1 86 SCIENCE AND IMMORTALITY 



an unknown lemur, and this from an extinct 

 marsupial." 



But it must be remembered, he warns us, that 

 no exact counterpart of the particular ape, lemur, 

 and marsupial now exists. 



Our more distant ancestors and relatives we can 

 afford to ignore, but our nearer kin have family- 

 resemblances that tell their own tale. Man 

 certainly belongs to that great division of animals 

 known as vertebrates, and to that class of verte- 

 brates known as mammals ; in other words, he has 

 a backbone, or at least ought to have, and his 

 young are suckled, or at least ought to be. By 

 means of his backbone he may claim kinship even 

 with an alligator, and through his mammary glands 

 he is " very like a whale." And if, despite back- 

 bone and breast-glands, he would fain repudiate 

 his kin, he will find corroboration in all his bones ; 

 and when, in current slang, he says " Give me your 

 flapper," he will find on investigation that he has 

 spoken a true word in jest, and that fin, and wing, 

 and arm are variations of the same structure. 



Bone by bone, muscle by muscle, cell by cell, he 

 will discover confirmation of his organic pedigree. 

 He will find in the inner corner of his eye a small 

 semilunar fold, the remnant of the third inner 

 eyelid found in sharks and some other vertebrates. 

 He will find under his skin, in certain parts, layers 



