The Evolution of Man, vol 2
The Evolution of Man, vol 2
A Popular Scientific Study
Book Excerpt
plete idea of the past development of
man's ancestors within the vertebrate stem by putting together and
comparing the embryological developments of the various groups of
vertebrates. And when we go below the lowest vertebrates and compare
their embryology with that of their invertebrate relatives, we can
follow the genealogical tree of our animal ancestors much farther,
down to the very lowest groups of animals.
In entering the obscure paths of this phylogenetic labyrinth, clinging to the Ariadne-thread of the biogenetic law and guided by the light of comparative anatomy, we will first, in accordance with the methods we have adopted, discover and arrange those fragments from the manifold embryonic developments of very different animals from which the stem-history of man can be composed. I would call attention particularly to the fact that we can employ this method with the same confidence and right as the geologist. No geologist has ever had ocular proof that the vast rocks that compose our Carboniferous
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