His eyes are open, lively, and intelligent; his ears handsome, and of a proper height, being neither too long, like those of the ass, nor too short, like those of the bull. His mane adorns his graceful neck, and gives him the appearance of strength and courage. His long bushy tail serves him to drive off the flies that torment him; for, though his skin is very firm, and well covered with close hair, it is, nevertheless, very sensitive. The horse, when properly trained and treated with kindness, shows much attachment to man. This is particularly seen among the Arabs, who invariably treat their horses as if they were members of the family. However poor, an Arab will part with anything rather than with his horse. A traveller tells us that, when visiting the River Jordan, one of the escort was mounted on a white mare of great beauty; her large, fiery eyes gleamed from the edge of an open forehead, and her exquisite little head was finished with a pouting lip and expanded nostrils. Her ribs, thighs, and shoulders were models of make; and her stately step received additional dignity from the carriage of the tail, which is the infallible sign of good family. Having inquired her price, he offered the sum, whereon the owner demanded one-third more. After much debating, the additional sum was offered, but he immediately raised his terms in the same proportion as before. The travelle" accordingly, declined to deal with him. The Arab said he loved his mare better than his own life; that money was of no use to him, and that when mounted on her he felt rich as a pasha. Shoes and stockings he had none, and the nett value of his dress might be valued as something under seventeenpence sterling, and yet he would not part with his favourite mare. Pasha.-The Turkish name for the governor of a province. QUESTIONS:-1. Where is the horse found in his native state? 2. How were horses brought into America? 3. Compare the horse with the ass, the lion, the ox, the camel, the hippopotamus, the elephant. 4. What is the great difference between man and a quadruped? 5. What appearance does the ass present? the ox? THE Covering of different animals, both for its variety and its suitability to their several natures, is much to be admired. We have bristles, hair, wool, furs, feathers, quills, prickles, scales; yet in this diversity, both of material and form, we cannot change one animal's coat for another, without evidently changing it for the worse. The human animal is the only one which is naked, and the only one which can clothe itself. He can This is one of the properties which renders him an animal of all climates and of all seasons. adapt the warmth or lightness of his covering to the temperature of his habitation. Had he been born with a fleece upon his back, although he might have been comforted by its warmth in high latitudes, it would have oppressed him by its weight and heat as the species spread toward the equator. What art, however, does for men, nature has, in many instances, done for those animals which are incapable of art. Their clothing, of its own accord, changes with their necessities. This is particularly the case with that large tribe of quadrupeds which are covered with furs. Every dealer in hare-skins and rabbit-skins knows how much the fur is thickened by the approach of winter. It seems to be a part of the same design that wool, in hot countries, passes into hair; whilst, on the contrary, hair, in the dogs of the polar regions, is turned into wool, or something very like it. Naturalists have remarked that bears, wolves, foxes, hares, which do not take to the water, have the fur much thicker on the back than on the belly; whereas, in the beaver, it is the thickest upon the belly; as are the feathers in water-fowl. The covering of birds cannot escape the most vulgar observation. Its lightness, its smoothness, its warmth; the disposition of the feathers all inclined backward, the down about their stem, the overlapping of their tips, constitute a covering for the body, so beautiful, and so appropriate to the life which the animal is to lead, as that, I think, we should have had no conception of anything equally perfect, if we had never seen it, or can now imagine anything more so. Let us suppose a person, who had never seen a bird, to be presented with a plucked pheasant, and bid to set his wits to work, how to contrive for it a covering which shall unite the qualities of warmth, levity, and least resistance to the air, and the highest degree of each; giving it also as much of beauty and ornament as he could afford; he is the person to behold the work of the Deity, in this part of His creation, with the sentiments which are due to it. PALEY. QUESTIONS:-1. In what two points is the covering of animals to be admired? 2. Mention some of the materials used in the covering of animals. 3. What animals are covered with bristles, with hair, with wool, &c.? 4. What would be the result if we changed any animal's coat for that of another? 5. What animal alone can clothe itself? 6. Of what advantage is this to man? 7. What would have been the result if man had been born with a fleece on his back? 8. How does "nature" make up to animals their incapacity for "art"? 9. What is meant by nature? 10. What is meant by art? 11. In what class of animals is this compensating power of nature clearly seen? 12. Give examples. 13. Why is the hair of dogs in the polar regions turned into wool? 14. Why is the fur thicker on the back of the bear, wolf, &c., than on the belly? 15. Why is it thicker in the beaver on the belly than on the back? 16. Point out some of the peculiarities of the covering of birds. 17. Who can best admire the wisdom of God in this matter of the covering of animals? |