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MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE.

111

from this theory: firstly, the doctrine of the origin of the most ancient organisms through spontaneous generation; and, secondly, the descent of man from the mammal most closely resembling man, -the ape."

But let us see how Mr. Huxley agrees with Hæckel upon this point. Huxley (in "Origin of Species," p. 144) says: "I said in an earlier lecture that there are hypotheses and hypotheses, and when people tell you that Mr. Darwin's strongly-based hypothesis is nothing but a mere modification of Lamarck's, you will know what to think of their capacity for forming a judgment on this subject."

I suppose that most men who give careful attention to this subject at once perceive that the moving forces in Lamarck's and Darwin's theories come from radically different points.

Lamarck's initiatory impulses towards development come from wants within the organism; while the modifying powers, according to Darwin's theory, generally come from without, or through the environments.

But, in trying to fix the proper sphere of man in the animal creation, Hæckel looks at him as a mere animal, and would dissect him as he would a frog or a horse, simply to find out his physiological, morphological, and anatomical structure, regardless of any difference in mental structure between man and other animal existences. In so far as he confines himself to the mere physical structure to the exclusion of all mental characteristics, he may be fair if he states that that is all he is looking for, and providing he does not deny that he ought to take into consideration the mental characteristics when he attempts to fix man's full station.

But he cannot find man's full sphere without taking into consideration his peculiar mental qualities as distinguished from those of the brutes. Hæckel has told us that we must,

for the time being, divest ourselves of all our "deep-rooted prejudices" which we have imbibed in our youth, and leave out of consideration all our notions respecting the "spiritual side" of our natures, if we would arrive at the genuine truth respecting our descent. But if we would arrive at the genuine truth of our inheritance, we must take into consideration all of the facts bearing on the case; and we shall be more liable to arrive at false conclusions if we try to restrict the field of observation. Mental as well as physical characteristics are inherited; and my point is, that if there is an essential difference in the mental constitutions of men and the brutes, or a difference so great and marked as to make it appear evident that one mental constitution could not be inherited or developed from the preceding one, then this very fact would seem to show that the physical side, so intimately connected with the mental, could not be inherited from any ape-like animal.

A mere naturalist examining man in physical structure only, as he would a bug or a bee, does not take into consideration the whole man.

MAN'S RANK IN NATURE.

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CHAPTER V.

MAN IN HIS COMPOUND NATURE.

MAN is a compound animal, having mind as well as body. If it is of no consequence whether there is a radical difference between men and brutes in their mental structures, then to compare them only anatomically or physiologically is fair. But there appears to be a radical mental difference, and hence it is not fair to compare men with mere animals by the physiological organization alone, and by such comparison attempt to fix man's real rank in nature, for nature comprises the mental as well as physical organization. It may be said that beasts have mental traits in many respects like men, granted; but it is not granted in the highest and most important respect. True, the beasts have loves and hatreds, joys and sorrows, somewhat analogous to those of men; but their sorrows differ from men in this, that the very elements which add depth and intensity to the pangs of sorrow in men arise from their reflective faculties, and their feelings of joy are often most active in anticipation of some future good. There is, however, a disposition to be faithful in some beasts, and some will defend their acquired possessions like men. Dogs lament the loss of friends, as instances of watching the graves of their masters will show.

Animals have memory; and the growth and decay of their bodies are as regular as with men. We may be asked who

knows that the lives of the brutes are not coexistent with those of men? If man has a soul, who knows that brutes

have no souls? In what does man differ from brutes except in the degree of intelligence? This question is a fair one. But we know what men desire and think about and talk about. We know they have hopes and fears concerning a future life, and these hopes and fears seem to be inborn; but we have no evidence that brutes have the least idea of any future or spiritual existence; and we have absolutely no evidence that they have the least apprehension of anything pertaining to a spiritual life. But we do know that in many intelligent men one of the very strongest of all desires centres in the hope of eternal life, or of a conscious existence after death. Many have suffered death in its most repulsive forms rather than speak one word indicating a doubt of the realities of a spiritual existence.

If we call these hopes and fears superstitious, that does not alter the fact of their existence, nor does it explain how these hopes and fears came to exist. Notwithstanding the high authority claimed in favor of the ghost theory, or that the belief in another or spiritual self originally came from dreams, that does not satisfactorily explain how men originally came to believe that they possess an immortal self.

Peschel, in regard to another radical difference, says (p. 5, "Races of Men "): "We cannot conclude these observations without answering the accusation, which may perhaps be silently made, that we leave out of sight the intellectual functions of mankind. We at once repeat what Darwin has already said, that the motions of conscience as connected with repentance, and the feelings of duty, are the most important differences which separate us from the animal; that in the latter there is no capability of solving a mathematical problem, or of admiring a landscape painting,

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or a manifestation of power. Neither can any reflection take place respecting the correllation of phenomena, and still less as to the hypothesis of a First Cause or a Divine Will."

Hear Mr. Wallace, a naturalist of no mean order, who was getting ready to publish his own theory of development when, in 1859, Darwin hurried up the publication of his book (quoted by Mivart, p. 301): "Mr. Wallace observes, that on his view man is to be placed apart,' as not only the head and culminating point of the grand series of organic nature, but as in some degree a new and distinct order of being." Also, on p. 302, Mivart has the following: "At length, however, there came into existence a being in whom that subtle force we term mind became of greater importance than his mere bodily structure. Though with a naked and unprotected body, this gave him clothing against the varying inclemencies of the seasons. Though unable to compete with the deer in swiftness, or with the wild bull in strength, this gave him weapons with which to capture or overcome both. Though less capable than most other animals of living on the herbs and the fruits that unaided Nature supplies, this wonderful faculty taught him to govern and direct Nature to his own benefit, and make her produce food for him when and where he pleased. From the moment when the first skin was used as a covering; when the first rude spear was formed to assist in the chase; when fire was first used to cook his food; when the first seed was sown, or shoot planted, a grand revolution was effected in Nature, a revolution which in all the previous ages of the earth's history had had no parallel; for a being had arisen who was no longer necessarily subject to change with the changing universe, a being who was in some degree superior to Nature, inasmuch as he knew how to control and regulate

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