ; the weaker fly to him for protection, 
and he knows how to tame the most ferocious. 
He destroys or saves, as suits his convenience or 
his will ; his superior power creates a desert, or 
peoples a wilderness with passive and obedient 
slaves. 
Animals in a savage state are subject to few 
alterations, but continue for ages the same, in 
size, shape, and colour ; yet no -sooner are 
they subdued and taken under the care of man, 
than their figure, and even their very nature, is 
gradually changed. 
Even the very appetites and habitudes of 
quadrupeds undergo a change, by the effects of 
human ingenuity. They may be taught to live 
on food, which in a state of nature they would 
reject, and to perform labours that not only evince 
docility and sagacity, but a desire to please. 
Next to human controul, the climate seems 
to have the most, powerful influence on quadru- 
peds, in augmenting or diminishing their size, 
and in varying their colours or their coverings. 
Providence in its wisdom has furnished the ani- 
mals of cold countries w n .th long w arm hair ; re- 
move them - to w r arm latitudes, and it becomes 
short and thin : again, transplant the natives of 
the tropics to the hyperborean regions, and they 
