Evolution | Page 6

the human eye;
all insects and Crustacea--moth and lobster, bettle [tr. note: sic] and
cray-fish---are alike composed of twenty segments; the sepals, petals,
stamens, and pistils of a flower are all modified leaves arranged in a
spire." (Clodd, "The Story of Creation," p. 102.) These resemblances
are looked upon as evidence of a common origin.
b) The Argument from Embryology. The individual animal in
embryonic development passes through temporary stages which are
similar to permanent conditions in some of the lower forms in the same
group. Evolutionists believe that these forms were actually possessed
by the ancestors of these animals in the course of their evolution. They
hold that the changes which take place in the embryos epitomize the
series of changes through which the ancestral forms passed. Because
the embryos of some four-footed animals have gill-slits, this is pointed
out as evidence that land animals are evolved from fishes.
c) Geographical Distribution. In geological time, natural barriers have
sprung up which separated the species which have since developed. In
this way the existence of marsupials (pouched animals--kangaroo,
oppossum) [tr. note: sic] on certain limited areas, the limitation of
certain plants to certain islands, etc., are explained.
d) Classification. The so-called Tree of Life. All living forms can be
arranged in a diagram called the Tree of Life. The Tree has a short
trunk, indicating common origin of the living from the non-living, and
is divided into two large trunks representing plants and animals
respectively. "From each of these start large branches representing
classes, the larger branches giving off smaller branches representing
families, and so on with smaller and smaller branches representing

orders and genera, until we come to leaves as representing species, the
height of the branch from which they are hanging indicating their place
in the growth of the great life-tree." (Clodd, "Story of Creation," p. 103.)
There is an exact gradation from the lowest life forms to the highest.
First such simple forms as the sponges and corals, then, through the
worms, crabs, oysters, and snail to the fish, and thence through
amphibia, reptiles, beasts of prey, ungulates (hoofed animals) and apes
to man. Evolutionists say that in this gradation of life we see illustrated
the evolution of complex from simple forms.
The Descent of Man.
According to the evolutionary hypothesis man is related to the animal
kingdom by descent from a brute ancestor, who, apelike in appearance,
is the common ancestor of ape and man. The evidence of such
derivation is believed to be:
i. Rudiments of structure which were useful in some brute ancestor.
There remain in man a few elementary muscles for twitching the skin,
as in the forehead; and it is pointed out that many animals have such
muscles at the present time, and it is argued that the ability of some
men to move the whole scalp points to the existence of muscles with
such function in our brute ancestors. The vermiform appendix in man is
termed rudimentary, being but a remnant of the much longer and more
complex appendix of the same nature in living animals today.
2. Embryonic Development. Because the young of all animals resemble
one another while in the embryo stage, and since such resemblances are
found in man, it is concluded that the evolution of man from some
related animal form must be accepted as the most reasonable
explanation.
3. Some diseases are common to animals and man (tuberculosis,
cholera, hydrophobia, etc.).
4. The similarity in structure of man and the apes.
5. The fossil remains of man. Certain skulls and leg bones have been

found which are said to represent forms higher than the ape and lower
than man. On the strength of such finds it is said that the "missing link"
has now been supplied.
The Nebular Hypothesis.
The Frenchman de La Place (1827) first promulgated in modern
terminology the theory once held by Greek philosophers, that the earth
and the system in which it is a member originated from a primitive
cosmic-vapor or universal fire-mist filling all space with infinitely
small atoms. In this homogeneous mass motion originated, resulting in
a concentration at one point. This condensation resulted in heat and
light. The planetary system at first consisted of a huge gas-ball which
gradually cooled, contracting into a molten mass which under the
influence of centrifugal force began to rotate. This rotation became
more rapid as the mass condensed, throwing off the planets, in which
the process was repeated (the moons being cast off), until the earth
became sufficiently cool to sustain life.
The Origin of Life.
When asked about the origin of life on earth, the evolutionists generally
reply that this is not a question for science but for philosophy to answer.
However, the question comes with such insistent force that the
biologist finds himself