His Researches on Living Reptiles 69 



a dog or a cat to scratch them, and a hyrax or 

 a hare to sleep with them, for he had to find out 

 for himself just what Darwin's * struggle for 

 existence * and * survival of the fittest * really 

 meant. Some of his experiments in this direction 

 were disastrous, for his ravenous monsters would 

 on occasion swallow up and decimate his collection 

 of frogs, toads, locusts and other lesser lizards. 

 He did succeed in proving that the mammal and 

 even the insect would again prevail over the 

 reptile, if left to work out the fight to a finish, 

 for he himself had to join battle for the reptile 

 against a plague of rats and red ants. Nor were 

 these lethargic beasts altogether unresponsive to 

 his attentions. They got to know the hand that 

 fed them, and they recognized his voice and 

 saluted him, when he went near them. In the 

 presence of strangers they might be curious, but 

 they were usually suspiciously shy and would hide 

 away in their dens or even under water. 



