. Natural history object lessons : a manual for teachers. rther depression of thetail, and the dog slouches away with its tail between itslegs. The cat, in anger, lashes her tail from side to side;but when she runs to meet her mistress, or to take her food,her tail is held quite stifi and perpendicularly upwards. The cow and the horse have but a scant covering of hairon their skins, and they are consequently liable to attackfrom insects which pierce the skin and suck the blood, sonature provides these animals with long tails which act as fly-flippers. The great ant-bear makes neither nest nor
. Natural history object lessons : a manual for teachers. rther depression of thetail, and the dog slouches away with its tail between itslegs. The cat, in anger, lashes her tail from side to side;but when she runs to meet her mistress, or to take her food,her tail is held quite stifi and perpendicularly upwards. The cow and the horse have but a scant covering of hairon their skins, and they are consequently liable to attackfrom insects which pierce the skin and suck the blood, sonature provides these animals with long tails which act as fly-flippers. The great ant-bear makes neither nest nor burrow, itsample tail serving as its sole protection against the incle-mency of the weather. He is slothful and solitary, andthe greater part of his life is spent in sleeping. Whenabout to sleep he lies on one side, conceals his long snout inthe fur of his breast, locks the fore and hind claws into one ANIMALS AND THEIK USES. 169 another so as to cover the head and belly, and turns his longbushy tail over the body, covering the whole as with Fig. 115.—Kangaroo Eat. The kangaroo uses its tail as a fifth leg. When restingand feeding it supports itself on its hind legs and its tail. The jerboa-kangaroo has a prehensile tail, and makes useof it in collecting grasses with which it constructs its nest. As may be easily imagined the appearance of this kangaroo 170 NATURAL HISTORY OBJECT LESSONS. when leaping towards its nest, with its tail loaded withgrasses, is exceedingly grotesque and amusing. All the vertebrate animals which spend the whole of theirlives in the water, as well as some others which spend aportion of their time on land, use their tails as sculls andrudders ; sculls for propelling the body forward, just as aboatman propels his boat by a single oar worked from thestern of his boat; and rudders to turn the body so that itmay move in any required direction. On land the crocodileuses its tail as a weapon of destruction. It stupifies itsvictim with a blow fr
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