296 EVOLUTION AND MAN S PLACE IN NATURE 



thing that appears in animal life. Considering the 

 quite guarded language employed by so high an 

 authority in natural history, I do not here deal with 

 his hypothesis that these distressing exceptional cases 

 may perhaps be reversions to a savage state/ specially 

 in view of the admission that they occur without any 

 assignable cause/ On the other hand, bad disposi 

 tions in men have no analogy with blackness of wool 

 in sheep. The example chosen, under obvious allure 

 ment of current phraseology as to black sheep/ 

 proves to be one of the least effective. Black wool 

 can count for no more than grey hair appearing early 

 in some cases, an appearance which has little organic 

 relation with mental dispositions. Grey hairs do, 

 indeed, not infrequently occur in human life, as a 

 consequence of deep and long-continued grief; but 

 this does not happen to be an assignable cause for 

 occasional appearances of black wool. 



The contrast between man and sheep thus becomes 

 suggestive of a marked difference in the conditions of 

 the two lives. So much is this recognised by all, that 

 treatment in the two cases becomes public testimony 

 for the contrast we are insisting on between animal 

 life and rational. Tested by deterioration as it appears 

 in the two cases, all animal life is placed on one side, 

 including even the animal life of man himself; all 

 rational life is placed on the other side. 



In watching over any class of animals, when atten 

 tion is directed to colour of wool or of hair, length of 

 tail, formation of the head or limbs, length of body in 

 contrast with compactness of a well-knit frame, the 

 whole range of observations is concerned with organic 

 life. They guide selection of stock, in accordance 



