made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lower places of the earth. Whether they come into the world in the shape of animals completely formed, or through the medium of eggs, still the business of generation must remain a mystery, and be reckoned amongst the number of the dark things of the Creator.

The provision for keeping the number of living creatures within due limits, is no less remarkable than that for bringing them into being. The most formidable monsters are thinly scattered, or confined to particular spots. The destructive Tiger, for instance, is not very common, and the greatest rendezvous of this blood-thirsty animal is said to be a sort of insulated situation, the Sunderbunds or Woody-Islands, at the mouth of the Ganges in India. Long lived animals are observed to have few young at a time; while those of the greatest utility or such as are used for animal food, abound in every climate, and the short in duration are uncommonly prolific!

The instinct displayed by many of the irrational creation for the preservation of their young, is also truly astonishing, and in some instances has been referred to as examples of the strongest proofs of affection. "How often," says our Saviour, "would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"-but there are some of this order who stand not, long in need of parental protection and instruction; for the newly-calved Hippopotamus on the death of his dam, will, at the sight of danger, betake himself to a place of safety in his natural element,

the bottom of the river. This might bring us to speak more fully of those particular instincts by which animals are distinguished; but as we shall have occasion to notice a few of these in considering some peculiarities in the different orders as we go along, we will here drop the general survey, and proceed to that of

Quadrupeds.

Of this order it may be remarked in general, that they derive their name from the number of their legs; and this naturally occasions in those that make use of them for the purpose of walking, the prone posture by which they are distinguished; but this posture, far from incommoding them, is, by the wise conformation of the other parts, rendered the most commodious possible for their habits and manner of living. Quadrupeds are, for the most part, furnished with tails, and "these are highly useful in the absence of arms, for sweeping off vermin and troublesome animals. Having no hands to lift their food to their mouths, the necks of this order are in general proportioned to the length of their fore legs; their legs are made to bend in such a direction as with the greatest ease to facilitate their motion forwards; they have, for the most part, a covering of hair or wool; and, that the weight of the head might not become too heavy in the act of feeding, each of these animals is furnished with a strong tendinous insensible ligament, braced from the head

to the middle of the back, which both enables them to support their burden with ease, and to recover their head at pleasure.

In the particular construction of the various species of Quadrupeds, with their several dispositions and appetites, there are several things very remarkable; but we will only mention a few of them, in which the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, in adapting them so wonderfully to their different situations, habits, and manners of living, are very conspicuous.

Animals of the graminivorous kinds, such as the Horse, the Ox, and the Sheep, are furnished with masticating organs, adapted to the soft herbage they eat; being of harmless dispositions, they are only armed with defensive weapons, and for mutual safety associate together in herds.

Those whose natures are fierce and savage, and whose cruel dispositions, like those of the Tiger and Hyena, cannot be satisfied but at the expense of blood, come forth solitary and alone; but they are armed with fearful claws and horrid tusks, and monstrous jaws, wonderfully fitted for the seizure and destruction of their victims.

The Camel, doomed to traverse the parched and burning deserts of Arabia, where continued drought and sterility reign, has not only a foot admirably fitted for his element, and endowed with a remarkable abstinence, but carries along with him a natural reservoir which he fills with water at every well.

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The Lama of South America (the only original beast of burden it produces,) is remarkably sure footed, and climbs and descends with the greatest safety the craggy rocks it has to encounter among the rugged steeps and narrow paths of the Andes, though encumbered with its load.

Goats range the craggy steep, and delight to crop the uncultivated heath from the mountain's brow; and behold how admirably their hollow hoofs are formed for taking hold of the rock, and with what surprising agility they bound from cliff to cliff!

Animals of the Weasel kind, that live chiefly in holes, and feed upon vermin, are not only furnished with furs to preserve them from the damp, but have long, slender, flexible bodies, well adapted for their various windings. The Sea-horse of the Northern Ocean, whose element is sometimes in the water, and sometimes on the ice, is not only web-footed, to assist in swimming, but has two monstrous tusks, bending down from the upper jaw, which, together with his claws, enable him to scramble up the icy beach at pleasure. In short, the Mole is moulded in the best possible manner for his subterraneous habitation-the Squirrel for his aërial flights-the Kangaroo for his tremendous leaps and the Bat, which unites the Quadruped with the Volatile race, is shaped in the most convenient manner for his predatory excursions.

But if this remarkable accommodation of the. parts and appetites of quadrupeds to their habits and pursuits, is apt to excite our surprise, what must

we think of those still more surprising and remarkable instincts by which many of them are distinguished. In their internal formation some of this order are so strikingly analogous to the human body, that it is said, some skill in physiology is necessary to be able to notice the difference; and in the external appearance of the Orang-outang, or Wild-man of the Woods, there is certainly no little resemblance. So much, indeed, does the external appearance of this creature resemble the human, that "the Negroes imagine them to be a foreign nation, come to inhabit their country, and that they do not speak for fear of being compelled to work." They are also the only animals that imitate man in the use of weapons otherwise than what are natural; frequently attacking their enemies with sticks and stones. That they possess an eminent share of natural sagacity in the absence of reason, is evident from the manner in which they make sheds for shelter, and go to sleep in trees for security, as well as from their descending from the mountains, when they no longer find fruits, to the sea shore in search of shell-fish. In the passage of one of these animals from Angola to England, it made many friends on board, and seemed to despise the monkies of a lower species, by avoiding that part of the ship where they were confined. Buffon describes one of these animals which he saw, as sitting down at table, unfolding his napkin, wiping his lips, making use of a fork or spoon, pouring out his drink into a glass, touching glasses with the person who drank