Man And His Ancestor: A Study In EvolutionMorris, Charles
Science
Man And His Ancestor: A Study In Evolution
Morris, Charles
Human beings -- Origin
The functionless organs in men are, as above said, closely analogous to
the fossils in the rocks, in that both point back to a period in which
they were active, vital forms occupying a definite place in the long
line of animal life or animal structure. The argument that God directly
created the fossils is no more absurd than the one that He directly
created these useless and at times detrimental organs. It is impossible
to offer a reason for such a futile exercise of creative power, unless
that it was intended to make it falsely appear that man arose from the
world of life below him. Will any one in this age assert that God placed
useless and dangerous structures in the body of man for the incredible
purpose of deceiving him in regard to his origin? And will it be further
asserted that the Deity placed similar stumbling-blocks to the human
reason in the embryo, in order to deceive those who should extend their
researches to this low level? It would be difficult to conceive of a
more preposterous idea, yet there is no other escape from what seems a
self-evident fact, that man is a product of evolution from the lower
animals, and bears the marks of his ancestry thick upon him.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: "On the Air Bladder of Fishes." Proceedings of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1885.]
[Footnote 2: Sutton, "Evolution and Disease."]
III
RELICS OF ANCIENT MAN
If now, instead of seeking for evidences of man's ancestry within the
human body, in survivals of ancient anatomical structures, we seek for
them within the crust of the earth, we find ourselves confronted with
evidences of a great antiquity of the human race, partly in implements
of human manufacture, partly in ancient or fossilized bones of primitive
man. These indicate not only great remoteness of origin, but also a very
gradual advance from the lowest stage of inventive ability to the high
level now attained.
These relics of primitive man are divided by Dana into ten varieties,
(1) Buried human bones; (2) stone arrow and lance heads, hatchets,
pestles, etc.; (3) flint chips, left in the manufacture of implements;
(4) arrow heads and other implements made of bone and deer horn; (5)
bones, teeth, and shells bored or notched by human hands; (6) cut or
carved wood; (7) bone, horn, ivory, or stone graven with figures, or cut
into the shapes of animals; (8) marrow bones broken longitudinally to
obtain the marrow for food; (9) fragments of charcoal and other
indications of the use of fire; (10) fragments of pottery.
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