FOUND LINKS. 



and philosophically, that these facts in no wise detract 

 from man's place in nature ; but, rightly viewed, only 

 the more ennoble the humanity that, from such humble 

 beginnings, has attained to the highest twig on the 

 tree of life. Mr. Darwin's own words will bear 

 quoting here : " The most ancient progenitors in the 

 kingdom of the Yertebrata at which we are able to 

 obtain an obscure glance, apparently consisted of a 

 group of marine animals, resembling the larvae of 

 existing Ascidians. Those animals probably gave rise 

 to a group of fishes as lowly organised as the lancelet ; 

 and from these the Ganoids, and other fishes, like the 

 Lepidosiren, must have been developed. From such 

 fish, a very small advance would carry us on to the 

 Amphibians." Mr. Darwin's words are again worth 

 quotiog, when, in speaking of the origin of man, he 

 remarks that " it is only our natural prejudice, and 

 that arrogance which made our forefathers declare 

 that they were descended from demi-gods, which leads 

 us to demur to this conclusion (that of man's descent 

 from lower forms). But the time will before long 

 come, when it will be thought wonderful that natural- 

 ists, who were well acquainted with the comparative 

 structure and development of man and other mammals > 

 should have believed that each was the work of a 

 separate act of creation." And, finally, concerning 

 the often-assumed degradation of vertebrate ancestry, 

 the late distinguished author of the " Origin of 

 Species " has a noble passage wherein he gives the 

 death-blow to all arrogance of heart and mind respecting 



