CHAPTER XXXII 



ORIGIN OF OUR HANDS AND BACKBONE DAME NA- 

 TURE'S EXPERIMENT WITH AEROPLANES HER FAIL- 

 URES AND SUCCESSES ARMS AND LEGS OF FISHES 



ALL MEMBERS OF THE SONS OF EVOLUTION 



YOU often hear the contemptuous expression, 

 " That man has no backbone," and in speaking 

 in commendation of a man, you will hear them 

 say, " He's all right, he's a man with a backbone." 



Sketches from the Author's Notebook. Originals made from Life 

 and Photographs 



There is a deep and grand meaning to this expression, 

 for it is the back-boned animals that are the winners in 

 life's race, and it is only the back-boned animals that 

 possess hands. If you wish, you can see how the back- 

 bone was probably first developed, by examining the 

 eggs of fishes. At a certain stage of development of the 



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