Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-04-03
"THE BEASTS THAT PERISH"
NATURAL DEATHS THAT OCCUR IN
THE ANIMAL WORLD.
Most Are From Starvation-When En-.
feebIed by Weakness or Physical
Decay, They Die of
Absence of Aid in Sickness.

Mr.. F. G. Aralo. in the st. James Ga
zette, suggests that II death by accident
Is comparatively rare among animals. those
which die a natural death meet 1t in the
form of starvation. 1t is difficult to avoid
the conclusion that wild animals. enfeebled
because of the absence Of aid in sickness.
But If the bills of mortality from causes
other than the violence OF predatory species
there you probably be good ground to
modify the conclusion that this lingering
death is in store for the majority.
in the Spectator, by a kind OF mystery
which has been long recognized in common
experience. and is now attracting some Of
the attention II deserves from travellers and
naturalists. the disappearance. namely; OF
the animal dead. other than those killed by
accident eId dsco or yiolenee; The In ti trSpisa Of f fRe iesh'
and bone devouring beasts, like the hyena,
may destroy the largest bones; But there
find the bodies Of such animals as nave
died a natural ~death-along the whole
length of the frozen rim of the Old World,
where even the fruits forced into being by
the Arctic summer are preserved fresh be-
meath the snow until the ensuing spring,
mammoth and Siberian rhinoceros-have
only undergone partial decay in the frozen
soil. Here We should also expect to dis,
at the end of the summer 'coldstored Till
the now broke up in the Arctic spring.
For this life during the Arctic summer Is
numbered by millions: there is probably
20 such gathering OF birds on any part Of
the globe as on the Arctic tundra in July
mails. seals. wairus. reindeer, fox and lem
minSs also abound. Do they never die. or
what becomes of their bodies? For the lat
ter are almost never seen. Nordenskjold, in
his Voyage of the Vega, more than once
recurs to this strange absence Of the ami
mai dead. In an ice beset channel among
arrna r4t tcJa n n - r. pntrN nf h
1enesei he saw a great number of dead
fish-Gadus polaris-and next day saw the
sea bottom, where the water was very
the same species, which had probably met
their death by the shoal being inclosed by
ice in a small hole. where the water could
not receive a fresh supply OF oxygen.
Disappearance of the Dead.
There is a common form of natural death
among fish in cold countries; but the ex-
plorer remarks it for the following reas-
ons: II mention this" he observes. be
cause such examples of 'self-dead' verte-
brate animals are found exceedinly sell
dom. They therefore deserve to be noted.
49, During my nine expeditions in the
Arctic regions, where Arctic life during the
summer is so exceedingly abundant, the
case just mentioned has been one of the
few in which 1 have found remains of mod
ern vertebrate animals which could be
proved to have died a natural death. Near
the hunting grounds there are often to be
seen the remains OF reindeer, seals, foxes
or birds that have died from gunshot
walrus, white whale, fox, lemming or other
vertebrate. The polar bear and the rein
deer are found there in hundreds, the seal,
walrus and white whale in thousands, n
birds in millions. These birds must die a
natural death in untold numbers. What
becomes Of their bodies?" OF this We ave
a problem of immense importance for the
answering of a large number Of questions
concerning the formation of fossil bearing
strata 1t Is strange in any case that on
SpitZbergen It is easier to find the verte-
bra of a giant lizard Of the Trias than the
bones of a seal. walrus or bird which has
met a natural death.
This disappearance of the dead, so re-
markable in itself. must. we think, be left
out of account in the endeavor to ascertain
the causes of disease. These must be
sought not by the coroner's inquest. when
too often there is no body which the jury
can view, but by argument from the known
causes of death among domestic animals
and the numerous. if scattered, records.
Of which have often been carefully pre-
served, and may be found scattered over
the history Of the last ten centuries. Most
of these are the records OF epidemics. but
these and similar diseases must be held to
be at work from years end to years end,
even when not SO violent as to cause re-
mark; while concurrently there is among
animals a large class Of ailments causing
natural death exactly analogous to those
leading to human mortality.
NOn-Epfdemic Causes of Death.
Among these normal. non-epidemic causes
of death many must be common both to
wild and to domesticated species. "Distem-
per- among dogs and cats probably extends
also to foxes. wolves and the wild felidae.
Its course Is often exactly like that Of a
wasting low fever, and animals die from 1t
in exactly the same way as a human pa
tient suffering from malaria or bilious
Fnxva~ Fnr HI y.rn nra nnf Iuya va n a
same. "Chill' kills dogs, often by jaun-
dice. and horses and cows mainly by caus-
ing internal Inflammation; Death is then
emaciation of any kind is visible in the
animal. Most domesticated animals. even
birds. are liable to this cause of death;
mails, whose normal course Of life does
not xpose them to overexertion or
.'draughts." 1t is less common. Among aged
domesticated animals, or those which are
obliged to take violent exertion. heart
disease often causes sudden death; Aged
horses sometimss drop down dead when
Most very old horses which nave been
turned out to grass to end their days in
peace suffer in the end from forms OF in
digestion, which causes them to become
SO thin their owners order them to be shot.
A recent veterinary work ascribes this and
many other equine maladies to decay or
defects in the teeth due to age or acci-
dents. In the same way old dogs become
emsciated, even when carefully fed. But,
like human beings. all the canine race,
liable to forms Of tumor. and, unless re-
lieyed by surgery. or released by ~euthana-
STA, may meet their death after great
misery and suffering. Nor should 1t be
forgotten that virulent sore throat is often
prevalent and fatal among animals, es-
pecially cats.
Consumption and other forms of tubercu-
Iosis account for a large percentage Of the
natural deaths Of domesticated animals. We
immunity from 1t. Cattle. cats, chickens,
dogs, rats and mice are all victims of the
tubercle bacillus. these normal
and non-contagious causes of death and
the violent and devastating. animal plaques
comes the long list of contagious animal
diseases mainly confined to domesticated
animals. Anthrax, the most rapid and
follows the permanent list-infuenza, now
always present Inc often epidemic, and
affecting all domestic animals. and. prob
fever mot commonly fatal, glanders. and
in SOM seasons the fatal liver rot" main
ly affecting sheep and rabbits, due to a
parasite harbored in tainted ground and
water. Add to these the choleraic diseases
from bad water and dirty soil. and we
nave forms of natural death sufficient to
account for the total disappearance of who'e
species, did not the generally healthy con-
ditionS under which they live act as q
safeguard.
Epidemics Among Animals.
Unfortunately, among these conditions is
one which does not make for the preserva-
ton of health, namely. the tendency of
nearly all non-carnivorous animals to herd
together and, even when non-related, to
seek one another's society. Hence the as
tonishing violence and fatal results of an
imal epidemics. During their prevalence
the absence of the animal dead is no longer
marked. On the contrary. their bodies are