cated, may be freely indulged in by those who refrain from animal food. Apples may now be preserved the year round; and-when made into pies, puddings, &c.— are an excellent addition to the diet both of the rich and the poor. It is to be regretted, that the high price of sugar is so great an obstacle to the more general consumption of this and other fruits produced in this country. The other common fruits, are cherries, mulberries, gooseberries, currants, brambleberries, bilberries, cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Others, requiring more care to bring them to perfection, are in less general use; as grapes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, pine-apples, and melons. The most valuable foreign

fruits, are figs, dates, dried grapes (or raisins), currants, prunes, French plums, oranges, tamarinds, plantains, bananas (or Indian figs), mangos, mangostans, cocoanuts, and bread-fruit; many of which are imported, at moderate prices, either fresh or preserved. Other vegetable productions are also worthy of notice; as almonds, walnuts, hazle-nuts, chesnuts, sugar, treacle, and honey; -the latter being a vegeto-animal production.

540. Surely the advocate for variety of diet, will find the above bill of fare sufficiently ample to satisfy any moderate desires; but all who have habituated themselves to a fruit and farinaceous diet, find many changes unnecessary, either for health or the most perfect gratification of the palate. At their first and third daily meals, they may probably indulge in a few of the fresh or dried fruits which are in season; along with bread, boiled rice, wheat, oatmeal, &c.; and, if they need it, a draught of

pure cold water. Some will prefer tea, coffee, or chocolate; and, when taken in moderation and not too hot, they may probably do little injury; but when taken too strong, or in too large a quantity, they are the frequent source of dyspepsia, palpitation, &c. Dinner may consist of potatoes, rice, omelets, puddings, fruit-pies, cheesecakes, and a variety of other prepared dishes; which are numerously and fully described in a work entitled-" Vegetable Cookery, by a Lady." When habit has reconciled a person to the change, his enjoyment of this kind of fare will be so complete, his sensations so exquisite, and his health so well established, that he would not exchange his mode of living, for any of the more stimulating but less wholesome dishes generally called good, merely because the diet which I have endeavoured to prove better and more natural, has not been sufficiently tried.

419

APPENDIX.

A.

A very remarkable fact relative to the oxen of South America, is recorded by M. Roulin; and is particularly adverted to by M. Geoffroy St. Hillaire, in the report made by him on M. Roulin's Memoir, before the Royal Academy of Sciences. In Europe, the milking of cows is continued through the whole period, from the time when they begin to bear calves till they cease to breed. This secretion of milk has become a constant function in the animal economy of the tribe: it has been rendered such by the practice continued through a long series of generations, of continuing to draw milk long after the period when it would be wanted by the calf. The teats of the cow are larger than in proportion; and the secretion is perpetual. In Columbia, the practice of milking cows was laid aside;-owing to the great extent of farms, and other circumstances. "In a few generations," says M. Roulin, “the natural structure of parts, and withal the natural state of the function, have been restored. The secretion of milk in the cows of this country, is only an occasional phenomenon, and contemporary with the actual presence of the calf. If the calf dies, the milk ceases to flow; and it is only by keeping it with its dam by day, that an opportunity of obtaining milk from cows by night can be found." This testimony is important, on account of the proof it affords, that the permanent production of milk, in the European breeds of cows, is a modified function of the animal economy ;— produced by an artificial habit, continued through several generations.

Two other very important observations made by M. Roulin, in South America, were pointed out by M. Geoffroy St. Hillaire, in

his report to the Academy of Sciences. They refer to the fact of the hereditary transmission of habits originally impressed, with care and art, upon the ancestors. Of this fact I shall adduce other examples in the sequel: at present I only advert to M. Roulin's observations. The horses bred in the grazing farms on the table land of the Cordillera, are carefully taught a peculiar pace, which is a sort of running amble. This is not their natural mode of progression; but they are inured to it very early, and the greatest pains are taken to prevent them from moving in any other gait. In this way the acquired habit becomes a second nature. It happens occasionally that such horses, becoming lame, are no longer fit for use: it is then customary to let them loose, if they happen to be well-grown stallions, into the pasture grounds. It is constantly observed, that these horses become the sires of a race, to which the ambling pace is natural, and requires no teaching. The fact is so well known, that such colts have received a particular name: they are termed "aguilillas." The second fact is the development of a new instinct, which (as M. Roulin declares) seems to become hereditary in the breed of dogs found among the borderers on the river Madeleine, which are employed in hunting the pecari. I shall cite the author's own words:" L' addresse du chien consiste à modérer son ardeur; à ne s'attacher à aucun animal en particulier, mais à tenir toute la troupe en échec. parmi ces chiens, on en voit maintenant qui, la première fois qu'on les amène au bois, savent deja comment attaquer; un chien d'une autre espèce se lance tout d'abord, est environné, et (quelle que soit sa force) il est dévoré dans un instant.”

Or,

It appears, that barking is an acquired hereditary instinct. It has become natural to domesticated dogs, and young whelps, to learn to bark, even when separated at birth from their parents. It has been conjectured, that barking originated in an attempt to imitate the human voice. However that may be, wild dogs do not bark. There are numerous troops of wild dogs in South America, principally in the Pampas. There are also in the Antilles, and in

the isles on the coast of Chili, similar breeds. These breeds, in recovering their liberty, have lost the habit of barking. Like other uncultivated breeds of dogs, they only howl. It is known, that the two dogs brought to England by Mackenzie, from the western parts of America, could never bark, and continued to utter their habitual howl; but a whelp bred from them in Europe learned to bark. It has often been observed, that the dogs in the island of Juan Fernandez-the progeny of those which were left there purposely by the Spaniards, before Lord Anson's time, with the design of exterminating the goats-were never known to bark. A curious observation of M. Roulin is, that the cats in South America have, in like manner, lost those "miaulemens incommodes", which are so often heard during the hours of night, in many parts of Europe.*

B.

TABLE showing the Average Quantity of Nutritive Matter, in 1000 Parts of various Animal and Vegetable Products.

* DR. PRICHARD'S NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. P. 34