28 THE DESCENT OF MAN 



be observed. Bisclioff says that the convolutions of the 

 brain in a human foetus at the end of the seventh month 

 reach about the same stage of development as in a baboon 

 when adult." The great toe, as Prof. Owen remarks," 

 "which forms the fulcrum when standing or walking, is 

 perhaps the most characteristic peculiarity in the human 

 structure"; but in an embryo, about an inch in length, 

 Prof. Wyman" found "that the great toe was shorter than 

 the others; and, instead of being parallel to them, projected 

 at an angle from the side of the foot, thus corresponding 

 with the permanent condition of this part in the quadru- 

 mana." I will conclude with a quotation from Huxley," 

 who, after asking, does man originate- in a different way 

 from a dog, bird, frog or fish? says, "the reply is not 

 doubtful for a moment; without question, the mode of 

 origin, and the early stages of the development of man, 

 are identical with those of the animals immediately below 

 him in the scale; without a doubt in these respects, he is 

 far nearer to apes than the apes are to the dog." 



Rudiments. — This subject, though not intrinsically more 

 important than the two last, will for several reasons be 

 treated here more fully." Not one of the higher animals 

 can be named which does not bear some part in a rudi- 

 mentary condition; and man forms no exception to the rule. 

 Rudimentary organs must be distinguished from those that 

 are nascent; though in some cases the distinction is not 

 easy. The former are either absolutely useless, such as 

 the mammae of male quadrupeds, or the incisor teeth of 

 ruminants which never cut through the gums; or they are 



18 "Die G-rosshirnwindungen des Menachen," 1868, s. 95. 



19 "Anatomy of Vertebrates," vol. i. p. 553. 



2» "Proe. Soc. Nat. Hist." Boston, 1863, vol. ix. p. 185. 



" "Man's Place in Nature," p. 65. 



22 I had written a rough copy of this chapter before reading a valuable paper, 

 "Oaratteri rudimentali in ordine all origine del uomo" ("Annuario della Soc. d. 

 Nat.," Modena, 1867, p. 81), by G. Canestrini, to which paper I am consid- 

 erably indebted. Hackel has given admirable discussions on this whole 

 subject, under the title of Dysteleology, in his "QenereUe Morphologie," and 

 "Schopfungsgeschiohte. " 



