. The wonder of life. Biology; Natural history; Zoology. THE WAYS OF LIFE 231 state ; one limb may be cut off after another, and it gives not the shghtest reaction. As Darwin noted, the attitude is often not at all hke the death-attitude. The phenomenon may be exhibited by a decapitated insect. There seems reason, then, to agree with Bohn that in Crustaceans and Insects the so-called death- feigning is an exaggeration of the ' differential sensitiveness ' of simpler animals. In the water-insect known as the water-scorpion {Rana- tra), there is a marked ' death- feigning ', but it is exhibited
. The wonder of life. Biology; Natural history; Zoology. THE WAYS OF LIFE 231 state ; one limb may be cut off after another, and it gives not the shghtest reaction. As Darwin noted, the attitude is often not at all hke the death-attitude. The phenomenon may be exhibited by a decapitated insect. There seems reason, then, to agree with Bohn that in Crustaceans and Insects the so-called death- feigning is an exaggeration of the ' differential sensitiveness ' of simpler animals. In the water-insect known as the water-scorpion {Rana- tra), there is a marked ' death- feigning ', but it is exhibited only in the air, which the American species, at any rate, rarely visits. It is so pro- nounced, both in young and adult forms, that the creature can be cut in two without any response, but it is diffi- cult to see that it can be of any value. Mr. S. J. Holmes writes:—. Fia. 43.—An insect—Carassius —standing on its head in the ' cataleptic' or ' death-feigning ' state. A little less than natural size. (After Schmidt.) ' One is strongly incHned to believe that the death-feint, which is manifested oidy when the insect is in the air, is rather an incidental result of certain physiological pecuharities of the organism than an instinct which has been built up by Natural Selection for the benefit of the species'. ' Bluffing'.—Every one knows how the cat that is chased by an impudent dog suddenly turns and ' stands. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Thompson, John Arthur, Sir, 1861-1933. London, A. Melrose, Ltd
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booksubjectzoology
