Man in the Light of Evohttion 



motion, and more varied and precise movements, 

 reacted on the nervous system, and especially 

 the brain, and stimulated the development and 

 rule of mind. 



But man is a social being. He is born a mem- 

 ber of a family. He is a citizen of a commu- 

 nity of some sort — clan or tribe, town or city. 

 The rise and effects of these two institutions will 

 form the second topic of our study.^ 



The earliest living beings of which we have 

 any knowledge consisted of single cells. We 

 have seen that a cell is composed of a little mass 

 of semifluid living substance (protoplasm) sur- 

 rounding a central, more consistent body, the 

 nucleus. The protoplasm of these lowest ani- 

 mals contracts or sends out processes; seizes 

 food, digests and assimilates it. The dead mat- 

 ter of the food is vivified in the cells, the con- 

 stantly recurring miracle of life. It excretes, 

 breathes, and seems to feel. It performs all the 

 functions of all the organs of higher animals, 

 though often in a very crude and rudimentary 

 fashion. Truly, protoplasm is a " quite peculiar 



1 See more detailed study in Tyler, J. M., "The Whence 

 and the Whither of Man." 



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