1 50 E VOL UTION OF TO-DA Y. 



pretend to know so much about the matter, and 

 although they do occasionally construct similar his- 

 tories, they regard them only as tentative, and 

 probably erroneous in many features. They have 

 disproved Haeckel's phylum, but have put nothing 

 ; in its place. They are not ready to say exactly 

 what man's genealogy has been, but can say very 

 definitely what it has not been, a conclusion whicli, 

 though not appealing so strongly to the imagination, 

 is a much more important one. 



But this conclusion is more than a negative result, 

 for its existence leads to one very definite and 

 important deduction perhaps the most important 

 one which embryology has brought into prominence. 

 Stated briefly it is this: Probably none of the 

 stages through which man, or any other existing 

 animal, has passed in his history, exist as living ani- 

 mals to-day. This point has been emphasized 

 repeatedly. The parallel often drawn between the 

 embryonic stages of higher animals and the adult 

 stages of lower ones, proves upon close examination 

 to be largely a delusion. The embryonic stages of 

 higher animals resemble not the adult stages but 

 the embryonic stages of lower animals. Embryo 

 man, for instance, does not resemble the monkey, 

 but at one stage in their development the embryos of 

 these two species scarcely differ from each other. 

 The human embryo does not resemble a fish, but 

 both man and the fish pass through a stage in which 

 they are much alike. Now the interpretation of 

 these facts means simply this. Man is not descend- 

 ed from any of the man-like apes, but both man and 



