228 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [7:8— Nov., 191 L 



Heart of the Ancient Wood, Chap. VIII, "Red Dog" in Kipling's 

 Second Jungle Book, "Lobo" in Thompson Seton's Wild Animals 

 I Have Known. Some effective pictures to show just at this 

 point are Landseer's Deer Pass, The Combat, Thompson Seton's 

 Krag, the Kootenay Ram. Make emphatic this especial adaption 

 of the male to protect the weaker females and the unprotected 

 young. Lead the children to admire his reckless expenditure of 

 strength and even of life in so doing. The natural pugnacity of 

 the boy may be directed toward gallantry and the protection of 

 the weak. This fighting instinct that sooner or later possesses 

 every normal lad needs not repression but encouragement and 

 proper guidance. 



Lesson XI. The Sense Organs as Protectors. — The keen- 

 ness of the animal's senses plays an important part in its pro- 

 tection. That animal escapes detection whose sharp eye, quick- 

 ear, and sensitive nose give it warning. while the source of danger 

 is yet a great way off. Recall the results of the tests suggested 

 in previous lessons (Lesson VII) to determine which of these 

 common pets has the sharpest sight, the most acute smell, the 

 finest sense of hearing. 



Compare the eye of the cat with that of the other animals 

 we are studying. How does it differ from theirs? Do lions and 

 tigers have pupils of the same shape ? What other animals have 

 such slit-shaped pupils? This form of pupil permits of very 

 wide expansion and the animals that possess it are usually night 

 prowlers, seeking their prey under cover of darkness or the for- 

 est's gloom. When you shut puss down the cellar to catch a 

 mouse do you have to put a lamp there, too, so that she can 

 see it? Does a dog like to be shut in the dark? 



It is evident that these alert sense organs are important not 

 alone to give adequate warning of enemies but also to assist in 

 tracking and capturing the prey. Why is a dog used in hunting? 

 When-you play hide and go seek with your dog how does he find 

 you? Does he follow you, nose to the ground or does he just 

 run about looking for you. How does the hunter's dog find the 

 game? The acute sense of smell of the noted St. Bernard dogs 

 has saved the life of many a traveler. Tell the story of some 

 hunt where the dog's tracking power has been important. A 

 good one is to be found in the closing chapters of Chas. G. D. 

 Robert's Romance of Red Fox, in Outing for September, 1905. 



Man has largely lost his keen sense of smell because he uses 

 it so little. It is said that savages, like the American Indians, 

 when the white man first came to this country, would track their 



