78 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



animal gifted with the power of enjoying a 

 joke, but if animals do not laugh, at any 

 rate they sometimes play. We are, indeed, 

 apt perhaps to credit them with too much 

 of our own attributes and emotions, but we 

 can hardly be mistaken in supposing that 

 they enjoy certain scents and sounds. It is 

 difficult to separate the games of kittens 

 and lambs from those of children. Our 

 countryman Gould long ago described the 

 " amusements or sportive exercises " which 

 he had observed among Ants. Forel was at 

 first incredulous, but finally confirmed these 

 statements ; and, speaking of certain tropical 

 Ants, Bates says " the conclusion that they 

 were engaged in play was irresistible." 



SLEEP 



We share with other animals the great 

 blessing of Sleep, nature's soft nurse, " the 

 mantle that covers thought, the food that 

 appeases hunger, the drink that quenches 

 thirst, the fire that warms cold, the cold that 



