THE EVOLUTION OF A MOTHER 353 



path. She did not then start making new embryos. 

 She did not even touch up the old embryos. All 

 that she did was to keep the^n hidden till they 

 grew more presentable. She left them exactly as 

 they were, only she drew a veil over them. Instead 

 of saying " Let us re-create these little things," she 

 passed the word " Let us delay them till they are 

 fair to see." And from the day that word was 

 passed, the embryos were hindered in the eggs, 

 and the eggs were hindered in the nest, and the 

 young were hindered in the body, retained in the 

 dark for weeks and months, so that when first they 

 caught the Mother's eye they were " strong and 

 of a good liking." 



Though in no case in higher Nature is the young 

 an exact reproduction of its parent, it will be 

 admitted that the likeness is very much greater 

 than among any of the lower animals. The young 

 of many birds are at least a colourable imitation 

 of their parents ; Nature's young geese are at least 

 like enough geese not to be mistaken for swans ; 

 no dog could be misled into mistaking — even apart 

 from the sense of smell — a kitten for a puppy, nor 

 would a hare ever be taken in by the young of 

 a rabbit. Among domestic animals like the sheep 

 and cow there is a culmination of adaptation in 

 this direction, the lamb and the calf when born 



