226 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



ing that we can judge, and our knowledge turns entirely 

 on the relations that things bear to those which resemble 

 them and to those which differ from them; so, if there 

 were no animals, the nature of man would be far more 

 incomprehensible than it is." 



And if this be true, as to man's general nature and 

 powers, it is equally so with regard to his anatomical 

 structure. 



In the same spirit our philosophic poet felt that — 



" 'Tis the sublime of man, 

 Our noontide majesty, to know ourselves 

 Part and proportions of a wondrous whole." — Coleridge. 



Yertebrated animals of progressively higher grades of 

 structure have existed at successive periods of time on 

 this planet, and they were constructed on a common plan 

 with those that still exist. 



Some have concluded, therefore, that the characters of 

 a species became modified in successive generations, and 

 that it was transmuted into a higher species; a reptile, 

 e. g. Id to a mammal ; an ape, into a negro. Let us con- 

 sider, therefore, the import and value of the osteological 

 differences between the gorilla — the highest of all apes — 

 and man, in reference to this "transmutation hypothesis." 

 The skeleton of an animal may be modified to a certain 

 extent by the action of the muscles. By the develop- 

 ment of the processes, ridges, and crests, the anatomist 

 judges of the muscular power of the individual to whom 

 a skeleton under comparison has appertained. A very 

 striking difference from the form of the human cranium 

 results from the development of certain crests and ridges 

 for the attachment of muscles, in the great apes; but 

 none of the more important differences, on which the 



