MEANS OF DEFENCE OR ESCAPE. 365 



lying at her disposal for the end and purpose of forming a new 

 species. But this must depend not only on the reaction of the 

 object or condition fought for, but also on the qualifications 

 which the individual — or the variety — brings into the contest ; 

 and it will be advisable here to examine somewhat more closely 

 the relations thus originating between different animals. 



The relations of the pursued and the pursuers. — The 

 means adopted by nature to give one form the victory over 

 another are endless in variety. Muscular strength and power- 

 ful natural weapons give the advantage in some cases ; swiftness 

 of limb, nimbleness and skill in others. Neither cunning nor 

 instinct, nay, not even really intelligent characteristics, are 

 always capable of contending successfully with antipathy or 

 sympathy; persevering inactivity or even overweening stu- 

 pidity sometimes secures a great advantage in such a contest. 

 The proverb is a familiar one, ' The gods themselves cannot 

 contend against stupidity ' — a firm belief in any dogma, be it the 

 most stupid in the world, gives it a certain power and affords its 

 adherents the confidence they need under the attacks to which 

 it is subjected. The weak or the timid will often find a protec- 

 tion in the semblance of courage which they may be able to 

 put on. In short, there is no quality of body, of mind, or of 

 instinct which may not, on occasion, prove a powerful weapon 

 of offence or of defence. The very various external weapons used 

 by animals in personal combat are familiar to every one. One 

 species uses its teeth, another its feet, or both together, like the 

 elephant ; the bird uses its bill, wings, or legs and spurs ; the 

 apparently ponderous horn on the nose of the rhinoceros is a 

 formidable weapon, and the rattlesnake has one no less danger- 

 ous at the end of its tail ; the abdominal glands of scorpions and 

 ants, or the poison glands in the mouth of venomous snakes and 

 in the maxillary glands of spiders and centipedes, the foetid oil- 

 glands of many caterpillars, of bugs and beetles, and of many 

 foetid species among the Vertebrata, are all so many weapons 

 available alike for defence or attack. Many of them — probably 

 by far the greater number — are very constant in their occurrence, 

 and in their structure, size, and form ; other characters, as those 

 known as secondary sexual characters, particularly in insects, 



