THE EVOLUTION OF MAN 



their beautiful resplendent scales, there we are 

 face to face with another disguise of man, which 

 takes us far back to the very beginning of the 

 Primary age. 



Taking the soft skeleton as a basis for further 

 research, it becomes evident that sharks are the 

 next stage in our line of descent. The sharks 

 played likewise a very prominent role in those 

 primitive days, and to this day they are the most 

 dangerous as well as the most intelligent of all 

 fish. In a multitude of fine traits the shark is a 

 genuine prototype of higher vertebrates trans- 

 lated into fish life. The simple plan of four 

 limbs is sharply outlined in its fins, that charac- 

 teristic which has become so full of meaning in 

 the subsequent evolution. Our teeth, which have 

 become so typical in their present form as a mark 

 distinguishing man from all other animals, may 

 be derived by strict anatomical logic from a basic 

 plan found among sharks, which is actually start- 

 ling for the layman. The shark has a formidable 

 set of teeth. But, in its mouth, it has also de- 

 veloped a special trait in the way of thorny 

 bristles which also appear in a less developed 

 form in other parts of its body. The entire sur- 

 face of the shark's skin is covered with peculiar 

 and very fine, but rough, prickles, and the skin 



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