SUMMARY. 308 



sentation of its characteristics are based upon the 

 trifling play of fancy. 



Darwin came to the conclusion that man has, at 

 any rate, descended from a highly organized form. 

 He goes on to say : 



"The grounds upon which this conclusion rests 

 will never be shaken, for the close similarity be- 

 tween man and the lower animals in embryonic 

 development, as well as in innumerable points of 

 structure and constitution, both of high and of the 

 most trifling importance, the rudiments which he 

 retains, and the abnormal reversions to which he is 

 occasionally liable — are facts which cannot be dis- 

 puted. They have long been known, but until 

 recently they told us nothing with respect to the 

 origin of man. Now, when viewed by the light of 

 our knowledge of the whole organic world, their 

 meaning is unmistakable. The great principle of 

 evolution stands up clear and firm, when these 

 groups of facts are considered in connection with 

 others, such as the mutual afSnities of the members 

 of the same group, their geographical distribution 

 in past and present times, and their geological 

 succession. It is incredible that all these facts 

 should speak falsely. He who is not content to 

 look, like a savage, on the phenomena of nature as 

 disconnected, cannot any longer believe that man 

 is the work of a separate act of creation. He will 

 be forced to admit that the close resemblance of 

 the embryo of man to that, for instance, of a dog ; 

 the construction of his skull, limbs, and whole 

 frame, independently of the uses to which the parts 



