mes it. When the sun, the scatterer of darkness,
shines, you put out the light which for you in particular, and for your
need and convenience, expelled the darkness.

[Sidenote: Physiological Inferiority of Man]

115.

I have found that in the composition of the human body as compared with
the bodies of {46} animals the senses are less subtle and coarser; it
is thus composed of less ingenious machinery and of cells less capable
of receiving the power of senses. I have seen that in the lion the
sense of smell is connected with the substance of the brain and
descends through the nostrils which form an ample receptacle for it;
and it enters into a great number of cartilaginous cells which are
provided with many passages in order to receive the brain. A large
part of the head of the lion is given up to the sockets of the eyes,
and the optic nerves are in immediate contact with the brain; the
contrary occurs in man, because the sockets of the eyes occupy a small
portion of the head, and the optic nerves are subtle and long and weak,
and owing to the weakness of their action we see little by day and less
at night; and the animals above mentioned see better at night than in
the daytime; and the proof of this is that they seek their prey at
night and sleep during the daytime, as do also the nocturnal birds.

[Sidenote: Man's Ethical Inferiority]

116.

Thou hast described him king of animals, but I would rather say, king
of beasts, thou being the greatest--for hast thou not slain them in
order that they may give thee their children to glut thy greed with
which thou hast striven to make a sepulchre for all animals? And I
would say still more if I might speak the whole truth. But let us {47}
confine ourselves to human matters, relating one supreme infamy, which
is not to be found among the animals of the earth; because among these
you will not find animals who eat their young, except when they are
utterly foolish (and there are few indeed of such among them), and this
occurs only among the beasts of prey, such as the lions, and leopards,
panthers, lynxes, cats and the like, which sometimes feed on their
young; but thou, besides thy children, dost devour thy father, thy
mother, thy brother and thy friends; and not satisfied with this, thou
goest forth to hunt on the islands of others, seizing other men and
these half naked ... thou fattenest and chasest them down thy own
throat. Now does not nature produce enough