iS THE HUMAN SPECIES 



among whom may be numbered almost all naturalists l ; they 

 demanded a still closer investigation in order to ascertain the 

 relation of man to the other mammals and lower vertebrates. 

 C. Gegenbauer, in his Manual of Human Anatomy? finds 

 nothing in the physical structure of man constituting a funda- 

 mental difference. " In the construction of the human body we 

 find not only resemblances to the organisation of animals but a 

 widely comprehensive correspondence wherever there is a simi- 

 larity of function, a correspondence complete down to the finest 

 structural details ; an absolute uniformity is not to be expected 

 since it is not found even among closely related animals." In 

 spite of the manifold resemblances between man and the lower 

 animals, Gegenbauer feels bound to point out that man in the 

 structure of his bodily organs has not yet reached the highest 

 stage of creation, in that rudimentary organs still persist in his 

 structure ; these, however, are not to be regarded simply as 

 imperfections, but rather as a form of compensation, preparing 

 the way for the organism to attain ultimate perfection. 



One of the most important points of resemblance between 

 man and the other mammals is the maxillary joint, which dis- 

 tinguishes them sharply from certain birds, reptiles and amphi- 

 bia furnished with a quadrate joint. Further, all mammals 

 have a diaphragm, forming the partition between thorax and 

 abdomen. Their red blood cells are small, circular, and bicon- 

 cave. The skin is covered with hair. All new-born mammals 

 are fed on the milk of the mother. The sucking action has 

 developed the palate and the epiglottis, and is not found in any 

 other class of animals. 



Man's correspondence to the whole class of vertebrates rests 

 chiefly on their possessing in common a firm inner framework 

 of bone and cartilage consisting of vertebrae and skull, and en- 

 closing the organs of psychical activity, the brain and spinal 

 cord. Common also to all is the ventral heart, as opposed 

 to the dorsal heart of the Articulata and Mollusca ; the early 

 appearance of a respiratory tube distinct from the intestinal 



1 The most obstinate resistance was offered by Virchow. Even as late as 

 1895, in his speech at the opening of the Anthropological Congress at Vienna, he 

 asserted that man could equally well have descended from the sheep, or elephant, 

 as from the ape. 



2 Fourth edition. Leipzig, Engelmann, 1890, vol. i., p. 33. 



