Merycism Regarded in the Light of Atavic Tendency. 533 
ing Blanchard, says, ‘‘that the habit of rumination was acquired 
by certain animals at the time that the carnivora appeared upon 
the earth. Fearful of attack, the ruminants grazed rapidly, 
ready for flight at the first intimation of danger. Then, 
having reached a place of safety, their food was regurgitated 
und masticated thoroughly. A similar condition is obtaining 
in man, he asserts, in this age of hurry; and unless we learn 
to be more deliberate in our eating, and to masticate our food 
in the first instance more carefully, the necessities of digestion 
will compel a regurgitation and rechewing of the food, which 
has been so imperfectly prepared for the action upon it of the 
gastric and intestinal secretions, and in time this process 
which is now exceptional in man, will become habitual.’’ 
This is not fanciful in the light of the science of evolution. 
While we are busily working in our laboratories over flasks 
and test tubes, pressing into service all the innumerable devices 
of human ingenuity, with a view of revealing some truth, we 
should never grow oblivious to the work that is being done in 
the great universal laboratory where in accordance with the 
eternal laws of nature changes are wrought unceasingly, un- 
remittingly. These changes are effected by a slow gradual 
process, the actual workings of which remain ever impercep-— 
tible to us. Our intellect is capable of grasping their enor- 
mity only in the retrospect. But, if on the highroad of our 
natural lives, we meet with a phenomenon that appears to be 
replete with incongruity with its surroundings, and to defy 
our attempts at explanation, made in accordance with our 
limited experiences, do not let us dismiss its consideration 
lightly! It may easily be one of those sudden flashes 
by which nature reveals her cosmic work from 
time to time. It will not do to refuse such thoughts 
entrance into the routine of our daily labors. If we 
disdain to apply the grand lessons taught by the science of 
biological evolution, we shall continue to dwell in utter dark- 
ness with regard to many vital phenomena. The laws of 
evolution, though all of their mysteries have not been and 
may never be unraveled, have been long ago cleared of the 
odium of idle speculation; they are as much of an incon- 
trovertible fact as the law of gravitation. 
