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2 NATURAL &ISTORT. 



become familiar in our mouths as household words," bearing as they do an important part in fable, in 

 travel, and even in history : so many of them are of such wonderful beauty, so many of such terrible 

 ferocity that no one can fail to be interested in them, even apart from the fact likely to influence us 

 more in' their favour than any other-that the two home pets which of all others are the commonest 

 and the most interesting belong to the group. 



No one who has had a Dog friend, no one who has watched the wonderful instance of maternal 

 love afforded by a Cat with her kittens, no one who loves riding across country after a Fox, no 

 lady with a taste for handsome furs, no boy who has read of Lion and Tiger hunts, and has longed 

 to emulate the doughty deeds of the hunter, can fail to be interested in an assemblage which furnishes 

 animals at once so useful, so beautiful, and so destructive. 



It must not be supposed from the name of this group that all its members are exclusively flesh- 

 eaters and, indeed, it will be hardly necessary to warn the reader against falling into this mistake, as 

 there are few people who have never given a Dog a biscuit, or a Bear a bun. Still, both the Dog and 

 several kinds of Bears prefer flesh-meat when they can get it ; but there are some Bears which live 

 almost exclusively on fruit, and are therefore in strictness not carnivorous at all. The name must, 

 however, be taken as a sort of general title for a certain set of animals which have certain characters 

 in common, and which differ from all other animals in particular ways. 



Comparatively few of the flesh-eaters are of direct use to man, at any rate while alive, yet one 

 member of the group the Dog is the most useful of all domestic quadrupeds, though derived from 

 one of the most savage of all the Wolf. The Ferret, the Cheetah and the Cat are also more or less 

 domesticated ; but they come far below the Dog in amiable qualities, and in value to man. Below 

 their value in service comes the use of their most beautiful skins : and still lower down the scent, 

 derivable from a few sj>ecies. Yet from these two last sources our fair ones seek to derive new charms, 

 not heeding the }K>ct Cowlcy's quaint objurgation : 



" The adorning thee with so much art 



Is but a dangerous skill ; 

 Like to the poisoning of a dart, 

 Too apt, before, to kill." 



Most of the Carnivora may be looked upon as man's natural enemies, for he has no chance of 

 making headway unless he can keep " the beast of the field " from " increasing upon him." Amongst 

 primaeval men, the tribes who made the best weapons to keep off these, the destroyers of their families, 

 were certain to succeed best in the struggle for existence, so that the act of sharpening a flint-stone 

 to repel the attack of some wild beast may be said to have prepared the way for civilisation, for flint 

 knives led to bronze hatchets, bronze hatchets to axes and hammers of iron, and when once iron- 

 working was understood and appreciated, civilisation went on with gigantic strides. 



Besides acting as one of the severest of schoolmasters in the hard school of adversity in which 

 man has been trained, the flesh-eaters serve to keep in check, and indirectly to bring to perfection, the 

 gnus-eating tribes. Upon these the Oxen, Antelopes, Wild Asses, &c. the large Carnivora delight to 

 prey ; in so doing they have to put forth all their powers, their agility, strength, and cunning, while 

 the Herbivores, at the same time, have acquired caution and swiftness of foot in the highest degree, in 

 order to escape from their ruthless and implacable destroyers. 



While the larger beasts of prey keep in check the troops of great hoofed animals, the smaller 

 kinds, such as Cats and Ferrets, have a most important office in thinning the constantly multi- 

 plying ranks of gnawing animals, such as Rats and Mice, which would otherwise prove a plague 

 of the worst description. Indirectly, too, our Camivora may even influence largely the spread 

 of certain kinds of vegetation : for instance, as Mr. Darwin has shown, where there are no 

 Cats there is no clover ! This seems strange, not to say fabulous, but it is known that clover 

 will only flourish when there are plenty of Humble-bees, the only insects able to carry the fer- 

 tilising pollen from flower to flower, and so ensure a good supply of seed for the next crop. Now, 

 Field Mice are particularly hostile to Humble-bees, knowing quite well where to find their nests and 

 combs, and how to get at their honey, of which they are very fond. Thus, where Field Mice exist in 

 great numbers, Humble-bees will be comparatively few. But Mice are chiefly kept down by Cats, and 



