It has the power, which some
animals possess, of pretending to be dead, when in danger of being caught;
and thus it often escapes.
Seals and Whales must also be classed among the Mammalia, although they are
especially formed to live in the water.
Whales, though so much like fishes that they used to be classed with them,
have warm blood and do not breathe through gills; so they have to come
to the surface of the water every now and then, in order to get air.
By-and-by, when you read more, you will understand how it is that the
whale, though it breathes as you do, is able to stay under water as long as
half an hour at a time.
Now, at the end of this long chapter about the Mammalia, let us see what we
have been noticing about them.
They are put first in the Vertebrate Group, though we have spoken of the
birds and fishes before them, because they were made on the Fifth Day.
They are generally--for we must not forget the whale--covered with hair or
fur, and they feed their young with milk. First of the classes into which
the Mammalia are divided, we place the Four-handed creatures--apes and
monkeys.
Second, the Hand-winged; the bats.
Third, the Flesh-eaters; many of them beasts of prey of the Cat-kind and of
the Dog-kind.
Fourth, the Herbivora; animals which feed upon grasses.
Fifth, the Horse-tribe.
Sixth, the Ruminants; animals which chew the cud.
Seventh, Elephants.
Eighth, the Pig-kind, including the Hippopotamus which is believed to be
the creature called Behemoth.
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