ing when and where we are forced to maintain our own competitive position.
Until we have fathomed that great problem, the evolution of the mind, we have no right to he dogmatic in our assertions that animals cannot understand and even think. What may be their attitude towards us and our boasted civilisation? There is sound common sense in Edward Carpenter's allegorical lines "Squinancy-wort":
"What have I done?
I am a little flower,
Out of many a one
That twinkles forth after each passing shower.
***
"Many an age agone,
Before man walked on earth, was.…
Web-footed monsters came
And into the darkness went
In ponderous tournament.
****
"What have I done? Man came,
Evolutional upstart one!
With the gift of giving a name
To everything under the sun.
What have I done? Man came
(They say nothing sticks like dirt),
Looked at me with eyes of blame,
And called me 'squinancy-wort.'
****
"Yet there is hope. I have seen
Many changes since I began.
The web-footed beasts have been
(Dear beasts!) and gone, being part of a wider plan.
Perhaps in His infinite mercy God will remove this Man!"
