petual bloom of youth over the face of the earth ; 
the former assist in maintaining the correct bal- 
ance among the numbers of different species; and 
in restraining their exuberance within the proper 
limits. : 
In these wars of the animals, Nature has pro- 
vided that each creature should meet its death 
in the easiest possible manner. There is a cer- 
tain spot in the spinal marrow where the two 
ascending main nerves that form the great brain 
cross one another, and if this spot be injured, 
death is the immediate consequence. This fact 
is well known to huntsmen and butchers. The 
latter plunges his knife into the neck of the ox 
at that exact spot, the animal immediately drops, 
and ceases to live after a few convulsions, On 
the same principle the huntsman cuts through 
the neck of his game. The carnivorous animals 
always seize their prey by the neck, and bite 
through this part. In the same manner the 
hound kills the hare, and the bird of prey its 
quarry. The pole-cat also destroys its prey at a 
single spring. Dr. Gall locked up a pole-cat for 
some time, during which he fed it on bones till 
its teeth were blunted. While in this state, it 
was unable to kill the rabbits placed in its kennel 
with the same despatch as formerly; but when 
they had again grown sharp, Gall observed that, 
on the very first leap it made on the rabbit, it 
cut the little animal’s neck on that very spot 
-with a sharp fang, and instantaneous death en- 
sued. He observed the same thing at a hawking 
party. As soon as the hawk had reached the 
hare, it would immediately cut through that part 
of her neck with its bill. 
It is the organization of the carnivora—the 
possession of teeth, of claws, of short and narrow 
intestines—that imposes the office of Nature’s 
executioners upon these animals by an impera- 
tive necessity. The sharp teeth of the leopard 
or panther might attempt in vain to grind plants: 
and even when we compel these animals to swal- 
low bread and other purely vegetable substances, 
the gastric juice of their stomach is unable to 
dissolve them. On the contrary, the lamb and 
the light gazelle would refuse animal food with 
disgust. Their teeth are not formed for tearing, 
and their entire economy is adapted to a vege- 
table diet. It is thus that we find, in the organ- 
ization of the animal, the reasons for all its ac- 
tions. This exquisite relation of all the parts of 
an animal to each other, enables. the Naturalist 
to describe the whole creature on seeing only a 
part. Thus, from knowing the size of a tooth, 
we can judge of the height of the animal which 
bore it; by the shape of the tooth we can tell 
whether it be carnivorous or herbivorous. Thence 
follow the general structure of the body, not only 
of the stomach and viscera, but also the form of 
their paws, of claws with the one, or of hoofs 
with the other, the liveliness of their passions, 
as well as the habits which attend this kind of 
life and constitution, 
CARNIVORA. 
703 
Besides the claws and teeth, which form the 
offensive arms of the carnivora, they are endowed 
with superior strength, agility, cruelty, and 
treachery. The source of these qualities must be 
sought in the nature of their food—in the supe- 
rior organization of flesh and blood. The her- 
bivorous tribes want offensive arms in general, 
| yet they are seldom of a timid or peaceful dispo- 
sition. They love to unite together in social 
bands, to pasture on the plains or by the moun- 
tain side, or else to hoard the common fruits of 
their industry. The carnivorous tribes, like 
tyrants, are unfitted for society by their ferocious 
and domineering tempers; they dread the rival- 
ship of their own species, and the natural attach- 
ment of the sexes is with them but a momentary 
passion. They can endure hunger much longer 
than the herbivorous tribes, whose food is always 
spread out before them; and this power of fast- 
ing is necessary to animals obliged by their struc- 
ture to overpower their prey by violence, to run 
them down by perseverance, or to surprise them 
by stratagem. They can fast for several weeks, 
but as their necessities increase they become 
bolder and more ferocious. The wolf, with an 
appetite sharpened by famine, becomes an intre- 
pid and formidable enemy. He then invades the 
villages, breaks into the stables during the day- 
time, and even ventures to contend with man. 
But when he has found an abundance of nourish- 
ment, he gorges himself for several days; and, 
with an admirable sagacity, conceals the remain- 
der under ground as a provision for future want. 
This continual use of animal food, and the high 
state of organization at which all the solid and 
fluid parts of their bodies have arrived, renders 
their flesh at once unpalatable and unwholesome. 
Their excretions are all fetid, and the slightest 
check to the vital activity brings on a rapid de- 
cay. On the contrary, the vegetable nutriment 
of the herbivorous tribes imparts to their flesh a 
high degree of delicacy. Their milk is sweet, - 
agreeable, and nutritious. Thusthe herbivorous 
tribes yield an abundance of nourishment to man, 
while he rejects with disgust the flesh of those 
which are carnivorous. 
The natural antipathy of some of the carnivo- 
rous animals for each other, proceeds from their 
rivalship in the chase. It is thus that the lion, 
tiger, panther, or bear, permits no poachers upon 
his hunting grounds. These despots of the ani- 
mal kingdom allow few intruders to share their 
authority, and clear the forest of all those petty 
tyrants which prey only upon small game; and 
which, like the inferior nodlesse of the middle 
ages, oppressed the lower ranks, and diminished 
the population. 
It is in barren and unfrequented districts that 
the carnivorous animals are most fierce and san- 
guinary, because their prey is scarce, and the 
possession of it is continually disputed by a host 
of famished rivals. From these continued scenes 
of violence their character acquires an unusual 
