earches for it on flowers and meets only with failure, or of insects
driven by their instincts into the flames, only to lose their wings and
their lives; such creatures, plainly, would express as their idea of the
world that it was fashioned abominably, and that existence was a
mistake.

_II.--Disharmonies in Man_

As for man, the creature most interesting to us, in what category does
he fall? Is he a being whose nature is in harmony with the conditions in
which he has to live, or is he out of harmony with his environment? A
critical examination is needed to answer these questions, and to such an
examination the pages to follow are devoted.

Science has proved that man is closely akin to the higher monkeys or
anthropoid apes--a fact which we must reckon with if we are to
understand human nature. The details of anatomy which show the kinship
between man and the apes are numerous and astonishing. All the facts
brought to light during the last forty years have supported this truth,
and no single fact has been brought against it. Quite lately it has been
shown that there are remarkable characters in the blood, such that,
though by certain tests the fluid part of human blood can be readily
distinguished from that of any other creature, the anthropoid apes, and
they alone, furnish an exception to this rule. There is thus verily a
close blood-relationship between the human species and the anthropoid
apes.

But how man arose we do not know. It is probable that he owes his origin
to a mutation--a sudden change comparable with that which De Vries
observed in the case of the evening primrose. The new creature possessed
a brain of abnormal size placed in a spacious cranium which allowed a
rapid development of intellectual faculties. This peculiarity would be
transmitted to the descendants, and as it was a very considerable
advantage in the struggle for existence, the new race would hold its
own, propagate, and prevail.

Although he is a recent arrival on the earth, man has already made great
progress, as compared with his ancestors the anthropoid apes, and we
learn the same if we compare the higher and lower races of mankind. Yet
there remain many disharmonies in the organisation of man, as, for
instance, in his digestive system. A simple instance of this kind is
furnished by the wisdom teeth. The complete absence of all four wisdom
teeth has no influence on mastication, and their presence is very
frequently the source of i