246 EXTINCT MONSTERS 



the organ of smell, give them ample means of becoming aware of 

 the approach of enemies ; while the length of their limbs, the 

 angles different segments form with each other, and especially 

 the combination of firmness, stability, and lightness in the reduc- 

 tion of all the toes to a single one, upon which the whole weight 

 of the body and all the muscular power are concentrated, give 

 them speed and endurance surpassing that of almost any other 

 animal." l At the same time that these changes were taking place 

 (and in accordance with the " Law of Correlation ") certain 

 important changes in the structure and mode of growth of the 

 teeth were being developed, the consequence of which was that 

 they were able to masticate and grind up their food much more 

 perfectly, and thus, no doubt, to obtain therefrom more vital 

 energy with which to supply their muscles and nerves for working 

 their limbs more rapidly as they became fitted to attain higher 

 speed. They gained a grinding tooth for each toe that they lost. 

 Of these ancient horses it may well be said they " ran the race 

 that was set before them " or, perhaps we might say, which they 

 set before themselves ; and the victory was to the quickest 

 runners those who could " beat the record " made by their 

 predecessors ! It is a wonderful story, this, of the evolution of 

 that noble and useful animal to which man is so much attached ; 

 and one cannot help sometimes wondering whether to some extent 

 the will of an animal may not be an important factor in Evolution, 

 although it is the fashion to ignore it, and to attribute organic 

 changes to Natural Selection, or the "survival of the fittest." 

 Mind has a powerful influence over matter, and can we not 



1 Visitors to the Natural History Museum will do well to examine the 

 admirable set of casts and actual bones of fossil horses in Gallery No. 1. 

 Complete casts of Phenacodus and Hyracotherium are there exhibited. In the 

 hall may be seen the skeleton of a man and of a horse side by side, in the same 

 relative position, also casts of bones represented in Fig. 89. 



