Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-11-17

| % AEElOHiy anu ~
Comparison OF the Natural Weapons
of Man and the Animals.
The fact is that if we examine our
| selves we'll we must rank ourselves
without vanity among the most unpro-
| tected. the most naked, the most frag-
| lie, the most brittle and tiaccid be-
! ings in creation Compare us, for in
| stance, with the insect, so formidably
| equipped for attack and so fantastic
| ally armor cased. Contemplate among
| others the ant upon which you may
| heap ten or twenty thousand times the
| weight of its body without apparently
! mountaineering it. Consider the cock
chafer, the least robust of the beetles.
and weigh what it is able to carry be-
| fore the rings of its abdomen crack
| or the castings of its fore wings yield.
AS for the resistance of the stag bee
tie. it is, so TO speak. unlimited.
In comparison, therefore, we and the
| ma jority of mammals are unsolicited
| beings, still in the gciatinouS state ana
very near to the primitive protOplasm.
Our skeleton alone. which is. as it
were. the rough sketch of our defnitive
/ form, offers Il certain consistency. But
| how wretched is this skeleton, which
one would think constructed by child !.
Look at our spine. the basis of our
whole system, whose i'll set vertebrate
| hold together only by miracle, and
our thOracic cage, which presents only
series of dia gonals which we hardly
dare touch with the finger tips.
| Now. it is against this slack and in
coherent machine, which resembles an
abOrtive effort of nature. against this
! pitiful organism. from which life tends
TO escape on every side, that we have
cOntrived weapons capable of ami
hilating us even if we possessed the
fabulous armCr case, the prodigious
strength and the incredible vitality of
the most indestructible insects.
We have here, it must be agreed. n
very curious and very diSconcerting
alteration. an initial folly, peculiar TO
the human race. that goes on increas-
ing daily. In order to return to the
natural logic followed by all other liv
ing things. though we be permitted to
use extraordinary weapons against our
enemies of Il different order. we ought
among ourselves. among men. to en-
ploy only the means of attack and de-
Tense provided by our own bodies.
Were mankind to conform strictly 10
the evident will of nature. the fist,
which is to man what its horns are to
the bull and its claws and teeth TO the
lion. the fist should suffice for all our
needs OF protection, Justice and re-
venge. \ wiser race would forbid any
other mode of combat as an irremissi-
BILE crime against the essential laws OF
the species. At the end OF n few gen
erations we should thus succeed in
spreading and putting into force sort
of panic stricken respect of human life.
Meanwhile the study of boxing gives
us excellent lessons in humility and
throws a somewhat alarming light up
on the forfeiture of some of our most
valuable instincts. We soon perceive
that in all that concerns the use of
our lmbs-agility, deXterity, muscular
strength resistance to pIin-we have
sunk to the lowest rank of the man.
mails or batrachians. From this point
of view. in n well conceived hierarchy,
we should be entitled to Il modest
place between the frog and the sheep.
The kick of the horse. the butt of the
Dtil. TIE bilt VI Nllt iOsS. 'ilC AliC' ii''iiAN
ally ana anatomically perfect. 1t would
be impossible to improve. by the most
learned lessons their instructive man
ner of using their natural weapons.
But we. the 'hOminians." the proudest
of the primates- do not know how to
strike blow with our fist. We do not
even know which exactly is the weap-
on Of our kind.
Look at two draymen. two peasants.
who come TO blows. Nothing could be
more pitiable. After a copious and dill
atory broadside of insults and threats
they seize each other by the throat and
hair. make play with their feet, with
their knees at random. bite each other,
scratch each other. get entangled in
their motionieSs rage, dare not let
CO. and if one of them succeed in re-
leasing an arm he strikes out blindly
and most often into space series Of
hurried, stunted and suffering little
blows. Nor would the combat ever end
did not the treacherous knife, evoked
by the disgrace of the incOngruOus
sight. suddenly, almost spontaneously,
leap from the pocket of one or the other.
On the contrary. watch two pugilists
ger; the calmness of two certainties
that know what lies before them: the
athletic attitude of the guard, one of
the finest of the male body. The de-
feated man will rise to his feet with no
lasting damage because the resistance
of his bones and his organs is strictly
and naturally proportional to the pow
er of the human weapon that has
struck him and brought him to the
ground.
1t may seem paradoxical. but the fact
is easily established that the science of !
boxing in those countries where it is
generally practiced and cultivated be-
comes a pledge of peace and gentle
ness. Our aggressive nervousness, our f,
watchful susceptibility, that sort of
perpetual state OF alarm in which our