28 love's meinie. 



but which it is not my business to teach you. Only 

 observe, this is the point to be made out. You leap 

 yourselves, with the toe and ball of the foot; but, 

 in that power of leaping, you lose the faculty of 

 grasp; on the contrary, with your hands, you grasp 

 as a bird with its feet. But you cannot hop on 

 your hands. A cat, a leopard, and a monkey, leap 

 or grasp with equal ease; but the action of their 

 paws in leaping is, I imagine, from the fleshy ball 

 of the foot ; while in the bird, characteristically 

 rya/jiylrMvv^, this fleshy ball is reduced to a boss or 

 series of bosses, and the nails are elongated into 

 sickles or horns ; nor does the springing power seem 

 to depend on the development of the bosses. They 

 are far more developed in an eagle than a robin ; but 

 you know how unpardonably and preposterously 

 awkward an eagle is when he hops. When they 

 are most of all developed, the bird walks, runs, and 

 digs well, but leaps badly. 



27. I have no time to speak of the various forms 

 of the ancle itself, or of the scales of armour, more 

 apparent than real, by which the foot and ankle are 

 protected. The use of this lecture is not either to 

 describe or to exhibit these varieties to you, but so 

 to awaken your attention to the real points of cha- 

 racter, that, when you have a bird's foot to draw, 

 you may do so with intelligence and pleasure. 



