494 NATURE'S TEACHINGS. 



pensable, " leaf mould." In so doing, however, he deprives 

 the trees of their natural nutriment, and by degrees they 

 dwindle and die. 



Nature, in this case, shows her superiority over Art. 



Then we have the remarkable fact that millions of animated 

 beings die annually, and no vestige of their remains is found. 

 Hyaenas and vultures might account for a few bodies, the 

 remnants of which have been found in ancient caverns. But 

 there is no hyaena which could crush the leg bones of an adult 

 elephant ; and yet I suppose that neither in Africa nor Asia 

 has any one discovered the body of an elephant or rhinoceros 

 that had died a natural death. 



In the first place, there is the curious point, which I have 

 already mentioned, and which is shared by nearly every race 

 of human savages, that when an animal feels that it has 

 received its death- stroke, it accepts the conditions, withdraws 

 itself from those who yet have life in them, and yields up 

 its life as calmly as if it were but sleeping. 



But what becomes of the body? As to such enormous 

 beings as elephants, the various species of rhinoceros, and 

 whales, which are as large as several elephants, rhinoceros, 

 and hippopotamus put together, I cannot say from practical 

 knowledge. 



Still, as size is only comparative, the rule that holds good 

 with a small animal may hold equally good with a large one. 

 It is my lot to walk very often upon the banks of the Thames. It 

 is a charming walk at high water, but at low water there is too 

 much odoriferous mud, and there are too many dead dogs and 

 cats to make it an agreeable resort, except for enthusiastic 

 entomologists, who seem to swarm in this neighbourhood. 



Scarcely has such a carcass been stranded than it is beset by 

 Burying-beetles of various kinds. Hundreds upon hundreds 

 can be shaken out of the corpse of a dog or cat, and, before the 

 next tide has come up, there is scarcely any flesh left on the bones, 

 it having been dug into the earth by the Burying-beetles. 



THEN there is that wonderful family of Scarabaeus-beetles, 

 which do us invaluable service as scavengers and agricul- 

 turists. They follow the path of the caravans, and effec- 

 tively cleanse the course which has been traversed. Even 



