VI
EVOLUTION GOING ON
EVOLUTION GOING ON
Evolution, as we have seen in a previous chapter, is another word for
race-history. It means the ceaseless process of Becoming, linking
generation to generation of living creatures. The Doctrine of Evolution
states the fact that the present is the child of the past and the parent
of the future. It comes to this, that the living plants and animals we
know are descended from ancestors on the whole simpler, and these from
others likewise simpler, and so on, back and back--till we reach the
first living creatures, of which, unfortunately, we know nothing. Evolution is a process of racial change in a definite direction, whereby new forms arise, take root, and flourish, alongside of or in the place of their ancestors, which were in most cases rather simpler in structure and behaviour.
The rock-record, which cannot be wrong, though we may read it wrongly, shows clearly that there was once a time in the history of the Earth when the only backboned animals were Fishes. Ages passed, and there evolved Amphibians, with fingers and toes, scrambling on to dry land. Ages passed, and there evolved Reptiles, in bewildering profusion. There were fish-lizards and sea-serpents, terrestrial dragons and flying dragons, a prolific and varied stock. From the terrestrial Dinosaurs it seems that Birds and Mammals arose. In succeeding ages there evolved all the variety of Birds and all the variety of Mammals. Until at last arose the Man. The question is whether similar processes of evolution are still going on.
We are so keenly aware of rapid changes in mankind, though these
concern the social heritage much more than the flesh-and-blood natural
inheritance, that we find no difficulty in the idea that evolution is
going on in mankind. We know the contrast between modern man and
primitive man, and we are convinced that in the past, at least, progress
has been a reality. That degeneration may set in is an awful
possibility--involution rather than evolution--but even if going back
became for a time the rule, we cannot give up the hope that the race
would recover itself and begin afresh to go forward. For although there
have been retrogressions in the history of life, continued through
unthinkably long ages, and although great races, the Flying Dragons for
instance, have become utterly extinct, leaving no successors whatsoever, we feel sure that there has been on the whole a progress towards nobler, more masterful, more emancipated, more intelligent, and _better_ forms of life--a progress towards what mankind at its best has always regarded as best, i.e. affording most enduring satisfaction. So we think of evolution going on in mankind, evolution chequered by involution, but on the whole _progressive evolution_.
Evolutionary Prospect for Man
It is not likely that man's body will admit of _great_ change, but there
is room for some improvement, e.g. in the superfluous length of the
food-canal and the overcrowding of the teeth. It is likely, however, that there will be constitutional changes, e.g. of prolonged youthfulness, a higher standard of healthfulness, and a greater resistance to disease. It is justifiable to look forward to great improvements in intelligence and in control. The potentialities of the human brain, as it is, are far from being utilised to the full, and new departures of promise are of continual occurrence. What is of great importance is that the new departures or variations which emerge in fine children should be fostered, not nipped in the bud, by the social environment, education included. The evolutionary prospect for man is promising.
[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH OF A MEDIAN SECTION THROUGH THE SHELL OF THE
PEARLY NAUTILUS
It is only the large terminal chamber that is occupied by the animal.]
[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ENTIRE SHELL OF THE PEARLY NAUTILUS
The headquarters of the Nautilus are in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They sometimes swim at the surface of the sea, but they usually creep slowly about on the floor of comparatively shallow water.]