An Introduction to a Biology 



the likenesses of sons to fathers and sons to grandfathers, 

 and of daughters to mothers, and daughters to grandmothers ; 

 and they busied themselves in this way with men, and with 

 horses and with dogs ; and then they said, " Behold we, 

 the hfe-measurers, have discovered an orderhness in this 

 marvel, and we are satisfied." But the wizard of the living 

 did not hearken. For they were trying to discover an order- 

 liness in the marvel,- in the manner in which they were wont, 

 namely, by busying themselves, not with large collections 

 of things, as the hfe-measurers do, but by finding out the 

 properties of each of the different kinds of herbs and beasts, 

 and how they are passed on from father to son. Now they 

 believed that a key which would unlock the secret of the 

 marvel had been given them by a certain priest who had 

 remained obscure for a long time ; ^ so that the wizards of 

 the living who sought to find an orderliness in the marvel 

 were called followers of the priest ; and the wizards of the 

 dead who sought the same thing were called Hfe-measurers. 

 At the time of the year when the sun is hottest and the 

 thunder rolls there was a great gathering together of wizards 

 on the banks of a narrow and sluggish river which flows 

 through a flat and swampy region of a certain island. There 

 were many dwelhngs near the river ; some were old and 

 others were new ; and in one of the new ones on a certain 

 day there gathered together the hfe-measurers and the priest- 

 followers ; and the great chief of the life-measurers was 

 there, and the great chief of the priest-followers was there, and 

 their names are too sacred to be breathed. There was also 

 there one Petiircha, who tarried in the hut of one of the 

 kindest and most jovial of the wizards ; Peturcha was young ; 

 he was not a chief, but he marvelled at the marvel. In the 

 dwelling, at the appointed time, words fell from the mouth 

 of the chief of the priest-followers which were not pleasing 

 to the hfe-measurers ; and that which the chief of the life- 

 measurers said found no favour with the priest-followers ; 



^ Mendel. 



'65 



