CONCLUSION. 1(ST 



of the whole range of animated nature, tlie com- 

 parative dignity of each group will be determined 

 by the extent and degree of perfection of the life 

 of relation possessed and enjoyed by the indi- 

 viduals belonging to it. In no way can we ever 

 make a linear arrangement to satisfy the facts with 

 which we have to deal. There is no simple ladder 

 of life, beginning Avith the lowest round, and as- 

 cending step by step to the highest; nor does the 

 idea of a chain of succeeding links help us any 

 better to a just conception of creation's plan. If 

 the chain be used at all for purposes of illustra- 

 tion, it should be in the condition of chain maiJ^ 

 as suggested by Edward Forbes, because in a 

 structure of that description every link is a por- 

 tion of a complicated pattern, or member of a 

 group connected on all sides with other groups 

 throughout the entire fabric. The higher animals 

 are connected with the lower not only by portions 

 of the structure Avhich they exhibit in an adult 

 state, but also through their incipient forms. Dr. 

 Carpenter observes,"^' "The earliest part of the 

 history of embryonic development is nearly tlie 

 same in all animals, for it consists in the multi- 

 plication of the single cell, of which the original 

 germ is composed, until a cluster is formed, all 



* Manual of Pliysiolo^^y, p. 498. 



