224 DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF. 



necting man with some extinct ape-like creature, have 

 not as yet been searched by geologists. 



In attempting to trace the genealogy of the Mammalia, 

 and therefore of man, lower down in the series, we be- 

 come involved in greater and greater obscurity ; but as a 

 most capable judge, Mr. Parker, has remarked, we have 

 good reason to believe that no true bird or reptile inter- 

 venes in the direct line of descent. 



OKIGIK OF THE VERTEBEATA. 



Pa<*e 158 ^^ C Vertebrata are defined as " the highest 



division of the animal kingdom, so called from 

 the presence in most cases of a backbone composed of 

 numerous joints or vertebra, which constitutes the cen- 

 ter of the skeleton and at the same time supports and 

 protects the central parts of the nervous system. "] 



Every evolutionist will admit that the five great ver- 

 tebrate classes, namely, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibi- 

 ans, and fishes, are descended from some one prototype ; 

 for they have much in common, especially during their 

 embryonic state. As the class of fishes is the most lowly 

 organized, and appeared before the others, we may con- 

 clude that all the members of the vertebrate kingdom are 

 derived from some fish-like animal. The belief that ani- 

 mals so distinct as a monkey, an elephant, a humming- 

 bird, a snake, a frog, and a fish, etc., could all have sprung 

 from the same parents, will appear monstrous to those 

 who have not attended to the recent progress of natural 

 history. For this belief implies the former existence of 

 links binding closely together all these forms, now so ut- 

 terly unlike. 



Nevertheless, it is certain that groups of animals have 

 existed, or do now exist, which serve to connect sev- 



