The Puma 289 



as far from reality as the vapors that floated above 

 him were far from being the substantial masses they 

 seemed. Such writings, eloquent and interesting as they 

 often are, do a positive disservice to science. Think, he 

 did : that was to be seen in the eye that softened or grew 

 stern ; in its far-away or introverted expression, or quick 

 scrutinizing glance ; in the smoothed or corrugated brow, 

 the quivering, contracted, or placid lips ; in attitudes in- 

 definably expressive, and variations of his ensemble that 

 cannot be described. 



How should human insight penetrate this underworld 

 of the intellect ? All things definite there were transmi- 

 grations of his own experiences under the stress of hered- 

 ity. What was emotional, unformed, and yet operative, 

 was the bequest of a wild and free ancestry that sent down 

 their tendencies and traits, gave him his organization, and, 

 with a certainty as inevitable as death, stamped everything 

 that he could think or feel with their "own form and im- 

 press." His ideas were reproductions; his emotions rose 

 into consciousness from unknown depths. The latter set 

 him upon the verge of what his predecessors realized, 

 vaguely revealed their past, prompted those unrecognizable 

 half-memories that are born with every being, prepared 

 him for possibilities from which captivity cut him off, 

 stirred his heart, and made life and the earth all that they 

 were or could be to him. 



Varying phases of mind as outwardly evinced, mani- 

 fested themselves clearly in Gato's behavior and in his 

 changes of temper. Those serene meditations which had 

 sway during beautiful days, and in the calm of tropical 



