2l6 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 



That the primates had once a larger number of 

 offspring is confirmed by double evidence. Even to- 

 day the number of children at a birth is often two, 

 sometimes three, rarely four. The day before this 

 was written came the report of a case of five children 

 at a birth, all of whom seemed sound and all of whom 

 lived. Still more direct evidence is found in the fact 

 that occasionally in the human female there are two 

 pairs of breasts, and very rarely three pairs. These 

 are then disposed in a double line down the front of 

 the body. 



The new plan of caring for the young is one of the 

 priceless heritages of the higher animals. As we rise 

 in the grade of life the number of the young pro- 

 duced at one time steadily diminishes, while the care 

 spent upon them increases. The shad may lay four 

 hundred thousand eggs and trust them entirely to 

 their fate. The sunfish will lay a thousand, by no 

 means all of which can be fertilized, but it guards 

 them somewhat after deposition. The toad lays sev- 

 eral hundred, stores them with a considerable amount 

 of nourishment, and protects them by a bitter deposit 

 of mucous. The turtle has reduced the number of 

 eggs to perhaps a score. Each of these is supplied 

 with abundant nourishment, so that the young may 

 develop to considerable size and activity before 

 emerging from the egg. This material is enclosed in 



