An historical, scientific, and practical essay on milk, as an article of human sustenance; with a consideration of the effects consequent upon the present unnatural methods of producing it for the supply of large cities

Front matter

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Introduction

Milk, derivation of the term. — Its peculiar properties and characteristics. — Primary design of. — Providence of successive nature. — Importance of the study. — Mutual dependence of the animal and vegetable kingdom. — Parts of the system essential to the whole. — Evidences of design in creation. — Material things subservient to a moral purpose. — Tendencies of these considerations 25

Chapter II. Primeval Condition Of Man

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Our first knowledge of man. — His food. — Covering. — Condition. — Occupation, a hunter. — Early subjection of animals. — Occasion of the first use of milk. — The result of design. — Number of the domesticated species of animals, not increased by the lapse of time 31

Chapter III. Mosaic Account Of The Infancy Of Society

Quadrupeds domesticated before the deluge. — Adam a herdsman or shepherd. — Reasons why these pursuits preceded that of agriculture. — Miraculous preservation of animals at the deluge. — Occupation of the ancient patriarchs. — First mention of milk in sacred history.— Value of flocks and herds to the ancient Hehrews 36

Chapter IV. Pastoral Life Induced The First Connected Condition Of Society

Influences of pastoral life. — Patriarch shepherds. — Their wealth and power. — Flocks and herds how managed. — Their numbers. — Scriptural allusions to pastoral occupations. — Spread of the human family from Ararat. — Antiquity of domestic animals, shown by ancient coins and medals. — Animals issuing from the ark. — Distinction conferred on the bovine race 43-

Chapter V

TESTIMONY OF PROFANE HISTORY TO THE ANTIQUITY AND UTILITY OF DOME3TICATED ANIMALS.

Cattle in Egypt. — In Greece. — In Scythia. — In ancient Rome. — .^Ethiopia and Lusitania. — Idolatrous veneration of cattle. — Indian, Egyptian and Roman cattle. — Consequences of the Roman conquests. — Pursuits of society during the " Dark Ages." — Cattle in France. Britain, &c. — Different opinions of natural ists. — Original race of cattle. — Varieties of the European cow. — Diversity of qualities in the cow family. — Indian and Tartar cattle 50

Chapter VI

INFLUENCE OF EDUCATION ON CATTLE — THEIR INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA, ETC.

Training cattle in central Africa. — Superior intelligence of Caffre cattle illustrated. — Swiss cattle, anecdotes of. — Proofs of bovine sagacity. — Attachment to their keepers. — Transportation of cattle from the Canaries and Europe to South America. — Anecdote of their sagacity. — Introduction of cattle into New England. — Bulls used for riding. — Clark's Island. — Importation of cattle to the middle states. — Cattle as a source of national wealth. — Importance of this species of animals. — Summary conclusion ,60

Chapter VII. Characteristics Of Milk

Design of milk, its properties and appropriation. — Kinds of milk used in different countries. — Superior value of cow's milk. — Its appreciable qualities. — Color of good milk. — Smell and taste. — Alkaline property. — Summary description of good milk 74

Chapter VIII. Analysis And Constituents Of Cow's Milk

Microscopical examination of milk. — The specific gravity of various kinds. — Difference of quality. — Specific gravity, how affected. — Analysis of several kinds of milk. — Constituents of milk. — It elementary principles. — f. Cream — its specific gravity and constituents. — How resolved into butter. — Insoluble in spirits of wine, &c. — II. Curd — how formed. — Effect of heat on milk. — Coagulable by acids 79

Chapter IX. Analysis And Constituents Of Milk Continued

Properties of curd. — Soluble caseura how obtained. — Combination of curd with mineral acids.— Analysis and Constituents of curd. — Its ultimate elements. — III. Whey. — Its appearance and properties. — Sugar of milk.— Processes of obtaining it. — Its properties. — Muriates of potash and soda. — Phosphate of lime, how separated. — Gelatin, &c, &c 86

Chapter X. Human Milk

Pliny's opinion of different kinds of milk. — Artificial ass's milk its reputed virtues. — Peculiarities of human milk. — Whiter than*cow's. — Yields more cream. — In what respects it differs, — Variations of it at different periods. — It is incoagulable. — Less prone to acidity than other milk. — It is affected by mental emotions. — Illustrated by an anecdote 92

Chapter XI. Milk Of Different Animals

Ass's milk compared with cow's milk. — In what it chiefly differs. — Mare's milk. — Its properties. — Less nutritious than any other. — Abounds in saccharine matter. — Method of obtaining an intoxicating liquor therefrom. — Goat's milk. — Its properties. — Evaporation of five kinds of mlik and results. — Comparison of different kinds. — Ewe's, camel's, sow's, and bitch's milk. — Medicinal properties of the latter. — Whale's milk. — Its lactescent organs. — The constituents of six kinds of milk compared. — The differences in milk referred to the digestive process. — Evidences of design in milk. — Milk, the great alimentary prototype 98

Chapter XII

THE UNNATURAL METHODS OF PRODUCING MILK FOR THE CON- SUMPTION OF LARGE CITIES.

Impure milk consequent upon the mismanagement of the dairies. — The evil avoidable. — Manner of producing milk. — Prevalence of its use. — Collateral mischiefs. — Connection of the dairies with distilleries. — Importance of the former to the latter. — Slop as food for fattening cattle. — Distilleries in the vicinity of cities. — Ignorance of the people on the subject. — Slop-milk only a branch. — Quadruple alliance. — Extent of the evils produced shown by the destruction of grain. — The production of whisky. — Diseased cattle and swine slaughtered . 107 2

Chapter XIII

EVILS OF UNNATURAL FEEDING DEMONSTRATED FROM THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF THE COW.

Digestive organs of ruminant animals. — Teeth. — Salivaryglands. — (Esophagus. — Reticulum. — Omasum. — Abomasum. — Process of rumination. — Liquids pass into the fourth stomach.— Digestive process. — In the different stomachs. — Gastric juice. — General deductions 116

Chapter XIV

APPROPRIATE FOOD, PURE AIR, AND EXERCISE, NECESSARY TO THE HEALTHY CONDITION OF DAIRY CATTLE.

Temperature of food. — Liquid aliment improper.— Forming milk out of solid food. — Herbaceous matter adapted to the wants of the animal. — Healthy chyle. — Pure air necessary to health. — Injurious effects of foul air. — Exercise important to health. — Illustrated by experiments. — Exercise an instinct 124

Chapter XVIII. Other Demonstrations Of The Effects Of Pernicious Diet

The teeth. — Testimony, with illustrations. — Some exceptions thereto. — Consequences not peculiar to cattle. — Swine affected by it. — How kept in Philadelphia. — Testimony of distillers. — Feeding swine on slop unprofitable. — Mortality among cows. — Report of a committee. — Diseased meat unfit for food. — On whom the correction of the evil depends . . . 14S

Chapter XIX. Diseases Consequent Upon This Unnatural System

Dry-murrain. — Bloody-murrain. — Consumption. — Effects of it on the milk. — Wolf-in-the-tail. — Diarrhoea, Pleurisy, etc. 158

Chapter XX. The Poisonous Effects Of Disease On The Milk Of Cows

Chaptal's opinion. — Facts illustrating the poisonous effects ot milk. — Milk-sickness. — Dr. Graff's testimony. — Christison's ditto. — Familiar facts on the subject. — A letter from a physician. — Also from a corespondent 168

Chapter XXI. Foreign Investigations And Experiments

Preliminary statements. — Continued prevalence of the evil. — Report addressed to the Medical Society of Paris. — Impure milk acid. — Test of acidity. — Result of experiments. — Conditions essential to good milk. — How acidity may be corrected. — Case in M. D'Arcet's family. — A caution. — Importance of this testimony. — All slop-milk acid. — Beer grains. — Milk in our cities worse than in Paris 177

Chapter XXII. Nutritious Properties Of Milk

Specific gravity of milk. — By what affected — The lactometer. — Methods of ascertaining the specific gravity of milk. — The proportions of cream and curd by measure. — Husted's and Mead's dairy. — Lee's and Wolcott's. — Morris's. — Fisher's. — Townsend's. — Milk from a city-fed cow. — Samples of slop-milk. — Underbill's dairy. — Tables showing the results of various examinations of milk. — The superiority of pure milk for culinary purposes. — Slop-milk deficient in oil and albumen. — Letter from a physician. — Adulteration of milk with drugs.-— Also with water. — Iniquityofthesepractic.es .... 185

Chapter XXIII. Delusions On The Subject Of Milk

Instructions of experience. — Prevalence of popular mistakes.— A knowledge of our ignorance important. — Diseased food always unhealthy. — Illustrated in the case of the human infant.

— Influence of drugs on the child when taken by the mother. — Sensibility of the infant system. — Analogous inferences. — ■ Practical importance thereof. — Water, as a diluent. — Milk the natural food of the infant 201

Chapter XXIV. Infant Mortality In Foreign Cities

Infant physiology. — Analogies of nature. — Physical and moral debasement in Paris. — Also in London. — In Liverpool. — Birmingham. — Glasgow, etc. — Consequences therefrom. — Infant mortality in England. — Foundling hospitals. — In Paris. — London. — Amsterdam. — Glasgow. — Improvement in the duration of adult life. — Also of infant life. — Table of infant mortality in London. — General diminution of infant mortality. — Deductions 208

Chapter XXV. Infant Mortality In American Cities

Design of the preceding chapter. — Infant mortality in Boston. — Tabular view of infant deaths in Philadelphia. — Mortality of infants in New-York. — A principle established — Inferences therefrom. — Infant mortality, not chiefly owing to atmospherical influences — Atmospherical salubrity in New- York, etc. — What is the cause of the excessive brevity of infant life in American cities? 2 IS

Chapter XXVI. Influence Of Impure Milk On The Health Of Children In Cities

Effects of immigration on the bills of mortality. — Immigrants in foreign cities — Objections anticipated. — Excessive infant mortality chiefly owing to improper aliment —Impure milk such aliment.— Objection considered — .Origin and progress of the evil. — Influence of other causes. — Extent of the evil. — ■ Early extinction of infant life in cities not a design of Providence. — Certificate of physicians. — Duty in reference to the subject 2i8

Chapter XXVII. Incidental Testimony

Letter from a friend. — Cases of sickness occasioned by slop-milk, and recovery. — A similar casein the author's family. — Effects of impure milk on a cat. Fatal effects of slop-milk in a family of children.— Cutaneous erruptions occasioned by its use. — Reasons for introducing certain descriptions. — A disgusting incident. — Filthiness of slop-men. — Death of cattle. . . 240

Chapter XXVIII

LETTERS FROM CHARLES A. LEE, M. D. LATE PROFESSOR OF MATERIA MEDICA IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW-YORK, ETC.

Opportunities for observation. — Appearance of children fed on slop-milk. — Profits of slop feeding. — Value of the slop dairy to the distiller. — Description of slop-milk. — Difficulty of obtaining pure milk for children. — Health of children destroyed by im-

Fure milk. — Influence of food on the quality of milk. — Letter I. — Prefatory remarks. — Effects of slop on the health of cattle. — Influence of slop-milk on health. — Fatal effects of it, with diagnosis of case. — Marasmus arising from innutritious diet. — Duty of municipal authorities in relation to the evil. — Letter III., from Mr. John Burdell, dentist. — A drawing of a child's jaw with explanations. — Teeth, the indexes of the constitution. ■ — How affected by impure milk. — Early injury to the teeth never repaired. — Teeth of the present generation inferior to those of the preceding. — Effects of slop-milk not limited to infants. — Incidental considerations. — Process of nutrition. — Phosphate of lime in pure milk. — Teeth and bones formed therefrom. — Beauty of this arrangement ..... 250

Chapter XXIX. Milk Sickness

Preliminary observations.— First mention of milk sickness.— Regions to which it is peculiar. — Confined to no season. — What animals subject to it. — Symptoms of the disease in brutes. — Symptoms of the disease in men. — Its virulence and fatality. — Cause of the disease. — Its locality circumscribed. — Invesligations of its orgin. — Different theories concerning it. — Nature of the poison. — Affects the flesh and vitiates all the secretions.— Experiments thereon. — Its fatality illustrated. — Some points of resemblance in the appearances and effects, common to diseased slop-fed cattle. — Probable cause of milk sickness 267

Chapter XXX. Foreign Milk Dairies

Impure milk not peculiar to American cities. — Flemish and Dutch dairies. — Food for cattle. — Dairy management in Holland, Switzerland, etc. — How managed for the supply of large towns with milk in England. — Brewers' grains, the chief food of milch cows. — How preserved. — Distillery slop. — Other food. — Stabling cows. — Rhodes' dairy, description of. — Laycock's dairy. — Metropolitan dairy. — Frauds in milk. — Effects of stabling. — Cows in London. — Adulterations and impositions in milk. — Harley's dairy at Glasgow. — Professed advantages of

his system. — Its defects 280

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Chapter XXXI. Objections Answered, And The Difficulties Of Reform Con- Sidered

Slop healthy food for cattle, because the refuse of grain. — Slop said to be eaten in the state of vinous fermentation. — Cattle said to thrive on small portions of slop. — Gradual correction of the evil. — Difficulties in the way of reform. — The evil stands not alone. — Why distillers are opposed to reform. — A letter from distillers. — The distillation of liquor encouraged by the patronage of the moral and temperate. — Cow stables the nightly resort of thieves and vagabonds. — Responsibility of distillers. — Distilleries in New-York, etc. — Production of whisky. — Destruction of grain. — 'Whisky from the west and south. — Dilution and sale of slop essential to the support of the distilleries. — The number of rectifying houses. — The advantages of these establishments to the city distiller.-— Distillation of spirit from molasses. — A grain distillery in Philadelphia. — Opposition of slop-men. — Diseased condition of the cattle. — The stock and their management must be changed. — The evil, not necessary. — Reform practicable. — Desecration of the Sabbath by the traffic in milk and slop 301

Chapter XXXII. Frauds And Impositions In The Slop-milk System

Deceptive practices ofdairymen, illustrated by facts. — False labels on milk-carts. — Intrigue with servants. — Professors of religion engaged in the slop-milk business. — Facilities for deception. — Influence of half-slop-men. — Their management. — Price of pure milk. — Price of slop-milk. — The poor, willing to pay a fair price for good milk. — Price no difficulty with the wealthy. — Feeding cattle with slop, the result of choice, not of necessity. — Appeal to those in the business. — Inexcusableness of apathy on the subject. — Appeal to mothers. — Also to the farmers of Long-Island and New Jersey, and of the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, etc. . . . 319

Chapter XXXIII. Facts And Estimates

Preliminary remarks. — Basis of an estimate. — Consumption of grain by distillation. — A perversion of the bounties of Providence. — Effects of distillation on the price of bread-stuffs. — Annual product of spirit and cost to the consumer. — Cost of intemperance. — Tax on real estate.— Demoralizing effects of intemperance.— The triple league.— Responsibility of magistrates, and of the people. —Concluding observations . . 339

Preface

Several years have elapsed since the Author's attention was first directed to the subject of Milk, as an article of human sustenance in large cities. (He had observed, with regret, that in the management of the dairies, no regard was paid to the peculiarities of the animal organization, and a little reflection convinced him that consequences of an injurious kind, might be expected to result from this unnatural treatment.^ Desiring to ascertain whether such were its recognized effects, he had recourse to books ; but, to his surprise, could discover nothing that had been written upon the subject. As the facts involved various consequences affecting the physical welfare and incidentally the morals of the people, he supposed they might be obtained from physicians or other men of observation and intelligence ; but after extensive oral intercourse for information, he found that the subject, wherever introduced, was previously unthought of and unknown. It appeared, in short, that whatever relation it sustained to the well-being of the community, remained yet to be developed and published to the world.

Being thus urged to a personal investigation of the subject, he entered upon a careful survey of the dairies, and their appendages the distilleries. The latter he found surrounded with hundreds, and in some instances, with thousands of milch cows, confined in filthy pens, bloated, diseased and dying, and most

20 PREFACE.

inhumanly condemned to subsist chiefly on the dregs of distillation, reeking hot from the whisky manufactories. He followed the distribution of the milk as it flowed from these polluted sources to his own family, where he beheld his youngest child rapidly sinking under the effects of this pernicious aliment, whilst the cause of the illness, until then, was unknown 'and unsuspected. Enlarging his survey, he ascertained that in this community alone there was more than sixty thousand families, and in these families more than twenty-five thousand children under the age of five years, among whom this impure milk was a staple article of diet.

He next examined the bills of mortality in some of the chief cities, extending back his researches as far as authentic data could be obtained, and discovered, that from some cause or causes unknown, the proportion of infant deaths was not only frightfully great, but steadily augmenting. From the year 1814 to 1841, the destruction of infant life had increased from about thirty -two per cent., to more than fifty per cent. ; in other words, more than one half of the total deaths, occurred among children under the age of five years. This appalling fact, led him to examine the vital statistics of foreign cities, to ascertain to what extent this fatality was general and inseparable from the conditions of a city life ; and he learned that in them it was less and diminishing, whilst the reverse was true of our American cities.

He then traced the much abused cattle, which in a few months become so diseased as to be ever after unfit for the dairy, to the shambles, where they are slaughtered by thousands ; and to the markets, where the flesh is sold at enormous prices to be eaten by our citizens. He ascertained, moreover, that the breweries and distilleries, in this way, were destroying nearly as much grain created for purposes of sustenance, as would suffice for

PREFACE. 21

the consumption of the population. And to crown the whole, this vast and complicated system, with its wide-spread mischiefs, was produced and sustained by agencies the least likely to he suspected ; it was, in short, so involved and ramified, that the people were unconsciously a party in bringing upon themselves the evils they suffered.

Having satisfied himself that these facts were indisputable, it became his immediate object to spread them before the public in a series of essays which appeared in the public journals, and subsequently by numerous lectures. For a season, the evil was arrested, several pure dairies sprang up, and many philanthropic individuals became interested in the subject. But it had by a growth of many years struck deep its roots, and acquired an amplitude and strength which resisted the puny efforts that were brought against it. The voice of the lecturer was heard by comparatively few, and soon forgotten ; and the leaves of a public journal for reference, were scarcely less precarious and fugitive. The Author was thus, unfortunately, the chief depositary of facts on the subject, which drew on him from various quarters applications for information, utterly beyond his ability to supply. Those, consequently, who from a knowledge of general principles were eager to aid in their diffusion for the benefit of others, were deterred from engaging in the work, because unfurnished with the facts which were essential as a basis of all just reasoning upon the subject. In other departments of benevolent action, the materials were at hand ; but in this they were so far asunder as to discourage ordinary effort to bring them together for practical effect. There was not, in brief, a page of written authority that could be consulted.

These circumstances explain the origin of this volume. It was undertaken to supply an urgent demand for information on an important, economical and moral subject, hitherto untouched

22 PREFACE.

by any previous writer. In directing his attention to the plan of a work for this object, other topics connected with it, besides those mentioned, naturally presented their claims to consideration as branches of the subject, and necessary in a general history. He was. therefore, induced to take a wider range than was originally designed ; and by thus treating it in a manner never before attempted, has rendered the work, he trusts, more complete and deserving of attention, than it would otherwise have appeared.

In the historical part, as the limits of the essay did not admit of detail, he has introduced only the best, authenticated incidents and particulars, which were scattered through a varietyof unconnected departments of literature ; and endeavored to bring them into such succession and arrangement, as, whilst they illustrate the general subject, and instruct and interest the observer of nature, will, by the manifested evidences of design everywhere luminously displayed, naturally elevate the devout mind to communion with him, without whom was not any thing made that was made.

The scientific branch of the iniquiry he has endeavored to render as complete, as the present knowledge of the subject will admit. For this purpose the best and latest authorities have been consulted, including the most recent experiments and examinations. Hence the results which philosophical chemistry has developed of the elements of milk, their proportions and combinations, and the methods of obtaining them, may here be learned by the professional student; and the man in ordinary life who is not a practical chemist, and is without the convenience of a laboratory, may also gather such instruction as will, by easy experiments, protect his health and wealth from fraudulent impositions and injury. To the deductions of others, the Author's

PREFACE. 23

acquaintance with the suhjecthas enabled him to add some experiments of his own, with such practical hints and elucidations, as, he believes, will be useful and profitable. The arrangement of the matter is new, and elaborated with the design of condensing into small compass, the sum of what is now known on the subject.

The essay does not pretend to the character of a systematic guide to the dairyman ; yet it contains valuable practical instructions on the subject, which, it is believed, will repay a perusal by persons engaged in such occupations. By an observance of the principles laid down, many serious mistakes, common in dairy management, will be avoided.

In the prosecution of the work, it has been his design, in every instance, to acknowledge his obligations to the authors he has consulted, and he is not aware of having deviated from this purpose. If, however, he has introduced any sentiment or expression without referring it to the writer, he trusts this general acknowledgment will atone for the inadvertence.

Having no other than a moral interest in the subject, it has been the author's object to exhibit facts, solely with reference to humane and benevolent results. In doing this, he has been anxious to avoid all reasonable occasions of displeasure to any class of men. If he has done injustice to any, it has been undesigned, and when made known, the acknowledgment shall be as public as the offence. If, however, in the discussion of the subjects that have come under review, some truths are brought to light which strongly reflect on the practices of those engaged in them, for this he is not morally amenable ; and the odium and the guilt must rest upon those who, with better knowledge, pursue occupations that are disreputable in themselves, and injurious to their fellow men.

PREFACE.

As the work has been written amidst the pressure of other employments little congenial to literary pursuits, the Author is not so presumptuous as to imagine that it is free from those inaccuracies and defects, which under any circumstances are usually inseparable from a first attempt to sketch a new subject. He has, indeed, painful apprehensions, lest its imperfections materially impair its usefulness. Beyond this his solicitude does not extend. But should the result disappoint his fears, and this unpretending essay become instrumental, to any extent, in vanquishing the evils he has endeavored to portray, the philanthropic will rejoice in its success, and his labor receive an abundant recompense.

R. M. H.

Clinton Hall, New- York, September 17, 1811.

Chapter I. Introduction

Milk, derivation of the term. — Its peculiar properties and characteristics. — Primary design of. — Providence of successive nature: — Importance of the study. — Mutual dependence of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. — Parts of the system essential to the whole. — Evidences of design in creation. — Material things subservient to a moral purpose. — Tendencies of these considerations.

Milk, from the Greek Mel-ysiv, or the Latin Mulgeo, which literally signifies to press out by handling or softening with the hand, is the name of a well known animal fluid. It is the only material in the whole range of organic matter, that is designed and prepared by nature, expressly as food. Being a natural compound of albumen,* oil and sugar, which constitute the three great staminal principles that are essential to the support of animal life, it is a model of what a nutricious substance ought to be, and the most perfect of all elementary aliments.f Such being its characteristics, it possesses both animal and vegetable properties, and naturally takes its place at the head of nutrient substances. As it cannot be imitated by art, it occupies a

* The principles fibrin and albumen, which play so important a part in the constitution of the animal solids, are now, on the authority of Liebeg, stated to be identical. M.Dennis has communicated a letter to the Academy of Sciences, in which Liebeg states that he has been able to dissolve fibrin by a moderate heat in a saturated solution of nitre, and that the fluid has all the properties of a solution of albumen. — Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal.

t Prout's Treatise, p. 259.

26 PRIMARY DESIGN OF MILK.

place among aliments which nothing else can supply. It is, indeed, made essential by Infinite Wisdom to the existence not only of the human family, but also to many most useful orders of animals, to which man, notwithstanding his higher attributes, in physical organization, is nearly allied.

Milk was primarily designed to nourish the young of certain species of animals, during the early stages of their existence ; its use, of course, as food, has been coeval with their creation. But as its nourishing properties and adaptation to the wants of man could not long have escaped his observation, it is not reasonable to infer that he who was the divinely appointed lord of irrational creatures, would hesitate to appropriate this unlabored gift of nature to his own use. And as this subservience of the creatures to the necessities and comforts of man, secured from him in return that protection which would tend to augment their numbers and increase their enjoyments, we may not doubt, that in this way, the beneficent intentions of the Creator were best fulfilled.

But, important as is the part which milk sustains in the animal economy, its history has never been written. Yet who will affirm that the subject, either in itself or in its relations, is devoid of interest and useful instruction ? We refer not now solely to the fluid aliment which is of the highest economical value to man; nor yet to the lacteal system, which has been denominated a constant wonder ; but chiefly to the providence of successive nature in the animal kingdom, which from the remotest antiquity has preserved for the use of mankind so valuable a class as the mammiferous domesticated animals from extinction. If the humblest production of the Creator deserves the consideration of the philosophical naturalist, much more should

IMPORTANCE OF THE BOVINE TRIBES. 27

the mass of mankind regard with interest an order of quadrupeds with which they have the nearest connection, and from whom the advantages derived are so important, that man with all his moral and mental endowments, has never yet attained a state of civilization without their subjugation. To enter, however, into an exposition of this department of zoological science, would be as foreign to our object as superfluous in itself, for it has already been a subject of careful investigation by others. But there is one view, which, so far as we are informed, has not been given by any writer. We refer to the distinction which has been assigned the bovine tribes in history, from the infancy of human society. The ox and his kind have followed man in all his migrations. There is scarcely a country in which they are not either indigenous or naturalized. And as in this we discover the wisdom and benevolence of a designing Providence strikingly illustrated, it is proposed to throw together a few proofs of the fact, as we find them scattered in the records of past ages. This, we conceive, will furnish a profitable subject of contemplation, and, perhaps, not inappropriately introduce the volume to the reader.

It may here, however, be preliminarily remarked, that means with reference to ends are everywhere manifested in the endless diversities of inanimate matter — also in the orders and gradations of animated beings, which appear reciprocally dependent and necessary to each other. An illustration of this principle, as manifested in the relation of the animal part and the vegetable part of the creation to each other through the medium of the atmosphere, is thus expressed by Mr. Madison : " It seems now to be well understood, that the atmosphere when respired by animals, becomes unfitted for their further use, and fitted for the absorption of vegetables ; and that when evolved by the latter,

28 ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE KINGDOMS.

it is unfitted for the respiration of the former: an interchange being thus kept up, by which the breath of life is received by each in a wholesome state, and in return for it an unwholesome one. May it not be concluded from this admirable arrangement and beautiful feature in nature, that if the whole class of animals were extinguished, the use of the atmosphere by the vegetable class alone, would exhaust it of its life-supporting power : that, in like manner, if the whole class of vegetables were extinguished, the use of it by the animal class alone would deprive it of its fitness for their support 1"