THE PREY OF LAND-ANIMALS 87 



The quest for prey : II. Adaptations of land 

 animals. — On land the problem of maintenance is more 

 complex. The extent of pasture is greatly increased ; 

 plant sheddings and mould correspondingly denser. 

 The supply of vegetal life is beyond computation, 

 and if animals dominate the sea, plants characterise 

 the land. 



On the other hand, there are no hxed encrusting 

 animals — no barnacles, sponges, zoophytes or bivalves — 

 whose families can swell the drift life of air. Food 

 must be sought mainly on the ground, and has to be 

 actively gathered by movement in which the weight 

 as well as the resistance of the body has to be overcome. 

 This added strain increases the need for nourishment 

 which the pursuit of food seeks to satisfy, and as the 

 climate is no longer one of great uniformity, such as 

 that of the sea or large inland waters, the hardships 

 of heat and cold aggravate those of hunger. More- 

 over, plant-life also protects itself by thick coatings 

 against the inclement effects of drought and frost, 

 of excessive moisture and dryness. The result of this 

 is to render such food very difficult of mastication. 



How widespread this difficulty has been and still 

 remains we realise but slowly. We think with facility 

 of plants as food for animals, and we overlook the 

 fact that whilst such is the rule, exceptions meet us 

 on every hand. The abundant mosses are scarcely 

 touched by a single animal, though no form of shelter 

 is more popular than their crevices. The ferns uncoil 

 their fronds in undiminished numbers every summer, 



