Back Aa

Reason Why

<h2>CHAPTER LIV.</h2> 1074. Why has the mole hard and flat feet, armed with sharp nails? Because the animal is thereby enabled to burrow in the earth, in search for worms. Its feet are so many shovels. 1075. Why is the mole's fur exceedingly glossy and smooth? Because its smoothness enables it to work under ground without [Pg 270] the soil sticking to its coat, by which its progress would be impeded. From soils of all kinds, the little worker emerges shining and clean. <hr class="bible-verse" /> "I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts are mine."—Psalm l. <hr class="bible-verse" /> What I have always most admired in the mole is its eyes. This animal occasionally visiting the surface, and wanting, for its safety and direction, to be informed when it does so, or when it approaches it, a perception of light was necessary. I do not know that the clearness of sight depends at all upon the size of the organ. What is gained by the largeness or prominence of the globe of the eye, is width in the field of vision. Such a capacity would be of no use to an animal which was to seek its food in the dark. The mole did not want to look about it; nor would a large advanced eye have been easily defended from the annoyance to which the life of the animal must constantly expose it. How indeed was the mole, working its way under ground, to guard its eyes at all? In order to meet this difficulty, the eyes are made scarcely larger than the head of a corking-pin; and these minute globules are sunk so deeply in the skull, and lie so sheltered within the velvet of its covering, as that any contraction of what may be called the eyebrows, not only closes up the apertures which lead to the eyes, but presents a cushion, as it were, to any sharp or protruding substance which might push against them. This aperture, even in its ordinary state, is like a pin-hole in a piece of velvet, scarcely pervious to loose particles of earth.—Paley. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i-276.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="289" alt="" /> <div class="caption">Fig. 70.—ELEPHANTS DRINKING.</div> </div> 1076. Why has the elephant a short unbending neck? Because the elephant's head is so heavy, that it could not have been supported at the end of a long neck (or lever), without a provision of immense muscular power. [Pg 271] <hr class="bible-verse" /> "Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength."—Joel ii. <hr class="bible-verse" /> 1077. Why has the elephant a trunk? The trunk of an elephant serves as a substitute for a neck, enabling the animal to crop the branches of trees, or to raise water from the stream. 1078. Why do the hind legs of elephants bend forward? Because the weight of the animal is so great, that when it lay down it would rise with great difficulty, if its legs bent outward, as do the legs of other animals. Being bent under the body, they have a greater power of pushing directly upward, when the powerful muscles of the thighs straighten them. According to Cuvier, the number of muscles, in an elephant's trunk, amounts to forty thousand, all of which are under the will, and it is to these that the proboscis of this animal owes its flexibility. It can be protruded or contracted at pleasure, raised up or turned to either side, coiled round on itself or twined around any object. With this instrument the elephant collects the herbage on which he feeds and puts it into his mouth; with this he strips the trees of their branches, or grasps his enemy and dashes him to the ground. But this admirable organ is not only adapted for seizing or holding substances of magnitude; it is also capable of plucking a single leaf, or of picking up a straw from the floor. The orifices of the canals of the extremity are encircled by a projecting margin, produced anteriorly into a finger-like process endowed with a high degree of sensibility and exceedingly flexible. It is at once a finger for grasping and a feeler: the division between the two nasal orifices or their elevated sides serves as a point against which to press; and thus it can pick up or hold a small coin, a bit of biscuit, or any trifling thing with the greatest ease.—Knight's Animal Kingdom. 1079. Why have bats hooked claws in their wings? Because bats are almost destitute of legs and feet; at least those organs are included in their wings. If they alight upon the ground, they have great difficulty in again taking to the wing, as they cannot run or spring to bring their wings in action upon the air. At the angle of each wing there is placed, therefore, a bony hook, by which the bat attaches itself to the sides of rocks, caves, and buildings, laying hold of crevices, joinings, chinks, &c.; and when it takes its flight, it unhooks itself, and its wings are at once free to strike the air. 1080. Why does the bat fly by night? Because it lives chiefly upon moths, which are night-flying insects. [Pg 272] <hr class="bible-verse" /> "So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web."—Job viii. <hr class="bible-verse" /> 1081. Why does the bat sleep during the winter? Because, as the winter approaches, the moths and flying insects upon which it feeds, disappear. If, therefore, it did not sleep through the winter it must have starved. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i-278.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="192" alt="" /> <div class="caption">Fig. 71.—BAT WITH HOOKED WINGS.</div> </div> 1082. Why has the spider the power of spinning a web? Because, as it lives upon flies, but is deficient of the power of flying in pursuit of them, it has been endowed with an instinct to spread a snare to entrap them, and with the most wonderful machinery to give that instinct effect. There are few things better suited to remove the disgust into which young people are betrayed on the view of some natural objects, than this of the spider. They will find that the most despised creature may become a subject of admiration, and be selected by the naturalist to exhibit the marvellous works of the creation. The terms given to these insects, lead us to expect interesting particulars concerning them, since they have been divided into vagrants, hunters, swimmers, and water spiders, sedentary, and mason-spiders; thus evincing a variety in their condition, activity, and mode of life; and we cannot be surprised to find them varying in the performance of their vital functions (as, for example, in their mode of breathing), as well as in their extremities and instruments. Of these instruments the most striking is the apparatus for spinning and weaving, by which they not only fabricate webs to entangle their prey, but form cells for their residence and concealment; sometimes living in the ground, sometimes under water, yet breathing the atmosphere. Corresponding with their very singular organisation are their instincts. We are familiar with the watchfulness and voracity of some spiders, when their prey is indicated by the vibration of the cords of their net-work. Others have the eye and disposition of the lynx or tiger, and after couching in concealment, leap upon their victims. Some conceal themselves under a silken hood or tube, six eyes only projecting. Some bore a hole in the earth, and line it as finely as if it were done with the trowel and mortar, and then hang it with delicate curtains. A very extraordinary degree of contrivance is exhibited in the trap-door spider. This door, from which it derives its name, has a frame and hinge on the mouth of the cell, and is so provided that the claw of the spider can lay hold of it, and [Pg 273] whether she enters or goes out, says Mr. Kirby, the door shuts of itself. But the water-spider has a domicile more curious still: it is under water, with an opening at the lower part for her exit and entrance; and although this cell be under water, it contains air like a diving-bell, so that the spider breathes the atmosphere. The air is renewed in the cell in a manner not easily explained. The spider comes to the surface; a bubble of air is attracted to its body; with this air she descends, and gets under her cell, when the air is disengaged and rises into the cell; and thus, though under water, she lives in the air. There must be some peculiar property of the surface of this creature by which she can move in the water surrounded with an atmosphere, and live under the water breathing the air. <hr class="bible-verse" /> "The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in king's palaces."—Proverbs xxx. <hr class="bible-verse" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i-279.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="352" alt="" /> <div class="caption">Fig. 72.—WEB OF THE GEOMETRICAL SPIDER.</div> </div> The chief instrument by which the spider performs these wonders is the spinning apparatus. The matter from which the threads are spun is the liquid contained in cells; the ducts from these cells open upon little projecting teats, and the atmosphere has so immediate an effect upon this liquid, that upon exposure to it the secretion becomes a tough and strong thread. Twenty-four of these fine strands form together a thread of the thickness of that of the silk-worm. We are assured that there are three different sorts of material thus produced, which are indeed required for the various purposes to which they [Pg 274] are applied—as, for example, to mix up with the earth to form the cells; to line these cells as with fine cotton; to make light and floating threads by which they may be conveyed through the air, as well as those meshes which are so geometrically and correctly formed to entrap their prey.—Note by Lord Brougham to Paley's Natural Theology. <hr class="bible-verse" /> "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills."—Psalm l. <hr class="bible-verse" /> 1083. Why have many insects a great number of eyes? Because the orb of the eye is fixed; there is therefore placed over the eye a multiple-lens, which conducts light to the eye from every direction; so that the insect can see with a fixed eye as readily as it could have done with a movable one. As many as fourteen hundred eyes, or inlets of light, have been counted in the head of a drone-bee. The spider has eight eyes, mounted upon different parts of the head; two in front, two in the top of the head, and two on each side. 1084. Why have birds of prey no gizzards? Because their food does not require to be ground prior to digestion, as does the food of grain-eating birds. 1085. Why have earth worms no feet? Because the undulatory motion of their muscles serves them for fill the purposes of progression needed by their mode of life. 1086. Why have mussels strong tendinous threads proceeding from their shells? Because as they live in places that are beaten by the surf of the sea, they moor their shells by those threads to rocks and timbers. 1087. Why have cockles stiff muscular tongues? Because, having no threads to moor themselves, as the mussels have, they dig out with their tongues a shelter for themselves in the sand. 1088. Why do oxen, sheep, deer, &c., ruminate? Because they have no front teeth in the upper jaw, the place of which is occupied by a hardened gum. The first process, therefore, consists simply of cropping their food, which is passed into the paunch, to be brought up again and ground by the back teeth when the cropping process is over. Because, in a wild state, they are constantly exposed to the [Pg 275] attacks of carnivorous beasts, and as the mastication of the large amount of vegetable food required for their sustenance would take a considerable time, they are provided with stomachs, by which they are enabled to fill their paunches quickly, and then, retiring to a place of safety, they bring their food up again, and chew it at leisure. <hr class="bible-verse" /> "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."—Proverbs xii. <hr class="bible-verse" /> 1089. Why can ruminating animals recover the food from their paunches? Because they have a voluntary power over the muscles of the throat, by which they can bring up the food at will. 1090. Why can they keep the unchewed food in the paunch, from the "cud" they have chewed for nourishment? Because their stomachs are divided into three chambers: 1, the paunch, where the unchewed food is stored; 2, the reticulum, where portions of the food are received from the paunch, and moistened and rolled into a "cud," to be sent up and chewed; and 3, the psalterium, which receives the masticated food, and continues the process of digestion. [Pg 276] In quadrupeds the deficiency of teeth is usually compensated by the faculty of rumination. The sheep, deer, and ox tribe, are without fore-teeth in the upper jaw. These ruminate. The horse and ass are furnished with teeth in the upper jaw, and do not ruminate. In the former class, the grass and hay descend into the stomachs nearly in the state in which they are cropped from the pasture, or gathered from the bundle. In the stomach, they are softened by the gastric juice, which in these animals is unusually copious. Thus softened and rendered tender, they are returned a second time to the action of the mouth, where the grinding teeth complete at their leisure the trituration which is necessary; but which was before left imperfect. I say, the trituration which is necessary; for it appears from experiments, that the gastric fluid of sheep, for example, has no effect in digesting plants, unless they have been previously masticated; that it only produces a slight maceration, nearly as common water would do in a like degree of heat; but that when once vegetables are reduced to pieces by mastication, the fluid then exerts upon them its specific operation. Its first effect is to soften them, and to destroy their natural consistency; it then goes on to dissolve them, not sparing even the toughest parts, such as the nerves of the leaves. I think it very probable, that the gratification also of the animal is renewed and prolonged by this faculty. Sheep, deer, and oxen, appear to be in a state of enjoyment whilst they are chewing the cud. It is then, perhaps, that they best relish their food.—Paley. <hr class="chap" /> <hr class="bible-verse" /> "I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top."—Psalm cii. <hr class="bible-verse" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.