192 CHILDHOOD OF ANIMALS 



been kept on milk slops, scraps of cooked meat with gravy and 



vegetables and so forth, and are not doing well, a complete change 



to raw meat is almost miraculous in its rapid effect. The meat 



should be quite fresh, and it is better to change it, small rabbits, 



sparrows and so forth alternating with beef, mutton or horse-flesh. 



When the larger kinds of meat are given, bones with strips of flesh 



attached are the most suitable form, as although bolting food does 



them no harm, it is good that they should exercise their teeth and 



jaws. I have no doubt but that all the cats, wolves, foxes, and 



even the domestic dogs should be put on a raw meat diet as soon 



as possible, and that they do best if they are kept on it. When 



they are quite small, a meal twice or even three times a day, with 



at least six hours' interval, is advisable, but later on it should be 



reduced to two meals and finally to one meal a day. It is the 



natural instinct of these animals to growl and snarl over their 



food, and it is extremely bad for their health and temper to tease 



and disturb them while they are eating. However savage they 



may have seemed to be, if they are left in peace they will come 



to their friends immediately afterwards and sit down and wash 



their faces and paws peacefully. The chief danger with uncooked 



meat is infection from parasitic worms, which seems hardly possible 



to avoid even by the most careful selection of the food given. 



The animals should be watched carefully and their droppings 



examined daily, and when there is need they should be starved 



for twenty-four hours and then given a strong vermifuge, fed in the 



usual way for two or three days, and then the starving and 



drug repeated. 



Apes and monkeys suckle for a long time and the change to 

 ordinary food is gradual. Young monkeys have been observed 

 very little in their natural surroundings, but as the parents do not 

 seem to bring food to them, they probably have to begin by nibbling 

 rough shoots and leaves, and probably most of them take grubs 

 and insects and even young birds and eggs. In captivity they are 

 dainty creatures, and it is even more important than with children 

 not to pamper them. If they are given nothing but carefully 

 cooked cereals, white bread and cultivated fruits when they 

 first begin to eat, they will refuse rougher and more wholesome 

 food. The digestive organs of monkeys are more capacious than those 

 of man, in proportion to their size, and the greedy animals will eat 

 until they can eat no more. Their food should contain plenty 

 of " packing," that is to say, it should not be too nutritious in 



