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e.(8) But here again it is obvious that we must distinguish clearly between the Theory of Descent and Darwinism. Of the Theory of Descent it is by no means true that it has "broken down." With a slight exaggeration, but on the whole with justice, Weismann has asserted that the Theory of Descent is to-day a "generally accepted truth." Even Weismann's most pronounced opponents, such as Eimer, Wolff, Reinke, and others, are at one with him in this, that there has been evolution in some form; that there has been a progressive transformation of species; that there is real (not merely ideal) relationship or affiliation connecting our modern forms of life, up to and including man, with the lower and lowest forms of bygone aeons. The evidences are the same as those adduced by Darwin and before his time, but they have been multiplied and more sharply defined:--namely, that the forms of life can be arranged in an ascending scale of evolution, both in their morphological and their physiological aspects, both as regards the general type and the differentiation of individual organs and particular characters, bodily and mental. All the rubrics used by Darwin in this connection, from comparative anatomy, from the palaeontological record itself, and so on, have been filled out with ever-increasing detail. Palaeontology, in particular, is continually furnishing new illustrations of descent and new evidence of its probability, more telling perhaps in respect of general features and particular groups than in regard to the historical process in detail. For certain species and genera palaeontology discloses the primitive forms, discovers "synthetic types" which were the starting-point for diverging branches of evolution, bridges over or narrows the yawning gulfs in evolution by the discovery of "intermediate forms"; and, in the case of certain species, furnishes complete genealogical trees. The same holds true of the facts of comparative anatomy, embryology, and so on. In all detailed investigations into an animal type, in the study of the structure, functions, or the instincts of an ant, or of a whale or of a tape-worm, the standpoint of the theory of descent is assumed, and it proves a useful clue for further investigation. In regard to man--so we are assured--the theory finds confirmation through the discovery of the Neanderthal, Spy, Schipka, La Naulette skulls and bones--the remains of a prehistoric human race, with "pithecoid" (ape-l
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