THE ASCENT OF MAN.
["Professor Drummond's 'Ascent of Man' was discussed in the Assembly of the Free Church and very severely handled."—Daily Telegraph.]
What? Sprung frae an ape wi' a danglin' bit tailie?
Evolved by a process o' naiteral law?
What? Me, Sir? An Elder i' Kirk an' a Bailie?
That boast o' the bluid o' the Yellow Macaw?
Ye'd gar be takin' me graunfeyther's Bible
An' write doun "Gorilla" the sire o' us a'?
Na, na! 'Tisna me that's the traitor tae libel
The family tree o' the Yellow Macaw.
We gang straught awa' through the son o' ta Phairshons
Tae Noah an' Adam, and back to the Fa',
An' nane but respectable kirk-gangin' pairsons
Hae place i' the tree o' the Yellow Macaw.
Baboons?—Leave the Sassenach, o'er his Manilla,
Tae boast as he will o' his Puggie[*]-Papa!
But strike me teetotal if e'er a gorilla
Shall sit i' the tree o' the Yellow Macaw!
[*]Anglice, Monkey.
Light and Heat; or, in a Concatenation accordingly.—Speaking of "the invisible parts of the solar spectrum," Dr. Huggins tells us the "ultra-red" has been traced to a distance nearly "ten times as long as the whole range of the visible or light-giving region of the spectrum." Nature, indeed, is "all of a piece." In politics, as in optics, the "Ultra-Red" lies beyond the "light-giving region," though, as Science says of its "gamut of invisible rays," they are perceived "by their heating effects." The S. D. F.'s and other wavers of the Red Flag, should study up-to-date optics.
"Sic Itur ad Astra."—The Balloon Society has presented "W. G." with its gold medal. Therefore has he pardonable cause for inflation. It is to be hoped that this will not have the effect of making him hit "skyers." In spite of the aëronaut medal, may we never see "e'er a naught" tacked on to W. G.'s name.
