174 The Descent of Man. 



it is now known is not true evolution. True evolution must con- 

 sider that apes have themselves changed since they branched off 

 from the ancestra line of man. 



Our attention has been called to the fact that man's structure is 

 not so perfect as that of lower animal forms. That is exactly as 

 we might expect. If other animals have special tendencies, as 

 Dr. Cope points out, they must develop special organs and adapta- 

 bilities; so we must expect to find in man many organs and facul- 

 ties that we do not find in the lower animals, — some faculties more 

 highly developed, others become rudimentary from disuse, — and 

 vice versa. The nose of the dog is far more acute in perception 

 than that of man. Special needs have produced special develop- 

 ments, each in its own line. This, so far from being an argument 

 against evolution, is the strongest possible argument in its favor. 

 The intelligence of the ant has been adduced in opposition to evo- 

 lution. The fact is, there is no special structure that can be said 

 to be a structure of mind. Evolution is not confined to one form 

 or type. You can perfect two different instruments in two differ- 

 ent directions ; you can produce like results by entirely different 

 means. The intellect of the ant and that of man manifest them- 

 selves through different media. A certain organism may be neces- 

 sary to produce a certain kind of intellect, but Nature is not limited 

 to any one line of operation. 



In listening to Professor Cope to-night, I am reminded of all 

 that he has done toward the revival of Lamarck's theory of evolu- 

 tion — he has done more for this theory, indeed, than Lamarck 

 himself. The appearance of jSTeo-Lamai ckism in biology contem- 

 poraneously with Neo-Kantism in philosophy, is a very interesting 

 fact. 



I must call your attention to the fact that the human structure 

 is not made for an upright being at all: it is made for a quadruped. 

 The arrangement and suspension of certain of the internal organs 

 in man, and especially in woman, is such that they are perfectly 

 adapted to a quadruped. If a human being had made man as he 

 is, we should have said that he did not know what he was about. 

 The diseases from which the fair sex suffer are to a considerable 

 extent due to the fact that the organs of the pelvis were intended 

 for a being walking on four feet. We have not yet adapted our- 

 selves to the upright position. 



Then again, in the quadruped, the valves in the arteries and veins 

 are so arranged that a perfect circulation of the blood is induced. 

 Along the back, which is longitudinal, the force of gravity is suffi- 

 cient to keep the blood in its proper channels. There is no need 



