REVIEW-GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY. 231 
If the history of man, in his mental and physical attributes, be 
the most interesting branch of investigation and study to the 
human surgeon, the history of the lower animal kingdom, which 
is second only in utility and value, is of equal importance 
to the veterinary surgeon. The large beasts of the field and of 
the forest, the smaller tribe of the woods and the plains, were all 
created for the use of the human race. Proud and powerful man, 
the lord of the creation, commands, controuls, or kills all such 
living creatures as either conduce to his real wants or artificial 
pleasures. Stationed thus so pre-eminently above all other ani¬ 
mated beings, it becomes his bounden duty to cultivate those 
thinking and rational powers with which he is naturally endowed. 
It will, therefore, be apparent, even to the cursory observer, that 
the study of natural history is not merely a subject of rational 
amusement, but is really an important branch of the study of 
the veterinary surgeon. In the horse, the cow, the sheep, and 
the dog, we view animals of various properties and characters; 
and it° is well known that all these belong exclusively to his 
practice, inasmuch as they are essential to the welfare of civi¬ 
lized society. Indeed, the more minutely w r e search into their 
history, habits, and economy, the better we shall be able to 
alleviate those diseases to which they are liable. 
This little work is introduced in a singularly modest manner; 
it assumes no pretensions to science, and is written in a similar 
style to Mr. White’s Natural History of Selborne ;—a work which, 
whether we consider the useful information it contains, or the 
elegant and agreeable manner in which it is written, has and 
wil? continue to afford pleasure and gratification to every lover 
of Nature, as long as her works have power to charm. We con¬ 
sider the present volume equal in every respect, if not superior, 
to that of Mr. White’s : every page abounds with information, 
and proves that 
“ Not a tree, 
A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains 
A folio volume. We may read, and read, 
And read again, but still find something new, 
Something to please, and something to instruct, 
E’en in the noisome weed/’’ 
We shall now let the author speak for himself, for we cannot 
better express our approbation of it than by inserting a part of 
its contents in The Veterinarian. 
Reason in Animals . 
“ They also know. 
And reason , not contemptibly.” 
“ It is no doubt exceedingly difficult, and perhaps impossible, 
to define where instinct ends and reason begins in animals. But 
