324 PLEASANT WAYS IN SCIENCE. 



semblance to man are found, not all in one order of the 

 Simiadae, but scattered among the various orders, is perfectly 

 analogous with the laws of resemblance recognized among 

 the various members of more or less closely related families. 



The same result follows if we consider the analogy be- 

 tween various different species of animals on the one hand 

 and between various races of the human family on the other. 

 No one thinks of urging against the ordinary theory that 

 men form only a single species, the objection that none of 

 the other families of the human race can be regarded as the 

 progenitor of the Caucasian family, seeing that though the 

 Mongolian type is nearer in some respects, the Ethiopian is 

 nearer in others, the American in others, the Malay in yet 

 others. We find in this the perfect analogue of what is re- 

 cognized in the relationships between families all belonging to 

 one nation, or even to one small branch of a nation. Is it 

 not reasonable, then, to find in the corresponding features 

 of scattered resemblance observed among the various 

 branches of the great Simian family, not the objection which 

 Mivart finds against the theory of relationship, but rather 

 what should be expected if that theory is sound, and there- 

 fore, pro tanto, a confirmation of the theory ? 



But now, in conclusion, let us briefly consider the great 

 difficulty of the theory that man is descended from some 

 ape-like, arboreal, speechless animal, the difficulty of bridg- 

 ing over the wide gap which confessedly separates the lowest 

 race of savages from the highest existing race of apes. After 

 all that has been done to diminish the difficulty, it remains 

 a very great one. It is quite true that what is going on at 

 this present time shows how the gap has been widened, and 

 therefore indicates how it may once have been comparatively 

 small. The more savage races of man are gradually disap- 

 pearing on the one hand, the most man-like apes are being 

 destroyed on the other, so that on both sides of the great 

 gap a widening process is at work. Ten thousand years 

 hence the least civilized human race will probably be little 

 inferior to the average Caucasian races of the present day, 



