Tlie Mammal. 131 



hiding-place of all, because it is itself alive, is hid- 

 den deep within the body-cavity, protected by the 

 bony framework of the body, cushioned with soft 

 muscle, and bound by ligatures of strong material. 

 In this deft house of life it is lapped in crimson 

 robes, kept warm as no other of Nature's designs 

 are warmed. It has poured upon it the best 

 heart's-blood, strong white nerves signal its every 

 want and convey to it the great floods of life out 

 of the reservoir of universal being. As the egg 

 cradles life, so the womb cradles the egg, which 

 here receives that spark without which the earth 

 would soon be lifeless ; and here it grows to that 

 day of complete and wondrous jo}', its birth. 



"So vital to nature's e.xistcnce is the womb that 

 she has caused her orators to celebrate it and say 

 that out of the Womb of Time has come Libert)-, 

 and her poets to sing of what shall come out of 

 the Womb of the Future. Out of this sheltered 

 valley spring the flowers of genius and of goodness, 

 asphodels never dying, the life of races. So lovely 

 are the ideas which naturally cluster about this 

 inner temple of the world that the heart itself 

 seems to be but a mechanical, beating instru- 

 ment, while this one cherishes, clasps, warms, and 

 nourishes." 



Thus nourished and safe, the ^g'g grows until it 

 is no longer in the egg form. 



If we could look through the shell of a bird's 

 egg there would appear the young bird emerging 



