CHAPTER V 



THE INVOLUTIONARY ASCENT 

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" IN COMPLETED MAN BEGINS ANEW A TENDENCY 

 TO GOD. PROGNOSTICS TOLD MAN ? S NEAR APPROACH ; 

 SO IN MAN'S SELF ARISE AUGUST ANTICIPATIONS, SYM- 



Granted that man is in his turn a structural unit, 

 it by no means follows that he is the heir of the ages. 

 Is man the unit of the fifth cosmic period? This is 

 the question we have now to settle, and a most vital 

 one it is. But before considering man's claim to the 

 line of ascent, let us look to the pretensions of his 

 rivals. First among these, to the best of our judg- 

 ment, stand the ants and bees. If co-operation and 

 mutuality of endeavour are the criteria of progres- 

 sive involution surely we find it here. But notwith- 

 standing the integration of the social insects has led 

 to highly organised involutes, it has so far as we are 

 able to determine reached its culmination. While 

 the groups have differentiated to a certain extent, 



they show no potentiality for the forming of larger 



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