xxii INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE OF THK 



manner as to fix tbo quarters, and cause permanent contraction of tlio bones, ligaments, and hoof so that 

 the plasticity is destroyed ; every step is a shock ; inflammation and lameness ensue.* 



The Itein-decr inhabits a country covered with snow the greater part of the year. Observe how 

 admirably its hoof is formed for going over that cold and light substance, without sinking in it or being 

 frozen. The under side is covered entirely with hair, of a warm and close texture; and the hoof, 

 altogether, is very broad, acting exactly like the snow-shoes which men have constructed for giving them a 

 larger space to stand on than their feet, and thus avoid sinking. Moreover, the deer spreads the hoof aa 

 wide as possible when it touches the ground : but, as this breadth would bo inconvenient in the air, by 

 occasioning a greater resistance while he is moving along, no sooner does ho lift the hoof than the two 

 parts into which it id cloven fall together, and so lessen the surface exposed to the nir, just as wo may 

 recollect the birds doing with their bodies and wings. The shape and structure of the hoof are also wnl 

 adapted to scrape away the snow, and enable the animal to get at the particular kind of moss (or liclu n) 

 on which he feeds. This plant, unlike others, is in its full growth during the winter season ; and the K< 'in- 

 deer accordingly thrives, from its abundance, at the season of his greatest use to man, notwithstanding the 

 unfavourable effects of extreme cold upon the animal system. 



There are some insects, of which the males have wing?, and the females are grubs or worms. Of 

 these, tlie Glow-worm is the most remarkable: it is the female, and the male is a fly, which would bo unable 

 to find her out, creeping as she does in the dark lanes, but for the shining light which she gives to 

 attract him. 



There is a singular fish found in the Mediterranean, called the Nautilus, from its skill in navigation. 

 The back of its shell resembles the hulk of a ship; on this it throws itself, and spreads two thin 

 membranes to serve for two sails, paddling itself on with its feet or feelers, as oars. 



The Ostrich lays and hatches her eggs in the sands : her form being ill-adapted for sitting on them, she 

 has a natural oven furnished by the sand, and the strong heat of the sun. The CucJcoo is known to build 

 no nest for herself, but to lay in the nests of other birds; but late observations show that she does not 

 lay indiscriminately in the nests of all birds ; she only chooses the nests of those which have bills of the 

 game kind with herself, and therefore feed on the same kind of food. The Duck, and other birds breeding 

 in muddy places, have a peculiar formation of the bill : it is both made so as to act like a strainer, 

 separating the finer from the grosser parts of the liquid, and it is more furnished with nerves near the point 

 than the bills of birds which feed on substances more exposed to the light; so that being more sensitive, it 

 serves better to grope in the dark stream for food. The bill of the Snipe is covered with a curious network 

 of nerves for the same purpose ; but the most singular provision of this kind is observed in a bird called the 

 Toucan, or Egg-sucker, which chiefly feeds on the eggs found in birds' nests, and in countries where these 

 are very deep and dark. Its bill is broad and long ; when examined, it appears completely covered with 

 branches of nerves in all directions ; so that, by groping in a deep and dark nest it can feel its way as 

 accurately as the finest and most delicate finger could. Almost all kinds of birds build their nests of 

 materials found where they inhabit, or use the nests of other birds ; but the Swallow of Java lives in 

 rocky caverns on the sea, where there are no materials at all for the purpose of building. It is therefore so 

 formed as to secrete in its body a kind of slime, with which it makes a nest, much prized as a delicate food 

 in Eastern countries. 



Plants, in many remarkable instances, are provided for by equally wonderful and skilful contrivances. 

 There is one, the Muscipula, Fly-trap, or Fly-catcher, which has small prickles in the inside of two leaves, 

 or half-leaves, joined by a hinge; a juice or syrup is provided on their inner surface, which acts as a bait to 

 allure flies. There are several small spines or prickles standing upright in this syrup, and upon the only part 

 of each leaf that is sensitive to the touch. When the fly, therefore, settles upon this part, its touching, as 

 it were, the spring of the trap, occasions the leaves to shut,aud kill and squeeze the insect; whose juices, and 

 the air arising from their rotting, serve as food to the plant. 



In the "West Indies, and in other hot countries of South America, where rain sometimes does not fall 

 for a great length of time, a kind of plant called the Wild-pine grows upon the branches of the trees, and 

 also on the bark of the trunk. It lias hollow or bag-like leaves, so formed as to make little reservoirs of water, 

 the rain falling into them through channels which close at the top when full, and prevent it from evaporating. 

 The seed of this useful plant has small floating threads, by which, when carried through the air, it catches 

 any tree in the way, and falls on it and grows. \Vherever it takes root, though on the under side of a 

 bough, it grows straight upwards, otherwise the leaves would not hold water. It holds in one leaf from a 

 pint to a quart ; and although it must bo of great use to the trees it grows on, to birds and other animals its 

 use is even greater. 



" When wo find these pines," says Dampicr, the famous navigator, "we stick our knives into the leaves 

 just above the root, and the water gushing out, we catch it in our hats, as I myself have frequently done, 

 to my great relief." 



* Mr. Bracpy Clarke has contrived an expanding shoe, which, by a joint in front, opens and contracts so as to obviate the 

 evils of the common process. 



