*776. January, head, he terms the Camelopardalis at one arid the feme time the handfbmeft, and, with refpedt to its legs) ithe rnoft enormoufl v difproportionate animal in the whole'Creation; though other people are apt to confider that only as beautiful which is proportionable. M. d e B u f f o n might likewise have learnt from Dr. H a s s e l q u i s t ’s accurate defcription of this quadruped, that neither the head rior legs'¿re fo difproportionate, as he imagines them to be. In fine, Major G o r d o n did not find this animal fo tottering, floth- ful, and unwieldy, as it has pleafed M. d e B u f f o n , without Any authority, but that of his own prolific imagination, to reprefent it in the defcription he has given of it. With regard to the viverra ichneumon, or the mangoujl, I ihall only fay, that at the.Cape I had an opportunity of comparing M. H a s s e l q u i s t ’s defcription of it with the creature itfelf, and found it remarkably accurate. This fdrrie gentleman having obferved in a note, that the French, when in Egypt, are accuftomed to beftow French names on the natural objects of which they have no knowledge; and confequently tiave in all* probability given the name of rat de pharaon to this animal; M. d e B u f f o n confiders this remark as ah attack upon the French nation. But i f M. d e B u f f o n means by this, to excite his countrymen againft Dr. H a s s e l q u iS T , he muft pardon me when I tell-him, that I.am too well acquainted with the generality and" difeein- ment o f the French nation in general, to fuppofe that his defires would be gratified. For my part, I can have nb inducement on the fcore of any national predile&ion to take Dr. H a s s e l q u i s t ’s part againft M. d e B u f f o n , asallthofe who are occupied in enlightening themfdves and mankind 8 i>y by the promotion of fcience, are, as being fellow-labourers, to be confidered likewife as brethren and fellows of a com- v w / munity, in which it is neceflary for each to affift the other in promoting the objebt of their common purfuit; in a word, they are countrymen and fellow-citizens o f the commonwealth of literature. After all, whether there is any foundation for this obfervation of Dr. H a s s e l q u i s t or no, in neither cafe can it in the leaft affedt the reputation o f the French merchants who are ufed to vifit Egypt, whether they are feid to give French or Latin names to the fubjedts they fee, or whether they take the pains to learn the Arabic, Turkiih, or Coptic names of them; ftill lefs could it have been M. H a s s e l q u i s t ’s intention by any remarks of his, ¡to caft a refledtion upon a whole nation. To conclude, i f M. d e B u f f o n had read and taken the pains to underftand M. H a s s e l q u i s t ’s book, with any other view than that of criticifing L i n n a u s and his difciples, he might have eafily found by it, that H a s s e l q u i s t ’s manu- fcripts were feized in Egypt after his death, b an g afterwards redeemed by the munificence of a great queen, and through the confpicuous love and zeal for fcience o f the fame exalted perfbnage, were ordered to be printed in the manner mentioned in the preface ; and that confequently, the author himfelf could not put the laft hand to his work; in which cafe, indeed, he poflibly, either from memory or from his notes, which were loft by his untimely death, might have added the defcription of the interior part o f the giraffe's horn, which M. d e B u f f o n feems to have fo very much at heart. Perhaps, likewife, M. H a s s e l q u i s t , in order to pleafe M. -d e B u f f o n , would have fomewhat curtailed
27f 72-2
To see the actual publication please follow the link above