— PREFACE 



Q The Universal Kinship means the kinship of all 



/t^ the inhabitants of the planet Earth. Whether 



T^ they came into existence among the waters or 



among desert sands, in a hole in the earth, in the 



hollow of a tree, or in a palace ; whether they 



build nests or empires ; whether they swim, fly, 



crawl, or ambulate ; and whether they realise it 



or not, they are all related, physically, mentally, 



_ morally — this is the thesis of this book. But 



since man is the most gifted and influential of 



animals, and since his relationship with other 



-^v animals is more important and more reluctantly 



*-^. recognised than any other, the chief purpose of 



^ these pages is to prove and interpret the kinship 



,^, of the human species with the other species of 



s:' animals. 



The thesis of this book comes pretty squarely 



in conflict with widely-practised and highly-prized 



sins. It will therefore be generally criticised 



vj^where it is not passed by in silence. Men as a 



t'^rule do not care to improve. Although they have 



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