ro6 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



been outgrown ; old forms of apparatus long since 

 exchanged for better, yet somehow not yet de- 

 stroyed by the hand of time. The physical body 

 of Man, so great is the number of these relics, 

 is an old curiosity shop, a museum of obsolete 

 anatomies, discarded tools, outgrown and aborted 

 organs. All other animals also contain among 

 their useful organs a proportion which are long 

 past their work ; and so significant are these 

 rudiments of a former state of things, that anato- 

 mists have often expressed their willingness to 

 stake the theory of Evolution upon their presence 

 alone. 



Prominent among these vestigial structures, as 

 they are called, are those which smack of the sea. 

 If Embryology is any guide to the past, nothing 

 is more certain than that the ancient progenitors 

 of Man once lived an aquatic life. At one time 

 there was nothing else in the world but water- 

 life ; all the land animals are late inventions. One 

 reason why animals began in the water is that it 

 is easier to live in the water — anatomically and 

 physiologically cheaper — than to live on the land. 

 The denser element supports the body better, 

 demanding a less supply of muscle and bone ; and 

 the perpetual motion of the sea brings the food to 

 the animal, making it unnecessary for the animal 



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