98 THE ORIGIN OF MAN 



not fishes the first vertebrates? Are not horses 

 vertebrates? You agree thus far? It therefore 

 follows that a horse must be the descendant of a 

 fish, not directly, I assure you, but indirectly, but 

 nevertheless it must be so. If that be the case 

 what is to prevent us from assuming that we are 

 the descendants of the dwarfs? Is the latter as- 

 sumption more preposterous than the first? No, 

 not in my light. Another question might arise, 

 namely: What right have I to assume that the 

 ancestor of modern man was a dwarf ? Why do I 

 not assume that the ancestor of modern man was 

 a giant ? Fossils have been found during research 

 work of prehistoric men, men that lived probably 

 many hundred years before the Stone Age. 

 These remains were found to measure approxi- 

 mately five feet, four inches. Then the average 

 height of man at that time was about five feet 

 four inches. The average height of man at the 

 present time is approximately five feet six inches. 

 So therefore these prehistoric men were smaller 



