44 THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 



stocking lady to the hero ; " every thing 

 is there explained scientifically by geo- 

 logy and astronomy. It shows you ex- 

 actly how a star is formed; nothing can 

 be so pretty! A cluster of vapour, the 

 cream of the milky way, a sort of celestial 

 cheese churned into light. But what is 

 most interesting is the way in which man 

 has been developed. You know all is 

 development. The principle is perpetually 

 going on. First there was nothing ; then 

 there was something ; then I forget the 

 next. I think there were shells, then 

 fishes; then we came at last. The next 

 change there will be something very 

 superior to us, something with wings. 

 Ah ! that's it ; we were fishes, and we shall 

 be crows. We had fins ; we may have 

 wings." 



Such was the expression of a distin- 

 guished politician on the much disputed 

 questions of the 19th century viz., the 

 origin of men and things, and the 

 theory of AGNOSTIC EVOLUTION. And 

 inasmuch as these doctrines by universal 



