The idea of the big ones swallowing up the little ones, or the idea of
the trusts, is not by any means confined to land, as we may see from
reading the following:
As the sea covers three-fifths of the surface of the globe,
its fauna is similarly greater than the living forms on land.
When a naturalist inspects a little pool not larger than a
billiard-table which is filled by the splashing waves of the
Mediterranean, he finds it teeming with more varied and busy
forms of life than can be found in a square mile of ordinary
land. But in all that living marine world there is not a trace
of goodness! All fishes are murderers and cannibals, and as in
fresh water big trout relish eating small trout, so, in the
wider waters of the ocean, wo to the small fry when a larger
father or brother catches sight of them!
Science has boldly penetrated these dark, still abysses
and finds that they abound with life. But such life! Many
of the abysmal forms have large, movable jaws with rows of
teeth all pointing backward, making escape impossible when
once any creature is caught by them. The scientists of the
_Challenger_ were once puzzled to make out what a thing
was which came up in their trawl, until it proved to be a fish
caught by a smaller fish who was swallowed by its larger brother
by gradually pulling itself glove fashion over its victim by
means of barbed teeth--somewhat like a child being slowly
swallowed alive by a large expanding toad. In those black depths
some forms have phosphorescent lights not unlike burglars’
dark-lanterns, with which to hunt their prey.
Only among those animals which originally used to tread the
solid earth and then took to the sea, like the whale, seal, and
walrus, is there any sign of any falling off in all-devouring
selfishness; these are mammals, and hence show affection
for their young. But they live where they have to encounter
the hideous swordfish, or their own relative who has been
transformed into the cruel grampus, and so must fight for
life.--W. HANNA THOMSON, M.D., _Everybody’s_.
(3078)
=Strongest Quality Cultivated=--See ADVANTAGE, WORKING
TO THE BEST.