Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1893-06-09
NUMBER ONE"
MISREPRESENTATION is THE
FIRST LAW OF NATURE.
Some Curious Forms of This Defen-
sive Instinct in Big and Little
Animals That arc Nat
urally Timid.
IN EcoGNIzING the impossibility


- OF bridging every stream and
keep fire from burning and
passion from flaming, Nature has pre-.
ferrcd the simple alternative of endow-
ing her creatures with the instinct OF
sclf-preservation "a tendency which,
under certain circumstances, NAV take
the form OF scifrevenge. Nine out of
ten SPECIES of animals avoid danger by
flight, but community interests and other
considerations compel the remaining
tenth to abide the arbitrament of battle,
and without tic dread of their defensive
valor some of the most useful kinds of
insects would have become utterly ex-
tinct. Ants, the restless scavengers of
the Wilderness, will attack the disturber
Of their domicic with fury that deters
even the greedy boar and the insect
eating balloons Of the Nubian hill coun-
try. Tcrmitcs permit themselves to be
torn to pieces rather than loosen their
bulldog grip upon the hide of foe, and
the hive bee assails intrudcrs at the i'm
minent risk Of losing her life together
with her sting.
Some forms of that defensive instinct
have become curiously specialized. The
little capuchln monkeys of Il Brazilian
forests are SO timid that they scampcr
away ut the mere rustling of leaf. but
experience has taught them that flight
oilers no chance of salvation from the
pursuit of winged enemy, and at the
first glimpse of q harpy eagle swarm
nf Nipno will l,,,1flln i
Shrek out their defiance with an empha-
sis that really makes the lowering muir
derer reconsider his project. If he does
risk swoop dozen pair Of hands will
grab HIM Mt once, and clutching at his
throat and his wings soon fill the air
with whirl OF flying feathers, not un.
mixed with fur, while the screams of the
combatants bring up ring-taile allies
from all parts of the woods till the
would-bc assassin is glad to get away
with the loss of half his plumage.
A still more interesting case of that
kind was observed in the geological gar
den of Cologne. A species of wild
goat, the capra ,,ruppcli, haunts the rocks
of the Abyssinian highlands and man.
ages to hold its own against all enemies,
with the exception of the hcet-footed
mountain jackal, an adversary whose CO.
operative tactics and leenness of scent
makes flight unavailing and have led the
caprns to the conclusion that under Ger.
tain circumstances valor may be the bet
ter part of discretion. The yelp of an
approaching horde of jackals is there.
fore signal of instant rally on the part
of the goats. The nannies crowd
around their kids, and the bucks rush
forward en- masse, butting away with
rage that lays out yelper at every
spring, and makes the survivors stand
back bowling and covering. oThey had
no jackals in the Cologne Zoo, but their
capra buck somehow seemed to recog-
nize the relationship of his hereditary
foe to the genus CAMS, and Mt sight of a
dog he would fly into o paroxysm of
rage, rushing up and down his cnclos-
urc, making frantic springs at the fence
and getting evidently crazed with impa-
thence to try conclusions with the cousin
of the Abyssiuian kid killers.
Professor Mivart proved that there arc
''instincts" that lead to death by failing
to adapt themselves to change of cir.
cumstances. Migratory quail by thou
sands perish in the deserts of Northern
Africa, where their ancestors used to find
comfortable winter resort, Astounding
with forests and even with grain fields,
If we shall credit Pliny's account of the
Numidian coast lands. The forests are
gone, but myriads of quail still follow IN
the same route, at the risk of starvation.
and Norwegian lemming rats still OBJ
serve the ancestral custom by migrating
south in n strict Decline. fighting and
gnawing their way through all obstacles.
They travel in armies of many hundreds
Of thousands, and have regular van
guards to charge every living impedi-
ment. Foxes, and even wolves, might
yield to q charge of that kind. for the
jealous little rodents make up in num-
bers and activity what they lack in
strength, but their tactics miss their pur-
pose In their application to still greater
matter of cooperation, and hundreds OF
farmers join i'll campaign of extermin-
alton rs soon as their scouts report the
advance OF the lemming horde. Equipped
with Unframed boots and double jackets
they are rat proof, and use iron ringed
clubs that knock down whole squads of
tho squcaking invaders ut each blow.
but the sight of their dying leaders en-
tirely fails to daunt the pluck of the rear
ranks. On they come, with blind dis
regard of consequences, and in the fury
OF combat cling by scores to the impene.
trable boots OF their slayers and some.
times to be swung clear off the ground
and down again with crushing ELECT.
Several species of tortoiscs can be
hooked without bait by taking ad-
vantage OF their mania for swapping at
every floating object, and the great ant
bear of the South American forests con-
trives TO intimidate his feline enemies by
rearing up to his full length. but by that
very trick gives the hunter chance to
take deadly aim at his heart.
The fighting propensity of some species
of our dumb fellow creatures has been
developed by their unwieldiness and the
consequent difficulty of escaping the
pursuit OF their enemies, and the natural
list Linnacue already coIlnd ottont;oo -