Ma7i in the Light of Evolution 



of food, and can reproduce rapidly. They have 

 possession of all the natural advantages, nine 

 points of the law; and they have the size and 

 strength to maintain possession, which should 

 constitute the tenth. 



We are hard-headed, practical men of science, 

 who know nothing of the future. We judge 

 by what we see, and by what the past can teach 

 us. The mollusk must be the fittest. There Is 

 some hope for the crustacean, but none for the 

 already distanced and defeated primitive verte- 

 brate. 



We come down Into mesozolc time. The 

 continents have taken form and shape. The 

 eastern half of the United States has gradually 

 emerged from the ocean. When the surface of 

 the land was but very little above tide level, 

 great forests of ferns and club mosses flourished, 

 sank below the water level, were covered with 

 sand and mud, and changed Into our coal beds. 

 On these great marshes amphibia have appeared. 

 They had developed from ganoid fishes. In 

 mesozolc time the land has risen higher. There 

 are still great jungles or marshes covered with 

 a tropical vegetation. Dryer uplands are begin- 

 ning to appear. 



96 



