Chapter XIII: Book IV: Of Animals in general (8)

[w] Of the common _Crow_, Mr. _Willughby_ saith, _The Females only sit, and that diligently, the Males in the mean time bring them Victuals, as_ Aristotle _saith. In most other Birds, which pair together, the Male and Female sit by Turns._ Ornithol. l. 2. §. 1. c. 2. §. 2. And I have observed the Female-Crows to be much fatter than the Males, in the Time of Incubation, by Reason the Male, out of his conjugal Affection, almost starves himself, to supply the Female with Plenty.

[x] See _Book VII. Chap. 4._

[y] _Volucribus Natura novam quandam, Pullos educandi, rationem excogitavit: ipsis enim præcipuum quendam amorem in ea quæ procrearent, ingeneravit, quo impulsu bellum pro pullis cum ferocibus animalibus, quæ ante declinârunt, intrepide suscipiunt, victúmque ipsis convenientem suppeditant._ Galen. de Us. Part. l. 14. c. 4.

[z] _In iis animanatibus quæ lacte aluntur, omnis ferè cibus matrum lactescere incipit; eaque, quæ paulo antè nata sunt, sine magistro, duce naturâ, mammas appetunt, earumque ubertate saturantur. Atque ut intelligamus nihil horum esse fortutitum, & hæc omnia esse provida, solertisque naturæ, quæ multiplices fœtus procreant, ut Sues, ut Canes, his Mammarum data est multitudo; quas easdam paucas habent eæ bestiæ, quæ pauca gignunt._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 51. _Consule quoque_ Galen de Us. Part. l. 4. c. 4. _&_ l. 15. c. 7.

[aa] _Animalia solidipeda, & ruminantia, vel cornigera, inter femora Mammas habent, quorum Fœtus statim à partu pedibus insistunt, quòd matres inter lactandum non decumbant, ut Equa, Asina, ~&c.~ Animalia digitata & multipara in medio ventre, scil. spatio ab inguine ad pectus (in Cuniculo usque ad jugulum) duplicem mammarum seriem fortita sunt, quæ omnia decumbentia ubera fœtibus admovent, ut Ursa, Leæna, ~&c.~ Si verò hæc in solo inguine Mammas gererent, propria cura inter decumbendum fœtus accessum ad mammas nonnihil præpedirent. Mulieribus Mammæ binæ sunt, ut & Papillæ, nimirum ut latus lateri conformitèr respondeat, & ut alternatim infans à latere in latus inter sugendum tranferatur, ne corpus ejus uni lateri nimis assuescens quoquo modo incurvetur. Simia, homo Sylvestris, ~&c.~_ Blas. Anat. Animal. Par. 1. Cap. 6. _de Cane ex Whartono_. See here what _Pliny_ hath also, L. 11. _Cap. 40._

In the _Elephant_, the Nipples are near the Breast, by Reason the old one is forced to suck her self, and by the help of her Trunk conveys the Milk into the Mouth of her Young. _Vid._ _Phil. Trans._ No. 336.

[bb] For an Exemplification, I might name many Animals, particularly Birds, whole Parts are compleatly suited to this Service. They are Characteristicks of rapacious Birds, to have aduncous Bills and Talons to hold and tear, and strong brawny Thighs to strike and carry their Prey, as well as a sharp piercing Sight to spy it afar off. _Raii Synops. Method. Av._ p. 1. The _Pelecane_ also might be here named, for its prodigious Bag under its Bill and Throat, big enough to contain thirty Pints. _Id. ibid._ p. 122. And to name no more, the common _Heron_ hath its most remarkable Parts adapted to thus Service; long Legs for wading, and a long Neck answerable thereto to reach Prey, a wide, extensive Throat to pouch it; long Toes, with strong hooked Talons, (one of which is remarkably serrate on the Edge) the better to hold their Prey; a long sharp Bill to strike their Prey, and serrate towards the Point, with sharp hooked Beards standing backward, to hold their Prey fast when struck; and lastly, large, broad, concave Wings (in Appearance much too large, heavy and cumbersome for so small a Body, but) of greatest Use to enable them to carry the greater Load to their Nests at several Miles Distance; as I have seen them do from several Miles beyond me, to a large Heronry above three Miles distant from me. In which I have seen _Plaise_, and other Fish, some Inches long, lying under the high Trees in which they build; and the curious and ingenious Owner thereof, _D’Acre Barret_, Esq; hath seen a large Eel convey’d by them, notwithstanding the great Annoyance it gave them in their Flight, by its twisting this Way and that Way about their Bodies.

[cc] This is reported of the _American Ostrich_, mentioned by _Acarette_, in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 89. Of which see _Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (e)._

[dd] _Hornets_, _Wasps_, and all the Kinds of _Bees_ provide Honey; and many of the _Pseudosphecæ_, and _Ichneumon Wasps_ and _Flies_, carry _Maggots_, _Spiders_, _&c._ into their Nests; of which see above, _Note (c) Chap. 13._

CHAP. XVI.

_The Conclusion._

Thus I have, as briefly as well I could (and much more briefly than the Matters deserved) dispatched the Decad of Things I proposed in common to the sensitive Creatures. And now let us pause a little, and reflect. And upon the whole Matter, what less can be concluded than that there is a Being infinitely Wise, Potent, and Kind, who is able to contrive and make this glorious Scene of Things, which I have thus given only a Glance of? For what less than Infinite, could stock so vast a Globe with such a noble Set of Animals? All so Contrived, as to minister to one another’s Help some Way or other, and most of them serviceable to Man peculiarly, the Top of this lower World, and who was made, as it were, on purpose to observe, and survey, and set forth the Glory of the infinite _Creator_, manifested in his Works! Who! What but the Great _GOD_ could so admirably provide for the whole Animal World every Thing serviceable to it, or that can be wished for, either to conserve its Species, or to minister to the Being or Well-being of Individuals! Particularly, who could _Feed_ so spacious a World, who could please so large a Number of Palates, or suit so many Palates to so great a Variety of Food, but the infinite Conservator of the World! And who but the same great _HE_, could provide such commodious _Cloathing_ for every Animal; such proper _Houses_, _Nests_ and _Habitations_; such suitable _Armature_ and _Weapons_; such _Subtilty_, _Artifice_ and _Sagacity_, as every Creature is more or less armed and furnished with, to fence off the Injuries of the Weather, to rescue it self from Dangers, to preserve it self from the Annoyances of its Enemies; and, in a word, to conserve its Self, and its Species! What but an infinite superintending Power could so equally _balance_ the several Species of Animals, and conserve the _Numbers_ of the individuals of every Species so even, as not to over or under-people the terraqueous Globe! Who, but the infinite wise Lord of the World, could allot every Creature its most suitable _Place_ to live in, the most suitable Element to _breath_, and _move_, and _act_ in. And who but _HE_ could make so admirable a Set of Organs, as those of Respiration are, both in Land and Water-Animals! Who could contrive so curious a Set of Limbs, Joynts, Bones, Muscles, and Nerves, to give to every Animal the most commodious _Motion_ to its State and Occasions! And to name no more, what Anatomist, Mathematician, Workman, yea Angel, could contrive and make so curious, so commodious, and every way so exquisite a Set of Senses, as the _five Senses_ of Animals are; whole Organs are so dexterously contrived, so conveniently placed in the Body, so neatly adjusted, so firmly guarded, and so compleatly suited to every Occasion, that they plainly set forth the Agency of the infinite Creator and Conservator of the World.

So that here, upon a transient View of the Animal World in general only, we have such a Throng of Glories, such an enravishing Scene of Things as may excite us to admire, praise, and adore the infinitely wise, powerful, and kind _CREATOR_; to condemn all atheistical Principles; and with holy _David_, _Psalm_ xiv. 1. to conclude that he is in good earnest a _Fool_, that dares to say, _There is no God_, when we are every where surrounded with such manifest Characters, and plain Demonstrations of that infinite Being.

But in the next Book we shall still find greater Tokens, if possible, when I come to take a View of Animals in particular.

A

SURVEY

Of the Particular

Tribes of _ANIMALS_.

In the foregoing Book, having taken a View of the Things in common to Animals, my Business in the next, will be to inspect the particular Tribes, in order to give further Manifestations of the Infinite Creator’s Wisdom, Power and Goodness towards the Animal World.