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Oe ee et 6H —« ee eee ae ee a re ees Per! ee oe oe re oe ee eee ee re Ct oe or oe oo . " " " % &-8-e-s e"¢ e868 658 479) 4n rk 6 -8—-& @ 4) © 6S syns . ‘ <8 . eae ey ve bw oe SS So a-e-0 os ees -s eer ee of one oer Copyright N° COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: cn ~~. be ~~ NATURE STORIES FROM DARWIN EDITED BY HENRY W. WILBUR it PHILADELPHIA, PA. PUBLISHED BY WALTER H. JENKINS 1912 CLA Ws E€OPYRIGHTED In 1912 BY HENRY W. WILBUR ¥s0 ©ti.a330715 EDITOR’S PREFACE It has been our aim in the stories here given to in no way alter the body of fact or warrantable infer- ence as stated by the Great Natural- ist. In some cases Mr. Darwin’s own language is used, and this will be readily recognized in the text by the quotation marks which enclose a literal reproduction. The references at the bottom of the page indicate just where in Dar- win’s books, the story in particular may be found. This has been done so that those who desire may read the scientist’s statements in the 3 original, and follow up his clainis and deductions which the story in particular illustrates. Darwin’s scientific and literary habit was so marked in all that he did, that it is perfectly safe to al- ways infer that isolated stories are not used by. him as mere proof texts, but simply as impressive illustra tions of traits and tendencies among our animal friends. His case, if he has been trying to make one, has. already been established by an ar- ray of scientific studies and deduc- tions, the story always being a side light, and not the main illumination of any statement made by him. The only object in this compila- 4 tion is to help develop respect and reverence for all life, and especially for those forms of life personified in those creatures which in our conceit we humans call the “lower animals.” | HENRY W. WILBUR, Swarthmore, Pa., _ November, 1912. BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION The Darwin family was descended from Robert of ‘Eston, who was born in 1682, he being the father of Dr. Erasmus Darwin, the famous physician, poet and natural philoso- pher. While undoubtedly an ad- vanced thinker, it is quite likely that the religious and other radical- ism of Erasmus was greatly exag- gerated by the prejudice of the time in which he lived. The father of the naturalist, Rob- ert by name, and son of Erasmus, was also a physician, and attained considerable distinction in his pro- fession. His far more famous son 6 had great appreciation for his abil- ity, and reverence for his character. Charles Darwin, the naturalist, was born February 12, 1809. His father set his heart on Charles being a clergyman of the Church of Eng- land, but this desire was complete- ly frustrated when the young man went on the voyage around the world, as the naturalist on board His Majesty’s Ship, the Beagle. Dar- win would probably have made his mark as a churchman had he tak- en “holy orders.” After he had become famous, a German psycho- logical society solicited his photo- graph, and spent a whole evening studying and discussing the physi- 7 ognomy and phrenology involved in the picture. The conclusion reach- ed was that Darwin’s “bump of ven- eration was developed enough for ten priests.” One of the great naturalist’s strong traits was his regard for ab- solute truthfulness. Any carelessness of statement in dealing with facts, greatly disturbed him, and he held himself to the same rigid standard which he applied to others. This regard for the wunvarnished truth gave to all of his utterances much of their charm and value, — A nature story from Darwin has behind it the guarantee of absolute reliability. The stories which he 8 used to illustrate his investiga- tions, contain none of the element of unwarranted exaggeration em- ployed by the “nature fakirs.” Mr. Darwin, in an autobiograph- ical sketch prepared for his wife and children, divided his life and labors after his boyhood and his course at Cambridge into four periods, First, from the beginning oi the voyage of the Beagle, in December, 1831, to October, 1836. This really rep- resented the time he was with this expedition, studying the fauna and flora of the world, and especially that of South America and the Pa- cific islands. The second period covered three years, and ended with 9 his marriage in January, 1839. The third period he made analogous with the residence of the Darwins in London, which lasted over four years. The last period relates to the time from the removal to Down, September 14, 1842, to the close of the biographical notes in 1876, six years before his death. It was during the first period that his habit of scientific research was formed, His reputation as a natur- alist was established when his first report regarding his work on the Beagle was published. His origin- al and unusually constructive work was accomplished during the fourth period. Exploiting the “develop- 10 ment theory,” which made him the centre of biological and theological controversy for nearly a generation, had its intensification with the pub- lication of the “Origin of Species,” in 1859, and its climax in the ap- pearance of the “Descent of Man,” in 1874, It is not necessary to go into the details of these publications. They involved long labor and painstaking research, Darwin was a semi-inva- lid nearly all of his life, so that he was more or less hindered in his literary work. Few of his books were turned off at white heat, and most of them involved years in their preparation and revision. 11 In the stories herein given Dar- win stands revealed as a student of nature, and not as the originator and expounder of theories. He should also be taken as a very hu- man person, gentle in mind and manner; sensitive to pain and suffer- ing to a remarkable extent, and re-- garding living things with the ado- ration of a lover. Few men were more harshly crit- icised and unjustly measured by the conservative elements in the Chris- tian Church. Yet, in spite of this, he was a steady church goer, and a constant supporter of every efiort for helping the world. The spirit oi Christianity, as delivered by Je- sus, was his spirit to a remarkable degree. 12 SAMPLES OF MONKEY WISDOM* Certain American monkeys, not at all: noted for exceptional intelli- gence, exhibit a rather remarkable gift of foresight and calculation, and also possess the ability to learn from experience. Some of these monkeys were given eggs for food. The first time the monkeys tried to eat the new article of diet they roughly smash- ed the eggs, thus losing much of the contents. This waste finally ap- pealed to the monkey’s sense of economy as undesirable. Later on ~ *The Descent of Man. Vol. 1, pp. 45-46. 13 the monkey gently hit an egg against some hard object, picked off the broken parts of shell with his fingers, and proceeded to enjoy the entire inside of the shell. The same type of monkeys seemi- ed to learn from the things they suffered. After cutting themselves with any sharp tool, they either re- fused to touch it again, or handled it with extreme caution. One of these monkeys was given lumps of sugar done up in paper. He lost no time in unwrapping the package and appropriating the con- tents. A practical joke was played on this monkey. A live wasp was put inside the paper with the sugar. 14 In his haste to get at the conterits the monkey was stung. After that experience Mr. Monkey grew cau- tious, and placed each wrapped package to his ear to detect the pres- ence of any undesirable insect in- side. In this way he avoided be- ing the victim of the same joke twice. SOME MEMORY TESTS* Many birds possess remarkable powers of memory and the ability to recognize not only other birds, but also animals and man. The mocking thrushes, who live in Lou- * The Descent of Man. Vol. 2, p. 106. 1S isiana the year ‘round, have no trou- ble to tell their aristocratic neigh- bors who go North in Summer, Their “class consciousness” is also acute. Those who stay at home do not hesitate to attack the travel- ers when they come back after a summer’s wandering under less sul- try skies. | Birds, like many animals, exhibit strong personal prejudices, and sometimes with no apparent reason. A tame partridge is referred to which seemed to recognize “every- body, and its likes and dislikes were very strong.” He had an eye for gay colors, and any one who ap- peared thus garbed was seemingly 16 considered a superior being on sight. Ducks easily discriminate between dogs and cats kept on the premises, as against strangers who come upon the scene. Darwin quotes Audubon’s story of the wild turkey he reared and tamed. This bird always ran away from a strange dog, although friend- ly and familiar with the dog kept on the place. The turkey ran away to enjoy the freedom of the woods. Audubon seeing it, and thinking it a wild bird, “made his dog chase it; but to his astonishment the bird did not run away, and the dog, when he came up, did not attack the bird, for they mutually recognized each other as old friends.” we A CRAB THAT EATS COCOA: NUTS* Many curious crabs live around the coral islands of the Pacific Ocean.