302 THE ETHICAL KINSHIP 



belong. They are filled with nerves, and brains, 

 and bloodvessels ; they love life, and bleed, and 

 struggle, and cry out when their veins are opened, 

 just as human beings do ; they have the same 

 general form and structure of body, their bodies are 

 composed of the same organs busied with the 

 same functions ; and they are descended from the 

 same ancestors and have been developed in the 

 same world through the operation of the same great 

 laws as we ourselves have. But all of these things, 

 and dozens of others just as significant, are dis- 

 regarded by us in our hard-hearted determination 

 to exploit them. We have a set of words and 

 phrases which we use in speaking of ourselves, 

 and another very different set for other beings. 

 The very same things are called by different 

 names with wholly different connotations depend- 

 ing on whether it is a man that is referred to or 

 some other being. It is ' murder ' to take the life 

 of a human being, but to take the life of a sheep 

 or a cow is only ' knocking it on the head.' A man 

 may murder squirrels or birds all day that is, he 

 may do that which when done to human beings is 

 called murder but it is only 'sport' when done to 

 these humble inhabitants of the wilds. The dead 

 body of a man is a ' corpse ' ; the dead body of a 

 quadruped is only a ' carcass.' A race of horses 

 or dogs is a ' breed ' ; but a breed of men and 

 women is always respectfully referred to as a race. 

 We perpetuate our blindness by the use of words. 

 We accommodate our consciences by inventing 

 ways of looking at things that will bring out our 



