2 4 8 ANIMAL PEDIGREES 



general truth of the Recapitulation Theory, and the 

 wonderful assistance which it gives us in recon- 

 structing the pedigrees of animals. Yet it must 

 not be supposed that all we have to do in order to 

 determine the past history of a species is to study 

 the actual development of the existing members of 

 that species. 



Embryology is not to be regarded as a master 

 key that will open the gates of knowledge, and 

 remove all obstacles from our path without further 

 trouble on our part ; it is rather to be viewed and 

 treated as a delicate and complicated instrument, the 

 proper handling of which requires the utmost nicety 

 of balance and adjustment, and which unless 

 employed with the greatest skill and judgment may 

 yield false instead of true results. We are indeed 

 only just beginning to understand the real power of 

 our weapons and the right way of employing them ; 

 and in the future embryology, especially when 

 studied as it should be in conjunction with palaeont- 

 ology, may be confidently relied on to afford a far 

 clearer insight than we have yet obtained into the 

 history of life on the earth. 



