pretty?”

“I know it—you’re almost beautiful.”

“But that,” she said, pointing over the forest, “is not only beautiful but mighty—stupendous. You’d better look at that, Doctor.”

“The redwood forests are mighty,” he told her, “but they are no more beautiful than the redwood lily that hides in the perpetual shade they cast. One cannot say that the giant redwood tree is more wonderful than the slender lily at its feet. Both are the product of nature’s mysterious laboratory. And you are, too.”

[28]“Speaking of tolerance,” she went on, without comment upon his comparison, “don’t you think that we could all be more tolerant of others if we only would look at every one we meet as a distinct product of nature? I mean this: We say, ‘Here is a redwood tree. Isn’t it magnificent?’ Or, ‘Here is a redwood lily. Doesn’t it smell sweet?’ Or, ‘Here is a buckthorn bush. Aren’t its spines prickly?’ We never think of comparing them. We would not say, ‘This redwood lily is puny compared with a redwood tree.’ Or, ‘This buckthorn bush is so prickly. I don’t think nearly so much of it as I do of the whitethorn bush, which has beautiful flowers and is soft to the touch.’ Wouldn’t that sound ridiculous! We accept all things in nature as they are, except man. For man we have set a standard, and he must live up to it or be forever displeasing to us. I wonder if you know what I’m talking about.”

[28]

“I think I understand you perfectly,” replied Shonto. “And I believe that you are entirely right. In fact, my life’s work is based on what you have just expressed.”

“The glands?” she asked eagerly.

“Yes.”

“Won’t you please explain? We have lots of time. None of the others are up yet.”

Dr. Shonto was tempted. “It is my firm belief,” he said, “that man’s daily life—all that he does and all that he is—depends almost entirely upon his gland secretions. His height, his attitude toward others, the colour of his complexion, his strength or weakness, his ability or lack of ability—all this, and much more, is[29] controlled by his glands, or their secretions. The glands are collections of cells which make substances that bring about a specific effect on the economy of the body. The microscope proves that every gland is a chemical factory, and the product 

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