158 Nature's Scavengers. [April, 
now pending between the old and the new schools of Natural 
History. 
We will at once begin by examining what living agencies 
exist for the removal of carrion, excrement, and other putrid 
or putrescent matters on land. Among the Mammalia we 
find no inconsiderable number of species which feed upon 
decomposing animal matter. The Felidae certainly prefer 
living prey, but in case of need even the lion of Algeria will 
compromise the dignity with which he has been invested by 
closet-naturalists by devouring putrid carcases, and the very 
immondices which generally accumulate outside the walls 
of a town. The true panther (Felis pardus), also, in case of 
need, preys upon carrion, and will even dig up and devour 
dead bodies. The Bengal tiger is said to eat the dung of the 
rhinoceros. But the genuine carrion-eaters are the Canidas 
—-the jackal, the wolf, and the domestic dog. These ani- 
mals appear to like their food tainted ; they will roll them- 
selves upon a putrid carcase, and even when well fed they 
will greedily devour human excrement. No species or 
variety is more given to this loathsome diet than the King 
Charles spaniel. But when such substances are eaten by 
any animal we have to ask whether the nuisance is really 
overcome, or merely altered in its form ? The latter view 
is much more consonant with truth. The secretions and 
excretions of a carrion-feeder are in quality little better 
than the refuse eaten. A certain quantity is, indeed, con- 
sumed in the body of the filth-devourer, and makes its re- 
appearance in the shape of inorganic compounds, such as 
carbonic acid, watery vapour, and ammonia. But all that 
is given off in complex organic combinations is noisome in 
the extreme, and rapidly passes into a state of energetic 
putrefaction. The disgusting odour of the wolf, the hyaena, 
the vulture, and even of the domestic dog when stretched 
out before a cheerful fire, cannot escape recognition. These 
creatures, therefore, occupy an intermediate rank. As sca- 
vengers they are often useful, but not perfect. They do not 
propagate and increase nuisance, but neither do they entirely 
suppress it when thrown in their way. 
There is, however, one instance, at least, of perfect sca- 
venging among beasts of prey. We refer to the habit of 
the domestic cat in scraping earth over her excrements. 
This custom does not extend to the whole even of the 
Felidae, but it re-appears in a rudimentary — or perhaps obso- 
lescent — form in the dog, who generally gives two or three 
random scrapes or kicks with his hind legs on such occasions 
• — a ceremony which, as now performed, can be of no use 
either to the animal himself or to any other creature. 
