**> J1MUS1WG
w
c
One of a ' Band_of Mercy.' see p. 281.
WONDERFUL ANIMALS
WORKING, DOMESTIC, AND WILD.
ir Structure, $)abits, Cornea, anb Bee*.
DESCRIPTIVE, ANECDOTICAL, AND
AMUSING.
BY
VERNON S. MORWOOD,
AUTHOR OF 'FACTS AND PHASES OF ANIMAL LIFE,'
AND LECTURER TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.
' So from the first eternal order ran,
And creature linked to creature, man to man."
POPE.
' To me be Nature's volume broad displayed.'
THOMSON.
WITH EIGHTY-ONE WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
LONDON :
JOHN HOGG, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1883.
[All Rights Reserved.}
EFFINGHAM WILSON,
IX, ROYAI - c -
PREFACE.
jjS this book is intended by the author to be a
companion volume to ' Facts and Phases of
Animal Life,' he has referred particularly, and
at some length, to the Working Domestic Animals, and
others not treated upon in his former volume.
In the present work the author has introduced very many
Amusing and Interesting Anecdotes never before printed,
which refer to the Instinct, Structure, Habits, Uses, In-
telligence, and other things characteristic of Our Animals,
both Wild and Tame.
An earnest endeavour has been made to guard both old
and young against the attendant evils and demoralizing
2090808
vi Preface.
influences arising from an indulgence in Acts of Cruelty to
Animals, and to induce them to cultivate a Kindly Feeling
towards Our Dumb Companions. To treat animals humanely
will help to make them even more willingly useful as servants
of man, and be as the bright sunshine of their existence.
V. S. M.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
- xiii
GLOSSARY OF WORDS USED IN THIS VOLUME
INSECTS, FISH, BIRDS, AND QUADRUPEDS REFERRED TO - -vii
CHAPTER I.
Government among Animals Eccentric Crane Punished severely A
Snake Team An Amusing Spectacle A Tiger afraid of a Mouse
Walking Leaf Wonderfully Odd Dog and Portrait A Philosopher
on Birds and their Oddities Medicine as practised by Animals
Curious Comparisons Curious Facts Curious Coincidences - -
CHAPTER II.
Animalculse A Moss-covered Wall Life in old Spouts Rotifera, or
Wheel-Bearers The Eggs of Rotifera Amazing Fecundity Infusoria
Animalculse in Everything - - 32
CHAPTER III.
gUlipttiivw (Sttbjwte of the Qnimzl ilittflb^m.
What is an Insect? Blood of Insects Senses of Insects Instinct of
Insects Bombardier Beetle An Ingenious Weaver An Ant's Nest
Mistakes of Instinct Swarms of Flies and Tainted Beef Fire-flies and
Bull-frogs What Kirby says Spinning Cocoons Insects gain Know-
ledge by Experience Old and New Honey-Gatherers Orders of
Insects Beauties of Insects Architects and Miners Habitats of-
Insects The Eyes of Insects Insect Duration Strength of Insects * 37
via Contents.
CHAPTER IV.
Insect Armies, nnb hoto gkcvuitcb.
PAGE
The Woolly Aphis Ravagers of Forests A Kitchen Garden Caterpillars
and their Muscles Palms and Feet of Caterpillars Vibrating Flies
Tortoiseshell Butterfly, White Butterfly, etc. Where they Lay their
Eggs A Curious Process Butterflies, how they Work and what
they Teach Food of Butterflies Luminous Insects Pygolampus
Beetle of the Antilles Negresses and Creoles The Glow-worm Death
Watch Ant Lion Caddis Fly Saw Fly Crane Fly Aquatic Insects
The Mite Flea Scolopendra Silkworm Manufacture of Silk
Metamorphoses of Insects The Dutch Painter - . - i ~ . - 49
CHAPTER V.
gtix Etiibcrgrottnb Citjj of pttU $topU.
Grass Mowers A Nest of Ants The Ant Family Carpenter Ants
Yellow Ants Fallow Ants Turf Ants Brown Ants Cities of Ants
Materials for Building The Queen Ant The Worker Ants Departure
from the Nest Ant Sentinels Antennae Bravery of Ants Ant-bearers
at a Cockroach Funeral Ants and the Caterpillar Ants on the March
The Widowed Ant Food of Ants Milch Kine of Ants Honey-
making Ants Ant Warriors Uses of Ants, etc. - 63
CHAPTER VI.
A Glimpse at the Finny Tribes Fishes Oviparous Teeth of Fishes
Eyes of Fishes Fins of Fishes Food of Fishes Migration of Fishes
Intelligence of Fish Their Longevity Fish in Armour The Crusta-
cean Family Throwing off the Old Coat Voracious Appetites Great
Fighters Irritated by Jealousy Losing their Limbs Crabs of many
Kinds Crayfishes Lobsters Sagacity of a Lobster Prawns
Shrimps Molluscs Clam Shells and Holy Water Cockles Mussels
Pearl Mussels Oysters Where Found How Bred and Secured
Pearl Oysters Shah of Persia's Pear-shaped Pearl Scallops Curious
Structure Troops of them Sailing on the Sea - - 76
CHAPTER VII.
<dfwt Cousins, or mir JJitbs iit gJhich.
Plumage of Birds very Suggestive Rooks and Rookeries Rook Parlia-
ment How Lazy Rooks are Punished Forethought of Rooks Notice
to Quit The Gun and the Crutch The Lawyer's Rookery Sympathy
among Rooks Ravens of the Bible Domestic Ravens Their Cry an
- Evil Omen Cling to their Eggs Familiar Raven The Raven Rat-
catcher Raven and Gloves Three Funny Ravens Mrs. Grimalkin
Tongue-tied Dickens' Ravens Crows of Ceylon The Dog and his
Bone An unlooked-for Exposure Crows the Blessing of God Jack-
daws Conservative Jackdaws Carte-de-Visite The Jackdaw's Fail-
ingsDrunken Jackdaw Jack and the Ostler's Son Plea for our
' Birds in Black ' - - 92
Contents.
CHAPTER VIII.
Jjeathercb dfccbcrs on \sl\, Jlcsh, nub
The Eagle : its Structure, Strength, and Voracity Longevity of Eagles-
Eagle's Nest How Eagles Teach their Young to Fly Eagle that
Carried off a Child Eagle and Salmon A Young Girl and her Pet
Eagle A Golden Eagle and a Decoy Uses of Eagles Kingfisher,
where and how it Feeds Fabulous Stories about it The Lapwing
and its Cunning Solomon and the Lapwing Owls and the Red
American Indians Superstition The Owl and Railway Porter An
Owl feigning Death The Ministers and the Owl How Owls are
Hatched Affection of the Owl Herons and their Powers of Flight-
How they Fish Voracity of Herons The Heron and Spaniel Heron-
ries and Heron-hawking Hawks - I0 9
CHAPTER IX.
$e;tfttl ^lommhs of the
The Swan Flight of Swans Whistling Swan Pairing for Life An
Enraged Swan Swan and Fox Swan-upping A Swan Feeding her
Young The Duck A Country Ramble^Food of Ducks Curious
Story of a Duck's Egg Wild Ducks, Mallards Decay Pools Bills of
Ducks Duck's Foot in an Ice Crack Wild Duck's Nest Sagacity of
Ducks The Goose Structure of the Goose Tame Geese, where,'
and on what they Feed Wild Geese, and how they Fly A Carnivorous
Goose A Grateful Gander As Silly as a Goose - 125
CHAPTER X.
tenants of the
The Peacock His Colours and Conceit Peacocks Defending a Young
Thrush A Singular Fancy Foreign Relations of the Peacock The
Turkey, its Origin and Structure Antipathy to Red Affection of
Turkey Hens Remarkable Incident A Gallant Turkey-cock A
Strange Theft The Pintado Flesh and Eggs An African Princess
Pigeons and their Varieties Pairing, Egg-laying, Rearing their Young
Pigeon's Milk Fancy Pigeons Carrier Pigeons A Pigeon fond of
Music Turtle-dove - 142
CHAPTER XI.
forest ^Urobixts, JEittle ^tarauucrs, anb ^i^\i$ (Dbbities.
The Squirrel Structure of the Squirrel and its Home A Tame Squirrel
Nut-gatherers The Mouse and its Relations Their Nests and Food
Singing Mice A Mouse Companion Ingenuity of a Mouse The
Mouse and the Greenbacks Bats, both Home and Foreign The
Vampire Bat and the Jackass Superstitions about Bats Structure of
Bats Uses of Bats Hybernation, etc. - - - 158
Contents.
CHAPTER XII.
JfoIIt, .^fisher*, anb $x>achcrs.
PAGE
Hares, their Structure and Locomotion Cowper's Hares Remarkable
Story The Hare that Loved Music Hazardous Venture of a Hare
A Battle between Two Hares Clever Hares An Amusing Colloquy
Rabbits Their Homes and Numbers Ostend Rabbits Quarrelsome
Rabbits Fancy Rabbits, and how to keep them Otters Their
Structure, Habits, and where Found Sea Otters Affection for their
Young The Weasel, its Voracity and Uses Ferret and Polecat How
Weasels Obtain Food The Farmer and the Weasel ' Come in, my
Pretty Wench' Weasel Sagacity - 166
CHAPTER XIII.
gristljj $acltgbwm* SEilb anb ^xmt.
Wild Boars and their Characteristics Their Food and Lairs Varieties
of the Domestic Pig Enormous Pig Dwarf Pig Pigs not Epicures
Pigs and Egyptians Bristles and Skins of Pigs Intelligence of Pigs
Dog and Pig in a Storm at Sea A Noted Pig in Chelsea Pig
Found in a Sewer Pig with a Wooden Leg - - - 179
CHAPTER XIV.
3\,mt0crac]j of Animals.
A Herd of Deer, and a Narrow Escape The Deer Family Peculiar Or-
ganization The Elk and Reindeer The Stag, Bold, Courageous, and
Affectionate Fallow Deer Male Deers 'Fighting Uses of the Flesh
and Skins of Deer The Lady and her Pet Fawn The Roebuck Deer-
Stealing Shakespeare and a Deer Story A Night's Surprise Freak of
a Stag - ... j8g
CHAPTER XV.
2ln Ancient dfamilj).
Sheep of different Kinds, and by what Names Known The Moufflon
Structure of Sheep Chewing the Cud Mother Sheep and their
Young Habits of Sheep Wool Great Utility of Sheep Curious Use
of Sheep A Woolly Audience The Philosopher and Shepherd Boy
A Sheep's Taste for Music A Tippling Lamb Odd Companions A
Sheep that Chewed Tobacco - - - 199
CHAPTER XVI.
Ipotoinijs frxrm the Julb aitb <Shcb.
The Ox and Cow Structure of the Cow's Mouth Origin of our Oxen-
Wild Oxen Value of Cows Cows and Candles A Cow that Came to
the Rescue The Butcher and the Cow's Teeth Do Oxen Kneel on
Christmas Eve? The Cow and Moral Suasion What Kindness will
DO - - - - .... j, : - 2O7
Contents. xi
CHAPTER XVII.
or g)alf-jtitb-gjalf
PAGE
The Mule and Jennet Mules at the Crimean War How Judges Used to
Ride to Court -Mule Show Towns Famous for Mules Powers of
Endurance Mules at New Orleans, Cairo, etc. Ferocious Courage of
a Mule A Mule Laden with Salt, and how he Profited by Experience 214
CHAPTER XVIII.
(Dur ^0ttkej)3 attb thdr
The Ass Asses of Ancient Times The Asses Mentioned in Scripture
Persian Asses and the Scythians Asses and Grand Festivals Origin of
the Ass, and its Wild Relations How /Asses Bray Peculiarities of
Structure Usefulness of Asses Alive and Dead Asses' Milk Young
Asses Hard Lines Norfolk Donkeys Donkey Barometers Donkeys
and Superstition The Ass and Drunkard The Ass and Bulldog A
Performing Ass A Gipsy's Ass A Wonderful Donkey Trotter A
Sensible Ass Donkey Show Character of the Ass - -
CHAPTER XIX.
g'* <dffrienb.
The Horse, and what the Arabians Think of him Origin of the Horse
Parthians and their Horses South American Horses Wild Horses
and Birds of Prey Varieties of Horses Ponies A Curious and Mar-
vellous Calculation Structure of the Horse, his Foot, Eye, Ears,
Stomach, and Lungs Fifteen Useful Hints to those who have the Care
of Horses, etc. - - 233
CHAPTER XX.
of drbtrjjbflb"'* Jfronb.
Cavalry Horse and the Soldier The Horse and Drunken Farmer De-
cided by the Horse A Good Memory The Milkman's Horse The
Generous Horse A Noble Horse Intelligence of Horses The Horse
that Helped his Master Out of a Difficulty Sal, a Brood Mare,
' Acting the Old Soldier ' Wonderful Sagacity of a Cart Horse - 245
CHAPTER XXI.
of
Animals and the Sense of Feeling Different Kinds of Cruelty Committed
through Ignorance, Love of Gain, etc. Drink and Cruelty Sunday
Pleasure Van Horses Cruel Sports Pigeon Matches and Trap Pigeon
Shooting Bearing-Reins The Midland Railway Horses, London
Omnibus and Cab Horses, and the Four-in-Hand Club Testimony of
Lord Portsmouth, Cracknell, the Stage-Coach Driver, and Hundreds
of Veterinary Surgeons in London and the Country against the Use of
Bearing-ReinsNoble Example of some Bristol Carters - - 254
Xll
Contents.
CHAPTER XXII.
^frienbs of Jtnimnls.
PAGE
Individual Friends Collective Friends Royal Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals Pigeon Matches Animals in Mines Humane
Slaughtering of Animals Anti-Vivisection Royal Patronage Dogs'
and Cats' Home Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough
Association The Brown Animal Sanatory Institution Juvenile Hu-
mane Societies Progress of Humanity Abroad Humanity and Public
Men Ministers of Religion Magistrates, etc. Legislators Teachers
in Private and Public Schools Parents and Guardians of Youth
Masters and Servants Cruelty is Bad Policy Demoralizes the Mind-
Roman Gentlewomen and Christian Bishops of Ancient Tunes The
Victoria Railway Station Cabman and his Horse Kindness Pays the
Best An Angel of Mercy Everybody's Duty to Animals An Appeal
Conclusion - - 267
GLOSSARY
EXPLANATORY OF WORDS USED IN THIS VOLUME.
Accipitres Birds of prey.
Amphibious That which partakes of two natures, so as to live in air or water.
Animalculse Animals of the very smallest kind.
Anseres Web-footed or aquatic birds, as the goose.
Antennae The feelers of insects.
Apterous Insects without wings.
Aquatic Animals and plants that live and grow in water.
Articulated Having joints, but no internal skeleton, as lobsters, crabs, etc.
Biped Having two feet only, as men and birds.
Bivalve Animals having two shells to open and shut.
Bombyces Moths.
Bovidae Hollow-horned ruminating animals, as cows, oxen, etc.
Byssus A tuft of silky filaments which issue from the shell of some kinds
of mollusca
Carnivorous Feeding on flesh.
Cartilage A gristly substance, found in the noses of burrowing animals.
Caudal Belonging to the tail, especially in fish.
Cheiroptera Having wings like hands.
Chrysalids Pupae of butterflies.
Cocoon A soft covering spun by caterpillars.
Coleoptera Shield-winged insects.
Conirostres Birds having beaks of conical shape.
Cranium The skull.
Crustacea Some kinds of shell-fish, as shrimps, prawns, crabs, etc.
Crust The hoof, or outside covering of the horse's foot.
Cygnet A young swan.
Diptera Insects with two wings, and whose mouths are formed for suction
only.
Dorsal As the muscles on the back of the horse, and the fins on that of a
fish.
Edentata Being destitute of teeth.
Elytra The wing-sheaths of beetles.
Embryo A bud, or first rudiments of an animal.
Ephemera A short-lived insect ; an evening fly.
xiv Glossary.
Equidae The horse family.
Felt, and Felting Cloth made of wool without weaving ; a compact sub-
stance of fur and wool rolled and pressed together in lees or size.
Fluviatlle Living in rivers, streams, or ponds.
Gallinaceae Birds resembling farmyard fowls.
Gallinae An order of birds including peacocks, pheasants, turkeys, etc.
Genus A class of animals including many species.
Glandular Having reference to the glands of animal bodies, which are
smooth fleshy substances.
Glires An order of animals comprising mice, field-mice, beavers, hares, rats,
jerboas, etc.
Gormand An animal that eats ravenously, as a pig.
Grallse Wading birds, as the avocet, etc.
Gyrations A circular motion, or whirling round.
Habitat The home, or place of resort, of an animal.
Halcyon Serene, quiet, peaceful, etc.
Haw A gristly substance growing under the nether eyelid and eye of a horse.
Hemiptera Insects with wings partly leathery and membranous.
Herbivorous Living upon herbs and vegetables.
Homoptera Insects with wings all alike.
Hybernate--To pass the winter in some secluded place, without leaving it to
seek either food or water ; as bats, hedgehogs, etc.
Hybrid Mongrel, produced by the mixture of two species.
Hymenoptera Insects with membranous wings.
Imago The last and perfect state of an insect.
Incubation Sitting upon eggs to hatch the young.
Infusoria Microscopic animalcules found in liquids of various kinds, and
even in rain, snow, and fog.
Insectivora Birds and quadrupeds that live on insects.
Instinct A psychical property with which all animals are endowed, prompt-
ing them to defend themselves, to procure food, and to perpetuate their
own kind.
Invertetorata Animals that have no backbone.
Lachrymal Generating tears.
Lamina A sensitive and soft substance lying between the coffin-bone and
the inside of a horse's hoof.
Larynx The upper part of the windpipe.
Larvae Insects in the caterpillar, or grub state.
Lateral Growing out on the side.
Lepidoptera Insects with scaly wings.
Lilliputian A person of very small size.
Ligament A substance which binds one bone to another.
Mallard The drake of the wild duck.
Mammalia Animals that suckle their young.
Mandible The upper or lower jaw. The instrument of manducation.
Membrane A thin, white, flexible skin which serves to cover some part of
the body.
Metamorphosis Change of shape, as of a chrysalis into a winged animal.
Migration The act of removing from one country to another. Many kinds
of birds are migratory.
Milt The soft roe of fishes.
Muzzle The mouth of anything, as of a dog or gun.
Natatory Enabling to swim. Having special reference to birds with webbed
feet.
Nervures The corneous divisions in the wings of insects.
Neuroptera Insects with four transparent wings containing many nerves.
Glossary. xv
Nocturnal Animals that are concealed by day, but which come out by night
in search of food, etc.
Nymph Another name of chrysalis. The second stage of an insect's life.
Olfactory Pertaining to the sense of smelling.
Omnivorous All-devouring, or eating all kinds of food.
Organism Having reference to organs or natural instruments, as the tongue,
the organ of speech, etc.
Ornithology A minute description of birds.
Orthoptera Comprising straight-winged insects.
Oviparous Laying eggs.
Ovipositor The organ of insects by which eggs are deposited.
Ovis The genus to which sheep belong, etc.
Pachydermatous Animals having very thick skin, as the elephant, the
rhinoceros, and the pig.
Parasites Insects that live upon other animals.
Pectoral Pertaining to the breast, or to the fore-fins of a fish.
Phlebotomy To let blood from a vein.
Phosphorescent Shining with a faint light which emanates from phosphorus,
a substance of a yellowish colour.
Physiology The science which treats of the structure and constitution of
animal bodies.
Pupa The chrysalis, or quiescent state of an insect.
Raptorial Birds that are carnivorous and live upon other birds and small
quadrupeds.
Rodents Animals whose teeth are formed for gnawing.
Rotifera Wheel-bearers.
Ruminating Chewing the cud, as cows and sheep, etc.
Saliva An excretion from certain glands of the mouth which moistens the
food and assists digestion.
Sallender A rough horny patch situated in front of the hock of a horse.
Scansores Birds that are organized for climbing.
Scintillation The act of sparkling.
Serrated Notched on the edge like a saw.
Solidungnlate A mammal with a solid hoof on each foot, as the horse,
donkey, etc.
Spawn The eggs of fish and frogs.
Succedaneum A substitute, or that which is used as something else.
Tentacles Feelers, as in the sea anemone.
Thorax The middle part of an insect to which the wings are affixed.
Ungulata Animals that have hoofs.
Univalve Having but one shell
Vertebrata Animals that are furnished with backbones.
Viviparous Producing young from eggs while in the body, as in the viper.
Wattles A fleshy excrescence that grows under the throat of the male
farmyard fowl.
Zoophytes Forms of life being mediums between animals and vegetables.
INSECTS, FISH, BIRDS, AND QUADRUPEDS
REFERRED TO IN THIS VOLUME.
Animalcule
Ants : -
Brown -
Carpenter
Fallow -
Garden -
Queen -
Red
Turf -
Winged
Worker
Yellow -
Ant-Lion -
Aphides -
Ass
Bats ' -
Bear
Beaver
Beetle of Antilles -
Birds of Paradise -
Boars, Wild
Bombardier Beetle
Bull
Butterflies
Caddis Fly
Calves
Cat
Caterpillars
Cockchafers
Cockroach
Cow
PAGE
3 2
Crane
- 6 5
Crane Flies
- 66
Crows
- 65
- 65
Death-watch
- 7i
Deer
- 67
Diver Beetle
- 73
Dog
- 66
Donkey, Norfolk
- 65
Dove
- 67
Duck (tame and wild)
- 65
Dung Beetle
- 56
72
Eagle
- 222
Eel
Elephant, Wild -
- l62
Ephemera (or May Fly)
- 30
- 3 1
Fallow Deer
- 55
Ferret
- 27
Flea
- 180
Fox
- 40
- 22
Gander
- 52
Glow-worm
Goose
- 57
Goshawk -
- 257
Gosling
- 3
Ground Dove
- 5i
Guinea Fowl
- 94
- 7
Hare
207, 2IO
Hawk
PAGE
- 22
- 58
- 103
- S 6
- igO
- 58
22, IO4, 277
227, 257
30, 155, 262
129, 130
- 43
- no
- 30
- 107
- 45
- 193
> 176
- 59
30, 128, 259
- 139
- 55
- 134
- 124
- 30
- 150
- 149
30, 167
- 30
xviii Insects, Fish, Birds, and Quadrupeds rej erred to.
PAGE
I'AGE
Heron
- 121
Hymenoptera con tin tied
Herring -
- 3
Ants -
- 45
Horse :
233, 264
Bees -
- 45
Coach -
- 2 37
Cuckoo Flies
- 45
Dray -
- 237
Saw Flies - -
- 45
Hack -
- 237
Wasps
- 45
Hunter -
- 238
7. Lepidoptera : -
- 45
Race -
- 238
Bombyces
- 45
Wild -
- 237
Butterflies
45
Death's Head Moth -
- 45
Infusory Animalcules
- 35
Feather Moth
- 45
Insects, Orders of :
Moths
- 45
i. Aptera: -
- 43
Pack Moth - v.
- 45
Chegoe
- 43
Silkworm
- 45
Flea -
- 43
8. Neuroptera:
- 45
Lice
- 43
Ant Lion
- 45
2. Coleoptera:
- 44
Caddis Fly -
- 45
Blister Beetle
- 44
Dragon Fly -
- 45
Bombardier Beetle -
- 44
May Fly
- 45
Carrion
- 44
Scorpion Fly -
45
Ground
- 44
Stone Fly
- 45
Rove
44
White Ants -
- 45
Scavenger
- 44
9. Orthoptera:
- 45
Sexton
- 44
Cockroaches -
- 45
Spring
- 44
Cricket
- 45
Tiger
- 44
Earwig
- 45
Water
- 44
Grasshopper -
- 45
3. Diptera : -
- 44
House Cricket
- 45
Chameleon Fly
- 44
Leaping Insects
- 45
Crane Fly
- 44
Locusts
- 45
Domestic Fly
- 44
Mole Cricket
- 45
Daddy Long Legs -
- 44
Jackals
- 31
Flesh Fly
Forest Fly -
- 44
- 44
Jackdaw -
Jennet
- 105
- 216
Gad Fly
- 44
Gnat
Mosquito
Spider
- 44
- 44
44
Kiang
Kingfisher
Kite
- 225
- 114
21
Wasp Flies -
Whame Fly -
- 44
- 44
Lamb
*"S
- 205
4. Hemiptera :
- 44
Lapwing -
- "5
Fly Bugs
- 44
Lion
- 220
Measurers, Water
Raspberry Grey Bugs
- 44
- 44
Magpie
Mallard -
26, 130
- 13
Red Cabbage Bugs -
- 44
Marmot -
- 31
Scorpion, Water
- 44
Mite
CO
Skip Jacks
- 44
Mole Cricket
jy
- 46
5. Homoptera:
- 44
Mole
3O
Aphides
- 44
Moths
- 4=i
Blight Insects
i - 44
Moufflon -
TO
- 2OI
Cochineal
Lantern Flies
44
- 44
Mouse
Mule
25. 159
- 216
Plant Lice
Tree Hoppers
- 44
- 44
Nightingale
- 31
6. Hymcnoptera :
- 45
Osprey
- 124
Insects, Fish, Birds, and Quadrupeds referred to. xix
Otter
Owl
Ox
Oxen, Wild
Partridge
Peacock -
Pig:- -
African
Bedford
Berkshire
Cheshire
Chinese
Essex -
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Herefordshire -
Irish Greyhound
Italian -
Lincolnshire
Neapolitan
Norfolk
Northamptonshire
Suffolk -
Sussex -
Wiltshire
Yorkshire
Pigeons :
Archangels
Barbes -
Carriers -
Dragoons
Fantails
Jacobins
Nuns
Owls -
Pouters -
Rock -
Tree
Trumpeter
Turbit -
Wood -
Pike
Pintado -
Pole-cat -
Ponies
Porpoise -
Pygolampis
Rabbit
Rat
Raven
Ring-dove
PAGE
PAGE
- 174
Roebuck -
- 195
- "7
Rook
- 93
- 2O7
Rotifer -
- 35
- 209
Salmon
8O, 112
- 30
Saw Fly -
- 57
- 141
Scolopendra . -
- 59
- 181
Sheep :
- 199
- 181
Including Cheviots
- 2OI
- 183
Dorsets
- 199
- 181
Lincolns
- 2GI
- 183
New Leicesters
- 201
- 183
Shetland
- 2OI
- 183
Southdowns
- 2OI
- 183
Welsh
- 2OI
- 183
Shell-fish, including,
-183
i. Crustaceans :
- 80
- 181
Beckoning Crabs
- 8 4
- 181
Edible
- 8 4
- 183
Hermit
- 8 4
- 183
Racer
- 8 4
- 183
Shore
- 8 4
- 183
Spider
- 8 4
- 183
Swimming
- 8 4
-183
Cray-fishes -
- 8 5
- 183
Lobsters
- 8 S
- 183
Prawns
- 8 7
Shrimps
- 8 7
150, 160
2. Mollusca :
- 8 7
- 153
Clams
- 88
- iS3
Cockles
- 88
- 153
Mussels
- 89
- 153
Oysters
- 9
- iS3
- iS3
Oysters (Pearl)
Pearl Mussels
- 90
- 9i
- iS3
Scallops
- 9i
- iS3
Silkworm -
- 60
J 53
Snake
- 24
- 150
Spider
- 40
- 150
Squirrel -
- 157
- J 53
Stag -
- 192
- 153
Swan
126, 128
- 150
- 77
Tiger
- 25
- 149
Toad
- 30
- 176
Turkey
- 146
238, 257
Turtle-dove
- J 55
- 3
- 55
Water Beetles
- 58
Weasel
- 176
170, 173
Whale
- 77
- 3
Wolves
- 3i
96, 101
Woolly Aphis
- 50
- 150
WONDERFUL ANIMALS.
CHAPTER I.
CURIOUS ODDS AND ENDS ABOUT ANIMALS.
Though birds, beasts, and fishes of every kind,
Are lower than man in the scale of creation,
Their habits all show the existence of mind,
Of will, love, and hate, and parental devotion.
N perusing the pages of history, especially those of
biography, we may find numerous proofs of the
correctness of the old saying, that 'Truth is
stranger than fiction.' This assertion is also
corroborated by many of the actions and life of
some of the members of the animal kingdom.
It is well known that many human beings indulge in very
singular habits, while their conduct generally is often both
irregular and strange. Without attempting to assign the par-
ticular causes of human eccentricities, we may confidently
state that, much as the lower animals are under the influences
of the law of instinct, there are instances in which they have
so far diverged from their ordinary course as to be considered,
if not in all cases eccentric in the true sense of the word, yet
so distinguished by certain peculiarities of structure, habits,
and social life as to deserve special attention, and as revealing
to us some interesting and wonderful phases of animal life.
The odds and ends to which we refer we will now introduce.
GOVERNMENT AMONG ANIMALS. ' A regularly constituted
form of government, elementary as it may appear, exists among
very many families of animals and insects. Reptiles are usually
solitary, exhibiting neither affection nor social feelings. A blind
22
Odds and Ends about Animals.
buffalo on a Western prairie has been known to act as an
absolute sovereign over a vast herd, controlling their move-
ments as seemed to suit his own views of what was best for
the common good. Horses, too, in their wild state, wherever
found, invariably obey the behests of a powerful stallion, who
parades his forces, forms lines of defence, or suddenly gives
orders for a stampede, as circumstances require.
' Dogs, left to themselves, establish an oligarchy, whether in
Asia, Africa, or any other continent. The supreme authority
is invested in certain
individuals, managing
a prescribed territory,
and woe to those tres-
passing upon their do-
main ! On concerted
occasions they all act
together like wolves
for the accomplish-
ment of a grand design.
Wolves separate as
soon as they have
accomplished their de-
sign ; but, unlike dogs, seem not to recognise a particular leader
on their foraging expeditions.
' Grain-eating birds form associations. Wild geese have an .
admirably organized system of government. Migrating
feathered races associate in autumn for common safety in
their annual nights ; but carnivorous birds, as hawks, eagles,
etc., are unsocial and selfish. Domestic fowls divide into
families, at the head of which is a vigilant cock that watches
his charge with Argus eyes. Ants, honey-bees, and wasps
form regular sovereignties.'
ECCENTRIC CRANE. We have read of a male and female
crane which, having been procured when very young, were
taught to follow their owner wherever he went. They became
masters of the farmyard. Bulls, cows, and foals were subject
to their control, but they declined to interfere with the pigs.
When the female died, the male left the farmyard, and was
found in the neighbourhood two or three days afterwards in a
dejected condition. When he was brought back he made the
acquaintance of the bull, which he accompanied wherever he
The Wolf.
Two Eccentric Birds,
The Crane.
went, and would keep off the flies while the animal grazed.
If the bull did not appear in time, the crane would fetch him.
When horses were put to the carriage, he would, ostler-
like, stand before them, and
by blows from his bill and
outspread wings, prevent them
from moving until they were
ready to start. He was fond
of the cook, who fed him, and
would never go to bed until
she took him under her arm
and conveyed him to his
sleeping-place. On one point,
though as a rule very fierce
and unforgiving, he was a bit
of a coward. He never could
endure the sight of any black
moving object, such as a
dog, a cat, or a crow, and his
greatest dread was the chimney-
sweeper.
THE KITE PUNISHED SEVERELY. ' When the brutes adopt
the vices of men, it seems that they must look to men for
protection from their kind. According to an Indian paper, a
sergeant's qua-
drille party lately
left, in their half-
emptied glasses,
an opportunity to
a kite for getting
drunk, and this
bird, the scavenger
of the feathered
world, appears to
have made free
with the " heel-
taps "of the gallant
party. In the
morning the kite Swallow-tailed Kite.
was found staggering about quite drunk; but after having been
allowed the shelter of the mess-room for an hour or two, " the
24 Odds and Ends about Animals.
bird prepared for flight by hopping out through the door into
the open air ; but no sooner did it show itself than more than
a dozen other kites pounced upon the drunkard and gave it a
most unmerciful pecking, insomuch that it was glad to seek the
shelter of the mess-room once more, and would not go out again
either by force or persuasion." The conclusion of the story is
that " one of the sergeants took the bird home, and it is now
an inmate of his poultry-yard, well fed and fat, and evidently
fond of its present quarters." It has lost caste by drunken-
ness, and is apparently assumed by its fellows to" have passed
into slavery.'
A SNAKE TEAM.' Did you ever hear of anyone driving a
pair of snakes ? Mr. Frank Stockton, in his " Roundabout
Rambles," tells us that
boys and girls in
France sometimes
amuse themselves by
getting up a snake-
team. They tie strings
_ to the tails of two
common, harmless
Whip Snake. snakes, and then they
drive them about, using a whip (I hope gently) to make these
strange steeds keep together and go along lively.
K>. ' It is said that snakes which have been played with in this
way soon begin to like their new life, and will allow the chil-
dren to do what they please with them, showing all the time
the most amiable disposition. There is nothing very strange
in a trained snake. Toads, tortoises, spiders, and many other
unpromising animals have been known to show a capacity for
human companionship, and to become quite tame and friendly.
In fact, there are very few animals in the world that cannot be
tamed by man, if man is but kind enough and patient enough.'
AN AMUSING SPECTACLE. 'A curious scene was once wit-
nessed in one of the main thoroughfares of Bolton. A donkey,
drawing an empty cart, stumbled and fell down ; and the carter
being unable to make it get up, unharnessed it, and the cart
was taken into a side street. Still, neither blows nor caresses
had any effect on it ; and after a while about half a dozen men
lifted the donkey up, and carrying it to the cart, put it in the
shafts. Here again it lay down, and was as obstinate as before ;
Some Strange Things. 35
and eventually it was placed inside the cart, and the carter,
taking his place in the shafts, wheeled it home. The donkey
was a remarkably large and fine-looking animal, and was to all
appearance entirely unhurt.'
A TIGER AFRAID OF A MOUSE. A tiger was confined in
a cage at the British Residency in Calcutta. To poke him
with a stick, or to tantalize him with shins of beef, did not
annoy him half so much as putting a mouse into his cage.
This mouse, tied by a string to the end of a pole, would be
pushed under the tiger's nose, when the great animal the
terror of nearly all other animals would leap- to the other
side of the cage, or jam himself up in a corner of it, where he
would tremble like an aspen leaf, and roar in an ecstasy of
fear. When the mouse was placed in the middle of the floor
of the cage, and the tiger was forced to cross it, he would,
instead of walking, leap over the mouse, and that so high,
that his back would nearly touch the top of the cage.
WALKING LEAF. This
curious insect, of which
there are several species,
is found in some parts of
South America and the
East Indies. In shape,
colour, texture of the
wings, the limbs spread
out like small twigs bear-
ing unfolding buds, the
whole appearance so
closely resembles a leaf, Walking Leaf,
that when hanging to a tree or bush they are not easily
distinguished.
WONDERFULLY ODD. The following information respect-
ing the eccentricities of different animals has been taken from
the Evening Standard :
' It is well known that the females of many varieties of
animals have a mania for nursing the young of other species,
and a correspondent of a sporting contemporary records that
a Mr. Alex. Dale, of Abdie, near Newburgh, on the banks of
the Tay, in Fifeshire, is in possession of a dog which is nursing
a pig. Mr. Dale has a sow that had a litter of pigs ; one was
taken to the house, and at once the dog adopted the little
26 Odds and Ends about Animals,
squeaker, and is rearing it with all the care, tenderness, and
affection of a mother. She will not allow any stranger or
animal to approach piggy. " About a year ago," the writer
continues, " the same dog nursed a kitten. I have known of
a dog nursing a rabbit, and of cats nursing rabbits, and one
case has come under my notice of a goat nursing a calf."
Hens will frequently hatch ducks' eggs, and experience the
greatest anguish when their adopted children take to the
water and display an accomplishment of which their foster
brothers and sisters are devoid. Perhaps the mania for adopt-
ing the young of other animals is nowhere so marked as in the
human race. The males and females of this species almost
habitually adopt and provide for the young of dogs, cats, birds,
and make pets of young horses, lambs, goats even in one or
two known cases of spiders ; while, on the contrary, two
ancient Romans if those who built Rome can be so termed
with propriety were cared for and partially educated by a wolf.'
DOG AND PORTRAIT. The following curious anecdote,
given by E. T. Evans, appears in Science Gossip : ' Some
years ago we had a Pomeranian (dog) who took a particular
dislike to a portrait of my grandfather, which hangs in the
dining-room ; sometimes she would jump up and bark at it
without any apparent reason, but if the wind made a noise in
the chimney, she would often jump on to the sideboard (over
which the portrait hangs) to get at it. Any noise whatever
that she did not understand, she used to refer to this picture,
and bark accordingly. I may mention that the eyes in the
portrait are very well done, and seem to look at you wherever
you stand ; -this may have something to do with it.'
A PHILOSOPHER ON BIRDS AND THEIR ODDITIES. 'A
philosopher, who has noted the wearisomely monotonous pro-
ceedings of the young of the human race about that period
of their existence when they begin to suffer from love's young
dream, has turned his attention to the love-making of the
young of other species. The results of his investigations he
is good enough to give to the world at considerable length, in
the columns of a foreign journal, and they are decidedly
interesting. Birds and beasts seem to be more constantly
sincere and less selfish than humanity, though it cannot be
denied that some creatures the North American grouse and
heron, for example are vain, and at times ridiculous, At
Love's Young Dream.
certain periods of the year the grouse meet together at a given
spot, and go through a variety of performances that show their
activity and grace. They " run round a ring, now to the
right and now to the left, jumping into the air and then hopping
on one leg." Of the herons, Audubon records that "they stalk
up and down before the females " much as well-dressed men
appear in the Park " showing themselves off, and bidding
defiance to all rivals. In the midst of a dignified walk they
will stop and caress some particular female, and the next
moment will be knocked over by a larger rival who does not
intend to be ' cut out ; ' " and he certainly stands a better
chance with the " fair one," as the females prefer handsome
consorts. The wisest and most thoughtful of all appears to
be the satin-bower bird, which builds a beautiful residence,
and decorates it carefully and luxuriously. Into this he
invites the lady bird of his choice, and shows her what the
naturalist declares are " evident instances of design." Touched
by the consideration evinced on her behalf, she usually
consents to take up her residence with the accomplished
builder. " The courtship of the great English bustard is an
extremely interesting sight," we are told. " The love-making is
done entirely in the air. Now the male will sail around in
curves, dart up, and
hover over the female,
then drop almost to
the ground, only to
rise again and con-
tinue its odd and fan-
tastic 'love-making.'
Similar in its actions
is the Otisbengalensis,
an allied bustard. At
such periods he rises
perpendicularly into
the air with a hurried
flapping of his wings,
raising his crest, and
puffing out the
feathers of neck and breast, and then drops to the ground.
He repeats this manoeuvre several times successively, at the
same time humming in a peculiar tone. Such females as
Bird of Paradise.
28 Odds and Ends about Animals.
happen to be near obey his enticing summons, and when they
approach, he trails his wings and spreads his tail like a
turkey.'" Birds of Paradise are extremely human in some
of their proceedings. The females always try to select the
most beautifully-coloured male birds. When in their best
plumage, long delicate feathers surround these creatures like
a golden halo, in the centre of which the bright green head
forms an emerald disc, and when the birds moult and lose
their feathers just as, sometimes, when husbands lose their
fortunes the wives desert them. The story of the devoted
attention paid to the infirm wife by a Guinea sparrow is a
noble example for humanity.'
MEDICINE AS PRACTISED BY ANIMALS. In the British
Medical Journal we read the following remarks on how animals
doctor themselves in sickness :
' M. G. Delaunay, in a recent communication to the Bio-
logical Society, observed that medicine, as practised by animals,
is thoroughly empirical, but that the same may be said of that
practised by inferior human races, or, in other words, by the
majority of the human species. Animals instinctively choose
such food as is best suited to them. M. Delaunay maintains
that the human race also shows this instinct, and blames
medical men for not paying sufficient respect to the likes and
dislikes of the patients, which he believes to be a guide that
may be depended on. Women are more often hungry than
men, and they do not like the same kinds of food ; neverthe-
less, in asylums for aged poor, men and women are put on
precisely the same regimen. Infants scarcely weaned are given
a diet suitable to adults, meat and wine, which they dislike and
which disagrees with them. M. Delaunay investigated this
question in the different asylums of Paris, and ascertained that
children do not like meat before they are about five years old.
People who like salt, vinegar, etc., ought to be allowed to satisfy
their tastes. Lorain taught that, with regard to food, people's
likings are the best guide. A large number of animals wash
themselves and bathe, as elephants, stags, birds, and ants. . . .
In fact, man may take a lesson in hygiene from the lower
animals. Animals get rid of their parasites by using dust,
mud, clay, etc. Those suffering from fever restrict their diet,
keep quiet, seek darkness and airy places, drink water, and
sometimes even plunge into it. When a dog has lost its appe-
How Animals Doctor Themselves. 29
tite it eats that species of grass known as dog's grass (chien-
dent\ which acts as an emetic and purgative. Cats also eat
grass. Sheep and cows, when ill, seek out certain herbs.
When dogs are constipated they eat fatty substances, such as
oil and butter, with avidity, until they are purged. The same
thing is observed in horses. An animal suffering from chronic
rheumatism always keeps as far as possible in the sun. The
warrior ants have regularly organized ambulances. Latreille
cut the antennae of an ant, and other ants came and covered
the wounded part with a transparent fluid secreted from their
mouths. If a chimpanzee be wounded, it stops the bleeding
by placing its hand on the wound, or dressing it with leaves
and grass. When an animal has a wounded leg or arm hanging
on, it completes the amputation by means of its teeth. A dog,
on being stung in the muzzle by a viper, was observed to
plunge its head repeatedly for several days into running water*
This animal eventually recovered. A sporting dog was run
over by a carriage. During three weeks in winter it remained
lying in a brook, where its food was taken to it ; the animal
recovered. A terrier dog hurt its right eye ; it remained lying
under a counter, avoiding light and heat, although habitually
it kept close to the fire. It adopted a general treatment, rest
and abstinence from food. The local treatment consisted in
licking the upper surface of the paw, which it applied to the
wounded eye, again licking the paw when it became dry. Cats
also, when hurt, treat themselves by this simple method of
continuous irrigation. M. Delaunay cites the case of a cat
which remained for some time lying on the bank of a river ;
also that of another cat which had the singular fortitude to
remain for forty-eight hours under a jet of cold water. Animals
suffering from traumatic fever treat themselves by the continued
application of cold, which M. Delaunay considers to be more
certain than any of the other methods. In view of these in-
teresting facts, we are, he thinks, forced to admit that hygiene
and therapeutics, as practised by animals, may, in the interests
of psychology, be studied with advantage. He could go even
further, and say that veterinary medicine, and perhaps human
medicine, could gather from them some useful indications,
precisely because they are prompted by instinct, which are
efficacious in the preservation or the restoration of health.'
CURIOUS COMPARISONS. How often the names of animals
Odds and Ends about Animals,
are used to express opinions entertained of the virtues, vices,
habits, and dispositions of men. For instance, one man is
said to be ' as stupid as an ass,' another, ' as busy as a beef
or ' as savage as a bear] ' as nimble as a cat] ' as harmless as
,.-.., a dove] ' as slippery as
an #?/,' 'as cunning as a
fox] 'as green as a gos-
ling] 'as sharp as a
hawk] 'as^ mad as a
March hare] ' as bold as
a lion] ' as poor as a
church mouse] 'as foolish
as a moth] ' as strong as
an ox] 'as plump as a
partridge] ' as fat as a porpoise] ' as dirty as a pig] ' as proud
as a peacock] to be '/*w-toed,' ' as weak as a rat] ' as silly
as a sheep] ' as fierce as a tiger] ' as full as a /;V,' ' as ugly as
a &<&/,' an <3 ' as keen as a wasp.'
A man who gets drunk is called ' a drunken dog] and said
to be ' as dry as a herring? A man with a bad temper is
called 'a snarling dog ;' one with a good temper, ' a jolly dog.'
A discontented man is ' a grumbling dog; those who are lack-
ing in good moral principles are said to be ' bad dogs; the man
who will not be convinced of error is considered to be ' pig-
headed,' or ' as blind as a bat' Ladies who talk fluently are
said to ' chatter like magpies] and the tongues of men who are
very loquacious are said to
' wag like lambs' tails.'
CURIOUS FACTS. The
Building Neivs observes that
' bees are geometricians. The
cells are so constructed as,
with the least quantity of
material, to have the largest-
sized spaces and the least
possible loss of interstice.
The mole is a meteoro-
logist. The bird called a nine-killer is an arithmetician ; as
also the crow, the wild turkey, and some other birds. The
torpedo, the ray, and the electric eel are electricians. The
nautilus is a navigator. He raises and lowers his sails, casts
Beaver.
Curious Facts and Coincidences. 31
and weighs anchor, and performs other nautical acts. Whole
tribes of birds are musicians. The beaver is an architect,
builder, and wood-cutter. He cuts down trees, and erects
houses and dams. The marmot is a civil engineer. He not
only builds houses, but constructs aqueducts to drain and
keep them dry. The white ants maintain a regular army of
soldiers. Wasps are paper
manufacturers. Caterpillars are
silk spinners. The squirrel is
a ferryman. With a chip or
piece of bark for a boat, and
his tail for a sail, he crosses a
stream. Dogs, wolves, jackals,
and many others are hunters.
The white bear and the heron
are fishermen. The ants have jackal.
regular day labourers.'
CURIOUS COINCIDENCES. We have often noticed the appro-
priateness of the names of some commercial men to the trades
followed by them. For instance :
There's Steer, a well-known butcher ;
And Bull, a large cheese factor ;
There's Mr. Pike, the fishmonger ;
And Hare, the game contractor.
There's Mr. Duck, the poulterer ;
And Hide, by trade a skinner ;
A Mr. Lamb, who deals in wool ;
And Nightingale, the singer.
There's Fish, the herring-curer ;
One Roebuck makes horn handles ;
A Mr. Whale sells oil and fat,
Of which we make our candles.
There's Mr. Fox, the furrier ;
One Jay sells ostrich feathers ;
Swan deals in costly eider-down ;
Rabbits, in coloured leathers.
A Mr. Gosling sells quill pens ;
One Beaver is a hatter ;
John Peacock keeps all kinds of birds
Who twitter, sing, and chatter.
CHAPTER II.
PEEPS DOWN A MICROSCOPE.
Some animals are far too small
For any human eye to see
Unaided by a microscope :
Then come and peep down one with me.
' All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.'
POPE.
HERE is much that is wonderful in the organization,
not only of the largest, fleetest, strongest, and most
beautiful of our animals, but in that of the tiniest
form of life. The difficulty in manufacturing any
kind of machinery is, as a rule, in proportion to
its smallness. Great care, delicacy of touch, and exactness, as
well as marvellous mechanical genius, are more necessary in
making a minute piece of mechanism than in that of a large
and ponderous one. In the smallest members of the insect
world we may see as great a distinction between the different
parts of their microscopic bodies as in those of the elephant,
horse, lion, or a human being. Insignificant as insects may
appear to be, it should not be forgotten that what God has
condescended to create is worthy of the notice even of the
highest born of mortal beings, be he emperor, prince, or peer.
If in the warm summer-time we stand by the side of a pool
of stagnant water, we may see moving masses of a pale, or
deep-red, green, or yellow colour. These consist of num-
bers of
ANIMALCULE, which are so minute as not to be seen without
the aid of a microscope. It has been ascertained that a drop
of the scum, not much larger than a pin's head, taken from
Drowned into fyfe. 33
stagnant water, often contains one hundred separate existences,
which move and frisk about with amazing rapidity, and have
been seen to represent several distinct and different species, all
as full of life as animals in the higher grades and of larger
magnitude. They twist about with surprising activity in search
of food, the larger kinds showing their voracious appetites by
devouring the smaller species.
It is stated that these minute creatures possess eyes, mouths,
and stomachs, as well as feet, nerves, and muscles, all covered
with bristles or a tegument of some kind, which serve not
only for protection, but for ornament. When we look at the
large number of these creatures dancing about in so con-
tracted a space, we must admit that the most finished specimen
of man's genius and work bears no comparison with them,
either in variety of form or in wonderful structure.
A MOSS-COVERED WALL, ETC. In the following experi-
ment we may, by the aid of the microscope, bring to light
one of the most wonderful and mysterious things in nature.
' Take a handful of dry moss from an old wall, as dry as you
can get it Moisten it with distilled water, then squeeze it ;
the drops at first will be a little thick ... let these drops
lie on a piece of glass ; at first there may be no sign of life.
In a few minutes squeeze the moss again. Small yellow spots
of an irregular oval form will then appear on the glass. You
will then see these forms gradually lengthening, bulging out
at each end, and assuming the shape of a caterpillar, only
that one end will be more tapering than the other. Afterwards
this end will send out a fork which becomes firmly attached
to the glass, while the whole body sways from side to side.
The head will then be drawn in as if buried, when two tooth-
like wheels at once make their appearance, rotating rapidly ;
from this they are called "Rotifera" Thus there is a re-
suscitation from death, not from drowning, but from dryness.'
It may be said that this speck of animated matter has been
drowned into life.
The crowds of infusoria revealed by the microscope are, in
their forms, of the most marvellous kind, and may be seen
gliding past or sporting in a mazy dance ; but ever and anon
there comes rushing among their swarms, like a fierce tiger
through a flock of sheep, some monster of a different kind,
having on its head what appear to be great wheels, that con-
3
34 Peeps Doivn a Microscope.
tinually spin round and round, and, like the paddles of a
steamboat, serve to move it through the water. The animals
in question, as before mentioned, are named 'rotifera,' or
'wheel-bearers.' In their size they much exceed the humbler
infusoria, over which they tyrannize. Their length may be
roughly estimated at about one-fiftieth to one-hundredth of an
inch terrific giants when compared with the small fry around
them, although themselves scarcely perceptible by unassisted
vision.
LIFE IN OLD SPOUTS. If we take a little of the red earth
found, in dry weather, in old spouts, or dried-up drains, we
may not perceive any sign of life in it. Even if we spread a
handful of this red earth upon a smooth surface, however
carefully we may look at it, nothing like moving life presents
itself ; it has, in all respects, the appearance of nothing more
than cold inanimate earth or sand, the grains of which are so
light and dry that a breath of wind may scatter them in all
directions.
Let this earth, however, be gathered up, and well moistened
with water. It will be seen, in the course of a little time, that
it has undergone a marvellous change. It now contains forms
of active life, so small that the keenest human vision cannot,
unassisted, detect them singly, a fact which renders it difficult
minutely to describe them.
According to Rymer Jones, the following curiously formed
living organisms were discovered, by the aid of the micro-
scope, on a piece of duckweed taken from a pond. ' Some of
these creatures were of a trumpet-shape, around whose gaping
mouths whirled the swarming atoms they had to swallow.
Others, like wine-glasses in miniature, stretched out the little
bells that constituted their bodies in search of food, and, when
alarmed, shrunk timidly from danger. Some had the shape of
rolling mulberries, that gently made their way through the
water. Others, formed like swans, glided up and down with
graceful elegance. Some shot about like meteors ; and many,
clad in shells, and armed with leg-like hooklets, skipped from
point to point like living scintillations.'
' THE EGGS OF ROTIFERA form beautiful objects for micro-
scopic study. They are covered with a transparent shell,
through which the parts of the embryo, as they develop them-
selves, gradually become distinctly apparent, until at length
Something Wonderful. 35
the cilia are seen performing their mimic rotation, though as
yet the imprisoning shell has not been broken. At last, by
the action of these organs, which every moment become more
energetic, the transparent membrane is ruptured, and the little
creature bursts forth, eager to enter upon its new existence,
and already possessing the form of its parent. The time from
the exclusion of the egg to the hatching is commonly about
twelve hours. Ehrenberg watched an individual through
eighteen successive days ; it was full-grown when he first
observed it, and it did not die of old age at last. Such an
individual he found to be capable of producing four eggs every
twenty-four hours, the progeny derived from which grow to
maturity and exclude their fertile ova in the same period ; a
single rotifer thus producing in ten days forty eggs, developed
with the rapidity just stated ; this rate, raised to the tenth
power, gives one million of individuals derived from one parent,
on the eleventh day four millions, on the twelfth day sixteen
millions, and so on. Well may our ponds and ditches swarm
with their multitudes, and countless creatures dependent on
such a supply rejoice at the abundance of food thus supplied
to them !
' All the rotifers have a marvellous fund of vitality, and sur-
vive under circumstances where animals less tenacious of life
would die a thousand deaths. They have been thoroughly
dried by means of chemical acid, wetted, and restored to life,
dried again, wetted again, and subjected to this treatment
through many successive alternations without perishing.'
'Microscopical investigation,' says Rhind, 'is continually
adding fresh wonders to our knowledge of these interesting
atoms (known as Infiisory Animalcules), and furnishing fresh
proofs of the amazing power and wisdom of Him who made
them all. These minute creatures are various indeed in
their shapes, structure, and habits ; some inhabit fresh water,
some the sea, some frequent the surface, some revel in the
lowest depths of the ocean. Many are protected by delicate
shells, others are otherwise cared for ; some inhabit the fluids
of animals, some are found in the cells of plants ; some are
provided with organs of motion, others remain attached to
fixed or floating objects. The propagation of some is by
eggs ; in others by division of the parent ; and in some by
sprouting buds. There can be little doubt that the air is
32
36 Peeps Down a Microscope.
always carrying about numbers of the germs of animalcules ;
and that, when they fall into water in a state suitable for their
development, they vivify and reproduce.'
Our poet Thomson, in referring to this countless family, says :
' Whence the pool
Stands mantled o'er with green invisible
Amid the floating verdure millions stray.'
How can we look upon the structure of these minute beings
without being humbled and lost in admiration of their Creator,
who sustains and notices them as well as He does worlds of
suns, and systems of stars and planets ?
ANIMALCULE IN EVERYTHING. But microscopic forms of
life not only invade earth, air, and water, but are found in the
interior of animals and plants. Even man cannot escape
them ; his mouth contains them in the tartar that loosens his
teeth. Legions of worms, imperceptible without scientific aid,
are found in our fleshy structure ; and as many as twenty-five
of [them have been counted in one of the muscles of the
ear which does not exceed a grain of millet in size.
Worms not larger than a pin's head accumulate in the
head of the sheep, causing staggers and ultimately death.
It has been admitted that man's ingenuity, all his inventions,
his precautions, his medicines, and scientific appliances have
failed to exterminate this microscopic life. Its dominion has
no bounds, ' it is immensity itself.'
CHAPTER III.
LILLIPUTIAN SUBJECTS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
Though genius may deserve our praise,
And art may sculptured statues raise
Of animals and man ;
Insects are greater far than they :
Each moves, hears, sees, and has its day
Of life, though short its span.
O one who has a contemplative mind can look
on Nature without being impressed with the
grandeur, majesty, and beauty of all her works,
andconvinced thatinfinite power has created them,
that they are under the control of perfect laws,
which have emanated from infinite wisdom. According to the
character or magnitude of the object on which the eye may gaze,
so will be the impression and effect produced upon the mind.
Who can look upon the restless ocean, and not say with
the poet,
' Beautiful, sublime, and glorious !
Wild, majestic, foaming free !
Over time itself victorious,
Image of eternity !'
or upon gigantic rocks, and not be reminded of the im-
mutability of the Creator ? Even the fruit of our fields and_
orchards, blushing flowers, and rweet feathered singers will help
to make the heart respond in gratitude to their generous Giver.
There are, however, in these things, as well as in quadruped
and bird life, much hidden beauty, which the intellect of man is
too dull either to recognise, comprehend, or explain ; but in
nothing is this more prominently shown than in the existence
of the complex, multifarious, but minute creatures which
38 Lilliputians of the Animal Kingdom.
constitute the subjects of the insect world. Here is enough
to fill the deepest thinker, the most learned philosopher, and
the most ardent lover of nature with amazement.
We shall now make a few general remarks on these
Lilliputian forms of life, and then refer to the orders in which
they are arranged, also to their beauty, and a few other
interesting particulars respecting them.
WHAT is AN INSECT ? Insects belong to the third class of
articulated animals, whose bodies are divided int(J three distinct
or principal portions, known as the head, which contains the
senses, the mouth, and antennae. The thorax, or middle
portion of the body, on which are six, and sometimes four, legs
and two wings. The abdomen, usually the largest part of the
body, contains the viscera, connected with nutrition and re-
production, but is without legs.
In the ' Treasury of Natural History,' we are informed that
' Insects surpass in variety of structure and singularity of
appearance all the larger branches of the animal kingdom.
The general characters by which they are distinguished from
other animals are these : First, they are furnished with several
feet ; secondly, the muscles are affixed to the internal surface
of the skin, which, though hard, sometimes preserves a certain
degree of flexibility ; thirdly, they breathe, not like the
generality of larger animals, by lungs or gills, but by spiracles
or breathing-holes, distributed in a series or row on each side
the whole length of the abdomen, and communicating with
two long air-pipes within their bodies, and a number of
smaller ones to carry the air to every part.
' Insects have a very small brain, and instead of a spinal
marrow a kind of knotted cord, extending from the brain to
the hinder extremity ; and numerous small whitish threads,
which are the nerves, spread from the brain and knots, in
various directions. The heart is a long tube, lying under the
skin of -the back, having little holes on each side for the
admission of the juices of the body, which are prevented from
escaping again by valves or clappers, formed to close the
holes within.'
Although the ancients entertained an idea that insects were
bloodless, this has been proved to be erroneous. ' It is said
that in the hearts of insects there are several chambers,
divided by transverse partitions, in each of which there is a
Instinct and Reason. 39
hole shut by a valve, which allows the blood to flow only from
the hinder to the fore part of the heart, and prevents it from
passing in the contrary direction.
'The blood of insects differs from that of the larger animals
chiefly in colour, since in most insects it wants redness, being
generally of a clear and watery aspect, and sometimes of a
yellowish hue.'
Newman says : ' The senses of insects are seven love,
touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight, and the commanding
and governing sense called volition, mind, thought, or
instinct,' to the last of which we will briefly call attention.
INSTINCT OF INSECTS. ' What is instinct ?' was a question
we put to a friend a short time ago. The answer was, 'Reason
stereotyped.' As this may not be sufficiently definite to some
of our readers, we offer the following remarks, which may help
to elucidate the answer referred to.
Instinct is a psychical property with which animals are
endowed, that prompts them to perform certain acts under
the guidance of their senses, such acts tending to the well-
being of the individual and maintenance of the species. Many
instinctive actions are performed entirely without education
or experience, and some suppose without a knowledge of the
end to be attained. We think, however, the last sentence
requires considerable qualification, and that while admitting it
may be true in many cases, there are others in which it is the
contrary.
In the infantine stage of animal existence, when reason is
nil, and no knowledge has been gained by experience, the
impelling power of instinct may be seen in full force. A new-
born child adopts the right means to obtain from the mother
the sustenance it needs, but it does so without a knowledge
that it is to support its life, and to build up its structure. The
same remarks apply to the young of mammalia, and of all
other living creatures.
As animals reach maturity, instinct, though not destroyed,
appears to give place to developing reason ; and experience
becomes the prompter to many of the actions and habits of
the lower creatures, which they seem to know will produce the
results they desire to see.
Even admitting the white and tortoiseshell butterflies, which
deposit their eggs upon the cabbage and nettle, may have no
4<D Lilliputians of the Animal Kingdom.
knowledge that those plants constitute the proper food for
their offspring, we can hardly suppose that birds build their
nests, or that foxes, badgers, moles, and other underground
animals make burrows in the earth, without knowing that these
are a necessity of their nature, and intended for their own
comfort, safety, and protection, and also for the benefit of
their future young.
It may be true that, unlike man, who learns and improves
by experience, these creatures may not do so to such an extent
either in their architecture or mining operations ; yet it is no
valid argument against our theory that the animals referred to
know that they are working, in mining and building, for a cer-
tain purpose.
It may be difficult to prove that these remarks apply with
equal force to insects, and yet we are not without reason for
supposing that even they know it is necessary under all circum-
stances to use those means placed in their power, and to have
recourse to various stratagems to defend themselves, and to
find support for their progeny. We have a proof of this
in the
BOMBARDIER BEETLE. It appears that these insects are
able to alarm their enemies by means of real artillery. 'These
Coleoptera, when threatened, suddenly expel from their intes-
tines a whitish acid vapour, the ex-
plosion of which, as it issues, produces
a certain sound, a slight detonation,
which carries disorder among the ag-
gressors. Hence, when one of these
insects is pursued by an enemy, it fires
off its artillery anew. At the sound of
a cannon-shot from one of them, all
the others fire at the same time ; there
is a running fire along the whole line.'
As these beetles fire in the way de-
scribed for self-defence, and in order to repel their pursuers,
who are other ^beetles of a larger kind, they must have some
notion, not only of danger, but of the necessity of using the
proper means to accomplish these objects, and must also be
conscious of the end to be attained by so doing, or why fire
at all ?
THE SPIDER must surely know the object for which it spins
Stratagems of Insects. 41
its web, or why should it hide in ambush until some un-
fortunate fly is caught in the meshes this little weaver has so
ingeniously woven ? It waits patiently in expectation of a
meal, to be obtained by the plan it has adopted. To do one
thing to gain another seems to us to imply a knowledge of
both. When the spider discovers a part of its web is broken,
it at once proceeds to repair it, as if conscious that neglect
to do so would lessen its chances of ensnaring its victims.
The following fact is, we think, strongly in favour of our
theory. When
AN ANT'S NEST is disturbed, the occupants show the
greatest concern for the safety of their eggs, which they carry
down into the lower chambers of their dwelling. But why do
they do this if they have not an idea that their eggs will be
safer down below than if left exposed on the surface ? They
seem to know that this is the best plan to save their eggs, and
therefore wisely adopt it
MISTAKES OF INSTINCT. Whilst it is true that instinct
guides an animal to defend itself against its enemies, to use
the right means to obtain food, and to select that which is
the most suitable for its sustenance, there are no doubt
instances of what we may term mistakes of instinct, occurring
when it depends purely upon the information of the senses,
especially in those cases when two particular objects, strongly
resembling each other either in size, form, or colour, are pre-
sented before the animal.
It is said that ' some animals are deceived by artificial
resemblances; the trout and salmon rise at an artificial fly,
and the pike snaps greedily at the glittering metallic bait
The edible frog, which rejects dead food, seizes a dead mouse
if it be moved gently to give it the appearance of life. Many
animals mistake the representation of an object for the object
itself: the drawing for the original. A tame roller (the bird
Coracias Abyssinica), at large in a room, pecked at the draw-
ing of a locust for the actual insect. . . .
'In the account of that singular parasitic flower, the Rafflesia
Arnoldi, it is mentioned that it smells like tainted beef, and
that swarms of flies have laid their eggs upon it' When the
fire-flies in Jamaica settle upon the ground, the bull-frog
devours them ; to these frogs red-hot pieces of charcoal have
been thrown at dusk, which have been immediately swallowed,
42 Lilliputians of the Animal Kingdom.
causing death, the frogs mistaking them for fire-flies. But
human beings have been deceived in like manner. The
nutty flavour of cherry-laurel water and of prussic acid are so
much alike, that inexperienced people have been known to
take the latter for the former, and have died in consequence.
WHAT KIRBY SAYS. This writer observes, ' That the in-
stincts of a considerable number of insects are endowed with
an exquisiteness to which the higher animals can lay no claim.
What bird or fish, for example, catches its prey by means of
nets as artfully woven and as admirably adapted to their purpose
as any that ever fisherman or fowler fabricated ? Yet such nets
are constructed by the race of spiders. What beast of prey
thinks of digging a pitfall in the track of the animals which
serve it for food, and at the bottom of which it conceals itself,
patiently waiting until some unhappy victim is precipitated down
the sides of its cavern ? Yet this is done by the ant-lion and
another insect; and even the dwellings of the beaver, and the
hanging nest of the tailor-bird, exhibit less wonderful and
elaborate indications of instinct than a society of bees, with all
their peculiar arrangements for the future, and the good order
of a numerous society of different gradations of rank and utility.'
When about to spin their cocoons, insects select suitable
places for that purpose ; but if prevented in carrying out their
usual plan by being placed in unfavourable circumstances, they
will use the best means that may be in their power. A cater-
pillar was once isolated in a basket, the bottom of which was
not suitable for the insect to rest upon, and therefore it
refused to spin. But a leaf having been thrown in, it was at
once seized, then rolled into a hollow form, and otherwise so
disposed of by the caterpillar as to induce it to spin its cocoon.
This seems like a modification of instinct.
INSECTS GAIN KNOWLEDGE BY EXPERIENCE. In corrobo-
ration of this assertion, Kirby relates an instance on the
authority of Mr. Wailes, who says, ' He observed that all
the bees, on their first visit to the blossoms of a passion-
flower on the walls of his house, were for a considerable time
puzzled by the numerous overwrapping rays of the nectary,
and only after many trials, sometimes lasting two or three
minutes, succeeded in finding the shortest way to the honey
at the bottom of the calyx ; but experience having taught
them this knowledge, they afterwards constantly proceeded at
Learn by Experience.
43
once to the most direct mode of obtaining the honey, so that
he could always distinguish bees that had been old visitors of
the flowers from new ones, the last being invariably at first
long at a loss, while the former flew at once to their object.'
Addison, in speaking of instinct, remarks, ' I look upon
instinct as upon the principle of gravitation in bodies, which
is not to be explained by any known qualities inherent in the
bodies themselves, nor from any laws of mechanism ; but,
according to the best notions of the greatest philosophers, is
an immediate impression from the first mover, and the Divine
energy acting in the creatures ;
' " For reason raise o'er instinct as you can,
In this 'lis God directs, in that 'tis man." '
ORDERS OF INSECTS. Although the different orders of
insects, as arranged by naturalists, are here referred to in
alphabetical order, we shall mention only the names of the
various kinds of insects under the appellation of the order to
which they respectively belong. Even this rudimentary infor-
mation is not only necessary, but an important step towards
attaining a knowledge of insect life. Indeed, we may venture
to say it is the foundation of real success in the study of this
vast but interesting subject
To students of natural history, and especially to those who
wish to have, in detail,
information respecting
the Lilliputian subjects of
the animal kingdom, we
recommend Rymer
Jones's volume, the 'Ani-
mal Creation,' and Louis
Figuier's 'Insect World.'
The orders of insects
are as follows :
i. Aptera. Which in-
cludes not only the com-
mon flea, but those of
every species, of which
there are many. Also the Tumble-dung Beetle.
chigoe, and lice of various kinds. These insects are wing-
less.
44
Lilliputians of the Animal Kingdom.
Forest Fly.
2. Coleoptera. This order comprises a very numerous
family of what are termed shield-winged insects, including the
beetle tribes, such as tiger-beetles, ground-beetles, cockchafers,
bombardier-beetles, rove-beetles, spring-beetles, water-beetles,
tumble-dung beetles, carrion-beetles, sexton or burying-beetles
scavenger-beetles, blister-beetles, glow-worm, death-watch, and
many others. It is stated that in this
country alone there are nearly 4,000 dif-
ferent kinds of beetles.
3. Diptera. Insects included in this
order are two-winged ones, such as gnats,
mosquitoes, chameleon-flies, daddy-long-legs,
and others of the crane-fly family, iv/iame-
flies, domestic-fly, forest-fly, gad-flies, spider-
flies, wasp-flies, flesh-flies, rat-tailed larvce,
etc.
4. Hemiptera. Four-winged insects,
who fly quickly, but only for a short time.
The two sub-orders of Hemiptera include both land and
water bugs. The former comprises the red-cabbage bug, the rasp-
berry-grey bug, bed-bug, fly-bug ; and the latter, what are known
as skip-jacks, or water-measurers, seen in summer-time skim-
ming the surface of water in search of drowning or even dead
flies ; we may also add the
water-scorpion, which pro-
cures its food on the stems
of submerged plants, and
sometimes at the bottom
of the pond.
5. Homoptera. Hom-
opterous insects, or plant-
suckers, are furnished with
four wings, loosely veined
but very transparent. In
this family of Lilliputian
subjects of the animal
kingdom, we may reckon tree-hoppers, known by the noise
they make ; plant-lice or aphides, called the milch kine of the
ants ; also the cochineal insect, valuable for the rich colour
produced from its body, etc. In the same order we have
blight insects and lantern-flies.
Cochineal Insect.
Armour and Beauty of Insects.
45
6. Hymenoptera. Although insects belonging to this order
have four transparent wings, these differ much in size. The
hind wings seem as if they were cut out of the front ones.
To this order belong saw-flies, cuckoo-flies, ants, wasps ; bees
such as the honey-bee, humble-bee, carpenter, and other bees, as
well as the parasitical insects with which they are sometimes
infested.
7. Lepidoptera. The light, elegant, beautiful members of
this order are also furnished with four ample wings, some of
which are of the most brilliant colours. Lepidopterous insects
are divided into three classes : (i) Those that fly by day. (2)
Those which are seen only during the morning or evening
twilight. (3) Those that are nocturnal in their habits and
general activity. This family of
' little airy miracles ' comprises
butterflies of many kinds ; moths
of various sorts, among which
are the death's-head hawk moth,
the pack-moth, and feather-moth.
To the night Lepidoptera be-
longs the bombyces, from which
comes the silkworm.
8. Neuroptera. Insects in-
cluded in this order have wings
so marvellously thin and transparent, that they are known as
lace-winged insects. These are dragon-flies, may-flies, scorpion-
flies, ant-lions, stone-
flies, white-ants, and
caddis-fly.
9. Orthoptera. In
this order are insects
that possess cutting
mandibles. They are
earwigs, cockroaches,
house - cricket, grass-
hopper, locusts, and
mole - cricket, all of Locust,
which have straight wings.
BEAUTIES OF INSECTS. A popular writer on insects says :
'To these Nature has given her most delicate touch and
highest finish of her pencil. Numbers she has armed with
Silkworm Moth.
46
Lilliputians of the Animal Kingdom.
Cricket.
glittering mail which reflects a lustre like that of burnished
metal; in others she lights up the dazzling radiance of
polished gems. Some she
has decked with what looks
like liquid drops of gold
and silver.'
' In variegation, insects
exceed all other classes of
animated beings ; some appear as if they had painted on them
imitations of the clouds, rivers with their undulating waters,
while others are veined like beautiful marble, and many as if
they had a robe of the
finest network thrown
over their bodies.
Among insects there
are curiosities and
beauties exceeding
even the wildest fic-
tions of the most fertile
imaginations.'
Man boasts of his
inventions, but what
Mole Cricket. are they compared to
the perfect work of in-
sects? In architecture he cannot excel no, nor equal many
orders of insects which from time immemorial have built their
houses with compartments containing staircases, gigantic
arches, domes, colonnades, and the like.
Some of them have excavated tunnels so immense, com-
pared with their size, as to be twelve times bigger than the
Thames tunnel. Who, then, will not say that these animals
are wonderful in their structure and beauty ; that they have a
claim upon our notice, and that in them there is much to
excite our surprise and admiration, as exhibiting, in a mar-
vellous degree, not only the infinite power of the Creator, but
His wisdom and beneficence in their creation, their existence,
and sustenance ?
HABITATS OF INSECTS. Although insects exist in every
part of the world, they are variously distributed, and inhabit,
according to their tribes, those countries and particular
localities for which their structure is adapted, and where their
Microscopic Discoveries.
47
needs may be the most effectually supplied. We read in
'Instinct Displayed:' 'As insects are endowed with the various
powers of creeping, flying, and swimming, the air, earth, and
water teem with them ; and so minute and numerous are
they, that scarcely any place is free from them. Trees,
shrubs, leaves, and flowers
are the favourite haunts of
many kinds; rocks, sands,
rivers, lakes, and standing
pools, of others ; whilst diffe-
rent tribes, being appointed
to clear our globe from all ^^^^^ \\
offensive substances, resort -^^ * \
to houses, dark cellars, damp
pits, rotten wood, subter-
ranean passages, putrid carcases, and the dung of animals.
These little creatures, so feeble, so diminutive, apparently so
insignificant, are, nevertheless, powerful agents to benefit or
injure mankind. . . . Some of them serve for food, others
for medicine ; some are important in the arts, and especially
to the dissecter. The great Ruysch surprised the anatomists
of his day by the nicety of his preparations, which far excelled
all those of his competitors. No one could imagine what
means he used for this purpose, till he acknowledged that the
flesh-maggot w r as the workman he employed, by suffering it
to devour the fleshy parts.'
To the above we may add a very suggestive and humbling
fact, that one of the richest materials worn even by those in
the highest ranks of life is produced by a simple worm.
THE EYES OF INSECTS. Although everything relating to
insects, especially the study
of their general structure, is
fraught with the greatest inte-
rest, it is on their eye's we wish
more particularly to give some
information. We are informed,
that Leuwenhoeck, by the aid
of a very powerful microscope,
Grasshopper.
used as a telescope, looked through the eye of a dragon-fly,
and viewed the steeple of a church, which was 299 feet high,
and 750 feet from the place where he stood. He could
48 Lilliputians of the Animal Kingdom.
plainly see the steeple, though not apparently larger than the
point of a fine needle. He also viewed a house, and could
discern the front, distinguish the doors and windows, and
perceive whether they were open or shut.
The eyes of insects are formed of a set of lenses, not only
transparent, but so hard as not to require any covering as
a protection. They appear also to be made up of a number
of the smallest eyes or hemispheres, each of which, like the
circles in a prismatic mirror, receives the irnage of the same
object. The naturalist just referred to reckoned 12,544 lenses
in each eye of the dragon-fly : and Mr. Hook computed that
there were 14,000 lenses in the two eyes of a drone. If this
be the case, then to these insects everything they look upon
will appear to be multiplied thousands of times over.
How marvellous that in these minute forms of life there
should exist such wonders of structure ! How poor are the
most ingeniously contrived and highly finished specimens of
man's work compared with the perfect works of Nature,
especially as seen in the insect world !
INSECT DURATION. Anderson says : ' The lives of some
insects are in proportion to the duration of a leaf, some to
that of a flower, and others to that of a plant. Earth-worms
live three years ; crickets, ten ; bees, seven ; scorpions, from
seven to twelve ; and toads have been known to arrive even
at thirty. Wasps and spiders, on the other hand, live but
one year ; an ephemeron, in a flying state, only one day.
But naturalists speak incorrectly when, on the authority of
Cicero and Aristotle, they say, that those which die at nine in
the morning expire in their youth ; those at noon, in their
manhood ; and those at sunset, in their old age. For, previous
to their winged state, they had existed for two, if not for three
years. The flying state is merely a transition which Nature
has decreed to them for the greater facility of ensuring a
succession.'
STRENGTH OF INSECTS. According to their size, insects
appear to be much stronger than other animals. It is said :
' If you take a common chafer or dung-beetle in your hand, it
will make its way in spite of the pressure placed upon it.
Accounts have been given of the very great weights that even
a flea will easily move, as if a single man should draw a
waggon with forty or fifty hundredweight of hay.'
CHAPTER IV.
INSECT ARMIES, AND HOW RECRUITED.
Insects flying, running, leaping,
And some slowly onward creeping ;
Everywhere we see them rife :
In themselves a world of life :
Claiming as their rightful dowers
Corn and fruit, and sweetest flowers.
IMAGINATION, in the absence of ability to look
personally upon realities, may give at least a
certain amount of pleasure to our minds. The
power to see with the eye of the mind is, or
should be, always a great boon to man, and
especially a solace to those whose happiness may be marred
by isolation from beloved friends.
Availing ourselves of the advantages of imagination, we will
now by its aid take a stroll through our gardens, orchards,
and fields ; and while the pure fresh breeze is blowing over
mountain, vale, and stream, and we are inhaling the perfume
of the honeysuckle, wild rose, and other flowers, and looking
upon our orchards of blushing fruit, and on waving crops of
golden grain, let us not be unmindful of those tiny animals
which in great numbers everywhere abound, enjoying their
span of life in the warm sunshine, floating in its beams, bur-
rowing in the ground, or feeding upon the rich produce of our
gardens and fields.
Having in the previous chapter referred to the different
orders of insects, their wonderful structure, beauty, and in-
genuity, we will now particularize some of those which are in
our country remarkable for their numbers, their beautiful and
4
5O Insect Armies.
curious organism, and the work in which, for good or evil,
they are actively engaged. The first we shall refer to is
THE WOOLLY APHIS. This singular insect often abounds
in our orchards. Although it may be at that season of the
year when nature has thrown over our apple, pear, and other
fruit trees a budding mantle of the purest and most delicate
white, fringed, perhaps, with blushing pink, we shall find on
the branches of some of these trees numerous excrescences re-
sembling tufts of white wool, but which envelop diminutive
insects called the Woolly Aphis, whose stings are so severe
that trees have been killed by them, and of course rendered
useless.
' The apple-tree aphis fixes itself on the lower part of the
trunk of that tree, whence it propagates itself downwards as
far as the roots, underneath the graftings, etc. It also likes
to lodge in cracks of the trunk and large branches.'
Such are the weapons of destruction with which some very
small insects infesting our forests are furnished, that they have
been known to open out wide clearings in them more quickly
than the axe of the woodman.
It has often happened, in an incredibly short space of time,
that gooseberry bushes have been stripped by insects of their
foliage so completely as to leave only mere skeletons, the
branches and fibrous portions or ribs of the leaves.
The name of insects more or less destructive to our fruit
and other trees is Legion. Charles Muller says that the oak
supports upwards of 200 animals, which are united to it by
their parasitic existence.
Many insects live, eat, and work in our trees and forests
unseen at any rate, unnoticed : in some cases because of
their minuteness ; in others, because their colour is the same
as the bark or leaves on which they feed ; and more frequently
because they are hidden in deep crevices of the bark, or con-
cealed in some kind of covering, as in the case of the woolly
aphis.
A kitchen garden presents, during the warm summer months,
a very diversified and interesting scene of active animal life.
Flitting from herb to herb may be seen the white butterfly,
intent upon some special object or suitable place on which to
deposit her eggs. This is a plant of the cabbage tribe, which
her amazing instinct has led her to select as the only suitable
Structure of Caterpillars. 51
food for her future progeny, the caterpillar. Soon after this
duty has been performed the mother dies.
CATERPILLARS. Microscopic examinations have revealed
something very marvellous in the structure of the caterpillar.
It is said there are only
370 fleshy muscles in
man, whilst Lyonet dis-
covered in a single cater-
pillar more than 4,000.
Pouchet states that 'in
certain caterpillars the
digestive power is so
. 1 , .. Caterpillar,
great that they swallow
every day three or four times their own weight of food. If
the elephant and rhinoceros were to feed on this scale, and
were as numerous as the others, they would require only a
very short time to devour all the vegetation on the globe.'
The motive parts of caterpillars consist of feet before and
behind, by which they are able to go step by step, to climb up
vegetables, and to reach from their boughs and stalks the food
they require. For this purpose their feet are well adapted.
Behind they have broad palms for adhering to the object :
these have round sharp nails, by. which they grasp what they
want to hold by. The fore-feet are hooked, and by these
they can draw leaves, etc., towards them, as well as hold the
fore-part of the body while the hinder-parts are brought up
thereto. These locomotive appliances are suitable and neces-
sary only for their nymph state, as will be seen in our remarks
on the butterfly.
The incredible numbers of caterpillars which have often
appeared, and with little warning, within a few days in our
vegetable gardens, have been not only a source of wonder, but
of fear that these marauders would so denude the garden of
cabbage vegetation as to leave nothing for our own consumption.
So prolific are butterflies that it no doubt would be so were
it not for the check put upon their increase or progeny by
what are known as
ICHNEUMONS, OR VIBRATING FLIES. Ichneumon fly is the
name of a large genus of insects distinguished for their prey-
ing upon other insects, and which, as far as caterpillars are
concerned, they do in the following manner : No sooner does
42
52 Insect Armies.
Nature prompt the fly to deposit its eggs than it flies off in
search of a proper nidus for them. Lighting first upon one
leaf and then another, walking over them and under them,
she at last finds the very victim which seems to answer her
purpose, namely, a butterfly or moth caterpillar. Kirby says
' that if she discovers she has been forestalled by some pre-
cursor of her own tribe . . . she leaves it, and proceeds in
search of some other yet unoccupied.'
Having succeeded in finding one, she begins her work by
piercing, with her sharp auger, the skin of the unfortunate
caterpillar, and then inserts her eggs, probably 100 or 150 in
number, underneath it. As soon as the young are hatched
they begin to feed upon the fat of the caterpillar. In the
course of time they attack the vital organs the victim dies
the larvae issue through openings and spin their cocoons on
the corpse. Wrapped up in these winding-sheets of silk, they
are often so numerous that the remains of the caterpillar are
concealed.
THE TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY lays its eggs upon the
leaf of the nettle, for the same reason as the white butterfly lays
hers on the cabbage namely, because the leaf of the nettle is
the only suitable food for its young ones as soon as they are
hatched.
THE GAD-FLY finds a future home for its offspring in the
stomach of the horse. By a glutinous substance it fastens its
eggs to the hair of the horse, but, we believe, on no part of
the body he cannot reach with his tongue. By the warmth
of the horse's body the eggs are soon hatched, and the young
grubs, by their movements and desires for food, produce irrita-
tion on the skin, which causes the animal to lick with his tongue
those parts thus irritated.
The young grubs and even
eggs are consequently taken
into the mouth, and then
pass into the stomach of the
horse.
BUTTERFLIES. Following
the caterpillar through its
Cabbage Butterfly. metamorphosis to its highest
or perfect state of development, we have the butterfly which
in the genial sunshine delights to flit from garden to garden
Butterflies and Hoiv they Feed. 53
to gather the nectar of the sweetest flowers, and whose bright
colours, transparent wings, and aerial movements have ever
been the joy of infancy and childhood, and even the admira-
tion of old age.
In the mechanism of this feeble, frail, light, and shortlived
creature there is something sufficiently marvellous, not only
to captivate the eye, but to astonish the mind of the most
contemplative philosopher.
A German entomologist has calculated that a square inch
of the wing of a peacock butterfly, as seen through a micro-
scope, contains no less than 100,735 scales.
PAST AND FUTURE. What a magic charm appears to be
couched in the word ' butterfly !' How forcibly it reminds
one of days long since past, of the frolics and gambols of boy-
hood, when with cap in hand we have gone in pursuit of this
beautiful little fugitive, attracted by its brilliant colours and
gauzy wings ; and when we were just on the point of taking
it prisoner, and at that moment full of joy at the thought that
we should bear away the airy prize, it has eluded our grasp
and gone again in search of another flower, leaving us behind
staring in utter astonishment as it sailed in the air far away
out of our sight.
And how suggestive, too, is the word ' butterfly ' of reviving
Nature when she warms and moves into active life ! How it
tells us of the departure of cold chilling winds and nipping
frosts ; of spring, with its tender freshness, beauty, and plenty;
of summer, with its sunshine and genial weather ; of the fruit
and flowers of our orchards, fields, and gardens ; of the woods
and hedgerows echoing with the music of our birds, those
feathered choristers in Nature's vast cathedral ; and, in fact,
of all that is bright and beautiful in this wide world ; and it
even points to ' the sweet by-and-by,' when God's saints will
be clothed in robes of eternal beauty, light and glory, and which
will never fade away. As well as birds and bees, butterflies
are in the warm summer-time the very poetry of Nature.
FOOD OF BUTTERFLIES. As the food of the butterfly con-
sists of the nectar of flowers, which in some cases is hidden
deep down at the bottom of them, Nature has given to this
insect a long proboscis, so small and light that it can easily
reach the nectar without injuring, in the least degree, the
flower which contains it.
54 Insect Armies.
The elegant and almost dazzling colours of butterflies are
owing to neat and beautifully made feathers, which are placed
in rows in the most systematic order. Pouchet eloquently
remarks, referring to a butterfly, ' When the new creature,
bursting its sepulchral laboratory, expands itself in the light,
its dazzling robe reflects the brightest sheen of metal or the
glitter of jewellery.'
LUMINOUS INSECTS. There have been but few benefits
conferred upon man by the aid of science greater than the
discovery made of the means of producing artificial light, and
especially in making it available for the many different purposes
for which it is at present used. Such a boon is of great value,
particularly during the long, dark, and dreary season of winter.
When the light of day is declining, and the mantle of darkness
is gradually spreading itself over the face of Nature, what a
surprising change may be seen in our large towns and cities,
which, as if by magic, are flooded, almost simultaneously, with
artificial light.
For private convenience we have now lamps of many kinds
varying from the argand, the moderator, etc., to the paraffine
and benzoline. These differ in mechanical construction, and
in materials for burning, as well as in the amount of light they
give. In fact, we have light in almost every degree, from that
which is so intense that the human eye can hardly endure its
brilliance, to the old-fashioned calm, quiet light of the long
twelve tallow dip and the farthing rushlight.
For what we have mentioned, man is de-
pendent on man, not only for the lights
referred to, but for the lamps in which to
burn them.
Nature, however, has her own lamps,
which owe nothing to man for the light
they give, or for the shining properties they
may possess. Some of these are very
wonderful, especially the moon, stars, and
planets, those night gems of the sky which,
as they roll onward in their respective
orbits, shed their mild but useful light on
our world, that without them would be
little less than a dismal chaos.
In the insect-world Nature has also other lamps, living and
Natures Living Lamps. 55
moving ones; tiny insect bodies which supply their own
material, the light from which is often like the coruscations
which emanate from some jewelled crown. Of luminous in-
sects we may mention :
THE PYGOLAMPUS ITALICA. These winged female insects
are very common in Italy. Sir J. E. Smith tells us that the
beaux of Italy are accustomed in an evening to adorn the
heads of the ladies with these artificial diamonds by sticking
them into their hair. When a number of these earth stars
are seen to dart through the air on a dark night, the effect is
very beautiful.
BEETLE OF THE ANTILLES. In Cuba the women often en-
close some of these phosphorescent insects in little cages of
glass or wood, which they hang up in their rooms, and this
living lustre throws out sufficient light to serve to work by.
When travellers there find it difficult to see their way on a
dark night, they will sometimes fasten one of these beetles to
each of their feet.
The Creoles set them in the curls of their hair, where, like
resplendent jewels, they give a most fairy-like aspect to their
heads. The negresses at their nocturnal dances scatter these
brilliant insects over their robes of lace. In their rapid move-
ments they seem enveloped in a robe of fire. It is the con-
flagration of Dejanira without the horror.
It is said that when Sir T. Cavendish and Sir R. Dudley
first landed in the West Indies, and saw in the evening an
infinite number of moving lights in the woods, which were
merely these insects, they supposed the Spaniards were ad-
vancing upon them, and immediately betook themselves to
their ships.
THE GLOW-WORM (or Lampyris). Who has not seen on a
summer evening these star-eyes of earth
and diamonds of the night glittering
in the hedgerows or under the leaves of
flowering plants in our gardens, and
wondered how so small a thing should
throw around it such a beautiful radi- nr _- Glow-worm,
ance?
The glow-worm is the wingless female of a brown, softish
beetle, about three-quarters of an inch long. It is something
like a dark, flat caterpillar. The light, which is of a beautiful
56 Insect Armies.
sulphur colour, proceeds from the three last rings of the body.
The light seems to be without heat, and in this particular
differs from sunlight or lamplight. There is, however, some
difficulty in ascertaining how this luminosity is occasioned.
' This insect, during its grub state, feeds upon small slugs and
such-like aliment, and is rather voracious ; but as so'on as it
assumes its perfect form it eats only the tender leaves of
plants.'
The male of this insect having wings, and the female not,
a certain writer ventures to give his opinion as to the reason
why ; he says : ' It was necessary that some contrivance
should be had recourse to for directing the rambler to his
sedentary mate. What more beautiful, and at the same time
sufficient guide could be possibly contrived than this self-
lighted hymeneal torch ?'
THE DEATH-' WATCH.' This is a small beetle which lives
on decaying wood. It is a source of great alarm and fear to
superstitious people, who suppose that the ticking noise it
makes by tapping its head on the wood, and which faintly
resembles the tapping of the finger-nail on the table, is a sure
sign or token that some near relative or dear friend will soon
be taken from them by death. This noise is believed to be
the ticking of death's timepiece.
THE ANT-LION. As the description given of this insect by
the writer of ' Six Days of Creation ' is so clear and interest-
ing, we will quote in full what he says : ' The ant-lion is
curious for the pit formed by its larva. . . The perfect insect
is very much like a dragon-fly, only with broader wings ; but
the larva is a wingless creature, with a pair of formidable jaws.
It has little power of moving rapidly about, but it makes up
abundantly for this by its surprising cunning. This larva,
choosing a dry, sandy soil, constructs a pitfall with sloping
sides, about two or three inches deep ; and conceals itself at
the bottom. No sooner does a busy ant or small beetle ap-
proach the treacherous edge than the sand slips from under
its feet, and it begins to slide down the deadly slope. The
falling grains of sand apprise" the watching ant-lion of the
success of its snare, and in a moment it jerks up a little
shower of sand, the more to bewilder its hapless prey. There
is little hope after once the thoughtless creature has passed
the limit of firm ground ; its struggles may be more or less
A Cunning Insect. 57
prolonged, but its progress is ever downward, and its end the
hungry jaws of its crafty destroyer.'
Pouchet, in referring to this insect and the ingenious plans
it adopts to secure its prey, says : ' If the ant-lion were to keep
the remains of its food near it, the snare would soon be con-
verted into an uninhabitable charnel-house ; it must therefore
get rid of them at any sacrifice. For this purpose, whenever
the larva has sucked an insect, it places the corpse on its
head, and then, by a vast effort, launches it into the air, and
sometimes a long way from the borders of its hole, in order
to obviate the suspicion which the corpses of its victims
might suggest to the imprudent travellers towards the fatal
refuge. In some observations which I made on the ant-lion,
I saw them in this way launch flies and large ants three inches
from their dwellings.'
THE CADDIS-FLY is very common about our rivers and
streams, and is much used by the fly-fisher. The larva makes
a curious house for its protection; it is, in fact, a sort of
tubular case made up very ingeniously of small stones, shells,
fragments of the stems of water-plants, and similar things;
these it fastens together by means of a glutinous silk, which
also lines the tube. Numbers of these cases may be seen at
the bottom of pebbly streams, out of the ends of which the
head and feet of the larva may often be seen protruding, and
moving about in an irregular way.
We are informed by Rymer Jones that when full-grown this
little creature creeps up the stem of some aquatic plant till
the mouth of its case just reaches the surface of the water ; it
then spins a net of silk across the entrance to its abode, and
goes into the pupa state. At the appointed time, the insect
tears its way easily through the silken grate, crawls a few
inches out of the water, throws off its pupa skin, and becomes
a winged caddis-fly.
THE SAW-FLY is so named because it is provided with a
very curious saw in its ovipositor, with which it slits the bark
of gooseberry and rose-trees, and there lays its eggs. The
larvfE (often called false caterpillars), soon after they are
hatched, enclose themselves in a cocoon, in which they remain
some months, then change into nymphs, and in a few days
into perfect saw-flies. In their caterpillar state they are so
voracious, and often so numerous on the same gooseberry-
Insect Armies.
bush, that they have been known to strip it of every green
leaf in an incredibly short space of time. Attaining their full
growth in about ten days, and being very productive, they
constitute formidable enemies to the gardener, who, if it were
not for the services small birds render him in devouring mul-
titudes of these hungry creatures, would never be able effec-
tually to keep them in check.
CRANE-FLIES constitute a numerous race, in which are in-
cluded daddy-long-
legs. They are found
in meadows, and lay
their eggs on the
ground, where the
grubs feed on the
roots of plants.
AQUATIC INSECTS.
Some of these be-
long to the beetle
family, and may be
seen almost unceas-
Tipula (Water Spider). ingly swimming
about in circles in our ditches and ponds. Should they, in any
way, be alarmed when on or near the surface, they at once rush
down to the safer depths of the water. We remember seeing,
several years ago, great numbers of these aquatic insects in
some water-tanks at Covent Garden Market, where we watched
their active movements with great interest. The following
information given by Rhind is a true description of these
wonderful creatures :
' Swimming on the surface of the water, the eyes with which
insects are ordinarily provided would only enable them to
perceive danger from above them ; but as there may arise
peril from beneath, they are provided with an extra pair of
eyes, two being above and two below the water, as they swim.
The great diver-beetle of our ponds has two powerful oar-
like legs, fringed with stiff hair. This beetle may often be
seen rising slowly, tail uppermost, with its oars stretched out
until it reaches the surface of .the water, where it will rest.
Then it may be seen that the tip of the tail repels the water,
which appears to be its mode of taking breath.
Insects, like whales, have to come to the surface to breathe,
Sailor Insects. 59
or to obtain a globule of air to be consumed under the water,
which is the same thing. The breathing-tubes of insects open
by several apertures along the sides of their abdomen.
In the Divers^ the horny wings fit so close as to exclude
the water from coming between them and the abdomen, which
would suffocate the insect ; but at the end of the abdomen
and wings there is a beautiful contrivance for keeping out the
water while the beetle is under the surface, and for admitting
air when it floats to the top. Some of these beetles are an
inch and a half long, others not larger than hemp-seed, but
all very voracious, feeding on other beetles, tadpoles, etc.
Their state previous to assuming the beetle form is that of a
formidable grub, with long legs and horrible-looking jaws,
which swims about, the tyrant of the waters.
THE MITE. Mites are a numerous race. ' Some have six
legs, others eight ; each leg is furnished with two small claws
at the extremity, surrounded with hairs. Some of these are
parasitic.'
The cheese-mite is an infinitesimally small animal often
found in cheese which is of the best quality. Examined by a
microscope, it will be seen to be beautifully transparent. Its
eggs hatch in about twelve days, and produce, like the spider,
perfect insects, or, more properly speaking, animals, which
are very voracious,
and change their
skins several times
before they become
full grown.
THE FLEA. This
nocturnal disturber
of the peace of man
and animals lays its
eggs on blankets, in
the carpets of bed-
rooms, or such like
situations, and even Dlopendra.
on the hairs of animals ; the eggs change into maggots, then
into chrysalises, and in about twenty-two days the flea is
produced.
SCOLOPENDRA have bodies composed of about four-and-
twenty segments, to each of which are attached a pair of active
60 Insect Annies.
legs. They are furnished with curved fangs, and can instil
poison into the wound they make. A small kind is found in
our gardens, under stones, rubbish, and lumber, and at night
sally forth in search of their prey.
THE SILKWORM (Bombyx mori\ As one of our valuable
articles of commerce is the produce of the silkworm, we think
Silkworm.
this insect well deserves special attention. In the ' Animal
Creation ' we find the following concise and interesting de-
scription of the worm alluded to. The author says :
' Its caterpillar has a smooth body, and at its birth is
scarcely a line in length, but attains to even more than three
inches. In this form the silkworm lives about thirty-four days,
and during that period changes its skin four times. It feeds
on the leaves of the mulberry ; at the time of moulting it does
not eat, but after changing its skin its appetite is doubled.
When it is ready to change into a chrysalis, it becomes flaccid
and soft, and seeks a proper place where to make its cocoon,
in which it encloses itself; the first day is occupied in attach-
ing, in an irregular manner, threads of silk to neighbouring
objects to support it ; on the second day it begins to multiply
these threads, so as to envelop itself; and on the third day it
is completely enclosed in its cocoon. This nest is formed of
a single filament of silk wrapped around the animal, and its
turns are glued together by a kind of gum. It is estimated
that the length of the filament in an ordinary cocoon is
900 feet. The form of the cocoon is oval, and its colour
either yellow or white.
' The bombyx remains in the chrysalis state in the interior
of its cocoon about twenty days, and when it has finished its
metamorphosis, disgorges upon its walls a peculiar liquid,
which softens it, and enables the animal to make a round hole
Silkworms and Silk. 61
through which to escape. To obtain the silk produced by
these animals it is, therefore, necessary to kill them before
they pierce the cocoon, and then wind or reel off the thread
or filament of which it is composed. To unglue it, the
cocoons are soaked in warm water, then the filaments of three
or four are united into one thread. That part of the cocoon
which cannot be reeled off in this way is carded, and consti-
tutes floss silk.'
THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK. There are, we should ima-
gine, but few persons in any part of the civilized world who
do hot possess some article or other made of silk. It will,
therefore, be seen that an incalculable number of worms must
be almost constantly employed in producing it, and that many
thousands of human beings must also derive subsistence from
working it up for whatever purposes it may be required.
In a work on insect architecture it is said, ' that in ancient
times the manufacture of silk was confined to the East Indies
and China, where the insects that produce it are indigenous.
It was thence brought to Europe . . . then to Persia ; and
afterwards successfully cultivated in Greece, Arabia, Spain, Italy,
and France. In America the silkworm was introduced into Vir-
ginia in the time of James I., who himself composed a book
of instructions on the subject.' Nearly half a century ago, it
is said, a plantation of mulberry trees existed in the vicinity
of London with a view to the culture of silkworms, but with
little or no success. The manufacture of silk was introduced
into this country in 1718, at Derby, by Mr. John Lombe.
METAMORPHOSES OF INSECTS. Insects pass through four
stages of existence, and these are generally distinctly marked.
They are first contained in eggs, which are deposited by their
parents in suitable situations, and with a degree of instinctive
care which fills us with admiration ; they then become active
and rapacious, and are well-known by the names of grubs,
maggots, and caterpillars, according to the tribes to which
they belong. To this condition Linnaeus applied the term
larva (which means a mask), as if the perfect insect were
masked or concealed under the figure of the caterpillar.
The ravages of which the forester and gardener complain
result most generally from the voracity of insects in their larva
state.
They eat much, increase rapidly in size, change their skins
62 Insect Armies.
several times, arid pass into another state, in which, in some
tribes, all appearance of vitality for a time is suspended.
During this time some may be suspended by threads, en-
veloped in silk, covered with leaves or entombed in the earth,
according to the habits of the species ; some of them, in this
state, appear like an infant wrapped up in swaddling-clothes,
hence the term/#/# (a baby) has been -given to them. After
a time they reach a perfect stage of existence, and are called
imago.
THE DUTCH PAINTER. After looking at the pomp, the
gold, and show of brilliant parties, and calling to mind the
pleasure he had derived during a period of twenty years in
watching the metamorphoses of insects, he has been heard to
exclaim: 'Ah ! let me rather see a butterfly born.'
CHAPTER V.
AN UNDERGROUND CITY OF LITTLE PEOPLE.
Learn each small people's genius, policies :
The ants' republic and the realm of bees.
Mark what unvaried laws preserve each state,
Laws wise as nature, and as fix'd as fate.
OT only are animals frequently mentioned in the
Scriptures as agents appointed to carry out many
of the dispensations of Providence, whether for
the punishment of the wicked, or by way of
rewarding the faithful and obedient, but we are
invited, and even commanded, to go to them for instruction.
Job says, ' But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee ;
and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee ; or speak to
the earth, and it sliall teach thee ; and the fishes of the sea
shall declare unto thee.'
Many men think it derogatory to do so, because they regard
animals as being infinitely lower than themselves in mental
capacity ; but the fact remains that some men by an abuse of
their own faculties, their carelessness, bad habits, and indis-
cretion, render it indispensably necessary that they should have
teachers of some kind or other, not only to instruct them in
lessons of wisdom, but to reprove and to correct them for
their evil propensities.
It is remarkable, and may help to teach man humility, that
not only are we directed to go to the larger, nobler, and higher
classes of animals to learn useful lessons, but to some of the
smallest members of the insect world. The bee is presented
to us as an example of untiring industry in collecting a store
of honey, pollen, and propolis for future necessities. Solomon
64 An Underground City.
says, ' Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways, and
be wise : which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth
her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the
harvest.'
Let us suppose that the fertilizing showers and genial sun-
shine of spring have clothed our meadows with crops of grass,
now ripened and ready for cutting. We may see in one field
a group of mowers, whose scythes glisten in the sunlight, as
the men with arms strong and sinewy swing them backwards
and forwards, and lay the yielding swathes at their feet.
In a few hours the crop that before waved so gracefully as
it was kissed by the passing breeze, is laid low, dried by the
hot sun, and then carried away as a store of food for cattle in
the cold dead time of winter.
We cast our eyes over the now cleared field, and our
attention is arrested by numerous hillocks into many of which
the scythes of the mowers have no doubt entered, and, it may
be, accompanied with not ' very kind compliments ' to the
originators of these excrescent obstacles to the mower's pro-
gress, but which are full of animal life. If we put our spade
into the base of one of these hillocks, and gently lift it up, we
shall look upon a miniature town or city, compactly built, and
so ingeniously arranged as to contribute to the comfort of its
hundreds or thousands of inhabitants, a sight of whom may
well excite our wonder and admiration. We refer to
A NEST OR COLONY OF ANTS. If we watch them closely
we shall soon see that never did the inhabitants of any city
surrounded by an invading army, and threatened with death
and destruction, exhibit more excitement and concern for the
safety of their lives and property than may be seen in these
active and intelligent workers when thus disturbed in their
underground retreat. Their movements may seem to be all
confusion, for they run one over another, some up, some down,
backwards and forwards, and in every direction ; yet they are
all intent upon and equally active in trying to protect their
embryo young, as well as to avoid the personal danger with
which they themselves are threatened.
Before we examine the structure of these members of the
ant colony, or try to ascertain if in this, as well as in their
doings, order, government, instinct, and habits there is any-
thing to instruct or to interest us, we may notice that
Varieties of Ants.
THE ANT FAMILY belong to the order Hymenoptera. There
are several varieties of them, and they differ in size and colour.
Some of them are of
a lightish brown, and
even yellow, while
others are almost
black. They are all,
however, of similar
habits, activity, and
intelligence.
A colony of ants, Winged Ant.
like a beehive, con-
tains three orders of occupants males, females, and workers.
The males have four wings; the females, larger than the males,
have wings at the pairing season only ; the workers are without
wings; indeed, at no stage of their existence have they ever been
known to possess any. As there are many varieties of ants,
we shall refer to some of them only. i. Carpenter Ants,
such as the emmet, or black carpenter ant, and the dusky
ants which cut their houses out of the wood of trees. 2.
Yellow Ants, which may be called masons, because they build
their houses with solid walls, often more than a foot high, and
several inches in diameter. 3. Fallow Ants, these are the
Fallow or Wood Ant (Female). Fallow or Wood Ant (N ? euter).
largest kind in England, and are found in great numbers in
the decayed stumps of trees. Their nests are curious structures,
the internal parts being composed of a heterogeneous collection
of leaves, twigs, grass, and straw. The interior arrangements
display considerable ingenuity and perseverance on the part
5
66 An Underground City.
of these tiny builders. 4. Turf Ants : the mining capabilities
of these ants are extraordinary. They dig chambers and
galleries out of the ground from six to nine inches deep.
5. Brown Ants : these are the smallest of the ants, and are
very remarkable for the extreme finish of their work. They
are known as Formica brunnea, and it is to them and their
habitations we shall more particularly refer.
CITIES OR NESTS OF ANTS. Referring to the nest of the
last-named ants, Kirby says : ' It is composed of earth, and
consists of a great number of stories, sometimes not fewer than
forty, twenty below the level of the soil, and as many above,
which last, following the slope of the ant-hill, are concentric.
Each story has cavities in the shape of saloons, narrower
apartments, and long galleries which preserve the communica-
tion between both.'
The arched roofs are supported by thin walls, pillars, or
buttresses ; some having only one entrance from above, others
a second, communicating with the lower story. The main
galleries in some cases meet in one large saloon, communi-
cating with other subterranean passages which are often carried
to the distance of several feet from the hill.
MATERIALS FOR BUILDING. It is stated on good authority
that these ants work chiefly after sunset, and that in building
their nests they employ soft clay only, which, when sufficiently
moistened by a shower, far from injuring, consolidates and
strengthens their architecture. 'Having traced the plan of
their structure by placing here and there the foundations of
the pillars and partition walls, they add successively new
portions; and when the walls of a gallery, or apartment,
which are half a line thick, are elevated about one inch in
height, they join them by springing a flattish arch or roof
from one side to the other. . . .
' Crowds of masons from all parts arrive with their particles
of mortar, and work with a regularity, harmony, and activity
which can never be admired enough. . . . They will com-
plete a story, with all its saloons, vaulted roofs, partitions, and
galleries, in seven or eight hours.' Considering the smallness
of these insects, their ingenuity and industry seem more
marvellous than those of bees.
Having described the structure of the ants' underground
city, we shall now refer to its inhabitants, to ascertain how far
The Queen and lier Subjects. 67
they mutually contribute to the prosperity and comfort one of
another. We shall notice first :
THE QUEEN ANT. As in the case of bees, the queen ant
is the source of life to the future colony, and it may be re-
marked that soon after the pairing season is over the male
ants die, so that they are never favoured or gratified with the
society of their future offspring, who, it may be said, ' come
into the world fatherless. 1 The queens lay their eggs, which
are infinitesimally small, in half dozens, during which time
they are usually attended by a retinue of ants, who treat them
with very special respect, pay great attention to their wants,
which they gratify and supply to the extent of their ability.
The eggs of ants have been discovered to be of different
sizes, shades, and forms. The smallest to be white, opaque,
and cylindrical; the largest transparent, and slightly arched
at both ends ; those of a middle size semi-transparent.
THE WORKER ANTS, as their name implies, have the
arduous work of the colony to perform. Their first duty,
after the completion of their dwelling or nest, is to take care
of the eggs laid by the queen ant. These they collect in
heaps and place in separate apartments. When the larvas
appear, the workers show much thought and tenderness to-
wards them. They provide them with food, remove them,
when changes of the weather require it, to warmer or cooler
parts of the nest, and thus render the period of their transition
to a perfect state as pleasant to them as possible.
No sooner are the larvse full-grown than they begin to
weave for themselves winding-sheets or cocoons of silk, and
then become chrysalides. These grubs are often so weak that
they would remain hopeless prisoners in their silken gaols if
the workers were not to assist them in making their escape,
which they do very systematically, and with as much gentle-
ness and knowledge as could be shown by members belonging
to larger and higher orders of the animal kingdom.
Another duty performed by worker ants is to watch the
movements of female ants. The moment one is seen in the
vicinity of the nest she is at once surrounded and seized,
dragged into the nest, and there retained a prisoner until she
has laid her eggs. They appear also to show much concern
not only in securing a queen and taking care of the embryo
young, but also on the occasion of the
52
68 An Underground City.
DEPARTURE OF MALES AND FEMALES FROM THE NEST.
Hubert says : ' Visit a meadow on a fine summer day, and
you may see males and females of the field-ant march to and
fro over the ant-hill. They then climb all the plants near
them, but the workers always attend them. They offer them
nourishment for the last time. Disorder and excitement
increase. The winged ants climb higher and higher. The
workers follow as far as possible, running from one male to
another, touching them with their antennae, and offering them
food. At length the whole winged tribes disappear. The
labourers return to the ant-hill, and when the weather is
favourable they make clear passages for those within that are
about to leave. They all take flight ; the workers re-enter the
nest and close the entrances.'
Pairing of the male and female takes place at the outside
of their nests. They then start off to form another colony,
and to build a city for their future residence.
ANT SENTINELS. Ants appear to pay due regard to the
safety of their underground cities, as some of them are placed
as sentinels at their entrances, and being watchful, as military
characters should be, always give notice of approaching danger.
If their nest is likely to be disturbed by the scythe of the
mower, by the upraised stick of some ignorant and mischie-
vous clown, or by the spade of the gamekeeper, whose inten-
tion is to support the life of his game by the death of the
ants, those that are on the surface will, with astonishing
rapidity, convey the alarm to those within, and then at once
commence to carry down the larva? and pupae to the very
lowest apartments of their subterranean abode.
In such a republic as that we have described, and in which
so much industry, order, government, system, and intelligence
may be seen, it is natural to suppose that this underground
people possess some means of understanding each other as
to their objects, plans, and operations. This is no doubt
effected by what are called their
ANTENNA, OR INSTRUMENTS OF SPEECH. The antennse
or horns, which project from the heads of crustaceans and
many kinds of insects, serve them in the sense of feeling and
seeing. They constitute also a most wonderful and curious
part of their structure, and appear to be of essential service to
members of the ant family in various ways.
Telegraphic Messages. 69
One writer informs us that : ' Previous to the military ants
going out on their expeditions, they touch each other on the
trunk with their antennae and forehead. This is a signal for
marching, for as soon as they are touched they are in motion.
When a hungry ant wants to be fed, it moves its antennas in a
very rapid manner.
' If some moistened sugar be placed near the nest of the
small black garden ant, a solitary straggler will soon accident-
ally discover it ; he imbibes his own load, and finds his way
to the nest with information; speedily, a number of others
emerge, make straight for the sugar, and continue to pass to
and fro in the most sedate and business-like manner, till the
whole of the provender is conveyed to the nest.
' It is said that if a spadeful of earth, containing a number
of ants, be thrown down in the middle of an empty room, the
ants will be seen in a state of wild excitement running in all
directions, and even over one another, all intent upon finding
some opening in the floor by which to make their escape.
No sooner is one of the ants successful in finding such a
means of exit than telegraphic messages are despatched from
one to another, by the lucky discoverer touching with its
antennae the first ant it meets with, and then that one touch-
ing another, and so on, until the message has been conveyed
to every ant in the room, and so far understood by them that
in a few minutes they all disappear down the chink or aperture
so eagerly sought for.'
BRAVERY OF ANTS. The following well-authenticated story
will show that ants display a great amount of courage when
they or their habitations are threatened by danger. It appears
that some time ago a gentleman taking a stroll in the country
where there were some ant-hills lighted his cigar with a lucifer
match, which he threw, while yet burning, upon one of these
hills. This soon attracted the attention of the ants, who
crowded by scores round the ' blazing beam,' and then tried
simultaneously to thrust it from their city. Many of them
were burnt to death in their heroic endeavours to do so.
Nothing daunted, the survivors pressed over the writhing
bodies of their dead and dying companions, as if they were
conscious that danger threatened their city so long as the
burning match remained. Onward rushed the resolute fire-
men, who by this time had become very numerous, till at last
70 An Underground City.
they rolled the match over and over and out of their pre-.
cincts, charred and blackened, and incapable of further
mischief.
ANT-BEARERS AT A COCKROACH FUNERAL. Ligon, re-
ferring to this subject, says : ' We sometimes kill a cockroach
and throw him on the ground, and mark what the ants will do
with him. Although the body is larger than many of theirs
put together, yet away they carry him, attended, by other ants,
to take the place of those that may tire. Some ants act as
officers, who lead the way and show the hole into which the
cockroach must pass. If his body is crosswise and cannot
pass into the hole, it is turned endwise about a foot before
they reach the hole.' Does not this imply, not only instinct,
but the existence, in some degree, of reasoning power ?
ANTS AND THE CATERPILLAR. A writer, who takes much
interest in the habits of ants, says : ' If a small caterpillar be
placed in their way, one or two ants will at once attack it ;
but if they find they are not strong enough to master it, one
will sometimes run away into the nest and give the alarm.
Numbers of ants will come rushing out to the rescue in great
anger and excitement, which subsides the moment the prey
is slaughtered, of which the majority take no further heed,
but leave only one or two to drag the carcase homewards.'
ANTS ON THE MARCH. The writer was sitting in his garden
one bright sunny morning when he observed a train of ants
following each other at almost equal distances, and forming a
complete line. They all appeared to come from the same
place, and to be making for the same destination, which the
author ascertained was, the case by tracking the line of ants
from the starting-point to the terminus, which was an aperture
in some loose soil in a not very distant part of the garden.
Part of the line of march extending over the surface of a
flat stone, the author crushed one of the little travellers on it
with his finger, and then drew the body about an inch across,
which left a little stain upon the stone. When the next ant
came up to the stain referred to, it suddenly stopped as if to
consider what it should do. A second and then a third ant
stopped in the same way as the first had done. After a little
deliberation they began to move, but not over the mark that
had been made by the bruised body of their comrade ; this
they refused to do, choosing rather to veer to the right hand
The Food of tJie Population. 7 1
and to walk round the mark, keeping quite clear of it, and
then turning to the left until they reached the regular line
of march. For a considerable time the ants that followed
took the same course. These were the common garden ants,
which live under stones and make burrows in the soil.
THE WIDOWED ANT. The self-denial and devotion of ants
are worthy of special notice. We have before observed that
the female ant is furnished with a pair of wings. With these
she sails on the balmy air, and in the warm sunshine, with her
companions, and the sight of these 'aerial dancers' is a
curious and interesting one.
After the death of the male ant, the widowed bride strips
off her gauzy wings, as if her airy pleasures were too trivial to
be longer indulged in, and her wings too great an impediment
for the very important duties she has now to perform in help-
ing to construct her cell, laying her eggs, and cherishing her
future offspring.
FOOD OF ANTS. There has been some difficulty in ascer-
taining the kind of food on which ants mainly subsist. It was
at one time believed they hoarded up grains of corn as pro-
vision for the winter season. So far from this being the case,
no part of the ants' nest is constructed for this purpose, nor
even suitable for a store of grain, nor do ants really exhibit
any hoarding proclivities as they relate to corn or seeds of
any kind.
It is highly probable that the larvae found in ant-hills,
having much the appearance of grains of corn, have given
rise to the idea that these little colonists have sufficient fore-
thought to furnish themselves with magazines of grain so as
to enjoy the fruits of their industry through the dreary winter
months.
It is, however, we believe, well-known that ants are carni-
vorous, feeding upon any animal food or small insects that
may be accessible to them, and then conveying in their own
bodies supplies of both unchanged to the labourers in the
nest and other companions at home.
MILCH-KINK OF ANTS. Ants are very partial to an insect
called aphis, about one-eighth of an inch long, which extracts
the juices from young and tender shoots. The lime-tree aphis
ejects a viscid fluid called honey-dew, which is often found
on the leaves of trees. Ants take possession of these aphides
72 An Underground City.
for the purpose of getting from them a supply of this honey.
' They are in fact,' says Kirby, ' the milch-kine of the ants.'
The ants then convey these aphides to their nests, and
there furnish them with suitable green fodder, so that they
may yield all the more honey. They guard them with great
Aphis CEnotherae (Male). Aphis CEnotheroe( Female).
care, and will not allow the ants of another colony to visit
them, lest they should be robbed of these, their much-valued
milch-kine.
Much interesting and useful information, derived from ex-
periments, has, during the last few years, been given by Sir
John Lubbock on ants, of which the following, taken from a
London newspaper of Nov. 3, 1882, is remarkable and curious.
It says : ' Sir John Lubbock read to the members of the
Linnasan Society an account of his further observations on
the habits of insects made during the past year. The two
queen ants which have lived with him since 1874, and which
are therefore now not less than eight years old, are still alive,
and laid eggs last summer as usual.'
HONEY-MAKING ANTS. The following information, given
by the Evening Standard newspaper of Sept. 9, 1882, may be
read with interest as being something new in reference to the
ant-family :
'An American entomologist has furnished the Scientific
Academy of Philadelphia with some rather interesting par-
ticulars concerning the habits of an insect found in certain
Honey-making Ants. 73
districts in America that goes by the name of the honey-
making ant, about which very little appears to have been
generally known. He started for New Mexico in pursuit of
his investigations, but halted in Colorado, where, in a spot
called the Garden of the Gods, he found himself in presence
of a honey-ants' nest. The Garden of the Gods so named
on account of the grotesquely shaped rocks crowning the
mountain-tops is upwards of six thousand feet above the
level of the sea, and covers a space of about two square miles.
The sloping sides of these mountains and their summits are
teeming with the honey-ants, whose homes were inspected by
the American traveller. The appearance presented by the
outside of the nests he describes as similar to a dyke or bank,
composed of fine gravel and sand. The largest of those he
visited measured thirty-two inches round its base, being about
three inches and a half high. The nest was entered by a
funnel-shaped passage, perforated in the centre of the dyke,
and leading to a series of galleries and chambers separated
into different floors. The queen ant's chamber, almost cir-
cular in form, measured four inches in diameter. The cavi-
ties of various sizes in which the ants lodge their honey are
generally oval, the roofs being arched. The result of the
explorer's observations in the Garden of the Gods leads him
to believe that the ants are nocturnal insects, and that they
gather their honey from the sweet sap of the gall-nut, storing
it in the lower portion of their bodies, which resemble in
shape and size a small grape. Their produce has an agree-
able but slightly acid taste, and is regarded by the Mexicans
and the Indians as a great delicacy. The former employ the
honey also to make a spirituous drink. As the American
entomologist states that it requires about nine hundred and
sixty ants to furnish a pound of honey, there is no danger of
their becoming rivals of the industrious bee.
ANT-WARRIORS AND SLAVE-MAKERS. Ants are subjects of
ardent passions ; they are jealous of rivals, and exhibit a great
thirst for booty, power, and pre-eminence, and are often en-
gaged in quarrels and making raids one upon another. They
fight with incredible fury, and display a great deal of strategy
in their movements.
The above remarks apply more especially to the RED OR
AMAZON ANTS, whose instinct for slave-making is marvellously
74 An Underground City.
developed. It is generally at the decline of a warm summer
day that these ants, having made arrangements for a raid
upon some neighbouring colony, will array themselves in
serried columns, and start on their journey : their object
being to carry off the young ants, not yet fully developed,
and to make slaves of them ; in fact, to make them perform
the duties which these plunderers are too lazy to attend to
themselves.
When these invaders reach the entrance of the nest they
intend to spoliate, they meet with considerable opposition by
the workers. A sharp contest takes place between them
the one side bent upon plunder, the other determined not to
forego or lose either property or liberty, unless at the cost of
a well-sustained struggle. The amazons, being the stronger-
party, succeed in conquering their opposers, and at once enter
the nest, commence their explorations, then seize the larvae
and nymphs, which they carry off to mould to their own will.
The old ones of the nest they leave behind them, knowing,
no doubt, that it would be difficult to make them bend to
the yoke.
Every member of the invading party may be seen bearing
away the larvae to their own little kingdom. No sooner are the
grubs safely lodged in the nest than the slaves already there
pay every attention to them. They feed, cleanse, and warm
the bodies of the young ants.
In the course of time, however, ' a change comes o'er the
spirit of the dream ' of these pigmy warriors. Elated with
victory, flushed with success, and rendered careless and lazy
through the services or work done for them by the slaves,
they become indifferent to the changes which are gradually
taking place in the colony; and as they can neither build
their homes nor nourish their young, the whole scene changes,
their condition becomes a perilous one, they begin to feel
their own weakness, and that they are now dependent, for
future comfort, upon the very ants they had captured and
made slaves of.
These slaves, finding the nest too small, hit upon an emi-
gration scheme, which they carry into effect. They build a
larger nest, to which the amazons have to submit to be carried
by the mandibles of those who were once their captives, but
who are now their masters.
Slave-holding Ants. 75
THE YELLOW ANTS are a match for the amazons ; as they
bid them defiance, frighten them by their mien, and their
courage supplies the want of strength. It is said that one colony
of ants will meet and fight with another near or midway
between their respective domains. The battleWield is but
small seldom more than a square yard, but it presents many
of the features of a human war. Great excitement prevails,
and a determined effort is made on both sides to become the
victors. Two and two will attack each other by their jaws.
They will lock themselves together by means of their man-
dibles, and roll one over the other in the dust. The scene of
the encounter is soon covered with the bodies of the dead
and dying. Some of the ants may be seen carrying off
prisoners to their nest ; and although at night the contending
armies beat a retreat, they often 'renew hostilities on the
following day.' But for what do they fight? It may be for
aphides, their milch-kine, or for the body of a beetle or fly,
which are as valuable to them as our flocks and herds are
to us.
Some ants having stings which they can use with consider-
able effect, and others having the power to send out from
their small bodies a most irritating fluid which will raise
blisters on the flesh it touches, they are not very desirable
companions at a picnic party. Nevertheless it is known that
ANTS HAVE THEIR USES. Rats, mice, and cockroaches
have been known to quit a house when ants have entered it.
Ants also teach useful lessons. Their affection for their
young teaches us to value and to promote the happiness of
posterity. Their obedience to their queen may teach us
loyalty; from their economy we may learn prudence, and
from their sagacity wisdom.
Dr. Gould says : ' A settlement of ants, the structure of
the common workers, the character of the queen, the changes
of the young, and the use they answer in the scale of beings,
may teach us to admire the majesty of God, who has arranged
the universe with so much beauty, and embellished each part
of it with such a scene of wonders.'
CHAPTER VI.
FISH IN ARMOUR.
' Within the ever-rolling sea,
Gliding its green waves through,
Are finny tribes from sprats to whales ;
Smooth skinned, or clothed with shining scales ;
And fish in armour too.'
HEN the world was young, when mechanical
genius was in its infancy, and working appliances
were but few and of the rudest kind, it is natural
to suppose that articles manufactured by man at
that time would be coarse and defective com-
pared with those of modern times.
A peep into a watchmaker's shop, especially at the complex
mechanism of those very small watches, the turning round of
whose tiny hands corresponds to the course of the sun and
the rolling round of the planet in which we live, would almost
lead one to suppose that man's mechanical genius and his
taste for the delicate, the beautiful, and useful have nearly
reached perfection. True as this might be, the organism of
the many forms of life in the sea is far more wonderful than
anything ever made by man.
If what has been stated be true, that naturalists have dis-
covered more than 13,000 different kinds of fish, what a world
of varied life, beauty, and wonders the sea contains !
A GLIMPSE AT THE FINNY TRIBES. We have no intention
to refer to the finny and vertebrated inhabitants of the deep,
except in a general way, as it may relate to the marvellous
adaptation of their organism to the element in which they
live. After we have done this we shall describe, as briefly as
TJie Inhabitants of the Deep. 77
possible, some of the shell-fish commonly eaten in our own
country. How few people, comparatively, know anything of
the peculiar manner in which our shell-fish are brought into
existence, or of their singular structure, the changes they
undergo, the particular localities of the sea in which they are
found, or the way in which they are procured ! Hence our
reason for attempting the description which is to follow our
remarks on the finny tribes.
It may be observed, that although the ocean conjtains the
very largest as well as the very smallest of animals, they are
all so organized as not only to live in the watery element, but
no doubt to enjoy their existence in it.
In referring to the various and diversified inhabitants of the
great deep, Rymer Jones observes, ' Many fishes are adorned
by the hand of Nature with every kind of embellishment,
variety in their forms, elegance in their proportions, diversity
and vivacity in their colours ; nothing is wanted to attract the
attention of mankind.'
FISHES VIVIPAROUS. Although the large majority of fishes
are oviparous, there are some few whoproduce their young
alive and perfect in form. The whale is one of them. She
has one at a time, and, like animals of the mammalia family,
suckles it from her own teats. The males of other finny tribes
have the ;/////, and the females the roe. It is said, however,
that some of the cod and sturgeon tribes have both. The
spawn of some kinds of fish is deposited in sand or gravel,
and some attach their ova to seaweeds. The fecundity of
fish is supposed to be
far greater than that of
any other known race
of animals.
TEETH OF FISHES.
The teeth of fishes ^
are very numerous,
generally sharp-
pointed, and firmly
fixed in their jaws. In
this respect the carp and pike are said to form an exception,
as their teeth are so movable as to appear to be attached to
the skin only. The pike, however, has teeth scarcely less
formidable in size and sharpness than those of a good-sized
78 Fish in Armour.
dog. The tongue of fishes is in general motionless and obtuse.
Being furnished with nostrils and olfactory nerves, as stated
by some writers, fishes possess, in all probability, the sense of
smelling. Although some doubt that these natives of the sea
have the sense of hearing, it is asserted by Bingley ' that the
organ of hearing is placed at the sides of the skull. In its
structure this organ in fishes is by no means so complicated
as in quadrupeds and other animals that live in the air.'
EYES OF FISHES. As fishes have no eyelids, their eyes are
in general furnished with a transparent skin that covers the
rest of the head. This, with the cornea being flat, preserves
the eyes from injury, and prevents them from wearing away
in their quick passage through water. The eyes appear also
to be supplied with a muscle, which serves to lengthen or
flatten them as the animal may require. We believe it has
never been positively ascertained whether fishes have the
power to move their eyes in their sockets or not. Some fish,
as the sole, have their eyes placed on one side of their head
only.
FINS OF FISHES. Different tribes of fishes may be distin-
guished from each other by their fins, which differ in number
and in size. Some fins are vertical, and act as a keel or
rudder. Those on the back are known as dorsal fins ; those
under the tail as anals, and at the end of the tail as caudal
fins, which, being turned sideways, steer the fish as a rudder
does a ship. The air-bladder, with which most of them are
supplied, enables them to rise or sink in the water as they
may think proper, and gives them that easy kind of buoyancy
in the element they live in, which is not enjoyed by those who
are without air-bladders, and have consequently to remain
much at the bottom of the water.
FOOD OF FISHES. Those kinds of fish found in fresh water
live upon worms, the larvae of water insects, molluscs, or flies
that may alight on the surface. There can be no doubt that
in many instances they are truly the scavengers of the water,
and help as much in keeping it pure and sweet, as birds of
prey and other carnivorous animals do in keeping the air free
from the pernicious effluvia that would otherwise arise from
decaying animal matter. The marine kind prey upon each
other the larger devouring the less, these living upon others
less than themselves, and so on down to the smallest. It is
Intelligence of Fish. 79
a remarkable, interesting, and well-known fact that the smaller
kinds of fish are not only more numerous and prolific than
the larger ones, but that they can find food in shallow water
near the shore, whither they cannot be followed by their pur-
suers, and so escape being devoured by them.
MIGRATION OF FISH. Just as regularly as spring, summer,
autumn, and winter come round, so ' shoals of herrings, sprats,
cod, and haddocks visit or come near our shores at a par-
ticular time of the year, and quit them with equal regularity,
without leaving a single one behind.' Just as regularly some
kinds of fish visit certain places in which to deposit their
spawn, and then, after so doing, return to the waters from
whence they had come.
INTELLIGENCE OF FISH. We have been informed by a
gentleman that some fish kept in a large pond on his father's
estate in Sussex have been taught to gather to any part of the
pond at which they hear the ringing of a bell for the purpose
of feeding. In this fact we have at least an indication of
memory. These fishes were in the habit of associating the
sound of the bell with the idea of satisfying their hunger. If
there is memory there is reflection, and who can separate
them from thinking ? If fishes remember that a certain sound
means to them a particular thing, must they not think?
While some people deny to fish the sense of hearing, others
say, as already stated, that they at least possess the organ of it.
It has been asserted that fish, possessing in a fair degree the
sense of feeling, are guided or affected by those vibrations that
are made by different sounds on the surface of water. Admitting
this to be the case, and that they cannot hear, it still shows that
fish not only possess intelligence, but enough of it to dis-
criminate between vibrations produced by various causes. It
may be reasonably supposed that had a pistol been fired about
the same time over the pond referred to, the fish would not
have collected as they did when the bell was rung, because
they would not associate either the sound of the pistol or the
vibrations caused thereby with a good feed of bread-crumbs
or other food which they invariably did with the ringing ot
the bell. If fish then remember and think, they must have
intelligence.
LONGEVITY OF FISH. It is supposed that fish live to a
very great age if not captured for food, or for any other
8o Fish in Armour.
purpose. Instead of suffering, as human beings and land
animals do, from the effects of old age, their bodies seem
almost continually to increase with fresh supplies of food ; and
as the animal grows, the conduits of life furnish their stores in
greater abundance. It has been ascertained that some kinds
offish have arrived at 100, and even 150 years of age. This
knowledge, however, has reference to those only that have
been kept in private
ponds, in which the
numbers of these
creatures are but
small.
Although we some-
Salmon. times hear of disease
amongst salmon, and
of other kinds of fish being affected in various ways, it is
supposed that they are comparatively free from disease ; indeed,
much more so than those animals are that live on land.
The Rev. Mr. White, of Selborne, however, gives some
information as to the manner in which fishes die, showing that
in their native element they are sometimes attacked by
unknown causes which deprives them of life. White says :
' As soon as a fish sickens, the head sinks lower and lower,
and the animal stands as it were upon it, till becoming weaker,
and losing all poise, the tail turns over, and at last it swims
on the surface of the water with its belly upwards, by which
time the life has ebbed out of it'
FISH IN ARMOUR. The reader will no doubt conclude that
by ' fish in armour ' we refer to those inhabitants of the deep
whose powers of locomotion are very feeble, but who are
furnished with shells, more or less thick and strong, as a
protection against the rapacious appetites of those larger and
finny tribes who would otherwise devour their rich and pulpy
bodies, and in time exterminate them from the world of
waters.
These slow and almost motionless creatures belong to a
class of articulated and invertebrated animals called Crustacea
and Mollusca. Although we propose making some remarks
on them, we do not intend to refer to all the numerous varieties
which are included in the above two classes or divisions of
shell-fish, but to those only which present great curiosities of
Shell-fish Moulting. Si
structure, and especially those which are popular articles of
consumption in our own country. We shall first consider
those different kinds of shell-fish known as
CRUSTACEANS. These creatures, which constitute, according
to popular writers on natural history, the fifth class of articulated
animals, present many wonderful and interesting points of
structure, life, and habits. Jones remarks that ' Crustaceans
are all oviparous. The female, after having laid her eggs,
generally carries them about attached to the under part of her
body, or sometimes enclosed in a sort of pouch formed of
appendages variously modified ; sometimes the young undergo
a very remarkable metamorphosis, and not only completely
change their form during the earlier periods of their existence,
but in the progress of their growth acquire additional limbs.'
In selecting and obtaining their food it is supposed that
crustaceans are guided by some sense which answers to them
the same purposes as does that of smell to the higher order
of animals. There is some difficulty, however, in determining
where this peculiar sense of shell-fish exists, whether it is
connected with the first pair of antennae, or with any other
part of the body.
Although the sense of feeling is of the feeblest kind, yet
observation corroborates the theory that shell-fish are not
totally devoid of it. 'We have seen,' says a certain writer,
'a swimming crab hold its prey in one claw, while with
the other it picked off morsel by morsel of the flesh, and
conveyed it to its mouth in a manner which sufficiently
evidenced the sensation of touch in these organs.'
THROWING OFF THE OLD COAT. It is well known that
periodically and at certain seasons changes take place in the
coats and skins of most animal bodies. Horses and many
other quadrupeds have yearly new coats of hair, while the fur
of some of the smaller kind is of one colour in the summer
and of another in winter. Toads and snakes change their
skins ; birds moult, and new feathers replace the old ones ;
and these fish in armour periodically cast off their old coats,
or shells, and present themselves in armature perfectly new.
There is something very wonderful in this moulting or change
of shell in Crustaceans. The old one is not got rid of piece
by piece, but altogether and unbroken, so as to present a
counterpart of the perfect animal. We are informed that
6
82 Fish in Armour.
every part of the integument is renewed ; nothing is wanting
in the cast-off skin, the antennae, the jaws, and eyes are all
there, every hair is represented by the case which enclosed it.
Even the shelly plates from which the muscles originate, the
tendons by which they are attached to the shell, the internal
skin of the stomach, and the teeth which are hidden there, are
found connected with the rejected shell !
The pressure of the old shell being removed, the animal
suddenly increases in bulk, the new skin, as yet soft and
flexible, allowing at first of great expansion; but it rapidly
hardens, a stock of shelly matter having been for some time
accumulating in its stomach in the form of two hard balls com-
monly called ' crab's-eyes.' This substance is supposed to be
taken up and distributed to the surface, so that when the new
crust has again acquired consistence these concretions are no
longer found. The whole process occupies from one to three
days. The supposition that the moulting in these animals takes
place every year must probably be restricted to the period of
their growth, beyond which the change of shell would seem
to be unnecessary.
' Crustaceans,' says Figuier, ' vary greatly in colour ; some
are of a dark iron-grey, with a dash of steel-blue, like metal
weapons forged for combat ; a few of them are red or reddish-
brown, others are of an earthy yellow or of a livid blue. . . .
They live on the sea-coast among the rocks and near the
shore. Some few of them frequent the deep waters, others
hide themselves in the sand or under stones, while the common
crab loves the shore almost as much as the salt water, and
establishes itself accordingly under some moist cliff over-
hanging the sea where it can enjoy both.'
Crustaceans are by no means epicures ; being carnivorous
animals, nothing comes amiss to their voracious appetites.
They can make a meal of any animal, living or dead, fresh or
in a state of decomposition, providing it be large enough to
satisfy their hunger. It may be their voracity has much to
do with their merciless encounters with other animals, as well
as with those of their own kind.
Some of these creatures are armed with powerful claws
which, when engaged in warfare, they use unsparingly, and
often with marvellous effect. They fight with each other
sometimes for prey, or for a female ; and it often happens that
TJie Crab Family. 83
both combatants are much injured thereby, especially in
their antennae, feet, and tails. Although in the course of
time the mutilated members are replaced by new ones, the
latter are usually small and weak. It appears evident from
the above facts that if these subjects in armour show but
little platonic love in their general habits, they can be irritated
by jealousy, and also display in their fights with each other
a good deal of courage, and we may say of martial ardour
too. Indeed, do they not deserve the title of 'Naval
warriors ?'
Having made some remarks on crustaceans generally, as
Crab.
constituting a distinct class or family of inhabitants of our
seas, we shall now briefly refer to a few different kinds of
them, especially to those that are articles of food in common
use, and extensively identified with the commerce of this and
of other nations. We shall notice first
THE CRAB FAMILY. Crabs appear to belong to the section
of ten-legged, short-tailed crustaceans. They are covered by
a very strong calcareous shell. Although to superficial ob-
servers the organs of vision are not perceptible, it is said that
the sense of sight in most of the species is peculiarly acute,
and enables them to distinguish objects from a considerable
62
84 Fish in Armour.
distance. But they are most remarkable for a complex and
elaborate apparatus for mastication. The mouth is furnished
at least with eight pieces or pairs of jaws, which pass the food
through an extremely short gullet into a membranous stomach
of considerable size.
There are many kinds of crabs, distinguished from each
other by peculiarities of structure and habits. The following
are included :
Swimming Crabs. These live at a distance from the shore,
and often make for the high sea, being aided in so doing by
having each foot furnished with a flat joint resembling a fin,
with which they propel themselves rapidly through the water.
Spider Crabs. These creatures, as their name implies,
have long legs, but they are slow in motion. They are usually
found amongst rocks and stones, covered with seaweeds,
over which they can stride with comparative ease. At times,
these crabs are covered with seaweeds, sponges, and other
marine productions. During the winter they become torpid,
and lie concealed in the crevices of rocks, or buried in the
soil.
Shore-Crabs are well adapted in their structure for walking;
that duty they perform by using their eight hind-legs only,
which they do with so much facility as to be able to walk
forwards, backwards, or sideways, just as they please. They
are also good climbers.
Racer Crabs. These are found on the coasts of Syria, Bar-
bary, and the West Indies. They derive their name from
the rapid pace at which they can travel, especially when
threatened by danger.
Beckoning or Calling Crabs are so named because of a
habit they have of flourishing one of their large claws about
as if beckoning to some one at a distance. They make bur-
rows in the seashore, where they remain a great deal of their
time, hardly ever leaving them except to visit the sea, in which
they deposit their eggs.
Hermit Crabs are so called because, being very defenceless,
they seek protection by getting under an empty shell of some
other kind of fish, which they carry about.
Edible Crabs are those commonly known at our tables.
They are nocturnal in their habits. They often visit the
shore in search of food, and seize on anything suitable to
How Crabs are Cauglit. 8^
their palate. Should they remain too long in their hunts after
food the waters may retreat, and thus leave them stranded,
exposed to danger, and subjected to considerable inconveni-
ence. They will, however, look out for a hole, or some corner
into which they will squat, and patiently wait for the return
of the tide.
'Crab-fishing,' says Jones, 'is usually conducted by two
men, in a boat provided with lines and creels, cruives, or
crab-pots, made of a kind of osier basket-work. They are
constructed upon the same principle as a wire mouse-trap,
but the aperture, instead of being on the side, is at the top.
The bait, which consists of stale fish, is fastened to the
bottom, and the creel is then sunk in a favourable situation
by stones of sufficient weight within it ; a line is fastened to
the creel, to the upper end of which a cork is attached. The
bait can readily be seen by the crabs, which on entering are
caught like rats in a trap ; the difficulty of egress being in-
creased by the aperture being overhead.'
We may here notice that the floats indicate to the crab-
fishermen the precise position of the crab-pots, which at
certain times the men visit, and which, if a sufficient number
of crabs is ascertained to be within, they haul up to their
boats, put them into well-boxes, and there keep them until
they are sold.
CRAY-FISHES. These inhabitants of the sea bear a resem-
blance to the common lobster, both in shape and flavour.
Their antennae are large and covered with spines. Their
shell is rough, and abounds with prickles. They prey upon
the smaller kinds of fish, and any marine production that may
be suitable for them. They live in very rocky places, where
fishing is rather difficult. In consequence of this, cray-fishes
pass an almost undisturbed life ; and it is said many of them
live to a great age, and others grow immensely large, even
three feet long. They are caught in wicker-baskets baited
with flesh.
LOBSTERS. Lobsters, like crabs, constitute a popular
article of diet not only in our own country but in many
others. They are abundant in the Mediterranean, through-
out the European Seas, and on the eastern coast of North
America. When alive they are of a dull, blue colour. It is
by boiling them that their shells become red. Many of the
86
Fish 'in Armour,
Lobster.
lobsters consumed in England are brought from various parts
of our own coasts, and some from Norway. The females
produce an almost incalculable number of eggs. ' Upwards of
twelve thousand have been found under the tail of a single
individual. Lobsters periodically cast off their old shells
when they have become too small for the increasing size of
the internal body.
It is supposed by
some writers on shell-
fish that to accom-
plish this object
these animals ob-
serve in some quiet
place a season of
fasting, so that the
inside of the limbs
may shrink a little
to permit being drawn through the narrow joints. Be this
as it may, it is well-known that they do get rid of the old
shell, and that a new one appears in its place, which, being
of larger dimensions, fallows room for the growing body. By
a stroke of their tail lobsters can spring backwards twenty
or thirty feet.
SAGACITY OF A LOBSTER. We are informed by Nature
that 'A few days ago, at the Rothesay Aquarium, a tank
containing flat-fishes was emptied, and a flounder of eight
inches in length was inadvertently left buried in the shingle,
where it died. On refilling the tank it was tenanted by three
lobsters (Homarus marinus), one of which is an aged veteran
of unusual size, bearing an honourable array of barnacles ;
and he soon brought to light the hidden flounder, with which
he retired to a corner. In a short time it was noticed that
the flounder was non est. It was impossible the lobster could
have eaten it all in the interim, and the handle of a net re-
vealed the fact that, upon the approach of the two smaller
lobsters the larger one had buried the flounder beneath a
heap of shingle, on which he now mounted guard. Five
times within two hours was the fish unearthed, and as often
did the lobster shovel the gravel over it with his huge claws,
each time ascending the pile and turning his bold defensive
front to his companions.'
A Lobster Sentinel. 87
This story seems to prove that lobsters possess, in some
degree, the sense of smell, or how could the one referred to
have known the dead fish was there, as it was hidden from
sight ? It is also evident the lobster showed great tact and
intelligence, for after feeding on the flounder, he not only re-
buried it, but, to make sure of not being robbed of it, acted as
sentinel over the larder he had made under the shingle.
PRAWNS. These marine Crustacea, during the summer-
time, exist in great numbers at the mouths of the rivers of
our own country, and are caught in nets formed like sacks
fastened on the ends of long poles. These are thrown out to
sea as far as possible, and then drawn to the shore, when
they are generally found to contain great numbers of these
small crustaceans. Like the other members of the same
family, prawns cast off their old coat or covering, which is to
give place to another more suitable for the requirements of
the animal, both as to room and to comfort During this
change of coat the prawn never feeds, but is uneasy, and
moves from place to place until it meets with a locality suit-
able for its purpose.
When this has been found, the prawn stretches out its legs,
then hooks its feet to some substance sufficiently firm to hold
by. It then sways its body backwards and forwards, by which
means it loosens the entire surface of the body from the cara-
pace ; by a little more swaying and gentle effort the animal
gets rid of its old covering. The prawn, thus liberated, rolls
itself on the ground, and there lies perfectly soft and helpless.
In time, however, a change takes place, the creature gains
strength, and assumes a fresh appearance, looks beautiful in
its new dress, and becomes as lively, bold, and active as ever.
SHRIMPS are allied to the lobster, and are not more than
two inches long. They are found in shallow waters along
our coasts, and are secured by dredge-nets. They have ten
feet each ; move about by leaps, and constitute food for other
fishes.
MOLLUSCS. These fish in armour comprise a very large
number of different kinds. They are arranged into seven
separate classes, some of which are divided into orders and
families. We shall, however, refer more particularly to those
included in the third class.
Speaking in general terms of this large division of inverte-
88 Fish in Armour.
brate animals, we may state that they are without bones, have
no internal skeleton, and may be defined as soft, fleshy animals.
Some kinds live on land and breathe the air. They are found
in our gardens, fields, on the branches and trunks of trees, on
the banks of our hedges and in our plantations. Some live
in fresh water, others at the bottom of streams, and some are
amphibious. Vast numbers are found in the seas of almost
every part of the world.
According to 'Animal Creation,' the number of species
already in museums reaches from 8,000 to 10,000. There
are cabinets of marine shells, bivalve and univalve, which con-
tain from 5,000 to 6,000, and collections of land and fluviatic
shells which count as many as 2,000. The total number of
molluscs, therefore, probably exceeds 15,000 species.
From what we have stated, it will be seen that these crea-
tures constitute very wonderful links in the chain of being.
This will appear to be more so when we remember that many
of them are food for other animals than man, as well as sup-
plying valuable materials for the fine arts.
CLAMS. This family of shell-fish demands a short notice,
principally on account of their large size, and the novel uses
to which their shells are applied. Rymer Jones says they are
the giants of the bivalve race. They live, attached by their
byssus, to rocks, shells, and corals. The valve of a large indi-
vidual forms a very picturesque basin for catching the clear
falling water of a fountain, which flows prettily through its
deeply indented edges. In Roman Catholic countries the
valves of this huge shell are sometimes employed as benitiers,
or vessels for containing holy water. . . The byssus is so thick,
and its attachment to the rock so strong, that it is frequently
necessary to cut it with a hatchet in order to obtain the
animal. Clam-shells are sometimes more than two feet across,
being the largest known.
COCKLES, though small in size, are an important article of
food, and exist in great numbers on sandy shores. Their
organization is wonderful. Improbable as this may appear to
those not well acquainted with this kind of shell-fish, it never-
theless is provided with one foot of good size, compared with
the rest of its body, which it uses for burrowing. This foot
assumes different shapes, according to the use the cockle
wishes to make of it. When the animal desires to bury itself,
Fish Weavers. 89
the foot is lengthened into a wedge, which it thrusts down
into the sand, and then, turning the end into the form of a
hook, pulls itself down into the hole made by its wedge-foot.
In this condition it will remain for some time, breathing all
the while through some projecting tubes which are just visible.
By bending the end of the foot, and pushing against the sand
with great force, the shell is again extruded. When in the
water, the cockle often moves rapidly along by pushing its foot
against the ground, just as a man would propel his boat along
by using his oars on the surface of the water.
MUSSELS. According to the 'Students' Natural History,'
mussels constitute a family of bivalve mollusca. They are
marine animals, and are found attached to rocks and stones
by a beard of stout fibres. They are common in this country,
and on the coasts of the Mediterranean and the North Sea.
They frequent mudbanks which are uncovered at low water,
and immense quantities are used for bait by fishermen.
About fifty species have been described distributed over all
the world.
The shell of the eatable mussel is of oblong shape, and of
a dark purple colour. Like the cockle, the mussel is furnished
with a kind of foot, capable of retraction and elongation,
which is enveloped in a sheath of fibres. By employing these
fibres the animal can weave a number of silky threads by
which it can fasten itself to the rock. Some people deem
mussels to be poisonous, as painful effects have been produced
by eating them. The precise cause, however, has never, we
believe, been satisfactorily explained. Some writers suppose
that as these animals are very indigestible, all persons who
have weak stomachs must of necessity suffer by consuming
them, especially if too freely. It has also been stated that the
poisonous effect is produced by certain small crabs, which
lodge themselves as parasites in the shell of the mussel.
The Pearl Mussel is worthy of special notice, as being the
producer of the 'mother-of-pearl' and pearls-. The cutting
and polishing of the shells of these animals gives employment
to great numbers of people, 'mother-of-pearl' produced thereby
being an important article of commerce ; and very valuable
chairs, tables, workboxes, trays, and other things are inlaid
with it. Pearls have also been found in these shells, differing,
however, in colour, form, size, and lustre, and also in value.
90 Fish in Armour.
The most extensive pearl-fisheries are those of the Persian
Gulf and of the island of Ceylon.
OYSTERS. The oyster family embraces several genera.
Beard says, ' The best known, and perhaps the most important
species of the genus is the common oyster, ostrea edulis, form-
ing a considerable article of commerce. This mollusc is a
very abundant one on the British coasts, and- is generally
found in banks or beds, several fathoms under water, and
often extending to a considerable distance. The time of
spawning is in May and June, and the fry, which are called
' spats,' are collected in vast numbers, and removed to arti-
ficial grounds or tanks where the water is shallow. These
oysters are called ' natives,' and require five or seven years to
attain their full size, while the ' sea-oysters ' become fully
grown in four years.
Oyster-fisheries are found along the coast of Essex and
Kent, and on the coast of the island of Jersey, at which great
numbers of men, women, and children are employed. From
these and other places tens of thousands of native and sea-
oysters are sent every year to the markets and shops of
London, and to those of other towns.
Oysters are secured by a dredge net, edged with a scraper
of iron which is drawn along the bottom by a rope attached
to the boat. These bivalves have many enemies which con-
stantly try to obtain them for food. They have, therefore,
to be watched and guarded with jealous care, especially against
star-fishes, which would otherwise be very destructive to them
during their breeding-season.
The value, or rather the price, of oysters, like that of other
kinds of animal food, has increased amazingly during the last
few years. They are at present about four times dearer than
they were forty years ago. The reason is no doubt owing to
the extension of oyster culture not keeping pace with the
increased demand of a rapidly growing human population.
PEARL-OYSTERS are contained in shells which are included
in what are known as 'pearl-shells.' Pearl oysters, like
mussels, produce mother-of-pearl, which is a beautiful sub-
stance, and much used in inlaying cabinet-work, making paper-
knives, and many ornamental articles.
In referring to these oysters Rhind says : ' Pearls are
roundish bodies found attached either to the inside of the
A Pretty Sight. 91
shells of this species, or loose between the shells. Pearls the
size of a pea are worth about a guinea, and when of the size
of a peppercorn, about two shillings each. Small pearls are
called ' seed-pearls,' and are of much less value. The famous
pear-shaped pearl belonging to the Shah of Persia cost
PIO,OOO.
Pearl-oysters are obtained by men who dive for them,
often in about twelve fathoms of water. This work is very
arduous, unwholesome, and dangerous. It is well known that
every year very many men who follow this employment lose
their lives, in consequence of which many a widow is deprived
of her son, and many a wife and family of their only support.
Truly we may say, What mystery lies within our differing
fates !
SCALLOPS. In some respects scallops resemble oysters,
especially in their external appearance, but they differ some-
what internally. They have a moderate-sized, hatchet-shaped
foot, which helps them to move about both by land and
water. When they have been left on the shore by the reced-
ing tide their singular style of locomotion in attempting to
regain the water is both amusing and interesting. They will
open their shells widely, and then, shutting them with a
sudden jerk, throw themselves forward, and so on until they
reach the sea. These creatures often assemble in troops
when the sea is calm, on the surface of which they glide
gracefully along, having the upper valve of their shells open,
which look like numbers of tiny sails moving on the water.
When they apprehend danger, they close their shells and
suddenly sink to the bottom.
It is said these bivalves have eyes which appear on the
margin of their mantle as so many bright spots. Although
there is some doubt about this, it is well-known that many of
the species have finely coloured handsome shells. The shell
is of considerable size, and Baird says : ' The deeper valve
was used formerly as a drinking-cup, and celebrated as such
in Ossian's ' Hall of Shells.'
' The St James's shell, common in the Mediterranean and
nearly allied to the scallop, was worn by pilgrims to the Holy
Land, and became the badge of several orders of knight-
hood.'
CHAPTER VII.
FIRST COUSINS, OR OUR BIRDS IN BLACK.
First cousins are we all as black as a coal,
So we can't disagree on that matter at all ;
Although many think they've a right to abuse us ;
And wrongly assert that we haven't our uses :
This grave charge against us, allow us to say,
Is false, as we labour like slaves all the day
To pick up our living ; ' deny it who can.'
We also do good both to Nature and Man.
N the remote, dim ages of the past, animals con-
stituted themes for writers of both sacred and
profane history. Modern poets and painters
have so represented and popularized many of
them in verse and on canvas, that those who
study the characteristics of animals portrayed in the manner
referred to may learn many interesting, important, and useful
lessons therefrom. The raven and jackdaw have been im-
mortalized in song ; whilst the crow and the rook have formed
subjects of study both to natural historians, physiologists, and
psychologists in almost every age and country. Thus it is
that animals have been brought prominently into notice.
To what has already been written about animals we venture
to add a small amount of information on the structure, habits,
life, and uses of those animals we denominate ' First Cousins,
or Our Birds in Black.'
The colours of birds are often suggestive of certain customs
observed by mankind. When we see a swan, a white goose,
or duck, we think of the Chinese custom of wearing white
dresses at their funerals. Birds in brown or grey colours
remind one of the dress of our friends the Quakers ; and
A Sociable Family.
93
without wishing to be invidious or irreverent, our ' birds in
black,' not in their habits, but in their colours, remind us
not only of the sombre aspect of our funerals, but of those
gentlemen who are our preachers and guides in matters of
morality and religion.
Quadruped, bird, and insect life help very materially to
render our landscapes charming, attractive, and really enjoy-
able. During the greater part of the year, Nature gives us
almost endless forms of life in our fields, woods, and hedge-
rows, in which we have bird-life wild, free, and happy, the
little winged workers of Nature ever chirping, chattering, or
singing, as they perform their daily task for self support, or
seek food for their young and helpless progeny. Two or
three representatives of bird-life will suffice for this chapter.
THE ROOK. This name is very suggestive of country
mansions, clusters of fine old elm-trees, of extensive parks,
and baronial estates.
Rooks claim relationship
with the conirostral tribe
of the Insissores. They
are gregarious, and live
all the year round in so-
cieties. They sometimes
keep company with jack-
daws and starlings. As
many as 20,000 rooks
have been known to live
in one rookery. It may
often have been a matter
of wonder that their nests
or cities built on high, with their black inhabitants, have not,
when the wind has blown violently, all tumbled down together.
But rooks, like other birds, not only know when and where to
build, but how to build to make their homes secure.
Although as a rule rooks constitute a happy family, now
and then their peace is interrupted, and discordant elements
are sometimes at work among them. They are very jealous
of strangers who may try to intrude themselves in a rookery
to which they do not belong. This appears to produce among
the old proprietors of the nests in such a rookery great] ex-
citement and indignation ; so much so, as some have stated,
Rook.
94 Our Birds in Black.
that they assemble a rook parliament for consultation as to
the best mode of punishing the intruder.
Be this as it may, it is well known that if a rook is too lazy
to build a nest for itself, and takes possession of another, the
act is noticed by other members of the colony, especially by the
owners of the nest, who give it timely notice to quit. If this is
not done quietly and quickly, the invader is ejected by main
force, sometimes at the cost of his life.
Occasionally young members of the rook family attempt to
build nests outside the limits habitually established, on which
the other members of the republic destroy their handiwork as
soon as formed, and enforce conformity to ancient custom
and the will of the majority. White says, ' Some unhappy
pairs are not permitted to finish any nest till the rest have
completed their building, and that, sometimes they pull each
other's nests to pieces.' The same author informs us that
' as soon as rooks have finished their nests, and before they
lay, the cocks begin to feed the hens, who receive that bounty
with a fondling tremulous voice and fluttering wings, and all
the little blandishments that are expressed by the young while
in a helpless state. This gallant deportment of the males is
continued through the whole season of incubation.'
Markwick states that ' After the first brood of rooks is
sufficiently fledged they all leave their nests in the daytime,
and resort to some distant place in search of food, but return
regularly every evening, in vast flights, to their nest-trees,
where, after flying round several times with much noise and
clamour till they are all assembled together, they take up their
abode for the night.'
Rooks are. furnished with bills well adapted in length,
strength, and shape for digging in the soil, in which they find
their food. Although they may consume newly sown seed or
ripening grain, they are useful to the farmer in checking the
too rapid increase of the grub of the cockchafer, red and white
wireworms, and other forms of destructive insect-life.
The rook has been confounded with the crow on account
of the similarity in their appearance. Rooks live in flocks
crows in pairs, and the latter also feed upon carrion and small
animals, which rooks are not known to interfere with. Rooks
exhibit considerable forethought in repairing their nests during
the autumn, as if they knew this was necessary to secure
Tlie Rooks and the Bugle. 95
them against the high winds and storms of the coming winter.
These birds are, by Act of Parliament, protected during the
close, or breeding season.
NOTICE TO QUIT. Rooks are sagacious. Some very old
elm-trees, in which was a rookery, not far from London, were
condemned to be cut down and young ones planted in their
place. The oldest of the trees were first doomed, and a piece
of their bark taken off to indicate their fate. These trees were
soon forsaken by the rooks, and it was afterwards observed
that when the other elms were marked in a similar manner
the rooks at once forsook the trees, as if fully aware that the
removal of the bark was a notice to quit.
THE GUN AND THE CRUTCH. The rook has been known
to fly from a man carrying a crutch on his shoulder, and yet
to endure the approach of the same man when he walked
with a limping gait with the crutch under his arm.
THE LAWYER'S ROOKERY. About the commencement of
the Volunteer movement there existed a rookery in a part of
London much frequented by gentlemen learned in the law.
All went on very pleasantly with the rooks until permission
was granted to one of the Volunteer corps to drill in an open
space of ground contiguous to the rookery. The birds did
not object to the tramping, the manoeuvring, and other et-
ceteras of military training, but they were not disposed to
tolerate the sound of the bugle which called the men to drill,
so they forsook the locality entirely, and remained away for
some time. Their departure was so much regretted by the
property-holders and renters of chambers in the place referred
to, that at their request the drill was discontinued. At the
following season the rooks returned to their old quarters,
again occupied their nests, in which they reared their young,
and there they have remained ever since, no doubt well
pleased and grateful to those gentlemen who appreciated their
caws, and did not object to their company.
The poet Crabbe thus speaks of these birds :
' Rooks unnumbered build their nests
Deliberate birds, and prudent all ;
Their notes, indeed, are harsh and rude,
But they're a social multitude.'
SYMPATHETIC FEELING OF ROOKS. The following singular
example of affecting sagacity and social feeling by which rooks
f)6 Our Birds in Black.
are characterized is mentioned by Dr. Percival in his ' Disser-
tations ' : ' A large colony of rooks had subsisted many years
in a grove on the banks of the river Irwell, near Manchester.
One serene evening I placed myself within view of it, and
marked with attention the various labours, pastimes, and evo-
lutions of this crowded society. The idle members amused
themselves with chasing each other through endless mazes,
and in their flight they made the round with an infinitude of
discordant noises. In the midst of these playful exertions it
unfortunately happened that one rook, by a sudden turn,
struck his beak against the wing of another. The sufferer in-
stantly fell into the river. A general cry of distress ensued.
The birds hovered with every expression of anxiety over their
distressed companion. Animated by their sympathy, and
perhaps by the language of animals, known to themselves, he
sprang into the air, and by one strong effort reached the point
of a rock which projected into the river ; the joy became loud
and universal ; but alas ! it was soon changed into notes of
lamentation, for the poor wounded bird, in attempting to fly
towards his nest, dropped again into the river, and was
drowned, amid the moans of his whole fraternity.'
THE RAVEN. Although very many birds are mentioned
in the Scriptures, there are but few of them more prominently
referred to, or more intimately associated with many of the
important events recorded therein, than the raven; a fact
which invests the study of this bird with more than ordinary
interest. At the time of the Deluge Noah sent out of the
ark a raven, which went to and fro, until the waters were dried
up from the earth. When God commanded Elijah to hide
himself by the brook Cherith, He said : ' And it shall be that
thou shall drink of the brook ; and I have commanded the
ravens to feed thee there. . . . And the ravens brought him
bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the
evening; and he drank of the brook.' Ravens are specially
spoken of as being the objects of God's care : ' He giveth to
the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.' These
birds are also represented as agents employed to punish the
wicked : ' The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth
to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out,
and the young eagles shall eat it.'
Ravens belong to the same family as the rook, and are
Characteristics of the Raven. 97
found in almost every part of the world. Their general colour
is black, finely glossed with blue. 'They are bold, keen,
and sagacious.' As they live partly on carrion, fruit and
insects, their beaks are intermediate between that of the vul-
ture and woodpecker. Their bills are straight, so that they
can inflict a severe wound by thrusting; they are a little
hooked at the end, by which they can keep a firm hold on
anything and tear it to pieces. They defend their nests
against eagles and vultures in a very vigorous manner, but
not against man.
Many ravens are two feet long ; they usually mate for life,
and some of them live to be a hundred years old. They live
in pairs, and build their nests in high trees, sometimes in
rocks. They brave the rigour of an Arctic winter ; but some
of them travel southward when the weather is severe. Like
jackdaws, magpies, and parrots, ravens may be taught to arti-
culate words and short sentences, which they sometimes utter
with great distinctness and emphasis. Lee says : ' They speak
so plainly that they have more than once been known, by
uttering exclamations of surprise and alarm, to turn out a
guard of soldiers when placed in the neighbourhood.'
DOMESTIC RAVENS, when taken very young, become ex-
ceedingly amusing. Some of their characteristics are remark-
able and interesting. These birds are, however, generally
busy, inquisitive, and impudent ; they go where their fancy
leads them ; they affront and drive off the dogs, play pranks
on the poultry, and are particularly careful to ingratiate them-
selves into the favour of the cook, who with them is a much-
loved and valued friend.
RAVENS AS EVIL OMENS. In times of ignorance, these
birds were looked upon with apprehension. This, no doubt,
arose from their black colour, disagreeable croak, and fetid
odour. Linnaeus says, 'that in the southern provinces of
Sweden ravens have been seen soaring along amid a thunder-
storm and electric fires, which seemed to stream from their
bills, enough to terrify the ignorant and superstitious, and to
make them stamp these birds with the attributes of a demon.'
We are informed by Jesse that ' A sober hind at work in a
certain neighbourhood stated that his companion had been
warned of his approaching death in consequence of a raven
having always croaked when it flew over his head.'
7
98 Our Birds in Black.
In Eastern countries the raven has been held in great vener-
ation as being the bird who fed the prophet in the wilderness.
Even the Romans, who thought the bird ominous, paid it,
from motives of fear, the most profound veneration.
How RAVENS CLING TO THEIR EGGS. If birds and other
animals are bold in defence of their offspring, which they
almost invariably are, they are equally tenacious in clinging
to their eggs during the time of incubation. We are 'informed
by one writer that he once lifted a hen blackbird off her
nest, but that she came back when he had removed a few
feet away. Referring to the devotion birds exhibit while
sitting on their eggs, White gives the following remarkable
instance. He says, 'that a small wood called Losels was
furnished with a set of oaks of peculiar growth and value. In
the centre stood a tree which, though stately and tall on the
whole, bulged out into a large excrescence about the middle
of the stem. On this oak a pair of ravens had fixed their
residence for such a series of years that the oak was distin-
guished by the title of the Raven Tree.
' Many were the attempts of the neighbouring youth to get
at their eyrie ; the difficulty whetted their inclinations, and
each was ambitious of surmounting the arduous task. But
when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their
way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the most daring
lads were awed, and acknowledged the undertaking to be too
hazardous ; so the ravens built on, nest upon nest, in perfect
security, till the fatal day arrived in which the wood was to be
levelled. *
' It was in the month of February, when these birds usually
sit. The saw was applied to the butt, the wedges were
inserted into the opening, the woods echoed to the heavy
blow of the beetle, mall, or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall ;
but still the dam sat on. At last, when it gave way, the bird
was flung from her nest, and though her parental affection
deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the twigs, which
brought her dead to the ground.'
A FAMILIAR RAVEN. 'In October, 1822, there was in the
possession of Mr. James Weymess, the gamekeeper at Riddle-
* It appears that wood was required to repair the bridge at the Toy,
'near Hampton Court. Twenty of the finest trees were used for this
purpose.
A Clever Ratcatcher. 99
ham Hope, the seat of Charles John Clavering, Esq., a young
raven, fifteen months old, which was taken from the nest when
very young, and brought up by the keeper with the dogs. It
was so completely domesticated that it would go out with the
keeper and the dogs, and when it took its flight farther than
usual, at the sound of the whistle it would return and perch
upon a tree or a wall and watch all their movements. It was
no uncommon thing for it to go to the moors with him, and
to return, a distance of ten or twelve miles. It would even
enter a village with the keeper, partake ' of the same refresh-
ment, and never leave him until he returned home a circum-
stance, perhaps, never yet recorded in the annals of natural
history.'
THE RAVEN RATCATCHER. 'A gentleman in Perthshire
brought up and kept a tame raven in his stables, which
proved of great use in destroying rats, and this he performed
with a degree of cunning and adroitness which could scarcely
be exceeded by human intelligence. The time he fixed on
for his work of destruction was generally in the forenoon,
when the servants were out airing the horses. On such
occasions Jacob (this was the raven's name) took care to pro-
vide himself with a bone on which there was some meat, and
this he placed opposite the rats' holes in front of the crib, and
then perched himself above, watching with a steady and clear
look the spot where the bone was laid. This bait seldom
failed to attract the scent of the rats when all was quiet, and
no sooner did they make their appearance than he darted
down on them, and seldom missed his aim ; and having seized
them, they were despatched in an instant. And what was
singular, he did not eat them when at first secured, for he
generally carried them to the sill of a window, returning to
the sport, in which he seemed to take great interest. And he
has been known to kidnap half a dozen in a forenoon. When
his sport was interrupted by the return of the horses, he
carried off his booty, one by one, to a neighbouring tree,
where there was an old crow's nest, in which he deposited the
spoil, and fed on them at his leisure.'
THE RAVEN AND GLOVES. ' Many years since a man in
Sunderland, being employed in hedging near to an old stone
quarry, went to eat his dinner in a deep excavation in order
to be sheltered from the weather, which was very stormy, and
72
IOO Our Birds in Black.
as he went along, pulled off his hedging-gloves and threw
them down at some distance from each other. While at his
repast, he observed a raven pick up one of them, with which
it flew away, and very soon afterwards returned and carried
off the other. The man, being greatly surprised, rose to see
if he could trace where the bird had gone with his gloves.
He scarcely had cleared the quarry before he saw large frag-
ments fall down into the very place where he had been seated,
and where, if he had continued a minute longer, he must
inevitably have been crushed to pieces.'
THREE FUNNY RAVENS. 'A raven called the "Parson"
lived in a stable, and observed that when the groom tickled
his favourite horse behind the shoulder, the hind-legs of the
horse would go up, and the groom would frequently say to
the playful animal, " Ha, Jack ! go it, old fellow !" One day
the groom heard capers and noise in the stable, and approach-
ing the door, was astonished by the sound of his own voice
inside "Ha, Jack! go it, old fellow!" Upon entering the
stable, he found the raven perched on the horse's hind
quarters, pulling hairs out of Jack's tail, and responding
regularly to the horse's kicks with the groom's exclamation,
" Ha, Jack ! go it, old fellow !"
' Another, addicted to peeping and listening from the porch
of a chapel during divine service, heard the minister say
repeatedly, " Let us pray." On the occasion of a tea-party at
the Squire's Hall, this animal was brought into the drawing-
room to amuse the assembled company with his tricks. Set
down, he looked about him, nothing abashed. Presently
kenning an old well-known antiquary, clad in a dark snuff-
coloured suit, whose head and shoulders only were visible
o'ver the top of a high-backed chair, on which the worthy
man happened at that very moment to be kneeling, our sable
hero, assuming a solemn attitude, gave out slowly, and in
pulpit tones, " Let us pray." Another, who set up his abode
at a posting-house in Yorkshire, guarded the yard with the
fidelity of a watch-dog, and upon the arrival of a traveller,
invariably demanded with a loud voice, "Ostler, come and
take the gentleman's horse !" '
MRS. GRIMALKIN TONGUE-TIED. A writer in the Workmen's
Messenger says : ' Some years ago I was walking along a retired
street, when, hopping at some distance before me, I saw a
The Raven and the Cat. 101
raven, which had evidently strayed from its owner. I ven-
tured, though with some misgivings, to stretch out my hand
to him ; immediately, with a hoarse croak, he jumped on my
wrist, and turned his head sideways to get a good look at me.
Having satisfied himself as to my respectability, he settled
himself on my wrist, murmuring his pleasure in a series of
jerking sounds.
' The next day I took him out in the garden to give him a
walk. As he marched solemnly along before me, evidently
meditating on the changes of life, a large tabby cat, a great
pet of mine, sprang suddenly upon him. Being a town-bred
cat, she was under the mistake that he would be as easily dis-
posed of as a sparrow. What was her horror and dismay
when, adroitly thrusting his beak into her open mouth, Jack
seized her by the tongue ! Poor pussy ran along the path,
struggling to get free, while he hopped beside her, flapping
his wings exultingly, until I came to the rescue. Not pitying
Mrs. Grimalkin much for the fright she had got, I hoped it
would be a warning to her not to interfere with birds in future,
she having already, in her love for dainties, demolished several
of my pet canaries.
' From this time Jack generally paid her a visit once a day,
much to her dislike, especially as she had a family of young
kittens. Jack would watch his opportunity, and when she
least expected it, his roguish eye and shining head would
suddenly appear before her startled gaze.
' With a spring he would quickly poise himself on the edge
of the basket, and after apparently pausing to make a selec-
tion, with a sudden dive he would snatch up a kitten, hold
it suspended for a moment, and then let it fall back into
its place, enjoying with mischievous delight the agony of the
mother while he had possession of her offspring.
' Jack was an inveterate thief, and hid quite a store of little
articles under the edge of the carpet, as a fruit-knife, a pair of
scissors, a thimble, etc.'
1\\& Animal World, referring to CHARLES DICKENS'S RAVENS,
says : ' It may not be out of place to copy, for the perusal
of our youthful readers, the first part of the preface to
" Barnaby Rudge," which gives us a glance at the interest
taken by the great author in one member of the great family
of "Our Feathered Companions." Who has not read of
IO2 Our Birds in Black.
" Grip "? " As it is Mr. Waterton's opinion that ravens are
gradually becoming extinct in England, I offer a few words
here about mine. The raven in this story is a compound of
two great originals, of whom I have been, at different times,
the proud possessor. The first was in the bloom of his youth
when he was discovered in a modest retirement in London,
by a friend of mine, and given to me. He had from the first,
as Sir H. Evans says of Anne Page, ' good gifts,' which he
improved by study and attention in a most exemplary manner.
He slept in a stable generally on horseback and so terrified
a Newfoundland dog by his preternatural sagacity, that he has
been known, by the mere superiority of his genius, to walk off
unmolested with the dog's dinner from before his face. He
was rapidly rising in acquirements and virtues, when, in an evil
hour, his stable was newly painted. He observed the work-
men closely, saw that they were careful of the paint, and
immediately burned to possess it. On their going to dinner,
he ate up all they had left behind, consisting of a pound or
two of white lead ; and this youthful indiscretion terminated
in death. While I was yet inconsolable for his loss, another
friend of mine, in Yorkshire, discovered an older and more
gifted raven at a village public-house, which he prevailed upon
the landlord to part with for a consideration, and sent up to
me. The first act of this ' Sage ' was to administer to the
effects of his predecessor, by disinterring all the cheese and
halfpence he had buried in the garden a work of immense
labour and research to which he devoted all the energies of
his mind. When he had achieved this task, he applied him-
self to the acquisition of stable language, in which he soon
became such an adept, that he would perch outside my
window and drive imaginary horses with great skill all day.
Perhaps even I never saw him at his best, for his former
master sent his duty with him, ' and if I wished the bird to
come out very strong, would I be so good as to show him a
drunken man,' which I never did, having (unfortunately) none
but sober people at hand. But I could hardly have respected
him more, whatever the stimulating influences of this sight
might have been. He had not the least respect, I am sorry
to say, for me in return, or for anybody but the cook, to
whom he was attached ; but only, I fear, as a policeman
might have been. Once I met him unexpectedly, about half
Charles Dick ens s Ravens. 103
a mile off, walking down the middle of the public street
attended by a pretty large crowd, and spontaneously exhibiting
the whole of his accomplishments. His gravity under those
trying circumstances I never can forget, nor the extraordinary
gallantry with which, refusing to be brought home, he defended
himself behind a pump, until overpowered by numbers. It
may have been that he was too bright a genius to live long,
or it may have been that he took some pernicious substance
into his bill, and thence into his maw, which is not improbable,
seeing that he new pointed the greater part of the garden-wall
by digging out the mortar, broke countless squares of glass by
scraping away the putty all round the frames, and tore up and
swallowed, in splinters, the greater part of a wooden staircase
of six steps and a landing ; but after some three years he too
was taken ill and died before the kitchen fire. He kept his
eye to the last upon the meat as it roasted, and suddenly
turned over on his back with a sepulchral cry of ' Cuckoo !'
Since then I have been ravenless."
' The great author himself is now silent in death, but his
affection towards all living creatures, " man and bird and
beast," still lives and endears his memory to many thousands
of mankind ; for in this respect, like his own Barnaby, " he
was known to every bird and beast about the place, and had
a name for every one of them." But we are reminded also,
when we look upon the raven, of Southey, Byron, Longfellow,
and Poe, who have told us something of the pranks, virtuous
and vicious, of this clever bird ; and of Goldsmith also, who
says he " heard a raven sing the ' Black Joke ' with great
distinctness, truth, and humour." There can be no doubt
about the linguistic powers of our hero throughout all ages,
for he is at the head of talking birds.'
CROWS. These birds seldom associate in flocks, but for
the most part remain in pairs. The crow is very much like
the raven in form and habits, but much smaller. The bill
is more curved than the rook's, and its voice is hoarser.
They feed upon whatever comes in their way. Montagu
says that he saw one pursue a pigeon, on which it pounced
like a hawk, and another that knocked a pigeon dead from a
barn-floor.
There is a story told that seems almost incredible. A
crow, perceiving a brood of young chickens, fourteen in
IO4
Our Birds in Black.
Crow.
number, under the care of a parent hen, picked up one of
them ; but a young lady, seeing what had happened, suddenly
pulled up the window,
and calling out loudly, the
plunderer dropped his
prey. In the course of
the day, however, the
audacious and calculating
robber, accompanied by
thirteen others, came to
the place" where the
chickens were, and each
seizing one, got clean off
with the whole brood at
once. Clearly they must
have a language by which
to carry out such a plot as this. That crow told all the rest.
As crows are found in nearly all countries, and as their
habits are similar, we will refer to the
CROWS OF CEYLON. Mr. Holman states that in Ceylon
these birds are so audacious, that when the natives are
returning home with baskets of provisions on their heads they
are often attacked by these voracious birds, who pounce upon
the contents and devour them. They will plunder children,
and even dogs.
THE DOG AND HIS BONE. It is amusing to see the art they
use to dispossess a dog of a bone. No sooner has the animal
laid himself down to enjoy his meal than a predatory covey
descend and hover over him. One, more daring than the
rest, alights, and advances towards him with the self-possession
of an invited guest, when the dog lets fall his bone, and
makes an indignant snap at the pertinacious intruder, which
dexterously eludes the bite ; while, at the instant the dog's
attention is diverted, another crow, who has been vigilantly
watching the opportunity, seizes the coveted treasure and
bears it off.
AN UNLOOKED-FOR EXPOSURE. Some years ago there was
a tame crow about the Manse of Hay, in Orkney, which
became so familiar as to visit all the apartments of the house,
whenever doors or windows were left open. Crows, as is well
known, are greatly addicted to pilfering, and our hero, not to
TJie Crow and the Cards. 105
be unlike his neighbours, perpetrated several achievements of
this kind, of which the following is one of the more remark-
able. One day about noon, a pack of cards was left on a
table in the dining-room. The minister, who happened to go
out with a friend, on his return wished to lay up the cards,
but could not find them in any part of the house. Some time
after, one of the family looking out of the window, which had
been left open, saw all the cards arranged, face upward, on a
garden wall which extended in a right line from the window.
The mysterious disappearance of the cards was soon explained.
The crow, strolling into the room, and seeing the unseemly
sight of cards on a minister's table, had resolved to remove
them ; and to give as much publicity as possible to the affair,
laid them out one by one on the top of a wall. But little
perhaps did he imagine that his exploit would one day shine
in the annals of science, affording testimony to the sagacity of
the crows of Orkney, and the unorthodoxy of its ministers.
CROWS IN CONCLAVE. A lady resident at Dorking, in
Surrey, was very much surprised some months ago at seeing
about twenty crows sitting on a neighbouring tree, apparently
in solemn conclave. After an hour's deliberation they all
flew away, and shortly afterwards a crow, almost pecked to
death, was found at the foot of the tree. Stanley mentions
the same thing as occurring in Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
CROWS 'THE BLESSING OF GOD.' Crows are useful in de-
stroying caterpillars, which are often very destructive to wheat
crops. In Barbadoes the negroes call the common black
crow ' the blessing of God,' Because it destroys the cockroaches
which infest that place. Some years ago, in certain parts of
America, the crows were driven away by incessant firing,
through which the number of obnoxious insects so increased
that the farmers found to their sorrow they had made a mis-
take by driving these scavengers away, and so they all agreed
to stop the firing, and to suffer the persecuted crows to return
and occupy again their old quarters.
JACKDAWS are also birds in black, and are common in Eng-
land ; they live in flocks, and build their nests sometimes in
trees, but more generally in old ruins, towers, and church
steeples, where, dressed in their coats of glossy black, they
attend, if not to the sacred duties of a divine service, yet to
the parental obligations and pleasures of rearing their young
106 Our Birds in Black.
broods. Could jackdaws learn the moral lesson which close
proximity to a church steeple, and the services which are con-
ducted in the nave below, should teach to all mankind, they
would no doubt become less inclined to appropriate to them-
selves what is really not legally their own, but the property of
other beings.
It is worthy of notice that the same jackdaws will year after
year hover round, perch upon, and make their homes in the
towers of our ancient cathedrals and churches. Why they
should do so may be difficult to explain, only that it is their
instinct to do so. Are they lovers of what is antiquated?
Do they find a charm in and admire the different orders of
architecture in those fine buildings? Or do they love the
chiming bells, the sound of which, mingling with their own
'Yak-yak,' they consider to be the sweetest of all music ? Our
poet Cowper, in playful humour, says of the jackdaw that
he is
' A great frequenter of the church,
Where, bishop-like, he finds a perch,
And dormitory too.'
A SCHOLASTIC JACKDAW. ' Among my dumb companions,'
says W. F., 'my chief favourite has long been, and still is, a
tame jackdaw. Every morning he makes his way to the
school-room, where he remains until the dismissal of the
school ; he then leaves, and struts complacently forth among
the boys, with whom he is a great favourite, although at times
he is very mischievous.
' I may mention that though liberated on Sundays as on
other days, he never attempts to make his way to the room,
which is unoccupied on that day. During the vacations, the
poor fellow approaches the school-door once every day at the
usual time, gives it a melancholy peck or two, and then
retreats to the barn, where he mopes most of his time away
till the return to school of his "dear boys."'
THE JACKDAW'S CARTE-DE-VISITE. The following carte-de-
visite is given by the author of 'British Birds.' He says:
'The jackdaw is a remarkably active, pert, and talkative
fellow, ever cheerful, always on the alert, and ready either for
business or frolic. He is more agreeable than the raven, and
withal extremely fond of society ; for, not content with having
About Jackdaws. 107
a flock of his own folk about him, he often thrusts himself
into a gang of rooks, and in winter sometimes takes up his
entire abode with them. The rooks make him welcome.
How do we know what amusement they (with their stolid
gravity and solemn dignity) find in him, with all his fun and
loquacity ?'
Jackdaws, like rooks, are excellent weather prophets. If
they fly back to their roosts in the forenoon, or early in the
afternoon, a storm may be expected that evening, or early in
the morning.
THE JACKDAW'S FAILINGS. The Rev. J. G. Wood speaks
of one jackdaw which had learnt the art of kindling lucifer
matches, and thus became a very dangerous inmate, busying
himself in this way when the family was in bed, though fortu-
nately he seems to have done nothing worse than light the
kitchen fire, which had been laid ready for kindling over-night.
He frightened himself terribly at first by the explosion and
the sulphur fumes, and burned himself into the bargain. But
I do not find that, like the burnt child, he afterwards feared
the fire, and so discontinued j:he dangerous trick.
Jackdaws are so mischievous that, after a gardener has
planted cabbages or similar things, and has left his work, they
will descend from their watching-place and pluck up every plant
he has put in the ground. They will, when they have a
chance, turn over and tear leaves out of a book, and unwind
a ball of thread or worsted, etc.
DRUNKEN JACKDAW. A curious story is told of a tame
jackdaw which belonged to a publican living at Gilmerton,
near Edinburgh. It appears that half a glass of whisky was
left on the table, when Jackie flew up and began to drink the
spirits, which seemed to please his palate so much that he
drank a large quantity. He soon felt the effects his wings
dropped, and he half closed his eyes ; he staggered in his
walk, but managed to get to the edge of the table, from which
he wanted to fly, but he dared not venture. At last his eyes
closed, he fell on his back with his legs in the air, and looked
altogether like death. He was then rolled in a piece of flannel
and put in a box. Next morning the family expected to find
him defunct, but it was not so. He had got out of the flannel,
and when the door was opened, down he went into a court-
yard, where he drank water very copiously from a basin, used
io8 Our Birds in Black.
by the fowls, several times during the day. Although he
appeared to be no worse for getting drunk, he never again
would taste whisky.
JACK AND THE OSTLER'S SON. The son of the ostler at
the Bush, at Staines, had a jackdaw, whose affection for him
was the wonder of all who knew them. Such confidence had
the owner in the jackdaw's devotion to him, that on one occa-
sion when he was setting off from Staines to Hounslow, on
horseback, he made a wager of two bowls of punch that the
bird would obey his call and follow his route. ^ He mounted,
and then saying, ' Come, Jack ; I'm going,' put his horse in
motion. In a short time the bird's wings were extended, and
he attended the progress and return of the ostler's son, leaving
not the shadow of a plea for the non-payment of the bet.
If the jackdaw has some objectionable traits of character
and this cannot be denied he has, nevertheless, some re-
deeming qualities. He is at all times sprightly, easily tamed,
and learns to pronounce words and sentences very quickly,
as well as to perform various tricks of the most amusing kinds.
Although this bird has been unjustly accused of sucking the
' eggs of pigeons, doves, swallows, ducks, and fowls, he is vastly
fond of peas and cherries. When these are out of season he
visits gardens and fields for the purpose of feeding upon
insects, of which he devours large numbers.
From what has been said in this chapter, it will be seen
that our ' birds in black ' are important and useful links in
Nature's chain, and therefore, although sometimes destructive
and mischievous in their habits, should not be wantonly
destroyed.
Having said thus much for our birds in black,
We hope you will give them their due ;
Although they can't boast of much beauty or song,
They all have some duties to do.
They toil hard and long for themselves and young,
Are loving, attentive, and true ;
They stick to each other like Britons, I vow,
A hint both for me and for you.
CHAPTER VIII.
FEATHERED FEEDERS ON FISH, FLESH, AND FOWL.
Whate'er the instincts of our birds may be,
We have no right to view them with disdain ;
For e'en the eagle, owl, and heron too,
Are useful links in Nature's endless chain.
S amongst human beings a wide difference exists
in their power, status, and influence in society,
so it is amongst the numerous members of the
animal kingdom. Superiority and inferiority
are inseparably connected with each other, while
supremacy seems to be an indispensable necessity to the
well-being, good order, and government of all living things.
The lion is usually denominated 'The King of the Forest.'
Bees are controlled and, in a great measure, guided by the
queen of the hive to which they belong. When the same
sheep travel or pass through a gap in the hedge from one
field to another, it is generally under the leadership of one of
their number who may be more intelligent and daring than
the rest.
Thomson says : ' Wild elephants march in troops, the
oldest keeping foremost, and the next in age bringing up the
rear, while the young and feeble occupy the middle ; but this
order is not observed except in perilous marches. In ordinary
cases the largest-tusked males put themselves at the head,
and if they come to a river are the first to pass it.' In the
feathered creation, the eagle is considered to be 'the king
of birds.'
1 10 Feathered Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and Fowl.
THE EAGLE. This bird belongs to the order Accipitres,
and family Falconidse. There are many kinds of eagles, viz.,
the bald eagle, the black eagle, the white eagle, the sea eagle,
and the golden eagle.
The structure of the eagle as a bird of prey is well adapted
for rapine and tearing of flesh, its bill being very strong and
curved at the top, and its talons sharp and powerful to hold
its food securely. This bird is fierce and voracious, and
seems to wage a war .of extermination against all other birds
and every animal it can overcome. It no doubt prefers the
flesh of the animal it has killed, but will not despise that
already dead. It has long sight and keen scent, which enable
it to find its food with considerable facility.
The eagle is considered to be very courageous and bold,
of great strength, and even to be magnanimous. Poets have
called it the ' king of birds,' and in heathen mythology it is
denominated the ' bird of Jove,' and regarded as the true
emblem of might and dignity.
The golden eagle is considered to be the noblest of the
family ; often measuring in the expansion of its wings seven
feet, and from the beak to the tail three feet. It is of a dark
brown colour, beautifully shaded, and has been known to weigh
sixteen pounds.
It has been frequently captured in the Highlands of Scot-
land, but it is becoming, like many more of our noble birds,
exceedingly rare. Instances have been known of eagles at-
taining the age of 80 and 100 years, arid a specimen is
recorded to have lived at Vienna in confinement for 104
years.
One marvellous feature in the organism of the eagle is to
be seen in its wings, which are very broad and concave in
their under surface, for the purpose of enabling it to take good
hold on the air, and to float in it with ease while its keen eye
is in quest of food, which it may see afar off.
EAGLE'S NEST. The eagle builds its nest of large twigs,
lined with layers of reeds, of a flat form, very strong, and
several feet in breadth, and always in a situation that is dry
and inaccessible to man, so that it may with its young be
undisturbed. The same nest has been used for a succession
of years.
Although the eagle is very rapacious it shows great tender-
Young Eagles Learning to Fly. 1 1 1
ness and solicitude for its young, not only in procuring sus-
tenance for them, but in teaching them to fly, and in watching
their first feeble efforts to do so.
If the eaglets should falter for a moment and be in danger
of falling, the mother at once darts underneath them, and
catching them on her broad wings, bears them back in
safety to their nest. This is a beautiful illustration of the
fourth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Exodus, in which
God speaks of His dealings with His people Israel, ' I have
borne thee, saith the Lord, as on eagles' wings.' He had
preserved them, saved them from danger, and brought them
to a place of safety.
How EAGLES TEACH THEIR YOUNG TO FLY. This is
beautifully described by Humphry Davy, who once had an
opportunity of witnessing the proceedings of a pair of eagles
after they had left their eyrie. He says : ' I once saw a very
interesting sight above one of the crags of Ben Nevis, as I
was going in the pursuit of black game. Two parent eagles
were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the manoeuvres
of flight. They began by rising from the top of a mountain
in the eye of the sun. It was about mid-day, and bright for
this climate. They at first made small circles, and the young
birds imitated them. They paused on their wings, waiting till
they had made their first flight, and then took a second and
larger gyration, always rising towards the sun, and enlarging
their circle of flight, so as to make a gradually extending
spiral The young ones still slowly followed, apparently
flying better as they mounted ; and they continued this sub-
lime kind of exercise, always rising, till they became mere
points in the air, and the young ones were lost, and afterwards
their parents, to our aching sight'
The above description is very illustrative of the tender care
God has of His people, and of the methods He sometimes
adopts to teach them useful lessons. This will appear espe-
cially so if considered in connection with what is recorded
in Deut. xxxil n, 12, 'As an eagle stirreth up her nest,
fluttereth over her young, beareth them on her wings, so
the Lord did lead them.'
STRENGTH OF THE EAGLE. Impelled by the demands of
her own voracious appetite, and by maternal affection for her
young, the mother eagle has often attacked not only small
112 Feathered Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and Fowl.
birds, but ducks, geese, and swans ; even hares, fawns, and
lambs have supplied this powerful bird of prey and her
progeny with many a savoury meal ; and instances are recorded
of children having been seized and carried away for the same
purpose.
The Universe contains the following story : ' The last known
fact of this kind took place in the Valais in 1838. <\
little girl, five years old, called Marie Delex, was playing with
one of her companions on a mossy slope of the mountain,
when all at once an eagle swooped down upon- her, and carried
her away in spite of the cries and presence of her young friend.
Some peasants, hearing the screams, hastened to the spot,
but sought in vain for the child, for they found nothing but
one of her shoes on the edge of a precipice. The child,
however, was not carried to the eagle's nest, where only two
eaglets were seen, surrounded by heaps of sheep and goats'
bones. It was not till two months after this that a shepherd
discovered the corpse of Marie Delex frightfully mutilated,
and lying upon a rock half a league from where she had been
borne off.'
EAGLE AND SALMON. Eagles also love the delicacies of
our rivers, in which they indulge whenever they find an
opportunity of doing so. A salmon, or any other fish, is not,
according to their ideas, to be despised. A story is told of a
shepherd observing an eagle perched on a bank that over-
hung a pool. The bird was intently watching the water;
presently it darted down and seized a salmon. A terrible
struggle ensued, and the water began to fly in all directions.
When the man reached the spot he found both salmon and
eagle under the water; the latter was not able to extricate
itself, and the other was gasping for its life. So with one
blow he broke the eagle's pinion and secured both the bird
and its victim. The reason why birds of prey are drowned
in this way is that in striking the fish with their talons they
do so with very great force, driving them deep into the body
of the fish, which suddenly plunges still deeper ; and dragging
the bird, who is not able to extricate itself, with it, keeps it
under the water until life is extinct in both the one dying
from its wounds, the other for want of air.
A YOUNG GIRL AND HER EAGLE.- ' Pliny relates that there
was a wonderful example of the affection of an eagle at the
A Marvellous Story. i r 3
city Sestos ; on which account that bird became afterwards
much honoured in the neighbouring country. A young girl
had brought up an eagle by hand. In return for this kind-
ness, the bird would go in search of prey, and always returned
with part of what it had procured to its nurse, to whom the
eagle was devotedly attached. When the eagle grew stronger,
she extended her depredations to wild beasts of the forest, and
continually provided her mistress with stores of venison. At
length the young woman took ill, and died, and when her
funeral pile was burning, the eagle flew into the midst of it,
and there was consumed to ashes with the corpse of the
virgin. In memorial of this extraordinary event, the in-
habitants of Sestos erected on the spot a stately monument,
which they call Heroum, because the eagle is a bird conse-
crated to God.'
To those who have but a superficial knowledge of animals
the above statements may appear to be incredible ; but we
may remark that by those who have closely noticed the great
affection which animals often show to those who treat them
kindly, the story may be believed as coming within the range
of probability. What Sir Walter Scott said of dogs, that
hardly anything could be told him about them that he could
not credit, may be applied to other animals not even except-
ing the rapacious eagle.
A GOLDEN EAGLE AND A DECOY. ' Whilst staying a few
days at Manhattan, a little town in Kansas, I spent some
hours in the office of a dentist, Dr. C. Blackley, who is also
an ornithologist, having stuffed a goodly number of the birds
of the State. He was then occupied with a fine specimen of
the common pelican ( Pelicanus communis\ one of a flock of
over a thousand that passed over the town in the month of
April, some of them alighting in the neighbouring marshes
These birds are not unfrequent visitors to these far inland
regions, and I have known them shot and brought to me from
the alkali lakes in Colorado, both regions from 600 to 800
miles from the sea.
' The doctor told me an amusing incident of a day's wild-
goose shooting in the vicinity. He took with him to one of
the ponds frequented by wild geese, a stuffed specimen of the
Canadian goose to act as a decoy. Having firmly planted his
bird in the sand, with its wooden platform well covered over,
8
1 14 Feathered Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and Fowl
he lay behind the bushes awaiting a shot. Suddenly there
was a rush of wings, and, like a flash of lightning, a golden
eagle swept down on the decoy, knocking the bird over, and
tearing out some of the stuffing. The eagle then sat down
near his prey, staring with amazement at its remarkably
quiescent character, as well as at the strange wooden appen-
dage attached to its claws. Deeming there was something
uncanny about such a goose, and that there might be danger
in the neighbourhood, he prudently flew away.'
Although birds of prey are not eaten by human beings at
least not in England they are of great service, especially in
hot countries, where these rapacious scavengers devour offal
and flesh, which might become putrid and produce pestilential
fevers or contagious diseases.
In our own country they are no doubt useful in destroying
vermin of various kinds. It is a great mistake to try to
exterminate them, which we fear will be the case unless
some check be placed upon the wanton and destructive pro-
clivities of those who are ambitious to be considered ' good
shots.'
It is only for a rare bird to make its appearance, and to
come within gun-shot, to be the marked victim of some incon-
siderate and ignorant man or boy who will try his best to de-
prive such a winged visitor of its life ; and then, should he
succeed in doing so, to carry it home in triumph as a trophy
of cleverness in the use of the gun.
The noble eagle forms
no exception to this fool-
ish practice. Within the
last few weeks a bird of
this tribe was seen flying
not far from Brighton,
and was shot by some
man who happened to be
out with his gun in search
of other birds.
THE KINGFISHER.
Of this bird there are
upwards of fifty species,
most of which are natives
are some European varieties,
Kingfisher.
of Asia and Africa. There
Curious Use of Feathers. 1 1 5
-M
which of course include the one found in our own country.
Our English kingfisher has very beautiful plumage : colours
of nearly all kinds adorn its body, giving it a gay and brilliant
appearance. It has been very appropriately named, because
it feeds almost entirely on fish, which it procures in streams,
canals, and rivers. Its peculiar structure is remarkably well
adapted for securing its prey. Its bill is long, strong, and
sharp, and with it the bird can transfix a fish as with a
spear.
The feet of the kingfisher are small, fitted neither for wading,
standing, nor running, but perfectly suitable for perching on
small twigs which overhang the water, and on which it watches
and waits very patiently with its long beak directed down-
wards. The moment a small fish appears, the bird plunges
into the water, and soon rises to the surface with it between
its bills. It then perches on a tree ; and, after grasping the
fish firmly by the tail, beats its head against a branch to de-
prive it of what life remains, and then swallows it, or conveys
it to its nest to feed the young, which are very voracious, and
always ready to devour the meal the parent has provided for
them.
Baird informs us that ' this bird was known to the ancients
by the name of " Halcyon," and many fabulous stories are
told of it by the early writers. They supposed that it built its
nest upon the surface of the sea, amongst the foam of the
waves, and that it had the power of calming the troubled deep
during the time of incubation. They only sat on their floating
nest a few days, and during that short period, which was in
the depth of winter, the mariner might, they said, sail in per-
fect security. Those days were hence termed " Halcyon
days." The Tartars and Ostiacs amongst whom this bird,
or a nearly allied species, is found preserve its skin about
their persons in a purse, and reckon it a preservative against
every ill. The feathers are used by them as love amulets, and
they believe that if a woman is touched by a feather which
floats on water, she will be induced to fall in love with the
person who uses it.'
The kingfisher makes a home in the banks of rivers.
During the time of incubation the male bird is very affec-
tionate, working hard to supply the mother with food.
THE LAPWING. This bird, sometimes called peewit, belongs
1 1 6 Feathered Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and Fowl.
Lapwing.
to the order Grallse, and is found in every part of our own
country, and especially in Scotland. It frequents open sea-
shores and wide moorland wastes. It has a peculiar cry,
which seems to be in har-
mony with the solitude of
those places.
Its plumage is very
handsome ; and on its
head is a long crest lying
backwards, which it can
erect and lower at plea-
sure.
Although living in the
midst of dreary wastes
and by the lone sea-
shore, it is a very lively,
interesting, and frolic-
some bird, and shows
very strong maternal instinct for its young, which are reared
in nests scooped out of heathy hillocks.
It is said the mother lapwing will, when her nest is likely
to be discovered, tumble over and over as if it could not
fly, or feign lameness to lure the sportsman away, which it
usually succeeds in doing. In the month of October lapwings
are considered excellent eating. Their eggs, which are sold
at a very high price, are reckoned to be great delicacies, and
are known as 'plover's eggs.' The plover belongs to the same
family.
As the lapwing is a bird well known in our own country, we
venture to give the following curious and somewhat romantic
information on the authority of an English translation of the
Koran, by G. Sale, p. 283 :
SOLOMON AND THE LAPWING. ' And Solomon was David's
heir, and he said, O man, we have been taught the speech of
birds, and have had all things bestowed on us ; this is mani-
fest excellence. And his armies were gathered together unto
Solomon, consisting of genii and men and birds; . . . and
Solomon viewed the birds, and said, What is the reason that
I see not the lapwing ? Is she absent ? Verily I will chastise
her with a severe chastisement, or I will put her to death, un-
less she bring me a just excuse.'
How Olds are Regarded. 117
Commenting on the above statements, the Arab historians
tell us ' that Solomon, having finished the temple of Jerusalem,
went in pilgrimage to Mecca, where having stayed as long as
he pleased, he proceeded towards Yaman ; and leaving Mecca
in the morning, he arrived by noon at Sanaa, and, being ex-
tremely delighted with the country, rested there ; but wanting
water to make the ablution, he looked among the birds for the
lapwing, called by the Arabs " Al Hesdbud," whose business
it was to find it ; for it is pretended she was sagacious or
sharpsighted enough to discover water underground, which
the devils used to draw, after she had marked the place by
digging with her bill,' etc.
Referring to the chastisement threatened by Solomon to be
given to the lapwing, the above historians state it was to con-
sist in ' plucking off her feathers, and setting her in the sun to
be tormented by the insects, or by shutting her up in a cage,'
which, if the reader will make himself acquainted with the
cause of the lapwing's absence, as stated in the Koran, he will
see would not only have been too severe, but that even the
threat was altogether undeserved.
OWLS. Owls are nocturnal birds belonging to the order
Accipitres, and are very rapacious.
They live upon insects, birds, reptiles,
and small mammalia, which they hunt
for after nightfall, when they are less
likely to be noticed or disturbed.
They love seclusion, and during the
daytime hide themselves in thick ivy,
deep forests, old ruins, or the fissures
of rocks. Their eggs are white, and V
the young are covered with soft down, n
The antipathies of individuals and \
of nations sometimes take very strange
directions, and often exist against
certain animals without their being able to give any really
satisfactory reason for those antipathies. In every age and in
every country superstitious notions have prevailed respecting
owls, as they have been regarded with grave suspicion by
some, and with horror as birds of ill-omen by others.
The Red Americans of the far West, although well ac-
quainted with the habits and uses of the birds of their wide
1 1 8 FeatJtered Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and Fowl.
wild forests and prairies, look upon the owl as foreboding
some disaster to themselves, and therefore give it no welcome.
This is all the more remarkable because this bird is, in the
Scriptures, always associated with desolation.
On the other hand, we find both the Greeks and Romans
of ancient times always considered the owl as an emblem of
wisdom, and sacred to Minerva. In some of the remote and
less frequented districts of England, the owl's scream is re-
garded by the peasantry as ominous of ill-luck, sickness, or
death in their own family, or in their circle of friends.
THE TAWNY OWL. The screech of the tawny owl is cer-
tainly by no means melodious, nor calculated to inspire the
timid and fearful with courage, especially if it should proceed
from some ivy-mantled church, the ruins of some haunted
castle, or thick dark forest during the
' Very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn, and hell itself
Breathes out contagion to this world.'
And perhaps equally solemn and objectionable is its ' To-
whit too-whoo,' uttered as it passes a lonely cottage just at
the very moment when the inmates are falling into a state of
sweet and slumbering forgetfulness, or it may be as Morpheus
is conveying them into dreamland, there to enjoy ambrosial
sweets in Elysian fields.
The screech of the owl at such times may be very annoying
and particularly unmusical, but what it has to do with human
sickness, ill-fortune, or death, or why it should be considered
ominous of these things, it is difficult to say.
THE OWL AND THE RAILWAY PORTER. A railway porter
belonging to an intermediate station in Sussex was sent, late
in the evening, with a parcel to a gentleman's house some
distance off. On his return it was dark, and having to pass
through a wood, he took the wrong beaten path, which not only,
detained him, but so perplexed and troubled him that he
knew not how to extricate himself from his sad dilemma.
While pondering over what he should do, he was startled by
a sonorous ' To-whit to-whoo !' uttered just over his head.
' Oh dear !' he said, ' who am I ? Why, I am Jemmy P ,
porter at the station, and I've lost my way. Oh dear, oh dear !
do help me out, and tell me the right road.' ' To-whit to-
whoo !' again fell upon his ears ; when poor Jemmy, now
The Railway Porter's Dilemma. 119
confused as well as perplexed, repeated : ' I've told 'ee. I'm
porter at the railway station, and I'm lost, lost, lost !' The
terrified man got no answer but a third ' To-whit to-whoo !'
which nearly drove him to desperation. What his state of
mind might have become had he not heard the fluttering
of wings amongst the trees, which convinced him that he
had been answering the peculiar cry of some owl, it is very
difficult to tell. He had mistaken the 'To whit to-whoo!' for
the question, ' Who are you ?' hence the reason why he made
a revelation of his status at the station, so promptly gave his
name, and so beseechingly implored assistance in his dark
dilemma. We have been told that as long as Jemmy remained at
the station he was constantly teazed about this little adventure.
Pie was therefore compelled, in order to avoid the annoyance,
to take his departure to some other scene of employment.
The structure of the owl is deeply interesting. Being a
bird of the night, it has a very acute sense of smelling, which
helps considerably in guiding it to its prey. Like most other
animals that are nocturnal in their habits, the owl has large
and beautiful eyes, which are a necessity, because large eyes
can take in a wider range of view, and admit more light than
small ones. The eyes of fish that live deep in the water are
larger than those that live near the surface.
For the uses and other particulars respecting the owl we
refer the reader to our volume entitled ' Facts and Phases of
Animal Life.'
AN OWL FEIGNING DEATH. The following amusing story
appears in the Literary Miscellany : 'Mr. Wales, of Bellingham,
Massachusetts, relates a cunning trick of an owl caught poach-
ing upon his premises. It entered a pigeon-roost and com-
menced killing right and left. The outcry of the victims
arrested attention ; and on looking in, Mr. Owl stood motion-
less, like a sentry on guard. Mr. Wales took hold of him,
but he did not stir. He carried him to the house, the bird
being as rigid as if dead. He was laid on his back on the
table, but there was no movement. As the family stood look-
ing at him, he opened his big eyes, then turned upon his legs,
and was at once wide awake. Mr. Wales said he feigned
death, and did it to perfection, until convinced that he was
out of danger more ingenious than prudent.'
THE MINISTERS AND THE OWL. It is said that two cele-
1 20 FeatJicred Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and F<nvt.
brated ministers, respectively named Jay and Fuller, were
taking a drive in the country when a bird flew across the road.
' What bird was that was it not a jay ? asked Fuller. ' Oh
no, 1 said Jay. ' It is fuller in the eyes, fuller in the face, fuller
in the breast, fuller in the feathers, and///<?r all over.' The
bird referred to was a tawny owl
How OWLS ARE HATCHED. G. Manville Fenn says : ' It
is commonly known that owls have two or three sets of young
in the course of a season ; but, as far as I can make out, after
sitting upon the first egg or pair of eggs, and hatching the
birds, no further effort in incubation is made. Directly after
the owlets are out of the shell the hen-bird lays one or two
more beautiful white eggs, but does not sit, devoting herself
to feeding the insatiable little monsters she had started into
life, and the warmth of their bodies hatches the next owlet.
This one hatched, another egg is laid with the same result,
that it is vivified by the young ones' warmth, escapes from the
shell, and once more an egg or two occupy the nest, so that
in the same corner in a shallow downy spot may be seen an
owlet three-parts grown, another half-grown, another a few
hours old, and a couple of eggs four stages in all ; and, if
inspected by day, the three youngsters will be seen huddled
together in very good fellowship, one and all fast asleep, and
the eggs in the coldest place outside. The sight is not pleas-
ing, as may be supposed from the above description of the
young owls ; but if the eye be offended, what is to be said of
the nose? Take something in a bad state of putrefaction
and arithmetically square it ; the result will be an approach to
the foul odour of a nest of owls in hot weather. The reason
is not far to seek, when it is borne in mind that the owl is a
bird of prey ; but all the same, I have visited the nest earlier
in the season, and found the place quite scentless, and that
too at a time when ranged in a semicircle about the young
were no less than twenty-two young rats and full-grown mice,
so fresh that they must have been caught during the preceding
night, the larder being supplemented by a couple of young
rabbits. If, then, a pair of owls provide so many specimens of
mischievous vermin in a night, they certainly earn the title of
friends of man. It may be argued that, inhabiting a pigeon-
cote, the youngsters were the offspring of two or three pairs ;
but as far as I can make out, a single pair only occupy the
'A Noble Lesson front an Ozul. 121
cote from year to year, the young birds seeking a home else-
where ; and I may say for certain that the old birds do not
come near their young and eggs by day, generally passing the
time in some ivy-shaded tree while the sun is above the
horizon, far away from the cote containing their sleeping
babes. When fully fledged and nearly ready to fly, if the
strong scent is risked and a visit paid, the birds start into
something approaching to wakefulness, and, huddling up to-
gether, will stare and hiss at the intruder, ready to resist hand-
ling with beak and claw and a clutch from a full-grown owl's
set of claws is no light matter ; for Nature has endowed them
with most powerful muscles, and an adaptability for their use
that is most striking. When hunting for food, the owl glides
along on silent wing beside some barn or stack, and woe be-
tide the cowering mouse or ratling that is busy on the grain !
As the owl passes over, down goes one leg, and four sharp
claws have snatched the little quadruped from the ground,
the four points seeming to slope towards a common centre, so
that escape is impossible. Every seizure is performed with
the claws ; the beak being reserved for dividing the animal
when too large, and not degraded into forming an instrument
for seizure or carriage of the prey. I have had owls calmly
seated upon my hand, but for a very short time ; and I cannot
recommend ladies to try them for pets, for the sooner they
are perched elsewhere the more pleasant it is for the skin,
their claws being exquisitely sharp.'
AFFECTION AND GOOD SENSE OF AN OWL. 'A brown owl
had long been in the occupation of a convenient hole in a
hollow tree, and in it for several years had rejoiced over its
progeny, with hope of the pleasure to be enjoyed in excursions
of hunting in their company ; but through the persecutions of
some persons on the farm, who had watched the bird's pro-
ceedings, this hope had been repeatedly disappointed by the
plunder of the nest at the time when the young ones were
ready for flight. On the last occasion an individual was as-
cending to their retreat, to repeat the robbery, when the parent
bird, aware of the danger, grasped her only young one in her
claws and bore it away ; and never more was the nest placed
in the same situation.'
HERONS. These birds belong to a family of the order
Grallae, or wading birds. They are distinguished by long
122 Feathered Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and Fowl.
Heron.
slender necks, hard bills, short tails, and very sharp claws.
They are formed for wading, frequenting marshy places, rivers,
and lakes in search of food, which mainly consists of fish, but
they do not object to reptiles,
nor even to small mammalia.
The heron family consists of
numerous species, some of
which are found in the North
of Europe and Asia, and even
in India, Syria, and Egypt.
The heron to which we
refer is a permanent inhabitant
of our own country and Scot-
land. It is of solitary habits,
and save in the breeding
season two of them are seldom
seen together. When the
water is low in the Severn
river, herons may be seen here
and there standing by the edge of the receding water, in-
tently watching for some unlucky fish, which, as soon as it
appears is pounced upon, dragged out of the water, and then
has to take an aerial voyage a considerable height and distance
in the bill or pouch of its captor.
The appearance of the heron just before and after it has
seized its prey presents a very wide contrast. While gazing
into the water it looks more like a motionless post just standing
out of the sand-bed, than a living creature in search of food.
No sooner, however, has it secured its victim than it stretches
its long neck, expands its broad and hollow wings, and by the
strong resisting power with which they are provided, the heron
sails away, though heavily, with its living load, to some far-off
place it has selected as its residence, or to its young family
that may be anxiously awaiting its return to their nest.
The instinct of the heron teaches it to attend to the duty
of seeking food by fishing just at the time and under circum-
stances the most suitable and favourable for that object. This
bird may be seen watching in the water or on the shores and
shallows when the fish come to them in search of insects, or
when the fish are actively disporting in their native element.
Cloudy days appear to be the most favourable to the fishing
A Fatal Encounter.
123
pursuits of the heron, simply because its body does not cast
such a strong shadow in the water as it would do if the sun
was shining brightly, and therefore the fish are less likely to
be disturbed by the motion of the heron.
THE VORACITY OF THE HERON is very great, as this bird
has been known to swallow several carp at a time, and to
digest the whole in a very few hours, and then to go again
after more food. It has also been known to catch up an eel,
to hold it by the middle of the body, and then to fly away
with it ; not, however, without considerable inconvenience, as
the twisting of the body of the eel this way and then that
way very materially retards the flight of the bird.
THE HERON AND SPANIEL. When attacked the heron will
offer a fierce and determined resistance. ' A gentleman in
Bothwell fired at and wounded a heron, and then sent his
spaniel to fetch it out of the stream. As the dog approached
the heron drew back its head, and then with all the force it
could command stuck its beak into the dog's rib. The gentle-
man fired again and killed the heron, but had the mortifica-
tion of seeing both
the bird and the
dog floating dead
together down the
waterfall.'
As before ob-
served, herons will
convey the fish
they have captured
many miles to their
nests, as plaice and
other fish, several
inches long, have
been found under
the high trees in
which these birds build. Heronries were at one time common
in England, but since heron-hawking has been discontinued
they have become very scarce. A few, however, remain as
mementoes of times gone by. Instances are on record of herons
and rooks building their nests very near each other, and
living, as near neighbours should live, on good terms one
with another.
1 24 Feathered Feeders on Fish, Flesh, and Fowl.
HAWKS. Of these there are many kinds widely distributed,
especially in northern latitudes. We will mention the Hobby.
This hawk is about
twelve inches long,
and has a prominent
hooked bill. It was
formerly used in
falconry, in catching
larks and other small
birds." The Goshaivk
is about twenty
inches long. It is
not much seen in
England, being
chiefly restricted to
Goshawk.
the Highlands of
Scotland. It is not
satisfied to prey only
on small birds, but attacks even hares, squirrels, mice, and the
larger ground birds. It is not a favourite of the gamekeeper,
as it is very de-
structive to game
of all kinds. The
Osprey, or Fish-
Hawk, is found
in every part of
Europe. It is
b , nearly two feet
in length, and
lives principally
_ on fish, on which
PI it darts with great
velocity and un-
erring aim. This
bird builds its
nest sometimes
among rocks and
Osprey - in fir trees, and
lays three or four eggs a little smaller than those laid by the
common fowl. It appears that both the male and female
birds attend to the duties of incubation alternately, and each
in turn goes in quest of food.
CHAPTER IX.
PEACEFUL MONARCH3 OF THE LAKE, ETC.
On lakes and ponds may oft be seen
The swan, majestic as a queen ;
While ducks and geese, like maids of honour,
Are near, as if to wait upon her ;
They glide with ease, now here, now there,
All well-built lifeboats, I declare.
HE habit which some men have of expressing their
opinions of others by comparing their good or
bad qualities with those of different animals is by
no means uncommon. While this may be justi-
fiable in some cases, it is not so in all. In many
instances these comparisons are not only 'odious,' but, we
think, a libel upon the animals whose names they use. -Why
should a man be called ' a drunken dog T or, as ' senseless as
an ass ?' Dogs are not in the habit of getting drunk ; neither
is the ass naturally senseless or void of understanding, but is
as intellectual as many other animals which are credited with
great sagacity.
When a man is told he is ' as silly as a goose,' it is intended
to imply that he is considered to be defective in common-
sense and in power of intellect, or that he has acted indis-
creetly in something or other. We do not pretend to know
everything about geese, but we confess we are at a loss to
understand in what respects the ' goose is silly,' unless it is so
for the reason once assigned to us by an old man, who said
' the goose was a silly bird because it was too much for one
man's dinner, but not enough for two.'
If nothing stronger than this can be adduced in justification
126
Peacefid Monarch* of the Lake.
of the comparison, then it is evident the goose is libelled when-
ever the expression referred to is used.
In this chapter we shall refer to three kinds of birds only,
which may be included in those that are domesticated and
belonging to our farmyards and homesteads. The first we
shall refer to is
THE SWAN. Swans belong to the order of birds in the
system of Linnaeus
named Anseres, thus
named from Anser,
the type. It in-
cludes all the web-
footed water-fowls.
Tame, or, as they
are sometimes called,
mute swans, though
well known in Eng-
land, are by no
means common.
Swan. , ,
They may be seen in
some parts of the different rivers of this country, on the
lakes of some of our large estates, and occasionally in the
ponds of our farmsteads. The male swan is called a cob, the
female a pen^ and the young cygnets.
We remember seeing, some years since, about a dozen
swans in a line, one behind the other, flying across one of the
marshes in Gloucestershire at no considerable elevation. It
was in the depth of a severe winter, and the birds were making
southwards.
A promised visit ' to see the swans ' constitutes a very great
prospective pleasure to ' little folks,' and perhaps not less so
to nursemaids, who in bright warm weather may be seen
watching them glide so gracefully on the ornamental waters
of our London parks.
Although in its general form the swan resembles the goose,
it is, as seen upon the water, much more majestic in appear-
ance than the goose, which may be owing to its greater size
and its long and beautifully arched neck. This neck is
nearly the length of the body, and consists of twenty-three
vertebrae. The eyes are small, and placed very near the
beak. The legs are short and bare, and the feet broadly
Conjugal Fidelity of Swans. 127
webbed. It is in all respects well formed for the element in
which it delights to live. On land the swan is stupid and
awkward. It is noted for mischief and cruelty, especially in
pairing-time, when the males fight with terrible fury, and the
females, when attending their young, will attack anyone that
approaches them.
FLIGHT OF THE SWAN. ' Although these birds fly heavily,
they have been known, in a favourable gale, to fly 100 miles
an hour. Some of them have lived fifty and seventy years.
They subsist on aquatic insects, frogs, leeches, roots, leaves, and
seeds, and even small fish. They are, when young, delicate
eating, and if cooked with proper gravy, taste like goose and
hare, or something between the two.'
Being aquatic birds, their nests, which are large and com-
posed of grass, herbs, etc., are built close to their native
element that, is on the banks of the rivers, lakes, or ponds
where they abide. They seldom lay more than six or eight
eggs, which they have to sit upon about six weeks.
It is said that they are good prognosticators of n dry or wet
season. If heavy downfalls of rain are likely to take place,
swans build their nests much higher up the bank than when
the season is likely to be an ordinary or dry one.
THE WHISTLING SWAN. 'The wild swan, elk, hooper,
or whistling swan is a winter visitor to the British islands, but
its native haunts are the northern regions of Europe and
Asia.'
Swans generally pair for life, their whole behaviour offering
a beautiful example of conjugal fidelity. The two birds show
the greatest affection for each other, always swimming in
company, and caressing one another with their bills and necks
in the most interesting manner ; and should either be attacked,
the other will show fight in the most vigorous manner, though,
of course, the male is the more powerful and courageous.
The young when hatched are very thickly covered with down,
and are generally taken to the water by the mother when only
a day or two old. There they are watched over by both
parents with the greatest care until grown enough to provide
for themselves. Swans were formerly designated royal birds,
AN ENRAGED SWAN. Referring again to the pugnacious
disposition of swans, we have been informed by a friend that
a large number of these birds were kept, some years ago, in a
128 Peaceful Monarchs of the Lake.
reservoir on an estate not far from Swansea in Wales, and that
on one occasion they were visited by some young people, who
fed them with biscuits, pieces of bun, etc. When these were
exhausted, they injudiciously tantalized the swans by throwing
small stones and sticks to them. At this treatment one of the
male swans became so enraged that he came out of the water,
attacked one of the females, and so severely injured her about
the neck and head, that she had to be taken at once to the
hospital, where she was under medical treatment about a
month.
A large scar remained on her temple as a memento of her
visit to the swans, and as a proof that these birds will not be
trifled with with impunity.
THE SWAN AND Fox. The following incident is related in
' The Parlour Menagerie ' as having occurred at Pensy, Buck-
inghamshire. A female swan, while in the act of sitting,
observed a fox swimming towards her from the opposite shore.
She instantly darted into the water, and having kept him at
bay for a considerable time with her wings, at last succeeded
in drowning him ; after which, in the sight of several persons,
she returned in triumph.
According to reliable information, it appears that in 1841
there were 437 swans on the Thames; 232 belonging to the
Queen, 105 to the Company of the Dyers, and 100 to the
Company of Vintners. They are marked by a particular cut
or nick on the upper mandible ; and on the first Monday of
every August these marks are reviewed by the swan-uppers or
swan-hoppers, as they are generally called.
Although the practice mentioned is resorted to in order to
know to whom the different swans belong, it can hardly be
regarded as the most humane method that could be adopted.
We believe that in some parts of the Continent rings, suffi-
ciently large and properly adjusted on the necks of these
birds, are used, without inflicting suffering, or putting the
swans to any inconvenience. This plan seems to be much
more humane than that of cutting or nicking.
A SWAN FEEDING HER YOUNG. The Rev. F. O. Morris says :
' On the Thames last summer I was amused by watching an
old swan feeding her young ones in what seemed to me a
novel and ingenious manner. Sitting on the water with her
breast against the bank, she gathered from it the grass as far
Two Singular Ducks. 129
over as she could reach, and then, turning round her long
neck, threw it over her back to the cygnets, who seemed quite
up to the manoeuvre, and were waiting and scrambling for it
in the water behind her. My attention was called to it by
the fisherman who was with me, who, though he had lived
all his life by the banks of the Thames, said he had never
witnessed this before.'
THE DUCK. The duck belongs to the order Nafatores,
sometimes called by the name ' Palmapedes ;' the first being
from the word nato, to
swim, the latter from
'pa/ma, the flat front of
the hand, and pes, a foot,
implying that the birds
are palm, or web-footed^
the toes of the feet being
connected by a web or
membrane.'
The tame or domesti- Duck,
cated duck is very com-
mon in England. A country ramble would be deprived
of much of its interest if ducks could not be seen floating
on our streams, rivers, and ponds. Their 'quack, quack,'
though not musical, is very suggestive of farmsteads, pure
fresh air, verdant meadows, fruitful fields, and the calm
quietude of a rustic life.
The duck is a very useful and valuable bird, contributing
materially in various ways to the sustenance and comfort of
man.
The duck is easily reared, being by no means an epicure. It
works assiduously to obtain its food, which consists of the refuse
of animal and vegetable substances, snails, worms, slugs, and it
does not object to a small frog, nor even to insects of various
kinds. The duck lays a great number of eggs, and the young
ones are reared without much difficulty and are easily fattened.
We are informed that on a farm near Jedburgh there was a
duck which in the spring laid black eggs. As the season
advanced, the blackness gradually went off, till at the end of
autumn the eggs were whiter than those of an ordinary duck.
This duck was rather beyond the usual size. On the same
farm there was another duck which laid two eggs a day. This
9
130 Peaceful Monarch* of the Lake.
fact was proved by locking the bird up, when one egg was
found early in the morning, and another in the evening.
The common wild duck, or mallard, is no doubt the original
stock of our domesticated duck. It is supposed there was
considerable difficulty in weaning it from its former wild, free,
and half-savage way of life. Those eggs that were first taken
from the wild duck and set under an adopted mother produced
very shy birds, which seemed unsettled, much inclined to
roam, and very impatient to enjoy the unrestrained liberty of
their predecessors. Even now the domesticated duck exhibits
a propensity to go off in search of larger pools and marshy
places, where it can enjoy its life in following out more fully
the roving instinct with which it is endowed.
The strong proclivities of ducks in favour of watery places
are necessary to preserve their size, strength, and beauty,
which they do with frequent divings, washings, and sportings
in their native element, and by finding in these places the kind
of food suitable to their nature.
Although they are amphibious animals, if they were kept
always out of water they would deteriorate both in size and
value, and would be destitute of that flavour they possess
when reared in proper places.
Duck or mallard shooting was at one time a favourite
pastime in England. This method of securing them has
been superseded by what are called
DECOY POOLS. One -of these has been opened very near
the river Severn, in Gloucestershire. It is about two or three
acres in extent, and a few feet deep. On its banks and from
its bottom grow, here and there, reeds and rushes, and long
grass. It is entirely surrounded by trees, which afford a screen
from the burning sun of summer and a shelter from the cold
winds of winter. It is thoroughly secluded, and an almost
death-like stillness reigns over it, save when it is broken by
the hoarse quack of its feathery inhabitants. Running from
each of the four corners of the pool is an inlet about nine feet
wide and thirty or forty yards long. It is arched over by net-
work about six or eight feet high at the entrance, but gradu-
ally lowering to the extremity. To this is attached a circular
net running about nine feet farther on, and closing at the end.
By the side of the inlet are placed several screens of straw
and woodwork, which are so arranged that anyone may watch
Capturing Wild D ticks. 131
the whole surface of the pool without being observed by the
ducks swimming thereon. When the proper season for catch-
ing wild ducks has arrived, the tame or decoy ducks are kept
in the pool, for the purpose of attracting thither their relatives
the mallards. When this has been done, they are further
secured and finally captured in the manner now to be de-
scribed. The keeper of the pool has a dog which he has
trained to move gently on the bank of the inlet to draw the
attention of the wild birds, which he invariably succeeds in
doing. As soon as they begin to move towards him the dog
disappears by passing through an opening among the screens;
he then runs a few yards forward, and again appears on the
bank. This is done several times, until the mallards have
passed the opening of the arch of netting, when the keeper,
who has been whistling for and watching the birds, and direct-
ing the movements of the dog, suddenly appears, lets down
a portion of the netting, and thus secures his victims, who are
now imprisoned in the inlet. They are then driven on and
forced into the circular net, the mouth of which is easily
closed by a mechanical contrivance. From this they cannot
escape unless by accident or at the will of the keeper. From
fifty to a hundred ducks have been caught in this way at one
time. The decoy-ducks are of course taken out of the net
and returned to the pool, while the remainder, that are deemed
worthy, are sent off to market, or are presented to the friends
and acquaintances of the possessor of the decoy-pool.
As the duck has to find and select its food more by the
sense of touch than by sight, its bill is admirably organized
for that purpose. It is abundantly furnished with nerves, and
with a very sensitive membrane, which enable the animal to
distinguish what is eatable from the mud, small stones, or
other substances with which its food may be mixed.
The power of instinct is shown by the duck at a very early
period of its existence, even as it relates to the food it eats.
It is said that if you throw to ducklings but a few hours old a
number of young flies they will greedily gobble them up ; but
if you throw before them young bees or wasps they will not
touch them, but turn away and leave them.
The duck is by no means deficient either in affection or
sagacity. If her little brood, which on the smooth silvery
surface of the lake or pond look like floating balls of gold,
92
132 Peaceful Monarchs of the Lake.
should be in danger from some wanton schoolboy, or the
rapacious appetite of one of the feline race, how stoutly
will the mother resist the intruder and tormentor, and what
fluttering anxiety she will exhibit until the threatened danger
is past !
A BRAVE DRAKE. The Children's Friend gives a story to
the following effect : ' Some years ago, on the breaking up of
the ice in Regent's Park, a duck got its foot fast in one of the
ice-cracks. It gave cries of distress, when, flying in haste to
the rescue, a fine drake was seen, who saw the difficulty at
once. He set to work by chipping with his beak the ice
around the imprisoned leg. It was soon freed, and several
loud "quacks," with wonderful wagging of tails and flapping
of wings, announced the release of the prisoner. A large
crowd of spectators joyfully united in their congratulations
over Master Drake's gallant rescue of his no doubt much
loved duck?
WILD DUCK'S NEST. 'Wild ducks,' says Johnson, 'are
very artful birds. They do not always build their nests close
to the water, but often at a good distance from it ; in which
case the female will take the young in her beak, or between
her legs, to the water. They have been known sometimes to
lay their eggs in a tree in a deserted magpie or crow's nest ;
and an instance has likewise been recorded of one being
found at Etchingham, in Sussex, sitting upon nine eggs, in
an oak, at the height of twenty-five feet from the ground ; the
eggs were supported by some small twigs, laid crossways.'
The keeper of the decoy-pool before referred to has in-
formed us that the mallards, or males of the wild-duck family,
usually select two, three, or four females each as companions,
over whom they keep special guard, and to whom they pay
the most assiduous and affectionate attention, while, at the
same time, the groups keep apart by occupying different parts
of the pool. Should one of these ducks leave her ' lord ' to
join another group, the mallard to which she belongs both
by selection and mutual consent will evince the greatest
jealousy and anger, and will chastise the delinquent duck for
leaving his protection, and for showing signs of preference for
another mallard or for the ducks he may have already under
his care. Sometimes severe encounters take place between
rival mallards before the matter relating to truant ducks can
Ducks in Trouble. 133
be decided. The victorious mallard, however, usually takes
the duck under his protection, and seems to claim her by
right of conquest.
SAGACITY OF DUCKS. A correspondent of the Animal
World communicates the following : ' Having, with a friend,
been an eye-witness, I can vouch for the authenticity of what
doubtless to a great many would appear an almost incredu-
lous tale. When walking yesterday through Kensington
Gardens our attention was attracted to a knot of people round
an old tree, of which only the trunk remained, boughless and
leafless, having been sawn off at the top, probably fearing its
fall. We were told a duck had built her nest on, or rather
in, the top of this old tree. Now we know ducks seldom
build at any great height from the ground, so we waited to
see if such was really the case. The mother-duck was walk-
ing round about the tree in a state of great excitement, fear-
ing lest her young should be taken from her, and yet being
unable to get them out of the tree by herself, loudly quacking
as if asking help and a solution of her difficult problem. We
had not long to wait, for, to the surprise of all present, the
heads of two little ducklings appeared from a hole in the side
of the tree, and about a foot from the top. They answered
feebly to their mother's call, and then, after some deliberation,
one of them came to the front, looked down on the bystanders,
spread its tiny pinions (not being more than a week old and
covered only with down), and fell heavily into the ready
hands stretched out to receive it The second seemed some-
what horrified at his brother's quick descent, but not feeling
inclined to be left alone in his glory, plucked up all his courage
and followed the good example set him ; when both were
restored to the anxious and now delighted parent. Such an
instance of affection in ducks is, I think, most striking. The
mother heeded not the crowd, but continued her call, when
the little ones too, fearing nothing, replied in the manner
described. Happily for them, some one was nigh to catch
them as they fell, or I sadly fear the poor mother would have
seen them either crippled or killed ; for the tree was some
height from the ground. Poor thing ! very likely she may
have found it difficult to secure a quiet spot to build, in a
place so public as the Kensington Gardens, where the small
boys seem, I am sorry to say, only too pleased to chase the
134 Peaceful Monarchs of the Lake.
ducks whenever an opportunity occurs, and thus this strange
home was found for her young, quite out of their reach or
sight. Probably she wished them to join her in the water, to
be admired by all, and begin their aquatic education. Her
puzzle was how to get them there, and so she continued to
quack until the attention of some passers-by was attracted to
the spot. I wish that I could better depict the scene the
anxious mother and her fearless, obedient children. I assure
you it was well worthy the pencil of some of our talented
artists, who at different times have so ably portrayed the
leading characteristics of the animal world, and endeared them
if possible still more to us all.'
A lady who keeps ducks also gives the following instance
of sagacity : ' Once, very late at night, just as we were passing
through the hall to go upstairs, we heard a great noise of
ducks. It so happened that my husband was carrying a large
paraffin lamp, and no sooner did the strong light appear in
the hall than the noise very much increased. I opened a
door which led into the garden, and no sooner had I done
so than a duck positively rushed into the hall close to my feet,
quacking most vociferously, her eyes glaring, and she beating
her wings and moving her head about in great agitation. My
husband turned out, and went into the garden, carrying the
large lamp, and immediately the duck followed him. Outside
she was joined by the rest of the ducks, young and old ; but
the old drake was nowhere to be found. The next morning
he was discovered amongst the bushes, alive, but somewhat
injured, having evidently been caught by a dog, who had
dropped him upon hearing the alarm and seeing the light
approaching.'
THE GOOSE. This tenant of the farmyard and pond is so
common, and its value, in various ways, so well understood,
that a description of it would seem to be hardly necessary.
Nevertheless, it claims, as well as the swan and the duck, at
least a little notice. The tame goose, as now bred in this
country, appears to owe its origin to the Anser ferus, the wild
or grey lag goose, which is perhaps the largest species of the
family, measuring five feet in extent of wings. Wild geese
are found in nearly every part of the world, but especially in
Northern countries, on the lakes, swamps, and marshes of
which they breed in immense numbers.
Structure and Value of Geese. 135
As an article of food our tame geese are much esteemed ;
their quills are still extensively used as pens for writing, and
their feathers and down are of great importance, not only as
luxuries but in a com-
mercial point of view.
Very large numbers
are bred in England,
and, as in the case of
turkeys, the consump-
tion of them from
Michaelmas until after
Christmas is enormous.
In the fens of Lin-
colnshire geese are
kept in great numbers. Goose
Some owners of these
birds keep as many as a thousand breeders, not only to
furnish geese for eating, but mainly for their feathers, for
which they are plucked four or five times a year, and for
their quills once a year. It is recorded that in 1783 one
drove of geese consisting of 9000 in number was driven
through Chelmsford on its way from Suffolk to London.
Railway facilities have, however, rendered these tedious and
we should imagine painful journeys unnecessary, although we
fear the reprehensible practice often resorted to of packing
them so closely in crates renders their transit by rail not only
not easy, but even painful. Such a practice we must condemn
as exhibiting not only a parsimonious feeling, but a lack of
common humanity. On the authority of ' All About Country
Life ' we are glad to state that the unnatural and cruel practice
of plucking live geese is getting obsolete. We shall now de-
scribe at least some parts of the
STRUCTURE OF THE GOOSE, which are distinguishing
features or characters of all the different kinds of geese,
whether wild or tame. We are informed by 'Treasures of
Natural History ' that ' the bill is the first great distinction of
the goose kind from all the feathered tribes. In all other
birds it is round or wedge-shaped, or crooked at the end ; in
all the goose kind it is flat and broad, formed for the purpose
of skimming ponds and lakes of the mantling weeds which
grow on their surface, The bills of other birds are composed
136 Peaceful M anarchs, of the Lake.
of a horny substance throughout, formed for piercing or
tearing ; but birds of this genus have their inoffensive beaks
sheathed with a skin which entirely covers them, and are
only adapted for shovelling up their food, which is chiefly
confined to vegetable productions; for though they do not
reject animal food when offered to them, they contentedly
subsist on vegetable, and seldom seek any other.' '
We may add that the long necks of geese are of great
advantage to them when feeding in the way just described,
because while remaining in one spot on the surface of the
water they can throw out their long necks and so secure all
the food that may happen to be within the radius of the half-
circle they can so easily describe.
As feeders on vegetable productions, geese by no means
ignore tender blades of grass, which they seem to devour with
the greatest pleasure, and on which they thrive ; as well as
on the scattered grain they sometimes pick up in stubble-fields
after the harvest is gathered in. In many cases, however,
where large numbers are reared for the market they are fed
systematically by prepared food of various kinds, in order to
increase their weight and of course their value too.
It has been remarked that none of our domestic birds are
so apt to bring forth monstrous productions as geese a cir-
cumstance which has been attributed to the excessive fatness
to which they are liable. The liver of a fat goose is often
larger than all the other viscera, and was a dish in so great
reputation among the epicures of Rome, that Pliny thought it
deserved a serious discussion to whom the honour of invent-
ing so excellent a dish was due.
The feet of the goose being thoroughly webbed, afford con-
siderable facilities to it to pass easily and at considerable speed
through the water. Although our tame geese are under no
necessity of flying, and so have not to use their wings for that
purpose, there is great strength and powers of endurance in
them, especially in those of the wild kind, who often travel, at
a considerable elevation, many miles in search of food, and
return to their resting-places for the night.
In the autumnal season of the year we have often watched
with boyish glee the flight of great numbers of geese, arranged
one after the other in the shape of the letter V, flying across
the country from the river Humber to the Yorkshire wolds,
A Critical Epoch in the Life of the Goose. 137
It would appear that wild geese are aware of the necessity
of using every precaution for their own safety while feeding in
a stubble-field, or in any other place. We have been informed
that, while they are thus engaged, one or two of their number
are appointed to act as sentinels, whose duty it is to look out
for an approaching enemy, whether man or quadruped, and
at once, when seen, to sound the note of alarm. When this
is heard, all the geese rise simultaneously to a great height,
form themselves into two lines as described, then follow their
leader, who constitutes the first link in this acute angle.
The tame goose lays from seven to twelve eggs, sometimes
beginning in January, but more commonly in February.* The
time of incubation lasts about thirty days. Having reared
her brood, it often happens that the same goose will com-
mence laying eggs again at harvest-time, and will sometimes
produce as many in autumn as in the spring. In egg-laying,
geese arrive at the greatest usefulness after they are three
years of age. The longevity of the goose is proverbial. Some
have been known to be thirty years old, and mention is made
of one who reached threescore years and ten.
The custom of eating geese at Michaelmas, it is said,
originated with Queen Elizabeth, who happened to be feeding
on roast goose when she received tidings of the destruction
of the Spanish Armada, and in commemoration thereof con-
tinued to dine on the same dish when the anniversary of the
day recurred.
The Evening Standard says, ' A critical epoch in the life of
the goose is the season which sets in on the zgth September.
Queen Elizabeth used to be accredited with the origin of the
custom of causing flocks of these noisy creatures that " gabble
o'er the pool," especially, according to Goldsmith, at that hour
when the noisy children are "just let loose from school " to
be on that particular day served up to table and form the
dish of honour, taking precedence of all other dishes. Recent
researches, however, have traced the custom back to a date
much more remote, and to countries on the Continent far
* It is said that if, after a goose has laid seven or eight eggs, one egg
per day be taken from the nest, the goose will continue to lay until she has
produced about thirty eggs, more or less. If none be taken from her,
when she finds about twelve or thirteen eggs under her she ceases laying,
and attends exclusively to incubation,
38 Peaceful Monarchs of the Lake.
distant from our own. In the England of our own day the
goose, as a rule, is reserved for the hospitable dinner-tables of
Christmas and thereabouts. Then the stubble-fed bird is in
its primest condition, and its succulent flesh, when tempered
with apple sauce, is most palatable.'
A CARNIVOROUS GOOSE. The .following curious informa-
tion appeared in Nature, of April 19, 1879:
' I enclose to you an account of a golden eagle, which I have
reason to know to be authentic. The possibility of a bird so
purely graminivorous as a goose being taught to eat flesh,
and acquiring the power of digesting it, is extremely curious.
It is well known," however, that cows are largely fed on fish
offal in Scandinavia, and I have heard of a Highland cow de-
vouring a salmon which an unwary angler had hid among
fern on the banks of a river in Sutherland.
' ARGYLL.
' Isola Bella, Cannes, April 7th.'
' March, 1879 : There is in the possession of W. Pike, Esq.,
at Glendarary, in the island of Achil, co. Mayo, a golden
eagle, now about twenty-five years old, which was taken from
the nest and brought up in confinement. This eagle, in the
spring of 1877, laid three eggs, which Mr. Pike took away,
replacing them with two goose eggs, upon which the eagle sat,
and in due time hatched two goslings. One of these died,
and was torn up by the eagle to feed the survivor, who, to the
great tribulation of its foster-parent, refused to touch it, to-
gether with the other flesh with which the eagle tried to feed
it, Mr. Pike providing it with proper food. The eagle, how-
ever, in course of time taught the goose to eat flesh, and (the
goose having free exit and ingress to the eagle's cage) always
calls it by a sharp bark whenever flesh is given to it, when
the goose hastens to the cage and greedily swallows all the
flesh, etc., which the eagle, tearing its prey to pieces, gives it
' I saw them in May, 1878, when the goose, being a year
old, had made a nest in the eagle's cage, and laid eleven eggs,
and the two birds were sitting side by side on the nest. I
hear from Mr. Pike that he did not allow them to hatch out,
fearing that it might interfere with their attachment to one
another.
' The eagle is very tame and fond of Mr. Pike ; he goes
into the cage, and it allows him to handle it as he likes, but
'As Silly as a Goose' Disproved, 139
will not allow anyone else near it. It never attempts to get
out of the hole made for the goose to go in and out at.'
Geese feel so much concern for the safety of their young
that the gander will not only hiss defiance and displeasure at
an intruder, be it dog, pig, horse, or man, but has been known
to attack children so savagely as to inflict upon them serious
injury. These birds are, however, susceptible to kindness, as
the following anecdote will show, which we copy from the
' Parlour Menagerie ':
A GRATEFUL GANDER. 'An old gander of a surly temper, in
the habit of attacking everyone that passed, chanced to wander
up a narrow drain, from which he was unable to extricate
himself. A labourer observed the awkward predicament into
which the bird had got, and at once pulled him out. As if
to show his gratitude, the gander was afterwards in the habit
of following his deliverer like a dog, and allowing himself to
be handled in any way the man chose. This freedom was
confined solely to his deliverer to all others he maintained
his former pugnacity.'
'As SILLY AS A GOOSE.' This expression, as before stated,
is often used to denote the want of good sense on the part of
some one who may have performed some absurd or foolish
act This libel on the goose is, however, very clearly dis-
proved by Mr. St. John, in 'Wild Sports of the Highlands.'
He says : ' Even a tame goose shows much instinct and
attachment ; and were its habits more closely observed, the
goose would be found to be by no means wanting in general
cleverness. Its watchfulness at night-time is proverbial ; and
it certainly is endowed with a strong organ of self-preservation.
You may drive over dog, cat, hen, or pig, but I defy you to
drive over a tame goose. As for wild geese, I know of no
animal, biped or quadruped, that is so difficult to deceive or
approach. Their senses of hearing, seeing, and smelling are
all extremely acute ; independently of which, they appear [to
act in so organized and cautious a manner, when feeding or
roosting, as to defy all danger. Many a time has my utmost
caution been of no avail in attempting to approach these
birds ; either a careless step on a piece of gravel, or an eddy
of wind, however light, or letting them perceive the slightest
portion of my person, has rendered useless whole hours of
manoeuvring.'
CHAPTER X.
BIPED TENANTS OF THE FARMYARD.
One tenant of the yard and field
Is often heard to bellow ;
One crows a cock-a-doodle-do,
And one's a grunting fellow.
Pintados seem to say, ' ' Come back j"
But turkeys only gobble ;
The strutting peacock, finely drest,
Screams out as if in trouble.
F we were to form our opinion of the intrinsic
value of everything by its external appearance,
we should be very often in error. In nothing is
this more clearly seen than in nature, animate
and inanimate. The sunflower, towering six
feet high, with its golden boss turned to the sun, looks
beautiful and majestic, but it gives no fragrance grateful to
the olfactory nerves. The violet, blooming on a bank by the
wayside, and bending its head modestly downward, is often
hidden from sight, but from its tiny leaves comes a sweetness
which tells us at once it is there. It would be in vain to look
for a combination of all excellences in any one created thing,
but some may be found in all of them. Animals in their life
and surroundings particularly show the truth of this state-
ment.
If the peacock cannot sing, he shows in his variegated
feathers, in the brilliant purple and green colours of his head
and breast, the beauty of Nature, and the most delicate
touches of her pencil. If the turkey can claim no ability as
a feathered chorister, but on the other hand has a very unin-
telligible and disagreeable way of expressing himself, he is of
A Finely Dressed Bird. 141
more use to man after death than would be the sweetest bird-
singer ever heard in our fields or woodlands. The pintado
cannot boast either of a commanding and graceful form of
body, or of splendid feathers; yet its eggs are good eating,
and its flesh, like that of the turkey, is esteemed a delicate
article of food. And so it is throughout animated nature :
every animal possesses some useful, valuable, and peculiar
property ; what it may lack in one way is made up in another.
Having in a previous volume ' Facts and Phases of
Animal Life ' devoted a chapter to the common fowl family,
we now propose making a few remarks on the following
feathered tenants of the farmyard : namely, the peacock,
turkey, the Guinea-fowl, or pintado, and the pigeon.
THE PEACOCK. This bird is, in many respects, the very
reverse of the owl. The latter avoids as much as possible all
contact with human beings, hides himself by day, and comes
stealthily out at nightfall to hunt for his living. He prefers
seclusion at all times, and, as we have shown, loves to linger
in old towers, ruins, and crevices of rocks. The peacock
lives in the society of man, and in the open light of day seeks
his food and attends to the duties his necessities impose upon
him. He appears to be fond of display, is very vain, and
loves to be admired. If you look over the wall of the farm-
yard you may see him quietly feeding with his family, while
his long tail or train lightly sweeps the ground on which he
walks. But the moment he is aware of your presence, he
greets you with a peculiar noise, spreads out his tail-coverts,
which are of the most dazzling colours : yellow gilded with
different shades, green running into blue and bright violet,
the centre being of a beautiful soft black, and all varying ac-
cording to its different positions. The tail is of a brownish
colour, and is hidden underneath the tail-coverts, or those
long graceful feathers sometimes called ' the peacock's train,'
and which, when elevated and spread out, resembles a large,
gorgeous fan. Whether the spreading out of this ' feathery
fan ' of the peacock depends more upon anger or pleasure it
may be difficult to determine. When not disturbed by in-
truders of any kind, the peacock may often be seen on an
eminence, a gate or wall, with his tail-feathers elevated and
opened out as wide as possible, as if to make his beauty all
the more conspicuous. The head of this bird is also of rare
Peacock,
Bravery of a Peacock. 143
beauty. It is adorned with feathers of a green colour, and
bordered with rich gold. From the head to the breast there
is a charming blue colour, mixed with green and gold. He
has a stout beak, strong legs, and rounded wings. The female,
or pea-hen, cannot boast of these rich colours, hers being alto-
gether of a sombre hue.
The peacock has, however, his seasons of humiliation.
When the leaf falls he loses his ' train of gorgeous feathers ;'
and will then creep into corners or anywhere out of the sight
of human beings until the return of spring, when he is fur-
nished again with a feathery plume. His cry or voice is most
discordant, and he is very voracious, which lessens his popu-
larity.
PEACOCKS DEFENDING A YOUNG THRUSH. ' Two summers
ago,' says a writer in the Animal World, ' I was staying in a
country house in Scotland, the happy home of various pets.
Among these was a fine cat called " Ben," and a pair of pea-
cocks. The three were on friendly terms, and might often be
seen in the garden ; the peacocks pacing with measured steps,
and the cat either scampering wildly up and down the trees,
or pretending to doze on the lawn, till the sweeping train of
the peacock came within reach, when a sudden clutch would
prove pussy not so unconscious as he looked, and quite unable
to resist a practical joke at the expense of his friend's dignity.
The windows of my room looked out on the garden, and I
often amused myself by watching Ben's sly pranks. One
morning I was startled by the shrill note of a bird evidently
in distress. On looking out, I saw the cat on the grassy bank
crouching over a dark object. While I watched, the two pea-
cocks hurried round the corner with ruffled feathers and out-
stretched necks. They had evidently heard the harsh outcry
of the captive, for to my surprise they both flew at the cat,
and with a few vigorous pecks made him drop a bird, which
hopped off into a bed of stocks; after which the peacocks
marched away. For a minute the cat stood still, then crept
round the flower-bed; another minute, and a loud squeak
announced the success of a rapid pounce. Again the pea-
cocks rushed into view, and again rescued the bird, a fine
young thrush. This time the cat was on the alert, and as the
bird hopped slowly off he stole after. The peacock, observing
this, swept quickly round, and facing the cat, put himself
144 Biped Tenants of the Farmyard.
before the thrush, while his mate stood near. By this time I
felt a strong interest, and called my husband from the next
room to watch the end, ringing the bell at the same time
for my maid. Certainly two or three minutes must have
elapsed before she came upstairs at my request went down,
through the long drawing-rooms, and out of the glass door,
and all this time the peacocks defended the thrush in the
most spirited manner. The cat made most persistent efforts
to creep round and seize the poor young bird^ which was now
standing bewildered and silent behind his defenders. The
peacocks always fronted the foe, sweeping rapidly round as
often as the cat tried to get behind, and they did not relax
their vigilance till the maid arrived and carried off the cat.
The thrush then hopped merrily away into the shrubbery,
and the peacocks resumed their usual measured pace.'
A SINGULAR FANCY. It is said the peacock is not fond of
having his roost prescribed to him. A gentleman residing in
the suburbs of Edinburgh had a peacock which uniformly
went to roost at nightfall in the avenue of one of the public
parks of the city, where it was liable to be stolen and was fre-
quently annoyed. There were many large trees on the pro-
perty of the gentleman, but the stupid bird persisted in
visiting the avenue, where, as might have been expected, it
ultimately became the prey of thieves.
Referring again to the pea-hen, we quote the following
account of her nest as given by Brown. He says : ' In the
nest of a pea-hen which we lately examined, we observed
that the mother had taken care to choose a very sheltered
spot, the nest being overhung by a lovr branch of a spruce fir,
which was suspended over it like an umbrella, and completely
protected it from rain and dew. Another circumstance was
still more remarkable. It is well known that female birds,
for the most part, wear off a considerable portion of the
feathers from their breasts by their frequent movements in
turning their eggs. Now, as her eggs were placed on the bare
earth, no grass growing under the grip of the spruce branch,
the breast of our pea-hen must soon have been rubbed bare
of feathers. Foreseeing this event . . the careful creature
prepared a soft cushion of dry grass upon which her breast
might rest. This cushion was placed on the most exposed
side of the nest, but no part of it under the eggs themselves.'
Origin of the Turkey. 145
The foreign relations of our peacock are those of Japan,
China, and Thibet. The painting of a Japan peacock was
sent by the Emperor of the former country to the Pope, since
which time it has been known in Europe. The date at which
the present was made is not stated.
THE TURKEY : ITS ORIGIN, ETC. This bird belongs to the
order Galling is very common in England, and constitutes in
some districts a very important article of commerce, especially
in Norfolk and Suffolk, whence they are sent in large numbers
to the London market. If we may judge from the immense
quantity of these birds which may be seen in our shops about
Christmas-tide, it is evident their flesh is highly esteemed as
food, quite as much so as that of the goose, and in some cases
even more so.
For some time an erroneous idea prevailed that this bird
was a native of Turkey, which in all probability arose from the
circumstance that about the time it was introduced into Eng-
land we were importing from that country many different
things which were regarded as great luxuries, and as the flesh
of this bird was deemed to be one, it was classed with the
others ; and so, without troubling to find out where it really
did come from, it was concluded that it was brought from
Turkey, and on this account received the name by which it is
known.
Baird states that the common turkey (M. gallopavd) is the
type of the genus. Mr. Gould has lately shown that this bird
is a native of Mexico, and is the true origin of our domestic
species. It appears to have been first imported into Europe
by the Spaniards in the year 1530. For many years, how-
ever, this species has been lost sight of; and another, closely
allied, a native of the United States of North America, has
been generally considered the origin of our well-known
domestic bird. In their wild state, turkeys attain a large size,
and birds of from twenty to thirty and even forty pounds'
weight are often met with.
STRUCTURE OF TURKEYS. Familiar as the personal appear-
ance of turkeys may be to most people, we may notice that in
a state of domestication they vary in colour : while some are
grey and almost black, others are white, and black and white.
When the males are about three years old they put out a tuft
of hair which hangs from the breast. From the head and
xo
' A Coxcomb among Birds' 147
neck, and from underneath the bill, hangs a fleshy dilatable
appendage, which, when the male bird is excited by fear, or
agitated with desire, enlarges, and becomes alternately red,
white, blue, and yellow. When thus agitated the male also
erects his tail, and spreads it like a fan, his wings droop and
trail on the ground, and he struts about with a solemn pace,
and assumes all the dignity of the most majestic of birds.
Although he may have a very high estimate of himself, he
is little less than a ' coxcomb among birds,' and, with all his
ostentatious display, whenever he essays to open his mouth
he utters a kind of gurgle which is unmusical and disagreeable.
The noise he makes may, however, not only please himself,
but may possess a great charm and power for the female turkeys.
The male bird has a great antipathy to everything that is of
a red colour, and has often been known to pursue children
and others wearing red dresses, particularly when they have
shown any fear of him. When these birds are being driven to
market, those who have the charge of them often carry a red
flag on the end of a long stick, by means of which the drivers
manage them with much greater facility than they would be
able to do without it, because the hatred these birds have to
a red colour urges them onward with greater speed.
AFFECTION OF TURKEY HENS. 'The turkey hen is a timid,
inoffensive bird, and greatly attached to her young.' Buffon
says, ' When the hen turkey appears at the head of her young,
she is sometimes heard to send forth a very mournful cry, the
cause and intention of which are unknown ; but the brood
immediately squat under bushes, or whatever presents itself
for their purpose, and entirely disappear ; or if they have not
a sufficient covering, they stretch themselves on the ground,
and lie as if they were dead, in which state they continue per-
haps a quarter of an hour, or longer. In the meantime, the
mother directs her view upwards with fear and confusion, and
repeats the cry that laid her young prostrate.
'Those who observe the commotion of the bird and her
anxious attention endeavour to trace the cause ; which is always
a bird of prey, floating in the clouds, and whose distance with-
draws him from our view, but who cannot escape the vigilance
or penetration of the active mother : this occasions her fears,
and alarms the whole tribe.' ' I have seen ' (says the Abbe
de la Pluche) ' one of these creatures continue in this agita-
10 2
148 Biped Tenants of the Farmyard.
tion, and her young in a manner riveted to the ground for an
hour successively, while the bird whirled about, ascended, or
darted down over their heads. But if he at length disappear,
the mother changes her note, and utters another cry that re-
vives all her brood ; they run to her, flutter their wings, tender
her their caresses, and undoubtedly relate all the dangers to
which they have been exposed.'
REMARKABLE INCIDENT. The Rev. H. J. JSwale, of Ing-
field, is in possession of a turkey cock, the female of which
was recently set on a number of eggs. Whilst the hen was
so engaged, the cock, it appears, chanced to find a nest of
fourteen duck eggs not far off, on which it forthwith com-
menced to sit, and whilst the process of incubation was going
on it is said to have been a faithful sitter. It succeeded in
bringing out four fine ducklings, and the remainder of the
eggs were found to be rotten, which may be accounted for by
their probable long exposure to the weather before they were
found by the turkey.
A GALLANT TURKEY COCK. In ' Anecdotes of the Animal
Kingdom,' it is stated that ' a gentleman of New York re-
ceived, from a friend at a distance, a turkey cock and hen
and a pair of bantams, which he put into his yard with other
poultry. Some time after, as he was feeding them from the
barn-door, a large hawk suddenly made a pitch at the bantam
hen; she immediately gave the alarm by a noise which is
natural to her on such occasions ; when the turkey cock, who
was at the distance of about two yards, and no doubt under-
stood the intentions of the hawk, as well as the imminent
danger of his old acquaintance and companion, flew at the
marauder with such violence, and gave him so severe a stroke
with his spurs, when about to seize his prey, as to knock him
from the hen to a considerable distance ; and the timely aid
of this faithful auxiliary completely saved the bantam from
being devoured.'
A STRANGE THEFT. 'A jeweller of Manchester, being
away from home for two days, left in his shop a tame turkey.
This bird, urged by hunger, swallowed about ^5,000 worth
of cut diamonds, and flew through a window in search of
more substantial nourishment. Being caught, killed, and
cut up by a cook, he strangely puzzled his new possessor. But
the honest man lodged the diamonds in the hands of his
Value of the Guinea Fowl.
149
attorney ; who restored them to the jeweller, when the news-
papers made known the loss he had sustained, which was
attributed to some very adroit thieves, as he never dreamt the
turkey had been the depredator.'
THE GUINEA FOWL, OR PINTADO. Guinea fowls, like
turkeys, belong to the order Gallince, and are natives of Africa,
but now domesticated in almost every part of Europe. Their
bodies are round, tails pendent, necks and legs short, heads
small, and their plumage a dark bluish-grey, sprinkled with
Guinea FowL
round white spots of different sizes. Their flesh is considered
to be, in flavour, nearly as excellent as that of the pheasant :
they lay many eggs, which are smaller than those of the
common barn-door fowls, but richer in quality. In egg-laying,
the guinea-hen exhibits great secretiveness as to the places in
which she deposits her eggs ; and it often happens that she
produces her young brood before the place where she has
hatched them has been discovered. It is on this account,
and the great difficulty in rearing them, that their numbers
are so small, compared with those of other feathered tenants
of the farmyard.
Biped Tenants of the Farmyard.
Although these birds in most cases retain much of their
native wildness, and seem inclined to roam just as they list,
yet if taken when young and properly trained, they become
very tame. Mr. Bruce informs us that when he was on the
coast of Senegal, he received as a present from an African
princess two guinea-fowls. Both these birds were so familiar
that they would approach the table, and eat out of a plate.
When they had liberty to fly about the beach, they always re-
turned to the ship when the dinner or supper-bell rang.
PIGEONS. We give a place to pigeons in this chapter,
principally because they constitute a connecting link between
passerine birds and the poultry of our farmyards, and because
many of them are really domesticated. The pigeon family is
a large one, comprising many varieties, found in nearly every
part of the world, some even in the coldest latitudes.
'The pigeon family' (says Baird) 'may be divided into
three groups or sub-families : Treronince, or tree-pigeons ;
Columbines, the true pigeons ; and Gourince, the ground doves.
Of these there are several species, but as they are too nume-
rous to refer to in detail, we may state that the species of
Columbines not only exist
in great numbers, but
almost everywhere. This
genus comprises the
cushat, or ring-dove, which
is the largest of our
British pigeons, and
builds its nest in ,the
boughs of our trees. The
stock-dove, or wood-pigeon,
lives in hollow places in
decayed trees in Great
Britain, and was at one
time believed to be the
parent or stock of our domesticated pigeons hence the name.
' The real parent, however, is now considered by ornitho-
logists to be the rock-pigeon ( C. livid} ; and from it are derived
not only the common pigeon, or inhabitant of the dovecot,
but all those numerous varieties of domesticated pigeons so
highly prized and fostered with such care and attention by the
amateur breeder or pigeon-fancier. . . .'
Wood Pigeon.
Group of Pigeons.
152
Biped Tenants of the Farmyard.
In the wild state, the rock-pigeon lives and breeds in holes
of rocks in this country, migrating southward in winter.
The principal food of pigeons is grain ; they drink much,
not like other birds at intervals, but by a continued draught
like quadrupeds. They pair in the season of love, and pay
court to each other with their bills. The female lays two
eggs, from which usually come a male and female. The
Rock Pigeon.
parent birds act on the mutual or co-operative system, as
during the time of incubation they sit on the eggs by turns,
and share in the duty of feeding their young. The domestic
pigeons breed every month, and their fecundity is immense.
It has been calculated that if two pigeons were to hatch nine
times a year, in four years they would be the progenitors of
14,760 young.
While other kinds of birds may feed and rear those fledglings
Varieties of Pigeons. 153
that have been deprived of their parents, it is said that no
other birds can perform the same good offices to young
pigeons, only pigeons themselves. During the first few days
after the young are hatched they are fed by the mother with
a substance resembling thick milk a kind of food macerated
by her own digestive organs. It has been observed that
towards the latter part of the time of incubation the breast of
the hen pigeon enlarges, and is exceedingly prominent imme-
diately after her young are hatched. This is caused by the
milk-like fluid referred to, without which young pigeons could
not be reared. It would therefore appear that the once
common practice of making April fools of simple folks by
sending them for a pennyworth of ' pigeons' milk ' is based on
fact.
FANCY PIGEONS. Owing to cross-breeding, varieties of
pigeons have, during the last few years, considerably increased
in this and other countries. Some of these are known by
certain peculiarities of structure, habits, and capabilities ;
hence we have tumblers, pouters, jacobins, fantails, owls, trum-
peters, barbes, turbits, nuns, dragoons, and archangels. Pro-
bably the most prominent and useful pigeon is the one known
as the
CARRIER PIGEON, highly valued and immortalized by Ana-
creon and other poets, as the bearer of love-epistles, and by
historians as the messenger sent by beleaguered hosts to
friends at a distance. Of late years this kind of pigeon was
employed both in England and on the Continent by those
engaged on the racecourse or in the prize-ring, and in many
stock-jobbing transactions. The use of the electric wire at
the present time has rendered the services of these birds
less necessary than formerly.
It is a matter of surprise that carrier-pigeons taken a long
distance from home should, when let loose, so unerringly find
their way back. They appear, like migratory birds, to possess
either an additional sense or instinct of a very superior order.
We have been informed by a gentleman much interested in
pigeons, and particularly in carrier-pigeons, that the plan
adopted by the latter in their flight homewards is as follows :
first ascending and satisfying themselves as to the direction
they must take for home, they describe a circle, in doing
which their eyes take in the panorama of a large extent of
154 Biped Tenants of the Farmyard.
country ; the next circle they describe is wider, and the next
still larger, and so on; the pigeons, however, moving all
the time in the direction of home. Being, as most birds are,
long-sighted, they soon, from their great altitude, discover on
the landscape objects which are familiar to them ; they then
take a direct course for the destination or home they wish to
reach, and which they usually do in an incredibly short space
of time.
Lithgow assures us that a carrier-pigeon" would carry a
Carrier Pigeon.
letter from Babylon to Aleppo (which to a man is usually
a thirty days' journey) in forty-eight hours. We have read
of a gentleman who, some years ago, on a trifling wager,
sent a carrier-pigeon from London by the coach to a friend
at Bury St. Edmunds, and along with it a note, desiring that
the pigeon, two days after its arrival there, might be thrown
up precisely when the town clock struck nine in the morning.
This was done ; and the pigeon arrived in London, and flew
into the Bull Inn, in Bishopsgate Street, at half an hour past
eleven o'clock, of the same morning, having flown eighty-eight
miles in two hours and a half.
A PIGEON FOND OF Music. It is recorded that Mr. John
Lockman, being in the house of Mr. Lee, who lived in
TJie Voice of the Dove.
155
Cheshire, and whose daughter played the harpsichord, ob-
served a pigeon which, whenever the lady played the song of
' Spera si ' in Handel's opera of ' Admetus,' would come from
the dove-house to the room window where she sat, and listen
to it apparently with the most pleasing emotions ; and when
the song was finished it always returned immediately to the
dove-house.
TURTLE DOVES. This species of dove belongs to the
Columbinae family. They are
migratory, and arrive in England
usually rather late in the spring,
and depart towards the end of
August. 'The turtle-dove is
about twelve inches long. Its
eyes are yellow, encompassed
with a crimson circle ; top of the
head ash-grey, mixed with olive ;
each side of the neck is marked
with a spot of black feathers
tipped with white. The back and
quill feathers vary in colour,
which, though quiet, harmonize very beautifully. This bird
builds in high trees and lays usually two eggs only. During
the short time they are here they mate, lay their eggs, and
rear their young. On account of their gentle and soothing
accents when cooing, and their general deportment, they are
considered to be perfect emblems of connubial attachment.'
Turtle Dove.
CHAPTER XL
FOREST ACROBATS, LITTLE MARAUDERS, AND FLYING ODDITIES.
Thou lively little nimble thing,
Roam freely in thy native wood ;
Enjoy thy life in quiet there ;
/ would not cage thee if I could.
How beats thy heart with fear when human foes
Thy young ones in their cosy nest disclose.
Though thou art but a link between
The mouse that runs, and birds who fly ;
A bat in nature has its use,
A fact 'twere foolish to deny.
MONG the numerous animals confined in small
cages and boxes in many of the low and crowded
streets of London and other large towns, may be
seen one, of a lively temperament, passing its
time by turning, with its little feet, a circular
part of a wired cage so rapidly that the wonder is the limbs
of this creature are not broken by the rotatory motion.
Although absence from its native woods and confinement
in so contracted a prison must of necessity lessen the pleasure
of its life, it affords by its surprising activity at least some
entertainment and instruction to those disposed to learn, but
who may never have seen this animal in its state of wild
freedom, in which, unrestrained by man, it can follow out its
instincts and indulge in its own peculiar habits and tastes. It
will at once be seen that we refer to
THE SQUIRREL. This remarkably light and active animal
belongs to the order Gliris, and is found in most of the
woods and forests of England. Although squirrels are widely
distributed over both the Eastern and Western hemispheres,
Structure of Squirrels. 157
and present many points of similarity in structure, they differ
in others. Some are known as flying squirrels, having their
limbs invested in a skin or membrane, which they spread
out, and by which they are buoyed up and assisted in their
movements from one place to another in a manner similar to
the birds of the air when flying. Our squirrels have their
limbs perfectly free. Being more
of a climbing animal than a leap-
ing one, its fore-legs are a little
longer than the hind-legs, and have
in them a greater concentration
of muscular power. This structural
arrangement is a great advantage
to it in climbing and in laying
hold of the boughs of trees when
leaping from one to another. As
squirrels have to seek their food in
the deep shade of thick trees, they
are favoured with large prominent eyes the more easily to
discern it, and to make sure footing in their, leaps. Their
tails they can bring over the back part of their heads to serve
as a kind of shade, and they no doubt act as a balance to the
body while springing from tree to tree.
The English squirrel is not only a light, lively, beautiful and
active animal, but an exceedingly provident one. In summer-
time it feeds a great deal upon the young shoots of the pine,
of which it is particularly fond. During the autumn it labours
assiduously in collecting nuts and various seeds, and storing
them in the hollow of some tree as a provision for the
winter.
Although these little animals must be as a rule far happier
in the wild woods, their native home, than in a state of con-
finement, however well and kindly treated, they have been
known, when tamed, to show considerable attachment to their
owners, and to place great confidence in their protection,
as well as affording great amusement by their frolics and
gambols.
ANECDOTE OF A SQUIRREL. Captain Brown says : ' A
gentleman procured one from a nest, found at Woodhouselee,
near Edinburgh, which he reared and rendered extremely
docile. It was kept in a box below an aperture, where was
158 Forest Acrobats and Little Marauders.
suspended a rope, by which the animal ascended and de-
scended. The little creature used to watch very narrowly all
its master's movements, and whenever he was preparing to go
out, it ran up his legs and entered his pockets, from whence
it would peep out at passengers as he walked along the streets,
never venturing, however, to go out. But no sooner would
he reach the outskirts of the city, than the squirrel leaped on
the ground, ran along the road, ascended to the tops of trees
and hedges with the quickness of lightning, and nibbled at
the leaves and bark ; and if he walked on, it would descend,
scamper after him, and again enter his pocket This
gentleman had a dog, between which and the squirrel a
certain enmity existed. Whenever the dog lay asleep, the
squirrel showed its teasing disposition by rapidly descending
from the box, scampering over the dog's body, and quickly
mounting its rope.'
Squirrels have sometimes been robbed of their young by
magpies, who have invaded their nests for that purpose.
SQUIRRELS AND NUT-GATHERING. We copy the following
interesting information from the December number of Nature,
1876: 'On the lawn before the window near which I am
writing is erected a tripod of three lofty poles, at the summit
of which is suspended a basket containing nuts and walnuts.
The squirrels, of which there are many in the shrubberies and
adjoining plantations, ascend these poles, extract a nut from
the basket, and quickly make their way down and across the
lawn, in various parts of which they bury their nuts, scratch-
ing a hole in the green turf, putting in a nut, filling up the
hole, and lastly, with much energy, patting the loose materials
with their feet till the filling-up is made firm and solid. This
morning for a considerable time only one squirrel was at work,
giving me a better opportunity of observing the mode of
operation. His journeys were made in all directions, and
varied from five feet to nearly two yards, never, so far as I
could observe, going twice to the same place, or even nearly
so. The squirrels, I am told, forget the spots where they
hide the nuts, and in the following spring the lawn, which is
very spacious, is dotted with the young plants of nuts and
walnuts. As the colours of flowers attracting bees and moths
promote fertilization, so the racy flavour of a nut, irresistible
to a squirrel, contributes to the distribution of its kind.'
Different Kinds of Mice. 159
THE MOUSE. This well-known animal belongs to the same
family and order as the rat. There are several species of this
animal.
1. There is the wood-mouse, which lives in fields and
gardens, and is found in every part of Europe. They commit
terrible ravages, and are great enemies to the farmer, the
florist, and nurseryman. Baird
says : ' They form large magazines
of acorns, grain, nuts, etc., for
their winter provision ; and the
mischief done to the farmer by
hogs rooting up the ground is said
to be caused by their searching for
these subterranean treasures.'
2. There is the harvest-mouse, Mouse.
a tiny creature not more than
about two inches long from the nose to the root ot the
tail, which is two inches more. Their little, cosy, warm nests
are usually built amidst standing corn, a little way from the
ground, and sometimes in large thistles, which position reminds
us of the nests of reed-warblers, which are suspended among
reeds in a similar manner. The harvest-mouse is often, with
his family, carried to the barn or to the rick, where they
multiply to an alarming extent, and commit such devastations
that the computed value of the corn is very much less than
the farmer expected.
3. There is the house or common mouse, which is found in
nearly every place where man is found. They breed rapidly,
and cause great destruction of whatever food they may find
accessible. They are great invaders of granaries, cheese-
mongers' stores, pantries, and larders. They are partial to
tallow-chandlers' shops, and whenever practicable visit libraries
and book-shops. It is said that a small number of mice are
useful in a house that is infested with black beetles, which the
mice destroy.
The common mouse is not only a lively interesting animal,
but possesses a fair share of intelligence, and has been known
to become very familiar with those who have treated it kindly
and gently. Drummond says ' that Baron Frederick Trenck,
during his long rigid confinement in the fortress of Magdeburg,
found a companion in a mouse, which he had rendered so
160 Forest Acrobats and Little Marauders.
familiar that it would play round him and eat from his mouth.
" In this small animal," says he, " I have discovered proofs of
intelligence too great to easily gain belief; were I to write
them . . . such philosophers as suppose man alone endowed
with the power of thought, allowing nothing but what they
call instinct to animals, would proclaim me a fabulous writer,
and my opinions heterodox to what they suppose sound
philosophy." '
This intelligent mouse, which was wont to come at his
whistle, jump on his shoulder, and caper on a trencher, was
barbarously taken from him, presented to a lady, and put into
a cage, where it pined, refused sustenance, and ultimately
died, the cause being, no doubt, its separation from the man to
whom it had become so ardently attached.
INGENUITY OF A MOUSE TO EXTRICATE HER YOUNG.
We quote the following from the Animal World: ' Being
troubled with mice, I purchased two traps; one on the
spring principle, fastened down by thread, on cutting which, to
get at the tempting bit of cheese, poor mousy would be caught
and soon put an end to. But after one or two being caught,
it was a most difficult thing to tempt any more of the fraternity
to go to the same place. They appeared to have a thorough
knowledge for along time of its nature and purpose. Noticing
this, I purchased a second trap, made of wire, nearly round,
with a flat wooden bottom, at the sides of which are placed
two or three holes, through which mousy has to push
to reach her coveted morsel ; but once through, the points of
the wires would close upon her to prevent her return. Poor
mousy appears to discover her retreat cut off before touching
her prize, because it was generally left untouched, unless there
were two or more in at the same time, which appears to lessen
their trouble of mind and timidity at being imprisoned. I
have found on one or two occasions that one being alone,
although caught in the night, died before morning through
fear or some cause which I could not account for ; but they
were evidently young ones. Now for the hero-mouse of my
paper. The trap was placed in a kitchen cupboard where it
could be seen when the door was open, which happened to
be so when this interesting event was witnessed. A tiny young
mouse was seen in the trap, which did all it could to get
away, but at every attempt failed I was just about to take
A Curious Singer. 161
pity on the youngster and let it escape, when, lo ! an older
one appeared on the scene, evidently the parent. She appeared
to examine the trap all over, and seemed to try to coax her
offspring after her, but to no purpose. At last she left, giving
up her little one, as I thought, for lost ; but no, she soon
returned from amongst the rubbish in the cupboard with a
piece of string in her mouth. One end of this she deliberately
pushed between the wires into the cage, and soon made
the prisoner understand what it was to do. Whether the
young one really understood itself, or whether the old one
made it understand by a certain language of their own, I
cannot say; but however, the youngster soon took hold of
the end of the string, and the moment the old one saw she
had a good hold she pulled away with a will, and got her out
almost in a second. The wire at this particular part was a
little more open than in any other part of the cage ; whether
this was seen by the old one, or was an accident, is another
problem.
SINGING MICE. Much has been said about singing mice.
Whether this gift or power arises from a peculiar organization,
or from a functional derangement of their throat or larynx,
may be difficult to tell In referring to this subject a London
veterinary surgeon says : ' I am sorry to spoil the interest
naturally aroused by such a phenomenon, but I think I have
somewhere seen a similar case, the cause of which was disease
of the air passages, producing constriction, and a consequent
shrill sound with the breathing.'
That instances of mice singing have been known cannot
be doubted, to which we may add the following account taken
from the Animal World, in which the writer says :
'A curious case of a singing mouse has lately come under
my own immediate knowledge, and as I think it will be of
interest to you and the numerous readers of your publication,
I hasten to make it known to you.
' About a fortnight ago, the wife of a builder living in Great
College Street, Monte Video Place, Kentish Town, was
startled one evening by seeing a mouse come out of a hole
near the fireplace and run about, singing as it went. The
woman was so alarmed that she fled from the house into that
of her next-door neighbour, who went back with her, saw the
mouse, and informed her it was a most unlucky thing to have
ii
1 62 Forest Acrobats and Little Marauders.
in the house, being a sign of sickness and death. The poor
animal was, therefore, poisoned, and thus fell a victim to
ignorance and superstition. The woman described the singing
as resembling that of a canary.'
THE MOUSE AND THE 'GREENBACKS.' We give the follow-
ing curious information of the delinquencies of a mouse on
the authority of the Pall Mall Gazette newspaper, in which it
appeared a short time since. It says :
' There has been a terrible robbery in Ohio, United States.
A quantity of " greenbacks " have been stolen by a mouse,
who was imprudent enough to eat of them, and died from the
effects of the arsenic contained in the green colouring of the
money. It seems from the account given of the affair in the
Cleveland Plain Dealer of the 22nd ult, that Misses Gunson
and Middleton are dressmakers and milliners, doing a pros-
perous business ; indeed, so successful has been their business
that they have been enabled in a few months to save 200
dollars to pay the last instalment of the purchase-money
of their establishment. This money they stowed away in
an old satchel, which they kept under the counter of their
shop. The other day, as the time for payment was approach-
ing, one of the ladies looked into the satchel to see if the
money was safe. To her horror the satchel was found empty.
Suspicion at once attached to a mouse who had lately been
seen prowling about the shop. By carefully scrutinizing the
floor, the course of the diminutive burglar was tracked by bits
of greenbacks to a hole in the wall. The hole was at once
searched, and there was found the mouse lying dead in a nest
of greenbacks to the amount of 200 dollars. The bills and
scrip had been torn to fragments, so that not a cent, could be
saved. Much sympathy is felt for the Misses Gunson and
Middleton under this misfortune, but none for the mouse,
who, although it was neither aware of the mischief it was
effecting nor of the danger of greenbacks as an article of diet,
is considered to have met with a just retaliation for its incon-
siderate conduct.'
BATS, OR FLYING ODDITIES. These nocturnal animals
belong to the class Mammalia, Order III. Canaria, Sub-order
I. Cheiroptera, which signifies wing and Jtand, or wing-handed.
The bat family is widely distributed over the earth. The
flying fox-bats are natives of Java, where they are very
Nocturnal Visitors.
163
numerous. They measure nearly five feet in expanse of
wing. They are, during the day, comparatively motionless,
hanging in such a manner from the trees in which they lodge,
that anyone not particularly observant might take them for
fruit.
No sooner, however, does the sun go down than they show
signs of life and activity by flying direct to villages, orchards,
and plantations, and committing considerable mischief to
fruit of various kinds. Their flesh is white and delicate, and
has a strong smell of musk. It is very probable that at some
remote period this species of bat existed in England, as fossil
remains of it have been found in our caves.
THE VAMPIRE BAT. The vampire bat is a native of
Vampire Bat.
South America, and according to accounts given of it by
travellers in that country, is a bloodthirsty, troublesome, and
dangerous animal. It has been known to attack fowls, quad-
rupeds, and human beings, and to suck their blood until they
have become so weakened as to be scarcely able to stand or
to walk, and in some cases until they have died. Waterton
says : ' That an unfortunate jackass, attacked by one of these
bats, died by inches, and looked very much like misery steeped
in vinegar.' They will attack men by biting their toes while
asleep, and, without waking them, gorge themselves with
their blood. They are, however, capricious, as they will often
night after night fall upon the same persons, never attempting
to molest others who may be sleeping in the same place.
The bats, natives of Great Britain, are known as the large and
small horseshoe bats. Like their relations in other countries,
they remain, in warm weather, hidden in some quiet place
II 2
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CHAPTER XII.
FEEBLE FOLK, FISHERS, AND POACHERS.
' She flies, she leaps, and bounces to deceive,
Till fainting, breathless, spent, at last she drops,
On some fresh verdant turf, or thymy bank,
Once the gay scene of her nocturnal sports.' i
T is interesting to note that animals differ in their
habits, tempers, and dispositions according to
the nature of the food on which they subsist.
Carnivorous animals who feed only on flesh are
more fierce, dangerous, and destructive than all
others, especially when overtaken by hunger. To meet a lion
or a pack of wolves at such a time would imperil the life of
the bravest man.
Farmyard fowls, pigs, and other omnivorous animals, who
will eat flesh, worms, seeds, and vegetables, or almost any-
thing that is eatable, are less savage than lions and tigers.
Grain-eating birds are not so bold or fierce as eagles and
vultures, whose food is the flesh of other animals, and who
have been known to attack and carry them alive to their
eyries to be devoured at their leisure.
Herbivorous animals, such as horses, oxen, sheep, and we
may add hares and rabbits, and others belonging to the same
family, are comparatively harmless ; at least they are not
aggressive on other forms of life for food, and only when
necessary place themselves on the defensive against their
tormenters, or those animals that might attempt to destroy
them.
' Feeble folk,' included in the group of animals we have
selected as subjects of this chapter, will first have brief attention.
Strange Companions.
167
Hare.
HARES AND RABBITS. These animals are so well known
as to require but a short description. They are rodent animals
belonging to the class Mammalia, have sharp cutting teeth,
large eyes, and long ears, varying, however, according to the
species.
Referring to hares, Baird says : ' They are gentle, timid
animals, easily frightened at the least noise, and are possessed
of remarkably quick hearing. Their mode of progression is
by leaping, and when
alarmed their flight is
very rapid.' They are
very prolific, and would
become very mis-
chievous if they were
not kept in check by nu-
merous enemies, such
as weasels, foxes, and
similar canaria. The
hare does not burrow,
but simply hides under
a bush or in a furrow,
and such place is called its form. The young are born with
their eyes open. Hares constitute an important article of
food in this country, although both the Mahometan and
Jewish religions prohibit their followers from eating them.
Coursing or hunting such a small, timid, and defenceless
animal as the hare may afford pastime and sport to man, but
it certainly does not add to his dignity or show either courage
or heroism. Probably lion or tiger hunting might do so.
COWPER'S HARES. Wild as hares are in their natural con-
dition, they are capable of being sufficiently tamed so as to
become interesting and attached companions of those who
treat them kindly. The affection of Cowper the poet for
his three tame hares, Bess, Tiny, and Puss, is well known.
Puss became more attached to his master than to his own
species. On fine days he was always anxious for his master
to go into the garden, and would give signs of his wish by
pulling the poet by the skirts of his coat, drumming on his
knee until he had fairly got him out. Of Tiny, Cowper gives
the following account : ' He was very entertaining in his way ;
even his surliness was matter of mirth, and, in his play, he
1 68 Feeble Folk, FisJiers, and Poachers.
preserved such an air of gravity, and performed his feats with
such a solemnity of manner, that in him, too, I had an agree-
able companion.' Bess was the comedian and acrobat of the
company : ' A hare of great humour and drollery.' Puss was
tamed by kindness. Tiny refused to be tamed at all. But
Bess 'had a courage and confidence that made him tame
from the beginning.' The poet used to treat his pets to a
'carpet-dance' in the lonely evenings, on which occasions,
'Bess being remarkabably strong and fearless, was always
superior to the rest, and proved himself the Vestris of the
party.' Bess was cut off in the prime of life. Tiny lived to
be nine years old, and Puss survived him two years.
REMARKABLE STORY OF A TAMED HARE. 'We are in-
formed,' says the author of ' Anecdotes of the Animal King-
dom,' ' by Borlase, in his " Natural History of Cornwall," that
he had a hare so completely tamed as to feed from the hand ;
it always lay under a chair in the ordinary sitting-room, and
was as much domesticated as a cat. It was permitted to take
exercise and food in the garden, but always returned to the
house to" repose. Its usual companions were a greyhound
and a spaniel, with whom it spent its evenings. The whole
three seemed much attached, and frequently sported together,
and at night they were to be seen stretched together on the
hearth. What is remarkable, both the greyhound and spaniel
were often employed in sporting, and used secretly to go in
pursuit of hares by themselves, yet they never offered the
least violence to their timid friend at home.'
THE HARE THAT LOVED Music. The same author says :
'There is an anecdote related of five choristers, who, while
singing an anthem by the banks of the Mersey, in Cheshire,
attracted the notice of a hare ; when they ceased she made
off, but on their again commencing she returned quickly, and
stood about twenty yards distant in the open field. When
they finished she again bent her way to a neighbouring wood.'
HAZARDOUS VENTURE BY A HARE. Fouilloux says he
saw a hare start from its form at the sound of the hunter's
horn, run towards a pool of water at a considerable distance,
plunge in, and swim to some rushes in the middle, where it
lay down and concealed itself from the pursuit of the dogs.
A BATTLE BETWEEN TWO HARES. Mr. Waterton, in his
' Essays on Natural History,' says : ' One Easter Sunday, in
Two Hare Combatants. 169
the afternoon, as I was proceeding with my brother-in-law,
Mr. Carr, to look at a wild-duck's nest in an adjacent wood,
we saw two hares fighting with inconceivable fury, on the open
ground about 150 yards distant from us. They stood on their
hinder legs like two bull-dogs, resolutely bent on destruction.
Having watched them for about a quarter of an hour, we then
entered the wood ; I observing to Mr. Carr that we should
find them engaged on our return. We stayed in the wood
some ten minutes, and on leaving it saw the hares still in
desperate battle. They had moved along the hillside, and
the grass was strongly marked with their down for a space of
twenty yards. At last one of the sylvan warriors fell on its
side, and never got upon its legs again. Its antagonist then
retreated for a yard or so, stood still for a minute, as if in
contemplation, and then rushed vengefully on the fallen foe.
This retreat and advance was performed many times; the
conqueror striking its prostrate adversary with its fore-feet,
and clearing off great portions of down with them. In the
meantime the vanquished hare rolled over and over again,
but could not recover the use of its legs, although it made
several attempts to do so. Its movements put you in mind
of a drunken man trying to get up from the ground after a
hard night in the alehouse. It now lay still on the ground,
effectually subdued, while the other continued its attacks upon
it with the fury of a little demon. Seeing that the fight was
over, we approached the scene of action ; the conqueror hare
retiring as we drew near. I took up the fallen combatant
just as it was breathing its last. Both its sides had been
completely bared of fur, and large patches of down had been
torn from its back and belly. It was a well-conditioned buck-
hare, weighing, I should suppose, from seven to eight pounds.'
Although the conduct of the two hares referred to in the
above anecdote appears to be altogether inconsistent with the
natural gentleness and timidity of these creatures, it is never-
theless true that they, and other tribes of animals, as well as
human beings, are not only capable of feeling the passion of
love, but even of jealousy one towards another.
Thompson says: 'The males of deer and cattle are ex-
tremely tenacious of their rights, and engage in instant battle
with the trespasser.'
It may be reasonably assumed that both the hare com-
170 Feeble Folk, Fishers, and Poachers.
batants spoken of were males, and that the cause of the
quarrel between them was an attempted undue interference
by one of them with the connubial rights of the other. Or it
may have arisen from the one having invaded what the other
considered to be its own exclusive domain, and that the latter
animal, to punish the offender, acted on the same principle as
that adopted by the scavenger dogs of Constantinople, who
summarily castigate a strange dog who may attempt to pick
up a living in the same street or locality. Whatever the real
cause may have been, we have in this battle of the two hares
a very marvellous phase of animal life.
CLEVER HARES. In addition to the proofs furnished in
the interesting account given of Cowper's hares that these
animals are capable of education, we give the following in-
formation. It appears that at one time a hare was exhibited
in England which not only danced to measure, but, to the
astonishment of beholders, played with its fore-feet upon a
tabaret, and observed a correct number of strokes. After-
wards the hare fought with a dog (no doubt instructed for
the purpose), when it bit with its teeth and beat forcibly with
its feet. Another hare, many years ago, was taught to beat a
drum with its fore-feet while a person carried it round the
stage.
AN AMUSING COLLOQUY. If village boys are not as a
rule as quick and confident in their answers to interrogations
as town boys may be, there are many exceptions to this rule,
as some have been known to show much shrewdness, and
quafatness too, in the replies they have given to certain ques-
tions, of which we have a proof in the following amusing story,
contained in the ' Parlour Menagerie ' : ' A sportsman cours-
ing having lost his hare, thus hastily accosted a shepherd's
boy: <f Boy, did you see a hare run by here?" "A hare,
sir ?" " Yes, fool !" " What, a hare, sir ?" " Yes !" " What,
a thing that runs fast, with long ears ?" " Yes." " That goes
lopperty, lopperty lop ?" " Yes, yes, my good fellow !" " What,
very long ears ?" " Yes, dolt !" " Ah, then," said the boy,
" I didn't see it." '
RABBITS. Rabbits differ in their habits from hares, inas-
much as they are essentially burrowing animals, and live in
companies of hundreds and sometimes thousands in the same
wood or warren, while hares are comparatively isolated, and
About Ostend Rabbits.
171
content themselves with v the surface of the earth. Rabbit-
burrows are often very long and irregular. Into these they
run in times of danger, but even there they are not always
safe, as they have been followed into them by stoats, weasels,
and ferrets, and there destroyed. Foxes and hedgehogs often
indulge their carnivorous appetites with a rabbit, and birds of
prey have been known to pounce upon them and to carry
them off. They are truly a 'feeble folk.' They have no
means of defence to ward off the rapacious animals just men-
tioned.
Rabbits are not without ingenuity, as they have been known
to watch a terrier dog into a burrow, then to fill up the en-
trance with earth, so that the invader could not escape, but
has perished miserably
underground. They
breed seven times a
year, so that a single
pair in four years may
become the progenitors
of 1,274,840 descend-
ants. A military force
from Rome had to
suppress the numbers
of these animals, which
overran the islands of
Majorca and Minorca.
The following information, taken from the Evening Standard
newspaper of the pth October, 1882, may be interesting to our
readers, especially to those of them who take an interest in the
animals to which reference is made :
' It has generally been supposed that the rabbits brought
over in such enormous quantities to this country from Ostend
are wild rabbits, or, rather, rabbits bred in vast numbers in
great warrens. Attempts have been made here, with more or
less success, to breed rabbits on a large scale in the same
manner ; but the success which has attended these efforts has
certainly not been sufficiently marked to produce a supply
which can compete, in either number or cheapness, with the
rabbits shipped from Ostend. The Provisioner states that,
with a view to find out how so cheap and plentiful a supply
was raised, it has investigated the rabbit question upon the
Rabbit.
1/2 Feeble Folk, Fishers, and Poachers.
spot, and finds that the popular idea is a wholly mistaken one.
The rabbits are neither wild nor raised in warrens, but are of
the ordinary domestic description with which all of us are
familiar, and are bred by the farmers and labourers in the
agricultural districts of Belgium and France. They can
hardly be said to form an item in the various occupations
which are engaged in by farmers for profit, since, although
they are bred with the ultimate intention of selling them, they
are nowhere cultivated in such numbers or with that careful
attention which characterize other pursuits forming a staple
industry. It is even a common thing for them to be bred in
twos and threes by young children. The rabbits are collected
periodically by higglers, who go round from place to place in
vehicles, and buy such as are then in a condition for killing.
Rabbits, in fact, are raised on a small scale in Belgium, as are
eggs in France, as a sort of by-product, and it is, under these
circumstances, astonishing indeed that such an enormous
number of these creatures can be sent to England at so cheap
a price. The magnitude of the trade may be inferred from
the fact that in many days of what is known as " the season,"
extending from October to March, as many as two thousand
boxes are shipped from Ostend alone. As each box contains
on an average ten dozen rabbits, this gives a total of nearly
a quarter of a million at one shipment. Surely what is done
in Belgium might be done in England. If all our cottagers
could but be persuaded to keep a few hens and a few rabbits,
they might materially add to their earnings, and the country
would save the very large sum which she yearly pays to her
neighbours for provisions which might be profitably raised at
home.'
Rabbits have their tempers, which they have a curious way
sometimes of showing. In a domesticated state they are easily
offended, and often give way to sudden starts of rage by
thumping loudly on the ground with their hind-feet.
' It may be observed,' says Brown, ' that the rabbit, like the
other tribes of the hare, though so harmless to other animals,
frequently fights with its own kind. Two males, confined in
the same place with the other rabbits, will be sure to fight,
and the stronger will bite and persecute the weaker incessantly.
The effect may often be seen in wounds, extending over the
back of the animal. The rabbit will also, when offended,
Boys and Tame Rabbits. 173
bite the hand or leg of the person nearest it with its sharp
front teeth. It may be noticed, too, that the male rabbit has
a great propensity for destroying the young ; to prevent which,
the female carefully covers up the nest each time she goes out
to feed, and when domesticated, seeks a place of concealment
from the male.'
From ' All about Country Life ' we select the following in-
formation, which may be useful to
BOYS WHO KEEP TAME RABBITS. ' Tame rabbits are often
kept for profit or amusement in hutches or houses built on
purpose for them. There are many sorts of common tame
rabbits, of great variety in size, colour, r and appearance. Some
are entirely black ; others white with red eyes ; there is also
the silver-grey or ash-coloured rabbit, and many sorts of varie-
gated colours. Then there are the fancy rabbits, of which
the most celebrated are the "dew-lop," the "oar-lop," the "flat-
lop," the " half-lop," and the French rabbit. Fancy rabbits are
usually of large size, and a fine one will weigh twelve pounds.
They were originally brought from the East, and require more
warmth than common English domestic rabbits.
' Perfect cleanliness and suitable food regularly given form
the essential conditions for success in rabbit-keeping. Half
of the diseases of tame rabbits arise from not keeping their
hutches cleaned out sufficiently often, and a large proportion
of the other half from injudicious feeding. If fed exclusively
on green, succulent food, they are apt to get pot-bellied. No
vegetables should be given them in a wet state. The mistake
must not be made, however, of feeding with too much corn
or other dry food. Too many oats will kill rabbits faster than
too large a quantity of grains. The true secret of good keep-
ing lies in a varied diet. Carrots and hay are extremely useful
in winter, and in summer many wayside and garden weeds are
peculiarly wholesome. Among them the sow-thistle, the
dandelion, the plantain, and groundsel recommend them-
selves, while parsley, endive, celery-tops, lettuce and cabbage-
leaves may be gathered from garden plants, and the various
cultivated grasses from the field. The stalks and leaves of
chicory are said to be excellent for rabbits.'
To the above directions we would offer a suggestion which,
if adopted, would no doubt help to ameliorate the monotony
of what is after all a life of imprisonment to these animals.
174
Feeble Folk, Fishers, and Poachers.
We refer to the necessity of giving them more room in their
hutches or houses than is usually allotted to them. The
young of tame rabbits, as well as those of other animals, are
fond of play, which they would be able to indulge in in pro-
portion as they have space to exercise themselves, and which
would really be promotive of their pleasure, health, and
growth.
OTTERS. These animals are found in almost every part of
Europe, and at one time were common in England, especially
in the northern part of Yorkshire; but their numbers have
Otter.
been so decimated by otter hunts, that they are now but
rarely met with.
The otter belongs to the class Mammalia, family Felidse.
It is an aquatic and amphibious animal, and is found princi-
pally on or near rivers and streams where fish abound, and
on which it mainly subsists. It is quite an epicure, as it has
been known to eat the middle of the back of a fish, and to
reject the head and tail parts, which have been picked up by
hungry peasants, taken home, washed, and eaten. The body
of the otter is long, its legs are short, and its feet are webbed,
tail flat, and physiognomy very remarkable. Its structure is
Characteristics of the Otter. 175
well adapted for its aquatic life, but it has an awkward gait on
land. Its toes are united with membranes in the same way
as the feet of ducks and geese. When its feet go forward the
toes are closed, but when thrown backward they spread out in
order to get well hold of the water, and so propel the animal
onward. As fish always when feeding direct their heads up
the water, otters go against the stream, so that they may
come on the fish unawares. In returning to their burrows
with the fish, they can the more easily convey it down the
stream than against it.
The home or nest of the otter is a bed of rushes or similar
material under hollow banks by the river's edge, where they
produce their young. The English otter usually hunts for its
prey by night, and if not disposed to take to the water, feeds
upon snails and worms, which come out at the same time.
This animal may be considered as the link between the seal
and the quadruped. Its skin is very valuable, and is much
used by furriers. In some continental countries its flesh may
be eaten in the time of Lent.
SEA OTTERS. The sea otter is much esteemed on account
of its fur. The American otter is about five feet long, with
fur of a glossy brown. 'About 8,000 skins of this species
are imported into England every year. The South American
otters live in troops, rise to the surface of the water, and bark
like dogs in a menacing and snapping manner.'
Although otters are as a rule very untractable, they have
been tamed, and rendered, while living, useful to man. A
writer in Heber's Journal says : ' We passed ten beautiful
otters, tethered with straw collars and strings to bamboo
stakes, on the banks of the Matter Colly ; some swimming,
some half out of the water, some basking in the sun, and
making noises as if in play. Fishermen keep them to drive
shoals of fish into their nets. Sometimes they would bring
the largest fish with their teeth the same as dogs.'
Otters show strong affection for their young. Lieutenant
Wood, in his journey to discover the source of the Oxus, dis-
turbed a colony of otters and secured two young ones, which
were put into a sack. Their cries brought the old otters round
the boat all night. They followed the boat ten miles, and
even attempted to get in. So strong was their affection, that
they were altogether fearless of danger.
I
176 Feeble Folk, Fishers, and Poachers.
It is said that the otter and seal have a faculty in the eye,
by means of which they are able to elongate or shorten
the axis of the organ at pleasure, and by that means to see
equally well in two media of very different density ; namely,
water and air.
THE WEASEL. In the habits and dispositions of many
animals, we have true types of the moral and even general
character of some human beings. The fidelity and attach-
ment of the dog remind us of those men whose sense of
honour and duty is an incentive to an open, straightforward,
and honest course of life ; while the habits of the sly, stealthy,
and voracious weasel kind remind us of men whose love of
self, want of good principle, and evil dispositions, would
sacrifice the rights of others, and rob them of any benefit or
advantage they could, simply to accomplish their own objects,
and to promote their individual pleasure and interest.
But what is the true character of the weasel ? Voracious
and cunning though he may be, he is not an ' unmitigated
villain,' but has some good traits of character, and is of some
use, to recommend him to our notice.
The weasel tribe belongs to the order Feres, and comprises
several kinds. There is the striated weasel of America, noted
for the very disagreeable odour it has the power of emitting
when irritated. The honey weasel, so called because of its
fondness for honey, is found in Southern Africa. This animal
looks out for the bee returning to its hive, and should he find
one within his reach he at once attacks it. It has no fear of
the sting of the bee, be-
cause its skin is too tough
for the sting to perforate
it. The ichneumon be-
longs to the same tribe,
and is also found at the
Cape of Good Hope, in
Barbary, and Egypt.
FERRET AND POLE-
CAT. The ferret is also
Ferret - a native of Africa, and is
much used in England by gamekeepers and ratcatchers for
catching rabbits and rats. It emits a very offensive smell,
particularly when angry. It has red eyes. The polecat, or
The Weasel, and how he Feeds. 177
foumart, is not uncommon in our own country. Its skin, when
taken in winter, is esteemed very valuable.
The stoat, or ermine, is also an inhabitant of England, and
is a little longer than the common rat. In summer its coat is
brown ; in winter, white. It is then, on that account, usually
taken. Its fur is so highly esteemed that it has been from
remote times and to the present worn by royalty.
This animal is particularly fierce and determined in its
efforts to secure its prey. They pounce upon rabbits with
amazing quickness, suck their blood, and devour their bodies
at leisure. We have read of a gentleman releasing a rabbit
from the clutches of a stoat, which unwillingly gave up its prey,
as it followed the gentleman, and sprang at the rabbit while
he was carrying it by the legs.
The common weasel is about six or seven inches long, and
is found in places near the habitations of man. It has a
smallish head, bright quick eyes, short legs, and a long neck.
It is exceedingly agile, and can twist its body about as lithely
as one could a thin strap of leather. Its leaping powers are
considerable, as it can bound several feet when alarmed by an
intruder ; and it can spring from branch to branch, and from
tree to tree, with the nimbleness of a squirrel.
This little animal is thoroughly carnivorous, and is as much
a beast of prey as the lion or tiger. It lives upon moles, rats,
field-mice, and birds. When pressed by hunger it will attack
animals twice its own size, which it seldom fails to kill. It is
useful to the farmers in killing mice and rats which infest their
cornricks and granaries. Like the stoat, the weasel will spring
upon a hare or rabbit when asleep, fasten upon their neck,
and drink their blood while they are running until they drop
down dead from sheer exhaustion.
THE WEASEL AND FARMER. We once saw a weasel
stealthily creep up to a young farmer who was soundly sleep-
ing in an old shed in one of the fields. The weather being
very hot, the young man was lying with his neck and throat
quite uncovered. The nose of the weasel was close to the
side of the neck, and he was no doubt just going to commence
his practice of phlebotomy, or blood-letting, when we fright-
ened him off, and no doubt deprived him of an anticipated san-
guinary meal.
WEASEL WORSHIP. We learn from Sonnini that the Turks
12
178 Feeble Folk, Fishers, and Poachers.
as well as the Greeks pay great respect to the weasel. It was
formerly worshipped in the Thebais. ' The Greek women
carry their attention so far as not to disturb it ; and they even
treat it with a politeness truly whimsical. '''Welcome" say
they, when they perceive a weasel in their house ; " come in,
my pretty wench ; no harm shall happen to you here ; you
are quite at home ; pray make free," etc. They affirm that,
sensible of these civilities, the weasel does, no mischief;
whereas everything would be devoured, add they, if they did
not behave to this animal in a courteous manner.'
WEASEL SAGACITY. 'The workmen in the engine-house
of the New Haven Railroad were greatly amused by the
movements of a weasel that had killed a rat, nearly as large
as himself, in one of the engine-pits. The side of the pit
being perpendicular, and the rat too heavy for the weasel
to carry up in his teeth, the question arose how he should get
him out. It looked like a difficult task, but the weasel was
equal to the emergency. After several unsuccessful attempts
to shoulder the rat and climb up the side, he laid him down
and went about to the different corners of the pit on a tour of
inspection. Finally selecting one in which sufficient dirt had
accumulated to make an elevation of several inches, he went
back, dragged the rat to the corner, and stood him upon his
hind legs. He then clambered out of the pit, and, going to
the corner where he had left the rat, let himself down by his
hind-feet from above, clasped the rat round the neck with his
fore-paws, pulled him up, and trotted off with him to his hole.
The weasel is one which made his appearance at the shops
some time ago, and which, by being unmolested, has become
quite tame.'
CHAPTER XIII.
BRISTLY PACHYDERMS, WILD AND TAME.
The pig is ugly, some suppose,
Because of his long ears and nose ;
They like him, too, or I'm mistaken,
For such folks eat both pork and bacon.
OING back in our own country's history long before
our mountains were tunnelled, our valleys in-
vaded, our fields and woods cut through, or our
rivers crossed to make way for railway trains ;
when the towns and villages of England were
neither so numerous nor thickly populated as they are now ;
when the silence of rural districts was broken only by singing
and chirping birds, or the peculiar noises of the wild quad-
rupeds which roamed at pleasure ; when there were no tele-
graphic appliances, and no penny postage for the transmission
of newspapers, or of letter correspondence, such as we are
favoured with at the present time ; when travelling facilities
were confined to stage coaches going at the rate of thirty or
forty miles a day, we find it was then that in our numerous,
thick, and extensive forests wild swine found homes in which
to live, to breed, and rear their young, and the hunting of
which afforded popular sport and pastime to many of our
countrymen who lived during that remote period.
Whether that custom was a commendable one or not, or
even a necessity to keep down the too rapid increase of wild
boars, we will not presume to say. One thing is certain, how-
ever, that hunting these animals exposed the hunters to much
more danger than does the hunting of the smaller and much
180 Bristly Pachyderms.
less formidable animals, the fox and the hare, both of which
seem to be, at the present time, the substitutes, in this respect,
for the now extinct wild boars of our native land.
THE WILD BOAR. Before referring in detail to one of our
most useful animals, the domestic pig, we may notice that its
origin is no doubt identified with the wild animals to which
reference has already been made. Of this we think there can
be no question. In fact, it is quite as easy, if- not more so,
to prove that this is the case, than to trace the parent stock
of the domestic dog or cat.
Speaking of wild boars, Baird says : ' The wild boar no
longer exists in Britain, though in former times it was common
enough. It is found in many parts of Europe, however, as
well as in India, harbouring in the most solitary places in re-
tired forests. His lair is generally in some wild and remote
spot, not far from water, and commanding by some devious
path access to the open country. As a beast of chase, the
wild boar is still held in high repute in some parts of Europe,
and in India hog-hunting forms one of the most exciting wild
sports that is known.'
The following interesting description of the wild boar is
given in the Animal World: ' The wild boar is a fierce,
hardy animal, which comes to maturity in five or six years ;
but it sometimes lives twenty-five years, and increases in size,
passive strength, and hardihood of character during that time.
The young of this wild race are not only attached to their
mother, but to one another; and this attachment does not
cease when the mother's protection is no longer needed, but
is communicated to every fresh litter, till the produce of one
mother forms a little colony, the members of which appear
capable of recognising one another even after they have been
separated for some time. It is possible that most herds of
social animals are originally formed on this principle. Herds
of wild swine are always under the leadership of a male.
They assemble and sally forth from the forests, and do no
small damage to cultivated fields, both by rooting up and by
trampling down. There is an allusion to this in the 8oth
Psalm : " The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the
wild beast of the field doth devour it." This is finely true
to nature, even in the contrast of the mischief done by
the two.'
Structure and Food of Pigs. 181
FOOD OF WILD HOGS. 'The food of the wild hog consists
chiefly of roots and vegetables, and, that he may the more
easily obtain these, his nose is furnished with a powerful
muscular and cartilaginous apparatus. Worms, acorns,
beechmast, chestnuts, etc., are greedily sought after and
devoured. The position of his tusks defends the eyes in
rushing through the underwood. The habits of the wild
boar are nocturnal, and, unless aroused by hunters, he will
not quit by day the clean dry lair he always forms for himself
in the forest ; nor will he, if unmolested, attack man, though
when provoked his defence is most resolute. A horse that
has been once wounded by a boar can never again be induced
to approach him. Yet when reduced to captivity, the wild
boar becomes comparatively gentle and manageable.'
Hogs are pachydermatous animals, belonging to the order
Ungulata. They have four toes to each foot; two in the
front, shod with stout hoofs, and two behind, or lateral toes,
which scarcely touch the ground when the animal is walking.
As the domestic pig is partial to roots and vegetables, like
the wild boar, he is supplied with a prolonged cartilaginous
nose, strengthened at the end by two bones, which enable
him to turn up the soil with comparative ease ; he has also a
very strong muscular neck, which is of essential service to him
in his rooting operations.
VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC PIG. The species are not
very numerous, but they have been arranged in four or five
genera. ' It has been asserted,' says the Animal World,
1 that there exist only three actual varieties of the domesticated
hog : the " Berkshire," " Chinese," and " Highland ;" but we
are really indebted for our numerous varieties not only to these
three well-known races, but also to the " African," " Spanish,"
" Portuguese," and " Italian ;" chiefly, however, to the wild
boar of the European forests.'
From the above periodical we gather the following informa-
tion respecting the many kinds of hogs well known in Eng-
land, which are distinguished from each other by a difference
in size, the quality and length of their hair or bristles, and
by peculiarities of colours, or mixtures of colours. That journal
says : ' The Berkshire hog is of large size, of reddish-brown
colour, with black spots or patches. The Irish " Greyhound
pigs " were a tall, long-legged, bony race, their throats furnished
Group of Domestic Pigs.
Different Breeds of Swine. 183
with pendulous wattles. These gaunt creatures are now
seldom seen out of Galway. The Suffolk were formerly a
small, delicate breed; now the breed is notable for great
length and small limbs, etc. The Cheshire breed is white,
black and white (in large patches), or grey in colour. It is
chiefly remarkable for gigantic size. Hampshire pigs are
usually dark spotted, sometimes black or white. They have
been known to weigh forty stones each. The Yorkshire
breed were formerly large, coarse, heavy animals ; now their
value consists in symmetry, fatness, and early maturity. . . .
The peculiarities of the improved race are small bone, head,
and face, deep capacious chest and throat, and neck rising
roundly behind the ears, shoulders thick and round, and hams
square down to the elbow. Bedford swine become enormously
fat, grow rapidly, and fatten fast in proportion to the food
given. The original Shropshire and Wiltshire breeds were
inferior, but crossings with Berkshire, Chinese, and Neapolitan
breeds have resulted in a race compact in form and excellent
in quality. Herefordshire and Gloucestershire are good store
pigs ; the latter are white, with wattles hanging from each jaw ;
they are hardy, and more profitable for pork than for bacon.
The Northamptonshire pig is of light colour and handsome
shape; he is a profitable porker and good store pig. The
best Norfolk swine are white; they are short, compact, ex-
cellent porkers. A spotted variety of larger size is inferior in
point of delicacy. The Lincolnshire breed is white, with fine
skins, sparingly covered with slender bristles, ears erect and
pointed, body long, straight, and round. The recent improve-
ment in the Essex breed is due to a cross with the Neapolitan.
It is almost bare of hair, and deep jet black in colour ; a very
quick feeder, with small bones and great fattening power.
The Essex half blacks are smaller, and make excellent meat
Sussex hogs are generally black and white in large patches ;
they seldom exceed twenty stone in weight, but the flesh is
very good. The original Old English breed was heavy and
bony, but is now, except perhaps in Cornwall, extinct.
'A very peculiar breed of swine exists in the Orkney
Islands, Hebrides, and Shetland Islands. The hog has been
described as a " little, ugly, brindled monster, an epitome of
the wild boar, yet hardly larger than an English terrier."
These little swine are uncared for by their owners, have no
184 Bristly Pachyderms.
shelter but such as they can find under bank or bush, and
depend for food on what their own ingenuity enables them to
secure ; but ranging about undisturbed, gain sufficient susten-
ance from roots, worms, potatoes, plovers' and curlews' eggs,
an occasional lamb, etc., to keep themselves in good condition.
If put up to feed they fatten on inexpensive food with great
rapidity, and increase astonishingly in actual size. These pigs
are generally converted into pork, and form no -trifling article
of commerce between the islanders and coasters. The average
weight of these animals is from sixty to seventy pounds. The
ropes used to suspend over the cliffs the adventurers who
make a livelihood by taking sea-birds' eggs are made from the
bristles of these swine ; they are found less liable to cut from
friction at the edges of the rocks than ropes made of hemp.'
GIANT AND DWARF PIGS. Formerly it was a common
thing to see at our fairs a caravan with a painting at the out-
side representing a fat pig weighing fifty, sixty, and even
seventy stone. One was exhibited, some years since, in a
northern town, and stated by the proprietor to weigh eighty
stone. Mr. Knell, near Maidstone, once possessed a dwarf-
pig seven inches long from snout to tail, five inches and a
half round the body, three inches and three quarters high, and
weighing only fourteen ounces. It was one of a litter, all the
rest of which were the ordinary size ; it was in good health,
squeaked loud, and ran fast.
PIGS NOT EPICURES. Nothing in the shape of food comes
amiss to the domestic hog. He has an appetite for the most
impure things, and has been known to devour his own pro-
geny. He has a stomach of enormous size, which no doubt
accounts for his great voracity and constant craving for food.
His rough, wiry hair, thick fat, and hard skin render him less
susceptible to pain from a blow than many other animals are.
We are told that mice have been known to lodge upon a
hog's back, to eat his skin and his fat, without his showing
any signs of sensibility.
Although we often hear it said of men and women who are
not cleanly in their habits that they are as ' dirty as pigs,' it
must not be supposed that swine do not enjoy a clean, com-
fortable habitation as well as other animals. They not only
do so, but thrive much better when kept dry and clean than
when neglected and deprived of the comforts referred to.
Notions About Pigs. 185
We well remember a gentleman purchasing a small pig
weighing about five stone of a neighbour ; putting it into a
properly constructed sty with a sloping floor, giving it plenty
of clean straw, and feeding it well during twelve weeks. It was
then killed, and the carcase weighed seventeen stone, having
gained two pounds of flesh per day during the time he had it.
HOGS AND EGYPTIANS. We are informed by Smellic that
' the hog has been noticed from the earliest antiquity ; one
nation has ever considered it as an object of the greatest de-
testation, while others have ranked its flesh among their prin-
cipal delicacies. It is well known that the Mosaic law forbids
the use of swine's flesh, and such is the abhorrence in which
these animals are held by the Jews, that profane writers have
rallied them on the subject. The Egyptians were allowed to eat
pork but once a year ; this was on a festive day, dedicated to
the moon, when great numbers were sacrificed to that satellite.
If at any other time an Egyptian was unfortunate enough to
touch a hog, however slightly, it was necessary for him to
plunge into the Nile with all his clothes about him, in order
to purify himself from the abomination. Those who kept
hogs were rejected by society ; they were not allowed to enter
the temples, nor even to form any alliance with other families.
This aversion to hogs has been transmitted to the modern
Egyptians. In the island of Crete pigs were held sacred, and
in Rome the swine-feeder spared no pains to make them de-
licious meat.'
The religion of Mahomet forbids the use of swine's flesh
because it was considered unclean, and there can be no doubt
that it was on this account the Chinese objected to Maho-
metanism, they being extremely fond of pork and great
breeders of hogs.
THEIR USES : BRISTLES AND SKINS OF HOGS. Domestic
hogs are exceedingly useful animals. The females usually
produce two litters a year, each numbering from seven to
fourteen young ones ; this they would, if permitted, continue
to do during fourteen or fifteen years.
The males have been compared to the miser, who is use-
less and rapacious during his life, but whose death becomes
a public service. To a nation like Britain the flesh of these
animals is a great boon, because it takes salt more easily
than any other, is more effectually preserved, can be kept
1 86 Bristly Pachyderms.
almost any length of time, and eaten in any latitude of the
world. To the crews of our navy and merchant ships bacon
is of the greatest importance. Hog-skins, when properly
dressed, are useful for making slippers and the seats of
saddles, and are also employed by various artificers. The
bristles are extensively used by brushmakers and shoemakers,
as well as by saddlers. A great trade in bristles is carried on
between Russia and this country.
Pigs may be considered to be essentially the poor man's
friend, particularly in Ireland, where they are fed in great
numbers with a view to double duty namely, for home con-
sumption and for sale, \.Q pay the rent.
INTELLIGENCE OF PIGS. Hogs are not altogether desti-
tute of sagacity, nor is their sense of smell particularly defec-
tive. We have read of one having been taught to perform
the duty of a pointer in hunting, and to do it almost as
steadily and effectively as a well-bred dog. This animal be-
longed to Sir Henry Mildmay, and was trained by his game-
keeper.
ANECDOTE OF A PIG AND A DOG. If the following story
(which we quote from that excellent work 'Our Dumb Animals')
be authentic it would appear that even hogs possess some
degree of reasoning powers : ' A pig and dog on board a ship
on the voyage from India to London were very good friends ;
they ate out of the same plate, walked about the decks to-
gether, and would lie down side by side under the bulwarks
in the sun. The only thing they quarrelled about was their
lodging. Toby, the dog, had a very nice kennel; the pig
had nothing of the sort. Now piggy did not see why Toby
should be better housed of a night than he. So every night
there was a struggle to see who should get into the kennel
first If the dog got in he showed his teeth, and the other
had to look out for other lodgings ; if the pig gained posses-
sion the dog could not turn him out, but waited for revenge
next time. One evening it was very boisterous, the sea was
running high, and it was raining very hard. The pig was
slipping and tumbling about the decks ; at length it was so
unpleasant that he thought the best thing he could do was to
go and secure his berth for the night, though it yet wanted a
good time to dusk. But when he came to the kennel there
was Toby safely housed ; he had had the same idea as to the
Dog Toby and tJie Pig. 187
state of the weather as the pig. "Umph! umph !" grunted
the pig, as he looked up to the black sky; but Toby did not
offer to move. At last the pig seemed to give it up, and took
a turn as if to see where he might find a warm corner for the
night. Presently he went to that part of the vessel where the
tin plate was lying that they ate their victuals off. He took
the plate in his mouth, and carried it to a part of the deck
where the dog could see it, but some distance from the
kennel; then, turning his tail toward the dog, he began to
make a noise as if he was eating out of the plate. " What !"
thinks Toby ; " has the pig got some potatoes there ?" and he
pricked up his ears, and looked hard toward the plate.
" Champ ! champ !" goes the pig, and down goes his mouth
to the plate again. Toby could stand this no longer vic-
tuals ! and he not there ! Out he ran, and, thrusting the pig
on one side, pushed his cold nose into the empty plate. The
pig turned tail in a twinkling, and before Toby knew whether
there was any meat on the plate or not, piggy was snug in the
kennel. Of which we may add, he no doubt kept possession
all the night.'
Although the word ' gourmand ' is appropriately applied to
the hog because of his voracious appetite, we hope the fore-
going remarks conclusively prove that he is a useful 'gour-
mand' Pigs are by no means devoid of intelligence, and
they may, like many other animals, become not only domesti-
cated, but, by kindness and humanity, familiar companions
of man.
A NOTED PIG IN CHELSEA. Two summers ago we fre-
quently saw, in the King's Road, Chelsea, a small pig with a
blue ribbon frill round its neck and a half kind of jacket on
its body, and accompanied by a young man, its master. This
pig would thread its way among the foot-passengers as easily
and unconcernedly as a human being could do. By a sub-
dued grunt he answered to his name and to the whistle of
his owner. Before crossing the road he would look to the
right and then to the left to see if it was sufficiently clear of
cabs and other vehicles for him to cross in safety. If so, he
would scamper over to the opposite pavement, and then with
a half toss of his head, and many wags of his curly tail, give
a grunt of satisfaction at having performed the feat so cleverly.
The pig had been taken home by his master when very young,
1 88 Bristly Pachyderms.
fed by hand, allowed to run about the room like a child, and
taught to follow him, etc., in the way we have described.
PIG FOUND IN A SEWER. Many stories have been told of
the large numbers of ferocious rats infesting the common
sewers of London ; but, strange as they appear to be, the fol-
lowing one is even more so. We have been informed on
good authority that about thirty years ago a sewer-man, in
examining the sewer in the neighbourhood Of Gray's Inn
Road, found a black and white pig, of the Hertford breed,
and about half-grown, fast asleep in a recess at the side. How
it came there, or how long it had been in this dark subter-
raneous place, were matters which did not much concern the
man at the moment. Seeing, however, a porky prize, and
one well worth having, as the animal was in good condition,
he forthwith seized it with a view to introduce it to far higher,
lighter, and purer regions than it had been accustomed to for
some time. The pig behaved with all seeming gravity when
being carried along, and by passive submission and silence
paid due respect to his captor, until they began to ascend the
man-hole, when he commenced to kick and squall, as if a ring
was being put through his cartilaginous extremity ; and it was
not until after considerable difficulty that the sewer-man suc-
ceeded in landing his prize in open daylight, and fairly on
terra firma. The pig appears to have survived this change
in his condition from dark obscurity to light popularity, as he
was exhibited, during six months, in a show by his captor,
who charged so much admission for a sight of this sewer-
prodigy, by which he made a great amount of money. How
long the pig lived, or how he fared after absorbing so much
public attention, and exciting so much curiosity about his
antecedents, our informant knew not, but vouches for the
truth of the tale as far as it goes.
'A HOG WITH A WOODEN LEG must be indeed,' as the
writer of the following story says, ' a touching and picturesque
object. It appears the cow-catcher at Dunleith took off the
hind-leg of Mr. Smith's hog, and his benevolent owner made
a wooden succedaneum and strapped it to the stump. The
creature shows its gratitude by accumulating fat with great
rapidity, the only drawback being that when killing and
curing-time comes round, one of the hams will have no
handle.'
CHAPTER XIV.
ARISTOCRACY OF ANIMALS.
Bold stag, with antlers large and strong,
Thou art a noble creature ;
And one more so we scarce could find
Throughout the world of nature.
F all the various races of men constitute one uni-
versal brotherhood, and if ' a man's a man for a'
that,' there are nevertheless amongst them dif-
ferences of size and complexion, and of habits
and life, which render them very distinguishable
one from the other. Even in the social position and mental
attainments of those who are of the same race and nation,
there are also wide differences.
Some are of noble descent, are wealthy, have refined
manners, move in the higher spheres of life, and have, in
many cases, great influence over their fellow-men ; and are,
on account of these things, considered to comprise what is
called the aristocracy of society.
The animals to which we are about to refer may, for more
reasons than one, be reckoned amongst the higher order, or
the aristocracy, of animals ; certainly more so than the pig,
and many other quadrupeds, whose habits of life are very
suggestive of the vulgar manners and vitiated tastes of many
who belong to the ' lower classes ' of human beings.
It was on a bright and genial morning in May, that
' Sweet month
If not ihejirst, the fairest of the year,'
: ;<: Aristocracy cf Animals.
when white and pink may-blossoms ^W 1 *^ with
green bLdguums and hawthorn bushes, lint vc liiili'iil an
extensroe park in one of die c&lciii omul BBS of England,
which VMS aJhfflffl Oft one wlr with a pbintation of larch,
gfrjQirli fr t and other trees, fine old clm^ here and there,
: r.ir ; i i _;_.:. ^ :..; _.:= - ; - - - ; ::;:=! _ .: : i - :. ~. : :.: :_.: - . ;
oaks spread oat their gjgantic limbs, affording a cooling shade
JO A^ f^ffV Irnan tii^ fjqf 3tyS qfflie MMMHMMT gm-
Ax QU> lf*einBBL Tn ^ig &JMM- stood a fine tnainii^fc
alone in is own solitary giandenr, which, by its ancient
style of architecture, seemed to point to mediaeval times.
Siefldy but BonBtakafaif it fold its tale of departed ancestral
g^xy and greatness, and of the long since gone ones whose
T_ '. ~~.l- T i . i " : r . . " " . ~-'. '. _ . '. . ; _ .".1 .". Z_T 1 " . 1 ~. 1 1 " ". .". i
same time it was painfully snggestrre of the changes, Ac
~ t-i".-" ;:E=. :.~ - u " :.tr~_L_.' :/ :: .._mji ..;t.
In die midst of these idprlions we were aroosed by per-
cerfing a mnneroos herd of deer manly coming tow suds us.
"t ii^w movements i^^pM'aipo so o^**^f ii^ a liiiiiiffscu that we
were at once seized with alarm. The deer were not more
Dban a. inndod jmik off when a warning moke bade us make
baste. We did so, and soon found onudtc* within an en-
^'HTrHff^B ^nmji^Mmiy ffifff^fytnis ^^Mxry ff^u 2 ortisiffcv tlhc icst*
dence of one of the narar-Juernmt
' Yoofre had a narrow escape, sir,' he said, as we entered,
'Are uie animals dangerous 7 we monired,
e lTby, sir, not always,' he replied; * but they are at certain
seasons, Tom are, IMMHH!!; quite safe here, and m see they
do yon no harm when yon leave/ He was as good as his
'. ." '-.
The """ * referred to baring produced in us a strong
interest in die deer tribes, we shall now endeavour
DEOL The deer family belong to Order IX of the das
Mammalia, usually named RMMtmtmtm. The word is derived
from rmmttto, from the Latin, name*, the cud. Animals of
this order when feeding swallow their food without- masticating
it, or but in a small degree; when at rest, they can bring k up
again add grind it properly, which is termed 'chewing die
end.' _
.M.O SUft mCDBSDSUBE 2DBODSU5 ffT T^*f^* p ^RTH* Sl3f (DOES flttntDCHDCOl
Family.
191
B M&EMEBQUly f * M* ULJ *^, Itflcamw -while ieecinr iher
be uwtyocl EJICXQ Iby frhpnr dcrnrroroiis cnsnncfi, "which ETC
powerful and mnmerons. Thej . --jfore pr:~ : . :
V'.l". : " \ ~__~_+~, '. ~ .: '_'.', " .1.1 t 1 "
: :" ::<:>i _i i : ;_ it rii'.t.
_ :_.-. ^; .;:::. _:.^:^i:ri
5 it 5s
should be of such
flhe fcod or to ir^t-rant from it every
. i Ott JBCJiOHE>
We aae toll Aaft Oe fiet atoaaA emntCTK lie food as it is
- '. . .'.'_
::
f ; ; ; - i r : : - i :;i ; :
OK
:,-;- _^- ;; - -
Ac !! it yicMb torn brth
- - - "...*. .., ^ . ^*T-3
>_;...; .. . .... . ^_ . _- _" ^ v _">; ."." J
; ::.- 1-.-;- v ; .. i := - ;- ;:::;.: ;- :; ;:-;.-- ::.:.:-. i.--. :
1 92 Aristocracy of Animals.
tion of the palm and orange groves of Italy would be to the
natives of that sunny clime.
'The reindeer draws the Laplander in his sledge over dreary
wastes of snow. It gives him wholesome and nutritious milk,
of which he makes cheese ; and when dead its skin supplies
him with warm clothing, its flesh with food, and even its
tendons are used, when split, as threads, and when whole as
strings for his bows. If in England a man's riches are
reckoned by the number of pounds he may be worth, a Lap-
lander's are valued by the number of reindeer he has in his
possession.
THE STAG, or male of the red deer, is a noble-looking
animal, and was at one time
much more numerous in this
country than it is now. It
is common to all the northern
parts of Europe, and in the
Highlands of Scotland it is
found in great numbers in its
wild state.
' The red deer,' says Baird,
' is an ancient denizen of the
forests of this country, and
is intimately blended with the
old oppressive forest laws,
and with some of our legends
of deadly feud, such as "Chevy
Chase," etc. Its flesh is highly
stag, or Red Deer. esteemed as an article of
food In winter they'go together in large herds. The stag
sheds its horns annually, from the shavings of which we obtain
hartshorn. He is very bold and courageous in time of danger,
and will defend himself in a very fierce and determined
manner.
We have heard of a tiger being put into an enclosure with
a stag, which made such a stout resistance that the tiger was
feign to fly. A few weeks since, a stag was so closely pressed
by the huntsmen, that he turned at bay, closed in upon one
of his pursuers, and ran his antler into the chest of the horse,
which died a few minutes afterwards. This occurred in
Ireland
Deer have a Deep Sense of Wrong. :i:
AFFECTIOX or THE STAG. The stag is not only a bold and
noble animal, but is very affectionate towards those of its own
kind, and particularly when they are in pain or suffering. He
has been known to lick the wounds of his companions that
have been shot at but not kffled, and in this way to administer
relief
Animals of the deer tribe seem to have a deep sense of any
wrong done to any member belonging to diem, and to show a
determined disposition to avenge that wrong at the first oppor-
tunity. Captain Brown states that, ' At Wonersh, near Guild*
ford, the seat of Lord Grandey, a fawn was drinking in die
lake, when one of the swans suddenly flew upon it and polled
it into the water, where it held it under until it was drowned.
This act of atrocity was noticed by the other deer in the
park, and they took care to revenge it the fast opportunity.
A few days after, this swan, happening to be on land, was
surrounded and attacked by the whole herd, and presently
killed. Before this time they were never known to attack die
swans.'
Blending with the majestic appearance of the stag is a kind
of plaintive, half melancholy, and pathetic look of his beauti-
ful eyes. It has been said that he sheds tears. To this
Shakespeare &$** where he says
* The big round tens
Coursed one another down his innocent cose
In piteous chase.'
We are informed dial this weeping aspect of the deer tribe
* depends on a remarkable glandular sinus, or tear-pit, silmtp
at the inner angle of each eye, dose to the nose, without
having any communication with the eyes, or without what are
termed the lachrymal passages.'
THE FALLOW DEER has long been domesticated in this
country. It resembles Ac stag in many particulars, but is
much less in size, and much more gentle. The horns inrftn*
slightly forwards, and have small branches behind diem. It
was originally brought from Persia, and is now found in ewer/
part of Europe. In England we have one variety of fallow-
deer distinguished by a dappled skin, and another by a
brownish-bay colour, more or less beautifully spotted, and by
a tolerably long tafl. This last variety was brought from
Norway by King James L The skin of die fallow-deer is
13
194
Aristocracy of Animals.
remarkably soft and durable, and its flesh, called venison, is
very rich and delicate. The female produces one, and some-
times two, young at a birth. This species go in large numbers,
but often will, in the same park, be divided into two parties,
which frequently contend, in thorough aggressive fashion, for
some favourite or particular part of their domain or pasture-
ground. Of course one of the males (for they are the males
that fight) becomes master of the field, and with his own
party of females and subordinate males takes possession of
the coveted part of the park. The vanquished one has also
his party, to which he acts as leader. The leaders are
usually, if not always the oldest, the strongest males of the
two herds.
Fawns, the young of the fallow-deer, have a light, graceful,
and beautiful appearance. They look like paragons of sim-
plicity, innocence, and gentleness, and are, when kindly
treated, so amiable and sociable in disposition, and so in-
teresting in their little frolics, that we need not wonder that
tender and loving children and humane people should become
ardently attached to them.
Remarkable Organisation of Deer. 195
A PET FAWN. A very intimate friend of the author told
him that she once took to her home a very young fawn that
had been deprived of its maternal parent, wrapped it in
flannel, put it in a basket by the fire, and carefully attended
to its wants. This little animal soon became sufficiently
familiar with its humane friend as to drink milk and to eat
food out of her hand. It would frisk about as gaily as a lamb
in a sunny field, and follow her from room to room, into the
yard, garden, road, or wherever she went. When the lady
was absent it would make a whining noise until she returned.
When she did so it would show the most unbounded pleasure.
As time passed on the fawn increased in size and strength,
and when the weather became warm and genial it was turned
into the park with the rest of the deer, amongst whom it no
doubt felt perfectly happy.
The plaintive cry of the fawn is generally an indication of
distress arising either from fear, pain, want, or a sense of the
absence of the parent and the other deer ; and it seems to
arouse, in an eminent degree, the affectionate concern of the
older animals. We have been told that the cry of the roe
when deprived of her young is one of extreme agony.
Deer are furnished with additional nostrils, or rather breath-
ing-places, which are of great advantage, by giving them a
fuller and freer respiration, specially needed by them in the
chase. The additional nostrils are considerably above the
ordinary ones, and are situated a little below the eyes. They
are composed of folds of the skin which the animal can open
and close at pleasure. This remarkable organization enables
the deer to plunge their noses very deep into the water with-
out suffering any inconvenience in breathing. This is a great
boon to the animals, especially when the weather is hot, and
when they have been made thirsty by the chase.
THE ROEBUCK. The roebuck also belongs to the deer
family. It is not more than about two feet high and three
feet long, but it is an exceedingly graceful and nimble animal,
and has been known to foil repeated efforts to capture it. In
summer-time its coat is smooth and of a reddish colour, but
in winter grey. The horns are much used for making knife-
handles, etc. The horns of the roebuck differ from those of
the stag and the fallow-deer, inasmuch as they have no basal
snag, but rise straight from the forehead, throwing out one
132
196
Aristocracy of Animals.
antler in front and one or two behind. The horn, from its
base, is covered with wrinkles.
These animals go in pairs only, and usually show great
affection for each other. They are specially tender and careful
over their young, for which they provide until they are old
and strong enough to do so for themselves. They were at
one time common in our woods, but are now seldom seen
except in the Highlands of Scotland. Some are found in
Italy, France, Sweden, Norway, and Siberia. While fallow-
" -r ' - -3
Roebuck.
deer seek the plains, the roebuck prefers higher grounds. It
feeds upon the tender shoots of underwood as well as upon
herbage. When properly killed its flesh is very delicate for
food.
DEER-STEALING. When the forests in England were more
numerous and extensive than they are now, deer-stealing was
a very common offence, and became at last of such a daring
character that laws had to be passed to put a stop to it, or at
least to check it. Any person found disguised and in arms
in any forest or park, and killing red or fallow deer, was
deemed a felon without benefit of the clergy.
Shakespeare and Deer- Stealing. 197
It is recorded of Shakespeare that in early life he fell into
bad company, amongst whom were some that followed deer-
stealing, with whom he was more than once engaged in rob-
bing Charlecote Park, near Stratford-on-Avon, belonging to
Sir Thomas Lucy ; for this he was prosecuted, and in order
to be revenged wrote a ballad against that gentleman, which
incensed him to such a degree as to cause him to com-
mence a criminal prosecution against Shakespeare, who was
in consequence compelled to flee to London for shelter and
protection.
This apparent piece of ill-fortune appears to have been the
first stepping-stone to that far-famed notoriety which Shake-
speare afterwards attained as a writer. It is said that in the
time of Queen Elizabeth it was a common practice for per-
sons to ride to the London theatres on horseback. During
the performance the horses of those who had no servants were
usually given in charge of anyone who might be waiting for
such employment. Shakespeare became a popular favourite
as a caretaker of horses, then was introduced as a servant in
one of the theatres ; afterwards he became a performer, and
finally one of the most powerful dramatic writers of his day.
A NIGHT'S SURPRISE. Once upon a time in the autumnal
season of the year we were walking by the side of an exten-
sive park bounded by a high wall overhung with trees. It was
late at night, the weather rather squally, and the rain, which
had fallen during the day, had rendered the road so soft that
we could hardly hear the sound of our own footfall. It was
very dark. There was no moon, and the stars were hidden
by inky clouds. Suddenly we heard a most distressing, half-
moaning voice, which seemed to say, ' Oh dear ! oh dear !'
proceeding from some one apparently close by.
We immediately stopped and looked timidly round to as-
certain where the strange noise came from. But there was no
sign of life or movement to throw any light on the mystery.
After a dead silence of a minute or so the same cry was re-
peated, rendering our perplexity and the mystery all the
greater. We then hurried with rapid steps from the place,
and in about half an hour were relieved by seeing some lights
in the houses which here and there stood by the high-road side.
We told this little adventure to our host at whose house we
were staying for a short time. With mischief lurking in his
198 Aristocracy of Animals.
small but quick eyes he stated that just about the spot where
we had heard the mysterious noise a man some years before
had been found murdered, and that it was reported by super-
stitious people to be haunted by his ghost, where it had often
been heard to utter a sound resembling ' Oh dear ! oh dear !'
as if in great agony.
' But, sir,' he said, ' your mystery is easily solved. I have
no doubt that at the other side of the wall a herd of deer were
.sleeping, and, as they are very quick of hearing, you may
have disturbed them when you were walking past. The noise
which alarmed you was very likely the cry of a fawn which
wanted its mother, and which cry sounds much like the utter-
ance of " Oh dear ! oh dear !" ' Was not this a dark and deer
adventure ?
FREAK OF A STAG. A correspondent of an illustrated
paper gives the following interesting account of a very
sociable deer. The writer was quietly seated in a railway
carriage at Wimbledon Station, when a face appeared at the
window, and, looking up, he saw that it was a stag. The
animal regarded him placidly, and seemed inclined to enter
the carriage, but on second thoughts turned away. There
were a lot of people on the platform, and crowds outside the
station shouting, but the stag did not seem at all startled ; on
the contrary, he coolly walked off, and, seeing an opening be-
tween two carriages, walked up to it, contemplated it for a
moment, evidently concluding that it was not a fair sporting
fence. He then crossed the rails, and sprang on to the up-
platform, where he gave a kick and a jump or rather a jump
and a kick at a cabby who tried to stop him, bolted through
the station, and up the bank, over which he disappeared ; but
evidently having a fancy for the railway, he recrossed the line
a little lower down, ran about amongst the fitters' and car-
penters' shops, and was captured by some workmen. Two
couple of hounds cast up just as the stag returned to the rails,
and immediately afterwards the 2.30 West of England express
rushed through the station, fortunately without doing any
damage. That a stag should come upon a busy railway plat-
form when a train was in the station seems to be curious.
CHAPTER XV.
AN ANCIENT FAMILY.
' That sheep-cot, which in yonder vale you see
(Beset with groves, and those sweet springs hard by)
I rather would my palace wish to be
Than any roof of proudest majesty.' DANIEL.
HERE are some men who congratulate themselves
on being able, by the aid of family records, to
look back on a long line of predecessors, distin-
guished in their time for great wealth, influence,
and philanthropy. The Jews are proud of tracing
to a very remote period the origin of their race. The gipsies,
in many cases, boast of being the descendants of the Shepherd
Kings, whose invading proclivities were much dreaded by some
of the monarchs of that distant period. Modern Rechabites
claim the honour of being members of the same kind of order
spoken of by one of the Old Testament prophets ; and one
religious denomination justifies its observance of the rite of
baptism by the example of the forerunner of Jesus Christ.
Without intending to be at all invidious in identifying
animals with human beings, we may observe that the ancestors
of the subject of this chapter are mentioned in the Scriptures
at a very early date. In Genesis iv. we read, ' And Abel was
a keeper of sheep? This fact is, we think, a good reason for
selecting the title we have given ' An Ancient Family.'
We shall now give some interesting particulars of the struc-
ture, commercial value, and peculiar characteristics of this
well-known and useful animal.
THE SHEEP FAMILY. Sheep belong to the genus Ovis, and
are a sub-family of the large family Bovidce, or hollow T horned
ruminants. There are very many varieties of them. Those
in England are known as ' White Dorsets ;' ' Old Norfolks ;'
Structure and Character of Sheep. 201
' South Downs f New Leicesters ;'' ' Cheviots and black-faced
Scots,' common in the North ; and the ' Lincolns.' Small
black-legged sheep abound in Wales, where they live on the
scanty herbage growing on the sides of precipices, which are
often so deep and look so dangerous that a person is apt to
turn giddy by gazing at them. The smallest breed are the
Shetlands, and their wool is the finest produced in Great
Britain.
These different breeds may be distinguished by slight pecu-
liarities of size, colour, and the length and quality of their
wool, but they do in reality merge into one. There is some
difficulty in tracing the origin of our sheep, and the country
from which it was im-
ported. Some naturalists
believe the moufflon, an
animal about the size of
a small fallow-deer, in-
habiting parts of Corsica,
Sardinia, and Greece, to
be the progenitor of the
common sheep.
, . , - Moufflon.
The precise period of
its introduction into England is also involved in obscurity.
We are told, however, that the ancient Britons used to wear
felted cloth more than 2,000 years ago. The sheep, being
a ruminant animal, chews the cud the same as the ox. It
has no teeth in the upper jaw, but has, in their stead, a hard,
firm, but somewhat elastic pad, between which and the teeth
of the lower jaw the herbage is secured, and this, by a sudden
jerk, half-biting and half-tearing action, is separated from the
stalks and roots and passed into the stomach, in which it
remains until remastication takes place.
If the sheep is defective in courage, its social instinct is re-
markably strong. They feed and travel together in flocks if
left to themselves, and should one of their number jump a
fence or find its way through a gap in the hedge into another
field, the rest will be sure to follow.
It is no doubt on account of this faculty of imitation in
sheep that butchers will sometimes lay hold on one of a
number of them, and force it into the building or slaughter-
house he may desire, knowing that the others will follow.
2O2 An Ancient Family.
*
This plan is usually successful. There are but few animals
that appear to be more happy and contented when living to-
gether in numbers than sheep ; and yet so great is their dread
of isolation, that if one of them is separated from its com-
panions it refuses food, pines, and very soon dies.
MOTHER SHEEP AND THEIR YOUNG. Innocence and im-
plicit obedience to the will of the shepherd are commendable
traits in the character of these animals. They are also re-
markably affectionate to their young. Hogg, * the Ettrick
shepherd, says : ' The harder the times, the greater the kind-
ness of the ewe to her young. Once I herded for two years
in a wild and bare farm, called " Willenslee," on the border
of Midlothian ; and of all the sheep I ever saw, these were
the kindest and most affectionate to their young. We had
one very bad winter, so that our sheep grew lean in the spring,
and disease came in among them and carried off many. Often
have I seen these victims, when fallen down to rise no more,
and even when unable to lift their heads from the ground,
holding up the leg to invite their starving lambs to the miserable
pittance that the udder could still supply.'
If a mother sheep lose her lamb, what a bleat of desolation
she will give ! and how, with all the affectionate concern of a
mother, will she look and run hither and thither among those
of her own kind until she finds the lost one. This maternal
feeling is, however, exhibited in a more prominent and affect-
Ing manner when her young one dies. If it is not removed
she will cling to its decaying remains until they disappear by
mixing with the soil.
Not only is the flesh of the sheep very nutritious and
commonly eaten in this and other temperate and northern
countries, but these animals constitute, in various ways, very
profitable speculations in our commercial enterprise. It is
said that a few years since the flocks of sheep in several of
the European kingdoms numbered 140,000,000 head.
An observer of the habits of sheep has informed us that
these animals usually begin to feed in the summer-time about
five or six o'clock in the morning, but if it is likely to rain
soon after this time they will not stir, but remain in the same
places they have occupied during the night, simply because if
they did not do so, and the rain were to fall while they were
feeding, they would have no dry places to lie down upon.
Sheep as Beasts of Burden. 203
Although this animal is much exposed to cold and wet
weather, it is provided with protection against both. We
must condemn, as a cruel act, the custom of shearing sheep
too early in the spring, which often brings on suffering, and
deteriorates the value of the animals.
THE WOOL OF SHEEP. It would be difficult to ascertain
the vast amount of money paid in combing, dressing, spinning,
and dyeing the wool of sheep, and then weaving it into cloth
afterwards, to say nothing about the cost of machinery and
looms, etc., etc. In addition to this, we may see in our large
manufacturing towns, as well as in those of other countries,
thousands of men, women, and children employed, and
deriving their livelihood by working in some way or other on
the wool of these useful animals.
If we examine a single hair of sheep's wool through a
powerful lens, we shall discover a number of serrations, which
resolve themselves into a series of notched ridges, which
surround the hair closely. By means of these serrations the
hairs interlock with each other in what is called ' felting,'
which is increased by water. It is this that renders it neces-
sary to have cloth well shrunk before making it up into
garments, coats, or trousers, as the first drenching by rain will
make them too small for the wearer. The reason this shrink-
ing does not take place when the wool is soaked with water
while on the sheep's back is, ' that the fleece is imbued with
a secretion from the skin, called the "yoke," which repels the
action of the water.'
From what we have stated, it will be seen that if sheep lack
the size and strength of oxen, and the fleetness of horses, and
if they are less bold, intelligent, and courageous than many
other animals, they are not, on the whole, less useful, but
have in many cases some claim on priority in contributing so
largely to the general comfort and convenience of mankind.
CURIOUS USE OF SHEEP. ' In the " Colonies and India," '
says Nature, ' we find a note respecting the employment of
sheep as beasts of burden. In eastern Turkistan and Thibet,
for instance, borax is borne on the backs of sheep over the
mountains of Seh, Kangra, and Rampur, on the Sutlej.
Borax is found at Rudok, in Changthan, of such excellent
quality, that only 25 per cent, is lost in the process of refining.
The Rudok borax is carried on sheep to Rampur, which
2O4 An Ancient Family.
travel at the rate of two miles a day; but notwithstanding
the superior quality and the demand for it in Europe, the
expenses attending its transport seriously hamper the trade,
which, but for the sheep, would hardly exist at all.
A WOOLLY AUDIENCE. Six hundred years ago a certain
shepherd boy watched his flock on the hills that look down
upon Florence, and spent his leisure in piping to the sheep,
and making sketches of a favourite ewe or lamb ' with a stone
slightly pointed upon a smooth, clean piece of rock.' This
little boy, Giotto Bondone, became one of the greatest of
Italian painters, and ever took delight in portraying the gentle
creatures in whose company he had passed his boyhood.
Sheep are very fond of music. ' Joseph Haydn, when a boy,
went on a tour with some companions through the Apennines.
One of the party carried his flute with him, and one day, as
he sat on a hillside and played for the amusement of the
others, the sheep came crowding round him. If the time was
slow and mournful, the sheep would droop their heads ; but
when he played a lively strain, they drew close to his side,
and rubbed their necks against his legs to show their delight.'
THE PHILOSOPHER AND SHEPHERD BOY. According to a
story told of Sir Isaac Newton and a shepherd boy, sheep are
good indicators of coming weather. It appears that the great
philosopher was on one occasion riding across Salisbury
Plain, where he met with a boy tending sheep. Whether
there was any sign or not of rain we cannot say, but Sir Isaac,
after sundry interrogations, asked the boy ' what he thought
of the weather ?' To which the boy replied ' it was going to
rain,' and advised the traveller not to proceed on his journey.
His advice was unheeded. The philosopher had not pro-
ceeded far on his journey before the boy's answer occurred
with great force to his mind, and so curious did he become to
know why the boy should give him such a reply, that he re-
solved to retrace his steps and ask him. He did so.
' How do you know it is going to rain ?' he asked the boy ;
' and what is it makes you so certain about it ?'
' Just this,' answered the unsophisticated lad, pointing to
an old ram ; ' whenever he turns his tail towards the wind, I
knows it will rain afore long. It al'a's does, sir, and that be
true, sir ; and his tail has been in that direction pretty nigh
all the morning, it has, sir.'
Effect of Music on Sheep. 205
We do not know whether the philosophers faith was suffi-
ciently great to believe in the barometrical qualifications of
the old ram, or in the assertions of this untutored lad, to
induce him to give up his journey or not, but he no doubt
thought it was a subject worthy of his attention, study, and
reflection.
Sheep have been known repeatedly to seek the shelter of a
hedge, an embankment, and the side of a hill, a considerable
time before a storm or rain has come on, and even when
there has been no indication of either.
A SHEEP'S TASTE FOR Music. The Rev. T. Jackson says,
in referring to sheep being fond of, and variously affected by,
music, that the Highland breed of sheep carry off the palm
for cleverness and for their partiality to sweet sounds. He
knew one of them that would jump and skip about with con-
siderable pleasure whenever a lively, quick tune was played ;
but the moment it heard the National Anthem, it would hang
down its head, appear to be very sullen, annoyed, and much
displeased until the music ceased.
A TIPPLING LAMB. There can be no doubt that when
animals are not controlled by man, they seldom, if ever,
acquire a fondness for anything in the shape of food or drink
but what they are prompted to take by the law of instinct.
We, however, once knew a lamb whose parents died pre-
maturely, that was taken home by its owner, who kept a way-
side inn in the county of Gloucester. This lamb was fed
with milk from the cow, on which it thrived amazingly well.
As it grew older, it became very familiar with the domestics,
as well as with the customers in the tap-room. Keeping this
kind of company, singular as it may appear, it acquired a
taste for malt liquors, of which, the landlord told us, it had a
glass regularly every day, and that immediately afterwards it
would frolic and jump about in the most lively manner, show-
ing that beer had the same effect on the brain of this animal
as it usually has on those of human beings.
ODD COMPANIONS. In ' Records of Animal Sagacity '
appears the following account of a singular attachment which
two animals of different tribes formed for each other. It
seems that ' In December, 1825, Thomas Ray, blacksmith,
Handhills, parish of Brittle, purchased a lamb of the black-
faced breed from an individual passing with a large flock. It
2o6 An Ancient Family,
was so extremely wild, that it was with great difficulty separated
from its fleecy companions. He put it into his field in com-
pany with a cow and a little white galloway. It never seemed
to mind the cow, but soon exhibited manifest indications of
fondness for the pony, which, not insensible to such tender
approaches, amply demonstrated the attachment to be re-
ciprocal. They were now to be seen in company in all cir-
cumstances, whether the pony was used for riding or drawing.
. . . When likely to be too closely beset, the lamb would
seek an asylum beneath the pony, and pop out its head
betwixt the fore or hind legs, with looks of conscious security.
At night it invariably repaired to the stable, and reposed
under the manger, before the head of its favourite. When
separate, the lamb would raise the most plaintive bleatings,
and the pony a responsive neighing. On one occasion they
both strayed into an adjoining field, in which was a flock of
sheep ; the lamb joined the flock at a short distance from the
pony, but as soon as the owner removed him, it quickly
followed, without the least regard to its own species.'
A SHEEP THAT CHEWED TOBACCO. In volume xxii., and
on page 329, of Nature appears the following, which we copy,
as being something very curious and uncommon :
' The subject of a depraved taste in animals is an interest-
ing one, which has not been studied as much, perhaps, as it
might. In human beings it would seem to depend on ill-
health of either body or mind ; but in animals it would seem
as if it might be present and the animal enjoy good health.
One remarkable instance in an herbivorous animal we can
vouch for. It occurred in a sheep that had been shipped on
board one of the P. and O. steamers to help to supply the
kitchen on board; but while fattening, it developed an in-
ordinate taste for tobacco, which it would eat in any quantity
that was given to it. It did not much care for cigars, and
altogether objected to burnt ends; but it would greedily
devour the half-chewed quid of a sailor, or a handfull of roll
tobacco. While chewing, there was apparently no undue
flow of saliva, and its taste was so peculiar, that most of the
passengers on board amused themselves by feeding it, to see
for themselves if it were really so. As a consequence, though
in fair condition, the cook was afraid to kill the sheep, be-
lieving that the mutton would have a flavour of tobacco.'
CHAPTER XVI.
LOWINGS FROM THE FIELD AND SHED.
The bellowing ox and lowing kine
Are treasures worth e'en a golden mine ;
These pictures of life, in fields of green,
Can vie with the richest ever seen.
MERE cursory view of the life of various kinds
of animals may lead us to suppose that there is a
very wide difference in their utility to man. Ad-
mitting that it may be so to a certain degree, yet
if we look carefully into their positions in nature,
and the habits and services of each tribe, we shall find the
difference referred to is not so great as we may imagine. One
kind of animal may in some particular thing be much more
useful than another kind, but at the same time may be very
inferior to the latter in something else.
If the horse is the fleetest, the strongest, and most useful
of our domestic animals as a worker, he produces no material
to compete with the wool of the sheep, neither is he of such
use to man after death as the latter animal is. If cows are
not so useful as the horse as workers, or if they are not wool-
producers like the sheep, yet in the milk they give we have
an incalculable blessing enjoyed by man in nearly every part
of the world. We should look at the nature or quality, as
well as to the extent, of the advantages we derive from animals,
in order to form a proper estimate of their real value to man.
We shall now give a brief sketch of
THE Ox AND Cow. These animals belong to the order
Ruminantia, class Mammalia. Many varieties of them are
found in Europe, India, Africa, and in North America, some
208 Lowings from the Field and Shed.
of them domesticated, but most of them living a wild life,,
The species belonging to England are characterized by flat
foreheads, wide muzzles, heavy bodies, and strong legs. The
horns of some of them are long and curved, others are short,
and a few are without them ; but all these animals contribute
in an eminent degree to the wants and comfort of man.
What sight can be more beautiful and interesting, or more
suggestive of prosperity and enjoyment, than herds of these
noble creatures grazing on the mountain-side, or in verdant
fields, where cowslips and buttercups gleam in the sunlight
like vast sheets of the purest gold ? We in England may well
be proud of our oxen, and should be grateful for them too,
because they not only give life and animation to our land-
scapes, but they afford to man a number of blessings he
would have to look for in vain in many other animals.
Let us stand in imagination for a short time in a field where
a number of them are feeding, and watch their movements ;
we shall find them peculiar, interesting, and amusing, and we
may learn something at the same time.
STRUCTURE OF THE Cow's MOUTH. We shall see that
these animals, when grazing, throw their tongues round several
blades of grass or herbage, which they gather together in the
same manner as the reaper does stalks of corn by his sickle ;
they then grip them firmly between the teeth of the lower
jaw and the pad of the upper one ; then give a sudden jerk,
which separates the stalks from the roots.
The reason why cows and oxen use their tongues in this
manner, is that their upper lip is not prehensile like that of
the horse. Their inability to seize anything by their upper
lip is therefore supplied by the movement of their tongues as
before described. As they require a great deal of food, it
takes a long time before they obtain a sufficient supply ; and
as they are during this time exposed to the hot sun, and to a
thousand winged tormentors, nature has generously furnished
them with long tails to ward them off, or at any rate to lessen
the misery which they would otherwise have to endure if it
were not for this useful appendage.
ORIGIN OF OUR OXEN. Naturalists are divided in opinion
as to the origin of our oxen, and the time of their intro-
duction into Great Britain. Some think they came from
some part of Asia, and that the Romans brought them hither.
Power of Man over Animals. 209
Those who believe they are derived from wild oxen, which
thousands of years since existed in England, have in their
favour the fact that fossil bones, resembling the bones of our
domestic ox, have been found in our rocks and caves.
WILD OXEN. The ' Student's Natural History ' states :
' The cattle which anciently inhabited the great Caledonian
forest, roaming wild and free, was a small kind, and the breed
is still preserved, though they are restricted now to a very few
places, such as Cadzow Park, near Hamilton, and Chillingham
Park, in Northumberland.'
In order to show the superior power and influence of man
over the lower animals, and the wide difference which exists
between animals of the same genus in a wild and domesticated
state, a description of the herds referred to may be both
interesting and useful. It is given by a gentleman named
Culley, who visited Chillingham Park some years since, and
who describes them in the following language : ' Their colour
is of a creamy white, muzzle black. At the first appear-
ance of any person, they set off in full gallop, and at the
distance of two or three hundred yards make a wheel round
and come boldly up, tossing their heads in a menacing
manner. On a sudden they make a full stop, at the distance
of forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at the object of their
surprise; but upon the least motion being made, they all
again turn round and fly off with equal speed, but not to the
same distance. Forming a shorter circle, and again returning
with a bolder and more threatening aspect than before, they
approach much nearer, probably within thirty yards, when
they make another stand and again fly off. This they do
several times, shortening their distance and advancing nearer,
till they come within ten yards, when most people think it
prudent to leave them, for there is little doubt but in two or
three turns more they would make an attack.' These animals,
like many other wild ones, gore to death those that are
wounded, feeble, or aged among them.
Admitting that the progenitors of our present race of cows
and oxen were wild as those described, we cannot fail to see
what a subduing and controlling power man has over brute
beasts, and how willingly subservient these creatures become
to his will, especially when treated kindly and humanely
by him.
14
210 Lowings from the Field and Shed.
VALUE OF Cows. In whatever country these animals are
found, they are pre-eminently useful to the inhabitants of it,
as the following calculation will show. Taking for granted
that on an average cows produce 24 pints of milk per day
each, that would amount to 168 pints per week. Supposing
that 3,000,000 people in London drink each a pint of milk
per week, then 17,857 cows are required to supply this
quantity, which at twopence per pint would amount to
25,000 weekly. If the above number of cows, after giving
milk for some years, be sold to butchers at 15 each, they
would realize in money value 267,855.
Assuming the number of cows in England to be only
Yorkshire Cow.
178,570, these sold at 15 each would realize ,2,678,550.
If to these milk-producers we add the same number of oxen
at the same price, then we have in these animals together the
worth of 5,357,100. We must also consider that the amounts
stated are greatly increased by the retail prices paid by con-
sumers of the flesh of these animals, and also by the sale of
calves, of which many thousands are slaughtered in one
year.
In addition to the flesh of these animals, other parts of their
bodies are of great service to man. Out of their horns drink-
ing-vessels are made ; glue, so- useful to the mechanic, is made
Uses of Cows, and Artificial Light. 211
from their feet and ears ; their hides, tanned into leather, give
employment to thousands of men, and, when cut up into shoes
and boots, protect the feet of millions of people ; and their
hair is mixed with mortar for the ceilings of our rooms ; so
that, living or dead, they may be regarded as the most useful
animals that were ever brought under the control of man.
Cows AND CANDLES. Before gas, and many other artificial
lights now in use, were introduced, the common tallow candles
were much more valued than they are at the present time.
Although the poorer class of our ancestors were compelled to
pass the long and dreary winter evenings comparatively in
semi-darkness, the old-fashioned candles were nevertheless re-
garded as a great boon.
The following curious statements, which appeared in a
London newspaper, may not only surprise the reader, but will,
we venture to think, in a great measure enhance, in his estima-
tion, the value of the ox and cow, whose fat, as well as that of
similar animals, constitutes the principal ingredient in the
manufacture of candles. It appears that, some time since,
240 tons of candles were sent out from a factory in Lambeth.
This number of tons represents about 5,000,000 of candles,
reckoning a little more than eight to the pound weight. The
paragraph referred to goes on to say that : ' If these candles
had to burn one at a time, they would last 3,368 years ; or, if
the first candle had been lighted when Saul ascended the
Jewish throne, and had been burning, one at a time, ever
since, there would be a sufficient supply left for 112 years to
come.'
Even admitting that this calculation is not strictly, or abso-
lutely, accurate, it is a near approximation to the truth, and
shows how much, even now, we owe to the ox and cow for
contributing in so great a degree to what may still be regarded
as the blessing of candle-light.
A Cow THAT CAME TO THE RESCUE. We remember read-
ing a simple story of a cow that was grazing in a field with a
number of sheep, one of which was lying upon its back, unable
to turn upon its feet. It was surrounded by several of its
companions, who, however much they pitied its helpless con-
dition, seemed quite unable to render the assistance it re-
quired, or perhaps lacked the sense to do so. Their bleatings
of regret arrested the attention of the cow, who, looking up,
142
2 1 2 Lowings from the Field and Shed.
comprehended the difficulty they were in, pushed forward to
the struggling sheep, put her horns gently under its body, and
with an upward motion brought the animal again on its feet.
The rescued one and the rest of the sheep bleated their best
thanks to the cow, which she acknowledged with sundry
switches of her tail, and forthwith resumed her feeding.
The affection of the cow for her young is at first exceed-
ingly strong, but not so enduring as that of many other
animals. When the calf is taken away hef bellowings are
very mournful, and even distressing, but they soon cease.
Hence, no doubt, the saying, ' The bellowing cow the soonest
forgets her calf.'
THE BUTCHER AND THE Cow's TEETH. Referring again
to the structure of the cow's mouth, the following incident may
not be uninteresting. Some time since we were passing a
butcher's shop in London, at the door of which stood a young
man, of whom we made some inquiries relating to cows.
' Are you a butcher ?' we asked. ' Yes, sir,' was the reply :
'I've been one about eleven years.' ' Have you ever helped
to slaughter any cows or oxen ?' ' Oh yes ; hundreds of
them.' ' Then you are well acquainted with the internal as
well as the external structure of these animals ?' ' No man
more so, I should think.' ' Do you know if the cow has as
many teeth in the front of her upper jaw as she has in her
lower one, or if there is any difference ?' ' To be sure I do,'
he said, smiling at the remark. He, however, hesitated in
giving us the information we wanted. He said at last, how-
ever, ' There is, I believe, about the same number.' ' Indeed !'
we said ; ' are you not aware that the cow has no teeth at all
in the front of the upper jaw ?' ' Nonsense,' said he ; ' you
are joking, or speaking of some old cow that has lost her
teeth.' Calling his attention to a cow's head hanging close
by, we said, ' Open the mouth of it, and let it speak for itself.'
He did so, and his own too ; and then exclaimed with great
astonishment, 'Well, I never knew such a thing in all my
born days. I always thought that cows had teeth at the top
and bottom the same as I have.'
A man in Gravesend assured us that although he had been
a cowherd thirty years he never knew before that the front of
the cow's upper jaw was deficient of teeth.
The above shows that we may be in the daily habit ot
Superstition about Oxen. 213
looking at things, and yet not see them so as to understand
what they really are.
Do OXEN KNEEL ON CHRISTMAS EVE ? We will now quote
an extract from the ' Book of Christmas,' by T. K. Hervey,
referring to a notion that ' oxen kneel on Christmas Day.'
' In the south-west of England there exists a superstitious
notion that the oxen are to be found kneeling in their stalls
at midnight of this vigil, as if in adoration of the Nativity : an
idea which Brand, no doubt correctly, supposes to have
originated from the representation by early painters of the
event itself.' That writer mentions a Cornish peasant, who
told him (1790) of his having, with some others, watched
several oxen in their stalls on the eve of old Christmas Day.
At twelve o'clock at night they observed the two oldest oxen
fall upon their knees, and, as he expressed it in the idiom of
the country, ' make a cruel moan like Christian creatures.'
To those who regard the analogies of the human mind, who
mark the progress of tradition, who study the diffusion of cer-
tain fancies, and their influence upon mankind, an anecdote
related by Mr. Howison in his ' Sketches of Upper Canada '
is full of comparative interest. He mentions meeting an
Indian at midnight, creeping cautiously along, in the stillness
of a beautiful Christmas Eve. The Indian made signals to
him to be silent, and when questioned as to his reason, re-
plied : ' We watch to see the deer kneel ; this is Christmas
night, and all the deer fall upon their knees to the Great Spirit,
and look up.'
THE Cow AND MORAL SUASION. Cows, like other animals,
have their tempers, which they sometimes exhibit when about
to be milked. On these occasions we have seen them peremp-
torily refuse to have the shackles put on their hind-legs, which
in many cases is done to prevent them from walking and from
lifting up either leg, by which they might upset the milk-pail.
A good cudgelling with the milk-stool, which cows often get
for not quietly submitting to be thus manacled, has never, that
we can remember, produced any beneficial results, but has, in
many cases, increased the animal's objection to the shackles
referred to. From the following anecdote it is evident that,
obtuse as the intellect of cows is considered to be, these
animals are susceptible to gentle treatment, which, as a rule,
proves far more efficacious in soothing any irritability of
214 Lowings from the Field and Shed.
temper than rough usage could possibly do. Mr. E. Powell
writes suggestively to the Rural New Yorker of a ' spoiled '
cow reformed by moral suasion :
' Coming home to farm on a vacation, after nearly a year's
absence, my " man " said to me, " You will have to sell that
pet Ayrshire heifer. She is a terrible creature; we can do
nothing with her." At milking-time I found they had her with
a rope around her horns, in between close bars, and then stout
pins before and behind her hind-legs. One switched off flies,
while another milked. She made it lively, however, in spite of
bars, pins, pegs, ropes, and men. It looked like a bad case.
Her eyes were full of mischief. The next day I had her led
out on the lawn of nice grass for a good meal. The next day
she was let loose in the yard, when I took a rope to the gate,
held it up, and caused her to come and let me put it on, pro-
mising her a good time on the lawn. It was at least a half-
hour's work of quiet, persistent waiting and talking. But she
was slowly coming to the point of yielding. At last she held
her head quietly down close in front of me, and not till then
did I yield one inch to her. She must submit before she
could have the coveted grass. Then I led her out at once
and gave her a good time. The result was that in three weeks
she could be milked anywhere on the lawn without the least
danger.'
CHAPTER XVII.
FOUR-FOOTED HYBRIDS, OR HALF-AND-HALF RELATIONS.
A Mule art thou ; in breed not pure,
But hybrid in thy nature ;
And yet good qualities we see,
Of horse and ass, unite in thee ;
Thou hardy, useful creature.
>HERE are, we should imagine, but few readers
advanced in life who cannot call to mind the
time when, as boys or girls, they derived almost
infinite pleasure from old ysop's most wonderful
and interesting fables, as well as in the useful
morals they were intended to teach. It may not be an inap-
propriate introduction to the subject of this chapter, if we
refer to one of these fables, entitled ' The Boasting Mule,' and
then, after giving a description of the temper, habits, and uses
of this hybrid animal, leave our readers to form their own
opinion of his merits, or demerits, as the case may be. It is
said : ' There was once a favourite mule who was constantly
boasting of his family and ancestors. " My father," said he,
" was a famous courser, and I myself take after him." He
had no sooner spoken the words than he was put to the trial
of his speed, and proved a failure. At that moment, also, his
father began braying, which at once betrayed the secret of his
descent ; and the whole field made sport of the boaster when
they found he was only the son of an ass.'
CRUELTY TO DONKEYS. That the estimate formed of any
tribe of animals in any particular country is no test of their
intrinsic value and importance, may be seen in our remarks,
in the eighteenth chapter, on the donkey. As we have there
216 Four-footed Hybrids.
shown, its lot in England is often of the lowest and most de-
grading kind ; and that, in the majority of cases, he is the
abused slave of some of the most ignorant, mean-spirited,
selfish, and brutish men that ever lived, who know not his
worth, and who care less for his claims on proper treatment.
And yet we find that the same animal in ancient times, and in
Eastern countries, has always been held in the highest estima-
tion, much valued for his utility, honoured with the most noble
and aristocratic associations, and favoured wkh the most dig-
nified employment.
The same remarks, in many respects, may apply to the half
relative of the ass, the hybrid animal who forms the subject
of this chapter. The mule has been rendered conspicuous by
the absence of reference to him in many works on natural
history. Whatever reason may be assigned for this, whether
it be the paucity of the numbers of this animal, or that he is
not of pure descent, and that his associations are therefore
considered to be objectionable, we are not prepared to say.
We have, however, one of the best of all precedents for intro-
ducing the mule to the notice of the reader. Like the ass, he
is spoken of in the Scriptures, and identified with persons and
circumstances which stamp him as an animal highly valued
and esteemed during the prophetic and early ages of the world.
He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis. King David and
his nobles rode upon mules ; and it is said these animals are
mentioned by the early heathen writers ; that in the time of
Homer mules ploughed the plains of Greece ; that they were
often employed in the chariot-race; that they dragged the
combustibles to the funeral pile of Patroclus, and the chariot
of Priam to the tent of Achilles.
We shall now give a description of the structure and general
character of this hybrid animal.
THE MULE AND JENNET. The mule is the offspring of two
animals of distinct tribes, the male ass and the mare, or female
horse. The jennet, of the horse and female ass. Although they
are nearly related, they differ considerably in size and strength,
and therefore, in many respects, in utility. The jennet is much
smaller than the mule, but stronger and more enduring than
the pony. The mule is considerably larger than the jennet, is
very hardy, and, when well treated, may live to be forty years
old. The natural disposition of the mule may be inferior to
The Value of Mules.
217
^ the horse, but he is not less useful. In mountainous districts
rfe is highly valued because of his sure-footedness, his strong
constitution, and great physical power, which enable him to
carry heavy loads and to bear with safety ladies and others
through dangerous Alpine passes. Mules, because of their
hardy nature, rendered essential service during the Crimean
war, as they survived the hardships and the cold which caused
the death of very many horses.
' Very fine mules were formerly imported into England for
the use of prelates of the Church of Rome.'
The Mule.
We are informed that in Spain mules are numerous, and are
often employed to draw persons of very great distinction.
Great care is taken to improve the breed of them ; they are,
therefore, very fine, beautiful animals, and frequently sell for
fifty, seventy, and even one hundred pounds each.
JUDGES ON MULES. Pennant says that in old times the
judges rode to court on mules, but in the reign of Queen
Mary they changed those restive animals for easy pads, a
justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, first setting the example.
The mule has been accused of possessing a bad temper, of
being obstinate and self-willed, of having a strong inclination
to do as he pleases, without regard to words, to menaces, or to
218 Four-footed Hybrids.
blows, and that if he condescends to do a thing it is only when
he thinks proper to do it that it is done. Much of this may
arise from ill-usage. We cannot, therefore, altogether condemn
him under these circumstances. The results referred to are
very similar to those that would follow unkind treatment of a
human being, because, after all, human nature and animal
nature are very much alike in this respect.
There can be no doubt that kind treatment,. with proper care
and attention to the breeding of mules, tend very materially
to increase and to improve their physical power, general
appearance, and utility.
MULE SHOW. The following account of a mule show, held
at the Crystal Palace in May, 1875, which appeared in the
Standard newspaper, will be read with interest, if not with
surprise : ' It is probably within the mark to say that many
English farmers never have seen a mule, while the acquaint-
ance of those who do not 'come within this category is pro-
bably confined to having seen the diminutive animals, generally
crosses with a pony, which little exceed in size their immediate
asinine progenitors. The simple statement that in Class First
of the present show, for mules of fourteen hands and upwards,
for farming and heavy draught work, the six entries are animals
varying from fifteen hands three inches to seventeen hands
high, and of the weight of average farm horses, ought to exer-
cise the agricultural mind considerably, when it is considered
in relation to the undoubted facts that such mules, in propor-
tion to their weight, are much stronger than horses ; that they
will live and thrive on food that no horse would look at ; that
they are rarely sick, are vastly more intelligent than the horse,
and do good service up to forty years of age. Mr. C. L. S.
exhibits four of these splendid brutes, and Mr. C. A. R. H.
two, all imported from Poitou, and, of course, all picked speci-
mens, costing there from eighty pounds to one hundred pounds
each.
' In this district of France mule-breeding has been for gene-
rations a speciality four hundred pounds, and even five hundred
pounds, being asked by the owners for the powerful jackasses
used for stud purposes. The department of Deux-Sevres has
long enjoyed a high reputation for its large mules, many of the
fine animals used in Spain and Italy, for carriages, coming
from this district ; while La Vendee and Charente furnish the
Intelligence of Mules. 219
powerful, sure-footed pack animals used for transporting mer-
chandise over the steep passes of the Alps and the Pyrenees.'
It would appear from the above description, that not only to
the farmer, in agricultural work, but in field artillery, mules
would be a very useful acquisition, because their capacity for
enduring exposure and bad feeding is much greater than that
of horses.
THE MULE'S POWER OF ENDURANCE. ' Some idea of the
mule's capacity for work may be gathered from a statement
annexed to the winner of the second prize, Mr. J. C.'s " Polly,"
which is thirteen years old. In August, 1870, Polly, bred
between a common donkey and an Exmoor pony, was
driven from Weargifford, in North Devon, to Berkeley Square,
a distance of two hundred and twenty miles, in forty-two hours,
including all stoppages. In the first day one hundred and
thirty miles were covered, and the remaining ninety miles in
part of the next day, the last ten miles being done in an hour.
This same 'little animal, with her sister Betsy, two years
younger, which is exhibited with her, made a journey of two
hundred and twenty miles in forty-eight hours, in April, 1873,
conveying four persons with luggage.'
' The mule,' says Brown, ' possesses some of the best quali-
ties of the two useful animals from which it springs. It is,
indeed, inferior to the horse in strength, and to the ass in
patience, but it retains somewhat of the agility and beauty of
motion which we admire in the one, and is sure-footed like the
other. It has a spirited look like the horse it toughly en-
dures labour like the ass ; the external resemblance to both its
parents is wonderfully preserved throughout every part of its
body.'
Instances of the great intelligence of mules have been given
by travellers on the Continent, especially in Spain, and we
may add in Egypt, particularly in Cairo, where, as well as
donkeys, they are very numerous, and may be seen standing
in the squares for hire. Not only will they answer to their own
names, and obey the word of command when being driven,
but in Spain, when two are yoked together, if the words,
'Aquella otra ' (meaning, ' You other also') are used, they know
the words equally apply to both, and therefore they have the
effect of stimulating them to renewed exertions and additional
speed.
220 Four-footed Hybrids.
On the levee in New Orleans, harnessed in drays, mules
may be seen who understand the French, English, Spanish,
and German languages.
FEROCIOUS COURAGE OF A MULE. Mr. Arnauld, in his
( History of Animals,' relates the following incident of ferocious
courage in a mule : ' This animal belonged to a gentleman in
Florence, and became so vicious and refractory that he not
only refused to submit to any kind of labour, but actually
attacked with his heels and teeth those who attempted to
compel him. Wearied with such conduct, his master resolved
to make away with him by exposing him to the wild beasts in
the menagerie of the Grand Duke. For this purpose he was
first placed in the dens of the hyenas and tigers, all of whom
he would have soon destroyed had he not been speedily
removed. At last he was handed over to the lion ; but the
mule, instead of exhibiting any symptoms of alarm, quietly
receded to a corner, keeping his front opposed to his adversary.
Once planted in the corner he resolutely kept his place, eye-
ing every movement of the lion, which was preparing to spring
upon him. The lion, however, perceiving the difficulty of an
attack, practised all his wiles to throw the mule off his guard,
but in vain. At length the latter, perceiving an opportunity,
made a sudden rush upon the lion, and in an instant broke
several of his teeth by the stroke of his fore-feet. The " king
of the animals," as he had been called, finding that he had got
quite enough of the combat, slunk grumbling to his cage, and
left the hardy mule master of the battle.'
The author of a work, ' The Passions of Animals,' cites
some very curious instances in proof of the assertion that the
lower animals do, in many cases, use their experience in
reference to things from which they have suffered pain and
annoyance. He says, ' The dog which has been punished
once for a fault will either slink away or hide itself if it finds
itself detected in the repetition of it. The well-known
story, recorded by Plutarch, proves the application of accident-
ally acquired experience. He says that,
' " A MULE LADEN WITH SALT fell into a stream, and having
perceived that its load became thereby sensibly lightened,
adopted the same contrivance afterwards purposely, and that
to cure it of the trick its panniers were filled with sponge,
under which, when fully saturated, it could barely stagger." '
CHAPTER XVIII.
OUR DONKEYS AND THEIR KINDRED.
Though thou art but an ass, we plainly see
That something good is really found in thee ;
For thou art patient, sometimes even brave,
A cheap, contented, uncomplaining slave.
j HAT the same object is differently estimated and
appreciated by different people is as true as that
the hills are old. In nothing is this more clearly
seen than in the fact that the same animal which
is disliked and badly treated by one person, may
be highly valued, well looked after, and admired by another.
We were forcibly struck with the truth of what we have just
said when passing one day through a West-end part of London.
It was early morning time. Many dealers in vegetables
were returning with laden barrows and carts from Covent
Garden Market. Amongst them was a repulsive-looking
fellow, whose donkey was very poor, and, as Waterton says,
looked like ' Misery steeped in vinegar,' and which at intervals
received a curse, or a whack from a heavy stick, because his
speed of locomotion did not please his brutal driver. ' Poor
Neddy,' said we, ' yours is a hard fate.'
Soon after this we encountered another man and his donkey,
who presented, in all respects, a widely different aspect. The
man's face beamed with good-nature, kindness, and intelli-
gence ; his donkey was in first-rate condition, and appeared to
enjoy a happy existence, and as it stepped cheerfully along
received, not curses and blows, but a few encouraging words.
What we have described gave rise to a train of thought as
to the real cause of the difference in the lot of these two
donkeys ; and we wondered whether it was traceable to the
222 Our Donkeys.
men or to the animals. That there was a cause for it was
certain. We therefore resolved to study, more than we had
done, the habits and qualities of the donkey family, so that
we might arrive, if possible, at a right solution of this some-
what difficult problem. We will now refer to the history,
structure, and uses of
THE Ass. This animal, though common, is not, as he
ought to be, properly understood. Ignorant people have attri-
buted to him a number of bad qualities he does not inherently
The'Ass.
possess. No domestic animal in England has been more ill-
used than the donkey ; and yet we have no animal, taken
altogether, that is of more real service to man, especially the
poor one, than he is, or might be if he had his rights, and
humane treatment extended to him, which, we may assert,
would produce in this animal the most beneficial results.
The ass belongs to the order Solidungula, of the class Mam-
malia. An animal belonging to this order has hoofs which are
entire that is, externally whole, and not divided in two like
the hoofs of the ox, the sheep, and the pig. The word ' Soli-
dungula ' is derived from the Latin solidus, solid, and ungula,
a hoof. To the same order belong the wild ass, the zebra,
the quagga, the wild and domesticated horse. All animals
with this form of foot are most commonly found on level plains,
High Estimate of Asses. 223
or on the margin of great sandy deserts, for which their feet
are the best adapted.
ASSES OF ANCIENT TIMES. In the Scriptures mention is
made of the ass at a much earlier date than of the horse. A
member of this despised race was the only quadruped ever
honoured with the gift of speech, which was given to him,
although only momentarily, to rebuke Balaam, his master, for
cruelty. In ancient times, in Oriental countries, a man's riches
were often estimated by the number of asses he possessed.
We read in the Book of Job, xlii. 12, 'So the Lord blessed the
latter end of Job more than his beginning : for he had fourteen
thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke
of oxen, and a thousand she asses.'
It is also stated in the Book of Genesis, that when Jacob
sent his sons into Egypt to buy corn they took their asses with
them. In the Book of Samuel we are told that Kish, the
father of Saul, possessed numbers of these animals. In the
Book of Judges, v. 10, Deborah, in her song, says, ' Speak, ye
that ride on white asses,' etc. In the same book, x. 3, 4,
' Jair, a Gileadite, judged Israel twenty and two years. And
he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts,' etc.
In the First Book of Samuel, xxv., Abigail is represented as
having laden a number of asses with presents for David, and
herself as riding upon an ass to meet him. The prophet
Isaiah, in rebuking the Israelites for their ignorance and in-
difference, says, ' The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his
master's crib : but Israel doth not know, my people doth not
consider.' The prophet Zechariah, ix. 9, under divine inspi-
ration, portrays the promised Redeemer of the world as riding
into Jerusalem ' upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an
ass.' According to Luke xix. 35-40 this prophecy was literally
fulfilled. It was then that
A member of this poor and long time-honoured race
Did bear upon his back the Lord of life and grace.
' This was not necessarily an act of humility, but a peaceful
and triumphal entry.' The above quotations prove that the
ass in ancient times was by no means considered to be a.
despicable animal.
PERSIAN ASSES AND THE SCYTHIANS. The ass, for various
reasons, has been differently estimated, valued, and treated by
224 Our Donkeys.
different nations in all ages. Baird says : 'The ancient Egyp-
tians held the ass in great horror, but the moderns make much
use of them, take great care of them, and rear them fine
animals. The Indians looked upon them as unclean animals,
and held in great contempt those who used them ; whilst the
Persians and Arabians made much use of them, as did also the
Hebrews. The ass is capable of attachment to his master ;
has good eyes, a quick scent, good hearing, and is very sure-
footed. Its cry is peculiar, very prolonged, and discordant.
In the expedition of King Darius against the Scythians, it is
recorded that the cry of the Persian asses belonging to the
king's army frightened the cavalry of the Scythians (among
whom that animal was unknown), and made them recoil from
the charge.'
f Asses are rare in Sweden and the extreme north of Europe,
and though they were introduced to the United States by
Washington, they are unknown in the Southern States of the
Union.'
ASSES AND GRAND FESTIVALS. Captain Brown says : ' The
ass was anciently unknown in the countries of northern
Europe. In Greece and Rome, however, it was held in much
estimation, and honoured in their mythology and festivals.
By its braying it was said to have discomfited, severally, the
deities who warred against the liberty of Jupiter and the chas-
tity of Vesta, and the Ides of June were celebrated in Rome
as the festival of the ass. On that occasion banquets were set
forth at the doors of the citizens, the millstones were decked
with garlands, the asses, which on work-days turned them,
were led in holiday triumph, covered with 'wreaths of flowers,
and the grateful ladies of Rome walked before them in the pro-
cession, barefoot, to the temple of the goddess whose honour
the braying of the ass had saved. The Church of Rome,
many of whose festivals were an accommodation of Pagan
rites to a supposed subservience to Christianity, formed of the
festival of Vesta the Feast of Asses, which, during the dark
ages, was held with particular hilarity in Britain.'
On the origin of the domestic ass, Asinus vulgaris, authors
are not agreed; while some are of opinion that it is a de-
scendant of the wild ass of Asia, others assert that it is
doubtful if this species has ever been found in a truly wild
state, the wild asses being distinct species.
Peculiarities of Asses. 22$
WILD RELATIONS OF THE Ass. The following characteris-
tics of the different species of wild asses and the domestic ass
are worthy of notice, as tending to show the physical differ-
ences existing between them.
The domestic donkey is generally of a grey colour, and
has always a longitudinal dorsal streak of a darker hue, with
another across the shoulders ; and the ears are long and acute.
In wild asses the streak is not so prominent, and the ears are
shorter and rounder. A species of wild ass found in Thibet,
and known as ' kiang,' usually run in troops of about a dozen,
more or less, and generally allow themselves to be controlled
in their movements by a male. They are exceedingly fleet of
foot, and it is said they can outstrip the Arabian steed.
Animals of this species neigh like a horse ; the domestic ass
brays, a noise produced by two small and peculiar cavities at
the bottom of the windpipe, which are not found in the wind-
pipe of the 'kiang.'
' The peechi (Asinus BurcJiellii) is a fine animal, inhabiting
the plains beyond the Orange River, and, in the ears and tail,
resembles the horse. It is finely marked, possessing much of
the graceful symmetry of the horse, and combines comeliness
of figure with solidity of form. Its voice is a shrill abrupt
neigh, and has no analogy to the braying of the ass. The senses
of smell, sight, and hearing are extremely delicate. When
these animals are menaced by an attack from either man or
beast, they combine in a compact body, and with their heads
placed together in a close circular band, they present their
heels to the enemy, and deal out kicks in equal force and
abundance.'
ASSES NOT DEGENERATED HORSES. Nearly as the horse
may be considered to be related to- the ass, there are in them
physical differences. The tail of the horse is covered with
long hair to the base ; that of the ass has long hair at the end
of the tail only. The mane of the horse is usually very long,
hanging over at one side of the neck ; that of the ass is short
and erect. The horse has all four legs furnished with warts,
or sallenders, while they are found only on the fore-legs of
the ass.
It has been asserted that, of all animals covered with hair,
the. ass is the least subject to vermin ; the reason being, ac-
cording to an old writer, that one of his ancestors carried the
15
226 Our Donkeys.
Saviour on his back. The skin is hard and elastic, and is
in request for a variety of purposes. The milk of the ass is
considered to be very nutritious, and is much used by invalids.
It is more easily digested than cow's milk, because it contains
less butter and more saccharine matter.
THE USES OF ASSES. That the domestic ass is a useful
animal needs no argument to prove. Many a poor man, both
in town and country, would be much poorer than he is if it
were not for his donkey. These animals live upon very inex-
pensive food, and when turned into the fields and lanes, will
feed upon thistles and like produce, which the horse and other
animals reject. They are hardy and enduring, and, though
slow in their movements, are patient in toil. A French writer
says that if one horse does twice as much work as one ass, he
eats four times more, so that the economical importance of
the two animals is not so different as many suppose.
Much as has been said about the stupidity of the ass, he is
not devoid of merit, nor entirely without interesting traits of
character, which we shall now endeavour to point out, as well
as to show that much of the obloquy which ignorant and cruel
men have heaped upon him, has been undeserved.
YOUNG ASSES. There is a charm about the young life of all
animals. The babyhood of the donkey is a particularly in-
teresting period of its existence. The animal is then a lively,
pleasant fellow, full of fun and mischief. The sight of these
creatures brings back to memory the frolics which, in early life,
many a boy has had with members of this race in the green
lanes of his native home; with what hilarity, after school duties
were over, Ned and Tom have mounted the back of the sage
old mother, and Frank the back of the infant donkey, for the
luxury of a ride without payment, or any thought of the law of
humanity which renders overloading an act of cruelty, and
amenable to law ; and how these animals have, with their
noses between their fore-legs, and their hind ones thrown up,
landed the would-be equestrians on the hard rough road, and
then galloped off, leaving them to bemoan the shaking, the
stunning, the bruises and cuts they have deservedly received
for their temerity in invading the quietude, ^the rights, and
privileges of donkeydom.
The lives and lot of these animals differ very widely. At
one time we may see them the obedient servants of coster-
Ancestors of our Donkeys. 227
mongers, at another the willing slaves of country hawkers;
now, the companions of wandering gipsies, and then, it may
be, in costly panniers and trappings, carrying the children of
the high-born and wealthy. But, however and wherever seen,
they always appear to be worthy of our notice and admiration.
NORFOLK DONKEYS. Our finest donkeys are those on the
coast of Norfolk, where they are more humanely cared for than
is the usual lot of these animals. It is said that the ancestors
of the Norfolk donkeys were captured from the Spanish
Armada. Be this as it may, kind treatment improves the
donkey race in every particular.
It is much to be regretted that, notwithstanding all that has
been said and written in favour of the domestic ass, there is no
animal more subjected to ill-treatment than he is. His appa-
rent dulness, slowness of movement, his hardy nature, and
thick ragged coat, seem to furnish to some men a reason for
treating him unkindly, not only in neglecting to groom him
and to give him a proper supply of food, but in belabouring
him with stout cudgels heavy enough to break his bones.
A man or boy will be willing to do his best for a good
master, but will be indifferent to the interests of a bad one.
Ill-use a donkey, and he may become vicious ; treat him
kindly, his intellect will expand, all the good qualities of his
nature will be brought out, and he will become one of the
most sagacious of animals.
DONKEY BAROMETERS. Strange as it may appear, it is
nevertheless true that donkeys may be regarded as good,
living, walking barometers. They seem to be in some
peculiar way affected by changes in the atmosphere. They
shake their ears and bray before rain, and are particularly
disturbed in showery weather. There is no doubt that the
electric state of the air before wet produces in some animals
a peculiar sensation, which makes the peacock squall, the
pintado call 'Come back,' and the ass to bray. An old adage
says :
' When that the ass begins to bray,
Be sure we shall have rain that day.'
It may be well, therefore, in hay-making and harvest-time to
observe the proverb :
' Be sure to cock your hay and corn
When the old donkey blows his horn.'
IS 2
228 Our Donkeys.
DONKEYS AND SUPERSTITION. As with many other animals,
so with the donkey, ignorance has associated some foolish and
superstitious notions entertained until very recently, if they are
not so even now, in remote places both in our own and other
countries.
Referring to the origin of the streak down the donkey's back
and shoulders, Brown, in his ' Vulgar Errors,' says, that from
whatever cause it may have arisen, it is certain that the hairs
taken from the animal so marked are held in high estimation
as a cure for hooping-cough. In the metropolis, as lately as
1842, an elderly lady advised a friend who had a child danger-
ously ill of that complaint, to procure three such hairs and
hang them round the neck of the sufferer in a muslin bag. It
was added, that the animal from whom the hairs are taken for
this purpose is never worth anything afterwards, and con-
sequently great difficulty would be experienced in procuring
them ; and further, that it was essential to the charm that the
sex of the animal from whom the hairs were to be procured,
should be contrary to that of the person to be cured.
A Monmouthshire paper, some time since, gave the follow-
ing instance of superstitious belief: ' A patient ass stood near
a house, under whose body and over his back a father passed
his little son a certain number of times with as much solemnity
as if he had been performing a sacred duty. This done, the
father took a piece of bread cut from an untasted loaf which
he offered the animal to bite at ; nothing loath, the donkey laid
hold of the bread with his teeth, and instantly the father
severed the outer portion of the slice from that in the donkey's
mouth. He next clipt some hairs from the neck of the animal,
cut them into minute particles, mixed them with the bread,
which he gave to the boy to eat. The donkey was then,
removed. One of the bystanders was, however, curious to know
what the ceremony meant. The father stared at him, and
then in a half-contemptuous, condescending tone informed him,
that "It was to cure his poor son's hooping-cough, to be sure.'"
Quiet and insensible as these animals are considered to be,
they have been known to avenge insults by the infliction of
serious injuries upon those who have tormented them.
THE Ass AND DRUNKARD. Some time ago a raving
drunkard attacked a poor ass in the stable through sheer
malignity, and kicked her so furiously in the stomach that she
Anecdotes of Donkeys. 229
turned upon him, and bit off his entire upper lip, and left upon
the face of this wretch a ghastly memento for life.
THE Ass AND BULL-DOG. We have read of an ass attacked
by a bull-dog seizing his adversary with his teeth in a part of
the dog's body which prevented him from retaliating ; the ass
deliberately carried him to the river Derwent, plunged him
deep into the water, and then lay down upon the dog until
life was quite extinct.
A PERFORMING Ass. We know a poor man in Westminster
who possesses a donkey of remarkable intelligence. This
animal in his younger days (for he is now twenty-six years old)
was employed in two of the London theatres to take his part in
certain plays which required, and were rendered all the more
interesting by, the presence of 'a real live donkey.' He knew
the time for appearing before the audience, the precise position
he had to take, the particular movements he had to make in
advancing, receding, and when to leave the stage. This
donkey was not only intelligent but reflective, and must have
had a capital memory. His owner told us that he had made
twenty-four shillings per week by letting out his donkey in this
way, besides what he earned during the daytime.
A GIPSY'S Ass. One of the best fed, lively, and intelligent
members of the ass family we ever saw is one belonging to a
gipsy scissors-grinder, who resides in Somerstown. This man
is also a mender of kettles and saucepans, and does an
extensive trade in the north of London. He goes a certain
round each day in the week, which the donkey knows as well
as his master. When they leave home in the morning, ' Old
Jack ' will, without being guided or driven, always take the
right direction. ' Jack ' seems to have a very commendable
idea of the value of time, as he is in the habit of giving his
master a hint of the flight of it when he stops to gossip with
anyone in his rounds. This hint consists in a side-long look
and a subdued noise, half resembling the grunt of a pig. If
the gipsy doesn't take this hint, then 'Jack ' begins to shake, not
only his harness, but the whole of the kettle-mending and
scissors-grinding paraphernalia, and to paw with his fore-feet, as
much as to say, ' If you don't come I shall be off.'" A gentle
word from the humane gipsy soothes ' Old Jack's ' perturbed
spirit, and he jogs on, evidently much more satisfied in doing so
than in waiting for idle gossip and doing no business.
230 Our Donkeys.
A WONDERFUL Ass. There are but few animals whose
powers of endurance are greater than those of the ass, of which
we have an example in the following anecdote: 'In 1826 a
clothier of Ipswich undertook to drive his ass in a light gig
to London and back, a distance of 140 miles, in two days.
He did so, having travelled at the rate of seven miles an hour.
The animal was in no way distressed, and he performed the
journey without the use of the whip. He was twelve and a
half hands high, and half-bred Spanish and English.'
A SENSIBLE Ass. In a by-lane, not far from a large town
in the West of England, two dogs had a terrible fight, in which
they were urged on by some fellows of depraved habits and
brutal instincts. One of the dogs seized the other and retained
his grip so firmly that the poor victim could not shake him off;
a donkey, browsing hard by, hearing the cry of the dog,
pricked up his ears, rushed forward, and, breaking the circle of
biped spectators, seized with his teeth the tail of the other dog,
held him up, and then gave him such a shaking that he was
compelled to relinquish his hold. The ass then resumed his
feeding. The dogs tried to escape, but were again set on to
fight. That the ass showed better sense than did these so-
called ' lords of creation ' is beyond all dispute.
DONKEY SHOW. A most interesting exhibition of donkeys
took place in the Crystal Palace in May, 1875, respecting
which a London newspaper said : ' Though a strong man could
pick up any one of them and carry it off without any very great
exertion, most of them are credited with being able ' to draw
one ton.' Another phase of the donkey's character is given in
the Animal World, which refers to the same exhibition :
' Some of the animals looked extremely mischievous when
approached by strangers ; but upon the arrival of the owner,
reciprocates were exchanged which argued well for the genera
treatment and care bestowed upon them. Even if any
member of the owner's family appeared on the scene, the
donkey, upon recognising him, appeared quite sure that every-
thing was right. In one stall a donkey had been apparently
frightened, and its excitement was causing some amusement to
the mischievous, as well as terror to the timid, when two little
children ran up to the animal. Everyone anticipated broken
bones ; but to our great surprise the excited animal immedi-
ately showed signs of recognition, and permitted the children
At a Donkey Show. 231
to fondle it, its fright being immediately transformed into
clumsy, but tender, playfulness. The owner then came up to
the stall, and upon his attention being called to what appeared
the dangerous proximity of the children to the donkey, he
replied, " Ah, he knows the children as well as he does me ;
he won't hurt 'em !" '
CHARACTER OF THE Ass. The following eloquent descrip-
tion of the character of the ass is given by Buffon : ' He is
naturally as humble, patient, and quiet as the horse is proud,
ardent, and impetuous ; he suffers with constancy, and perhaps
with courage, chastisement and blows ; he is moderate both
in the quantity and quality of his food ; he is contented with
the hardest and most disagreeable herbs, which the horse and
other animals will leave with disdain. The ass has, like all
other animals, his family, his species, and his rank ; his blood
is pure, and, although his nobility is less illustrious, it is equally
good equally ancient with that of the horse.'
In affection, not only for its master but for its own progeny,
the ass is not wanting. Pliny says : ' That when the young is
separated from the mother she will pass through flames to
rejoin it.' M. Bourguin says : ' The donkey is a model of
sobriety, meekness, and resignation ; he asks for nothing,
abuses no privileges, but lightens the heavy burdens of weary
life by his own patience.'
If, as we have stated, the ass is so prominently mentioned
in the Scriptures if his structure is so wonderful, and his uses
so great if he has so many good qualities, and strong affec-
tion, as well as being man's cheap and willing slave,
' Why should this creature be ill-housed, ill-fed,
That for so many thousand homes wins bread ?
Treat the ass well, and merrily he'll go ;
A gentle pat is better than a blow.'
CHAPTER XIX.
EVERYBODY'S FRIEND.
Thy graceful form, thy strength and speed,
Thy fine dark eyes, and flowing mane,
Thy uses too, tell man thou art
A noble prize for him to gain.
j HERE are but few things accomplished by man in
which he has shown his intellectual power more
fully than in his success in subjugating animals of
almost every kind, and making them subservient
to his own purposes.
The most savage carnivora powerful elephants, huge
amphibia, and many other forms of life whose native homes
are the wild woods and rolling rivers of Asia and Africa are,
as we see in our Zoological Gardens, imprisoned, and there
remain under man's control and at his pleasure. Even the
mighty leviathan of the deep seas is captured and utilized by
him in various ways.
But there is no animal conquered by man, which, taken
altogether, has ever been rendered so useful to him as the
horse, who is directly or indirectly everybody's friend, as there
is but little business transacted or pleasure taken that is not in
some degree identified with this noble animal, whose struc-
ture, habits, and intelligence are alike very wonderful.
THE HORSE. The reader may ask, ' What more can be
said about the horse than has already been written ? Is not
man's acquaintance with him of very ancient date, and is he
not common in almost every country in the world, and in the
possession of the richest, the poorest, the highest, the lowest,
the most refined, and untutored of the human race ; and is he
234 Everybody's Friend.
not closely identified with the life, business, and pleasures of
man everywhere, and at all times ?
All this we admit, and would observe that we do not aspire
to any new discoveries, either as to the structure, instincts,
habits, or uses of this animal. Our object is to give, in as
concise and popular a form as possible, some information
respecting him, with the hope that a feeling of interest may be
awakened on his behalf, and that we may be induced to place
a proper value upon him as one of the greatest friends of
man.
While it is true that many animals excel the horse in size,
strength, and herculean proportions, he stands unrivalled for
symmetrical form and beauty, majestic appearance, high-
spiritedness, fleetness, nobility of character, general utility,
and as combining in his organism some of the greatest marvels
of animal life, which we now propose to describe.
THE HORSE AND HIS ORIGIN. The Horse belongs to the
class Mammalia, order Ungulata, family Eqnidce. The genus
Equus is the type of the family, and till lately constituted the
only genus belonging to it.
There is some difficulty in determining the native country
of this useful animal. Some writers think we are indebted to
Arabia for the horse, but it has been observed that our earliest
accounts of the horse are from Egypt, and that we have no
mention of it by historians as being in Arabia till after the
time of Mahomet the prophet.
Be this as it may, it is well known that no people on the
face of the earth treat their horses with more care, kindness,
and affection than do the Arabians. Two reasons may be
assigned for this ; the first is a recognition of the great utility
of the horse to them in their peculiar circumstances, and pre-
dilections in favour of a wandering mode of life ; and the
second, and no doubt the stronger reason, may be the notion
they entertain of the origin of their much-loved animals.
The following information bearing upon the last reason
referred to, with which we have been favoured on good
authority, may be read with interest.
General Danmas having addressed a letter to Abdel Kader
to know his opinion of the origin of the Arab horse, received
the following statements in reply :
' God created the horse out of the winds, as he created man
Abdel Kader on the Origin of the Arab Horse. 235
out of the dust. Many prophets have proclaimed that when
God would create a horse He said to the south wind, " I will
bring out of thee a creature, be thou therefore condensed."
Then the angel Gabriel taking a handful of the matter pre-
sented it to God, who formed therewith a brown-bay horse
and said, " I name thee Horse, and create thee Arab, and give
thee a bay colour. I attach blessing on the forelock ; thou
shalt be lord of all animals. Thou shalt fly without wings,
and from thy back shall proceed riches." Then marked
He him with a star in the forehead, the sign of glory and
blessing.'
AFFECTION or HORSES. That love and affection beget
the same feelings in those on whom they are bestowed is
generally as true as that light comes from the sun. It is said
that a wandering Ishmaelite, who treated his horse as if he
had been a child, found, when he was a captive, that his faith-
ful steed bore him by his teeth to a place of safety and freedom,
and then died a willing martyr at his feet. With such an
exhibition of generosity, devotedness, nobility and faithfulness
on the part of the horse, we need not wonder that the Arabians
should love this animal.
A celebrated historian informs us that ' Among the wander-
ing tribes of the predatory nations of antiquity, the services of
the horse were indispensable. These lived in the open air,
subsisting on the coarsest food, performing long journeys
through uncultivated or hostile countries, generally on horse-
back ; their wives and children followed in waggons dragged
by horses. They seldom dismounted, but eat and slept on
horseback. The horse was still further serviceable to the bar-
barous Samaritans ; they ate its flesh and drank its blood mixed
with the milk of sheep. Yet these horses were carefully
reared, of an excellent breed, and, as Pliny says, capable of
performing a journey of one hundred and fifty miles on a
stretch.'
PARTHIANS AND THEIR HORSES. ' Of all the nations of
antiquity the Parthians are the most commonly celebrated for
their superior skill in the management of the horse. They
cultivated with great attention the breed which was noted for
the lightness of the colour of the eyes, and for having the one
eye generally differing from the other. The horse was trained
to obey the slightest motion of the rein, and to change with
the utmost rapidity from one direction to another
236 Everybody's Friend.
As the Parthians employed the horse in war, so the licen-
tious Sybarites associated it with their pleasures ; they taught
their horses to dance to the sound of pipes, and introduced
them as an amusement at their common feasts.' It appears
that the Crotonians in a war with the Sybarites sounded the
strains to which the horses had been accustomed, which
caused them to dance, threw them into confusion, and brought
about the defeat of the Sybarite army.
We are informed that the true birthplace of the horse is the
high central plateau of Asia, in the north-east chain of the
Caucasus. It is very probable that those herds of wild horses
now found in America are the descendants of some horses
that were taken to that country from Europe about 1537,
which, being deserted, ran wild, and lived in troops, which
were usually guided by a male. They now exist in large
numbers, and occupy an immense tract of country extending
from Buenos Ayres to the Strait of Magalhaens.
WILD HORSES. In an interesting work on the quadrupeds
of Paraguay, D'Azara, referring to wild horses, says they
are very numerous in South America ; he assures us that it is
not uncommon to meet with troops of thousands of them.
They are both troublesome and destructive, because they not
only consume the best of the pasture, but attract the tame
horses that approach by their neighing and caresses ; and
when once a horse has joined them, he is lost for ever. On
this account, travellers are obliged to be on their guard, that
they may not lose their horses ; and, therefore, whenever they
perceive a troop of these wild animals, they attempt by every
means to frighten and force them away.
When they advance, it is not in line of battle, but one of
the foremost is despatched, and the rest follow, forming a
column without any interval, and which nothing can break.
Sometimes they make several circuits round those who attempt
to frighten them, and sometimes only one, before they set off
and disappear.
Baird informs us that 'On the Pampas, the Guachos, a
semi-civilized race of men, live amidst these horses, and their
method of capturing and breaking them in is very curious. It
is said they can secure and break in one of these young horses
in the course of an hour.'
According to Herodotus white savage" horses were, in his
Different Kinds of Horses. 237
time, to be found in Scythia ; and he adds that beyond the
Danube there were wild horses covered with hair five inches
long. Other ancient writers speak of wild horses in Syria,
Spain, and the Alps ; on the island of Cyprus, the Cape de
Verde, as well as in the deserts of Africa and Arabia.
WILD HORSES AND BIRDS OF PREY. Half a century ago
birds of prey were employed to hunt wild horses in the country
bordering on the Caspian Sea. These birds would alight on
the horses' necks, and by clinging to them and tormenting
them compel the animals to run until they were exhausted,
and so making the capture of them an easy matter. Wild
horses are defective of that symmetry and beauty which
characterize many breeds of the domestic horse. The former
have long shaggy hair, are somewhat ill-formed, have large
heads, and are by no means well-proportioned animals.
Of domestic horses there are many kinds, differing materi-
ally in size, strength, and colour. In cold regions they are
small and rough-haired ; but in southern climates large and
sleek. We have also many varieties of them produced by
the mixture of breeds.
THE DRAY OR DRAUGHT HORSE. These horses are usually
of enormous size and great strength, and are employed by
large brewers, distillers, coal merchants, railway companies,
and carriers. Some of them are capable of drawing, with
comparative ease, on a good, level road, two tons each.
They are the produce of the old English draught-horse mixed
with the Flanders breed.
THE COACH HORSE. These horses derive their origin
from the hunter and a common mare. Some of them stand
very high, are of great muscular power, and tolerably fleet of
foot. When well fed they are very high-spirited, but gentle
when properly treated.
THE HACK. This horse is used for the saddle and common
road work. The Suffolk sorrels, and the bays from Durham
and Yorkshire, are esteemed the best. The pack-horses in the
latter county were at one time extensively used in conveying
manufactures to remote parts of the kingdom, often over the
highest hills of the north, as well as on level roads. Their use,
however, in this particular, has been superseded by our rail-
ways and other more recent means which have been adopted
for the transit of both passengers and goods.
238 Everybody's Friend.
THE HUNTER. This horse is related on the one side to the
pure blood racer, and on the other to the female of the last-
mentioned hack, or roadster. Hunters are much fleeter than
the hack, and much stronger and able to bear more fatigue
than the racer. The powerful muscles and the elastic tendons
of this animal are in all respects not only required but ad-
mirably adapted for the exciting chase over^ hills and dales,
hedges and ditches.
THE RACEHORSE. This is the highest bred of the horse
family, and may boast of the purest blood, at least of those in
our own country. The racehorse owes much of its fleetness
and endurance to a mixture of the Arabian blood, which is
supposed to have first taken place some time after the Crusades.
Many racehorses in England have distinguished themselves by
winning immense sums of money, plate, and other things,
sometimes to the value of ; 10,000, and even 15,000 guineas.
PONIES. These are horses of a smaller breed than the
before- mentioned ones. Some of them are scarcely larger
than a Newfoundland dog. The most diminutive is the Shet-
land pony. There are also the Forest of Dean and Welsh
ponies, rather larger than the Shetland breed, and much used
for drawing very light traps and carrying children. Great
numbers of these ponies are sold by gipsies at the fairs in the
western counties of England. They are quick, half wild, and
usually have long matted hair. They, however, become, by
proper care and kind treatment, very gentle, docile, and hand-
some creatures.
Horses, of every breed, are the most useful animals man can
possess. In life they serve every purpose, both in labour, profit,
and pleasure; and even after death their hoofs, hair, and skin
are articles of commerce.
HORSES IN BRITAIN. About a dozen years since there were
in Great Britain about 2,000,000 of horses. If we reckon
these to be worth, on an average, 20 each, then we have in
horseflesh the value of ^40,000,000 sterling. If these horses
bring in only three shillings per day each, then, during 300
days in the year, they would earn ^90,000,000. Of course a
considerable amount of money must be allowed for expenses,
say ten shillings per week for each horse (^52,000,000); there
would then be, by the work of these animals, a clear profit of
nearly ^40,000,000. But if, instead of earning only three
Value of Horses Curious Calculation. 239
shillings per day each, they were to bring in six shillings per
day, the clear profit would be nearly ^"80,000,000.
If each of this number of sovereigns could be beaten out to
cover one square foot, then all of them, so beaten out, would
spread over 80,000,000 square feet, which are equal to
nearly 1,837 acres in extent. Cut this sheet of gold into a
ribbon one inch wide, it would be long enough to go four
times round the world at the equator, and three times round
it north and south, and 386 miles of ribbon left to make a
rosette for John Bull's best button-hole.
The above calculations apply to our own horses only. To
say nothing of the millions of horses in continental countries,
how immense is the value of these animals, and how much we
owe them in various ways ! Some of our successful race-
horses have been sold at almost fabulous prices, even as high
as ; 1 0,000, and sometimes more.
Should the above illustrations and curious calculations be
considered unnecessary and useless, so far as a description of
the horse is concerned, they show at least that the great num-
bers of this animal prove their necessity, and that this neces-
sity cannot be dispensed with in our present state of civilization.
From a valuable work on ' The Horse,' published by the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, we
gather the following interesting and useful information on the
foot, eye, ear, and stomach of the horse :
' THE FOOT. To most persons the foot of the horse appears
to be only a roundish hard lump of horn, on which an iron
shoe is nailed to prevent its being worn away by the roads.
Such persons may perhaps hear with astonishment that it is a
complete and elaborate instrument, perfectly adapted to the
work it is intended to perform. . . . The real foot of the horse
is enclosed in a horny case called the hoof, the outside rim of
this casing forms what is called the crust, or wall. ... In the
hinder part of the foot is an elastic substance called the frog,
which forms a soft and yielding cushion on which the horse's
foot partly rests, being thus relieved from the shock of the
hard hoof on the ground. . . .
' If the foot were an unyielding mass, the danger of slipping
would be great. But, instead of this, it has a prominent edge
all round, which takes a firm hold -of the ground and obviates
the difficulty. This hoof is elastic, and, on the weight of the
240 Everybody's Friend.
horse being fully thrown on it, allows the inner soft cushion, or
frog, to descend and press firmly and tightly on the earth.
Thus two ends are attained firmness in the tread, ensuring
the horse's safety, and a regularity of pressure which obviates
the jarring that would be so painful and prejudicial.
' When the animal is in a state of nature, its hoof is strong
enough to need no artificial protection, but on the hard and
stony roads common in all civilized countries, it has been
found necessary to fit something to the foot to protect it from
the great wear and tear which it unavoidably incurred. For
this purpose nothing has been found so effectual as what is
termed shoeing, or affixing a thin plate of iron round the outer
hard and horny edge of the hoof a practice known in Britain
during the time of the Romans. When done with judgment,
the proper action of the foot goes on nearly as usual ; but, if
injudiciously performed, the action of the horse is impeded,
lameness is caused, and temporary or permanent diseases are
brought on.'
Although we do not presume to point out to the farrier the
rules to be observed in horse-shoeing, yet taking into conside-
ration the delicate organism of the horse's foot, it is of vital
importance to the comfort and utility of the animal, as well as
to the interest of his owner, that special care should be taken
in the matter of shoeing. Many a valuable horse has been
ruined by men, who, through ignorance of the structure and
requirements of the horse's foot, have by cutting, paring, and
unnecessary rasping, destroyed the provision nature has made
for the use and comfort of the animal, often rendered him
comparatively useless, lessened his value, and inflicted upon
, him unnecessary suffering.
If a connoisseur in painting were to ask his man-servant to
recommend to him a person to clean and restore an old family
picture worth a hundred pounds, and the man were to tell him
of a common signboard painter, the master would no doubt
ask him if he thought he was mad, or a lunatic, to allow so
valuable a picture to go into the hands of the person he had
recommended ? And yet it is by no means unlikely that the
same gentleman would be less thoughtful in the matter of
horse-shoeing, and might, without one word of inquiry as to
the competency or qualification of the farrier, commit to his
.care, to be shod, a horse worth three or four times more than
Foot and Eye of the Horse, 241
the picture referred to ; and if asked his reason for so doing,
would simply say, because the farrier selected lived near, and
it was more convenient to send his horse there than a greater
distance off. When it is remembered that the utility of the
horse depends entirely upon the health, good order, and sound-
ness of his feet, the question of good shoeing becomes of
paramount importance.
THE EYE. On the eye of the horse, the work before referred
to says : ' The eye of the horse differs in some points from the
eye of man, and it has some appendages not possessed by the
latter, which are required by the configuration and habits of
the animal.
' The horse has no eyebrows, and his eyelashes are arranged
in a peculiar manner, the longest hairs being on the upper lid,
probably that the eye may be defended from excess of light
and from insects, which would naturally endeavour to annoy
the horse in that unprotected part. . . .
' On the lower lid of the eye are some long projecting hairs
or bristles, which are supposed to be useless by ignorant per-
sons, and are sometimes cut away. Are they, however, use-
less ? Far from it ! They are intended to let the animal know
the presence of anything that may approach the eye too closely.
If the reader will touch one of these hairs, and observe the
sudden twitch and closing of the eye, he will be able to appre-
ciate the importance of these supposed useless and superfluous
excrescences.
' The horse has no hands wherewith to rub his eyes when
they are irritated by dust or similar substances. A continual
drying of the liquids which moisten that part is constantly
going on, more especially when moving quickly along ; and
the Almighty has, therefore, in His wisdom, provided an
efficient substitute for so necessary a purpose. Just inside the
upper lid is a little organ called the lachrymal gland, which is
continually sending out a liquid to flow over the eye, and wash
away all lesser impurities. Besides this provision there is a
thin cartilage or membrane concealed in one corner of the
eye, vulgarly called the haw, and this, whenever the animal
wishes, can be pushed out along the surface of the eyeball.
The dust, or the insect that may be the cause of the irritation,
wet with the tears, is swept up by this membrane, and imme-
diately carried away.'
16
242 Everybody s Friend.
The EARS of the horse are easily turned to the front or the
back of him, and he has the facility of reversing them by
pointing one of them forwards and the other backwards at the
same moment. His eyes are placed at the sides of his head,
so that he can easily perceive objects approaching him even
from behind. His upper and lower lips are furnished with
long hairs, which serve as whisks to brush away flies and other
insects which are apt to tease him while feeding.
The STOMACH of the horse is very small in^proportion to his
size, and much less in proportion than man's ; he cannot, there-
fore, take much food at once, but requires often feeding. The
lungs and stomach of this animal are separated by a partition
of thin wide muscle, and both lungs are much larger when in
use. As the lungs occupy much more room when the horse
is moving about, the space they occupy is then so filled that
only one of them can be distended at a time. The horse can
distend his lungs and breathe hard, trot, or gallop fast, provided
his stomach be empty ; he can fill the latter with safety when
at rest, or nearly so, till the food is digested. But if they (the
lungs and stomach) are both full the greatest danger is to be
apprehended ; the horse is sure to be ' blown ' almost immedi-
ately, because he has no room to breathe, and rupture of the
stomach may cause the animal to drop dead in a minute.
The horse possesses no gall-bladder, because the process of
digestion is almost incessant, and the bile passes off as rapidly
as it is formed.
USEFUL HINTS TO THOSE WHO HAVE THE CARE OF HORSES.
1. Make yourselves acquainted with the structure, physical
powers, utility, intelligence, and moral characteristics of your
horses.
2. In feeding your horses take care that the food given to
them is sweet, and varied according to their tastes and powers
of mastication ; but do not run or work them hard immediately
after feeding, or apoplexy may follow. Remember the rhyme :
1 Full feed, then rest ;
Often feed does best.'
Fotlr half-pails of water per day are considered to be sufficient
for one horse.
Hoiv Horses should be Treated. 243
3. Let your stables be dry, well ventilated and light, because
a sudden transition from a dark stable to a strong light some-
times affects the eyesight very seriously.
4. Do not keep the fodder in a loft over the stable, because
the effluvia arising from the latter place, and passing upwards
to the loft, may so impregnate the food as to render it
unwholesome, if not injurious.
5. Do not place the hay-rack so high as to compel your
horses to reach up at neck-length to pull the hay down,
because by doing so dust may get into their eyes and cause
inflammation and great pain, and because this system of feed-
ing is also productive of roaring. Horses naturally feed upon
the ground, therefore so place the hay that your horses may
pick it up, not pull it down.
6. Never allow hen-roosts to be in, or near, your stables,
because fleas, by which fowls are usually infested, are apt to
lodge also in the hair of horses, to cause great irritation in
their skins, and, as a natural consequence, to make the
animals so uneasy that they can get neither rest nor sleep,
which unfits them for work.
7. If, when on a journey with a load of any kind, you stop
at some wayside inn or other place to refresh yourselves, attend
to the needs of your horses as well as to your own ; and while
they are standing waiting for you let the rest-stick be down to
support the shafts of your cart, so that the backs of your
animals may be relieved from the weight of the load behind
them. Take care also that the wheels of your cart or waggon
be well greased ; this will lessen the labour of your horses, and
help them to do their work with greater ease. Never, on any
account, overload your horses.
8. Avoid that bad habit, in which many young drivers
indulge, of giving their horses a cut with the whip when they
are walking or trotting along at a proper pace, and then the
moment they answer to it pull them violently up by the reins,
thereby often hurting their mouths, needlessly exciting and
worrying them, as well as helping to spoil their tempers. How
can horses be expected to understand what they are to do, or
to be obedient, if treated in such a cruel and insane manner ?
They can be taught to obey a word as well as to answer to
the whip.
9. When you wash the legs of your horses rub them until
16 2
244 Everybody s Friend.
they are dry, or grease and sore heels may be the consequence.
Do not put tar on tbeir hoofs, because it will stop up the pores
and prevent humours, generated in the foot, from escaping,
and then inflammation may take place and lameness ensue.
10. Do not groom your horses in the stalls where they feed,
because the 'dust, etc., from their bodies may foul their cribs
and food, which horses have been known to refuse and to turn
away from on that account.
11. See that the harness of your horses fits properly,
especially the collars and saddles ; and when these get wet see
they are well dried before they are put on again, because when
put on wet they are apt to break the skin and to produce
sores. Take care that the surface of the collars and saddles
is smooth ; lumps in either give great pain to the wearers.
12. Never allow the farrier, when shoeing your horses, to
cut away more of the frog and the bars than the ragged pro-
jecting pieces, because the frog is the elastic cushion for their
bodies to rest upon, and nature intended it for the comfort
of your horses. Although iron shoes are indispensable to
working-horses, the calkins of them should not project more
than half an inch, because the higher they are the more they
interfere with the proper action of the tendons, bones, and
joints of the feet and legs, and may, by throwing them into an
unnatural position, bring on weakness and lameness.
13. Never flog your horses for shying; they often do so
because, seeing some object but imperfectly, they do not
understand it, and therefore get nervous and frightened. To
the use of blinkers many cases of shying are to be attributed.
14. Never, if you can avoid it, attach to your cart a fore-
horse lower in stature than the thill, or shaft horse, because,
when the former pulls, he brings down a greater weight on
the back of the latter, whose labour is made all the greater by
this foolish plan. If you. must have a little horse in the front,
then let his traces be long enough to hook on to the hind part
of the shafts, which will throw them more in a horizontal line
with the fore-horse's collar, and so avoid the evil referred to.
15. Do not bawl at your horses, it has a bad effect on them ;
speak gently, it pays best ; and remember that the pleasure
and profit to be derived from them will be just in proportion
as they are properly treated by you. Horses well know who
are their friends.
CHAPTER XX.
ANECDOTES OF EVERYBODY'S FRIEND.
Old 'Sorrel' and 'Blossom,' 'Jet,' 'Smiler,' and ' Dan,'
Were five as good horses as e'er drew a van ;
They all were good tempered, quick, willing, and free j
In fact better horses there never could be.
AVING briefly described the wonderful structure
of the horse, who is par excellence man's best
servant, because he contributes so largely, and in
so great a variety of ways, to his pleasure, con-
venience, and profit, we shall now say something
respecting his higher nature. Writers on natural history and
others differ in opinion as to the mental capacities of the first
order of vertebrated animals. While in all cases the horse is
admitted to be very intelligent, some think he is less so than
elephants and dogs, and even than cats and foxes. Be this as
it may, it is well known that the horse has a large brain, a good
memory, and both imitative and reasoning powers.
Youatt, speaking of this animal, says : ' The horse, with all
his noble faculties, and powers, and inclinations, is perfect in
the situation in which he is placed.' We think the following
anecdotes show clearly that the mental capacities of the horse
are of no mean order, and that we have not given him credit
for more than he deserves.
THE CAVALRY HORSE AND THE SOLDIER. A German
cavalry soldier and his horse were captured in the fight at La
Bourget, and taken off with other prisoners. Three days after
the fight they halted for the night in a village. The poor
fellow was sitting near the window thinking how he might
escape, while his noisy captors around the fireplace were
Two Extraordinary Horses. 247
lulling themselves with wine ; suddenly he hears in the streets
the neighing of a horse. His soul is trembling, and his blood
stops for a moment. No doubt it is his brave steed that had
broken loose from a shed where she had been placed and is in
search of her master. One of the panes of the window was
replaced by paper. Boring with his finger a hole in it, he lays
his mouth to the opening, calling cautiously and coaxingly,
' Lizzie ! Lizzie !' A joyous neigh is the reply, and Lizzie is
close to the window. In a moment the whole frame of the
casement is smashed, and before the tipplers know what is the
matter he is outside and on the bare back of his faithful mare.
It seems that the sagacious mare knew that the life of her
master was at stake, for she runs off like a whirlwind ; and yet
she is not urged on by spurs or bridle, for the captors have
taken the boots of the rider, and the bridle is hanging by the
saddle in the shed. Shots are fired after them, and bullets
fly past their ears without stopping the horse. The hussar
does not know the way, but Lizzie remembers it ; and after
thirty-five hours both arrive at the outposts of La Bourget,
happy to be again among their comrades.
THE HORSE AND THE DRUNKEN FARMER. Mr. Morris
says : ' A farmer who lives in the neighbourhood of Bedford,
and regularly attends the markets there, was returning home
one evening many years ago, and being somewhat tipsy, rolled
off his saddle into the road. His horse stood still ; but after
remaining patiently for some time, and not observing any
disposition in its rider to get up and proceed farther, he took
him by the collar and shook him. This had little or no
effect, for the farmer only gave a grumble of dissatisfaction at
having his repose disturbed. The animal was not to be put
off with any such evasion, and so applied his mouth to one of
his master's coat-laps, and after several attempts, by dragging
at it, to raise him upon his feet, the coat-lap gave way. Three
individuals who witnessed this extraordinary proceeding then
went up and assisted him in mounting his horse, putting the
one coat-lap into the pocket of the other, when he trotted off
and safely reached home.'
DECIDED BY THE HORSE. A gentleman, known to the
writer, and a friend had a journey of seven or eight miles to
perform along a high-road to a town which both had, with the
same horse, travelled to many years before. They had not
248 Anecdotes of Everybody's Friend.
proceeded far when it became quite dark, and the difficulty of
the journey to them was increased by the recollection that
farther on the road divided, one road to the right and the
other to the left, and running for some distance collaterally
with each other. ' We must take the left-hand road,' said the
one. ' No,' replied the other ; ' we must take the right-hand
road, or we shall get many miles out of our way.' A warm
dispute arose on account of this difference- of opinion, and
neither of the men felt inclined to give way to the other.
That both could not be right was certain. As they met no
one of whom they could obtain the needed information to
decide the dispute they were in a great dilemma, and knew
not how to act. They, however, at last agreed to let the horse
take whichever road he pleased. So slackening the reins,
and without attempting in any way to control the animal, they
went on ; the horse took the left-hand road, and in about half
an hour the travellers found themselves in the town they
wished to reach.
A GOOD MEMORY. We well remember an old horse named
' Sharper ' going a journey of about thirty miles to a watering-
place, with a cart-load of household requisites for a family who
intended to spend the summer season by the seaside. Old
' Sharper ' was driven by a man who, although not a drunkard
in the common acceptation of the term, was by no means a
member of the temperance society. He had a very high
opinion of 'John Barleycorn,' and strongly believed in the
virtue of a ' drop d yal ' that is, good home-brewed ale. The
driver and ' Sharper,' however, returned home all right, and
neither the worse for the journey. Twelve months afterwards
the same family went again to their seaside residence, and old
' Sharper ' the second time took to it a similar load to that he
had done before, but in the care of another driver. In this
journey the animal positively, of his own accord, halted at
every inn by the road-side where the first driver had taken his
glass or two of ale ; and it was not until after some minutes
had elapsed that he could be induced to move on. When
the first driver was told of this he admitted that he had stopped
at all the inns mentioned ; that ' Old Sharper ' was quite
correct, and that he evidently possessed a very good memory.
THE MILKMAN'S HORSE. The following story is also illus-
trative of the sagacity and memory of this animal : ' Mr. Jones,
An Eventful Drive. 249
who intended taking his wife out for a drive one day, asked
his milkman (who had a very spirited horse) for the loan of
the same, which request was granted. However, Mr. Jones
was not a good driver, and had great difficulty in managing
the horse, which at last became ungovernable, and, to the
great horror of Mrs. Jones, bolted with them. Mr. Jones did
not know what to do, and a serious accident seemed unavoid-
able, when, all of a sudden, Mr. Jones, remembering the
capacity for which the horse was used, called out with a
stentorian voice, ' Milk oh ! milk oh !' the horse stopped
instantly, to their great joy, at this familiar cry, and Mr. and
Mrs. Jones got home safely without any further incident, save
that when they returned home in the evening, on passing a
pump in the neighbourhood the horse would not stir an inch
until Mr. Jones got down and worked the pump-handle a
dozen times, after which operation it moved on directly ; and,
to finish off the day's pleasure, it stopped at all the customers
of the milkman in the road where Mr. Jones lives, his house
being at the farther end.'
THE GENEROUS HORSE. 'A horse belonging to M.
Frederic Cuvier being only allowed to eat straw, on account
of some malady, his companions, feeding at the same manger,
pushed some of their hay to him every time they received a
supply, and the same horse was one day detected in pulling
hay out of his rack in order to feed a goat in the same stable
as himself. He was as fond of sugar as many bipeds are, and
when his master was pleased with him he would give him some ;
often did the cunning animal play the same tricks over again,
and stand still between each, in expectation of the accustomed
reward, turning his head round to see if it were coming. M.
F. Cuvier generally provided himself with some lumps of
sugar when he took the horse out ; but if he neglected this,
stopped at one of the small inns by the roadside, where he
procured the reward for his steed, and never again did the
latter pass these houses without asking for more.'
A NOBLE HORSE. If noble deeds deserve a noble title,
then we award it to the animal referred to in the following
short story : ' A horse was dragging a load of coal down a
narrow lane in the neighbourhood of New York ; the driver
was behind chatting with a neighbour ; the horse, walking
slowly along, came to a child sitting in the middle of the road,
250 Anecdotes of Everybody's Friend.
and then suddenly stopped; not feeling inclined to injure
the child the horse waited, and seemed to cogitate as to what
was to be done ; his sagacity came to the rescue. As there
was no room for him to turn aside, he gathered up the child's
frock between his teeth, lifted him gently up, and placed him
just at the outside of the wheel-track, and then went on, leav-
ing the child uninjured.'
INTELLIGENCE OF HORSES. In 'Records of Animal
Sagacity,' the author of that work gives the following informa-
tion : ' A gentleman had a horse which, after being kept
shut up in the stable for some time, and turned out into a
field where there was a pump well supplied with water, regu-
larly obtained a quantity therefrom by his own dexterity. For
this purpose the animal was observed to take the handle into
his mouth and work it with the head, in a way exactly similar
to that done by the hand of man, until a sufficiency was pro-
cured.'
THE HORSE THAT HELPED HIS MASTER OUT OF A DIF-
FICULTY. At the time when excitement ran high respecting
the Australian gold-fields, a gentleman with whom we are
acquainted was induced, partly by curiosity and a wish to im-
prove his health, to visit that country, where he remained several
months. Having plenty of money, he could indulge in many
luxuries which gold-diggers and other classes of working-folks
were not able to obtain. One of these luxuries was a saddle-
horse, on which he would make short excursions into the
country, always returning home before nightfall.
One charmingly fine day, however, he wandered farther
away than usual, being attracted by the beauty of the scenery
and various productions of nature which were entirely new
to him, and by two or three small groups of natives, whose
appearance and habits so arrested his attention that he was
quite heedless of the swift flight of time ; in fact, so pleasantly
had it sped on with him, that when he thought of returning
he found it was much later than he expected, for daylight was
already declining, and he knew that darkness ere long would
come rapidly upon him.
He also knew he was several miles from home, but had not
the remotest idea as to the direction he should take to reach
it. ' Never,' he said to us, ' shall I forget the feeling of isola-
lation and the fearful forebodings which seized me as I sat on
An Adventure in Australia. 251
the back of my horse, not knowing which way I should go.
Everything at that moment seemed to be to me a blank dark,
dismal and hopeless. Being ignorant of my whereabouts, and
knowing there were natives in close proximity who might be
no more scrupulous about taking my life than that of a
kangaroo, I felt almost driven to desperation and to mad-
ness.
' To make matters still worse, I remembered there was really
no proper road or track of any kind in those parts over which
I had travelled ; and as I had not in my outward journey
marked any object to assist me on my return, I found myself
in a terrible predicament.
f Just as I had reached the climax of misery, and was about
to give myself up, not only for lost, but as the helpless victim
of a stern and cruel fate, like a cheering ray of light came the
recollection that horses, possessing marvellous powers of
memory and of recognition, have been known to extricate their
riders and themselves out of circumstances of extreme peril
and difficulty.
'So, throwing the reins on the neck of my horse, and giving
him a few gentle pats and kind words, I said at last, " Now
then, old fellow, do your best in finding your way home."
We started, and, strange to say, my guide never once hesitated,
but went on and on, carefully picking his way, being, not long
after we began our journey, assisted in so doing by the pale
light of the glimmering stars. Two hours of uncertainty and
fear had passed away when to my great relief I discovered we
were near home, which, in less than another half-hour, we
both reached in perfect safety. Not to me, but to my noble,
faithful, sagacious horse is due the credit and the praise of my
getting out of the difficulties I have just narrated.'
It is almost needless to say that horses who are so useful
and intelligent should be kindly treated, and every effort made
to remove the causes of their sufferings.
ACTING THE OLD SOLDIER. A few years since a kind-
hearted man living in the north of England had a brood mare,
commonly called ' Old Sal,' who was subject to those griping
pains with which horses are now and then afflicted. When
' Sal ' had these attacks her owner had recourse to the usual
remedies, which always produced the desired effect. On one
occasion, however, ' Sal ' and her master were a long distance
252 Anecdotes of Everybody's Friend.
from home when unfortunately the former was seized with her
old complaint, which was more severe than usual, as the mare
trembled and seemed to be in great agony. Her^humane
master feared she would die on the spot ; and as he had
nothing with him to administer to her as on former occasions,
he allowed an eye-witness of these sufferings, who had obtained
half a pint of gin at a village inn, to give it to the mare. The
effect appears to have been almost marvellous. ' Old Sal '
became easy, and in a little time she and her master resumed
their journey homewards. On many subsequent occasions,
when the mare was attacked as described, gin was given to her,
always with the same results as before. It was soon, however,
observed that these attacks had become unusually frequent,
and that the gin-doctor was getting very expensive. ' It was
evident,' said ' Sal's ' master, ' that she had acquired a liking
for this stimulant, and that she feigned illness to get it when
there was little or nothing of a serious nature the matter with
her.' In fact, he had so many reasons for entertaining this
idea that he often accused ' Sal ' of ' acting the old soldier.'
SAGACITY OF A CART HORSE. A writer in the Animal
World says : ' Directly opposite my residence a church is
being erected, and during its progress temporary sheds have
been put up for the use of the workmen, and one as a stable
for a very fine cart-horse, the property of the builder. The
extreme docility of this animal attracted my attention to him,
and since that some of his manoeuvres appear to me to border
strongly on the sense and the powers of reflection. His stable
was erected at one end of the church ; on one occasion two
poles had been fastened across his usual road to it, in order
to strengthen the scaffolding ; he went up, tried the strength
of these first, then finding that he could neither get over nor
under, he turned round, and, at a full trot, made the circuit
of the church, and got to the other side of the poles by
another path. Here was no straying about, and at last find-
ing his way, he resolved to go round as if an idea had at once
flashed across his mind. Another day, a waggon had been
left standing in the narrowest part of his road to the stable ;
he looked and tried each side, but found there was not space
enough for him to pass ; he took very little time for considera-
tion, but put his breast against the back part of the waggon,
and shoved it on to a wider part of the road, then deliberately
Wonderful Sagacity of a Horse. 253
passed on one side to his stable. Could human wisdom have
done better ? But to crown all his manoeuvres, I mention the
following as being, I consider, very extraordinary : During
the winter a large wide drain had been made, and over this
strong planks had been placed for our friend, the cart-horse,
to pass over to his stable. It had snowed during the night,
and froze very hard in the morning. How he passed over
the planks on going out to work I know not, but on being
turned loose from the cart at breakfast, he came up to them
and I saw his fore-feet slip ; he drew back immediately, and
seemed for a moment at a loss how to get on. Close to these
planks a cart-load of sand had been placed ; he put his fore-
feet on this, and looked wistfully to the other side of the drain.
The boy who attends this horse, and who had gone round by
another path, seeing him stand there, called him. The horse
immediately turned round, and set about scraping the sand
most vigorously, first with one foot then the other. The boy,
perhaps wondering what he would be at, waited to see. When
the planks were completely covered with sand, the horse
turned round again, and unhesitatingly walked over, and
trotted up to his stable and driver.'
CHAPTER XXL
FOES OF ANIMALS.
' Oh ! 'tis excellent
To have a giant's strength ; but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant." SHAKESPEARE.
' Yet pity for a horse o'erdriven,
And love to which my hound has part
Can hang no weight upon my heart
In its assumption up to heaven.'
In Memoriam.
FTER the description we have given in the preced-
ing chapters of the life, wonderful structure,
intelligence, and uses of animals, we regret that
necessity and duty compel us to show that in-
creased and unceasing efforts are necessary to
ameliorate the condition of those animals who suffer from
man's cruelty, as well as to encourage the exercise of humanity
towards them.
Although we have mentioned many different kinds of
animals, from the tiny insect to our noble and valuable friend
the horse, there is hardly a tribe of them but what is in some
form and degree exposed to cruel treatment by man, who
proudly considers himself to be not only their superior, but
' lord of the creatures.'
Eloquently and strongly as the claims of animals have been
enforced by different writers and speakers, men's hearts, in
many cases, are still vicious and unfeeling towards the brute
creation, and humanity has to continue to wage an unceasing
war against every form of cruelty.
As it would occupy too much space to define the multifa-
Animals Sensible to Pain. 255
rious forms of cruelty to animals, we may remark that it con-
sists in the infliction of agony and pain for its own sake, sheer
mischief and wickedness, without one iota of benefit to be
derived therefrom. Cruelty to any form of animal life, whether
it be for gain, amusement, the gratification of the appetite, the
promotion of science, or even the support of human life, is the
needless infliction of pain.
As we have already, in a previous volume, referred to a
defective education in humanity and thoughtlessness being
prolific causes of cruelty, we may now add another, namely,
the too common idea entertained by ignorant people that
animals cannot feel so acutely as human beings do, and that
there is neither harm nor cruelty in treating them roughly.
We need not say that this is nothing less than a wicked error.
It has been justly observed that, more or less, all animals give
forth signs of suffering, not only of a physical, but of a mental
kind. If the dog that is kicked gives a proof of bodily sensi-
bility by a terrific yell, the lion, the tiger, and the panther,
robbed of their young, will give a proof of their mental agony
by making the woods and wilds echo and re-echo with their
frightful roaring. In some way or other all animals show their
sensibility to pain.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. There can
be no doubt that horses, elephants, bears, monkeys, dogs, cats,
birds, and other animals that are trained to perform in various
places, undergo, previous to the public exhibition of them, a
rigid discipline and tortures of a greater or less degree.
Whether the practices we are about to allude to are trace-
able to ignorance or wilful intention, those who indulge in
them are the foes of animals. The practices we refer to are
Puffing crabs and lobsters into cold water, in which they
have to remain until it boils. Skinning eels, and cleaning the
insides of fish before life is extinct.
Hobbling donkeys when exhausted by labour, and, thus
manacled, turning them out to graze, which they do with the
greatest difficulty.
Shearing sheep too early, and exposing them to the bitter
weather of a late winter, by which they often suffer severely.
Plucking fowls alive ; tying the legs of several of them to-
gether, and in this way carrying them to market, often head
downwards ; crowding ducks and poultry into crates or baskets,
256 Foes of A n imals.
so that they are sometimes found dead at the end of a railway
journey.
Cropping the tails and ears of dogs for fashion's sake ;
muzzling them in hot weather, and keeping them always
chained to the kennel.
Leaving cats in empty houses, and so thereby not only de-
priving them of liberty, but of food and water.
Turning animals into fields that yield but little and inferior
food, and leaving them there during the cold nights of winter,
without a shed or sufficient shelter of any kind to screen them ;
and also, when stabled, neglecting to provide them with a suffi-
cient allowance of proper food, merely from mercenary motives.
Overstocking cows intended for sale, so that their enlarged
udders may induce buyers to offer higher prices for these
animals, with an idea that they are good milkers.
Overcrowding vessels and railway trucks used for the transit
of animals, to save expense.
The continuous confinement of horses in mines, by which
their eyesight is often seriously injured, and sometimes entirely
destroyed.
Goading animals when driving them along the road, and
striking them with heavy cudgels across their legs and horns,
to increase their speed.
Tormenting hedgehogs by throwing them, rolled up like a
ball, into water, in order to see them open their bodies and
swim to save their lives.
Setting toothed steel traps to catch hares, rabbits, or other
animals by their legs, and often subjecting them, during a long
cold winter night, to the severest suffering. ' It is a matter for
regret with all humane persons that some measures cannot be
taken to prevent the cruelties inflicted in the trapping of hares
and rabbits. The aggregate of suffering thus caused is no
doubt much greater than the pain which arises from pigeon-
shooting, coursing, hunting with harriers, and all questionable
sports put together.'
Shooting parent birds during the breeding season, by which
their young suffer starvation and die a lingering death.
Never giving to caged birds the liberty of flying now and
then round the room, so that they may enjoy the luxury of
using their wings, given them by nature for that purpose, and
which is their instinct and impulse to do.
Various Forms of Cruelty to Animals. 257
When fishing with rod and line, hooking one living animal
to catch another, which custom inflicts a twofold cruelty, by a
deliberate crucifixion of the bait, and sometimes tearing out
the gullet of the other victim. Such a system is cruelty inten-
sified vivisection of the worst kind ; and also a wanton de-
struction and prodigal waste, in many cases, of the living
treasures of our lakes, rivers, and streams.
Hiring donkeys and ponies, often in very poor condition,
at places much frequented at holiday times, for so much
the half-hour or the hour, conditionally that they are made to
go as fast as possible, which, in addition to often being over-
laden, involves much cudgelling and ill-treatment in other
ways, in order that the promised payment may be secured.
In this matter the owners are not always exclusively to blame.
Exposing the same kind of animals and goats, at our watering-
places, for many consecutive hours to the intense rays of the
sun, without shelter, and often without a proper supply of food
and water. Loading the carriages drawn by goats to such an
extent, that in toiling on and on these animals often fall down
exhausted, then are cruelly beaten because they have failed in
their task. We fear many of the visitors to our watering-
places, of whom more humanity and kindly feeling might be
expected, are guilty, if not intentionally, of adding to the
miseries of the animals referred to.
Slowly killing calves by bleeding them at intervals, so that
their flesh, being thereby made white, may appear more
tempting to the appetite, and a greater delicacy at the table.
Opening, for the same reasons, a vein under the tongues of
turkeys and other poultry, then hanging them up by the legs
so that their life may ebb out of them by degrees, or drop by
drop, which often requires many hours of suffering to accom-
plish.
Employing men sometimes possessing the most brutal in-
stincts, without proper training, wholly ignorant and unscien-
tific, as slaughterers, some of whom often subject the animals
they are employed to kill to much unnecessary pain, simply
because, by their bungling use of the poleaxe, they have to
give several heavy blows when one, or at most two, should
suffice, if properly directed.
Cutting off the horns of cattle is a reprehensible practice,
and has been pronounced by eminent veterinary surgeons to
258 Foes of Animals.
be a cruel one, and a source of great pain to the animals thus
mutilated.
DRINK AND CRUELTY. There can be no doubt that much
cruelty is inflicted upon animals when those who have the care
of them are excited by strong drink. If a man has not been
properly educated in his duty to the lower animals, although
in his sober moments he may treat them kindly enough, yet
when his passions are inflamed by drink he Incomes, in many
cases, cruel to the brute under his charge ; he cares neither
for the law, the expostulations of the humane, nor for the
punishment which may overtake him for his brutality.
These remarks apply specially to certain classes of men. In
many instances, too, dealers and small jobbers, who in twos,
threes, and fours may be seen in carts each drawn by a half-
starved horse, going miles out of town on business, and who,
when it is over, repair to some public-house to indulge in
' beer and 'bacca,' where they often remain until a late hour,
and then whip and drive the poor animal at such a rate that,
before the journey home is finished, he is ready to drop
through sheer exhaustion ; and we fear that in many cases,
when he reaches home, the poor jaded brute receives but scant
food and attention to compensate him for his long and toil-
some journey.
We are glad, however, in being able to state that, against
this dark picture, we can place a bright one. There are many
dealers who are not only kind-hearted, but have become noted
for their humanity to the animals of which they have the
charge.
SUNDAY PLEASURE-VANS. That cruelty should be inflicted
upon horses employed in Sunday pleasure-vans is much to be
deplored, for more reasons than one. It is well known that
the animals referred to are engaged in dragging crowded vans
of pleasure-seekers, who leave London and other large towns
in hundreds on the morning of the Sabbath, for journeys of
ten, fifteen, and even twenty miles into the country.
In many, if not in all these cases, the horses so employed
are those who have been toiling hard all the week, many of
them already weary and exhausted, and by no means either
well fed or properly cared for.
The journeys out are often performed under a burning sun,
and but little rest and refreshment are allowed to the animals
Hunting for mere Sport. 259
until the destinations are reached. After a few hours they
have to return home. The vans are now laden with men and
women often noisy and excited when they start, and who
become more so by stopping to drink at the public-houses by
the way. To make up for time thus wasted, the poor animals
are, in many instances, severely flogged and made to go at a
greatly increased speed, and often at a late hour reach home
almost out of breath, their bodies steaming with sweat, and all
but worn-out with the heat and toil of the long journeys they
have performed. We fear God has a reckoning to make with
all such Sabbath desecrators, who obtain money and pleasure
at the cost of so much animal suffering.
CRUEL SPORTS. We should imagine that all students of the
rights of animals, and all those whose hearts have within
them anything like humanity, will readily endorse the following
quotation :
' Detested sport,
That owes its pleasure to another's pain.'
That man has a right to hunt and to capture animals to
supply the needs of his physical nature, may be admitted, but
his right to hunt them for mere sport \s> very doubtful. We fear
the love of sport is a very prolific cause of animal suffering.
Hunting the fox, the stag, or the hare may be a very agreeable
and healthy pastime for those gentlemen who indulge in it, but
it is a widely different thing to the animals that are pursued.
Cunning as the fox may be, and much as he is disposed to
appropriate to himself food in the shape of game and farm-
yard luxuries to which some would say he has no moral right,
he is nevertheless an intelligent animal, and possesses those
emotional qualities which are more or less characteristic of all
animals, especially of quadrupeds.
In being hunted the fox has only his own speed, strength,
and stratagems to depend upon to ward off a premature and
cruel death. It is a poor justification of this sport for the
lovers of it to say that the animal has a wide range of country
in which to run, or that it is necessary such destructive
animals should be destroyed so that they may not become too
numerous.
But is nothing to be said for the terror which must seize
a fox when he hears behind him a pack of hungry dogs, who
in a few minutes may tear his body to pieces while yet alive ?
17 2
260 Foes of Animals.
Neither speed nor cunning can ward off the terror which the
sounding horn, the cry of ' Tally-ho !' and the yelping of the
hounds will produce. These remarks are equally applicable
to the stag and the hare, who are hunted in a similar manner.
What is there manly or courageous in a number of men, on as
many horses, and assisted by a pack of hounds, following such
little, defenceless, and comparatively powerkss animals as a
fox or a hare, and then, when the chase is over, to stand and
deliberately witness the tearing and devouring of the body
which had to succumb to superior strength and speed ? One
writer, referring to this cruel pastime, says : ' Manly, forsooth !
Call it a wild passion, a brutal propensity, or anything that
indicates its nature ; but to give it any connection with reason
is like making an union between black and white.'
PIGEON MATCHES. The love of sport is insatiable. It finds
victims among animals more defenceless than those already
referred to. For mere wanton sport many a human savage
has waited and watched for hours together, gun in hand, in
order to bring down a swallow on the wing, a lark rising
heavenwards, a thrush, a blackbird, or a linnet, probably hard
at work in gathering materials for their nests or food for their
young.
' Pigeon-shooting] says Professor Wilson, ' in which half a
hundred, or half a thousand, pigeons are killed merely to show
the dexterity of some " crack shot," and to make money by
wagers on the numbers knocked dead or mutilated, is at once
scandalous to a civilized country and totally repulsive to
humanity.'
It is well-known that many of the pigeons shot at during
these shooting matches are mutilated only, not killed at once :
it may be a leg or a wing is broken, or partially disabled, but
not sufficiently to prevent the wounded creatures from flying
beyond reach, when they fall in some place where they cannot
be found, and so have to remain in a suffering and helpless
condition until death ends their lives. Nor is this all. In
many of the preliminary preparations for pigeon-shooting
matches the most atrocious cruelties are practised upon the
poor birds, which are supposed, by placing them in dis-
advantageous circumstances, to be for the success and benefit
of those who are interested in the slaughter of these feathered
victims.
Cruel Treatment of Pigeons. 261
In corroboration of our assertions we quote the following
from the Evening Standard newspaper, of February 16, 1883 :
A publican, named Ludlam, and a trapper, named Rogers,
were brought up at the Belper Petty Sessions yesterday on a
charge of barbarity at a pigeon match. The story would be
sufficient to secure the passage of Mr. Anderson's Bill had
any doubt previously existed on the subject. At a match held
at Crich, in Derbyshire, these ruffians were observed to handle
the birds in a peculiar way, and it was afterwards found that
they had damaged the eyes of their victims, either with acid or
with some sharp instrument, and had thrust pins into the flesh
of the birds under the tail feathers. They were found guilty
of torturing three pigeons, and most properly committed to
prison for two months with hard labour, without the option of
a fine. Such proceedings at pigeon matches are exceptional,
if only because the opponents of the competitor so favoured
would see and object ; but that such things should ever be
done strengthens the plea for the abolition of the ' sport'
If sport of this kind is wicked, cruel, and unmanly, is it not
particularly unwomanly and degrading to the female character
to take any part in such pastimes ? To those who do so we
would say :
' If the rougher sex by their fierce sports
Are hurried wild, let not such horrid joy
E'er stain the bosom of the British fair.'
Can anything be more degrading to any being boasting of
reasoning powers of birth, education, and position, than making
amusement out of the agonies and death of any animal,
especially out of those of a poor defenceless pigeon ? We do
not hesitate to say that the patrons, patronesses, and supporters
of pigeon-shooting clubs are guilty of the meanest, most
despicable and worst kind of cruelty ; that they are setting an
example calculated to demoralize, not only themselves, but
society at large, and at the same time give a licence to men of
brutal passions to indulge in the worst species of cruelty and
crime.
While many persons seek pleasure in only witnessing these
sports, their presence is nothing less than a tacit approval and
encouragement of them. There can be no doubt that
gambling or money-making has more to do with the practice
than the aim and ambition to excel as good shots. This
262 Foes of Animals.
practice had its rise among Londoners, who, it is said, began
with the sparrow, and now take the pigeon. The practice,
to say the least of it, is a cowardly pastime. Fancy taking
doves even for this sport ; a bird that is the emblem of peace,
and of all other birds the mildest and most affectionate ; the
bird that is the symbol of simplicity, innocence, and fidelity ;
the bearer of the olive-branch ; the herald of safety when the
waters began to recede after the deluge, and in the form of
which the Spirit of God alighted on the Saviour. To make
this bird the object of cruel sport is unmanly, inhuman, and
unchristian.
In addition to what we have already said on pigeon matches
we give the following graphic description of the cruelties of
trap pigeon-shooting which appears in the Animal World for
March, 1883. It will not only be perused with painful interest,
but will show how ready the editor of the above journal is to
lend his aid in suppressing such a cruel and ignoble pastime
as that of
TRAP PIGEON SHOOTING. The editor says, We have asked
Mr. Harrison Weir to supply us, for the twentieth time, with
an illustration against this ignoble sport, and as one of the
men best acquainted with birds, to make a few remarks on the
subject. Mr. Weir commences as follows : ' I appeal to the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to all
humane persons, to all who hate wanton cruelty in any form,
to do their utmost to stop the wickedness of the sport of
pigeon-shooting from the trap.' As far as we are concerned
his appeal will not be in vain ; for our columns every year
have been charged with uncompromising denunciations against
that dastardly and demoralizing pastime, and we have no
intention to give up the crusade. Nothing can exceed our
detestation of trap-shooting, for which reason we are anxious
above all things to attack it on fair issues. Without this care
the battle will be lost. Its intrinsic unmanliness, its mockery
of all that real sportsmen hold dear, its gambling associations,
its levity as regards animal destruction, and its tendency to
make human hearts callous to sympathy with the beautiful
creatures, its victims, should be never absent from our thoughts
when attacking the vice. Mr. H. Weir continues as follows :
' Hit yes, grievously hit ! and yet the poor pigeon struggles,
on and on, away o'er green fields, and anon o'er houses, with
Living Feathered Targets. 263
happy children in the gardens at play, who look up, wonder-
ing why the beautiful bird flies so slowly ; yet on and on it
goes, till at last, faint, hungry, and weary, it sinks to rest and
to suffer no one near to note its mute agony. Again it strives
to rise : it is too weak, it is cold, it is hungry ; it struggles
feebly, it dies. Then it is a poor jaded thing : torn flesh,
broken bones, and ruffled feathers a useless dead thing, a
victim of sport. Is it manly sport ? Not so very long ago a
wounded bird joined my own a mangled creature, with a
broken leg and with its tail pulled out And now another has
come " grievously hit" Yes, grievously ! shot-marks along its
back. Shot has torn off the feathers and laid the back bare
and bleeding. Its tail, too, like the former, is pulled out (not
cut off), so that the sporting man may find the more difficulty
in the killing it at so many yards' rise from his gun. Fine
sport this for men for civilized men, educated men ! Fine
sport truly, it must be delightful sport ! And yet, and so
'tis thus the sport goes on day by day. Beautiful, bright,
innocent pigeons are conveyed in baskets and brought out as
living targets for sport. Let every humane person help to stay
and stop these hideous pastimes. Other countries are moving
in the matter, are we to be the last ? Are we less civilized than
they ? Are we less tender-hearted, or are we more brutal ?
Why is it ? Why is such a wicked, cruel sport made of a live
plaything? W T hy must the target be alive? a suffering,
quivering, agonized thing if hit. Will anyone tell me why this
is necessary ? I ask everybody to endeavour to stop these
cruel butcheries.' These remarks are true enough, only they
apply to all shooting at birds, whether from traps or otherwise.
It is a pity that Mr. Weir does not see that the real point
against trap-shooting is not touched by referring to the suffer-
ings of a wounded bird. Our antagonists are far too clever
not to retort on us that equal tortures are caused in the field
indeed, with greater probability; because at Hurlingham,
should the bird be missed as it rises from the trap, twenty
guns of outsiders discharge at it, and few wounded birds
escape, while thousands every day die a lingering death,
during late autumn, which have been wounded, but not killed,
by field sportsmen.
BEARING REINS. The pride and love of display have caused
many persons to be the foes of animals. The evils and use
264
Foes of Animals.
of the bearing-rein on horses are, at the present time, occupy
ing much public attention, and exciting considerable interest.
That the bearing-rein is not, as now used on some carriage-
horses, in any way an advantage to them, but an injury, there
can be no doubt. This is so clearly proved by papers on
this subject, issued by the Royal Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals ; in a work written by G. Fleming,
M.R.C.V.S. ; and also in a pamphlet by E. F. Flower,
on ' Bits and Bearing-reins,' that further argument on this
subject seems almost unnecessary.
The Wrong Way.
We may, however, observe that the head and tail are
important working powers of the horse, and that anything
which hinders, or restricts the freedom of their action, produces
consequences of the most injurious kind. The bit, to which
is attached a rein tightly drawn up, puts an unnecessary
pressure upon the sides of the mouth, thereby causing, if not
sores, a painful tenderness in those parts, and the head and
neck of the horse are thrown into an unnatural position.
In the course of time the larynx of the horse becomes
On Tight Bearing-Reins.
26$
affected, inflamed, and partially diseased, and finally the
animal becomes a 'roarer.' He cannot properly inflate his
lungs with atmospheric air because the air-passages are con-
tracted, which no doubt affects the circulation of the blood,
and, in some cases, produces apoplexy. His eyes grow dim,
his sight fails, his health is affected, his usefulness is lessened,
and in many instances his days are shortened.
That extreme gagging or reining up of a horse's head must
be a source of pain to him is evident from his restlessness and
The Right Way.
fruitless efforts to stretch out his head sufficiently to obtain
relief. A man can walk much more easily with his arms
swinging to and fro than he could if they were fastened to his
sides. To fasten a horse's head to his tail to keep him from
stumbling seems to be a great absurdity.
That tight bearing-reins are not necessary is seen in the fact
that our omnibus and cab horses do their work better with-
out them than they used to do with them. The rejection of
these vile instruments of cruelty by many private families and
by some of the drivers of the ' four-in-hand ' club shows that
266 Foes of Animals.
they are not only not necessary, but that they believe their use
interferes both with the strength and comfort of their animals.
To the above we may add, that hundreds of veterinary
surgeons condemn the use of the tight bearing-rein as being
not only unnecessary but injurious in the particulars we have
stated.
Lord Portsmouth once said, c I never allow a bearing-rein
to be used in my establishment, nor did my father before me ;
I am sure they are both useless and cruel.'
Cracknell, the four-in-hand driver, would not use a bearing-
rein, although he often drove from London to Oxford in one
day and back the next, including stoppages, at the rate of ten
miles an hour, and was always exact to time.
SOME BRISTOL CARTERS AND THEIR HORSES. A few
years since, we delivered a lecture in Bristol on kindness to
animals to an audience mainly composed of about 500
men who had the care of horses. The men were apparently
interested, and paid great attention to what was said. Twelve
months afterwards we gave a second lecture in the same town,
and had about an equal number of listeners as on the first
occasion. A novel and unexpected sight presented itself to
our notice. Just before the platform several seats were occu-
pied by not less than fifty men, all dressed in their Sunday
suits ; each man wearing a rosette in the buttonhole of his
coat?
' What does this mean ?' we inquired of one of the lady
promoters of the meeting. ' Oh,' she replied, ' you will be
gratified to hear that these men were convinced by your
remarks last year on the evils of bearing-reins that they were
doing wrong in using them, and so, like sensible men, they
determined to give them up. They have done so, and theif
testimony is that their horses now do their work and draw
heavy loads with far greater ease than they did when tightly
reined up.'
These men who, in spite of much opposition and jeers from
other carters, discontinued to use tight reins on their horses
deserve great commendation, while what they did teaches a
humane lesson, and gives considerable force to every argu-
ment advanced against bearing-reins, which in all cases, or
nearly so, are needless, and in very many instances cause
great suffering to our noble friend the horse.
CHAPTER XXII.
FRIENDS OF ANIMALS.
' Old Martin loved his dogs as though
They had his children been ;
And they loved him ; for love can make
E'en man and beast akin.'
LTHOUGH, as already stated, many animals are
subjected to much cruelty in order to afford sport
and pastime to those who pay no regard to the
laws of humanity, there are, nevertheless, signs
that better and happier times are in store for
them, which may well give encouragement to those who are
the friends of the brute creation.
Taking into consideration the gradual change now taking
place in the feelings of the public toward animals, and in their
views as to the rights and claims of these dumb creatures, we
may confidently look forward to the time when kindness will
prevail, and shelter beneath her outspread wings every member
of the animal kingdom.
These changes for the better in the general condition of
animals are not, however, to be regarded as favours conferred
upon them by man, but as their own chartered rights, given to
them by their beneficent Creator.
INDIVIDUAL FRIENDS.
Amongst the friends of animals may be reckoned all
those who have made, and are making, in their own way,
individual efforts to protect them from ill-usage, and to
contribute to the pleasure of their lives. Although half a
century ago the idea of legislating for animals, or organizing
any efforts to protect them, was ridiculed and laughed at
268 Friends of Animals.
as absurd and Utopian, a galaxy of humane men and women
have denounced cruelty to animals as a disgrace to human
nature, to civilization and Christianity.
Going no farther back than 1809, and coming on to later
years, we have the names of Erskine, Burdett, Buxton, Martin,
Wilberforce, Fry, Gurney, Lushington, Broome, and a host of
others who were pioneers in the cause of humanity, and who,
through much opposition, nobly advocated the claims and
rights of animals.
Although as time has rolled on death has removed one by
one these noble friends, others have arisen to supply their
places, to do their work ; and animals are still favoured with a
succession of sincere and zealous friends.
Without attempting to enumerate the many and different
acts of cruelty which are committed, we may notice that some
humane people regard one particular kind of cruelty as being
more atrocious than any other, and therefore make special in-
dividual efforts to put a stop to it. For instance, as before
intimated, one friend particularly notices the cruelties of the
gag bearing-rein, and makes strenuous efforts to abolish its
use. Others, who are lovers of horses, seek to effect a more
rational and humane method of shoeing these, our useful,
hardworking animals. This being the case, we may clearly
see that this is to the great advantage of animals, especially
in those places where there is no society established, or
organized means in operation for the suppression of cruelty.
COLLECTIVE FRIENDS.
These refer more especially to the public agencies and
societies which exist for, and are employed in, the great work
of humanity to the lower animals. First, we may mention
the ' Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,'
which claims priority, and whose influence has always been of
the most wonderful kind.
The following conveys much useful information respecting
the origin, work, objects, and progress of the Society to 1872.
' Prior to the enactment of the statute intituled " An Act
to Prevent the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle "
(July, 1822), introduced by the late highly esteemed Mr. Martin,
the management of animals in this country was inhuman.
Whether from ignorance, thoughtlessness, heedlessness or
2/o Friends of Animals.
wanton brutality, they were subjected to extreme pain and
torture, and their condition failed to excite the commiseration
of the public. The most reckless and savage punishment,
and the most disgusting disregard to the bodily sufferings of
animals, were exhibited unconcealed in the highways and
streets daily ; festering sores, discharging wounds, excruciating
lameness, and tottering infirmity, called not forth modern
devices to evade public reprobation, and without disguise the
lash and goad worked their bloody inflictions. The uncom-
bined efforts of a few benevolent individuals were no check to
these evils; and hence it became necessary to establish a
society which should assemble and unite the friends of dumb
animal creatures.
'The founders of this Society met on the i6th of June, 1824,
and inaugurated the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, appointed a committee, and conceived the following
plan of operations :
' i. The circulation of suitable tracts gratuitously, or by
cheap sale, particularly among persons intrusted with cattle,
such as coachmen, carters, and drovers.
' 2. The introduction into schools of books calculated to
impress on youth the duty of humanity to inferior animals.
' 3. Frequent appeals to the public, through the press,
awakening more general attention to a subject so interesting,
though too much neglected.
' 4. The periodical delivery of discourses from the pulpit.
' 5. The employment of constables in the markets and
streets ; and
' 6. The prosecution of persons guilty of flagrant acts of
cruelty, with publicity to the proceedings, and announcement
of results.
' Steadily working by the above means, bravely bearing con-
tumely, and overcoming difficulties, the founders became
stronger year after year ; subscribers and co-workers gradually
joined the ranks, and a marked improvement slowly manifested
itself in the treatment of animals. Then followed the dis-
tinguished patronage of Her Most Gracious Majesty the
Queen, Her Royal Highness the late Duchess of Kent, the
nobility, and many distinguished members of both Houses of
Parliament ; and in 1840, by command of Her Majesty, the
Society was honoured with the prefix of " Royal." Since that
Progress of Humanity. 27 1
period its progress has been regular, and its achievements en-
couraging, and now it is regarded as a permanently established
institution, which has outlived ridicule, and secured for its
founders the esteem of good and practical men of this and
succeeding generations.
' Branch and sister societies are in active operation in many
of the largest towns in England, Ireland, and Scotland ; and
more than sixty well-constituted and energetic associations of
a like character are labouring in various parts of Europe,
America, the Colonies, and distant parts of the globe.
' During many years the committee advocated the removal
or enlargement of Smithfield Market. To the co-operation of
conductors of daily journals the committee are indebted for
their ultimate triumph over long-cherished prejudices and
vested interests. Owing to its agency, bull-baiting, bull-
running, cock-fighting, badger-baiting, and other wicked sports
of a barbarous age have been prohibited by legal enactments.
In 1835 th e Society obtained an amendment of Martin's
Act ; in 1845 an amendment of the law for regulating
Knackers' Yards ; in 1849 a new and much improved Act for
the more effectual Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ; and in
1854 an Act prohibiting the use of dogs as beasts of draught
or burden throughout England. Thus, the whole police force
is enlisted for the protection of domestic animals.'
To show the progress of this great work since 1872, we may
state that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals is extending its operations by forming new branches
and employing men as officers stationed at them. Every year
very many thousands of tracts on humane literature are dis-
tributed broadcast. Its own monthly organs, the Animal World
and Band of Mercy^ are widely circulated. A small book,
containing a digest of Acts of Parliament passed in favour of
animals, and many useful suggestions, is supplied gratuitously
to policemen and to others who may apply for it, while
sermons and lectures on the claims of animals are now given
in every part of the kingdom.
It has also succeeded in obtaining a law for the protection
of all wild birds during the close season, and is now actively
trying to secure legal protection to ALL wild animals, not
only for a part of the year, but continuously.
Independently of the assistance it renders to the police and
272 Friends of Animals.
private individuals who take proceedings against those guilty
of acts of cruelty they may have witnessed, the number of
convictions obtained by its own inspectors increases every
year, so that the Society is becoming more and more the
defender of animals and the advocate of their rights.
To be successful in obtaining convictions against all cases
taken into court, thorough acquaintance with the law, a care-
ful analysis of evidence, and great vigilance are required. We
may here state that so much attention is paid by the Council
and Secretary to the points above mentioned that notwith-
standing the opposition often given to the Society's preventive
measures, it does not lose, on an average, more than three per
cent of the cases taken before and tried by our magistrates.
Although the moiety of costs legally belongs to the Society,
it never takes it, but the same is left in the hands of the pre-
siding magistrate, to be given by him to some local charity or
other object he may think proper. This being the case, the
Society cannot be charged with taking cases of cruelty into
court as a pretext for getting money ; on the contrary, it will
be seen that the object is one in favour of and for the benefit
of poor defenceless animals.
All officers employed by the Society are forbidden, under
pain of dismissal, from taking any gratuity whatever, either
from plaintiffs or defendants, without the sanction of the
Secretary, so that in collecting evidence respecting any cases
of cruelty there may be no inducement for them to act un-
fairly, but justly and entirely in the interest of animals that
may be the victims of ill-usage.
From personal knowledge of the way in which the Society
carries out its great objects we are bound to repudiate the un-
founded assertion some of its enemies have made, ' that it
connives at cruelty committed by the wealthy, while the poorer
classes are vindictively punished for the most trivial acts of
cruelty that may be committed by them.' This is not so ; and if
anyone will carefully note the reports which appear in our
daily and weekly newspapers respecting charges of cruelty pre-
ferred by the Society, they must, we think, be convinced that
it is no ' respecter of persons,' and that it is not at all affected
in its action by any difference in the social position or influence
of those who may be guilty of cruelty in whatever form it may
be committed.
The Treatment of Animals Underground. 273
The following extracts from the last annual report of the
Society fully corroborate our assertions. In referring to what
is chiefly an aristocratic sport, namely, that of
PIGEON MATCHES, it says : ' Thirteen convictions were ob-
tained for cruelty to pigeons at or in connection with pigeon-
shooting matches. Public opinion, now so often expressed
against this sport, has during late years made considerable
progress in this country, and still more so in the United States,
owing in great measure to the protests and attacks directed
against it by your Society ; and your committee therefore feel
that the time has now arrived when they may make a step
forward by attempting to bring the practice of shooting pigeons
from traps within the purview of the statutes made for the pro-
tection of animals.
' Setting dogs to worry cats, mentioned in your committee's
last report, continues to be a prevalent offence. Nineteen
persons, principally young men of good social position, were
convicted for this scandalous misconduct, and that number
would have been increased tenfold but for the difficulty of ob-
taining evidence against offenders of this class, whose misdeeds
are frequently reported to the Society ; and, when the evidence
is obtained, of securing a conviction.'
ANIMALS IN MINES. ' On many past occasions your com-
mittee have directed your serious consideration to the tendency
to ill-treat horses, ponies, and donkeys working in mines, away
from the observation of the public eye. During the past year
upwards of twenty convictions were obtained against persons
for this kind of cruelty. Various measures have been directed
by your executive to encourage a better sense of humanity in
the minds of persons having charge of animals underground,
it is hoped with success. Recently the Baroness Burdett
Coutts took part in an important movement, the May-day pro-
cession of horses at Newcastle-on-Tyne, designed in part to
accomplish this object. Considering the difficulty of detecting
offenders engaged below the surface of the earth, your com-
mittee strongly recommend the bestowal of rewards (which
may be done by private individuals on the nomination of
managers and owners of mines), on drivers and horse-keepers
who have distinguished themselves by the kindly treatment of
animals committed to their care.
' During the year 1881, 4,132 convictions were obtained by
18
274 Friends of Animals.
your Society, consisting of 2,526 for ill-treatment to horses, 142
to mules and donkeys, 122 to cattle, 19 to calves, 3 6 to sheep,
20 to pigs, 12 to goats, 88 to dogs, 64 to cats, 42 to fowls, 9 to
ducks, 3 to geese, 16 to pigeons, and the remainder to various
other animals.
' This large number of convictions will be regarded as evi-
dence of the Society's activity rather than as proving an increase
of cruelty ; a remark that is strengthened by the circumstance
(than which nothing can better exhibit the extended operations
of your Society) that the foregoing convictions were obtained
in 355 distinct courts of summary jurisdiction through England
and Wales.'
HUMANE SLAUGHTERING OF ANIMALS.
' Your committee rejoice to be able to direct your attention
to the formation of a society for improving the present methods
of slaughtering animals intended for human food, for opposing
the licensing of private slaughter-houses, and for the erection
of a model slaughter-house, with a better system of drainage
and a more perfect method of removing and destroying offal.
Your committee have rendered hearty assistance to the new
society, whose object is regarded as of the first value. . . . The
following extract is made from the society's prospectus :
" The objects of this society are, briefly (a) to move Parlia-
ment to establish public slaughter-houses, such as exist in the
Continental capitals, and in some English and Scotch cities,
as Manchester, Bradford, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Glasgow ;
(b) to abolish private slaughter-houses; (c) to erect in the
neighbourhood of the metropolis a ' model abattoir,' where all
the arrangements shall be as perfect as modern science can
make them, where animals shall be killed painlessly, and proper
precautions taken to ensure the healthiness of the meat sup-
plied; (*/)to make the inspection and superintendence of private
slaughter-houses, as long as they are allowed to exist, really
effectual. Already the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals has done much good in the direction.of call-
ing attention to the cruelty practised in private slaughter-houses.
It is felt that an association on a special basis is now needed,
to embrace not only considerations of cruelty to animals, but
the claims of the public health as well, and to devote itself
exclusively to the whole of this large and important subject" '
TJie Working of tJic Vivisection Act. 275
ANTI-VIVISECTION.
The reader will see in the following quotation, taken from
one of the publications of the Royal Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals, what it has done and intends to
do in the question of vivisection. In referring to the pro-
visions of a certain bill bearing on this practice, it says :
' The country has a right to know what it is doing both as
regards the number of animals it permits to be tortured for
scientific purposes, and the character of the suffering caused
in the administration of this statute, which gives to certificated
persons immunities in the performance of painful experiments
for purposes, whether justifiable or not, the enlightened public
opinion of the nation has now no opportunity of determining.
In the draft of a bill prepared by your committee for the pre-
vention of all cruelty committed under the name of vivisec-
tion, and submitted by them to the Royal Commission, this
publicity of the results of experimentation was provided for
solely to fix on operators the responsibility of their operations ;
and your committee cannot but regret that in the latest and
all previous returns the wise check suggested by them has
apparently been designedly prevented. . . .
' Your committee are earnestly determined to pursue their
endeavours to obtain more accurate information in reference
to operations performed under this Act. They invite you to
assist them in unveiling the dark recesses of vivisection, and
detecting unlawful operations. Besides the public eye and
private informers, there are several societies established solely
and purposely to prevent vivisections, who may be able pos-
sibly, by proper organization, to detect offenders. To the
members of these associations, as well as to the public, your
committee give assurances on the present occasion, that, while
engaged in many other fields of important labour for the pro-
tection of animals from the manifold causes of suffering to
which they are liable, their endeavours by all legitimate means
to overtake alleged and punish real offenders, whether they
belong to the professional physiologists or any other class, shall
not be relaxed. They call on all persons opposed to vivisection
to join them, not only in applying the provisions of the statute,
but in obtaining repeal of its defects by which painful operations
are performed in secret without effectual supervision and check.'
18 2 -
276 Friends of Animals.
It is a matter for congratulation that not only her Majesty
the Queen, but other members of the Royal family, have
evinced the warmest interest in the work and success of this
Society, and that many of the nobility, aristocracy, bishops,
clergymen, members of Parliament and of the legal profession,
medical men, officers of every grade, both" in the army and
navy, tutors in our universities, colleges, public and private
schools, editors of magazines and of newspapers, merchants
and others, both ladies and gentlemen, in almost every position
of life, are its supporters, active co-workers, and earnest friends.
The introduction to the fifty-eighth report will, we think,
show conclusively that we have not overdrawn the picture as
to the great interest taken in the Society's work. It says :
' The fifty-eighth anniversary meeting was held on Thursday,
June apth, 1882, in St. James's Hall, the noble President,
Lord Aberdare, being in the chair. The hall was crowded
with members and their friends, and the galleries were filled
with teachers and pupils of metropolitan schools. Her Royal
Highness the Princess Beatrice, having kindly and graciously
accepted the invitation of the committee to attend on this
occasion, was present for the purpose of presenting about fifty
principal rewards earned by scholars and teachers who had
composed essays on the duty of mankind towards their lower
fellow-creatures. On learning the nature and object of the
competition, her Royal Highness expressed her great interest
in the movement, particularly as it comprehended all schools,
without regard to social or sectarian characteristics, within a
radius of twelve miles of Charing Cross, and contained awards
given only to writers of manuscripts who had maintained
ascendency in two different successive contests namely,
within the schools respectively where the essays were written,
and afterwards in a competition of school against school. As
this is the first occasion on which her Royal Highness has
appeared in public, the members of the R.S.P.C.A. entertain
a deep sense of the honour conferred on their cause by the
Princess Beatrice, which they desire to acknowledge with
grateful thanks. Earl Sydney (Lord Steward of her Majesty's
Household), the Baroness and Mr. Burdett-Coutts, Countess
of Desart, Marquis of Hertford, Lady Augusta Powlett, Lady
Burdett, Lady Wolseley, Sir Lewis and Lady Pelly, Lady
Garvah, Lady Burghley, Lady Peel, Lady Keppel, the Hon.
Our Dogs Cared for. 277
Miss Bruce, the Hon. Miss Sugden, Lady Vincent, General
Eyre, Lady Henderson, General Mills, Bishop of Gloucester
and Bristol, and Mrs. and Miss Ellicott, Cardinal Manning,
Rev. Canon Duckworth, Rev. Canon Barry, Sir Walter Ster-
ling, Bart., Right Hon. W. E. Forster, M.P., and many other
influential ladies and gentlemen, occupied the platform.'
We may now observe that in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
similar efforts to those referred to have been made, although
in a more limited degree. In these countries are societies and
branches with committees of ladies and gentlemen, and other
co-helpers, all alike engaged in this work of humanity. Mem-
bers of the different anti-vivisection organizations may justly
be reckoned as friends of animals, as their object is not only
to lessen the sufferings of these creatures, but to prevent the
infliction of pain, which, in the practice of vivisection, they
believe is unavoidably given.
From the parent Society in London kindred ones have
sprung up, each doing its quota of good, especially to our
domestic animals. We may mention, first,
THE DOG'S HOME,
established for the avowed object of lessening the sufferings
of lost, starving, and homeless dogs, many thousands of
which have had in this home protection, proper food, and,
in all other respects, humane treatment. In hundreds of
cases lost dogs have been restored to their old homes,
friends, and owners, while in many instances those un-
claimed, if diseased, have been mercifully destroyed, and their
bodies interred in a place selected for that purpose, twenty
miles from London. Recently a meeting was held to consider
the desirability of establishing, in connection with the Dog's
Home, one for lost and starving cats, to be conducted on the
same plan as the former. An appeal has been made to the
benevolent towards this object, to which some have already
responded. All those who are acquainted with the neglect
and ill-treatment to which cats are often subjected, will, we
think, not only approve of this laudable intention, but will give
it all the support they possibly can.
Another society which has been of vast service to animals,
not only in London, but in many provincial towns, is the
A Group of Water Drinkers. 279
METROPOLITAN DRINKING FOUNTAIN AND CATTLE
TROUGH ASSOCIATION,
whose object is not only praiseworthy and humane, but which
deserves the sympathies and support of everyone, especially
of those who own animals and are more directly benefitted
by their services. Let any person try to realize the great
pain occasioned by extreme thirst, especially during the intense
heat of summer ; he will then see what a boon the vast
number of troughs and fountains, erected by this association,
must be to the hundreds of horses, sheep, oxen, and dogs,
who drink from them in the course of one day.
We have often watched animals heated by the summer sun
and parched with thirst drinking at these troughs, and as
frequently noticed a kind of grateful expression of feeling of
all of them after taking the cooling draught so much needed
but so refreshing ; and they have seemed practically to repeat
a verse of a poem we wrote on water many years ago :
Not one gift of Nature
Water can excel :
Nature is its brewer,
And she brews it well.
This association has been the means of erecting, during its
twenty-three years' existence, 497 fountains for human beings,
and 502 troughs for animals ; at which it is estimated that there
are more than 250,000,000 drinkers annually. And yet there
is need for more.
THE BROWN ANIMAL SANATORY INSTITUTION.
Among the friends of animals we may justly include the
founder of the above institution, respecting which we gather
the following information from the ' Parlour Menagerie :' 'The
buildings denominated the "Brown Institution," situated
close to the Vauxhall Station of the South Western Railway,
were opened on December 2nd, 1871, and accommodation is
provided for horses, horned cattle, sheep, dogs, etc., besides
pens for poultry, and an aviary for birds. The institution had
its origin in the benevolence of the late Thomas Brown, of
Dublin, who, about twenty years previously, bequeathed the
residue of his personal estate to the Senate of the University
of London, for the founding, establishing, and upholding an
280 Friends of Animals.
institution for investigating, studying, and, without charge
beyond immediate expenses, endeavouring to cure maladies,
distempers, and injuries any quadrupeds or birds useful to
man may be found subject to, such institution to be under the
direction of the senate ; a professor, or superintendent, to be
appointed by the senate, with a residence and salary, who
shall give at least five lectures annually free to the public. The
testator further expressed the desire that kindness to the
animals received should be a general principle of the institu-
tion. He also directed, that, in order to render the endow-
ment sufficient, the interest of the sum bequeathed should
accumulate and be added to the principal during a period of
fifteen years. The will being contested, a considerable period
was spent in litigation; but in 1858 it was ultimately decided
that the bequest and its accumulations, then amounting to
nearly ^23,000, should be transferred to the management of
the University of London. After this decision, however, it
was discovered that it was illegal to devote any part of the
fund to the purchase of a freehold, while on such a site alone
could the institution be legally founded. Various schemes
were proposed to get over this, but without success. At
length all difficulties were surmounted through the liberality of
a gentleman, who purchased for nearly ^3,000 a site with
buildings attached. By the time the institution was opened
Mr. Brown's bequest had accumulated to upwards of ^30,000,
the interest of which is available for the maintenance of the
institution.'
' The number of animals brought to the Brown Institution
for advice and treatment during 1882 amounted to 2,803.
This total comprised, 1,448 horses, 64 donkeys and mules,
14 goats, 169 cats, 665 dogs, 443 chickens, and various
smaller animals. Many of the cases were seen several times,
so that the total number of visits for treatment has been 4,588.
The patients admitted into the hospital of the institution
numbered 172 comprising 44 horses, 106 dogs, 20 cats, and
2 goats. Of these 121 were discharged cured or convalescent ;
while of the remainder, 9 were relieved, 24 died, and 14 were
destroyed, or discharged as incurable.'
We hardly need say that such an institution fully deserves
the approval and encouragement of all lovers of animals, and
especially of those who are the owners of them.
Bands of Mercy. 281
JUVENILE HUMANE SOCIETIES
are also everywhere springing up, whose little members pledge
themselves not only to refrain from cruelty, and to be kind
to animals, but to prevail upon others as far as they can to
follow their example. We may particularly mention the 'Band
of Mercy ' movement, ' Little Folks Humane Society,' ' Guilds
of Humanity,' 'Dicky Bird' societies, etc., which already exist
in great numbers both in London and the country, as well as
on the Continent, and one recently established in Syria, where
an English lady, devoted to the cause of animals, worked
energetically for this purpose.
The thousands of little folks who compose these numerous
organizations are severally under the care of ladies and gentle-
men, who are deeply interested in the proper treatment of
animals. Short addresses and lectures having special reference
to the principles of humanity are given to them at their
periodical meetings ; and other educational means are used to
instruct them in their duties to everything that has life, while,
at the same time, they are encouraged in various ways in the
practice of kindness.
Surely we may see in the efforts and agencies we have
mentioned the true friends of animals ; and in the shining
forth of the light of humanity a sure precursor of happiness to
all God's creatures.
PROGRESS OF HUMANITY ABROAD.
Although the cause of humanity, as we have already shown,
was, during its infancy, scorned and laughed at by its enemies,
it has outlived all opposition ; and, if we may use a figure of
speech, it has now become a great tree deeply rooted, whose
branches, like those of the banyan tree, are spreading far and
wide into other lands, there taking root, and again throwing
out in all directions other branches, under which animals may
find shelter and protection against every form of cruelty.
Using another metaphor, Humanity, as a winged messenger,
is in every quarter of the wide world lifting up her voice, to
which people of almost every nation, kindred, and tongue lend
a listening ear, and are responding to her pleadings for gentle-
ness and kindness to be extended to all God's dumb creatures.
France, land of the witty, the warlike, and gay, has heard
282 Friends of Animals.
this voice, which, passing over the snow-clad summits of the
Pyrenees, has found an echo down amongst the Spaniards,
whose natural characteristics are a curious mixture of pride,
suspicion, and generosity.
This voice has also travelled to Portugal, the land of buried
cities ; and to Switzerland, where the Alps rear their heads to
heaven, where glaciers glisten in the sunshine like seas of ice,
the land of dashing torrents and quiet lakes, rugged rocks and
beautiful valleys, where live a people or simple manners,
cleanly habits, of liberal thoughts, fair in their dealings, affec-
tionate one to another, moral and religious, lovers of song,
devoted to their country the home of Tell, Lavater, Zimmer-
mann, Rousseau, and Calvin.
In Italy, the land of beauty, music, sculpture, paintings,
poetry, and song, this voice has been raised, and has rever-
berated amongst the fine old buildings of Rome, Florence,
Turin, Milan, and of other towns where individual and
organized efforts are being successfully made to introduce a
new era of humanity to animals.
Austria and Germany have also given a welcome to this
voice of mercy, and in many important towns it has been heard
with marvellous effect ; laws have been passed for the special
protection and benefit of animals, many preventive measures
have been adopted, and several moral and educational agencies
are now in operation for the same object, and in every way to
improve their condition.
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Holland, famed not only
for timber, dykes, and mills, but for fine, wild, rugged, grand
and majestic scenery, can boast of men and women who are
waging a war with the demon cruelty, and by constant progress
in their merciful efforts are proving themselves to be the true
friends of animals.
Russia, with its masses of ice and snow, with its crysta
palaces not made with hands, has given heed to humanity's
voice. St. Petersburg, with its grand buildings, quays, streets,
and statues ; and Moscow, with its far-famed bells and
churches, her towers and temples, both contain people of all
climes, many of whom are not unmindful of the claims of
animals. Amongst them are those of tender hearts and com-
passionate feelings, who, amid all the strife political, social,
and religious existing there, and convulsing the empire from
Progress of Humanity Abroad. 283
its centre to its circumference, are devoting their energies,
time, money, and influence on behalf of dumb animals.
Egypt, with its many spots of hallowed ground, with its in-
teresting and historical associations, with its giant pyramids,
its buried cities, and the ever-flowing Nile, has, in some
measure, responded to the appeals for mercy and kindness
made to them by animals. Now, this country, so great in
ancient times, encourages education, learning, commerce, and
many useful branches of industry. In Alexandria and Cairo
are many whose hearts are in sympathy with suffering animals,
and who are quietly but perseveringly working to protect
them from ill usage.
The voice of humanity is extending wider and wider. It
has reached the Cape of Good 'Hope ; it is heard in India,
the land of sacred temples and rivers, of jewels and diamonds
rare. It has crossed the great deep to Australia, Tasmania,
New Zealand, and some of the islands of the sea, where it has
been effectually heard, and numbers of noble hearts are obey-
ing its dictates.
In the many states of America, from New York to distant
California, societies have been formed to advocate the claims
and to defend the rights of animals. Laws have been passed
for this object, and are rigidly enforced by these societies and
the friends of animals generally. Where Christianity lifts up
her voice, humanity must be heard and practised. Past
progress augurs well for the future welfare, and more humane
treatment, shall we say, of animals the wide world over.
HUMANITY AND PUBLIC MEN.
It has been well observed that mercy is as much a lesson
to be learned as any other maxim in moral philosophy.
Children and savages are often cruel because they do not
understand cruelty when they see it.
As human beings rank higher in the scale of creation and
intelligence than animals do, they are bound, on this account,
to treat them humanely, and to act as their protectors against
ill-usage in whatever form it may present itself. Animals are
given to man as a sacred trust which he can no more violate
with impunity than darkness can come from the sun.
Humanity to animals is every man's duty to practise indi-
284 Friends of Animals.
vidually, while the advocacy of it is more particularly the duty
of public men. Of these we shall first refer to
MINISTERS OF RELIGION.
As Christianity and Humanity may be regarded as mother
and daughter, ministers of religion are therefore morally bound
by the principles they profess to hold and teach, to plead the
cause of the brute creation. In referring to man's duty to the
lower animals, and the under-current of kindness manifesting
itself towards them, the Rev. Thos. Jackson says in one of
his sermons on this subject :
' It might be expected that a sentiment so deeply rooted in
the human breast, and so variously operating in all ages would
be amply illustrated, and its proper limits clearly defined in
the Holy Bible. Nor is that natural expectation disappointed.
The eloquent language of Scripture everywhere melts with
tenderness and compassion towards the dumb and brute
creation. The mind that does not recognise the truth will
miss the meaning and force of some of the most suggestive
parables and delicate analogies of revelation. The miraculous
speaking of Balaam's ass, for instance, " rebuked " more than
one sort of " madness " in the prophet. It was an additional
reason for sparing Nineveh, that doomed capital "wherein
were more than six score thousands who could not discern
their right hand from their left," that there were also in the
city " much cattle." Our blessed Saviour proved that it was
lawful to do a greater good on the Sabbath day, by reminding
His accusers that they themselves did a lesser, but still a real
good, when He said unto them, " What man shall there be
among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on
the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out ?
How much then is a man better than a sheep ?" Does he
wish to teach the blessed doctrine of the special Providence
of our Heavenly Father ? - He illustrates it by asserting that
not a sparrow droops its wing without His notice. " Are not
two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall not
fall to the ground without your Father's knowledge." His un-
wearied watchfulness and infinite goodness were shown in the
care He bestowed on the meanest creatures, and would be
displayed far more conspicuously in the direction, the control,
the present and final salvation of them that love Him.'
Appeal on BeJialf of Animals. 285
The inference to be deduced from the above remarks is
that as the teachings of Holy Writ, and especially those of
the Saviour, are characterized by the spirit of humanity, it is
the duty of all Christian ministers to enforce on their hearers
the practice of kindness to the lower animals.
MAGISTRATES, AND OTHERS.
Magistrates, and those armed with the power of the law, are
expected to be ' a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to those that
do well,' also to be dispensers of justice, upholders of right, and
the protectors of the helpless and innocent. If in these
things they fall short of their duty, they are not worthy either
of the honour or the power with which they are invested.
LEGISLATORS.
The laws passed for the good government of a country
should not only provide for the protection of the lives and
property of human beings, but for the defence of animals
too, because while those laws help to stem the torrent of
cruelty, which has always a demoralizing effect, they would
also aid all religious and humane efforts, and help to foster
morality, to bring peace, and to produce a higher, nobler, and
more refined feeling throughout society generally, especially
amongst those who may have the care of animals. Such
laws would act in many cases as a deterrent to those who
might be inclined to treat animals cruelly.
TEACHERS IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Tutors in schools and in private families should remember
that
1 As the twig is bent the tree is inclined,'
and that as the minds and hearts of the young are more im-
pressible than those of riper years, they are bound not only to
impart useful knowledge to the youth committed to their care,
but to prune their hearts of evil propensities, and to ingraft in
them true generosity, tenderness and compassionate feeling,
and kindness to all living things. The necessity of attending
to what we have just stated will be seen in the following
extract from one of the tracts of the R.S.P.C to Animals:
' When children grow up to be boys or lads they have
special need to be guarded against habits of cruelty, as many
of their amusements have that tendency ; such as birds-nesting,
286 Friends of Animals.
cock-throwing, and the like. As an antidote to these habits
we should instil into young minds the domestic habits of
these creatures, their affection for their offspring, their attach-
ment to man when treated with gentleness, and the uses and
comforts to be derived from them.'
PARENTS AND GUARDIANS OF YOUTH
will do well to consider the following remarks taken from a
tract entitled ' Humanity to Animals Recommended.' It says :
' Not only is cruelty unnatural and abhorrent to the original
constitution of human nature, but it is peculiarly criminal in
man, considered as a sinner, whose very preservation in ex-
istence is only owing to the mercy of his Creator. Yet,
strange as it may appear, this monument of mercy, from the
cradle to the grave, is in innumerable instances prone to
tyrannize over all the subjects in his power.
' Scarcely does the child possess the use of his fingers but
he begins to torment the fly that buzzes and plays around him,
and to deprive it of a leg or wing, in order to amuse himself
with its lameness or its misery. When the little hero grows
somewhat older, he sticks a pin through the cockchafer, and
is delighted with its agonies ; and there are parents so de-
praved that they encourage these cruelties, as if they did not
know that cruelty to animals is the direct road to cruelty to
our fellow-creatures, and to its final reward the gallows.
' Children that are not checked in one cruel diversion will
naturally go to another. Sometimes it is shocking to see with
what barbarity the kitten or puppy is treated by the little
tyrants of the family. But children should be taught that
animals have feelings as well as men ; and that a blow on the
head or legs of these causes as much pain as we ourselves
would receive from the like violence. And perhaps in some
creatures of small and delicate contexture the pain may be
exquisite in proportion as the frame is tender.
1 " The poor beetle that we tread upon,
In corp'ral suff'ring feels a pang as great
As when a giant dies." SHAKESPEARE.
< An error very common among young people is that animals
are to be treated according to their beauty or deformity ; so
that the pretty robin is caressed with gentleness and tender-
ness, while the toad, though equally innocent, is pursued to
Debasing Character of Cruelty. 287
death with relentless cruelty. But if the same spirit were to
grow with us in life, how lamentable would be its effects 1'
MASTERS AND SERVANTS.
As 'example is stronger than precept,' those who own
animals and wish them to be properly treated, should carry
out the law of kindness themselves as an inducement to others
to do the same.
CONSEQUENCE OF CRUELTY.
If indulged and delighted in, how it will grow and harden
the feelings ! Like every other sin, it is impossible to say to
what it may lead. In this way, perhaps, the murderer may '
at first have given loose to the violence of his feelings, and,
by reason of not checking them, been led on in the current
of unsubdued passion to an awful end. Cruelty should there-
fore be curbed in the beginning, before the character and
habit become fixed.
ROUGH USAGE AND KIND TREATMENT.
We observed one day, when at the Victoria railway station,
a good-natured-looking cabman standing by his horse. Having
expressed our pleasure in seeing the animal in such good
condition, the owner said : ' Yes, sir, I flatter myself he is much
better cared for than he used to be. At one time he belonged
to a man who used him roughly, and that so spoiled his temper
that he became a regular jibber, and the man could do nothing
with him. The horse was then neglected, and became so poor
that he seemed to be worth little or nothing. So he asked me
to buy him. I did so, for seven pounds. I knew the horse only
required proper treatment in feeding,' grooming, and working
him. He has had it, and there he is, sir, as good, useful, and
willing a horse as ever comes into this station. He never jibs
now. I wouldn't take thirtypounds of any man's money for him,
if I had the chance to do so. So you see, sir, that after all,
' KINDNESS PAYS THE BEST.
In the first place,' continued the cabman, ' a man who treats
his horse properly, has less trouble in making him go, while
it renders the animal all the more ready and able to do his
work \ so that there is a benefit on both sides. You may
depend upon it, sir, that horses are sensible enough to know
288 Friends of Animals.
when they are treated as they ought to be, and, just like our-
selves, are affected accordingly. Then, on the other hand,
it's mean, base, and cowardly for a man to be cruel to a poor
brute that hasn't the chance of defending himself. What I've
got to say is : Treat your horse well, and you'll do well ; treat
him badly, and you'll do badly?
If animals have their vices they are seldom cured of them by
rough usage. Horses and other animals may require correction,
but it should be tempered with mercy, and administered, not
in anger, but calmly, firmly, and with judgment. This will do
more in making animals willingly subserve our purposes than
all the severity and cruelty in the world could ever effect.
Kindness is an angel of mercy who spreads her sheltering
wings to stay the savage blow, and to lessen the tortures in-
flicted by the demon Cruelty. She opens the mouth of
humanity for dumb animals ; is the advocate of their rights,
and her heaven-born mission is one of light, health, and
happiness to all living creatures.
As man never appears more noble and dignified than when
he sympathizes with those in suffering, and tries to soften the
sorrows and to relieve the pains of others, be they human
beings or the lower animals, we would say to our readers :
' Ever let your hearts be tender,
For the dumb and helpless plead ;
Pitying leads to prompt relieving,
Kindly thought to kindly deed.'
Everything on the earth, in the heavens, in the air, and in
the deep blue sea bears the impress of God's love and kind-
ness, and they say to us in ten thousand ways, ' Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful.' Unnumbered
testimonies in favour of kindness and gentleness come now
from our lunatic asylums, our factories, our mines, our uni-
versities, our schools, our homes, and from every living thing
in the animal kingdom ; and we may hear them in one loud,
grand, and universal voice, proclaiming to the wide earth that
' KINDNESS HATH ITS VICTORIES,
GREATER THAN THOSE OF WAR. 1
THE END.
tILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GU1LDFORD AND LONDON.
NEW, POPULAR,
AND
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS,
FOR THE
LIBRARY, PRESENTATION, &c.
PUBLISHED BY
\l
/I
THOMAS BEWICK.
yi: TIATHXR or
HODHHNWOOD IflGRAVIHC.
13, Paternoster Row,
LONDON, E.G.
EDITION DE LUXE.
WITH STOTHARD'S ILLUSTRATIONS, ENGRAVED BY HEATH.
In one volume, demy 8vo., cloth, 155. ; half morocco extra, gilt edges, 255.
The Life and Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe, with a Sketch of De Foe, by HENRY J. NICOLL. (Printed
from a new fount of old-faced type.)
NOTE. This is a complete, unabridged edition of De Foe's masterpiece, with all the twenty-
two beautiful Illustrations from the Drawings by THOMAS STOTHARD, R.A.,
engraved by CHARLES HEATH. These Illustrations are now printed from the
Original Copper Plates, which were produced at great cost, and are still in perfect con-
dition, having been steel-faced to preserve them. Copies of the Original Edition
containing these plates, published by Messrs. Cadell and Davies in 1820, now fetch
a high price in the auction rooms.
Manuals of Self-Culture for Young
Men and Women.
1. The Secret of Success. See page 6.
2. Plain Living and High Thinking. Seepages.
3. Woman's Work and Worth. See page 4.
4. Hood's Guide to English Versification. See page 13.
5. Landmarks of English Literature. See page 4.
2 NEW, POPULAR, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
WITH SEVENTY-FIVE WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
Small crown 8vo., 288 pp., cloth, price 2s. 6d. j gilt edges, 33.
Facts and Phases of Animal Life, and
the Claims of Animals to Humane Treatment. Interspersed with
Original and Amusing Anecdotes. By VERNON S. MORWOOD,
Lecturer to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.
CONTENTS :
CHAP.
1. WONDERFUL FACTS ABOUT ANIMALS.
2. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. [PONDS.
3. A HUNT IN OUR DITCHES AND HORSE-
4. BUZZINGS FROM A BEEHIVE.
. 5. SPINNERS AND WEAVERS. [GERS.
6. BLACK LODGERS AND MINIATURE SCAVEN-
7. INSECTS IN LIVERY, AND TINY BOAT-
BUILDERS.
8. OUR BIRDS OF FREEDOM.
9. OUR FEATHERED LABOURERS ', THEIR
WORK AND WAGES.
10. IN THE BUILDING LINE ; OR, BIRD
HOMES AND FAMILY TIES.
11. BIRD SINGERS IN NATURE'S TEMPLE.
12. CHANTICLEER AND HIS FAMILY.
CHAP.
13. MINERS OF THE SOIL.
14. ACTIVE WORKERS, WITH LONG TAILS AND
PRICKLY COATS. [OUT.
IS- NOCTURNAL RAMBLERS ON THE LOOK-
16. QUAINT NEIGHBOURS AND THEIR SHAGGY
RELATIONS. [TORS.
17. OUR FURRY FRIENDS AND THEIR ANCES-
18. OUR CANINE COMPANIONS AND TENANTS
OF THE KENNEL.
19. RELATIONSHIP OF MAN AND ANIMALS.
20. CAN ANIMALS TALK AND REASON?
21. USEFUL LINKS IN NATURE'S CHAIN.
22. CLIENTS WORTH PLEADING FOR.
CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS, GLOSSARY,
AND INDEX.
" We have read parts of this work with great pleasure, and intend to go through it page by
page for our own personal delectation. Two-and-sixpence will be well spent upon a book
which teaches humanity to animals while it amuses the youthful reader." Sword and Trowel.
" It would serve well for a gift-hook." Guardian.
" The peculiarities of nearly two hundred animals to be found in this country are described
in a manner which is throughout entertaining." Dundee Advertiser.
" This copiously illustrated little volume is crowded with useful facts and interesting anec-
dotes." Echo.
"A decided improvement on the general run of natural histories for young people." Daily
Chronicle.
" Young people with a taste for natural history will be delighted with its pages, and we can
strongly recommend it for either a prize or an addition to the school library." School Nevis-
paper.
An excellent little book." Daily News.
" A capital natural histor> book." Graphic.
" Crammed with good stories. " Sheffield Independent.
WITH SEVENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS.
Small crown 8vo., 288 pp., cloth, price 2s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 33.
Far-Famed Tales from the Arabian
Nights' Entertainments. Illustrated with Seventy-eight wood
Engravings, and carefully revised for Young Readers.
CONTENTS :
THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE>
THE GREEK KING AND DAUBAN THE PHYSICIAN.
THE VIZIER WHO WAS PUNISHED.
THE STORY OF THE KING OF THE BLACK.ISLES.
THE STORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR ', OR,
THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA.
THE SLEEPER AWAKENED.
THE STORY OF ALADDIN ; OR, THE WONDER-
FUL LAMP.
THE ADVENTURES OF THE CALIPH HAROUN
ALRASCHID.
THE STORY OF BABA ABDALLA.
THE STORY OF COGIA HASSAN ALHABBAL.
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.G.
FOR THE LIBRARY, PRESENTATION, &c.
WITH EIGHTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Small crown 8vo., 288 pp., cloth, price 2s. 6d. 5 gilt edges, 35.
Wonderful Animals: Working,
Domestic, and Wild. Their Structure, Habits, Homes, and Uses
Descriptive, Anecdotical, and Amusing. By VERNON S. MOR-
WOOD, Author of "Facts and Phases of Animal Life," and
Lecturer to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.
CONTENTS :
AND ENDS ABOUT
CHAP.
1. CUBIOUS ODDS
ANIMALS.
2. PEEPS DOWN A MICROSCOPE.
3. LILLIPUTIAN SUBJECTS OF THE ANIMAL
KINGDOM.
4. INSECT ABMIES, AND HOW BECBUITED.
5. AN UNDEBGBOUND CITY OF LITTLE
PEOPLE.
6. FISH IN ABMOUB.
7. FIBST COUSINS, OB OUB BIBDS IN BLACK.
8. FEATHEKED FEEDEBS ON FISH, FLESH,
AND FOWL.
Q. PEACEFUL MONABCHS OF THE LAKE.
IO. BIPED TENANTS OF THE FABM YABD.
CHAP.
11. FOBEST ACBOBATS, LITTLE MABAUDERS,
AND FLYING ODDITIES.
12. FEEBLE FOLK, FISHEBS, AND POACHERS.
13. BBISTLY PACHYDEBMS, WILD AND TAME.
14. ABISTOCBACY OF ANIMALS.
15. AN ANCIENT FAMILY.
16. LOWINGS FBOM THE FIELD AND SHED.
17. FOUB-FOOTED HYBBIDS, OB HALF-AND-
HALF BELATIONS.
18. OUB DONKEYS AND THEIB K1NDKED.
19. EVERYBODY'S FRIEND.
20. ANECDOTES OF EVERYBODY'S FRIEND.
21. FOES OF ANIMALS.
22. FEIENDS OF ANIMALS.
WITH TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS.
Small crown 8vo., 288 pp., cloth, price 2s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 35.
The Shoes of Fortune, and other
Fairy Tales. By HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. With a Bio-
graphical Sketch of the Author, a Portrait, and Twenty-seven
Illustrations by OTTO SPECKTER and others.
CONTENTS :
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH : HANS CHBISTIAN
ANDERSEN, HIS LIFE AND GENIUS.
THE SHOES OF FORTUNE ;
I. A BEGINNING.
II. WHAT BEFELL THE COUNCILLOR.
in. THE WATCHMAN'S ADVENTURE.
IV. A MOMENT OF HEAD IMPOBTANCE.
AN EVENING'S "DBAMATIC READ-
INGS." A MOST STRANGE JOUBNEY.
V. THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE COPY-
ING CLERK.
VI. THE BEST THAT THE GOLOSHES GAVE.
THE FIB-TBEE.
FIVE FROM A POD.
THE STEADY TIN SOLDIER,
TWELVE BY THE POST.
THE FEARSOME UGLY DUCKLING, THAT
TURNED OUT TO BE A SWAN.
THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE CHIMNEY-
SWEEP.
THE SNOW-QUEEN, IN SEVEN STORIES :
I. WHICH TBEATS OF A MIBBOR AND
OF THE SPLINTERS.
II. A LITTLE BOY AND A LITTLE GIRL.
III. THE FLOWER-GARDEN.
IV. THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS.
V. THE LITTLE ROBBER-MAIDEN.
VI. THE LAPLAND WOMAN AND THE
FINLAND WOMAN.
VII. IN THE PALACE OF THE SNOW-
QUEEN, AND WHAT HAPPENED
AFTERWARD.
THE LITTLE OCEAN-MAID.
THE ELFIN MOUND.
OLD WINK, WINK, WINK.
THE LEAP-FROG.
'THE ELDER BUSH.
THE BELL.
HOLGER DANSKE.
THE EMPEROR FREDERICK BARBAROSSA.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Eow, E.G.
OUR FIRST GREAT NOVELISTS.
JOHNSON AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES.
THE NEW ERA IN POETRY.
SIR WALTER SCOTT ANF THE PROSE LITERA-
TURE OF THE EARLY PART OF THE NINE-
TEENTH CENTURY.
OUR OWN TIMES.
PERIODICALS, REVIEWS, AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS.
4 NEW, POPULAR, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
Small crown 8vo., 472 pp., cloth, price 6s.
Landmarks of English Literature.
By HENRY J. NICOLL, Author of " Great Movements," &c.
CONTENTS :
INTRODUCTION : Explains the Plan of the
Book, and gives some Hints on the Study
of Literature.
THE DAWN OP ENGLISH LITERATURE.
THE ELIZABETHAN ERA.
THE SUCCESSORS OF THE ELIZABETHANS.
THE LITERATURE OF THE RESTORATION.
THE WITS OF QUEEN ANNE'S TIME.
" We can warmly commend this excellent manual. Mr. Nicoll is a fair and sensible critic
himself, and knows how to use with skill and judgment the opinions of other critics. His
book has many competitors to contend with, but will be found to hold its own with the best of
them." St. yamess Gazette.
" Mr. Nicoll's facts are commendably accurate, and his style is perfectly devoid of pre-
tentiousness, tawdriness, and mannerism, for which relief in the present day an author always
deserves much thanks from his critics." Saturday Review.
" Mr. Nicoll has performed his task with great tact, much literary skill, and with great
critical insight. No better book could be put into the hands of one who wishes to know some-
thing of our great writers, but who has not time to read their works himself ; and no better
guide to the man of leisure who desires to know the best works of our best writers and to study
these in a thorough manner. Mr. Nicoll's literary estimates are judicious, wise, and just in
an eminent degree." Edinburgh Daily Review.
" Mr. Nicoll's well-arranged volume will be of service to the student and interesting to the
general reader. Biography and history are combined with criticism, so that the men are seen
as well as their works The copious and careful table of chronology gives a distinct
value to the book as a work of reference. The volume is without pretension, and deserves
praise for simplicity of purpose, as well as for careful workmanship." Spectator.
Crown 8vo., 576 pp., cloth, price 6s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 73.
Woman's Work and Worth in Girl-
hood, Maidenhood, and Wifehood. With Hints on Self-Culture
and Chapters on the Higher Education and Employment of
Women. By W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS.
"It is a small thing to say that it is excellent, and it is only justice to add that this all-im
pottant subject is dealt with in a style at once masterly, erudite, charming." Social Notes.
"As an aid and incitement to self-culture in girls, and pure and unexceptionable in tone,
this book may be very thoroughly recommended, and deserves a wide circulation." English-
woman's Review.
" It is a noble record of the work of women and one of the very best books which
can be placed in the hands of a girl." Scholastic World.
WITH EIGHT PORTRAITS, 464 pp., crown 8vo., cloth, price 6s.
Great Movements and those who
Achieved Them. By HENRY J. NICOLL, Author of " Landmarks
of English Literature," &c.
" A useful book Such work .... should always find its reward in an age too busy
or too careless to search out for itself the sources of the great streams of modern civilization."
Times.
" An excellent series of biographies It has the merit of bespeaking our sympathies,
not as books of this class are rather apt to do, on the ground of mere success, but rather on the.
higher plea of adherence to a lofty standard of duty." Daily News.
' Immense .benefit might be done by adopting it as a prize book for young people in the
upper classes of most sorts of schools." School Board Chronicle.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.C
FOR THE LIBRARY, PRESENTATION, &c. 5
NEW VOLUMES OF STORIES BY MR. HOPE.
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ON TONED PAPER.
Small crown 8vo., 352 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
Our Homemade Stories. By Ascott
R. HOPE, Author of" Stories of Young Adventurers," &c.
CONTENTS :
Introduction .... Spinning a Story.
1. PLATING THE FOOL - - - A Story of a Lady's School.
2. My DESERT ISLAND - - - A Story of the Canadian Backwoods.
3. THE BLACK BOOK - A Story of a Juvenile Cause Cettbre.
4. CROSSING THE LINE A Story of Sea Life.
5. CAUGHT OUT A Story told in a Train.
6. A SCENE FROM HISTORY - - A Story of a French Revolution.
7. THE GUISARDS A Story of Scotland.
8. THE SECRET SOCIETY - - - A Story of School Life.
9. AT THE MASTHEAD - - - A Story of a Storm on Shore,
ib. A NIGHT IN THE BLACK FOREST A Story of Strange Adventure.
it. BABY BOY .... A Story of the Latin Grammar.
12. THE BANSHEE A Story of Ireland.
" Mr. Hope throws himself instinctively into his most dramatic incidents from the boys'
point of view, and is humorous within the limits of their easy appreciation. We own to
having laughed aloud over some of his drolkries ; nor can anything be much better in this
way than the dialogue in My Desert Island." Times.
" Mr. Hope understands boy nature through and through, and can get hold of their atten-
tion in a way entirely his own All manner of adventures at school, at home, and at
sea, are narrated with equal vivacity and good sense." Bookseller.
" There is great variety in this volume, .... and the heroes are not model characters, but
real boys There is a pleasant vein of humour running through the book that is unfor-
tunately rare in tales for the young of the present day." Manchester Examiner.
" All the stories are capitally told, the interest is varied and equally maintained, and it is
difficult to say which is the most delightful." St. James's Gazette.
" Happily hits boyish taste." Graphic.
"Romances of the kind which boys yes, and girls too will greatly enjoy." Post.
" The stories are of precisely the kind to hold boys spell-bound, and are entirely free of
goodiness ; full of exciting interest, humour, and sound sense ; and withal so high in tone, that
no boy can help being the better for reading them." Christian World.
WITH NINETEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY GORDON BROWNE.
Small crown 8vo., 352 pp., cloth, price 35. 6d. ; gilt edges, 45.
Evenings away from Home : A
Modern Miscellany of Entertainment for Young Masters and
Misses. By ASCOTT R. HOPE, Author of "Our Homemade
Stories," etc.
CONTAINING, AMONG OTHER ENTERTAINING AND INSTRUCTIVE ARTICLES :
The Astonishing Adventures of Jack Robinson.
Remarkable Travels in Undiscovered Regions.
The Holiday Task, a First-class Magazine written by Juveniles for Juveniles.
The Champion Charades of the Universe.
The Trials and Travels of an Ancient Adventurer.
Sketches of Manners and Customs in Monkey Land.
Three Ghost Stories, with Moonlight and Gooseflesh Effects.
A Tale of Horror in the best style of the Penny Dreadfuls.
Early Efforts of Promising Poets.
The Knight of the Woods, a Thrilling Romance of Chivalry.
Stories of School Life, etc., by the Nine Muses.
Tales about Giants, Princesses, Pirates, Indians, Enchanters, Smugglers, etc., etc.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.O.
6 NEW, POPULAR, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ON TONED PAPER.
Fourth edition, small crown 8vo., 384 pp., cloth, price 33 . 6d. ; gilt edges, 45.
The Secret of Success ; or, How to
Get on in the World. With some Remarks upon True and False
Success, and the Art of making the Best Use of Life. Inter-
spersed with Numerous Examples and Anecdotes. By W. H.
DAVENPORT ADAMS, Author of " Plain Living and. High Think-
ing," etc.
" Mr. Adams's work is in some respects more practical than Mr. Smiles's. He takes his
illustrations more from the world of business and commerce, and their application is unmis-
takeable .... There is much originality and power displayed in the manner in which he
impresses his advice on his readers." Aberdeen Journal.
" There is a healthy, honest ring in its advice, and a wise discrimination between true and
false success Many a story of success and failure helps to point its moral." Bradford
Observer.
" The field which Mr. Adams traverses is so rich, extensive, and interesting, that his book
is calculated to impart much sound moral philosophy of a kind and in a form that will be
appreciated by a large number of readers The book is otherwise a mine of anecdote
relating to men who have not only got on in the world, but whose names are illustrious as
benefactors to their kind." Dundee Advertiser.
WITH TWO COLOURED PLATES AND EIGHT PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Third edition, small crown 8vo., 400 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
Our Redcoats and Bluejackets : War
Pictures on Land and Sea. Forming a Continuous Narrative of
the Naval and Military History of England from the year 1793 to
the Present Time, including the Afghan and Zulu Campaigns,
Interspersed with Anecdotes and Accounts of Personal Service.
By HENRY STEWART, Author of " Highland Regiments and their
Battles," " The Romance of the Sea," etc. With a Chronological
List of England's Naval and Military Engagements.
"A capital collection of graphic sketches of p_lucky and brilliant achievements afloat and
ashore, and has, moreover, the advantage of being a succinct narrative of historical events.
It is, in fact, the naval and military history of England told in a series of effective tableaux."
The World.
11 It is not a mere collection of scraps and anecdotes about our soldiers and sailors, but a
history of their principal achievements since the beginning of the war in 1793. The book has
charms for others than lads." Scotsman.
" Besides beinga work of thrilling interest as a mere story-book, it will also be most valuable as
a historical work for the young, who are far more likely to remember such interesting historical
pictures than the dry lists of dates and battles which they find in their school-books
Possesses such a genuine interest as no work of fiction could surpass." Aberdeen Journal.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.G.
FOR THE LIBRARY, PRESENTATION, &c. 7
WITH UPWARDS OF 300 ENGRAVINGS BY BEWICK AND OTHERS.
FOURTH AND CHEAP EDITION.
Large crown 8vo., 520 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 45.
The Parlour Menagerie : Wherein
are exhibited, in a Descriptive and
Anecdotical form, the Habits,Resources,
and Mysterious Instincts of the more
Interesting Portions of the Animal
Creation. Dedicated by permission
to the Right Hon. the Baroness
Burdett-Coutts (President) and the
Members of the Ladies' Committee
of the Royal Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals.
From Professor OWEN, C.B., F.R.S., &c.
(Director, Natural History Depart., B. Museum).
To the Editor of the Parlour Menagerie.
" The early love of Nature, especially as manifes-
ted by the Habits and Instincts of Animals to which WHITE EYELID MANGABEY.
you refer, in your own case, is so common to a Specimen of the 66 Wood En-
healthy boy's nature, that the Parlour Menagerie, a growings by Thomas Bewick
work so singularly full of interesting examples culled ** the "Parlour Menagerie."
from so wide a range of Zoology, and so fully and beautifully illustrated cannot
fail.,to be a favourite with the rising generation and many succeeding ones of
Juvenile Naturalists. When I recall the ' Description of 300 Animals ' (including
the Cockatrice and all Pliny's monsters) which fed my early appetite for Natural
History, I can congratulate my grandchildren on being provided with so much
more wholesome food through your persevering and discriminating labours.
"RICHARD OWEN."
From the Right Hon. JOHN BRIGHT, M.P.
To the Editor, Parlour Menagerie.
" I doubt not the Parlour Menagerie will prove very interesting, as indeed it has
already been found to be by those of my family who have read it. I hope one of
the effects of our better public education will be to create among our population
a more humane disposition towards what we call the inferior animals. Much may
be done by impressing on the minds of children the duty of kindness in their treat-
ment of animals, and I hope this will not be neglected by the teachers of our
schools I feel sure what you have done will bear good fruit.
"JOHN BRIGHT."
' ' The Parlour Menagerie is well named. Full as an egg of information and most
agreeable reading and engravings, where before was there such a menagerie ?"
Animal World.
"We have never seen a better collection of anecdotes and descriptions of animals
than this, and it has the great advantage of numerous and admirable woodcuts.
Pictorial illustrations form an important and valuable addition to any such collection.
Those in the book before us are of remarkable excellence We highly com-
mend the spirit which pervades the book, a spirit intensely alien to cruelty of every
kind. A great deal of care and trouble has evidently been devoted to the compi-
lation of this book. On the whole, it is one of the very best of its kind, and we
warrant both its usefulness and acceptability." Literary World.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.C.
8 NEW, POPULAR, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ON TONED PAPER.
Second edition, small crown 8vo., 352 pp., cloth, price 35. 6d. ; gilt edges, 45.
Boys and their Ways : A Book for and
about Boys. By ONE WHO KNOWS THEM.
CONTENTS.
Chaps, i. The Boy at Home. 2. The Boy at School. 3. The Boy in the Play-
ground. 4. The Boy in his Leisure Hours. 5. Bad Boys. 6. Friendships of
Boys. 7. The Boy in the Country. 8. How and What to Read. 9. Boy-
hood of Famous Men. 10. The Ideal Boy.
" The table of contents gives such a bill of fare as will render the boy into whose hands
this book falls eager to enjoy the feast prepared for him. . . . We venture to predict for this
charming book a popularity equal to 'Self-Help.' . . . No better gift could be put into a boy's
hands, and it will become a standard work for the school library." Scholastic World.
"Who the author of this book is, has been kept a secret, and the anonymity we regret,
because the work is one with which no writer need be ashamed to identify his name and stake
his reputation." Edinburgh Daily Review.
" It is a boy's book of the best style." Aberdeen Journal.
WITH EIGHT PORTRAITS ON TONED PAPER.
Dedicated by permission to the Rt. Hon. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P., &>c.
Third edition, small crown 8vo., 384 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d.; gilt edges, 45.
Plain Living and High Thinking; or,
Practical Self-Culture : Moral, Mental, and Physical. By W. H.
DAVENPORT ADAMS, Author of " The Secret of Success, &c.
PART I. MORAL SELF-CULTURE.
Chap. I. At Home. I Chap. 3. Character.
,, 2. Life Abroad. 4. Conduct.
PART II. MENTAL SELF-CULTURE.
Chap. i. How to Read.
Chaps. 2 to 9. Courses of Reading in English Poetry, History, Biography, Fiction,
Travel and Discovery, Theology, Philosophy and Metaphysics, Miscellaneous
Science and Scientific Text Books. Chap. 10. How to write : English Com-
position.
PART III. PHYSICAL SELF-CULTURE.
" Mens sana in corpore sano."
We like the thorough way in which Mr. Adams deals with ' Self-Culture : Moral, Mental
'
e e te toroug way n wc r. ams eas wt e-uture : Mora, Mental
and Physical.' His chapter on the courtesies of home life, and the true relation between
parent and child, is specially valuable nowadays. . . He certainly answers the question,
Is life worth living ?' in a most triumphant affirmative." Graphic.
" Books for young men are constantly appearing some of them genuine, earnest, and
ng i
this most valuable volume." Sword and Trowel.
"
ts most vauae voume. wor an rowe.
" A better book of the class in all respects we have seldom had the pleasure to notice. . . .
We cannot too strongly recommend it to young men." young Men's Christian Association
Mmttklv TJntf>s.
Monthly Notes.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.G.
FOR THE LIBRARY, PRESENTATION, &c.
: The best book of the kind." ) rr ., ~ ... , , r .
, . . . ^ , j- > Vide Critical Notices.
A complete Society Encyclopedia.
With Frontispiece, small crown 8vo., 352 pp., handsomely bound in cloth,
price 3s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 45.
The Glass of Fashion : A Universal
Handbook of Social Etiquette and Home Culture for Ladies
and Gentlemen. With Copious and Practical Hints upon the
Manners and Ceremonies of every Relation in Life at Home,
in Society, and at Court. Interspersed with Numerous Anecdotes.
By the LOUNGER IN SOCIETY.
CONTENTS :
CHAP.
1. AT HOME.
2. ABROAD.
3. THB PHILOSOPHY OF DINNERS.
4. THE BALL.
5. THE PHILOSOPHY OF DRESS.
6. THE ART OF CONVERSATION.
CHAP.
7. THE ETIQUETTE OF WEDDINGS.
8. AT COURT.
9. HINTS ABOUT TITLES.
10. A HEALTHY LIFE.
11. TWO CENTURIES OF MAXIMS UPON HANKERS.
12. THE HOUSEHOLD.
" The most sensible book on etiquette that we remember to have seen." Pall Mall Gazette.
" This book may be considered a new departure in the class of works to which it belongs.
1 1 treats etiquette 'from a liberal point of view,' and amply fulfils its purpose. " Casselfs Papers.
" Useful, sensibly written, and full of amusing illustrative anecdotes." Morning Post.
" Creditable to the good sense and taste, as well as to the special information of its author."
Telegraph.
" The book is the best of the kind yet produced, and no purchaser of it will regret his invest-
ment." Bristol Mercury.
"Those who live in dread lest they should not do the ' correct thing * should procure the
book, which is a complete society encyclopaedia. " Glasgow News.
^ WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ON TONED PAPER.
Second edition, small crown 8vo., 352 pp., cloth, price 35. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
Girls and their Ways : A Book for and
about Girls. By ONE WHO KNOWS THEM.
CONTENTS :
CHAP. | CHAP.
I. THE GIRL AT HOME. DAB, ; OR, ALL THE YEAR ROUND IN
2. THE GIRL IN HER LEISURE HOURS.
3. THE GIRL AT SCHOOL THE GIRL AND HER
FRIENDS.
4. THE GIRL ABROAD: CHARACTER SKETCHES.
5. A GIRL'S GARDEN : IN PROSE AND
POETRY.
THE GIRL S GARDEN.
7. THE GIRL'S LIBRARY WHAT TO READ.
8. THE GIRWN THE COUNTRY PASTIME FOR
LEISURE HOURS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
9. WHAT THE GIRL MIGHT AND SHOULD BE :
EXAMPLES OF NOBLE GIRLS FROM THE
6. THE GIRL'S AMATEUR GARDENER'S CALEN- LIVES OF NOBLE WOMEN.
" It aims high, and it hits the mark." Literary World.
" Books prepared for girls are too often so weak and twaddly as to be an insult to the intel-
lect of girlhood. This new work is an exception." Daily Review (Edinburgh).
"Worthy of a somewhat longer analysis than we shall be able to give it Parents
will be benefited by its perusal as well as their daughters. .... the more so that it is not
written in a dry homiletic style, but with a living kindness and sympathy." Queen.
" A long list of books is given both for study and amusement. This list is selected with care
and without prejudice, and should prove a great assistance to girls in doubt what to read.
.... It is a sensible and well-written book, full of information and wholesome thoughts for
and about girls. " St. James's Budget.
"Home duties, amusement, social claims and appropriate literature, are subjects succes-
sively treated, and treated with both knowledge and sound judgment." Pall Mall Gazette.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Bow, E.C.
io NEW, POPULAR, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
Southey's Edition, with Life of Bunyan, &c.
Illustrated with the Original Wood Blocks by W HARVEY.
Large crown 8vo., 402 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
The Pilgrim's Progress. In Two
Parts. By JOHN BUNYAN. With Bibliographical Notes, and a
Life of the Author, by ROBERT SOUTHEY ; Portrait and Auto-
graph of BUNYAN, and Thirty Wood Engravings by W. HARVEY,
from the Original Blocks. The Text in large type (Small Pica).
This is a reprint (with additional notes) of the deservedly admired
edition of Bunyan's Immortal Allegory, published by John Major,
London, 1830, at 2 is., which was highly eulogized by Sir Walter
Scott and Lord Macaulay.
"This reprint, at a very moderate price, may be regarded as a popular boon." Daily
Telegraph.
" An excellent edition of the great allegory. It contains Southey's ' Life,' which certainly
stands first for literary merit." Pall Mall Gazette.
" Costlier editions are on sale, but none produced with more taste than this one." Dispatch.
"A real service has been rendered for those who want a thoroughly readable copy of ' The
Pilgrim's Progress.'" Literary World.
'The whole book is reproduced in excellent fashion." Scotsman.
" This edition has exceptional claims upon public favour. The late poet laureate's biography
is in his best manner, while Harvey's effective woodcuts are in themselves a feature of very
considerable interest to lovers of British art. In the matter of typography and general get-up
the reprint is in every respect superior to the original edition, and the low price at which the
book is published should tempt many to obtain a copy. The binding and decorations are very
effective, and the volume is fitted to grace any drawing-room table." Oxford Times.
Second Edition, with Eight Engravings after Celebrated Painters.
Small crown 8vo., 392 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 45.
The Church Seasons, Historically
and Poetically Illustrated. By ALEXANDER H. GRANT, M.A.,
Author of " Half-Hours with our Sacred Poets."
IS* The aim has been to trace the origin and history of the Festivals and Fasts of
the Ecclesiastical Year, and to illustrate in poetry the circumstances under
which they began and continue to be celebrated, and the principal ideas and
doctrines which they severally incorporate.
" Our festival year is a bulwark of orthodoxy as real as our confessions of faith." PRO-
FESSOR ARCHER BUTLER.
" Mr. Grant's scholarship is endorsed by authorities ; his method is good, his style clear,
and his treatment so impartial that his work is praised alike by Church Times, Record,
Watchman, Freeman, and Nonconformist. No words of ours could better prove the catho-
licity of a most instructive and valuable work." Peterborough Advertiser.
" The work shows very plainly that much care and judgment has been used in its compila-
tion The intrinsic worth of its contents and their lasting usefulness admirably adapt
it for a present. The eight engravings have been chosen so as to give examples of the highest
samples of sacred art." Oxford Times.
" A very delightful volume for Sunday reading, the devotional character of the hymns giving
an especial charm to the work. The historical information will be proved full of interest to
young Churchmen, and young ladies especially will find the work to be one well adapted to
inform the mind and gladden the heart. Bible Christian Magazine.
" Mr. Grant's volume is worthy of high praise, alike for its careful research and its dis-
criminative quotations. There is so much religious literature which is below the level of
criticism, that we cannot but welcome a volume which commends itself to a cultivated Christian
audience." Echo.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Bow, E.C.
FOR THE LIBRARY, PRESENTATION, &c. u
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS OX TONED PAPER.
Small crown 8vo., 384 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
Stories of Young Adventurers. By
ASCOTT R. HOPE, Author of "Stories of Whitminster," "A Book
of Boyhoods," &c., &c.
CONTENTS :
YOCTNG TURK.
WHITE INDIAN.
SLAVE BOY'S STORY.
SOLDIER BOY'S STORY.
SAILOR BOY'S STORY.
YOUNG YANKEE ON THE WAR PATH.
FOUR SONS OP ALBION.
GIRL'S STORY.
N ADVENTURER AT THE ANTIPODES.
AN ADVENTURER AT HOME.
'_' Mr. Hope is one of the best of living writers of boys' books, and we do not think we over-
estimate the merits of the book before us if we say it is one of his best. The idea is a happy
one The result is altogether as successful as the idea is happy. This ought to be one
of the most popular boys' books of the season." Birmingham Daily Post.
"Good, wholesome, stirring reading for boys of all ages. The scenes of these adventures
are laid in every quarter of the globe, and they include every variety of peril." World.
" Mr. Ascott Hope has hit upon a really excellent idea in his 'Stories of Young Adven-
turers,' and carried it out with admirable success It would be difficult to pick out a
better book of its kind ; young readers will hang over every page with an absorbing interest,
and all the time will be imbibing some useful historical information. We should like to think
that so thoroughly good a book will be in the hands of a great many boyish readers."
Guardian.
" Mr. Ascott Hope has won an enviable reputation as an author of books for boys. In the
present volume he surpasses all his former achievements in this line." Literary World.
" The book contains a great deal of good reading of a kind far superior to that which is
ordinarily found in similar books It is well got up, and will be prized by boys."
Scotsman.
" Sure to'make the eyes of our boys gleam The tone is healthy and robust, and for
its kind the book is one of the best we know." Sword and Trowel.
" A debt of gratitude is due to Mr. Hope The work is as good as the design."
Atheneeum.
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ON TONED PAPER.
Small crown 8vo., 384 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
Exemplary Women : A Record of
Feminine Virtues and Achievements (abridged from " Woman's
Work and Worth "). By W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS.
CONTENTS :
CHAP.
I. WOMAN AS MOTHER.
II. WOMAN AS WIFE.
III. WOMAN AS MAIDEN.
IV. WOMAN IN THE WORM) OF LETTERS.
V. WOMAN IN THE WORLD OF ART.
VI. WOMAN A3 THE HEROINE, ENTHUSIAST, AND SOCIAL REFORMER.
"The qualifications and influence of women in different spheres of life are detailed and
illustrated by notices of the lives of many who have been distinguished in various positions."
Bazaar.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row. E.C.
12 NEW, POPULAR, AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ON TONED PAPER.
Small crown 8vo., 384 pp., cloth, price 35. 6d. ; gilt edges, 45.
A Book of Boyhoods. By Ascott R.
HOPE, Author of " Stories of Whitminster," " Our Homemade
Stories," etc.
A NEW ENGLAND BOY.
A BRAVE BOY.
A FRENCH SCHOOLBOY.
A SCHOOLBOY OF THE OLDEN TIME.
A BLUECOAT BOY.
A STABLE BOY.
A REBEL BOY.
A MYSTERIOUS BOY.
A BLIND BOY.
" Well planned, well written, and well named. . . . Mr. Hope has told these stories with
much dramatic power and effect, and has produced a book which will delight all healthy-
minded lads." Scotsman.
" Stories of all sorts of boys, who in different countries and circumstances, in peace or in
war, at school or at work, at home or out in the world, by land or by sea, have gone through
experiences worth relating. . . . The work is just such a volume as we would like to see in
the hands of our schoolboys, and of those who are emerging into the busy haunts of business
and anxiety." Yorkshire Gazette.
" Mr. Ascott R. Hope now occupies the foremost place as a writer of fiction for the school
boy, and as he never produces a weak book, and never disappoints his clients, his name on the
title-page of a new book is always a sufficient passport. . . . The account of these young
heroes is related in the happiest vein in a style that is in itself a wholesome form of culture
to the young reader. But the crowning merit of the book is that it is always interesting, and
never for a moment dull." School Board Chronicle.
" Essentially of an attractive character to the youthful reader, and is, perhaps, as likely to
interest the sisters as the brothers." Bedford Mercury.
" Ascott R. Hope has the talent for writing books which will interest boys. The volume is
got up with great taste, as all Mr. Hogg's books are, and is well illustrated. A better present
could not be given to a boy than this book." Dundee Courier.
WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY THOMAS STOTHARD, R.A.,
AND A PORTRAIT OF DEFOE.
In one volume, 512 pp., large crown 8vo., cloth, price 35. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
The Life and Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe, of York, Mariner. With an Account of his Travels
round Three Parts of the Globe.
1$^ A Complete, unabridged Edition of both Parts, with no curtailment of the
"Farther Adventures."
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ON TONED PAPER.
Small crown 8vo., 384 pp., cloth, price 33. 6d. ; gilt edges, 43.
The Ocean Wave : Narratives of some
of the Greatest Voyages, Seamen, Discoveries, Shipwrecks, and
Mutinies of the World. By HENRY STEWART, Author of " Our
Redcoats and Bluejackets," etc.
CONTENTS :
CHAP. l
1. THE GREAT DISCOVERERS.
2. THE OLD ENGLISH SEA-KINGS.
3. THE BUCCANEERS AND THE PIRATES.
4. COMMODORE ANSON'S VOYAGE ROUND THE
WORLD.
5- ADVENTURES AT SEA.
6. CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES.
7. MUTINIES OF THE BRITISH NAVY.
CHAP.
8. ANECDOTES OF ENGLISH ADMIRALS FROM
BLAKE TO NELSON.
9. LORD COCHRANE'S EXPLOITS.
10. STIRRING EPISODES IN THE AMERICAN
CIVIL WAR,
11. ARCTIC EXPLORATION.
12. SHIPWRECKS OF RECENT TIMES.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.G.
FOR THE LIBRARY, PRESENTATION, &c. 13
A HANDBOOK OF REFERENCE AND QUOTATION.
Second edition, fcap. 8vo., cloth, price 2s. 6d.
Mottoes and Aphorisms from Shake-
speare : Alphabetically arranged ; with a Copious Index of 9,000
References to the infinitively varied Words and Ideas of the
Mottoes. Any word or idea can be traced at once, and the correct
quotation (with name of play, act, and scene) had without going
further.
" The collection is, we believe, unique of its kind It solves in a moment
the often difficult question of where a proverb, or aphorism, or quotation from
Shakespeare can be found." Oxford Times.
"Asjneat a casket of Shakespearian gems as we ever remember having met
with." Public Opinion.
" The writer who delights now and then to embellish his productions by some
of the well-pointed and telling mottoes and aphorisms from Shakespeare has here a
most valuable book of reference The work has been carefully executed, and
must have entailed a very large amount of assiduous labour." Yorkshire Gazette.
" Everything, in these cases, depends on the index, and the index here seems to
have been carefully made."- Sheffield Independent.
New and enlarged edition, fcap. 8vo., cloth, price 2s. 6d.
A Practical Guide to English Versifi-
cation, with a Compendious Dictionary of Rhymes, an Examina-
tion of Classical Measures, and Comments upon Burlesque and
Comic Verse, Vers de Socie'te', and Song Writing. By TOM
HOOD. A new and enlarged edition, to which are added Bysshe's
RULES FOR MAKING ENGLISH VERSE," etc.
"We do not hesitate to say, that Mr. Hood's volume is deserving of a place on
the shelves of all who take an interest in the structure of verse." Daily News.
" The book is compiled with great care, and will serve the purpose for which it is
designed We may add that it contains a good deal of information which
will be useful to students who have no wish to be numbered amongst verse-makers."
Pall Mall Gazette.
" A dainty little book on English verse-making. The Dictionary of Rhymes will
be found one of the most complete and practical in our language. " Freeman.
" Alike to the tyro in versifying, the student of literature, and the general reader,
this guide can be confidently recommended." Scotsman.
Crown 8vo., cloth extra, bevelled boards, price "js. 6d.
The Manuale Clericorum : A Guide
for the Reverent and Decent Celebration of Divine Service,
the Holy Sacraments, and other Offices, according to the Rites,
Ceremonies, and Ancient Use of the United Church of England
and Ireland. Abridged from the " Directorium Anglicanum."
With Additions of Special Value in the Practical Rendering of
the Services of the Church. Edited by the Rev. F. G. LEE,
D.C.L., F.S.A., Vicar of All Saints', Lambeth.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, B.C.
14 WORKS ON FREEMASONRY.
Demy 8vo., 792 pages, price 155.
Dedicated by permission to the late JOHN HER VE Y, Esq., Grand Secretary.
The Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia of
History, Rites, Symbolism, and Biography. Containing upwards
of 3,000 Subjects, together with numerous Original Articles on
Archaeological and other Topics. Edited by KENNETH R. H.
MACKENZIE, IX.
" The work is marked by extreme learning and moderation." Public Opinion,
" We welcome this laborious work very sincerely." Freemason.
" A really valuable and instructive work, alike interesting to the Masonic Student and
general reader, and to the curious it will prove to be an inexhaustible mine of wealth,
particulars being afforded of numerous strange subjects. . . . Deserves a large circulation,
a - id cannot fail to be a most welcome work in every Masonic library." Keystone.
" The most valuable work of reference on all matters relating to the Craft that has yet been
published." British Mercantile Gazette.
"The task has been admirably performed One of the most important additions
to Masonic Literature during the last quarter of a century, and deserves an honoured place in
the library of every Masonic Student." Freemason's Chronicle.
" The Editor has lavished much reading and labour on his subject." Sunday Times.
Crown 8vo., cloth, with diagrams, price 43. 6d.
The Discrepancies of Freemasonry;
Examined during a Week's Gossip with the late celebrated Bro.
Gilkes, and other Eminent Masons. By the late Rev. G.
OLIVER, D.D.
" It is difficult to imagine a more charming book, or one more calculated to inspire the
Masonic Student with enthusiasm for the Royal Art. The pen of a practical as well as a
ready writer is needed in writing dialogues, and .... the late Sir Arthur Helps is the
only man of eminence who could possibly have infused more interest into such a work."
Freemason's Chronicle.
" A most amusing and curious book." Standard.
Crown 8vo., cloth, with diagrams, price 43. 6d.
The Pythagorean Triangle ; or, the
Science of Numbers. By the late Rev. G. OLIVER, D.D.
" In addition to all its stores of curious and varied learning, as connected with the Craft,
the Rev. Doctor's treatise contains many sage remarks on a host of other interesting topics,
which will please all curious readers." Standard.
" In handling his subject, the author has shown even more than his usual skill and inge-
nuity. " Freemason's Chronicle.
"We have derived both information and entertainment from this volume." Literary
World.
" From first chapter to last it will be impossible to read a more interesting book, illustrative
of the symbolism of Freemasonry." British Mail.
Second edition, demy 8vo., 56 pages, price 8d.
Freemasonry: Its History, Principles,
and Objects.
" We most cordially recommend this little work to the serious perusal, not only of those
who are already numbered amongst the Craft, but also of all who may meditate on entering
the ranks of Freemasonry. It is a vade mecum of very convenient form, and although consist-
ing of only fifty-six pages, the amount of Masonic lore therein contained is really astonish-
ing." Sunday Times.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.O.
WORKS ON FREEMASONRY, &c. 15
Pocket size, cloth, gilt edges, price 2s. 6d. each.
Masonic Directories. A Series of
Four Handbooks of Practical Directions for the Efficient Con-
duct of the Work throughout the Three Degrees of Craft
Masonry. By KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE, IX ("Cryptonymus"),
Author of " The Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia," etc.
I. The Deacons' Work.
II. The Wardens' Work.
III. The Secretary's and Treasurer's Work.
IV. The W. Master's Work.
WHAT IS SAID ABOUT THE " MASONIC DIRECTORIES."
The following spontaneous expression of opinion from one of the Craft, who
had ordered the " Directories," is indicative of the favourable reception which
the books have met with on all hands :
" It is simply impossible to speak too highly of these little books, being well
put together, simple, perfect, and yet within the reach of all. The four Direc-
tories supply a want long felt. Every Master of a Lodge should order a supply
of these Directories, and bring them seriously to the notice of the Officers for
whom they are intended. If this were done, I have no doubt that the great
drawback which exists in very many Lodges, resulting from the fact of Dea-
cons, Wardens, Treasurer, Secretary, and I regret to say occasionally the W.M.,
not being well up in their duties, might be remedied. The Author of the
' Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia ' is deservingly entitled to the grateful thanks
of every true Mason for his labours in Masonic writing."
And as representative of Press Criticism, what the Yorkshire Gazette said
the other day may be cited : " We do not hesitate to recommend them to
members of the Craft. They are very reliable, and are printed in a neat and
handy form. We suspect that there are few working members of our Order
who would not be benefitted by the results of Brother Mackenzie's observations
and experience."
THIRD AND CHEAPER EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
Crown 8vo., cloth, with 14 illustrations, price 7s. 6d.
The Freemason's Manual; or, Illus-
trations of Masonry. By JEREMIAH How, K.T., 30, P.M.,
P.Z., etc.
Imperial i6mo., with a frontispiece, cloth, marbled edges, price 7s. 6d.
The Complete Manual of Oddfellow-
ship : Being a Practical Guide to its History, Principles, Cere-
monies, and Symbolism.
The Ritual is printed in a form intelligible only to the Order.
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.G.
CLASSIFIED CONTENTS OF CATALOGUE.
@ 20. 6*r. Paor
Page
Facts and Phases of Animal Life 2
Andersen's Shoes of Fortune, and other Fairy Tales 3
Far-famed Tales from the Arabian Nights 2
Wonderful Animals : Working, Domestic, and Wild 3
Mottoes and Aphorisms from Shakespeare 13
Hood's Guide to English Versification 13
@ 30. 6fr.
The Secret of Success ; or, How to get on in the World 6
Our Redcoats and Bluejackets : War Pictures on Land and Sea
The Parlour Menagerie. Woodcuts by Bewick and others ....
Boys and their Ways : A Book for and about Boys
Plain Living and High Thinking ; or, Practical Self-Culture ....
The Glass of Fashion. Etiquette and Home Culture
Girls and their Ways : A Book for and about Girls
The Pilgrim's Progress. Life by Southey, and Harvey's Illustrations
The Church Seasons, Historically and Poetically Illustrated ....
Exemplary Women : Feminine Virtues and Achievements ....
The Ocean Wave : Voyages, Seamen, Discoveries, Shipwrecks, & Mutinies
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Stories of Young Adventurers ~) .
A Book of Boyhoods . . I By ASCOTT R . HOPE ....
Our Homemade Stories . I .... 5
Evenings away from Home J . -J;
Sxwfeg @ 60., 60. 6tr., anJr 70. 6tr.
Landmarks of English Literature -4
Great Movements, and Those who Achieved Them 4
Woman's Work and Worth in Girlhood, Maidenhood, and Wifehood . . 4
The Manuale Clericorum. Abridged from " The Directorium Anglicanum " . 13
U?OOllJt XJfJt
The Masonic Directories :
I. The Deacons' Work.
II. The Wardens' Work.
III. The Secretary's and Treasurer's Work.
IV. The W. Master's Work.
The Discrepancies of Freemasonry
The Pythagorean Triangle : or, the Science of Numbers .
Freemasonry : Its History, Principles, and Objects .
The Freemason's Manual
The Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia
The Complete Manual of Oddfellowship
Ctriium t>e Cuxe.
Robinson Crusoe. Stothard's Illustrations, engraved by Heath
London : John Hogg, 13, Paternoster Row, E.9.