we find Norwegian goats feasting on snakes "and slowworms, half an ell long," which they "eat greedily:" with a serpent, indeed, "they plague themselves a great while before they can get him down. After this, they do not find themselves well for several days," (we should be surprised if they did;) "but I don't hear they ever die." The tastes and appetites of Norwegian animals is quite extraordinary, for, "in the woods, the hares catch mice like cats, and pursue them under the snow;" and the wolf," when his hunger becomes too great, will eat clay, if it be to be had; and this, as it is not to be digested, remains in his guts till he gets flesh, and that works it off violently, and then he is heard to howl most dismally for pain."

Many of our naturalists have, doubtless, heard that wild geese, when flying in their wedge-like form, rest their heads each upon the tail of the goose before him. Pontoppidan's deer must have taken a lesson from these wise birds, for it sometimes happens that " they have to swim over pretty broad waters, betwixt the continent and the islands; to accomplish which, they very orderly help one another, by resting their heads on each other's rumps; and when the foremost is tired, he retreats to the last," and so on.-The bear cuts a prominent figure in the Bishop's Zoology; we shall, therefore, be rather more prolix in detailing his habits. To begin with him in infancy: bears make but short work of gestation, the females carrying their young" but a month ;" and it is, therefore, less to be wondered at, that she brings them forth "blind and naked, and small as mice; each is, in form, like a mere lump, which the mother continually licks, till it expands or unfolds itself according to the proverb, Lambendo sicut ursa catulos." Bears, too, like the animals we have mentioned, are rather singular in their choice of food; for, though generally upon the defensive against mankind, they invariably attack pregnant women, "whose condition they know by sight or instinct, and, with all their might, will strive to get the foetus, which is a delicious morsel to them, if it happens to be a male." Some may say, that this is truly out-heroding Herod, in a slaughter of the innocents; but the Bishop speaks upon the authority of two of his clergy, one of whom discovered this ursine propensity by accidentally leading a woman, with child, by a tame bear, which he had fastened in his yard, when "he roared and tore about him so," that they were obliged to shoot him instantly. The other, on returning home on a summer evening from his pastoral duties, found a bear" trying and taking all the pains he could to break open the door of his wife's bed-chamber, where she lay in the greatest anguish, hearing him roaring and jumping in vain up at the window."-But as there is no evil without its corresponding good, so this bearish instinct is found to conduce, wonderfully,

to the preservation of female virtue, for" if any of those shepherdesses, or giate-tous (milk maids,) who pass their summers in their seterhuts or mountain huts, loses her virtue and becomes pregnant, she then endangers her life, as well as the child's, doubly." And, per contra, the truly virtuous find these suppressors of vice their very best protectors. Thus," an old grass bear was many years known to follow a herd, like a guard, and stood often tamely by, as the maid was milking, and always drove the wolf away. He did no hurt to any, only in autumn; when he was almost going to look for his den, he would take a kid or a sheep, as if per contractum tacitum, accorderate summen wages; but I doubt if there are many of his kind that use that discretion." However, they seem, on the whole, to be very discreet and fair-dealing sort of beasts in their way, for, adds the Bishop, they say for certain, that in his own jurisdiction, or the place where he usually resides, he will take but one piece from a man."

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Some might be unreasonable enough to decline living in a bear's neighbourhood on these terms of form and good-breeding: to such, we have only to mention the mode in which bears treat those with whom they are on no terms of ceremony, viz. the hunter, who, if he fails in his attempt to run his knife down the bear's throat, stands but a poor chance, for, forthwith, the "bear fleas his skin off, and pulls the hair and flesh over his head, and ears, and face, and all!" Would our limits permit, we might dilate much upon the sagacity of these wonderful animals, such as picking out the cow in herd," which hath the bell round her neck; which bell he'll strike so flat with his paw, that it shall never speak or vex him again;" or, when mortally wounded, how he endeavours to rob the "huntsman of his hide, which he knows he comes for, and, therefore, lays hold of a very large stone; and, if there be a deep water near him, how he plunges himself into it ;" or how, when tired with swimming, (albeit very expert in the art,)" if he sees a boat by the way, he will go after it, if it be only to rest himself; and if he gets in he will sit in the stern, quite quiet and peaceable; to the great uneasiness, however, of the farmer, who does not care to let him in, if he can but ply his oars fast enough."

Wolves, like bears, unless excited, seldom manifest an inclination to molest the human species, excepting in winter, when hunger," sharp as a sword, makes him quite a different creature, so that he will then often, and particularly upon ice, take away a horse from a sledge." And here we have an instance of the danger of incredulity, which is very properly noticed by Bishop Pontoppidan respecting a brother Bishop, who, being a great enemy to clerical sporting, and all such heinous diversions, "persuaded a clergyman of his diocese that

it did not become his function to carry a gun, when he travelled to church or on ecclesiastical affairs. But the Bishop got the better of this prejudice on being taken over the ice by this very minister, on one of his visitation journies," for, lo and behold, suddenly up comes a wolf; at sight of which he began to be dreadfully alarmed, and asked the "clergyman if he had not his gun; and from that day he was convinced, that it was both necessary and becoming." They are caught in pitfalls," in which the wolf is sometimes found in a corner, along with other beasts, whom, out of fear, he does not touch; and it sometimes happens, that the peasants, having fallen into the same trap, are found there sitting along with him.”

Lord Bacon, amongst his choice receipts, tells us, that "the guts or skin of a wolf, being applied to the belly, do cure the colick." edit. fol. vol. iii., p. 204. and the Bishop recommends a powder of dried wolf's flesh as good to create an appetite; also, that wolves' and foxes' lungs are good for consumptions: our own candid opinion is, that these remedies will be found quite as beneficial as his "burnt and powdered water-wagtails as a horse medicine;" or as pills made of fried and powdered mice, which, in our younger days, we well remember seeing administered to a school-fellow in a case of diabetes.

The goupe, or lynx, is the third among this country's hurtful creatures; and he, like the bear, treats his enemy, the dog, in a similar manner, making use of his claws so effectually, that he fleas him alive." They are, moreover, very cunning in undermining sheep-folds," where they help themselves very nobly:" it happened, however, that in one of these a goupe was found out by a sly he-goat, who, perceiving his subterraneous work, watched him narrowly, and, as soon as his head came forth, butted him, and gave such home pushes, that he laid him dead in the grave of his own making."

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Foxes are so proverbially sagacious, that we shall confine ourselves to a single instance, we believe not very generally known. "When he wants to get rid of his fleas, without disturbance, he takes a bunch of moss, or straw, in his mouth, and goes backwards into the water, wading, by slow degrees, deeper and deeper; by which means, the fleas have time and can retire gradually to the dry places, at last to the parts of the neck and head, which he alone keeps above water; and, to crown the work, he gathers all his enemies into the before-mentioned bunch of straw; and then drops them in the water, well washed and cleaned. This project is so cunning that mankind could not teach him better."

Of the glutton, or wolverine, (mustela gulo,) "we are told that the best time of catching him is when he, according to his custom, when gorged, presses, and squeezes himself between

two trees which stand near together. By this practice, he eases and exonerates his stomach, which has not time to digest what he has so voraciously swallowed."

Squirrels would make admirable seamen, their skill on the waters being quite on a par with their agility on land. “On a chip or a piece of wood they'll sail cross a small water, and make use of their tail for a sail; and with one foot they'll paddle, and steer themselves with the other; and thus they escape, sometimes, those that wait ashore for their landing, and find, themselves mistaken, by thinking they must come with the wind." We have heard much of the astonishing instincts of beavers, but the Bishop adds one instance with which we were not before acquainted, of which he was "assured by many who had been witness. When they are employed in transporting building materials, one will suffer himself to be used as a cart, while the others, like horses, take hold of him, fastening on him by the neck, and dragging him along; for this purpose, he first throws himself on his back, with his legs up, between which they lay their already fitted and prepared timber;" the good will thus cannot be fully appreciated without knowing the whole; viz. that this act of devotion for the public service "always costs him a bare back, for it takes all the hair off." The truth of this we found corroborated in the course of our newspaper reading, a few mornings ago. We give it verbatim.

Sagacity of a rat, a thorough good story. At Amsterdam, in a street called the Wood Market, recently lived a man who was curious in keeping fowls. One of his hens, though in the midst of summer, had several days stopped yielding her usual produce, and yet made her usual cackling; he searched the nest, but could not find even the shell of an egg, which made him resolve to watch her closely. He accordingly, the next day, placed himself in such a situation as to be able to observe her motions minutely; when, to his great surprise, he saw her discharge her egg; but no sooner was she off the nest, than three rats made their appearance. One of them immediately laid himself on his back, whilst the others rolled the egg upon his belly, which he clasped between his legs, and held it firm; the other two laid hold of his tail, and gently dragged him out of sight. This wonderful sagacity was exhibited for several days to some curious observers.'-Globe Newspaper.

As a sequel, some marvellous feats of rats and mice are recorded, upon which the cautious Bishop thus comments. "Supposita facti veritate, I could wish to have a sufficient account or reasong iven me for this, by our modern philosophers, who will not believe or receive any thing for a truth, except it can be demonstrated ex nexu causarum; this, I apprehend, in such events (such as these just mentioned), though the facts be

real, cannot be expected." We quite agree with the Bishop, nothing is so provoking, nothing so utterly ruinous, to a good story, as the posing philosophic incredulity of one of these matter-of-fact sticklers after truth.

With the "really" wonderful ravages and migrations of that extraordinary animal, the lemming, (mus lemmus,) naturalists are well acquainted; and to them we can refer for a corroboration of that implicit obedience to instinct by which they are compelled, "like the hosts of God, to execute his will,"-by their numbers, organization, and voracity, destroying every thing in their course. Even the Bishop might be excused for considering them as something supernatural, of an unearthly nature, and, therefore, inclined to believe that "these lemmingerne do fall out of the air:" his further hints and conclusions upon this aerial descent are too curious to be omitted. "Wormius, Scaliger, and other great men, do not suppose this to be impossible; they imagine that the lemming, like frogs and other small creatures, may, in their embrios, be attracted to the clouds; and being then come to maturity, may drop down. To reconcile this strange, account to reason, others think it more probable that the fogs, which sometimes are seen extremely thick upon the mountains, may lift them up in multitudes, and carry them away to other places." These Norwegian fogs, indeed, seem to be composed of most powerful and contractile materials, since some of their philosophers and common people believe that they are "able to take up a Finlap with his reensdeer; an opinion, to which the Bishop is evidently inclined to lean, backing up the possibility by speaking of whirlwinds, "which elevate or draw up, sometimes, a whole host of herrings out of the sea." Sundry reasons for which are added, explanatory of this extraordinary fact.

The chapter concludes with the " formular of an exorcism" against the lemmings, and other country plagues, used by that enlightened body, the Roman Catholic clergy, which we annex for the benefit and instruction of all Protestant bishops and curates, and congregations committed to their charge. "Exorcizo vos pestiferos vermes, mures, aves, seu locustas aut animalia alia, per Deum patrem omnipotentem et Jesum Christum filium ejus, et Spiritum Sanctum ab his campis, seu vineis vel aquis, nec amplius in eis habitetis, sed ad ea loca transeatis, in quibus nemini nocere possitis, et ex parte omnipotentis Dei et totius curiæ cœlestis, et Ecclesiæ Sancti Dei, vos maledicem quocunque ieritis, sitis maledicti, deficientes de die in diem in vos ipsos et decrescentes quatenus reliquiæ de vobis nullo in loco inveniantur; nisi necessariæ ad salutem et usum humanum quod præstare dignetur ille, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos et seculum per ignem. Amen!!"