24 MAMMALS

anatomical standpoint, says Professor Mivart, ‘man
is but one species of the order Primates; and he
even differs far less from the higher apes than do
these latter from the inferior forms of the order.
This work being purely anatomical, it is only needful
here to remind the reader of what common-sense
teaches us—that to estimate any object as a whole,
its powers of action no less than its structure must be
taken into consideration. The structure of the highest
plants is more complex than is that of the lowest
animals; but for all that, powers are possessed by
jelly-fishes of which oaks and cedars are devoid.
The self-conscious intelligence of man establishes
between him and all other animals a distinction far
wider than the mere superiority of his brain in mass
and complexity, or any other physical difference,
would indicate. ~All, however, who admit the idea of
man’s moral responsibility are logically compelled to
go much further, and to confess that in this respect
he is separated from the rest of the visible creation
by an abyss so vast that no chasm separating the
other kingdoms of nature from one another can be
compared with it.’

The words of the Psalmist, taken in their ordinary
signification, are as eloquent as they are true: ‘When
I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the
moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained ;
What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and
the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou
hast made him but little lower than the angels, and
crownest him with glory and honour. Thou madest
him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands ;