42 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 



cerned, we observe evident traces of the advance, the attack, the 

 capture and the retreat. We see the votaries of this art marching in 

 single file round the room. They effect flank movements, they take 

 ambush by devious routes, they seize their adversaries, they simulate 

 a struggle, and eventually succeed in placing the captives (usually 

 fair ones) in a place of safety. Single dances like Ghillie Galium and 

 the jig may be interpreted with reference to recitals of individual 

 prowess in presence of the foe, accompanied by expressions of con- 

 tempt, and by ridicule of the enemy's valor. 



Even in our more personal and domestic habits it seems easy to 

 discover some intimate relations between ourselves and our far- 

 removed forefathers. I may refer just by mere mention to the fond- 

 ness of some for half cooked or nearly raw meat, and to the not 

 uncommon relish of others for animal food, especially fowl, in a con- 

 dition that verges on what some would call putridity, but which is 

 known to the gourmets as simply "gamey," and yet we shudder at 

 the thought of a Sioux or of a Hottentot who regales himself on the 

 decaying carcasses that fortune may throw in his way. 



Again, many of us who think we can afford to pity those of such 

 depraved taste, betray our own prehistorically acquired instincts in a 

 manner scarcely less remarkable when we exhibit a fondness for 

 rotten or rotting cheese. What a tit-bit is a lump of the rare old 

 mitey article ! And how appreciatively does the admirer of it smack 

 his lips at what he calls its " nutty flavor ! " 



If I am not in error, vegetarians declaim respecting the use of 

 flesh as food, not only because of what they declare to be its unfit- 

 ness for this purpose, but on account of the cruelty and inhumanity 

 that are involved in the necessary slaughter of the animals, which is 

 equivalent to a declaration of these people's belief that the custom 

 is a savage one, and yet one of the most highly prized vegetable 

 preparations is thought to be edible only when it is far gone towards 

 putrescence. 



It is, indeed, not improbable that from the consumption of 

 decayed, and consequently fermented vegetable substances, there 

 has arisen in so many widely sundered portions of the world the 

 desire to indulge in alcoholic intoxicants, although it is not always 

 necessary that fermentation should take place, for the desired result 

 sometimes follows from the consumption of a vegetable in its 



