s climate, then, make so great a difference?" said William.

"Of course it does, not only with animals, but with trees, plants, and
even man, until he is accustomed to the change. With respect to
animals, there are some which can bear the different varieties of
climate, and even change of food. The horse, for instance, although
originally indigenous to Arabia, lives as well in the Temperate, and
even in the Frigid Zones it may be said, for they endure the hard
winters of Russia and North America; so will domestic cattle, such as
cows, sheep, pigs, etcetera. It is a curious fact that, during the
winter in Canada, a large proportion of the food of cattle consists of
_fish_."

"Fish, papa! Cows eat fish?"

"Yes, my dear boy, such is the fact. It is a remarkable instance of a
graminivorous or grass-eating animal being changed for a time into a
flesh-eating, or rather into fish-eating animal. But there are other
animals which can live under any temperature, as the wolf, the fox, the
hare, and rabbit. It is a curious provision,--that the sheep and goats
in the hottest climates throw off their warm covering of wool, and
retain little better than hair; while, removed to a cold climate, they
recover their warm covering immediately."

"But a goat has no wool, papa."

"What are Cashmere shawls made of, William?"

"Very true, papa."

"Most animals have a certain increase of covering as they recede further
from the warm climates to the cold ones. Wolves and foxes, hares and
rabbits, change the colour of their skins to white when they get far
north. The little English stoat, which is destroyed by the gamekeepers,
becomes the beautiful snow-white ermine in Russia and other cold
countries."

"Well, papa, I think it a great advantage to man, and a proof of the
Almighty's care of him and kindness to him, in permitting all the
animals most useful to him to be able to live in any country; but I
don't know whether I am wrong in saying so, papa: I cannot see why an
animal like the wolf should not have been kept to his own climate, like
the lion and tiger, and other ferocious animals."

"You have started a question, William, which I am glad you have done,
rather than it should have remained on your mind, and have puzzled you.
It is true that the shepherd might agree with you, that the wolf is a
nuisance; equally true that the husbandman may exclaim, What is the good
of thistles, and the various weeds which choke the soil?