356 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



Child. This child — a bird, let us say — begins well, 

 stays much at home in the early days, but plays 

 the prodigal towards the close. For some weeks 

 it remains quietly in the ^^'g ; for more weeks it 

 remains — not quite so quietly — in the nest ; and 

 for more weeks still — but with an obvious itching 

 to be off — in the neighbourhood of the nest. This, 

 nevertheless, is a good subject. It is really a 

 kind of child, and its Mother is truly a Mother. 

 The third is the Model Child — the Mammal. In 

 this child, which is only found in the high places 

 of Nature, infancy reaches its last perfection^ 

 Housed, protected, sumptuously fed, the luxurious 

 children keep to their Mother's side for months 

 and years, and only quit the parental roof when 

 their filial education is complete. 



On a casual view of the Examiner's Report on 

 these various children of Nature, the physiologist, 

 as distinguished from the educationalist, might ob- 

 ject that so far from being the subject of con- 

 gratulation it is a clear case for censure. If early 

 Nature could turn out ready-made animals in a 

 single hour, is it not a retrograde move to have to 

 take so long about it later on ? When one con- 

 trasts the free swimming embryo of a Medusa, 

 dashing out into its heroic life the moment it is 

 born, with the helpless kitten or the sightless pup, 



