with the white bones peeping through his ill-conditioned hide; but,
if my heart had not warmed towards that pitiful anatomy, I might as
well have quitted the museum at once. Its rarities had not been
collected with pain and toil from the four quarters of the earth,
and from the depths of the sea, and from the palaces and sepulchres
of ages, for those who could mistake this illustrious steed.

"It, is Rosinante!" exclaimed I, with enthusiasm.

And so it proved. My admiration for the noble and gallant horse
caused me to glance with less interest at the other animals,
although many of them might have deserved the notice of Cuvier
himself. There was the donkey which Peter Bell cudgelled so
soundly, and a brother of the same species who had suffered a
similar infliction from the ancient prophet Balaam. Some doubts
were entertained, however, as to the authenticity of the latter
beast. My guide pointed out the venerable Argus, that faithful dog
of Ulysses, and also another dog (for so the skin bespoke it),
which, though imperfectly preserved, seemed once to have had three
heads. It was Cerberus. I was considerably amused at detecting in
an obscure corner the fox that became so famous by the loss of his
tail. There were several stuffed cats, which, as a dear lover of
that comfortable beast, attracted my affectionate regards. One was
Dr. Johnson's cat Hodge; and in the same row stood the favorite cats
of Mahomet, Gray, and Walter Scott, together with Puss in Boots, and
a cat of very noble aspect--who had once been a deity of ancient
Egypt. Byron's tame bear came next. I must not forget to mention
the Eryruanthean boar, the skin of St. George's dragon, and that of
the serpent Python; and another skin with beautifully variegated
hues, supposed to have been the garment of the "spirited sly snake,"