THE TURKEY BUZZARD, 37 



would have taken a lapse of weeks to have destroyed 

 the smell putrescent which came from the remains of 

 so large an animal ; and even granted that the vul- 

 tures had been too dull of nose to have smelled it, 

 still it could not have failed to have attracted other 

 dogs, or the same dogs when their stomachs had 

 become empty; and they themselves would have 

 gnawed off all the flesh, and squandered the bones, 

 without allowing " natural decay" to consume that 

 which was so palatable to them. Be this as it 

 may, the author immediately returned, and com- 

 menced a new operation about the same place. This 

 fortifies me in my conjecture that the carcass must 

 have had some greedy customers after the author's 

 departure, otherwise the insufferable smell must 

 have been still there ; and then the author, by his 

 own account, would have been ill able to stand 

 the attack on his nasal feelings during the new 

 operation. 



He says, " I then took a young pig, put a knife 

 through its neck, and made it bleed on the earth and 

 grass about the same place, and, having covered it 

 closely with leaves, also watched the result. The vul- 

 tures saw the fresh blood, alighted about it, followed it 

 down into the ravine, discovered by the blood, the 

 pig, and devoured it when yet quite fresh, within 

 my sight." I must here own I am astonished 

 that the vultures could see this, and still have seen 

 nothing of the large hog while several dogs were 

 feeding on it. However, I request the reader to 

 ruminate for a while on these two experiments with 

 D 3 



