Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1817-09-04
ALEXANDRIA:
THURSDAY, SEP4EMBER 4, 1917.
CHANGES IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
The subject continued.

)
Quadrupeds undergo, before ard after
their birth. complete changes-changes'
net only in their structure and external
appearances, but IN their mental capab'-
lities varying in their dispositions and
manners as well as in the objects of their
attention, according to the different sta
ges Of their existence. Many come blind
into the world. and continue so for some
time before they receive the sense OF see
ing. How many changes are exhibited
in the dog, even from the time Of his
birth, till he becomes a perfect animal
till all his members are completely form
ed, and all his instincts are untolded and
improved by experience and education !!
The deer kind do not acquire their mag
nifcent and beautiful horns, till they have
reached the age of puberty; and even
these are annually cast of and their place
Supplied b. others.
Many birds are, for some time after
they are Matched, blind, like quadruPeds.
In this condition, how different are their
form and appearances from those OF the
perfect animals |! At first, they are CO.
yered with a kind of down, instead OF
feathers. Even after the feathers shoot,
they are often Of a color different from
that they acquire when full grown. The
beautifully variegated colors Of the pea
cocks tail, do not appear ill he has arri.
we'd at his third year. Birds that have
crests live q considerable time before
they acquire those ornaments. All birds
annually moult, or cast their feathers in
the same manner as quadrupeds shed
their hair.
Frogs, and many other amphibiou' AMI
mails, undergo entire changes in their
form and structure. When it FIRST es-
capes from the egg, the frog appears ia
the shape Of tadpole, en- animal with a
large roundIsh head, and compressed or
fiat tail, bat destitute OF feet or legs. In
this state it remains considerable time,
when the two first feet begin to shoot, and
have an exact resemblance to the buds OF
trees. As their growth advances, the toes
and legs are distinsuishable. The same
process goes on with the hind legs; but
they are somewhat later in making their
appearance. During the growth of the
legs, the blood bein drawn into different
channels, the tail suffers gradual UoEti-
icat;on, till at last it yanish.s, and the
tadpole is metamorphosed into quadru
ped. Tadpoles never come out OF the
water but alter their transformation in
to frogs, they become amphibious, and oc-
cas,onally frequent both land and water.
The crustaceous t,ibes, as Holsters,
crabs, &c. change their appearance, and
cast their shells every year. After the
shells are cas- they are perfectly de-
fenceless, being covered over only With a
thick membrane Oh skin. In this state,
they become a prey to every fish. The
skin, however, gradually grows harder,
and by the time it resumes its former
strength, the animal comes forth from the
crevices Of rocks, where it had .etired
for protection, and goes in quest Of food.
serpents, too, and many other reptiles,
cast their skins.
And now as to plants. What an ANA.
zirg difference between an acorn and a
full grown oak The seeds ofplants may
be compared tothe chrysalis of butterflies.
Like the chrysslis, the seed contains, in
miniature, all the parts Of the future
plant. These parts require only time,
and other circumstances necessary to We
getation, for their complete evolution.-
Beside the general changes arising from
growth, plants undergo number Of me-
tamorphoses iron other causes. With
the exception Of lew evergreens, trees,
during winter, are entirely stript Of heir