IBS

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNL

GrIFT OF

HENRY DOUGLASS BACON.

1877.

Accessions No. ___j?_2_2r:S0 Shelf No..'..

BPARY

Ti

AM

OM THE

HABITS AMD INSTINCTS

Vt

\ AMI HALS;

YELLOW 07 THE H.OTAL

GliJ.EN & LONGMANS, PATEH.NO STF.R HOW;

Q U75I

BJOLOGY
UBRARY

6

2

* .

3

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Page

On the Instincts of the Animal World, as different from Human Rea-
son— Various Instances of Instinct - 1

CHAP. II.

ON THE SENSES OF ANIMALS.

On the different Senses as developed in all the Classes of Animals. —
General Remarks on those of the Vertebrated Division. — Vitality of
Animals — Fascination of Snakes - - 40

CHAP. III.

On the Passions of Animals - - - 62

CHAP. IV.

On the Motions of Animals . . . . . 90

CHAP. V.

On the Means of Defence possessed by Animals - . 126

CHAP. VI.

Direct Injuries inflicted by Animals . - - 176

CHAP. VII.
Indirect Injuriee

----- SS3

CHAP. VIII. *
On the Hybernation, Torpidity, and Migration of Animals - - 238

CONTENTS.

CHAP. IX.

On Imperfect Societies of Animals Pag*

- 268

CHAP. X.

O.i Perfect Societies jf Animals . . . - - 287

CHAP XI.

Luminous Animals

- 359

ON THE

HABITS AND INSTINCTS

OP

CHAPTER

ON THE INSTINCTS OF THE ANIMAL WORLD, AS DIFFERENT
FROM HUMAN REASON. - VARIOUS INSTANCES OF INSTINCT.

(1.) BOTH philosophers and naturalists have long en-
deavoured to define the true nature of INSTINCT, or that
faculty which is given to nearly all animals in place of
the superior gift of improveable REASON. An intelligent-
author of the present day — unable, as it would seem., to
reconcile the clashing opinions of preceding writers —
facetiously declares, " I am quite of Bonnet's opinion,
that philosophers will in vain torment themselves to
define instinct, until they have spent some time in the
head of an animal, without actually being that animal."
He afterwards adds, however, without pretending to
enter into a minute analysis of the subject, that he
should call " the instincts of animals, those unknown
faculties implanted in their constitution by the Creator,
by which, independent of instruction observation, and

2 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

experience, and without a knowledge of the end in
view, they are impelled to the performance of certain
actions, tending to the well-being of the individual, and
the preservation of the species." So far, then, and
considered as merely a general definition, or rather
description, of instinct, this opinion is perfectly satis-
factory ,• but it does not reach all the various bearings
of this complicated subject. When we find some animals
not only impelled to perform certain necessary func-
tions in a regular and unvarying manner, — one gene-
ration following another in exactly the same track, and
supplying their different wants in precisely the same
manner, — but also that many others actually vary in
what should seem to be the universal ordination of
nature, and, as if in obedience to the deductions of
reason, accurately adapting their plans to their circum-
stances, and their measures to those unexpected changes
which accident may have wrought in their situation, —
with these facts upon record, we feel it is not sur-
prising that some who have written on the subject have
gone a step further. They have, in fact, sought to solve
the question, by admitting that, besides the faculty of
instinct, animals may, in an inferior degree, also possess
that of reason. But this admission brings with it fresh
difficulties. If once $e allow the least degree of reason
to the brute creation, we must concede a portion of it
altogether incompatible with their situation. We must
admit that the bee, for instance, is guided in her
wonderful operations, by an acquaintance with those
principles of science, which man has required time and
reflection to discover. We must, in short, acknow-
ledge her both a geometrician and a philosopher ; and
endue her with a perception of causes and effects, in-
consistent with the other habits and appearances of the
creature, absolutely derogatory to the superior nature of
man.

(2.) A much more probable solution of this question,
and one far more conformable to the relative positions
of man and brute, is afforded by the idea, (( that animals

CHAP. I. NATURE OF INSTINCT. 3

do not act with a view to consequences, from their own
proper consciousness ; but that, whenever they do so
act, it is from a dictating energy, operating above the
sphere of their consciousness, and disposing them so to
do : that the business of mental analysis and extraction
is performed for them, as it were, in every instance
where they appear to exhibit proofs of it ; and that,
properly speaking, there is nothing of design attribut-
able to brutes in their actions, but merely a subordinate
voluntary principle and discriminating perception, which
may be termed natural, to distinguish it from what is
moral, intellectual, or scientific ; to which latter princi-
ples, alone, design can properly be referred." This theory,
at once, explains the apparent rationality observable
in many of the actions of animals ; and it will reconcile
its seeming indications with their general character and
manners. There is, however, " a strong tendency to
mistake the cause instrumental for the cause principal,
in this, as in other cases ; by which we are insensibly
led to assign the sum total of the attribute to the visible
agent, without stopping to consider further of the
matter. Thus, gratitude, which is a moral quality -in
man, is thought to be moral also in the dog; but,
surely, no one, upon mature consideration will imagine
that the dog reflects on the inclination or desire he
feels to act in a manner which we view as grateful, or
that he is pleased with the survey and reflection, — that
the moral quality of his actions becomes objective to
him : and yet this is absolutely necessary, in order to
constitute a moral consciousness ; for, to effect this, it
is not only necessary that the action be outwardly, or in
effect, moral, but that this moral action be reflected
upon as such, in order that its moral quality may be
thus perceived and felt." *

(3.) The same argument may be applied to every
circumstance which may seem to infer a mental or
moral consciousness, inconsistent with: the general na-
ture of brutes. By supposing that the " Divine Energy

* French, in Zool. Journ. for March, 182-t,
B 2

4 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

does in reality act, not immediately, but mediately, or
through the medium of moral or intellectual influence,
upon the nature and consciousness of the creature, in
the production of the various and often wonderful ac-
tions which they perform," * we shall at once account,
as it has been said, for those perplexing contrarieties
perceptible in the animal creation, and be enabled to
understand the otherwise incongruous mixtures of skill
and stupidity, sagacity and ignorance, which is there
exhibited. We may thus account for the hen carefully
turning the eggs upon which she so perseveringly sits>
that every part may be exposed to the vital warmth
which she affords, while she yet knows not the differ-
ence between these very eggs, and pieces of chalk which
may be substituted . in their room. The young of the
cuckoo, in like manner, is impelled to exert all its
powers to dislodge the young of its foster-parents, so
that they may not interfere with itself ; — an impulse
which we cannot possibly ascribe to its own mental
consciousness ; or otherwise, as Mr. French justly ob-
serves, " the half-grown cuckoe must, indeed, be a rara
avis in terris, — a feathered philosopher of no mean or
dispicable talent."

(4.) The preceding observations upon the nature
of instinct, chiefly drawn from the writings of others,
are sufficient — at least, in our estimation — to show
that this faculty cannot be confounded with reason,
properly so called, without a direct violation of all lo-
gical induction, — a stopping short, as it wrere, of those
consequences, which the admission of reason in the
animal world inevitably lead to. Here, indeed, we
should have paused, had the question at issue been
merely confined to such limits : but it involves much
higher considerations ; for, if there be no difference
between the volition of an animal and that of MAN, the
naturalist may well place them upon an equality — and
we must either exalt the one into rational and, there-
fore, accountable beings, or we must debase the other
to a rank among the brutes. It has been well said,

* ZooL Journ. tor March, 18'24

CHAP. I. NATURE OP VOLITION. 5

that " science knows of no aversions, and must hold on
its way through evil report and good report," even al-
though it forces upon us the strange and offensive con-
clusion, so derogatory to the dignity of MAN, that there
is a brotherhood of mind between him and the animal-
culae of a stagnant pool." Let us inquire, therefore,
calmly and dispassionately, whether science will really
bring us to this conclusion.

(5.) In whatever way volition originates, so as to
act upon the corporeal structure, is immaterial to our
present purpose ; nor can this be determined, until
the properties of the brain and the nervous tissue are
thoroughly understood. In other words, it is totally
beyond the reach of finite beings. Are we, then, to
determine that volition, or will, is but of one sort ? and
is, in fact,* synonymous with MIND ? If so, we must
fail in with the above conclusion, and at once confess
that the greater or lesser development of MIND consti-
tutes, in reality, the only difference between man and
an animalcule.

(6.) But a little reflection, and a more extensive
analysis of volition, will lead us to far different results.
Before, however, we proceed further in this inquiry, it
will be as well to explain, as shortly as possible, the
meaning we attach to the word VOLITION. This term
we consider synonymous with the WILL, to which the
corporeal structure is but an agent. The power of vo-
lition, which produces motion, belongs alone to the
animal kingdom, — at least, so far as human research has
extended. For, although there are facts in the economy
of certain vegetables which seem to militate against this
supposition, (such as the closing of the leaflets of several
Mimosa, upon being touched, and other less familiar
examples,) yet we are disposed to attribute such de-
viations from the usual inertness of vegetables to ex-
ternal causes, acting upon the cellular tissue, or to the
adaptation of their structure to meet the contingencies
of adverse circumstances as to soil or situation. The
same, indeefl, may be said of many of the lower ani-
B 3

6 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

inals forming the class Acrita, which grow as vege-
tables, and remain immovably attached to the spot
whereon they were born. The line of demarcation, in
fact, between beings with and without this faculty, is
as perfectly undeterminable as that between the two
great divisions of organised matter.

(7.) VOLITION being, then, one' of the peculiar
prerogatives of animals, let us see in what manner this
faculty is developed. It is, in one sense, clearly dis-
tinct from life ; for, although both must exist in an
animal, it is LIFE, only, that is apparent in the vege-
table. And yet, on the other hand, as VOLITION neces-
sarily implies the possession of LIFE, it seems not
unreasonable to suppose that the one is the first rudi-
ment of the other. SENSATION is alike common to all
organised beings ; but CONSCIOUSNESS is, probably, re-
stricted to those, only, which possess volition.

(8.) Now, it is clear, from what we have already
said, that volition is of two very different kinds —
Instinct, and Reason. The first, indeed, may be con-
sidered the first germ, or rudimentary development, of
the latter ; since, without an accurate idea of the pro-
perties of reason, it would be almost impossible to
define where the one ceased, and the other began.
Hence, more than one writer has included both facul-
ties under the general denomination of MIND ; and as
mind, in this sense of the term, is equally possessed
both by man and brutes, they have been driven, as it
were, to that admission — strange and offensive, as it has
been well termed — which we have already noticed.

(9.) An hypothesis such as this will not, how-
ever, be borne out by inductive philosophy. We shall
not repeat all that has been here said on the nature of
instinct ; but a few remarks may, perhaps, strengthen
our position, that MIND is totally distinct from this
lower faculty, both in its intention, its operation, and
its ultimate result. The intention of instinct is, simply,
to fulfil those functions of volition which each par-
ticular species is peculiarly organised to perform. The

CHAP. I. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTINCT. 7

lowest development of instinct is probably seen in those
molluscous animals which are fixed to rocks, and merely
open their mouth, or their shelly covering, — as does the
oyster, — for the purpose of imbibing nourishment; the
instinct of the parent having prompted it to deposit its
eggs, or spawn, in such a locality, rather than upon a
soft muddy or sandy beach. The woodpecker is led to
alight upon the perpendicular bole of a tree, rather
than on the ground, because, in one situation, its scan-
sorial feet enable it to climb with rapidity, while, upon
the other, it could scarcely walk. Ascending by such
progressive steps as these, we may come to the elephant,
the honey-guide, and the bee, — the most apparently
rational of the three most perfect orders of animals ;
and yet, in their ordinary habits, the same principle
holds good. There are, indeed, instances upon record,
of such extraordinary actions performed by animals, as
to induce the suspicion that a higher power of dis-
crimination, of judgment, or of forethought, had been
given to them, than what is ordinarily implied by the
term instinct ; yet, before we can confound such high
developments of this faculty with mind or reason, we
must well consider the perfections of these latter, and
the necessary consequences which result from their pos-
session. We know not, indeed, the limits of instinct;
but we know full well, inductively, by natural religion,
and, assuredly, by revealed, that man, who alone en-
joys reason, is, consequently, an accountable being :
and no theorist will go so far as to suppose that the
same may be said of a bee, or an oyster !

(10.) The operations of instinct are limited to those
circumstances which tend only to keep the species in
the same state of intelligence (so to speak) in which it
was born. There is no progressive advancement, in
succeeding generations, by which a higher advance is
made, either by the communication of experience, or
the effects of example, in higher animals. Each species
has its own limited range ; and there its powers cease.
The ox, which "knew his master's crib," and followed
B 4

8 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. I*

the patriarchs in their journeys, four thousand years ago,
was not less intelligent than those of the present day;
and the dogs of Nimrod were, probably, as far advanced
in civilisation as those possessed by our modern hunters.
The wild ass of Scripture — which was, probably, the
zebra — is still the same untameable inhabitant of the
desert ; and all the efforts of man to make him obedient
to the curb have been utterly fruitless. The hen does
not discriminate between a real and an artificial egg;
and the tomtit will still go on building her nest in the
same hole, after it has been destroyed four or five
times.* These, and a thousand similar instances, may
be cited, to illustrate what we have just advanced.

(11.) But, it may be said, instinct is improveable by
what is called domestication. And when we hear of
learned pigs, birds firing cannon, and tigers becoming
tame as kittens, who shall determine how far such in-
telligence may be carried ? True ; but we may ask,
again, are these acquired faculties, unnatural as they
certainly are, transmitted ? Are they not the effect of
a long, and often inhuman, training ? and do they not
perish with the possessor ? The extent of cultivated
instinct, as we may properly term all these acquired
habits, is only to be known by experiments; and these
have been carried sufficiently far, as to convince us that
the faculties thus called forth, do not trench upon any
one of those prerogatives which, we shall hereafter show,
belong to REASON. In a former volume, we esta-
blished the fact that a uniform aptitude for domestica-
tion is not spread over the whole of the higher animals;
but that, on the contrary, it has been more especially
granted to such as Infinite Wisdom has set apart for
the service, or the sustenance, of MAN. He may, in-
deed, arrogantly vaunt that, in training such to his use,
he conquers nature ; but the boast is not only idle, but
absolutely groundless. He does no more than bring
out latent qualities, planted by another and an Al-
mighty Hand. One might be tempted, therefore, to
imagine that thos£ animals would always exhibit the

* See Classification of Birds*

CHAP. I. CHARACTERISTICS OF REASON. 9

nearest approach to reason, which had been domesti-
cated from time immemorial. But this, if we except,
perhaps, the elephant, is assuredly not the case. The
ants and the bees, as we shall hereafter show, possess
an instinct far above all other known animals ; yet
they have never been domesticated, nor can we conceive
how their admirable economy could be improved. The
operations of their instincts appear to carry them no
further than what is necessary to the well-being of each
particular species., which every naturalist knows is more
or less dissimilar. There are, indeed, a few anecdotes,
which occasionally appear in our natural history and other
periodicals, of such a marvellous nature, as to indicate
reasoning faculties among brutes; but we look on these
statements with the same degree of scepticism as those
which vouch for living toads being inclosed in solid
marble; — for no real naturalist, scrupulously jealous of
the greatest possible accuracy, has put them forward.
Such, then, are the operations of instinct. In defining
them, we have also given their ultimate results. They
tend to nothing more than the economy of the present
life : they have no relation to the improvement of exist-
ing communities, or the transmission of knowledge to
succeeding generations: each individual, however highly
gifted by nature, or improved by art, passes away, and
is forgotten. The end of its creation, in the economy
of nature, is fulfilled : it has had all the enjoyment of
animal life, which, from its very nature, it was alone
capable of receiving; — it followed its own appetites, its
own wishes, and its own will. No consciousness of
moral obligation or responsibility was given to it when
alive, therefore there remains no ultimate object to be
accomplished after its death.

(12.) Let us now turn to that higher species of voli-
tion, to which we assign the term of reason ; and in
like manner consider its intention, its operation, and its
ultimate results. "We are free to confess that the
higher and the lower faculties, viewed merely in some
of their operations, appear so intimately blended, that

10 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

it becomes impossible to mark their limits by the naked
facts they unfold. But this is merely looking to the
surface of things. Man, it is true, is guided by in-
stinct, more or less, in every stage of his existence,
—from the moment when he turns to the maternal
breast *, to that at which he expires. The economy of
a state of probation renders it absolutely necessary that
he should be subject to the animal instincts and passions
of the brute creation; for, were it otherwise, there
would have been no occasion for his being peculiarly
gifted with a higher and a controlling power. This
power is REASON : and with this intent, in a primary
sense, has it been granted to us, — and to us only. Rea-
son, in fact, is almost but another name for MIND, or
that principle which guides our volition, whether for the
better or the worse, in all such cases as come not within
the scope of animal instincts. Reason is superadded to
instinct, as a distinct faculty, and is not a mere expan-
sion of the same power. The history of the world,
unfortunately, exhibits too many instances of men —
particularly among the ancients — endowed with the
noblest development of this power, who, yet, have given
themselves up to the most gross and brutish sensuali-
ties ; thus exhibiting the animal propensities of the one
faculty in its most pitiable force, — since it was accom-
panied by a total prostration of the other; — one hour a
philosopher, the next a debauchee.

(13.) The operations of reason, again, are very dif-
ferent from those of instinct ; it commences not, like
the latter, in early infancy, — but is of slow growth.
There is nothing to contradict the hypothesis — that
all the powers of instinct an animal will ever possess,
are given to it so soon as it quits the sustenance it
may derive from the parent, and begins to provide for
itself. It will be observed, that a kitten is just as wary

* I have somewhere met with a passage gravely asserting that the in-
fant does not turn to the mother's breast instinctively lor food, but that
it is directed by her to that pure source of nourishment. Had the writer,
in his simplicity, put the question to any mother, a smile at its absurdity
would have been his answer

CHAP. I. CHARACTERISTICS OF REASON. 11

and cunning at catching such birds and mice as it
can conquer, as is its mother ; and a young duckling
will swim, dive, and procure its food, with the same
ease and expertness as its parents. But the operation
of reason, as every one knows, is quite different. It
is dormant at an age when the animal instincts have
long begun to show themselves ; and only awakens, and
asserts its claim to he heard, when the passions and the
inclinations of advanced youth require that direction
and control which it was intended to exercise. But,
although it comes slowly into being, and is afterwards
always liable to be affected by the infirmities of the
body, its growth is not for time, but eternity. It may
be clouded by anxiety, dimmed by sickness, or perverted
by evil ; but still it does not, of necessity, permanently
lose its force, as do several of the animal instincts, in
proportion to the decay of the body. We pretend not
to frame any hypothesis by which to account for the
apparent extinction of right-mindedness, or reason, in
maniacs, further than to suppose that causes, moral or
physical, have operated to the total or partial derange-
ment of a faculty which, nevertheless, exists in full
force, although in a perverted state. But this is cer-
tain ; — that the powers of reason, in sane and well-regu-
lated minds, are in their full vigour and expansion,
long after the animal functions of the body have begun
to decay; and that innumerable instances might be
quoted, of the reasoning mind preserving all its depth,
and acuteness, and discrimination, when the animal man
is fast approaching that age which the Psalmist has
measured out. To all but the Christian philosopher,
who inwardly feels that MIND is indestructible, and
therefore immortal, nothing can be more depressing, in-
consistent, and unaccountable, than to see those favoured
beings, who have been gifted with a high development
of this faculty, — and which they are employing for the
good of others, — gradually sinking into old age and de-
crepitude, at a time when their mind, although clouded
by a diseased body, is still sending forth rays of genius

12 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I,

and of wisdom, — the accumulated results of thoughtful
experience and calm deliberation.

(14.) One would imagine that such a picture as this
— and they are thickly dispersed in the pages of human
history — would force upon the conviction of every
unbeliever, the immortality of mind, and of the reason-
ing faculty. If these were the same as instinct, where
would be the necessity of preserving them in vigour,
when all the rest of the human economy is hastening to
decay ? The whole of the animal races show us that
every thing is perfection in its kind ; that, so soon as one
part of the animal frame begins to decay, all the others
evince the same propensity ; and that no one creature
exhibits a deviation from this rule, but that which has
been pronounced the most perfect — MAN. Old age
deadens all the animal faculties, but leaves the mental
sound, hale, and even in a yet expanding progress ; the
oil burns with brightness, while the earthen lamp that
contains it is fast mouldering to its parent dust. Why
is this inconsistency? Clearly, because the one is inde-
structible, and the other perishable. The former is still
to grow on in another and a brighter world, unshackled
by a companionship with animal instincts. The time
of its probation, uninfluenced by the state of the body,
arrives, — and it is then to receive its reward or its
punishment, according as it has been exercised to con-
trol the animal instincts, or to become their slave.

(15.) The ultimate objects of reason are clearly those
pointed to in the last paragraph; but the right use of
it can only be learned by revelation. The past and
present history of the human race shows us, that, with-
out this guide, the most perverted uses have been, and
are now, daily made of this faculty. The savage, in-
deed, reasons with himself according to the degree of
development which this power has attained in his mind ;
and we know, by daily experience, in others, if not in
ourselves, how much the faculty may be enlarged.
Nevertheless, the usages, the customs, and the pre-
judices of every nation oppose insuperable obstacles to a

CHAP. I. USES OF REASON. 13

right and unperverted exercise of reason, which nothing
but a divine standard of laws can possibly clear away.
The Gospel was ushered into the world at a time when
human reason, in the polished schools of Greece, may
be said to have attained its height, — on purpose to show
how utterly incompetent that wisdom was, to instruct
mankind in the true intentions of this faculty. In
perusing the works of the sages of that age, we find the
most noble, and even godlike sentiments, and the most
profound reflections, mixed up with others of a com-
pletely opposite character, — reasoning so perverted, as
to sanction, in the first intellectual nation that ever
existed, acts which would disgrace savages, and from
which even the lowest of civilised beings would instinc-
tively turn with disgust. The heathen, indeed, has a
law written in his mind, which he is bound to fulfil, —
and, if he walk by this, he is in the hands of a merciful
Judge ; but with the Christian it is far otherwise. His
Maker has given him, in revelation, a guide both for
his moral and religious duties : the right use of reason
is, to diffuse these principles into all his actions ; and
he has the exclusive power of communicating to his
cotemporaries, and of leaving to his successors, the
fruits of his own experience ; faculties which belong
not to that animal intelligence we term instinct.

(16.) To pursue this subject further would be need-
less ; nor should we have entered thus far upon it, but
to refute what appears to us a most mistaken, if not a
dangerous, doctrine, — namely, that all volition, or de-
termining motion, no less than consciousness, originates
in MIND. It is a law in the prosecution of physical
science, that every hypothesis, however ingenious, must
be rigidly tested by facts ; and that where the primary
causes, as in the present case, lie beyond our demon-
stration, we can only gain philosophic notions on the
nature and qualities of any subject, by looking to effects.
Now, the effects of determinate motion, as we have
seen, are so varied, that they can never be classed under
one title, — seeing that these effects are intended to pro-

14 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

duce very different purposes. The infant turns to its
mother's breast by instinct ; but the mechanic invents
a new instrument by long and deep reasoning. Both
these are the effects of volition, or determining motion ;
but how can it possibly be said that they equally
emanate from MIND, when the one belongs to the ani-
mal economy, the other to the moral ? Hence it there-
fore follows, that, where the effects are so different, the
faculties themselves must be equally different. What
these latter really are, it is altogether useless to inquire*
They belong to those " deep things " of the Creator's
government, which no finite understanding can reach.

(17.) We shall now lay before the reader, as exam-
ples of instinct, a number of singular peculiarities of
animal economy, which will not properly arrange under
the other chapters of this volume. Many of the Acrita,
or the marine corals, zoophytes, &c., are immovably
fixed to submarine rocks and other bodies, where they
may be said to grow or vegetate in such a sluggish
manner as to preclude the idea of any degree of instinct
having been assigned to them ; and yet, when we re-
collect that these productions, with their innumerable
regular and beautiful cells, are actually the work of
minute animals, we must confess that nearly as high
a degree of the building instinct has been given to them
as to the bees and wasps, whose dwellings are scarcely
more regular, or fabricated in a more finished manner.
There is reason, also, to suppose that the animals of
certain corals only fix themselves on particular rocks,
at proper depths, and in otherwise favourable situations.
Now, all this requires a degree of instinct far higher
than would at first be imagined. We are yet, how-
ever, so profoundly ignorant on the animal economy of
these creatures, that we must leave them, for others
higher in the scale of creation.

(18.) In BIRDS, we shall find this faculty exhibited
in many curious, and several highly interesting, par-
ticulars ; such as the construction of their habitations
— the process of nidification — the methods of pro-

CHAP. I.

INSTINCT AMONG BIRDS.

15

curing food — and the migrations which so many un-
dertake. Of their skill in forming their nests we have
already spoken in a former volume.* The small birds
of Southern Africa are striking examples of this art, —
displaying, in many instances, the most surprising fore-
sight in their formation. Some of the Ploceance, or
weaving finches, suspend their nests to the branches of
trees which overhang the water, — shaping the fabric
exactly like a chemist's retort, the aperture being placed
at the bottom of the shank, which is eight or nine inches
long ; while others, it is said, fence their nests round
with thorns. The Icterince,
or hangnests of America
(fid' !•)* as their name im-
plies, construct theirs on
the same principle, — - the
fabric being composed of
the stalks of the inward
hair of a wiry sort of grass,
the blades and stems of
which they weave together,
and hang to the extremities
of lofty trees : in the forests
of Brazil, we have seen set-
tlements thus formed of 200
or 300. The pensile warbler (Sylvia pensilis Lin.) shows
equal ingenuity: her nest is formed of dry blades of grass,
the ribs of leaves, and very small roots, all twined together
in the most skilful and artificial manner, formed into a
compact ball, and carefully worked into binders, again
suspended to a netting which she has previously drawn
from tree to tree, — so that this curiously constructed
mansion rocks to and fro with the wind, secure from
the assaults of her numerous enemies. The mode which
these little artificers pursue, is not, however, always the
same — but varies with that instinct which, it has been
already remarked, is observed so frequently to suit itself
to new and peculiar circumstances : and thus, in our

* Classification of Birds, vol. i.

16 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. J.

own island, although the nests of each particular
species, when built in the open country, are always
essentially on the same principle ; yet, when found near
towns or villages, where the same materials are not to
be procured, their formation is adapted both to the
situation in which they are placed, and to the substance
of which they are constructed. * The nest of the com-
mon wren ( Troglodytes Europceus) illustrates the above
fact : if built against a haystack, it will be uniformly
made of hay; if attached to a tree covered with white
lichen, it will be chiefly covered with the same sub-
stance ; and so on, according to the place which it may
chance to occupy. The obvious intention, however, in
every instance, is to provide against discovery, by
assimilating the exterior of the nest as near as possible
to the object close to it.

(19.) In rearing their young, other instincts become
developed. The ostrich will exemplify this second
branch of our subject ; and this unjustly slandered bird
is now relieved from the odium which the ancients
attached to her, since it is proved that she not only
hatches her eggs, but that she reserves others, to pro-
vide the young with nourishment when they first burst
into life. In Senegal, where the heat is extreme, the
ostrich, it is said, sits at night only, upon those which
are to be rendered fertile ; but at the Cape of Good
Hope, where the sun has less power, the mother re-
mains constant in her attentions to the eggs, both day
and night. The instinct of this bird, in providing
food for its young, appears to be without parallel, and
is thus noticed by Le Vaillant : — " During this day's
journey, I met with the nest of an ostrich, upon which
the female was hatching : there were three eggs de-
posited on the bare ground, lying before her ; and she
was sitting upon nine others, the young of which were
in so advanced a state as to be ready to burst the shell."
The separation of the eggs in this manner into two
parcels — one parcel intended to supply the first food

* White's Selborne, vol. ii. p. 70.

CHAP. I.

INSTINCT AMONG BIRDS.

17

of the young which are hatched from the other — was
considered incredible, when first announced as a fact by
this well-known traveller ; but subsequent observations
have, in this instance, and in many others, only proved
his veracity. The number of eggs which the ostrich
usually sits upon is ten. But the Hottentots, who are
very fond of them, upon discovering a nest, seize fitting
opportunities to remove one or two at a time : this in-
duces the bird to deposit more ; and in this manner she
has been known, like the domestic hen, to lay between
forty and fifty in a season. The pelican is stated to
preserve her eggs from injury, by hiding them in the
water until the fancied danger is removed.* The
razorbill fixes hers on the smooth rock, with so exact
a balance, that, if removed, and afterwards attempted to

be replaced, it is
difficult, if not im-
possible, to adjust
it safe in the same
position, t Le
Vaillant remarks,
that the African
Anhinga (fig. 2.),
or darter, which is
a completely aqua-
tic bird, neverthe-
less builds its nest and rears its young on rocks and
trees ; yet the former is so constructed, that, at any mo-
ment of pressing danger, when the young are once able
to swim, the mother can plunge them into the water be-
neath. J

(20.) The expedients by which birds provide their
food is often equally sagacious ; none, however, show
a more wonderful instinct in effecting this purpose, than
those of the genus Indicator, or honey-guide. Dr. Spar-
man, the African traveller and naturalist, was the first
who made this singular statement. He says, that, when

• Clark's Travels. f Pen. Brit. ZooL vol. ii. p. 510.

% Le Vaillant's Travels in Africa, vol. iii. p. 184.

0

18 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

this bird discovers a nest of honey, it flies eagerly to
the first person it can find, and by its chirping and
fluttering invites him to follow, — faithfully leading him
to the spot, watching whilst he takes possession of the
treasure, and patiently waiting for that portion which
is always left by the African hunters as a reward to
their feathered guide.

(21.) The address which the secretary eagle evinces
in fighting with a serpent, has been thus described by
an eye-witness : — " The battle was obstinate, and
conducted with equal address on both sides. But the
serpent, — feeling the inferiority of his strength, — in
his attempt to flee and regain his hole, employed that
cunning which is ascribed to him ; while the bird,
guessing his design, suddenly stopped him and cut off
his retreat, by placing herself before him at a single
leap. On whatever side the reptile endeavoured to
make his escape, his enemy was still found before him.
Then, uniting at once bravery and cunning, he erected
himself boldly to intimidate the bird ; and, hissing
dreadfully, displayed his menacing throat, inflamed eyes,
and a head swelled with rage and venom (fig. 3.). Some-

times this threatening appearance produced a momentary
suspension of hostilities , but the bird soon returned
to the charge, and, covering her body with one of her

CHAP. I. INSTINCT OF PARASITIC BIRDS. 19

wings, as a buckler, struck her enemy with the horny
protuberances upon the other, which, like little clubs,
served the more effectually to knock him down as he
raised himself to the blow : at last he staggered and
fell : the conqueror then despatched him, and with one
stroke of her bill laid open his skull."*

(22.) The instinct of the nestling cuckoo is not
more remarkable than that of the parent. The Euro-
pean species (fig. 4.), as is
well observed by White of
Selborne, does not lay its
eggs in other birds' nests in-
discriminately, but, by a won-
derful instinct, selects only
those of soft-billed insecti^-
vorous birds, — such as the
wagtails, hedge-sparrow, tit-
lark, whitethroat, and red-
breast, — to whom it can
intrust the proper feeding of
its progeny. The North
American cuckoos, however,
being of a different species, more frequently lay their
eggs in the nests of the cowpen birds (Molothrus pe~
coris Sw.), whose bills, from being larger and thicker
than those of a sparrow, might lead to the belief that
they fed their young upon that grain which the old
birds are known to be fond of. It seems, however,
that although this species, in their adult state, are grani-
vorous, yet that they are also insectivorous, and feed
their young with this latter aliment rather than with
the former. Hence it is that the young cuckoo is
still nourished with insects until it can fly, when it
quits the nest and shifts for itself.

(23.) QUADRUPEDS claim our next attention. It is
in this class, more than in any other, we find that kind
of superior instinct formerly alluded to, which makes
them not only the companion, but the friend, of man.

* Le Vaillant's Second Travels, voL ii. p. 247. \

c 2

20 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

The elephant, the horse, and more particularly the dog,
afford familiar illustrations of that attachment towards
mankind, implanted in their nature by Omnipotence,,
but withheld from nearly all other animals. The skill
and ingenuity of quadrupeds are, in many instances, very
great, particularly in some of the smaller kinds. The
jerboa, the beaver, and the harvest mouse, are both
architects and weavers ; and the habitation of the latter
ingenious little creature, according to White, is most ar-
tificially platted, being composed of the blades of wheat,
perfectly round, and with the aperture closed in the
nicest manner; the one he examined was "so compact
and well fitted, that it would roll across the table with-
out being discomposed, though it contained eight little
mice that were naked and blind."*

(•24.) The manner in which other quadrupeds pre-
serve, and others obtain, their food, is indicative of this
faculty. The fox, when possessed of a larger booty
than it can at once consume, never allows itself to gra-
tify its appetite, until it has secured the whole of its
prize, by placing it in different holes, which it digs for
the purpose, and which it endeavours to conceal by
placing upon them a quantity of loose earth. t Some of
the Glires, or mice, provide a winter store of food ;
but, to prevent its premature decay, the animal will
bring out his provisions, and spread them in the sun to
dry. The Alpine hare is stated to cut down quantities
of soft grass, and, after spreading it out for some time,
collect it into heaps, which are then placed beneath
overhanging rocks, in fissures, or under sheltering trees ;
and these winter magazines are visited so regularly,
that they may be discovered by the beaten path of the
animal over the snow. It has been related, — but we very
much doubt the fact, — that the jaguar of America will
stand in the water, out of the immediate course of the
stream, and drop its saliva on the surface, so that it
may draw the fish after it within its reach. J On the

* White's Selborne, vol. i. p. 59, f Pen. Brit. Zoo), vol. ii. p. 510-
j Wood's Zool. vol. i. p. 45.

CHAP. I. INSTINCT AMONG QUADRUPEDS. 21

other hand, it has heen credibly stated that otters, when
fishing, will so station themselves, as that one is above,
and the other below, where the fish are most abundant;
sometimes whistling, as a signal to each other, and per-
severing in the chace until the prey is obtained.* Some-
thing of this sort has been stated regarding the oran-
outang, which has been affirmed to frequent the sea-
coasts in search of shellfish ; and having obtained one
particular species of oyster, which is generally found
upon the beach, instead of inserting its paw, which
might be immediately crushed by the collapsing shell,
it thrusts in a large stone, and then draws out its prey
at pleasure. To this instance of instinct, however, we
must withhold our belief : it is not only too rational,
but there is nothing yet known, to make us believe that
this quadruped feeds, in a state of nature, upon animal
food.

(25.) The instinct which leads, as it has been al-
leged, certain animals to search for particular medicinal
herbs, has been very generally believed, or, at least, pro-
pagated by the writers of popular and elementary Na-
tural Histories ; but we are somewhat sceptical in be-
lieving this alleged fact, notwithstanding the following
statement by an author whose general accuracy there
is no reason to doubt : — Ichneumons, observes captain
Williamson, which are very numerous in India, are the
natural enemies of serpents, which they attack without
fear of their bulk or venom. They are remarkably
quick in their motions, and by their activity and per-
severance so worry a snake, that they generally become
the conquerors. They are, however, sometimes bitten ;
but on such occasions " they hunt about among the
common grass, and there find some antidote, of which
having eaten, and rubbed themselves with by rolling on
the spot, they return to the charge ; never failing to
scent the snake's course perfectly correct. It is a thou-
sand pities," concludes our author, " that the antidote
resorted to by these animals has never been ascer-

* Pen. Brit Zool.

c 3

22 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP, I.

tained." This might be easily accomplished by any
one killing an individual immediately after it has been
fully ascertained to have resorted to this mode of cure,
after having been injured by the serpent with which it
may have fought.

(26.) The instinct of the black American bear, in
procuring the acorns and chestnuts from the branches of
particular trees, is worthy attention. To procure these
fruits in greater quantities, the animal ascends the tree ;
and as his weight will not allow of his going far from
the trunk, he breaks the branch on which he has ob-
served the most fruit, by grasping it in one of his fore
paws. " I have seen some of these branches/' observes
Michaux*, " of such a diameter, that the animal must
have possessed an extraordinary strength to break them
so effectually as to fall upon the ground." Another
singular and almost incredible instance of adapting
means to an end is mentioned by Plutarch, who writes :
' ' When I saw a dog in a ship — the sailors not being
present — dropping small stones into the oil which
was in a jar but partly full, I was astonished at his
conceiving and understanding the overflow which takes
place when heavy bodies sink in the lighter ."t

(27.) The contrivance of the elephant to raise him-
self from the bottom of a pit is conducted on the same
principle as that pursued by Plutarch's dog. When
the natives have discovered his capture, he is retained
in the pit until they judge he is sufficiently tractable to
be conducted forth. Large bundles of jungle grass are
then thrown to him ; and he is thus gradually raised to
the surface, or, at least, to such an elevation as will
enable him to step out. The sagacity of elephants on
such occasions, or when bogged in swamps, is truly ad-
mirable. The cylindrical form of an elephant's leg
— which is nearly of equal thickness — causes the
animal to sink very deep in heavy ground, especially in
the muddy banks of small rivers. When thus situated,

• Travels, p. 318.

t De Solert. Animalium. Opp. t. ii. p. 967. ed. Lut Par. 162*. Shepp.
Ant. Dr. 171.

CHAP. I. INSTINCTS OF ELEPHANTS. 23

the animal will endeavour to lie on his side, so as to
avoid sinking deeper ; and, for this purpose, will avail
himself of every means to obtain relief. The usual
mode of extricating him is much the same as when
pitted ; that is, by supplying him liberally with straw,
boughs, grass, &c. : these materials being thrown to
the distressed animal, he forces them down with his
trunk, till they are lodged under his fore feet in suffi-
cient quantity to resist his pressure. Having thus
formed a sufficient basis for exertion, the sagacious
animal next proceeds to thrust other bundles under his
belly, and as far back under his flanks as he can reach :
when such a basis is formed, as may be, in his mind,
proper to proceed upon, he throws his whole weight
forward, and gets his hind feet gradually upon the
straw, &c. Being once confirmed on a solid footing,
he will next place the succeeding bundles before him,
pressing them well with his trunk, so as to form a
causeway by which to reach the firm ground. The in-
stinct of the animal, and probably the experience of his
past danger, actuates him not to bear any weight, defi-
nitely, until, by trial both with his trunk and the next
foot that is to be planted, he has completely satisfied
himself of the firmness of the ground he is to tread
upon. Indeed, the caution with which this, and every
part of his conduct on these occasions, is marked, evinces
how forcibly nature has impressed him with a sense of
his great weight. The anxiety of the animal, when
bemired, forms a curious contrast with the pleasure he
so strongly evinces on arriving at terra firma.

(28.) In their various modes of defence, or avoidance
of their enemies, quadrupeds, like other classes of animals,
frequently display wonderful instinct. The jerboa makes
a burrow under ground, at the end of which a store of
herbs is safely deposited. The cavern has but one
entrance ; but the wary inhabitant forms another, which
reaches so nearly to the surface, that, in case of being
taken by surprise, it can immediately burst through
and escape. The chamois, and several other species of
c 4

24 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

antelopes, ill provided with defensive means, uniformly
employ a sentinel, which, by a sharp hiss, advertises
the herd of the approach of danger, — when all fly off
with the greatest rapidity. The same habit is attri-
buted to the wild horses of South America and Tartary.
Several of the Brazilian monkeys have likewise a si-
milar guard during the hours of repose ; but whether
Smellie * is correct in stating that, if they find their
sentry has neglected his duty, they fall on and tear him
to pieces, we had no means of discovering. It is in-
teresting to observe the manner in which instinct will
sometimes overcome a difficulty which might even puzzle
a reasonable creature. It has been stated that, if two
mountain goats encounter each other upon a narrow
ledge of rocks, where to pass or to turn is utterly im-
possible, one will immediately lie down, while the other
steps over its back. Nor is it less singular to remark
the mode by which animals in similar situations com-
municate their wants and their distresses. An anecdote
of this nature is told of a number of sheep, who sur-
rounded a cow, as if they wished to bespeak her favour
for a poor gravid ewe, which was unable to recover
herself from her miserable situation, until the cow, ad-
vancing towards her, placed the tip of her horns beneath
her side, and gave her a slight but dextrous toss, which
instantly replaced the sufferer upon her feet. We must
place this, however, among the questionable list of
stories handed down of animal instinct.t

(29.) But the most astonishing development of in-
stinct— at least, among quadrupeds — will be found in
the following account of "the decoy elephants of India,
the fidelity of which may be fully depended upon, as the
facts are well known to almost every one who has re-
sided any time in India : — ' ' The females selected for
this extraordinary undertaking are always those uniting
the qualities of great docility and affection to their
drivers with a full-grown stature ; for, without this

• Smellie, Phil, of Nat Hist. vol. L p. 400.
f Griff. Cur. vol. iv. p. 37.

CHAP. I. DECOY ELEPHANTS. 25

latter qualification, the animal cannot conceal her driver
from the sight of the intended victim of her allure-
ments, or, in the event of his being discovered, afford
him protection. A particular time, however, is requi-
site for these operations ; this is, during the rutting
season, when the weaker males, having been driven
away from their former herds by those of greater strength
and courage, are wandering about singly in the woods,
uttering ( disconsolate trumpetings/ the cause of which
is well known to the experienced hunter. These ba-
chelor elephants are called sauns; and, being considered
very valuable, are especially selected for enticing. It
is generally thought best to employ three females, called
Jcoomkies, in the capture of one saun, or wild male.
Each of these is attended by a driver, or mohout, who
is provided with a black blanket, and a small quantity
of strong rope : the former is used to cover the driver,
who crouches in such a manner as not to be easily dis-
tinguished from the female he rides upon. She, also,
aids in this deception ; for, if the situation is favour-
able, both she and her driver furnish themselves with
green boughs, which the former carries in her trunk,
playing with it in such a manner as to favour the con-
cealment of the latter. When the party thus approach
the male, it is usual for the drivers to dismount in some
contiguous cover with their blankets and ropes, leading
the females to the saun, towards which they proceed
with the utmost caution. A most extraordinary scene
then follows. The koomkies begin to caress their in-
tended victim, as if with the utmost tenderness and
affection ; thus inflaming his passions to such a degree,
as to blind him to what is going on. During this
courtship, however, the females contrive to place them-
selves in such a manner as to favour the approach of
their keepers, who, watching their opportunities, pass
the ropes with wonderful dexterity round the fore legs
of the infatuated lover, who is thus speedily secured.
When a large tree is at hand, the females artfully lead
the male towards it, in the first instance : thus the

20 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

approach of the keeper is not only greatly facilitated,
but an opportunity is given of affixing to the hind legs
of the saun a pair of wooden clasps, armed inside with
spikes : these are joined to a strong rope, which is
passed round the tree and made completely fast (fig. 5.).

During all this process, the conduct of the females is pe-
culiarly artful. They not only exert themselves, with as-
tonishing address, to divert the attention of their intended
victim, and to cut off his view, downwards, by means
of their trunks, but they even aid in effecting the
ligatures therewith, — sometimes passing the rope, when
the keepers might either be exposed to danger, or unable
to reach it. It may be observed, that the spikes within
the clasps above mentioned are so small, as only to
inflict pain when the animal, finding himself captured,
struggles violently to free himself from these shackles.

(30.) " Notwithstanding all these precautions, how-
ever, it sometimes happens that the enamoured male
in some way discovers the presence of the keeper ; in
which case not even the caresses of his agreeable com-
panions can control his violence. This is a severe trial
on the fortitude and fidelity of the females, who have
been known to expose themselves to the saun's utmost
fury, while attempting to aid the escape of their keep-
ers. If all goes well, however, so soon as the saun is
secured, the whole party commence a retreat ; since no-

CHAP. I. DECOY ELEPHANTS. 27

thing further is requisite, after these measures have
been taken, than to leave the captured elephant to ex-
pend his strength in vain efforts to regain his liberty.
Awakening, as it would seem, to a full sense of the
deceit that has been practised upon him, his fury be-
comes ungovernable : he destroys whatever may be in
his way; tears up the tufts of grass by the roots ; rends
from the tree such branches as he can reach ; and,
eventually, straining to throw down the tree itself by
his weight, or to pull it up with his trunk. In short,
his whole powers are in action on this occasion ; and it
is only on being completely overcome with fatigue, and
nearly dead from thirst, that he subsides into a sort of
tranquillity." * We may pass over much that has been
said on the preparatory measures adopted for recon-
ciling the captive to his new situation, where he re-
mains until he is sufficiently tamed to be led or driven
to the premises occupied by the tame elephants. The
same females and keepers who ensnared him are em-
ployed in this, preliminary process. At first, he will
only partake of water ; but the impulse of nature soon
operates, — and he is thus induced to pick at tender
branches of plantain trees, sugar canes, &c. Thus sub-
dued, he is taken, under charge of other elephants,-^-ge-
nerally superior to himself in strength and bulk, — to the
dwelling he is in future to occupy. Sometimes, how-
ever, when he is on his way, or, perhaps, on his legs
being liberated, he will make a last and desperate effort
to regain his liberty. When this happens, the con-
ducting elephants, extending to the length of their tow
ropes, urge forward as fast as may be practicable, while
one or more sturdy males goad him behind with their
tusks. This latter circumstance is not the least extra-
ordinary part of the narrative; — for animals to be
driven into confinement by those of their own species
is unexampled, we believe, except in the case of the
elephant.

(31.) Out of the many other curious anecdotes which

* Williamson's Indian Sports.

28 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

have been given of the sagacity of quadrupeds, we shall
only add one more, which, as recorded of an animal consi-
dered as proverbially stupid, is proportionably singular.
An ass, belonging to captain Dundas, R. N., was shipped
on board a frigate proceeding from Gibraltar to the
island of Malta. The vessel struck on some sands off
the Point de Gat, and the poor ass was thrown over-
board, the sea at the time running so high, that a boat
which tried to reach the shore was lost. A few days
after, however, this identical ass presented itself at the
gates of Gibraltar, and hastened to the stable which it
had formerly occupied. The fact was, that the poor
animal had not only escaped safely from the waves, but
actually travelled a distance of 200 miles through an
intricate country, in a space of time which could not
allow of his having even mistaken his road.*

(32.) A most singular instance of the instinct of a
cat for discovering its home is too remarkable to be
omitted, particularly as it occurred under our own ob-
servation. This cat was an excellent raouser ; and the
house of a neighbouring friend being greatly infested
with rats, it was agreed that the animal should take up
its residence for a time in his house, that it might be
cleared, in some degree, of these troublesome pests.
Pussy, however, had then a kitten about two or three
months old ; and as we thought she was more likely to
remain in her new habitation, if she had her little one
as a companion, both animals were sent ; and, that the
mother should not discover her way back, both were
tied up in a sack, and in that state conveyed to our
friend's house, a distance of near a mile and a half from
Tittenhanger Green. The mother, finding herself with
her kitten, and in a good hunting locality, made no ef-
fort to escape. To our utter astonishment, however, she
made her appearance, next morning, at the breakfast-
room door, at her usual hour ! She had come — no one
knew how — over fields and through coppices, as it was
conjectured, early in the morning, by a route she never

* Kirby and Spence's Introd. to Entomology, vol. ii. p. 563.

CHAP. I. INSTINCT OF OUR CAT INSECTS. 2$

could have traversed before, and without any other
guide but — instinct. Having partaken of her usual
breakfast from the hands of her young mistress, she
was seen no more that day ; next morning, however,
she was again at her post; and these daily journeys were
continued fcr more than a week. On mentioning this
to our friend, he stated that he always missed the cat
at his breakfast hour ; but that, soon after, she regu-
larly returned to her kitten, which remained quietly in
the house during the morning visits her mother paid to
her real home. Our cat, like all good mousers, is such
a thief, that, not wishing to kill it, we have frequently
tied it in a sack, and turned it loose at a considerable
distance from home ; but, somehow or other, she in-
variably finds her way, " through brake and through
briar," to Tittenhanger Green, where she now is.

(33.) The instincts of insects are. so singular, and
yet so various, that a volume might be filled with this
subject alone. A few instances, however, in this place,
will be sufficient for our present purpose. The extreme
perfection of instinct, unquestionably, lies in this class
of animals. Kirby and Spence have well remarked,
" What bird or fish, for example, catches its prey
by means of nets as artfully woven, and as admirably
adapted to their purpose, as any
that ever fisherman or fowler
fabricated ? Yet such nets are
constructed by the race of
spiders. What beast of prey
thinks of digging a pitfall in
the track of the animals which
serve it for food, and at the bot-
tom of which it conceals itself,
patiently waiting until some
unhappy victim is precipitated
down the sides of its cavern ?
Yet this is done by the larva or
grub of the lion ants (Ascala-
phus Macleayanus Guild., fig. 6.), and of the Cicindela,

SO HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

or tiger beetle. Or, to omit the endless instances fur-
nished by wasps, ants, the Termites, &c., what animals
can be adduced, which, like the hive bee, associating in
societies, build regular cities, composed of cells formed
with geometrical precision, divided into dwellings
adapted in capacity to different orders of the society,
or storehouses for containing a supply of provisions?"*
(34.) In depositing their eggs, insects exhibit great
sagacity, — always placing them in those substances,
whether animal or vegetable, where the young progeny
can best find nourishment. An unerring instinct leads
them to select those only, which are proper for the fu-
ture support of their young ; while the care with which
the caterpillar weaves itself a case, or burrows deep into
the earth, preparatory to the change which nature or-
dains that it should undergo, can only be ascribed to
the dictations of an impulse altogether superior and
independent of the animal from whom it appears to
emanate.

(35.) The nut weevil (Curculio nucum L., fig. 7.)
is a striking exemplification of the first of these in-
stincts, or that which points out
7 ^ Vjjx/ ^ to insects the fitting place for the

reception of their unborn pro-
geny. The female, towards the
beginning of August, while the
nuts are yet soft and tender, care-
fully perforates the rind, and
lodges an egg within the punc-
ture : this operation is continued
until her whole stock is ex-
hausted ; thus the maggots,
hatched from these eggs, feed upon the kernel which
surrounds them ; and, when the fall of the nut takes
place, creep safely out of the little hole in the shell, and
immediately burrows under ground, where each soon
after casts its skin and becomes a chrysalis, t Again,

Kirby and Spence's Introd. to Entomology.
White's Selborne, vol. ii. p, 99.

CHAP. I.

INSTINCTS OP BEETLES.

31

there is another family of beetles, to which belongs
the ScarabfBus Sacer of
Egypt (fig. 8.), which
forms round pellets of
dung, in the middle of
which the female depo-
sits her . eggs ; each of
these is afterwards placed
two and three feet deep in
the earth, where the grubs remain in safety until spring,
when they dig their way to the surface. The parent
insects unite their labours in rolling the balls, often to a
considerable distance; and yet, arduous as is the task,
they persevere till they have found a convenient spot
for burying them.

(36.) The grave beetles (Sylphidce, fig. 9.) are so
called from their habit of interring the bodies of small
animals, in which they afterwards deposit their eggs.
Astonishing but well-authenticated accounts have been
given of the sagacious industry with which these little
creatures accomplish labours, which must be, to them,
enormous. Among other experiments, a glass cucurbit
was half filled with earth, on which
were placed four beetles and their
young, and then, after being co-
vered, it was lodged on the open
ground : at the end of fifty days,
the bodies of four frogs, three birds,
two grasshoppers, one mole, the
entrails of a fish, and part af the
lungs of an ox, were buried by
these indefatigable little creatures.*
(37.) The whole economy of bees, wasps, and ants,
in their well-established and admirably conducted com-
munities, presents one continued series of the most
extraordinary instincts ; but, as these are elsewhere de-
scribed, we shall only advert to one part of the history
of the last-mentioned little creatures, by which we learn

* Bingley's Animal Biography, voL iii. p. 127.

32 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS* CHAP. I.

that they have not only their menial servants, or slaves,
always ready to perform their bidding, but that they
have also their milch cattle, from whom they derive
wholesome nourishment at pleasure. These kine'are the
dphides, or plant lice, which, at certain seasons of the
year, swarm upon the shoots of vegetables : these in-
sects secrete a honey-like fluid, which they again eject,
and which the ants can force them to yield by alternately
patting their abdomen with their antennte. Incredible
as it may seem, there is yet reason to believe that these
latter insects not only consider the Aphides as their pro-
perty, but actually appropriate to themselves a certain
number, which they inclose in a tube of earth, or other
materials, near their nest, so that they may be always
at hand to supply that portion of nutriment they may
desire. The yellow ant pays great attention to its
herds; plentifully supplying them with proper food, and
tending their young with the same tenderness and as-
siduity which it exhibits towards its own.* Nor is it
merely by these regular and uniform proceedings that
insects display their sagacity; since, like some other
animals, they will act under the influence of circum-
stances altogether novel and unforeseen, with a wisdom
and an apparent intelligence, at first sight, equally cu-
rious and puzzling. On further observation, however,
we find that this intelligence is only apparent ; and that
such actions, in fact, are merely the result of a variable
or contingent instinct, arising from the same intuitive
perception which prompts the more regular operations
of animals. Intelligence, indeed, being essentially a
free principle, could not be limited in its effects; and if,
therefore, we were to allow any portion of it to brutes,
we must cede it to them altogether ; — a deduction
plainly controverted by the fact, that, be the accidental
appearances of rationality ever so great, animals are
never raised by it to a level even with the most un-
civilised human beings, who, being capable of reflection,

* Kirby and Spence's Introd. to Entomology, vol. ii. p. 9C.

CHAP. I. INSTINCT OP BEES. 33

must ever hold over them an obvious and irresistible
superiority.

(38.) The Apis Muscorum Lin., and some other species
of humble bees, surmount their dwellings with a roof of
moss : but M. P. Huber having placed the nest of these
insects under a bell glass, and stuffed all the interstices
with a linen cloth, the bees, being unable to procure
their accustomed material, took the cloth ; tore thread
from thread ; corded it, with their feet, into a felted
mass ; and applied it to the same purpose.* Bees close
up the cells of their grubs, before the latter assume the
pupa state. Bonnet inclosed a swarm in a flat glass
hive, the form of which occasioned their cells to be less
than their ordinary depth, so that, in a few days' time,
he perceived, that, being too small for them to perform
their usual manoeuvres, holes were made in the lids,
through which the grubs were projected. His curiosity
was excited to see what the bees would do in this
emergency ; and he was greatly delighted, when he
beheld them, without displacing a single grub, close the
cells afresh, with lids more convex than usual, which at
once gave the additional depth that was required.t

(39.) In other cases, bees have been known, after
commencing their comb too near an adjoining one, ap-
parently to discover their error, and to give the comb a
gradual curvature, so as to resume the ordinary distance.
But scarcely any instance of this adaptation of efforts
to circumstances is more interesting than that narrated
of a wasp by Dr. Darwin. Perceiving one of these
insects upon his gravel walks, with a fly nearly as large
as itself, he knelt down to watch its operations. To
his utter amazement, he beheld it cut off the head
and abdomen, and then take off its diminished load,
and fly away. A breeze of wind, however, acting upon,
the wings of its mutilated burden, greatly impeded its
progress; upon which it again alighted, deliberately
sawed off first one and then the other of its encumber-

* Kirby and Spence's Introd. to Entomology, voL ii. p. 477.
f Ibid. vol. ii. p. 483.

D

34> HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

ing parts, and then pursued an easy unobstructed course
with the remainder.*

(40.) Under the head of instinct, we may here
notice a most singular story of bees, related by Stedman.
We should not have given it place, but for the general
accuracy of this traveller, and from the very pointed
manner in which its veracity is vouched for. It will
certainly amuse the reader, if it fails to convince him
that bees know those who live about their nests. " On
one occasion, I was visited, at my hut, by a neighbouring
gentleman, whom I conducted up my ladder ; but he
had no sooner entered my aerial dwelling, than he leaped
down from the top to the ground, roaring like a mad-
man with agony and pain ; after which he instantly
plunged his head into the river. I soon discovered the
cause of his distress to be an enormous nest of wild
bees, or wassee-wassee, in the thatch, directly above my
head, as I stood within my door ; when I immediately
took to my heels, as he had done, and ordered the slaves
to demolish them without delay. A tar mop was now
brought, and the devastation just going to commence,
when an old negro stepped up, and offered to receive
any punishment I should decree, if ever one of these
bees should sting me in person. ' Massera,' said he,
' they would have stung you long ago, had you been a
stranger to them ; but they being your tenants, and
allowed to build upon your premises, they assuredly
know both you and yours, and will never hurt either
you or them/ I instantly assented to the proposition;
and, tying the old black man to a tree, ordered my boy
Quaco to ascend the ladder quite naked ; which he did,
and was not stung. I then ventured to follow ; and I
declare, upon my honour, that even after shaking the
nest, which made its inhabitants buzz about my ears,
not a single bee attempted to sting me. I next released
and rewarded him for the discovery. This swarm of
bees I afterwards kept unhurt as my body-guards. They
have made many overseers take a desperate leap for my
» Kirby and Spence's Introd. to Entomology, vol. ii. p. 522.

CHAP. I. MEMORY IN ANIMALS. 35

amusement; as I generally sent them up my ladder
upon some frivolous message, when I wished to punish
them for injustice and cruelty to the negroes,, — which
was not seldom. The same negro assured me that on
his master's estate was an ancient tree, in which had
been lodged, ever since he could remember, a society of
birds, and another of bees, who lived in the greatest
harmony together. But should any strange birds come
to disturb or feed upon the bees, they were instantly
repulsed by their feathered allies ; and if strange bees
dared to venture near the birds' nests, the native swarm
attacked the invaders, and stung them to death. He
added, that his master's family had so much respect for
the above association, that the tree was considered as
sacred." *

(41.) Spiders evince an admirable instinct in the
arrangement of their webs, and in the entrapping of
their prey. One species particularly, termed by Latreille
Mygale camentaria, closes the entrance of its retreat
with a door formed of particles of earth cemented by
silken fibres, and closely resembling the surrounding
ground. This door, or rather valve, is united by a
silken hinge to the entrance, at its upper side, and is so
balanced, that, when pushed up, it shuts again by its own
weight. In the forests of Brazil, we once met with a
most interesting little spider which sheltered itself in
the same manner. Its case was suspended in the middle
of its web. Upon being disturbed, the little, creature
ran to it with swiftness. No sooner "had it gained its
retreat, than the door closed, as if by a spring, and left
us in silent admiration — too great to lead us to capture
the ingenious little creature for our collection.

(42.) Memory, as well as instinct, appears to be
given to animals, as necessary for their wellbeing.
Instances of this may be witnessed almost daily by
every one among domesticated animals, besides the
various and well-attested evidences of the same afforded
by those which have had no intercourse with man. An

* Voyage to Surinam, vol. ii. p. 246.
D 2

36 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

interesting incident of this kind is told by Mr. Corse
(himself an eye-witness of the transaction), in the
Phil. Trans. " An elephant, which had escaped, and
which was subsequently captured in company with a
herd of wild elephants, after an interval of eighteen
months, was recognised by one of the drivers. When
any person approached the animal, he appeared wild
and outrageous as the other elephants, and attempted
to strike the person approaching him with his trunk,
until an old hunter, riding boldly up to him on a tame
elephant, ordered him to lie down, pulling him by the
ear at the same time ; upon which the animal seemed
quite taken by surprise, and instantly obeyed the word
of command with as much quickness as the ropes with
which he was tied permitted, — uttering, at the same
time, a peculiar shrill squeak, through his trunk, as he
had been formerly known to do. By this circumstance
he was immediately recognised by every person who
had been acquainted with his peculiarity."

(43.) A similar instance of the powers of memory
evinced by an elephant is given by Williamson, as
a fact well known in Bengal at the time, and attested
by the signatures of several gentlemen, who were eye-
witnesses to the occurrence. An elephant, that had
been some years domesticated, got loose during a stormy
night, and rambled into his native jungles. About
four years afterwards, when a large drove had been
captured in the keddah, the keeper of the lost one,
along with others of the natives, had ascended the bar-
ricade of timber by which it was surrounded, to inspect
the new guests : among them, he fancied he recognised
his former charge ; and, though ridiculed by his com-
rades, he called to the elephant in question by the name
it had formerly borne. To the wonder of all present,
the animal came towards him ; the man, overjoyed at
the event, got over the barrier, and, ordering the ele-
phant to lie down to be mounted, he bestrode its neck
as in former times, and exultingly led it forth, to the
admiration and surprise of all present. Another in-

CHAP. I. MEMORY OF ELEPHANTS. 37

stance of recollection in this quadruped must not be
omitted here. An officer in the Indian army,, who was
quarter-master of a brigade, found it needful to put a
heavier load than usual on a very large elephant, called
thePaugul, or fool ; but he soon intimated that he was
only disposed to take his usual load. The officer,
seeing the animal repeatedly shake off the superabun-
dant portion, lost his temper, and threw a tent pin at
the animal's head. Some days after, as the latter was
going with others to water, he happened to pass the
officer, whom he very deliberately lifted up into a large
tamarind tree, leaving him to cling to the boughs, and
to get down as well as he could. And this brings us
to notice an instance of generosity manifested by this
very individual, which, together with a small female,
was subsequently under the command of captain Wil-
liamson, and both animals were used to carry the tents
of the party. " Unluckily," observes the captain,
" after the first day's march, we found that the female
was rather overladen, and began to gall, but we could
not get the Paugul to carry one ounce more than his
first day's burden ; the feet of the little female, how-
ever, becoming very sore, the animal relaxed from his
obstinacy, and generously took as much of her burden
as gave her relief during the rest of the journey." *

(44.) The dog is scarcely inferior to the elephant
in powers of memory, as the following instance will

evince : — A spaniel belonging to the Rev. H. N ,

being always told he must not follow his master to
church on Sundays, used to set out long before, and
lie concealed under the hedge, so near the church, that
at length the point was yielded to him. The fact, that
dogs clearly distinguish the return of Sunday (no doubt,
by the different habits of that day), has been attested
to me by the distinct observations of several families. t

(45.) A very intelligent writer J observes, that " this

* Wilk. vol. L p. 243.
t Shephard's Autumn Dream, p. 171.
j Mr. French, in Zoological Journal.
D 8

38 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. I.

animal memory, however, differs from that of man,
inasmuch as the former cannot possess the power of
calling up ideas at pleasure, which would he, at once,
to grant them reflection ; those of the past being evi-
dently spontaneous, and excited by present sensations,
or other circumstances, independent of any proper will
of the animals."

(46.) We may term that to be false instinct, which
impels an animal to perform an act diametrically op-
posite to that which it would do, were it gifted with the
slightest degree of reason, or of the reflective or dis-
criminative power consequent thereon. Innumerable
instances might be cited to illustrate this fact, afforded
by animals which, in other respects, evince a very high
development of instinct. The buffalo of India, in its
attacks upon the tiger, which is its deadly enemy,
conducts its assaults with a degree of address and sub-
tlety which the utmost effort of reason could not
surpass ; and yet, from the following anecdote, the very
same animal appears to be sometimes so stupid, as
not to know what he is fighting with. — (( As I was
hunting with a party near Daudpore, a hog that we
were chasing led us, through a heavy cover, into a
plain thinly overspread with water, where, about a
hundred yards to the left, we suddenly saw a herd of
wild buffaloes. We still, however, pushed on after our
game, but not without observing that the animals were
throwing out signals for a general attack. A servant,
who happened to be upon a grey horse, attracted the
attention of three of the herd in particular, which
galloped after him. The poor fellow was extremely terri-
fied,— as, indeed, we all were, — and roared out lustily
for that assistance which, unfortunately, we could not
give him. His horse was not less frightened, and made
every exertion ; but it did not appear he would have
succeeded in his flight, had not the buffaloes confined
their attention to the man's turban, which was red, and
which, upon being called to by us, he had thrown from
his head. We had the pleasure to find this device

CHAP. I. FALSE INSTINCT. 39

fully successful ; the buffaloes amused themselves with
tossing the turban about, till it had opened to its full
length, which might be from eighteen to twenty yards,
which they then proceeded to rip into pieces with their
horns/' — as if by this latter act they had achieved the
conquest of their enemies. The same unaccountable
instinct, we believe, leads nearly all the different species
of oxen to evince the most inveterate antipathy to any-
thing of a red colour ; and it is a remarkable fact, that
the same is manifested in their representatives among
the feathered creation, — namely, the gallinaceous birds.
It is well known that, in many parts of England, flocks
of turkeys are driven forward merely by a piece of red
rag fastened to the end of a long stick, since it is
found that their repugnance to this odious colour makes
them, to avoid it, urge their pace forward. Of the
same nature as the foregoing, we may again advert to
the false instinct of the domestic hen sitting over, and
turning, with her usual care, a clumsy imitation in chalk
of her own egg.

(47.) Stedman relates of the peccaries, or wild
hogs of Guiana, which live in herds of about three
hundred in the thickest parts of the forest, that they
always run in a line, the one closely following the
other ; but that, when the foremost or leader is shot,
the line is instantly broken, and the whole herd is
thrown into confusion. For this reason, he adds, the
Indians take care, if possible, to knock their captain on
the head before the1 rest; after which the others even
stand still, stupidly looking at one another, and allow
themselves to killed one by one, — of which I have been
a witness. They do not attack the human species, nor
make any resistance at all, like the European wild
boar, when wounded, as some authors have erroneously
asserted. In Surinam, the names of pingo and crass-
pingo are given to two species of the peccaries most
common there ; while another is called by our author
the Mexican hog. *

*', Stedman, vol. i. p. 369.
D 4

40 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. 11*

(48.) We shall now proceed to treat of the varied
economy and instincts of animals under distinct heads,
arranging those belonging to each class or division
separately, that the reader may more clearly discern
the respective peculiarities of each.

CHAP. II.

ON THE SENSES OP ANIMALS.

ON THE DIFFERENT SENSES AS DEVELOPED IN ALL THE CLASSES

OF ANIMALS. GENERAL REMARKS ON THOSE OF THE VER-

TEBRATED DIVISION. VITALITY OF ANIMALS. FASCINA-
TION OF SNAKES.

(49.) THE variation in the senses of animals is very
great, being regulated by the nature and habits of
the species ; some requiring the especial aid of those
powers, which, to others, would be useless. Beauti-
fully, indeed, are the wants and the capabilities of all
adapted to each other, and most wisely and accurately
are the latter fitted to the former by INFINITE WISDOM;
nothing which is serviceable being withheld, while
nothing which is useless is ever granted; so that,
throughout creation, the nicest balance, the most per-
fect adjustment, the most exact conformity, are pre-
served, equally conducing to the happiness of the
creature, and the exaltation of the Creator.

(50.) Among the lowest forms of animal life, but
particularly in water, .are myriads of minute atoms,
which the eye, unaided by the microscope, cannot
even discern; but which are then seen to be en-
dowed with vitality, — " frail, indeed, almost without
consistence, and yet living and highly irritable." It is

CHAP. XI. SENSES OF MOLLUSCA. 41

obviously impossible, however, to determine the extent
of their sensations. Among these, the Vorticella Con-
vallaria is one of the most elegant species of this class ;
the body of which, formed like a bell-shaped flower,
is perfectly transparent. The Vorticella rotatoria, or
wheel animal, belongs to the same genus ; and it is so
called from the similitude of the head, in some posi-
tions, to a pair of toothed wheels in rapid motion. This
creature is gifted with such an amazing power of re-
vivescence, as to return to active life after being stretched
out, and apparently dead, for many months.* The
Triscoda Sol is so termed from its bearing the appear-
ance of a sun, being a little globe or ball covered with
long diverging rays. It is of a remarkably inactive
nature, affixing itself to the stem of some small water
plant, and occasionally moving at the rate of about a
quarter of an inch in an hour. Its size may be con-
sidered as gigantic for one of the animalcule tribe, —
being equal to that of a small pin's head.

(51.) Zoophytes are not supposed to possess any sense,
save that of touch, which, Cuvier remarks, in them, is so
extremely delicate, as to be acted upon by light alone.t
Polypes are certainly impelled to seek the sustenance
necessary for their support (in the places to which they
may be affixed) by the expansion of their several parts;
and many of them sensibly contract upon collision with
any other body. They have also, as is well known, the
singular power of reproduction, in so extraordinary a
degree, that, if cut into many pieces, each division, in a
few days, will become a perfect being. Animal flowers,
or sea anemonies, exhibit an evident sensibility to light,
— a fact clearly demonstrated by various experiments
made by the abbe' Dicquemaire upon the Actinia
Anemonoides, or purple sea anemone. Hughes, in his
History of Barbadoes, also, tells us, that whenever his
fingers approached within two or three inches of the
Actinia Calendula, or sea marigolds, in his attempt to

* Shaw's Zoological Lect H. p. 220.
t Cuv. Anat. Comp. vol. ii. p. 362.

42 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

pluck them from the rock to which they were fixed,
they instantly shrunk hack into their respective cavi-
ties.

(52.) Among the shelly Mollusca, the organs of sen-
sation first began to show a higher state of development.
The animal of the Solen, or razor shell, like all the
headless or acephalous Mollusca, is without any visible
head or eyes ; and yet, on the slightest touch of the
sea sand around the spot in which it is always buried,
it withdraws its long fleshy tubes into its shell, an I
sinks to the lowest depth of its cavity. The earth-
worm is no less alive to the least vibration of the ele-
ment in which it lives. On mild damp evenings, during
the greater part of the year, after sunset, these animals
may be seen in gardens, protruding so far from their
holes, that it would, at first, seem that they had actually
quitted them : at such times they appear stretched at
full length, and motionless, as if they were basking,
not in the sun,, but in the dew. If the observer walk
very softly, he may approach within a foot or two of
the worms, without disturbing them ; his ordinary tread
will make those nearest him disappear almost instanta-
neously ; but, if he stamp hard upon the ground, the
same effect will be produced upon all those that are
on the surface for the distance of fifteen or twenty feet
from him. In the cephalous Mollusca we first begin to

discern the vestige of eyes, as in the slug and the snail ;
for we consider it beyond doubt that the black points

GHAP. II.

SENSES OF REPTILES. 43

which terminate the tentaculse of the animals, are in-
cipient developments of these organs (fig. 10.). It has
been generally supposed that, in this order of the Mol-
lusca, the eyes were merely rudimentary; but the recent
knowledge that has been gained of the animal inha-
bitants of the wing shells (Strombidee), shows that this
idea is erroneous. The eyes of the genus Pteroceros
have beautifully coloured irides; and those of the large
pink-mouthed Strombus, so often seen as chimney or-
naments, have been described to us, by a gentleman
recently returned from the West Indies, as large, bril-
liant, and as fully developed as those of the Cephalo-
poda, or cuttlefish. Among the testaceous univalve shells,
as well as in the slugs, the mouth and lips are fully
developed and as some of them live upon animals,
some on vegetables, and others — as the large garden
slug — on both, it follows that their sense of taste is
as perfect as in most other animals. The Cephalo-
poda, from connecting the Mollusca to the Verte-
brata, are still further organised, — since it is among
these that the first rudiments appear of the organs of
hearing.

^53.) Chelonian reptiles next succeed in the scale of
animal life; and the tortoise, being the first develop-
ment of the vertebrated structure, is eminently dis-
tinguished from those hitherto noticed, by possessing
the organs of smelling ; so that it thus exhibits the union
of all the five senses. It does not, however, appear to be
gifted with acute sensation ; but is, perhaps, more than
any other vertebrated animal, tenacious of the vital
principle ; a fact proved by the many cruel and dis-
graceful experiments of Redi, — one of which consisted
in the extraction of the entire brain from the head ; after
which operation the animal walked about as before;
and though it afterwards closed its eyes, and never
again opened them, it yet survived for the space of six
months. Differences, indeed, although much slighter
in degree, will be found among every separate genus
with regard to their physical sensibility. Even animals

44 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. II,

which have an affinity to each other, considerably vary
in this particular ; so that a slight wound in the body
is sufficient to kill a panther, or leopard, while a cat
will recover from broken ribs and a fractured skull.

(54.) Among lizards, the chamseleon is most re-
markable for the peculiar formation of its eyes, which
are so covered with a granulated membranaceous skin
over the eye-ball, that only a narrow horizontal slit,
(f through which the bright pupil, as if bordered with
burnished gold, is seen." The structure of the eyes,
also, is such, that the creature can look at the same
moment in different directions, — one moving while the
other is at rest, or looking towards one, while its fellow
is gazing in an exactly opposite quarter. A similar
structure appears to exist in some few other genera of
reptiles, as in Lyriocephalus, or the lyre-headed lizards,
and in the genus Pedalion among the fishes, where,
according to the observations of Guilding, the eye is
even more conical than in the chamaeleons.

(.55.) The sense of hearing among snakes and lizards
is not only very perfect, but is much more highly
developed, in one sense, than in any other class of
animals. We allude to the well-known and remarkable
fondness which the serpent is known to possess for
music. Whether this had been discovered in the pri-
mitive ages of the world to belong to them in a natural
state, or whether the inspired writers alluded to those
artificial modes of teaching these reptiles to move to
the sound of music, still practised by the jugglers of
India, it would be difficult to determine. The simile
that has been used of the serpent " refusing to hear the
voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely," was,
probably, intended to allude to their artificial move-
ments, as to a circumstance familiarly known among
the eastern nations ; for it is not to be supposed that
the Psalmist would have cited an illustration, which
could otherwise have been only known, if at all, but to
very few persons. With regard to the effect of music
upon these reptiles, we cannot state anything from

CHAP. II. EFFECT OF MUSIC UPON LIZARDS. 45

personal observation, having been, generally, more de-
sirous of avoiding them, than of ascertaining their habits.
But with lizards we have made several amusing experi-
ments. The elegant little species commonly called the
Lacerta agilis, although rare in Britain, is found in
such abundance in the South of Europe, that hundreds,
on a fine sunny day, may be seen in a single walk,
basking on the stones and walls, or pursuing their
search after insects. In Sicily and Malta they are
particularly numerous, and very beautiful. The habit
they have of turning the head on one side, and some
vague recollection of a story, in the Arabian Nights,
about an attentive lizard, first induced us to try what
effect the humming of a song would have upon these
creatures, — and it was, really, most entertaining. The
little reptile, instead of running away with its usual
swiftness, would remain perfectly still, inclining its
head on one side, as if to drink in every intonation.
The softer and more plaintive was the tune, the more
intense was the attention it evinced ; and if a whistle
was substituted for a hum, it would suffer itself to be
approached so near, that any one unacquainted with its
astonishing swiftness would fancy he could capture it
with his hand. This curious fact, once discovered,
often proved a source of much amusement. Often,
after a long ramble, spent in sketching or botanising,
we used to repose in a shady spot, among the rocks,
and charm these pretty little creatures so successfully,
that we have known them even to come out of their
holes, and thus form a little audience. On such occa-
sions, they sometimes stand remarkably upright upon
their fore legs, the hinder ones lying almost flat upon
the ground : the same attitude they also assume when
reconnoitring; but then the head is never turned on
one side, as if for the purpose of accurately hearing.
The same experiments were frequently made upon the
smaller lizards of Brazil, which, more or less, exhibited
the same fondness for tunes. Every one is aware that
this is equally evinced by birds; but we believe that

46 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

nothing of the kind has yet been observed among quad-
rupeds.

(56.) The effect of music upon snakes has been
attested in modern times by the author of the Oriental
Field Sports, who observes, that, " when snakes are
known to infest particular places, the cunjoors, or snake-
catchers, are called in. These people, by smelling at
the different burrows, at once discover which are in-
habited. Taking care to keep out of sight, they play
on an instrument not unlike a hautboy ; and having
scattered some scents on the floor, the snake soon comes
forth : another of the party, watching his opportunity,
seizes the delighted reptile by the tail, and rapidly
slipping the other hand up to its neck, holds it firm .
the musician then puts away his pipe, and, taking a
pair of pliers, soon disarms the reptile of its poisonous
fangs. Thus even the formidable Cobra di Capella be-
comes changed from a dreaded enemy into an innocent
instrument of display, and is taught to obey the com-
mands of its dexterous captor."

(57-) That there is a peculiar sort of fascination in
the eyes of snakes, which not merely affects animals,
but man, may be gathered, incidentally, from various
authors. Among these, we may cite the following pas-
sage from Stedman : — " One morning, awakening by
daybreak in my hammock, the first thing that I saw,
on looking up, was a snake, about two yards long, hang-
ing with its head downwards, like a rope, and straight
above my face, from which he was not one foot distant,
while his tail was twisted round the rafters under
the thatch. Observing his eyes bright as stars, and his
forked tongue in agitation, I was so distressed, that I
scarcely had power to avoid him ; which, however, I
did, by running out. After this, I heard a rustling in
the dry thatch, where the negroes attempted to kill him,
but in vain, — he having escaped."* The same writer
gives another instance of this power in the rattlesnake : he
says, — " Mr. Francis Rowe, of Philadelphia, informed
me, that, riding out one morning to visit a friend, his

* Voyage to Surinam, voL i. p. 37*.

CHAP. II. FASCINATING POWER OP SNAKES. 47

horse refused to go forward, being terrified at a large
rattlesnake that lay across the road. Mr. Howe,
having heard of its power of fascination, — in which
he was a believer, — alighted to lead the animal round
it ; but during that time, the snake, having coiled him-
self up, sounded its rattle, and stared him so full in the
face, and with such fire in his eyes, that a cold sweat
broke out upon him ; thus, while he durst neither re-
treat nor advance, he imagined himself gradually riveted
to the spot. ' However/ continued he, ' my reason re-
mained ; and my resolution getting the better of my
alarm, I suddenly approached him, and with one stroke
of my cudgel knocked out his brains.' " It is clear, from
this anecdote, that a deficiency of natural courage in the
narrator was not the cause of the previous fascination
he experienced ; for, had that been the case, instead of
using the " cudgel " to destroy the animal, he would
have used his legs to have run from it. " As for the
stories," continues our author, " of its causing mice,
squirrels, and birds to run into its mouth, I reject them
as fables, — the supposed charm consisting of nothing
more than this ; — that the poor animals, finding them-
selves surprised by the impending danger, are seized
with such a trepidation and fear, that even the use of
their limbs forsakes them, and they are riveted to the
place till they die ; or, in the act of leaping, they are
seized by their enemy."

(58.) One of the most celebrated travellers and
naturalists now living, has thus described the fascinating
powers of a serpent, witnessed by himself in Southern
Africa : — " I saw," says he, " at the brink of a ditch,
a large snake in pursuit of a field mouse. The poor
animal was just at its hole, when it seemed in a mo-
ment to stop, as if unable to proceed, and, without
being touched by the snake, to be palsied with terror.
The snake had raised its head over him, opened its
mouth, and seemed to fix its eyes steadfastly upon his
intended victim. Both animals for a while remained
still ; but as soon as the mouse made a motion, as if

48 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

he wished to escape, the head of the snake followed the
movement immediately, as if to arrest the little animal's
course. These movements continued four or five mi-
nutes ; hut my approach put an end to it. The snake
then hastily seized upon its prey, and glided away
with it into a neighbouring bush, where I in vain en-
deavoured to discover and destroy it. I think it may
he a question whether the poisonous breath of the rep-
tile might not really have had the effect of paralysing
the limbs of the mouse, rather than that its inability
to move proceeded either from the fixed eye of the
snake, or the apprehension of inevitable death." *

(59.) BIRDS are in the possession of all the senses ;
but that of vision is of the first importance, both in the
discovery of their prey, the avoidance of their enemies,
and as the unerring guide of their migrations. It is,
therefore, singularly exquisite, particularly in the vul-
tures ; and these birds will soar to amazing heights, and
dart through the air with a rapidity which would con-
fuse, or altogether destroy, a vision less perfect than
their own. The owl is generally thought an exception
to the common rule, — most of the species being unable
to sustain the glare of day, although amid the darkness
of night they can see far better than the rest ; but this
defect — if defect it may be termed — is compensated by
peculiar quickness of hearing, and, no doubt, of smell,
by both of which he is enabled to hunt by night, as
others do by day. All birds, indeed, possess these senses
in considerable perfection, and by the latter many are
enabled to scent their prey at vast distances, and to shun
some of the numerous dangers which surround them.

(60.) The sense of touch is supposed, in the higher
classes, to be seated in the villous surface of the skin ;
but, in birds, it is probably confined to the feet and
bill. This is particularly apparent in rapacious birds,
which use their feet in seizing and retaining their
prey ; while in those — such as ducks, snipes, and wood-
cocks — which push their long bills into the mud, the

* Lichtenstein's Travels, p. 221.

CHAP. II. SENSES. HEARING IN QUADRUPEDS. 49

point of the mandibles is not only comparatively soft,
but is often covered with a very thin membranous
skin, which evidently implies considerable sensibility.

(6l.) The senses in QUADRUPEDS are developed in
very different degrees. That of feeling, as in mankind,
is seated beneath the outward skin, and is disseminated
in various proportions throughout the whole animal
world ; but many — like the elephant, the rhinoceros,
and still more the armadilloes — are covered with a thick
and impenetrable case, which protects the more sensitive
parts, and secures the greater portion of their bodies
from injury. The touch of the former of these animals
— of which his trunk appears to be the principal in-
strument — is exquisitely delicate ; and he is also pos-
sesssed of a quick ear and an acute smell ; — the first
leads him to delight in the sound of music, to which
he is frequently brought to move in cadence ; while, as
an equivalent for an imperfect sight, the ear is endowed
with a very acute sense of hearing. The scent of the
American bison is said to be so keen, that it is difficult
for either men or dogs to get near him, excepting on
his leeward side ; while the camel, by the perfection of
the same sense, is enabled, while wandering over the
sandy and parching deserts in which he so often ranges,
to discover the vicinity of water at the distance of a
mile.

(62.) The sense of hearing, in many quadrupeds, is
particularly keen, and seems to be given more especially
to the herbivorous tribes : thus the elk, although not
remarkably swift, is enabled to avoid its enemies by an
unusual keenness in its perception of sounds. The
same delicacy of hearing is well known to be possessed
by the stag; while the chamois, and the beautiful
antelopes of Africa, more highly gifted than either, add
to these an unusually penetrating sight. Hares and
rabbits, more especially, must possess this faculty highly
developed, since they are provided with long ears which
convey sounds on the principle of the speaking trumpet ;
while their large and prominent eyes are constructed to

£

50 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

receive the rays of light from all quarters. The fox is
enabled, by its scent, to know its prey at the distance
of two or sometimes three hundred paces ; and daily
proofs are afforded that the dog has the same power ;
— since he will not only discover game at considerable
distances, but has been known to track his master's
footsteps through a populous city, or to follow the
course of unknown feet for miles.

•(63.) The horse, the most noble of our domestic
animals, has each of the senses in great perfection ;
and, like the owl and the cat, can distinguish objects
in the dark. In opposition to which may be placed
the porcupine, whose organs, with the exception of
that of smell, seem singularly obtuse.

(64.) The senses of the common mole are exactly
adapted to its wants ; and the nice balance preserved
between the wants and the senses of animals is in
no creature more remarkable. Being destined to re-
main always under ground, it has little occasion for
sight, and we therefore find that its powers of vision
are very limited ; its eyes are not only enveloped in
fur, but furnished with a muscle which enables the
animal to withdraw or to employ them as circum-
stances may prompt ; while it is amply provided with
the means of scent and hearing, which, in its peculiar
situation, are of far more importance than sight. It
has been stated that the Mus Typhus, or blind rat,
found in the southern parts of Russia, is absolutely
deprived of sight, — having only two small rudiments
of eyes situated under the skin, and scarcely dis-
cernible.*

(65.) The scent of the rhinoceros is so remarkably
keen, that they know, even at a distance, whether any
man is coming towards them ; and, on the first suspicion
of such an enemy, they betake themselves to flight.
It is only by approaching them against the wind, or
to leeward, that the hunter can expect to get within
musket shot : in doing this, he must move cautiously

* Shaw's Zoological Lcct. i. p. 105.

CHAP. II. SMELL OF THE KANGAROO. 51

and silently, so as not to make the least noise among
the bushes, otherwise their hearing is so exceedingly
quick, that they would instantly take alarm, and move
far away to some more undisturbed spot ; or, becoming
furious, pursue their enemy, — whose only chance of
escape, when the enraged animal makes a run at him,
is to spring suddenly on One side. Yet the sight of
the rhinoceros, notwithstanding the perfection of his
scent and hearing, is very imperfect, — probably on
account of the excessive srtlallness of the aperture of
his eye, which only measures one inch in its greatest
length.*

(66.) The sense of smell in the kangaroo must be
marvellously acute, if the following whimsical anecdote
be not exaggerated. Jt is part of the relation of a
New Hollander's hunt after this interesting animal,
and is given in the words of the narrator.t ' ' He is now
almost within reach of his victim, and in another step
he will discharge his unerring spear ; but it is arrested.
Suddenly he sees the kangaroo, with her short fore hand-
like paw, kill one of the large flies which had settled on
some vulnerable part of her skin. She scents the blood ;
and, with an anxious gaze, soliloquises, { White fellow's
bullock all about.' J She then resumes her food, but
with more anxiety, and taking a longer hop, so as to
come near her young one. Suddenly she again erects
herself, kills another fly, smells the blood, and seems
to say, c Black fellow all about/ As instantaneously as
sight, the hunter perceives the new discovery she has
made, and his spear falls short of his victim only by
the distance of her first bound ; having, in this brief
moment, pouched her young, and commenced her flight
into the depths of her native solitudes."

(67.) Monkeys possess the sense of touch in a very
perfect degree ; and this, not only in their four feet, all
of which perform the office of hands but in the long

* Burcheli's Travels, vol. ii. p. 72.

t A Month in the Bush of Australia, by an nonymous author. -

j Meaning, we presume, that the white man's oxen were not far off.

E 2

52 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

prehensile tails, which distinguish nearly all the Ame-
rican species. The skin of this member, on its under
surface, is entirely naked, and endowed with such sen-
sibility, that it is used by the animal as a fifth hand.
It is a well-known fact, that, at the moment of their death,
if they happen to be shot in a tree, they coil their tail
round the nearest branch, and there remain, after life
has departed from the body. The Ursus lotor, or rac-
coon, appears to enjoy the same sense in an exquisite
degree, — examining everything very carefully with its
paws. But, in this particular, no creatures seem to
equal those of the Vespertllionida, or bat family, which
need not collision with any object, to be advertised of
its vicinity ; but which, if blinded, will guide them-
selves through the most winding and complicated pas-
sages, without once hitting the walls, or striking against
any impediment which may seem to obstruct their pro-
gress.

(68.) In FISHES, the organs of the senses are de-
veloped under some peculiar aspects. Of their eyes, it
has been asked, <( Why is the crystalline so round,
but to compensate for the refraction of the rays of
light ? " — thus enabling these animals to see, even
through so dense a medium as that which surrounds it.
This is, in truth, one of those wonderful provisions
made for the particular necessities of every living thing.
Another is exemplified in the common eel, which bores
cavities in the sand and mud at the bottom of the water ;
the eye is, therefore, supplied with a hard and transparent
membrane, which it can draw over the pupil at pleasure,
— thus effectually guarding these organs from injury.
The ear of fishes, being far less complicated in its struc-
ture than that of other animals, naturalists have therefore
been led to conclude that the sense, of which this is the
organ, must be proportionably weak. We are also in-
duced to suppose that the power of taste is likewise
very imperfect : this idea is further strengthened, by
the habit, which is almost universal among fish, of
B wallowing their food in an entire state,— that is, without

CHAP. II, GENERAL REMARKS ON THE SENSES. 53

mastication. Some of the Sparl, indeed, and the whole
of the Pkctognathes, or cheloni-
form fishes, live upon crabs and
shellfish ; and hence we find,
among the former (fig. 11.)* regu-
larly formed grinding teeth : hut,
in all cases, the tongue — the great
organ of taste — seems slightly de-
veloped,— at least, in comparison to what we see among
quadrupeds ; while the sense of touch is, in all proba-
bility, still more imperfect. Nevertheless, as the de-
vouring of their appropriate food must be a pleasure
to every animal, we are at a loss to conceive how this
can arise, except through the medium of a correspond-
ing faculty of taste.

(69.) The eyes of frogs are large and bright, and
they are defended by a moveable membrane, well
adapted to preserve them from those injuries to which,
from their peculiar mode of life, they would be par-
ticularly liable.* The ears, as Ray observes, are ex-
tremely small ; yet, as they answer one another at great
distances, by croaking, they are, probably, provided
with a sufficient portion of the hearing faculty.

(70.) In taking a general survey of the development
of the senses in the vertebrated circle, which we have
now gone through, we plainly perceive that there is a
gradual progression, which commences with the tor-
toises, or Chelonides, among the reptiles, and reaches its
height among the Mammalia. From this point, again,
there is as gradual a descent towards the fishes, until
we see all the imperfect senses of the reptiles in the
class of Amphibia. This circular gradation in physical
qualities is in complete unison with the succession of
these groups in their organic structure; so that we find
the highest point of perfection to which the senses are
carried, precisely among those animals which, as being
most complicated in their structure, stand at the head
of the whole class. The progression of the senses, in

* Ray's Wisdom of God, p. 165.
K 3

54 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

fact, is as circular as that of their natural affinities. If,
however, we were to single out any one particular sense,
and then expect, as a matter of course, to find it most
conspicuous among quadrupeds, we shall, probably, be
disappointed. It is not by such a criterion that we
are to judge of the perfection just mentioned, as be-
longing to quadrupeds ; but rather from these animals
being gifted with a greater proportion of all the five,
than falls to the lot of any other division of the ver-
tebrated circle. Take, for instance, the faculty of sight,
and there can be no question that it has been given to
birds in a much higher degree than quadrupeds ; and
this, for special reasons ; — the objects which the great
majority feed upon are small ; they are often to be dis-
tinguished while the bird is traversing the air, and
they are to be searched for with great assiduity. This
last condition, indeed, is imposed upon quadrupeds ;
but then these latter are aided, in a great measure, by
a high power of smelling, — which birds obviously do
not possess. " A hawk," observes Buffon, " during its
aerial soaring, will discern a lark upon a clod of earth,
coloured almost exactly like itself, at twenty times the
distance at which a man or a dog can perceive it. A
kite, having soared to an elevation beyond our ordinary
vision, can distinguish lizards, field mice, and small
birds, and select those upon which he chooses to pounce."
This great extent of sight is accompanied with a cor-
responding degree of precision ; for the organ being at
once both extremely elastic and extremely sensitive, the
eye becomes round or flat, is covered or uncovered, con-
tracts or diktes, and speedily and alternately assumes
all the forms necessary to adapt itself to every degree
of light or distance. " Moreover," continues the same
author, " as the sense of sight is the only one which pro-
duces the ideas of motion — the only one by which the
degrees of space which are traversed can be compared,
— and birds being, of all animals, the best adapted for
motion, — it is not surprising that they possess, in the
highest degree of certainty and perfection, that sense

CHAP. II. SIGHT OF BIRDS. 55

which should be their principal guide. The swiftness
with which a hird can fly, may indicate the extent of
its reach of vision ; not, however, absolutely, but rela-
tively. A bird, whose flight is quick, direct, and sus-
tained, may certainly be supposed to see further than
another which moves more slowly and obliquely. It
is, indeed, obvious that, if nature had ever produced
birds with short sight and rapid wing, they must have
soon perished from this contrariety of qualities— one of
which not only hinders the exercise of the other, but
exposes the individual to an infinite number of risks.
From all this we may perceive that the birds whose
flight is shortest and slowest, are also those whose power
of vision is the least extended." It is not a little re-
markable, that birds form the only class of vertebrated
animals which do not present us with a single example
of the visual organs existing in a merely rudimentary
state. Among quadrupeds, we have the mole, the Or-
nithorynchus, or ducksbill, and several of the Glircs,
or mouse tribe, with the mere rudiments of eyes. The
same partial blindness occurs among fishes in the apodal
order, as also in the class of Amphibia and of reptiles ;
but nothing analogous to these instances is found in
the class of AVES. We conclude, therefore, that the
sense of sight is more developed in this, than in any
other of the vertebrated circle.

(71.) Sight, however, is but one of the five senses ;
and although so highly developed in birds, these animals
do not exhibit a corresponding degree of perfection in
the others. That of smell, indeed, must be very acute
among the toucan family, and is probably equally so in
the vultures ; for the first have to scent out the nests
and eggs of birds, upon the last of which they chiefly
feed ; while the latter are well known to be guided by
the smell of decomposing animal substances from a vast
distance, notwithstanding some plausible theories to the
contrary : but, in other respects, the smell of the ma-
jority of birds seems to be very imperfect, because
then great power of vision and locomotion renders it

£ 4

56 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

unnecessary. Their touch is still more defective, — since
they have, in fact, no organs (like the fleshy tongue and
the naked muzzle of quadrupeds) adapted for convey-
ing this sense directly to their apprehension ; the feet,
more properly, being mainly intended for support, al-
though we may naturally suppose the soles possess a
slight degree of sensibility. Their power of hearing,
again, although superior to that they possess of touch,
is manifestly inferior to what is enjoyed by quadrupeds;
for, although the owls are remarkably gifted in this re-
spect, the ears of all other birds are small, and are with-
out that external appendage for facilitating the trans-
mission of sound into the tympanum, which is so very
general among the Mammalia.

(72.) If we turn to quadrupeds, however, we per-
ceive, not the pre-eminent development of any one
sense, but an equal one of all. Their sight, although
inferior to that of birds, appears, nevertheless, superior
to that of all the other Vertebrata, — fishes, probably, ex-
cepted — as the wandering life of that class assimilates
them very much to birds ; while in their sense of touch,
of taste, and of hearing, there is every reason to be-
lieve they surpass all others of the vertebrated animals.
These comparisons, therefore, establish our proposition,
— namely, that, in every pre-eminently typical group, we
find a union of all the higher qualities shared by others
of its own circle, although each quality is not in the
same proportion as may be found within the same
range. Of the senses of fish and of reptiles, we know
too little, indeed, to judge of what may be their pecu-
liar gifts ; but, if we may be guided by many analogies
presented by the leading facts of animal economy, we
should be disposed to conclude that they each possessed
some one sense preponderating over the others, just as
we have shown in the class of birds. We shall now
proceed to point out a few of the most prominent and re-
markable instances in the senses of annulose animals.
(73.) All Insects*, properly so called, possess the

* Our definition of a true insect, as opposed to that of some modem

CHAP. II. SENSES OF INSECTS. 57

five senses in great, although not in equai, perfection.
It was,, indeed, formerly doubted whether they are
endowed with that of hearing ; but it seems now satis-
factorily established that they are ; although it still re-
mains a matter of dispute to what organs their antenna,
and to what their palpi, are appropriated. Messrs.
Kirby and Spence seem to think that the primary
functions of the antennae are, to be the medium of a
sense, at any rate, analogous to hearing ; but they also
imagine that, by these instruments, they are enabled to
discover those alterations in the weather, which to them
are so important, and which they seem so readily to
perceive; — bees, particularly, being evidently advertised
of the approach of a shower, when we can perceive no
indications of it; and hastily returning to their hives in
time to avoid its approach, f

(74.) The sense of touch, in insects, supposed to re-
side in their antennae, must be of the greatest delicacy.
These organs may also be the primary means of com-
munication with their own species ; for, when a queen
bee is removed from her hive, those of her attendants
who first perceive her loss have been seen to apply their
antennae to any of their fellow bees whom they may
chance to meet, crossing them one over another, and
striking them lightly ; while the hurry and anxiety
immediately displayed by those to whom the disastrous
intelligence has been conveyed, has clearly indicated its
melancholy nature.^ The sense of touch must be pe-
culiarly delicate in insects, especially in spiders, from
the nicety with which the majority fabricate their
fragile webs.

(75.) The eyes of insects, excepting those of the
order Crustacea, or crabs, do not turn in their sockets,
like those of most other animals : but what is denied
in motion, is amply compensated in number ; for in

writers, is, that it is an annulose animal furnished with articulated legs.
This, in fact, corresponds with the opinion of Linnaeus. Spiders and crabs
are therefore but divisions or orders of true insects.

f Introduction to Entomology, vol. iii. p. 245.

t Phil, of Zool. vol. i. p. 298.

58 HABITS A>TD INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. II.

one fly alone there have been reckoned no less than
16,000 eyes ; in a Scarabceus, 636'2 ; and in a butter-
fly, 34,650 ! These are, of course, no other than
the interstices of those crossed or scored
divisions which any one will perceive upon
looking at a common house fly, through an
ordinary magnifier (fig. 12.). Each of these,
it has been shown, performs the office of a
single eye, although they are collected into
two packets, corresponding in outward ap-
pearance to the ordinary pair of eyes of vertebrated
animals. Spiders, however, have theirs differently con-
structed. In ordinary instances, they consist of eight,
placed at various and unequal distances on the crown of
the head, or thorax j but some species from Cuba have
only two; and all are destitute of the reticulations
above mentioned.

(76.) The vital principle in some insects appears to
be equally strong with that exhibited by the zoophytes,
and many of the tortoises. La Vaillant informs us,
that, while residing at the Cape, he took a large red-
winged locust, " opened its belly, and pulling out its
intestines, filled up the cavity with cotton, and in that
state fixed it to the bottom of a box with a pin, which
passed through its thorax. It remained there five
months ; and at the end of this period, our unfeeling
traveller asserts, that it still moved its legs and an-
tenna."* We cannot approve, indeed, in a general way,
of such cruel experiments upon living creatures ; yet we
feel not sorry that, in this instance, it has been made, —
since, with other facts we shall here notice, it will
show that practical entomology is not attended with
that suffering to the insects captured, which has been
charged upon its pursuit. Those well-known lines of
Shakspeare, —

The poor beetle that we tread upon,

In corporal suffering, feels a pang as great
As when a giant dies, —

*» Travels in Africa, vol. iv. Introduction.

CHAP. II. SENSE OP PAIN IN INSECTS. 59

have contributed in no small degree to strengthen
popular error, which assigns to the insect world the
same degree of feeling as is enjoyed or suffered by ver-
tebrated animals ; — an error which we shall take this
opportunity of endeavouring to remove. It must be
obvious to every reflecting mind, that the higher and
more complicated is the degree of organic structure, the
more delicate, also, is the nervous sensibility residing
in the corporeal frame. From this theory, founded
upon anatomical facts, into which we need not enter,
it necessarily follows, that insects, from being less or-
ganised than vertebrated animals, would be much in-
ferior to them in that nervous delicacy from which
proceeds the sense of pain ; while, on the other hand,
and arguing on the same principle, they would expe-
rience corporeal suffering much more than the soft and
often headless Mollusca. This, indeed, cannot be
doubted by any one who is acquainted with the repro-
ductive power — and who is not ? — possessed by so
many of the latter animals. The vitality of the Acrita,
or animalcules, is, perhaps, more extraordinary than
that possessed by any other animals. Many of the
aquatic sorts are well known to be raised, as it were,
again to life, after they have, to all appearance, died, by
merely pouring a few drops of water in the vessel which
contained them. The body of a polypes may be cut in
every possible direction, the parts dissevered and scat-
tered, and yet these grievous wounds, — any one of
which would prove the death of an insect, — so far
from having a similar effect upon the polype, becomes,
in fact, an artificial mode of reproduction : each frag-
ment is a germ of life ; and becomes, in due time, a
perfect progeny to the parent. Ascending higher in
the scale of being, we find this power diminishing.
Reproduction in the testaceous Mollusca is apparently
confined to the growth, only, of certain members that
may, from accident or design, become mutilated. If
one of the tentacula of a snail, for instance, is cut off,
the wound will not only heal, but a new one, in process

60

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. II

of time, will become developed. It is well known that
crabs and spiders voluntarily cast away their feet under
the impulse of fear, or they are easily torn from them
by those who attempt their capture ; and yet this loss,
which to us would be certain death, seems to them a
matter of no considerable moment : they are as active,
the instant after they undergo the loss, as they were
before ; and nature, in a short space of time, supplies
the deficiency with a new limb. Every schoolboy
knows, from his own experience, that in attempting to
catch a crane fly, or " old father long legs," in other
words, a Tipula (fig. 13.), one half of its legs may, pro-
bably, remain in his
hand, while the insect
will fly away with the
rest. What vertebrated
animal could do this ?
A leg torn from a bird,
a lizard, or a quad-
ruped, would certainly
be followed by its
death ; for this is fre-
quently the result even
of a serious fracture or other injury to those Ijmbs.

(77-) The vitality of insects is shown by number-
less other circumstances. Beetles that accidentally fall
into water, will remain alive in that element, long
after they have exhausted all their strength in efforts to
escape : they are apparently dead ; but, upon being taken
out and placed in the sun, they revive to their wonted
activity: the same resuscitation is observed in flies
drowned in wine. We frequently find beetles still
living, after one half of their body has been accidentally
crushed by the heedless foot of the passenger, or actually
picked out by some bird which had not finished its
meal. It is related by some entomological writer, — (we
forget where the passage occurs), — that the large dragon
flies, probably of the genus JEshna, are so voracious,
and so little susceptible of pain, that, upon his turning

CHAP. II. SENSE OP PAIN IN INSECTS. 6l

its long slender body to the mouth of one he had
captured, the insect actually began to prey upon itself !
Another (the late Mr. Haworth) mentions a curious
circumstance of the sexes of a species of moth being
both stuck with pins in his store-box, when the
male made such vigorous efforts to gain possession of
his companion, that it actually got loose from its im-
palement. Every entomologist has experienced the
extreme difficulty with which most of the large full-
bodied moths are killed ; and that they will still con-
tinue to exhibit signs of life, after it might be almost
literally said that every bone of the body has been
broken and crushed. These facts, with numerous others
which will occur to every naturalist, place the fact
beyond doubt, that insects are not only endowed with
a far greater portion of vitality than are vertebrated
animals, but that they are almost devoid of the sense of
pain, — or, at least, it would be felt in a very slight
degree, — under inflictions which, to the warm-blooded
tribes, would prove the most excruciating tortures. In
all this we see not only a wise but a most merciful
provision of their Creator. Insects, above all other
animals, are exposed to the greatest casualties, not merely
from ordinary vicissitudes, but to others of a peculiar
nature. The felling of a tree is sufficient to destroy
whole communities, to whom it is a home, giving
shelter and food to thousands ; while the burning of a
forest or the herbage of a plain is the destruction of
millions on millions. It deserves to be remembered, also,
that one such accident is far more depopulating to the
insect world, than all the captures that an entomologist
would make for the purposes of science during a life-
time. It is further ordained that insects should be the
food of nearly three fourths of the whole feathered
creation ; and that numerous tribes of their own class
derive their entire sustenance from preying upon those
that are weaker or differently organised. Hence it is
that their Creator has mercifully withheld from them
that sense of pain and suffering which is so prevalent

62 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

among animals of a higher order, whose lives are, in
all probability, much longer ; but who feel, at their
death, an agony which is really quite unknown to the
" poor beetle that we tread upon."

(78.) To intestinal worms and radiated Mollusca,
which, in their capacities, approach very nearly to
animalcules, we can ascribe no sense save that of touch,
as it is the only one which has yet manifested itself to
naturalists ; and thus does the harmonious scheme, ex-
hibited by the animal creation, terminate at the point
from which it commenced : the vast circle being formed
of various others, linked and adjusted with the nicest
skill, and the wisest and most beautiful arrangement.

CHAP. III.

ON THE PASSIONS OF ANIMALS.

(79-) THE diversity of dispositions observable among
the human species, and the variety of passions which
agitate the breast of man, have been subjects of curious
speculation, which long stimulated the inquiries and
employed the thoughts both of philosophers and mo-
ralists. But let us not suppose that these passions
are altogether confined to our own species. Very many
of them, on the contrary, are common to the generality
of animals ; and we find some among the brute creation
in a very high degree susceptible both of love and
hatred — fear and tenderness — gratitude and anger.
They do not, indeed, possess the same means of ex-
pressing their feelings j but though, perhaps, less va-
ried and eloquent than ours, they have still a language
of their own, entirely suited both to their nature and
necessities ; and no attentive observer can have watched
them, without having perceived the mutual recognition

CHAP. III. PASSIONS IN GENERAL. 6S

of each other's wants and feelings, which is implied
both by voice, look, and action. In many cases, how-
ever, this communication is, doubtless, carried on in a
way which we cannot comprehend, and by tones which
we are at a loss to interpret. But those intonations in
the voice, which we may not be able to catch, are per-
fectly understood by the animals themselves. It is
well known that the ewe and her lamb can distinguish
each other, even in the most numerous flocks ; and that,
when separated for a time, and again turned loose into
the field, the latter instantly recognises the well-known
voice of its dam, and skips joyfully up to her the in-
stant it hears her bleat.

(80.) The various emotions and desires which
these signs and sounds so faithfully express, deserve a
full consideration ; for they open a more interesting
view of the animal world, — unlocking, as it were, the
bosoms of its mute inhabitants, and giving a fresh in-
sight into their nature and characters. We see im-
pressed upon them feelings of the most amiable nature ;
and we behold them obeying the calls of affection,
and with tender care devoting their whole attention to
the nurture and preservation of their offspring, exerting
all their skill and summoning up all their powers in
their service. We discover them, also, in many in-
stances, giving the most affecting proofs of connubial
attachment, and exhibiting a faithful love ef even unto
death ; " while in others we view them actuated by an
apparent sense of benefits received, from which man
might too often learn that lesson of gratitude which his
perverse nature has failed to teach him. This intuitive
tenderness in the brute creation, however, is also
mingled with passions of a darker hue, whose violence
is unchecked by reflection, and unrestrained by the
mild dictates of religion, — although even these, by
the wise ordination of Providence, are subjected in
some cases to the dominion of man ; matter submitting
to the domination of mind, and instinct yielding to
reason.

64 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

(81.) Among those classes of animals which ap-
proach nearest to the vegetable creation,, we can, of
course, detect few indications of feeling of any kind ;
and the most inferior tribes we must therefore pass
over. In the Cephalopoda, or cuttlefish, it has been
remarked, that the male not only is always seen by the
'side of the female, but, when attacked, it displays an
obstinate gallantry in her defence, worthy of the days of
Don Quixote, and frequently insurmountable, excepting
by his own destruction.*

(82.) Among reptiles, one species of the tortoise,
the Testudo caretta, is exceedingly bold and fierce, —
attacking its adversaries with its feet and strong jaws
with the utmost vigour. The crocodile, though very
voracious, does not appear to be an untameable animal, —
instances having been quoted of its becoming tame, and
in some degree gentle to its keeper. The male of the
common Iguana is stated to exhibit a warm attachment
towards the female, whom he will — though usually of a
gentle disposition — defend with the most obstinate fury.
The nimble and the green lizards are both peculiarly
gentle in their dispositions ; and the green lizard of
Carolina, we are told, " has every quality that can de-
light the eye, or interest the beholder in its favour,"
— being at once beautiful, active, useful, patient, and
industrious. Most of the venomous serpents — parti-
cularly the Cobra di Capello, or hooded snake — are ex.
tremely irritable and revengeful : but others, like the
boa tribe, and most of the innoxious genera, are at
once courageous and peaceable ; powerful, indeed, when
assailed, but never attacking except from necessity.

(83.) In BIRDS, the passions are much more acute
and perceptible. It is when we enter the umbrageous
woods, and look around amongst its feathered inhabit-
ants, that sounds of joy and indications of love open
before us. A thousand varied notes — and some of the
sweetest melody — reach our ears; while all — from
the soft cooing of the dove, to the cackling of the com-

» Bingley's Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 545.

CHAP. III. AFFECTION IN BIRDS. 65

mon hen — express some latent feeling of tenderness or
fear, hope or expectation. The turtle dove woos his
bride with his plaintive song, placing himself in the
most winning attitude, and overwhelming her with
caresses ; while the little love-parrot sits beside his
mate, and feeds her by disgorging into her bill. . If
one dies, the other is impressed with the deepest sor-
row, and seldom survives its beloved partner. Many of
the parrot family are well known to evince a strong and

lasting affection towards
each other. Bonnet men-
tions the mutual affec-
tion of a pair of those
called love birds {fig.
14.), who were confined
in the same cage. At
last, the female falling
sick, her companion evinced the strongest marks of at-
tachment : he carried all the food from the bottom of
the, cage, and fed her on her perch: and when she
expired, her unhappy mate went round and round her,
in the greatest agitation, attempting to open her bill and
give* her nourishment. He then gradually languished ;
and survived her death only a few months.

(84.) It is in the parental character, however, that
birds evince their strongest feelings. It is in this
capacity that every nerve is exerted, every power em-
ployed, every sacrifice cheerfully made. Self seems no
longer to be considered, danger no more dreaded ; and
death itself is braved, if it secure the safety of their
young. The timid hen, casting away her fears, ap-
pears with a new spirit when surrounded by her youth-
ful progeny ; and she assumes an air of courage and
defiance which evinces a determination to assault any
enemy who may approach. The most feeble birds, at
the season of incubation, assault the strong and fierce ;
the weakest will assail the most powerful. It is a
well-known fact, that a pair of ravens, which dwelt in a
cavity of the rock of Gibraltar, would never suffer a

F

66 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. Ill,

vulture or eagle to approach the nest, but would drive
them away with every appearance of fury.* — The
missel thrush, during the breeding season, will fight
even the magpie or jay.f And the female titmouse
will frequently allow herself to be made a prisoner,
rather than quit her nest ; or, if she herself escape, she
will speedily return, menacing the invaders by hissing
like a snake, and biting all who approach her : this
we have ourselves experienced. The artifices employed
by the partridge, the lapwing, the ring plover, the
pewit, and numerous other land birds, to blind the
vigilance and divert the attention of those who may
come near their little ones, is equally curious. The
partridges, both male and female, conduct their young
out to feed, and carefully assist them in their search
for food ; but, if disturbed in the midst of this employ-
ment, the male, after first giving the alarm by uttering
a peculiar cry of distress, throws himself directly in the
way of danger, and endeavours, by feigning lameness
or inability to fly, to distract the attention and mislead
the efforts of the enemy, — thus giving his mate time to
conduct her little brood to a place of security. ( ' A
partridge," says White, " came out of a ditch, and ran
along, shivering with her wings, and crying out as if
wounded, and unable to get from us. While the dam
feigned this distress, a boy, who attended me, saw the
brood, which was small and unable to fly, run for
shelter into an old fox's hole under the bank." — The
lapwing pushes forward to meet her foes, employing
every art to allure them from the abode of her young :
she rises from the ground with a loud screaming voice,
as if just flushed from hatching, — though, probably, at
the same time, not within a hundred yards from the nest :
she afterwards whines and screams round the invaders ;
and invariably becomes more clamorous as she retires
further from the nest. £ — The ring plover will flutter
along the ground as if crippled ; and, if pursued, will

* White of Selborne. f Montague.

$ Bingley's Animal Biography, vol. ii. p. 479.

CHAP. III. PARENTAL LOVE IN BIRDS. 67

hasten to a short distance, stretch out its feathers, and
appear to " tumble heels over head," till it has enticed
its enemy to a distance * ; while, on similar occasions,
the pewit resorts to the same expedient of appearing
wounded, as soon as it perceives the approach of a
stranger. — Sheldrakes are equally ingenious : during
the period of incubation, which lasts thirty days, the
male keeps watch on some adjoining hillock, which he
only leaves that he may satisfy the calls of hunger, or
occupy the post of the female while she quits it for
food. After the young are hatched, the parents lead,
or sometimes carry them in their bills, towards the sea ;
and if, interrupted in their progress, it is said that they
employ numberless arts to draw off the attention of the
observer, f

(85.) The eider duck, and some other birds, pluck the
down off their own bodies, to shelter and comfort their
helpless young. Others will voluntarily undergo the
pains of hunger for the same object ; refusing to leave
their nests, until perfectly exhausted for want of sus-
tenance : while some, again, are carefully provided with
food by their mates, — most of whom, like the sheldrake,
watch somewhere near, to ward ofi^ or to give timely
notice of the approach of, danger, and to while away
the time by his song. — The blue-bellied parrakeet is an
instance both of parental and connubial attachmnent.
This bird, like the eider duck, lines its nest with
the down stripped from its own breast ; and La Vail-
lant informs us that it receives the most assiduous
attentions from the male during the whole progress of
nidification, — both Afterwards uniting to display the
same affection towards their young ; — these latter, for
the first six months after they are hatched, are fre-
quently seen seated by the side of their mother, while
her faithful partner places himself close by, and, if
unable to reach the little ones, he gives their food to
her, and she distributes it to her progeny. Innu-

* Montague's Orn. Diet. vol. ii.
t Bewick's British Birds, vol. ii. p. 343.
F 2

68

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

merable instances may be quoted of other birds which
train their young in a manner equally indicative of pa-
rental love. Thus, some of the eagles take out their
young, before they are fully grown, on purpose to
teach them the arts necessary for securing their prey.
The female lark conducts hers, to exercise their powers
of flight, — herself fluttering over their heads, directing
their motions, and preserving them from danger. Even
the butcher-bird, or common woodchat shrike, con-
tinues her regard for her offspring even after they have
attained maturity; while the latter reward her care,
by assisting her in providing for the support of all,
until the following spring.* We may close these fa-
miliar instances of parental tenderness, exhibited more
particularly by our native birds, with the following
anecdote, recorded by White of Selborne : — « The

common fly-catcher
(fig.l5.)(theStopa-
rola of Ray) builds
every year in the
vines that grow on
the walls of my
house. A pair of
these little birds had,
one year, inadvertent-
ly placed their nest
on a naked bough, — perhaps in a shady time, not being
aware of the inconvenience that followed : but a hot
sunny season coming on before the brood was half fledged,
the reflection of the wall became insupportable, and must
inevitably have destroyed the young, had not affection
suggested an expedient, and prompted the parent birds
to hover over the nest all the hotter hours, while, with
wings expanded, and mouths gaping for breath, they
screened off the heat from their suffering offspring." —
The courage of the drongo shrikes, found in Africa, is
not less striking than that of their natural allies or pro-
totypes, the tyrant shrikes of America. " This bird,"

* Wood's Zoology, voj. i. p. 319.

CHAP. III. VIOLENT PASSIONS OF ANIMALS. 69

observes Dr. Burchell, " is remarkable for its boldness :
whenever hawks or ravens ap-
proach its nest, it flies out upon
them with incredible fury, and
drives them away with a harsh
angry noise, — attacking the ob-
truder on its dwelling in the
rear, and pursuing him to a con-
siderable distance. That a bird,
not much larger than a swallow
(fig. 16.), should have courage
to attack another so many times
larger, and that, too, a hawk, is
a singular fact, but not more
extraordinary than the evident fear and precipitation
with which its enemy hastens to get out of its reach."*
(86.) Birds, however, like men, experience other, be-
sides the gentler, passions. The fierceness of the ra-
pacious order is well known ; and the obstinacy with
which combats are carried on, even by domestic fowls,
is known to every one : but who would suppose that
the smallest of all the feathered tribes — the hum-
ming birds — would exhibit the most violent, though,
at the same time, ludicrous paroxysms of rage. Pen-
nant, when speaking of the Trochilus colubris of North
America, observes, " The most violent passions some-
times agitate their little breasts : they have often dread-
ful contests, when numbers happen to dispute the same
flower : they will tilt against each other with such fury,
as if they meant to transfix their antagonists with their
long bills." It may be truly said, that these little
creatures are sadly prone to quarrel over their cups —
not of wine, but of flowers. We have frequently seen
four or five engaged in a flying fight, when disputing
the possession of a flowery tree in the forests of Brazil.
At such times they fly so swiftly that the eye can scarcely
follow them. The violent quarrels of sparrows — par-
ticularly in the pairing season — is familiar to most of

* Burchell's Travels, p. 440.

p 3

70 HABKTS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

our readers ; but, although desperate for the moment,
they appear to be soon reconciled.

(8?.) The lion, although subject to fits of un-
governable rage, is not, like the tiger, habitually cruel,
and destructive from mere wantonness. Its disposi-
tion, indeed, in some instances, has been generous,
and even capable of the strongest attachments. This
has been proved by the fact of one of these animals
living for a considerable time in perfect amity with a
dog, which was thrown into its den at the Tower :
while another anecdote has been told of a female lion,
which was attended by a negro, who had reared her, and
which became so fond of her keeper, that, when he quitted
Exeter 'Change, she pined away, and soon afterwards
died.* Different species of the bear are remarkable
for the strength of their parental affection. An in-
teresting instance of this was witnessed by the crew of
the Carcase frigate, which some years ago proceeded on
a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole, when
an old bear was attracted, with her cubs, by the smell
of a sea-horse, which had been killed some days before,
and the flesh of which she carefully divided between
her young ones, reserving but a small portion for her-
self. " As she was fetching away the last piece, the
sailors levelled their muskets at the cubs, and shot
them both dead ; and in her retreat they wounded the
dam, but not mortally. It would have drawn tears of
pity from any but unfeeling minds, to have marked the
affectionate concern expressed by this poor beast during
the last moments of her expiring young. Though she
was herself dreadfully wounded, and could but just
crawl to the place where they lay, she carried the lump
of flesh she had fetched away, as she had done others
before, tore it in pieces, and laid it before them ; and
when she* saw they refused to eat, she laid her paws
first upon one, and then upon the other, and endea-
voured to raise them up; — all this while, it was pitiful
to hear her moan. When she found she could not stir

* Bingley's Animal Biography, vol. i. p. 244.

CHAP. III. AFFECTION OF BEARS. ?1

them, she went off, and, when she got to some distance,
looked back and moaned ; and that not availing her to
entice them away, she returned, and, smelling round
them, began to lick their wounds. She went off a
second time as before, and, having crawled a few paces,
looked again behind her, and for some time stood
moaning. But still her cubs not rising to follow her,
she returned to them again, and with signs of inexpres-
sible fondness went round, pawing them, and moaning.
Finding, at last, that they were cold and lifeless, she
raised her head towards the ship, and uttered a growl
of despair, which the murderers returned with a volley
of musket balls. She fell between her cubs, and died
licking their wounds." * The males are said frequently
to evince equal attachment to their mates ; and Mr.
Hearne relates that he has, himself, seen one of these,
after the female has been killed, come and put his fore
paws over her, and allow himself to be shot rather than
desert her remains. f Even the wolf is susceptible of
parental love ; and this creature, so dreadful to other
animals, pays the most unremitting attention to its
offspring, — preparing their nest by plucking the hairs
out of. their own body, — mixing them with a bed of
moss, — and disgorging its food to afford them tender
meat. The timid prudence of the fox disappears when
she has the character of a mother to sustain, — in the
support of which she shows herself fearless and cou-
rageous. The domestic hog, although, apparently, a
selfish, and, to us, rather a disgusting animal, is by no
means devoid of natural affection : on the contrary, if
a male and female be inclosed in the same sty while
young, if the latter be deprived of her companion, she
will pine with, and sometimes, as it has been said,
" die of, a broken heart." J The affection of the female
opossum is aided by the pouch which Nature has so
curiously contrived within herself, and into which the
young litter fly to shelter themselves from any ap-

* Phipps's Voyage to the North Pole. f Hearne's Voyage, p. 386.

$ Bingley's Animal Biography, vol. i. p. 513. — This may be questioned.

F 4>

72 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

preaching danger; a habit, in fact, belonging not
merely to all marsupial or pouched quadrupeds, but to
certain fishes of the genus Syngnathus, and probably to
the opossum shrimps. The common roebuck, with-
out having a similar hiding place for her little ones,
yet, in moments of danger, carefully conceals them
in a thicket, and then suffers herself to h£ chased.*
Monkeys are peculiarly affectionate to their young; —
they tend and watch them in the most singular man-
ner, and appear to pursue a plan both as to their
nurture and education. They not only procure every
possible comfort for their little ones, but they also pre-
serve amongst them a due share of discipline, and seem
even to hold them in subjection : they appear to watch
their antics with great delight ; but if, while wrestling
with each other, they become violent or malicious,
immediately springing upon them, seizing their tails
with one paw, and administering correction with the
other ; nor, if they elude the parent's grasp, will they
make any show of rebellion, but rather approach in a
wheedling and caressing manner, as if seeking a recon-
ciliation, t Lichtenstein observes, that the affection of
the African elephants for their young is very great.
He had been assured by an old hunter, who witnessed
the fact, that the female elephant will take up her
wounded calf in her mouth, and run away with it,
just as we may suppose a cat is in the habit of doing
with her kitten 4 A singular instance of the affection
of animals for others of their own kind, is the following :

— The Rev. Mr. S , of M , Denbighshire,

had a favourite Newfoundland dog, who lived at large,
partook of the best of everything, and exercised his
power with great mildness. He was seen, more than
once, leaping the gate which separated the yard of the
house from the farmyard, and carrying large bones, that
had been given him, to a sporting dog who was tied up
in the stable. §

* Shaw's Zool. vol. iv. p. 294. t Bingley's Anim. Biog. vol. i. p. 87.
t Lich Trav D. 214. $ Sheppard's Autumn Dream, p. 17L

CHAP. III. GENEROSITY OF QUADRUPEDS.

(88.) Generosity is not unknown even among
jackals, — for we may surely give that epithet to the
assistance which they will occasionally afford to a bro-
ther in distress. A Mr. Kinlock, well known at the
time in India as an excellent sportsman, having one
morning chased a jackal which entered a thick jungle,
found himself under the necessity of calling off his
dogs in consequence of an immense herd of jackals
which had suddenly collected on hearing the cries of
their brother, which the hounds were worrying. They
were so numerous, that not only the dogs were defeated,
but the jackals absolutely rushed out of the cover in
pursuit of them ; and when Mr. Kinlock and his party
rode up to whip them off, their horses were bitten, and it
was not without difficulty a retreat was effected. The
pack of hounds was found to have suffered so severely
as not to be able to take the field for many weeks after.
A hunted jackal seems to be impressed with the instinct,
that, if he only get in the vicinity of his brethren, he
is certain of their help ; and so surely do they rely
upon this, that they often shape their course in that
direction where they know other jackals are to be found.
(89.) The marine tribes are no less distinguished
for parental affection than
the land quadrupeds. The
females of the Arctic wal-
rus (fig. I?.)* if attacked
on the ice, always first se-
cure the safety of their
young, by casting them into
the sea ; and then, return-
ing to the enemy, they
give vent to their rage.
If, however, they lose
their lives in the defence
of their offspring, the latter
will not be induced to quit the inanimate remains.*

* Wood's Zool. vol i. p. 328.

74 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

The sexes of the common whale evince an equal at-
tachment to each other. Anderson, in his History of
Greenland, informs us, that some fishermen having
struck one of two whales, a male and female, that were
in company together, the wounded animal made a long
and terrible resistance, and upset a boat, containing
three men, with a single blow of its tail : its companion
fully seconded its efforts ; and when at length the poor
creature sunk under its wounds, the other, with tre-
mendous bellowing, stretched itself upon its dead asso-
ciate, and shared its fate. The dolphin (Delphinus
delphis) carefully suckles and tends its young, carrying
them gently under its pectoral fins, sporting with, and
assiduously exercising them in swimming. The male,
also, attaches himself for life to his female companion,
and becomes her most zealous guardian and protector. *
(90.) Filial affection is less common among quad-
rupeds, and, indeed, all animals, than that evinced by
the parent. There is, comparatively, little appearance
of this feeling on the part of the young ; and when the
parents have once reared them to maturity, a separation
usually ensues. But with the American bison this is
not the case ; and the following affecting trait, related
by Mr. Turner, who resided for some time in America,
proves that the attachment of the dam is reciprocated
by her offspring. " Whenever," he observes, " a cow
bison falls by the hand of the hunters, and happens to
have a calf, the helpless young one, far from attempting
to escape, stops by its fallen dam, with signs expressive
of strong natural affection. The dam thus secured, the
hunter makes no attempt on the calf (knowing that to
be unnecessary), but proceeds to cut up the carcase ;
then, hanging it on his horse, he returns home, followed
by the poor calf, which thus instinctively attends the
remains of its dam. I have seen a single hunter ride
into the town of Cincinnati, followed in this manner by
three calves, all of which had just lost their dams by
this cruel hunter."

* Griffith's Cuvier, vol. iv. p. 452.

CHAP. III. COURAGE OP QUADRUPEDS. 75

(91.) The courage of some quadrupeds, particularly
when under the influence of parental affection, is most
remarkable : in such circumstances, nothing daunts the
mother in the defence of her offspring ; and she will
then boldly attack a ferocious animal, which at other
times she herself would flee from. Among quadrupeds,
this is very conspicuous in the Indian buffaloes, which,
as an eye-witness remarks, scent a tiger very quickly,
and by their snorting and agitation soon communicate
the alarm to the whole herd. A calf will now and
then straggle — when, of course, he runs a risk of being
carried off: if, however, the little one's voice be heard,
or the mother suspect any danger, nothing can exceed
her uneasiness ; the signal is given to all, and no time
is lost in attacking the savage marauder. Even a single
buffalo will not hesitate, under such circumstances, to
rush at a tiger; whence we may judge of the spirit
and impetuosity with which a whole herd proceed to
the charge. The herdsmen are so fully satisfied on
this point, as to feel no doubt of their own safety, so
long as they continue with their cattle. Few accidents,
under such circumstances, ever happen : the herdsmen
generally remain seated on their buffaloes, driving them
to the best grass, and, by their usual calls, keeping all
within a proper compass. They usually graze their
beasts during the night, — often in the midst of gloomy
covers, in which tigers abound, — yet without apprehend-
ing any danger.

(92.) Quadrupeds, more than any other animals,
attach themselves strongly to the human species. The
dog is a familiar instance of this ; and forcibly did the
indefatigable Dr. Burchell feel the value of this mute
but honest friend, when, wandering over the vast plains
of Africa, he turned towards his dogs to <f admire their
attachment," and, harassed and distressed by the con-
duct of his followers, resorted to them as his only
friends, and " felt how much inferior to them was man
when actuated only by selfish views." Even the poor
ass (Equus Asinus) is not only a pattern of meekness and

? HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

submission to the scorns and bufferings of this world,
but is susceptible of great attachment towards its mas-
ter, whom it will scent at a considerable distance, dis-
tinguish in the midst of a crowd, faithfully follow, and
even caress him. Innumerable instances of this attach-
ment may be quoted.

(93-) Quadrupeds are susceptible of many of the
softer emotions ; and of this, many interesting instances
are upon record. The docility and amiable qualities of
the elephant are well known ; while the perfect subjec-
tion into which it can be brought towards a creature so
inferior in bodily strength as man, is as admirable as it
is extraordinary. In their wild state, elephants are
very sociable, — always marching in large troops, — the
oldest being in the front, the young and sickly in the
centre, and the middle-aged making up the rear. Mr.
Bruce gives a striking instance of the affection of a
young elephant for its mother, as exhibited in a hunt,
in which the dam being severely wounded, it rushed
impetuously out of the thicket, in which it had taken
shelter, upon the men and horses ; and he adds, " I
was amazed, and — as much as ever I was upon such an
occasion — afflicted, at seeing the affection of the little
animal in defending its wounded mother, heedless of
its own life or safety. I therefore cried to them, for
God's sake to spare the mother ! — but it was then too
late ;" and the young elephant, he tells us, fell a victim
to its filial affection.

(9^-) Quadrupeds, more than any other animals, dis-
play the ungovernable passions of anger, hatred, cruelty,
and revenge ; and at these times are often formidable ene-
mies, not only to each other, but to mankind in general.
The whole of the carnivorous animals, whose lives are
supported by blood, naturally exhibit the most savage
dispositions. It has been aptly said of the tiger, that it
is fierce when unprovoked, and " cruel without neces-
sity."* The wolf is of a rapacity which nothing can
satisfy. The panther (Felis pardus) is much more

* Smel. Phil. vol. i. p. 373.

CHAP. III. FIERCENESS OF THE RHINOCEROS. 77

dreaded at the Cape of Good Hope than the lion ; for,
whereas the latter always gives notice of his approach
by terrific roarings, the former steals treacherously on
his prey, and hears it away before any one is aware of
his approach.* The same author declares of the rhi-
noceros, that he carries on his manoeuvres in the same
wary and dexterous manner, — being ' ' at once a traitor
whom nothing betrays, an assaulter whom nothing terri-
fies, and a fury whom resistance renders implacable."f
(95.) The savage disposition of the Indian rhi-
noceros is well illustrated by the following anecdote^:
— Two officers, belonging to the troops quartered near
Patna, went down the river to shoot and hunt. One
morning, near daybreak, when they were about to set
off on their day's hunt, they heard a violent uproar,
and, on looking out, found that an immense rhinoceros
was goring their horses — both of which, being fastened
by their head and heel ropes, were, consequently, un-
able either to escape or to resist. The servants were
so terrified that they took to their heels, and concealed
themselves in the neighbouring jungle. The gentle*
men had just time to climb up into a small tree, when
the furious beast, having killed the horses, turned its
rage upon their masters. They were barely out of his
reach, and by no means exempt from danger, — espe-
cially as he assumed a threatening appearance, and
seemed intent on their downfall. After keeping them
in dreadful suspense for some time, and using some
efforts to dislodge them, seeing the sun rise, he re-
treated to the forest ; not, however, without occasion-
ally casting an eye back, as with regret, at leaving what
he wanted the power to destroy. This savage indi-
vidual continued, for some time after, to infest the
country, so as to render the roads impassable. In
consequence, however, of a handsome reward being
offered, he was at length killed by an adventurous na-
tive,— being shot with a large gun that carried an iron

* Le Vaillant's Travels in Africa, vol. i. p. 63.

t Ibid. vol. iv. p. 236. J Williamson's Sports.

78 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

ball : not, however, before many travellers and villagers
had fallen victims to his ferocity.

(96.) Ounces, leopards, conguars, lynxes, weazels,
polecats, and, indeed, all the carnivorous animals, how-
ever small, are extremely fierce by nature ; and even
the wild cat of Britain has all the dangerous qualities,
in a less degree, of its kindred species. The hamster
rat (Mus Cricetus) is said to attack every creature that
comes in its way, without reference to their size or
superiority ; to be the victim of the blindest rage ; and
to allow himself to be beaten to pieces, rather than
submit. He even wars with his own species, without
excepting the females ; and their battle terminates only
with the death of one of the combatants, which, after-
wards, serves as a repast to the cruel victor. The
Myrmecophaga jubata, or great anteater (fig. 18.), is,

although a harmless animal when unmolested, stated to
be an unrelenting foe when once it gets its enemy
within its reach ; it is then said to fix its claws firmly
into the sides of its antagonist, and will suffer itself to
be destroyed sooner than relinquish its hold, even of a
dead adversary.

(97.) Cowardice, which, in man, is the usual ac-
companiment of an ungenerous, or an ignoble spirit, is
equally conspicuous in such brutes as are the most
treacherous and bloodthirsty. " Persons unacquainted,"
observes Williamson, " with the true character of the
tiger, would expect to see him (in those fights which
are sometimes exhibited in India, between this animal
and the buffalo) attack his adversary as soon as he
entered the area; — but, no; as soon as the buffalo

CHAP. III. PASSIONS OP QUADRUPEDS. 79

makes his appearance, the tiger — which, perhaps, till
then, does not betray any marked apprehension, or,
probably, seems to menace the spectators, swelling his
fur, and showing his teeth, or occasionally snarling and
lashing his sides with his tail — all at once sinks into
the most contemptible despondency. He sneaks along
under the palisade, crouching, and turning on his back
to avoid the buffalo's charge. He tries every device his
situation will admit ; and often suffers himself to be
gored, or to be lifted from his pusillanimous attitude, by
the buffalo's horn, before he can be induced to stand on
the defensive. When, however, he really does summon
up courage to oppose his assailant, he displays wonderful
vigour and activity, although he is generally conquered.

(98.-) The Phoca Ursina, or ursine seal, according
to Pennant, is the victim of a blind jealousy, which
leads him to fight his companions, and even to immo-
late his females, if the latter are in any way interfered
with by the former. Each seal has from eight to fifty
females, over whom he exercises the greatest tyranny ;
though, at the same time, he exhibits the fondest affec-
tion for his young — standing resolutely on the defen-
sive, if they are attacked, while the mother carries them
away in her mouth. But should she chance to drop
them, he instantly leaves his enemy, directs all his
wrath upon her, and beats her violently on the stones
until he " leaves her for dead. As soon as she recovers,
she comes, in the most suppliant manner, to the male,
crawls to his feet, and washes them with her tears :
he, in the mean time, stalks about in the most insulting
manner ; but, in case the young one is carried off, he
melts into the deepest affliction." *

(99-) That the passions of animals may be excited,
both for evil as well as for good, by artificial means, is
evinced by the training of elephants, and even oxen,
for war. lie Vaillant t purchased one of the latter,

* Pen. Hist. Quad. vol. ii. p. 529. — This account we suspect to be
somewhat exaggerated.
f Second Travels, vol. ii. p. 158.

80 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

which he describes as remarkable for his elegant form
as for his gigantic size, — being the most beautiful of
his species he had ever seen. Its head was majestically
armed with two immense horns, which retired from
each other, with the utmost symmetry, to form two
perfect semicircles, their summits being suddenly bent
forwards, leaving a space of four feet eight inches be-
tween them : they had been made to grow in this figure
by the owner, who highly prized the beast. These oxen,
trained thus, appear to be changed in their very nature ;
although, of course, the most ungovernable are selected
for this purpose. Being driven on against the enemy,
they become furious at the sight of the adverse host ;
rush on the men, trample them under their feet, gore
them with their horns, and pursue them in their flight,
till they have deprived them of life. They are also
employed in defence of flocks and herds.* Naturally
courageous, they are not only capable of repelling wild
beasts, but they even venture to attack them ; so that
a hyaena, however hungry, will never come near a flock
guarded by two or three of these formidable animals, —
a number of which, as our traveller asserts, will even
make head against a lion.

(100.) That animals, naturally of a most fierce dis-
position, may, in some measure, be domesticated, is well
known ; and, perhaps, no instance upon record is more
remarkable than that which is now, or was -lately, be-
fore the public, in the exhibition of M. Van Amburgh.
It would be very interesting to know by what means the
natural craving for blood, in such beasts of prey as
lions and tigers, has been overcome, or kept in abeyance,
by this ingenious person. But, although the accom-
plishment of so difficult a task is highly to his credit,
and appears to Europeans a perfect novelty, it has long
been practised, with nearly equal success, upon the
royal tiger, by the fakirs, or mendicant priests, in
various parts of Bengal.-)- These appear to follow

* Le Vaillant's Second Travels, vol. ii. p. 178.
t Williamson's Oriental Sports, vol. ii. p. 34.

CHAP. III. TAMED TIGERS IN INDIA. 81

their master on most occasions, and to be completely
under his authority. But then they are rarely, if
ever, fed with meat ; their nourishment consisting
almost entirely of boiled rice and ghee. Raw meat
is well known to render the tiger bloodthirsty, and
seems to awaken its dormant ferocity : every latent
propensity to destruction is thus called forth into ac-
tion, and the whole deportment of the animal changes.
Boiled meat is known to be equally nutritious; and
when mixed, as is always done in feeding dogs in
India, with boiled rice, it is found to render them far
more tractable. " These eleemosynary tigers," observes
captain Williamson, ' ' range at large, but they do not
stray far from their keepers. I confess that one, whjch
I visited at Colgong, rather disturbed my mind, by a
peculiar fierceness in its eyes, which, although I knew
the animal to have been perfectly harmless for several
years, seemed to denote an inward wish by no means
favourable to my safety. There is, in short, a very
peculiar appearance in these animals at the sight of a
stranger, which seems inseparable from the tiger's na-
ture. The fakir seemed to possess ample authority
over the tiger in question, which certainly manifested
no dislike to his visiters ; but the animal paced slowly
round us, with a seeming inquisitive air, creating
sensations not of the most pleasant nature. He was
riot, indeed, very large, but could with ease have de-
stroyed the whole party. This fakir used to walk,
almost daily, in the town, a-ccompanied by the tiger,
which apparently created no alarm among the in-
habitants, who seemed to have full confidence in his
innocence. His master, however, interdicted all per-
sons from touching the animal ; a caution which, pro-
bably, tended much to preserve its inoffensiveness.

(101.) Fishes, in general, are no doubt influenced,
in some degree, by the same passions as other animals ;
but the element in which they live opposes an insu-
perable bar to investigations on this part of their his-
tory. As none of this class suckle their young, so the
o

82 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

latter, from the moment of their birth, are entirely in-
dependent of their parents, and capable of providing
for themselves. Nothing, therefore, calls for the ex-
ertion of the parental feeling; and, as fishes prey chiefly
upon one another, and some species are continually at
war with others, the lives of all may, as far as we can
conjecture, be considered as a constant " scene of hos-
tility, violence, and invasion." The great white shark
(Squalus Carcharias), and nearly the whole of the ex-
tensive family to which it belongs, are particularly dis-
tinguished for their rapacity. The wolf-fish (Anarrhicas
Lvpus, fig. Ip.), although much smaller, is yet, from

its ferocity, as terrible to the smaller tribes of fish, as
the animal from which it derives its name is to those on
land. Its jaws are armed with strong cutting teeth in
every direction ; so that it could snap off the finger of
an incautious person immediately. The sword-fish is
possessed of uncommon fierceness ; and never encoun-
ters a whale, without instantly attacking it.

(102.) Insects exhibit various passions j and these
are not only manifested in their actions, but expressed
by gestures and noises, no doubt well understood by
themselves. The sounds they emit are, indeed, some-
times caused by their various motions or employments;
but many are the expression of their own peculiar
feelings. Thus, numerous beetles, when alarmed, utter
a shrill cry, which has been compared to the feeble
chirp of birds. The humble bee, if attacked, will give
vent to the harsh tones of anger ; and the hive bee,
under the sdrne circumstances, emits a shrill and peevish
sound, which becomes doubly sharp when it flies at an
enemy or intruder. A number of these insects, being

CHAP. III. PASSIONS OF INSECTS. AFFECTION. 83

once smoked out of their hive, the queen, with many
of her followers, flew away : upon this, the bees which
remained behind immediately sent forth a most plaintive
cry ; which was succeeded by a cheerful humming, when
their sovereign was again restored to them. The pas-
sion of love, too, as well as fear, anger, and rejoicing,
seems, in insects, as in birds, to come forth in song.
The grasshopper and Cicada (C. Italica,fig. 20.) tribes

are particularly famed for these amorous ditties, which
are often so loud, monotonous, and deafening, in warm
countries, during the meridian heat, as to produce any-
thing but pleasure. These sounds, however, proceed
alone from the males ; the females not possessing that
particular apparatus (a) by which they are produced.

(103.) The affection of insects for their young is very
conspicuous ; but in the care which they take to lay their
eggs in such substances as will afterwards afford them
fitting sustenance, we shall discern more the effects of
instinct than of maternal affection. Many instances,
however, may be adduced, in which this natural pas-
sion is in operation. The mason wasp of Europe and
America (fig. 21.) insinuates a living caterpillar into
the cell in which it deposits its egg ; in the course of
a few days, it incloses another in the same way ; and
thus continues these supplies of food until the young
one has attained its full growth. The common earwig

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS, CHAP. Ill,

21

hatches her eggs in the same manner as a hen, and
broods over her progeny with affectionate assiduity, —
continuing frequently in the same sitting posture foi

hours. Baron de
Geer, finding one
in this position, re-
moved it into a box,
in different parts of
which he scattered
the eggs. The
mother, however,
speedily carried
them in her jaws
into a heap, and saf
on them as before.* The mole cricket (^/zgr.22.), an in-

sect by no means uncommon in this country, forms a
cell in the moist earth for the accommodation of her
eggs, which she afterwards carefully closes, — stationing
herself close to the entrance, to prevent the access of
enemies. It has been said, indeed, that nothing can
exceed the care of these insects in the preservation of
their young. Wherever a nest is situated, fortifications,,
avenues, and intrenchments surround it; there are, also,
numerous meanderings which lead to it ; and a ditch
encompasses the whole, which few other insects are ca-
pable of passing, f A species of field bug found in
this country (Cimex griseus), brings up her family,
— which generally consists of thirty or forty young, —
leading them about as a hen does her chickens, and

* De Geer, vol. iif . p. !

Bing. A trim. Biog. vol. iii. p. 270.

CHAP. III. PASSIONS OF INSECTS. AFFECTION. 85

never leaving them for a moment. De Geer having
disturbed one of these families, which inhabited the
branch of a birch tree, the mother showed every symp-
tom of excessive uneasiness ; and, far from attempting
to escape, she continued close to her little ones, in-
cessantly flapping her wings, as if to preserve them
from danger.* The care which is taken of, and the
attention which is paid to, the young, by such insects
as live in societies, is well known ; but it is not, per-
haps, so generally understood that, among ants, as soon
as ever the female has begun to lay her eggs, she tears
off the four wings by which she had, before, been
enabled to fly gaily through the air, — but which are,
now, an impediment to the discharge of her maternal
duties, — and devotes herself, in future, to the increase
and preservation of her family. M. P. Huber was,
several times, a witness of this extraordinary proceed-
ing. He describes the manner in which these cou-
rageous insects stretch their wings in various directions;
and, after sundry violent contortions, at length get rid
of their incumbrances.t If an ant's nest should be
disturbed, the whole community may be seen instantly
flocking towards a heap of little white oblong bodies,
the safety of which they put every nerve in motion to
secure. These bodies are the embryo young ; and, as
a proof of the devoted attachment which is exhibited
for them, an observer, on one of these occasions, having
cut an ant in two, the mutilated animal, far from
ceasing its exertions, actually contrived to convey ten
of these white masses safely into the interior of the
nest, before itself expired.^

(104.) Insects experience anger as well as love ; and,
surprising as it may seem, their little bodies can be exer-
cised in cruelty. The orator mantis (Mantis Oratorio,
Lin.) is of so unnatural a disposition, that, if in a state
of captivity, it will actually destroy and devour its own
species, — righting with the utmost fury, until death

* Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 361. t Huber, p. 109.

$ Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 366,

G 3

86

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

shall terminate the battle. " Roesel, who kept some of
these insects, observes that, in their mutual conflicts,
their manoeuvres very much resemble those of hussars
fighting with sabres ; and sometimes one cleaves the
other through at a single stroke, or severs the head
from the body."* The manners of the scorpion (fig.
23.) are equally fierce and revolting. Not only is it

dangerous to its enemies, but terrible to its own species;
so that, out of one hundred of these insects, which
Maupertuis inclosed together in a vessel, such was the
bloody- scene that ensued, that, in a few days, only four-
teen remained alive, having killed and devoured the rest
of their companions. Spiders, also, appear to be sub-
ject to violent paroxysms of anger ; their mutual en-
counters being long and obstinate, whenever two of
equal size meet each other, — neither of them being
found to yield. Leeuwenhoek watched a conflict of this
description between two large spiders, both of whom
grappled together furiously with their fangs, till one of
them lay dead upon the spot, — its body being as wet
with the blood flowing from the wounds received, as
if water had been poured upon it. t Yet, although
thus ferocious in their combats, they are anxiously alive
to the preservation of their young, and will leave no
means untried to secure it. One species, the Aranea
saccata Lin., lays her eggs In a little silken bag, attached

* Shaw's Zool vol. ii. p. 119. t Leeuwenhoek, vol. i. p. 38»

CHAP. III. GENERAL REMARKS ON ANIMAL PASSIONS. 87

to the extremity of her body ; and this treasure she
carries ahout with her everywhere, appearing in the
greatest distress if in any way deprived of it. By way
of experiment, Bonnet delivered up this precious bur-
den to that cruel insect the ant lion ; when the dis-
tressed mother, far from deserting her charge, made the
most extraordinary efforts to recover it, — persevering,
regardless of her own danger, and resolutely remaining
on the spot, in spite of every effort to force her to leave
it.* Crabs appear to be naturally quarrelsome animals;
and the combats carried on by the common species,
particularly, are obstinate and vindictive. Their large
and often deeply-toothed claws are most offensive wea-
pons, with which they can easily tear off the legs of
their own kind, as well as inflict severe injury on their
other enemies.

(105.) On reviewing the preceding anecdotes, col-
lected from creditable authorities, it results, that all
animals gifted with locomotion are subject to modifi-
cations of the same passions as alternately sway the
human mind. The parental instinct of affection is,
perhaps, the strongest, or, at least, the most universal ;
because this is the most important for the future pre-
servation of the species, — without which, supposing it
did not exist to the extent it actually does, the world
would, eventually, be depopulated of its animal inha-
bitants. The opposite feelings, of ferocity, anger, or
vindictiveness, arise, on the other hand, from different
causes, which it is not difficult to analyse. Such pre-
datory or carnivorous animals as the beasts and birds of
prey are naturally cruel; for that food which is alone
congenial to their nature, could never be obtained, were
their dispositions otherwise. With the majority, how-
ever, hunger is the inciting cause for bringing these
passions into action; just as injuries are with those of a
milder nature. It is said that the lion never attacks
its prey from sheer wantonness, — without being pro-
pelled to destroy it from the cravings of appetite : and,

* Int. to But vol.i. p. 363.
G 4

88 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. III.

although the tiger's thirst for hlood has heen generally
stated to be insatiable, itxsan scarcely he supposed that
it would destroy, without, in the first instance, being
urged on by hunger. Nevertheless, there certainly
appears an unaccountable vindictiveness in certain ra-
pacious animals, when surrounded by their weaker foes
or their favourite game. Wolves and wild dogs, on
getting among a flock of sheep, will wound or kill
many more than they could possibly devour : and the
great-footed hawk of America, on darting into a flock
of ducks, will strike down, right and left, more than a
dozen of their number ; and, ultimately, fly off with
perhaps only one or two. The weazels and ferrets
have the same propensities in regard to rabbits and
rats; and the Egyptian ichneumon is universally de-
scribed as a most destructive creature, carrying on a
war of extermination among the reptiles of its own
country. No such habits, however, with the above
exception, belong to the generality of carnivorous birds,
— at least, so far as we yet know ; for, although the
shrike appears to kill more than it eats at one time, the
remainder of its game is stuck upon a thorn, or sharp-
pointed twig, only to be devoured at leisure.

(106.) The next head under which we may class
the violent or injurious passions of animals, is that of
jealousy. This is always confined to the male sex; and
is an instinct implanted in them by Providence, by
which a permanent good is gained to the whole com-
munity, by the injury, or perhaps sacrifice, of a few.
It is well known that the males of nearly all quadru-
peds, during the season of courtship, however peace-
ably they may live together at other times, are then
actuated by the most violent and deadly feelings of jea-
lousy towards each other ; so much so, indeed, that des-
perate, and often fatal, combats take place between them,
for the possession of the females. It often happens,
particularly among the antelope family, that the young
males, in the first place, separate themselves, or are
driven away from the herd, as if by the common con-

CHAP. III. GENERAL REMARKS ON ANIMAL PASSIONS. 8Q

sent of all parties — yet without receiving any injury
from their seniors. No sooner, however, are they de-
parted, than the elder males commence vindictive hat-
ties among themselves : the weaker and the more aged
are thus killed or driven away ; and the most powerful
only being left with the females, the continuance of the
race, in all its purity and vigour, is thus wisely pro-
vided for and accomplished. We suspect the same
takes place, though less generally, among birds ; and,
perhaps, the sharp running battles, so constantly wit-
nessed in the spring, among a party of sparrows, may
be attributed to the same causes. At all other seasons,
it deserves especial remark, that every animal, when in
a state of nature, and unprovoked, looks upon one of its
own kind more as a friend than an enemy. Pro-
vocation, or some inciting cause, is necessary to com-
mence a quarrel, in all but the worst dispositions.
Dogs, indeed, frequently fall out and fight, apparently
without a cause ; but this is in their domesticated state ;
and, besides, we do not yet know, and probably never
shall, the different causes of offence which the brute
creation may take from each other.

(107.) Self-preservation is the last head to which
we may refer all the remaining evil passions of the brute
creation. The most peaceful and gentle of animals
have this instinct implanted at their birth, and generally
have the means given for the preservation of life, —
whether these means are offensive or defensive. The
North American bears, unless pressed by extreme hun-
ger, will rarely assault a traveller who refrains from
molesting them. Mr. Drummond, in his excursions
over the Rocky Mountains, had frequent opportunities
of observing the manners of the grisly bears (Ursu$
ferox*); and it often happened that, in turning a point
of a rock, or sharp angle of a valley, he came sud-
denly upon one or more of them. On such occasions,
they reared on their hind legs, and made a loud noise.
He kept his ground, however, without attempting to

* Northern Zoology, vol i. p. 27. pi. 1.

90 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

molest them ; and they, after attentively regarding him
for some time, generally wheeled round and galloped
off ; though, from their known disposition, there is little
doubt but he would have been torn in pieces, had he
lost his presence of mind, and attempted to fly-*- or,
it might have been added, attacked the bears. This
anecdote shows also that some animals, on ordinary
occasions, have a sort of respect for man, when he does
not confess his weakness. Notwithstanding all that
has been said of the savageness of the rhinoceros, it
does not appear that its rage and vindictive powers are
put forth otherwise than in self-defence ; so that it is
somewhat inconsistent to give such epithets to that
resolute courage which would be extolled in man under
similar circumstances. The anteaters and the sloths of
America are among the most timid of animals ; and
yet, when their life is at stake, the wounds which they
inflict with their claws, and their pertinacity in re-
taining their grasp, would lead many people to term
them savage and vindictive. All animals, in short,
that have been furnished with means of defence against
their enemies, use those means to the best advantage ;
and, therefore, strictly speaking, we cannot attribute to
them, on such occasions, any of the malevolent passions,
which more properly belong to their assailants ; — they
merely exert those powers, for the preservation of their
own lives, which have been given them for that especial
purpose.

CHAP. IV.

ON THE MOTIONS OF ANIMALS.

(108.) THE motions or actions of animals are almost
as various as their make and appearance, and are gene-
rally indicative of a wisdom and intelligence which can

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OP ANIMALS. 91

spring from no other than a Divine source, and which i?
impressed upon all the productions of Omnipotence.
The numher and perfection of these motions are alike
worthy of observation ; a peculiar organisation being
given for each species, comprising the most complicated
yet exquisite machinery, and remarkable for equal
strength and flexibility. Their structure, too, is always
precisely adapted to the necessities of the animal for
which it is formed ; — those furnished with destructive
weapons, or which are gifted with extraordinary skill
or power, being generally found to be much slower in
their movements, than others of a weaker kind ; while
those — such as worms, caterpillars, &c. — whose food is
nearest at hand, and who are not, therefore, compelled
to make any wide range in search of provision, are in-
capable of that rapid motion which distinguishes others
not provided in a similar manner.

(109.) The locomotive powers of animals are nicely
proportioned to their size and structure. A flea, for
instance, can leap some hundred times its own length ;
but, were an elephant, or any other large-bodied animal,
to possess the same elastic power, its weight would
prove its destruction, and it would be immediately
crushed to pieces. Upon the same principle, some
creatures — as worms, spiders, &c. — are enabled, by their
comparatively small specific gravity, and by the soft-
ness of their texture, to fall without injury from heights
which would be fatal to those of a heavier construc-
tion. * Striking, indeed, and numerous are the proofs
of this wise and perfect adaptation of want with power

— means with a contemplated end ; and, as we pro-
ceed with our inquiry, we shall find that there are, per-
haps, few things in the arrangement of the animal
kingdom more really deserving our attention, than the
subject immediately before us.

(110.) The motions of animals are necessarily active

— as walking, leaping, flying, or swimming. In a
passive state, they either stand, roost, or repose on the

* SraeL Phil. vol. i. p. 78.

92 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

ground. All these states are subject to different modifi-
cations ; and these several peculiarities it will now be
our business to detail.

(111.) The minute tribes forming the Acrita may
be first noticed ; and, here, how endless is the diversity
of motion among a class of beings scarcely perceptible
to our vision, and infinite numbers of which mock the
most ingenious efforts of art to discover. The motions
of those animalcules which are unattached, are singularly
varied ; and, among these, we may notice two species
of Forticella — the rotatoria and the conveUaria. The
latter, to the naked eye, has the appearance of a small
white speck ; but, when examined through a microscope,
it resembles a small bell-shaped flower: it is seen, every
now and then, to contract its stem, with a kind of con-
vulsive motion, into a spiral form ; and again returning,
in a short time, to its former length.* The Vibrio
Proteus — an animalcule found in the slimy matter which
coagulates upon the side of a vessel, the water in which
has been impregnated with some animal or vegetable
substance — will swim about with great vivacity. Some-
times it makes a stop for a minute or two, and stretches
itself out, apparently in search of prey. When alarmed,
it immediately draws in its neck, becomes more opaque,
and moves sluggishly. It will then, perhaps, instead
of its former long neck, push out a kind of wheel ma-
chinery, the motions of which draw a current of water,
and along with this, probably, its prey. Withdrawing
the wheel, it will sometimes remain almost motionless
for one or two seconds, as if weary ; then, protruding
its long neck, wilt often resume its former agility, or
adopt, in succession, a multitude of different appear-
ances, f The Volvox Globator moves its little body
over and over, spinning like a top, or sometimes moving
calmly along without turning round ; while the Volvo x
Bulla, which is scarcely visible to the naked eye, pre-
sents, under the microscope, a series of movements of
the most curious and unceasing variety.

* Bing. Anira. Biog. vol. iii. p. 490. t Id. ibid. p. 493.

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OF ANIttALS. 93

(112.) The locomotive powers of zoophytes are, in
general, exceedingly limited. Very many of them are
firmly fixed to stones, or rocks, from which they never
move; and their movements are, consequently, restricted
to those tentacula, or feelers, with which they seize upon
passing objects for food. Many polypes do this in a
rapid and violent manner ; but the process of swallowing
or absorbing this nourishment is carried on in a much
slower way ; while the amazing contractile and extensile
power which they possess, enables them to devour ani-
mals much larger than themselves." The Actinia, or
sea anemones, are said to have a very slowr progressive
motion, which is supposed to be performed by the base
being loosened from the place to which it was fixed, —
the tentacula being employed as so many legs. These
tentacula are, indeed, peculiarly important auxiliaries to
this tribe; and Mr. Hughes, while observing one of
these singular creatures in the island of Barbadoes, no-
ticed four dark-coloured threads, somewhat resembling
the legs of a spider, which rose from the centre of the
animal, with a quick spontaneous motion from one side
to the other, and which he conceived to be arms, or
feelers which closed like forceps to secure and Detain the
prey. * In several sponges, a considerable motion has
been observed ; and Mr. Ellis assures us that one of the
cock's-comb sponges (Spongia cristata), which was
taken off the rocks near Hastings, in Sussex, on being
put into a glass vessel of sea water, could be perceived
to suck in and squeeze out the water " through the rows
of holes or little pores along the tops, — giving evident
signs of life."t

(113.) The most perfect or typical of bivalve shells
are free, and are thus endowed with locomotion ; but
several families are firmly fixed to other substances.
Among these latter are the edible oyster, and other spe-
cies of the same group. The abbe Dicquemaire,
however, informs us that the common oyster occa-
sionally moves itself by resorting to the singular ex-

* Ellis's Hist, of Zool. p. 8 f U>id. p. 186.

94 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

pedient of ejecting water with some force out of its
shell ; by which means it is enabled either to throw
itself forward, or to start off in a lateral direction.
He says " that any person may amuse himself with the
squirting and motions of oysters, by putting them in a
plate placed in a horizontal position, which contains as
much water as is sufficient to cover them."

(114.) The common muscle has, "for an instrument
of motion, a tongue, or foot, capable of considerable
elongation, and also of being shortened into the form of
a heart. When it feels inclined to change its place, it
thrusts the foot out of the shell, and raises itself on its
edge ; then, by raising this to as great a distance as it
will extend, it uses it as a kind of arm, drawing the
body up to it; and thus it proceeds until it has found
a convenient situation. If the muscle be inclined to
make this its residence, the instrument of its motion is
now put to a very different employment, — in opening
those silken threads that fix it firmly to the spot,
and, like a ship at anchor, enable it to brave all the
agitations of the water." *

(115.) The common cockle (Cardium edukjfig. 24.)

24

above all other bivalves, has the power of locomotion
most developed. By means of the large triangular
foot which is so perceptible when the shell is opened,

• Anim. Biog. vol. iii. p. 567.

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OP SNAILS AND REPTILES. 9^

it not only digs into the sand, but is likewise enabled,
by the great power of inflection which is vested in
this instrument, to draw the glutinous matter which
proceeds from it into threads, and thus to secure itself
in its position. *

(116.) Among univalves, the Helices, or snails
and slugs, have a different mode of progression ; the
disk of the belly, the sides of which are often di-
lated, compensates for the absence of feet, and enables
the animal to glide along in the way that almost every
one has witnessed ; while the glutinous slime which is
emitted by its body, enables it to adhere firmly to even
the smoothest surfaces. The Cephalopoda, or cuttlefish
tribe {fig. 25.), are supplied with
25 ^ ]) /f\ numerous arms, all liberally fur-
nished with cups, or suckers ; and
by these they seize their prey,
perform the most important
movements, and attach them-
selves to rocks with such a strong
adhesion, that it is often more
easy to tear off the arms, than
to separate them from the sub-
stance to which they are affixed.
Many are furnished with two
triangular fins, one on each side
the body, which give them the
power of passing as rapidly
through the water as ordinary
fishes. There is reason to sup-
pose that the arms above al-
luded to likewise perform the
office of feet, by which means
these singular animals can crawl
at the bottom of the sea : hence

the scientific name they have acquired of Cephalopoda,
signifying a head surrounded with feet. These, the
Pteropoda, and Heteropoda, are the only Mollusca, tes-

* Anira. Biog. vol. iU. p. 450.

96 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

taceous or naked, which do not ahsolutely crawl on their
belly; and who are, consequently, provided with locomo-
tive members particularly designed for this purpose.

(117-) All reptiles have the power of locomotion;
and yet some possess, and others are altogether desti-
tute of, feet : in this latter case, — as seen in the whole
of the snakes, — their movements are performed by an
undulating motion, known to every one, but which may
be thus defined ; — it consists in bringing up the tail
towards the head, by bending the body into one or more
curves ; then resting upon the tail, and extending the
body ; thus moving forward, at each step, nearly the
whole length of the body, or one or more of the curves
into which it was formed.* The progress of serpents is
often very rapid, — so much so, indeed, as to enable them
sometimes to overtake a man. This is, indeed, not a
little surprising, in an animal that is absolutely desti-
tute of feet : there is reason to believe, however, that
the broad transverse scales, which are on the belly of all
such serpents as move rapidly, materially assist them,
not merely by their smoothness, but by their edges
coming into contact with the surface over which the
animal glides, and thus aiding it in propelling the body
forwards. Nor is the motion of these reptiles confined
to the ground; for they not only climb trees in a
spiral direction, but absolutely swim with inconceiv-
able facility, although unprovided with fins, or any
members analogous thereto. Instances have been re-
corded, of the common snake having been met with,
more than once, in the open channel between the coast
of Wales and the island of Anglesea, — as if they had
taken their departure from the former, in order to reach
the latter place. In India, however, there is a distinct
family of venomous serpents, forming our Hydropltidce,
whose tails are so much compressed as to resemble an
oar. These reptiles live only in the water ; but they
swim with the head just above the surface, — since their
respiration is very different from that of eels, which, in

* Phil, of Zool

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OF REPTILES AND BIRDS. 97

outward appearance, they so much resemble. The land
tortoise, although provided with feet, is proverbial for
the sluggishness of its motions : this is chiefly owing
to the situation of its legs, which, being placed very
much towards the sides of its body, are so wide apart
as to create considerable awkwardness of movement.

(118.) The whole order of lizards, with the excep-
tion of the chamaeleons, are so extremely quick and
rapid in their evolutions, that it is almost impossible
to catch or overtake them before they reach a place of
shelter. The chamaeleons, on the contrary, are particu-
larly slow : they may be almost said to take their food
without the trouble of hunting for it, — at least, so far
as their locomotive powers are concerned. The habits
of one of these singular animals, we had the oppor-
tunity of observing while in Malta, — having procured
it from Egypt : it merely removed from one station to
another in the room, according as the rays of the sun
entered the casements, and attracted the flies ; these it
would catch only by darting out its long tongue, — the
animal, in all other respects, remaining quite motion-
less : on such occasions, it usually assumed the tint of
the object nearest to it. Alligators and crocodiles,
although capable of walking slowly upon land, move in
the water — to which their webbed feet, and long com-
pressed tail, are so well adapted — with considerable
speed, darting along with great velocity when about to
seize their prey, — although somewhat embarrassed by
their large size, when they attempt to turn suddenly
round. Even reptiles can boast several species possess-
ing the power of flight ; the flying lizards of India, of
the genus Draco, being provided with membranaceous
wings projecting from each side of the body, which
enable them to fly from one tree to another in search
of food, — something in the same way as the flying
squirrels of America.

(119.) Birds are the most highly gifted of all ani-
mals, in their powers of locomotion : these consist of
H

98 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

flying, swimming, walking, running, and diving ; and
are performed in very different ways and degrees.

(120.) Flight is, to most birds, of the utmost im-
portance, and has been thus ingeniously described : —
" When a bird is on the ground, and intends to fly, he
takes a leap, stretches his wings from the body, and
strikes them downward with great force : by this stroke
they "are put into an oblique direction, partly upwards,
and partly horizontally forwards. That part of the
force tending upwards, is destroyed by the weight of
the bird ; and the horizontal force serves to carry him
forward. The stroke being completed, he moves up
his wings, which, being contracted, and having their
edges turned upward, meet with very little resistance,
from the air. When they are sufficiently elevated, he
makes a second stroke downwards, and the impulse of
the air again moves him forward. These successive
strokes act as so many leaps. When the bird wants to
turn either to the right or left, he strikes strongly with
the opposite wing, and this impels him to the proper
side. The tail act slike the rudder of a ship, except
that it moves him upward or downward, instead of
sideways. If the bird want to rise, he raises his tail ;
and if to fall, he depresses it : whilst in a horizontal
position, it keeps him steady." *

(121.) The modes of flight in birds are, perhaps,
as numerous as the families into which they are di-
vided ; so that a few of the most conspicuous need only
be mentioned. The greater part of the birds of prey
(Rapiores) soar to an amazing height, as if a certain
elevation was necessary for them to discover their prey :
when that is discerned, they suddenly dart down al-
most perpendicularly upon their victim. Buzzards,
says White, sail round in circles, with wings expanded,
and motionless : it is from their gliding manner, that
the former are fitill called, in the North of England,
gleads ; — from the Saxon verb, glidan, to glide. The
kestrel, on the contrary, has a peculiar manner of

* Bing. Anim. Biog. vol. i. p. 23.

CHAP. IV. FLIGHT OF BIRDS. 99

hanging in the air in one place; his wings all the while
being briskly agitated: hence the common name of
wind-hover, given to it in some parts of England. Hen
harriers fly low over heaths or fields of corn, and beat
the ground regularly, like a pointer, or setting dog, —
a fact also observed by Dr. Richardson in the harriers
of Arctic America, and which is in perfect unison with
their analogy to the swallows. Owls move in a buoyant
manner, as if lighter than the air, — an effect in some
measure produced by the singular structure of their
wings. There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens, that
must draw the attention even of the most incurious :
they are often seen, when flying in company, as if
amusing themselves, by striking and cuffing each other
on the wing, in a kind of playful skirmish ; and, when
they move from one place to another, frequently turn
on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling
to the ground. This singularity has been accounted
for on the supposition that they are then scratching
themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of
gravity. Woodpeckers, and some other birds, fly by
opening and closing their wings at every stroke ; and
so are always rising and falling in curves. Magpies
and jays are also slow flying birds, and make their way
something in the same manner. Pigeons — and par-
ticularly the sort called smiters — have a way of clashing
their wings, the one against the other, over their backs,
with a loud snap : another variety, called tumblers, re-
ceive this name from a habit they have of turning
themselves hi the air. The speed with which pigeons
fly, particularly those denominated, and sometimes used,
as carriers, is well known. An instance is recorded in
the Annual Register for 1?65, of one which travelled
no less than seventy-two miles in two hours and a half.
The whole of the humming-birds, although they fly
not to great distances at one time, yet glance through
the air with the velocity of a meteor ; and, probably,
for the time, fly swifter than any birds in creation.
From their small size, the eye cannot follow their course
H 2

100 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

but for a short distance ; and the motion of the wings
is so rapid, as to be imperceptible to the closest ob-
server. Geese, and cranes, and most wild fowl, move
in figured flights, the flock being generally arranged in
a triangle ; but the individuals often change their po-
sition. In these, and most of the wading genera, — as
the sandpipers, &c., — the tertial quills are very long, and
the primaries pointed ; — a structure which enables them
to cut through the air, probably, with greater facility.
Dabchicks, moor-hens, and coots, on the contrary, are
feeble-flighted birds, which merely skim the surface,
and fly with their legs hanging down. This originates
not only in the shortness of their wings, but in their
very forward position, by which they are placed as much
out of the true centre of gravity as are the legs of auks,
divers, and even of the coots themselves ; that is, they
are placed far behind the equilibrium of the body.
There is no imperfection, however, in these birds ; be-
cause their uncommon aptitude in diving amply com-
pensates for the slight development of their wings ;
and they so seldom venture beyond the margin of their
watery haunts, that they are rarely left without instant
means of escape from their enemies.

(122.) The greatest powers of long-sustained flight,
however, are given to the natatorial and the fissirostral
types, or the oceanic birds and the swallows, — but for
very different purposes. The food of the first is to be
sought for at a great distance from land ; their prey,
which consist entirely of marine or oceanic animals,
are constantly shifting their quarters ; and it is, there-
fore, necessary that their pursuers should be such per-
fect flyers, as to be continually on the wing, either fol-
lowing or seeking them. Added to these reasons for
the superior flight necessary to aquatic birds, it will be
remembered that they are exposed, on the unsheltered
bosom of the ocean, to far more violent storms than are
encountered by their brethren on the land : hence, were
they not endowed with far more muscular strength of
wing, they would inevitably perish, either by being

CHAP. IV. FLIGHT OF BIRDS. 101

blown completely out of their native regions, or be
exhausted by fatigue before they could reach a place of
shelter. The genera which comprise the albatrosses and
the frigate-birds stand at the head, in this respect, of the
aquatic order, and show us a remarkable development
of flight. The manners of the latter we never saw to
more advantage than in the magnificent harbour of Rio
de Janeiro. It was, indeed, an imposing sight, to con-
template half a dozen of these aerial birds soaring in
mid ah*, and then, in an instant, as if shot, falling down
with a splash into the sea upon a shoal of fish. At
other times, during a storm, they soar to such a height,
that, notwithstanding their size, they appear but as
specks in the firmament : all their powers of motion,
in fact, seem to be concentrated in their wings ; for the
feet are so short and weak (as in nearly all of the same
order), that, when upon the ground, they may be ap-
proached with ease, — for they can scarcely walk, and
take a long time, comparatively, to mount on their
wings. The tropic-bird flies as high as the frigate
pelican ; but its range is more confined to certain lati-
tudes, and its wings are not more developed than those
of an ordinary gull. All these birds occasionally, in
calm weather, rest themselves, after the bufferings of a
storm, on the sea ; but they are obviously not qualified,
from the smallness of their feet, to make much way by
swimming.

(123.) The flight of the typical swallows, as well
as of the goatsuckers, is, perhaps, more rapid than that
of the oceanic birds ; but we question, notwithstanding
their migrations, whether it is so long sustained^ al-
though it is obviously accompanied by much greater
muscular exertion. The flight of the albatross and the
frigate-bird is accomplished with scarcely any motion
of the wings : they may be said to balance themselves
in the air, rather than to use the ordinary exertion at-
tendant upon flying : neither do they make those rapid
evolutions which characterise the land birds we are now
speaking of. Flight, in the swallows, is confined to
H 3

102 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP,, IV.

that period of the day when they feed ; for, at other
times, it is a common thing to see them perched upon
naked branches of trees : but the frigate-birds are always
upon the wing \ they, as well as the albatross, are often
met with many hundred miles from any land. Fur-
thermore, the one pursues or hunts after the flies on
which it feeds; the other rather watches for the appear-
ance of fish near the surface, while soaring in mid air,
and then only pounces or drops on its prey. It is
interesting to notice these variations in the habits of
two families of birds, totally different from each other
in general structure and habits, and yet possessing in
common a superiority of flight over almost all others
of their own class.

(124.) To some few genera of birds, the powers of
flight are either partially or totally denied : these are
chiefly found among the rasorial groups, and some few
of the aquatic order. In the first, we have the different
ostriches of the Old and the New World, as well as the
emu of Australia, in all which the wings are merely
rudimentary ; and although of some little assistance in
aiding their running, cannot raise the bird above the
level of the ground. Yet here, again, we see the wise
provision made by their Almighty Creator, in insuring
the safety of birds whose wings are useless. In the
frigate pelicans, just mentioned, we have an example
of the highest development of wing, joined to feet of
the most imbecile and abortive structure. In the os-
trich, on the other hand, these gifts are exactly re-
versed ; the wings are, in a manner, useless ; while the
feet, strong and robust, more resemble those of a horse
than of a bird, and enable the ostriches to course over
their native plains at so prodigious a rate, that a horse-
man is often obliged to give up their chase in despair.
The whole structure, in short, of these birds, as regards
locomotion, is formed for running instead of flying ;
while the great elevation of the head, occasioned by
their very long neck, enables them to discover, on the
level plains to which they confine themselves, the ap-

CHAP. IV.

FLIGHT OF BIRDS.

103

\\

proach of an enemy at a very considerable distance.
No birds can be more unlike each other, than an ostrich
and a penguin ; yet they agree in some very remarkable
particulars: both have wings incapable of flight, — those
of the penguin (fig.26.) hav-
ing much of the appearance
of fins, or paddles ; and both
owe their safety, not so much
to these members, as to their
feet. This, at first, seems
impossible ; since the feet of
the penguin are remarkably
short, while those of the os-
trich are quite the reverse.
To explain this, however, it
must be remembered that the
penguin swims with the ve-
locity of an arrow : its feet,
wruch barely enable it to stand upright upon the shore,
are particularly formed for swimming ; while the two
short wings, of no more use to the bird, for the pur-
poses of flight, than those of the ostrich, become pow-
erful instruments, like a pair of oars. The bird, in fact,
may be said to possess four fins ; or, at least, four
members which perform that office so effectually, that
its rapidity of motion has been said to be prodigious.
The last of the semi-apterous genera we shall notice
is that of the dodo, a bird now extinct, but of which
the foot and bill still exist in the British Museum.
The former of these relics shows how little this bird
was capable of running ; and to this peculiarity, joined
to an equal feebleness of wing, may, probably, be attri-
buted the extirpation of the most anomalous bird — if
such a term can be allowed — that has ever existed in
the memory of man.

(125.) A short enumeration of the other motions of

birds will conclude our remarks upon this class. The

faculty of diving, like swimming, is confined to two of

the orders only, — the Grallatores, or waders, and the

H 4

104 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

Natatores, or swimmers. In the former, these motions
are only occasional ; while, in the latter, they are con-
stant find habitual. The most expert divers, perhaps,
are such as have remarkably short wings, — as the auks
27 and grebes (fig. 27.) ; next to

which come the divers, properly
so called, together with the coots
and ducks. The swans and geese
rarely immerse more than their
head and neck in the water;
while the sea ducks, particularly
the genus Clangula, are much
more expert at diving than those
genera which frequent freshwater
rivers. In hopping, there are no
such marked instances as occur
both among quadrupeds and ann%lose animals ; since
this motion is never, we believe, carried further than
what is seen in the sparrow, and such other perching
birds as live both among trees and upon the ground.
The most expert climbers are the .parrots and wood-
peckers ; while the swiftest walkers and runners are of
the rasorial and the grallatorial orders.

(126.) Quadrupeds can produce, in their different or-
ders, examples of all the five principal kinds of motions
formerly 'mentioned; although, as in the class of birds, no
instance occurs of any one being so highly gifted as to
unite them all. Most of the larger animals are slow in
their general movements, — particularly those endowed
with extraordinary strength ; thus, the elephant, though
he certainly can run with speed, turns and manoeuvres
with the greatest difficulty. The Ursus Arctos, or com-
mon bear, is sluggish and heavy : the sharpness of its
claws, however, enables it to climb trees with great dex-
terity, either in the pursuit of prey, or for the avoidance
of its enemies. The Rhinoceros bicornis, though he may
be termed swift for his amazing size, is rendered un-
wieldy by his great weight, and by the shortness of his
legs: and both the dromedary and camel are decidedly

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OF QUADRUPEDS. 105

slow ; although, when used as beasts of burden, their
strength and perseverance compensate in a great degree
for their want of speed. Denon tells us, that, when first
mounted on one of these animals, he was fearful that the
swinging motion which accompanies their usual high
trot would have thrown him over the creature's head ;
but, when firmly fixed, he soon found that there was
no danger of such a catastrophe : on the contrary, his
situation, on the whole, was an agreeable one. " It
was," he says, " entertaining enough to see us mount
our beasts. The camel, who is so deliberate in all his
actions, as soon as the rider leans on his saddle, pre-
paratory to mounting, rises very briskly, first on his
hind, and then on his fore legs : the rider is thus first
thrown forward, and then backward ; and it is not
until the fourth motion that the animal is entirely
erect, and the rider finds himself firm in his seat."

(127.) Some quadrupeds, on the contrary, unite both
strength and agility. Among these, the American bison
is conspicuous. This animal is so strong, that some-
times, when pursued, it has been known to knock down
trees, as thick as a man's arm, in his flight j and yet
so quick as to plunge even through deep snow faster
than an Indian can run upon it in snow shoes.* " To
this," observes Mr. Hearne, ee I have been an eye-wit-
ness many times ; and once had the vanity to think that
I could have kept pace with them ; but, though I was
at that time celebrated for being particularly fleet in
snow shoes, I found that I was no match for the
bisons, notwithstanding they were then plunging through
such deep snow, that their bellies made a trench as
large as if many heavy sacks had been hauled through
it." That invaluable animal, the horse, is still more
celebrated for its fleetness ; and there is one instance
upon record of a racehorse (Childers) which passed
over eighty-two feet and a half of ground in a second
of time. The ass, in its wild state, is remarkably fleet ;
though all celerity appears to desert it when subjected

* Bing. Anim. Biog. voL i. p. 476.

106 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

to labour. The zebra, or some kindred species, was
probably the wild ass of the Scriptures, and confirms,
at the present day, all that has been intimated of its
celerity. But the most remarkable property of the
domestic ass is, the skill with which it descends pre-
cipices almost impassable to the horse ; conducting the
traveller in safety over passes of fearful declivities, and
avoiding, with the most astonishing dexterity, the ob-
stacles which beset its path. " When they come to
the edge of one of these descents," we are told, " they
stop of themselves, without being checked by the
rider ; and, if he inadvertently attempt to spur them
on, they continue immoveable. They seem, all this
time, ruminating on the danger that lies before them,
and preparing themselves for the encounter. They not
only attentively view the road, but will sometimes
tremble and snort at the danger. Having prepared for
their descent, they place their fore feet in a posture as
if they were stopping themselves ; they then also put
their hinder feet together, but a little forward, as if
they were about to lie down. In this attitude, having
taken a survey of the road, they proceed forward."
The reindeer is almost proverbial for its swiftness, — a
quality which renders this animal of the utmost im-
portance to the winter-bound Laplander, whom it con-
veys in a sledge, over vast wastes of ice and snow, with
a speed and precision truly admirable. A couple of
reindeer, yoked to one of these carriages, have been
stated to travel 112 miles in a day. They are also
said to swim with such rapidity, that a boat with oarc
can scarcely keep pace with them.

(128.) Monkeys, of all quadrupeds, are the most
expert climbers ; their four feet being, in fact, so many
hands. With the exception of the baboons, the shape
of the whole of this tribe is particularly slender ; and
they are thus calculated, in every way, for performing
those feats of agility which every one has witnessed in
our menageries. The typical perfection of quadrupeds,
as in birds, consists in the highest development of the

CHAF. IV. CRUELTY OF SHOOTING SQUIRRELS. 107

prehensile faculty ; and this is given to several of the
American monkeys in an extraordinary degree : their
long tails are used as a fifth hand; and are twined
round the branches of trees, when they are climbing,
with such tenacity, that, on the animal being shot, it
will hang by its tail, long after it has lost the power of
grasping with its hands. Several other genera possess
the scansorial or climbing faculty in a greater or less
degree, but all are inferior to the monkeys. The form
of the bear, for instance, is heavy and clumsy to a
proverb ; and yet these animals, however awkward they
shuffle along on the ground, are well known to climb
with no inconsiderable degree of activity. Some of the
American porcupines do the same ; and these are the
only animals, besides the monkeys of the same conti-
nent, that are also furnished with long prehensile
tails adapted for this purpose. The only indigenous
quadruped, which possesses this faculty to any extra-
ordinary degree, and whose life may be said to be
spent upon trees, is the squirrel. A more beautiful
and interesting little animal does not exist ; but, be-
cause they feed upon the nuts of our wealthy pro-
prietors, either they, or their gamekeepers, equally
ignorant, denominate them vermin ; and it is, unfor-
tunately, a common practice to shoot them, with the
same determination of extirpating the race, as is pur-
sued against weazels, stoats, and rats. If this unfeeling
and barbarous custom goes on much longer, the most
beautiful of our indigenous quadrupeds will become
in another century extinct. Several of the species
found in North America, have, in some degree, the
power of flying, in addition to that of climbing : hence
their common appellation of flying squirrels. This
term, however, must be understood in a very limited
sense : their flight, in fact, is nothing more than a leap ;
but, owing to the expansive skin which partly connects
the fore and the hind feet, sufficient resistance is offered
by the air to support the animal, and an additional im-
petus is thus given to its leap, which is often made

108

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

between two trees, or branches, several yards asunder.
The flying phalangers of Australia are similarly con-
structed, and make prodigious springs — often of ten
or twelve yards — from branch to branch.

(129.) Jumping or hopping is no uncommon mode
of progression among the gliriform or mouse-like ani-
mals. In this respect, the motions of the jerboa (fig. 28.)

are extremely interesting. It may almost be said to have
but two feet ; for the fore pair are chiefly used as hands,
— while the animal almost always stands on the hind
pair only. Its general mode of progression is by hop-
ping ; but, if pursued, it betakes itself to such vast and
quickly repeated leaps, as soon to convey it out of the
reach of any common enemy. The kangaroo proceeds
in the same manner; and has
been said to spring over more
than twenty feet at a leap,
besides being able to rise to
the height of nine feet or
more in the air. Leaping
is highly developed in the
family of antelopes, — par-
ticularly such as live in
mountainous regions. The
chamois (fig. 29.) scrambles
amid the inaccessible rocks
of the Alps, with an agility which often baffles the
quickest eye, — always moving in an oblique direction,

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OP THE MOLE. 109

and frequently, in its descent, appearing to throw itself
down precipices which appear almost perpendicular.
The smallest horizontal ledge or abutment of the rocks
is sufficient to afford it a footing; and in this man-
ner it wiU often foil the most daring hunter. The
Capra Ibex, however, is even said to exceed the activity
of the chamois ; as it is affirmed to mount similar pre-
cipices by leaps, or successive bounds, of nearly five
feet, — thus gaining the summit of a rock of fifteen feet
by three of these airy springs, during which it scarcely
appears to touch the spot on which it descends, merely,
as it should seem, to be repelled, and again thrown off
into the air. " We have seen it," observes major
Hamilton Smith, " leaping down a precipice, — sliding
first the fore legs down the steep, while, with the
spurious hoofs of the hind feet, it held the edge of the
rock with firmness, till the centre of gravity was
lowered as far as possible ; then, bounding forward, by
a jerk of the body during the descent, turn the croup
under, and alight on the hind feet first, with such
apparent ease, that the fore feet dropped close to the
hinder, and all expression of effort vanished." * >

(130.) The common mole is an instance of great
peculiarity both of organisation and motion, as well. -as
of that beautiful adaptation of power to necessity*, so
observable throughout nature. As it is destined to be
the constant inhabitant of a subterraneous abode, a
variety of motions were unnecessary ; — a peculiarity,
however, was called for by its mode of life, and this
has been accordingly given : its principal occupation,
burrowing, is provided for by a pair of short and
extremely broad fore legs, much resembling, in general
shape, the human hand, the palms of which are turned
outwards ; and by this singular formation the mole is
enabled to dig away the earth before it with the
greatest facility ; while its hind feet, which are much
smaller, are employed in throwing back the previously
excavated earth. The beaver is another instance of a

* Griffith's Cuv. vol. iv. p. 283.

110 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

motion almost unique among animals. In the con-
struction of its remarkable dwelling, it was necessary
that the soft mud and clay which it employs should be
rendered compact : hence it is supplied with a broad
and powerful tail, which is used in the same manner,
to accomplish this object, as is a trowel in the hands
of a bricklayer. As we shall have to mention other
singularities of this interesting animal in another place,
it will be sufficient to allude, at present, to its power of
swimming with the greatest facility. The hedge-
hog, and a few other quadrupeds of the same type,
present us with a sort of motion only to be found
among them, and certain insects which they represent.
As they have but little speed to escape from their
enemies, they are not only covered with defensive
spines, but have the power of rolling themselves up
like a ball ; and, by erecting the bristles with which they
are covered, present themselves, armed at all points, to
their enemies.

(131.) The only quadrupeds, however, which really
fly, are the bats ; they compose a large family, scat-
tered over all temperate and tropical countries, and
varying, according to the species, from the size of a
kitten to less than a harvest mouse. We have already
had occasion, under the head of Instinct, to speak of
the astonishing powers they possess in directing their
course through the most perplexing windings ; while
their flight, when pursued without such impediments,
is well known to be as swift, if not more so, than
swallows. A popular belief was long held, that these
animals could not mount into the air, if once they
came upon a flat surface ; but this error was long
ago refuted by White of Selborne, who says that one
he had in confinement " rose with great ease from the
floor," and " ran with more despatch than I was aware
of, but in a most ridiculous and grotesque manner." *
We can confirm the latter, but not the former, state-
ment. Two bats, of the common species, which we
» Nat. Hist, of Selborne, voL i. p. 57.

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OP FISHES. Ill

had alive, in our possession, at different times, always
raised the hody in a semi-perpendicular position, by
grasping hold of some object, before they took to flight;
while their motion, or walk, upon a level surface, so
far from exhibiting any degree of " despatch," was re-
markably slow; and they seemed to move their legs in
a forward direction with the same sense of pain as is
experienced by the sloth, under similar circumstances.
Bats have another peculiarity, alike unknown among
other animals, excepting a genus of birds (Colius).
When at rest, either during the day, or the period of
hybernation, they suspend themselves, with their heads
downwards. If we consider the general construction
of these animals, it appears highly probable that this is
the position they always assume, in a state of nature,
previous to the opening of their wings for the purpose
of flight : the wings, in fact, being part of the fore legs,
are thus as free as those of a bird, and are ready for
instant expansion, without having first to loosen their
hold of any substance.

(132.) Almost the only motion of fishes is that of
swimming ; and this has been justly said to be nearly
the same kind of action in water, as flying is the air.
Same of the organs employed for this purpose resemble,
in their mode of action, the oars of a boat, — particularly
the pectoral and the ventral fins, while the tail, in its
office, and even in its shape, may be termed the rudder.
The exact use of the dorsal and anal fins has not been
clearly ascertained. They would seem intended chiefly
to preserve the fish in a perpendicular position, as well
as to cut the water, both above and below, to facilitate
the progress of the fish • and they may, probably, per-
form both these purposes : and yet it has been ob-
served by Mr. Yarrell, that some fish, from which he
removed the dorsal fin, and placed afterwards in water,
did not appear to feel any sudden injury from the de-
privation. The muscular force of the tail is very
great, and acts like the handle of the rudder. It is
astonishing with what velocity some of the larger fish

112 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

dart through the water. The speed of the white shark
(Squalus Carcharias) is said to be so great, that nothing
can hope to escape it by flight. There is an interesting
and well-executed print commemorating the following
anecdote of the latter : — <e Sir Brooke Watson, when in
the West Indies, as a youth, was swimming at a little
distance from a ship, when he saw a shark making
towards him. Struck with terror at its approach, he im-
mediately cried out for assistance. A rope was instantly
thrown ; and even while the men were in the act of
drawing him up the ship's side, the monster darted
after him, and, at a single snap, took off his leg."
This story has been generally told in proof of the
rapidity of swimming possessed by the sharks in gene-
ral ; but it merely establishes the fact, which no one
would think of questioning, that a shark can swim
faster than a man. We have, in the Ichthyological
volumes of this series, already said so much on the
swimming of fish, that it is unnecessary to treat the
subject at much length in this place. It may be ob-
served, however, as a general law, that the most rapid
swimmers are such as have the pectoral fins either very
large, or sickle-shaped : the former may be compared to
such birds as fly very rapidly, but for a short distance.
Of this description are the different kinds of skates
and thornbacks, as well as the whale family of rays
(RaidcK) ; which, although they remove from place to
place, or dart upon their prey, with the velocity of a
meteor, nevertheless watch for its approach, on the
bottom of the sea, in a state of quiescence. The Scom-
beridte, or mackerel, which family includes the tunny,
bonito, and those large fishes so often met with round
vessels in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, have the

pectoral fins more or less falcate (Jig. 30.), as is the

CHAP. IV. LEAPING OF FISHES. 113

shape of the wings in the humming-birds ; and they
also possess a degree of rigidity, from the rays being
close together, which is very unusual in other tribes.
Now, the effects of this peculiar sort of fin are very re-
markable: they are analogous to the wings of birds;
and give to the tunny, and the different bonitos, a
speed which is almost incredible. We have often
watched them in the Pacific, from the sides of a vessel
which was going at the rate of ten miles an hour ; and
yet, notwithstanding this speed, the bonitos would play
round it as if it was immoveable. One moment, they
would be at the stern ; while the next, with a few pro-
digious darts, they might be seen playing round the
head, as if in mockery of the slowness of the vessel,
and rejoicing in their own superiority. The great size
of the pectoral fin in the gurnards (Triglidce), as it has
been supposed, is for the purpose of supporting their
large heads, — they being what are called ground fish.
or swimming very near the bottom of the sea ; but this,
we think, is very questionable.

(133.) Many fishes can leap above the surface of the
vyater ; and among these, perhaps, the salmon {fig. 31.)

is most conspicuous, or, at least, the best indigenous ex-
ample. Although usually inhabiting the ocean, they
advance up the rivers at certain seasons of the year (in
common with many others), for the purpose of de-
positing their spawn ; if, on these occasions, they find
themselves opposed by any unexpected obstacle, they
overcome it by taking the most astonishing leaps. Thus,
on the river Liffey, in Ireland, there is a cataract about
nineteen feet in height: over this the fish will fre-
i

114

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV

quently spring at a bound; though, sometimes, the
weaker individuals are forced to repeat the effort many
times before they are successful. These leaps appear
to be accomplished by a sudden jerk which is given to
its body, by the animal, from a bent into a straight
position". The elastic power of the Gasterosteus acu-
leatus, or three-spined stickleback (fig. 32.), is, per-

32

haps, still more wonderful : this creature, which is
seldom more than two inches long, having been known
to leap a foot and a half — which is at the rate of nine
times their own length — in perpendicular height from
the water. *

(134.) Flying seems not altogether denied to this
class of animals, if we admit that the spring of the
Exoceti, or flying fish (fig. 33.), is, as we have else-

where t stated our reasons for believing, compounded of
both motions. It may be as well, however, to state to
the unscientific reader, that these wings are nothing
more than large pectoral fins, which exceed the average
length of such fins in ordinary fishes so much, that

» Anim. Biog. p, 40. f Classification of Fishes, Vol. I.

CHAP. IV.

FISHES ON LAND.

115

they generally reach to the tail. We believe these
fishes are also very rapid swimmers ; not merely from
this extraordinary development of the pectorals, but also
from their peculiar wedge-shaped body, so well cal-
culated to cut through the water, and to get beyond the
reach of their numerous enemies.

(135.) To include walking on land, and climbing
up trees, as among the actual motions of this class of

animals, will, no
doubt, somewhat
surprise many of
our readers > yet
there are not want-
ing several fishes
which perform
these apparently
unnatural feats.
The frog-fish (fig.
34.) of the Asiatic islands and the southern hemi-
sphere can not only live several days out of the water,
but can crawl about the room in which they are con-
fined: this latter facility originates from the great
strength and the peculiar position of their pectoral fins,
which thus perform the office of feet. The whole
aspect of these grotesque-looking creatures, particularly
in a walking position, is so much like that of toads or
frogs, that a careless observer would, at first, be at
some loss to determine their real nature. The gene-
rality of the freshwater eels, although, from not pos-
sessing ventral fins, they are unable to walk, yet they
are well known to quit the water at certain seasons,
and make their way over the grass to other ponds, at
no great distance, for the purpose of seeking fresh
habitations, or depositing their spawn. Nearly all the
Indian Ophiocephali (freshwater fishes, not unlike our
sea mullet), crawl from tank to tank, or from ponds
that are nearly dried up, to others, which, by a won-
derful and incomprehensible instinct, they seem to
know to be full. Such an unusual circumstance as a
i 2

116

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

fish crawling upon dry land, has naturally excited the
superstitious Hindoos to believe that they fall from
heaven. The Perca scandens (fig. 35.), which be-

35

longs to the same natural tribe as the last (Spiro-
branchidfs Sw.), quits the water, and ascends the
roots and branches of the mangrove trees, — an effort it
accomplishes by using its ventral fins as little feet : it
is not clear, however, what purpose it has particularly
in view, in thus quitting an element it is obviously de-
signed to inhabit; yet, that these terrestrial expe.
ditions are perfectly natural to them, is proved by the
fact of the whole of this tribe, having a particular or-
ganisation. By this, a provision is made for retaining
a sufficient quantity of water in the gills, in order to
keep them in a state of moisture while the fish is out
of water.

(136.) The progressive motion of frogs and toads,
in their adult state, is by leaping ; and the bull frog
of Carolina, particularly mentioned by Catesby, is very
remarkable for the length and rapidity of these springs.
The tadpole of these two families are well known to
resemble fish externally, and to live, like them, entirely
in the water : they are much more active in this state ;
constantly moving their little tails with a rapid vibratory
motion, and swimming in shoals, on a sunny day, round
the ponds which have been then birthplace.

(137.) But it is among the class of INSECTS that we
find concentrated all those various motions that are but

CHAP. IT. JUMPING OP CATERPILLARS. 117

partially scattered among other animals. Cuvier has
truly remarked*, that they exhibit those of every other
species of animal, — such as walking, running, and jump-
ing, with quadrupeds ; flying with birds ; gliding with
the serpents ; and swimming with the fish. Hence, it
is not poetical to assert that " the universal movement
of these restless little creatures " gives " life to every por-
tion of our globe, rendering even the unfrequented desert
interesting." f This feeling was felt by the venerable
Derham, when he expatiates on "the admirable me-
chanism in those that creep ; the curious oars in those
amphibious insects that swim and walk; the incom-
parable provision made in the feet of such as walk or
hang upon smooth surfaces; the great strength and
spring in the legs of such as leap ; the strong-made
feet and talons of such as dig ; and, to name no more,
the admirable faculty of such as cannot fly, to convey
themselves with speed and safety, by the help of their
webs, or some other artifice, to make their bodies lighter
than the air,":f: To attempt a description of all the
different motions discernible in this innumerable class
of animals, would here be impossible ; for it would be
interminable. " How wonderful are thy works, O Lord!
The earth is full of thy riches ! " When, on a bright
summer's day, we look around and see the air, the earth,
the waters, nay, every pendant leaf and blooming
flower, instinct with life, and teeming with creatures,
each of whom has habits and movements peculiar to
itself, how should our minds be struck with astonish-
ment, and warmed with gratitude to that overruling
Power, in whose sight this globe is but a grain of sand,
yet whose watchful care is over the least of his crea-
tures !

(138.) Different motions belong to each of those
states through which most insects pass before they reach
maturity. In the larva or caterpillar form, none
are more curious than the jumping, although footless,

. * AnaL Comn. voL i. p. 154. f Int. to Ent voL ii. p. 271.

J Derham, Physico-Theo.

i 3

118 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS, CHAP. IV.

maggots, — one species of which is found in our richest
cheeses., and produces a little black fly (Tephritis
putris). These creatures appear to accomplish their
enormous leaps somewhat in the same manner as sal-
mon, by taking the tail in the mouth, and then sud-
denly letting it go again. Swammerdam assures us,
"that he beheld one, which was not more than the
fourth part of an inch in length, jump out of a box six
inches in depth ; which is as if a man, six feet high,
should raise himself in the air, by jumping, 144 feet!"*
The mode by which the caterpillar of the common
cabbage butterfly climbs is very singular. It may be
often seen ascending wells, or even the slippery glass
of our windows ; and, on careful examination, it will
be seen that they leave the mark of their track behind
them ; if this track be again examined through a mi-
croscope, it will be found to be nothing less than a rope
ladder, formed of silken threads, which the insect spins
in its progress. Other caterpillars resort to the same
contrivances for suspending themselves in the air; as
may be readily discovered by merely shaking the
branches of an oak or other tree, in summer, when
numbers of these little larvae will cast themselves down
by means of a hair-like thread, up which they can
again climb, so soon as all appearance of danger is at
an end. In their pupa state, nearly all the most typical
of the Ptilota, or four- winged insects, are quiescent ;
but those of the Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, and Neur-
optera, are as active as the larvae, and chiefly differ
from them in having the rudiments of wings.

(139.) Perfect insects f, or those with four wings,
employ various methods of ascent. Some climb by means
of their claws ; others, by soft cushions, composed or
hairs, thickly set upon the under side of the claw joint;

* Int. to Ent

t As we have employed this term occasionally in our former volumes,
without, for particular reasons, denning its extent, we shall now inti-
mate, that in our entomological volumes we shall regard the Ptilota as
composed only of the following five orders, each being furnished with four
wings, — namely, the Lepidopterat Hemiptera>Mymenoptera> Coleopterat
and Neuroptera.

CHAP. IV.

LEAPING OF INSECTS.

119

while others, again, as the common fly, are enabled, by
the peculiar formation of their tarsi, or claws, to effect,
in an instant, what philosophers accomplish with vast
comparative care and labour — they produce a vacuum,
which will allow the pressure of the atmosphere to re-
tain them on the plane of position.*

(140.) Some insects run with amazing velocity. Any
one who has watched the proceedings of a colony of
ants will be aware of this. " M. Delisle observed a
fly, so minute as to be almost invisible, which ran
nearly three inches in a demi-second, and in that space
made 540 steps ; consequently it could take 1000 steps
during one pulsation of the blood of a man in health ;
which," adds Mr. Kirby, " is as if a man whose steps
measured two feet should run at the incredible rate of

more than twenty
miles in a minute!"
Some of the swiftest
runners are the Ci-
cindelidfB (fig. 36.
«), and other pre-
dacious beetles ; —
the former, espe-
cially, makes its way
with great rapidity,
from occasionally
using its wings; — while the slowest are the Cassidts (6),
or tortoise beetles, — apt representatives in this, as well
as in form, of their namesakes, the chelonian reptiles.

(141.) The power of leaping is possessed by some
insects in a much higher degree than is to be met with
in any other class of animals, — that is, if we estimate
the distance they leap in relation to their size. Thus*, it
is commonly supposed that a flea (fig. 37-) will clear, at
a single jump, a space equal to 200 times its own length.
It has been thought that a grasshopper will do nearly
the same, even without the assistance of its wings ; but
we do not believe this probable, — since these insects,

* Int. to Ent. voL ii. p. 3£2.

i 4

120 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. GHAP. IV.

when adult, according to .our own observations, in

37

variably fly at the same time. There is, however, a
whole family of little beetles (HalticicUe,
fig. 38.) which make as prodigious leaps
as the flea, which they resemble so much
in size and colour, that the species in-
digenous to this country are known to
the farmers of some districts by the same
name as their prototypes: their hinder
thighs (a), in conformity with this habit,
are of a most disproportionate strength
and thickness, appearing as if swollen.

Among the apterous class, we have also several genera
39 of leapers, such as the
Podura, or spring-tail

(fiff- 39-X and a wh<>le
division of crustaceous
insects, which abound
under sea-weed on almost every shore, and are fami-
liarly known by the name of sand fleas.

(142.) The different flights of insects would fill a
volume with a subject we can here but slightly glance
at. In point of celerity, many insects fly much quicker
than any birds, when we take into account their very
inferior size. It has been calculated that the common
house fly, in its ordinary flight, makes with its wings
about 600 strokes, which convey it five feet, every
second. But, if alarmed, their velocity can be increased
six or sevenfold, or to thirty or thirty-five feet in the
same period. *

* Int. to Ent. voL ii. p. 362.

CHAP. I\,

SPORTS OP IIS7SECTS.

121

(143.) Many of the aquatic insects are excellent
swimmers and expert divers ; of which the DytiscidfSj
or water beetles (fig. 40. a), and the Notonectidce,
or hoat flies ( ft), are
notable examples. Others
either live entirely beneath
the surface, or, like some
of the Nepidce, or water
scorpions, and other he-
mipterous genera, walk
slowly on the surface,
with the same care as they
would pursue a similar
motion upon land. Some of the grasshopper tribe
burrow in the earth, — particularly the Gryllotalpa, or
mole cricket, which, like its namesake, is furnished with
palmated feet formed nearly on the same modeL and
which perform the same office. Others of the same order,
but with different shaped instruments, bore, like the
house cricket (Achetra campestris)., through the thickest
walls, by mining their laborious way through the inter- .
stices of the bricks or stones.* Innumerable hosts, in
the larva state, eat their way in solid timber, either
growing or dead : so that there is scarcely any animal
or vegetable substance which does not furnish the means
of showing a new modification in the actions of these
little creatures.

(144.) Insects have also their motions of gaiety or
sport : among these, none seem to vie in their singularity
with the choral dances which so many of the Diptera,
and some of the ATeuroptera, maintain in the air ; in
which, however, it has been observed, the males alone
are engaged. These dances are kept up at all seasons
of the year ; only that in winter they are confined to the
robust Tipulidce, or gnats, which, however small, are
often seen in a sunny day of December, when snow is
on the ground, sporting as merrily as in the spring.
Sometimes these insects look like moving columns, —

* Int. to Ent

122

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IV.

" each individual rising and falling, in a vertical line, a
certain space, and which will follow the passing tra-
veller, often intent upon other business, and all uncon-
scious of his aerial companions, for a considerable dis-
tance." Mr. Kirby further remarks, " that the smallest
Tipulidce will fly unwetted in a heavy shower of rain, as
I have of ten observed. How keen must be their sight, and
how rapid their motions, to enable them to steer between
drops bigger than their own bodies, which, if they fell
upon them, must dash them to the ground ! " *

(145.) The little water beetles of the genus Gyrinus
(fig. 41.), so frequently seen
on the surface of freshwater
ponds in a bright summer's
day, are as joyous a race as
their brethren the gnats. The
rapidity with which they skim
in undulatory circles is not less
admirable than the precision
with which they thread the
mazes of their aquatic dance, so as never to encounter, and
seldom to touch, each other. Their flattened and oar-
shaped hind feet are peculiarly
adapted for these exercises ;
and they continue their diver-
sion for hours with unwearied
gaiety. They are the only
instance of coleopterous insects
swimming on the surface of
the water; for the Dytiscidce
(jig. 40. a), which are preda-
cious, merely rest there mo-
tionless, with their heads down-
wards, in order to watch for
their prey beneath. They are,
in short, the fissirostral or aquatic type of the predato-
rial family (Predatores Sw.), and, like them, dart upon
their prey from a fixed station. Some of the hemipte-

* Int. to. Eni. p. 367.

CHAP. IV. FLOATING WEBS OF SPIDERS. 123

rous insects (Hydrometra StagnorumFah., fig.4<2.) sport
also on the surface, much in the manner of the Gyrinus.

(146.) In the apterous class of insects, none are
more remarkable than the spiders : they can walk, like
flies, against gravity, — but by what particular means
appears uncertain. They are expert climbers, ascend-
ing and descending by means of a secretion of which
they can make use at pleasure, and which they form
into a silky thread, up arid down which they travel at
will. But the most singular of all their movements is
that which they accomplish by means of those gossamer
webs, which, on a bright summer's day, we sometimes
see floating and sparkling in the sunbeams. These,
for a long time, excited the curiosity and stimulated
the conjectures of naturalists ; but they are now ascer-
tained to contain spiders, which, by the assistance of
these little air balloons, are wafted from place to place,
travelling in these airy chariots with perfect ease and
rapidity. Lister informs us that the height to which
spiders will thus ascend is prodigious ; and he himself,
from the top of the highest steeple in York Minster,
beheld these floating webs far above him. Of one par-
ticular species he says, — t( Certainly this is an ex-
cellent rope-dancer, and is wonderfully delighted with
darting its threads ; nor is it only carried in the air,
I like the preceding ones, but it effects, itself, its ascent
and sailing ; for, by means of its legs closely applied to
each other, it, as it were, balances itself, and promotes
and directs its course no otherwise than as if Nature
had furnished it with wings or oars." *

(147.) The crustaceous order of insects f, or the
crabs, have mostly eight legs and two claws, with which
their principal motions are accomplished. The latter
are especially their weapons of attack and defence, and
are wonderfully powerful. Lobsters, on the contrary,
have a very strong tail, which assists them both in

* De Araneis, p. 85.

f This we consider as the aquatic type of tlie.Agtera, according to the
natural system.

124 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IV*

swimming and leaping, — in the latter of which they are
very expert. But the most remarkable circumstance in
the motions of both these animals is that by which, at
stated periods, they change their shells, or, in case of
accident, cast off their injured claws, which are quickly
replaced with fresh ones. Before the latter operation
is effected, the animal, it is said, appears to suffer pain ;
it then moves its claw, for some time, from side to
side, holding it afterwards perfectly steady, when it will
suddenly give a gentle crack and drop off, — not, as it
has been stated, at the joint, but in the smoothest part
of the limb.*

(148.) There is a peculiarity of motion in certain
apterous insects, which is without parallel in any other
class of animals ; we allude to the constant practice of
the great majority of crabs, and of a few of the spiders,
of always walking sideways, instead of with their head
towards the point to which they are proceeding. This
they do, not slowly, as one would expect from their
thick body and heavy claws, but sometimes with
amazing rapidity. We well remember the amusement
we derived, when in Brazil, from running after a par-
ticular species of crab, one of whose claws was almost
as big as its whole body : they lived in little holes in
the sand, and, at the ebb of the tide, would come out
by dozens to seek their food from among the wreck
which had been left : yet they were so wary, that,
although they would venture more than fifteen, or even
twenty, yards from their burrow, we never succeeded in
catching one. They shuffled off sideways towards their
hole the moment they espied us, holding up their gi-
gantic claw, at the same time, as if it was of no weight.
Thus intimidated from seizing the creature, and not
wishing to deprive it of life, even had we the power
(which, from its agility, was very questionable), every
one of them got safe to its hole, before we succeeded in
intercepting its retreat.

* Anim. Biog. vol. iii. p. 381.

CHAP. IV. MOTIONS OP RADIATED ANIMALS. 125

(149-) Of the radiated animals, little can be said:
the motions of the Echinidce, or sea eggs, are effected
by means of the movable spines with which their shells
are furnished, and which, although short in that part
which reposes upon the ground, are yet so numerous as
to effect this object : these animals, however, move but
very little, as they prefer remaining in the little clefts
and hollows at the bottom of the sea. The Asterida,
or star-fish (fig. 43.), are much more active animals ;

the numerous soft suckers by which the mouth and the
centre of these rays are furnished, seem to enable them
to change their habitation more frequently. There is
reason, also, for believing that several of those whose
rays or arms are very long and slender, can use these
members to swim with : they are, at all events, highly
flexible ; and star-fish of this form are not unfrequently
met with at such a distance from land, and where the
sea is so deep, that they must either have been drifted
with sea-weed, or have used their arms as swimmers.
It frequently happens, also, even on the British coasts,
that great numbers of star-fish are cast upon the shore
at a single ebb of the tide, as if a company of them had
been thus wrecked, — while, at other times, not one is to
be seen for weeks. On returning again to the Acrita,
or polypes, by means of the intestinal worms, we see

126 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

all the preceding modes of locomotion gradually dis-
appear : these latter animals have merely the power
of moving in a serpentine manner, something like earth-
worms, but with this difference, — that, as their body
is not capable of the same contraction, it always remains
of undiminished length.

CHAP. V.

ON THE MEANS OP DEFENCE POSSESSED BY THE
ANIMAL KINGDOM.

(150.) IN no part of the economy of the animal world
is the protecting care of the Almighty Creator more
apparent, than in the means he has given to his crea-
tures for self-preservation. Nor is the exertion of these
means less extraordinary than their infinite variety.
So far as is necessary for the support of life, the pro-
pagation of its kind, and the right employment of those
defences with which it has been endowed, the instinct
of every animated being is as perfect as if it was gifted
with the reasoning powers of man. It would not, in-
deed, be difficult to cite rare and isolated exceptions to
this axiom ; for when we see that man himself is per-
petually doing violence to his own reason, — committing
acts of folly, if not of crime, which his better judg-
ment,— his internal monitor, — tells him to be wrong, —
we cannot expect that the animal creation is not to
share in this mutability ; or that it did not participate
in that universal degradation which sin brought into the
world. Both, as corning from the centre of perfection,
must have originally been perfect ; for He, who is per-
fection, cannot be the author of imperfection : of this,
both reason and revelation abundantly assure us. God
saw his work, " and, behold, it was very good."

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OF ANIMALS. 127

(151.) The power of defence enjoyed by animals
against their enemies is obviously given to them for
self-preservation, and is peculiarly adapted to meet
those exigencies which every species, either by its eco-
nomy or its structure, is more especially exposed to :
hence, we might almost say that these powers or pro-
perties are infinite, inasmuch as their modifications are
innumerable. They seem, however, to be all referable
to three great classes. The first are active : these con-
sist in the exertion of force, by which assaults are made
by weapons or instruments possessed by the animal itself,
and requiring his active exertion in their use ; and such
powers may obviously be employed either in offensive
or defensive warfare. The horns and the teeth of
quadrupeds, the stings and jaws of insects, and the
poisonous fangs of reptiles, are of this description ; for
none of these would be conducive to the purposes for
which they were given, without the voluntary exertion
of their possessor. The second class of defences are
strictly passive ; they are as effectual, in most cases, as
the first, but they require no exertion of the animal to
bring them into operation. We accordingly find that
it is generally to the weakest and most helpless beings
that these protections are given. The thick hide of the
elephant protects him from those hosts of blood -sucking
flies which are the pest of tropical climates. The spiny
hides of the hedgehog and the porcupine, the stinging
hairs which envelop many caterpillars, and the dis-
gusting stench from the body of the turkey vulture,
are a few out of innumerable instances of that passive
defence we are now speaking of. But there is still
another property, which will by no means come under
either of these definitions, although it has obviously
been bestowed with the same merciful design ; we allude
to that astonishing vitality possessed by such beings as
are most exposed to injuries, and by which life is not
only supported without food for an amazing length
of time, but dislocated portions grow and become new
animals. These wonderful phenomena will be treated

128 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

of under this chapter, and we shall now consider each
of these subjects distinctly.

(152.) For active defences, the most obvious in-
struments which have been furnished to animals are
horns or other protuberances, jaws armed with teeth,
or stings concealed in the body : but life is protected
and safety insured by other qualities and by other pro-
perties ; — thus, many have the power of ejecting from
their bodies a volatile liquor, which is in the highest
degree offensive ; others, by their superior swiftness on
the ground, outstrip their pursuers : some tribes seek
safety by their faculty of climbing ; others, by diving
into water ; and others, again, by flying into the air.
There are, moreover, not a few, who, at the appearance
of danger, pretend to be deprived of life, and counter-
feit death with so much cunning, as to deceive even
man himself. All these, however, are active operations,
implying a perception of danger, and an instinct that
it is to be avoided by bodily exertion. Nevertheless,
we see that the first qualities may be employed both
offensively and defensively ; while those which regard
the safety of the individual by flight deserve, more
properly, to be discussed, in detail, when we inquire
into the motions of animals.

(153.) QUADRUPEDS furnish us with some of the
most striking instances of that powerful defence which
the animal world is able to make, whether for self,
preservation or for offensive warfare. The whole
order of the Ferce, or carnivorous beasts, are pro-
vided with formidable teeth and acute claws ; with
these natural weapons they not only defend themselves,
but inflict death upon all other animals they are able
to cope with, and to conquer man himself: when to
these is added great muscular strength, and no ordinary
degree of swiftness, we at once perceive the highest
development of natural defensibility. A lion or a
tiger comes into the field like a warrior armed at all
points, — before whom, man, in his natural state, would
flee in terror, while every beast of the field would shun

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OF QUADRUPEDS. 129

the combat. All animals furnished with teeth, use
them, instinctively, to bite their opponents, although
their primary use is obviously to masticate their food ;
hut it is only in the carnivorous tribe, where to these
weapons we find added retractile claws, which, when
not used, are drawn into the skin (like a pair of
scissors contained in a sheath), and are thus preserved
in all their sharpness. Among the Quadrumana, or
monkey tribe, we find, as in man, no natural weapons
of defence ; but they are endowed with a cunning, a
quickness, and an agility, rarely equalled, and never
surpassed, by any other quadrupeds. Besides great
muscular strength, which enables them to take pro-
digious leaps, they have the faculty of climbing in an
extraordinary degree. By exerting both these, they
escape from the carnivorous quadrupeds which infest
their native regions ; and, leaping from bough to bough,
will pass through the most entangled forests with
greater swiftness than an ordinary horse would travel
on a turnpike road. The apes upon the rock of
Gibraltar, although close to the town, can never be ap-
proached by the most cautious sportsmen; they climb,
with the greatest facility, among frightful precipices,
where neither dogs nor men can follow ; and thus their
preservation is effected by the possession of one single
faculty. These habits of climbing belong to nearly all
the lemurs : while such as are very slow secure them-
selves by day in holes, and only venture forth by night.
Bats, in like manner, are nocturnal ; but their want of
defensive weapons is compensated by ample wings :
with these they are secure from all terrestrial foes ;
and they venture forth, with their companions the
goatsuckers, at an hour when all the denizens of air,
including the diurnal rapacious birds, have long retired
to rest. Thus we find that safety is provided for the
weakest animals as effectually as for the strong, although
by modes the very reverse of each other.

(154.) In the order of ungulated or hoofed quad,
rupeds (Ungulata), we find the means of self-pre-

K

130 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF A3UMALS. CHAP. V.

servation particularly varied. At the head of this
division stand the ruminating animals, which include
the oxen (Bomdcz), the antelopes (Antelopidee), and the
rtags (Cermdce). Here we trace the same provident
2are of Nature, but manifested in a totally different way.
In addition to great swiftness, as a means of avoiding
langer, these animals have the means of repelling it
vhen at hand. Their heads are furnished with strong
)ointed horns, by which they can not only rebut their
Adversary, and keep him at bay, but even toss him in
he air, and pierce him to death. The power of the
mil and of the cow is well known, even in the domes-
icated races ; how much more formidable, therefore, are
hese animals in a wild state ! The white Scotch Urus,
ilthough living in a half-domesticated state in some of
the northern parks, is on this account so dreaded, that
accidents are perpetually happening to the keepers, and
few choose to run the risk, by possessing such danger-
ous animals, of hazarding human life. The buffalo of
the Cape of Good Hope is as dangerous an animal to
meet with, in its native forests, as either the lion or the
tiger. The long, twisted, and pointed horns of the
Damalis orcas and carina (H. Smith), — the eland of
the Dutch colonists, —are sufficient to pierce through
the body of a man by one thrust of their powerful pos-
sessors. The bisons and the buffaloes are all dangerous ;
and even the horns of the goat can inflict severe
wounds. We may hazard the assertion, as a general
observation, that the antelopes, in proportion to the
smallness of their horn, seem endowed with an addi-
tional degree of speed. The roebuck (Capreolus
Europceus)' and the chamois are proofs of this;, the
horns of both are but ill calculated for vigorous de-
fence, yet both these animals are proverbial for their
swiftness ; while the latter is so celebrated for its agility
in climbing the most inaccessible precipices, that it far
exceeds, in this respect, even the ibex. It is singular
that among ruminating animals we often find that one
sex is provided with horns, and the other not. To

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OF QUADRUPEDS. 1 31

compensate, however, for this apparent deficiency in
the power of self-defence, we observe that the males
protect the females, — and thus evince a degree of con-
jugal affection which is scarcely apparent in any other
order of quadrupeds, — excepting, indeed, when defend-
ing their own progeny. From the ruminating tribe, we
proceed to the Camelopardalis, the camels, and the
horses. All these, in their native state, live in wide ex.
tended plains, where they can perceive danger at a con-
siderable distance, and avoid it by rapid flight . nor is
this all ; their hard and solid hoofs are employed as
natural and powerful clubs, wherewith, by kicking, to
repel their enemies : and that this is no trivial effort of
defence, is sufficiently apparent from the facts often
occurring of limbs and bones being broken by the kick
of a horse. Conscious, apparently, of the power of
union, these animals, in a wild state, herd together.
<e Whenever they are menaced by a ferocious beast, or
any other of their enemies, they instantly combine in
close order ; and if any succumb, it is generally the
weakest." Their principal enemies are the larger
FelintB, or the lion, tiger, panther, and leopard, — which,
observes major Smith, " they generally escape with
facility, or resist with success. Their fleetness soon
leaves their pursuers at a distance, and they can strike
with the hinder feet with immense force, and bite with
great violence and effect.* The wariness and circum-
spection of these animals are extraordinary ; and both
form a part of that principle of self-preservation which
we are now illustrating. The wild horses of America
march in columns, — these troops being headed by a
vigorous male chief, who is continually at their head
in travel or in battle, and is invariably followed under
all circumstances. When the herd is disturbed by any
object, they approach it within a certain distance,
having the strongest individuals at their head, examine
it attentively, and describe one or more circles round it.
If it does not appear dangerous, they approach with

* Griff. Cuv. vol. iii. p. 138.
K 2

132 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

precaution ; but if the chiefs recognise any danger, and
give an example of flight, they are instantly followed
by the entire troop." * The Camelopardalis, notwith-
standing its apparently unfavourable shape, runs with
great speed, and kicks as effectually as a horse. Mr.
Burchell, and all the African travellers who have seen
this animal, attest the difficulty with which it is ap-
proached. The defence of the camel is different : too
unwieldly 'to seek its safety by flight, it bites its ad-
versary, strikes with its fore feet, and kicks with its
hind. Major Smith cites an instance of the dreadful
bite of this animal which happened in India, where a
camel tore off the arm of a lad, whose person was with
difficulty rescued from the further grasp of the fero-
cious beast, — which, when the victim was withdrawn,
stood in terrific exultation over the torn limb, not suf-
fering any one to approach it for some time. Of the
modes of defence possessed by the lamas, or sheep-
camels of South America (Anchenia}, very little is
known : they are probably mountain quadrupeds, pos-
sessing the climbing habits of goats. It is well known,
however, that such as are seen in confinement show
their dislike to certain individuals, by ejecting saliva
from their mouth ; but what may be the effect of this
indignant mode of warfare, we have not clearly ascer-
tained.

(155.) The following account of a fight between an
Indian tiger and a domesticated buffalo is so applicable
to our present object of illustrating the defences of
animals, as displayed in different species, that we can-
not withhold it from the reader. These fights take
place in a large arena, securely fenced all round, and
to a considerable height, by a palisade of strong bam-
boos, above which are galleries adapted for the spec-
tators. " As soon as the tiger has been turned loose
into this place, the gates are closed, and a short time
is allowed him to look round and examine his new
situation. It is remarkable that, at this time, the

* Griff. Cuv. vol. iii. p. 442.

<CHAP. V. FIGHT OF A TIGER AND BUFFALO. 133

cowardly animal very rarely quits the palisades, but
creeps along close to them, wistfully looking up to their
tops, as if to measure their height ; and occasionally
grinding his teeth at the spectators, — many of whom, of
the lower orders, secure seats at the top of the in-
closure, or peep through the narrow interstices of the
sides. As soon as the tiger appears somewhat re-
conciled to the place, the buffalo is introduced ; and
now," says our authority, "nothing can surpass the
animation displayed at this moment." The buffalo,
upon entering, smells the tiger, and becomes instantly
agitated. His eyes sparkle with fury as they wander
in search of his enemy, who is generally attacked the
instant he is discerned. The buffalo, shaking his
head and pawing the ground for a few seconds, places
himself in the posture of attack. With his face brought
parallel to the ground, his horns pointing forward, and
his tail indicating both his vigour and his determin-
ation, he rushes forward at full speed. But the
cautious tiger is on the alert, and rarely fails to shift
his ground as the buffalo approaches ; if he succeed in
this, his infuriated adversary, unable to check the im-
petuosity of its career, will sometimes run against the
in closure with a tremendous force, and injure the fore-
most of the spectators. The immense strength of the
tiger lies in his fore paws, — a stroke of which would
prove fatal to his enemy, if it was given with full effect.
The- buffalo, as if aware of this, constantly endeavours
to keep in front of his opponent, rushes towards him
with his whole force, and recedes with surprising
celerity as soon as the tiger evinces a disposition to
strike. Sometimes the tiger will follow and make a
desperate spring, — which, however, the buffalo either
avoids by rapidly shifting his ground, or at the same
moment darts forward to receive its enemy on its
horns. There are instances when the tiger has sprung
over the buffalo's back, causing the combatants to
change places ; but the former does not, in general,
follow up his attacks with spirit — while the buffalo, on
K 3

134 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

the other hand, pushes his opponent to the extreme,
giving him no respite, but charging with the greatest
impetuosity. The one seems to be contented with a
secession of arms, the other carries on a war of ex-
termination. Formidable as are the thrusts of the
buffalo, the peculiar texture of the tiger's skin pre-
vents the animal from being so much injured as might
at first be supposed : it will, in fact, withstand such
thrusts as the spectator would deem irresistible. The
gloss of the thick though short fur, and the natural
pliancy of the hide may account for this ; so that, in
general, the animal is more bruised than gored by its
adversary's horns. The attacks, however, of the
buffalo are unremitted. Although naturally erect, with
the points of his horns turned backwards, he inverts
his whole position when about thirty or forty yards
from his antagonist ; he' then brings his nostrils be-
tween his fore legs ; his horns are thus pointed forward,
and not more than an inch or two from the ground.
In this manner he proceeds at full speed ; a quick re-
moval, however, on one side, is sufficient to insure
safety. The motions of the buffalo are so rapid, and
his fury so great, that a second or a third charge follow
in quick succession, until the tiger, worn out by these
attacks, or, perhaps, unable longer to avoid the deadly
thrust, is finally overcome." The natives assert that a
buffalo, not absolutely defeated, will never quit a tiger
until its death may proclaim a victory ; and that, even
when its subdued opponent may be breathless, the
buffalo, as if to glut its revenge, shows a savage joy in
still tossing about the body of the tiger. It is a
singular fact, that the animals selected on these occa-
sions are always taken from the domesticated breed of
buffaloes, which may naturally be supposed to possess
far less courage and strength than the wild race. Both,
however, are considered of as implacable a disposition
as the rhinoceros.*

(156.) On looking to the Pachydermato, or thick-

* Williamson's Field Sports.

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OF QUADRUPEDS. 135

skinned quadrupeds, we find other instruments arid
other means employed for the defence and preservation
of the individuals. Here we have the most hulky
quadrupeds in existence, — the elephant, the rhino-
ceros, and the hippopotamus. Weight is therefore,
here, the great characteristic ; and we accordingly find
that these animals, apparently conscious that no others
can withstand the enormous pressure of their bodies,
trample upon their adversaries, and crush them into a
shapeless mass : but, to effect this, they must first be
thrown upon the ground. This the rhinoceros accom-
plishes by running with irresistible force, and knocking
his adversary down with his horn ; while the elephant,
entwining his flexible proboscis round his foe, dashes
him to the earth, and with one blow thus terminates
his existence : besides this, the enormous tusks of the
elephant are an additional defence, which render their
possessor, otherwise the most intelligent and docile of
quadrupeds, one of the most formidable, when enraged,
of any in the creation. Another method in which this
mighty animal exerts his strength is, by lunging, with
nearly the force of a battering ram, against any tree,
wall, or other obstacle which impedes his progress.
We regret that our limits will not permit us to insert
the long but very interesting narrative of the death of
Mr. Cross's elephant, killed at Exeter 'Change. The
trunk of this quadruped, in fact, is its chief defence ;
for it can be employed to lift a man from the ground
with perfect ease. To all these means of preservation,
may be added that remarkably thick skin which furnishes
a name to this order. In the rhinoceros, this charac-
teristic is so highly developed, that it is musket proof,
and becomes as effectual for defence as if the animal
were cased in a coat of mail. The hippopotamus, on
the other hand, although possessed of a very thick
skin, is destitute both of proboscis, horns, and tusks.
His riabits are aquatic ; the depths of rivers are his
citadels, where he retreats in the moment of danger,
and bids defiance to all enemies of the land : from these
K 4

136 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

he only sallies during the night, to graze on the ad-
joining herbage. With such habits, he requires no
other powers of defence, — they would be altogether
unnecessary, and he is consequently without them. Of
all the pachydermatous quadrupeds, the pig and the
tapir seem to be the most defenceless ; yet the former,
which, in its wild state, is no other than the boar, is
confessed to be a formidable and savage opponent, —
and the history of the latter is too little known to admit
cf clear elucidation. The peccaries, or wild hogs of
Surinam, are totally destitute of that courage which
renders the European boar such a formidable enemy to
the hunter, in a state of nature ; but, although it is
destitute of tusks, or of other weapons of defence, Na-
ture has provided for it another resource in case of
danger. This animal is particularly remarkable for
having, according to Stedman, an orifice on the back,
about one inch in depth, which contains a stinking
foetid liquor, which some compare to the smell of
musk, but which is so very disagreeable, that, the in-
stant the animal is killed, the natives take care to cut
away this part with a knife, to prevent its infecting the
flesh, — which it would soon do, making it so disgusting
as not to be eatable.*

(157.) The horn of the Indian rhinoceros (fig.4t4i.)t

and, indeed, of all
the other species,
although short and
blunt, is one of the
most effective wea-
pons with which
Nature has armed
the ungulated or-
der of quadrupeds.
All who have seen
it in its native jun-
gles describe it as a most ferocious animal, capable of de-
feating the elephant (to which it seems to have a rooted

* Stedman, vol. i. 370.

CHAP. V. PASSIVE DEFENCES OP QUADRUPEDS. 137

antipathy), by ripping it up without mercy, with this
weapon. One of these animals is known to have killed
a horse by a single stroke of the horn, which not only
penetrated through the saddle flap and padding, but
fractured two of the ribs, leaving a wound through
which a small hand might pass into the horse's lungs.*
(158.) The next great division of quadrupeds (Glires)
comprehends the smallest and the weakest : these are
the rats, the mice, the squirrels, the hares, and similarly
formed animals. In these, the means of defence, for
the most part, are of a very feeble nature. It is true
that all have the power of inflicting, by their sharp
and enormous cutting teeth, very severe wounds, in
proportion to their bulk ; but this quality is of little
avail against those larger animals of which they are
the prey. Their safety, indeed, for the most part,
consists in their quickness, precaution, and nocturnal
habits. The rat and the mouse are familiar instances ;
they bite, it is true, with great force, considering their
diminutive size; but their safety consists in caution,
agility, and nocturnal motions. The hare is, probably,
for its size, the most defenceless quadruped yet dis-
covered. It has not even the hooked claws of the
sloth, or the burrowing habits of the mole ; yet, how
admirably has Nature provided for its safety ! Its
whole organisation seems to indicate the extreme of
watchfulness in perceiving danger, and of speed and
cunning in avoiding it. Hence, but for a refined and
regularly organised system in effecting its destruction,
by means of men, horses, and dogs, the hare — the
most timid and defenceless of quadrupeds — would be
one of the most secure from the injuries of uncivilised
man, and from all the quadruped races. The whole of
the Glires, in short, represent the order of Grallatores,
or wading birds ; and both respectively comprise the
smallest individuals and the swiftest runners in their
separate classes. The speed of the horse, in com-
parison to its bulk, is nothing to that of the hare ; and

* Williamson's Field Sports, vol. i. p. 174.

138 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

every one knows that the different families of sand-
pipers, plovers, curlews, and couriers (Tachydromus
Orientalis Sw.*, fig.4>5.)

45 $j^' arej °f a^ hirds, the swiftest

runners in the whole circle
of ornithology. The same
principle of safety is seen
in the extensive family of
squirrels, with the addition
of another quality, — that
of climbing with the great-
est agility among trees, and
of taking prodigious leaps from bough to bough ; they
run, in fact, like hares, but over a different surface,
and in a different direction : they are the hares of the
trees, instead of the ground ; and this principle is
carried so far among certain genera, that the quality of
leaping almost borders upon that of flying : hence, the
name of flying squirrels, given to such as have the skin,
between the legs, dilated into a thin membrane, suffi-
ciently wide to expand in the act of jumping, and of
supporting these animals in the air in the manner of an
umbrella or parachute. The porcupines have a dif-
ferent and a very peculiar mode of self-defence. Speed
does not belong to them, — but they are armed with
acute spines, which they can raise or depress at
pleasure ; and one species can even shoot these spines,
as it is affirmed, into their foes. Most of the species
climb trees with much facility, for they are provided
with a prehensile tail. All these, however, have the
power of rolling themselves into a ball, erecting their
spines, and thereby presenting to their foes an un-
interrupted surface of spears. The power of throwing
the quills, as above mentioned, and attributed to the
European porcupine, has recently been denied ; but its
mode of defence is scarcely less formidable. It will

* See the specific characters of the species composing this genus, in the
volume on Animals in Menageries, p. 339, 340. ; and Birds of Western
Africa, vol. ii.

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OF WHALES. 139

throw itself with impetuosity upon Its opponent, and
always sideways ; thus bringing into action the longest
and sharpest of its quills. It seems most anxious,
when attacked, to protect the head ; and yet no animal,
perhaps, can bite harder. The thickest and strongest
boards soon yield to the gnawing operation of their
teeth. The beaver is equally remarkable for the same pro-
pensity ; it is well known to be aquatic, seeking safety in
flight, or in the intricacies of its "watery citadel; and both
the beavers and the porcupines are nocturnal animals.
If, as we believe, the marsupial or pouched quadru-
peds are really of this order, we see great powers of
jumping joined to the active defence of kicking with
their strong hind feet, the toes of which, from being
armed with sharp claws, are capable of inflicting severe
wounds. The cavies so nearly resemble the hares,
that they probably possess the same instincts regarding
personal safety.

(15p.) On looking to the whales, or cetaceous quadru-
peds (Cetacea), the means of self-defence are not very
apparent, yet they are sufficient to protect these animals
from the few foes which they are likely to meet with
in their native element. In the true whales (Balance),
which are destitute of teeth, the only defence is in the
tail : this part, however, is highly flexible, and very
strong, and can be moved about on one side or the
other with great rapidity. It is well known that those
employed in the capture of this huge monster are ex-
posed to imminent danger ; for many instances are on
record where the whale, by a single stroke of its tail,
has dashed the boat to atoms, or has thrown it up in
the air, with all its crew, with as much ease as we
should toss away a pea-shell. Among the cachalots, or
spermaceti whales, we find large and strong teeth ; and
these monsters are described as the most agile, the most
audacious, and the most formidable of their congeners.
They are not only able to defend themselves, but they
seem to be among the most savage and voracious in-
habitants of the deep, — " where they reign as despotic

140 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

conquerors, with an empire absolute and destructive.
They are not contented with repelling any attack, but
dash with fury against everything which appears to
resist them. They combat with intrepidity, cover the
sea with blood, and pursue their prey with a bitterness
and pertinacity that has scarcely any parallel. In these
attacks they are distinguished by the extreme rapidity
of their movements : they are said to appear and dis-
appear like lightning; they advance and retreat with
the velocity of an arrow, and the eye can with difficulty
follow their varied evolutions. In the combat, fear, fury,
and pain draw from them such profound groans, or
piercing hissing cries, that their congeners are attracted
in crowds from all sides, continue the fight with fresh
ardour and audacity, and stain the waters with blood
often to the distance of many leagues.'* * We know
not upon what authority the industrious editor, from
whom we have now transcribed this passage, has relied
for his information ; but, admitting that the account may
be somewhat highly coloured, it will readily be per-
ceived that these monsters are the Feres of the natatorial
quadrupeds, and as formidable in the ocean, as the lion
and tiger are upon dry land. The narwal, although a
much smaller animal, is the most completely armed of
the whole order. He is, in fact, the elephant of the
ocean, — being furnished with tusks, or teeth, sometimes
twenty feet long, twisted spirally, excessively hard, and
pointed, and capable of inflicting instant death or the most
dangerous wounds. These and the cachalots are entirely
carnivorous, — feeding upon fish, and even upon young
whales. Even when the narwals, which generally go
in troops, meet a full-grown whale, they are sure to
give him battle, and a bloody contest ensues, of which
they are not unfrequently themselves the victims. The
dolphins, long celebrated by poetic fabulists as gentle
and social to man, are, in reality, a cruel and blood-
thirsty race, — preying upon the weaker inhabitants of
the deep with great voracity, and following ships for no
*_Griff, Cuv. vol. iv. p. 473.

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OF BIRDS. 141

other purpose but to feed upon the offal that may "be
cast overboard.

(160.) The means of defence enjoyed by BIRDS are
much less varied, and apparently less efficacious, than
those which have been given to quadrupeds. Their pre-
servation, in short, depends, for the most part, on their
flights — that is, in retreating from danger, rather than
encountering it. It might be thought that the power
so generally possessed by these creatures, of immediately
launching into an element of their own, would prevent
them from being attacked by terrestrial foes ; but such
are really their chief enemies. The whole tribe of
martens and weazels feed almost entirely upon the
feathered race ; the tiger-cats and lynxes do the same ;
and all the families of the small Carnivora are per-
petually on the watch for birds. Nor have they less
to apprehend from animals of their own class. The
whole of the falcons, the kites, the buzzards, and the
harriers live upon their weaker brethren ; and the
typical butcher-birds are their small but powerful foes.
They have enemies, also, among the reptiles. The
rattlesnake, it is well known, feeds upon small birds :
many others of America and India, probably, do the
same ; and serpents, in general, are proverbially great
destroyers of their eggs. Very few of the feathered
creation are provided with offensive weapons by which
these enemies can be repelled. Some in the rasorial
order, however, are armed with acute spurs, particularly
the Argus pheasants of India; and many use their
sharp-pointed beak as a spear, by which they can not
only drive away intruders, but, by well-directed blows,
deprive them of life. Others are capable of inflicting
severe blows with their wings ; and those of a larger
size, as the eagles and swans, have been known, in this
manner, to break the arm of a man. Upon the whole,
therefore, we find that birds are not so entirely des-
titute of offensive and defensive weapons as, at first,
might have been imagined : and we must recollect, that
in their power of flying they enjoy a mode of fleeing

142 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

from their enemies which is almost peculiar to them-
selves.

( 16 1 .) In the rapacious order (Raptoreii), we, of course,
find the greatest courage, and the power of inflicting the
greatest injury upon their enemies. The sharp retrac-
tile claws of these birds, formed upon the same model
as those of the beasts of prey, are the chief weapons of
the rapacious birds, and with which they seize and
secure their prey. The bill, also, is always hooked,
generally very acute, and in a considerable number
armed with angular projections — as in the true falcons
(fig. 46.) — analogous to teeth:
these assist in tearing the
flesh of their foes or of their
food ; while to these defences
is superadded a muscular
force far superior to all other
birds of their own size.
Humboldt affirms that two
condors are able to attack and
destroy a puma, or a heifer,
and to peck out their eyes. It
was long asserted that these
birds flew off with young
children in their talons ; but the author just named posi-
tively assures us that this is a vulgar error. The claws of
the condor, and of the vultures generally, are by no
means so formidable in their construction as those of the
other Raptores; but they have an additional defence in the
thickness of their skin, the compactness of their feathers,
and the coat of down beneath them. Their tenacity of
life is astonishing. M. De Humboldt was present at
certain experiments on the life of a condor at Rio
Bamba. They first attempted to strangle it with a
noose ; they hung it to a tree, and dragged the legs
with great force for many minutes : but scarcely was
the noose removed, than the condor began to walk about,
as if nothing had been the matter. Three pistol-balls
were then discharged at him, within less than four

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OP BIRDS. 143

•paces' distance: they all entered the body; he was
wounded in the neck, chest, and belly, but still re-
mained on his feet: a fifth ball struck against the
femur, and, rebounding, fell back on the ground ; nor
was it in less than half an hour after all these wounds
that the bird died. Ulloa also affirms, that in the cold
region of Peru the condor is so closely furnished with
feathers, that eight or ten balls may strike against his
body without one piercing it. But it may well be
questioned whether many of the eagles — the Aquila de-
structor, for instance — are not as completely armed
as is the condor. The claws of all the eagles and
falcons are sickle-shaped, and both in form and effect
may be compared to steel hooks ; with these the prey
is struck, and the bill is only used to separate the food.
The owls have a singular mode of defence. A com-
mon barn owl, which we endeavoured ineffectually to
tame, when under a suspicion of being handled, would
make a loud hissing, like what we should imagine
would proceed from a serpent ; it would then throw
itself on its back, and begin fighting with its claws :
these are such formidable weapons, that even in so
small a bird they would penetrate the flesh to the depth
of an inch.

(162.) There are few very striking peculiarities at-
tending the defensive habits of other birds ; nor are
there any which — so far as man and their own class
are concerned — can be termed very offensive. The
wings and the bill are almost their only weapons ; and
these are alone formidable when the bird is of a large
siee. In the gallinaceous tribe, however, we find strong
and very acute spurs affixed to the legs, as in the Argus
pheasant, the common cock, and many others; and
with these, as it is well known, they fight desperately.
The same appendages are found on the wings of many
plovers (Charadriadce) and waterhens (Parra); but
We know not the particular enemies they are intended
to repel. It seems uncertain, also, whether the horny
excrescences on the heads, or rather the bills, of the

144 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

hornbills (Buceridai), are used in any manner for self-
defence ; but this is not unlikely, — since it is asserted
that the cassowary — which is furnished with a pro-
tuberance in every way analogous in external form —
is capable, in this manner, of inflicting severe bruises.
Some few aquatic groups, but more especially the
petrels, secrete an oily fluid, which they squirt out upon
those who annoy them ; while such as are of a large
size, and powerful flight, strike very severely with their
wings.

(163.) Among reptiles, the active powers of defence
are almost entirely confined to the teeth, the passive to
their covering and their swiftness of motion. On the
voracity of the crocodiles we have elsewhere expatiated.
They are nearly the only animals of this class which
use the tail as a weapon of defence ; and this, by being
armed along its ridge with hard and pointed spines, is
used to strike with, and, in the larger species, must be
a very dangerous part. Their skin is covered with
numerous small bucklers or shields ; and their mouth,
furnished with long and narrow teeth, appears like a
mighty gulf, sufficient to swallow an animal almost as
large as themselves. In its more congenial element, —
the water, — it has no foes capable of attacking it ; and if,
as it is said, the carnivorous quadrupeds will sometimes
assault the alligator, he avoids the encounter by making
for the water — and, diving beneath, thus sets his pur-
suers at defiance. We must, however, recollect that
these monsters inflict wounds either in self-defence, or
when pressed by the calls of hunger ; but such is not
the case with the majority of the serpent tribe. Their
defence may be compared to the anger of a captious
man, who, from being by nature quarrelsome, takes
fire, and vents his spleen upon every one who comes in
his way. Those very large lizards, which both in
America and India are called guanas, although their bite
is not dangerous, can defend themselves most effectually.
The guana curls its tail towards its mouth when in dan-
ger, and lashes its enemy with it in a dreadful manner,

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OP REPTILES. 145

— the spines upon this part being capable of inflicting
severe wounds, and occasioning the flesh to mortify.*

(164.) The defence of the tribe of snakes, generally
speaking, is passive. There seems to be an instinctive
horror, not only in man, but in all animals, against
coming into contact with these loathsome reptiles :
hence this feeling operates in their favour ; for the fear
of injury from their fangs generally counteracts our
inclination to destroy their life. But even the most
timid and humane persons cannot exempt themselves
from the spiteful malice of the serpent, " the most subtle
of all the beasts of the field." These reptiles enter our
very dwellings, and inflict their venom upon every
living thing which impedes their humour, or unin-
tentionally offends them. Whether we are to regard
the singular appendage at the tail of the rattlesnake
as an indirect means of defence, is uncertain ; it may,
probably, by its sound, excite a dread of the animal, by
intimating its approach, and thus act as a warning to
others, and an indirect means of defence to the serpent.
Besides the poisonous fangs, we meet with no other
offensive or defensive weapon in this class, besides a
small sting, not unlike that of the scorpion, which ter-
minates the tail of one or two genera belonging to the
Indies. The agility of lizards is proverbial, and both
them, and the frog, are destitute of any defence ; both,
however, are cautious and wary ; for lizards are par-
ticularly timid, and frogs generally lie concealed, during
the day, beneath the dark foliage of rank vegetation.
There are few animals in creation so incapacitated
from active defence, and yet so protected from injury,
as the tortoise. Yet how beautifully has the Creator
defended this almost helpless reptile from the attacks of
its enemies ; — unable to sting, destitute of teeth, and
proverbially the slowest of the slow, the tortoise is,
nevertheless, able, in a moment, to defy the attacks of
almost all other animals. He is incased with armour
of proof. He is his own citadel. He has only to

* Williamson, vol. ii. p. 73.
L

14)6 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

withdraw his head and limbs within the bony shell
which envelops his body, and he can defy the teeth of
the tiger, the cunning of the fox, and the talons of the
eagle. If, during these rencontres, the tortoise can
slyly protrude his head and inflict a bite upon his
enemy, the wound is most severe : the jaws, it is true,
are destitute of teeth ; but they are of solid bone, and so
sharp, that they can only be compared to a pair of
semicircular scissors. The consequence is often fatal.
A middle-sized tortoise, at one bite, has been known to
amputate the finger of a man, as effectually, though not
so skilfully, as if it had been done by a surgeon ; and if
the bite is made in a fleshy part, it always brings out
the piece with it.

(165.) The various modes of defence possessed by
the class of FISHES are but imperfectly known ; for these
animals, hid from the eye of man in an element in
which he cannot, for any length of time, exist, pursue
their habits and instincts in secret. In this, as in all
other natural groups, we find two descriptions of
feeders ; — one deriving their subsistence by rapine and
bloodshed, destroying life and feeding upon their vic-
tims ; the other, peaceful and inoffensive, feeding for
the most part upon marine vegetables, and furnishing,
by their flesh, a wholesome and nutritious food to
man. The first of these propensities is possessed by
the sharks, the rays, and a few others; and it is, con-
sequently, among these that we find the offensive
powers strongly displayed, — while they also become the
means of self-defence. In the shark family, the teeth
are the only weapons, — but they are of the most for-
midable description : these ferocious monsters have
been known, , at one gripe, to separate^ the body of a
man in two, swallowing the one half, and leaving the
other for a second mouthful : the irresistible power
possessed by such a fish over the inhabitants of the
deep may, therefore, be readily understood. The teeth
of the sting rays are not so formidable ; but they have a
peculiar defence of their own, which always renders them

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OF FISH. 14?

objects of great terror. This is a long, bony, and rather

flattened process,
(fig. 47.). placed
on the tail, of great
hardness, and very
sharp, the sides of
•which are armed with numerous barbs. So perfectly does
this weapon resemble the head of an Indian spear, that
it might be easily mistaken for such by an unpractised
eye. Whether the fish, at the time of inflicting a
wound with this instrument, discharges some poisonous
liquid, or whether the effect produced by the laceration
of the flesh, in withdrawing this natural spear, indis-
poses the wound to heal kindly, certain it is that the
most fatal consequences have attended the sting of these
rays ; and the fishermen of the Mediterranean, where
one of the species is found, persist in declaring that
jts sting is poisonous.

(166.) It may be generally concluded, that, when-
ever fish are armed with bony spines, either upon the
body, the tail, or the fins, these instruments are em-
ployed in self-defence. One of the great characters,
indeed, of the sub-typical group of the whole class is,
to have the fins supported upon bony rays, most of
which are acutely pointed, while those of the typical
circle are soft, and incapable of doing any injury. The
scorpion fish (Scorpcena) derive their vulgar name, not
from possessing a sting, but from the terrific appear-
ance of the spines in the head. In others, as the
genus Acanthurus, there is, on each side the tail, a
single large spine, not unlike that of a rose bush, with
the point directed towards the head ; by this position,
the fish, if swimming past its adversary, can tear up
an open wound, for a considerable length, along the
body of its enemy. The common sting-bull ( Trachinus
J)raco) has the spinous rays of the first dorsal fin very
acute ; and with these it can inflict wounds which are
accompanied by immediate, and often dangerous, in-
flammation, extending all up the arm and shoulder.
L 2

148 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIHALS. CHAP. V.

But the highest development of this species of defence
is seen among the branchiostegous fishes, or order which
we have denominated as the cheloniform fishes, be-
cause they represent the tortoises and hedgehogs. The
genus Diodon has the body completely covered with
long acute spines, which stand out in every direction ;
these are sometimes so sharp, that they can be com-
pared to nothing so well as to those on the hedge-
hog or the porcupine. Nor do we conceive that these
fish can be handled, by any possibility, when they are
alive. In the genus Tetrodon, the belly, alone, is
prickly, and this part is capable of being inflated to a
very large size. In Ostracion, and several other genera,
we have a perfect representation of the armorial co-
vering of the cheloniform reptiles : the whole body is
enveloped in a bony coat, or covered with hexagonal
scales, the sides of which fit into each other com-
pactly, and thus protect the fish even from the teeth of
ordinary foes.

(167.) There are several genera where the snout is
elongated either into a long pointed bone destitute of
spines, or into a flat process armed on each side with
formidable tooth-like spines resembling teeth. Both
these offensive weapons are possessed by fish of a
gigantic size, which, from their resemblance in other
respects to the sharks, lead us to believe they are alto-
gether rapacious. The first is the sword-fish (fig. 48.),

which frequently grows to near twenty feet long. It is a
most powerful fish, which frequently attacks whales : so
blind is its headstrong fury, that it will pierce the sides
of ships with its sword-like snout, — probably mistaking
the vessel for some huge monster of the deep. A part
of the bottom of a large East Indiaman, with the

,CHAP. V. DEFENCES OP FISH. 149

sword of this fish driven completely through, is now,
as Dr. Shaw asserts, or was, in the British Museum :
the fish was killed by the violence of the effort ; and the
vessel, in all probability, was saved from foundering,
by the fish not having power to withdraw its snout.
We are unacquainted with the manner in which the
saw-fish (Pristis Antiquorum) uses the formidable ap-
paratus which terminates its snout ; but when we con-
sider that this part, in itself, is often no less than five feet
long, and that it is armed with from eighteen to twenty-
four strong spines on each side, it may be concluded to
be a deadly weapon. The electric quality possessed by
the torpedo is, no doubt, one of the means employed by
nature for effecting self-preservation : it is unknown,
however, against what particular enemies this unusual
defence is directed.

(168.) Michaux is the only writer who has informed
us of the precise manner in
which the formidable spines
(fid- 49.) so general in the
fins of the Silures, or cat-fish
(SiluridcB Sw.), are used. The
Ohio abounds with these fish,
which may be caught with a
hand line, sometimes weigh-
ing 100 pounds. The first ray of the dorsal is
formed of a very strong and sharp spine, which the
animal uses to kill others of a smaller size ; for this
purpose it gets beneath the fish it intends to attack,
and then, suddenly rising, wounds it repeatedly in the
belly. " We had opportunities," he adds, " of ob-
serving this circumstance twice in the course of our
navigation" down the Ohio.*

(169.) The power of quitting its native element, to
take refuge in another, belongs to the whole genus of
Exocwtus, or flying-fish; and doubtless to many species
of Trigla, or gurnard, where the pectoral fins are
equally developed. The former swim in shoals ; and

* Mich. Trav. p. 131.

i. 3

150 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

it is no uncommon sight, between the tropics, to see one
or two hundred of these pretty fish rise from the surface
of the water, and, just skimming over the waves, de-
scend gradually again into the sea. By this means
they frequently escape the pursuit of the rapacious fish
swimming beneath. It is customary for compilers to
assert that this effort of the flying fish is attended with
little or no safety to themselves ; for that, so soon as they
quit the sea, they are assailed by gulls and other sea
birds, which seize them in the air. That such an event
sometimes takes place, no one would reasonably ques-
tion ; but the coincidence is very rare. We have re-
peatedly seen whole shoals, or rather flocks, of these
fish rise from the water and enter it again without a
sea bird being in sight ; and even where they acci-
dentally have been near at hand, as one bird could only
seize one fish, the great proportion of such as escaped
must be obvious.

(170.) We may consider the slimy mucilage with
which the skin of all the eel-like fishes is covered, as
in some degree useful for their preservation. Every
body knows the difficulty, not to say the impossibility,
of holding an eel when just caught ; it slips through
the hand, and, in nine instances out of ten, falls into the
water. Eels, in fact, are among the most defenceless
of fish ; but the conger, which sometimes grows to a
very great size, is furnished with strong teeth, and
bites very hard. Of the defensive powers possessed by
the Amphibia, we are entirely unacquainted ; they are
ah1 weak and simply constructed animals, living for the
most part in the mud and banks of ponds and swampy
grounds, and are totally unarmed.

(171.) We shall now consider the means of defence
possessed by annulose animals, or INSECTS. It may be
stated as a general truth, subject but to few exceptions,
that the degree of danger to which an animal is sub-
jected, is in proportion to its size, and to the muscular
power with which it is endowed. We have seen that
to the most bulky of the true quadrupeds.. Nature has

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OP INSECTS. 151

bestowed proportionate means of defence to their size.
The elephant can master and repel all others of its
class, except, perhaps, some of the large Carnivora. The
rhinoceros, in like manner, is one of the lords of the
animal creation ; while the bulky hippopotamus, al-
though armed but with short tusks, is exposed, by its
aquatic habits, to fewer injuries than are any of its
congeners. But when we descend to the mouse, we
see an animal whom hundreds of its own class could
exterminate, had not Nature given to it a degree of
caution and timidity which cannot be traced among the
larger animals. On the same principle of giving se-
curity to the weak, by excessive caution, or by cunning
devices, do we see that Nature has proceeded in her
care of the insect world. These innumerable hosts of
living creatures, exposed to a thousand dangers from
the larger animals which prey upon them, no less than
from foes belonging to their own tribe, are, nevertheless,
protected, in a wonderful manner, by habits, by struc-
tures, and by devices the most extraordinary. These,
as we have before explained, may be chiefly referred to
the two heads of active and passive, or direct and in-
direct defences. The former, as most obvious, will
first claim our attention.

(172.) " The active means of defence," observes Mr.
Kirby, " which tend to secure insects from injury or
attack, are much more numerous and diversified than
the passive ; they are also more interesting, since they
depend more or less upon the efforts and industry of
the creatures themselves." * When urged by a sense
of danger, they assume various forms; emit noises,
scents, or fluids ; or boldly attack their adversaries with
natural weapons, with which, for such purposes, they
are armed. All modes of defence are comprised under
these three divisions ; but we shall follow the indus-
trious authors who have already so ably treated this
subject, by considering the active defences made by in-
sects under the following heads : — 1st, by attitudes;

* Int to Ent voL ii. p. 232.
L 4

152 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V,

2d, by noises; 3d, by scents; 4th, by emission of
fluids ; 5th,, by weapons ; 6th, by stratagem or con-
cealment.

(17S.) The attitudes which insects assume, either to
screen themselves from observation, or to terrify their
enemies, are very remarkable. Among the means re-
sorted to for the first of these purposes, is that of
imitation. Mr. Kirby mentions a Staphylinus, or rove
beetle, which he at first mistook for a very minute
shining round pebble ; this appearance was produced
by the insect folding its head under the breast, and
turning up its body over the wing-cases. The Silfiha
thoracica Lin. {fig. 50.), when
50 -r^S3RESt^ alarmed, has recourse to a similar
manoeuvre ; in which state, the
colours being black and yellow,
the insect looks like a rough
stone. Many of the weevil
beetles (CurcuUonidce), particu-
larly those with short thick bodies, on the least appearance
of danger, gather themselves into a heap, bend their
snout under the thorax, and fall to the ground from the
plants upon which they happen to be feeding. It is
then in vain to search for them ; for, the colours being
perfectly matched to those of the ground, the keenest
eye will be completely baffled. There is a genus of
this family, found in the sandy tracts of Africa and of
Sicily, which, although large, is so exactly coloured
like the sand, that few entomologists would distinguish
the insects from the surrounding soil. One of the
most singular attitudes of this sort is that assumed by
nearly all the onisciform types of annulose animals,
and by many of those in the vertebrated circle ; — it is
that of rolling themselves up in a perfectly spherical
ball, like the common woodlouse : in this attitude the
legs and all the softer parts of the body, on the under
side, are entirely covered and defended by the hard
crust which forms the upper surface of the animal.
Other insects endeavour to protect themselves, from

CHAP. V. ATTITUDES OF INSECTS. 153

danger by feigning death. The common dung chafer
(Geotrupes stercorarius), when touched, or in fear, sets
out its legs as stiff as if they were made of iron wire,
— which is their position when dead, — and remain
perfectly motionless. The tree chafers elevate their
posterior legs into the air, probably with the same
view ; while the Scarabceus Sacer and its allies, if our
memory serves us right, pack their legs close to their
body, in the same manner as do the Byrrhii mentioned
by Mr. Kirby.* The same author relates, from the
scarce volumes of De Geer, the extraordinary pertinacity
with which the little beetle, named Anobium pertinax
by Fabricius, persists in counterfeiting death. " All
that has been related of the heroic constancy of Ame -
rican savages, when taken and tortured by their enemies,
scarcely comes up to that which these little creatures
exhibit. You may maim them, pull them limb from
limb, roast them alive over a slow fire ; but you will
not gain your end, — not a joint will they move, nor
show, by the least symptom, that they suffer pain." *
Many Tenthredince, or saw-flies, pack their antenna?
and legs close together ; and every one has witnessed
the same remarkable habit in the majority of spiders.

(174.) There are two sorts of attitudes assumed by
caterpillars, which deserve attention, — the one decep-
tive, the other threatening. The first is chiefly prac-
tised by those belonging to the looper moths (Geo-
metridce). These caterpillars, when at rest, support
themselves for hours by means of their hinder feet
only, raising the body high in the air, and preserving
it either in a stiff straight line, or in a curve (fig. 51.).
The colour of the skin exactly resembles that of the
stem or bark of the tree upon which the insect feeds ;
and thus the deception is so complete, that a person,
after having had one of these deceiving masqueraders
pointed out to him, will have much difficulty in be-
lieving it to be anything more than a dry or green twig.
Nothing, in short, can be more deceptive ; so that the

* Int. to Eat. vol. ii. p. 234. t I<UWd.

154 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

insect feels perfectly secure from the attacks of those

numerous small warblers> and other insectivorous birds^
which are constantly searching for insects among foliage.
Rosel relates a story of his gardener, who, mistaking
one of these caterpillars for a dead twig, started hack
in great alarm, when, upon attempting to break it off,
he found it was a living animal. Nearly the whole of
the typical hawk moths (Sphingides) assume attitudes
of a threatening or terrific character ; thus becoming
fit emblems of the Fera among quadrupeds, and the
Arachno'ides among insects. When at rest, these cater-
pillars,— which are usually of the same green colour as
the foliage upon which they feed, — by drawing their
heads into an elevated curve, assume a rampant atti-
tude (fig. 52.), and thus remain motionless for hours:
if, however, they are disturbed, they move the head
and fore part of the body, by sudden jerks, on one side
and the other, precisely as if it intended to give a side
blow to its assailants. An attitude precisely similar is
assumed by the great caterpillar of the Bombyx regalis,
called by the Americans the horned devil • when dis-
turbed, it draws up its head, and shakes it from side to
side, as if threatening to attack its enemy : this motion,
together with the strange horns which point out from
the head in every direction, gives this insect such a

CHAP. V. ATTITUDES OP INSECTS. 155

terrific appearance, that the natives dread it as much as
they do a rattlesnake.

(175.) Another extraordinary mode of intimidation
is mentioned by De Geer, as being used by a species of
Malachius Fab. When irritated, this insect shows its
rage by puffing out and inflating four vesicles from the
side of the body; these vesicles are soft, of an ir-
regular shape, and of a bright red colour. When the
cause of alarm is removed, they are retracted, so that
only a small portion of them appears. Nearly all the
species of rove beetle (Staphylinus), if disturbed, ex-
pand their jaws, and elevate the body upwards, as if
they intended to sting their foe. Now, the first of
these defences is real, because the insect can really
bite very hard ; but the latter is merely to intimidate,
for the abdomen has neither forceps nor sting, and is,
consequently, incapable of inflicting the least injury.
Humble-bees, when disturbed, intimidate by well
assuming grotesque and threatening attitudes : they
lift up the legs in a strange manner ; turn themselves
upon their backs, and protrude their sting, accompanied
by a drop of poison j sometimes they will even spit
out that liquor. Other bees will dash and strike about
the heads of those who intrude near their nests. Every
one must have remarked that the peculiarly irregular
zigzag flight of the butterflies renders it extremely
difficult to catch them ; and it is, no doubt, to this
circumstance that they are indebted for their safety

156 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

during summer, when swallows are chasing insects in
all directions.

(176.) The noises emitted by insects are, doubtless,
in many instances, intended to effect their preservation
from enemies. The " drowsy hum " of beetles, hum-
ble-bees, and other insects, during flight, may tend to
preserve them from some of their aerial assailants. The
noises, however, which many of these insects produce,
when free from danger, are sensibly different from
those emitted when they are captured, and apprehensive
of life ; the latter sounds are always shriller and more
plaintive, as if the little creature had lost its joyous
hum of liberty, and was interceding, in piteous terms,
for its freedom : this modulation of voice is more espe-
cially observed among certain bees and flies; and is
sufficient to disarm — as we have ourselves experienced
• — even the ardent zeal of the collector. This cry of
intercession is in no insect so remarkable as in the
death's-head sphinx (S. atropos}. Its cry is peculiarly
plaintive, and resembles that of a young child. A
learned divine, as Mr. Kirby states, who was also an
entomologist, had one of these insects brought to him
when he was unwell ; but he was so moved by its
plaintive noise, that, instead of devoting it to destruc-
tion, he gave the animal its life and liberty.

(177.) Insects are provided with additional defences,
by emitting scents and fluids of the most repulsive
quality. Examples of these occur in nearly all the
orders. The Gyrinus natator emits a strong rancid
smell ; and that of the Slaps mortisaga is very disgust-
ing. Many Carabida exhale a disagreeable and pene-
trating odour ; that of the cockroach is very sickening,
and nearly as bad as the smell of the bed-bug. Nearly
the whole tribe of the Cimicides possess a very strong
and disagreeable scent : but the most remarkable insect
in this respect is the Hemerobius perla, a golden-eyed
and lace-winged insect, of a delicate green colour, very
common in gardens : this beauty, however, is counter-
balanced by a strong and most disgusting scent of

CHAP. V. FLUIDS OF INSECTS. 157

human ordure, that proceeds from its touch. Some of
the ants are equally offensive. Many insects emit their
smell from particular organs : thus, nearly the whole of
the caterpillars of the true butterflies (Papilio Fab.)
have two retractile horn-shaped processes, which, from
Bonnet's observations on the European species, emit a
strong smell, and are probably employed by the insect
to drive away the flies and ichneumons that annoy it.
De Geer mentions the larva of the Tenthredo, or saw-fly,
which throws out a most nauseous oclour, from some-
what similar organs, situated between the legs. The
larva of Chrysomela Populi emits a white milky fluid,
the smell of which, as De Geer says, is almost insup-
portable. But the most extraordinary insects possess-
ing this species of defence, are the beetles called
bombardiers (Brachinus). The most common species
(B. crepitans), which is found occasionally in many
parts of Britain, when pursued by its great enemy,
Calosoma Inquisitor, seems at first to have no mode
of escape, — when, suddenly, a loud explosion is heard
and a blue smoke, attended by a very disagreeable
scent, is seen to proceed from its anus ; and this im-
mediately stops the progress of its assailant. When it
has recovered from the effects of this discharge,, and the
pursuit is renewed, a second, in like manner, arrests its
course. This little bombardier can fire its artillery
twenty times in succession, if necessary ; and so gain
time to effect its escape. Another species (Brachinus
displosor), by bending the joints of its abdomen, can
direct its smoke to any particular point. M. Leon
Dufour observes that this smoke has a strong and pun-
gent odour, very similar to that of nitric acid. It is
caustic, and produces on the skin the sensation of burn-
ing.

(178.) The emission of fluids is another means of
defence possessed by insects. The Chrysomela tens-
bricosa Fab. (fig. 53.}, when handled, usually ejects from
its mouth drops of a red fluid, which stains paper of
an orange colour. Lesser, having once touched the anal

158 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

horn of the caterpillar of some sphinx, it suddenly
turned its head, and vomited upon
his hand a quantity of green, vis-
cous, and foetid fluid, which infected
his hand for two days : many other
caterpillars do the same ; and some
spiders, when they are provoked to
bite, emit small drops of a clear fluid.
The larva of a Tenthredo, or saw-
fly (Pteronus Pini), upon being
touched, immediately raises the fore part of the body,
and emits from its mouth a drop of clear resin : these
larvae live in societies ; and, " what is very remarkable,
no sooner does a single individual of the group give
itself this motion, than all the rest — as if they were
moved by a spring — instinctively do the same. Thus
do these little animals fire a volley, as it were, at their
annoyers, — the scent of which is, probably, sufficient to
discomfit any ichneumons, flies, or predacious beetles
that may be desirous of attacking them." * Several
beetles, particularly the larger Carabi, eject a liquor
from their anus : and the acid smell of many ants is
one of their most powerful means of self-defence.
Other insects, like those of the genus Meloe, or oil
beetle, exude a fluid from the joints, and the segments
of their body ; while that discharged by the common
ladybird stains the hand of 'a deep yellow. Some have
the power of throwing or squirting this liquor upon
their enemies : the larva of the great emperor moth
(Bombyx pavonia) does this, when the spines of the
body are touched ; but in that of the puss moth (Bom-
Ityx vinula), and several otrers, there is a peculiar
apparatus for this purpose. These caterpillars have a
cleft in the neck, between the head and the first pair of
legs ; from this issues, at the will of the animal, a
singular syringe, laterally bifid, the branches of which
are terminated like the rose of a watering-pot. By
means of this organ, when touched, it will syringe a

» Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 249.

CHAP. V.

WEAPONS OF INSECTS.

fluid to a considerable distance, which,, if it enter the
eyes, gives acute, but not lasting, pain. *

(179.) We may now pass on to the arms or weapons
assigned to insects. The two branches or tails, above
mentioned, of the puss moth come under this de-
nomination ; for the caterpillar, upon being irritated,
lashes its sides, as with a whip, and thus effectually
drives away those ichneumons, or parasitic Hymenop-
tera, which seek to deposit their eggs in its skin. Most
of the typical thrysanuriform caterpillars have the head
furnished with horns or spiny processes, analogous to
the quadrupeds (Ungulata) and the birds (Buceridce)
which they represent. Lewin describes a caterpillar of
Australia, which inflicts very painful and venomous
wounds, by means of bunches
w ^ / ^ji£& of little stings, which are darted
^fc^H • forth fr°m the tubercles placed
W on the back. The whole of the
^Sfi| Sj Theclidce (fig. 54.), or hair-

^IIM IPBV streak butterflies, furnished
^JBL^^f with tails on their posterior
^ wings, keep these processes in

constant tnotion when the in-
sect itself is at rest, — a fact
we observed in Brazil, in 1815.
These tails, as Mr. Kirby well
observes, resemble antennae, —
so that, at first sight, the in-
sect appears to have a head at each extremity ; — a
deception which is much increased by an eye-like
spot at the base of these processes. It is thus, in
all probability, that these insects perplex or alarm
their assailants. Of the uses of those singular horn-
like spines on the head and thorax of many coleop-
terous insects, particularly those of the Dynastida
MacLeay, we are in total ignorance. They are proba-r
bly intended, among other things, to point out their
analogy to the ruminating quadrupeds- and even the

• Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 252.

160 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

sight of these formidable processes may be sufficient
to protect those which possess them from many enemies.
All the large masticating insects, without doubt, em-
ploy their jaws as weapons of defence, no less than for
preparing their food ; and some of the larger locusts of
South America bite so hard as to draw blood from the
part they get hold of ; the spines, also, of the hinder
legs of these insects, and those upon the anterior feet
of the Mantidce, will penetrate the flesh, and fre-
quently oblige the entomologist, who has captured these
insects, to let go his hold.

(180.) But the most formidable weapon belonging
to insects is the sting. Such as are provided with this
defence, are the most courageous little warriors of the
animal world. They attack, with the greatest boldness,
any animal which impedes their progress, or whom
they suspect of injuring them : the giant bulk of the
elephant, or the sovereignty of man, will not deter these
puny warriors from entering the lists against them.
Death has been known to follow the united attack of a
hive of enraged bees, and even the single infliction of a
sting from some of the large African scorpions. ( ' I know
nothing more astonishing," observes Mr. Kirby, " than
the wonderful muscular strength of insects ; which, in
proportion to their size, exceeds that of any other class
of animals. This is likewise to be reckoned among
their means of defence. Take one of the common
chafers or dung beetles in your hand, and observe how
he makes his way in spite of your utmost pressure ;
and read the account which authors have left us of the
very great weights that a flea will easily move, — which
is just as great as if a single man should be able to
draw a waggon with forty or fifty hundred weight of
hay.

(181.) Concealment is another method by which Na-
ture has provided for the safety of these little creatures.
One mode is that of covering themselves with various
substances. This is often done by small aquatic bee-
tles, with mud; so that when feeding, at the bottom of

CHAP. V. CONCEALMENTS OF INSECTS. l6l

the water, they are secure from the larger predacious
sorts which surround them. A little beetle (Georyssus
cretifera K.), which frequents chalk, whitens itself all
over with that substance ; for as this animal, when
clean, is very black, were it not for this manoeuvre, it
would be too conspicuous, upon its white territory, to
have any chance of escape from birds or other assail-
ants. No insect is more celebrated for rendering itself
hideous, by a coat of dirt, than the Reduvius personatus
Fab. : when in its larva and pupa state, every part of
its body, even its legs and antennae, are so often covered
with the dust of apartments, such as particles of sand,
hairs of wool or silk, and other similar matters, that
the animal, at first sight, would be taken for one of the
ugliest spiders. This disguise answers a double pur-
pose ; — first, as a protection to the insect itself ; and,
secondly, as a stratagem by which it secures its greatest
enemy, the bed-bugs, for food. Several Brazilian
species of the same group (Reduvidce) are covered
with a thick coat of down, which is also glutinous, so
that they can put on any disguise most adapted to their
wants. As Hercules, after he had slain the Nemsean
lion, made a doublet of its skin, so the larva of Heme-
robius chrysops covers itself with the skins of the luck-
less plant lice {Aphides] that it has slain arid devoured.
Some of the Cassidts have the singular custom of shel-
tering themselves under a canopy affixed to their tail,
and formed of their own excrement ; this they elevate
in the air, bringing it over their body precisely the
same as we should hold an umbrella. Mr. Kirby
notices the same habit in a little beetle (L,ema merdi-
gera Fab.), and explains the process by which it is
effected.* While, among the Cocci, or cochineal in-
sects (representing the Cas sides, in their own circle),
the same object is effected by very long cotton-like
tufts, which clothe the hinder parts of the body, and are
recurved over the insect. Every one must have ob-
served the tortoise-like Cocci found upon vines and other

» Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 260.

M

162 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. T.

greenhouse plants,, as being covered, some with a white
powder, and another species with fine brown dust, so
exactly resembling the bark, that even an entomological
eye may be deceived by the resemblance. Among crabs,
which, as being annulose animals, come under the
general name of insects, this method of concealment
is peculiarly strong. Several of the long-clawed species
dress themselves up in little fragments of sea- weed ; and
thus disguised, both from their enemies and their prejf,
they move among the Fuel, and other marine plants, in
perfect safety to themselves, and without the least sus-
picion to those lesser animals upon which they feed. The
whole family of the hermit crabs conceal themselves in
empty shells, where they take up their permanent abode,
and crawl about with their defence upon their backs.

(182.) Caterpillars, from the delicacy of their skin,
are more especially subject to injury; hence we find
that Nature protects them, either by long and compact,
or dense and silky, hairs, by clothing them in the precise
colour of the leaves upon which they feed, or by giving
them the instinct of concealing themselves. This latter
method is performed in two ways, either by the whole
brood of caterpillars spinning a common web, like a large
tent, under which all the community, for a part of their
lives, reside ; or, by teaching every individual to roll
itself up in a leaf, so as to be completely hidden, and
inaccessible to its enemies. Now, the whole of the
Hesperidce, or skipping butterflies, are protected in this
manner ; and those little moths, which Linnaeus placed
in his section Tortrix, do the same in their larva state.
The caterpillars of the Phryganida, or cad-worms, so
common in streams and ponds of water, inclose them-
selves in moveable tubes, and crawl about, like their
representatives, the hermit crabs, at the bottom of the
watery element. Many conceal themselves in the flowers
upon which they feed ; and the male of a little bee
(Apis campanularum K.) dozes voluptuously in the
bells of the different species of Campanula. Certain
bees and wasps (as Apis varicyata Lin., and Nomada

CHAP. V. SINGULAR AUSTRALIAN CATERPILLARS. l63

Goodeniana K.) occasionally sleep in security, by sus-
pending themselves by their jaws. This unusual atti-
tude is,, probably, to secure themselves from particular
enemies. We have before mentioned the cad-worms,
or May-flies (Phryganea), in their caterpillar state; but
the economy of these insects, when about to undergo
a change into the chrysalis state, is still more curious.
This latter is a state of inactivity : it is, therefore, ne-
cessary that the open end of their cylindrical case should
be- sufficiently closed to prevent the intrusion of enemies,
and still admit the water necessary for their existence.
But these sagacious little creatures know how to do
this ; for they interweave a grate or portcullis at each
end of their fortress, which, at the same time, keeps
out intruders and admits the water. These grates they
weave with silk, spun from the anus into long threads.
Both Reaumer and De Geer have given us many in-
teresting accounts of this family ; which, by their
spinning, represent, in their own order, the spiders
among the Aptera, and the Lepidoptera among the Ptilota,
or winged insects. The nocturnal habits of a very
large proportion of the Lepidoptera, including many
thousand species of moths (Phalcenides Sw.), are Well
known ; they remain concealed during the day, and the
night is, to them, the season of recreation, feeding, and
enjoyment. Many of the larvae or caterpillars of this
tribe do the same ; by which means they escape de-
struction, not only from birds, but from many large
carnivorous insects. Some (like that of the Noctua
subterranea Fab.) never ascend the stems of plants ; but,
like an experienced woodman, lop down the stems at
their base, which, by falling, bring the foliage within
the reach of the caterpillar.

(183.) But the principle of concealment is remark-
ably developed in a family of moths peculiar to New
Holland, named by Lewin, who has investigated their
economy, Cryptophasia. Their history may be exem-
plified in that of the C. irrorata Lewin (fig. 56.). The
egg is deposited on the bark, into which the young cater-
M 2

14 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

pillars (fig. 55.) immediately enter, boring downwards a
cylindrical cell to the centre of the stem, where it finally

55

takes up its abode. It secures the entrance by weaving a
convex covering or door (Jig. 56. a). This door is fastened
securely on the upper end,
while the lower is left in such
a manner that the larva can
pass and repass at pleasure.
After sunset, the cautious in-
mate sallies forth to provide
food. He cuts off the leaves,
and conveys them, one by
one, to the mouth of his
cave, into which he then de-
scends, and draws his pro-
vender after him : this la-
borious occupation is con-
tinued during the whole
night ; but, on the approach
of day, he retires with preci-
pitation to his retreat, and
begins quietly to regale upon
the provisions he has col-
lected.* We were puzzled
to conjecture in what manner
these industrious caterpillars
could open the door of their hut when their mouth was

* See Lewin's Ins. of Nat. Hist. pi. 10.

CHAP. V. STRATAGEMS OP INSECTS. 165

employed in securing and carrying their food ; but this
our author explains when describing another species.*
When the caterpillar arrived at the entrance of his re-
treat, he raised up the door with his hinder parts, and,
sliding down into the cell backwards, dragged the leaf
after it, — the extreme end of the stalk of which it held
artfully in its jaws ; nor did it quit its hold until the
leaf was safely anil almost wholly within its cell, where
it fastened it down, together with the covering; of the
entrance (fig. 56'. «), by a web.

(184.) The stratagems by which insects defend
themselves are almost innumerable. They are, how-
ever, for the most part, connected with those methods
of self-defence which we have already noticed. It has
been observed that some of the Brazilian Hesperidte, or
skipper butterflies, upon flying into cover, strike vio-
lently some leaf to deceive the eye of the pursuer, and

to make it appear that the insect is there concealed,

whereas it retreated by another passage. The same
artifice is used by the common golden Y. moth, and
by many other Bombycides ; for the whole group repre-
sent the Hesperidcs. Bees are exceedingly skilful in
their stratagems. In order to guard against certain
little moths (Tinea mellonella Fab.), the greatest de-
stroyers of their combs, they place sentinels at the en-
trance of their hives, who pace about, with their an-
tennae extended, and alternately directed to the right
and left. In the mean time, the moths flutter round
the entrance ; and it is curious to see with what art
they know how to profit by the disadvantage that the
bees, which cannot discern objects but in a strong light,
labour under by moonlight. But, should they touch
a moth with these organs of nice sensation, it falls an
immediate victim to their just anger. The moth, how-
ever, seems to glide between the sentinels, — avoiding,
with the utmost caution, as if she was sensible that her
safety depended upon it, all contact with their antennae.
These night sentinels upon guard are often hsard to

* Ins. of Natl Hist. p. 12. pi. 11.
M 3

166 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V,

emit a very low hum ; but no sooner does any strange
insect or enemy touch their antennae, than the guard is
put into an evident commotion,, the hum becomes
louder, and the enemy is assailed by the bees from the
interior of the hive. To defend themselves from the
death's-head hawk moth, they have recourse to a dif-
ferent proceeding. In seasons when they are annoyed
by this animal,, they barricade the entrance of their hive
by a thick wall, made of wax and propolis. This wall
stops up the gateway, but is itself pierced with one or
two openings, each sufficient for the passage of a work-
ing bee. These fortifications, however, are occasionally
varied. Sometimes there is only one wall, as above
described ; at others, many little bastions, one behind
the other, are erected. Gateways masked by the in-
terior walls, and not corresponding with those in them,
are made in the second line of building. These case-
mented gates are not constructed by the bees without the
most urgent necessity. When their danger is present
and pressing, and they are, as it were, compelled to
seek some preservative, they have recourse to this mode
of defence, — which places the instinct of these animals
in a wonderful light, and shows how admirably they
can adapt their proceedings to circumstances. Dr.
Leach (on the authority of Mr. D. Bydder, a well-
informed collector, whom we personally knew) informed
Mr. Kir by that the humble or ground bee (Apis ter-
restris}) when covered by those small mites (Gamasus
gymnoptcrorum Fab.) which frequently infest it, will
take its station in an ant-hill, where it will begin to
make a disturbance by scratching and kicking : the
ants, enraged at such a bold enemy, sally forth and im-
mediately attack him ; the bee, however, is secure, by his
hairy coat, from their jaws, — but the mites become the
victims : they are seized by the ants ; and are either de-
stroyed on the spot, or carried off in their jaws in triumph,
— while the bee, thus delivered of his enemies, opens
his wings with renewed vigour, and takes his flight.
(185.) We might extend this inviting subject to a

CHAP. V. PASSIVE DEFENCES OP INSECTS. l

considerable length, but our limits have already been
transgressed. The insect kingdom, more than any
other, abounds with the most curious and wonderful
facts, demonstrating the goodness of that Almighty
Providence which is continually watching over the well-
being of its creatures, and giving to every one, not only
the enjoyment of life, but the instinct to preserve it
against injury. " Why, then, should man" (as the pious
and learned naturalists whom we have so often quoted
observes), " the head of the visible creation, ever doubt,
if he use his powers and faculties rightly, that his
Creator will provide him with what is necessary for
his present state? Why should he imagine that a
Being, whose very essence is LOVE, — unless he compels
him, by his own wilful and obdurate wickedness, —
will ever cut him off from his care and providence ?
Another idea, that, upon this occasion, must force itself
upon our mind, is, that nothing is made in vain. When
we find that so many seemingly trivial variations in the
colour, clothing, form, structure, motions, habits, and
economy of animals, are, in one way or other, of essential
importance to them, we may safely conclude that their
other peculiarities — of which, as yet, we know not the
use — are equally so : and we may almost say, reversing
the words of our Saviour, that not a hair is given to
them without our heavenly Father." *

(186.) On the passive defences possessed by insects,
we shall but slightly touch, since they are less striking
than those of which we have already treated, and many
of them have been incidentally mentioned in connection
with the other properties of these creatures. In many
tribes, self-preservation is promoted by some peculiarity
of form ; in others, by colour, by which they either
deceive, dazzle, alarm, or annoy their enemies ; while,
in others, the same object is effected by their clothing
or external substance, their involuntary secretions, their
vitality, or their numbers. Many insects deceive by the
close resemblance of their form to other substances.

* Kirby and Spence, Int. to Ent. voL ii. p. 26ft

168 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

The Curculio nebulosus, by its grey colour, spotted with
black, is so like the soil upon which it is generally
found, that it will deceive even the eye of an entomo-
logist. The little species of the same family, found
on the blossoms of the Scrophularia, by its close re-
semblance to the black and white excrement of a bird,
nearly escaped our observation this very morning. Others
resemble chalk, pebbles, or little black stones, either
rough or polished : by these means, they escape the
observation, and consequently the injury, of their ene-
mies. Multitudes, as already remarked, are clothed in
the colours of the plants upon which they feed, or the
substances which they generally frequent. The upper
wings of nearly all the hesperian moths (Nocterides)
are mottled and variegated with dull colours ; and for
this reason, these insects, during the day, repose on the
sides of the trunks of trees, pales, walls, &c., without
sheltering themselves under cover ; and, being perfectly
motionless, their colours harmonise so exactly with these
objects, that they are overlooked by their enemies, and
can scarcely be perceived by the keen eye of an ento-
mologist. The whole of the Mantis family, or walk-
ing-leaf insects, as they are commonly termed (Phas-
mida), may be said to deceive by their resemblance to
the leaves and fragments of vegetables : some, of an
enormous length, look so exactly like slender dead twig
covered with bark, that, in prosecuting our researches
in Tropical America, we only discovered they were in-
sects by mere accident : upon being handled, they feign
death ; und their legs are often knobbed like the withered
buds of trees. Some resemble living twigs, and are
green ; others, such as are dead, and are therefore co-
loured brown ; the wings of many put on the resem-
blance of dry and crumpled leaves, while those of others
are vivid green, — in exact accordance with the plants
they respectively inhabit. As all these insects are ra-
pacious, these disguises are not only given for their pro-
tection, but also to enable them to approach their prey
unsuspected. The same observations are applicable to

CHAP. V. COLOUR OF INSECTS.

many of the wood-bugs, or hemipterous insects, and
even to some Lepidoptera. We have two or three
Brazilian moths, whose wings appear like withered
leaves that have been eroded or gnawed round their
margins by insects : when these moths are disturbed,
instead of flying away, they fall upon the ground like
the leaf which they resemble,— so that it is extremely
difficult, if not impossible, on such occasions, to know
what they really are. The English lappet moth (Bom.

byx quercifolia F.,
57 fig. 57.) is one of
the best native ex-
amples we can ad-
duce of this pas-
sive deceit ; for its
wings, both in
shape and colour,
resemble an arid
brown leaf. There are, even in this country, a genus of
spiders, which, without spinning any web, live entirely
in flowers, and, being coloured precisely the same as the
petals, they can only be detected on a very close examin-
ation. Mr. Kirby mentions an African Pneumora, a
sort of grasshopper, whose rose-coloured wings, shroud-
ing its vesiculose abdomen, gave it much the appear-
ance of a fine flower ; while several of the beetles, be-
longing to the families Trogidce and Curculionida, by
the spine-like protuberances and deep sulcations of their
wing-cases, resemble the dried hispid seeds of plants.
Mr. Kirby suggests, and with much reason, that the inti-
mate resemblance of certain flies (which in the larva state
live in the nests of bees) to Hymenoptera, is, that they
may deceive the rightful lords of the dwelling, and enter
with security for the purpose of depositing their eggs.
(18?.) The brilliancy of colour possessed by many
tribes, and which of itself is sufficiently constant to
point out a natural group, has, no doubt, some relation
to the safety of the creatures themselves. These colours,
often highly metallic, may dazzle the sight of their

170

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

enemies, and thus contribute to their safety. The
whole family of Chrysidce are of this description ; while
the extreme hardness of their covering — equivalent, in
them, to a suit of polished armour — is one of the best
defences they can enjoy Against the attacks of bees and
wasps, in whose nests they deposit their eggs. The
brilliant metallic colours which adorn these beautiful
little insects, by their radiance, are well calculated to
dazzle the sight of their enemies, especially in those
sunny situations where they love to sport. The fearful
aspect and threatening appearance of many insects is,
undoubtedly, another means of passive defence, to
which we have already adverted. The formidable aspect
given to many coleopterous insects — as the horned
beetles (Dynastida) and the stag beetles (Lucanidce) —
by their large and grotesque horns, the spiny processes
on the heads and bodies of many caterpillars, and the
dark yet dazzling lustre on the wings of the sand wasps
(Sphegides), are all calculated to excite fear in the in-
sect world; and produce, even in our own minds, a
repugnance to come into contact with such creatures.
But, of all the grotesque and diversified forms which
Nature has given to these
creatures, none are so ex-
traordinary as those of the
Membracidce (fig. 58.), a
family of the neuropterous
order. Some are furnished
with a long blunt horn,
placed nearly straight for-
wards on the head, and as
long as their whole body ;
others have horns shaped like
acute spines, directed verti-
cally: one bears an elevated
shield, which extends over
and protects the whole upper part of the body ; while
the most complicated of these extraordinary defences is
a buckler, or crescent, of spiny balls, placed over the

CHAP. V. SKIN OF INSECTS. 171

head of Centrotus globularis Fab,, which terminate be-
hind in a long spear. Were not these insects very
small, they would excite the wonder of the most list-
less observer ; and we should have them sent over in
abundance to our cabinets. But their minuteness pro-
tects them ; and they are but seldom seen in the collec-
tions sent to Europe. Among the most grievous an-
noyances occasioned by the passive defence possessed
by insects, are the poisonous or stinging properties
of such caterpillars as represent the Scolopendrida, or
scorpions. One of these, of a beautiful black colour,
with yellow radiated spines, we met with in Brazil.
Anxious to secure this prize for the breeding cage, we
incautiously took hold of it with the naked hand ; but
so instantaneous and so violent was the pain which
followed, that we were obliged to return home : warm
fomentations, placing the hand in tepid water, every
device we could think of to allay the intolerable itch-
ing produced by the venomous hairs of this creature,
were in turn resorted to, with little or no effect, for
several hours ; nor had it entirely ceased on the follow-
ing morning. This formidable creature very much
resembles the caterpillar figured in White's Voyage,
pi. 51. f. 4. M. Merian has figured another, of a much
larger size, found in Surinam, which seems to have in-
flicted equal pain upon her : it was completely covered
with long shaggy hairs, the touch of which caused
severe inflammation, succeeded by excruciating pain.

(188.) There is a family of
wood-bugs (Reduvius Fab., fig.
59-)' peculiar, we believe, to
Brazil, whose body and legs are
entirely covered by a thick
clammy down, similar to that
found on the stems of different
species of Silene, or catch-
fly plants. Now, these insects,
by the structure of their mouths,
obviously live by sucking the juices of others ; but

172 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

whether this gummy covering assists them to capture
their prey, or acts as a defence against their enemies, we
were unable to ascertain. Many beetles are defended
by prickly spines, either upon the wing-cases or the legs ;
and others, from the extreme hardness of their exter-
nal covering, will set the pin of the entomologist at de-
fiance. Even the skin of the common horse-fly {Hip-
pobosca equina Lin.) is so tough, that the utmost pressure
of the ringer and thumb will scarcely deprive the insect
of life. Numerous insects are provided with involun-
tary secretions, for the defence of their young, or of
themselves. Among the former, none is more familiar
than the little drops of white froth so frequently seen
an the plants and shrubs of our garden during summer,
and which is usually called by the vulgar cuckoo-spit.
Within each of these will be found a little soft pale
green insect, with an enormous head and no wings :
this is the larva or caterpillar of the Cicada spumaria,
or frog-hopper, generally inhabiting the same plants.
Our apple trees are well known to suffer from what is
called the American blight, — the little bits of white
cotton-like substance, which is the outward sign of
this disease, being the covering of the insects and their
eggs, intended, probably, to protect both from the rain.
Mr. Kirby suggests that this secretion is either for con-
cealment, or to render them distasteful to creatures
that would otherwise prey upon them.

(189.) Passive defence is also effected by the great
vitality of some tribes, whether in surviving injuries
which would kill other creatures, or recovering from
the effects of severe wounds. It really seems im-
possible for us to kill many insects, without injuring
them too much for our cabinets, — a circumstance which
is a source of regret and pain to every feeling mind.
Grasshoppers will sometimes outlive immersion in
boiling water ; and, unfortunately, survive the removal
of their intestines. A mite has been known to live
eleven weeks, without food, gummed to the point of a
pin : and Swammerdam affirms, that the chamaeleon fly

CHAP. V. VITALITY OP INSECTS. 173

(Stratyomys Chamceleon Fab.) will retain its vital powers
for forty-eight hours after being immersed in spirits of
wine. This insect seems to possess an uncommon
portion of vitality, — for Godart informs us that it will
live nine months without food ! Luckless flies, which,
while sipping the sweets of wine at the neck of bottles,
have fallen in, have been known to revive in the sun,
after the bottle has been uncorked. Mr. Curtis im-
mersed four plant-lice (Aphides} in water for sixteen
hours : when taken out, three survived the experiment ;
but a second immersion, of twenty-four hours, proved
fatal. In the boiling sulphureous springs of Abano,
are found numbers of small black beetles, which died
upon being taken out and plunged into cold water.
This extraordinary fact, Mr. Kirby tells us, was com-
municated to him by the celebrated Jones, of Nayland,
one of the brightest ornaments of the Christian church.
It is really surprising that an intensity of cold, which
is not only inconvenient, but painful, to the human
constitution, can be endured, and even enjoyed, by
these minute and delicate creatures. De Geer saw some
larvae of gnats that had survived after the water in
which they were was frozen into a mass of ice ; and,
even in a winter's day, we see a few little insects
stealing from their hiding places, and enjoying them-
selves in the momentary gleam of a December sun.
The vitality of insects is shown, also, in the little
comparative pain they appear to feel from injuries,
which to us would occasion excruciating torment or
instant death. A violent or unnatural turn of our
leg or arm will produce a sprain or dislocation, which
may last for ever; while the loss of one of these
members, by violent means, is generally followed by
death. But these accidents, to the insect world, pro-
duce no such effects. A luckless Tipula, or crane fly,
in the rude hands of a thoughtless boy, will fly away
with the loss of half its legs ; and a specimen of Scolia
quadrimaculata, a large wasp-like insect of Southern
Europe, has been known to free itself from the pin

174 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. V.

which transfixed it, and devour the other insects con-
tained in the entomologist's box.* This vitality, and
insensibility to pain, is manifestly a wise and merciful
provision of the Almighty towards those of his creatures,
which, of all tohers, are most liable to accidents, from
the number and variety of their enemies.

(190.) The preceding remarks are chiefly confined
to what are usually, but inaccurately, termed true in-
sects ; but, as the crabs, spiders, intestinal worms, and
red-bloode&Annelides, or sea worms, are truly annulose
animals, they come within the limits of this section.
These, however, will not long detain us. The crabs
are the most completely armed of all apterous insects,
their formidable fore claws acting both as offensive and
defensive weapons ; while the resolute courage with
which these creatures will threaten to repel an injury,
very often secures them from a real one. Like the
crane flies (Tipula) we have just mentioned, most of
the crabs, in order to free themselves from restraint,
will cast off a limb, and scramble away as if nothing
had happened. The same occurs with spiders ; and the
vitality of the intestinal worms is well known. Of the
means of defence possessed by sea worms (Annelides\
we are altogether ignorant ; while those enjoyed by the
barnacles (Cirripedes) seem to be entirely passive: they
retire, on the first appearance of danger, within their
shelly coverings, close the valves or doors of their ha-
bitations, and effectually exclude all intruders.

(191.) The defences possessed by the Mollusca, or
soft-bodied animals, composing the polypes (Acritd),
the shellfish (Mollusca), and the sea stars, or radiated
class (Radiata), possess little of that popular interest —
(so far as our limited acquaintance with their history
enables us to judge) — which belongs to the more perfect
animals. Generally speaking, they secure their safety
by passive resistance. The testaceous animal instantly
withdraws itself into its shell, and is secure. The slug,
being naked, contracts itself into a heap, and throws

* Kirby, vol. ii. p. 229,

CHAP. V. DEFENCES OP MOLLUSCA. 175

from the pores of its body a thick slimy mucilage,
which renders it difficult to make any impression upon
its body, and is, no doubt, extremely offensive to many
of its brute enemies. The spines of the Echinidce, or
sea eggs, being movable, can be employed like those
of the hedgehogs, and, probably, secure them from
many injuries. Among the Medusa, and other similar
families, we find many animals, however, which are
endowed with more active qualities. A species of me-
dusa, common in the Mediterranean, has all the irri-
tating properties of the nettle, — stinging the hands, and
causing instant inflammation upon the skin. The same
property is possessed by several others, found by us
between the tropics, and on the coast of Spain. The
British species of Aplisia are said to cause considerable
itching upon being handled ; but there are very many
in the Mediterranean,, which we know, from experience,
to be perfectly harmless. None, however, have yet
been found, which can inflict permanent injury upon
man. But let us remember that the " caverned cells"
of the mighty deep conceal innumerable myriads of
creeping things, which human eyes have not, and never
will, behold ; all deriving life, and enjoying existence,
from Him who is the fountain of love, and who has
delighted to call them into being, that they might enjoy
the effects of his bounty. Could the eye of science
penetrate these inaccessible regions, we should, doubt-
less, discover the same variety of habits and of in-
stincts, the same care and contrivance for the preservation
of the species, and the same endless diversity of stra-
tagem by which the stronger prey upon the weaker, as
is seen upon the dry land. " The earth, O Lord, is
full of thy riches. So is the great and wide sea, also,
wherein are creeping things innumerable, both small
and great beasts. These wait all upon Thee, that Thou
mayest give them their meat in due season."

176 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

CHAP. VI.

DIRECT INJURIES INFLICTED BY ANIMALS.

(192.) THAT MAN, divinely appointed to rule over
the works of creation, should yet be exposed to in-
numerable injuries, and even to certain death, from
those beings which he was appointed to govern, would
appear, at first sight, anomalous, and inconsistent with
the fitness of things. But we must recollect the period
when this dominion was given to him, and the altered
circumstances of the governor and the governed. It
was our first parent, in the garden of Eden, in a state
of blissful innocence, and when violence had not en-
tered the creation, whom the Almighty constituted
a representation of Himself, so far as the dominion
over the beings which surrounded him was concerned :
but no sooner had Adam violated his obedience to
his Creator, — no sooner had he, himself, broken the
law of subordination, — than the animal creation
caught, as it were, the same rebellious spirit ; they re-
nounced their allegiance to their appointed lord, and
either fled from his presence in dismay, or dared him
to enforce his superiority. Disobedience entered the
irrational, no less than the rational world ; and, from
that hour to this, the animal creation, with a few so-
litary exceptions, turn from man as from an enemy,
rather than court his assistance as a powerful friend.
The true Christian will extend this analogy to the
spiritual world.

(193.) But though the dominion of man over the
brute creation is tacitly shown, in the fear which his
presence generally inspires, there are, nevertheless, many
tribes which, for wise but unknown purposes, are per-
mitted to injure him, as if to impress upon his re-

CHAP. VI. DIRECT INJURIES. QUADRUPEDS. 177

collection that he is no longer what he was. These
injuries are of various natures and of different degrees;
they either affect his personal wellbeing, or his neces-
sary possessions. In the former case, they are direct;
in the latter, indirect. The first will claim our atten-
tion in this chapter ; and, pursuing a uniformity of
plan in the mure popular, as well as in the scientific
portions of our work, we shall now enumerate the direct
injuries we are exposed to from the different branches
of the animal kingdom; — first, from vertebrated ; and,
secondly, from invertebrated animals.

(194.) QUADRUPEDS, more than any other animals,
have, in general, the greatest muscular strength, and
the most determined courage and ferocity ; it is, con-
sequently, from them that we have most to fear. When
it is considered that man, viewed as a material being,
is, by nature, one of the most defenceless in creation,
it seems wonderful that he is not subject to injuries
innumerable. Brute animals are all provided with
means of defence against their enemies, either by some
peculiar structure, or some defensive property. The
teeth of carnivorous beasts, the horns of ruminants, the
swiftness of some, and the intolerable stench of others,
the thick and impenetrable hide of the rhinoceros, and
the tusks of the elephant, are all natural weapons, or
preservative qualities, with which they are endowed for
self-preservation. But man has none of these ; in a
state of nature, he is as helpless as a child, — scarcely
able to repel an infuriated cat, much less a dog, by the
mere exertion of animal strength. Yet he, alone, is
gifted with the attribute of reason ; and, by this, he is
impelled to use other substitutes for his defence, which
no animal can resist, and by which he can destroy not
only them, but, unhappily, his own species. It is,
however, to be remembered, that very few brute ani-
mals will attack us, if not previously provoked, or if
not pressed by the calls of hunger. There appears
something in the form of man, — particularly when ani-
mated by courage, — which seems to impress the brute

N

178 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

creation with fear, and an innate sense of their own
inferiority. This is manifested in the well-known fact,
that dogs, bulls, and even hears, will turn and slink
away before a resolute person, whom they would in-
evitably attack, did he exhibit any symptoms of fear, or
endeavour to escape by flight. This feeling is, doubt-
less, the remnant of that primitive subordination which
was impressed upon their conceptions at the time of
their creation. Certain, however, it is, that there are
very few animals, out of the innumerable hosts in ex-
istence, which will attack man, otherwise than in self-
defence, — to resent injuries, or to prevent them. To
this, however, there are some few exceptions, chiefly,
if not exclusively, to be found in those formidable and
fearless species, whose natural habits are " bloody, bold,
and resolute." With these, therefore, we shall commence
our survey : and that their manners, in this respect,
may be fully illustrated, we think it preferable to give
the original words of our authorities, in the shape of
facts, or anecdotes, as narrated by travellers, rather
than diminish their force by any language of our own.
(195.) The animal whose thirst for human blood
exceeds that of all others, is the Asiatic tiger, — the
scourge of Asia and the Indian islands. The devas-
tation they cause among the poor inhabitants of the
villages and plantations, is almost incredible. " In
Hindostan," observes Forbes, " it is dangerous to take
a solitary walk, on account of these animals ; for they
approach close to the habitations in country villages.
On one occasion, an immense tiger rushed close past
my bed, under a tent, when I was at a bathing place,
in pursuit of a goat ; and we all considered that, if
unsuccessful in the chase, he would have returned to
make one of the party his prey." * Again, the same
author tells us, " In the island of Salsette, a poor
woman, who was gathering fuel on the skirts of a wood,
laid her infant on the grass, when a tiger sprang from
his cover, and carried it to its den, in sight of the

* Orient. Mem. vol. i. p. 197.

CHAP. VI. TIGERS IN INDIA. 179

wretched mother." * Those of Sumatra appear to be
particularly numerous and fierce; for Mr. Marsden
writes, " The number of people usually slain by these
rapacious tyrants is almost incredible ; whole villages
are sometimes depopulated by them ; yet, from a su-
perstitious prejudice, it is with difficulty that the na-
tives can be prevailed upon, by large rewards, to use
methods for destroying them, until they have sustained
some particular injury in their own family or kin-
dred." f That they follow the track of armies on the
march, may be gathered from this passage : — f( The
number of stragglers taken from a line of march, in
India, when troops are proceeding through a close
country, would surprise persons unaccustomed to such
events. Three sentries have been carried off in one
night, besides several camp followers, who fell victims
to their impatience, in their attempts to get ahead of
the line, by taking short cuts through the jungles." $
Pennant remarks, that the natives are so infatuated with
the notion of these animals being possessed by the souls
of their ancestors, th,at they will seldom kill them.
They seem to prefer human flesh to any other; and
bound upon their prey, from ambush, with a force, and
from a distance, that is scarcely credible. § Against
this fearful enemy, no precaution will suffice at all
times ; " for although generally pusillanimous, and
especially dreading fire and noises, yet an instance is
well known of a tiger occupying a spot in Goomeah
pass for near a fortnight, during which time he daily
carried away a man, generally one of the postmen, who
usually go on foot, protected by two persons with
drums. At one time he was disappointed of his meal,
as he, by mistake, carried off the leather bag instead of
its bearer ; but, the following night, he seized one of
the torchmen, and soon disappeared with him." || The
same author gives a melancholy proof of the little re-

* Orient. Mem. vol.-i. p. 428. t Hist, of Sumatra.

J Orient. Mem. vol. ii. p. 284. § Hist, of Quad.

|j Orient. Mem. vol. ii. p. 283.
N 2

180 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

gard a tiger pays to fire, when hard put to for a meal,
in the fact of a young gentleman, of a well-known fa-
mily, having T)een taken away hy one when benighted
on ganger's Island, at the entrance of the Hooghly river.
The party was sitting at a fire, which had been kindled
for the purpose of security ; yet the tiger sprang through
the flames, and carried off the unfortunate victim, in
spite of the efforts of his companions, who were well
provided with fire-arms.*

(196.) Another instance may be adduced, to show that
even travellers, while in large companies, are not exempt
from this terrible animal. " When two English ladies,
with a large retinue, were travelling from Dhuboy to-
wards the Nerbudda river, a large tiger sprang among
the mounted soldiers, overthrew one of the riders, and
killed his horse by the blow/'t There also seems to be,
in the province of Guzerat, another animal of the same
genus, but equally formidable. " The last which I de-
stroyed," continues the same traveller, " in the Dhuboy
district, was a leopard, most beautifully spotted, which
weighed about 250 pounds : his strength and ferocity
equalled his size, and had long rendered him a terror to
the villages near his haunts. $ So great, indeed, is the
dread of beasts of prey throughout the whole of India,
but more especially in the villages on the Sabermatty
river, at the head of the gulf of Cambray, that the in-
habitants carefully collect all their cattle within the
mud walls, which encircle every village, at the close of
day, — after which all egress is avoided ; even the dogs,
instinctively conscious of peril, keep within the pro-
tection of the walls. It is certain danger to travel in
the jungles, or Indian forests, after sunset, when the
savage beasts leave their haunts and prowl about for
prey ; but as they retire to their dens at the approach
of dawn, accidents are then not so frequent. In Africa,
the native beasts of prey are different, and not so fear-
ful. Still, in a country inhabited by lions, panthers,

« Orient. Mem. vol. ii. p. 284. t W. ibid. : Ibid. voL iii.^190.

CHAP. VI. DIRECT INJURIES. THE LION. 181

and similar carnivorous races, the life of a traveller is in
perpetual danger.

(197.) The Asiatic lion (Leo Asiaticus Sw.) is
a rare animal in the eastern world ; but that of Africa
is well known to possess much more generosity than
cruelty. IVL Cuvier well observes, that, unlike some of
its family, which appear to derive gratification from the
destruction of animal life, the lion, when once satiated,
ceases to be an enemy. Hence, very different accounts
are given by travellers of the generosity or cruelty of its
nature, — resulting, most probably, from the difference
in time and circumstances of each case. There are
certainly many instances of a traveller meeting a lion
in the forest during day, —

" Who glared upon him and went surly by,"

without annoying him. But, when urged by want,
this tremendous animal is as fearless as he is powerful.
Nothing will impede his deadly design. His strength
is so prodigious, that a single stroke of his paw is as-
serted to be sufficient to break the back of a horse, and
that one sweep of his tail will throw a strong man to
the ground. Kolben says, that when he comes up to
his prey, he always knocks it down dead, and seldom
bites it until the mortal blow has been given. It has
been generally asserted, that the lion prefers the flesh
of an African to that of a European, and that, when he
attacks a party, he generally singles out a Hottentot
rather than a white ; but this instinct is not unnatural,
seeing that one is more his native food than the other.
We need not dwell longer upon the deadly injuries re-
sulting to man from the typical carnivorous quadrupeds ;
the whole family are to be feared ; and they are dis-
tributed in all the warm, and even the temperate regions
of the Old and the New World. The latter hemi-
sphere, however, — if we except the jaguar, — is free
from those terrible species which attack mankind under
all circumstances, and in all situations, like the tiger of
India. Fortunately, the number of such animals is
N 3

182 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

comparatively small in more temperate countries. But
even there the inhabitants are exposed to others equally
deadly, under an extraordinary pressure of hunger, with
those of Africa and India. We allude to the families
of bears and wolves; from whose depredations the in-
habitants of this island formerly suffered, and both of
which are devourers of mankind.

(198.) With regard to bears,, however, the preced-
ing observations must be understood with some limit-
ation,— since several of the species, particularly some
inhabiting India, live mostly on vegetables ; and the
black bear of America does not eat animal food by
choice.* The Barren Ground bear of the northern
regions is much dreaded, even by the intrepid hunters of
that country, — which, they assert, will attack travellers
without provocation. The grisly bear is still more
formidable ; and is distinguished from others by its.
great strength and ferocity, and its carnivorous dis-
position.f Dr. Richardson authenticates a distressing
story of one of these ferocious animals springing upon
a boat's crew assembled on shore, at twilight, over their
fire, seizing one of the party, and carrying him off
leisurely : the unfortunate man, however, had presence
of mind sufficient to call to his companions to shoot the
bear, regardless of the risk of killing himself: one of
them immediately took a deliberate aim, and, pro-
videntially, with effect, for the savage beast immediately
fell; and although the poor sufferer was almost squeezed
to death, he finally recovered. :£ This animal must
have been sorely pressed for food ; for another traveller
in the same country informs us, that although, upon
his botanical excursions, he frequently got sight of the
grisly bears, and even, upon turning the angle of a
rock, would come suddenly upon them, yet, if he
showed no disposition to attack them, they suffered him
to pass unhurt. " On such occasions they reared on
their hind legs, and made a loud noise, like a .person

* North. Zool vol. ii. p. 15. i Id. ibid. p. 8k

$ Ibid. vol.,i. p. 27.

CHAP. VI. WOLVES IN INDIA. 183

breathing quick, but much harsher : he kept his
ground, however,, without attempting to molest them ;
and they, on their part, after attentively regarding him
for some time, generally wheeled about, and galloped
off; though, from their known disposition, there Is little
doubt but he would have been torn in pieces, had he
lost his presence of mind, and attempted to fly."*
This opinion fully confirms what we have already ex-
pressed on this subject. The polar or sea bear is
another of those species which may be ranked among
our most deadly enemies. It lives almost entirely upon
flesh, — and many distressing accounts are upon record
of its attacking parties of seamen, and others, when on
the shore. The crews of the whale vessels are very
much exposed to this animal. Its scent is peculiarly
keen, and it is consequently attracted to the vessels
by the smell of the whale blubber, which it is usual to
burn on board, in the process of extracting the oil. Nor
are these ferocious enemies o£ our race extirpated from
the more civilised parts of Europe ; for, although the
bears have greatly diminished, the wolves of the Alps
and Apennines are still in sufficient numbers to create
terror among the country population, who frequently,
in winter, lose some of their neighbours by these
animals. When under the suffering of excessive
hunger, at this inclement season of the year, the wolf is
ravenous to the highest degree, and nothing will deter
him from making the most desperate efforts to allay his
craving appetite.

(199-) During the dreadful famine which prevailed
over all the North of India, in 1783, so great was the
mortality, that the wretched inhabitants died in heaps
in the fields and highways, and became an unresisting
prey to the wolves of the country. " These animals,
finding their customary sources of subsistence cut off by
the universal famine, betook themselves to the carcases
that lay thickly strewed around ; and were to be seen in
aJl directions, committing havoc among the expiring

* North. Zool. vol. i. p. 27.
N 4

384 HABITS AN1> INSTINCTS OF ANI3IALS. CHAP. VI,

multitude. They absolutely occupied the outhouses
and gardens ; and often, in open day, loitered about
like so many dogs, without seeming to entertain the
least apprehension." * These wolves, the same author
informs us, from being thus attracted, remained in that
part of the country (Cawnpore) long after, in such
considerable numbers, that they were the terror of the
remaining population. Long accustomed to human
food, they would not leave their haunts ; and were now
grown so fierce, that they not only frequently carried
off children, but actually attacked the sentries at their
posts, — who had, in consequence, been doubled. The
first night the governor arrived at Cawnpore, he ordered
his bed to be placed in a garden ; and was surprised to
hear, in the morning, that a goat had been carried off
from very near the place where he slept. Three of
these monsters had attacked a sentinel, who, after
shooting one, and despatching another with his
bayonet, was overpowered by a third, and killed upon
his post. While the governor was at this place, the
following fact fell under his own knowledge. A man,
his wife, and his child were sleeping in their hut, —
the man at a little distance from the rest. The mother
was awakened by the struggles and shrieks of the child
locked in her arms, which a wolf had seized by the
legs, and was dragging from her bosom : she grasped
the infant, and exerted all her strength to preserve it
from the foe, but in vain ; the ravenous animal tore it
from her embrace, and carried it away.* To this,
horrible fact our author pledges his veracity, having
been in the country at the time it happened.

(200.) The grievous injuries inflicted by the wolves
of India have been much expatiated upon by another
author, who also wrote upon the spot. " When a wolf
enters a camp or village," observes Williamson., " he
proceeds with the utmost silence and circumspection.
His favourite object is a child at the breast, which he al-
ways seizes by the throat, — thereby not only preventing

* Forbes^ Orient. Mem. vol. iii. p. 60.

CHAP. VI. DIRECT INJURIES. WOLVES. 185

it from giving an alarm, but securing such a hold as
will enable him to bear away his victim readily. He
will thus carry it through crowds who may rush for-
ward on the first alarm. Often, when closely pursued,
— especially if hit by a stick or stone, — he will drop the
child ; but, if it be not taken away immediately, the
ferocious brute will make a turn to the spot, and snap
it up again. Few children survive the bite ; but grown
persons are not unfrequently met with, who carry the
marks of the wolf's teeth. Military troops in India
usually move with a host of camp followers, many of
them having families ; and these are accompanied by
numbers of young children at the breast. In some
parts of India, especially in the kingdom of Oude, all
these are kept in a constant state of alarm by the
wolves which over-run that country. When a wolf is
seen by the sentinels, — who dare not fire among such
crowds of people, — a general shout and pursuit take
place. And yet these cruel beasts are so bold, that
three or four young children are carried off — or, at least,
seized and dropped — in one night. Many are taken from
the very arms of their mothers, although covered with
quilts, and surrounded, perhaps, by a dozen persons.
The wolf proceeds in so subtle a manner, that, often, a
child is taken from his mother's breast, and is not
missed until the morning, — when the parent first be-
comes acquainted with her loss. The melancholy
effects produced by the cries of these distressed mo-
thers, and to whom no aid can be given, surpass imagin-
ation ; they continue to distress the feelings of every
one during the whole night, and destroy the rest of all
endued with the least pity for the hapless sufferers."

(201.) Wolves were, once, such a scourge to the
people of the United States, that the government of
Pennsylvania allowed a reward of 20*. for each head ;
and that of New Jersey, even 30*. A similar mode —
but in the way of taxation — is well known to have been
pursued in the early periods of British history, to free

* Orient. Mem. vol. iii. p. 81.

1 86 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

our island from these detestable creatures. The dog,
the friend of man in domestication, is his enemy in a
wild state. Some of these varieties or species ap-
proach so near to the wolf, both in appearance and
manners, that their distinction is by no means clearly
defined. Pennant probably alludes to one of these
races, when he says that the wolf dogs of North Ame-
rica, although they will not, on ordinary occasions,
attack men, yet that, when pressed by hunger, they
assemble in immense packs, hunting, attacking, and
destroying whatever they meet, and carrying devasta-
tion and terror to the neighbouring villages. It is
universally remarked, that, when once a carnivorous
animal is acquainted with the taste of human blood,
it shows a decided preference for that food. Civilis-
ation, and the effects of the chase, have probably done
much to preserve Europe from carnivorous animals, —
for the temperature of the air is not the cause. Bishop
Heber remarks, that the tiger, lion, and hyaena, all
thrive in the high latitudes of the Himalaya mountains,
where the climate is as mild as that of Europe. The
jackals and the hyaenas of Africa are as much to be
dreaded, during night, as any of those we have de-
scribed : the former hunt in packs, like the wolves and
wild dogs, and prefer living victims ; but the hyaena is
well known for its decided preference to dead bodies, —
a disgusting, but not an injurious, propensity to the
living.

(202.) We may here terminate our enumeration of
such carnivorous animals as seek for man, to accomplish
his death ; but there are a few others which effect the
same mortal injury, without the same motive. The
whole race of bisons, buffaloes, and wild oxen — more par-
ticularly at some seasons of the year — are not only fierce,
but cruel enemies to man ; attacking him without pro-
vocation, and never leaving the body until its mangled
remains are crushed to a hideous mass. Such is the
Cape buffalo (Bos Caffer), called by Pennant the musk
ox. It is a ferocious and terrible beast, of amazing

CHAP. VI. DIRECT INJURIES. RHINOCEROS. 18?

power and undaunted courage : these animals make for
themselves paths in the woods, where to meet them is
almost certain death. Even the common buffalo of
India and of Europe is not always to be trusted, even in
a state of domestication; and it is, no doubt, owing to the
dangerous propensities of the Scotch Urns, or wild ox,
that the breed has not been preserved or increased to a
greater extent than we now find it. The extraordinary
effect which the sight of red has upon oxen, generally,
and upon certain birds, is perfectly unaccountable ; and
this has proved a fruitful source of misfortune to those
who, either from ignorance or carelessness, have excited
their fury. The following anecdote, given by major
Smith, is highly characteristic of this fact : — " A
general officer, now living, relates, that, while a young
man, he was employed in surveying in Hungary, and
happened to use a small portable table, the back of which
was covered with red morocco. As he walked from
one station to another, he sometimes carried it with the
paper against his breast, and the crimson colour in
front. On a sudden, he perceived, at a considerable
distance, a herd of grazing buffaloes throw out signs of
defiance, and come down in full gallop towards him,
with their tails up, and evincing the most tumultuous
frenzy. Not suspecting the cause, he paused and dropped
his hand, — when the whole troop stopped and looked
about, as if at a loss for the object of their fury ; he
went on, and, unconsciously raising the table again,
brought the red colour in sight : they set off, a second
time, towards him ; but, guessing the cause, he turned
the obnoxious colour towards his body, and was suf-
fered to proceed unmolested." The rhinoceros of the
Cape is as formidable an enemy as that of India.
Lichtenstein says he is one of the most dangerous to
travellers, particularly at night ; he rushes forward
impetuously, with blind rage, at every noise of which he
is informed by his acute hearing, or at every object
betrayed to him by his acute smell. Examples have
been known of these animals running, by night, against

188 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

a waggon, overturning it, and trampling down, in its
rage and fury, men, oxen, and everything belonging
to the party.* It is scarcely possible to overtake one
of these animals when he flies, or even to pursue him
with any chance of success. He treads down shrubs
and bushes which oppose him, with the utmost facility,
which would entirely stop the progress of a man on
horseback. He is, therefore, seldom pursued in the open
plains. His mode of attack is by bending his head to
the ground, and, with half-shut eyes, rushing forward
with his horn close to the ground. t

(203.) Were we to extend our enumeration of direct
injuries which can be inflicted upon us by quadrupeds,
in self-defence, we should have to particularise nearly
the whole order. Self-preservation is said to be the
first law of nature, even with the rational man ; it can-
not, therefore, be denied to the brute : and if we wan-
tonly, or from necessity, seek to injure them, the injury
they inflict upon us is not only natural, but perfectly
justifiable. It may be remarked, however, that the
males of all quadrupeds, during the season of courtship,
are so excessively jealous of their females, that they
enter into furious battles among themselves, and indis-
criminately attack both man and beast, — although, at
other times, their general disposition is gentle and
harmless. This is exemplified even among the do-
mesticated races — by the bull and the stag. Goats
will do the same; and old rams not unfrequently attack
those who are passing: these, certainly, are unprovoked
injuries j but, for the rest, we may almost say that
they are merited.

(204.) When we thus see how large a proportion of
mankind are exposed to the chances of a cruel death
from the animals which surround them, we cannot but
rejoice, and bless that Providence which has placed us
far away from such evils, and has cast our lot in a land
uninhabited by ferocious beasts. Yet, before we dis-
miss this subject, it will be proper we should advert to

* Lichtenstein's Travels, p. 351. f IbuL p. 356.

CHAP. VI. VAMPIRE BATS. 189

two quadrupeds, which, although not at all formidable,
have yet been known to attack human beings, unpro-
voked, — and to cause their death. We allude to swine
and rats. Many instances are upon record, where young
children, or infants in the cradle, have been attacked
by the domestic pig, and either mutilated or partly
devoured. From an animal proverbial for its brutality,
and which does not scruple to indulge in the unnatural
propensity of devouring its own young, no habits of
docility can be expected ; but it is inconceivable what
could tempt a pig to try a sort of food so totally dif-
ferent from its usual nourishment, either in domes-
tication or a state of nature. Certain, however, it is,
that such instances have frequently occurred. In re-
gard to rats, we were reading, only the other day, from
one of the daily papers, an authenticated statement of a
little boy who was disfigured for life by these loathsome
animals. He was sleeping in a mean lodging, with his
parents, who were awakened in the middle of the night
by his screams. With much difficulty a- light was
procured, when the poor little child was discovered,
bathed in blood, with nearly one half of his nose
devoured by rats. This is by no means a solitary
instance ; for it is well known that these animals will
frequently attack the extremities of sickly persons, and
even disfigure a corpse that has been laid near their
haunts.

(205.) As a supplement to this catalogue, we should
not omit the unprovoked injuries occasioned by bats,
although there is no real danger to be expected from
them. Those of the tropics, as is well known,
are of an enormous size, and have given rise to the
fabulous wonders of the vampire. An eccentric, but,
in many respects, a veracious traveller, has thus men-
tioned those of South America : — " Some years ago I
was in Demerara, with a Scotch gentleman, by name
Tarbet. We hung our hammocks in the thatched loft
of a planter's house. Next morning I heard this gen-
tleman muttering in his hammock, and now and then

190 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

letting fall an imprecation or two. ' What is the mat-
ter, sir ? ' said I softly. ' Is anything amiss ? ' l What's
the matter ! ' answered he surlily, — { why, the vam-
pires have been sucking me to death.' As soon as there
was light enough, I went to his hammock. ' See.,' said
he, ' how these infernal imps have been drawing my
life's blood ! ' On examining his foot, * I found the
vampire had tapped his great toe : there was a wound
somewhat less than that made by a leech, and the
blood was still oozing from it ; I conjectured he might
have lost from ten to twelve ounces. While examining
it, I think I put him into a worse humour, by remark-
ing, that a European surgeon would not have been so
generous as to have blooded him without making a
charge." * Another traveller in these countries gives
us, however, a somewhat different account. " On
waking, about four o'clock, one morning, in my hammock,
I was extremely alarmed at finding myself weltering in
congealed blood, yet without feeling any pain whatever.
Having started up, I rung for the surgeon. The
mystery, however, was soon solved, for I then found I
had been bitten by the vampire, or spectre of Guiana."
This is a monstrous bat, which sucks the blood of men
and cattle while they are fast asleep. — even sometimes
till they die ; and the manner in which this is done is
truly wonderful : knowing, by instinct, that the per-
son they intend to attack is in a sound sleep, they
generally alight near the feet, where — while the crea-
ture continues fanning with his enormous wings, which
keeps one cool — he bites a piece out of the tip of one's
great toe, — so very small, indeed, that the head of a pin
could scarcely be received into the wound, which is,
consequently, not painful ; yet, through this orifice he
continues to suck the blood until he is obliged to dis-
gorge : he then begins again ; and thus continues
sucking and disgorging, till he is scarcely able to fly,
and the sufferer has often been known to sleep from

* Waterton's Wanderings, p. 177

CHAP. VI. INJURIES FROM BIRDS. 191

time into eternity."* There is, obviously, much ex-
aggeration in the latter part of this story, although the
common people in Brazil assured us that deaths some-
times followed these bleedings. We never experienced
these attacks upon our persons; but our horses and
mules,, upon being turned out to graze for the night,
were frequently brought into the camp in the morning
covered with blood.

(206.) We now turn to BIRDS. Among this charming
portion of Nature's works, notwithstanding the vast su-
periority they possess over quadrupeds in point of num-
bers, we find very few, if any, which are decided foes
to man. They almost seem created, in short, for our
solace; to give life, buoyancy, and animation to the
face of nature ; to enliven our spirits by their de-
lightful song, their varied colours, their light and aerial
movements, and their innocent occupations. True it
is, that even among these we find a race, cruel and
bloodthirsty, fit types of those formidable carnivorous
quadrupeds of which we have lately treated, — and repre-
senting, like them, the fierce and malignant beings of
our own race. But the eagles, vultures, and falcons
confine their depredations to the animal world, — only
feeding upon man when life is extinct, and when the
removal of his inanimate body is not only desirable,
but beneficial. It has ever been the propensity of the
vulgar to attach great power and destructiveness to
animals of large size or uncommon strength : hence we
may trace the marvellous stories of the gigantic vultures
mentioned in Arabian tales ; and the superstitious be-
lief, which formerly prevailed, that the immense condor
of South America not only flew away with young
children, but would attack travellers, and pick out their
eyes. Baron Ilumboldt, however, who gave us the first
authentic accounts of the manners of these birds, declares
that, after the most diligent inquiry, he never dis-
covered a single instance of a condor having taken off a
child ; nos, indeed, that the strength of this powerful

* Stedman's Surinam.

192 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

bird would be unequal to lift such a weight from the
ground, but that it has, providentially, no such habits.
It is a bird, nevertheless, much to be dreaded by the
husbandman ; for baron Humboldt says it will fre-
quently attack the calves, and tear out their tongue and
eyes. Similar stories are told, and believed, by the
common people, of the Lammer-geyer, or great bearded
vulture of the Alps, — yet they have never been fully
authenticated. Bishop Heber was told that the great
eagles inhabiting the summit of the rocks round the
Himalaya mountains, sometimes carried away the poor
naked children of the peasants j but this is mentioned
only as a popular belief, not as a fact vouched for.*
On the whole, therefore, we may safely pronounce that
there is no bird existing, which will inflict wanton and
unprovoked injury upon man, although there are
several which, in self-defence, can do him serious
bodily harm. The cassowary, indeed, has been said to
attack people unprovoked t, and to inflict severe wounds
by the strong bony excrescence with which its front is
crested, like unto a helmet ; but this is probably done
during the season of courtship only ; for this bird is
gallinaceous, feeding only upon vegetable substances, —
and it is, therefore, highly improbable that it would
attack man with any deadly intention.

(207.) From the class of REPTILES, however, we
have much to fear ; for though, with few exceptions,
they are small in comparison to the size of the ferocious
quadrupeds, they can inflict death in a, form nearly as
dreadful. We shall arrange these under two heads ; —
first, the crocodiles, which attack man as their natural
prey ; and, secondly, the serpents, which accomplish his
death by poison. We may, however, remark, that the
tortoises, which also belong to this class, are, if unpro-
voked, a harmless race, yet, in self-defence, they can
not only inflict severe wounds, but effect the amputa-
tion of a finger. Their jaws, indeed, are without teeth,

* Heber's Journal, vol. i. p. 499.
;f Orient. Mem. vol. ii. p. 186.

CHAP. VI. VORACITY OF CROCODILES. 193

but then they are so sharp., that they may be compared
to a pair of circular scissors j and such is the great
muscular force of these animals, that by a single bite
they can snap off a finger with as much ease as a piece
of dried stick can be broken.

(208.) The crocodiles, in comparison to all other
existing reptiles, are a race of giants, with habits and
manners the most ferocious, and with an aspect well
calculated to excite terror and dismay. They are,
fortunately, all inhabitants of other climates, far re-
moved from Europe. They swarm in the rivers of
India, are equally prolific in Africa, and are by no
means uncommon in the salt and fresh waters of
Tropical America. A few anecdotes, authenticated by
modern observers, will show the dangerous instincts of
these hideous creatures. " In India, the streams are
alive with these river pests, whose fondness for human
flesh renders that chiefest luxury in a tropical climate,
— bathing, — a matter of extreme danger. Yet it is
strange to see with what perfect indifference the natives
take the water. A beautiful specimen of an alligator's
head was here given to the governor ; he was rather a
distinguished monster, having carried off, on different
occasions, six or eight brace of men from an indigo
factory in the neighbourhood. A native, who had long
laid wait for him, at length succeeded in slaying him
with poisoned arrows. One of these notoriously ghant-
frequenting alligators is well nigh as rich a prize to
the poor native who is fortunate enough to capture
him, as a Spanish galleon is to a British frigate ; for on
ripping open his stomach, and overhauling its freight,
it is not unfrequently found to contain ' a choice as-
semblage'— as advertisers have it — of gold, silver, or
brass bangles- (bracelets) and anklets, which have not
been so expeditiously digested as their fair owners,
victims to the monster's voracity." * The Dutch settled
in the East Indies, with their characteristic cunning
and tyranny, used to keep a great number of crocodiles
.* Pen and Pencil Sketches in India, vol. ii. p. 192, 19a .
O

1Q4? HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

in the ditches of Bavaria, to prevent the desertion of
their soldiers, most of whom were enlisted by force ;
they likewise served to oppose the nocturnal attacks of
the people of the country, who supported their yoke
with impatience. It is supposed that one reason why
the ancient Egyptians venerated this animal was, that
the fear of the crocodiles arrested the course *)f the
Lybian and Arabian robbers, who, but for these rep-
tiles, would have been continually passing and re-
passing the river and its canals. The courage and
strength of these creatures are in proportion to their
size. Bartrum, the American naturalist, tells us, that
his armed companions had to sustain a vigorous combat
against one of them which came to attack their camp.
Stedman, however, says that those of Surinam will
not attack a man, so long as he remains in motion in
the water. Waterton, on the contrary, affirms that the
Indians " take uncommon precautions lest they should
be devoured by these cruel and voracious reptiles,
which are very numerous on the river Essequibo." *
The same writer gives us the following anecdote, told
to him by one of the Portuguese governors, on the spot
where the event happened. " One fine evening, last
year, as the people of Angustura were sauntering up
and down here on the Alameda, I was within twenty
yards of this place, when I saw a large cayman seize a
man and carry him down, before any one had it in
his power to assist him ; the screams of the poor
fellow were terrible, as the cayman was running off
with him. He plunged into the river with his prey.
We immediately lost sight of him, and never saw or
'heard of him, more." f In reference to the apparently
contradictory accounts given of crocodiles in general,
we should remember that there are not only many
species, but genera, each distributed in peculiar parts
of the world, and all having certain shades of difference
in their economy. Some are, consequently, much more
savage than others; and hence, no doubt, have frequently

* Wanderings. t Ibid.

CHAP. VI. THE GIGANTIC BOA SERPENTS. 1Q5

arisen the discrepancies which appear in the accounts
of those, who, under the belief that they are speaking of
the same species, are, really, narrating the habits of
another totally different. The crocodiles, fortunately,
are the only race of lizards from which mortal danger
is to be expected.

(209.) We now proceed to the SERPENTS. Here a
formidable list presents itself ; for, whether we look to
such as, like the crocodiles, are actual devourers of
mankind, or distil into his veins their deadly venom
through malice or in self-defence, we find a much larger
number of mortal enemies in this tribe than in any
other. If we regard size, and the certainty of be-
coming food to these horrid reptiles when once they
have seized us, we should place the gigantic boas and
pithons of the two hemispheres at the head of this list.
In the early stages of European population in tropical
countries, there can be no doubt that these enormous
serpents were much more numerous, and attained,
from age, to a much larger size, than they are usually
found at present. The extension of man over the face
of the earth is always accompanied by a proportionate
diminution in the number of its wild and ferocious
animals : hence, in the vicinity of towns and villages
in the maritime parts of Tropical America, the traveller
has little to fear from the gigantic boa, because, although
they occasionally linger in such districts, they are gene-
rally met with and killed long before they have reached
their full growth. In proof of this, we, ourselves,
while botanising among the marshes close to the town
of Pernambuco, encountered a boa near seven feet long,
coiled up among the grass and rank herbage of the
banks : it was killed by a discharge of the gun ; and on
dragging it home and showing it to the Indians, they
assured us it was only a young one, which, in a few
years, would have reached a length of twenty or even
thirty feet. Boas of that size are well known to the
Indians of the interior ; and such destruction do these
gigantic reptiles cause to the herds of cattle, that the
o 2

196 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

neighbouring planters often assemble for the sole pur-
pose of discovering and destroying the common enemy,
But it is not in such encounters that the greatest
danger lies ; for the boa, except in self-defence, or
under the cravings of hunger, flies before man. It is
by surprise and stratagem that the boa secures his
prey ; he darts upon his victim, like the tiger, by a
sudden and instantaneous spring ; grapples him in the
enormous folds of his body ; and, after thus crushing the
bones, proceeds to swallow the whole at leisure. Well-
attested accounts of the loss of human life from these
monsters have frequently been given us ; nor does it
require much reasoning to show that a serpent, which
would thus devour a young horse or bullock, could,
with equal facility, swallow a man. That serpents of a
size fully equal to the boas of America are also found
in Africa, is abundantly proved from the writings of
the ancients. Aristotle alludes to serpents of enor-
mous size from that continent. Pliny was well ac-
quainted with those of India ; and Suetonius mentions
that, in the reign of Augustus Caesar, a serpent was
exhibited, alive, of the length of fifty cubits. Others,
of the genus Pithon, lurk in the tropical forests of
India. Bishop Heber alludes to their attaining the
length of thirty feet ; and a melancholy instance is
upon record, of a talented painter, who disappeared
from his party while travelling through an Indian
forest, — seized, as his companion supposed, by one of
these terrific reptiles.

(210.) The poisonous snakes, though greatly in-
ferior to the boas in respect to size, are more numerous
and deadly : the latter will only attack man from
severity of hunger, while a snake will often bite from
sheer spite. From among a host of species scattered
in all parts of the world, we shah1 select the rattle-
snake, the Cobra di Capello, and the Cerastes, or horned
viper of Africa, as pre-eminently destructive to human
life. Rattlesnakes formerly abounded much more in
America than they do now. As it lives upon small

CHAP. VI. THE COBRA DI CAPELLO. 197

animals alone, it does not attack man,, if unprovoked ;
but then this provocation may be given in a hundred
ways, even unintentionally, and death may be the con-
sequence. Bartrum asserts that he had seen individuals
as thick as a man's thigh, and more than six feet long ;
and that they were found in Georgia of a much larger
size. So subtle is their venom, that the slightest prick
made by their poisonous fangs will kill almost the
largest animals. Laurenti says that, in the human
subject, the entire body is swelled, the tongue becomes
prodigiously inflamed, the mouth has a burning heat,
an excessive thirst is felt, the edges of the wounds be-
come gangrened, and at the end of five or six minutes
the victim dies in frightful agony. But there seems to
be much inaccuracy in this. From a more authentic
source than the last, we are told that the first symptom
which appears, about an hour after the bite, is excessive
vomiting, succeeded almost immediately by a strong
fever. " At the time," continues our author, " when
I saw the man who had been bitten, his leg and thigh
were prodigiously swelled, his respiration very laborious,
his physiognomy turgid, and resembling some hydro-
phobic patients whom I once had an opportunity of
seeing. I have known several persons who have been
thus bitten. Those who survived were constantly
valetudinarians, and extremely affected by the vari-
ations of the atmosphere." *

(211.) The Cobra di Capetto ( fig. 60.) is one of the
most deadly serpents of India. When unintentionally
disturbed, it raises its head, dilates the hood on each
side of the neck, and advances against the aggressor by
the undulating motion of the tail. It rarely happens
that any one recovers, who has had the misfortune of
being bitten ; and Forbes observes that death generally
takes place in less than an hour. These reptiles are not
only frequently met with in the cultivated grounds and
plantations, but will creep into the houses, and insinuate
themselves among the furniture. Bishop Heber heard,

* Michaux's Travels', vol. i. p. 512.

o 3

198 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

at Patna,, of a lady, who once lay a whole night with
a Cobra di Capello under her pillow. She repeatedly
thought, during the night, that
jlp^r/^Q^*; sne felt something move ; and,
in the morning, when she
snatched her pillow away, she
saw the thick black throat, the
square head, and the green
diamond-like eye of the reptile
advanced within two inches of
her neck. The snake was with-
out malice ; but, alas for her,
if she had, during the night,
pressed him a little too
roughly!* Dr. Russell made
many experiments with this
serpent, from which it appears that its bite will kill a
dog in twenty-seven minutes, and a young fowl in one
minute and a half. This is the snake so frequently ex-
hibited by the Indian jugglers, — who contrive, by some
unknown method, to tame them so far as to perform cer-
tain movements in cadence, aiid to dance to the sound
of music. It has been naturally supposed, before this
could be done, that the poisonous fangs had been ex-
tracted ; and this question has given rise to much dis-
cussion : it seems, however, from the following anec-
dote, that this is not usually practised : — " A man, who
had been entertaining Mr. Forbes one evening with his
dancing snakes, the next day was exhibiting the same
performances to some peasants, when suddenly one of
the vicious animals darted at the throat of a young
woman, and inflicted a wound, of which she died in
half an hour."t The Cerastes, or horned viper, is one of
the most deadly serpents of the African deserts. They
are so numerous in some parts, that Bruce mentions,
half a dozen would sometimes be found round the em-
bers of the fire where the travellers had dressed their

* Heber's Journal, vol. ii. p.
t Orient. Mem. yol. i. p. 41.

319.

CHAP. VI. POISONOUS SERPENTS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 199

victuals. Without going into the question about the
power of some of the Africans to handle these serpents
with impunity, it may safely be concluded that a bite
which would produce certain death in one case, may
reasonably be supposed to do so in another. The usual
symptoms which follow the bite of the Cerastes, are, a
tumefaction of the part, a general icterus, swelling of
the face, delirium, convulsions, and death.

(212.) It would be impossible to enumerate, correctly,
many others, equally venomous, that have been men-
tioned by travellers, since the greater part are known to
us only by their provincial names. A species mentioned
by Forbes, as insinuating itself into the houses of India,
is the smallest and most dangerous in that country.
It is of a brown colour, speckled with black and white ;
though, at a distance, it is not easily distinguished from
the ground upon which it moves. Its bite occasions a
speedy and painful death. Mr. Forbes assures us he
once found four, and at another time five, of these
reptiles creeping among the furniture in his own cham-
ber.* The Trigonocephali, or square-headed serpents
of the West Indies, seem to be universal objects of
horror, not only to man, but to the brute creation. The
horse trembles and prances violently in its presence ;
rats scud away at its approach, sending forth cries of
terror : and birds especially, upon which it feeds, often
indicate to man the place of its retreat. The bite of
this serpent is terrible ; sometimes it produces death,
with all those distressing symptoms above mentioned,
in a few hours ; and sometimes the miserable patient
lingers for several days. But even if, by a timely ap-
plication of the most efficacious remedies, life is pre-
served, it is embittered for many years by vertigoes,
paralysis, phagedenic ulcers of a malignant nature, and
a variety of other distressing infirmities. Bancroft,
one of the oldest and best writers on the habits of
the snakes of Tropical America, gives us a fearful list of

* Orient. Mem. p. 42.

o 4

200 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

several eminently poisonous. It is to be regretted,
however, that he scarcely mentions them by their vul-
gar names. That called the Woods-master has a wide
and flat head, and has a frightful appearance, from
having long loose scales on the head, which can be
erected at pleasure. This snake never flies before an
enemy, and its bite is universally deemed fatal. The
effects of the bite of another, the Labarra snake, are
instantaneous. " A negro, who was bitten by one,
had just time to kill it, when his limbs were unable to
support him, and he fell to the ground, — expiring in
less than five minutes from the time of receiving the
wound : the blood exuding from the ends of the capil-
lary sanguine arteries occasioned the appearance of
purple spots on every part of the external surface of the
body ; and haemorrhages ensued from the nose, eyes,
ears, and lungs."* Brazil is infested by several others
peculiar to that empire. Spix, who travelled there,
observes, " Among the most poisonous of serpents is
the one called Urutu, which, like several species of
Bothrops, lives chiefly in the gloomy recesses of the
forests : its bite is said to occasion almost instant death.
The bite of the Brazilian rattlesnake is nearly as
terrible as that from the North American species, for it
is almost always fatal in twenty-four hours ; while
that of the Bothrops kucurus takes effect in a much
shorter time : it is peculiarly horrible, being attended
with dreadful convulsions, and with all the symptoms
of hydrophobia/'^

(213.) The puff adder (Vipera inflata) is held in
universal dread by the Africans, as being, probably, the
most venomous of its tribe in Southern Africa. Unlike
the generality of snakes, which make a spring or dart
forwards, when irritated, the puff" adder, as it is said,
throws itself backwards, — so that those ignorant of the
fact would place themselves in the very direction of
death. The natives, however, by keeping always in

* Bancroft's Nat. Hist, of Guiana, p. 21S.
t Spix's Travels, vol. i. p. 131.

CHAP, VI. SPURTING SNAKE OF SOUTH AFRICA. 201

front, are enabled to destroy it without much risk.
The snakes of Africa, as cf Europe, observes Dr. Bur-
chell, lie concealed in their holes, in a torpid state,
during the colder part of the year.*

(214.) The last we shall enumerate is the common
viper, fortunately the only venomous species known to
us as a native. Its effects, at all times, are dreadful,
and in most cases fatal ; but we may safely omit the
distressing detail of all the symptoms which attend it.

(215.) The serpents of which we have hitherto
spoken, inflict their venom by their bite ; but there is
one inhabiting Southern Africa, which has the singular
property of spitting forth a fluid which often blinds
the unfortunate person at whom it is aimed. " The
Spugslang, or spurting snake," observes professor
Lichtenstein, " is from three to four feet long, and has
the singular property of spurting out its venom, and of
giving it such a direction as to hit the eyes of the person
attacking him ; this is followed by violent pain, and so
strong an inflammation, that it will occasion the entire
loss of sight. Washing the eyes with warm water
is considered the best remedy. The bite also of this
serpent is said to be extremely dangerous." f The
same naturalist gives us a slight notice of a species of
poisonous spider of the same country, which measures,
when its legs are stretched out, upwards of four inches
in length.! We should be apt to think, from all these
accounts, which enumerate, in fact, but a small por-
tion of the serpent reptiles which are poisonous, that
the greatest number of the whole tribe are of this de-
scription ; but this inference would be altogether erro-
neous. Dr. Russell, who particularly studied the ser-
pents of India, assures us that, out of forty-three species
which he himself examined, not more than seven were
found to possess poisonous fangs. On comparing the
effect of the poison of five Oriental serpents upon brute
animals, with those occasioned by the bite of the rattle-

* fjurchell's Travels, p. 4G9. + Lich. Travels, vol. i. p. 96.

t Id. ibid. p. 349.

202 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

snake and the European viper, it was remarked that
they all produce morbid symptoms nearly similar, how-
ever much they may differ, in their deleterious power,
as to degree, or the rapidity of its operation. The bite
of a rattlesnake in India killed a dog in two minutes,
while the bite of the most pernicious snake in India
was never observed to kill a dog in less than twenty-
seven minutes.*

(2l6.) Among the AMPHIBIA, we know of none
whose nature or habits are even indirectly injurious.
Popular superstition, indeed, long invested the toad
with poisonous qualities ; and the fable has even
been revived in modern times ; but it is now generally
admitted that the viscous humour upon the skin is not
poisonous, but merely intended to protect their body
from the dry ness of the air and the heat of the sun.
The tribe of salamanders is equally harmless. To this
belong not only the salamanders, but the sirens, and
that species which was supposed by the ancients to resist
the action of fire. It is hardly necessary to allude to
such fables, but for the purpose of pointing out their
absurdity.

(217.) Among FISHES we find some of the most
destructive animals in existence. The healthy and ex-
hilarating exercise of bathing, so peculiarly grateful
in warm countries, is there attended with imminent
danger ; and frequently with certain death. The
gigantic crocodiles, already mentioned, are not the only
creatures which dispute the possession of an element,
which man was not designed to inhabit. Enormous
sharks are continually roaming about these tepid seas,
devouring everything living which comes in their way.
Hideous and gigantic rays lie in wait at the bottom, to
intersect the diver after submarine treasures ; while, if
he escape from these, the torpedo is ready to benumb
his limbs, and cut off his retreat. Sharks, under a
variety of forms and of species, are spread over the
whole ocean. Several, indeed, occur in our own s^as ;
* Forbes's Orient Mem. vol. i. p. 45.

CHAP. VI. COMBAT WITH A SHARK. 203

for the dog-fish of the sailors truly belong to this
race, although, from their small size, they prey only
upon the lesser marine animals : but those of tropical
latitudes are far different. The very aspect of a shark's
tooth (fig. 61.) is sufficient
to give a terrific idea of
its use ; it seems of a form
compounded between that
of a lancet and a very fine
saw : of these there are
from three to six rows in
each jaw ; and the animal
has the power of raising
or depressing them at pleasure. The white shark
(Squalus Carcharias Lin.) is one of the most formi-
dable; but the species, as before observed, are very
numerous. One anecdote will be sufficient to illus-
trate the savage nature of these monsters: it is re-
lated by Hughes, the well-known and esteemed au-
thor of the Natural History of Barbadoes. " In the
reign of queen Anne, a merchant ship arrived at that
island from England : some of the crew, ignorant of
the danger of the recreation, were bathing in the sea,
when a large shark appeared, and swam directly to-
wards them : being warned of their danger, however,
they all hurried on board, where they arrived safe, ex-
cept one poor fellow, who was bit in two by the shark,
almost within reach of the oars. A comrade and in-
timate friend of the unfortunate victim, when he ob-
served the severed trunk of his companion, vowed his
revenge. The voracious monster was seen traversing
the bloody surface of the waves, in search of the re-
mainder of his prey, when the brave youth plunged
into the water. He held in his hand a long sharp-
pointed knife ; and the rapacious animal pushed furi-
ously towards him. He had turned on his side, and
opened his enormous jaws, when the youth, diving
dexterously, seized the shark with his left hand, some-
where below the upper fins, and stabbed him repeatedly

204- HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

in the belly. The animal, enraged with pain, and
streaming with blood, attempted in vain to disengage
himself. The crews of the surrounding vessels saw
that the combat was decided ; but they were ignorant
which was slain, till the shark, exhausted by loss of
blood, was seen nearer the shore, and along with him
his gallant conqueror, — who, flushed with victory,
redoubled his efforts, and^ with the aid of an ebb-
ing tide, dragged him to the beach. Finally, he
ripped open the stomach of the fish, and buried the
severed half of his friend's body with the trunk, in the
same grave." It is no uncommon thing for the ne-
groes — who are most admirable divers — to achieve
the death of this animal by the same means ; but, then,
this can only be done with consummate dexterity, and
by those who are armed for this express purpose. Or-
dinary swimmers are constantly falling a prey to the
sharks of warm climates ; and there is an interesting
print, delineating the event by which the late sir Brooke
Watson — a gentleman once well known in London,
but who then resided in the West Indies — lost one of
his legs, in this manner. It is unnecessary, in this place,
to "enlarge upon the remarkable powers of the torpedo :
it is so far dangerous to a swimmer, that a shock
would be sufficient to deprive him, in all probability,
for a few minutes, of power to use his limbs. The
rays (or flat-fish, similar to those termed thornbacks
and maids by our fishermen) grow to an immense
size in the Indian seas, and are quite as voracious for
human flesh as the sharks. Many species are armed
with a long bony spear, situated towards the tail, and
barbed like an arrow; with these they can inflict dreadful
wounds, which, many assert, exhibit all the appearance
of being poisoned. These monsters live, for the most
part, in the greatest depths ; and they are the most
formidable enemies which the pearl divers of Ceylon
and the neighbouring coasts have to encounter

(218.) Minor injuries can be inflicted by numerous
species of this class, and in a great variety of ways.

CHAP. VI. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 205

Many have their gills armed with spines ; and wounds
by these processes are very severe, and sometimes occa-
sion a considerable effusion of blood. Others — and
they form a large division — have the rays of their
dorsal fins entirely composed of these spines, which
they can erect and depress at pleasure ; while those of
the genus Acanthurus, or lance-tail, have a sharp bony
process, not unlike the very large thorn of a rose
tree, placed on each side of the tail ; by this they
can inflict a lacerated cut on the hand of any one who
is so imprudent as to seize them in that part, But the
hedgehog fish of the Indian seas (Diodonid<p) possess
this defence in its highest degree : their whole body is
beset by strong acute spines, pointing at a right angle
from the fish in every direction ; so that it is quite im-
possible to handle them, when alive. Some are said to
be poisonous in their flesh ; others to inflict the same
injury by means of certain fins and spines, placed near
the head : but all these, comparatively, are minor evils,
and seldom, if ever, terminate fatally.

(219.) If the injuries to which mankind is subjected,
from the larger animals of creation, appear more to be
dreaded, from their nature and their frequency, than
such as he is exposed to from the lesser races, the latter
are not, therefore, to be despised, or regarded as insuffi-
cient to destroy life. Whether we regard the injuries
inflicted upon us by the insect world, — puny beings
which we can crush in an instant, — as intended to
teach us humility, or to show us what insignificant in-
struments can be employed, in the hands of the Al-
mighty, to punish individuals, or nations, for their sins,
certain it is, that these tribes have the power of afflict-
ing us with the greatest evils that can befall the human
race. They have produced death in its most loathsome
form ; and have been, to entire nations, the occasion
of plague, pestilence, and famine. Messrs. Kirby and
Spence, from whose varied researches we shall, in this
portion of our work, draw largely, has truly observed,
that " the numerous tribes of insects, as the prophet

206 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

Joel declares,, are the armies of the Almighty, mar-
shalled hy him, and by his irresistible command im-
pelled to the work of destruction : where He directs
them, they lay waste the earth ; and famine and pesti-
lence follow in their train." *

(220.) INSECTS, as to their direct attacks upon us,
may be arranged, as these authors observe, under three
principal divisions. Under the first we may class those
which seek to make us their food ; ttie second are such
as revenge our intentional or unintentional provocation ;
and the third comprises those which, without offering
us violence, nevertheless incommode us exceedingly in
other ways. The first sort of these injuries are the
most important, and will claim our chief attention.

(221.) Man, like all created beings, is doomed to fur-
nish nourishment, from his own body, to various detested
parasites, which either affix themselves upon the surface
of his skin, or reside within his flesh. The disgusting
genus Pediculus, or louse (Jig.
62 A\ V it ^2-)> belongs to the first de-
scription. Providence seems to
have created this pest to pun-
ish inattention to personal clean-
liness. This insect increases so
prodigiously, that Leeuwenhoek
states, " a single female may, in
eight weeks, witness the birth of
five thousand descendants." We
may remark that this disgust-
ing insect is most common
in the South of Italy, where heat of climate and per-
sonal dirt are greater than in any other part of Europe.
We are inclined, also, to believe it peculiar to Eu-
ropeans, or, rather, whites ; for, although the poorer
class of Portuguese Brazilians swarm with lice, we
never saw them hunted on the woolly heads of the
African negroes. Whether the disease named Phthi-
riasis by the ancients, originated from lice, mites, or

* Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 82,

CHAP. VI. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 207

maggots ill general, is a question involved in much
doubt ; but all agree in stating that it was produced by
insects. Considering the conflicting accounts that have
been given, it seems highly probable that more than
one disease has been confounded under this general
name, each produced by a different insect. Dr. Willan,
in a case of prurigo senilis, observed a number of small
insects on the patient's skin and linen, which were quick
in their motions, and very minute. He took them, at
first, for small lice ; but Mr. Kirby rather suspects they
belonged to a new genus, allied to the Acarus.

(222.) The Acaridce, or harvest bugs, indeed, con-
tain a host of enemies to our race ; they cause ex-
cruciating pain, by digging into the cuticle of the skin,
and, in some instances, establishing themselves beneath
it. Dr. Adams conjectures they may be the cause of
certain cases of ophthalmia, — a disease remarkably pre-
valent in Egypt, and from which »our troops suffered
most severely. We are decidedly of the same opinion;
notwithstanding the popular notion, then prevalent, that
this disease, which generally terminated in total blind-
ness, originated from the glare of the hot sands of the
desert. Our medical officers soon found that the Egyp-
tian ophthalmia was infectious, and that it spread rapidly
among those regiments of which part of the men only
had been to Egypt, and the rest had remained in Sicily:
a clear proof that the disease could not have originated
from the above cause. Sir J. Banks attests that, several
seamen of the Endeavour brig being tortured with a
severe itching round the eyelids, an Otaheitan woman
cured one of them by extracting an abundance of very
minute lice. We can, from personal experience, bear
testimony to the excruciating pain caused by more than
one species of Acarus, called by the Brazilians Cara-
pato. They are found, in the dry season, among the
parched-up herbage, and seem to be gregarious ; for we
have sometimes found our garments, on going through
a break of the forest, suddenly covered with them, as
if they congregated together, ready to catch hold of

208 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

the first living object which passed that way. They
immediately begin to burrow with their snouts into the
skin, where they get so firm a hold, that it is frequently
necessary to use a sharp instrument to pick them out :
if this be done by taking hold of their body, much
danger is risked, for the head generally remains in the
skin; and this, if not extracted, causes intolerable pain,
and, finally, severe ulcers. The annexed cut ofAcarus va-
riegatus (fig. 63.) magnified, will give
a perfect idea of these detestable pests.
It is probable that the insect named
by Linnaeus Pediculus ricino'ides, on
the authority of Rolander, is one of
these, simply from this circumstance,
— that, so far as our observations
have extended, there is no insect
known in South America, which "gets
into the feet of people who walk,"
except the chegoe, common also in the West Indies.
The whole of the Acari, or harvest bugs, are emi-
nently parasitic; and, in all probability, the only tribe
of apterous insects, except the true Pediculus, or louse,
which preys upon man. The fact mentioned by Lin-
naeus, that a minute species, swallowed in water, pro-
duced a violent dysentery, is incontestable, and gives no
small sanction to the belief that many of the modifi-
cations of this disease have the same origin. To these
pests, also, many learned and intelligent writers have
traced the itch. There are, no doubt, several species —
if we may use the expression — of this disease, — each, in
all probability, originating from a different cause ; but
that more than one of these are to be attributed to in-
sects has been sufficiently proved. Our ignorance, in
fact, on the connection between insect agency and bodily
disease, is so great, that the discussion would lead to
nothing satisfactory. We have long been of the same
opinion as was Linnaeus, that the plague originates
from the same cause. We were in Malta during the
whole time that island was afflicted with this terrible

CHAP. VI. INSECTS FEEDING ON MAN. 209

scourge ; every precaution which proved efficacious to
prevent the infection was of a nature to destroy insect
life : the most contaminated substance, if soaked in
water, could be taken out and handled with impunity.
Oil is the most subtle poison to the insect world ; and
oil is the most efficacious remedy* against receiving the
plague. Paper, again, is a powerful conductor; but
if that paper is, in the first instance, either fumigated,
or passed through water, — either of which processes
will destroy insects, — it may be handled with perfect
security. These facts we have personally ascertained.
(223.) Scarcely less horrible than death from the
plague, are two instances quoted by Mr. Kirby, from
good authority. One is the miserable case of a French
nobleman, from whose eyes, nostrils, and mouth, red-
coloured animalcules, excessively small, broke forth day
and night, attended by the most horrible and ex-
cruciating pains ; and, at length, occasioned his death.
The other case is recorded by Moffat, of Lady Penrud-
dock, concerning whom he expressly tells us that Acari
swarmed in every part of her body, — her head, eyes,
nose, lips, gums, the soles of her feet, £c., — tormenting
her day and night ; till, in spite of every remedy, all
the flesh of her body being consumed, she was, at
length, relieved by death from this terrible state of
suffering. Moffat attributes this horrible disease to the
free use of goat's milk ! — no doubt ignorant that a
large portion of the peasantry of Southern Europe know
no other milk than1 that of goats. In Sicily, more
especially, such is the fact ; for, during eight years'
residence in that island, we scarcely remember to have
tasted the milk of cows more than once or twice. We
need not dwell longer on these details — painful as they
must be to every compassionate mind. They teach us,
however, a great moral lesson. Nothing is more ini-
mical to the best interests of man, or more offensive to
his Maker, than pride ; and, to punish this, the Almighty
has manifestly made these vile and loathsome insects,
to be the instruments of his displeasure. Some of the
p

210 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

most horrid of the deaths we have enumerated, have
been inflicted on the titled and the wealthy ; and, if
we required further proof, the miserable state and death
of two of the proudest and most cruel tyrants of
ancient times are awful examples ; — the inhuman
Pheretima swarmed with Euke ; and Herod Agrippa
was " eaten of worms." Whether the insects here
termed Eulce and Scoleches, were larvae, maggots, or
A cari, affects not the question. These wretched men
were tormented and killed by the meanest and most
disgusting creatures on the face of the earth.

(224.) One of the most
pestiferous of the West India
Acari, or ticks, is the Lepto-
scarus nocturnus * of Guild-
ing {fig- 64.), of which the
annexed cut gives a magnified
representation. " In its noc-
turnal habits and wanderings
it resembles the common Eu-
ropean bed bug (jCimex lee-
tularius), and is one of the
greatest pests among the Acari.
They lie hid during the day-
time in chinks, where they are
betrayed by the livid spots caused by their excrement.

At nightfall they
creep from their
retreats, and attack
our domestic ani-
mals with the great-
est obstinacy. Be-
fore I discovered
the cause, my goats
wasted away, and
became restless and
noisy ; and a powerful horse suffered so much from the

* " Distinguished from Argas by the very minute trophi totally con.
cealed in the breast." — Guilding.

CHAP. VI. INJURIOUS INSECTS. FLEAS, ETC. 211

host of these furies that assailed him, as to rub down
a strong division in the stable, in his attempts to get
rid of his tormentors. By pouring boiling water into
their retreats, the colony was at last destroyed. The
Caris penetrans Guild, (fig. 6*5.), in a young state,
called, in St. Vincent's, the fowl-borer, was associated
with them by hundreds : it is a more nimble animal,
and is equally the scourge of our domestic poultry." *
Its snout, when magnified (a), is seen to be barbed.

(225.) Fleas are certainly troublesome, but by no
means disgusting, animals. In themselves, they are
particularly cleanly ; and, although they are more at-
tached to the lower orders than to the higher, yet ex-
cessive dirt seems to drive them away. Townson men-
tions that the Hungarian shepherds grease their linen
with hog's lard, as an effectual antidote against the
attacks both of fleas and lice. Although these " little
merry things " suck our blood, their attacks produce no
other effect than a momentary tickling, which some
people think rather an agreeable sensation than other-
wise. But there is another species, peculiar to the hot
parts of America, which can not only inflict severe pain,
but cause the mortification of a limb. This is the
well-known chegoe or jigger of the West Indies, the
Pulex penetrans of systematic writers. Of this pest
we can also speak from personal experience. It gets
into the feet of the most cleanly; and attacks, indis-
criminately, the blacks and whites. The slight itching
it at first occasions, is hardly thought of; but in two
or three days appears a little white round ball beneath
the surface of the skin, with a small dark speck in the
middle: the ball is the nidus, or nest; the speck is the
chegoe itself. Some skill is necessary to extract both ;
the skin is gently removed from the little round white
ball or nest, precisely as we should peel an orange;
this ball is covered by a thick outer skin, and, by
pressing the flesh all round, it may be squeezed out

'* Guilding*s MSS., in the possession of hi« widow.
P 2

212 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. TI.

without breaking ; the cavity which it has left is then
filled with snuff or tobacco, and will heal up in a
few days. If the bag or nest break, it is ten to one
but some of the eggs — which are very minute — re-
main in the wound; and to guard against the possibility
of a fresh colony being thus formed, the use of the snuff
is adopted. New comers are particularly subject to these
creatures, and they should immediately be extracted.
We have seen negroes, who, from sheer idleness or
negligence, in the first instance, have been lamed for
life, and become loathsome to the sight. In such a
state, these miserable objects are incurable ; and death
only puts a period to their sufferings. Europe is for-
tunately exempt from this scourge; but we have
another, which, if not timely subdued, would rob us
of necessary rest. This is the bed-bug, who feeds
upon us by sucking, and not, as is generally supposed,
by biting. The English houses are but little infested
with these disgusting creatures ; although the beds of
lodging-houses in London are seldom free from them.
In the warmer parts of Europe they abound; nor shall
we ever forget the following circumstance, which hap-
pened to us in one of the miserable inns of Italy.
Notwithstanding the fatigue of a long day's journey,
we were awoke, in the middle of the night, by swarms
of bugs, which were on every part of the bed. A light
being in the room, we commenced a general massacre,
by drowning : and, after placing the mattress on the
floor, in the middle of the room, endeavoured once
more to gain repose ; but this was in vain. We were
again awoke, and totally disconcerted by seeing fresh
parties crawling from out the perforated plaster of the
walls, and resolutely advancing from all sides of the
room towards the mattress where we lay. To sleep,
in such a den of Cimices, was utterly impossible ; so
we turned in, for the rest of the night, into an ah-
joining hay-loft. Strange, indeed, must have been the
feeling of those Orientalists who founded the hospital
at Surat, mentioned by Forbes, where a ward was ap-

CHAP. VI. INJURIOUS INSECTS. SCORPION. 213

propriated to bugs, &c., fed at the public expense.
" The overseers of the hospital," says our author,
" frequently hire beggars from the streets, for a stipu-
lated sum, to pass a night among the fleas, lice, and
bugs, on the express condition of suffering them to en-
joy their feast without molestation." *

(226.) But there are other apterous or wingless in-
sects, which inflict severe injuries upon man, without
any intention of feeding upon his blood. The most
prominent of these are the two tribes of scorpions and
centipedes. The very aspect of these reptile insects
is sufficient to make us start back with fear and
horror : both are more especially inhabitants of
warm climates. The form of a scorpion is, indeed,
terrific, and is a complete personification of malignity.
The ancients have given us marvellous accounts of
these beings. Aristotle relates the superstitious belief
that armies were employed for several days in de-
stroying them ; and Pliny affirms that they depopu-
lated whole countries. These, of course, are fables ;
but the enormous size to which these terrific insects
attain, and their poisonous nature, may well admit or"
poetic embellishment. Mr. Kirby mentions that they
sometimes attain a foot in length, — probably on the
anthority of some traveller, for we have never seen
them longer than seven inches. The poison is placed
in the tail. In ordinary cases, it produces numbness in
various parts of the body, tumours on the tongue, and
severe fever. The only means of saving the lives of
our soldiers, who were stung by those of Egypt, was
the amputation of the wounded limb. Others, still
more deadly, found both in South America, Ceylon,
and Africa, are asserted, by travellers in all these
countries, to be capable of killing those whom they
sting. Of all animals the scorpion, in its own nature,
is the most cruel and ferocious. They carry on a war
of extermination among themselves ; and are even said

» Orient. Mem.

p 3

214 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

to kill and devour their own young, without pity, as
soon as they are born.

(227.) The poison of the scorpion is lodged, as be-
fore observed, in its tail j but that of the centipede is
in its jaws. These are likewise among the pests of
tropical climates ; for, although several are found in
Europe, and even in Britain, from their small size,
they are harmless to us. Those of India and South
America, on the other hand, are enormous. Lister
mentions one which measured eighteen inches jn length.
Ulloa, usually considered one of the most veracious of
travellers, asserts (if his translator has not mistaken his
' words) that some of the centipedes of Carthagena
sometimes exceed a yard in length, and five inches in
breadth ! The bite of this gigantic serpent insect, he
tells us, is mortal, — as well it may "be : from its cylin-
drical body, Mr. Kirby supposes it to be an lulus ; but
it must be remembered that this latter genus is entirely
destitute of poisonous jaws. There is an African in-
sect, related to the scorpion (Solpuga Araneoides Fab. ;
Galeodes Oliv.), without a sting, whose bite is repre-
sented to be fatal both to man and beast ; and another
from the same continent, as its name implies (fatale),
may be supposed equally fatal. * In respect to the
celebrated tarantula spider of Italy, we strongly suspect
it has no real existence; for every spider, with the
common people in that country, is a tarantula. Whe-
ther there is any species really possessing poisonous
qualities, may be reasonably doubted ; for, during a long
residence in the Mediterranean, we never heard of a
single injury of this sort : nor could we get the country
people to show us any particular spider acknowledged
to be the true tarantula. Here we may terminate the
list of apterous insects deriving nourishment from
man, or inflicting upon his person decided injuries.
But among annulose animals, of which insects form
but a part, there are others which feed upon his juices,
and, taking up their habitation within his body, afflict

* Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 126.

CHAP. VI. INTESTINAL WORMS. 215

him with grievous pain, and often with death. The
scorpions of Guiana, although not nearly so large as
those of Africa, inflict venomous and extremely painful
wounds, although the termination is not fatal. A negro
girl, stung by one of these animals, in a few minutes
complained of being excessively cold, though the weather
was very hot ; she felt, also, a violent shivering fit, like
the paroxysm of an ague, together with a quick, weak,
tremulous pulse ; these symptoms were also accompa-
nied by yawning, stretching, and frequent gasping for
breath.*

(228.) The injuries caused by intestinal insects, or,
more properly, worms, are most grievous. These foes,
indeed, more particularly excite our apprehension and
disgust, from the impossibility of seeing and extermi-
nating them, and of guarding against them. We have
dwelt so largely on those outward maladies produced
by insects, that we shall spare our readers the full de-
tails of those distressing inflictions produced by the
numerous worms which inhabit our body. Suffice it
to say, that of the Linnsean genus Ttenia, or tape-
worm, there are no less than six species which are
known to be peculiar to the human subject. All these
feed upon our juices, and usually take up their habita-
tion at the upper part of the alimentary canal. Some-
times they are found in great numbers in the same
individual, producing the most distressing symptoms,
and very frequently a lingering death. They have the
power of reproducing parts which have been broken
off, — so that they are exterminated with the greatest
difficulty. The Tania Solium is, perhaps, the most
formidable, — for it has been found to reach the length
of thirty feet, and, as some authors assert, even sixty
feet : it feeds on the chyle and j uices, thereby turning
all the nourishment taken by the patient to its own
support ; hence it produces frightful emaciation, and
ultimate death. It is removed with the greatest diffi-
culty, even by the most active medicines ; for, by means

* Bancroft, vol. i. p. 46.

p 4

21 6 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

of a double series of hooks round the mouth, it adheres
to the intestines with the most astonishing firmness.
The common species (T". vulgaris} feeds also on the
chyle, and is from one to five yards long : it is like-
wise so tenacious as to resist the most violent remedies.
These, where the mouth is not armed with hooks,, are
more easily expelled than the others ; yet some of them
grow to an enormous and almost incredible length.
The T. tenella, or broad tape-worm, principally con-
fined to the inhabitants of Russia and Switzerland, is
said to have been found from six to forty yards long.
There are other races, where the annulose structure
seems obsolete, but which most authors concur in
placing in the same class as the former ; these are the
Ascarides, Tricocephalus, Filaria, Fasciola, anAFuria:
the last is a most deadly plague, happily confined to
the marshes of Sweden.

(229.) The vermicular Ascarides are simple slender
worms, about half an inch long ; but they are generally
found in considerable numbers in the same person, and
occasion much pain and distressing symptoms, — creeping
sometimes up into the stomach from the rectum, where
they usually reside : they are generally found in thin
people, and in children. The A. Lumbrico'ides is from
twelve to fifteen inches long, with a triangular mouth :
they are much larger and more disgusting than the
last, as they sometimes ascend into the stomach and
creep out of the mouth and nostrils. The Tricocephalus
Hominis somewhat resembles Ascarides : it inhabits the
intestines of children, and is frequently found in con-
siderable numbers within the caecum, — giving to those
who are thus infested, a very sickly appearance. All
these intestinal parasites are found in Europeans ; and,
with but one exception, have occurred in this country :
how far they inhabit the natives of other regions, — or
whether, as is most probable, the inhabitants of the
tropics are subject to other peculiar species, — has not
been well ascertained. There is a dreadful worm,
however, found in both Indies, which is fortunately

CHAP. VI. INTESTINAL WORMS. 217

not known in more temperate regions : this is the
Filaria medinensis of Linnaeus. Tt comes to the herb-
age in the morning dew, from whence it pierces the
skin and enters the feet of such as walk without shoes,
and causes the most painful irritations, succeeded by
violent inflammation and fever. The natives extract it
with the greatest caution, by twisting a piece of silk
round one extremity of the body, and withdrawing it
very gently. When we consider that this insidious
worm, as we are told, is frequently twelve feet long,
although not thicker than a horse hair, we can readily
imagine the difficulty of the operation. If, unfortu-
nately, the animal should break, the part remaining
under the skin grows with redoubled vigour, and fre-
quently occasions a fatal inflammation. The Fasciola
Hominis, belonging to the same genus as the worm
which infests the liver of sheep (Fasciola hepatica}, is
peculiar to the human subject. But we scarcely know
one of these dreadful pests -which can be considered
more terrible than the Furia irtfernalis, first made
known by Linnaeus, who met with it during his Lap-
land journey, and was very near becoming, himself, a
victim to its deadly attacks. His account of this ex-
traordinary plague is nearly as follows : — In Finland,
Bothnia, and the northern provinces of Sweden, the
inhabitants are often seized with an acute pain, con-
fined to a mere point, on some exposed part of the
body, which afterwards increases to a most excruciating
degree, and sometimes, even within a few hours after
its commencement, proves fatal. This disorder is more
prevalent about marshy or low places, and occurs during
autumn : it is occasioned by the Furia infernalis.
This little worm appears to creep up the stalks of
aquatic grass and shrubs in the marshes, where it is
often carried off by the wind: if, at these times, it
comes in contact with the naked skin of the inhabitants,
it immediately adheres, and buries itself within. The
first sensation is said to be like that occasioned by the
prick of a needle j this is succeeded by a violent

218 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

itching of the part ; soon afterwards by acute jrain, a
red spot, gangrene ; and, at last, inflammatory fever,
accompanied by swoonings. In this state, the insect
not being extracted, in the course of two days, at fur-
thest, death ensues. The extraction of the worm is
very difficult. The Finlanders, however, use a poultice
of curds or cheese, — which not only allays the pain, but,
as they affirm, entices the worm out of the part. The
most effectual method, however, is obviously to extract
it by means of the lancet. The immortal Swede,
during one of his entomological excursions, was attacked
by this worm in so dreadful a manner, that for a
short time, as he himself tells us, there was great doubt
whether he would recover.

(230.) Our celebrated navigator, Dampier, was
nearly in as dangerous a predicament as Linnaeus, from
the effects of what he calls the Indian thread- worm, —
probably a species of Filaria. His own words will
best express the peril of these creatures. "If they
are broken in drawing out, that part which remains in
the flesh" (or rather, Jie should have said, the flesh
itself) " will putrefy, be very painful, and endanger the
patient's life — or, at least, the use of his limb. I
have known some persons that have been scarified
strangely in the operation of taking out the worm."
One of these entered into his own ancle. " I was,"
he says, " in great torment before it came out. My
leg and ancle swelled, and looked very angry, and I
kept on a plaster to bring it to head. At last, drawing
off my plaster, out came three inches of the worm,
and my pain abated. Till that time I was ignorant of
my malady, and the gentleman at whose house I was
took it for a nerve ; but I knew well what it was, and
presently rolled it up on a small stick. After this I
opened the place every morning and evening, and
strained the worm out gently, about two inches at a
time, — not without some pain, — till I had at length got
out about two feet." He afterwards had it entirely
discharged by one of the negroes, who applied to it a

CHAP, VI. INTESTINAL WORMS. 219

rough powder, not unlike tobacco leaves dried and
crumbled very small.

(231.) Another instance of the injuries resulting
from these dangerous worms deserves quotation, as it
affords us, in other respects, some highly valuable in-
formation. " M. Dobsonville was attacked by one in
his leg. He observed its head, to the naked eye, was
of a chestnut colour, and appeared to terminate in a
little black point. On slightly pressing it with a pin,
and examining it with a common magnifying glass, he
fancied he perceived something like a little trunk, or
tongue, capable of being pushed out and contracted.
Although the body was not thicker than a strong thread,
yet, when the animal was extracted, it was found to be
of the length of two or three ells. It appeared to be
formed of a series of small rings, united to each other
by an exceedingly fine membrane, and a single intestine
extending through the body. This worm was ex-
tracted in the usual way ; and the reason he gives for
the injury done by breaking these animals is, that they
are full of a whitish acrimonious fluid, which imme-
diately excites inflammation, and not unfrequently pro-
duces an abscess or gangrene. A worm in his leg was
twice broken, and twice occasioned an abscess. At
last, at his own request, the part affected was rubbed
with a preparation of mercury; and, in eight or ten
days, not only the body of the insect came away in
suppuration, but the wound, which had been more than
three inches long, and considerably inflamed, was in
this time almost entirely healed." *

(232.) Besides the internal enemies we have now
mentioned, there are others, which either habitually
or occasionally introduce their eggs into our bodies,
and feed upon our juices, in their larva or grub state.
There are several remarkable and well-authenticated
instances of this upon record ; otherwise we should be
tempted to discredit the stories of old writers, — because
it seems unnatural that any insect, whose habit is not

* Bing. Anim. Biog.

220 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

parasitical on the human body, should leave its habitual
food, and voluntarily seek nourishment for its progeny
from a totally different quarter. Certain, however, it
is, that larvae or maggots have been ejected from the
stomach, or have bred in the corrupting flesh of living
subjects. Several instances of this sort are mentioned
by Messrs. Kirby and Spence. There seems abundant
evidence to prove, beyond controversy, that the meal-
worm (Tenebrio Molitor Lin.), although its usual food
is flour, has often been voided by male and female pa-
tients, and in one instance is stated to have occasioned
death ; yet how these grubs could get into the stomach,
it is difficult to say. Lister, a naturalist and physician
of the highest authority, mentions the case of a girl
who voided three hexapod larvae, probably belonging to
the genus Dermestes or Byrrhus ; and by the same
author we are told of a boy who vomited up several
caterpillars, which, he observes, had sixteen legs. Lin-
naeus tells us that the larva of a little moth, common in
houses (Crambus pinguinalis Fab.) has also been found
in a similar situation, and is one of the worst of our
insect infesters.

(233.) Azara, the natural historian of Paraguay,
relates the following extraordinary circumstance. He
assures us that there is in South America a large brown
moth, which deposits its young in a kind of saliva
upon the flesh of persons who sleep naked j these in-
troduce themselves under the skin without being per-
ceived, occasioning swelling, attended with inflammation
and violent pain. When the natives discover it, they
squeeze out the larvee, which usually amount to five or
six. Mr. Kirby very judiciously remarks upon this
statement, — " I cannot help suspecting this to be syno-
nymous with the (Estrus Hominis* This latter insect,
indeed, belongs to those which really feed upon man.
It is the gadfly, in fact, of the human species, which
infests the inhabitants of South America. Humboldt
and Bonpland inform us that this fly is found in the

- * Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 136,

CHAP. VI. INTESTINAL FLIES. 221

marshy districts, where it deposits its eggs in the skin
of man, causing most painful tumours. Gmelin says
that it remains beneath the skin of the abdomen six
months, penetrating deeper if disturbed, and becoming
so dangerous as sometimes to occasion death. Even
the gadfly of the ox, leaving its proper food, has been
known to deposit its eggs in the jaw of a woman ; and
the hots, produced from the eggs, finally caused her
death. Leeuwenhoek mentions the case of a woman,
whose surgeon took from her leg several small maggots;
these our naturalist fed with flesh until <they became
pupa?, when they produced a fly as large as the flesh
fly. Even in England, a patient of Dr. Reeve, of
Norwich, after suffering, for some time, great pain, was
at last, relieved by voiding a considerable number of
maggots, which agree precisely with those described by
De Geer as the larvae of a fly very common in apartments. *
Azara affirms, \he flesh flies in Paraguay often covered
his clothes with their eggs, so that -he was obliged to
scrape them off with a knife. He adds, that he has
known instances of persons who, after having bled at
the nose in their sleep, were attacked by the most
violent headaches, — when, at length, several great mag-
gots, the offspring of these flies, issuing from their
nostrils, gave them relief. In Jamaica, the sick and
dying are assailed by another species, which lays its
eggs in the nose, mouth, or gums. A lady in that
island, after recovering from a fever, fell <a victim to
the maggots of this fly, which passed from the nose,
through the os cribriforme, into the cavity of the skull,
and afterwards into the brain. The eminent naturalists,
to whose industrious research we are indebted for these
details, mentions a shocking case of a poor wretch who
was actually eaten to death by myriads of worms,
generated in some putrid meat which he had on his
person when illness obliged him to lie down in the
fields, never again to rise. Even the brain of the
human subject is not free from these mysterious tor-

* De Geer, vol. vi. p. 26, 27.

222 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VI.

mentors. Hermann has figured and described an Acarus
which was detected running on the corpus callosum of
the brain of a patient in the military hospital at Stras-
bourg ; and Cornelius Gemma says that, on dissecting
the brain of a woman, there was found in it abundance
of vermicles and punaises*

(234.) Were we to enumerate all the lesser injuries
inflicted upon us by insects which wound by their sting
or mouth, or bite by their jaws, we should far exceed
the limits assigned to this subject. These injuries,
however tormenting, do not affect the life or wellbeing
of the human frame ; neither are they made with un-
provoked cause. We must, however, except the mus-
quitoes, the harvest flies, and the whane flies, — all of
which have a predilection for sucking human blood,
and are, occasionally, most troublesome enemies to our
rest. The foreign species of Reduvius Fab..(/#. 66.),
more especially those of Brazil, are
able to inflict most severe wounds
with their sharp proboscis (a), with
every appearance of a venomous bite.
We suffered the most excruciating
pain for three or four hours, when
in Brazil, from one of these insects.
The wound was inflicted in the fin-
ger, but the inflammation extended
for a considerable way up the arm.
Many caterpillars of that country are
armed with venomous spines, which create a most in-
tolerable itching, as already mentioned. The different
species of Culeac, or gnat, are the dread of all who live
in warm climates ; and in the numerous family of ants
are found many which bite most severely. Some of
these will be subsequently noticed. Even the common
house fly is annoying by its numbers. The minute
Thrips, so common in summer, by merely running on
the skin, creates a most painful sensation : while wasps,

* Ink to Ent. vol. L pp. 139-142.

CHAP. VII. INDIRECT INJURIES. 223

hornets, and other tribes of stinging insects augment
the list of our insect enemies.

(235.) In the third great division of animals, the
MOLLUSCA, we find, comparatively, very few possessed
of properties or habits directly injurious to man.
Among radiated animals, however, there are several
Medusa Lin., which, upon being touched, produce all
those irritating sensations which are experienced on
handling a nettle. This we have more than once ex-
perienced in prosecuting our researches among the
marine animals : and upon one occasion the inflam-
mation was so great as to suspend the use of the arm
for several hours. Water, impregnated with animalculee
of the class Acrita, is well known to produce various
distressing symptoms ; and the poisonous quality of
certain shellfish, at particular seasons, is a belief which
has gained general credence. There seems, also, a
strong impression, not only among the fishermen of
Italy, but those of Europe, that the larger Cephalopoda,
or cuttlefish, of those seas, are highly dangerous, from
twisting their arms round swimmers, and impeding
their motions. Some of these, particularly those of
Sicily, are sometimes caught of an enormous size, with
their arms fully as long as an ordinary man's leg ; but,
notwithstanding the marvellous stories related and be-
lieved by their captors, we did not hear of any well-
authenticated instance of these animals having actually
occasioned the loss of life.

CHAP. VII.

INDIRECT INJURIES.

(236.) IT is not only direct injuries which we receive
from animals, — for they inflict others, which, if not

224 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VII.

experienced immediately in our persons, are sensibly,
although indirectly, felt in the various descriptions
of our property ; and this to such an extent, that
we shall be surprised to find in how many ways they
can thus affect our comfort and deteriorate our posses-
sions. Snails and slugs — peaceable and inoffensive as
they appear — do no inconsiderable mischief to our
gardens and orchards, — frequently almost destroying,
in the course of a few nights, whole crops of esculent
vegetables, just after the young plants appear above the
ground. This is generally done by gnawing off the
stem, particularly that of young cabbages, &c., close to
the ground : we have seen, in our own garden, repeated
instances of this, and have generally found the delin-
quent concealed just below the surrounding clods. The
young shoots of the iris family, no less t'han the leaves
when more advanced, are likewise subject to the same
injury ; - — a fact which every gardener, unfortunately,
knows too well.

(237.) BIRDS, although indirectly beneficial in keep-
ing the insect world within due limits, and destroying
great numbers of those which feed upon vegetables,
must yet be ranked among the foremost of those ene-
mies which injure or destroy cultivated produce, whe-
ther of grain, vegetables, or fruits. In this and other
densely-peopled countries, the injuries occasioned by
birds is comparatively trifling to what is suffered from
them in tropical and newly-settled regions. And yet,
in England, we are obliged to maintain a perpetual war-
fare against certain species. The crow is considered
by most farmers as an undoubted enemy ; but this
may be fairly questioned : there can be no doubt that
these birds destroy an amazing number of grubs and
injurious insects, which, to all appearance, have no
other enemies : every one who has watched their sin-
gular mode of following the course of the plough, both
in winter and spring, can have no doubts upon this fact.
It is said, however, that when they pursue the same
search after insects in newly-sown fields, they devour,

CHAP. VII. DESTBUCTIVENESS OF BIRDS. 225

also, the grain they meet with in their track : this may,
at least in part, be true; but we have yet no absolute proof
of such being the case. Certain it is, that in particular
parts of America, where the crows were completely
eradicated, or driven away by incessant firing, the
numbers of noxious insects increased so prodigiously,
that the farmers, to their sorrow, found the remedy
worse than the disease ; the whole district agreeing to
suffer the persecuted crows to return, and occupy again
their old quarters. Sparrows, and other hard-billed
birds, do little injury to the farmer while the crops are
growing ; but no sooner is the corn nearly ripe, than
they come down upon it in flocks, and, if not scared away,
devour large quantities : they renew their depredations
when the corn is stacked ; and although the quantity
which each individual purloins in a day is comparatively
trifling, yet, when numbers assemble and continue their
thefts for weeks, — which is often done, — the loss to the
farmer becomes most serious. But, after all, it is the
gardener who suffers most — at least, in this country—
from the depredations of birds. And this gives us the
opportunity of correcting, through more actual experi-
ence and observation, much that we have written upon
this subject elsewhere.* Of all our birds, the most de-
termined foes of the gardener are the different species
of Parus, or tits, and the bullfinch. Against the former
race, indeed, a warfare of extermination should be car-
ried on, — specially in winter, when they are easily seen
in the naked hedges, and more readily shot. The in-
jury done by these little pests to the hardy fruit trees
is beyond all calculation : by biting off the buds, parti-
cularly of the gooseberry bushes, they often reduce the
prospect of a crop to one fourth what it would other-
wise have been. There are two of as fine cherry trees
in our garden as were ever seen : but, from which the
bullfinches and tomtits so effectually pick all the embryo
buds, that we have never had more than a handful of
fruit from both during any one of twelve years. We were

* Loudon's Encyclopedia of Gardening and of Agriculture.

226 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VII.

obliged to relinquish the growth of Indian corn, from
the destructive propensities of these birds ; they strip
off the protecting leaves when the corn is just ripening,
and will often pick out every grain as effectually as if
it had been done by the hand, leaving only the worth-
less husk : we were, for some time, perplexed to ac-
count for this injury, until, by watching, we detected
three species — the Parus ccerukus, major, and ater (or
palustris) — all busily employed, and with the greatest
boldness, in this work of destruction. Blackbirds,
thrushes, and robins are wholesale depredators on the
small fruits, when they are ripe, — particularly the latter,
two or three of which will strip a currant tree in as
many days. Sparrows, comparatively, do little harm
in gardens. We have no room to expatiate on the de-
struction caused to the grain crops by the maize birds
in America, the grakles in Africa, and the parrots in
Australia ; but it is often so great as almost to ruin the
settler, and diminish the property of the landholder.

(238.) Quadrupeds, in such countries as are thinly
inhabited, commit extensive and destructive ravages.
One of the most pernicious is the hippopotamus, or
river horse of Africa, — a large and powerful animal,
which, on leaving the water for its nocturnal ram-
bles, frequently tramples over large plantations of rice,
sugar-canes, &c., tearing up the shrubs, and causing
the most terrible devastation. Another, less formi-
dable in appearance, but equally injurious, is the Mus
Lemmus, or lemming rat, already alluded to as inha-
biting Norway and Lapland ; and which is, we are
informed, at once the wonder and the pest of those
countries. Pennant remarks that " vast numbers have
been known to march (like the army of locusts, so em-
phatically described by the prophet Joel), destroying in
their progress every root of grass, and spreading uni-
versal desolation. They infest the very ground; and
cattle are said to perish with the taste of the grass
which they have touched." The jackal is in some
countries an insidious enemy ; in the daytime drawing

CHAP. VII. INJURIOUS QUADRUPEDS. 227

near the haunts of men, forming near them a subterra-
neous hiding place, and concealing himself in its recesses
until the approach of night, — when he emerges from his
retreat, and attacks eggs, poultry, and other live stock,
which may be within his reach and control, and gene-
rally carries them off in safety.* The Mus Cricetus,
or hamster rat, found in Germany, Poland, and Russia,
is also extremely destructive to grain, by eating vast
quantities itself, and afterwards carrying away still
more in its large cheek pouches, t The squirrels of
North America commit equal ravages among the plant-
ations of maize, — hundreds of them attacking a single
field at once, climbing up the stalks, feasting upon the
sweet corn, and, perhaps, in one night, effecting the
spoliation of the whole crop.J The squirrel of our own
country, however, cannot be classed among the inju-
rious quadrupeds, — for few, with any kind or generous
feelings, would begrudge to this elegant enlivener of
our parks and preserves, a few hazel nuts, upon which
alone it subsists. The Sclurus Carolinensis, or Ca-
rolina squirrel, which is much larger than ours, makes
great devastation among the wheat in some of the states.
Their number, indeed, is often so considerable, that
the children are sent round the fields to scare them
several times a day. At the least noise they run off
by dozens, and take refuge in the trees, — from which,
however, they return to their depredations when their
alarm is over, and are again to be scared away. They
emigrate at the approach of winter ; and often arrive in
Kentucky in such numbers, that the farmers are obliged
to unite in hunting and destroying them.§

(239.) The Fiverra Musanga of Dr. Horsfield is
called in Java the coffee rat, from its infesting and greatly
injuring the coffee plantations ; yet this is a questionable
evil, as it appears to compensate for such mischief, by
afterwards ejecting, uninjured, the seeds of the berries,
— and these propagate the plant in other tracts of thv

* Wood's Zool. p. .193 t Shaw's Zool. vol. i. p. 106

* Id. ibid. p. 29& \ Michaux's Travels, p. 215.

Q 2

228 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VII;

island. Far different, however, is the Jamaica rat,
which is a most dreadful pest to that island. In a
book published on that island*, is the following account
of this animal : — " In no country is there a creature
so destructive of property as the rat is in Jamaica ;
their ravages are inconceivable. One year with an-
other, it is supposed that they destroy, at least, about a
twentieth part of the sugar-canes throughout the island,
amounting to little short of 200,000/. currency per
annum. The sugar cane is their favourite food ; but
they also prey upon the Indian corn, on all the fruits
that are accessible to them, and on many of the roots.
Some idea will be formed of the immense swarms of
these destructive animals that infest this island, from
the fact that, on a single plantation, 30,000 were de-
stroyed in one year. They are of much larger size than
the European rat."t In Java, there is a bat (Pteropus
Javanicus) which, in its nocturnal depredations, de-
stroys, indiscriminately, every kind of fruit. £

(240.) The immense herds of springbock antelopes
in Southern Africa, which have been already described
as migrating in countless numbers, are oftentimes a real
scourge to the settlers. It is scarcely possible for a
person traversing some of the extensive tracts of the in-
terior, and seeing this elegant antelope thinly scattered
over the plains, to persuade himself that these ornaments
of the desert can often become as destructive as the lo-
custs themselves. The incredible numbers which some-
times pour -in from the north during protracted droughts,
distress the farmer inconceivably. Any attempt at nu-
merical computation would be vain ; and, by trying to
come near the truth, the writer would subject himself,
in the estimation of those who have no knowledge of
the country, to a suspicion of exaggeration. And yet
it is well known in the interior, that, on the approach
of the springbock, the grazier is obliged to seek pasture
for his flocks elsewhere ; and that he considers himself

* Cited in No. V. of the Zoo.. Journ.
t Steward's Jamaica, p. 57. et seq.
: Dr. Horsli eld's Zool Researches.

CHAP. VII. DESTRUCTIVE ANTELOPES AND INSECTS. 22Q

dispossessed of his lands so long as these animals re-
main, and till the heavy rains again restore verdure to
the earth. Every attempt to save the cultivated fields
proves abortive, if they he not inclosed by high and
thick hedges. Heaps of dry manure (the only fuel of
Sneeuwbergen and other treeless districts) are placed
close to each other round the fields, and set on fire in
the evening, so as to cause a dense smoke, with the
hopes of frightening away the antelopes ; but the dawn
of day exposes the inefficacy of the precaution, — for
the fields, which were verdant with produce the evening
before, are now covered with thousands of antelopes,
and the crops cut or levelled with the ground. Many
others might be added to the list of quadrupeds which,
in a greater or less degree, inflict injuries upon our pro-
perty; but their depredations are of an inferior nature.
(241.) Insects appear more
insignificant, but they are, on
many occasions, equally de-
structive. These little enemies
consume our plants, eat up
our food, devour our clothes,
books, collections, and furni-
ture, besides proving the tor-
mentors of our domestic ani-
mals. Our horses are often
plagued by many of this tribe,
among which are the various
flies ( Tdbanus Lin.) which at-
tack them during autumn. In
North America, vast clouds of
different species sometimes
" absolutely darken the air,
and inflict so severe a wound,
as to be called burning flies.
Some are as large as humble
bees."*- Cattle are subjected
to equal annoyance ; and their

Kirby and Spence's Ent. vol. i. p. 146.

Q 3

230 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VII.

frantic motions frequently express the torture which
they are suffering, particularly from the effects of the
small gadfly (CE. Bovis Lin. fig. 67. a) which bores a
round hole in the skin, and deposits its eggs in the
wound. Another species of gadfly (CE. Ovis, &) effects
the same purpose in the nostrils of sheep, in the inner
margin of which they lay their eggs ; from whence
the maggots (c) make their way into the head, feeding
in the maxillary and frontal sinuses on the mucilage
there produced. Our dogs are not free from their par-
ticular tormentors. Besides the flea, and their own pe
culiar vermin, they suffer dreadfully from an insect
called the dog-tick (Acarus Lin.), which, after being se-
curely fixed in their flesh, will so gorge itself with the
animal's blood, that it will swell from the size of a
pin's head to that of a small bean.

(242.) Different species of grain, no less than of vege-
tables, are liable to be affected and spoiled by the depre-
dations of insects. Wheat, in the earliest stages of its
growth, is attacked by a species which devours the heart
or central part; so that " out of fifty acres sown with
this grain, in 1802, ten had been destroyed by the grub
in question, as early as October." * Even when laid up
in the granary it is not secure; for the weevil (Calandra
granaria Fab.) preys upon it both in its larva and its
perfect state. The devastation which this insect has the
power of committing, may be estimated from the fact
that a '' single pair of these destroyers may produce,
in one year, above 6000 descendants."f Many species
effect sad ravages in our fields and pastures ; among
these is the common cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris
Fab.), which continues in its larva state for the space
of four years, sometimes destroying whole acres of
grass; and, in the year 1785, many provinces of
France were so beset with this animal, that a pre-
mium was offered by the government for the best mode
of their extirpation.^ The hop plant is completely at the

* Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 169. f ld« ibid. p. 173.

t Id. ibid, p. 180.

CHAP. VII. INSECTS DESTRUCTIVE IN GARDENS. 231

mercy of several insects, which attack different parts :
abroad, the sugar cane is in the power of others, which
baffle all the care and labours of the planter. One of
these is a species of ant, which takes shelter under the
root, and renders the whole plant unproductive : such
multitudes of this insect appeared, a few years ago, in
the island of Jamaica, as both to over-run the country,
and put an entire stop to cultivation.* There is
scarcely a vegetable in our gardens which is not the
prey of one or more of these tiny, but active and in-
sidious, enemies. There are some which devour, in-
discriminately, every different species which we cul-
tivate. Among these we may reckon the caterpillar of
a moth (Noctua Gamma, fig. 68.), so named from its

bearing on its larger
wings a silvery charac-
ter, resembling that
Greek letter. This in-
sect swarmed so fright-
fully in France, in
1735, that the roads
were covered with im-
mense flocks, which were swarming from one garden
to another, while a general idea prevailed that they were
poisonous; in consequence of which the people abstained
altogether from the use of herbs, t The Aphides, also,
are sad destroyers of our flowers and shrubs.

(243.) Fruits have also their respective and per-
severing devourers, who either deface or gradually con-
sume them. A small saw-fly attaches its eggs to the
lower side of the leaves of the gooseberry, upon which,
when hatched, the animal feeds in society ; till, having
destroyed the one on which they were born, they separate
from each other, and frequently devour so rapidly, that
very soon nothing is left but the bare skeletons of the
leaves, the almost naked branches, and the half-ripened
but shrivelled fruit. The apple Aphis, called, by some,
the Coccus, but well known under the name of the

* Int. to.Ent. vol: i. p. 185. t Id. ibid. p. 193.

232 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VII. ,

American blight, which covers itself with a cottony
substance exuding from the pores of its own body,
compasses the destruction of many thousands of the
trees on which it dwells, — taking up its abode in the
bark, and continually drawing away the sap. A small
beetle (Bostrichus typographus Fab.), however, occasions,
in Germany, still greater mischief. In its preparatory
state, it feeds upon the soft inner bark of the fir ; but
it does this in immense numbers, 80,000 being some-
times discovered in one tree; and " such is its vitality,
that though the bark be battered, and the tree plunged
into water, or laid upon the ice or snow, it remains
alive, unhurt.". In 1783, the number of trees de-
stroyed by this insect, in the Hartz forests alone, was
calculated at a million and a half.* The locust (fig.
69.), however, that pest of Eastern countries, is yet

more destructive, as our former remarks, under the head
of Migration, will abundantly prove. On a cursory
glance at this insect, we could scarcely believe it capable
of inflicting such misery upon mankind. Certain it is,
however, that these animals may be considered among
the most dreadful plague to which some countries, and
Africa particularly, is exposed ; and from which most
parts of Europe have not been free. From 1778 to
1780, the whole empire of Morocco was laid waste by
swarms of locusts, so that a severe famine ensued,
which destroyed numbers of the inhabitants. The
whole country was covered with them ; — every particle
of vegetation disappeared; — and when, at length, they
were carried, by a hurricane, into the Western Ocean,

* Int. to.Ent. voL i. p. 21.

CHAP. VII. DOMESTIC INSECTS. ANTS. 233

the shore was strewed with their dead bodies, the efflu-
via from which produced a general pestilence.*

(244.) Houses, furniture, clothing, food, and medi-
cine, — in fact, everything which belongs to us, — are
more or less liable to the depredations of insects. The
grub of Tenebrio Molitor Lin. devours our meal,
flour, and other farinaceous substances, in which it will
exist for two years before it passes into its state of
inactivity. Flies and wasps will consume almost in-
credible quantities of sugar ; and the latter are the
greatest destroyers of all stone fruit. Sweetmeats are the
prey of a small oblong mite; and cheeses, we well know,
are frequently over-run with another species (Acarus
Siro Lin.). Vinegar swarms with the maggots of a
little fly (Musca cellaris Lin.) ; and even dried meats —
such as hams, bacon, &c. — have their peculiar insect
(Dermestes lardarius), which carries on, with consider-
able celerity, the work of devastation, — a fact known to
every housekeeper.

(245.) The ants of Guiana and Surinam are the
greatest pests of houses. Stedman says, — " On visiting
my boxes, I found that great depredations had been
committed by the ants, which, throughout Guiana, are
very numerous, and of so many different species, that
I once had a pair of new cotton stockings perfectly
destroyed by them in one night only : those which fre-
quent the estates are generally small, but very trouble-
some. The only possible way of keeping them from
the refined sugar is, by hanging the loaf to the ceiling
by a nail, and making a ring of dry chalk around it,
very thick, which crumbles down the moment the ants
attempt to pass it. I imagined that placing my sugar
boxes in the middle of a tub, and on stone, surrounded
with deep water, would have kept back this formidable
enemy ; but to no purpose : whole armies of the lighter
sort, to my astonishment, marched over the surface,
and but very few of them were drowned. The main
body constantly scaled the rock, and, in spite of all my

* Int. to Ent vol. i. p. 221.

234 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VII.

efforts, made their entry through the keyholes ; after
which, the only way to clear the garrison is, to expose
it to a hot sun, which the invaders cannot bear, and all
march off1 in a few minutes." There is a species of
ant In Guiana, called the fire ant, of small size, but
capable of inflicting excessive pain. Whole armies of
these attacked captain Stedman and his party during
the day. " These insects," he says, ' ' are black, and very
diminutive j but live in such amazing multitudes to-
gether, that their hillocks have sometimes obstructed
our passage by their size, over which if one chances to
pass, the feet and legs are instantly covered with in-
numerable hosts of these creatures, which seize the skin
with such violence, in their pincers, that they will sooner
suffer the head to be parted from the body, than let go
their hold. The burning pain which they occasion,
cannot, in my opinion, proceed from the sharpness of
the pincers only, but must be owing to some venomous
fluid which they infuse, or which the wound imbibes
from them. I can aver that I have seen them make a
whole company hop about as if they had been scalded
with boiling water." *

(246.) Another species, noticed by the same writer,
is no less remarkable for its extraordinary size, — being
an inch in length, and perfectly black. These insects
pillage a tree of all its leaves in a short time, which
they cut in small pieces, the size of a sixpence, and
carry under ground. It was indeed entertaining to see
a whole army of these creatures crawling perpetually
the same way, each with his green leaf in a perpendicular
direction. Some of the natives seem to have an idea
that this was to feed a blind serpent under ground ;
but the truth is, it serves for nourishment to their
young brood, who cannot help themselves, and are'
sometimes lodged to the depth of eight feet in the earth.
Their bite, however, is not near so painful as that of
the fire ant just mentioned. In Ceylon is an insect,
probably a species of ant, found in dwelling houses,

* Voyage to Surinam, vol. ii. p. 94.

CHAP. VII. WHITE ANTS IN INDIA. 235

which devours everything in its way; so that, if a
person chance to drop but a piece of bread, or any
other food, it is instantly surrounded by these creatures,
who seize upon and endeavour to convey it away. No-
thing has been found which will in any way check
their invasions; and it is even, says our authority*, not
unusual to see a cup of, tea, when poured out, entirely
covered with them, their dead bodies floating on it like
a scum.

(247.) India, as well as Africa, besides being over-
run with insects, swarms likewise with Termites, or the
white ants, which absolutely eat up everything, less
hard than glass or metal, which comes in their way.
These little miners, however, are so ingenious in their
depredations, that, although the timber-work of a
spacious apartment is often destroyed by them in a few
nights, it appears, outwardly, the same, — as they always
consume, first, the interior of whatever substance they
penetrate, and seldom attack the outside until they have
previously concealed themselves and their operations
by a coat of clay.t An amusing anecdote is told of the
white ants of India, by captain Williamson, which, al-
though improbable, is worth repeating. " A gentleman
in India had charge of a chest of money, which, being
put on the floor of his house, in a damp situation, was
speedily attacked by the Termites, — these insects having
previously effected a lodgment in the same quarters,
but under the ground. The bottom of the box was, of
course, the first part they attacked ; they then destroyed
the bags containing the specie, which, being thus set
loose, fell gradually into the hollows of the ants' burrow.
When the cash was called for, the beholders were lost
in amazement at the prodigious powers of both teeth
and stomach possessed by these little marauders, whom,
in their simplicity, they thought Ijad devoured the con-
tents. Upon further search, however, — probably set on
foot by those more rational, — the whole amount of the
treasure was found, sunk deep in the earth, but covered

* Perceval's Ceylon, p. 307. t Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 245,

236 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VII.

over with fragments of wood and earth."* Kaempfer
tells us of the white ants of Japan, that he one morning
discovered that one of their galleries, the size of his
little finger, had been formed up one foot, across the
top, and down another foot of his table, into the floor,
in the course of a single night. Nor do these creatures
pursue their ruinous labours merely upon land, for they
frequently attack vessels upon the sea ; and a British
ship of the line, the Albion, was once in such a condition
in consequence, that, had she not been strongly lashed
together, it is thought that she would have foundered
on her voyage home : when brought into port, she was
in such a state as to be considered of no further use.-j-

(248.) The annoyances which residents in India
are exposed to from various sorts of animals, seem to
be as numerous and distressing as those described by
Smeathman on the African coast, and which are more
or less to be found in all tropical countries. In India,
nearly all snakes have a propensity to enter houses, not
only as a temporary shelter, but to possess themselves
of the numerous rat burrows, wherein to remain con-
cealed. The abundance of vermin to be seen in houses,
even of the first class, proves the original incitement,
in fact, for snakes to venture in. The rats, however,
soon scent their enemy, and lose no time in shifting
their quarters ; and yet both these will frequently be
found inhabiting the thatch of the same dwelling.
The presence of snakes is generally announced by some
of the family being bit in their beds ; or, perhaps, by
the contests between the parties, — both the snake and
the rat tumbling down on the floor from the inside of
the roof. " I was once dining with a friend," ob-
serves our authority, " when our attention was sud-
denly arrested by a Cobra di Capello and a rat, both
falling from the thatch upon one of the dishes on the
table. I know not which of the four were first out of
the room ! " J

* Williamson's Orient Sports, vol. ii. p. 90.

f Int. to Ent. vol. i. p. 2*7. I Williamson, vol. ii. p. 171.

CHAP. VII. RAVAGES OF THE TEREDO NAVALIS. 237

(249.) The last mentioned animals, although ene-
mies, are still united together in one work of injury to
man. It is a fact, authenticated by the testimony of
travellers, and highly probable in itself, that the burst-
ing of the artificial banks of rivers in India is in most
cases caused by snakes, rats, and other vermin. These
embankments are raised for the purpose of keeping the
rivers within due bounds during the rainy season, by
which large tracts of country are preserved from annual
inundation. These banks are the favourite resort of
rats and other burrowing animals, which, in no very
long process of years, work their way nearly, if not
completely, through. Though their burrows may be
near the surface, the ultimate effect is much the same.

(250.) A few species of shelly molluscous animals are
sometimes dreadfully destructive. The most formidable
is the Teredo navalis, a worm-like animal, which lines
with a shelly matter the windings or irregular cavities
which it forms in wood or other substances ; its head
is armed with a pair of very strong calcareous or shelly
jaws, with which it works its way into the substance it
inhabits, which is generally the wood of the bottom of
ships. About the year 1730, the most flourishing
republic in Europe was made to tremble at the name of
this seemingly insignificant creature ; the dykes of
Holland, during that year, exhibited such marks of
decay in many parts, where they had been attacked by
these animals, that great apprehensions were entertained
of the woodwork giving way.*

* Shaw's Zool. Lect, ii. p. 169.

238 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

CHAP. VIII.

ON THE HYBERNATION, TORPIDITY, AND MIGRATION
OP ANIMALS.

(251.) THE changeful breezes of spring have passed
and the glowing warmth of a summer's sun gladdens
and revives all nature. Everything looks bright and
joyous ; and the animal, as well as the vegetable world,
appears endued with fresh life, and strength, and vigour.
The note of love, and the voice of happiness, resound
through the woods and meadows, uniting in one sweet
and general chorus ; while, to the pious heart, this uni-
versal concert seems, in the accents of harmony, to
speak the praises of that great and gracious Being whose
creative hand first formed, and still sustains, the won-
drous whole. But the bloom of spring passes away;
the genial fire of summer soon exhausts itself; and
winter, with its stern and chilling aspect, closes the
annual circle of time. What, then, becomes of that
variety of animals, many of whose delicate forms are
incapable of sustaining the rigour of this inhospitable
season ? Are they left, unprotected, to meet their
destiny, or struggle with their fate ? No : the same
wise and merciful God, who first called them into life,
now directs them, by an unerring instinct, in what
manner to prepare for the storm and the tempest. And,
perhaps, in no part of the wise economy of nature is
the Almighty agency more clearly apparent, than in
these several preparations for a period which none of
them could foresee, and the approaches of which many
of them had never before experienced.

(252.) Animals avoid extreme cold in three different
ways, — by hybernation, by torpor, and by migration.

CHAP. VIII. HYBERNATION OF REPTILES. 239

We shall now take a rapid view of the animal circle,
and slightly touch upon such as afford us examples of
these instincts. The first two will be treated of con-
jointly ; the migration of animals, separately.

(253.) Of the manner in which such zoophytes and
animalcula; as survive the year, pass the winter months,
in cold latitudes, we know very little. The greater
part of those which are not formed to survive the year,
naturally perish, having reached their destined age ; but
such as are of longer life, and are endowed with loco-
motion, in all probability retire to the deep recesses of
the ocean, or, at least, beyond the influence of atmo-
spheric air ; while, according to Ellis *, they are gene-
rally found to be contracted, or torpid, during this
period. With regard to the Mollusca, or shellfish,
our information is equally defective. From the num-
ber of empty shells frequently seen on the margins of
our freshwater ponds, it seems probable that several of
our native fluviatile univalves perish in autumn, while
the rest retire to the deepest crevices. Most of the
land shells close the opening of their habitations, at the
beginning of winter, with a thick white cover, or false
operculum t, by which it is securely sheltered ; they
also seek a further protection in the hollows of banks
and trees. The garden slug generally forms for itself
a winter retreat beneath the earth, close to the roots of
plants.

(254.) REPTILES are particularly subject to the law
of torpidity. The Greek tortoise ( Testudo Grteca), and
probably others of the same group, burrows a hole in the
ground, into which it retires for several months. White
of Selborne, who attentively observed the manners and
habits of one of these animals, states, that it regularly
took up its subterranean station in November, and did
not reappear until the following April. Having oc-
casion to carry it from the residence of the lady to
whom it belonged, to his own house in Hampshire, it

* Essay on Coral. Introd. p. 14.

•t The true operculum of spiral shells is always either horny and elastic,
or stony and rigid.

240 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

was dug up in March, 1780, and conveyed in a chaise
to the place of its destination. An eighty miles journey
had so far recovered it from its torpor, that it walked
about for a short time on being turned into the garden;
but towards evening, the weather being cold, it again
insinuated itself into the earth, and remained in con-
cealment for a month. The green lizard of Carolina
hastens, on the approach of winter, into the hollows
or crevices of decayed trees ; and the chamseleon retires
into the holes of rocks, or some other equally safe re-
treat, where it is supposed to become torpid. Similar
retreats, we suspect, are chosen by the numerous lizards
of the South of Europe, — more especially as they are
always more numerous near stone walls and rocks, in
the spring, than in any other localities. Serpents, in-
habiting^ cold and temperate climates, become torpid
during the winter. They are said principally to retire
under ground, from whence they emerge upon the re-
turn of warm weather. We are told, by an American
writer, that, on a fine spring day, numbers of rattle-
snakes may be seen creeping out, in an apparently lan-
guid state, and assembling together, for the object of
basking in the rays of the sun.

(255.) Passing over the class of BIRDS, in which
no well-authenticated instance of hybernation or tor-
pidity is known, it may be observed, that QUADRUPEDS
have three different modes of guarding against winter,
— — . viz., migrating, burrowing, or becoming torpid. Few
species, comparatively, are migratory animals ; for their
locomotive powers being much more confined than those
of birds, it would be impossible for them to pass over
such enormous distances as would produce a change
of climate.

(256.) The Alpine hare, and the field mouse, are
interesting examples among the instances of burrowing
quadrupeds ; and the sagacious care with which these
animals provide for their winter support is truly ad-
mirable. The most remarkable of the torpid quadru-
peds are the bears of North America, who are ^ell

CHAP. VIII. HIBERNATION OP QUADRUPEDS. 241

known to form caves, in which they fall into a state of
complete or partial somnolency. Bats,, in the same
manner, retire into caverns, hollow trees, or old build-
ings, in vast numbers, where they pass the winter in a
state of torpidity. The loir, or fat dormouse, however,
is a more interesting example : it rolls itself into a ball,
and, in that state, as it has been said, may be tossed
about without its being awakened to consciousness, —
nothing appearing to effect its resuscitation but long
exposure to heat.*

(257.) The jumping mouse of Canada, according to
a communication made by general Davies, makes a very
curious and artificial preparation for the cold season, —
a specimen of which was discovered in a gentleman's
garden, about two miles from Quebec, in the latter end
of May, 1787. " It was," we are told, " inclosed in
a ball of clay, about the size of a cricket-ball, nearly
an inch in thickness, perfectly smooth within, and about
twenty inches under ground. The man," it is added,
"who first discovered it, not knowing what it was,
struck the ball with his spade, by which means it was
broken to pieces, or the ball would also have been pre-
sented to me." -j- The M us Cricetus, or hamster, how-
ever, above all other quadrupeds, appears to fall into
the most complete torpidity; — every animal function
being so completely deadened, that it is said the creature
may be cut open without exhibiting any signs of sensi-
bility: the heart, however, may be observed to contract
and dilate alternately, — but with a motion so slow, that
the pulsations do not exceed fourteen or fifteen in the
space of a minute. The strongest stimulants are of no
avail ; and the electric shock may be passed through the
animal without exciting any appearance of irritability.^:

(258.) Amphibious animals of cold and temperate
climates generally pass the winter, like the tortoises,
beneath the surface, in a state of torpidity. Frogs and
toads both burrow into the earth at this season. Mr.

* Wood's Zool. vol. iii. p. 119. f Linn. Trans, vol. iv. p. 156.

$ Sbaw's Zool. Lect. vol. i. p. 10&

24-2 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

Hearne, the traveller, when in Arctic America, met
with frogs in such a completely frozen state, that, al-
though their legs were hroken, the injury did not ap-
pear to cause the slightest sensation to the animal. He,
however, adds, that, hy wrapping them up in skins,
and exposing them to a slow fire, they have been re-
stored to activity.

(259.) The generality of INSECTS, during winter, pass
into a state of temporary torpor. " The sites chosen
for their hybernacula," as Messrs. Kirhy and Spence
well observe, " are very various; — some merely insinu-
ate themselves under any large stone ; others prefer a
collection of dead leaves, or the moss on the sheltered
side of an old wall or bank ; others seek a retreat in
the moss itself, or bury themselves deep in the rotten
trunk ; while numbers penetrate into the earth to the
depth of several inches; . . . Those insects which bear
considerable cold without injury, are less careful about
their winter retreats; while the more tender species
either enter the earth beyond the reach of frost, or
prepare for themselves artificial cavities in various sub-
stances, such as moss and rotten wood, which conduct
heat with difficulty, and defend them from an inju-
riously low temperature." * The same authors also
state, that the first cold weather which occurs after in-
sects have entered their winter quarters, produces pre-
cisely the same effect upon them as upon many species
of the larger animals. " At first, a partial benumbment
takes place ; but the insect, if touched, is still capable
of moving its organs. But, as the cold increases, all
the animal functions cease ; — the insect breathes no
longer, and has no need of a supply of air ; its nu-
tritive secretions cease, and no more food is required ;
the muscles lose their irritability, and it has all the
external symptoms of death. In this state it continues
during the existence of great cold ; but the degree of
its torpidity varies with the temperature of the atmo-
sphere. The recurrence of a mild day, such as we

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 440.

CHAP. VIII. HYBERNATION OP INSECTS. 24*3

sometimes have in winter, infuses a partial animation
into th3 stiffened animal : if disturbed, its limbs and
antennae resume their power of extension ; and even the
faculty of spurting out their defensive fluid is re-ac-
quired by many beetles. But, however mild the atmo-
sphere in winter, the great bulk of hybernating insects,
as if conscious of the deceptive nature of their pleasur-
able feelings, and that no food could then be procured,
never quit their quarters, but quietly wait for a renewal
of their insensibility by a fresh accession of cold."*

(260.) Insects, whether in the egg or pupa state, are,
by the efforts of instinct, placed in such situations as
will best secure them from the effects of cold. Thus,
the majority of the grasshoppers, as well as several other
insects, insinuate their eggs deep into the earth, where
they will be out of the reach of frost ; while the female
of Bombyx Neustria covers hers with an unusually
strong and hard shell, and gums them in bracelets round
the twigs of hawthorn, &c. firmly securing them to the
bark with a very adhesive gum : thus they are protected
from the blasts and storms of winter, and, being impene-
trable to rain, they remain uninjured. Those insects
which continue, during winter, in the pupa state, are
often protected by cocoons of silk and other materials ;
but such as are more hardy, as the pupae of the common
cabbage butterflies, receive no injury from being naked,
although they are usually suspended in some such shel-
tered situation, as the corners of palings, the south side
of walls, &c. Those, on the other hand, which hyber-
nate in the larva state, either conceal themselves in
some hole or cavity ; or, if aquatic, bore into the sand
or mud, round the pools which they inhabit. It is a
most extraordinary but well-attested fact, however, that
some species of larva become so entirely frozen, as to
appear literal masses of ice, which will yet afterwards
revive. In proof of this, Lister asserts t that he has
found caterpillars which have actually chinked like

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 442.
f Lister, Goedart. de Insectas, p. 76.
E 2

244 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

stones when dropped into a glass, but which have yet
recovered to life and vigour, t It is unfortunate that
he has not left us a sufficient clue to discover the par-
ticular species in question.

(26l.) The hybernation of insects, as it has been
justly observed, cannot be ascribed altogether to the
effect of cold, since it is proved that the period of their
seclusion is not regulated by the state of the atmosphere.
Insects are uniformly found to retire at a certain period,
without any reference to those variations of the climate
which would otherwise cause corresponding variations
in their disappearance. To what, then is to be attri-
buted this apparently wise forethought with which ani-
mals prepare for a season, the rigours of which they are
neither formed to endure, nor have had any experience
of? Most assuredly, to that same instinct which ac-
counts for so much in their habits and economy other-
wise inexplicable to us. It is clearly impossible that
this apparent forethought can be anything else but in-
bred instinct, of which they know neither the cause nor
the effect; because they have had no experience to
guide them, or to show them the necessity of the pre-
parations they thus make. Reflection and forethought
cannot be employed upon things or events which are
totally unknown. Neither can it be put down to the
force of example or imitation, — as may be urged in the
case of swallows, or other animals, which migrate, or
perform certain acts in society. Nearly all insects select
their winter quarters singly; and this, not until they are
compelled by cold, as Kirby and Spence justly observe,
but at certain periods, uninfluenced, as far as we know,
by any change of the atmosphere. The hybernation of
insects, in short, is one of the best proofs that animals
do not enjoy reason, and of the real difference between
that faculty and instinct, that can possibly be adduced.

(262.) The MIGRATION of animals, and the sociability
with which it is generally accompanied, is one of the
most interesting subjects in the economy of nature. It
might, indeed, have been treated of, under the following

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 245

chapter, as a modification of the imperfect societies of
the animal world ; but, being more intimately connected
with hybernation, we introduce it in this place. These
unions, independent of other and more paramount
causes, would seem to be produced by a love of so-
ciability, or by some feeling corresponding to that pro-
pensity of timid people congregating at the time of any
common danger or hazardous enterprise. It does not
appear, however, that, upon these occasions, the stronger
assist the weaker, or the courageous protect the pusilla-
nimous, — at least, this mutual support is not put forth
when man is the aggressor ; and we, consequently,
have few or no opportunities of judging in respect of
their conduct when attacked by other foes. But be this
as it may, the associations in question are of a very dif-
ferent character from those last mentioned. They are
essentially peaceful ; and carry the mind back to those
primitive ages of the world, when the patriarchs of
families, accompanied by their descendants, journeyed to
fresh fields and more fruitful valleys, as those spots suc-
cessively became inadequate for the entire and increased
community. They seem to congregate, not for the mere
gratification of a sensual appetite, but to live together
for a season in peace and harmony; journeying and
feeding together, and generally moving under the direc-
tion of sagacious leaders. We have numerous and fa-
miliar instances of such associations both among ver-
tebrated and the annulose animals ; for in both classes
is the instinct of migration, in certain families, strongly
implanted. Looking to quadrupeds, we find the mon-
keys of the New World (and, no doubt, those of the
Old) changing their quarters, according -as the seasons
bring to perfection different species of fruits upon which
they feed : when these become exhausted, they bend
their course to other localities, in joyous and agile troops,
the females carrying their young ; and thus, leaping
from bough to bough, they travel a long chain of forests,
many leagues in extent, until they reach the next fruit-
bearing district, — which is, in turn, abandoned for others
B 3

246 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

more distant. We shall not here speculate upon the
causes of migrations generally, since these simultaneous
movements appear to originate from various motives, —
but of which a necessary supply of food seems to be the
chief: our present purpose is to show its effects.

(263.) As united migration implies a great develop-
ment of the social principle, we find it most remarkable
among quadrupeds in the class of Ungulata, comprising
the ruminants, and all those tribes whose docility to-
wards man is most conspicuous. A few instances may
be briefly noticed. The Saiga antelopes (Antelope Coins
H. Smith) are sociable and migratory, especially in the
autumn, — when they assemble, sometimes to the number
of ten thousand, in a herd, and traverse towards more
southerly deserts, — returning, in the spring, in smaller
troops. They are unwilling to reside far from water;
are seldom seen single ; and the herd, when in a state of
repose, always keep a few stationed to look out. But
perhaps the most striking instance of this instinct is
afforded by the springer antelope or springbock of the
Cape colonists. This species resides on the plains of
Southern Africa, to an unknown distance in the interior,
in flocks, assembling in vast herds, and migrating from
north to south, and back, with the monsoons. These
migrations, which are said to take place, in their most
numerous form, only at the intervals of several years,
appear to come from the north-east, and in masses of
many thousands, — devouring, like locusts, every green
herb. The foremost of these vast flocks are fat, and
the rear exceedingly lean, while the direction continues
one way ; but with the change of the monsoon, when
they return towards the north, the rear become the
leaders, fattening in their turn, and leaving the others
to pick up a scanty subsistence.* Mr. Burchell, speak-
ing of the same species, observes, that it is one of the
most numerous in Africa, — sometimes being seen in
flocks of two thousand. The most animated account,
however, is that of Le Vaillant, which we shall give in

* H. Smith, Cuv. vol. iv. p. 209.

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATION OF ANTELOPES. 247

his own words.* '" Being informed that the herd was
approaching, I immediately set out with Haripa, my
attendant, who posted me in a1 defile of the plain,
through which the antelopes must necessarily pass.
We had not long remained in this position, when we
saw rising from the sides of the hills, clouds of dust,
which seemed every moment to extend themselves and
become larger. He then desired me to lie down upon
my belly, with my face towards the ground ; and in
this posture, which appeared to me very little proper
for hunting, I waited the event in silence. The an-
telopes advanced full speed ; and did not fail to direct
their rcourse towards us, as he had foreseen. As the
situation we had taken did not permit them to see us,
they were not startled, but proceeded forward without
altering their direction : when about two thousand of
them, however, had passed us, he rose up, began to
discharge his arrows, and desired me to fire at the same
time. I was fully sensible that, when the herd was
pnce put in motion, the antelopes in the rear would
follow the rest ; and that during the impression of their
fear, which made them fly and press forward in crowds
towards us, they would not be able to perceive us. I
saw, also, that the savages, by despatching them silently
with their arrows, ran no risk of scaring them ; but I
was apprehensive that, if I fired my gun, the explosion
would spread terror among them, and that they would
then return the way they came. My apprehensions,
however, though founded in* reason, were not verified.
I fired repeatedly in all directions ; but the column
continued to advance as before, — and fear produced upon
them no other effect than that of making them move
on faster. I frequently poured the contents of my gun
into the middle of this confused multitude, and each of
my balls often brought down several of them at a time.
Had I wished, I might easily, in this manner, have
procured a hundred ; and I only ceased firing, merely
because such a quantity of game would have been of

* Irar. vol. ii. p. 109.

» 4

248 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

no use to me. Every time I discharged my piece at
these antelopes, all their rumps, immediately, and at the
same moment, became white ; and those thousands of
red hacks flying before me formed, as it were, one sheet
of snow, — which seemed displayed, only to disappear
again in an instant." It is difficult, as our author well
observes, to account for " the prodigious multiplication
of these antelopes in a country so infested with carni-
vorous animals as the whole of Southern Africa. I
had," he says, " in other places, met a few of their
numerous flocks ; but when I beheld this, I often
wondered how so many thousands of animals — which,
by their number, must have dried up the streams and
consumed the pasturage of a whole district — could
live in a place so barren and destitute of water. But
though antelopes, as well as goats, have not the same
need of drink as other animals, they, doubtless, in-
habit more fertile cantons, — and there were such in the
neighbourhood. In short, to give my readers an idea
how numerous this herd was, I shall only say that,
notwithstanding the rapidity of its course, it employed
three whole hours in passing the spot where ,1 was
stationed."

(264.) The antelopes and ruminating quadrupeds

of America appear also to assemble in very large num-

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATION OF MICE. 249

bers at particular seasons. Dr. Richardson remarks
of the Caribou, or Barren Ground reindeer (./?#. 70.),
(c that it travels in herds,, varying in number from eight
or ten to two or three hundred." * And captain Lyon
adds, that they regularly visit the polar regions at the
latter end of May, or the early part of June, and re-
main until late in September. The woodland reindeer
(Rangifer sylvestris Sw.) cross the Nelson and Severn
rivers in immense herds in the month of May, pass
the summer on the marshy shores of James's Bay, and
return to the northward in September, t These in-
stances, taken almost at random from among the true
ruminants, sufficiently establishes the frequency, in this
order of quadrupeds, of regular migration.

(26'5.) Among the Glires, or gnawing animals, these
movements, although conducted on a scale equally large,
generally occur at uncertain periods ; and they there-
fore, in all probability, originate in other causes than a
search after food. The history of the economic field
mouse, as given by Pallas, affords a striking instance of
this : their migrations take place in uncertain years,
but chiefly in the spring, at which season they assemble
in surprising numbers : this mighty host proceeds in a
direct course westward, occasionally swimming with
the utmost intrepidity over rivers, lakes, and even arms
of the sea. During these perilous adventures, some
are drowned, or fall a prey to fish or other enemies;
those which escape, rest awhile to bask, dry their fur,
and refresh themselves, and then again set out on
their migration. On these occasions the flocks are so
numerous, that an observer has waited two hours to see
them all pass.

(266.) The migratory habits of the lemming, ob-
serves major Smith, almost exceed credibility, were
they not authenticated on very respectable authority.
The natural or general residence of this animal is in
the mountains of Lapland and Norway, — from which
tracts, .at particular but uncertain periods, it descends
* North. Zool. vol. i. p. £45. \ f Id. ibid. p. 250,

250 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

into the plains below., in immense troops ; and, by its
incredible numbers, becomes a temporary scourge to
the country, — devouring the grain and herbage, and
committing devastations equal to those caused by an
army of locusts. These migrations seldom happen
oftener than once in ten years ; and, in some districts,
still less frequently. They are supposed to originate
from an unusual multiplication of the animals, and a
consequent defect of food ; and, perhaps, an instinctive
prescience of unfavourable seasons : for it has been
observed that their chief migrations are made in the
autumn of such years as are followed by a very severe
winter. On these occasions they collect themselves
into an army, and descend from the mountains into
the neighbouring plains in a firm phalanx, moving on
in a straight line, resolutely surmounting every ob-
stacle: their efforts, undismayed by every danger,
cannot be contemplated without astonishment. All
who have written on the subject agree that they pro-
ceed in a direct course ; so that the ground along which
they have passed appears, at a distance, as if it had
been ploughed, — the grass being devoured to the very
roots in numerous stripes or parallel paths, of one or
two spans broad, and at the distance of some ells from
each other. This army of mice move chiefly by night,
or early in the morning, devouring the herbage in such
a manner that the surface appears as if burnt. No
obstacles alter their route, — neither fires, nor deep
ravines, nor torrents, nor marshes, nor lakes ; they
proceed obstinately in a straight line, — and hence it
happens that many thousands perish in the waters, and
are found dead on "the shores. If & rick of hay or
corn occurs in their passage, they eat through it j but
if rocks intervene, which they cannot pass, they go
round, and then resume their former straight direction.
If disturbed or pursued while swimming over a lake,
and their phalanx separated by oars or poles, they will
not recede, but keep swimming directly on, and soon
get into order again : they have even sometimes been

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS. 251

known to endeavour to board or pass over a vessel.
On their passage overland, if attacked by men, they
will raise themselves up, utter a kind of barking sound,
and fly at the legs of their invaders ; and will fasten
so fiercely at the end of a stick, as to suffer themselves
to be swung about before they will quit their hold, and
are with great difficulty put to flight. It is said that
an intestine war sometimes takes place in these armies,
during their migration, and that the animals thus de-
stroy each other.

(267.) In the class of BIRDS, migration is much
more general, and has, consequently, attracted greater
attention from zoological writers. It is not our inten-
tion to go into all the details of this subject, — our
purpose being chiefly confined to one of its numerous
ramifications. Whatever may be the combination of
causes which instinctively lead birds, no less than
other animals, to perform long and dangerous journey s,
certain it is that the desire and necessity of procuring
a supply of suitable food, either for themselves or for
their expected progeny, is the chief impelling motive.
The annual arrival of our summer insectivorous birds,
no less than of the aquatic species in winter, places this
beyond doubt. The comparatively short migrations of
the frugivorous families peculiar to Tropical America
are guided by the same principle : they are seen in
particular districts or provinces at regular and stated
periods, — arriving when certain fruits are ripe, and
departing so soon as the season of their food is over
The most remarkable migrations, both as to the num-
bers congregated together, and to the extent of space
they go through, are performed by birds belonging to
the natatorial and the grallatorial types of form. Hence
we find that among perching birds, the fissirostral tribe,
which represents the first of these types, contains the
whole family of swallows (Hirundinidci). These,
also, are represented by the ducks, the bee-eaters, the
flycatchers, and the passenger pigeons (Ectopistes Sw.).
Next to these are the grallatorial types, comprising the

52 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

waders generally: these, however, are more properly
wanderers, since their visits are always transient, even
in countries where an equal temperature and a suffi-
ciency of food exist at all seasons. Migratory species,
however, occur in every order of the feathered creation ;
but it is highly probable that by far the greater number
of these, when better known, will be found represent-
atives of either natatorial or grallatorial types. The
migrations of the swallow family are too well known to
require repetition in this place, but those of the pas-
senger pigeons of North America (Ectopistes migratoria
SwtJ jig. 71.) are certainly without parallel in this

class of animals : we shall, therefore, relate their extra-
ordinary history in the words of an eye-witness.

(26'8.) " The passenger pigeon/' observes Wilson,
{ ' merits a distinguished place in our annals of the
feathered tribes. The most remarkable characteristic
of these birds is their associating together, both in their
migrations, and also during the period of incubation, in
such prodigious numbers as almost to surpass belief.
These migrations appear to be undertaken rather in
quest of food, than merely to avoid cold, — since we find
them lingering in the northern regions, around Hudson's
Bay, so late as December ; and since their appearance
is so casual and irregular, sometimes not visiting certain
districts, for several years, in any considerable numbers,
while at other times they are innumerable. I have
•witnessed these migrations in the Gennessee country,
often in Pennsylvania, and also in various parts of Vir-
ginia, with amazement; but all that I had then seen of

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATORY PIGEON OP AMERICA. 253

them were mere straggling parties, when compared
with the congregated millions which I have since
beheld in our western forests, in the states of Ohio,
Kentucky, and Indiana. These fertile and extensive
regions abound with the nutritious beech nut, which
constitutes the chief food of the wild pigeon. In
seasons when these nuts are abundant, corresponding
multitudes of pigeons may be confidently expected. It
sometimes happens that, having consumed the whole
produce of the beech trees in an extensive district, they
discover another, at the distance, perhaps, of sixty or
eighty miles, to which they regularly repair every morn-
ing, and return as regularly in the course of the day, or in
the evening, to their place of general rendezvous, or, as
it is usually called, the roosting place. These roosting
places are always in the woods, and sometimes occupy
a large extent of forest. When they have frequented
one of these places for some time, the appearance it
exhibits is surprising. The ground is covered to the
depth of several inches with their dung ; all the tender
grass and underwood destroyed ; the surface strewed
with large limbs of trees, broken down by the weight
.of the birds clustering one above another; and the
trees, themselves, for thousands of acres, killed as com-
pletely as if girdled with an axe. The marks of this
desolation remain for many years on the spot ; and
numerous places could be pointed out, where, for several
years after, scarcely a single vegetable made its appear-
ance.." But we must pass over a large portion of this
wonderful narrative, and confine our remaining ex-
tracts to the migrations of these countless myriads
witnessed, and thus described, by the great American
ornithologist. " I had left the public road, to visit the
remains of one of these breeding places near Shelby-
ville — when, about one o'clock, the pigeons began to
return in such immense numbers as I never before had
witnessed. Coming to an opening by the side of a
creek called the Benson, where I had a most uninter-
rupted view, I was astonished at their appearance.

254» HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

They were flying with great steadiness and rapidity, at
a height beyond gun-shot, in several strata deep, and so
close together, that, could shot have reached them, one
discharge could not have failed of bringing down
several individuals. From right to left, far as the eye
could reach, the breadth of this vast procession ex-
tended, seeming everywhere equally crowded. Curious
to determine how long this appearance would continue,
I took out my watch to note the time, and sat down to
observe them. It was then half past one* I sat for
more than hour, — but, instead of a diminution of this
prodigious procession, it seemed rather to increase both
in numbers and rapidity ; and, anxious to reach Frank-
fort before night, I rose and went on. About four
o'clock in the afternoon, I crossed the Kentucky river, —
at which time the living torrent above my head seemed
as numerous and as extensive as ever. Long after this
I observed them in large bodies that continued to pass
for six or eight minutes, — and these, again, were fol-
lowed by other detached bodies, all moving in the
same south-east direction, till after six in the evening.
The great breadth of front which this mighty multi-
tude preserved, would seem to intimate a corresponding
breadth of their breeding place, which was known to
extend to several miles. I crossed this breeding place
soon after, where the nests, for more than three miles,
spotted every tree* A few observations upon their
mode of flight must not be omitted. The appearance
of large detached bodies of them in the air, and the va-
rious evolutions they display, are strikingly picturesque
and interesting. A column eight or ten miles in length
would appear from Kentucky, high in air, steering
across to Indiana. The leaders of this great body
would sometimes gradually vary their course, until it
formed a large band of more than a mile in diameter, —
those behind tracing the exact route of their predeces-
sors. This would continue, sometimes, long after both
extremities were beyond the reach of sight, — so that the
whole, with its glittering undulations, marked a space

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATORY PIGEON OF AMERICA. 255

on the face of the heavens resembling the winding of a
vast and magnificent river. When this bend became
very great, the birds - — as if sensible of the unnecessary
circuitous course they were taking — suddenly changed
their direction, — so that what was in column before,
became an immense front, straightening all its inden-
tures, until it swept the heavens in one vast and in-
finitely-extended line. Other lesser bodies also united
with each other, as they happened to approach, with such
ease and elegance of evolution, — forming new figures,
and varying these as they united or separated, — that I
was never tired of contemplating them. Sometimes a
hawk would make a sweep on a particular part of the
column, from a great height, when, almost as quick as
lightning, that part shot downwards out of the common
track, but soon rising again, continued advancing to the
same height as before. This inflection was continued
by those behind, who, on arriving at this point, dived
down, almost perpendicularly, to a great depth, and
rising, followed the exact path of those who went before.
As these vast bodies passed over the river near me, the
surface of the water, which was before as smooth as
glass, appeared marked with innumerable dimples, oc-
casioned by the dropping of their dung, resembling the
commencement of a shower of large drops of rain or
hail."

(269.) In regard to the numerical amount of pigeons
thus assembled, our author proceeds to make the fol-
lowing remarks : — " To form a rough estimate of the
daily consumption of one of these immense flocks, let
us first attempt to calculate the numbers of that already
mentioned, as seen in passing between Frankfort and
Indiana. If we suppose this column to have been one
mile in breadth, — and I believe it to have been much
more, — and that it moved at the rate of one mile in a
minute, four hours — the time it continued passing —
would make its whole length 24-0 miles. Again, sup-
posing that each square yard of this moving body com-
prehended three pigeons, the square yards in the whole

256 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. vin.

space, multiplied by three, would give 2,230,272,000
pigeons ! — an almost inconceivable multitude ; and yet,
probably, far below the actual amount. Computing
each of these to consume half a pint of mast daily, the
whole quantity, at this rate, would equal 17,424,000
bushels per day ! Heaven has wisely and graciously
given to these birds rapidity of flight, and a disposition
to range over vast uncultivated tracts of the earth,

— otherwise they must have perished in the districts
where they resided, or devoured up the whole produc-
tions of agriculture, as well as those of the forests." *
M. Audubon's account speaks of equally prodigious
numbers. " In the autumn of 1813," observes this
traveller, " I left my house at Henderson, on the banks
of the Ohio, on my way to Louisville. In passing over
the barrens, a few miles from Hardensburgh, I observed
the pigeons flying from north-east to south-west, in
greater numbers than I thought I had ever seen them
before. I travelled on, and still met more the further
I proceeded : the air was literally filled with pigeons ;
the light of the noon-day was obscured, as by an eclipse ;
the dung fell in spots not unlike melting flakes of snow ;
and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to lull
my senses to repose. Before sunset I reached Louisville,

— distance from Hardensburgh fifty-five miles. The
pigeons were still passing in undiminished numbers,
and continued to do so for three days in succession.
The people were all in arms. The banks of the Ohio
were crowded with men and boys, incessantly shooting
at the pigeons, which there flew lower as they passed
the river, — and multitudes were thus destroyed. For a
week, or more, the population fed on no other flesh but
that of pigeons." Our author then proceeds to give
the following calculation : — " Let us take a column of
one mile in breadth, — which is far below the average
size, and suppose it passing over us at the rate of
one mile per minute. This will give us a parallelogram
of 180 miles by 1, covering 180 square miles; and

* Wilson,

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATION OP BIRDS GENERALLY. 257

allowing two pigeons to the square yard, we have
1,115,136,000 pigeons in one flock; and as every
pigeon consumes fully half a pint per day, the quantity
required to fill such a flock must be 8,712,000 bushels
per day."* It is time, however, to return once more to
the general subject.

(270.) Birds in general migrate in very different
ways, both as to the direction of their course, the sea-
son it is performed in, the number assembled, and the
circumstances which accompany their journeys. There
is even a variation in the habits of the same species,
when spread over widely separated countries ; and
numerous others, which are undoubtedly migratory,
perform their journey either solitary or in pairs. There
is, also, every possible variation both in the extent and
in the duration of these migrations. To illustrate all
these circumstances would far exceed our limits ; but
it may be stated, in general, that in every case these
movements are made either for the object of procuring
a sufficient supply of suitable food, for the purposes of
incubation, or to avoid the extremes of heat or cold.
The spring and autumn are the usual seasons ; but
there is some variation in the birds of tropical latitudes.
The majority of the European land birds which emi-
grate, come from Northern Africa (or, more properly,
from Asia Minor) in the spring, apparently to avoid
the excessive heat of those parched and sandy coun-
tries during summer ; but when the season of incuba-
tion is over, and the European winter commences, they
return again to the Asiatic and African countries,
which are then beginning to assume all the verdure and
the mildness of our summer : this is proved by the
fact of immense numbers annually visiting the shores
of the Mediterranean, on their way to Central Europe ;
and they are again seen, upon their return, in September
and October. These migrations we know, from per-
sonal observations, to be as regular as those of the ar-
rival and departure of the swallows of England ; and

* Aud Anim. Biog.

258 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

all, with the exception of the quails, are of insectivorous
families. The northern land birds, on the contrary,
which migrate southward during summer, are chiefly
granivorous, and are never seen in Sicily, — the situation
of which island we found peculiarly favourable for
making observations on this subject. Of all the Euro-
pean birds, the quail
(fig. 72.) is the most re-
markable, on account of
the vast numbers which
s congregate on these oc-
casions. For a few weeks
in the month of April,
when they first begin to
arrive in Sicily, every
body is a sportsman. These birds always fly against the
wind, and perform their journey during the night ; at
least they always arrive at that season on the shores of
Sicily and Greece ; and although not a quail could be seen
the evening before, the next morning the reports of guns
in all directions attest their number, and the havoc that
has begun upon them. The same winds which are fa-
vourable to the quails, are equally so to the bee-eaters
(Jferops Apiaster}, the hoopoes (Upupa Epops), the
rollers (Coracias garrula Lin.), and the orioles (Oriolus
galbula) ; but whether these are also nocturnal in their
migrations may reasonably be doubted ; they are all,
however, emigrants from the South. The European
chatterer (Ampelis garrulus], the fieldfare (Turdus pi-
laris Lin.), the red wing (T.iliacus Lin.), and nearly all
our small seed-eating birds (Fringillidd), migrate from
north to south, to avoid the excessive cold of the arctic
regions. There is nothing, therefore, extraordinary in
the linnet being stationary with us, and migratory in
Greenland, — since it can bear the winter climate of one,
but not of the other, country. Such are the chief and
best known facts regarding the European birds ; and
we find those of North America subject to the same
laws : the summer tribes which visit the United States

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATIONS OP SWALLOWS. 259

in such number and variety, return to the snores of
Mexico and the West Indies, as to their winter home ;
for it is a fact not generally known, that hardly one
species in a hundred proceeds so far south as to cross
the equinoctial line. This latitude, indeed, seems to be
an invisible but effectual barrier to all the insessorial
birds of the New World ; for out of all those that have
been observed on the main land of North America, not
five are to be found in Brazil. The grallatorial and the
aquatic birds of the two countries are, of course, much
more alike ; but these, as we before observed, are wander-
ers, and more widely dispersed than any others. As many
migratory birds, like the quail, have rounded, and, conse-
quently, feeble wings, in capable of continued exertion, we
find that their journeys are performed by short stages;
while others, like the swallows, and their prototypes the
bee-eaters, rest only at the termination of their journey.
(271.) Among the best known of our migrating
birds is the swallow. Its disappearance formerly gave
rise to so much discordancy of opinion, that, in the
time of Linnaeus, the prevalent belief was, that all the
species of these birds retired, on the approach of winter,
to the bottom of ponds ; and there were even nu-
merous attestations to this effect. Even Linnaeus him-
self imbibed the popular credulity on this subject ; and
such was his authority, that it was a long time before
naturalists would relinquish the preposterous idea. It
is now clearly ascertained, however, that these birds
regularly migrate ; those few which are found dead, or
half dormant, during the winter, being either too feeble,
or hatched too late, to follow their parents. Nor, as
Montague justly observes, can there be any reason why
we should doubt their capability of performing these
regular migrations, when we allow it without hesitation
to other and much more delicate birds. In fact, the
swallow, from its velocity alone, is peculiarly calculated
for such flights ; and when we consider " that it can
and does suspend itself in the air for fourteen or six-
teen hours together in search of food, it cannot fly over
s 2

260 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

a less space than between 200 and 300 miles in that
time." * That its speed must be thus great, is proved
by the circumstance of swallows having been seen on
the coast of Senegal on the 9th of October, which is
eight or nine days after their departure from Europe.f
(272.) The periods at which birds arrive and de-
part are variable even in the same species, and appear to
be principally regulated by the forward or backward
state of the season. The following statement, drawn
out by Mr. Markwick J, will exhibit the average dates
of both, in several species of British birds, deduced
from a computation of about twenty-six years.

First seen. Last seen.
Hirundo rustica,

urbica,

• reparia

• apus,
Caprimulgus Europeans,
Columba Turtur, June 5.
Yunx torquilla, Mar. 26.
Cuculus canon's, May 1.
Philomela lusciniaSw., Apr. 25. Sept. 20.

. atricapdla, May 10. Sept. 18.

Saxicola cenanthe,

i rubetra,

Swallow,

Martin,

Sand martin,

Swift,

Goatsucker,

Turtle dove,

Wryneck,

Cuckoo,

Nightingale,

Blackcap,

Whitethroat,

Wheatear,

Whinchat,

Redstart,

Willow wren,

Flycatcher,

Red-backed shrike,

Land rail,

Quail,

Fieldfare,

Redwing,

Woodcock,

Snipe,

Sea lark,

Greater tern,

Lesser tern,

Royston crow,

Apr. 18. Oct. 31.
Mar. 4. Oct. 16.
Mar. 26. Sept. 1 2.
May 9. Sept. 3.

Sept. 27.

Aug. 10.

Sept. 10.

Aug. 10.

Apr. 22. Sept. 16.

May 4. Sept. 26.

June 1. Sept.21.

phamicurus, Apr. 24. Sept. 1.

Apr. 23. Sept.24.

May 8. Sept, 30.

June 1. Aug. 16.

Oct. 20.

Aug. 20.

Nov. 21. Apr. 10.

Nov. 10. Mar. 18.

Nov,20. Mar. 20.

Oct. 20. Apr. 1.

Apr. 1.

Apr. 1. Oct. 8.

May 20. Oct. 16.

May 22. Mar.26.

Motacilla trochilus,
Muscicapa grisola,
Lanius collurij,
Rattus crex,
Tetrao coturnix,
Turdus pilaris,

iliacus,

Sc lopax rusticola,

Scolopax rusticola,
Charadrius hiaticula,
Sterna hirundo,

minuta,

Corvus comix,

* Mont. Orn. Diet. p. 2.

t This instance is always brought forward in proof that the swallow of
Europe winters in Senegal ; but it does not appear that the identity of the
species has been fully ascertained.

t Linn. Trans.

(CHAP. VIII. MIGRATION OF GEESE, CRANES, ETC. %6l

(273.) Nearly all migrating birds assemble in flocks
for some time previous to their departure ; and this is
particularly observable, not only in swallows, but still
more in woodcocks, terns, puffins, and shearwaters.
Some, however, as the cuckoo, &c., neither congregate
before nor at the time of their journey; while others seem
to undertake it with a very few companions.

(274.) Among the aquatic families of the northern
hemisphere, those which are birds of passage either
rear their young in the fens, and afterwards pursue a
northward flight, or they quit the northern regions on
the approach of winter, and proceed southwards, — re-
turning to their former stations in the spring. The
latter are by far the most numerous ; and when the
well-known signs of nature prognosticate the coming
change, immense flocks forsake the solitudes of the
arctic regions, and wing their way to the more tem-
perate latitudes. Geese and cranes, with several other
birds, meet together before their departure, and then di-
vide themselves into two files, which are united at a point
" like a V reversed, a leader being at their head. The
bird which forms the point, cuts the air, and makes
way for those which follow ;

73 ^fp2:\ c>lhi and these are supposed to

lay their bills on the tails
of those which go before.
The leading bird only un-
dertakes this arduous duty
for a time ; he then goes in
the rear, and is succeeded by
another." Storks (fig. 73.)
assemble in great numbers
at these times ; and might
be imagined, by a spectator,

^ to be busily engaged in de-

: bating upon their further
proceedings. Although exceedingly silent at all other
times, on these occasions they make an unceasing chat-
tering with their bills, and appear to be all bustle and
s 3

262 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

anxiety : when, however, the time of their departure
arrives, they become again quiet, and move off, generally
in the night, in a large body.

(275.) Among land birds, some perform partial
migrations, — moving their quarters from one part of
the same country to another, as their necessities may
prompt. Among these, the fieldfare is best known :
Dr. Jenner observes, " The occasional departure of
these birds, and some other of our winter inhabitants,
during a long-continued frost, must be very obvious.
The greater number disappear soon after its commence-
ment, if it sets in very severely: some few are always
left behind, arid are soon starved, if not fortunately re-
lieved by a thaw. Those that are driven to this neces-
sitous migration, probably, pursue a tract that quickly
leads them out of the reach of frost, — or, at least, to
places which furnish them with food. The migration
of the soft-billed, or small insectivorous birds, is cer-
tainly astonishing ; and how their frame is enabled to
sustain those convulsions of the elements which they
must sometimes encounter, is altogether inexplicable.
Pennant remarks, that the golden- crested wren, dimi-
nutive as it is, in its migrations to the Shetland Isles,
in summer, accomplishes a flight of fifty miles, — which,
he observes, must be entirely without interruption,
unless it should stop midway on Fair Island to rest.*

(276.) A very large proportion of the marine FISHES
are more or less migratory, — traversing the ocean at
particular seasons of the year, sometimes in immense
bodies, and gliding through the " vasty deep " with
astonishing velocity. It was long supposed that the
herring was of this number ; that it habitually lived in
the arctic seas, and came to our coasts in immense
armies. From a few partial facts favouring this sup-
position, Pennant framed such a lively and interesting
narrative, that the migrations of the herring form a
prominent subject in nearly all our popular publica-
tions. It is now, however, well ascertained, that this

* Arctic Zool. vol. i. p. 29.

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATION OP INSECTS. 263

fish lives in the same latitudes all the year ; and that
the cause of these immense shoals is simply that the
fish, during particular seasons, come near the coast,
where they then appear in vast multitudes.

(277.) The tunny (fig. 74.), in like manner, enters
the Mediterranean about the vernal equinox, for the
purpose of spawning ; it swims in large companies,
arranged, as it has been said, in a triangular phalanx,
like the geese and other birds, — the point of which acts

74

like a rudder to cut through the opposing waters, while
a broad base is presented to those tides and currents
which must occasionally be encountered. On their re-
turn, they approach the coasts of Africa, and the young
fish are placed in the van of the squadron.

(278.) The migrations of many tribes in the INSECT
world unfold to the observer of nature a fresh subject
of contemplation. These associations are chiefly oc-
casioned from two different motives ; — they are either
for the purposes of procuring food, or for establishing
a new colony when the parent society has increased
beyond its due limits. The former of these migrations
is much more remarkable than the latter, and is ex-
emplified, in the most striking and terrible manner, by
the family of locusts, whose assembled myriads darken
the sun, and desolate kingdoms. Interesting as is the
history of these formidable creatures, we must at pre-
sent confine our attention to those circumstances only
which regard their association and migration. This
numerous family, of which the common grasshopper is
a small but excellent example, is spread over all tem-
R 4

264 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

perate and tropical regions ; but it te in the Old World,
alone, that those particular species are found, of which
we are now to speak. How these insects are multiplied
to -such an excess in some particular years, and not in
others, has never yet been ascertained, and, perhaps,
never will be. The appearance of the locusts which
caused such terrible devastation in Central Europe,
in the year 1747; is thus described : — " One of these
columns, which entered Transylvania in August, was
several hundred fathoms in width, and extended to so
great a length as to be four hours in passing over the
Red Tower ; and such was its density, that it totally
intercepted the solar light, — so that when they flew
low, one person could not see another at the distance of
twenty paces. The breadth of this column, at Vienna,
was calculated at three miles." This, however, was
but a small detachment, or a straggling party, when
compared to that witnessed by major Moore in India.
He relates that, when at Poonah, he was witness to an
immense army of locusts which ravaged the Mahratta
country. He was assured that this column extended
500 miles, and so compact was it when on the wing,
that, like an eclipse, it completely hid the sun. Dr.
Clarke compares a flight which he witnessed to a
shower of snow, when the flakes are carried obliquely
by the wind. Mr. Barrow speaks of another, seen
in the southern parts of Africa in 1 797 : an area of
nearly 2000 square miles might be said literally to be
covered by them : when driven into the sea by a north-
west wind, they formed upon the shore, for fifty miles,
a bank three or four feet high ; and when the wind was
south-east, the stench was so powerful as to be smelt at
the distance of 150 miles.* Migrations of locusts,
and, indeed, of nearly all other insects, never occur, like
those of quadrupeds and birds, at stated times and sea-
sons ; on the contrary, they seem to depend on various
concurrent causes, which are far beyond our reach of
knowledge. To this, however, there is one exceptipn,

* Trav. p. 257.

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATIONS OF BUTTERFLIES. 265

which we shall notice more particularly as having
fallen under our personal observation.

(279.) The occasional migration of butterflies has
been noticed by several authors ; and the appearance of
great numbers of a particular species — which in or-
dinary years is of rare occurrence — has not unfre-
quently happened, even in this country. The Camberwell
Beauty ( Vanessa Antiopa Lin., fig. 75.) is well known
to be one of our rarest butterflies ; but Lewin records,

that, in March, 1790, a great number were seen flying
and soaring about for the space of twelve or fourteen
days ; and then, as if with one consent, they migrated
from us, and were no more seen. * The thistle butter-
fly, or Painted Lady ( Vanessa CarduC), appears also in
great numbers, at uncertain intervals, and is, no doubt,
a migratory species. But, in particular parts of Tropical
America, the migration of butterflies is annual and con-
stant,— although, from having been little understood, the
circumstance has been mentioned as if it was an acci-
dental occurrence. These migrations are conducted,
however, in a very different manner from those of the
locusts. The individuals do not fly in compact bodies,
but are, in general, scattered in small parties of twos
and threes, — at least, we never witnessed them in such
large parties as the natives assured us they were, in
some years, to be seen. The direction taken by the

* Lewin's Brit. Ins. p. &

266 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII.

greatest number is, from the dry arid districts of the
interior, towards the verdant forests of the sea coast ;
and the season is that of the greatest heat in Brazil,
when the drought in the interior is excessive, the
vegetation burnt up, and the rivulets dry. That most
lovely of all butterflies, Lelius Braziliensis Sw. *, mi-
grates in a peculiar manner, — proceeding in May and
June — according to our observations — from north
to south ; but we had no opportunity of ascertaining
whether it returned by the same route: its range,
however, is comparatively limited, — since it is neither
found so far north as Surinam, nor does it reach the
southern province of Rio de Janeiro. The Surinam
species (Lelius Surinamensis Sw. f) probably mi-
grates northward ; but we have no very certain inform-
ation on this point. Lindley, the author of a little
work on Brazil, informs us, elsewhere, that he witnessed
in that country, in the beginning of March, 1803, an
immense flight of white and yellow butterflies, — (which
was, in all probability, a species of Colius), — which
continued to pass for many days successively : they pro-
ceeded in a direction from north-west to south-east ;
and this course being to the ocean, at only a small dis-
tance, it is inferred " they must consequently perish."
This conclusion, however, is certainly erroneous; the
richly-wooded and luxuriant parts of Brazil always
border the coast : we could mention many facts tending
to favour the opinion that all these butterfly migrations
are made towards these verdant tracts, for the purposes
of breeding, or rather of depositing their eggs ; not — <-
as Messrs. Kirby and Spence appear to believe — as a
prelude to their inevitable destruction in the ocean.

(280.) Insects of several other tribes are known to
make occasional migrations, and in immense numbers.
Major Moore witnessed, in Bombay, an army of bugs
(Cwmee*), which were going westward; and they were so
numerous that they covered everything in the room where
he was sitting. An army of dragon flies (Agrion Fab.)

* Zool. Illust. vol. ii. p. 126. t W. ibid. p. 125.

CHAP. VIII. MIGRATION OF LAND CRABS. 267

has been known to cast a slight shade over a field of four
acres, as they passed ; and a host of the common froth
cicada (C. spumaria}, which flew in the night, was at
first mistaken by professor Walch for a shower of hail
pelting against his study window : this continued for
at least half an hour. The same writer witnessed, in
August, a similar emigration of myriads of a predacious
beetle (Carabus vulgaris Lin.). The Aphides, or plant
lice, are another migratory family. White of Selborne
mentions a flock which passed his village on the 1st of
August, 1785, so numerous as to cover such persons
as were in the open air at the time, and blackening
all the surrounding vegetation. The ladybird beetle
(Coccinella septempunctata Lin.) is the deadly enemy
of the plant lice, — which they appear to follow, on
these occasions, in immense armies. These, and many
other instances of insect migration, have been given
more in detail by Messrs. Kirby and Spence, to whose
entertaining pages we may refer the curious reader.
The land crabs of the West Indies afford a remarkable
instance of migration among apterous insects. They
are generally found, in great numbers, in holes and
cavities among the mountains ; but every spring they
descend, in immense bodies, to the sea coast — pursu-
ing so direct a line to the place of their destination,
that scarcely anything will divert their course ; even the
most formidable obstacles are overcome by their per-
severance. They march, according to a popular writer,
generally in three divisions, with the utmost regularity,
and under the guidance of one chosen commander ; —
the first being composed of the strongest males ; the se-
cond consisting of females, which are sometimes formed
into columns fifty or sixty yards broad, and three miles
deep*; and the third being made up of a mixed, un-
disciplined, and less vigorous tribe, which follow a few
days afterwards. When they have effected the purpose

* Upon what authority the ingenious compiler of the Animal Biography
gives this statement, we know not. We suspect it may be a little em-
bellished ; but not having been in the West Indies, we cannot say any.
thing of these land crabs from personal observation.

268 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

for which they undertook their journey, they slowly re-
turn, weak and exhausted ; and not long after, millions
of the little crabs, which have been hatched on the shore,
may be seen making their way up to the mountains.*

CHAP. IX.

ON IMPERFECT SOCIETIES OF ANIMALS.

(281.) THE social principle — so vitally essential to the
welfare and happiness of man, and, for that reason, more
developed in him than in any created being — • assumes,
in the animal world, a variety of modifications. With
some, it is only sufficient to prompt the species to search
out its mate, and to provide for their infant progeny :
these, in truth, may be called solitary and unsocial
animals, solely brought together by the impulse of a
short-lived passion, without which they would not
themselves have existed ; others form temporary asso-
ciations among themselves only in cases of extreme ne-
cessity,— as the wolves of the Alps, when sorely pressed
by hunger, unite into packs, and descend on the villages
of the plains. Many unite when about to visit distant
regions. The sexes of other tribes will separate for a
season, although at other times they live in company ;
while a few seem impelled to associate occasionally, for
the sole purpose of enjoyment, — as the inhabitants
of a village meet to dance upon the green, after each
has performed the labours of the day. To all such
associations we apply the term of imperfect societies :
those, on the contrary, whose communities are perfect,
not only spend their lives together, but unite their la-
bours in the production of a dwelling common to all

Anim. Biog. vol. iii. p 379.

CHAP. IX. DIFFERENT ASSOCIATIONS OF ANIMALS.

the fraternity. It is among these social communities
that the most astonishing intelligence — or, more pro-
perly, instinct — is developed. Some few instances occur
in the vertebrated animals ; but by far the largest and
the most gifted portion are to be found in the insect
world. Solitary and .gregarious creatures are also met
with in the molluscous or aberrant circle of animals ;
but their senses are so imperfect, and their actions so
confined, that, beyond the phenomena resulting from
their great Vitality, little interest, comparatively, at-
taches to their history.

(282.) In treating of imperfect societies of animals,
we shall arrange our observations under the following
heads : — 1 . Associations formed only during the season
of breeding, by animals which, at other times, live so-
litary. 2. Associations for the purpose of hunting for
food. 3. Associations for performing migratory jour-
neys. 4. Associations of one of the sexes only, during
the breeding season. 5. Associations apparently for
mutual enjoyment and recreation. 6. Permanent asso-
ciations, apparently induced by the love of society ._
From these latter, we exclude such animals as unite in
constructing a common habitation ; and we shall, under
each head, distinguish the two great divisions of verte-
brated and annulose animals. Those intermediate shades
of difference, by which the whole scheme of nature is
knit and interwoven together, is as apparent in the
habits of animals, as in the characters by which they
are distinguished as genera, or as species ; and we shall,
consequently, find many which unite in themselves two,
or even three, of the above properties so completely, as
to render it difficult to decide under which section they
should be arranged. Progression, in its most perfect
sense, is one of the great characteristics of nature ; and
although we may comprehend, theoretically, the leading
series of her chain, we are frequently baffled in dis-
covering that precise point where one link fits into that
which succeeds it.

(283.) 1. Animals which only seek the company of

270 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

each other during the season of love, may justly he
termed solitary. The impulse which hrings them to-
gether is one of the irresistible laws of nature, and is
totally distinct from those ordinary feelings and passions
on which the permanent and hahitual happiness of life
depends. If, among mankind, we find the most cruel
and ferocious for a season laying aside their evil pro-
pensities, when under such influences, we can feel no
surprise at witnessing the same in the brute creation.
But, so soon as the sensual flame has consumed itself,
the habitual repugnance to community with its fellow
creatures returns; and the gloomy, if not the malevolent,
propensities of their nature, flow in their accustomed
course. Everything by which we are surrounded, under
one shape or other, is an emblem of good or of evil.
We gather not ' ' grapes from thorns, nor figs from
thistles;" neither can we expect that gentleness and
innocence should accompany moroseness and misan-
thropy. Hence we find that the most unsocial animals
in existence are among those which seek the lives of
others, and live upon their flesh. The lion, the tiger,
and the whole family of Felidce — to which these de-
structive quadrupeds belong — are eminently solitary
and unsocial. The rapacious order — by which they are
represented in the feathered creation — are equally dis-
tinguished by their repugnance to associate with their
kind, save at the breeding season. When this is past,
and their progeny can provide for themselves, the pa-
rents separate, lose all pleasure in mutual society, and
seek again their food in solitude and silence. The
gloom of night is more congenial to such habits than
the bright and cheerful day ; and we accordingly find
that the majority of carnivorous quadrupeds, typifying
the worst portion of our own species, emerge from
their retreats during the shadows of evening, " making
night hideous" by their deeds of violence and bloodshed.
The falcon tribe, indeed, hunt during the day; but
nearly the whole family of owls — not to mention the
equally numerous one of goatsuckers (Caprimulyid&)-~

CHAP. IX. ASSOCIATIONS FOR BREEDING. 2?1

are nocturnal ; while both, without a single known ex-
ception, are solitary.

(284.) But, as all carnivorous creatures are not noc-
turnal, so all that are nocturnal are not necessarily car-
nivorous. Here, as in other things, extremes meet;
for the night seems to be as favourable for the stealthy
movements of the feeble, as it is for the depredations
of the violent. We pretend not to explain this ; we
look merely to facts. Nearly the whole family of mice
— the most timorous and the most feeble of all quad-
rupeds — choose the night as their season of activity ;
and it is at this time, only, that the poor defenceless
earth-worm ventures to rise above the surface of the
ground, and draw to the entrance of its hole the fallen
leaves of autumn. In Australia, as the late Mr. Lewin
informs us, there is a family of moths, which are dis-
tinguished, in their caterpillar state, by precisely similar
habits. It seems that the great enemies of these cater-
pillars are the different species of Mantis and Phasma,
better known by the common name of walking-leaf in-
sects. To avoid these, which are carnivorous insects,
the caterpillars in question remain, during the day,
concealed in their cells, where they devour the produce
of the preceding night's excursion in ease and security.
(285.) Among the carnivorous quadrupeds, typically
so termed, we have none which can be called social.
Affection for their young, while helpless and incapable
of procuring food, belongs to all animals, — and is as
conspicuous in the female lion and the tiger, as in the
ox or sheep ; but the male of the latter is stated, oc-
casionally, to devour its own offspring, when not con-
cealed by the mother. The hamsters seem to have
the social principle less than almost any other quadru-
peds. Pennant remarks, that they live in separate
burrows ; and that, excepting during their short season
of courtship, they have no intercourse with one another;
— nay, that they will even fight, kill, and devour their
own species, as well as other lesser animals. The
growth of the young is very quick ; and, at the age of

272 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

three weeks, the old ones force them out of their bur-
rows, to take care of themselves. Even the mother
shows little affection for them ; and, instead of pro-
tecting her offspring in the season of danger, seeks her
own safety by burrowing deeper. As another instance
of animals which are peculiarly solitary, and, at the
same time, timid and defenceless, we have only to look
to the sloths, — those extraordinary animals, which Na-
ture has designed to live only among trees, from the
branches of which they are constantly suspended. But,
on looking to the whole class of quadrupeds generally,
we shall find the largest proportion of solitary animals
among the carnivorous order ; and hence the same pe-
culiarity may be traced throughout the whole circle of
vertebrated animals, — this order being the second, or
subtypical type. It is on this principle that the shrikes
(Laniado! Sw.), as a whole, are much more solitary
than the thrushes (JMerulidcK) ; the woodpeckers more
so than the parrots ; and the herons (Ardeidoe) more
than the sandpipers (Tringidte). Among annulose
animals the same principle pervades. The Aptera, or
wingless orders, give us no instances of even imperfect
associations of the species ; while, in the Ptilota, or
winged division, we have numerous examples of all the
modifications of the social principle.

(286.) 2. Associations for the purpose of hunting,
show us the next step in the development of the social
instinct. These transient meetings should not be con-
founded with such as are common to the ruminating
quadrupeds, as well as to others, where the association
continues after the wants of nature are satisfied, — rand
where a higher principle, beyond the mere gratification
of hunger or revenge, seems to be a moving cause. The
intercourse of which we are now speaking is chiefly
confined to carnivorous animals, or their representatives j
it is generally occasioned by the pressing calls of hun-
ger, and by an instinct which leads individuals to unite
their strength for accomplishing an act of rapine or of
bloodshed. While engaged in this pursuit, good fel^

CHAP. IX. ASSOCIATIONS FOB HUNTING. 373

lowship, it may be, continues ; but when the booty is
obtained, all community is dissolved, and they either
quarrel among themselves over their prize, or at once
disperse. There is not, in fact, any other motive for
uniting together than mere selfishness. How truly, un-
fortunately, does this typify the temporary union of
those of the human species, who unite, in lawless bands,
to pillage and destroy ; — who carry misery and blood-
shed among the innocent, for the sole gratification of
their insatiable appetites. The hyaenas, the wild dogs,
the wolves, the jackals, and the hunting leopards, are
all striking and familiar instances of such associations.
So long as food can be supplied by individual exertion,
each appears to provide for itself ; but when this be-
comes scarce, or a herd of peaceful antelopes are passing
on their migration, they instinctively unite into bands,
and commence a simultaneous attack upon their inno-
cent prey. These habits are so well known, that to
cite individual instances would be superfluous. It may
be, that the dog, in his wild state, not only hunts, but
lives, in packs : but this does not diminish the force of
the observation ; because, as this animal is intended
by nature to typify the ruminants in its own family,
we should naturally expect it would give us the strong-
est example of docility and tractability, under man, of
any to be found among carnivorous quadrupeds.

(28?.) 3. Among birds, many of the falcons, and other
birds of prey, unite for the same purpose. The innu-
merable flocks of quails, rollers, bee-eaters, and other
birds, which annually perform two migrations from and
to the shores of Africa, are always followed by great
numbers of the lesser sized falcons, which hang on
their flanks and rear, picking up the stragglers, or such
as, through weakness, cannot keep up with the main
flock. We have repeatedly witnessed assemblies of this
sort, at such seasons, in the island of Sicily, — where fif-
teen or twenty falcons may be seen together, high in
the air, having all the appearance of sociability, but
which disperse and become solitary so soon as the quails
T

274 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

have reached the point of their destination. Nor are
the poor wanderers exempt from nocturnal enemies,
— for even the night is almost as dangerous to them
as the day ; and this, hy reason of the numerous owls,
•which form predatory bands for the same purpose as
the diurnal falcons, and arrive in Sicily precisely at the
same time. The well-known associations of vultures
over the dead carcase of an animal are of this descrip-
tion ; — they are drawn together hy hunger, and hunger
alone, without any of that kindly feeling towards each
other, so often manifested among our domesticated ani-
mals.

(288.) Among insects, and other annulose animals,
we have no very striking instance of associations for
rapine ; but these, more than any other creatures, are
drawn together for the mere purpose of feeding in con-
cert. Their office, in the economy of nature, renders
this association absolutely necessary. Is a mass of
animal or vegetable substance hastening to decay, and
therefore essential to be removed ; — it is immediately
attacked by a whole party of flies, beetles, or wasps,
which come suddenly together from we know not where,
and unite their labours in accelerating that decompo-
sition which Nature has ordained. This done, — the feast
provided for the labourers devoured, and the evil re-
moved,— the guests depart, and each pursues " its track-
less course in space."

(289.) 4. Associations of the male sex, during the
season of pairing, are not very frequent, and will there-
fore require but a short notice. Among vertebrated
animals, this propensity is most remarkable in the tribe
of ruminating quadrupeds. Dr. Richardson, speaking
of the arctic reindeer *, observes that, in May, the
females proceed towards the sea coast ; and towards the
and of June, the males are in full march in the same
direction : soon after their arrival on the coast, the
females drop their young ; they commence their return
to the south in September, and reach the vicinity of the

* Rangifer Aretica, North. Zool. voL i. p. 241.

CHAP. IX. ASSOCIATION OF MALES. 275

woods towards the end of October, — where they are
once more joined by the males. Except in the rutting
season, the bulk of the males and females live se-
parately; the former retire deeper into the woods
during winter, while herds of the pregnant does stay
on the skirts of the Barren Grounds, and proceed to the
coast very early in the spring. It is singular, also,
that the males, in general, do not go so far north as the
females. The long-tailed deer of the same work
(Cervus kucurus) go in herds from November to
April and May, when the female secretes herself to
bring forth.* Even the common stag illustrates this
peculiarity in our own country. Major Smith remarks
that, " on the return of spring, the hinds withdraw
into concealment to drop their calves, and the stags to
shed their horns and regain them : the younger and
the brockets (or young males) remain together, till
they also part to mew, or cast theirs." f

(290.) Among birds, we find that the most striking
examples of these associations occur in the rasorial
order, or in that division which corresponds to the
ruminants. M. Audubon, in his interesting history of
the wild turkeys of America, mentions that, " early in
the middle of February, the females separate, and fly
from the males : the sexes roost apart, but at no great
distance from each other. After impregnation has
taken place, the males make such an entire separation
from the hens, that one might suppose they had en-
tirely deserted their neighbourhood : this separation,
however, would appear to continue but a short time,
since we find our author observing, that, " when a
male and female have come together, I believe the con-
nection continues for that season." ^ All the species
of grouse, so far as our information on their habits ex-
tends, appear to separate themselves, at the same sea-
son, and much in the same manner ; and the remark will,
doubtless, be found, hereafter, to extend to the largest

* North. Zool. vol. i. p. 259. f Griff. Cuv. vol. iv. p. 93..

t Orn. Biog. vol. i. p. 4.

T 2

276 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

portion of the order. The male chaffinches (fig. 76,),
as is well known, fight
among themselves, most
obstinately, during the sea-
son of pairing. In the king-
dom of Sweden, the fe-
males associate together in
large flocks, distinct from
the males, and spread over
various parts of Europe.
This takes place towards
the end of September : in
the following April, they
return once more to their mates, — who, all this time,
have remained stationary. With us, in general, both
the sexes of the chaffinch are permanent residents ; but
White of Selborne affirms that he has witnessed large
flocks near that village about Christmas, which were
composed almost entirely of females. It is singular
that this species, which bears such an analogy to the
gallinaceous order, is of a rasorial type.

(291.) The insects which are thought by Messrs.
Kirby and Spence to exemplify these associations
among annulose animals, are chiefly the flower-eating
beetles (Petalocera Thalerophaga), vulgarly termed
chafers. The common cockchafer (fig. 77.) and the
fernchafer (Melolontha vul-
garis and solstitialis Fab.)
at certain periods of the
year, and hours of the day,
hover over the tops of trees
and hedges like swarms of
bees ; and the males of an-
other species (Hoplia ar-
gentea Fab.) assemble by myriads, before noon, in the
meadows, — when, in their infinite hosts, you will not
find even one female : after noon the congregation is
dissolved, and not a single individual is to be seen in the
air ; while those of Melolontha vulgaris and soktitialis

CHAP. IX. ASSOCIATIONS FOR RECREATION. 277

are on the wing only in the evening. The associations
of the Ephemeras, or day flies, do not properly come
under the present head, since the sexes seem to be
by no means separated in their aerial dances.

(292.) 5. There are certain animals which assemble
together for mutual enjoyment, and in such a manner,
that they can only be compared to human beings en-
joying the pleasures of relaxation by dancing and
singing. This development of the social principle
is apparent t>oth among vertebrated and annluose
animals; but is, perhaps, more striking in the latter
than the former. Everybody who has lived in the
Ticinity of a rabbit warren, must have remarked the
playful and even frolicksome nature of these pretty
creatures : the gregarious marmots of North America
{Arctomys), according to Dr. Richardson *, gambol
much in the same manner; but they generally have
the prudence to station a sentinel of their species on
an adjoining eminence, who gives notice of the ap-
proach of danger. Among birds, however, these sorts of
meetings are of a more decided character. Le Vaillant
gives the following amusing account of the African
damask parrot (Psittacus infuscatus Sh.) : — " Every
day, at the same hour, these parrots fly to the water
to bathe themselves, — in which operation they take great
delight : all the flocks of the whole canton assemble to-
wards evening, with much noise and animation, — and
this is the signal for their visit to the water, which is
often at a great distance, since no other than the purest
water will please them. They are then seen huddling
or rolling over each other, pell-mell, on the banks of
the water, frolicking together, dipping their heads and
wings into the water, in such a manner, as to scatter it
over all their plumage, and exhibiting a most enter-
taining spectacle to the observer. This ceremony being
over, they revisit the trees on which they previously
assembled, where they sit in order to adjust and preen
their feathers ; and this being finished, they fly off in-

* North. Zool. vol. i
T 3

278 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

pairs, each pair seeking its particular retreat in the
woods, where they wait till morning." Of all perching
birds, the family of parrots are the most social ; and
this is one of the innumerable analogies by which they
represent the domestic Rasores and the ruminating
quadrupeds.

(293.) But this disposition to unite in parties of
pleasure is much more conspicuous in the insect world.
Every one must have remarked the little black shining
beetles so frequently seen on the surface of ponds and
clear ditches, particularly on a warm spring day, wheel-
ing round and round, in and out of a circle, in every
possible variety of figure, yet never impeding each
other, however crowded their numbers : these are of
the genus Gyrinus Lin., and are usually called whirl-
beetles or whirlwigs : they seem to have no other ob-
ject in this animated dance upon the waters, than mere
pastime, — - for they are never seen, on such occasions, to
pursue other insects for their prey, although they are
known to be carnivorous. But of all assemblies of joy-
ous insects, none are more beautiful or more animated
than the innumerable tribes of gnats which assemble on
the evening of a bright sunny day, even when the earth
is covered with snow. While we contemplate their
intricate and rapid evolutions, — rising and falling, each
threading the compact maze made by its companions,
— we cannot but feel a portion of this animal pleasure
reflected upon our own minds. " To see these little
airy beings apparently so full of joy and life, and feeling
the entire force of the social principle even in that
dreary season when the whole animal world appears to
suffer, and the rest of the insect world is torpid, always
conveys to my mind the most agreeable sensation." "
The different Ephemera, or day flies, unite themselves
in a similar way into assemblies of innumerable indi-
viduals,— often so abundant as to resemble little moving
clouds alternately rising and falling in the air. Kirby
and Spence describe a spectacle of this kind, witnessed

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 4.

CHAP. IX. SOCIABILITY OF QUADRUPEDS. 279

by them on the 1st of September, 1811, and another
on the 9th of the same month. These celestial
dances were indescribably beautiful : they scarcely re-
sembled, as our authors observe, anything material ;
" they reminded us of angels and glorified spirits drink-
ing life and joy in the effulgence of the Divine favour." *
Another family of little black flies, forming the Lin-
siaean genus Empis, in May and June (their season of
love), may be seen wheeling in airy circles over ponds
and stagnant waters, or even near hedges, with a rush
resembling that of a hasty shower driven by the wind.t
(294.) We now come to those permanent societies,
where the individuals of a species live together con-
tinually ; and whose dwellings, if not common to all the
community, are, at least, so contiguous as to resemble
a little hamlet or village. We exclude from this sec-
tion all those which, by joining in the construction of
a common habitation, — like the beaver, the ant, and the
bee, — form among themselves perfect societies. On
looking to QUADRUPEDS, we find the greatest number
of these societies are composed of the gnawing or rodent
order (Glires Lin.) ; they are the smallest and weakest
of their class ; and, by living in communities under
ground, seem to have that instinctive feeling, common
to the timorous among us, that there is some degree of
additional safety in numbers. We have, in our own
country, a familiar example of these associations in the
common meadow or short- tailed mouse (Mus arvalis),
— more abundant, indeed, in France than with us, since,
there, they have been known almost to destroy the crops
over a square of near forty leagues. The burrows of
these animals, we are told, which serve both as retreats
and depositories for their stores, are neither spacious nor
deep, — but are divided into two or three apartments.
The galleries, occupied by several families or small
colonies, are not contiguous ; there is always a space be-
tween them. If the inhabitants of one burrow abandon
it, or perish, others are not found to occupy the same,

* Int. to Ent. vol. 31 p. 6. f Id. ibid. p. 7.

T 4

280 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

but each colony prefers providing a domicile for itself.
These retreats are not, in general, more than from six
inches to a foot from the surface; but the pregnant
females will sometimes deepen the excavation to up-
wards of two feet by a very small alley or aperture, —
which, after making several sinuosities, terminates in a
little chamber as big as a fist, furnished with a soft
bed of vegetables for the accommodation of the young.
The economic mouse, from the interesting history of its
manners given by Pallas, seems to have the social in-
stinct still more developed, — since they seem to have
one common chamber for assembling in, near which
are others appropriated to receive the stores supplied
by their industry for winter food. We have already
spoken of the extraordinary migrations of this little
creature, which appears habitually to live in very large
societies. It has been said that the common domestic
mouse is not a social animal, because " each lives in-
sulated." The fact, however, is notoriously otherwise :
suffer them but to increase, and they will, as every
body knows, form little colonies, — not, indeed, inhabit-
ing the same common dwelling, but with their burrows
close to each other, like houses in a street, and ap-
proached by one or more roads common to all the mem-
bers of the community. The bobac marmot has,
nevertheless, more sociability than our little domestic
pest: this species seems to live in societies of from
twenty to forty. By consulting the valuable pages of
Dr. Richardson's first volume *, it will be seen that the
greatest number of the American marmots, and similarly
shaped quadrupeds, are particularly and permanently
social ; even the American field mouse ( M us leucopus),
while laying up its hoards of provisions, seems to act
in concert ; " for the quantity laid up in a single night
is so great as nearly to equal the bulk of a mouse, and
renders it probable that several individuals unite their
efforts to form it." The burrows of the Arctomys
pruinosus, or whistler marmot, are close together ; for

* Northern Zoology..

CHAP. IX. SOCIABILITY OP QUADRUPEDS. 281

the animals form themselves into little foraging parties,
and may frequently be seen, in autumn, on the sides of
grassy hills, cutting hay, — <f which is regularly carried
to their burrows, either as food, or as a lining to their
dwellings." While a party of them are thus employed,
a sentinel keeps vigilant watch upon an adjoining emi-
nence,— who, on the first approach of an enemy, gives an
alarm to the rest of the party by a shrill whistle, which
may be heard at a great distance ; and, that all may par-
ticipate in the warning, ' ' this signal of alarm is repeated
from one to another as far as their habitations extend."
In these little animals, the social principle of mutual
enjoyment is not only developed, but a regard is mani-
fested for the welfare and safety of each other. The
villages of the short-tailed marmot of the same regions
{Arctomys brachyurus}, according to Lewis and Clark,
on the plains of Columbia, sometimes occupy 200
acres of land. The burrows, like separate houses, are
distinct; each containing, upon an average, from ten to
twelve inhabitants : the entrances to these are by three
or four distinct holes, in the centre of which is a hillock
about two feet high ; this is used as a watch tower,
upon which one of the family takes its station as sen-
tinel, while the rest are employed in gathering food for
the mutual benefit of all.* The wood chuck (Arctomys
monax} is another of those social marmots which form
villages in the sides of hills ; the burrows extend to
great distances under ground, and terminate in several
chambers, inhabited by different members of the same
family. In short, it will be needless to particularise
further instances of the social disposition of this family,
since it is more or less prevalent in nearly every species.
The prairie dogs of Lewis and Clarke (the genus Cy-
nomys of Rafinesque) construct their burrows in large
clusters, resembling villages, — and they are so called by
the hunters ; and these villages sometimes cover an ex-
tent of many miles. But the common rabbit of this
country is one of the best examples we can have to.

* North. Zool. voli . p. 152.

282 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

illustrate these social communities. Their warrens,
in fact, are villages ; the burrows have usually several
entrances, and are common to many individuals ; but
all, as it is said, are of the same family. When these
warrens are very populous, the burrows are separated
by very slight intervals, and sometimes even commu-
nicate with each other. " We are assured, on the
authority of those who have paid great attention to
the subject, that rabbits are not merely social, but
evince an interest in each other, and even have
something like respect for the rights of property. In
their republic, as in that of Lacedsemon, old age,
parental affection, and hereditary rights are respected ;
the same burrow is said to pass from father to son, and
lineally from generation to generation; it is never
abandoned by the same family without necessity, — but
is enlarged as the members of the family increase, by
the addition of more galleries or apartments."* The
large Brazilian water cavy, or Capybara, is said to live
in families, and never to quit the vicinity of the spot
where they were born.

(295.) From quadrupeds, we may now turn to
BIRDS. Of all those which inhabit Europe, the crow
family (Corvidte) are the most social ; for, although
numerous others live, for the most part, in companion-
ship the greatest part of the year, yet, when the period
of incubation arrives, they separate and disperse. With
the rook, however, it is different : the social principle
is permanent; and they accordingly form aerial villages,
fabricated on the summits of the loftiest trees, and rear
their young in a perpetual scene of bustle and excite-
ment. Their attachment to these spots is very remark-
able, and has frequently given rise to obstinate battles
between the last possessors and stranger flocks, who
have attempted a usurpation of the domain. The com-
mon heron, although now comparatively scarce in this
country, likewise builds in the same manner ; although
at other times, from the nature of its food, it is a so-

* Griff. Cuv. vol. iii. p. 219.

CHAP. IX. SOCIABILITY OP BIRDS. 283

litary bird. Heronries were formerly preserved in Eng-
land with great care, as the birds were esteemed royal
game. The passenger pigeons of America, whose ex-
traordinary migrations we have already detailed, perhaps
exceed all other birds in the extent of their societies,
and in the number of individuals which compose them.
The sociability of the swallow tribe, particularly during
the breeding season, is known to every one : in many
of the foreign species, the nests are so close together,
that they may be compared with more propriety to a
large house with innumerable chambers, than to a vil-
lage having distinct habitations. The hangnests of
America (Icterincs Sw.) form their dwellings in the
shape of long purses, — suspending them so close to each
other, that we have frequently seen thirty upon a single
tree. The weaving birds of Africa (Ploceancs Sw.), as
we have elsewhere shown, do the same ; and most of
these tribes constantly live in permanent societies.
Aquatic birds, with few exceptions, are solitary, like
all such as live upon other creatures ; but the gulls and
the terns are exceptions, — and they probably breed in
large communities. We know, by the relations of
voyagers, that the penguins are eminently social j and
that their breeding places are so crowded with nests,
that it is almost impossible to walk over the ground
without destroying either tbeir eggs or the young birds.
Numerous, however, as are these instances, they offer
no example of one common dwelling, like the hives of
bees, constructed by the united efforts of the whole
community ; for, in all the above instances, each pair
of birds provide their own materials, and build their
own habitation, — and this is never larger than is ne-
cessary to contain their own young. It is curious to
observe how the social propensity is varied among the
feathered tribes. The starling, the redwing, and the
fieldfare are well known to be gregarious, at all times
except during the breeding season ; when each pair be-
comes solitary ; while the heron, and numerous other
birds, live by themselves, and only form societies when

284? HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

they are to rear their young. Throughout the whole
of this class, we, at present, know but of one species
which may be said to unite in constructing one habita-
tion for the whole community, and thus forming a per-
fect society.

(296.) There are many families of INSECTS which
may be placed under the class of associations we are
now considering, although their labours do not appear
strictly to regard themselves alone. The truth is, that
although we have, for the sake of precision, drawn a
distinction between perfect and imperfect societies, yet —
as in all natural series — .it is extremely difficult, if not
impossible, to determine where the one should cease,
and the other commence. Nature seems to abhor sud-
den and strongly marked divisions in the development
of brute faculties, no less than in the structure of their
bodies : both are gradual, and sometimes scarcely per-
ceptible. Thus the Scarabceus pilularis, or a species
nearly allied, never labours to remove the round balls
of dung they are so frequently removing, by itself ; two
individuals are always engaged in the task, — and these
are, probably, the sexes. We have repeatedly been
amused by watching the efforts of these resolute little
creatures, — for more than one species is common in the
island of Sicily ; but, conceiving that the history of so
remarkable an insect was well known, we neglected to
prosecute any researches in the matter. Do these in-
sects live in societies ? and are these balls conveyed to
their common dwelling ? This question, we believe,
cannot, at present, be positively answered. Somewhat
similar to this are the operations of the grave-digging
beetles (Necrophaga), which will assemble round the
dead body of a mole, or other small quadruped, and
'oin their labour to bury the carcase in the earth, before
they begin to devour it, or to deposit their eggs. In
either case, the work to be performed appears to be
beyond the skill or strength of an individual ; yet we
can scarcely place such insects in the list of those which
form perfect societies. Others, again, live in vast as-

CHAP. IX. ASSOCIATIONS OP . INSECTS. 285

sociations in one stage of their existence, but not in
another ; and this, without undertaking any work which
is to prove beneficial to the community. As these in-
stances have been narrated, with much animation, by
Messrs. Kirby and Spence, we shall conclude the pre-
sent section with their account of the caterpillars of
certain moths, which present us with a mode of asso-
ciation almost unique. We regret not having had the
opportunity of stating these facts from personal observ-
ation.

(297.) Among the most remarkable insect associ-
ations are those formed for the purpose of marching in
order. " Though these creatures move without beat
of drum, they maintain as much regularity in their
steps as a file of soldiers. It is a most agreeable sight,"
says Bonnet, on whose authority this statement rests,
" to see several hundreds of the larvae of the Bombyx
Neustria marching after each other, — some in straight
lines,, others in curves of various inflections, — resembling,
from their fiery colour, a moving cord of gold stretched
upon a silken riband of the purest white. Equally
amusing is the progress of another moth — the Pityo-
campa, before mentioned. They march together, from
their common citadel, in a single line : in following
each other, they describe a multitude of graceful curves
of varying figure ; — thus forming a series of living
wreaths, which change their shape every moment. All
move with a uniform pace, — no one pressing too for-
ward, or loitering behind ; when the first stops, all
stop, — each defiling in exact military order."

(298.) The processionary bombyx moth, in its ca-
terpillar state, presents a still more singular and pleasing
spectacle : it is a native of France, and inhabits the
oak. Each family consists of from 600 to 800 indi-
viduals ; these may be termed a regiment, and they
march out to forage. When young, they have no fixed
habitation, but encamp sometimes in one place, and
sometimes in another, under the shelter of a common
web ; but when they have attained two thirds of their

286 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IX.

growth, they weave for themselves a common tent.
About sunset the regiment leaves its quarters — or, to
make the metaphor harmonise with the trivial name of
the animal, the monks their ccenobium. At their head
is a chief, by whose movements their procession is re-
gulated; when he stops, all stop, — and proceed when
he proceeds : three or four of his immediate followers
succeed in the same line, the head of the second touch-
ing the tail of the first ; then comes an equal series of
pairs, next of threes, and so on, as far as fifteen or
twenty. The whole procession moves regularly on with
an even pace, each file treading upon the steps of those
which precede it. If the leader, arriving at a particular
point, pursues a different direction, all march to that
point before they turn. Sometimes the order of pro-
cession is different : the leader, who moves singly, is
followed by two ; these are succeeded by two ; then
come four, and so on. When the leader — who in no-
thing differs from the rest, and is, probably, the cater-
pillar nearest the entrance to the nest, followed as I
have described — has proceeded to the distance of about
two feet, more or less, he makes a halt, during which
those which remain, come forth and take their places ;
the company then form into files, the march is resumed,
and all follow as regularly as if they kept time to music.
These larvae may occasionally be found at mid-day, out
of their nests, packed close one to another, without
making any movement ; so that, although they occupy
a space sufficiently ample, it is not easy to discover
them. At other times, instead of being simply laid
side by side, they are formed into singular masses, in
which they are heaped one upon another, and as it
were interwoven together. Thus, also, they are dis-
posed in their nests. Sometimes their families divide
into two bands, which never afterwards unite." * These
marching insects may be said to form perfect societies,
inasmuch as they unite in building their common ha-
bitation, and live under the same roof : but these asso-

* Int. to Em. vol. ii. p. 24., copied from Reaumer, Mfan. t. il p. 180.

CHAP. X. INSTINCT AND REASON. 287

ciations last but for a season ; the caterpillar changes
to a moth, and the bond of their society is dissolved.
We have introduced these examples in this place, as
they serve to conduct us, by the most graduated steps,
to others which, in like manner, show the first develop-
ment of perfect societies, — the subject which will next
engage our attention.

CHAP. X.

ON PERFECT SOCIETIES OP ANIMALS.

(299-) WE have already intimated the different grada-
tions of animal society, and the nature of those distinc-
tions by which we arrange the social animals under two
great divisions ; we are now brought to consider those
which constitute, among themselves, perfect societies.
It is among these wonderful creatures that we trace a
degree of order, intelligence, and ingenuity, which has
baffled so many in drawing an unexceptionable difference
between reason and instinct. It is an extraordinary cirt.
cumstance, that the greatest development of this sort of
intelligence should be found in a division of the animal
kingdom, whose structure is totally different from that
of man — the being to whom his Creator has given
the power of knowing himself; and who, consequently,
exhibits the highest development of intellectual endow-
ment in the creation. Of all creatures belonging to
the animal world, insects exhibit the nearest approach
to the reasoning powers of man : this fact, which the
following details render incontrovertible, is one out of
the many indirect evidences that man forms no part of
the animal kingdom. His great distinction — his typical
perfection — is REASON ; in other words, the highest

288 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. , CHAP. X.

degree of intelligence which has been given to finite
beings. Now, as Nature, in all her groups, advances
to the full development of their peculiarities by slow
and finely graduated steps, it would follow, if man was
truly the type of the animal circle, that those forms
which made the nearest approach to him, would also
be the most intelligent of the brute creation ; — that
they would show us the graduating stages between mere
ordinary instinct and reflective reason ; — that we should
trace, in fact, through the families of the monkeys
and apes, the graduated development of those mental
powers which finally burst forth, in all their varied and
astonishing splendour, in man. This, we maintain, is
what the unvaried course of the system of Nature, in
all her other works, would lead us to conclude. Why,
then, should there be a solitary exception ? and why
should this exception, moreover, be made in that par-
ticular group, which, as standing at the head of the
whole creation, is pre-eminently typical, — and, conse-
quently, that in which we should expect, by every
analogy of reasoning, the primary laws of nature would
be most perfectly developed ? In all other groups, those
which are pre-eminently typical of their respective
circles are also pre-eminent examples of the gradation
of structure, of habits, and of instinct ; they are also
those which Nature appears to have delighted in making
the strongest evidences of her general laws. Yet here,
in the very zoological circle in which some naturalists
are disposed to place man, we should find him sur-
rounded with beings which possess not the hundredth
part of the intelligence of an ant, a bee, or even a spider !
The truth is, that animal intelligence, or instinct, is
not one of the great characters of vertebrated animals ;
their perfection, on the contrary, lies in the complicated
nature of their structure, the paucity of their numbers,
and the great size of the individuals. The greatest
perfection, on the contrary, of the annulose or insect
kingdom, is their intelligence ; while, in the compara-
tive simplicity of their structure, the excessive minute-

CHAP. X. SOCIABILITY OF BEAVERS. 289

ness of their size, and the immensity of their numbers,
they present us with characters diametrically opposed
to those just mentioned. These remarks, however they
may appear somewhat disconnected with our present
subject,, are not strictly so ; they tend to explain, and
to account for, the remarkable fact of not more than
two perfect societies being yet found among the whole
of the vertebrated animals, while those in the insect
world are numerous, wonderful, and highly interesting.
(300.) Among QUADRUPEDS, the beaver may be
almost termed the only genus which gives us an ex-
ample of a perfect society. They unite in building a
common habitation, labouring in unison, aiding and
assisting each other in the carriage of the materials, and
minutely depositing, in one common storehouse, the
provisions gathered in summer, for the support of the
republic during the dreary and famishing season of
winter. As we shall have occasion to notice this in-
teresting animal in another part of our work, we must
confine ourselves, in this place, to a few particulars.
The American beaver, according both to Herne and
Richardson, is seldom found in societies exceeding
ten or twelve individuals, of which four are the pa-
triarchs. Their houses are so substantially built, that
they resist the cold even of an arctic winter, and the
walls are frequently from five to six feet in solid thick-
ness ; each contains several apartments, all of which
have their entrance from the water : but, besides these,
there are a number of hiding holes in reserve, to which
they retreat whenever any injury is offered to their
common habitation. The number of apartments in
one of these houses, examined by Herne, amounted to
a dozen ; and, two or three only of these excepted,
none of them had any communication with each other,
except by water. As there were beavers enough to
inhabit each apartment, it is more than probable that
each family knew their own, and always entered at
their own doors, without any further connection with
their neighbours than a friendly intercourse, and to

290 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X,

join their united labours in erecting their separate
habitations and building their dams.* A more par-
ticular account of these dwellings will be found else-
where. The American musquash (Fiber Zibethicus
Cuv.), although far inferior in its social instincts to the
beaver,, must, nevertheless, be included in the same
list. Dr. Richardson informs ust, that these ingenious
and prolific animals join their labour in erecting, for
their mutual accommodation, a cone-shaped dwelling
or house, the chamber of which they take care to raise
sufficiently high above the level of the water to ob-
viate the effects of inundation. te The chosen spot
is generally amongst long grass, which is incorporated
with the walls of the house, from the mud being de-
posited amongst it ; but the animal does not appear to
make any kind of composition, or mortar, by tempering
the mud and grass together : there is, however, a dry
bed of grass deposited in the chamber. When ice
forms over the surface of the swamp, the musquash
shows an admirable instinct in perforating it, for the
purpose of making breathing holes ; and these holes
are again protected from the frost by a covering of
mud. This is their winter habitation ; but, with the
return of milder seasons, our little animal constructs a
summer residence : he excavates or burrows, in the
banks of the lake or morass near to his winter habita-
tion, several branched tunnels, many yards in extent ;
at the extremity of these — which, probably, all termi-
nate ultimately in a point — is a small chamber, and in
this the young are brought forth and nursed. When
its house is attacked in the autumn, — the usual season
for hunting the poor creature, — it retreats to these
passages ; but in the spring," observes Dr. Richardson,
" they are frozen up." J Before quitting these pre-
eminently social quadrupeds, it will be interesting to
notice that, in the circle of the order Glires, they
occupy a station perfectly analogous to that of the

* North Zool. vol. i. p. 110. f Id. ibid. p. 117.

I Id. ibid. p. 113.

CHAP. XNESTS OF THE GROSBEAKS OP AFRICA. 29 1

order Hymenoptera in the circle of the class Ptilota,
among insects ; and that, consequently, the analogy of
the beaver to the bee is not merely a supposition, but a
demonstrable fact, founded upon analysis, — the only
true test of natural analogies, — and established by the
parallel relations of the other divisions in the two
circles.

(301.) The most perfect societies that are known
among BIRDS, are inferior to those which we have just
described. They are, indeed, so few as to be confined
to one genus — or, at least, to one division of a family
(FringillidcR Sw.) ; and so little is known on the
economy of even these, that only one solitary instance
is of sufficient authenticity to be recorded : this is

the republican gros-
beak (fig. 78.), a
small finchlike bird,
discovered in the in-
terior of Africa by
the late colonel Pa-
terson, during his bo-
tanical travels in those
regions ; and men-
tioned by him in the
following words : —
" The method in which these birds fabricate their nests
is highly curious. In that of which I have given a
plate, there could be no less a number than eight
hundred to a thousand residing under the same roof.
I call it a roof, because it perfectly resembles that of a
thatched house ; and the ridge forms an angle so acute
and so smooth, projecting over the entrance of the nest
below, that it is impossible for any reptile to approach
them. Their industry seems almost equal to that of
the bee : throughout the day they appear to be busily
employed in carrying a fine species of grass, — which is
the principal material they employ for the purpose of
erecting this extraordinary work, as well as for additions
and repairs. Though my short stay in the country

292 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

was not sufficient to satisfy me, by ocular proof, that
they added to their nest as they annually increased in
numbers, still, from the many trees which I have seen
borne down by the weight, and others which I have
observed with their boughs completely covered over, it
would appear that this really was the case. When
the tree, which is the support of this aerial city, is
obliged to give way to the increase of weight, it is
obvious they are no longer protected, and are under the
necessity of rebuilding in other trees. One of these
deserted nests I had the curiosity to break down, so as
to inform myself of its internal structure, — and I found
it equally ingenious with that of the external. There
are many entrances, each of which forms a separate
street, with nests on both sides, at about two inches
distant from each other. The grass with which they
are built is called the Boshman's grass, and I believe
the seed of it to be their principal food ; though, on
examining their nests, I found the wings and legs of
different insects. From every appearance, the nest
which I dissected had been inhabited for many years,

and some parts of it were much more complete than

others. This, therefore, I conceive nearly to amount
to a proof that they added to it at different times, as
they found necessary, from the increase of the family
— or rather, I should say, of the nation or com-
munity."* Our author further observes, that these
little republicans select a particular species of acacia
tree as the site of their city, — the structure of which
they are led, by instinct, to perceive is peculiarly adapted
for the purpose. The stem of this tree shoots up to
the height of near thirty feet from the ground before
it sends out any branches ; while the stem, being covered
with a smooth and polished bark, effectually secures
the birds from the attacks and injuries of all the snakes,
lizards, and other reptiles which swarm around their
habitations, — many of which, could they but ascend the
glassy surface of the stem, would suck the eggs and

* Trav. in Africa, p. 133.

CHAP. X. SOCIETIES OP BIRDS. 2p3

destroy the young. The branches of this acacia are
also remarkably long and wide-spreading, — thus allow-
ing sufficient room for the increasing colony ; for these
little birds appear to be extremely prolific."* Such is
the brief but highly interesting account which colonel
Paterson has left us of these remarkable birds, — the
only authenticated instance, in the feathered creation,
of a perfect society. Unfortunately, no detailed de-
scription of the plumage has been furnished by our
author ; and the consequence is, that, to this day, we
know not whether the species he alludes to in the
above account is in our museums. The probability,,
however, is, that several of the same genus possess
similar habits : this may be gathered from the vague
and unsatisfactory notices which occur in the Gene-
ral Synopsis and the General History of Birds, —
where several species, obviously distinct, are classed
under one name, merely because they build similarly
shaped nests. Mr. Barrow t, likewise, intimates the
existence of others, with which we are at present
totally unacquainted. But, whatever difficulty we have
in ascertaining the species of these birds, the dis-
coveries that have been effected regarding the geographic
distribution of the feathered class, leave us in no doubt
in respect to the family, and very little as to the
genus, to which they all belong. The weaving birds
(Plociancs Sw.) are strictly confined to the hot latitudes
of Africa and India — or, more properly speaking, to
the Old World ; they form a distinct division (and
that a typical one) of the great family of finches
(FrirtgiltidcR Sw.). Now this family, as may be seen
by the analysis we have elsewhere given \, occupies an
aberrant station in the circle of the Conirostres, or
conic-billed order, precisely analogous to that station
which is filled by the beaver among the Glires, and
the order Hymenoptera among the Ptilota, or winged
insects. It thus appears demonstrable that the bee,

* Trav. in Africa. f Id. ibid.

J_North. ZooL vol. ii.

u 3

294 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

the beaver, and the republican grosbeaks mutually
represent each other,, — not merely in possessing, above
all other animals in their respective classes, the greatest
development of the social instinct, — but equally so, pre-
suming that no such quality belonged to any of them.

(302.) We now come to the PERFECT SOCIETIES
found in the insect world. It is among these little
creatures that the social principle is developed to such
an extraordinary degree, as scarcely to yield to that
which is implanted in man, under all the advantages of
cultivated reason and high civilisation. When we find
all those feelings which sooth or agitate the human
breast — love, patriotism, affection, kindness, forbear-
ance, and disinterestedness — on one side ; and anger,
courage, self-denial, temperance, and toil, on the other ;
possessed of foresight, and with the power of com-
municating ideas to their fellows, sufficient for all the
purposes of life or enjoyment, — how are we astonished
at the intelligence of these extraordinary creatures ! and
how powerfully and irresistibly do the phenomena of
Nature proclaim the wondrous perfection of her God !
" Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways,
and be wise," is addressed, by the inspired writer, to
him who negligently and slothfully makes no use of
those powers bestowed on him by his Creator. But the
same sentence may be addressed, with equal force, to
the sceptic and the infidel — to him who doubts, and to
him who openly disbelieves, that Divinity itself has
produced such creatures for our instruction — emblems
of all those moral virtues which give strength, unity,
and true greatness to a nation, and promote the peace,
the happiness, and the contentment of the individual.
To do justice, in the following narrative, to the asto-
nishing history of these insect communities, is quite
impossible : neither the space which we can devote to
the subject, nor the accumulated facts that have been
contributed to it by many and eminent writers, will
permit us to do more than condense the most striking
circumstances regarding their history. For these we

CHAP. X. SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 2^5

are mainly, and almost exclusively, indebted to Messrs.
Kirby and Spence, who have devoted a large portion of
the second volume of their admirable work to this sub-
ject ; and who have collected and digested, with great
industry and skill, everything that has been written on
this matter. Whatever facts, in the following pages, are
not stated as the result of personal observation, must be
considered as taken from the Introduction to Entomo-
logy, or from other original sources, equally authentic.

(303.) In regard to social insects, generally, we
cannot but observe, that the nature of their food, and
habits, correspond with their peaceful and orderly dis-
position. With the exception of the wasps, — which,
as types of the Carnivora, in the order Hymenoptera,
derive part of their sustenance from the bodies of smaller
insects, — the whole of these tribes live upon vegetables.
The bees feast upon the nectar of living flowers ; the
Termites, or white ants, upon the fibres of decayed or
decaying wood ; and the common ants chiefly upou
seeds and grain. Most of the latter, however, in tropical
countries, appear omnivorous, — devouring everything
that comes in their way; — at least, we had painful ex-
perience of this in South America, where many boxes
of fine insects, incautiously left open for the purpose of
drying, were, in one night, totally destroyed by these
creatures ; the same misfortune happened to the cele-
brated Smeathman, whose name we shall have frequent
occasion to mention, while prosecuting his researches
on the western coast of Africa; — while some species of
Termes appear equally capable of feeding both upon
animal and vegetable matter.

(304.) We shall contemplate the different societies
of insects under the following heads : — 1. Those which,
at first, erect a common habitation for themselves, but
separate and disperse in the subsequent periods of their
existence. 2. Those in which the work is performed
by larvae. 3. Those whose workers are neuters. To
the first of these belong most of the social Lepidoptera ;
the second comprises the white ants ; and the third in-
u 4

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

eludes the majority of bees : the two latter, from living
in society during all their life, are pre-eminently social.
(305.) 1. That the caterpillars of several butterflies
and moths live in large societies, under shelter of a
common habitation, fabricated by their united skill,
has been already intimated. It is by these temporary
associations, complete in their nature, so long as they
continue, that Nature marks the transition from im-
perfect to perfect societies. To preserve this series, we
shall now place the remainder of these tent-spinning
caterpillars in the present section. The gold-tailed
bombyx moth, mentioned by Reaumer, is of this de-
scription ; and they belong to a family, the females of
which always envelop their eggs in hair plucked from
their own body. As soon as one of these young cater-
pillars is disclosed from the egg, it begins to feed ; an-
other quickly joins it, placing itself by its side. Thus
they proceed in succession, till a file is formed across
the leaf. A second is then begun ; and after this is
completed, a third : and so they proceed until the whole
upper surface of the leaf is covered. But as a single
leaf will not contain the whole family, the remainder
take their station upon the adjoining ones. No sooner
have they satisfied the cravings of hunger, than they
begin to think of erecting a common habitation, — which,
at first, is only a vaulted web, that covers the leaf they
inhabit ; but, by their united labours, in due time
grows into a magnificent tent of silk, containing various
apartments, sufficient to defend and shelter them all
from the attack of enemies and the inclemency of the
seasons. As our caterpillars, like eastern monarchs,
are too delicate to adventure their feet upon the rough
bark of the tree upon which they feed, they lay a silken
carpet over every road and pathway leading to their
palace, — and this extends as far as they have occasion
to go for food. To the habitation just described they
retreat during heavy rains, and when the sun is too
hot : they likewise pass part of the night in them ; and,
indeed, at all times, some may be usually found as

CHAP. X. SOCIETIES OF WHITE ANTS. 297

home. Upon any sudden alarm, they retreat to them
for safety; and also when they cast their skins. In the
winter they are wholly confined to them, — emerging
again in the spring; hut in May and June they entirely
desert them, and, losing all their love for society,
live in solitude till they become pupae, — which takes
place in about a month."* De Geer mentions the
caterpillars of a saw-fly, which "join in making a com-
mon nest by uniting leaves together by silken threads ;
each, however, spins a tube, of the same material, for
its own private apartment, in which it glides backward
and forward upon its back." f Several of the British
butterflies spend the early period of their larva state
much in the same manner. The young of the peacock
(Pavo lo Fab.), when a few days old, inclose themselves
in a fine web, — drawing, at the same time, the leaves
to cover them, that they may still receive the benefit of
their shade. They change their skins frequently, —
and on these occasions desert their former tent, and
construct a new one in another part of the plant : this
continues until they are clothed in their last skin, — when
the society is dissolved by mutual consent, and each
individual separates and feeds by itself. The great and
the small tortoiseshell butterflies live much in the same
manner. And, not to multiply instances, the Papilio
cinxia, in its larva state, lives in societies of about a
hundred, within a pyramidal tent, containing several
apartments of their own spinning. We now proceed
to the perfect societies of insects.

(306.) 2. The white ants, generally, are chiefly found
in the tropical latitudes of the Old and the New World ;
in both of which they live in vast communities, — des-
tined, by an all-wise Providence, to accelerate the de-
struction of dead vegetable matter, so abundant in
climates where vegetation is so rapid and luxuriant.
In Europe, it appears, two species have been found, —
one of which we met 'with in the island of Sicily.
" The great end of the societies of insects,," it has been

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 21. t Id- ibid«

298 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

judiciously observed,, " being the rapid multiplication
of the species, Providence has employed extraordinary
means to secure the fulfilment of this object, by creating
a particular order of individuals in each society,, which,,
freed from sexual pursuits, may give themselves
wholly to labour, and thus absolve the females from
every employment but that of furnishing the society,
from time to time, with a sufficient supply of eggs to
keep up the population to its proper standard. In the
ease of the white ants, the office of working for the
society devolves upon the larvse ; the neuters being the
soldiers of the community." Numbers are also essential
to the full development of the instinct of all social
animals ; and where these are to act in complete
unison, according to their several offices, it seems abso-
lutely impossible that this object can be attained with-
out the reciprocal communication of ideas : hence, as
Huber justly observes, " this can scarcely exist without
the intervention of language ; for such may be called
every mode of expressing their wishes, their wants, and
even their ideas, — if that name may be given to the
impulses of instinct." It would be difficult to explain
in any other way that concurrence of all wills to one
end, and that species of harmony which the whole of
their institution exhibits.

(307-) The history of the Termites, or white ants, re-
plete with some of the most astonishing and interesting
facts in animal economy, was first made known to the
world by Smeathman, — an able entomologist and intre-
pid traveller, who, for many years, braved the pestilen-
tial climate of Western Africa in the pursuit of his
favourite science. It is of the various species which he
met "with in those regions that we are about to speak ;
for, although others, no less remarkable, are found in
myriads on the opposite coast of America, their eco-
nomy has never been properly investigated ; and so
many other objects claimed and almost distracted the
attention, during our own researches in those countries,
that the little original information here added is par-

CHAP. X. WHITE ANTS OF AFRICA. 299

tial and imperfect. The traveller who visits the pes-
tilential regions of Western Africa, will be struck by
the appearance of clusters of conical huts, generally
about twelve feet high, rising from the plain, and
covered with mud: these, he will conclude, are the
hamlets of the negroes ; — but they are the dwellings
of a far more industrious race, — they are the cities of
the white ant, fabricated and inhabited by them, and
constructed, internally, with a knowledge of architecture
unknown to the simple negro ; and containing an im-
mense population, divided into those distinct grades of
society which, in human affairs, have been found most
conducive to the general good. Upon the astonishing
structure of these dwellings we cannot, at present,
dilate. But their inhabitants are no less extraordinary.
It should be previously observed, however, that the
species under consideration is named, by Smeathman,
Termes bellicosus, — a designation which, by every rule
of justice and scientific nomenclature, should be re-
tained ; seeing that Linnaeus applied that of fatalis
to two, if not three, different species. The community
is divided, according to Smeathman, into three distinct
orders; — 1. the labourers; 2. the soldiers; and, 3.
the perfect insects. Messrs. Kirby and Spence, on the
contrary, make these three into five. We shall retain
this latter arrangement, — more for the sake of clearness,
than as establishing that marked distinction which be-
longs to Mr. Smeathman's view ; whose three orders
perform three different offices in the community. First,
as being the most numerous, we place the labourers, or
workers, — upon whom devolve the erection and re-
pairing of the buildings, the collecting of provisions,
the care of conveying the eggs to the nurseries, feeding
the young progeny, and attending to all the wants of
the regal pair. These, in scientific language, are the
larva, corresponding in rank to the neuters among
bees : they are immediately known by their small size,
round heads, and short jaws. Next to them are the
nymphs or pupce, — differing only fjartn" the former iiv p

7 OP TFIK

SOO HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

having the rudiments of wings : this great similarity
induced Smeathman (according to the opinion of
Latreille), erroneously,, to call them neuters. Thirdly,
rank the true neuters, or the soldiers : this warlike
race are the guardians of the community : they are in
the proportion of about one to every hundred labourers ;
and are at once distinguished by the enormous size of
their heads, armed with long and sharp jaws. Lastly,
come the males and females ; which are the insects
arrived at their perfect state, and capable of producing
their kind. As there is but one of each in every sepa-
rate community, they may more properly be termed
the king and queen of this insect population ; for, like
the sovereigns of mightier kingdoms, they are exempt
from all those labours and duties which belong to their
subjects. From the remarks of Mr. Smeathman, it
would seem that the circumstances attending the first
establishment of a colony of white ants in Africa, is
much the same as those in the tropics of America ; we
shall therefore give the result of our own observations.
79 The winter or rainy season of Brazil ge-

nerally begins early in February, — at which
time the Termites become perfect insects,
/" j^jliX furnished with four long narrow wings,

7vlT\ ^°^e(* on eac^ ot^er (fiff* 79- X an(* emerge
//ill from their retreats in countless myriads.
/ i I > We aiways observed they selected a rainy
day for their transformation ; and although
they began to mount from the earth at
about one o'clock in the day, they con-
tinued to increase every hour, thousands
on thousands, darkening the air, and flying
into the houses. Meantime, all the species
of insectivorous birds, particularly the tyrant flycatchers
(TyrannincB Sw.), as if by an instinctive knowledge,
assemble round those spots from whence the insects
emerge, and commence a simultaneous attack upon
them in all directions. Poultry join in the destruction ;
lizards run about after the hundreds which fall to the

CHAP. X« WHITE ANTS OF BRAZIL. 301

ground ; and as many more are drowned in such ponds
of water as happen to be near. The wings are so
slightly affixed to the body, that they fall off, almost at
the slightest touch, — so much so, that we could scarcely
collect a dozen specimens in a perfect state : the sun
immediately makes them shrivel, — and on this account
the insects never emerge from the nest but on a rainy
or very cloudy day. Thus far we can speak as an
eye-witness : we must now return to Mr. Smeathman's
narrative. The next morning, and even the latter
part of the same day, those that have escaped their
numerous enemies, deprived of their wings, crawl for
shelter into the nearest retreat ; but here, again, they
encounter a fresh host of enemies, in the numerous ants
which swarm in all parts of tropical countries. It
should be observed, however, that so soon as the white
ants fall upon the ground, by the loss of some of their
wings, " they are seen running about, with the rest
dangling upon them, the male after the female : some-
times two are seen chasing one, — each contending with
great eagerness, regardless of the innumerable dangers
that surround them, who shall win the prize/' * This
fact we have not witnessed. So sweeping is the de-
struction, that not one pair in many thousands escape
death. If, by chance, the labourers happen to meet
with one of these, they treat them with their customary
respect and homage ; and, conveying them to a place of
safety, they are elected sovereigns of a new community.
This done, their new subjects begin to build them a
small chamber of clay, the entrance of which is just
sufficient to admit themselves and the neuters, but
much too small for the royal pair to pass through ;
this chamber, in fact, becomes their palace, their prison,
and probably their grave, — for beyond its walls they
never again emerge.

(308.) The colony being now established, the female
begins her office, and soon furnishes it with a large
population: as her size gradually increases, the la-

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 35.

302 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

bourers progressively enlarge her cell, and, at the same
time, supply her and their king with food and every
thing needful. The abdomen of the female pro-
gressively increases, until it becomes 1500 or 2000
times larger than the rest of her body, — thus making
her bulk equal to 20,000 or 30,000 of her own sub-
jects : her abdomen, in fact, is now a vast magazine
of eggs, which are sometimes protruded at the rate of
sixty in a minute, or more than 80,000 in twenty-four
hours. For how long a period oviposition continues,
we are not informed ; 1but the ordinary period, usually
observed in other insects, would give a number almost
incalculable. During this period, the royal chamber is
a scene of busy activity ; crowds of the attendant
labourers are passing and repassing, sedulously en-
gaged in receiving the eggs from their prolific queen,
and depositing them in distinct chambers or nurseries,
where they continue to show them unremitting atten-
tion, and supply them with food, until they are of an
age to procure it themselves. Meantime the soldiers,
as if to preserve order in the royal presence, are mixed
with the rest of the attendants in the presence chamber,
and seem to constitute a body-guard to the royal pair :
the adjacent apartments or anterooms, are occupied by
other labourers and soldiers in waiting, " that they may
successively attend upon and defend the common
father and mother, on whose safety depend the hap-
piness and even existence of the whole community, —
and whom these faithful subjects never abandon, even
in the last distress."

(309.) All the operations of these extraordinary
creatures are carried on under cover of their walls;
and it was only by breaking these, that Mr. Smeath-
man was able to prosecute his observations. Not only
is the city itself thus fenced in from all external
enemies, but none of its inhabitants ever expose their
soft and tender bodies to the light of day, — at least
habitually, or for any considerable time. How, then,
it may be asked, do they wander about, and manage to

CHAP. X. NESTS OF THE WHITE ANTS. 303

procure a sufficiency of food for so many thousand indi-
viduals ? The method they adopt is most singular, and
has been verified by our personal observations. From the
citadel or common nest, radiating and branching in all
directions, are innumerable tunnels or covered ways :
those which unite the greatest number of lateral com-
munications may strictly be compared to our high
roads, — their diameter is frequently wider than the
bore of a large cannon ; others, on the contrary, are
much narrower, and resemble our lanes or cross roads.
Messrs. Kirby and Spence are in error when they in-
timate * that the white ants cannot well mount a sur-
face quite perpendicular. The fact is, that, in certain
parts of Tropical America, these covered ways may be
seen, in innumerable instances, carried up the perpendi-
cular stems of lofty trees to the height of thirty or forty
feet ; but as these are evidently a distinct species from the
T. bellicosus of Western Africa, a variation of habit or
economy may naturally be expected. Their great high-
ways are, as Smeathman observes, " generally concealed at
the depth of three or four feet below the surface, and ex-
tend to no great distance from the bottom of their nests :
the lesser roads, however, extend to great lengths, and,
when carried above the earth, are covered over, in the
form of an arch, with tempered mortar ; which, to de-
ceive the eye, is always incorporated with particles of the
substance upon which it reposes, — so that, the colour
being precisely the same, few persons would detect the
masonry, even when immediately before him." There
is an extraordinary circumstance connected with this
part of their labours, which does not appear to have
struck any one of the authors who have written upon
these creatures. If, as there is every reason to be-
lieve, they do not venture beyond their covered ways,
by what means do they discover the best and the
shortest road to any particular object — a decayed tree,
for instance, which is adapted for their nourishment,
and which they consequently mean to attack ? When

* Vol. ii. p. 38.

304 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

hid within these tunnels, they can neither see such an
object^ nor is it probable that they can smell it, —
since the compactness of their walls, impervious to rain,
might be supposed, also, to intercept the particular
odour which would guide them in what direction to
make their engineering approaches, — in other words,
to carry on their tunnels. Have they no reconnoitring
parties, which proceed, under cover of the darkness of
night, to explore and examine the neighbourhood, and
to bring a report to the rest of the community as to the
best and nearest supply of food to which they should
next direct their attention ? This seems to us an object
worthy of future research ; for in what way can we
otherwise account for the positive fact, that their roads
to a given object are always found to be the shortest,
the best, and the most judicious of any that could have
been chosen ? They could not, indeed, be better planned,
even if they had been laid out by a distinct class,
trained and educated as civil engineers. Such, at least,
were our thoughts, while contemplating these creatures
in the forests of Tropical America ; and, although the
circumstance is not alluded to by Smeathman, there is
no reason to doubt that the African species do not
possess the same unaccountable faculties. Independent
of these numerous roads, — which must foe constantly
extended and varied, as supplies of food are exhausted
and discovered, — the labourers have ample employ-
ment in enlarging and improving their common
dwelling, in proportion as its population increases, and
further accommodation is required : the royal chamber,
as before intimated, must undergo many alterations ;
the nurseries must be removed and increased; and,
sufficient supply of provisions procured for the whole
society. It has been generally supposed that these con-
sisted of the fibres of wood, for, whenever the Termites
have been at work, there is always a quantity of coarse
dust, resembling filings ; but it appears by recent ex-
amination, that these, when examined with a micro-
scope, " are found to consist chiefly of gums and the

CHAP. X. WHITE ANTS. — SOLDIERS. 305

inspissated juices of plants, which, formed into little
masses, are stored up in magazines made of clay.

(310.) Let us now bestow some at.
tention upon the soldiers (fig. 80.), —
whose duties, although less laborious
or varied, are, nevertheless, equally
important and curious. The military
life is not remarkable for steady and
persevering regularity in the daily per-
formance of allotted labour ; it is either a state of com-
parative idleness, or of violent and perilous exer-
tion : and this picture is exemplified in the insect
army now under consideration. The sole duties which
devolve upon them appear to be, keeping a listless
guard over the royal cell or the more active labourers,
and defending the city. The first seems more allied
to form than to usefulness, for no observation has yet
detected any fact which would indicate intestine broils,
or civil commotions, in these peaceful societies; but
the second duty, or that which in military language is
called active service, is one of danger, and calls forth
all their courage and energy. If their habitation is
attacked, and a small breach made in the outer walls,
the labourers become exposed to view, — but these, being
incapable of fighting, immediately retire, and give the
alarm ; upon this a soldier makes his appearance, ob-
viously for the purpose of reconnoitring, — which done,
he also retires for a moment or two, and then returns
with two or three others. The alarm having now be-
come general within all the intricacies of the city, the
soldiers begin to pour out at the breach, — particularly
if the attack is continued ; for it is remarkable that the
extent of their numbers is always in proportion to the
injury that has been committed. These little heroes
present a most astonishing, and, at the same time, a
most amusing, spectacle ; they seem to be influenced by
the most determined fury, and show the greatest rage ;
but, being blind, they cannot wreak their vengeance on
anything which does not come within their touch.
x

806 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF AOTMALS. CHAP. X.

Thus embarrassed, they move their heads about, all the
xvhile extending their long pointed jaws to the utmost,
ready to fasten upon the first enemy that comes in their
way : at this time the disproportionate size of their
immense heads, and their awkward gait, give them a
most ludicrous appearance. It ia really laughable to
see them, sometimes, in their eagerness to push forward,
tumbling over each other, — when they begin biting any
stick or substance which lies in their way ; to those of
their own kind, however, they do no injury. We
have frequently put a stick in their way ; they imme-
diately fastened upon it so firmly, that no force could
disengage the jaws without causing the destruction of
the animal. From this fact, we may readily conceive
the extreme danger which would result from an in-
cautious exposure of the human body to such resolute
enemies. So soon as the injury has ceased, and no
further interruption is given, the soldiers retire, sup-
posing the enemy has departed ; their place is then
filled by the labourers, who immediately begin to crowd
the aperture, each carrying in his mouth a load of
tempered mortar half as big as himself, which he lays
on the edge of the orifice, and immediately hastens
back for more. Not the space of the tenth part of an
inch is left without labourers working upon it at the
same moment ; crowds are hurrying to and fro ; yet,
amid all this activity, we observed the greatest order,
— no one impeded the other, but each seemed to thread
the mazes of the multitude without trouble or incon-
venience.

(311.) The soldiers, in the mean time, although the
great body had retired, were yet observed to be in-
termixed, acting as sentinels or overseers, but taking
no part whatever in the labours of the workers. They
seem, in short, although to all appearance blind,
stationed to watch the proceedings of the labourers,
walking leisurely in and out of the aperture, with
closed jaws and peaceful mien : this we have re-
peatedly witnessed. Mr. Smeathman further adds, that

CHAP. X. MARCHING WHITE ANTS. 301

every now and then, at the interval of a minute or
two, the soldier on these occasions makes a peculiar
noise, by lifting up his head and striking his jaws
against the wall of the nest; no sooner is this done,
than all the labourers (which appear to regard this
noise as a signal for despatch or greater diligence)
answer by a loud hiss, apparently increasing their
pace, and applying to their work with renewed dili-
gence. The celerity, indeed, with which these astonish-
ing creatures, by their union of labour, can repair their
dwellings, is not the least remarkable part of their
history. Mr. Smeathman ascertained that, in a single
night, they will restore a gallery of three or four yards
in length, " If, attacking the nest, you divide it in
halves, leaving the royal chamber, — and thus lay open
thousands of apartments, — all will be shut up with their
sheets of clay by the next morning ; nay, even if the
whole be demolished, provided the king and the queen
are left, every interstice between the ruins, at which
either cold or wet can possibly enter, will be covered ;
and, in a year, the building will be raised nearly to its
pristine size and grandeur." *

(312.) In the history of another African species,
the Termes viarum, or marching white ant, there are
some very peculiar characteristics. The Termes belli-
cosus, last described, lives and works entirely under
cover of its own walls. These, on the other hand,
expose themselves to the day. Mr. Smeathman, on one
occasion, while passing through a dense forest, suddenly
heard a loud hiss like that of a serpent; another
followed, and struck him with alarm ; but a mo-
ment's reflection led him to conclude these sounds
proceeded from white ants, although he could not per-
ceive any of their huts around. On following this
noise, however, he was struck with surprise and pleasure
at perceiving a prodigious army of these creatures
emerging from a hole in the ground, and marching
with the utmost celerity. Having proceeded about a

Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 39.
X 2

308 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X,

yard, this immense host divided into two columns,
chiefly composed of labourers, about fifteen abreast,
following each other in close order, and going straight
forward. " Here and there was seen a soldier, carry-
ing his vast head with apparent difficulty, and looking
like an ox in a flock of sheep, who marched on in
the same manner, at the distance of a foot or two from
the columns ; many other soldiers were to be seen,
standing still, or pacing about, as if upon the look out
lest some enemy should suddenly surprise their un-
warlike comrades. But the most extraordinary and
amusing part of the scene was exhibited by some other
soldiers, who, having mounted some plants ten or
fifteen inches from the ground, hung over the army
marching below, and by striking their jaws upon the
leaves, at certain intervals, produced the noise above
mentioned : to this signal the whole army returned a
hiss, and immediately increased their pace. The
soldiers at these signal stations sat quite still during
these intervals of silence, except now and then making
a slight turn of the head, and seemed as solicitous to
keep their posts as regular sentinels. After marching
separately for twelve or fifteen paces, the two columns
of this army again united, and then descended into the
earth by two or three holes. Mr. Smeathman watched
them for more than an hour, without perceiving their
numbers to increase or diminish. The soldiers, how-
ever, who quitted the line of march, and acted as sen-
tinels, became much more numerous before he quitted
the spot. It should be observed, that both the labourers
and soldiers of this species are furnished with eyes.

(313.} There is another race of white ants, which,
unlike the two former, fix their habitations in trees
and dwellings. These are the Termites arborum of our
author ; but it is probable several species inhabit Africa,
and that those of America are also different. We must
confine our notice, of these to a few particulars mentioned
by Mr. Smeathman, adding some remarks of our own
upon those found in Brazil. Regarding those of Africa,

OHAP. X. ANTS IN HOUSES. 309

our author particularly mentions one species, which is
not only more destructive, but more difficult to guard
against, since they make their approaches under ground,
— descending below the foundations of houses, several
feet from the surface, — and, rising again, enter the
dwelling through the floors. Sometimes they work into
the bottom of the posts composing the framework of
the house, and bore quite through them, — following
the course of the fibres of the wood from the bottom to
the top, — and then enter the building by lateral per-
forations. While some are employed in gutting the
posts, others ascend by the roads thus made, and attack
the rafters. If the roof is composed of thatch, — a
common covering to the slight-built houses of the
country, — these persevering creatures immediately
bring up wet clay, or build their galleries through
the roof in all directions ; taking up their permanent
dwelling, and remaining in this nest of congenial food,
until they know it will no longer support their weight,
This destruction of the roof very soon ruins the house,
— for not only will the top fall in, but the posts become
so perforated as to resemble an old ship's bottom after
being bored by sea worms ( Teredo) ; although the
fibres and knotty parts, being the hardest, are left un-
touched. In this operation they are guided by an
astonishing instinct, which teaches them to know that
the main posts or supports of & house have a con-
siderable weight to support ; and that, consequently, if
they wish to gain possession of the roof (which is their
favourite station), they must not destroy the props by
which it is supported. Here is a perception of con-
sequences,— a knowledge of cause and effect, — which
is altogether inexplicable. How, then, do they coun-
teract the evil, and still feast upon the wood ? Their
method could not be excelled by the most skilful
architect among us. To give sufficient strength to the
timber, they carefully fill up all those excavations with
tempered mortar, — leaving only such of their roads as
are necessary for carrying on further operations. All
x 3

310 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

other parts of the woodwork, as fast as it is eaten
away, is filled up by these skilful masons ; and their
cement is so admirably tempered and worked together,
that no human art could render it more compact or
durable.

(314.) In houses which, from having been other-
wise injured by them, have been pulled down, and the
posts examined, all the softer kinds of wood are re-
duced to a mere shell, — the greater part appearing as if
transformed from wood to clay, as solid and as hard
as many kinds of our freestone. It is much the same
when the Termites bellicosi get into a chest or trunk ;
for, if there is any considerable weight upon it, they
will substitute clay cement for the wood or other sub-
stance which they devour, — carrying their roads in
various directions. The arborial white ants, however,
when they get within a box, will often turn it into a
nest, and, being once in fair possession of the whole,
devour its contents at their leisure. They are no less
expeditious in destroying the shelves, wainscoting, and
other fixtures of a house, than the house itself. They
seem universal destroyers, — but they always commence
at first with the softest substances. If a shelf, for
instance, has nothing upon it, they will not perforate
the surface, but artfully preserve it quite whole, eating
away all the inside except a few fibres, which barely
keep the two sides connected together : to the eye,
there is no external injury, and the board appears per-
fectly solid ; touch it, however, and it crumbles into
dust, and a thick plank is reduced to the weight of
two sheets of paper. They are as persevering as they
are intelligent; and the injury they can cause in a
single night is inconceivable. Sometimes they will
enter a new house from the floor. If you detect the
attack, destroy their works, and even make a fire upon
the spot, they will return to the charge the next night,
and make an entry in another place, When they
attack trees or branches in the open air, they exhibit
new features of intelligence. If a stake in a hedge has

CHAP. X. EUROPEAN WHITE ANTS. 311

not taken root and vegetated, it becomes their business
to destroy it ; if the bark is good and sound,, in order
to preserve it so, they enter at the bottom, leaving all
the external part as a support to their own operations,
— so that it eventually becomes as thin as paper, and
is destroyed by the first wind that blows. If, on the
contrary, their instinct teaches them that the bark is
too weak to be trusted while they are devouring the
inside, they proceed immediately to strengthen it with
a stucco of their mortar, — giving it the appearance of
being covered with a coat of dried mud. Under this
cover they work, leaving no more of the stick and bark
than is barely able to support it ; frequently, indeed,
devouring every particle, — so that, upon being touched
by your walking-stick, a thick stake — apparently,
strong enough to require a hatchet — falls into dust at
your feet, and disappears like a shadow.*

(315.) The European white ants require much inves-
tigation ; Latreille discovered one species, — the Termes
lucifagus, — at Bordeaux, in considerable numbers ;
but instead of erecting artificial nests, they make their
lodgment in the trunks of pines and oaks, where the
branches diverge from the tree. They eat the wood
nearest the bark, or the alburnum, without attack-
ing the interior, and bore a vast number of holes and
irregular galleries. That part of the wood appears
moist, and is covered with little gelatinous particles,
not unlike gum arabic : the proportion of soldiers is
about one to every twenty-five of the labourers. f In
the South of Europe, particularly in the island of Sicily,
we discovered, many years ago, another species, which
we have named Termes Siculus, whose habits at once
point it out as distinct from the above. It is only
found in houses, and constructs its nests, like some of
those before mentioned, in trunks, bales, and other
similar articles; sometimes it is found in the rafters
and posts of the house, which it ultimately destroys :
it is the more dangerous to the inhabitants, as it makes

* Phil. Trans. t Int. to Ent. voL ii. p. 43.

312 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X,

no external nest. In a box of clothes, which had not
been opened for several months, we had the misfortune
to discover a colony of these insects ; they had made
their lodgment at the bottom, and were gradually eating
upwards, through woollen and linen cloths, which were
perforated with holes, and soiled with their cement in
every part. There were many thousands ; so that, to
prevent the escape of any, we were obliged to pour
kettles of boiling water into the trunk, — an operation
which prevented, indeed, the escape of any individual,
but debarred us from the pleasure and instruction of
studying their history. We must now take our leave of
these wonderful little creatures, and proceed to notice
the true ants, — in whose economy we shall find fresh
matter to excite astonishment.

(316.) The family of ants (Formicidce Sw.) is un-
questionably the most numerous, in regard to indivi-
duals, of any in the whole circle of winged insects
(Ptilota) ; for, while the Termites are almost exclusively
tropical, the ants have their colonies thickly planted
over the greatest part of the habitable world. There
is scarcely a field in Britain that does not contain
millions, — while in tropical regions their numbers are
so vast, that the rooms of inhabited houses are daily
infested by their inroads. Our knowledge of the Ter-
mites cannot be increased by personal observation, but
the histories of the ants can be verified by ourselves :
we see these little industrious creatures in our summer
walks ; we cannot rest upon a bank without reclining
upon the walls of their cities, and we may contemplate
their proceedings while reposing after the fatigues of a
walk. The practical naturalist will, therefore, feel an
additional interest in the proceedings of creatures sur-
rounding him, — whose operations are carried on in his
native soil, and, perhaps, in his own garden. In the
following pages we shall, therefore, carefully note such
species a£ are natives, without passing over, too suc-
cinctly, the wonderful economy of many that are
foreigners.

CHAP. X. NUPTIALS OF THE ANTS. 313

(317.) The different ranks of which a society of
ants is composed, are three, — namely, the males, the
females, and the -workers, and their respective offices are
as follows : — The males, which at the time of swarming
are exceedingly numerous, provide for the propagation
of fresh colonies, and then die. The females furnish
a constant supply of eggs for maintaining the popula-
tion of the old nests, as well as of the new : while the
workers, which are the most numerous, not only per-
form the labour, but also undertake the defence of the
community ; thus uniting in themselves the duties of
citizen and soldier — which, among
the white ants, belong to two dis-
tinct ranks. Among the labour-
ers (fig- 81.) there is often ob-
served great inequality of size in
the individuals, — some being twice
or even three times larger than
the generality : in all probability,
this is connected with some pecu-
liarity of economy ; but hitherto
the mystery has not been solved.

(318.) The nuptials of the ants — for so the event
may not improperly be termed — is a beautiful sight ;
and as with this we commenced the history of the
Termes, we shall follow the same plan on the pre-
sent occasion. In the warm days of summer, between
July and September, the nests of the ants in general
become a scene of bustle and animation ; swarms of these
little creatures, newly provided with their glossy wings,
having now reached their perfect state of existence, are
seen hurrying to and fro, preparing to quit for ever
the scene of their nativity and education. Everything
is in motion ; and the silver wings, contrasted with the
jet bodies, of the creatures composing this animated
multitude, give beauty to the scene. When all are
prepared, the males rise into the air, as if by a general
impulse ; and the females, in another body, immediately
follow them. " The whole swarm alternately rises and

314 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X*

falls, with a slow movement,, to the height of about
ten feet ; the males fly obliquely, with a rapid zigzag
motion, — while the females, though they follow the
general movement of the column, appear suspended
in the air like balloons, seemingly with no individual
motion, and having their heads turned towards the
wind. Sometimes the swarms of a whole district unite
in myriads ; and, seen at a distance, produce an effect
resembling the aurora borealis. Rising with incre-
dible velocity in distinct columns, they soar above the
clouds," and they are dispersed by the slightest zephyr.
The females continue majestically sailing in the centre
of these numberless males ; each successively selects
his partner, and the nuptials are consummated in mid-
air. After this dance of love is celebrated, the males
disappear, — probably dying, or becoming food to other
creatures ; certain it is, they never return to their nests.
This, also, is the fate of many females, for they lose
their wings and fall to the ground ; such, however, as
escape, become the founders of new colonies, — some
making for themselves a single cell, while others join
their labours in constructing a larger one in common.
Such is the foundation and first establishment of those
populous societies of ants, which comprehend millions
of individuals.

(319-) The history of such females as outlive the
period of their nuptials may be thus briefly stated.
The majority, indeed, emerge in their winged state, as
already described ; but many remain, not from choice,
but by constraint. The instinct of the labourers teaches
them that the very existence of the community would
cease, if it was left without mothers to produce a new
generation ; they therefore forcibly detain some that
have been impregnated in or near the nest, by pulling
off their wings, and compelling others to return into
the nest, before they had time to join the party already
mounted in the air. This force, however, is not
exerted so as to produce the least injury to the females ;
for no sooner are they again conducted into the interior

CHAP. X. THE QUEEN ANT. 315

of the formicary, than they are attended and fed by the
neuters with the most sedulous care. By degrees,, these
females hecome reconciled to their fate, and lose all
desire to quit the common city, their abdomen enlarges,
and they are no longer looked upon as prisoners. Each
is attended by a single ant, who appears her body-guard
and especial attendant upon every occasion. He oc-
cupies a very curious station, being mounted upon the
abdomen of the female, with his posterior legs touch-
ing the ground. The more especial duty of this sen-
tinel, who is frequently relieved, seems to be that of
watching the moment when the female begins the im-
portant event of laying her eggs, and thus to be ready
to carry them off. Oviposition continues through the
greatest part of the year, during which time it is com-
puted that the female lays between four thousand and
five thousand.

(320.) The conduct of the labourers to'the impreg-
nated female is very similar to that which the bees ren-
der to their queen : they pay her the greatest homage,
press round her person, offer her food, and conduct her
by her mandibles through the difficult or steep intrica-
cies of the common dwelling. Sometimes, indeed, they
carry her about, without any exertion of her own : this
is effected by suspending her upon their jaws, the ends
of which are crossed ; the queen coils herself up, and
thus packs herself so close as to give very little trouble
to her carrier. When he sets her down, others of her
subjects surround and caress her, one after the other,
tapping her on the head with their antennae. " In
whatever apartment," says Gould, " a queen conde-
scends to be present, she commands obedience and re-
spect ; a universal gladness spreads itself through the
whole cell, which is expressed by particular acts of joy
and exultation.'1 They have a particular way of skip-
ping, leaping, and standing upon their hind legs, and
prancing with the others : these frolics they make use
of, both to congratulate each other when they meet,
and to show their regard for the queen. Some of them

31 6 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. XX

gently walk over her, others dance round her ; and sta
is generally surrounded with a cluster of attendants,
who, if you separate them from her, soon collect them-
selves into a body, and inclose her in the midst. " Nay,
even if she dies, — as if they were unwilling to believe
it, — they continue the same attention to her, sometimes
for months, treating her with the same courtly for-
mality as if she were alive — and they will brush and
lick her incessantly." It seems that some species have
only one queen ; while others, as stated by Huber, have
several : these, according to the same author, live
peaceably together, without showing any spirit of ri-
valry. The female lays her eggs in different apart-
ments, — thus frequently changing her situation and
attendants ; and, as there are always to be found many
apartments void of eggs, but full of ants, she is never
at a loss for an agreeable station, and a submissive
retinue.

(321.) We must now turn to the labourers, — the
most numerous and industrious portion of the com-
munity, and to whom are committed the offices of
workers and soldiers. Were not the facts collected
together with so much industry by Messrs. Kirby and
Spence, sanctioned by such names as Huber, Gould,
De Geer, &c., we should deem ocular demonstration
absolutely necessary to authenticate, in the estimation
of the general reader, the wonders which belong to
these intelligent creatures. When he is told that they
communicate information to each other, engage in war,
possess spies, become robbers and slave -makers, and.
have their own sports and amusements, he will be
almost tempted to doubt the existence of such beings
in creation. Let him, then, himself become a natural-
ist, and he will soon discover that the wonders of na-
ture are inexhaustible.

(322.) That ants communicate their ideas, on every
needful occasion, will be apparent from the following
facts : — On disturbing the surface of their nest, the
first thing which strikes us is the excessive quickness

CHAP. X. ANTS COBIMUNICATE THEIR IDEAS. 317

with which a knowledge of the injury has been com-
municated to the whole society. No noise is heard —
no sound is emitted ; yet, in a few minutes, many
thousands, stationed in a remote part of the city, are
informed of a calamity which has occurred in the
suburbs. Now, nothing can account for this, but the
possession of a sort of language, communicated and
understood between themselves, not by sound, but by
touch. On these, and similar occasions, the ants may
be observed to strike each other's head, or bring their
antennae into contact : this, then, is their language ; for
these acts are followed by a change of purpose in the
individuals to whom the information is conveyed. M.
Huber, who, to study these creatures more closely, had
portable nests of them in his house, plunged one of his
artificial formicaries into a pan of water ; this proved a
source of great enjoyment to these little captives, —
for they are a very thirsty race, and lap, as Gould ob-
served, like dogs. One day, when he observed many
of them tripping very merrily, upon disturbing them,
the greater part went in a fright to the nest ; but some,
more thirsty than the rest, continued their potations.
" Upon this, one of those which had retreated returns to
inform his thoughtless companions of their danger : one
he pushes with his jaws, another he strikes first upon
the belly, and then upon the breast, and so obliges
three of them to leave off their carousing and to march
homewards ; but the fourth, more resolute to drink it
out, is not to be discomfited, and pays not the least
regard to the kind blows with which his companion,
solicitous for his safety, repeatedly belabours him ; at
length, determined to have his way, he seizes him by
one of his hind legs, and gives him a violent pull.
Upon this, leaving his liquor, the loiterer turns round,
and opening his threatening jaws with every appearance
of anger, goes very coolly to drinking again ; but his
monitor, without further ceremony, rushes before him,
seizes him by his jaws, and at last drags him off in
triumph to the formicary." The warlike or predatory

318 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

ants — whose history we shall subsequently touch upon
— are known to send out spies in the enemy's quarters;
and the movements of the invading army are regulated
accordingly. Even upon the march, communications
are constantly going on between the van and the rear ;
and Huber, upon whose authority this statement rests,
expressly asserts that, during the battle, if the invaded
appear too strong for their foes, couriers are despatched
for reinforcements to retrieve the battle. Bradley re-
lates a striking instance of the facility with which ants
communicate to each other the discovery of a store of
provisions. " A nest of ants, in a nobleman's garden,
discovered a closet, many yards within the house, in
which conserves were kept, which they constantly at-
tended until the nest was destroyed. Some individuals,
in their rambles, must have first made the discovery of
this depot of sweets, and informed their companions.
They always went to the closet by the same track,
scarcely varying an inch on either side, though they
had to pass through two apartments; nor could the
sweeping and cleaning of the rooms discomfit them, or
cause them to pursue a different route."

(323.) When in Tropical America, we had frequent
occasion to admire the ingenuity of these little crea-
tures, although at no very trifling cost. Some of the
first insects we had collected, were stuck upon setting
boards ; and these, with the hope of preserving them
from the ants, were suspended perpendicularly from
the rafters of the room by a single piece of string, upon
going to bed. The precaution, however, was of no
avail ; for, upon looking to them next morning, we had
the mortification of seeing the board covered with small
black ants, who had destroyed nearly every specimen
in the night, and were then busily passing and re-
passing the piece of thin string by which the setting
board was suspended. But the rnost curious part of
their proceedings follows : — As the board was hung
perpendicularly, it naturally resulted that the legs and
wings of the specimens, so soon as the body to which

CHAP. X. ATTACHMENT OF ANTS. 319

they belonged was eaten away, fell to the ground, — -
having nothing to support them, — and the ants would
thus be deprived of half of their booty : but their sa-
gacity was not to be thus baffled. They must soon
have discovered this loss ; for, upon looking on the
floor immediately under the board, we beheld another
party busily employed in carrying off the limbs which
their companions above had separated from the bodies,
and which they were then conveying to the little holes
in the floor, which formed the entrance to their nests.
All this happened between ten at night and five in the
morning. Gould relates a story somewhat similar ; but
Ligon's account of the heroic ants of Barbadoes, who
drown themselves that their companions may make a
"bridge of their bodies, is. surely a most exaggerated
statement. We always found that tables, whose feet
stood in pans of water, were perfectly secure from ants,
though not from cockroaches ; for these latter pests,
finding that they cannot crawl up the sides, betake
themselves to their wings, and greedily devour any en-
tomological specimens which the unsuspecting collector
may think he has left secure upon the table. The
manner in which ants communicate their ideas has
already been intimated.. Touch seems to supply to
them the deficiency of sound ; the different motions of
the antennae, and the striking of the jaws upon par-
ticular parts of the body, seem to be varied according
to the nature of the information to be communicated.
Nor can we feel surprise that various ideas can be
imparted without sound or language, properly so
termed, when we know that persons born deaf and
dumb can be conversed with for hours through the
medium of signs.

(324.) Whether these extraordinary creatures expe-
rience attachment to individuals of their own species,
has been a question of much interest ; and, however
improbable it may at first appear, the recent observ-
ations of M. Huber seem to establish the fact, to a cer-
tain degree. He had separated a number of ants from

320 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. 31.

the common nest for four months, and then brought
them together. He describes their gesticulations as
very amusing ; and affirms that the two parties imme-
diately recognised each other, mutually saluted by
touching their antennae, and united again in the same
nest. M. Latreille, also, upon one occasion, " cut off
the antennae of an ant ; upon which its companions,
evidently pitying its sufferings, anointed the wounded
member with a drop of transparent fluid from their
mouth." These facts evidently show a recollection of
former companions, and a compassionate love of such
as stand in need of assistance. That they communicate
to each other the discovery of any favourite food, has
been already seen ; and that they will do the same on
occasions where pleasure only is to be enjoyed, is proved
by the following experiment of M. Huber : — On one
occasion, he produced an additional degree of heat in a
part of one of his nests, by means of a torch ; the ants,
who happened to be in that quarter, after enjoying it
for a time, hastened to convey the welcome intelligence
to their companions, — whom they were so desirous
should share in the pleasure, that they carried them
upon their jaws (their usual mode of transporting each
other) to the spot, till hundreds might be seen thus
laden with their friends.*

(325.) The ants are no less extraordinary as a war-
like than as a social race. Like most other insects
belonging to the same order, they are capable of in-
flicting a venomous sting, and their strong toothed jaws

— amazingly large and powerful, in comparison to the
size of the body — render them formidable to the
insect world. To these offensive and defensive wea-
pons they add the most determined and heroic courage :
they turn not from an enemy, be he large or small,

— a mite or an elephant, — nor will these pigmy
heroes be daunted by man himself. We have before
apprised the reader, that the labourers, in this family,
likewise perform the duties of soldiers ; for the males

* Int. to Ent vol. ii. p. 67.

CHAP. X. THE BED ANTS. 321

and the females seem to be " very peaceable creatures,
and always glad to get out of harm's way." Their
subjects, however, are sometimes quarrelsome and pug-
nacious : and this brings us to notice the wars of the
ants ; the occasions which produce them ; and the
modes in which they are conducted. It has been
well observed, that " to these little bustling creatures
a square foot of earth is a territory worth contend-
ing for." And when it is considered how very close
different communities bring their nests, we cannot
wonder that dissensions should arise, and quarrels ensue.
These wars are sometimes civil, — that is, between dif-
ferent parties in the same nest ; but they usually are
carried on against different species. It will be neces-
sary, however, to discriminate the peculiarities of some,
that they may not be attributed to others ; and for this
purpose we shall take a rapid survey of the habits of the
red ant (F. rubra) and of the rufous species (F. rufa
Lin.), as given by Gould and Huber, — the two most un-
questionable and veracious authorities on this subject.

(326.) " The red ant," observes Gould, " is the only
sort I could ever observe to feed upon their own species.
You may frequently discern a party, of from five or
six to twenty, surrounding one of their own kind, and
pulling it to pieces. The ant thus attacked is generally
feeble, and of a languid complexion, occasioned, perhaps,
by some disorder or other accident." * Hence our au-
thor concludes, that so soon as age or infirmity renders
the individuals of a nest incapable of labouring for
the general good, the rest set upon and destroy them.
However this may be, certain it is that the same pecu-
liarity of instinct is known to be possessed by many of
the ruminating quadrupeds. Mr. Kirby says, " I once
saw one of these ants dragged out of the nest by an-
other, without its head ; yet it was still alive, and
could crawl about. A lively imagination might have
fancied that this poor ant was a criminal, condemned,
by a court of justice, to suffer the extreme sentence of

d, p. 104.
Y

322 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X,

the law : it was more probably, however, a champion
that had been decapitated in an unequal combat. At
another time I found three individuals that were fighting
with great fury, chained together by their mandibles;
one of these had lost two of the legs of one side, yet it
appeared to walk well, and was as eager to attack and
seize its opponents as if it was unhurt. This did not
look like languor or sickness."* It does not appear,
however, from the above instances, or from any other
notices upon record, that the fact of intestinal wars
taking place in the nests of the red ant is sufficiently
verified. To us it appears much more probable, if
Gould's theory be rejected, that these combats are more
of the nature of private quarrels between two or three
individuals, differing in no respect from those of other
animals, who, nevertheless, habitually live in peace with
each other.

(327.) The rufous ant (Formica rufa lAn.,fig. 82.)
is one of the most remarkable of those which make
war on their own species. Messrs.
Kirby and Spence have given such
a lively abridgment of Huber's
original account of these proceed-
ings, that we shall quote their
words. " Figure to yourself two
or three of these ant cities, equal
in size and population, and situated
at about a hundred paces from
each other ; observe their count-
less numbers, equal to the popula-
tion of two mighty empires: the
whole space which separates them,
for the breadth of twenty four inches appears alive with
prodigious crowds of their inhabitants. The armies meet
midway between their respective habitations, and there
join battle : thousands of champions, mounted on
more elevated spots, engage in single combat, and seize
each other with their powerful jaws ; a s.till greater

'* Int. to Ent. voL ii. p. 70.

CHAP. X. WARS OF THE RUFOUS ANTS. 323

number are engaged, on both sides, in taking prisoners,
which make vain efforts to escape, conscious of the
cruel fate which awaits them when arrived at the hostile
formicary. The spot where the battle most jages is
about two or three square feet in dimensions : a pene-
trating odour exhales on all sides ; numbers of ants are
lying dead, covered with venom ; others, composing
groups and chains, are hooked together by their legs or
jaws, and drag each other, alternately, in contrary di-
rections. These groups are formed gradually : at first,
a pair of combatants seize each other, and, rearing upon
their hind legs, mutually squirt their acid ; then closing,
they fall and wrestle in the dust: again recovering
their feet, each endeavours to drag off his antagonist.
If their strength be equal, they remain immovable, till
the arrival of a third gives one the advantage. Both,
however, are often succoured at the same time, and the
battle still continues undecided ; others take part on
each side, till chains are formed of six, eight, or some-
times ten, all hooked together, and pertinaciously strug-
gling for the mastery : the equilibrium remains un-
broken, till a number of champions from the same nest
arrive at once, compel them to let go their hold, and
the single combats recommence. At the approach of
night, each party gradually retreats to its own city; but
before the following dawn the combat is renewed with
redoubled fury, and occupies a greater extent of ground.
These daily fights continue, till, violent rains sepa-
rating the combatants, they forget their quarrel, and
peace is restored. In these engagements," observes
M. Huber, " the combatants exhibit the greatest fury,
being absorbed by one sole object, — that of finding an
enemy to attack. What is most wonderful in this
history, — though all are of the same make, colour, and
scent, — every ant seemed to know those of his own
party ; and if, by mistake, one was attacked, it was
immediately discovered by the assailant, and caresses
succeeded to blows. Though all was fury and carnage
in the space between the two nests, on the other side
Y 2

324« HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X,

the paths were full of ants going to and fro, on the
ordinary business of the society, as in a time of peace ;
and the whole formicary exhibited an appearance of
order and tranquillity — except that, on the quarter
leading to the field of battle, crowds might always be
seen, either marching to reinforce the army of their
compatriots, or returning home with the prisoners they
had taken, — which, it is to be feared, are the devoted
victims to a cannibal feast."*

(328.) The wars of ants belonging to different
species, according to M. Huber, generally take place
between combatants of unequal size. When the great
attack the small, — as in the case of formica herculanea
and sanguined, witnessed by M. Huber, — they seek to
take them by surprise (probably to avoid their fastening
themselves to their legs) ; and, seizing them by the
upper part of their body, they strangle them with their
jaws : but when the small have time to foresee the
attack, they give notice to their companions, who rush
in crowds to their succour. Sometimes, however, after
suffering a signal defeat, the smaller species are obliged
to shift their quarters, and to seek an establishment
more out of the way of danger. In order to cover
their march, many small bodies are then posted at a
little distance from the nest. As soon as the large ants
approach the camp, the advanced sentinels instantly
dart upon them in the greatest rage ; a violent struggle
ensues j multitudes of their friends come to their assist-
ance, — and, though no match for their enemies singly,
they prevail by force of numbers, and the assailants
are either slain, or led captives to the victors' camp.

(329-) There is still another kind of warfare carried
on by the slave-making ants, — a tribe which, however
incredible it may appear, is known to make war upon
others for the sole purpose of procuring slaves, who
literally and truly labour for them, and perform all the
daily domestic duties of the community. Nay, more, —
to heighten the wonder, most of these slave-dealers are

* Int. to Ent. voL ii p. 73.

CHAP. X. SLAVE-MAKING ANTS P, RUFESCENS. 325

ruddy or reddish, while those which are captured to
become their servants are black ! The whole history —
of which we are compelled to give but an abstract —
appears so incredible, that few names below that of
Huber would be considered sufficiently unimpeachable
to satisfy mankind that this " almost incredible devi-
ation of Nature from her usual laws " was actually true.
But let M. Huber, the first discoverer of these extra-
ordinary facts, speak for himself. " My readers," says
he, " will, perhaps, be tempted to believe that I have
suffered myself to be carried away by the love of the
marvellous ; and that, in order to impart greater Interest
to my narrative, I have given way to an inclination to
embellish the facts that I have observed. But the more
the wonders of nature have attractions for me, the less
do I feel inclined to alter them by a mixture of the
reveries of imagination. I have sought to divest myself
of every illusion and prejudice, of the ambition of saying
new things, of the prepossessions often attached to
perceptions too rapid, the love of system, and the like;
and I have endeavoured to keep myself — if I may so
speak — in a disposition of mind perfectly neuter, —
ready to admit all facts, of whatever nature they might
be, that patient observation should confirm. Amongst
the persons whom I have taken as witnesses to the dis-
covery of mixed ant-hills, I can cite a distinguished
philosopher (professor Jurine), "who was desirous of
verifying their existence, by examining, himself, the two
species united."* Unfortunately for the British ento-
mologist, none of the slave-making species are natives
of this country, although abundant in many parts of
the Continent. He will, however, receive satisfaction
in knowing that Mr. Kirby, when in France, had an
opportunity of completely verifying Huber's account of
one of these species (Formica rufescens"), whose history,
together with that of the red species (F. sangulnea),
we shall now enter upon, — these being the two which
more especially engaged the attention of M. Huber.

* Huber, p. 287. Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 75.
Y 3

326 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

(330.) The rufous or rufescent ant (.F. rufescens
Lat.), as well as the red species, do not undertake these
marauding expeditions for the purpose of enslaving
adults, but to get possession of the helpless infants of
the colony they attack, — that is, the larvae and pupae.
These they educate in their own nests, till they arrive
at their perfect state, when they commence their servi-
tude. The species now under consideration do not go
on these expeditions until the males are ready to emerge
into the perfect state ; and it is very remarkable, that,
if any individual attempt to do this before, they are
detained by the slaves they already possess, who will
not suffer them to proceed. Without this wonderful
provision of Providence, the black colonies would soon
be extirpated, — for they would be pillaged when they
contained only males and females ; while their assail-
ants would derive no benefit, since they would find no
neuters. It is generally about five o'clock, on a fine,
warm summer afternoon, that these expeditions take
place. Previous to marching, there is reason to think
they send out spies, who return with information of
the route to be pursued. They have various preparatory
signals, — such as pushing each other with their head
or jaws, or playing with the antennae; the object of
which is, probably, to excite their courage, to give the
word for marching, or indicate the route. The advanced
guard usually consists of eight or ten ants ; but no
sooner do they get beyond the nest, than they move
back, wheeling round in a semicircle, and then mix with
the main body, while others succeed to their station.
They have " no captain, overseer, or ruler," as Solomon
observes ; their army being composed entirely of neu-
ters. Thus all, in their turn, take their place at the
head, and then, falling into the rear, make room for
others. This is their usual order of march ; and the
object of it may probably be, to communicate intelli-
gence more easily through the whole army. After
wending through the grass for about thirty feet from
their nest they disperse, and, like dogs upon the scent,

CHAP. X. MINING ANTS F. CUNICULARIA. 327

explore the ground with their antennae. The negro
colony — the object of their search — is soon discovered;
the sentinels of which, keeping guard at the avenues,
dart upon the foremost of their assailants with incon-
ceivable fury. The alarm being given to the assailed
city, crowds of its swarthy inhabitants rush forth from
all the avenues: but their valour is exerted in vain; for
the besiegers, suddenly darting forward, compel them
to retreat within, and seek shelter in the lowest story :
great numbers of the enemy thus enter the gates, while
others make a breach in the walls, through which the
victorious army marches into the heart of the city. In
a few minutes, by the same passages, they hastily evacu-
ate it, — each carrying off in its mouth a larva, or pupa,
which it lias seized, in spite of its unhappy guardians :
thus laden, they return home by their former route.

(331.) There is another community of ants which
these marauders attack for the same object ; these have
been called, by Messrs. Kirby and Spence, the miners
(Formica cunicularia), — which, being much more
courageous than the last, require more caution in the
attack. On these occasions, the rufous ants are ob-
served to march in more compact columns ; and in
what the military term double quick time. On their
approach to the city of the miners, its inhabitants rush
out by millions, and attack them with great fury ; but
a chosen band of the assailants, watching their oppor-
tunity, force a passage through the contending parties,
and make direct for the interior, where they seize the
larvae and pupae, and then retreat as soon as possible :
but, on reaching the outside of the nest, they have to
defend their prize, — which is often so vigorously con-
tested, that the robbers are obliged to relinquish their
booty. These mining ants seem to be a most courageous
race, — darting upon their assailants with determined
fury, fighting them foot to foot, disputing every inch
of territory, and defending their progeny with the
greatest rage. When the kidnappers, laden with what
they can make off with, retire, they preserve the same
Y 4

328 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X*

compact order in their retreat as in their advance ; for
their indignant enemies will frequently pursue them,
and harass their retreat for a considerable distance.
" During these combats, the pillaged ant-hill presents,
in miniature, the spectacle of a besieged city : hundreds
of its inhabitants may be seen making their escape, —
some carrying off in different directions, to a place of
security, the young brood, while others take care of
the females which are newly excluded j but when the
danger is wholly past, they bring them back to their
city, the gates of which they barricade," and station a
strong detachment to defend the entrances. The assault
which Mr. Kirby witnessed in the Sois de Boulogne,
near Paris, made by the rufous ants upon a colony of
the negroes, seems not to have been conducted, on the
part of the latter, with their usual courage. The as-
sailants marched rapidly from their nest, in two co-
lumns, " all the while exploring the ground with their
antennae, as beagles with their noses, evidently as if in
pursuit of game. Those in the van," as Huber also
observed, " kept perpetually falling back into the main
body. When they had passed this inclosure, they
appeared for some time to be at a loss, making no pro-
gress, but only coursing about ; but, after a few mi-
nutes delay, — as if they had received some intelligence,
— they resumed their march, and soon arrived at a
negro nest, which they entered by one or two apertures.
We could not observe that any negroes were expecting
their attack outside the nest ; but, in a short time, a
few came out at another opening, and seemed to be
making their escape. Perhaps some conflict might
have taken place within the nest, in the interval be-
tween the appearance of these negroes and the entry of
their assailants. However this might be, in a few
minutes one of the latter made its appearance with a
pupa in its mouth ; it was followed by three or four
more ; and soon the whole army began to emerge as
fast as it could, — almost every individual carrying its
burden. Most of those I observed seemed to have

CHAP. X. SLAVE-MAKING ANTS — F. SANGUINEA. 329

pup se. I then traced the expedition back to the spot
from whence I first saw them set out ; which, according
to my steps, was about 156 feet from -the negro for-
micary. The whole business/' observes our author,
Cf was transacted in little more than an hour." *

(332.) The blood-coloured or sanguine ant (Formica
sanguined Lat.) is the second species of the slave-
making race, whose history has thus been given by
Huber. It requires, as before intimated, a distinct no-
tice, — from possessing many peculiarities not found in
the rufous sort. On the 15th of July, at ten in the
morning, our indefatigable author observed a small band
of these ants sally forth from their city, and march
rapidly towards one of those inhabited by the negroes,
— around which it dispersed. The inhabitants, rushing
out in crowds, attacked them, and took several prisoners :
this seemed to check their proceedings ; for those who
escaped made no further advance, — apparently waiting
for reinforcements ; nor did they long wait in vain.
Small detachments kept frequently arriving ; and, thus
strengthened, they turned the blockade of the city into
a siege, and once more advanced, — previously detaching
more couriers to their city for large supplies of warriors:
these spread a general alarm ; and a large reinforcement
immediately set out to join the besieging army. Yet,
rendered prudent by their former defeat, they did not
then immediately begin the assault. In the mean time,
almost all the negroes, coming out of their fortress,
formed themselves, in front, into a compact body about
two feet square, and thus awaited the attack. Frequent
skirmishes were the prelude to the general action, which
was begun by the negroes. Long before success ap-
peared dubious, they carried off their pupae, and heaped
them up at the entrance of their nest, on the opposite
side to that of the field of battle. The young females,
also, fled to the same quarter. The assailants at length
rushed upon the negroes, and, attacking them on all
sides, force them to retreat. Thus beaten, the negroes

» Int. to Ent. Tol. ii. p. 79. note.

330 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

renounce all defence, and endeavour to save their pupse,
or young ; but they are pursued, and their enemies now
strive to possess themselves of the great ohject of their
attack. Many also enter the city, and begin carrying
off the young brood that had been left in it. Long
chains of contending ants, each assisting his comrade,
are now seen contending with determined courage; and
the battle is sometimes even continued during- part of
the night. Victory at length decides for the sanguine
ants ; and, a garrison being left in the captured city,
the pillage of the brood is carried on at leisure the fol-
lowing morning. Sometimes the conquerors find their
new territory so commodious, or pleasantly situated, —
for to these pigmy multitudes a field becomes a world,
— that they emigrate to it with all their families. The
predatory excursions of this species are not continued
longer than a month in the year, during which period
they make five or sfx of these expeditions ; generally
travelling about 1 50 paces beyond their own dominions.
(333.) The subsequent treatment of the ant slaves,
thus obtained by rapine and violence, singularly con-
trasts with the sanguinary conflicts which we have just
detailed. In this respect their example reflects disgrace
and shame upon those of the human race with whom
the slavery of their fellow creatures is still sanctioned :
and here, again, is the voice of Inspiration addressed to
us, — " Go to the ant ; and be wise." The young
and tender captives — whom it is marvellous should
escape unhurt amid all the contentions of the field of
battle — are carried to the cells of their new masters,
and treated with the same care and attention as the off-
spring of their lords. So soon as they have reached —
may we say manhood ? — " their life is passed in much
the same employments as would have occupied them in
their native residence/' They are the builders and
repairers of the city ; not only collecting food, but
attending to the females ; and undertake the proper
care of the eggs,, which are daily brought within the
influence of the warm sun. Nor is this all, — for they

CHAP. X. NEGRO ANTS. 331

have actually to feed their masters, and carry them
about the nest. These diversified labours are generally
shared by the negroes and the miners ; so that, when
slaves have been captured from both colonies, three
distinct races will be found in the same dwelling* So
indolent are all the habits of the slave-making ants,
except when engaged on their predatory excursions,
that they appear unwilling either to feed themselves, or
even to be at the trouble of walking. They are wholly
dependent, in fact, for everything, upon their slaves ;
and these, in consequence, — as among mankind, —
frequently seem to be the masters, and exercise in their
turn an authority over them. " They will not suffer
them, for instance, to go out before the proper season,
or alone ; and if they return from their excursions
without their usual booty, they give them a very indif-
ferent reception, — showing their displeasure by attack-
ing them ; and when they attempt to enter the nest,
dragging them out." To ascertain what they would do
when obliged to trust to their own exertions, M. Huber
shut up thirty of the rufous ants in a glazed box, sup-
plying them with larvae and pupae of their own kind,
with the addition of several negro pupse, excluding very
carefully all their slaves, and placing some honey in a
corner of their prison. Incredible as it may seem, they
made no attempt to feed themselves ; and though, at
first, they paid some attention to their larvae, carrying
them here and there, — as if too great a charge, they soon
laid them down again : most of them died of hunger
in less than two days ; and the few that remained alive
appeared extremely weak and languid. At length,
commiserating their condition, he admitted a single
negro; and this little active creature, by itself, esta-
blished order : it made a cell in the earth ; collected
the larvae, and placed them in it; assisted the pupae
that were ready to be developed ; and preserved the
lives of such of the rufous ants as still survived. What
a picture of beneficent industry, contrasted with the
hateful effects of sloth, does this interesting anecdote

HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

afford ! Another of M. Huber's experiments rendered
the contrast equally striking. He put a large portion
of one of these mixed societies into a woollen bag, in
the mouth of which he fixed a small tube of wood,
glazed at the top, the other end being fixed to the
entrance of a kind of hive. The second day the tube
was crowded with negroes going and returning : the
indefatigable diligence and activity manifested by them
in transporting the young brood and their rufous
masters, whose bodies were suspended upon their man-
dibles, was astonishing. These last took no active part
in the busy scene, — while their slaves showed the greatest
anxiety about them, generally carrying them into the
hive ; and if they sometimes contented themselves with
depositing them at the entrance of the tube, it was that
they might use greater despatch in fetching the rest.
The master ant, when thus set down, remained for a
moment coiled up without motion ; and then, leisurely
unrolling itself, looked all round, as if it was quite at
a loss what direction to take : it next went up to the
negroes, and, by the play of its antennae, seemed to
implore their succour, till one of them attended to it,
and conducted it to the hive.*

(334.) On some extraordinary occasions, however,
the slaves are carried by their masters. M. Huber
notices an instance of the rufous species, who, wishing
to emigrate from their own to a deserted nest, reversed
the usual mode of proceeding on such occasions, and
took upon themselves the task of carrying all their
slaves to the new habitation they had chosen. The
sanguine ants are more industrious than the others, —
as they will assist their negroes in building their nests,
and in collecting the honey furnished to them by the
Aphides. They treat their vassals, indeed, with peculiar
affection ; for, if their nest is invaded by an enemy,
" they show their estimation for these faithful servants
by carrying them down into the lowest apartments, as
to a place of the greatest security."

\* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 85.

CHAP. X. SLAVE-MAKING ANTS IN BRAZIL. 338

(335.) Regarding the slave-making ants of Tropical
America, we can, fortunately, communicate a few ori-
ginal notices, which, however imperfect, after those we
have detailed, will be so far interesting, — since it does
not appear that any author has made known the exist-
ance of these extraordinary insects in the New World ;
and because the sequel will show that, however widely
the geographic distribution of these races extend, their
general habits remain the same. We must premise,
however, that the species found in Brazil are totally
different from those of Europe : and it is very probable,
when the natural affinities of the family have been
worked out, that these slave-making ants will form a
distinct and natural group. The reader, perhaps, will
be better pleased by a simple extract from our journals,
written at the time, than by a more elaborated state-
ment. He will perceive that we were not then ac-
quainted with the true nature of the conflict described.
The admirable volumes of Messrs. Kirby and Spence had
not then been published ; and the foreign works of
Huber and Latreille, seventeen years ago, were little
known in this country. A traveller, moreover, engaged
in exploring wild and uncivilised regions, has no means
of carrying or consulting books. But to our narrative.
"Agoa Fria, Pernambuco, June 8. 1817- — This
morning I was suddenly called by one of my Indians
to see a large troop of ants, which were marching in a
narrow but compact column towards the steps of the
outhouse, where they immediately went into some little
holes in the earth, — these being the obvious entrances
to another nest. For some little time they continued
pouring in their troops into these open gates of their
enemies' city, — which they seemed to have taken by sur-
prise, for none of its inhabitants were to be seen outside.
Presently, however, the invading party again emerged,
and soon the whole column began to make a precipitate
retreat. There must, consequently, have been a severe
battle in the interior of the nest ; for now the besieged
ants showed themselves for the first time, coming out

334 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

of their own nest, and furiously attacking their baffled
enemy. This seemed very extraordinary, — for these
little courageous creatures were not more than half the
size of their adversaries. Yet it was astonishing to see
the determination, and even fury, with which they fell
upon them : they got hold of some part of their body,
their head, Jrat principally their legs ; keeping their
grasp, notwithstanding the disproportionate size of their
adversary. I did not remark that any were left dead
upon the field at the time; but, on tracing the first
species (the invaders) to the hole from whence they
had at first issued, I observed a great many of them
most wofully mutilated. Heads, legs, and bodies were
scattered promiscuously along their line of march. The
vitality of such as were maimed and wounded was
really astonishing ; for I observed many, which had
actually lost their bodies, still endeavouring to follow
the retreating army ; while others, which had lost all
their legs but two, still tried to hobble after their com-
rades. The invaders had obviously been beaten off, al-
though several of them carried ofF the uninjured bodies
of the red species ; and I observed that these latter were
all of a larger size than those which fought at the en-
trance of their nest} — few or none of which were killed.
After these little heroes had thus fairly gained the
victory, and driven off their enemies, they began to
block up the holes, by which they had entered, with
tempered clay, — and in a quarter of an hour not an
orifice was to be seen. Leaving these, I again turned
to watch the movements of the retreating army, — which,
I observed, had begun another march, entering into
every little hole they met with in their road, probably
with the wish of discovering some other nest, which
they might attack and pillage with more success." ....
" In another part of the premises I observed, the same
morning, another numerous army, of the same species,
inarching in the same order through some flower beds ;
but these were conveying their young, apparently just
hatchedy carefully between their mandibles, and were

CHAP. X. LOVES' OF THE ANTS AND APHIDES. 335

shaping their course in a different direction. I handled
several, but they neither stung nor bit my ringers."

(336.) On attentively considering the above facts,
there cannot, we think, be any doubt that the invading
ants first mentioned were of the slave-making race,
who had been completely beaten in their assault, — not
having captured a single pupa, although their line of
march was strewed with their dead and wounded com-
rades. But then comes a very interesting question:
for what purpose were they conveying away, as if in
triumph, the uninjured prisoners they had taken, — all of
which were of a larger size than the generality of those
who had repulsed them from the nest ? This mode of
warfare seems to be unknown among the European races,
and indicates some peculiarity of economy which can-
not, at present, be explained. The second column of
the same species may possibly have been a detachment
from the same community ; or — what is more pro-
bable — an army from a different nest, returning from
a successful expedition, and loaded with the infant pro-
geny of the nest they had pillaged, and which they were
conveying to their own. Not being then acquainted
with the slave ants, it was natural for us to conclude, at
the time, that these pupae rightly belonged to those who
were conveying them ; and whom we supposed were
their parents. The passages to which these remarks al-
lude, in the foregoing account, are printed in Italics.
We regret that no opportunity subsequently occurred
for prosecuting our observations on these and innume-
rable other ants, which swarm in every part of the soil,
and which would, of themselves, alone, require the un-
divided attention of any naturalist. We must now
return to the formicaries of Europe, and touch upon
another extraordinary part of their history.

(337.) The loves of the ants and the Aphides is not
a mere poetic illusion, but is founded on the absolute
fact of the greatest intimacy and friendship existing
between these two families. The reader need hardly
be informed that the Aphides — or honey-flies, as we

336 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

shall here term them — are those little green-bodied
creatures which pack themselves so thick and close on
the stems of plants — particularly rose-huds — during
summer; and often in such numbers as to disfigure
the plant and destroy the flower. As we shall speak of
these insects elsewhere, it is merely necessary to inform
the reader, in this place, that they eject a sweet honey-
like fluid, which may be correctly termed their milk.
It is this fluid, secreted in drops, which is so particularly
grateful to the ants, that they attend on the honey-flies
for the sole purpose of gathering it. Linnaeus, long ago,
observed this, — and truly remarked, that the ant ascends
the tree that it may milk its cows. This is literally
done ; for not only do the ants watch the moment when
the honey-flies, at regular intervals, eject their milk, but
they absolutely possess the art of making them yield it
at their pleasure, — or, in other words, of milking them.
On these occasions, their antennas are used as fingers ;
with these they pat the abdomen of the Aphis alter-
nately on each side, moving them very briskly ; a little
drop of fluid immediately appears, which the ant takes
into its mouth. When it has thus milked one, it pro-
ceeds to another, and so on, until, being satisfied, it re-
turns to the nest. But the most extraordinary part of
these proceedings is the fact that ants ee make a property
of these cows, for the possession of which they contend
with great earnestness, and use every means to keep
them to themselves. Sometimes they seem to claim a
right to the Aphides that inhabit a particular branch or
stalk ; and if stranger ants attempt to share their
treasure with them, they endeavour to drive them away,
and may be seen running about in a great bustle, exhi-
biting every symptom of inquietude and anger. Some-
times, to rescue them from their rivals, they take their
Aphides in their mouth : they generally keep guard
around them ; and, when the branch is conveniently
situated, they have recourse to an expedient still more
effectual to keep off interlopers ; — they inclose it in a
tube of earth, or other materials j and thus confine them

CHAP. X. YELLOW ANTS F. PLAVA. 337

in a kind of paddock near the nest, which often com-
municates with it."

(338.) The most remarkable " cowkeeper" among
the ants is a well-known native species, — the Formica
flava, or yellow ant of Gould. This species is more
methodical and provident than the rest, for it usually
secures a large herd of Aphides within the common
nest. The Aphis they select for this purpose is called
Aphis radicum, from deriving its food more especially
from the roots of grass and other plants. The yellow
ant transports these honey-flies from the neighbourhood,
— probably by subterranean galleries, excavated for the
purpose, leading from the nest in all directions; and
thus, without going out, it has always at hand a copious
supply of food. On these creatures they bestow the
same care and solicitude as to their own offspring. They
regularly moisten th eggs with their tongue, carrying
them in their mouths with the utmost tenderness, and
giving them the advantage of the sun. " This last
fact," observes Mr. Kirby, " I state from my own ob-
servation; for once, upon opening one of these ant-
hills early in the spring, on a sunny day, I observed a
parcel of these eggs, which I knew by their black
colour, very near the surface of the nest. My attack
put the ants into a great ferment, and they immediately
began to carry these interesting objects of their care
into the lower apartments of their nest. It is of great
consequence to them to forward the hatching of these
eggs as much as possible, in order to insure an early
source of food to their colony ; and they had, doubt-
less, in this instance, brought them up to the warmest
part of their dwelling with this view/1 * These yellow
ants are equally careful of their Aphides after they are
hatched : for if their nest is disturbed, they carry them
into its interior; and, if other ants attempt to make
them their prey, they defend them with the greatest
fierceness ; they have been known, also, to carry them
about in their mouths, either to change their pasture,

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 91.

I

338 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

or for some other object. When it is considered, in
short, that from these honey-flies the ants derive almost
the whole nourishment necessary for themselves and
their larvae, we cannot wonder at their anxiety about
them ; since the wealth and prosperity of the community
is in proportion to the number of their cattle.*

(339.) In reference to Indian Aphides, general Hard-r
wicke confirms the foregoing account in all its details ;
he further notices a particular krge black ant of India,
which, with unusually provident care, constructs its nest
at the root of the plant upon which its favourite species
of Aphis resides. We owe, also, to this enthusiastic
and distinguished naturalist, a knowledge of the singular
fact that the honey-like secretion of the Aphides, in-
some parts of India, is so abundantly cast upon the
neighbouring plants, that the natives collect it when dry,
and sell it in the country bazaars as a sweetmeat. The
General kept some of this conserve, in a tin box, for near
eight years, without its losing any of its sweetness, f

(340.) The ants of Tropical America derive their
honey from another family of insects ; a fact which,
being entirely new to science, is now first stated upon our
own authority. The numerous
and grotesquely formed family
of Membracidce (fig. 83.) is
most abundant in the regions
of Brazil, where they supply
the place of the Aphides, —
not one species of which did
we discover. Many of these
little MembracidcB live in fa-
milies of twenty or thirty, all
clustered together on the pa-
nicles of grasses and the tops
of other plants, like the Eu-
ropean Aphides. These are
regularly visited by parties of a little black ant, which
may be seen going and coining to their heads, and at-

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 92. t Zool. Journ. voLjv. p 11&

CHAP. X. EMIGRATION OP ANT3. 33$

tending them with the same sort of assiduity as M. Huber
relates in the foregoing account. These may truly be
called the cattle of the Brazilian ants i for not only do
they furnish them with milk, but most of the species
— in imitation of the ox, and other ruminating quad-
rupeds of that class — possess horns growing out of
their heads (Membracis ensata, &), or are otherwise
armed (Bocydium clavatum, a) : while their large abrupt
heads remind the entomologist of the physiology of the*
bull or cow. Our remarks did not extend to the par-
ticular mode by which these insects eject their secre-
tion ; but the surrounding leaves of the stalk they in-
habit are very clammy, like those of plants infested with
the Aphides of Europe : and the circumstance of their
always being attended by ants, places the fact beyond
all doubt.

(341.) The emigrations undertaken by ants, when
provisions become scarce, or the population of their
nests excessive, open a new field for our astonishment
and admiration. Sometimes these desertions4 of their
former dwellings are prompted by other and less worthy
motives, — for they will be expelled by a neighbouring
enemy of their own family, or — like the ambitious
rulers of the earth — will themselves become the in-
vaders, that they may possess themselves of the nest of
another race, situated more pleasantly than their own.
The indefatigable Huber has placed these facts beyond
doubt ; and as his is the chief authority, we cannot do
better than present the reader with the substance of his
observations, chiefly made upon the Formica rufa,
already mentioned.* The first step which is taken on
these occasions, is to discover and decide upon the site
of the new habitation : this task is assigned to the
labourers, — who do it, as M. Huber thinks, without
consulting the rest of the society. Having fixed upon
an eligible spot, their next business is to make it known
to the rest ; and they adopt a mode which has been
well compared to that of raising recruits for the ser-

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 62.

z 2

340 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X,'

vice. f( With this view they eagerly accost several
fellow citizens of their own order, caress them with
their antennae, lead them by their mandibles, and
evidently appear to propose the journey to them. If
they seem disposed to accompany them., the recruiting
officer — for so he may be called — prepares to carry
off his recruit ; who, suspending himself by his man-
dibles, hangs coiled up spirally under his neck : all this
passes in an amicable manner, after mutual salutations.
Sometimes, however, the recruiter takes the other by
surprise, and drags him suddenly from the ant-hill,
without giving him time to consider or resist. When
arrived at the proposed habitation, the suspended ant
uncoils itself, and, quitting its conductor, becomes in its
turn a recruiter. The pair return to the old nest, and
each carries off a fresh recruit, which, being arrived at.
the spot, joins in the undertaking ; thus the number of
recruiters keeps progressively increasing, till the path
between the new and the old city is full of goers and
comers, each of the former laden with a recruit. What
a singular and amusing scene is then exhibited of the
little people thus employed ! When an emigration of
a rufescent colony is going forward, the negroes are
seen carrying their masters; and the contrast of the
red with the black renders it peculiarly striking. This
extraordinary scene continues several days ; but when
all the neuters are acquainted with the road to the new
city, the recruiting ceases. As soon as a sufficient
number of apartments to contain them are prepared,
the young brood, with the males and the females, are
conveyed thither, and the whole business is concluded.
When the spot thus selected for their residence is at a
considerable distance from the old nest, the ants con-
struct some intermediate receptacles, resembling small
ant-hills, consisting of a cavity filled with fragments of
straw and other materials, in which they form several
cells ; and here, at first, they deposit their recruits,
males, females, and infant brood, which they after-
wards conduct to the final settlement. These inter-

CHAP. X, OCCUPATIONS OP THE ANTS.

mediate stations sometimes become permanent nests or
suburbs, which accordingly maintain a connection with
the capital city. While the recruiting is going on,
it appears to occasion no sensation in the original nest, —
all goes on in it as usual ; and the ants that are not yet
recruited preserve their ordinary occupations : whence
it is evident that the change of station is not an en-
terprise undertaken by the whole community. If the
ants dislike their new city, they quit it for a third, and
even for a fourth ; and what is very remarkable, they
will sometimes return to their original one, before they
are entirely settled in the new station : when this hap-
pens, the recruiting goes on in opposite directions, and
the pairs pass each other upon the road. Huber ob-
serves, " you may stop the emigration for the present,
if you can arrest the first recruiter, and take away his
recruit."

(342.) Besides these, the ants have certain periodical
occupations, according to the season of the year, which
are too important and curious to be passed over. One
of these is the sort of gymnastic exercise which they
take in the spring, upon first quitting their nests after
the long inactive season of winter. They usually
emerge from their subterranean quarters on some sunny
day, — when, assembling in crowds on the surface of their
nest, they may be observed in continual motion, walk-
ing vigorously over it, and each other, without depart-
ing from home ; as if their object, before they resumed
their out-of-door employments, was, to habituate them-
selves, as Gould observes, " to the action of the air and
sun. These gymnastic exercises continue some few
days, and then the business of the year commences.

(343.) It has been generally supposed that the
labours of the ant terminate with autumn, and that
during winter they remain inactive. But this is a
mistake, — for these emblems of industry not only work
during every season of the year, but their labours are
going on even in the night. Gould affirms, " that
they even exceed the industrious bees, for the ant em-
z 3

342 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

ploys every moment, by day and night,, almost without
intermission, unless hindered by excessive rains."
Either Mr. Kirby or Mr. Spence confirm this fact by
personal observations. " Having, in the day, noticed
some Aphides upon a thistle, I examined it again in
the night at about eleven o'clock, and found my ants
busy milking their cows, which did not, for the sake of
repose, intermit their suction. At the same hour, on
another night, I observed the little negro ant (Formica
fusca) engaged in the same employment upon an elder
tree. About two miles from my residence was a nest of
Gould's hill ant (Formica rufa}, which, according to
M. Huber, shut their gates, or rather barricade them,
every night, and remain at home. Desirous of ascer-
taining this, I visited the nest one morning at two
o'clock, and, to my surprise, found the ants at work ;
some were engaged, as usual, in carrying burdens into
their nest, others going out of it, and several were
climbing the neighbouring oaks, doubtless to milk their
Aphides. The number of comers and goers at that
hour, however, was nothing compared with the myriads
seen during the day. It so happened, that the moon
was very bright ; so that whether this species is equally
active on dark nights, is uncertain. To the red ant it
is perfectly indifferent whether the moon shines or not,
for numbers of these labour in the night. It is pro-
bable that these night workers repose at all hours in-
differently, for it cannot be supposed that they are em-
ployed day and night without rest."

(344.) On the roads and trackways of these insects
we must say a few words. Every one must have ob-
served that certain species pursue their course in a re-
gular and beaten path, even above ground, — from which
they do not wander, except upon extraordinary occa-
sions. Some of these, from their width, may be termed
their high roads ; while others, diverging in different
directions, resemble our lanes or foot-paths. Gould
asserts that several of the high roads made by the
Formica fuliginos'j, (fig. 84.) frequently extend to a

CHAP.X. STRENGTH AND PERSEVERANCE OP ANTS. 343

distance of near forty feet from their nest ; hut this
distance is nothing to those of the red
ants of Brazil, which will often be
carried, according to our personal ob-
servation, to more than one hundred
paces in a direct line. From this road,
carried in a circuitous direction among
the grass and herbage, branch off nu-
merous others, — all leading eventually
to the common nest. Both this and
other European species remove all ob-
structions from these lines of communication by biting
off the herbage and grass which lie in the way, — so
that they may well be said to mow their walks. Huber
mentions that sometimes these roadways are not merely
formed by the tread of the ants themselves, but are
actually hollowed out by their labour.

(345.) The strength and perseverance of these little
creatures are truly astonishing. What would be thought
of a man who, with another on his back, fully
double his own weight, should attempt to climb up a
tree ? yet such feats will be performed by ants, and
with perfect success. We have frequently seen those
of America drag off a large dead grasshopper or cock-
roach, with the assistance of a few of its comrades, to
the entrance of the common nest ; where it would very
soon disappear, — all the labour having been accom-
plished in a few minutes. Mr. Kirby says, " I have
in my cabinet a specimen of Colliuris longicollis Lat.,
to one of the legs of which, a small ant, scarcely a
thirtieth part of its bulk, is fixed by its jaws. It had,
probably, the audacity to attack this giant compared
with itself ; and, obstinately refusing to let go its hold,
was starved to death." The same author relates that
he once saw two or three ants dragging along a young
enake, not dead, which was of the thickness of a goose
quill. Nor is their perseverance less remarkable. Pro-
fessor Afzelius observed a species of ant at Sierra
Leone, which march in columns, exceeding all powers
z 4

344 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X,

of numeration ; pursuing a straight course, from which
nothing can cause them to deviate : if they come to a
house or other building,, they storm or undermine it ;
if a river comes across them, though millions perish in
the attempt, they still endeavour to swim over it.

(346.) The perseverance of these insects, it has been
affirmed, led to one of the most important political
revolutions that ancient history has left us : and as
there is nothing incredible in the anecdote, it is worth
recording in this place. The celebrated conqueror
Timour was once forced to take shelter from his enemies
in a ruined building, where he sat alone many hours.
While contemplating his hopeless condition, his atten-
tion was caught by an ant, endeavouring to carry a
grain of corn, larger than itself, up the perpendicular
wall. Numbering the efforts that it made before the
object was accomplished, he found that the grain fell
sixty-nine times to the ground ; but the seventieth
time the persevering ant succeeded. " This sight," ex-
claimed Timour, " gave me renewed courage ; and I
have never forgotten the lesson it conveyed." * As a
further instance of the unconquerable perseverance of
these animals, may be mentioned the fact of their con-
structing a living bridge of their own bodies. Madame
Merian first made known this wonderful economy of
ants ; and her apparently incredible statement has
been confirmed by the veracious Azara. He informs
as that the swampy tracts of Paraguay are inhabited
by a little black ant, whose nests resemble conical
hillocks of earth, about three feet high, and placed very
near to each other. When an inundation takes place,
the ants are seen collected or heaped together into a
circular mass, about a foot in diameter, and four fingers
in depth : and in this state they continue to float upon
the water while the inundation continues. One of the
sides of the mass which they form is attached to some
sprig of grass or piece of wood, and when the waters
have retired, the ants return to their habitation. When.,

* Quarterly Review, Aug. 1816.

CHAP. X. SPORTS AND PASTIMES OP ANTS. 345

again, they wish to pass from one plant to another,
they may he often seen formed into a bridge, of two
palms length, and of the hreadth of a finger, which
has no other support than that of its two extremities.
It would naturally be supposed that they would sink
with their own weight ; yet it appears certain that they
do not, and that the masses remain floating during the
inundation, which lasts some days.*

(347.) These living bridges are more particularly
described by Mad. Merian. One ant lays the found-
ation by fixing itself to a piece of wood, by means of its
jaws, and then remains stationary. With this a second
ant connects itself, a third takes hold of the second, a
fourth follows, and so on until a long connected line of
ants is formed, fastened at one extremity; this floats,
exposed to the wind, until the other end is blown over
so as to fix itself on the opposite side of the stream,
when the last ant effects a landing, and becomes moored
to the shore, so that, the bridge being thus formed, the
rest of the colony pass over the backs of their com-
rades, as upon a bridge. We must join the authors of
the work so often cited in this section, in their incre-
dulity of such a marvellous narrative ; particularly as
we know, from personal observation, that Mad. Merian
was much given to exaggerate the real wonders she
beheld in Surinam ; yet the preceding account of Azara
invests her story with some degree of probability.

(348.) The sports and pastimes of these wonderful
creatures may not be unworthy of our attention, after
the many and Herculean labours which we have so long
dwelt upon. With this part of their economy we shall
conclude their <c strange eventful history/' M. Huber
informs us, that, when their labours are finished, they
are very fond of stretching themselves in the sun, where
they lie heaped one upon another, — enjoying, with much
apparent pleasure, a short interval of repose. Gould
also remarks, that they are very fond of basking in the
sun ; and that, on a fine morning, they may be

* Azara's Voyage.

346 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

conglomerated, like bees,, on the surface of their nests ;
from whence, on the least disturbance, they will dis-
appear in an instant. In the interior of one of M.
Huber's artificial nests, in which he had confined some
of this species, he saw some reposing, which appeared
to be asleep, while others were variously employed. It
seems ludicrous to assert that ants have their gambols
and relaxations; but the following authorities, collected
from unquestionable sources, are not to be set aside,
and we must confess that they really " amuse them-
selves with games and sports." As we cannot add any
original information on this part of their history, we
shall give it in the words of Messrs. Kirby and Spence,
who combine their own experience with that of Gould,
Huber, and Bonnet. " You may frequently perceive
one of the rufous ants (Formica rufa) run to and fro
with a fellow labourer in his forceps, of the same
species and colony. It appeared, at first, doubtful
what would be the result ; but I was soon undeceived,
by observing that, after being carried for some time, it
was let go in a friendly manner, and received no per-
sonal injury. This amusement," says Gould, " or
whatever title you please to give it, is often repeated,
particularly among the hill ants, who are very fond of
this sportive exercise." A nest of ants which Bonnet
found on the top of a plant, on a sunny day, amused
themselves with carrying each other on their backs, —
the rider holding with his mandibles the neck of his
horse, and embracing it closely with his legs.

(349.) But the most circumstantial account of these
sports is given by Huber. " I approached, one day,"
says he, "one of the nests of the red arit (F. rufa)
exposed to the sun, and sheltered from the north ;
the inhabitants were heaped together in great numbers,
and seemed to enjoy reposing in the warmth, — for none
of them were working. The whole multitude exhibited
the appearance of a boiling fluid, upon which, at first,
the eye could scarce fix itself without difficulty. But
when I set myself to examine each ant separately, I

CHAP. X. SPORTS AND PASTIMES OP ANTS. 347

saw them approach each other, moving their antennae
with astonishing rapidity ; with their fore feet they
patted lightly the cheeks of other ants. After these
first gestures, which resembled caresses, they reared
upon their hind legs hy pairs; they wrestled together;
fhey seized one another by a mandible, by a leg, or an
antenna, and then let go their hold to renew the attack ;
they fixed themselves on each other's trunk or abdo-
men ; they embraced, they turned each other over, or
lifted each other up by turns, — and then, quitting the
ants they had seized, endeavoured to catch others. I
have seen some who engaged in these exercises with
such eagerness, as to pursue successfully several workers ;
and the combat did not terminate till the least animated,
having thrown his antagonist, accomplished his escape
by concealing himself in some gallery." Huber com-
pares these sports to the gambols of two puppies, and
tells us that he not only often observed them in this
nest, but also in his artificial one. Mr. Spence gives
us the following interesting account, as having been
witnessed by himself: — " Near Norwich, on a sunny
day in May, I observed a large number of ants (For-
mica fused) agglomerated in crowds near the entrance
of their nest. They seemed to make no long ex-
cursions, — as if intent upon enjoying the sunshine at
home ; but all the while they were coursing about, and
appeared to accost each other with their antennae. Ex-
amining them very attentively, I at length saw one
dragging another, which it absolutely lifted up by its
antennae, and carried in the air. I followed it with
my eye until it concealed itself and its antagonist (or
rather playfellow) in the nest. I soon noticed another,
that had recourse to the same manoeuvres ; but, in this
instance, the ant that was attacked, resisted manfully,
while a third was inclined to interfere : the result was,
that this also was dragged in. A third was drawn in
by its legs, and a fourth by its mandibles. What was
the precise object of these proceedings, — whether sport
or violence, — I could not ascertain. I walked the same

348 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

way on the following morning, but at an earlier hour,
when only a few comers and goers were to be seen
near the nest : and soon leaving the nest, I had no
further opportunity to attend to them." *

(350.) We must now conclude our history of the
ants. If the reader, on commencing this narrative, en-
tertained any latent doubt that everything with which
the Almighty has surrounded us was not intended to
convey instruction, that feeling must surely have passed
away. It is the pre-eminent distinction of the im-
mortal soul by which we are animated, that it can be
exalted and refined by contemplating the works of that
Being from which it emanated ; and these perceptions
are followed by the natural consequence of expressing
praise and adoration. That which we admire calls
forth admiration in proportion as the mind is impressed
with the sublimity of the subject. This sensation,
alone, is the peculiar privilege of MAN. In vain may
we strive to blend reason and instinct. We see ani-
mals, the most mean and contemptible to vulgar eyes,
endowed with qualities which have every semblance of
reason ; but there is no reflection and no improvement
in succeeding generations : all that gives glory to man,
— the cultivation and enlargement of his mind, by
which new inventions, new views, and new ideas re-
sult, — are altogether wanting. Wonderful as these fa-
culties are, they are limited to those things only which
regard the wellbeing of the creature — - the preservation
and enjoyment of life, and the fulfilment of their
destined end. Those higher qualities, those larger
expansions, which man, taught by reason and revela-
tion, enjoys, and which instruct him in the knowledge
of spiritual things, are denied to all other living beings ;
for the inevitable consequence of such faculties would
lead to the adoration of the Creator. And yet all those
practical duties which regard the wellbeing of society,
and promote the temporal happiness of the individual,
during his sojourn upon earth, may be learned from the

« Int. to Ent. vol. ii. D. 105.

CHAP. X. SOCIETIES OF WASPS. 349

humble insects before us. <c Go to the ant, thou
sluggard : consider her ways, and be wise." But their
condition is finite, and their faculties are accordingly
limited. Ours, on the contrary, whether in a state of
joy or of sorrow, will be for ever ; and therefore our
perceptions, as suited to such destinies, extend to the
comprehension of immaterial things. The harmonies
of nature are as perfect in the moral as in the physical
world : powers and faculties are never given where they
would be useless. Thus may we learn from the ant,
and, considering her ways, become wise.

(351.) 3. We now turn to the family of WASPS, as
one of the societies of two families of insects which de-
mand our attention. Their history, indeed, is far less
interesting than that which we have just told ; nor can
it be compared with what has been so often related
on the family of bees ; yet still, although the race is
looked upon with an evil eye, we cannot but feel some
interest in its proceedings. The wasps, indeed, have
been aptly compared to a hoard of thieves and brigands,
who seem to live by universal plunder, — devouring
almost everything which we enjoy as summer food, and
murdering the peaceful inhabitants of the hive. Yet,
with all this love of pillage, they are not altogether
disagreeable or unamiable ; for they are brisk and
lively, they do not usually attack unprovoked, and their
object in plundering us is not purely selfish, but prin-
cipally to provide for the support of the young brood
of their colonies.

(352.) The different members of a society of wasps
consist of females, males, and workers. Among the
first, however, are found two distinct races ; the first
of these females are distinguished by a very superior
size, being near six times larger than the other ; these
are properly called the females, as they produce both,
male and female eggs : the other race is of the ordinary
size, and lay only male eggs. The large females are
produced later than the workers, and make their ap-
pearance in the following spring, — so that, whoever

350 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

destroys one of them at that time, destroys an entire
colony, of which she would have been the founder.
They are more worthy of praise than the queen bee, for
our female wasp busies herself in founding the society
of which she is to become the head. She is, at first,
an insulated being, that has had the fortune to sur-
vive the rigours of winter : when, in the spring, she
lays the foundation of her future empire, she has not
a single worker at her disposal ; with her own hands
and teeth she often hollows out a cave, wherein she
may lay the first foundation of her city ; she must, her-
self, build the first houses, and produce from her own
womb then: first inhabitants ; these, also, she must
feed and educate, before they can assist her labours.
At length she receives the reward of her perseverance,
and, from being a solitary unconnected individual, in
the autumn is able to rival the queen of the hive in the
number of her children and subjects. The number of
cells in a vespiary — for so are the nests termed — vary
according to the species : in the common wasp they
usually amount to about 1 6,000, each of which con-
tains one individual, either in the egg, the larva, or the
chrysalis state : and as three generations are raised in
each of these cells every year, the number of inha-
bitants, making allowance for casualties, will amount,
at the least, to 30,000. Even at this time, notwith-
standing the number of her labourers, the queen mother
continues to labour ; and thus sets an example to her
subjects of diligence and industry. Her life, indeed,
seems to be peculiarly precious to her subjects ; for if
she perishes, by any accident, before the other females
are hatched, her subjects cease their labours, lose their
instincts, and die. The number of ordinary females in
a nest often amount to several hundreds ; they be-
come perfect insects at the same time as do the males,
— that is, towards the end of summer, — and are found
in abundance, as every one knows, during the autumnal
fruit season. They then pair ; but winter soon comes
on, and most of these females perish ; the few ,that

CHAP. X. HABITS OF WASPS. 351

survive remain torpid, in holes and recesses, until spring,

— when they again emerge, and commence preparations
for founding a new colony.

(353.) The male wasps, although much smaller
than the females, are yet double the size of the ordi-
nary workers ; they are known at once by their long
filiform antennae, and by having an additional segment
to their body. They do not assist in building the nest
or in taking charge of their young, yet they perform a
very necessary though humble post in the community, —
they are, in short, the general scavengers, sweeping the
streets and passages,, and removing every obstruction ;
these duties involve the removal of the dead, — in which
office they show a singular instinct : sometimes the
body to be removed is too bulky for one of them to
carry; on these occasions he calls another to assist him,
and the work is mutually performed by both. If no
assistance, however, is at hand, our wasp proceeds to
lighten his load, and very adroitly cuts off the head of
the dead body, and after throwing it out of the nest,
returns and does the same with the carcase ; the la-
bourers appreciate the usefulness of the males j they
are not, therefore, like the bee drones, devoted to a
general massacre when the impregnation of the females

— the great end of their creation — has taken place.
All continue to live in peace and harmony, until the
end of their days. — which is brought about by the chilly
blasts of winter.

(354.) The labouring wasps, as before observed,
compose the great body of the inhabitants of a vespiary.
It is these who vex and annoy us in summer, by de-
vouring our fruits, and flying in at our windows. We
regard them with feelings of decided ill will ; but their
history will, perhaps, incline us to view them with for-
bearance, if not with kindness. As it is their duty to
collect provisions for the whole community, they are
incessantly and pertinaciously intent upon this object,

— for they know that not only the lives of their
fellow labourers working in the nest, but also the exist-

S52 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

ence of their helpless young ones, entirely depend upon
their exertions. On their return to the nest, they pro-
ceed to distribute the food they have acquired with the
greatest generosity and impartiality. Their first por-
tion is given to the young brood, as being the most
helpless ; a part is then given to the females., part to
the males, and part to those labourers, who, from having
been engaged all day at home in repairing the common
dwelling, have not been able to seek it for themselves.
The method by which this is done is highly singular
and interesting, — the whole being a voluntary act, ac-
companied, no doubt, with pleasure both to the donor
as well as to the receiver. As soon as a wasp that has
been filling itself with the juices of fruits, arrives at the
nest, it perches upon the top, and, disgorging a drop of
its saccharine fluid, is attended sometimes by two at
once, who share the treasure ; these being satisfied, it
will sometimes happen that a third is produced, which
falls to the lot of others, — and thus all are satisfied.
After reading this interesting trait of generosity in the
wasp, we cannot help wishing that they were not so
very numerous, or that they would be content to re-
ceive a tenth of our fruit, instead of indiscriminately
attacking all. The enlargement and repairing of the
nest is another important duty of the workers ; and it
is extremely amusing to see them thus engaged. Order
and celerity are apparent in all parts of the industrious
crowd. Each individual seems to have his allotted work,
or task, which generally extends to about an inch and
a half : he is provided with a ball of ligneous fibre,
procured from posts (we have often seen these little
woodcutters at this work upon our window shutters) ;
this is carried in its mouth, and is thus ready for im-
mediate use : the mode of working it up need not be
here detailed, as it more regards our section on the
habitations of animals.* Messrs. Kirby and Spence also
remark that the labourers, no less than the males, take

•* The limits of one volume have obliged us to omit this section, and
several others, on Habits and Instincts,

CHAP. X. THE HUMBLE BEES. 353

a part in the cleaning of the cells, and prepare them to
receive another egg, after the perfect insect is disclosed
and has left it vacant.

(355.) That wasps place centinels at the entrance of
their nests, there is every reason to believe ; Mr. Knight,
the well-known horticulturalist, mentions, that if a
nest of wasps is approached without alarming the inha-
bitants, and if all communication be suddenly cut off
between those out of the nest and those within it, no
provocation will induce the former to defend it, or even
themselves: but if one escape from within, it comes
with a very different temper, and appears commissioned
to avenge the public wrongs, and prepared to sacri-
fice its life in the execution of its orders. Heat ap-
pears to have a great effect on the energies of these
creatures ; for, in very cold summers, they are be-
numbed and die prematurely. In rainy autumns,
during which the grounds are inundated, vast num-
bers of nests are destroyed, as they are generally made
in the banks of rivers and canals. As winter ap-
proaches, their sanguinary habits of preying upon flies
and other insects subside, — as if they were already
affected by old age, and knew that it was useless longer
to attend to their young, or to recruit themselves at
the expense of another's life. We are not informed as
to the precise species upon which the foregoing ob-
servations were made. This circumstance is to be re-
gretted j since there is, doubtless, as great a diversity
of manners in this family of insects, as in any other;
and what will be true of one, may be totally inconsistent
with the economy of another.

(356.) The different HUMBLE BEES are social in-
sects, and come next under consideration. They form
an extensive family, and hold a station between the
wasps and the true, or honey, bees. Their manners are
in unison with this relationship ; for, although they
collect honey, and make wax, they do not construct
their cells with the same regularity of architecture.
Whether this inferiority has originated the name of

A A

354 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

humble, or whether tumble be not a corruption of tumble
(a name given to them in many parts of England, from
the noise they make in flight), appears uncertain. They
are familiar, however, to every
85 I \mf/' s observer, by their " gay hairy
jackets of yellow and black"
(fig. 85.), in which they buzz
about the gardens and pastures
all the summer and autumn. The
different ranks of these insects
are, as usual, three; and they
correspond to the wasps in having
two races of females, — one large,
and the other small. The larger females are the founders
of hives : they emerge in autumn, and pass the winter
under ground, in a particular apartment, which, accord-
ing to M. Huber, is separate from the nest, and ren-
dered warm by a carpeting of moss and grass ; but,
as there is no supply of food laid in, the insect passes
the dreary months of winter in a torpid state. The first
gleams of a spring sun call them from their retreat ;
and, mindful of the future progeny they are qualified
to bring forth, they begin to labour on the found-
ations of a new colony. Besides the care of her infant
progeny, the queen-mother is the chief architect in the
construction of the cells in which her eggs are to be
laid, — which, M. Huber seems to think, the workers
are not able to complete by themselves. On this point
our authors — Messrs. Kirby and Spence — seem to have
fallen into obscurity ; because, if, as they assert, " the
•workers are never known to survive the cold of winter,"
how can they possibly .assist in forming the cells for
the reception of the eggs laid by the queen-mother in
the following spring? " So rapidly," observes M. Huber,
** does the female proceed in this business, that, in half
an hour, she will build a cell, fill it with the pollen
food, deposit one or two eggs, and, finally, cover them
in. The workers — as the most essential part of the
community — are first produced; these come forth from

CHAP. X. FEMALE HUMBLE BEES. 355

their cells in May and June, while the males and fe-
males seldom appear before August. The food assigned
to the grubs of the first, consists of honey and pollen
mixed ; but such as are destined to become males or
females, are nourished entirely with pure honey. It is
a remarkable fact, that the instinct of these larger fe-
males is not developed all at once. When they are first
hatched, in autumn, — not being in a condition to be-
come mothers, — they are no object of jealousy to the
small queens, and are employed in the ordinary labours
of the parent nest. All this time, the building instinct
seems as if it were in suspense, and does not manifest
itself until the spring ; then it is that the maternal sen-
timent impels them at the same time to lay eggs, and
to fabricate the cells which are to contain them.

(357.) The small females differ not in size from the
workers, — but their office and their instincts are very
different. Like those of the wasps and honey bees,
these minor queens produce only male eggs, which come
out in time to fertilise the young females that live
through the winter, and are the founders of the spring
colonies, M. Huber conjectures that these also are
fed with a peculiar food : they are generally attended
by a small number of male suitors, which follow in
their train. M. Huber kept a nest under a glass : as
he was watching this, upon one occasion, at midnight,
he observed the inhabitants in a state of great agitation.
Many were engaged in making a cell ; but he observed
that the queen-mother, who is always very jealous of
her pigmy rivals, came repeatedly to interrupt the work,
and drive the labourers away. This, however, was
resented ; the queen, herself, was at last driven back by
the others, who pursued her to the bottom of the nest,
beating their wings with the utmost fury. The cell
was then completed ; and two of the lesser females de-
posited eggs in it at the same time. The queen-mother,
however, was not to be daunted ; in a paroxysm of
jealous rage, she returned to the newly-constructed
cell, chasing away her more feeble rivals, put her
AA 2

356 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

head within, and, seizing the eggs that had been laid,
proceeded to devour them with great avidity. The
same extraordinary scene was again renewed, and with
the same result. After this, one of the small females
returned, and covered the empty cells with wax. When
the queen-mother was removed, several of the small
females contended for the cell with the utmost rage, —
all endeavouring to lay their eggs in it at the same
time, as if conscious that the approaching autumn
was hastening the period of their death.

(358.) The size of the males is intermediate between
that of the large and the small females ; they are to be
known, also, by their more lengthened, filiform, and
slenderer antennae. We learn from Reaumer, that the
male humble bees are by no means an idle race, but
work in company with the rest in repairing the dwell-
ing; and, probably, like the male wasps, it is their
peculiar province to keep it clean and neat.

(359.) The labourers, or working bees, as we have
already observed, are the produce of the first eggs laid
by the queen-mother in the spring. By this beautiful
dispensation of Providence, she is assisted, in a very
short time, by a numerous and industrious class of sub-
sects, who aid her in all the various duties of the hive.
When an individual grub has spun its cocoon, and
assumed the chrysalis state, the workers remove all the
wax from it ; and so soon as it has attained its perfect
state, — which usually happens in about five days, — the
empty cocoons are employed to hold honey or pollen.
Into these reservoirs the bees discharge the honey they
have collected upon returning from their excursions :
this is done by opening their mouths, and contracting
their bodies. Sixty of these honey-pots are occasion-
ally found in a single nest ; and more than forty are
sometimes filled in a day. The humble bees, if they
cannot get at the honey contained in a flower by its
natural opening, will often have recourse to art to effect
their object. For this purpose, they will frequently
cut an aperture at the base of the corolla, or even

CHAP. X. GENEROSITY OF HUMBLE BEES. 357

through the leafy calyx, by which that part is protected,
that they may insert their long proboscis into the nec-
tary, or that particular part of a flower in which Nature
deposits her natural honey-drops.

(360.) Generosity is a virtue among insects scarcely
to be expected; yet M. Huber relates the fallowing
singular anecdote, which leaves no doubt that such a
feeling is known to the humble bees. He observed
some hive bees paying a visit to a neighbouring nest of
their humble brethren, in order, as he says, either to
steal or beg their honey. This happened at a time of
scarcity; and the result showed a wonderful good tem-
per in the disposition of the humble bees. The hive
bees appear to have piUaged, rather than to have soli-
cited, food; for they had taken almost entire possession
of the nest. Some of the humble bees, which remained
in spite of this disaster, went out to collect provisions ;
and, bringing home the surplus after they had supplied
their own immediate wants, the hive bees followed them,
and did not quit them till they had obtained the fruit of
their labours. For this purpose they licked them, pre-
sented to them their proboscis, surrounded them, — and
thus, at last, by repeated solicitations, persuaded them
to part with the contents of their honey-bags. After
this, the generous humble bees flew away, to collect,
once more, another supply of food. M. Huber asserts
that, during this scene, the hive bees never once showed
their stings ; so that it was obviously persuasion, and
not force, that produced this singular instance of self-
denial. This remarkable manoeuvre was practised for
more than three weeks, — when, the wasps being at-
tracted by the same cause (the scarcity of food, we are
to presume), the humble bees entirely forsook the nest.
The workers among this family, although constituting
the most numerous portion of the community, are much
less numerous than those in a nest of either wasps or
honey bees. They seldom exceed 200 or 300 ; and
those of some species, which live in comparatively small
societies, do not amount to more than fifty or sixty.

A A 3

S58 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X.

(36l.) The natural history of the bee involves some
of the most wonderful phenomena in the animal cre-
ation. Of all the countless beings moving on the face
of the earth, this little insect is that whose faculties
and endowments are only excelled by those of man, the
last and best of the Creator's works. From some vague
notion, which associates a high degree of perfection and
intelligence with corporeal bulk, we feel no uncommon
surprise at the sagacity of the elephant, or of any other
animal whose instinct seems proportioned to its size,
or whose structure, like that of the monkey, assimilates,
in some degree, to the structure of man : but to see,
in a puny insect, a development of instinct which so
closely resembles reason, — when we find that this
little creature practises all those moral qualities which
man is commanded to perform for the good of society,
but which he is perpetually violating, — when we wit-
ness undeviating order of conduct, persevering industry,
perfect subordination, harmony, and unity of purpose,
peaceful demeanour, and social affection, all conspicu-
ous in the daily life of a society of insects, — we may
blush for the great mass of mankind. We must con-
fess, not only the omnipotence of the Almighty Creator,
and His goodness in teaching us wisdom by the works
of His hands; but we must also acknowledge, that, did
we imitate these silent little creatures, in the peaceful
regularity of their lives, our days would be happier,
and our lives more tranquil. " Wisdom crieth aloud,"
not only " in the streets,"* but through the vast ex-
panse of earth and of air. All Nature is replete with
instruction to the man of reflection and understanding,
her types and symbols connect the material with the
immaterial worlds ; and happy will he be, who applies
them to their destined use. Into this history, however*
which would, of itself, occupy nearly a volume, our
confined space will not permit us to enter. This is
less to be regretted, as Messrs. Kirby and Spence have
already used the same materials as we should have had

« Proverbs L 20.

CHAP. XI.

LUMINOUS ANIMALS.

359

recourse to, in their deservedly popular and interesting
volumes. The immortal works of Reaumer and of Huber,
indeed, almost take away from subsequent writers the
power of giving any original information on a subject
they have so fully and so ably investigated. To those,
therefore, we must refer the reader who wishes to con-
sult original authorities.

CHAP. XI.

LUMINOUS ANIMALS.

(362.) AMONG all the provisions which have been so
abundantly made by Providence for the comfort or
security of its creatures, none is more singular than the
power, which some animals possess, of emitting a phos-
phoric light from their own bodies, — thus shedding, at
will, a radiance through the deepest gloom of the forest,
or lighting up the depths of ocean with countless mil-
lions of moving atoms, like the spangled vault of
heaven on a starlight night.

(363.) This extraordinary property is chiefly pos-
sessed, on the land, by the beetles of the glow-worm
family; while that which is the most familiar to us is
the Lampyris noctiluca (fig. 86.), or common glow-
worm. In Britain, this insect,
although not uncommon, is
never abundant ; but, in Italy
there is another species, (we saw
them in the greatest abundance
round Genoa,) which, during
summer light up the dusky
night, — decking the earth with
thousands of brilliant gems, which sparkle and glisten
through the gloom. It was once believed that the fe-
A A 4

S60 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. XI.

male (a) only was luminous ; but it is now ascertained
that the male insect (b) is so likewise, although in an
inferior degree : in the males of L. splendidula and
of L.Hemiptera, the light is very distinct, and may
be seen in the former while it is flying.* They are
all, however, enabled to extinguish or conceal their
light at pleasure ; and Mr. White of Selborne seems
even to imagine that they put it out regularly be-
tween eleven and twelve at night, f Another beetle,
of a different genus, the Elater noctilucens of the
West Indies (fig. 87.), emits
its light from two little trans-
parent tubercles on the sides of
the thorax. So considerable, in-
deed, is this, that one of our
most eminent entomologists, an
eye-witness to the fact, ob-
serves, that, "carrying it along
the lines of a book, I could
distinctly read them ; and ap-
plying it to my watch, I could,
without difficulty, ascertain the hour." $ In the
West Indies, — but more especially in the island of
St. Domingo, — we are told that the natives anciently
employed these creatures instead of candles, to light
them in their domestic occupations §, — a statement,
however, which seems to us very questionable. They
are said, also, to be still made use of as ornaments, tied
upon the clothes of the young people on occasions of
festivity, and thus producing, on a dark evening, a
most singular but striking effect. || Sixteen species of
the luminous Elater s are described by Schonkerr; the
larger portion of which inhabit Brazil.^ Besides these,
which are all of the coleopterous or beetle order, there
is the hemipterous genus of Fulgora, which boasts of

* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 411.

f Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 279.

I Mr. Curtis, in Zool. Journ. No. IT. p. 381.

§ Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 413. |j Id. ibid p. 418.

1 Zool. Journ. No. XI. p. 280

CHAP. XI. LUMINOUS INSECTS. 36l

several species highly luminous. Among the largest,
if not the most extraordinary, is the F. lanternaria
(fig. 88.), or the great lantern fly of South America.

The properties of this singular insect, we believe, were
first made known to the world by madame Merian,
who gives the following account of her first acquaint-
ance with it. " The Indians," she says, " once brought
me, before I knew that they shone by night, a number
of the lantern flies, which I shut up in a large wooden
box. In the night, they made such a noise, that I
awoke in a fright, and ordered a light to be brought, —
not "being able to guess from whence the noise pro-
ceeded. As soon as we found that it came from the
box, we opened it j but were much more alarmed, and
instantly let it fall to the ground with affright, on
perceiving flames of fire issue out of it, — for, as
many animals as Came out, so many flames of fire ap-
peared. When we found this to be the cause, we
recovered from our terror, and again collected the in-
sects, much admiring their splendid appearance." The
light produced by this insect, as it is said, proceeds
wholly from the hollow part, or lantern, of the head, —
no other part being at all luminous. There is reason
to believe, however, that this marvellous account is some-
what exaggerated. Bancroft, however, also avers that
this insect is highly phosphorescent. " Two or three of
this species, put into a glass vessel," he observes, " afford
light sufficient to read by, without difficulty, if they
are placed close to the book. Even when the insects
are dead, their bodies still afford considerable light,

362 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. XI.

though it is less vivid than before ; and, if bruised and
rubbed over the hands and face, they become luminous
in the dark, like a board smeared with English phos-
phorus.* Nevertheless, it is somewhat remarkable, that,
in the whole extent of our travels in the wilds of Bra-
zil,— entomology being our chief object, — we not only
never captured the Fulgora lanternaria, but we never
witnessed any other luminous insects than a few of the
Elater noctilucens, occasionally sparkling in the woods.
Fulgora lanternaria, although found in Brazil, is either
excessively rare in that empire, or is confined to par-
ticular localities.

(364.) The great majority of luminous animals,
however, are marine, and chiefly belong to the Radiata,
or pulpy animals. Among these is the genus Pyrosoma,
described and figured in a valuable French work.t It
is said to present a highly luminous appearance when
in motion, — passing through all the colours of a bar of
red-hot iron, till, at length, it becomes of what is termed
a white heat ; after which it again passes into the co-
lour of red-hot iron, and, from that, gradually declines
into its original greenish hue. The length is that of
several inches, and its diameter about a fourth or fifth
of its length. It is found in some particular parts of
the Atlantic, where it is seen in great multitudes.!
The Noctiluca marina, or night-shining Nereis, fre-
quently illuminates the sea with a light superior to that
emitted by the glow-worm. " While rowing at night,"
observes Pennant, " I have seen the whole element as
if on fire around me ; every oar spangled with them —
the water shining with more than ordinary brightness.
I have taken up some of the water in a bucket, — seen
them for a short space illuminate the whole, and then
disappear." This beautiful sight, indeed, may be wit-
nessed by almost every one who is out at sea, on our
own coasts, during summer; although its appearance
is irregular.

* Nat. Hist, of Guiana, p. 44.

f Annales du Museum Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle.

J ZooL Lect. vol. ii. p. 126.

CHAP. XI. LUMINOSITY OF THE SEA. 363

(365.) The phosphorescence of the Mediterranean
sea has been highly admired by every naturalist who
has sailed along its " dark blue M waves. Spix, the
Brazilian traveller, had vessels filled with sea water in
this state, with which he made some very interesting
experiments. Whatever substance was wetted with
this water, shone ; and the vessels which held it, when
shaken, were found to be full of luminous particles.
When examined with a microscope, they were found
to be of different sizes, some roundish, some oblong,
and about the size of a poppy seed : each had, at one
end, a small navel-like opening, encircled with from
six to nine delicate filaments, which float within the
bladder, and with which the animal seems to attach
itself to other bodies. In the inside of these bladders
there were many other darker spots, of different sizes :
the larger ones might either be their spawn, or the
remains of smaller animals which they had swallowed.
These globular animalcule, which seem to be the
Noctiluca miliaris of Sayigny, or the Arethusa pelagica
of Peron, swim in greater or less numbers at night ;
and appear, to the naked eye, in sunshine, like little
drops of grease : they soon died when taken from the
sea, and fell to the bottom of the vessel which held them.
It is very singular, that when they came near to each
other, they seemed to be involuntarily attracted, and then
to form compact groups. A similar phenomenon has
been observed in the daytime ; but this is never wit-
nessed except when the sky is so very much clouded as
to darken the sea. Neither are they to be seen in salt
water taken up in the daytime ; so that they probably
sink to the bottom till night returns. Sometimes the sea
is covered with luminous balls, as large as a hazel nut,
— when every wave, which strikes the ship, enlightens
all surrounding objects. There are, also, sometimes,
insulated luminous. bladders, like fiery balls, a foot in
diameter, which rise, singly, above the water; while the
striking of the waves together, at a distance from the

364 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. XI.

ship, produces a shallow bluish streak of light, like the
reflection of lightning upon the water.*

(366.) The luminosity of FISH is a subject upon
which, we believe, no author has yet touched. There
are strong reasons, however, to believe that very many
of these animals possess the power of illuminating the
dark recesses of the ocean, if not by the same means,
at least with the same effect, as that produced by the
minute tribes we have just spoken of. When we con-
sider how many hundreds of species — more especially
those which live in deep water — are covered with scales
of a rich and shining silver hue, infinitely more brilliant
when these fishes are alive and in their native element,
than as they are commonly seen after having been caught,
it becomes highly probable that the brilliant radiance,
with which they are clothed, is to effect some other
purpose than mere ornament : and nothing seems more
probable than that such families are moving lights in
the bosom of the «ea, at those depths through which
the solar light can scarcely, if at all, penetrate. In
favour of this supposition, it may be remarked, also,
that the chaetodons, the serrans, or sea perches (Ser-
ranincB Sw.), the gobies, blennies, and numerous other
groups, — whose bodies, instead of being changeable sil-
very, are ornamented with vivid, and often dark, colours,
— are inhabitants only of comparatively shallow waters,
close to the land : whereas such as have few tints, but
bright silvery scales, are almost exclusively found in
the greatest depths. Nearly the whole of the Gym-
netres, or riband-fish, are strong illustrations of this
theory. With the exception of the genera of the
Ophidium and Cepola, none of these fishes have any
colour on their bodies, or even scales ; and yet they are
as brilliant and shining as if they were overlaid with
the richest silver leaf. The different species of sun-
fish {fig. 89-), however, according to all writers, are
truly phosphorescent, and must illuminate the trackless
ocean in a different manner. The thick stratum of

* Spix and Martin's Travels in Brazil, p. 44. 47.

CHAP. XI. LUMINOSITY OF FISHES. 365

gelatinous substance, attested by Cuvier * as found

beneath their skin,
is, no doubt, the
instrument of their
luminosity ; and
Dr. Neil appears to
speak from personal
observation,, when
he says that the
haddock and her-
ring are likewise
phosphorescent. If
this property can be ascertained after fishes have been
drawn from their natural element, and are either dead or
dying how infinite^ stronger must they possess it when
in the full enjoyment of health and freedom. Could the
eye of the philosopher explore the dark unfathomed caves
of ocean, and contemplate the wonders that they would
unfold, one of these, we firmly believe, would be the
enchanting sight produced by the phosphorescence of
their inhabitants. In sober truth, we conjecture that
the vast expanse of the " mighty deep " is but a coun-
terpart or type of the starry vault of heaven ; in this
way, — that it is thickly studded with innumerable
phosphorescent fishes, and other animals, of different
magnitudes and varied brightness, — that these are the
moving and living stars which give light to the watery
element, at depths beyond the influence of the solar
rays ; or, it may be, only during the night. All we
know of facts, few as they yet are, and all the con-
clusions to be drawn from them, render a theory like
this anything but improbable.

(§67.) The learned Viviani, in a most valuable
pamphlet, devoted to this subject f, has further ascer-
tained that there exists, even in the Gulf of Genoa,
numerous other phosphorescent animals, not mentioned
by other writers : of sixteen species which he describes

» Grift, Cuv. p. 569.

f Phosphorescent!* Maria. Genus, 1805, thin 4to, with five plates.

366 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. XI.

and figures, no less than eight of these are small
shrimps, or crustaceous insects, all excessively minute.
The Gammarus caudisetus (fig. 90.), for instance, in
its natural size, is scarcely larger than a pin's head.
Gam. heteroclitus is about two tenths of an inch long.
Another annulose animal (fig. 91.), which he does not

seem to have described in the text, is a striking proto-
type of a caterpillar, closely resembling, by its tail,
some of the Sphingides, or hawk moth tribe. He also
includes among the number of these luminous animals,
two very small star-fish : the others belong to the An-
nelides, or red-blooded worms, and to the fixed polypes.
Thus it would seem that phosphorescent animals occur
in all the great divisions of those which are inverte-
brate, and sanction the opinion that this faculty is given
to a far greater number of the inhabitants of the deep
than is generally imagined.

(368.) It has been supposed, by two well-known
entomologists *, that the luminosity of land insects may
be given them as a means of defence from their ene-
mies : we think, however, that this idea is not borne out
by analogical reasoning. The chief enemies of insects
are birds; and these are at rest at those hours when
luminous insects are abroad and active. The owls and,
the goatsuckers are the only nocturnal birds which feed
after sunset : but the former live upon much larger in-
sects than those we have mentioned ; while the latter
always seek their game at a much higher elevation in

* Kirby and Spence, Int..to.Ent.

CHAP. XI. LUMINOSITY OF INSECTS. 3j

the air than phosphorescent insects ever ascend to. We
are therefore disposed to sanction the poetic idea, as
founded in truth, that these emissions of light are
tokens of recognition and of love among land insects ;
and perhaps, also, between many marine animals. But
whatever be the ends proposed, we may feel assured,
from what we see and know of other qualities in
animals, that the means employed are equal to the end
proposed; and thus, viewing this interesting subject
through such a medium, the t( glow-worm's light " be-
comes embued with double lustre, — it reflects the power
and incomprehensible wisdom of its Divine Creator,
whose ways are unsearchable, and whose mercies are
over all His creatures.

INDEX.

ACARI, various instances of their

noxiousness, 207.
Acrita, building instinct in, 14. Mo-

tionsof,92.

Aeronaut spiders, 123.
Alligators, anecdotes of their fero-
city, 193.

Animalcules, development of the
senses in —

Triscoda sol, 41.
Vorticella convallaria, 41.
Vorticella rotatoria, 41.
Animals directly injurious to man,
17a Quadrupeds, 177. Birds,
191. Reptiles, 192. Fishes, 202.
Insects, 206. Intestinal worms,
£15.

indirectly injurious to man,

2?3. Quadrupeds, 226. Birds,
224. Reptiles, 236. Insects, 229.
Mollusca, 224. 237.

, luminous, 359. Fishes,

364. Insects, 359. 366. Radiate.
362.

Antelope, springer, account of the
migration of, 246. Ravages of.
228.

Ants of Guiana, ravages of, 233.
Ants, true, societies of, 312. Nup-
tials, 813. Females, 314. Queen,

315. Labourers, 316. Language,

316. And Aphides, loves of, 385.
And Membracidae, loves of, 338.
Emigrations of, 339. Occupations
of, 342. Roads of, 342. Strength
and perseverance of, 344. Living
bridges, 344. Sports and pastimes,

Ants, mining, attack on, by the
slavers described, 328.

Ants, red,3'21.

Ants, rufescent, slaving expedi-
tions of, 326, 327.

Ants, rufous, wars of, 322.

Ants, sanguineous, slaving expe-
dition of, 329.

Ants, slave-making, 324. Of Bra.
zil, 319.

Ants, slave, duties of, 330.

Ants, slaves and milch cattle kep
by,32.

Ants, white, 235. 297.

Ants, yellow, honey flies kept by
337-

Aphides kept as milch cattle by the
ants, 32.

Aphides and ants, loves of the, 335.
Indian, 338.

Ascarides, 216.

Asiatic tiger, anecdotes of its fe.
rocity, 178.

Ass, anecdote of sagacity in, 28.
Its method of descending a pre-
cipice, 106.

Attachment of animals to the hu-
man species. 76.

B.

Barren ground reindeer, migra-
tion of, 249.

Bats, acute sense of touch in, 52.
Bear, grisly, instance of its ferocity,

182. Anecdote of, 89.
Beaver, American, habitations of,

289.

Bed bug, anecdote of the abun-
dance of, in the south of Italy,212.
Birds, defences of, 141.
Barn owl, 143.
Condor, 142.
Petrel, 144.
, development of senses in, 48.

directly injurious to man.

191.

- i. , indirectly injurious to man-

Blackbird, &c.. 226,
Bullfinch, 225.
Crow, 224.
Sparrow, 225.
Jfitmice, 225.

, instincts exemplified in —

African darter, 17
Cuckoo 10.

370 IK

Hang-nests, 15.

Honey guide, 17.

Ostrich, 16.

Pelican, 17.

Pensile warbler, 15.

Razorbill, 17.

Secretary eagle, 18.

Weaving finches, 15.

Wren, 16.

Birds, motions of, 97. Exemplified
in—-
Auks, grebes, &c., 104.

Buzzard, 98.

Dabchicks, moorhens, and
coots, 100.

Frigate bird, 101.

Geese and cranes, 100.

Henharrier, 98.

Hummingbird, 93.

Kertree, 98.

Owls, 98.

Parrots and woodpeckers, 104.

Penguin, 193

Pigeons, 98.

Ravens, 98.

Swallow, 101.

Tropic bird, 101.

Woodpeckers, magpies, and

jays, 98.
passions exemplified in —

Bluebeltied parrakeet, 67.

Butcher-bird, 68.

Drongo shrikes, 68.

Eagle, 68.

Eider-duck, 6?.

Flycatcher, 68.

Hen, 65.

Humming-birds, 69.

Lark, 68.

Love parrot, 65.

Partridge, 66.

Raven, 65.

Ring plover, 66.

Sheldrake, 67.

Titmouse, 66.
, perfect societies of, 291.

Republican grosbeak, 291.
Boa, young, killed by the author,

195.
Bombyx caterpillar, gold-tailed,

habitations of, 296.
Brown moth of South America de-
posits its young on the human
body, 220.
Buffalo of India, anecdote of false

instinct in, 38. Courage of, 75.
Buffaloes, instance of their haired

of red, 187.
Butterflies, migration of, 265.

Cat, anecdote of sagacity in, 28.
Caterpillars, tent-making, 296

Cetaceous animals, defences ot, 13ft
Whales, 139. Narwhal, 140.

Chegoe, mode of extraction of, 211.

Chelonian reptiles, development of
senses in, 43.

Cobra di capello, 197.

Condor, tenacity of life in, 142.

Courage of the Indian buffalo, 75.

Cowardice of the tiger, 79.

Crabs and lobsters, their mode of
casting their shells, 124. Swift-
ness of a Brazilian crab, 124.

Crabs, land, migration of, 267.

Cruelty, exemplifications of, in car.
nivorous animals, 87.

Cuckoo, nestling, instinct of, 19.

Cuttlefish, gallantry of, 64. Sup-
posed to be dangerous to swim-

D.

Damask parrot, sportive assem-
blages of, 277.

Dampier, sufferings of, from the
Indian threadworm, 21&

Death, miserable, of a French no.
bleman, from parasitic Acari, 209.

Defence, means of, possessed by
animals, 126. Quadrupeds, 128.
Birds, 141. Reptiles, 144. Fishes,
146. Insects, 1.50. Mollusca.

Dobsonville, sufferings of, from the
Indian threadworm, 218.

Dog, instance of memory, 37.

Dysentery occasioned by the swal-
lowing of minute Acari in water
208.

Economic field mouse, migration
of, 249.

Eggs, sagacity of nut weevil and
Scarabceus sacer in depositing, 30.

Elephant, docility and sociability
of, 76. Instances of memory in,
36. Sagacity of, in extricating
himself from a swamp, 22. De-
coy, astonishing development of
instinct in, 24.

F.

Fakirs of India, tigers tamed by, 81.
Fascination in the eyes of snakes,

anecdotes of, 46.
Filaria medinensis, injuries from,

and mode of extraction, 217.
Filial affection of the American

bison, 74.

Fishes, defences of —
Cat fish, 149.

INDEX.

371

Diodon, Tetrodon, and Ostra-
cion, 148.

Hearing in snakes and lizards, 44.
Birds, 48. Quadrupeds, 49. Fishes,

Eels, 150.

52. Insects, 57.

Flying fish, 149.
Saw fish, 149.
Scorpion fish, 147.
Sharks and rays, 146.
Sting-bull, 147.
Sword fish, 148.

Honey flies, 335. Kept by the yel-
low ants, o37.
Hospital at Surat for fleas, &c. 212.
Humble bees, societies of, 353. Fe-
males, 354. Males, 356. Labour-
ers, 356. Generosity of, 357.

Fishes, development of the senses
in, 52.

Hummingbird quarrelsome, 69. .
Hybernation of reptiles, 239. Qua-

directly injurious to man —
Hedgehog fish, 205.

drupeds, 240. Amphibious ani-
mals, 241. In sects, 242.

Lancetail, 205.

Rays, 204.

Shark, 203.

I.

Torpedo, 204.
. , luminous, 364.

Indian rhinoceros, savage disposi-

, motions of, 111. Exempli-

tion of, anecdote, 77.

fied in —

Indian threadworm, 218.

Bonito, 113.
Climbing perch, 116.
Eels, 115.
Flying fish, 114.

Insects, defences of, 150. Attitudes,
152. Noises, 156. Scents, 156.
Fluids, 157. Weapons, 159. Con-
cealment, 160. Stratagems, 165.

Frog fish, 115.

Passive defences, 167.

Ophiocephali, 115.
Rays, 112.

development of the senses
in, 57. Vitality of, 58. Sense of

Salmon, 113.

pain in, 61.

Skates, 112.

directly injurious to man, 205.

Thornbacks,'I12.

Bed bug, 212.

Three-spined stickle-back, 114.

Centipede, 214.

White shark, 112.

Chegoe, 211.

. , passions exemplified in, 81.
French nobleman, miserable death

Fleas, 211.
Harvest bug, 207.

of, from parasitic Acari, 209.
Frogs, development of the senses

Louse, 206.
Musquitoes, 222.

in, 53.

Scorpion, 213.

Frogs and toads, motions of, 116.
Furia infernalis, fatal injuries

Tarantula, 214.
_ indirectly injurious to man,

from, 217. Mode of extraction,

22R

218.

American blight, 232.

Ants, 231. 234.

Beetle, 232.

G.

Cockchafer, 230.

Dogtick, 230.

Gadfly, instances of its depositing

Gadflv, 229.

its eggs in the human body, 221.
Generosity of the humble b*ee, 357.
Gold-tailed bombyx caterpillar,

Locust, 232.
Mealworms, &c., 233.
Noctua gamma, larva of, 231.

habitations of, 296.

Sawfly, 231.

Grave beetles, their mode of bury-

Weevil, 230.

ing, 31.

White ants, 235.

Greek tortoise, torpidity of, 239.
Grisly bear, instance of its ferocity,

~ instinct exemplified in —
Ants, 32.

182. Anecdote of, 89.

Grave beetles, 31.

Grosbeak, republican, nests of, 291.

Hive bee, 30.
Humble bee, 33.

Lion ant, 29.

H.

Nut weevil, 30.

Scarab&us sacer, 31.

Habitations of the American bea-

Spiders, 35.

ver, 289. Musquash, 290. Tent-

Tiger beetle, 30.

making caterpillars, 296. White
ants, 299. 303. 308. 311.

Wasp, 33.
Wild bees of Surinam, 3t

Hamster, complete torpidity of, 241 .

, luminous, 359.

B B 2

372

INDEX.

Elater noctilucus, 360.

L.

Gammarvs caudisetus and G,

heteroclitus, 366.

Labarra snake, instantaneous mor-

Glowworm, 359.

tality of its bite, 200.

Great lantern fly, 361.
Insects, motions of, 116. Cater-
pillars, 117. Exemplified in—

Land crabs, migration of, 267.
Lemming, account of the migration
of, 249.

Ants, 119.

Lizards, development of senses

Crabs, 123, 124.

in—

Flea, 119.

Chamaeleon, 44.

Gnats, 122.

, motions of, exemplified in —

Grasshopper, 119.

Alligators, 97.

Housefly, 120.

Chameleons, 97.

Lobsters, 123.

Flying lizard, 97.

Mole cricket, 121.

Locusts, migration of. 264. Ra-

Fredaceous and tortoise beetles,

vages of, 232.

119.

Love birds, instance of affection

Spiders, 123.

in, 65.

Springtail, 120.
Turnip flea, 120.

Luminous animals, 359.

Water-beetles, 121, 122.

Water-scorpion, 121.

M.

• , passions exemplified in —

Ant, 85.
Beetles, 82.

Maggots, instances of death from,

Crabs, 87.'

Membracidae and ants, loves of,

Earwig, 83.

338.

Field bug, 84.
Grasshopper, 83.
Humble bee, 82,

Memory in animals, 35.
Migration of animals, 244. Quad-
rupeds, 245. Birds, 251. Fishes,

Mason wasp, 83.

262. Insects, 263.

Mole cricket, 84.

Mining ants, attack on, by the

Orator mantis, 85.

slavers described, 328.

Scorpion, 86.

Mole, eyes of, 50.

Spider, 86.

Mollusca, defences of, 174.

— , perfect societies of, 294.

, development of senses

Gold-tailed bombyx moth, 296.

in-

Humble bees, 353.

Cephalopoda, 43.

Peacock butterfly, 297.

Pteroceros and Strombust 43.

Tent-making caterpillars, 296.

Razor shell, 42.

True ants, 312.

, injurious to man —

Wasps, 349.

Snails and slugs, 224.

White ants, 297.

Teredo navalis, 237.

Instinct as different from human

, motions of, exemplified

reason, 1. Characteristics of, 7.

in-

Exemplified in Acrita, 14. Birds,
14. Quadrupeds, 19. Insects<29.

Cockle, 94.
Cuttlefish, 95.

Instinct, false, 39.

Muscle, 94.

Intestinal worms, 215. Develop-

Oyster, 93.

ment of senses in, 62. Motions

Snails, 95.

of, 125.

Monkeys, acute touch of, 51.

Moth, brown, of South America,

J.

deposits its young on the human

body, 220.

Jackal, generosity of, 73.
Jamaica rat, ravages of, 228.
Jealousy of the seal, 79. Of other
animals, 88.
Jumping mouse of Canada, pre-
paration of, for torpidity, 241.

Moth, processionary, account of the
processions of, 285.
Motions of animals, 90. Exempli-
fied in Acrita, 92. Zoophytes,
93. Mollusca, 93. Reptiles, 96.
Lizards, 97. Birds, 98. Quadru-
peds, 105. Fishes, 111. Frogs,
116. Insects, 116. Radiated

K.

animals, 125.

Kangaroo, acute scent of, 50.

Mouse, economic field, migration
of, 249.

INDEX.

373

Mouse, jumping, of Canada, pre-
paration of, for torpidity, 241.
Music, effect of, on lizards, 45. ; and

Monkeys and apes, 129.
Peccary, 136.
Porcupine, 138.

snakes, 46.
Musquash, American, habitations

Rhinoceros, 135, 136.
Ruminating animals, 130.

of, 290.

Squirrel, 138.

Mi/gale ccementaria, ingenious nest

Quadrupeds, development of

of, 35.

senses in —

American bison, 49.

Bats, 52.

N.

Camel, 49.

Elephant, 49.

Nests of birds, 15. Mole cricket,

Fox, 50.

84. Republican grosbeak, 291.

Hares and rabbits, 49.

White ants, 299. 303. 308. 311.

Horse, 50.

Kangaroo, 51.

Mole, 50.

0.

Monkeys, 5L

Raccoon, 52.

Ophthalmia, supposed to arise from
Acaridse, 207.

Rhinoceros, 50.
directly injurious to

Ostrich, instinct of, in providing

man, 176.

food for its young, 16.

Asiatic lion, 181.

Oxen trained for war, 79.

Asiatic tiger, 178.

Barren ground bear, 182.

Buffalo, 187.

,

Leopard, 180.

Parental affection in birds, 65.

Polar bear, 183.

Quadrupeds, 70. 75. Marine
tribes, 73. Insects, 83.
Parrot, damask, sportive assem-
blages of, 277.
Partridge, anecdote of parental af-

Rat, 189.
Rhinoceros, 187.
Vampire, 189.
Wolf, 183.
indirectly injurious to

fection in, 66.

man -^

Passenger pigeon, account of the
migration of, 252.
Passions of animals, 62. Exempli-

Bat, 228.
Coffee rat, 227.
Hamster, 227.

fied in cuttlefish, 64. Reptiles,

.Hippopotamus, z^o

64. Birds, 64. Quadrupeds, 70.
74. Marine tribes, 73. 79. Fishes,
81. Insects, 82. General re-

Jackal, 226.
Jamaica rat, 228
Lemming, 226.

marks, 87.
Peacock butterfly caterpillar, habi-
tations of, 297.
Peccaries, mode of catching in

Rat, 236.
Springbock, 228.
Squirrels, 227.
instinct exemplified

Guiana, 39.
Penruddock, lady, miserable death
of, from parasitic Acari, 209.
Phthiriasis of the ancients, 200.
Plague supposed to arise from Aca-
ridae, 208.

Alpine hare, 20.
Ass, 28.
Beaver, 20.
Black American bear, 22.
Brazilian monkeys, 24.

Processionary moth, account of the
processions of, 285.

Cat, 28.
Chamois, 23.
Elephant, 22. 24.

Fox, 20.

Q

Harvest mouse, 20.

Quadrupeds, defences of —

Ichneumon, 21.

Bats, 129.

Jaguar, 20.

Beaver, 139.

Jerboa, 20. 23.

Camelopard, 132.
Camels and horses, 131.
Carnivora, 128.

Mice, 20.
Mountain goat, 24.
Oran-otang, 20.

Elephant 135

motions nf4 exempli-

Hare. 13?!

fied ;n —

Hippopotamus, 135.

American bison, 106.

S74

INDEX.

Ass, 105.

Cobra di capello, 197.

Bats, 109.

Crocodiles, 193.

Beaver. 109.

Horned viper, 198.

Capra Ibex, 109.

Labarra snake, SOO.

Chamois, 108.

Puff adder, 200.

Dromedary and camel, 104.

Rattlesnake, 196.

Elephant, bear, and rhinoceros,

Spurting snake, 201.

104.
Flying squirrel, 107.
Horse, 105.

Square-headed serpents, 199.
Viper, 201.
Woods-master, 200.

Jerboa and kangaroo, 108.

Reptiles indirectly injurious to

Mole, 109.

man, 236.

Monkeys, 106.

, motions of, 96.

Reindeer 106

Squirrel, 107. '

Crocodile, 64.

Quadrupeds, passions exemplified

Hooded snake, 64,

in —

Iguana, 64.

African elephant, 72.
American bison, 74.

Lizards, 64.
Tortoise, 64.

Bear, 70.

Rhinoceros, acute scent of, 50.

Fox, 71.

Rhinoceros, Indian, savage disposi-

Great ant-eater, 78.

tion of, anecdote, 77.

Hamster, 78.

Rufescent ants, slaving expeditions

Hog, 71.

of, 326, 327.

Indian buffalo, 75.

Rufous ants, wars of, 322.

Indian rhinoceros, 77.

Jackal, 73.

Lion, 70.

S.

Monkeys, 72.

Newfoundland dog, 72.

Sanguineous ant, slaving expedi-

Opossum, 71.

tion of, 329.

Oxen, 80.

Scarabteus sacer and nut weevil,

Roebuck, 72.
Seal, 79.

sagacity of, in depositing eggs, 30.
Scorpion, effect of the poison of.

Tiger, 78. 80. • 213. Fierceness of. 87. *

Tiger, wolf, and panther, 76.
Wolf, 71.

Secretary eagle, battle of, with a
serpent, 18.

.perfect societies of —

Seal, ursine, jealousy of, 79.

Beaver, 281.

Self-preservation, much of the evil

Musqineh, 2PO.

passions of animals referable to,

89.

Senses, development of, in animal-

R

cules, 40. Zoophytes, 41. Mol-

lusca, 42. Chelonian reptiles, 43.

Radiated animals, motions of, ex-

Lizards and snakes, 44. Birds,

emplified in sea eggs and starfish,

48. Quadrupeds, 49. Fishes, 52.

125. Luminous, 362.
Radiated Mollusca, development

Frogs, 53. Insects, 57. Worms
and Mollusca, 62.

of senses in, 62.

Sentinels employed by the ante-

Rat, Jamaica, ravages of, 228.
Rattlesnakes, 197.

lopes, 23.
Shark, anecdotes of the voracitv or

Reason, characteristics of, 9. Uses

the, 203, 204.

of, 12.

Sight, in cephalous Mollusca, 42.

Red ants of Gould, 321.

Lizards, 44. Birds, 48. Quadru-

Reindeer, barren ground, migra-

peds, 49. Fishes, 52. Frogs, 53,

tion of, 249.

Insects, 57.

Reptiles, defences of —

Slave ants, duties of, 330.

Crocodile, 144.

Slave-making ants, 324. Of Bra-

Guarra, 144.

zil, 319.

Snake, 145.

Smell, in chelonian reptiles, 43.

Tortoise, 145.

Birds, 48. Quidrupeds, 50.

directly injurious to man,

Snakes, development of senses in,

192.

45. Fascination in the eyes of,

Boa, 195.

anecdotes of, 46.

Brazilian snakes, 200..

Sociability of the elephant, 76.

INDEX.

Social insects, general remarks on, i U.

295.

Societies, imperfect, of animals,
268. During the season of love,

Ursine seal, jealousy of, 79.

279. For hunting, 272. For pre-

V.

datory journeys, 273. Of males

during the pairing season, 274.

Vampire of South America, anec-

Amongst birds, 275. Amongst
insects, 276. For transitory mu-

dotes of its phlebotomising opera-
tions, 190.

tual enjoyment, 277. Permanent,

Vibrio Proteus, 92.

279.

Vitality of insects, 58.

•, perfect, of animals, 287.

Volition, nature of, 5.

Quadrupeds, 289. Birds, 281.
Insects, 294.

Volvox bulla and Volvox globator,

92.

, permanent —
Beetles, 284.

Vorticella convailaria and rotatoria,

Crow, 282.

^

Economic mouse, 280.

Meadow mouse, 279.

W.I

Processionary moth, 285.

Rabbit. 281.
Short-tailed marmot, 281.
Swallows, &c., 283.
Whistler marmot, 280.
Spider, ferocity and maternal af-

Wasp, sagacity of. in disposing of
an overweighty burden, 33.
Wasps, societies of, 349. Females,
349. Males, 3f>l. Labourers,
351.

fection of, 86.
Springer antelope, account of the
migration of, 246. Ravages of,

Whale, sexual attachments of, 74.
White ants, ravages of, 235.
, societies of, 297.

228.
Sports of insects, 121.
Spurting snake, 201.
Square-headed serpents, 199.
Swallows, migration of, 259.

Termes arborum, 308.
Termes bellicosus, African, 299.
Brazilian, 300. Soldiers, 305.
Termes siculus, 311.
Termes viarum, 307.

Termes lucifugus, 311.

Wild bees of Surinam, singular sa-

.

Tapeworms, 215.
Tent-making caterpillars, 296.
Teredo navalis, ravages of, 237.

gacity of, 34.
Wolf dogs of North America, 186.
Wolves, anecdotes of their ferocity
in India, 183.

Threadworm, Indian, 218.

Tiger, Asiatic, anecdotes of its fe-

Y.

rocity, 178.
Tiger and buffalo, description of a

Yellow ant, honey flies kept by, 337.

fight between, 132.

Tigers tamed by the Indian fakirs,

Z.

80.

Timour the Tatar, anecdote of,

Zoophytes, development of senses

344.

in —

Tortoise, cruel experiments on, 43.

Sea anemones, 41.

Tortoise, Greek, torpidity of, 239.
Touch, in Zoophytes, 41. Mollusca,

Sea marigolds, 41.
Polypes, 41.

42. Birds, 48. Quadrupeds, 49
Fishes, 53. Insects, 57. Intesti

, motions of, exemplified
in —

nal worms and radiated Mollusca,

Cockscomb sponge, 93.

62.

Polypi, 93.

Tunny, migration of the, 263.

Sea anemones, 93.

THE END.

LONDON :

SPOTTISWOODES and SHAW,
New-street- Square.

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

This book is due on the last date stamped below, or

on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.

11 JAN 71960

U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES

COEb33DS7S

•rawWPP

.vyvyv

:^Wv

.

UBt-
G

S'v