COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



tion, becoming the eaten instead of the eater. 

 If this be true, there may be data here for ex- 

 plaining some of the alleged phenomena of 

 fascination, so far as rattlesnakes are concerned ; 

 and another case will be added to the numer- 

 ous cases now on record in which certain ani- 

 mals have acquired, for utility's sake, peculiari- 

 ties characteristic of totally different species. 

 I should be more inclined, however, to adopt 

 quite a different interpretation of the rattle- 

 snake's rattle. As hinted above, the general 

 law that animals are benefited by concealment 

 has some important exceptions. In many 

 cases, when an animal is especially noxious, it 

 is for his advantage to be conspicuous, that en- 

 emies may recognize him at a distance and keep 

 away from him. Thus, as we have seen, while 

 grasshoppers, moths, and butterflies (on the ex- 

 posed under-surfaces of their wings) are usually 

 so coloured as best to escape notice, on the 

 other hand, bees and wasps, which are pro- 

 tected by their stings, and many beetles, which 

 are protected by a noxious taste or odour, are 

 apt to be conspicuously coloured. And the 

 jet-black toad of La Plata is a still better ex- 

 ample. Now a rattlesnake is unquestionably a 

 very noxious animal, and so dangerous to its 

 enemies that they will always do well to keep 

 out of its way. Moreover the death wound in- 

 flicted by it, though usually very sure, is some- 

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