THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Volume 01, Issue 2123, 1 November 1894, Page 52

THE NATURALIST.

Doctoring; Wild Animals.

Because wild animals when in captivity are deprived of exaroisa there are, says Mr Barnet Phillip*, many mishaps. Under the best conditions monkey mortality is very large. Monkeys usually die from what is believed to be consumption, but it is the want of exercise, whicti brings on various complaints.

The claws of lions and tigers when they live in cages grow to an extraordinary leng'b, and these claws require constant vratobing and clipping, and the manicure or pedicure bu*iDe?B is rather troublesome. Siior.gcutting pincers like those uaed for severing tehg-aph wires are u;e<3. lc eocaetiuiea hapf en that a new arrival, pay a tiger, has to be iutroauced to other tigers*, because thrco cr four tigers in one | den, if it is large enough, get along better ! than when they arc separated, for they eeem to erijv/y each other's company. Whon such an introduction takes plaoe, then the claws of all the old occupants of the cage are clipped short, and for this reason : There is certain to be a row, but the new animal, having long claws left him, can out-* cratch the others. Just as soon as he has settled the business, the whole party become friends.

Carnivorous animals suffer at times from toothache, and they show it. No one is likely to be very amiable with a jumping back tooth, and we are cot to expect a lion with an ulcerated jaw to show much sweetness of temper. Lately there was a lion who in feeding forced a sp'.iater of bono between his back fangs. The bit of bone could not be moved witb a toothpick. It was getting -to be a very serious matter. The lion was tied up eecurely, a chisel and mallet were used, and the wedgo of bone was driven out.

The former superintendent; of the Central Park zoological collection in New York had to uct as dentist for many iions and tigera. Tho risk of chloroforming the animals was considered too great. The big brutes were strapped down, and the forceps were used. The last case wan that of the largest tiger, who had a bad tooth. It took a dozen men with ropes, pulleys, and a windlass to tackle him, and an uncommonly strong man extracted the fang. In a week tho tiger was quite well. Did he exhibit any gratitude ? Not a bit. Maybe I ought to feel very kindly towards my dentist, but I am sorry to cay I do not.

The giraffe when in captivity has hoofs which grow out of all proportion. I have been told by a great African hunter that in following giraffe?, and noticing their peculiar rocking gallop, they wore their hoots down very close. The ancients had a belief that all animals knew how to cure themselves when they were ill or suffering. You will find in the books that when the mongoose, the cobra killer, is bitten, he is said to make a rush for a certain kind of herb, which is an antidote for cobra poison. The best modern authorities deolare this to be all nonsense. The mongoose is too quick for the cobra, and is probably never bitten.

Young elephants are prove to inflammation at the base of their tasks, and sometimes have trouble with their grinding teeth. It is by no means ea6y to play nurse to a 6ick elephant. lam sorry to say that lam one of those who place no confidence in an elephant. Endowed with amazing intelligence, he is utterly deficient of amiability. An animal may be very clever and exceedingly treacherous, and that is my idea about the general run of elephants. I even advise those of you who may go to look at the b?g brute never to go too near him unless his keeper is present. To chloroform an elephant is an Impossible task. Some time ago a young elephant, 9 years old, broke one of his tusks, and bad the biggest kind of a toothache. lodoforffl was used, and gradually the pain oeaeed. there was, however, a big hole whioh bad to be Stopped. Now, to have plugged tbat cavity with gold would have Cost a small fortnne.. The elephant dentist made & solid cartridge outpi pure tin, smeared it over with mastic, and wjth the rap of i hammer drove \t home ; and so. tbore e,xistß to-day a livety iyonng elephant witb a plugged tusk, -

Col&storage Bats and Cats, The Pitttfrntg Dl»|>atoh tiayd jbat In tb§ col4-?tprag© warebouseß In that City theH mts j^> tats or mlc«, The tflmpetatttife to the cold rooms was too low. yht keep«^ fioon touna, howereh thai the rat is an krAm&l of r«marVab^Q ftdaptabllitf, After pome of these honses had been in operatloh for $, few moritbis, the attendants found that rats were &t work in the jrbomp wheys tba temperature waa oonßtiantly feepti mob the freeing tao!nt» tihef vr6re fqtmd to be clothed In wonderfully Jong and tblck fur, even Jbetr tapering, raake-lifee tel]s being oovered by a thick growth ot half, Ratu whose coats have adapted tbetoselvea to the conditions \inder which they live have domesticated themehet tn pU eto^rago wawboufiea Jn Pittsburgh Tbd prevalence of tats In these places led to $he Introduction of cats. Now, l% ifi wep knov^n passj" t« | lover ,oi ptxa poififor& Catp. too, K&i A &m adaptability to coDditionß.

rooms they pined and died because of the excessive cold. One cat was finally introduced icto the rooms of the Pennsylvania Storage Company whioh was able to withstand the low temperature. She was a oat of nuusually thick fur, and she thrived and grew fat in quarters where the temperature was below 30<ltg. By careful nursing a brood of seven kittens was developed in this | warehonse into sturdy, thick-furred oats that love an Icelandic clime. They have been distributed among the other cold-storage bouses of Pittsburg, and have created a pooul'ar breed of cats, adapted to the conditions under whioh they mußt exitt to find their prey. Tbeso cats are short-tailed, chubby pussies, with hair as thick and full of under-fur as the wild cats of the Canadian woods. One of the remarkable things about them is the development of their " feelors." These long* stiff hairs that protrude from a cat's nose and eyebrows are, in the ordinary domestic feline, about 3in long. In the cats cultivated in the cold warehouses the " feelew " grow to a length of sin and Cm. This is probably because the light ia dim in the* e places, and all movements must be the result of the feeling sense. The storage people say that if one of these furry oats is taken into the open air, particularly during this hot spell, it will dio in a few hours. It cannot endure a high temperature, and an introduction to a atovo would send it into a fit.