52 THE PRESENT. 



ting that such was the true genetic origin of the various 

 grades of vitality, there still lies "behind and unaccounted 

 for the orderly plan in which such development shall occur, 

 and the reason for the definite specific forms which the 

 descendants invariably assume. Grant, we again repeat, 

 that all vitality were indissolubly interwoven into one great 

 genetic mesh, still that mesh presents, at determinate 

 times and over determinate areas, definite variety and spe- 

 ciality of pattern. "Whence this orderly variety 1 Where- 

 fore these special and distinctive patterns 1 At the most, 

 Science can only note the distinctions, it can never hope to 

 assign the reason. To do so would be to place the intelli- 

 gence of the finite creature on the same level with the 

 prescience of the infinite Creator. It is our high privilege, 

 however, to observe and reason ; and, reasoning, to arrange 

 and classify the animal kingdom according to their different 

 grades and affinities, and so arrive at some intelligible com- 

 prehension of the great scheme of vitality. 



As in Botany, so in Zoology this arrangement is greatly 

 facilitated by the fact that, numerous as animal forms are, 

 they are all constructed after a few primal types and pat- 

 terns. Some are furnished with a bony skeleton, the lead- 

 ing feature of which is the vertebral coluinn or backbone 

 these are the VERTEBRATES; others have no such osseous 

 framework these constitute the INVERTEBRATES. As the 

 Zea/was the primary organ in the plant's development, so 

 the vertebra seems to be the primal organ in the vertebrate 

 skeleton ; and by its modifications and adaptations for spe- 

 cial ends, the Creator has produced every form of terrestrial, 

 aerial, and aquatic existence. According to the modern 

 doctrines of anatomy, the skull, or brain-case, is composed 

 of vertebral bones, modified and adapted for a special pur- 

 pose : so are the liinbs, whether for running, flying, or 

 swimming ; so also the ribs, whatever their form or mini- 



