294 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



him to avoid the far-reaching consequences of 

 a primordial vendetta. Although possibly be- 

 fore he took to ter7^a firma he was not wholly 

 clear of all bloodguiltiness, if in his habits he 

 at all resembled the gibbons and chimpanzees 

 — which are not averse to animal food when it 

 comes in their way — he never made a custom of 

 preying upon his weaker fellow-creatures. Hence 

 neither his appearance nor his natural odour 

 arouses in animals which are unacquainted with 

 his later habits instinctive feelings of hatred or 

 fear as do the appearance and odour of many 

 carnivores and reptiles. The young kitten does 

 not explode when it smells him, nor does the 

 anxious ewe stamp and lower her head when he 

 approaches her precious lamb. No doubt his 

 clean vegetarian record during the time when 

 most instincts were in process of manufacture 

 has been of great assistance to him in acting 

 the part of peacemaker or arbiter among the 

 heterogeneous and hostile elements gathered 

 together in the farmyard. 



The authority which man so readily estab- 

 lishes over the lower animals seems largely 

 attributable to a curious readiness to acknow- 

 ledge superior mental gifts which we find very 



