THE THREE GREAT PROOFS OF THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL LIFE

At the present time scientists are agreed upon the general theory of the evolution of man. The discussions pro and con regarding this, which exist today, are either discussions of minor points which have not yet been clearly worked out, or are the discussions of people who have grasped only a portion of the idea of evolution, and who are ignorant of its broader conception and of the facts which science has brought to the light of day.

The three great proofs of evolution are:

  1. The actual history of the past recorded as fossils in the rocks and in the relics of pre-historic races
  2. The existence in the world today of a range of animals and plants which shows living examples of earlier types
  3. The repetition of the development of man as found in the growth of the individual

These three separate records of the development of living beings are considered by scientists as a most conclusive proof of the truth of evolution. Recorded as fossils in the rocks, we find the story of the development of all life upon the earth, from its simplest to its highest forms of plants and animals that live today, among which is man.

The earliest forms of animal life

The first forms of animal life were, in all probability, minute one-celled organisms; these left no visible fossil remains. As soon as animals developed hard parts in their bodies, such as shells and bones, we find a record of their existence as fossils. The earliest recorded forms of life were various kinds of sea-creatures, of which the modern crustacea (lobsters, etc.), snails, clams, and various shell-fishes are types. Later were developed boneless fishes, on the order of skates. After these came true fishes; then amphibia (frogs, etc.); then reptiles, birds, and, last of all, mammals, including man.

The facts are the same, whether we take the history of the successive forms as recorded as fossils in the rocks, or the living representatives that remain to tell the story in another form.

The single cell is the nucleus

The third proof, which is the story of evolution recorded in the growth and development of the individual, is yet more interesting. As life developed from simpler forms, each individual animal or plant became more complex, or carried a little further the process of growth. But the method of reproduction of new individuals remained fundamentally the same. Each individual began, like its ancestors, as a single-cell being. By the process of nutrition these single cells in each case would grow, divide, and produce various tissues and organs, but always repeating the general story of the development of the race.

Gills in the human embryo

The growth of the human embryo offers many proofs of evolution, which are wholly unexplainable upon any other theory of the origin of man, and would in themselves prove the truth of this view of man's creation were the proofs of geology entirely lacking. A single example will serve as an illustration. The human embryo at a certain period develops gill slits in the neck, the same as the embryo of a fish. This formation of unused or rudimentary organs which are afterwards outgrown, is very common throughout the animal world. In the upper jaw of a calf there are formed at a certain period incisor teeth, which never grow through the gums, but are reabsorbed and disappear as the calf develops.

I will not go further into the proofs and facts of the general theory of the evolution of animal life, but will now consider the later period of the development of man, which will show us his relation to other animals, and from which we can derive much valuable information regarding his natural physiological requirements.