216 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 
That the primates had once a larger number of 
offspring is confirmed by double evidence. Even to- 
day the number of children at a birth is often two, 
sometimes three, rarely four. The day before this 
was written came the report of a case of five children 
at a birth, all of whom seemed sound and all of whom 
lived. Still more direct evidence is found in the fact 
that occasionally in the human female there are two 
pairs of breasts, and very rarely three pairs. These 
are then disposed in a double line down the front of 
the body. 
The new plan of caring for the young is one of the 
priceless heritages of the higher animals. As we rise 
in the grade of life the number of the young pro- 
duced at one time steadily diminishes, while the care 
spent upon them increases. The shad may lay four 
hundred thousand eggs and trust them entirely to 
their fate. The sunfish will lay a thousand, by no 
means all of which can be fertilized, but it guards 
them somewhat after deposition. The toad lays sev- 
eral hundred, stores them with a considerable amount 
of nourishment, and protects them by a bitter deposit 
of mucous. The turtle has reduced the number of 
eggs to perhaps a score. Each of these is supplied 
with abundant nourishment, so that the young may 
develop to considerable size and activity before 
emerging from the egg. This material is enclosed in 
