CHAPTER LII.
1029. _Why are there so many bodily forms in the animal creation?_
Because the various creatures which God has created have different modes of life, and the forms of their bodies will be found to present _a perfect adaptation to the lives allotted to them_.
Because, also, the beauty of creation _depends upon the variety of objects of which it consists_. And the greatness of the Creator's power is shown _by the diversity of ends accomplished by different means_.
1030. _Why are birds covered with feathers?_
Because they require a high degree of _warmth_, on account of the activity of their muscles; but in providing that warmth it was necessary that their coats should be of the _lightest material_, so as not to impair their powers of flight; and feathers combine the _highest warming power, with the least amount of weight_.
1031. _Why have ostriches small wings?_
Because, having long legs, they do not require their wings for flight; they are merely used _to steady their bodies while running_.
1032. _Why are ostrich feathers soft and downy?_
Because, as the feathers are not employed for flight, the _strength of the feather as constructed for flying is unnecessary_, and the feathers therefore consist chiefly of a soft down.
1033. _Why have water-birds feathers of a close and smooth texture?_
Because such feathers keep the body of the bird warm and dry, by repelling the water from their surface. A bird could scarcely move through the water, with the downy feathers of the ostrich, because of _the amount of water the down would absorb_.
1034. _Why is man born without a covering?_
Because _man is the only animal that can clothe itself_. As in the various pursuits of life he wanders to every part of the globe, he can adapt himself _to all climates and to any season_.
[Verse: "Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?"--JOB XXXV.]
1035. _Why do the furs of animals become thicker in the winter than in the summer?_
Because the creator has thus provided for the preservation of the warmth of the animals during the cold months of winter.
1036. _Why does a black down grow under the feathers of birds as winter approaches?_
Because the down is a non-conductor of heat, and black the warmest colour. It is therefore best adapted to _keep in_ their bodily warmth during the cold of winter.
1037. _Why has man no external appendage to his mouth?_
Because _his hands_ serve all the purposes of gathering food, and _conveying it to the mouth_. Man's mouth is simply an _opening_; in other animals it is a _projection_.
1038. _Why have dogs, and other carnivorous animals, long pointed teeth, projecting above the rest?_
Because as they have not hands to seize and controul their food, the projecting teeth enable them to _snap and hold_ the objects which they pursue for food.
1039. _Why is the under jaw of the hog, shorter and smaller than the upper one?_
Because the animal pierces the ground _with its long snout_, and then the small under jaw _works freely in the furrow_ that has been opened, in quest of food.
1040. _Why have birds hard beaks?_
Because, having no teeth, the beak enables them to _seize_, _hold_, and _divide their food_.
1041. _Why are the beaks of birds generally long and sharp?_
Because the greater number of birds live by _picking up small objects_, such as worms, insects, seeds, &c. The sharp beak, therefore, serves as a _fine pincers_, enabling them to take hold of their food conveniently.
[Verse: "As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them."--ECCLESIASTES IX.]
1042. _Why have snipes and woodcocks long tapering bills?_
Because they live upon worms which they find in the soft mud of streams and marshy places; their long bills, therefore, enable them to _dig down into the mud after their prey_.
1043. _Why have woodcocks, snipes, &c., nerves running down to the extremities of their bills?_
Because, as they dig for their prey in the soft sand and mud, they cannot see the worms upon which they live. Nerves are, therefore, distributed to the very point of their bills (where, in other birds, nerves are entirely absent) _to enable them to prehend their food_.
1044. _Why have ducks and geese square-pointed bills?_
Because they not only feed by dabbling in soft and muddy soil, but they consume a considerable quantity of green food, and their square bills enable them to _crop off the blades of grass_.
[Verse: "Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein."--PSALM LXIX.]
1045. _Why has the spoon-bill a long expanded bill, lined internally with sharp muscular points?_
Because the bird _lives by suction_, dipping its broad bill in search of aquatic worms, mollusks, insects and the roots of weeds. The bill forms _a natural spoon_, and the muscular points enable the bird to _filter the mud_, and to retain the nourishment which it finds.
1046. _Why has the spoon-bill long legs?_
Because it _wades in marshy places_ to find its food. Its legs are therefore long, for the purpose of keeping its body out of the water, and above the smaller aquatic plants, while it searches for its prey.
1047. _Why have the parrots, &c., crooked and hard bills?_
Because they live upon nuts, the stones of fruit, and hard seeds. The shape of the bill, therefore, enables them to _hold the nut or seed firmly_, and the sharp point enables them to _split or remove the husks_.
1048. _Why can a parrot move its upper as well as its lower bill?_
Because by that means it is enabled to bring the nut or seed nearer the fulcrum, or joint of the jaw. It, therefore, acquires greater power, just as with a pair of nut-crackers we obtain increased power by _setting the nut near to the joint_.
1049. _Why have animals with long necks large throats?_
Animals that graze, or feed from the ground, generally have a more powerful muscular formation of the throat than those which feed in other positions, because a greater effort is required to _force the food upward, than would be needed to convey it down_.
1050. _Why are the bones of birds hollow?_
Because they are thereby rendered _lighter_, and do not interfere with the flight of the bird _as they would do if they were solid_. Greater strength is also obtained by the _cylindrical form of the bone_, and a larger surface afforded for the _attachment of powerful muscles_.
[Verse: "And my hand hath found, as a nest, the riches of the people; and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the whip, or opened the mouth, or peeped."--ISAIAH X.]
1051. _Why do all birds lay eggs?_
Because, to bear their young in any other manner, would _encumber the body_, and materially interfere with their powers of flight.
As soon as an egg becomes large and heavy enough to be cumbersome to the bird, it is removed from the body. A shell, impervious to air, protects the germ of life within, until from two to twenty eggs have accumulated, and then, although laid at different intervals, their incubation commences together, and the young birds are hatched at the same time.