75 DUBLIN. S.R.B 



pensable as a subsidiary factor, but only a factor the 

 interior causes of evolution remain always the chief point to 

 consider, for they produce the beneficial modifications &quot; 

 (p. 42). 



The third lecture concerns itself with the important 

 subject of the descent of man, on which the author s 

 views are particularly interesting and valuable. After dis 

 cussing the theories now prevalent as to that descent the 

 author concludes that, as it is the human soul which dis 

 tinguishes man from the lower creation (and he follows 

 out the psychological argument to this end), it was the 

 creation of the first human soul which marked the &quot; real 

 creation of the human race, although we might assume that 

 a natural development lasting millions of years had pre 

 ceded it &quot; (p. 51). Consequently, even if it comes to be 

 proved that the physical frame of man has been directly 

 developed from some lower form, &quot; the divine origin and 

 the divine end of humanity will nevertheless remain un- 

 assailed and firmly established as before&quot; (p. 51). But 

 there is a large assumption underlying this question. Is 

 there any real scientific evidence that even the body of 

 man has been developed from that of some lower form? 

 That man is a mammal no one doubts. That he is nearly 

 alike in anatomy to the higher apes is equally certain. 

 But these facts do not prove, though they certainly sug 

 gest, that man and the apes were derived from some 

 common ancestor. Everybody knows that Haeckel has 

 asserted that there is a co:nphte series of intermediate 

 forms connecting the oldest anthropoid ape with man. 

 But then, Haeckel and his genealogies are now becoming 

 more than a little suspect, and, indeed, it is difficult to 

 read that of min, quoted by Wasmann (p. 80) without 

 wonder at its promulgation and, still more, its acceptance. 

 On the other hand, those who hive most carefully studied 

 the subject will be only too well aware how one vaunted 

 &quot; link &quot; after another has been discovered to be no link at 

 all, like the Neanderthal skull, now recognized to be of no 

 significance in this direction, and the Trinil skull, now 

 almost universally admitted to have belonged to a large 

 ape, and will be inclined to agree with Professor Branco 

 who, in his lecture on fossil man to the 1901 International 

 Zoological Congress, declared that &quot; We know of no an 

 cestors of man &quot; and, moreover, will be constrained to 

 admit that what was true then is no less true to-day. 



We have said, we hope, enough to convince those 

 interested in these most important questions of the day 

 that they cannot possibly aiford to neglect the very 

 valuable contribution to the subject which is contained 

 in this work. B.C.A.W. 



