Patagonia. The couguar is not distributed farther than the 45° of south latitude. BOOK XXI. The Lama or Guanaco, which has been improperly nam- Lama. ed the camel of the new world; and the Paco, which in its domestic state is called bicunua, or vigonia, or Peruvian sheep, inhabit Chili or Peru, to the 10° south latitude; they are distributed neither in the plains of Tucuman, nor in * those of Paraguay.* The Tapir is the largest quadruped of South America, Tapir, although it is only the height of a cow; the armadillo, the tajassou, the idle aï, or sloth, the Fourmilier, or ant-eater, The Antthe Tamanoir, the different Agoutis and Coatis, species, all eater, Agoutis, of which acknowledge South America as the place of their &c. nativity, do not in general spread beyond the tropic. The tajassou, however, according to some accounts, is found in Chili. The small long-tailed apes, the Sapajous or Marmo- Marmosets, the Tamarins, the Sagouins, and other similar species, sets, Saare very numerous, very various, and very pretty over all the torrid zone of America; they essentially differ from all the apes of Africa and Asia. gouins, &c. in Ameri On the confines of the temperate zone, we observe stags of different kinds, the beaver of Chili, various Caviais, similar to hares, and, according to Molina, the horse with cloven feet. The species which exclusively belong to the New Small size Continent, are, as we have seen, very numerous; but they of animals are of a much smaller size than the analogous species ca. which live under the same latitudes in the ancient world. Physical geography informs us of the causes of this peculiarity. Do we not know the peculiar configuration of the American continent? Mountains cold, and partly barren, are immediately succeeded by marshy forests, and plains continually inundated. The torrid zone in America affords but a small extent of land; the temperate zone of the North is encroached on by cold marshes; in that of the South, the continent tapers almost into a point. Thus, * Helms, Voyage de Buenos-Ayres à Lima. Azara, Quadrupedes de Paraguay. XXI. BOOK throughout the whole of this continent, the larger species of animals are either strangers to the climate, or have not room for the full development of their energies. On the other hand, imported animals which agree with the climate of America, lose nothing of their size, their beauty, or their strength. The horse and the ox have not in the least degenerated in the extensive pastures of Paraguay. If the human race appears to have undergone deterioration in America, this should be ascribed rather to political than to physical causes. Character logy of South America. If reptiles and insects abound in America, if they there attain a larger size than any where else, it is only when considered relatively to the known regions of Africa. These regions, peopled from time immemorial, have seen their primitive animals fly before the face of man; but who knows whether the unexplored interior of that continent does not contain extensive marshes, as thickly peopled with reptiles and insects as the coasts of Guyana? Does not, moreover, the Delta of the Ganges swarm with serpents of enormous size? The distinctive character of South American zoology of the zoo- consists then, principally, in the difference of species, a difference which proves how little intercourse this great peninsula has had with the rest of the world; it has not received any species even from North America, while the latter country has beheld the number of its animals augmented by accessions from those of South America. Quadru peds of the Oceanic We have still to consider another province of the animal kingdom, a province hitherto imperfectly explored, but cerCountries. tainly very distinct from those which we have already examined. The islands to the South East of Asia, as well as the great island of New Holland, occupy a position very similar to that of South America. In them, therefore, should be the cradles of races of animals very different from those of the two Continents. These races, however, are far from being plentifully distributed in the remainder of that vast archipelago, which is placed in the centre of the great ocean. We do not find there the Ornithorinques, nor the Wombat, XX I. Kangaroos, nor the Opossum, nor the Kangaroos, animals peculiar to BOOK New Holland. We must, however, remark that these species resemble the didelphes which are common in the neighbouring islands of Asia. that opossums are met with in the wombats. Moluccas, that in Java, there are Kangaroo-philanders, and that, if the flying phalanger resides in New Holland, the white phalanger inhabits the island of Amboyna. Labillardiere found the lizard of Amboyna in the Friendly Islands. We may add, that the Cassiowary belongs equally to the Molucca islands, to Java, and New Holland; and, without waiting till it be discovered whether there exist in that great island, the Bubiroussa, or stag hog, the Cervus axis, the Stag Hog, Ourang-outang, and other mammiferi of Borneo, the Philip-outang, &c. pines, and the Moluccas, we may consider the fifth part of the globe, or the Oceanic countries to the south-east of the Chinese sea, as the native region of an assemblage of animal tribes, of which future discoveries shall increase the number and unfold the relations. These general views of the geographical distribution of animals, however imperfect they may be, may assist our readers in classifying the numerous details of our subsequent and particular descriptions of regions and countries, BOOK XXII. Continuation of the Theory of Geography. Of the Earth, considered as the abode of Organic Beings. BOOK XXII. man. SECTION III. OF MAN, PHYSICALLY CONSIDERED. THE physical organization of man, while it subjects him to those laws of generation, growth and dissolution, which extend to all orders of living nature, bears at the same time, Dignity of in each of its parts, and as a whole, a character so peculiar, so extraordinary, and so sublime, that it is impossible to suppose even the most distant relationship between the brutes, which do nothing but feed and propagate on the surface of the earth, and him who is born to exercise dominion over them. That upright and elevated port, which indicates both dignity and courage; those hands, the trusty instruments of our will, the dexterous performers of the most magnificent, as well as the most useful works; those eyes, uplifted from the dust, whose intelligent glance can survey the immensity of the heavens; those organs, which enable us to express thought by articulate sounds of endless variety; the admirable union of strength and suppleness in all our members; finally, the harmony and perfectibility of all our senses, assign to us the first rank amongst living beings, and give us both the right to claim and the power to hold the empire of the earth. Anatomy and physiology have placed these truths beyond the reach of dispute.* Those naturalists who have pretended to confound the human species with that of *See Cuvier, Leçons d'Anatomie comparée, etc. XXII. monkeys, notwithstanding the essential difference in the feet, BOOK in the organs of speech, and the notes of the voice, appear to recognize no fixed principle whatever in their classification of the species of animals. our organi Even the apparent disadvantages of our organization Effects of powerfully accelerate the improvement and the happiness zation. of human existence. Endowed with the strength of the lion, mailed like the elephant, or clothed with a skin impenetrable to cold and humidity, we should perhaps have remained benumbed in stupid indolence, and ignorant of all the arts of life. The extreme feebleness of the human frame at the moment of its birth, the slowness of its growth, the multiplicity of its wants, all those infirmities, all those ills which nature has appointed as our attendants in the journey of life, serve as so many spurs to quicken our dormant faculties, and as so many bonds by which man is knit together with man. Hence the origin of civil society. From the long lasting helplessness of infancy, arises the endearing relation of parents and children; from this relation springs the permanent nature of the conjugal union. The union of men in families is followed by the formation of tribes and nations. It is by uniting with his fellows, and living together under one common law, that man has, as it were, created man; it is by forming a correct estimate of his weakness, and by inventing instruments to assist it, that he has obtained the mastery and the management of the powers of nature; he has felt his penury, and the stimulus of this uneasy feeling has procured for him his true wealth. the human This animal, so distinguished from all others, forms in Unity of the scale of being an insulated order, which contains no kind. more than one genus and one species; for we understand by species, a certain number of organic beings which propagate each other, and which differ only in qualities that are variable and distinct from the characters marking the species. Now, all the nations and tribes of human beings of which we have any knowledge, produce, by sexual intercourse, individuals that are prolific, or capable of producing other human beings in their turn. And, on the |