The Evolutionist at Large. By Grant Allen. (Chatto and Windus.)
—Mr. Allen finds illustrations of the theory of evolution in common things of every-day occurrence, the tail of the bird, for instance, indicating the tail of the reptile from which it may be supposed to have descended or ascended. Those illustrations he puts in very clear language, and in a very readable and entertaining way, making altogether a very amusing book, which wo may read with profit, whether we believe in evolution or no. Will Mr. Allen, or some other evolutionist, tell us how it is that what may be called the proxinw-accessits to human powers are found so scattered, and iu such diverse, and, wo may say, unexpected quarters ? His social instincts are found moat nearly paralleled in beehive and ant-bill, and his moral emotions, and even his conscience, in the dog. Should not these things be found rather in some community of baboons, tho animals which approach most closely to his physical structure ?
Previous page
