e the
amphibia, which include the toads, frogs, etc. Then come the reptiles,
which include the serpents, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, etc. Then
come the great family of birds, with its wonderful variety of forms,
sizes, and characteristics. Then come the mammals, the name of which
comes from the Latin word meaning "the breast," the characteristic of
which group comes from the fact that they nourish their young by milk,
or similar fluid, secreted by the mother. The mammals are the highest
form of the vertebrates.

First among the mammals we find the aplacentals, or those which bring
forth immature young, which are grouped into two divisions, _i.e_., (1)
the _monotremes_, or one-vented animals, in which group belong the
duck-bills, spiny ant-eaters, etc.; and (2) the _marsupials_, or
pouched animals, in which group belong the kangaroo, opossum, etc.

The next highest form among the mammals are known as the _placentals_,
or those which bring forth mature young. In this class are found the
ant-eaters, sloth, manatee, the whale and porpoise, the horse, cow,
sheep, and other hoofed animals; the elephant, seal, the dog, wolf,
lion, tiger, and all flesh eating animals; the hares, rats, mice, and
ail other gnawing animals; the bats, moles, and other insect-feeders;
then come the great family of apes, from the small monkeys up to the
orang-outang, chimpanzee, and other forms nearly approaching man. And
then comes the highest, Man, from the Kaffir, Bush-man, Cave-man, and
Digger Indian, up through the many stages until the highest forms of
our own race are reached.

From the Monera to Man is a long path, containing many stages, but it
is a path including all the intermediate forms. The Yogi Teachings hold
to the theory of evolution, as maintained by modern Science, but it
goes still further, for it holds not only that the physical forms are
subject to the evolutionary process, but that also the "souls" embodied
in these forms are subject to the evolutionary process. In other words
the Yogi Teachings hold that there is a twin-process of evolution under
way, the main object of which is to develop "souls," but which also
finds it necessary to evolve higher and higher forms of physical bodies
for these constantly advancing souls to occupy.

Let us take a hasty glance at the ascending forms of animal life, as
they rise in the evolutionary scale. By so doing we can witness the
growth of the soul, within them, as manifested by the h