144 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 
Tasmanian and Maori aborigine? Either extinct or disap- 
pearing like the Dodo and the wingless birds of New Zealand. 
Now, man—Homo Sapiens—is the highest member of the 
Animal Kingdom, and is distinguished from all the so-called 
brutes by one anatomical peculiarity, viz.—the possession of 
a great toe. This enables him to sustain the more dignified 
attitude of the erect position, and to direct his gaze to the sky 
above instead of to the earth beneath him. No two species 
are alike in the size and proportions of the various organs, and 
it is found that the interior of man’s body, in addition to the 
general identity of the plan, any unusual shape of bone, 
vessel or muscle, recalls the normal arrangement in some 
other animal. The process of development from the embryo, 
and the stages through which it passes before birth, also 
proclaim that man is a true member of the animal kingdom. 
He can hardly claim the monopoly of articulate speech, since 
other animals can communicate with each other, although by 
sounds and means which our ears and our senses cannot 
perceive or interpret. Again the dividing line between reason 
and instinct is at best but a shadowy one, while as for pas- 
sions and affections, we cannot deny their existence among 
the inferior animals, while we commonly use such expressions 
as—brave as a lion, surly as a bear, cunning as a fox, and 
faithful as a dog. External influences such as heat, cold, 
electricity and the force of gravity, the abundance or scarcity 
of food, have precisely the same effect on the tissues of man, 
as on those of brutes, and he is quite as susceptible to the 
influence of his environment, physical and mental, as they 
are. All history and all experience prove that in his case, 
this ‘‘ struggle for life’’ is just as real, and that his races are 
modified, improved, or deteriorated by their surroundings. 
Owing, however, to his longer life, the action, good or bad, 
of his neighbours, and to some extent, to his own power of 
will, the effects are not so evident on the surface and require 
the effluxion of longer periods of time to prove their reality. 
