FEET AND HANDS 



a good deal from the toad, and there is significance 

 in the difference. The " heavy-gaited toad," satis- 

 fied with sour ants, hard beetles, and such other 

 fare as it can easily pick up, and grown nasty in 



consequence, 

 so that no- 

 thing seeks to 

 eat it, has 

 hobbled 

 through life, 

 like a ple- 

 thoric old 

 gentleman, 

 until the 

 present day, 

 on its original 

 feet. The 

 more versatile 

 and nimble- 

 witted frog, 

 an authentic standard foot. seeking better 



diet and 

 greater security of life, went back to the element in 

 which it was bred, and, swimming much, became 

 better fitted for swimming. The soft elastic skin 

 between the fingers or toes is just the sort of tissue 

 which responds most readily to inward impulses, 

 and we find that the very same change has come 

 about in those birds and beasts which live much in 

 water. I know that this is not the accepted theory 



