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The New Holland Emeu, as well as the Ostrich and the Cassowary, to both of which it is nearly related, is now generally regarded as belonging to the Rasorial Order, the Gallina? of Linn?us, the feet of which are formed for running and for scratching up the earth in search of the seeds which constitute their usual subsistence. Some of the birds, however, which are referred to it, and particularly those now under consideration, feed upon fruits and roots. The whole of the Order are distinguished by a certain degree of convexity on the upper surface of the bill, the base of which is enveloped by a membrane, in which are situated the nostrils covered by a cartilaginous[222] scale; by the muscular plumpness of their bodies, and especially of their legs; by the shortness of their wings, and the diminution of strength in their pectoral muscles; and by the thickness and strength of their anterior toes, generally three in number, united at the base alone by a connecting membrane, and roughened beneath. These characters conjoined sufficiently indicate that their proper place of abode is the surface of the earth, on which they are enabled to run with a greater or less degree of speed; and that the air, in which they are incapable of elevating themselves to any considerable height, or of propelling their flight with more than moderate swiftness, and into which some of them cannot even raise themselves at all, is an uncongenial element to which they can seldom resort. They furnish the principal and most useful breeds of our domestic poultry, and stock our farm-yards with their most valuable inhabitants.
The Coatis are barely equal in size to the common fox: they inhabit the woods of South America, and live upon fruits, insects, and reptiles, climbing trees in pursuit of their prey with great agility. In captivity they are easily tamed, and are fond of being caressed; but exhibit no peculiar symptoms of attachment.
The enormous Reptile from which this genus derives its name belongs to the same subdivision of that class as the agile Lizard and the many-hued Cham?leon, with which it was comprehended by Linn?us under the single generic title of Lacerta. This group has subsequently been elevated to the rank of an order, consisting of numerous genera, among which the Crocodiles are distinguished by the following characters. Their toes are five in number on the anterior feet, and four on the posterior; their sharp and conical teeth are arranged in a single series in each jaw; their tongue is flat, fleshy, and closely attached almost to its very edge; and their bodies are clothed with large, thick, square scales, the[232] upper of which are surmounted by a strong keel, those of the tail forming superiorly a dentated crest, double at its origin.
It is with no slight feelings of regret that we find ourselves unable to furnish a complete and satisfactory account of the animal from whom the portrait above given was taken. Very soon after the drawing was completed, and before we had availed ourselves of the opportunity of making the necessary examination, we were unfortunately precluded from so doing by his sudden transfer to another country. His likeness alone, and a faithful and spirited likeness we will venture to pronounce it, remains with us. From this, and from the very imperfect notes which we possess, we have little hesitation in referring it provisionally to the species first[130] established by M. Duvaucel, and since published by M. F. Cuvier in his splendid Histoire Naturelle des Mammifres. The circumstance, however, of our animal, the only individual of his species ever seen in Europe, having been brought from the Island of Sumatra instead of the continent of India, in which alone the Ursus Thibetanus had hitherto been discovered, is so remarkable, that we should have felt bound, had the means still remained open to us, to institute a close and severe comparison between the living specimen and the figure and description furnished by M. Duvaucel and M. Cuvier. As it is, we can only repeat the characters of the Thibet Bear as given by them, and refer to our figure for all the proof which we have it in our power to offer of its identity with the present animal. We trust that M. Temminck, or some other competent naturalist of the country to which the latter has been conveyed, will amply supply a deficiency which certainly would not have existed had we received timely notice of the intended transfer.
The second Order of Birds, which comprehends both the Pic? and Passeres of Linn?us, is essentially distinguished from the rest of the class by the structure of the feet, which are formed for perching. Those of the Scansorial tribe in particular, to which all the species to be here noticed belong, have two of the toes directed forwards, and the remaining two directed backwards, in such a manner as to enable them to grasp the branch of a tree or other similar objects with peculiar firmness, and consequently to climb with more than usual agility. This section comprehends some of the most gorgeously coloured and splendid among birds, as well as those[216] which evince the highest degree of intelligence, in the imitation especially of the human voice, for which they have been celebrated from the earliest times.
To what cause then, if the similarity between these two animals be so great, and the points of distinction between them so trifling, can we attribute the very different impressions which we have all received, and in all probability continue to cherish, with regard to their respective characters? Perhaps something like a plausible answer to this question may be found in the fact, that our notions of the Lion have been formed on the striking and exaggerated pictures of his noble qualities, for which we are indebted to the poets of antiquity, who contemplated him only in his captive and almost domesticated state; while our early ideas of the Tiger were derived in a great measure from the equally exaggerated statements of miserable and pusillanimous Hindoos, the spiritless and unresisting victims of every species of oppression, who regarded him with almost unspeakable horror as the merciless tyrant of their forests,a tyrant whose ferocious temper and sanguinary ravages were equalled only by those of the human despots, to whom, as well as to their brute oppressors, they paid the base[30] tribute of servile minds, in the fearful dread and crouching awe with which they prostrated themselves at the feet of both.