PREFACE. 
The laft order is that of Whales; which, it muft 
be confeffed, have, in many refpe&s, the ftructure 
of land animals ; but their want of hair and feet, 
their fifh-like form, and their conftant refidence in 
the water, are arguments for feparating them from 
this clafs, and forming them into another indepen¬ 
dent of the reft. 
But while I thus freely offer my objections 
againft embracing this Syftem of Quadrupeds, let 
me not be fuppofed infenfibie of the other merits of 
this great and extraordinary perfon ; His arrange¬ 
ment of fifh, of infeCts, and of fhells, are original 
and excellent; he hath, in all his claffes, given phi- 
lofophy a new language; hath invented apt names, 
and taught the world a brevity, yet a fuilnefs of 
defcription, unknown to paft ages ; he hath with 
great induftry brought numbers of fynonyms of 
every animal into one point of view; and hath 
given a concife account of the ufes and manners of 
each, as far as his obfervation extended, or the in¬ 
formation of a numerous train of travelling difciples 
could contribute : His Country may triumph in 
producing fo vail a Genius, whofe fpirit invigorates 
fcience in all that chilly region, and diffufes it from 
thence to climates more favorable, which gratefully 
acknowlege the advantage of its influences. 
Let us now turn our eyes to a Genius of another 
kind, - to whom the Hiftory of Quadrupeds owes 
very confiderable lights : i mean M. de Bttffcn, who, 
in the moft beautifuil language, and in the moft 
agreeable, manner, hath given the ampleft defcrip. 
tions of the ceconomy of the whole four-footed 
A 4 creation r 
mi 
