146 ORGANIC EVOLUTION CONSIDERED 



form, and that as development proceeds they become 

 more and more unlike in form until birth. This 

 resemblance is the stronghold of the evolutionist. 



It is claimed that the egg-cells, or germ-yolks, of all 

 eggs are alike in structure. The germ-yolk is that 

 part of the egg that is developed into the animal. Its 

 usual size is from 1 /im to 1 /m of an inch in diameter. 

 The greater part of the egg, in many cases, is food 

 for the growing embryo. 



Inside of a few weeks, or, at most, of a few months, 

 beginning with vertebrate eggs that are said to be 

 essentially alike in structure, we see developed Fish, 

 Amphibian, Reptile, Bird and Mammal. 



If all eggs are essentially alike in structure, how 

 can one become a fish and another a dog? No egg 

 ever makes a mistake and develops into an ani- 

 mal of another class. It is evident that while all 

 eggs, from that of the sponge to that of man, may 

 seem to be alike in structure, they are really as far 

 apart in their essential nature as are the fully devel- 

 oped sponge and the full-grown man. The essential 

 factor of possibility in the life of any organism is 

 bound up in the egg. 



The resemblance of embryos, it is claimed by evolu- 

 tionists, denotes genetic affinity. 



Taking the embryos of man and fish, his argument 

 is as follows. The embryos of man and fish at a cer- 

 tain stage of development are closely alike in appear- 

 ance; therefore, the adult man and the full-grown 

 fish had a common ancestral origin. 



This conclusion is, I think, not warranted by the 

 premises. Suppose that we embody the same facts in 

 the following proposition: — the fully developed man 

 and fish differ enormously from each other in many 

 essential respects; therefore, the embryos of the man 

 and of the fish, although they look much alike, are 



