142 Mr. Buckle's Fallacies. [ix. 



could have come from the lower, through myriads of 

 intermediate forms. Yet, if we are to believe this, 

 — if we are to accept it as true, that this continuous 

 perfecting of all the physical and mental faculties 

 has been going on among the lower tribes ever since 

 life first appeared on the earth, — why are we to suppose 

 that it has not taken place in man } Is it that, when 

 man came upon the stage, one of the most compre- 

 hensive laws of nature was, by some miracle, suspended 

 for ever in his case ? Is it that in the most perfect 

 of organised beings, exhibiting both in "structure 

 and function the completest instance of the evolu- 

 tional process, that process could no longer be carried 

 on ? If we are to accept the development theory at 

 all, we must accept it without limitations. We might 

 9,8 well say that the human race forms an exception 

 to the operation of the laws of gravitation or chemical 

 affinity, as to say that it forms an exception in the 

 case of the law of evolution, provided that law be 

 once established. 



We shall find our conclusion inductively confirmed, 

 on observing that the development theory explains 

 the differences between the races of mankind, as well 

 as those between the animal tribes. Premising the 

 fact, well known to every anatomist, that change in 

 structure is invariably accompanied by change in 



