, 1877-10-13
OjH ANCESTRY.
GEOLOGICAL LECTURE eS THE ORIGIN OF
THE RACE.

GEOLOGICAL LECTURE oS THE ORIGIN OF
THE EACE.
Professor Cunning delivered the fifth
in his series of geloglcal lectures AZ Dash
away Hall before 9 large audience The
subject was, The Urgn of the Race.
The lecturer said 1t is fact of deep
significance that the unfolding body Of
man repeats, III succession, al the HE
phases below it. He drew the BRAN as
it appears i'll the fish, and by building up
ward from the tish-pattern, lie reached
the reptile brain, then the bird BRAN,
then the mammal brain, and finally the
human brain Mans brain is simply the
lest term Of series. Ii is the fHiiillnent
of promise of prophecy uttered III the
brain of the fish. The idea has reached
It's utmost unioidment and creation-has
gone no higher But nan and fish begin
alike in brain, and even III giil arches.
Soon the fish drops ont of march, and
man passes on, accompaniment by reptiles
nd bnds, having like thema smooth brain
and single lobe of the cerebrum. After
two months the reptile falls behind, and
after three the bird Man passes on, then
cumpaIiOned only by mammals After
tjve months of creating he has sped be-
yond all the orders except that Of which
he himself is crown. Toward the end OF
the Journey he has three companions,
gorilla, chlmpanzee, and oran9outan5
The gorilla and orang We're drawn, and by
their side an Australian savage, the man
who approaches them most closely, and
the lecturer drew a comparison between
them on the score Of morals, Of reasoning.
and of language. Tht difference were of
degree, not OF kind From mental traits
he passed to bodily structure, and SAID
that what impressed theeyeof Owen would
impress onr eyes. 1t is the all-prevading
Similitude. He must look at the details
of structure Linneus tried To base
mans rank and dignity on his big toe.
The lecturer showed that man $ foot, i'll a
state Of nature, does not differ 50 widely
from that of the ape as to allo% his classi-
tication in distinct order As Linnrus
tried the foot, SD Owen has lately tried
the head. Returning to the BRAIN, the
lecturer drew little structure called the
hippocampus Owen had maintained that
this structure is found only i'll the BRAIN
of man, and Oh it had erected distinct
order, and called the order 4rchencephal-
ate. Around that hippocampus lad ragged
the hercest battle OF modern science.
After describing this battle the speaker
sad that the victory rested with Huxley
An ape does have a hippocampus. In the
failure Of Owen, failed the last attempt to
found distinct order for man based on
physical structure. Does this sinnlitudc
of structure IMPLY bodily knship! And
is the bond physical or ideal The an
swer will be found, if at all, in history.
Has the human body IL history, or did it
come by one instantaneous creative act
The lecturer showed how by disuse an or
gan or structure fades out. He showed,
then, that man has the vestige Of that
system Of muscles which enable the AMI
mai to tWitch the SKIN to drive off the
flies. These shreds Of Il vanished muscle
are heirloonls of past when Z nude an
cestor twitched the skin to drive away
pestiferous flies. From the aborted mus
cles of the skin the speaker turned to the
aborted muscles Of the ear, and showed
that the ear Is not as it was III the begin
nlng. When the idea OF property dawns
first in the mind of a savage, he makes
pocket out of his ear; the ear is pulled
out of shape and made pendent 4 tribe
IN South America and another IN Africa
have ears that come down to the shoulder.
The Spanish who first touched the coast
of Oregon were impressed with the big
ears az the natives, and they called tie
land "Urehon land of the big ears
The canine teeth of man are str,e.turally
tusks, and the tuSk character comes out
now and then i'll the savage. 1t WAS stron-
gly pronounced i'll an ancient troelodvte
who left his jaw i'll a German cave. The |
third cyelid, or nichtating membrance.
appeared first in the fish, then in the |
reptile, then i'll the bird, then in the
Australian duck-bill which marks tie |
horizon on which bird and mammal meet.
then in the marsupial which came from
The duck-hIll, then in the ape which |
'prang from the marsupial, and finally in
man. In the ape ii has lost its function
md is ahorted. In the negro and Austria
han IL Is abo,ted still more. In the higher
man it is reduced to little semi-lunar
odd The facts placed in array seem to
show that all hands, whether as the pad
lie of a mole or wing of bat, or a flip
Der of a seal, or hand Of a man, are mod
hcatlons of one primitive pattern. Yes
lSes and embryonic structures seem to
how that foot and limb were adapted
nee for climbing. What do these vistises
each ! If they are what they seem to be
-helrlooms-they teach that an ancestral
,ody t"i;ehed the skin, pricked the ear,
hreW nchtltnS membrsnee over the
We, toothed lis enemy, and lived in the
rees- They show that as body adapted ,
or mere animal functions the human
ody represents lapse They teach that
be animal IN us has declined and is de-
lining. The facts at command indicate
hat the human body has come through a
ng hne OF ancestors.-S f. CaU.
OLD-TNE presidents had very different