UNNATURAL NATURAL HISTORY 63 
heavily. Yet another fallacy is that the 
cuckoo sucks birds’ eggs to keep its voice 
clear, while many country people declare 
that the mole can live for a considerable 
time without breathing, thereby enabling it 
to survive when floods invade its under¬ 
ground domicile. Possibly, however, these 
people have overlooked the fact that the 
creature is able to swim, so that there would 
be no need for it to exercise its reputed 
powers. 
The tench has been the subject for many 
fishy stories, for not only was it supposed to 
be immune against all kinds of diseases, but 
it was also regarded as possessing the power 
to heal the maladies of other fish, as well as 
those of human beings, by rubbing its slime- 
covered body against the sufferers. This 
story, however, is outrivalled by the statement 
that swifts hibernated under water during 
the winter months. 
Many people are under the impression that 
monkeys are usually infested with fleas, but 
as a matter of fact they are quite innocent 
of harbouring vermin unless confined in dirty 
quarters. Their energetic toilet, that in¬ 
variably gives rise to much merriment in the 
beholder, is not undertaken for the purpose of 
ridding their coats of fleas, but in order to 
