I 
TOUCHES OF NATURE 
I 
HEREVER Nature has commisioned one crea- 
ture to prey upon another, she has preserved 
the balance by forewarning that other creature of 
what she has done. Nature says to the cat, “Catch 
the mouse,” and she equips her for that purpose; 
but on the selfsame day she says to the mouse, “‘ Be 
wary, —the cat is watching for you.” Nature takes 
care that none of her creatures have smooth sailing, 
the whole voyage at least. Why has she not made 
the mosquito noiseless and its bite itchless? Sim- 
ply because in that case the odds would be too greatly 
in its favor. She has taken especial pains to enable 
the owl to fly softly and silently, because the crea- 
tures it preys upon are small and wary, and never 
venture far from their holes. She has not shown 
the same caution in the case of the crow, because 
the crow feeds on dead flesh, or on grubs and bee- 
tles, or fruit and grain, that do not need to be ap- 
proached stealthily. The big fish love to eat up the 
little fish, and the little fish know it, and, on the 
very day they are hatched, seek shallow water, and 
