I 
388 .ON BREEDING. 
aniiftals. This led Pliny to say, “ that it was chiefly in the smallest 
things that Nature has shown the fulness of her power*.” 
. The circulation is quicker, the pulse more frequent, the deter¬ 
minations more prompt in horses of short stature: by an obvious 
consequence, the diseases of ponies have a more acute character; 
they are more vehement, and tend more rapidly to their crisis. 
If we take a slight survey of the different races of horses now 
scattered over the earth, we shall be immediately struck with 
many circumstances that will tend to convince us, that climate 
and mode of life have had as much influence on the mental as 
the physical powers of animals. We shall see that the former 
will exhibit as many peculiarities as the various modifications of 
physical structure lead us to expect. 
Climate, in its most extensive sense, comprehending atmosphere 
and soil, has had almost unbounded influence on the characters 
of animals. Thus, in countries where the pasture is rich and 
always springing, they acquire a prodigious size, but are at the 
same time characterized by an indolent, stupid appearance; 
whilst those that are inhabitants of dry light soils are always 
better made and have more vivacious and intelligent countenances. 
The activity, irritability, and sensibility, usually observed in 
ponies, or in horses possessing much u blood,” are never found 
in those of the huge, heavy draught kind. Those qualities are the 
natural production of a warm climate, a gentle elevation of soil, 
and a serene and equal atmosphere. This is particularly seen in 
the horses belonging to the Persians; they originally descended 
from the Arabian breed, but, owing to the luxuriance of their 
soil, they have lost much of their primitive character, being 
larger, more fleshy, and heavier about the head, and having 
altogether a coarse and inanimate appearance when compared 
with their progenitors. 
The same effect is produced in men as among the inferior ani¬ 
mals. “ The activity and acuteness of a choleric habit are seldom 
to be found in a region of perpetual fog, as, for instance, in 
Holland;” they are the natural effects of a mild climate, an ele¬ 
vated though gently moistened soil, and a clear sky. But the 
change is not so suddenly made in the human race as among 
brutes, the latter being nearly allied to the earth, and the food 
being always the same. 
The local character and habitations of some animals, and their 
fitness for the particular region destined for their abode, seem to 
establish the hypotheses that Nature did not form any species of 
animals to be tenants of the globe at large, and that she origi- 
* Nusquam magis quani in minimis esttota Natura.— Hist. Nat. 
