this perfection;
grace, and loveliness. Thus it is evident and confirmed that the
development and growth of man on this earth, until he reached his present
perfection, resembled the growth and development of the embryo in the womb
of the mother: by degrees it passed from condition to condition, from form
to form, from one shape to another, for this is according to the
requirement of the universal system and divine law.

That is to say, the embryo passes through different states and traverses
numerous degrees, until it reaches the form in which it manifests the
words: "Praise be to God, the best of Creators," and until the signs of
reason and maturity appear. And in the same way, man's existence on this
earth, from the beginning until it reaches this state, form, and
condition, necessarily lasts a long time, and goes through many degrees
until it reaches this condition. But from the beginning of man's existence
he is a distinct species. In the same way, the embryo of man in the womb
of the mother was at first in a strange form; then this body passes from
shape to shape, from state to state, from form to form, until it appears
in utmost beauty and perfection. But even when in the womb of the mother
and in this strange form, entirely different from his present form and
figure, he is the embryo of the superior species, and not of the animal;
his species and essence undergo no change. Now, admitting that the traces
of organs which have disappeared actually exist, this is not a proof of
the impermanence and the non-originality of the species. At the most it
proves that the form, and fashion, and the organs of man have progressed.
Man was always a distinct species, a man, not an animal. So, if the embryo
of man in the womb of the mother passes from one form to another, so that
the second form in no way resembles the first, is this a proof that the
species has changed? that it was at first an animal, and that its organs
progressed and developed until it became a man? No indeed! How puerile and
unfounded is this idea and this thought! For the proof of the originality
of the human species, and of the permanency of the nature of man, is clear
and evident.

MODIFICATION OF SPECIES

We have now come to the question of the modification of species and of
organic development: that is to say, to the point of inquiring whether
man's descent is from the animal.

This theory has found credence in the minds of some European phil