In the Elephant, the Nipples are near the Breast, by Reason the old one is forced to suck her self, and by the help of her Trunk conveys the Milk into the Mouth of her Young. Vid. Phil. Trans. No. 336.
[bb] For an Exemplification, I might name many Animals, particularly Birds, whole Parts are compleatly suited to this Service. They are Characteristicks of rapacious Birds, to have aduncous Bills and Talons to hold and tear, and strong brawny Thighs to strike and carry their Prey, as well as a sharp piercing Sight to spy it afar off. Raii Synops. Method. Av. p. 1. The Pelecane also might be here named, for its prodigious Bag under its Bill and Throat, big enough to contain thirty Pints. Id. ibid. p. 122. And to name no more, the common Heron hath its most remarkable Parts adapted to thus Service; long Legs for wading, and a long Neck answerable thereto to reach Prey, a wide, extensive Throat to pouch it; long Toes, with strong hooked Talons, (one of which is remarkably serrate on the Edge) the better to hold their Prey; a long sharp Bill to strike their Prey, and serrate towards the Point, with sharp hooked Beards standing backward, to hold their Prey fast when struck; and lastly, large, broad, concave Wings (in Appearance much too large, heavy and cumbersome for so small a Body, but) of greatest Use to enable them to carry the greater Load to their Nests at several Miles Distance; as I have seen them do from several Miles beyond me, to a large Heronry above three Miles distant from me. In which I have seen Plaise, and other Fish, some Inches long, lying under the high Trees in which they build; and the curious and ingenious Owner thereof, D’Acre Barret, Esq; hath seen a large Eel convey’d by them, notwithstanding the great Annoyance it gave them in their Flight, by its twisting this Way and that Way about their Bodies.
[cc] This is reported of the American Ostrich, mentioned by Acarette, in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 89. Of which see [Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (e).]
[dd] Hornets, Wasps, and all the Kinds of Bees provide Honey; and many of the Pseudosphecæ, and Ichneumon Wasps and Flies, carry Maggots, Spiders, &c. into their Nests; of which see above, [Note (c) Chap. 13.]
CHAP. XVI.
The Conclusion.
Thus I have, as briefly as well I could (and much more briefly than the Matters deserved) dispatched the Decad of Things I proposed in common to the sensitive Creatures. And now let us pause a little, and reflect. And upon the whole Matter, what less can be concluded than that there is a Being infinitely Wise, Potent, and Kind, who is able to contrive and make this glorious Scene of Things, which I have thus given only a Glance of? For what less than Infinite, could stock so vast a Globe with such a noble Set of Animals? All so Contrived, as to minister to one another’s Help some Way or other, and most of them serviceable to Man peculiarly, the Top of this lower World, and who was made, as it were, on purpose to observe, and survey, and set forth the Glory of the infinite Creator, manifested in his Works! Who! What but the Great GOD could so admirably provide for the whole Animal World every Thing serviceable to it, or that can be wished for, either to conserve its Species, or to minister to the Being or Well-being of Individuals! Particularly, who could Feed so spacious a World, who could please so large a Number of Palates, or suit so many Palates to so great a Variety of Food, but the infinite Conservator of the World! And who but the same great HE, could provide such commodious Cloathing for every Animal; such proper Houses, Nests and Habitations; such suitable Armature and Weapons; such Subtilty, Artifice and Sagacity, as every Creature is more or less armed and furnished with, to fence off the Injuries of the Weather, to rescue it self from Dangers, to preserve it self from the Annoyances of its Enemies; and, in a word, to conserve its Self, and its Species! What but an infinite superintending Power could so equally balance the several Species of Animals, and conserve the Numbers of the individuals of every Species so even, as not to over or under-people the terraqueous Globe! Who, but the infinite wise Lord of the World, could allot every Creature its most suitable Place to live in, the most suitable Element to breath, and move, and act in. And who but HE could make so admirable a Set of Organs, as those of Respiration are, both in Land and Water-Animals! Who could contrive so curious a Set of Limbs, Joynts, Bones, Muscles, and Nerves, to give to every Animal the most commodious Motion to its State and Occasions! And to name no more, what Anatomist, Mathematician, Workman, yea Angel, could contrive and make so curious, so commodious, and every way so exquisite a Set of Senses, as the five Senses of Animals are; whole Organs are so dexterously contrived, so conveniently placed in the Body, so neatly adjusted, so firmly guarded, and so compleatly suited to every Occasion, that they plainly set forth the Agency of the infinite Creator and Conservator of the World.
So that here, upon a transient View of the Animal World in general only, we have such a Throng of Glories, such an enravishing Scene of Things as may excite us to admire, praise, and adore the infinitely wise, powerful, and kind CREATOR; to condemn all atheistical Principles; and with holy David, Psalm xiv. 1. to conclude that he is in good earnest a Fool, that dares to say, There is no God, when we are every where surrounded with such manifest Characters, and plain Demonstrations of that infinite Being.
But in the next Book we shall still find greater Tokens, if possible, when I come to take a View of Animals in particular.
