290 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 
of the sky and their forms are aerial; and their 
aerial nature is not in touch with ours. For the 
mammalians we, who are also mammals and bound 
to earth, have a greater sympathy, and _ their 
beauty has for us a more enduring charm. If it 
is out of our sight and far removed from most of 
us, and growing farther year by year, we have 
only ourselves to blame. For how rich are the 
mountains and forests and desert places of the 
earth, where we sometimes go to slay Nature’s 
untamed beautiful children, assisted in our task by 
that servant and friend that is so worthy of us! 
And on the other hand, how poor are our houses 
and villages and cities! The dog is there, inherited 
from barbarous progenitors, who tamed him not 
to be a pet or friend, but to assist them in their 
quest for flesh, and for other purposes; to be a 
scavenger, as he still is in Eastern countries, or, 
as in the case of the ancient Hyrcanians, to devour 
the corpses of their dead. He is there, but his 
title is bad; why should we suffer him? We may 
wash him daily with many waters, but the jackal 
taint remains. That which Nature has made 
unclean Jet it be unclean still, for we cannot make 
it different. Her lustral water which purifies for 
ever is a secret to our chemistry. Or if not alto- 
gether a secret, if, as some imagine, the ingredients 
may be dimly guessed, they are too slow for us in 
their working. Man’s years are limited and his 
purposes change. Nature has all time for her 
processes; “the eternal years of God are hers.” 
