I 68 NATURH vSTUDY. 



are annuals and require a rich soil and more or less culti- 

 vation. A wiry, poor grass denotes a poor soil. The poor- 

 est grasses of all are those of marshes and wet meadows. 

 A good habitat for a sedge is pretty sure to be a bad 

 habitat for a grass. The tendency determined ages ago 

 at the parting of the ways between the two families is still 

 manifest. 



Animal Life in Literature. 



BY CHAS. J. STAPLES. 



Literature does not look upon animals with the exact- 

 ness of science. Literature is an artistic reflection of life 

 in all its varieties and relations; and human thoughts about 

 the animal world, the way in which these other creatures 

 affected men, have left some mark, however slight, upon 

 the writings of all nations. We may distinguish several 

 stages in the representation of animals in literature, certain 

 changes in man's mental attitude toward these other inhab- 

 itants of his world. 



In those remnants of primitive literature called folk- 

 lore we find a most interesting use and portraiture of ani- 

 mal life. It is the faint and twilight reflection of an older 

 age, when beasts and men w^ere closer in their ways and 

 needs and natures. In the folk-lore tales animals play al- 

 most equal parts with man. There is a warm companion- 

 ship between them, whether as friends or enemies. The 

 border-line between the beast-world and the man-world is 

 left, half-unconsciously, dim and vague. The imagina- 

 tion has no difficulty in passing over it, just as one may 

 observe the children doing now. At one moment the ani- 

 mal, bear, rabbit, fox, is endowed with human desires and 

 motives ; the next he is even raised bej'ond humanity in 

 power, wisdom and insight. He becomes a supernatural 



