170 DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION 



so that the soles of the feet are turned toward one an- 

 other, thus increasing its resemblance to the ape. 



Let us realize that these curious relics found in so 

 many places in the frame work of man are not unique, and 

 that they are reduced counterparts of larger and more 

 valuable structures in the ape. Unless evolution is true, 

 they have absolutely no sensible reasons for existence. 

 Science prefers the evolutionary explanation of their 

 occurrence because this explanation is more in harmony 

 with the facts known about other organisms, and it is 

 more reasonable than any other. 



When we dealt with the general doctrine of natural 

 transformation, it appeared that the evidence of embry- 

 ology was in many respects more cogent and conclusive 

 than that derived from the comparative study of animal 

 structures. In the case of man, as before, no one could 

 demand any surer or more convincing proof that an 

 organic mechanism with one structure can change into 

 an organic mechanism with a different structure, than 

 the obvious facts of development. The embryo, which 

 is not an infant or an adult, becomes an infant which 

 must work its way onward by the gradual accumula- 

 tion of slight changes here and there and everywhere in 

 its anatomy, until it becomes mature. Each and every 

 one of us has actually undergone the process of organic 

 change in becoming what we are, and we cannot deny 

 the reality of such a process without challenging the 

 evidence of our senses. 



When the full import of this history is realized, and 

 when we look further into the nature of these prelim- 



