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第6章 四杆大狙，所向披靡（加更6

But as civilization advanced, and the progress of society favoured the developement of mind, when those who were no longer compelled by necessity to labour for their daily bread found leisure to look abroad with expanded views upon the wonders of the creation, the animal kingdom presented new attractions and awakened ideas which had before lain dormant. What was at first[xi] a mere sentiment of curiosity became speedily a love of science; known objects were examined with more minute attention; and whatever was rare or novel was no longer regarded with a stupid stare of astonishment and an exaggerated expression of wonder, but became the object of careful investigation and philosophic meditation. Such was the state of things in civilized Greece when the Macedonian conqueror carried his victorious arms to the banks of the Indus, and penetrated into countries, not altogether unknown to Europeans, but the natural productions of which were almost entirely new to the philosophers of the West. With the true spirit o

From the unsuspecting credulity with which this textbook of the naturalists of the middle ages continued to be received, it is evident that the science remained stationary, if it did not actually retrograde, during the lapse of fourteen or fifteen centuries. The want of[xiii] opportunities of investigation may be regarded as the principal cause of this lamentable deficiency. Some of the rarer animals, it is true, were occasionally to be seen in Europe; but Menageries constructed upon a broad and comprehensive plan were as yet unknown. The first establishment of modern days, in which such a plan can fairly be said to have been realised, was the Menagerie founded at Versailles by Louis the Fourteenth. It is to this institution that we owe the Natural History of Buffon and his coadjutor Daubenton; the one as eloquent as Pliny, with little of his credulity, but with a greater share of imagination; and the other a worthy follower of Aristotle in his habits of minute research and patient investigation, but making n

It is in the night-time more particularly that the Lion prowls abroad in search of his prey, the conformation of his eyes not only, like those of the cat, allowing him to see with a very moderate degree of light, but even rendering the full glare of day distressing and intolerable to him. It is for this reason that travellers, who are compelled to sleep in the open air in countries infested by these animals, are careful to keep up a blazing fire, which the tenderness of their eyes deters them from approaching, unless when they are extremely hard pressed by the calls of hunger. These, it would appear, sometimes become paramount to every other consideration, and urge the Lion, as they do many more ignoble beasts, into the exhibition of a degree of courage, which,[19] in despite of all that has been said on the subject, is by no means his natural characteristic.

THE PARADOXURUS.

THE LEOPARD.

acal, who depends perhaps more for his subsistence upon the food thus provided for him, than upon that which he can procure by the exercise of his own powers or sagacity. He frequently, however, indulges his native ferocity in petty ravages on the smaller and more timid quadrupeds, such as hares and rabbits: birds also form a favourite object of his attacks, and in pursuit of them[59] he mounts the tallest trees with surprising swiftness and agility. It is even said that his qualifications for the chase are capable of cultivation; and it has been repeated by travellers, from the days of the celebrated Marco Polo downwards, that the princes of the East occasionally make use of his services in taking small game in nearly the same manner as they employ the subject of the succeeding article for the larger: but from all that we know of his disposition in a state of captivity, this statement appears, to say the least, extremely questionable.

Several individuals have been brought alive to this country at various times; but, notwithstanding the opportunities thus afforded, it does not appear that English naturalists have paid any particular attention to the study of their character and habits. In all probability the earliest that arrived in Europe was one which was brought from India by Lord Pigot, and which was figured by Pennant under the name of the Hunting Leopard. Three others, found at the capture of Seringapatam among the rest of the state paraphernalia of the fallen Sultan, came into the possession of General, afterwards Lord, Harris, who, on his return to England, presented them to his late Majesty, by whose command[69] they were placed in the Tower. They did not, however, long survive the effects of the passage and of the change of climate, which latter has proved equally fatal to the few specimens which have since been brought to this country for public exhibition. They appear, indeed, to be exceedingly delicate in their temperament, and

THE VIRGINIAN HORNED-OWL.

The fourth Order of Birds, the Waders, are strikingly characterized by the great length of their legs, the lower part of which is entirely bare of feathers; a peculiarity which is of essential service by enabling them to stand for a long time in the water without injury to their plumage, watching for the fish and reptiles, of which the larger species, and the worms and insects, of which the smaller among them, make their usual prey.