298 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



and as such, I fancy, we can see in its main statements a 

 remarkable coincidence with the facts of evolution. The 

 upright posture, which is the most outstanding feature in 

 man's physical appearance, could not fail to be signalised as 

 one of great dignity, seeing that it was the " image and like- 

 ness " of God. The act of disobedience in eating of the fruit 

 of the Tree of Knowledge of G-ood and Evil, though it 

 secured to him the divine prerogative of wisdom, opened his 

 eyes also to the momentous fact that he was henceforth a 

 moral and responsible being. 



Thus, on our first acquaintance with man, we find him 

 possessed of exceptional qualities, viz., the erect attitude, 

 and the power of discerning between good and evil (which, 

 of course, entails moral responsibility) — qualities which 

 may be truly characterised as heaven-born. But whatever 

 difference of opinion may exist as to the means by which 

 these qualities were acquired, they are pointedly held up 

 both in the Biblical allegory and in the teachings of evolu- 

 tion as the most distinguishing attributes of humanity. 

 With such endowments and the co-operation of the forces 

 of nature, he has nobly fulfilled the trust assigned to him 

 as lord over the animal world. Already he has con- 

 verted the greater portion of the earth's surface into a 

 veritable garden, and to a large extent he determines 

 what animals shall live and what plants shall grow. As 

 to his future prospects, it may be asked if he too is 

 "a terminal form of life," comparable to a tiny stream 

 which gathers strength and volume as it hurries along, now 

 turbulent, now placid, then lost in the boundless ocean ? 

 Who can tell ! Impenetrable darkness broods over the 

 horizon whichever way we look, and the only certainty 

 which lies within the radius of our limited vision is 

 the continued expansion and progressiveness of human 

 civilisation. 



