MAMM 
horizontally-flattened tail fit for fwimming. They have 
no claws nor hair. The teeth, in home fpecies, are carti¬ 
laginous, and bony in others. In (lead of noftrils, they 
have a fiftulous opening On the anterior and upper part of 
the head. They live entirely in the fea, feeding on fea- 
blubber and filh. This concluding order has four ge¬ 
nera : 
Monodon. - Teeth in the upper jaw 2, protruding, 
bony. 
Balsena. - - Teeth in the upper jaw horny. 
Phyfeter. - Teeth in the lower jaw only ; bony, 
Delphinus. - Teeth in both jaws; bony. 
Naturalifts have aim oft univerfally included human be¬ 
ings in the clafs of mammalia, in confequence of their 
poffefling the peculiar charaflers which diflinguifh this 
clafs front thofe of other animals. However, the mental 
endowments, and the focial and moral propenfities, of 
rnan certainly entitle him to a diftinft rank in the fcale of 
living beings, arid to feparate difcuffion in fuch a work 
as this. See, therefore, the article Man. 
The relations, however, that fubfilt between man and 
many of the animals arranged in this clafs, either from 
their utility as domeftic fervants, or from the warfare that 
they carry on againft him, his property, or his dependants, 
render the ftudy of this part of natural hiltory very im¬ 
portant ; while the extraordinary aclions and faculties of 
fome of thefe animals mult make the hiltory of them highly 
interefting to every one who examines nature with a cu¬ 
rious or difcerning eye. Quadrupeds have, accordingly, 
engaged the particular attention of naturalifts in every 
country and in every age ; and, as our acquaintance with 
them is lefs difficult than with molt other daffies of ani¬ 
mated nature, it is not furpriling that their form, habits, 
and manners, are molt familiar to us. Still, indeed, much 
remains in doubt refpeding fome of the foreign and rarer 
quadrupeds 5 and of fome we know liftie more than the 
name. Even with regard to thofe which have been longelt 
known and defcribed, as the lion, the elephant, the por¬ 
cupine, &c. the obfervations of modern naturalifts and 
travellers have correded feveral erroneous notions that 
had been generally received as certain. Long as this part 
of natural hi (lory has occupied the attention of mankind, 
there yet probably remain many gleanings to repay the 
indultry of future inquirers. It is probable that the un¬ 
explored regions of Africa, America, and New Holland, 
may contain many quadrupeds either entirely unknown 
to us at prefent, or known only by the foflit remains that 
have been difcovered in the bowels of the earth. There 
can, we think, be little doubt that the unicorn exilts in 
Africa, not far north of the Cape of Good Hope ; and per¬ 
haps, at fome diftant period it may be as well known as 
the elephant or the hippopotamus is at prefent. See Bar¬ 
row’s Travels in Southern Africa. 
As every kind of animal is fully treated of under its ge¬ 
neric name in this Encyclopaedia, we need offer here only 
a few curfory remarks on quadrupeds in general. 
The clothing of beads is compoled of loft, feparate, flexi¬ 
ble, hair, little fubjeft to injury, which is more plentifully 
bellowed on the inhabitants of cold regions than on thofe 
which live in the warmer parts of the eart'h. This hair coa. 
lefces together, on urchins and porcupines, to form fpints 
or prickles; on the manis thefe are flattened into (harp 
pointed fcales ; and they are united into a Ihelly coat on 
the armadillo. The fur is often divided by diltinct ridges, 
as in the dog and horfe ; and thofe ridges, on the horfe 
and hog, are fometimes elongated into a mane. In aqua¬ 
tic quaurupeds the hair is altogether wanting, left it fhould 
abforb the wet; except in fuch as are fometimes obliged 
to live on-(hore. The face of'animals is frequently fur- 
oifhed with briltly warts ; the lips with wbilkers ; the chin, 
.is in man, apes, and goats, with a beard ; and the legs 
and .bread, as in the horfe and camel, are often provided 
with callofiries. 
Vol. XIV. No. 970, 
ALIA. 2.37 
The fulcra, fuppcrrters, or inftruments of motion, are 
intended for more expeditioufly efcaping from enemies 
by flight, or from purf'uing after prey. Terreftrial ani¬ 
mals, of this clafs, are furnifiled with four legs and feet; 
of thefe the anterior pair, or fore legs, have fometimes 
a hand divided into fingers, with a diftant oppofed 
thumb, as in the primates and o poll'll ms : the hinder feet 
are more united, that they might ferve better for fupport- 
ing the weight of the body ; thefe are either pal mated or 
webbed, having the toes joined together by an interpofed 
membrane, for the purpofes of fwimming ; or fiffide, hav¬ 
ing the toes feparated, for running quickly; or fupported 
by heels, as in man, and the bear, for (landing firmly. 
Bolides thefe, that the toes, during flight, may not be torn 
in rugged places, they are either fortified with a thick fur 
on the foies of the feet, as in the common hare, arilic fox, 
and (loth; or they are hoofed, having the toes furrounded 
by horny nails in the manner ot a (hoe, as in the orders 
of pecora and beiluae; in fome of which animals the heel 
is included in this manner in (lead of the toes, which are 
then wanting. The more fierce animals have their feet 
armed with claws placed on the extremities of their toes, 
for feizing their prey, tearing their enemies, and digging 
the ground; in the molt of thefe the claws are pointed 
and crooked; a final 1 number of lefs ferocious, animals 
have the claws flattened, and of an oval lhape, while the 
rapacious order of ferae, or beads of prey, have bent (harp- 
pointed talons. The flying animals of this clafs either 
mount into the air by the aflifiance of palmated fore-feet, 
having the toes much elongated, and connected by an in-, 
terpol'ed membrane, as in bats; or they float in the air 
by means of a membrane ftretched out between the fore 
and hinder legs, as in the flying macaucoand failing f'quir- 
rel. Aquatic animals are deltitute of claws and hoofs, 
having, inflead of feet, pectoral fins, which are formed by 
the fhoulder-blade, arm, fore-arm, wrilt, hand, and fin¬ 
gers, all jumbled together, as in the order cete. 
The offenfive arms of the animals of this clafs, befides 
the claws and hoof already taken notice of, and the teeth, 
which will be mentioned afterwards, are chiefly horns of 
a cartilaginous or bony nature, which are placed on their 
heads s thefe are either folid and perliitent, as in the rhi¬ 
noceros ; or (olid and annually deciduous, being, while 
growing, which they do from their outer ends, covered 
with a hairy (kin, which falls off when they are full grown, 
as in deer; or, as in the ox, goat, and (heep, they are 
hollow and peril (lent, covering a central cavernous bony 
flint, and growing by additions at their bales; with thele 
weapons, animals attack, gore, and (trike, their adverfit- 
ries. They thus are enabled in various ways to elude or 
refill the force of enemies, by fighting, biting, tearing, 
kicking, ftriking, running, leaping, climbing, and dig¬ 
ging; or by fwimming, flying, urining, (linking, roaring, 
and terrifying. 
The inftruments for maflication of food are the teeth, 
which are of three kinds: the fore-teeth, which are fome¬ 
times in the form of compreffed wedges, and called inci- 
fors ; thefe ferve for plucking, gnawing, and cutting the 
food ; the tujks are longer than the other teeth, their^form 
is conical and pointed, and they have no oppolites which 
direftly meet them on doling the mouth , their ufe is for 
tearing the food ; the grinders, or back-teeth, are of a broad 
form for chewing the food ; thefe, in animals which live 
on vegetables, are obtufe, and in carnivorous animals are 
furnifhed with (harp conicaliy-pointed protuberances on 
their upper l'urfaces. The ant-eaters and manis alone, of 
all the clafs, have no teeth. 
The tails of animals are compofed of an elongation and 
multiplication of the latter vertebrae of the back, and ferve 
for concealing the unclean parts. In a few animals, as in 
man, fome ot the apes, and a few of the murine tribe 
this is wanting; in fome it is fhhrt, in whith cafe it is only 
the length of the thigh, or ihorter, as in the hare, mole, 
and urchin ; in others it is long, being at kail the length 
