8 The Lije Story of the Fish 



hard-shelled veterans, and so she gave it a certain amount 

 of external armor, as well as the new inner hard parts, to 

 protect it from the old-timers. 



It will be argued by serious scientists that this is a very 

 improper presentation of evolution. As a matter of fact, I 

 much prefer not to present it at all, but since it has reared 

 its head, it had better be dealt with at once. For whether you 

 believe in evolution or not, it is impossible to talk about 

 animals without using its terminology. 



Figure 2. PTERICHTHYS 



A fish of 350,000,000 years ago, with armor plates protecting" his front 

 end, (Appendages omitted.) 



Scientists used to think that all the multifarious forms of 

 animal life appeared full-blown upon the earth, each perfect 

 in its present form, like Pallas emerging fully armed from 

 the head of Zeus. They now reject this idea, and believe that 

 all living animals developed from somewhat different ani- 

 mals which preceded them and which, in turn, developed 

 from earlier and still different forms. This is the essence of 

 the theory of evolution, the starting point, the foundation 

 on which all evolutionists agree. It is practically the only 

 point on which they all agree, for as soon as they begin to 

 inquire into the ways in which one animal changed into 

 another they divide into two schools of thought. 



The first is the teleological. I would like to avoid this 

 word, but there is no way around it, for zoologists have 

 made it legal tender in their world. However, they should 

 not be too severely blamed for using long words. In the 



