IS NATURE CRUEL? 
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the common cabbage butterflies is a case in point. Out of every 
100 caterpillars 90 or more are doomed to a living death. 
Ichneumon flies lay their eggs in their bodies, whence issue 
numerous grubs that carefully avoid their vitals and feed upon 
their fat. At last, when the caterpillar is “ full fed,” these grubs 
bore holes in its skin and turn it into pupae. I know hardly any 
form of death to equal this. The life of an ichneumonised 
caterpillar must be miserable in the extreme. 
But it is argued that in the sense of consciously delighting in 
bloodshedding or the infliction of pain Nature is not cruel. 
It would be beyond my present purpose to enter at length 
into the large question of the degrees of consciousness of animals 
in their acts or doings. That many of their acts bear strong 
evidence of calculation or knowledge it is impossible to doubt. 
Lord Avebury has informed us that the brain of an ant is the 
most wonderful atom in the world, a statement which is fully 
carried out by the intelligence that atom shows. To suppose 
that ants who fight battles, cultivate land, capture slaves, employ 
domestic cattle, and keep pets, should do these things without 
knowing why they do them is to adopt a form of reasoning diffi- 
cult to accept, and to my mind ridiculous. The theory of blind 
instinct has had its day. It takes a low view of the wonders of 
creation, for if we hold the belief that every creature save man 
is an automaton, and that all its acts are senseless as far as its 
intelligence is concerned, and that it does not know the reason 
either for its simple or complex acts, we soon learn to despise it 
as one of the “ inferior ” animals indeed. As I have said, we 
take a low view of it. We have, however, long ago been forced 
to allow that man is not the only reasoning creature in the world, 
and that many, if not all, of the lower animals are more or less 
conscious agents. 
Most of the cat tribe are consciously cruel. They delight in 
playing with their prey. How often have I taken a wretched 
mouse from a cat and restored it dead to her to eat, thus putting 
an end to a fine bit of play in which she has evidently been 
amused. 
Foxes delight in taking life. If they find their way into 
a hen roost they kill everything right and left. Many of the 
weasel tribe have the same fondness for destroying life. 
Farmers in South Africa know what “ baboon-handled ” stock 
are. These large monkeys make raids on defenceless cattle, 
which they tear and mutilate in such an aimless manner as to 
lead to the belief they delight in causing pain and committing 
atrocities out of wanton amusement. 
Some birds, aptly called butcher birds from their cruel habits, 
impale on thorns small birds, beetles and such like. It may be 
argued that it is the butcher bird’s nature to do this and to 
delight in it, just as it is said of dogs that they “ delight to bark 
and bite for ’tis their nature to,” and because it is their nature 
that therefore they do not know why they bark and bite. Dogs, 
