The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-06-13

They Get n Living EasiIy-Cats Lead the
Predatory Classes.
Certain snakes Of medium sizo carry
tho most deadly weapon, whether of Of
fenso or defense, owned by any animal.
In addition they have the perfect YER
tebrato structure which Sir Richard
Owen so much admired, and can there
fore swim, climb and mako their WAY
i'll places where no other animal of sim
liar size can 60 They arc the best
equipped animals of their kind Side
by sido with these arc found snakes of
similar size and equal powers, except
that they lack tho invincible lethal
weapon They only carry blank car
tridges in tho battle of life Evolution
seems arrested for no reason They not
only fail to grow the poison tooth, but
do not develop tho power of crushing
their prey as the constructors do 1t
would be far easier for a common grass
snake to kill n frog by poison before
eating 1t, as the cobra does, than to
have to swallow it alive 1t would save
1T trouble to crush it, rs q young boa
constructor Of the Same size would do,
but it does neither, because it neither
has developed, nor seems in tho least
likely to develop, tho necessary equip
mcnt for so doing.
by the theory Of evolution the grass
snake ought therefore to go back in the
world, while tho other common English
snake, the poisonous viper, armed with
weapon, powerful as protection and
a means of killing prey, increased in
size and numbers and took its place
Yet this is exactly what has not hap
pencd- Grass snakes arc larger and moro
numerous than ladders, and there is no
evidence that the absence Of the poison
fangS Ill any way cndangcrs tho survival
of the species
1t is difficult to account for tho ab.
soncc of any visible failure in life of in
sect feeding creatures competing for eX-
lstence on the same food. but with such
unequal physical means for obtaining it
as are possessed by tho swallow, the
marmoset, the shrew, tho chameleon
and the frog. In this list of five crea-
lures living upon similar food we find
that the physical appliances for obtain
ing it range from the perfect develop
mcnt of speed i'll flight in the swallow,
the addition Of hands for capture in the
marmoset, bodily quickncss and activity
Ill the shrew, the power Of assuming
color exactly similar to that of environ
ment in the chameleon, supplemented
by n special apparatus for shooting out
the tongue and capturing insects when
motionless, to the absence of any special
equipment Mt oil. except that of rather
long tongue, i'll tho insect eating frog
Yet the frog, destitute of all these
specialized appliances, lives Just as we'll
as the swallow. tho shrew. the marmo-
set or the chameleon, and at least one
species, tho barking frog, finds that to
get on in the world it has only to be
still and wait till creatures walk into
its mouth. 1t has acquired IL skin color
suited TO its environment and "a large
mouth. But it is not, and could never
be. considered we'll provided for getting
its living.
Our estimate Of the physical means
and appliances necessary for the survival
and we'll being of animals is probably
set too high. We judge the needs Of all
from the perfect development and ac-
quired powers of many, perhaps of
most, which evolution has provided
with appliances in excess Of their real
wants. Most animals are ovcrequippcd
Evolution has run riot and provided
them with means and metal far in cx-
cess of their needs, just rs it has provid-
ed them with an exuberance of orna-
ment which delights us, but must al
ready have passed beyond animal com.
prchension.
Probably the cats, great and small,
would at once be named as the best
equipped of all classes of predatory
creatures and the predatory creatures arc
by necessity superior i'll most forms Of
physique to those ON which they prey.
They are all built" on one plan, with
special armament Of teeth, sheaths to
keep their claws sharp, muscles for
springing suddenly to great distances,
padded feet to deaden the sound Cf their
movements and color adapted for CON
ccalnent These acquired appliances are
III excess Of their wants.
The polar bear, which cannot spring
and has no sheaths for it's claws, and
has little obvious provision to aid it i'll
swimming, catches and kills animals
larger than those killed by the tiger and
can kill them in the water. The vol
verenc, or glutton, which is heavy, slow
and has the feet of ferret, gets its l;v-
ing as calnivorous animal no less well
than tho tiger cats, which have Il far
more specialized equipment for their
work.
There is actual evidence from the fos
sil bones cf tigers that this excess OF
equipment once went further and has
bocn discarded as superfluous. An ex-
tinct species developed canine teeth Of