Part 2
This specimen is very faithfully represented in the above wood-cut. The animal, of which this skin was once a part, was shot by some of the persons accompanying Captain Parry, in one of his expeditions to the Polar Seas; and was presented to the Museum by the Lords of the Admiralty. The appearance of the musk-ox, as the visitor will observe, is strikingly different from that of the common black cattle of Great Britain. Its limbs are singularly short,--its crooked horns are broad and flattened,--long thick hair covers the whole of its trunk, hanging down nearly to the ground,--and its short tail, bending inwards, is entirely hidden by the long hair of the rump and hind quarters. It will be noticed that the hair is particularly thick under the throat, looking something like a horse’s mane inverted. The adaptation of the structure of this animal to the frozen regions which he inhabits, offers one of the most striking illustrations of design which the natural world exhibits. The shortness of the creature’s limbs prevents that exposure of the trunk to the snow-storms and the cold, which would result from a greater elevation; whilst he is more effectually protected from the severity of the seasons by the dense mass of hair with which his whole body is covered, and which, in winter, becomes a thick woolly coat, beneath the long straight hair which forms his outer garment. The Author of the Appendix to Parry’s Second Voyage, in noticing the remarkable projection of the orbits of the eyes in this species, considers that their formation is necessary to carry the eye of the animal clear beyond the large quantity of hair required to preserve the warmth of the head.
Thus protected from the inclemency of winter cold, the musk-ox remains the contented and happy inhabitant of the most barren and desolate parts of the earth. Within the Arctic Circle, in those almost inaccessible regions which lie nearest the North Pole, large herds of these quadrupeds are found, appearing to derive as much enjoyment from existence as the cattle who graze on the most luxuriant pastures, beneath a genial sky. They are not often found at a great distance from woods; but when they feed upon open grounds they prefer the most precipitous situations, climbing amidst rocks with all the agility and precision of the mountain-goat or the chamois. Grass, when they can get it, moss, twigs of willow, and pine shoots, constitute their food. The parts of the polar regions inhabited by the musk-ox are thus described in the Appendix to Parry’s Second Voyage:--
“This species of ox inhabits the North Georgian Islands in the summer months. They arrived in Melville Island in the middle of May, crossing the ice from the southward, and quitted it on their return towards the end of September. The musk-ox may be further stated, on Esquimaux information, to inhabit the country on the west of Davis’ Strait, and on the north of Baffin’s Bay; as a head and horns and a drawing of a bull being shown to the Esquimaux of the west coast of Davis’ Strait who were communicated with on the 7th of September, were immediately recognized, and the animal called by the name of Umingmack. This is evidently the same with the Umimak of the Esquimaux of Wolstenholme Sound, who were visited by the former expedition, and of which nothing more could be learnt at the time from their description than that it was a large horned animal inhabiting the land, and certainly not a rein-deer. It is probable that the individuals which extend their summer migration to the north-east of Baffin’s Bay, retire during the winter to the continent of America, or to its neighbourhood, as the species is unknown in South Greenland.”
Captain Franklin, in his Journey to the Polar Sea, has given the following account of the habits of this species:--
“The musk-oxen, like the buffalo, herd together in bands, and generally frequent barren grounds during the summer months, keeping near the rivers, but retire to the woods in winter. They seem to be less watchful than most other wild animals, and when grazing are not difficult to approach, provided the hunters go against the wind. When two or three men get so near a herd as to fire at them from different points, these animals, instead of separating or running away, huddle closer together, and several are generally killed; but if the wound is not mortal they become enraged, and dart in the most furious manner at the hunters, who must be very dexterous to evade them. They can defend themselves by their powerful horns against wolves and bears, which, as the Indians say, they not unfrequently kill. The musk-oxen feed on the same substances with the rein-deer, and the prints of the feet of these two animals are so much alike, that it requires the eye of an experienced hunter to distinguish them. The largest killed by us did not exceed in weight three hundred pounds. The flesh has a musky disagreeable flavour, particularly when the animal is lean, which unfortunately for us was the case with all that we now killed,”
The bulls of this species killed during Parry’s second voyage weighed, upon an average, about 700 lbs., yielding about 400 lbs. of meat; and they stood about 10½ hands high at the withers.
On the staircase of the Museum are also stuffed specimens of a male and female Giraffe, or Camelopard, which were presented to the Museum by Mr. Burchell, the traveller in Africa. The living giraffe which was presented to George IV. in 1827, by the Pacha of Egypt, died in 1829. The other giraffe sent to the government of France, in 1827, is still living in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. It is impossible from a studied specimen to form an adequate idea of the grace and beauty of this remarkable animal; nor of the impression produced upon the senses by a creature of such enormous height lifting up its head to gather the tender leaves from branches three times as high as a tall man. Till the living giraffes were brought to England and France there was a general belief that the descriptions of this animal were partly fabulous. It is now established that the account which was given of this animal by Le Vaillant, one of the most amusing of travellers, who saw the animal in its native woods, is perfectly accurate. We copy the following description from his Second Voyage, as translated in ‘The Menageries,’ Vol. I.:--
“The giraffe ruminates, as every animal does that possesses, at the same time, horns and cloven feet. It grazes also in the same way; but not often, because the country which it inhabits has little pasturage. Its ordinary food is the leaf of a sort of mimosa, called by the natives _kanaap_, and by the colonists, _kameeldoorn_. This tree being only found in the country of the Namaquas, may probably afford a reason why the giraffe is there fixed, and why he is not seen in those regions of Southern Africa where the tree does not grow.
[Illustration: The Giraffe.]
“Doubtless the most beautiful part of his body is the head. The mouth is small; the eyes are brilliant and full. Between the eyes, and above the nose is a swelling, very prominent and well defined. This prominence is not a fleshy excrescence, but an enlargement of the bony substance; and it seems to be similar to the two little lumps, or protuberances, with which the top of his head is armed, and which, being about the size of a hen’s egg, spring, on each side, at the commencement of the mane. His tongue is rough, and terminates in a point. The two jaws have, on each side, six molar teeth; but the lower jaw has, beyond these, eight incisive teeth, while the upper jaw has none.
“The hoofs, which are cleft, and have no nails, resemble those of the ox. We may remark, at first sight, that those of the fore feet are larger than those of the hind. The leg is very slender, but the knees have a prominence, because the animal kneels when he lies down.
“If I had not myself killed the giraffe, I should have believed, as have many naturalists, that the fore legs are much longer than the hind. This is an error; for the legs have, in general, the proportion of those of other quadrupeds. I say in general, because in this genus there are varieties, as there are in animals of the same species.... His defence, as that of the horse and other hoofed animals, consists in kicks; and his hinder limbs are so light, and his blows so rapid, that the eye cannot follow them. They are sufficient for his defence against the lion. He never employs his horns in resisting any attack.... The giraffes, male and female, resemble each other in their exterior, in their youth. Their obtuse horns are then terminated by a knot of long hair: the female preserves this peculiarity some time, but the male loses it at the age of three years. The hide, which is at first of a light red, becomes of a deeper colour as the animal advances in age, and is at length of a yellow brown in the female, and of a brown approaching to black in the male. By this difference of colour the male may be distinguished from the female at a distance. The skin varies in both sexes, as to the distribution and form of the spots. The female is not so high as the male, and the prominence of the front is not so marked. She has four teats. According to the account of the natives, she goes with young about twelve months, and has one at a birth.”
---------------------
THE WEEK.
[Illustration: Flaxman.]
July 4.--On this day, in the year 1715, was born at Haynichen, near Freyberg, in Saxony, the German poet, CHRISTIAN FURCHTEGOTT GELLERT. Gellert was not a man of the highest genius; but appearing at a favourable time, being animated by the finest spirit of benevolence and virtuous ambition, and possessing just the talents and character of mind suited to the task which he undertook, that of awakening the general body of his countrymen to a taste for literature, he produced as great and as gratifying an effect by his works as, perhaps, any writer that ever lived. His father was a clergyman, and he was originally intended for the same profession; but his first attempt in the pulpit convinced him that his constitutional timidity would probably prevent him from ever becoming an effective public speaker. He then resolved to devote himself to the instruction of his countrymen through the press. At this time Germany was almost destitute of a national literature. The country had given birth to many great scholars; and both classical learning and the abstruse philosophy of the middle ages were cultivated with zeal and success in its colleges. But scarcely any one had yet arisen to write for the people. This Gellert and a few of his friends resolved to do. Discarding all the repulsive technicalities of the schools, they proceeded to expound and illustrate the great principles of morality, metaphysics, and criticism, for the use of society at large, in a natural and popular style, such as was fitted to be intelligible and interesting to all. In this patriotic enterprise Gellert may be said to have spent his life. Every successive work which he produced was received with delight by Germany; but his celebrated ‘Fables’ were read with rapture by all classes of the population. One day a peasant appeared at Gellert’s door in Leipsic, with a waggon loaded with fire-wood. “Is it not here,” asked the man, “that Mr. Gellert lives?” On being told that it was, he desired to see the master of the house; and having been brought to him, “Are not you, sir,” he said, “the author of the ‘Fables?’” “I am,” replied Gellert. “Well then,” said the other, “here is a load of wood, which I have brought you, to thank you for the pleasure which your book has given to myself, my wife, and my children.” By such a heart as Gellert’s this was probably felt to be a more touching tribute to his powers than the plaudits of crowded theatres would have been. Another time he was standing in the workshop of a bookbinder, when a villager came in with a book in his hand. “Here,” said he, “I want this book strongly bound.” “Where did you pick up this book?” asked the binder. “I bought it in our town,” replied the delighted possessor of the treasure; “it has made the steward of the manor and the schoolmaster laugh till they have almost split their sides: I have a little boy, who is now a tolerably good reader; he shall read from this book to me in the evening, while I smoke my pipe, and I will go no more to the ale-house.” Even the war (commonly called the _seven years’ war_) which ravaged a great part of Germany from 1756 to 1763, did not extinguish the popular enthusiasm for the writings of Gellert. When Leipsic was taken by the Prussians in 1758, a lieutenant of hussars found out the peaceable poet in his house, and not contented with thanking him warmly for the delightful books to which, he said, he owed so many pleasant hours, insisted, by way of more substantially testifying his gratitude, upon making him a present of a pair of pistols, which he had taken from a Cossack. Nay, the common soldiers themselves used to come, almost in regiments, to hear a course of lectures on moral philosophy, which he read in public about this time; and it is related that one man, having obtained leave of absence, turned a considerable way out of his road, on his journey homewards, in order to see, as he expressed it, that _honest fellow_, Mr. Gellert, _whose books had saved him from becoming a profligate_. The works of Gellert have been frequently printed in a collected form, and amount, in the fullest edition, to ten volumes duodecimo. He had been afflicted during the greater part of his life by bad health; and died on the night of the 13th of December, 1769, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. Having lingered long in considerable pain, he remarked to the physician, a short time before his death, that he had not believed it would have been so difficult to die, and asked when the termination of his sufferings might be expected. When he was informed that another hour would probably release him, “God be praised,” he said; “still another hour!” and then lay in silent resignation, till the expected deliverance came. Germany lamented, with all the tokens of national grief, the loss of her amiable instructor; and medals and public monuments testified the admiration and gratitude of all ranks of his countrymen.
July 6.--The birth-day of JOHN FLAXMAN, the late eminent sculptor, whose works have done so much to form the English school of design. Flaxman was born in 1755, in York, from whence he was removed in his infancy to London, where his father, who was a moulder of figures, subsequently kept a shop in the Strand for the sale of plaster casts. The father’s occupation, no doubt, contributed to call forth the genius of the son; but the boy very early began to give evidence of fondness for those arts to which his future life was devoted, and of singular taste and skill in the efforts of his uninstructed pencil. Like many more of the most distinguished cultivators of literature and art, he was prevented by the weakness and delicate health of his early years from mixing in the ruder sports of boys of his own age; and this, of course, gave him more time for solitary study. His father was not able to afford him the advantages of a regular education; but he rapidly acquired a great deal of knowledge by his own unaided efforts. When he was fifteen he was admitted a student in the Royal Academy. Here he was successful in a competition for the inferior honour of the silver medal; but on the contest for the gold one, Sir Joshua Reynolds, the President, awarded the prize to another. This was, perhaps, upon the whole, not an unfortunate incident for Flaxman, though he severely felt what he thought an injustice. His rival, notwithstanding his good fortune on this occasion, never rose to any distinction; but Flaxman, with the heroism of true genius, resolved to obliterate this defeat of his youth by future triumphs, of the glory of which no such decision should be able to rob him. And this resolution he nobly fulfilled. His first employment was given him by the Messrs. Wedgewood, the productions of whose porcelain potteries he embellished with designs that gave at once a new character to this branch of British manufactures. In 1782 he married; and five years afterwards proceeded to visit Italy, where he remained till 1794, studying the celebrated monuments of the fine arts with which that country abounds, and at the same time exerting his own pencil in the production of works which soon spread his fame over Europe. Having then returned to England, he was in 1797 elected an Associate, and in 1800 a Member, of the Royal Academy. After this he executed many great works in marble; and, as a lecturer, afforded some valuable contributions to the literature of his profession. For many years before his death his name ranked with the highest of the living artists of England. But we must refer the reader for an account of his performances to Mr. Allan Cunningham’s interesting life of him, lately published, or to the abstract of that memoir in the second number of the Gallery of Portraits. He died at his house in Buckingham-street, on the 7th of December, 1826, in the seventy-second year of his age.
---------------------
IMPROVEMENT IN SOCIAL CONDITION.
The history of the United States of North America is, in some respects, one of the most instructive that we can turn to; because we are accurately acquainted with the origin of this social community, and are also enabled to trace its history in all its important facts, from the first establishment of the several colonies up to the present condition of the Union. Of all historical records none can be put in comparison with legislative enactments, as showing the condition of the people at any given period, and the degree of mental culture diffused among them. In the American States, even under their former colonial government, there were few men of any importance in the provinces who did not participate in some of the functions of government; and we may therefore consider the laws enacted at that period as indicative of the opinions held by the most influential classes.
We happen to have before us an old collection of Virginia laws, entitled, ‘A complete collection of the Laws of Virginia, at a Grand Assembly held at James City, 23d March, 1662;’ a few extracts from which may not be uninteresting.
There appears to be in this volume only one law about education, which prescribes the founding of a college “for the advance of learning, education of youth, supply of the ministry, and promotion of piety.” The law states how the money is to be raised; but as to its application nothing more is said, except that a piece of land is to be got, and, “with as much speed as may be convenient, housing is to be erected thereon for entertainment of students and scholars.” The _housing_ department seems to have been the uppermost thing in the legislature’s thoughts; the providing of good teachers was a secondary consideration.
There are several enactments about “rewards for killing wolves,” which at that time infested even the lower parts of Virginia. At the present day, owing to the increase of population, the wolf and other wild animals, though occasionally heard of, are but rarely seen even in the mountains, and seldom do any damage. The reward “for every wolf destroyed by pit, trap, or otherwise, is 200 pounds of tobacco.”
Tobacco was the most common standard of value in Virginia at that time, as we see from this and numerous other instances, where fines, &c. are estimated at so many pounds of tobacco. Thus it is stated in enactment 35, that “the court shall not take cognizance of any cause under the value of 200 pounds of tobacco, or twenty shillings sterling, which a private justice may and is hereby authorized and empowered to hear and determine.”
The following recipe for good order is contained in an enactment, entitled ‘Pillories to be erected at each Court:’--“In every county the court shall cause to be set up a pillory, a pair of stocks, and a whipping-post near the court-house, and a ducking-stool;--and the court not causing the said pillory, whipping-post, stocks, and ducking-stool to be erected, shall be fined 5000 pounds of tobacco to the use of the public.”
In those days the following provision was made for extending the elective franchise, which appears founded on a rational principle: “Every county that will lay out 100 acres of land, and people it with 100 tytheable (taxable) persons, that place shall enjoy the like privilege” of sending a burgess. The burgesses, together with their attendants, were free from arrest, from the time of election till ten days after dissolution of the assembly; this privilege, however, was somewhat modified by several clauses. Every burgess was allowed during the sitting of the assembly “150 lbs. of tobacco and cask per day, besides the necessary charge of going to the assembly and returning.” This practice of paying legislators, which, in America, originated under the Colonial system, is still continued in the United States. It did not entirely cease in England until the reign of Charles II. Andrew Marvell, one of the burgesses of Hull, was the last member of the House of Commons who appears to have accepted the wages which all were entitled to receive.
Among commercial restrictions we find an enactment prohibiting the planting of tobacco after the 10th of July, which was done for “the improvement of our only commodity tobacco, which can no ways be effected but by lessening the quantity and amending the quality.” That the former effect might possibly be produced by the enactment, without securing the latter, seems pretty certain. Another object that the government had in view was to compel the people to become silk-growers against their will. “Be it therefore enacted,” says the legislature, “that every proprietor of land within the colony of Virginia shall, for every hundred acres of land holden in fee, plant upon the said land ten mulberry-trees at twelve foot distance from each other, and secure them by weeding and a sufficient fence from cattle and horses.” Tobacco fines, as usual, were enacted in case the planting and weeding were not duly performed; and further, “there shall be allowed in the public levy to any one for every pound of wound silk he shall make, fifty pounds of tobacco, to be raised in the public levy, and paid in the county or counties where they dwell that make it.” This act was passed in 1662, and probably continued in force for a long time; but Virginia did not therefore become a silk-growing country, nor has it yet, though many parts are well adapted to raise this commodity. People, we presume, have hitherto found other things more profitable than silk.