THE RED GROUSE. 321 



farther production of the juice, yet, when putridity 

 has once begun, it proceeds irresistibly ; not only in 

 that which otherwise would have kept for a long time, 

 but even in living substances. One apple, or one po- 

 tatoe, that has begun to rot, will, in a short time, pro- 

 duce rottenness in all the heap ; gangrene of the smallest 

 member of the body, will occasion dissolution ; and the 

 puncture of a needle which has passed through the 

 substance of a putrid body, will occasion gangrene and 

 death, even though the quantity of putrid matter upon 

 it should be so small as not to be discernible. 



Though the grouse, from being pursued with so much 

 avidity by man, is a shy and wary bird, it will breed in 

 confinement ; and thus we do not doubt that, with a 

 little attention, it might be added to the list of domestic 

 poultry, and probably improved both in size and in 

 flavour. Iildeed this might, in all probability, be done 

 with most of the gallinaceous birds, more especially 

 those, of which the family continue together till the end 

 of the season. 



The descent of the grouse from the uplands to the 

 margin of the cultivated fields, is a certain indication 

 of a storm. In September, 1807, we started a flock 

 of grouse upon the edge of a field of oats, distant at 

 least a mile and a half from the moors ; and upon 

 mentioning the fact to the owner of the field, he 

 shook his head, and wished that all his crop had been 

 gathered in. The day was more than usually fine 

 for the season. There was not a speck of cloud in 

 the whole expanse of the sky ; the sea (the Moray 

 Firth it was) lay motionless as a mirror ; the extent 

 in the offing seemed interminable, and the outlines of 



