I] INTRODUCTION 13 



not of Animal Morphology alone, but of all the above-mentioned 

 subjects, widely different though they may at first sight appear to 

 be. In every one of those subjects, without exception, may be 

 found numerous instances in which the doctrine of Evolution has 

 given the clue to the interpretation of a series of observations, 

 and has afforded such a demonstration of otherwise unsuspected 

 relations between them as no other known principle could have 

 possibly furnished l . 



The foregoing notes may serve to give an idea of the protean 

 nature of Anthropology ; a subject which the individual will 

 strive in vain to grasp fully in the course of his natural lifetime. 

 It is therefore necessary to limit one's efforts to a certain region or 

 section, and the section which will be the subject of consideration 

 in the following chapters is that to which reference has been 

 already made, viz. the morphological aspect of Anthropology ; in- 

 cidentally, however, it will be necessary to refer to slightly different 

 branches of the subject. 



The following aims may therefore be proposed as falling within 

 the scope of this enquiry. In the first place, the attempt must be 

 made to realize the position occupied by Man in the animal 

 kingdom : and secondly, enquiry must be made into the nature of 

 the ancestors of Man. Finally, we may be in a position to discuss 

 the question whether the series of animal forms which has pro- 

 duced Man has now reached its termination or not. 



In connection with the first two questions, the following main 

 paths lie open. It must be repeated that the study of Morphology 

 by means of Comparative Anatomy is the first step in such an enquiry. 



The second line of enquiry is closely allied to the preceding, 

 and consists in the study of Morphology by means of Embryology 2 . 



A third line of research is nearly connected with the other 

 two ; this is the study of Variations, both of outward appearance 

 and inward structure. To this division, the study of Pathology in 



1 For examples consult Haddon, The Evolution of Decorative Art; Balfour, 

 Evolution in Art. 



2 Related to this second line of enquiry is the study of the post-natal stages 

 of development, in other words, the study of child-life and of children. In 

 accordance with the general rule that the individual reproduces in his life-history 

 the successive stages (or the principal ones at least) by which his species attained 

 its position in nature, it is argued that the immature human individual should 

 afford some suggestions as to the nature of the latter stages of human evolution. 



