144 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



of the wild traits of tiie bovine race, and who has 

 been profoundly influenced by it. Why should 

 man, who has an almost exclusive vegetarian 

 ancestry, take such an instinctive delight in the 

 savour of roasted flesh ? This is a question 

 which our present knowledge of the history of 

 human instincts will not allow us to answer. But 

 I think, without straining our evidence unduly, 

 we can form a shrewd conjecture as to why many 

 cow-keeping and beef-eating nations have come 

 to the front ; and we shall also find that this 

 suggestion, if accepted, throws a somewhat new 

 light on certain questions which have attracted 

 the attention of the most learned writers on 

 ancient history. 



In spite of a profound conviction which has 

 been religiously adhered to in England for many 

 years — viz., that much of our working and fight- 

 ing power depends upon a liberal consumption of 

 roast-beef — I am inclined to think that the latter- 

 day use of this article of diet has but little to do 

 with national vigour. Such physical and moral 

 prowess as we may possess, if analysed in the 

 light of what we know concerning the early 

 migrations of our race (alluded to at the com- 

 mencement of this chapter), seems more due to 



