28 THE HUMANIZING OF THE BRUTE. 



A great many other examples of a less impressive 

 but similar nature could be enumerated, all 

 evincing the self same conclusion that the instinct- 

 ive actions of animals are of themselves highly appro- 

 piate to their purpose and reveal a true final tendency. 



Or, for what other reason but to seek protection 

 from danger do worms contract the segments of their 

 body, hedgehogs roll themselves into balls bristling 

 with spikes, snails retire into their shells, turtles with- 

 draw their heads and legs and hide themselves in the 

 sand, young snakes jump into the mouth of their par- 

 ent, chickens seek protection under the wings of the 

 hen? 



Nor can any other explanation than "purpose" be 

 given for those actions by which animals preserve 

 their species. Or, why do they always deposit their 

 eggs in places which offer the most suitable food for 

 their offspring? Why do mosquitoes drop their eggs 

 into water, the only place where the young can devel- 

 op, cabbage-butterflies deposit them on the under side 

 of the cabbage leaf, Sitaris in the nest-entrance of An- 

 tophoras? Why does the fly Gastrus equi paste them 

 on the breast of a horse, where they are licked up ty 

 the horse's tongue and forwarded into its stomach, 

 the only place where the maggots find their specific and 

 necessary nourishment? Why do several species of 

 solitary wasps fasten their eggs on the bodies of living 

 but paralyzed spiders, caterpillars and grasshoppers? 



Why does the great water-scavenger, Hydrophilus 

 piceus build a little boat for its eggs, and Lomechusa, 

 Xenodusa, Atemeles . . . bring them into the 

 nests of ants; why in short does every species find 



