Man's Place in Nature 209 



species are only arcs of curves, marked off for our 

 convenience, so is it with many other distinctions 

 equally legitimate and useful. 



In the history of the cosmos, the emergence of 

 the first living animals marked a new era. There 

 was a new synthesis of matter and energy, the 

 secret of which is hidden. 



In the history of animals the establishment of a 

 centralized nervous system and the associated 

 beginning of a unified experience marked another 

 new era. 



Similarly, the origin of Man implied a new 

 series of differentiations and integrations of which 

 we get some hint from a study of the child. With 

 Man all things became new. 



Thus it seems that to look for morals in the beast 

 is like looking for a backbone in a worm. What 

 we may look for is an Anlage, a primordium, a 

 rudiment of that tissue, so to speak, from which 

 reason, conscience, and language, and other dis- 

 tinctively human qualities had their origin. But 

 the real crossing of the Rubicon was due to cere- 

 bral mutation. In so saying, it must be remem- 

 bered that no scientific formula- word lessens the 

 magnitude of the step which was taken. We agree 

 with the philosopher who says that "the breach 

 between ethical man and pre-human nature con- 

 stitutes, without exception, the most important 

 fact which the universe has to show." 



