The Roman character denotes the volume, the Arabic number the page.

• ABDOMINAL Fish, has the ventral nearer the tail than the pectoral fins, vi. 304
• Abstemious life, its great benefit, ii. 200
• Abstinence, religiously observed long after the Refor­mation—queen Elizabeth's injunctions upon this head—a heavenly institution, from its benefit to individuals and advantage to society, ii. 131—remarkable instance of it in the sloth, iv. 347
• Acanthopterigii, a name of the prickly-finned fish, vi. 303
• Achilles, a Roman tribune, called the second of that name; and why, ii. 117
• Acorn, its shell filled by an immovable animal, viii. 162—a shell-fish, vii. 64
• Adriatic, its empire claimed by the republic of Ve­nice, i. 232
• Aelian, his account of the dreadful cavern, called the Gulf of Pluto, i. 61—has seen an elephant write Latin characters on a board, his keeper shewing him the figure of each letter, iv. 261
• Aetna, volcano in Sicily—remarkable eruption in 1537, i. 89—account of it—the burning seen at [Page] Malta, i. 90—the quantity of matter discharged, supposed to exceed twenty times the original bulk of the mountain, i. 102—walls built of materials thrown up by it, i. 103
• Aeolipila, an instrument to produce artificial wind—its description, and the manner of generating vio­lent blasts, i. 337
• Africa, its sandy storms, i. 363—destroy villages and armies, i. 366—several animals with four stomachs in Europe, have but two in Africa, ii. 317—the zebra a native of Africa, ii. 390—has the largest and smallest of the cow kind, iii. 14—the ferret originally from Africa, iv. 22—its ani­mals very fierce, and its savages most brutal—they suppose monkies obstinately dumb to avoid labour, iv. 231—the elephant a native of Africa—the savage inhabitants attempt not to subdue this creature, and wish only to escape its fury; thus it retains liberty in Africa—the natives are greatly degenerated, iv. 267
• Age, the mountains of Scotland, Wales, Auvergne, and Switzerland, furnish more instances of old age, than the plains of Holland, Flanders, Ger­many, or Poland, ii. 202—the age of trees known by the number of their circles, vi. 176—two me­thods for determining the age of fishes, vi. 176—the undoubted great age of some fishes, vi. 177
• Agouti, an animal found in great abundance in South America, and by some called the rabbit of that continent; it resembles the rabbit, yet is diffe­rent from ours, and peculiar to the new world,—its description, iv. 49—its ordinary food—it has the hair and voraciousness of a hog—eats greedily and hides the remainder—burrows in hollow trees—its manner of feeding, and walk­ing—sight and hearing—its flesh, how dressed, iv. 50—how hunted and forced out of its hole—it turns in its own defence upon the hunters—its bite, and cry—how tamed, iv. 51—bears two young at each litter; breeds at least twice a year; [Page] carries its young about like a cat; and lodges them in a tree, where they soon become able to provide for themselves, iv. 52
• Agricola, has seen hats made of mole skins, most beau­tiful, iv. 98
• Agriculture, the number of hands employed in the manufacture of silk, turned to agriculture, would encrease the quantity of corn to more than an equivalent for the diminution of national wealth in purchasing wrought silk from other countries, vi. 284
• Ai, a name of the sloth—its description, iv. 344
• Aicurous, a great parrot—its sagacity and docility, v. 277
• Aigues-mortes, town in France, a port in the time of St. Louis; now removed more than four miles from the sea, i. 277
• Air, the only active agent in earthquakes, i. 105—Amonton's calculation of a moderate degree of heat sufficient to give the air amazing powers of expansion, i. 106—too fine for our sight, is very obvious to our touch—its elasticity—a cubic foot of air weighs more than an ounce, i. 299—four thousand pound weight of air carried at one time more than at another, and why; i. 303—the air contained in a nut-shell, may be dilated into un­known dimensions—the air contained in a house, may be compressed into a cavity equal to the eye of a needle—the encreasing elasticity of compress­ed air augmented by heat, would when expanded be sufficient for the explosion of a world, i. 304—one of the most compounded bodies in nature, i. 311—scarce any substance resisting its corroding qualities, i. 312—factitious air produced in great quantities from vegetable, animal, or mineral sub­stances—proves a greater enemy to animals than a vacuum—a bird enclosed in artificial air, from raisins, died in a quarter of a minute—a frog in­cluded in artificial air—a snail put into the receiv­er, with air of paste, died in four minutes, i. 318 [Page] and 319—to be wholesome, should not be of one kind, but a compound of several substances, i. 320—how air contributes to the support of our lives—a dispute upon it, i. 331, 332—gives life and body to flame, i. 333—kindles fire into flame, moderates the rays of light, and dissipates their violence,—conveyance of sound—all the pleasure received from conversation, or from mu­sic, depends entirely upon the air—odours are dif­fused by the air, i. 334—a hand upon the mouth of a vessel from which the air has been exhausted, is violently sucked inwards, and why, i. 300 and 301—the mouth of such vessel inverted being im­mersed, the water will rise into the empty space, and fill the glass, i. 301—the manner in which this is done—water never ascends higher than thirty-two feet—our ordinary load of air amounts nearly to forty thousand pounds, i. 302—vegetables, or the bodies of animals left to putrefy, produce air in a very copious manner, i. 337—it finds ad­mission into wine or other fermented liquors, and most easily into spirits of wine—mountains, mi­nerals, vegetables, animals, and fires, contribute to encrease a current of air, i. 338—a tide of air produced by the sun and moon, i. 354—a cur­rent of air, driven through a contracted space, grows more violent and irresistible, i. 355—the air at Cusco is so dry and so cold that flesh dries there like wood, without corrupting, ii. 274
• Air-pump, the experiment of a carp placed under it, vi. 169—fish can live but a few minutes without air; nothing more difficult to be accounted for, than the manner in which they obtain this neces­sary supply, vi. 170
• Air-bladder, in fishes, described, vi. 171
• Albatross, a bird of the gull kind—its description by Edwards—is an inhabitant of the tropical climates, and other regions, as far as the streights of Ma­gellan in the South Seas—is the most fierce and formidable of the aquatic tribe; it chiefly pursues [Page] the flying-fish, forced from the sea by the dol­phins, vi. 61—Wicquefort's account of this bird, vi. 62—it seems to have a peculiar affection for the penguin, and a pleasure in its society, vi. 63—its nest, vi. 64
• Albouras,, a famous volcano near mount Taurus, i. 98
• Alder, hares will not feed on the bark of it, iv. 7
• Algazel, the seventh variety of gazelles with Mr. Buffon, iii. 74
• Aldrovandus, places the bats among birds, iv. 134—he having spent a fortune, to enlighten mankind, and collected more truth and falshood than any man, was reduced to want, to suffer ingratitude, and to die in a hospital, vi. 117
• Alexander's soldiers agitated by curiosity and appre­hension at the tides in the river Indus, i. 258
• Alligator, or the Cayman, a kind of crocodile, vii. 119
• Alps, dreadful chasms found in them, i. 59—Pope's description of a traveller straining up the Alps, i. 143—the highest point of them not above sixteen hundred toises above the surface of the sea, i. 153
• Amazons, the greatest river in the world, has its source among the Andes, i. 142—its course from its origin in the lake of Lauricocha, to its discharge into the Western Ocean, is more than twelve hun­dred leagues, i. 215—its discharge is through a channel of an hundred and fifty miles broad, after receiving above sixty considerable rivers, i. 216, 217—la Condamine asserts it would take a volume to describe the various monkies found along that river, iv. 216—
• Ambergrise, long considered as a substance found float­ing on the sea, but since discovered to belong to the cachalot—the balls of ambergrise found in all fishes of this kind, but chiefly in the oldest and and strongest, vi [...] 220, 21
• [Page] Ambrose, (St.) his credulity concerning the halcyon, vi. 144
• America exceeds in the size of its reptiles, but is in­ferior in its quadrupeds, ii. 332—the black rats, originally from Europe, have propagated greatly in America, and are now the most noxious ani­mals there, iv. 17—the American mock-bird, as­sumes the tone of every animal in the wood, from the wolf to the raven, v. 325—its description and habits, v. 324, 325—Catesby asserts the wolf was the only dog used by the Americans, before they had the Europeans among them—the tapir is the largest animal of America—opinion that all quadrupeds in South America are of a different species from those resembling them in the Old World—and such as peculiarly belong to that New Continent, are without the marks of the quadrupede perfection, ii. 332, 333—description of the natives of that country, ii. 229—the savages there suppose mon­kies to be men, but obstinately dumb, to avoid being compelled to labour, iv. 231—the vampyre, considered as a great pest of South America—and an obstruction to the peopling of many parts of that continent, iv. 146—the manufacture of stuffs, of the wool of the pacos, a very considerable branch of commerce in South America, iv. 317—no rabbits naturally in America—but there are animals, in some measure, resembling the rabbits of Europe, iv. 24—that part of the American conti­nent which lies under the line, is cool and plea­sant, ii. 233—cause of the tawny colour of the North American Indians—they paint their skins with red oker, and anoint them with the fat of bears, ii. 236—the original cause of their flat heads, ii. 239—American wood-duck described, vi. 130
• Amia, or Bonito, description of this fish, vi. 314
• Ammodytes, or the Lance, a fish—its description, vi. 311
• [Page] Ammodytes, a kind of viper—it darts with amazing swiftness, vii. 180
• Amonton's calculation proves a moderate degree of heat may give the air amazing powers of expansion, i. 106
• Amour, a river of Eastern Tartary, i. 210—it re­ceives about forty lesser rivers, i. 217
• Amphibious quadrupeds have motion in the lower eye-lid alone, ii. 85—general description of that class, iv. 148
• Amphisboena, or the double-headed serpent, vii. 222
• Amsterdam, the perfume of the civet sold there is the purest of any, iii. 392
• Anarchicas, the wolf-fish, its description, vi. 311
• Anatomists puzzled to find parts of the human body superior to those of some apes, ii. 311—none known that have described the lungs of the lam­prey, vi. 271
• Anchovy has no bladder, vi. 174
• Andalusia, gennets of that province the best, ii. 357
• Andes, amazing chasms or fissures in them—some of these are a mile wide, and others, running under­ground, resemble a province, i. 60—the highest mountains of the world, i. 99—excellent descrip­tion of them by Ulloa, i. 147—the Andes are by measure three thousand one hundred and thirty-six toises, or fathoms, above the surface of the sea, i. 151, 153—at the top no difficulty of breathing perceived, i. 154—manner of mules going down the precipices, ii. 387
• Anemometer, an instrument to measure the velocity of the wind—gives no certain information of the force of a storm, i. 356
• Angora. The cat of Angora, iii. 212—the goat of Angora, iii. 57—a number of animals about An­gora, affording hair for trade—the camlet made of such hair, iii. 58
• Anhima, a bird of the crane kind, of Brasil, v. 389—described—the cock and the hen prowl together— [Page] when one dies, the other stays by it, and dies also, v. 390
• Animals hold the first rank amidst the infinitely diffe­rent productions the earth offers, ii. 1—are endow­ed with powers of motion and defence, even those fixed to one spot—organized beings provided with some defence for their own security, ii. 2—endued with life and vigour—some, by nature, violent—have their enmities and affections, ii. 4—ultimate­ly supported upon vegetables—those in a dry sunny climate strong and vigorous—different vegetables appropriated to the different appetites, and why, ii. 5—of domestic kinds, carried from milder coun­tries into northern climates, quickly degenerate and grow less, ii. 6—in the internal parts of South America and Africa grow to a prodigious size, and why—not so in the cold frozen regions of the North, ii. 6—the most perfect races have the least similitude to the vegetable productions on which they are ultimately fed—the meaner the animal, the more local, ii. 7—assume different habits as well as appearances, and why, ii. 9—some pecu­liar to every part of the vegetable system—there are that live upon other animals—this wisely so constituted, ii. 11—to diminish the number of animals, and encrease that of vegetables, the ge­neral scope of human industry—of the vast variety, very few serviceable to man, ii. 12—in a catalogue of more than twenty thousand land animals, scarcely an hundred are any way useful to man, ii. 13—expediency of man's living upon animals as well as vegetables, ii. 14—little more known than that the greatest number require the concur­rence of a male and female to reproduce their kind—and these, distinctly and invariably, found to be­get creatures of their own species, ii. 16—usual distinction, with respect to their manner of gene­ration, into oviparous and viviparous kinds, ii. 22—the warmth of the sun, or of a stove, effica­cious in bringing the animal in the egg to perfec­tion, [Page] ii. 27—such parts as the animal has double, or without which it can live, are the latest in pro­duction, ii. 35—De Graaf has attended the pro­gress and encrease of various animals in the womb, and minutely marked the changes they undergo, ii. 36—that which, in proportion to its bulk, takes the longest time for production, the most complete when finished—of all others, man the slowest in coming into life, ii. 48—the most formidable are the least fruitful, ii. 49—and why—those which bring forth many engender before they have arrived at half their natural size—approach more to per­fection, whose generation nearly resembles that of man, ii. 50—Men and apes the only that have eye­lashes upon the upper and lower lids—all others want them on the lower lid, ii. 85—that which has most desires appears capable of the greatest variety of happiness, ii. 123—those of the forest remain without food several weeks—all endure the wants of sleep and hunger with less injury to health than man—nature contracts the stomachs of car­nivorous animals of the forest to suit them to their precarious way of living, ii. 124—but the meaner tribes are still most capable of sustaining life with­out food, ii. 124, 125—some lower animals seem to spend the greatest part of their lives in sleep, ii. 134—some affected by music—instances of it, ii. 168—those furnished with hands have more under­standing than others, ii. 185—in general, the large animals live longer than the little, ii. 200—diffe­rence between animals in a state of nature and domestic tameness, so considerable that M. Buffon makes it a principal distinction of classes, ii. 310—their teeth fitted to the nature of their food, ii. 315—and their legs as well fitted to their respec­tive wants or enjoyments, ii. 316—those who chew the cud have four stomachs—several that with us have four stomachs, have but two in Africa, ii. 317—no carnivorous animal, except the dog, makes a voluntary attack but with superiority, [Page] ii. 319—the stomach generally proportioned to the nature of the food, or the ease with which it is obtained, ii. 317—the size of the intestines pro­portioned to the nature of the food, ii. 318—few of the wild sort seek their prey in the day-time—in proportion as each carnivorous animal wants strength, it uses all the assistance of patience, assi­duity, and cunning, ii. 320—some animals care­fully avoid their enemies by placing centinels to warn of the approach of danger, and know how to punish such as have neglected their post, or been unmindful of the common safety, ii. 324—the wild sort subject to few alterations, and in the savage state continue for ages the same, in size, shape, and colour, ii. 325—is otherwise when subdued and taken under the protection of man, ii. 325, 327—the tame kind bears no resemblance to its ancestors in the woods, ii. 326—animals feeding only upon grass, rendered carnivorous—two in­stances, ii. 327—Africa ever remarkable for the fierceness of its animals, ii. 331—the smallest mul­tiply the fastest, ii. 333—the larger sort bring few at a time—seldom generate till they be near their full growth—those which bring many reproduce before they arrive at half their natural size, ii. 335—with all animals, the time of their pregnancy is proportioned to their size—in all kinds, the intermediate litters the most fruitful—the first and last generally produce the fewest in number and worst of kind, ii. 336—natural instinct to choose the proper times of copulation, ii. 337—whatever the natural disposition of animals, they all have courage to defend their young—instances of it, ii. 336—Milk in the carnivorous animals more sparing than in others, ii. 337—choice of situation in bring­ing forth, remarkable in animals, ii. 338—the ass, in a state of tameness, the most gentle and quiet of all animals, ii. 381—of all animals covered with hair, the ass the least subject to vermin, ii. 386—the zebra the most beautiful, but the wildest [Page] animal in nature, ii. 390—perfectly know their enemies, and how to avoid them—instances of it, ii. 395—best method of classing animals adopted by Ray, Klein, and Linnaeus, ii. 294, to 299—the author's method of classing them, 301, to 308—the carnivorous seek their food in gloomy solitude,—they are sharper than the ruminating kind, and why—ruminating animals most harmless, and most easily tamed—generally go in herds, for their mu­tual security—live entirely upon vegetables, iii. 1—the meanest of them unite in each other's de­fence—carnivorous animals have small stomachs and short intestines—ruminating animals naturally more indolent and less artful than the carnivorous kinds, and why, iii. 2.—their bowels considered as an elaboratory, with proper vessels in it—nature enlarges the capacity of their intestines to take in a greater supply, iii. 3—and furnishes them with four stomachs—the names of these four stomachs iii. 3, 4.—the intestines of carnivorous animals are thin and lean; but those of the ruminating sort strong, fleshy, and well covered with fat, iii. 4.—of all others, man spends the least time in eating, iii. 7—of all ruminant, the cow kind deserve the first rank, iii. 8—naturalists give various names to the same, only differing in accidental circumstan­ces—of all, except man, the cow most exten­sively propagated, iii. 24—greatest variety among cows, none more humble and pliant of dispo­sition, iii. 25—the large kind of the torrid zone very fond of the water, iii. 29—some void their dung, when pursued; this arises rather from fear, than a desire of defence, iii. 32—the number of the cow kind, by naturalists extended to eight or ten sorts, reduced to two; one animal of the cow kind, no naturalist has hitherto described, it may be added as a third species—description of it, iii. 33, 34—all the ruminant internally much alike, iii. 36—those that take refuge under the protec­tion of man, in a few generations become indolent [Page] and helpless—the sheep, in a domestic state, the most defenceless and inoffensive, iii. 38—also the most stupid, iii. 40—a great number and variety about Angora; the inhabitants drive trade with their hair, iii. 58—the kinds actually not distin­guished by the horns, colour, position of the ears, or fineness of the hair, iii. 60—the fat, urine, beak, and even dung of various animals efficacious in some disorders, iii. 69—of all in the world, the gazelle has the most beautiful eye, iii. 72—scarce one animal, except the carnivorous, that does not produce concretions in the stomach, intestines, kidnies, bladder, or in the heart, iii. 76—no na­turalist informs us whether that which bears the musk, be a ruminant, or of the hog kind, iii. 91—by a general rule, every animal lives about seven or eight times the number of years it continues to grow, iii. 103—of all natives of this climate, none have such a beautiful eye as the stag, iii. 105—no two more nearly allied than the stag and the fallow deer; yet form distinct families, and never engender together, iii. 125—many that once flourished in the world, may now be extinct, iii. 136—of all the deer kind, the rein deer the most extraordinary, and most useful, iii. 149—of all, when young, none more prettily playful than the kitten, iii. 202—many in Syria and Persia remark­able for long soft hair, iii. 212—most terrestrial are larger, fiercer, and stronger, in warm than in cold or temperate climates, iii. 213—the on­ly not afraid singly to make opposition to the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the tiger, and the hippopotamos, iii. 225—of all American, the tiger the most formidable and mischievous, iii. 245—the generality have greater agility, greater swiftness, and more formidable arms, from na­ture, than man; and their senses, particularly that of smelling, are far more perfect, iii. 275—those living upon flesh hunt by nature, iii. 276—all under the influence of man, are subject to great [Page] variations, iii. 279—many in this country breed between a dog and a fox, iii. 298—all savage, that have once tasted human flesh, never refrain from pursuing mankind, iii. 336—those of the north, in winter, are more hairy, than those of the mil­der climates, iii. 356—and what the cause, iii. 355, 356—of the arctic climates, have their win­ter and summer garments, except as far north as Greenland, iii. 356—of the weasel kind, the mar­tin the most pleasing, iii. 368—feeding entirely upon vegetables, are inoffensive and timorous, iv. 3—remarkable for speed, except the horse, have the hind feet longer than the fore, iv. 4—none receives the male when pregnant, except the hare, iv. 6—hares the only that have hair on the inside of their mouths, iv. 8—few of the wild kind have so many varieties as the squirrel, iv. 25—all are tamed more difficultly in proportion to their cow­ardice, iv. 72—in all countries, civilized and im­proved, the lower ranks of animals repressed and degraded, iv. 157—the beaver the only that in its fore parts resembles a quadruped, and in its hinder parts approaches the nature of fishes, iv. 159—a true judgment of their disposition by their looks, and a just conjecture of their internal ha­bits from their external form, iv. 208—the lori, of all other the longest, in proportion to size, iv. 241—the camel the most temperate of all, iv. 303—the ostrich the most voracious, v. 54—of all that use their wings and legs in running, the ost­rich is the swiftest, v. 60—none has greater cou­rage than the cock, opposed to one of his own species, v. 163—the presence of man destroys the society of meaner animals, and their instincts also, vi. 64—those longest in the womb, are the long­est lived, according to Pliny, vi. 119—none hard­er to be killed than the shark, vi. 244—the snail kind are hermaphrodites, vii. 30—of all four-footed, the frog the best swimmer, vii. 75—the catterpillar has the greatest number of enemies, [Page] viii. 43—whatever kind, long under the pro­tection of man, lose part of their natural sagacity, in providing for themselves, viii. 83—that which fills the acorn-shell is immovable, viii. 162—a most numerous tribe lately discovered, propagat­ed by cuttings—many entirely without mo­tion.—all seem possessed of one power, of which vegetables are totally deficient, viii. 162—cer­tain races of animals fall beneath vegetables, by their more imperfect propagation, viii. 163—Some live without limbs, and often repro­duce them; some live without brain for many weeks together; some increase and grow large, tho' all their nobler organs are entirely destroyed; some continue to exist, though cut in two, their nobler parts preserving life, while the others perish that were cut away; the zoophyte tribe, continues to live in separate parts, and one animal, by the means of cutting, is divided into two distinct ex­istences, sometimes into a thousand, viii. 170, 171—the first discovery of the power of reproduc­tion in animals owing to Mr. Tremblay, viii. 172
• Antelope, tenth variety of gazelles by Mr. Buffon—its description, iii. 78—the Indian antelope, iii. 79
• Antilles, the negroes of these islands, by smell alone, distinguish between the footsteps of a Frenchman and a negroe.
• Antlers, their distinct names, iii. 114
• Antiparos, its grotto most remarkable, i. 67
• Antipathy of the marmout to the dog, iv. 45—quad­rupeds which have natural antipathy against the Norway rat, iv. 69, 70—many have it to some animals, whose presence they instantly perceive by the smell, ii. 182—dogs and wolves so different in their dispositions, that no animals can have a more perfect antipathy, iii. 309—between the porcupine and serpent so irreconcilable as never to meet without a mortal engagement, iv. 111 [Page]—the same subsists between the jackall and the dog, iii. 338—no animals more alike than the cow and the buffalo, yet, none have stronger dis­likes to each other, iii. 26
• Antiquity, most naturally looked up to with reveren­tial wonder, ii. 263
• St. Anthony, lived an hundred and five years, ii. 132
• Ants, their food and excursions, viii. 120—their eggs so very small, that upon a black ground, they can scarcely be discerned, viii. 121—fond attachment of the working ants to their progeny, viii. 122—the aurelia state, and efforts to get rid of their skins—experiment of Mr. de Geer to this purpose, viii. 123—state of the female, after she has done laying, not known; the males then fly away and are heard of no more, viii. 124—ants of the tro­pical climates build a hill with great contrivance and regularity, lay up provisions; and, living the whole year, submit to regulations entirely diffe­rent from the ants of Europe—three kinds of Afri­can ants—their hills from six to twelve feet high, viii. 125—amazing number and regularity of their cells—depredations and adventures—they live un­der strict regulations—order in which they sally forth—often quit their dwelling in a body, and go in quest of adventures, viii. 126—an instance of it given by Smith, viii. 127—their sting produces extreme pain, viii. 125—every writer of antiquity describes this insect, as labouring in the summer, and feasting upon the produce during the winter; in some of the warmer climates this may be so; but in France and England they are in a state of tor­pidity during winter, viii. 115, 116, 124, 125—common ants of Europe—their description, viii. 116—fears not to attack a creature ten times its own magnitude, viii. 117—are divided into males, females, and neutral or working tribe—in what manner distinguished from each other—males and females seem no way to partake in the common drudgeries of the state; males pursue the females [Page] with great assiduity, and force them to compliance—remain coupled for some time, viii. 118—de­scription of the ant-hills in southern parts of Eu­rope constructed with wonderful contrivance, viii. 119—drive the hare from its form, iv. 12—many animals live upon ants in Africa and America, iv. 338
• Ants, the ant-lion, vii. 323
• Ant-eater, or Ant-bear, description and habits, iv. 339, 340—their art to catch the ants—manner of defence against its enemies, iv. 342—kills the in­vader, and remains fastened upon him with vin­dictive desperation, iv. 345
• Antioch, buried by an earthquake, i. 110
• Aorta, the great artery, ii. 41
• Aperea, by some the Brasilian rabbit, iv. 54—Its de­scription, iv. 55
• Apes, the foremost of the kind is the ouran-outang, or wild man of the woods, iv. 189—description of this animal by Dr. Tyson, iv. 191, 193, 195—comparative view of this creature with man, iv. 191 to 94—another descripton of it by Mr. Buf­fon, iv. 195, 196—two young ones, but a year old, discovered an astonishing power of imitation, iv. 197—a kind called baris, properly instructed when young, serve as useful domestics, iv. 198—Le Comte's account of an ape in the streights of Molucca, iv. 198—the long armed ape an extra­ordinary and remarkable creature, iv. 206—its description—a native of the East Indies, and found along the coasts of Coromandel, iv. 207—fling themselves from one rope to another, at thirty, forty, and fifty feet distance, iv. 199—instances of amazing nimbleness—in a state of nature they run upon all fours—certain proofs of it, iv. 205—in some of the kind the resemblance to man so striking, that anatomists are puzzled to find in what part of the human body man's superiority consists, ii. 311—enjoy many advantages in com­mon with men, above the lower tribes of nature, [Page] ii. 311—in the navies of Solomon, among the ar­ticles imported from the East, are apes and pea­cocks, v. 171—apes have eye-lashes upon the upper and lower lids, ii. 85—slight survey of the ape kind, iv. 188—the only animal possessed of hands and arms, ii. 105
• Apicius, noted for having [...]aught mankind to suffo­cate fish in Carthaginian pickle, vi. 182—his re­ceipt for making sauce for the ostrich, v. 59—manner of dressing a hare in true Roman taste, with parsley, rice, vinegar, cumin and coriander seed, iv. 15
• Apodal, the name of the fish without ventral fins, vi. 303
• Appendices in the intestines of birds, v. 16
• Appetite, nature, by supplying a variety, has multi­plied life in her productions, v. 79
• Arabia, of all the countries in the world, where the horse runs wild, produces the most beautiful breed, the most generous, swift, and persevering—in the rapidity of flight the dogs give up the pur­suit, ii. 347—method of taking them by traps, ii. 348—an Arabian, how poor soever, is provid­ed of his horse, ii. 349—the Arabians first began the management of horses in the time of sheque Ismael—manner in which the Arabians feed and dress their horses, ii. 352—they have no house but a tent to live in—never beat their horses, ii. 351—preserve the pedigree of their horses with care for several ages back, ii. 350—into what countries that race of horses has spread itself, ii. 354, 355—the Arabians feast upon young horses, ii. 348.—keep their horses ready saddled at the tent, from morning till sun-set, to be prepared against all surprize, ii. 353—the most adapted country to the support and production of camels, iv. 303—description of the deserts of Arabia, iv. 305—milk and flesh of the camel a part of the nourishment of the Arabians, iv. 304—the mare, foal, husband, wife and children, lie all together indiscriminately, [Page] ii, 351—its sandy tempests described, i. 363—men and animals buried in the sands of Arabia, preserved from corruption, for several ages, as if actually embalmed, ii. 275—the ass originally a native of Arabia, ii. 385
• Archimedes, discovered the method of determining the purity of gold, by weighing in water, i. 190
• Archipelago, very good horses in its islands, ii. 360—the wild ass found in those islands, particularly Ce­rigo, ii. 377
• Ardebil, the pastures in those plains excellent for rearing horses, ii. 361
• Arequipa, a celebrated burning mountain in Peru, i. 99
• Argentine, description of this fish, vi. 313
• Arion, his harp gathered the dolphins to the ship's side, ii. 168
• Aristotle's opinion about the formation of the inci­pient animal, ii. 16—and mules being sometimes prolific, ii. 375
• Arlotto, an Italian Franciscan friar—for his sleeping transgressions taken before the inquisition, and like to be condemned for them, ii. 142, 143
• Armadilla, or Tatou, described—an inhabitant of South America, iv. 125—a harmless creature, fur­nished with a peculiar covering for its defence—at­tacked without danger, and liable to persecutions—is of different sizes; in all however, the animal is partially covered with a coat of mail, a striking curiosity in natural history, iv. 125, 126—has the same method of protecting itself as the hedge-hog or pangolin—when attacked, rolls itself up in its shells, like a ball, and continues so till the dan­ger is over, iv. 127, 128—the Indians take it in this form, lay it close to the fire, and oblige it to un­fold—this animal utterly unknown before the dis­covery of America, iv. 128, 129—does mischief in gardens—bears the cold of our climate without inconvenience—the mole does not burrow swifter than the armadilla—burrows deep in the earth, iv. [Page] 129, 130—expedients used to force them out—manner of taking them alive—sometimes in snares by the sides of rivers, and low moist places, which they frequent, iv 130, 131—never found at any distance from their retreats—near a precipice, escapes by rolling itself up, and tumbling down from rock to rock, without danger or inconvenience, iv. 130—its food—scarce any that do not root the ground like a hog—a kind of friendship between them and the rattle-snake, they are fre­quently found in the same hole, iv. 131—they all resemble each other, as cloathed with a shell, yet differ in size, and in the division of their shell—the various kinds, iv. 132, 133—the pig-headed sort, the weasel-headed, the kabassou and the en­coubert are the largest, iv. 133—generally referred to the tribe of insects or snails, ii. 313.
• Arno, the river, a considerable piece of ground gained at the mouth of it, i. 276
• Aro, numbers of birds of paradise seen there, v. 260
• Arse-feet, name our sailors give to birds of the penguin tribe, vi. 92
• Arsenius, tutor to the emperor Arcadius, lived an hun­dred and twenty years, ii. 132
• Arts, fault that has infected most of our dictionaries and compilations of natural history, ii. 307—teach­ing the arts of cruelty equivalent to committing them, v. 164
• Asia, aim of the Asiatics to possess many women, and to furnish a seraglio their only ambition, ii. 72—lustre of jewels and splendor of brilliant colours eagerly sought after by all conditions of men, ii. 98
• Asia Minor, description of its inhabitants, ii. 230
• Asiatic, the olive-coloured, claims the hereditary re­semblance to our common parent—an argument to prove the contrary, ii. 240
• Asp, a kind of serpent, vii. 215
• Asphaltum, an injection of petroleum and an appli­cation of asphaltum suffice to make a mummy, ii. 287
• [Page] Ass and horse, though nearly alike in form, are distinct kinds, different in natures—with only one of each kind, both races would be extinguished, ii. 375—in the state of nature entirely different, ii. 376—wild ass in greater abundance than the wild horse—wild ass and the zebra a different species—countries where the wild ass is found, ii. 377, 379—some run so swift. [...]ew coursers can overtake them—caught with traps—taken chiefly for their flesh and skins, which make that leather called shagreen—en­tertainment of wild asses in Persia seen by Olearius, ii. 377, 378—the delicacy of its flesh a proverb there, ii. 378—Galen deems it unwholesome—asses origi­nally imported into America by the Spaniards, have run wild, and multiplied to such numbers as to be a nuisance—chace of them in the kingdom of Qui­to, ii. 379—have all the swiftness of horses—decli­vities and precipices do not retard their career—after the first load, their celerity leaves them, their dan­gerous ferocity lost, and they contract the stupid look and dullness peculiar to the asinine species—will not permit a horse to live among them—al­ways feed together—and a horse straying where they graze, they fall upon, and bite and kick him till he be dead, ii. 380—their preference to any vegetable is to the plantane, ii. 381—they drink as soberly as they eat, and never dip the nose into the stream—fear to wet their feet, and turn out to avoid the dirty parts of a road—shew no ardour but for the female, and often die after covering, ii. 382—scent an owner at a distance, and distinguish him in a crowd—with eyes covered, they will not stir a step—when laid down, one eye covered with the grass, and the other hidden with a stone or other con­tiguous body, they will not stir, or attempt to rise, to get free from impediments—several brought up to perform, and exhibited at a show, ii. 383—suffered to dwindle every generation, and particularly in England, ii. 384—bulk for bulk, an ass stronger than a horse, and surer footed—also less apt to start [Page] than the horse, ii. 385—more healthy than the horse—Persians cleave their nostrils to give them more room for breathing ii. 386—Spaniards alone know the value of the ass, ii. 385—the Spanish jack-ass above fifteen hands high—the ass originally a na­tive of Arabia—warm climates produce the largest and best—entirely lost among us during the reign of queen Elizabeth—Holingshed pretends our land yields no asses, yet they were common in England before that time—in Sweden, they are a sort of ra­rity—by the last history of Norway, they had not reached that country—in Guinea, they are larger and more beautiful than the horses of that country—in Persia, are two kinds—some sold for forty or fifty pounds, ii. 385, 386—no animal covered with hair less subject to vermin—lives till twenty or twenty-five—sleeps less than the horse, and never lies down for it, unless much tired—she-ass crosses fire and water to protect her young, ii 382 to 386—the gimerro bred between the ass and the bull, ii. 386—the size and strength of our asses improved by importation of Spanish jack-asses, ii. 387—de­stroyed by the South-American bat, called vampyre, iv. 145
• Asafoetida, savage nations delighted with the smell, ii. 181
• Assiniboils, lake where the river St. Lawrence takes its rise, i. 216
• Assyrian goat of Gesner, a second variety, iii. 58
• Astroites, among coral substances, viii. 197
• Atalantis, an island submersed, was as large as Asia Minor and Syria—the fruits of the earth offered without cultivation, i. 134
• Athanatus, instance of his strength, ii. 118
• Athelstan prohibited the exportation of mares and stallions, except as presents, ii. 369
• Athenians, quail-fighting a favourite amusement among them—abstained from the flesh of this bird, as un­wholesome, because it fed upon the white hellehore—they reared great numbers of them for fighting, [Page] and staked sums of money, as we do with cocks, upon the success of the combat, v. 214—they had also their cock-matches, v. 163
• Atherine, description of this fish, vi. 313
• Atmosphere, most disorders incident to mankind, says Bacon, arise from changes of the atmosphere, vi. 175
• Attraction defined, i. 3—the sun possessed of the greatest share, i. 4
• Avosetta, or scooper, a bird found in Italy—now and then comes over into England—description, and extraordinary shape of its bill, vi. 20
• Aurelia, one of the appearances of the caterpillar, viii. 6, 19—laying it in a warm room, Mr. Reaumur hastened the disclosure of the butterfly, and by keeping it in an ice house, retarded it—though it bears a different appearance, it contains all the parts of the butterfly in perfect formation—some in­sects continue under that form not above ten days, some twenty, some several months, others for a year together, viii. 26—how the butterfly gets rid of that covering, viii. 28—aurelia of the bee diffe­rent from that of the common caterpillar, viii. 80
• Aurora Borealis, or northern light, streams, with pecu­liar lustre, and a variety of colours round the pole—its appearance almost constant in winter—and when the sun departs for half a year, this meteor supplies its beams, affording light for all the pur­poses of existence, i. 387
• Aurora, or the samiri, the smallest and most beautiful of the sapajou monkies—its description—is very tender, delicate, and held in high price, iv. 236
• Auvergne, in France, an amazing mummy dug up at that place, ii. 283
• Awk, a bird bred in the island of St. Kilda, vi. 98
• Axis, a kind of beautiful stag—its description, iii. 123
• Azores, serpents, adders, and snakes seen about these islands by sir Robert Hawkins in 1590, i. 239

• Baboon, fierce, malicious, ignorant, and untractable, iv. 209—its description—impelled by a hatred for [Page] the males of the human species, and a desire for women, iv. 210—the chevalier Forbin relates, that in Siam, whole troops will sally forth, plunder the houses of provisions, and endeavour to force the women—manner of robbing an orchard or vineyard at the Cape of Good Hope, iv. 210, 211—the fe­male brings forth one at a time, carries it in her arms, clinging to her breast, iv. 214—survey of the baboon kind, iv. 188—at the Cape of Good Hope, the young of these animals are taught to guard houses, and perform the duty with punctu­ality, iv. 212—they seem insensible of the mischief they do—a baboon described by Mr. Buffon, iv. 213—lasciviousness predominant—their food, iv. 214— [...]re not found to breed in our climate, iv. 213—are not carnivorous—their liver, like that of a dog, divided into six lobes—the largest of the kind is the mandril, iv. 214—its description—dis­pleased, it weeps like a child—is a native of the Gold Coast—that called wanderow chiefly seen in the woods of Ceylon and Malabar—its description—the maimon of Buffon, by Edwards called the pig tail, the last of the sort—its description—a na­tive of Sumatra, iv. 214, 215
• Baby, the name of a dwarf, whose complete history is very accurately related by Mr. Dabenton, ii. 254
• Babyronessa, the Indian hog, its description, iii. 193 to 195—travellers call it the hog of Bouro, iii. 192—in what manner it escapes the pursuers, iii. 195—has enormous tusks of fine ivory—less dangerous than the wild boar, iii. 194—the tusks have points directed to the eyes, and sometimes grow into them—these animals, in a body, are seen with the wild boars, with which they are not known to en­gender—are easily tamed—have a way of reposing different from other animals of the larger kind, by hitching one of their upper tusks on the branch of a tree, and suffering their whole body to swing down at ease—they are fierce and terrible when [Page] offended, and peaceable and harmless when unmo­lested—their flesh good to be eaten, but said to putrefy in a short time—they chiefly live upon ve­getables and the leaves of trees, iii. 195—are found in the island of Borneo, and in other parts of Asia and Africa, iii. 196
• Bacon's observations upon fishes, vi. 175
• Badger, a solitary stupid animal, iv. 328—forms a winding hole, and remains in safety at the bottom—the fox takes possession of the hole quitted by the badger, or forces it from the retreat by wiles—sur­prised by the dogs at a distance from its hole, it fights with desperate resolution, iv. 329—all that has life is its food—it sleeps the greatest part of the time, and though not voracious, keeps fat, parti­cularly in winter—it keeps the hole very clear—the female makes a bed of hay for her young, iv. 328, 329—brings forth, in summer, three or four young—how she feeds them—the young are easily tamed—the old are savage and incorrigible—are fond of fire, and often burn themselves dangerous­ly, iv. 329, 330—are subject to the mange, and have a gland under the tail, which scents strongly—its flesh rank and ill tasted, iv. 330
• Bag, name of the false belly of the oppossum—its de­scription, iv. 243
• Bag, or pouch of the civet, manner in which the perfume is taken from it, iii. 391—this bag differs from that of the rest of the weasel kind, and in what, iii. 390
• Bait, the best for all kinds of fish is fresh herring, vi. 256—the larger sort will take a living small fish upon the hook sooner than any other bait, vi. 257
• Balance to determine the specific gravity of metals, i. 190
• Bald, women less apt to become bald than men—Mr. Buffon thinks they never become bald—many in­stances of the contrary among us, ii. 86
• Balearic crane, its description, v. 387—the real crane of Pliny, v. 386—comes from the coast of Africa and Cape de Verd islands, v. 388—its habits—has [Page] been described by the name of sea-peacock—foreign birds of the crane kind described, the jabiru, the jabiru-guacu, the anhima, and the buffoon bird, v. 388, 389
• Ball of fire of the bigness of a bomb—its effects, i. 380
• Baltic, the Danes in possession of it, i. 232
• Banks of a river, after inundations, appear above wa­ter, when all the adjacent valley is overflown, and why, i. 202, 203
• Banks (Mr.) discovers and describes an extraordinary animal of the gerbua kind, and calls it kanguroo, in figure resembling, but in size and other circum­stance differing with it, iv. 351
• Banana, the elephant eats the plant to the roots, iv. 259
• Barb, an Arabian horse bred in Barbary, ii. 354
• Barbs of the whale, or whale-bone, vi. 196
• Barbary hen, its description, v. 192
• Barble, a flat fish, its growth, vi. 340
• Barja, in South America, cattle destroyed at that place by the American bats called vampyres, iv. 146
• Baris, in Sierra Leona, in Africa, has a kind of apes, which, properly instructed when young, serve as very useful domestics, iv. 198
• Barnacle, imaginary, a shell fish, vii. 64
• Barometer measures the weight of the air—in what man­ner, i. 304, et seq.—no changes in the air without sensible alteration in the barometer—the barometer is also serviceable in measuring the heights of moun­tains, i. 154, 305, 306—when it marks a pecu­liar lightness in the air, no wonder that it foretells a storm, and why, i. 352—the art of taking the heights of places by it, a new and ingenious in­vention, i. 154—in what manner it is composed, i. 304
• Barrettier, a famous youth, considered as a prodigy of learning at the age of fourteen, slept regularly twelve hours in the twenty-four, ii. 138
• [Page] Bass, a rocky island in the Firth of Forth, has in every crag innumerable birds of various sorts, shining more than the stars of heaven in a serene night, vi. 72
• Bath, persons coming out of a warm bath several ounces heavier than they went in—warm bath of sea-water a kind of relief to mariners, upon a failure of fresh water at sea, i. 238
• Bat, by some reckoned among birds, ii. 313—doubtful among naturalists whether beast or bird—now universally take place among quadrupeds, iv. 134—Pliny, Gesner, and Aldrovandus placed it among birds—scarce in any particular resembles the bird, except in the power of sustaining itself in the air—description of the common sort in England—its intestines and skeleton, in some measure, re­semble those of mankind, iv. 135—makes its first appearance early in summer, and begins its flight in the evening, iv. 136—is seen to skim along the surface of waters—feeds upon gnats, moths, and nocturnal insects of every kind, which it pursues open mouthed—its flight laborious, irregular, and, if interrupted, not readily followed by a second elevation—usually taken, when striking against an object, it falls to the ground—even in the sum­mer, it sleeps the greatest part of the time—its re­treat—continues in a torpid state during winter—is usually hanging by its hooked claws to the roofs of caves, unaffected by all change of weather, iv. 136, 137—is destroyed particularly by the owl—the bat couples and brings forth in summer from two to five young at a time, iv. 138—the female has two nipples forward on the breast, as in the hu­man kind, and this a motive for Linnaeus to give it the title of a primas, to rank it in the same order with mankind—the female makes no nest for her young—when she begins to grow hungry, and finds a necessity of stirring abroad, she takes her little ones and sticks them by their hooks against the sides of her apartment, and there they immoveably cling [Page] and patiently wait her return—less similitude to the race of birds than of quadrupeds, iv. 138, 139—great labour in flying soon fatigues and tires it in less than an hour—its petty thefts upon the fat of bacon, iv. 140—found in the holes deserted by the wood-pecker, v. 253—long-eared bat, iv. 140—horse-shoe bat—rhinoceros bat—a larger race of bats in the East and West Indies truly for­midable—a dangerous enemy—when united in flocks they become dreadful, iv. 140, 141—they are eat—the negroes of the African coasts will not eat them though starving, iv. 141—on the African coast they fly in such numbers, as to ob­scure the setting sun—the rousette, or great bat of Madagascar, is found along the coasts of Africa and Malabar, where it is often seen about the size of a large hen—destroys the ripe fruits, and some­times settles upon animals, and man himself, iv. 142—destroy fowls and domestic animals, unless preserved with the utmost care, and often fasten upon the inhabitants, attack them in the face, and make terrible wounds, iv. 143—the ancients have taken their idea of harpies from these fierce and voracious creatures, equally deformed, gree­dy, uncleanly, and cruel—the bat, called the American vampyre—its description by Ulloa—purport of his account confirmed by various travellers, who all agree that it has a faculty of drawing blood from persons sleeping, and destroy­ing them before they awake, iv. 144—a strong difficulty remains how they make the wound—Ul­loa and Buffon's opinions, iv. 145—suppose the ani­mal endowed with a strong power of suction; and that, without inflicting any wound, by continuing to draw, it enlarges the pores of the skin, so that the blood at length passes—they are one of the great pests of South America, iv. 146—bats as big as rabbits, ii. 6
• To Bay, said of a stag, when he turns his head against the hounds, iii. 114
• [Page] Beagle, harrier and hound seem all of the same kind, iii. 283—transported into Spain or Barbary, will there be converted into the land or water spaniel, iii. 284
• Beak, how that of animals is produced, ii. 101
• Beam, by hunters meant that part which bears the antlers, iii. 114
• Beams, those of the sun shining upon the fire, put it out, and why, i. 333, 334—darting directly upon us, without the medium of the air, would burn us up at once, or blind us with effulgence, i. 334.
• Bear, description of the ant-bear and its habits, iv. 339, 341
• Bears, in cold frozen regions of the north not smaller than in milder countries, ii. 6—the North American Indians anoint their skins with fat of bears, ii. 236—the bears now and then make depre­dations upon the rein-deer, iii. 169—in Green­land do not change colour, iii. 356—three diffe­rent kinds, iv. 321—the black of America does not reject animal food, as believed—places where they are found—retreat of the brown bear, iv. 322—a vulgar error, that during winter, the brown bear lives by sucking its paws; it seems ra­ther to subsist then upon the exuberance of its for­mer flesh—the male and female do not inhabit the same den, and seldom are seen together, but upon the accesses of genial desire, iv. 323—care of the female for her young—the bear, when tamed, seems gentle and placid; yet still to be distrusted and managed with caution, being often treacherous and resentful without a cause, iv. 323—is capable of a degree of instruction—when come to matu­rity, can never be tamed—methods of taking them, iv. 324, 327—their paws and hams a great deli­cacy, iv. 324, 327—the white placed in the coldest climates, grows larger than in the temperate zones, and remains master of the icy mountains in Spitz­bergen and Greenland, iv. 325—unable to retreat when attacked with fire arms, they make a fierce [Page] and long resistance, iv. 326—they live upon fish and seals, their flesh is too strong for food—are often seen on ice-floats, several leagues at sea, tho' bad swimmers, iv. 327—the white sometimes jumps into a Greenlander's boat, and if it does not overset it, sits down calmly and like a passenger, suffers itself to be rowed along, iv. 326—hunger makes it swim after fish—often a battle ensues be­tween a bear and a morse, or a whale, and the latter generally prove victorious, iv. 327
• Beards, Americans taking great pains to pluck theirs up by the roots, the under part, and all but the whiskers, therefore supposed to have no hair grow­ing on that part—Linnaeus himself has fallen into this mistake, ii. 97—different customs of men, in the manner of wearing their beards, ii. 95, 6, 7
• Beasts are most fierce and cruel in all countries where men are most barbarous, ii. 330
• Beasts of chace, in the reigns of William Rufus, and Henry the First, it was less criminal to destroy one of the human species than a beast of chace—sacred edifices thrown down, and turned to waste, to make room for beasts of chace, iii. 110
• Beasts of prey, seldom devour each other—they chief­ly seek after the deer or the goat—their usual me­thod of hunting, ii. 321
• Beaver, known to build like an architect, and rule like a citizen, ii. 328—its fore parts taste like flesh, and the hinder like the fish it feeds on, iii. 192—a re­maining monument of brutal society, iv. 157—Its qualities, taken from its fellows, and kept in so­litude or domestic tameness, iv. 158, 159—resists only when driven to extremity, and fights when its speed cannot avail—the only quadrupede that has a flat broad tail, covered with scales, serving as a rudder to direct its motions in the water, iv. 159—the sole quadruped with membranes between the toes on the hind feet, and none on the fore feet, iv. 159—the only animal in its fore parts en­tirely resembling a quadruped, and in its hinder [Page] parts approaches the nature of fishes, having a scaly tail—its description—has but one vent for the emission of excrements and urine, iv 159, 160—they assemble about the months of June and July, make a society to continue the greatest part of the year—form a company of above two hundred—fix their abode by the side of a lake or river—cut with their teeth a tree thicker than a man's body, iv. 160, 161—amazing works and mansion houses—convey their materials by water, iv. 162 mix clay and dry grass together, work it into a mortar, and with their tails plaister their work within and without, iv. 164—their walls perpen­dicular, and two feet thick—their piers fourscore or an hundred feet long, and ten or twelve feet thick at the base, iv. 161—their dikes ten and twelve feet thick at the foundation—their apart­ments round, or oval, and divided into three sto­ries, one above the other, iv. 163—visited too often by men, they work only in the night time, or abandon the place, and seek a safer situation, iv. 163—four hundred reside in one mansion house, divided into a number of apartments, having com­munication with each other, iv 165—their works in the northern parts finished in August or Septem­ber—in summer they are epicures—their provisions for the winter season—they drive piles into the earth, to fence and fortify their habitation against the wind and water, iv. 164—cut down branches three to ten feet in length—the largest are convey­ed to their magazines by a whole body—the small­est by one only—each taking a different way, and having a walk assigned him, that no one should in­terrupt another in his work, iv. 165, 166—wood­yards larger or smaller, in proportion to the num­ber in family, iv. 166—manner of catching them in snares or by surprize, iv. 167—they swim with their mortar on their tails, and their stakes between their teeth, iv. 162—their works damaged by force of water, or feet of huntsmen, instantly repaired, iv. 163
• [Page] Beauty, every country has peculiar ideas of beauty—extraordinary tastes for beauty, ii. 76—every na­tion, how barbarous soever, has peculiar arts of heightening beauty—several of these arts, ii 78—a modern lady's face formed exactly like the Venus of Medicis, or the sleeping Vestal, would scarce be considered as a beauty, except by the lovers of an­tiquity—less in the object than in the eye of the beholder—superior beauty of our ancestors not easi­ly comparable, ii. 265
• Beccafigo, a bird of the sparrow kind, v. 314
• Bed of a river, an encrease of water there encreases its rapidity, except in cases of inundation, and why—such bed left dry for some hours by a violent storm blowing directly against the stream, 1. 207
• Beds, the earth every where in beds over beds, and each of them maintaining exactly the same thick­ness, i. 58
• Bee, a ruminating insect, or seemingly so—its sto­mach is composed of muscular fibres, iii. 6—ope­rations studied for two thousand years are still in­completely known, viii. 65—Reaumur's account sufficiently wonderful—many of the facts held dubious by those conversant with the subject—some declared not to have existence in nature—three different kinds of bees, viii. 65, 66—common working bees neither male nor female—queen bees lay all the eggs that are hatched in a season—struc­ture of the working bee, particularly of its trunk, which extracts the honey from flowers, viii 66, 67—manner of building their cells, viii. 69—in one day, they make cells upon each other enough to con­tain three thousand bees, viii. 70—description of those cells, viii. 69, 70—the combs made by insensible degrees, not at once as some imagine, viii. 72—the cells for the young and for the drones—that for the queen bee the largest of all, viii. 73—those for ho­ney are deeper than the rest—that not the only food upon which they subsist—manner of anticipating the progress of vegetation, viii 74—the bee has a stomach for wax as well as honey—bee-bread—trea­cle [Page] for food of bees in winter—what part of the flower has the honey, viii 74, 75—sting of the bee, viii. 68—any wanting food, bends down its trunk to the bee from whom it is expected, which then opens its honey-bag, and lets some drops fall into the other's mouth, viii. 70—numerous as the mul­titude of bees appear in a swarm, they all owe their origin to one parent, called the queen-bee, viii. 76—opening the body of a queen, the eggs at one time found to amount to five thousand—the queen easily distinguished from the rest—great fertility of the queen, and the great attentions paid to her, controverted by recent observers, viii. 77—they leave a cell to every egg and destroy the rest, viii. 78—great care and affection for the young, viii. 79—in about twenty days after the egg was laid, the bee was completely formed, and fitted to un­dergo the fatigues of its state—the cell being pre­pared, the animal soon transformed into an aurelia different from that of the common caterpillar, viii. 80—when they begin to break their prisons, above a hundred are excluded in one day, viii. 81—dread­ful battles often ensue between the young brood and their progenitors, viii. 82—signs previous to their migrations—after the migration, the queen being settled, the swarm follows, and in a quarter of an hour, the whole body is at ease, viii. 84—some­times sacrifice their queen; but never when the hive is full of wax and honey, viii. 84, 85—the work­ing sort kill the drones in the worm state, in the cell, and eject their bodies from the hive among the general carnage—upwards of forty thousand bees found in a single hive—instances of expedition in working—in the first fifteen days, they make more wax than during the rest of the year—a hive sending out several swarms in the year, the first always the best and most numerous, viii. 86—a kind of floating bee-house used in France, viii. 87
• Bees, in other countries—in Guadaloupe are less by half than in Europe, and have no sting, viii. 89, 90— [Page] sometimes there are two or three queens to a swarm; then the weaker deserted for the more powerful protector—the deserted queen does not survive the defeat—is destroyed by the jealous ri­val; and till this be done, the bees never go out to work, viii. 84—at Guadaloupe their cells are in hollow trees, sometimes with a sort of waxen-house, shaped like a pear, in which they lodge their honey, and lay their eggs, viii. 90—their honey never congeals, is fluid as oil, and has the colour of amber—in the tropical climates are black bees without a sting—their wax is soft, and only used for medicinal purposes, not being hard enough for candles, as in Europe—whether the humble bees have a queen or not, there is one much larger than the rest, without wings, without hair, all over black, like polished ebony—this views all the works, from time to time, viii. 87—their ha­bits—the honey gathered by the humble bees nei­ther so fine, so good, nor the wax so clear, or so capable of fusion, as those of the common bees, viii. 92.
• Leaf-cutting Bees make their nest, and lay their eggs among bits of leaves, viii. 94
• Wall-bees, so called, because they make their nests in walls—the male and females are of a size—the former without a sting, viii. 94, 95
• Wood-bee—Mason-bee, viii. 92, 93— Ground-bee builds its nest in the earth—the patience and assi­duity of their labour, 93
• Beetles, their general characteristics, viii. 128, 137—their kinds distinguished from each other, viii. 129—description of the dorr-beetle, or the May-bug, viii. 136—how the two sexes in the May-bug are distinguished from each other—season of their coupling, viii. 131—the female bores a hole into the ground, where to deposit her burthen; and when lightened of it ascends from the hole, to live as before—their eggs—description of the in­sect, and of its manner of life in the worm-state— [Page] continues in that state for more than three years, changing every year its skin, and living under the ground without eyes—in what manner it assumes the form of a chrysalis, viii. 133—time when it becomes winged, and completely formed—the old one never survives the season—and dies from the severity of cold in winter, viii. 134—its habits and food, when completely formed—number of their eggs, viii. 135—rooks and hogs particularly fond of them, and devour them in great numbers, viii. 136—instances of great devastations made by the May-bug—description and habits of that beetle, which the Americans call the tumble-dung, viii. 137, 138—the insect called king of the beetles, viii. 138—description of the elephant-beetle—the largest of this kind hitherto known, viii. 139—a ruminating insect, or seems to ruminate, iii. 6
• Beggars, a question in the schools, which the most happy man, the beggar by night, and king by day; or the beggar by day, and king by night, ii. 139
• Belcher (Mr.) the first who discovered the circulation of the blood through the bones—experiments to this purpose, ii. 194
• Belegme (Roger de) the first who attempted to mend our native breed of horses, ii. 370
• Bell, the great diving-bell improved by doctor Hal­ley—he could write or read in it when the sea was clear, and especially when the sun shone, i. 291
• Bell, when the stag cries, he is said to bell, iii. 113
• Bells, their vibrations not heard under the receiver of an air-pump, i. 334
• Belly, a minute description of the false belly of the oppossum, iv. 243, et seq.
• Berries, the Laplanders drink water, in which juni­per-berries have been infused, ii. 216
• Bewailer, or the sai, a monkey of the new conti­nent, iv. 236
• Bezoar, German bezoar, iii. 69
• Bezour-goat, the oriental bezoar, iii. 74, et seq.— [Page] cow-bezoar, and monkey-bezoar, iii. 76—hog-bezoar, iii. 77
• Billitting, a name given by huntsmen to the excre­ment of the fox, iii. 328
• Birch, hares are particularly fond of it, iv. 7
• Birds, all produced from the egg, ii. 26—their lower eye-lid alone has motion, ii. 85—have the neck longer than any other kind of animals—those which have short claws, have also short necks—those that have long claws have the neck in pro­portion, ii. 102—have a power of disgorging food to feed their young—ruminating birds, iii. 5—many kinds which the dog will not touch, iii. 304—hunters often informed by the birds of the place of retreat of the fox, iii. 331—a flock of small birds often alarms every thicket, and di­rects the hunter to the martin, iii. 372—surpass fishes and insects in structure of body, and in sagacity, v. 2—their anatomy and conformation, v. 3, et seq.—compared to a ship making way through water, v. 4—are furnished with a gland behind, containing a proper quantity of oil—to what purpose—description of their feathers, v. 6—the pectoral muscles of quadrupeds trifling to those of birds—chuse to rise against the wind—and why, v. 8—all, except the nocturnal, have the head smaller, and less in proportion to the body, than quadrupeds, v. 9—their sight exceeds most other animals, and excels in strength and preci­sion, v. 10—have no external ear standing out from the head—the feathers encompassing the ear-holes, supply the defect of the exterior ear—the extreme delicacy of their sense of hearing, is easily proved by their readiness in learning tunes, or repeating words, and the exactness of their pro­nunciation—their delicacy in the sense of smell­ing—instance of it in ducks, v. 11—the tail guides their flight like a rudder, and assists them either in the ascent, or descent, v. 12—wonder­ful internal conformation—the wind-pipe often [Page] makes many convolutions within the body of the bird, and is then called the labyrinth, v. 13—of what use these convolutions are, no naturalist has been able to account—this difference obtains in birds to all appearance of the same species—whence some derive that loud and various modulation in their warblings is not easily accounted for—birds have much louder voices, in respect to their bulk, than animals of other kinds—all have properly but one stomach, but different in different kinds, v. 14—the organs of digestion in a manner reversed in birds—why they pick up sand, gravel, and other hard substances—most have two appendices or blind guts—in quadrupeds always found single, v. 16—all birds want a bladder for urine—their urine differs from that of other animals, v. 17—effects of the annual molting which birds suffer—their molting time artificially accelerated—and how, v. 18—the manner in which nature per­forms the operation of molting, v. 19—their molt­ing season, v. 20—many live with fidelity toge­ther for a length of time—when one dies, the other shares the same fate soon after—the male of wild birds as happy in the young brood as the fe­male, v. 23—nothing exceeds their patience while hatching, v. 26—Addison's observations to this purpose, v. 27—great care and industry in pro­viding subsistence for their young—they feed each of the young in turn—and why—perceiving their nests or young to have been handled, they aban­don the place by night, and provide a more se­cure, though less commodious retreat—the young taught the art of providing for their subsistence, v. 29—those hatched and sent out earliest in the season the most strong and vigorous—they endea­vour to produce early in the spring, and why—efforts for a progeny when their nests are robbed, v. 30—such as would have laid but two or three eggs, if their eggs be stolen, will lay ten or twelve—the greatest number remain in the districts where [Page] they have been bred; and are excited to migration only by fear, climate, or hunger, v. 31—cause of the annual emigrations of birds, v. 32—times of migrations, v. 32, 35, 37—in what order performed, v. 35—follow the weather rather than the country, and go on as they perceive the atmosphere more suitable to their wants and dispositions, v. 36, 37—in all countries, longer-lived than quadrupeds or insects of the same climate, v. 39—surprizing age of swans and geese—plumage and voice of birds in different zones, v. 38—all less than quadrupeds—the greatest of one class surpass the greatest of the other in magnitude, v. 39—causes of the great variety in the middle or­der of birds—the ostrich is the greatest of birds—the humming-bird the smallest—wild birds gene­rally of the same magnitude and shape, v. 40—inferior to quadrupeds in docility, v. 41—the number already known above eight hundred—dif­ference between land-birds and water-fowls, v. 42, 43—description of birds of the rapacious kind—the pie kind, v. 44—the poultry kind—the spar­row kind—the duck kind—the crane kind, v. 45—the cormorant the best fisher, vi. 69—the nau­seous bird, or dodo, v. 77—powers of land-birds of the rapacious kind to obtain their food—sight of such as prey by day surprisingly quick—such as ravage by night have their sight fitted to see in darkness with precision, v. 80—inhabit the most lonely places and desert mountains—appearing in cultivated plains, or the warbling groves, is for de­predation—every order of carnivorous birds seek for those of the size approaching their own, v. 81—the carnivorous kinds only breed annually, and are less fruitful than others—breed but few at a time, v. 82—where supplies of food are difficult, the old soon drive the brood from the nest to shift for themselves, and often destroy them in a fury caused by hunger—almost all birds of prey unso­ciable—the male and female when necessary to [Page] each other live together; but they most usually prowl alone, v. 83—birds with crooked beaks and talons are solitary—all males of prey are less, and weaker than the females—the females are of a greater size, more beautiful and lovely for shape and colours, stronger, more fierce and generous, than the males—it may be necessary to be thus superior, to provide for herself and her young—these birds are lean and meagre—their flesh is stringy and ill-tasted, soon corrupting, and flavoured of that animal upon which they subsist, v. 84—Belonius asserts, many people like the flesh of the vulture and falcon, and dress them for eating; and that the osprey, when young, is excellent food—five kinds of land birds of a rapacious na­ture—whence their distinctive mark, v. 85—bird of heaven, name given by the ancients to the eagle, v. 90—the most formidable birds of prey respect the butcher-bird, v. 134—the digestion of such as live upon mice, lizards, or the like food, not very perfect, v. 142—father Kircher set the voices of birds to music, v. 143—domestic birds, of the poultry kind, maintained in our yards, are of foreign extraction, v. 151—the wilder species cooped or caged, pine away, grow gloomy, and some refuse all sustenance—the poultry kind alone grow fat, v. 154—climate, food, and captivity, three very powerful agents in the alterations in the habits, and the very form of birds—of all birds the cock the oldest companion of mankind, and the first reclaimed from the forest, v. 158—also the Persian bird of Aristophanes, v. 161—de­scription of the tamis, or the bird of Numidia, v. 192—the bustard the largest land-bird, native of Britain, v. 194—none secures its young better from external injury than the toucan, v. 246—God's bird, the bird of paradise, v. 260—the pi­geon for it's size has the largest crop, v. 288—parakeets the most beautiful in plumage, and the most talkative birds in nature, v. 281—small birds [Page] mark out a territory to themselves, which they permit none of their own species to remain in, v. 301—at some season of the year, all small birds mi­grate from one county to another, or from more inland provinces towards the shore—months of their migrations, v. 302, 303—Autumn the princi­pal season for catching these wanderers—the nets, and the method of catching them—flur-birds, v. 304—singing among birds universally the prero­gative of the male—small birds fight till one yields his life with the victory—two male birds strive in song, till the loudest silences the other; during the contention, the female sits an attentive silent auditor, and often rewards the loudest songster with her company during the season, v. 307—the male, while his mate is hatching, sits upon some neighbouring tree, to watch and to sing, v. 308—the nest of small birds warmer than of the larger—small birds having finished their nests, nothing exceeds the cunning they employ to conceal it—worms and insects the first food of all birds of the sparrow kind, v 309—how birds of the sparrow kind bring forth and hatch their young, v. 310—manner of life during the rigours of winter, v. 311—the male of small birds not finding a mate of his own species, flies to one of another like him, left out in pairing, v. 313—a mixed species between a goldfinch and a canary-bird, between a linner and a lark; these breed frequently together, and pro­duce not, like the mules among quadrupeds, a race incapable of breeding again, but one as fruit­ful as their parents, v. 312, 313—various birds of the sparrow kind, v. 314, 315—many plants pro­pagated from the depositions of birds, v. 316—many of those kinds, which are of passage in Eng­land, permanent in other countries; and some with us constant residents, in other kingdoms have the nature of birds of passage—instances of it, v. 318, 319—the heron commits the greatest devastation in fresh waters, v. 394—the flamingo has the larg­est [Page] tongue, vi. 15—birds of various sorts and sizes, sizes, more than the stars in a serene night, seen in the rock of the Bass, in the Firth of Forth, vi. 72—none make a more indifferent figure upon land, or a more beautiful in the water, than the swan, vi. 113—of all birds known, it is the longest in the shell, vi. 119—an incontestible proof that birds have their manners rather from nature than education, vi. 127
• Bird-catchers, sport by counterfeiting the cry of the owl, v. 146—Nets for, and method of taking small birds, v. 304
• Biscayneers, were in possession of the whale-fishery on the coasts of Greenland, in the beginning of the fourteenth century—their method of taking the whale, vi. 205, 206.
• Bison and Urus, names of descendants of one common stock, iii. 15—error of the naturalists upon this point—the cow and bison are animals of the same kind—description of the bison, iii. 17—it is supposed by Klein and Buffon no more than another name for the bonasus, iii. 18—the breed found in all the southern parts of the world, iii. 20—that breed more expert and docile than ours—many bend their knees to take burdens up or set them down—the respect for them in India degenerated into adoration—it is nimble of foot—is esteemed by the Hottentots—assists them in attending their flocks and guarding them against invaders—is taught to combat the enemies of the nation, and every army of the Hot­tentots is furnished with a herd of them, iii. 21, et seq.—they procure the Hottentots an easy victory before they strike a blow—lives in the same cottage with its master, and when it dies, a new one is chosen to succeed it by a council of the old men of the village, and is then joined with a vete­ran of its own kind, from whom it learns, becomes social and diligent, and is taken for life into friend­ship and protection—the bisons are found to differ from each other in several parts of the world—some have horns, some are without, iii. 22—they are [Page] equally tractable and gentle when tamed, iii. 23—and are furnished with a fine, lustrous, soft hair, more beautiful than that of our own breed—their hump of different sizes, weighing from forty to fifty pounds, more or less—cuts and tastes somewhat like a dressed udder—the bisons of Malabar, Abys­sinia, Madagascar, Arabia, Africa, and America—in the course of a few generations, the hump wears away, iii. 23, 24—its description—the bison and the cow breed among each other, iii. 25, 26—the grunting or Siberian cow, and the little African cow or zebu are different races of the bison, iii. 32
• Bitch, a pregnant bitch, so placed by Mr. Buffon, that her puppies were brought forth in warm water, ii. 53
• Bitches, one forgotten in a country-house lived forty days without any other nourishment than the wool of a quilt she had torn to pieces, iii. 304, 305
• Bittern, or mire-drum, the solemnity of its evening-call cannot be described by words—they are calls to courtship or of connubial felicity—it differs from the heron chiefly in colour—its windpipe fitted for the sound—opinions concerning the cause of its boomings, vi. 2, 3—never utters its call in domes­tic captivity, vi. 3—its residence—a retired timo­rous animal—its food, nest, and eggs, vi. 4—in three days, leads its little ones to their food—dif­ferences between the bittern and the heron—its hollow boom considered by the vulgar as the pre­sage of some sad event—instance of it—its flesh greatly esteemed among the luxurious, vi. 4, 5—it seldom rises but when almost trod upon—at the latter end of autumn, in the evening, its wonted indolence forsakes it—is then seen rising in a spiral ascent, till quite lost from the view, making a singu­lar noise different from its former boomings—names given to this bird by the Greeks and Latins, vi. 5
• Bivalve shells, vii. 12—all the kinds hermaphrodite, yet require no assistance towards impregnation, vii. 41—particularly in these shell-fish the pearls are found, vii. 53
• [Page] Black-bird sometimes seen all over white—its eggs and nest, v. 321
• Black-bird, of the sparrow kind, v. 314
• Black-cap, bird of the sparrow kind, v. 317—prized by some for its singing, and is also called the mock nightingale, v. 335
• Blacks, whence originally their flat noses, ii. 239—black parents have procreated two white negroes, ii. 240—conjectural opinion that the blacks are a race of people bred from one man accidentally black, ii. 233—the climate a cause obvious and sufficient to produce blackness, ii. 234—nothing sa­tisfactory discovered upon the cause producing it in human complexions—opinion of sir Thomas Brown upon the subject, ii. 235
• Bladder, birds have no bladder for urine, v. 17—de­scription of the air-bladder, and its use, in fishes, vi. 171, 175—some have no bladder, vi. 174
• Blennius, or Blenny, description of this fish, vi. 306—it brings forth two or three hundred at a time, all alive and playing round the parent, vi. 177
• Blind, such as live in countries generally covered with snow become blind, ii. 160—the mole not blind, iv. 92
• Blindworm, its description, vii. 221
• Blood, arterial blood immediately mixed with air in the lungs, is of a fine florid scarlet colour—that of the veins returning to the heart is of a blackish crimson hue—whence this difference of colour proceeds not well understood, i. 332—the blood circulates through the bones, as through every other part of the body—Mr. Belcher the first who discovered it—his experiment to this purpose, ii. 194—the heat of the blood in man and other ani­mals about thirty degrees above congelation—in the marmout, and other animals which sleep the win­ter, it is not above ten degrees, iv. 45—blood of the rein-deer preserved in small casks for sauce with the marrow in spring, iii. 167
• Blue-bird described, v. 321—its residence—is rarely [Page] caught—its docility—speaks and whistles at the word of command—manner of taking it, v. 322
• Blue cat, described, iii. 211, 212
• Blushing, whence it proceeds, ii. 93
• Wild boar, varies not his colour as dogs of the do­mestic kind, iii. 172—description—he plows the ground like a furrow—his tusks seen almost a foot long—they differ from those of the elephant in that they never fall, iii. 172, 173—when the boars come to a state of maturity, they dread no single creature—their position, when attacked—the manner of hunting them, iii. 173, 174—when killed, the testicles cut off to prevent their tainting the flesh, iii. 175—was formerly a native of our country—William the Conqueror punished with the loss of their eyes, such as killed it in his forests—at pre­sent the wild breed is extinct, iii. 180—the Cana­ry boar described, iii. 196—the tusks being broken away, the animal abates its fierceness and venery, and nearly the same effect as castration is pro­duced, iii. 197—does not fly the approach of the lion—combat of a lion and a wild boar, in a mea­dow near Algiers, iii. 226
• Bobak, name of the marmout in Poland, iv. 48.
• Bodies, why some light bodies swim, and ponderous bodies sink, i. 189—the deeper a body sinks, the greater the resistance of the depressed fluid beneath—how then, after it is got a certain way, does it sink at all, i. 191—animal bodies left to putrefy, produce air copiously, i. 337—symmetry of the human body—the body of a well-shaped man ought to be square, ii. 79, 80—human body often found to differ from itself in size, ii. 110—in­stance of it, ii. 108—the cause—differs also from itself in weight, ii. 110—instances of it, ii. 109 those parts furnished with the greatest quantity of nerves, are first in formation, ii. 146—the tone of a sonorous body made to depend upon the num­ber of its vibrations, and not the force, is taking an effect for a cause, ii. 164—suffering is but to a [Page] certain degree—torture becoming excessive, de­stroys itself; and the mind ceases to perceive, when the body can no longer endure, ii. 207
• Boerhaave taxed with marking out to his pupils a little ridge of hills in Holland, as mountains of no small consideration, i. 136
• Boiguacu, the largest of the serpent kind in South America—sometimes forty feet in length, ii. 6—description of this creature, vii. 226
• Bonasus, supposed by Klein and Buffon another name for the bison, iii. 18
• Bones, in the embryo, soft almost as the muscles and flesh, ii. 193—hard as the bones seem, the blood holds its current through them, as through other parts of the body—this was first accidentally dis­covered by Mr. Belcher—experiment made to this purpose, ii. 194—in old age, more solid, also more brittle, and why, ii. 195—bread of the Laplanders composed of the bones of fishes, pounded and mixed with the inside tender bark of the pine tree, ii. 216—fossile bones found on the banks of the Ohio, in Peru, and Brasil, iv. 282, 283—fish of the same kind have the same number of bones, vi. 318—a vulgar way of speaking, that fishes are at some seasons more bony than at others—those small, lean, and with many fins are the most bony, vi. 319 number of bones in spinous fishes always in propor­tion to the number and size of the fins, vi. 318, 319
• Bonet-Chinois, Mr. Buffon's name of a monkey, sup­posed a variety of that called malbrouk, iv. 233
• Bonito, description of this fish, vi. 314
• Booby, name given by our seamen to birds of the pen­guin tribe, vi. 96
• Borandians, description of them, ii. 213, 214
• Boristhenes, or Nieper, a river, its course and source, i. 210
• Borneo, the natives hunt the ouran-outang in the same maner as the elephant or the lion, iv. 203
• Baroch, in the kingdom of Cambaya, flocks of pea­cocks seen in the fields near that city, v. 175
• [Page] Bosphorus, (the Thracian) was the first appropriated, by granting to such as were in possession of its shore the right of fishing in it, i. 232
• Bottom of the sea in some parts not found, and why, i. 290—that of the Red Sea, a forest of submarine plants, i. 288—that of the sea near America covered with vegetables, i. 289—a map of the bottom of the sea between Africa and America, by M. Buache, i. 290
• Bouro, island in the East Indies, where the babiroues­sa, or Indian hog, is principally found—hog of Bouro, the name given by travellers to the babi­rouessa, iii. 192
• Bowels of the ruminating animals considered as an elaboratory with vessels in it, iii. 3
• Boyuna of Ceylon, a kind of serpent, vii. 223
• Brain and spinal marrow the first seen in the embryo, ii. 146—earth-worm entirely without it, viii. 168—some animals live without their brain for weeks, viii. 170
• Brambling, bird of the sparrow kind, v. 315, 317
• Bramins of India have a power of smelling equal to most creatures—they smell the water they drink, though to us quite inodorous, ii. 180
• Brasil, black clothes worn there soon turn of an iron-colour—kept in the shops, preserve their proper hue, i. 314—the Brasilian rabbit, in shape like the English, has no tail—does not burrow—is not above twice the size of a dormouse, iv. 54—duck describ­ed, vi. 130
• Bread, twelve ounces of it, and nothing but water, the common allowance, for four and twenty hours, among the primitive Christians of the East, ii. 132—that of the Laplanders composed of bones of fishes, pounded and mixed with the inside tender bark of the pine tree, ii. 216
• Bream, description of the sea-bream, vi. 308
• Breasts in women larger than in men—milk found in breasts of men as well as of women, ii. 102—black womens breasts, after bearing one child, hang down [Page] below the navel—it is customary among them to suckle the child at their backs, throwing the breast over the shoulder, ii. 228
• Breath of the lion is very offensive, iii. 224.—manner of breathing in fishes, vi. 170
• Breed, the Spartan or Molossian breed of dogs, iii. 295—Roger de Belegme, earl of Shrewsbury, the first who made attempts towards the mending our native breed of horses, ii. 370—Spaniards take all precautions to improve the breed of jackasses, ii. 385
• Breeze from sea encreases gradually till twelve, sinks away, and totally hushed at five—upon its ceasing, the land-breeze begins, encreases till twelve at night, and is succeeded in the morning by the sea-breeze—cause of these two breezes—sometimes these sea and land breezes come at all hours—the land and sea-breezes on the coasts of Malabar and at Congo, i. 350, 351—constant breeze produced by the melting of snows, i. 347
• Brisson, his method of classing animals, ii. 298
• Bristol, a citizen of it who ruminated his food, iii. 6
• Britons, the ancient, considered the hare as an un­clean animal, and religiously abstained from it, iv. 14—the cock a forbidden food among them, v. 161
• Broches, the horns of the stag the first year, iii. 113
• Brock, the stag of the third year, iii. 113
• Brown (sir Thomas) hoped one day to produce chil­dren by the same method as trees, ii. 26—his opinion upon the cause of blackness in human com­plexions, ii. 235
• Brun (Le) giving a painter directions about the pas­sions, places the principal expression of the face in the eye-brows, ii. 84
• Brush, the name given by huntsmen to the tail of the fox, iii. 328
• Brussels, in the Museum there, a creature covered with feathers and hair, said to be bred between a rabbit and a hen, iv. 15
• Brutes, in those countries where men are most barba­rous [Page] and stupid, brutes are most active and saga­cious, iv. 231
• Buache (M.) gives a map of the bottom of the sea be­tween Africa and America, i. 290
• Bubalus, an animal partaking of the mixed natures of the cow, the goat, and the deer, iii. 79—its de­scription—has often been called the Barbary cow, from which it differs widely, iii. 80
• Bubalus, properly a gazelle of Africa, iii. 149
• Bubalus of the ancients, supposed of the cow kind by Buffon, placed among the lower class of ruminant quadrupeds, iii. 18
• Buccinums, one or two of them viviparous, vii. 30
• Buck, capable of propagating at the age of one year—one buck sufficient for an hundred and fifty goats—becomes old before his seventh year, iii. 55—hunting the buck and the stag performed in the same man­ner in England, iii. 112—number of names invent­ed by hunters for this animal—does not change his layer, like the stag—manner of hunting him is much the same as that of stag-hunting, iii. 128
• Buck-goat produces with the ewe an animal that, in two or three generations, returns to the sheep, re­taining no mark of its ancient progenitor, iii. 35
• Buffalo, of the varieties of the cow kind, but two are really distinct, the cow and the buffalo—they bear an antipathy to each other, iii. 18—they do not breed among each other, and no animals are more distinct and like each other less, iii. 26—are in abundance in Guinea and Malabar, iii. 29—it is a great swimmer, iii. 25—description of it, iii. 27—the veal of the young is not better eating than the beef of the old—they are natives of the warmer climates, iii. 28—yet are bred in seve­ral parts of Europe, particularly in Italy—the female produces one at a time, iii. 29—con­tinues pregnant for twelve months, iii. 30—is afraid of fire—leather made of its hide is well known for thickness, softness, and impenetrability, iii. 27—guided by a ring thrust through it nose— [Page] milk of the female not so good as of the cow—two buffaloes yoked draw more than four strong horses—its flesh hard and blackish, disagreeable to taste and smell—this animal wild in many parts of India, and dangerous iii. 28—manner of hunting them, iii. 29—when tamed, no animal more patient or humble—inferior in size only to the elephant, the rhinoceros, or hippopotamos, iii. 28—the camelo­pard, or camel, if taller, neither so long, nor so corpulent—is fond of the water, and crosses the largest rivers without difficulty, iii. 29—has an aversion to red colours that resemble flame—in those countries where they are in plenty no person dresses in scarlet—they make most use of their feet in combat, and rather tread their enemies to death than gore them, iii. 29, 30.
• Buffon, (M.) his theory of the earth, and a detail of 33 to 38—questions that might be asked this most ingenious philosopher concerning his theory of the earth—he has brought together a multitude of facts relative to the history of the earth, i. 39—his system about the rudiments of animals, ii. 19—objections against it, ii. 20—thinks that women never become bald, ii. 86—his description of the first sensations of a man just brought into existence, pointing out the steps by which he arrived at reali­ty, ii. 187, 188.
• Buffoon-bird, name our sailors give the Numidian crane, v. 390—its peculiar gestures and contor­tions, v. 391—the French call it demoiselle, v. 390—it is a very scarce bird—the ancients have described a buffoon-bird, but not meant the Nu­midian crane, v. 391
• Bug, the May bug. See Beetles.
• Bugs, their habits, vii. 281—described, vii. 282—are often found coupling tail to tail, vii. 284—manner of destroying them—they destroy fleas, and devour each other, vii. 285
• Bulbous, hair is so at the root, ii. 87
• Bulin, a sea-snail, performs the offices of male and female at the same time, vii. 31
• [Page] Bull, the gimero, asserted to be between the ass and the bull, ii. 386
• Bullfinch, bird of the sparrow kind, v. 315, 317—may be taught to whistle a regular tune, v. 345
• Bull-head, description of this fish, vi. 309
• Bulls, the wild, in Spain mean despicable animals—have nothing of that sternness of aspect remarkable in our bulls, iii. 20
• Bull's-eye, name given by sailors to a terrible hurri­cane—described, i. 359
• Bunting, bird of the sparrow kind, v. 315
• Burnet, his theory of the earth—a detail of that work, i. 22, 23
• Bustard, the largest land-bird that is a native of Bri­tain, v. 194—inhabits the open and extensive plain—is much larger than the turkey, the male gene­rally weighing from twenty-five to twenty-seven pounds—its description—its food—places where frequently seen in flocks of fifty or more, v. 195—they have always centinels placed at proper emi­nences, ever on the watch, to warn the flock of the appearance of danger, v. 196
• Bustards are often run down by greyhounds—in what manner—seldom wander above twenty or thirty miles from home, v. 196—the males have a pouch, holding near seven quarts of water—they change their mates at the season of incubation, about the latter end of summer—separate in pairs, if there be a sufficiency of females for the males; otherwise the males fight until one of them falls—in France, some of those victims of gallantry found dead in the fields—their nests—they lay two eggs, almost of the size of a goose-egg—hatch for about five weeks—the young run about as soon as out of the shell, v. 197—they assemble in flocks in Oc­tober, and keep together till April—their food in winter—in parts of Swisserland, they are found frozen in the fields in severe weather—when taken to a warm place, they again recover—usually live [Page] fifteen years, and are incapable of being propagated in a domestic state, v. 198
• Butcher-bird, its description, with its habits. v. 132—leads a life of continual combat—intrepidity of this little creature, in going to war with the pie, the crow, and the kestril, all above four times bigger than itself—it fights upon the defensive, and often comes to the attack with advantage, particularly when the male and female unite to protect their young, and to drive away the more powerful birds of rapine—in what manner they sally forth against them, v. 133—sometimes the combat ends with the destruction of the assailant, and also of the defender, v. 134- the most redoubtable birds of prey respect them, and they fly in their company without fearing their power or avoiding their resentment—small birds are its usual food; and when it has killed the bird or insect, as asserted by the best authority, it fixes them upon some neighbouring thorn, and when thus spit­ted, pulls them to pieces with its bill, v. 134—the smaller red butcher-bird migrates—the places where they are to be found, v. 135, 136—their nests, and the number of their eggs—the female feeds her young with caterpillars and other insects, but soon after accustoms them to flesh procured by the male with great industry—their nature very dif­ferent from other birds of prey in their parental care; for, instead of driving out their young from the nest to shift for themselves, they keep them with care, and even when adult do not forsake them—the whole brood thus live in a family toge­ther—each family afterwards live apart, and hunt in concert—upon the returning season of courtship, this union is at an end, the family parts for ever, each to establish a little houshold of his own, v. 135—the manner of flying is always up and down, seldom direct or sideways—different kinds of this bird, v. 136
• Butter, the fat of the manati serves in all cases instead of butter, iv. 186
• [Page] Butterfly, one of the principal ornaments of oriental poetry—in those countries, the insect is larger and more beautiful than with us, viii. 4—Mr. Reaumur found, that, laying the aurelia in a warm room, he hastened the disclosure of the butterfly, and keeping it in an ice-house, he delayed it, viii. 26—the ef­forts which it makes to get free from its aurelia state, are not so violent as those had in changing from the caterpillar into the aurelia, viii. 27—how the butterfly gets rid of the aurelia, viii. 28—easily distin­guished from flies of every other kind by their wings—Linnaeus has reckoned up above seven hundred and sixty different kinds, yet the catalogue is incomplete, viii. 32—number and beautiful colours of its wings, viii. 33—butterflies can discover their mates at more than a mile's distance, viii. 34—description of the head, corselet, and body, viii. 35—the eyes have not all the same form; but the outward coat has a lustre, in which may be discovered all the colours of the rainbow—when examined closely, it has the appearance of a multiplying glass, viii. 36—the use of their horns or feelers as yet unknown, viii. 37—use of their trunks—difference between butterflies and moths, viii. 38—they often perceive the ap­proach of the female at above two miles distance; by what sense is not easy to conceive—it has no organs for smelling—the female is larger than the male, viii. 39—if disturbed while united, the fe­male flies off with the male on her back, entirely passive upon the occasion—after junction, they de­posite their eggs and die—all females of this tribe are impregnated by the male by one aperture, and lay their eggs by another, viii. 40—every butterfly chuses for her brood, instead of the plant most grateful in its winged state, that it has fed upon in its reptile form—how they keep their eggs warm, and also entirely concealed, viii. 41—many do not lay till the winter warns them of their approaching end; some continue the whole winter in hollows of trees, and do not provide for posterity until the beginning [Page] of April, then leave their retreats, deposite their eggs, and die, viii. 42—some kinds actually live upon nothing, ii. 125
• Buttock, in man, different from that of all other ani­mals, ii. 105
• Buzzard, a sluggish inactive bird, often remains perched whole days upon the same bough—lives more upon frogs, mice, and insects, than upon birds more troublesome to seize—its manner of living in summer—so little capable of instruction, that it is a proverb to call one obstinately ignorant, a buzzard—the honey-buzzard, the moor-buzzard, and the hen-harrier, are of this stupid tribe, and differ chiefly in their size, v. 130
• Byron (Commodore) our last voyager that has seen the gigantic race of mankind, ii. 261

• Cabiai, the same animal as the capibara, iii. 189
• Cachalot, a fish said to pursue a shoal of herrings, and to swallow thousands at a gulp, vi. 168—it has ge­nerally gone under the name of the spermaceti whale, till Mr. Penant made the distinction, bor­rowing its name from the French—seven distinc­tions in this tribe—description, vi. 217—the throat of this animal very formidable—with ease it could swallow an ox—it can at one gulp send a shoal of fishes down its enormous gullet—it terrifies the dol­phins and porpoises so much, as often to drive them on shore—it contains two precious drugs, spermaceti and ambergrease, vi. 218—the oil of this fish is easily convertible into spermaceti, by boiling it with a ley of pot-ash, and hardening it in the manner of soap—candles are now made of it, vi. 220—the balls of ambergrease not found in all fishes of this kind, but chiefly in the oldest and strongest, vi. 221
• Cagui, or the saki, is the largest monkey of the sagoin kind—its description, iv. 237
• [Page] Cajeta, a mountain near it, was split by an earth­quake, i. 157
• Cairo, in what manner they produce there six or seven thousand chickens at a time, v. 168
• Calabria and Sicily first taught the other kingdoms of Europe the manufacture of silk, viii. 50
• Calao, the horned Indian raven, v. 235
• Calcination, all animal substances when calcined are the same, vii. 3
• Calculations made by Kircher in taking the heights of places are incredible; and why, i. 154
• Calf, name given to the young of the hind, or the female of the stag, iii. 108
• Calf, or hind-calf; the stag called so the first year, iii. 113
• Callitrix, the green monkey of St. Jago, of the an­cient continent—its description, iv. 234
• Callyonymus, the dragonet—description of this fish, vi. 306
• Calms attended with deluges of rain—why, and where, i. 345
• Camel a ruminating animal, iii. 5—camel and dro­medary not two distinct kinds, only a variety of the same, which has subsisted time immemorial—the only sensible difference between those two races, they produce with each other, and the mixed breed is considered the best—of the two the dromedary is far the most numerous—countries where the camel and dromedary are found, iv. 302—neither can subsist, or propagate, in the cli­mates towards the North—Arabia the most adapted to the support and production of this animal—the camel the most temperate of all animals—it can continue to travel several days without drinking, and is often six or seven days without any sustenance—its feet formed to travel upon sand, and utterly un­fit for moist or marshy places, iv. 303—many vain efforts tried to propagate the camel in Spain—they have been transported into America, but have mul­tiplied in neither—they might perhaps produce in [Page] these countries, but would in a few years degene­rate; their strength and their patience would forsake them; and instead of enriching, become a burthen to their keepers, iv. 304—uses to which this animal is put among the Arabians, iv. 304, 305—its edu­cation, iv. 306—it has a fifth stomach, as a reser­voir, to hold a greater quantity of water than imme­diately wanted—when the camel finds itself pressed with thirst, it throws up a quantity of this water by a simple contraction of the muscles, in­to the other stomachs—travellers, when straight­ened for water, have often killed their camels for what they expected to find within them—countries where commerce is carried on by means of camels iv. 307—trading journies in caravans—their food iv. 308—pursue their way when the guides are ut­terly astray—its patience and docility when load­ed, iv. 309—in what manner the female receives the male—one male left to wait on ten females, the rest castrated—they live from forty to fifty years, iv. 310—every part of this animal converted to some useful purpose—its very excrements are not useless, iv. 311—their burthen, iv. 308
• Camel, the lama considered as the camel of the new world, iv. 312
• Cameleon, its dimensions and appetites, vii. 151—has a power of driving the air it breathes over every part of the body. vii. 152—changes of its colour, vii. 153—it is an error that it assumes the colour of the object it approaches, vii. 154—description of it by Le Bruyn—it often moves one eye, when the other is at rest—sometimes one eye seems to look directly forward, while the other looks back­ward; and one looks upward, while the other re­gards the earth, vii. 154, 155, 156
• Camelopard described, iv. 298—dimensions of a young one, iv. 299—inhabits the deserts of Africa, iv. 298—no animal from its disposition, or its forma­tion, less fitted for a state of natural hostility, iv. [Page] 299, 300—it lives entirely upon vegetables, and when grazing, spreads its fore legs wide to reach the pasture—known to the ancients, but rarely seen in Europe—often seen tame at Grand Cairo, in Egypt—Pompey exhibited at one time ten upon the theatre, iv. 300
• Camerarius, his description of the perfections a horse ought to possess, ii. 372
• Camlet made of the hair of animals about Angora, iii. 58
• Canada, above thirty thousand martins skins annually imported from that country into England, iii. 372
• Canals for the circulation of blood through the bones, are of different capacities, during the different stages of life, ii. 194, 195—canal of communication through which the blood circulates in the foetus, without going through the lungs, found open in some bodies when dissected, vii. 58
• Canary-bird, by the name, originally from the Ca­nary Islands—come to us from Germany, where they are bred in numbers—at what period brought into Europe is not known—about a cen­tury ago they were sold at very high prices, and kept only for the amusement of the great—in its native islands it is of a dusky grey colour, and so dif­ferent from those seen in Europe, as to raise a doubt about its species, v. 339—rules and instructions for breeding them in a domestic state, v. 340, 341—apparatus for breeding it in Germany, v. 342—food the old ones must be supplied with, when the young ones are excluded—so prolific are these birds sometimes, that the female will be ready to hatch a second brood before the first is able to quit the nest, v. 343—this bird kept in company with the linnet or gold-finch, pairs and produces a mixed breed, most like the canary-bird, and resembling it in its song, v. 344—taught to pick up the let­ters of the alphabet at the word of command, to spell any person's name in company, v. 41
• [Page] Canary boar described, iii. 196
• Cancerous breasts cured by the sucking of the rubeth, or the land-toad, vii. 102
• Candle quickly extinguishes in an exhausted receiver, and why, i. 333
• Cannons filled with water, and left to freeze, burst, i. 179
• Cantharis, well known in the shops by the name of Spanish flies, and for their use in blisters—their description, with the differences from each other, viii. 141—the countries where, and trees on which they are seen—it is reported, that the country people expect the return of these in­sects every seven years—their bad smell is a guide for those who catch them—they smell so disagree­able, as to be perceived at a great distance, espe­cially about sun-set, though not seen at that time, viii. 142—they yield a deal of volatile caustic salt—their qualities—the effects fall principally upon the urinary passages—in what manner they are killed, viii. 143
• Cape de Verde islands—a south-wind prevails in them during the month of July, i. 346
• Cape of Good Hope, a north-west wind blows there during the month of September, i. 346—at the Cape of Good Hope it is customary to hunt the elephant for its teeth, iv. 280—in what manner—account of an unhappy huntsman, iv. 281
• Capibara, or cabial, an animal resembling an hog of about two years old, iii. 190—its description—some naturalists have called it the water-hog; and why, iii. 191—a native of South America, and chiefly frequenting the borders of lakes and rivers—like the otter it seizes the fish, upon which it preys, with its hoofs and teeth—lives also upon fruits, corn, and sugar-canes—its cry resembles the braying of an ass, more than the grunting of an hog—its only place of safety is the water, into which it plunges, when pursued; and keeps so long at the bottom, that the hunter can have no [Page] no hopes of taking it there, iii. 192—when young is easily tamed—its flesh has a fishy taste, but its head is said to be excellent, iii. 192
• Capons taught to clutch a fresh brood of chickens throughout the year, v. 169
• Capon of Pharaoh supposed the true ibis—is a devourer of serpents, and follows the caravans that go to Mecca, to feed upon the offal of the animals killed on the journey, v. 385
• Caracal, or the siagush, a native of the East Indies, resembles the lynx in size, iii. 258
• Caracol, a town situated at the foot of the Andes, i. 147
• Caraguata, a plant in the West Indies, which clings round the tree it happens to be near—it keeps away that nourishment designed to feed the trunk, and at last entirely destroys its supporter, ii. 4
• Carapo, description of this fish, vi. 311
• Carassa, a volcano in South America, i. 99
• Caravan, a single lion of the desert often attacks an entire caravan, iii. 216—the assemblage called a caravan sometimes composed of numbers amount­ing to ten thousand, iv. 308
• Carcajou, name given by the North Americans to the glutton—its manner of killing the rein-deer, iii. 170
• Caribou, name the Americans give the rein-deer, iii. 153
• Carli (Father) his account of the faithful services of monkies in Angola, where he went to convert the savage natives to Christianity, iv. 231
• Carnivorous animals seek their food in gloomy soli­tude, iii. 1—they are sharper than the ruminating animals, and why—their stomachs small, and their intestines short, iii. 2—their intestines thin and lean, iii. 4—except the dog, none will make a voluntary attack, but with the odds on their side, ii. 319—in proportion as each wants strength, it uses the assistance of patience, assiduity, and cun­ning, ii. 320—there is one class that pursue in a [Page] pack, and encourage each other by their mutual cries, ii. 322—support a state of famine for seve­ral weeks together, ii. 323—milk in those animals is more sparing than in others, iii. 337.
• Carnivorous birds seek for such as are of the size most approaching their own, v. 81. See Birds.
• Carp, an experiment made with this fish in a large vase of water, under an air-pump, vi. 169, 171—one found by Buffon not less than a hundred years old—this discovery confirmed by other authors, vi. 176—continues in the egg not above three weeks, vi. 180—Mr. Tull famous for his invention of spaying carp to give it a fine flavour, vi. 182—its description, vi. 314—the method of fattening it in a damp cellar—it has been known thus to live for a fortnight to grow exceedingly fat, and to get a superior flavour, vi. 320
• Carriers, pigeons used to carry letters, v. 292
• Carrion-crow resembles the raven in its appetites, its laying, and manner of bringing up its young, v. 230
• Cartesius, his theory to explain the invariable motion of the winds, not quite so absurd as that of doc­tor Lyster, i. 342
• Carthagena, in America—the heat of its climate af­fects the speech of its inhabitants, which is soft and slow, and their words generally broken—more than three parts of our army destroyed by the cli­mate, in our unsuccessful attack upon it, i. 322
• Carthamus, or bastard saffron, strongly purgative to man, v. 281—parrots very fond of it, v. 280
• Cartilage, the thyroid cartilage, ii. 102—cartilages in youth elastic, and pliant in age, become at last hard and bony; and why, ii. 195
• Cartilaginous fishes—their general conformation—supposed they grow larger every day till they die, vi. 231—their internal structure—are possessed of a twofold power of breathing—apertures by which they breathe, vi. 232—the cartilaginous shark, or ray, live some hours after they are taken [Page]—fishes of this tribe can remain under wa­ter, without taking breath; and can venture their heads above the deep, and continue for hours out of their native element, vi. 233—their season and manner of copulating—and of bringing forth, vi. 234—little difference between the viviparous, and the oviparous kinds, in this class of fishes, vi. 235—five divisions of the cartilaginous fish, vi. 235, 236, 237
• Cassowary, a bird first brought into Europe by the Dutch from Java, in the East Indies, where only it is found—its description, v. 68, 69—the part which most distinguishes this animal is the head, which inspires some degree of terror, v. 70—its internal parts described—it has the head of a warrior, the eye of a lion, the defence of a porcupine, and the swiftness of a courser, v. 72—is not fierce in its natural character—how it defends itself—extraor­dinary manner of going—the Dutch assert that it can devour glass, iron, and stones, and even live and burning coals, without the smallest fear, or the least injury, v. 73—the largest of its eggs is fifteen inches round one way, and twelve the other—places where this animal is found—it has not multiplied in any considerable degree, as a king of Java made a present of one to the captain of a Dutch ship, as a rarity, v. 74
• Catacombs of Egypt, ii. 277
• Catamountain, or the Ocelot of Mr. Buffon, iii. 255—its description, iii. 256—it hunts for the hare, or the rabbit, ii. 320—is one of the fiercest, and for its size, one of the most destructive animals in the world, iii. 262
• Cats, the wild hunt for the squirrel or the mouse, ii. 320
• Catanea, a city utterly overthrown by an earthquake, i. 111, 112
• Cataphractus, or kabassou, is one of the largest kinds of the armadilla, iv. 133
• Cataracts of the Rhine, and of the Nile, i. 221—the [Page] cataract of the river Velino, in Italy, is above an hundred and fifty feet perpendicular—a cataract near the city of Gottenburg in Sweden—other ca­taracts, i. 222, 223
• Cataract of the eye, Mr. Cheselden having couched a boy of thirteen, who to that time had been blind, and at once having restored him to sight, curiously marked the progress of his mind upon the occa­sion, ii. 152, 153
• Caterpillars, their differences from all other insects, viii. 4, et seq.—all these animals are hatched from the eggs of butterflies—during winter, the greatest number of caterpillars are in an egg state, viii. 7—in the aurelia state, they are seemingly deprived of life and motion, viii. 8—some do not make any change at the approach of winter, but chuse them­selves some retreat, and there remain quite mo­tionless, and as insensible as if actually dead—ca­terpillars of this kind are found in great numbers together, enclosed in one common web that covers them all—there are some of the kind, whose butter­flies live all the winter; and where, viii. 9—a single caterpillar eats double its own weight of leaves in a day, and seems no way disordered by the meal, viii. 10—the body of the caterpillar anatomically considered, viii. 11—avidity with which they feed, viii. 12—number of their stigmata, or those holes through which the animal is supposed to breathe, viii. 13—it has eighteen lungs—the experiment of Malphigi to ascertain their use, viii. 14—all caterpillars spin at one time or another, viii. 15—many of them change their skins five or six times in a season, viii. 16—and in what manner, viii. 17—change into an aurelia, viii. 19—their re­treats in that state, viii. 22, 23—there are thousands of fishes, birds, and insects, that live chiefly up­on caterpillars, viii. 43—a single sparrow and its mate, that have young ones, destroy above three thousand caterpillars in a week—some of the kind, fitted only to live upon leaves and plants, [Page] will eat each other, in preference to their vegetable food, viii. 44—the bodies of the larger kinds serve as a nest to various flies, that very carefully de­posite their eggs in them, viii. 46—number of worms remain within the body of the caterpillar, devouring its entrails, without destroying its life, viii. 47—the inchneumon tribe is not the cater­pillar's offspring, as supposed, but its murderers, viii. 48
• Cat-fish, its description, vi. 308
• Cats, the whole tribe seek their food alone, and never unite for mutual defence, nor for mutual sup­port—and, except at certain seasons, are enemies to each other—all of the cat kind devour nothing but flesh, and starve upon any other provision, iii. 198—their greatest force lies in the claws, iii. 200—the cat goes with young fifty-six days; and seldom brings forth above five or six at a time—the male often devours the kittens—before they are a year old, they are fit to engender, iii. 203—the female seeks the male with cries; nor is their co­pulation performed without great pain; and why—cats hunt the serpents in the isle of Cy­prus—any animal weaker than themselves, is to them an indiscriminate object of destruction—the mouse is their favourite game, and they patiently watch a whole day, until the mouse appears, iii. 204, 205—a flagrant mark by which the cat discovers its natural malignity—their eyes see better in dark­ness than light; and why—if the inhabitant quits the house, the cat still remains, iii. 205, 206—is ex­cessively fond of some plants, such as valerian, ma­rum, and cat-mint—particularly loves fish, iii. 206, 207—its sleep is very light—its hair sends forth shining sparks, if rubbed in the dark—the wild breed with the tame—description of the wild cat, iii. 207, 208—inhabits the most mountainous and woody parts, lives mostly in trees, and feeds only by night—the cat was much higher in esteem a­mong our ancestors than it is at present, iii. 208— [Page] laws of Howel, concerning the price of cats—cats were not naturally bred in our forests—of all qua­drupeds, the wild cat is, perhaps, that whose intes­tines are proportionably the smallest and the shortest; and why, iii. 208, 209—common to the new con­tinent, as well as the old—the blue-cat, iii. 211—the lion cat, or more properly, the cat of An­gora—the cats in Syria and Persia remarkable for their long, soft hair, iii. 212—all the cat kind are kept off by the fires which the inhabitants light to preserve their herds and flocks—and they hunt ra­ther by the sight than the smell, iii. 222—it happens that the lion pursues the jackall or the wild dog, while they are hunting upon the scent, and mere­ly for themselves; the lion is then an unwelcome intruder upon the fruits of their toil—from thence, probably, has arisen the story of the lion's provid­er, iii. 223—the lion devours a great deal at a time, and generally fills himself for two or three days to come—in the deserts and forests, his most usual prey are the gazelles, and the monkeys, iii. 223, 224—the race of cats noxious in proportion to their power to do mischief—inhabit the most torrid latitudes of India, Africa, and America, and have never been able to multiply beyond the torrid zone; they seldom attack man, though provoked—of all animals these are the most sullen, and, to a proverb, untameable, iii. 259—different classes of the kind from the lion to the cat, iii. 267, 268—the wild cat and the match seldom meet without a combat—it is not a match for the martin, iii. 369—the cat of Pharaoh injudiciously called the ichneu­mon, iii. 376—cats of Constantinople, a name of the gennet, and why, iii. 388
• Cattle, we have the best breed of horned cattle in Europe, iii. 12—the large hornless bred in some parts of England, originally from Poland, iii. 13—the Dutch bring great quantities of lean cattle from Denmark, to fatten on their own rich grounds [Page]—that of Ukraine becomes fat, and is considered the largest breed of all Europe—in Switzerland these animals grow to a large size—not so in France, iii. 19—size in Barbary, Ethiopia, Persia, and Tartary, iii. 20—leather-mouthed cattle, iii. 45—liable to be destroyed by the South-American bat, vampyre, iv. 146
• Caverns, the amazing cavern of Eldenhole in Derby­shire, i. 60—the dreadful cavern in the country of the Arrian Indians, called the Gulph of Pluto, described by Aelian, i. 61—cavern of Maestricht, i. 63—its description, i. 64—no part of the world has a greater number of artificial caverns than Spain, i. 64—in general deserted by every race of meaner animals, except the bat—the caverns call­ed Oakey-hole, the Devil's-hole, and Penpark-hole in England, i. 65—the cavern of Antiparos, and its discovery, i. 67—how natural caverns formed, i. 72—two hundred feet as much as the lowest of them is found to sink, i. 73—one in Africa, near Fez, continually sends forth either smoke or flames, i. 99
• Caviar, the inhabitants of Norway prepare from eggs found in the body of the porpess, a savoury liquor, which makes a delicate sauce, and is good when eaten with bread, vi. 228—it is made with the roe of sturgeon—more in request in other countries of Europe than with us—and is a considerable merchandize among the Turks, Greeks, and Ve­netians—manner of making it, vi. 281, 282
• Causes, the investigation of final causes a barren stu­dy; and, like a virgin dedicated to the deity, brings forth nothing, i. 20
• Caustic, cantharides yield a great deal of volatile cau­stic salt, viii. 143
• Cayman, a sort of crocodile, vii. 119
• Cayopolin, a kind of oppossum—its description, iv. 248
• Cea, an island washed away with several thousand inhabitants, i. 134
• [Page] Cells made by the bees, viii. 70, 71
• Cenere, a mount of recent appearance, i. 162
• Centinel, some animals carefully avoid their enemies, by placing sentries to warn of danger, and know how to punish such as neglect their post, or are unmindful of the common safety, ii. 324—when the marmouts venture abroad, one is placed as a sentry, upon a lofty rock, iv. 43—the bustards have centinels placed upon proper eminences, where always on the watch, they warn the flock of the smallest appearance of danger, v. 196
• Centipes, the scolopendra, vii. 302
• Centriscus, a kind of cartilaginous fish, vi. 291
• Cephus, name given by the ancients to the monkey now called mona, iv. 234
• Cepola, the description of this fish, vi. 307
• Cerigo, an island of the Archipelago, where many wild asses are found, ii. 377
• Cetaceous fishes, the whale and its varieties resemble quadrupeds in their internal structure, and in some of their appetites and affections, vi. 185—they are constrained every two or three minutes to come up to the surface to take breath, as well as to spout out through their nostril, for they have but one, that water which they sucked in while gap­ing for their prey, vi. 186—the senses of these animals superior to those of other fishes, and it is most likely that all animals of the kind can hear, vi. 187—they never produce above one young, or two at the most; and this the female suckles in the manner of quadrupeds, her breasts being placed, as in the human kind, above the navel—distinctive marks of this tribe, vi. 188, 189, 190
• Chace, men of every age and nation have made that of the stag a favourite pursuit—in our country it was ever esteemed a principal diversion of the great, iii. 109—the same in Sicily, iii. 120—and in China, iii. 121—terms used by hunters in that chace, iii. 113, 114—chace of the fox—cant terms used by the huntsmen in it, iii. 328—these sports [Page] reserved by sovereigns for particular amusement, and when, iii. 109—in the reigns of William Ru­fus and Henry the First, it was less criminal to destroy a human being than a beast of chace—sa­cred edifices thrown down for room to beasts of chace, iii. 110—chace of the stag, as performed in England, iii. 112, 116—of all varieties, that of the ostrich the most laborious, is also the most en­tertaining—description of it, v. 59, 60
• Chacrelas, white men go by that name in the East Indies, ii. 241
• Chaetodon, or the cat-fish, its description, vi. 308
• Chaffinch, a bird of the sparrow kind, v. 315, 317, 318—time of emigration of the hen, v. 32
• Chapotonadas, a distemper in America, i. 323
• Charles XII. when shot at the siege of Frederickshall, was seen to clap his hand on the hilt of his sword, ii. 208
• Charossi, the only sort of horses for hunting lions, iii. 226
• Charybdis, a gulph, Nicola Pesce jumped into it, continued for three quarters of an hour below, and at last appeared holding a golden cup in one hand, and making his way among the waves with the other, i. 296—description of this gulph, i. 297
• Chasms, amazing in the Alps, i. 59—and still more in the Andes, i. 60—causes that produce chasms or fissures, i. 62
• Chatterer, a bird native of Germany—its description, v. 242
• Cheese, the inhabitants of Canada use no other than the milk of the hind, or the female of the stag, iii. 124—those of Lapland little and well tasted, iii. 165—never breed mites, iii. 166
• Cheops, the oldest measure of the human figure in his monument, in the first pyramid of Egypt, ii. 264
• Cheselden, after couching a boy of thirteen for a cata­ract, blind from his infancy, and at once restor­ing him to sight, curiously marked the progress of his mind upon the occasion, ii. 152 to 156
• [Page] Chevrotin, or little Guinea deer, the least of all clo­ven footed quadrupeds, and perhaps the most beau­tiful—is most delicately shaped—its description—native of India, Guinea, and the warm climates between the tropics, iii. 82—the male in Guinea has horns; but the female is without any—they chiefly abound in Java and Ceylon, iii. 83
• Cheyne, suspected the quantity of water on the earth daily decreasing, i. 182
• Chicken, an amazing history of it in the egg, by Mal­pighi and Haller, ii. 30, et seq.—in what manner six or seven thousand are produced at a time, at Grand Cairo, v. 168—capons clutch a fresh brood of chickens throughout the year, v. 169
• Child, history of the child in the womb, ii. 39 to 47—as the child encreases in age, the inferior parts pro­portionably lengthen, ii. 108—a child marked with a scar, similar to one the father had received in battle, ii. 238—Sir Thomas Brown hoped to be­come able to produce children by the same method as trees, ii. 26—children of negroes able to walk at two months old; at least to move from one place to another—skin of children newly brought forth, is always red, and why—the size of a new-born in­fant about twenty inches, and its weight twelve pounds, ii. 56—in cold countries continue to be suckled for four or five years together, ii. 59—child's growth less every year, till the time of pu­berty when it seems to start up of a sudden, ii. 61—in some countries speak sooner than in others, and why, ii. 64—children of the Italians speak sooner than those of the Germans—various me­thods pointed out to improve the intellects of children, ii. 64, et seq.—white children frequent­ly produced from black parents; but never black children from two whites, ii. 240—inherit the accidental deformities of their parents—instances of it, ii. 238—many instances of the child in the womb being marked by the strong affec­tions of the mother—how performed is not known, [Page] ii. 249—hard to conceive that the child, in the womb, should take the print of the father's fea­tures, ii. 248
• Chimborazo, a remarkable mountain in South Ameri­ca, i. 151
• Chinese, have neither flats nor sharps in their music, ii. 166—their horses weak, little, ill shaped, and cowardly, ii. 364—description of that people, ii. 221
• Chorosan, in Persia, bodies previously embalmed and buried in the sands of that country, preserved from corruption for a thousand years, ii. 277
• Chough, description of the Cornish chough, v. 231
• St. Christopher, Dr. Grainger, who resided for many years there, affirmed, that of the same kind of fish caught at one end of the island, some were the best and most wholesome in the world; while others taken at a different end, were dangerous, and com­monly fatal, vi. 349
• Chrysalis, or the aurelia, viii. 19
• Chryses, an island sunk near Lemnos, i. 134
• Cicero, a long poem of his in praise of the halcyon, of which but two lines remain, vi. 144
• Circassians, described, ii. 230
• Circe, an enchantress, armed her son with a spear headed with the spine of the trygon, vi. 260
• Circulation of the blood through the bones, first acci­dentally discovered by Mr. Belcher—experiment made by him for this purpose—canals for circula­tion of the blood through the bones of different ca­pacities, in the various stages of life, ii. 194—circulation through all parts of the body, ii. 195
• Civet, the species distinguished into two kinds; Mr. Buffon calls one the civet, the other the zibet—di­stinction between the two kinds—the civet thirty inches long—both civet and zibet considered as va­rieties of the same animal, as former naturalists have done, iii. 389—the civet resembles the weasel kind, in what—differs from them, in what—the [Page] opening of the pouch or bag, the receptacle of the civet, iii. 389, 390—manner of taking the civet from the pouch—although a native of warmest climates, this animal lives in temperate, and even cold countries, iii. 391—kinds of food it likes best—drinks rarely, yet makes urine often; and, upon such occasions, the male is not distinguish­able from the female—numbers of these animals bred in Holland, and the perfume of Amsterdam reckoned the purest of any—the quantity greater proportionably to the quality and abundance of the food—this perfume so strong that it communi­cates to all parts of the animal's body, iii 392—to its fur and skin—manner of choosing the perfume—the places of considerable traffic in it—the ani­mal irritated, its scent becomes greater; and tor­mented, its sweat, is still stronger, and serves to adul­terate or encrease what otherwise obtained from it—civet a more grateful perfume than musk—sold in Holland for fifty shillings an ounce, iii. 393—its eyes shine in the night—sees better in the dark than by day—breeds very fast in climates where heat conduces to propagation—thought a wild fierce animal, never thoroughly familiar—lives by prey, birds and animals, it can overcome—its claws feeble and inflexible—this perfume quite discon­tinued in prescription, iii. 394
• Clavicles, or collar bones, what animals have them—Mr. Buffon says, none but monkeys, this an over­sight, ii. 102
• Claws of the lion give a false idea of its power; we ascribe to its force the effects of its arms, ii. 111—the weasel kind neither draw in, nor extend their claws, as cats do, iii. 346—those of the civet, feeble and inflexible, iii. 394
• Climates, calamities in those where air is condensed by cold, i. 325—cause obvious and sufficient to produce blackness of negroes, ii. 234—com­plexions of different countries darken in propor­tion [Page] to the heat of the region, ii. 233, 234—next to human influence, the climate has the strongest effects upon the nature and form of qua­drupeds, ii. 328—those excessively hot, unfavour­able to horses, ii. 363—in general, water fowls of no peculiar climate, vi. 106
• Cloth, now made worse than some years past, iii. 44—Flemings possessed the art of cloth-working in a superior degree, iii. 43.
• Clove-trees, cut down by the Dutch at Ternate to raise the price of the spice—soon had reason to re­pent of their avarice, i. 325
• Clouds, the fore-runners of a terrible hurricane, call­ed by sailors the bull's eye, i. 359—dashing a­gainst each other, produce electrical fire—water evaporates, and rising forms clouds, i. 368—theo­ry upon it—that of Dr. Hamilton, i. 369—the author's theory of evaporation, i. 370—at once pour down their contents, and produce a deluge—reflecting back images of things on earth, like mirrors, i. 377
• Clupea, or herring, its description, vi. 314
• Coaiti, a monkey of the new continent, described, iv. 236
• Coan, the name of a dwarf lately dead at Chelsea, ii. 254
• Coast of Italy is bordered with rocks of marble of dif­ferent kinds—those of France from Brest to Bour­deaux, and Spain, composed of rocks, i. 271—of the sea, have peculiar winds, i. 348, et seq.—deadly winds all along those of the Persian Gulph, and those of India, i. 359
• Coatimondi, extreme length of its snout—its descrip­tion—very subject to eat its own tail—its habits, iv. 336, 337
• Cobitis, the loach, description of this fish, vi. 314
• Cobra di Capello, a kind of serpent, vii. 192, 201, 216
• Cochineal, description of this insect as in our shops brought from America, viii. 145—difference be­tween [Page] the domestic and wild cochineal—precautions used by those who take care of these insects, viii. 145, 146—the propagator has a new harvest thrice a year—various methods of killing them produce different colours as brought to us—our cochineal is only the females; used both for dyeing and me­dicine, viii. 147
• Cock, of all birds the cock the oldest companion of man, and first reclaimed from the forest, v. 158—species of cock from Japan, covered over with hair instead of feathers—the western world had the cock from Persia—Aristophanes's cock the Per­sian bird—it was one of the forbidden foods a­mong the ancient Britons—Persia, that first intro­duced it to us, no longer knows it in natural form, v. 161—countries where it is wild—peculiarities, in a wild condition—another peculiarity in those of the Indian woods, their bones, when boiled, are black as ebony, v. 162—the Athenians had cock-matches as we—no animal of greater courage, when opposed to his own species—in China, In­dia, the Philipine islands, and over the East, cock-fighting the sport and amusement of kings and princes—cocks in China as bold, or bolder than ours, v. 163—and of more strength with less weight—its great courage proceeds from being the most fallacious of all birds—a single cock suffices for a dozen hens; and is the only ani­mal whose spirits are not abated by indulgence—soon grows old; and in three or four years becomes unfit for purposes of impregnation, v. 164, 165—how long cocks live, left to themselves, not well ascertained—Aldrovandus makes their age to be ten years—are injured, as Linnaeus asserts, by el­der-berries, v. 170—the black chiefly found in heathy mountains and piny forests, v. 199—cock of the wood, See Wood-cock.
• Cockle, a bivalved shell-fish, vii. 51
• Coco, the elephant eats the plant to the roots, iv. 259
• [Page] Cod, from the banks of Newfoundland, pursues the whiting, which flies before it to the southern shores of Spain, vi. 168—spawns in one season, as Lewenhoeck asserts, above nine millions of eggs or peas, contained in a single roe, vi. 178—its de­scription, vi. 312—fishery in Newfoundland, vi. 325
• Cold, promotes evaporation, although diminishing the force of menstruums, i. 370—extremity of it not less productive of tawny complexions than that of heat, ii. 236—excessive, preserves bodies from corruption, ii. 275—some fishes rendered so torpid by cold, in northern rivers, as to be frozen up in the masses of ice, where they continue for months together, without life or sensation, prisoners of congelation, waiting a warmer sun to restore them to life and liberty, vi. 347
• Collar-bones, what animals have them, ii. 102
• Colliers, eight dropped down dead by the vapour of the mines in Scotland, as if shot, i. 81
• Colour, none refreshes the sight so well as green, i. 15—of the sea, not from any thing floating in it, but from different reflexions of rays of light—the proof, i. 292—different colours of the eye, ii. 82—whence proceeds the tawny of North American Indians, ii. 236—different of the waters of the same sea, i. 274—hair takes its colour from juices flowing through it, ii. 87—that of the object contributes to form an idea of the distance at which it appears, ii. 156—of all those by which mankind is diver­sified, ours most beautiful to the eye, and most advantageous, ii. 232—those changes the African, the Asiatic, or the American undergo, in their co­lour, are but accidental deformities, which might probably be removed, ii. 242—nothing exceeds the delicate regularity of those of the zebra, ii. 390—change of colour in the hair obtains in some degree, in all quadrupeds, iii. 354—different in several parts of the fur of the sable, iii. 374—of the blood in the arteries or veins, i. 332
• [Page] Comets, their number much greater than that of the planets—they roll in orbits—experience has not sufficiently confirmed the truth of the investiga- about their returning periods, i. 5
• Complexion, extremity of cold not less productive of a tawny than that of heat, ii. 236—not easy to conceive how the sun whitens wax and linen, and darken the human complexion, ii. 235—the sun not the only cause of darkening it, ii. 236
• Compte's (Le) account of an ape he saw in the streights of Molucca, iv. 198
• Concretions, scarce an animal, or a part of their bo­dies, in which concretions are not formed, iii. 77—experience has found but few cures by the effi­cacy of these concretions; often prove fatal to the animal that bears them, iii. 76, 77
• Condamine, (La) knows a fish possessed of the powers of the torpedo, and every way resembling a lam­prey, vi. 267
• Condoma, anomalous animal of the goat kind, iii. 80—its description, iii. 80, 81
• Condor, possesses in a higher degree than the eagle, all the qualities that render it formidable to the feathered kind, to beasts, and to man himself—is eighteen feet across the wings extended, according to Acosta, Jarcilasso, and Desmarchais, v. 100—the beak so strong as to pierce the body of a cow; two of them able to devour it—they do not abstain from man himself—fortunately there are few of the species—the Indians believe that they will carry off a deer, or a young calf in their ta­lons, as eagles would an hare or a rabbit—and that their sight is piercing, and their air terrible; that they seldom frequent the forests, as they require a large space for the display of their wings—they come down to the sea-shore at certain seasons, when their prey fails upon land, they then feed upon dead fish, and such nutritious substances as thrown upon the shore—their countenance not so ter­rible as old writers have represented, v. 101— [Page] those who have seen this animal, say the body is as large as that of a sheep—many instances of its carrying away children, v. 102—circumstantial ac­count of this bird by P. Feuillée, the only traveller who has accurately described it, v. 102 to 104—countries where it is found, v. 105—in the de­serts of Pachomac, where it is chiefly, men seldom venture to travel—its flesh as disagreeable as car­rion, v. 102
• Conepate, an animal resembling the skink in all things except size, iii. 381
• Congar of America, resembles the tiger in natural fe­rocity, though far inferior in its dimensions, iv. 331
• Congelation, the heat of blood in man and other ani­mals is about thirty degrees above congelation; but in the marmout and other animals which seem to sleep the winter, the heat of the blood is not above ten degrees above congelation, iv. 45
• Congo, the land and sea breezes there, i. 351—the inhabitants of that country desire ardently to pros­titute their wives and daughters to strangers, for trifling advantages, ii. 74
• Constantinople, its cats—name given to the genetts, and why, iii. 388
• Continent of America—that part under the line is cool and pleasant, ii. 233
• Coot, description of that bird, vi. 36—residence and nest, vi. 38—sometimes swims down the current, till it reaches the sea—dangers encountered in this voyage, vi. 39
• Copel, manner of making that vessel, i. 166
• Copulation, natural instinct for the proper times—in­stances of it, ii. 337, 338—gnats produce young, without copulation, viii. 156
• Coquallin, the Brasilian squirrel, so called by Buffon, iv. 26
• Coral, the common red never met with in the fossil world, i. 46
• Coral-serpent described, vii. 215
• [Page] Coral-plants, their various appearances, viii. 193—opinion of count Marsigli upon corals—Mr. El­lis proves it the work of reptiles of the polypus kind, viii. 194—principal experiment to this pur­pose, viii. 196
• Coralines, called fungi madrepores, viii. 197
• Cordyle, the tockay and the tejuguacu fill up the chasm between the crocodile and the African igua­na, vii. 149
• Coret, a sea-snail, performs the offices of male and female at the same time, vii. 31
• Coriander used in dressing a hare in the true Roman taste, iv. 15
• Corin, name of the third variety of gazelles, by Mr. Buffon, iii. 73
• Cormorant, its description and food—remarkably vo­racious, with a sudden digestion, vi. 65—its form disagreeable—its voice hoarse and croaking—all its qualities obscene—no wonder Milton makes Satan personate this bird—objection against this passage of Milton's Paradise Lost, vindicated—fishes in fresh waters, and in the depths of the ocean, vi. 66—builds in cliffs of rocks, and in trees—preys in the day-time, and by night—once used in England for fishing, and in what manner, vi. 67—how educated in China, for the purposes of fishing, vi. 68—the best fisher of all birds, vi. 69—sometimes has caught the fish by the tail—the fins prevent its being swallowed in that position—how it manages the fish in this case, vi. 70—re­marked for the quickness of its sight, vi. 74
• Corn, the flying squirrel is apt to do a great deal of damage in the corn-fields, iv. 37
• Cornaro lived an hundred years with a constitution naturally feeble, ii. 200
• Cornea of a flea has above six thousand facets, ac­cording to Leuwenhoeck—Puget adapted the cor­nea of a fly in a position, to see objects through it with a microscope, and a soldier thus seen, ap­peared like an army of pigmies—the arch of a [Page] bridge was a spectacle more magnificent than hu­man skill could perform—the flame of a candle seemed a beautiful illumination, viii. 36
• Cornwall, pilchards make that coast a place of re­sort, vi. 332
• Coromandel, dreadful tempests wholly unknown along its coasts, i. 348—amazing size of oysters along that coast, vii. 51
• Corrira, or the runner, a bird of the crane kind—its description, vi. 21
• Corruption, excessive cold preserves bodies from it—and a great degree of dryness produced by heat, ii. 275—earth, if drying and astringent, produces the same effect, ii. 276—bodies never corrupt at Spits­bergen, though buried for thirty years, ii. 274—men and animals buried in the sands of Arabia, preserved from corruption for ages, as if actually embalmed, ii. 275—bodies buried in the monas­tery of the Cordeliers at Thoulouse, preserved from corruption, ii. 276—bodies previously em­balmed buried in the sands of Chorosan, in Persia, preserved from corruption for a thousand years, ii. 277—amazing preservation from it, in a mummy lately dug up in France, ii. 283
• Coryphoena, the razor-fish, its description, vi. 307
• Cotopaxi, volcano in South America, described by Ulloa, i. 99—more than three geographical miles above the surface of the sea, i. 151
• Cotton-tree, the seed intoxicates parrots, as wine does man, v. 280
• Cottus, the bull-head—description of this fish, vi. 309
• Couando, much less than the porcupine—its descrip­tion, iv. 114
• Cougar, the red tyger, by Mr. Buffon, iii. 244—ex­tremely common in South America, iii. 246—in what manner the Indians encounter it, iii. 246, 247
• Coulterneb, remarkable bird of the Penguin kind. See Puffin.
• [Page] Country inhabited before 1666, now deserted—the sands which cover it, i. 364
• Cows allured by music, ii. 169—of ruminant ani­mals, the cow kind deserves the first rank, iii. 8—meanest peasants in Germany, Poland, and Swit­zerland, kill one cow at least for their own table—salted and hung up, is preserved as a delicacy the year round—cows want the upper fore-teeth, iii. 9—in no part of Europe cows grow so large, yield more milk, or more readily fatten than in England—make no particular distinction in their herbage, indiscriminately devouring the proper quantity—it gives back more than it takes from the soil—the age of the cow known by the teeth and horns—the number of its teeth, iii. 10, 11—have eight cutting teeth in the lower-jaw—man­ner of renewing them, iii. 11—the horns more surely determine this animal's age, and how—while this animal lives, the horns lengthen, iii. 12—wants in udder what it has in neck—the larger the dew-lap, the smaller the quantity of its milk—the kind to be found in every part of the world—large in proportion to the richness of the pasture—Africa remarkable for the largest and smallest cattle of this kind; as also India, Poland, and Switzerland—among the Eluth Tartars, the cow so large, that a tall man only can reach the tip of its shoulder, iii. 14—of all quadrupeds, the cow most liable to alteration from its pasture—the breed of the Isle of Man, and most parts of Scotland, much less than in England, also differ­ently shaped, iii. 13—the breed improved by fo­reign mixture, adapted to supply the imperfections of our own, iii. 12—such as purely British, far in­ferior in size to those of the continent, iii. 13—the cow, the urus, and the bison, animals of the same kind—difference in size not so remarkable as those in its form, hair, and horns—many consi­dered as a different kind, and names given them as a distinct species, when in reality all the same, iii. [Page] 15—only two varieties of the kind really distinct, the cow and the buffalo—they bear an antipathy to each other—scarce a part of the world where the cow kind is not found, iii. 18—variety of the horns—those in Iceland are without horns, iii. 19—the Bar­bary cow, or zebu, iii. 23—of all animals, the cow most extensively propagated—an inhabitant of the frozen fields of Iceland, and the burning desarts of Lybia, iii. 24—other animals preserve their nature or their form with inflexible perseverance—the cows suit themselves to the appetites and conveniencies of mankind—no animal has a greater variety of kinds, none more humble and pliant, iii. 25—the cow and bison breed among each other—the cow does not breed with the buffalo—no animals more distinct, or have stronger antipathies to each other, iii. 26—the cow goes nine months with young, iii. 31—the grunting, or Siberian cow, and the little African, or zebu, are different races of the bison, iii. 32—animals of the cow kind, by naturalists extended to eight or ten sorts, re­duced to two—an animal of the cow kind, no na­turalist has described—the description of it, iii. 33, 34—the Greeks compared the eyes of a beautiful woman to those of a cow, iii. 72—it eats two hundred and seventy-six plants, and rejects two hundred and eighteen, iii. 176
• Cow-bezoar, a factitious sort, iii. 76
• Crab, a ruminating fish, iii. 5—surprising manner in which the monkies draw crabs from the water, iv. 228—found in fresh and salt water, and upon land,—description—its intestines have many convolu­tions, vi. 367, 368—land-crabs of various kinds—some healthful and nourishing—others poisonous or malignant to a great degree—places where found, vi. 368
• Violet crab of the Caribbee islands described—their food—their nippers, the principal instrument for seizing and cutting their food—catch such hold, that the limb is lost sooner than the grasp—thus it gets off, leaving its claw fastened upon the [Page] enemy—the claw performs its duty, and keeps a minute fastened upon the finger, while the crab makes off—it loses no great matter by a leg or an arm, as they grow again, the animal becomes per­fect as before, vi. 369—fatiguing and amazing march from the mountains to the sea-shore, to de­posit the spawn, from which, soon after, millions of little crabs are seen slowly travelling up the mountains, vi. 370, 371—wait the benefit of sea-water for their delivery, vi. 372—change their shells—have under their stomachs four white stones, which gradually decrease, as the shell hardens, and when come to perfection, are not to be found, vi. 374—season, and manner in which they are caught, vi. 374, 375—in Jamaica they are in great plenty, and considered as one of the greatest de­licacies—many of this kind found poisonous, vi. 375, 376
• Soldier-crab, vi. 376—seen every year descending from the mountains to the sea-shore, to deposit its spawn, and to provide itself with a new shell, vi. 377—contest between them for some well-looking fa­vourite shell, for which they are rivals—strike with their claws—beat each other, till the weakest is obliged to yield, and give up the object of dispute, vi. 378—when taken, sends forth a feeble cry, endeavouring to seize the enemy with its nippers—not much esteemed for its flesh, vi. 375
• Crane, bred familiarly in our marshes formerly—not now; and why, v. 33—general characteristics and habits of birds of the crane-kind, v. 366, 367—their food and flesh, v. 368—description of the crane, v. 371—Gesner says, its feathers, in his time, were set in gold, and worn as ornaments in caps—de­scription of this bird from ancient writers—who have mixed imagination with history—whence have arisen the fables of supporting their aged pa­rents, v. 371—and fighting with pigmies—the crane a social bird, and seldom seen alone—usual method of flying or sitting, in flocks of fifty or sixty [Page] together; while part feed, the rest keep guard—sub­sists mostly upon vegetables, v. 373—are known in every country of Europe, except our own—are birds of passage—seasons of their migrations, dur­ing which they do incredible damage, chiefly in the night—were formerly known, and held in great estimation here for the delicacy of their flesh—there was a penalty upon destroying their eggs, v. 373—Plutarch says, cranes were blinded, kept in coops, and fattened for the tables of the great in Rome; at present, they are considered all over Europe as wretched eating—qualities of its flesh, v. 374—their note the loudest of all other birds; and often heard in the clouds, when the bird it­self is unseen, v. 375—amazing heights to which they ascend when they fly—though unseen them­selves, they have distinct vision of every object be­low, v. 376—extraordinary length and contorsion of its windpipe—use made of their clangorous sound—they rise but heavily, are shy birds, and seldom let the fowler approach them—their depredations usually in the darkest nights; when they enter a field of corn, and trample it down, as if crossed over by a regiment of men, v. 377—corn their favourite food, scarce any other comes amiss to them—Redi's experiments to this purpose—a little falcon pursues, and often disables it, v. 378—method used on such occasions by those fond of hawking—barbarous custom of breed­ing up cranes to be thus baited—easily tamed—Albertus Magnus says, it has a particular af­fection for man—the female distinguished from the male, by not being bald behind—never lays above two eggs at a time—the young are soon fit to fly; and unfledged, they run with such swift­ness that a man cannot easily overtake them, v. 379, 380—Aldrovandus assures one was kept tame for above forty years—the vulgar bear the crane a compassionate regard—prejudices in its favour—a heinous offence in some countries to kill a crane, [Page] v. 380—distinctions between the crane and the stork, v. 382
• Crane, the Balearic, from the coast of Africa, and the Cape de Verd islands—its description—habits—has been described by the name of sea-pea­cock, v. 387, 388—real Balearic crane of Pliny, v. 386—foreign birds of the crane kind described; the jabiru, the jabiru-guacu, v. 388, 389—the an­hima, v. 389—the buffoon bird, or Numidian crane, described, v. 390, 391—place where the crane kind seem to have formed their general ren­dezvous, vi. 9—the flamingo the most remarkable of all the kind, the tallest, bulkiest, and most beau­tiful, vi. 10—described, vi. 10, 11—small birds of the crane kind, vi. 22, 23
• Crantz, history of Greenland, i. 245. See Krantz.
• Craesus, (king of Lydia) seated on his throne, with all the barbarous pomp of Eastern splendor, asking Solon if he had ever beheld any thing so fine? was answered, that after the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, he could be astonished at no other finery, v. 184
• Cricetus, the German rat, by Mr. Buffon called the hamster, iv. 81—Its description—is the greatest pest in the countries where found, and every me­thod made use of to destroy it—its hole a curious object for contemplation; shews a skill superior to the rest of the rat kind—description of it—their storehouses, iv. 82, 83—contain two bushels of good grain in each apartment—means of finding out their retreats, iv. 83—produce young twice or thrice a year, and bring five or six at a time, iv. 84—their devastations produce a famine—they destroy each other—their fur very valuable, iv. 84
• Cricket, a ruminating insect, or seemingly so, iii. 6—difference from the grasshopper, vii. 349—their voice, vii. 350—food, vii. 351—never drink—sound of drums and trumpets make them forsake their situation, vii. 351, 352
• Mole-cricket, described, thought to be amphibious, vii. 352, 353—the number of their eggs—a most de­tested [Page] insect by gardeners—its devastations—precautions of the female against the black beetle vii. 353—their care and assiduity in the preserva­tion of their young, vii. 354
• Croches, in the head of a stag, iii. 114
• Crocodile, extraordinary combat between this animal and the tiger, iii. 247, 248—the ichneumon dis­covers and destroys its eggs—kills its young, and sometimes entering the mouth of the crocodile, when sleeping on the shore, effectually destroys it, iii. 377—the eggs it lays in the sand at a time, of­ten amount to three or four hundred, iii. 380—the places where found, together with their di­mensions, vii. 118, 119—description, vii. 120 to 124—several examples of taking a man out of a canoe from his companions, notwithstanding all opposition and assistance, vii. 125—terrible even upon land—its depredations, vii. 126—combats between the crocodile and the tiger, vii. 127—in what manner it seizes its prey, vii. 126, 127—how a negroe ventures to attack this animal in its own element, vii. 128—manner of taking it in Siam, vii. 129—often managed like a horse; a curb put into its mouth, and the rider directs it as he likes—manner of taking it along the rivers of Africa—pools of water where bred as we breed carp in our ponds, vii. 130—in Egypt and other long peopled countries, this animal solitary and fearful, vii. 131—in the river San Domingo, they are most inoffensive, children play with them, and ride about on their backs; beat them without receiving the smallest injury, vii. 132—probable opinion, its musky substance amassed in glands under the legs and arms—its flesh—the eggs to the savages most delicate morsels—all breed near fresh waters—precautions in laying their eggs, vii. 133, 134—the female having introduced her young to their natural element, she, and the male, become their most formidable enemies, vii. 135—the open bellied crocodile, thought vivipa­rous, [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] has a false belly like the oppossum, for the young to creep out and in as danger or necessity requires—their age, vii. 137—produced to fight at the amphitheatre at Rome, vii. 138
• Croppers, a kind of pigeons, v. 293
• Crossbill, bird of the sparrow kind, v. 315, 317
• Crost fox, animal between the dog and fox, iii. 341. See Isatis.
• Crown, in the head of a stag, iii. 114
• Crows fetch and carry with the docility of a spaniel, v. 222—the carrion-crow resembles the raven in appetites, laying, and manner of bringing up its young—the Royston crow, v. 230
• Cruelty, teaching the arts of cruelty, equivalent to committing them, v. 164
• Crustaceous, animals of the lobster kind, vi. 358
• Cub, the fox is so called during the first year, iii. 328—born blind, like those of the dog, iii. 331
• Cuckoo, fables invented of this bird, now sufficiently refuted, where it resides in winter, or how provides for its supply during that season, still undiscoveres—this bird somewhat less than a pigeon, shaped like a magpie, and of a greyish colour, is distin­guished from all other by its round prominent nostrils—discovers itself in our country early in the spring, by its well known call—its note heard ear­lier or later as the season is more or less forward, and the weather inviting—from the chearful voice of this bird the farmer instructed in the real ad­vancement of the year—history and nature of this bird still in great obscurity, v. 263—its call an in­vitation to courtship, used only by the male, gene­rally perched upon a dead tree, or bare bough, re­peating his song, which he loses when the genial season is over—his note pleasant, though uniform—the female makes no nest, v. 264—repairs to the nest of some other bird, generally the water-wag-tail or hedge-sparrow, and, after devouring the eggs of the owner, lays hers in their place v. 265—usually lays but one, this the little [Page] foolish bird hatches with great assiduity, and when excluded, fondly thinks the great ill-looking changeling her own—to supply this voracious crea­ture, the credulous nurse toils with unwearied la­bour, not sensible she is feeding up an enemy to her race, v. 265—the stomach of this bird is enor­mous, and reaches from the breast bone to the vent, v. 266—its food, v. 265—naturally weak and fearful—the smaller birds form a train of pursu­ers; the wry-neck, in particular, the most active in the chace, v. 266—supposed, in winter, to lie hid in hollow trees; or to pass into warmer cli­mates—story of a cuckoo found in a willow log, in winter, v. 267—probable opinion concerning its residence in winter—Brisson makes not less than twenty-eight sorts of this bird; and talks of one of Brasil, as making a horrible noise in the forests, v. 268, 269—follows a very different trade from what its nurse endeavoured to teach it; and, ac­cording to Pliny, in time destroys its instructor, vi. 127
• Cuckow-spit, or Froth-worm, its description, vii. 358
• Cud, the hare, the rabbit, and the squirrel, placed by Pierius among those that chew the cud; how far true, is not determined, iv. 3
• Cuguacu apara, name in Brasil for the roe-buck, iii. 140
• Cummin seed, formerly used in dressing a hare in true Roman taste, iv. 15
• Cur, the Cur-fox, iii. 332
• Curischaff, a lake where the sturgeon is found in great­est numbers, vi. 277
• Curlew, a small bird of the crane kind—its dimen­sions, vi. 23—places where found—manner of pro­curing its food, vi. 25—its habits, vi. 24—its nest, and number of eggs—season of courtship. vi. 31—a bird of passage, vi. 28
• Currans, indigestible to man when swallowed whole, v. 74
• Currents of rivers well explained by the Italians, i. [Page] 200—side current—back current, i. 205—some­times the current at bottom swifter than at top; and when—double current, i. 206—found to run in all directions, i. 260—manner in which ma­riners judge of the setting and rapidity of the cur­rent—currents are generally found most violent under the equator, i. 261—a passage with the cur­rent gone in two days, with difficulty performed in six weeks against it—currents do not ex­tend above twenty leagues from the coast—the cur­rents at Sumatra extremely rapid, run from south to north—also strong currents between Madagas­car and the Cape of Good Hope; but the most re­markable are those continually flowing into the Mediterranean sea, i. 262—current runs one way at top, and the ebb another way at bottom, i. 264
• Current of air, driven through a contracted space, grows more violent and irresistible, i. 355
• Cusco, Garcilasso de la Vega asserts the air is so dry and so cold there, that flesh dries like wood, with­out corrupting, ii. 274
• Custom, the form of the face seems rather the result of custom, ii. 238
• Cuttle-fish, its description—contrivance with which it is furnished by nature, when under a difficulty of escaping, viii. 177
• Cybotus, a lofty mountain swallowed by an earth­quake, i. 162
• Cynocephalus, the Magot of Buffon, the last of the ape kind—its description—is a native of Africa and the East, iv. 207.
• Cyprinus, or the carp, vi. 314
• Czar of Russia. See Peter of Russia

• Dam, in the rapacious kinds, leads her young forth for months together; it is not so with those of the hare kind, iv. 6
• [Page] Dampier, has added more to natural history than half the philosophers before him, vi. 397
• Damps, of various natures in mines—the fulminating sort, i. 79, 80
• Dance, hares taught to dance to music, iv. 9
• Dancer, a dog of the mongrel kind, iii. 286
• Dane, the tallest dog bred in England, iii. 286, 290
• Danube, has seven openings into the Euxine sea, i. 132—proceeds from the Alps, i. 142—its course—the Turks and Christians have fleets of men of war upon it, i. 209—it receives thirty lesser rivers, i. 217—the huso, or isinglass fish, caught in great quantities in this river, vi. 282
• Dara, its inhabitants use ostriches as horses, v. 62
• Darien, an isthmus—has a particular hog called war­ree—described by Wafer, iii. 196
• Darkness, surprising how far the eye accommodates itself to it, ii. 160—remarkable instance of it, in a gentleman, a major under Charles the First, ii. 161
• Daubenton, gives a complete history of a dwarf, ii. 254, et seq.
• Deaf men, often found to see the force of those rea­sonings, which they could not hear, understanding every word as it was spoken, ii. 90—one born deaf, must necessarily be dumb, ii. 174—instances of two young men, who, born deaf, were restored to hearing, ii. 174, 175—a person born deaf, by time and pains taught to write, read, speak, and by the motion of the lips, to understand what is said; instances of it, ii. 176, 177
• Deafness, one of the most common disorders in old age, ii. 172—way to know this defect either in­ternal, or external, ii. 173
• Death, a young man born deaf and dumb, knew nothing of death, and never thought of it till the age of twenty-four, when he began to speak of a sudden, ii. 176—a spectre which frights us at a distance, but disappears when we come to approach [Page] it, ii. 206—uncertainty of the signs of death, ii. 208, 209, 210.
• Deer, annually shedding horns, and their perman­ence in the sheep, draws a distinct line between their kinds, iii. 36—the little Guinea deer, the least of all cloven-footed quadrupeds, and most beautiful—its description, iii. 82—the male in Guinea has horns, but the female is without,—they abound in Java and Ceylon, iii. 83—all of the deer kind want the gall-bladder, iii. 94—a downy substance like velvet upon the skin cover­ing the skull of a deer when the old horn is fallen off, iii. 96—their horns grow differently from those of sheep or cows—they are furrowed along the sides, and why, iii. 97—the bran deer, or the brown deer, called by the ancients tragelaphus, found in the forests of Germany, iii. 122—the new con­tinent of America produces animals of the deer kind, in sufficient plenty, iii. 123
• Fallow Deer, no animals more nearly allied than the stag and fallow deer, yet they never herd nor en­gender together, nor form a mixed breed—each form distinct families, and retain an unalterable a­version—the fallow deer rarely wild in the forests; are in general bred in parks, and their flesh is pre­ferred to that of any other animal, iii. 125—a herd of them divides into two parties, and engages each other with great ardour and obstinacy, iii. 126—both desirous of gaining a favourite spot of the park for pasture, and of driving the vanquish­ed into the more disagreeable parts—manner of their combats—are easily tamed—and browze closer than the stag, iii. 127—they seek the female at their second year, iii. 128—their strength, cunning, and courage inferior to those of the stag—we have in England two varieties of the fallow deer; one brought from Bengal, the other from Nor­way, iii. 129—flesh of the French fallow deer, has not the fatness nor the flavour of that fed upon English pasture—Spanish and Vir­ginian [Page] fallow deer, iii. 130—deer without horns, their description, iii. 130, 131
• Rein-Deer, the most extraordinary and most useful,—native of the icey regions of the North, it an­swers the purposes of a horse—attempts made to ac­custom it to a more southern climate, in a few months it declines and dies, iii. 149—answers the purposes of a cow in giving milk; and of the sheep in fur­nishing warm cloathing to the people of Lapland and Greenland, iii. 150—description of the rein deer—its rutting-time, and that of shedding its horns, iii. 150 to 152—difference between this deer and the stag—it is not known to the natives of Si­beria—Americans call it caribou—herdsmen of Lapland known to possess a thousand rein-deer in a single herd, iii. 153—it subsists upon moss, iii. 154—and makes the riches of the people of Lap­land, iii. 155—gnats and gad flies very formidable to this deer in Lapland, iii. 156, 157—female brings forth in May—its milk thinner than that of the cow; sweeter and more nourishing, iii. 158—is of two kinds in Lapland, iii. 162—it draws sledges—can go about thirty miles without halting, and without dangerous effort—generally castrated by the Laplanders—one male left for six females—begin to breed when two years old, iii. 163—go with young eight months, and bring two at a time—fondness of the dam remarkable—live but fifteen or sixteen years—manner in which the Laplanders kill them—scarce any part of this animal not con­verted to peculiar uses, iii. 164—the Laplanders find their necessities supplied from the rein deer alone; in what manner, iii. 166, 167—diseases of this animal, iii. 168—the blood of the rein deer preserved in small casks, for sauce with the marrow in spring—the horns converted into glue—the sinews make the strongest sowing thread—the tongues a great delicacy—the intestines, washed like our tripe, in high esteem among the Lapland­ers, iii. 167—bears make depredations upon the [Page] rein deer, iii. 169—glutton its most dangerous and successful persecutor—only method of escape from this creature, iii. 170—in what manner the rein-deer is killed by it, iii. 398, 399—the wolf never attacks a rein-deer that is haltered in Lapland, and why, iii. 321
• Deformity, children often inherit even the accidental deformities of their parents—instances of it, ii. 238—accidental deformities become natural; by assiduity continued and encreased, through succes­sive generations, ii. 239—all those changes the African, the Asiatic, or the American undergo, in their colour, are accidental deformities, probably to be removed, ii. 242
• Demoiselle, name given by the French to the Numi­dian bird, v. 390
• Denmark, Henry IV. king of Denmark, desirous of trying whether a musician, who boasted of excit­ing men to madness, was an impostor, submitted to the operation of his skill, became mad—and killed four of his attendants in his transports, ii. 170
• Depona, a large serpent, native of Mexico, vii. 227
• Derbent, pastures in these plains excellent for rearing horses, ii. 361
• Derbyshire, description of the nest of an eagle found in the peak of Derbyshire, v. 93
• Derham, by a microscope, discovered in the eye of a mole, the parts known in other animals, iv. 92
• Desman, one of the three distinctions of the musk rat,—a native of Lapland, iv. 78
• Devil, the Swedish Laplanders consult him, ii. 214 Sea devil, or fishing frog described, vi. 286
• Dew, compensates the want of showers in Egypt, i. 358—hares quench their thirst with it, iv. 7
• Dewlap, of two zebras, seen by the author, the skin hung loose below the jaw upon the neck, in a kind of dewlap, ii. 398—the cow wants in udder what it has in neck, and the larger the dewlap, the small­er the quantity of its milk, iii. 14
• [Page] Diableret, a mountain in France suddenly fallen down,—its ruins covered an extent of a league square, i. 157
• Dictionaries of Arts and Sciences, a fault that has in­fected most of them, ii. 307
• Diet, of a thin sparing kind remarkable among qua­drupeds, as well as the human species, to produce hair, iii. 355
• Digester, an instrument—meat and bones put into it, dissolved into a jelly in six or eight minutes, i. 308
• Digestion, these organs in birds are in a manner re­versed, v. 16—is not perfect in all birds that live upon mice, lizards, or such like food, v. 142—performed by some unknown principle in the sto­mach, acting in a manner different from all kinds of artificial maceration—this animal power lodged the maw in fishes, vi. 165, 166
• Diseases, of the rein deer—the manner in which the Laplanders cure them, iii. 168, 169
• Disorders infectious, propagated by the effluvia from diseased bodies, i. 327—most of those incident to mankind, says Bacon, arise from the changes of the atmosphere, vi. 175—fishes have their disor­ders, vi. 347
• Diver, (the great northern) a bird of the smaller tribe of the penguin kind—the grey speckled diver, vi. 98—the scarlet throated diver, vi. 99
• Divers, known to descend from twenty to thirty fa­thom, i. 288—of all those who have brought in­formation from the bottom of the deep, Nicola Pesce, the most celebrated—account of his perform­ances by Kircher, i. 293 to 297—some known to continue three quarters of an hour under water without breathing—they usually die consumptive, vii. 58—manner of fishing for pearls, vii. 59
• Dodo, its description, v. 76—among birds, as the sloth among quadrupeds, an unresisting animal, equally incapable of flight or defence—native of the Isle of France; the Dutch first discovered and [Page] called it the nauseous bird—travellers deem its flesh good and wholesome, v. 77—it is easily taken—three or four dodos enough to dine an hundred men—whether the dodo be the ame bird with that de­scribed under the name of bird of Nazareth, remains uncertain, v. 78
• Doe, the female of the deer kind, iii. 128
• Dogs, always running with their noses to the ground, supposed of old the first that felt infection, i. 319—no other animal of the carnivorous kind will make a voluntary attack, but with the odds on their side, ii. 319—the Arabian horses out-run them, ii. 347—in the dog kind the chief power lies in the under jaw, iii. 200—in Syria, remarkable for the fine glossy length and softness of their hair, iii. 212—in tropical climates, lose the delicacy of their scent, and why—the lion, tiger, panther, and ounce, all natural enemies to the dog, iii. 262—their proper prey are animals unfitted for climbing, iii. 271—dog kind not so solitary as those of the cat, iii. 270—they can live for some time upon fruits and vegetables, iii. 272—description of the dog—knows a beggar by his cloaths, by his voice, or his ges­tures, and forbids his approach, iii. 273—the dog most susceptible of change in its form, iii. 278—all dogs are of one kind, which the original of all the rest, which the savage dog, whence such a variety of descendants, is no easy matter to determine, iii. 280—the shepherd's the primitive ani­mal of his kind, iii. 281—by instinct, without education, dogs take care of flocks and herds, iii. 310—those wild in America and Congo, as those of Siberia, Lapland, Iceland, of the Cape of Good Hope, of Madagascar, Calicut, and Malabar, re­semble the shepherd's dog, iii. 281—those in Gui­nea, at the second or the third generation, forget to bark, iii. 282—dogs of Albany, of Greece, of Denmark, and of Ireland, larger, and stronger than any other—shepherd's dog, transported into temperate climates, and among people entirely ci­vilized, [Page] from influence of climate and food alone, become a matin, a mastiff, or a hound, iii. 283— Turkish dog, iii. 284, 291— great Danish dog, iii. 284—great wolf dog, or Irish wolf dog, 284, 292—the little Danish dog, iii. 284—their variety now in England, much greater than in the times of queen Elizabeth, iii. 285—Dr. Caius divides the whole race into three kinds—the generous; the farm kind; the mongrel, iii. 186—three shep­herd's dogs reckoned a match for a bear, and four for a lion; three of them overcame a lion in the time of king James the First—the famous poet, lord Surry, the first who taught dogs to set, iii. 289—the pug dog, iii. 290—the lion dog, origin­ally from Malta—its description, iii. 291—the Molossian dogs of the ancients, according to Mr. Buffon, iii. 293— Epirotic dogs, mentioned by Pli­ny, iii. 295— Indian dogs, mentioned by Aelian—his description of a combat between a dog and a lion, iii. 295, 296—the English bull dog, iii. 290—the bravest of the kind—the nobler kinds of dogs, of which such beautiful ancient descriptions, now ut­terly unknown, iii. 295—puppies eyes not open till ten or twelve days old—dog's teeth amount to forty-two, iii. 302—this animal capable of repro­ducing at the age of twelve months, goes nine weeks with young, and lives about twelve years, iii. 303—other particulars concerning dogs—many kinds of birds the dogs will not touch—dogs and vultures living wild about Grand Cairo in Egypt, continue together in an amicable man­ner, and are known to bring up their young in the same nest—dogs bear hunger for a long time; a bitch forgotten in a country-house, lived forty days, without any other sustenance than the wool of a quilt she had torn in pieces, iii. 304, 305—the wild hunt in packs—unknown, such as he was before the protection of man; some from a domestic state, have turned savage, and partaken of the disposition of the wolf, and [Page] attack the most formidable animals of the fo­rest, iii. 276—are easily tamed, and quickly be­come familiar and submissive, iii. 277—experi­ments to prove the wolf and the fox not of the same nature with the dog, but of a species perfectly dis­tinct, iii. 298—a dog set at liberty, in his savage fury flew upon every animal, fowls, dogs and men, iii. 300—animals in this country bred between a dog and a fox, iii. 298—the dog and wolf so much alike internally, that anatomists can scarce perceive the difference, iii. 305—a young dog shudders at the the sight of a wolf—dogs and wolves so different in their dis­positions, that no animals have a more perfect an­tipathy, iii. 309—shew no appetite to enjoy their victory when the wolf is killed, but leave him where he falls, iii. 318—Catesby asserts the wolf was the only dog used by the Americans, before the Europeans came among them, and that they have since procreated together; thus proving the dog and the wolf of the same species, iii. 322—unsur­mountable antipathy between the dog and the jack­all; they never part without an engagement, iii. 338—famished dogs more hairy than those whose food has been more plentiful, iii. 355—all kinds pursue the hare by instinct, and follow it more eagerly than other animals, iv. 5—few dogs dare to encounter the otter, iv. 153—some purposely trained for discovering the retreat of the otter, iv. 155
• Dog butchers all over China, and shambles for selling their flesh; wherever a dog-butcher appears, all the dogs of the place are in full cry after him—along the coasts of Guinea, their flesh is esteemed a delicacy by the negroes; they give a cow for a dog, iii. 297
• Dolphin caught in the Red Sea, known by a ring to be the same taken before in the Mediterranean, i. 263—allured by music, ii. 168—not easy to assign a cause why the ancients have invented so many [Page] fables on the subject, vi. 223—their boundings in the water, have taught mariners to prepare for a storm—old painters and sculptors have drawn them wrong; the poets have adopted the error, vi. 224—Pliny has asserted, they instantly die when taken out of the water; Rondelet assures us, he has seen a dolphin carried alive from Montpellier to Lyons, vi. 225—their motions the gambols of plea­sure, or the agitations of terror, not well known—in fairer weather, they herd together, and pursue shoals of various fish with impetuosity, vi. 225
• Dolphin, is also the name of the ophidium, or the gilthead, vi. 305
• Don, or Tanais, a river, its course, i. 209—the stur­geon is caught in great quantities at the mouth of that river, vi. 277
• Dorado, a fish of the spinous kind, the most voracious, vi. 340—its description—the flying-fish is chiefly sought by it—warfare carried on between them, vi. 341, 342—supposed a ruminating fish, iii. 5
• Doree, description of this fish, vi. 309
• Dormouse, the mercury of the thermometer plunged into the body of a living dormouse, never rose be­yond its pitch in air, and sometimes sunk above a degree, iv. 45—the greater sort Mr. Buffon calls the loir; the middle size he calls the lerot; and the less he denominates the muscardin, iv. 76—their descriptions—agree in being stupified like the mar­mout during winter, iv. 76, 77—their nests and pro­visions—they bring forth three or four young at a time, but once a year, in the spring, iv. 77, 78
• Dorrr-beetle, or May-bug, viii. 130. See Beetle.
• Dottrel, small bird of the crane kind, vi. 23
• Doves, the ring-dove, v. 293—the turtle-dove, v. 290—the stock-dove, v. 285, 291. See Pigeon.
• Douc, a monkey of the ancient continent, so called in Cochinchina, where it is a native—its description—forms part of the chain by which the monkies of one continent are linked with those of the other, iv. 235
• [Page] Draco volans, a flying ball of fire, i. 380
• Drag, name given by the huntsmen to the tail of the fox, iii. 328
• Dragons, the whole race dwindled down to the flying lizard, vii. 156
• Dragon-fly, or the libella, described, vii. 316
• Dragonet, description of this fish, vi. 306
• Dreams of Arlotto, ii. 142—he was taken to the Inquisition, and had like to have been condemned for them, ii. 143
• Dress, the first impression generally made, arises from dress, ii. 99
• Drill of Purchas, an ape of the kind of the ouran outang, iv. 189
• Dromedary, a sort of camel, iv. 302 to 311
• Drone, a ruminating insect, or seemingly so, iii. 6
• Drones, the second sort of bees, supposed to be the males, viii. 66—their cells, viii. 72—the working bees kill the drones in the worm state, in the cell, and eject them from the hive, among the general carnage, viii. 86
• Drugs in the tropical climates lose their virtue, and become verminous, i. 314
• Drum, among the Swedish Laplanders every family has one for consulting the devil, ii. 214—hares taught to beat the drum, iv. 9
• Dryness, a great degree of it produced by heat, pre­serves from corruption, ii. 275
• Duck, its eggs often laid under a hen, vi. 127—seems a heedless inattentive mother, vi. 128—of the tame duck ten different sorts; and of the wild, Brisson reckons above twenty—the most obvious distinction between the wild and tame ducks—dif­ference between wild ducks among each other—sea, and pond-ducks—names of the most common birds of the duck kind, among ourselves, and of the most noted of the foreign tribe, iv. 129, 130—their habits, nests, and number of eggs, vi. 131, 132—are, in general, birds of passage—their flesh, vi. 133—the ducks flying in the air, of­ten [Page] lured down from their heights by the loud voice of the mallard from below, vi. 134—what part of the lake they generally choose, vi. 135—what can employ them all day, not easy to guess—manner of making and managing a decoy to take them, vi. 135 to 138—when ducks are caught, the men keep a piece of turf burning near their mouths, and breathe upon it, lest the fowl smell­ing them, should escape, v. 11—general season for catching them in decoys, from the end of Oc­tober till February—taking them earlier prohibited by an act of George the second, imposing a pe­nalty of five shillings for every bird destroyed at any other season—amazing quantity of ducks sent to supply the markets of London, vi. 139—manner of taking them frequently practised in China vi. 139, 140—the American wood-duck, vi. 130—of the numerous tribes of the duck kind, no more than five breed here, v. 34—Plutarch assures us, Cato kept his family in health, feeding them with duck, whenever they threatened to be out of or­der, vi. 111
• Dumb, one born deaf, must necessarily be dumb, ii. 174—a young man deaf and dumb from his birth, began to speak all of a sudden, ii. 175
• Dung, some animals void it when pursued—this arises rather from fear than a desire of defence, iii. 32
• Dunlin, a small bird of the crane kind, vi. 23
• Dutch, solicitous about the preservation of the stork in every part of their republic, v. 383
• Dwarf, in England, as late as the times of king James the first, the court was furnished with one—and he was called Little Jeffery—Peter of Rus­sia celebrated a marriage of dwarfs, ii. 251, 252—they seem to have faculties resembling those of children, ii. 254—history of a dwarf accurately related by Mr. Daubenton, ii. 254 to 258
• Dwina, a river—its course and source, i. 210

• Eagle kind, distinctive marks from the other kinds of carnivorous birds, v. 85—the golden eagle is the largest and the noblest of all those birds designed by the name of eagle, v. 87—its description—con­sidered among birds, as the lion among quadru­peds, v. 87, 88—strong similitude to each other—great patience, and much art, required to tame an eagle; though taken young, and brought under by long assiduity, yet it is a dangerous domestic, and often turns its force against its master, v. 89—sometimes has an attachment for its feeder; it is then serviceable, and will provide for his pleasures and support—flies the highest of all birds, and from thence has by the ancients been called the bird of heaven—it has also the quickest eye; but its sense of smelling is far inferior to that of the vulture—it never pursues, but in sight, v. 90—finds difficulty in rising when down—carries a­way geese, cranes, hares, lambs, and kids, and often destroys fawns and calves, to drink their blood, and carries a part of their flesh to its re­treats—infants, when left unattended, have been destroyed by these rapacious creatures—the eagle is peculiarly formidable when bringing up its young—a poor man got a comfortable subsistence for his family, during a summer of famine, out of an eagle's nest, by robbing the eaglets of food, v. 91—eagles killed a peasant who had robbed their nests—there is a law in the Orkney islands, which entitles any person that kills an eagle to a hen out of every house in the parish, in which the plunderer is killed—the nest of the eagle is usually built in the most inaccessible cliff of the rock, v. 92—description of one found in the Peak of Derbyshire—it hatches its eggs for thirty days—very rare to find three eaglets in the [Page] same nest; and it is asserted, that the mother kills the most feeble, or the most voracious, v. 93, 94—it is believed they live above an hundred years, and that they die, not of old age, but from the beaks turning inward upon the under jaw, and preventing their taking any food—an eagle en­dured hunger for twenty-one days, without any sustenance whatever—they are first white, then in­clining to yellow, and at last light brown, v. 94—age, hunger, captivity, and diseases, make them whiter—those kept tame are fed with every kind of flesh, fresh or corrupting; and upon a deficiency of that, bread, or any other provision, will suffice—it is dangerous approaching them, if not quite tame; and they sometimes send forth a loud piercing la­mentable cry, which renders them still more for­midable—they drink but seldom, and perhaps when at liberty, not at all, v. 95—the bald eagle an inha­bitant of North Carolina—breeds in that country all the year round—manner in which the eggs are hatched—characteristics and habitudes of this ani­mal—its nest is large enough to fill the body of a cart, and commonly full of bones half eaten, and putrid flesh, the stench of which is intolerable, v. 96—the flap of an eagle's wing known to lay a man dead in an instant, v. 9—it flies at the bus­tard or the pheasant, v. 81
• Eagle, the sea-eagle called aquila piombina by the Ita­lians, v. 95—they often lay three or four eggs, of a less size than those of a hen, of a white eliptical form—distinctive marks of the golden eagle, of the common eagle, of the bald eagle, of the white eagle, of the kough-footed eagle, of the white-tailed eagle, of the erne, of the black eagle, v. 97—of the sea-eagle, of the osprey, of the jean le blanc, of the Brasil eagle, of the Oroonoko eagle, of the crowned African eagle, of the eagle of Pondicherry, v. 98, 99
• Ears, distinguishing features in quadrupeds—serve in them as principal marks of the passions—smallest [Page] ears in men said to be most beautiful—the largest the best for hearing—some savage nations bore their ears, and draw that part down, till the tip of the ear rests upon the shoulder, ii. 95—the richest jewels in an Aethiop's ear, a proverb, ii. 98—undulations, which strike the ear, supposed but one continued sound, by their quick successions, though in reality they make many, ii. 163—persons hear differently with one ear from the other—these have what mu­sicians call a bad ear; and as hearing false, also sing false—such persons also deceived as to the side whence the sound comes, ii. 173—from what cause the small ears of the Tartars and Chinese, ii. 239—those of the hare moveable and capable of direc­tion to every quarter, iv. 4—are remarkably good, iv. 9—birds have not the external ear standing out from the head—probably the feathers encompass­ing ear-holes, supply the defect of the exterior ear, v. 11
• Earth, its globe a million of times less than the sun, i. 3—placed at a happy middle distance from the centre, in our solar system—less distant from the sun than Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, and less parched up than Venus and Mercury, situated too near the violence of its power, i. 8, 9—the earth, like a chariot-wheel, has a compound motion, i. 9—its rotundity proved, i. 9—is rather flatted at the poles, and its form resembles that of a turnep, i. 9, 10—considered as one scene of extensive deso­lation, i. 21—supposed by Buffon a globe of glass—by Whiston a sphere of heated iron—by Kircher one dreadful volcano—by Burnet a great mass of water, i. 51, 52—composed of different layers or beds, lying horizontally one over the other, like the leaves of a book, i. 52
• Garden-earth, or mould-earth, a kind of mother, ne­ver found an enemy to man, i. 52—black earth formed by decayed leaves and branches in Bur­gundy, i. 55—drying and astringent earth pre­serves bodies from corruption, ii. 276—all such [Page] earths as ferment with vinegar, are a composition of shells, decayed, and crumbled down to one uni­form mass, vii. 13
• Earthquakes frequent through the whole region, where a volcano is situated, i. 88—various kinds of them distinguished by philosophers, i. 104—and by Mr. Buffon—air the only active operator in them, i. 105—several opinions upon the cause of them, i. 108—activity of internal heat alone sufficient to ac­count for every appearance attending earthquakes; twelve cities in Asia Minor swallowed up in one night—extraordinary earthquake related by Pliny, i. 109, 110—account of that in the year 1693, ex­tending to a circumference of two thousand six hundred leagues, i. 111—minute description of that in Jamaica in 1692, i. 112 to 114—account of the dreadful shock in Calabria in 1638, i. 115 to 121—concomitant circumstances attending earth­quakes, i. 121, 122
• Earth-worm of America often a yard in length, and thick as a walking cane, ii. 6—multiplied by be­ing cut in pieces, ii. 23—its description, viii. 167. See Worm.
• Earwig, its habits, vii. 355—reproaches groundless about this animal, vii. 356—its food—general cha­racteristics of the kind, vii. 357—lives in its winged state a few days—dies to all appearance consumptive, vii. 358
• East Indies, favourable months of embarking for them, i. 346
• Echeneis, the sucking-fish—its description, vi. 312
• Echini, or urchins, a multivalve shell-fish, vii. 61. See Urchins.
• Echo, no art can make an echo, ii. 172
• Edgar, king of England, the first who attempted to rid this kingdom of wolves, and in what manner, iii. 319
• Edward I. issued his mandate to Peter Corbet to su­perintend, and assist in the destruction of wolves, iii. 320
• [Page] Edward III. made it felony to steal a hawk, v. 118
• Edward IV. his act concerning swans, vi. 119
• Eel, described, vi. 311
• Effluvia from diseased bodies propagate disorders called infectious, i. 327
• Egg, all birds, most fishes, and many of the insect tribes, brought forth from eggs, ii. 26—warmth of the sun, or of a stove, efficacious in bringing the animal in the egg to perfection, ii. 27—its description, ii. 28—history of the chicken in the egg to its complete formation, ii. 30 to 35——quadrupeds brought forth from the egg, above two hundred at a time, ii. 339—the ichneumon discovers and destroys the eggs of the crocodile, iii. 377—the crocodile lays in the sand at a time three or four hundred, iii. 380—some eggs only addled by incubation, v. 24—such birds as undis­turbed lay but two or three eggs—when their eggs are stolen, lay ten or twelve—a common hen, mo­derately fed, lays above an hundred from the be­ginning of spring, to the latter end of autumn, v. 30—some of the ostrich weigh above fifteen pounds, v. 56—Galen thought the eggs of hens and pheasants good to be eaten—those of geese and ostriches are the worst of all, v. 63—and those hatched in the hot sand, where laid, v. 66—tak­ing the eggs of a hawk, punished with imprison­ment, and a fine, at the king's pleasure, in the reign of Edward III. v. 118—inhabitants of Nor­way prepare from the eggs of the porpoise a kind of caviar, or delicate sauce, and good when eaten with bread, vi. 228—manner in which the eggs of fishes are impregnated, wholly unknown, vi. 338—doubts whether fish come from the egg com­pletely formed, vi. 336—those of the turtle hatched by the sun, vi. 403
• Sea-eggs, name given in our cabinets to a multivalve shell-fish called echini, or urchins, by naturalists, vii. 61—those of the sea urchin a great delicacy, [Page] vii. 63—opening the body of a queen-bee, there appeared in it five thousand eggs, viii. 76
• Eglantine, found in a well dug at Marly, i. 57
• Egypt, has south winds so hot during summer, that re­spiration is almost stopped by them—they are charged with such quantities of sand, that they darken the air, as with a cloud—it rains very seldom in that country—but the want of showers is compensated by the copiousness of their dews, i. 357, 358—the catacombs, ii. 277—a mummy, not long since dug up in France, shews the art of embalm­ing more completely understood in the western world, than in Egypt itself, ii. 283—the Tingi­tanians and Egyptians have now the fame of rear­ing the finest horses, both for size and beauty, ii. 356—the ichneumon used in this kingdom, for the same purposes that cats are in Europe, iii. 376
• Egyptians, carried the art of embalming to the highest perfection, ii. 267—copious detail of it, ii. 268—paid divine honours to the ibis, v. 384—Maillet's observations concerning this bird, v. 385
• Eider-duck, vi. 129—remarkable for the warmth of its nest, vi. 132
• Elaboratory, bowels of ruminating animals consider­ed as an elaboratory, with vessels in it, iii. 3—the chymical apparatus for hatching chickens, v. 168
• Elasticity of the air, i. 299, 303
• Elder-berries, hurtful to cocks, v. 170
• Elephant, not less remarkable for its size than its do­cility, all historians concur in giving it the cha­racter of the most sagacious animal next to man, iv. 252—its height from seven to fifteen feet—impossible to give an idea of this animal's figure by description; assisted by the art of the en­graver, it will but confusedly represent the ori­ginal, iv. 253—general observations about its conformation—of all quadrupeds, the elephant the strongest, and largest; yet neither fierce, nor for­midable—in its native desarts seldom alone, being a social friendly creature, iv. 254—the oldest con­ducts [Page] the band; the next in seniority brings up the rear—order maintained in dangerous marches—never so far asunder as to be incapable of re­ciprocal assistance—their invasions the more dis­agreeable, there being no means of repelling them; since an attempt to molest a drove would certainly be fatal, iv. 255—manner of going against him who offers the insult—do no personal in­jury when suffered to feed uninterrupted—molest­ed by man, they seek all occasions to be revenged—where they like best to live in their natural state—cannot live far from water; and always disturb it before they drink—often fill their trunk with water, to cool it, or by way of play to spurt it out like a fountain—equally distressed by the ex­tremes of heat and cold—swim from the continent into islands some leagues distant, iv. 256—fre­quently migrate from one country to another; and why—their food of the vegetable kind, loathing all sort of animal diet—one finding a spot of good pasture, invites the rest to partake of it—precautions by negroes and Indians against them—they often break through their fence, destroy the harvest, overturn their habitations, and then re­treat in order, as they made the irruption, iv. 257—looks with attention and friendship at its master—its ears wipe its eyes, and cover them against the dust and flies—it likes music, learns to beat time, move in measure, and join its voice to the sound of the drum and trumpet—is pleased with the odours that delight man, iv. 258—the orange flower particularly grateful to its taste and smell—picks up flowers, and is pleased with the scent—seeks the most odiferous plants for food; prefers the coco, the banana, the palm, and the sago tree to all others—eats plants to the roots—their sense of touching most delicate—description of its trunk—serving all the purposes of an hand—breathes, drinks, and smells through the trunk, iv. 259, 260—takes a pin from the ground, unties knots [Page] of a rope, unlocks a door, and writes with a pen, iv. 260—an object too large for the trunk to grasp, is sucked up by its breath, lifted and sustain­ed—the trunk its organ of smelling, of touch­ing, of suction; of ornament and defence—its neck so short that it must turn about to discover what is behind it, iv. 261—how the hunters escape its re­sentment—a description of its legs—while young, it bends the legs; but when old or sickly, it wants human assistance, and chuses to sleep standing—a description of its feet, iv. 262—and of its tusks—these, with age, become so heavy, that it is obliged to rest them in holes in the walls of its stall—they are two—their amazing size—they proceed from the upper jaw, not from the frontal bones—and are not horns, as some have supposed—nor ever shed in a domestic state, ii. 263—Aelian saw an elephant write Latin characters on a board, his keeper only shewing him the figure of each letter, iv. 261—extraordinary manner of eating—is not a rumi­nating animal—its stomach and intestines resemble those of a horse—opinion that the young ele­phant sucks with its trunk not with its mouth; referred to future discoverers, iv. 264, 265—the skin not covered with hair, a few bristles in the scars and wrinkles of the body, and thinly scattered over the skin, the hide resembles the bark of an old tree more than the skin of an animal—is subject to that disorder known by the name of elephantiasis, or Arabian leprosy, iv. 265—in what manner the In­dians endeavour to prevent it—the flies torment this animal incessantly—what arts it tries to keep them off—in a state of nature, it rarely quits the river, and often stands in water up to the belly, iv. 265, 266—from time immemorial employed for the purposes of labour, of war, to encrease the grandeur of eastern princes, or to extend their dominions—is a native of Africa and Asia—still retains its natural liberty in Africa—during the splendour of the Carthaginian empire, they were used in the [Page] wars, iv. 267—no elephants found on this side mount Atlas—places where they are in great num­bers—the greatest elephants found in Asia, their price encreases in proportion to their size, iv. 268—the largest kept for princes—their colour—that appropriated for the monarchs own riding, kept in a palace, attended by nobles, and almost adored by the people—opinions concerning the white ele­phant—the eastern princes maintain as many ele­phants as they are able, and place great confidence on their assistance in an engagement—they never breed in a state of servitude, and the generative powers fail when it comes under the dominion of man, iv. 269—duration of pregnacy, in the female, still a secret—what Aristotle and others say con­cerning this and their young is doubtful, iv. 270—method of taking them wild in the woods, iv. 271, 272—negroes of Africa, who hunt this animal for its flesh, take it in pit-falls, iv. 273—its attach­ment to the person that attends it—it comprehends several of the signs made to it, distinguishes the tone of command from that of anger or approbation, and acts accordingly—executing orders with prudence, eagerly, yet without precipitation—is taught to kneel down, to receive its rider, usually mounted upon its neck—caresses those it knows, salutes such as ordered to distinguish, and helps to take up part of its load—takes a pleasure in the finery of its trappings—draws chariots, cannon, or shipping with strength and perseverance; and satis­faction, provided it be not corrected without a cause, and that its master be pleased with its exer­tions—in what manner the conductor guides it—frequently takes such an affection to its keeper as to obey no other; has been known to die of grief for killing its conductor in a fit of madness—surprising instance of moderation in its fury—a word sufficient to put it into motion, iv. 275—a century or two ago the Indian generals made great dependence [Page] upon the number and the expertness of their ele­phants; of late they are little used, except for drawing cannon, and transporting provisions—still they are used in war in Siam, in Cochin-China, in Tonquin, and Pegu, iv. 276—in what man­ner armed and led to battle—effects of its fury in the field—those placed upon its back in a square tower, combat as from an eminence, and fling down their weapons with double force—no­thing more dreadful, or more irresistible, than such moving machines, to men unacquainted with the modern arts of war—Romans quickly learned the art of opening their ranks to admit the elephant, iv. 277—and separating it from assistance, compell­ed its conductors to calm the animal's fury, and to submit—sometimes, instead of obeying, turned upon those it was employed to assist; one elephant is known to consume as much as forty men in a day—they are now chiefly employed in carry­ing or drawing burthens throughout the pen­insula of India—it can, with ease, draw more than six horses can remove—it carries upon its back three or four thousand weight; and upon its tusks it can support near a thousand—when pushed, it moves as swiftly as a horse at full gallop—it travels fifty or sixty miles a day; and hard pressed almost double that quantity—heard trotting on at a great dis­tance, iv. 278—its tract is deeply impressed on the ground, and from fifteen to eighteen inches in dia­meter—used, in India, as executioners, and with what dexterity they perform the horrid task—some­times they impale the criminal on their enormous tusks, iv. 279—two surprising instances how sensible it is of neglect, iv. 275, 279—the keeper despising its endeavours in launching a ship, the animal redou­bled its efforts, fractured its skull, and died upon the spot, iv. 279—revenge one of them took upon a taylor who pricked its trunk with a needle in Deli, iv. 280—is mindful of benefits, iv. 279—instance of it, iv. 280—at the Cape of Good Hope they are [Page] hunted for the sake of their teeth—in what manner—account of an unhappy huntsman, iv. 280, 281—teeth of the elephant found in a fossil state—two great grinding teeth, and part of the tush of an elephant, discovered at the depth of forty-two yards, in a lead mine in Flintshire—tusks of the elephants that come from Africa, seldom exceed two hundred and fifty pounds, iv. 282—it is de­feated by the rhinoceros, iv. 287—not afraid singly to make opposition to the lion, iii. 225
• Elephantiasis, or the Arabian leprosy, a disease to which man and the elephant are equally subject,—in what manner the Indians endeavour to prevent it, iv. 265
• Elizabeth, (queen) her injunction upon fasting, ii. 131—in her times, the whole kingdom could not supply two thousand horses to form the cavalry, ii. 370
• Ellis, his principal experiment upon coraline sub­stances, viii. 196
• Elk, its size equal to that of the elephant, iii. 140—is an animal rather of the buck than the stag kind—known in America by the name of moose-deer—is sometimes taken in the German and Russian forests; but extremely common in North America, iii. 140—its horns fortuitously dug up in many parts of Ireland, measuring ten feet nine inches from tip to tip—a small one, the size of a horse, and the horns little larger than those of a common stag, iii. 141—Jocelin and Dudley describe this animal about eleven feet high; others extend their accounts to twelve and fourteen feet—never dis­sturbs any other animal, when supplied itself—a female of this kind shewn at Paris in the year 1742—its description—they gave it thirty pounds of bread every day, beside hay, and it drank eight buckets of water, iii. 142, 143
• American Elk, of two kinds, the grey and the black; described—they prefer cold countries, feeding upon [Page] grass in summer, and the bark of trees in winter—time and manner of hunting them, iii. 144 to 147—its flesh very well tasted, and very nourishing—its hide strong, and so thick as to turn a musket-ball; yet is soft and pliable, iii. 147—this animal trou­bled with the epilepsy—is but very indifferently and confusedly described by travellers—their various de­scriptions, iii. 148, 149—in what manner killed by the glutton, iii. 398, 399
• Elops, or Sea-serpent, its description, vi. 310
• Ely, an island, the country round it was once a most delightful spot, i. 279—producing grapes that af­forded excellent wine—the sea breaking in, over­whelmed the whole country, i. 280
• Emanuel, (king of Portugal) to try the strength of the elephant and rhinoceros, made them fight, and the elephant was defeated, iv. 287
• Embalming, the Egyptians carried this art to per­fection, ii. 267—copious detail of this art as prac­tised among them—in Genesis, Joseph seeing his father expire, ordered his physicians to embalm the body—various methods of embalming, ii. 268, 269—the art still among the Guanches, ancient inha­bitants of the island of Teneriff, when the Spain­ards conquered it—particulars of their method of embalming, ii. 272—the Peruvians also under­stood this art, according to Father Acosta, ii. 274—a mummy lately dug up in France, shews the art more completely understood in the western than the eastern world, ii. 283
• Embroidery, done in India with porcupine quills, as belts, baskets, and necessary pieces of furniture, iv. 112
• Embryo, its first rudiments, ii. 39—in a month an inch long, ii. 41—the male developes sooner than the female, ii. 42—progress and encrease of it, ii. 40 to 47, and 61—in the human, the under jaw much advanced before the upper, ii. 91—brain, and spinal marrow, first seen begun, ii. 146—the bones as soft as the flesh, ii. 193
• [Page] Emigration, causes of emigrations of birds, v. 32—in what manner performed, v. 35
• Emu, an inhabitant of the New Continent, called also the American ostrich—description and places where found—runs so swiftly, the dogs lose the pur­suit, v. 64, 65—one surrounded by hunters, the dogs avoided its rage—peculiar in hatching its young, v. 66—the young at first familiar follow any person—as they grow older, become cunning and distrustful—their flesh good to be eaten—they live entirely upon grass, v. 67
• Encoubert of Buffon, the tatou of Ray, a shelly qua­druped, iv. 132
• England claims dominion over the seas encompassing Great Britain and Ireland, i. 232—losing its supe­riority upon the ocean, its safety becomes preca­rious, i. 233—late as king James I. the court still furnished with a dwarf, a giant, and a jester, ii. 251—the ass entirely lost under queen Elizabeth, ii. 385—not infested with wolves, iii. 319—the vi­per the only venomous animal there, vii. 203
• Enquiries most intricate generally most useless, ii. 21
• Entry, a term in the chace of the stag, iii. 114
• Ephemera, various kinds of this insect, vii. 361—its description, vii. 362—colours of their aurelias, vii. 363—their transmutations, vii. 365—places where found in abundance—short duration—their im­pregnation, vii. 364 to 368
• Epicure, the greatest has the most depraved taste, ii. 184
• Epiphanius (St.) lived an hundred and fifteen years, ii. 132
• Equator, description of the regions under it, i. 13
• Ermine, its description—alike in figure to the weasel, iii. 353—its fur the most valuable of any—the time in which it is called the stoat, iii. 354—man­ner of moulting its hair, iii. 357—one ate honey, and died shortly after—proof of a distinct species from the pole-cat or the martin—one of these fed with eggs and flesh, let them putrefy before it [Page] touched either—in Siberia, taken in traps baited with flesh; and in Norway, shot with blunt arrows or taken in traps—sometimes found white in Great Britain, and is then called white weasel—its fur among us of no value, iii. 358—preys upon the le­ming, iv. 89
• Erne, kind of eagle—its distinctive marks, v. 97
• Eruption of a volcano, remarkable, in 1537, i. 89, 90—of Vesuvius, in which Pliny the naturalist was suffocated, and the city of Herculaneum was over­whelmed, i. 91—another, of the same mountain, in 1707, described, i. 91 to 94—of Cotopaxi, in 1743, described by Ulloa, i. 100, 101—matter thus ex­ploded lies a little below the bed of the mountains, in Mr. Buffon's system, i. 101—but supplied from the deeper regions of the earth, i. 103
• Esculapian serpent of Italy—its excrement a pleasing perfume, vii. 184—a domestic creature, vii. 223
• Esox, or the pike, description of this fish, vi. 313
• Esquimaux Indians described, ii. 213, et seq.
• Evaporation, cold diminishing the force of menstruums, promotes evaporation—theory for the formation of the clouds, i. 370—prevented by moist weather—dry frost assists evaporation, i. 371
• Evils, thousands of natural evils permitted to exist in the world, and why, i. 20
• Eunuchs of two kinds, the white and the black—made in Italy to improve the voice, ii. 73—instance, in our country, of a very fine woman married to an eu­nuch, ii. 74
• Euphaemia, a city in Calabria, sunk by an earthquake, i. 119
• Euphrates, a river, its sources, i. 211, 212—receives eleven rivers, i. 217
• Eurites, a city swallowed by an earthquake, i. 162
• Europeans resemble our common parent more than any of the rest of his children, ii. 239—argument which suffices to prove it, ii. 240
• Eustachian tube, a passage from the ear into the mouth—its use, ii. 173
• [Page] Ewe, with the buck-goat, produces an animal that in two or three generations returns to the sheep, and retains no marks of its ancient progenitor, iii. 35
• Excrements of some serpents kept as the most pleasing perfume at Calicut and Cranganon, in East-India, vii. 184
• Executioner, elephants in India used as such—impale the criminals on their tusks, iv. 279
• Exercise, manual, hares taught to go through it, iv. 9
• Exhalations, mineral, raised by subterranean heat, i. 338—when copious, every where fatal, i. 326
• Exocetas, the flying fish, its description, vi. 314
• Expedition against Carthagena, in America, i. 322—and the Havannah, i. 323
• Experience, repeated, shews how seldom pains are suffered, or pleasures enjoyed, to the utmost, ii. 208
• Experiment, by Mr. Belcher, upon the circulation of the blood through the bones, ii. 194—made by approaching a looking-glass to the mouth, to dis­cover breathing, very uncertain, ii. 209—of a carp placed under an air-pump, vi. 169—the famous experiment of Malpighi, concerning the stigmata of the caterpillar, viii. 14
• Extraneous, or fossil shells, found in the bowels of the earth, vii. 15
• Eyes, opened by the infant the moment of its birth, ii. 54—particularly in them the passions are paint­ed, ii. 81—small and nearly closed, are liked in China and Japan, ii. 77—different colours of the eye, whence they arise, ii. 82—eyes of oxen are brown; those of sheep of a water-colour; of goats are grey; and those of most white animals are red, ii. 83—distance between the eyes less in man than in any other animal, ii. 84—Montaigne disliked those men who shut one eye in looking upon any object, ii. 94—in what circumstances women with child are said to be all mouth and eyes—the lower eye-lids, in women with child, drawn downwards, [Page] ii. 104—of all parts the animal has double, the eyes produced soonest, ii. 145—privation of feeling and sight would misrepresent the situation and number of all things around us, ii. 147—two contribute to distinct and extensive vision, ii. 149—both eyes see round the object, and give it that heightened relief which no painting does attain to—in either is there a point which has no vision, the defect is corrected by having the organ double, ii. 150—easy experiment to be convinced of it, ii. 150, 151—objects at a distance are rarely equal in both eyes, ii. 157—the best eye sees objects largest—infants having their eyes less, must see objects smaller in proportion, ii. 158—when we look at an object ex­tremely brilliant, vision becomes indistinct, and why, ii. 159—how far the eye can accommodate itself to darkness—remarkable instance of it in a major under king Charles I. ii. 160, 161—whence have arisen the small eyes of the Tartars and Chi­nese, ii. 239—eastern poets compare the eyes of their mistresses to those of the gazelle—the Greeks resemble the eyes of a beautiful woman to those of a cow, iii. 72—of all animals, natives of this cli­mate, none have an eye so beautiful as the stag, iii. 105—that of the wolf opens slantingly upwards in the same direction with the nose, iii. 307—of the fox placed obliquely, like those of the wolf, iii. 324—of the civet shine in the night, iii. 394—those of the hare placed backwards, to see behind it as it runs, and these are never wholly closed, iv. 4—pe­culiar advantages of smallness of the eye in the mole, iv. 94—description of the eyes of birds of the owl kind, v. 137—in the eyes of all animals, a complete provision to shut out too much light, or to admit a sufficiency, by contraction and dilatation of the pupil, v. 138—those of the great Greenland whale not larger than those of an ox, vi. 196—of the snail on the points of its largest horns, vii. 20—peculiarities in the eyes of the cameleon, vii. 155—eyes of the butterfly have not all the same [Page] form—the outward coat has a lustre displaying the various colours of the rainbow—examined a little closely, it will be found to have the appearance of a multiplying-glass, viii. 35, 36—the beetle in its worm state has no eyes, viii. 132
• Eye-brows joining in the middle considered a peculiar grace by Tibullus, and by the Persians, ii. 76—Le Brun's directions, regarding the passions, place the principal expression in them, ii. 84—such as have them most at command are the best actors, ii. 85—the Talapoins of Siam shave the eye-brows of the children committed to their care, ii. 96
• Eye-lashes, men and apes only have them upon the upper and lower lids—all other animals want them on the lower lid, ii. 85
• Eye-lids, in birds and amphibious quadrupeds, the lower lid alone has motion—fishes and insects have no eye-lids, ii. 85

• Face, its form the result of custom, ii. 238—a modern lady's face formed like that of Venus de Medicis, or of the sleeping Vestal, would scarce be deemed beautiful, except by the lovers of antiquity, ii. 265
• Falcon gentle, a kind of hawk, iii. 84—it pursues the gazelles, iii. 84, 85—many people admire its flesh, and dress it for eating, says Belonius, v. 85—me­thod of training up this bird, v. 124—falconry, much difused among us, was a principal amusement of our ancestors, v. 118—the falcon-gentle and the peregrine much less than the gyr-falcon, which ex­ceeds all others in largeness—description of the gyr-falcon—a courageous and fierce bird, not fearing the eagle—it chiefly flies at the stork, the heron, and the crane, v. 120, 121—is chiefly found in the northern regions, but loses neither strength nor courage, when brought into the milder climates—the falcon-gentil moults in March and sooner—the peregrine does not moult [Page] till August, v. 121—the common falcon is of such spirit, that, like a conqueror in a country, he keeps all in awe and subjection to his prowess, v. 122—young falcons, though depressed by captivity, will, when brought out, fly at barnacles and wild geese, v. 123—the falcon's pursuit of the heron, kite, or woodlark, the most delightful sport, v. 127—names of the falcons in use here and in other countries, v. 119—among the Welch, the king's falconer the fourth officer of the state; was forbid to take more than three draughts of beer from his horn, lest he should neglect his duty, v. 118
• Falconers catch the kite for the purposes of training the falcon and how, v. 144
• Fallopius, the two tubular vessels perceived by him, ii. 17
• Famine supported by carnivorous animals for several weeks together, ii. 323
• Fasting, queen Elizabeth enjoined her subjects to fast from flesh on Fridays and Saturdays, to favour the consumption of fish, and multiply the number of mariners, and to spare the stock of sheep, ii. 131
• Fat of the chamois, its medicinal virtue—fat of ani­mals found efficacious in some disorders, iii. 69—of the manati, exposed to the sun, has a fine smell and taste, and exceeds the fat of any sea-animal—the heat of the sun will not spoil, it nor make it rancid—several other qualities of this fat, iv. 185, 186
• Father-lasher, description of this fish, vi. 308
• Fawn, name of the buck and the doe the first year, iii. 128
• Feathers of birds described, v. 6—of the ostrich almost as soft as down, v. 50—different uses made of goose-feathers, vi. 124, 125
• Feather-beds utterly unknown in countries bordering on the Levant, and all Asia, vi. 125—ancients did not use feather-beds—Pliny speaks of bolsters of feathers for their heads—feathers make a consider­able article of commerce—different qualities—best [Page] method of curing them—old feathers more valu­able than new, vi. 125, 126
• Fecundity of the rabbit greater than of the hare, iv. 16
• Feeling, deprived of feeling, our eyes would misrepre­sent the situation and the number of all things around us, ii. 147—blind men have this sense finer than others, and why—the grossest and most useful of the senses—no total deprivation of it but with life—those parts most exercised in it, acquire the greatest accuracy—the fingers, by habit, greater in the art than others, not from their having more nerves, ii. 185—fishes having no organs for feel­ing, must be the most stupid of all animals—feeling, the guardian, the judge, and the examiner of all the senses, is never found to deceive, ii. 186
• Ferret has eyes of a red colour, ii. 83—not found at present here but in the domestic state—its descrip­tion—a native of the torrid zone, iii. 359, 360—naturally such an enemy of the rabbit, that a young ferret, although unacquainted with the kind, will fiercely attack and bite even a dead one—use of fer­rets in warrens to enter the holes muzzled, and drive the rabbits into the nets at the mouth, iii. 360—to bring the ferret from his hole, straw and other substances burnt at the mouth—the female less than the male, whom she seeks with great ardour, and often dies without being admitted, iii. 361—they sleep continually, and the instant they awake seem eager for food—are usually fed with bread and milk—breed twice a year—some devour their young as soon as brought forth, and then become fit for the male again—the litter usually from five to six young; and these consist of more females than males—its scent foetid—has attacked and kill­ed children in the cradle—is easily irritated, and then smells more offensively—its bite difficult of cure—has eight grinding teeth—to the ferret kind may be added an animal called by Mr. Buffon the vansire, iii. 362—comes originally from Africa, iv. 22
• [Page] Fever, opinion that the lion is in a continual fever, iii. 224
• Fewmet, name for the excrement of the stag, iii. 113
• Fibres, muscular, compose the stomachs of insects, iii. 6.
• Fieldfare, bird of the sparrow kind, v. 314, 317, 323
• Fielding affirms he never knew a person with a steady glavering smile, but he found him a rogue, ii. 94
• Figure, little known exactly of the proportion of the human figure, ii. 106—different opinions concern­ing it, ii. 107—whence proceed the variations in the human figure, ii. 239—the oldest measure of the human figure in the monument of Cheops, in the first pyramid of Egypt, ii. 264
• Finder, a dog of the generous kind, iii. 286
• Fins, different purposes they answer in fishes, vi. 155 to 158—those of the whale—their use, vi. 194, 195, 200
• Fin-fish, vi. 193—its food, vii. 202
• Fingers, by habit, and not from a greater number of nerves, become exacter in the art of feeling than any other part, even where sensation is more deli­cate and fine, ii. 185
• Fire, perpetual, in the kingdom of Persia, i. 86—ad­vantages arising from the subterranean fires, i. 124, 125—put out by the sun shining upon it, and why, i. 333, 334—fleeting balls of fire, i. 377—great globe of fire seen at Bononia in Italy, not less than a mile long and half a mile broad, i. 382—lighted to preserve herds and flocks from animals of the cat kind, iii. 222
• Fireflare, Pliny, Aelian, and Oppian, supply the weapon of this fish with a venom affecting even the inanimate creation—reasons to doubt of it, vi. 259, 260, 261
• Fishes petrified, found in the mountains of Castravan, i. 45—fish in abundance found in a new formed island—those who eat of them died shortly after, i. [Page] 126—cannot live in water, whence the air is ex­hausted, i. 316—showers of fishes first raised in the air by tempests, i. 390—most of them pro­duced from the egg, ii. 26—have no eye-lids at all, ii. 85—nor any neck, ii. 102—are allured by music, ii. 168—having no organs for feeling, must be stupid, ii. 186—ruminating sort, iii. 5—opi­nion, that all fish are naturally of the salt element, and have mounted up into fresh water by acci­dental migration—some swim up rivers to deposit their spawn; of which the size is enormous, and the shoals endless—all keep to the sea, and would expire in fresh water, vi. 153—the number to which names are given, and of the figure of which something is known, according to Linnaeus, are above four hundred—their pursuits, mi­grations, societies, antipathies, pleasures, times of gestation, and manner of bringing forth, are all hidden in the turbulent element that protect them—the history of fishes can have little in it enter­taining; for instead of studying their nature, pains have been taken to encrease their catalogues, vi. 154—that shape granted to most fishes, is imitated in such vessels as are designed to sail with the greatest swiftness—any large fish overtakes a ship in full sail, with great ease—the chief in­struments in the motion of a fish are the fins—in some they are more numerous than in others—it is not always the fish with the greatest number of fins that have the swiftest motion, vi. 155—how the fins assist the fish in rising or sinking, in turning, or leaping out of the water—all this explained by the experiment of a carp put into a large ves­sel, vi. 155 to 158—all fishes covered with a slimy, glutinous matter, that defends their bodies from the immediate contact of the surrounding fluid—they fall behind terrestrial animals in their sensations—their sense of touching and smelling, vi. 159—their sense of tasting, vi. 160—hearing is found still more imperfect, if found at all, vi. [Page] 161—Mr. Gouan's experiment to this purpose—from it is learned they are as deaf as mute—their sense of seeing, vi. 162—their brain, vi. 163—their rapacity insatiable; when out of the water, and almost expiring, they greedily swallow the bait by which they were allured to destruction, vi. 164—the maw placed next the mouth; and though pos­sessed of no sensible heat, is endued with a faculty of digestion, contrary to the system, that the heat of the stomach is alone sufficient for digestion, vi. 165—though for ever prowling, can suffer want of food very long—instances of it, vi. 166—life of a fish but one scene of hostility, violence, and eva­sion, vi. 167—the causes of annual migrations, vi. 168—all stand in need of air for support—those of the whale kind come to the surface of the sea every two or three minutes to breathe fresh air—experi­ment of a carp in a large vase of water, placed un­der an air-pump, vi. 169—general method of ex­plaining respiration in fishes, vi. 170—the descrip­tion and uses of their air bladder, vi. 171 to 175—full play of the gills prevented, or the bony covers kept from moving, the animal would fall into con­vulsions, and die, vi. 170—some fishes have no air-bladder, vi. 174—can live but a few minutes without air—nothing more difficult to account for, than the manner of their getting this supply, vi. 170—no part of the account of the use of the air-bladder well supported, vi. 172—Bacon's obser­vations upon their growth and age—two methods for determining the age of fishes, more ingenious than certain—a carp found to be a hundred years old—the discovery confirmed by authors, vi. 175, 176—longevity of these animals, nothing compar­ed to their fecundity—some multiply by mil­lions—some bring forth their young alive, and some produce eggs—the former rather the least fruitful—the viviparous blenny brings forth two or three hundred at a time, all alive, and playing together round the parent, vi. 177—different sea­sons [Page] for depositing spawn, vi. 180—some fishes have the tenderness of birds or quadrupeds for their young, vi. 181—their copulation as yet a doubt, vi. 179—Apicius noted for first teaching to suffocate fish in Carthaginian pickle, vi. 182—the flesh of fishes—question to the learned concerning the flesh of fishes, vi 183—cetaceous fishes, vi. 185—cartilaginous fishes, vi. 231—sucking-fish sticks to the shark—called the shark's pilot, and why, vi. 246—all fish more delicate about a baited hook than their ordinary food, vi. 252—best bait for all is fresh herring cut in pieces of a proper size, vi. 256—experience shews, the larger fish take a living small one upon the hook sooner than any other bait, vi. 257—more than those of the ray kind possessed of the numbing quality—Condamine informs us of a fish wth the powers of the torpedo, and resembling a lamprey, vi. 267—lamprey of the English Severn the most delicate fish whatever, vi. 270— galley-fish, described, vi. 293 to 295— pipe-fish, vi. 289— lump-fish, vi. 287— sun-fish, vi. 285, 286—spinous fishes, vi. 303—Mr. Gouan's system of spinous fishes, vi. 304 to 315—use of it, vi. 315, 316—all fish of the same kind have the same number of bones, vi. 318—the small, lean, and with many fins, the most bony, vi. 319—vulgar expression, that fishes at some seasons are more bony than at others, scarce deserves con­tradiction, vi. 318—none imbibe the sea-saltness with their food, or in respiration—whence then do some fishes live there, and quickly expire in fresh water—some tribes live only in the sea; others on­ly in fresh water; some a part the season in one, and a part in the other, as the salmon, the shad, the smelt, and the flounder, vi. 321—some fish, as the eel, descend the fresh-water stream, to bring forth their young in the sea—in what season, vi. 323—long voyages undertaken by some tribes that con­stantly reside in the ocean, and may be called fish of passage—stated returns and regular pro­gress [Page] of these fish of passage the most extraordinary circumstances in the history of nature, vi. 324—names of several migrating fishes—of all such, the herring and pilchard take the most adventurous voy­ages, vi. 325, 326—places where found in abun­dance, vi. 327—manner in which the eggs of fish are impregnated wholly unknown, vi. 338—in the islands of the Indian Ocean, an over quantity, in shoals, on the swamps, dried up by the sun—the putrefaction renders the country unhealthful—a­mazing propagation along our coasts and rivers not proportionate to the quantities among the islands of the Indian Ocean, vi. 335—places where the spawn is deposited—doubts whether most fish come from the egg completely formed, vi. 336—growth of fishes, vi. 339—instance in the growth of the mackarel—all live upon each other in some state of their existence—of those in the ocean of the spinous kinds, the dorado the most voracious, vi. 340—flying-fish chiefly sought by the dorado—their warfare, vi. 341—opinion that all fishes are natives of the sea, founded upon their superior fecundity of breeding twenty to one—certainly fresh-water fishes abate of their courage and rapacity, vi. 343—greediness of the sea-fish to devour the bait prodigious, compared with the manner it is taken in fresh water—difference of baits with which they are caught vi. 344—some fishes rendered so torpid in the northern rivers, as to be frozen up in the masses of ice, and continue there several months, seemingly without life or sensation, waiting the approach of a warmer sun, to restore them to life and liberty—each species of fish infested with worms of different kinds, vi. 347—most vivacious animals—often live upon substances poisonous to the more perfect classes of animated nature—numbers of fishes mak­ing poisonous wounds, scarcely to be doubted, vi. 348—some fishes being poisonous is notorious, the cause inscrutable—Dr. Grainger, after resid­ing [Page] many years at St. Christopher's, affirms that of fish caught at one end of the island, some were good and wholesome, while others of the same kind, taken at a different end, were dangerous and commonly fatal—the Philosophical Transac­tions give an account of poisonous qualities of fish, at New Providence—all kinds, at different times a­like dangerous; the same species this day serving as nourishment, the next found fatal—speculations and conjectures to which these poisonous qualities have given rise, vi. 349, 350
• File-fish, most wonderful of the shelly tribe, vii. 65. See Pholades.
• Fishery of pearls, several—chiefly carried on in the Persian Gulph, vii. 56—the people destined for the pearl-fisheries—they die consumptive, vii. 58—in what manner they fish for pearls, vii. 59
• Fishing-frog, from its deformity called sea devil, vi. 286—conceit that this fish uses its two long beards or filaments for fishing—Rondelet says, that the bowels taken out, the body appears transparent; and with a lighted candle in it, has a formidable appearance—fishermen have a great regard for this ugly fish, as an enemy to the dog-fish; when taken they set it at liberty, vi. 287
• Fissures, perpendicular, found in every field, and eve­ry quarry—their causes, i. 62
• Fistularia, description of this fish, vi. 313
• Flame will burn under water—none found continuing to burn without air, i. 333
• Flamingo, the most remarkable of the crane kind, the tallest, bulkiest, and most beautiful, vi. 10—its description—chiefly found in America, once known on all the coasts of Europe, vi. 10, 11—in deserted regions, the flamingos live in a state of society, and under a better polity than others of the feathered creation—delicacy of its flesh, vi. 11—when the first Europeans in America killed one, the rest regarded the fall in fixed astonishment; thus the fowler le­velled the flock, before any began to escape [Page]—it is now one of the scarcest, and shyest birds in the world, vi. 12—places it chiefly inhabits—always appoint one as a watch—who gives no­tice of danger with a voice as shrill as a trumpet, vi. 12, 13—negroes fond of their company, and think their society a gift of heaven, and protection from evils, iv. 14—those killed hidden in the long grass, to prevent ill treatment from the blacks discovering the murder of their sacred birds—are frequently taken with nets; refuse all nourishment, when ta­ken, pine and die, if left to themselves in capti­vity, vi. 14, 15—its tongue is the most celebrated delicacy, a dish of them, says Labat, is a feast for an emperor—a Roman emperor had fifteen hun­dred flamingos tongues served up in a dish—their tongue larger than that of any other bird—its flesh, vi. 315—they move in rank like cranes—appear in flight, of a bright red as a burning coal—manner of feeding very singular—savages of Canada call it tococo, and why, vi. 16, 17—time of breeding and their nests, vi. 17—number of their eggs—colour when young—then become familiar in five or six days, eat out of the hand, and drink sea-water; but generally pine away, wanting their natural supplies, and die in a short time, vi. 19—savages make ornaments of their plumes; and the skin sometimes serves the Europeans to make muffs, vi. 19
• Flea, its description, vii. 268—it can draw a chain an hundred times heavier than itself, and eat ten times its own size of provision in one day, vii. 248—persecutes the hare, iv. 12—Lewenhoeck has discovered above six thousand facets on the cornea of a flea, viii. 36—arhorescent water-flea, or mo­noculus, described, vii. 288
• Flemings possessed the art of cloth-working in a supe­rior degree—were invited to settle here, iii. 43
• Flesh, dries at Cusco like wood, without corrupting, ii. 274—the Persians esteem that of the wild ass [Page] so highly that its delicacy is a proverb among them, ii. 378—of the fallow deer preferred to any other, iii. 125—of the roe-buck between one and two years old, allowed the greatest delicacy known, iii. 139—of the tiger is good for food, some hold it superior to mutton, iii. 249—of dogs sold in shambles all over China, iii. 297—and the ne­groes of the coasts of Guinea esteem it a delicacy—as likewise that of toads, lizards, and tigers, iii. 297, 298—that of the wolf very indifferent; no creature known to eat it but the wolf himself, iii. 323—of the squash, tolerable food, iii. 385—that of the glutton not fit to be eaten, iii. 402—of the hare religiously abstained from by Jews, ancient Bri­tons, and Mahometans, iv. 14—of the paca con­sidered a great delicacy, iv. 54—of the tendrac, thought by the Indians a great delicacy, iv. 107—of the pangolin considered a very great delicacy by the negroes of Africa, iv. 121—of the armadilla, of tatou, said to be delicate eating, iv. 130—of the seal formerly found place at the tables of the great, iv. 180—of the monkey liked by the ne­groes, iv. 224—of the ostrich proscribed in scrip­ture, unfit to be eaten, v. 53—of the emu, or the American ostrich, good to be eaten, v. 67—of the dodo, good and wholesome eating, v. 77—of the vulture, falcon, and osprey, when young, excel­lent food according to Belonius, v. 85—that of carnivorous birds stringy and ill-tasted, soon cor­rupting, and tinctured with that animal food upon which they subsist, v. 84—of the bird condor, as disagreeable as carrion, v. 102—of the peacock, keeps longer unputrefied than of any other animal, v. 173—of the pheasant, considered as the greatest dainty—of the quail, a very great delicacy, v. 214—that of the partridge, so valued by the French, ac­cording to Willoughby, that no feast could be com­plete without it, v. 206—of the toucan, tender and nourishing, v. 246—of young herons, in particu­lar [Page] estimation in France, v. 398—of the bittern, greatly esteemed among the luxurious, vi. 5—of the puffin, formerly by the church allowed on len­ten days, vi. 104—of fishes, yields little nourish­ment, vi. 182—question proposed to the learned concerning it, vi. 183—of the young porpess, said to be as well tasted as veal, vi. 228—of the shark, is hardly digestible by any but negroes, who are fond of it to distraction, vi. 247—of the turtle is become a branch of commerce, vi. 398—that of some crabs is poisonous, vi. 376—of the great Mediterranean turtle sometimes poisonous, vi. 394
• Flies, torment the elephant unceasingly—arts the e­phant tries to keep them off, iv. 266—the cornea so adapted by Puget, as to see objects through it with a microscope—strangeness of its representa­tions—does the fly see objects singly, as with one eye; or is every facet a complete eye, exhibiting its object distinct from the rest, viii. 36, 37—common water-fly swims on its back, vii. 359—dragon-fly, or the libella, vii. 316—the Spanish-fly, viii. 141. See Cantharides.
• Flintshire, in a lead mine there, two great grinding teeth, and part of the tusk of an elephant, disco­vered, at the depth of forty-two yards, iv. 282
• Flounder, known to produce in one season, above one million of eggs, vi. 178
• Fluids, ascending in vessels emptied of air—rising in capillary tubes, and how this comes to pass, i. 192
• Flumide, description of this fish, vi. 312
• Flux of the sea, i. 250—not equal in the Streight of Magellan, i. 259
• Fly-catcher, bird of the sparrow kind, v. 317
• Flying-fish, its description, vi. 314—chiefly sought by the dorado, vi. 341
• Fly-trap, name of a flower, closing upon the flies that light upon it, viii. 162
• [Page] Foetus, the canal of communication through which the blood circulates in the foetus, without going through the lungs, has been found open in some bodies that have been dissected, vii. 58
• Fongwhang, natives of China give a fantastic de­scription of this imaginary bird, v. 191
• Fontenelle, a celebrated writer, of a weak and delicate habit of body; the remarkable equality of his tem­per lengthened out his life to above an hundred; nothing could vex or make him uneasy, ii. 201
• Food, man can live without it for seven days, ii. 132—a Scotchman for the space of six weeks took no food at all, ii. 133
• Foot, hares have the sole of it furnished with hair, iv. 8. See Hare and Hair.
• Foramen ovale, opening in the heart of the foetus, ii. 45—in the seal's heart, never closes, iv. 171
• Forbin, (chevalier) his account of baboons forcing women in Siam, iv. 210
• Forehead, narrow, liked by the Romans, ii. 76
• Forest, generally divided between monkies and ser­pents, iv. 221
• Formica-leo, the lion-ant, described, vii. 323—its ha­bits, vii. 324—retreat, vii. 325—contrivances for catching other insects, vii. 326, 327—when attaining a certain age, changes its form, vii. 328—description when become a large and beautiful fly of the libellula kind, vii. 330
• Form of hares made in places where the colour of the grass most resembles that of their skin; is open to the south in winter, and to the north in sum­mer, iv. 9—they sleep or repose in them by day, iv. 7
• Fossile, teeth of elephants often found in that state, iv. 282—bones found in Peru and Brazil, iv. 283—shells in the bowels of the earth, not found in the ocean, vii. 15
• Fouine, animal of the weasel kind, iii. 368
• Fowls, large, do not rise easily, and why, v. 8—few [Page] water-fowls known to breed in England, and why, v. 33—those of reddish plumage the ancients held invaluable; the white, as unfit for domestic pur­poses, and fit as prey to rapacious birds—Aristotle thinks them less fruitful than the former, v. 162—sea-fowls ever sporting on formidable sea-coasts, vi. 78—general characteristics of water-fowls, vi. 45, 46—their food, vi. 48—the gull kind, vi. 49—the penguin kind—the goose kind, vi. 49, 50—water-fowls properly of no climate, vi. 106
• Foxes, their cubs born blind, like those of the dog, iii. 331—the fox lives about twelve or fourteen years—remarkable instance of parental affection of a she-fox, iii. 330—all animals make war upon the fox—even the birds, iii. 331—refuses to engender with the dog—brings forth fewer than the dog, and but once a year, iii. 329—the female goes with young six weeks, and seldom stirs out while preg­nant, iii. 330—various colours of them—three va­rieties of this animal in Great Britain; grey-hound fox, mastiff-fox, and cur-fox—round the pole they are of all colours, iii. 332—jackall taken for the fox—skin of the black fox most esteemed, a single skin selling for forty or fifty crowns, iii. 333—in Greenland do not change colour at all, iii. 356—taken young, are gentle only while cubs, growing older, discover their natural appetites of rapine and cruelty, iii. 277—nothing eatable comes amiss to them, rats, mice, serpents, toads, and lizards; insects, crabs, shrimps, and shell-fish; carrots, wax, and honey, even the hedge-hog, iii. 327—often takes possession of the hole quitted by the badger, or forces it from its retreat by art, iv. 328—hunt in packs, iii. 276—chace of the fox, iii. 328—their offensive smell often the cause of their death, iii. 324—way they find to subsist, iii. 325 to 327—name given by huntsmen to a fox of the second year—old fox the name for the third year, iii. 328—many animals in this country [Page] bred between a dog and a fox, iii. 298—experiments prove neither the wolf nor the fox of the same nature with the dog, each a species perfectly dis­tinct, iii. 298 to 301—exactly resembles the wolf and the dog internally, iii. 323—description; eyes, obliquely situated, like the wolf, iii. 324
• Crost-fox, name of the isatis, when turning white, iii. 341
• Fox-tailed-monkey, of the sagoin kind, iv. 237
• France, its kings of the first race had whiskers knot­ted and buttoned with gold, ii. 97—under Francis I. peacocks served at the tables of the great, not to be eaten but seen, v. 173
• Fray, said when stags rub off the peel of their horns against trees, iii. 114
• Frederic, emperor of Germany, wrote a treatise up­on hawking, v. 118
• Frederickshall, Charles XII. shot at the siege of that fortress, ii. 208
• Friezeland, great innundations happened in it, i. 278
• Frischehaff, a lake where the sturgeon is found in greatest numbers, vi. 277
• Frog, differences between it and the toad, in figure and conformation, vii. 74—the frog the best swim­mer of all four-footed animals, vii. 75—its descrip­tion—male or female have no external instruments of generation; the anus serving for that purpose in both, vii. 75, 76—coupling of the common brown frog—experiments to discover how their impreg­nation is performed, vii. 76 to 79—the female not impregnated by the mouth, as conjectured, nor by the thumbs, as imagined by Linnaeus, but by impersion of male seminal fluid upon the eggs proceeding from the body—how the female brings forth eggs, vii. 80—various changes in the eggs after impregnation by the male, vii. 81, 82—the animal in its perfect state, from feeding up­on vegetables, becomes carnivorous, lives upon worms and insects, and seeks for food upon land [Page]—myriads seen on such occasions, have been fancied to be generated in the clouds, and showered down on earth, vii. 83, 84—their habitudes and food, vii. 84—differences of sexes not perceiveable, until their fourth year; do not begin to propagate till that period, vii. 84, 85—live about twelve years, vii. 85—a German surgeon kept one eight years in a glass covered with a net, fed it often but sparingly—in­stances of tenaciousness of life, vii. 86—the male only croaks—large water-frog's note as loud as the bellowing of a bull; and heard at three miles dist­ance—times of their croaking—no weather-glass so true in foretelling changes, vii. 87—adhere to the backs of fishes, vii. 88—story of Walton to this purpose, vii. 89—dry weather hurtful to frogs, vii. 88—designedly introduced into Ireland before the Norway rat, iv. 66—the rat put a stop to their in­crease; and the frog is almost extinct in that king­dom, iv. 67. See Fishing-frog.
• Frost, dry, augments evaporation, i. 371
• Frost-smoke, fogs near the pole form halos, or lumi­nous circles, i. 386, 387
• Froth-worm, its description, vii. 358
• Fumes of hot iron, copper, or other metal, blown into the place where an animal is confined, instant­ly destroys it, i. 319
• Fur, the colder the country, the larger and the warm­er the fur—instances of it, ii. 329—of the white fox not esteemed, and why, iii. 333—the isa­tis of no value, unless killed in winter, iii. 341—the ermine the most valuable of any, iii. 354—no easy matter to account for warmth of furs of Nor­thern quadrupeds, or how they come to have such abundant covering—particulars on this subject, iii. 355—white weasel, found in Great Britain, of no value, iii. 358—ermine, in every country, changes by time, iii. 359—of the polecat in less estimation than some of inferior kinds, iii. 366—of the yel­low-breasted martin more valuable and beautiful [Page] than the white, iii. 368—different colours of the sable, iii. 374—of the genet valuable, iii. 388—of the glutton has the most beautiful lustre, and is preferred to all except the Siberian sable, iii. 403—of the hare forms a considerable article in the hat manufacture, iv. 13—of the cricetus, or Ger­man rat, very valuable, iv. 84—inside down of the vulture's wing makes a warm and comfort­able kind of fur, v. 109—of the civet, impreg­nated with the perfume, iii. 392

• Gadfly, formidable in Lapland—brings on an incur­able disorder upon the rein-deer—precautions used against them, iii. 157
• Gadus, the cod-fish, its description, vi. 312
• Gaganda, island of Ethiopia, parrots found there by the Romans, v. 284
• Galam, a place nine hundred miles up the Sengal, taken from the French, i. 212
• Galen asserts the eggs of hens and pheasants good to be eaten, those of geese and ostriches worst of all, v. 63
• Galinassos, Spanish name of vultures in America, v. 113
• Gall, the deer kind have none, iii. 94—of the sham­moy held useful to strengthen the sight, iii. 69
• Gall-nuts, description of the insect forming and resid­ing in them, and its transformations, viii. 148
• Galley-fish, its description, vi. 293—its legs adhesive—common in America, perpetually floating; no efforts made to hurt can make it sink—never per­ceived to move on shore, so strongly adhering to whatever substances applied, vi. 294—the smallest quantity of slimy substance from its legs burns the skin like hot oil—the shore covered with them, a fore-runner of a storm, vi. 295
• [Page] Gally-worm, its difference from the scolopendra, vii. 303
• Game, sanguinary laws to preserve it, iii. 110
• Ganges, a river visited annually by a hundred thou­sand pilgrims, who pay their devotions to it as to God, i. 211—in its course receives twenty rivers, i. 217
• Gannet, the soland goose, its description—subsists upon fish—places abounding with them, vi. 71, 72—manner of preserving them and their eggs, in the island of St. Kilda; twenty-three thousand of this kind of young birds consumed annually there—a bird of passage—its migrations; never comes near the land, vi. 73—where seen, it announces the arrival of herrings—exceeds the cormorant in quickness of sight—method of taking its prey,—manner of taking them at sea, vi. 74—num­ber of their eggs—the young counted a great dainty, and sold very dear, vi. 75
• Garter-fish, the lipidopus, its description, vi. 312, 313
• Gasterosteus, or the stickleback, description of this fish, vi. 309
• Gazelles, neither goat nor deer—partake of both na­tures, iii. 70—they form a distinct kind, iii. 71—their description, iii. 70, 71, 72—of all animals it has the most beautiful eye—eastern poets compare the eyes of their mistresses to those of the gazelle, iii. 72—Buffon makes but twelve varieties—their names and descriptions, iii. 73 to 80—comparing them together, we find but slight distinctions, iii. 83—are inhabitants of the warmer climates—no ani­mals, but of the winged kind, can overtake them—are pursued by falcons; and this hunting is a prin­cipal amusement among the great in the East, iii. 84—also hunted with the ounce, iii. 85—another way of taking them, iii. 86—keep in solitary and inaccessible places, iii. 87—the bubalus, more pro­perly one of Africa, iii. 149—the most usual prey for the lion in deserts and forests, iii. 223—the [Page] prey of the panther, iii. 260—pursued by the jack­all, makes towards houses and towns, iii. 337
• Gekko, a kind of salamander, vii. 141
• Generation, most complete where fewest animals are produced, ii. 48—late discovery, that male fishes have two organs of generation, vi. 179—all ani­mals of the snail kind are hermaphrodites; each containing the instruments of generation double, vii. 30—these organs in the muscle, vii. 42—male or female of frogs have no external instruments for that use, vii. 76
• Gennette, its odour more faint than civet—descrip­tion of this animal—resembles the martin, more easily tamed; Bellonius has seen them at Con­stantinople tame as cats—glands open differently from others of its kind, iii. 386, 387—called the cat of Constantinople—never found in mountains, nor dry places—its fur valuable—species not much dif­fused—countries where it is found—the most beau­tiful, cleanly, and industrious animal—keeps a house free from mice and rats by its smell, iii. 388
• Gennette, of the province of Andalusia the best, ii. 357
• Georgians, their description, ii. 230
• Gerbua, has four feet, uses only the hinder in running or resting, iv. 349—the swiftest creature in the world—description—countries where found—live upon vegetables, and burrow like rabbits, iv. 349, 350—its habits, iv. 351
• Gerenda, a serpent to which the natives of Calicut and those of the Mozambique coast pay divine honours, vii. 224
• Germany, the meanest peasant kills a cow for his table, salts and hangs it up, and preserves it as a delicacy all the year round, iii. 9
• Gesner minutely describes a variety of mice-traps, iv. 74—places bats among birds, iv. 134
• Giant, in England, as late as king James I. the court had one, ii. 251
• [Page] Giants, probability of the race affirmed, possibility of their existence denied—Grew's opinion, ii. 258, 259—Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese, first discovered a race of such people, towards the extreme coast of South America, ii. 259—assent to the existence of this gigantic race of mankind, ii. 262—travellers confirm it, ii. 261—seen here, have the same de­fects of understanding as dwarfs—are heavy, phleg­matic, stupid, and inclined to sadness, ii. 263
• Gibbon, the long-armed ape, its description, iv. 206
• Gills, their free play prevented, the animal falls into convulsions and dies, vi. 170
• Gilthead, called dolphin by sailors—its description, vi. 305
• Gimerro, imagined a breed between an ass and a bull, ii. 386
• Glands, furnish the fetid substance in animals of the weasel kind, iii. 352—of the genett open different­ly from others, iii. 387—unctuous in birds to pre­serve their feathers, v. 4—salivary in the gullet and crop of birds, v. 15
• Glass, a looking-glass held to the mouth of a person supposed dead, an uncertain experiment for deter­mining latent life, ii. 209
• Glitters, little impressions so called in the heads of stags, iii. 114
• Globe of fire rising from the side of the mountain Pi­chinca, i. 381—a great one seen at Bononia, in Italy, in the year 1676—past westward at a rate of a hundred and sixty miles in a minute—could not be less than a mile long, and half a mile broad, i. 382
• Globe of glass, filled with water, assumes successively all the colours of the rainbow, i. 385
• Gloucester, its corporation had an old custom annual­ly to present the king with a lamprey pye, vi. 273
• Glow-worm, male and female of this species differ en­tirely from each other, viii. 140—how and in what [Page] manner in which light sent forth by the glow-worm is produced, hitherto inexplicable—the light continues to grow paler, and at last is totally ex­tinct, if the worm be kept for some time, viii. 141
• Glue, made of the horns of the rein-deer, iii. 167—Mr. Jackson found out a method of making glue to answer the purposes of isinglass, vi. 283
• Glutton, the most dangerous, and most successful per­secutor of the rein-deer, iii. 169—its manner of killing that deer, iii. 170—belongs to the wea­sel kind—there is no precise description of it; some resembling it to a badger, some to a fox, others to a hyaena—one brought alive from Siberia was three feet long, and about a foot and an half high, iii. 395—so called from its voracious appe­tite—countries where found—called carcajou in North America—general description—Ray and others doubt of its existence, iii. 396—takes its prey by surprize, and in what manner—darts down from branches of trees upon the elk, or the rein-deer, sticks its claws between their shoulders, and remains there firm, eating their necks, and digging to the great blood-vessels that lie on that part, iii. 397 to 399—amasing quantity one of these animals can eat at a time; that seen by Mr. Klein, without exercise or air, taken from its native climate, and enjoying but indifferent health, eat thirteen pounds of flesh every day, and was not satisfied, iii. 399—it continues eating and sleeping till its prey, bones and all, be devoured—prefers putrid flesh to that newly killed—it is so slow that any quadruped can escape it, except the beaver—pursues it upon land; but the beaver taking water, the glutton has no chance to succeed, iii. 400—called the vulture of the qua­drupeds—in what manner it makes up by strata­gem the defects of nature, iii. 401—the female goes with young four months, and brings forth two or three, iii. 402—the male and female equal­ly [Page] resolute in defence of their young—is difficult to be skinned, iii. 403—does not fear man, iii. 402 is a solitary animal, and never in company than—with its female; couples in the midst of winter—the flesh not fit to be eaten—the fur has the most beautiful lustre, and preferred to all, except the Siberian fox, or the sable, iii. 402, 403
• Gnats, in Lapland, fill the air like clouds of dust—are chiefly enemies to the rein-deer—remedies used against them, iii. 156—proceed from a little worm, usually seen at the bottom of standing waters—cu­rious manner in which the eggs are laid—in their egg state it resembles a buoy, fixed by an anchor, viii. 152—different states of the insect—in its last transformation, divested of a second skin; in the next it resigns its eyes, its antennae, and its tail; and seems to expire; from the spoils of the amphibious animal appears a little winged insect, whose structure is an object of admiration, viii. 153—description of this insect, and of its trunk, justly deemed one of nature's master-pieces—im­plement with which the gnat performs its work in summer, viii. 154, 155—places where it spends the winter—the little brood so numerous, that the water is tinged with the colour of the species, viii. 155—some gnats oviparous, others viviparous, and come forth in a perfect form; some are males, and unite with the female; some are fe­males, requiring the male; others are of neither sex, and produce young, without copulation,—at the sixth generation their propagation stops, the gnat no longer reproduces its likeness, but requires the male to renew its fecundity, viii. 156, 157—produced in multitudes beyond ex­pression in America; and found of all sizes, from six inches long, to a minuteness beyond the perception of the common eye—native Indi­ans, anointed with oil, sleep in cottages cover­ed with thousands of gnats, and have not their [Page] slumbers interrupted by these cruel devourers, viii. 157
• Goat, its eyes are grey, ii. 83—from Europe im­ported into South America, soon degenerates; as it grows less, it becomes more prolific—imported to the African coast, it seems to improve, ii. 334— African wild goat of Grimmius, fourth anoma­lous of the kind—its description, iii. 81, 82—goat and sheep propagate together; and may be considered as of one family—the buck goat pro­duces with the ewe an animal, in two or three ge­nerations returning to the sheep, and retaining no marks of its ancient progenitor, iii. 35—more fit­ted for a life of savage liberty than the sheep, iii. 52—is not easily confined to its flock, but chuses its own pasture, and loves to stray from the rest,—delights in climbing precipices—is capri­cious and vagrant—is not terrified at storms, or incommoded by rain; immoderate cold affects it, and produces a vertigo, to which this animal is subject, iii. 53, 54—proof of its being naturally the friend of man, and that it seldom resumes its forest wildness, when once reduced into the state of servitude, iii. 54—in some places they bear twice a year, iii. 55—in warmer climates gene­rally bring forth three, four, and five at once, iii. 54, 55—milk of goats medicinal; not apt to cur­dle in the stomach, iii. 55—flesh of the goat, pro­perly prepared, ranked by some not inferior to venison, iii. 56—is never so good and so sweet, in our climate, as mutton, iii. 57—no man can at­tend above fifty goats at a time, iii. 56—flesh of the goat found to improve between the tropics—remarkable varieties in this kind; that of Natolia, by Mr. Buffon called goat of Angora—its de­scription, iii. 57—the Assyrian goat of Gesner—chiefly kept about Aleppo— little goat of America, the size of a kid—has hair as long as the ordinary breed, iii. 58— Juda goat, not larger than a hare—common [Page] in Guinea, Angola, and the coast of Africa— blue goat at the Cape of Good Hope—its description, iii. 59— Bezoar goat, the pasan, found in the moun­tains of Egypt, &c. iii. 74—in Syria remarkable for their fine, glossy, long, soft hair, iii. 212—goats eat four hundred and forty-nine plants, and reject a hundred and twenty-six, iii. 176—boundaries between the goat and deer-kind difficult to fix, iii. 70, 83
• Goat-sucker, a nocturnal swallow—description and habits, v. 346
• Gobius, the gudgeon, description of this fish, vi. 307
• Godignus, in his history of Abyssinia, exaggerates the effects of the shock of the torpedo, to an in­credible degree, vi. 266
• Godwit, its dimensions, vi. 23—a bird of passage, vi. 28
• Goiam, kingdom, where the Nile takes its rise, i. 213
• Gold, never contracts rust, and why,—except in places where much salt is used, i. 313
• Golden-eye, bird of the duck-kind, vi. 130
• Goldfinch, bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314, 315—learns a song from the nightingale, v. 345
• Goose, marks of the goose-kind, vi. 108—food, vi. 110—abstained from by the ancients as indigest­ible, vi. 111—one known to live an hundred years, vi. 119—marks of the tame and wild sort—wild supposed to breed in the northern parts of Europe, vi. 121—flight regularly arranged, vi. 122
• Brent-goose, vi. 123—most harmless, but for their young pursue dogs and men, vi. 124—use of its feathers in beds unknown in countries of the Le­vant and Asia—feathers a considerable article of commerce—different qualities of them, vi. 125—the best method of curing them, vi. 126
• Soland-goose, described, vi. 71. See Gannet.
• Gooseander, a round-billed water fowl, its description—feeds upon fish, vi. 106, 107
• [Page] Gordian, the emperor, wrote a poem upon the halcyon, of which are no remains, vi. 144
• Goss-hawk, of the baser race of hawks, v. 119—taught to fly at game, little obtained from its efforts, v. 131
• Gottenburgh, in Sweden, a cataract near it, i. 222
• Gouan, a learned Frenchman, his system deserves ap­plause for more than its novelty—how followed in arranging the spinous class of fishes, vi. 302 to 316
• Graaf, his observations upon the progress and en­crease of animals in the womb, ii. 36, et seq.
• Grampus, fierce and desperate in defence of its young—remarkable instance, vi. 188—description, and habits, vi. 222
• Grashopper, a ruminating insect, or seemingly so, iii. 6—differences between ours and the cicada of the an­cients, vii. 331—great varieties of this animal in shape and colour, vii. 332—description of the little grashopper, that breeds plentifully in meadows, and continues chirping thro' the summer—the male of this tribe only vocal, vii. 332 to 334—how their fecundation is performed—the male or female never survive the winter—their eggs, vii. 334, 335—from first appearing, possessed of wings, vii. 337—how it gets rid of the outer skin, vii. 338—their food, vii. 339—places where they deposit their eggs, vii. 340
• Grave, the greatest care recommended not to commit those dearest to us to the grave, before real signs of certain death be ascertained, ii. 210
• Greatah, river in Yorkshire running under ground, and rising again, i. 224
• Grebe, description of the bird—residence, and habits, vi. 40—perpetually diving, and very difficult to be shot—never seen on land—chiefly sought for the skin of its breast, and why—in breeding-time their breasts are bare, vi. 41
• Greenfinch, bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 315, 317
• [Page] Greenland, Krantz's account of the formation of ice-mountains in that country, i. 246— aurora borealis, its appearance almost constant in winter—the inha­bitants not entirely forsaken in the midst of their tedious night; this aurora affording them light for the purposes of existence, i. 387—they live mostly upon seals—their number daily diminishing, and why, iv. 182
• Greenlanders described, ii. 213—customary among them to turn Europeans into ridicule, ii. 216—a quiet, or a modest stranger, they deem almost as well bred as a Greenlander, ii. 217
• Grew, his opinion concerning dwarfs and giants, ii. 258
• Greyhound-kind, iii. 284— greyhound-fox, iii. 332
• Gris, the petit gris Mr. Buffon's name for the grey Virginian squirrel, iv. 25
• Grossbeak, bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 315
• Grotto of Antiparos, in the Archipelago, the most re­markable subterraneous cavern now known, i. 67—description, i. 67 to 71
• Grotto del Cane, near Naples, situation and descrip­tion—noxious effects, i. 84, 85
• Grous, chiefly found in heathy mountains and piny forests, v. 199
• Growth of the child less every year, till the time of puberty, when it starts up of a sudden, ii. 60—growth of the mind in children corresponds with that of the body, and why, ii. 61—of some young people ceases at fourteen, or fifteen; of o­thers continues till two or three and twenty, ii. 79—of fishes irregular and tardy, vi. 339, 340
• Guadalquiver, river in Spain buried in the sands, i. 224
• Guanacoes, a kind of camel in America, iv. 317
• Guanches, ancient inhabitants of the island of Tene­riff—art of embalming still preserved among them, when the Spaniards conquered the island, ii. 272
• Guariba, Brasilian guariba, or warine, the largest of the monkey kind in America, described, iv. 236
• [Page] Guayaquil, river in South America, i. 147
• Gudgeon, fresh-water sort has no bladder, vi. 174—description of that fish, vi. 307
• Guiba, animal resembling the gazelle—its description, iii. 81
• Guillemot, bird of the smaller tribe of the penguin kind, vi. 99
• Guinea, the natives kill numbers of hares at a time, and in what manner, iv. 14
• Guinea-ass, larger and more beautiful than the horse, ii. 385
• Guinea-hen, described, v. 192
• Guinea-horse, remarkable sports with it among the grandees of that country, ii. 363
• Guinea-pig, by Brisson placed among the rabbit-kind—native of the warmer climates—rendered do­mestic, and now become common every where—its description, iv. 55, 56—in some places a prin­cipal favourite; often displacing the lap-dog, iv. 55—manner of living among us, iv. 57—most helpless and inoffensive, scarce possessed of any cou­rage, iv. 56—their animosity exerted against each other; often fight obstinately, and the stronger destroys the weaker—no natural instinct, the fe­male sees her young destroyed without attempting to protect them—suffer themselves to be devoured by cats, iv. 57—fed upon recent vegetables, they seldom drink—sometimes gnaw cloaths, paper, or other things of the kind—drink by lapping—con­fined in a room, seldom cross the floor, but keep along the wall—never move a-breast together—chiefly seek the most intricate retreats, and venture out only when all interruption is removed, like the rabbits, iv. 58—in cold weather more active—a very cleanly animal—their place must be regularly cleaned, and a new bed of hay provided for them once a week—the young falling into the dirt, or other ways discomposed, the female takes an aver­sion to them, and never permits them to visit her more—her employment, and that of the [Page] male, consists in smoothing their skins, disposing their hair, and improving its gloss—and take this office by turns—do the same to their young, and bite them when refractory—reared without the any artificial heat, iv. 59—no keeping them from fire in winter, if once permitted to approach it—manner of sleeping—the male and the female watch one another by turns—generally capable of coupling at six weeks old—time of their gestation—the female brings forth from three to five at a time; not without pain, iv. 60—the female ad­mits the male the very day she has brought forth, and again becomes pregnant—suckles her young about twelve or fifteen days, and suffers the young of others, though older, to drain her, to the disadvantage of her own—produced with eyes open, and in twelve hours, equal to the dam in agility—capable of feeding upon vegetables from the beginning—their disputes for the warmest place, or most agreeable food—manner of fighting, iv. 61—flesh indifferent food—difficultly tamed; suf­fer no approaches but of the person who breeds them—manner of eating—drink seldom, and make water often—grunt like a young pig—appear to chew the cud, iv. 62
• Guinea-sheep, have a kind of dewlap under the chin—breed with other sheep, therefore not animals of another kind, iii. 48
• Guiratemga, name given by the natives of Brasil, to the little wood-pecker, v. 255
• Gull, places where found in plenty—their food, vi. 77
• Gulls, various ways of imposing upon each other, vi. 80—contests in breeding—residence, with their nests and eggs, vi. 81, 82—their flesh—method of taking them in the Feroe islands, vi. 82, & seq.—anciently a law in Norway concerning those who died in taking them, vi. 82
• Gulph, the Persian—deadly wind along its coasts, i. 358—chief pearl-fishery carried on there, vii. 56—
• [Page] Gulph of Pluto, a dreadful cavern, i. 61
• Gun, wind-gun, instrument determining the elasti­city of the air—a ball from it pierces a thick board, i. 307—great guns, in climates near the equator, with every precaution, after some years become useless, and why, i. 313
• Gunpowder, readily fires with a spark, not with the flame, i. 83—will not go off in an exhausted re­ceiver; a train of gunpowder laid, one part in o­pen air, the other part in vacuo, the latter will re­main untouched, i. 333
• Gurnard, description of this fish, vi. 309
• Gustavus Adolphus attempted in vain to form a re­giment of Laplanders, ii. 215
• Guts, most birds have two blind guts, which in qua­drupeds are found single, v. 16
• Gymnotus, the carapo, description of this fish, vi. 311
• Gyr-falcon, exceeds all others in largeness of size—its description, v. 120
• Gyrle, name given by hunters to the roe-buck, the second year, iii. 136

• Habit contracted during life, to make out pleasures and pains in extremes, though either can hardly be suffered or enjoyed to the utmost, ii. 208
• Haddock, a periodical shoal appeared on the Yorkshire coasts, on December 10, 1766, and exactly on the same day in the following year, vi. 326
• Haemorrhois, a kind of serpent, vii. 215
• Hail, Cartesians say, is a frozen cloud half melted and frozen again in its descent, i. 373—the most injurious meteor known in our climate, i. 374—hail-stones fourteen inches round—struck out an eye of a young man, and killed him on the spot, i. 375—a dreadful shower recorded by Mezeray, fell in 1510; the hail-stones were of a blueish colour, and some weighed an hundred pounds—the fishes [Page] were great sufferers in that general calamity, i. 376
• Hair of the Roman ladies praised for the redness of its shade, ii. 76—found most different in different climates—marks the country and the disposition of the man—by the ancients held a sort of excrement, produced like the nails, ii. 86—according to moderns, every hair lives, receives nutriment, fills, and distends, like other parts of the body—takes colour from the juices flowing through it—each, viewed with a microscope, consists of five or six lesser, wrapped up in one common covering, and sends forth branches at the joints—suitable to the size or shape of the pore through which it issues—bulbous at the root, and its end resembles a brush—length and strength of hair a mark of a good constitution, ii. 88—Americans and the Asi­atics have it thick, black, strait, and shining—in­habitants of the torrid climates of Africa have it black, short, and woolly—the people of Scandi­navia have it red, long, and curled, ii. 87, 88—opinion that every man has dispositions resembling those of the inhabitants of countries he resembles in the colour and nature of his hair—curled hair among us a beauty—the Greeks have taken one of their national distinctions from the length and straitness of the hair, ii. 88—Americans take the greatest pains in cutting their hair—variety in customs and manner of cutting hair, ii. 95, 96, 97—trade of the inhabitants of Angora with the hair of animals of their country—camlet and other stuffs made of it, iii. 58—hair of the cat rubbed in the dark sends forth shining sparks, iii. 207—Syria and Persia noted for long soft hair to the animals bred in them, iii. 212—each hair of the lynx is of three different colours, iii. 257—of the black fox so disposed as impossible to tell which way the grain lies, iii. 333—coats of hair seem to thicken at the approach of winter—among quadrupeds, as among men, thin spare diet produces hair, iii. [Page] 355—on the soles of the feet, and on the inside of the mouths of hares, iv. 8
• Halcyon, rapacious water-fowl, vi. 142. See King fisher.
• Halley, Dr. his plausible theory to explain the inva­riable motion of the winds, i. 343
• Hallontide, in 1580, an army of mice so over-run the marshes near Southminster, that they eat up the grass to the roots, v. 146
• Halos, oftener seen in countries near the poles, than any other part of the earth, i. 387
• Hammer, the yellow, bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 315, 317
• Hamster, the cricetus or German rat of Mr. Buffon, iv. 81
• Hand sufficient to vindicate the dominion of man over other animals, a poor assertion, iv. 249—a man, without hands or legs, converts his stumps to most convenient purposes, and performs astonish­ing feats of dexterity, iv. 250, 251
• Harbour of a stag, in covert or thicket, iii. 114
• Hare, a gregarious animal, where it has no enemies but beasts of the forest, iii. 2—the swiftest animal for the time it continues to run, iv. 1—animals of the hare-kind inoffensive and timorous—placed by Pyerius among those that chew the cud—whether or not, certainly the lips continually move sleeping or waking—that kind remarkably salacious, and furnished by nature with ampler powers than o­thers for propagation, iv. 3—if not thinned by con­stant depredations, would over-run the earth, of these the hare the largest and most timorous—has large prominent eyes placed backwards to see be­hind as it runs—these never closed; it sleeps with them open—the ears moveable, and capable of di­rection to every quarter—muscles of its body strong and without fat—hinder feet longer than the fore on account of speed, iv 4—persecuted by dogs, cats, weasels, and birds of prey—in a state of engendering very early—females go with young [Page] thirty days, and bring forth three or four at a time, iv. 5—has young of different ages in her womb to­gether—though already impregnated, she admits the male, and receives a second impregnation—reason of this extraordinary circumstance—the young brought forth with their eyes open—the dam suckles them twenty days, iv. 6—food they are fond of—sleep or repose in their form by day, and live only by night—the rutting season begins in February—the male pursues and discovers the fe­male by the sagacity of its nose, iv. 7—the slightest breeze, or falling of a leaf, disturbs their revels; they instantly fly off, each taking a separate way,—are more easily taken than the fox, a much slower animal than they, and why—always chuse to run up hill, and why—have the sole of the foot furnished with hair, and seem the only animals with hair on the inside of the mouth—live seven or eight years, and come to perfection in one year—females live longer, vi. 8—Mr. Buffon makes a doubt of it—seldom heard to cry, except when seiz­ed or wounded—their cry nearly like the squalling of a child—are easily tamed—though never so young, regain their native freedom at the first opportunity—have a good ear, and been taught to beat the drum, dance to measure, and go through manual exer­cise—make themselves a form where the colour of the grass resembles that of their skin, open to the south in winter, and to the north in summer, iv. 9—sore hunted, will start a fresh hare and squat in its form—some enter holes like the rabbit, by hunters termed going to vault, iv. 10—as it tires, treads heavier, and its scent is stronger—young hares tread heavier than old—male makes dou­blings of greater compass than the female—divided by hunters into mountain and measled hares, iv. 11—mode of expression, the more you hunt, the more hares you shall have, and why—what animals persecute the hare—its enemies so vari­ous, that it seldom reaches the short term limited [Page] to it by nature, iv. 12—in countries near the north pole, they become white, and are often in great troops of four or five hundred—their skins sold for less than seven shillings an hundred—the fur known to form a considerable article in the hat manufacture—found also entirely black, in much less quan­tity than the former—some have been seen with horns, but rarely—those in hot countries smaller than ours—those in the Milanese the best in Europe—scarce a country where not found, from the torrid zone to the polar circle, iv. 13—natives of Guinea kill numbers at a time; in what manner—the Jews, ancient Britons, and Mahometans all con­sidered it an unclean animal, and religiously abstain­ed from it, iv. 14—hare and rabbit distinct kinds, refuse to mix with each other—an instance—Api­cius shews the manner of dressing a hare in true Roman taste, iv. 15—laws made for the preserva­tion of them, iv. 16
• Harfang, or great Hudson's Bay owl, the largest of the nocturnal tribe, v. 141
• Harlequin, a kind of dog, iii. 286, 290
• Harmony of our planetary system, i. 4
• Harold, afterwards king of England, went on a most important embassy into Normandy, and was drawn in bas-relief, with a bird on his fist, and a dog un­der his arm, v. 118
• Harp, the story of Arion's gathering the dolphins about the ship, ii. 168
• Harpies, that ancient idea taken from the rousette, or the great bat of Madagascar, iv. 141.
• Harrier, hound, and beagle, all of the same kind, iii. 283, 284—a dog of the generous kind, iii. 286
• Hart, name of the stag the sixth year, iii. 113
• Hartshorn and musk, the only medicines of reputation of several procurable from quadrupeds, iii. 69
• Harvey, his opinion about the formation of the inci­pient animal—altercations against his system, ii. 17
• Hatching, nothing exceeds the patience of birds hatch­ing, v. 26—Mr. Addison's observations to this [Page] purpose, v. 27—the emu very peculiar in the hatching of its young, v. 66—the crocodile's eggs hatched in the sand, vii. 134, 135
• Hatfield, in Yorkshire, description of one of those spouts called typhons, observed there in 1687, i. 394
• Havannah, in the fortunate expedition which gave us that place, the climate left not a fifth part of the army survivors of the victory, i. 323
• Hawfinch, a bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 317
• Hawk-kind, distinctive marks from other carnivorous birds, v. 85—in old paintings, the criterion of no­bility; no person of rank stirred out without his hawk on his hand—Harold, afterwards king of England, going on an important embassy into Normandy, is drawn in an old bas-relief, em­barking with an hawk on his fist, and a dog under his arm—in those days, it was sufficient for noblemen's sons to wind the horn and carry the hawk fair—this diversion in such high esteem among the great all over Europe, that Fre­deric, emperor of Germany, wrote a treatise upon hawking, v. 118—this amusement now much given over in this kingdom, and why, v. 117—in the reign of James I. sir Thomas Monson gave a thousand pounds for a cast of hawks—in the reign of Edward III. it was made felony to steal a hawk, v. 118—to take its eggs was punished by imprison­ment for a year and a day, with a fine at the king's pleasure—in the reign of Elizabeth, the imprison­ment reduced to three months, the offender to lie in prison till he got security for his good behaviour during seven years—in earlier times, the art of gunning was but little used, and the hawk was then valuable for its affording diversion and procur­ing delicacies for the table not otherwise to be obtain­ed, v. 119—distinctive marks of the tribe called the long-winged hawks—their names and descriptions—have attachment to their feeder, and docility the [Page] baser race are strangers to, v. 119 to 121—names of hawks of the baser race—those of the generous breed remarkable for courage, swiftness, and do­cility, in obeying the commands and the signs of their master, v. 122—account of the manner of training a hawk, v. 124—falconers had a language peculiar, in which they conversed and wrote, v. 123—hawk destroys mice, iv. 73—perceives a lark at a distance which neither men nor dogs could spy, v. 10
• Sparrow-hawk pursues the thrush and the linnet, v. 81—said to be the boldest and best of all others for the chace, v. 131
• Goss-hawk and sparrow-hawk unfit for training—taught to fly at game but little obtained from them, v. 130, 131
• Hawkins, becalmed about the islands of Azores for six months, saw the sea replenished with gellies, and forms of serpents, adders, and snakes, in a wonderful manner, i. 239
• Head of man externally and internally different from that of all other animals, the monkey-kind except­ed, ii. 101—whence originally the flat heads of the American Indians, ii. 239—of quadrupeds diffe­rent from each other, but adapted to their several ways of living, and how, ii. 314—in all birds, except nocturnal, the head smaller and less pro­portioned to the body than in quadrupeds, v. 9—of the great Greenland whale makes a third of its bulk, vi. 194
• Hearing, extreme delicacy of this sense in birds, v. 11—that sense in whales, vi. 196
• Hearse, name of the female of the stag, the second year, iii. 113
• Heart, a broken heart, in common language, a dis­order caused by hunger, ii. 129
• Heat, Boerhaave considered it so prejudicial to health, that he never went near a fire, i. 325—of the blood in man and other animals about thirty degrees above congelation—in the marmout, and other [Page] animals which sleep the winter, it is not above ten, iv. 45
• Hecla, the bellowings of that volcano, believed by the inhabitants of Iceland to be the cries of the damned, i. 88
• Hedge-hog, the most harmless of animals, iv. 100—its description, iv. 101—usual appearance upon the approach of danger, iv. 102—to disgust its enemy from pursuit, sheds its urine, the smell of which is sufficient to send him off—sleeps by day, and ventures out by night—places where found—its food—does not suck cattle, iv. 103—are not hurtful in gardens or orchards—the spines so dis­posed, that no fruit will stick upon them—appears serviceable in ridding the fields of insects and worms—Mr. Buffon accuses it of tricks, of which, from its form and habits, one would not be led to suspect it, iv. 104—he kept males and females toge­ther, but they never coupled—time of their cou­pling—sleep during winter, but do not lay up pro­visions for that season—at no time eat much, and remain long without food—blood cold, and their flesh not good for food—their skins converted to no use, except to muzzle calves from sucking, iv. 105—destroyed and devoured by the fox—in what manner, iii. 327, iv. 121
• Hedge-hog of the sea, a cartilaginous fish of the sea-orb kind, vi. 291
• Hedge-sparrow, a slender-billed bird, v. 314
• Height, Maximin, the emperor, above nine feet in stature, ii. 118
• Heliogabalus, noted for having the brains of six hun­dred ostriches dressed in one dish, v. 59
• Hellebore, a quantity of the black sort pounded care­lessly purged several persons who were present, and the operator strongly, i. 326
• St. Helmo's fire, or the mariner's light, i. 380
• Helmont, his experiment to show all things made of water, i. 166
• [Page] Hemisphere, half illuminated by northern lights, i. 377
• Hemlock eat by the horse without injury, ii. 341
• Hemuse, name hunters give the roebuck the third year, iii. 136
• Hen, in the Museum at Brussels, a creature covered with feathers and hair, said to be bred between a rabbit and a hen, iv. 15
• Hen of the common sort, moderately fed, lays above a hundred eggs from spring to autumn, v. 30—after three years, become effete and barren—clutches one brood of chickens in a season—in­stances of two, very rare—number of eggs of a do­mestic hen in the year above two hundred, being well fed, supplied with water, and at liberty—trodden by the cock or not, she continues to lay—eggs of this kind never by hatching produce living animals—her nest made without care, v. 165—clucking season artificially protracted, and entirely removed, in what manner—left to herself, would seldom lay above twenty eggs without attempting to hatch them—as she lays, her eggs being removed, she continues to encrease the num­ber—in the wild state, seldom lays above fifteen eggs—particularities of incubation, v. 166, 167—affection and pride after producing chickens,—every invading animal she boldly attacks, the horse, the hog, or the mastiff—marching before her little troop, by a variety of notes calls her train to their food, or warns them of danger, 167—in­stance of the brood running for security into a hedge, while the hen stood boldly forth and faced a fox that came for plunder, v. 168—artificial method of hatching chicken in stoves practised at Grand Cairo, or in a laboratory with graduated heat, effected with woollen hens by Mr. Reaumur—by these contrivances, from a hen naturally producing twelve chickens in the year, are obtained artifi­cially above two hundred, v. 168, 169—common [Page] hen supplies the place of the hen-pheasant, when refusing to hatch her eggs, and performs the task with perseverance and success, v. 188
• Guinea hen, or Barbary hen, described, v. 192
• Water-hen described, vi. 36—residence and food, vi. 37—nest and habits, vi. 38
• Henry IV. king of Denmark, desirous of trying the skill of a musician, who boasted he could excite men to madness, submitted to the operation, be­came mad, and killed four of his attendants, ii. 170
• Herculaneum overwhelmed in that eruption of Vesu­suvius in which Pliny the Naturalist was suffocated—its ruins lately discovered at sixty feet below the surface, and forty below the bottom of the sea, i. 91
• Hermaphrodites, such are all animals of the snail kind, vii. 30—the bivalve tribe are so too—they require no assistance from each other towards impregnation, vii. 41
• Hermetical sealing a glass vessel, the meaning of it, i. 168
• Heron, a ruminating bird, iii. 5—the great heron, in former times, bred familiarly in our marshes—not now, and why, v. 33—anatomical distinction in which herons differ from other birds—of this tribe Brison has enumerated forty-seven sorts, v. 392—excessively destructive and voracious—ever have lean and carrion bodies—description of the common heron—flies at the approach of the sparrow-hawk, v. 393—commits the greatest devastations in fresh waters—a fish ever so large he will strike at, though unable to carry it away, v. 394—one heron, says Willoughby, will destroy fifteen thousand carp in half a year—usual attitude, waiting for prey—food in cold and stormy seasons, v. 395—manner of fishing, v. 396—Willoughby's receipt for taking him, v. 397—their nests, v. 398—never in flocks when they fish, but making nests, [Page] they love each other's society, v. 397, 398—flesh of the young esteemed in France—method used to obtain them, v. 398—the young once excluded, the old incessantly provide them with an amazing quantity of fish, v. 399—instance of it—by Mr. Keysler's account, this bird may exceed sixty years—recent instance of one taken in Holland, with a silver plate to one leg, and an inscription, that it had been struck by the elector of Cologne's hawks thirty-five years before, v. 400—they contract a consumptive disposition, v. 396
• Heron-hawking, a favourite diversion among our ancestors, had laws enacted for the preservation of the species—he who destroyed their eggs was liable to a penalty of twenty shillings for each of­fence, v. 393
• Herrera confirms the existence of giants, ii. 261
• Herring, its description, vi. 314—of migrating fish, this and the pilchard take the most adventurous voy­ages, vi. 326—places where the herrings are in greatest abundance—numerous enemies met in their migrations, vi. 327, 328—in Chesepeak bay, the shoals so great as to cover the shores, and become a nuisance, vi. 328—that body upon our coasts, be­gins to appear off the Shetland isles in April; fore­runners of the grand shoal descending in June, and announced by the gannet, gull, &c. vi. 329—fisher­men take two thousand barrels at a single draught,—places of Europe where herrings are punctual in their visitations, vi. 330—doubts in every part of their migration—first great bank for herrings was along the Norway shore; before 1584, the num­ber of ships from various parts of Europe resorting thither, exceeded some thousands—quantity of her­rings then assembled there, was such that a spear stuck in the water, as Olaus Magnus asserts, would stand on end; soon after that period, they deserted the Norway shores, and took up along the German coasts, vi. 331, 332—no cause assigned for this seem­ingly [Page] capricious desertion—their greatest colonies now in the British channel, and upon the Irish shores, vi. 332—a herring suffered to multiply unmo­lested, and undiminished for twenty years, would shew a progeny greater in bulk than ten such globes as that we live upon, vi. 335
• Hertfordshire, a dreadful storm which happened in it, in 1697, described, i. 375
• Hexagons, with Pappus, the most convenient figures in building—cells of bees are perfect hexagons, viii. 70
• Hide of the elk, often known to turn a musket-ball, iii. 147
• Hiera, island in the Mediterranean, risen and form­ed by subterraneous explosions, i. 126, 127
• Hiero, king of Sicily, had a crown of gold weighed hydrostatically by Archimedes, i. 190
• Hind, or female of the stag, has no horns—time of gestation, and usual season of bringing forth—hides her young in obscure thickets, iii. 107—ob­liged to use all arts to conceal them from the stag, the most dangerous of her pursuers—how she de­fends her young, iii. 108—the female stag still so called, the third year, iii 113—manner of know­ing the track of a hind, iii. 115—inhabitants of Canada have no other milk but that of the hind; and no other cheese but that made of it, iii. 124—the hunters name for the roe-buck, the first year, iii. 136
• Hippocampus, the sea horse, its description, vi. 289
• Hippocrates, his opinion about the formation of the incipient animal, ii. 16
• Hippopotamos, its dimensions, iv. 292—places where it resides—its food—swims with much force, and remains at the bottom for thirty or forty minutes, iv. 393—it commits dreadful havock among the plantations, iv. 294—not afraid singly to oppose the lion, iii. 225—method the Africans use to frighten it back to its element—inoffensive in its disposition, iv. 294—never attacks mariners in their [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] boats, unless inadvertently struck against, or o­therwise disturbed, then it would send them at once to the bottom—instances of its great strength, iv. 295—never goes beyond the mouth of fresh water rivers—attacked on shore, and incapable of vengeance upon a flying enemy, returns to the river, and plunges in head foremost—the negroes, apprised of its force, do not engage it—continues uncontrouled master of the river, all others fly its approach, or become an easy prey—moves slowly upon land—seldom goes from the river side, unless pressed by necessities of hunger, or of bringing forth its young—lives upon fish and vegetables; na­natives of Africa say it often devours children, and other creatures surprised upon land, iv. 296—the young are excellent eating, iv. 297—the female sel­dom produces above one at a time; hearing the slight­est noise, she dashes into the stream, and the young one follows her with equal alacrity, iv. 296, 297—Dr. Pocock has seen their flesh sold in shambles like beef; their breast thought as delicate eating as veal—this creature, once plenty at the mouth of the Nile, now wholly unknown in Lower Egypt, and no where found but above the cataracts, iv. 297
• Historian, (natural) what his proper business, i. 7—going too much into speculation certainly wrong, and why, i. 19—method his principal help, ii. 289—faults of systematic writers, ii. 291, 292
• History, (natural) of all other sciences has the least danger of obscurity, and why, ii. 300—best set forth, as Mr. Locke has observed, by drawings of animals, taken from life, ii. 307—rule in natural history, that neither horns, colour, fineness, or length of hair, or position of ears make actual dis­tinctions in the kinds, iii. 60—accounts of fishes little entertaining; philosophers not studying their nature, but employed in encreasing their catalogues, vi. 154—Dampier has added more to it than half [Page] the philosophers before him, vi. 397—one of the strangest discoveries in all natural history, viii. 156
• Hobby, bird of the generous breed of hawks, for smaller game, daring larks, and stooping at quails, v. 122
• Hogs, animals of this kind resemble those of the horse as well as the cow kind, and in what—this kind partakes of the rapacious and the peaceful kinds, iii. 171—offend no animal of the forest, iii. 172—remarkable that none of this kind ever shed their teeth, iii. 173—any animal dying in the forest, or so wounded as to make no resistance, is the prey of the hog, who refuses no animal food, however pu­trid, iii. 175—in a state of wildness, most delicate in the choice of its vegetables, rejects a greater number than any other, iii. 176—they eat but seventy-two plants, and reject a hundred and seventy—indelicacy of this animal more in our ap­prehensions than in its nature, and why—in or­chards of peach-trees in North America, reject the fruit that has lain a few hours on the ground, and watch hours for a fresh wind-fall, iii. 177—have had mice burrowing in their backs while fattening in the sty, without seeming to perceive it—scent the hounds at a distance—by nature stupid, inac­tive, and drowsy, has passions more active only when incited by venery, or when the wind blows with vehemence, iii. 178—forsees the approach of bad weather—much agitated on hearing any of its kind in distress—have often gathered round a dog that teazed them, and killed him upon the spot—their various diseases—generally live, when permitted, to eighteen or twenty years; the females produce to the age of fifteen—in the wild state less prolific, iii. 179
• Guinea hog, and that about Upsal described, iii. 181
• Water-hog. See Capihara.
• Hog of Bouro. See Babyrouessa.
• Hog of the isthmus of Darien, described by Wafer, iii. 196
• [Page] Hohanno, a river in Asia—its course, i. 210—receives thirty-five lesser rivers, i. 217
• Holland, a conquest from the sea, and rescued from its bosom—the surface of its earth below the level of the bottom of the sea; upon approaching the coast, it is looked down upon from the sea, as into a valley, is every day rising higher, and by what means—those parts which formerly admitted large men of war, are now too shallow to receive ships of moderate burthen, i. 276
• Honey, from what part of the flower it is extracted, viii. 75—two kinds of it—which to be prefer­red, viii. 89—that gathered by the humble bees not so fine, nor so good as that of the common bees, viii. 92—gathered by the black bees in the tropical climates, neither so unpalatable, nor so surfeiting as ours—produced by the bees at Gua­daloupe, never congeals, remains fluid, of the consistence of oil, with the colour of amber, viii. 90—the polecat and the martin feed upon ho­ney, iii. 358, 366
• Honeycomb, name of the second stomach of ruminating animals, iii. 3
• Hoof, of the Persian mares so hard, that shoeing is unnecessary, ii. 355
• Hooper, name of the wild swan, on account of the harshness of its voice, vi. 115
• Horizon, seems wrapt in a muddy cloud, upon the approach of winter, under the line, i. 378
• Horn, to wind it, and to carry the hawk fair, for­merly sufficient accomplishments for noblemen's sons, v. 118
• Horns, in what manner those of animals are produc­ed, ii. 101—grow differently in deer from those of sheep or cows—deers horns furrowed along the sides, and why, iii. 97—in every respect resem­bling a vegetable substance, grafted upon the head of the stag, iii. 99—beauty and size of those of a stag, mark their strength and their vigour, iii. [Page] 98—the time of shedding them—severe winters retard shedding the horns in stags, iii. 99, 100—ge­nerally encrease in thickness and height from the second year to the eighth—partake of the nature of the soil, iii. 100—their horns shed, they seek the plainer part of the country, remote from those ani­mals they are then unable to oppose; and walk with their heads stooping down, as to prevent striking against the branches of trees, iii. 101—of a stag, called his head—their names according to diffe­rent ages of the stag, iii. 113, 114—of the elk ap­plied to the same purposes as hartshorn, iii. 148—the author saw one, of ten feet nine inches from one tip to the other, iii. 141—of the rein-deer converted into glue, iii. 167—of the rhinoceros sometimes from three to three feet and an half long, composed of the most solid substance, and pointed to inflict most fatal wounds, iv. 286—of owls nothing more than two or three feathers that stand up on each side of the head, over the ear, v. 140
• Horses, characteristic marks given by Linnaeus—eats hemlock without injury, ii. 341—near as the ape approaches man in internal conformation, so the horse is the most remote, ii. 342—wild horses herd together, and feed in droves of five or six hundred—one among their number always stands a centinel, ii. 343—there are but three animals of the horse kind, ii. 390—a ruminating ani­mal, iii. 5—in a course of years impoverish the ground, iii. 10—eats two hundred and sixty-two plants, and rejects two hundred and twelve, iii. 176—famished horses more hairy than those fed plentifully, iii. 355—a horse will not carry upon its back, a weight of more than two or three hun­dred pounds, ii. 112—to estimate the strength of a horse, is not to try what he can carry, but what he can draw—he draws a load ten men can­not move; and in some cases a draft horse draws better being somewhat loaded, ii. 114—allured by [Page] music, ii. 169—not readily attacked by the lion—the combats between them in Italy, ii. 319—for hunting lions, must be of that sort called charossi; all others fly at the sight of the lion, iii. 226—are kill­ed by wild asses, ii. 380—destroyed by the Ame­rican bat, called vampyre, in South America, iv. 145—one fond of oysters, ii. 327—from what country the horse came originally uncertain—according to the ancients, wild horses once in Europe—the colder climates do not agree with them, ii. 344—how wild horses are caught—set at liberty they never become wild again—the bucca­neers agreeably surprised to see their faithful horses present themselves again with their usual assiduity, and receive the rein, ii. 345—wild horses finding a tame horse to associate with them, gather round him, and oblige him to seek safety by flight, ii. 346—this animal in its state of nature in the old, not the new world, ii. 345—countries where wild horses are found, ii. 346—the natives of An­gola, or Cafraria, catch a horse only to eat him— Arabian wild horses, the most beautiful breed, the most generous, swift and persevering, ii. 347—the negroes shew terror and surprize, when first they see a horse, ii. 346—no Arabian, however poor, but has his horse—tame Arabian horses, some valued at a thousand ducats, ii. 349—different classes among the Arabians—they know the race of a horse by his appearance—Arabians preserve the pedigree of their horses with care, for several ages, ii. 350—coun­tries into which the race of their horses has spread itself, ii. 354—they take the wild horses with traps—the young horse considered by them as a great delicacy; they feast upon him while any part is remaining—the usual manner of trying the swift­ness of Arabian horses, by hunting the ostrich; and an horse of the first speed is able to out­run it, ii. 348—treat their horses gently—hold a discourse with them—written attestations given to [Page] persons who buy Arabian horses, ii. 351—they stand stock still in the midst of their career, the rider hap­pening to fall, ii. 352—keep them saddled at their tents from morning to night, to prevent surprize—when the Arabians begin to break their horses, ii. 353—how the Arabians dress and feed their horses, ii. 352—first began the management of horses in the time of sheque Ismael, ii. 349—the rapidity of the flight of Arabian horses is such that the dogs give up the pursuit, ii. 347—upon computation, the speed of the English horses is one fourth great­er, carrying a rider, than that of the swiftest barb without one, ii. 355—Numidian race much de­generated—the Tingitanians and Egyptians have the fame of rearing the finest horses, for size and beauty, ii. 356—horses of Barbary—an Italian peculiar sport, in which horses of this breed run against each other, ii. 354—Spanish genette de­scribed, ii. 356—those of Andalusia pass for the best, and preferred as war horses to those of every other country—Italian horses have a particular aptitude to prance, ii. 357—the horses of India, weak and washy, ii. 362—fed with peas, sugar, and butter—one brought to England not much larger than a common mastiff—climates excessively hot seem unfavourable to horses—remarkable sports on horseback—the horses of the Gold Coast and Guinea extremely little, but very manageable, ii. 363, 364—of China, weak, little, ill-shaped, and cowardly—those of Corea so timorous, as not to be serviceable in war— Tartar horses very serviceable in war; they were properly the con­querors of China, ii. 364—march two or three days without stopping—continue five or six, without eating more than a handful of grass at every eight hours; and remain without drinking four and twenty hours—lose all their strength when brought into China or the Indies; thrive pretty well in Persia and Turkey, ii. 365—ancient opinions on [Page] the nature and qualities of the horses of Thessaly, Achaia, Ethiopia, Arabia, Afric, Italy and par­ticularly of Apulia, of Sicily, Capadocia, Syria, Armenia, Media, Persia, of Sardinia and Corsica, of Spain, Walachia, Transylvania, of Denmark, Scandinavia, Flanders, of the Gaulish horses, of the German, Swiss, Hungarian, and lastly of the In­dian horses, ii. 365, 366— Danish horses of such excellent size and strong make, that they are preferred to all others for draught, ii. 357—some streaked like the tyger, or mottled like the leopard— German and Hungarian horses— Dutch horses are good for draught; the best come from the province of Friezeland—the Flanders horses—few French horses good, ii. 358—in ge­neral are heavy shouldered—the best of that coun­try come from Limosin, and Normandy furnishes the next— American tame horses admirable, ii. 359—method of hunting with them, ii. 360—islands of the Archipelago have very good horses—those of Crete were in great reputation among the ancients, at present little used in the country itself, because of the unevenness of the ground—the original horses of Morocco, smaller than the Arabian breed—in Turkey there are horses of all races— Persian horses, in general, the most beautiful and most valuable of all the East, ii. 361—some greatly esteemed in the Ukraine, in Walachia, Poland, and Sweden, ii. 365—with bushy tails, and manes down to the ground, ii. 366— English horses excel the Arabian in size and swiftness; are more durable than the barb, and more hardy than the Persian—one in­stance of their great rapidity, in the admirable Childers, frequently known to move above eighty-two feet and a half in a second, ii. 367, 368—fault of our manner of breaking horses—the French managed horse never falls before, but more usually on one side—the English are for speed and dis­patch, the French, and other nations, are more [Page] for parade and spirit, ii. 368—English hunters con­sidered the noblest and the most useful horses in the world—Roger de Belegme, the first recorded to have attempted mending our native breed, ii. 369—number of horses in London in the time of king Stephen, said to have amounted to twenty thousand—in the times of queen Elizabeth, the kingdom could not supply two thousand horses to form the cavalry—Powisland, in Wales, for many ages famous for a swift and generous race of horses, and why, ii. 370—perfections which a horse ought to have, according to Camerarius, ii. 372, 373—the horse and the ass differ not so much in form as the cow and the bison, yet the former are distinct animals, and the latter animals of the same kind, iii. 15
• Sea-Horse, described, vi. 289
• Hortensius, the orator, the first who had peacocks served up at an entertainment in Rome, v. 173
• Hospitals erected in India, for the maintenance of all kinds of vermin, ii. 225—for mon­kies, erected by the Bramins, iv. 234—Aldrovan­dus, having spent a fortune for the purposes of en­lightening mankind, was at last so geatly reduced as to want bread, to feel the ingratitude of his country, and to die a beggar in a public hospital, vi. 117
• Hottentots, outstrip lions in the chace, as travellers report, ii. 114—make much and very extraordi­nary use of the bison, iii. 21, 22
• Hound, harrier, and beagle, all of the same kind, iii. 283— grey-matin hound, transported to the North, becomes a great Danish dog; and this, sent into the South becomes a grey-hound of different sizes; and the same, transported into Ireland, the Uk­raine, Tartary, Epirus, and Albania, becomes the great wolf dog, known by the name of the Irish wolf-dog, iii. 284—the blood hound, a dog of the generous kind—and likewise the gaze-hound, and [Page] the grey-hound, iii. 286—the blood hound a dog of great use, and in high esteem among our ances­tors—its employ—the gaze-hound hunted, like our grey-hound, by the eye, not by the scent, iii. 287
• Grey-hound-fox, the largest, tallest, and boldest of the kind, iii. 332
• Howlet, a kind of owl without horns, v. 141
• Hudson's-Bay, above twelve thousand martins skins annually imported from thence into England, iii. 272
• Huers, name given to the men employed to give sig­nals where to extend the nets in the pilchard-fish­ery, vi. 333
• Hughes, has described a species of polypus, but mis­taken its nature, and called it a sensitive flowering plant, viii. 191
• Hull, had the honour of first attempting that profit­able branch of trade, the whale-fishery, vi. 205
• Humber, a new island formed at the mouth of this ri­ver—it is about nine miles in circumference, and worth to the proprietor about eight hundred pounds a year, i. 132
• Humming-bird, is the smallest of birds, and seems nearly allied to the insect, v. 40—belongs to the sparrow-kind, v. 314—the smallest of them about the size of a hazel-nut—its description—the larger humming-bird is near half as big as the common wren—its description—are seen fluttering about the flowers, without ever lighting upon them—their wings in such rapid motion, it is im­possible to discern their colours, except by their glittering, v. 356—but only extracting the honey as with a kiss—their nests and the number of eggs, v. 357—their time of incubation, v. 358—instance of their docility—countries where found—in the Leeward Islands, they continue in a torpid state during the severity of winter, v. 359—Labat as­serts, that beside the humming noise produced by their wings, they have a pleasing melancholy me­lody in their voices, small and proportioned to their [Page] organs—the Indians made use of this pretty bird's plumage—in what manner the children take them—when taken, they are instantly killed, and hung up in the chimney to dry; some dry them in stoves, v. 360—at present the bird is taken rather for selling as a curiosity to Europeans, than an ornament for themselves, v. 361
• Hump of the bison of different sizes, weighing from forty to fifty pounds, sometimes less—cuts and tastes like a dressed udder, iii. 23—in a few genera­tions it wears away, iii. 24
• Hunger, every animal endures the wants of sleep and hunger with less injury to health than man, ii. 124—hunger kills man sooner than watchfulness—more dreadful in its approaches than con­tinuance, ii. 125—dreadful effects of hunger, re­lated to the author by the captain of a ship, who was one of six that endured it in its extremities, ii. 126, 127—different opinions concerning the cause of hunger, ii. 128—few instances of men dy­ing, except at sea, of absolute hunger—those men whose every day may be considered as an happy es­cape from famine, at last die of a disorder caused by hunger, ii. 129—the number of such as die in London of hunger supposed not less than two thou­sand in a year, ii. 130—method of palliating hunger among the American Indians, ii. 133—instances of amazing patience in hunger, ii. 217
• Hunters, the English considered as the noblest and the most useful horses in the world, ii. 369—terms us­ed by hunters in pursuing the stag, iii. 114—names invented by them for the stag, iii. 113—for the fallow-deer, iii. 128
• Hunting, the natural right of hunting made royal, and when, iii. 109—the stag and the buck per­formed in the same manner in England, and how, iii. 112, 116—the wolf, iii. 318, 319—wolves used in hunting, iii. 321—hunting of the fox, iii. 328—ancient manner of hunting the stag, iii. 119 [Page]—the manner in Sicily, iii. 120—and in China, iii. 122—hunting the sable chiefly the lot of the exiles in Siberia, iii. 375—the ouran-outang, or wild man, in Borneo, iv. 200—a favourite amuse­ment of the king, 200—of the elephant at the Cape of Good Hope, iv. 280—the method used to take it alive, iv. 271, 272—manner of hunting the ostrich by the Arabians, v. 59, 60—and by the Struthophagi, v. 61—manner of hunting the tur­key, v. 179
• Hurco, (Aufidius) charged by Pliny with being the first who fatted peacocks for the feasts of the luxu­rious, v. 172
• Hurricane, the cloud preceding a hurricane, called by sailors, bull's eye, described, i. 359—houses, made of timber, bend to the blast of the hurricane like osiers, and recover their rectitude—hurricanes of­fensive to the sense of smelling—maggots brought with them—common in all tropical climates; on the coasts of Guinea, frequently three or four in a day, i. 360—their seasons upon those coasts, at Loango and the opposite coast of Africa, i. 361—the hurricane called tornado, its dreadful effects, i. 361 et seq.
• Hus, in Greek signifies a sow, and huoina derives from it, iii. 342, 343
• Huso, the isinglass fish, caught in great quantities in the Danube, from October to January—furnishes the commodity called isinglass—often above four hundred pounds weight—its flesh salted is better tasted, and turned red like salmon, vi. 282
• Hyena, no words give an idea adequate to this ani­mal's figure, deformity, and fierceness, iii. 343—more savage and untameable than any quadruped—its description, iii 341, 342—defends itself a­gainst the lion, is a match for the panther, and at­tacks the ounce, which it seldom fails to conquer—an obscene and solitary animal—its first howl some­times mistaken for the voice of a man a moaning—its latter like the violent efforts of reaching, iii. [Page] 343—whence it first took its name, iii. 342—na­tive of the torrid zone, resides in the caverns of mountains, the clefts of rocks, or dens it has form­ed under earth, iii. 344—taken ever so young, it never can be tamed—sometimes attacks man, and carries off cattle—its eyes shine by night; and it is asserted that it sees better by night than by day—scrapes up graves, and devours dead bodies, how putrid soever—absurdities of the ancients about this animal, iii. 344, 345

• Jabiru, and jabiru-guacu, birds of the crane kind, na­tives of Brasil, v. 388—their descriptions, v. 389
• Jackalls, hunt in a pack, and encourage each other by mutual cries—what has given rise to the report of its being the lion's provider, ii. 322—travel­lers have mistaken the jackall for the fox, iii. 333—one of the commonest wild animals in the East; yet scarce any less known in Europe; or less dis­tinctly described by natural historians—its de­scription—its cry a lamentation resembling that of human distress—is more noisy in its pursuits than the dog, more voracious than the wolf—never goes alone, but always in a pack of forty or fifty together—seems little afraid of man; pursues its game to the doors, without apprehen­sion—enters insolently into sheep folds, yards, and stables, and finding nothing else, devours leather harnesses, boots, and shoes—scratches up new made graves, and devours the corpse how putrid so­ever, iii. 335—the corpse how dug up—follows armies, and keeps in the rear of caravans—the most putrid substances it greedily devours—hides in holes by day, and appears abroad at night-fall, iii. 336—hunts by the scent, iii. 337—irreconcileable an­tipathy between it and the dog, iii. 338—no won­der it be voracious and why—is as stupid as im­pudent [Page]—instance of it—Indian peasants often chace it as we do foxes, iii. 338, 339
• Jack-daw, its description, v. 230—rings found in the nest of a tame jack-daw, v. 222
• Jacobines, a kind of pigeons, v. 293
• Jaculus, the swiftest serpent, its manner of progres­sion by coiling, vii. 182
• Jaguar, or the panther of America, iii. 252, 253
• James, the hermit, said to have lived an hundred and four years, ii. 132
• Japan, the emperor made a present, to the value of sixty thousand crowns, for a zebra, which a go­vernor of Batavia had given to him, ii. 398
• Japanese, description of that people, ii. 222
• Jaw, the upper, thought by many quite immove­able; that it moves in man, an easy experiment will evince—has its proper muscles behind the head for thus raising and depressing it, ii. 90—the under jaw in the embryo much advanced before the upper; in the adult, it hangs more backward, ii. 91—and in a Chinese face it falls still more back­ward than with us; the difference is thought half an inch, the mouth being shut naturally—M'Laurin, a professor at Edinburgh, was sub­ject to have his jaw dislocated—the under jaw has often an involuntary quivering motion; and often a state of langour produces another, that of yawn­ing, a very sympathetic kind of languid motion, ii. 92—ridiculous instance of this sympathetic affection commonly practised upon the same famous M'Lau­rin, ii. 92
• Jay, one of the most beautiful of the British birds—its description—feeds upon fruits, kills small birds, and is extremely docile, v. 241, 242—lays its eggs in the holes deserted by the wood-pecker, v. 253
• Ibex, a native of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Greece—its description, iii. 62
• Ibis, the Egyptians paid divine honours to this bird, [Page] v. 384—different opinions concerning the ancient and modern ibis—Maillet's observations to this purpose—the true ibis thought a bird of the vul­ture kind, called by some the capon of Pharoah, v. 385
• Ice, very elastic, i. 180—floats of it diffused into plains of above two hundred leagues in length—and mountains of it rising amidst them—flat ice, and mountain ice, i. 243—their formation, i. 244—mountains of it presenting the resemblance of a glory, i. 245
• Ichneumon, by some injudiciously denominated the cat of Pharoah, one of the boldest and most useful animals of the weasel-kind—used in Egypt for the same purposes as cats in Europe—descrip­tion, iii. 376—discovers and destroys the eggs of the crocodile, iii. 377—serpents its most natural food—grows fast and dies soon, iii. 379—easily strangles a cat stronger and larger than itself, iii. 378—countries where found, iii. 379—attacks every living thing it is able to overcome, and fears not the force of the dog, nor the claws of the vul­ture, iii. 377—takes the water like an otter, and will continue under much longer, iii. 378—not able to support the rigour of our winters—one come from the island of Ceylon climbed up the walls and the trees with very great ease, iii. 379—this animal one of those formerly worshipped by the Egyptians, iii. 380
• Ichneumon fly, of all others the most formidable to insects of various kinds, viii. 46—it makes the body of the caterpillar the place for depositing its eggs, viii. 47—the tribe is not the caterpillar's offspring, as was supposed, but its murderers, viii. 48—description—whence its name—fears not the wasp, and plunders its habitations, viii. 111—its weapon of defence—flies of this tribe owe their birth to the destruction of some other insect, within whose body they have been deposited, and upon whose vitals they have preyed, till they came [Page] to maturity, viii. 12—various appetites of the va­rious kinds of this fly, viii. 113—the millions of insects this fly kills in a summer inconceivable, viii. 114
• Ichneumon, a root the Indians believe an antidote for the bite of the asp or the viper, iii. 377
• Idra, the deplorable infirmities of the workmen in the quicksilver mines near it, i. 79
• Jean-le-Blanc, a kind of eagle—its distinctive marks, v. 98
• Jenisca, in Tartary, a river, i. 210—receives above sixty lesser rivers, i. 217
• Jenkins, a peasant, lived to an hundred and sixty-five years, without much regularity, ii. 201
• Jester, in England, as late as the times of king James I. the court was furnished with a jester, ii. 251
• Jevraska, name given to the marmout in Siberia, iv. 48
• Jewels, the richest jewels found in an Aethiop's ear, a proverb, ii. 98
• Ignis fatuus, or wandering fire, i. 380
• Iguana, description of this animal, vii. 149—its flesh the greatest delicacy of Africa and America—its food, vii. 150—in what manner it is taken, vii. 151
• Jiboya, the Great, of Java and Brasil, the dimensions of this serpent, vii. 225
• Ilex, the berry-bearing ilex, viii. 143
• Imagination by day, as well as by night, always em­ployed, ii. 143—very remarkable instance of its power in women, ii. 245, 246
• Impaling, in some courts of the more barbarous princes of India, they employ the elephant to im­pale the criminals on its enormous tusks, iv. 279
• Impregnation, the hare, though already impregnated, admits the male, and receives a second impregna­tion, iv. 6—in what manner the sea and garden snails impregnate each other respectively, vii. 22, 30, 31—the bivalve shell-fish require no assistance from [Page] each other towards impregnation, vii. 41—frogs impregnated without any apparent instruments of generation, an object of enquiry; continues in great obscurity—experiments made to this purpose, vii. 78, 79
• Impulsion, manner of acting upon the heavenly bo­dies, i. 4
• Incas, father Acosta, and Garcilasso de la Vega, have seen the bodies of several incas perfectly preserved from corruption, ii. 273
• India (East) in the warm countries of India, the women are marriageable at nine or ten, and the men at twelve or thirteen, ii. 71—description of the inhabitants of the islands that lie scattered in the Indian ocean, ii. 223—over all India, chil­dren arrive sooner at maturity, than in Europe—they often marry, and consummate, the husband at ten years old, and the wife at eight, and fre­quently have children at that age, vi. 224—In­dians have long been remarkable for cowardice and effeminacy—they may be considered as a feeble race of sensualists—their dress, ii. 225—the horses of India are weak and washy, ii. 362—lions are found to diminish in their numbers in this coun­try, iii. 215—the Indians eagerly pursue the por­cupine, in order to make embroidery of its quills, and to eat its flesh, iv. 112—they eat bats in the East Indies, iv. 141—in some courts of the more barbarous princes, the elephants are used as exe­cutioners—in what manner that animal performs this horrid task—and impales criminals on its enor­mous tusks, iv. 279—in the whole peninsula of India, they employ the elephant in carrying or drawing burthens, iv. 278—and also in launching ships, iv. 279
• India (West) whence originally comes the flat heads of the American Indians, ii. 239
• Indus, river, its course, i. 212—its water, and that of the Thames, the most light and wholesome in [Page] the world, i. 170—the tide at the mouth of this river the greatest known, i. 257
• Infants just born, may be said to come from one ele­ment into another; and why, ii. 53—open their eyes the instant of their birth, ii. 54—more capable of sustaining hunger, and more patient of cold than grown persons; and why, ii. 58—infants have milk in their own breasts—their life very precarious, till the age of three or four, ii. 59—instances of it, ii. 60—the comparative progress of the understanding greater in infants, than in children of three or four years old, ii. 61
• Inundations generally greater towards the source of rivers, than farther down; and why, i. 207—some distribute health and plenty—others cause diseases, famine, and death, i. 218—every inun­dation of the sea attended with some correspondent dereliction of another shore—one of the most con­siderable inundations in history, is that which hap­pened in the reign of Henry I.—an inundation in the territory of Dort, destroyed an hundred thou­sand persons—and yet a greater number round the Dullart—remarkable inundations in Friezland and Zealand, in which more than three hundred vil­lages were overwhelmed—their remains continue visible at the bottom of the water in a clear day, i. 278—some in which the sea has overflowed the country, and afterwards retired, i. 279—in­undation of the Thames at Dagenham, in Essex, i. 283—instantly produced by land spouts, i. 396
• Insects, many of the tribes brought forth from the egg, ii. 27—in the internal parts of South Ame­rica, and Africa, they grow to a prodigious size; and why—those of the minute kind in the northern climates not half so large as in the temperate zone, ii. 6—the ocean has its insects—their feet are placed upon their backs, and almost all without eyes, ii. 7—in some countries almost darken the air, and a candle cannot be lighted, without their instantly flying upon it, and putting out the flame, [Page] ii. 12, and viii. 158—many may be multiplied by being cut in pieces, ii. 23—have no eye-lids what­soever, ii. 85—the Indians are fearful of killing the meanest, ii. 225—quickly brought to change, and adapt themselves to the climate, ii. 312—have their stomachs composed of muscular fibres—of a ruminating kind, iii. 6—afford so great a variety, as to elude the search of the most in­quisitive pursuer, v. 3—those with the greatest num­ber of legs move the slowest, vii. 63—the general definition of insects, vii. 239—the different classes, vii. 241 to 244—general characteristics of insects without wings, vii. 246—of those that have wings, vii. 315—Swammerdam has excelled the insects he dissected, in patience, industry, and perseve­rance, vii. 17—some continue under the form of an aurelia not ten days; some twenty; some se­veral months, and even for a year, viii. 26—ge­neral rule, that the female is larger than the male, viii. 39—every insect that lives a year after its full growth, is obliged to pass four or five months without nourishment, and will seem to be dead all that time, viii. 125—description of that which forms and resides in the gall-nut, viii. 148
• Instinct of animals in chusing the proper times of copulation, ii. 337—the Guinea pig has not that natural instinct so common to almost every other creature, iv. 57
• Intestines of sheep found to be above thirty times the length of the body, iii. 209—those of the wild cat not above three times the length of its body, iii. 210—this shortness still unaccounted for, iii. 211—in­testines of ruminating animals enlarged by nature, to take in a greater supply—those of the carnivo­rous kind are short, iii. 2—also thin and lean; but of the ruminating are strong, fleshy, and co­vered with fat, iii. 4—in all animals the size of the intestines proportioned to the nature of the food, ii. 318—of the rein-deer washed like our tripe, in high esteem among the Laplanders, iii. [Page] 167—of the bat, in some measure resemble those of man, iv. 135—those of the manati longer, in proportion, than those of any other creature, the horse excepted, iv. 185—the tribe of wood-peckers want that intestine, called the caecum, v. 249—the lamprey seems to have but one, vi. 272—those of the crab have many convolutions, vi. 368
• Johndory, Quin noted for a sauce for this fish, vi. 182
• Joints, hair in its growth sends forth branches at the joints, ii. 87
• Jonelin, has obliged the curious with the first accu­rate description of the form and nature of the sa­ble, iii. 373
• Ireland not infested with wolves, iii. 319—frogs de­signedly introduced into that kingdom some years before the Norway rat, iv. 66—that rat put a stop to their encrease, and the frog is once more almost extinct in that kingdom, iv. 67—the mole utterly a stranger there, iv. 91
• Iron extracted from all the substances upon earth, i. 74
• Isatis, an animal very common in all northern coun­tries bordering upon icy sea, and seldom found in warm climates—description, iii. 339—burrows like the fox, and when with young, the female retires to her kennel, in the same manner as the fox—its kennel very narrow, and extremely deep, has many out-lets—manner of coupling, time of ges­tation, and number of young, all similar to what is found in the fox—brings forth at the end of May, or the beginning of June, iii. 340—consi­dered as between the dog and the fox, iii. 339—changes its colour, and is at one time brown, at another white, iii. 340—time in which it is called the crost-fox, iii. 341
• Isinglass serviceable in medicine, and many arts, vi. 282—manner of making it—principally furnished from Russia, where great quantities are prepared surprisingly cheap—Mr. Jackson found out a me­thod [Page] of making a glue that answered the purposes of isinglass, vi. 282, 283
• Islands, new formed, in two ways, i. 125—thirteen islands in the Mediterranean appearing at once emerging from the water, i. 126—one new formed in the year 1720 near that of Tercera, i. 128—formed at the mouths of many rivers, and how, i. 130—a beautiful and large one formed at the mouth of the river Nanquin in China, not less than sixty miles long, and about twenty broad, i. 131—ap­pear, at first, infinitely greater than they naturally are, i. 388—seem to travel to the shore, and re­present a wood—the scene then shifted, represents curious figures, ships with sails, streamers, and flags; antique elevated castles, and at length vanish into nothing, i. 389
• Ismael, sheque, in his time the Arabians first began the management of horses, ii. 349
• Ispahan, the prince's messengers go on foot thirty-six leagues in fourteen hours, ii. 114
• Italy, the horses there have a particular aptitude to prance, ii. 357
• Jucatan, a peninsula in the gulph of Mexico, for­merly a part of the sea, i. 276
• Juda-goat common in Guinea, Angola, and all along the coasts of Africa, not much larger than a hare, iii. 59
• Jugular fish, name given to that fish which has the ventral fins placed more forward than the pectoral, vi. 303
• Julian's Bay (St.) an American harbour, forty-nine degrees south of the line—Ferdinand Magellan happened to winter in it, ii. 260
• Juniper, the Laplanders drink water, in which these berries have been infused, ii. 216—its shade was fatal, if we credit the ancients, i. 326
• Ivory, the tusks of the babyrouessa are a very fine ivory, smoother and whiter than that of the ele­phant, but not so hard or serviceable, iii. 194—that of the morse more esteemed than that of the [Page] elephant, being whiter and harder, iv. 182—al­most all our ivory comes from Africa, where the greatest part is found in the forests, iv. 281—the tusks of the mammouth converted to the purposes of ivory, iv. 282—teeth of the narwhal far surpass ivory in all its qualities, vi. 212
• Justinian, the emperor, till his time the sea was open to all nations, i. 232
• Ivy-berries, showers of them raised by tempests in one country, and falling in another, i. 390

• Kabassou, or cataphractus, one of the largest kinds of the armadilla, iv. 133
• Kamskatka, description of its natives, ii. 213
• Kanguroo, an animal first discovered and described by Mr. Banks, iv. 351, et seq.
• Kempfer very well describes the effects of the shock of the torpedo, vi. 262
• Keratophites, among the coraline fungi, viii. 197
• Kermes, an insect of great use in medicine and dying—its description, viii. 143—the differences of the male from the female—the harvest of the kermes greater or less in proportion to the severity of the winter—women gather them before sun-rising, tearing them off with their nails, viii. 144
• Kestril, a bird of the generous breed of hawks, v. 122
• Kevel, name of a second variety of gazelles made by Mr. Buffon, iii. 73
• Kilda (St.) a rocky island—its shores to the West six hundred fathom perpendicular above the surface of the sea, i. 272—its rocks more than three quarters of a mile high, vi. 78—the inhabitants consume annually near twenty-three thousand young gan­nets, and a great quantity of their eggs, vi. 73
• Killer, a cetaceous animal of surprising strength, which attacks the whale, vi. 204
• [...]inds of animals not actually distinguished by horns, [Page] colour, position of the ears, or fineness of hair, iii. 60—difficult to fix precise boundaries be­tween the goat-kind, and the deer, iii. 70—the gazelles form a distinct kind, iii. 71—all of the deer kind have no gall bladder, iii. 94
• Kine, in Iceland are without horns, iii. 19
• King, a question in schools, which man most happy, the beggar by night, and king by day; or the beg­gar by day, and king by night, ii. 139
• King-fisher, a remarkable bird—its description, vi. 142—places it frequents, and how it takes its prey—the plumage a beautiful variety of brilliant co­lours, vi. 143—instances of credulity with respect to this bird, iv. 144—its nest, or rather hole, very different from that described by the ancients, vi. 145, 146—feeds upon fish in that hole—soetid from the remains of fish—the king-fisher is found with from five to nine eggs, which the female continues to hatch—though disturbed and robbed, she returns, and lays again—Reaumur's account of this—season for excluding the brood—the male, faithful beyond the turtle, brings the female large provisions of fish, and keeps her plump and fat—he used to twitter before, now enters the nest quietly and privately—the young hatched in twenty days—differ in their size and beauty, vi. 146, 147
• King-fisher, the Halcyon—Cicero has written a long poem in praise of this bird, of which but two lines remain—the emperor Gordian has also written a poem on it, nothing of which is left—St. Ambrose's credulity concerning this bird, vi. 144—fa­bles the modern vulgar have of it, vi. 147, 148—its flesh unfit to be eaten, and its beautiful plumage preserves its lustre longer than any other, vi. 148
• Kircher, his calculations of the heights of the moun­tains are incredible, and why, i. 154—has set the voices of birds to music, v. 143
• Kite, one of the baser race of hawks, v. 119—dis­tinguished by its forky tail, and slow floating mo­tion, [Page] v. 129—from the greatest height darts down on its prey with unerring aim, v. 10—seems ever upon the wing, and to make no effort in flying—lives upon accidental carnage, every bird in the air being able to make its retreat from it—small birds wounded, or straying chickens it seizes with rapa­city, v. 129, 130—used for training falcons, and how lured with the great horned owl, when caught for that purpose, v. 144, 145
• Kitten, of all young animals none more prettily play­ful, iii. 202
• Klein, his method of classing animals, ii. 296
• Knobber, name of the stag the second year, iii. 113
• Knot, small bird of the crane kind, vi. 23—a bird of passage, vi. 28
• Kob, the name of the sixth variety of gazelles by Mr. Buffon, iii. 74
• Koba, name of the fifth variety of gazelles by Mr. Buffon, iii. 74
• Kraken, all that has been said of this great fish seems fictitious, yet there is a possibility of its existence, vi. 193
• Krantz's account of the origin and formation of the ice-mountains in Greenland, i. 246

• Labrus, the wrasse, description of this fish, vi. 307
• Labyrinth of Candia, a subterranean wonder, supposed the work of art, i. 63
• Labyrinth, convolutions in the wind-pipe and lungs of some birds, v. 13
• Lama, the camel of the new world, iv. 312—coun­tries where found—their flesh an excellent food—their hair, or rather wool, spun into beautiful cloathing—carry their burdens over precipices and craggy rocks, where men can scarce accompany them, iv. 313—description and age—manner of cou­pling, iv. 314—its food—exceeds the camel in tem­perance—requires little water, being supplied with [Page] quantities of saliva, the only offensive weapon it has to testify its resentment—the Indians say, where this saliva falls, it will from its acrimonious nature burn the skin, or cause dangerous eruptions, iv. 315—colour and wool—habits and marks of agility in the state of nature—seems the largest of the camel kind in America—the natives hunt the wild lama for its fleece, iv. 316—a smaller weaker sort of the camel-kind, called also gua­nacoe and paco—the manufacture of stuffs, carpets, and quilts, made of the wool of the paco, form a considerable branch of commerce in South America, and might usefully be extended to Eu­rope, iv. 317
• Lambs, how to be produced all the year round, ii. 338—the third an ewe brings forth supposed the best, iii. 45
• Lamprey, its food, vi. 272—a fish every way resem­bling the lamprey, was possessed of the numbing quality of the torpedo, vi. 267—people will not venture to touch those of Ireland—a species very different from ours served up as a delicacy among the modern Romans—doubtful whether it be the murena of the ancients, which our lamprey is not—ours differently estimated, ac­cording to the season, vi. 269—those of the river Severn the most delicate of all fish—de­scription of the fish, extraordinary power of adher­ing to stones—instance of it, vi. 270—Muralto, giving the anatomy of this fish, makes no mention of the lungs, for which it has absolute necessity to breathe in the air, vi. 271—its time of leaving the sea annually, in order to spawn, is the beginning of spring—after a few months, it returns to the sea—peculiar preparation for spawning—the young from eggs—the female remains at the place where produced they are excluded till they come forth, has her family playing about her, and conducts them in triumph to the ocean, vi. 272—some continue in fresh water till they die—a single brood the extent of the female's fertility, two years being the limit [Page] of her existence—best season for them the months of March, April, and May—are usually taken in nets with salmon; sometimes in baskets at the bottom of the river—old custom for the city of Gloucester annually to present the king with a lamprey-pye, vi. 273—a senator of Rome used to throw into his ponds such of his slaves as displeased him, to feed the lampreys, vi. 274
• Lands, new, produced from the sea, and in what manner, i. 277
• Lanner, bird of the generous breed of hawks, now little known in Europe, v. 121
• Lapland, its division, iii. 153—mountains there pre­ferred to the woods—the country abounds more than others with marshy bottoms and weedy lakes—gnats and gad-flies formidable there, iii. 155, 157—the manner of travelling in it, iii. 162—Laplanders castrate the rein-deer with their teeth, iii. 363—the wolf never attacks a rein-deer that is haltered, and why, iii. 321—the isatis found in this country, iii. 340—in the forests, squirrels observed to change their habitation; they remove in numbers from one country to another, iv. 32
• Laplanders, one of the first distinct race of men round the polar regions—description of their persons and manners, ii. 213 to 218—have in every family a drum for consulting the devil, ii. 214—Gustavus Adolphus attempted in vain to form a regiment of Laplanders—use skates to run and slide, and how, ii. 215—are all hunters—offer their wives and daughters to strangers, ii. 216—wants supplied and riches derived from the rein-deer, iii. 149, 155, 166, 167—manner of life, iii. 154—boil milk with wood-sorrel, and keep it in casks under ground to be eaten in winter, iii. 166—when the lemins draw up to fight, they form ominous prognostics from their arrangement, iv. 88—happy when an army of lemins comes down among them; they then feast upon their flesh, which dogs and cats detest, iv. 90
• [Page] Lapwing, a small bird of the crane-kind, vi. 23—its arts to lead off men and dogs from their nests, vi. 32—their seasons of courtship, vi. 31
• Lark, bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314—the sky, the wood, or the tit-lark distinguishable from other little birds by length of heel and loud song, v. 333—nest, number of eggs, and habits, v. 334—those that remain with us the year throughout are birds of passage in Sweden, v. 318
• Sea-Lark, a small bird of the crane-kind, vi. 23—breeds in this country, vi. 29
• Lava, matter discharged by the eruptions of volca­nos, i. 103
• Laughter, in what manner produced, ii. 92
• Launce, description of this fish, vi. 311
• Lauricocha, a lake wherein the river Amazons has its source, i. 215
• St. Lawrence, a river—its rise and course, i. 216—receives about forty rivers, i. 218—its cataract, i. 223
• Laws, one in the Orkney Islands, entitling any per­son that kills an eagle to a hen from every house in the parish where killed, v. 92
• Layer, the impression on the place where the stag has lain, iii. 114
• Layers of the earth regularly disposed, but not of the same kind in every place, i. 56—enumeration of layers of earth in a well dug at Amsterdam, and of another dug at Marly, i. 57, 58—a layer, as far as it extends, always maintains the same thickness—proceeding to considerable depths, every layer is thicker—are sometimes very extensive, and often found to spread over a space of some leagues in cir­cumference, i. 58—remarkable layers of earth round the city of Modena, i. 282
• Lead-Mine, one in Flintshire, iv. 282
• Leather called chamois, made of the skin of that ani­mal, and also from those of the tame goat, the sheep, and the deer, iii. 69
• Leather harness devoured by the jackall, iii. 335
• [Page] Leaves, two of a fig-tree, by experiment, imbibed from the earth, two ounces of water in five hours and a half, i. 195
• Leech, different kinds—its description—takes a large quantity of food, vii. 306, 307—has no anus or pas­sage to eject it from the body when digested, vii. 308—in what it differs from the rest of the reptile tribe, vii. 309—the leech used in medicine, vii. 306—a girl of nine years old killed by leeches, vii. 310—best way of applying leeches, vii. 311
• Legs, a man without them performed astonishing feats of dexterity, iv. 250
• Leming, a bold animal of the rat kind, native of Scandinavia, iv. 84—often pours down in myriads from the northern mountains, and, like pestilence, destroys all the productions of the earth—Lapland­ers believe they drop from the clouds—their descrip­tion, iv. 85—they move, in a square, forward by night, and lying still by day—whither their motions are turned nothing can stop them; a fire, a deep well, a torrent does not turn them out of their direction—they never retreat—inter­rupted by a boat across a river, they go over it, iv. 86—stopped by a stack of hay or corn, they gnaw their way through; and obstructed by a house they cannot get through, continue before it till they die—eat nothing prepared for human subsistence—never enter a house to destroy provisions—passing through a meadow, destroy it in a short time, and leave it with the appearance of being burnt up and strewed over with ashes—a man imprudently at­tacking one of them, the animal furiously flies at him, barking somewhat like a puppy, fastens, and does not easily quit its hold, iv. 87—their leader forced out of the line after a long defence, and separated from the rest, sets up a plaintive cry, not of anger, and hangs itself on the fork of a tree—they destroy and devour each other—after incredible devasta­tions, they separate into armies, opposed with deadly hatred, and move along the coasts of the larger lakes and rivers—the Laplanders form [Page] prognostics from the manner of their arrangement—what prognostics—the divisions continue their engagements and animosity until one party be over­come; then they disappear, iv. 87, 88—and it is supposed that having nothing to subsist on, they de­vour each other—their carcases sometimes infect the air for miles around, and produce malignant dis­orders—they seem also to infect the plants, the cattle often dying in the places where they passed—the male larger and more beautifully spotted than the female—are extremely prolific—breeding does not hinder their march, some carrying one young in their mouth and another on their back—are greatly preyed upon by the ermine, and even by the rein-deer, iv. 89—dogs and cats detest their flesh, but, the Laplanders esteem it good eating, and de­vour it greedily, iv. 90
• Leo, the emperor, granted the nations in possession of the shore the sole right of fishing before their re­spective territories, i. 232
• Leona (Sierra) a kind of apes in that province of Af­rica, called baris, properly instructed when young, serve as useful domestics, iv. 198
• Leopard, the large, and the leopard or panther of Senegal—differences between those animals, iii. 251—leopard will not fly at the approach of the lion, iii. 226—the American is neither so fierce nor so valiant as that of Africa and Asia, ii. 332
• Lepadogaster, description of this fish, vi. 312
• Leprosy, in what manner the Indians endeavour to prevent the Arabian leprosy, or the elephantiasis, a disease to which man and the elephant are equally subject, iv. 265
• Lerot, the middle dormouse, according to Mr. Buf­fon, iv. 76
• Leymmer, a dog of the generous kind, iii. 286, 288
• Libella, the dragon-fly—general characteristics, vii. 316, et seq.—eggs, vii. 317—food of the young, [Page] vii. 318—how they prepare to change from the reptile to the flying state—description, vii. 319—the strongest and most courageous of all winged in­sects, vii. 320—the business of impregnation, how performed, vii. 321, 322
• Liboya, the greatest of the serpent kind, vii. 173
• Lichen rangiferinus, the food of the rein-deer, a moss in Lapland of two kinds; the white in the fields, and the black on the trees, iii. 154, 159
• Lidme, name of the eleventh variety of gazelles, by Mr. Buffon, iii. 79
• Life, formerly supposed producible only by oviparous and viviparous generation; but later discoveries in­duce many to doubt whether animal life may not be produced merely from putrefaction, ii. 22—the beginning of our lives, as well as the end, is mark­ed with anguish, ii. 48—that of infants very pre­carious till the age of three or four—instances of it, ii. 59, 60—the duration of life in general nearly the same in most countries, ii. 202—the most use­less and contemptible of all others the most difficult to destroy, viii. 173
• Light, the hand exposed to broad day-light for some time, then immediately snatched into a dark room, will still be luminous and remain so for some time, and why—dangerous to the sight to look steadily upon bright and luminous objects, and why, ii. 159, 160—such persons as read or write for any continuance should choose a moderate light, ii. 160
• Light sent forth by the glow-worm, how produced hitherto inexplicable, viii. 141—sent forth by the star-fish resembles that of phosphorus, viii. 175
• Lightning is an electrical flash produced by the oppo­sition of two clouds, i. 374—of the torrid zone is not so fatal or so dangerous as with us, otherwise those regions would be uninhabitable, i. 379—flashing without noise illuminates the sky all around in the torrid zone, i. 377, 379
• [Page] Lights, northern lights illuminate half the hemisphere, i. 377
• Limbs of the inhabitants near the poles are sometimes frozen and drop off, i. 387—some animals live without, and often are seen to reproduce them, viii. 170
• Lime, manner of making it in Persia, i. 862
• Line, upon the approach of the winter months under the line, the whole horizon seems wrapt in a muddy cloud, i. 378—in America, all that part of the continent which lies under the line is cool and pleasant, ii. 233—in general, as we approach the line, we find the inhabitants of each country grow browner, until the colour deepens into perfect blackness, ii. 235
• Linnaeus, the celebrated naturalist, supposes man a native of the tropical climates, and only a sojourner more to the north—argument to prove the contra­ry, ii. 240—his method of classing animals, ii. 298, 299—makes the female of the bat a primas, to rank it in the same order with man, iv. 138
• Linnet, a bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 315, 317—taught to whistle a long and regular tune, v. 345
• Lion, produced under the burning sun of Africa, is the most terrible and most undaunted creature, iii. 214—description of this noble animal, iii. 219 to 222—he degenerates when removed from the torrid zone, iii. 213—to compare the strength of the lion with that of man, it should be considered that the claws of this animal give a false idea of its power, ascribing to its force what is the effect of its arms, ii. 111—leaps twenty feet at a spring, ii. 322—a single lion of the desert often attacks an entire ca­ravan, iii. 216—he crouches on his belly, and continues so with patient expectation, until his prey comes within a proper distance, iii. 223—the female has no mane, iii. 221—his roaring is so loud, that when heard in the night, and re-echoed [Page] by the mountains, it resembles distant thunder, iii. 224—does not willingly attack the horse, and only when compelled by the keenest hunger, ii. 319—combats between a lion and a horse in Italy—the lion stunned and left sprawling, the horse escapes; but the lion succeeding, sticks to his prey, and tears the horse in pieces instantly, ii. 319, 320—attends to the call of the jackall, iii. 337—in coun­tries tolerably inhabited, the lion is cowardly, and often scared by the cries of women and children, iii. 201
• Lions, those inhabiting the peopled countries of Mo­rocco or India scared away with a shout—the keep­ers play with him, plague, and chastise him with­out a cause; he bears it with composure, but his anger once excited, the consequences are terrible—an instance from Labat, iii. 217—numberless ac­counts assure his anger noble, his courage mag­nanimous, and his natural ferocity seldom exerted against his benefactors—he has spared the lives of those thrown to be devoured by him, afforded them part of his subsistence, and sometimes abstains from food himself to support them, iii. 218—necessi­ty alone makes him cruel, iii. 219—the man­ner of hunting them by Hottentots and others, iii. 215, 227—horses for hunting them of that sort called charossi, all others fly at the sight of him, iii. 226—the lion prefers the flesh of camels to other food—is also fond of that of young elephants—when old, finding men and quadrupeds toge­ther, he attacks the latter, and never meddles with men, unless provoked, iii. 228—manner of copu­lation, time of gestation, number brought forth, and time taken to come to perfection, all known, iii. 229—a lion in the Tower of London above seven­ty years, iii. 230—the lioness fearing her retreat discovered, hides her tracks, by running back, or brushing them out with her tail, iii. 231—becomes terrible with young ones to provide for, iii. 230—lions, incited by desire, fight bloody battles, till [Page] one becomes victorious over the rest, iii. 228—the size of the lion between three and four feet; the female in all dimensions about one third less—there are properly no lions in America; the puma has received the name of the America-lion, but, when compared, is a very contemptible animal, iii. 332—those of mount Atlas have not the strength or ferocity of those of Biledulgerid or Zaara—species of this animal diminishing daily—Mr. Shaw observes, the Romans carried fifty times as many lions from Lybia in one year, for their amphitheatres, as are in the whole country at this time, iii. 214—the same remark made with regard to Turky, Persia, and the Indies; where the lions diminish in their number daily, iii. 215—reported that he sustains hunger a long time, but thirst he cannot support—some believe him in a continual fever—he drinks as often as he finds water, and laps it—he requires about fifteen pound of raw flesh in a day—he rather hunts for a fresh spoil, than returns to that he had before—his breath is offensive, and his urine insupportable, iii. 224
• Lion-cat, or Angora-cat, a beautiful animal, a native of Syria or Persia, iii. 212
• Sea-lion, described in Anson's voyages, regarded as the largest of the seal family, iv. 181
• Lipidopus, the garter-fish, its description, vi. 312
• Lips, those of the hare and of the squirrel continually move, whether sleeping or waking, iv. 3
• Lithophytes, and coralline substances, viii. 192
• Litters, in all animals, intermediate litters most fruit­ful; first and last generally produce fewest and weakest of the kind, ii. 336
• Littorales, Latin name for those shells that are cast upon shore, vii. 13
• Liver of a shark affords three or four quarts of oil, vi. 247
• Lizards, differ from every other class of animals, and from each other, vii. 112, 113—whence the [Page] greatest distinction, vii. 115—general character­istics, vii. 116—along the coasts of Guinea their flesh esteemed a delicacy, iii. 298—the water kind changes its skin every fourth or fifth day, vii. 145—sprinkled with salt, the whole body emits a viscous liquor, and the lizard dies in three minutes, in great agonies—the whole of the kind sustain the want of food in a surprising manner, vii. 146
• Chalcidian lizard of Aldrovandus described, vii. 157
• Flying lizard of Java, account of it by Gentil, vii. 157
• Loach, the description of this fish, vi. 314
• Lobster, a ruminating fish, iii. 5—very voracious, though without warmth in its body, or red blood in its veins, vi. 358—whatever it seizes upon and has life perishes, however well defended; they de­vour each other, and, in some measure, eat them­selves; changing their shell and stomach every year, the old stomach is the first morsel to glut the new, 358, 364—at first sight the head may be mistaken for the tail—its description, iii. 358, 359—the food of the young, vi. 361—the molting sea­son, vi. 362—how they change their shells—many die under this operation, vi. 362, 363—speedy growth of the new shell—and of itself after the change—the claws of unequal magnitude, and why—at certain seasons they never meet without an engagement—wonders this extraordinary creature offers to imagination—are endowed with a vital principle that furnishes out such limbs as have been cut away, vi. 365, 366—varieties of this animal with differences in the claws, little in the habits or conformation—the shell black when taken, but turns red by boiling—common way of taking the lobster, vi. 367
• Locust, the great brown locust seen in several parts of England in 1748; in some southern kingdoms they are still formidable—description of this insect, vii. 340, 341—in what manner they take [Page] the field—their devastations, vii. 342—are still more noxious when dead, vii. 343—instance of it—account of their devastations in Russia, Poland, Lithuania, and Barbary, vii. 343, 344—transfor­mations, vii. 345—eaten by the natives in many kingdoms of the East; and caught in small nets for that purpose—their taste—are considered as a great delicacy in Tonquin, by the rich and the poor—must have been a common food with the Jews, vii. 347—description of the great West-Indian locust, the most formidable, vii. 348
• Loir, the greater dormouse, so called by Mr. Buffon, iv. 76
• Longevity, persons remarkable for it, ii. 200, 201
• Lorenzini, his experiments upon the torpedo, vi. 266
• Lori, the longest of all animals, in proportion to its size—description—a native of the island of Ceylon, iv. 241
• Loricaria, description of this fish, vi. 313
• Lories, a kind of parrot, v. 272
• Louse, its description, vii. 270—whether distinguish­ed by the parts of generation into males and fe­males, not yet discovered, vii. 273—the lousy disease frequent among the ancients, vii. 274
• Wood-louse, the description, vii. 286—of great use in medicine, vii. 287
• Leuwenhoeck, his opinion about the rudiments of ani­mals, ii. 18
• Luminous appearance of the waves in the night, the cause, i. 247, 248
• Lump-fish, its description, vi. 287—flung into a pail of water, will stick so close to the bottom, that on taking the fish by the tail, the pail and several gal­lons of water may be lifted—their flesh, vi. 288
• Lungs, animals before birth make no use of their lungs, iv. 171—no anatomist has described the lungs of the lamprey, vi. 271—caterpillars have eighteen lungs, and live several days in the exhausted receiv­er of the air-pump, viii. 14
• [Page] Lybia, its inhabitants use ostriches as horses—also at Joar—instance of it at the factory of Podore, v. 62
• Lyboija, of Surinam, a kind of serpent, thirty-six feet long, vii. 172
• Lynx, distinguished from the ounce, and described—first striking distinction between it and those of the panther-kind is the tail—each hair of this animal is of three different colours—it is not above the size of the ounce, iii. 257—chiefly met with in the cold countries bordering on the pole, in the north of Germany, Lithuania, Muscovy, Siberia, and North America—those of the new con­tinent are smaller than in Europe—this animal has been called lupus cervarius, but for what rea­son hard to guess—in its nature it exactly resem­bles the cat, is bigger, and near two feet long, is also bolder and fiercer—is more delicate than the cat—resembles the wolf in nothing, except its cry—several reports of the lynx, propagated by igno­rance or imposture, iii. 264, 265
• Lyster, strangeness of his theory to explain the inva­riable motion of winds, i. 342

• Macaguo, a kind of monkey described by Mr. Buf­fon, iv. 233
• Maccaw, the large kind of parrot the size of a raven, v. 275
• Machinel-tree, in America, its shade fatal, i. 362—no plant will grow under it, ii. 4
• Machines, the invention of many has rendered human strength less valuable, ii. 119
• Mackarel, described, vi. 307—produces five hundred thousand eggs, in one season, vi. 178—its growth, vi. 340
• Madagascar, its natives desire nothing so ardently as to prostitute their wives or daughters to strangers, [Page] and for the most trifling advantages, ii. 74—the great bat of that island described, iv. 141, 142
• Madder, used by Mr. Belcher to discover the circula­tion of the blood through the bones, ii. 194
• Madness produced by want of sleep, ii. 135—cured by music—and also caused by it—instance in Hen­ry IV. of Denmark, who in his rage killed his at­tendants, ii. 170
• Maelstroom, Dutch name for a whirlpool, one upon the coast of Norway, considered as most dreadful and destructive, i. 267—the body of water forming this whirlpool, extended in a circle of above thirteen miles, i. 268
• Magellan, (Ferdinand) a Portuguese of noble extrac­tion, first discovered the gigantic race of mankind, towards the extremity of South America, ii. 259—account of this discovery—he was slain upon one of the Molucca islands, ii. 260
• Magni, an Italian traveller discovered the remarkable grotto of Antiparos, in the Archipelago, i. 67
• Maggot of Buffon, the cynocephalus, the last of the ape kind—its description, iv. 207
• Magpie thievish; rings found in the nest of a tame magpie, v. 222—habits and food—when satisfied for the present, it lays up the remainder for another time, v. 238, 239—places where it builds and nests described, v. 240—number of eggs—in its domestic state, preserves its natural cha­racter strictly—foolish custom of cutting its tongue to teach it to speak, puts the animal to pain, and baulks the intention, v. 241
• Mahometans, considering the hare an unclean animal, religiously abstain from its flesh, iv. 14
• Maimon, the last of the baboons, Edwards calls it the pigtail—its description—native of Sumatra, does not well endure the rigours of our climate, iv. 215
• Maire, (James Le) a traveller who confirms the ex­istence of giants in America, ii. 261
• Maki, the last of the monkey-kind, iv. 188, 238 [Page]—their description—many different kinds of these animals, iv. 239, 241
• Malabar, land and sea breezes upon those coasts, i. 351
• Malacopterigii, the barbarous Greek name given to the soft-finned fish; the prickly-finned sort termed Acanthopterigii, vi. 303
• Malahallo, a very considerable volcano in South Ame­rica, i. 99
• Malebranche, grounds his beautiful theory of mon­strous productions upon a famous instance related by him; and some theory from which he deduces the effects of imagination upon the foetus, ii. 245, 246
• Malbrouk, a monkey of the ancient continent, iv. 233—its description—the Bramins have hospitals for such as are sick, or disabled, iv. 234
• Maldivia islands, have lands in them at one time co­vered with water, and at another free, i. 279
• Mallard, a kind of duck, vi. 130—with very parti­cular faculties for calling, vi. 134
• Malphigi, his famous experiment upon the stigmata of caterpillars, viii. 14
• Mammouth, its tusks, which are used as ivory, and supposed to belong to the elephant, often weigh four hundred pounds, iv. 282
• Man, differences in his species less than in animals, and rather taken from the tincture of the skin than variety of figure—there are not in the world above six distinct varieties in the race of men, ii. 212—first race in the polar regions, deep brown, short, oddly shaped, savage, ii. 213 to 219—second, the Tartar race, olive coloured, middle sized, ugly, ro­bust, ii. 219 to 221—third, the southern Asiatics, dark olive, slender shaped, strait black hair, feeble, ii. 223 to 226—fourth, the negroes of Africa, black, smooth skin, woolly hair, well shaped, ii. 226 to 228—fifth, the Americans, copper colour, strait black hair, small eyes, slight limbed, not strong, [Page] 229—sixth the Europeans and bordering nations, white of different tints, fine hair, large limbed, vigorous, ii. 230, 231—endures a greater variety of climates than the lower orders are able to do, and why, i. 319—may be called the animal of every climate, ii. 9—intended naturally to be white, ii. 233—white men resemble our common parent more than the rest of his children, ii. 239—a native of the tropical climates, and only a so­journer more to the north, according to Linnaeus—argument sufficient to prove the contrary, ii. 240—marriageable in the warm countries of India at twelve and thirteen years of age, ii. 71—just come into the world gives a picture of complete imbecil­lity, ii. 52—vain man ventures to excite an audi­tor's attention, at the risk of incurring his dislike, ii. 99—as man has a superiority of powers over other animals, so is he proportionably inferior to them in his necessities—nature has made him sub­ject to more wants and infirmities than other crea­tures; but all these wants seem given to multiply the number of his enjoyments—and in what man­ner, ii. 123—first sensations of a man newly brought into existence, and the steps by which he arrives at reality pointed out by Mr. Buffon, ii. 187—in those countries where men are most bar­barous and stupid, there brutes are most active and sagacious, iv. 231—the only animal that supports himself perfectly erect—the buttock, in man, dif­ferent from that of all other animals—man's feet also different from those of other animals, the apes not excepted—the nails less in man than in any animal, ii. 105—said to be tall when from five feet eight inches to six feet high, ii. 108—probability that men have been, in all ages, much of the same size they are at present—many corroborating proofs of this, ii. 265—generally lives to ninety or a hun­dred years, if not cut off by diseases—how men lived so much longer in earlier times than at pre­sent, [Page] ii. 203—proportionably stronger for his size than any other animal—to compare the strength of the lion with that of man, it must be considered the claws of the animal give a false idea of its power; and ascribe to its force the effects of its arms—another manner of comparing the strength of man with that of animals, is by the weights which either can carry, ii. 111—Dr. Desaguliers speaks of a man able to raise two thousand pounds, by distributing the weights in such manner that every part of his body bore its share, ii. 112—exercised in running, outstrips horses; a stout walker, in a journey, walks down a horse, ii. 114—those employed as messengers at Ispahan in Per­sia, runners by profession, go thirty-six leagues in fourteen hours, ii. 114—every animal endures the wants of sleep and hunger with less injury to health than man, ii. 124—he cannot, uninjured, live four days without eating, drinking, and sleeping, ii. 125—one said to live without food for seven days, ii. 132—requires sleep for double motives, the refreshment of the mental as well as the bodily frame, ii. 134—more difficult for man than any other animal to procure sleep, ii. 136—has a lump upon the wind-pipe, not to be seen in wo­man, ii. 102—a young man deaf and dumb from his birth, knew nothing of death, and never thought of it till the age of twenty-four, when he began to speak all of a sudden, ii. 176—account of a man ruminating, iii. 6, 7—one, without hands or legs, by practice used his stumps for the most convenient purposes, and per­formed astonishing feats of dexterity, iv. 250—man dies under wounds which a quadruped or a bird could easily survive, viii. 170
• Manufactures, the woollen manufacture not carried on here till several ages after sheep were propagated in England, iii. 43—unavailing efforts of our kings to introduce and preserve it—the Flemings [Page] possessed the art in a superior degree—the inhabi­tants of the Netherlands improved us in this art, and when, iii. 43, 44—the woollen manufacture supposed for some time decaying amongst us, iii. 44—of stuffs of the wool of the pacos, a considerable branch of commerce in South America, iv. 317
• Manati, may indiscriminately be the last of beasts, or the first of fishes—its description—the female has breasts placed foreward, like those of women—the tongue so short, some have pretended it has one, iv. 183, 184—never entirely leaves the water, only advances the head out of the stream, to reach the grass on the river sides—it feeds entirely on vegetables, iv. 184, 185—places where found—graze among turtles and other crustaceous fishes, giving or fearing no disturbance—unmolested, they keep together in large companies, and surround their young—bring forth in autumn; and supposed to go with young eighteen months—the manati has no voice nor cry—its intestines are longer, in proportion, than those of any other creature, the horse excepted—the fat which lies under the skin, exposed to the sun, has a fine smell and taste, and exceeds the fat of any sea animal, iv. 185—the heat of the sun does not make it rancid; it tastes like the oil of sweet almonds, and serves every way instead of butter; any quantity may be taken inwardly, having no other effect than to keep the body open—the fat of the tail, boiled, more delicate than the former—the lean takes a long time in boiling, and eats like beef—the fat of the young like pork, and the lean like veal, iv. 186
• Mandril, the largest of the baboon kind—its descrip­tion—when displeased, weeps like a child—is a native of the Gold Coast, iv. 214
• Mangabey, a monkey of the ancient continent—its description, iv. 234
• Mangrove-tree, that grows down in the water of the Senegal river, i. 220
• [Page] Manks-Puffin, or coulterneb, a small water-fowl—de­scribed, vi. 199 to 105
• Manyfold, name of the third stomach of ruminating animals, ii. 4
• Map of the bottom of that sea which lies between Africa and America, given by M. Buache, i. 290
• Marcasites, their composition—experiment by way of proof, i. 76, 77
• Mares, their exportation prohibited by a law in A­rabia, ii. 353—studs in Persia of ten thousand white mares, with hoofs so hard, that shoeing is unnecessary, ii. 355—a law in England, prohibiting the exportation of mares and stallions; and one similar to this obtained so early as the times of Athelstan, ii. 369
• Marikina, a monkey of the sagoin kind, with a mane round the neck, and a bunch of hair at the end of the tail, like a lion, iv. 237
• Mariners, to multiply their numbers, queen Eliza­beth enjoined that her subjects should fast from flesh on Fridays and Saturdays, ii. 131
• Marle, different sorts found in a well dug at Marly, i. 57
• Marmose, only differs in size from the oppossum, be­ing less; instead of the bag to receive the young, has only two longitudinal folds, within which the premature young, continue to suck—when first produced not above the size of a bean; but stick to the teat until they arrive at maturity, iv. 247
• Marmout, or marmotte, a ruminating animal, iii. 5—a native of the Alps—its description—is easily tamed, readily taught to dance, weild a stick, and obey the voice of its master, iv. 38—it has an antipathy to the dog—strength and agi­lity—ludicrous saying that the Savoyards, the only chimney-sweepers of Paris, have learned their art from the marmotte they carry about for shew—is apt to gnaw the furniture—other affections of this [Page] animal—its food—is cleanly, but has a disagree­able scent—sleeps during winter, iv. 39 to 41—form of its hole resembles the letter Y, iv. 42—manner of making it, iv. 41—they live together, and work in common to make their habita­tions snug and convenient—when they venture abroad, one is placed as a centinel upon a lofty rock, iv. 43—Mr. Buffon says it does not sleep during winter, is rather in a torpor, a stagnation of all faculties—its heat not more than ten degrees above congelation, iv. 45—the flesh said to have a wild taste, and to cause vomiting—countries where it is found, iv. 48—inhabitants of the Alps do not till winter open its hole—produces but once a year, and brings forth three or four at a time—they grow fast, and their lives are not above nine or ten years, iv. 47
• Marriage and consummation of the Indians, the hus­band at ten years old, and the wife at eight; fre­quently have children at that age, ii. 224
• Marriotte, his experiment proves that water acts as a menstruum upon air, i. 369
• Marrow, spinal, and the brain, the first seen as begun in the embryo, ii. 146
• Marsigli (count) his opinion upon corals and spunges, viii. 193
• Martin, its description, iii. 367, 368—the most beau­tiful of all British beasts of prey—its scent a pleasing perfume, iii. 367—the yellow-breasted martin—its fur more valuable than the white-breasted sort—Mr. Buffon supposes them a distinct species, that distinction unnecessary, iii. 368—of all the wea­sel kind the most pleasing, iii. 368, 369—feeds as they do, and is fond of honey, iii. 358—seldom meets the wild-cat without a combat, iii. 369—the wild-cat not a match for the martin—kept tame by Gesner and Mr. Buffon—of­ten slept for two days, and then was two or three days without sleeping—the yellow-breasted [Page] penetrating, is likely to be the menstruum of one less so—Marriotte's experiment shews that water will act as a menstruum upon air, i. 369—cold diminishes the force of menstruums, and often pro­motes evaporation, i. 370
• Merlin, the smallest of the hawk or falcon-kind, scarce larger than a thrush, displays a degree of courage rendering him formidable to birds far a­bove his size—kills a partridge or a quail at a sin­gle pounce from above, v. 122—the pursuit of the lark by a couple of merlins is a most delightful spectacle, v. 128
• Merolla says the zebra, when tamed, is not less estim­able for swiftness than beauty, ii. 397
• Metals, the richest, in their native state, less glitter­ing and splendid than useless marcasites, i. 74, 75—those trades that deal in their preparations, always unwholsome, i. 326—all pieces swallowed by ani­mals lose part of their weight, and often the ex­tremities of their figure, v. 55
• Meteors, between the tropics, and near the poles, as­sume dreadful and various appearances, i. 377—in those countries where the sun exerts the greatest force in raising vapours, there are the greatest quan­tity of meteors, i. 378—one of a very uncommon kind, seen by Ulloa, at Quito, i. 383
• Method, the principal help in natural history; with­out it little progress made in this science, ii. 289—the most applauded of classing animals, ii. 294—the author's method of classing them, ii. 301—that of describing all things by words alone, a fault that has infected most of our dictionaries, and bo­dies of arts and sciences, ii. 307, 308—Mr. Locke has observed, that a drawing of an animal, taken from life, is the best method of advancing natural history, ii. 307
• Mew, said of stags when they cast their heads, iii. 114
• Mice, have burrowed in the back of hogs, while fat­tening in the sty, without being felt, iii. 178— [Page] and rats cannot endure the scent of the genett, iii. 388—in 1580, at Hallontide, an army of mice over run the marshes near Southminster, and eat up the grass to the roots; but soon after they were all devoured by a number of strange painted owls, v. 146
• Mico, the least and most beautiful monkey of the sa­goin kind—its description by Mr. La Conda­mine, iv. 237. 238
• Microscope, encreases the magnitude of an object, and that of its motion also, ii. 21—the pupil and hu­mours of the eye of the mole discovered by it, iv. 92
• Migrating fishes, vi. 324—the herring and the pilchard take the most adventurous voyages, vi. 326—stated returns, and regular progress of the migrating fishes, one of the most extraordinary cir­cumstances in the history of nature, vi. 324
• Migration, causes of migrations of birds, v. 32—in what manner they perform them, v. 35—at what times, v. 32—rather follow weather than country, and go on as they perceive the atmo­sphere more suitable to their wants and dispositions, v. 36, 37—migration of some swallows, and retreat of others into old walls, to avoid the rigour of winter, wrap this subject in great obscurity, v. 37—of bees, several signs previous to it, viii. 82
• Milan, hares bred in the Milanese, thought the best in Europe, iv. 13
• Milk, infants have it in their own breasts, ii. 59—sometimes found in the breasts of men, as well as in those of women, ii. 102—in carnivorous ani­mals more sparing than in others, ii. 337, and iii. 366—of goats medicinal, and not apt to curdle upon the stomach as that of the cows, iii. 55—of the rein-deer thinner than that of the cow, but sweeter, and more nourishing, iii. 158—boiled up with wood sorrel, by the Laplanders kept in casks under ground, to be eaten in winter, iii. 166—in­jected [Page] into a vein, kills with more certainty than the venom of a viper, vii. 199, 200
• Millipedes multiplied by being cut in pieces, ii. 23
• Milo, an instance of his strength, when he stood upright, ii. 118
• Milton makes Satan personate the cormorant, a most nauseous bird—objection against him on this ac­count—his vindication, vi. 66
• Minerals mere inactive and insensible bodies, ii. 4
• Miners first become paralytic, then die consumptive, for the trifling reward of seven-pence a day, i. 79—peculiar contrivance to supply light for their operations—make use only of wooden instruments in digging, and take out the nails from their shoes before they enter the mine, i. 82
• Mines, the deepest that at Cotteberg in Hungary, not more than three thousand feet deep, i. 51—a coal-mine in the North of England said to be eleven hun­dred yards deep, i. 73—air different in them, pro­portionably as the magazines of fire lay nearer the centre, i. 75—other causes of this difference, i. 76—Mendip lead-mines in Somersetshire—their description, i. 77, 78—mines of coal generally less noxious than those of tin; tin than those of cop­per; but none are so dreadfully destructive as those of quicksilver, i. 78—deplorable infirmities of workmen in the mines near the village of Idra, i. 79—metallic, often destroy all vegetation by their volatile corrosive fumes—salt mines naturally cold, i. 83—natives of countries abounding in mines too often experience the noxious effects of their vici­nity, i. 326—in a lead-mine in Flintshire were found two grinding teeth, and part of the tusk of an elephant, at forty-two yards depth, iv. 282
• Mingrelians, among the sixth variety of the human species, described, ii. 230
• Mint, cats excessively fond of the cat-mint, iii. 206
• Mire-drum, the bittern, described, vi. 2 to 5. See Bittern.
• [Page] Misletoe, a plant thought propagated by seeds voided by birds, v. 316
• Mississippi, a great river in North America, i. 216—its source and length—receives forty rivers, i. 218
• Mists continually rise upon approach of the winter months, under the line, i. 378—called frost smoke, raises blisters on several parts of the body, in the regions round the poles, i. 386
• Mite-fly, not found in Lapland, iii. 166
• Miume, a river in America—enormous skeletons lately discovered near it, iv. 282
• Mock-bird, description of the American mock-bird, v. 324—its habits—can assume the tone of every animal in the wood, from the wolf to the raven—no bird in the forest it has not at times deceived by mimicking its call, v. 325
• Mock-suns, meteors and other phoenomena, in the northern regions, i. 377, 388
• Mococo, first of the maki-kind, which is the last of the monkies—its description—a native of Mada­gascar—its qualities, iv. 239, 240—eats its own tail, and seems to feel no pain—some other mon­kies do the same, iv. 336, 337
• Modena, a city in Italy—its remarkable wells—other rarities round it, i. 282
• Mogul, in the Indian language signifies a white man, ii. 224
• Mold, black, or garden-earth, the first layer on the surface of the globe—is formed from animal and vegetable bodies decayed—soil fertile, in propor­tion to the quantity that putrified mold bears to the gravelly mixture, i. 52, 53
• Mole, a ruminating insect, or seemingly so, iii. 6—no quadruped fatter, none with a more sleek glossy skin—an utter stranger in Ireland—formed to live under the earth, iv. 90, 91—its description, 91 to 95—the ancients, and some moderns, of opinion, that the mole was blind; but Derham, by a micro­scope, discovered all the parts of the eye known in [Page] other animals, iv. 92—a mole let loose in the midst of a field, like a ghost on a theatre, in­stantly sinks into the earth; and an active labourer, with a spade, pursues it in vain, iv. 93—peculiar advantage of the smallness of its eyes, iv. 94—when once buried in the earth, it seldom stirs out—it chuses the looser softer grounds—chiefly preys upon worms and insects—is most active, and casts up most earth, immediately before rain, and in winter, before a thaw—in dry weather, it seldom forms hillocks—readily evades the pursuit of animals stronger and swifter than it­self—its greatest calamity is an inundation—in some places considered by the farmer as his greatest pest—couples towards spring, and the young found about the beginning of May—generally four or five at a time, v. 96—description of the mole-hill, in which the female has brought forth her young, iv. 97—is scarcely found, except in cultivated coun­tries—the varieties are but few—that of Virginia is black, mixed with a deep purple—that of Po­land is white—Agricola says he saw hats made of mole-skins, the finest and most beautiful imagin­able, iv. 98
• Molossian breed of dogs, and its perfections, set forth by Nemesianus, iii. 294
• Molting, annually suffered by birds—its effects, v. 18—artificially accelerated, and how—the manner in which nature performs the operation, v. 19—the season commonly obtains from the end of sum­mer to the middle of autumn, v. 20
• Molucca islands, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese of noble extraction, slain upon one of them, ii. 260
• Mona, the cephus of the ancients, a monkey of the ancient continent—its description, iv. 234
• Mona, name given to the marmout in Canada, iv. 48
• Mongooz, of the maki-kind, the last of the monkies [Page]—its description—is a native of Madagascar, iv. 240
• Monkey, one general description will not serve for all the animals of the monkey-kind, iv. 189—La Condamine asserts it would take up a volume to describe the differences of monkies found along the river of Amazons, iv. 216—and we are sure that every one of these is different from those on the A­frican coast, iv. 217—an elaborate description of each must be useless and tiresome, their numbers being very great, and their differences very trifling—those of two cantons never found to mix—of all kinds less than the baboon, have less power of do­ing mischief, and their ferocity diminishes with their size, iv. 217, 218—do nothing desired without beating; their fears once removed, they are the most insolent headstrong animals in nature—in their native woods, are the pests of other ani­mals, and the masters of the forest where they re­side—the tiger, nor the lion will not venture to dis­pute dominion with creatures, who from the tops of trees with impunity carry on an offensive war, and by their agility escape all pursuit, iv. 219—yet they sometimes fall a prey to the lion in deserts and forests, iii. 223, 224—birds have not less to fear from their continual depredations—such be­ing their petulant delight in mischief, that they fling the eggs against the ground when wanting ap­petite to devour them, iv. 219—one only animal in the forest ventures to oppose them, that is the serpent—larger snakes often wind up the trees where they reside, and happening to surprize them sleeping, swallow them whole, before they can make defence—they generally inhabit the tops of trees, and the snakes cling to the branches nearer the bottom, in this manner they are near each o­ther, like enemies in the same field of battle—some supposed their vicinity rather argued mutual friend­ship—father Labat has seen them playing their gambols upon those branches on which the snakes [Page] were reposing, and jumping over them without re­ceiving any injury, iv. 220—they provoke the snake as the sparrows twitter at a cat—when attacked, they show perfect skill in defending and assisting each other—they regularly begin hostilities against those who enter their woods, iv. 221—they take most desperate leaps, and seldom come to the ground—one being wounded, the rest come round, put their fingers into the wound, as de­sirous of sounding its depth—the blood flowing in any quantity, some stop it, while others get leaves, chew, and thrust them into the opening—are often killed in numbers before they make a retreat, with the same precipitation as they at first came on—in this retreat the young are clinging to the back of the female, who jumps away, seem­ingly unembarrassed by the burthen, iv. 222—usual way of taking them alive—the monkey not killed outright, does not fall; but clinging to some branch, continues, when dead, its last grasp, and remains where shot, until it drops by putrefaction, iv. 223—skinned and served up at negroe-feasts, so like a child, an European is shocked at the sight, iv. 224—the negroes seeing Europeans buy young and tame monkies, with equal care brought rats to the factors for sale, and were greatly disappointed find­ing no purchaser—negroes cannot comprehend ad­vantages arising from educating or keeping animals who come in companies to lay waste fields of corn or rice, or plantations of sugar-canes—they carry off what they are able, and destroy ten times more, iv. 224, 225—manner of their plundering—are un­der a kind of discipline, exercised among themselves, iv. 225—account to this purpose by Morgrave—one species, by Mr. Buffon called the ouarine, remarkable for loudness and distinctness of voice—use to which they convert it—are generally together in com­panies, march in exact order, and obey the voice of some chieftain, remarkable for his size and gra­vity, iv. 226—chief food of the tribe, iv. 227—ex­traordinary [Page] manner of managing an oyster—manner of drawing crabs from the water,—no snare, how nicely baited, takes a monkey of the West Indian islands—female brings forth one, and sometimes two at a time—rarely breed when brought into Europe—the male and female never tired of fondling their young, and in­struct it with no little assiduity—often severely cor­rect it, if stubborn, or disinclined to profit by their example—manner of carrying their young in the woods, iv. 227, 228—dexterity in passing from one tree to another, by forming a kind of chain, lock­ing tail in tail, or hand in hand, iv. 229—one amused itself for hours imposing upon the gravity of a cat—and playing its pranks among rabbits, iv. 230—faithful services which father Carli received from the monkies in Angola, where he went to convert the savage natives to Christianity—savages of Africa and America, suppose monkies to be men; idle, slothful, ra­tional beings, capable of speech and conversa- but obstinately dumb, for fear of being compelled to labour—monkies of Africa most expert and entertaining, iv. 231—shew a greater degree of cunning and activity—three marks by which mon­kies of the new continent are distinguished from those of the old, iv. 232—Mr. Buffon makes but nine species of monkies belonging to the ancient continent, and eleven to the new—their names, with their descriptions, iv. 232 to 238—the red African, the patas, second sort of the ancient con­tinent, iv. 233—the white nose, or moustoc, of the ancient continent, most beautiful, its description—the green of St. Jago, also called callitrix, is of the ancient continent—its description, iv. 234—some of the kinds eat their own tail, and seem to feel no pain, iv. 336—the Bramins have hospitals for those that happen to be sick, or disabled, iv. 234—those monkies of the new continent with muscular holding tails, are called sapajous, and [Page] those with feeble useless tails, are called sagoins, iv. 235—the fox-tailed monkey, iv. 237— makies, the last of the kind—their description, iv. 238
• Monkey-bezoar, a factitious concrete, iii. 76. See Be­zoar.
• Monoculus, the arborescent water-flea—its descrip­tion—are of a blood-red colour; and sometimes in such multitudes on standing waters, as to make them appear all over red, whence the water has been thought turned into blood, vii. 288—its branching arms, and the motion made with them in the water, deserve great attention, vii. 289
• Monsoons, so called from a famous pilot of that name, who first used them in navigation with success—in that part of the ocean between Africa and India those of the east winds begin in January, and end at the commencement of June; in August, or September, the contrary takes place; and the west winds blow for three or four months, i. 347—monsoons prevail, at different seasons, through­out the Indies, i. 348
• Monsters, after a catalogue of them, Linnaeus parti­cularly adds the slender waists of the women of Europe, ii. 243
• Monstrous productions, father Malbranche's ingeni­ous theory of, ii. 246—remarkable instance re­lated by him, ii. 245
• Montaigne, well known to have disliked those men who shut one eye in looking upon an object, ii. 94
• Moose-deer, name in America for the elk, iii. 140—its description, iii. 144, 145
• Mormyrus, description of this fish, vi. 315
• Morocco, the original horses there, much smaller than than the Arabian breed, ii. 361
• Moron, a kind of salamander, thought venomous, vii. 141
• Morse, an animal of the seal-kind, might be ranked among the fishes, ii. 313—generally frequents the [Page] same places where seals reside in, iv. 181—differ­ent from the rest in a very particular formation of the teeth—resembles a seal, except that it is much larger—are rarely found, but in the frozen regions near the pole—formerly more numerous than at present; the Greenlanders destroyed them more before those seas were visited by European ships upon the whale-fishery, than now, iv. 181—its teeth ge­nerally from two to three feet long—the ivory more esteemed than that of the elephant—the fishers have formerly killed three or four hundred morses at once; their bones are still lying in prodigious quantities, along those shores they chiefly frequent­ed, iv. 182
• Moschitoes, excessive torments caused by them, i. 147—houses forsaker on account of them, i. 148
• Moss, the only support of the rein-deer in Lapland—of two sorts, white and black, iii. 154
• Mother-of pearl, taken from the pearl oyster, vii. 55
• Moths, difference from butterflies, viii. 38—all the tribe of female moths lay their eggs soon after they leave the aurelia, viii. 42
• Motion, keeps the water of the sea sweet, i. 249—destroys numbers of viler creatures, i. 250—con­stant motion of the waters of the sea westward, i. 259—principal difference between serpentine and vermicular motion, vii. 181—some vegetables pos­sessed of motion, viii. 161—and many animals to­tally without it—in what manner animals of the worm kind move, viii. 166
• Moufflon, the sheep in a savage state, a bold, fleet creature, able to escape from greater animals, or oppose the smaller with arms received from nature, iii. 39—its description, iii. 50
• Mountains, how formed, and for what designed, i. 138 to 140—upon our globe considered as angles of small lines in the circumference of a circle, i. 139—give direction to the courses of the air, i. 338—rising from places once level, i. 21—countries most [Page] mountainous, are most barren and unhabitable, i. 146—some vallies are fertilized by earth washed down from great heights, i. 162—the more ex­tensive the mountain, the greater the river, i. 142—tops of the highest mountains bare and pointed, and why, i. 155—tops of land-mountains appear barren and rocky; of sea-mountains verdant and fruitful, i. 290—the highest in Africa, those called of the moon, giving source to the Niger and Nile in Africa, the greatest and highest under the line, i. 142, 146—some rise three miles perpendicular a­bove the bottom of the ocean, 146, 153—highest in Asia; mount Caucasus makes near approaches to the Andes in South America, i. 153—burning in Eu­rope, i. 89—in Asia, i. 98—in the Molucca islands—in Africa—in America, those of the Andes—those of Arequipa, Carassa, Malahallo and Cotopaxi, i. 99—description of the latter by Ulloa; and an erup­tion of it, i. 100
• Mouse, the most feeble, and most timid of all quadru­peds, except the Guinea-pig, iv. 72—never ren­dered quite familiar; though fed in a cage, retains its apprehensions—no animal has more enemies, and few so incapable of resistance—the owl, cat, snake, hawk, weasel, and rat destroy them by millions—brings forth at all seasons, and several times in the year; its usual number from six to ten—these in a fortnight strong enough to shift for themselves—places where chiefly found—Aristotle, having put a mouse with young into a vessel of corn, some time after found an hundred and twenty sprung from that original, iv. 73—its life lasts two or three years—the species found in all parts of the ancient continent, and has been exported to the new—Gesner minutely describes the variety of mouse-traps—long-tailed field-mouse, iv. 74—short-tailed field-mouse—has a store against winter, a bushel at a time—a description of the shrew-mouse, iv. 75
• Moustoc, or white-nose, monkey of the ancient con­tinent; [Page] a beautiful little animal—its description iv. 234
• Mouth of hares lined with hair—the only animals that have it on the inside, iv. 8—the snails of the tro­chus kind have none, vii. 33—mouth of garden, water, and sea-snails, vii. 32
• Mucous liquor, giving the joints an easy and ready play, ii. 196
• Mugil, the mullet, description of this fish, vi. 310
• Mule, engendered between a horse and a she-ass, or a jack-ass and a mare, ii. 386—reputed barren, though Aristotle says it is sometimes prolific, ii. 375—inhabitants of mountainous countries cannot do without them—how they go down the preci­pices of the Alps and Andes—a fine mule in Spain worth fifty or sixty guineas—common mule very healthy—lives thirty years and more, ii. 387—in South America destroyed by a bat called vampyre, iv. 145
• Mullus, or surmulet, description of this fish, vi. 308
• Multivalve shells, third division of shells by Aristotle, vii. 12—two principal kinds of multivalve shell-fish, moving and stationary, vii. 61
• Mummy, formerly a considerable article in medicine, ii. 278—Paraeus wrote a treatise on the inefficacy of mummy in physic—counterfeited by the Jews, and how—the method of seeking for mummies, ii. 279—found in the sands of Arabia, in Egypt, in wooden coffins, or in cloaths covered with bitu­men, ii. 275, 277, 280—remarkable mummy dug up at Auvergne, in France, ii. 283—an in­jection of petreoleum inwardly, and a layer of as­phaltum without, suffice to make a mummy, ii. 287
• Muraena, the eel, its description, vi. 311
• Murena of the ancients, not our lamprey, vi. 269
• Muralto, has given the anatomy of the lamprey, but made no mention of lungs, vi. 271
• Muscardin, name of the less dormouse by Mr. Buffon, iv. 76
• Muscles, to judge of the strength of animals by the [Page] thickness of their muscles inconclusive, ii. 120—those of the hare are strong and without fat, iv. 4—the pectoral muscles of quadrupeds trifling in comparison to those of birds—in quadrupeds, as in man, the muscles moving the thighs and hinder parts are strongest, while those of the arms are feeble—in birds, the contrary obtains, v. 8—those of the shark preserve their motion after being sepa­rated from the body, vi. 244
• Muscle, the shell-fish, its description—its organs of generation are what most deserve to excite our curiosity, vii. 42—it endeavours to become station­ary, and to attach itself to any fixed object it hap­pens to be near—its enemies, vii. 44—it is sup­posed that those threads, which are usually called the beard of the muscle, are the natural growth of the animal's body, and by no means produced at pleasure, as Reaumur supposes, vii. 45—its instru­ment of motion, by which it contrives to reach the object it wants to bind itself to—its food—some of this kind have been found a foot long, vii. 46—the natives of Palermo sometimes make gloves and stockings of its beards—the places where found—it requires a year for the peopling a muscle-bed, vii. 47
• Muscovy-duck, or the musk-duck, so called from a sup­posed musky smell, vi. 130
• Music, said, by the ancients, to have been invented from the blows of different hammers on an anvil, ii. 165—from the remains of ancient music, col­lected by Meibomius, one might suppose nothing powerful in what is lost, ii. 169—in all countries, where music is in its infancy, the half tones are rejected, ii. 166—many barbarous nations have their instruments of music; and the proportion between their notes is the same as in ours—all countries pleased with music; and where they have not skill to produce harmony, they substitute noise, ii. 167—its effects, the ancients give us many strange instances of them upon men and ani­mals, [Page] ii. 168—and the moderns likewise, ii. 169—madness cured by it—and also excited by it—re­markable instance in Henry IV. of Denmark, ii. 170—it is now well known that the stories of the bite of the tarantula, and its cure by music, are all deceptions—instance of it, ii. 171—fishes are allured by music—horses and cows likewise, ii. 168, 169—the elephant appears delighted with music, iv. 258—father Kircher has set the voices of birds to music, v. 143
• Musk, a doubt whether the animal producing it be a hog, an ox, a goat, or a deer, iii. 89—no animal so justly the reproach of natural historians as that which bears the musk, iii. 88—it has been variously described, and is known very imperfectly, iii. 90—the description given by Grew, iii. 90, 91—among the numerous medicines procurable from quadrupeds, none, except the musk and harts-horn, have preserved a degree of reputation, iii. 69—formerly in high request as a perfume, iii. 93—has for more than a century been imported from the East, iii. 88—is a dusky reddish substance, like coagulated blood—a grain of it perfumes a whole room—its odour continues for days, without di­minution, and no substance known has a stronger or more permanent smell, iii. 89—in larger quan­tity it continues for years; and scarce wasted in weight, although it has filled the atmosphere to a great distance with its parts, iii. 90—the bags of musk from abroad supposed to belong to some other animal, or taken from some part of the same, filled with its blood and enough of the perfume to im­pregnate the rest, iii. 92—it comes from China, Tonquin, Bengal, and often from Muscovy—that of Thibet reckoned the best, and of Muscovy the worst, iii. 93
• Musk-rat, three distinctions of it, iv. 78—it is called stinkard by the savages of Canada, iv. 80
• Musky smell, does not make the characteristic marks of any kind of animals, iii. 32
• [Page] Musmon, or mufflon, resembles a ram, its description, iii. 49, 50
• Myoides, a broad thin skin covering the whole upper fore-part of the body, its effect in women with child, ii. 104

• Nails, how formed in man, ii. 101—those of some of the learned men in China longer than their fingers—savages that let them grow long, use them in flaying animals, ii. 106
• Nanquin, a river in Asia, receives thirty rivers, i. 217
• Narwhal, the sea-unicorn—its description, vi. 211—errors concerning the teeth of this animal—the most harmless and peaceful inhabitant of the ocean—the Greenlanders call it the forerunner of the whale; and why, vi. 212, 213—its food, vi. 214—is a gregarious animal—a century ago its teeth considered the greatest rarity in the world—were believed to belong to a very different ani­mal, vi. 215—for some time after the narwhal was known, the deceit was continued, vi. 216—they far surpass ivory in its qualities, vi. 213
• Natolian goat, a remarkable variety in the goat-kind, iii. 57
• Nature lavish of life in the lower orders of creation, ii. 49—has left no part of her fabrick destitute of inhabitants, v. 1—has brought man into life with more wants and infirmities than the rest of her creatures, ii. 123—and by supplying a variety of appetites, has multiplied life in her productions, v. 79—in a course of ages shapes herself to con­straint, and assumes hereditary deformity—instances of it, ii. 238—has contracted the stomachs of ani­mals of the forest, suitable to their precarious way of living, ii. 124—what might have led some late philosophers into the opinion that all nature was animated, viii. 199—she has kindly hid our hearts [Page] from each other, to keep us in good humour with our fellow-creatures, ii. 95
• Nautilus, a sea-snail, most frequently seen swimming—its shell very thin, and easily pierced, vii. 35—its description, vii. 36—it is certain that it some­times quits its shell, and returns to it again—pe­culiarity for which it has been most distinguished, vii. 37
• Nazareth bird, whether the dodo or not, is uncer­tain, v. 78
• Neck, fishes have none—birds, in general, have it longer than any other kind of animals, ii. 102—in women, it is proportionably longer than in men, ii. 107
• Nectarium, the part of a flower from which the ho­ney is extracted, viii. 75
• Negroes of the Leeward islands, by the smell alone, distinguish the footsteps of a Frenchman from those of a negroe, ii. 180—several of them have white beards, and black hair—described—their features not deformed by art, ii. 227—the women's breasts, after bearing one child, hang down below the navel, and are thrown over the shoulder to suckle the child at their backs, ii. 228—the jet black claim the honour of hereditary resemblance to our common parent—an argument sufficient to prove the contrary—two white negroes the issue of black parents, ii. 240—shew their terror and sur­prize, when they first see a horse, ii. 346—of the African coasts regard the bat with horror, and will not eat it, though ready to starve, iv. 141—happy to see numbers of monkies destroyed, because they dread their devastations, and love their flesh, iv. 223—cannot comprehend advantages arising to Europeans from educating or keeping monkies—and having seen young and tame monkies bought, have offered rats for sale to our factors, and been greatly disappointed at finding no purchaser, iv. 224—distractedly fond of the flesh of the shark, vi. 247—their manner of killing it, vi. 245
• [Page] Negroland, or Nigritia, the plague not known in it, i. 328—its inhabitants are the darkest of all blacks, ii. 235
• Nerves, wherever they go, or send their branches in number, these parts are soonest begun, and most completely finished, ii. 146
• Ness, or Nethe, a river near Bruges in Flanders—great quantities of trees found in its mouth, at the depth of fifty feet, i. 281
• Nest, of every species of birds has a peculiar archi­tecture—where eggs are numerous, the nest must be warm, v. 24—different places which birds choose for their nests, v. 25—description of the nest of an eagle found in the Peak of Derbyshire, v. 93—of the bald eagle, large enough to fill the body of a cart, v. 96—hanging nests in Brasil, v, 254—made in such manner, as to have no opening but at the bottom, v. 256—the Chinese get those of the swallows from the rocks, and sell them in great numbers in the East Indies, where they are esteemed great delicacies, and eat dissolved in chicken, or mutton-broth, v. 350—that of the wasp one of the most curious objects in natural history—its de­scription, viii. 97 to 101
• Netherlands, their inhabitants improved us in the woollen manufacture, iii. 44
• Nettles, how used to teach capons to clutch a fresh brood of chickens throughout the year, v. 169
• Nettles of the sea, name given by some to the star-fish, viii. 175
• New Providence, one of the Bahama islands—the Phi­losophical Transactions give account of poisonous qualities in the fish found on the coast of this island—all kinds at different times dangerous; one day serving for nourishment, and the next proving fatal, vi. 349
• Nicola Pesce, a celebrated diver—his performances re­lated by Kircher, i. 293—he often swam over from Sicily into Calabria, carrying letters from the king—frequently known to spend five days in the midst [Page] of the waves, without any other provisions than the fish he caught there, and ate raw, i 294
• Nieper, or Boristhenes, a river rising in the middle of Muscovy, and running three hundred and fifty leagues to empty itself in the Black Sea, i. 210
• Niger, this river has a course of several hundred miles from its source, at the mountains of the moon, i. 142—confidently asserted that it is lost before it reaches the ocean, i. 225
• Nightingale, a bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314—description of its melody by Pliny, v. 326—its resi­dence—for weeks together, undisturbed, it sits upon the same tree, v. 328—its nest, and eggs, v. 328—its long in captivity not so alluring, v. 329—Gesner says it is possessed of a faculty of talking—story related by him in proof of this assertion, v. 329 to 332—its food, and in what manner they must be kept, v. 336 to 337—manner of catching the nightingale, and managing them when caught, v. 337, 338—the black-cap called by some the mock-nightingale, v. 335
• Nile, its course, i. 212—its sources ascertained by missionaries—takes its rise in the kingdom of Goiam—receives many lesser rivers—Pliny mistaken, in saying that it received none, i. 213—the cause of its annual overflowings—time of their encrease and decrease more inconsiderable now than in the time of the ancients, i. 214
• Noise, the mind predisposed to joy, noise fails not to encrease it into rapture—and those nations which have not skill enough to produce harmony, readily substitute noise—loud and unexpected, disturbs the whole frame; and why, ii. 167
• Noort (Oliver Van) a traveller who confirms the ex­istence of giants, ii. 261
• Norfolk, along its coasts, the sea has gained fifty yards in some places, and lost as much in others, i. 277
• Norway, the last history of that kingdom does not in­timate that asses have yet reached that country, ii. 385—the isatis, a species between the dog and the [Page] fox, found in this country, iii. 340—the first great bank for herrings was along these shores, vi. 331—there are lands in it at one time covered with water, and another free, i. 279—the sea has form­ed several little islands from its main land, i. 278
• Nose, that of the Grecian Venus such as would ap­pear at present an actual deformity, ii. 76—the form of the nose, and its advanced position, pe­culiar to the human visage—among the tribes of savage men, the nose is very flat—a Tartar seen in Europe with little more than two holes through which to breathe, ii. 89—whence originally may have come the flat noses of the blacks, ii. 239
• Nostrils, wide, add a great deal to the bold and re­solute air of the countenance, ii. 89—of the ceta­ceous tribe, vi. 186—two in the great Greenland whale, vi. 197
• Note of the sloth, according to Kircher, an ascend­ing and descending hexachord, uttered only by night, iv. 347
• Notonecta, the common water-fly—swims on its back, to feed on the under-side of plants growing in wa­ter, vii. 359
• Numbness produced by the touch and shock of the torpedo described, vi. 262—conjectures concerning the cause of it, vi. 264, 265—more fish than this of the ray-kind, possessed of the numbing quality—this quality said to continue in one kind of torpedo after it is dead; and the very skin possessed of this extraordinary power till it becomes dry, vi. 267
• Numidia, the plague not known in it once in an hundred years, i. 328—its race of horses much degenerated, ii. 356
• Numidian bird, or guinea-hen, described, v. 192
• Numidian crane—its peculiar gestures and contor­tions, v. 391
• Nux vomica, ground and mixed with meal, the most certain poison, and least dangerous, to kill rats, iv. 70—fatal to most animals, except man, v. 170
• [Page] Nyl-ghaw, an animal between the cow and the deer, native of India—its description, iv. 318—disposition and manners of one brought over to this country, iv. 319—its manner of fighting—at all our set­tlements in India they are considered as rarities, iv. 320

• Oaks of Hatfield Chace Levels, as black as ebony, very lasting and close grained, sold for fifteen pounds a piece, i. 285
• Objects, we see them in an inverted position, ii. 147—not the feeling only, but the colour and bright­ness of objects, contribute to form an idea of the distance at which they appear, ii. 156—the power of seeing objects at a distance rarely equal in both eyes, ii. 157—in near-sighted persons, the best eye sees every object the largest, ii. 158
• Oby, in Tartary, a river of five hundred leagues, run­ning from the lake of Kila into the Northern Sea, i. 210—receives above sixty rivers, i. 217
• Ocean occupies considerably more of the globe than the land, i, 227—its different names—all the rivers in the world flowing into it, would, upon a rude com­putation, take eight hundred years to fill it to its present height, i. 228—the bays, gulphs, cur­rents and shallows of it much better known and examined than the provinces and kingdoms of the earth, and why, i. 233—opinions concerning its saltness, and that of Boyle particularly, i. 234—winds never change between the tropics in the At­lantic and Ethiopic Oceans, i. 340—each has its insects, ii. 7—and its vegetables, ii. 6—savages con­sider it as an angry deity, and pay it the homage of submission, i. 231—when England loses its su­periority there, its safety begins to be precarious, i. 233
• Ocelot, or cat-o'-mountain, its description, iii. 255, 256—of the panther-kind—one of the fiercest, and, [Page] for its size, one of the most destructive animals in the world, iii. 262—its unceasing appetite rather for the blood than the flesh of their prey, iii. 263—it generally is on the tops of trees, like our wild cats, iii. 264
• Ocotzimtzcan, a kind of pigeon, one of the most splendid tenants of the Mexican forests, v. 295
• Odours diffused by the air as the fluid they swim in, i. 334
• Ohio, several enormous skeletons five or six feet be­neath the surface on the banks of that river, lately discovered, iv. 282
• Oil, train-oil the drink of the Laplanders, ii. 216—the oil of the fish called cachelot is very easily con­verted into spermaceti, vi. 220—the porpess yields a large quantity of it, vi. 228—the liver of the shark affords three or four quarts of oil, vi. 247—by the the application of sallad-oil, the viper's bite is effectually cured, vii. 206
• Oker, the North-American Indians paint their skins with red oker, ii. 236
• Old man's-beard, a kind of moss growing in Brasil, v. 255
• Olearius invited by the monarch of Persia to a sport of wild asses, ii. 377
• Olive colour, the Asiatic of that colour claims the honour of hereditary resemblance to our common parent—an argument sufficient to prove the con­trary, ii. 240
• Oliver Van Noort, a traveller, confirms the existence of giants, ii. 261
• Oliver (William) the first who discovered that the ap­plication of sallad-oil cured the viper's bite effec­tually, vii. 206
• Onager, or the wild ass, is in still greater abundance than the wild horse, ii. 376
• Ondatra, one of the three distinctions of the musk-rat, iv. 78—a native of Canada—creeps into holes where others seemingly less cannot follow—the female has two distinct apertures, one for [Page] urine, the other for propagation—this animal in sorce measure resembles the beaver—its manner of life during winter, in houses covered under a depth of eight or ten feet of snow, iv. 78, 79—savages of Canada cannot abide its scent, call it stinkard—its skin very valuable, iv. 80
• Onza, or ounce, of the panther-kind, iii. 254—the onza of Linnaeus, iii. 255
• Ophidium, the gilt-head, by sailors called the dolphin, its description, vi. 305
• Oppossum, an animal in North and South America, of the size of a small cat, and of the monkey kind, iv. 148—its description, iv. 242—the female's belly found double—when pursued, she instantly takes her young into a false belly nature has given her, and carries them off, or dies in the endea­vour, ii. 336—a minute description of it—the young, when first produced are very small, and immediately on quitting the real womb, they creep into the false one, but the time of continuance is uncertain—Ulloa has found five young hidden in the belly of the dam, alive and clinging to the teat, three days after she was dead, iv. 243 to 245—chiefly subsists upon birds, and hides among the leaves of trees, to seize them by surprize, iv. 246—cannot run with any swiftness, but climbs trees with great ease and expedition—it often hangs by the tail, and for hours together, with the head downwards, keeps watching for its prey—by means of its tail, flings itself from one tree to another, hunts insects, and escapes its pursuers, iv. 246, 247—eats vegetables as well as animal substances—is easily tamed, but a dis­agreeable domestic, from its stupidity, figure, and scent, which, though fragrant in small quantities, is ungrateful when copious, iv. 247—during its ges­tation, the bag in which the young are concealed may be opened and examined without inconve­nience; the young may be counted and handled; they keep fixed to the teat, and cling as firm as if they made a part of the body of the mother, iv. 264
• [Page] Orange-flowers, particularly grateful to the taste and smelling of the elephant, iv. 259
• Orb, description of the sea-orb, also called the sea-porcupine—is absolutely poisonous, if eaten, vi. 291
• Ore of tin is heavier than that of other metals, i. 74—the basest ores in general the most beautiful to the eye, i. 75
• Organs of digestion, in a manner, reversed in birds, v. 16
• Organs of generation in fishes, vi. 179
• Orifices, or different verges of snails, vii. 31
• Original, French name of the American elk, iii. O144
• Orkney Islands, on their shores, the sea, when agitated by storm, rises two hundred feet perpendicular, i. 271—a law in those islands entitles any person that kills an eagle to a hen out of every house in the parish in which it is k [...]lled, v. 92
• Oroonoko, a river in South America, its source and length, i. 216
• Ortolan, a bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 315
• Osprey, its flesh is liked by many, and, when young, an excellent food according to Belonius, v. 85—it chiefly lives upon fish, v. 95—its distinctive marks, v. 98
• Ostiac Tartars, a race that have travelled down from the North, ii. 219
• Ostracion, a fish of the cartilaginous kind, is poisonous, vii. 291
• Ostrich, the greatest of birds, makes near approaches to the quadruped class, v. 40—its description—ap­pears as tall as a man on horseback—brought into England above seven feet high, v. 49—surprising conformation of its internal parts, v. 52—a native only of the torrid regions of Africa—its flesh pro­scribed in Scripture as unfit to be eaten, v. 33—not known to breed elsewhere than where first produced—places they inhabit—the Arabians say it never drinks—will devour leather, glass, hair, [Page] iron, stones, or any thing given, v. 54—in native de­serts, lead an innoffensive social life—Thevenot af­ffirms the male keeps to the female with connubial fidelity—thought much inclined to venery—some of their eggs weigh fifteen pounds—season for laying depends on the climate where the animal is bred, v. 56—those birds very prolific, and lay from forty to fifty eggs at one clutch—none has a stronger affec­tion for her young, nor watches her eggs with great­er assiduity, sit on them, like other birds, male and female by turns, v. 57—assiduous in supplying the young with grass, and careful to defend them, en­countering every danger boldly—way of taking them among the ancients—the plumes used in their helmets—the ladies of the East use them as ornaments in their dress—plumes used in Europe to decorate our hearses and hats—feathers pluck­ed from the animal while alive more valued than those taken when dead, v. 58—some savage na­tions of Africa hunt them for their flesh—Helio­gabalus had the brains of six hundred dressed in one dish—a single egg sufficient entertainment for eight men—eggs well tasted, and extremely nou­rishing—Apicius gives a receipt of sauce for the os­trich—of all chaces, that of the ostrich, though most laborious, the most entertaining, v. 59—manner in in which the Arabians hunt them, ii. 348 and v. 60—use they make of its skin—method of hunting of the Struthophagi—its blood mixed with the fat a great dainty with the Arabians—inhabitants of Dara and Lybia breed flocks of them, v. 61—tamed with little trouble—prized for more than feathers in this domestic state—often ridden upon and used as horses—Moore assures he saw a man at Joar travelling upon an ostrich; and Adanson afsserts he had two young ostriches, the strongest of which ran swifter than the best English racer, with two negroes on his back, v. 62—an Arabian horse of the first speed scarcely outruns them, ii. 348—of all animals using wings with legs in running, these [Page] by far the swiftest, v. 60—parts of it convertible to medicinal purposes, v. 62—eggs, worst of all to be eaten according to Galen, v. 63—the American ostrich, v. 64
• Otter of roses, a modern perfume, valued for its ve­getable fragrance, iii. 394
• Otter, the link between land and amphibious animals, resembles terrestrial in make, and aquatic in living—swims faster than it runs—is brown, and like an overgrown weasel—its description, iv. 149, 150—voracious animal, found near lakes—not fond of fishing in running water, and why—when in rivers, always swims against the stream, to meet rather than pursue the fish it preys upon—in lakes, destroys more than it devours, and spoils a pond in a few nights—tears to pieces the nets of the fishers, iv. 150—two different methods of fishing practised by it—infects the edges of lakes with the dead fish it leaves, iv. 151—often distressed for provision in winter, when lakes are frozen, and then obliged to live upon grass, weeds, and bark of trees—its retreat the hollow of a bank made by the water—there it forms a gallery several yards along the water—how it evades the fowler, iv. 152—time of coup­ling—description of its habitation, iv. 152, 153—way of training it up to hunt fish, and, at the word of command, drive them up to the corner of a pond, seize the largest, and bring it in its mouth to its master—to take an old otter alive not easy—few dogs dare to encounter it, iv. 153 to 156—marks of its residence—bites with great fierceness, and never lets go its hold—brings forth its young under hollow banks upon beds of rushes, flags, or weeds, iv. 154—manner of taking the young alive—how fed when taken, iv. 155—continues long without food, iv. 152—couples about midsummer in Europe, and brings forth at nine weeks end, three or four at a time, iv. 153—some dogs trained up to discover its retreat, iv. 155—otters met with in most parts of the world—in North America and [Page] Carolina found white, inclining to yellow—descrip­tion of the Brasilian otter, iv. 156, 157
• Ovale, foramen, in the embryo, a passage for the blood from the right cavity of the heart to the left and the great artery, ii. 45—it closes when the lungs begin their function, ii. 47—it never closes in the seal's heart, iv. 171
• Ovaria, two glandular bodies near the womb, resem­bling the cluster of small eggs found in fowls, ii. 17
• Ouarine species of monkies so called by Mr. Buffon, remarkable for the loudness of their voice, and the use to which they apply it, iv. 226, 227
• Oviparous animals, distinguished from the viviparous, the two classes for generation; all other modes held imaginary and erroneous, ii. 22
• Ouran-outang, the wild man of the wood, an animal nearly approaching the human race, is the fore­most of the ape-kind—this name given to various animals walking upright; but of different countries proportions and powers—the troglodyte of Bon­tius, the drill of Purchas, and the pygmy of Tyson have received this general name, iv. 189—its de­scription in a comparative view with man, iv. 191—gigantic races of it described by travellers truly formidable—many are taller than man, active, strong, intrepid, cunning, lascivious, and cruel—countries where found—in Borneo the qua­lity course him as we do the stag, and this hunting is a favourite amusement of the king—runs with great celerity—its description, iv. 200 to 202—Battel calls him pongo; assures us that in all he resembles man, but is larger to a gigantic state—a native of the tropical climates—he lives upon fruits, and is not carnivorous—goes in companies; and this troop meeting one of the human species without succour, shew him no mercy—they jointly attack the ele­phant, beat him with clubs, and force him to leave that part of the forest they claim as their own, iv. 201—is so strong, that ten men are not a match [Page] for it—none of the kind taken but very young—one of them dying, the rest cover the body with leaves and branches—a negro boy taken by one of these, and carried into the woods, con­tinued there a whole year without any injury—they often attempt the female negroes going into the woods, and keep them against their wills for their company, feeding them plentifully all the time—a traveller assures, that he knew a woman of Loango that lived among them for three years—they build sheds, and use clubs for their defence, iv. 202—sometimes walk upright, and sometimes upon all fours, when phantastically disposed, iv. 203—tho' it resembles man in form, and imitates his actions, it is inferior in sagacity even to the elephant or the beaver, iv. 204—two of these creatures brought to Europe discovered an astonishing power of imita­tion, sate at table like men, ate of every thing without distinction, made use of knife, fork, and spoon, drank wine and other liquors—the male of these two creatures being sea-sick, was twice bled in the arm; and afterwards, when out of order, he shewed his arm as desirous of relief by bleeding, iv. 197—another was surprisingly well behaved, drank wine moderately, and gladly left it for milk or other sweet liquors—it had a de­fluxion upon the breast which encreasing caused its death in the space of one year from its arrival, iv. 196
• Ounce, or onza, iii. 254—distinguished from the pan­ther, the ounce of Linnaeus, iii. 255—remarkable for being easily tamed, and employed all over the East for the purposes of hunting, iii. 85, 86, and 260—does not pursue by the smell like the dog-kind, iii. 261—the hyena attacks it, and seldom fails to conquer, iii. 343—one at present in the Tower of London, with which the keeper plays without the smallest apprehension, iii, 260—manner of hunting with it, iii. 261
• [Page] Owl, common mark by which all birds of this kind are distinguished from others—general character­istics of birds of the owl-kind, v. 137 to 142—the skreech-owl, and its distinctive marks, v. 86—though dazzled by a bright day-light, they do not see best in darkest nights, as imagined, v. 138—seasons in which they see best—nights of moon­light the times of their successful plunder—seeing in the night, or being dazzled by day, not alike in every species of this kind, v. 139—instances in the white, or barn-owl, and in the brown-horn owl—description of the great horned owl, v. 14O—description of the common horned owl, v. 85, 86, 141—names of several owls without horns, v. 141—these horns nothing more than two or three fea­thers that stand up on each side of the head over the ear, v. 140—times of making their excursions—places where found in the day-time, v. 142, 143—father Kircher having set the voices of birds to music, has given all the tones of the owl note, which make a most tremendous melody, v. 143—some­times bewildered—what they do in that distress, v. 144—aversion of small birds to the owl—how they injure and torment him in the day-time—an owl appearing by day sets a whole grove into an uproar, v. 143—small birds sometimes hunt the owl until evening, when recovering sight, he makes the foremost pay dear for their sport, and does not al­ways leave man an unconcerned spectator—sport of bird-catchers, by counterfeiting the cry of the owl—in what manner the great horned owl is used by falconers to lure the kite, when wanted for training the falcon, v. 144—places where the great horned owl breeds—its nest, and number of eggs—the lesser owl takes by [...] the nest of some other bird—number of eggs—the other owls build near the place where they chiefly prey, v. 145—a single owl more serviceable than six cats, in rid­ding a barn of mice, iv. 146—an army of mice devoured at Hallontide by a number of strange [...]nted owls—are shy of man, extremely untract­able, [Page] and difficult to tame—the white owl in cap­tivity refuses all nourishment, and dies of hunger—account of Mr. Buffon to this purpose, v. 146
• Ox, its eyes are brown, ii. 83—on the fertile plains of India it grows to a size four times as large as the same kind bred in the Alps, ii. 237—one in England sixteen hands high; its growth depends on the richness of pasture, iii. 13
• Oxney, an island near Romney marsh, in what man­ner produced, i. 275
• Oysters, bivalved shell-fish, are self-impregnated, vii. 48—the particulars in which they differ from the muscle—growing even amidst branches of the forest, vii. 48, 49—have no other seeming food than the afflux of sea-water—they are deposited in beds where the tide comes in, at Colchester, and other places of the kingdom—these said to be better tast­ed, vii. 50—amazing size of oysters along the coast of Coromandel, vii. 51—surprising manner in which monkies manage an oyster, iv. 227—a horse known to be fond of oysters, ii. 327—the pearl oyster has a large whitish shell, the internal coat of which is the mother of pearl, vii. 55

• Paca, improperly called American rabbit, an animal of South America—its cry, and manner of eating, iv. 52—is most like the agouti, yet differs in se­veral particulars—its description—places where generally found, iv. 53—its flesh considered a deli­cacy, and eaten skin and all, like a young pig—is seldom taken alive, defending itself to the last extremity—persecuted not only by man, but by every beast and bird of prey—breeds in such num­bers, the diminution is not perceptible, iv. 54
• Pachomac deserts, where the formidable bird condor is chiefly seen, men seldom venture to travel, hissing serpents, and prowling panthers, being the scattered inhabitants, v. 105, 106
• Pacific-sea, the winds never change in it, i. 340
• [Page] Pacos, a kind of camel in South America—its wool very valuable, iv. 317
• Paddock-moon, the silence of frogs in dry weather, may serve to explain an opinion, that there is a month in the year so called, in which they never croak, vii. 88
• Pain, nothing but repeated experience shews how seldom pain can be suffered to the utmost, ii. 208
• Painters never fully imitate that bold relievo, which both eyes give to the object, ii. 150
• Paleness often the effect of anger, and almost ever the attendant of fright and fear, ii. 93
• Palm-tree, the elephant eats the shoots, leaves, and branches, to the stump, iv. 259—its juice drank by the rousette, or the great bat of Madagascar, iv. 142
• Pambamarca, mountain at Quito in Peru—a very un­common meteor seen upon it by Ulloa, i. 383
• Pangolin, vulgarly the scaly lizard, is a native of the torrid climates of the ancient continent—of all animals, the best protected from external injury, its description, iv. 119—at the approach of an enemy, it rolls itself up like the hedge-hog, iv. 120—the tyger, panther, and hyena, make vain attempts to force this animal, when it rolls itself up like the hedge-hog—its flesh is considered by the negroes of Africa as a great delicacy, iv. 121—it has no teeth—lives entirely upon in­sects—there is not a more harmless inoffensive creature than this, unmolested—cunning in hunt­ing for its prey—chiefly keeps in the obscure parts of forests, iv. 123—its tongue, when extended, is shot out to above a quarter of a yard beyond the tip of the nose, iv. 122—countries where found, iv, 124
• Panther, the foremost of the mischievous spotted kind, by many naturalists mistaken for the tiger, iii. 250—the panther of Senegal—the large panther—dif­ference between these two, iii. 251—that of Ame­rica, or jaguar, compared with two former, iii. 252, [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] 253—sometimes employed in hunting—the ga­zelle, or leveret, are it's prey—it sometimes to at­tack its employer, iii. 260—it naturally hunts the sheep and the goat, ii. 320—attends to the call of the jackall, iii. 337
• Par, a peasant, lived to a hundred and forty-four, without being abstemious, ii. 201
• Paradise-bird, few have more deceived and puzzled the learned than this—it is an inhabitant of the Molucca islands—erroneous reports concerning this bird, and what has given rise to them—the na­tive savages of those islands carefully cut off its legs before they bring it to market; and why, v. 257—two kinds of the bird of Paradise, v. 258—their distinction from other birds—the description of this bird, v. 259—found in great numbers in the island of Aro, where the inhabitants call it God's bird—live in large flocks, and at night perch upon the same tree—are called by some, the swallows of Ternate, and, like them, have their stated times of return, v. 260—their king di­stinguished from the rest by the lustre of his plu­mage, and the respect and veneration paid to him—killing the king, the best chance of getting the flock—the chief mark to know the king is by the ends of the feathers in the tail, having eyes like those of the peacock, v. 261—a number of these birds taken, the method is to gut them, cut off their legs, dry the internal moisture with a hot iron, and fill the cavity with salt and spices, then sell them to the Europeans for a mere trifle, v. 262—how this bird breeds, or what the number of its young, remains for discovery, v. 261—for beauty it ex­ceeds all others of the pie-kind, v. 260
• Parakeets, a kind of parrot of a lesser size, v. 273—of that kind in Brasil, Labat assures us, there are the most beautiful in plumage, and the most talk­ative birds in nature, v. 281. See Parrot.
• Parana, a river in South America, wherewith at eight hundred leagues from its source, the Plata runs to its mouth, i. 216
• [Page] Parasina, name given by the Italians to a fishing line, not less than twenty miles long—baited with ten or twelve thousand hooks, and sunk to the bottom along the coast in the Mediterranean for that fishing called the pielago, vi. 258
• Parasite plants, not able to support themselves, grow and fix upon some neighbouring tree, ii. 10
• Pard, name given by Linnaeus to the panther, iii. 250
• Pardalis, another name Gesner gives the panther, iii. 250
• Parrot, the middle or second size of the kind, describ­ed, v. 272 to 274—the ease with which this bird is taught to speak, and the number of words it is capable of repeating, are surprising—a grave writer affirms, that one of these was taught to re­peat a whole sonnet from Petrarch—the author has seen one taught to pronounce the ninth command­ment articulately, v. 270—account of a parrot belonging to king Henry VII. which fell into the Thames, crying, A boat, twenty pound for a boat, v. 271—Linnaeus makes its varieties amount to forty-seven; Brisson extends his catalogue to ninety-five, and the author thinks them number­less—assertion, that the natives of Brasil by art change the colour of a parrot's plumage, v. 272—peculiarities observed in their conformation, v. 273—common enough in Europe, will not, however, breed here—loses spirits and appetite during the rigour of winter—instances of sagacity and doci­lity, particularly of the great parrot called aicu­rous, v. 275 to 277—their habits—their nests, and the number of eggs, v. 278—usual method of taking the young—always speak best, when not ac­customed to harsh wild notes, v. 279—what fruit or grain these birds feed upon, their flesh partakes of the flavour and taste—instances of it—seed of the cotton-tree intoxicates them, as wine does man—wine renders them more talkative and amusing, v. 280—in France very expert, but nothing to those [Page] of Brasil, which Clusius says, are most sensible and cunning, v. 276—natives of Brasil shoot them with heavy arrows, headed with cotton, which knock down the bird without killing it—those of the parakeet tribe are delicate eating, v. 280—of this kind in Brasil, Labat assures there are the most beautiful in plumage, and the most talkative pos­sible—are restless and ever on the wing—their ha­bits, v. 281—their outcry when their companions fall—are very destructive on the coast of Guinea—more than a hundred different kinds counted on the coast of Africa, v. 282—the white sort called lo­ries, v. 272—countries where found—one, north of the Cape of Good Hope, takes its name from the multitude of parrots in its woods—an hundred kinds now known, not one of which naturally breeds in countries that acknowledged the Roman power—the green parakeet, with a red neck, was the first of the kind brought into Europe, and the only one known to the ancients from Alexander the Great to Nero, v. 283—disorders peculiar to the parrot-kind—one well kept will live five or six and twenty years, v. 284
• Parsley, pinks, and birch, hares are particularly fond of, iv. 7
• Partridges, in England, a favourite delicacy at the tables of the rich, whose desire of keeping them to themselves, has been gratified with laws for their preservation, no way harmonizing with the general spirit of English legislation, and why, v. 207—there are two kinds, the grey and the red; the grey is most prolific, and always keep on the ground—the red less common, and perches upon trees—the partridge is found in every country, and climate—in Greenland, where it is brown in summer, becomes white in winter, v. 208, 209—those of Barakonda are larger legged, swifter of foot, and reside in the highest rocks—partridges of all sorts agree in one character, being immoderately addict­ed to venery; often to an unnatural degree—the [Page] male pursues the hen to her nest, and breaks her eggs, rather than be disappointed—the young having kept in flocks during the winter, break so­ciety in spring, when they begin to pair; and terrible combats ensue—their manners otherwise resemble those of poultry, but their cunning and instincts are superior, v. 209—means the female uses to draw away any formidable animal that ap­proaches her nest—the covies are from ten to fifteen, and, unmolested, they live from fifteen to seven­teen years—method of taking them in a net with a setting-dog, the most pleasant, and most secure, v. 210—they are never so tame as our domestic poultry, v. 211
• Passage (birds of) causes of their emigrations, v. 32—in one country are not so in others—many of those kinds which at certain seasons leave England, are seen in other climates, never to depart, it is also frequent, that some birds with us faithful residents, in other kingdoms put on the nature of birds of passage—instances of both, v. 318, 319
• Passions, most of the furious sort characterized from the elevation and depression of the eye-brows, ii. 84—freedom from passions not only adds to the happiness of the mind, but preserves the beauty of the face, ii. 198
• Pastures, those of Great Britain excellently adapted to quadrupeds of the cow-kind, iii. 9
• Patas, by some called the red African monkey—its description, iv. 233
• St. Paul, in Lower Brittany, in that neighbourhood lies a tract of land along the sea-side, which before the year 1666 was inhabited, but is now a desert covered with sand, to the height of twenty feet, i. 364
• Paunch, name of the first stomach of ruminating ani­mals, iii. 3
• Pazan, name of the eighth variety of gazelles, by Mr. Buffon, iii. 74
• Peacock, varieties of this bird—some white, others [Page] crested—that of Thibet, the most beautiful of the feathered creation, v. 176—a saying among the ancients, as beautiful as is the peacock among birds, so is the tiger among quadrupeds, iii. 233—our first were brought from the East Indies; and they are still found in flocks in a wild state in the islands of Java and Ceylon—the common people of Italy say it has the plumage of an angel, the voice of a devil, and the guts of a thief—in the days of Solomon we find his navies imported from the East apes and peacocks, v. 171—Aelian relates they were brought into Greece from some barbarous country, and that a male and female were valued at thirty pounds of our money—it is said also, that when Alexander was in India, he saw them flying wild, on the banks of the river Hyarotis, and was so struck with their beauty, that he laid a fine and punishment on all who should kill or disturb them—the Greeks were so much taken with the beauty of this bird, when first brought among them, that it was shewn for money; and many came to A­thens from Lacedaemon and Thessaly to see it, v. 172—once esteemed a delicacy at the tables of the rich and great, v. 171—Ausidius Hurco stands charged by Pliny with being the first who fatted up the pea­cock for the feasts of the luxurious, v. 172—Hor­tensius the orator was the first who served them up at an entertainment at Rome—and they are talked of as the first of viands—in the times of Francis I. it was a custom to serve up peacocks to the tables of the great, not to be eaten, but seen; in what manner they served them—its flesh is said to keep longer unputrefied than any other, v. 173—has a predilection for barley—but as a proud and fickle bird, there is scarce any food it will at all times like—it strips the tops of houses of tiles or thatch, lays waste the labours of the garden­er, roots up the choicest seeds, and nips favourite flowers in the bud—is still more salacious than the cock, v. 174—requires five females at least to at­tend [Page] him; and the number not sufficient, will run upon and tread the sitting hen—the pea-hen, as much as possible hides her nest from him, that he may not disturb her sitting—she seldom lays above five or six eggs in this climate—Aristotle describes her laying twelve—in forests where they breed naturally, they are very numerous—this bird lives about twenty years—and not till the third year has that beautiful variegated plumage of its tail—in the kingdom of Cambaya, says Taverner, near the city of Baroch, whole flocks of them are in the fields—description of their habits—decoy made use of to catch them there, v. 175
• Sea-peacock, a name given, and by which has been de­scribed the Balearic crane, from some resemblance in disposition and manners, v. 388 Peak of Teneriff, its volcano seldom free from erup­tions, i. 99
• Peak, a noted mountain in the Molucca islands, seen far off at sea, swallowed by an earthquake, and a lake left where it stood, i. 162
• Pearl, an animal substance concreted and taking a tincture from the air, vii. 57—found in all bivalv­ed shells, the inside of which resemble that sub­stance called mother of pearl, vii. 53—the forma­tion of pearls a disease or an accident in the animal is not known—common opinion upon this subject, vii. 54—the pearl bred from no disorder in the animal— pearl-oyster, from which the mother-of-pearl is taken, vii. 55—several pearl fisheries—the chief of them in the Persian Gulph, and the most valuable pearls brought from thencesdif­ferent sizes, figures, and colours, vii. 56—whence their different colours proceed—pearls converted by time and damps into a chalky powder, vii. 57—wretched people destined to fish for pearls—usual­ly die consumptive, vii. 58—in what manner they fish for them, vii. 59
• Pearls in stags, are parts rising from the crust of the beam, iii. 114
• [Page] Peasants, the meanest of them in Germany, Poland, and Switzerland kills a cow for his own table, salts and hangs up, and preserves it as a delicacy all the year round, iii. 9
• Peccary, or tajacu, an animal a native of America, at first view resembling a small hog—its description—has upon the back a lump like the navel in other animals, iii. 183—it consists of glands producing a liquor of an offensive smell, iii. 184—when killed the parts of generation and the glands on the back must be taken instantly away, otherwise in half an hour the flesh becomes unfit to be eaten, iii. 186—though like the hog in many respects, is never­theless a distinct race, and will not mix nor pro­duce an intermediate race—is easily tamed, iii. 188—goes in herds of two or three hundred, and unites, like hogs, in each other's defence, iii. 186—delights not in marshes or mud like our hogs—an unceasing enemy to the lizard, the toad, and the serpent kinds—also feeds upon toads and ser­pents, iii. 187—any plunderer seizing their young is surrounded and often killed, iii. 186
• Pedigree, the Arabians preserve that of their best horses with great care, and for several generations back, ii. 350
• Pegu, a river called the Indian Nile, because of the similar overflowings of its stream, i. 218
• Pelagii, the Latin name for those shells fished up from the deep—those cast on the shore are the littorales, vii. 13
• Pelican, a ruminating bird, iii. 5—a native of Africa and America; once known in Europe, particular­ly in Russia—fabulous accounts propagated of it—the description of it, particularly of its bill, and the great pouch underneath, as wonderful—Tertre af­firms the pouch will hide fish enough to serve sixty hungry men for a meal—this pouch placed at the top of the gullet, considered as the crop in other birds, vi. 51 to 53—the description of the bird from [Page] father Labat, vi. 54—indolent habits in preparing for incubation, and defending their young, vi. 56—their gluttony scarcely to be satisfied; their flesh rancid, and tastes worse than it smells—use made by the Americans of their pouches, vi. 57—is not entirely incapable of instruction in a domestic state—instances of it, vi. 58—Aldrovandus mentions one believed to be fifty years old, vi. 59
• Penguin, a heavy water fowl; the wings of this tribe unfit for flight, vi. 90—and their legs still more auk­wardly adapted for walking, vi. 91—our sailors call them arse-feet—they dive to the bottom, or swim between two waters—they never visit land but when coming to breed, vi. 92—their colour—are covered more warmly with feathers than other birds—de­scription of the Magellanic penguin, vi. 93—they unite in them the qualities of men, fowls, and fishes—instances of its gluttonous appetite—their food and flesh—are a bird of society, vi. 94—season of laying, and manner of making their nests, vi. 95—some of this tribe called by our seamen the booby—our men first coming among them, were not distrusted nor avoided, they stood to be shot at in flocks, till every one was destroyed—the females let them take their eggs without any resistance, vi. 96—the penguin lays but one egg; in frequented shores—burrows like a rabbit—three or four take possession of one hole, and hatch—one is placed as a centinel to warn of approaching danger, vi. 97—union between this bird and the albatross, and regularity in their building together, vi. 63
• Peninsula of India, on one side the coasts are near half the year harrassed by violent hurricanes and north­ern tempests, i. 348—the people there employ the elephant chiefly in carrying or drawing burthens, iv. 278
• Penpark-hole, in Gloucestershire, twenty-five fathom perpendicular depth—its description, from captain Sturmey, i. 66
• [Page] People, so young as fourteen or fifteen often found to cease growing, ii. 19
• Pepper, the Indians prefer that devoured and voided unconcocted by the toucan, before the pepper fresh gathered from the tree, v. 244
• Perch, a prickly-finned thoracic fish—its description, vi. 308
• Perfumes, some physicians think all perfumes un­wholesome—our delight in perfumes seems made by habit, ii. 181—many bodies at a distance give an agreeable perfume, and nearer have a most un­grateful odour, ii. 182—no perfume has a strong­er or more permanent smell than musk, iii. 89—the scent of the martin a most pleasing perfume, iii. 367—some of the weasel kind have a smell approach­ing to perfume, iii. 380—that of the musk or the civet, iii. 382—in what manner taken from the pouch, iii. 391—more grateful perfume than musk, iii. 393—that of Amsterdam the purest of any,—is communicated to all parts of the animals body; the fur impregnated, and the skin also—a person shut up with one of the skins in a close room cannot support the scent, iii. 192—this perfume sold in Holland for about fifteen shillings an ounce, iii. 393—it has no analogy with the creature's appetite for generation, iii. 395—a proof of it—has its vicissi­tudes of fashion, like dress, iii. 394
• Persepolis, pastures in the plains about that place ex­cellent for the purposes of rearing horses, ii. 361
• Persia snow falls in abundance upon its mountains, i. 358—the horses of that country the most beauti­ful and most valuable of all in the East, ii. 361—there are studs of ten thousand white mares toge­ther, with the hoof so hard that shoeing is unneces­sary, ii. 355—description of the Persian horses by Pietro della Valle, ii. 361—the flesh of the wild ass so much liked that its delicacy is a proverb there, ii. 378—an entertainment of wild asses ex­hibited by the monarch to Olearius, ii. 377, 378—two kinds of asses there, and some of them [Page] worth forty or fifty pounds, ii. 385, 386—a noted country for giving long soft hair to the animals bred in it, iii. 212—lions found to diminish in number in this country, iii. 215—the bird of Persia is the common cock of Aristophanes, v. 161
• Persian Gulph, a very dangerous wind prevails, by the natives called the sameyel—it suddenly kills those it involves in its passage, and frequently assumes a vi­sible form, darting in a blueish vapour along the surface of the country, i. 358—the poets of Per­sia and Arabia have described it as under the con­duct of vengeance, who governs its terrors, and raises or depresses it, as he thinks proper, i. 359—the chief pearl fishery carried on there, vii. 56—that gulph choaked up in many places with cora­line substances, viii. 192
• Persian kings, wore their whiskers matted with gold thread, ii. 97
• Persians admire large eye-brows, joining in the mid­dle, ii. 76—divided into two classes, tyrants and slaves, vii. 58
• Perspiration, an experiment from which the learned may infer upon what foundation the doctrine of Sanctorian perspiration is built, ii. 110, 111
• Peruvians, father Acosta, and Garcilasso de la Vega, make no doubt but that they understood the art of preserving their dead for a long space of time, ii. 273
• Peter the Great, czar of Russia, celebrated a mar­riage of dwarfs, ii. 251—the preparations for this wedding were grand, yet executed in a style of barbarous ridicule, ii. 252
• Petreoleum, an injection of this bituminous oil in­wardly, and an application of asphaltum without, suffice to make a mummy, ii. 287
• Pettichaps, a bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314
• Phalanger, a kind of oppossum—its description—has been called the rat of Surinam, iv. 248
• Pharaoh, (the cat of) name given to the ichneumon, iii. 376
• [Page] Pharaoh, (the capon of) thought to be the true ibis—a devourer of serpents, and will follow the cara­vans to Mecca, to feed upon the offal of animals killed on the journey, v. 385
• Phasis, a river of Colchis, in Asia Minor, from the banks of which the pheasants were brought into Europe, and still retain their name, v. 184
• Phatagin, an animal less than the pangolin—the ex­tent of its tail above twice the length of its body—countries where it is to be found, iv. 124
• Pheasants, at first propagated among us, brought in­to Europe from the banks of the Phasis, a river of Colchis, in Asia Minor, whence they still retain their name—Croesus, king of Lydia, seat­ed on his throne, adorned with the barbarous pomp of eastern splendour, asked Solon whether he ever beheld any thing so fine? Solon replied, that hav­ing seen the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, no other finery could astonish him, v. 184—descrip­tion of this beautiful bird, v. 185—its flesh the greatest dainty—animals of the domestic kind, once reclaimed, still continue domestic, and persevere in the habits and appetites of willing slav­ery; but the pheasant, taken from its native warm retreats, still continues his attachment to native freedom; and wild among us, is an envied orna­ment of our parks and forests, where he feeds upon acorns and berries, v. 186—in the woods the hen pheasant lays from eighteen to twenty eggs in a sea­son; but in a domestic state seldom above ten—when wild, she hatches and leads up her brood with patience, vigilance, and courage; but when tame she never sits well; and a common hen be­comes her substitute; and for leading her young to their food, she is utterly ignorant where it is found—and the young would starve if left solely to her management—it is better left at large in the woods than reduced to its pristine captivity—its fecundity, when wild, is sufficient to stock the fo­rest, and its flesh acquires a higher flavour from its [Page] unlimited freedom—its habits, when tame, v. 187—no birds are shot more easily, v. 188—when physi­cians of old spoke of wholesomness of viands, the comparison lay with the flesh of the pheasant, v. 186—these birds taken young into keeping, be­come as familiar as chickens; and when designed for breeding, they are put together in a yard, five hens to a cock—the nest in their natural state—the female refusing to hatch the eggs, a com­mon hen supplies her place, and performs the task with perseverance and success—the young diffi­cult to be reared, v. 188—with what food the young must be supplied—particularities concerning the rearing of the young ones—the method of Longo­lius, to encrease the breed and make it more valu­able—the pheasant will at last be brought to couple with a common hen, v. 189—many varieties of pheasants; of all others, the golden pheasant of China the most beautiful, v. 190
• Phlegium, one of the highest mountains of Ethiopia, swallowed by an earthquake, i. 162
• Pholas, the file-fish, places where these animals are found, vii. 65, 69—their power of penetrating—the pillars of the temple of Serapis at Puteoli were penetrated by them—they pierce the hardest bodies with their tongue, vii. 67—their motion slow beyond conception—have no other food but the sea-water, vii. 68—are accounted a great deliaccy, vii. 69
• Pichincha, a remarkable mountain, near Quito, in South America, i. 151
• Pie, in the class of the pie-kind, few, except the pi­geon, are of use to man; yet, to each other, no class of birds so ingenious, active, and well-fitted for society, v. 220—they live in pairs, and their attachments are confined to each other—they build nests in trees or bushes; the male shares in the labour of building, and relieves his mate in the duties of incubation; and the young once ex­cluded, both are equally active in making them [Page] ample provision—general laws prevail, and a re­publican form of government is established among them—they watch for the general safety of every bird of the grove, v. 221—they are remarkable for instinct and capacity for instruction—instances of it—fetching and carrying untaught, all this tribe are but too fond of—their passion for shining things and such toys as some of us put a value upon—rings found in the nest of a tame magpie, v. 222—the few general characters in which they all agree, v. 223
• Sea-pie breeds in this country, and resides in its marshy parts, vi. 29
• Pigeons are ruminating birds, iii. 5—those that live in a wild state by no means so fruitful as those in our pigeon-houses nearer home—the tame pigeon, and all its beautiful varieties, owe their origin to one species, the stock-dove—colours of the pigeon in a state of nature, v. 285, 286—the dove-house pigeon breeds every month, v. 286—the hatching of its eggs, v. 287—a full explanation of the method of feeding their young from the crop, v. 288, 289—pigeons bred to a feather means a display of art by those persons who employ themselves in rearing pigeons of different colours, ii. 248—various names of tame pigeons—attempts made to render domestic the ring-dove, but hitherto fruitless, v. 293—the turtle-dove a bird of passage—a pair put in a cage, and one dying, the other does not sur­vive, v. 294—the pigeon called ocotzimtzcan is one of the splendid tenants of the Mexican forests, v. 295—pigeons of the dove-house not so faithful as the turtle-dove—two males quarrel for the same mistress; and when the female admits the ad­dresses of a new gallant, her old companion bears the contempt with marks of displeasure, abstains from her company, or when he approaches is sure to chastise her—instances of two males displeased with their mates, who have made an exchange, and lived in harmony with their new companions, v. 290, 291—near fifteen thousand pigeons may in four years be [Page] produced from a single pair—the stock-dove seldom breeds above twice a year—have a stronger attach­ment to their young than those who breed so often—the pigeons called carriers used to convey letters, nor trained with as much care as formerly, when sent from a besieged city to those coming to relieve it—in an hour and a half, they perform a journey of forty miles—the only use now made of them is to be let off at Tyburn, when the cart is drawn away, v. 292
• Pigmy, existence of a pigmy race of mankind founded in error or in fable, ii. 251
• Pigtail is the last of the baboons—Mr. Buffon calls it maimon—its description—is a native of Sumatra, not well enduring the rigours of our climate, iv. 215
• Pike, the description of this fish, vi. 313—poets have called it the tyrant of the watery plain—instances of their rapacity, vi. 345
• Pilchards, little differing from the herring—make the coast of Cornwall their place of resort—the natives sometimes enclose a bay of several miles extent with nets called saines—how directed, some years ago, to know where to extend the nets, vi. 331, 332—they take twelve or fifteen hundred barrels of pilchards at a draught—serve also for manure—advantages of this fishery, vi. 333—money paid for pilchards exported has annually amounted to near fifty thou­sand pounds, vi. 334
• Pillau, on the Baltic, the shores near that place di­vided into districts for the sturgeon-fishery, and al­loted to companies of fishermen, who rent some of them at three hundred pounds a year, vi 279
• Pills, of calcined shells and tobacco, used by the Ame­rican Indians undertaking long journies, to palliate hunger, ii. 133
• Pilori, one of the three distinctions of the musk-rat—it is a native of the West-India islands iv. 78
• Pilot of the shark, name given the sucking-fish or re­mora, and why, vi. 246
• [Page] Pinch, name of a monkey of the sagoin-kind—its de­scription, iv. [...]37
• Pinks, hares are as particularly fond of them as of parsley and birch, iv. 7
• Pintada, or the guinea hen, its description—different names given to this bird—its habits—the eggs are speckled, v. 192
• Pintail, a kind of duck has the two middle feathers of the tail three inches longer than the rest, vi. 130
• Pipal, the Surinam toad, an extraordinary and hideous creature—its description—the young bred and hatched on its back, vii. 108
• Pipe of the shepherd, the stag seems delighted with its sound, iii. 105
• Pipe-fish, cartilaginous and not thicker than a swan-quill—its description, vi. 289
• Pipes, conducting water, upon what principle they depend, i. 185—why those in London are extreme­ly apt to burst, i. 186
• Piper-worms, and other little animals, fix their habi­tations to the oyster's sides, and live in security, vii. 48
• Pit-falls, a wolf, a friar, and a woman taken in one all in the same night—the woman lost her senses, the friar his reputation, and the wolf his life, iii. 31 [...]
• Pithekos, name given by the ancients to the ape pro­perly so called, iv. 206
• Pivot, the razor-shell, its motion and habits, vii. 252, is allured by salt, vii. 53
• Placenta, the burden, or that body by which the ani­mal is supplied with nourishment, ii. 40, 41
• Plague, not well known whence it has its beginning—is propagated by infection, i. 327—some countries, even in the midst of Africa, never infected with it—others generally visited by it once a year, as Egypt—not known in Nigritia—Numidia it molests not once in a hundred years, i. 328—plague spread over the world in 1346, after two years travelling from the great kingdom of Cathay, north of China, [Page] to Europe—the plague desolated the city of Lon­don in 1665, i. 329—its contagious steams produc­ed spots on the walls—for this last age, it has abated its violence, even in those countries where most common, and why, i. 330—a plague affected trees and stones, i. 329
• Plaisne en Anjou, a village in France, particular ac­count of a dwarf born there, ii. 255
• Plaister of Paris finely powdered boils and heaves in great waves, like water, i. 181
• Plantane, preferred by the ass to every other vegetable, ii. 381
• Planets exceed the earth one thousand times in mag­nitude—at first supposed to wander in the heavens without fixed paths—perform their circuits with great exactness and strict regularity, i. 3—the lesser planets attendants upon some of the greater, i. 5
• Plants and vegetables compared with animals, simili­tude—how assimilated in different climates and soils, ii. 3 to 8—will not grow so fast in distilled as undistilled water, i. 167—do not vegetate in an exhausted receiver, i. 315—but thus ceasing to ve­getate, keep longer sweet than when exposed to external air, i. 316—their juices rarefied princi­pally by the sun, to give an escape to their impri­soned air, i. 338—smell of force so powerful as hardly to be endured, i. 219—a certain plant in Ireland so strongly affected the person who beat it in a mortar, and the physician pre­sent, that their hands and faces swelled to an enormous size, and continued tumid for some time after, i. 326—the sensitive, that moves at the touch, has as much perception as the fresh-water polypus, possessed of a still slower share of motion, ii. 3—the parasite fix and depend upon neighbouring trees for that support their rampant dispositions prompts them to seek, ii. 10—the most pernicious of that race, is the caraguata, in the West Indies; it loads its sup­porter [Page] with a verdure not its own, takes away its nourishment, and entirely destroys it, ii 4—many plants propagated from the depositions of birds, v. 316—plan [...]s, submarine, corals and other vege­tables, covering the bottom of the sea, i. 288
• Plate, or Plata, a great river in South America—its source and length, i. 216—receives above fifty rivers, i. 218
• Platina, or white gold, the most obstinate of all sub­stances, i. 74
• Plemonecles, the flumide, description of this fish, vi. 312
• Pleurs en Champagne, a town in France, buried be­neath a rocky mountain, i. 158
• Pliny, in his arrangements different from the present, placed the bats among birds, iv. 134
• Plover, the green and grey, are birds of passage, vi. 28—the Norfolk plover, vi. 29—season of court­ship, vi. 31
• Plumage of the king-fisher preserves its lustre longer than any other, vi. 148
• Pochard, a kind of duck, vi. 130
• Poetry, our ancestors excel us in the poetic arts, as they had the first rifling of all the striking images of nature, ii. 266
• Point, the central point of a whirlpool is always low­est, and why, i. 205
• Pointer, a kind of dog, iii. 286
• Poison, the most deadly poisons are often of great use in medicine, ii. 13—Pliny, Aelian, and Oppian, have supplied the weapon of the fireflare with a poison that affects even the inanimate creation, vi. 259—but we have every reason to doubt of it, vi. 260—fishes often live and subsist upon such sub­stances as are poisonous to the more perfect classes of animated nature—that numbers of fishes inflict poisonous wounds, in the opinion of many, cannot be doubted, vi. 348—the greatest part of the fish, on the coast of New Providence, one of the Baha­ma islands, are all of a poisonous nature—the many speculations and conjectures to which this poison­ous [Page] quality in some fishes has given rises, vi. 349, 350—some crabs found poisonous, vi. 376—the seat where the poison in venomous serpents lies, i. 194—the serpent-poison may be taken inwardly, without any sensible effects, or any prejudice to the constitution, vii. 198—an instance of it—if milk be injected into a vein, it will kill with more certain destruction than even the poison of the vi­per, vii. 199, 200
• Poland, the peasant there kills a cow in autumn for his own table; he salts and hangs it up, and thus preserves it as a delicacy all the year round, iii. 9
• Polar regions, description of them, i. 11, 12—and of the inhabitants round them, ii. 213
• Pole-cat, a distinct species from the ermine, iii. 358—resembles the ferret so much, that some have thought them the same animal—there are many distinctions between them—warreners assert the pole-cat will mix with the ferret, iii. 363—Mr. Buffon denies it—description of the pole-cat—very destructive to young game, iii. 364—seizes the fly­ing-squirrel, iv. 36—the rabbit its favourite prey; and one pole-cat destroys a whole warren by a wound hardly perceptible—generally reside in woods or thick brakes, making holes two yards deep under ground—in winter, they rob the hen-roost and the dairy—particularly destructive among pigeons, iii. 365—and feast upon their brains, iii. 366—fond also of honey, iii. 358 and 366—female brings forth in summer five or six young at a time, and supplies the want of milk with the blood of such animals as she can seize—the fur is in less estimation than of inferior kinds, and why—an inhabitant of temperate climates, being afraid of cold as well as heat, iii. 366, 367—the species confined in Europe to a range from Poland to Italy, iii. 367—pole-cat of America and Virginia are names for the squash and the skink—distinctions of those animals, iii. 380, 381
• [Page] Poles, trade-winds continually blow from them to­wards the equator, i. 343, 344—the winter be­ginning round the poles, the same misty appear­ance produced in the southern climates by heat is there produced by cold—the sea smokes like an oven there, i. 386—limbs of the inhabitants of those regions, sometimes frozen and drop off, i. 387—as we approach the north pole, the size of the natives proportionably diminishes, growing less and less as we advance higher, ii. 217—the strength of the natives round the polar regions is not less amazing than their patience in hunger, ii. 218
• Polynemus, description of this fish, vi. 310
• Polypus very voracious—its description—uses its arms as a fisherman his net, ii. 23—is not of the vege­table tribe, but a real animal—examined with a mi­croscope, several little specks are seen like buds, that pullulate from different parts of the body, and these soon appear to be young polypi, beginning to cast their little arms about for prey; the same food is digested, and serves for nourishment of both, ii. 24—every polypus has a colony sprouting from its body; and these new ones, even while attached to the parent, become parents themselves, with a smaller colony also budding from themsthough cut into thousands of parts, each still retains its vivacious quality, and shortly becomes a distinct and complete polypus, fit to reproduce upon cutting in pieces—it hunts for its food, and possesses a power of chusing it or retreating from danger, ii. 25—di­mensions of the sea-polypus, and of that which grows in fresh waters—the power of dissection first tried upon these animals to multiply their numbers—Mr. Trembley has the honour of the first disco­very of the amazing properties and powers of this little vivacious creature, viii. 180—this class of ani­mals divided into four different kinds by Mr. Trem­blay—method of conceiving a just idea of their figure, viii. 181—manner of lengthening or contracting itself, viii. 182—progressive moti [...] [Page] appearance of an organ of sight found over the whole body—animals of this kind inclined to turn to­wards the light, viii. 183—their way of living, viii. 184—arms serve them as lime-twigs do a fowler—how it seizes upon its prey—testifies its hunger by opening its mouth—having seized the prey, opens its mouth in proportion to the size of what it would swallow, whether fish, flesh, or insects, viii. 185—when two mouths are joined upon one com­mon prey, the largest swallows the antagonist; but after laying in the conqueror's body for about an hour, it issues unhurt, and often in possession of the prey, the original cause of contention, viii. 186—the cold approaching to congelation, they feel the general torpor of nature, and their faculties are for two or three months suspended—such as are best supplied soonest acquire their largest size, but they diminish also in their growth with the same facility, if their food be lessened, viii. 287—some pro­pagated from eggs; some produced by buds issuing from the body, as plants by inoculation; while all may be multiplied by cuttings to an amazing degree of minuteness, viii. 186, 187—of those produced like buds from the parent stem, should the parent swal­low a red worm, it gives a tincture to all its fluids, and the young partakes of the parental colour; but if the latter should seize upon the same prey, the parent is no way benefited by the capture, all the advantage thus remains with the young, viii. 189—several young of different sizes are growing from its body; some just budding forth, others acquir­ing perfect form, and others ready to drop from the original stem; those young, still attached to the pa­rent, bud and propagate also, each holding depend­ence upon its parent, viii. 189, 190—artificial method of propagating these animals by cuttings, viii. 190—Mr. Hughes describes a species of this animal, but mistakes its nature, and calls it a sensitive flow­ering plant, viii. 191
• [Page] Polypus-coral, the work of an infinite number of rep­tiles of that kind, viii. 194—in every coraline sub­stance are a number of polypi, viii. 197
• Pomerania, a large part of it covered by the sea, i. 278
• Pongo, name given by Battel to the ouran-outang, iv. 200
• Poppies affect with drowsiness those who walk through fields of them, or are occupied in preparing the flowers for opium, i. 326
• Porcelain, an artificial composition of earth and water, united by heat, i. 166
• Porcupine, as to quills, might be classed among the birds, ii. 313—an enlarged hedge-hog—its descrip­tion, iv. 107—of all these brought into Europe, not one ever seen to launch its quills, though sufficient­ly provoked—their manner of defence—directs its quills pointing to the enemy—and Kolben relates, the lion then will not venture an attack—feeds on serpents and other reptiles—the porcupine and serpent are said never to meet without a mor­tal engagement, iv. 110, 111—how it destroys and de­vours the serpent—porcupine of Canada subsists on vegetables—those brought to this country for shew usually fed on bread, milk, and fruits; do not refuse meat when offered—is extremly hurtful to gardens—the Americans, who hunt it, believe it lives from twelve to fifteen years—during the time of coupling, in the month of September, the males become fierce and dangerous, and often destroy each other with their teeth—time of their gestation—the female brings forth one at a time; she suckles it about a month, and accustoms it to live like herself, upon vegetables and the bark of trees, iv. 111—the female very fierce in the defence of her young; at other seasons, fearful, timid, and harmless—the porcupine never attempts to bite or any way injure its pursuers, manner of escaping, when hunted by a dog or a wolf—the Indians pur­sue [Page] it to make embroidery with its quills and eat its flesh—circumstances concerning it remaining to be known, iv. 113—little known with pre­cision, except what offers in a state of captivity—description of one kept in an iron cage, iv. 113—the porcupine of America differs much from that of the ancient continent—two kinds, the couando and the urson—description of both, iv. 114
• Porcupine of the sea described, vi. 291
• Pork, unpalatable with us in summer, is the finest eating in warmer latitudes, and preferable to hog's flesh in Europe, ii. 378, 379
• Porpus, or porpess, a fish less than a grampus, with the snout of a hog—its description and habits, vi. 222—a fishery for them along the western isles of Scotland, in the summer season, when they abound on that shore—live to a considerable age, though some say not above twenty-five or thirty years—sleep with the snout above water—possess, propor­tionably to their bulk, the manners of whales, vi. 228—places where they seek for prey, vi. 226—destroy the nets of fishermen on the coasts of Cornwall—manner of killing them in the Thames, vi. 227—yield a large quantity of oil—the lean, of some not old, said to be as well tasted as veal—caviar prepared from the eggs of this fish, vi. 228
• Portugueze pretend to have tamed the zebra, and sent four from Africa to Lisbon, so far brought under as to draw the king's coach, ii. 397—its swiftness a proverb among them, ii. 396
• Ports choaked up with sand by the vehemence of the wind, i. 349
• Pouch, or bag, the receptacle of the civet, differs in its opening from that of the rest of the weasel kind—description of it, iii. 390—of the bustard under the tongue, capable of holding near seven quarts of water, v. 197—of the pelican, hides as [Page] many fish as will serve sixty hungry men for a meal, vi. 53—its description, vi. 51, 52
• Poultry, general characteristics of the poultry-kind, v. 152—they live together; and each, conscious of his strength, seldom tries a second combat, where he has been once worsted—kept in the same district, or fed in the same yard, they learn the arts of subordination, v. 153—the young of the kind not fed with meat put into their mouths, peck their food—the female intent in providing food for her young clutch, and scarce takes any nourishment at all—among the habits of this class of birds, is the peculiarity of dusting themselves, v. 156—nearly all domestic birds of this kind maintained in our yards, are of foreign extraction, v. 151—the courtship of this kind is short, and the congress fortuitous—the male takes no heed of his offspring—though timorous with birds of prey, he is incredibly bold among his own kind; the sight of a male of his own species produces a com­bat—the female takes all the labour of hatching and bringing up her young, chusing a place re­mote from the cock, v. 155, 156
• Powis Land, in Wales, for many ages famous for a swift and generous race of horses; and why, ii. 370
• Powters, a variety of the same pigeons, v. 293
• Pregnancy of all animals, in point of time, is pro­portioned to their size, ii. 336—the duration in the female of the elephant, still unknown, iv. 270—of some women found to continue a month be­yond the usual time, ii. 47—in that state no ani­mals, except the hare, receives the male, iv. 6
• Pressure, perpendicular in rivers, always in exact pro­portion to the depth, i. 201
• Prey, all the males of these birds a third less, and weaker than the females, v. 84. See Birds.
• Pricket, name hunters give the buck the second year, iii. 128
• Primas, appellation of a first rate animal—Linnaeus bestows it upon the female of the bat, iv. 138
• [Page] Propagation of gnats, one of the strangest discoveries in natural history, viii. 156—a new kind lately discovered in a most numerous tribe of animals, propagated by cuttings, viii. 162—different man­ners of that operation in the polypi, to the asto­nishment of the learned of Europe, viii. 187
• Propolis, a resinous gum, with which the bees plaister the inside of their hives, viii. 72
• Proportion of the human figure, little known with precision in regard to it, ii. 106—different opi­nions upon the subject, ii. 107
• Prospect, sketch of a delightful African prospect, on the banks of a most dreadful river, i. 220
• Provider of the lion, what has given rise to the jack­all's being called so, ii. 322—also why the siagush is called by that name, iii. 266
• Psalmodi, in France, an island in A. D. 815, now more than six miles from the shore, i. 277
• Ptarmigan, sort of grous, chiefly found in heathy mountains, and piny forests, at a distance from mankind—size and colour, v. 199
• Pthiriasis, the lousy disease, frequent among the an­cients—principal people who died of this disorder, vii. 274—plants and animals are infested with dis­eases of this kind—a vegetable louse from America over-run all the physic-garden of Leyden, vii. 275—the leaf-louse described vii. 276—the males have four wings, the females never have any, vii. 278—when they perceive the ant behind them, they kick back with their hind feet, vii. 279—three princi­pal and constant enemies to these insects, vii. 280
• Puffin, or coulterneb, marks that distinguish this bird, vi. 99—its residence, vi. 101—migrations, 101, 105—found by hundreds, cast away upon shores, lean and perished with famine, vi. 101—lays one egg—few birds or beasts venture to attack its retreats—in what manner it defends itself against the ra­ven, vi. 102—the manks puffin is itself one of the most terrible invaders—instances of it—places which abound with them, vi. 103—in what manner [Page] their young are fed—their food—formerly their flesh was allowed by the church on Lenten days—they bite extremely hard, and keep such hold of what they seize, as not easily disengaged, vi. 104—their noise, when taken, very disagreeable, like the efforts of a dumb person attempting to speak, vi. 105—quantity of oil in their bodies, vi. 106
• Puget, adapted the cornea of a fly in such a position, as to see objects through it by the means of a mi­croscope—strangeness of the representations, viii. 36
• Puma, an animal decorated with the name of Ame­rican lion, though, when compared, so contempti­ble as to be inferior to that called the American tyger, iii. 232
• Pump, the air-pump, an instrument contrived to ex­haust the air from a round vessel, called a receiver—in what manner it acts, i. 307—explained in an experiment upon a carp placed under such a re­ceiver, vi. 169
• Purre, a small bird of the crane-kind, with a shorter bill, and thighs bare of feathers, vi. 23
• Puteoli, a city swallowed up by an earthquake, had a temple of Serapis, the pillars of which, while un­der water, were penetrated by the pholas, or file-fish, vii. 67
• Putrefaction, a new cause of animal life—later disco­veries have induced many to doubt whether ani­mal life cannot be produced merely from thence, ii. 22
• Pyramids of Egypt, one of them entirely built of a kind of free-stone, in which petrified shells are found in great abundance, i. 47
• Pyrard, his account of a kind of apes called baris, which properly instructed when young, serve as useful domestics, iv. 198
• Pygmy of Tyson, is the ouran-outang, or the wild man of the wood, iv. 189
• Pyrites, their composition—sulphur and iron blended and heated with air or water, will form these and marcasites, i. 77

• Quadrupeds, of all ranks of animated nature, they bear the nearest resemblance to man, ii. 310—are less changed by influence of climate or food, than the lower ranks of nature—some are of so equivo­cal a nature, it is hard to tell whether they ought to be ranked in this class, or degraded to those below them, ii. 312—instances of it, ii. 313—some formed for the surface of the fields, others framed to live upon the tops of trees, and others made to dwell under the earth, iv. 90—of all kinds, none so justly reproach the natural historian's inaccuracy, as that which bears the musk, iii. 88—the weaker races exert all efforts to avoid their in­vaders, ii. 323, 324—next to human influence, the climate seems to have the strongest effects upon their nature and form, ii. 328—both at the line and the pole, the wild are fierce and untameable, ii. 330—one class of these entirely left to chance; no parent stands forth to protect them, and no in­structor leads, or teaches them arts of subsistence; these bring forth above two hundred young at a time, ii. 339—of all quadrupeds, the elephant the strongest and the largest, iv. 254—none that will not breed in its own native climate, except the elephant, under the dominion of man, iv. 269—the most untractable, and for its size, the most terrible of all, the hyaena, iii. 343—the mouse most feeble, and most timid of all, except the guinea-pig, iv. 72—the largest are found in the torrid zone, iii. 28—and these are all fond of the wa­ter, iii. 29—America inferior to us in these pro­ductions—opinion, that all in South Ame­rica are a different species from those most re­sembling them in the old world, ii. 332—such as peculiarly belong to the new continent are with­out any marks of the perfection of their species, ii. 333—the only that migrate from one part of the [Page] world to another are the seals, iv. 174—their heads different from each other, are adapted to their way of living; and how, ii. 314—the large and for­midable produce but one young at a time; while the mean and contemptible are prolific, ii. 334—it has been wisely ordered so by Providence, ii. 335—the change of colour in the hair, obtains in them all to a degree plainly observable, iii. 354—it is observable, that a thin sparing diet pro­duces hair, iii. 355—none fatter, none more sleek, or of glossy skin, than the mole, iv. 91—the hog in a wild state most delicate in the choice of vege­tables, and rejects a greater number than any other animal, iii. 176—the carnivorous have not milk in plenty, iii. 366—are not fond of en­gaging each other, iii. 369—those that ruminate are harmless, and easily tamed, iii. 1—they are chief­ly the cow, the sheep, and the deer-kind, iii. 5—the chevrotin, or little guinea-deer, the least of all cloven-footed animals, and perhaps the most beau­tiful—its description, iii. 82—none can be more beautiful than the tyger, iii. 233—those that are am­phibious have motion in the lower eye-lid alone, ii. 85—general description of amphibious quadru­peds, iv. 148—medicines procured from them, iii. 69
• Quail, a bird of passage, v. 212—description of it—time of its migrations, v. 32, 212, 213—opinion, that it only goes from one part of a country to an­other—their long journies doubtful, v. 213—how caught by a call—number of their eggs—fight des­perately at the season of courtship, and easily taken at that time, v. 214
• Quail-fighting, a favourite amusement among the Athenians—abstained from the flesh of this bird, supposing it fed upon white hellebore—reared num­bers of them for fighting, and betted sums of mo­ney, as we do no cocks, v. 214
• Quarry of Maestricht, i. 63—forty thousand people may take shelter in it—description of it, i. 64
• [Page] Quicksilver, remarkable effects of it at the mines near Idra, related by Dr. Pope in the Philosophical Transactions, i. 79—the heaviest substance in the world, except gold—floats upon water by a parti­cular experiment, i. 188—seventy-one pounds and an half found equal in bulk to a hundred pound weight of gold, i. 190
• Quills of the porcupine; the Indians embroider with them their belts, baskets, and several other ne­cessary pieces of furniture, iv. 112—enquiry whe­ther the quills of the porcupine can be sent off with a shake, iv. 113
• Quito, in South America, capital city of, one of the most charming regions upon earth—this part higher than any other country in the world, i. 150—chace of the wild ass in that kingdom, ii. 379

• Rabbit, a ruminating animal, iii. 5—rabbit and hare distinct kinds—refuse to mix with each other—in­stance of it—a creature covered with feathers and hair, said to be bred between a rabbit and an hen, iv. 15—have eyes of a red colour, ii. 83—few quad­rupeds can overtake the rabbit in a short run, iv. 1, 2—their fecundity greater than that of the hare—breed seven times a year, and bring eight young each time, iv. 16—love the sunny field, and open pasture—the female suckles the young about a month—the male attends the young, leads them out, and conducts them back—have an external retreat at a distance from the warren, as a kind of country-house, iv. 17—female brings forth in a part of the warren, separate from the male, and digs herself a hole, more intricate, at the bottom of which is a more ample apartment—some hair she pulls from her belly makes a bed for her young, iv. 18—the male after six weeks acknowleges them as his offspring, smooths their skin, and licks their eyes, iv. 19
• [Page] Rabbits (tame) in a warren, continue exposed to wea­ther, without burrowing—in two or three gene­rations they find the necessity and convenience of an asylum, iv. 19, 20—various colours of rabbits—the mouse-colour kinds originally from an island in the river Humber—still continuing their general colour, after a number of successive gene­rations—account of their production, iv. 20—surprising obedience and submission of descendents to their common parent—the descendents quarrel­ling, his appearance restores peace and order—sometimes he punishes them, as an example to the rest—other instances of superiority of the common parent—the rabbit generally fatter, and lives longer than the hare—its flesh less delicate, iv. 21—native of the warmer climates—it has been imported into England from Spain—in some of the islands of the Mediterranean they multiplied in such num­bers, that military aid was demanded to destroy them—love a warm climate—English counties most noted for them—delight in a sandy soil, iv. 22—the tame larger than the wild—indulged into great plenty of moist food, as the feeders express it, are apt to grow rotten—their hair employed in Eng­land for several purposes—the skin of the male preferred, iv. 23
• Rabbit (Syrian), remarkable for the length, gloss, and softness of its hair, iii. 212, and iv. 23—in some places curled at the end like wool, and shed once a year in large masses; and some part dragg­ing on the ground, appears like another leg, or a longer tail, iv. 23, 24—no rabbits natural in A­merica—those carried from Europe multiply in the West India islands abundantly; on the conti­nent there are animals resembling the European rabbits, iv. 24
• Rabbit (Brasilian), shaped like the English, but with­out a tail—does not burrow like ours, and is not above twice the size of a dor-mouse, iv. 54—Guinea-pig placed by Brisson among animals of the rabbit-kind, iv. 55
• [Page] Racoon, with some the Jamaica rat—its description, iv. 333—and habits—do more injury in one night in Jamaica, than the labours of a month can repair, iv. 334—capable of being instructed in amusing tricks; drinks by lapping as well as by sucking—its food, iv. 334, 335
• Rains of blood, the excrements of an insect at that time raised into the air, i. 390
• Rainbows, circular rainbows in the Alps, i. 145—and between the tropics and near the poles, i. 377—one of the three rainbows seen by Ulloa, at Quito, was real, the rest only reflections thereof—a glass globe, filled with water, will assume successively all the colours of the rainbow, i. 385—upon the tops of very high mountains circular rainbows are seen, and why, i. 386—a lunar rainbow, near the poles, appears of a pale white, striped with grey, i. 387—the solar rainbow, in Greenland, appears of a pale white, edged with a stripe of dusky yellow, i. 388
• Rain fowl, the name given in some parts of the country to the wood-pecker, and why, v. 249
• Rams, it is no uncommon thing in the counties of Lincoln and Warwick, to give fifty guineas for a ram, iii. 44
• Ranguer, the name of the ninth variety of gazelles made by Mr. Buffon, iii. 78
• Rapacious, in the rapacious kinds the dam leads her young forth for months together, iv. 6
• Rarefaction of air, produced by the heat of the sun­beams in countries under the line, being flat and sandy, low and extensive, as the desarts of Africa, i. 344
• Rats, musk rat, three distinctions of that species—the ondatra, desman, and pilori—the ondatra differs from all others, having the tail flatted and carried edge-ways—in what they resemble each other, iv. 78—female of the ondatra has two aper­tures, one for urine, the other for propagation—they can creep into a hole where others, seemingly much less, cannot follow, and why—they re­semble [Page] the beaver in nature and disposition—man­ner of life—their houses during winter are covered under a depth of eight or ten feet of snow, iv. 79, 80—the savages of Canada think the musk-rat into­lerably foetid, but deem its flesh good eating, iv. 80— great rat, called also rat of Norway, though unknown in all northern countries—origi­nally from the Levant, and a new comer into this country—first arrival upon the coasts of Ire­land, with ships trading in provisions to Gibraltar, a single pair enough for the numerous progeny now infesting the British empire—called by Mr. Buffon the surmalot—its description, iv. 65, 66—the Nor­way rat, has destroyed the black rat, or common rat, as once called, iv. 66—and, being of an amphibious nature, has also destroyed the frogs in Ireland—great mischief done by the Norway rat, iv. 67—it swims with ease, dives with celerity, and soon thins the fish pond—the feebler animals do not escape the rapacity of the Norway rat, except the mouse—they eat and destroy each other—the large male keeps in a hole by itself, and dreaded by its own species, as a most formidable enemy—produce from fifteen to thirty at a time; and bring forth three times a year, iv. 68—quadrupeds avhich have anti­pathies against the rat, iv. 69—the black rat has propagated in America in great numbers, intro­duced from Europe, and are become the most noxious animals there—its description— black water-rat, not web-footed, as fspposed by Ray—its de­scription, iv. 71—its food—is eat, in some countries, on fasting days, iv. 72—the nux vomica, ground and mixed with meal, the most certain poison, and the least dangerous to kill rats, iv. 70—the German rat described, iv. 81—their sagacity in constructing their habitations, iv. 82
• Rat of Surinam. See Phalanger.
• Rat of Jamaica, a name by some given to the racoon, iv. 333
• Rattle-snake, its description, and dimensions, vii. 208 [Page]—effects of its bite, vii. 211—the remedies against it, vii. 212—power of charming its prey into its mouth—facts related to this purpo—e, vii. 213—kind of friendship between it and the armadilla, or tatou, frequently found in the same hole, iv. 131
• Ravens how distinguished from the carrion-crow and rook, v. 224—manners and appetites—raven found in every region of the world, v. 225—white ravens often shown, and rendered so by art, v. 226—trained up for fowling like a hawk; taught to fetch and carry like a spaniel—to speak like a parrot; and to sing like a man, with distinct­ness, truth, and humour—amusing qualities, vices, and defects—food in the wild state, v 226, 227—places for building nests—number of eggs—will not permit their young to keep in the same district, but drive them off when suffi­ciently able to shift for themselves—three of the Western Islands occupied by a pair of ravens each, that drive off all other birds with great cries and impetuosity—pick out the eyes of sheep and lambs when sick and helpless, v. 228—the Romans thought it ominous, and from fear paid it pro­found veneration—Pliny's account of one kept in the temple of Castor, and flew down into the shop of a taylor—some have lived near a hun­dred years—in clear weather they fly in pairs to a great height, making a deep loud noise, different from their usual croaking, v. 229, 230—the horn­ed Indian raven, v. 235
• Ravenna, once stood by the sea-side, and is now con­siderably removed from it, i. 276
• Ray, his method of classing animals, ii. 294
• Ray, figure of the fish of this kind, and their diffe­rences, vi. 248—amazing dimensions of one speared by negroes at Guadaloupe, vi. 251—to credit the Norway bishop, there are some above a mile over—supposed to be the largest inhabitants of the deep—chuses its retreat in such parts of the sea as have a black muddy bottom—the small approach [Page] the shores—their food—they generate in March and April, when they swim near the surface of the water, several males pursuing one female, vi. 352—adhere so fast in coition, that the fishermen frequently draw up both together, though only one was hooked—three hundred eggs taken out of the body of a ray—in what manner the eggs drop into the womb from the ovary, or egg-bag—breeding ceases in October, and in May are in highest per­fection, vi. 253—account of the method of taking them, vi. 254—all extremely delicate in their choice of baits; a piece of herring or haddock twelve hours out of the sea, and then used as a bait, they will not touch—best weather for taking them, vi. 257—method used by the Italians in the Mediterranean to take this fish—they bait a line of twenty miles long, with ten or twelve thousand hooks, vi. 258—no way of seizing the rough ray, but by the little fin at the end of the tail, vi. 259
• Rays of light moderated, and their violence dissipated by the air, i. 334
• Rays of the sun, darted directly upon the surface of the water, compared to so many bars of red-hot iron, i. 370
• Razor-fish, the coryphaena of the prickly-finned tho­racic kind—its description, vi. 307
• Razor-shell, the pivot, its motion and habits, vii. 52—is allured by salt, vii. 53
• Reaumur, his chymical elaboratory for hatching chickens, v. 168
• Red-breast, a song bird, seemingly mild; claims a dis­trict, whence it seldom moves, but drives away every one of the same species without pity, v. 31—its voice has the delicacy of the flute—places where found, v. 332—its nest, and the number of eggs, v. 333
• Red start, bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314
• Red-wing, or field-fare, bird of passage—its nest and eggs, v. 323
• Reed, stuck into the ground in Persia, where the [Page] earth is impregnated with inflammable vapours, continues to burn like a flambeau, i. 86
• Reeve, name given to the female of the ruff, vi. 34
• Reflection of sound, its laws not as well understood as those of light, ii. 171
• Regions, the highest region in the world, i. 150—a­bove that of storms, all is calm and serene, i. 253
• Rein-deer, killed by eight Englishmen upon the coast of Greenland, for their subsistence, remained sweet eight months, without any salt whatever, i. 314, 315. For the description of this animal see Deer.
• Relievo, painters can never fully imitate that bold re­lievo, which both eyes give to the object, ii. 150
• Remora, the sucking-fish, it sticks to the shark, and drains away its moisture; the seamen believe it at­tends the shark to point out prey; and apprize him of danger; for this reason it is called the shark's pilot, vi. 246
• Reproduction, the first discovery of the power of repro­duction in animals owing to Mr. Trembley—ex­periments made to this purpose, viii. 172
• Reptiles, grow to a prodigious size in the internal parts of South America and Africa, and why, ii. 6, 332—many of the more humble kinds not only confined to one country, but to a plant; nay, even to a leaf, ii. 7—entirely assimilated to the plant they feed on; assume its colour, and medi­cinal properties—taken from that, they in­stantly die—infinite numbers of them not seen in this part of the world, and why, ii. 8
• Resemblance to the common parent of all, the olive coloured Asiatic, and the jet black negroe, claim the honour of hereditary resemblance to him—argument sufficing to prove the contrary, ii. 240—difficult to give a reason why the child should resemble the father or the mother, ii. 248
• Respiration in fishes, general method of explaining it, vi. 170—particularly in that of the whale kind, vi. 186
• Retreat of the rabbits, an external hole at a distance [Page] from the warren, as a kind of country-house, iv. 17
• Rhine, a great river, proceeds from the Alps, i. 142—part of it lost in the sands, not far from Ley­den, i. 224—the greatest part arrives at the ocean, i. 225
• Rhinoceros, a ruminating animal, iii. 5—not afraid singly to oppose the lion, iii. 225—next to the elephant the most powerful of animals—general out-line of it, iv. 285, 286—the elephant defeated by it, iv. 287—its horn sometimes found from three to three feet and an half long—this horn com­posed of the most solid substance, and pointed so as to inflict the most fatal wounds, iv. 286—fabulous reports of this animal, iv. 287—descrip­tion of its tongue by L'Avocat—a rhinoceros sent from Bengal to London, not above two years old, cost near a thousand pounds for his conveyance and food—how it was fed—of a gentle disposi­tion, permitted itself to be touched and handled by all visitors, attempting no mischief but when a­bused, or hungry; no method of appeasing its fury then but by giving it something to eat—when angry, it jumped against the walls of the room with great violence, iv. 288—its age—its food—places where found, iv. 289—in some parts of Asia, these animals are tamed, and led into the field to strike terror into the enemy, but are as dangerous to the employers—method of taking them—some found in Africa with a double horn, one above the other, iv. 290—many medicinal virtues ascribed to this horn, when taken in powder, without any foundation, iv. 291
• Rivers, all our greatest find their source among moun­tains, i. 142—their production, according to De la Hire, i. 194—other hypotheses upon the same subject, i. 196—the copious fountains of the great­est most remote from the sea, i. 198—channels of rivers originally formed by the industry of man, [Page] according to Varenius i. 200—make their own beds, and level the bottom of their channels, i. 201, 202—rivers dig and widen themselves, to a certain de­gree, i. 202—their banks appear above water, after inundations, when the adjacent valley is overflown, and why, i. 202, 203—their sinuosities and turnings more numerous as they proceed—a certain sign with the savages of North America, they are near the sea, when they find the rivers winding and of­ten changing their direction, i. 203—rivers rise in in the middle, and the convexity is in proportion to the rapidity of the stream, i. 204—when tides flow up with violence against the natural current, the greatest rapidity is then found at the sides of the river, and why—at these times, the middle waters sink in a furrow, i. 204, 205—a little river re­ceived into a large, without augmenting either width or depth, and why, i. 207—instance of it—a river tending to enter another either per­pendicularly or in an opposite direction, will be diverted by degrees from that direction, and obliged to make itself a more favourable entrance with the stream of the former—the union of two rivers into one makes a swifter flow, and why—whatever di­rection the ridge of the mountain has, the river takes the opposite course, i. 208—their branches compared to a number of roots conveying nourish­ment to stately trees—equally difficult to tell which the original, i. 217—every great river, whose source lies within the tropics, has its stated inun­dations, i. 218—those of countries least inhabited are very rocky and broken into cataracts, and why, i. 221—some lose themselves in the sands or are swallowed up by charms in the earth, i. 224—at the poles necessarily small, and why, i. 225, 226—the rivers of Europe more navigable and more manage­able than those of Africa and of the torrid zone, i. 226—all rivers in the world flowing into the sea with a continuance of their present stores, would take [Page] up, at a rude computation, eight hundred years to fill it to its present height, i. 228
• Robin-red-breast, a slender-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, living upon insects, v. 314
• Rock, great bird, described by Arabian writers, and exaggerated by fable, supposed to be but a species of the condor, between the eagle and vultur, v. 105
• Rocks and precipices, those of St. Kilda are more than three-quarters of a mile perpendicularly—description of a very bold coast, vi. 78
• Roe-buck, the smallest of the deer-kind in our climate—its description, iii. 131—differs from the fallow-deer, from the stag, and from all the goat-kind, iii. 132—faces the stag, and often comes off victo­rious—these bucks live in separate families; the sire, dam, and young associate, and admit no-stranger into their community, iii. 133—never leaves its mate—rutting season continues but fifteen days, from the end of October to the middle of November—female goes with young five months and a half, iii. 134—produces two at a time, and three rarely—her tenderness in protecting them very extraordinary, iii. 135—names given by hunt­ers to the different kinds and ages of it, iii. 136—time of shedding its horns, iii. 137—its life seldom longer than twelve or fifteen years; and tame, not above six or seven—is of a delicate constitu­tion—easily subdued, but never thoroughly tamed—its cry neither so loud nor so frequent as the stags—hunters easily imitate the call of the young to the dam, and thus allure her to destruction, iii. 138—this animal contented to slake its thirst with the dew on the grass and leaves of trees—prefers ten­der branches and buds of trees to corn and other vegetables—we have but two known va­rieties—the flesh of those between one and two years old the greatest delicacy known—more com­mon in America than in Europe—inhabitants of Louisiana live upon its flesh, which tastes like mutton when well fatted—the breed extremely numerous, and the varieties in proportion, iii. 139 [Page]—found also in Brasil, where called cuguacu-apa­ra; and in China—its describers there confound it with the musk-goat, though of a different nature, iii. 140
• Roger de Belegme, the first recorded for attempts to­wards mending our native breed of horses, ii. 370
• Roger of Sicily, at his return from the Holy Land, brought workmen for the silk manufactory from Asia Minor, and settled them in Sicily and Cala­bria, in the beginning of the twelfth century, viii. 50
• Roller, a beautiful bird of the pie-kind; its descrip­tion, v. 242
• Romans cut down all the woods and forests in Britain, and why, i. 286—in battle, opened their ranks to admit the elephant, and separating it from assistance compelled its conductors to calm its fury and sub­mit, iv. 277—the vanity of their boasts best shewn by the parrot-kind, in a hundred species now known, not one of those birds naturally breeds in any of the countries that acknowledged the Roman power, v. 283—a Roman emperor had fifteen hundred flamingos tongues served up in a single-dish at a feast, vi. 15—a Roman senator used to throw into his ponds such of his slaves as offend­ed him, to feed the lampreys, vi. 274—infamous for a Roman to appear in a dress, in which silk entered into the composition, viii. 49
• Rombald, a holy temperate man said to have lived a hundred and twenty years, chearful by strong hopes, and healthy by moderate labour, ii. 132
• Rocks, of the pie-kind; not carnivorous, v. 330—places where they build their nests—their plan of policy, v. 231—young couples making nests too near an old pair, a battle ensues, and the old be­come victorious—fatigues of the young in making nests, v. 233, 234—the female beginning to lay, all hostilities cease, and she is suffered to hatch her brood without molestation—a foreign rook at­tempting [Page] to join society with them, would have the grove in arms against him, and be expelled without mercy, v. 234—their chief food, v. 235
• Roses, otter of roses, a modern delicate perfume, iii. 394
• Rousette, the great bat of Madagascar, a formidable creature, described, iv. 141—drinks the juice of the palm-tree, iv. 142
• Royston-crow, a bird of passage, described, v. 230
• Rubeth, the land-toad, the only one of the kind that has the property of sucking cancerous breasts, vii. 105
• Ruff, small bird of the crane-kind, vi. 33—manner of taking it, vi. 34—their flesh in high estimation, vi. 35
• Ruminant animals most harmless and easily tamed—ge­nerally go in herds for mutual security—live entire­ly upon vegetables, iii. 1—the meanest of them unite in each other's defence—are more indolent and less artful than the carnivorous kinds, and why—nature has enlarged the capacity of their intestines for a greater supply of food, iii. 2—their bowels con­sidered as an elaboratory with vessels in it, iii. 3—made their intestines strong, fleshy, and well co­vered with fat, iii. 4—and furnished them with four strong and muscular stomachs, iii. 3 and 5—some that are not furnished with four stomachs—ruminant quadrupeds, birds, fishes, insects, iii. 5, 6—men known to ruminate; instance in a young man at Bristol, iii. 6—those of the cow-kind hold the first rank, iii. 8—all of this class internally much alike, iii. 36—have not the upper fore-teeth, iii. 44—the stag performs this with more difficulty than the cow or sheep, iii. 106
• Runner, the corrira, bird of the crane-kind, its de­scription, vi. 21
• Runts, a variety of tame pigeons, produced by cross-coupling, v. 293
• Russian soldiers and condemned criminals sent into [Page] Siberia to kill sables, both taxed at a certain num­ber of skins yearly—a colonel, during seven years stay, gains about four thousand crowns for his share, iii. 375
• Rust, copper and iron quickly covered and corroded with it—gold contracts no rust, and why, except in the elaboratories where salt is much used, i. 313
• Rut, time when the stags feel the desire of copulating, iii. 101, 102—their neck is then swoln—other ef­fects which it causes in stags, iii. 102—their voice at that time terrible, iii. 106

• Sable, its description, from Mr. Jonelin, the first ac­curate observer of this animal, iii. 373—sables leap with ease from tree to tree, and are afraid of the sun—different colours of their fur, iii. 374—hunt­ing the sable chiefly the lot of soldiers and con­demned criminals—how directed to shoot then, iii. 375
• Sabre, the trachepterus, description of this spinous fish, vi. 309
• Sacre, bird of the generous breed of hawks, the legs are of a blueish colour, and serve to distinguish it, v. 122
• Sago tree eat by the elephant to the stump, iv. 259
• Sai, the bewailer, a monkey of the new continent, iv. 236
• Sail, a stag hard hunted, taking to the water, is said to go sail, iii. 114
• Saines, name of the nets used in the pilchard-fishery on the coast of Cornwall, vi. 332
• Sajou, third sort of the sapajou, a monkey of the new continent, iv. 236
• Saki, the cagui, the largest monkey of the sagoin kind—its description, iv. 237
• Sal ammoniac, trade of the urine of camels, iv. 311
• Salamander, there is no such animal existing as that described by the ancients—the modern salamander a lizard—its conformation and habits, vii. 139— [Page] reports concerning their venom, vii. 140—idle no­tion of its being inconsumable in fire, vii. 142—internal conformation of the lizard, vii. 143—manner of its bringing forth young alive, all am­phibious, vii. 145—sustain want of food surprising­ly, vii. 146
• Saliva, in the lama, or American camel, supplied by nature in such abundance, that it spits on all occa­sions, and seems the only offensive weapon of this harmless creature—the Indians think it of so acri­monious a nature, as to burn the skin, or cause dangerous eruptions, iv. 315
• Salmon, said to be a ruminating fish, iii. 5—a soft-finned abdominal fish, vi. 313—the young conti­nue in the egg from the beginning of December till the beginning of April, vi. 180
• Salt water, opinions about the saltness of the sea, par­ticularly that of Boyle, i. 234—method of finding out the age of the world by the saltness of the ocean, i. 235—saltness found to prevail in every part of the ocean, as much at the surface as at the bottom—also found in some lakes, i. 236—consi­dered as a principal cause in preserving the sea from putrefaction—it is confirmed by experiments, i. 239, 240—advantages derived from the saltness of the sea, i. 241—various attempts to make it fresh, i. 237—its weight, i. 241 See Sea water.
• Salt, Bay-salt, brought from the Bay of Biscay, a strong kind made by evaporation in the sun, i. 241—fishes do not imbibe any of the saltness of the sea-water, vi. 321—destroys snails, vii. 25—allures the pivot, or razor-shell, vii. 53—salt sprinkled upon the water-lizard, the whole body emits a viscuous liquor, and it dies in three minutes, in great ago­nies, vii. 146—volatile caustic salt obtained in great quantity from the cantharides fly, viii. 143
• Sameyel, a wind along the coasts of the Persian Gulph, which assumes a visible form, and instant­ly kills all those involved in its passage; i. 358
• [Page] Samiri, the aurora, the smallest and most beautiful monkey of the sapajou kind—its description—a very tender delicate animal, and held in high price, iv. 336
• Samoeid Tartars, description of that people, ii. 213
• Sanctorian statical experiments upon a weak founda­tion, ii. 111
• Sand, rolling in waves like a troubled sea, and over­whelming all with inevitable destruction, i. 13—fine vitrifiable, found in a well dug at Marly, i. 57—so fine, and driven with such violence, as to pene­trate into chests, be they shut never so closely, i. 357—tract of a country, lying along the sea-side in Lower Brittany, inhabited before the year 1666, now lies desert, being covered with sand to the height of twenty feet, i. 364
• Sanderling, small bird of the crane-kind, vi. 23
• Sandpiper, small bird of the crane-kind, vi. 23
• Santorin, an earthquake happened in it in 1707, i. 126—the new volcano near it, i. 127
• Sapajou, name given to the monkies of the new con­tinent, that have muscular holding tails—five sorts of them, iv. 235
• Savages more difficult in point of dress than the fa­shionable or tawdry European, ii. 98—instance of it, ii. 97—perform a journey of twelve hundred leagues in less than six weeks, ii. 115—oblige their women to a life of continual labour—is surprized a European walks forward for his amusement and return back again, ii. 121—the boast of corporal force now resigned to savage nations, and why, ii. 119—are highly delighted with the smell of asafoe­tida, ii. 181—their customs in every country al­most the same, ii. 230—those of Africa the most brutal—they and those of America, sup­pose monkies to be men, idle, slothful, rational beings, capable of speech and conversation, but ob­stinately dumb for fear of being compelled to labour, iv. 231
• [Page] Sauce made with the blood and marrow of the rein-deer, and kept for use in small casks by the Lap­landers, iii. 167
• Savoyards, the only chimney-sweepers of Paris carry about for show the marmotte bred in their native country, iv. 39
• Scallop, in its shell, moves forward upon land, and swims upon the surface of the water, by contrivance in a singular manner, vii. 51
• Scar, a child distinctly marked similar to one the fa­ther had from a wound received in battle, ii. 238
• Scarus, if we believe Ovid, is, like the salmon, a ruminating fish, iii. 6
• Scaup-duck, a variety of the duck-kind, vi. 130
• Scent, the negroes of Guinea have an insupportable scent, ii. 226
• Schotius assures us, he saw an instance of fishes being allured by music, ii. 168
• Sciaena, a spinous fish—description of this fish, vi. 308
• Scolopendra, the centipes, a hideous angry worm, described, vii. 302, 303
• Somber, the mackarel, a prickly-finned thoracic fish—its description, vi. 307
• Scooper, bird of the crane-kind, chiefly found in Italy, vi 20 See Avosetta.
• Scorpaena, or father-lasher, of the prickly-finned tho­racic kind—description of this fish, vi. 308
• Scorpion, four principal parts distinguishable in this animal, vii. 292—the reservoir where its poison is kept, vii. 293—effects of its sting upon a dog, in an experiment made by M. Maupertuis, vii. 294—experiments made upon other dogs, vii. 295—instances of its irascible nature and malignity, vii. 297—when driven to extremity, destroys itself, vii. 298—instance of it—the male smaller than the female, vii. 299—their chief food, vii. 300—how the common scorpion produces its young, vii. 299, 300—captivity makes it destroy its young—a scor­pion of America produced from the egg, vii. 301
• [Page] Water-Scorpion, an insect with wings, described, vii. 359—its habits, vii. 360
• Scoter, an European duck, vi. 129
• Scotland has land in it at one time covered with water, at another free, i. 279—not infested with wolves, iii. 319
• Scotchman, in the Tower for felony, took not the least sustenance during six weeks, the records of that fortress mentioning his being exactly watched all that time, ii. 133
• Sea was open to all till the time of the emperor Justi­nian, i. 232—sensibly retired in many parts of the coasts of France, England, Holland, Germany, and Prussia, i. 275—Norwegian sea has formed se­veral little islands from the main land, and still daily advances upon the continent, i. 278—its co­lour not from any thing floating in it, but from the different reflexions of the rays of light—a proof of it—though its surface be deformed by tempests, it is usually calm and temperate below, i. 292—the sea grows colder in proportion as divers descend, i. 292, 293—smokes like an oven near the poles, when the winter begins, i. 386—no fish imbibe any of the sea-saltness with food or in respiration—why some species live only there, and expire when brought into fresh water, accounted for, vi. 321
• Red Sea choaked up with coraline substances, i. 288 and viii. 192—along some shores, and at the mouths of several rivers, the bottom has the appearance of a forest of trees, millions of plants standing so thick as to obstruct navigation, viii 191
• Sea-eggs, name given to the multivalve shell fish, of the echini, or urchins, which move, vii. 61
• Sea-nettles, name given by some to the star-fish, viii. 175
• Sea-water about a forty-fifth part heavier than fresh water, i. 241—is heavier, and consequently salter, the nearer we approach the line, i. 242—various methods proposed to render it fresh for the use of seamen in long voyages, i. 237. See Salt water.
• [Page] Sea-worm may be multiplied by being cut in pieces, ii. 23. See Polypus.
• Seal resembles a quadruped in some respects, and a fish in others, ii. 313 and iv. 168—its description—the varieties innumerable, iv. 168, 169—the brain largest of any animal—its tongue differs from other quadrupeds, iv. 170—the foramen ovale in its heart never closing, fits it for continuing under water, though not so long as fishes, iv. 171—the water its habitation, and any fish its food—makes little use of its legs, iv. 172—seldom at a distance from the shore—found in the North and Icy Seas, and on those shores in flocks, basking on the rocks and suckling their young—alarmed, they plunge all together into the water—in thunder and torrents they sport along the shore, as delighted with univer­sal disorder, iv. 173—gregarious and migrant, direct their course to northern coasts and seas free of ice, in two departures, observing time and track, iv. 174—how and by what passages they return unknown—they go out fat and return lean—females in our climate bring forth in winter—where they rear their young—how they suckle them—she has four teats near the navel—in fifteen days, she brings the young to the water, to swim and get food—no litter exceeds four—the young know the mother's voice among the bleatings of the old—assist each other in danger, and are obedient to her call, iv. 175—hunt and herd together, and have a va­riety of tones like dogs and cats, to pursue prey, or warn of danger—feeling natural desires, they fight desperately, and the victorious male keeps all to himself—two never fall upon one, each has its an­tagonist—neither length of time in pregnancy, nor duration of these animals lives yet known, iv. 176—two taken young, after ten years had the marks of age—expert at catching fish—destroy herrings by thousands—swift in deep waters, they dive with rapidity, iv. 177—attacked with stones, they bite [Page] at what is thrown, and to the last gasp annoy the enemy—time to surprize them—how the Europeans and Greenlanders destroy them, iv. 178, 179—in our climate they are wary, and suffer no ap­proach—never sleep without moving, and seldom more than a minute, iv. 179—taken for the skin and oil the fat yields—uses of the skin when dressed—the flesh formerly at the tables of the great—an instance of it, iv. 180—the sea-lion, in Anson's Voyages, the largest of the seal family, iv. 181
• Sebald Wert, a traveller, confirms the existence of giants in St. Julian's Bay, forty-nine degrees south of the line, ii. 261
• Seeds, some thought to thrive better for maceration in the stomach of birds, before they be voided on the ground, v. 316
• Senegal, a river in Africa, its course—is navigable for more than three hundred leagues, i. 212—receives more than twenty rivers, i. 217—the natives consi­der forty years as a very advanced time of life, and generally die of old age at fifty, i. 321
• Sensations, their illusion at first when man is newly brought into existence, described by Mr. Buffon, ii. 187—fish fall behind terrestrial animals in their sensations, vi. 159
• Senses, acting at some distance, proportionably more capable of making combinations; and consequent­ly, more improveable, ii. 178—of all senses man is most inferior to other animals in that of smell­ing—and it seems not to offend them, ii. 179—the grossest, and most useful of all, is that of feel­ing, ii. 185
• Sensitive plant, has as much perception as the fresh water polypus, ii. 3
• Seps, improper name of the Chalcidian lizard, the last division of that kind—description of this animal, vii. 157, 158—its bite very venomous, vii, 215
• Seraglio, to be able to furnish one the only tendency of the ambition of an Asiatic, ii. 72
• [Page] Serpents, the sea about the islands of Azores replen­ished with them for want of motion, i. 239—to believe all said of the sea-serpent, is credulity; to refuse assent to its existence, is presumption, vi. 193—the various hissings at the close of evening, make a louder symphony in Africa than birds in European groves in a morning, ii, 321—histories of antiquity exhibit a nation sinking under the ra­vages of a serpent, vii. 162—Regulus leading his army along the banks of the river Bagrada, in A­frica, an enormous serpent disputed the passage, its skin was an hundred and twenty feet long, vii. 163—marks distinguishing them from the rest of animals—their conformation, vii. 165—and pro­gressive motion, vii. 171—the natural food of the ichneumon, iii. 379—the only animal in the forest that opposes the monkey—surprising them sleeping, swallows them whole, before they have time for defence—monkies inhabit the tops of trees, and serpents cling to branches toward the bottom; thus near each other, as enemies in the same field of battle—this vicinity thought to argue a friendship—monkies provoke the serpents by jumping over them, iv. 220—encounter of a great serpent with a buffalo—entwines and devours the buffalo, vii. 174—long serpent of Congo, vii. 176—some bring their young alive, some bring forth eggs, vii. 184—some venomous, and some inoffensive, vii. 186—animals which destroy them, vii. 188—boasted pretensions of charming serpents, vii. 189—have docility—Egyptians paid adoration to a serpent; and inhabitants of the western coast of Africa retain the same veneration, vii. 190—all amphibious, vii. 182—their motion, swim­ing in liquids, vii. 183—excrements of some kept as a pleasing perfume at Calcutta and Cranganon—the Esculapian serpent, vii. 184—little serpent at the Cape of Good Hope, and north of the river Senegal, vii. 172—sea-serpent, the elops describ­ed, vi. 310—the prince of serpents a native of Ja­pan, [Page] the greatest favourite of savages, and has not its equal for beauty, vii. 224—seat of poison in venomous serpents; instrument by which the wound is made, vii. 193, 194—those destitute of fangs are harmless, vii. 194—various appearances the venom produce, vii. 197—may be taken inwardly without sensible effects or prejudice to the consti­tution, vii. 198—instance of it, 199—another of the force of serpents poison, from Ray, vii. 200—no animals bear abstinence so long as they, vii. 178—their powers of digestion but feeble, vii. 179—their principal food birds, moles, toads, lizards, vii. 202—little serpents live for several years in glasses, never eat at all, nor stain the glass with excrements, vii. 179
• Serval, a native of Malabar, resembling the panther in its spots, iii. 258
• Setter, a dog of the generous kind, iii. 286, 288
• Severn, lamprey of this river the most delicate of all fish, vi. 270
• Shagreen, made of the skin of the wild ass, ii. 377—the skin of the shark, by great labour, polished in­to the substance called shagreen, vi. 247
• Shammoy, a kind of goat, in the mountains of Dau­phine, Piedmont, Savoy, Switzerland, and Ger­many, iii. 63—its description, iii. 65—keep in flocks from four to fourscore, and a hundred—time of coupling—live twenty or thirty years—their flesh good to eat; the suet from ten or twelve pounds, iii. 63—this animal has a feeble bleat, to call its young; in cases of danger, its hissing noise is heard at a great distance—by smell, discovers a man at half a league, iii. 64—feeds upon [...] best herbage, and delicate parts of plants, and aroma­tic herbs—admired for the beauty of its eyes, iii. 65—not found in summer, except in caverns of rocks, amidst fragments of ice, or under shades of spreading trees, iii. 66—during winter, it sleeps in the thicker forests, and feeds upon shrubs and buds of pine-trees, and scratches up the snow for herb­age, [Page] iii. 67—manner of hunting it—dogs of useless in the chace, iii. 68—skin of the shammoy when tanned, liked for softness and warmth; the leather now called shammoy, made from the tame goat, sheep, and deer, iii. 68, 69—medicinal virtues said to reside in the blood, fat, gall, and the con­cretion found in the stomach, and called the Ger­man bezoar, iii. 69
• Shank, the red, and the green shank, varieties of the crane kind—their dimensions, vi. 23
• Shark, description of the great white shark—the mouth and throat enormously wide; capable of swallow­ing a man, vi. 238—great number of its teeth, vi. 239—no fish swims so fast, vi. 155 to 240—outstrips the swiftest ships—obliged to turn on one side (not on the back) to seize the prey, vi. 240—in­stances of frightful rapacity in this fish, vi. 241—its enmity to man; along the coasts of Africa, many negroes are seized and devoured by them yearly,—loves the black men's flesh better than the white vi. 241, 242—usual method of sailors to take them,—no animal harder to kill; when cut in pieces, the muscles preserve motion, and vibrate for some minutes separated from the body, vi. 243, 244—how killed by the African negroes, vi. 245—the remora, or sucking-fish sticks to it; for what purpose—for resemblance to the whale ranked among cetaceous fishes—brings forth living young—Rondeletius says, the female of the blue shark lets her brood, when in danger, swim down her throat, and shelter in her belly, vi. 245, 246—in Mr. Pennant's opinion, the female is larger than the male, through all this tribe, vi. 247
• Sheat-fish, the siturus of the prickly-finned abdominal kind—its description, vi. 310
• Sheep, in the domestic state, stupid, most defenceless, and inoffensive—made so by human art alone—its description, iii. 38, 39, 40—those living upon fertile pasture, growing fat, become feeble, iii. 40, 41—those without horns, more dull and heavy than [Page] the rest—those with longest and finest fleeces most subject to disorders—the goat, resembling them in many other respects, much their superior, iii. 41—they propagate together, as of one family, iii. 35—sheep follow the sound of the shepherd's pipe, iii. 42—in course of time impoverish the pasturage, iii. 10—they eat three hundred and eighty-seven plants, and rejects a hundred and forty-one, iii. 176—the author law one that would eat flesh, ii. 327—have eight teeth in the lower jaw—are shed and replaced at different periods—some breeds in England never change teeth, and are supposed old a year or two before the rest, iii. 44, 45—bring forth one or two at a time, sometimes three or four; the third lamb supposed the best—bear their young five months, iii. 45—their eyes are of a water colour, ii. 83—and the intestines thirty times the length of their body, iii. 210—do not appear from old writers to have been bred in early times in Britain, iii. 43—to spare the stock queen Elizabeth enjoin­ed her subjects should fast from flesh on Fridays and Saturdays, ii. 131—no country produces such sheep as England; larger fleeces, or better for cloathing—sheep without horns the best sort, and why, iii. 44—profitable care taken of the animal produces favourable alterations in the fleeces here and in Syria, ii. 329—the sheep in its noblest state is in the African desert, or the extensive plains of Siberia, iii. 45—the moufflon, or sheep in the sa­vage state, a bold fleet creature, able to escape from larger animals, or to oppose smaller kinds with the arms received from nature; iii. 39—the woolly sheep is only in Europe, and in the temperate provinces of Asia—transported into warmer countries, as Florida or Guinea, loses the wool and fertility, and the flesh its flavour—sub­sists in cold countries, but not a natural inhabitant of them, iii. 46—the Ireland sheep have four, and sometimes eight horns, on different parts of the the forehead—its wool inferior to that of the com­mon [Page] sheep—with broad tails, common in Tar­tary, Arabia, Persia, Barbary, Syria, and Egypt; the tail often weighs from twenty to thirty pounds, and sometimes supported by a small board, upon wheels, iii. 47—those called strepsicheros, a native of the Archipelago—Guinea sheep described, iii. 48—in Syria and Persia, remarkable for fine gloss, length, and softness of hair, iii. 212—distinguished from deer; these annually shedding the horns, while the permanence in the former, draws an exact line be­tween their kinds, iii. 36
• Sheldrake, a variety of the pond-duck, supposed a na­tive of England, vi. 130
• Shells, (fossil) found in all places near to and distant from the sea, upon the surface of the earth, on the tops of mountains, or at different depths digging for marble, chalk, or other terrestrial matters, so compact as to preserve these shells from decay, i. 17, 40, 41—long considered as mere productions of the earth never inhabited by fish—some have not their fellows in the ocean, i. 41, vii. 15—but all have the properties of animal, not of mineral na­ture; their weight the same with those upon shore, answer all chemical trials as sea shells do—and have the same effects in medicinal uses, i. 41, 42—various kinds found at a hundred miles from the sea at Touraine in France—a continued bed of oyster-shells found through the whole circumfe­rence of five or six acres of ground near Reading, in Berkshire—shells found petrified in all the Al­pine rocks, in the Pyrenees, on the hills of France, England, and Flanders, i. 42, 43—a floor, or pave­ment, of petrified shells found in Kent, near the Medway, i. 44—shells always remaining in the deep, i. 46—easier to believe fossil shells bred in fresh water, than that the sea for a time covered the tops of high mountains, i. 50—petrified shells found in one of the pyramids of Egypt, i. 47, 48—great variety of fossil, or extraneous shells, vii. 15—different states of preservation—every shell the [Page] spoil of some animal—no matter how parted from the sea, vii. 16—Swammerdam's attention to tes­taceous animals almost beyond credibility, vii. 17—volumes upon the subject of shells contribute little to the history of shell-fish, vii. 2—methods of con­veying a just idea of the formation of sea-shells and garden-shells, vii. 3 to 5—usual way of accounting for different colouring in shells, vii. 6—hint about the operation of nature in colouring shells—they assume every colour but blue, vii. 7, 8—the animal not solely the agent in giving beauty and colouring to it, vii. 8, 9— stairs-shell, or admiral-shell, not more precious for their scarceness, than pearls for their beauty, vii. 10—collections of shells have their use, vii. 11—naturally classed by Aristotle—places where shells are found, vii. 12—and sub­stances of which they are composed—supposition that all earths fermenting with vinegar, are com­posed of shells, crumbled down to one mass—what shells most valuable, vii. 13—sea-shells exceed land or fossil shells in beauty—some living land shells not inferior in beauty to fresh-water shells, vii. 14
• Shells of the sea, scarce one met with entire and sound to the end of its convolutions, and why, vii. 34—of all sea-shells, that of the nautilus, the thinnest and most easily pierced, vii. 35—all bivalved shells fur­nish pearls, and their insides resemble and afford that substance called mother-of-pearl, vii. 53—some pierced by worms argue them food for such ani­mals, vii. 16
• Shells, animal, of the armadilla or tatou, one of the most striking curiosities in natural history, iv. 126—turtle-shells of an amasing magnitude, vi. 399
• Sheque Ismael, in his time the Arabians first began the management of horses, ii. 349
• Shetland isles, amasing quantity of herrings appearing off these islands, vi. 329
• Shores, of all those in the world, not one so high as [Page] that to the west of St. Kilda, six hundred fathom perpendicular above the surface of the sea, i. 272—some on which the sea has made temporary de­predations, i. 279
• Short-heads, name given by sailors to the young of the whale, whilst at the breast, vi. 200
• Shoveller, species of the crane kind—its food—inha­bitants of the Cape of Good Hope respect it as the ancient Egyptians did their bird ibis, vi. 8—its nest and eggs, vi. 9
• Shoulders, high in sickly persons—people dying, are seen with their shoulders drawn up in a surprising manner, ii. 103—women with child also, usually seen high-shouldered, ii. 104—shoulders, in wo­men, narrower than in men, ii. 107
• Showers, dreadful shower of hail in 1510—its descrip­tion, i. 376—of stones, fishes, and ivy-berries, raised into the air by tempests in one country, and falling at a distance like rain, to astonish another, i. 390
• Shrewsbury, Roger de Belegme, created earl of Shrewsbury by William the Conqueror, first upon record to have attempted mending our native breed of horses, ii. 370
• Siagush, called by Mr. Buffon the caracal, of the lynx-kind, a native of the East Indies, resembles the ounce in size, iii. 258—met with only in warm tropical climates—used, in the same manner as the ounce, for hunting, iii. 265—called also the lion's provider; and said when it calls him to pursue prey, its voice resembles that of a man calling another—one sent over from the East Indies, could not en­dure the change of climate, iii. 266—has killed a large dog in single combat; yet remarkable for cowardice, iii. 267—how it makes the gazelle and antelope easy preys to the hunters, iii. 266
• Siberia, the animal between dog and fox, called isatis, found in this country, and seldom in milder, cli­mates, iii. 340—the sable resembling the martin found in this country; soldiers and exiled crimi­nals [Page] hunt it, and furnish annually numbers of its skins, iii. 375—enormous tusks found lodged in the sandy banks of the rivers in this waste country, iv. 282
• Sicily and Calabria taught the other kingdoms of Eu­rope the silk-manufacture, viii. 50
• Sighs, in what manner produced—when invigorated produce sobbing, ii. 92
• Sight, of old men indistinct for bodies close to them, but more precise for objects at a distance from them, and why, ii. 158—of birds exceeds that of other animals, and excels in strength and precision—a kite, from an imperceptible height in the clouds, sees its prey, and darts on it with unerring aim, v. 10—of birds that prey by day, astonishingly quick; and in such as ravage by night, so fitted as to dis­cern objects in darkness with precision, v. 80
• Signs of death, uncertainty of them ought to make every one cautious of giving up a friend as dead, and exposing him to real death, or a premature en­terment, ii. 208 to 210
• Silks, brought to Jamaica, and there exposed to the air, rot while they preserve their colour, but kept from air retain their strength and gloss, i. 314—anciently so scarce in Rome as to be sold for their weight in gold; and considered such a luxurious refinement in dress, that infamy was attached to wearing stuffs in which it made but half the composition, viii. 49
• Silk-worm, its real history unknown among the Ro­mans to the time of Justinian; and supposed only brought into Europe in the twelfth century, viii. 50—two methods of breeding them, viii. 51—Pausanias's description of this worm, viii. 50—changes of its skin in three weeks or a month, viii. 55—gummy fluid forming the threads, viii. 56—preparations made before spinning the web, viii. 57—the cone or ball of silk described, viii. 58—efforts to burst the cone—free from confine­ment, it neither flies nor eats; the male seeks the [Page] female, impregnates her in an uninterrupted union of four days, then dies upon reparation, the sur­vives till she has laid her eggs, which are hatched into worms the ensuing spring—few of these ani­mals suffered to come to a state of maturity, and why, viii. 59—the most serviceable of all such creatures, viii. 4
• Manufactures of silk, established in Europe, in the beginning of the twelfth century, by Roger of Si­cily, viii. 50
• Silurus, the sheat fish of the prickly-finned abdominal kind, its description, vi. 310
• Simeon, said to have lived an hundred and twelve years, ii. 132
• Sinews of the rein-deer, the strongest kind of sewing thread, iii. 167
• Single, name of the tail of the stag, iii. 113
• Siskin, singing bird of the sparrow-kind, with thick and short bill, feeding on grain and fruit, v. 315—time of its migration, v. 317
• Size of men varies considerably, ii. 108—the human body often differs from itself, ii. 110—the same person taller when he rises in the morning, than going to bed at night; sometimes the difference is an inch; this first perceived in England by a re­cruiting officer—in what manner, ii. 108—the cause of it, ii. 109—men are tall from five feet eight inches to six feet high—middle size from five feet five to five feet eight, ii. 108—Maximin, the emperor, above nine foot in height, ii. 118—ap­proaching towards the north pole, the natives di­minish proportionably; growing less and less in higher latitudes, ii. 217—cause of their difference—an ox, on the fertile plains of India, grows four times as large as the lesser animal of the same kind in the Alps, ii. 237—of men in all ages, nearly the same as at present—many corroborating proofs of this, ii. 265
• Skates, Laplanders make use of them upon the snow, and how, ii. 215
• [Page] Skeleton of the bat in some measure resembles that of man, iv. 135—some human lately discovered of enormous size five, or six feet beneath the surface, on the banks of the Ohio, not far from the river Miume, in America, iv. 282
• Skin, the only part of the body that age does not harden—whence its wrinkles proceed, ii. 197—of the rein-deer, a more valuable part of the ani­mal than any other—uses of it, iii. 166—of the tiger, much valued all over the East, iii. 243—of the black fox most esteemed, a single skin selling for forty or fifty crowns—the hair is so disposed, that it is impossible to tell which way the grain lies, iii. 333—most valuable part of the martin's skin—twelve thousand of these annually imported into England from Hudson's bay, and thirty thou­sand from Canada—most worth when taken in the beginning of winter, iii. 372—of all, that of the sable most coveted, and held in highest price—a single skin four inches broad, is often sold for ten or fifteen pounds—the fur surpassing all other in having no grain; whatever way rubbed, is equally smooth and unresisting, iii. 373—a cer­tain number of these furnished every year by con­demned exiles, and Russian soldiers, sent into Si­beria to kill the animal, iii. 375—of the ondatra also very valuable, iv. 80—of the mole, Agricola saw the finest and most beautiful hats that could be imagined, made of their skins, iv. 98—of the hedge-hog, converted to no use, except to muzzle calves, from sucking, iv. 105—of the elephant, not covered with hair—that part covering the head resembles the bark of an old tree more than the skin of an animal, iv. 265—of the rhinoceros, so thick as to turn the edge of a scymetar, and resist a musquet-ball, iv. 286—is naked, rough, knotty, and lying upon the body in folds, after a very pe­culiar manner, iv. 285—of the ostrich, what use the Arabians make of it, v. 61—of the great [Page] Greenland whale, marbled white and yellow, vi. 194—of the civet, so strongly scented, a person shut up with one in a close room cannot support the perfume, iii. 392, 393
• Skink, an animal called one of the pole-cats of Ame­rica, iii. 380—the author thinks it Catesby's Vir­ginia pole-cat—its description, iii. 381
• Skull-fish, name of the whale above two years old, vi. 200
• Slatberg, in Ireland (in the lands of) there stood a declivity, and the earth of it was found sliding down the hill upon the subjacent plain, i. 160
• Sleep, with some lower animals, takes up the greatest part of their lives—man the only creature requir­ing sleep from double motives, for the refreshment of the mental, and of the bodily frame, ii. 134—want of it produces madness, ii. 135—procured to man with more difficulty than to other animals—in what manner sleep fetters us for hours toge­ther, according to Rohault, ii. 136, 137—care re­quired to regulate its quantity, and why, ii. 137, 138—bodily labour demands a less quantity of it than mental—the famous Philip Barrettier slept twelve hours in the twenty-four, ii. 138—sleep to some an agreeable period of existence—questions treated in the schools to this purpose, ii. 139—numberless instances of persons who, asleep, performed many ordinary duties of their calling; and, with ridi­culous industry, completed by night, what they failed doing by day—remarkable instance related in the German Ephemerides, ii. 140, 141—ridiculous history of Arlotto, a friar, with a narrative of the actions of his life, when asleep, ii. 142, 143
• Sloth, two different kinds of that animal, the air and the unan, iv. 343—described, 344—both seem the meanest and most ill-formed of all animals that chew the cud—their food—formed by nature to climb—they get up a tree with pain, but utterly unable to descend—drop from the branches to the ground, iv. [Page] 345—move with imperceptible slowness, baiting by the way, iv. 346—strip a tree of its verdure in less than a fortnight, afterwards devour the bark, and in a short time kill what might prove their support, iv. 345—every step taken, sends forth a plaintive melancholy cry, which, from some re­semblance to the human voice, excites a displeas­ing pity, iv. 346—like birds, have but one vent for propagation, excrement, and urine, iv. 347—they continue to live some time after their nobler parts are wounded, or taken away—their note, accord­ing to Kircher, an ascending and descending hexa­chord, uttered only by night—their look piteous, to move compassion; accompanied with tears, that dissuade injuring so wretched a being—one fastened by its feet to a pole, suspended across two beams, remained forty days without meat, drink, or sleep, iv. 347,—an amazing instance of strength in the feet instanced, iv. 348
• Slot, term for the print of the hoof of the stag, iii. 113—to draw on the slot, a phrase among hunters, iii. 114.
• Slow, name given by some to the blind-worm, vii. 222
• Smell, no substance now known in the world has a stronger, and more permanent smell than musk, iii. 89—strong offensive smell of foxes often the cause of their death, iii. 324—of the weasel-kind, kept tame about the houses of the planters in America, not very offensive, iii. 383—of the genett, not endured by mice and rats, iii. 388—the musky not properly a characteristic mark of any kind of animal, iii. 32
• Smelling, the sense in which man is most inferior to other animals—it never offends them—stronger in nations abstaining from animal food, than in Eu­ropeans, ii. 179—bramins of India have a power of smelling, equal to what is in other creatures,—can smell water they drink, to us quite inodo­rous—negroes of the Antilles by smell distinguish [Page] the footsteps of a Frenchman from those of a ne­groe—in a state of nature useful, not in our situ­ation—gives often false intelligence, ii. 180—na­tives of different countries, or different natives of the same, differ widely in that sense—instances of it, ii. 181—mixtures of bodies void of odour pro­duce powerful smells—mixtures of bodies sepa­rately disagreeable, give pleasant aromatic smells—a slight cold blunts all smelling—incurable aver­sions to smells formerly agreeable, retained from disorders—smallest changes in man make great al­terations in this sense—antipathies to animals, whose presence is perceived by the smell, ii. 282—delicacy of smelling in birds instanced in ducks, v. 11
• Savours, mechanical manner of accounting for dif­ference of favours, ii. 183
• Smile, Fielding asserts, a person with a steady glaver­ing smile, never failed to prove himself a rogue, ii. 94
• Snail, shell of the garden-snail, in what manner formed, vii. 3, et seq.
• Sea-snail, a cartilaginous fish, described, vi. 288
• Garden-snail, is surprisingly fitted for the life it is to live—organs of life, it possesses in common with animals, vii. 19—and what peculiar to itself, vii. 20—every snail at once male and female; and while it impregnates another, is impregnated in turn, vii. 21—coupling these animals—hide their eggs in great numbers in the earth, with great solicitude and industry, vii. 22—the growth of them, vii. 23—possessed of the power of mending the shell; and come to full growth, they cannot make a new one—Swammerdam's experiment to this purpose, vii. 24—their food, vii. 26—salt destroys them, so does soot—a tortoise in a garden banishes them most effectually, vii. 25—continue in a torpid state during the severity of winter—so great their mul­tiplication in some years, that gardeners imagine they burst from the earth—wet seasons favourable to their production, vii. 26— sea snail, fresh water [Page] snail, and land snail, vii. 27—common garden snail compared with the fresh water snail, and sea snail, vii. 28—fresh water snails vivaporous—bring forth young alive, with shells upon their backs—expe­riment made by Swammerdam to this purpose—at all times of the year, fresh water snails opened, are pregnant with eggs, or with living snails, or with both together, vii. 29, 30—sea snails found vi­viparous, others lay eggs, vii. 30—manner in which the sea snails impregnate each other—dif­ferent orifices or verges of snails—the difference between land and sea snails, vii. 31—of the tro­chus kind, have no mouth—their trunk—are a­mong snails, as the tiger, the eagle, or the shark, among beasts, birds, and fishes, vii. 33—food of all sea snails lies at the bottom—of sea snails, that most frequently swimming upon the surface, whose shell is thinnest, and most easily pierced, is the nautilus, vii. 35—its description, vii. 36—nothing seemingly more impossible, yet is more certain, than the nautilus sometimes quitting its shell, and re­turning to it again—peculiarity by which the nau­tilus is most distinguished, vii. 37
• Snake, continues for several months together sub­sisting upon a single meal, ii. 125—snakes destroy mice, iv. 73—the only animal in the forest adven­turing to oppose the monkey—larger snakes often winding up the trees where they reside, and hap­pening to surprise them sleeping, swallow them whole, before they have time to make defence, iv. 220. See Serpents.
• Black snake, its description and food—are oviparous, vii. 220, 221
• Snipe, a water-bird of passage—its description, vi. 23 to 28
• Snow, inhabitants of places where fields are conti­nually white with snow, generally become blind before the usual course of nature, i. 15—its melt­ing produces a constant breeze, i. 347
• Snow-slips, dreaded by travellers—a family in Ger­many [Page] lived for a fortnight beneath one of there snow-slips, i. 161
• Sobbing, is a sigh still more invigorated, ii. 92
• Soland goose, belongs to the northern islands; in greatest number on the Bass island, and subsists entirely upon fish, vi. 71 to 75. See Bass and Gannet.
• Soldier-crab, like a lobster, without a shell—a native of the West India islands—description, and descent from the mountains, vi. 376 to 379
• Solfatara, a valley near Naples, described—exhibits the appearance of an earthquake in miniature, i 123
• Sonorous bodies; those who make the tone of such bodies to depend upon the number only, and not the force of its vibrations, mistake an effect for a cause, ii. 164
• Soot, as well as salt, will destroy snails, vii. 25
• Sore, name the hunters give the buck the fourth year, iii. 128
• Sorel, the hunters name for the buck the third year, iii. 128
• Sorrel, wood sorrel boiled up with milk, by the Lap­landers kept in casks under-ground, to be eaten in winter, iii. 166
• Sound conveyed by air, is lost in vacuo, i. 334.—sounding bodies of two kinds; unelastic returning a single sound, and elastic rendering a succession of sounds—undulations in elastic bodies, taken by the ear as one continued sound, while, in reality, they make many, ii. 163—those whose differences can most easily be compared, are most agreeable, ii. 166—those musical most pleasing, which are most unexpected, ii. 167—laws of the reflection of sound not so well understood as those of light, ii. 171—persons of a bad ear oft deceived as to the side whence sound comes, ii. 173—trumpets made to encrease sounds, ii. 174
• Source, rivers have their source in mountains, or ele­vated lakes, i. 200
• Southminster marshes so over-run with an army of [Page] mice, that the grass was eat up to the roots, v. 148
• Spalanzani, his experiments concerning the power of reproduction in animals, viii. 172
• Spaniards, the only people of Europe acquainted with the value of the ass, ii. 385
• Spaniels, land and water, the offspring of the beagle, transported into Spain or Barbary, so altered, and converted there, iii. 284—a dog of the generous kind, iii. 286—the land spaniel, iii. 288—the wa­ter spaniel, iii. 289
• Spanish flies described; their use in medicine, and as blisters, viii. 41 to 43. See Cantharis.
• Sparrows, house sparrow, v. 315—various birds of the sparrow kind—their food, v. 314, 315—songsters of this class, v. 316, 317—their migrations, v. 317, 318—a male and its mate that have young, destroy above three thousand caterpillars in a week, viii. 44.
• Sparrow hawk, one of the baser race of hawks, v. 119—taught to fly at game, but little obtained from its efforts—lately asserted, upon respectable authority, the boldest of all for the pleasure of the chace, v. 131
• Sparus, the sea-bream, its description, vi. 308
• Spawn, different seasons for fish to deposit their spawn, vi. 180—always deposited in particular places, where the sun-beams may reach them, vi. 336
• Spawning, peculiar preparation of the lamprey for spawning, vi. 272
• Spears (burning) a peculiar kind of aurora borealis, i. 390
• Spears, the horns of the stag the third year, iii. 113
• Spermaceti, the whole oil of the cachalot easily con­verted into that concrete, vi. 218, 220—efficacy of spermaceti in medicine very small—candles now made much of it are substituted for wax, and sold cheaper, vi. 220
• [...] [Page] Spermaceti whale, the cachelot, described, vi. 217
• Spiders, in South America and Africa, as large as sparrows, ii. 6—the spider for several months to­gether, subsists upon a single meal, ii. 125—chief of our native spiders—not venomous, vii. 249—their description and habitudes—the Martinico spider's body as large as a hen's egg, vii. 250—manner of making their webs, vii. 254, 257—Lis­ter has distinguished the sexes of this animal—their coupling—their number of eggs, vii. 260—their bag to deposit their eggs, vii. 261—their parental care, enemies to each other—experiment made by Mr. Reaumur to turn their labours to the ad­vantage of man—gloves made from their webs—found it impracticable to rear them, vii. 262, 263
• Water-Spiders inhabit the bottom, yet never wet, but inclosed in a bubble of air, surrounding them on all sides, vii. 264
• Spinal marrow and the brain, the first parts seen begun in the embryo, ii. 146
• Spinous class of fishes already extended to four hundred sorts, vi. 299—Gouan's system and arrangement of the various sorts of spinous fishes, vi. 305—their ge­neral leading marks and difference from others, vi. 317—of those which live in the ocean, the dorado the most voracious, vi. 340
• Spirits of wine flame with a candle, not with a spark, i. 83
• Spitzbergen, belief that bodies never corrupt there, nor suffer any apparent alteration, though buried for thirty years, ii. 264
• Sponges, opinion of count Marsigli about them—that of Rumph and Jussieu set in a clearer light by Mr. Ellis, viii. 193, 194
• Spoonbill, descriptions of the European and American spoonbill, vi. 7—its manner of life, vi. 8
• Sports, remarkable, on horseback, among the grandees of Guinea, ii. 363, 364—one peculiar to the Ita­lians, in which horses without riders run against each other, ii. 354—of wild asses exhibited in Per­sia, [Page] ii. 377, 378—of the bird-catchers, counter­feiting the cry of the owl, v. 144—cock-fighting in China, India, the Philippine islands, and all over the East, the sport of kings and princes, v. 163—of hunting the turkey in Canada, v. 179
• Spouts of water at sea common in the tropical seas, and sometimes in our own—description of one in the Mediterranean by Tournefort—solutions offer­ed for this phoenomenon, i. 390 to 393—broken by guns firing bars of iron at them, which striking them, the water falls from them with a dreadful noise, and no farther mischief—those called ty­phons, sometimes seen at land, differs from those at sea described by mariners—description of that observed at Hatfield in Yorkshire, in 1687, i. 394, 395—land-spouts sometimes drop in a column of wa­ter at once upon the earth, and produce an inunda­tion—they appear in the calmest weather at sea—facts still wanting to form a rational theory of them, i. 396
• Spout-holes, in the cetaceous tribe, described, vi. 186
• Springs, of water, experience alone can determine the useful or noxious qualities of every spring, i. 171—one mentioned by Derham, which he never per­ceived to be diminished in the greatest drought, when all ponds in the country were dry for several months, i. 199
• Squash, a stinkard, of the weasel-kind, called a pole­cat of America, iii. 380—its description, iii. 381—is said to eat only the brains of poultry—its scent strong enough to reach half a mile round, near hand almost stifling—a drop of the foetid discharge falling into the eye, might blind it for ever—dogs abate their ardour, when they meet the foetid discharge, turn, and leave the squash master of the field, never to be led on again, iii. 384—cows and oxen strongly affected by the stench—and provisions spoilt by it—with planters and native Americans, kept tame about [Page] their houses; seldom emitting disagreeable scents, ex­cept when injured or frighted—natives eat the flesh, taking care to clear it of the offensive glands, iii. 385
• Squinting, many instances of squinting communicat­ed by a father to his offspring, ii. 238
• Squirrel, a ruminating animal, iii. 5—classed as such by Pierius, iv. 3—the tails are extremely long, beautiful and bushy, and serve them for several purposes, iv. 24, 25—particularly in vast leaps of one hundred yards taken from tree to tree, iv. 25, 35—when the animal eats or dresses itself, it sits erect, like the hare or rabbit, making use of its fore feet as hands, iv. 25—the kind has as many varieties as any wild animal; enumeration of some, iv. 25 to 27—its way of moving is by bounds, iv. 32—when tamed, is apt to break away at every opportunity, iv. 37—few animals so tender, or so unfit for a change of abode, iv. 27—some live on the tops of trees, others feed on vegetables below, where also they take shelter in storms—description of its qua­lities, food, and mansion—the nest formed among large branches, where they fork off into small, iv. 28, 29—the martin destroys the squirel, then takes possession of its mansion, iv. 30
• Squirrels are in heat early in the spring, very di­verting to see the female then feigning an escape from the pursuit of two or three males—nature particular in the formation of these animals for propagation—time of gestation—keeps in the midst of tallest trees, and shuns the habitation of men—the tree but touched at bottom, they quit the nest, and flie to another tree, thus travel­ling with ease, along the tops of the forest, until quite out of danger, iv. 31—in Lapland vast num­bers remove from one part to another, iv. 32—method of crossing broad rivers, or extensive lakes, iv. 33—they have a sharp piercing note; and an­other, more like the purring of the cat when pleas­ed, [Page] iv. 32—the Laplanders eat their flesh, iv. 34—description of the common sort, and of the grey Vir­ginian kind, iv. 25—the Barbary; Siberian white; Carolina black; Brasilian, iv. 26— little ground Caro­lina, and New-Spain squirrel, iv. 27— Flying squirrel more common in America than Europe—its food and mansion, iv. 36
• Stag, first in rank among quadrupeds, its elegant form described—no obvious difference between the internal structure of the stag and the bull, but to a nice observer, iii. 94—ruminates not so easily as the cow or sheep, reason why, iii. 106—man­ner of knowing its age—differs in size and horns from a fallow-deer, iii. 95—encrease in beauty and stature in proportion to goodness of pasture, en­joyed in security, iii, 104—seldom drinks in win­ter, and less in spring, iii. 106—different colours of stags, iii. 104, 105—how watchfully he exa­mines an enemy's approach—delighted with the sound of the shepherd's pipe—of animals native of this climate, none such a beautiful eye as the stag, iii. 105—beauty and size of horns mark strength and vigour, iii. 98—time and manner of shedding them, iii. 95, 96, 99, 100—severe cold retards the shedding—horns encrease in thickness and height from the second year of age to the eighth, iii. 100—shedding his horns, hides himself in so­litudes and thickets, and ventures out to pasture only by night, iii. 96, 101—grow differently in stags from sheep or cows, iii. 97—horns found to par­take of the nature of the soil, iv. 100—a mistake that horns take colour of the sap of the tree against which they are rubbed, iii. 101—stag, castrated when its horns are off, they never grow again; the same operation performed when they are on, they never fall off—one testicle only tied up, he loses the horn of the opposite side—Mr. Buffon thinks the growth of the horns retarded by re­trenching the food, iii. 98—horns resembled to a [Page] vegetable substance, grafted upon the head of the stag, iii, 99—time of feeling impressions of the rut, or desire of copulation, iii. 101—effects, the rut causes, iii. 102—stag lives about, forty years, iii. 103—voice in the time of rut terrible—and then keeps dogs off intrepidly—a stag and tiger enclosed in the same area, the stag's defence so bold, the tiger was obliged to fly, iii. 106—the stag in rut ventures out to sea from one island to an­other, and swims best when fattest, iii. 107—the hind, or female, uses all her arts to conceal her young from him, the most dangerous of her pursuers, iii. 108—men of every age and nation made the stag chace a favourite pursuit, iii. 108, 109—stags remaining wild in England, called red-deer, found on the moors bordering Cornwal and Devonshire, iii. 111, 112—manner of hunting stag and buck in England, iii. 112, 116—different names given them, according to their ages, iii. 113—terms used by hunters pursuing the stag, iii. 113, 114—the manner of knowing the track of a stag—and that of an hind—he changes his manner of feed­ing every month; in what manner, iii. 115—swims, against the stream, iii. 119—the ancient manner of pursuing him—that of hunting him, iii 119, 120—and in China, iii. 121, 122—stag of Corsica—a kind called by the ancients tragelaphus—Germans call it bran-deer, or brown-deer, iii. 122—a beautiful stag, thought a native of Sardinia, though per­haps of Africa, or the East Indies—its description— stag royal, in Mexico, iii. 123, 124— of Canada, brought into the state of domestic tameness as our sheep, goats, and black cattle, iii. 124
• Staggard, name of the stag the fourth year, iii. 113
• Stallions, law prohibiting exportation of stallions and mares; and another similar, obtained as early as the times of Athelstan, ii. 369
• Stanislaus, the exiled king of Poland, had a dwarf at his court in Luneville—described, ii. 255
• [Page] Stare, bird classed with the thrush, distinction from the rest of its tribe—its residence—its eggs—it is easily taught to speak—its food, v. 323
• Star-fish, general description of the tribe—substance of their bodies almost as soft as water, no way injured by swallowing shells almost of a stony hardness, viii. 174—float upon the surface of the sea, and in the dark send forth a shining light re­sembling that of phosphorus—are also called sea­nettles—the passage for devouring food, serves to eject excrements—taken and put into spirits of wine, continue many years entire, but left to influence of air, in four and twenty hours melted down into a limpid offensive water, viii. 175—cut in pieces, every part survives the operation, becoming a per­fect animal, endued with its natural rapacity, viii. 176
• Starling, slender-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, liv­ing upon insects, v. 314—often lays eggs in holes deserted by the wood-pecker, v. 253—time of mi­gration, v. 32
• Stars, fixed, supposed by philosophers suns resembling that which enlivens our system, i. 6
• Stars, falling, meteors, or unctuous vapours raised from the earth, kindled and supported in the air, until they fall back extinguished, i. 390
• Statues of antiquity, first copied after human form, now become models of it, ii. 106
• Stature, middle in men, from five feet five to five feet eight inches, ii. 108—cause of different statures, ii. 237—ordinary of men, Mr. Derham observes, probably the same now as at the beginning—many corroborating proofs of this, ii. 264
• Stellaris, name given by the Latins to the bittern, vi. 5
• Steno, his opinion about the formation of the inci­pient animal, ii. 17
• Stephen, in this king's time the number of horses in London amounted to twenty thousand, ii. 370
• [Page] Stigmata, holes through which caterpillars breathe, viii. 13—famous experiment of Malpighi to veri­fy this, viii. 14
• Stickleback, the gasterosteus of the prickly-finned tho­racic sort, description of this fish, vi. 309—this fish appears in quantities every seventh or eighth year in the river Welland, near Spalding; a man, em­ployed by a farmer to take them, for manuring his grounds, got, for a considerable time, four shil­lings a day, selling them at a halfpenny a bushel, vi. 334
• Stilicon, his two daughters betrothed, one after the other, to the emperor Honorius, buried with much finery, found eleven hundred years after, in good preservation, excepting the pearls, vii. 57
• Stinkards, name given by our sailors to one or two animals of the weasel kind, chiefly found in Ame­rica, iii. 380—and by the savages of Canada to the musk-rat, iv. 80
• Stint, smaller and shorter billed water bird of the crane kind, vi. 23
• Stoat, the ermine, its description, iii. 353
• Stomach, nature has contracted the stomachs of ani­mals of the forest, suitable to their precarious way of living, ii. 124—proportioned to the quality of the animal's food, or the ease of obtaining it—those who chew the cud have four stomachs, ii. 317, & iii. 3—yet several of those have but two in Africa, ii. 317—names of the four stomachs, iii. 3, 4—stomach of carnivorous animals small, iii. 2—those of ruminating strong and muscular, iii. 5—of insects composed of muscular fibres, iii. 6—the camel has a fifth stomach, as a reservoir of water for occasional use, iv. 307—birds have, properly, but one stomach, yet this is different in different kinds, v. 14, 15—that of the cuckoo enormous, reaches from the breast-bone to the vent, v. 266
• Stork, a ruminating bird, iii. 5—true difference be­tween it and the crane, v. 382—are birds of passage [Page]—returning into Europe in March—places for their nests—number of eggs—are a month in hatching; and their young excluded, they are particularly so­licitous for their safety—their food in a great mea­sure frogs and serpents, v. 383—the Dutch attentive to the preservation of the stork in their republic, the bird protected by the laws, and the prejudices of the people—countries where found—ancient Egyptians regard for this bird carried to adoration—the ancient ibis supposed the same which at present bears the same name; a bird of the stork kind, about the size of a curlew, v. 384
• Storms, foretold by the barometer, i. 352—above their region, all is calm and serene, i. 353—rise to the tops of the highest mountains—confirmed by those who have been on the Andes, and by the deep snows that crown them, i. 153, 154—with powerful effects, do not shew great speed, i. 356—one most dreadful in Hertfordshire, in 1697—description of it, i. 375—do not terrify goats, iii. 53
• Stones, shower of stones and other matters raised by storms in one country, carried to another, fall sud­denly as showers of rain, i. 390
• Stone of the shammoy, generally about the size of a wal­nut, and blackish—formerly in request for the same virtues with oriental bezoar, iii. 69
• Stone-chatter, slender-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314—migrates, iii. 318
• Stove, its warmth expeditious for hatching, and ef­ficacious in bringing the animal in the egg to per­fection, ii. 27
• Strabism, an inequality of sight, and particular cast of the eye; whence it proceeds, ii. 157
• Stream of rivers, more rapid in proportion as its chan­nel is diminished, and why, i. 205—the surface swifter than the bottom, and why—islands, turn­ings, and other obstacles retard the course but in­considerably, and why, i. 206
• [Page] Strength, a just way of estimating human strength, by perseverance and agility of motions, ii. 114—not hereditary, ii. 116 prodigies of it in Maximin the emperor described—instance of it in Milo, and also in Athanatus, ii. 118—estimation of strength in animals by the bulk of their muscles very falla­cious; thin and raw-boned men being general­ly stronger and powerful than those seemingly more muscular—women much inferior in strength to men, ii. 120—of man less valuable since the invention of gunpowder, of new machines, and the application of the power of animals to the purposes of life, ii. 119—of the inhabitants round the poles is amazing, ii. 218—the comparative strength of a horse, measured, not by what he can carry, but by what he can draw, ii. 114
• Strepsicheros, a third variety of sheep with strait horns, a native of the islands of the Archipelago, iii. 48
• Stromateus, a soft-finned apodal fish, described, vi. 311
• Strong, human body, for its size, stronger than that of other animals—comparing the strength of a lion with that of a man, to be remembered the claws of this animal give a false idea of its power; and lead to ascribe to its force what is only the effects of its offensive arms, ii. 111
• Struthophagi, some nations so called from their fond­ness for the flesh of the ostrich, v. 59—their me­thod of taking it, v. 61
• Stuffs made of hair of animals about Angora, iii. 58—half composed of silk, forbid to be worn at Rome, as a luxurious refinement, viii. 49
• Stunts, name given to whales at the age of two years, vi. 200
• Sturgeon, a cartilaginous fish, of a considerable size, yet flies terrified from the smallest fishes—its de­scription—three kinds of it, vi. 275—countries of Europe this fish visits at different seasons—annual­ly ascends the largest rivers to spawn, and propa­gates in vast numbers—enjoying the vicissitude of [Page] fresh and salt water, then grows to an enormous size, almost to rival the whale, vi. 276—the largest caught in Great Britain taken in the Eske, where frequently found weighing four hundred and fifty pounds, vi. 277—places where caught in numbers, vi. 276, 277—never by a bait, always in nets, vi. 277—their food—whence the Ger­man proverb, he is as moderate as a sturgeon, vi. 278—live in society among themselves; and Gesner has seen them shoal together at the notes of a trumpet—usual time of coming up rivers to spawn—at Pillau the shores formed into districts, and allotted to companies of fishermen, and rented some for three hundred pounds a year—nets in which caught—in the water it is one of the strong­est fishes, and often breaks the nets that enclose it, but its head once raised above water, its activity ceases, vi. 279—has broke fishermen's legs with a blow of its tail—two methods of preparing it, vi. 280—that from America not so good as from the north of Europe—caviar made with the roe of all kinds of sturgeon—manner of making it, vi. 281, 282
• Sturmey, the captain who descended into Penpark­hole, where remaining five hours, cost him his life, i. 66
• Sucking fish, the remora, sticks to the shark—also called the shark's pilot, and why, vi. 246
• Sucking-fish, the echeneis, a soft finned thoracic fish, its description, vi, 312
• Suction, from whence that amazing power in the lamprey arises, vi. 270
• Sugar, the white sort in the tropical climates some­times full of maggots, i. 314
• Sulphur, with iron filings kneaded together into a paste, with water when heating, produces a flame, i. 76
• Sun, its warmth efficacious in bringing the animal in the egg to perfection, ii. 27—not easy to conceive how it whitens wax and linen, and darkens the [Page] human complexion, ii. 235—mock-suns and o­ther meteors seen in the Alps, i. 145—in the po­lar regions, i. 377—reflected upon opposite clouds, appear like three or four real suns in the firmament—real sun always readily known by superior bright­ness—the rainbow also different in those countries, i. 388
• Sun fish, an anomalous cartilaginous fish, like a bulky head, its description, vi. 285
• Surf of the sea, name the mariners give the rising waves breaking against the shore, i. 273
• Surinam rat; the phalanger, a small monkey, described, iv. 248
• Surinam toad, the pipali, a hideous toad, its descrip­tion, vii. 108
• Surmalot, with Mr. Buffon, the great rat, a hateful rapacious creature, described, iv. 65
• Surmulet, the mullus, a spinous fish, its description, vi. 308
• Swallows, time of their migrations—departure of some, and retreat of others into old walls, from the inclemencies of winter, wrap the migrations of birds in great obscurity, v. 37—experiment of Mr. Buffon to this purpose, v. 38—with us birds of passage; breed in Upper Egypt and the land of Java, and never disappear, v. 318— house swallow, v. 346—characteristics of the swallow-tribe, v. 347 their food—have the greatest swiftness and agility, v. 348—at the end of September they depart; some feeble wretched families, compelled to stay, perish the first cold weather, v. 351—those migrating first seen in Africa in the beginning of October, having performed their journey in seven days—sometimes seen, interrupted by contrary winds, wavering in their course at sea, and lighting upon the Chips in their passage—a doubt whether all swallows thus migrate, or some other of this species externally alike, and internally different, be dif­ferently affected by the approach of winter, v. 352— [Page] observations made to this purpose by Reaumur, Frisch, and Klein, v. 353—indicate approaching change of weather—their nests, and those they build on the coasts of China and Coromandel, v. 349—Chinese pluck them from rocks, and send great numbers into the East Indies for sale—gluttons es­teem them great delicacies dissolved in chicken or mutton broth—the number of their eggs, v. 350
• Swallows of Ternate, or God's birds, the bird of pa­radise, described, v. 257 to 260
• Swammerdam, lent attention to testaceous animals, almost exceeding credibility; has excelled the in­sects he dissected, in patience, industry, and per­severance, vii. 17
• Swan, a stately web-footed water fowl; though an indifferent figure upon land, is beautiful in the water, vi. 113—doubt whether the tame kind be in a state of nature—none found in Europe—the wild swan, though strongly resembling it in colour and form, yet another bird—differences between wild and tame swans, vi. 114—considered a high delicacy among the ancients, vi. 111—the tame most silent, the wild has a loud and disagreeable note—from thence called the hooper, vi. 115—accounts sufficient to suspend an opinion of its mu­sical abilities, vi. 115 to 118—their food, nest, and number of eggs, vi. 118—a blow with the pinion breaks a man's leg or arm—two months hatching, and a year growing to proper size—longest in the shell of any bird—said to live three hundred years—by an act of Edward IV. the son of the king was al­lowed to keep a swan, and no others, unless possess­ed of five marks a year, vi. 119—punishment for taking their eggs, was imprisonment for a year and a day, and fine at the king's will—places which abound with them, vi. 120
• Swarms of a bee-hive, several swarms in the year, the first always the best and most numerous, viii. 86
• Sweden, asses a sort of rarity in Sweden, ii. 385
• [Page] Sweetmeats, in tropical climates, exposed by day in the sun, to prevent their putrifying by the night air, i. 314
• Swift, a bird of the swallow kind; peculiar position of the toes, v. 346, 347
• Swiftness of savages, many surprising stories about it, ii. 115—of the zebra, a proverb among the Spani­ards and Portuguese, ii. 396
• Switzerland, the peasants kill a cow for their own table, salt and hang it up, to preserve as a deli­cacy the year round, iii. 9
• Sword-fish, the xiphias, its description, vi. 305—its terrible encounters with the whale described, vi. 203
• Syagushes, carnivorous animals, like the jackall and wolf; hunt in packs, and encourage each other by their cries, ii. 322
• Symmetry, and proportion of the human body, ii. 79
• Sympathetic, affection of yawning, ii. 91—a ridi­culous instance of it practised upon professor M'Laurin at Edinburgh, ii. 92
• Synovia, a lubricating liquor in the joints, so called by anatomists, ii. 109
• Syria, noted country for long soft hair of the animals bred in it, iii. 212—most of its cities destroyed in 1182 by an earthquake, i. 111
• Syrian-rabbit, an instance of the length of its hair, iv. 23
• System, in what manner the harmony of our planetary system is preserved, i. 4—very useful in natural history, ii. 290—books containing them, useful to be consulted, but unnecessary to be read, ii. 292—that of Linnaeus deserves the preference, ii. 293—faults of systematic writers in natural history, ii. 252—what has given birth to the variety of systems in natural history, ii. 300—of Mr. Gouan concerning spinous classes of fishes, vi. 305—use of it, vi. 315

• [Page] Tabbies, streaked cats, to which the civet's colour is compared, iii. 390
• Tajacu, the peccary, an animal of the hog kind, pe­culiar for a lump upon its back, with glands dis­charging a musky substance, iii. 183
• Tails of sheep a foot broad, and weighing from twenty to thirty pounds, sometimes supported by a board upon wheels, iii, 47
• Tail, use made of it by the whale, vi. 195—is about twenty-four feet broad, vi. 194
• Talapoin, eighth division of monkies of the ancient continent—its description, iv. 334
• Talons, in what manner produced in animals, ii. 101
• Tamaim, a monkey of the second sort of the sagoin kind—description, iv. 237
• Tamandua, an ant-bear, larger and smaller, live upon ants—their description, iv. 338
• Tamis-bird, one of the names of the guinea-hen, de­scribed, v. 192, 193
• Tanais, the Don, a principal river of Europe, part­ing it from Asia, i. 209—affords great numbers of sturgeon, vi. 277
• Tanrec, of the hedge-hog kind, different enough to constitute another species, iv. 105—covered with prickles, though mixed with hair—does not de­fend itself by rolling up in a ball—only found in the East Indies—sleeps several months, and loves to be near water, iv. 106—in the torpid state, its hair falls off—Indians consider its flesh a delicacy, iv. 107
• Tapeti, the Brasilian rabbit, in shape like the English—has no tail—does nor burrow—lives at large, like the hare—is twice the size of a dor-mouse, iv. 54
• Tapir, the largest animal of America, no way com­parable in size to the elephant of Africa, ii. 332—considered as the hippopotamos of the new conti­nent [Page]—its description—resides in the water, iv. 331—its food—its flesh thought a delicacy, iv. 332
• Tar, used by the Laplanders for all disorders of the rein-deer, iii. 169
• Tarantula, the bite of this animal, and its cure by music, all a deception—instance of it, ii. 171—native of Apulia in Italy—description—its bite not attended with dangerous symptoms—fable of its virulence, vii. 265
• Tarcel, name falconers give the male bird of prey; and why, v. 84
• Tariguagua, ruggedness of road from it up to the Andes, is not easily described, i. 149
• Tarnassar, great bird in the East Indies, no other than the condor, v. 105
• Tarrier, first division of dogs of the generous kind, used for hunting, iii. 286
• Tarsier, a monkey, last of the class of the oppossum kinds—its description—why so called, iv. 248
• Tartars, their religion consists in part by managing their whiskers—they waged a bloody war with the Persians as infidels, not giving their whiskers the orthodox cut, ii. 96—the Ostiac, a race travelled down from the North, and originally sprung from minute savages, ii. 219—Samoeid, first distinct race of men round the pole, described, ii. 213, 214
• Tartar horses serviceable in war—how broke—parti­culars concerning them, ii. 364, 365
• Tartary, in general, comprehends great part of Asia—description of natives and manners, ii. 219, 220
• Taste, in all substances on mountain tops, and valley bottoms, i. 335—to determine somewhat upon the nature of tastes, bodies to be tasted must be moist­ened, or dissolved by saliva, to produce a sensation; the tongue and body to be tasted, being dry, no taste ensues—tastes rendered agreeable by habit—relish of tastes stronger in children than in persons [Page] advanced in life, ii. 183—highest epicure has the most depraved taste, ii. 184
• Tatou, or armadilla, a quadruped of the new conti­nent, covered with shells, ii. 124. See Armadilla.
• Tatu-apara, first of the kinds of armadilla—the se­cond, the tatou of Ray, or the encoubert of Mr. Buffon—the third, the tatuette—their diversities described, iv. 132, 133
• Teal, smallest bird of the duck-kind, distinguished, vi. 130
• Teats, great variety of them in animals—their form, and how placed, ii. 103
• Teeth in cows, eight cutting teeth in the lower jaw—manner of renewing them, iii. 11
• Tegg, what the hunters call the doe the second year, iii. 128
• Tejuguacu, tockay, and cordyle, all of the lizard kind, gradually less, fill up the chasm between the cro­codile and the African iguana, vii. 149
• Tempests, loudest formed by united contributions of minerals, vegetables, and animals, encreasing the streams of air fleeting round the globe, i. 338—frequent under the tropics, and a space beyond them, i. 356—tempests of sand, deserts raised in one country, and deposited on another, i. 357—in Arabia and Africa described, i. 363
• Teneriffe (the peak of) computed a mile and a half perpendicular from the surface of the sea, i. 153
• Teneriffe (island of), the art of embalming preserved among the ancient inhabitants, when conquered by the Spaniards, ii. 272
• Tendrac, an animal less than a mole, different from the hedge-hog, and a different species, iv. 105—description—grunt like hogs, and love to be near water—they multiply in numbers—sleep several months, iv. 106—its flesh a great delicacy with the Indians, iv. 107
• Ternate, a Molucca island, its swallow taken for the bird of Paradise, v. 260
• [Page] Testaceous substances in variety on the tops of moun­tains, and in the heart of marble, i. 17
• Testaceous animals—Swammerdam lent an attention to those animals exceeding credibility, vii. 17
• Thales the philosopher, held all things made of wa­ter, i. 166
• Thames water, and that of the Indus, most light and wholesome, i. 170
• Theories of the earth, those of the most celebrated au­thors, i. 22
• Theory of evaporations for the formation of clouds, i. 370—other theories upon that subject, i. 368—theory of sympathy, of father Mallebranche, beau­tiful upon monstrous productions, ii. 246
• Therasia, an island appeared unexpectedly to mariners on other pursuits, i. 125
• Thermometer, measures heat and cold by a fixed stand­ard—description, i. 177—shews the heat of blood; in man, and most animals, about thirty degrees a­bove congelation—in the marmotte, and other tor­pid creatures, not above ten; and in the body of a living dormouse, never beyond the usual pitch in air, sometimes a degree below it, iv. 45
• Thessaly, the horses there reputed excellent for war, ii. 365
• Theutys, a prickly-finned abdominal fish—description of it, vi. 310
• Thibet, the musk from thence reckoned the best—sells at fourteen shillings the ounce, iii. 93—the peacock there the most beautiful of the feathered creation, v. 176
• Thoracic fish, that which has the ventral fins directly under the pectoral fins, vi. 303
• Thoulouse, bodies buried in the monastery of the Corde­liers in that city, do not putrify, ii. 276
• Throat of the great Greenland whale is so narrow, that any animal larger than a herring could not enter, vi. 201—but that of the cachalot can with great ease swallow an ox, vi. 218—that of the shark most amazing, vi. 238
• [Page] Thrush, a slender billed bird of the sparrow kind, v. 314—its distinction from all of the kind—its song very fine—the largest of the tribe with a musical voice, v. 320—its food, v. 321
• Thumb-fotted shell-fish, testaceous, described, vii. 60
• Thunder, Ulloa heard it rolling beneath him, when upon the Andes, i. 152—its cloud always moves against the wind, i. 353—a sound produced by the opposition of two clouds, and continued by rever­berated echo—thunder clears the air, and kills in­sects noxious to vegetation, i. 374—resembled by the roaring of the lion heard in the night, and re­echoed by the mountains, iii. 224
• Thuroid cartilage forms a lump upon the wind-pipe in men, not seen in women, ii. 102
• Tides, with Pliny, were influenced partly by the sun, and in a greater degree by the moon, i. 251—Kep­ler first conjectured attraction the principal cause of them—the precise manner discovered by New­ton, i. 252—high tides happen at the same time, on opposite sides of the globe, where waters are farthest from the moon, i. 253—solar and lunar tides—greatest in syzigies, least in quadratures, i. 255—flows strongest in narrowest places, i. 256—Mediterranean, Baltic, and Black Sea, no sensible tides, the gulf of Venice excepted; and why, i. 257, 267—higher in the torrid zone, than in the rest of the ocean—greatest at the river Indus, rising thirty feet, i. 257—remarkably high on the coasts of Malay, in the streights of Sunda, the Red Sea, the gulf of St. Lawrence, along the coast of China and Japan, at Panama, and in the gulf of Bengal—those at Tonquin most remarkable in the world; one tide, and one ebb, in twenty-four hours; twice in each month no tide at all, i. 258—in the streights of Magellan it rises twenty feet, flows six hours, and the ebb lasts but two hours, i. 259
• Tiger, often bigger than the lion—nothing tames it—perfectly resembles the cat, iii. 234, 238—leaps [Page] twenty feet at a spring, ii. 322—three sorts in Sun­dah Rajah's dominions, iii. 240—the royal tiger—carries a buffalo over its shoulder to its den, iii. 241—attacks the lion, iii. 225—defeated by a stag, iii. 106—taught to defend herds, iii. 199—said to follow the rhinoceros for its excrements, iii. 236—other tales about it, iii. 244—under Augustus, a tiger an extraordinary fight—the species scarce—opinion of Varo, that it was never taken alive, iii. 242—the ancients commended it for beauty among quadrupeds, equal to that of the peacock among birds, iii. 233—supposed to bring forth four or five young at a time, iii. 242, 243—expresses his re­sentment as the lion—the skin esteemed in the east, particularly in China, iii. 243—battle of one tiger, and three elephants at Siam described, iii. 239—another between a tiger and a crocodile, iii. 247, 248—the red tiger, Mr. Buffon's cougar, iii. 244—common in Guiana, Brazil, Paraguai, and other parts of South America, iii. 248—the flesh superior to mutton, iii. 249—and esteemed by the negroes as a dainty, iii. 298
• Tiger-cat, or cat-a-mountain, the ocelot of Mr. Buf­fon—a beautiful animal of its kind, iii. 255
• Tigris, a great river in Asia, lost under mount Tau­rus, i. 224.
• Tingitanians and Egyptians famous for the finest horses in size and beauty, ii. 356
• Tipula (water) of the second order of insects—descrip­tion of it, vii. 358
• Tipula, long legged gnat, description of this insect—only difference between it and the gnat, viii. 151
• Titmouse, a slender-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314
• Toad, differences between the frog and it, as to fi­gure and conformation, vii. 73, 74—their nature, appetites, and food—coupling, vii. 92—difficulty in bringing forth, vii. 93—curious particulars relating to this animal, vii. 95—one swallowing [Page] a bee alive, the stomach stung, and the insect vo­mited up again, vii. 97—toads not venomous—ac­counts of toads taken inwardly, vii. 98, 99—their flesh eaten as a delicacy on the coast of Guinea, iii. 298—a harmless, defenceless creature, and un­venomous—torpid in winter—retreat then—dif­ficult to be killed, vii. 100—lives for centuries in a rock, or within an oak, without access, nou­rishment, or air, and yet found alive and perfect—accounts of this, vii. 101—toads suck cancer­ous breasts, and perform a cure—progress of this operation, vii. 102—the rubeth, the land-toad, alone has the property of sucking, vii. 105—doubt­ful whether they die by internal or external appli­cation of the cancerous matter—varieties of the animal, vii. 106—some bigger than ducks, ii. 6—description of the Surinam toad, called pipal, vii. 108
• Tococo, sort of cry, given as a name in Canada to the flamingo; and why, vi. 16
• Toes, usually four in all animals of the poultry kind; in a species of cock amount to five, v. 158
• Tone, a continuing tone produced from a non-elastic body, repeating blows quick and often, ii. 163—of a sonorous body made to depend upon the num­ber of vibrations, not the impelling force, is mis­taking an effect for a cause, ii. 164—half tones re­jected in all countries, where music is in its in­fancy, as in China, ii. 166
• Tongres, a city in the country of Liege, formerly en­compassed by the sea, and at present thirty-five leagues distant from it, i. 276
• Tongue, the flamingo's much celebrated, and larger than that of any other bird, vi. 15—of the great Greenland whale, fills several hogsheads with blub­ber, vi. 196—of the rein-deer, a great delicacy, iii. 167
• Tonquin, tides there the most remarkable in the world, i. 258
• [Page] Teeth, coloured, the passion for them in China and Japan—in some parts of India black teeth desired with ardour, ii. 77—teeth of animals various—how formed in man, ii. 101—of the elephant, shed like horns of deer, or obtained after death, not yet known—natives of Africa find them in their fo­rests, iv. 281—of the narwhal surpasses ivory, vi. 213—ascribed to a different animal—curiosity, and the desire of scarce things, made them very valu­able a century ago, vi. 215—the white shark is said to have one hundred and forty-four teeth, vi. 239
• Tornado, a formidable tempest, so called by the Spani­ards—its description and dreadful effects, i. 361
• Torpedo, its description, vi. 261—by an unaccountable power, the instant touched, even with a stick, when immediately taken out of the sea, it numbs the hand and arm, or whole body, vi. 262 to 266—the shock resembles an electrical stroke; sudden, tingling, and painful—account by Kempfer of numbness produced by it, vi. 262—he believes holding in the breath prevents the violence; impli­cit belief of efficacy would be painfully undeceiv­ed, vi. 263—this power not exerted upon every occasion—trials by Reaumur to this purpose—opinions concerning the cause of this strange ef­fect, vi. 264, 265—the fish dead, the power destroyed, then handled or eaten with security—the power not extended to the degree some believe, reaching the fishermen at the end of the line, or numbing fishes in the same pond—ridiculous excess of this numbing quality in the history of Abyssinia, by Godignus—Lorenzini, from experiments, is con­vinced the power resides in two thin muscles of the back, vi. 266—several fishes have acquired the name of torpedo, possessed of the same quality—Moore's and Condamine's accounts of them, vi. 267
• Tortoise, ranked among crustaceous fishes, though [Page] superior to them all—amphibious, according to Seba—distinguished in two classes, the land tortoise, and the sea turtle, vi. 380—differ more in habits than conformation, 381—description, 382, 383—principal distinctions, 384—varieties are, trunk-turtle, loggerhead, hawks-bill, and green-turtle, vi. 396—all generally found in warm countries, without retiring, 393—the shell never changes, and growing with the body, is formed in pieces, vi. 392—a defence against dangerous attacks, vi. 386—the blood warm and red, vi, 380—how circu­lated, vi. 383, 388—turtle larger than tortoise, vi. 393—weighs from fifty to five hundred pounds—ancients speak of some of amazing sizes, vi. 399—live to eighty and a hundred and twenty years, vi. 387—can live without limbs, head, or brain, proved by experiments of Redi, vi. 386, 387—moves with great weight upon it, vi. 382, 400—hears distinctly, by means of an auditory conduit opening into the mouth, vi. 404—sighs when ill situated, and sheds tears when distressed, vi. 405—torpid during winter, sleeping in some cave, and breathing imperceptibly, vi. 389—account of a land tortoise caught in a canal at Amster­dam, vi. 380, 381—and of a turtle in the Loire in 1729, vi. 394—the food chiefly vegeta­bles, though believed to eat insects, snails, and bugs, vi. 392, vii. 25. See Turtle.
• Toucan, a bird of the pie kind, has a bill as large as its body—of five varieties; the red-beaked describ­ed, v. 243—its food, v. 244, 245—pepper void­ed unconcocted by the toucan, preferred to that fresh gathered, v. 244—Pozzo bred one tame—its habits and food, v. 245—has birds, men, mon­kies, and serpents to guard against—scoops out its nest into the hollow of some tree, leaves scarce room to go in and out, and with its great beak guards that entrance, v. 246—found only in warm parts of South America, where it is valu­ed [Page] for its tender and nourishing flesh, and the beau­ty of its plumage, particularly the breast, the skin of which the Indians dry and glue to their cheeks for beauty, vi. 247
• Touch, those parts of the body most exercised in touching, acquire the greatest degree of accuracy—the fingers, by long habit, not from a greater quantity of nerves, become masters in the art, ii. 185
• Tournefort, describes a spout seen in the Mediterranean, i. 390, 395—solutions offered for this surprising phenomenon, i. 393
• Trachinus, the weever, a prickly-finned jugular fish, described, vi. 306
• Trachipterus, the sabre, a prickly-finned thoracic fish—its description, vi. 309
• Track of a stag, manner of knowing it, and that of a hind, iii. 115
• Trade, of hair of animals, driven by the inhabitants of Angora, iii. 58
• Tragelaphus, name of a stag with the ancients—found in the forests of Germany, and called by the na­tives bran deer, or the brown deer, iii. 122
• Traps for horses, used by the Arabians for the wild sort, ii. 348—for wild asses, also used in the Ar­chipelago, ii. 377—for mice, described in variety by Gesner, iv. 74
• Treacle, food for bees during winter, when robbed of their honey, viii. 75
• Trees, (fossil) in the body of solid rocks, and deep un­der the earth upon which they once grew—con­jectures upon this subject, i. 49, 50—found in quantities at the mouth of the river Ness in Flan­ders, at the depth of fifty feet, i. 281—laying twenty feet deep under ground for many ages, be­comes hard and tough, proofs of alternate over­flowings and desertions of the sea, i. 284—usually of the largest kinds in wide uncultivated wilder­nesses, in the state of rude nature, ii. 10—the [Page] banana and plantane, so immense, as to be inimi­cally inhabited by monkies, snakes, and birds of the most delightful plumage, v. 255—age known by the number of their circles, vi. 176
• Trembley, first discovered in the polypus the power of reproduction in animals, viii. 172
• Trichurus, a prickly finned apodal fish of a sword like form, described, vi. 305
• Trigla, the gurnard, of the spinous kind, description of this fish, vi. 309
• Trochus, the snails of that kind have no mouth—their trunk—are among snails, what the tiger, eagle, or shark are among beasts, birds, or fishes, vii. 33
• Troglodyte of Bontius, is the ouran-outang, or wild man of the woods, iv. 189
• Troglodytes, the mountain of that name in Arabia has a passage through it made by a disruption, as if artificial, i. 157
• Tropical seas, are those in which spouts are seen very commonly, i. 390—the climates so hot, dogs in process of time lose the delicacy of their scent en­tirely, and why, iii. 262—under them, and for a good space beyond, tempests are frequent, and their effects anticipated, i. 356—supposed by Lin­naeus the native spot of man, and the northern climates only places of sojourning for them—an argument sufficing to prove the contrary, ii. 240
• Trumpets, encrease sounds, in the same manner as the telescope does bodies—persons hard of hearing find the same advantage in the trumpet made for this purpose, that the short-sighted persons do from glasses; were they farther enlarged, they could be used to advantage only in a place of solitude and stillness, as the multitude of sounds would produce tumult and confusion, ii. 174
• Trunks of animals, that of the elephant described, iv. 259—that of the gnat may justly be deemed one of nature's master-pieces, viii. 154
• [Page] Trygon, the fireflare, the enchantress Circe armed her son with a spear headed with the spine of this fish, vi. 260
• Tubes of glass, drawn as fine as a hair, still preserve their hollow within, i. 192
• Tubular vessels, discovered by Fallopius, and called his tubes, ii. 17
• Tufted-duck, a variety of the kind, native of Europe, vi. 129
• Tumble-dung, a strong beetle, remarkable for make and manners, viii. 137
• Tumbler, in the division of Dr. Caius, a dog of the first class, or generous kind, iii. 286—supposed the lurcher, and described, iii. 288
• Turbinated shells, are univalves, and the first kind of Aristotle's division, vii. 12
• Turbits, variety of the tame pigeons, obtained by cross breed, v. 293
• Turbots, (and rays) extremely delicate in their choice of baits; a piece of herring or haddock twelve hours out of the sea, and used as a bait, will not be touched, vi. 257—growth of turbots, vi. 340
• Turkey, bird of the poultry kind—its native country disputed; arguments for the old and new conti­nent—first seen in France, in the reign of Francis I. and in England in that of Henry VIII. v. 177—its tenderness with us, when young, argues not for our climate—in the wild state, hardy and nu­merous in the snowy forests of Canada—also larger and more beautiful than in the domestic state—the savages weave the feathers into cloaks, and fashion them into fans and umbrellas, v. 178—hunting the turkey a principal diversion with them, its flesh chiefly supporting their families—manner of hunting, v. 179
• Turkeys, a stupid, vain tribe, quarreling among them­selves—the cock's antipathy to red—bristles, and flies to attack it—manner of encreasing their ani­mosity for diversion—weak and cowardly against [Page] the weakest animals that dare face them, v. 180 the cock pursues what flies from him, as lap-dogs and children, then returns to his train, displays his plumage, and struts about—the female milder, gentler, and particularly fond of ants and cater­pillars eggs—lays eighteen or twenty eggs, larger than a hen—the young very tender at first, must be carefully attended to, v. 180—account of Abbé Pluche, of a turkey-hen and her brood at the sight of a bird of prey, v. 182—turkies of Norfolk the largest of this kingdom, some weigh thirty pounds; in East India, in domestic state, grow to weigh sixty pounds, v. 183
• Turky, in Asia, has in different parts horses of almost all races, ii. 361—lions found to diminish in num­ber in this country, iii. 215
• Turnings of rivers, more numerous as they approach the sea, become indications through trackless lands—the bends encreasing, form different channels and mouths into the sea, as the Danube, Nile, Wolga, i. 203
• Turn-spit, a dog of the mongrel kind, and the lower class of Dr. Caius's division, iii. 286
• Turnstone, a small bird of the crane kind, vi. 23—likes colder climates in summer, or wildest and moistest parts in this country—is a bird of passage, 28
• Turtle-dove, one of the ruminating birds, or with a power of disgorging food to feed its young, iii. 5
• Turtle, propagated on shore only—comes from sea on purpose in coupling season, vi. 400, 401—female is passive and reluctant; the male is slow, but grasps so fast nothing can loose the hold, vi. 401—pre­pares for laying, and deposits her eggs in the sand, where in twenty-six days they are hatched by the sun, vi. 391, 401 to 407—lay from one hundred and fifty to two hundred in a season, vi. 391—the young from the egg, with their shell, seek their food untaught, and at the size of quails, run by [Page] instinct to the sea, ignorant of all danger, vi. 391, 403
• Turtle, article of commerce, the shell put to many uses; of the hawk's-bill the finest, consists of eight flat, and five hollow plates, vi. 396—how manufactured, 397—the flesh, particularly of the green turtle, prized as a delicacy, and is wholesome, vi. 398—the great Mediterranean the largest of all, unfit and unsafe to eat; its shell is unprofitable for use, vi. 393 to 395—several ways of catching turtles, vi. 404 to 406
• Tusks, of the babyrouessa a fine ivory, smoother and whiter than the elephant's, but not so hard—of enormous size, iii, 194—of castrated animals scarce appear without the lips, iii. 197—those of a boar, sometimes a foot long, iii. 172—broken, abate his fierceness and venery, producing nearly the same effect as castration, iii. 197—of the mammouth weigh four hundred pounds; those of the elephant from Africa, two hundred and fifty—some remark­able lately found near the Ohio, and Miume in America, vi. 282—Dr. Hunter thinks them of a larger animal than the elephant, iv. 283—of the nar­whal, or sea unicorn, a cetaceous fish with teeth, from nine to fourteen feet long, vi. 211, 213
• Twins, never, while infants, so large or strong as children that come singly into the world, and why, ii. 48
• Typhons, spouts so called seen at land, differ in several respects from those at sea, i. 394
• Tyson, (Dr.) his description of an ouran-outang, by the name of pygmy, the best and most exact, iv. 191

• Valerian, a plant of which cats are excessively sond, iii. 206
• [Page] Valle, (Pietro) his description of Persian horses, ii. 361
• Vampyre, a foreign bat, having the reputed faculty of drawing blood from persons asleep; and thus de­stroying them before they awake, iv. 144. See Bat.
• Vansire, a sort of ferret of Madagascar, according to Mr. Buffon, iii. 362
• Vapour of metals in mines not so noxious, as those of substances with which ores are usually united, such as arsenic, cinabar, &c.—fragrance of their smell—warnings about them, i. 79, 80—disengaged from water, and attenuated, ascends into the at­mosphere, where condensed and acquiring weight as it rolls, falls down in a shape suitable to the temperature of its elevation, i. 370 to 374—most foetid, breathed from the jaws of the wolf, iii. 323
• Varenius, his Opinion upon the formation of rivers, i. 199
• Vari, a kind of maki, last of the monkey-kind, iv. 240—its description, iv. 241
• Vault, go to vault, phrase used by hunters when the hare enters holes like the rabbit, iv. 10
• Vegetables, totally unprotected, and exposed to every assailant, ii. 2—those in a dry and sunny soil, are strong and vigorous, not luxuriant; and those the joint product of heat and moisture, are luxuriant and tender, ii. 5—but few noxious—that life as much promoted by human industry, as animal life is diminished, ii. 13—not possessed of one power which animals have, the actual ability, or aukward attempt at self-preservation, viii. 163—vegetable-earth—the bed of it in an inhabited country, must be always diminishing, and why, i. 56—plant, with a round bulbous head, which, when dried, becomes of amazing elasticity, grows near the ex­tremity of that region, on mountains, where con­tinual frost reigns, i. 151—vegetables cover the bottom of many parts of the sea, ii. 6—those called marine grow to a monstrous size, viii. 179—diffe­rent [Page] kinds appropriated to different appetites of ani­mals, and why—birds distribute the seeds of vege­tables where they fly, ii. 5—the ass gives preference over others to the plantane, ii. 381—the sole food of ruminating animals, iii. 1—animals feeding on vegetables most inoffensive and timorous, iv. 3—some possessed of motion—what constitutes the dif­ference between animal and vegetable life, difficult, if not impossible to answer, viii. 161—like fluids and mineral substances, produce air in a copious manner, i. 318
• Vegetation, anticipated in its progress by bees, viii. 74
• Velino, a river in Italy, has a cataract of a hundred and fifty feet perpendicular in height, i. 222
• Velocity, not alone the actuating force of winds, but also the degree of density, i. 355
• Velvet, like downy substance upon the skin covering the skull, when the horn of a deer is fallen off, iii. 96
• Velvet-duck, a variety of the common duck, a native of the European dominions, vi. 129
• Venery, partridges immoderately addicted to it, to an unnatural degree, v. 209
• Venom, given to the weapon of the fireflare by Pliny, Aelian, and Oppian, in a degree to affect the in­animate creation, vi. 259—many reasons to doubt of it, 260
• Venus, the Grecian, her nose such as at present would be deemed an actual deformity, ii. 76—a modern lady's face, like that of the Venus of Medicis, would scarce be thought beautiful, except by the lovers of antiquity, ii. 265
• Verges, or orifices of the snails, are two, one active, the other passive, vii. 31
• Vermin, hospitals erected by the Bramins in India for the maintenance of all kind of vermin, ii. 225—less found with asses, than with other animals co­vered with hair, ii. 386
• [Page] Vertigo in goats produced by immoderate cold, iii. 53, 54
• Vesuvius, its eruptions—the most remarkable described by Valetta, i. 91 to 94—account of another by bishop Berkley, i. 94. to 98
• Vibrations of a bell cease to be heard when under the receiver of an air-pump, i. 334—the tone of a so­norous body made to depend upon the number of vibrations, not the force, is a mistake of an effect for a cause, ii. 164.
• Vineta, a port of Pomerania, overflowed and destroyed by the Baltic, i. 278
• Violet-crab of the Caribbee islands, most noted for shape, delicacy of flesh, and singularity of manners, vi. 368
• Viper, most vivacious of reptiles—experiment on a vi­per in the receiver of the air-pump by Mr. Boyle, i. 316—kept in boxes for six or eight months with­out any food, vii. 179—its progressive motion, vii. 180—the only animal in Great Britain whose bite is feared, vii. 203—do not devour their young—their food, vii. 205—by the application of sallad-oil, the bite of the viper effectually cured—who first discovered this remedy—effects of the viper's bite, vii. 206, 207
• Vision, its errors—objects represented upside-down and double, ii. 147, 148—the point without sensation, ii. 150—and want of measure for distance, ii. 151
• Viviparous and oviparous animals, the two classes for generation and production—all other modes held imaginary and erroneous, ii. 22—the blenny, a spinous fish, brings forth two or three hundred young at a time, alive and playing around, vi. 177
• Ukraine, the cattle there become very fat, and consider­ed the largest of all Europe, iii. 19
• Ulloa, his description of part of South America, of Cotopaxi, of Quito, of the Andes, and a volcano, i. 99 to 103
• Umbilical vessels, those of the placenta to the foetus, ii. 41
• [Page] Unan, one of the two kinds of the sloth, an animal about the size of a badger, iv. 343
• Under-hung, expression among painters, meaning a prominent under jaw, ii. 91
• Understanding, comparative progress of it—greater in infants, than in children of three or four years old, ii. 61
• Undulations in elastic bodies supposed by the ear one continued sound, though in reality many, ii. 163
• Unicorn of the sea, a whale with teeth in the upper jaw, its description, vi. 211. See Narwhal.
• Univalve shells, first division by Aristotle, as to figure, vii. 12
• Voice of birds much louder to their bulk than animals of other kinds—set to music by father Kircher, v. 143
• Volatile caustic salt obtained in great quantity from the cantharides flies, viii. 143
• Volcano, considered as a cannon of immense size, the mouth near two miles circumference, i. 87—opi­nions of philosophers and ignorant men about it, i. 88—the real causes—three very remarkable in Europe, and which, i. 89—Albouras, most famous in Asia—one in the island of Ternate, i. 98—in the Molucca islands, in Japan, in Java and Suma­tra, in the Cape de Verd islands, the peak in Te­neriffe; also in America, i. 99—marine ones not very frequent, and why, i. 130
• Vomit, black, a mortal symptom of the distemper called chapatonadas, in America, i. 323
• Uranoscopus, a prickly-finned apodal fish, description of it, vi. 306
• Urchins, or echini, a multivalve shell-fish, vii. 61—manner of exhibiting this extraordinary animal in every light, vii. 61, 62—its description, vii. 62—some kinds as good eating as the lobster, and its eggs considered as a great delicacy, vii. 63
• Urinary passages, effects of the cantharides falling principally upon them, viii. 143
• [Page] Urine of animals found efficacious in some dis­orders, iii. 69—of the lion insupportable, iii. 224—of camels, an ingredient in sal ammoniac, iv. 311—of birds differs from that of other animals, v. 17
• Urson, or Hudson, of the hedge-hog kind, a native of Hudson's Bay, iv. 114—its description—sleeps much, and feeds upon the bark of juniper—in winter snow serves it as drink, and in summer it laps water like a dog, iv. 115
• Urus and bison in fact descendants of one common stock; and naturalists, assigning them different classes, have separated what is really united, iii. 15, 16—this wild bull chiefly met with in Lithuania—description of it, iii. 16—generally taken by pit­falls, iii. 17—the breed chiefly occupies the cold and temperate zones, iii. 20
• Vulture-kind, its distinctive marks from other kinds of carnivorous birds—the flesh liked and dressed for eating, according to Bellonius, v. 85—seldom at­tacks living animals when supplied with dead, v. 107—description of the golden vulture, v. 108—vulture and dog, about Grand Cairo in Egypt, keep together in a sociable friendly manner, and bring up their young in the same nest, iii. 304—of Senegal, said to carry off children, probably no other than the condor, v. 105
• Vulture, bird of prey, next in rank to the eagle, less generous and bold, v. 107—countries where found—unknown in England, v. 109—flocks of them near Grand Cairo not permitted to be destroyed, as they devour all the filth and carrion there—in company with wild dogs, tear and devour together without quarrelling, v. 110—wonderful method of separating the flesh from the bones, and leaving the skin entire, v. 111—smell carrion from afar—follow those that hunt for skins alone, and so vora­ciously fill themselves as merely to waddle, and to want disgorging before they fly away—are little ap­prehensive of danger, and allow themselves to be [Page] approached—an eagle falling in upon their meals, keeps them at distance till he be satiated—an ox re­turning home alone, lying down by the way, be­comes their prey, and is devoured alive—attempt oxen grazing, destroy lambs, and feed much upon serpents, rabbits, hares and what game they can overpower—also demolish whole broods of croco­diles, v. 111 to 114—lay two eggs at a time, and produce but once a year—make nests in inaccessible cliffs and remotest places—their flesh lean, stringy, nauseous, tasting and smelling of carrion, v. 114—the down of their wing makes a pretty kind of fur, commonly sold in the Asiatic markets, v. 109
• King of Vultures, description of this bird, v. 115, 116

• Waists of European women displease Linnaeus, who, in a catalogue of monsters, particularly adds their slender waists, ii. 243
• Walfischaas, whales provender, insects floating in clus­ters on the surface of the sea, and called medusa by Linnaeus, vi. 202
• Walnut-trees, with walnuts on the stem, leaves and branches, in exact preservation, found at twenty- in six feet depth round the city of Modena in Italy, i. 282
• Wanderow, a baboon less than the mandril, its de­scription—chiefly seen in the woods of Ceylon and Malabar, iv. 215
• Wappe, dog of the mongrel kind, in the third division of Dr. Caius, iii. 286
• Warbling of birds, so loud and various in modulation, not easily accounted for, v. 14
• Warine, the Brasilian guariba, largest of the monkey-kind, found in America, iv. 235—its description, iv. 236
• [Page] Warree, hog of the isthmus of Darien, described by Wafer, iii. 196
• Warwickshire rams not uncommonly worth fifty gui­neas, iii. 44
• Wasps, ruminating insects, or seemingly such, iii. 6—their description and habits—their habitation scarce­ly completed when the inhabitant dies—have two or three hundred queens in a hive, viii. 96, 97—their nest a most curious object, viii. 97 to 100—the so­cial wasps gather no honey themselves, though fond of sweets, viii. 102—fierce battles with the bees, who make up by conduct and numbers the deficiency of prowess, viii. 103—their depreda­tions, viii. 102—where found, other flies desert the place, viii. 103—live but one season, viii. 104—cannot endure winter—before new year they wither and die, having butchered their young—in every nest, one or two females survive—im­pregnated the preceding season, she begins in spring to lay eggs—and before June produces ten thousand young, which are nursed and fed by her alone, viii. 105—solitary wasp, its manners, viii. 106—provisions made for the young at leaving the egg—the provisions arranged and laid in, the old one closes the hole and dies—the young leaving the egg are scarcely visible, viii. 108—how the life of the young is spent—wasps of Europe innocent compared to those of tropical climate—description of those of the West Indies, and their habits, viii. 109—pains of their sting insupportable, more terri­ble than of a scorpion, the part swells, and people are so disfigured as scarce to be known, viii. 110
• Water, its parts infinitely small, driven through the pores of gold, penetrating through all substances, except glass—enter the composition of all bodies, ve­getable, animal, and fossil, i. 164, 165—birds, beasts, fishes, insects, trees, and vegetables, with their parts, have growth from it, and by putrefaction be­come water, i. 165—gives all other bodies firmness and durability, i. 163—a phial hermetically sealed, [Page] kept fifty years, deposed no sediment, and conti­nued transparent, i. 168—gathered after a thunder­clap in sultry weather, deposits a real salt, i. 169 spring-water collected from the air—of river waters, the Indus and the Thames offer the most light and wholesome, i. 170—lightness, and not transparency, the test of purity, i. 171—purest wa­ter distilled from snow on tops of highest mountains—different kinds adapted to different constitutions, i. 172—water of the sea heavier and more buoy­ant than freshwater, i. 241—very transparent, i. 171—fresh water at sea putrifies twice, sometimes thrice in a voyage—a month at sea, sends up a noisome and dangerous vapour, which takes fire from a flame, i. 173—elementary water not compounded, i. 174—is ice kept in fusion, i. 175—dilates in bulk by cold, i. 176—confirmed by experiments, i. 178—very compressible and elastic, i. 180—made to resemble air, i. 183—a drop of water converted into steam capable of raising twenty ton weight, i. 184—keeps its surface level and even, i. 185—a single quart sufficient to burst a hogshead, and how, i. 187, et seq.—of the sea kept sweet by motion, i. 249—converted into rushing air, and again into its former state, i. 337—the bramins of India smell the water they drink, to us quite inodorous, ii. 180
• Water-spouts, burst from the sea, and join mists im­mediately above them, i. 377—most surprising phoenomena, dreadful to mariners, and astonishing to observers of nature, common in the tropical seas, sometimes in our own—description of those seen by Tournefort in the Mediterranean, i. 390 to 193—solutions offered for this surprising phoenome­non, i. 393 to 396
• Water-wagtail, slender-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, living upon insects, v. 314
• Waves, their luminous appearance in the night, and the cause, i. 247
• Wax of two kinds gathered by common bees, viii. [Page] 88—the first fifteen days, the bees make more wax than during the rest of the year, viii. 86—that produced by black bees in tropical climates only used for medicinal purposes, being too soft for candles, as in Europe, viii. 90
• Weasel, a small carnivorous animal; marks com­mon to the kind, iii. 346, 347—these differ from the cat-kind in the formation and disposition of claws—differ from the dog-kind in a cloath­ing of fur rather than hair, iii. 346—one of the species is like all the rest, iii. 347—this the smallest of the whole kind, iii. 348—its descrip­tion—untameable and untractable, iii. 349—hides and sleeps three parts of the day, and sallies forth for prey in the evening, iii. 350—attacks ani­mals much above its own size, iii. 349—catches rats and mice better than cats; also small birds—destroys young poultry, and sucks the eggs—so nimbly runs up high walls, no place is secure from it, iii. 350, 351—in cultivated lands, it thins the number of hurtful vermin, iii. 359—never cries but when struck—all the kind has glands near the anus, secreting a substance foetid in some, and a perfume in others, iii. 347—this most offensive in summer, and insufferable when irritated, iii. 152—one sort in America is by sailors called the stinkard. See Stinkards. Confined to a cage, is ever in uneasy agitation—must have leave to hide itself—eats only by stealth, and will not touch the food until it begins to putrefy, iii. 349, 350—the female makes an easy bed for her young, and gene­rally brings forth from three to five at a time, and with closed eyes, iii. 351—account of a weasel's forming her [...], and bringing forth her young in the putrid carcase of a wolf, iii. 352—the white ermine found in Great Britain is called the white weasel—its fur among us of no value, iii. 358—of the weasel kind, the martin the most pleasing, iii. 368—the boldest and most useful of all is the ich­neumon, iii. 376
• [Page] Weather, the moist alone prevents evaporation, i. 371
• Weathercocks often erroneous with Derham in regard to upper regions, i. 353
• Weed floating over great tracts of the sea serve as sus­tenance for many fish bearing similitude with such vegetables, ii. 7
• Weever, the trachinus, a prickly-finned jugular fish, its description vi. 306—the sting given by its back-fin is poisonous, vi. 348
• Weight of the human body often found to differ from itself—instances of it—the difference often amounts to a pound, or sometimes to a pound and a half, not easy to conceive whence this adventitious weight is derived, ii. 110—the porters of Constantinople carry burdens of nine hundred pounds weight—a man able to raise a weight of two thousand pounds—a horse will not carry upon its back above two or three hundred pounds—whence this seeming supe­riority comes, ii. 112
• Well, burning, at Brosely, now stopped, had a fire­damp in it, which would kindle with the flame of a candle, i. 86—some continue full, affected neither by rains nor droughts, i. 282
• Welland, river near Spalding, has amazing shoals of sticklebacks caught in it, vi. 334
• Wert, Sebald, a traveller, confirms the existence of giants, on a coast of South America, towards the streights of Magallan, ii. 261
• Whale, the largest animal known, no precise anatomy of this fish yet given—two centuries ago they were described two hundred and fifty feet long, vi. 186 to 198—the Biscayneers practised the whale-fishery near Greenland soon after the year 1300, i. 205—seven different kinds, distinguished by external figure or internal conformation, i. 193—are gregarious ani­mals, make migrations from one ocean to another, i. 201—and generally resort where they have the least disturbance, 192—great Greenland whale, its de­scription, [Page] vi. 194—from sixty to seventy feet long,—the head one third of its bulk, vi. 194—its hearing is acute, vi. 196—breathes air at the surface of the water, and cannot remain under it like other fishes, vi. 169—it blows loudly through the spout-holes, and most fiercely when wounded—whalebone diffe­rent from the bones of the body, v. 197—the fins are from five to eight feet long, vi. 194—the throat is narrow, nothing larger than a herring can be swallowed, vi. 202—the tail, its only weapon of de­fence, is twenty-four feet broad, and strikes hard blows, vi. 194—one seen by Ray marbled, with the figures 122 distinctly marked upon it, vi. 195—the blubber and other parts turn out to very good ac­count—the flesh palatable to some nations, vi. 209, 210—the female and male keep much together; their fidelity exceeds that of birds—instance of it, vi. 199—do not cross breeds—she goes with young nine or ten months, is then fatter than at other times—produces two breasts and teats at pleasure—suckles her young a year, and how—is very tender of them—defends them fiercely when pursued—in­stance of it—dives with them, and comes up soon to give them breath—during the first year, called short-heads, and then yield fifty barrels of blubber—at two years, they are stunts, and after that skull-fish, 199, 200—the food of this animal, an insect called medusa by Linnaeus, and walfischaas by the Icelanders—pursues no other fish, and is inoffen­sive in its element, vi. 202—the whale-louse, of the shell-fish kind, sticks to its body as to the foul bottom of a ship, gets under the fins, and eats through the skin into the fat, vi. 203—the sword-fish affrights the whale, avoids the stroke of its tail, bounds upon its back, and cuts into it with the toothed edges of its bill, vi. 203, 204—the killer, a cetaceous fish of great strength, With powerful teeth, beset the whale as dogs do a bull, tear it down, and then devour only its tongue, [Page] vi. 204—old manner of taking whales, vi. 206 to 208—improvements hinted, vi. 209
• Spermaceti Whale, the cachalot, has teeth in the under jaw—is less than the whale, about sixty feet long, and sixteen high—can remain longer under water; and the head makes one half of the whole—is vo­racious and destructive even to dolphins and por­poises, vi. 217, 218—seven distinctions in this tribe, vi. 217—contain two precious drugs, the spermaceti and ambergris; the latter mostly in older fishes, vi. 219 to 221. See Cachalot.
• Wheat and currants, swallowed whole, indigestible to man; so may many kinds of food be in the sto­machs of animals, v. 74
• Wheat-ear, a thick short-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, thought foreign, v. 315—it migrates be­fore winter, v. 318
• Whin-chat, a slender-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 314—bird of passage, v. 318
• Whip-snake, a very venomous serpent of the east, is five feet long, and its bite kills in six hours time, vii. 214, 215
• Whirlpool, manner in which it is formed, i. 265—those of the ocean particularly dangerous, i. 267—the central point always lowest, and why, i. 205
• Whirlwind, the most rapid formed by united contri­butions of minerals, vegetables, and animals, en­creasing the current of air, i. 338
• Whiskers, a man without them formerly considered as unfit for company in Spain; nature denying, art supplied the deficiency—a Spanish general borrow­ing money from the Venetians, pawned his whis­kers, and took care to release them—part of the religion of the Tartars consists in the management of their whiskers; and they waged war with the Persians as infidels, whose whiskers had not the or­thodox cut, ii. 96—the kings of Persia wore them matted with gold thread; and the kings of France, of the first races, had them knotted and buttoned with gold, ii. 96, 97
• [Page] Whiston, his reasoning concerning the theory of the earth—finds water enough in the tail of a comet for the universal deluge, i. 28, to 32
• White, the natural colour of man, all other tints pro­ceed from greater or lesser heat of climates, ii. 233—among white races of people, our own country bids fairest for pre-eminence, ii. 235
• White-bait, shoals appear near Greenwich in July; and seem the young of some animal not come to perfect form, vi. 337
• White-nose, the moustoc, monkey of the ancient con­tinent, a beautiful little animal—its description—a native of the Gold Coast, iv. 234
• White-throat, a slender-billed bird of the sparrow-kind, living upon insects, v. 314
• Widgeon, a variety of the European duck described, but best known by its whistling sound, vi. 130
• Wild man of the woods, the ouran-outang, foremost of the ape-kind—this name given to various animals walking upright, but from different countries, and of different proportions and powers—the troglodyte of Bontius, the drill of Purchas, pygmy of Tyson, and pongo of Battel, have all this general name, iv. 189
• Wind, a current of air—artificial, i. 337—causes assigned for the variety, activity, continual change, and uncertain duration of it, i. 338—in what man­ner to foretel the certainty of a wind, as the return of an eclipse—to account for variations of wind upon land, not at present expected, i. 339—re­course to be had to the ocean—and why—in many parts of the world the winds pay stated visits—in some places they blow one way by day, and an­other by night; in others, for one half year they go in a direction contrary to their former course; in some places the winds never change, i. 340—the wind which never varies is the great universal wind, blowing from the east to the west, in all ex­tensive oceans, where the land does not break the general current, i. 341, 342—the other winds are [Page] deviations of its current—many theories to explain the motion of the winds—that of Dr. Lyster—theory of Cartesius—Dr. Halley's more plausible, i. 342, et seq.
• Trade-winds, blow from the poles toward the equator, i. 343, 344—were the surface of the globe sea, the winds would be constant, and blow in one direc­tion—various circumstances break its current, and drive it back against its general course, forcing it upon coasts that face the west, i. 344, 345—want of a true system of trade-winds, supplied by an imper­fect history of them—north wind prevails during October, November, December, and January, in the Atlantic, under the temperate zone—north wind reigns during the winter of Nova Zembla, and other arctic countries—south wind prevails dur­ing July in the Cape de Verde islands—north-west wind blows during September at the Cape of Good Hope—regular winds produced by various causes upon land—ancient Greeks first observed them, i. 346, 347—in general, wherever a strong current of water, there is a wind to attend it—regular wind produced by the flux and reflux of the sea—winds called monsoons, i. 347—some peculiar to certain coasts—south wind constant upon those of Chili and Peru—other winds particular to various coasts, i. 348, 349
• Winds at land puff by intervals, and why—not so at sea, i. 352—east wind more constant than any o­other, and generally most powerful—wind blow­ing one way, and clouds moving another, fore-runners of thunder—cause of this surprising ap­pearance remains a secret, i. 353—from sea, gene­rally moister than those over tracts of land—more boisterous in spring and autumn than at other sea­sons, i. 354—their force does not depend upon ve­locity alone, but also upon density—reflected from sides of mountains and towers, often more power­ful than in direct progression, i. 355—raise sandy deserts in one country, to deposit them upon some [Page] other—south winds in summer, so hot in Egypt as almost to stop respiration, and produce epide­mic disorders, continuing for any length of time, i. 357—deadly along the coasts of the Persian Gulph, and of India, i. 359—assume a visible form, i. 358
• Wind-pipe, in men has a lump not seen in women, ii. 102—makes convolutions within a bird, and is called the labyrinth, v. 13—this difference obtains in birds seemingly of the same species, v. 14—strange in the throat of the crane, v. 377—of the bittern, vi. 2—in the wild swan, vi. 114
• Wings of birds, answer fore-legs of quadrupeds—their description—bastard wing, v. 7—flap of a swan's wing break's a man's leg; a similar blow from an eagle lays a man dead instantly, v. 9—of butter­flies, distinguish them from flies of other kinds—their number and beautiful colours, viii. 33
• Winter beginning round the poles, the misty appear­ance of heat in southern climates is there produced by cold, i. 378, 386
• Wistiti, a monkey of the sagoin kind, remarkable for the tufts of hair upon its face, and its annulated tail, iv. 237
• Wolga, its length—abounds with water in May and June; at other times very shallow—the English disappointed in a trade into Persia through it, i. 209—receives thirty-three lesser rivers in its course, i. 217—and has seventy openings into the Caspian sea, i. 131
• Wolf, a fierce, strong, cunning carnivorous quadru­ped, externally and internally so nearly resembling the dog, they seem modelled alike, yet have a per­fect antipathy to each other, iii. 309—description of the wolf, iii. 306—principal distinction from the dog is the eye, which opens slantingly upwards in the same direction with the nose, iii. 307—also the tail is long, bushy, hanging lank—the wolf lives about twenty years—is not much with those of his kind, yet hunts in packs with them, iii. [Page] 311—quarelling, they devour each other, iii. 110 is watchful and easily waked—supplied with water, lives four or five days without food—carries off a sheep without touching the ground, and runs with it swifter than the shepherds his pursuers, iii. 315—smells a carcase at a great distance, iii. 316—leaving the wood, goes out against the wind—particularly fond of human flesh—follow armies, and arrive in numbers upon a field of battle—two or three wolves keep a province for a time in con­tinual alarm, iii. 317—distinguished by huntsmen into young, old, and great wolf—manner of hunt­ing them, iii. 318—young dogs shudder at their sight, iii. 309—the wolf killed, no dogs shew an appetite to enjoy their victory, iii. 318—the flesh so very indifferent, no creature eats it but the kind itself—breathe a most foetid vapour from their jaws, iii. 323—often die of hunger, after running mad by furious agitations, iii. 109—season for coupling lasts but fifteen days—no strong attachment ap­pears between male and female; seek each other only once a year—couple in winter, several males then follow one female, dispute cruelly, growl, and tear each other, and sometimes kill that pre­ferred by the female—she flies from all with the chosen when the rest are asleep, iii. 311—males pass from one female to the other—time of pregnancy about three months and a half—couple like the dog, and the separation hindered by the same cause—bring forth five or six, to nine at a litter—the cubs brought forth with eyes closed, iii. 312—young wolves play with hares or birds brought by their dams, and end by killing them, iii. 313—able to engender when two years old, iii. 314—wild dogs partake of the disposition of the wolf, iii. 276—the wolf taken young is gentle only while a cub; as it grows older, discovers its natural appetite of rapine and cruelty, iii. 277—experiments prove neither wolf nor fox of the same nature with the dog, but each a distinct species, iii. 298 to 300—France, [Page] Spain, and Italy, much infested with them; Eng­land, Ireland, and Scotland, happily free—king Edgar first attempted to rid this kingdom, and in what manner, iii. 319—Edward I. issued a man­date to Peter Corbet for the destruction of them—some quite black, some white all over—found in Asia, Africa, and America, iii. 320—in the East trained up for shew, taught to dance and play tricks; one thus educated sells for four or five hun­dred crowns—in Lapland, the wolf never attacks a rein-deer when haltered—wolves of North-Ame­rica used in hunting, iii. 321, 322—caught in pit­falls; a wolf, a friar, and a woman taken in one in the same night, iii. 319
• Golden wolf, the Latin name for the jackall, iii. 334
• Wolf-fish, the anarbicas, a soft-finned apodal fish, its description, vi. 311
• Womb, history of the child in the womb, ii. 39—of the hare divided in two, as a double organ, one side of which may be filled, while the other remains empty, iv. 6—description of the false womb of the oppossum, iv. 243, et seq.
• Woman, the body arrives at perfection sooner than in men, ii. 79—the persons of women as complete at twenty as those of men at thirty, ii. 80—the bones, cartilages, muscles, and other parts of the body, softer than in men—a woman of sixty has a better chance than a man of that age to live to eighty—women longer in growing old than men, ii. 199—the shoulders narrower, and the neck proportion­ably longer than in men, ii. 107—after a catalogue of deformities, Linnaeus puts down the slender waists of the women of Europe, by strait lacing, destroying their health, through a mistaken notion of improving their beauty, ii. 243—less apt to be­come bald than men; Mr. Buffon thinks they ne­ver become bald; there are too many instances of the contrary, ii. 86—in the polar regions as de­formed as the men, ii. 214—women of India de­scribed—marry and consummate at eight, nine, and [Page] ten years old, and have children at that age—cease bearing before the age of thirty—those of sa­vage nations, in a great measure exempt from painful labours, ii. 224—some continue pregnant a month beyond the usual time—those of Africa de­liver themselves, and are well a few hours after, ii. 47—remarkable instance of the power of imagina­tion upon the foetus, ii. 246—lower eye-lids drawn downwards when with child—the corners of the mouth also—then likewise high shouldered—cir­cumstances under which the midwives call them all mouth and eyes, ii. 104—in barbarous coun­tries, the laborious duties of life thrown upon the women, ii. 71, 121—the chief and only aim or an Asiatic is possession of many women, ii. 72—in­stance, in our own country, of a fine woman mar­ried to an eunuch, ii. 74—a principal employment of those of Thibet, is reddening the teeth with herbs, and making their hair white, ii. 77—first impulse of savage nature confirms women's slavery; the next, of half barbarous nations, appropriates their beauty; and that of the perfectly polite en­gages their affections, ii. 122
• Woods, in Britain, cut down by the Romans, and for what reason, i. 286
• Wood-cock, or cock of the wood, of the grouse kind, places which this bird inhabits—how distinguished from other birds of the poultry kind—the delicacy of its flesh—its food and habitation—amorous de­sires first felt in spring, v. 200, 201—keeps to the place where he first courts, and continues till the trees have their leaves, and the forest is in bloom—its cry, clapping of wings, and ridiculous pos­tures in this season—during which the females, at­tending his call, are impregnated; sportsmen use this time to fire at them, and take many while thus tame, though at others it is most timorous and watchful, V. 202, 203—the female much less than her mate, and so unlike him in plumage, she might be mistaken for another species—number and size [Page] of the eggs—she hatches them without the cock; and when obliged to leave them, in quest of food, so covers them with moss or leaves, it is difficult to find them—she is then extremely tame and quiet—keeps her nest, though attempted to be driven away—the young being hatched, they run with agility after the mother, though scarcely disengag­ed from the shell, v. 203—their food ant's eggs and wild mountain berries—older, they feed upon tops of hether, and cones of pine trees—are hardy—the clutching time over, the young males forsake the mother; keep together till spring, when the first genial access sets them at variance for ever—fight each other like game-cocks, and easily fall a prey to the fowler, v. 204
• Woodcock, bird of the crane kind, its dimensions, vi. 23—food, vi. 25—is a bird of passage—places where it is to be found, vi. 28
• Woodchat, a rapacious bird, third kind of the butcher-bird, v. 136
• Wood-louse, its description—has three varieties—where found—how bred—are of use in medicine, vii. 286, 287
• Wood-pecker, of this bird are many kinds, and varie­ties in each, v. 249—general characteristics, v. 248—description of the green wood-pecker, or wood-spite, called the rain-fowl in some parts—feeds up­on insects, particularly those in hollow or rotting trees—description of its tongue, the instrument for killing and procuring food, v. 249 to 251—want that intestine, which anatomists call the caecum, v. 249—stratagem used by them to catch ants, v. 252—in what manner they make nests, and how delicate in the choice—number of eggs, v. 253—nests in warmer regions of Guinea and Brasil, v. 254, 255— little wood pecker, called by the natives of Brasil guiratemga, v. 255
• Woodward, his essay towards a natural history, detail of it, i. 26, et seq.
• Wool, the Spanish finer than ours; but in weight not comparable to that of Lincoln or Warwickshire [Page] some Spanish wool required to work up with it, iii. 44—of the pacos, most valuable, and formed into stuffs, not inferior to silk; this manufacture a considerable branch of commerce in South Ame­rica, iv. 317
• Worms, within the body of the caterpillar, devour its entrails, without destroying its life, viii. 47—of different kinds infest each species of fish, vi. 347— sea-worms make the shells of fishes their food, vii. 16
• Blind worm, of the serpent kind, its description—lies torpid all winter, vii. 221
• Froth-worm, an insect in that sort of substance on the surface of plants—description of it, vii. 358
• Worm-kind, general description of the earth-worm, viii. 166—entirely without brain, but with the heart near the head, viii. 168—in what manner taken, viii. 169—its eggs, viii. 168—nourishment,—keeps life in separated parts, viii. 170
• Wrasse, the labrus of the prickly-finned thoracic kind—description of this fish, vi. 307
• Wren, and golden crowned wren, slender billed birds of the sparrow kind, v. 314— willow-wren, a wander­ing bird of the sparrow-kind, v. 318—the singing bird admired for the loudness of its note, com­pared to the smallness of its body, v. 335
• Wrinkles, whence those of the body and face proceed, ii. 197
• Wry-neck, or cuckoo's attendant, a little bird, most ac­tive in the chase of the young cuckoo, v. 266

• Xiphias, or the sword-fish, of the prickly-finned apo­dal kind, its description, vi. 305

• Young people sometimes cease growing at fourteen or fifteen, ii. 79

• [Page] Zealand, inundations there, in which many villages were and remain overflowed, i. 278
• Zebra, the most beautiful, but wildest animal—a na­tive of the southern parts of Africa—nothing ex­ceeds the delicate regularity of its colour—descrip­tion—watchful and swift, ii. 390—its speed a pro­verb among Spaniards and Portuguese—stands bet­ter upon its legs than a horse—in what countries found, ii. 396—the Portuguese pretend to have tamed, and sent four from Africa to Lisbon, to draw the king's coach—some sent to Brasil, could not be tamed—Merolla asserts, when tamed, they are still as estimable for swiftness as beauty, ii. 397—their noise resembles the confused barking of a mastiff dog—in two, the author saw the skin be­low the jaw upon the neck hung loose in a kind of dewlap—they are easily fed; some in England eat bread, meat, and tobacco—the emperor of Japan made a present of sixty thousand crowns value, for one received from a governor of Batavia, ii. 398—the Great Mogul gave two thousand ducats for another—African ambassadors to the court of Con­stantinople, bring some with them, as presents for the Grand Seignior, ii. 399—zebra and wild ass of a very different species, ii. 376
• Zebu, the Barbary cow, and the grunting or Siberian cow, are but different races of the bison, iii. 23, 24, 32
• Zeiran, name of the fourth variety of gazelles by Mr. Buffon, iii. 73
• Zembla, Nova, north wind reigns there during winter, i. 346—a description of its inhabitants, ii. 213, et seq.
• Zeus, the doree, of the prickly-finned thoracic kind, description of that fish, vi. 309
• Zibet, one of the two species of the civet, according [Page] to Mr. Buffon—distinction between them, iii. 389
• Temperate zone, properly speaking the theatre of na­tural history, i. 14
• Torrid zone, in the center the heat very tolerable, in other places the cold painful—temperature and advantages of perpetual spring under it, i. 150—lightening there not fatal or dangerous, i. 379—has the largest quadrupeds—all fond of the water, iii. 28, 29
• Zoophytes, name of vegetable nature indued with ani­mal life, viii. 161—first class of zoophytes, viii. 166—all the tribe continue to live in separate parts; one animal by cuttings, divided into two distinct existences, sometimes into a thousand, viii. 171—second class, viii. 174
• Zorille, a stinkard, of the weasel kind—resembles the skink—is smaller and more beautifully coloured, iii. 381