1776- January. I kill it with their poifoned arrows. Of the ikin they make veflels, in which they keep water and other liquors. M. de Buffon, who has very unadvifedly taken it into his head to declare war not only againft L in n .<eus, but like- wife againft his difciples, has, in a prolix introduction to his Differtation upon the Camelopardalis, (Giraffe, Tom. XIII.)- in a peculiar manner infulted the memory o f Dr. H asselquist, a man whofe merit has ihone confpicuous in feveral different fciences. School-boy, pedant, blunderer, 8ce. are the terms, as reproachful as unmerited, in which M. de Buffon fpeaks o f a man, who at too early a period, alas! for the interefts of fcience, yet crowned vvith the applaufes o f the literati of Europe, fell a vidtim to his zeal for natural hiftory. I could fincerely have wiihed to have avoided this difplay of M. de' Buffon’s ungenerous condu<ft, that it might not reach to the knowledge o f any others (befides thofe who are already acquainted with the faCt) in how far, on occalion o f the defcription o f the above-mentioned animal, he has forgot the language of a gentleman; but my refpeCt for truth in general, and a Wifh to throw a light on my prefent fubjeCt, the hiftory o f animals, forbid me to be filent on this head. T h e r e fp e d t l ik e w i f e w h i c h I j u f t l y b e a r to M. Has- selquist, o n a c c o u n t o f h i s m e r i t , a n d a f u l l c o n v ic t io n -o f h i s in n o c e n c e , c a ll u p o n m e to d e fe n d h im ; an d th a t m o r e p a r t ic u la r ly f r om th e r e p ro a c h e s h e h a s fu f ta in - *ed f o r n o t h a v in g m e n t io n e d in h i s d e f c r ip t io n o f h is C am e lo p a rd a lis , w h e t h e r th e h o rn s o f ' t h i s a n im a l fa l l o f f o f n o t . I f i t b e a f a u l t in D r . Hasselqui-st n o t to h a v e m e n t io n e d w h a t h e c o u ld n o t p o f l ib ly fe e , and n o t to h a v e d e fc r ib e d , defcribed, like M. df. Buffon, in the compleateft manner, what he could not poflibly know, I muft then confefs my- felf faulty on the famé grounds; as, though in fact I was allowed to draw up a defcription of the dried head of a Camelopardalis at the Cape; yet I could, not obtain per- miflion to faw in pieces orfdiffeCt.the horns, as they were promifed by the governor to a ‘particular friend of his . in Europe. It is much to be wiihed, indeed, that M. de Buffon had followed Dr. Hasselquist’s example in this re- fpedt, in which cafe his Natural Hijlory would have been much ihorter, much more ufeful and authentic ; and, what'would have been ftill better, our oxen and. cows would have kept their horns on; their heads in the way in which nature has ordained they fhould, viz. without their falling off every third yeàr, in. conformity. to the ignorant affertion of M. de Buffon, Tom. IV. pi 459,' and o f the edition revifedby Mr. A l l amanD, p. 176. Hé there fays; 1 Ainü la caftration ni le féxe ne changent rien à la . crue 8c à la Chute des dentes : cela :ne change rien non: plus a la chute des cornes, car éllés tombent également à trois ans au taureaü, au boeuf 8c à la vache, 8c elles font remplacées par d’autres cornes qui, . comme les fécondés dents, ne tombent plus ; ' celles du hoeuf 8c de la vache deviennent feulement plus groffes 8c plus longues que celles du taureau. L ’accroiffément de ces fecondes:;cornes me fé fait pas d’une manière uniforme, 8c'par un développement égal; la premiere année, c’eft à dire, la quatrième annéè de l’age de boeuf, il lui pouffe,deux petites cornes pointues,, nettes, unies, 8c terminées verslla fête ipar-une efpece de bourrelet, Eannéeîfuivànte ce bourrelet-s’eloigne de la .tête, pouffe ,par V o l . II. I i un 1776. January.
27f 72-2
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