332 THE HARMONIES OP NATURE. 



ripen far apart and at different times ; and thus the monkeys 

 and squirrels absolutely required a greater celerity of motion, to 

 be able to seek at a greater distance the food which the 

 exhausted neighbourhood no longer afforded. In this instance, 

 as throughout the whole of the animal kingdom, we therefore 

 find the mode of life and the organization, the want and the 

 means of supplying it, in perfect unison. The trees correspond 

 to their fourfooted inhabitants, and these again to the trees on 

 which they dwell; and the climbing sloth, the leaping mon- 

 key, and the nimble squirrel, however dissimilar in form, prove 

 all alike that one grand harmonious idea pervades the woods and 

 every creature existing beneath their shades. 



With regard to the formation of the soles and toes, we like- 

 wise find in every case the same beautiful adaptation of means 

 to end. In all the burrowing mammals the toes, as we have 

 already observed, are provided with strong claws, which render 

 them good service in scratching away the earth through 

 which they dig their way. These useful implements of 

 peaceful labour serve them also as powerful means of defence, 

 while the feline races use their claws as offensive weapons, for- 

 midable to every creature that comes within their reach. To 

 keep their sharpness unimpaired, and to prevent them at the 

 same time from impeding the animal's walk, the terminal 

 phalanx on which the claw is fixed is capable of being retracted 

 when in a state of rest by means of elastic ligaments ; while a 

 strong flexing muscle, subservient to the will, is ever ready to 

 thrust it out, and consequently to protrude the talon whenever 

 its services are required. 



This weapon, thus beautifully constructed for action and repose, 

 with which our tiny domestic cat is capable of inflicting painful 

 wounds, acquires in the larger felines so prodigious a force that 

 the tiger will draw furrows five inches deep through the flesh 

 of his victim, and the lion tear open with one single stroke the 

 breast of an antelope. 



The claws are likewise of great assistance in climbing. In 

 the sloth, where they are very long, powerful, and recurved, 

 they serve as hooks for suspending the animal from the branches ; 

 and in the squirrel, where they are smaller and extremely sharp, 

 they penetrate into the bark of the trees, and thus secure the 

 nimble creature from falling as he bounds along. The monkey, 



