42 ZOOLOGICAL SKETCHES. 



and squinted through the keyhole, but when he realized 

 the truth life ceased to be worth living : he collapsed at 

 once, and had hardly strength enough left to drag himself 

 to the stove. There he lay, bemoaning his untimely fate, 

 and stretching his legs as if the rigor mortis had already 

 overcome his lower extremities. Ten minutes later his 

 supper was brought in, and I directed the boy to leave 

 the basket behind the stove, in full sight of my guest. 

 But Pansy's eyes assumed a far-off expression : earth 

 had lost its charms : the inhumanity of man to man had 

 made him sick of this vale of tears. Meaning to try 

 him, I accompanied the boy to the staircase, and the 

 victim of my cruelty gave me a parting look of intense 

 reproach as I left the room. But, stealing back on 

 tiptoe, we managed to come upon him unawares, and 

 Pansy looked rather sheepish when we caught him in 

 the act of enjoying an excellent meal. 



Jules Michelet asserts that few women know any 

 medium between love and hatred ; but his paradox is 

 strictly true in regard to the sympathies and antipathies 

 of some of our Darwinian relatives. In a domesticated 

 ape's intercourse with strangers open hostility is gen- 

 erally the only alternative of importunate endearments. 

 The pros and cons are decided very promptly by some 

 inscrutable criterion, for his loves at first sight are by no 

 means biassed by prepossessing appearances nor even 

 by friendly overtures on the part of the biped. It may 

 be something more than caprice : a monkey may detect 



