Il ON ANIMAL LIFE 49 
draws out the grub, which they then divide 
between them: a very pretty illustration of 
the wife as helpmate to the husband. 
It was indeed until lately the general 
opinion that animals and plants came into 
existence just as we now see them. We took 
pleasure in their beauty; their adaptation to 
their habits and mode of life in many cases 
could not be overlooked or misunderstood. 
Nevertheless the book of Nature was like 
some missal richly illuminated, but written in 
an unknown tongue. The graceful forms of 
the letters, the beauty of the colouring, excited 
our wonder and admiration; but of the true 
meaning little was known to us; indeed we 
scarcely realised that there was any meaning 
to decipher. Now glimpses of the truth are 
gradually revealing themselves, we perceive 
that there is a reason, and in many cases we 
know what the reason is, for every difference 
in form, in size, and incolour; for every bone 
and every feather, almost for every hair.’ 
1 Lubbock, Fifty Years of Science. 
