124 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



the theory that Man has evolved from a lower 

 animal condition, and there is no explanation what- 

 ever of any one of these phenomena. With 

 such facts before us, it is mocking human in- 

 telligence to assure us that Man has not some 

 connection with the rest of the animal creation, or 

 that the processes of his development stand un- 

 related to the other ways of Nature. To say that 

 Providence, in making a new being, should deliber- 

 ately have inserted these eccentricities, without their 

 having any real connection with the things they so 

 well imitate, or any working relation to the rest of 

 his body, is, with our present knowledge, simple 

 irreverence. 



Were it the present object to complete a proof 

 of the descent of Man, one might go on to select 

 from other departments of science evidence not 

 less striking than that from vestigial structures. 

 From the side of palaeontology it might be shown 

 that Man appears in the earth's crust like any 

 other fossil, and in the exact place where science 

 would expect to find him. When born, he is 

 ushered into life like any other animal ; he is 

 subject to the same diseases ; he yields to the 

 same treatment. When fully grown there is 

 almost nothing in his anatomy to distinguish him 

 from his nearest allies among other animals — 



