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Show H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. DISSERT: we have found no other American animal without a tail except ~ thofe above mentioned: and notwithO:anding he ventured to aflirm that in the new world almoft all the animals were deprived of tails; it appears from hence that fuch univerfal propofitions arc as eafily offered as they are diflicult of proof. If the clime of America is fo pernicious to the tails of animals, how comes it thnt while four fpecics of apes of the old continent are deprived of fuch a member, namely, the Pongo, the Pitheczu, the Gibbon, and the Cynocephalus, all the fpecies of apes of the new world have them, and fame, fuch as the Saki, have tails fo long that they are twice the length of their bodies; why do fquirrels, Coquallines, ant-killers, and other fuch quadrupeds, abound ·in America, which arc furni(hed with fucl1 enormous tails in proportion to their bodies? Why has the marmot of CanndJ, although it is of the £1me fpe ics with that of the Alps, n brgcr tail, as count de Buffon .himfelf confeilcs ? . Why haye the deer of America, although ftnaller than thofe of the old continent, a longer tail, as the fume author affirms (J)? If the climate of America was ever po!Ieffcd of fume principle dcftrutl:ive to tails of animals, thofe which olumbus tranfported there from Europe, and the anary IOes, in 149 3, would have by this time loft all tail, partic4larly hogs 1 whi~h carried fu h fhort tails there, or at leaft 'they would have been rem<lrkably Chortened after two hundred and eighty-eight y!.:ars; but am,ong all the Europeans who have feen the !beep, horfes, oxen: &c. bred in America, and thofcwhich were bred at the fame time in Europe, there has not been one writer who could fi1~d any difference between the tails of the ne and the other. ' This fame argument is equally valid againft what count de Buifo11 L:JS upon ~he want of horns, and tufks in the greater part of American qu~clrupeds., as the oxen, the fheep, and goats, preferve without change thc•r horns, the dogs and hogs their teeth, and the cats their nails, as all ~hofc who have. feen and cor~pared them with thofe of Europe can tefbfy · If the clune of Amcnca was lo dcftrutl:i ve to the teeth and horns of a~imals, a number of them would have been loft, at leafl: by the poftenty of thofe quadrupeds of Europe,. which were tranfponed (/) Hifl:. Nat. tom. :x.vii1. thet·c .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. there almoft three centuries ao-o, and much more the generations of wolves, bears, and other fimi]ar quadrupeds, which pafTed there from Alia, Rcrhaps in the firft century after the deluge. If, on the contr.u-y, the temperate zone of Europe i n ore propitious to the teeth of nnimals than the torrid zone of the new world, why did nature give to the latter, and not to th former, the tapir and rocodil , which in number, fi ze, and !harpnefs of their teeth, exceed all the qu. drupeds and reptiles of Europe? Lafily, If there are fome animals in America without horns, withont teeth (g), and without tails, it is uot owing to the climate or niggard fl y of America, or any imagiuary combination of tile clements, but becaufc the Creator, whofe works and whofc counfels we (hould humbly revere, chafe it fo, that fuch v. riety might fcrve to ernbelliih the univcric, and make his wifdom and his power more confpicuous. What gives beauty to fame animals would render others dtfonned. It is perfeCtion in a horfe to have a largl; tail, in the Hag to have a finall one, and in the Pengo to have none at all. With refpeCl: to what our philofophers f.'ly of the ug1inefs of the animals of America, it is true, that among fo many, there arc [orne whofc forms do not correfpond with the ideas which we entertain of the beauty of beafts ; bnt who has allured us, that our ideas are j ufi, and not imperfect, and occalioned by the narrownefs of our minds ? And. how many animals could we not find in the old continent frill wode formed than any bcaft of America? vVhat quadruped is there in America which can be compared, in the deformity and difpropo rtion, of its limbs with the elephant, called by the count de Buffon a mon-fier of matter (h)? Its vafl: mafs of flc{h, higher than it is long, its (~) Among all the quadrupeds of the new world, the ant-killt:rs alone are defi itutc of teeth like the Pmrgoli11o and :rfltngi11o ot' the Eaf1 Indies, which quudrupcds :t rc covered with fca le; in ''ead of lutir. All thofe quadntpcda which feed <>u nothing but ants hrtvc no occafion fur teeth; but they arc furnifhcd by the Creator with a long toug ue, with which they cnn dcxtcroufiy lick up the ants nnd fwallow them. (b) En confid~rant ct animal, \f:1ys ~ot~1nrc of the elcphn11t) rclativemcnt ?t !'idee, qui nous avons de Ia ~ufielfc dc.s proportton ~ , tl fcmhle ~nal-.prop !'linn~ a cau fc de fon corps g to et c.ourt, .des fcs ;amh •s rot dcs et m<11-form t c ~ , des les ptcciJ ronds et torr us, de fit tete Jjr<Jif~, de fcs pet1t~ yeux et des fe gr:mdc1 oreilks ; on pourroit diri aulli que !'habit dont il ·tt couvert ell CllCOt'e plus mal tai llc ct plu. m~l fait. S:~ tro m p~ . lea <lt fc n1rs fcs picds lc rcndont auffi d . • I extraor tnilii'C que Ia gra n d~ul· de (at. illc. VoL. 11. difguil:- 297 DISSERT. l v. '--v--.1 .. |