Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-11-02
TANDARD- MEANWHILE TENNESSEE SATURDAY. > $780,
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES.
Newly cquired Facts Concerning Three
QueerlY-Made Animals.
THE GIRAFFE


Queerly-M Made Animals.
THE GIRAFFE.
Nature made q curious mistake in
regard to the giraffe. She gave him
such an extra length Of neck that he is
obliged to feed on the foliage of trees
and let the rich grass under his feet
strictly alone, She made him pretty,
but awkward She gave him beauti-
full limbs, but he runs with a wobble
He is practically defenseless, and yet
he is boosted up in the air where every
thing can see him. There is some Off
set, however in the fact that the
giraffe is of atfectionate disposition.
His confidence is easily secured, and
when once he puts his trust in you you
can feed him cayenne pepper in piece
of apple and he will lay it on to some
one else. The giraffe lives to the age
of thirty-fve, if not sooner disposed OF
by accident. and he is then resigned to
have his skin made into rug for
somebody's pug dog to sleep
on. There is legend among
the natives of Africa that the
giraffe never sleeps. but that he spends
his hours Of darkness in weeping over
the sins of the world. This is prob
ably the reason why the world isn't
far more wicked than it is, and every
body should be willing to pay an extra
ten cents to see the giraffe with the
circus.
THE RHNoCERos.
The idea in bringing out the rhinoc,
eros was to get something that no
other country could beat for uglines S.
While there are several brands of tn e
beast. all put up in different packages
with different labels, all amount to the
same thing when you cut the string
and unite the bundle. While the
giraffe is two stories high with hip
roof, the rhinoceros stopped short at
the basement and has never been fin
ished up. Toreward him for not being
quite as homely as the hippopotamus,
he was given q hide so thick that a
grape-shot would only tickle him,
and as an offset for not hav-
ing mouth as large as an
alligator he was given temper as
hot as wild cats and hornets boiled
down together. The rhinoceros was
not expected to cut any thing Of a
dash in this world. He was given to
understand that il he took care of his
appetite and made it unpleasant for
every living thing which came within
mile Of him, nothing further would be
expected Of him. So far as man has been
able to discover, the beast never cracks
a smile nor makes joke, and nothing
ever steps on his coat-tails and gets
away alive. The legend in regard to
him is that he puts in the hours be-
tween daylight and sunrise grieving
because he wasn't made a turtle-dove
but legends are not to be depended on.
THE SEA HORSE.
The sea horse is so called because
he hasn't the least resemblance to q
horse, and because he is never seen in
the sea. The name given him by some
smart Alec who felt awfully funny tha'
day. Some years later another smar
Alec changed the name to sea COW
but that doesn't hit any closer
They are found in rivers and
lagoons instead of the sea,
and they resemble COWS as much
as stuffed woodchuck does live
lion. The principal occupation of 1
sea-horse-cOw, as we are obliged t
call him, is promenading around OF
the muddy bottoms of muddy rivers
satisfying his hunger on the best thu
land affords and making the neighbor
hood highly uncomfortable for African
gentlemen out fishing in their canoes
He has no ambition beyond that anC
if undisturbed would let the worlC
wag along and mind his own business
Naturalists claim that he is very docil,
and affectiOnate when in captivity, an(
the day may come when he will re
place the poodle dog as a pet His
span of life is supposed to be sixt,
years, but that doubtless depends
great deal on the care he takes of him
self. If the newly-discovered elixir o
life works as is hoped for, the sea
horse-cow's days may be extended
over hundred years, Detroit Ere,
Press.
Some Maxims of Merit.