THE ELK. 395 



its case, and in order to enable it to perform this evolution, the 

 tube is much wider in the middle than at the ends. 



The instinct of the parent moth enables it to discover with 

 astonishing certainty any substance which may afford food to 

 its future young. Stuffed birds suffer terribly from the moth, 

 because the arsenical soap with which the skins are preserved 

 does not extend its poisonous influence to the feathers. I 

 have known whole cases of birds to be destroyed by the moth, 

 all the feathers bemg eaten, and nothing left but the bare skins. 



Even the most deadly poison, corrosive sublimate, is not 

 effectual, unless it settles on every feather. There is now 

 before me a stuffed golden- eye duck, preserved by myself, the 

 close plumage of which has partially thrown off the poisoned 

 solution, and has consequently admitted the moth in small 

 patches of feathers, especially about the neck. There is also in 

 my collection a Kafhr shield, made of an ox-hide, which has 

 been washed with the solution, and is almost entirely secure 

 from the depredations of the moth. Yet there are one or two 

 spots where a thong has protected the hair, and in those very 

 spots the pertinacious moths have laid their eggs, and, in 

 several instances, the caterpillars have succeeded in attaining 

 their perfect state. 



The Elk, or Moose {Alces malchis)^ inhabits the northern 

 parts of America and Europe, and is, consequently, an animal 

 which is formed to endure severe cold. Although a very large 

 and powerful animal, measuring sometimes seven feet in height 

 at the shoulders— a height which is very little less than that of 

 an average elephant— it has many foes and is much persecuted 

 both by man and beast. During the summer-time it is tolerably 

 safe, but in the winter it is beset by m^ny perils. 



In its native country the snow falls so tliickly, that the 

 inhabitants of a more temperate climate can hardly imagine the 

 result of a heavy storm. The face of the earth is wholly changed 

 —well-known pits and declivities have vanished— white hills 

 stand where was formerly a level plain— tier upon tier of 

 mimic fortifications rise above each other, the walls bemg 



