The Story of Evolution 105 



that of a gorilla, man has various physical peculiarities. He 

 walks erect, he plants the sole of his foot flat on the ground, he 

 has a chin and a good heel, a big forehead and a non-protrusive 

 face, a relatively uniform set of teeth without conspicuous 

 canines, and a relatively naked body. 



But in spite of man's undeniable apartness, there is no doubt 

 as to his solidarity with the rest of creation. There is an "all- 

 pervading similitude of structure," between man and the Anthro- 

 poid Apes, though it is certain that it is not from any living form 

 that he took his origin. None of the anatomical distinctions, ex- 

 cept the heavy brain, could be called momentous. Man's body 

 is a veritable museum of relics (vestigial structures) inherited 

 from pre-human ancestors. In his everyday bodily life and in 

 some of its disturbances, man's pedigree is often revealed. Even 

 his facial expression, as Darwin showed, is not always human. 

 Some fossil remains bring modern man nearer the anthropoid 

 type. 



It is difficult not to admit the ring of truth in the closing 

 words of Darwin's Descent of Man: 



"We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that 

 man, with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels 

 for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not 

 only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with 

 his God-like intellect which has penetrated into the move- 

 ments and constitution of the solar system with all these 

 exalted powers man still bears in his bodily frame the in- 

 delible stamp of his lowly origin." 



THE EVOLVING SYSTEM OF NATURE 



There is another side of evolution so obvious that it is often 

 overlooked, the tendency to link lives together in vital inter-rela- 

 tions. Thus flowers and their insect visitors are often vitally 

 interlinked in mutual dependence. Many birds feed on berries 

 and distribute the seeds. The tiny freshwater snail is the host of 



