NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



grew so scanty that the only kinds of vegetable 

 life which succeeded in surviving were the low, 

 stunted, deep-rooted bushes and bulbous plants 

 with which the Karoo-veld of to-day is covered. 



Now, as the forest trees perished and were slowly 

 but surely being replaced by these hardy, drought- 

 resisting forms of life, what became of the Squirrels 

 which inhabited those trees ? Did they perish and 

 their kind vanish from the face of the earth ? No ! 

 As food aloft in the trees became increasingly scanty, 

 they resorted with ever-increasing frequency to the 

 ground in search of food. Finding succulent roots 

 and bulbs underground, they did what they had 

 seldom done before ; they used their claws for 

 digging in the soil. No sooner does a creature begin 

 to make a new use of any part of its anatomy, 

 than some intelligent, mysterious Force comes into 

 operation, and the part is changed, and adapted to 

 the purpose desired. So the curved claws of the 

 Squirrel, which were of such splendid service to it 

 in climbing trees, leaping, clinging, and in gathering 

 fruits, berries and nuts, became adapted for digging 

 in the ground. Finding themselves at the mercy 

 of the hosts of carnivorous animals and birds of 

 prey when on the ground, and not having a tree 

 into which to take refuge, they excavated burrows 

 in the soil and formed homes underground, into 

 which they sought refuge from these enemies. 



So, like the Klip Dassie (Procavia capensis), this 

 Squirrel was faced with annihilation, or the adop- 

 60 



