The record-union., 1891-07-20
ANIMALS And REASON.
The Destructive Principle in
Various Insects.
Ear-Sightedness OF Wild Beasts-The
Courageous Tfger-Animal Train
ing-Trapping Wild Elephants-The
Crafty Fox.

In the examination of the poisonous
machinery of insects and reptiles, it is
apparent that the destructive principle is
the same in all, and that the fang in all
possesses a hollow, through which the
poison flows into the wound the moment
the incision is made. The sting of the
scorpion is precisely like the fang of the
rattlesnake, and performs its deadly work
on the same mechanical principles.
The grip of an ants jaw is retained
even after the body has been bitten off
and nothing but the head remains. This
knowledge is possessed by a certain tribe
Of Indians in Brazil, who put the ants to
a very peculiar uSe When an Indian
gets a cash cut in his hand, instead Of
having his hand sewn together, as physi-
clans do in this country, he procures five
or six large black ants, and, holding their
heads near the cash, they bring their jaws
together in biting the flesh and thus pull
the two sides of the cash together. Then
the Indian pincheS Off the bodies of the
ants, and leaves the heads clinging to the
flesh, which is held together until the
cash is perfectly healed.
A pair of rats, happily situated and un-
NlStuIDGu, Will, III IHTeG years, nave III
creased to 656, sos. Calculating that ten
rats eat as much in one day as man,
which we think is rather under than over
the fact, the consumption of these rats
would be equal to that of 65,6S0 men the
year round, and leave eight rats in the
year to spare. Multiplying in this rapid
way, it is providential that the rat has so
many natural enemies. All these to the
contrary, notwithstanding, he often
proves sufficiently troublesome to make
the community conSpire against him.
In Ireland they SINCE the hair of rat
which has been caught, but is otherwise
unharmed. In Germany they let one
loose with a small bell attached to his
neck. The tinkling of this, as the belled
rat chases his friends. produces panic
among them, and causes them to flee the
premises.
The Bengal tiger has more courage
than the lion, according to a Snowman,
who states that the matter was tested in
this manner: I'VE placed a shooting
cracker in the respective cages and fired
the fuses. AS soon as the fuses began to
burn they attracted the attention of both
animals, but in widely different man
ner. The lion drew into a corner and
watched the proceedings with distrust-
ful and uneasy eye. The tiger, on the
contrary, advanced to the burning fuse
with firm step and unflinching gaze
On reaching the cracker he took his paw
and began to roll it over the floor, and
when 1t exploded beneath his very nose
he did not finch, but continued his ex-
animation until perfectly satisfied. The
lion betrayed great fear when he heard
the report of the explosion, and for quite
time could not be coaXed out of his
dcn."
a curious communication has been
made to the Academic de Medicine" by
NJ. Motais, of Anglers. whose works on
the various diseases of the eye are highly
esteemed. He has closely examined the
effect OF captivity on the sight of wild
beasts, such as lions, tigers, etc, and
asserts that all animals in a savage state
are far-sighted. The same remark ap-
plies TO man in an uncivilized state, and
even TO those who, though civilized, fol-
low avocations which oblige them to re-
main constantly in the open air, such as
sailors or farm laborers. The same
faculty subsists in Gagged animals, when
they have been taken after the age of six
3r eight months; but when born in cap
tIVlty or kept in cages when very young,
they become near-sighted, which NJ
Mortals attributes 10 the narrow space in
which they are confined. and the training
which obligeS them TO follow the eve of
the keeper or tanner to obey his will
The near-sightedness of school children
may, III his opinion, be ascribed to the
same cause.-The habit of concentrating
the sight on one point, and the fact that
the power of the visual organ becomes
modified according TO the requirements
to which it is subjected.
Many stories told of the crafty fox are
doubtless incidents of the imagination.
But recent writer tells an anecdote
which, though taxing belief, he says is
youched for by an eyewitness of the af-
fair. Some fishermen on the west coast
of Ireland were in the habit of going to
oil iC1. l.,
the mainland, III quest of bait. The
island was inhabited by large numbers OF
rabbits, and could be reached at low tide
by wading, the water there being only a
few inches deep. One morning they
went in their boat quite early, it being
high tide, and on landing saw dead fox
lying on the beach. The fur of the ami
NAL was all bedraggled, and he seemed to
have been drowned. One of the men. re-
marking that his skin was worth some
thing, pitched him into the boat Pro
curing their bait, they returned to the
mainland, and the man who had possessed
himself OF the fox seized him by the tail
and flung him on shore, As soon as the
animal struck the beach he picked him
self up with considerable agility for a
dead fox, and shot off like a flash, up
among the cliffs, while the men stood
staring at each other in mute astonish-
ment. The men concluded that he had
crossed over to the island during the
night, when the tide was low, in search
of rabbits, and, finding in the morning
that he was cut off from the mainland
counterfeited death, with the expectation
of thereby procuring passage to the
shore IN boat, an expectation which
was fully realized.
The Rev. J. Murray, in his work on
the creation, relates that on one occasion
an acquaintance of his was out shooting
wild duckS On reachinr a band Of tho
stream he saw six wild geese out of range.
he crouched down in the hope that they
would presently come nearer. While
thus concealed he observed fox stealing
down to the bank, and reaching which he
remained motionless with his eyes fixed
on the geese. At length he retired, but
presently reappeared carrying IN his
mouth very large bundle of moss. lie
entered the water silently, sank himself
and then, keeping the moss above the
water, himself concealed, he floated
among the geese. Suddenly one of them
Eyas drawn under the water, and the fox
soon appeared on the bank with the goose
on his back. Close to the waters edge
he found hole, caused by the uprootine
of a tree. This hole he cleared out and
enlarged ,lplaced the goose tthe bottom o.
il, and covered his prize with leaves and
dry litter, of which there was abundance
close at hand. The fox then took his de.
S1arture, and the interested watcher went
80 the hole and removed the goose. taking
care to restore things to their former an.
pearance. Then he resolved TO observe
what followed. In about half an hour
the fox returned in company with an.
other. They went straight to the place
where the goose had been buried and re.
moved the earth. No goose there. They
80 ~ "a EsA y