232 THE NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIE IV {i ■ 8- NO v., iqo 7 



As examples of adaptations to meet the second business of 

 animals, viz., caring for offspring, may be mentioned the diverse 

 types of cocoons, nests or pouches for housing the newborn, the 

 manifold provisions for feeding the young, and various signals to 

 attract their attention. 



Before leaving the synopsis, I wish to indicate, under each of 

 the headings, a number of general questions which will be service- 

 able in bringing out systematically the various phases of animal 

 life or structure. The questions are comparatively few in num- 

 ber and so simple that a novice can determine answers with some 

 degree of satisfaction, and yet, if one learns the complete answers 

 to them he knows practically all about a given animal that the 

 trained naturalist can ascertain. 



The Business of an Animal 



i. to care for self 



a. Food. 



1 . What does it eat ? Preferences ? 



2 . Do its food habits make it a friend or an enemy of man ? 



3. How does it get information about its food, i. e., what senses 

 has it ? How do they serve it ? Are they advantageously located for 

 the work they have to perform ? 



4. How does it get to its food (i. c, how fitted for locomotion) ? 



5 . What organs are helpful to it in eating ? How are they adapted 

 to its particular kind of food? 



6. Does it snare or lure its prey? Is its color ever of advantage in 

 securing food? 



7. Does it lay up a store of food, or merely eat what it needs each 

 day? 



8. Does it work during the day or night ? 



9 . How does it breathe ? 



10. (Digestion, circulation, etc., — to be omitted for young children.) 



11. C/., also b, 4. 



b. Self -protection. 



1. What are its enemies and how does it escape them (weapons, 

 armor, flight, etc.) ? 



2 . Can its color or general appearance help it to escape in any way ? 

 Has it any means of signalling to its own kind? If so, does such 



ability protect it in any way ? 



3 . Has it a home or regular place of resort ? 



4. Does it lead a solitary life, live in a community of its own kind, 

 or live with unrelated forms? If colonial, and if there is division of 

 labor in the colony, what part does each member perform ? Differ- 

 ences of the various members in structure and habits? 



