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special organs , which are so manydifferent means whereby the individual may place himself in relation with the external world , may receive the most varied impressions ftpm it , and , so to speak , may taste it in all its forms , and may act upon it in turn ? What an immense distance between the life of the polype , which is only a digestive tube , and that of the superior animals ; above all , of man , endowed with so many exquisite senses , for whom the world of nature , as well as the world of ideas > is open on all sides , awakening and drawing forth in a thousand various wavs all the . living forces with which God has endowed him ? here of individuals is true of societies of individuals
" And what we say organic , and particularly of human societies . Is it not evident that the same law of development is applicable to them ? Here again , homogeneousness , or uniformity , i $ the elementary state wliich we find in savage Hfe . Diversity , a variety of elements , which call for and multiply exchanges ; the almost infinite distinction of the functions which correspond to the various talents bestowed on every man by Providence , and which are only called into action and brought to light by the tho usand wants of a society as complicated as ours , —these have , in all times , been the sign of a social state advanced to a high degree of improvement , . ^ r- ¦ industrial
. " Could we , indeed , conceive the possibility of that multitude of talents that have their birth in the wants of luxury , and are revealed by the thousand elegant trifles displayed in our drawing-rooms , existing among the Indians of the Kocky Mountains , sheltered by the few branches which form their wretched huts ? The commercial life , which creates the prosperity of the foremost nations of the globe , —is it possible to exist among a people whose ambition is limited to hunting in the neighbouring wild the animal that is to furnish food for the day ? Could we hope to see the wonders of architecture unfolded among a people who have no public edifices but the overhanging foliage of their forests ? HadRaphael been born among them , would he ever have given his admirable masterpieces to the world ? And the precious treasures of intelligence and of lofty thoughts contained in our libraries , —where would they be , if human societies had preserved the simplicity which a false philosophy has called the simplicity of nature , but which is in reality the most opposed to the true nature of man ? ¦••
" It is then the exchange of products by the commerce of the world , which makes the material life and prosperity of the nations . It is the exchange of thoughts , by the pen and by speech , which sets in motion the progress of intelligence . It is the interchange of the sentiments and affections which makes the moral life and secures the happiness of man . ' * Thus all life is mutual ; it is all , in some way , exchange . In individuals , as well as in societies , that which excites life , or which is its condition , is difference . The progress of development is diversity ; the end is the harmonious unity which allows all differences , all individualities to exist , but which coordinates and subjects them to a superior aim . " . ^
It is with this view that M . Guyot has written his beautiful and philosophic treatise on geography , which we hope no reader of ours will grudge to gtve half-a-crown for , and which will not only serve as a luminous introduction to the Manual of Geographical Science , issued . by Messrs . Parker , but will , in and for itself , be prized as a valuable little boot . We have no space to follow it chapter by chapter , though the subject is tempting , but will confine ourselves to two more extracts , showing the application of Bitter ' s conception , and the illustrations of progressive life afforded by geography . After a geological survey , he says : — " It was thus by a process of admirable simplicity , that the diversity of successive elevations was combined into a few great units , a few continents ; these in turn were grouped in two worlds , and formed a whole of which we have already become acquainted with some of the features . t
" The same progress is indicated and confirmed by palaeontology , through all he successive ages of nature . The variety and the perfection of the types and species keep pace with the increasing diversity of the lands and the seas , and all the physical circumstances which serve as the basis and the condition for the life of plants and animals . In the insular or oceanic epoch , that of the palaeozoic strata , we have seen animals entirely marine prevailing , and forming . the inferior and embryonic types of the four divisions of the animal kingdom ; it is the reign of the fishes , if we take the vertebrates as the type of development . During the formation of the secondary strata , which I would call the maritime epoch , on account of the great land-locked seas which characterize it , the huge reptiles , the monstrous Saurians , are the prevailing types , and by their amphibious habits mark at once their more elevated pbsition in the animal scale , and the increasing force of the land element . The numbers of living genera and species ore much greater than at the palaeozoic epoch , but the sa ' me types are still spread uniformly over vast spaces ; ¦
" The tertiary epoch , which I would call the continental epoch , is distinguished by the appearance of the superior animals , the mammifers , the life of which ia almost exclusively attached to tho firm land . The continental element triumphs ; all the faunas become localized ; each country of the globe has its appropriate Animals ; the variety of animal and vegetable species increases almost to infinity . But the unity reappears with the creation of man , who combines in his physical nature all the perfections of tho animal , and who is the end of all this long progression of organized beings . " And , recurring to Bitter's view of the varieties of indentations of the coast , let us remember that—' M 1 . Tho law of development is applicable to the land , and to the forms of tho continents . " 2 . In this order of facts , as in all nature , tho condition of a more active life is a greater variety of forms , and of relative situations .
" 3 . It follows , other things being equal , that wo may consider those continents na the best endowed , tho best organized , tho best prepared for the development of human societies , which present the most varied contours , tho most diversified forms , the most numerous contrasts , and the best characterized natural regions . There is" here the same relation 'as between the inferior animal without special organs , and the superior animal richly furnished with special organs "
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ZOOLOGICAL ANECDOTES . Zoological Notes and Aneodotos . Bontloy . Curious it is , and interesting , to notice tho gradual substitution of intellectual gratification for the appetites of instinct—the substitution of Science for Savage ouriosity—m regard to wild animals . In early days the animals that cud not immediately subserve to the necessities of man ,
were only viewed as objects of pomp or of cruel sport ; in xrar days , the bear is no longer baited for the amusement of a brutal crowd , the tiger is no longer Butchered to make a Roman holiday . The wild animal is studied , takes his place in our science , furnishes the philosopher with endless topics , fufnisb . es the vulgar with . strange glimpses into the beauty and the wonder of creation . Not only to the comparative anatomist is the wild animal an object of deep interest j up- ' wards of six thousand visitors to the Zoological Gardens during last year show that the general public is attracted . And since Science has taken
animals under its care , the poor creatures have felt the benefit in increased ventilation and exercise , and , during sickness , of medical and surgical aid I Those fond of bringing past and present times into juxtaposition , may imagine their forefathers , while witnessing a bear bait , being suddenly asked this question—" "What say you , my masters , to our calling in the surgeon , and bidding him operate upon Bruin for cataract in the left eye ?" The guffaw , loud , inextinguishable , Homeric , that would salute such a proposition ! Nevertheless , the operation has been performed . Bead the account given in the volume before us : — -
% 0 n the 5 th of November , 1850 , the first operation of the sort was performed on one of these grizzly bears , which was blind in both eyes . As this detracted materially from his value , it was decided to endeavour to restore him to sight ; and Mr . White Cooper having consented to operate , the proceedings were as follow : — A strong leathern collar , to which a chain was attached , was firmly buckled around the patient ' s neck , arid the chain having been passed round one of the ' bars in front of the cage , two powerful men endeavoured to ' pull him up , in order that a sponge containing chloroform should be applied to his muzzle by Dr . Snow . The resistance offered by the bear was as surprising as unexpected . The utmost efforts of these men were unavailing ; and , after a struggle of ten minutes , two others were called to their aid . By their united efforts , Master Bruin was at length brought
up , and the sponge fairly tied round his muzzle . Meanwhile the cries and roarings of the patient were echoed in full chorus by his two brothers , who had been confined to the sleeping den , and who scratched and tore at the door to get to the assistance of their distressed relative . In a den on one side was the cheetah , whose leg was amputated under chloroform some months before , and who was greatly excited by the smell of the fluid and uproar . The large sloth bear in a cage on the other side , joined heartily in the chorus , and the Isabella bear just beyond wrung her paws in an agony of woe . Leopards snarled in sympathy , and laughing hyaenas swelled the chorus with their hysterical sobs . The octobasso growling of the polar bears , and roaring of the lions on the other side of the buildingcompleted as remarkable a diapason as could well be heard .
, ¦ " The first evidence of the action of the chloroform on the bear , was a diminution in his struggles ; first _ one paw dropped , then the other . The sponge was now removed from his face , the door of the den opened , and his head laid upon a plank outside . The cataracts were speedily broken up , and the- bear was drawn into the cage again . Eor nearly five minutes he remained , as was remarked by a keeper , without knowledge , sense , or understanding , till at length one leg gave a kick , then another , and presently he attempted to stand . The essay was a failure , but he soon tried to make his way to his cage . It was Garrick , if we remember
right , who affirmed that Talma was an indifferent representative of inebriation , for he was not drunk in his legs . The bear , however , acted the part to perfection , and the way in which ( like Commodore Trunnion on hia way to church ) he tacked , during his route to his den , was ludicrous in the extreme . At length he blundered into it , and was left quiet for a time . He soon revived , and in the afternoon ate heartily . The following morning , on the door being opened , he came out , staring about him , caring nothing for the light , and began humming , as he licked his paws , with much the air of a musical amateur sitting down to a sonata on hia
violoncello . "A group might have been dimly seen through the fog which covered the garden on the morning of the 15 th of the same month , standing on the spot where the proceedings above narrated took place ten days previously . This group comprised Professor Owen , Mr . Yarrell , Count Nesselrode , Mr . Waterhouse , Mr . Pickersgill , R . A ., Captain Stanley , B . N ., and two or three other gentlemen . They were assembled to witness a similar operation on another of the grizzly bears . The bear this time was brought out of the den , and his chain passed round tho rail in front of it . Diluted chloroform was used , and the operation was rendered more difficult by the animal not being perfectly under its influence . He recovered immediately after the couching needle had been withdrawn from the second eye , and walked pretty steadily to his sleeping apartment , where he received the condolences of his brethren , rather ungraciously it must be confessed , but his head waa far from
clear , and his temper ruffled . " The writer adds , in a note , — " We regret to say that two of tho three bears have died since tho above was written , the survivor being one of those operated on . It is a singular fact that those which had been chloroformed subsequently grew with much greater rapidity than their brother , so that there was a marked difference in size between them . Tho deaths took place respectively on 17 th Aug . and 30 th Sept . 1851 . " The growing interest in Zoology to which we have alluded , will secure a large public for the extremely entertaining volume of Zoological Notes and Anecdotes now before us . Although anecdotes have a tendency to tho reader by thoir want of continuity , the author of this work has ,
weary in a great measure , avoided that danger by a skilful weaving together of hia notes under separate heads . Thus , in tho first chapter , wo hear of nothing but lions , thoir varieties and habits ; in the second , of bears ; in tho third , of panthers , tigers , leopards , and jaguars j in tho fourth , of wolves ; in tho fifth , of horses ; in the sixth ,, of giraffes ; in tho sovimth , of eagles ; in the eighth , of birds ; in the last , of crocodiles . Tho book is strictly what it professos to be—a collection of Notes and Anecdotes ; and it is bo full of interesting pages that . wo shall from time to time call largely on its stores , and for tho present content ourselves with this brief indication of its worth ; and as a whet to tho appetite wo will quoto the history of Mr . Buckland ' s pet bear .
" On a certain memorable- day , ia 1817 , a largo hamper reached Oxford , per Great Western Railway , and was in due time delivored according to ita direction at Christehurch , consigned to Francis Buckland , E « q ., a gentleman woll known in tho University for his fondness for natural history . Ho opened the hamper , and
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March 27 , 1852 . ] , TH E LE AD E K . -ffi *
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Leader (1850-1860), March 27, 1852, page 303, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1928/page/19/
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