694 THE LAST STEPS IN THE GENEALOGY OF MAN. 



disappearauce on tlio one hand of the last ol" the present anthropoids, 

 and on the other of the lowest hninan races, and will leave man isolated 

 and majestic, proclaiming himself with pride the king of creation. 



Let us not blush then for our ancestors; we have been monkeys, as 

 those formerly have been reptiles, fish, nay worms or crustaceans. 

 But it was a long time ago, and we hav^e grown ; — evolution I say has been 

 Very i)rodigal of its favors in the struggle for existence, she has given 

 all the advantages to us. Our rivals of yesterday are ut our mercy, we 

 let those perish tliat displease us, we create new species of which we 

 have need. We reign over the uhole planet, fashioning things to our 

 will, piercing the isthmus, exploiting the seas, searching the air, an- 

 nulling distance, wringing from the earth her secular secrets. Our 

 aspirations, our thoughts, our actions have no bounds. Everything 

 pivots around us. What is there to desire more? That the future will 

 perhaps reveal. Evolution has not said its last word. 



