New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-13
-, BEASTS THAT PERISH"
, DEATH IN THE ANIMAL
WORLD.

IN .r-al death meet IL IN '''e ''' Ia u
'ilmI, IN avoid the conclusion that wild
snfeebled by weakness or physical on
>, rcrish. because of the absence OF a'o
Rut If the bills Of mortality IRON
~ than the violence of predatory
s's' la no made out for the animal world
ia probably be good ground to modf!
.,,s;on that this lingering death is H.
H.. for the majority =
VI ..,,;.c, is complicated. says writer in
- s,ectator." by a kind of mystery which
81 -, long recognized in common experience
,ou attracting some Of the attention II
tenn, travellers and naturalists the dis
T|-.o namely. Of the animal dead. other
r., those killed by accident or violence i"
.,.., c,u 1trics rapid decay dissolves the
1 80. If flesh. and bone-devouGing beasts, Ike
q. ,r.ra NAV destroy the largest bones. But
one region in which we should expect
& "a tho b,dies Of such animals as have died
Il ...uro, dea,h-along the whole length OF the
,,r, ~ the old World from the Plethora
I. p.,,,ns Sea. a region where even the fruits
y rcd into being by the Arctic summer are pre-
.~vss fresh beneath the snow until the ensuing
4,,4,c and the remains Of prehistoric beasts
/ A. mammoth and siberian rhinoceros-have Only
,asrrcpe partial decay in the frozen soil Here
/ :, should also expect 10 discover the bodies CT
.,mas which had died n the end OF the sum
=, acolss,ored" till TIE snow broke up in the
Ar,c spring.
70, this life during the Arctic summer is num-
ND hv millions: there is probably no such
ahering of birds on any Part of the globe as
i !, he Arctic tundra in July and August, while
,,se and small mammals. seals. walrus. rein
lei. foxes and Jennings a!so abound. DO they
ever die or what becomes of their bodies?
Irr the latter are almost never seen. Norden-
Iacd in his Voyage O: the Vega" more than
nee recurs to this strange absence OF the ami
i-sl dead In an ice be set channel among some
.rctic islands off the mouth Of the Yenesei he
law great number Of dead lsh-GaIus pOlaris
and EEK, day saw the sea bottom. where the
raer was very clear Uestrewn with ''innumer-
able FISH" Of the same species. which had prob
:t!y met their death by the shoal being Enclosed
by ice in a small hole where the water cou,3
not receive a fresh supply Of oxygen
WHAT BECOMES OF SELF DEAD" BODIES?
This is a common form of natural death among
fish in c1id countries but the explorer remarks
ii fos the following reasons Il mention this
lie observes, because such examples Of self
led vertebrate animals are found exceedingly
seldom. They therefore deserve 10 be noted
During my ii le expeditions in the Arctic
regions. whera Arctic life during the summer is
70 exceedingly abundant the case just men
tened has been one f the few in which ! have
olnd remains of modern vertebrate animals
tAea could he proved to have d.ed a natural
,.2th Near the hunting grounds there are
fen to be seen the remains Of reindeer. seals
Xes or birds that have died from gunshot
TouncS but no Self-deaG' polar bear. s. al.
'alrus white whale, FIX. lemInlng or other verte-
ae The polar bear and the reindeer are
ind there in hUrdi eds the seal. walrus and
'tSe whale in thousands, and birds in millions
asss birds mus, Die natural death in untold
l'bers. What becomes Of their bodies" OF
Is We have at pre- sent no idea; and get we have
ie problem q immense importance for the
'sEering Of large number Of questions con-
ming the formation Of fossil-bearing strata
strange in any case that on SpitabcrSen it
Easier to fird the vcrtebrfe 0: "a gigantic lizard
he fIias than the bures If a seal wa.rus or
"a Which has met a natural death.
Ils disappe aranCe of the dead, SO remarkable
.sf must. we think, he left out of account
he erdeavor 10 ascertain the causes of de-
a% These must be sought not by coroners
1est when too often there is no body which
I !VFy can view. but by argument from the
~'n causes Of death among domestic animals
i lie numerous. if scattered records Of NOR
-v among wild ones. notes Of which have
"a been carefully preserved. and may be
so scattered over the history OF the last ten
~Vi'eS Most Il these are the records Of cpl
'S but these ana similar diseases must he
" be at work from years end 10 years end.
"hen not so violent as 10 cause remark;
* eOncurrently there is among animals a
20 Class q ailments causing natural death eX-