256 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol.XVIlI. 



and one has dropped a quill beside the trough, while another has 

 pierced through the heart a goat that was tied up as bait for a 

 panther in the adjacent nullah. Jackals, wild cats, foxes, hares, 

 peafowl, partridges, quail, all these have passed to and fro at sunset or 

 in the silent watches of the night, and have left unmistakable impress 

 of their presence where they have been to quench their thirst. 



There can, then, be no doubt that all the animals in question 

 drink. Whether they can go without drinking, like the antelopes of 

 the Kalahari Desert, is another question. My own impression is 

 that they cannot. No doubt all animals can live and suffer for a 

 time without water. I think there was a human " exhibit " of this 

 nature at the old Westminster Aquarium, where Doctor Tanner also 

 passed forty days without food. The animals of the waterless regions 

 of Africa have apparently adapted themselves to their environment, 

 and are able to abstain from water for considerable periods. Per- 

 haps there are more succulent shrubs in those regions than there are 

 in India, of the nature of the " Ak " mentioned by " G. S. R.", and 

 of the mohwa flower on which so many animals feed. But are there 

 in India waterless regions in which the species referred to have 

 become so adapted to their environment that they can live for long 

 periods without water ? 



