626 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



side in this way, so that the question is generally looked 

 at more from the point of view of structure than of 

 function. And we are, then, for the most part content 

 to regard the vertebrate type as the highest in the 

 whole animal creation, although as the same writer 

 says, ^Our willingness to do so arises simply from 

 the fact that that is the type to which we ourselves be- 

 long. But,' he continues, ^ we have no right to reflect our 

 own glory on to the type according to which we happen 

 to be framed. Such an honour to the mere type itself 

 is altogether an arbitrary assumption. Admitting that 

 we stand at the head of creation, that we are the 

 highest product of organic life, we can rightfully claim 

 that position solely by virtue of our many powers and 

 resources, solely by reason of our mastery over the 

 circumstances of life. . . . But we have no warrant for 

 the assumption that there is any absolute necessary 

 causative connection between the scope and quality of 

 the work we do^ and the broad features, either vertebrate 

 or mamm.alian, of the plan upon which our bodies are 

 framed. ... It so happens that we, and with ourselves 

 many other vertebrate animals, do exhibit finer qualities 

 and live a fuller life than do any other creatures ; but 

 proof is wanting that qualities as fine or even finer, 

 that a life as full or even fuller, might not have been 

 thrown round and worked into some rough ground-plan 

 other than ours. The mammal does not differ from the 

 fish more than does the crafty lobster from the tiny, 

 one-eyed crustaceans that breed in our fresh-water 



