THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



germ which they held ! He would hold to a branch 

 by his hind feet, and reach far down to the ends of 

 the pendant twigs for the clusters of fruit. A squir- 

 rel's hind feet are especially adapted for hanging in 

 this way. Mr. Hornaday says the pika, or little chief 

 hare, in the Canadian Rockies cuts and gathers va- 

 rious grasses and plant-stalks, and cures them in the 

 sun beside the entrance to its den, and then stores 

 them up for winter use. He says that if, during 

 the day, the shadow of a rock falls upon the curing 

 hay, the pika moves it out into the sun again. 

 Another authority says that it will also make haste 

 to house its hay if a shower threatens. These last 

 acts seem almost incredible. I should like to have a 

 chance to verify them. In any case we see in the 

 habits of this creature another proof that an ani- 

 mal will and can learn to live, and in the struggle 

 may develop an instinct that closely simulates 

 human intelligence. Simulates, I say; we can hardly 

 call it the same, though it reaches the same end by 

 the same means. It is not to be supposed that the 

 individual pika knows the value of curing grass be- 

 fore storing it away, as we know it from experience 

 and observation, or that it takes any thought about 

 the matter. The race of pikas knows it as an in- 

 herited trait. It is the wisdom of Nature and not of 

 the individual pika. I suppose the habits of the 

 wild creatures generally in laying up their winter 

 stores are as far removed from conscious thought and 

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