Part 35

4. The GRALLATORES include the Herons and Cranes (fig. 56), which wade into streams and catch fish; these are furnished with long legs, neck, and beak, and when they have gone into the water as far as their long legs permit, they stand still and wait with the head resting on the shoulders and the eyes fixed on the stream, till an unlucky fish approaches near enough, when with a quick stroke they dart at it, and catch it; they are very picturesque objects, standing on one leg (as they commonly do) in some lonely pool or stream.

5. The NATATORES, a very large class of Birds, live almost entirely in the water, they are web-footed and swim beautifully, as the Swans, Geese, Ducks, &c. (fig 57); these feed in general upon the vegetation growing in, and on the margin of the water, also on worms, larvæ, &c.; they have a beautiful mode of rising and flying in a line, when disturbed from their haunts, and this line is maintained for a long distance, and is sometimes double like the letter V, one bird leading and the others following in single file.

1, Leopard (Leopardus varius); 2, Bear (Ursus arctos); 3, Goat (Hircus aegagrus); 4, Boar (Sus scrofa); 5, Beaver (Castor fiber); 6, Armadillo (Dasypus); 7. Monkeys (Semnopitheci); 8, Seal (Phoca vitulina); 9, Bat (Plecotus auritus).]

THE MAMMALIA.

This class is divided into twelve orders:--

1. MARSUPIATA (Pouched) Kangaroo. 2. MONOTREMATA (Having but one vent) Platypus. 3. RODENTIA (Gnawing) Beaver, Rabbit. 4. EDENTATA (Toothless) Anteater. 5. RUMINANTIA (Chewing) Ox, Deer, Sheep. 6. PACHYDERMATA (Thick skinned) Horse, Elephant. 7. CETACEA (Whale-like) Whale, Porpoise. 8. CARNIVORA (Flesh-eating) Lion, Tiger. 9. INSECTIVORA (Insect-eating) Mole, Hedgehog. 10. CHEIROPTERA (Hand-winged) Bat. 11. QUADRUMANA (Four-handed) Monkey, Ape. 12. BIMANA (Two-handed) Man.

These twelve orders of the class "Mammalia," of the division "Vertebrata," (as their names imply), have their peculiarities, such as fit them to their modes of life, as, the medium in which they live, the climate, the food they eat, and the manner of obtaining it. They have all the five special senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, but very differently developed in respect to power. Yet, as a whole, they maintain a similitude. They have all internal skeletons, and each part of this skeleton exists in all, but modified to suit different purposes. They have all the peculiar attributes of the "Mammalia," such as suckling their young, being born alive, having four extremities, warm blood, respiration by lungs, and a heart with two auricles and two ventricles.

A general description of the anatomy and some of the functions of Man will be given hereafter, and will apply equally to all the Mammalia; always bearing in mind that the difference in structure of every animal, although making it inferior to Man, does not do away with any of the essential qualities, which constitute it one of the members of the highest group; for, although immensely inferior to Man, yet the Mammalia are for the most part greatly superior to all the classes below it, the capability of being educated, being in itself a vast step beyond mere instinct, wonderful though this may be, and developed to an extraordinary degree, as in some of the insects; yet, in these, there is no possibility of improving it, while in some of the Mammalia, as the Dog, Horse, Elephant, and Monkey, there is an evident tendency to progressive improvement when aided by the example and tuition of Man.

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1. The MARSUPIATA include the Kangaroos and Opossums (fig. 59). They are characterised by the possession of a pouch at the lower part of the abdomen, into which the young enter as soon as born, for they are born in a very imperfect state, and when in the pouch they adhere to the teat of the mother, where they remain till more fully developed. In these animals the hind legs are greatly developed, and the fore legs but little. They progress by enormous leaps, resting on the hinder legs and tail, both of which are very strong. They belong exclusively to Australia, which appears to produce many forms having peculiarities not met with elsewhere, and among the lowest of their type; this and the next order appear somewhat to partake of the form of the Bird, the undeveloped state of the young in the Marsupiata, being an approach to the egg of the Oviparous animals.

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2. The MONOTREMATA includes the Duckbill, called also "Platypus," and "Ornithorynchus paradoxus," (fig. 60), a most singular combination of the forms of the mammal and the bird. It has a mouth resembling the bill of a Duck, and several other peculiarities, which lead to the consideration of it as one of the connecting links between the forms of the Mammalia and Birds.

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3. The RODENTIA comprise the Rat, Beaver, Rabbit, Hare, Mouse, &c. They live upon almost any kind of vegetable matter; the Rat and Mouse will eat anything they can get. Their incisor teeth are two in front of each jaw, and are chisel shaped and very sharp; they are so constructed that they shall be kept sharp by being used, which is effected by the hardest part or enamel being in front in a thin layer, so that it is not so easily worn away as the bony part. If these animals be fed on soft food, their teeth continue to grow nevertheless, and protrude from their mouths in a most singular way. The Beaver (fig. 61) is almost aquatic in its habits, it gnaws through the stems of trees, and uses them to dam up the water of the stream they inhabit, so as to secure a constant supply. They build houses or huts of wood, mud, and stones, which they unite in constructing. These houses have their entrances beneath the water, so that the Beavers dive to enter them; they have two divisions or rooms in them, and are sufficiently large to lodge several families. The Rat is too well-known to need much description. The brown or Norway Rat has only been an inhabitant of this country about forty years, the black Rat being before that time the usual house Rat, but it is now almost exterminated, specimens being very rare. There are several other species of Rats; the best known is the Water Rat, who burrows in brooks and ditches, and partly lives in the water. Of the Mouse there are also several species. Besides the usual house Mouse, there is the wood Mouse, which forms a magazine of grain and nuts underground for winter store; and the harvest Mouse, which builds a little round nest between the stalks of corn. The Squirrel is also of this order. This pretty little creature lives in the trees, chiefly feeding upon nuts; can leap well, and run up the branches of trees with surprising agility. The Flying Squirrel has a broad expansion of skin between the fore and hind legs on each side, so that when stretched out, they form a sort of parachute; this enables the creature to leap to a great distance from tree to tree, and supports it in the air as it goes. The Porcupine (Hystrix cristata), so celebrated for its quills, which supply a sort of defensive armour, is of this order.

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4. The EDENTATA, or Anteaters, have no teeth, but a peculiarly shaped tongue, which is covered with viscid mucus, and which they project and retract with great rapidity, causing the Ants and Termites, on which they feed, to adhere to it, and be carried into their mouths. The Great Anteater (Myrmecophaga jubata, fig. 62) is a very extraordinary animal in appearance; it has an enormously prolonged nose, and the back is covered with a sort of mane; the tail, also, is of prodigious size, and very bushy; when this curious animal lies down to sleep, the long snout is thrust under it, and the tail laid across the back, the end of the snout projecting behind. In this position, it would lead anyone to suppose that the head was where the tail really is, and that when looking at the creature's hinder part, they were looking at its head; and the sudden reversal of the position of these parts, when it gets up quickly, is certainly extremely ridiculous.

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5. The RUMINANTIA.--The Ruminating animals (fig. 63) are those which chew the cud. There are a great many species, and their members are also very numerous. The Ox, and its varieties, the Buffalo, Bison, Yak, &c.; the Deer, Antelopes, Gazelles, &c.; the Sheep, Goat, Giraffe, and Camel, all belong to the Ruminants. These all have hoofs, cloven into two parts; have no incisor (or front) teeth in the upper jaw; and are essentially grazing animals. They have stomachs made up of four compartments; into the first of these (the Rumen) the crude grass enters, and is afterwards returned to the mouth, and again chewed at leisure; the molar teeth, or grinders, are flat, and roughened, so as to effect this purpose; and, that they may not become smooth by wear, the enamel (or hard part) of the teeth is so disposed in various layers, that it is always projecting above the bony part, which wears down first. The Ruminants are gregarious, associating in herds of enormous numbers. Cumming, describes the herds of Springboks, in South Africa, as being in countless thousands, continuing to pass for hours together; and covering the plain as far as the eye could reach. Cattlin, also, describes the American Bison of the Prairies as being congregated in the most surprising numbers. Some of the members of this order are very large and heavy animals. The Cape Buffalo is of enormous strength, and very fierce when attacked.

Dr. Livingstone, in his Travels in South Africa, speaking of the Lion, says:--"He seldom attacks full-grown Buffalos; but frequently, when a Buffalo-calf is caught by him, the cow rushes to the rescue, and a toss from her often kills him. One we found was killed thus, and on the Leambye, another, which died near Sesheke, had all the appearance of having received his death-blow from a Buffalo. It is questionable if a single Lion ever attacks a full-grown Buffalo; the amount of roaring heard at night, on occasions when a Buffalo is killed, seems to indicate there are always more than one Lion engaged in the onslaught."

1, Ox (Bos taurus); 2, Sheep (Ovis aries); 3, Red Deer (Cervus elaphus); 4, Camel (Camelus Arabicus); 5, Llama (Pacos).]

The Ruminants are the only members of the Mammalia furnished with horns, and some of these are of enormous size; the Elk, Buffalo, and Steinbok, are instances. In the Deer tribe they are shed yearly, and increase in size and in the number of their branches at each fresh growth. The flesh of the Ruminants forms the chief animal food of Man, and some tribes of the American aborigines live exclusively on it.

The Camel, next to the Horse, is the most useful beast of burthen. The Arabs greatly prize these creatures, and from their power of carrying a supply of water in their stomach, they are very useful in crossing the desert; their hoofs are also spread out so as to enable them better to walk on the soft and yielding sand; there are two kinds of Camel, the Bactrian, with two humps, and the Arabian Camel with but one. The Dromedary is a small agile breed of the Arabian Camel, celebrated for its swiftness.

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6. The PACHYDERMATA or thick-skinned animals (fig.64) include the Elephant, Rhinoceros, Horse, Ass, and its varieties; Hog, Tapir, Hippopotamus, &c.; these have many of them a single solid hoof on each foot, as in the Horse and Ass tribe, others have separate toes clothed with a hoof, as in the Elephant. In nearly all the Pachydermata there is a prolongation of the nose or upper lip, the Horse even has some power of prehension in this part; the Rhinoceros is able to bring the upper lip into so fine a point as to pick up a crumb, and in the Tapir there is a considerable prolongation of the nose, while the Elephant has this part developed into a complete prehensile organ.

The Elephant, Rhinoceros, and Hog are fond of wallowing in the mud, with which they completely besmear themselves, and seem to derive great satisfaction therefrom. There are two kinds of Elephants, the Asiatic, or Indian, and the African, the chief distinction between them is the size of the ear, that of the African Elephant being of very great size; there is a very young specimen of this kind in the British Museum, but a full-grown African Elephant has never been brought to England. The Elephant is furnished with a pair of enormous tusks proceeding from the upper jaw, these are composed of solid ivory, and often weigh nearly a hundred pounds each; with the trunk, the Elephant is able to gather food in the form of grass and herbage, and put it into its mouth, it can also draw up a considerable quantity of water, and this being poured down its throat from the trunk, constitutes its usual mode of eating and drinking, as the neck is too short for the animal to reach the ground except by the trunk. The Indian Elephant is much used as a beast of burthen, and for various other purposes; they are very docile and sagacious.

1, Elephant (Elephas Indicus); 2, Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis); 3, Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius); 4, Wild Boar (Sus scrofa).]

The Horse has been subjected to the service of Man from the earliest records, indeed it is not known when this beautiful animal was first trained to be his useful servant and companion; he is mentioned, in the Scriptures, as being subjected to the Bit, and in the sculptures brought from the ruins of Nineveh by Layard; the Horse is constantly sculptured, decked in the most gorgeous trappings and driven by reins and a bit, almost in the same manner as in the present day, and these sculptures are among the earliest records of Man's hands. There are several breeds of Horses; the chief are the Arabian (from which stock proceed our race horses), the Flanders or Cart-horse, and the Sheltie or Shetland horse. The Horse is nowhere found in a state of nature, yet many wild Horses graze on the plains of America, but it is known that these are not native, but proceed from those placed there to graze, and which have bred and run wild. The Ass is distinguished from the horse by the tail having short hair on it, except at the extremity, and the mane being short and upright.

7. The CETACEA, or Whale kind, inhabit chiefly the colder latitudes, they are entirely aquatic, but breathe air; the Whale, Narwal, Dolphins, and Porpoises are the chief members.