4 HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT 



special divine fiat, it was possible to maintain 

 that man was absolutely distinct from the rest 

 of the animal world and that he had no kinship 

 to the beasts, though undoubtedly he was made 

 in their bodily image. But with the establish- 

 ment of the doctrine of organic evolution this 

 resemblance between man and the lower ani- 

 mals has come to have a new significance. The 

 almost universal acceptance of this doctrine by 

 scientific men, the many undoubted resem- 

 blances between man and the lower animals, 

 and the discovery of the remains of lower types 

 of man, real "missing links," have inevitably led 

 to the conclusion that man also is. a product of 

 evolution, that he is a part of the great world of 

 living things and not a being who stands apart 

 in solitary grandeur in some isolated sphere. 



But wholly aside from the doctrine of evolu- 

 tion, the fact that essential and fundamental 

 resemblances exist among all kinds of organ- 

 isms can not fail to impress thoughtful men. 

 Life processes are everywhere the same in 

 principle, though varying greatly in detail. 

 All the general laws of life which apply to 

 animals and plants apply also to man. This 



