THE MAMMALIA— MAN AND BEASTS. 
43 
casual attachment to the females of their own species, the regard of the mother for 
her young, and that occasional language of signs by which they communicate their 
wants or their passions. If a Lion or a Tig(*r meet his mate at an unfavourable time, 
tiiey both become furious, and a conflict often fatal to one or to both ia the result. The 
circumstance of their both living by the chase renders them natural enemies to each 
other. This singular combination of love and hatred is wisely given by Nature to 
assist in preventing the too rapid increase of the more destructive animals. 
It is the organization of the Carnivora — the possession of teeth, of clawsi of short 
and narrow inicstinei — that imposes the office of Nature's executioners upon these ani- 
mals by an imperative necessity. The sharp teeth of thci Leopard or Panther might 
attempt in vain to grind plants : and even -when wc compel these animals to swallow bread 
and other purely vegetable substances, the gastric juice of their stomach is unable to 
dissolve them. On the contrary, the Lamb and the light Gazelle would refuse animal 
food with disgust. Their teeth arc not formed for tearing, and their entire economy 
is adapted to a vegetable diet. It is thus that we find, in the organization of the 
animal, the reasons for all its actions. 
This exquisite relation of all the parts of an animal to each other, enables the Na- 
turalist to describe the whole creature on seeing only a part. Thus, from knowing 
the size of a tooth, we can judge of the height of the animal which bore it; by the 
shape of the tooth we can tell whether it be carnivorous or herbivorous. Thence 
follow the general structure of the body, not only of tho stomacli and viscera, but also 
the form of their paw's, of claws with tho one, or of hoofs with the other, the livoUnoss 
of their passions, as well as the habits which attend this kind of life and constitu- 
tion. 
Besides the claws and teeth, which form the offensive arms of the Carnivora, they are 
endowed with superior strength, agility, cruelty, and treachery. The source of these 
qualities must be sought in the nature of their food — in the superior organization of 
flesh and blood. The herbivorous tribes want offensive arm.s in general, yet they are 
seldom of a timid or peaceful disposition. They love to unite together in social bands, 
to pasture on tke plains or by the mountain side, or else to hoard the common fruits of 
their industry. The carnivorous tribes, like tyrants, are unfitted for society by their 
ferocious and domineering tempers; they dread the rivalship of their own species, and 
the natural attachment of the. sexiw is witli them but a momentary passion. They can 
endure hunger much longer than the herbivorous tribes, wbo.se food is always spread 
out before them; and this power of fasting is necessary to animals obliged by their 
structure to overpower their prey by violence, to run them down by perseverance, or 
to surprise them by stratagem. They can fast for several weeks, but as their neces- 
sities increase they become bolder and more ferocious. Tho Wolf, with an appetite 
sharpened by famine, becomes an intrepid and formidable enemy. lie then invades 
the villa«-e.H, breaks into the stables during tho daytime, and even ventures to contend 
with Man. But when ho has found an abundance of nourishment, ho gorges himself 
for several days ; and, with an admirable sagacity, conceals tbe remainder under ground 
as a provision for future want. 
This continual use of animal food, and the high state of organization at which all 
tlie solid and fluid parts of their bodies have arrived, renders their flesh at once unpa- 
latable and unwholesome. Their excretions are all fetid, and the slightest check to 
the vital activity brings on a rapid decay. On tho contrary, the vegetable nutriment 
of the herbivorous tribes imparts to their flesh a high degree of delic.acy. Their milk 
is sw'cot, agreeable, and nutritious. Thus the herbivorous tribes yield an abundance 
of nourishment to Man, while he rejects with disgust tho flesh of those which are 
carnivorous. 
The natural antipathy of some of the carnivorous juiimals for each other, proceeds 
from tlieir rivalship in the chase. It is thus that tho Lion, Tiger, Panther, or Bear, 
permits no poachers upon his hunting grounds. These despots of the Animal King- 
dom allow few intruders to share their authority, and clear the forest of all those petty 
tyrants, whirh prey only upon small game; and which, like the inferior nohUssa of the 
inicUUe ages, oppicssed the lower ranks, and diminished the population. 
It is not among the larger animals of the forest alone," says Goldsmith with his 
usual elegance, “ that these hostilities are carried on; there is a minuter and a still 
more treacherous contest between ihn lower ranks of Quadrupeds. The Panther 
hunts for tho Sheep and tho Goat; the Catamountain for the Hare or tho Rabbit; and 
tho Wild Cat for tho Squirrel or tlio Mouse. In proportion as each carnivorous ani- 
uaal wants strength, it uses all the assistance of patience, assiduity, and cunning. 
However, the arts of these to pursue are not so great as the tricks of their prey to 
*^scape, so that the power of destruction in one class is itifevior to tho power of safety 
■n the other. Were this ofhorwise, the forest would soon be dispeopled of tho feebler 
**aces of animals, and beasts of prey themselves would want, at one time, that subsist- 
^•uce which they lavishly doalroyed at another. 
“ Pew wild animals seek their prey in the daytime; they are then generally de- 
terred by their fears of Man, in the inhabited countries, and by the excessive heat of 
the sun in those extensive forests that lie towards the south, and iu which they reign 
tile undisputed tyrants. As soon, therefore, as the morning appears, the carnivorous 
animals retire to tlioir dens; and the Elephant, the Horse, the Deer, and all the Haro 
l^'uds, those inoffensive tenants of the plain, make their appearance. But again, at 
^•ght-fall the state of hostility begins, the whole forest then echoes with a variety of 
different Imwlings. Nothing can be more terrible tban an African land.'^cape at the 
close of evening; tho dccp-toned roarings of the Lion, thn shrill yelUngs of the 1'igcr, 
^lic Jackal pursuing by the scent, and barking like a dog, the IlyEcna with a note 
peculiarly solitary and dreadful, but, above nil, the hissing of the various kinds of 
Serpents that then begin their call, and, as 1 am assured, malce a much louder sym- 
phony than the Birds in our groves in a morning. 
“ Beasts of prey seldom devour each other; nor can any thing but the greate.st 
degree of hunger nompol them to it. What they chiefly seek after is the Deer, or 
the Goat; those haiinloss croatiirea that seem made to embellish Nature. Tlicsc arc 
either pursued or surprised, and afford the most agreeable repast to their destroyers. 
most usual method, with even the fiercest animals, is to hide and crouch near 
some path frequented by their prey, or some water wiiere they come to drink, and 
seize them at once with a bound. The Lion and the Tiger leap twenty feet at a 
spring; and this, rather than their swiftness or strength, is what they have most to 
depend on for a supply. There is scarcely one of the Deer or Hare k’md that is not 
very easily capable of escaping them by its swiftness; so that, whenever any of these 
fall a prey, it must be owing to their own inattention. 
“ But there is another class of the carnivorous kind that hunt by the scent, and 
which it is more difficult to escape. It is remarkable that all animals of this kind 
pursue in a pack, and encourage each other by their mutual cries. The Jackal, Sya- 
gush, the Wolf, and the Dog, arc of this kind; they pursue with patience rather than 
swiftness; their prey flies at first, and leaves them for miles behind, but they keep 
on w’ith a con.stant steady pace, and excito each other by a general spirit of industry 
and emulation, till at last they share the common plunder. But it too often happens 
that the larger beasts of prey, when they hear a cry of this kind begin, pursue the 
pack, and, when they have hunted down the animal, come in and monopolize the spoil. 
This has given rise to the report of the Jackal's being the Lion’s provider; when the 
reality is, that the Jackal hunts for itself, and the Lion is an unwelcome intruder 
upon the fruit of his toil." 
It is in barren and unfrequented districts that the carnivorous animals are most 
fierce and sanguinary, because their prey is scarce, and the possession of it is continually 
disputed by a ho.st of famished rivals. From these continued scenes of violence their 
character acquires an unusual ferocity. The Bear of the Alps is a formidable and 
dangerous animal to the traveller. But the beasts that frequent the plains or fertile 
valleys find their food more easily, and when found it is less disputed. Their cha- 
racter being thus softened down by the comforts of life, loses that high degree of 
courage and asperity which distinguishes the mountain races. 
The carnivorous animals associate in troops only for the converdence of a combined 
attack; on tbe other hand, tho herds of herbivorous smimals seem intended only for 
their mutual defence. Placing the young ones in the centre, and the females in tho 
rear, the males advance to the front, united in a phalanx, and presenting their horns 
to the enemy, repel his attack with vigour, and generally with success. 
Most of the Frugivorous tribes, such as tlic Apes, the Makis, and the Loris, ramble 
about in numerous troops, for the purpose of pilliiging tho fruits of a district. Like 
expert marauders, they establish a regular order of pillage. They place sentinels in 
advance, and, forming a chain, pass the fruit from hand to hand. Upon the slightest 
alarm being given by the sentinels, tlie whole troop retreats to the woods or moun- 
tains, carrying off as much as they can hold in their hands and cheek-pouches. 
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE MAMMALIA CONTINUED. 
J)o)ncsiicated Animfxls are not Slaves — Methods of Taming Wild Animals — /«- 
Jlncnce of Mild Treatment — Hunger — Sweetmeats — Caresses — Chastiseyneni — 
Their Occasional llcvenge. 
Animals, whether domesticated or in a wild state, always preserve their real cha- 
racters, and act in a manner suited to their situation. 
The absolute submission which we are in the habit of requiring from our domestic 
animals, and that kind of tyranny which we exercise over them, have given rise to 
the belief that they are really Slaves. It is commonly supposed that our superior 
power compels them to resign their natural fondness for independence, to yield impli- 
cit obedience to our will, and to perform those offices for which they are adapted by 
their organization, intelligence, and instincts. We are in tho habit of attributing to 
our own influence tbe gulmiission obtained from these animals ; we are imagined to 
bo the source of those instmcls developed under domestication, and to have com- 
manded obedience, just as our superior power maintains them in captivity. 
This conclusion is, however, altogether fallacious. Judging from appearances only, 
we have confounded two things totally distinct in their nature, namely, Domestication 
and Slavery, Domestication is a state of freedom, and hence the difference between 
the human Slave and the domesticated Animal is as great as that between Slavery and 
Liberty. 
The domesticated animal makes use of its natural faculties within the limits marked 
out by its situation, in a manner exactly similar to the wild animal in the woods. 
Being never urged to act except by external causes, or by internal instincts, as soon 
as its will has conformed itself to the constraints of its situation, it makes no further 
sacrifice. The animal, iu fact, is not in reality in a different situation from what it 
would have been if left to itself. It lives, without constraint, in society with hlan, be- 
cause doubtless it was naturally a sociable animal. It conforms itself to the will of Man, 
within certain limits, because its herd would have had a leader in the strongest or 
most active animal, to whom submission would have been naturally paid. If a Dog 
is by our care rendered a good courser, it is because he was a himter by nature, and 
^YG have only developed one of his original qualities. The same rule is observed in 
all the different qualities which wc impart to our domestic animals. They perform 
nothing which is not agreeable to their nature; in doing so, they only fulfil the ori- 
ginal purposes for which they were formed; they never acquire different qualities, 
and thus enjoy, under hlan, n perfect state of liberty. 
It is true that Man possesses an immense power over the domestic animals, and 
one which he often abuse.s. Yet he usually develops qualities natural to the animal; 
hence it acquires a degree of improvement unattainable iu its original state, and thus 
its condition really becomes ameliorated. Thus we may see tlie imnienso difference 
between Slavery and Domestication. The Slave is not only a social being, with the 
power of willing, but he is naturally a free being, whose mind cannot confine itself 
spontaneously to the situation in which ho is placed. Ho knows his condition, consi- 
ders its consequences, and feels its oppression. 'I he natural power which he pos- 
sesses of refit’cting upon liis situation, shows it to him in all its degradation. Ho 
fools that lie is in chains, that he cannot use his natural free-will, and that he is a 
(Ipjrvaded bcingi On the contrary, a domestic onhnal satisfies all its wants; hence it 
lives in a state of Nature, and is conformable to the situation in which it is placed. 
