78 HOMO V. DAEWrCT. , 



Lord C. You forgef;, Homo, that Mr. Darwin spoke of 

 " a series of forms graduating insensibly from, some ape-like 

 creature to man as he now exists." 



Homo. My Lord, I cannot understand this " graduating 

 insensibly " from ape to man. Let us look at it in con- 

 nection with the point now before us. Here is an " ape-like 

 creature with tail and pointed ears," and " arboreal in its 

 habits," for it lives on trees. The four paws which its pro- 

 genitors had as quadrupeds, for carrying them along the 

 ground, have become changed into a kind of hands with which 

 it can clutch trunks and branches, and make its way from 

 tree to tree with beautiful agility. Its tail also has probably, 

 as in the case of many kinds of monkeys, became modified 

 for twisting and grasping. Sometimes it may use its tail 

 for balancing itself; sometimes, with easy grace, it may 

 coil it round a branch to aid its security or assist its pro- 

 gress ; possibly eyen, the extremity of its tail, like that of 

 the spider-monkey, may have acquired a sensitiveness 

 similar to that of the human finger, so that it may betrirust 

 into holes in its forest haunts, in search of the eggs of birds 

 to give an additional relish to its fruity meal. Such a 

 creature must have been happy enough in its way. It was 

 suited for its habitat, and its habitat was suited for it. The 

 one answered perfectly, admirably, to the other. Can it be 

 believed, then, that Natural Selection would have induced 

 a change in this creature, which should have gone on 

 sensibly, or " insensibly," through successive generations of 

 its descendants, till they had become unfitted for their 

 forest life, and had forsaken the trees for the ground, and 

 their juicy fruits for such scanty roots as they might be 

 able to grub up from the soil ? 



Lord C. You must remember, Homo, that Mr. Darwin 

 supposes its living " less on trees and more on the ground," 



