FEET AND THE BRAIN 7 



cattle keep only two toes for practical purposes, 

 though stumps of two more remain. Finally, the 

 horse gathers all its foot into one boot, and becomes 

 the champion runner of the world. 



It is not without significance that this degeneracy 

 of the feet goes with a decline in the brain, whether 

 as cause or effect I will not pretend to know. These 

 hoofed beasts have shallow natures and live shallow 

 lives. They eat what is spread by Nature before 

 their noses, have no homes, and do nothing but feed 

 and fight with each other. The elephant is a notable 

 exception, but then the nose of the elephant, be- 

 coming a hand, has redeemed its mind. As for the 

 horse, whatever its admirers may say, it is just a 

 great ass. There is a lesson in all this : " from him 

 that hath not shall be taken even that which he 

 hath." 



There is another dull beast which, from the point 

 of view of the mere systematist, seems as far removed 

 from those that wear hoofs as it could be, but the 

 philosopher, considering the point at which it has 

 arrived, rather than the route by which it got there, 

 will class it with them, for its idea of life is just theirs 

 turned topsy-turvy. The nails of the sloth, instead 

 of being hammered into hoofs on the hard ground, 

 have grown long and curved, like those of a caged 

 bird, and become hooks by which it can hang, with- 

 out effort, in the midst of the leaves on which it 

 feeds. A minimum of intellect is required for such 

 an existence, and the sloth has lost any superfluous 

 5 



