People have a way of saying of those they admire greatly: "She has the
face of an angel," or "She is a perfect beauty," "Beauty beyond
compare," et al, according to their ideas of what constitutes absolute
beauty; but the human countenances that have in them no faintest
suggestion of the kingdom below us are very rare. If one looks
attentively at the faces of the crowd as it surges along the most
attractive street, there may be seen on review surprising resemblances.
A man looking like an elephant, another like a toad, bull dogs and
wolves galore, beneficent faces of old people, calm and patient,
resembling work-worn horses, always folk of both sexes who suggest
sheep,--now and again a cantankerous billy goat. You may be sure that
the vast numbers of reptiles are not left out of the human
representation, and the birds, too. The "eagle eye," and the
carnivorous beak require no introduction to the menagerie, they belong
there. But the felines have it, the cats, little and big, monopolize
the show. Men regard a recognized resemblance to the king of
beasts--the lion--a compliment to their natural powers and rightful
rulership, while women have to put up with being considered cats, and
many of them prove by their cattish doings their resemblance to their
animal ancestry. There are babies everywhere about. It is
disheartening to peer into their tiny faces and see in so many of their
eyes no "speculation," no suggestion of intelligence. They remind you
of the eyes of a fish.
Human beings have through them strains suggestive of the animal
kingdom. It seems quite right to expect each one to act like the
creature he resembles, when under the stress of violent emotion.