The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-06 00:00:00

THE ECONOMY OF THE ANIMAL WORLD.

Here we see no rash matrimonial engagements ; no pen-
niless lovers, selfishly and indissolubly linked together to
propagate large families of. starving children. All the
arrangements of the insect tribe, though prompted by sheer
instinct, are conducted with a degree of rationality that in
some cases raises the mere instinct of the creeping thing
above the assumed " reason " of man.
The bird builds her nest, and carefully irovides for the
comfort of her young long ere she la} s her fragile egg.
What can be more curious-than the nest of the " tailor
bird ?"—a selection of tough leaves neatly sewn one over
the other to form a waterproof exterior to the comfortable
little dwelling within. Where does the needle and thread
come from ? The first is the delicate bill of the bird itself,
and the latter is the strong fibre of the bark of a tree, with
which the bird sews every leaf, lapping one over the other,
in the same manner that slates are laid upon a roof.
Nevertheless this is simple instinct ; the tailor bird in
the days of Adam constructed her nest in a similar
manner, which will be continued without improvement till
the end of time.
The grossbeak almost rivals the tailor bird in the beau-
tiful formation of its nest. These birds build; in company,
twenty or .thirty nests being common upon one tree. Their
apparent intention in the peculiar construction of their
nests is 'to avoid the. attacks of snakes and lizards.
These nests are about two feet long, composed of beau-
tifully woven grass, shaped like an eiongated pear.
They are attached like fruit to the extreme end of a
stalk or branch, from which they wave to and fro in the
wind, as though hung out to dry. The, bird enters at a
funnel-like aperture at the bottom, and by this arrange-
ment the young are effectually protected from' reptiles.

The wonders of animal instinct receive many
other striking illustrations in Mr. Baker's deeply
interesting and instructive volume. The theme
is a temptinc, one to a man of intellect and ob-
servation, and it has been pursued in various and
instructing forms ever since the period when, under
the influence of Divine inspiration, man was in-
structed to " view the ant's labours and be wise,"
down to the present time. Amongst the wonders
narrated by travellers, few are in themselves more
really wonderful, or more pleasingly instructive
than those singular and delightful combinations
of instructive sagacity and assiduous training by
which the reasoning faculty of man is so applied
as to mould and expand the instinct of animals,
and to link with these their physical powers and
peculiarities, so forming the combination into
willing and "powerful instruments for aiding or

abridging human toil. Such indications of
adaptive harmony are delightful in contempla-
tion, and afford improving subjects for reflection.
The elephant, an animal common in Ceylon,
affords Mr. Baker frequent opportunities for
bringing the combination referred to under ob-
servation ; and this he does with the effectiveness
and good taste peculiar to a man of sound judg-
menir and extensive experience. The following
admirable illustration of this docile versatility is
excellent. It may be called. 7

THE ELEPHANT AS AN AGRICULTURAL ASSISTANT.
It was an interesting sight to see the rough plain yield-
ing to the power of agricultural implements, especially as
some of those implements were drawn by animals not
generally seen in plough harness at home.
The " cultivator," which was sufficiently large to
anchor any twenty of the small native bullocks, looked a -
mere nothing behind the splendid elephant who worked it,
and it cut through the wiry roots of the rank turf as a
knife peels au apple. It was amusing to see.this same
elephant doing the work of three separate teams when the -
seed was in the ground. She first drew a pair of heavy-
'harrows ; attached to these and following behind were a
pair of light harrows ; and behind these came a roller.
Thus the land had its first and second harrowing and
rolling at the same time.
This elephant was particularly sagacious ; and her
farming work being completed, she was employed in
making a dam across a stream. She was a very large"
animal, and it was beautiful to witness her wonderful.'
sagacity in carrying and arranging the heavy timber-
required. The rough trunks of trees from the lately felled
forest were lying within fifty yards of the spot, and the
trunks required fur the dam were about fifteen feet long
and fourteen to eighteen inches in diameter. These she
carried in her mouth, shifting her hold along the log
before she raised it until she had obtained the exact
balance; then, steadying it with her trunk, she carried
every log to the spot, and laid them across the stream in
parallel rows. These sjie herself arranged, under the
direction of her driver, with the reason apparently of a
human being.
The most extraordinary part of her performance was
the arranging of two immense logs of red keenar (one of
the heaviest woods). These were about eighteen feet long
and two feet in diameter, and they were intended to lie on
either bank of. the stream parallel to the brook and close
to the edge. These she placed with the greatest care in
their exact positions, unassisted by any one. She rolled
them gently over with her head, then with one foot, anti
keeping her trunk on the opposite aide of the log, she
checked its way whenever its own momentum would
have carried it into the stream. Although I thought the
work admirably cone, she did not seem quite satisfied, and
she presently got into the stream, and gave one end of
the log an extra pUsh with her head, which completed
her task, the two trees lying exactly parallel to each
other, close to the edge of either hank.
Tame elephants are constantly employed in building
stone bridges when the stones required for the abutments
are too heavy to be managed by crowbars.

The author of the book under consideration
was too faithful an observer of what was passing
around him to allow his attention to be wholly
absorbed by the operations of the lower classes of
animals. He looked at the objects which pre-
sented themselves to him on every hand, and
scanned their merits, or the contrary, with a
" learned spirit of human dealing." He sees in
the Government arrangements of the island many
things detrimental to its best interests ; his
native good sense leads him to see
How small, of all that human hearts endure,
That part which laws or Kings can cause or cure !

This leads him to reflect on the fact that many
of the difficulties which form such fertile and
stimulating themes for popular declamation,
arise from the character of the settlers themselves ;