UNITY AND CONTINUITY. 339 



and of all grades of practice and belief, and to show 

 more clearly the underlying unity which subsists in 

 all the higher hopes and aspirations of humanity. 



These considerations must constitute my justifica- 

 tion for entering into the subjects discussed in this and 

 the two preceding chapters. {Toj^amine the relics of 

 fossil men, without regard to the evidence which they 

 afford of the higher aims and sentiments of human 

 nature, would- suroly be as Bfteeiffntifig an& unprofit- 

 able as it would be to study the structures of fossil 

 shells and corals without considering their probable 

 conditions of existence and habits of life.' 



