CHAPTER IV 



MOUNTAIN MAMMALS 



The Stoat, or Ermine The Mountain Hare The Red Deer and 

 other Deer The Chamois The Snow Mouse. 



PROFESSOR HENRY DRUMMOND used to tell his stu- 

 dents when they were dull the story of the adapta- 

 tions of a mammal of the Andes which was marvel- 

 lously suited for browsing on the sides of the steep 

 mountains, having, for instance, the legs of one side 

 longer than those on the other, so that it moved com- 

 fortably along a slope. It had, of course, to go round 

 and round the mountain. This was a jest, obviously, 

 intended to teach the students to be cautious in 

 accepting everything they were told; but the general 

 idea of the story was sound enough, that animals are 

 often very well adapted to cope with the difficulties 

 of particular habitats. Already we have seen that 

 every animal is a bundle of adaptations or particular 

 fitnesses : our question now is, How are mountain 

 mammals suited to the conditions of their life ? 



One Christmas holiday we made an excursion over 

 a shoulder of the Cairngorm Mountains, and we had 

 the good fortune to see in one half-hour two kinds 

 of white mammals. The one was the Ermine and 

 the other the Mountain Hare two creatures very 

 different from one another, but alike in the peculiarity 



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