372 ORGANIC EVOLUTION CONSIDERED 



evolved the pouch of the oppossum, the utility and 

 comfort of which we witness in our day. 



But the land became so thickly peopled with croco- 

 diles, lizards, water-dogs, frogs, duck-moles and 

 opossums, that it became extremely difficult to obtain 

 enough fat insects to serve as food. This led to vio- 

 lent contentions among these, our early ancestors, as 

 to who should have the first choice of the most tooth- 

 some bugs. Angry words soon led to war, and war, 

 as usual, resulted in bloodshed. The sight and smell 

 and taste of blood soon became familiar. Some of 

 them, having swallowed the blood of their fellow-men 

 by accident, learned that it would nourish their bod- 

 ies, and from this beginning, an appetite for flesh and 

 blood was speedily formed. From this time on, a 

 cannibal race lived and prospered at the expense of 

 their inoffensive neighbors. 



But it must be evident to the most superficial ob- 

 server, that the opossum, weighted by carrying her 

 numerous young, at first in her pouch, and, after- 

 wards on her back, was not in the best condition to 

 outstrip her competitors in the race of life. She was 

 carrying far more than the legal burden prescribed by 

 the modern race-course for an animal of her size. So 

 she explained to her infant family the necessities of 

 the case, and they, with unanimous voice, agreed to 

 remain at home and stay within doors, while she 

 fought the battles, captured her neighbors as prey, 

 and ran the race of life. 



A few generations of disuse caused the pouch and 

 the marsupial bones to disappear, and thus came into 

 existence the ferocious flesh-eating animal, our great, 

 great grandfather, who roamed through the primitive 

 Mesozoic forests, " seeking whom he might devour." 



Time moved apace. The inhabitants of the earth 

 became more and more crowded, food was more 



