108 ORGANIC EVOLUTION 



worst parasitism — indeed, the only parasitism to 

 which an adjective implying a moral judgment can 

 be attached. Corruptio optimi pessima. 



CHAPTER XIII 



HAS PHYSICAL EVOLUTION REACHED ITS GOAL ? 



Even after so many pages we cannot leave the con- 

 sideration of human evolution. There remains a 

 question of great interest and importance : Has 

 physical evolution reached its goal in man ? Though 

 this question seems at first sight to be absurd, since 

 the very conception of evolution excludes the idea 

 of finality, or seems to be a mere survival of the 

 idea that man is the lord of creation ; and though 

 it is evident that some physical characters of man 

 are still changing, yet I hope to show that there is 

 a well-defined sense in which this question may pro- 

 perly be asked, and answered in the affirmative. If 

 such answer should hold good, it will devolve upon 

 us to consider the consequences that must flow from 

 a fact so momentous. 



We may diagrammatically conceive the world of 

 living things as V-shaped, consisting of two diver- 

 gent yet necessarily inter-related and mutually de- 

 pendent stems which we call animal and vegetable. 

 By reason of causes on which it would not be well 

 here to speculate, the animal stem has acquired an 

 immeasurable superiority over the vegetable, in 

 virtue :bf the development therein of mind. I 

 submit then, that the question of this chapter may 



