72 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 



its food, else it would not have persisted ; and species not so 

 endowed, of which there have been many, have long since 

 disappeared from the earth. It is only when the food is alive 

 and able to fight or run that weapons of offense are useful 

 except to rival males in battle. Herbivorous animals, like cattle, 

 and vegetarians generally do not need weapons of offense and 

 commonly do not possess them, though there are abundant 

 exceptions. 



The ostrich, for example, has no need of weapons of offense 

 and its great speed constitutes sufficient defense ; yet it can use 

 its strong leg to advantage as a weapon in striking. The giraffe 

 is without weapons, offensive or defensive, and cannot exist in 

 the presence of enemies except those he can outrun. The ele- 

 phant's trunk is primarily useful as a feeder, but he uses it upon 

 occasion as a weapon of terrible execution. 



For the most part the snake has no weapon but his teeth. 

 Some paralyze by venom, but most of them are comparatively 

 helpless, having no extremities but a harmless head and a use- 

 less tail. If, as in most cases, they are armed with incurving 

 teeth, the victim once caught cannot well get away ; but in gen- 

 eral the snake must swallow the prey alive or kill it in the only 

 way possible, namely, by crushing with its own body, — a most 

 awkward but terribly effective way of getting on. 



A few animals like the skunk are able to discharge an offen- 

 sive secretion to a considerable distance and thus manage to 

 secure a pretty wide berth. Others, like the hyena, 1 can dis- 

 charge a liquid not particularly offensive but directed with con- 

 siderable accuracy and disconcerting effect. 



A few lucky fellows like the hedgehog, whose custom it is to 

 let others alone, are so provided that they can roll themselves 

 into a ball and defy the world. Others, like the squirrel, not 

 so endowed must show a clean pair of heels. 



1 Said to be the only animal that hates everything and everybody, itself 

 included. Practically incapable of taming, ft never forms friends among either 

 animals or attendants. 



