2 MAMMALIAN DESCENT. [Lect. I. 



It is worthy of remark that this keeper of the 

 mammals — himself a mammal — is, in size, a good 

 practical mean between the extremes. On one hand we 

 have " the smallest monstrous Mouse that creeps on 

 floor," and on the other the unwieldy Whale — large as 

 an island. 



Taking the class as a whole, as to intelligence, we 

 have " the extremity of both ends " — Man at one end, 

 and the frog-witted Duckhill at the other. 



The mammalian class is, indeed, a most motley 

 assemblage, whether we consider their form, their size, 

 or their intelligence, for the wars of time have sadly 

 thinned the ranks of regiment after resjiment. Nor is 

 the Darwinian in fault, if, when the roll-call is made, so 

 few are found to respond to it. 



Let those who clamour for connecting-links lay this 

 to heart : myriads upon myriads of mammals have 

 perished in the struggle of life ; time has buried them. 

 "Time, that old clock-setter, that bald sexton, time," 

 has much to answer for ; he has not only thrown the 

 mould over the links of the chain of t}^)es, 1)ut — to 

 change the image — he has buried thousands of complete 

 family trees, and the geological miner has only unearthed 

 a broken twig here and there. 



He is in a low state of mental development who is 

 unaware of the extreme antiquity of the planet on which 

 we dwell ; and it is a far cry backwards, to the time 

 when the young of four-footed beasts j^r,9i tasted milk. 



