THE ELIC. 
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its case, and in order to enable it to perform this evolution, the 
tube is much wider in the middle than at the ends. 
The instinct of the parent moth enables it to discover with 
astonishing certainty any substance which may afford food to 
its future young. Stuffed birds suffer terribly from the moth, 
because the arsenical soap with which the skins are preserved 
does not extend its poisonous influence to the feathers. I 
have known whole cases of birds to be destroyed by the moth, 
all the feathers being eaten, and nothing left but the bare skins. 
Even the most deadly poison, corrosive sublimate, is not 
effectual, unless it settles on every feather. There is now 
before me a stuffed golden-eye duck, preserved by myself, the 
close plumage of which has partially thrown off the poisoned 
solution, and has consequently admitted the moth in small 
patches of feathers, especially about the neck. There is also in 
my collection a Kaffir shield, made of an ox-hide, which has 
been washed with the solution, and is almost entirely secure 
from the depredations of the moth. Yet there are one or two 
spots where a thong has protected the hair, and in those very 
spots the pertinacious moths have laid their eggs, and, in 
several instances, the caterpillars have succeeded in attaining 
their perfect state. 
The Elk, or Moose ( Alces male his), inhabits the northern 
parts of America and Europe, and is, consequently, an animal 
which is formed to endure severe cold. Although a very large 
and powerful animal, measuring sometimes seven feet in height 
at the shoulders — a height which is very little less than that of 
an average elephant — it has many foes and is much persecuted 
both by man and beast. During the summer-time it is tolerably 
safe, but in the winter it is beset by many perils. 
In its native country the snow falls so thickly, that the 
inhabitants of a more temperate climate can hardly imagine the 
result of a heavy storm. The face of the earth is wholly changed 
— well-known pits and declivities have vanished — white hills 
stand where was formerly a level plain — tier upon tier of 
mimic fortifications rise above each other, the walls being 
