274 
BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 
irrespective of quality and structure, may be iaken as a 
safe criterion of relative intellect for general purposes. 
Thus the pike has a brain only 1T305 of the bulk of 
the body; the tortoise, lower still in the ranks of intel¬ 
ligence, has a brain only 1*2240 the bulk of the body; 
but in this instance the carapace increases the apparent 
disproportion beyond the reality. The sheep has a brain 
1*351 that of the body. The only points of real interest 
in the recent discussions on the gorilla, were those 
relating to its osteological and cephalic homologies; and 
the last of these w r ould have been valueless, if the size, 
form, and structure of the brain were not regarded by 
all the parties to the discussion as directly related to the 
degree of intelligence possessed by the creature. Intel¬ 
ligence dawns upon us as we ascend the scale of ani¬ 
mated creation, and its growth is so strictly parallel with 
the advancing characters of the nervous system, as to 
establish indubitably the most perfect correspondence 
between them. If we cannot define what mind is, we 
can at least say, these are the instruments with which it 
works; and the better the instruments, the more extended 
its range, and the more complete its operations. 
Man stands at the head of creation, because in him 
the excellencies of all nature are combined. In the 
expert Indian marksman there is the eye of the eagle; 
Deerfoot, who runs six miles in fifty-three minutes, has 
the fleetness of the horse. The Kalmucks have the 
scent of the hound, and can tell if a fox is in his earth 
or not. The Bedouins of the desert can hear the 
approach of a caravan, and determine the nature of it, 
while it is yet leagues away. We, who have not culti- 
