318 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLA Y 



we may call Relapsed Man. The Relapsed Man 

 that is, the man who has run wild after civilisation 

 is a wholly different creature from Wild or Feral 

 Man, who has never been tamed ; and in his degenera- 

 tion seems by a sudden fall to reach a point far 

 lower, physically and mentally, than the Fuegians or 

 the Digger Indians. As for the animals, there are 

 very few of the more intelligent kinds, which, whether 

 in work, play, or general well - being, could not 

 'give points* to Relapsed Man. Wherefore the 

 writer introduces him by way of contrast, the more 

 as Mr Rudyard Kipling's wolf boy ' Mowzli ' is so 

 charming a boy that if he is allowed to be taken as 

 a type of all c wild boys/ we shall soon have someone 

 trying the experiment of producing them by leaving 

 them in the woods as Mr Weller, senior, did Sam 

 in the London streets. Unfortunately or fortunately, 

 as the reader chooses Relapsed Man can seldom be 

 studied with the care he deserves, because he is a 

 scarce and accidental product of unpleasant conditions. 

 War, famine, pestilence, and wolves are the most 

 favourable means for producing him, and an overbear- 

 ing civilisation has made these conditions scarce. 

 But there exists a body of authoritative evidence 

 on the subject with which we may compare the case 

 we have quoted, more particularly with reference to 

 the statement that he was a wild boy, not a wild man ; 



