xv DARWINISM APPLIED TO MAN 455 



which are functional in some of the mammalia ; in the 

 numerous variations of his muscles and other organs agreeing 

 with characters which are constant in some apes ; in his 

 embryonic development, absolutely identical in character with 

 that of mammalia in general, and closely resembling in its details 

 that of the higher quadrumana ; in the diseases which he has 

 in common with other mammalia ; and in the wonderful 

 approximation of his skeleton to those of one or other of the 

 anthropoid apes, we have an amount of evidence in this 

 direction which it seems impossible to explain away. And 

 this evidence will appear more forcible if we consider for 

 a moment what the rejection of it implies. For the only 

 alternative supposition is, that man has been specially created — 

 that is to say, has been produced in some quite different way 

 from other animals and altogether independently of them. 

 But in that case the rudimentary structures, the animal-like 

 variations, the identical course of development, and all the other 

 animal characteristics he possesses are deceptive, and inevitably 

 lead us, as thinking beings making use of the reason which is 

 our noblest and most distinctive feature, into gross error. 



We cannot believe, however, that a careful study of the 

 facts of nature leads to conclusions directly opposed to the 

 truth ; and, as we seek in vain, in our physical structure and 

 the course of its development, for any indication of an origin 

 independent of the rest of the animal world, we are compelled 

 to reject the idea of " special creation " for man, as being 

 entirely unsupported by facts as well as in the highest degree 

 improbable. 



The Geological Antiquity of Man, 



The evidence we now possess of the exact nature of the 

 resemblance of man to the various species of anthropoid apes, 

 shows us that he has little special affinity for any one rather 

 than another species, while he differs from them all in several 

 important characters in which they agree with each other. 

 The conclusion to be drawn from these facts is, that his points 

 of affinity connect him with the whole group, while his special 

 peculiarities equally separate him from the whole group, and 

 that he must, therefore, have diverged from the common 

 ancestral form before the existing types of anthropoid apes 



