Comparative physiognomy; or, Resemblances between men and animals . lls up the meas-ure of existence in the life of a the pursuit of food there is a con-test for the greatest mouthfuls, andfor the greatest number of prizes;and hence the serpent lays in amonths provisions at a single swal-low, and the fish rushes forward in the pursuit of food, eagerto get it first, and dashes it down without stopping to enjoyhis meals. It is always a race with others for the prize, whichhe who is the swiftest wins. By the union of contest with the love of food, Appetite is ren-dered rapacious; and, ne
Comparative physiognomy; or, Resemblances between men and animals . lls up the meas-ure of existence in the life of a the pursuit of food there is a con-test for the greatest mouthfuls, andfor the greatest number of prizes;and hence the serpent lays in amonths provisions at a single swal-low, and the fish rushes forward in the pursuit of food, eagerto get it first, and dashes it down without stopping to enjoyhis meals. It is always a race with others for the prize, whichhe who is the swiftest wins. By the union of contest with the love of food, Appetite is ren-dered rapacious; and, never satisfied, it rushes onward for laurel won in battle is lost by the ambition for anotherstill. It is neither tasted nor enjoyed, and is therefore noth-ing gained. The love of contest is not limited by appetite:it wants the whole, so long as one atom of it is in danger ofbeing seized by another. It gives the poor fish no rest — iturges him on continually, as it does those who are actuatedby a like ambition, of whom it is said, There is no peace to 6. 82 COMPARATIVE PHYSIOGNOMY. the wicked. The finny tribes not only race, but do battlewith eacli other; they have swords and bayonets, as well asshields and bucklers, and engines-of-war for beating downbarriers, as well as barriers for resisting assault. They bela-bor each other with their tails, as if they had boasted to beateach other all hollow, and the trial had commenced. The African tribeswhose contentions fur-nish victims for theslave-trade are of thevariety of negroes thatare like fishes ratherthan elephants. Thenegro fisheries alongthe coast of Africa de-pend on the same ex-igencies, the fisher-men cruise about withthe same uncertain-ties and hopes of suc-cess, are prompted by the same tastes and associations, arestimulated by the same desire of gain (only far more intense-ly), as the fisheries on the coast of Newfoundland and else-where. But there is a piraticalbloodthirstiness in the one casewhich there is n
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookpubl, booksubjectphysiognomy