178 MAN AND APES. 



man is only one of many peculiar forms. 

 The body of the Orang is as exceptional in 

 its way as is that of man in another. The 

 little Tarsier has even a more exceptional 

 structure than has man himself. Now, all 

 these exceptional forms show cross relations 

 and complex dependencies as involved and 

 puzzling as does the human structure, so that 

 in each several case we should meet with a 

 similar network of difficulties, if we sought 

 to account for existing structural characters 

 through the influence of inheritance and 

 " natural selection." 



It may be replied that certain of these cha- 

 racters have arisen in total independence, and 

 this reply is no doubt true ; but how are we to 

 discriminate between those which are inherited 

 and those which are independently acquired ? 

 Structures like strong teeth or powerful claws, 

 obviously useful in the struggle for life, may 

 well be supposed to have inclejDendently ap- 

 peared, and been preserved time after time ; 

 but what characters could well be thought, 



