DARWINISM AND EVOLUTION. 39 



excrement from forceps to forceps down certain lines of its body 

 in order that its shell should not be soiled, and I had in captivity 

 a little newt which left all his droppings in one part of his cage. 

 Here again language comes in evidence. We continually speak 

 of " dirty " actions, or of " bad " conduct ; and both words 

 signify ordure. On the other hand, "pure " means clean. 



No doubt both classes of actions, the selection of what is 

 suitable, and the avoidance of what is foul, first as instinctive and 

 then as rational actions, depend upon the primary and universal 

 instinct of self-preservation. And across these two fair lines of 

 moral evolution all the false religions of the world have come, 

 with their artificial observances, their sham sins, and their pre- 

 tended atonements. Not, however, even this, without some 

 benefit to our race ; for even by such means as these conscience 

 has been quickened, and social forces strengthened, and a desire 

 has arisen among men to stand well with their fellows. 



But humbler creatures have a similar feeling. " A Skye-terrier 

 "of mine," says Mr. Romanes, "was only once in his life known 

 " to steal ; and on this occasion when very hungry, he took a 

 " cutlet from a table and carried it under a sofa. I saw him 

 " perform this act of larceny, but pretended not to have done so, 

 " and for a number of minutes he remained under the sofa with 

 " his feelings of hunger struggling against his feelings of duty. 

 " At last the latter triumphed, for he brought the stolen cutlet and 

 " laid it at my feet. Immediately after doing so, he again ran 

 " under the sofa, and from this retreat no coaxing could draw 

 " him. When I patted his head, he turned away his face in a 

 " ludicrously conscience-stricken manner." Thus self-conscious- 

 ness and conscience are developed out of an experience of 

 " rewards and punishments," of praise and blame, of contentment 

 and chagrin, by perfectly natural processes. 



RELIGION. 



"Dv what process has the religious sense been evolved ? 

 -*-* Early man seems to have regarded the faculty of respiration 

 as the test of life. " Spirit " means breath, and the word " animal " 

 signifies a breather. Psyche, the Greek word for soul, comes from 

 the verb " to breathe ;" and we read that Adam became a living 

 soul when he received the breath of life. A still earlier, deeper 



