The evening world., 1922-04-12
ET OIL UTION
The A B c Of This Famous
Epoch-Msking Theory
Bv Ranson,e Sutton
Copyright. 1922 cine New York Evening
World by Press Publishing Company.
Ix.-MAN is AWARE OF HIS
MAMMALHOoD.


Animals that suclle their young are
mammals. AS all the races OF man
kind suckle their young. all the races
of mankind are mammals.
But as many honest minded per-
sons still believe that man was spe-
cially created and should not, there
FORE he classed among mammals, I
am going to present reasons for be-
lieving that human beings are sub
consciously aware OF their kinship
with mammals.
If man were not lnstinctively con
scious OF relationship with one class
of animals, his attitude toward all
classes would be the same; he would
regard them all as aliens.
Is not the contrary true? Do we
not feel differently toward croco-
dile and a chimpanzee? Which should
we rather take by the hand? Our
feelings may be tested in various
ways. One way is to think of our
selves as killers ind of different kinds
of animals as victims. Now the
farther back along the line of human
descent one goes, one kills with de
creasing compunction. Oysters. for
example, lie close TO the bottom of the
line. Because they are so remotely
related to us, we can sprinkle them
with salt, pepper and horse radish.
stick forks into them, tear them from
their shells and swallow them alive.
without a touch of pity, without even
wondering how they may feel.
Men laughingly plunge living lob
sters into boiling water, but it's no
| laughing matter to drown even such
pestiferous mammals as kittens and
| mice. No one gives gaspWg fish tho
stroke of mercy with which men put
an end to the agony of wounded NAM
| mails. Anglers never differentiate he
tween male and female fish, but hu-
man hunters frequently shoot the
| buck and let the doe go free. There
| is a dignity, sort of eciat, about
| hunting man eating mammals foi
| the hunter realizes that the caFnivores
are crafty and that while hunting
them they may be stalking him.
Unconsciously man attributes his
own passions and propensties to
beasts and interprets their conduct in
| the light of his own. Seeing n she
panther carrying a fawn through tho
wilds, he assumes she has been hunt
| ing and is taking her kill to her cubs.
Even among mammals man differ
entiates In favor of those standing in
the ancestral line. From the limb OF
a tree on the Orinoco Delta | once shot
a monkey which was watching my
movements curiously When it fell at
my feet its plaintive cries aroused in
my mind emotions quite different
from those with which | viewed the
death Of a tapir that same day.
The Akeley party has recently re-
| turned from Africa, bringing back the
skins Of five gorillas. to he stuffed
Tand mounted in the American NJ U-u
of Natural History for the cGin- on
of mankind. The gorillas were shot
down in their own home l1ad. Miss
Miller, a member of the party. has
been quoted as saying 1--WE ate
Christmas dinner in the jungle. 1t
was an odd meal, a bit of gorilla,
some elephant flesh and a lion heart.
as well as beans. I didn't like the
gorilla, my conscience hurt me, it
seemed so cannibaristie.
If Miss Miller had So been cor
scious of human knship with gorilla,
why should it have seemed more can
nibalistic to eat gorilla flesh than eie-
phant steak?
or what kind of creatures do We
make pets? Certainly not Of oysters.
fish, frogs or reptiles. We do pet
birds, which are reptiles gone to wing.
but we do not companion with them
as with horses, dogs and cats. And
liz we do feel n fellowship toward
mammals generally, and especially to-
ward those in the line Of human de-
scent, which we do not feel toward
| otb~-, -.'-- - ---'->~'- @~-.- 'N"f ..
feeling of fellowship grow out OF a
,,,h conscioua realization of our OMn