1879*] an d Ultimate Conceptions. 665 
produce a new Bridgewater Treatise having for its theme the 
mosquito, the chigo, the Lucilia hominivora } the trichina : 
but they have prudently held back. 
Bell is quoted as saying that “ Canine teeth accompany 
a carnivorous appetite and boldness of disposition ; bold- 
ness, fierceness, and cunning accompany retractile claws 
and sharp teeth.” The truth is, however, that canine teeth 
are splendidly developed in the non-carnivorous gorilla, and 
are absent in the bold and aggressive buffalo ; whilst in 
“ boldness, fierceness, and cunning ” the Canidse and the 
Ursidse, which have not retractile claws, do not fall short of 
the cats. Galen is incorreCt if he says that the eaglet will 
attempt to fly when first freed from the egg-shell ; it will sit 
helplessly waiting to be fed. 
But space will certainly not permit us to enter upon the 
minute discussion of Mr. Billing’s biological views, which 
to the present writer, as an old naturalist, seem the weakest 
part of an otherwise most valuable and interesting work. 
The author not merely admits the high antiquity of the 
human race, but suggests the possibility of a high civilisa- 
tion having been attained in times of which no written 
record has survived. “ It is possible,” he says, “ Suleiman 
and the pre-Adamite kings, with their attendant genii, were 
traditional allegories of knowledge and power, and it may 
be the dwellers on the earth had compassed a knowledge 
thousands and thousands of years before the so-called his- 
torical era, and far exceeding that pourtrayed or which 
science conceives.” All this may be, but we can at present 
merely guess, and not prove. 
Two passages seem to us to convey a grave and needed 
warning. “ A nation actuated alone by moral law, with 
conscience as a regulator or administrator, could not exist 
beside other nations impulsed by a lower ideal, because it 
would be the prey of instinctive rapacity.” 
The following reflection may be taken to heart by us all : 
— “ So enslaved is the general mind by the authorities of 
the time that it is assumed to be treason to doubt the dicta 
of the leaders of the day, talk what or how they may — * 
absurdities become logic ; sensationalisms, eloquence ; sui- 
cidal fanaticism, patriotism ; and prose run mad, poetry ; 
all because at some time in their era they have earned a 
name for some themes logically reasoned , for some experiments 
successfully conducted , for some political conduct ably directed , 
and for some poems admirable and artistic.” 
We hope our readers will make personal acquaintance 
with a work which we would gladly have noticed in a style 
less hasty. 
