II 



TOUCHES OF NATUEE 



\ 1 / HEEEVEE Nature has commisioned one crea- 

 ' ' ture to prey upon another, she has preserved 

 the balance by forewarning that other creature of 

 what she has done. Nature says to the cat, "Catch 

 the mouse," and she equips her for that purpose; 

 but on the selfsame day she says to the mouse, "Be 

 wary, — the cat is watching for you." Nature takes 

 care that none of her creatures have smooth sailing, 

 the whole voyage at least. Why has she not made 

 the mosquito noiseless and its bite itchless? Sim- 

 ply because in that case the odds would be too greatly 

 in its favor. She has taken especial pains to enable 

 the owl to fly softly and silently, because the crea- 

 tures it preys upon are small and wary, and never 

 venture far from their holes. She has not shown 

 the same caution in the case of the crow, because 

 the crow feeds on dead flesh, or on grubs and bee- 

 tles, or fruit and grain, that do not need to be ap- 

 proached stealthily. The big fish love to eat up the 

 little fish, and the little fish know it, and, on the 

 very day they are hatched, seek shallow water, and 



