THE TASMANIAN DEVIL. 



"The Tasmanian method of taming it is to blow it into 

 space with a heavy charge of buckshot ; and this seems to be 

 the only way of rendering it quite harmless/' 



Mr. Arthur Mot rison on the Tasmanian devil, 

 in the Strand Magazine, 



Stupid and savage, quarrelsome, merciless, and 

 bloodthirsty ; these adjectives sum up the moral or 

 immoral attributes of the subject of this Essay. 

 Few animals indeed are hopelessly untamable, 

 relentlessly vindictive, unceasingly ferocious ; 

 almost every species which the liberal policy of 

 Zoological Societies has enabled the naturalist study 

 in captivity are capable of first enduring and after- 

 wards appreciating, contact with civilized man. 

 The young gorilla learns the meaning of a stick let 

 him but see it and he retreats, barking like a terrier : 

 lions and tigers, leopards and hyaenas, become 

 tame and often affectionate towards their keepers : 

 wolves will follow their owners in the street like 

 collie dogs. Even the more stupid animals at last 

 make friends ; tapirs have been kept as household 

 pets, the young anteater whines to be caressed, the 

 dull-witted manatee learns to look to his keeper for 

 food. Therefore a singular interest attaches to the 

 truculent subject of this Essay, a beast whose hand 

 (or jaw) is against every man's, and every man's 



