238 From Matter to Man. 



this ancient ancestor and common progenitor of both 

 man and ape was in all probability descended from 

 some amphibian ; not a present form of amphibian, 

 but some extinct type. This extinct amphibian's 

 progenitor, in turn, was probably descended from 

 some extinct type of fish ; this fish from some artho- 

 pod ; this arthopod from some mollusc ; this mollusc 

 from some ccelenterate ; this ccelenterate from some 

 protozoon ; and lastly, this protozoon from some 

 lump of protoplasm. Hence, this lump of proto- 

 plasm was the celebrated " primordial form," the 

 ancestor of all the ages, and necessarily of an age 

 almost unthinkable. 



3. The Human Ovule. — The human germ in appear- 

 ance and development is no different from any other 

 animal cell. It is nucleated and consists of a cell- 

 wall enclosing protoplasmic elements in solution. 

 After impregnation it attracts and absorbs like 

 protoplasmic components from its environments, and 

 on attaining maturity it divides similarly to all 

 animal and vegetal cells. 



Continued fission results in a cell-aggregate, and, 

 after following on the lines of the normal animal 

 embryological evolution in ' many particulars (de- 

 scribed further on), it ultimately results in that 

 complete cell-aggregate, a babe. 



4. Subjection of Organisms to their Environments.-* 

 Mr Herbert Spencer, in what might be termed a new 

 theory of " Embryological Selection," * drew special 



* Factors of Organic Evolution. 



