56 
FIRST CLASS OF THE VERTEBRATED ANIMALS. 
of mountains and valleys are seen to abound with animals unknown to every other 
part of the globe. Among all these species, we find, when all other conditions re- 
main the same, that those confined to a small district exhibit the smallest and least 
important variations. 
The Herbivorous Slammalia arc much more liable to be influenced by climate than 
the Carnassiers, because their food is more Viiriable, both in quantity and quality. 
For this reason, the Elephants in one forest will be larger than in another. Tiieir 
tusks will be longer in those places where the food yields a greater quantity of the 
matter necessary to enter into the composition of ivory. The same thing will hap- 
pen to the Rein Doer, and to the Stags, in respect to their horns. However, the 
nature of their food serves to confine the range of the Herbivorous tribes within 
still narrower limits than that of the Carnassiers. 
Thus the entire influence of the climate and food upon wild animals is by no 
means very great. Some variations are, however, due to another cause. When 
the same male always continues attached to the same female, as happens with the 
Roe-bucks, the young exhibit that uniform resemblance to each other, and to the 
parents, which demonstrates the fidelity of their attachment. It is evident, that 
where the same female attaches herself to several males, as happens with the common 
Hinds {Certrus elaphus), the varieties must be greatly increased. We must also 
expect to find considerable variations in those smaller species which arc very pro- 
ductive. Females bearing five or six young ones at a birth, and producing per- 
haps three times a year by different males, must greatly augment the number of 
these varieties. 
Among the wild animals, any connate varieties which may arise from local causes, 
are soon blended by a continual intercourse with the original race, and in a few 
generations they wholly disappear. Hence we find in the herds of wild animals 
characters of marked uniformity, which cannot bo discovered among those domestic 
races whore the care of Man has intervened, and rendered the varieties permanent. 
Nature has placed a fixed barrier to those variations, which might have arisen from 
the union of males and females of different species. Wo usually find that species, 
nearly allied to each other in zoological characters, bear a mutual aversion of the 
most marked and decisive kind. It requires the greatest degree of ingenuity and 
constraint, on the part of Man, to deceive tho animals so far as to form these un- 
natural unions between different spe<!ics ; and when tho Hybrids thence produced are 
themselves productive, which seldom happens, they do not contitme so for many 
generations. Even this partial fecundity would not probably have existed, without 
the cohtinuation of that care by which the first union had been induced. We never 
find in tl»c woods any animals of a character intermediate to the Haro and the 
Rabbit, to the Weasel and the Polecat, or to the Stag and the Fallow Deer. 
There .are, however, distinct species which are capable of producing by their 
union fertile individuals. The offspring of tho Dog or his female, with the female 
or male Wolf or Fox, arc prolific. The same thing occurs with the offspring of the 
Hc-Goat and Ewe. Tho Mules produced between the Ass and Mare are some- 
times prolific, and fertile races may bo produced from the unions of several Birds 
of distinct species. Yet these arc merely exceptions to tho more general law, that 
the unions of animals of different species aro either wholly unproductive, or the off- 
spring is Q Hybrid, and incapable of procreation. 
There is a tendency among most animals, whether wild or domesticated, to pa5«s 
occasionally into White varieties, distinguished by the term Albinos. Their hair 
is remarkably soft, and perfectly white, the iris of the eye is of a bright red co- 
lour, and tho sight is acutely sensible to light. These varieties are therefore cre- 
puscular, that is, they appear only daring twilight or moonshine. In dark woods, 
old cathedrals, and obscure subterranean retreats, the common brown Mouse acquires, 
from the absence of light, the red eyes and white hair of tho Albino variety. This 
property becomes hereditary, and thus races may be formed, as has hap}>ened in the 
case of the common Ferret, which is probably only a variety of tho Polecat {Mustela 
Fut<ynus). The offspring of two brown HFice are white when tho old animals are 
retained in absolute darkness. These Albino varieties have also been seen in the 
Bactrian Camel, tho Elephant, the Beaver, and in a very great number of other ani- 
mals. 
“ By far the most powerful cause of tlie evolution of varieties in the Animal King- 
dom,” remarks Dr Prichard, “is Domestication. To be convinced of the truth of 
this fact, vro need only look at the phenomena which surround us on every side. lu 
all our stocks of domesticated animals, we see profuse and infinite variety, and in 
the races of wild animals, from which they originally descended, we find a uniform 
colour and figure for the most part to prevail. Domestication is to animals what 
cultivation is to vegetables, and the former probably differs from the natural state of 
the one class of beings in the same circumstances, which distinguish the latter from 
the natural condition of the other class. The most apparent of these is Iho abundant 
supply of the pccuUar stimuli of each kind. Animals in a wild state procure a simple 
and unvaried food in precarious and deficient quantities, and are exposed to the incle- 
mencies of the seasons. Their young are produced in similar circumstances to tho 
state of seedlings which spring uncultivated in a poor soil. But in the improved 
state, all the stimuli of various food, of warmth, &c. aro afforded in abundance, and 
the consequence is a luxuriant growth, tho evolution of varieties, and the exhibition 
of all the perfections of which each species is capable.” 
Hence it is in Man and Domestic Animals that varieties arc most numerous and 
perplexing. At present, wc shall confine our remarks to the changes experienced 
bv the Domestie -Animals, leaving the more interesting and ditficult consideration of 
the varieties in the Human Race to a more advanced stage of this work. Indeed, 
it is only after a careful study of the limits of variation amongst the Domestic 
Animals, that we shall be competent to consider the varieties of the Human Race in 
an unprejudiced and impartial manner. 
In those species which have experienced an imperfect domestication, the varia- 
tion is but slight, and it is due chiefly to climate. Thus, wo have but few 
varieties of the Cat, and their modifications are by no means considerable. Some 
have a softer fur, the colours of others arc perhaps more vivid, or their size is 
greater. These are the limits of their variations, and they arc further confined by 
the habits of intercourse which the tame Cats preserve with the wild individuals of 
their species, established in their immediate neighbourhood. In this way, all the 
tame Cats bear a marked resemblance to the wild Cat of pure breed. The colour of 
the latter is uniformly gray, with blackish longitudinal band,., while its fur is some- 
what rough. When tamed, in some climates, its colours become vivid or the fur 
grows smooth ■, in other countries the colours are softened down and become blended 
together, and the fur grows rough. When the European Cats arc removed to the 
Warmer parts of Africa, their form does not change with the climate. Tlieir varia- 
tions of colour prevail chiefly in Anatolia, Spain, and Persia, where distinct races 
have been formed. It is said, that there exists in China a variety of the Domestic 
Cat, with pendant ears, and in the Lslo of Jlan there is a distinct race destitute of 
tails. These form the extreme limits of variation in a species, which serves to mark 
the transition from the Wild to the Domestic Mammalia. 
We may naturally expeot to And a greater degree of variation in the Domesticated 
Herbivorous Mammalia, which have been transported into every climate for our use, 
and to whom wo allot various portions of food and labour. Their modifications are, 
however, merely superficial. A greater or less degree of size; longer or shorter 
horns, or the want of them altogether : or perhaps a lump of fat on the shoulder, or near 
the tail, aro the general limits of their variations. The colour also is ever variable, 
and often without any assignable cause. 
The Goat has experienced mauy changes of colour, and in Spain it has lost its 
horns. The different qualities of fleece found in the Cashmere, Thibet, and Angora 
GoaU, are well known in commerce. It is, however, the last of these varieties, 
which appears, from its pendant ears, to have departed the most widely from the 
original type. Tho usual and well-known influence of the climate of Anatolia, joined to 
the long domestication of the species, in a nation civilized at an early period, has 
produced this variety by the long-continued action of these causes. Buffon remarked 
that the Angora Goats horn in Franco were losing those long and pendant ears 
which characterize the Syrian variety, and it was expected that in a few generations 
they would acquire ears and fleece resembling those of the common Goats of that 
country; but, according to Blumcnbach, tho Angora variety oontinuos permanent 
when tho animals are removed to other climates. 
Among tho Sheep, the variations are numerous, but these chiefly refer to the fleece, 
which it has been the constant care of Man to alter and improve. In some districts 
the sheep aro always black, and very often a white Ram and Ewo will produce a 
black lamb. In other places they may be brown, spotted, reddish, or even yellowish. 
These varieties of colour are still more accidental than the other differences, whicli 
arise among races from alterations of food and climate. The limit of variation among 
the Sheep may bo seen in those enormous accumulations of fat, which swell tho 
tails of a race found in some parts of Africa and Asia. Pallas, who saw the Sheep 
of the Kirguis, a tribe of Siberia, describes them as being more fat and deformed than 
any ho had ever seen. They are taller than a yoiuig calf, very heavy, and some- 
what resemble the Indian Sheep in their proportions. Their heads are much swollen, 
with large pendant cars, and the lower lip extending far beyond the upper. The 
greater number have one or two hunches covered with hair, which hang down from 
their neck. In the place where in other Sheep a tail is usually fouud, there is a 
round and largo protuberance of fat, with scarcely any wool beneath, and these pro- 
tuberances often weigh from thirty to forty pounds, and yield from twenty to thirty 
pounds of suet. 'Ihese peculiarities continue permanent wherever they may he 
removed. Tho native Sheep of Ethiopia aro covered with coarse hair, and those 
of Thibet with very fine wool. Ilic Ankon variety of Sheep from Connecticot have 
the fore-legs bent like an elbow ; and this deformity, which is usually communicated 
to their descendants, as well as tho general shortness of all tho legs, was at one time 
much cultivated, from the Sheep being thence unable to climb the fences. 
We have already seen, that the Bull can scarcely he considered a domestic animal, 
when viewed in reference to its disposition ; yet its colour varies equally with its 
more domesticated female. luaumerable varieties of the Cow arc distinguished by 
Graziers ; and France alone reckons at least sixteen varieties, deriving their names 
from the Provinces which they inhabit. The possession of udders of enormous size, 
and the property of giving milk all the year round, are qualities acquired by Do- 
mestication. We arc informed by Pennant, that tho American Bison is covered in 
the winter with a long shaggy fleece, which bangs over his neck, and partakes some- 
what of the nature of wool; but that in summer lie is almost naked. In the island 
of Celebes there is found a variety of the Buffalo, not larger than our common 
Sheep. 
The Ass undergoes, from domestication, several changes in the colour and quality 
of its hair ; but the wild Asses, inhabiting the country of the Cahnucks in immense 
numbers, resemble each other precisely iu all those particulars which are observed 
to vary among the domesticated species. In other respects, they only differ from 
tho Domestic Asses, in being of a greater size and beauty. The wild Asses inhabiting 
the deserts of Barbary are uniformly gray, and are said even to outstrip the Horse 
in speed of foot. 
The joint influence of Climate and Domestication seems to have a greater power 
over the Horse, and its varieties aro accordingly almost infinite in number. In some 
the head is small and slender, the nostrils arc wide and easily moved, the ears are 
slim and directed forwards, and the eyes are lively. In other varieties we have a 
complete contrast in all these particulars. Tho head is heavy, the nostrils arc nar- 
row and close, the ears are large and directed backwards, and the eyes have a marked 
expression of dulness. An equal degree of variety is fouud in their colours, which 
may be black, bay, brown, or while, or any combination of these shades. In Ceylon 
there is said to be a variety of the llorso which is not more than thirty inches high ; 
in other climates tho Horse is nearly .as largo as the Bactrian Camel. In bulk 
it sometimes rivals the Ox, and often it emulates the lightness of the .Stag. We are 
informed, by John Hunter, that ail foals are usually of the samo colour, and that, though 
the hair may vary as they become older, still the skin remains the same, being no darker 
in black than in white Horses, which is contrary to what is observed in most species. 
There is an exception in cream-coloured Horses, which have the skin of the same 
hue as the hair. In size, colour, and form, as well as the quality of the hair, they 
