ANIMALS AND THE WEATHER 93 
We have heard a great deal of late years 
about the “ open-air ” cure as a means of 
combating and curing illness, and although 
there cannot be the slightest doubt that fresh 
air and sunshine are Nature’s greatest health- 
givers, yet, like other medicines, the doses 
must be taken with moderation and judgment, 
for what is one man’s meat is another man’s 
poison. 
Excessive heat or cold is only to be borne 
with impunity by those who have been accus¬ 
tomed to endure it, and it is absurd to 
expect an animal hailing from the tropics to 
thrive in the Arctic or Antarctic regions, or 
vice versa. It is true that they can be gradu¬ 
ally accustomed to withstand a considerable 
degree of variation in temperature, and in 
this respect nobody has achieved greater suc¬ 
cess than Mr. Karl Hagenbeck, the well-known 
importer of wild beasts, who writes: “I 
am quite convinced that it is possible to 
transplant lions to any climate whatever, pro¬ 
vided they are allowed out into the open 
during spring when they are young.” In 
former days it was always considered necessary 
to keep captive lions and tigers shut up during 
the winter months in houses warmed to a 
somewhat high temperature by means of hot- 
water pipes, but to-day it is recognized that 
