108 THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 



sheep are transmuted into men by " an in- 

 ward laboratory, which dissolves a portion 

 of the modified protoplasm " which passes 

 into the veins, and its " subtle influences 

 convert the dead protoplasm into living 

 protoplasm." In the same way, by sup- 

 ping on lobster, " the matter of life of the 

 crustacean undergoes the same wonderful 

 metamorphosis into humanity." * Thus 

 on the same principle, Darwin's won- 

 derful bear, when engaged in fly-fishing 

 with his mouth wide open, becomes gra- 

 dually transmuted into the great mam- 

 malia of the seas, the spermaceti whale ! 



If we wish to know the answer which 

 science makes to this charming nonsense, 

 which proved so captivating to the specu- 

 lating professors of the 19th century, I 

 would remind you of the two unalterable 

 laws in Nature, which forbid the possibility 

 of this fanciful theory being true. First 

 The law of avitism, which limits variation 

 by parental peculiarity. Secondly The 



* Huxley, On the Physical Basis of Life, p. 146. 



