8 THE COMING [CH. 



strength or perseverance, with similar qualities dis- 

 played by certain animals, it was an easy transition 

 to the idea that such characteristics were derived by 

 inheritance. 



In the absence of any exact knowledge of anatomy 

 and physiology, the resemblances of animals to 

 themselves would quite outbulk the differences in 

 the eyes of primitive men, and the idea of close 

 relationship in blood does not appear to have been 

 regarded with distaste. In their origin and in their 

 destiny, no distinction was drawn between man and 

 what we now designate as the 'lower' animals. 

 Primitive man not only feels no repugnance to such 

 kinship : 



'But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, 

 His faithful dog shall bear him company 3 .' 



It should perhaps be remembered, too, that, in 

 the breeding of domestic animals, the great facts of 

 heredity and variation could not fail to have been 

 noticed, and must have given rise to reflection and 

 speculation. The selection of the best animals for 

 breeding purposes, and the consequent improvement 

 of their stock, may well have suggested the transmu- 

 tation of one kind of animal into a different kind, 

 just as the crossing of different kinds of animals 

 seems to have suggested the possible existence of 

 centaurs, griffins and other monstrous forms. 



