FUNCTIOlSrAL EELATIONS. 



Physical and Mental Functions in common with other Animals 

 — Man Improvable and Progressive — Influence and Results 

 of this Progression — Man a Modifier of Nature — Spread and 

 Ascension of the Higher, and Decline and Extiuction of the 

 Lower Varieties — Our Fourth Proposition. 



In virtue of his animal nature, geographical position, 

 and racial differences, man, like other creatures, has 

 certain functions or duties which he is necessitated 

 to perform. Like other animals, he must procure 

 food and shelter, and this duty wiU be less or more 

 arduous according to his situation on the earth's sur- 

 face. He must also protect himself from the attacks 

 of other animals, and especially from those of his 

 own kind ; and this he will be enabled to do in pro- 

 portion to his superior strength and skill and the 

 nature of the position he occupies. But while in 

 virtue of his animal nature he must perform these 

 functions in common with other creatures, there are 

 other duties arising from his superior organisation 

 and intellectual endowments which are peculiar to 

 himself, and which he alone is destined to perform. 



