CONTENTS.
| Page | |
| Introduction | [ix] |
| Bengal Lion | [1] |
| Lioness and Cubs | [11] |
| Cape Lion | [17] |
| Barbary Lioness | [24] |
| Tiger | [25] |
| Leopard | [35] |
| Jaguar | [41] |
| Puma | [49] |
| Ocelot | [53] |
| Caracal | [57] |
| Chetah, or Hunting Leopard | [61] |
| Striped Hyæna | [71] |
| Hyæna-Dog | [77] |
| Spotted Hyæna | [81] |
| African Bloodhound | [83] |
| Wolf | [89] |
| Clouded Black Wolf | [93] |
| Jackal | [97] |
| Civet, or Musk Cat | [99] |
| Javanese Civet | [103] |
| Gray Ichneumon | [105] |
| Paradoxurus | [107] |
| Brown Coati | [109] |
| Racoon | [111] |
| American Black Bear | [115] |
| Grizzly Bear | [121] |
| Thibet Bear | [129] |
| Bornean Bear | [133] |
| Egret Monkey? | [144] |
| Common Macaque | [145] |
| Bonneted Monkey, var. | [146] |
| Bonneted Monkey | [147] |
| Pig-faced Baboon | [148] |
| Baboon | [149] |
| White-headed Mongoos | [151] |
| Kanguroo | [155] |
| Porcupine | [161] |
| Asiatic Elephant | [163] |
| Zebra of the Plains | [177] |
| Llama | [181] |
| Rusa-Deer | [185] |
| Indian Antelope | [191] |
| African Sheep | [197] |
| Golden Eagle | [201] |
| Great Sea-Eagle | [202] |
| Bearded Griffin | [203] |
| Griffon Vulture | [205] |
| Secretary | [209] |
| Virginian Horned Owl | [213] |
| Deep-blue Macaw | [215] |
| Blue and Yellow Macaw | [217] |
| Yellow-crested Cockatoo | [219] |
| New Holland Emeu | [221] |
| Crested Crane | [225] |
| Pelican | [227] |
| Alligator | [231] |
| Indian Boa | [233] |
| Anaconda | [237] |
| Rattlesnake | [239] |
INTRODUCTION.
The origin of Menageries dates from the most remote antiquity. Their existence may be traced even in the obscure traditions of the fabulous ages, when the contests of the barbarian leader with his fellow-men were relieved by exploits in the chase scarcely less adventurous, and when the monster-queller was held in equal estimation with the warrior-chief. The spoils of the chase were treasured up in common with the trophies of the fight; and the captive brute occupied his station by the side of the vanquished hero. It was soon discovered that the den and the dungeon were not the only places in which this link of connexion might be advantageously preserved, and the strength and ferocity of the forest beast were found to be available as useful auxiliaries even in the battle-field. The only difficulty to be surmounted in the application of this new species of brute force to the rude conflicts of the times consisted in giving to it the wished-for direction; and for this purpose it was necessary that the animals to be so employed should be confined in what may be considered as a kind of Menagerie, there to be rendered subservient to the control, and obedient to the commands, of their masters.
In the theology too of these dark ages many animals occupied a distinguished place, and were not only venerated in their own proper persons, on account of their size, their power, their uncouth figure, their resemblance to man, or their supposed qualities and influence, but were also looked upon as sacred to one or other of the interminable catalogue of divinities, to whose service they were devoted, and on whose altars they were sacrificed. For these also Menageries must have been constructed, in which not only their physical peculiarities but even their moral qualities must have been to a certain extent studied; although the passions and prejudices of the multitude would naturally corrupt the sources of information thus opened to them, by the intermixture of exaggerated perversions of ill observed facts and by the addition of altogether imaginary fables.
If to these two kinds of Menageries we add that which has every where and under all circumstances accompanied the first dawn of civilization, and which constitutes the distinguishing characteristic of man emerging from a state of barbarism and entering upon a new and social state of existence, the possession of flocks and herds, of animals useful in his domestic economy, serviceable in the chase, and capable of sharing in his daily toils, a tolerable idea may be formed of the collections which were brought together in the earliest ages, and were more or less the subjects of study to a race of men who were careless of every thing that had no immediate bearing upon their feelings, their passions, or their interests.
But as civilization advanced, and the progress of society favoured the developement of mind, when those who were no longer compelled by necessity to labour for their daily bread found leisure to look abroad with expanded views upon the wonders of the creation, the animal kingdom presented new attractions and awakened ideas which had before lain dormant. What was at first a mere sentiment of curiosity became speedily a love of science; known objects were examined with more minute attention; and whatever was rare or novel was no longer regarded with a stupid stare of astonishment and an exaggerated expression of wonder, but became the object of careful investigation and philosophic meditation. Such was the state of things in civilized Greece when the Macedonian conqueror carried his victorious arms to the banks of the Indus, and penetrated into countries, not altogether unknown to Europeans, but the natural productions of which were almost entirely new to the philosophers of the West. With the true spirit of a man of genius, whose sagacity nothing could escape, and whose views of policy were as profound as the success of his arms was splendid, Alexander omitted no opportunity of proving his devotion to the cause of science; and the extensive collections of rare and unknown animals which he transmitted to his old tutor and friend, in other words the Menagerie which he formed, laid the foundation of the greatest, the most extensive, and the most original work on zoology that has ever been given to the world. The first of moral philosophers did not disdain to become the historian of the brute creation, and Aristotle’s History of Animals remains a splendid and imperishable record of his qualifications for the task.