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or flittermouse, that flits from his evil-smelling 

 cranny, in appearance a misshapen insect of un- 

 usual size to pursue his crooked, broken-boned, 

 squeaky flight in the obscurity of evening. 



Imagine the effect of this modern rearrange- 

 ment of the mammals on the mammals if they 

 knew! The white bull of Ghillingham would shake 

 his frowning front and the stag his branching 

 antlers in scorn; the wolf, in spite of being extinct, 

 would howl; the British seal bark; the wild cat 

 snarl, and the badger make free use of his most 

 underground expressions of rage at such an insult; 

 rabbit and hare would exchange looks of astonish- 

 ment and apprehension; the hedgehog would roll 

 himself into a ball with disgust; the mole sink 

 back into his run; the fox smile sardonically; and 

 the whole concourse, turning their backs on the 

 contemptible leader thrust on them, would march 

 off in the opposite direction. 



Now the imaginary case of these beasts offended 

 in their dignity fairly represents that of humanity 

 angry at the intolerable insult implied in the 

 Darwinian notion. But we have now so far out- 

 grown that feeling that it is no longer an offence 

 for the zoologist to tell us not only that we are 

 related to the lemur with its luminous opalescent 

 or topaz eyes, that are like the eyes of angels and 

 are instinct with a mysterious intelligence when 

 they look at us with a strange friendliness in them 

 as if they knew what we, after thousands of years of 

 thinking, have only just found out not only that 



