Summary 239 



also be taken of the social predisposition, the pro- 

 longed ante-natal life, the prolonged infancy, the 

 growing language, and other factors. Attention is 

 directed to a method characteristic of progressive 

 evolution, in which the ascending spiral of one char- 

 acter bends down, as it were, and lifts a correlated 

 character on to a higher level. Sociality prompts lan- 

 guage, but language reacts on social organization. 

 Parental care makes economized reproduction pos- 

 sible, but the reduction of the family makes a higher 

 form of parental care possible and creates a milieu 

 that sifts variations in the direction of better parents. 

 Evolution works in virtuous circles. 



8. Neanderthal Man was for a time the highest 

 living creature, but he disappeared without leaving 

 descendants. He appears to represent a distinct 

 species, Homo neanderthalensis, different from the 

 Modern Man type, Homo sapiens. Both diverged 

 from a Homo stock, but Neanderthal Man was not 

 ancestral to Modern Man. This illustrates again "the 

 sifting-out process" characteristic of evolution, and 

 raises strange questionings in our minds. Is the same 

 process being continued in our midst? Is a new type 

 emerging ? 



9. Why should Man cease to evolve? Has human 

 evolution passed from man's body to his social en- 

 vironment or external heritage? Modifications of the 

 body are common, but their entailment has not been 

 proved. Germinal variations are always cropping up, 

 but it is uncertain whether any of them are taking 

 grip. It is probable that some parts of man's body are 



