Title: An Alphabet of Quadrupeds
Author: Anonymous
Release date: July 29, 2012 [eBook #40363]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Jason Isbell, Katie Hernandez and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Frost's Juvenile Series.
THE MENAGERIE.
COMPRISING DESCRIPTIONS OF THEIR
APPEARANCE AND HABITS.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.
PHILADELPHIA:
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO, & CO.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852,
BY LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO, & CO.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States,
in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
APE.
ALPHABET OF QUADRUPEDS.
Apes play many odd tricks, and try to act like men, for they are very fond of imitating every thing they see. They are also very mischievous, and sometimes spiteful, so they should be either tied up in a safe place or well watched.
Apes are a species of monkeys. They live in a country called Africa, where there are a great many forests, and where the trees are much larger than any in the settled parts of America. The apes can climb to the top of the very tallest8 trees, and cling to the branches in safety. They are very quick in their motions, and can fling themselves from tree to tree with great readiness, holding on with their long arms and legs. In their native woods, they are very wild; they go on all fours; and sometimes visit the Negroes' huts and fight hard battles with the inhabitants, throwing sticks and branches with great dexterity. They are usually of a dull brown color, but some are black, and others grey. They should be fed upon bread soaked in water, and any kind of fruit that may be convenient to give them; they are very fond of nuts and biscuit, both of which may be given them in moderation.
The bear is found in Europe and North America, but it is among the icy regions around the North Pole, that he attains his greatest size and fierceness. One of his principal modes of attack is the employment of his fore-legs in hugging his enemy, and few creatures can resist the crushing embrace of a large bear.
The people of the cold countries, where he mostly lives, make bedding and clothing of the skins, and either eat the fat or melt it into oil for their lamps. Bears, when at rest, are in the habit of constantly sucking their paws, which12 curious custom has puzzled many wise men to explain.
The bear is a good swimmer, and often takes to the water; he climbs well, but in descending trees always comes down backwards. His sight is sharp, and his hearing and smelling is excellent. He walks easily on his hind-legs, and in that position can support heavy burdens. Though his gait is awkward, he can, if he pleases, go at a great pace. He is said to grow to about his twentieth and live to his fiftieth year. Some bears are black, others brown, and a few grey, but those in cold countries are always white.
The cow is a very useful, and well known animal. The cow furnishes us with an abundance of good sweet milk, which we put into our tea and coffee, or make into butter and cheese. The flesh is most excellent food, and is called beef. England is a famous country for beef, which is of such a good quality that the people have an old song about it, called the "Roast beef of old England." The hide is made into leather, and is much used in the making of shoes.
The cow is a very quiet animal, and will hurt no body, it feeds upon grass,16 which it swallows and brings up again before digesting it, and chews a very long while, and on that account is called a ruminating animal.
Cows are of different colors, some red, white, black, and others spotted. The cow will live to the age of fourteen or fifteen years, and its age may be known by the rings or knots on its horns, for a new ring grows every year. A great many country people are employed in selling milk to the people of large cities and towns, and are called "milk people." Before the white people came to America there were no cows, but now they are raised in great numbers, especially in the eastern country.
Dogs are most faithful, attached creatures. They are of all sizes, from the large Newfoundland dog, as big nearly as a donkey, down to the little lap-dog, no bigger than a kitten. Dogs are of various colors, and their skins of all kinds, the hair sometimes smooth and close, like a grey hound's; sometimes very rough and shaggy, as in the Scotch terrier; sometimes smooth and flowing, like silk, as in a spaniel.
They are soon taught to be obedient, and become very clever. The shepherd's dog knows every sheep in the flock. The20 house dog knows the sound of his master's footsteps. The Newfoundland dog will rush into the water to save any one from drowning. There are many interesting stories about dogs, which will please you very much to read when you are older and better able to understand them.
How heavy and clumsy the elephant looks! yet he is very active, and able to do many things with neatness. If you hold a sixpence in your hand, he will take it up in his large trunk, and place it where the keeper tells him. With the same trunk he is able to tear up large trees, and to strike so hard that the blow would kill a man. In foreign countries he is used to ride upon, as we ride upon horses. He is a very good swimmer. He is born chiefly in warm climates. His tusks are ivory, and are very useful for handles of knives, and many other24 things. His trunk serves him instead of a hand to feed himself with, and to hold and carry what he pleases.
He is very clever, and soon learns to do whatever he is taught. His temper and nature are kind, but when he is teased he becomes very fierce. He eats grass and hay, but no flesh.
Below is an elephant hunt.
This is the name of an animal found in the northern and middle states of our country, and in Canada. He is called the fisher, by the hunters, probably from his frequenting the lakes and river shores. But he does not catch fish like the otter. He robs the traps of the hunter of their captured or dead game, and he kills squirrels, rabbits, and wood chucks. In the picture he is represented as killing a rabbit.
The fisher was formerly abundant in the state of New York, but he is seldom found there now. He was greatly detested28 by the hunters, on account of his robbing their traps of beaver and other valuable game. His flesh is unfit for food, and his fur is of very trifling value.
We have not many goats in America, but you will sometimes see them about the houses of poor people who live on the out-skirts of large towns and villages. They abound in many foreign countries, chiefly those which are wild, and have high hills and mountains. These, let them be ever so high, the goat climbs very nimbly and safely. The goat is a very useful creature. Its young are called kids, and its flesh is very good to eat; out of its skin we make good leather for shoes and gloves. The goat's milk is pleasant to drink, and to make cheese from. It eats32 herbs and delights to nibble the bark of trees. You will often read in the Bible, that goats in ancient times were offered as sacrifices. In Switzerland they have a kind of wild goat, called the chamois. The cut below represents some Swiss hunters pursuing the chamois over rocks and mountains.
The hyena is one of the most fierce and disagreeable of all animals. The hyena is by nature a nocturnal animal; that is, it seeks its prey by night, and consequently during the day it remains in a state of repose. The hyena has been unfairly represented to be perfectly untameable on account of its great ferocity. If properly treated, however, and well fed, it is far from being savage or dangerous.
It possesses a great propensity for putrid and buried carcasses, which it will hunt, and dig for, and devour with disgusting36 greediness. Unlike many other animals, the hyena is an unsociable animal, for it lives a solitary life among rocks and ancient ruins. There are two kinds of hyenas, the spotted and the striped. The figure below represents the striped, and the other represents the spotted hyena.
The ibex is an animal of the goat kind, and inhabits the mountainous districts of the south of Europe, it is the most graceful of all its tribes; it is extremely active. It is very wild, and difficult to be shot, as it always keeps on the highest points. The horns of the ibex are large and knotty, its skin is of a yellow color, and its beard short and black. The chase of the ibex, although it is not a very powerful animal, is attended, at times, with considerable danger; it has been known, when driven hard, to run full-but at the huntsman,40 and force him over the rock, although in doing so, it has at the same time, sacrificed its own life, falling headlong with its pursuer. The ibex is said to be a short-lived animal. Its flesh is much esteemed, and its skin is very thin.
Below is a picture of a bear pursuing a male and female ibex.
This odd-looking creature has been also called the two-legged rat; its fore-legs being so extremely small that they can hardly be seen, while the hind-legs are of enormous length. The tail is long and tufted at the end. Its general appearance closely resembles the rat. Instead of walking or running on all fours, it leaps, or hops, on the hind feet, making great bounds, and only uses the fore-paw for burrowing, or for carrying food to its mouth, like a squirrel. These curious little animals live in holes which they dig under44 ground. They are gentle, harmless, and not at all timid. Their dwelling places are very quiet, for they never fight or quarrel with one another, like some very bad children I could tell you about.
This curious animal, called a Kangaroo, hops on his hind-legs, which are very long; his fore-legs are short, and he has a very long hard tail. Kangaroos herd together in great numbers, for they are very timid creatures. At the least alarm they will run away, and leap over high bushes. They use their short fore feet for digging, and putting food in their mouths. They feed upon vegetables and grass, and do not eat flesh. The mother carries her young ones about her in a sort of pouch.
The kangaroo is brought from a very48 large island, a great many thousand miles from here. We have some in this country, which you may see by going to the Menagerie, where the keeper will tell you a great many stories about them. Their nature is not at all fierce. The picture below shows the manner in which the kangaroo leaps.
The leopard is a beautiful animal. He is of a yellowish fawn color, marked with black spots of different sizes. This animal in its habits and appearance much resembles a cat. He is very fierce and savage. He preys upon those animals which are weaker than himself. He always avoids man, except when closely pursued, when he offers an obstinate resistance. From the extraordinary flexibility of his limbs, he can climb a tree as readily as a cat. When taken young, he can be tamed to a certain degree.
The flesh of the leopard is said to be52 excellent, resembling veal. The skins are very valuable, and often sell for upwards of fifty dollars. The picture below represents a leopard watching a herd of antelopes. He is hid from their view behind a rock, and when they come near enough, he will leap into the herd and catch one of them.
This animal is perhaps the only kind of deer whose general appearance can be called ungraceful. The head is large, the mane short and thick, and the horns knotty and heavy. The body, which is short and clumsy, is mounted on tall legs. The motion of the animal is a sort of shambling trot. The moose inhabits the northern parts of both Europe and America. Its flesh is much liked by the hunters, and much resembles beef.
The moose attains to a large size, particularly the male, which sometimes weighs eleven or twelve hundred pounds.56 Their skins, when dressed properly, make a soft, thick, pliable leather, which is useful for many purposes. Sometimes the moose is attacked by wolves. Here you have a picture of an unfortunate moose, who is assailed by a whole band of wolves. One is on his back, and has his teeth in the poor moose's flesh.
This animal is a kind of antelope, but is larger than the usual size of the antelope, and not so handsome in form. It stands upwards of four feet in height at the shoulder. It is a powerful and vicious creature, and its temper is not good. When it is about to make an attack, it drops down upon its fore-legs, and then darts quickly forward and gives a blow with its head, which is very dangerous. The hair of the nyl ghau is short and close, and is generally of a slate color in the male, and a tawny red in the female, except in the under parts60 of the body, which are always white. Its fore-legs are longer than its hinder-legs, and it has the appearance of having a small lump at its shoulder. It is usually found in the forests of India, where it becomes the prey of the tigers and wild boars. The cut below shows how the nyl ghau defends himself when attacked.
The ox is very much like the bull and the cow in form, size, and color, and lives in the fields as they do. As soon as he is large enough, he is made to work for man; he draws the plough and the wagon, and in old times used to tread out the corn, instead of thrashing as people do now. He is not so wild or fierce as the bull, but its flesh and hide are as useful to us. The ox's foot is of a horny substance, and is called a hoof, like that of the bull and the cow. It is not like the horse's hoof, because it is separated in two. The horns of the ox are64 made into combs, drinking cups, handles for knives, and other things. The blood of the ox is very useful, and when boiled with brown sugar it helps to make it white. The blood also makes a blue dye. Boys should not tease an ox, or throw stones at him. Sometimes they turn on their tormentors, and gore them with their horns.
This is an animal of whom the most ridiculous stories have been told, particularly as to its power of darting its quills to a considerable distance when attacked, and in this manner wounding its enemies. Instead, however of being an enemy to be feared, there is not, perhaps, a more timid creature in existence. But still, as a means of defence, these quills are of great service to their possessor, and preserve it from the attack of most of its enemies; its teeth are very strong and sharp; and if it had courage enough to use them, it would become68 rather a dangerous foe. When full grown, it measures nearly two feet in length. Its general color is a grizzled, dusky black. The upper part of the head and neck is furnished with long light hairs. Most parts of the back and sides are armed with long, sharp pointed quills, which are raised in a threatening manner whenever the animal is excited. The porcupine sleeps during the day, and at night searches for food. Below is a picture of an odd kind of porcupine. It is called a Brazilian porcupine.
This animal is somewhat like the horse, but most like the zebra, as you may see by comparing the two together. It is found in the southern parts of Africa, living mostly in the plains in large herds. It is not so large or so beautiful as the zebra. Its skin is of a dull brownish white, striped with darker color on the head and neck, and somewhat on the sides of its body; the upper parts of its legs are greyish, and the under parts white. It is a wild creature, and rather vicious in temper. It is made to draw72 by the natives of the country where it is found, and its flesh is eaten by them.
The quagga differs from the zebra in his stripes. You may see by the figure of the zebra, below, that he is striped all over his body and limbs, while the quagga has stripes only on the head and the fore part of the body.
Rabbits are timid little animals, prettily formed, with beautiful long ears. They run swiftly, and jump very nimbly. Wild rabbits live in woods and burrow holes in banks of earth, where they hide themselves from danger. The wild rabbits are of a greyish brown color, but the tame rabbits are white, black, brown, black and white, and reddish. The white have pink eyes. Their fur is soft, and is used for making hats. Their flesh is white and very good to eat. The tame rabbits are kept in very small huts, and little boys and girls are fond of feeding76 them, for they will eat out of their hand, carrots, lettuce, and other green vegetables. Below is a picture of a pretty kind of tame rabbits with very long ears.
The sheep is perhaps the most useful animal we have in our country; the flesh, called mutton, is most wholesome food. The hair of the skin, called wool, is made into cloth, flannel, and worsted. The skin is made into parchment to write upon, and leather; and from other parts of its body are made the strings for harps and violins, &c. The finest wool is procured from the sheep which are bred in Spain. The sheep is very timid and harmless, and lives as you often may see in flocks, feeding on the grass of the fields and mountains. The hills and mountains80 which are too steep and barren for growing corn afford pasturage for the sheep. It very soon knows the shepherd who is set over it, and is easily guided by him. The young of the sheep are called lambs. Here is a picture of a Scotch shepherd keeping sheep in the Highlands.
This very beautiful animal, is called a tiger, and is a native of India, a very hot country in Asia. Tigers are very fierce, and will often kill men, and animals a great deal larger than themselves. They live in the woods and thickets, called jungles, where they are hunted. Tigers eat the flesh of animals which they kill. We have none in America, except a few carried about for show. The tiger is as big as a lion, and like the cat in shape, but much larger; he has a long tail, and a handsome striped skin, covered with short hair, which is used for a variety of84 useful and ornamental purposes. He is very active and can spring far. The tiger has sometimes been tamed by menagerie keepers, but he is a very sly and dangerous creature, and never to be trusted.
This name is given to the wild buffalo, of which there are several kinds. The one represented by our picture is the Cape Buffalo, which is found in various parts of Southern Africa. He is a very formidable animal, with spiteful looking eyes, and strong, crooked, sharp horns. He is very strong and hard to kill. The hunters consider him a worse enemy than the lion or the tiger.
This buffalo loves to wallow in pools and swamps, and when the hunters attack him, he charges upon them with his terrible horns, and often overturns a88 horse and his rider, trampling them under his feet, and goring them with his sharp horns.
Mr. Cumming, the English traveller in South Africa, often encountered these animals, and had severe battles with them.
Here is a picture of the American bison, which is commonly called a Buffalo.
The vicugna has sometimes been called the Chilian sheep, from the name of the country it inhabits. It is covered with a fine, valuable wool, which is of a red rose color on the back, but white on the other parts of the body. Vicugnas congregate in large herds, and feed on grass and small shrubs, and so long as they can procure enough of such food, they are never known to drink. They are very timid, but swift and sure at running. Their legs are slender and well formed, and the head tall and erect. Their ears are long and pointed, and their eyes92 large and brilliant. From the form of their feet, they are well fitted to travel mountainous countries, and are said to be even safer than mules. The vicugna is upwards of five feet in height and six in length. The tame ones will carry a load of over fifty pounds, but they are kept principally for the sake of the wool, and the flesh, which is said to taste like mutton. Here is a picture of the llama, which is like the vicugna in many respects.
The wolf is something like a large dog. He is very fierce, and carries off young lambs and kids, which he kills and eats. Throughout Europe there are still many wolves, and the shepherds have great trouble to drive them away from the places where their sheep feed. We see in this picture that the wolf has killed a lamb, and is going to eat him.
We have no wolves in the settled portions of our country, for the whites hunted and killed them all, because they were such troublesome and dangerous neighbors. But in the western country,96 and among the forests and mountains, they are still pretty plenty. Wolves go about in large packs, or companies, and having scented their prey, pursue it like a pack of hounds, uttering the most dismal and ferocious cries.
Below is a picture of a wolf and two cubs.
YAK.
We could not procure the drawing of any quadruped whose name begins with this letter.
This animal is seldom seen in Europe, but it is a common one in Tartary, where it is a native. It is like a small ox in its size and form, and has horns and hoofs. Like the ox it is used sometimes as a beast of burden. Its colors are chiefly black and white. The hair is long and rather curly, particularly at its100 tail. The Chinese make ornaments out of the hair of the tails, which they dye various colors and wear them in their bonnets. The Turks and Persians use the tails as we do flags, for war-standards, which they call "horse tails."
The hump on the back of the yak, like that of the bison, is formed of flesh, better flavored and more palatable than any other part of the animal. Hence it is esteemed a great delicacy, and is much prized by the natives of the countries where it is found.
The zebu is an animal of the cow kind, and a native of India, and on that account is often called the Indian ox. There are many varieties of the zebu. Some of them are as large as our largest oxen. Others when full grown are no bigger than a small calf. Its horns are short and thick, and bent a little backwards; there is also a lump on the shoulder, which makes it look clumsy. It is a very useful and docile animal. In India it is used as a common beast of burden; it is also made to draw light wagons, and is even used for riding.104
The Zebu is found not only in India, but in China, Eastern Africa, and the East India Islands. Figures representing the zebu are found on some of the most ancient monuments of that country. The Brahmins esteem the zebu a sacred animal; and for this reason it has received the name of the Brahmin ox.
The picture below, shows several different kinds of zebus.
The Alpine Marmot inhabits the Alps, Pyrenees, and other high mountains immediately below the region of perpetual snow. It is about the size of a hare, of a yellowish green color, tinted with an ashen hue about the head; the upper lip is cleft and whiskered. Marmots live in families, who mutually aid each other in excavating a common dwelling,--a chamber lined with dried grass, at the end of a passage, six or eight feet, in the form of the letter Y, one of the branches serving as an entrance, the other as a108 sewer. During winter, the mouth is closed by earth. They feed in company, but always place a sentinel, who, on the first appearance of danger, utters a shrill cry, when the whole retreat.
The Koodoo combines many of the characteristics of the sheep, ox, and antelope. He is a large and beautiful animal, a native of the woodlands of Caffraria, the male standing four feet high, and from the insertion of the tail to the muzzle measuring about eight. The horns rise perpendicularly in large spiral whorls, three feet nine inches in length; a bristling of black hairs runs along the ridge of the neck, and a line of the same color hangs from the dewlap: the general color is brown, fading into grey, with112 a dorsal stripe of white, and stripes of the same color behind the shoulders and across the back. They are fleet but can not run long.
More nearly allied to the deer, from which they are distinguished by their horns being permanent and without antlers, but marked with circular elevated rings, which increase, in size with their growth and years, one or two species alone exhibit a short ramification.
This is a sort of sheep living wild on the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia; a similar species is also scattered over European Turkey and some of the islands of the Archipelago. They are about the ordinary size of sheep, and breed with the domestic races. The head is long, with the muzzle compressed, the nose somewhat raised, and the forehead swollen; the horns of the male (the female being without) are large, long, and triangular, bending backward like a half circle, attenuated from the base to the116 tip, which is obtuse; the body is large and muscular, the tail short, and bare on the inside; the legs are pretty long, and the hoofs short.
They wander in flocks of about a hundred, led by some old and courageous male. Their habits are like those of our own sheep, docile and gentle, though sometimes an amorous or a churlish old ram will butt down a child, a woman, or a man, who may happen to stand in his road, when the fit is upon him.
The European Stag, or Red Deer, is a fine looking animal, the tallest of the deer kind. The pride of the north, he delights in the highest mountains and the thickest forests, and is famed for long life, though the natural term of his existence be often exaggerated, and which, when exposed to human observation, he has never yet been accurately known to reach. He comes to full growth at five years, when his horns send out as many antlers, and he is called a hart, and the female a hind.
Every year the male sheds his horns,120 and conscious of his temporary weakness, hides himself till his new ones are hardened. His color, as his name imports, is a bright reddish-brown, of a darker shade near the belly, which is white. When fatigued in the chase, he takes the water if near, and will cross with ease considerable and rapid streams; when wounded or taken, he sheds tears like a child; but though timid, when at bay he sometimes takes ample vengeance upon the hounds before he is subdued.
The African Lion, now driven from the coast, is scattered over the interior. He measures from seven to nine feet in length, with a tail about four, tufted at the point; the height at the shoulder from three to five; but when he is newly whelped, his size does not exceed that of a puppy dog, and it requires four, or according to some writers, six years, till he attains his full stature. He lives to a great but uncertain age; one in the Tower reached upwards of seventy years.
124 There are three varieties described; one of a deep yellowish brown; the other of a lighter shade: and the Cape Lion, of which the mane is nearly black. The appearance of the lion, from which he has derived the title of the king of beasts, is majestic when at rest, but terrible when roused. He has a broad face, surrounded with long shaggy hair, and a flowing mane, increasing in length as his years advance, adorns his neck.
The Llama of the New are analogous to the camel of the Old World, but smaller in size, being only about four feet four inches high at the shoulder. The dromedary is from five to seven. It is a native of the mountainous regions of South America. It has cloven hoofs, adapted for aiding its progress in hilly districts. It has no hunch on the back, but has one on the breast. Its color is a greyish-white, spotted. It is equally abstemious in its habits with the camel, and will travel four or even five days without seeking repose; but like the128 camel, it will not be forced to carry more or move faster than it chooses and will rather kill itself, by striking its head on the ground, than be driven forward by harshness or blows. In a wild state it is gregarious, but is easily domesticated, and is still used as a beast of burden.
