312 THE BTOCOS~MOS PARTICULARIZED. 



which is the solid basis for all movement of 

 the soft parts outward, and by which they are 

 borne along. Also it contains and protects 

 the inner organs with a surrounding rampart. 

 The human shape it holds upright, and there- 

 in suggests the evolution from the lower ani- 

 mals. Moreover the Bones are the earthy 

 portion of the body, though somewhat organ- 

 ized. 



The skeleton gives the division already 

 noted in the outer shape Trunk, Extremities, 

 Head two hundred and six bones being usu- 

 ally counted in the body. Thus it is chiefly 

 what determines the external Form. But it 

 has evolved, so there is something determin- 

 ing it evolving it toward an end. The skele- 

 ton thus becomes an important criterion of 

 evolution, especially the vertebral system with 

 its skull. 



It is the skeleton which must evolve into 

 the upright posture and carry the body as a 

 whole with it, which otherwise would fall to 

 the earth in a mass The skeleton is what 

 rises up in opposition to gravity,- the earthy 

 matter is organized against the earth in a de- 

 gree, and to this new earth the rest of the 

 body clings. So far then the organism de- 

 gravitates, obeying its own center, yet as a 

 whole it still gravitates. Significant is it to 

 see the skeleton evolve in the lower orders 



