The Evolution of Life, or Causes of Change in Animal Forms: A Study in Biology (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Excerpt from The Evolution of Life, or Causes of Change in Animal Forms: A Study in Biology

The great question of The Evolution of Life upon the earth, and the causes that have led to the successive changes in animal forms, is one that should be treated from an anatomical and a physiological point of view. Scientists have hitherto spoken of these changes that have taken place, and have concurred in the opinion that the lower forms of life have advanced in the scale of development, and in time have given rise to higher and newer forms. It is believed and generally accepted that the protoplasmic cell was the first vital organism that appeared upon the earth - that, following this in order came the protozoans, the fishes, the reptiles, the marsupials, the mammals, the higher apes, and finally man, but no attempt has ever been made, as far as I know, to explain the physiological causes of these changes in the anatomy of the animal kingdom. It is only a part of the truth to say that a reptile was evolved from a fish, a mammal from a reptile, and man from the higher apes. But this is not enough. The world is advancing to that point when it demands to know [1010 these changes took place, by what physi ological process they occurred, and what was the reason that induced them to change. It is this great point that I have endeavored to explain, - how far, and how well I have succeeded, I leave others to judge. If any thing is left unsaid or unexplained it may serve as a stimulus to future writers to finish the work I have planned out. I have written this work from a physi.

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