"Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south? "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?

pursuit, and enable the animal to track its prey with greater certainty.

1064. Why do the ears of animals of flight, such as hares, rabbits, deer, &c., turn backward?

Because they thereby catch the sounds that give them warning of the approach of danger.

1065. Why has the stomach of the camel a number of distinct bags, like so many separate stomachs?

Because water is stored up in the separate chambers of the stomach, apart from the solid aliment, so that the animal can feed, without consuming all its drink. It is thereby able to retain water to satisfy its thirst while travelling across hot deserts, where no water could be obtained.

1066. Why do woodpeckers "tap" at old trees?

Because by boring through the decayed wood, with the sharp and hard bills with which they are provided, they get at the haunts of the insects upon which they feed.

1067. Why are woodpeckers' tongues about three times longer than their bills?

Because, if their bills were long, they would not bore the trees so efficiently; and when the trees are bored, and the insects alarmed, they endeavour to retreat into the hollows of the wood; but the long thin tongue of the woodpecker fixes them on its sharp horny point, and draws them into the mouth of the bird.

1068. Why have the Indian hogs large horns growing from their nostrils and turning back towards their eyes?

Because the horns serve as a defence to the eyes while the animal forces its way through the thick underwood in which it lives.

1069. Why have calves and lambs, and the young of horned cattle generally, no horns while they are young?

Because the presence of horns would interfere with the suckling

"She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.

"From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she."-JOB XXXIX.

of the young animal. When, however, it is able to feed itself by browsing, then the horns begin to grow.

1070. Why have infants no teeth?

Because the presence of teeth would interfere with their suckling, while the teeth would be of no service, until the child could take food requiring mastication.

1071. Why cannot flesh-eating animals live upon vegetables?

Because the gastric juice of a flesh-eating animal, being adapted to the duty which it has to perform, will not dissolve vegetable matter.

1072. Why have birds gizzards?

Because, having no teeth, the tough and fibrous gizzards are employed to grind the food preparatory to digestion.

1073. Why are small particles of sand, stone, &c., found in the gizzards of birds?

Because, by the presence of those rough particles, which become embedded in the substance of the gizzard, the food of the bird is more effectively ground.

When our fowls are abundantly supplied with meat, they soon fill their craw, but it does not immediately pass thence into the gizzard; it always enters in small quantities, in proportion to the progress of trituration, in like manner, as in a mill, a receiver is fixed above the two large stones which serve for grinding the corn, which receiver, although the corn be put into it by bushels, allows the grain to dribble only in small quantities into the central hole in the upper mili-stone.-Paley.

CHAPTER LIV.

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

"I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts are mine."PSALM L.

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. 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 eye-brows, 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.

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.

"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.

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.

"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.

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.

Fig. 71.-BAT WITH HOOKED WINGS.

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