Page:Fruits and Farinacea the Proper Food of Man.djvu/69

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NATURAL FOOD OF MAN
68

withstanding great agility (resulting mainly from the development of particular sets of muscles by constant exercise) is compatible with an exclusively flesh diet, the greatest working power, and the most permanent strength and vigor, if not consistent with none other than an exclusively vegetable diet, are, at least, never found in connection with any other.

Fig. 11.

GIRAFFE.

Lastly, let us look at a group of the frugivora. The Galago, (Fig. 13,) which is found in some of the barbarous countries on the eastern coast of Africa, climbs upon the trees like the squirrel, and feeds upon gum and pulpy fruits. The appearance of its feet, resembling very strikingly the human hand, indicates an approximation to the samiæ or monkey tribes.

Figs. 14, 15, and 16, are those specimens of frugivorous animals which most nearly resemble the human form. It seems to me that, from the spider to the orang-outang, through those several groups of animals whose dietetic habits have been indicated, there is something like an ascending scale; and surely, whether the aliment on which the animal subsists has any