caufe a Prey is not always ready, but perhaps they may fail of one fome Days; Nature hath made them patient of a long inedia, and befides when they light upon one, they gorge themfelves fo therewith, as to fuffice for their nourishment for a confiderable time.

Fourthly, I fhall note the exact fitness of the Parts of the Bodies of Animals to every one's Nature and Manner of living. A notable inftance of which we have in the Swine, a Creature well known, and therefore what I fhall obferve of it is obvious to every Man. His proper and natural Food being chiefly the Roots of Plants, he is provided with a long and ftrong Snout; long, that he might thrust it to a fufficient depth into the Ground, without offence to his Eyes; ftrong and conveniently formed for the rooting and turning up the Ground. And befides, he is endued with a notable Sagacity of Scent, for the finding out such Roots as are fit for his Food. Hence in Italy, the ufual Method for finding and gathering of Trufles, or fubterraneous Mushromes (called by the Italians Tartufali, and in Latin Tubera terra) is by tying a Cord to the hind-leg of a Pig, and driving him before them into fuch Paftures as ufually produce that kind of Mushrome, and obferving where he ftops and begins to root, and there digging, they are fure to find a Trufle; which when they have taken up, they drive away the Pig to fearch for more. So I have my felf obferved, that in Paftures where there are Earth-nuts to be found up and down

in feveral patches, tho' the Roots lie deep in the Ground, and the ftalks be dead long before and quite gone, the Swine will by their Scent eafily find them out, and root only in those places where they grow.

* Swine-fish.

This rooting of the Hog in the Earth, calls to mind another inftance of like nature, that is the Porpeffe, which as his English Name Porpeffe, i. e. Porc pefce, imports, refembles the Hog, both in the ftrength of his Snout, and alfo in the manner of getting his Food by rooting. For we found the Stomach of one we diffected, full of Sand-Eels, or Launces, which for the moft part lie deep in the Sand, and cannot be gotten but by rooting or digging there. We have feen the Country people in Cornwall, when the Tide was out, to fetch them out of the Sand with IronHooks thruft down under them, made for that purpose.

A

Furthermore, That very Action for which the Swine is abominated, and look'd upon as an unclean and impure Creature, namely wallowing in the Mire, is defign'd by nature for a very good end and ufe, viz. not only to cool his Body, for the fair Water would have done that as well, nay better, for commonly the Mud and Mire in Summer-time is warm; but also to fuffocate and deftroy Lice, Fleas, and other noifom and importunate Infects that are troublesome and noxious to him. For the fame Reafon do all the Poultry-kind, and divers other Birds bask themselves in the Duft in Summer

time and hot Weather, as is obvious to every one to obferve.

2. A fecond and no less remarkable Inftance I fhall produce, out of Dr. More's Antidote against Atheism, lib. 2. cap. 10. in a poor and contemptible Quadruped, the Mole.

First of all (faith he) her Dwelling being under Ground, where nothing is to be feen, Nature hath so obfcurely fitted her with Eyes that Naturalifts can fcarcely agree, whether the hath any Sight at all or no. [In our Observation, Moles have perfect Eyes, and Holes for them through the Skin, fo that they are outwardly to be feen by any that shall diligently fearch for them; tho' indeed they are exceeding small, not much bigger than a great Pins-head.] But for amends, what she is capable of for her defence and warning of danger, fhe has very eminently conferr'd upon her; for fhe is very quick of hearing [doubtlefs her fubterraneous Vaults are like Trunks to convey any Sound a great way.] And then her fhort Tail and fhort Legs, but broad Fore-feet armed with sharp Claws, we fee by the Event to what purpose they are, fhe fo fwiftly working her felf under Ground, and making her way fo faft in the Earth, as they that behold it cannot but admire it. Her Legs therefore are short, that she need dig no more than will ferve the meer thicknefs of her Body: And her Fore-feet are broad, that the may fcoup away much Earth at a time: And fhe has little or no Tail, because fhe courses it not on the Ground like a Rat or Moufe, but lives under the

Earth,

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Earth, and is fain to dig her felf a Dwelling there; and she making her way through fo thick an Element, which will not eafily yield as the Water and Air do; it had been dangerous to draw fo long a Train behind her; for her Enemy might fall upon her Rear, and fetch her out before she had perfected and got full poffeffion of her Works: Which being fo, what more palpable Argument of Providence than fhe?

Another inftance in Quadrupeds might be the Tamandua, or Ant-Bear, defcribed by Marcgrave and Pifo, who faith of them, that they are Night-walkers, and feek their Food by Night. Being kept tame they are fed with Flesh, but it must be minced fmall, because they have not only a flender and fharp Head and Snout, but also a narrow and toothless Mouth; their Tongue is like a great Lute-string (as big as a Goofe-quill) round, and in the greater Kind (for there are two Species) more than two foot long, and therefore lies doubled in a Channel between the lower parts of the Cheeks. This when hungry they thrust forth, being well moiftned, and lay upon the Trunks of Trees, and when it is cover'd with Ants, fuddenly draw it back into their Mouths; if the Ants lie fo deep that they cannot come at them, they dig up the Earth with their long and ftrong Claws, wherewith for that purpofe their Fore-feet are armed. So we fee how their Parts are fitted for this kind of Diet, and no other; for the catching of it, and for the eating of it, it

requiring

requiring no comminution by the Teeth, as appears alfo in the Chamalion, which is another Quadruped that imitates the Tamandua in this property of darting out the Tongue to a great length, with wonderful celerity; and for the fame purpose too of catching of Infects.

Befides thefe Quadrupeds, there are a whole Genus of Birds, called Pici Martii, or Woodpeckers, that in like manner have a Tongue which they can fhoot forth to a very great length, ending in a fharp ftiff bony Rib, dented on each fide; and at pleasure thrust it deep into the Holes, Clefts, and Crannies of Trees, to ftab and draw out Coff, or any other Infects lurking there, as alfo into Ant-hills, to ftrike and fetch out the Ants and their Eggs. Moreover, they have fhort, but very ftrong Legs, and their Toes ftand two forwards, two backwards, which difpofition (as Aldrovandus well notes) Nature, or rather the Wifdom of the Creator, hath granted to Woodpeckers, because it is very convenient for the climbing of Trees, to which alfo conduces the ftiftness of the Feathers of their Tails, and their bending downward, whereby they are fitted to serve as a prop for them to lean upon, and bear up their Bodies. As for the Chameleon, he imitates the Woodfpite, not only in the make, motion, and use of his Tongue for ftriking Ants, Flies, and other Infects; but also in the fite of his Toes, whereby he is wonderfully qualified to run upon Trees, which he

doth